The Realms of Enlightenment: The Grey Companions

[Realms #225] The World Moves On

"No!" Rherram said firmly. "I do not want an apple." The old man straightened up painfully and looked the rest of the group over. His eyes paused momentarily on the shackled werebat and then they fell on Finian's unmoving body lying on the ground. "Oh no!" he gasped in horror, his wizened face filling with sadness.

"He died fighting werebats," Ledare said in her best business-like tone. "We were all injured by them and could use some healing and belladonna."

Rherram went over and knelt in the mud by the Archer's side. He placed one thick-knuckled hand on the half-elf's blood-encrusted chest and sighed. A tear fell onto Finian's rent studded leather armor. "You should have stayed here with me, Archer of the Green. The quiet life might have kept you long in this world."

"Did you know him?" Vade asked, stepping up to the healer's side and placing a small conciliatory arm around the old man's shoulders. The halfling sounded as if he might be on the verge of tears himself.

"Yes," Rherram choked out, wiping an errant tear off his cheek with the sleeve of his robe. "Though not as well as I'd have liked. I met him in much the same manner as I met you, m'boy."

"I'm so, so sorry!" Vade wailed and buried his face against Rherram's shoulder. Heavy sobs wracked the little halfling's body.

Ledare looked on, grim-faced, her lips pressed together in a tight line. A wet glitter in her coppery eyes was the only indication that she shared Rherram's feelings of loss. About the halfling's motives, she knew little and cared even less. She cleared her throat during a momentary break in the little creature's crying.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Ledare said when the healer looked up at her, "but many of our injuries were caused by lycanthropes and-"

"Of course," Rherram finished, prying Vade's small arms from around his neck and getting to his feet."You'll want belladonna."

"Yes," the Janissary said. "I think it would be prudent."

"I've got some locked up in my lab," the man told her and began fishing in a pouch at his waist. "It's only truly effective if administered within one hour of the injury, but... The key to my poisonous herb cabinet's gone. I-"

Vade held up a small silver key in one hand, wiping away a tear and smearing his stage make-up with the other. "Here," he sniffed. "I found this on the ground."

Rherram rolled his eyes and snatched the key away. "You all can wait in the front room," he said as he moved toward his front door. "Jisselleen can fetch you some-"

Ledare cut him off glancing sideways at her prisoner. "Perhaps, under the circumstances, it's better if Jisselleen stays in her room," she suggested and the old healer nodded.

"I'll let her know," he said and hurried inside.



Rherram fed them each a tiny bit of wolfsbane, and although Ledare experienced some brief cramping, no one was poisoned by the herb.

"Why can't I have some?" Vade asked, tugging insistently on the healer's robe.

"Because you weren't injured by any skaven," the old man said again. "And because it's poisonous, that's why."

"Oh," Vade said and went to sit on the floor.

Rherram rolled his eyes again and took a large tin of healing salve out of the bag he'd procured from his laboratory. "I'm sorry that this salve is the best I can do. I've some contagious folks in the infirmary just now so I can't admit you there overnight."

"Contagious with what?" Ruze asked, smelling the influence of Lady Pestilence.

The old man shrugged before going back to helping Ixin peel off her leather jerkin. The specially tailored armor was sticking to her sword wounds. "I wish I knew, Battleguard," the healer replied. "I've never seen it before. It's responding well to my initial treatments, but from what the patients tell me it's completely resistant to divine healing."

"What?" Ruze almost shouted.

"I know. I know," Rherram agreed. "I've never heard of anything like it. And the disease is rampant in the capital. I heard a rumor today that they've sealed the city's gates!"

"Barnacus is-" Ledare started to say and Rherram finished for her.

"Quarantined," he said and began stripping off Ixin's tunic. He heard Vade suck in his breath as the heavier red scales on the mage's shoulders were revealed. "Perhaps it might be best if I took care of each of you one at a time."



"My Papa and my brothers, Duece and Trey, run a profitable business in sales and entertainment and whatever," the halfling was explaining as he swung back and forth on the horse rail in front of Rherram's. He didn't seem to notice - or care - that only Draelond and Ixin were listening to his story. Ledare was anxiously watching the front door, waiting for Ruze to finish his turn with the healer. The werebat was doing its best to disappear from the Janissary's sight. The day remained overcast, but it was warming up as the height of mid-afternoon loomed.

"I helped them until I decided to strike out on my own for a while," Vade went on. "I was quite successful, but lately, times have been quiet and sales were slow. Customers did not have much where I was doing business, but I kept myself safe." He swung his legs forward and landed with his feet atop the rail. He stood up on it and began walking back and forth along it.

"You're very nimble," Ixin told him and Vade cringed so hard that he fell off the rail.

"Sometimes," Draelond deadpanned as the halfling bounded to his feet.

"Now that I've been able to thank Rherram for his hospitality, I would like to move out of these parts to a more interesting area... get a fresh start, you know..," Vade went on. "Where are you going?"

The front door opened and Ruze stepped out sporting some fresh bandages and a worried scowl. "We're going to visit Constable Boralle," Ledare announced, yanking hard on the werebat's chain. To the halfling she added, "And you're staying here!"

Vade looked crestfallen, almost ready to cry, but Ledare paid him no mind.

"We've got to turn over our prisoner to someone who can keep watch on him," she told the others and Draelond nodded his agreement.

"Mayhaps we can find someone who knows what's going on in Barnacus as well," the warrior suggested and the werebat snorted a tiny laugh before it could stifle it. Ledare whirled on it in a heartbeat.

"What's so funny?" she demanded, her longsword whistled from its sheath and found its way to the werebat's throat. "What do you know about this?"

"Nothing, mi'lady! Nothing!" it lied and Ledare made it clear that she knew it was lying by pressing more firmly with her sword blade. "Okay! All I know is that I heard Ingardulf say that Corben was hatching a scheme against the capital. Something about a festival and poisoned food. It was supposed to break the people's faith. That's all I know! I swear!"

"I think he's telling the truth," Ixin said softly and Ledare took her sword away from the creature's neck.

"I know," the Janissary growled. "But we'll see if a night in the Constable's donjon jars his memory any!"

"Ledare, I think we must really sit here for a while and deal with the tragedies that have befallen us," Ruze countered, gesturing piously toward Finian's body under its draped cloak. "To ignore the dead only means that they will continue to haunt our thoughts and actions. We must have a ceremony for the fallen - both Kirnoth and Finian - so the living can continue to live. We must continue our cause with hearts that are pure so that they did not die in vain and our cause is not lost."

"Kirnoth isn't dead yet," Ledare reminded, giving the werebat a shake. "Our little 'friend' here told us that much!"

"Ah, yes. Kirnoth - or at least the host that was Kirnoth - is down in the cave held captive," the cleric said with a sad nod. for a moment he looked at the ground and then sighed deeply. "I must say that if he has been converted there is nothing we can do for him except save his soul. Now that I know he is down there, I do say we should think of something to do, but, Kitten, I know not what to do. Again, I ask: if we do find him, what do we do? Slay him?"

Ledare seemed conflicted. Her face moved through a range of emotions before settling on frustration. "I don't know, Ruze!" she exclaimed. "I don't have all the answers yet! But I do know that we need to get this... THING locked up! So I'm going to take it into town and throw it in the Constable's donjon!"

"As you wish," the Battleguard said with a deferential bow before turning away. "Now, I am off to prepare Finian's body for its final journey."

There was a moment's awkwardness during which Ledare moved in one direction and Ruze in another, leaving Vade, Draelond and Ixin in the middle.

"I'd better go with Ledare," Draelond announced before hustling off.

"I guess I'm staying with the fat guy," Vade said and did a cartwheel after Ruze.

After a moment's thought about the pawing she'd gotten the last time she was in Strenchburg Junction, Ixin moved to join the Battleguard and the halfling. As she went, she opened her cloak, releasing Martivir. The owl took to the air, circling over the mage's head. "Go find yourself a shrew, little one," Ixin called up to the bird. "But stay out of trouble."



The Constable had been happy to accept the Janissary's prisoner. He'd also been happy to brag that his men had dealt with the three exploding undead that Ledare had, in the Constable's words, "left behind". One of his armsmen had been injured during the assault. He said the last as if it were somehow Ledare's fault.

Of the troubles a day's ride north, he knew little more than Rherram. Refugees that had fled the capital and merchants who had been turned away from the city's gates began showing up in Strenchburg Junction that morning and they'd been trickling in throughout the day. The caravanserai was overfull and all three of the town's inns were completely booked up. Blodd, the barkeep at Hammond's Rest, had even begun renting out sleeping space in his stable. They all told a similar story about the plagued city: it spread like wildfire amongst the tightly packed cityfolk, weakening the afflicted's constitution and causing delirium in its later stages, and clerics were powerless to heal those affected by it. Constable Boralle added one sinister bit of news that Rherram hadn't told them: the clerics weren't just unable to heal the disease, they seemed to be spreading it each time they tried.

The information did little to raise the Janissary's spirits. And displaced commoners and worried tradesmen alike pressed her for answers to their dilemma as she and Draelond tried to leave town. All saw her, as a representative of the King, as a likely source of comfort. When she could tell them nothing many of them turned surly, and in the end, Draelond suggested that perhaps an overland route back to Rherram's might be preferable to fighting their way through angry throngs.

It was nearing dusk when they finally reached the cartpath that lead up to Rherram's infirmary and Draelond finally broke the brooding silence that had pressed on them since leaving the town. "You seem troubled, Ledare," he said.

"The Realms are unravelling around us, Draelond," she snapped back. "Don't you find that troubling?"

"I'm sorry," he said quickly and they tramped on in silence again for a bit. At last he worked up the courage to speak again. "You were troubled before we found out about Barnacus," he told her. "Is it Finian's death?"

Ledare stopped and pressed her hand against her face. "Yes," she said. "I guess it is. It started weighing on me on our way back to Rherram's."

"You were close-" Draelond started and Ledare shook her head.

"It's not that," she explained. "It's just that I'm the last one, now - the last of my original Companions. And I can't help but think that it might be my fault. That my lack of strong leadership led to so many deaths amongst our group." Ledare looked up at the darkening sky and sighed. "I never asked to be leader."

Draelond cleared his throat and, looking down at the tips of his mud-caked boots, said, "Please, forgive me if you find me to be speaking out of line, Ledare, and know from the outset that I hold your opinion in the highest regard." He kept his head lowered and dropped his broad shoulders in an attempt to make himself appear as unassuming as possible before continuing. "Your leadership under these unbelievably trying circumstances has been put to the ultimate test, and though you may not feel it now, you have met the challenge in the fullest."

Ledare made a harrumphing sound, not at all unlike the one that the long-dead Soriah always used and waved the warrior's words away with a dismissive gesture.

"No. I mean it. Without your direction and guidance this quest would have been called a failure long ago." Draelond went on, undaunted. His words were gaining in conviction as he went. "I understand your grief over those you have lost, both before my involvement and after. But they fought the cause with the knowledge that this unspeakable evil lay before them and they have died a warrior's death. There is no shame in their passing."

Ledare looked at the man, and his black eyes held hers.

"We cannot let their deaths have been in vain," he told her, righteousness building in his voice. "We find ourselves at the threshold, the very cradle of this evil. We know where the portal is, and we may well be able to do something about it if we can heal and regroup quickly."

"You're right, of course. It's just that... it's disheartening to..," Ledare said in a small voice. "I find it hard to fill the empty places of my comrades so easily." Draelond nodded at that but offered a counter-argument.

"An able body who is willing to lend a hand stands ready to join us, and you would turn him away," he said, his voice heavy with emotion. "Vade's appearance at this moment in time is more than just luck. Surely, it's a sign that we were meant to finish this work!"

Draelond paused then, realizing as he spoke that his posture had changed. He was now standing fully upright and his fists were clenched so tightly that fingernails had pierced flesh at the palm. He loosened his hands, breathed deeply and lowered his head. There was a pause before he spoke again spoke slowly. "I apologize," he muttered. "I have no right to speak to someone of your stature in such a way. It is my greatest weakness that I allow my emotions to flow unchecked."

Ledare said nothing, sensing correctly that it was taking every ounce of the big man's will to state his opinions to her. If she interrupted further, she feared that he might never speak his thoughts again.

"What I mean to say," he continued, laboring to maintain a measured pace, "is that this little man, Vade, could help. All I ask is that you talk to him. If he wishes to fight for the cause, then we cannot turn him away. If he wishes to fight for loot and riches, then perhaps he can help us anyway and be turned away when he has served us. Whatever his reasons, we face something that cannot be ignored at this moment, and whatever the outcome, I would like to be able to say that I availed myself of every available resource to fight to see that no more have to die as Den Lant's daughter, Finian or countless thousands of others have." Again, he bowed his head and started to move away up the path. "Thank you for hearing me out," he said. "I will leave you to your thoughts."

Before he could take more than one long stride, the Janissary gripped Draelond's massive shoulder and stopped him. "I have heard your words and I thank you for them," she told the man. "Vade may join us if he so chooses. I need to rest and clear my head. There is much to think about."

[Realms #226] Death! Death! Death!

But rest seemed intent on eluding the Janissary.

As she and Draelond mounted the hill to Rherram's home, they spotted the orange glow of torches burning behind the building. They took the path on the south side that took them through Rherram's low beds of fragrant herbs and found that Ruze, Ixin, and Vade had been busy while they were gone. Well... maybe not Vade since he seemed to be doing little beside sitting under one of the large trees and eating an apple.

Ruze was dressed in a white gown that Ledare recognized as similar to the one that Soriah had worn during special ceremonies. Ruzes was trimmed in silver thread and bore twin crescents in the same material centered on his chest. Ixin was had removed her leather armor and looked a good deal healthier than when they left. She had obviously bathed and whatever Rherram had done for her wounds had worked wonders.

They stood beside a raised platform of logs taken from the stack of wood Rherram kept behind his laboratory. It formed a sort of rustic bier. Finian was laid out atop the pile, dressed in his adventuring gear. He too had been carefully bathed and arranged so that he looked to be sleeping rather than dead. Ruze was leaning over and talking to the little halfling, a bemused smile on the cleric's face.

"Wow! You don't miss any meals do you?" Ledare and Draelond could hear the newcomer say as he gestured to Ruze's belly. "Do you cook or does your wife cook for you? Oh! Here she is now!"

Vade looked over at Ledare and she gave him a scathing look. The halfling turned back to Ruze and said in a loud whisper, "She is cute, but I don't really like her hair cut." Ruze stifled back a chuckle in spite of the somber surroundings.

"What's all this?" Draelond asked, gesturing to the bier and torches. As they stepped out into the firelight, they could see that several more torches - unlit - were piled up nearby.

"I would like to conduct a funeral service for Finian and a memorial for Kirnoth," Ruze explained, folding his hands reverently as he spoke. "I have prepared a burial speech and would ask each of you to remember and approach Finian and Kirnoth in your own way when the time comes."

"Ruze," Ledare sighed, "We learned things in town and I don't you really think we have time for-"

"This is important, Kitten," the Battleguard asserted. "Finian deserves to be ushered properly into Myrkul's dark hall. Vade, kindly go fetch Rhem so that we may begin."

The halfling nodded and bound to his feet in a single, convulsive leap.



"We are gathered here tonight to remember those who have fallen whilst fighting against the taint of chaos that e'en now as we speak spreads throughout the Realm" Ruze began his eulogy, gesturing to the ranger's body. "Finian Talteppe, Archer of the Green, has fallen while gallantly fighting the minions of evil. He lay down his life so we could be here today. There lies his body, dead. But he is not dead; for he lives on in each of us. And we are not dead."

He looked pointedly at each of his companions as he spoke that last, making sure that the implication of hope was apparent to each of them. "We can be thankful for the grace of Shaharizod shines on us all even on those who are not of the Faith. Be glad that we stand here today and do not be sorrowful," he went on. "Finian chose his path and chose it well. He died in honor and would want us to carry forth the fight against chaos. Only one now stands of the original companions: Ledare Eelsof'faw. In her lifetime she has seen those around her fall."

He approached Ledare and lay a comforting hand on the shoulder guard of her Janissary plate before moving on with his prepared words.

"Let us also not forgot my sister, Soriah Ilea Chaste, who was the first to fall in the fight against chaos. Her spirit now rests with my Queen," he said, raising his hands to the dark sky where Great Celune shown full and round. Lower in the sky, just above the horizon hung the tiny sliver of the Handmaiden. Ruze bent and picked up a folded cloak that Ledare, Draelond and Rherram recognized as belonging to Kirnoth. He held it sadly in his hands for a moment before continuing.

"Then Kirnoth Val Satha, who has been stolen from our breast into the heart of darkness," he intoned. "Kirnoth has befallen a fate worse than death! For Chaos has stolen our friend and companion and now seeks to use him against us as if he were a mere pawn!" Ruze lay the cloak at the foot of Finian's rough-hewn bier. "For Kirnoth we now also mourn the loss. I ask my Queen to guard after his soul and when it is time to guide it to your bosom. May we find Kirnoth and put his soul to rest."

"And now Finian has been stolen from us as well," he added as he turned and faced the gathered companions. "May Shaharizod provide the hunting ground for his soul." He bowed his head a moment and silence save for the sounds of nature and crackling of the burning torches pressed in around them.

"But let us now not forget the living, for we are the next generation to fight chaos: Draelond Khemir; Ixin Chaririejir; myself, Ruze Bloodbow Faith; and now Vade Briarhopper, for Shaharizod brought us the little one to lighten our spirit, and most likely some of our load," Ruze said with a wink to Vade as the cleric clutched his silver holy symbol protectively. "I also consider Rhem Ongensleer as part of the Companions for he does not range forth with us, but remains here steadfast against Chaos ready to aid when and where he can. Let us not forget Ledare, who has lead those before her and not these here today, for she is a good leader, a kind leader, a just leader, and a compassionate leader. I can say that those who follow the path of Shaharizod are trained to walk alone, as I can now, yet I chose to follow Ledare as she will guide us through the darkness into the light."

Saying this he folded his hands and stepped away from the bier, stepping in amidst the others' ranks. "Now let's all take a moment to remember all those who have fallen.," he said with a pious smile. "Let us approach them each in their own way. Let us speak to our Gods and Goddesses. Then let us go back to living, let us go back to that which is before us. Let us take a moment now."

No one stepped forward and Ruze looked awkwardly at the group.

Draelond avoided his gaze. Ledare merely stared sadly at the body. Ixin shook her head and explained, "I only met him yesterday. I hardly knew him." Vade, however, squared his small shoulders and walked up to the side of the wooden platform. From that position, he could barely see half-elf's body stretched out atop it, but he craned his neck and stood on his tip-toes in order to do so.

"You seem like you will be missed," he told the corpse, then started to walk away. Stopping at the foot of the bier he turned and added, "I have to say I admire your bold fashion statements. It takes one tough man to get away with hair and shoes like that." He started to say more, but his voice cracked and a sob overtook him. He blew his nose messily into a handkerchief as he walked back to rejoin the others. The handkerchief was embroidered with Rherram's initials.

The healer paid no attention to it, but somberly approached the ranger's body with Jiselleen and the baby at his side. They stood there with bowed heads for a moment and then stepped back. Ruze looked over at Ledare and Draelond one last time before gathering up the unlit torches and handing them - one each - to the assemblage.

"Very well," he said as he lit his torch off of the nearest flame. "Then I would like to have us each touch our torches to the pyre, sending Finian's spirit on its final journey."



Later, as they watched the fire consume the Archer's body, Ruze gritted his teeth.

"You know, I suddenly grow tired from all of this," he said to no one in particular. "Finian is dead, Kirnoth lost, Ledare is dispirited, and I now grow tired that all our efforts seem unable to stem the tide of chaos. I say tonight, I shall pray to my Queen for divine power to make a difference." No one said anything as they watched the remains of their companion burn. They all turned to regard him when next he spoke, "We go back to the caves tomorrow. We find this portal and find the evil that has destroyed Kirnoth and we eradicate this cave. I will purify it so that evil cannot grow back there, then at least one small area has been rid of the foul taint of chaos."

"We shouldn't dilly-dally here," Draelond grumbled. "Our prisoner can lead us to the portal and ostensibly, Kirnoth as well, but it may be a time-sensitive issue."

"Seek Rhem's cures, for I pray for my Queen's Swords tonight not her Spirit to cure," the Battleguard said with a menacing scowl.

"We should prepare and be off to deal with this in the morning," the big warrior agreed, grinding his right fist into the palm of his left hand.

"I can help!" Vade piped up. "I am great at finding things! Did you lose this?" He held up a twisted red finger that Ruze recognized as his dried Devil's Tongue bean. He snatched it away from the halfling and clutched it in his hand since his robe didn't have any pockets.

"What are you good at?" Ledare asked, glowering at the little man.

"Hmm... Let me see..." the halfling said and began counting off on his fingers. When he got to his missing picky, he frowned sadly before looking up at Ledare with a grin. "My brothers used to say my brains were made of jelly because I was good at getting out of jams." He laughed loudly (as did some of the others). Ledare, however, stared at him stone-faced. "I am good at making friends," the halfling suggested and clutched at the healer's leg. "Right Rherram?"

"How do you purpose to be of assistance to our group?" the Janissary rephrased the question. "By making friends with our enemies?"

"Well... whenever anyone loses stuff, I seem to be good at finding it," he offered and Ledare snorted derisively. "Just lucky I guess. My Mama used to say, 'Boy you could talk the ears off of an elephant!'. So I must be a good talker... I love my Mama." Vade got a wistful look on his face and sighed expansively.

Ledare looked at Draelond as if to ask: this is who you want joining our quest? Draelond shrugged in response and the Janissary shook her head in resigned confusion. "Fine," she said, throwing up her hands. "Before we go to bed tonight, I want to tell you all what I know. From the beginning, leaving nothing out."

And she did.



Starday, the 10th of Wealsun, 1269 AE

They were awakened by a loud pounding at the front door before the day had even brightened to dawn and in the gray light, Ledare groggily croaked out, "Just a minute, Abernathy!" She wasn't in Grey House and the pounding was coming from the front door of Rherram's. Vade hoped nimbly over the forms of the companions who were stretched out uncomfortably on the floor in the healer's living room. He slid back the bar and threw open the door before Ledare had even propped herself up on one arm.

The halfling looked up at the young runner who stood panting outside in the pre-dawn gloom. The runner looked down at him in turn. "Who are you?" they both asked at once.

Rherram appeared at the back of the room dressed in his nightshirt and holding an oil lamp in one hand. Seeing him the boy at the door said to him, "Healer! I've been sent to find the Janissary."

Rubbing sleep from her eyes with one fist, Ledare yawned expansively and got to her feet. "That's me," she grumbled. "What is it?"

"The Lord Mayor sent me," the boy said. "There's been some trouble with your prisoner."

"Dammit!" Ledare cursed, fully awake now. Around her the others had begun to stir as well. The Janissary reached for her breastplate and the boy held up a cautioning hand.

"The Lord Mayor suggested that you might want to come as a civilian," the runner added and Ledare nodded her understanding.

"Give me a few moments to get dressed," she told the boy, gesturing that he should wait outside.



The sun was above the horizon when they reached the jail and a large, nervous crowd had already gathered outside it. A few scrawny armsmen wielding longspears kept the mob at bay, but some of the guards had stains on their uniforms from being pelted with rotten fruit. Ledare could only imagine what would have happened had she walked up wearing her Janissary plate and the tabbard of Elcaden. The guards ushered her and the others (except Vade, who had elected to stay behind and help Rherram with breakfast) into the low, fortified building. Many of the gathered townspeople shied away from Ruze once they recognized him as a Battleguard of Shaharizod. They made the sign of the Evil Eye and spit at his feet as he passed. Several amongst the crowd hissed, 'Dragon bitch!' at Ixin as she walked by.

The scene inside the jail was much worse.

There were three dead armsmen in the front room. They weren't just dead, though. They looked like they had been forcefully stabbed with a thousand needles... from the inside. Blood was everywhere and judging by the unnatural positions of the bodies, they hadn't died quickly.

"Good gods!" Ixin hissed, covering her mouth with one gloved hand and narrowly stifling back a retch.

"Aye! That's what I said too!" a voice called from the back of the room. He was a heavy man with finely plaited white hair held in place with a simple circlet of gold. He wore a sculpted breastplate that bore the symbol of Ibrahil the True. A longsword depended from his waist. He scratched at his jowls with one hand and offered his other to Ledare. "You must be the Janissary," he said as they clasped wrists. "I'm Baron Wicaop, Lord Mayor of Strenchburg Junction."

"I am Janissary Ledare Eelsof'faw," she said. "Your runner said there was trouble with my prisoner. Did he escape?"

The Mayor considered this for a moment, then said simply, "No." He turned and passed through a narrow doorway that was normally blocked by a heavy iron door. They followed into a cramped area surrounded on two sides by stout iron bars. There was a tiny drain the center of the stone floor and it emitted a steady drip-drip-drip as blood fell away into darkness below.

The place was a massacre. Constable Boralle lay nearby, clutching his chest with one hand, his face the color of ashes. There was a pile of corruption near his body that may have been another guard, but he appeared to have somehow rotted away to near liquid putrescence. The stench was horrible. The dismembered body of another guard was hanging from its own intestines on the weapon rack. His head was conspicuously missing. A message had been scrawled in blood on the wall above the body. It read: "Do not interfere, Janissary!"

"Your man's over here," the Mayor said, gesturing toward one of the cells. "At least I think so."

Where Ledare and Draelond had left the werebat the night before was a sickening pile of green slime. Several prisoners in nearby cells were completely shriveled as if the very life force had been leeched out of them. The desiccated husks of their bodies lay on the floor of their cells curled into pitiful positions.

"What could do this?" Ledare asked no one in particular.

"Apparently one man," a woman answered. She was a matronly type dressed in robes of green and gold. Her feet were bare despite the filth around her and she wore the wheat-stalk symbol of Merikka on a chain around her neck. "I spoke briefly with the only survivor of this massacre. He was raving when I arrived but became coherent long enough to impart his tale before lapsing completely."

"This is Annette Higheagle, an Archal of the Sun Lord," Baron Wicaop announced. "I asked her here when my men discovered this..." The Mayor's words trailed off as he gestured to the room that had once been a place of law and now served only death. "She's the most powerful priest we have in the Barony."

Annette bowed her head once, accepting the praise and then approached the Companions. "I had the survivor - a prisoner named Grith Deethblak who was incarcerated on a charge of public drunkeness and assault - taken back to the temple by some of my acolytes," she said sadly. "But I fear it will matter little; his mind is shattered. And I'm not surprised considering what he claims to have seen."

She then recounted the tale that Deethblak had told, sparing no detail, and offering what explanation she could in the process. It had started with screaming in the outer room, Deethblak had said. One of the guards (named Thompar, Baron Wicaop told them) opened the door and found the three outer guards writhing around on the ground, bristling with thorns. Standing in their midst was a tall human dressed in black leather, wearing a black cape with skin that looked like it had never seen the sun. He moved quickly - more quickly than any human had the right and touched Thompar on the shoulder. The guard started crying and went down immediately. The man in black moved into the room and spit something at one of the other guards (Merin, gods rest his soul). Deethblak claimed it looked like the man's tongue, but it was about two feet long, and it pinned the guard to the weapons rack in an instant. Constable Boralle got up and went for his sword, but the man in black cast a spell and the constable fell to the ground clutching his chest. He never got up.

Then the man in black walked over to the werebat and cast another spell that made the prisoners in the cells beside the werebat begin to weaken visibly. Then the man lit up a long bone pipe and stood smoking it while he and the werebat muttered to each other. What was said, Deethblak couldn't hear, but it seemed to make the man in black very angry. He cast another spell and the werebat started to convulse. In less than 30 seconds, he'd turned into that puddle of green slime.

And then the man in black started doing things to the guards. Thompar, who was still weeping uncontrollably, he turned into that putrid husk. But Merin, he kept alive for a while, as the prisoners withered in their cells and Deethblak watched.

"In the end, the man in black used magic to convince Grith Deethblak that his body was rotting away in much the same way. It was too much for his mind to handle," Arcal Annette concluded. "The man in black made him remember something that he kept repeating over and over: 'The Black Bishop will rise again! We will free the High King!'."

[Realms #227] Butt-kicking for Goodness!

"I say Ledare, this is troubling news," Ruze said, turning away from the gory scene to whisper into the Janissary's pointed ear. "This man in black appears to be a leader or sub-leader underneath the Black Bishop."

"So now we have to worry about a bishop and a king?" Ledare muttered back. "What happened to She Who Was Coming?" Ruze shrugged slightly.

"I would say maybe the Black Bishop is a very powerful person under She Who Is Coming," he offered. "I think the baven leader of the cave is under this man in black. He appears to be a very potent spell caster in the dark arts. We will need to be a full strength to deal with him."

"Agreed," Ledare replied and Ruze raised his voice to address the group.

"Let's back to Rhem so I can outfit you all with healing kit," he said. "I have prayed for My Queen's sword arm. Then let's back to the caves. Find the Baven leader, determine the location and use of the portal, and sanctify the cave. In the meantime mayhaps we can find Den Lent's daughter and even Kirnoth or what used to be Kirnoth."

"Is this related to that business with the kidnapping and the banditry?" Baron Wicaop asked, he voice full of concern.

"Most likely, your lordship," Ledare grimly replied and the mayor's face grew dark.

"Were that I had men to spare you, Janissary," he replied. "Wealsun is the busiest moonsdance of the year in the fields and I dare not impress any of the peasants into military service else we'll miss the opportunity to harvest the first of the winter wheat. I can entreat my Lord, the Count of Woodbury, for temporary guards to manage law within the Junction until I can recruit more men from the city, but..." His voice trailed off and Ledare nodded.

"We're on our own at the caves," she finished and he nodded back.

Ixin drew open her cloak and fished out her familiar. Maritivir ruffled his feathers and let out a startled hooting at the sight and smell of the jail.

"I know. I know," the mage soothed, but the owl wouldn't be calmed.

"What are you doing?" Ledare asked.

"I thought that perhaps Marty could tell us something," Ixin explained as the owl fluttered on her hand. "His senses are more acute than ours."

"And...?" Ledare asked and Ixin shook her head.

"Nothing we didn't already figure out," she replied. "He says there was black magic at work here." The owl launched itself from her hand, then and flew to the narrow window set high up in the right hand wall. It perched there and hooted once.

"Fine," Ixin told the bird. "We'll meet you back at Rherram's. But stay out of trouble." The owl ducked out through the bars and flew off. They all heard a startled cry go up from the crowd outside and Ixin sucked in her breath in shock.

"They're throwing stones at him!" she growled, the warm honey glow in her eyes suddenly burning with inner fire. "He wasn't hurting anyone! What's wrong with these people?"

"They're afraid, good lady," Archal Annette said. "And fear breeds hatred. They're looking about for a target... something to be the focus for their hatred."

"Archal, I must say that I am unnerved at the crowds response to me as well," Ruze told the priestess. "I mean, they spit at me. A holy cleric of Shaharizod should not be spit upon by those he seeks to heal and cure."

"I am well-known to the folk hereabouts, Battleguard, and I received much the same treatment when I arrived with my retinue," the cleric explained. "The crowd was smaller then, but with talk of plague in the capital being spread by clerics there, the townsfolk are lashing out temporarily. It will pass."

"I am also concerned that the holy powers of the Gods have been unable to cure this pestilence in Barnacus. I fear the spread of Chaos is over tipping the cup and is spilling over the brim. We are now just seeing the results," Ruze explained and the woman spread her arms in a gesture of acquiescence.

"You may be right, Battleguard," the cleric told him. "The Archals are not a martial order. We know little of these things and do not wish to know more. Merikka teaches us to tend our flocks and leave the smiting of evil as the domain of other Gods' followers."

"And smite we shall!" Ruze said, turning to address Ledare and the others. "We need to strike at the head of chaos. We could spend years trying to stop the small occurrences, but it would be like stopping the tides. We need to strike a decisive blow to this cave, the black bishop if possible, and continue on. I may not be able to stop the tide, but I will not stand idly in its wake either."

"I think we are all in agreement," Ledare said, "Let's be off."

"May the blessings of the Sky Father shine upon you," Archal Annette called as they turned toward the door.

"And may Ibrahil guide your swords!" The Mayor shouted zealously.

Ruze snatched up a bucket in the front room and held it up to the crowd as he walked out into the early morning sunshine. The surly villagers grumbled and began to part a little as the Companions tramped forward. Ruze stooped and placed the bucket on the ground amidst the peasants as they passed and then clutched his holy symbol.

"Here, is some clean fresh water people, may you drink from it and be blessed by Shaharizod!" he intoned and clear water began to surge upwards from the empty bucket, easily filling it and then spilling over the sides in its bounty. The Battleguard smiled and bowed and then turned to follow the others out of town.

None of them saw the angry villagers kick over the bucket, sending its contents into the mud.



"Ewww!" Vade said, scrunching up his face after they had recounted the scene at the jail. "I am glad I didn't have to see that pile of green slime. Yucky!!" He shoved another piece of saltpork into his cavernous mouth and began chewing it with zest. "Ruze, you hurl? I bet I would have." He paused long enough to swallow thickly and reach for another griddle cake. "Breakfast anyone?" he offered. "Mama Briarhopper said never to start an adventure on an empty stomach. I bet your mom said that too Ruze, old buddy." The halfling reached up and patted Ruze's belly with a smile. "I never miss breakfast! Or an adventure for that matter."

"We don't have any time for breakfast, Vade," Ledare said with a tone of exasperation. She stood in the hallway between the front room and the kitchen area, busily tightening the straps on her vambrace. "Whatever we're to eat we'll have to eat on the march."

"I'll gather some things," Draelond offered and began to shovel food wrapped in napkins into his empty pouches.

"Ewww!" Vade said again. "Do you have to touch all the food? Your hands don't look very clean and that armor! Pheeww!" He fluttered his tiny hand in front of his nose and blinked his eyes. "You are smelling riper than this peach I have in my pouch." He produced a pit and tossed it out the open window behind him. "The stream is that way, big guy."

Draelond glowered at him and continued to collect food.

"Man, that is a big sword!" Vade added with a frightened smile, looking at Ravager's handle peaking over Draelond's massive right shoulder. Draelond grinned ferally at the halfling and, without breaking eye contact stood up and called to Ledare.

"What?" she asked, pulling on her gauntlet as she entered. She followed Draelond's pointing finger to Vade's dangling feet, kicking idly back and forth beneath the table. He was wearing the Slippers of Spider Climbing. "Those. Are. Not. Yours." Ledare said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Vade asked innocently. "Oh, these? I was just trying them on. Come on! They won't fit you! They fit me because I have really tiny feet. You know what they say about small feet don't you? Small shoes." He laughed at his joke and squirmed in his seat. "I don't know how that guy got into these things. They look girly, but they sure are comfy slippies!"

"Kitten, perhaps it is best to just let him wear them for now," Ruze suggested. "I do not think that any of the rest of us intend to make use of them, and every little advantage helps our cause."

Ledare's expression softened and she nodded at Ruze. Then looking skeptically at Vade she asked, "What else of Finian's have 'just tried on'?"

Vade began emptying pockets and pouches, producing the dagger that had once been Kirnoth's, Finian's unidentified ring, the Archer's pierced mithril coin, the unidentified potion and candle they had found in the woods where they had been attacked by the exploding undead, a double handful of assorted coins, and a few lumps of polished amber. He blinked up at the others. "I was holding it for you guys... really."



The trek overland to the caves was uneventful and quick now that most of the group knew the way. Of course, it seemed longer with Vade's incessant story-telling. "I met this ogre once who wanted to have me and my brothers for dinner, but Duece wasn't feeling well and we had to leave," the halfling yammered as he walked along, holding Ruze's hand like a child. "Usually ogres aren't friendly, but Grumblebutt kept insisting we stay for dinner. He did, in a way, treat us to dinner though, as a going away present. Too bad he couldn't come since he kind of got stuck in the back door of his lair... too bad."

As they crested the hill that led down into the small bowl into which was cut the cave mouth, the halfling was silent for the first time since they'd met him. After a pause he whined, "I'm not going in there! It's dark in there!"

"Then you're staying here," Ledare said and started scrambling down the hillside.

"By yourself," Draelond added as he went to follow.



Ruze called upon the glorious might of Shaharizod to cleanse the taint of chaos and evil from the cave. Holding his holy symbol high, he channeled the energy of goodness at the opening. It had no visible effect.

"Did that do anything?" Ixin asked dubiously.

"At the very least, the evil that we eradicate will have to take the time to rededicate the cave," the cleric explained as he fished torches from his pack. "I'm just trying to stem the tide of chaos any way I can."

They lit torches and picked their way through the abandoned cave. The dead carrion crawlers were still there, but the skaven bodies they had left behind were gone and while they had clearly been dragged, no one was skilled enough at tracking to tell anything more. They encountered no resistance and in short order found themselves at the unexplored passage that lead downward toward where their prisoner had said Kirnoth and the portal lay. Ixin paused there and reached out her magical sense. The hectic power of the nexus point was clearly down that passage. She informed the others and they started down.

About halfway down the curving staircase, Martivir hooted into Ixin's ear and she started to inform the others what the owl had heard, but Ledare held up her shield hand. "I already heard it," the Janissary said. "A gurgling and a shuffling sound."

"I didn't hear anything!" Vade said loudly as he squeezed Ruze's hand tighter and clutched at the Battleguard's mailed thigh.

"Nor did I, Ledare," Draelond confided but the Janissary simply lowered her arm and continued down the natural staircase. At the foot of the staircase, she was set upon by six shambling corpses that were pressed into the cramped area at the foot of the stairs. It took her only an instant to recognize them as the creatures they had killed the day before. The three nearest her seemed prepared to slam her with their fists, but Ruze was more prepared than they.

"Hide thy unclean faces from the glory of the Silver Queen!" Ruze commanded, shoving his holy symbol passed Draelond's thick arm in order for the undead to see it as it flared with holy power. The zombies had time enough to shield their eyes from the moonlight streaming from the symbol before they exploded into dust.

For a moment all was silent and then Vade said, simply, "Wow! That was pretty good!"

"Yes, Ruze," Ledare said, turning to favor the cleric with an approving nod. "Well done."

Draelond clapped him on the back and they moved into the small chamber. Of course, there was little to see within. The chamber was low-ceilinged, of natural stone, and inexplicably blocked at the far end by an iron gate. The gate blocked ingress into the large cavern dimly visible beyond. There were no apparent locks or hinges, merely several iron rods stretching from the floor to the ceiling. A gurgling sound could be heard in the darkness beyond.

Ixin closed her eyes for a moment and turned to face the bars and the cavern beyond. "The power nexus is through there," she said. "But I'm still barred from anchoring to it unless I can make flesh-to-nexus contact."

"Well, I don't see any way passed these bars," Ledare said moving closer to investigate. "Vade do you think you-"

Before she could finish, there was a grating sound and the bars and circular section of floor around them spun on a central axis, trapping Ledare on the far side of the bars. There was an audible thunk as the gate locked into its new configuration.

"Great," she muttered. "A trap. I hate traps."

Behind her in the cavern, something enormous and misshapen moved at the edge of their lightsource. The Devourer made a wet gurgling sound as it sent a huge tentacle toward its armor-plated meal.

[Realms #228] The Devourer

Ruze was the first to react to the shadowy movement in the cavern behind Ledare. He drew his scimitars, puffed up his chest, and began to speak. "Ledare, fear not, for we are with you!" he shouted. "We'll have this gate opened and you returned to our ranks in the twinkling of an eye! For the might of Shaharizod is on our side and with her divine aid, we cannot fail!"

The power of his words stirred the hearts of each who heard them.

Vade felt a courage that he only rarely experienced flood through him and he bounded forward, unfurling his Open Kit as he went. He immediately fell to examining the trap, paying particularly close attention to the seam in the ground and the section of floor that was affixed to the bars. It was here where he assumed the trigger must be located and he had no wish to set it off with him still on it. Courage or no courage.

Draelond reacted almost as swiftly as the little halfling, but he knew little of traps and was unmindful of any triggering mechanism. He moved quickly up to the bars, sparing a single glance into the cavern beyond and the misshapen thing that shambled about in the darkness behind Ledare. Then he grabbed two of the bars in his meaty hands and strained against them with all the strength of his mighty frame bolstered by the righteous nobility of Ruze's words. For a moment that seemed to last an hour, he strained against the thick metal, cords of muscle standing out along his neck and shoulders and visibly rippling beneath his chainmail. The iron bars creaked and groaned beneath the onslaught of Draelond's uncanny strength, but, although he felt that he had failed to overmatch their resilience by the narrowest of margins, they held fast.

Ixin stepped forward so that she had a clear view of the cavern passed Draelond's shoulder and reached inside her Cloak of Many Pockets. One of Dwardolin's scrolls found its way into her hand and she held it up, intoning the words that would release the magic that the Outcast Specialist had encoded onto the parchment. As she spoke the activation phrase, the scroll itself was consumed by fire and its magic thrummed pleasantly through Ixin's veins. "Ledare, duck!" she yelled and gestured at the noisome thing in the shadows. The mage needn't have bothered warning the Janissary as the three bolts of force that leapt from Ixin's clawed fingers swerved to avoid Draelond, the iron bars, and Ledare and then slammed unerringly into the lump of flesh beyond.

The thing let out a bubbling cry of pain, and Ledare turned to look at it, the momentary light from Ixin's Magic Missiles giving the half-elf an unimpeded view of the Devourer. She immediately wished it hadn't. The thing looked like a tumor given mobility and an obscene vitality. A thick tongue of flesh surmounted its misshapen body and two yellow eyes, set one above the other, regarded her from the tongue's surface. A tooth-filled vertical gash in its side drooled cloudy white mucus and gurgled wetly with each breath the thing took. It had two tentacles covered with a ropy network of veins and tipped with a paddle of flesh bristling with sharp thorns - or rather it had originally had two. One was currently considerably shorter than its mate, severed at least four feet from the end.

Ledare remembered the wound that Draelond had inflicted on the tentacle that had come up at them through the floor of the chamber above and smiled. Perhaps she would be able to do the same now. Of course, the Devourer had other ideas.

Its remaining tentacle lashed out from the darkness and slammed into Ledare's breastplate, knocking the Janissary back against the iron bars. The wind was forced from her lungs and her helmet rang against the gate like a bell. Before she could do anything more than grunt in pain, the tentacle wrapped around her torso and dragged her 15 feet away from the bars. Draelond, who stood just on the other side of the bars, reached out his hand to catch her, but he was too late. Her feet left twin furrows in the wet earth as she went.

The creature's dripping maw loomed very large as she was drawn toward it. She couldn't get to her sword and her breath was being inexorably forced from her lungs. She struggled weakly to loosen the tentacle, but it was to no avail. The thing was just too strong. It was like trying to pry off an iron bar.

"Ruze! For the love of Cyr, help me with these bars!" Draelond grunted, redoubling his efforts upon seeing Ledare's impending fate.



More to come...

[Realms #229] The Devourer II

"Draelond, you do not need me for the bars," Ruze said, sheathing his weapons. He stepped up to the straining warrior and lay a hand on his back while clutching his holy symbol in the other. "You have the strength within you." Strength seemed to flow from the cleric's hand into Draelond and his armor fought to contain the sudden swell of his invigorated thews. He had been a big man before the divine vigor flowed through him, but now he positively bristled with muscles to a nearly inhuman state. "Try again, I know you can do it!"

For his part, Vade could find nothing which his nimble fingers could manipulate to disable the trap. Most likely it was a one-shot trip mechanism that would either require resetting manually or was on a time-release. Either way, there was little he could do standing on this side of the bars. Draelond was blocking the opening, so there was little chance of using his sling without hitting the big guy, and while that would certainly bring a smile to Vade's lips, he wanted to try out his shiny green sling stone and he didn't want to waste it on slapstick. Instead, he went to squeeze between the bars, and although he was small and usually as slippery as the greased pig that made its appearance in every harvest fair from Awad to Haven, he couldn't negotiate the narrow space on his first try.

"I've done this before," he pouted. "Really."

Draelond ignored the halfling and focused on bending the bars. Despite the fact that he now possessed the strength of a bull, he made little headway. The bars held firm.

Undaunted by the failure of her companions, Ixin summoned the mana in her blood, curled her hands into the proper gestures and intoned the words of power. "Sopio!" she shouted, directing the spell of sleep at the Devourer. The spell energy washed over the creature, but neither it nor Ledare were affected.

It drew the Janissary to its obscene mouth and sank its many teeth into her left thigh. Ledare grunted as burning pain roared through her body from the creature's bite, but she also felt a lessening of the monster's grip and forced her sword arm against the tentacle that held her while she simultaneously rammed her shield between herself and the sinuous limb. She twisted away and found herself momentarily out of the creature's grasp. She stepped back and reached for the flask of alchemist's fire she carried in her pouch.

"Ledare, we are with you!" Ruze shouted as he raised his hands in benediction. "My light shines upon you! Together we will slay this beast!" The cleric pointed at the Devourer with his right hand and a glowing crescent of force appeared above the creature's lumpen body. The replica of Shaharizod's Moonblade immediately slashed across its pustulent flesh and drew blood. The wound, however, was a minor one.

Vade tried again to slip between the bars and again he failed.

Likewise, Dralond was having little success bending the bars.

Seeing this, Ixin reached for her crossbow. As she did so, her cloak unfurled and Martivir poked his round head out of his extra-dimensional pocket. As she pulled the lever that locked the bowstring into place she consulted her familiar. "Stay within the pouch my friend," she cautioned. "But do you have any ideas?" Before hooting that he did not, the owl vanished back into the safety of the Cloak. "Great," Ixin deadpanned, raised her crossbow and fired. The quarrel sailed passed Draelond's ear and off into the dark vastness of the cavern.

The Devourer, unaware that it was coming under missile fire, and disappointed that its next meal had slipped free of its grasp, lashed out with its tentacle. The thorny growths on the tentacle pierced through the chainmail girding Ledare's abdomen, ripping into her flesh before the rest of the limb wrapped around her, and dragged her in close to the creature's body where the drooling maw waited eagerly.

The Janissary threw the flask in her hand, trying to smash it against the thing's eye stalk, perhaps blinding it. Not surprisingly considering the pain she was in, her aim was off. The flask shattered harmlessly against a pile of refuse behind the creature.

While Vade failed again to wriggle between the bars, Ruze directed the Spiritual Weapon to attack the tentacle that held Ledare, but it missed the furiously writhing limb.

Draelond continued to strain ineffectually against the bars. He felt them give a fraction, but they would not yield to his incredible strength. He roared in frustration while Ixin fired another crossbow bolt passed his ear close enough for him to feel the wind of its passing. The sorcerer missed her target again.

Perhaps realizing its error in trying to eat its dinner while she still struggled, the Devourer squeezed Ledare again rather than draw her to its wet mouth. She heard something straining in her chest though whether it was her armor or the ribs beneath she couldn't say and she tried to cry out from the pain. There was no air in her lungs to do so, however. With dark spots swimming in front of her eyes, she strained against the tentacle and once more managed to get herself a moment's reprieve. She dropped from the creature's grasp and backed away as quickly as she could, shield held on the defensive.

Ruze directed the shimmering blade of force against the the main body of the Devourer in order to distract the thing from Ledare, but failed to land a blow. As soon as it missed, the weapon winked out of existence.

"Everything is going to be alright Ruze... isn't it?" Vade asked, abandoning his attempts to squeeze through the bars in favor of using his sling despite the obstruction. He let fly the emerald green sling stone that he'd picked up... somewhere. It flew passed Draelond, through the bars and smashed to the ground several feet from the Devourer where it promptly exploded in a burst of acid. Smoke rose from the disintegrating piles of refuse.

"Whoah!" the halfling exclaimed. "I didn't know they did that!"

"Ledare, come to me, so I may administer my Queen's aid!" Ruze yelled, already preparing to call upon divine healing. "Fear not the monster; we will dispatch it when it draws near!"
Draelond strained but the bars still held.

"Drae, when the tentacle draws near and ensnares Ledare, chop the damned thing off!" Ruze ordered without even looking at the warrior. His attention was held by the Janissary's plight. She was backing towards the bars with her shield and sword held defensively, but the Devourer was drawing back its tentacle for another strike.

Ixin looked at her crossbow and then turned her face to the bars. She drew upon the inner fires of her dragon blood and directed that potency at the Devourer. A palpable wave of fear emanated from Ixin's face which was drawn into a snarl of inhuman rage. "Hold creature!!" she roared, and her voice was that of a dragon. "You have been abandoned by your party!! There is nowhere to run!!" The Devourer resisted the fear with no visible effect.

Vade, who had never seen Ixin use her natural ability to cause fear, nearly wet himself at the sight. He clutched tightly at Ruze's thigh.

"Vade, look to where we can reset the trap," the Battleguard commanded, prying the halfling's hands off his leg. "It's probably behind us somewhere as the trapped person would not be able to reset it." Vade nodded dumbly, but his eyes never left Ixin. For just a moment, he had seen a dragon's features superimposed over the woman's and he couldn't shake his unease.

The Devourer's tentacle came in low and fast and would certainly have knocked the Janissary off her feet if she hadn't been especially vigilant about focusing on defense. As it was, she bashed it aside with her shield and maintained her pace until she clanged up against the bars and felt Ruze's hand press against her cheek. She immediately felt the damage to her ribs and the bite to her thigh both fully heal themselves.

"Stay at the bars, kitten," Ruze spoke into her ear. "I've more healing to give you yet."

Vade searched around the small chamber as Ruze had directed, and Draelond readied himself to attack the tentacle when it came near. Ixin grabbed her morningstar in the hopes that she could do the same.

The Devourer slurped hungrily forward and lashed out at Ledare. As soon as it came within range, Draelond's bastard sword sliced between the bars and dealt the limb a wicked slice, that, while it didn't actually sever the tentacle as Ruze had hoped, it ruined the creature's attack. Ixin couldn't find an opening to attack with Draelond, Ruze and Ledare all blocking the bars while Ledare took a half-hearted swing at the tentacle as it passed.

They repeated the process and Ruze's healing touch eased nearly all of the Janissary's aches and pains, bringing her to within a hair's breadth of full health. This time when the Devourer struck at Ledare, Ravager did messily split the limb in twain ripping a scream of fear and pain from the beast. The misshapen lump of its body was still twenty feet away, and well out of reach of Ledare's sword, but before the creature could turn to flee, the Janissary's longsword was back in its scabbard and her hand-crossbow has aimed at its eye stalk. She squeezed off a shot as the aberration stumped off into the dark cavern, but the arrow flew wide.

"Quick, while that thing's gone," Ixin suggested, "let's get these bars out of the way!" They all heaved to, and although Ixin and Ruze were of little help in the confined area, Ledare was able to use her not-inconsiderable strength in concert with Draelond's and with a squeal of fatigued metal, two of the bars were parted enough so that any of them could pass through without difficulty.

"Is that monster gone?" Vade asked. The halfling had abandoned trying to find a trigger to bypass the trap given that it no longer presented an obstacle. He grabbed ahold of Ruze's hand and squeezed it for reassurance.

"For the moment," the cleric told him, patting him on the head. "But it's still in there somewhere." Vade gulped.

"And so is the power nexus," Ixin reminded. "And the portal. And your friend."

Draelond flexed his enhanced muscles and balanced Ravager on his right shoulder. "So what do we do now, Ledare?" he asked and all eyes turned to regard her.

[Realms #230] The Portal

"We go forward, toward the portal," Ledare said matter-of-factly as she reloaded the single spent quarrel from her crossbow. "But be ready. That thing was robbed of his dinner, and I don't imagine he's too happy about it."

Draelond nodded and added, "Although it may require us to move more slowly, I think we should stick fairly close together from this point on."

"No argument there, Draelond," Ledare said as she reholstered her hand crossbow.

"Ledare, I am a little leery about slipping by that monster without attacking," Ruze voiced his concerns. "Those tentacles are pretty quick."

"But we've got him on the run!" Ixin countered, shaking her morningstar for emphasis. "We must strike now. It is our best chance."

"Why do we have to fight a monster?" Vade whined, peeking out from behind Ruze's leg.

"I say we all move forward," Ixin asserted, looking reproachfully at the halfling. Vade ducked out of sight behind the Battleguard.

"You're right that we should move forward, Ixin," Ledare disagreed. "But we shouldn't lose sight of our goals in these caves. Our first priority is to find and cleanse the portal. Then we need to see what can be done about Kirnoth. And lastly, make it out of here alive."

"That's our LAST priority?" Vade squeaked but Ledare ignored him as she went on.

"Fighting the Devourer - unless we have to - doesn't immediately help us meet any of these goals," the Janissary concluded.

"And we should also be on the lookout for the man in black," the cleric reminded. "I have a feeling he is skulking around these caves. He sounds like a very powerful wizard and I fear he will use that magic to our detriment."

"He didn't seem all about sunshine and flowers at the jail," Draelond deadpanned and Ruze turned to regard Ixin.

"Tell me more of your magic," he began. "Are you able to protect us from spells? For instance: darkness?"

The mage shook her red mane. "I have a spell that can illuminate natural darkness in a variety of ways, but magical darkness would quench that spell along with our torchlight were it employed against us. How much divine energy is left in you?"

"I've used most of my more powerful miracles," the Battleguard confessed. "But I still have a handful of lesser. Sometime over coffee and cakes you and I can trade information on our spell-making abilities."

"I don't think that now is the time," Ledare chided. "We should press on."

"Agreed," Draelond said, readying his blade. "Can anyone detect the energy as we get nearer the nexus?"

"I can," Ixin informed him. "I guess that means I should probably be in the lead, right? Since I can feel it and I have dark vision." She slipped her morningstar inside her Cloak and drew out her heavy crossbow.

"Before we go, I want to tell you all something," the Janissary said. "I am indebted to you all. Most especially to you, Ruze. The healing powers of your queen have brought me back from the edge of this life once again."

The Battleguard blushed and nodded his head. "My new mission in life is to not let you die," he told her. "You are the last of the original group who was called to stop this evil."

Draelond seemed to share this opinion, but Ledare would have none of it. She laid her hand on Ruze's mailed shoulder and shook her head. "If I fall, then you all will go on with our purpose. It's that simple," she said and purposefully turned her gaze on each of the others in turn - even Vade. "You are all involved in this now, for better or worse. I am of no more import than any of you"

"Gee, I bet you will be nicer now that I helped save you from the big old monster," Vade said with a wide grin as he ambled forward. "Sometimes stuffy knight types don't always like me at first, but when I get them out of a jam, they usually warm up. I am glad you are okay." He wrapped his tiny arms around Ledare's armored thigh and pressed his cheek against the platemail.

For the space of three heartbeats, there was an awkward silence. Then Ledare cleared her throat, pried the halfling's arms away and drew her sword. "Ixin, you know more about this portal than any of us," the half-elf said. "Will you lead us?"

The mage nodded and ducked through the bent bars.



It was an easy matter for Ixin to follow the pull of the nexus across the foul-smelling natural cavern. And even if it had been, there was a rather obvious footpath winding through the offal and night soil that had been cast down through the holes in the ceiling above. It began at the bent bars and branched off a few paces away, one branch leading southeast and the other leading west. They followed the wester branch and eventually came within sight of another set of bars that blocked a narrow passage deeper into the earth.

"It's through there," Ixin informed them. She gestured passed the bars, in the direction her humming blood told her the nexus lay.

"Looks like another trap," Ledare said and turned to the halfling. "Vade?"

The halfling was crouched down and poking with the point of his shortsword at something mired in the pile of detritus at his feet. He looked up with a start at the mention of his name. "I'm not doing anything!" he said loudly. His voice echoed in the chamber, making him cringe.

"Would you mind checking the bars for any traps?" the Janissary asked with a dubious expression on her face. "You can do that, can't you?"

The halfling smiled so wide that half his face seemed to be teeth. "You know I can," he said, sheathing his little sword. As he trotted up to the bars, he fished in his pack for his Open Kit. It took his keen eyes no time at all to spot the telltale seams in the floor and wall around the bars and he went to work with the tools of his trade. A few moments later there was a soft click followed by Vade saying, "Uh-oh!" as the bars and the floor around them rotated quickly and locked into place in the same way that the other set of bars had done. Luckily, Vade had made a point of staying off of the trapped section of floor while he worked, so he remained where he was. The halfling sighed and wiped non-existent sweat from his brow as he went about the business of securing his Open Kit and slipping it into his pack.

"I took care of the trap," he said a trifle sheepishly as he got to his feet.

Draelond sheathed Ravager and stepped forward. "Let's see if I can take care of the bars," he said, spitting into the palms of his hands. He grasped the centermost bars and strained against them. The seconds ticked by as the iron-hard muscles warred against iron itself. In the end, the bars surrendered with a loud wrenching sound that Draelond enjoyed immensely. He managed to wipe the grin off his face before turning to face his companions. "Shall we proceed?" he asked.



Beyond the bars, the corridor met up with another tunnel on the left and continued on in a more northerly direction. Before they'd gone too far, they spotted a sickly green glow up ahead. The glow eventually resolved itself into a 10-foot wide by 10-foot tall archway filled completely with glowing green mist. The arch was composed of 29 stones. The two stones at the base were unadorned, but each of the other 27 was carved with a rune. The rune on the keystone was larger, inlaid with iron and corresponded to one of the other stones; its rune was the only one duplicated.

"Well, this looks familiar," Draelond muttered.

"What do you mean?" Ixin asked and they filled her in on the mission during which they had stolen a baby that was about to become a vessel for evil and Kirnoth had gotten infected with lycanthrope. "Well, this is definitely the power nexus," she informed them after they were done with the recounting. "I can feel the energy coming off it like heat from an oven."

"Stand back," Ruze said, shouldering his way to the front. He brandished his holy symbol in one hand and extended his other toward the portal, palm outward. "Shaharizod, my Queen, bless me with thy virtue so that I might cleanse this portal of evil that serves thy enemies." The tunnel filled with a hushed stillness as the cleric channelled positive energy into the bilious green vapors. Outwardly there was no apparent effect.

"Is that it?" Ixin asked and Ruze nodded. "Then let's see what happens when I anchor to it," she said and touched one of the stones with her right hand. She went rigid as an orgy of magical energy flooded her body. Her face split into a toothy grin as the raw mana sizzled through every fiber of her body and soul. Ixin's fiery shock of hair seemed to be moving as if it were stirred by a strong breeze although the air was very still.

"Are you alright?" Ledare asked and Ixin looked at her dreamily. It took the mage a moment to recognize the Janissary but when she finally did, she nodded her head.

"I'm fine..," she began. "It's pretty powerful. I'd say it's rated an eleven... or twelve... Twelve. Definitely twe-"

Draelond jerked her away suddenly from the nexus and Ixin looked at him angrily. "It wasn't hurting me!" she growled and the overly-muscled warrior said nothing but pointed grimly at the portal.

The rune etched into the stone where Ixin had placed her hand was glowing and the mist in the archway was beginning to thin. Shapes began to resolve themselves out of the green vapor and after only a moment, they were looking out into a clearing amidst a forest of bronzewood trees. Ancient standing stones stood tall at the treeline. The sky filled with scudding white clouds with Orin's Shield visible behind them midway through its climb to the vault of heaven. A lone mountain peak thrust up behind the uppermost branches of the bronzewoods on the far side of the clearing. In the center of the open space squatted a black sacrificial alter such as both Ruze and Ledare had seen in the sewers beneath Barnacus. The ground around it was bare of vegetation and stained dark with years of blood-letting.

"I don't like the looks of that," Vade said, peeking out from behind Ruze's leg.

Ledare stepped forward and looked closely at the scene in the portal. She turned her head this way and that as she studied the area. "I know this place," she said at last. "Or at least I know where it is. That peak in the background is the northern face of Little Boy Mountain. This must be the Spiderwood. It's not more than a half-day's walk to my aunt's manor outside of Byr."

[Realms #331] The Gatekeeper

"Spiderwood?" Vade cringed. "I don't like the sound of that."

Ledare didn't look at him as she explained. Her gaze was drawn into the scene visible within the archway. "It's called the Spiderwood because of its history," she said. "Spider-creatures called Chagmat have plagued the area for over 250 years, although not constantly. They would raid villages, slaughter civilians and then disappear... just long enough for the people to get complacent and think the stories were more for frightening young children."

She turned then and looked at her companions with eyes that conveyed unspoken depths of hurt despite her stony expression. "I was taken in one of those raids," she said after a pause. "I was fortunate enough to be one of the few survivors. Many of my family members and friends did not survive. It was a harrowing experience, and it haunts me still."

"I don't want to go there," the halfling whined and Ruze patted him on the head.

"Do you want to stay here with the Devourer, little one?" the Battleguard asked and Vade clutched his leg even tighter. "It will paralyze you and eat you like a sugar coated mushroom."

The halfling looked up at Ruze with big, sad eyes. "I really do not like mushrooms," he told the man then considered for a moment before hesitantly adding, "Maybe I would with sugar on them."

Ledare nodded at the halfling, acknowledging his reticence and added, "Usually the attacks are preceded by a notable surge of spiders in the area - the normal kind. Keep an eye out for that, and we should have some fair warning."

The cleric smiled before looking up at the strange portal. He perused the runes for a moment then announced, "My first instincts on the portal is that the runes correspond to various locations around the world." He took a step nearer to the archway and pointed to the rune about midway up on the right hand side that Ixin had touched. It continued to glow weakly. "Ixin put her hand on one rune/ location and activated the portal that leads there. The runes shows all the locations available and the duplicate rune at the top indicates where we are now."

"These are good points, Ruze," Ledare said looking at the runes with renewed interest. "What is the significance of each of these spots, I wonder? And is the time frame the present in each area?"

"Only one way I can think of to find out," Draelond said. "We go through."

"It's easy to say, 'through the portal we go'," Ruze told the larger man. "But which location, and why?"

"Ledare recognizes this place," Draelond replied, gesturing casually at the portal. "To me, that makes a good place to start. We should investigate that altar... and anything else that looks like it is of significance."

"What would be the sense in going through the portal if we don't know exactly what the purpose is?" the Janissary asked aloud then answered her own question with her next breath. "Then again, maybe we have to go through first in order to find out."

"I think Ruze's theory is probably correct," Ixin spoke up at last. "It's worth a try to test the rune theory, at least. I think we should see if I can touch another rune and get a different location."

"Fair enough," Ledare said, stepping back and gesturing for the mage to approach the archway again.

Ixin extended her hand and touched another graven stone. Raw magic surged through her body. At once, the luminous green mist filled the arch again, obscuring the scene of the Spiderwood. After a few seconds, the mists began to thin again, and the archway filled with a pane of utter black.

"Nothing," Ruze grumbled. His theory appeared to have been dashed, but a moment later Ixin shook her head.

"No, there's something," she announced, her draconic eyesight easily piercing the darkness. "There's just no light there. It's underground, I think. Worked stone floor and ceiling. That's all I can see."

"No altar?" Ledare asked and Ixin shook her head. She put her hand on another rune and the mists closed again before another image resolved itself. It was another woodland scene, but the trees were tall and spiky pines and the portal looked down on the forest from the mountainside above. The sky was overcast and dreary and sleet fell down in windswept sheets. There was no sign of an altar or anything else that any of them recognized.

"Should I keep going?" Ixin asked and the others exchanged glances and shrugs before Ruze spoke up.

"One more," he said. "And if we don't see another altar, then I vote we go through the portal to Spiderwood and I will attempt to purify that one. Then I will need rest and prayer to regain my Queen's blessings."

"Okay," the mage said and moved her hand to another stone. The mists filled in and then parted again, looking out into another woodland glade. Broken, ivy-wreathed columns of pitted white stone slanted this way and that amidst the trees and blocks of stone carved with time-worn symbols of acorns and oak leaves peeked out of the underbrush. But all of that seemed to fade from view when they spotted the majestic creature that stepped out from behind a fractured wall. Its coat was so white that it almost glowed in the sunlight; its mane and beard and tail were of glittering silver. The unicorn looked directly at them and then it reared up on its hind legs and flailed at the air with its front hooves. For a moment, its golden horn seemed to pierce the heavens and then it was gone. It didn't gallop away; it simply vanished.

The underground chamber filled with a hushed silence. No one spoke, then Vade chirped merrily, "I want to go there!"

"Unicorns are fey creatures, my wee friend," Ixin cautioned. "It was a fey that tricked me here from my own world. They are a devious lot, and you would do well to avoid such encounters if you can."

"Did you fly through one of these, Ixin?" the halfling asked pointing to the portal, but the sorcerer shook her head.

"No," she told him. "But the idea is the same. And 'fell' might be a better word than 'fly'."

"Turn it back to Spiderwood," Ruze said, grimly. "We've proven my theory about the runes and my faith demands that I destroy that altar."

"If, as you say, you'll require rest after you do that, perhaps we should sleep in shifts until-" Ixin started to say, but Vade cut her off.

"I don't think I could sleep a wink here," the halfling said earnestly. "It is too creepy. And I can sleep anywhere!"

"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves with such thoughts," Ledare diffused the situation. "Maybe someone should stay behind to be sure we are able to come back, though."

"Oh no! I'm not staying here by myself!" Vade said, clutching on to Ruze's right hand with both of his own. "I don't want to be a sugar coated mushroom for that Devourer!"

"It doesn't have to be you.." Ledare began but Vade rambled on.

"I bet I do taste pretty sweet," he guessed. Looking at Ledare he asked, "I wonder how you tasted to him? You are lucky you are big! He would have just swallowed me whole!"

"Unless one of you are able to anchor to a ley line nexus, I imagine it'll have to be me that stays behind," Ixin assured the halfling as she touched the rune that summoned up the image of the Spiderwood. "I'm the only one who can work the portal."

"Okay," Ruze said with a nod. "Once we go through the portal I vote for a quick perimeter search then I will attempt to purify the altar."

They lined up and one-by-one they stepped through.



Spiderwood didn't smell a whole lot better than the Devourer's lair. The air was thick with the vile stench of rotting offal and sun-cooked excrement and soon, everyone was covering their mouths and noses as they looked around. They didn't have time to see much - the altar was in the center of a ring of ancient standing stones, the portal was set into one of the stones and Ixin seemed to be regarding them from within. Then the air was split with a horrifying bellow that smote their ears like a peal of thunder.

Hands went to weapons and then two of the trees beyond the ring of stones were pushed apart as an enormous creature forced its way into the clearing. It stood twice as tall as Draelond, with gangly, clawed arms that hung well past its bowed knees. Its flesh was a riot of rubbery green sinew, caked in places with dried blood and bits of rotting meat. Its head and tail, however, were those of a gargantuan rat. It fixed them with feral red eyes and roared its intentions once more before it exploded into motion, its talons digging great furrows in the bare ground.

[Realms #232] Gate Crashing

"Golly wilikers! I knew I should have brought a bigger piece of cheese!" Vade stammered as he stared, slack-jawed, at the enormous creature.

Draelond unsheathed his great sword and quickly wiped his brow with a massive forearm as the beast went into motion. "I have a bad feeling about this," he said to no one in particular. The words hung around him in the air like a prophecy from The Great Book.

The thing moved with surprising swiftness and it was in their midst before anyone had any real chance to react. It didn't help that its 10-ft. long arms allowed it to reach them while keeping its body out of harm's way. Vade's luck seemed to have run out as he found himself the target of the rat-thing's attacks. The quick-footed halfling dodged the first swipe, but the creature's second claw savagely opened his guts.

"Yaaah!" the halfling squealed. Vade doubled over and took a step back. He fumbled one of his special glass bullets into his sling and let fly. Instead of striking between the giant's bulging yellow eyes, the tiny missile went up and over the creature's head, shattering harmlessly on the ground behind it.

Ixin, since she was not immediately threatened by the thing, reacted quicker than most of the others. Of course, she wasn't sure what she could do on the cave-side of the portal. She decided to perform a quick test of her limitations and drew some of the nexus' power into her body while her hands traced the relatively simple somatics that would activate one of her most minor spells. She conjured a tiny droplet of vitriol and cast it out at the monster that was currently rampaging amidst her friends. The green globule dissipated as soon as it intersected the flat plane that formed the portal's surface. Magic wasn't the answer, she grumbled as she began fumbling in her Cloak for her crossbow.

Ledare saw none of what Ixin had attempted. The Janissary was too busy sizing up their situation and closing with the rat-headed giant. "Ruze, mayhap this creature guards the altar!" she shouted as she advanced, silver-iron longsword at the ready. "Concentrate on the altar and do your business while we engage this thing!"

Even as Ruze nodded and forced his attention back to the unholy block of stone, Ledare came within reach of her opponent's claws. She cried out in pain as its filthy nails found a gap in the armor at her left knee. She faltered, but didn't stop until she was within sword's reach of the creature where her blade cut a vicious arc through the air. The blow, however, was turned aside by the creature's rubbery hide and caused it no injury.

Ruze heard the Janissary's cry of pain, but he forced himself to seek the inner calm that would allow him access to the divine energy needed to destroy the chaos altar. It was no easy task, but he managed. "Blessed be Shaharizod!" he cried out, brandishing his holy symbol in his fist. "Blessed will this shrine now be! Bathe it in thy light!' He felt the flood of positive energy pour through his soul and into the altar. The connection was strong and would have sent a dozen zombies cowering in fear. Against the unholy power of the altar stone, it had absolutely no effect.

Draelond finally gathered his wits and charged the giant rat-thing's flank. It was too preoccupied with Ledare to take an opportunistic swing at the warrior as he closed, and Draelond intended to make the creature pay dearly for overlooking him. He swung Ravager two-handed with all of the might within his divinely-enhanced body and buried the saw-toothed blade in the creature's kidney. It roared and turned on him as he withdrew the sword. Before he could do anything to react, it was upon him, grabbing Draelond like a mean child might grab a toy it no longer fancied. It brutally ripped his arms out of their sockets. Draelond screamed in agony for only a moment before the creature dropped his broken body onto the ground at its feet. He didn't move.

"Nooo!" Vade screamed as the big warrior fell. The halfling's sling whirled over his head and he let fly with his amber bullet. It struck on the thing's right hip and shattered releasing a greasy blossom of fire on the creature's leg, causing it considerable pain.

Ixin aimed her crossbow through the portal at the enraged behemoth and fired. The quarrel shattered against the surface of the portal much as her spell had done. Short of stepping through into The Spiderwood, Ixin was powerless to help her companions.

Ledare swung her sword at the giant once more, but her aim was off and the weapon sliced only air.

Disgusted with the unholy vigor of the chaos altar, Ruze turned with determination to face the creature. He called upon Shaharizod's divine favor, "My Queen grant me thy sword arm!" Holy power suffused his being and he drew his scimitars to face the altar's guardian.

[Realms #233] Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen

"Kitten, use your abilities to distract the Rat Giant!" Ruze bellowed across the battlefield. "I will get Draelond!"

He needn't have bothered.

The rat-headed giant whirled on Ledare of its own accord and slashed at her savagely with its claws. She was ready for it this time, and weaved a well-practiced defense with her sword and shield, easily diverting the great creature's first attack. Not even her expertise was enough to turn aside the force behind the second claw; dagger-length talons ripped into the Janissary's abdomen, shredding chainmail and flesh in equal measure. Ledare doubled over in pain and the monster's enormous jaws snapped shut where her head had been an instant before. She could smell the charnel house reek of its breath wash over her like a foul cloud.

"Vade stay way-y-y out of its range and see if you can pester it with sling bullets to chase you!" the Battleguard directed. "Get it away from the portal and from Drae!"

Vade gasped as the thing engaged Ledare and the halfling began back-pedaling toward the portal. Even as he loaded another bullet into his sling, he saw something that the others were in no position to notice and the sight made his heart sink into his bowels like an icy stone: the edges of the ragged wound that Draelond had caused in the rat giant's lower back were knitting themselves back together as he watched. He noticed too that the burn his exploding sling bullet had caused to the thing's right thigh showed no signs of regenerating. As he let fly with his sling, he shouted, "Shoot some of that flaming gooey stuff!" His bullet bounced harmlessly off the giant's tough hide.

"It's time for a tactical retreat!" Ruze shouted. "Ixin, if you can hear me, get ready for us to come through and cover or backs!"

"Come on then! Just Come on!" Ixin was muttering over and over to herself as she worked the crank on her crossbow. She kept her eyes on the portal, mentally willing the others to step back through to safety.

Ledare groaned, pressed a hand into her bleeding guts, and activated the Ring of Invisibility. The rat giant let out a confused grunt as the Janissary disappeared. She began to move toward the portal, trusting in Ruze's ability to rescue Draelond. She hadn't made it five feet when fire exploded in her right thigh as the giant's claws ripped into her invisible body and drove her to the ground. Her last thought as the barren dirt swam up darkly to meet her was that she could see her hands again.

The giant rat bent low over Ledare's inert form and sniffed it with its long, twitching nose before turning its feral eyes on Ruze, the last standing target within reach of its claws. It locked eyes with the Battlegaurd and its salivating jaws parted in a lunatic's parody of a smile.

[Realms #233a] When Heroes Go Down...

Ruze stared back at the huge monster and narrowed his eyes.

"My Goddess now is the time for thy shield," the Battleguard intoned. "Allow me to pass unmolested so I may reap the fallen and retreat." His holy symbol seemed to flash in the sunlight and he felt the protective mantle of a Sanctuary spell gird his body. He sucked in his breath and moved toward Draelond adding as an afterthought, "We have walked into a bit of a mess here, I am afraid."

The rat-headed giant opened its mouth in anticipation, thick ropes of saliva falling on Ledare's prone form as the creature eyed the cleric.

Ruze's eyes never left the huge monster as he reached down and grabbed Draelond by the collar of the fallen man's chain shirt. The cleric was happy to hear Draelond grunt in pain as he hauled his head and shoulders off the ground and began to drag him toward the portal.

That was the last thing that Ruze was happy about that day.

The giant came at him, thunderously, its claws ripping divots in the earth as it charged. Ruze had faith in his goddess, and he did nothing to avoid the creature's talons as it came at him since he was certain that it would be unable to actually strike him through his spell of Sanctuary. He was wrong. The creature's filthy nails ripped into his right forearm, trying to make him drop the scimitar in his hand. The initial pain was terrific and he felt his fingers going numb from the impact, but he maintained his grip on the weapon and the presence of mind to avoid both the monster's second claw attack and its snapping jaws.

From his vantagepoint near the portal, Vade watched his friend suffering at the monster's claws. For the first time ever, he wished he had a great big sword so he could stick that great big nasty and help Ruze out. But he didn't have a great big sword and his sling didn't seem to be doing much of anything to the giant. The cleric's wife, though... She had a big sword. Too bad she was sucking mud instead of fighting. Vade remembered the potion he'd found in the cave and pulled it out of his pouch. It was still crusted with yuckiness from that weird Devourer's place, but maybe it was a potion of healing. It was worth a try. He shrugged and darted across the clearing toward Ledare, tumbling acrobatically when he came within the creature's 10-foot reach.

On the other side of the portal, Ixin could stand no more. She reached into one of the impossibly deep pockets sewn into the lining of her cloak and produced a potion of her own. She remembered taking the vial from one of the racks in the Hibernian's laboratory. It was a potion of Divine Favor labeled with the grail symbol of the Bretoni goddess, Rhiannon, and it sent a waterfall of ice through Ixin's body as she drank it. Even as she cast it aside, she reached into another pocket and withdrew one of Dwardolin's scrolls before stepping through the portal into Spiderwood.

"Step back!" Ruze commanded, leveling his moonblade at the creature's head and the thing did as he bade it. It blinked at him in confusion but stepped away, allowing Ruze to drag Draelond out of range of its claws.

Vade rolled up to Ledare's side and came up short. The half-elf's breathing was shallow and ragged. The ground around her was growing dark with her blood and he could see a red gusher pulsing up from her wounded leg. The halfling grimaced and poured the potion down the Janissary's throat saying, "Through the teeth and over the gums... watch out belly here it comes." At once, the tiny fountain of blood dwindled to nothing and her breathing evened out somewhat, but she showed no sign of regaining consciousness. Frowning, Vade tugged at Ledare's sword arm; he may as well have been trying to uproot a tree, it seemed, but the Janissary's armored form moved a fraction after a few moments' strain.

"You. Need. To. Diet," he grunted, red-faced as he pulled.

Ixin stepped up passed Ruze with the scroll unfurled in one hand. The parchment crumbled into ash as she spoke the last words of the spell, "Fuco aspergo!" She gestured at the giant and a rainbow cone of clashing colors sprayed from her outstretched hand, enveloping the creature in the dizzying display. The rat giant's face went slack and it blinked crazily as the colors subsided, but it showed no sign of attacking.

Ixin and Ruze exchanged a glance. "That won't last long," she told him and the Battleguard nodded.

"Go. Help Vade drag Ledare back here," the cleric said. "I'll hold it off as well as I may."

The mage took off at a run and Ruze muttered another quick prayer as he unsheathed his second scimitar. "My Queen," he whispered, "I beg you for your guidance against this minion of chaos."

As if it had heard the spoken prayer, the giant blinked the confusion from its bulging yellow eyes and glowered down at the cleric. Its claws rose and fell rapidly and were just as rapidly turned aside by Ruze's scimitars. He couldn't avoid the bite attack that descended onto his right shoulder, piercing his scalemail and scraping off the bone beneath. Ruze roared in pain but kept his focus, maneuvering himself and his opponent away from the portal five feet at a time.

The Battleguard's agonized scream of pain caused Vade to whine in fear and redouble his efforts with Ledare's unmoving form. She was so heavy, though, and it was very slow going.

Ixin ran up beside the halfling, unfurled another scroll and spoke the magic trigger, "Contego!" As the scroll crumbled away to nothingness, an invisible disk of force materialized in front of the mage. She had no trouble sensing the temporary hardening of the Weave and she mentally directed it to face toward the giant before grabbing Ledare's shield arm. "Come on!" she urged and together, she and Vade made good time with the Janissary.

Ruze held his swords defensively and made a tactical adjustment, luring the giant away from the portal as he did so. The rat monster took the bait and moved to follow, slashing at the cleric with its claws. Ruze wove a masterful defense with his curved blades, easily deflecting the creature's first attack. The second came in, and almost found its way passed his defenses, but the Battleguard felt the hand of his goddess guiding his blade into place and the monster missed by the narrowest of margins. Its bite found only his whirling steel.

"The thingie!" Vade cried as he and Ixin got to the portal with Ledare.

The archway was filled with the luminous green vapor and for a moment Ixin's heart sank. Perhaps she had trapped them all here by stepping through from the Devourer's lair. She reached out a clawed hand and touched the rune that corresponded to the caves outside Strenchburg Junction. A wave of relief washed over her as the green mist thinned, revealing the darkened cave interior. She and Vade heaved the Janissary's body through the portal and went to do the same with Draelond's.

Ruze continued to lead the giant away, his swords held in their defensive positions, and they wove a nearly impenetrable net of flashing steel between cleric and monster. Its claws and teeth were driven back by the moonblades, but the Battleguard had used the last of Shaharizod's guidance, and this time, when a talon swept in low beneath his defenses, there was no divine guidance to turn his blade in the right direction. The giant slashed its nails across Ruze's left foot, tearing away flesh and sending the cleric to the ground on his back.

Symmetry, Ruze thought as darkness took him. He'd been in a similar position at the moment that he'd decided to devote himself to the Silver Queen. It seemed fitting that he should find himself in the same state when he went to meet her in the afterworld.

Vade saw the cleric fall and had a slightly different opinion. "We're dead," he said.