Final Assault
The walls of the timeless demiplane began to dissipate as the Legacy prepared for their approach. As the last spells were cast, the protective bubble vanished, and they found that their position had shifted; they were now only a few yards away from the tower.
The structure itself rose above them, a crystalline mass that seemed to twist around an enormous bluish orb that pulsed and crackled with power. Kyle noticed a second ethereal tower, mirroring the first but inverted, rose invisibly upward from the orb; the effect was almost like two hands cradling a ball. Kyle relayed the description to the others telepathically.
So, the direct approach? Yuri asked.
Not yet, Kyle cautioned. Let’s try something a little different. He cast a spell, and suddenly the Legacy looked like a nondescript band of xeph, accompanied by a lone dromite. Perhaps we try stealth for once.
Indeed, Tolly said, and even if they are aware of us, then perhaps our attempts to be sneaky will amuse Kristyan so much that he’ll be helpless with laughter when we find him.
They approached the tower and soon spotted the only entrance, a thick, narrow door in the base. After Osborn examined it and found nothing unusual, Arrie pushed open the door, then stepped aside to let the others in.
The door opened into a relatively small, crescent-shaped space occupied by a pair of armored half-giants, wielding crystalline glaives. They cast confused looks around as Arrie and the others filed in, but did not react with undue alarm at the appearance of a band of xeph.
“A dream-storm has driven us here,” Arrie mumbled to the half-giants. “We seek shelter.”
“We weren’t aware of any patrols in the area,” one of the half-giants said.
“You weren’t supposed to be,” Arrie replied. “But something out there is disturbed, and we felt it best to withdraw rather than confront it. Especially with everyone on alert already.”
“All right,” the guard sighed. “You can stay here until the storm blows over.”
Autumn piped up. “Is there somewhere we can stay besides the entrance?”
The guard shook his head. “Not without orders from Kristyan. No one’s allowed inside.”
Autumn stepped up and addressed the half-giant. “We’re not asking to be put up in quarters. An out of the way storeroom will do. We have very little psionic power available between the eight of us right now; should there be an attack, we’ll be of little aid to you if we are hanging about in this room. As soon as we’re able to move on, we will.”
The guard scratched at his hair, thinking. “You promise you’ll stay put?”
“Of course,” Arrie said.
The guard turned and opened the door behind him. “There’s an empty room on the fourth floor you can use. Be gone as soon as you can.” He began heading up the stairs, not waiting for the ‘patrol’ to follow.
Wow, Yuri said to Autumn as they ascended, I didn’t know you were such an accomplished liar.
I don’t lie, the sentinel replied. Nothing I said was false.
They were led around on a staircase that spiraled up the outer wall of the tower, Arrie leading the way. The stairs were mostly enclosed, except where they opened onto landings on each level. But as they approached the fourth level, Arrie suddenly began to feel a strange sensation; it was a sense of peace, of rightness. There was a resonance with the psionic core of her mind, a feeling of confidence.
The effect on the others was less tranquil. Each winced as they climbed the stairs and their minds were assaulted with a sound like claws on glass. Blood began trickling out of Yuri’s ears; when the half-giant guard noticed this, Arrie rushed over to her.
“The dream-storm has destabilized you!” she said, forcing panic in her voice. “You need to lie down now!”
Arrie hustled everyone into the room, a small, chamber with no features other than a cluster of crystals in the corner. After a growled warning to stay put, the guard closed the door and marched down the stairs.
Several members of the party were now trickling blood from their ears, eyes, and noses. Let’s find somewhere else to be, Tolly suggested.
Whatever’s causing this, it’s not those crystals, Kyle said. I suspect we’re close to that giant floating orb we saw outside.
There are stairs going up, Arrie said. I suspect that’s where we have to go, but that’ll put us closer to that orb.
We may just have to push through it, Tolly said.
I saw a portal on the second level, Osborn said. To the Ethereal, I think. Maybe we can get around another way.
Let’s try the portal first, then, Arrie said. Worst case, we have to backtrack.
They proceeded down the stairs, almost immediately feeling relief as they dropped out of the orb’s range. Osborn, who moved ahead to scout, came to the second story landing and immediately crouched down, even though he was invisible. With his magical blindfold, he could sense a presence in the far corner, some being that was invisible like himself. The portal he’d seen was near the center of the room. After sending a telepathic warning to the rest of the group, Osborn moved around and took up a position to one side, waiting while the rest of the group got into position.
The ambush took only seconds to execute. A pair of Osborn’s daggers flew out of nowhere and pierced the invisible guardian, who grunted in pain. It cast a spell in response, and a force wall bisected the room, cutting across the stairwell to block off the stairs heading to the main level. Unfortunately for him, it did not cut off the stairway above.
A few seconds later, Yuri was cleaning dark ichor from her greatspear, while Kyle went over the corpse of the medusa sorcerer. The force wall that cut them off from the portal lasted only another minute. Osborn came back to report that the guards downstairs had apparently not heard the battle, thanks to the wall of force. Kyle came up with a ring and a small red crystal. He handed the ring to Autumn, explaining that it would help her see invisible beings, and then offered the crystal to Tolly.
You know I don’t use psionic items, Tolly said.
It’s not psionic, it’s magical. It’s an augment crystal – they’re extremely rare post-Cataclysm. This was attached to the medusa’s bow; I suspect that it provides some sort of fire enhancement to a weapon.
I’ll take it! Osborn said. He picked up the offered crystal and stuck it to the pommel of his short sword.
The party hid the body of the medusa, then proceeded into the portal. They emerged into a tiny room, barely big enough for a person to lie down in. A hole in the ceiling was the only way out. Yuri began to retrieve her rope, but Kyle stopped her.
No gravity on the Ethereal, he explained, as he rose into the air.
The air around them seemed misty, but not damp, and to their surprise they found that the walls were quite solid around them; whoever had built the tower had brought materials through the portal. The hole led upward into a slightly larger room, with no exits, but the wall on the far end was hazy and insubstantial. Osborn carefully poked his head through the wall, and announced the presence of another hole in the ceiling.
As Osborn rose up through the hole, however, he began to get that claws-on-glass sensation in his mind. He drifted down again, cursing.
Let me go first, Arrie suggested. She rose up through the hole and looked around. She was in a long, narrow hallway, that curved slightly. Behind her about fifteen feet, she saw another hole in the ceiling. But up ahead, the walls only rose about halfway up from the floor, and outside to the left she saw a gigantic pulsating orb of energy.
Guys, that orb is right here, she said. I’m going to keep going to see how far you all have to go to get past it.
But as she moved, she caught a flicker of movement near the orb. She approached cautiously, wanting to make sure that they weren’t attacked from behind on the way through. She looked at the orb, and saw a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at her.
Mentally crying out in alarm, she stepped back as an energy form poured out of the orb, and approached her with clear malice. Arrie dropped back down through the hole.
So, we’re cut off, I take it? Tolly asked.
Pretty much, Arrie replied.
Perhaps we should go back to the Dream Realm, the Ardaran suggested.
That may not help. The orb exists in both worlds; most likely we’d end up facing this creature there as well. Arrie looked up through the hole. I have an idea. If we distract it, we can make it to the next hole in the ceiling. I’ll stay back while you all go through; the orb’s power doesn’t harm me, and I’m used to being knocked around.
The creature was waiting for them as they sprang up out of the hole. Osborn and Yuri were the first up, charging in quickly in the hopes of pushing the beast back enough to give the others room to maneuver. The others moved their way up to form a defensive line, and then Arrie moved to the front.
“Will you guys get moving?” she shouted, not bothering with using telepathy, as she maneuvered to intercept the beast’s lashing tendrils. One of the tentacles struck her, and she was struck with psionic feedback that sapped her vitality. Autumn was also struck by a tendril, with similar effects. Seeing the debilitating effects of the attacks, Nidru stepped forward and healed them.
But then the orb pulsed, and tendrils of energy lashed out from its surface, striking everyone in the head and lashing out at their very sense of being. Everyone reeled from the mental shock, except for Autumn, who drew into her deepest convictions to retain her own sense of identity.
“Now!” Arrie shouted through gritted teeth.
Kyle was the first to comply, moving past the melee and shooting up into the next level. He came up in a corridor with a large door on one wall, along with another hole in the ceiling. An arcane glyph was carved into the door, and Kyle studied it for a moment before Yuri and Tolly shot up through the hole, with the others not far behind.
Autumn attacked and the creature dissipated, Yuri said to the wizard, but I think it was starting to reform, or another one was coming out of the orb. Everyone should be on this level soon.
This mark belongs to a elven sorcerer that I thought died decades ago, Kyle commented. His name was Umaerh. He focused a lot on necromantic magics.
He’s not one of Herion’s cousins, is he? Osborn asked as he came up through the hole.
Yuri suddenly clutched at her head and stifled a scream as another energy tendril arced up through the hole and struck her. “I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet,” she grunted, not able to concentrate enough to communicate mentally.
As soon as Arrie appeared in the hole, battering away tendrils with her greatsword, everyone began to move upward, toward a second opening in the ceiling. Yuri was the first one through this time, floating up into another narrow chamber with a door set into the far wall. The wall to her left was hazy and insubstantial. She kept a cautious eye on that wall as the others came up to join her, but was relieved when she realized that the pressure on her psyche from the orb had subsided. Smoke rose from Kyle’s hair as he came up, having been blasted by the orb before departing.
That’s much better, Autumn said, as she noticed the pain in her head easing.
Arrie was the last one up, bruised and battered. That was unpleasant, she said.
I imagine it was, Autumn replied sarcastically.
