As Jimmy and Sammy descended deeper, thunder boomed overhead as the walls of the tunnels shook. At first Jimmy thought there was a tunnel collapse above them or one of those megaliths had fallen, but the noise continued and was almost rhythmic in its pattern. Perhaps those giants that Lieutenant Hartley had feared were real, and they striking the island with great mallets in some strange ritual to drive out the evil that infests it.
"Dragon golems, fifteen pounders by the sound of them, with some old school fifty pound lobbers as well. At least a hundred of them. It sounds like a god damn siege," replied Sammy to Jimmy's unasked question. He was a bit surprised that she knew what it was, but more surprised when she read him so easily. He simply smiled when she gave him a knowing wink.
"Admiral Edmund sold my uncle some of those weapons while on a diplomatic mission a few years back. It seemed the great Khan brought their own version from the pillaged husk of the Emerald Throne though the Khanians called their contrapions 'cannons' I believe. The Khanian version were good siege weapons, but had questionable value on the battlefield save for shock value. A single mage could do the job they did. They took incredibly long to reload but had unsurpassed range and you couldn't stop their power with a simple resist fire spell. Anyways, if I recall the Grommish version were a bit more refined though they fired a smaller but equally devastating projectile. Edmund continually blasted away at some hill side as a demonstration and I can still remember the noise they made, it was like a controlled version of thunder magic or something," shrugged Sammy. "Uncle Milan bought a dozen of them before he took sick, his 'assistants' never implemented his vision though and mainly used them as decorations for his mansion."
Jimmy nodded like he knew what she was talking about. While he was certainly versed in martial matters, the ins and outs of the military were out of his depth of knowledge. He couldn't tell a catapult from a trebuchet, and he definitely couldn't tell a dragon golem from a cannon, regardless if they were fifteen or fifty pounders. Sammy saw right through his ruse and giggled lightly. It was an infectious little laugh, and Jimmy couldn't help but to chuckle along.
As the pair shared their little jest in the dark, Jimmy wondered what went wrong. Here they were in the last place on Mystara that any sane person would be caught wandering, and he was enjoying every moment of it. He missed Sammy so much, but he dare not express it again. Not again, especially after what the Succubus had inadvertently revealed to him.
Things were never simple for him. Why couldn't he simply share his life with this young woman? They could be partners, lovers, watch each other's backs as they took on the world, regardless if they were in an adventuring capacity or not. Instead they took wildly divergent paths, on literally opposite ends of the world. She was a high priestess, a princess from a mysterious land, he was a rogue, scoundrel, a murderer for hire. Not exactly the best match. She left him for duty, to save her country and people, while he eked out an existence based purely on gold. Gold to fund his pathetic attempts at social climbing. She consorted with heroes and handsome princes, he dealt with the local criminal scum from the thieves guild like Harold Guttwist, that worm Grey Toad, Banshee Jill, Silent John, and Hoaglie. Frederick and Chloe were alright though, but one was dead and the other soon to be.
It was sobering really, to realize that not only did he not have Sammy's heart, but he didn't deserve it either. She left him for selfless reasons, while he let his life spiral into the gutter for mainly monetary ones. Martinez trained him to become a champion of good and justice, and he squandered his skills to intimidate or beat up dead beats whom owed Hoaglie money.
"Is everything alright? " asked Sammy interrupting his thoughts when she noticed his grim demeanour.
Jimmy stared at her, a tall dark haired young woman with broad shoulders and a lean athletic build, tempered by soft caring eyes. She was exactly as he had remembered, save for a little more muscle all around. "Everything's fine, " he lied as he lead them further into the pit.
It didn't take the two long before they reached a large vaulted chamber. Violet fumes poured out of a crack in the center of the room. Some of the smoke was heavier than the rest and drifted on the ground, rolling lazily into other chambers while most of the smoke was funneled into the crack in the high arched roof. It was some type of chimney possibly a means to escape if you can stomach the fumes. Jimmy saw spirits and other horrors rising in the smoke, and wondered if they were forming into demons up above like they did so many years ago when he first met Ulfgar. As he watched Jimmy's hair, stood as he sensed the near intangible aura of evil that approached.
From the far corner of the room, a great bestial humanoid clad in golden armour paced back and forth. It was as bigger than the largest of giants, but loped around in a hunched manner like a yeti or one of those carnivorous albino apes people find in mountainous tunnels. It was the Golden Destroyer that he was warned about, a creature that's power rivaled that of a Balor or a Pitfiend. Jimmy was fairly certain it was as powerful as the bold Nycaloth lords but wasn't sure if it was as dangerous as an Arcanaloth, mainly because the latter often fought indirectly with its minions and magic and shied away from a straight throw down affair. Regardless, despite the power of the creature before them, there was something else even more dangerous behind the Golden Destroyer, shrouded by the violet smoke in the room.
Jimmy had fought all manner of horrors, and had some knowledge of practically every form of evil outsider during his time as a Demon hunter, but he was not prepared for whatever was lurking in the farside of the room. It appeared to be focused on reading something, perhaps casting a spell as it ushered the violet smoke upwards with unintelligible but somehow blasphemous words and phrases spoken in an oddly echoing voice. He didn't need to be a Demon hunter to know that this thing was summoning some sort of Armageddon. Even without acknowledging them, it's presence was all powerful and almost choked him to the ground, literally forcing him to his kness physically as he was forced to acknowledge its overwhelming power. He had no option but to bow to its overwhelming power.
This was wrong, all wrong. He wasn't ready for this. He was supposed to be sneaking into these tunnels to rescue the Baroness, beat up Ulfgar, get a peck on the cheat from his proxy mother, and then head to the inn for an ale with Chloe. Nymk could come as well if she made it out of here. He didn't sign up to come face to face with some evil primal demigod invoking some reality ending ritual.
"It..it has a Black Scroll," stammered Sammy in a whisper, her normally invisible runes on her skin were blazing white. She grabbed Jimmy and yanked him out of the room away from the choking malign aura.
"What ..what was that, holding the scroll," gasped Jimmy as his breath returned to him.
"An Asura lord.."
Jimmy shuddered. Facing an Asura lord was like facing an exotic version of he's whose name rhymed with Borkus, the sibilant beast Demogorgon, fiery lord Belial, or even the archfiend Asmodeus himself. They were in way over their head.
"Which one? I didn't get a good look," admitted Jimmy as his mind scrambled to make sense of this hopeless situation.
"I didn't see either, which is a good thing. Staring directly at an Asura lord could trigger madness or might merely blast your sanity into oblivion. I might sound melodramatic but I'm not, it's that serious," explained Sammy as she shivered in fear. She paused and took a deep breath before incanting a prayer on the both of them.
A sense of calm washed over Jimmy, as the fear vanished. While he still appreciated the danger of their situation, the unnatural panic in him was gone, for now.
"Given the situation, I would say it was Rahu the eclipse bringer because well, there's an eclipse going on, Taraksun the wrath bringer since end of the world plots are his thing, or Chupurvagasti, maiden of poison. You know given the purple smoke and all," explained Sammy. "What's more important is that I know what it's doing. It has a Black Scroll, the thing that Martinez took off of that Rakshasa lord so long ago. I don't know if it's the same one, but they have the ability to cancel magic, especially during an eclipse. Whatever is out there, attempted to negate the wards on one of Rovagug's tears near the jungle that my own temple stood vigilant over. It brought an army of Asura through it, and only the combined armies of Vinraj were able to push them back. I think it's trying to do the same here."
"Chupawhata?" asked Jimmy, not quite comprehending what she was saying.
Sammy stared at Jimmy, first in shock and then in amusement. She attempted to suppress a chuckle, but instead broke out into a coughing laugh, tears coming to her eyes. Even in the face of annihilation backdropped by their own wayward paths there was still some goofy connection between them. Jimmy grinned ear to ear, this was like old times. Forgetting his reservations, he leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
It was bliss. The answer and question he sought for nearly ten years.
Her eyes grew wide at his boldness, but she did not resist as she returned his long awaited affection with her soft lips.
Their 'true' reunion was short lived though as heavy footsteps shook the room as the Golden Destroyer turned his attention in their direction, as it thundered towards them.
Jimmy's mouth lingered on Sammy's a bit longer than he should, but his determination returned as he readied himself for what should be his greatest battle.
"We can either run or fight, but judging by what Chupamaiden is doing, I rather die swinging than hiding," said Jimmy as Sammy smiled in agreement. "I'm not an Asura expert, but I know what we fight. A Golden Destroyer, or Asurendra is nearly as strong as a dragon and it possesses sword and more importantly time magic. Even if your runes protect you, I'm a sitting lemming if he catches me with his chronomancy. It can freeze me in place as it surrounds us with blades or summon minions to overwhelm us. I'm not going to lie, but we aren't going to win this fight. Our best bet is for you to get his attention, trigger and waste his time stop spell while I get in the clear and try to knock that Black Scroll out of Chupathingy's hands."
Jimmy couldn't believe he said all of that, in such a concise manner. Was that Sammy's bravery spell or Martinez's training kicking into action? It didn't matter though, they were both going to perish soon. At least he made his peace with Sammy, whatever good that will do, before he went out to die like an idiot.
"Jimmy, take this before you go," said Sammy. Jimmy closed his eyes expecting another kiss even as the Golden Destroyer grew near. Instead of a final peck on the lips, Sammy shoved her crossbow into his hands. "Yours is broken, take mine for now, it shoots true and can skewer a Vrock at two hundred paces. "
Jimmy nodded in disappointment as he took her weapon. He didn't realize it before in the Succubus room, but now with her clear thinking spell on him he saw it was the one he gave her so many years ago. It was patched, repaired and upgraded, nearly unrecognizable but he knew it well. It was a single shooter, but he would only need one shot to finish this. Well not actually finish, at best all he could do is disrupt the ritual. Even if he hit the scroll squarely he doubted this weapon could destroy it. It was an artifact after all. If he was to do more than delay the Asura Lord's spell, he would have to knock the scroll out of his or her hands, retrieve it and then somehow run off with it. All the while, Sammy would be getting the crap or worse kicked out of her by the giant gorilla demon.
Images of the Asurendra knocking Sammy to the ground and stomping on her stomach flooded into Jimmy's head. He considered calling this off. Perhaps they should get to the surface, find real heroes to handle this like Grand Crusader Sarin, the Knights of Winter or even the Queen's guard. Anyone was better equipped and trained to face a Balor equivalent foe and his even more fearsome 'master' than a sell sword and a foreign priestess.
Jimmy's doubt was dispelled as a soft nuzzle followed by a soft kiss to his cheek. He turned and saw Sammy wink to him as she readied her shield and spear and gave him a smile. "You can do this. We both can," she said as she charged the approaching Asura.
Jimmy watched in disbelief before he slid into the shadows towards his own death.