Look at that. Can you all believe it. 100,000 words. I tell you when I first started this story I never thought I would get this far and you guys have yourselves to thank for it. So give yourselves a big round of applause. Tristram I think has only one more chapter until we move on to Caldeum and that will surely be exciting since some of the BIGGEST things as far as themes and character development are going to happen there. I am so excited I can not wait. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
It was dark inside of the Cursed Hold. From the moment they walked down the steps to the hold, Li-Ming started feeling really sick. Her head throbbed and a cold sweat took over. When they got to the bottom of the stairs she felt like she could throw up at any moment. It was the dark magic that hung around inside. The Coven's magic was the most potent than Li-Ming had ever felt before and it made her feel unclean. She could see the currents of magic in the air and she felt violated having to walk through it.
Valla grabbed a torch from the wall. She was about to light it until she looked at Li-Ming and held the torch out to her. Li-Ming just knocked it out of her hand. Valla picked it back up and lit it herself and they found themselves in a short corridor. There were prison cells on either side of the wall and a heavy wooden door at the end.
"Li-Ming, are you okay?" Kormac walked over to Li-Ming who was hunched over next to one of the prison cells holding onto her head and he placed his hand on her shoulder. She peered into the cell and saw only darkness, but she couldn't shake the feeling like something was looking back at her from within. A cold wind brushed her face and a sudden sadness filled her. She stood up pushed open the prison cell door.
"Li-Ming?" Lyndon said and Valla responded with a loud shush. Valla was very observant. There was something going on with Li-Ming that only she was experiencing. Valla had to admit she was beyond curious and she stood silently and watched as Li-Ming quietly entered the prison cell.
There was nothing inside, it was but a room of cold stone. Li-Ming sat down against the wall and closed her eyes. She could see a vision of a woman sitting in this cell. Facing the wall, sitting on her knees and holding herself as she wept. Her cloths were ruined and her air was dirty. Li-Ming couldn't tell if what she was seeing was something that had happened or the spirit of the person who was once locked inside but whichever it was it still gave her the same feeling. The feeling on knowing what it was to know that you were going to die. God, there was no hope here.
"Li-Ming?" Lyndon went into the cell slow and quietly. He paused for a moment before he knelt down next to Li-Ming and asked, "Are you alright?"
Li-Ming swallowed and tightened her closed eyes like she was trying to prevent herself from crying and said "There was a woman here, once." Lyndon was confused and it showed on his face. "The cultists magic surrounds this place. It's very potent. It's disgusting." She took a deep breath through the nose. "I can see them. Leoric's prisoners. I can feel what they felt. She feels it too." She pointed to Valla who looked just as worse for wear as Li-Ming did.
"How?"
"I'm a Demon Hunter. I have been trained to detect a demon's presence. There is one here for sure and its influence is strong. It's bound to already know we're here." Li-Ming held her hand out and Lyndon pulled her back up to her feet. "Before we go any further, I need to cover some things with you all. First off, do not reveal anything about yourselves here, you must steal your minds and lock your pasts away as deep as you can. A demon will try and use your emotions against you and turn you against yourselves, thus making you vulnerable to it."
"You need not worry your pretty head, Valla." Li-Ming said. "No matter how hard that demon may try, he will not defeat me."
"Are you dense!" Valla was outraged. "Have you ever faced a demon before? You have no idea what they are capable of? Why is that you think a demon will have no effect on you as it would anyone else?"
"Because I am destined to stop them."
Valla was speechless. She couldn't even get her words out; she was so irritated. "You heed my words, girl," Valla slowly stomped towards and pointed to Li-Ming. "And, heed them well. Do not be so presumptuous as to think that you're so powerful that a demon won't target you. I have seen many things, many horrible, atrocious things that demonstrate the lengths that these creatures will go to too spread fear, pain, and misery wherever they go. You out of all of us should be most prepared. You will make a fine vessel for any demon and with your emotional issues, you will only make easier for them to accomplish that. So shut up and do as I suggest for our sake and yours." Valla finished and walked forward.
"That's a lot of talk for a hypocrite." Li-Ming said snidely.
Valla stopped. She did not move and she did not turn to face her. She stood there, back facing them and said, "What did you say?"
"What did they do to you, hmmm?" Li-Ming approached Valla. "Demon Hunters have one goal and one goal only. Vengeance." Valla said nothing. "So what happened? Did a demon kill you dog when you were little?"
"Li-Ming!" Kormac uttered in complete shock.
"Or was it something bigger? Was it a friend? A lover? Or was it a family member?"
Valla was a child again, a child running from the fear. It was night, and it was raining. Her sister holding onto her hand as they ran from the slaughter. They ran until they could not run anymore, and they ran some more. Running did no good to save them. Valla still lost her sister and it never stopped hurting. But, she learned a long time ago that you cannot run from fear your whole life. Only that someday you will need to face it head on. She was only a child when she was found by the Demon Hunters and she never looked back.
She had trained her mind and her body, tirelessly her whole life, so that she may be a tool to be used against the demon horde. She was a weapon to be used for those who could not defend themselves. She was the very incarnation of revenge itself. What did this "wizard" know of her strife? She knew nothing of the ways of the world. She was but an ignorant child running blindly into matters she knew close to nothing about. She was young and foolish whose pride would blind her and that will be her eventual downfall if she does not learn to control herself when it mattered.
Valla doubted that day would ever come. Instead, Valla foresaw Li-Ming jumping head first into danger without so much as giving it a second thought. Believing her power and skill will keep her safe and that would be the day when, because of her pride, she will die. And, that day may be soon if she didn't prove Valla wrong.
Li-Ming awaited a response from the stoic hunter, but Valla gave her the cold shoulder and moved forward to the door that lead deeper into the prison.
"What has gotten into you?" Kormac was disappointed in Li-Ming's actions towards Valla. She had no right to do what she did. Even Lyndon found it distasteful.
"What are you talking about, Kormac?"
"That! What you said to her. She was trying to give advice. You had no reason to lash out the way you did."
"She was treating me like a child. If she didn't want to be pushed than she should learn not to push others."
Kormac rubbed his face in aggravation. "Look, if you believe that you're destined for great things, that's your business. But, you shouldn't lash out when people aren't so convinced like you are."
"Now you're turning against me?"
"No Li-Ming. I am not. You a great person and a brave warrior who I am honored to fight with, but when people try to help you; how about you listen to them without turning into a child for a change." Kormac walked ahead of her and left her stunned.
It never failed with Li-Ming. Every time anyone, from what he has seen, tried to advise her, with her best interests in mind, she got upset. He could only guess as to where this behavior came from but it was not very befitting for someone with goals such as hers. Her attitude will not win her very many allies if this keeps up. He just wished she would realize that before it was too late.
Kormac caught up with Valla and at first he didn't know exactly what he should say to her. An apology hardly seemed like it would matter now and he doubted it would it work.
"Your friend is troubled." Valla said suddenly unexpected.
"Please forgive her. She doesn't take being told what to do lightly, but don't let that fool you. She's a good person."
"I'm not saying she isn't. She is however - in lack for a better word - a brat." Kormac did not reply to that. "But, to her credit; an intuitive one."
"She was right, wasn't she? About you losing someone."
"Now's not the time. Remember, the demon knows we're here. We're not to give it anything to use against us and I fear we may have already failed at doing that. The less we talk and the more we focus on the goal, the better our chances of survival are here."
The wooden door at the end of the hallway would not be moved. It was locked tight and Valla had only one bomb left, but she wanted to save if for if she really needed to use it.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! Something hit the door on the other side in a rapid succession. A loud whaling screech pierced their ears and Valla's torch went out, then re-lit with a blue fire as did the rest of the torches on the wall. Kormac silently prayed for him and his comrades and Lyndon was looking back towards the quickest way out. The Treasure goblin was merry. The presence of another demon nearby must have excited it very much and was tugging on Li-Ming's robe in glee.
"Move." Li-Ming said and Valla stepped back.
Li-Ming raised her hand and a glowing purple ball of arcane energy formed in her hand.
"What are you doing?" Valla asked.
"Just stand back and observe." Li-Ming replied. In a second's notice, Li-Ming fired the arcane orb at the door and the door erupted from its hinges and blew to pieces as it flew down the hallway. Li-Ming looked at Valla, smirked then walked on ahead; and, as if to add insult to injury the treasure goblin proudly stomped by her as well. With a toothy grin of his own.
From within their very minds and all around them were the sounds of indiscernible whispers.
"Is anyone else hearing this?" Lyndon asked.
"Yes. We can all hear it. Best to ignore it." Valla advised and Lyndon had no idea how he was supposed to ignore seeing centipedes, spiders and other arthropods crawling in and out of the walls like parasites on the skin of their host. Lyndon looked at his feet to distract himself from the armada of unnatural looking critters wiggling and itching from the walls and ceiling, but to no avail as he saw colonies of mice and rats skippering back and forth. It was just as it was in the slums of Kingsport; dirty, rat infested, bleak, dark and cold.
Kingsport, that no good, corrupted stink pit that left orphans to starve in the wet, damp streets. Where he and his brother had to use every waking hour to survive as best as they could manage. Oh god, his brother. How he missed him so.
"Lyndon." A voice said from ahead of them. Lyndon looked up from his feet, and he saw his brother standing down the hallway with his arms outstretched, beckoning him to come forward.
"Eldin!" Lyndon gasped.
"Come brother. Let us make haste and get out of this vile place."
"What are you doing here?"
"That's not important. Let us leave and become something like a family again." Lyndon walked towards his brother with a trembling hand. He so long desired to see his brother again; after so many years. He now had his chance. "That's it little brother. Come with me and let us talk. It has been some time since we've talked hasn't it."
Lyndon laughed. "Yes it has."
Li-Ming came running from behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him down to the ground to stop him. "NO LET ME GO! THAT'S MY BROTHER, DAMMIT!" Valla shot an arrow at Lyndon's would be brother and it impaled itself straight into his head. "NO!" Lyndon fought to get free from Li-Ming's hold but she kept him on the ground. "WHY! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"
"LYNDON!" Li-Ming slapped his face to bring him around and then gently caressed his cheek. The treasure goblin was also giving him what appeared to be a sentimental pat on the shoulder. "Lyndon, look at me." Lyndon snapped out of it and Li-Ming said, "That's not your brother, Lyndon. It was a trick. Look." She pointed to where his brother was and Lyndon now only saw an armored skeleton laying on the ground with an arrow in its head.
He shook his head and asked, "How?"
"The demon poked at your thoughts. It made you reveal something about yourself and it found your brother." Valla informed. "I told you to lock yourself up. Every thought, every memory – it will use them against you and make you a vulnerable target."
"But, it looked and sounded exactly like him. How could it know?"
"Demons are very good at mimicking others. They are masters of illusions and lies. So if there is anything that is out of place, do not hesitate. Do you understand?"
Lyndon nodded and Li-Ming helped him back up. "Are you alright." She asked.
"I'll be fine." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Well, at least we can see this thing really means business." Li-Ming was glad to see that he was trying to lighten the mood, despite what just happened. She straightened him out and gave him a firm, reassuring pat on the chest and moved on. Kormac gave him a pat on the back and urged him forward. When they got to the skeleton, Lyndon took it upon himself to kick its skull down some other corridor as hard as he could. None of them said anything about it.
The demon was furious and tried to pry Kormac's mind but it could not find anything. There was nothing but vague, blurred images of a past that Kormac could not recall. There was Jondar, but that memory was no good since Kormac would happily kill a traitor of the Templars. Kormac's mind was like the very prison they were in. Each new memory that Kormac had was locked tight behind massive metal doors that only he could unlock and each bore a holy seal that prevented the demon from approaching.
That demon hunter was also no good. She was the most troublesome. Her mind was a void of blackness and nothing was to be seen. Looking into her mind would drive mortal men insane.
The demon had but one more choice – the wizard.
The group came to a split in the corridor that lead in three separate directions. Rasputin rose his snout and sniffed the air and looked at the corridor to the left, telling Valla that was where they needed to go.
"This way." She said.
"I'm afraid we can't do that." Li-Ming retorted.
"Why?"
"Because the one we're looking for is over there." Li-Ming pointed to the corridor on the right." She could feel The Strangers magic pulling her in that direction and she could care less about the demon that hid within this place.
"Is that really so important?" Valla was hoping that this wizard would see reason.
"Yes." Li-Ming replied in a very serious tone.
"How do you even know that the one you're looking for is down that way. This place is a maze. How can you be so certain?"
"Trust us, Valla. It's best just to take her word for it. You could call it a woman's intuition but that wouldn't be right, would it?" Lyndon was obviously being rhetorical because he was sure Li-Ming wasn't going to give any information to Valla about anything.
"Oh, Lyndon. You know me so well." Li-Ming joked back.
"Very well, then. I hope you all find what you're looking for, and be careful. This demon is most likely already looking for its next target so keep your minds sharp."
"And, to you as well, Valla. Thank you for assistance." Kormac said.
Valle gave them a bow and walked on her way. This pleased the demon as there was no one left to help those who were left.
Li-Ming felt strange and she looked back at Lyndon and Kormac to make sure they were alright and she kept silent.
The demon gazed at a monumental maze of impossible geometry. Stairwells upon stairwells lead up and down, some were even upside down and bridges linked the way in between chasms. Doors that lead to different memories opened and closed and papers, books, scrolls etc. flew in and out of each of these doors and a giant statue of Li-Ming stood in the very center of it all. She was the queen of her own mind. A sign above read, "Memory Palace."
There have only been a small number of occasions when this demon came across a mind such as this. It was a mind that was too sophisticated for its good. This was of no concern to him, but it was a problem for mortals with such minds. They were never able to set their minds to rest, they were always thinking, always contemplating and always attempting to comprehend and understand everything they ever learned about. The demon smiled.
Li-Ming, Lyndon and Kormac came to a chasm that was divided four ways and the door was ahead of them on the other side. Li-Ming stepped first and a loud voice said, "Who dares tread in the king's dungeon! Guards, seize them!"
Doors clanked and slid against hard stone from somewhere beneath them. Li-Ming and Lyndon looked down and saw a lower level were skeletons were pouring out from the cells beneath them. "Leoric had more people locked in his dungeons than some rulers have in their entire kingdoms." Lyndon said then quickly readied a shot with his bow and began shooting as many as he could. Li-Ming was unleashing a barrage of purple arcane projectiles and hit numerous skeletons at once.
Li-Ming wasn't even breaking a sweat; this was going to be over in no time at all and The Stranger will soon be reunited with his sword made whole.
"Li-Ming, what are you doing!"
She stopped. That voice, could it be? But how? There was no way. Li-Ming's heart told her it was exactly who she thought it was, but her mind told her it was a lie. It had to be. Li-Ming turned and discovered that she was no longer in the prison. She was no longer with Kormac and Lyndon, and she was no longer nineteen. She was seven years old again in her run down village in Xiansai and standing there were two faces she never imagined seeing again.
"Mama? Papa?"
xxxxx
It was hot again, very hot. Valla and her ferret companion were now in the furnace chamber. Valla wiped her head and her hand shined with her sweat. The demon was in here with her. She can feel it. "Rasputin." The ferret looked at her and rubbed her face with its nose. "Go hide." The little ferret climbed off of Valla and scurried away somewhere. Valla didn't see where. She didn't want too.
The furnace chamber was a large room. Pillars reached out to the ceiling from both ends. Steal doors that lead to each furnace lined up against the walls.
"Show yourself monster."
She heard a loud thud from behind the massive door ahead of her and the demon spoke. "Fresh meat walks into my lair. It has been long since Leoric brought me something to play with."
"Leoric is long dead! Soon you shall join him in Hell!"
"HAHAHA! I think not. It is a shame that Leoric no longer lives. My masters influence on him was most satisfying."
"Enough! Show yourself, coward!"
The demon punched a massive hole through the doors and it crushed the rest with a mighty steel hook. Each step it took let out a deep thud. The demon had red skin and its belly bulged and jiggled. Its sharp teeth looked uncomfortably packed together and tusks shot upward from its maw. "At last, no more games, Butcher."
"Hahehe! You know my given title. How quaint. I would expect nothing less from one who hunts my kin. A pity the same cannot be said for the mage."
"What!"
"HAHAHA! Right now, she fights with herself. She was easy prey, and I continue to learn more and more."
Valla had to think quickly or else Li-Ming would not last long. Whatever fate a demon had in store for any body was not a fate that was ever deserved. She hoped that Li-Ming can realign her perceptions and realize whatever was happening to her was a lie. Valla grabbed a chain from her belt that held two bombs at the end of them. She gave them a quick twirl and hurled them at the Butchers horn. The bombs rolled over the demon's horn and exploded making the demon scream as its horn was blown off.
The Butcher took a big breath and released a breath of fire. Valla jumped away onto a wall and quickly jumped off, over the fire. She then ran and slid underneath as The Butcher failed to keep up and she cut through The Butchers fat ankle and it bled a black, horrible smelling ooze.
The Butcher yelped. He bent over and rubbed his hand against his bleeding ankle. He looked at his hand and saw his black, tar like blood smeared over his palm. He clenched a very tight fist in rage. He looked around the room but Valla could not be seen. The Butcher grinned a hideous smile.
"Hiding will not save you, human."
Xxxxx
Kormac carried Li-Ming over his shoulder. She was non-responsive, something was horribly wrong with her. Lyndon was out of arrows and he had to resort to hand to hand tactics as best he could. He saw a skeleton with a quiver full of arrows and decided he would have to get them as soon as he was able.
They stormed into a prison cell and Kormac held the door shut and hoped to God that the strength granted to him by the jewel he was wearing would be enough. Damn it all! With Li-Ming in her current state, it made it impossible to fight! They couldn't just leave her defenseless.
Lyndon snapped his fingers in Li-Ming's face and nothing happened. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her and still nothing happened. "LI-MING DAMMIT, SAY – DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING!" Lyndon shouted, but she was miles away.
Li-Ming looked at the disappointed faces of her parents and she felt so small. Li-Ming looked at her mother and could only see herself. Li-Ming looked so much like her mother. Her father still looked the same as he always had as well. The same bushy eyebrows and dark brown eyes. His familiar chapped lips and pronounced nose.
"What do you think you are doing!" Her mother scolded. "Running around! Using magic! Going off with strange men! I thought we raised you better than this! I never would have believed that my daughter would run off and whore herself around wherever she went! Disgusting!" Her father said nothing and only stood there, scowling with his arms crossed letting his wife do all of the talking. He was still as spineless as ever.
"Mama. Please understand that..."
SMACK!
Li-Ming's mother slapped her hard across the face and Li-Ming stared at the ground and rubbed her burning face not giving her parents the satisfaction to see her bearing a hurt expression.
"You will not talk back to me, young lady!" Li-Ming's mother marched towards her and tightly gripped her arm.
"Mama! What are you doing?"
"I need to make sure these men have not violated you. I need to make sure you're still intact. So help if you're not, I'll make sure you regret it!"
Her mother forced her to the ground. Her back was sitting on the dirt road where small pebbles and pointy rocks poked her skin. Li-Ming squirmed and writhed in attempt to get free but her mother held her arms tightly. She reached for Li-Ming's pants and Li-Ming started to scream.
"No! Mama please!" Li-Ming cried desperately
"I need to make sure that you're still intact! So help me, I will beat you within an inch of your life if you're not!"
Li-Ming pulled her arm free. There was a rock sitting next to her and Li-Ming reached for it. She didn't stop to think about what she was about to do. She just swung her hand with the rock inside and struck her mother across the temple. Li-Ming stood, yanked her pants back up and backed away as quickly as she could with the rock in hand just in case. Her mother laid on the ground rubbing her forehead that was now bleeding. Li-Ming could see the blood fall from her head and down her mothers cheek.
For a moment, she was scared of what they were going to do. Punishments for Xian children who misbehaved differed depending on temperaments of the parents and Li-Ming, after what happened in Heron River Valley, didn't know what they were going to do. Her mother, in her stained brown dress and her long black hair hanging over face; she looked like the onryo. A Xian myth of the wrathful spirit. Her mother could personify it. But, her fear was only temporary.
Her father stepped forward and planned to punish her greatly but Li-Ming summoned a surge of electrical energy throughout her body and sparks snapped and whipped all around her. She held her hand out and an arcane orb of energy collected into existence and her father stopped before he could get to her.
"Li-Ming, what are you doing. Stop that!" Her father shouted, but his expression changed and became soft. "Sweetheart, we're your parents. You would never hurt us. I know you wouldn't it. You're our little girl. Our baby. I remember when you first born. I remember seeing your face for the first time as I held you in my arms. I looked at you then said to your mother that one day you would make us both very proud."
"LIES! You are not my parents!" Her bottom lip shook and her eyes grew glassy.
"What! Li-Ming don't be silly. Of course we are. I mean who else would we be?" Her father replied.
"You are just illusions. My parents never treated me this way. You're sloppy, demon. I never feared my parents. They, if anything," Li-Ming swallowed. "They, if anything feared me. Me! My own parents were afraid of me! Their own daughter! They were fools! They feared my power as did everyone else! But I'll show them! I'll show everyone just what I can do! And, I'm going to start with you!"
Li-Ming fired her arcane orb and as it flew, it split into two smaller orbs and both of the illusions burst into purple flames. They screamed like monsters and they crawled on the ground, desperate for the fire to go out. They stopped moving and soon they disappeared into nothing.
The landscape broke apart and everything swirled around her like a great hurricane. Everything reassembled as a puzzle would and she was now sixteen and was back in Caldeum, in the Yshari Sanctum.
Xxxxx
"Damn it! That girl is a bigger problem than I thought!" The Butcher yelled. Valla gave a very small smirk at that and it was gone just as soon as it came. "No matter she will perish one way or another."
"Don't be so sure! Now that she knows, it will be a matter of time before she has expelled you from her mind!" Valla shouted from her hiding spot before doubling back to keep hidden from the gigantic demon. The pillars were her only cover. The Butcher could easily crush them with his strength but, if he was smart, he would refrain from doing so. For it would bring the whole room collapsing.
Valla jumped and rolled from her hiding spit and fired her crossbow. The arrow flew right in one of The Butchers eyes. He stumbled back and held onto its face. It swung its mighty hook and Valla jumped away from it. She ran and The Butcher swung again and Valla dropped to her stomach to narrowly avoid being hit.
The Butcher growled. Still holding onto its eye, he charged forward and Valla rolled to the right in between The Butchers stubby legs and The Butcher missed her and he went head first into the wall.
"Come on, Li-Ming. This thing isn't very smart. I should expect better from a mage."
Xxxxx
Li-Ming looked around. She was back in the Yshari Sanctum and this room. This room was Valthek's room and everything was still very much the same. Shelves full of books and rows of bottles filled with strangle liquids and powders and arcane devices that were a mystery to everyone. Everything was the same except there was no Valthek.
She looked around and she rubbed the wooden table with her hand and she could feel every little detail about it. It was like she was actually back home, but it was never truly her home, not after Isen…no! Do not think about that!
"Go on!" Valthek exclaimed as he came into the room. "Say it. What have you done now? What have you destroyed now!"
"Master?"
"Why, Li-Ming? Why can't you ever listen? Why do you insist on rebelling against me!"
Li-Ming's hands turned to fists and she was instantly irritated. "Maybe if you weren't such a coward I wouldn't have to rebel."
"What good will come of it. At what cost? Magic is not a plaything Li-Ming. You should stay here and practice in peace, under my careful tutelage."
"Ha! You truly know nothing about me do you. I've beaten you once and I'll do it again if I must."
Valthek's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his teeth became fangs. He held his hand out and Li-Ming suddenly could not move. "You've been very disobedient. I guess I'll need to beat it into you." Valthek was about to unleash a spell on her but Li-Ming used her telekinesis to throw everything in the room around and a volley of random objects hit the old man very hard and he could not concentrate on his magic any longer and Li-Ming was free.
Li-Ming clasped her hands together and unleashed a powerful electric charge at Valthek and he soon fell to his knees. Smoke rose from his body and he breathed heavily. Everything in the room stopped moving and it was as if time itself had stopped.
"You see master. This is what happens when you hold back all of the time. Had I done what you said. I would have never reached the levels I have accomplished in my tenure."
"Haha! Foolish girl. Your power will be own destruction."
"Hmmm. The very words my he would use. Allow me to show you something, demon."
The room blurred and they were returned to the memory palace. Li-Ming was nowhere to be seen but her laughter was everywhere. "Go on!" her voice echoed all around. "Have a look! Here, let me help you!" A door of solid gold rose from the floor and it opened as if inviting him in. The Valthek impersonator entered and inside was but a single chest adorned in golden embroideries. "Inside this chest are the names of those who are most special to me. People who my heart grows accustomed too. Go, have a peak."
"No tricks?" Valthek asked.
"No tricks." Li-Ming reassured and the chest opened.
Valthek licked his lips and he stared greedily. Inside this chest was some of most important information a demon could poses. If he could get his hands on its contents, he could turn the scale back in his favor. He approached it slowly but before he could get a look inside it slammed shut.
"What the!"
"Sorry." Valthek turned and Li-Ming was leaning against the golden door with her arms crossed wearing a smug grin.
"Hey! You said no tricks!"
"I did say that, but I forgot. I charge money for the juicy bits."
"Why you insolent little…"
"You see, you may be a demon, but have you ever wondered what would happen if someone took full control over their own mind. I suppose not. I guess it has never happened to you before. Now allow me to show you that when you're in my mind, you're at my mercy. In here – I am God."
The room cracked and then shattered like glass and they were suspended inside the memory palace and Li-Ming was floating in space as the glass remnants were. She flicked her wrists and Valthek couldn't move. Li-Ming flew closer to him and the glass shards followed. She extended her index finger and the glass shards hurled towards him and he screamed as the glass cut him to smithereens.
Xxxxx
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Butcher yelled. Valla stopped and watched. "Why? How? That can't – shouldn't be possible!"
"I see she has beaten you." Valla said.
"You - This is your fault!" If this Demon Hunter had not been around to warn them of his presence, he would have won. There were no questions about it, he would have, he knew he would have.
"I warned them and she chose not to listen. She beat you her own way, not mine."
"LIES! I SWEAR, I WILL RIP YOU APART! LIMB FROM LIMB AND DEVOUR YOUR CORPSE!" He swung his hook downward and missed as Valla jumped out of the way, and it was now stuck in the ground. Valla ran around him and climbed up The Butchers back. She held onto his horn and began jabbing her knife into his neck over and over.
The Butcher screamed and he made a grab for Valla but she jumped back to miss being grabbed and she jammed her knife into his back to keep her from falling. The Butcher walked back and slammed his back into the wall but Valla quickly released herself before that could happen and loaded her crossbow. She aimed and fired an arrow into his other eye, blinding him completely.
The Butcher grabbed his face and screamed before her dropped to his knees. He crawled and black ooze dripped down his face from his eye sockets. He searched with his hands for Valla but she carefully ran around and as hard as she could, jabbed her knife into The Butchers fatty throat and tried to cut into as much as she could. The Butcher yelled and stood up but fell again to one knee. He held onto his bleeding throat and also coughed up his black, sticky blood.
Valla thought now would be the most opportune moment to use her past bomb. She ran up to The Butcher and The Butcher heard her coming. He tried to slam her to the ground underneath his palms but she jumped to the right to avoid getting hit. She ran and shoved the bomb into The Butchers wounded neck.
Valla ran and The Butcher was tearing himself apart trying to get out what Valla put in but he was too late. The bomb exploded and the Butchers neck blew into pieces. Waterfalls of black ooze poured from massive hole in his neck and The Butcher fell into the pool of his own wretched blood.
Valla wiped her head and flicked the sweat from her wrist. She whistled and Rasputin scurried from his hiding place back to Valla. "She did it buddy. She's a fool but she may last longer than I originally thought." The ferret sat on her shoulder and sniffed her. "Come, let us leave this place."
Xxxxx
Li-Ming's vision was blurry and she heard what sounded like her name being called. Her vision cleared and she Lyndon looking down at her and she sat up.
"How thank god. I thought I would have to try and annoy you to get you to come too." Lyndon said in a breath of relief.
"Sorry about that." Li-Ming replied.
"Was it the demon?" Lyndon asked.
"Yes, but don't worry. He won't be a bother again." Lyndon smiled. He was glad that the demon that had attacked them was gone.
"HEY! In case it has escaped you two, we have a problem on our hands!" Kormac yelled.
Li-Ming stood. She rolled her neck around, making it pop and said, "Get behind me, Kormac." Kormac ran from the cell door and LI-Ming shot a great beam of fire from her hands, obliterating the undead to ash. The cell walls were burnt and smoked. Li-Ming pushed the cage door open and more undead charge for them. Li-Ming countered their assault with a barrage of arcane missiles that flew in all directions until they found a target.
They were back in main chasm where the fighting had started and floating above them was Maghda. "Poor Leah. She must be crying over the old man's corpse right now. Soon she'll have another one to cry over."
"Maghda! You have no right to speak her name! She is stronger and has more courage than you could ever have!" Li-Ming shouted. Magda laughed and vanished into nothingness.
"Come on, guys!" They ran across the bridge and to the door that lead to a spiraling stairwell with no railings.
The whole pathway was covered in dried blood from bodies that had been dragged and handing above them from the ceiling were steel cages occupied with skeletons and bodies already in various stages of decay. There was a stairwell to their right which went downward but part of it had collapsed a long time ago and was useless to them.
"Kormac, keep that sword close to you. I would hate to lose another chance." Li-Ming said. Kormac was feeling dizzy at feeling like he may misplace his footing and fall and he barely caught what Li-Ming said. "Kormac, did you hear me?"
"Ye-yes Li-Ming. I heard you."
A painful scream came from underneath them and it sounded like The Stranger. Li-Ming doubled her speed and Lyndon followed right behind her. Kormac kept to the back to keep The Strangers sword safe.
They made to the bottom and the hid behind a balcony wall and peaked at what was happening. "This explains why we havn't seen any cultists while were higher up." Li-ming stated. The rest of Maghda's coven were circled around The Stranger and Li-ming could see a red aura surrounding The Stranger and flowing into the cultists.
"Kormac, that's the same spell they tried using on you."
"Then we better hurry. No man deserves that kind of fate."
Li-Ming teleported into the center of the group and smashed her fists on the ground. Long ice spikes erupted from the ground and impaled several of the cultists through the chests and stomachs. A few tried to charge at her but she blasted them over the ledge with a wave of force spell. Kormac and Lyndon charged from the back and they both succeeded in taking the cultists by surprise. Kormac threw on over the ledge and Lyndon cut one of their throats open with his dagger.
A cultists made his way for Lyndon and Lyndon reached into his pocket and threw an egg in the cultists face that erupted in powder. The cultist screamed as glassed powder cut into his eyes and Lyndon cut the cultists chest in an upward motion.
A cultist came up from behind Li-Ming and wrapped his arms around her torso but she back handed his face and he let go and Kormac sunk his ax into the cultists skull.
The last cultist tried to run but Kormac caught him and threw him through one of Li-Ming's ice spikes and the ice shattered and crumbled as the cultist crashed through it.
"Kormac, give me the sword." Li-Ming held out her hand and Kormac unstrapped The Stranger's sword form his back and handed to Li-Ming. She almost let it drop because it was heavy, very heavy and she brought it to The Stranger who laying on the ground beaten and bloodied.
"I am dying…" The Stranger whimpered threw deep breaths.
"Take your sword angel!" Li-Ming demanded and let the sword drop in front of him.
"My sword." The Stranger reached for it and grabbed its hilt. Li-Ming and the others back away as bright golden light shined from beneath The Stranger and he was lifted into the air by unseen currents of magic. The Light was blinding and Li-Ming almost tripped but was caught by Lyndon. The walls cracked and chucks of brisk fell from the ceiling.
The ground shook and the stairwell behind them crumbled and fell in blocks of rock and debris. The shaking intensified and the light pulsated. A gust of wind swept them of their feet and they all fell back.
Finally, the light gave way and the shaking stopped. They opened their eyes and Lyndon let go of Li-Ming. They stared in awe. The Stranger was clad in golden armor that was draped in a forest green robe. The Stranger landed softly on his feet and he lifted his eyes, his golden eyes.
"I remember now…" The Stranger said in a deep, calm yet affirmative tone. "I was an archangel of the High Heavens! I was the embodiment of Justice!" He looked at his sword and tightened his grip on its hilt. He locked his piercing gave with Li-Ming and said. "I was…I am – Tyrael!" Kormac got to his knees in admiration at the spectacle before him and Lyndon stood awe struck, not knowing what to do, say or think. Li-Ming simply walked closer him and stopped mere inches away.
"You have restored my mind friend, and now I remember the warning I came to deliver." At Last! After so much effort! After so much blood shed and chaos since her first arrival in Tristram, all of Li-Ming's hard work was about to pay off. She was so excited she felt she could jump up and down in sheer happiness, but her Treasure Goblin was already doing it.
"Belial and Azmodan, the last Lords of Hell, are unleashing a tide of darkness that will drown this world. Already, Belial's shadow has fallen on Caldeum."
"Belial?" Li-Ming spoke. "I look forward to killing a Lord of Hell; should be an interesting battle." Kormac was cross with Li-Ming speaking to an angel they way she was. Even in the presence of the divine, her arrogance still did not subside.
Tyrael seemed unfazed by Li-Ming's comment and said, "We must move quickly. Let us return to Tristram and make ready." So Caldeum was to be her next destination. Li-Ming found it ironic that from where her journey began, she would be returning back.
Behind Tyrael a blue portal opened itself up through time and space and on the other side they could see the outskirts of Tristram.
"Come my friends.: Tyrael said as he walked through the portal with Li-Ming and the Treasure Goblin right behind him. Kormac pushed Lyndon along. None of them knew what they future lay in store for them. Maghda had escaped their grasps and they were planning on going face to face with a Lord of Hell. Kormac's plans of returning to the order would have to be put on hold and Lyndon, well he had nowhere to go. They placed their faiths in Li-Ming and now the angel; Tyrael. Kormac hoped they would live long enough to make a difference.
Xxxxx
Alaric was alone in the Drowned Temple. He was observing the rift gate and it sunk into the ground. The other appeared and Alaric said, "What's going on?"
"They are moving away. They are heading for Caldeum. I will take the rift gate and follow them there."
"Why?"
"Because, a Lord of Hell resides there. Should this mortal defeat him; I will have no doubts that she will be the one to finally rid the evil that we fought so long ago to trap inside."
Alaric nodded and the other disappeared. He hoped that he was right, otherwise they were doomed either way.
Xxxxx
The evil inside the rift gate was laughing manically. The rift gate was moving through time and space; he could feel it. He was so excited he could not stop his insane laughter. Soon, the gate will open, soon he will fight the wizard and when that day comes; she will die.
Well, that was certainly a big moment wasn't it, and we learned some things about our beloved Li-Ming in her battle with the demon. I hope you all found it interesting and I hope you all enjoyed the way I wrote it.
Oh, I noticed that Blizzard added Li-Ming as a playable character in Heroes of The Storm. I've never played it and I'm not really a fan of how they make her look in that game either. I like the way they made her in Diablo much more; but since they added her, I have noticed a slight jump in her popularity. Only because I've seen new fan art of her that I previously have never seen before.
Okie dokie well we have one more chapter to go and then it is on to bigger and better things my friends. I will try to update as quickly as I can as long as nothing distracts me in the meantime. I hope you loved this chapter and I will be back with another one. PEACE!