WHAT LIES IN DARKNESS
“All things considered,” Selena said as she leaned over Mox, “you should consider yourself lucky.”
“Lucky?” the baroness whispered, her head pounding and her vision little more than fuzzy shapes.
“Very,” Selena nodded. “That thing wasn’t called a souleater for no reason. They’re known for literally devouring the souls of their victims once they’re catatonic. Of course, you’re a stubborn bitch. Probably tasted bad.”
Mox tried to smile. “Thanks…I think. You saved my life.”
The witch shrugged. “Just put your head back together for you…not too hard, you know?” She smirked. “Rest for now. Who knows what tomorrow’s going to bring?”
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The following morning, Mox was back on her feet, though still a bit weak and wobbly. The companions made their way to the top of the stairs, and beheld a breathtaking sight. To the north, a jagged limestone cliff hemmed in the scene; a mighty waterfall rushed over the edge into a wide pool of black, frothing water. In the center of the black pool stood a massive, hundred-foot-tall limestone pillar of weathered stone…the last, lonely sentinel marked where the cliff’s edge once stood in an age long past. At various points on the island’s top, plumes of black smoke wafted up into the sky.
“I guess that’s where we’re headed,” Davrim sighed. “Any ideas on how we get across the half-mile of water between here and there?”
“We’re not the first ones to come this way,” Stevhan said.
He crouched down examining the mud along the pool’s shore.
“There’re three sets of tracks here,” he pointed out. “Looks like they’ve all been made over the last few weeks. The oldest are these.” He pointed to what appeared to be a set of human footprints. “Then these.” He indicated a larger set of humanoid prints. “These look they were only made a few days ago.” The last looked have been made by an unshod horse. “Centaur unless I miss my guess.”
“We’re on the right path then,” Mox nodded. “To answer your question, Davrim, I can take myself and five others by extradimensional travel. That leaves one.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Selena said. “I can provide my own transportation.”
The others gathered around Mox, and in a flash of light, they were gone, leaving Selena on the beach alone. The witch closed her eyes, spoke a few mystic words, and rose slowly into the air. She then set her sights on the island, and set out at a leisurely flight over the water. She made it halfway before the shadow fell over her. She looked up just as an ear-piercing shriek shattered the still air. The creature looked like a large, blue-scaled dragon, but had only two legs instead of four, and its tail ended in a wicked, scorpion-like tip. Before the witch could react, the beast seized her in its jaws and began beating its wings to gain altitude. As its teeth pierced her flesh, however, a jolt of electricity sizzled through it as Selena’s curse of spite was triggered.
On the island, Selena’s companions watched in horror as the attack played out. Stevhan’s bow was in his hand in an eye-blink. He knelt, drew and released in one fluid move, and two arrows flew simultaneously and unerringly towards the breast of the wyvern. As they struck, a searing missile of purest acid struck with them, and the wyrm tumbled from the sky, releasing Selena as it fell. The witch stopped her own plummet mere feet short of the pool.
“That was close,” Mox breathed.
A moment later, her breathe was completely driven out of her as a second wyvern dropped onto the beach and snatched her up in its jaws. She couldn’t even scream as she felt her ribs cracking, but as quickly as the attack had come, it was over. The wyvern collapsed and she rolled from its mouth. Velox and Davrim stood over it, breathing heavily, their blades covered in gore.
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At the foot of the cliff, where the beach met the limestone scarp, a dark opening in the stone beckoned, partially obscured by creepers and dangling foliage. Stevhan knelt in the mud again, where the faintest of trails could just be made out.
“Same three sets of prints,” he said. “All heading that way.” He nodded towards the cave.
The darkened passageway was decorated on both sides with alcoves. Midway down the hall, just before the second set of alcoves was another archway carved in the stone. Upon its lintel were various runes and symbols. An alcove just beyond the arch held an ancient amphora that had broken open, spilling its contents into the corridor.
“Those symbols,” Mox observed as she paused in the passageway, “they’re some sort of arcane ward, or rather they were. It’s been triggered recently.”
“This is interesting too,” Stevhan said. He peered down at the dust on the floor. “The prints change here. The human prints go up there,” he nodded towards the amphora, “and then retreat back towards the beach. The larger prints come from that direction,” he indicated the archway again, “while the centaur tracks go towards it.”
“I’ll go one better on both of you,” Selena chimed in. “There was a wall here,” she traced her fingers around the archway, then pointed to a pile of rubble on the floor. “Looks like it was broken down from the far side. Might’ve been your giant, Stev.”
“Look at this, then,” Velox said, “and maybe it all starts to make sense.”
The oracle fished among the spilled contents of the amphora and came up with an elaborately carved bracelet.
“This matches the sketch we found back in Varnhold,” he said. “So, we can assume that Varn’s warden was the owner of the human prints. He came this far, stole the matching bracelet, and then went back the way he came.”
“He managed to trigger the ward in the process,” Mox added, “likely some sort of alarm spell.”
“Alerting a guardian, possibly,” Selena said, “which was probably sealed away behind the wall. It broke through and followed Willas…possibly all the way back to Varnhold?”
“And then finally,” Stevhan finished, “Silverfire’s daughter came exploring…and never came back out.”
They continued on down the passage, turning a corner at the far end. The corridor ended at a large, diamond-shaped chamber that vaulted to a height of nearly thirty feet at the center of the room. Three wings branched off from the center. One ended shortly at a wall of mortared stone, while the other two once bore walls that had since been broken down, revealing empty cobweb-shrouded alcoves that held only stone biers. As the companions moved into the chamber, something stirred inside one of the alcoves, and a lumbering hulk lurched into the center of the room. It was another undead cyclops, though it looked worse off than their previous encounter. It had several, crescent-shaped wounds across its face, and it walked as if something was broken in one of its legs. Velox turned towards it, his eyes glazed over. His hands began to glow like the light of a miniature star, until he released it in a searing beam that instantly vaporized the zombie.
Suddenly a loud crash came from the opposite alcove as a second zombie burst through the stone. This one looked hale and hearty…as much as it could considering it was already dead. Davrim and Stevhan leaped towards it, their blades taking it low and high. Velox delivered the finishing blow by plunging his sword completely through its chest.
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It didn’t take Stevhan long to find the hidden door concealed in one of the alcoves. When he triggered the release mechanism, the stone slid aside to reveal a wide natural cavern that seemed to have been artificially enlarged in places. A vaulting ceiling nearly thirty feet above was replete with a forest of slowly dripping stalactites, while below a wide pool occupied the entire chamber save for a narrow rocky shelf that hugged the cavern wall at the level of the river outside.
“Look there!” Stevhan said, pointing towards the pool.
When the others followed his gaze, they saw very clearly a submerged stairway just beneath the surface. It descended into the murk, then turned to enter a flooded tunnel some twenty feet below.
“Have I said how much I hate water?” Davrim asked.
“Don’t worry, my friend,” Velox said. “With a little help from Iomedae, we will be able to breathe underwater, for hours if need be.”
“That doesn’t comfort me,” the half-orc grumbled.
The oracle cast his spell, and the companions felt their lungs began to burn slightly as they breathed. Single-file, they entered the pool, descending beneath the surface where the light grew dim and diffuse. The shadows created played tricks on their eyes, showing movement where there was none…or vice versa. Stevhan did a double-take when he saw the huge shape moving towards them. As it emerged from the gloom, he saw that it was a reptilian creature, with a long, serpentine neck and paddle-like fins instead of legs. The ranger motioned to his companions, then drew his sword as the creature lunged towards them. He swung his blade at its neck, but the water’s drag slowed the impact. The leviathan clamped its teeth down on his arm and began pulling him off the stairs towards the deeper depths of the pool. Then Mox and Velox were at his side. Mox opened her mouth, and a stream of frothing liquid spewed out, directly into the beast’s eyes. It released its grip on Stevhan, and Velox drove his sword between its eyes. It spun away into the darkness as the companions turned and hurried towards the submerged tunnel.
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The flooded tunnel gave onto a second set of stairs, which rose into a dry, oddly-shaped chamber with yet another stairwell that descended to a bronze double door. The room was filled with ancient pottery, elaborate pieces painted primarily in black and white, and depicting lotus flowers, cities, and one-eyed humanoids engaged in everything from worship to fighting to athletic contests. Some of them even showed vicious confrontations between these humanoids and centaurs.
The companions didn’t tarry over the artwork, instead making their way quickly to the doors on the far wall. Beyond the doors, a hallway extended at an angle, passing two shallow alcoves before reaching a square room. Standing in the side alcoves were two man-sized statues of painted stone cyclopes. More statues stood in ranks within the room beyond. As they moved carefully down the passage, Stevhan’s eyes darted everywhere at once. Midway down the hall, he caught a tell-tale glint of metal in the ceiling above.
“Beware!” he hissed. “A portcullis!”
He motioned the others behind him as he crept ahead into the chamber. As he looked to the ceiling again, he saw sixteen cleverly concealed, circular stone doors spaced evenly. There seemed to be no exit from the room, but his sharp eyes quickly picked out a hidden one on the far side. He moved close to examine it, and his suspicions were confirmed. Hastily, he moved back to his companions.
“The whole room is a trap!” he said.
“There’s nothing for it,” Mox sighed. “We have to go through. Lead on.”
When all of them stood before the hidden door, Mox nodded and Velox opened it. Beyond it was another hallway, but as soon as the door opened, a portcullis slammed down, barring the way. Behind them, the portcullis Stevhan had seen also dropped, and simultaneously, all sixteen doors in the ceiling irised open, releasing a deluge of river water that began to rapidly fill the room. The force of the falling water was so strong that Mox, Selena and Stevhan were knocked from their feet. Along with the water, fish from the river were pulled into the room as well, and at one point, a truly immense eel dropped right next to Selena and Mox. Velox turned to help the women, and it was then that he saw the pair of undead cyclopes emerge from the alcoves in the hallway.
Selena thrashed in the water as she tried to push herself away from the snapping jaws of the giant eel. She forked her fingers at the writhing fish, and as its black eyes met hers, its nictitating lids dropped, and it fell into a deep slumber. Davrim stepped next to the witch and cleanly lopped off the sleeping eel’s head.
“Gather ‘round me!” Mox shouted. “I’m getting us out of here!”
When she looked towards Velox, however, she could see that the oracle’s eyes had glazed over, and he was yammering to himself in the strange tongue that overtook him during battle as he positioned himself to face the oncoming cyclopes.
“Go!” Selena said as she climbed to her feet. “I’ll stay with him!”
Mox nodded, and as the others reached out to touch her, they vanished in a flash of light, reappearing a moment later on the far side of the portcullis beyond the hidden door.
Velox gathered Iomedae’s power to him, and conjured a roaring wall of fire that engulfed the two undead horrors. As they writhed in the flames, he hurled a searing blast of light through one, blowing it into a thousand fragments. From behind him, Selena pulled a thin wand from her sleeve and flicked it towards the last giant, releasing a sizzling bolt of lightning. Then, from behind her, she heard the twang of a bowstring. An arrow took the cyclops through one eye, and it collapsed into the flames. Stevhan, standing beyond the portcullis, dropped his bow and, with Davrim beside him, lifted the heavy gate so that the witch and the oracle could slip under. Quickly, as the water continued to rise in the hallway, they hurried deeper into the mountain.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
