Arcanis: Gonnes, Sons, and Treasure Runs (COMPLETED)

[talien]

Kham appeared in a flash.

“Hey Sebastian.” He waved at the dark-kin, as if he hadn’t just walked in on a massacre. “What’s going on?”

“Shiver in fear before the frozen depths of hell!”

Sebastian didn’t have time for banter. “Look out, he’s casting a—“

Kham dove to the side as a cone of freezing wind blasted towards Sebastian. The dark-kin shrugged it off. Some of his defenses were still in place, and it was fortunately the one that protected him from cold.

“And who are you now?” asked Daen, clearly aggravated.

“Nobody important,” said Kham. He drew his pistols. “But I’m guessing you’re a bad guy.”

“Oh, I’m not so bad once you get to know me,” clacked Daen. “But I’ll like you much better dead, I think.” He pointed at Kham.

Nothing happened.

Daen looked at his pointer finger. “Hmm, that usually works.”

“Don’t let him touch you!” shouted Sebastian. “He killed Vlad!”

Kham looked around for the corpse. “Where’s his body?”

“Behind you!”

Kham ducked just as the shriveled, blood-drained corpse of Vlad swung at him.

Kham winced and closed his eyes as he pushed both pistols against the corpse’s chest. “Sorry buddy.”

The corpse bounced off of the far wall, propelled by dual blasts from Kham’s pistols. It collapsed, inanimate.

“This is becoming tiresome.” Daen shouted towards the door. “Where are my minions? Why aren’t you dead already?”

Kham reloaded his pistols. “This guy giving you a problem Sebastian?”

Sebastian ducked and weaved around the chamber, flitting like a dragonfly to avoid becoming a stationary target.

Daen sighed. “I can see I’m going to have to kill you with my bare hands. Very well.” He pushed up one sleeve on each forearm, blood spattering across the floor as he did so.

“Oh no you don’t,” said Sebastian. “Atrum pampinea!”

Black tentacles sprung up, encircling Daen. The lich sputtered in rage.

“Hey, your tentacles are black again,” said Kham. “That’s great!”

Beldin came back into the room with a roar. “This time I’m going to finish you off!”

The dwarf charged straight into the mist, only to rebound as he collided with an invisible force field. “What the…?”

“No living creature can touch me if I do not wish it so,” sneered Daen. “And I do not wish it.”

“We’ve got to make him come to us,” Sebastian whispered to Kham. “Keep him busy.”

Kham winked at Sebastian. “You know, this was too easy. I just teleported right in here. If you’re supposed to be some powerful magic-type guy, you really suck at it.”

“Did you think that your foolish plans would actually work?” Daen shrugged and the tentacles sloughed away, retreating into the ground. “You think I didn’t know what von Grebel was planning? I let him lead you to me!”

“I think you’re lying. I don’t think you have a clue what you’re doing,” said Kham. “Carthy was right—“

“CARTHY?!” shouted Daen. “You dare speak that name in my presence?”

“I dare!” shouted Kham. He pointed two pistols at Daen. “What are you gonna do about it?”

“I will flay the skin and sinew from you writhing form!” The lich advanced on Kham. “And then I will use the sextant you used to gain entry to my dominion to raise Leviathan from his slumber, and you will come to think of my ministrations as a lover’s embrace!”

The lich’s protective shell disappeared as he stepped out of it. He was within touching distance of Kham. “NOW DIE!”

Daen reached for Kham just as Sebastian landed from above. The dark-kin’s hand was outstretched, a spell charged in his palm.

Daen grabbed him by the throat. “Foolish gnat!” Sebastian’s fleshed turned blue and his eyes rolled in his head at Daen’s touch. The lich tossed him aside without effort. “Now where was I…oh that’s right…”

“NOW DIE!” shouted Beldin as his axe nearly bisected Daen, smashing into his spine. The lich went flying, screaming as he went. His body crunched into the ground.

Kham grabbed Sebastian’s body. “Time to go. Beldin, grab what’s left of Vlad!”

Daen slowly rose to the floor, arms flung out from his body as if he were being drawn and quartered. His body began to shake as a sphere of energy enveloped it.

“I’ve got him,” said von Grebel, who appeared out of nowhere. “Do you have the bell?”

Daen’s screams became more feverish and high-pitched, and it appeared that he could not possibly open his mouth wide enough to excise all the pain and suffering he experienced.

“Yes!” shouted Beldin. He rapped Windcutter against something in his backpack and it gonged in response.

The crackling sphere surrounding Daen brightened. Then it stopped. The sphere contracted, folding the shrunken corpse of Daen upon itself as it grew smaller.

“So that’s what took you so long.” Kham fingered the medallion at his throat. “Hold on to me.”

Daen’s corpse grew still smaller until it reached half its size, a quarter, and then even smaller than that…until only a sparkling circle the size of a gold piece hung suspended, spinning rapidly.

“You!” snarled von Grebel. “I thought you were dead!”

“Yeah, I thought you were dead too," said Kham with a smirk. "But now’s not the time to argue about it.”

Even the minuscule remnant that was Daen collapsed inward, warping the space around it as it disappeared.

Von Grebel set his jaw and held onto Kham’s coat. Beldin did the same.

For a moment, all was silent. They disappeared with a flash just as the world exploded.

[talien]

“How did you get here, anyway?” Beldin asked Kham.

They were all concealed in the brush near one of the stone altars. Starlight illuminated their features.

Kham shrugged. “When I got knocked off the ship, I threw my folding boat and landed on it. I drifted for a while, unconscious. When I woke up, I followed you guys.”

“So you were the other ship we saw when we got sucked into the portal.” Sebastian was hunkered down, watching the altar intently.

“And the Kraken’s Claw was the third,” said Vlad. “Captain Baumann’s ship got sucked in as well, that’s how I ended up here.”

“I’m not sure I like this plan,” said Beldin. “And I definitely don’t like that Bell.”

Sebastian held the gold Leviathan Bell in his hands. It pulsed with dark energy. “According to von Grebel, Zoltan Zaska’s flying fortress will seek to rescue one of his many clones from the other island. The bell controls the zombies. So it’s simply a matter of ordering them to kidnap one of Zaska’s clones and bring him here. ”

“Then what?” asked Vlad.

“The fortress will attempt to rescue him. That’s when we board.”

“Sounds simple,” Kham said sarcastically.

“But what happens once they bring the victim to the altar?” asked Beldin.

Von Grebel appeared before Sebastian could answer him.

“They’re coming. Get down!”

The undead slowly dragged their captive toward the altar. Although the man looked like he had given up hope of escape, he suddenly began to struggle with the last of his remaining strength. His voice, now hoarse from screaming at the unfeeling creatures holding him, managed a few incoherent utterances. Despite his efforts, his captors did not break their shambling stride.

“Sebastian…” began Beldin. “I don’t think…”

Two of the undead creatures forced the man down onto the slab, while two others methodically manacled him to the table. The remaining monster slowly removed a long ebony dagger from its scabbard. Once its companions secured the prisoner, it dispassionately sliced the man’s throat.

“No!” Beldin’s cry of dismay was drowned out by the roar of something massive descending from the sky.

A shadow passed over them with a whoosh of air that nearly knocked them flat.

Above them was a skull—a gleaming polished skull at least twice as big as a man-o-war. The eyes were giant rubies, illuminated from behind with a hellish red light. Its jaw clanked and grinded, exposing a maw large enough to swallow a dozen men.

The clone, his doom certain, gurgled in pain as a spray of blood erupted from the gash in his neck. His captors unsheathed their swords and held them loosely at their side, waiting for the inevitable to come.

The Skull’s mouth opened wide as it dove right towards the altar.

“Now!” shouted von Grebel.

They ran flat out towards the altar.

Vlad reached it first. Earth and foliage plowed upwards as the lower half of the jaw dug into the earth. Kham was right behind him. Sebastian flew upwards into the mouth.

Beldin was not as fast. The mouth consumed the altar, the victim, and the zombies. It began to close as the Skull moved upwards.

Kham sighed. With a flash, he disappeared and Beldin was standing in his place.

A few seconds later, one of Kham’s hands appeared clutching the top of the Skull’s lower tooth. He rolled in just as the mouth clamped shut.

“We made it!” said Vlad.

The sacrificial victim was dead, his pale corpse in stark contrast to the halo of blood that spread around him in the mouth of the Skull. The zombies, their task completed, collapsed in a ring around the victim, creating a macabre scene.

Sebastian held the Bell in his hands, holding it tenderly to his bosom like a newborn babe. “Sacrifices had to be made.”

Beldin stood over the body, shaking his head. “But at what price?”

[talien]

They crawled through an aperture in the Skull’s mouth into a large, high-ceilinged room dominated by two massive metal cylinders, one on each side. Metal walkways lined the wall far above and two large vats were suspended among them.

Ahead, racks upon racks of swords were set on a series of tracks in the floor. Everything in the place clanked loud enough to deafen them—undercut with a sinister groaning and hissing.

“What the hell is this place?” asked Vlad.

A voice boomed around them. “BATTLE IS TRUTH!”

Sebastian pointed up at the walkways above. Just then, six pirates hopped out from their hiding places near the metal cylinders and charged towards the ladder.

Glittering, polished metallic skeletons atop eight-foot frames landed in the pirates’ path. They had reinforced plates across their chests and arms that scraped the floor. There was a hint of flame in their hollow sockets.

“Baumann’s men,” said Vlad. “They must be after the artifacts!”

Kham looked suspiciously at Vlad. “What did you tell them?”

The rack of swords suddenly whirred to life and row after row of them filed out towards the mouth.

“THE SWORD IS GOOD!” bellowed the Skull.

“What?” shouted Vlad.

“We have to get up there!” shouted Sebastian. He flapped into the air.

The pirates engaged the metallic skeletons with cutlasses, but they were clearly outmatched. Kham, Vlad, and Beldin slipped around one side and climbed the ladder.

“BLOOD FOR THE SKULL!” echoed the voice.

Kham reached the top and then ducked down. “Look out!”

Flames whooshed over him.

“What now?” asked Vlad.

“Big angry headstone,” said Kham. He leaped up onto the platform. Vlad and Beldin followed after.

A large stone head, the size of a man, faced the ladder.

“I’ll distract it!’ shouted Sebastian. “Keep going!”

The dark-kin darted to and fro in the air before the headstone. The head moved to track him.

Sebastian ducked another blast of flames from the headstone’s mouth. When his companions were through the door on the other side of the headstone, he flew past it and shut the door behind him.

Just before he closed the door, the voice bellowed: “THE SKULL GIVES LIFE!”

[talien]

The corridor extended straight for about thirty feet, then curved to the left, sloping gently upward. The corridor, like the rest of the Skull, was smooth white ceramic, with just enough flat space down the middle of the floor for easy walking.

“Hear that?” asked Vlad.

Kham nodded. It was strange, atonal music.

After another hundred feet, the corridor curved again to the left, becoming a walkway. As the corridor bent, the wall fell away and they found themselves on a gangplank overlooking a vast atrium bathed in crimson light—from the round ruby windows.

“That light is from the Skull’s eyes,” said Beldin.

Small crowds milled around the floor of the atrium, which was dominated by a revolving statue of a massive, ornate sculpture of a pistol. The gun, at least thirty feet high, appeared to be the source of the music. Dissonant notes echoed through the high-ceilinged chamber.

Kham slapped his forehead. “I really hope that’s not the artifact. Because I don’t think I can carry that.”

They kept walking, peering into each room. One room was a nursery, with cradle upon cradle filled with babies. Two of the metal things patrolled the aisles, attending to the crying infants.

“What kind of place is this?” asked Beldin, horrified.

“According to von Grebel, it’s where Zoltan Zaska raises his clones.” Sebastian nodded towards a painting hanging on the wall of the room. It was of Zoltan, who somehow managed to look both roguish and beatific, cradling a child in his arms.

“They seem well taken care of,” said Vlad.

Indeed, the strange skeletons were surprisingly gentle with the babies, picking them up and rocking them to sleep, feeding them milk from a beaker, and adjusting their covers.

“This place creeps me out,” said Kham. “Let’s get the Leviathan Pistol from this psycho and get out of here.”

They moved on to the next attraction on Zoltan’s parade of grotesqueries: children five to ten being drilled in pirate history by an eloquent metal skeleton. The children wore different-colored robes, all shades of red.

“Black Jenny was the most beautiful woman in the world,” said the skeleton in an incongruous feminine voice, “a siren of the deep. But Ezekiel Carthy was a boorish coward. It was thanks to Leviathan that Zoltan was rescued, along with his four companions, and…”

Kham shook his head.

“You know about the Full-Fathom Five?” asked Sebastian.

“My father devoted his life to the study of pirates, remember? Yeah, I know all about them. And what that…thing in there is teaching those kids is a pack of lies.”

They kept moving. The next room contained several groups of teenagers learning the ins and outs of courtly life. Several practiced sword fighting, while others learned proper manners at an elegantly appointed table. Still others learned to dance the quadrille. In all cases, the strange metal skeletons accompanied them: as fencing partners, dance partners, and servants.

They hurried past to a domed, red-lit chamber, where young men and women sat in rows before a podium. A metallic skeleton in white robes stood beside a fountain.

“All praise Zoltan Zaska, the beneficent and magnificent.”

“All praise His name,” said the congregation.

“We believe in Zoltan, the father of the Great Pistol, given to him by the Lord of the Oceans.”

“All praise His name.”

“It is he who provides bounties of food, who keeps those in the Skull in peace and harmony, who lets the brutish give vent to their passions,” said the skeleton.

“All praise his name.”

“Someday,” said the skeleton, addressing the young men in the audience, “you will return to the savage lands beyond this castle and try to become the image of your master–to lead the barbarians beyond their bloodlust so that may return to the master’s fold.”

“This is sick,” said Vlad.

“And you,” the skeleton addressed the women, “will have the most glorious responsibility of all–continuing Lord Zaska’s line, until he decides his people are worthy of salvation and he rejoins them from his secret chambers in the upper reaches of the fortress.”

“He’s breeding them?” Beldin asked in disgust.

“They are clones, after all,” Sebastian said dispassionately.

“Now Daughters of Darkness, come drink of the Fountain of Life,” commanded the skeleton.

“Secret chamber, huh?” Kham loaded two of his pistols. “It’s time Zoltan met my Daughters of Darkness.”

[talien]

They appeared in an empty room of gleaming white ceramic. In the middle of the room stood a man dressed in full-on swashbuckling gear: a longcoat, tri-cornered hat, and polished boots—the whole nine yards.

“Zoltan Zaska,” said Kham with a frown.

Zoltan took off his hat and bowed deeply. “Indeed, it is I!” he said with a thick Salantis accent.

Sebastian launched himself into the air. “Enough of this nonsense, let’s kill him and get the pist—OOF!”

The dark-kin collided with an invisible wall.

Sebastian landed, rubbing his nose. “Walls of force.”

“You have done admirably well on all of my tests so far,” said Zoltan, sneering. “You have proven yourselves superior in mind and body. But now you must prove that you can take on de toughest challenge of all: being Zoltan Zaska!”

Vlad turned to Beldin. “Is he serious?”

“Can you survive de same challenges I have lived through? If so, you earn de right to meet me face to face!”

Kham looked around. “So let me guess: you had to figure out how to navigate an invisible maze once? When was this, when you were still a toddler?”

Zoltan grinned. “Close! Even being born was a challenge for me. My twin sister died in the womb, as and she did, her umbilical cord wrapped itself around my neck. I escape strangulation and made it into de world by the slimmest of margins. Perhaps you can do de same!”

Beldin shook his head. “So this maze is a parallel for his birth?”

A section of the wall on the opposite side of the room shimmered away and two of crab-like beasts with mouthfuls of writing tentacles clattered forward.

“Then what do those represent?” asked Vlad.

“Don’t ask,” said Kham. “I suggest we start moving…”

Vlad and Beldin turned and advanced on the carapace-covered monstrosities. The creatures promptly scurried through the maze, snorting and clicking their hideous claws as they bumped against the invisible walls.

As the two warriors engaged the beasts, Kham felt his way along the maze. He edged closer and closer to Zoltan.

“Very good Kham, come on!” shouted Zoltan.

Kham was within arm’s reach of Zoltan, Talon at the ready, but more invisible walls were in his way.

Zoltan twirled one pistol in his hand. “Let me tell you a secret, Kham. I’m not Zoltan.”

Kham kept feeling his way around the walls. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I am, in fact, one of his sons. I returned to dis very fortress to fight my father. Only those chuuls stopped me. I would have died, but for de mercy of my father.”

Kham walked away to Zoltan’s left and then turned back towards him. He was almost there. “So he made you some kind of crazy taskmaster for this maze?”

“Aye. He condemned me to guard it for de rest of my life. But I believe you can succeed where I failed.” Zoltan waved his pistol at the ceiling and said, “Arkabus.”

A hatchway opened in the ceiling above him, leading to the next room.

Kham faced down Zoltan. “If you’re not the real Zoltan, there’s not much point in fighting you, is there?”

The Zoltan clone nodded sadly. “No, there isn’t.”

Then the clone put the pistol to its head and pulled the trigger.

[talien]

They emerged in a nightmare version of a young boy’s room. There was the normal furniture one would expect to find: a bed, writing desk, dresser, bookcase, and toy chest. There was also the usual mess of toys and books scattered on the floor. What wasn’t usual was that everything was five times its normal size.

“Aha,” another Zoltan clone announced, “you’ve made it through infancy.” He sat on the writing desk by the window. Through the window, waves crashed against rocks and a breeze of salty air wafted through the room. “But what happens when you start to grow and learn and de world starts to crush you?”

Beldin climbed out of the trap door behind the others. He wiped chuul ichor off of one of his boots. “I think I liked the maze better.”

“My parents gave me everything, but it meant nothing! I was hollow inside! De only thing that filled me, my only salvation, was the written word—and de lure of the sea!”

Something rolled off to Sebastian’s left. A small yo-yo rolled out from behind a box and fell on its side.

“Man, this guy’s got issues.” Vlad brandished Grungronazharr.

A shadow passed by Sebastian. He turned quickly but saw nothing. “What was that?”

There was a noise from under the bed. Beldin peered into the darkness.

It was a large teddy bear.

“Hey!” said Beldin. “Come out here. Do you know a way out of here?”

The teddy bear walked out from under the bed, revealing fangs, glowing red eyes, yellow horns, and a white skull on its stomach.

“They wanted me to grow up fat and respectable, just like my father!” shouted Zoltan. “So they lavished me with presents!”

Various other evil toys began to emerge from the shadows: a bright pink pony with flaming hooves, a vicious hell hound with a torso made of a copper coil, a wind-up monkey that banged two cymbals together, and a jack-in-the-box wielding a massive pair of scissors.

“But I spat them back, and took comfort in tales of fantasy and adventure!”

Kham shook his head. “This place is giving me bad flashbacks…” he shook his head to snap himself out of it. “Forget the toys, get Zoltan!” With a magically assisted leap, he landed on the bed.

Beldin bashed the teddy bear sideways and stuffing flew out of it. Vlad hunkered down as flames blasted from the mouth of the hellhound toy.

Sebastian launched himself into the air and rained fire down on the other toys.

With another leap, Kham somersaulted off the bed to a stack of books that formed a makeshift staircase leading to the windowsill.

“Do you have de courage to leave all this behind and escape to de wild ocean?” taunted Zoltan.

Kham tumbled past him and began climbing down the windowsill. It was a precipitous drop, some hundred feet straight down to a windswept, sea-battered coastline. A ship pitched against the rocks amidst the roiling waves.

“Yeah, yeah, why don’t you kill yourself already.”

Zoltan bowed. “I wish you ill fortune, as you have taken de step that I could not!”

Zoltan waved his pistol, hollered “Arkabus!” and vanished.

Sebastian circled past Kham and down to the ship.

“What about the others?” Kham bellowed down to the dark-kin sorcerer.

The teddy bear’s head went sailing past him, bouncing off the rocks as it went.

“They’re right behind us,” said Sebastian smugly.

[talien]

They barely had time to reach the boat and find their sea legs when Zoltan’s voice boomed down from the crow’s nest.

“This is where I made my name! On the open seas on moonlit nights. How about you, mi amigos? Do you have what it takes to fight on another man’s decks?”

“Where’d the cliffs go?” asked Beldin.

The cliffs behind them had vanished. Open ocean surrounded them on all sides. A big fat merchant vessel pulled along the starboard side.

“You know,” said Kham, “I’m getting the impression that style matters more in this place than substance. Beldin, come with me.”

The dwarf grunted but complied.

Vlad and Sebastian exchanged glances.

“Any idea what he’s up to?” asked the Milandisian.

Sebastian shrugged. “At this point I’m willing to set that other ship on fire along with the annoying fop who keeps shouting at us.”

The hiss of a lit fuse reached them.

Vlad and Sebastian covered their ears just as the cannon below decks fired, launching Kham across to the other ship.

The val tumbled to his feet on the deck, despite the improbability of it all.

“That’s the spirit!” shouted Zoltan. “There’s a rum lad for you!”

The merchant crew’s sailors brandished cutlasses at him as a plump merchant shouted, “My daughter! Dear Jennifer must be kept safe from those brigands!”

Sebastian flapped overhead and strafed the ship with a blast of flames. Sailors screamed and fell into the water.

“Poor form!” shouted Zoltan. “Any dullard can kill a man! It takes a superior creature to force him to surrender honorably! Fight with your head and your heart, not your blade!”

Beldin and Vlad were carried across to the ship by a gentle wave, courtesy of Cho Sun’s ring. They promptly engaged the sailors, who curled their lips and leapt up into the rigging to dodge their attacks.

“Breaker of hearts and plunderer of galleons, they used to call me!” shouted Zoltan.

Sebastian flapped up to Zoltan’s level in the crow’s nest. “Give me one good reason not to kill…you?”

There was no one in the crow’s nest.

Kham was already below decks. He had heard something…a girl’s cry.

He ransacked barely after barrel, all containing yards of silk, fine crystal, perfumes and spices. Finally, he opened one barrel and found Zoltan’s dearest treasure.

“Black Jenny,” said Kham, breathing hard from the exertion of tearing open crates and barrels.

The raven-haired girl stood up from the barrel. She was breathtaking, with sparkling blue eyes and a heart-shaped face. But when she spoke, it was Zoltan’s voice.

“Si, mi amigo! You’ve found my secret treasure. She was nothing when I found her, just some wealthy brat. But soon I realized I had been nothing before I found her!”

Black Jenny’s form melted away and Zoltan stood in her place.

“Ugh,” muttered Kham. “What a great way to ruin a rescue.”

“I was so captivated by Black Jenny that I couldn’t bear to leave and progress to de next test.” Zoltan winked at him. “Which is upon you right now.” He waved his pistol and shouted “Arkabus!”

And they appeared somewhere else.

[talien]

They dropped from the ceiling only to end up in the same maze where they began. The remains of the chuul battle were cleared away, but they were not alone.

A woman lay crumpled in the center of the room.

Kham put his hands out. “I think the walls are gone too.”

Sebastian launched himself into the air as Kham, flanked by Vlad and Beldin, closed on the girl.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I…was taken to Zoltan’s chambers…” rasped the girl. “He beat me…”

A stooped, withered creature in tattered finery appeared on the other side of the room. “You’ve found me at last.”

“Yeah,” said Kham. “Right. Zoltan, you’ve seen better days.”

“In life I was something to behold,” said Zoltan. “Now look at me! Look at how death has ravaged me, what kind of creature it has turned me into!”

“If that’s even the real Zoltan,” said Sebastian from above.

“Now I snatch meager amusements from narcotized slaves.” Zoltan gestured at the girl. “Like that wretched thing there. Trying to create an heir that might remind me of what I once was.”

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. He began muttering an incantation. Kham held one hand out.

“Wait. Let him finish.”

“That’s why I built this island: to create another Zoltan, one who might prove strong and wily enough to confront his father face to face, to prove worthy of carrying on my name. And you,” he pointed at Kham, “you have succeeded. I suppose you want to kill me, eh? Then do it! Do your worst!”

Beldin stepped forward. “Okay…” He raised Windcutter.

Zoltan fell over, cowering. “Mercy! Mercy!” he sobbed. “Look at me! De release of death is so close…and yet…still I cower and cling to what puny life I have!”

He offered Kham his pistol.

“I give you this in place of my life. And I have put powerful magicks on this weapon to guarantee you don’t take both! Lay hands on the pistol and it will transport you to your ship immediately and erect a magical barrier on this island. You will have your prize, but you can never return here! And none shall ever leave!”

“Don’t listen to him!” sobbed the woman. “He’ll kill us all! Destroy the gun and kill him!”

Kham hesitated only a moment.

“Give me that!” He snatched the gun from Zoltan’s outstretched grasp.

“Arkabus,” said the grinning ghoul. Then the weapon melted in Kham’s grasp and he was somewhere else yet again.

[talien]

They emerged in a room unlike anything they had seen so far in Zoltan’s castle. It was completely black. The darkness came from drapes, heavy velvet ones, strung around the room, covering the naturally gleaming ceramic. Two pieces of furniture dominated the room: a massive four-poster bed, also curtained, and a mammoth pipe organ, which wheezed out the weird atonal music that filled the atrium below.

One hulking mechanical skeleton plunked away at the organ while two others turned the pages of sheet music.

“Ha-ha!” Zoltan leaped from the curtains, looking as roguish, handsome, and charming as ever.

“Great,” Kham sighed. “Please tell me you’re the real Zoltan and we can kill you now.”

“I am indeed,” said Zoltan with a smile. “I have been watching you closely, and you’ve made a fine impression. If you can best me in a fair battle, I will proudly meet my fate and hand over de pistol.”

“Very funny,” said Kham. “Like my comrades would ever let me fight you in single combat. Right guys?”

Silence.

Kham turned around. “Guys? You’re not seriously going to let me fight him one on one, are you?”

Sebastian landed and crossed his arms. “You fancy yourself the hero of this madness. I think you should finish it in true heroic fashion, risking everything on a single clash of blades.”

“What could be more romantic?” asked Zoltan.

“I am not fighting you this way, Zoltan,” said Kham. “That’s stupid. Guys, back me up here.”

Beldin crossed his arms too. “I think you can take him.”

“Oh come on…”

“There’s something else that might motivate you,” said Zoltan after a moment. “When you took de false pistol, you were cursed to transform into a ghoul by the end of de day.” His expression softened. “Beat me and you will avoid de fate that I could not.”

Kham slapped his forehead. “Again with the ghoul problem.”

Vlad sheathed his sword. “I really hate ghouls.” He nodded towards Kham. “Kick his ass.”

Kham took a deep breath. “Okay, fine, fine. Give me a moment.”

He walked over to the other side of the bed. “Skiz!” he whispered.

The rat’s head popped out from Kham’s haversack. “Yeah, boss?”

“Stay out of sight, but run behind Zoltan.”

“Now?”

”Now. Go! Go!”

The rat scrambled out of Kham’s possessions and disappeared under the bed.

Kham made eye contact with Zoltan. “I’m ready.

“Excellent!” said Zoltan. “We will duel as in de old days. We will start back to back, take five paces, turn, and shoot.” He marched over to the center of the room. Kham joined him.

“Ready?” asked Zoltan.

Kham loaded one of his pistols. “Ready.”

“Beldin, you’re de most honorable soul here, so I know you will not cheat,” said Zoltan deferentially. “Please count down to five.”

The dwarf looked flustered, but he complied. “One…two…three…”

They took slow, measured steps.

“…four…five. FIRE!”

Kham and Zoltan whirled at the same time, pistol at the ready. But Kham was quicker. He fired at Zoltan’s pistol hand, blasting it out of his grasp.

The weapon spun in the air in slow motion.

Kham blurred out of existence and appeared behind Zoltan. In Kham’s place stood a confused Skiz.

Before Zoltan could react, Kham snatched Zoltan’s pistol out of the air and aimed it at his opponent’s head.

Zoltan whirled to look down the barrel of his own pistol. “Magnificent!” was all he got out.

Kham fired. A huge gout of flames exploded, disintegrating Zoltan’s head.

The metallic skeletons stopped playing and marched over to Kham, kneeling before him. Kham’s companions stood, agape.

Kham spun the newfound Leviathan Pistol and holstered it. “I think I’ll name dis one Jenny,” he said with the slightest hint of a Salantis accent.

[talien]

The entire Skull rocked as Kham concentrated yet again on his pistol. The rest of his companions had become accustomed to it.

“We’ve been flying in circles for days,” said Beldin. “You’re going to crash that thing if you don’t get the hang of it.”

“Hey!” Sweat was on Kham’s brow. “You’re lucky we’re not being attacked by the Maulers.”

“The what?” asked Sebsatian.

“The Maulers. The metal skeletons.”

“You know their names now?” asked Vlad.

Kham nodded, never looking away from the pistol. “I know lots of things now that I have the Leviathan Pistol.”

“But not how to fly this thing,” muttered Beldin.

Von Grebel sighed. “We are running out of time. Sycorax will use her ritual to subjugate her followers today. We’ve got to invade or it’ll be another twelve days before she does it again.”

“Sycorax?” Sebastian stared at von Grebel. “Sycorax, mother of Camring, impostor to the Sea Lord’s throne?”

“Black Jenny Ramsey,” Kham said breathlessly. “She’s taken on a new persona as the White Queen of Gorilla Island.”

“Gorillas,” said Vlad. “Seriously?”

Von Grebel nodded. “Sycorax’s slaves built a series of arcane obelisks that focus the Hook’s dominating powers. Once every twelve days, gorilla work crews travel through the city with wagons filled with human prisoners. When they reach the obelisks, the gorillas shackle a human to the top of each one and bleed him to death. The obelisks reinforce Sycorax’s dominance so that her control over every sentient being on the island is complete.”

“Gorillas?” Vlad asked again.

“Daen had to get those undead gorillas from somewhere,” said Sebastian. “So what’s the plan?”

“While she’s at the top of her pyramid, absorbing the energy from her sacrifice, we sweep down, scoop her up, and take the Leviathan Hook from her.”

“You think that’s actually going to work?” asked Beldin.

“It has to,” said von Grebel. “It’s the only time she’s vulnerable without her guards. Even then, she will be no easy foe.”

The Skull shuddered again.

“Uh oh,” said Kham.

“What do you mean, ‘uh oh’?” asked Vlad, his voice rising.

“The good news is that the Skull is flying towards Black Jenny’s pyramid.”

“What’s the bad news?” asked Beldin, fearing the answer.

“I can’t make it stop.”

[talien]

They stood in the entrance to the Skull’s mouth, near the two ornate, gear-heavy structure.

Beldin peered skeptically at the massive metal cylinders. “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s true!” said Kham, hands spread in a plea. “These cylinders store thousands of gallons of potions of flight. When I command the Skull, engines inside the cylinders distribute the potions to massive, wheezing bellows, where it is atomized and distributed via hoses to the nozzles on the outside of the craft.”

The Skull shuddered.

Sebastian knocked a knuckle against one of the cylinders. “Even if that were true, potions don’t work that way. You don’t simply spray them in a direction to create an effect. By that logic I could poor a healing potion over my head and be healed.”

“As a matter of fact, these two vats,” Kham pointed at the vats overhead, “store exactly that. The Skull showers healing potions on Zoltan’s townspeople after their battles.”

“But potions don’t work like that!” shouted Beldin.

Kham waved the pistol and the jaws of the Skull began to slowly open. Roaring wind tore through the opening.

Sebastian opened up his wings as they caught the air, snapping to his full wingspan. “I suppose if he created them as a form of oil instead…”

“What will happen to the Zaska clones?” Beldin hesitated at the opening. “To the children?”

“They’ll be dead,” said Sebastian without emotion. “Wraps the problem of Zaska and Sycorax up nicely, I think.”

Beldin just stared at him.

“Look, we don’t have a whole lot of time here!” Kham drew Talon and slashed one of the hoses that connected to the cylinders. A bluish liquid gushed from the hose. “Do you want to argue about Althares’ gifts or do you want to not get smashed to a pulp?”

Vlad waved his hand. “I’d like to not be smashed to a pulp, please.”

Kham turned the hose on Vlad. He immediately started floating towards the opening.

“This is ridiculous,” grumbled Beldin.

Kham sprayed Beldin next. The dwarf, arms crossed and beard dripping, slowly slipped sideways out of the mouth without changing his posture.

“Uh, how do I control where I’m going?” shouted Vlad over the roaring winds. Below them, Sycorax’s ziggurat looked like a tiny scale model.

Kham turned the hose on himself.

“I have no idea!” he shouted. Then he dove out of the Skull’s mouth into freefall.

[talien]

The Pyramid of Sycorax dominated the skyline of Gorilla City. It was, in fact, the tallest structure on the island, and it was visible from most anywhere except the dark heart of the jungle. It was made from large volcanic-stone blocks in a classic step-pyramid style. A set of stairs ran up from the base to a wide terrace near the apex of the Pyramid.

The stairs led to a large, ornate set of double doors, beneath an archway constructed of two enormous ivory tusks from some gargantuan beast. Two white gorillas stood guard in front of the doors, with a large gong just to the left of them.

Sebastian landed with a flap of his wings. The two white-furred gorillas beat their chests as he descended.

“I’d step out of the way if I were you.”

The gorillas looked at Sebastian, puzzled. Then they looked up. Someone was shouting above them.

“—aaaaaAAAAH!” A dwarf-shaped projectile smashed into the first gorilla. Vlad crashed into the second.

Kham landed atop the gong and leaped off of it to a soft landing. “That was great!” He ran a hand through his hair to adjust it after their freefall.

Vlad got to his feet, dusting himself off. “Yeah, great. We just alerted the whole place.”

“I think they know we’re coming,” said Beldin.

Inside the Pyramid, they descended a flight of stairs that opened into an antechamber. The walls were decorated with ornate carvings and pictograms, depicting a gorilla army led by a majestic human woman, subjugating crowds of cowering humans dressed in rags. The carvings were inlaid with precious gems from top to bottom.

They ran down the hall, only to be confronted by five gorillas. There were piles of bananas and dice on a nearby table.

The gorillas beat their chests in a challenge.

Kham took out the Nkisi n’kondi out of his haversack. Then he pushed in one of its metal bits.

“Ook! Ook!” said Kham. He pointed up the stairs, where the slow tumbling Skull was visible at the opening. “Ooga ook ookg or ooga OOK!”

The gorillas looked at each other and then, bellowing and screeching, leaped out of the room. They tore through double doors on the other side of the room.

“What did you tell them?” asked Beldin.

”That a giant skull is going to smash into this temple in a few minutes and if they want to fight about it, maybe we should all go a little deeper inside.”

“And what did they say in response?” Vlad took up a position next to the double doors, peering around the corner. “Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.”

As one, they charged into Sycorax’s throne room.

[talien]

The room took their breath away. Gold and precious gems were encrusted on every surface and carved bas-relief depictions of an idealized Gorilla City lined the walls and ceiling. The subjects in the depictions appeared very happy, as if their queen were extremely benevolent. An ornate throne rested on a raised platform within and covered braziers lit each corner of the room.

“What are you doing, fools?” An unearthly beautiful woman in flowing white robes, tall, raven-haired and imperious stood up from the throne. “Turn around and fight!”

The gorillas, wielding spears, did not hesitate to comply. Beldin and Vlad engaged them.

“Jenny!” shouted Kham. “Jenny, it’s all right. We’re not here to hurt you!”

“Did he just say we’re not here to hurt her?” asked Vlad.

Beldin brandished his axe. “I think so.”

Sebastian launched himself into the air and unleashed a blast of electrical energy from his fingertips. It arced between the rows of gorilla guards, sending them flying.

Sycorax turned to face Kham. “Zoltan? You’re pathetic. You’re a shadow of your former self. You’re even more pathetic because you continue to cling to the idea that you can retain your former glory. Those days are over!”

The apes quickly recovered. Vlad hacked one ape across the clavicle and it went down hard. Another smashed into him, the blow from its huge fists nearly dislodging his shield.

“Are you…” Kham squinted. “You’re WEARING the hook? Are you mad, woman? Its power…”

Sycorax, who had one arm behind her back, sighed. “I had hoped you wouldn’t see that.”

Beldin smashed one gorilla with his shield. When it doubled over, he hacked it sideways with Windcutter. Just as it went down, another gorilla took its place.

“It’s not hard,” sneered Sebastian. “Holding one arm behind your back isn’t exactly concealing it.”

“Fine,” shouted Sycorax. “Then I will show you my true form!” Her features melted away, and although no one else could see it, Sebastian gazed upon the cursed, wretched husk that had once been the beautiful Black Jenny Ramsey. He fell to the ground, gibbering at the sight.

Kham turned as an ape leaped upon him and fired the Leviathan Pistol. The ape disintegrated in mid-air. He stared at the Leviathan Pistol in disbelief. “Wow.”

Vlad finished off another gorilla and charged towards Sycorax. Beautiful once more, a cutlass appeared in her hand. “Your blood will taste especially sweet.”

She parried Grungronazharr and retaliated with a backwards slash of the hook attached to her left hand. He danced backwards to avoid being eviscerated.

Kham drew two more pistols and took aim at Sycorax. “Don’t hurt her!”

“Hurt HER?” Vlad parried as Sycorax’s cutlass bounced off his shield. “Tell her to not hurt ME!”

Beldin swiped at Sycorax with Windcutter, but she easily blocked it with the Leviathan Hook. “Even together, you are no match for Sycorax!”

Sycorax made good on her boast, pressing both warriors backwards as she parried and block, feinted and lunged. She held Beldin off with the Hook and Vlad with her cutlass.

“We just need the Hook!” snarled Vlad. “Beldin, if you can distract her…”

Beldin swept low with his axe, kicking Sycorax’s legs out from under her. She landed on her back with a thud.

Vlad held Grungronazharr over his head, taking aim at Sycorax’s wrist…

A scorching pain in Vlad’s weapon hand caused him to drop his blade. “What the…?”

“Don’t hurt her!” shouted Kham.

Sycorax screamed. Beldin stood panting over her with a bloody axe, the severed hook rolling across the floor before him.

Kham fell to his knees, tearing at his hair. “Noooo!”

Vlad picked up Grungronazharr, his hand dripping blood. “You…shot me?”

Sycorax’s form blew away like a sand sculpture in a windstorm. The mist trailed along the floor towards the back of the throne room.

“I knew it.” Beldin started to pursue. “She’s a vampire!”

Kham suddenly got back to his feet and walked over to Sebastian. “Beldin, let her go.”

“I’m not letting a vampire get away that easily…”

Vlad picked up the Leviathan Hook and advanced on Kham. “You SHOT me?”

Kham sighed. “We can argue about this all day. But in case you forgot, THERE’S A GIANT SKULL ABOUT TO CRASH INTO THIS PLACE!”

Beldin took one step forward towards Sycorax’s escape route and then turned around and returned to Kham’s side. “Fine.”

Vlad stood near Kham, unsure what to do next. “What the hell did you shoot me for?”

“You were going to kill the love of my life.”

“The love of your—“ was all Vlad got out before Kham touched the amulet at his throat and they disappeared with a flash.

A second later, Zoltan Zaska’s skull collided with Black Jenny Ramsey’s pyramid.

[talien]

They gathered on the deck of the Naoke under the pale moonlight.

“So,” said Kham. “What’s the plan?”

Von Grebel glared at Kham. “I never agreed to help you.”

“Yeah, well, I never agreed to help you either. And if I recall correctly, the Leviathan Bell controls undead, right?”

The vampire paused. “What’s your point?”

“I mean, we could just force you to tell us what we want, right?”

Von Grebel crossed his arms.

“That’s what I thought,” said Kham. “Since we’re stuck with each other, maybe we should concentrate on getting out of here.”

The vampire muttered something.

“What was that?” asked Kham.

“You heard me.”

“'You don’t know how'?”

Vlad, who was staring out at the ocean, turned around. “What do you mean?”

Von Grebel sighed. “I don’t know as much bout Moab Cys’varion. Daen yakked incessantly about Zoltan’s Skull ship; he was afraid an attack could come at any time, especially after Zoltan retrieved a few of his cloned villagers. And he kept careful watch on Sycorax—“

“Black Jenny,” corrected Kham.

“SYCORAX,” von Grebel stubbornly emphasized, “who sacrificed her victims atop the highest point of her island. She was easy to spy on. But Moab…I’ve never seen him. He was the only one Daen respected, mainly because the elf thought about conquest as much as Daen did.”

Beldin slapped his forehead. “You forgot to mention he’s an elorii.”

“He barely resembles even that. Daen thought Moab’s dabbling in mutation was an utter waste of time and effort.”

“Dabbling in mutation, hmm?” asked Sebastian. “So he was sculpting the flesh of the living.”

“One would assume so,” said von Grebel. “Like I said, I’ve never actually seen him. I think he has a fortress somewhere hidden in the island itself. But if so, he never comes out. It’s probably due to his control over the Leviathan Spyglass.”

“And what does that do?” asked Vlad.

“I’ve only heard what Daen ranted about. The Spyglass can see anywhere he likes, and he can create gates to anywhere he sees.”

“Not anywhere,” added Sebastian, “or Moab would have escaped this place already.”

Von Grebel shrugged. “Point being, Moab doesn’t have to go anywhere he doesn’t want to.”

“So that leaves the question of how exactly we’re supposed to get this last artifact,” grumbled Beldin.

“The sun’s rising,” said Kham. “You’d better get out of sight. Hop into that little box of yours and I’ll hold you in my haversack.”

“I think not,” said von Grebel.

Skiz popped his head out of Kham’s haversack. “Seriously, boss, that guy creeps me out. I don’t want him in here with me.”

“Hush, Skiz.”

“But…”

“SHADDUP, I said.”

There was a strange sound: WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP. Three glowing concentric circles telescoped outwards on the deck of the Naoke, each larger than the first. Out of it stepped six hunched, mutated humans with mismatched and mottled flesh. Leading the charge was a slim elorii with bright blue hair.

“Jhondal!” shouted von Grebel before dispersing into Kham’s haversack. “Moab’s lieutenant!”

The elorii pointed his rapier at Kham. “Attack!”

Beldin slapped Windcutter in his open palm. “Looks like Moab’s coming to us.”

[talien]

Sebastian launched himself into the air, trying to get a clear shot.

“Don’t use fire!” shouted Baldric. “Ye’ll destroy me ship!”

“I know, I know!” Sebastian shouted back.

Beldin rolled and hacked down one of the mutants. He came up behind another one that was advancing on Vlad. It didn’t see him…

The mutant tossed its hair, and a pair of eyes peered through the strands at him. They went wide and the mutant soldier spun just as Beldin’s axe came down for what would have been a fatal blow.

“They’ve got eyes in the backs of their heads!” shouted Beldin. “Literally!”

Vlad fended off a three-armed attack, kicking one of the mutants overboard. “That’s the least of our problems.”

Sebastian pointed at three of the mutants. “Magicus telum!”

Searing bolts of blue energy darted towards the mutants, only to fizzle as they struck.

“We are blessed by the Stone of Heavens!” shouted Jhondal. “Your mortal magic is no match for Moab!”

A resounding explosion caused the elorii to look down in shock at his gaping chest wound.

Through the hole, Kham lowered the Leviathan Pistol. He blew on the smoking barrel. “Who needs magic?”

Jhondal fell off the rail into the ocean.

The Naoke’s crew quickly dispatched the other mutants. Bright blue ichor was spattered everywhere.

”That wasn’t so bad,” said Vlad. He leaned over to catch his breath. “If that’s all he’s got…”

WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP.

Three two-headed giants stepped onto the deck.

“You were saying?” asked Beldin.

[talien]

Complete chaos engulfed the Naoke. First it was the two-headed giants. A second later, a four-armed gorilla showed up. Then a huge leopard with tentacles grafted to its flesh and a wolverine with bony plates jutting from its forehead.

“We can’t take them all on at once!” Vlad parried the whip-crack of one of the leopard’s tentacles with his shield. “There’s too many!”

Beldin rolled beneath one of the giants and cut its leg out from under it. Its howl was cut off by Windcutter chopping through its throat. “Bah! I’ll take care of the giants, you take care of the rest!”

Sebastian pointed at the wolverine. “Demitte resisto!” Nothing happened.

“If that was supposed to do something, it didn’t!” Kham took aim at the wolverine and fired. A chunk of fur and flesh blew off the beast, but it kept coming at Vlad.

“I was assaying their weaknesses,” Sebastian said calmly from his position over the deck. “Watch: radius incensio!”

Three spiraling beams of fire sliced into the wolverine, engulfing it in flames. It was all Vlad could do to keep it on the other side of his shield.

One of the giants batted three sailors right off the deck with a sweep of its club.

Beldin hacked downward, splitting another giant’s foot in half. It swung clumsily at him and missed as he rolled out of the way, smashing into its remaining companion. The second giant fell overboard from the blow.

As the giant bent down to grab its foot, Beldin smacked it with the flat side of Windcutter, bowling it over off the deck’s railing.

He was about to turn on the wolverine when the huge gorilla grabbed him with all four of its arms.

Kham blurred into existence behind it. “I’ve got it!” He pointed one of his pistols and fired.

Instead of blastpowder, a hailstorm of multicolored crystals disintegrated the gorilla’s head. The headless body fell to the deck, twitching.

“When did you learn to do that?” asked Beldin.

“Behind you!” shouted Kham.

Tentacles snapped towards Beldin but were stopped short by ghostly jaws that clamped tight on them, holding the mutated leopard’s limbs at bay. It resorted to its mauling the dwarf instead, its three pairs of claws scratching at his shield.

“They’re immune to magic,” said Sebastian. “I can’t stop them all!”

Kham smirked. “I can.”

He blurred again sideways, far faster than he had ever walked between worlds in Carcosa. He appeared behind the leopard. Before it could turn to face him, a thicket of crystals appeared in the air and flensed the flesh from the creature’s right side. Its ribcage was bare of fur, revealing white bone beneath. Kham pointed and the creature’s corpse was shoved off deck by an invisible force.

Vlad finally turned the tables on the wolverine. He stabbed it through the throat, pinning it to the deck with Grungronazharr. After a minute of screeching and scrabbling, the mutated wolverine finally lay still.

Sebastian landed on the deck. “I think it’s time we had a talk about what exactly the Leviathan Pistol did to you Kham. You’re acting strange...”

WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP.

“Son of a BITCH!” shouted Vlad.

[talien]

Moab’s wizard pointed his staff at Sebastian, unleashing a bolt of lightning. The dark-kin twisted, barely avoiding the bolt.

Sebastian strafed by with a blast of freezing cold, covering the Naoke in rime. Friends and foes alike dove to the side.

Vlad locked blades with an elorii with dusky gray skin and white hair. “You’re no match for my power, human dog!” he snarled. They separated and the elorii pointed his jeweled blade at Vlad.

Flames exploded out of the tip of the sword. Vlad held up Grungronazharr and the fire washed over him.

“What?” shouted the elorii. “Impossible!”

It was the last words he got out as Vlad thrust his blade through the elorii’s torso.

Beldin blocked the vicious hack of a falchion from a hulk of a man with straight black hair. He shouted with every strike, spittle flying from his lips.

A tough-looking woman with short blonde hair stood in the center of it all, sending supplications to Leviathan.

“Another cultist of Leviathan,” sighed Kham. “Just what we need.”

A twisted gnome with a red Mohawk tumbled up to him, crossbow at the ready.

“Wait a minute…” said the gnome. “I remember you! You’re that idiot I tried to kill in Freeport!”

Kham tried to track the gnome with the Leviathan Pistol. “Funny, you don’t ring a bell.”

“Rooster Tumblefoot! You don’t remember me? You were blitzed out of your mind on Ghoul Juice when that flapping idiot up there,” he jabbed a thumb in Sebastian’s direction, “melted me into slag!”

“Nope, don’t remember you.”

The gnome fired his crossbow but it went wide. “What? Aren’t you surprised I’m still alive?”

Kham kept tracking him with the pistol. “Not really.”

“Don’t you see how amazingly powerful Moab’s magic is?” The gnome was becoming visibly frustrated. He drew his short sword and advanced on Kham. “I mean, I was his one success with the Leviathan Spyglass…I managed to escape this crazy place! Then when I nearly died, it drew me back. Moab saved me from the brink of death.”

Rooster lunged with his blade, but Kham blurred sideways out of his field of view.

“Skin grafts take a LONG time! A lot of people died so I could live.” The gnome looked around. “You sure you don’t remember me?”

Kham was standing on the rigging above him. Kham’s eyes flashed from behind his lenses.

Rooster’s eyes rolled in his head. He collapsed to the deck, drool dripping from his slack jaw, his brain smashed from Kham's psychic attack.

“Sorry, nothing’s coming to mind.” Kham landed next to him and kicked Rooster’s dying body overboard.

“Perhaps Gaspar can help you with that!” shouted the older wizard, who was fond of repeating his own name.

Kham whirled and flew upwards, hovering over the deck. “Oh I don’t think…”

The val jerked as if he had been slapped. He hung limply in the air, a marionette abandoned by its owner.

It was a fleeting victory. The focus on Kham distracted Gaspar long enough so that Sebastian got behind him. Ice and sleet covered him, transforming the older wizard into an ice sculpture.

“You’ll pay for that!” shouted the priestess. “Leviathan, make these unbelievers pay for their transgressions!” She pointed at Sebastian and a gout of flames blasted down upon the dark-kin, dunking him into the ocean.

Seconds later, Grungronazharr jutted from the priestess’ torso. She looked down in shock.

Vlad kicked the woman off of his blade. Beldin was doing the same with the corpse of the barbarian that attacked him.

“Is that all of them?” asked Vlad.

“Not quite,” hissed a voice from everywhere and nowhere. “You have yet to deal with me.”

[talien]

There was little evidence in Moab Cys’varion’s wretched form that he was once an elorii. His hair had long since fallen out and his pupiless eyes were pink. His flesh was splotchy white in patches, gray in others. He stood at the far end of the ship.

“I should be thankful,” Moab said in soft tones. “I had hoped to send my armies into Freeport. Instead I have sent them here and they have all failed. Or rather, they have achieved what I wished for them to accomplish.”

Beldin and Vlad stood resolute. “What’s that?” asked the dwarf as they advanced on him.

“They softened you up so that I may have you as experiments. You will make suitable replacements for my former adventuring companions. I need good warriors.”

Beldin circled around one side of the Naoke’s mainmast and Vlad around the other. Sailor and mutant bodies were littered everywhere.

“But for the moment, I think you will make quite a nice statue.” Moab pointed at Beldin. “Corporeus lapideus!”

A sparkling green beam struck the dwarf but it didn’t slow him. “That the best you got?”

Moab sneered. “Perhaps the former giant would like to become smaller: Resilio adstringo!”

The dwarf didn’t slow his stride.

Moab frowned but didn’t waste time on threats. He pointed at Vlad. “Polymorph alius!”

Nothing happened.

Beldin slapped Windcutter in an open palm. “This is going to be easier than I thought.”

“Eradico!”

A sparkling green ray struck Beldin square on the shoulder. A part of the dwarf’s body simply disappeared, taking a chunk out of the dwarf’s right upper forearm and part of his ribcage. For a moment there was no blood at all. Then his body gave out, pumping blood through the open cavity. Beldin clutched the wound and fell backwards.

“That should have killed you,” Moab said matter-of-factly.

Vlad almost reached him when Moab turned two palms towards him. “Magicus telum!”

Bolts of energy thudded into the Milandisian, but it didn’t stop him. He slashed at the former elorii’s head.

Moab drew a black sword, with a blade that reflected no light. He easily parried the blow.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Moab hissed over their locked blades. “You don’t deserve to be my minion. I’m going to feed you to my sword instead.”

“Pick on someone your own size!” shouted Sebastian, dripping seawater. “Magicus telum!”

Bolts of magical energy sliced into Moab. The elorii, unaffected, spun to face an opponent he thought eliminated.

“You! You were supposed to make the portal work! Instead we only were able to send Rooster through! You were bound by an oath of Sarish! Fulgur sagitta!”

Lightning stroked from his fingertips, and again Sebastian barely moved out of its path.

Vlad plunged Grungronazharr into Moab’s back. The elorii howled and spun to face his opponent.

“You think that mere blades can stop me?” Moab hunched over. Vlad took a step back. “I control the Stone of the Heavens!”

Moab’s form began to bulge and morph, as if he were a cake that had been baked for too long. “I will take all of the artifacts and use them to march on Freeport!”

Moab’s arms undulated as they turned into serpentine necks; his hands became draconic heads. Moab’s own head stretched and twined, and still more heads grew from the heaving torso.

“And no one can stop me!”

Moab’s torso spilled over itself, and four limbs jutted out of it. Scales covered his white flesh, turning it from pink to a dark red hue. Serpentine heads hissed and snapped at Vlad.

“He’s transformed into a pyrohydra!” shouted Sebastian. “We’ll never be able to stop him!”

The multi-headed shadow loomed over him. “A what?” shouted Vlad.

“It’s immune to fire. And Moab will heal faster than we can harm him!”

The Naoke groaned as the huge monstrosity continued to grow on its deck. Vlad caught a glimpse of Grungronazharr jutting from the pyrohydra’s torso.

“Grungronazharr is still in his flesh!” shouted Vlad. “I’m going to finish what I started!”

“Are you insane?” But Sebastian didn’t get anything else out. He unleashed another cone of cold upon the pyrohydra as he flew past to distract it.

Vlad pounded towards the bright red bulk of the thing, eyes focused on the hilt of his sword jutting out of the thing’s back. Several of the pyrohydra’s heads tracked him, their maws yawning with hellfire.

Vlade lunged onto the pyrohydra’s back, grabbing the hilt of his blade just as the mouths unleashed a blast of white-hot flames. The fire washed over the Milandisian warrior as he hung on to the expanding hydra by the hilt of Grungronazharr.

With a shout, he shoved the blade deeper into Moab’s changing body. He felt something burst beneath the flesh.

Then the body was shrinking, changing again, snapping back to the elorii’s wretched form. Vlad drew his blade and hopped backwards, landing on the deck of the Naoke once more.

Sebastian flapped down beside him. The remaining crew stuck their heads out.

“It’s over,” said the dark-kin. “You can come out now.”

“He seemed to think he knew you,” said Vlad. “What was that all about?”

Sebastian rifled through the dead elorii’s possessions. “I think he mistook me for another devil. And judging by that conversation, he didn’t make out on the deal.” He fished out the Leviathan Spyglass. “But what matters most is that we’ve now got all four artifacts.”

“What about Beldin?” asked Vlad, concerned.

“The dwarf? His body is merely a vessel. So long as his soulstone is intact, we can heal him.”

“Since when do you call Beldin ‘the dwarf’?” asked Vlad. He didn’t wait for an answer. “And where’s…”

There was a splash behind them as the spell that incapacitated Kham finally wore off, plunging him into the ocean.

“Never mind.”

[talien]

A low vibration the crew of the Naoke awake, growing in intensity as they scrambled to the deck.

“All hands!” shouted Baldric. “All hands on deck, ye mangy dogs! Move it!”

The cause of the alarm became evident as they sprinted on deck to the first red rays of the morning sun…a wave, nearly fort-feet high, was heading straight for them.

“I’ve got it,” said Beldin. He outstretched the hand that wore Cho Sun’s ring and focused.

The prow of the Naoke bit into the wave, launching a blast of spray that drenched them to their skin. The water lifted the bow and forced the ship skyward.

Still they kept climbing, the boat standing nearly on end as they made their way up, up, ever up. The last stars of the night sky were visible, and then the bow blocked them from view.

Still up they went, until the bow was above and behind, pushed farther back by the wave’s crest. And then they were over, the prow pushing through the top of the wave and down.

Beldin never lost his footing as the front of the ship crashed into the back of the wave, sending another torrent of water over him and below decks.

Then the sea calmed, the tidal wave passed. Ahead, the cause of the disturbance was plain: an island, one that hadn’t been there yesterday, sitting alone as the waves caused by its appearance extended outward like ripples fleeing a tossed stone.

Sebastian twisted the seawater out of their map, his wings and hair sopping wet. “That would be R’lyeh.”

[talien]

R’lyeh brought its own weather. When it appeared in the archipelago, the sunlight dimmed and the skies filled with rolling purple storm clouds that delivered a constant downpour as they approached the island. A thick, soupy fog poured off the waves, occluding the island and reducing visibility to a matter of yards.

Through the forbidding mists, hints of shapes were visible. The stony inclines of mountains, rugged and vast, lurked beneath the fog. At their peaks, crags suggested themselves like faces under a shroud.

They came upon a coastline of mingled mud, ooze, and weedy Cyclopean masonry which could be nothing less than the tangible substance of earth's supreme terror - the nightmare corpse-city of R'lyeh, that was built in measureless aeons behind history by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars.

Only as they approached did the scale become clear: the fearsome summits soared many hundreds of feet into the air and began almost at the waterline. They formed a high, unbroken wall around the island, a formidable gate around the treasures of R’lyeh.

Sebastian landed on the deck of the Naoke. “It’s difficult to tell with the fog, but about halfway up the cliff face is a hole gouged into the rock. It’s at least as big as the ship. There’s a dim red light coming from inside the cavern.”

The dark-kin whispered “inlumino!”

His fist glowed with a reddish light. Sebastian took to the air, and although he was no longer visible in the fog, the red light served as a beacon for his companions.

“Looks like we’ll have to climb it,” said Beldin. He dusted his hands, relishing the thought of pitting himself against a mountain, no matter how strange.

“Speak for yourself,” said Kham. He crouched and then launched himself skywards, disappearing into the mist.

Vlad, who was far less enthusiastic about climbing the mountain, exchanged glances with Beldin. “Something’s different about Kham. That Leviathan Pistol has changed him somehow.”

“And Sebastian too,” said the dwarf. “He seems…less human.”

They rowed from the Naoke to the cliffs.

They clambered slipperily up over titan oozy blocks that could have been no mortal staircase. The very sun of heaven seemed distorted when viewed through the polarizing miasma welling out from this sea-soaked perversion, and twisted menace and suspense lurked leeringly in those crazily elusive angles of carven rock where a second glance showed concavity after the first showed convexity.

“Is it just me, or do these handholds look strange?” asked Vlad.

“It’s not just you.” Beldin grunted with exertion above him. “They seem a little too well-placed to be natural. The nooks in the rock have been scratched out with stone.”

“Judging from the flecks of blood, fingernails,” added Vlad.

“Strong fingernails, then.”

They climbed on in silence, with Sebsatian’s beacon occasionally coming into focus, until they reached a zigzag path that led steeply but surely to a tunnel.

Vapur curled from the cave’s lip and a dim red light came from inside the cavern. In the shifting half-light of R’lyeh it looked like an open wound.

Sebastian and Kham landed. Sebastian looked the val up and down.

“Since when can you fly?” he asked.

“Since when can you?” asked Kham nonchalantly.

As they approached, the sanguine glow from inside the tunnel grew brighter. Ghostly groaning rattled the surrounding rocks.

The tunnel was roughly diamond-shaped, with coarse red walls.

“Looks like blood,” said Vlad.

Indeed, blood seemed to have drenched the interior long ago, which then congealed into hideous bubbles, boils, and spider web strands that stretched down from the cavern’s roof.

“There’s deep, black grooves in the rock that stretch the length of the tunnel,” said Beldin. “Almost as if something was trying to crawl its way out of here…”

“He tried hanging on, he did!” came a cackle from above. “But it didn’t work! The good lord threw him right through the mountain! What a howl he let out when the good lord done it! Scrambling and struggling!”

Beldin and Sebastian saw a swirling madcap figure: a tall, gangly man in a great cloak of multicolored patches and motley garments trimmed with yesterday’s silks, tattered grimy lace, and moth-eaten rabbit fur.

“Emperor Oswald!” said Beldin. “What are you doing here?”

“Who?” asked Kham.

“Oswald,” said Beldin. “The Beggar King of Freeport. I’d expect you to know him.”

“He tried to go against the good lord, and look where it got him!” shouted Oswald. “Ripped and chucked!”

Kham gave the odd man another look. “That’s not Oswald. That’s the blind old fool we met in Altheria. Kept rhyming and giving us riddles.”

Sebastian crossed his arms. “That looks like Oswald to me.”

“He looks like the blind guy to me,” said Vlad.

“Hey now!” said Oswald. “How’d yet get here, then? My map…ye found my map. Praise the sea and stars!”

“And just who are you, exactly?”

“I go by many names, but Harry will do if ye please. Old Harry’s worth more to ye than gold while ye stand on this rock!”

“And what of your blindness?” asked Vlad.

Harry shook his head. “Crazy is catching!” he chuckled. “I’ll help ye however I can, so long as ye guarantee me a berth in yer boat on the way home. Nothing fancy, ye understand, just a hammock to swing me old bones!”

Beldin shrugged. “I think we can offer you that much.”

“Good, good!” Harry peered into the tunnel. “I know these caverns like the veins in me hand!”

They journeyed onward, Harry in the lead. The walls started to get narrower and narrower, and the congealed blood drippings became as thick as cobwebs. They resorted to hacking their way through the tunnel.

Finally, the passageway became too tight to fit. Harry moved ahead, cackling and scrambling on all fours like a greased weasel.

“He left a lot of his wine in this rock, Leviathan did! And burns like brine, so the rock don’t want it! SO it keeps squeezing, squeezing, squeezing, til it turns into dust and blows away.” Harry jabbed a thumb in the direction they had come. “That’s the smoke ye see coming from the grand hole back there.”

“That’s great, Harry, but how do we fit through here?” asked Vlad.

“Surely, a bunch of hearties like yerselves have something stashed about ye that can get ye through this muddle!”

Sebastian began rummaging through one of his belt pouches. He pulled out the Leviathan Spyglass.

Harry’s eyes went wide. “Ye been nicking from the dead ones!”

Sebastian nodded. “This Spyglass has the power of transformation and the ability to open a gate anywhere. So let’s see if it will do the job here.” He opened the Spyglass as if to peer into the murky tunnel, one telescoping piece at a time.

As he did so, a three-ringed portal opened up ahead with a WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP.

Sebastian snapped the Leviathan Spyglass shut, and the three rings disappeared. Before them was a hollowed out tunnel, with great chunks of bloody stone simply missing.

The dark-kin stared down at the Spyglass with a rapturous gaze.

“Powerful trinkets ye have there,” said Harry, subdued. “Each one’s got a power of its own; they lets ye act a bit like the good lord, gives ye one of his powers.”

“Powerful indeed,” Sebastian said breathlessly.