Loyalty of the Tiefling

by JHMLYNDALE

The events of Mask of the Betrayer, but with the twist of Neeshka having managed to follow her harbour-boy… who is hers rather than Elanee's. Prologue, 25 chapters, Epilogue.

23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Blake stepped forward and shoved the Sword of Gith into the 'keyhole'. For a moment nothing seemed to happen and then the strange black substance the gate was made from shimmered to be replaced by a purple glowing mist around the frame. It was hard to tell whether the gate had opened or dissolved and the portal that now filled its frame was not as appealing as the prettier clouds of Song Portals. With a great many qualms, and the renewed temptation to waste their tendays of effort and give up rather than continue, Blake stepped forward and into the gate.

The skeletal statues and stone walls and floor shifted to grey mud underfoot and a grey sky above them. Even the breeze that was blowing seemed grey as it was neither hot nor cold enough for its temperature to be notable. The scene was little surprise to Blake and Gann as they had seen this in the Dreamscape of the Wall of the Faithless, but Okku harrumphed in disdain and Neeshka looked uneasy at the desolate scene and stepped closer to Blake. He smiled to her and then looked down towards the City of Judgement from where they stood on a low hill. There seemed figures milling about near the nearest gate with a Blue Dragon looming above them and Blake cursed under his breath.

"Harbour-boy?"

"Myrkul could have been right," replied Blake to his beloved and the others, "there is a Dragon yonder and…" He paused and nodded at the approaching figure. "A winged man with silvery skin approaching. That would account for two of Akachi's Captains. They did respond to the opening of the Betrayer's Gate."

"This might not be as simple as we hoped," Gann commented, "perhaps the delays for food and rest and then retribution on that Academy were unwise."

"I am not sure those made any difference," mused Blake, "they either moved very fast or anticipated our arrival."

The short conversation let the figure finish its approach and, after glancing at Neeshka to see if she looked pained by his presence, Blake turned to the man whose attention seemed to be on what was still in Blake's hand. His skin was a little greyer than Kaelyn's had been and his wings a lot darker. More impressive were his topaz eyes and that he was still looking down at them despite having stopped only partway up the hill. If the top of Blake's helmet would come any higher than this Celestial's belly button then that would be a surprise. Despite the dim light of the Fugue Plane his armour plates still gleamed gold over his chest, though the exposed skin of his upper arms and thighs almost seemed to blend with the sky and soil.

"It has been a long time, Akachi," the winged man greeted them, glancing again at the Sword of Gith. "It is time we finished this once and for all."

"As I keep on having to tell people," Blake said, a little tersely, "I am not Akachi and nor am I any other of the previous hosts of this curse."

"I meant no offence," replied the winged man. "The name is revered among us, and I was unsure if you had taken it as your own."

Blake looked at him for a moment with a frown. "All I have left of the mother who died saving me when I was a baby in her arms is the name she gave me," he pointed out as his frown deepened. "Why in the Hells would I give that up or the titles I have earned? The boy that Akachi was might have had to accept that as his new name from the Priests of Myrkul but I do not have to accept it from this curse."

"As I said, I meant no offence," the winged man repeated. "It was simply that as you are heir to not only his punishment but to his sword I wondered if you had also been heir to his name."

"Hmm," said Blake, trying to be more diplomatic. "I have heard of you. Zoab, fallen Solar, and one of Akachi's three Captains during the First Crusade."

"Exiled, not fallen," Zoab replied, Blake managing to cause more offence when trying not to. "I still battle evil and tyranny in my own way."

"That is all any of us can do and continuing to fight despite your exile is admirable," nodded Blake, accepting the distinction and trying again to be polite. He looked off again into the distance. "There looks to be quite a crowd at the Supplicant's Gate."

"Yes, your… Akachi's… other lieutenants await us there and Kelemvor has sent people out to meet us," Zoab replied. "To parley, perhaps, or simply demand that we turn away and leave." The Solar paused and gave Blake a hard look. "I trust there is no chance of that?"

"I am here for my soul and will not leave without it. I would like to avoid a battle if I can though."

"A noble sentiment, and one I would normally agree with," Zoab nodded, "but make no mistake… there will be bloodshed. Come, our enemies await us at the gate."

With that Zoab walked away with the long strides his towering stature gave him and back down the low hill towards the Supplicant's Gate. Gann watched him go for a few moments before he spoke quietly. "But which side does he refer to?" mused Gann. "Which are our enemies and which could be our allies?"

"As much as I dislike the Wall of the Faithless," Blake replied, starting to wrap the Sword of Gith back into its rug, "the fact remains that destroying the Wall may not be necessary to recover my soul and end this curse. But it seems Myrkul was right both in predicting Akachi's captains would be here and that they will not accept compromise, even if it would leave Akachi finally at peace, rather than Crusade."

"Do you not need that as a symbol of your identity?" asked Gann, nodding towards the bundle of rug and Sword of Gith. "That seemed how Zoab recognised you."

"You are good with words harbour-boy," Neeshka reassured him, "maybe you can talk us through this."

"I am not that good with words," said Blake, returning the rug wrapped Sword of Gith to his Magic Bag and checking his other sword was sliding free in its scabbard, "and it seems irrelevant to that attempt which sword is in my hand. Ready your weapons, or your teeth and claws. As the Solar said, there will be bloodshed."

"Hrm," Okku rumbled, "my teeth and claws are always ready to shed the blood of those that oppose my oath."

Blake and Neeshka exchanged looks. In some ways Blake envied the bear-god's purity of purpose and his lack of doubt over doing whatever was needed to end this curse. In Neverwinter when the Knight's Oath was being recited to him, before he was taken on as a Squire, Blake had insisted that his conscience would dictate his actions and his feelings had not changed since then. But it would be simpler if like Okku he could regard whoever they were about to have to kill as being merely an obstacle that should have known better.

Neeshka gave her harbour-boy another reassuring smile and they started down the hill towards the Supplicant's Gate. As they approached Blake saw that what had looked like a boulder was actually a floating skull the height of a man, and realised this was likely Akachi's third Captain. Despite the sound of screams and moans becoming louder as they got nearer Blake managed to search his memory of the play in the Slumbering Coven's Dreamscape and recall the names. The giant skull would be Rammaq, the old and dead, and that would make the Dragon Sey'ryu, who soared blue scales against blue sky.

Zoab was standing next to a Planetar and managing to make the green-skinned winged figure look small. Despite a Planetar being one of the most powerful and impressive Celestials most mortals could hope to meet Zoab was still half a head taller, and his simpler armour seemed less fussy than the breast and back and thigh plates and golden chain covered arms and calves and pauldrons. Confronting them were four figures and Blake felt a twitch of recognition from his curse at the sight of two of them.

Their leader seemed a Dwarf in full plate armour, a tower shield on his arm and a Dwarven Waraxe as firmly in his hand as the scowl seemed to be on his face. Hanging back a little at his shoulder was a man in monk's robes and behind him a female Elf with feathers in her hair, clad in leather armour and with a sling dangling from one hand. The eyes of the feral looking Hin near her flickered to Blake and the others as they neared before he went back to looking at Akachi's Captains. Some light glinted off his chain shirt as his shoulders twitched with the desire to use the shortbow in his hand.

Blake sighed to himself as seeing the Hin's reaction and that they were led by a Dwarf, and a determined looking one at that, cost him the tiny hope he'd had that Kelemvor's defenders would be less willing or eager to fight. Behind those four people were what looked like the local militia. A man in full plate with a sword the size of Blake's and a shield a little smaller seemed in charge of that group. Flanking him were four spearmen, two in scale mail and two in chain, and behind them to provide support was another man in scale with a heavy crossbow and what looked like a wizard in grey robes and skullcap.

"Do you hear it... in the cries of the damned?" Zoab demanded. "Hope. Today we change the order of the planes..."

"Zoab," said Sey'ryu, turning her huge head to look down at Blake past the massive horns on her nose. "This is Akachi?"

Blake looked calmly back at her, despite how far up he had to look and despite the size of her visible teeth. "I am not. All that remains of him is hunger and scattered memories. I am here to retrieve my soul and end the curse, not to lead any sort of Crusade."

"Truthful, but not diplomatic," Gann commented.

"Listen to him, you rebels and fools," the Dwarf growled. "You've armies massing about the city… turn them back, and spare their souls."

"Ah, my mistake," Gann commented again. "That was not diplomatic."

"You would turn against your own Crusade..." asked Zoab, drawing himself up to his full imposing height, "when the Wall is here, within our grasp?"

"Doing good is not always enough, Zoab," the Dwarf glared at the far taller figure. "Destroy the Wall and you break the covenant between mortals and Gods! Will the planes even survive your folly?"

"And this is not my 'own Crusade'," Blake added in a rather calmer voice. "I do hope that ending his punishment and reuniting his remains will grant Akachi some peace but that is as far as my feelings towards him go." After a pause Blake added. "And I admit that saving Akachi motivates me less than saving myself and saving more spirits of Rashemen from being devoured by the spirit-eater."

"Betrayer!" a voice hissed from behind Blake.

This voice seemed slightly familiar and as Blake turned and saw who had spoken he realised why. It was familiar because it was Kaelyn's but only slightly so because it was filled with emotion rather than unearthly serenity. That passion was an even greater surprise than that Kaelyn and her siblings had followed them through the Betrayer's Gate to this grey realm of death and conflict.

"Kaelyn?" Blake asked, not quite believing his eyes with what his ears had told him. "Why are you here?"

"Kaelyn the Dove," said Zoab in recognition. "We have heard of your crusade, though we saw it end before we could join your side."

"Ah," Blake breathed, Neeshka moving closer to him and away from the discomfort of the siblings' presence. "Your interest in Akachi was not academic. You seek to emulate him, so you waited for us to open the way and then followed."

"Rather than help us against those undead," muttered Neeshka.

"And a cleric's powerful healing would have been a lot of help," Blake muttered back.

The man in the monk's outfit stepped forward to better see Kaelyn and to speak. "Her 'Second Crusade' was cut short along with our lives. Stopped before it could even march."

Blake turned back a little to better see him as well as Kaelyn. Those words explained why he'd not seemed familiar if they meant he'd been part of Kaelyn's Crusade rather than Akachi's. A look of stunned disbelief came to Kaelyn's face and made Blake further wonder if this was truly her with the emotions she was showing. She took a moment before she could manage to reply.

"Jorin?" Kaelyn asked, sounding as if she wanted him to say 'no'. "But… how did you die?"

"It was not just me that died," replied Jorin. "The rest of the Sleeping Brothers are here with me in the judgement of Kelemvor and our liege lord. Put to the sword by the latter for intending to march on death at your side."

"More crimes to lay at the door of the God of the Dead!" Kaelyn accused.

"Place blame where it truly belongs. Kelemvor's priests sought to dissuade our lord but it was not the sacrilege. We had disobeyed him and taken orders from another and we knew the punishment. Just as you knew it and what you expected us to risk even if we survived your Crusade." Kaelyn gave a tiny nearly imperceptible nod at that truth and Jorin continued. "Now I warn you, turn away from Kelemvor's citadel or you shall surely join us in death."

"You may have been judged False and accepted your sentence to serve Kelemvor here," Kaelyn managed to say as her shock faded, "but I cannot rest when the injustice of the Wall exists. That is why my Grandfather exiled me and that is why we followed this man through the Betrayer's Gate in case, as it has proved, he was unwilling to do what must be done."

Blake turned his attention to Efrem and Susah as a thought occurred. "I thought you could not enter Myrkul's vault? Not even to save your sister, as that would betray your faith."

"Kaelyn has explained things," Efrem replied, "we know now that Kelemvor has betrayed our faith in him."

"And if we are to assault the City of the Dead," asked Susah rhetorically, "then what was one small 'betrayal' before that?"

"I opened that gate to end this curse, not to start a war," Blake said flatly.

"You cannot start a war that has been going on since before your grandfather's grandfather was born," protested Kaelyn. "This curse is only one part of Myrkul's wrongdoing. It all must be corrected, the Wall must be brought down, you must realise this!"

Blake paused and thought. He had faith that Neeshka would support him whatever he decided and knew the Wall of the Faithless mattered very little to Okku. Gann might prefer to support the Crusade as even before he'd been warned the Wall of the Faithless might be his fate he'd thought it a monstrous story. However despite his personal reason to see the Wall fall Blake was sure Gann would want them to do whatever better assured they would end the curse. Becoming involved in this Crusade could interfere with that as well as being a blasphemy Blake was reluctant to perform.

"This has never been my Crusade," nodded Blake slowly. "My concern is ending the blight Myrkul's vengeance on Akachi inflicted on Rashemen."

"So be it," Kaelyn said with contempt. "If you will not stand for justice, I will."

"I stood enough for justice I was willing to use this curse to grant the remains of Myrkul rest."

"You expect us to believe you killed a god?" Kaelyn asked, losing even more of her serenity in her scorn.

"I expect you to believe that whatever haunted Myrkul's corpse could not prevent the Hunger of the Wall, channelled through this curse, from severing the links that bound it to that great skeleton. Whether some part of him will return to haunt it again if people continue to fear his name I do not know."

"Your words mean nothing without proof," sneered Kaelyn.

"Do you doubt the word of a god-of-bears?" Okku rumbled, somewhat menacingly.

"I doubt the word of any God," said Kaelyn, spreading some of her contempt for Blake onto Okku as well.

"Perhaps you should have kept that essence after all, harbour-boy," Neeshka commented as Okku glared and growled.

"Enough!" snapped Kaelyn. "If what remains of Akachi inside you has abandoned his Crusade then stand aside. I have not abandoned my Crusade and though little remains of Akachi except an idea I carry it stronger than you ever have."

"That I do not argue with," Blake replied, "since, as I said, this has never been my Crusade."

"Kaelyn the Dove, we accept you as Akachi's true heir in spirit if not in soul," said Zoab, giving the smaller female winged figure a respectful bow. "We apologise for not joining your earlier Crusade but now we shall follow where you lead…"

"If you promise the same as Akachi did to me," Rammaq interjected, "and allow me the archives…"

"And together we shall tear down the Wall," finished Zoab.

"So be it," Kaelyn replied, squaring her shoulders. "I shall keep Akachi's debts just as I shall fulfil his dream. May we be victorious."

"Zoab, Rammaq… go and rally your legions of fodder, if you like," said Sey'ryu. "I agreed with Akachi that I would destroy all enemies of the Crusade here at the Supplicant's Gate." She looked down at Blake again. "All enemies… even if one of them happens to be his 'heir'."

Blake tensed slightly as Okku transferred his glaring to the Dragon from the Half-Celestial. "Do you really wish to make me an enemy?" Blake asked with menace that was quieter but no less definite than the bear-god's.

"You made yourself that," replied Sey'ryu, flexing her great wings as she turned slightly. "There is no neutrality here. You cannot simply stand aside and expect to walk through this war of ideals unscathed!"

"Very well, you will not be the first Dragon I have killed, nor even the largest," Blake glared, adding an insult, "though those horns make you by far the ugliest."

"Your claim is as contemptible as your taunts," hissed Sey'ryu, before drawing in a deep breath.

"Scatter," Blake ordered, springing back and to one side as his sword swept from his scabbard. An instant later a thundercloud erupted from Sey'ryu's mouth and engulfed where Blake had been standing as tiny lightning sparked within it.

"My impression was that Dragons breathed fire," commented Gann, who had obeyed the order through trust for Blake. "That was unexpected."

"Red Dragons," Blake said tersely. "Which made immunity to fire rather handy then. But we can make do here." Blake kept moving as Sey'ryu's gaze followed him and as the defenders of the gate hesitated over whether to help or wait for them to injure each other. "And Dragons are immune to their own breath, so even if you get the chance for a lightning storm that would be a waste of the spirit's blessings."

Gann nodded as Sey'ryu wondered if the claim had been as contemptible as she had thought. This betraying speck seemed knowledgeable of Dragons and there had been rumour of some being slain recently. However the only one of those that approached her in size had been found surrounded by the corpses of the Fire Giants that had invaded that Dragon's mountain. It seemed far more likely this… man… had heard that rumour and was trying to claim credit than that he had fought alongside those Fire Giants and survived against that Ancient Red Dragon.

"Bow?" Neeshka asked quietly from beside Blake.

"Bow," nodded Blake.

Neeshka nodded back and loped away, sheathing her rapier and drawing her shortbow from her magically organised and capacious bag as she moved. Blake and Okku continued to try to circle Sey'ryu and the great Blue Dragon continued to turn to follow them. As Neeshka strung her shortbow with one quick action she wished she could have stayed at her harbour-boy's side, but getting a little extra distance would give her a better angle for her arrows. And thinking of which those scales looked rather thick and tough and hard to get through so she needed to decide what sort of arrows to use.

Meanwhile Blake was wishing he'd not anticipated a fight as against a foe the size of Sey'ryu his shield would be no barrier and if it was slung across his back then he could be using his bow as well. This would have been another good test of it as he'd been lucky his spells had worked against the Pit Fiend in that Dreamscape of the Wall and he was unsure whether it had been good luck or if he'd dreamed a weaker Devil. So although it seemed very unlikely he could daze a Dragon he was curious as to if the arrows would at least pierce the scales and rupture Sey'ryu's flesh beneath with the excess of life energy they released.

And there was the question of if his spells would work here as Dragons, like Devils and some other creatures… Blake's chain of thought diverted a moment as he wondered how little Gann would appreciate being called a creature… could resist spells. Staying out of reach of Dragon claws and teeth and breath was a good reason to use spells or a bow and being uncertain of if spells would work was good reason for bow rather than spell. But he couldn't afford the time to remove his shield and Neeshka was already doing a fine job with her own less magical and smaller bow.

Neeshka's lips drew back in irritation over her even white teeth. When he'd been tempted by those over-priced bows back in Port Llast she'd pointed out to her harbour-boy how many quivers of arrows he could buy for that price. And that there was no point in having arrows made by the magic of the bow if those arrows didn't work on what you were loosing them at. With the number of arrows she might have to use on this Dragon however she was reconsidering this. Sey'ryu's head was armoured with especially thick scales so Neeshka had to use her finest most needle-pointed bodkins and though those were penetrating they were just needle pricks to this foe.

But as she had told her harbour-boy many times subtlety did count for something. Even if all you had was a needle you could still hurt someone if you stabbed that needle into the right place. Like a nerve, or a vein, or in this case an eye. The way Sey'ryu's head was moving to follow her harbour-boy was not enough to throw off Neeshka's aim as she loosed another arrow and it embedded itself in the side of the Dragon's face. So far she had not managed to strike the actual eyeball with how deep it was within the ridges of scales above and below and around it but she was striking close enough Sey'ryu had begun to sprout what looked like cartoon eyelashes around her left eye.

Gann moved in a little closer to Sey'ryu's right flank though he was not sure what he could do. The depth of the wound he would need to inflict to do any harm would require him to put a lot of power behind his spear. That was not a great problem as her attention was on Blake and old-father-bear so there was a chance he could afford to be less subtle. What could be more of a problem was that thrusting his spear that deep into such tough scales and flesh would very likely result in him losing his spear rather than being able to pull it back out.

Even if that would free his hands to follow Neeshka's fine example of using a bow Gann still felt it also meant he needed to make sure the spear thrust was into something vital to make that loss worthwhile. The problem was that her wings protected her flanks and trying to strike at her neck or chest would bring him within her sight and her ability to breathe a thundercloud on him. Gann was sure it would be little more than painful if he stabbed her in the wing and that, even if he charged and struck with all the force of a full run, his spear would not pierce deep enough through wing and scales to find anything vital.

As Blake and Okku's circling and Sey'ryu turning to follow them brought her rear around towards the Supplicant's Gate there was a sudden flurry of activity as the Dwarf spokesman charged. This seemed to take his fellow defenders of the gate more by surprise than it did Sey'ryu. She almost casually swept her tail across in a flick that sent the Dwarf flying as if he had been tossed. Unfortunately for Sey'ryu the Dwarf had met her tail with his axe so she also sprayed some of her blood aside and, though surprised, the man in monk robes was fast enough to catch up.

Sey'ryu's tail froze for a moment with the pain of the axe cut and the monk jumped and ran up it onto her back and along that to begin punching the back of her head. Even with his skills this did not seem to be doing much harm and Blake remembered what Khelgar had said about the Gauntlets of Ironfist. That though you could punch through a stone wall with just the Gauntlets that it was when you had the Hammer of Ironfist, and therefore also the Belt, that you could start felling Dragons with one blow. Sey'ryu hissed in irritation and swept her wings up to try to trap the monk, but he jumped onto the top of her head and off the right side of it and bounded away.

Gann started in again, hoping to take advantage of the raised wings for a spear strike as the monk retreated towards the Supplicant's Gate but, to his annoyance, Sey'ryu lowered them as she turned a little to her right to follow the monk. From near the gate the others finally joined the fight with a barrage of crossbow bolts and sling bullets and fire arrows against Sey'ryu's rear and right. Only the arrows seemed at all effective in managing to both pierce the Dragon Scales and to burn her since she was a Blue rather than a Red. Even those mostly glanced off or struck Sey'ryu's wing though.

Seeing the burn the man in robes confirmed he was a mage of some sort as he chanted and gestured and a Fireball sprang from his hands and into Sey'ryu. Whether it was deliberate or accidental that striking her in the arse left Gann outside how far the fire spread from the impact Gann didn't know. Had it been Blake he would have assumed good aim but he was unsure whether these people cared enough about him and the others to even try to be careful with their attacks.

Sey'ryu turned faster as she felt the fire burning into her upper thigh and the edge of the base of her tail. This was fairly slow and ponderous but for a creature of her size she was almost whipping around to her right. Neeshka muttered a slight curse as she had to hurry her attempts to follow the Dragon and keep her angle on the left eye that was starting to show signs of swelling closed as more and more arrows embedded themselves around it. A line of militiamen, spearmen either side of the man in full plate, had formed between her and those who could attack from a distance. Sey'ryu swung her head a little further to look to her right side. She exhaled and though the militiamen were not tightly spaced she managed to engulf them all in the thundercloud that belched from her mouth.

They staggered as electricity played over their scale and chain and plate mail and through their muscles. Gann was not sure if they were reasonably tough or whether Sey'ryu had spread her attack thin enough for it to be less effective. Either way they needed assistance and he broke off his attempts to plunge his spear into the Dragon in favour of sprinting towards those people. He just hoped the spirits could hear him here. It had felt bad enough on the Thaymount so would they be able to lend him their strength in the Fugue Plane so he could heal these people?

Arrows and crossbow bolts and sling bullets had continued to pelt Sey'ryu as she turned and were now streaking in at her face and right shoulder. Aiming for the face was a good idea against many things but from her front the slope of the scales down to her muzzle and the curves of her massive nose horns deflected missiles rather than those piercing into her. The militia mage chanted again and a large ball of sonic energy streaked at the Dragon as he cast a Cacophonic Burst. To his annoyance rather than shaking and rupturing the great Blue Dragon's flesh this vanished into nothingness as Lady Luck favoured her to resist it rather than The Mother of all Magic favouring him.

Neeshka's angle and her aim had been better but even with the speed her long lithe legs and her harbour-boy's spells gave her she was having to run quite a wide arc to be able to resume loosing arrows at her chosen target of Sey'ryu's left eye. However Blake could already see a definite line of shininess down that cheek where tears had washed away the dust of the Fugue Plane. He began to charge in, apparently trying to take advantage of this, and though her eyesight on that side was blurry with those tears Sey'ryu saw him. She swung her head and shoulders back around to her left to snap down at him and destroy the betrayer of Akachi's remains before she continued her attack on the militia.

As the Dragon's neck and spine curved and her huge teeth descended to meet him Blake appeared to suddenly have second thoughts and veered to one side. Sey'ryu lunged for him and then as her forelegs bent and her neck extended she felt a weight slam into the left side of her neck and shoulders. Too late she realised that 'attack' had been a diversion to bring her throat within reach of that spirit-bear. Even with how Sey'ryu had slightly crouched it had still been quite a leap for Okku to make, but his strength and rage had driven him upwards and now spirit-sharp claws and teeth sliced through scales or tore them free as he bit and clawed at her.

Gann glanced behind him towards where the bear-god was snarling with determination. He was impressed both that old-father-bear was managing to cling on and with the size of Sey'ryu. In their travels Gann had got used to thinking of Okku as immense but here he was almost completely hidden behind the Dragon's neck. He continued on towards the Gate to receive suspicious looks from the militia as he beseeched the spirits. To his relief they didn't assume this was an attack and strike at him to prevent it and something did respond to his plea. A wave of healing energy rippled out over the militiamen to ease their cramped postures and, to a lesser extent, their suspicious expressions. Glancing about again Gann could see the Dwarf was charging in again from where he had been knocked and that Neeshka was hesitating slightly. Okku being where he was had given her the dilemma of whether to try to get around to aim for Sey'ryu's right eye, and risk being between the Dragon and the wall, or to wait for another shot at the left eye.

Sey'ryu reared up, her wings driving a lot of dirt and dust into the air as they flapped to help propel her up to stand on her hind legs, her tail helping to prevent her going over backwards. Deep furrows were scored in her scales as Okku nearly slid free and then she came down and twisted hard to her right as she did. This helped fling Okku away and spoiled the Dwarf's attack as he suddenly found himself facing the flank of an unencumbered Dragon rather than the rear of one with a god-of-bears clinging to her. Sey'ryu belched another thundercloud but to her irritation she found the betrayer of Akachi's remains had moved further than she assumed. Rather than engulf him properly in that more intense cloud she only caught him with the edge.

Despite the protection of his heavy armour and that he'd not been struck more directly Blake still staggered as his muscles cramped. He kept his feet and then with impressive swiftness Neeshka was there to further steady him. Blake managed to smile and to keep moving though one leg felt like his sweetheart had been sitting awkwardly on it and he'd stayed still for an hour or two too long in trying to not disturb her. He took another stride and the knee buckled for a moment and almost cost him his balance again. Neeshka steadied him again and the expression on her face prevented Blake from even trying to tell her to get clear.

Seeing all this Gann was not sure what to do. He had faith that with his resilience Blake would soon recover but concern that this might take longer than Sey'ryu would give him. With reluctance Gann asked another favour of the spirits and as Sey'ryu took a stride forward that plea was answered. Gann much preferred using his gifts to heal or, at worst, to improve his own body for a fight but this seemed sufficient cause to use them to attack directly. A Burst of Glacial Wrath erupted around Sey'ryu's descending right foot and though there seemed not enough moisture in the dead soil to freeze that foot to the ground a thick layer of ice still appeared across that foreleg's scales.

Sey'ryu drew her right foreleg back up towards her body with the same sort of suddenness as a cat patting at something floating on water. Tentatively she lowered it again and let it take some weight, ice cracking off it as it moved, and turned towards Gann. As she did her head swung round further than her body and this stretched the wounds Okku had inflicted on her neck. Cuts gaped open and scales slid apart to expose more of the gap where one or more was missing. As the sensation of pins and needles flared and dimmed in his leg with each flex of the muscles Blake saw a chance and began an incantation. The Weave responded and a Vitriolic Sphere formed and streaked away from him into the wound.

The thinner acid splashed out to either side of the impact, sending small tendrils of smoke up as it spent itself scouring at the scales, but Blake's aim was true enough to send much of the thicker acid deep into the cuts and the gaps between the scales. There it clung and continued to burn at the more delicate flesh those scales were supposed to protect. Sey'ryu collapsed with the agony and the numbness of her nearly frozen leg and Okku charged back in. This time the bear-god chose to attack the Dragon's hindquarters like a wolf bringing down running prey. His teeth and claws sank into the left side of Sey'ryu's rear, not doing as much damage as if he'd been able to reach the right side where the scales were scorched and damaged.

Sey'ryu brought her left wing back along her side to sweep Okku off her and then twisted back the other way to strike Okku with her tail, hard. As the bear-god flew away and began to bounce and tumble across the dead grey soil she continued that movement to point her body more towards Gann, though she kept her head bent to her left to narrow the, now smoking, wound Blake had taken advantage of. Another volley of arrow and crossbow bolt and sling bullet struck her in the right side of her neck and her right shoulder but without a gap in Sey'ryu's natural armour such as Okku had opened these continued to do little to her.

Frustrated at this and the failure of his the militia mage resorted to one of his more basic spells and cast Magic Missile. This he had plenty of so if it was resisted then that mattered less. Unfortunately although the spell did succeed it did little more than cosmetic damage to the side of Sey'ryu's neck. Even with the scales on the neck being thinner for flexibility these missiles were barely strong enough to burn small holes in them that were too small to aim for and not deep enough to do more than sting.

Seeing this Gann had an idea and though he disliked it even more than asking the spirits for a Burst of Glacial Wrath or to Call Lightning or to otherwise hurt an enemy of his he decided destroying the spirit-eater curse, and surviving to do so, was more important. "Keep doing that," he called to the mage, "please."

The militia mage was puzzled as it had not seemed worthwhile and he'd been considering what other spells he had. But if the Hagspawn had an idea then this was worth trying as if it worked that was good and if it didn't then he could blame the Hagspawn for the failure. So he cast Magic Missile again and hoped this was not a waste of the power of the Weave and that maybe he could wear enough of the scales away for the crossbow bolts and sling bullets to have more effect.

Blake was worried for Okku as that had been an immense impact of Dragon tail on spirit-flesh and had sent him flying and tumbling an impressive distance. At least that meant as he began to stir and dazedly get to his feet he was far enough away to have a chance to recover and it looked like he would be able to recover. Blake had wondered how Okku and Gann would be affected here on the Fugue Plane so far from Rashemen and the spirits and land that sustained and aided them so it was a relief that Okku's colours seemed to be swirling with their normal vigour and that Gann's requests of the spirits had worked.

Sey'ryu turned a little more towards Blake to try to bring him more within the sight of her right eye rather than her blurry left. His acid had hurt a lot and the female-of-Infernal-blood that was lingering near him had been painfully accurate with her annoying arrows. Sey'ryu hissed slightly in anger as she saw the pair of cowards had retreated and as the female loosed yet another arrow and this scraped across her right brow-ridge. She hobbled forward a stride but the pair of tiny creatures simply backed away some more rather than standing and fighting and accepting a worthy death. The right side of Sey'ryu's neck itched again as more arrows and bolts and bullets and Magic Missiles struck it.

Seeing how much the great Dragon was ignoring the energy of the spell as well as the physical missiles Blake wondered why Gann hadasked the mage over there to continue casting this. It seemed the Red Knight might have blessed Gann with an idea though and Blake trusted both The Lady of Strategy and Gann so he decided to follow suit. Blake had the distance to safely cast a spell and while Sey'ryu's leg was numbed with cold he had a greater advantage in speed to recover any distance he lost while doing this. Concentrating he chanted and on the basis that some was good but more was better he cast a Greater Missile Storm at the approaching Dragon.

The larger number of individually more powerful projectiles arced out from Blake's hand and back in at Sey'ryu to patter across either side of her face. One that had taken a straighter course burned a streak across one of her nose horns before scouring a shallow groove across one of her temples. Sey'ryu shook her head as if those missiles had been rain and she was trying to shake the wet off and Blake took the chance to move back and reopen the range. Neeshka instead loosed another arrow despite the motion of Sey'ryu's head making it very random where that might strike her.

Seeing another chance the Dwarf charged in again and this time managed to bury his Dwarven Waraxe in Sey'ryu's rear right leg. As deep as the blade bit though even the Dragon's ankle scales were thick enough to prevent crippling harm and to hamper the Dwarf as he tried to pull his weapon from this fresh wound. Sey'ryu made the mistake of trying to turn to fast and stumbled as she put too much weight on her still cold and numb right foreleg. To her annoyance the Dwarf took advantage of this and by the time she had him in sight, let alone had turned enough to be able to attack him, he had retreated out of the range of her breath or tail or teeth and claws.

Another set of Magic Missiles burned feebly into Sey'ryu and, though some of these had been resisted rather than inflicting even that weak damage, Gann decided that enough holes had been made. Putting aside his misgivings he asked the spirits to grant him Creeping Doom. Despite the unpleasant name Gann had normally used this to aid rather than harm life as the swarm of insects it created could break things down to more quickly rot and allow swifter regrowth. Here though it did what was more usual and served as an attack as the insects swarmed around Sey'ryu and down into the gaps in her scales. Others tried to burrow in around the arrow and crossbow bolt shafts and into small bullet holes. Sey'ryu hissed as she felt the dozens of tiny mandibles tearing at her and then breathed another thundercloud. This was not at Gann in revenge but almost at her own feet and Sey'ryu lunged into it. Electricity sparked harmlessly across her and through the cloud of insects and those that had landed to infest her.

Neeshka let her bow relax a little to half-draw as she lost sight of Sey'ryu's head in the cloud and exchanged a look with Blake. He nodded back to her and they cautiously advanced a little. Their bows and most of Blake's spells were longer ranged than dragon breath so there was not much reason to close but if there was an advantage to be seized being a little nearer could make their aim more accurate. A few more projectiles flew into the cloud from near the Supplicant's Gate as caring less about where they hit Sey'ryu the people there continued to work their shortbow and sling and crossbow and aim just for the shadow within the cloud.

The cloud cleared as its power was spent and revealed an even angrier looking Dragon. There was the irritation of those arrows and bolts and bullets continuing to pepper her and despite her efforts still the irritation of insects in some deeper wounds where her own flesh had protected them from her breath. Sey'ryu's great head swivelled back and forth as she made her decision. As much as the acid from the betrayer of Akachi had hurt so had the cold from the Hagspawn and the insects he had created or summoned. And taking her retribution there, and against those inflicting the pinpricks, had the advantage that even if they were as cowardly as Akachi's betrayer there was a limit to how far they could retreat. Sey'ryu turned away from Blake and Neeshka to take one long stride towards Gann and the gate and the Militia and then another and a third.

"I can't get the other eye," Neeshka complained, switching her aim to the acid scoured wound instead.

Blake nodded. But though Sey'ryu no longer facing them had that disadvantage each step she took meant she would have to turn and move further to try to attack them or respond to their attacks. So he could afford to concentrate on a slightly more powerful spell and take the time to try to aim for more than just the left flank Sey'ryu had exposed to them. He chanted, the Weave responded, and a beam of Disintegrate hissed out from his hand to strike Sey'ryu in the wing. Blake had hoped by taking the extra moment to miss that or that the beam would just punch through. But his aim was not that good with the spell and it showed how tough a Dragon was that even its 'delicate' wing membrane offered more resistance than Blake's shield. The beam 'burst' and spread to eat a large hole across the wing.

Sey'ryu paused in her advance to turn and roar at Blake and the Dwarf took advantage of this to give some orders. "Hey! Lad!" he shouted, managing to get Gann's attention before gesturing to the rather worried looking line of militiamen. "You, and you, and you… go with him that way. You other two, with me." Seeing the militia hesitate the Dwarf cursed under his breath and then bellowed. "Well, go on… you're not going to stop her walking straight over you so get out of the way and around to her sides."

That got the militia moving and Gann, now accompanied by the man in full plate with sword and shield and the two scale-mail clad spearmen, started circling around to Sey'ryu's left. The other two spearmen in chainmail moved out to the right to join the Dwarf and the monk. Seeing her line of protection vanish the Elf calmly cast Wall of Fire between her and the others and Sey'ryu. That was no more likely than the militiamen to hurt the Dragon enough to prevent her simply walking through it but at least the spell would scream less as it was trampled underfoot.

Neeshka tried another arrow at Sey'ryu's left eye as she noticed a gleam of the eyeball within the swollen flesh and realised it was not completely swollen shut yet. The Hin had moved a little to his left and seemed to now be aiming more carefully and attempting to mirror what Neeshka had done. His angle was still not as good but his arrows seemed better than hers so he had a chance at hampering Sey'ryu's eyesight on that side as well. Meanwhile the Elf looked over the positions of people and decided they were far enough away from the Dragon and that it was unlikely either the Dwarf or the monk were going to charge now they had two spearmen with them. Summoning power she cast Storm of Vengeance and suddenly acid and lightning were raining down on Sey'ryu.

"Lightning's not going to affect that Dragon," Blake muttered, irritated at the waste of power.

"Never mind that," winked Neeshka to her harbour-boy when he glanced at her, "important thing is how that acid might affect my armour dye. I don't want any more blotches on it so I'm not going in there."

Blake chuckled. "Shows how agile you are, my sweet, that you can dodge the lightning rather than needing to be totally immune."

"Let you into a secret, harbour-boy," Neeshka replied, returning the smile. "I am not… quite… as delicate as I look. Especially since some of the jewellery you insist on loading me down with is magical rather than pretty. Or rather than just pretty." She gave Blake a sly look. "Strange how often something with the same magic but a nicer appearance appeared."

"Funny coincidence," blushed Blake.

Sey'ryu advanced towards the gate with fresh determination. There was a little more urgency to crush them now the Elf had shown she was not restricted to the annoying sling bullets and she also wanted to get out of the area affected by that attack. The lightning was harmless to her and the acid was mostly just streaming down off her scales without doing more than weathering them. But enough other wounds had been inflicted that some acid was finding those and burning painfully at their more sensitive flesh. Sey'ryu took another stride and then missed her next as she felt teeth close on the tip of her tail and attempt to drag her backwards.

Okku snarled through his teeth as he set them into Dragon flesh and set his paws into the ground. Feeling dazed was a novelty he'd not felt since the little-one had first beaten him into submission and then partially drained his spirit, but he was not going to relent while there was still fighting to do. That he had taken blows that would have turned the little-one into pulp within his armour did not alter his resolve as his claws dug into the grey soil. Then Okku found there was a second novelty here, one he'd never felt before, as he tried to anchor Sey'ryu and realised he was fighting something that was stronger than he was. Or at least physically stronger as Okku was still confident his determination and courage was the greater.

The Dwarf and his group tried to charge in from Sey'ryu's right but she swept her wing out at them and fended them off. Okku heaved back and to the right to add to the momentum of that wing-sweep and with the injures to her legs managed to make Sey'ryu stumble. Gann and his group had been charging in from the other side and had the advantage that her left was both her bad eye and that, even had she seen then, it was also her bad wing. This and the stumble Okku had forced let them get close enough to strike. Gann's spear thrust precisely into the neck wound and withdrew with skill and a gush of Dragon blood. The two militia spearmen were neither as accurate nor as powerful and their spears were not as sharp but they still managed to cause at least some minor extra bleeding.

"Back," Gann said, seeing Sey'ryu reacting to the three extra stab wounds.

The man in full plate ignored this in favour of taking another swing at Sey'ryu's left foreleg as the others retreated. He had not managed to inflict a deep wound with his first attempt so he was determined that he would do better with a second. A sense of righteousness buoyed him up as he was not False like these others who had been sentenced to fight in the militia or to meet this 'Crusade' for their crimes. He was a champion and a faithful servant of Kelemvor and this fight was nothing less than his duty.

Unfortunately for him although Sey'ryu could not see at all well to that side she could see a moving blur by her leg and her jaws could open far enough to encompass the whole of that blur. She snapped down and her teeth met the armoured man just below his breastplate, taking his whole upper body within her mouth. Sey'ryu raised her head again as her jaw worked and she chewed a little with a squeal of crumpling and tearing metal. She was bleeding heavily from her neck, especially from the wound inflicted by Gann, but she seemed to have not noticed as she spat the mangled corpse out. Then she shimmied and a ripple started near her shoulders and moved and grew all the way down her spine and tail until it reached the tip and tore that and the bear-god apart from each other.

Turning her head to her left to bite had shown more of the right side of it to the Hin and Neeshka and Blake had circled far enough towards the wall for the former to also have a poor shot at Sey'ryu's right eye. A few arrows from those shortbows struck near that eye and Sey'ryu swung her head back to her right to look more straight ahead of her and at least spoil Neeshka's line of sight on her right eye. Then with far less grace than before she lurched forward and back into motion towards the wall and the pair that had inflicted so much pain.

Blake chanted and a spell of Greater Missile Storm flurried from his hand into the approaching Dragon, and this time Sey'ryu flinched to a halt in her stride as the missiles burned into either side of her face. Blake was beginning to feel rather sorry for her as even an ugly dragon was a magnificent sight and the horns did not make her that ugly. He looked at the corpse in full armour, then back at the seriously wounded Dragon, and nodded to himself.

"ENOUGH!" Blake bellowed.

The Hin ignored Blake and loosed another arrow into Sey'ryu. Blake's head snapped around to his left but before he could say anything Neeshka had sent the more direct message of an arrow that flashed past within a few inches of the Hin's eyes. The Hin turned with a mad look in those eyes and started to draw his own shortbow but, as his eyes met Neeshka's, he thought better of the idea and let his bow relax again. Blake looked back to Sey'ryu who had paused in her advance.

"You were not my enemy and too many lives have been lost," declared Blake. "The lives lost tearing the Red Woman from the Wall, the lives lost to the spirit-eater curse that was Akachi's punishment, and the lives lost trying to end that curse. Accept you are defeated and accept this offer to allow you to leave." Blake paused and looked at the many wounds the Blue Dragon had suffered. "With some healing to allow you to make that journey."

"Heal her and let her leave?" the Dwarf protested. "After she's killed one of us and tried to kill all of us?"

Blake looked sourly at the Dwarf. "You can act as you see fit. I do not want to inflict further harm on her or risk her killing any more of us. Whether this Crusade succeeds or fails my goal is to fulfil Okku's oath and end this curse, and this fight is a delay and a distraction from that."

"If you honour the value of oaths then you know why I will not accept your 'offer'," Sey'ryu replied, drawing herself up from her slight slump and ignoring the pain that caused her. "I promised to support Akachi and returned to keep that promise and I will die rather than break it."

"An oath is not easy to put aside, little-one," rumbled Okku from Sey'ryu's left. "I know you wanted to spare me and you were able to. However my oath was to end the spirit-eater curse and we were able to become allies in this. Her oath is to kill you and unless you let her there is no way for you to help her in that."

Neeshka was still turned and keeping an eye on the Hin. "She did say she'd promised to kill all enemies of the Crusade at this Gate," she pointed out, glancing to her left towards Sey'ryu and her harbour-boy. "So maybe…"

"I have also said there is no neutrality in this," Sey'ryu interrupted.

"So you'd have to fight us to satisfy her," added the Dwarf. "Or if you were thinking you could leave this Gate," he said, with the same emphasis as Neeshka, "then you'd have to fight us to get through into the city. Or fight us to be allowed to leave since we'd know you intended to find another gate or try to scale the wall."

Blake hesitated and then looked to Sey'ryu as his lips tightened. "Very well," Blake said, frustration and anger seeping into his words, "no compromise is possible, you are all determined to kill each other or make us kill you."

Sey'ryu lurched forward again in response to Blake's words and in response to this Blake cast a Lesser Missile Storm. Then he charged in the wake of his spell. The missiles could move a lot faster than he could but their curved paths and the magic enhancing Blake's speed and strength narrowed the gap. Sey'ryu pushed forward through the splattering of magic energy across her head and chest, trying to ignore this distraction.

"Harbour-boy!" Neeshka exclaimed in annoyance, caught off guard as her attention had been on the Hin.

It had been a genuine offer from Blake as he did not want to have to do this. Nonetheless the cold calculating part of his mind that had developed with the many fights since he'd left West Harbour and with the training he'd received from Kana was pleased with the results. The brief delay to negotiate had given more time for Sey'ryu to bleed and be weakened by that loss. Maybe it was that slowing her, maybe it was the effects of the Lesser Missile Storm, or maybe Blake was just surprisingly faster than she expected but before she could take a breath and release it in a thundercloud Blake was already too close.

Blake was to her right but as she started to turn her head to bite at him he juked to his right and under her neck. His shield did not get in the way of bracing his sword with his shield hand as he was holding it almost vertically in front of his face so the tip of it jutted up above his head. This tip carved across the underside of Sey'ryu's neck and more through Tymorra's blessings of good fortune than her blessings of skill it found the join between two scales. The superbly forged and enchanted blade sliced deep and blood gushed from the wound.

Now on Sey'ryu's almost blind side Blake took a moment to set himself and release his shield-hand grip on his sword to bring it down into a more normal horizontal position. Neeshka had been sprinting after him and had to veer to her right while Gann was also charging in. The moment he needed over Blake stabbed his sword out and into the knee of Sey'ryu's left foreleg. This was not as well placed but despite having to cut through rather than between scales his sword was sharp enough with his strength behind it to pierce deep. The leg partially collapsed as Sey'ryu swung her head round to try to see and bite at Blake but Gann was there and used the momentum of his charge and this swing to meet Sey'ryu's left eye with his spear.

The shock of the impact knocked Gann backwards and then he was flung up and back as the spear ripped from his hand with Sey'ryu's reflex reaction to rear away from the pain. Gann's spear was embedded deep through her eye and its socket and into her brain and Sey'ryu overbalanced. Her right wing was undamaged and her right foreleg had recovered from the Burst of Glacial Wrath so those pushed her up with full power unlike her injured left wing and foreleg. She began to topple to her left as Blake spun to his and flung his sword away to free his sword hand. Taking a few quick strides Blake crouched slightly to drive this hand into Gann's right armpit to haul him up and back from where he'd landed and was starting to sit up. After a moment Gann's feet began pushing to keep his balance and help propel himself along.

Sey'ryu fell and there was a snapping noise as her already injured left wing was trapped under her. Then her head swung down and there was another far smaller snapping noise as its left side met and scraped across the ground, driving the spear even deeper and breaking its shaft so half was inside her head and the other half left in the furrow behind it. A lot of dust was thrown into the air by the impact but as it cleared they could see Sey'ryu lying on her side and broken wing, her belly towards the gate, and not moving aside from feeble twitches of her legs and tail.

The Dwarf jogged forward. He paused a moment and then spoke sadly. "You were a fine ally, when we were allies Sey'ryu, I'll not let you linger."

With those words the Dwarf began chopping with his axe at the wound Blake had made, enlarging and deepening it to grant Sey'ryu that mercy. While he did that Blake helped Gann to a more upright position and looked around for where his sword had landed. To his surprise Neeshka had already recovered it and was standing there within arm's reach to hand it to him. She smiled to him but then her eyes narrowed.

"Not sure I should give this to you harbour-boy," Neeshka chided him, "not if you are going to be silly with it."

"Do you refer to his valiant charge and use of it on a Dragon," asked Gann, looking back at where his spear was now in halves, "or to his throwing it away for the minor matter of being able to help drag me out from under her falling body?"

"I think the former, my friend, since you have been behaving."

Neeshka gave Blake a glare and then his sword. As he took it she repeated, "Don't! Be! Silly!"

The dust was rather sticking to the Dragon blood so Blake started to wipe it away before this 'mud' could harden. Gann continued to look back at Sey'ryu and the busily working Dwarf as Okku joined them. "A shame," Gann commented, nodding towards the scene, "but you did make the attempt, which is more than they did."

"I do wish I knew if my fatigue was this curse or not," replied Blake, wondering if he should have scraped his sword before wiping it. "If when we end this curse I feel less weary of all this then that would be a relief, but I am not sure I want to be so hardened to death that it be a complete relief. Though whether I mourn people and regret their death or not doesn't alter that they are dead."

"But it does make you try to avoid having to mourn and regret more," Gann said consolingly.

The Dwarf finished his chopping and Sey'ryu was no longer even twitching. Her nearly decapitated corpse just lay there in the cold grey light as another sacrifice to Akachi's quest and to his punishment and the ending of it. The militia and the quartet that had been met Akachi's Captains were regrouping and Blake nodded towards them. "We may have another fight," he muttered.

"Hrmm," rumbled Okku, "let us hope they do not make you have to mourn them. As swiftly as we would kill them that would still be a delay and I would spare you the extra burden of guilt, little-one."

Neeshka handed her shortbow and arrows to Gann and then put her hand on her Rapier as she returned to Blake's side. "My thanks," said Gann, hooking the quiver to his belt and testing the draw of Neeshka's bow. "A dagger might have been less than effective here. With fortune I can return these unused."

"Aye," Blake nodded, "Tymorra bless that they meant we could not leave this gate until Sey'ryu was dead. That her death has made them grateful enough to let us past or let us through. Not that I expect it will have."

The others advanced with the four spearmen forming a line and the crossbowman, Elf, and militia mage behind them. The Hin had drifted off to one side but whether that was because he was too short to loose arrows past the spearmen or because he wanted a different angle for his arrows was unclear. Ahead of them the Dwarf and monk were leading the way and they continued on when the others stopped and, as half expected, the spearmen knelt to give a better line of sight for bolts and bullets and spells. Blake glanced over them and their positions.

"What's that smile for?" Neeshka asked in a low voice. "It's only small but it's wicked looking."

"As much as I don't want to have to mourn them," replied Blake, equally quietly, "I do appreciate that the spearmen and the people they are protecting are all close enough together for…"

"Firebrand?" Neeshka murmured, interrupting and raising her eyebrows almost as high as her perky horns. When Blake gave a slight nod she continued. "I'm glad you're more imaginative in other, more private, areas harbour-boy." She winked to him as he coloured a little. "A little more imaginative at least."

The Dwarf stopped within easy range for talking but far enough away for sword or axe work to be less simple. "Hello," he said, trying to look as friendly as an armoured person covered in Dragon blood could be. "Name's Halor, if ye didn't know."

"You felt familiar to the curse," Blake replied, "but names and facts, rather than feelings, are not something it easily supplies." Halor grunted in acknowledgement. "I am Blake Marsh of Neverwinter," Blake continued, "and this is Neeshka of the same city, and Gann, of dreams, and Okku, god-of-bears, of Rashemen."

"Lad here is Jorin," said Halor, gesturing to the monk, "as you heard. The lass is Syrune and the wee vicious lad is Nilon. Not been introduced to the militiamen or the wizard so can't introduce them to you."

"Well met," Blake nodded. He hesitated as the introductions suggested they were trying to avoid more fighting but that meant neither that they would succeed nor that they would remain friendly. Before Blake could decide how best to ask if he was going to have to kill them to enter the City of Judgement an annoyingly familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.