Rel
Liquid Awesome
The Tomb of Bane loomed before them and it had clearly been breached. Rubble lay strewn around the base of the pyramid of white stone and the top no longer came to a point but was instead an irregular plateau some seventy feet across. From the center, a thin column of green fire shot skyward into some sort of rip in the sky that hovered a hundred feet above the top of the Tomb.
Knots of demons and devils clustered at the base of the structure and small groups of them were climbing the sides to be met at the top by a small and desperate band of mortals, struggling through the final hours of their lives by fighting the unending minions of Hell. The party launched themselves at the Tomb, determined to come to the rescue of these heroes who had valiantly come to their aid only a day earlier.
Although nobody saw him at first, Lazarius was the first to come swooping in to land atop the pyramid. He was shocked and horrified when he suddenly fell from the hot air of Hell to land ungracefully atop the Tomb, visible, unshielded, in his normal form and stripped of all enchantments. “Uh oh…”
Scar was not far behind and landed no better, tumbling over the rough, broken stones and nursing a fractured rib. Cathal saw the fate of the Half Orc and angled away from him, hoping that whatever had caused Scar’s flying magic to fail might miss him. No such luck was to be had as he fell, skipped off the edge of the broken portion of the pyramid and rolled to his feet.
Marius fared slightly better as he slowed his forward motion and when he suddenly resumed human form and fell he managed to roll with the worst of it, suffering only a bad bruise where a stone dug into his back. Rhys was nearly as nimble and landed between Marius and Scar. The young Elf looked around in amazement at the bloated purple sky and the desolate damnation that surrounded him.
Speaks and Marcus were jaded tourists of Hell by now and paid no attention to the horrible grandeur that surrounded them, instead focusing on trying to land as painlessly as possible. Both did a passable job though Speaks fared the worse of the two when he was prematurely forced into human form and dumped on his backside from 15 feet in the air.
Ilrath faced down a demon that had made the top of the Tomb. It already sported a pair of arrows sticking out of its chest and the blade of the Coritani warrior bit through its shoulder on main strength and sent it tumbling bonelessly down the side of the pyramid. He spun at all the commotion and grinned at Speaks, “What took you so long?!”
Lazarius shared none of the barbarian’s humor and screamed out over the clangor of battle, “Get everyone over here by Speaks! NOW! We’re not staying here!” He raised his hand toward another demon that was attempting to climb past a pair of Orcs onto the plateau atop the Tomb and spoke words of arcane power. They hung in the air uselessly as his magic failed him. “Dammit!”
Cathal moved toward the nearest demon that had made it to the top and was contending with Magdar. His movement brought him perilously near the jet of green fire that gushed upwards. As he came near it his blade crackled to life with the electrical energy that normally suffused it. He waved it over his head and called out, “The magic works here!”
Marius wasn’t relying on magic at the moment. He spun to his left and sank his rapier into the flank of a demon engaged with an Orc. The thing died, flopping to the ground and the Orc grimly shoved it over the side with its foot.
Speaks stood and moved toward the center, wary as he approached the green flames. He looked upwards into the rift and thought he could see the flames being absorbed by something but couldn’t make out exactly what. He could see what looked to be stone walls framing wherever that place was that the rip led to.
Marcus climbed to his feet and moved toward the nearest edge of the pyramid, looking for evil in need of smiting. He missed the fact that directly behind him one of the demons had come bounding to within arms reach of Lazarius. Fortunately Ilrath was not about to let his ride out of Hell come to harm. He bounded up onto the stone platform where the Wizard stood and cut down his foe in a single stroke of his two-handed sword.
Lazarius would thank him later, if they didn’t all die. He went scrambling away to try and alert some of the others that they had already overstayed their welcome. He climbed over the smashed basalt stones that lined the interior of the Tomb calling out to the combatants on the other side of the pillar of fire, “Come ON! Enough fighting for now! Come with me if you want to live!”
It seemed that the enemy could sense that they were trying to flee and were coming in larger numbers now. In ones and twos demons and devils were now scrambling their way onto the top of the pyramid and lashing out with their claws, teeth and spines. The Orcs stepped up to meet them where they could, afraid that the entire top of the pyramid could be swarmed over if they did not try and keep them from reaching the top.
Cathal moved to slip past the guard of a particularly horrid looking devil, horns protruding everywhere, but his foot slipped on some fragments of stone and he fell at its feet. The Brigante gritted his teeth and held forth his shield as the devil rained a flurry of pounding strikes down on him. Armor, shield and determination held and the warrior of the Fodor escaped unharmed.
Nearby, Marius was a dancer of death. He spun left and right as he caught foes unawares who were already engaged in battle with the Orcs. His blade drew blood and felled another demon in a pair of swift and deadly strikes. The only problem was that where one of them died, two more clambered over the edge to take their place. An instant later, Rhys gave voice to this concern, “Look!”
Those who could spare a moment of attention from the battle followed the Elf’s pointed finger and saw a column, at least a hundred strong, of Hell’s minions marching through the pass that they knew led up from the River of Sorrows and the Bridge of Regret. In a few minutes they would be at Bane’s Tomb and that would be the end, one way or another.
It was clear to Speaks that they had to get out of there soon but it was equally clear that they were in no position to try and group up on the tiny island of magic at the center of the pyramid. The spells that would allow them escape could only be used there. But trying to disengage right now with so many enemies around them would be suicide. There was only one way they could get a break from the stream of foes that threatened to close in around them. He charged.
His shillelagh crashed down onto one of the devils as it tried to make it to the top of the pyramid. Speaks could hear bones crack under the blow but the creature wasn’t finished yet. At its side was another infernal creature, vaguely reminiscent of those they had fought in the Maze. Marcus came crashing into it with his mace and the melee dissolved into a battle between raw steel and claws. Here where magic did not work the battle was intense and without subtlety.
The Orcs were doing their best to battle back the enemy to give them the respite they needed in order to withdraw but the fatigue was starting to tell on them. Unlike the recently arrived party, they had been holding the top of the Tomb for over two hours. Now, out of arrows to fire down to soften their targets, things were down to axe versus claw. The blood of Orcs and demons pooled in the cracks of Bane’s restless resting place.
Lazarius was truly in Hell. Virtually everything he knew about battle revolved around magic. And only a small area near the column of green fire allowed it to function here but he couldn’t use it on targets outside that area. Growling in frustration he reached to his belt. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…” He blew a bit of dust from the firing mechanism of his crossbow and loaded the weapon.
Cathal and Scar found themselves fighting shoulder to shoulder. Both raged. The demons and devils that came within their reach paid for their mistake and blood rolled down the white stone of the pyramid before them. Then to their right one of Magdar’s Orcs went down. If something didn’t change he wouldn’t be the last.
Rhys climbed atop the center of the pyramid where magic still worked and rolled out his carpet. Speaks and Marcus moved to join him, making a fighting retreat against the pair of enemies they fought. Speaks could see one of them about to overtake him when a bolt suddenly sprouted from its chest.
“Ha HA!” Lazarius shouted with glee. The devil wasn’t dead but at least he hadn’t completely forgotten how to shoot a crossbow.
Scar yelled above the battle, “I must go protect Rhys! Can you hold them here!?”
In answer, Cathal slashed open the belly of his nearest foe and spun, cleaving into the one that had just killed the Orc. “GO!” Scar dashed and climbed aboard the flying carpet ready to embark on whatever foolhardy mission Rhys chose to undertake.
Ilrath landed a devastating blow that struck the head from a demon and sent it bouncing all the way down the side of the pyramid into at throng of others who had gathered at the base. He could see them baiting each other into being the next to ascend to attack. Let them come, he thought. This death is as good as any and better than most.
Marius spotted one Orc who still had arrows remaining. He watched as an arrow flew from his composite bow and pierced the leg of an approaching demon. But the demon was not alone. That archer was about to have trouble and Marius bounded forward to try and hold the attackers off while he plied his bow.
Rhys and Scar shot almost directly upwards. Rhys was afraid that if he got too far from the green fire that he would lose the magic that held the carpet aloft so he wove a tight spiral around the heatless, green flames. He aimed for the rift.
Speaks and Marcus were holding one side of the pyramid on their own and were being forced closer and closer to the center. They exchanged blows with the pair of devils that followed them but neither side landed a telling strike. Lazarius moved toward the center of the pyramid until his back was a foot from the surging jet of green fire. He pulled the crossbow into his shoulder and fired, scoring another hit. Another bolt slammed into the devil that drew ever closer to where he stood but still the creature would not die.
Cathal was now alone and fought all who approached his position. The latest demon to attack him brought down a claw onto his shield. Cathal ducked slightly and then shoved the shield up under the creature’s arm and into its chest, shoving it off balance. It stumbled backwards and fell, picking up speed as it hurtled toward the base of the Tomb.
Magdar fought among his men, doing his best to lend courage to their hearts and strength to their blows. For months he had pushed them far beyond the limits of mortal endurance, always asking the impossible and always amazed that they seemed to somehow deliver. It made him sad to think that they would likely all die here this day but he would not show weakness now. His axe struck and a demon fell.
Ilrath swung at his newest foe and missed badly, overextending himself. Fighting with this sword was different from the greataxe he was used to but the Shining Lady had given it to him and he would put it down when he was dead. The devil stepped inside his reach and rammed a claw into his side. The Coritani tasted blood and knew that something inside him was hurt badly. He spat blood in the creature’s eyes and fought on.
Marius was slashing at one of the demons as the archer he protected moved from cover to cover behind him, plunking one arrow after another into his enemies. As he fought, he thought he could feel the Black Dagger calling to him, begging to be used on the souls of his enemies. It would have to wait. Never bring a knife to a swordfight.
Speaks and Marcus had retreated to atop the center of the pyramid. Their side of the plateau was no forfeit to the minions of Hell and all they could do was attack them and hope that they didn’t work their way around the flanks. One of the two devils they had been fighting came closer to the edge, seeking a way to remain out of the range of their weapons. The other moved around to the side and leapt atop the center of the pyramid, directly next to the Wizard that had been using him for target practice.
Lazarius stepped back to give himself room and fired point blank at the devil’s chest but his aim failed him this time. One of the Orcs scrambled up behind the devil and prepared to strike it, knowing that if this Wizard were killed that none of them were going home. He struck at the creature but his axe slid off its spiny hide.
Cathal pulled a fallen Orc over his shoulder and hurried him over to near where this fighting was taking place, dumping the unconscious Orc at the feet of their shaman who was huddled near the column of fire where his magic would work. The shaman nodded to the Brigante warrior and went to work on the Orc.
Marius was not taking much damage but he was losing his fight all the same. Unable to land a precise, lethal blow on any of his enemies, he was starting to become outnumbered and surrounded. Looking over his shoulder he could see that the rest of the group was starting to concentrate near the center of the pyramid. It was starting to look like time to leave.
Above the battle a scream of terror pierced the sky and they all looked up to see a horrified Rhys and Scar gripping the edges of their carpet and coming back down from the rift even faster than they went up. What they had found up there was anybody’s guess. At this point “horrors beyond imagining” were starting to become routine.
Lazarius cringed as the devil stepped up to him and unleashed a world of pain. Stripped of his magical defenses, the Imperial War Wizard was an easy target and he paid the price. Bleeding in at least four places, he scrambled back away from his attacker as fast as he could, clinging desperately to consciousness.
Faring little better was Ilrath. But unlike Lazarius, pain was a way of life for the Coritani berserker. Blood soaked spittle flew from his screaming lips as he cut down the devil that had its claws in his chest. He moved toward the center of the pyramid, not retreating but looking for something else to kill.
The Orcs were now in a full, fighting retreat. They collectively downed another demon and continued to withdraw toward the center where magic and escape awaited them. Provided that their Wizard didn’t get himself killed first.
Cathal dashed back into danger to grab another Orc who lay in a pool of blood, barely clinging to life. No point in coming all this way only to leave a fallen friend behind. He hurried as best he could toward where the others were gathering.
Marius was the only member of the group still fighting on the edges of the pyramid. He looked to his left and saw the Orcish archer get ripped to pieces by a pair of demons and knew that it was time to head for the exit. He spun and delivered a final, deep cut to a devil close at hand and began to backpedal.
Speaks was not much for hand to hand fighting but now that he was in the area where magic functioned he could help in other ways. He knelt near the Orcish shaman and green magic flowed into the body of one of the fallen Orcs. The warrior’s eyes fluttered open and Speaks moved to the next one.
Marcus smashed his mace at any of the infernal creatures that came within his reach. His powerful blows had felled more than one of the demons and devils and the rest seemed reluctant to approach his side of the center column. That was fine with him so long as the others held their sides and they all got out of here soon.
Lazarius had retreated beyond the immediate reach of the devil that had come after him. But that left it room to use its own brand of hellish magic. Its clawed fist dug into a pouch it carried and it hurled a handful of coins onto the black stone and called out, Summoning those whose souls it owned. Where each coin had landed now stood a hideous, wretched creature that looked as though it were alive and melting. All of a sudden the pinnacle of the pyramid was crowded and they were surrounded.
It was Lazarius’ turn to strike back now. Standing in the area where magic worked and with foes in the same place, his hand went to his Haversack where it found the ivory rod that he valued so highly. His hand stretched out and Lightning erupted all over the peak of the pyramid, erupting with intensity and precision. The blast destroyed the devil that had attacked him as well as all but one of the Summoned souls it had poured forth.
This seemed to cow most of the other infernal minions who were pressing in around them. None wished to draw close enough to taste that sort of magic. That left only Marius outside the safety of the magic zone.
As he scrambled toward the others he was caught from behind by a demon, claws slashing down his back as the creature tried to hug him in a thorny embrace. Though the Imperial Explorer managed to evade the grasp of the creature, he paid for it in blood.
Marcus dashed out the brains of the only devil to challenge their hold on the center of the pyramid and then spun to smite down the last of the Summoned souls. That left the party in sole possession of the center of the pyramid and if they could get Marius into the group they might just manage their escape.
Magdar bounded off the top of the raised area at the peak of the Tomb, leapt from another stone block and brought his axe down, two-handed on the skull of the spined demon that pursued Marius. The creature fell dead and Magdar let out an inhuman shout of triumph. The few demons and devils that looked on wanted no part of the magic and violence these mortals had to offer and they kept their places at the periphery as human and Orc helped each other back to the top of the pyramid.
Speaks reached out to everyone and cast his Feathers spell once more, reducing them to a flock of small birds. Lazarius looked around him as the minions of Hell tentatively began to close in on him where he stood at the very top of Bane’s Tomb, silhouetted by a surging pillar of green fire. He thought to himself, if I live through this, and if Bale doesn’t destroy the world, I’m going to buy a nice big estate on the north coast of Emor. On the wall in my living room will be a picture of this scene right here.
It will give my concubines something to marvel at while I’m busy.
Then he vanished from Hell, hoping never to return.
Knots of demons and devils clustered at the base of the structure and small groups of them were climbing the sides to be met at the top by a small and desperate band of mortals, struggling through the final hours of their lives by fighting the unending minions of Hell. The party launched themselves at the Tomb, determined to come to the rescue of these heroes who had valiantly come to their aid only a day earlier.
Although nobody saw him at first, Lazarius was the first to come swooping in to land atop the pyramid. He was shocked and horrified when he suddenly fell from the hot air of Hell to land ungracefully atop the Tomb, visible, unshielded, in his normal form and stripped of all enchantments. “Uh oh…”
Scar was not far behind and landed no better, tumbling over the rough, broken stones and nursing a fractured rib. Cathal saw the fate of the Half Orc and angled away from him, hoping that whatever had caused Scar’s flying magic to fail might miss him. No such luck was to be had as he fell, skipped off the edge of the broken portion of the pyramid and rolled to his feet.
Marius fared slightly better as he slowed his forward motion and when he suddenly resumed human form and fell he managed to roll with the worst of it, suffering only a bad bruise where a stone dug into his back. Rhys was nearly as nimble and landed between Marius and Scar. The young Elf looked around in amazement at the bloated purple sky and the desolate damnation that surrounded him.
Speaks and Marcus were jaded tourists of Hell by now and paid no attention to the horrible grandeur that surrounded them, instead focusing on trying to land as painlessly as possible. Both did a passable job though Speaks fared the worse of the two when he was prematurely forced into human form and dumped on his backside from 15 feet in the air.
Ilrath faced down a demon that had made the top of the Tomb. It already sported a pair of arrows sticking out of its chest and the blade of the Coritani warrior bit through its shoulder on main strength and sent it tumbling bonelessly down the side of the pyramid. He spun at all the commotion and grinned at Speaks, “What took you so long?!”
Lazarius shared none of the barbarian’s humor and screamed out over the clangor of battle, “Get everyone over here by Speaks! NOW! We’re not staying here!” He raised his hand toward another demon that was attempting to climb past a pair of Orcs onto the plateau atop the Tomb and spoke words of arcane power. They hung in the air uselessly as his magic failed him. “Dammit!”
Cathal moved toward the nearest demon that had made it to the top and was contending with Magdar. His movement brought him perilously near the jet of green fire that gushed upwards. As he came near it his blade crackled to life with the electrical energy that normally suffused it. He waved it over his head and called out, “The magic works here!”
Marius wasn’t relying on magic at the moment. He spun to his left and sank his rapier into the flank of a demon engaged with an Orc. The thing died, flopping to the ground and the Orc grimly shoved it over the side with its foot.
Speaks stood and moved toward the center, wary as he approached the green flames. He looked upwards into the rift and thought he could see the flames being absorbed by something but couldn’t make out exactly what. He could see what looked to be stone walls framing wherever that place was that the rip led to.
Marcus climbed to his feet and moved toward the nearest edge of the pyramid, looking for evil in need of smiting. He missed the fact that directly behind him one of the demons had come bounding to within arms reach of Lazarius. Fortunately Ilrath was not about to let his ride out of Hell come to harm. He bounded up onto the stone platform where the Wizard stood and cut down his foe in a single stroke of his two-handed sword.
Lazarius would thank him later, if they didn’t all die. He went scrambling away to try and alert some of the others that they had already overstayed their welcome. He climbed over the smashed basalt stones that lined the interior of the Tomb calling out to the combatants on the other side of the pillar of fire, “Come ON! Enough fighting for now! Come with me if you want to live!”
It seemed that the enemy could sense that they were trying to flee and were coming in larger numbers now. In ones and twos demons and devils were now scrambling their way onto the top of the pyramid and lashing out with their claws, teeth and spines. The Orcs stepped up to meet them where they could, afraid that the entire top of the pyramid could be swarmed over if they did not try and keep them from reaching the top.
Cathal moved to slip past the guard of a particularly horrid looking devil, horns protruding everywhere, but his foot slipped on some fragments of stone and he fell at its feet. The Brigante gritted his teeth and held forth his shield as the devil rained a flurry of pounding strikes down on him. Armor, shield and determination held and the warrior of the Fodor escaped unharmed.
Nearby, Marius was a dancer of death. He spun left and right as he caught foes unawares who were already engaged in battle with the Orcs. His blade drew blood and felled another demon in a pair of swift and deadly strikes. The only problem was that where one of them died, two more clambered over the edge to take their place. An instant later, Rhys gave voice to this concern, “Look!”
Those who could spare a moment of attention from the battle followed the Elf’s pointed finger and saw a column, at least a hundred strong, of Hell’s minions marching through the pass that they knew led up from the River of Sorrows and the Bridge of Regret. In a few minutes they would be at Bane’s Tomb and that would be the end, one way or another.
It was clear to Speaks that they had to get out of there soon but it was equally clear that they were in no position to try and group up on the tiny island of magic at the center of the pyramid. The spells that would allow them escape could only be used there. But trying to disengage right now with so many enemies around them would be suicide. There was only one way they could get a break from the stream of foes that threatened to close in around them. He charged.
His shillelagh crashed down onto one of the devils as it tried to make it to the top of the pyramid. Speaks could hear bones crack under the blow but the creature wasn’t finished yet. At its side was another infernal creature, vaguely reminiscent of those they had fought in the Maze. Marcus came crashing into it with his mace and the melee dissolved into a battle between raw steel and claws. Here where magic did not work the battle was intense and without subtlety.
The Orcs were doing their best to battle back the enemy to give them the respite they needed in order to withdraw but the fatigue was starting to tell on them. Unlike the recently arrived party, they had been holding the top of the Tomb for over two hours. Now, out of arrows to fire down to soften their targets, things were down to axe versus claw. The blood of Orcs and demons pooled in the cracks of Bane’s restless resting place.
Lazarius was truly in Hell. Virtually everything he knew about battle revolved around magic. And only a small area near the column of green fire allowed it to function here but he couldn’t use it on targets outside that area. Growling in frustration he reached to his belt. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…” He blew a bit of dust from the firing mechanism of his crossbow and loaded the weapon.
Cathal and Scar found themselves fighting shoulder to shoulder. Both raged. The demons and devils that came within their reach paid for their mistake and blood rolled down the white stone of the pyramid before them. Then to their right one of Magdar’s Orcs went down. If something didn’t change he wouldn’t be the last.
Rhys climbed atop the center of the pyramid where magic still worked and rolled out his carpet. Speaks and Marcus moved to join him, making a fighting retreat against the pair of enemies they fought. Speaks could see one of them about to overtake him when a bolt suddenly sprouted from its chest.
“Ha HA!” Lazarius shouted with glee. The devil wasn’t dead but at least he hadn’t completely forgotten how to shoot a crossbow.
Scar yelled above the battle, “I must go protect Rhys! Can you hold them here!?”
In answer, Cathal slashed open the belly of his nearest foe and spun, cleaving into the one that had just killed the Orc. “GO!” Scar dashed and climbed aboard the flying carpet ready to embark on whatever foolhardy mission Rhys chose to undertake.
Ilrath landed a devastating blow that struck the head from a demon and sent it bouncing all the way down the side of the pyramid into at throng of others who had gathered at the base. He could see them baiting each other into being the next to ascend to attack. Let them come, he thought. This death is as good as any and better than most.
Marius spotted one Orc who still had arrows remaining. He watched as an arrow flew from his composite bow and pierced the leg of an approaching demon. But the demon was not alone. That archer was about to have trouble and Marius bounded forward to try and hold the attackers off while he plied his bow.
Rhys and Scar shot almost directly upwards. Rhys was afraid that if he got too far from the green fire that he would lose the magic that held the carpet aloft so he wove a tight spiral around the heatless, green flames. He aimed for the rift.
Speaks and Marcus were holding one side of the pyramid on their own and were being forced closer and closer to the center. They exchanged blows with the pair of devils that followed them but neither side landed a telling strike. Lazarius moved toward the center of the pyramid until his back was a foot from the surging jet of green fire. He pulled the crossbow into his shoulder and fired, scoring another hit. Another bolt slammed into the devil that drew ever closer to where he stood but still the creature would not die.
Cathal was now alone and fought all who approached his position. The latest demon to attack him brought down a claw onto his shield. Cathal ducked slightly and then shoved the shield up under the creature’s arm and into its chest, shoving it off balance. It stumbled backwards and fell, picking up speed as it hurtled toward the base of the Tomb.
Magdar fought among his men, doing his best to lend courage to their hearts and strength to their blows. For months he had pushed them far beyond the limits of mortal endurance, always asking the impossible and always amazed that they seemed to somehow deliver. It made him sad to think that they would likely all die here this day but he would not show weakness now. His axe struck and a demon fell.
Ilrath swung at his newest foe and missed badly, overextending himself. Fighting with this sword was different from the greataxe he was used to but the Shining Lady had given it to him and he would put it down when he was dead. The devil stepped inside his reach and rammed a claw into his side. The Coritani tasted blood and knew that something inside him was hurt badly. He spat blood in the creature’s eyes and fought on.
Marius was slashing at one of the demons as the archer he protected moved from cover to cover behind him, plunking one arrow after another into his enemies. As he fought, he thought he could feel the Black Dagger calling to him, begging to be used on the souls of his enemies. It would have to wait. Never bring a knife to a swordfight.
Speaks and Marcus had retreated to atop the center of the pyramid. Their side of the plateau was no forfeit to the minions of Hell and all they could do was attack them and hope that they didn’t work their way around the flanks. One of the two devils they had been fighting came closer to the edge, seeking a way to remain out of the range of their weapons. The other moved around to the side and leapt atop the center of the pyramid, directly next to the Wizard that had been using him for target practice.
Lazarius stepped back to give himself room and fired point blank at the devil’s chest but his aim failed him this time. One of the Orcs scrambled up behind the devil and prepared to strike it, knowing that if this Wizard were killed that none of them were going home. He struck at the creature but his axe slid off its spiny hide.
Cathal pulled a fallen Orc over his shoulder and hurried him over to near where this fighting was taking place, dumping the unconscious Orc at the feet of their shaman who was huddled near the column of fire where his magic would work. The shaman nodded to the Brigante warrior and went to work on the Orc.
Marius was not taking much damage but he was losing his fight all the same. Unable to land a precise, lethal blow on any of his enemies, he was starting to become outnumbered and surrounded. Looking over his shoulder he could see that the rest of the group was starting to concentrate near the center of the pyramid. It was starting to look like time to leave.
Above the battle a scream of terror pierced the sky and they all looked up to see a horrified Rhys and Scar gripping the edges of their carpet and coming back down from the rift even faster than they went up. What they had found up there was anybody’s guess. At this point “horrors beyond imagining” were starting to become routine.
Lazarius cringed as the devil stepped up to him and unleashed a world of pain. Stripped of his magical defenses, the Imperial War Wizard was an easy target and he paid the price. Bleeding in at least four places, he scrambled back away from his attacker as fast as he could, clinging desperately to consciousness.
Faring little better was Ilrath. But unlike Lazarius, pain was a way of life for the Coritani berserker. Blood soaked spittle flew from his screaming lips as he cut down the devil that had its claws in his chest. He moved toward the center of the pyramid, not retreating but looking for something else to kill.
The Orcs were now in a full, fighting retreat. They collectively downed another demon and continued to withdraw toward the center where magic and escape awaited them. Provided that their Wizard didn’t get himself killed first.
Cathal dashed back into danger to grab another Orc who lay in a pool of blood, barely clinging to life. No point in coming all this way only to leave a fallen friend behind. He hurried as best he could toward where the others were gathering.
Marius was the only member of the group still fighting on the edges of the pyramid. He looked to his left and saw the Orcish archer get ripped to pieces by a pair of demons and knew that it was time to head for the exit. He spun and delivered a final, deep cut to a devil close at hand and began to backpedal.
Speaks was not much for hand to hand fighting but now that he was in the area where magic functioned he could help in other ways. He knelt near the Orcish shaman and green magic flowed into the body of one of the fallen Orcs. The warrior’s eyes fluttered open and Speaks moved to the next one.
Marcus smashed his mace at any of the infernal creatures that came within his reach. His powerful blows had felled more than one of the demons and devils and the rest seemed reluctant to approach his side of the center column. That was fine with him so long as the others held their sides and they all got out of here soon.
Lazarius had retreated beyond the immediate reach of the devil that had come after him. But that left it room to use its own brand of hellish magic. Its clawed fist dug into a pouch it carried and it hurled a handful of coins onto the black stone and called out, Summoning those whose souls it owned. Where each coin had landed now stood a hideous, wretched creature that looked as though it were alive and melting. All of a sudden the pinnacle of the pyramid was crowded and they were surrounded.
It was Lazarius’ turn to strike back now. Standing in the area where magic worked and with foes in the same place, his hand went to his Haversack where it found the ivory rod that he valued so highly. His hand stretched out and Lightning erupted all over the peak of the pyramid, erupting with intensity and precision. The blast destroyed the devil that had attacked him as well as all but one of the Summoned souls it had poured forth.
This seemed to cow most of the other infernal minions who were pressing in around them. None wished to draw close enough to taste that sort of magic. That left only Marius outside the safety of the magic zone.
As he scrambled toward the others he was caught from behind by a demon, claws slashing down his back as the creature tried to hug him in a thorny embrace. Though the Imperial Explorer managed to evade the grasp of the creature, he paid for it in blood.
Marcus dashed out the brains of the only devil to challenge their hold on the center of the pyramid and then spun to smite down the last of the Summoned souls. That left the party in sole possession of the center of the pyramid and if they could get Marius into the group they might just manage their escape.
Magdar bounded off the top of the raised area at the peak of the Tomb, leapt from another stone block and brought his axe down, two-handed on the skull of the spined demon that pursued Marius. The creature fell dead and Magdar let out an inhuman shout of triumph. The few demons and devils that looked on wanted no part of the magic and violence these mortals had to offer and they kept their places at the periphery as human and Orc helped each other back to the top of the pyramid.
Speaks reached out to everyone and cast his Feathers spell once more, reducing them to a flock of small birds. Lazarius looked around him as the minions of Hell tentatively began to close in on him where he stood at the very top of Bane’s Tomb, silhouetted by a surging pillar of green fire. He thought to himself, if I live through this, and if Bale doesn’t destroy the world, I’m going to buy a nice big estate on the north coast of Emor. On the wall in my living room will be a picture of this scene right here.
It will give my concubines something to marvel at while I’m busy.
Then he vanished from Hell, hoping never to return.
Hey, she has sisters too! We did the math and figured if Hell was up there, we'd cozy up below and enjoy. 
