The End of Days, Part II
Knowing that his ruse was exposed, “Alec” produced a crystal dagger from the folds of his robe and dropped it in front of him. Instantly, the mirror began to glow brightly as four beings which appeared to be composed of quicksilver emerged. In fact, they were very similar to the being that was allied with the hags except these were larger.
Having traveled the Outer Planes, Ajax recognized them as Nerra (specifically, Kalareen), beings from the Demiplane of Mirrors.
The party sprung into action. Quickly drawing his adamantine flail, Ajax moved to the corner of the room to attract his enemies to him, thereby providing his allies with an advantage. However, rather than following him the Nerra concentrated as mirror images of themselves sprung into being around their bodies.
As Tilly moved forward into melee to cover the vulnerable spellcasters, Caine tried to slow his opponents and was flabbergasted to learn that while the transmutation only affected a solitary Nerra, it reflected back upon him as well, though he was able to shake off the effects.
While both Ajax and Rusty tried to dispel the mirror images of the Nerra, Wathros took a more active course of action as the entire room erupted in a hailstorm. The large chunks of ice came down too quickly for the druid’s foes to avoid them.
In anger, the two Nerra standing close to Caine simply raised one hand with their palms facing forward and fingers out-stretched. From their palms flew a blizzard of diamond like shards which tore into the sorcerer’s flesh, causing multiple wounds which refused to stop bleeding. Virtually standing in a line, Tilly, Rusty and Wathros received similar treatment from three more of the mirror-like beings.
Rushing back to assist his friends, Ajax struck a Nerra with his flail sending him spinning about. Seeing his chance, Tilly sprung forward with his two weapons, plunging them deep into the outsider’s stomach and liver, causing him to fall forward in a pool of his own blood.
“Stop! This bloodshed is unnecessary, simply leave us be and I pledge that you will not be harmed further,” Caine decided to make one final stab at diplomacy – however, now that one of their own had fallen, it was clear that the Nerra were resolved to fight to the death.
Hissing in pain from the shards, tearing into his flesh, Wathros brought down a flame strike in the center of the room – careful to avoid his friends but instantly immolating four of the five Nerra. Between Ajax, Rusty, and Tilly ‘Alec’ fell as well.
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In this room, the companions found a throne upon which ‘Alec’ had been seated, notable only for the six arm-rests that adorned it. Clearly, it was once meant to seat the seemingly extinct race of Spellweavers. The large mirror, however, was what caught everyone’s attention.
The reflective surface showed six separate locations, linked in a hexagon. Five of these six rooms appeared to be constructed of stone, while the final one showed a man seated on the floor, his face a portrait of abject despair – behind him stood a sturdily constructed iron door.
“Aye! I do believe that’s our friend Alec. Why’se doin’ lookin’ so glum, I wonder?”
Caine carefully touched the mirror frame as he studied it, “This is a magical item of extreme power, of that I am certain. Possibly it is a gateway of some sort maybe a maze. Though I suppose we could enter it, I have no idea where it would take us nor if we would be able to return to this location.”
Thinking for a moment, Ajax produced the ancient dish which held the map to the Demonskar. In fact, it was the very one that led the heroes to its location. Flipping it over, the deva began to study the hexagonal pattern on the other side. Clearly, there had to be some pattern here, some sequence of rooms that had to be traveled through to reach Terceval.
Rusty grabbed the edge of the dish, pulling it down so that he could see it as well, “Laddie, I believe yer on the right track here!”
Within minutes the quick-thinking pair thought that they had deciphered a code on the artifact which, they hoped, would allow everyone to maneuver through the hexagon of rooms.
“Well, I be tinkin’ we broke the code. But one ‘o us needs to step through, first.”
Without hesitation, Ajax volunteered, “If something dangerous lurks beyond the mirror, then it is I who would least likely perish from it. Give me about twenty minutes, if you don’t see me or hear from me, well . . . “
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Like entering a pool of water, Ajax slowly walked into the mirror and the quicksilver-like surface parted gently as he entered. After a second of pitch black, he found himself in a non-descript stone room with six doors, each a different color.
Taking a deep breath, he walked to the red one first and opened it. He hoped that he and Rusty had been correct.
After passing through the correct sequence of doors, Ajax finally came upon the wrought iron door with a seemingly paralyzed Alec Terceval on the cold, stone floor. The angel moved to rouse him, “Alec!! I have been sent here on behalf of Jenya, the city of Cauldron needs you once more. Only you will be able to stop the march of her armies towards Red Gorge!”
Several minutes of poking and prodding later, it was clear that Alec was a completely broken man. He simply stood with his knees in his hands, rocking back and forth repeating the phrase, “When the final cage is shackled, the burning doom shall rise."
Ajax even went so far as to remove the paladin’s holy sword, hoping that it would bring him out of his stupor – but it was to no avail. As he pondered what to do next, Ajax was surprised as Jules appeared next to him. The small ball of light began to speak in Celestial, his voice like the ringing of soft bells,
“I bring greetings my celestial companion. We were able to observe you through the mirror and saw your fruitless attempt to arouse the noble paladin. Caine suggested that I teleport to your location and, since I am here, it appears that we are still on the Prime Material Plane.”
The deva nodded, “Correct. We are fortunate indeed that you were able to come to my location. Return and tell the others to enter the mirror and follow the sequence of rooms as Rusty and I had discussed. I am sure we will be re-united shortly.”
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Linking hands, Wathros, Tilly, Caine, and Cyrano (the druid’s new rhino companion) all strode into the mirror. Though they hoped by remaining in physical contact that they would appear together in the maze, it turned out to be an incorrect assumption.
Each appeared separately in their own stone chamber, surrounded by six colored doors. Fortunately, each member of the party had carefully memorized the correct sequence of doors and were able to find their way to Ajax and Terceval in mere moments.
However, there were two exceptions. Although Jules was able to find his way in relatively short order (since he lacked hands he simply teleported from one side of a door to the other), he found that he could not teleport directly to Ajax himself – suggesting that the ‘maze’ as it was, existed on another plane entirely. Cyrano, however, had no such good fortune. Lacking hands and even the simple intellect required to traverse the maze, the rhino was forever stuck in the Demiplane of Mirrors – to die of starvation or, perhaps, something else . . .
Rusty and Caine did what they could to aid the paladin, but it was seemingly a lost cause. The only way out, it appeared was through the iron door. Boldly striding forward, Ajax pushed it open as the companions were momentarily blinded by sunlight. Ahead of them was a narrow passageway that opened into a larger chamber, then narrowed again before it led outside.
The lack of humidity, the bright sun, and pebbles of sand that were strewn throughout the ruined temple left little doubt as to their location – a desert.
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Nabthatoron rose to his spectacular 15 foot height and stood to attention. The demon had been spending the day idly wandering through the desert as he always did. This day had been fortuitous as he had the fortune to run into a very young blue dragon. Though the beast was large enough to be a challenging fight, it was not nearly powerful enough to provide a serious threat to Nabthatoron.
Dropping the corpse from his two pincer-like hands, blood mixed with saliva trailed down from where the demon was feeding on the dragon. Bringing up one of his smaller arms, the demon cupped his hand over his eyes to shield out the glaring sun.
Something was very different . . . very wrong.
The glabrezu had been confined to this wretched temple for more than half a millennia, imprisoned by the famous mage Surabar Spellmason. As long as Spellmason’s town, Red Gorge, stood, Nabthatoron was forced to live in this prison.
However, the fates had been kind to him recently. A paladin had stumbled to this place, ostensibly to search for treasure! Incredibly, this paladin was no mere human but one of the few remaining nobles of Cauldron – before his imprisonment, Nabthatoron had been a supremely efficient ‘interrogator.’
Corrupting mortals, tempting them with power, that was the glabrezu’s bread and butter. It had only been a matter of time until he twisted the human’s mind, goaded him into making a brazen challenge to Cauldron’s existing nobles. Then, instead of proving himself in worthy combat, the paladin had fled like a coward into the night.
Unfortunately, the ‘paladin’ chose to hide in the Demiplane of Mirrors rather than confront the demon again. Pity, Nabthatoron would love to rend him limb from limb now that his usefulness was at an end. But, the deed had been done, the wheels had been set in motion. Once the armies of Cauldron obliterated Spellmason’s town from the map, the demon would be free once more.
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It was difficult to say who was more surprised, the companions or Nabthatoron, as he teleported into the temple. Rather than seeing Alec Terceval, as he suspected, the demon instead was surrounded by a group of humanoids – more treasure-hunters perhaps?
As Ajax and Rusty strode into the room with Tilly, Wathros, and Caine in tow a towering, giant, dog-like creature simply appeared in their midst. With a muscular body, four arms (two large ones ending in deadly pincers), and eyes that radiated cold, sadistic intelligence it was the realization of their nightmares.
Gesturing briefly, Nabthatoron sent out a wave of chaotic energy to smite his prey. To his utter surprise, it had no effect! Perhaps the gods had been watching, for the three party members affected by the chaos hammer were Tilly, Ajax, and Rusty – good, but free of spirit and unshackled by the laws of society!
Just as this occurred, a moment of clarity seemed to cross Alec Terecval’s visage as he stood up and screamed a blood-curdling war cry, “To arms!! Let us slay the wretch who has wronged us! Give me my sword so I may smite this demon-spawn deceiver!” Without fear, he charged the demon sans sword!
Holding the paladin's sword, Ajax drew it and threw it to Alec who deftly caught it. Unfortunately, this maneuver left the deva open to his demonic foe who neatly caught him with both his pincered arms, crushing him.
Seeing that his foe could not dodge properly, Tilly aimed for the glabrezu’s vulnerable tendons as his swords flew into motion. The vile hide of the creature, however, was extremely resistant to all but the most holy weapons and the blow was merely superficial.
The spellcasters in the party began furiously casting; Rusty’s holy smite encompassed the demon, burning its unholy flesh; Wathros’ flame strike and Caine’s yoke of mercy were both defeated by the fiend’s resistance to magic however.
Nabthatoron grimaced in pain as he continued to squeeze the life out of Ajax. Impossible! These were no mere treasure-seekers, had they perhaps come to free Terceval! No, his best laid plans would not be corrupted by these mortals! With a thought, the demon’s eyes began to glow with arcane power. His abyssal heritage allowed him to penetrate any illusion, see through any transmutation, and, most important of all, see the ethical disposition of all he faced.
At once, the glabrezu’s eyes popped open in surprise at his grappled opponent. Could it be? A deva, an astral deva!? Nabthatoron almost dropped Ajax in shock. Angels, along with archons, were among the most hated foes of demon-kind. A single angel had been known to dispatch dozens of lesser demons at once. Nevertheless, all his opponents were good and that was all the glabrezu need to know. Around him appeared an inky black fog which began to leech the life force of all the companions.
Sickened from the unholy blight, Alec Terceval’s sword glowed with divine power as he tore into the demon’s hide like a knife through butter. The holy properties of the weapon along with the paladin’s ability so smite evil left Nabthatoron grimacing in pain. However, both Rusty, Tilly, and Wathros failed to significantly affect the demon with their weapons or spells, while Caine tried, in vain, to coat Ajax in grease to allow him to escape the pincer grips.
For the next two minutes, Nabthatoron continued to weaken his foes with unholy blights while he remained practically immune to their own attacks. Unable to heal himself nor escape, the light left Ajax’s eyes as the final unholy blight took his life. Flinging the corpse into the desert, Nabthatoron approached Alec Terceval. Already weakened from the demon’s magic, the paladin could not stand his ground as he too fell.
With the momentary distraction, Tilly tumbled under his huge opponent and delivered a critical strike – severing one of the demon’s tendons as black, caustic blood gushed from the wound. Assuming the form of a blink dog, now possible due to his exalted vow, Wathros ran past the demon distracting him as an enlarged Rusty sliced into Nabthatoron with his dwarven waraxe. Only Caine seemed to be having no success as his spells could not affect the resilient demon.
Seeing that he was losing the advantage, the glabrezu counter-attacked by uttering a single word at Rusty. Immediately, grabbing his head and dropping his axe, the dwarf reeled as the power word stun knocked him senseless. As Tilly danced around the demon, Wathros continually summoned minor creatures to keep his foe occupied. All the while, both the druid and rogue moved back as if to make a defensive retreat.
Caine had seen enough bloodshed. His angelic friend had died, Alec lay motionless on the ground and his remaining companions were fighting a losing battle. Pulling a small length of rope out of his pouch he cast a brief spell on it and threw it up into the air. The rope now led into an extradimensional space which, he hoped, would provide everybody with shelter from the rampaging demon. He climbed up and screamed to his friends, “Follow me if you can!”
Nabthatoron could plainly see that the halfling could not likely damage him further. However the insufferable druid would soon fill the entire area with animals if he was not stopped. Concentrating briefly, he gestured towards the still stunned Rusty and Tilly and both began to fall upwards as the reverse gravity began to take effect.
The demon took wide strides out into the open desert as he moved towards Wathros, still wildshaped into a blink dog. As a final act of defiance, Wathros conjured a small air elemental over Tilly, hoping that the creature would be able to help his friend to the ground.
In the end, the druid made a valiant stand. Calling all his summoned animals to him, they surrounded Nabthatoron, trying to buy Tilly and Rusty as much time as possible. In the end, however, the demon largely ignored the lion, arrowhawk, and rhino as it rained all of its attacks on Wathros. With a sickening snap, the druid's head was twisted to an unnatural angle with a flick of a pincer, as he fell to the ground, dying.
Turning around, Nabthatoron nearly screamed with anger when he saw that Tilly and Rusty were once again land-bound, with many of their injuries healed.
“Demon! By the power o’ goddess o’ the Weave, I will crush ye’ once and for all!”
Gesturing aggressively, Rusty began to cast a spell that was so hallowed that it required a spark of his life energy. As the sanctified incantation was completed, a shower of diamonds flew from the dwarf’s outstretched hand and tore into the demon. Nabthatoron was forced to one knee as a result, the numerous wounds aggravating his pre-existing injuries.
He had had enough! The paladin was dead, the deva was dead, and the goodly druid was dead. These fools were stuck in the middle of the desert, many hundreds if not thousands of miles from Cauldron. They had failed in their mission. Though Nabthatoron sorely wanted to slay the remaining humanoids, he dared not risk his life. Not when he was so close to his goal . . .
With a final howl of despair, Nabthatoron disappeared.
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Emerging from his rope trick, Caine moved to resuscitate Ajax and Alec Terceval. The deva was a lost cause he knew, but as he moved to the paladin, the warrior grabbed the sorcerer with two hands as he coughed up blood.
Summoning up one final supreme act of willpower, Alec spoke his final words, "There is naught for you left in Cauldron, heroes! To return is to enter your own graves and to bring doom upon all you love! Seek the sign of the Smoking Eye if you wish to save them all!”
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