With a cry, most of the Ruby Rod party falls upward into the air, caught by Orbius’ reverse gravity. Inoke is impressed to note that all of the ones that enter it evade the damage from the initial three layers of the prismatic sphere!
Snapping into the air, Kyrion tumbles end over end. Her hair streams out above her as she falls to the top of the area of the reverse gravity, and she grimaces as she sees Lazenby first petrify and then vanish. He was sent to another plane by the sphere, she realizes grimly. Another of her companions screams and dies as he passes through the poisonous layer of Orbius’ sphere. Jared! she curses. All right, that’s enough of this!
Orbius winces as he recognizes the passes that Kyrion is making in the air. Mordenkainen’s disjunction, he realizes sickly. The Eye of Boccob braces himself. The prismatic sphere vanishes, as does every ward and protection Orbius is sporting. Sickly, he watches as Grimdim the dwarf swims up at him through the air.
“Hi!” the dwarf smiles, and slices the Eye of Boccob nearly in two in both directions with a series of incredible blows. Orbius falls like a rag doll, then dangles on the border of the remaining reverse gravity area. Grimdim, the enemy dwarf, walks easily through the air, and then he reaches the edge of the reverse gravity and drops down to the ground. Without even breaking stride, Grimdim picks up speed, barreling towards Horbin the MFKG Holy, his axe naked in his hands. Uh-oh, thinks the cleric.
Alcar, meanwhile, feels a strange sensation, and he realizes that a new spell Orbius had laid upon him is activating. It is called anticipate teleport, and it warns him when someone is teleporting to a location near him and delays their materialization for a few moments. Someone’s coming, he warns over the party’s telepathic bond, but nobody hears him due to the noise from the vast arena in whose shadow the fight is taking place.
Suddenly, from the shadows, Zavael the Cruel strikes, stabbing Jezebel in the back of the neck with his terrible glaive! She staggers with a scream no one can hear, and collapses, dead.* Sybele screams, and again no one can hear, but her mental shout carries. MY DAUGHTER!!
Horbin casts fast and furious, using quickened spells to add to his defense while he unleashes a fire storm on the enemy. To his amazement and dismay, all of them evade it. I really don’t like the looks of this, he thinks uneasily. These guys are tough.
Baron Lillamere (shape changed into a pit fiend) brings down a crushing fist of spite on Grimdim, who simply takes the blows. He is stout enough to be sublimely unconcerned with it. Lillamere gulps as Horbin and the dwarf clash for a moment, and by sheer luck, Grimdim’s foot slips and his blow misses. Then Gerontius bounds in, trying to get into position to attack the dwarf, but Lillamere grabs him and teleports into the midst of the main group of enemies.
Inoke, Alcar and Sybele, meanwhile, have turned to face Zavael, who is looking around for his devil assault squad. But the anticipate teleport has prevented their arrival! Frantically, Zavael fends off Alcar’s main attack, but Inoke deals him such a blow that he’s reeling. Sybele fires at him with Cracker**, screaming words that cannot be heard over the thunderous arena, and Zavael gasps as arrow after arrow sinks deep into him. Finally, one pierces his foul black heart and Zavael, (supposed) chief assassin of Asmodeus, is no more.
It is only then that his diabolic hit squad finally arrives, and a sequence of unholy auras and cones of cold ensues, which Inoke steps up to deal with. Alcar, too, launches himself at the fiends; he has no love for devils at all. The Mace of St. John sings hymns as it whips into first one ice devil’s head and then another’s.
Sybele, however, turns to the enemy group across the way. She extends her psionic ability to control sound around Kryion, muffling her ability to make noise and trying to prevent another disjunction from wreaking havoc on our heroes.
Bennodel, meanwhile, studies the situation with a frown. He sees the infernal strike force materialize near Inoke and Alcar and decides to take advantage of the moment. He abundant steps into position, but when he arrives, he hesitates. Something strange is going on here, he thinks uneasily.
Lester rushes forward at him, his blade slicing through the air. Bennodel moves an inch and the blow misses. The Elementalist tries again, stabbing right for the heart, but the epic monk with the ruby badge barely shifts his stance and the blow misses again! Lester curses, his voice overwhelmed by the roar of the crowd, and shouts, “Asmodues has got you duped! Stop right now or I’ll turn you to soup!” But he is unheard.
***
The Court of Asmodeus
Asmodeus’ court
The courtiers are cleared away, except for Martinet of course. The guards are put on alert. 99 pit fiends are stationed around it. No one would dare assault this place without a major planar army, and even then they would be hard-pressed to survive. Asmodeus is disposing of several outstanding titles that once belonged to Bel’s agents, but now must needs return to other hands, when a slight tiefling messenger hurries up to him and whispers something in his ear.
“Clear the court.”
Asmodeus’ commands must be heeded, instantly. Even Geryon himself departs without question. Only Martinet lingers, signaled by his master’s gesture.
“It has begun.”
In the lowest level of Hell, Asmodeus’ eyes burn bright, reflected the ruby rod he clutches. A smile tricks the edge of his mouth.
Next Time: The battle continues!
*Failed save vs. massive damage, I believe.
**Her new super-studly bow, acquired with the funds won via divining about infernal races. Pronounced CRAK-uh.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
