PRELUDE TO A KISS
The wall of flames around the great monument of Orcus began to grow larger and brighter, and after a few seconds reformed into a large, vaguely humanoid shape. Two white-hot ovoids in the fire elemental’s ‘head’ turned toward the Bright Axes. With terrifying speed, the elemental crossed the distance between the statue and the group and stood before them, ill intent obvious in its stance.
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Cinaraa smiled. The fire elemental summoned by her lover, Phalox, had the full attention of the intruders. The brute would keep them occupied long enough for her to suck the life out of her prey. Cinaraa summoned her inner power and willed herself to appear next to the halfling.
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Tilly was absolutely stunned by the arrival of the elemental. The Bright Axes had encountered a pair of these creatures in Cauldron, and they had laid waste to an inn before the encounter was over. Under normal circumstances the halfling was quick and decisive immediately once combat broke out, but this time Tilly uncharacteristically hesitated, not certain what to do. At that moment he heard an unexplainable, but oddly familiar, voice in his head.
“Tilly! Move now!”
Without thinking, the halfling curled into a ball and nimbly tumbled to his left. When he righted himself, he became aware of the presence of a new figure where he once was. Standing before him was what appeared to be a comely woman, completely naked, with a pair of leathery bat wings sprouting from her back. The woman’s arms reached forward to where Tilly had just been, her lips pursed as if to kiss him. Based upon the look in her eye, Tilly did not believe that the kiss was a friendly gesture. He didn’t know where the voice came from, but it uncannily made him move a split second ahead of the fiendish creature's attack.
There was no more hesitation in Tilly’s actions.
Quickly, the halfling plunged his longsword into what he thought would be the succubus’ kidney. While some of the damage instantly healed itself, it was obvious that he had still crippled the she-demon.
The fire elemental swung wildly at the group, but failed to connect with anything. Rusty, understanding the difficult situation that the elemental presented, decided to use one of the most powerful spells that he had prepared for the day. Originally selected in case Rusty and the Bright Axes elected to return to Faerun, the plane shift could also be used to send other creatures away. Casting the spell, the dwarf stepped forward and touched the elemental’s flaming body. For his effort his hand was badly burned, but the elemental disappeared. The dwarf sputtered, “I hope you enjoy swimmin’ in the Elemental Plane of Water, Torchie!”
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Things had gone decidedly against Cinaraa. She was badly wounded, and now surrounded by enemies with no support. Cinaraa knew what she was going to do. She would teleport away, and then magically compel the big warrior with the spiked chain to assault his comrades. Delicious victory would still be hers, and that runt who stabbed her would pay dearly!
In a flash, Cinaraa appeared near the roof of the church, looking down on her hapless prey. It was at this point that Cinaraa became aware that the rhinoceros located in the middle of the group was looking up at her and was stomping, nodding, and grunting in a seemingly rhythmic nature. Only too late did she realize that the gesticulations were part of a spell being cast.
As the realization came to her, fear swept over the succubus. A column of divine fire cascaded over Cinaraa, consuming her. The demon's last thought was the utter disbelief that she had been incinerated by a spellcasting rhino.
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Phalox watched from afar as the burned husk that was once Cinaraa fell to the floor. Anger washed over the salamander and he released an explosive ball of fire at the group. They would burn for this. Slithering out from behind the statue and brandishing his long spear, the half-humanoid half-snake creature gestured a silent challenge at Cinaraa’s slayers.
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The fireball exploded around the group, burning each of the Bright Axes badly. Grimm saw the creature at the other end of the sanctuary, and didn’t think twice about accepting its provocation. The half-ogre ignored the pain from his wounds, lowered his head, and ran ahead of the group.
Caine shook his head in concern. While he didn’t like seeing any living creature killed, he knew that he would not have the power to stop this fight. All he could do at this point was make sure that Good prevailed. Casting a spell granting flight, the sorcerer touched Tilly on the shoulder. “I am afraid Grimm has bitten off more than he can chew with this one. Go help him.” The halfling nodded, and darted through the air at breakneck speed toward their assailant.
Phalox was smart, and recognized that the half-ogre would need some time to cross the sanctuary floor to him. The salamander willed into existence a great wall of flames between him and the warrior, followed by a second wall, and then again by a third. By the time the half-ogre got Phalox’s location, he would either be dead from the flames or sufficiently weakened by them.
Grimm saw the first wall of flame before him, but the half-ogre was feeling his oats at this point and charged through. The fire burned him badly, but he kept running. The same with the second wall of fire, and then the third. Grimm was confident that once he got to the salamander’s location, the fight would be ended by a few quick spins of his chain.
While the other members of the party struggled to prepare spells and pass through the flaming walls, Tilly sped ahead and actually got to the salamander’s location before Grimm. However, once he got within range of the creature it whipped its snakelike tail out and snared the halfling. The muscular action of the thing’s tail knocked the breath out of Tilly, and the halfling felt his life being crushed out of him.
Grimm completed the trek across the sanctuary and brought his chain to bear before the salamander. Between the fireball and the walls of fire, the half-ogre was feeling the worse for wear, but his confidence held firm. In Abyssal, Grimm bellowed, “Let go of that one and try someone your own size.”
Wordlessly and without releasing the halfling, Phalox approached the half-ogre, parried the spiked chain out of the way and drove his longspear into the large warrior’s chest. Spitting up blood, Grimm collapsed to the ground and lay motionless.
Just then a disembodied voice began chanting arcane words and seemingly from out of nowhere, a burst of frigid air struck the salamander. The cold was excruciating to the fiery creature, and he released the halfling in pain. Kauraphon, smiled invisibly and released a second blast. The salamander howled in agony and attempted to locate the source of his pain.
Just then, Rusty passed through the last wall of fire and cast a spell of his own. From the palm of his hand a ray of divine energy jumped out and struck the salamander in the face. In response, Phalox sent another fireball at the dwarf, burning him badly. On the other side of the wall of fire, the salamander heard the quick pounding of heavy feet.
Wathros stormed through the wall. Immune to the fire due to one of his spells, the rhino passed by the flames with no harm. Seeing the salamander, Wathros lowered his head and charged. The rhino’s horn plunged into the salamander’s abdomen and erupted out of its back. Phalox’s eyes went dark and he fell to the ground, lifeless.
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Rusty rushed over to Grimm, and inspected the half-ogre's slumped form. Tilly, tears welling up, sniffed, “Is he dead?” The dwarf shook his head. “No. But the damn fool is pretty close. I can fix him with a few healing spells.”
While Rusty tended to the half-ogre, Kauraphon pointed out a large staircase in one corner of the sanctuary. “That is where we must go. That is where we shall find the Test of Judgment.”
