Chapter 17
Calythé woke first. She was woozy, tired, and covered in sweat, but she was awake. She tried to clear her mind, but there was a fog across her brain, making her sinuses feel strange. Calythé sneezed - and then stopped in alarm, for her sneeze had made no sound at all. She started to murmur, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," but heard only cave noises. With a noiseless scream she realized she had been Silenced. Calythé groped in her pocket for her immunity charm and her fingers brushed against steel feathers.
Wait a second. Steel feathers? Her own wings were made of soft, delicate ectoplasm. She whipped her head around and stared, terrified, at herself and her comrades. There on her back were the wings of Red, a highly exalted figure in Terraria. Monavelle was wearing the wings of Cenx, while Ramisse was wearing the wings of Crowno. Calythé trembled violently. To wear these wings meant almost certain death for the wearer. She hung her head in resignation and hoped someone would rescue them.
Meanwhile, on the surface...
"This is it," Ametha said, indicating a large hole in the mountainside. They cautiously crept into the cave, holding their staves, Ametha grasping her dagger. They eventually came to a ledge overlooking a great chasm, where they couldn't believe what they saw. A pack of crimera floated close to the ceiling, joined by large groups of crawlers. Face monsters stood on ledges and leered down at the strange and terrifying creatures of the underground crimson: slimes, blisterlings, blood jellyfish, flesh-piranhas, and a pack of floaty gross. Enchanted axes flew around the walls of the cavern. A swarm of stickers floated around aimlessly, dimly lighting the cavern with the sticky golden ichor dripping from their jaws. On the very bottom of the cavern were Calythé, Ramisse, and Monavelle, bound, wearing wings that would eventually kill them. As the four magicians watched, Thunder strode out onto the floor of the cavern.
"Creatures of the Crimson!" he announced, "I would like to congratulate you. You have helped me capture the three who thwarted me, allowing me to be unstoppable!" A cheer went up among the creatures, comprised mostly of screeches, squelches and fountains of ichor. Thunder wiped some of it off his sleeve, cursed something about ichor lowering his defenses, and continued. "These three heroines are wearing deadly wings. Every minute, their life force drains away. Then, they will die, and Terraria will be mine." He pumped his fist in the air. "TO THE REIGN OF CTHULHU!" He was once again met by cheers. One sticker fainted with excitement and fell on the floor, generating a slowly spreading pool of golden fluid. Thunder regarded it with disgust, turned his attention to a cadre of floaty gross, and ordered, "Ol' Leaky is dripping again. You know the drill - clean him up." The floaty gross saluted and hovered over to the sticker. Thunder watched as they started mopping up the sticky liquid, and at that moment the four magicians made their move. They stealthily threw down a rope coil, bypassing the face monsters, crawlers, and crimera. Once they reached the cavern floor, Ametha reached into her robe and passed around invisibility potions.
"They only last for a few minutes," she mouthed, uncorking hers. "Use it wisely. Bottoms up." She drank the potion down and vanished. Then, invisible Ametha tiptoed into the crowd of monsters. Emi drank hers down and tiptoed into the circle of chairs, facing Monavelle. She gently opened Monavelle's mouth and tipped an extra potion into her throat, unbeknownst to the enchanted axes. Then she eased the wings off Monavelle's back and threw them into the puddle of ichor, where they disintegrated. Emi and Saffa picked up Monavelle and carried her to the rope ladder, where Ametha had rigged up a pulley system. They placed the girl's unconscious body in the pulley and started to hoist her up. Ametha and Topaz followed, carrying Ramisse. Finally it was time to go back for Calythé. Before they could retrieve her, however, Saffa nudged Emi with alarm. She stared, wide-eyed, at him. Saffa's invisibility potion was wearing off. Emi quickly pulled her robe off, exposing her undershirt, and threw the invisible fabric over Saffa's head, turning him invisible again. Then they snuck off to rescue Calythé. When they reached her, she was conscious, and without further questions they tipped the potion down her throat. Unfortunately, the floaty gross had finished cleaning the puddle of ichor, and Thunder had turned his attention back to them.
"Hey! They're taking my prisoners! GET THEM!" Calythé, still half-visible, tried to shout "Run!" but of course no sound came out. She threw her wings off and straightened up, and she, Emi, and Saffa half-ran, half-carried each other to the pulley, followed closely by the enchanted axes. Ametha and Topaz were waiting at the top, ready to haul them up. The three of them grabbed the rope and started to ascend, but Topaz and Ametha were pulling too slowly and Thunder grasped the rope before it rose out of his reach. Calythé, Emi, and Saffa scrambled onto the ledge just as Thunder's hands appeared at the edge of the crimson stone.
Then Ramisse raised her head, drew her sword and whacked Thunder's hands with the flat of the blade. Thunder's eye grew wide with horror as he plummeted back into the cavern, landing on Ol' Leaky, the unconscious sticker, with a splat and sending golden ichor flying all around the cavern. The seven adventurers dodged the ichor and the axes and ran as fast as they could.