Chapter XXVII
"I'm glad I found you," Drognan said when Geldar approached his residence. "I've discovered a reference to a similar eclipse several hundred years ago. It says that some desert-dwelling snake demons had erected an evil altar, which caused the sun to go black."
"And you think we are dealing with something similar?" Geldar asked, remembering the Claw Vipers they had encountered.
"It seems to be the case," Drognan replied. "Look for an altar in the Claw Viper temple."
With this advice in mind he went back to Fara's shop where Talina was being tended to. His suspicions had been right, there was some sort of poison that had caused Talina to bleed continuously, if he had not pulled her out of the temple then she would have died from blood loss. Deckard Cain was there talking to her and he smiled when he saw the Paladin.
Geldar sat down beside him and related what Drognan had just told him.
"He said as much to me," Cain said. "But it will not be enough to kill the Claw Vipers. To reverse their spell you must destroy the altar."
The thought of facing more of the Claw Vipers made Geldar shudder, but he didn't say anything as he and Talina had faced much worse, the Demon Queen Andariel for one. And of course there was the chance they would have to face Diablo if they found Tal Rasha's Tomb in time. Something occurred to him then.
"What exactly is Drognan?" Geldar asked Cain. "Is he some sort of seer, or something much more than that?"
"He is—or rather was—a Vizjerei mage," the Horadric Sage replied. "Jerryn was saying to me that he saw Drognan display powers he had never seen before, he was held in great renown in their order but no one knows what happened."
"Why is this?" Geldar pressed.
"No one has ever asked him," Cain explained. "And Drognan does not choose to tell."
It wasn't long after they were back in the temple and fighting their way down to the second level. A few times they stopped to rest and replenish their energy, but they all saw the need for pressing on.
Just as they were walking up stairs to get to the antechamber that led to the third level Geldar caught Norleche looking strangely at him. He ignored it, it was probably nothing.
"Can you sense anything?" he asked Talina.
"Whatever is down there it's masked by a dark presence," Talina answered. "But I'd say there would be at least five down there, and that doesn't include the ringleader."
"My thoughts exactly," Norleche agreed, still staring through Geldar.
"So we go down together?" Geldar asked.
"I'll go first," the Necromancer volunteered. "Whatever meets us as the end of the stair I can knock back with a curse."
"Well, here goes nothing," Geldar said, and he couldn't help but feeling a little apprehensive for some unknown reason.
The dark was almost a solid thing that invade Geldar's lungs and tried to penetrate his mind as he descended the stairs. Norleche was out of the doorway in a matter of seconds and he hit a Claw Viper with Amplify Damage, Geldar slashed at the creature until it was reduced to a writhing screaming mass.
"Stay here!" Geldar barked when he saw Talina was about to advance. "Let them come to us."
It didn't take long, a split-second later three Claw Vipers appeared and leading them was another, but its skin was red in colour and it moved with greater speed than the others.
Geldar silently swore and raised his shield as the red Claw Viper attacked, he heard its rakish claws scratch the metal and he threw his left arm forward, knocking the beast back. There was an explosion as Norleche sent off the only corpse in the room and a trail of green vapour as Talina launched a Plague Javelin but these were not important, they weakened the enemy but he still needed to focus his attack.
Geldar sought his battle mind, the impenetrable centre that he had sought after with years of training and meditation, here was a place in his mind he could access to unleash his hidden reserves. And unleash them he did, he had a sudden burst of speed smashing the face of the Claw Viper once, twice, three times, each swing building up speed and momentum that only added to his attack. One, two, three, four, five, six deadly slashes with his sword brought the beast to the ground. He was about to deliver the death blow when another Claw Viper intervened, placing itself in the path of Geldar's attack.
While Geldar finished off the minion, his adversary retreated to the altar.
Jerryn was woken from his sleep by bloodcurdling screams and loud shouts coming from the Harems. Through he was used to such sounds, he threw on a robe and raced down the stairs of the tower.
He was met on the main level Drognan stopped him.
"I cannot let you past," the old sorcerer said in a gentle but firm voice. "The threat has escalated; my power can no longer hold it at bay."
"Does it have the means to escape the palace," Jerryn asked, Drognan nodded. "We've run out of time, as soon as you see our adventurers tell them that I wish to see them."
"As you will, milord," Drognan said as Griez's men gathered formed a barrier to contain the emerging evil.
Back in the Claw Viper Temple the situation was heating up fast, Norleche and Talina were busy engaging the last two minions while Geldar was on the other side of the room in a knee-deep pit where an unholy altar stood. The problem with here was the fact that the chamber was circular, after a fruitless chase around the perimeter Geldar stood at the exit, barring its passage.
Then it attacked, Geldar beared the attack on his shield while at the same time swing it around to face the full point of his sword. He forced the point of his sword forward against the creatures throat, it pressed against the wall and Geldar pinned it there with his shield. The hold took nearly all his strength as the monster was struggling to get three, but it would buy him time to finish it off.
Geldar attacked with such a fury of movement that his sword was all but a blur; it hacked away at the Claw Viper's face, cut off pieces of flesh from its torso. It struggled harder, shrieking in pain but he continued, willing the vermin to die.
Then his shield gave out, with a swipe of its claws the creature cut through the metal with hardly any effort, another slash tore off his left gauntlet and drew blood.
With his injured hand behind his back, Geldar faced the Claw Viper in a classic defensive position. They circled, Geldar swerving to avoid the rakish claws, but in one instance he wasn't fast enough, part of his armour was slashed leaving a large gash in his right side.
Whispered amongst the Paladins was the story of a man named Terrell who had managed to survive a duel with a black knight with only his sword. The knight was fully armed and Terrell had apparently launched himself onto his enemy and cut of his head, it ended with him standing on the body of his now dead opponent.
Despite warnings from the Zakarum masters, Geldar and Lemnar had practised it on each other. He had managed to master it, but where he was now was very, very different from the practice halls in the Temple of Light. But it was all he could do.
Holding his sword in the classic position of a salute, Geldar ran toward the Claw Viper. He sought to dismiss all thoughts from his mind, summoning within him the most powerful conviction he could muster: the possibility that this might be his last fight, that in order to bring light to Sanctuary he must sacrifice his own life.
He came down heavily on the Claw Viper, standing on its shoulders and forcing it to the ground As he swang his sword he saw the beast smile, smile as it grabbed his shoulder and bit him on the neck. Then, with his blood on its lips its head was severed from its neck, rolling on the floor in a trail of blood.
Geldar saw none of this; he was on his knees screaming as the blood spurted freely from his throat in a warm red waterfall. He felt someone's hands on his shoulders and was vaguely conscious of someone shout at him, but there was too much pain, too much noise for him to focus properly. He collapsed on the ground and closed his eyes.
"NO!" Talina screamed, she had her cloak pressed around Geldar's neck, but she could see the large red spot darken and grow, even under her applied pressure. "Wake up!" She slapped his face, frantically trying to revive him. "You can't go, not now, remember your squire. You need to find him."
"Sinclair…you…find," Geldar said in an eerily hushed voice. "Promise…"
"No, don't say things like that," Talina shrieked in a voice that bordered on hysterical. "Norleche, what are you doing? GET OVER HERE!"
The Necromancer knelt close to Geldar but he offered no comment, he shook his head grimly. He knew the Paladin was past help, past cure, there was nothing they could do.
Talina was helpless as Geldar's lifeblood soaked into her cloak, tears ran down her face mingling with the grime and dried blood. Geldar closed his eyes once more, she pleaded with him to stay with her, that she couldn't be left without him but it was too late.
Geldar was already dead.
