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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3995430" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 336ON THE CUSP OF OBLIVIONAlderis’s chest rose, and a cough shook his fragile frame.  Allera, looking almost as wasted as the elf, leaned back.  The healer’s hands remained clenched around the shaft of the white rod that she’d used to resurrect the elf.  Her own reservoir was nearly empty; she’d held nothing back in her battle with the Overmind. “I hope it was worth it,” Dar said, looking at the vampires, who were engaged in quiet conversation near the pool where the Overmind had rested.  “We need him,” Varo said, kneeling beside the elf.  The ring that Varo had given the elf, through Dar, was in the cleric’s hand.  It was useless now, the large black gemstone cracked, but it had served its purpose, preserving the elf’s life force.  When Alderis’s brain had been consumed by the illithids, killing him, his soul had been drawn into the magical matrix within the gem.  A similar ring had saved Talen’s soul once before, sheltering him from the consuming power of the Sphere of Souls.  Once Varo had broken the enchantment anchoring Alderis’s soul to the stone, Allera had been able to use the rod to bring him back to life.  Unfortunately, the others had lacked any such protection.  Allera had already tried to resurrect Nelan, but the spell failed, unable to locate the priest’s soul and draw it back into his broken body. “We destroyed that freaking sphere,” Dar had asked.  “Why won’t the spell work?”“The power of the demon has grown,” Varo had replied.  “The dead are his.  Orcus has them, now.”The elf’s body had been repaired, but the wiry, muscular body of the “Mad Elf” was long  gone, replaced by an emaciated frame that looked barely capable of sustaining life.  By the look of him, the elf had aged a hundred years in a matter of months.  Through the confusion and weakness that accompanied his transition back to life, however, there was an intensity about him that burned like a fire.  The elf tried to get up, but Varo forestalled him.  “You have experienced a serious trauma.  You will need time to recover.”The elf looked up at him.  There was something haunted in his eyes.  “Varo?”“Yeah, it’s a real freaking reunion,” Dar said.  “Ask him about that rock stuck in his chest.”Alderis looked at the fighter, and blinked, confused.  He reached down and grasped the edge of the cloak that they’d draped over his bare torso.  There hadn’t been much left of the elf’s body after the battle.  His once-fine gray robes had been foul, soaked in blood and stinking of filth and rot.  Dar and Varo had carefully removed them, aware of their magical properties, and laid the elf out upon the floor for Allera and Varo to work their magic.      They’d found most of their companions’ magical items, at least, including both the ring that sheltered Alderis’s soul, and the holy sword Beatus Incendia.  The sword, ring, and a number of other items of power had been immersed in the briny fluid that had hosted the Overmind.  Letellia had posited that the entity had probably drawn power from items infused with magic; they’d found a number of other potent objects in the pool, in addition to those items borne by their slain companions.  The more fragile items, including Alderis’s spellbooks, had been found discarded in a heap in a corner, forgotten as irrelevant.  Alderis pulled the cloak aside.  The light of their torches cast a ruddy hue upon his pale flesh.  And glimmered brightly on the crystal that jutted from the center of the elf’s chest.  Varo helped him this time as he pulled himself up, his eyes fixed on the crystal.  It wasn’t especially large, about the size of a robin’s egg.  It was a deep violet, almost as dark as a starless night, and the flames of the torches danced in its many facets.    “Gods,” Alderis whispered.  “Gods, oh gods, oh gods...”“What the hell is wrong with him?” Dar asked.  Allera tried to help him, but Alderis rolled away from both her and Varo, curling into a fetal position, strangled noises issuing from deep in his throat.  Letellia picked up the cloak that had covered him, and helped Allera tuck it around his thin body.Varo rose.  “Do what you can for him, healer.”  The cleric met Dar’s eyes, and nodded for him to join him.  “What’s happened to him?” Dar hissed, when they were a few paces distant.  “That freaking rock wasn’t there before, when we rescued the elf from the first temple.  I would have remembered... that.”Varo’s expression offered no answers.  “Perhaps, perhaps not,” was all that he said.  “Right now, we have a more pressing issue to consider.”Dar looked up to see Talen, Shay, and Calla approaching.  “The elf, is he all right?” Talen asked.  “You had your head cracked open like an egg, and were brought back,” Dar said.  “You tell me.”Varo stepped in before Talen could respond.  “What of your followers?” the cleric asked.  “Will they be able to return?”Talen shrugged.  “Who knows.  When we first got here, we built coffins using the construction supplies on the second level of the dungeon, and hid them in one of the unoccupied rooms.  But we’re a long ways from there... and they might not be able to reach them in time.”“Your concern for your men is touching,” Dar said. Talen smiled, revealing his teeth with the long fangs jutting down.  “It would seem that we have come full circle, Corath Dar, you and I.  Now you are the commander, while I am the heartless bastard.” Dar shifted slightly, his hand stealing to the hilt of Valor.  Talen’s smile did not ease, but there was a subtle change in his stance as well, a challenge there.  Varo placed a hand on Dar’s arm.  “We need to withdraw,” Varo said.  “Our powers are significantly depleted.  There is a pervasive aura of evil that lies over this entire level of the dungeon; I suspect that neither Allera nor myself will be able to recover spells while here.”“Retreat will give our enemy a chance to reinforce his defenses,” Talen said.  “And as for rest... I would not count upon it.  In case you have forgotten, demons can teleport at will, and Maphistal is still out there, somewhere.”“We have no choice,” Varo said.  “Alderis needs time to recover, and Allera’s healing powers are utterly depleted.”“What of you, Dar?” Talen asked.  “Do you need time to recover?”“I am here to see to the end of a demon, and nothing more.”“It would seem that we agree on one thing, at least.”  He turned back to Varo.  “Very well, priest.  It would appear that our fates are intertwined, at least for now.  Lead on in flight, Shay and I will follow.”Letellia and Allera had gotten Alderis to his feet, but the elf still looked as though a strong wind would blow him away.  He held the cloak tight around his body.  “We’re getting out of here,” Dar said.  “What about the others?” Allera asked, indicating the row of corpses behind her.  Their faces were covered, but that could not obscure the memory of those ravaged bodies, or the litany of names.  Marcus.  Alexion.  Zahera.  Nelan. “There is nothing we can do for them now,” Varo said.  There wasn’t even enough left of them to fear reanimation again; Allera’s healing fire had done a very thorough job. Dar reached down and hefted a cloak that contained some of the items they’d recovered.  “Let’s get out of this freaking place,” he said, his voice weary.  The seven of them left the way they had come, leaving the huge chamber of the Overmind silent and empty.</blockquote>

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