Chapter XXVI
Lut Gholein was deadly silent, every man, woman and child was on the street, anxiously watching the sky for the sun to return. Men argued amongst each other, young children started to cry and girls clung close to their mothers for comfort.
In the midst of it all was Fara, she didn't know what had caused the sun to cease to shine, but she had an idea. Her face was grim, but she went back to her forge if only for something to do.
"What happened?" It was Tallia, she looked quite scared.
"This unnatural nightfall is no doubt caused by evil sorcery," she answered. "Drognan might know what we are dealing with. He is more learned in the ways of the heavens than I am."
"Will the sun return?" Tallia asked, the people were starting to disperse from the square now.
"I cannot say," she said. "Try to have faith."
Fara went to find Drognan, he was poring over his records and looked as if he didn't want to be disturbed.
"I'm searching through the old annals," Drognan said when she came in. "It's nothing natural, that I can state for certain." He looked outside at the unnatural night. "It's not right, that's all I can say."
"Tell me something I don't know," Fara said. "Do you suppose this has to do with anything our heroes encountered in the desert?"
"Perhaps," Drognan mused. "But I don't know if it is within my capabilities to make the light return."
"I can help," Fara offered. "And Deckard Cain will assist I am sure."
"It may be beyond all of us," Drognan replied grimly.
It was hard fighting in the dark, but they made the best they could. Talina had to keep casting Inner Sight in order for them to see their attackers; there were several moments when all she could make was a few random stabs in the dark as so much of her mind was set on killing the vermin that sought to kill her.
Geldar cast out Thorns as far as he could, making sure both Norleche and Talina were affected. It was all he could do to make sure any melee hits they did receive did more harm to the attacker than them.
It took longer than usual, but at last the final saber cat collapsed to the ground and died. They stood in a huddle accessing the situation, Talina was for pushing on light or no light but Geldar and Norleche pointed out the folly of heading off into the unknown.
"We've never attacked at night before," Geldar pointed out. "From what I'm told the vermin that dwell at night are worse than the ones by day."
"He is right," Norleche replied. "And we need answers of what has happened, perhaps Drognan or Cain know something about it."
"I say it's to do with those Serpent Men," Talina insisted. "If we find them and kill them we perhaps can restore light to the world."
"All the same we still need to know what we are up against," Geldar said. "I'll feel much more secure marching into the dark if I know what to look for."
"As do I," Norleche agreed.
"Aren't you boys a little old to be afraid of the dark?" Talina mocked.
"Well we are going back," Geldar said. "If you want to know more about what you are going to fight, then come with us."
"Do you really think she'll go out on her own?" Norleche asked as they walked away.
"She may have a smart mouth but she's not stupid," Geldar replied. "Count to ten."
At the count of eight Talina was shouting for them to wait.
The panic that had seized the town earlier had subsided somewhat, there still were fearful faces among the townspeople as they emerged from the waypoint, but at least with the torches and lamps lit it was easier to see.
They found Cain sitting by the well talking to Lysander, both seemed confused by what had happened. Talina told them about the Serpent Men in the desert, Cain took it into account but refused to take it seriously.
"Drognan may have some advice on this matter. Hmm…," he looked at the sky and stroked his short beard. "I think I'll speak with him myself."
"We'll come with you," Geldar offered.
"I've been researching this lengthy eclipse and I believe it to be the work of Claw Vipers," Drognan said when they arrived.
"Such as the Serpent Men that Elzix was saying?" Talina asked.
"The very same," Drognan replied. "Find their temple between the desert sands and you may find the source of this curse. I'm still looking through the annals; I'll let you know if I turn up anything."
"Claw Vipers," Talina said thoughtfully as they walked back to the marketplace, they all were silent she turned to Cain. "Do you know anything thing of the like?"
"I have only knowledge of what I have been told," Cain replied. "There are of course stories of Serpent Men in the desert who kidnap those who are deemed unworthy by society. Mothers normally place charms above the beds of their children in order to repel them."
"But that hasn't happened here," Geldar pointed out.
"Not if I have anything to do with it," Talina said tersely, she looked at Geldar and Norleche. "We better get back out there then."
"But it's dark," Geldar pointed out.
"And it's not going to get any lighter if we just stand here," Talina said. "What are we waiting for?"
"She was against coming back here," Geldar said to Cain.
"I can see that's plain," Cain said, looking from Talina to Geldar. "Though you were right to come back for more information, now you must scout out a temple of the Claw Vipers."
The Lost City proved to be an even worse place for enemies than the desert. Saber cats, hell slingers and night slingers were everywhere, often congregating in collapsing buildings that had only one entrance.
Along with the cats were what Norleche identified as sand raiders. Huge multi-armed monsters that held a sword in each hand and had a fire and cold attack. The found a waypoint midway but no one was keen on going back to Lut Gholein.
Between bouts, Geldar saw more and more of this abandoned city. They had a massive battle on what he identified as a dry river bed, and he killed three saber cats with one stroke of his sword on the roof of what must have been some sort of meeting hall. Elsewhere there were pieces of statue, but this was normal as they were all over the desert, the remains of temples to primitive deities.
They finally made it to the rocky pass on the other side and here, as far as Geldar could see, the path ended. In front of them was a vast temple with two tall pillars outside. As they approached they noticed fire raining from them and had to run to the door to avoid the flames.
"I don't know what to expect," Talina said as they were about to enter. "Do you want me to scout ahead?"
Geldar vetoed this.
"You can easily be trapped inside by enemies," he pointed out. "How are we supposed to know if you need help?"
"I agree," Norleche said. "We go in together."
"All set?" Geldar asked, he wiped the blood off his sword and re-positioned his shield.
"Ready," Talina said.
"Ready," Norleche said.
"In the name of the Light then," Geldar said and they went down the stairs.
The first thing Geldar was aware of was the repulsive stench that completely surrounded them. The second thing was the sound of hissing and the slithering sound of approaching snakes.
"Talina, get against the wall and hold your shield up," Geldar shouted. "Norleche, get behind us."
The Amazon didn't argue, they ran into a corner of the temple and positioned their shield so they covered the vital parts of their body. Geldar could feel them scratching at his greaves, but instead he focused for the next attack.
With his shield out he charged, knocking the giant serpent back with the shield and smashing it several times on the side of the head with the flat of his sword. Finally when it was knocked out he cut its throat.
"Nice work," Talina said approvingly, then came the unmistakable sound of more Claw Vipers approaching. "Here comes some more."
The Claw Vipers were more aggressive than anything they had combated out in the desert; they seemed to have an insatiable thirst for blood, even the blood of each other. Geldar managed to overcome them by tapping into that calm centre to attack in a fury of zeal, Talina with her lighting bolt while Norleche stepped back and cursed and used the bodies as bombs for the unwary.
"This is a bit of an odd request," Geldar said to Norleche when they were done. "But could you conjure up a cold attack skeleton? It would help us a lot."
"Glad to know that my services are wanted," Norleche said, in a few seconds not just one but three mage skeletons were standing beside him with flashes of blue where their hands should be.
"We better keep on," Talina said, walking off with her pilum held ready.
"Does she ever stop?" Norleche asked Geldar.
"Yes," Geldar replied. "But involves knocking her out."
"I heard that," Talina called back.
They soon discovered that Claw Vipers hunted in packs, and coupled with hoards of undead this caused more difficulty than usual. After another skirmish, they lowered another doorway and stepped into the middle of a large room. Immediately all the torches fired to life and a large group of Claw Vipers swarmed around them in a ring.
"Look sharp!" Geldar shouted just as Norleche cast a curse that repelled about half of them.
The Necromancer then turned to cast another curse, this time the Claw Vipers turned around and started attacking each other.
"What the—" Geldar almost stopped in his offensive.
"Don't ask," Talina interrupted, throwing a few pilums at the advancing Claw Vipers. "Just fight, it'll be less for us to kill."
"Fall back," Norleche called. "Towards the doorway, we can't handle this many."
Not for the first time, Talina didn't listen. As Geldar fell back in his attack, Talina pressed forward further. Again and again she cast her weapon in a circle around her, killing any enemies that happened to be close. But within a few minutes she was cut off from the others.
"Cut a path for me," Talina shouted, trying to hide the fear in her voice. Despite her success in cutting them down she doubt she could handle this many on her own.
Geldar walked toward her, cutting down enemies as he went, Talina turned to step towards him when it happened. A Claw Viper she thought slain rose up behind her and slashed her across the shoulder blade.
"AHHHH!" Talina screamed, she went down on one knee and made as if to attack, but her weapon cluttered uselessly to the ground. Where was he dagger? She couldn't reach it, she dropped to the ground and tried to roll out of the monster's coming attack, but several corpses were in the way. In the eyes of the Claw Viper she saw her own death, but she didn't close her eyes, why should she? She flirted with it enough in how she chose to live her life.
Just as the Claw Viper raised its head to strike Geldar cut it down, he helped Talina to her feet and pulled her out of the battle. As he half-carried her out of harms way she noticed the vast pile of bodies that was building up as a result of Norleche's corpse explosions, there were only a few Claw Vipers left.
Once they got to a corner Talina sat on an upturned sarcophagus, she was conscious of the weakened state of her right arm but it wasn't until then that she noticed the flow of blood that reached her elbow.
"Hold still," Geldar said, he gently peeled off her armour to inspect the wound. "Looks nasty, there's some kind of toxin making you bleed." He reached under his armour and tore strips off his tunic. "I can't do anything here; we'll have to go back to town."
"Just what we need," Talina lamented, wincing slightly as he bandaged her shoulder. "I should have fallen back when I had the chance."
"We all make wrong decisions in the heat of the moment," Norleche said, he sat beside her on the sarcophagus. "Just be thankful your life wasn't taken in exchange for your folly. Besides," he added optimistically, "perhaps Drognan will have some more answers about what we are up against."
"But we know this," Talina pointed out.
"We never know what we face until we actually face it," Geldar reminded her. "Can you walk?"
"It's only my shoulder," Talina retorted. "I'm not an invalid."
"That is obvious," Norleche observed.
