Drudge, in his usual stoic manner, just nodded.
Desperately and casting at such speed that her hands were a blur, Leska blasted Longhelim with another lightning bolt and the paladin staggered and almost fell, literally on his last legs.
But then he stood tall, swung and hit the Heart with all his might!
There was an enormous burst of flame from the Torch, with fire roaring from its head. The Heart immediately turned black and Longhelim was immolated. I could see his head and face contorted in a rictus of pain so I quickly tried to cast a spell which would put a resistance to fire on the paladin. As soon as I touched him, there was another smaller explosion as I was hurled back and suffered a bad burn even through my defenses.
Again, casting quickly, Leska tried to turn Longhelim into a pile of dust as a green beam shot out of her hands and hit him but he just shrugged it off.
A moment later, the Torch seemed to burn even brighter until it finally shattered.
The Torch of the Burning Sky had finally been destroyed!
The next thing I knew, we were outside Two Dragon Canyon. Above us, a huge fiery figure watched from the sky, its features familiar, wearing plate armour and smoking a pipe. It looked calm and seren; in fact, it looked just like Longhelim.
Everyone else had also appeared, including the two corpses and the dinosaur as well as Leska of course. The only being that did not make the journey was Deception. Unfortunately, now the only people who were still on their feet were John and Drudge, who were both on the point of collapse and I, who was still on the ground, having been knocked back.
As a sign of desperation, I saw Drudge reach into a pouch and pull something out. A moment later, an enormous animal, an elephant appeared in front of Leska. It couldn’t harm her of course but I think that the ranger hoped for at least a little surprise. It is not something that would happen that often, even for someone like Leska.
Glancing to my right, I saw that the dinosaur was about to lunge at John, who took one look at it and shouted:
“Run!”
As he turned and ran from his enemy, Drudge did the same from Leska taking advantage from the distraction of his elephant; and still prone, I turned into an earth elemental and sank into the ground. Despite this general retreat, there was a method to our madness; I still had a mental contact with John through our magic and he was able to let me know what was happening.
“Drudge is running; he’s being chased by a magic sword but he’s faster; oh, he’s turned and fired…..and missed. Sorry, gottago, big dinosaur……..she’s casting something, can’t tell what, too busy…..aaaaah, something’s happening, big ball of fire…….oh, Felix? Felix’s just appeared from the ball of fire…..”
If the cleric had returned to us somehow, then I decided to go back to the surface and changed shape to a dwarf. I was far away from Leska so she ignored me. I had one final strong spell left but trying cast anything on her was like…….well very hard. Even Gabal would have been a child in comparison to her might. I had one idea and cast a spell; obviously she noticed it but did not deem it powerful enough to try to counter. It was in fact a spell which would render me magically unseen; of course, I knew that she had already cast defensive measure which countered that. I now had to move away from her, to a location where this measure did not affect me.
Suddenly, she staggered as one of Drudge’s volleys finally hit her. For the first time, she appeared to be hurt! I almost cheered. Suddenly, there was another ball of flame and moments later, another figure emerged: this time it was Victor, looking very badly hurt. He was extremely close to John and the toothy dinosaur. He staggered a little but suddenly Felix appeared next to him.
I was very confused as to where this help was coming from and then I glanced up; the fiery figure, which looked like Longhelim, was noticeably dimmer. Somehow the paladin or whatever he was now, was lending us his power. I glanced down towards Drudge again and saw that he had somehow managed to get on top of the elephant and was about to fire on Leska again when she appeared next to him and cast a powerful harming spell; this almost toppled him and suddenly the elephant rapidly moved away while he fumbled for a potion.
I had to desperately distract her somehow otherwise she was going to make short work of the ranger. It looked as she had also healed herself of his previous volley as well. I began casting my most powerful spell, the only one had I left which may actually harm her; as expected, she counterspelled it contemptuously and attempted to throw it back at me; thankfully I managed to catch it into my rod but the key thing was that I had her attention while Drudge was healing himself.
Glancing over, I saw that there was a cloud of mist where John, Felix and Victor had been, assuring them the privacy casting spells without her interference. It was difficult to tell from here as it was far away, but it looked as if Drudge was still alive as the elephant moved away. Victor emerged from the cloud and began to make his way towards Leska although very slowly. I tried to cast another spell at her and a miracle happened. I managed to get it through her defences; unfortunately, it only made her exhausted. It was powerful against warriors but not really an inconvenience for her.
Then I had to duck as the mad Seela, Etinifi suddenly appeared in front of me and tried to bury his dagger in my stomach. I managed to skip back, turn into an earth elemental and sink into the ground again as Leska was also moving towards me and that was far more problematic.
John again was able to let me know what was happening:
“Drudge’s shot her again…..she’s healed again; wounds are closing. She’s moving, to Drudge again. Casting another spell, spells I should say……he’s reeling but managed to get another shot off…….”
I got out of the ground again; this time I saw that Leska had put up a stone wall between her and Drudge; just in time too, as a set of half a dozen or so arrows struck it. John and I both cast a spell at her simultaneously and this time I believed that we managed to at least wear away one of her defences. Then she transported herself to another spot, this time close to Felix, John and Victor; however, the first thing she did was put up another wall between her and Drudge, again just as another set of arrows thudded into the wall. Then a column of fire landed on top of her; I did not see anyone cast a spell so it must have come from a magical item….of course, John’s powerful fire ring.
I think partly from surprise, she raised herself from behind the wall and that was all the target that Drudge needed as another volley of arrows reached her: two of them impaled her throat and another couple hit her in the chest.
Suddenly lifeless, the immortal Leska fell………
The reaction of the world was immediate. Leska’s corpse became a small point of light which immediately burst into flames and suddenly these were just blown away. Moments later, before our eyes, the Wastes became green fields, covered in grass, brush, trees and copses. In the distance, I even saw a forest that had definitely not been there before. It was truly miraculous.
Simultaneously, the sullen flame coloured sky shimmered and again, it was as if the flame had been blown away, leaving clear blue sky, the way it was supposed to be.
Finally, balance was restored.
As I was watching this in wonder, I began to hear cheering. Everyone who had witnessed this began shouting, crying, laughing, screaming, or just, like me, staring in wonder. People were rushing up to us, patting our backs, touching us and generally capering. Along with the changes in the sky and earth, it was as if a huge pressure had been lifted off the world.
Everything felt right and we all stared for hours at the changes.
Or it felt like hours anyway. It probably was not that long although as more and more people began to come out of the Heart of History, they too gaped at what had happened. Spontaneously, the logistical corps began to put together a great feast. It was only fitting and some hours later, makeshift tables had been put together and field rations were issued to the survivors.
We were put at the head table, sitting with Shaaladel and his entourage. Even the elven king’s visage seemed to have softened a bit, as if the death of his greatest rival had also relieved a great deal of pressure. I was not surprised; judging by what I had seen of his powers in comparison to Leska’s I was quite surprised that his kingdom was not actually the Shining Provinces of Ragesia.
As our impromptu feast was happening, he leaned over to us and quietly said:
“The Torch?”
Felix replied just as quietly:
“Destroyed along with the Aquiline Heart. That part of the legend was true.”
He nodded to himself as if he had already expected that answer. Suddenly, I realized, startled, that this was the first time that Shaaladel actually addressed us directly. Usually, it was one of his underlings or Shalosha; thinking of the Princess reminded me that I had to speak to Felix about something.
Then he leaned over so we could all hear:
“I take it our bargain still holds?”
“Bargain?” said John.
“For me to become emperor of the world?”
We looked at each other; I realized that it was the bargain that we had made.
Then almost immediately, he also asked:
“Do you wish to become kings?”
That did come as shock and actually put us in a difficult position. None of us wanted to become kings. Yet it would be difficult to say to Shaaladel, no we don’t want to become kings but we don’t want you to be emperor either. Possibly he would make a good emperor; he was thousands of years old, steeped in both magical and military experience; and then I had another idea; a secret weapon so to speak.
So, I nodded to the others and Felix turned to Shaaladel and said:
“Yes, our bargain still holds and no, we do not wish to become Kings.”
Upon hearing that, he turned away and began to eat again. As usual, he had an entourage of elves; I wondered if any others were trillith, like Aurana; I also wondered if Shaaladel was aware of this; or if he was aware that Aurana had in fact been deception. He may well have been. It would not be wise to underestimate the elven king. There were also several heavenly beings standing behind him as usual. All of this made for quite an intimidating group and the conversation on our part of the table was stilted.
Thankfully, the feast passed without any further events with the exception of a performance by the Wayfinders. It was obviously hurried and fairly impromptu, but they had already put together the rough components of a saga to emulate the War of the Burning Sky, in a very abbreviated form of course. In truth, it was nothing but a series of sketches and skits and they distorted events to what they believed the audience would want but it became obvious that this would be their latest theatrical performance.
It was also good to see that Tiljann the Seelah was prominent among the players. Our other companion, Torrent, who had recruited us such a long time ago, had perished fighting against the green dragon inside the Heart of the World.
As we were walking back to our quarters, I whispered to Felix:
“Do you any diamonds? To bring someone back from the dead?”
The priest turned back to me:
“Would you be thinking of a certain elven princess?”
I nodded.
He continued:
“John and I have already discussed this. We think that it would be of the greatest benefit for Shaaladel to bring back Shalosha. We think that the influence she has on her father would be highly beneficial for the whole world. We also think that she would make a very good ruler if her father ever abdicated.”
I nodded, agreeing.
So it was that the next morning, as the troops were packing and getting ready march back to their respective lands, Felix enacted the ritual and Shalosha’s body and soul were recalled. When she woke up, she started and then spontaneously hugged and kissed the cleric, startling him to such an extent that he almost fumbled the last part of the spell. She sat down with us and we had to give her a detailed description of what had happened after her death. It was obvious that while she had been aware of her actions while under the domination of Leska, she did not hold us in any way responsible for her death; in fact, she reiterated that at that point, her demise had been a release and that she had shuddered to think what may have happened if Leska had won and she had still been her servant. She was overjoyed at the victory but saddened at all the deaths. Torrent, Rantle, Longhelim, Simeon, Foebane….the list went on.
After some time, she rose and said:
“I must go and see father, but I will never forget.”
Slowly the remains of the army packed its logistics train and began to the slow march back to their homes. Without the Torch, it was down to marching; so march we did. Although it took some time, the Gate Pass contingent managed to return to the city while the soldiers of the Southern lands continued marching.
Desperately and casting at such speed that her hands were a blur, Leska blasted Longhelim with another lightning bolt and the paladin staggered and almost fell, literally on his last legs.
But then he stood tall, swung and hit the Heart with all his might!
There was an enormous burst of flame from the Torch, with fire roaring from its head. The Heart immediately turned black and Longhelim was immolated. I could see his head and face contorted in a rictus of pain so I quickly tried to cast a spell which would put a resistance to fire on the paladin. As soon as I touched him, there was another smaller explosion as I was hurled back and suffered a bad burn even through my defenses.
Again, casting quickly, Leska tried to turn Longhelim into a pile of dust as a green beam shot out of her hands and hit him but he just shrugged it off.
A moment later, the Torch seemed to burn even brighter until it finally shattered.
The Torch of the Burning Sky had finally been destroyed!
The next thing I knew, we were outside Two Dragon Canyon. Above us, a huge fiery figure watched from the sky, its features familiar, wearing plate armour and smoking a pipe. It looked calm and seren; in fact, it looked just like Longhelim.
Everyone else had also appeared, including the two corpses and the dinosaur as well as Leska of course. The only being that did not make the journey was Deception. Unfortunately, now the only people who were still on their feet were John and Drudge, who were both on the point of collapse and I, who was still on the ground, having been knocked back.
As a sign of desperation, I saw Drudge reach into a pouch and pull something out. A moment later, an enormous animal, an elephant appeared in front of Leska. It couldn’t harm her of course but I think that the ranger hoped for at least a little surprise. It is not something that would happen that often, even for someone like Leska.
Glancing to my right, I saw that the dinosaur was about to lunge at John, who took one look at it and shouted:
“Run!”
As he turned and ran from his enemy, Drudge did the same from Leska taking advantage from the distraction of his elephant; and still prone, I turned into an earth elemental and sank into the ground. Despite this general retreat, there was a method to our madness; I still had a mental contact with John through our magic and he was able to let me know what was happening.
“Drudge is running; he’s being chased by a magic sword but he’s faster; oh, he’s turned and fired…..and missed. Sorry, gottago, big dinosaur……..she’s casting something, can’t tell what, too busy…..aaaaah, something’s happening, big ball of fire…….oh, Felix? Felix’s just appeared from the ball of fire…..”
If the cleric had returned to us somehow, then I decided to go back to the surface and changed shape to a dwarf. I was far away from Leska so she ignored me. I had one final strong spell left but trying cast anything on her was like…….well very hard. Even Gabal would have been a child in comparison to her might. I had one idea and cast a spell; obviously she noticed it but did not deem it powerful enough to try to counter. It was in fact a spell which would render me magically unseen; of course, I knew that she had already cast defensive measure which countered that. I now had to move away from her, to a location where this measure did not affect me.
Suddenly, she staggered as one of Drudge’s volleys finally hit her. For the first time, she appeared to be hurt! I almost cheered. Suddenly, there was another ball of flame and moments later, another figure emerged: this time it was Victor, looking very badly hurt. He was extremely close to John and the toothy dinosaur. He staggered a little but suddenly Felix appeared next to him.
I was very confused as to where this help was coming from and then I glanced up; the fiery figure, which looked like Longhelim, was noticeably dimmer. Somehow the paladin or whatever he was now, was lending us his power. I glanced down towards Drudge again and saw that he had somehow managed to get on top of the elephant and was about to fire on Leska again when she appeared next to him and cast a powerful harming spell; this almost toppled him and suddenly the elephant rapidly moved away while he fumbled for a potion.
I had to desperately distract her somehow otherwise she was going to make short work of the ranger. It looked as she had also healed herself of his previous volley as well. I began casting my most powerful spell, the only one had I left which may actually harm her; as expected, she counterspelled it contemptuously and attempted to throw it back at me; thankfully I managed to catch it into my rod but the key thing was that I had her attention while Drudge was healing himself.
Glancing over, I saw that there was a cloud of mist where John, Felix and Victor had been, assuring them the privacy casting spells without her interference. It was difficult to tell from here as it was far away, but it looked as if Drudge was still alive as the elephant moved away. Victor emerged from the cloud and began to make his way towards Leska although very slowly. I tried to cast another spell at her and a miracle happened. I managed to get it through her defences; unfortunately, it only made her exhausted. It was powerful against warriors but not really an inconvenience for her.
Then I had to duck as the mad Seela, Etinifi suddenly appeared in front of me and tried to bury his dagger in my stomach. I managed to skip back, turn into an earth elemental and sink into the ground again as Leska was also moving towards me and that was far more problematic.
John again was able to let me know what was happening:
“Drudge’s shot her again…..she’s healed again; wounds are closing. She’s moving, to Drudge again. Casting another spell, spells I should say……he’s reeling but managed to get another shot off…….”
I got out of the ground again; this time I saw that Leska had put up a stone wall between her and Drudge; just in time too, as a set of half a dozen or so arrows struck it. John and I both cast a spell at her simultaneously and this time I believed that we managed to at least wear away one of her defences. Then she transported herself to another spot, this time close to Felix, John and Victor; however, the first thing she did was put up another wall between her and Drudge, again just as another set of arrows thudded into the wall. Then a column of fire landed on top of her; I did not see anyone cast a spell so it must have come from a magical item….of course, John’s powerful fire ring.
I think partly from surprise, she raised herself from behind the wall and that was all the target that Drudge needed as another volley of arrows reached her: two of them impaled her throat and another couple hit her in the chest.
Suddenly lifeless, the immortal Leska fell………
The reaction of the world was immediate. Leska’s corpse became a small point of light which immediately burst into flames and suddenly these were just blown away. Moments later, before our eyes, the Wastes became green fields, covered in grass, brush, trees and copses. In the distance, I even saw a forest that had definitely not been there before. It was truly miraculous.
Simultaneously, the sullen flame coloured sky shimmered and again, it was as if the flame had been blown away, leaving clear blue sky, the way it was supposed to be.
Finally, balance was restored.
As I was watching this in wonder, I began to hear cheering. Everyone who had witnessed this began shouting, crying, laughing, screaming, or just, like me, staring in wonder. People were rushing up to us, patting our backs, touching us and generally capering. Along with the changes in the sky and earth, it was as if a huge pressure had been lifted off the world.
Everything felt right and we all stared for hours at the changes.
Or it felt like hours anyway. It probably was not that long although as more and more people began to come out of the Heart of History, they too gaped at what had happened. Spontaneously, the logistical corps began to put together a great feast. It was only fitting and some hours later, makeshift tables had been put together and field rations were issued to the survivors.
We were put at the head table, sitting with Shaaladel and his entourage. Even the elven king’s visage seemed to have softened a bit, as if the death of his greatest rival had also relieved a great deal of pressure. I was not surprised; judging by what I had seen of his powers in comparison to Leska’s I was quite surprised that his kingdom was not actually the Shining Provinces of Ragesia.
As our impromptu feast was happening, he leaned over to us and quietly said:
“The Torch?”
Felix replied just as quietly:
“Destroyed along with the Aquiline Heart. That part of the legend was true.”
He nodded to himself as if he had already expected that answer. Suddenly, I realized, startled, that this was the first time that Shaaladel actually addressed us directly. Usually, it was one of his underlings or Shalosha; thinking of the Princess reminded me that I had to speak to Felix about something.
Then he leaned over so we could all hear:
“I take it our bargain still holds?”
“Bargain?” said John.
“For me to become emperor of the world?”
We looked at each other; I realized that it was the bargain that we had made.
Then almost immediately, he also asked:
“Do you wish to become kings?”
That did come as shock and actually put us in a difficult position. None of us wanted to become kings. Yet it would be difficult to say to Shaaladel, no we don’t want to become kings but we don’t want you to be emperor either. Possibly he would make a good emperor; he was thousands of years old, steeped in both magical and military experience; and then I had another idea; a secret weapon so to speak.
So, I nodded to the others and Felix turned to Shaaladel and said:
“Yes, our bargain still holds and no, we do not wish to become Kings.”
Upon hearing that, he turned away and began to eat again. As usual, he had an entourage of elves; I wondered if any others were trillith, like Aurana; I also wondered if Shaaladel was aware of this; or if he was aware that Aurana had in fact been deception. He may well have been. It would not be wise to underestimate the elven king. There were also several heavenly beings standing behind him as usual. All of this made for quite an intimidating group and the conversation on our part of the table was stilted.
Thankfully, the feast passed without any further events with the exception of a performance by the Wayfinders. It was obviously hurried and fairly impromptu, but they had already put together the rough components of a saga to emulate the War of the Burning Sky, in a very abbreviated form of course. In truth, it was nothing but a series of sketches and skits and they distorted events to what they believed the audience would want but it became obvious that this would be their latest theatrical performance.
It was also good to see that Tiljann the Seelah was prominent among the players. Our other companion, Torrent, who had recruited us such a long time ago, had perished fighting against the green dragon inside the Heart of the World.
As we were walking back to our quarters, I whispered to Felix:
“Do you any diamonds? To bring someone back from the dead?”
The priest turned back to me:
“Would you be thinking of a certain elven princess?”
I nodded.
He continued:
“John and I have already discussed this. We think that it would be of the greatest benefit for Shaaladel to bring back Shalosha. We think that the influence she has on her father would be highly beneficial for the whole world. We also think that she would make a very good ruler if her father ever abdicated.”
I nodded, agreeing.
So it was that the next morning, as the troops were packing and getting ready march back to their respective lands, Felix enacted the ritual and Shalosha’s body and soul were recalled. When she woke up, she started and then spontaneously hugged and kissed the cleric, startling him to such an extent that he almost fumbled the last part of the spell. She sat down with us and we had to give her a detailed description of what had happened after her death. It was obvious that while she had been aware of her actions while under the domination of Leska, she did not hold us in any way responsible for her death; in fact, she reiterated that at that point, her demise had been a release and that she had shuddered to think what may have happened if Leska had won and she had still been her servant. She was overjoyed at the victory but saddened at all the deaths. Torrent, Rantle, Longhelim, Simeon, Foebane….the list went on.
After some time, she rose and said:
“I must go and see father, but I will never forget.”
Slowly the remains of the army packed its logistics train and began to the slow march back to their homes. Without the Torch, it was down to marching; so march we did. Although it took some time, the Gate Pass contingent managed to return to the city while the soldiers of the Southern lands continued marching.
