The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
RangerWickett
Legend
Oh, I just did that myself, and I was able to recover everything. See this link if you need to download it: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByaZJ98xav84WkJuZWM5VXdyZVk?usp=sharing
I hope.
I hope.
RangerWickett
Legend
Poke?
Okay, I found a backup that was up to date and will begin reinstating the SH.
Moving up the corridor we came across another closed fist. This time, we dealt it several swift blows and it opened to reveal a large room with a dark pink floor that was very flat; it also seemed very slightly terse; however, those were the only things that my cursory examination could ascertain as there were also two large creatures in the room; two enormous whirlwinds which we immediately recognised as air elementals. I thought it was quite a peculiar place for them to be but that was all rendered irrelevant as they moved forward to attack.
Simultaneously, another of these strange figures seemingly made of the interior of the ship rose up; as before, it resembled Pilus. The two warriors engaged the elementals which tried to scoop them up in their whirlwinds only to be thwarted by Indomitability’s Gift. A dark ray hit Victor, weakening him but then I cast a spell, causing a group of lashing tentacles to wrap themselves around this peculiar spell caster. Drudge shot him several times, which caused it to sink back into the pink mass that was the floor. The two warriors then made fairly short work of the air elementals; we had spotted an exit on the opposite side of the opening and this time, rather than resembling a fist, it opened and closed convulsively on its own. It was just a matter of timing our movement so as not to be caught within the pulsing doorway. Thankfully we all managed to do so and emerged into another narrow, fleshy corridor.
As we did so, Drudge muttered:
“Does the floor remind anyone else of a tongue?”
John shook his head and answered:
“Just don’t think about it in those terms. It really is better that way.”
We advanced through this corridor and wound our way through this strange environment. As ever, the walls had a distinctive look of flesh and fat; every so often, a flash of light would pulse through them. Strange protuberances emerged from the sides and floor and the corridor would narrow convulsively as if the huge beast or ship was swallowing or breathing.
We turned around a corner and found another chamber. This time, the corridor remained but the opening beside it widened and dropped below, creating a peculiar flesh bridge leading to the other side. Strange hair like tendrils swayed gently in some sort of wind or breeze, looking oddly like underwater plants being pushed by sea currents. This chamber dropped quite some distance. The bridge itself split into two branches, each leading to a door.
The walls were white but again it was the creatures that caught our attention. The first, floating at the junction of the bridge, was some sort of giant with a small floating stone whirling around his head; below us, at the bottom of the chamber was a quartet of strange beasts; looking strangely like dinosaurs but with no features on their faces, they had turned in our direction as one so they must have had some sort of senses. Then I spotted their huge ears.
Moments later, everything was covered in fog.
Just as it did, I heard Drudge shout:
“It’s a cloud giant! A big one!”
Moments later, still in the cloud, I heard a strange bark. That was not really doing it justice but it is the closest word I can imagine. It was as if a missile of sound had been launched. It had not been aimed at me as but someone was being attacked, probably by the creatures on the ground. Moments later, I edged forward out of the cloud, only to realise that it had gone very quiet and I could not hear anything. Someone must have cast a spell of magical silence to protect us against the beasts. Felix was the only person with that power. Looking around quickly, I saw one of the beasts already lying on the floor, transfixed with four arrows. Longhelim and Victor were confronting the giant; it was wielding two enormous morning stars and I could see that Victor was suffering badly from the confrontation, judging by his swaying and bloody chest. Longhelim was using the Torch very effectively and the giant was also looking fairly battered.
Strangest of all, Drudge was enveloped in some sort of metal container. It was constraining him and most importantly, stopping him from firing his arrows. Thankfully, I was just in time to see John tap the ranger and he seemed to wriggle out of this barrel of whatever it was; it fell onto the bridge.
I looked up again to notice that there was something odd about the giant; as I watched it flying and moving as it dodged the blows of the warriors, I realised that its lower half consisted of a miniature whirlwind; suddenly I remembered. It was in the secret Temple close to the monastery of the Two Winds! We confronted a minotaur which had the same strange feature. It had been some sort of biomantic creature under the command of Pilus. He must have made progress with his experiments. As I glanced around the ship, I realised that that was pretty obvious.
I relayed the biomancy link to the others through my mental link but everyone had other concerns. The beasts seemed to be targeting their barks at the warriors who were not in the magical silence. I was getting more concerned about Victor, who really did look badly hurt. Thankfully, Felix dropped a pebble and suddenly we could all hear again. He cast a spell and touched Victor, who immediately looked much better. Just before he reached the warrior, I cast a little spell and a black ray shot out of my hand and weakened the giant. Although he managed to hit Felix as the cleric approached, the blow was far less severe than it could have been.
Longhelim had just managed to land several good blows against his opponent and Victor, much invigorated, set himself for one of those devastating combination of blows that had become such a characteristic of his combat style. As he stepped again and again, slicing into the giant, it became obvious that the creature had fallen even before Victor finished his move. Simultaneously, Drudge shot the third of the beasts while Longhelim flew down to deal with the last one.
It had been a tough combat, especially as the giant seemed to have several resistances generally not associated with its kind. We collected the morning stars, the whirling stone, a white one, and a surprisingly large collection of diamonds which the giant carried in pouch around its neck. Having done that, we took the right branch of the bridge and this time arrived at the usual fist, which we had hit to get it to open.
As previously, Victor hit it from this side to allow everyone to exit and then Longhelim returned the favour from the other side. This time, we emerged into a slightly wider corridor with walls which resembled gristle; it was gray and much harder than the previous pink or red substances. There was also a sense of palpable arcane power, so overt that even the non-spell casters in the group could register it. For me, it was as if someone was shining a beacon. We were very close to the heart of the beast!
We carried on up the gristle corridor until we came to a curtain of skin. It was pink and an obvious contrast to the gristle. John had conjured one of his invisible helpers. He had been dragging that strange barrel of metal that had given Drudge so much trouble. The helper sped forward and moved the curtain, to reveal a further corridor, this time with two curtains resembling skin on the side. These seemed to be masking doorways into some sort of openings.
As the helper held the first curtain aside, we walked through and edged into the corridor, mindful that anything could come out from behind the other two. Once we were all through, John ordered the helper to open one of the curtains to reveal a plush, luxurious set of quarters with rugs on the floor, a beautiful pair of beds and chests at the foot of each of them. Drawing aside the other curtain revealed an even better appointed set of quarters but this one for a single person.
John looked at us with a silent question on his face but Longhelim shook his head:
“Pilus knows where we are at all times. He can raise those strange flesh versions of himself anywhere and there is certainly a reason why he would tempt us to spend time here. Either he needs it or this is one big trap. We need to carry on as fast as possible.”
With that, we all turned and prepared to march up the corridor when suddenly Victor and Drudge ran down the corridor as fast as they could. Thankfully, just before Drudge turned around the corner, I managed to put a magical wall in front of him. Moments later, Felix shouted:
“Watch out! They’re insane!”
That was the worst of news. Magical insanity meant that they were completely unpredictable and could do anything. Victor suddenly ambled up to the other side of Drudge and towards me but unfortunately, the ranger suddenly aimed his bow and let loose on John! The rogue went down with four arrows in him. Just then, Drudge shook his head as if he was trying to rid himself of something and then rushed forward to John. I had prudently moved away from the warrior. Unlike the others, I could see Felix moving around, still magically unseen from a previous spell which he had cast, He had tapped the ranger, curing him and was about to do the same to Victor. Moments later, Victor had also been cured and we resumed, only to be met by another flap of skin.
This time, as the helper moved aside, we were met by a huge chamber, with a multitude of monks looking at us in their martial poses. They were all female. On the other side of the chamber was a platform surrounded by a vertical stockade of bones. Standing on top of it was a figure recognizable as Pilus. He was naked, with his arms spread out and the hand buried in the walls of his ship. His skin resembled that of his ship right down to the strange electric flashes which matched the flashing pulses in the walls. More tubes and tongues of flesh attached to his head and body, wall as well as many of the hair like tendrils; in short, he was a living embodiment of his dammed vessel. The arcane power was enough to make our hair stand on end and electric flashes pulsed both through the wall and through Pilus, illuminating his eyes and mouth in an eerie, corresponding pulse.
Suspended from the ceiling in a network of tubes was a wretched horse; no, not a horse, a unicorn; most of its fur had fallen off and it looked as if it was dead but its head moved slightly as we opened the curtain.
Finally, at the back of the room stood the Khagan, Onamdammin, with a retinue of guards in heavy armour and falchions.
Pilus looked at us and spoke in a rasping voice with several swallows which again corresponded with the electric pulses flashing through is body:
“Welcome! You’re a little late but better late than never. What do you think of my little construct? Isn’t it a thing of beauty and wonder? I wanted to thank you for your contribution. If it hadn’t been for your earlier expedition to my secret monastery, it wouldn’t be such a magnificent achievement. After your interference, I realised that the only way for it to reach its full potential, was to involve myself personally. And now, you’ve reached the heart of the beast!”
A moment later, I felt a wracking pain through my body, as if all the moisture was being sucked out of my veins; judging by everyone else’s reactions, I was not the only one. The Khagan and his guards retreated around the corner and the monks all cast missiles of force at Victor. The warrior staggered by stayed up. I managed to cast a spell of speed on everyone before retreating a little down the corridor, to get out of sight of the monks. Victor strode forward and slashed at one of them, only for that individual to collapse.
A shout from Victor:
“They’re not very tough.”
He was swiftly followed by a volley of arrows from Drudge which eliminated another of the monks and then Longhelim stepped into the fray, dealing with another. Quite swiftly, three of the enemy had been laid low. Felix cast his most powerful healing spell, which affected all of us; just in time too, as Victor had been badly hurt and Pilus unleashed another of his spells of pain. The results were similar to his previous magic and everyone reeled but steeled themselves and carried on. I turned myself invisible while the warriors confronted the monks; this did not go well for the monks.
And then time stopped………
It was one of the most powerful spells available to wizards and legendary in its complexity; only the most skilled of practitioners of magic could even attempt to cast it; it seemed that Pilus qualified for this as I saw the several blank opaque walls dividing our group. As usual, a spell made the magically unseen visible to me; these walls were usually invisible but not to the spell. Irritatingly, this was one of the few annoying features of this particular type of magic. As it happened, Pilus managed to separate me from everyone bar Drudge; everyone else was out of sight of me at this time.
Thankfully, we could still communicate in our minds; John, Felix and Victor were together behind one wall; Longhelim was trapped on his own in another part of the “heart”. Of course, I had ways around this and I quickly cast a spell; a green ray shot out of my hand and destroyed one of the walls. It released the group of three and Victor quickly came around the corner. My speed spell allowed him to move far faster than usual and he managed to slay a monk.
Felix also came around the corner while John was happy to stay where he was, to be used as a reserve.
The khagan and his bodyguards made an appearance and approached us in a broad front; the khagan had turned invisible but again I could see him due to my spell. I warned the others about his magic and then cast a little spell which transported me next to Longhelim beyond the other wall. I was invisible myself by this time so I had to tug at his armour; he seemed quite pleased to feel that.
A few moments later, I moved both of us beyond the wall and right next to Victor, who was at the mercy of the Khagan’s warriors; it was quite odd. His head was lolling and he had dropped his weapon. The enemy was playing merry hell with him; even more oddly, there were no arrows flying around and glancing back, I saw that Drudge was in the same condition. Again, I recognised it as a powerful magical spell, usually performed in the manner of a Word of Power, which forced the victim to become helpless. It looked as if Pilus had been busy.
Thankfully, Felix moved behind Victor and touched him with a powerful healing spell; this woke him up and he engaged the enemy again.
Then, just as I was getting ready to do something, there was a shout from Pilus and everything went hazy…….
I came to only to be confronted by a blank wall; Pilus must have been able to cast another of those magical walls. There was also an odd mist around me which had definitely not been there before. Again, I cast a spell and a green ray shot out of my hand, destroying this particular wall. There was another behind me, obscuring Drudge and John; thankfully, I was still in touch with John mentally.
Once that wall was out of the way, I saw that Victor and Felix were next to Pilus, on his strange platform. Longhelim was on the floor in front of them. The Khagan Onamdahmin was next to Pilus and Felix. Pilus has also made himself invisible.
Mentally, I sent out:
“Quick, John, I’m back! What’s happened?”
“Faden! Finally you’ve recovered! Drudge has just returned as well. Pilus is casting spells as if there was no tomorrow; he seems to have a neverending supply of these magical walls. Moments ago, he also hit Longhelim with some sort of multicoloured cone; he’s never been the same since; he either wonders around or talks about all the pretty fluffy bunnies he can see.
Drudge is quite badly hurt but he’s getting better. Victor has swung wildly at Pilus but the wizard is very nimble, considering that he’s got a tube attached to his head. I’ve tried casting spells but the ship seems to suck them and rob them of their power.
Apart from that, it’s just Pilus and the Khagan left, apart from that monk who’s cowering in the corner.”
Moving up the corridor we came across another closed fist. This time, we dealt it several swift blows and it opened to reveal a large room with a dark pink floor that was very flat; it also seemed very slightly terse; however, those were the only things that my cursory examination could ascertain as there were also two large creatures in the room; two enormous whirlwinds which we immediately recognised as air elementals. I thought it was quite a peculiar place for them to be but that was all rendered irrelevant as they moved forward to attack.
Simultaneously, another of these strange figures seemingly made of the interior of the ship rose up; as before, it resembled Pilus. The two warriors engaged the elementals which tried to scoop them up in their whirlwinds only to be thwarted by Indomitability’s Gift. A dark ray hit Victor, weakening him but then I cast a spell, causing a group of lashing tentacles to wrap themselves around this peculiar spell caster. Drudge shot him several times, which caused it to sink back into the pink mass that was the floor. The two warriors then made fairly short work of the air elementals; we had spotted an exit on the opposite side of the opening and this time, rather than resembling a fist, it opened and closed convulsively on its own. It was just a matter of timing our movement so as not to be caught within the pulsing doorway. Thankfully we all managed to do so and emerged into another narrow, fleshy corridor.
As we did so, Drudge muttered:
“Does the floor remind anyone else of a tongue?”
John shook his head and answered:
“Just don’t think about it in those terms. It really is better that way.”
We advanced through this corridor and wound our way through this strange environment. As ever, the walls had a distinctive look of flesh and fat; every so often, a flash of light would pulse through them. Strange protuberances emerged from the sides and floor and the corridor would narrow convulsively as if the huge beast or ship was swallowing or breathing.
We turned around a corner and found another chamber. This time, the corridor remained but the opening beside it widened and dropped below, creating a peculiar flesh bridge leading to the other side. Strange hair like tendrils swayed gently in some sort of wind or breeze, looking oddly like underwater plants being pushed by sea currents. This chamber dropped quite some distance. The bridge itself split into two branches, each leading to a door.
The walls were white but again it was the creatures that caught our attention. The first, floating at the junction of the bridge, was some sort of giant with a small floating stone whirling around his head; below us, at the bottom of the chamber was a quartet of strange beasts; looking strangely like dinosaurs but with no features on their faces, they had turned in our direction as one so they must have had some sort of senses. Then I spotted their huge ears.
Moments later, everything was covered in fog.
Just as it did, I heard Drudge shout:
“It’s a cloud giant! A big one!”
Moments later, still in the cloud, I heard a strange bark. That was not really doing it justice but it is the closest word I can imagine. It was as if a missile of sound had been launched. It had not been aimed at me as but someone was being attacked, probably by the creatures on the ground. Moments later, I edged forward out of the cloud, only to realise that it had gone very quiet and I could not hear anything. Someone must have cast a spell of magical silence to protect us against the beasts. Felix was the only person with that power. Looking around quickly, I saw one of the beasts already lying on the floor, transfixed with four arrows. Longhelim and Victor were confronting the giant; it was wielding two enormous morning stars and I could see that Victor was suffering badly from the confrontation, judging by his swaying and bloody chest. Longhelim was using the Torch very effectively and the giant was also looking fairly battered.
Strangest of all, Drudge was enveloped in some sort of metal container. It was constraining him and most importantly, stopping him from firing his arrows. Thankfully, I was just in time to see John tap the ranger and he seemed to wriggle out of this barrel of whatever it was; it fell onto the bridge.
I looked up again to notice that there was something odd about the giant; as I watched it flying and moving as it dodged the blows of the warriors, I realised that its lower half consisted of a miniature whirlwind; suddenly I remembered. It was in the secret Temple close to the monastery of the Two Winds! We confronted a minotaur which had the same strange feature. It had been some sort of biomantic creature under the command of Pilus. He must have made progress with his experiments. As I glanced around the ship, I realised that that was pretty obvious.
I relayed the biomancy link to the others through my mental link but everyone had other concerns. The beasts seemed to be targeting their barks at the warriors who were not in the magical silence. I was getting more concerned about Victor, who really did look badly hurt. Thankfully, Felix dropped a pebble and suddenly we could all hear again. He cast a spell and touched Victor, who immediately looked much better. Just before he reached the warrior, I cast a little spell and a black ray shot out of my hand and weakened the giant. Although he managed to hit Felix as the cleric approached, the blow was far less severe than it could have been.
Longhelim had just managed to land several good blows against his opponent and Victor, much invigorated, set himself for one of those devastating combination of blows that had become such a characteristic of his combat style. As he stepped again and again, slicing into the giant, it became obvious that the creature had fallen even before Victor finished his move. Simultaneously, Drudge shot the third of the beasts while Longhelim flew down to deal with the last one.
It had been a tough combat, especially as the giant seemed to have several resistances generally not associated with its kind. We collected the morning stars, the whirling stone, a white one, and a surprisingly large collection of diamonds which the giant carried in pouch around its neck. Having done that, we took the right branch of the bridge and this time arrived at the usual fist, which we had hit to get it to open.
As previously, Victor hit it from this side to allow everyone to exit and then Longhelim returned the favour from the other side. This time, we emerged into a slightly wider corridor with walls which resembled gristle; it was gray and much harder than the previous pink or red substances. There was also a sense of palpable arcane power, so overt that even the non-spell casters in the group could register it. For me, it was as if someone was shining a beacon. We were very close to the heart of the beast!
We carried on up the gristle corridor until we came to a curtain of skin. It was pink and an obvious contrast to the gristle. John had conjured one of his invisible helpers. He had been dragging that strange barrel of metal that had given Drudge so much trouble. The helper sped forward and moved the curtain, to reveal a further corridor, this time with two curtains resembling skin on the side. These seemed to be masking doorways into some sort of openings.
As the helper held the first curtain aside, we walked through and edged into the corridor, mindful that anything could come out from behind the other two. Once we were all through, John ordered the helper to open one of the curtains to reveal a plush, luxurious set of quarters with rugs on the floor, a beautiful pair of beds and chests at the foot of each of them. Drawing aside the other curtain revealed an even better appointed set of quarters but this one for a single person.
John looked at us with a silent question on his face but Longhelim shook his head:
“Pilus knows where we are at all times. He can raise those strange flesh versions of himself anywhere and there is certainly a reason why he would tempt us to spend time here. Either he needs it or this is one big trap. We need to carry on as fast as possible.”
With that, we all turned and prepared to march up the corridor when suddenly Victor and Drudge ran down the corridor as fast as they could. Thankfully, just before Drudge turned around the corner, I managed to put a magical wall in front of him. Moments later, Felix shouted:
“Watch out! They’re insane!”
That was the worst of news. Magical insanity meant that they were completely unpredictable and could do anything. Victor suddenly ambled up to the other side of Drudge and towards me but unfortunately, the ranger suddenly aimed his bow and let loose on John! The rogue went down with four arrows in him. Just then, Drudge shook his head as if he was trying to rid himself of something and then rushed forward to John. I had prudently moved away from the warrior. Unlike the others, I could see Felix moving around, still magically unseen from a previous spell which he had cast, He had tapped the ranger, curing him and was about to do the same to Victor. Moments later, Victor had also been cured and we resumed, only to be met by another flap of skin.
This time, as the helper moved aside, we were met by a huge chamber, with a multitude of monks looking at us in their martial poses. They were all female. On the other side of the chamber was a platform surrounded by a vertical stockade of bones. Standing on top of it was a figure recognizable as Pilus. He was naked, with his arms spread out and the hand buried in the walls of his ship. His skin resembled that of his ship right down to the strange electric flashes which matched the flashing pulses in the walls. More tubes and tongues of flesh attached to his head and body, wall as well as many of the hair like tendrils; in short, he was a living embodiment of his dammed vessel. The arcane power was enough to make our hair stand on end and electric flashes pulsed both through the wall and through Pilus, illuminating his eyes and mouth in an eerie, corresponding pulse.
Suspended from the ceiling in a network of tubes was a wretched horse; no, not a horse, a unicorn; most of its fur had fallen off and it looked as if it was dead but its head moved slightly as we opened the curtain.
Finally, at the back of the room stood the Khagan, Onamdammin, with a retinue of guards in heavy armour and falchions.
Pilus looked at us and spoke in a rasping voice with several swallows which again corresponded with the electric pulses flashing through is body:
“Welcome! You’re a little late but better late than never. What do you think of my little construct? Isn’t it a thing of beauty and wonder? I wanted to thank you for your contribution. If it hadn’t been for your earlier expedition to my secret monastery, it wouldn’t be such a magnificent achievement. After your interference, I realised that the only way for it to reach its full potential, was to involve myself personally. And now, you’ve reached the heart of the beast!”
A moment later, I felt a wracking pain through my body, as if all the moisture was being sucked out of my veins; judging by everyone else’s reactions, I was not the only one. The Khagan and his guards retreated around the corner and the monks all cast missiles of force at Victor. The warrior staggered by stayed up. I managed to cast a spell of speed on everyone before retreating a little down the corridor, to get out of sight of the monks. Victor strode forward and slashed at one of them, only for that individual to collapse.
A shout from Victor:
“They’re not very tough.”
He was swiftly followed by a volley of arrows from Drudge which eliminated another of the monks and then Longhelim stepped into the fray, dealing with another. Quite swiftly, three of the enemy had been laid low. Felix cast his most powerful healing spell, which affected all of us; just in time too, as Victor had been badly hurt and Pilus unleashed another of his spells of pain. The results were similar to his previous magic and everyone reeled but steeled themselves and carried on. I turned myself invisible while the warriors confronted the monks; this did not go well for the monks.
And then time stopped………
It was one of the most powerful spells available to wizards and legendary in its complexity; only the most skilled of practitioners of magic could even attempt to cast it; it seemed that Pilus qualified for this as I saw the several blank opaque walls dividing our group. As usual, a spell made the magically unseen visible to me; these walls were usually invisible but not to the spell. Irritatingly, this was one of the few annoying features of this particular type of magic. As it happened, Pilus managed to separate me from everyone bar Drudge; everyone else was out of sight of me at this time.
Thankfully, we could still communicate in our minds; John, Felix and Victor were together behind one wall; Longhelim was trapped on his own in another part of the “heart”. Of course, I had ways around this and I quickly cast a spell; a green ray shot out of my hand and destroyed one of the walls. It released the group of three and Victor quickly came around the corner. My speed spell allowed him to move far faster than usual and he managed to slay a monk.
Felix also came around the corner while John was happy to stay where he was, to be used as a reserve.
The khagan and his bodyguards made an appearance and approached us in a broad front; the khagan had turned invisible but again I could see him due to my spell. I warned the others about his magic and then cast a little spell which transported me next to Longhelim beyond the other wall. I was invisible myself by this time so I had to tug at his armour; he seemed quite pleased to feel that.
A few moments later, I moved both of us beyond the wall and right next to Victor, who was at the mercy of the Khagan’s warriors; it was quite odd. His head was lolling and he had dropped his weapon. The enemy was playing merry hell with him; even more oddly, there were no arrows flying around and glancing back, I saw that Drudge was in the same condition. Again, I recognised it as a powerful magical spell, usually performed in the manner of a Word of Power, which forced the victim to become helpless. It looked as if Pilus had been busy.
Thankfully, Felix moved behind Victor and touched him with a powerful healing spell; this woke him up and he engaged the enemy again.
Then, just as I was getting ready to do something, there was a shout from Pilus and everything went hazy…….
I came to only to be confronted by a blank wall; Pilus must have been able to cast another of those magical walls. There was also an odd mist around me which had definitely not been there before. Again, I cast a spell and a green ray shot out of my hand, destroying this particular wall. There was another behind me, obscuring Drudge and John; thankfully, I was still in touch with John mentally.
Once that wall was out of the way, I saw that Victor and Felix were next to Pilus, on his strange platform. Longhelim was on the floor in front of them. The Khagan Onamdahmin was next to Pilus and Felix. Pilus has also made himself invisible.
Mentally, I sent out:
“Quick, John, I’m back! What’s happened?”
“Faden! Finally you’ve recovered! Drudge has just returned as well. Pilus is casting spells as if there was no tomorrow; he seems to have a neverending supply of these magical walls. Moments ago, he also hit Longhelim with some sort of multicoloured cone; he’s never been the same since; he either wonders around or talks about all the pretty fluffy bunnies he can see.
Drudge is quite badly hurt but he’s getting better. Victor has swung wildly at Pilus but the wizard is very nimble, considering that he’s got a tube attached to his head. I’ve tried casting spells but the ship seems to suck them and rob them of their power.
Apart from that, it’s just Pilus and the Khagan left, apart from that monk who’s cowering in the corner.”
I knew of the spell and malady affecting Longhelim and as I was still unseen, I kept well away from the paladin. The magic was going to make him completely unpredictable. I moved up to Felix and Victor, quickly keeping off the ground. Quickly, I tugged at Felix’s robe, just to make sure that he knew I was there.
I cast a little spell; very useful to us and very annoying for him. A cloud of glittering motes appeared on most of the platform and suddenly it covered his figure, outlining and negating his unseen magic. It would also stop him from turning invisible in the future until my spell ran out. As he did so, I heard him say a very nasty word. Not magical, just nasty.
Suddenly, another wall appeared in front of us. Thankfully, I still had some travelling spells left and I used it only to find that Pilus had somehow managed to conjure yet more magical walls in front of us. These now separated Felix from Victor and I but put the cleric within reach of the Khagan. Thus, I could hear some fast casting from Felix which I hoped was making life uncomfortable for his opponent. The walls were still opaque to me as I had my magical sight in place.
Suddenly, yet more walls appeared while others disappeared, presumably the durations had expired. They were in a different configuration this time; suddenly I was next to the Khagan and Pilus, but separated from Victor and Felix; this opportunity could not be missed, despite the danger. I took out my wand and fired off a bolt of lightning at the biomancer; as expected, it bounced straight back at me but thankfully, I was protected against it; however, it did begin to give me an idea of his abilities and defences. Unfortunately, it also made me visible and the Khagan pounced and struck me several times. I realised that I would have to deal with the warrior before I continued my duel with Pilus.
Casting rapidly, a powerful lash of lighting erupted from my hands this time and hit the Khagan, causing him to grunt and take a step back; amazingly, he still stood although he did look considerably annoyed. Pilus in the meantime had managed to cast a spell at me which dissolved some of my magic, including the ability to see invisible beings; the good part of that was that the magical walls stopped being opaque and suddenly they became transparent. So, I could see that the others were now looking at the magical walls and having a quick discussion. Drudge and John were still together; Victor and Felix were in a different section of the room and Longhelim was still wondering around on his own, babbling, running and every so often, trying vainly to hit Pilus through the wall. Basically, he was still insane as a result to being hit with the magical rainbow.
Suddenly, there was a new development as another of those figures that looked like Pilus grew from the flesh of the ship and cast a spell at Felix, attempting to dissolve his magic. Victor flew forward and sliced the creature several times but not before it was able to cast another of those spells. I could see Felix grimacing, so something must have happened. In the meantime, I had my own problems, as the Khagan sliced his falchion into me again. This was now getting concerning so I cast one of my two most damaging spells against him; as the moisture was sucked from his body, yet again, he staggered, grimaced but still stood. Unbelieving, I looked at him; he had already stood under two of Felix’s fire spells; I assumed that he had defences against the element but he must have been hurt to an extent. Yet, he still stood. He looked at me. Then he hefted his sword and swung again. I tried to duck but he was far too canny a warrior and yet again I felt the weapon biting.
Pilus was casting and suddenly he turned invisible again; he must have managed to get rid of the little sparkling motes I put on him. Annoying and I wish I could have done something about it but I had my own problems; again, I had to cast my most powerful damaging spell on Onamdahmin and yet again he still stood there and took it. In turn, he cast a spell in our little space; it seems that not only was he a great warrior, but a spell caster as well. A ball of fire was concentrated in this tiny area and burned – very badly. I could see that he was not affected as he must have been magically warded. Unfortunately, fire was one of the few elements against which I did not have a ward this time. This was getting extremely worrying as I was now very badly wounded; so much so in fact and I had to get out of there otherwise I would probably die.
So, casting adroitly, I used my last spell of magical transport and put myself next to Felix.
Glancing quickly towards Victor and Felix, I saw that the warrior had dealt with another of the flesh constructs while Drudge and John had managed to approach the real Pilus; one of the magical walls must have finally gone down at the far end of the room. Of course that still left one of the walls next to him so “approach” was a relative term; they were still cut off from him.
In the meantime, yet another of the constructs appeared and cast another spell which dissolved more of Felix’s defensive magic. Thankfully, the cleric began to heal me while I started delving into my possessions to find as many healing potions as I had stashed away. I began to drink those as fast as I could. Strangely, I could see that Onamdaahmin was doing exactly the same.
I could no longer see Pilus; as I mentioned earlier, Pilus had managed to dissolve the spell I had cast on him to negate his own spell of unseeing. I was still taking an opportunity to drink healing potions while Felix was still healing me.
Longhelim was still wondering around aimlessly but I noticed that several of the more recent flesh constructs had appeared in the segment of the room where John and Drudge were segregated; as it happened, it was the same segment as the paladin but thankfully, nothing untoward had happened yet.
Suddenly, there was another development as Onamdaahmin, looking much healthier, approached again. I was far more wary of him this time; the Khagan was a very powerful warrior with some ability with magic; while Victor may have been his equal, it was imperative that our warriors were fit to fight against Pilus. Longhelim was already unfit for the conflict so that left only Victor. With this in mind, I put a small cell of force around the Khagan. I hoped that he would not have a spell of magical transport left in his repertoire.
I told Felix what I had done and the cleric cackled in glee. Then he asked:
“What’s happening with the others?”
“I don’t know. I can sense that John is waiting for Longhelim to at least show some signs of normalcy. Once that happens, he has a plan although I can’t quite tell what it is……urk”
That last came as I felt a spell come hurtling towards me. Pilus was very unhappy that I had neutralized his main warrior. Unfortunately, I was not nimble enough and found myself encased in a sphere of force. I recognised the spell; it was a nuisance but it did not last very long. Not nearly as long as the prison around Onamdaahmin; however, it would keep me out of the fight against Pilus.
At that moment, I felt I surge of triumph from John and there was a shout:
“Quick, Longhelim, drop your cloak!”
I saw the paladin doing so and I remembered that that cloak, as well as being magically active as a defense, also had several additional powers, one of them being the ability to use magical transport in a limited manner. Moments later, both Victor and Felix were next to Pilus, but held back by yet another wall; or so I thought, until I saw Victor take a swing at the Master of the East Wind, or at a particular position; his sword certainly seemed to be hitting something so he must have had some magic that allowed him to see the biomancer. Then Victor stopped, so I assumed that Pilus must have put another wall to intercede between himself and the warrior. I also saw the barrier of fire flare up as Victor struck, burning the warrior.
At this point, John and Drudge had managed to get to Felix; another wall must have disappeared, the magic expired. A moment later, all three of them disappeared, and this time they appeared above the position where I thought Pilus was. John was flying, hovering to be exact while Drudge was walking on the ceiling, using his magical shoes which allowed him to grip any surface he wished.
Somehow, Pilus managed to insert another magical wall which isolated John and Drudge from Felix and then begun fighting Felix; as Pilus struck the priest, it quickly became obvious that the monk was someone who had trained in the martial arts all his life and even though he was also a sorcerer and biomancer of incredible power, he was also a formidable combatant; almost as if to prove this, he rapidly cast a spell which I had seen him use before. I saw a distinct flash of electricity that accompanied the strike he landed on the priest. Felix began to cast frantically; I recognised the movements and the incantations; and indeed, moments later, a shimmering in the air provided a barrier between Pilus and Felix. Although I could not see them, I knew that there was an impenetrable wall of whirling blades in front of the priest.
Seeing this spell, Pilus turned his attention onto Drudge and John, who were still above him; he cast another of his multi coloured rainbows at them but thankfully, this time, neither of his targets were visible affected. John tried to cast a spell on Pilus which I did not see but it didn’t work and then the sorcerer reached and struck Drudge. The blow was powerful and precise; so much so that the ranger seemed to be out of it momentarily and dropped his bow. I winced; that was not good. Drudge’s most powerful weapon was his bow and without it he was at a huge disadvantage.
The ranger shook his head and immediately tried to slip past Pilus towards his primary weapon; just in case, he was also drawing his spare bow. Unfortunately, Pilus was ready for that and struck out again and hit him resulting in Drudge falling to the ground and losing his spare bow this time. Pilus then turned and cast a spell at John; the same spell he cast at me but John was far more nimble than I and dodged the magic.
John rapidly cast his spell of speed and Drudge now had to draw an arrow and begin trying to stab Pilus with it. At this point, something important happened. Two of the magical walls that defended Pilus from Victor and Longhelim, finally expired; Victor stepped up and performed a flawless maneuver, slicing deeply into Pilus and eliciting a howl of agony that seemed to echo through the ship.
Pilus could not withstand Victor’s power and he slumped to the ground; the ship suddenly listed and began to fall. I could only think of the poor soldiers on deck. John quickly began talking to me mind to mind:
“How do we control this thing? Faden, any ideas? If we crash, it could be very, very bad!”
I was thinking furiously but then I remembered:
“When we first saw him, Pilus said that he had learned from our last meeting. So he had become part of the ship and the ship was part of him; if we killed him, then we killed the ship. There is nothing to control! The ship is dead! Save yourselves if you can!”
“What about you? You’re still in that magical bubble!”
I thought back at him:
“I’ll be fine; in magic parlance, this spell is known as a Resilient Sphere. It’s impervious to almost anything. If we crash, I will be fine! It’s you and the army above I’m worried about.”
His eyes widened:
“Oh gods, the army above! They’ll be crushed!”
The others were talking and I could see them gather up Pilus’s body; probably to stop some enterprising Inquisitor from Ragesia trying to rescue his soul and bind it. As soon as that was done, the others went to the various bodies of the guards and monks to gather any spoils of war; Victor was the odd man out as he flew up to the unicorn that was still enmeshed in the coils of the dying ship and began to cut it out. It struggled feebly but still seemed almost dead; I hoped that the warrior was in time to save the poor creature.
Then John was back:
“Righ! We have a new plan! It is mad but this is a mad situation! First, Drudge is going to have to shoot Longhelim; render him unconscious otherwise the paladin will try to smash anyone who gets near him. We’ve got the get him out of here so we can cure him.”
As he was telling me this, I could see that Drudge had already aimed and shot several arrows at Longhelim who slumped to the ground. Judging by the depth of the arrows and the blood, I hoped that the archer had calculated their power correctly.
“Umm, he looks quite seriously hurt.”
John whipped around and ran to the paladin, checking him anxiously. Then he looked relieved and shouted at the others as he thought at me.
“He’s all right! Drudge got it just right!”
Then he returned to me and said:
“For the next part of the plan, the Living Blade of Innenotdar gives me a very powerful magic to alter reality; but it will extract a very high price: my soul. Nevertheless, I plan to use it and alter reality in such as way as we can transport ourselves and our army above back to Seaquen. This will trigger the Blade’s price but it will also allow it to be returned to Victor, who should have had it all this time anyway. Once it is returned, I am relying on Felix to incant his magic to retrieve my soul.”
I thought about quickly and then just thought:
“You’re a brave man! Let’s go with it!”
The others had obviously already heard the plan as they were waiting on the platform, bracing themselves on the ship which was listing ever more severely. John concentrated on the Living Blade of Innenotdar and a moment later, I found myself in a field with the town of Seaquen in the distance. I was among the others who in turn were in the middle of a large army, all looking befuddled and confused.
“What happened……?”
“I thought I was a goner there…..”
“It’s a miracle…….”
“That giant nearly had me……”
I was paying little attention to these exclamations as I saw John collapse. Victor was right next to him and caught his body. We extricated ourselves from the group and quickly marched to the Lyceum in Seaquen.
I cast a little spell; very useful to us and very annoying for him. A cloud of glittering motes appeared on most of the platform and suddenly it covered his figure, outlining and negating his unseen magic. It would also stop him from turning invisible in the future until my spell ran out. As he did so, I heard him say a very nasty word. Not magical, just nasty.
Suddenly, another wall appeared in front of us. Thankfully, I still had some travelling spells left and I used it only to find that Pilus had somehow managed to conjure yet more magical walls in front of us. These now separated Felix from Victor and I but put the cleric within reach of the Khagan. Thus, I could hear some fast casting from Felix which I hoped was making life uncomfortable for his opponent. The walls were still opaque to me as I had my magical sight in place.
Suddenly, yet more walls appeared while others disappeared, presumably the durations had expired. They were in a different configuration this time; suddenly I was next to the Khagan and Pilus, but separated from Victor and Felix; this opportunity could not be missed, despite the danger. I took out my wand and fired off a bolt of lightning at the biomancer; as expected, it bounced straight back at me but thankfully, I was protected against it; however, it did begin to give me an idea of his abilities and defences. Unfortunately, it also made me visible and the Khagan pounced and struck me several times. I realised that I would have to deal with the warrior before I continued my duel with Pilus.
Casting rapidly, a powerful lash of lighting erupted from my hands this time and hit the Khagan, causing him to grunt and take a step back; amazingly, he still stood although he did look considerably annoyed. Pilus in the meantime had managed to cast a spell at me which dissolved some of my magic, including the ability to see invisible beings; the good part of that was that the magical walls stopped being opaque and suddenly they became transparent. So, I could see that the others were now looking at the magical walls and having a quick discussion. Drudge and John were still together; Victor and Felix were in a different section of the room and Longhelim was still wondering around on his own, babbling, running and every so often, trying vainly to hit Pilus through the wall. Basically, he was still insane as a result to being hit with the magical rainbow.
Suddenly, there was a new development as another of those figures that looked like Pilus grew from the flesh of the ship and cast a spell at Felix, attempting to dissolve his magic. Victor flew forward and sliced the creature several times but not before it was able to cast another of those spells. I could see Felix grimacing, so something must have happened. In the meantime, I had my own problems, as the Khagan sliced his falchion into me again. This was now getting concerning so I cast one of my two most damaging spells against him; as the moisture was sucked from his body, yet again, he staggered, grimaced but still stood. Unbelieving, I looked at him; he had already stood under two of Felix’s fire spells; I assumed that he had defences against the element but he must have been hurt to an extent. Yet, he still stood. He looked at me. Then he hefted his sword and swung again. I tried to duck but he was far too canny a warrior and yet again I felt the weapon biting.
Pilus was casting and suddenly he turned invisible again; he must have managed to get rid of the little sparkling motes I put on him. Annoying and I wish I could have done something about it but I had my own problems; again, I had to cast my most powerful damaging spell on Onamdahmin and yet again he still stood there and took it. In turn, he cast a spell in our little space; it seems that not only was he a great warrior, but a spell caster as well. A ball of fire was concentrated in this tiny area and burned – very badly. I could see that he was not affected as he must have been magically warded. Unfortunately, fire was one of the few elements against which I did not have a ward this time. This was getting extremely worrying as I was now very badly wounded; so much so in fact and I had to get out of there otherwise I would probably die.
So, casting adroitly, I used my last spell of magical transport and put myself next to Felix.
Glancing quickly towards Victor and Felix, I saw that the warrior had dealt with another of the flesh constructs while Drudge and John had managed to approach the real Pilus; one of the magical walls must have finally gone down at the far end of the room. Of course that still left one of the walls next to him so “approach” was a relative term; they were still cut off from him.
In the meantime, yet another of the constructs appeared and cast another spell which dissolved more of Felix’s defensive magic. Thankfully, the cleric began to heal me while I started delving into my possessions to find as many healing potions as I had stashed away. I began to drink those as fast as I could. Strangely, I could see that Onamdaahmin was doing exactly the same.
I could no longer see Pilus; as I mentioned earlier, Pilus had managed to dissolve the spell I had cast on him to negate his own spell of unseeing. I was still taking an opportunity to drink healing potions while Felix was still healing me.
Longhelim was still wondering around aimlessly but I noticed that several of the more recent flesh constructs had appeared in the segment of the room where John and Drudge were segregated; as it happened, it was the same segment as the paladin but thankfully, nothing untoward had happened yet.
Suddenly, there was another development as Onamdaahmin, looking much healthier, approached again. I was far more wary of him this time; the Khagan was a very powerful warrior with some ability with magic; while Victor may have been his equal, it was imperative that our warriors were fit to fight against Pilus. Longhelim was already unfit for the conflict so that left only Victor. With this in mind, I put a small cell of force around the Khagan. I hoped that he would not have a spell of magical transport left in his repertoire.
I told Felix what I had done and the cleric cackled in glee. Then he asked:
“What’s happening with the others?”
“I don’t know. I can sense that John is waiting for Longhelim to at least show some signs of normalcy. Once that happens, he has a plan although I can’t quite tell what it is……urk”
That last came as I felt a spell come hurtling towards me. Pilus was very unhappy that I had neutralized his main warrior. Unfortunately, I was not nimble enough and found myself encased in a sphere of force. I recognised the spell; it was a nuisance but it did not last very long. Not nearly as long as the prison around Onamdaahmin; however, it would keep me out of the fight against Pilus.
At that moment, I felt I surge of triumph from John and there was a shout:
“Quick, Longhelim, drop your cloak!”
I saw the paladin doing so and I remembered that that cloak, as well as being magically active as a defense, also had several additional powers, one of them being the ability to use magical transport in a limited manner. Moments later, both Victor and Felix were next to Pilus, but held back by yet another wall; or so I thought, until I saw Victor take a swing at the Master of the East Wind, or at a particular position; his sword certainly seemed to be hitting something so he must have had some magic that allowed him to see the biomancer. Then Victor stopped, so I assumed that Pilus must have put another wall to intercede between himself and the warrior. I also saw the barrier of fire flare up as Victor struck, burning the warrior.
At this point, John and Drudge had managed to get to Felix; another wall must have disappeared, the magic expired. A moment later, all three of them disappeared, and this time they appeared above the position where I thought Pilus was. John was flying, hovering to be exact while Drudge was walking on the ceiling, using his magical shoes which allowed him to grip any surface he wished.
Somehow, Pilus managed to insert another magical wall which isolated John and Drudge from Felix and then begun fighting Felix; as Pilus struck the priest, it quickly became obvious that the monk was someone who had trained in the martial arts all his life and even though he was also a sorcerer and biomancer of incredible power, he was also a formidable combatant; almost as if to prove this, he rapidly cast a spell which I had seen him use before. I saw a distinct flash of electricity that accompanied the strike he landed on the priest. Felix began to cast frantically; I recognised the movements and the incantations; and indeed, moments later, a shimmering in the air provided a barrier between Pilus and Felix. Although I could not see them, I knew that there was an impenetrable wall of whirling blades in front of the priest.
Seeing this spell, Pilus turned his attention onto Drudge and John, who were still above him; he cast another of his multi coloured rainbows at them but thankfully, this time, neither of his targets were visible affected. John tried to cast a spell on Pilus which I did not see but it didn’t work and then the sorcerer reached and struck Drudge. The blow was powerful and precise; so much so that the ranger seemed to be out of it momentarily and dropped his bow. I winced; that was not good. Drudge’s most powerful weapon was his bow and without it he was at a huge disadvantage.
The ranger shook his head and immediately tried to slip past Pilus towards his primary weapon; just in case, he was also drawing his spare bow. Unfortunately, Pilus was ready for that and struck out again and hit him resulting in Drudge falling to the ground and losing his spare bow this time. Pilus then turned and cast a spell at John; the same spell he cast at me but John was far more nimble than I and dodged the magic.
John rapidly cast his spell of speed and Drudge now had to draw an arrow and begin trying to stab Pilus with it. At this point, something important happened. Two of the magical walls that defended Pilus from Victor and Longhelim, finally expired; Victor stepped up and performed a flawless maneuver, slicing deeply into Pilus and eliciting a howl of agony that seemed to echo through the ship.
Pilus could not withstand Victor’s power and he slumped to the ground; the ship suddenly listed and began to fall. I could only think of the poor soldiers on deck. John quickly began talking to me mind to mind:
“How do we control this thing? Faden, any ideas? If we crash, it could be very, very bad!”
I was thinking furiously but then I remembered:
“When we first saw him, Pilus said that he had learned from our last meeting. So he had become part of the ship and the ship was part of him; if we killed him, then we killed the ship. There is nothing to control! The ship is dead! Save yourselves if you can!”
“What about you? You’re still in that magical bubble!”
I thought back at him:
“I’ll be fine; in magic parlance, this spell is known as a Resilient Sphere. It’s impervious to almost anything. If we crash, I will be fine! It’s you and the army above I’m worried about.”
His eyes widened:
“Oh gods, the army above! They’ll be crushed!”
The others were talking and I could see them gather up Pilus’s body; probably to stop some enterprising Inquisitor from Ragesia trying to rescue his soul and bind it. As soon as that was done, the others went to the various bodies of the guards and monks to gather any spoils of war; Victor was the odd man out as he flew up to the unicorn that was still enmeshed in the coils of the dying ship and began to cut it out. It struggled feebly but still seemed almost dead; I hoped that the warrior was in time to save the poor creature.
Then John was back:
“Righ! We have a new plan! It is mad but this is a mad situation! First, Drudge is going to have to shoot Longhelim; render him unconscious otherwise the paladin will try to smash anyone who gets near him. We’ve got the get him out of here so we can cure him.”
As he was telling me this, I could see that Drudge had already aimed and shot several arrows at Longhelim who slumped to the ground. Judging by the depth of the arrows and the blood, I hoped that the archer had calculated their power correctly.
“Umm, he looks quite seriously hurt.”
John whipped around and ran to the paladin, checking him anxiously. Then he looked relieved and shouted at the others as he thought at me.
“He’s all right! Drudge got it just right!”
Then he returned to me and said:
“For the next part of the plan, the Living Blade of Innenotdar gives me a very powerful magic to alter reality; but it will extract a very high price: my soul. Nevertheless, I plan to use it and alter reality in such as way as we can transport ourselves and our army above back to Seaquen. This will trigger the Blade’s price but it will also allow it to be returned to Victor, who should have had it all this time anyway. Once it is returned, I am relying on Felix to incant his magic to retrieve my soul.”
I thought about quickly and then just thought:
“You’re a brave man! Let’s go with it!”
The others had obviously already heard the plan as they were waiting on the platform, bracing themselves on the ship which was listing ever more severely. John concentrated on the Living Blade of Innenotdar and a moment later, I found myself in a field with the town of Seaquen in the distance. I was among the others who in turn were in the middle of a large army, all looking befuddled and confused.
“What happened……?”
“I thought I was a goner there…..”
“It’s a miracle…….”
“That giant nearly had me……”
I was paying little attention to these exclamations as I saw John collapse. Victor was right next to him and caught his body. We extricated ourselves from the group and quickly marched to the Lyceum in Seaquen.
As we marched back to Seaquen, even I noticed something different. Normally I am not the most sensitive to changes in the natural world, the environment or the “spiritual atmosphere” as Felix calls it. Drudge seemed to have an almost uncanny ability to sense a change or danger in the natural world. He tried to explain it to me several times; it had to do with the sounds that animals and insects made, the shifts in the wind, the everyday noises he heard in the country or wood or whatever surrounds we were in at that time. I was normally trying to work out how to write down a particular formula in my spell book or how to shape a piece of magic around an ally to notice this phenomenum but time and again I had seen both Drudge and John perceive dangers or other features long before I could.
Oddly enough, Victor had developed almost a sixth sense for this also. His abilities were more aural than anything else, especially as he had that magically earring which enhanced his hearing but it was truly uncanny how he managed to hear sounds which would have been indistinguishable to nearly everyone else. Even a true expert such as Drudge was amazed at this ability.
Therefore the fact that I could notice this meant that it must have been blindingly obvious to the others. There was a sense of…….well being in the environment; a sense of balance, of everything being set to rights again.
In more everyday terms, it is as if one had walked into a room full of portraits and noticed that several of them were noticeable askew, destroying the whole aesthetic of the wall; some time later, one walked in again and those portraits had now been straightened.
Certainly, there was still a problem with transport magic; and the sky was still the wrong colour but the indications were that we had taken a major step in stopping Leska’s plans. However, I was not resting on my laurels; time and again, we had been sure that we had scored a victory against her only to find that she was several steps ahead of us and had contingencies in place.
We managed to reach Seaquen anonymously and get to our house, where we laid John out reverently. Felix would have to perform the magic to return him to us tomorrow. We were just unpacking everything when we heard an almighty cheer.
Longhelim looked up and said:
“Runners must have just arrived with the news that the army is back. We should be expecting a messenger from the Lyceum any moment now, I should think.”
The paladin was logically prophetic as a little later, there was a sharp banging on the door. Victor let a young man into our dwelling, dressed in the robes of a student; he was almost dancing with impatience as he relayed a request from Gohnaach that he wanted to see us straight away. Longhelim was calm as he replied:
“Please return to mage Gohnaach and let him know that we will be with him as soon as we are ready. Also tell him that the threat from the giant air ship has been averted and that although the army has suffered minor casualties, it is mostly unharmed. The civilians are still in Gate Pass but we will return them in the near future. In the meantime, there are certain things we must prepare. John, our companion, sacrificed his life for this endeavour and we must make certain preparations.”
When the young man heard this, he immediately became very contrite and ran back to the Lyceum.
Once we had finished in the house, we all travelled to the Lyceum where we were immediately ushered into Gohnaach’s office. The wizened little man looked at us, bright eyed and spoke earnestly:
“Please, please, you look tired and hurt. I was informed of your colleague’s demise. Is there anything we can do? I know of the magic necessary for his recovery and I know that Felix here is one of few capable of performing it. I would offer you all the diamonds we have here but you already have them and we have not been able to obtain any more. “
Felix replied:
“Thank you for the offer; I know you have already given us all the diamonds you had but the offer is appreciated. Fortunately, we have enough to perform the ritual on John but that will the last of them.”
Then he proceeded to report thoroughly everything that happened once we had left Seaquen last time. Gohnaach did not ask any questions initially until the report was over and after that, he just wanted some clarifications on certain aspects of the tale. Particularly the whereabouts to the ship once we left it and if there was any danger of it ever being repaired. I explained my theory of Pilus linking his life to the ship. I am not sure whether he understood at but since biomancy was such as new science and so unknown he had to take my word. Of course, I qualified my theory with my own lack of knowledge. Splicing together creatures to make bizarre unnatural living mixtures was not an interest I wished to pursue.
Finally, Gohnaach told us:
“I can hear the army approaching; I don’t need to tell you just what a difference their survival has made to the town. When they left, no one knew if they were going to come back of they were going to be some forlorn hope. Their return means more than you imagine. Please go and rest now. I believe tomorrow will be a very full day.”
So we did just that; we returned to our dwelling and went to sleep. We noticed that there were some discreet guards outside but we still stood our own watches; we had not become that confident.
The next morning, we spent a great deal of time learning a new set of magics to cope with the day. The first item on our agenda was the revivification of John; this was achieved as expected. Thankfully there was no interference from anyone and soon the rogue was among us again as irrepressible. Victor now had possession of the Living Blade and it had turned into a falchion.
Then, I had learned several spells which would allow me to contact Simeon and Kiernan. I wanted to tell them what had happened. I received fairly cryptic reply that our report could wait. I told the others and received puzzled looks. I shrugged my shoulders as much in the dark as everyone else.
I took advantage of this to perform magic on the various pieces of equipment we had managed to find after our battle with Pilus, discerning their function; and also to visit the unicorn we had rescued. Thankfully, it was already looking better. We could still see its ribs and it only had patchy fur but its eyes had regained some of their luster and it was moving, albeit slowly. We went to see it in its new quarters, a beautiful room inside the grounds of the Lyceum. It rose to its feet when we asked to see it and just looked at us. Then it bowed its head to all of us.
We left it to rest, deeply affected the dignity someone who must have suffered endless days of agony.
It was a little late after that, as we were sitting down to a little food in the Lyceum that we saw both Kiernan and Simeon enter. Immediately, they approached us and began speaking:
“My friends! You’re back! We have heard much wild rumour and speculation. Please tell us what has happened and also get ready for guests; many, many guests!”
Despite our surprise, this time it was Longhelim who reported all that had happened when Xavius Foebane and his army, together with the mages of Seaquen had left Gate Pass to accompany Shaaladel to the Shining Lands of Shahalesti.
Again, they did not interrupt until the end of the report and then it was only to clarify various details, especially about the seeming connection between Pilus and Leska. Once we had finished, they insisted they be introduced to the unicorn.
Again, we took them to see it and they stood and looked at the creature reverently:
“Gentlemen, I don’t think you quite realise just how rare unicorns are. Most magicians have only ever read about them so to actually see one in our lifetime is a privilege given to a few.”
John looked a little surprised and said:
“And if you have seen two in your lifetime?”
They looked at him in stupefaction:
“Two? Where did you see the other?”
He gave them his usual impudent grin:
“There was another in the Fire Forest of Innenotdar. I recommend you visit that place. It’s full of very interesting people and animals. It would definitely be worth your while.”
Longhelim looked at John with a warning and I shook my head at them. The thought of Kiernan and Simeon going to the Fire Forest filled me with a profound sense of dread. They would last….a very short time. While the main peril was gone, it was still very dangerous place.
Longhelim just shook his head and told them:
“Just ignore him. Yes, we have seen two unicorns in our lives now but they are certainly not the strangest thing we have seen in the last year or so. Anyway, be that as it may, you mentioned about other guests. Presumably, this has to do with your battle in the North? Do you know what Leska plans next?”
Kiernan motioned us to follow him. Once they led us to Simeon’s study, the dwarf took out his strange little rod and put it on the table as usual.
“Our expedition to the North was an anti-climax. We arrived and confronted the Ragesian army. There were several small battles but as soon as Shaaladel attempted to engineer a major battle, the Ragesians disengaged and withdrew. It was so well done, it was as if they had been expecting us.”
My attention had sharpened. I said:
“There is more to this isn’t there? You have more to tell us.”
Simeon smiled and continued:
“Indeed, Faden. There is more. Information has reached us that Leska is making her final move. She has taken a large force to the Opaline Wastes. This is a desolate desert in Ragesia. There is no reason to go there unless going to seek something precious.”
John breathed:
“The Heart. It’s got to be the Aquiline Heart. That’s where it is!”
Kiernan nodded and Simeon said:
“Yes. The area is heavily warded but we do have a few divination methods which are unknown even to Leska and we are indeed certain that she has found the Heart and is intent on using it to perform a ritual which will condemn the world to eternal war.”
Victor was nodding:
“So, she made sure that the elven army together with the best the Seaquen had to offer was kept busy in the North while she moved South. Pilus was a dupe. By her calculation, at best, he would destroy us; at worst, he would delay us to such an extent that she would have the time to complete her ritual. The army in the North was used as a feint but their orders were to keep themselves intact as they would be needed for further campaigns. Typical Leska; several steps ahead as usual.”
The soldier continued:
“Our one advantage in all this is that we will know that she has to be in the Opaline Wastes for the near future. Simeon, do you know how long this ritual will last?”
The magician shook his head:
“No but it will be several days. She would not have brought such a substantial force with her to the desert otherwise. In other words, if we move fast, we can get a force in there and get an elite group to disrupt the ritual. However, there are complications.”
“Do continue,” was the dry reply from Longhelim.
The magician stood up and said:
“There is a concurrent ritual being conducted in Ragos, in the Imperial Palace in fact. This ritual is impeding any sort of divination and magical transportation into the Opaline Wastes. We have to have enough troops to engage the Ragesian army in the desert but without knowing where they are, it would lead to a logistical nightmare. So, before we go to the Wastes, we have to the Palace and disrupt the ritual there.”
I was working my way through their thought process:
“So, what you’re saying is that we have to get our army to the Opaline Wastes to confront Leska’s army. While that is happening, we go disrupt Leska’s ritual and stop the world from going into eternal war. However, before this happens we have to go to the Imperial Palace in Ragos and disrupt another ritual there which is preventing us from finding out just where Leska’s forces are in the desert.”
Simeon beamed:
“That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. There are some more details to be worked out but yes, you have hit the nail on the head.”
Longhelim asked a question for the first time:
“Do you know just where Leska is, apart from in the Opaline Wastes?”
It was Kiernan who answered here:
Yes. From what we have been able to glean, she has marched her army, the 6th by the way, through Two Dragon Arch, into a rift called the Heart of History and she herself is gone into the earth where we believe she has found the Heart.”
John had his own questions:
“What is the ritual and how do we disrupt it?”
Simeon replied to this one:
“The ritual is something to do with the Aquiline Heart. We know that it is the source of Leska’s power and that as a result of its power, she has become immortal. The Heart is also connected to the whole world and somehow she is using this connection to condemn the whole world to eternal war. We are assuming that she believes that with her powers, her armies will be triumphant. As for disrupting the ritual, well Leska’s power derives from the heart and legend states that if you smash the Heart with the Torch, you will destroy both of the artifacts.”
He stopped talking briefly and looked a little uncomfortable before continuing:
“Legend also says that doing that will bring about the end of the world.”
We all looked at him, stunned.
I spoke slowly:
“Could you repeat that please?”
He had the grace to look a little abashed:
“Well, it is a legend. We really are not sure what will happen if you smash the Torch into the Heart apart from the fact that it will definitely disrupt the ritual. You have to understand. Leska is performing magic about which we are only guessing and in the timescale, there is no way we can do any more research. This is now the only course available to us.”
Victor returned to more practical matters:
“This ritual in Ragos. Do you know any more about it?”
Kiernan answered in this case:
“We know is it being held in the palace and the only way to get there is from Monuments Island. Apart from that, again the area is heavily warded and that is all we have been able to find out.”
Longhelim had lit his pipe at this point and looked at all of us:
“Well, since this is our only course of action in the timeframe allowed, I suggest we get to it.”
Simeon again looked uncomfortable:
“Yes, well, as I said, there are other complications. You see, the Council tomorrow, well everyone has to be told about latest developments but also, we have to tell Shaaladel that he will no longer be in command of the army.”
Kiernan interrupted at this point:
“It was a disaster up in the North. The elven armies were held in reserve on all fronts and everyone else was sacrificed against the Ragesians; casualties in our armies were ridiculously disproportionate. The Sindarians, the Dassenians, heck, our troops will not have him in command.”
I frowned:
“I had noticed this in Gate Pass. He was very good at using other people to do his fighting while his forces just did the mopping up. So, all right, just tell him. Why call a Council?”
Kiernan looked abashed this time:
“Well, we have to call a council to let everyone know what is happening. We also have to call it so that everyone is aware that Shaaladel is no longer in command. That will be most important; and as to why you have to be there, we…. It would be best if you told him.”
We all looked at him and he continued, rapidly:
“Look, we were all very impressed with the way you dealt with him in Gate Pass. You don’t know what he is like! Arrogant, overbearing, stiff necked, prejudiced and insufferable. It’s imperative that he is removed from overall command or whatever alliance we have will fall apart.”
We still looked at him and he had the grace to drop his gaze. It was quite apparent that he had no stomach for confronting Shaaladel but simultaneously, this sounded like a problem. We were going to bring a disparate group of people together and it was very important that the commander be acceptable to everyone.
Longhelim drew on his pipe and just asked:
“So, who do you want in command?”
Kiernan replied immediately:
“Xavius Foebane. He proved himself to be an able commander. Even Shaaladel grudgingly approved of him.”
Longhelim made a face of distastes and stood up:
“We shall see you here tomorrow for the council.”
As we were leaving I could hear John muttering, quite loudly as mutter went:
“….we were so impressed as to how you dealt with him in Gate Pass…….what a bunch of weasels. Is there anything they can do?”
Oddly enough, Victor had developed almost a sixth sense for this also. His abilities were more aural than anything else, especially as he had that magically earring which enhanced his hearing but it was truly uncanny how he managed to hear sounds which would have been indistinguishable to nearly everyone else. Even a true expert such as Drudge was amazed at this ability.
Therefore the fact that I could notice this meant that it must have been blindingly obvious to the others. There was a sense of…….well being in the environment; a sense of balance, of everything being set to rights again.
In more everyday terms, it is as if one had walked into a room full of portraits and noticed that several of them were noticeable askew, destroying the whole aesthetic of the wall; some time later, one walked in again and those portraits had now been straightened.
Certainly, there was still a problem with transport magic; and the sky was still the wrong colour but the indications were that we had taken a major step in stopping Leska’s plans. However, I was not resting on my laurels; time and again, we had been sure that we had scored a victory against her only to find that she was several steps ahead of us and had contingencies in place.
We managed to reach Seaquen anonymously and get to our house, where we laid John out reverently. Felix would have to perform the magic to return him to us tomorrow. We were just unpacking everything when we heard an almighty cheer.
Longhelim looked up and said:
“Runners must have just arrived with the news that the army is back. We should be expecting a messenger from the Lyceum any moment now, I should think.”
The paladin was logically prophetic as a little later, there was a sharp banging on the door. Victor let a young man into our dwelling, dressed in the robes of a student; he was almost dancing with impatience as he relayed a request from Gohnaach that he wanted to see us straight away. Longhelim was calm as he replied:
“Please return to mage Gohnaach and let him know that we will be with him as soon as we are ready. Also tell him that the threat from the giant air ship has been averted and that although the army has suffered minor casualties, it is mostly unharmed. The civilians are still in Gate Pass but we will return them in the near future. In the meantime, there are certain things we must prepare. John, our companion, sacrificed his life for this endeavour and we must make certain preparations.”
When the young man heard this, he immediately became very contrite and ran back to the Lyceum.
Once we had finished in the house, we all travelled to the Lyceum where we were immediately ushered into Gohnaach’s office. The wizened little man looked at us, bright eyed and spoke earnestly:
“Please, please, you look tired and hurt. I was informed of your colleague’s demise. Is there anything we can do? I know of the magic necessary for his recovery and I know that Felix here is one of few capable of performing it. I would offer you all the diamonds we have here but you already have them and we have not been able to obtain any more. “
Felix replied:
“Thank you for the offer; I know you have already given us all the diamonds you had but the offer is appreciated. Fortunately, we have enough to perform the ritual on John but that will the last of them.”
Then he proceeded to report thoroughly everything that happened once we had left Seaquen last time. Gohnaach did not ask any questions initially until the report was over and after that, he just wanted some clarifications on certain aspects of the tale. Particularly the whereabouts to the ship once we left it and if there was any danger of it ever being repaired. I explained my theory of Pilus linking his life to the ship. I am not sure whether he understood at but since biomancy was such as new science and so unknown he had to take my word. Of course, I qualified my theory with my own lack of knowledge. Splicing together creatures to make bizarre unnatural living mixtures was not an interest I wished to pursue.
Finally, Gohnaach told us:
“I can hear the army approaching; I don’t need to tell you just what a difference their survival has made to the town. When they left, no one knew if they were going to come back of they were going to be some forlorn hope. Their return means more than you imagine. Please go and rest now. I believe tomorrow will be a very full day.”
So we did just that; we returned to our dwelling and went to sleep. We noticed that there were some discreet guards outside but we still stood our own watches; we had not become that confident.
The next morning, we spent a great deal of time learning a new set of magics to cope with the day. The first item on our agenda was the revivification of John; this was achieved as expected. Thankfully there was no interference from anyone and soon the rogue was among us again as irrepressible. Victor now had possession of the Living Blade and it had turned into a falchion.
Then, I had learned several spells which would allow me to contact Simeon and Kiernan. I wanted to tell them what had happened. I received fairly cryptic reply that our report could wait. I told the others and received puzzled looks. I shrugged my shoulders as much in the dark as everyone else.
I took advantage of this to perform magic on the various pieces of equipment we had managed to find after our battle with Pilus, discerning their function; and also to visit the unicorn we had rescued. Thankfully, it was already looking better. We could still see its ribs and it only had patchy fur but its eyes had regained some of their luster and it was moving, albeit slowly. We went to see it in its new quarters, a beautiful room inside the grounds of the Lyceum. It rose to its feet when we asked to see it and just looked at us. Then it bowed its head to all of us.
We left it to rest, deeply affected the dignity someone who must have suffered endless days of agony.
It was a little late after that, as we were sitting down to a little food in the Lyceum that we saw both Kiernan and Simeon enter. Immediately, they approached us and began speaking:
“My friends! You’re back! We have heard much wild rumour and speculation. Please tell us what has happened and also get ready for guests; many, many guests!”
Despite our surprise, this time it was Longhelim who reported all that had happened when Xavius Foebane and his army, together with the mages of Seaquen had left Gate Pass to accompany Shaaladel to the Shining Lands of Shahalesti.
Again, they did not interrupt until the end of the report and then it was only to clarify various details, especially about the seeming connection between Pilus and Leska. Once we had finished, they insisted they be introduced to the unicorn.
Again, we took them to see it and they stood and looked at the creature reverently:
“Gentlemen, I don’t think you quite realise just how rare unicorns are. Most magicians have only ever read about them so to actually see one in our lifetime is a privilege given to a few.”
John looked a little surprised and said:
“And if you have seen two in your lifetime?”
They looked at him in stupefaction:
“Two? Where did you see the other?”
He gave them his usual impudent grin:
“There was another in the Fire Forest of Innenotdar. I recommend you visit that place. It’s full of very interesting people and animals. It would definitely be worth your while.”
Longhelim looked at John with a warning and I shook my head at them. The thought of Kiernan and Simeon going to the Fire Forest filled me with a profound sense of dread. They would last….a very short time. While the main peril was gone, it was still very dangerous place.
Longhelim just shook his head and told them:
“Just ignore him. Yes, we have seen two unicorns in our lives now but they are certainly not the strangest thing we have seen in the last year or so. Anyway, be that as it may, you mentioned about other guests. Presumably, this has to do with your battle in the North? Do you know what Leska plans next?”
Kiernan motioned us to follow him. Once they led us to Simeon’s study, the dwarf took out his strange little rod and put it on the table as usual.
“Our expedition to the North was an anti-climax. We arrived and confronted the Ragesian army. There were several small battles but as soon as Shaaladel attempted to engineer a major battle, the Ragesians disengaged and withdrew. It was so well done, it was as if they had been expecting us.”
My attention had sharpened. I said:
“There is more to this isn’t there? You have more to tell us.”
Simeon smiled and continued:
“Indeed, Faden. There is more. Information has reached us that Leska is making her final move. She has taken a large force to the Opaline Wastes. This is a desolate desert in Ragesia. There is no reason to go there unless going to seek something precious.”
John breathed:
“The Heart. It’s got to be the Aquiline Heart. That’s where it is!”
Kiernan nodded and Simeon said:
“Yes. The area is heavily warded but we do have a few divination methods which are unknown even to Leska and we are indeed certain that she has found the Heart and is intent on using it to perform a ritual which will condemn the world to eternal war.”
Victor was nodding:
“So, she made sure that the elven army together with the best the Seaquen had to offer was kept busy in the North while she moved South. Pilus was a dupe. By her calculation, at best, he would destroy us; at worst, he would delay us to such an extent that she would have the time to complete her ritual. The army in the North was used as a feint but their orders were to keep themselves intact as they would be needed for further campaigns. Typical Leska; several steps ahead as usual.”
The soldier continued:
“Our one advantage in all this is that we will know that she has to be in the Opaline Wastes for the near future. Simeon, do you know how long this ritual will last?”
The magician shook his head:
“No but it will be several days. She would not have brought such a substantial force with her to the desert otherwise. In other words, if we move fast, we can get a force in there and get an elite group to disrupt the ritual. However, there are complications.”
“Do continue,” was the dry reply from Longhelim.
The magician stood up and said:
“There is a concurrent ritual being conducted in Ragos, in the Imperial Palace in fact. This ritual is impeding any sort of divination and magical transportation into the Opaline Wastes. We have to have enough troops to engage the Ragesian army in the desert but without knowing where they are, it would lead to a logistical nightmare. So, before we go to the Wastes, we have to the Palace and disrupt the ritual there.”
I was working my way through their thought process:
“So, what you’re saying is that we have to get our army to the Opaline Wastes to confront Leska’s army. While that is happening, we go disrupt Leska’s ritual and stop the world from going into eternal war. However, before this happens we have to go to the Imperial Palace in Ragos and disrupt another ritual there which is preventing us from finding out just where Leska’s forces are in the desert.”
Simeon beamed:
“That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. There are some more details to be worked out but yes, you have hit the nail on the head.”
Longhelim asked a question for the first time:
“Do you know just where Leska is, apart from in the Opaline Wastes?”
It was Kiernan who answered here:
Yes. From what we have been able to glean, she has marched her army, the 6th by the way, through Two Dragon Arch, into a rift called the Heart of History and she herself is gone into the earth where we believe she has found the Heart.”
John had his own questions:
“What is the ritual and how do we disrupt it?”
Simeon replied to this one:
“The ritual is something to do with the Aquiline Heart. We know that it is the source of Leska’s power and that as a result of its power, she has become immortal. The Heart is also connected to the whole world and somehow she is using this connection to condemn the whole world to eternal war. We are assuming that she believes that with her powers, her armies will be triumphant. As for disrupting the ritual, well Leska’s power derives from the heart and legend states that if you smash the Heart with the Torch, you will destroy both of the artifacts.”
He stopped talking briefly and looked a little uncomfortable before continuing:
“Legend also says that doing that will bring about the end of the world.”
We all looked at him, stunned.
I spoke slowly:
“Could you repeat that please?”
He had the grace to look a little abashed:
“Well, it is a legend. We really are not sure what will happen if you smash the Torch into the Heart apart from the fact that it will definitely disrupt the ritual. You have to understand. Leska is performing magic about which we are only guessing and in the timescale, there is no way we can do any more research. This is now the only course available to us.”
Victor returned to more practical matters:
“This ritual in Ragos. Do you know any more about it?”
Kiernan answered in this case:
“We know is it being held in the palace and the only way to get there is from Monuments Island. Apart from that, again the area is heavily warded and that is all we have been able to find out.”
Longhelim had lit his pipe at this point and looked at all of us:
“Well, since this is our only course of action in the timeframe allowed, I suggest we get to it.”
Simeon again looked uncomfortable:
“Yes, well, as I said, there are other complications. You see, the Council tomorrow, well everyone has to be told about latest developments but also, we have to tell Shaaladel that he will no longer be in command of the army.”
Kiernan interrupted at this point:
“It was a disaster up in the North. The elven armies were held in reserve on all fronts and everyone else was sacrificed against the Ragesians; casualties in our armies were ridiculously disproportionate. The Sindarians, the Dassenians, heck, our troops will not have him in command.”
I frowned:
“I had noticed this in Gate Pass. He was very good at using other people to do his fighting while his forces just did the mopping up. So, all right, just tell him. Why call a Council?”
Kiernan looked abashed this time:
“Well, we have to call a council to let everyone know what is happening. We also have to call it so that everyone is aware that Shaaladel is no longer in command. That will be most important; and as to why you have to be there, we…. It would be best if you told him.”
We all looked at him and he continued, rapidly:
“Look, we were all very impressed with the way you dealt with him in Gate Pass. You don’t know what he is like! Arrogant, overbearing, stiff necked, prejudiced and insufferable. It’s imperative that he is removed from overall command or whatever alliance we have will fall apart.”
We still looked at him and he had the grace to drop his gaze. It was quite apparent that he had no stomach for confronting Shaaladel but simultaneously, this sounded like a problem. We were going to bring a disparate group of people together and it was very important that the commander be acceptable to everyone.
Longhelim drew on his pipe and just asked:
“So, who do you want in command?”
Kiernan replied immediately:
“Xavius Foebane. He proved himself to be an able commander. Even Shaaladel grudgingly approved of him.”
Longhelim made a face of distastes and stood up:
“We shall see you here tomorrow for the council.”
As we were leaving I could hear John muttering, quite loudly as mutter went:
“….we were so impressed as to how you dealt with him in Gate Pass…….what a bunch of weasels. Is there anything they can do?”
The first part was a perfect mimic of Simeon’s voice. John was making it very obvious what he thought of this development. I thought it was a little off as well. We were not even there when Shaaladel was commanding the army. Even more importantly, he had won his battles. Yet now we were getting the very difficult job of telling him that he was not wanted; but his army was needed of course. Anyway, the other problem was that Shalaadel was going to continue to command his elven army in the same way as previously, no matter who was in command. I suppose the only advantage of not having him in command was that he would now not be able to put non-elven armies at greater risk. Although, of course, that could mean that we would lose the battles; after all, the elven king had been running armies for centuries.
I really was not sure if this had been thought through.
We spent the rest of the day researching the capital of Ragesia, Ragos; trying to find out as much as possible about the Palace and who may be conducting the ritual. Also who may be with Leska. I am afraid to say that our attempts to investigate were not very successful; there was just no time and of course any sort of divination was being blocked. However, it did allow us to purchase a few supplies and catch up on relatives through magical messages.
The next day, early morning, we went to the Lyceum to see a familiar gathering in the large Hall. The various attendees of this council were arriving. One group stood off a little on its own; this was the elven contingent which included Shaaladel, Shalosha and various other courtiers and bodyguards. They kept themselves aloof, Shaaladel stony faced although Shalosha looked about her with interest. The Elven King’s eyes flicked to Longhelim when he entered; or more towards the Torch, as if to make sure that it was still on our possession.
The first person we met and greeted was Torrent, the silver haired priestess who recruited us at the Poison Apple pub all that time ago. She had accompanied us on our journey to the South, where we were joined by Crystal the Seeress and Tiljann of the Seelah; both of them were also attending and looked happy to see us. I was also glad as it meant that they had survived the difficult times recently. Although I had periodically asked about them, I had been told they were alive but not their location. Katarina the traitor was the last lady who had joined for the last part of that journey but the less said about her the better. The fact that she had been a Ragesian agent for all that time had come as a shock to us but was not nearly as devastating as the blow to her brother, Rantle, one of the new leaders of Gate Pass. As it happened he was here as well, representing the city.
In a hushed tone of voice, he also told us that the child we had found recently and left with Eleanor, a young wet nurse, was growing at an unnatural rate.
Considering my suspicions about the connection between the child and the Great Golden Dragon, Trilla, I was not at all surprised but I had to concentrate on other matters at the moment. We were also enthusiastically greeted by Duke Gallo and King Steppengaard of Bresk. They had brought a large Dassenian army to help the cause. They were also curious to hear about our latest doings. Simultaneously, they introduced to Gaspard, the Sindairian leader, who seemed very friendly.
Slightly apart, strangely, there were two Ragesians at this gathering. One was General Danava; he was wary and I was a little puzzled at his participation but no one here seemed to object. He was conversing quietly with another Ragesian, who was introduced as General Magdus. I remembered that name. He was the Ragesian officer who had been convinced by Shalosha to step aside from the conflict between Leska and the rest of the world until it could be discerned as to which direction the wind was blowing. He had been in charge of forces near Castle Korstull. His presence here suggested that Leska had made it known that he was a wanted man. I wondered how much of his army he had left as they too would be considered traitors to Ragesia.
Finally, Sheena Larkins, mistress of the Wayfarers made up the rest of the Council.
It took quite some time to organize everyone; especially as all the participants, with the exception of the elves, wanted to hear the latest news and “catch up on the latest gossip” as John put it. However, finally, even Simeon had had enough and he stood up and banged a flagon on a table. Crystal, Tiljann and Torrent all sat with us. They were bubbling over with enthusiasm of their latest doings; they had risen far in power and influence in their respective groups. Tiljann especially was far from the timid elven girl from the legendary forest of fire; and Torrent, she was now a very powerful priestess. Not quite in the same league as Felix but certainly one of the most influential and powerful of her realm, which involved the element of water.
Interestingly, all the military men, Gallo, Danava, Magdus, Xavius Foebane and Gaspard stood together and conversed. I thought they were probably exchanging military strategy.
As everyone quieted, Simeon began:
“Esteemed colleagues…….”
He then went on to inform them of the same developments which we learned yesterday. This brought a great deal of disquiet on the assembly.
Shalaadel barked a humourless laugh. The first time I had heard him doing something like that:
“So, Leska makes her final move.”
Simeon waited until everyone settle down and outlined our course of action. Everyone was looking at us and we were all stony faced as we knew what was coming.
Shalaadel himself sped up the process as he declared, looking at the assembled army commanders:
“The plan has merit. I will lead the armies of course. During my success in Shahalesti, you conducted yourselves adequately and under my leadership, we will prevail in the Opaline Wastes.”
With that, he turned to one of his advisers, not seeing Xavious Foebane stiffen and both Ragesian commanders looking at Simeon. So, Simeon was not being fully truthful with us either; he had not told us that the Ragesian generals were joining us and it was obvious that they would not accept Shalaadel’s overall command.
Simeon looked imploringly at us and Longhelim moved and approached Shalaadel. He had a quiet word and the elven king accompanied him outside, under the eyes of everyone there. Once they had left, Simeon went over some details of the coming operations and Victor asked:
“So, since our first task is to disrupt the first ritual in Ragos, does anyone know anything about this Monuments Island or Island of Monuments or whatever it’s called?”
I turned and looked at the Ragesian generals in the room:
“I don’t but I know two men who do.”
And I began walking towards them, followed by everyone else.
They watched us as we approached them and nodded.
Without preamble, I began:
“Gentlemen, you have heard the ideas and plans. You know that we will have to make a powerful strike against the Imperial Palace to disrupt the ritual being held there. Would you be able to tell us what you know about the palace and of course, if you have any ideas, please share them.”
The two Ragesians exchanged a look and then Danava began:
“The first thing to say is that the Imperial Palace in Ragos is one of the most heavily defended buildings in the world. In fact, it is not in Ragos itself but on an island on Lake Eldren. It is a large, building with eight floors. The main reception rooms are on the fifth floor and above. Below the fifth floor are mainly the servants quarters, kitchens, store rooms and others. I don’t know exactly where the ritual is being held but it will almost certainly be held on the fifth floor or above.
Which is just as well because you will certainly not have the time to search the whole palace. If you do manage to breach the building, you will have only a brief window to find the ritual before the palace guard find you and kill you.
Anyway, that is another problem. To continue, access to the Palace can only be gained by barge from the mainland which takes you to Monument Island. This is named after a group of monuments, namely large statues of past Ragesian emperors. The lake itself is heavily patrolled by warships with crews of military, inquisitor and arcane personnel. Monuments island always has two ships docked as security, again with crews of powerful warriors and spell casters. The whole island is covered in security magic, which prevents magical transportation of any type, the magic of the unseen and creatures with very acute and magical senses roam.
If someone does have legitimate access to the Palace, then they take a barge to the island, approach the Skywalk and present their documents to the Fire Giant Guards. There are always two on duty. The Skywalk is a wondrous glass bridge which leads to an entrance to the Palace. It is one of the wonders of the world, rising high over the water, covered all the way. It leads to an entrance on the fifth floor of the Palace.”
Victor was listening to all of this with great concentration:
“Any defences against fliers?”
Danava continued:
“I have never seen them but there were tales of animated dragons kept as defenders against fliers who strayed too close to the Palace; and no, before you ask me, I don’t know what animated fliers are.”
I asked:
“What about inside the Palace?”
Danava replied again. He seemed to have taken up the role of speaker in this conversation:
“We have both been inside several times and we do not remember any special precautions. You must remember that the place is full of people, bureaucrats, courtiers, generals, servants; there are thousands of them so any sort of security measures of magical or mechanical nature are not appropriate. Security of a military nature, that is guards, inquisitors and others on patrol, certainly. There are many of those but they would be the main security inside the palace.”
He also seemed to think about it little further and then added:
“There are also devils inside the Palace and on Monuments Island but frankly they are everywhere on Ragos. Be careful especially of erinye devils. Their archery is devastating.”
I saw that Longhelim and Shalaadel had entered into the room again and this time the paladin was walking towards Simeon and then whispered something to him.
Simeon called for order again and spoke loudly:
“It gives me great pleasure to announce that the overall commander of our forces for the coming campaign is Xavius Foebane. His deputy, should the unthinkable happen, will be King Shalaadel of the Shining Lands of Shahalesti.
Ladies, gentlemen, I am bringing this Council to a close!”
Simeon did that so fast that I thought he was almost afraid that Shalaadel would change his mind.
I really was not sure if this had been thought through.
We spent the rest of the day researching the capital of Ragesia, Ragos; trying to find out as much as possible about the Palace and who may be conducting the ritual. Also who may be with Leska. I am afraid to say that our attempts to investigate were not very successful; there was just no time and of course any sort of divination was being blocked. However, it did allow us to purchase a few supplies and catch up on relatives through magical messages.
The next day, early morning, we went to the Lyceum to see a familiar gathering in the large Hall. The various attendees of this council were arriving. One group stood off a little on its own; this was the elven contingent which included Shaaladel, Shalosha and various other courtiers and bodyguards. They kept themselves aloof, Shaaladel stony faced although Shalosha looked about her with interest. The Elven King’s eyes flicked to Longhelim when he entered; or more towards the Torch, as if to make sure that it was still on our possession.
The first person we met and greeted was Torrent, the silver haired priestess who recruited us at the Poison Apple pub all that time ago. She had accompanied us on our journey to the South, where we were joined by Crystal the Seeress and Tiljann of the Seelah; both of them were also attending and looked happy to see us. I was also glad as it meant that they had survived the difficult times recently. Although I had periodically asked about them, I had been told they were alive but not their location. Katarina the traitor was the last lady who had joined for the last part of that journey but the less said about her the better. The fact that she had been a Ragesian agent for all that time had come as a shock to us but was not nearly as devastating as the blow to her brother, Rantle, one of the new leaders of Gate Pass. As it happened he was here as well, representing the city.
In a hushed tone of voice, he also told us that the child we had found recently and left with Eleanor, a young wet nurse, was growing at an unnatural rate.
Considering my suspicions about the connection between the child and the Great Golden Dragon, Trilla, I was not at all surprised but I had to concentrate on other matters at the moment. We were also enthusiastically greeted by Duke Gallo and King Steppengaard of Bresk. They had brought a large Dassenian army to help the cause. They were also curious to hear about our latest doings. Simultaneously, they introduced to Gaspard, the Sindairian leader, who seemed very friendly.
Slightly apart, strangely, there were two Ragesians at this gathering. One was General Danava; he was wary and I was a little puzzled at his participation but no one here seemed to object. He was conversing quietly with another Ragesian, who was introduced as General Magdus. I remembered that name. He was the Ragesian officer who had been convinced by Shalosha to step aside from the conflict between Leska and the rest of the world until it could be discerned as to which direction the wind was blowing. He had been in charge of forces near Castle Korstull. His presence here suggested that Leska had made it known that he was a wanted man. I wondered how much of his army he had left as they too would be considered traitors to Ragesia.
Finally, Sheena Larkins, mistress of the Wayfarers made up the rest of the Council.
It took quite some time to organize everyone; especially as all the participants, with the exception of the elves, wanted to hear the latest news and “catch up on the latest gossip” as John put it. However, finally, even Simeon had had enough and he stood up and banged a flagon on a table. Crystal, Tiljann and Torrent all sat with us. They were bubbling over with enthusiasm of their latest doings; they had risen far in power and influence in their respective groups. Tiljann especially was far from the timid elven girl from the legendary forest of fire; and Torrent, she was now a very powerful priestess. Not quite in the same league as Felix but certainly one of the most influential and powerful of her realm, which involved the element of water.
Interestingly, all the military men, Gallo, Danava, Magdus, Xavius Foebane and Gaspard stood together and conversed. I thought they were probably exchanging military strategy.
As everyone quieted, Simeon began:
“Esteemed colleagues…….”
He then went on to inform them of the same developments which we learned yesterday. This brought a great deal of disquiet on the assembly.
Shalaadel barked a humourless laugh. The first time I had heard him doing something like that:
“So, Leska makes her final move.”
Simeon waited until everyone settle down and outlined our course of action. Everyone was looking at us and we were all stony faced as we knew what was coming.
Shalaadel himself sped up the process as he declared, looking at the assembled army commanders:
“The plan has merit. I will lead the armies of course. During my success in Shahalesti, you conducted yourselves adequately and under my leadership, we will prevail in the Opaline Wastes.”
With that, he turned to one of his advisers, not seeing Xavious Foebane stiffen and both Ragesian commanders looking at Simeon. So, Simeon was not being fully truthful with us either; he had not told us that the Ragesian generals were joining us and it was obvious that they would not accept Shalaadel’s overall command.
Simeon looked imploringly at us and Longhelim moved and approached Shalaadel. He had a quiet word and the elven king accompanied him outside, under the eyes of everyone there. Once they had left, Simeon went over some details of the coming operations and Victor asked:
“So, since our first task is to disrupt the first ritual in Ragos, does anyone know anything about this Monuments Island or Island of Monuments or whatever it’s called?”
I turned and looked at the Ragesian generals in the room:
“I don’t but I know two men who do.”
And I began walking towards them, followed by everyone else.
They watched us as we approached them and nodded.
Without preamble, I began:
“Gentlemen, you have heard the ideas and plans. You know that we will have to make a powerful strike against the Imperial Palace to disrupt the ritual being held there. Would you be able to tell us what you know about the palace and of course, if you have any ideas, please share them.”
The two Ragesians exchanged a look and then Danava began:
“The first thing to say is that the Imperial Palace in Ragos is one of the most heavily defended buildings in the world. In fact, it is not in Ragos itself but on an island on Lake Eldren. It is a large, building with eight floors. The main reception rooms are on the fifth floor and above. Below the fifth floor are mainly the servants quarters, kitchens, store rooms and others. I don’t know exactly where the ritual is being held but it will almost certainly be held on the fifth floor or above.
Which is just as well because you will certainly not have the time to search the whole palace. If you do manage to breach the building, you will have only a brief window to find the ritual before the palace guard find you and kill you.
Anyway, that is another problem. To continue, access to the Palace can only be gained by barge from the mainland which takes you to Monument Island. This is named after a group of monuments, namely large statues of past Ragesian emperors. The lake itself is heavily patrolled by warships with crews of military, inquisitor and arcane personnel. Monuments island always has two ships docked as security, again with crews of powerful warriors and spell casters. The whole island is covered in security magic, which prevents magical transportation of any type, the magic of the unseen and creatures with very acute and magical senses roam.
If someone does have legitimate access to the Palace, then they take a barge to the island, approach the Skywalk and present their documents to the Fire Giant Guards. There are always two on duty. The Skywalk is a wondrous glass bridge which leads to an entrance to the Palace. It is one of the wonders of the world, rising high over the water, covered all the way. It leads to an entrance on the fifth floor of the Palace.”
Victor was listening to all of this with great concentration:
“Any defences against fliers?”
Danava continued:
“I have never seen them but there were tales of animated dragons kept as defenders against fliers who strayed too close to the Palace; and no, before you ask me, I don’t know what animated fliers are.”
I asked:
“What about inside the Palace?”
Danava replied again. He seemed to have taken up the role of speaker in this conversation:
“We have both been inside several times and we do not remember any special precautions. You must remember that the place is full of people, bureaucrats, courtiers, generals, servants; there are thousands of them so any sort of security measures of magical or mechanical nature are not appropriate. Security of a military nature, that is guards, inquisitors and others on patrol, certainly. There are many of those but they would be the main security inside the palace.”
He also seemed to think about it little further and then added:
“There are also devils inside the Palace and on Monuments Island but frankly they are everywhere on Ragos. Be careful especially of erinye devils. Their archery is devastating.”
I saw that Longhelim and Shalaadel had entered into the room again and this time the paladin was walking towards Simeon and then whispered something to him.
Simeon called for order again and spoke loudly:
“It gives me great pleasure to announce that the overall commander of our forces for the coming campaign is Xavius Foebane. His deputy, should the unthinkable happen, will be King Shalaadel of the Shining Lands of Shahalesti.
Ladies, gentlemen, I am bringing this Council to a close!”
Simeon did that so fast that I thought he was almost afraid that Shalaadel would change his mind.
The attendees split into various groups to continue their more informal conversations but we left them to it as we had to prepare.
As we were walking back, I couldn’t contain myself and asked Longhelim:
“How did you convince him to play second fiddle to Foebane?”
Longhelim grinned:
“I gave him the location of Phorros Irrendra. Once he had that, everything became incidental. I don’t think he sees this as a big command anyway. The main campaign for him will be either once we defeat Leska and he begins his conquest of Ragesia or once we lose against Leska and he has to begin his battles against her.”
John frowned:
“Phorros Irrendra is just a bunch of empty buildings. There is no one there. The Taranesti elves have been wiped out a long time ago. Rhuarc was pretty much the last one.”
It was Victor who answered this:
“Phorros Irrendra and the Taranesti have been an obsession to Shalaadel for centuries and if he can have some sort of closure to that campaign, it will mean a great deal to him. I think that taking possession of the city will symbolically provide some sort of conclusion to the Taranesti Crusade.”
I was still thinking hard about all of this and slowly began:
“We all know something that we are not saying, don’t we? Shalaadel plans to conquer Ragesia once Leska is killed. The only way he will have any chance of doing that is if he possesses the Torch. In his mind, the only reason he is letting us keep it is so that we can attempt to confront Leska. Once that is over, so far as he is concerned, the Torch is his for the taking.”
No one looked surprised and no one said anything, until a little time later when Longhelim answered:
“Yes, Faden, we’re all aware of that. However, we have to assault one of the most heavily buildings in the world, confront an immortal, strike an artifact with the Torch which is supposed to destroy both of them as well as the world. So, Shalaadel’s possible of the Torch is something we will have to deal with as it comes. Before that, there are a lot of other things to overcome.”
Still thinking of all of these new developments, we finally arrived at home where we began to plan our assault on the Imperial Palace in Ragos.
Ultimately, we bounced around many ideas but based on what Danava said, we decided that we would magically transport ourselves into the region of the capital. Once there, we would use Felix’s spell which turned us into vapor and fly above the Skywalk. Once there, we would change into our normal forms and drop down onto the roof of the glass corridor just outside the Palace entrance. Our drop would be rendered safe by the use of a particular spell of mine which would dramatically slow our fall. Once on top of the roof, I would blast my way through the glass and we would drop inside the glass corridor. Once we had achieved that, we would open the door into the palace and proceed.
There was no point in making plans once inside the palace as we had only a short time there and we would have to search for the ritual furiously.
If we managed to disrupt it, we would make our way back to the sky walk and fly away. It sounded simple when we made the plan but we all knew that something, somewhere was going to go wrong.
Finally, we went to sleep and the next morning, we chose our spells very carefully as per our plan of the night before. These included the usual defensive magics against elemental spells as well as the armoured skin that I usually cast on the warriors. However, there were other, more subtle magics which I took this time, not least the little spells which would allow us to float down unharmed from a great height.
As the spells were being learned, Victor asked:
“Does anyone remember what range those odd teleport traps had?”
It was John who answered:
“It was quite a distance. If we are going to travel there, we will have to make sure we transport ourselves some distance away.”
I carried one learning my spells and finally I was finished. Following on from that, Felix, John and I cast the magics which lasted some time. Once we had finished, Felix nodded to me and I called out:
“Is everyone ready?”
We all clasped hands and I transported us to a point approximately half a day away from the Ragesian capital, Ragos.
My first glimpse Ragesia was odd; I am not sure what I was expecting but what I saw was farmland. Very well kept farmland at that. I looked around curiously and saw that the crops were carefully arranged and seemed to be growing well. Longhelim the Farmer looked around in approval; moments later, we all turned into smoke and shot into the sky. This was Felix’s spell and as ever, it was most useful. It took us
a little time and we began to see Ragos in the distance; it was an enormous city. At the height we were flying, it was difficult to see any detail except that it was very large; and almost outside it, was the famous lake, Aldrem, on which lay the legendary Imperial Palace of Ragesia.
As we had arranged, we flew above the Palace and abandoned the cloud forms. We began to fall to the ground until suddenly I cast the spell which slowed us all down. It was a novel feeling and quite pleasant until we saw the enormous stone dragons which adorned the palace roof, stir. We had been warned about these defenses but it was another thing to actually see them. John was already frantically pointing at them.
With a grating sound, their heads turned and they saw us and they launched themselves. I have to say, for something made out of stone, they flew remarkably well. We landed on the sky walk only a little distance ahead. I was the first to land and I blew a hole in the roof as we had planned and I jumped down.
Just ahead of a stone dragon claw!
I was quickly joined by John, Felix, Victor and Drudge only for Longhelim to hold the rearguard.
The plan had worked! It had worked as he had surmised. We had known about the dragons but we had slipped past them. Now we had to get into the palace, which was an open space in front of us. This room looked some a grand meeting hall or reception of some kind. I didn’t have time to speculate any further as the stone dragons above were widening the hole I had made to try to wedge themselves into the gap. We all rushed into the room and as we did, we all felt a crippling, racking pain as we entered into the palace.
Again, this was a powerful magic and we had been warned about it. That didn’t stop it from being very painful though. I was the last person to enter into the palace as I had hoped to try to seal our entrance but a combination of the wracking pain and trying to avoid stone dragon claws completely ruined my spell.
Suddenly, we heard a shout:
“Get in! They won’t come into the Palace!”
Rapidly I stepped back and tried to move towards Felix, looking around as I did so. Strangely, this room looked familiar and then I remembered:
During our journey through the Monastery of Echoed Souls, we had all participated or were part of a vision. To this day, I am not sure just what happened but the vision showed us Drakus Coaltongue holding Court in his Imperial Ballroom…..this room to be exact. It seemed different now though.
As I realised this, I also looked at the dragons who indeed were not encroaching into the room. That led me to look around at the person who had shouted the helpful advice, only to receive another great shock!
I looked around for the voice that had sounded the helpful advice and noticed a set of small folk. They were gnomes, dressed in the garb of kitchen staff or servants, except that three of them were grinning at us and they were surrounded by the bodies of Ragesian palace guards.
One of them shouted:
“Faden, John, Longhelim, it took you long enough!”
I looked much closer at the figure and then John muttered:
“I don’t believe it…..it’s Jorine.”
I looked stepped up and looked at the figure. It, or rather she, continued to grin and beneath some face paint and different hair colour, yes, it was Jorine Wareye of Clan Millorn. A little distractedly, I looked at the figures beside her and yes, I noticed her companions and clan members, Grellfin Flintflindercandle and Oller Pennyteller; I looked at the fourth and last figure and he seemed familiar as well. I racked my memory and then I remembered: Rivereye Badgerface, the gnome spy who had infiltrated the Ragesian palace and stolen some very important papers that had made a huge difference to the Resistance at the time.
We had first met them in Castle Korstull in much the same circumstances; having been told repeatedly that the fiery cloud around Coaltongue’s last resting place was impenetrable and impossible to breach, we managed to penetrate it with the help of mysterious magic gained at great danger and cost from the Monastery of the Two Winds; only to find Clan Wareye with a wagon which they had coated with some fire proof substance. This had allowed them to just trundle through the fire and get ready to loot the Palace.
This turned out to be a little more complicated that they had first believed and we had joined forces for our mutual benefit. Jorine was an arcanist of some skill, Grellfin followed the same martial philosophy as Longhelim and Oller was very handy with a set of lock picks. I wasn’t sure what Rivereye was good at yet but he had managed to filch some important secrets out of the Ragesians when we first met him.
John recovered first from all of us:
“Jorine, what are you doing here?”
She replied:
“Waiting for you, of course! Good! Your faces tell me that you weren’t told that we were here. That means there’s at least some security left in Seaquen. If you had been told that we were here then there it would have been very likely that we would have been compromised.”
I wasn’t very offended by what she said and in fact, I agreed. If we had been told that we had a party waiting for us in the Imperial Palace at Ragos, then it was likely that it would have got out somehow. Secrets in Seaquen always did. I didn’t know how but I had been amazed at the enemy’s ability to ferret out secrets which I thought were only our knowledge. They must have had people there reading your thoughts or something of that ilk. It was possible.
Of course, the question of how they knew that we were going to strike today was another matter and it was something I would have a conversation about her in the future; I hoped that it was something as simple as a magical message from Simeon. In the meantime, this changed everything.
I very much hoped that Jorine had had time to scout out the palace and that she would at least be able to give us instructions as to how to get the chamber where the ritual was being performed.
As we were conducting this conversation, Drudge had shot a volley of arrows at one of the stone dragons on the Sky Walk; as the arrows sank deeply into its stony body, it quickly stepped back. The other, behind it, also retreated and it quickly became obvious that Jorine had been right and they would not enter into the Palace itself.
Longhelim in the meantime was talking to the gnome:
“Jorine, it is good to see you! Your bravery is extraordinary. Are you going to take us to the ritual?”
The gnome quickly replied:
“No. It’s best if we stay here and distract anyone coming after you through the Skywalk.”
I interrupted at this point:
“Can you tell us where the ritual is being conducted?”
She turned to me and quickly began giving instructions:
“Go up the stairs, turn left and go to the far door; through there, you will come to a guard post; once you get through there, go down the corridor, past the three doors on your right………”
And so it went, until we actually arrived at the Imperial Audience area, where she admitted she had not managed to gain access but she told us that the ritual was being held in one of the adjoining rooms.
I wanted a couple of details corroborated:
“You said that we would have to go past a couple of statues of golden bears? What are those exactly?”
She frowned at me, as if she suddenly thought of something:
“I don’t know, but now you come to mention, they are odd; really big and they take up most of the corridor. It was always a pain to clean around them and lots of people had to squeeze around them. The guards were always complaining that it made it very difficult to move around there in armour.”
I grimaced at Longhelim and said:
“Yes, they are going to come alive; probably some sort of magical constructs; that’s why they are there; to defend that corridor. Anyway, Jorine, Grellfinn, Oller, Rivereye, we are eternally grateful for the information; it will literally make the difference between us succeeding or failing in this. We will hope to see you in Seaquen when this is all over.”
She smiled at us and said:
“Good luck!”
As we were walking back, I couldn’t contain myself and asked Longhelim:
“How did you convince him to play second fiddle to Foebane?”
Longhelim grinned:
“I gave him the location of Phorros Irrendra. Once he had that, everything became incidental. I don’t think he sees this as a big command anyway. The main campaign for him will be either once we defeat Leska and he begins his conquest of Ragesia or once we lose against Leska and he has to begin his battles against her.”
John frowned:
“Phorros Irrendra is just a bunch of empty buildings. There is no one there. The Taranesti elves have been wiped out a long time ago. Rhuarc was pretty much the last one.”
It was Victor who answered this:
“Phorros Irrendra and the Taranesti have been an obsession to Shalaadel for centuries and if he can have some sort of closure to that campaign, it will mean a great deal to him. I think that taking possession of the city will symbolically provide some sort of conclusion to the Taranesti Crusade.”
I was still thinking hard about all of this and slowly began:
“We all know something that we are not saying, don’t we? Shalaadel plans to conquer Ragesia once Leska is killed. The only way he will have any chance of doing that is if he possesses the Torch. In his mind, the only reason he is letting us keep it is so that we can attempt to confront Leska. Once that is over, so far as he is concerned, the Torch is his for the taking.”
No one looked surprised and no one said anything, until a little time later when Longhelim answered:
“Yes, Faden, we’re all aware of that. However, we have to assault one of the most heavily buildings in the world, confront an immortal, strike an artifact with the Torch which is supposed to destroy both of them as well as the world. So, Shalaadel’s possible of the Torch is something we will have to deal with as it comes. Before that, there are a lot of other things to overcome.”
Still thinking of all of these new developments, we finally arrived at home where we began to plan our assault on the Imperial Palace in Ragos.
Ultimately, we bounced around many ideas but based on what Danava said, we decided that we would magically transport ourselves into the region of the capital. Once there, we would use Felix’s spell which turned us into vapor and fly above the Skywalk. Once there, we would change into our normal forms and drop down onto the roof of the glass corridor just outside the Palace entrance. Our drop would be rendered safe by the use of a particular spell of mine which would dramatically slow our fall. Once on top of the roof, I would blast my way through the glass and we would drop inside the glass corridor. Once we had achieved that, we would open the door into the palace and proceed.
There was no point in making plans once inside the palace as we had only a short time there and we would have to search for the ritual furiously.
If we managed to disrupt it, we would make our way back to the sky walk and fly away. It sounded simple when we made the plan but we all knew that something, somewhere was going to go wrong.
Finally, we went to sleep and the next morning, we chose our spells very carefully as per our plan of the night before. These included the usual defensive magics against elemental spells as well as the armoured skin that I usually cast on the warriors. However, there were other, more subtle magics which I took this time, not least the little spells which would allow us to float down unharmed from a great height.
As the spells were being learned, Victor asked:
“Does anyone remember what range those odd teleport traps had?”
It was John who answered:
“It was quite a distance. If we are going to travel there, we will have to make sure we transport ourselves some distance away.”
I carried one learning my spells and finally I was finished. Following on from that, Felix, John and I cast the magics which lasted some time. Once we had finished, Felix nodded to me and I called out:
“Is everyone ready?”
We all clasped hands and I transported us to a point approximately half a day away from the Ragesian capital, Ragos.
My first glimpse Ragesia was odd; I am not sure what I was expecting but what I saw was farmland. Very well kept farmland at that. I looked around curiously and saw that the crops were carefully arranged and seemed to be growing well. Longhelim the Farmer looked around in approval; moments later, we all turned into smoke and shot into the sky. This was Felix’s spell and as ever, it was most useful. It took us
a little time and we began to see Ragos in the distance; it was an enormous city. At the height we were flying, it was difficult to see any detail except that it was very large; and almost outside it, was the famous lake, Aldrem, on which lay the legendary Imperial Palace of Ragesia.
As we had arranged, we flew above the Palace and abandoned the cloud forms. We began to fall to the ground until suddenly I cast the spell which slowed us all down. It was a novel feeling and quite pleasant until we saw the enormous stone dragons which adorned the palace roof, stir. We had been warned about these defenses but it was another thing to actually see them. John was already frantically pointing at them.
With a grating sound, their heads turned and they saw us and they launched themselves. I have to say, for something made out of stone, they flew remarkably well. We landed on the sky walk only a little distance ahead. I was the first to land and I blew a hole in the roof as we had planned and I jumped down.
Just ahead of a stone dragon claw!
I was quickly joined by John, Felix, Victor and Drudge only for Longhelim to hold the rearguard.
The plan had worked! It had worked as he had surmised. We had known about the dragons but we had slipped past them. Now we had to get into the palace, which was an open space in front of us. This room looked some a grand meeting hall or reception of some kind. I didn’t have time to speculate any further as the stone dragons above were widening the hole I had made to try to wedge themselves into the gap. We all rushed into the room and as we did, we all felt a crippling, racking pain as we entered into the palace.
Again, this was a powerful magic and we had been warned about it. That didn’t stop it from being very painful though. I was the last person to enter into the palace as I had hoped to try to seal our entrance but a combination of the wracking pain and trying to avoid stone dragon claws completely ruined my spell.
Suddenly, we heard a shout:
“Get in! They won’t come into the Palace!”
Rapidly I stepped back and tried to move towards Felix, looking around as I did so. Strangely, this room looked familiar and then I remembered:
During our journey through the Monastery of Echoed Souls, we had all participated or were part of a vision. To this day, I am not sure just what happened but the vision showed us Drakus Coaltongue holding Court in his Imperial Ballroom…..this room to be exact. It seemed different now though.
As I realised this, I also looked at the dragons who indeed were not encroaching into the room. That led me to look around at the person who had shouted the helpful advice, only to receive another great shock!
I looked around for the voice that had sounded the helpful advice and noticed a set of small folk. They were gnomes, dressed in the garb of kitchen staff or servants, except that three of them were grinning at us and they were surrounded by the bodies of Ragesian palace guards.
One of them shouted:
“Faden, John, Longhelim, it took you long enough!”
I looked much closer at the figure and then John muttered:
“I don’t believe it…..it’s Jorine.”
I looked stepped up and looked at the figure. It, or rather she, continued to grin and beneath some face paint and different hair colour, yes, it was Jorine Wareye of Clan Millorn. A little distractedly, I looked at the figures beside her and yes, I noticed her companions and clan members, Grellfin Flintflindercandle and Oller Pennyteller; I looked at the fourth and last figure and he seemed familiar as well. I racked my memory and then I remembered: Rivereye Badgerface, the gnome spy who had infiltrated the Ragesian palace and stolen some very important papers that had made a huge difference to the Resistance at the time.
We had first met them in Castle Korstull in much the same circumstances; having been told repeatedly that the fiery cloud around Coaltongue’s last resting place was impenetrable and impossible to breach, we managed to penetrate it with the help of mysterious magic gained at great danger and cost from the Monastery of the Two Winds; only to find Clan Wareye with a wagon which they had coated with some fire proof substance. This had allowed them to just trundle through the fire and get ready to loot the Palace.
This turned out to be a little more complicated that they had first believed and we had joined forces for our mutual benefit. Jorine was an arcanist of some skill, Grellfin followed the same martial philosophy as Longhelim and Oller was very handy with a set of lock picks. I wasn’t sure what Rivereye was good at yet but he had managed to filch some important secrets out of the Ragesians when we first met him.
John recovered first from all of us:
“Jorine, what are you doing here?”
She replied:
“Waiting for you, of course! Good! Your faces tell me that you weren’t told that we were here. That means there’s at least some security left in Seaquen. If you had been told that we were here then there it would have been very likely that we would have been compromised.”
I wasn’t very offended by what she said and in fact, I agreed. If we had been told that we had a party waiting for us in the Imperial Palace at Ragos, then it was likely that it would have got out somehow. Secrets in Seaquen always did. I didn’t know how but I had been amazed at the enemy’s ability to ferret out secrets which I thought were only our knowledge. They must have had people there reading your thoughts or something of that ilk. It was possible.
Of course, the question of how they knew that we were going to strike today was another matter and it was something I would have a conversation about her in the future; I hoped that it was something as simple as a magical message from Simeon. In the meantime, this changed everything.
I very much hoped that Jorine had had time to scout out the palace and that she would at least be able to give us instructions as to how to get the chamber where the ritual was being performed.
As we were conducting this conversation, Drudge had shot a volley of arrows at one of the stone dragons on the Sky Walk; as the arrows sank deeply into its stony body, it quickly stepped back. The other, behind it, also retreated and it quickly became obvious that Jorine had been right and they would not enter into the Palace itself.
Longhelim in the meantime was talking to the gnome:
“Jorine, it is good to see you! Your bravery is extraordinary. Are you going to take us to the ritual?”
The gnome quickly replied:
“No. It’s best if we stay here and distract anyone coming after you through the Skywalk.”
I interrupted at this point:
“Can you tell us where the ritual is being conducted?”
She turned to me and quickly began giving instructions:
“Go up the stairs, turn left and go to the far door; through there, you will come to a guard post; once you get through there, go down the corridor, past the three doors on your right………”
And so it went, until we actually arrived at the Imperial Audience area, where she admitted she had not managed to gain access but she told us that the ritual was being held in one of the adjoining rooms.
I wanted a couple of details corroborated:
“You said that we would have to go past a couple of statues of golden bears? What are those exactly?”
She frowned at me, as if she suddenly thought of something:
“I don’t know, but now you come to mention, they are odd; really big and they take up most of the corridor. It was always a pain to clean around them and lots of people had to squeeze around them. The guards were always complaining that it made it very difficult to move around there in armour.”
I grimaced at Longhelim and said:
“Yes, they are going to come alive; probably some sort of magical constructs; that’s why they are there; to defend that corridor. Anyway, Jorine, Grellfinn, Oller, Rivereye, we are eternally grateful for the information; it will literally make the difference between us succeeding or failing in this. We will hope to see you in Seaquen when this is all over.”
She smiled at us and said:
“Good luck!”
And with that, she and the others began to take up guard positions near the entrance to the Sky Walk. We flew up the stairs and John moved down the corridor until he reached the door at the far end. Felix, in the meantime, was doing a little healing on Victor, who had suffered badly against the dragons, so John waited a few moments and then, as Longhelim positioned himself, opened the door.
Inside, there was a group of figures dressed in fine shirts and red trousers. They had daggers, which they threw skillfully at John and then slammed the door shut. Victor also moved forward at that point as John scurried back; I was getting ready to intervene when Longhelim motioned me to be still. I heard the door open again and the thunk of daggers hitting something; I assumed it was Victor.
Another moment and then I heard a shout from Victor:
“Go!”
I saw Longhelim fly forward and I looked around the corner. The warrior had wedged himself in the doorway as Longhelim went through the space and began to engage the guards. More importantly, Drudge had also stepped forward and I saw him fire a volley of arrows at an enemy inside. I didn’t see the results but I suspected that they were not very good for his target; they never were. I followed up, to see only a couple of the guards left and both Longhelim and Victor were mopping them up. It was a very unequal battle.
Time was of the essence now; we move through the guard post and opened the opposite door into another corridor. Quickly, the warriors moved to a corner and glanced left; then both Victor and Longhelim moved down the corridor, quickly followed up by Felix and Drudge and finally myself. John stayed behind and in fact went back; then I remembered that Victor had had to drop the Living Blade of Innenotdar in the corridor and no doubt the rogue was going back to get it.
I moved down to the corner and saw a long corridor, as we had been told by Jorine; simultaneously, as we suspected, I saw that the two warriors had been engaged by two enormous statues of golden bears. Having said that, they were beginning to lose their tarnish under Longhelim and Victor’s blows but they still looked like formidable opponents. Irritatingly, if they were like most magical constructs, then they would be immune to most magic; which meant that there was very little I could do against them. Still, the warriors seemed to have it under control.
Until suddenly a hidden door opened in the corner of the corridor right opposite and a stream of Ragesian guardsmen began trying to surround us in the corridor. Thankfully, I managed to get a magical wall in front of them, to block the door. That led to the first door opening and another stream of guardsmen appeared; this was quickly followed by the opening of another door and they were joined by another squad.
There was a huge group of people in the corridor already when other doors began opening and there was as shout from the front of the corridor: Longhelim’s voice:
“There’s another bunch down here!”
It was getting dangerously crowded but it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn’t see the statues any more. Drudge shot a volley of arrows and figures fell; many, many figures. It seemed as if every time he shot an arrow, one of the guardsmen died. Victor stepped in and in a series of complicated steps and maneuvers sliced his way through one of the squads; where he went, soldiers fell. That was fortunate as another two squads suddenly appeared in the corridor ahead, running towards us. This palace must have been guarded by veritable regiments.
Suddenly, I saw a column of fire behind us, hitting another of the squads; I looked around, since Felix was next to me and he seemed to be doing something else; then I saw John wave his hands around and the light glinted off his new ring. Handy piece of jewelry that; it certainly seemed to have toasted that squad.
The squads to the rear seemed to be getting their bows out and a rain of arrows flew through the corridor. Some of them struck their own men but that did not seem to trouble them; of more concern was the fact that I was their main target. However, we had our own archer and he seemed to be the equivalent of one of those squads on his own – only better. As Drudge shot volley after volley, men, orcs and half orcs fell.
I was badly hurt and Felix poured healing magic into me, which was lucky as yet another squad unloaded, with again me being their main target. I could see that Longhelim was retreating from around the corner and drawing another squad after him. This one was obviously hurt as it had been fighting the paladin but it was still attempting to cut him down. Fortunately, my defensive spell, which toughened the skin, was still active both on the warriors and I.
As soon as Victor and Longhelim managed to combine their fighting styles and attack the squads as a pair, they began carving their way through the guards at a frightening rate. This, in combination with Drudge’s devastating archery proceeded to rapidly cull the onrushing guardsmen.
Finally, there were none left.
We did a little re-organising; Victor collected the Living Blade from John and found that his ability to magically summon it did not work within the palace. I suspected that transportation magic was similarly curtailed. Those who could were doing some general healing but the key was speed and we moved down the corridor. As we arrived at the end, we were in a quandary. The corridor turned to the left but there were a pair of doors in front of us; as it continued to the left, there it also ended in a pair of doors.
As Longhelim and Victor led, the former spoke:
“Faden, which doors?”
I cast my mind back and replied:
“Jorine said doors at the end of the corridor, through the harem.”
Without hesitation, the paladin shouted:
“John, doors ahead!”
John sped ahead of us and reached them just as we turned the corner. He began to crouch down until trying to see if they were locked or trapped when they suddenly opened and a group of the same guards was behind them; those with the flamboyant red trousers, impressive physiques, a lot of daggers and not much else; they proceeded to lob the daggers into John; and as before, these knives returned to them as soon as they were thrown. Poor John was hit several times and then the doors shut.
Thankfully, or not so, we also managed to catch of a glimpse of the room beyond; it was full of bookshelves and books; it certainly didn’t look like a harem.
Longhelim obviously realised the same thing as he shouted:
“Wrong door!”
That left the door at the back of our group which was being guarded by Drudge at the rear.
As we turned to this door, I had a thought:
“John, you know those wands from the Inquisitors? The ones that have the locking magic……?”
As soon as I said it, he was already taking one out of his backpack; he knew exactly what was needed as he pointed it at the door to the library and locked it. At least we would not be disturbed from that source for the near future as John then advanced to the new door and began his usual fiddle.
As the door was opened, it revealed a warm, humid room full of more guards with red trousers. They began to try to throw daggers but both Victor and Longhelim were standing in the doorway. I also cast a spell which caused a series of magical tentacles to sprout from the floor; this certainly made their lives more difficult but the most effective person against them was Drudge who picked out his targets and began to decimate the guards. They tried to cast a couple of spells but they were unable to cross the line made by Longhelim and Victor.
Beyond the guards, we saw another group of people who seemed to be cowering but they offered little resistance. Under our combined assault, these new guards did not offer a great deal of resistance and they soon perished.
I dismissed the magical tentacles and we moved through the hot room. Judging by the decorations on the walls, the gold on the floor and the state of undress of some of the courtiers, this was far more likely to be the harem. As we were walking through, I noticed that there was a beautiful, highly detailed map of the world carved on the floor.
There was little time to look at much else as we moved swiftly across the room to another closed door. Every moment counted at this stage; John sped to this door and declared it safe and Longhelim stepped forward, opened it moved into the corridor, only to be met by a hail of arrows; quickly he staggered back, his armour, equipment and torso pierced; it was only his extraordinary stamina that was keeping him upright.
“More guards,” he gasped as Felix stepped forward and healed him. The torrents of blood stopped and the arrows fell out of his flesh while he swept those sticking out of his equipment. Drudge sped out of the corridor and let loose a volley of his own before sprinting back into the room:
“Four squads,” he whispered, “two to the left and two to the right. Faden, where do we need to go?”
I cast my mind back:
“Jorine said to go right here, past two double doors and that should take us to Imperial throne room; the ritual is being held in one of the wings off it.”
Victor spoke:
“We need to deal with all the squads.”
I had a thought:
“Longhelim, the fire spell from the Torch would be most effective against the squads. It would affect all of them.”
He nodded thoughtfully:
“Yeeees. I was hoping to save it but we have to get through these squads quickly.”
John then stepped forward to the doorway and cast a spell, which I recognised. It was like a barrier of wind; it did not hinder movement or spells going through it but it was very effective against arrows, rendering hem useless. I whispered to the others what he was doing just as he finished casting the spell and the warriors grinned and nodded approvingly at him.
Then, Longhelim stepped through. More volleys of arrows sped towards him but this time, the volleys from the left were deflected into the ceiling and an enormous column of fire engulfed the two squads in that direction, rendering them into cinders. Simultaneously, Drudge moved in and let loose a devastating volley before the squads to the right could reload. One of these was understrength, having suffered before and after this latest attack it dissipated into individuals that ran back down the corridor. The other kept its discipline and Victor moved towards it, where he engaged; that did not last long either.
As we moved around the corner, the corridor became an opening which led to large pair of double doors, presumably the first pair that Jorine had instructed us to go through. John examine them and declared them safe and unlocked. Upon opening them, we saw a sumptuous waiting area. It was sumptuously furnished, with large art works on the wall, beautiful if barely used furniture. As an aside, I thought that if you were waiting here to see the Ragesian emperor, it was unlikely you would be relaxed enough to sit down. The floor was carpeted. Basically, the room reeked to wealth and splendor, in a very intimidating way.
A second pair of double doors was situated on the same wall as that which we had entered.
Again, using speed rather than stealth, we moved to the door, but this time the doors were locked. As we approached them, everyone was healing; as soon as they had finished, everyone made ready and John initially tried a magical chime to open the door; this failed, so he had to do it the old fashioned way. He must have been truly inspired as he negotiated what looked like an enormous lock in almost no time at all and the door swung open to reveal an enormous room with an vast throne to the left as one looked in. Opposite was a circle etched on the floor, obviously meant to allow magical transport. However, that was as much as we could ascertain at this time as there was a group of strange humanoids in front of us. They may have been human once but now they were truly bestial with snarling faces, claws and no clothes but many glowing runes and sigils etched or tattooed on their bodies. They also wielded huge long spears, again etched in runes. As the warriors engaged, it quickly became obvious that they were heavily warded, incredibly fast and after one powerful spell from me, possibly not even alive.
Both Longhelim and Victor suffered heavily against their spears while their own weapons seemed to have difficulty in penetrating their skin. Even more disturbing was that every time they struck one of the warriors, it seemed to energise them, to keep them fighting. Longhelim cast one of his hugely powerful columns of fire from the Torch but even that seemed to do far lest hurt than it should have done. I did something a little more effective than previously and managed to trap two of them in a magical small jail cell with unbreakable walls and that seemed to turn the tide until suddenly another squad appeared behind us.
Unfortunately, we had forgotten to lock the door.
I was only aware of this new development but the shouting of swear words from John and Drudge who were still out there. We had our own trouble past the threshold. The humanoid creatures – whatever they were – were still hurting the warriors badly, so much so that Victor was swaying. I cast small spells at them, very much aware that they were little more than the guard and that the main enemy, the Inquisitors conducting the ritual, were still ahead of us. Thankfully, Felix managed to cast a powerful healing spell which not only helped us but seemed to hurt the creatures as well. That suggested that they were some sort of undead. Then Victor felled on followed very quickly by Longhelim felling another. They had been rocked by Felix’s spell.
Moments after that, John ran into the room calling out that Drudge had decimated one group of guards but that another was following up.
“I can’t reach that far door to lock it!”
Drudge ran in just as Longhelim knocked over the last creature and we slammed the door shut. As soon as that happened, John used his wand to lock it. Almost simultaneously, we heard several thumps as many bodies crashed into it.
Rapidly, we took a look around but saw little except the throne and a circle which could be used for magical transport. I took a mental note of that, in case we had to use it. Then we moved rapidly to the throne and the doors behind it. I already knew it was covered with a magical wall but thankfully, I had the spell to deal with that. Various spells were being cast as we moved, including a flying spell on Longhelim and healing on the warriors as they were still badly abused from the fight against the strange undead for want of a better term.
Victor tried the doors after John had checked them, but found they were locked. We heard enormous crashes from the door behind us and just as John was unlocking the doors behind the throne, those behind us burst open and a squad streamed in.
Felix however had stayed behind and shouted a powerful spell at them; I had never heard him use the words of power but this one had all the might of his faith behind it and it caused devastation to the group of guards, who collapsed as if they had been slain…….only to be replaced momentarily by yet another group of guards who fired at Felix, just as he was getting to us.
Inside, there was a group of figures dressed in fine shirts and red trousers. They had daggers, which they threw skillfully at John and then slammed the door shut. Victor also moved forward at that point as John scurried back; I was getting ready to intervene when Longhelim motioned me to be still. I heard the door open again and the thunk of daggers hitting something; I assumed it was Victor.
Another moment and then I heard a shout from Victor:
“Go!”
I saw Longhelim fly forward and I looked around the corner. The warrior had wedged himself in the doorway as Longhelim went through the space and began to engage the guards. More importantly, Drudge had also stepped forward and I saw him fire a volley of arrows at an enemy inside. I didn’t see the results but I suspected that they were not very good for his target; they never were. I followed up, to see only a couple of the guards left and both Longhelim and Victor were mopping them up. It was a very unequal battle.
Time was of the essence now; we move through the guard post and opened the opposite door into another corridor. Quickly, the warriors moved to a corner and glanced left; then both Victor and Longhelim moved down the corridor, quickly followed up by Felix and Drudge and finally myself. John stayed behind and in fact went back; then I remembered that Victor had had to drop the Living Blade of Innenotdar in the corridor and no doubt the rogue was going back to get it.
I moved down to the corner and saw a long corridor, as we had been told by Jorine; simultaneously, as we suspected, I saw that the two warriors had been engaged by two enormous statues of golden bears. Having said that, they were beginning to lose their tarnish under Longhelim and Victor’s blows but they still looked like formidable opponents. Irritatingly, if they were like most magical constructs, then they would be immune to most magic; which meant that there was very little I could do against them. Still, the warriors seemed to have it under control.
Until suddenly a hidden door opened in the corner of the corridor right opposite and a stream of Ragesian guardsmen began trying to surround us in the corridor. Thankfully, I managed to get a magical wall in front of them, to block the door. That led to the first door opening and another stream of guardsmen appeared; this was quickly followed by the opening of another door and they were joined by another squad.
There was a huge group of people in the corridor already when other doors began opening and there was as shout from the front of the corridor: Longhelim’s voice:
“There’s another bunch down here!”
It was getting dangerously crowded but it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn’t see the statues any more. Drudge shot a volley of arrows and figures fell; many, many figures. It seemed as if every time he shot an arrow, one of the guardsmen died. Victor stepped in and in a series of complicated steps and maneuvers sliced his way through one of the squads; where he went, soldiers fell. That was fortunate as another two squads suddenly appeared in the corridor ahead, running towards us. This palace must have been guarded by veritable regiments.
Suddenly, I saw a column of fire behind us, hitting another of the squads; I looked around, since Felix was next to me and he seemed to be doing something else; then I saw John wave his hands around and the light glinted off his new ring. Handy piece of jewelry that; it certainly seemed to have toasted that squad.
The squads to the rear seemed to be getting their bows out and a rain of arrows flew through the corridor. Some of them struck their own men but that did not seem to trouble them; of more concern was the fact that I was their main target. However, we had our own archer and he seemed to be the equivalent of one of those squads on his own – only better. As Drudge shot volley after volley, men, orcs and half orcs fell.
I was badly hurt and Felix poured healing magic into me, which was lucky as yet another squad unloaded, with again me being their main target. I could see that Longhelim was retreating from around the corner and drawing another squad after him. This one was obviously hurt as it had been fighting the paladin but it was still attempting to cut him down. Fortunately, my defensive spell, which toughened the skin, was still active both on the warriors and I.
As soon as Victor and Longhelim managed to combine their fighting styles and attack the squads as a pair, they began carving their way through the guards at a frightening rate. This, in combination with Drudge’s devastating archery proceeded to rapidly cull the onrushing guardsmen.
Finally, there were none left.
We did a little re-organising; Victor collected the Living Blade from John and found that his ability to magically summon it did not work within the palace. I suspected that transportation magic was similarly curtailed. Those who could were doing some general healing but the key was speed and we moved down the corridor. As we arrived at the end, we were in a quandary. The corridor turned to the left but there were a pair of doors in front of us; as it continued to the left, there it also ended in a pair of doors.
As Longhelim and Victor led, the former spoke:
“Faden, which doors?”
I cast my mind back and replied:
“Jorine said doors at the end of the corridor, through the harem.”
Without hesitation, the paladin shouted:
“John, doors ahead!”
John sped ahead of us and reached them just as we turned the corner. He began to crouch down until trying to see if they were locked or trapped when they suddenly opened and a group of the same guards was behind them; those with the flamboyant red trousers, impressive physiques, a lot of daggers and not much else; they proceeded to lob the daggers into John; and as before, these knives returned to them as soon as they were thrown. Poor John was hit several times and then the doors shut.
Thankfully, or not so, we also managed to catch of a glimpse of the room beyond; it was full of bookshelves and books; it certainly didn’t look like a harem.
Longhelim obviously realised the same thing as he shouted:
“Wrong door!”
That left the door at the back of our group which was being guarded by Drudge at the rear.
As we turned to this door, I had a thought:
“John, you know those wands from the Inquisitors? The ones that have the locking magic……?”
As soon as I said it, he was already taking one out of his backpack; he knew exactly what was needed as he pointed it at the door to the library and locked it. At least we would not be disturbed from that source for the near future as John then advanced to the new door and began his usual fiddle.
As the door was opened, it revealed a warm, humid room full of more guards with red trousers. They began to try to throw daggers but both Victor and Longhelim were standing in the doorway. I also cast a spell which caused a series of magical tentacles to sprout from the floor; this certainly made their lives more difficult but the most effective person against them was Drudge who picked out his targets and began to decimate the guards. They tried to cast a couple of spells but they were unable to cross the line made by Longhelim and Victor.
Beyond the guards, we saw another group of people who seemed to be cowering but they offered little resistance. Under our combined assault, these new guards did not offer a great deal of resistance and they soon perished.
I dismissed the magical tentacles and we moved through the hot room. Judging by the decorations on the walls, the gold on the floor and the state of undress of some of the courtiers, this was far more likely to be the harem. As we were walking through, I noticed that there was a beautiful, highly detailed map of the world carved on the floor.
There was little time to look at much else as we moved swiftly across the room to another closed door. Every moment counted at this stage; John sped to this door and declared it safe and Longhelim stepped forward, opened it moved into the corridor, only to be met by a hail of arrows; quickly he staggered back, his armour, equipment and torso pierced; it was only his extraordinary stamina that was keeping him upright.
“More guards,” he gasped as Felix stepped forward and healed him. The torrents of blood stopped and the arrows fell out of his flesh while he swept those sticking out of his equipment. Drudge sped out of the corridor and let loose a volley of his own before sprinting back into the room:
“Four squads,” he whispered, “two to the left and two to the right. Faden, where do we need to go?”
I cast my mind back:
“Jorine said to go right here, past two double doors and that should take us to Imperial throne room; the ritual is being held in one of the wings off it.”
Victor spoke:
“We need to deal with all the squads.”
I had a thought:
“Longhelim, the fire spell from the Torch would be most effective against the squads. It would affect all of them.”
He nodded thoughtfully:
“Yeeees. I was hoping to save it but we have to get through these squads quickly.”
John then stepped forward to the doorway and cast a spell, which I recognised. It was like a barrier of wind; it did not hinder movement or spells going through it but it was very effective against arrows, rendering hem useless. I whispered to the others what he was doing just as he finished casting the spell and the warriors grinned and nodded approvingly at him.
Then, Longhelim stepped through. More volleys of arrows sped towards him but this time, the volleys from the left were deflected into the ceiling and an enormous column of fire engulfed the two squads in that direction, rendering them into cinders. Simultaneously, Drudge moved in and let loose a devastating volley before the squads to the right could reload. One of these was understrength, having suffered before and after this latest attack it dissipated into individuals that ran back down the corridor. The other kept its discipline and Victor moved towards it, where he engaged; that did not last long either.
As we moved around the corner, the corridor became an opening which led to large pair of double doors, presumably the first pair that Jorine had instructed us to go through. John examine them and declared them safe and unlocked. Upon opening them, we saw a sumptuous waiting area. It was sumptuously furnished, with large art works on the wall, beautiful if barely used furniture. As an aside, I thought that if you were waiting here to see the Ragesian emperor, it was unlikely you would be relaxed enough to sit down. The floor was carpeted. Basically, the room reeked to wealth and splendor, in a very intimidating way.
A second pair of double doors was situated on the same wall as that which we had entered.
Again, using speed rather than stealth, we moved to the door, but this time the doors were locked. As we approached them, everyone was healing; as soon as they had finished, everyone made ready and John initially tried a magical chime to open the door; this failed, so he had to do it the old fashioned way. He must have been truly inspired as he negotiated what looked like an enormous lock in almost no time at all and the door swung open to reveal an enormous room with an vast throne to the left as one looked in. Opposite was a circle etched on the floor, obviously meant to allow magical transport. However, that was as much as we could ascertain at this time as there was a group of strange humanoids in front of us. They may have been human once but now they were truly bestial with snarling faces, claws and no clothes but many glowing runes and sigils etched or tattooed on their bodies. They also wielded huge long spears, again etched in runes. As the warriors engaged, it quickly became obvious that they were heavily warded, incredibly fast and after one powerful spell from me, possibly not even alive.
Both Longhelim and Victor suffered heavily against their spears while their own weapons seemed to have difficulty in penetrating their skin. Even more disturbing was that every time they struck one of the warriors, it seemed to energise them, to keep them fighting. Longhelim cast one of his hugely powerful columns of fire from the Torch but even that seemed to do far lest hurt than it should have done. I did something a little more effective than previously and managed to trap two of them in a magical small jail cell with unbreakable walls and that seemed to turn the tide until suddenly another squad appeared behind us.
Unfortunately, we had forgotten to lock the door.
I was only aware of this new development but the shouting of swear words from John and Drudge who were still out there. We had our own trouble past the threshold. The humanoid creatures – whatever they were – were still hurting the warriors badly, so much so that Victor was swaying. I cast small spells at them, very much aware that they were little more than the guard and that the main enemy, the Inquisitors conducting the ritual, were still ahead of us. Thankfully, Felix managed to cast a powerful healing spell which not only helped us but seemed to hurt the creatures as well. That suggested that they were some sort of undead. Then Victor felled on followed very quickly by Longhelim felling another. They had been rocked by Felix’s spell.
Moments after that, John ran into the room calling out that Drudge had decimated one group of guards but that another was following up.
“I can’t reach that far door to lock it!”
Drudge ran in just as Longhelim knocked over the last creature and we slammed the door shut. As soon as that happened, John used his wand to lock it. Almost simultaneously, we heard several thumps as many bodies crashed into it.
Rapidly, we took a look around but saw little except the throne and a circle which could be used for magical transport. I took a mental note of that, in case we had to use it. Then we moved rapidly to the throne and the doors behind it. I already knew it was covered with a magical wall but thankfully, I had the spell to deal with that. Various spells were being cast as we moved, including a flying spell on Longhelim and healing on the warriors as they were still badly abused from the fight against the strange undead for want of a better term.
Victor tried the doors after John had checked them, but found they were locked. We heard enormous crashes from the door behind us and just as John was unlocking the doors behind the throne, those behind us burst open and a squad streamed in.
Felix however had stayed behind and shouted a powerful spell at them; I had never heard him use the words of power but this one had all the might of his faith behind it and it caused devastation to the group of guards, who collapsed as if they had been slain…….only to be replaced momentarily by yet another group of guards who fired at Felix, just as he was getting to us.
Thankfully, John had just unlocked the doors and Victor tried to open them for their progress to be impeded by some sort of barrier. I looked through the crack but could not see anything.
I spoke quietly to the others, as I was preparing another spell:
“They’ve put another magicall wall behind the doors; crafty creatures. Luckily, I have another spell which should take us through.”
A green ray shot out of my hands and through the gaps in the doors, allowing them swing open all the way. Bearing in mind that another group of guards was behind us, slammed these doors shut and locked them again.
Just as we turned around we were met but the sight of a huge pit in the far end of a large chamber and three Inquisitors scurrying around in panic and a very un-Inquisitor like manner. Longhelim moved forward, followed by Felix. Victor stayed by the door in case the guards tried to smash this one, but strangely, there seemed to be no effort to do this.
I was looking around curiously. All the walls and floor seemed to be covered in sigils and runes but there was something peculiar about them. I was trying to ascertain some sort of idea as to what they meant and what they were supposed to do but it was very difficult.
I heard Drudge shoot off a volley and saw one of the Inquisitors collapse in the corner. I was a little startled at that but I didn’t want to be distracted.
Longhelim called out:
“This is a portal to an infernal plane!”
He was looking at the hole at the far end of the room. I looked at it and could see a fiery glow but not much else. Then I saw Drudge shoot another of the Inquisitors and the last one ran out and jumped into the portal or pit.
I was still looking around and began to voice my thoughts to the others……
“This doesn’t make sense….three inquisitors aren’t enough for a ritual of this magnitude and importance……the sigils don’t make sense……the runes are the work of a first year student in Gabal’s Tower………where are the guards…..where is the focus ring…..Felix, do you have that spell that allows you to see things as they really are? I have a dreadful suspicion……..”
As I finished my speech, Felix was already casting the spell and as soon as he finished things began to happen. First of all, the cleric began shouting:
“All this is illusion! There’s a big devil in here and another six Inquisitors, proper ones. There’s also another circle…….”
As he was shouting this, various spells began to rain on us. They were mainly those that destroyed spells on us. I could see that everyone was affected. Longhelim was flying up into the air and Drudge was shooting at something…….
I began to concentrate; obviously there must have been some powerful illusion magic involved. Moments later, with great effort, I managed to lift the veil of enchantment that had been obscured the room. Seeing what I saw, I almost wished I hadn’t. Floating in mid-air, facing us, was a creature that I had thought only a myth. Most libraries have a forbidden section; that is a series of tomes that are deemed to have secrets that are not suitable for unprepared scholars. Among these, there are the faintest hints and allusions to a devil; a devil so powerful that it sits at the right hand of the Dukes of Hell themselves. It is a general of the armies of hell; a direct agent of a Lord of the Infernos. Over the centuries, scholars have known them by many names but one is the most evocative above all: Pit Fiend! From the description of the creature in front of me, it looked as if this was the creature that was aiding Leska with the ritual.
It was looking at all of us, showing its teeth, flicking its tail and idly swinging its whip. Every so often, a little fire burst from some part of its body and its eyes were also glowing as if from an inner flame. It was vaguely humanoid with forelimbs and legs but it also had bat wings and its features could have acted like an iconic representation of an infernal enforcer used by one of the good religions; every priests nightmare; which it was.
Almost as an afterthought, I saw six more priests, arranged around the very present summoning circle, surrounded by a shield of fire. The circle was also another feature which had been hidden by the concealing spell and now that I saw it, it was indeed a portal to the infernal realms. As I peered more closely at it, I saw that it somehow, there was an evil, sickly energy flowing out of it. Almost instantly, I grasped that it was necromantic magic of very high complexity; somehow, souls were being used to power the ritual which was hiding Leska. It was a variation of the magic used to power Coaltongue’s flying chariot, but to a far more powerful extent. I wasn’t sure how the power was being used to power the ritual, but then again, I wasn’t sure how the souls were being used to provide flight for a chariot either.
The priests began to cast more spells at us, or more at Victor and Felix to be exact. As before, this was magic designed to dissolve our own supporting spells and very effective. Thankfully, Drudge was also able to let loose one of his barrages and one of the priests sprouted arrows like a porcupine, falling down immediately. This, of course, immediately ensured that the attention of the priests focused on the archer.
The devil cast a spell on Felix which caused the priest to spasm and twitch uncontrollably. The paladin immediately set out to try to stop this; that told me that at least the paladin was aware of the true course of events; unfortunately, Victor, our other warrior was not, as he ran to the far side of the room, obviously looking for an enemy to attack. I tried to cast a spell at the devil but it just dissipated against the skin of the creature. It didn’t even notice me, concentrating on the paladin. Nothing loth, Longhelim flew towards it and the two engaged in combat; or it wasn’t really combat; the devil just ripped the paladin apart. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone handle Longhelim with such ease and contempt. There was a brief flurry which was so fast I couldn’t even follow it and suddenly Longhelim was on the ground, burning. It was difficult to tell if the devil was hurt but he certainly didn’t act like it.
I tried to cast more of my spells at it, but again, it either dodged them or they just bounced off its skin. Victor was still running around looking for an enemy although at this point John was literally turning him and pointing his head in the direction of the pit fiend.
The only person who had any sort of success was Drudge, who had systematically been working his way through the Inquisitors, shooting each one until there were none left. The ritual looked to have been disrupted and for the first time, the pit fiend was frustrated, as it let out a roar and began to fly towards the archer. Just before he died, one of the Inquisitors put a flame wall across a corner; as I had a resistance against that element, I slipped through, using the wall as a useful defensive tool.
Victor eyes seemed to have finally penetrated the magic that was overlaying the room and he moved towards the devil but even so, things looked dire indeed as I had almost no spells left and I could see that Felix had almost none either. John probably had a few but his magic was different and unfortunately, he could do very little.
Suddenly, the huge devil appeared next to me. I blanched but before I could do anything, he hit me and its tail swung around and wrapped itself around my body. I struggled desperately to free myself but in vain. Moments later, the barrier of flame stopped and the magic became exhausted. Suddenly I could see the others; John shouted at me:
“The ritual has been disrupted! Magic works!”
This was happening just as the devil moved me next to the pit. I tried to cast my last major spell, which would transport me away but the tail just squeezed me and disrupted the magic. Thankfully, Victor, bloodied and bruised, moved up to me and touched my leg; that was enough as he activated his magical cloak which moved us next to Felix. Then the cleric transported us away from the Palace.
Unfortunately, Longhelim looked very badly burned; as did Felix and Victor, who must have suffered while they were magically moved. Without the protection of the Torch, the Burning Sky was still a powerful deterrent to magical travel. In fact, Victor and Felix were both burning fiercely while Longhelim’s soul had left his body.
We were all burnt from our recent magic but thankfully, I was protected against fire. John and Drudge were also hurt but they were also functioning which allowed them the being healing Felix. Once the priest was up, he was also able to join in the healing and soon all of us were unhurt, except we all looked as if we had just walked through the Fire Forest of Innenotdar.
Drudge began to count his arrows:
“What now?”
John was looking at Felix while the priest took out a large group of diamonds from one Longhelim’s pouches. The priest was preparing to cast a spell. The rogue spoke thoughtfully:
“We disrupted the ritual for a brief period; that devil will round up another group of Inquisitors. If we don’t deal with it, Leska’s location will remain hidden and she’ll complete her ritual. We have to re-learn our spells the hard way and go back.”
I grimaced:
“John’s right. I hate learning spells this way but there’s nothing else for it. Even then, that devil is so powerful that I’m not sure if we’ll succeed. You know what he is, don’t you?”
John nodded but the others looked interested so I gave them a brief description of what I knew about them. Drudge nodded thoughtfully and made a couple of suggestion of how magic could help him to overcome the creature’s defences. Then we all discussed our tactics for dealing with such a powerful supernatural being.
After that, we began to learn spells – the hard way; in other words, we began to do the work that normally takes a night’s rest and condensed into an hour.
As usual, this left Felix, John and I extremely tired; I had a headache and felt nauseous. Yet, I had managed to get the spells into my head and after consultation with John and Felix, began to cast various defensive and useful magic on everyone, ready to go back into the fray once more.
Last moment checks were made, equipment was adjusted, questions were asked and contingencies were planned; then, I cast one last spell which made us all invisible and finally, I cast the transportation magic; this time, it was safe as Longhelim was in control of the Torch of the Burning Sky.
As expected, we landed next to the strange magical teleportation beacon. Immediately, both Victor and Longhelim struck it with venom. I was recovering from the magic and also I glanced around us. There was uproar in the grounds. Obviously, our previous excursion into the palace had caused some consternation. Powerful archer devils, or erinyes as they were also known, stalked the grounds. Squads of Ragesian infantry were poised in readyness and the fire giants about whom we had been warned, had boulders in their hands.
There was a shout from the devils. We were spotted immediately but by this point, Victor had already carved out a large chunk of stone from the beacon and Longhelim then caused it to almost break. Nevertheless, a storm of arrows flew in our direction and even the giants managed to toss their boulders in our general direction. We had remained invisible of course so we were not too concerned about the boulders but the archer devils were a different matter since they were able to see us. Thankfully, we did seem to have caught them unawares as their first volley was quite ragged. That gave Victor just enough time to give the beacon one last blow, breaking it in half. As soon as that was accomplished, Felix cast a spell which took us into the ritual room inside the palace.
I spoke quietly to the others, as I was preparing another spell:
“They’ve put another magicall wall behind the doors; crafty creatures. Luckily, I have another spell which should take us through.”
A green ray shot out of my hands and through the gaps in the doors, allowing them swing open all the way. Bearing in mind that another group of guards was behind us, slammed these doors shut and locked them again.
Just as we turned around we were met but the sight of a huge pit in the far end of a large chamber and three Inquisitors scurrying around in panic and a very un-Inquisitor like manner. Longhelim moved forward, followed by Felix. Victor stayed by the door in case the guards tried to smash this one, but strangely, there seemed to be no effort to do this.
I was looking around curiously. All the walls and floor seemed to be covered in sigils and runes but there was something peculiar about them. I was trying to ascertain some sort of idea as to what they meant and what they were supposed to do but it was very difficult.
I heard Drudge shoot off a volley and saw one of the Inquisitors collapse in the corner. I was a little startled at that but I didn’t want to be distracted.
Longhelim called out:
“This is a portal to an infernal plane!”
He was looking at the hole at the far end of the room. I looked at it and could see a fiery glow but not much else. Then I saw Drudge shoot another of the Inquisitors and the last one ran out and jumped into the portal or pit.
I was still looking around and began to voice my thoughts to the others……
“This doesn’t make sense….three inquisitors aren’t enough for a ritual of this magnitude and importance……the sigils don’t make sense……the runes are the work of a first year student in Gabal’s Tower………where are the guards…..where is the focus ring…..Felix, do you have that spell that allows you to see things as they really are? I have a dreadful suspicion……..”
As I finished my speech, Felix was already casting the spell and as soon as he finished things began to happen. First of all, the cleric began shouting:
“All this is illusion! There’s a big devil in here and another six Inquisitors, proper ones. There’s also another circle…….”
As he was shouting this, various spells began to rain on us. They were mainly those that destroyed spells on us. I could see that everyone was affected. Longhelim was flying up into the air and Drudge was shooting at something…….
I began to concentrate; obviously there must have been some powerful illusion magic involved. Moments later, with great effort, I managed to lift the veil of enchantment that had been obscured the room. Seeing what I saw, I almost wished I hadn’t. Floating in mid-air, facing us, was a creature that I had thought only a myth. Most libraries have a forbidden section; that is a series of tomes that are deemed to have secrets that are not suitable for unprepared scholars. Among these, there are the faintest hints and allusions to a devil; a devil so powerful that it sits at the right hand of the Dukes of Hell themselves. It is a general of the armies of hell; a direct agent of a Lord of the Infernos. Over the centuries, scholars have known them by many names but one is the most evocative above all: Pit Fiend! From the description of the creature in front of me, it looked as if this was the creature that was aiding Leska with the ritual.
It was looking at all of us, showing its teeth, flicking its tail and idly swinging its whip. Every so often, a little fire burst from some part of its body and its eyes were also glowing as if from an inner flame. It was vaguely humanoid with forelimbs and legs but it also had bat wings and its features could have acted like an iconic representation of an infernal enforcer used by one of the good religions; every priests nightmare; which it was.
Almost as an afterthought, I saw six more priests, arranged around the very present summoning circle, surrounded by a shield of fire. The circle was also another feature which had been hidden by the concealing spell and now that I saw it, it was indeed a portal to the infernal realms. As I peered more closely at it, I saw that it somehow, there was an evil, sickly energy flowing out of it. Almost instantly, I grasped that it was necromantic magic of very high complexity; somehow, souls were being used to power the ritual which was hiding Leska. It was a variation of the magic used to power Coaltongue’s flying chariot, but to a far more powerful extent. I wasn’t sure how the power was being used to power the ritual, but then again, I wasn’t sure how the souls were being used to provide flight for a chariot either.
The priests began to cast more spells at us, or more at Victor and Felix to be exact. As before, this was magic designed to dissolve our own supporting spells and very effective. Thankfully, Drudge was also able to let loose one of his barrages and one of the priests sprouted arrows like a porcupine, falling down immediately. This, of course, immediately ensured that the attention of the priests focused on the archer.
The devil cast a spell on Felix which caused the priest to spasm and twitch uncontrollably. The paladin immediately set out to try to stop this; that told me that at least the paladin was aware of the true course of events; unfortunately, Victor, our other warrior was not, as he ran to the far side of the room, obviously looking for an enemy to attack. I tried to cast a spell at the devil but it just dissipated against the skin of the creature. It didn’t even notice me, concentrating on the paladin. Nothing loth, Longhelim flew towards it and the two engaged in combat; or it wasn’t really combat; the devil just ripped the paladin apart. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone handle Longhelim with such ease and contempt. There was a brief flurry which was so fast I couldn’t even follow it and suddenly Longhelim was on the ground, burning. It was difficult to tell if the devil was hurt but he certainly didn’t act like it.
I tried to cast more of my spells at it, but again, it either dodged them or they just bounced off its skin. Victor was still running around looking for an enemy although at this point John was literally turning him and pointing his head in the direction of the pit fiend.
The only person who had any sort of success was Drudge, who had systematically been working his way through the Inquisitors, shooting each one until there were none left. The ritual looked to have been disrupted and for the first time, the pit fiend was frustrated, as it let out a roar and began to fly towards the archer. Just before he died, one of the Inquisitors put a flame wall across a corner; as I had a resistance against that element, I slipped through, using the wall as a useful defensive tool.
Victor eyes seemed to have finally penetrated the magic that was overlaying the room and he moved towards the devil but even so, things looked dire indeed as I had almost no spells left and I could see that Felix had almost none either. John probably had a few but his magic was different and unfortunately, he could do very little.
Suddenly, the huge devil appeared next to me. I blanched but before I could do anything, he hit me and its tail swung around and wrapped itself around my body. I struggled desperately to free myself but in vain. Moments later, the barrier of flame stopped and the magic became exhausted. Suddenly I could see the others; John shouted at me:
“The ritual has been disrupted! Magic works!”
This was happening just as the devil moved me next to the pit. I tried to cast my last major spell, which would transport me away but the tail just squeezed me and disrupted the magic. Thankfully, Victor, bloodied and bruised, moved up to me and touched my leg; that was enough as he activated his magical cloak which moved us next to Felix. Then the cleric transported us away from the Palace.
Unfortunately, Longhelim looked very badly burned; as did Felix and Victor, who must have suffered while they were magically moved. Without the protection of the Torch, the Burning Sky was still a powerful deterrent to magical travel. In fact, Victor and Felix were both burning fiercely while Longhelim’s soul had left his body.
We were all burnt from our recent magic but thankfully, I was protected against fire. John and Drudge were also hurt but they were also functioning which allowed them the being healing Felix. Once the priest was up, he was also able to join in the healing and soon all of us were unhurt, except we all looked as if we had just walked through the Fire Forest of Innenotdar.
Drudge began to count his arrows:
“What now?”
John was looking at Felix while the priest took out a large group of diamonds from one Longhelim’s pouches. The priest was preparing to cast a spell. The rogue spoke thoughtfully:
“We disrupted the ritual for a brief period; that devil will round up another group of Inquisitors. If we don’t deal with it, Leska’s location will remain hidden and she’ll complete her ritual. We have to re-learn our spells the hard way and go back.”
I grimaced:
“John’s right. I hate learning spells this way but there’s nothing else for it. Even then, that devil is so powerful that I’m not sure if we’ll succeed. You know what he is, don’t you?”
John nodded but the others looked interested so I gave them a brief description of what I knew about them. Drudge nodded thoughtfully and made a couple of suggestion of how magic could help him to overcome the creature’s defences. Then we all discussed our tactics for dealing with such a powerful supernatural being.
After that, we began to learn spells – the hard way; in other words, we began to do the work that normally takes a night’s rest and condensed into an hour.
As usual, this left Felix, John and I extremely tired; I had a headache and felt nauseous. Yet, I had managed to get the spells into my head and after consultation with John and Felix, began to cast various defensive and useful magic on everyone, ready to go back into the fray once more.
Last moment checks were made, equipment was adjusted, questions were asked and contingencies were planned; then, I cast one last spell which made us all invisible and finally, I cast the transportation magic; this time, it was safe as Longhelim was in control of the Torch of the Burning Sky.
As expected, we landed next to the strange magical teleportation beacon. Immediately, both Victor and Longhelim struck it with venom. I was recovering from the magic and also I glanced around us. There was uproar in the grounds. Obviously, our previous excursion into the palace had caused some consternation. Powerful archer devils, or erinyes as they were also known, stalked the grounds. Squads of Ragesian infantry were poised in readyness and the fire giants about whom we had been warned, had boulders in their hands.
There was a shout from the devils. We were spotted immediately but by this point, Victor had already carved out a large chunk of stone from the beacon and Longhelim then caused it to almost break. Nevertheless, a storm of arrows flew in our direction and even the giants managed to toss their boulders in our general direction. We had remained invisible of course so we were not too concerned about the boulders but the archer devils were a different matter since they were able to see us. Thankfully, we did seem to have caught them unawares as their first volley was quite ragged. That gave Victor just enough time to give the beacon one last blow, breaking it in half. As soon as that was accomplished, Felix cast a spell which took us into the ritual room inside the palace.
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