Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo II or any of its add-ons or affiliations.
Chapter 7: ACT I: The Den of Evil
Now, brave adventurers, we draw to a close for our heroes. We have only one left, but even with our power, we were not able to locate her or her reasons. We can only hope that in time, everything will be revealed. As for now, we may finally travel to the Rogue camp that everyone has been going to for the beginning of their arduous quest. Now, then, as always, read on, Brave Adventurers.
Lydia's eyes widened as red portals opened up. Guided portals, she thought, and she ran over to where Warriv was standing, trying to get away from the five portals that had opened up. Suddenly one last one opened right behind her, and six different people stepped out, in different manners as well. One of them, looking strangely like a rogue, fell out of her portal. However, she was the only exception. Everyone else stepped out of their portals, looking displaced, but overall, prepared for this.
She felt a finger tap on her back and she practically flew into the air. She turned around and was instantly frightened, for there stood the Assassin, staring at the sorceress. Suddenly Warriv smiled and said, "Well, hello there. We don't get many visitors nowadays." Everyone's attention was turned to him, even the amazon who was now being closely examined by the rogues. Suddenly, a few arrows thump into the ground in front of the heroes.
They turned to look and saw a stern lady wearing what appears to be a chainmail dress and a red cape. "You are outlanders who we do not know. Identify yourselves, then thank yourselves that you were not outside. Still, we are watching you." She said with a mean face. "Please, friends, excuse my friend. Kashya has been on edge since she was pushed out of the monastary. However, we all mourn the loss of our fellow rogues. But, if you will excuse me, please identify yourselves. I recognize some of you, but not all of you."
The Druid stepped up first. "I am a druid from the slopes of Mount Arreat. My name is Terra." From there they stepped up, as a coincidence, in the order that they had been visited. "I am a necromancer, and my name is Damien." Immediately, glances from the life-giving druid, who always enjoyed the healing magic he had been taught, were shot in the Necromancer's direction.
Before a retort came from Terra, the barbarian walked up and smiled, shouting, "My name is Lance, and I am a proud Barbarian of the Northern tribes of Arreat!" He smirked at the druid, who felt his temper rise. "My name is William, and I am a paladin of Zakarum." Of course, he could feel the power shift as the necromancer put himself on guard. The sorceress walked forward and addressed the adventurers, "I am Lauria, of the sorceress tribes near Kurast." She walked back over near Warriv, and waited for the next adventurer to walk up.
The amazon was next. "My name is Lena and I am a proud amazon warrior, guided by Athulua." She walked back down and everyone stared nervously at the one who hadn't introduced herself yet. The assassin looked from person to person, then sighed and walked up in front of them. "My name is Aile and I am one of the Viz-Jaq'taar. Although, the madam sorceress may know me for what I do." She walked back down and before the sorceress could do anything, Akara spoke up. "Please, adventurers, help us with a problem we have been having."
Immediately, the druid yelled out, "Why should I work with these brutes? They will only get in my way." Even with the hatred already welled up between them, they all murmured agreement, except for the assassin, who continued to look amused. "You must work together or fall together. I will NOT tell this to you again, young ones." Immediately, Lena had a bout of homesickness hit her like a ton of bricks. "Young one..." she said quietly, then walked away, towards the fire where she sat down and didn't bother to move.
Terra immediately walked over to where Lena was sitting, hoping to help her, at least slightly. William looked around at all of the fellow adventurers and then smiled at Akara. "Maybe we should just have some time to rest now? We can move out in the morning." Akara looked at William, as though lost in thought, then smiled and nodded. "That does sound to be a good idea for you all." She showed the other five to tents, and made sure a rogue knew where the other two tents were for Lena and Terra.
"Lena, are you ok?" Terra asked as he sat down with her. In the background he heard something about rest, which sounded good, but he didn't wish to let this girl stew in her misery until she felt like going to bed. The best way to get rid of sadness and misery is to share it. She looked at him, and he could tell she was teetering on the edge of breaking down entirely. "No, but you need not worry. I will be able to kill demons well enough, even like this." She said in a shaky voice that was barely holding back her emotions.
Terra breathed deeply, then looked up. He thought for a moment about where she got visibly disturbed, and tried to open her mind with his own musings. "I had a mentor." She looked over at him, unsure of what he was doing. "He was a real hero. He always carried around an amazing pole-arm and would always tell me stories of his younger days of slaying demons and other various evils on the slopes of Mount Arreat. One day, though, he came back and he was changed."
Lena's expression changed again, and Terra cut a glance from the dark sky to her face, checking for any visible change, and he could see, almost, sympathy, and he had a rough idea of what happened to her. He looked down, and then looked back over at her. Instantly he turned away. She's looking at me? Why?! he thought, frantically clawing at why he was uncomfortable under her gaze. She smiled and then said, through her tears, "Thank you for trying to help me out. We need to get our rest."
Terra nodded in agreement, looking over at the exit of the encampment and seeing some quill rats and his experience with them came back to him, suddenly, like a far-too-strong dream. He shook his head to get rid of the dream, but the fear on his face had been seen by Lena. She smiled at him, and then whispered into his ear, "Don't worry about those. I'll protect you." Terra looked over, desperate to explain why he had looked fearful, but she hugged him.
All in all, he thought, this has been a very weird day. He melted into her hug, hugging her back, and then they both walked to their separate tents and fell sound asleep, except for Aile, who was sitting in her tent, meditating on her skills. She smiled, thinking, My master was right to tell me to come here.
The sun came up and immediately, Terra woke up, wondering why the sun barely shone on them. He came out and asked Akara. "We are not sure why the clouds have stayed for so long, but we are sure that it is of demonic influence. Perhaps the demons' master wants to lower the morale of the rogues."
Terra looked up at the clouds and was almost mesmerized by the way the clouds were moving. Suddenly, he felt someone right behind him, and he felt the death and jumped forward, turning around in the air. Damien smiled at Terra, and then said, "What's wrong, dear druid? Are you scared of me, or maybe my power to move the line of life and death?" Terra glared at him, feeling the tension between the two opposing arcane knowledge.
"Stop right now!" Terra and Damien both turned and looked at the loud voice that had yelled. William glared at them, moving in between the two. "If we must get along, I will not tolerate any infighting, even against one directly opposing my religion." Damien gave William a glare, then smiled again at Terra. "I hope your magic is enough to save us all, or else you're in for a lesson in teamwork." Damien stalked off, going near enough to a tubby old man named Gheed to make the old man sweat in fear.
"Don't listen to him, Terra. We can do well with or without him. We don't need him." "Qute to the contrary, young ones, you do." Terra and William jumped at the sound of Akara's voice. "Well, I won't fight alongside that death-bringer." Terra said, looking towards the sky again, feeling his eyes drawn directly to the clouds, as though they had already hypnotized him. "You must, or else you will all perish along with the world! This is no time for petty trivialities!" Akara immediately yelled at Terra, frightening him. He looked at her with wide eyes and fought to keep his eyes off of the sky. There was something...unreal about the sky.
Akara looked a bit more stern and she asked him, "I am not telling you to do this for me, but rather instead, I am telling you to do this for the world!" Terra felt bad now, and he got up. "Fine then. Tell us what we must do and I'll help gather everyone up and explain it to them." Akara looked at him happily and he could feel the good feelings radiating off of her, more so than he thought she could ever feel. She then proceeded to tell him about the Den of Evil, a cave which had recently been taken by many Fallen and Zombies. He listened raptly, waiting for the true goal. She then told him that she wished for them to purge the cave of zombies and fallen so that they may not have a stronghold so close to the Rogue Encampment.
Terra sighed and looked outside the camp. "Why can't the rogues do it? They have more skill than us. Plus, they have the whole teamwork thing going for them. That's more than a little effective." Akara looked at Terra sternly, and then said, "You can feel the extra demonic taint out there. If our rogues tried to fight, they could become corrupted." Terra clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, a thing he copied from his elders. "Corrupted rogues-no-anything corrupted are, quite simply, too weak to be considered enemies." Terra heard a sob behind him and knew it was from Lena. For some reason, he had taken quite a liking to the extremely strong amazon.
He turned around and saw her, just as he had expected. She had tears coming out of her eyes and he could tell that his conversation between himself and Akara had upset her. "I'm sorry, Lena. I didn't mean to hurt you or make you sad..." Terra tried to apologize, but she looked at him, unbelieving, and ran off towards the other end of the camp. Terra looked at the ground and sighed. "She cares for you, and you can't even see it." Terra looked up at Akara, who had uttered that surprising statement.
"It's true and you could see it from the first time she looked you in the eyes." Akara said, looking sternly at him. Terra looked at the ground, nervous. "It just feels unusual is all. I didn't think that someone could like someone else within minutes of finding out the person's name." Terra said, rubbing his foot into the ground. Akara smiled at him, and said, "Count yourself lucky. She is strong and has a fierce amount of loyalty. You'd do well not to scorn her feelings." Terra continued looking at the ground, but then sat down, watching the fire in the distance.
"All right then. I guess it's time we head out now. Wait a sec..." Terra said, remembering the paladin suddenly. He turned, but William was nowhere near him. William had walked over to Warriv, discussing things that appeared to have to do with the path to Lut Gholein. Terra looked at the paladin for a little longer, then moved his gaze, desperately, hoping to see the Amazon, but he could tell she was in her tent.
"I'll go get her, and then we can move out. Could you gather everyone else here?" Terra asked, hoping she'd help him, while he tried to calm Lena. He walked over to her tent, listening for her. He smiled inwardly when he didn't hear any sobs from her tent. At least she's a bit more calm. I can deal with calm, he thought, looking at the tent for a bit longer. Terra walked into the tent and saw the amazon laying down on the bed. "Lena...are you all right?" Terra asked cautiously, hoping she wouldn't explode at him. She smiled, or tried to, but it ended up looking more like a grimace.
"My master became a corrupted creature. She had too much of what I believe was arrogance. She thought she could control the demons, but they ended up overtaking her as they do all who try to tame them." Lena explained, darting her eyes from Terra to the ground, thinking about whether or not he'd just sit there and laugh and make fun of her mentor as he did the other corrupted. To her surprise, he walked over to her bedside and looked at her, no humor on his face. "I am deeply sorry for the remark I made. I am sure that your master was a very strong person and that I was wrong about corrupted. I was taught by my teacher that those who were corrupted, however, generally had a weak willpower."
Lena smiled at Terra and said, "It's all right. Don't worry. We better get going, shouldn't we?" Terra's eyes suddenly flew open wide, and he smacked his head. "I forgot! I can't believe I forgot!" He pulled her up out of the bed without thinking about it and then ran outside. He saw everyone waiting over by Akara's tent. She was busy explaining the first quest that they were going to complete. Terra and Lena joined the group toward the back and Terra nodded, hoping that Akara would see or sense him. Suddenly, she wrapped up her explanation and said, "Now then, adventurers, you must head out into the Blood Moor and eliminate the Den of Evil. Feel free to kill other monsters as well, seeing as how it'd be a huge help to us rogues."
Terra smiled for just a moment, then came back to seriousness. "OK everyone, we have to get moving now. I'd like not to have to do this during the night, but I will work at all times. Let's get moving." "Why should we listen to you? I personally think that I would have a much more valuable knowledge of the demons here; enough, at least, to not be just a little baby wandering around for the first time." Damien said, grinning a truly frightening grin. Terra looked at him, but this time, his gaze didn't waver. He stared hard into Damien's eyes, until Damien backed down, looking away.
"Any other problems, or can we move out?" Everyone stayed silent, and Terra looked forward again, satisfied. "Then let's get moving." They walked out and were instantly assaulted by ten zombies, loping towards them in their odd way. Immediately, Lena nocked an arrow and let loose, William ran forward and sliced away at another zombie, Aile leaped at one of the zombies coming towards her, Lauria fire-balled a zombie, Damien raised a skeleton from one of the fallen zombies and started fighting using the skeleton, Lance ran forward and chopped one of them over with his axe, and Terra sliced away with his sword. After a little bit of fighting, they continued on, fighting and growing even stronger.
As they approached the Den of Evil, they could feel the vapors of evil coming out of the cave, amazed by the sheer power they felt from in there. Terra looked at everyone and said, "If you have to go back to town, do so now because we won't be leaving here until we're done." Everyone looked at him for a moment, then he asked Lena, "Do you have to get more arrows?" "No, or at least not since I learned Magic Arrow. It's slightly less stronger, but still powerful enough to kill something quickly enough."
Terra smiled, then looked at his ravens circling overhead. He had two, and smiled as one of them came down and perched itself on his shoulder. "Then let's go." Terra said, looking into the mouth of the cave with fear nowhere to be found. They all walked in, and the first thing they were aware of was the stench of rotting flesh. WIlliam began crying and said, "The souls here are so sad...We must free them by killing every flesh-mongering monster in here!" He unsheathed his sword and readied his shield.
Everyone moved forward, but they almost immediately came to an impasse. There were two paths. Both felt equally powerful and everyone was unsure of how to proceed. "Maybe we should split up? We'd cover more ground that way." Damien said, looking back and forth and hoping to hear praise instead of more mistrust from the group. "That sounds like a good idea. Two groups. Find your group and we'll get moving." Terra said, smiling at Damien. Damien looked suspiciously at Terra for a moment, then lightened a bit and managed to show a smirk.
They split up and started to walk in different directions. Terra had Damien, Lena and Lauria (only because Lauria asked him and whispered that she'd rather not die today, hesitantly looking over at Aile.) and William had Aile and Lance. Terra's group traveled cautiously through the dark, wandering around the corners, but William's group could see much further, because many Fallen had constructed torches to see in this area.
"Terra...I'm hearing something, but it doesn't sound like something I'd want to be near..." Lena said, nocking an arrow and starting to shift back and forth. "This darkness is unnatural..." Lauria said, as though thinking out loud. Terra looked around at the rest of his group, and Damien suddenly widened his eyes. "Damien-" Terra began in a somewhat playful voice, but was cut off by a loud moan right into his ear. Suddenly many long-nailed hands raked at his skin, tearing it like paper. One of them, however, left a cold feeling in its scratches. Before he could turn around, the hands came down again, and one of them sunk their hands right into the back of his head. He screamed out, but suddenly, the zombie died. "Terra...?" Lena asked in a wavery tone. Terra's eyes had rolled into the back of his head, and he fell to the ground, twitched for a moment, then was still.
Lena's eyes widened and she screamed, which got the other group's attention, way down in the other end. As they ran, they could hear more screams and several magical sounds, such as explosions and the chorus of voices whenever an amazon uses a skill. When they got there, Terra was laying on the ground, dead. Lena, Lauria, and Damien were all sitting there, breathing hard. There were about ten zombie bodies and a couple Gargantuan bodies laying on the ground. Lena was crying and she kneeled next to Terra's body. "Can we bring him with us? I...I want to bury him..." William smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course. We'll bury him and bless his body."
Lena helped to pick up Terra's limp body and they all helped to carry him out of the cave. They left, and were happy to know that they also accomplished their quest. They trooped into town with Terra's dead body, and suddenly Lena screamed. They looked at her, then at the direction she was looking and they screamed as well. Terra was sitting there on a chest, looking lost in thought while gazing into the fire. Lena let go of dead Terra and ran over to the chest where the living Terra sat. "Terra! Are you all right?! How are you here?!" Lena asked without pausing. Terra looked at her and responded, "I don't understand it. For one moment, I felt myself leaving here, but then it was as though an invisible force pushed me back here and gave me form again..." The others carried his body over to him, and he reached over to touch the face of the other Terra.
Suddenly, the dead Terra was gone and all his items had been equipped to the living Terra. Terra looked at himself for a moment, amazed. Then he stood up and smiled at them all. "I guess...I'm not dying any time soon." They all smiled and started to drag him along to Akara's, except for Damien, who stood away from the group, watching in horror. "How? How can he bend the balance of life and death so? My people have been trying for the last one thousand years to perfect raising a body with its own soul back. But how did he? He doesn't even have any intrinsic knowledge of the balance of life and death." "Maybe, death-speaker, he isn't the only one who can do that?" Damien jumped and turned around. Aile was standing right behind him, and it was obvious she had been listening to his every word. Damien stared at her for a little bit, then sneered and walked away. "His pride has been hurt. This could work rather effectively."
The others walked up to Akara and said, "We've completed your quest." Akara smiled and said, "Yes, I know. I could feel the disappearance of the evil from this distance. Now, as a reward, I'll teach you a skill of your choice." As they all chose skills, then walked away, Lena stared at Terra, who seemed much more thoughtful now. She walked over to him and asked, "Do you think you'd like to talk to me, just me and you? Maybe you have something you need to talk about..." Lena looked to the ground and she could feel Terra's gaze on her. "Sure. It may rain tonight. The trees say that they can feel these dark clouds bloating quite a bit." She smiled, then looked down into her bag.
"You may be able to use this better than I can. I think you'd enjoy wearing it too." Lena pulled out a helmet, but it looked to be made of a wolf head. Terra's eyes widened and a smile played across his face. "A wolf helm? Down here?! Amazing! They even have some good enchantments on it." Terra stared at it for a moment longer, then put it on over his head. He felt like he could take a bit more damage without feeling it. He smiled at her again. "Thank you so much for this helm." Lena said, "Not a problem. Now then, later on tonight, right?" Terra smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." Lena smiled widely. "Thanks!" She ran to her tent and stayed in there, whereas Terra went and talked to William.
"William, what do you think about what happened to me?" Terra asked William. William looked at him for a moment, and then said, "Divine Intervention, plain and simple. We're the chosen to smite the evil of Diablo. We can't do that if we're dead." Terra nodded, then looked over at everyone else. He realized that he had barely talked to Lance, but that was okay, because Terra knew Lance didn't feel like talking to him either. Lauria hadn't talked all that much, but she was shy, from how she had tried to hide from the others, time and again. He'd talk to her whenever she got over her timidness. He didn't even want to talk to Aile, because she just gave off a really creepy aura. It felt...weird to be around her. Like she could...feel your feelings and thoughts.
Terra shook his head and decided to take a nap. The easiest way to pass time, after all. He went into his tent, summoned a crow and commanded it to wake him when night fell. He went to sleep and dreamt restless dreams about the wanderer slaughtering people in a tavern, then continuing onwards out of Westmarch. He noticed a person following him, but the person didn't seem to be very significant. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his arm. He woke up and looked at it, and the crow was biting him on his arm that was hanging off of the cot. He looked around, realized that it had been dark for only a little bit, then thanked the crow and unsummoned it. He ran out to the fire, and saw Lena sitting there, staring fearfully at him. "You were making some...unusual sounds. Sounds that I'd expect out of a demon..."
Terra remembered only one part of his dream. He explained to her that he dreamed of the wanderer slaughtering a tavern and he was rather frightened from it still. Lena nodded in understanding, then looked around them. Everyone else had pretty much gone to sleep. A few rogues were patrolling near the outside. "Terra," Lena began. "I...I don't know how to say this, but I've...I've taken quite a liking to you. I know, I know, it's only been a few days, but still, you have this...this protective aura and you seem to try to do the best for everyone and not shortchange anyone. I..." Suddenly, tears began to spill down her face. Strangely, at the same time, the rain fell. She noticed that Terra had taken his helm and heavier armor off, and thought that she should've done the same. She asked, "Could you hold on for one second?" She ran over to her tent, holding the tears back as best she could, and she made it inside her tent.
She took off her helm and her bow and arrows, but the tears suddenly poured from her eyes. She began to sob, but she hoped she was doing so quietly, so that nobody would hear and come to ask. Suddenly, she heard the flap move, and hoped to Athulua that it wasn't Terra, but she knew that it was by the way he walked. Even in the mud, he had a soft way of walking that eliminated most sound. He looked at her with a completely serious face. She looked at him, then started sobbing aloud. He moved down to a kneel immediately and held her against him. "I-I-I was s-s-so scared that I-I-I'd lo-lo-lo-lose you..." The last two words of Lena's sentence turned into the beginning of a huge sob. Terra looked at her, realizing that, for all the training he had gone through, he had never learned how to comfort a person.
"It's all right now, though. I'm here and I'm not going to let that happen again." Truly, he thought to himself. Lena looked at him and her face was more red now and he knew that she wasn't going to stop crying anytime soon, even if he allayed her fears about his death, because she wasn't only crying for him anymore. She was crying for everyone who had died, for those who would never be able to cheat death. "You know, you're a really compassionate person. Please, though, calm down. You may not feel well if you don't calm down a bit. Here..." Terra said, moving one of his hands towards the ground. He closed his eyes and wrinkles of concentration showed up on his forehead and at the side of his eyes. Suddenly, a flower sprouted up, a beautiful white rose. Terra smiled at Lena, whose expression had taken on one of awe.
Please let this help her, please let this help her, please let this help her, he thought, hoping that she'd stop crying, at least for now. He hated to see her, or anyone, cry. Suddenly, images of his mother came back to him, and he felt a lump in his throat. "No, not now..." He whispered. Lena looked at him and could tell that he was battling with his own emotions now. Her tears stopped and she asked Terra, "Are you okay?" He looked at her, smiled...and then that smile twisted. He shook his head and said in an uncharacteristically wavery voice, "No...No, I'm not." Suddenly his tears came, and so did huge, great sobs. She took his head into her shoulder, rubbing his head full of red, fiery hair. "It's all right, Terra. It's all right." She said, trying to calm him down. Unlike him, she had lived with many other people at all times, so she had seen plenty of ways to calm a person down.
"It'll never be all right! Mother never had to die! She just...she wasn't strong enough to fight back. I hate the Prime Evils. I hate the Lesser Evils, I hate the great and lesser demons!" He sobbed again, then he looked up at her, and she looked, with a soft and caring smile, right into his eyes. His sobbing subsided somewhat, but he hugged her even harder. Lena said, "Terra, I'm always here for you, ok?" He looked back up at her, and nodded. "Thank you...and I'm sorry. That was...an unbidden visitor from the past." Lena was, of course, still surprised to see someone who looked as strong as he did cry so hard.
Lena looked at the ground for a moment. "Do you want to stay with me tonight? I can set up the extra cot they gave me in case mine breaks." Terra looked at her, nodded, and before she had the other cot up, he had fallen asleep on the ground. She softly shook him to waking, then guided him without words to the other bed. She smiled and thought, Wow...he looks so soft and vulnerable when sleeping. She smiled, kissed him on the cheek, then turned to her own cot, fell down onto it, and promptly fell asleep.
AN: Wow...That took a bit, but it's a long chapter. I really think that everyone who reads this can tell who the two main characters are. I will focus on the other characters, but it'll take me a bit to do so. As for now, though, take heart in what you have read and, please, review my story.