CROWN OF FANGS
It became readily apparent after a cursory reconnaissance of the exterior of the pyramid, that the main entrance must be submerged under water. In fact, it looked as if fully half of the structure’s interior could conceivably be flooded.
“We are not constrained to travelling upon the physical realm,” Pez said as the companions debated their best course of action. “I can take you into the Ethereal plane, where such obstacles as stone and water will pose no hindrance.”
“Assuming Ileosa hasn’t warded this place against such intrusions,” Kat replied.
“There is nothing to be lost in the attempt,” the solar said flatly.
The group gathered around the tall angel, and in an eye blink, they found themselves within the gauzy, misty realm of the Ethereal. They moved as if in a dream, descending into the water as if it were no more than a fog. Beneath the surface, they found a large, open arch that led into the pyramid’s interior. Stairs descended, and near the bottom, the tilted stairway dropped into a horizontal layer of silt. The walls and pillars were decorated with hundreds of stylized images of the same beautiful woman carved onto the pyramid’s face.
“Strange,” Pez murmured as they passed down the stairs. “The walls still feel solid, as if they exist here as well as on the prime. Your little queen is canny after all.”
The stairs emerged into a large hall, with several wide passages opening off at each compass point. Curled into a ball in the center of the chamber, apparently sleeping, was a devil fish of enormous proportions. The group moved past the slumbering behemoth, but to their surprise, the creature’s eyes snapped open immediately. As they moved down another passage, the creature turned and slowly began to follow.
“How does it see us?” O’Reginald asked. “It’s just an animal!”
“I wouldn’t make any assumptions about anything we find within these walls,” Kat muttered.
The passage gave onto to another chamber, bare save for a large, crystal globe that hung suspended between two square pillars. The sphere was connected to the pillars by thousands of glittering crystalline filaments. A crystal tube extended up from the eastern side of the sphere through a hole in the ceiling. Inside the sphere was a staggering amount of treasure: coins, art objects, rolled-up tapestries, bars of precious metals, and more. Despite the trove, wealth was the furthest thing from the minds of the six companions. Beyond that chamber lay a room whose flagstone floor was almost completely covered by a bed of rotting swamp algae which piled up to a high heap in the far corner. The mangled, rotting carcass of a fifteen-foot-long alligator floated in the opposite corner amid a huge pile of strange bones. Throughout all of this, the devil fish continued to pace them.
“I grow weary of this!” Ratbone growled. “If this creature knows we’re here, then it might be a spy for Ileosa. Let us be rid of it now!”
Kat looked at the others, and each nodded in turn. Then he turned to Pez.
“Bring us out once we’re in position,” he said.
The companions began to circle the creature, and it spun this way and that, trying to watch them all. At Kat’s signal, Pez waved his hand and suddenly the world became solid once more. Immediately, the leviathan lunged and latched onto Raelak’s leg. The ranger was caught off guard and struggled to bring his bow to bear from extreme close range. When he loosed his arrow, however, the shaft buried itself in his own foot. If he hadn’t been holding his breath under water, he would have screamed. A moment later, however, the fish released him as Pez swept out his greatsword, which flamed even beneath the water. The solar slashed viciously at the devil fish, and black blood began to cloud the room. More blood followed as Ratbone launched himself at the behemoth, both of them tumbling over and over in a death roll. In desperation, the fish released a deluge of acidic bile, catching Pez fully in its explosion. The angel doubled over and retched as the foul fluid filled his lungs. Raelak fired blindly into the cloud, praying he wouldn’t hit Ratbone. Suddenly, the water in the room crackled with electricity as O’Reginald loosed a ball of living lightning. Slowly, the cloud dissipated and a large shape floated slowly to the ceiling. The devil fish wasn’t moving. Ratbone still was, though the multiple wounds and burns on his body left him limping more than swimming.
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One unfortunate side effect of no longer being in the Ethereal, was that the companions could no longer breathe while they were underwater. Quickly, they began to swim, hoping to find an air pocket, or access to the upper levels of the pyramid. Thankfully, they came upon a large, silt-floored chamber, its walls and ceiling lined with cracks, with a large archway in the ceiling that opened into a steeply angled shaft leading upward. Water filled they shaft, and they were able to swim up its length. At the top, it opened into a partially flooded room, which in turn gave on to other chambers, each also partially water-filled, but each less so than the last. Eventually, they found another chamber with a shaft leading up, but this one was completely dry, and O’Reginald was forced to teleport himself and his allies to the top. There, they found themselves in a large room that was actually warm and pleasant. The floor, walls and ceiling were tiled with polished rose-colored marble slats, and weaving in and out of the walls, climbing from the floor to the ceiling above, were dozens of thin crystal tubes. Yet another shaft rose through the ceiling on the room’s far side. Quickly, the company started across the room. Something urged them onward, telling them that their goal was close. Before they were halfway across, however, the air around them exploding in flashes of blinding light. When the glare faded a moment later, six black-winged women of exquisite, yet sinister beauty hovered in the air around the companions. They wore gleaming, mithral shirts, and each carried a trident wreathed in flames. As one they shrieked in fury and dove.
Raelak spun, knocking and releasing two shafts in one fluid motion. They both struck one of the charging fiends. She jerked to one side briefly, but recovered immediately and rejoined her sister in their assault. When they struck, they hit like thunder. No one was spared, save Raelak, the ranger’s deadly bow keeping the attackers at bay. As their weapons rammed home, they exploded in flame, searing flesh and bone alike. Pez snarled, enraged at the foul touch of the fiends upon his holy flesh. He backhanded one of the erinyes into a nearby wall, sending her slumping, stunned, to the ground. O’Reginald, never one to miss an opportunity, hurled an orb of glowing force at the downed devil. At the same time, Raelak sank a final arrow into her throat, guaranteeing she wouldn’t get up again.
Meanwhile, Herc whirled on his assailant, Serithtial flashing as she bit deeply into the fiend’s unholy hide. The erinyes reeled towards Ratbone, and the druid’s tree-trunk sized tail slapped her back, snapping her neck instantly. Kat staggered away from the flaming tines of the trident nearest him. He flicked a hand over his shoulder, and the pursuing fiend stopped dead in her tracks. A moment later, however, she broke free of the spell with a tremendous surge of will. Several yards away, Michael raised his sword to block a second blow from his foe, but the priest was too slow. The erinyes batted his weapon aside easily, and then impaled him through his gut. Gurgling, Michael collapsed to the floor. O’Reginald cursed and quickly erected a wall of steel-strong force between himself, Michael and Kat, and the remaining fiends. Pez stepped to Michael’s side and laid his hands upon the priest. Michael gasped as the life that was leaving his body suddenly surged back.
“I owe you one,” he said shakily to the solar.
Herc charged another of the erinyes from behind, Serithtial keening as she pierced the devil’s spine. So thick was the fiend’s skin, however, that the aftershock of the blow jolted the holy sword out of the merc’s hand. He bent to recover her, and as he did so, Ratbone leaped atop the crippled fiend, ripping her throat out with his teeth. A moment later, however, another of the devil women sank her trident into his shoulder. She prepared to strike again, but as she did so, Raelak spun her completely around with a shot that went clean through her own shoulder.
O’Reginald cursed again as two of the walled-off erinyes suddenly vanished and then reappeared next to him. Quickly he brought the wall down so that his allies could reach him as well. Herc and Ratbone hurled themselves after the fiends, the merc slashing through one of the black-feathered wings of the nearest, while the druid’s claws tore through her flesh, simultaneously sheathing her in golden ice, rooting her in place. Only three of the erinyes were still moving. One of them thrust her trident at O’Reginald, stabbing it through his foot just as the mage teleported a safe distance away. Raelak fired at another as she leaped upon Ratbone’s back, stabbing repeatedly. Raelak fired twice more, and then Ratbone spun, knocking her aside and ripping her trident from her hands as she fell. As she struggled to her feet, Raelak put one final arrow through her throat. Several yards away, Herc sparred with another of the she-devils. She thrust and parried valiantly, yet Serithtial drew blood time after time, until finally she sagged to her knees and Herc swept her head from her shoulders. He turned just in time to see the last of the fiends teleport next to O’Reginald again. Raelak fired after her, but his arrow went cleanly through her bicep, slowing her just enough for Herc to reach her. She raised her weapon to impale the mage, but Herc struck first, severing her spine cleanly. Unnoticed by any save Pez, Michael limped slowly towards the erinyes still paralyzed by Ratbone’s holy ice. Her eyes grew wide as he raised his sword and then plunged it through her heart.
“In Heaven’s name I send you back to Hell,” the priest intoned.
Pez’s golden eyes flared with respect, and he nodded once to the wounded cleric.
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The last vertical shaft led to the apex of the pyramid. There, the companions and their angelic ally found themselves in a huge, very high chamber illuminated by braziers at its four corners. A soft light also filtered from two very high oval windows on the southwestern wall. The twin windows were fitted with panes of blue crystal that allowed in some light from the outside. Below these crystal ‘eyes,’ a band of mosaics on the south wall formed a single, huge map of an ancient, unknown land. The map featured a river valley with many villages, each one labeled with a long-forgotten, strange name. Yet the most unusual feature of the room floated and undulated at its center…there, an amorphous blob of blood, over thirty-feet wide, floated and rippled in the air. Shapes seemed to form periodically on its rippling surface: faces, hands, buildings, and figures that lasted only long enough to melt back into the horrific mass. Dozens of thin, crystal tubes extended from the upper walls of the room to a point just above the shifting mass of blood.
As the companions stared in wide-eyed amazement, the Everdawn Pool began to shake and rumble. It rippled briefly into a familiar shape…the Korvosa skyline…only to crumble as if during an immense earthquake. A moment later, the beautiful yet furious face of Ileosa appeared in the blood as she shrieked in rage. Three humanoid-shaped blobs detached themselves from the pool and floated to the ground. They looked like blood-soaked giants clad in tattered robes…wraiths! At that same moment, Ratbone’s keen senses detected the presence of others in the room, unseen. He barked at Kat, and the sorcerer quickly dipped his fingers in his belt pouch and dabbed a small amount of salve over each eye. Instantly, the features of the room leaped into perfect clarity…as did two invisible forms that looked all-too-familiar…Togomor and Sermignatto!
“Beware!” Kat shouted, and he plucked a lantern from his belt and placed it on the floor. Its light spread throughout the chamber, and as it did so, Ileosa’s hidden allies were revealed for all to see.
“Time to even up the odds a bit,” O’Reginald said.
He pulled a scroll from his cloak and quickly read the incantation. A glowing, golden ring appeared beside him, and from out of stepped a second angel.
“Greetings Ajax,” Pez nodded. “You’ve arrived just in time.”
“So it would appear,” the planetar said flatly.
“Alas, the first kill shall be mine!” Pez laughed.
He flung one hand out towards Togomor and then clenched his fingers. The bloat mage’s eyes went wide for a split-second, and in the next, he simply imploded.
“Let the games begin!” Raelak shouted as he loosed a volley of force-infused arrows at the nearest of the dread wraiths. The enchanted shafts existed on the ethereal plane as well as they material, and they impaled the spirit’s incorporeal body like spikes. The creature shrieked as it shrank away to nothing. At the same time, however, a second wraith swiped one clawed hand at Herc, leaving great rents in the breast plate of his armor.
The blood pool began to roil and churn again. Then, from the bottom, Ileosa dropped to the floor. In rapid succession, however, seven identical figures dropped to the floor as well…more simulacrums. As one, they began to sing, weaving spells as they did so. Raelak and Kat clutched their heads in agony, and then their eyes went completely blank. Their fog cleared a moment later, however, as O’Reginald hurled an orb of electrified acid into the midst of the false queens. Three of them dissolved into pools of blood. Ajax obliterated three more with a bolt of holy fire, and Pez dispatched the last of them with his own blast.
The dread wraith struck Herc again, but as the mercenary spun with the blow, Serithtial flared in his hand. The holy blade slashed the ghost’s form apart as if it were no more than tattered rags. The last of the wraiths joined its brethren under a second barrage from Raelak’s bow. As the final spirit faded away, the Everdawn Pool rolled one final time. Ileosa flowed out of it as if from a womb, the Crown of Fangs set firmly upon her brow. Her eyes blazed with fury and hatred. She turned her horrid gaze upon Ratbone as the druid charged towards her, and she waved her hand absently. In an instant, Ratbone felt many of his mystical enchantments stripped from him, including the spell which granted him an extra pair of limbs. At that moment, Sermignatto made his move. The bdellavritra conjured a roiling fog around the companions…a fog that burned like acid as it touched their skin. It lasted only a moment, however, as Kat banished the spell as quickly as it came. As soon as the mist cleared, O’Reginald conjured a second globe, this one of fire and lightning, and slammed into Ileosa. As the demon-possessed queen reeled and screamed, Ajax hurtled towards her. The angel reached out one hand, glowing with power, and laid it upon Ileosa’s chest. Her eyes flew open wide and she screamed again as the divine energy siphoned her life-force from her. She wrenched herself free of the angel and hurled him away from her.
“Destroy them!” she screamed at Sermignatto.
The devil gathered dark energy around him, and the air crackled with malign power. Just before he released it, however, O’Reginald struck him with a sphere of hardened force. The bdellavritra hissed as his focus broke and his spell faded. His three heads spat and hissed, their tongues darting like snakes. In a rage, he flew at O’Reginald, wrapping one of his serpentine tongues around the mage’s neck. O’Reginald’s face began to turn blue. He could not even draw in enough air to speak a spell that might free him. In desperation, he reached down and touched a small anklet that he wore. In a flash he vanished out of Sermignatto’s grip, only to reappear a moment later where Herc had been standing. In that same instant, Herc vanished, reappearing right next to Ileosa.
“Serve me!” the queen hissed, but it was not Herc that she spoke to.
Her gaze was fixed firmly upon Raelak. Herc followed her glance, and his own eyes widened as he saw the ranger bend his bow to its limit. His disbelief turned to shock as the arrow struck him in the center of his back. His legs went numb as he crashed to the floor.
As Ileosa gloated and chuckled, Pez lurched into action. Invoking Heaven’s name, he charged the bitch-queen, and slashed at her with his glowing blade. In the same moment, Kat lashed out with a lance of pure sonic energy, and Ileosa was again hurled backwards. On the floor below, Ajax climbed dizzily to his feet, just in time to see Sermignatto slithering towards him. The angel flung out one hand, and spoke a single word of power. The fiend stopped dead in his tracks, momentarily stupefied. Before he could move again, Herc leaped upon his back and drove Serithtial through his central head. Like Togomor before him, Sermignatto’s second chance at life was short-lived.
Ileosa’s fury continued to grow. Her eyes blazed at her thrall, Raelak, and her words burned into his mind like a brand.
‘Destroy the angels!’ she commanded.
Agony rippled across the Shoanti’s face as he struggled in vain to control his own muscles. Yet inevitably, he turned towards Ajax, drew back his bowstring, and loosed. Ajax howled as the force arrow impaled his back, and he sank to one knee.
“No!” Herc shouted as he hefted Serithtial and charged towards Ileosa.
“Fool!” the young queen spat. “Dance!”
Just like that, Herc stopped suddenly, and then his feet began to move again, but not by his volition. They began to tap and shuffle, carrying him around the floor in a horrible caricature of dancing. Fear and loathing fell across his face.
“Enough!” Ileosa slashed her hand horizontally, and Herc’s feet stopped. “Now, ‘hero,’ you will flee! Flee as if Asmodeus himself pursued your immortal soul!”
Herc’s mind went blank with blind panic. Serithtial fell from his numb fingers to clatter on the flagstones, and he turned to flee as he’d been commanded. Before he could take one step, however, Ratbone reared up in front of him, all fangs and claws, roaring and howling. For a brief moment, Herc was brought up short.
“Now!” Kat shouted. “Strike together!”
He hurled a sonic lance towards Ileosa, while O’Reginald simultaneously conjured a whirling blast of cyclonic wind. The combined assault threw the queen back again. Below, Ajax rushed to Herc’s side, wincing at the pain that still lanced through his spine, and laid his hands on the mercenary’s shoulders. Herc felt his heart rate slow and his breathing ease. The fear left him, only to be replaced with righteous anger. He knelt down and retrieved Serithtial. He turned towards Ileosa, and their eyes locked.
“Come then!” the queen hissed.
Black power crackled in her hands as Herc rushed towards her, but before she could release it, Pez was there. The angel spoke his own Word of power, and the force of his will silenced Ileosa before she could utter a word. By then, Herc was upon her. Serithtial struck like a coiled serpent, piercing Ileosa through the throat and heart. She tried to gasp, but only choked as she collapsed to the floor. Herc raised Serithtial a final time and swept the Crown of Fangs from her brow, shattering it to pieces.
Suddenly, the Everdawn pool began to shudder and shake. A moment later, a draconic talon lanced out from one side, an immense skeletal wing from another. The entire room began to rumble, and a growing roar filled the air, quickly rising to deafening levels. With each passing moment, an immense shape of blood and darkness rose from the pool, building itself into a mighty, blue dragon from the inside out. Lightning crackled and chains of iron began to writhe and snap throughout the room. The chains seemed to wrap around the draconic form and transform its flesh, organs and muscles.
“The Chains of Zon-Kuthon!” Pez cried. “Kazavon rises again! The sword!” He whirled towards Herc. “Use the sword!”
Herc didn’t hesitate. He launched himself towards the dawning horror, raised Serithtial in both hands, and drove her straight into the dragon’s still-forming heart. In a flash of near-blinding radiance, the entire creature abruptly exploded in a blast of gore. The silence that followed was deafening…
