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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4981565" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 26 - The Last Stand of Draxius (Part 1)“He said he had killed his sons?” Enlishia said once the companions had made camp at the top of the stairs before an ornate door that had three locks. The companions had already decided that the three keys they had recovered in the pyramid would likely open the locks but their efforts had so far not been rewarded.“He did,” Rendil confirmed.“He did not kill my son,” Vyrellis snapped. “Bryntarth was far from here when we were imprisoned but the true Draxius was an evil man and doubtless killed many. We should go on and vanquish him as quickly as we may.”“But we need rest before we do,” Telkya said. “And I would know more of who we have defeated in the levels below. Two there have been that were called Galaghard and the last who we presume to be Draxius and yet he was younger.”“Those you have met, I know not,” said Rendil. “But Galaghard the First ruled for thirty four years from the end of the fifth century of the Dalereckoning and into the sixth. His son became Galaghard the Second in 514DR and ruled for forty years. There was a rebellion by three of Galaghard’s sons late in his reign and they were put to death. His surviving son, Draxius, became king on his father’s death. I do not see how, if that tiefling was once Draxius, he could claim to have killed his sons and be paying for it.”“He is a madman now,” Vyrellis said. “And as I have told you, we must defeat him as soon as we can.”The others settled down to rest then with two of their number on watch and puzzling at the locks in the door at the top of the stairs. At long last, after several hours, Telkya saw the order in which the keys were to be put into the locks. Once the others were ready, she and Erlmoor stepped up to the locks and inserted each key and turned it. Slowly, the ornate door swung open onto another staircase that led higher up into the pyramid. Erlmoor and Rendil raised their swords and started up the steps with the others behind them. At the top of the stairs, they opened into a narrow hallway with three sets of double doors leading off it, one set to the left, one set to the right and another set across the hallway. Suddenly, a resounding voice was heard from beyond the doors, as though one person was speaking from a multitude of mouths.“Who dares invade out sanctuary?” the voice boomed.Enlishia moved forward first, making her way to the nearest, left-hand doors and pushing them open. She raised her bow as the portals swung open and there, before her was a square room dominated by a wide, black pillar. Beside the pillar stood Draxius, in the form that he had appeared to the companions throughout their journey through the pyramid. The ranger raised her bow but then she realised that another Draxius stood to the right of the pillar. She drew back her bowstring and let fly an arrow at one of the tieflings, the shaft driving through its neck and felling it. She turned her bow on the other, an arrow already nocked to the string and fired. The second arrow drove through the chest of the second tiefling and he too, fell back and collapsed on the floor of the room, apparently dead.“Something is not right here,” she said to the others and Erlmoor, who stood in the doorway, nodded his agreement.To the right, the doors at the far end of the hallway opened and there stood another Draxius, clad in dark robes as the others had been. It lashed out with one of its hands and hurled a bolt of silver energy that struck Rendil in the side and hurled him into Erlmoor. Telkya stepped into the corridor and raised her amulet, sending a bolt of light toward the tiefling that flew past it and into the room beyond. A moment later, another Draxius appeared beside the first and hurled a bolt of force into Telkya’s chest that threw her back toward the others. Another tiefling came past the first two and entered the corridor, throwing out its hand to loose another bolt of force that struck Telkya on the shoulder and drove her back another two steps. The tiefling raised both its hands then and from them erupted a blast of icy frost that tore down the corridor and engulfed the companions. They staggered back as the cold tore at their faces and hands and then felt their limbs weaken and numb. Another tiefling moved past the first three and entered corridor, raised its hand and hurled another silver bolt. This missile drove into Rendil’s side and flung him into Erlmoor again. Another bolt struck the doorframe beside the dragonborn and as he looked round, Erlmoor realised that more tieflings were coming from the chamber of the black pillar. The companions were surrounded.Lavren ducked back into the stairwell as the frost seared past but then he leapt out to stand beside his wife. He raised his wand and shouted out a curse that sent purple bolts lancing toward the two nearest tieflings. One struck the wall next to its target but the other tore through the chest of the tiefling and flung it to the floor. The elf looked back over his shoulder and saw Erlmoor put down his sword with sluggish arms and draw his sling. He spun the weapon around his head and loosed a stone into the tiefling in the pillar chamber that shattered its face and felled it. Rendil struggled against the cold for a few moments and then started forward to aid Lavren and Telkya. Meanwhile, Enlishia loosed more arrows into the pillar chamber where Lavren presumed more tieflings lurked. A silver bolt flashed past Lavren and struck the wall behind him forcing the elf to turn his attention back to the foes before him. Beside him, Telkya raised her amulet and loosed a bolt of light that struck down another tiefling. Another took its place, hurling a silver bolt of force that spun Telkya into the wall and left her reeling and dazed. Then the tiefling raised both of its hands and shouted a spell that unleashed a wave of thunderous sound that tore down the corridor. Lavren felt himself being hurled down the corridor into the doorframe and then into the room beyond. He saw Telkya hit the other side of the door frame and collapse just inside the pillar chamber. He looked back and saw Erlmoor and Enlishia flung into the black pillar which was not solid but a column of malevolent darkness. They disappeared from his sight within it while Rendil reeled beside him. The elf cried out, fearing defeat, and then a bolt of force struck him in the chest, flinging him backwards. He looked down at his wife and felt tears in his eyes as he wondered whether escape from this terrible pyramid was even possible.Rendil recovered enough of his senses to look around and saw that Telkya had fallen while Enlishia an Erlmoor had vanished into the pillar of blackness behind him. He saw a silver bolt flash past from his right and strike Lavren sending the elf reeling forward toward the other tieflings. Still the elf managed to lash out with his wand, cursing the tieflings and hurling black bolts of energy down the corridor. One tiefling fell and then another but still another stood ready to come forward in place of its companions. Rendil turned away from the corridor and rushed to meet the tiefling that came from his right. He reached the doorway before it and lashed out with his blade, green flame limning it as he spoke an incantation. The sword clove into the tiefling’s side and it fell to its left into the wall before collapsing on the floor. Then, as Rendil looked up, he realised that he had found the source of the pyramid’s power. A wide chamber lay open before him with a runic circle engraved in the floor around a step pyramid dais that dominated the centre of the room. To his left, the halfling saw two black plinths while flanking the step pyramid were two crackling white orbs of energy. On the lowest step of the dais stood another tiefling wearing the same robes as the others had but this one exuded raw power. In one hand he held a staff and in the other an ornate, leather-bound tome. The tiefling looked toward the halfling and Rendil felt real fear. This was the true Draxius. A moment after the realisation struck Rendil, a silver bolt struck him in the side and he reeled back into the chamber from which he had come.</blockquote>

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