Chapter 7

Vivificus was careful to stay slightly behind the rest of the group so that they would not notice his occasional grimace when pain shot up his left arm. The bite from Rattles was getting worse. The pain came in waves, never fully ebbing and always returning in a tide of agony. During the latest burst of pain the idea of amputating his own arm crossed his mind. Vivificus drew the sword he had claimed from the goblin, placing its wicked edge upon his upper arm. Luckily the pain became bearable before it came to that. If he decided to go this route, he would probably need to do it soon, before whatever curse was inflicting him spread to the rest of his body. For a brief moment, Vivificus wished that he could ask for help from one of his companions. He quashed that weakness quickly, and thought of amputation again as the pain ran rampant up his limb

He really hoped it didn't come to that. He also hoped that when it came time to fight he wouldn't be useless due to his injury. He hated feeling useless more than anything in the world.

The party came to a halt as they reach the ornate door at the end of the narrow hallway they were in. The door was made of the finest burnished bronze and depicted a new dawn in its ruddy surface. Orion motioned for silence, cutting off Lafayette midsentence, who was fretting over Godric. The sorceress glared, but held her tongue. What the cause of concern was, Orion wasn't sure. This was not the time to worry about it. The deva placed his ear against the door, listening for any sound from the other side. The group hadn't seen any trace of any living being in quite some time and Orion was confident that they were nearing the end of the tomb.

He wondered what follower of Lathander deserved such a grand burial. Who would he find buried here? And would he recognize them from one of his previous lives? These thoughts brought about mournful half remembered memories and also a fierce determination to see this through.

At this beautifully carved door, Orion heard a voice, unlike at the others they had encountered before. It was a low murmur, chanting some spell Orion could not recognize through the thick door. He was sure, however, that it wasn't any spell that he would appreciate. Perhaps Lafayette would recognize this foul sound, but his instincts screamed that there was no time.

He turned back to his group meeting each companions gaze, and whispered to them, "We are here. Beyond this door lies the enemy whom we have been hunting. We will finish this, here and now, and our mission will be complete." For Lathander, Orion thought as he prepared to burst through the door.

Treks didn't like the sound of what Orion was telling them. Their mission would be over? Where would he go from here? He wondered if any of his companions would want his company any longer when all was said and done, or if he was destined to be alone again. These darker thoughts shined an ancient rage deep in his chest. He would fight this battle and then fight for his friendship.

Vivificus had feelings so very opposite from the Dragonborn. He couldn't wait to be done with all of this. If he never saw another Deva, it would be far too soon. He would have to figure out a way to ditch the Dragonborn as well. That pathetic simpering fool was getting his nerves. Before he could finish his thoughts, his arm lit on fire once more.

Lafayette was excited; she had to admit she missed adventuring. Secretly admit it, that is, she could never admit that to any of her companions. . But she felt that adventuring was far too dangerous for Godric to be involved. When Lafayette looked into Godric's eyes, hoping to see her innocent little girl, she saw something much more… wild. It was clear that this mission was lighting a fire in her soul. Godric had no desire to revert back to her normal life with her mother whenthis was over. She was going to keep on adventuring, it gave her life purpose.

Of course, every plan hinged on them surviving their next encounter…

***

Azara never felt more in touch with her dark Patron then she did at this moment. She was still chanting her vile song, striking out with her Morningstar on each crescendo. She could feel the barrier weakening by the second. The Black Hand would be pleased.

The longer she chanted this depreciation to Bane, the more her magics changed her surroundings. The room she was in now was once a glorious room, full of sunlight despite the fact that they were deep in the ground. Flowers filled the room, both in vases and climbing up vines on the intricate columns that formed a central avenue through the room. Azara was disgusted by the state of the room when she first walked in. If she allowed herself to be distracted from her spell, she would be much more pleased by the fact that her dark energy was causing the roses to wither and stain the once pearly white marble that the room was carved from with streaks of ashy gray.

As the companions entered, Orion felt sick to his stomach when he saw what dark magic was doing to this holy place.

"You there!" He shouted, holding up his mace. "Your crimes end here."

Azara did not even turn to regard the deva, instead she chanted faster, smashing her Morningstar against the barrier once more. The sleek metal shined bright in the sunlight in this room, and upon contact with the barrier, ripples of energy came off of her weapon. Her work was more important than her life was. She would break into this tomb before these intruders got to her, she had no other choice. Retreating was not an option, it never was.

Treks was furious at this woman. Not for the same reason as Orion, although he wasn't happy that Lathander's tomb was being defiled, it didn't cause the rage he sought either. This was the woman who bested Orion and himself in combat; now here she was, not even giving the warriors the respect they deserved. By ignoring them, she insulted Treks in a way none had for years. Treks vowed that it would be the last mistake she made in her life.

Orion stepped forward, down the carpet that lead to the end of the room, passing two sets of armor that leaned against opposite pillars. Azara was standing in front and slightly above the group; there were five stairs before where she stood and five stairs past her, ending in a landing. On the top of the steps laid a casket. The top of it was open, although no one could see inside of it from where they were standing. However all could see the fact that the flowers that surrounded this grave were untouched by Azara and her spells. They were just as full of life as they had been before Bane's influence had ever entered this tomb.

Orion held his mace up to the Banite, and yelled down the hallway once more. "Turn and face us, woman."

"My name is Azara." She spit, insulted at Orion's way of addressing her. Her anger distracted her from her task. As she stopped her chanting to address the warlord, the magic in the flowers started to bring them back to life. "I am a Blackguard of Bane, and you will address me as such."

"You stand alone now, Azara. What chance do you have?"

"Alone?" She spit with fury. "You don't stand alone against me, Deva! You only feel confident with enough lackeys! What does that say about you and your weaknesses?"

Besides Azara thought to herself, I am never truly alone.

With that thought, the two sets of armors came to life, both drawing a sword from their scabbards and holding up the shields attached to their arms. They leaped out, swinging their weapons at the group. Treks and Vivificus quickly acted. Each parried the blows as the women started preparing their spells.

Orion was ahead of the skeletons when they attacked. Confident that his friends could handle these two enemies, he charged forward, running towards Azara.

Before he made it to her position, there was a distortion of dark magic, and a horrid stench poured from the ground. With a terrifying moan and a demonic tearing noise, the marble floor began to crack as humanoids poured from underneath the ground. With the moaning and scent of death, Orion knew them to be the lowliest undead, zombies. Orion cursed Azara's name as he smashed in the head of the nearest one with his mace. But he was surrounded and knew he would have to handle these new threats before he could face their creator.

Vivificus spun his blade around, easily parrying the blows of the armored figure. Between the gaps that he was cutting into the aged armor, he could see the bones of his enemy. These must be animated skeletons. This Banite was very powerful, he thought. Once the battle started, Vivificus pushed the pain of his arm back to some corner of his mind. He wasn't sure how long he could resist, but he knew what his role was to be in the coming fight, and he had to make sure that he could succeed. He needed to be on the winning side, it was his way of life. Deflecting another swipe from the undead, the swordmage saw a flash of magic as Lafayette completed a spell. He leaned to the side just in time to avoid the ice chunk that flew out of Lafayette's hands.

"Watch yourself, Lafayette!" the swordmage yelled.

"You watch yourself." The sorceress muttered under her breath before she started chanting the words to another spell, throwing a glob of acid at the same skeleton she had just attacked. The acid struck in the chest, causing the skeleton's armor to bubble slightly, but it didn't appear as either of the Eladrins were doing much more than aggravating the undead monster.

Treks and Godric were faring better than the elves. Treks was not simply parrying the attacks as Vivificus was. A fury was awakening inside of the Dragonborn, and he soon as the skeleton in the defensive. Add the fury of Godric's spells, and the poor skeleton never stood a chance. The magic in Treks new sword was flaring to life with every strike, each hit leaving a thin layer of frost across the skeleton's sword. It didn't take long for the frost to build up and when Treks bellowed a war cry and struck down with his sword, the skeleton's sword shattered in its hands.

Treks, ever the honorable Dragonborn, threw his sword to the side and leaped at the skeleton, tackling the creature and wrestling it to the ground with his monstrous hands. The mindless skeleton could not feel fear and fought back valiantly, stuck in stalemate with the barbarian. Draconic muscle pitted against animation sorcery.

Suddenly, right before Treks eyes the armor of the skeleton started to rust. The skeleton fell to the ground, legs kicking but unable to lift itself. The rust had frozen the armor in place, it was too much for the skeleton. It was frozen in a red iron prison. Treks turned to see the druid, holding on to a sprig of berries and smiling as the last of her spell left her lips.

"It worked!" She cried out, surprised at herself. She turned to help her mother and Vivificus, only to find the Eladrin duo in a fine state. Vivificus was parrying the skeletons attack, turning the skeleton ever so slightly so that its back was to the sorceress. Lafayette gripped her hands together, squeezing tightly, and when she pulled her hands apart a turquoise orb of arcane energy appeared in her hands. She threw it at her enemy; as the orb travelled the color changed, from red to green to violet, finally back to turquoise again as it struck her foe. Upon impact, the orb erupted with arcane forces, releasing the electric energy that Lafayette had prepared. The electricity coursed through the armor and into the skeleton, causing it to collapse to the ground, moving no longer. Either the magic had destroyed the skeleton badly beyond repair or disrupted the very foundation of Azara's animation. Given enough time Lafayette would love to test the spells, but they had a battle to win.

Vivificus breathed heavily as he surveyed the rest of the battlefield. The first thing he noticed was Treks and Godric, with their skeleton kicking futilely by their feet. He turned his attention to Orion, who was battling off an endless amount of zombies. Azara was oblivious to all the activity behind her, focused solely on whatever spell she was casting. At the end of the room, past the tomb that Azara stood before was another duo of armored skeletons, that Vivificus was certain she was bring to life if the need arose. As soon as the battle ended and Vivificus was planning his next move, the pain shot back to life in his arm. He bit his lip in pain, holding in a scream, and fell down to one knee.

"Are you alright?" Lafayette asked him, concerned, but the swordmage was already back on his feet.

"I'm fine." Vivificus said, eyeing up the battlefield. He had to get rid of this curse, but there was nothing to do until this battle was over. He knew what his next move was to be and he knew he had to get to Azara, but how to get past Orion and the horde of zombies?

Orion swung his mace once more, bashing another zombie to the ground. He was making progress in his march to Azara, but there were more and more zombies coming, crawling their way up from the ground to face the deva and he felt that by the time he made it to Azara, it would be too late. She would have found her way into the tomb and all that they have done here on this day would be for naught. He felt as if Lathander was speaking to him, telling him that it was his responsibility to stop Bane's influence here in this temple.

Suddenly, as if Lathander had blessed the warlord personally, Orion's body exploded with light. Astral splendor washed over the deva, blazing light striking into the zombies nearest to him and dissolving them back into the earth. The other zombies far enough away to avoid the attack shambled away, towards the rest of the companions. Orion was shocked, he never recalled channeling his god's light through his very body. Desperate times have always called for desperate measured. Lathander needed a champion, and Orion longed to answer.

Vivificus and Treks held up their swords, but Godric stepped in front of the two. "We'll take care of them, go and help Orion!" She yelled, pulling out her spell reagents. Vivificus started to open his mouth in protest, as pain shot through his arm once more. Godric did not know the condition Vivificus was in, but Godric's thought process was right, there wasn't time to delay. As he ran past the shifter, she was already throwing pinecones at the zombies, which exploded into flame midway. She smiled; this attack was by far her favorite to use on her foes. The natural fires seemed to almost enjoy feasting upon these mockeries of human flesh. Returning dead things to their proper plane as fertilizers in the great balance of the natural order excited Godric.

Lafayette fell behind Godric, standing back to back with her daughter, throwing an orb of acid at the nearest zombie. Unlike her daughter, she did not have an arcane attack she favored. Instead, she unleashed the full fury of the elements upon the zombies. One zombie approached her and she quickly melted its features with a fan of flames. As another approached, she channeled lightning into an arching spear. Fire, ice, lightning and acid were all flying at the zombies, and the poor creatures didn't stand a chance against the combined power of mother and daughter.

Orion stepped forward and Azara took pause of her ritual to face the deva, holy light shining brightly through his eyes and mouth. His chest was also shining brightly, as if his heart was so full of light that it could not contain itself anymore. Azara felt as if the light was burning her soul, as if Bane had finally decided that she was no longer worthy and had deserted her. She grabbed her Morningstar, knowing that if she did end the deva now, all of her plans would fall away.

"Azara!" Orion yelled, lifting his mace. "You have chosen the wrong path. Lathander has chosen me to rid this temple of the influence of the Dark Lord. You can choose to walk out of her now with your life and never return. This choice is yours, make the right one!" Azara did not response, simply sneering at the deva. "So be it." Orion concluded, lifting his mace and running at the Banite, when suddenly a whip made of arcane energy wrapped itself around his ankle. It pulled back, sweeping Orion off of his feet. As the deva hit the ground, his astral light diminished, leaving Orion in his normal state, turning to look up at Vivificus. The swordmage smiled triumphantly, he had wanted to do that for hours. Watching that paltry light show fade from Orion's chest made the wait worth it.

"Vee, what doing?" Treks asked, surprised. To respond, Vivificus held up his sword in the air and willed the arcane energy to fly off of it. It hit Treks in the chest, sending him flying backwards, the back of his head striking a pillar. He slumped down to the ground, his consciousness slipping away. Vivificus chuckled to himself, thinking it would have taken more to knock that thick headed oaf out.

As Vivificus stepped over Orion, approaching Azara, the deva noticed what was hanging around the swordmage's neck – the necklace of Bane that the goblin shaman they had faced earlier was wearing. Orion opened his mouth to yell, but couldn't find his voice. How could Vivificus betray them? Was he a worshipper of Bane this whole time? Orion felt lost, not knowing what to do. Lathander, what should I do, he begged silently, in vain.

Vivificus knelt before Azara. "Bane sent you?" She asked him. He kept his eyes down, not meeting Azara's gaze. "You've made the Dark Lord proud." She told Vivificus, who managed a smile at that comment. "Come now; help me bring down the protective wards around this tomb." The last thing Vivificus saw before turning to his task was Lafayette's look of pure rage and a single tear rolling down Godric's soot stained cheek.