A/N: The wonderful world of Exile (Avernum) remains the property of Jeff Vogel and Spiderweb Software. After this bit of fun, I promise to return to the game unharmed the following persons: Solberg, Conruc, Linda, the demons, Seles, and Anaximander; and places: Tower of Magi, Portal Fortress, Fort Emergence, the Footracer Province, and particularly the Keep of Tinraya.
Emerging in the Tower of Magi, despite the uncertainties, they found themselves not in the portal chamber as before, but rather in a bedroom. The formerly bright halls now stank of sulfur and echoed with inhuman roars. Looking around, as they tried to get their bearings, they heard someone whisper, "Come here! Quickly!" Then a door to the southeast closed.
They followed, and found a library which had survived the devastation largely intact. The smell of sulfur was weaker, and they saw someone slipping behind a bookshelf as they entered.
The wizard there had been badly burned, but looked thrilled to see them.
"I am Solberg," he said. "Thank heavens help has come."
"You're hurt," said Angarahad. "Can we help you?"
"Save your energy. You will need it to seal the portal. You are our only hope," said Solberg.
"What happened here?" said Anicka.
"It was Linda! She tried again to summon and control the dark powers," said Solberg, "and now we may all be doomed!"
"Is Linda still alive?" said Daniel.
Solberg seemed barely able to contain his anger, "Damn her to the pit forever! You cannot imagine the horror that has been wrought here! If you cannot help us contain the dark powers, we may all be doomed!" He tried to rein in the anger, and said, "Still, if you could speak to her, she might be able to tell you what she did. She survived the demon's attack."
"Did anyone else survive?" said Anicka.
"We received no warning. She did something in her lab, and the creatures poured forth. Hardly anyone survived. The Triad is sundered," said Solberg. "I hide myself here magically. That is the only reason I am still alive. I felt Mahdavi's death. X teleported away. I am stuck here. Together we might have been able to do something, but the demons came without warning."
"Why are we doomed?" said Anicka.
"Linda commandeered our portal, at the top of the Tower, and Grah-Hoth is trying to work his way through. The gate must be destroyed," said Solberg.
"Who's Grah-Hoth?" said Phaedra.
"One of the most powerful demons that ever existed. It was only through great luck that he was banished before," said Solberg. "This time, he is prepared, and he must be kept away."
"I thought he was dead," said Angarahad.
"No, demons ... don't die," said Solberg. "The best you can do is to force them back to their own plane, keep them from ours. The adventurers who dealt with him last time banished him ... might have been for good if Linda hadn't called him back, damn her."
"So how do we get to the portal?" said Anicka.
"I don't know. The main route is guarded by a demon horde. If there is a second route up, I don't know where it is. I can give you some useful knowledge, though."
"What?" said Anicka.
"I have been exploring. It is difficult to evade the demons, but I have managed. Their guards are mostly to the north, near the entrance, and there are fewer to the south and east," said Solberg.
"How do we destroy the gate?" said Anicka.
"That is the problem! I don't know how to close the gate. I can sense it from here. It is powerful in a way that I am completely unfamiliar with! Explore the tower as best you can. Maybe you will find a clue for how to deal with it. Linda might know," said Solberg, "but before you go, a warning."
"Let's hear it," said Anicka.
"The path up to the portal is guarded by the bulk of Grah-Hoth's forces. Avoid them, or you may well be overwhelmed."
"Where did Linda go?" said Anicka.
"I saw her running to the southeast," said Solberg. "I hope she survives this ordeal, if only so I can punish her myself!"
"Thanks," said Anicka. "We better go."
They encountered the insubstantial form of a middle-aged man, still wearing the translucent robes and sash of office.
"Ah," he said, "the living. I was Conruc. There was not much time."
"Why are you here, spirit?" said Anicka.
"Hurry! I was useless in life! Don't let me be useless in death, too," he said.
"How were you useless in life?" said Anicka.
He pointed at the spectral sash of office, and said, "This was a sign of my uselessness. I could do nothing as a bureaucrat. When the demons came, I saw my chance."
"What chance was that?" said Phaedra.
"They have a gate, and they're trying to bring more demons through. I tried to close it," said Conruc.
"How did you try to close it?" said Anicka.
"The main way to it was well-guarded, but I think there is a back entrance," said Conruc. "There's a secret passage from Linda's laboratory to the portal. I opened it. But I can't remember how. I got killed, and it took away memories. If you find Linda, she can tell you how to find it though, maybe."
"Did you get to the portal?" asked Anicka.
"Then a demon surprised me. It sucked away my energy, picked me up and gutted me. Oh, how it hurt!" He winced at the memory and said, "I failed to reach the gate. Now you must try. Otherwise, you are all doomed."
"How can you be so sure we're all doomed?" said Daniel.
"You can't feel it. You're not spirits, but I can!" said Conruc. "An evil force of incredible power is coming! I wouldn't want to be you if you don't shut that portal soon."
Anicka nodded, and they hurried along.
Phaedra said, "We should try the hidden library. Where X used to stay."
"Sounds like a plan," said Anicka, and they entered the hidden library.
Here, they met the shredded wreckage of a human being, with grievous injuries on arms and chest, but worst of all, the look in her eyes told of damage in her mind.
"Ah, hello," she said in a voice that seemed to scrape its way from her throat. "I was Linda."
"What happened to you?" said Anicka, horrified.
She dug her torn fingernails into her legs, and said, "I failed. I brought destruction on us all."
"How did you cause this destruction?" said Phaedra.
She inhaled painfully, and said, "I brought demons here. I thought I could bend Grah-Hoth to my will by using my own spirit as the gate. Grah-Hoth is Avernum's greatest foe. Defeated by warriors in years past, but still there, still able to serve us. I wanted to bend him to our will, to use against the Empire. I would channel him here through me. I would hold his demon legions back with my own spirit."
"And your spirit could not hold them back?" said Phaedra.
She screamed, a long, wrenching keen, and her chest heaved, and she said, "They used me as a gate, and ripped my soul away! I am their gate." She quieted, and said, "My spirit has been taken from me, and made into a gate, through which demons will pour into Avernum."
"How can we close your soul gate?" said Anicka.
Linda started to lose consciousness, but managed to pull back from oblivion to say, "It must be torn. It must be destroyed. It is the only way to save us all. It can be severed, if you have the blessed athame. There is little other help I can give."
"Where is this blessed athame?" said Daniel.
"I managed to put it in the temple. It will be safe there, but not for long," said Linda. "Then go to the portal. Don't hesitate to destroy it, or we are all doomed."
"You caused this mess, you should give more help!" said Anicka.
Linda said, "Do not go by the main route to the portal. If you can find my laboratory, there are things that will help! And some spirits can give information."
"Like who—and where?" said Anicka.
"I've seen some of the spirits of those the demons slew. They're nearby. I don't know why they stayed, but they must have a reason," said Linda. "Speak to them if you can."
"And about the lab?" demanded Anicka.
"In the second tier, climb the stairs at the south, and go west. I had a ... a... secret way. Secret way to the portal. Sword on the wall. Find the sword on the wall. Press it. My secret way up."
They left the wreckage of Linda, and made their way to the Tower of Magi's temple, the only room to remain completely undamaged by the demon's attack. The good energy of the place seemed to be keeping the energy at bay—but how long could it last against such overwhelming evil.
Hurrying, they made their way to the holy altar where they found a small, polished knife with a gold handle and a razor sharp blade.
"This is one of the few blessed athames in existence," said Phaedra. "They can cut through anything almost through magic."
"Demons have been trying to get it," said Angarahad. "We better take it and hurry."
"Right," said Anicka, taking it and tucking it into her waist, wanting to use the more powerful blade until they got to the portal that Linda had mentioned. "Let's get moving."
As soon as she had taken it, creatures appeared all around them.
A massive demon croaked, "Thank you so much! We couldn't get it from the altar, but we can certainly get it from you!"
The demons attacked, and Anicka said, "The fuck you will!"
After the short battle, Anicka kicked a greasy demon corpse and said, "Huh, not so tough after all."
"Don't be so sure," said Angarahad.
"I know, Angie," said Anicka. "Let's move!"
They found the lab, fighting off a few imps, and then found the sword image on the wall, pushing it, a small secret door opened, and they saw a dark, narrow stairway winding up a small sooty shaft.
Climbing the shaft, they reached the portal chamber of the tower. Now at the top of the tower, they could see the horrible way the demons had changed the central portal. It now warped and twisted angrily, and through its shimmering surface, they could see the infernal lands. The portal had assumed an interesting shape—like a person stretched and distended in a grotesque manner.
Moving closer after defeating the small contingent of demons, they saw a sight to chill the soul. The portal looked like the insubstantial form of Linda the arch-mage, painfully stretched to a height of twenty feet. Her spirit was held stretched paper-thin by an invisible force, her ghost form from waist down below the floor, the entrance through her stomach. Her face was hideously distended and twisted with pain.
She looked down on them, and said, "Help me! You must release me! Enter me, and I will be disrupted. I can send you home then. Help me! I cannot hold Grah-Hoth off for long."
"Yeah, right," said Anicka, drawing the blessed athame from the place she had tucked it while fighting and climbing to this point.
Linda's spirit looked at her in horror. "What are you doing? No! Don't! It will doom us all forever! Enter me! It is the only way I can seal Grah-Hoth away!"
"Right, like I want to go to hell?" said Anicka. She passed the knife through Linda's shimmering form, easily ripping the soul into two pieces.
There was a piercing scream as Linda's tortured soul shrieked as her tormented existence ended. The anguished sounds were joined by furious roars as the demons were, one by one, sucked back into the netherworld.
Anicka said, "That's a job well done."
Then an infernal voice came from the portal, and said, "No, mortals! You may have held me back, but you will not escape without paying the price!"
A searing wind rose, and massive impacts began to shake the Tower of Magi. They tried to run, but the quake knocked them to the ground, and Anicka found herself with Daniel over her making a pathetic attempt to shield her from harm as the ceiling began to cave in. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and they appeared on the platform in Portal Fortress.
Seles smiled, and said, "I am glad we were able to rescue you."
"You rescued us?" said Anicka, blood-smeared, scorched, and about to drop.
"Of course. We couldn't let you die without at least trying to help you, could we?" said Seles. "The portal here was already set to pull people up from the Tower of Magi. Some quick adjustments enabled us to scoop you up. However, the Tower disaster cut the portal loose at the Avernum end, and it'll take a lot of work to anchor it again. Nobody is going down and coming up for awhile. I hope you can make peace with the Empire, or we will have to fight a war with no reinforcements."
"I think we're in good shape there," said Anicka, and she fell to the ground, exhaustion finally overwhelming her.
For Avernum, the bed where Anicka awoke was comfortable, and she looked around, and saw Daniel, sitting in a chair, head on the table asleep.
"Dan!" said Anicka, sitting up in the bed.
"Nick!" said Daniel, blinking wearily, managing to lift his head from the table, and Anicka barely registered that the bruise on the side of his head was gone.
"Where's the others?" said Anicka.
"They all got out, too," said Daniel. "Sleeping it off, I guess. Or getting baths."
"Are there others in this room?" said Anicka.
"No, not right now," said Daniel. "Frrrrrr's supposed to be in here."
"Where is he?" said Anicka.
"I'm not sure," said Daniel. "I think he was going to get something to eat."
"Where's my stuff?" said Anicka, aware now that she was dressed only in an undergown, though she had no memory of being changed out of the armor and traveling clothes.
"All over there," said Daniel, pointing to where the pack, armor and weapons had been neatly arranged. "I was cleaning it until I started getting drowsy."
"Figure we can go back to Footracer now?" said Anicka.
"Yeah, we can't hang out here that long," said Daniel, crossing to Anicka's bed, and sitting down on the edge. "Sure have had us running around a lot." He put his arms around her, and then a hand under her chin as he started to kiss her.
"Dan, I ... Just hold me," said Anicka. "I'm so afraid ... It's not going to end well."
Daniel shucked off his boots, and said, "Scoot over some." He got into the bed with Anicka, pulling the covers over them both. "I know," he said. "Half of Empire still wants us all dead, now the vahnatai, and the part of Empire wants us dead might overwhelm the part that wants to make a deal, and the vahnatai will just kill everyone with their freak monsters."
"At least we know," said Anicka. "And won't inadvertently help them kill us."
"Then again," said Daniel. "Maybe we'll win."
"And will whatever's left be worth it?" said Anicka.
"Don't be so gloomy," said Daniel, pulling one of Anicka's legs over himself.
"Dan!" said Anicka.
"I don't care," said Daniel. "Frrrrrr isn't here, and ... it's not like he doesn't know we're involved. He won't see ... I just, Nick, I need you. I need to feel you being alive, after being there with all the dead and damned."
"I understand," said Anicka. "Dan, I ... I don't even care if Frrrrrr walks in on us."
"Hopefully, he'd be decent enough to leave," said Daniel.
It was hours later when Anicka awoke again, pressed close against Daniel as Frrrrrr was saying something about breakfast. Reluctantly, Anicka got up, ate with her companions, and then they geared up for the journey back to Fort Emergence.
Anaximander greeted them warmly. "I heard what you did at the Tower. We all owe you a great debt. I've seen to it that Levy has something very nice for you," he said. "Solberg and X are here in Fort Emergence now. They both managed to escape, thank goodness."
"I'm glad to hear that," said Anicka, gulping as she realized that the lack of mention of any other escapees from the disaster probably meant that there were no other survivors. "Of course, we'll need to get back to Footracer. We were investigating there when we ... sensed the trouble."
"Very good," said Anaximander. "I hope that things are going well there?"
"As well as can be expected," said Anicka. "The entire province is devastated. We haven't found anywhere but a few cliffs that are safe places to rest."
"Then I wish you well," said Anaximander. "We will be waiting anxiously to hear your next report."
They traveled north, and re-entered the Footracer Province, which proved no less dangerous than before. At last, they reached the Keep of Tinraya and entered it. Once Valorim's best-defended, wealthiest, mightiest city, it was now nothing more than a pathetic ruin devastated by the fury of the alien beasts. Surprisingly, most of the buildings were still standing—perhaps the beasts decided to use them as lairs. Listening, they could hear the sounds of many of the creatures. One thing of great interest was at the west side of town. A massive structure, formed of round, smoothed, curved stone, looking as though grown, not built.
"Whatever that is," said Phaedra, "it didn't get made by the humans who lived here."
"No," said Anicka, "it looks like it rose out of the ground and broke anything in the way. Looks kind of like vahnatai."
"Well, since they are the ones responsible," said Phaedra, "I suppose it's no surprise."
Fighting their way through the alien beasts, they peeked through the massive, closed portcullis. The strange tower was forty feet high, several hundred feet across, made of one seamless sheet of shining blue stone. Inside, all was dark and smoky, and the sound of many alien beasts growling and calling to one another could be heard within.
In one corner, they found a room positively filled with the alien beasts, these being an even stronger form of the creature which spit acid at Anicka, Daniel, and Frrrrrr. Amazingly, the armor that Anicka wore seemed to just roll the acid off like so much water.
At last, the floor slick with alien beast blood and piled high with bodies, they made their way past to find a door set in the floor, and lifting that, they found a small ladder descending into darkness.