Lidia went up first.
Holding Azuredge and willing it to give light, she surveyed the left wall. It was once stoutly built with grey granite blocks about two feet square, but now it had been broken. The stones were marred with fewer scratches; it was not the work of looters from the look of it. Their shape and height seemed familiar to her, though she had trouble remembering where she'd seen them before and thought no more about it.
Still, whoever had helped themselves had taken care not to damage the rest of the wall. If one's footing was careful, the remaining stones made a serviceable stairway to the roof.
Or, at least, it would be a simple matter to climb up if the night didn't lay upon this place so heavily. One misstep would be easy, here…
She leaned towards what little of the block she could see, her right hand raising the axe and its light, her left hand feeling its way forward. The stone bumped against her greaves with a clink. She carefully crawled on top of the block, her hand still fumbling against the cold, rough stone and brushing away a thin layer of old snow.
After what seemed like an age, her hand finally brushed against a solid wall in front. Slowly, methodically, she traced it upwards until her fingers bent around a corner. Gripping this edge, she pulled herself up until her knees cleared the edge and rested upon the top of the next block.
Minsc followed closely after her, and then the others went in a line after them. Lidia kept her eyes ahead, every sense bent towards finding the next handhold.
No one said a word as they ascended, one closely following on the heels of another, slowly, as they climbed the remains of the wall.
The mass of black shadows twitched around the large, misshapen gem but seemed to take no notice of them.
Lidia pulled herself up one last time and found herself upon the roof. Or rather, this place was something like a roof and a courtyard rolled into one. If they'd ascended the swell of land on the other side of the temple, they would have found this place at its crest. Whether the temple was built into this hill or whether it had sunk in over time, they could not say.
The stones here, which stretched several hundred feet square in every direction, were weather-stained and swarming with creatures of the darkness. But it must have been a pleasant enough place, long ago. To one side, the faint light revealed a gold statue of some kind, still untarnished and standing about ten feet tall. A few vestigial walls remained, and beyond a row of narrow pillars stood an empty fountain on another side.
Valygar sidled up to Lidia, then pointed beyond the shadows. "There," he mouthed.
Sure enough, whenever the shadows thinned on the other side of the crystal, one could see a rectangular depression. About thirty feet separated the Company from this entrance. Between them lay a dozen shadows. They had seemed somewhat drowsy, but as they got closer, they started to stretch out, their inhumanly thin limbs splaying across the stone, their hungry hands hunting.
The Company stood on the edge of the roof, warily eyeing the shadow-creatures. At the sight of them lingering this close, the hairs stood up on the back of Lidia's neck.
She forced herself to clear her mind and called Minsc over, pointing out the spot that Valygar had shown her. "Can you make it there?" she asked.
"Of course, if Larry is as good a sword as he says!" Minsc declared.
The mass of shadow-creatures twitched again.
As Lidia focused and got ready to cast, she said, "Minsc, you need to run. Make sure those shadows don't touch Yoshimo."
"Ah, of course," he said, gently patting the burden on his back. "I had nearly forgotten. Boo would pout so if I had let down someone that I'd carried."
"I'll—I'll go next," Aerie said. "I can help him find it."
As Lidia cast the protection spell on Minsc and Yoshimo, then Aerie, then Anomen, she felt a calm serenity wash over her again and again, until the reassurance was firmly planted in her mind: All will be well.
She called to Valygar, "All right. You next."
Valygar lifted up his hand. "Hold on a moment. What are you doing?"
"My duty," Lidia said. "I can protect you if you'll allow it."
"I've gotten you to this point without relying on sorcery, and I've no intention of starting now."
"Then we return the way we came, or have these things rapidly drain your body and raise your spirit as part of their army," Lidia said. "I'm not doing the first thing, and the second is extremely unpleasant."
"This display of magic—"
"It'll save your life. I won't force you to accept it, but choose quickly."
Valygar's tall frame slumped forward slightly. For the moment, he seemed somewhat defeated. "Very well," he said. "Begin your casting."
Lidia cast the spell upon herself last. As soon as the spell's power faded from her hand, she set her jaw and waded forward into the shadows.
The shadows lazily drifted about her feet and legs. Every now and again, one took a swipe at her, but its hand stopped about a foot away, lingering, its hand seeming to burn from the contact.
She heard Aerie calling her name in alarm and started running.
Minsc, Anomen, and Valygar were all bent over the entrance, struggling to lift a slab of rock from inside the roof.
Aerie was off to the side, her hands shaking as they frantically rifled through her small velvet bag. She looked up. "It's—it's stuck. I'll try casting a spell, but I don't think we can remove it in time—"
In about ten seconds, the protection spell around Minsc and Yoshimo would be gone. The others' would soon follow, and the shadows would begin to feast.
As though they could sense that their prey was nearly ready, the shadows drifted closer and closer. But Lidia's eyes rested on the large crystal behind them.
"'Don't curse the darkness, but light a candle,'" she said to herself.
"We'll need a bigger candle," Valygar called out, straining again to budge the slab.
Lidia took off towards the crystal. The shadows massed around her as she ran, their thin fingers reaching for her, but they were rebuffed by the shield of divine power that surrounded her.
She shouted to the Company, "Shield your eyes!"
Against the surface of the crystal, she held Azuredge. The weapon was glowing now an intense blue-white, and she bent her entire will towards it.
The many imperfections inside the massive gem caught the light, spreading and refracting and growing until the crystal shone like a miniature sun.
The effect upon the dozen shadows that surrounded it was just as pronounced. They came apart and dissolved with a thin shriek, their bodies unable to withstand the light and its hidden virtues against the undead.
Lidia opened her eyes a little, though she could not see anything except the searing whiteness. Of its own accord, the light of Azuredge diminished somewhat. She shut her eyes and turned her mind towards the light again, the inside of her eyelids glowing deep red.
Above the noise, she heard Aerie's voice: "Praeses, alia, fero!" Then again: "Now try it."
With one more heave, the slab lifted up, stone on stone grinding as it was cast aside.
"We're in!" Valygar called out. "Let's go!"
Lidia turned her head aside from the crystal towards the roof's edges. The racket had been enough to rouse every dark thing around them. The intense light destroyed a few more shadows as they crawled onto the roof, but she couldn't stay here forever. From a distance echoed unearthly howls.
Keeping her focus on Azuredge, Lidia ran back, brandishing the axe and its light towards anything in her way.
Underneath the slab, the others had uncovered a small entrance, enough to admit them one by one down broken stone steps leading into darkness, where the light of the crystal couldn't reach.
Without hesitation, they descended.