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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 7036802" data-attributes="member: 9546">Labyrinth - 8 Abadius, 4718 - 9 Abadius, 4718Beyond the hunting hall, the Ninth Knot found themselves at the entrance to a hedge maze. It was open to the sky and looked to be constructed of crude-cut field stones overgrown with moss, vines and flowers of a thousand sorts. There was something unnatural about the place....something that made it not seem quite real. The tiny motes of light that hovered in the air above the hedge only served to increase that otherworldly feel. Katarina knelt in the dirt on the path, sniffing the air and feeling the soil."There are tracks here," she said after a moment. "Paw prints. Large dog or wolf I'd guess.""I suppose we should follow them," Kelvin sighed, "unless anyone has a better idea."They set off through the maze, Kat taking different turns and junctions seemingly at random as she kept her eyes on the packed earth. "Kat...stop," Kelvin whispered after several minutes of this had passed.Kat looked up at him, annoyed at the interruption, but then she saw the look of concern on his face and followed his gaze. One of the motes of light was moving towards them, flitting to and fro. When it was just a few feet above them, an eerie voice sounded in all of their heads.'Say its name and this thing dies.'Kelvin didn't hesitate."Secrecy," he replied.The mote's light dimmed and it quickly drifted away.Having no idea what the meaning of the strange riddle was, the companions continued following Kat's lead. They wandered for another hour or more before she stopped and threw up her hands."I feel like we've been here before," she said in exasperation. "I think we may be going in circles."Before anyone else could respond, another of the motes drifted down from the trees.'Say its name and this thing dies,' the voice repeated.Kelvin opened his mouth to speak, but Kat motioned him quiet."Silence," she said.The mote flared brightly, and abruptly the solid hedge in front of them parted, revealing a new path.___________________________________________________________________It was Katarina who first spotted the movement in the undergrowth on either side of the path. It was furtive and flitting, there one second and then gone the next. Before she could open her mouth to warn the others, a snarling, shaggy dog the size of a small horse suddenly appeared in front of them. Just as abruptly it vanished again, only to reappear a moment later slightly behind them. As it did, it opened its mouth and unleashed a bolt of electricity that set Lemmy jittering and dancing before it vanished again. "Look to the hedge!" Kat cried out.As the words no sooner left her mouth, a half-dozen more dogs, smaller than the first, appeared among the companions, blinking rapidly in and out of view as they darted back and forth, biting and yipping. In an instant, it was pure chaos. Tardaesha, Roger and Grumblejack hacked everywhere with their swords, only to have their targets vanish from beneath them at the last second. Dakota plied her bow expertly, but more often than not her arrows struck nothing but dirt and wood. Kelvin managed to let loose a fireball, excluding his friends from the flames. All of the hounds howled and whined as their fur and backsides were scorched, but they still managed to avoid the brunt of the blast. Before he could cast again, the alpha appeared right next to him, jaws stretched wide. Kelvin threw his hands up, instinctively erecting a sphere of force between himself and the beast. The great hound snarled in frustration, then turned his attention to easier pray. Opening his mouth again, he let loose a deafening bark that rattled the insides of Grumblejack and Dorian. Abruptly, the tide of the battle began to turn. Though the dogs were fast and gifted at avoiding the most devastating blows of their opponents, eventually their wounds began to take a toll, and one-by-one, they began to fall. Katarina managed to plunge a dagger into the throat of one just as it reappeared, while Lemmy shattered the bones of another with his earthen blast. Periodically the alpha would reappear, releasing another lightning bolt or shout, but he couldn't save his brood. As the last one fell beneath the Knot, the great hound howled in rage and sorrow and dove headlong into the midst of his foes. He whirled, snarling and snapping in all directions, momentarily keeping his enemies at bay, but he could only defend all flanks for so long. The last sight he saw were the descending blades of Grumblejack and Tardaesha."Ara Mathra!" he bayed with his last breath. "I have failed you, my Lord! The servants of Hell are coming!"___________________________________________________________________"They are coming," Sambethe sighed, rising to her feet.Leaning heavily on her staff, she limped away from the large bonfire."It is inevitable," her companion replied, his voice as calm and implacable as ever. "I fear we will not survive this day," Sambethe said. "I have foreseen it."Her companion shrugged."Then that is our destiny," he said. "We are sworn to protect the Guardian Flame. Our sacrifice will provide the Lord-Abbot the time he needs to complete his task.""Let us hope so, my friend," Sambethe sighed again and bowed her head.____________________________________________________________________"One to whom the mirror never lies...," the wispy mote asked its riddle."This is crap!" Lemmy bellowed. "Let's just blast the damn thing then cut our way through this cursed maze!""I don't think it works that way," Dorian said. "I think we have to play along with this particular game. In any case, this is an easy one. The answer is a blind man."The mote winked once and then disappeared, revealing another opening in the hedge. Beyond the new path lay an almost radiantly green patch of grass. It was not winter here, but perpetually spring, warmed by the radiant light of the Shining Lady. A group of four-legged creatures stood grazing in the center of the clearing. With draconic scales covering much of their bodies, the stag-like beings moved with awe-inspiring grace. They looked up, nostrils flaring as the Knot entered the clearing. "Why do you defile these sacred fields?" one of them asked indignantly. "The stink of evil is upon you all! Does the great Ara Mathra know of your intrusion?""If he doesn't yet," Tardaesha grinned wickedly, "I'm sure he soon will, but rest assured my pretty ponies, it won't be you that tells him!"The Knot descended upon the kirin with violent efficiency. The creatures tried to flee, taking to the air and hurling lightning bolts down upon their pursuers, but despite their speed, they could not fly faster than magic. Kelvin sent an explosion of acid among them, and as they struggled to recover from the blast, Tardaesha and Grumblejack overtook them. The Heavenly Herd were not natural warriors. They were peaceful creatures. The same could not be said of the Nessian Knot. The slaughter was absolute.___________________________________________________________________The mote hovered silently in air above the companions, patiently awaiting their answer. "A wicked thing from which darkness flies," Dakota repeated. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would darkness flee from something wicked."Kelvin snapped his fingers with a smile."That's it," he said. "It didn't say 'wicked.' It said 'wick'ed.'""That's what I said," Dakota replied."No," Kelvin shook his head, "wick'ed...like with a wick. The answer is a candle!"The little orb of light pulsed once, then spoke again.'The three at once where the answer lies.'Then it abruptly vanished. No new path forward lay revealed, however. "So now what?" Dakota asked no one in particular."Blast our way through!" Lemmy reiterated his earlier suggestion. Kelvin glanced at the dwarf in annoyance."It's another riddle," he said. "The three at once...meaning the three answers: silence, a blind man, and a candle."He thought for a moment, then said, "I have an idea. You're all going to have to trust me. All of you hold out your weapons."The others looked dubious but complied nonetheless. Kelvin touched each one of them and spoke a short spell. As he did so, a weak flickering light, no brighter than a candle, appeared on the end of each."Now," he continued, "everyone close your eyes."Skepticism again, but one-by-one the others did as he asked. "Everyone be quiet," Kelvin said in a whispered voice. "Total silence."Several long moments passed before he spoke again."Open your eyes."The companions did so, and beheld a large glade before them that hadn't been there a moment before...and it wasn't empty.__________________________________________________________________A large bonfire burned in the center of the clearing and two figures stood before it. One was a powerfully-built, physically perfect specimen of humanity. He wore nothing but a loose robe and sash, and moved with inhuman grace and poise. Next to him was an impossibly beautiful young woman whose beauty was only marred by one lame and twisted leg. She was clad in armor and gripped a sword in one hand, looking almost angelic herself. "I am Sambethe," the woman said, "Oracle of Iomedae. My companion is the Master of Serenity, head of Iomedae's Serene Order. Our Lord has decreed that we hold this glade and deny you further passage.""Yeah, we met some of your type out in the valley," Grumblejack smirked at the monk. "If serene means dead, then they was pretty damn serene when we finished with'em!"Nothing changed on the face of the large man, but there was a palpable shift in the air. The ogre leered at him, then hefted his huge blade."Lemme see if I can make you more serene too!"Grumblejack closed the distance across the clearing in a half-dozen great strides. The Master of Serenity did not so much as twitch a muscle. When the ogre reached him, his sword swung in a wide arc across the man's belly. Cloth and skin parted and blood flowed freely, but no sign of pain showed upon his face. Instead he blurred into sudden movement, faster than Grumblejack could track him. He struck the ogre once behind a knee, and when the giant sagged, he followed up with a jab to the throat. Grumblejack gurgled, and that's when the monk hammered a fist into the middle of his sternum. Nearby, Sambethe began casting a spell, but when Kelvin hurled a barrage of arcane bolts into her, the magic died on her lips. Drawing herself up, she prepared to cast again, but Roger charged her. She tried to dodge, but her twisted leg hampered her. Roger cut across her back as she turned away. She grunted but continued moving towards the great bonfire. Roger pursued, striking her again, the force of his blow knocking her completely into the flames."Well that was easy," Kelvin smiled. "Now to deal with her little friend...," Before he could complete that thought, the Master of Serenity came leaping through the bonfire, and as he landed on the far side his terrible belly wound had sealed itself shut. Kelvin's eyes went wide and he stumbled back, but the monk was lightning-fast and he was on the wizard in a flash. He grabbed Kelvin, pinning his arms to his side and then began to squeeze. That was when Sambethe abruptly rose out of the flames, her wounds completely healed. She opened her mouth and spoke a single word, but its power reverberated across the clearing, striking Roger and Katarina blind, while also deafening Grumblejack as well as rooting the ogre to the spot, paralyzing him.Though Grumblejack was unable to move, that did not mean he was without options. Since his fiendish transformation, the ogre had gained magical abilities which, unlike Kelvin's spells, did not require him to speak nor gesture about. All he had to do was concentrate. Though no mental giant, Grumblejack was no slouch when it came to common sense. The bonfire in the midst of the clearing looked an awful lot like the one they'd found on the mountain of the phoenix. Could be that it was another one of the eternal flames they were supposed to put out, and doing so might just distract the monk and the oracle long enough for his friends to finish them off. Focusing on the flames, Grumblejack concentrated, summoning his dark magic. A moment later a greasy black miasma settled over the bonfire, snuffing it out in an instant. The effect was instantaneous. The ground trembled slightly and the sky darkened and then turned dark and red almost as blood. Somewhere in the distance there was the sound of breaking glass.Grumblejack was correct. The extinguishing of the guardian flame got the attention of both Sambethe and the Master of Serenity. The monk released Kelvin, but as he did so his hands moved in a blur, striking the wizard about the head, chest and abdomen no less than six times. Fortunately, Kelvin had had the foresight to place a protective spell upon him before he'd entered the clearing, rendering his skin as hard as stone. He shook off the worst of the assault, though he still felt sore and bruised. The Master then turned away and stalked towards Grumblejack. As he moved, Lemmy blasted him with a barrage of rocks and debris, but the monk didn't seem fazed despite bleeding from a dozen different places. Roger and Tardaesha made to intercept the Master, but then Sambethe unleashed a blast of radiant energy which washed over the Knot, momentarily stunning them. Tardaesha whirled back towards the oracle and rushed at her, whipping her sword over her head before bringing it down on Sambethe's shoulder. She grunted in pain and staggered back, but not before uttering another Holy Word. Tardaesha's vision went black, as did Katarina's and Lemmy's. Dorian was far enough away from the accursed oracle that he was not affected by her blasphemous spell, but the same could not be said for her when it came to his own magic. He cast the opposite of the divine smite she'd unleashed on his friends a moment before, and the unholy blight washed over both her and the monk. To his delight and relief, Sambethe collapsed, unconscious. As it happened, the oracle was standing near to Katarina when she fell, and though blind, Kat still heard the sound. She spun on her heel and plunged her daggers in that direction, managing to drive them both into Sambethe's chest. From across the clearing the Master of Serenity watched impassively. Then, almost casually, he reached up with both hands, grabbed Grumblejack on either side of his head, and snapped his neck. "No!" Dorian cried as his cohort fell.The monk turned towards him, but then Roger came lunging across the battlefield. Before the Master could raise his hands to ward off the half-orc, Roger had thrust his sword up beneath the man's breast bone and twisted it. No sign of pain nor distress shown on the face of the monk. Instead he smiled peacefully and closed his eyes for the last time.</blockquote>

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