Chapter 4: The Pathway of Flames
Shiva awakens yet again from unconsciousness. She tests all of her limbs, once again they are bound. Her mouth is still gagged. She looks over her shoulder to try to get a visual on the room. It is pitch black except for a few spots where flames erupt from the ground. She tries to break free but the ropes are too tight. She then lies down and accepts her fate.
Drizzt and Warren scream in pain as the arrow trap activates. The other members of the group manage to dodge the arrows, but those two got hit with a good 10 each. Both of them fall down, bleeding. Wanda immediately rushes to them and starts casting her healing spells. Drizzt gets up slowly, trying not to open any more wounds, but Warren just lies there. She checks his neck.
"He's dead…" she states. They spend a moment of quiet mourning, then Drizzt uses his daggers to dig a makeshift grave, and they bury him. Drizzt screams in pain again.
"I can't… move," he states, "My wounds will just keep reopening…"
"You stay here; we'll come back with Shiva, but first give me your daggers." Mez had never talked with so much anger in her voice before.
"My daggers? Why?"
"Just give them to me damnit!" He hands her the daggers and the 6 remaining members of the group keep going. Soon the come up to a dozen dwarves. Before anyone else can do anything, Mez channels energy into the daggers via her illusionary weapon skill. The other members of the group watch in shock as she slices all 12 down in less then 20 seconds.
"They shouldn't have made me angry!" She screams.
The 6 of them, Mez, Wanda, Sandra, Bender, Patsy and Grant, keep moving threw the mines until they reach a corridor that is set in lava. Only a small bridge of rock juts out.
"There is no way I'm walking across that" Patsy states, "One wrong step and we're burned."
"Agreed." Mez states, "I have a plan though. Bender channels fire and Grant is used to pain. I think that they should go across and see what is over there." Bender frowns.
"But," he starts
"No buts! I'm the leader of this squad and what I say goes!"
"Arg… fine…" The two of them start across. The corridor turns out to be longer then they predicted. After 11 minutes of walking, they are ambushed by a group of Cult archers. Bender summons a swarm of flames and kills half of them, and then Grant summons undead Bone Fiends from their corpses. They quickly take care of the other ones. When they reach the other side, they find a Lava Boat and use it to go back and get the others.
Drizzt grimaces in anger. He is helpless to fight against the dwarves that come and grab him. 5 minutes later he is thrown into the same room that Shiva is in. He quickly runs over and unties her.
"Are you ok?" He asks.
"Except for a few hurt limbs, I'm fine" She replies. They have no idea that the dwarves are preparing them to be sacrificed to Balthazar.