Alturiak 1377 - CoRD Strikes Back

Something was off here, the warrior thought as they moved down the hall. Any noise they may have made was covered by the ineffectual golems in the courtyard. The traps they were facing didn't seem to 'fit' with what they already knew.

"Therogeon..." the warrior addressed the more knowledgable of the two. "Are we still operating under the assumption that there is NO mage here? With the traps, and the golems, locks... this seems more along your type of magic than Asharas.

"Also... How is this Cyricist coming and going from here? You couldn't teleport through the shield... but he can?"

Elric indicated the solitary footprints they'd left behind them. "Nobody's been coming in the way we did, and I didn't see another way down..."

The wizard was paused in front of the concealed doors. The illusions were good, he doubted he would have noticed it if it wasn't for his spell being active. Of course that spell also had him noticing the wizard locsk. It was powerfull enough he couldn't just ignore them, but he was confident he could dispell them.

He was just about to when Elric, who had moved past the doors not seeing them, spoke.

Elric wrote: "Therogeon..." the warrior addressed the more knowledgable of the two. "Are we still operating under the assumption that there is NO mage here? With the traps, and the golems, locks... this seems more along your type of magic than Asharas.

"Also... How is this Cyricist coming and going from here? You couldn't teleport through the shield... but he can?"

Elric indicated the solitary footprints they'd left behind them. "Nobody's been coming in the way we did, and I didn't see another way down..."

He looked at his friend, "It is possible that there is another mage working here. It's also possible that the priest used a Find Traps spell to avoid the traps much as we did." He held up a hand to the 'wall' and traced a finger along the illusion, "Some priests also have a spell called 'Sanctuary' that allows the priest to not bee seen as an enemy or threat. It's possible that our friend used that spell to bypass the golems."

He stepped back from wall and looked at it curiously, "Also, these protection spells that prevent teleporting can often be bypassed by those who know the correct pass phrase or word. Still, I cannot discount the possibility of another spell caster. If that is the case, then indeed, do not worry. I am more than prepared to handle two spell casters." He looked over at his brother and winked.

He then looked back at the door and activated a dispell effect from his staff. The illusion on the walls wavered slightly then faded from sight at the same time as the locking spells dissapated. The walls were revealed for what they were, doors and no longer spell locked. Therogeon turned to Elric, "What say we see what's behind this door." he indicated pointing to the one on the eastern face of the wall.

Elric looked at the new doors curiously. The goal was to get to the demon's as soon as possible, and the original door was probably the most direct route... No, Therogeon was right... With all these traps and the guardians... UNDER the tower proper, there were probably dangers all throughout this place.

This side route was probably the mages personal travel route, and should be less guarded. SHOULD be...

"Fine, let's see what's we've got here." The warrior stepped up front and pushed the door open.

Both of the once-secret doors in the hallway spanned floor to ceiling, about fifteen feet in height and the width of two men. They were made entirely of unadorned iron. As Elric pushed open the door on the eastern side, he was expecting a good amount of resistance from such a heavy door, so he put his shoulder into it. To his surprise, the iron slab gave with much less difficulty than he expected, and it flew open on its hinges, slamming hard into the wall on the inside.

The loud clang reverberated through the area and the disturbance caused the layer of dust inside the room to form tiny whirlwinds before eventually settling on their new surfaces.

The twenty foot square room was in some disarray, and it had obviously not been used or even entered in a very long time. A enormous block of iron dominated the center of the room, upon which lay rusting pieces of what may have been intended for another iron golem. Along the southern wall stood a long table, littered with various etching tools, vials of ink, old quills and scraps of loose parchment.

A large wooden cage in the northeastern corner contains a human skeleton that is propped up on one side as if he had been sitting against the bars when he died, though his skull has long since lost its ability to stay atop the spine and now rests in the poor soul's skeletal lap.

A wooden pedestal stands a few feet in front of the iron block. On this pedestal sits a large, closed iron-bound tome, two feet tall and a foot wide. On the front of the tome is a single symbol.

Elric carefully scanned the room and felt relief at the lack of traps, but annoyance at the lack of another way out. He was beginning to think his first impression of skipping the side doors and rushing straight to the main enemies was on the mark.

Therogeon had said little about this mage who built the tower... Only that it was destroyed in a mage duel. Having recently been attacked in his own home, Elric had felt bad for the unknown mage. Seeing the skeleton left to die in a cage tempered those feeling strongly. Obviously this was not a good person, and possibly deserved having his home stormed and destroyed. Forced to face what was left, Elric wished whoever had waged that war had done a more thorough job.

"Iron Golems... Iron doors... Iron book???" The warrior mumbled loudly. Turning to the mage he grinned wryly, "I think I'm detecting a pattern here.

"Nothing of interest in here... Let's move on." He said walking back into the hall.

The wizard nodded to his friend, "Nothing of immediate interest no. Still, I will be taking this book with me." So saying he slipped the book into a large pouch. It was heavier than he expected though he should have.

"What say we try the door across the hall, see what's in there, then continue on our way to justice. In case there are any suprises waiting to sneak up on two devilishly handsome adventures on an heroic crusade." He winked at Elric though the fighter could see that the banter was mostly forced. The mage was obviously trying to keep Elric's mood up after his uncharecteristic beating of the demon upstairs.

The Wizard Mark on the front of the heavy tome now carried in the elf's pouch, labeled it as likely the very Iron Tome that gave Semerot his name! Through the active Analyze spell, he could see that the book was indeed magical, and if he had to hazard a guess without the benefit of time to look through it, it was probably a Manual of Iron Golems...perhaps even written by Semerot himself if the magical ink on the table and now crippled golems in the other room were any indication.

It was becoming apparent that this mysterious wizard was not of middling skill as was once believed! Whether or not the wards, protections and traps they'd found so far were his, remained to be seen, but it would certainly fit what was known of the man's character...

The carving on the doors to the room with the two golems was likely an engraving of Thaymount by the look of it, and after seeing the Mulhorandi pictoglyphs on the door with the carving of the old man and the boy, it caused the master mage to wonder if Semerot was one of the infamous Red Wizards or at very least a resident of the area. The Mulhorandi language being the 'official' language of Thay after all...

If he was a Red Wizard, why would he move so far away from the home he obviously had some love for to have it carved on the oaken doors? And more than that, move to the middle of nowhere!

As if on cue, Almara contacted Therogeon through the ring to tell him the information that the students had gathered on Adokas...the mage allegedly responsible for Semerot's destruction.

There were rumors that there was a Red Wizard named Adokas that was known in Thay before Semerot's tower was destroyed. After that date nothing more had been heard of him...

Apparently that was all the information that could be found without intensive research that could take a considerable amount of time. Perhaps this Adokas was the reason he left Thay? It had been assumed that Semerot was killed since the tower had been turned to rubble, but if so where was Adokas? Did they destroy each other? Did any of this have anything to do with the attack on his home and his family back in Impresk?

There was simply not enough information to know the truth right now, but Therogeon still found it to be an interesting puzzle that he wanted to have resolved. Especially if there were Red Wizards involved...

The warrior raised an eyebrow at the mages remarks. "Heroic quest... Vengence and Retribution... Same difference?" he questioned the mage. This was not their normal quest or adventure. He had very little doubt that the priest they were going to meet would not survive this encounter, and that didn't really bother the angry husband and father. Thought the fact that it didn't bother him tugged at the edge fo his conscience.

They had killed enemies before... many times before. However it was different then. Either it was self defense, or it was part of a holy quest given by Lathander himself... or even to protect all of Tethyr... This felt different. It was more... personal. They were not in the middle of some grand world altering scheme... they were simply attacked for revenge. It wasn't Lathander or Tethyr or anything else that was threatened this time... it was just them! The Champions were hurt last night, so today they rode forth to hurt back.

Though the master of Salk-sirra didn't dwell on the knowledge often, he knew how to hurt, and he knew how to kill. Various moves flowed through his mind and not for the first time, he was glad he'd been assigned to fight the demon and not the man.

Crossing the hall, he approached the second previously hidden door. Learning from the first one, he simply pushed this one open and looked inside.

The enormous iron door swung open gently this time, into another twenty foot square room. It was obviously a laboratory, but kept up by someone with absolutely no skills for organization... In the center of the room is a large desk, completely blanketed by scraps of parchment, summoning diagrams, a jar of goose feather quills, and sketches of various constructs. Standing atop one of the diagrams was a large silver sculpture of a scarab beetle with a circular magnifying lens serving as its chitinous shell. A well-worn cushioned chair stands next to desk, a thick coat of dust obscuring the original color. Everything in this room is covered is dust... A brass brazier in one corner, holds the remnants of some sort of incense.

Along the southern wall is a large table devoted to the creation of various potions or powders or magical inks that the owner would require. Expensive glassware rests in their holders, containing the crystallized remnants of the liquids that used to be present, if anything at all.

Bookcases line the western wall, but hold relatively few books. Mostly odds and ends of no value, a few scrolls, knickknacks, and an odd clay sculpture that looked as if it might have been made to contain pipe ashes.

A two-foot by three-foot chest sits in the corner of the room opposite the brazier, beneath the laboratory table.

Elric's Find Traps spell senses nothing in the room of that particular sort of danger, but Therogeon's spell reveals a few items of interest. Two of the scrolls on the bookshelf are magical, and the chest in the corner is Wizard Locked, but also, directly across from the door they entered is a three-foot wide passageway out of the room that is being disguised by an illusion to appear as if it were simply part of the bookcase.

The wizard entered the room, moving past Elric who seeing nothing to fight nor any traps, had stepped aside. He moved quickly through the room, pocketing the scrolls and moving to the illusion covered wall.

"It seems we have a passageway here my brother." The wizard began pointing through the bookcase, "And what ever is in that chest over there seems also to be somewhat important."

He turned back towards Elric, "Much as I would love to ransack the place, it may not be appropriate at this time. So, should we see what's behind the non bookcase?"

Elric was starting to get nervous. Each door they entered simply led to another empty room. Not that he was looking forward to a room full of monsters... but if they kept hitting dead ends. that may be exactly what they find. The Tana'ri knew they were there, and had most likely already left their little playmate above... He didn't know much about demons, but if they could do that often??? Everything they stopped to investigate could mean another demon he'd have to fight later...

Still perhaps these rooms deserved more than the passing glance he'd given them. That much dust, no visible exits, and no opponents to hit... simply meant they'd chosen the wrong door. He was back in the hall looking at the pictographs on the last door when he heard Therogeon mention another door inside.

Sighing the warrior rejoined him in the defunct laboratory and walked toward the 'non bookcase' and began examining it.

"Ok..." he said not finding any immediate levers. "How do we work it? Switches, Magic, or Thornton's Axe?" He leaned forward and tried to push the bookcase. While his left had grasped on solid wood, his right gripped nothing but air. Off balance, the normally nimble warrior tumbled to the floor in a cloud of dust.

Regaining his feet quickly he quickly brushed the dirt from his clothes. Embarrassed he tried to ignore the familiar feeling of heat rushing up his face to the tips of his ears. "Umm you two coming or not?" He asked weakly through the illusion. Finally the dust got to be too much and he couldn't help a loud sneeze that echoed down the hallway.

The trio made their way carefully down the narrow passageway for about one hundred feet before Therogeon whispered for Elric to hold up. An illusion similar to the one in the laboratory was being used at the end of the passage here. The half-dragon, seeing no traps ahead, stepped through the illusion and emerged into a more open area.

To the south, another narrow passageway led into the room they'd not entered yet, and since there was no door blocking their way they could see into it. From their vantage however, they could see nothing in the room save for a cushioned couch and a stack of books sitting on an end table.

To the north, the hall opened up into a twenty foot square area, with another wider hallway heading farther to the north and then turning to the West and out of sight.

As Thornton and Therogeon joined Elric out in the corridor, they began to hear a squeaking sound... A large rat entered the light from Elric's holy symbol, running terrified along the edge of the wall, and then they could hear another, more disturbing sound following closely behind it! A enormous black mass of venomous insects and arachnids oozed out into the hallway to the north of them, carpeting every surface from floor to ceiling. The swarm didn't slow down upon reaching the doomed rodent, but left only white bones in its frightening wake!

Very quickly they began advancing on their next meal...

The elf sat as still as a coiled snake in the unforgiving stone chair. Listening... Waiting...

The natural fire from the sconces on the walls created odd shadows that danced around the room, while the light reflected off of the beautiful elvish blade he held across his lap. He turned the weapon over in his hands again to see his reflection in the highly polished steel. The perfect blue-tinged features that his race was graced with were marred by a garish scar that ran from the hairline at the center of his forehead down through the ruin of his right eye and across his cheek. The scar would eventually heal and disappear, it had only been two years since the blade had dealt it to him, but the eye was forever lost. That particular affront had been had been paid in full. That was not why he was here...

For years he'd been anticipating this confrontation, patiently biding his time until the moment was right. He had a score to settle. On MANY different levels... After Raridan inevitably failed a second time at his personal schemes for prominence among his peers, it would at last be his opportunity to right the wrongs that had been done!

Though he had to admit he was pleased that the plans in Impresk didn't work out, there was some disappointment that the priestess hadn't been delivered as hoped. She might have been useful to him for a time, before she was handed over to the Cyricists. It hardly mattered now though. The threat had been leveled, and the Champions had come.

Now he only had to wait...

A dozen possibilities flood Elric's mind as the horrid wave made it's way toward them. Every one ended in their death. Slowly, he started backing toward the way they came when he saw Thornton stepping bravely (or foolishly) toward the bugs with his decanter flowing. All Elric could think of was Locusts vs. Crops... Crops Loose.

"Thornton! Get back!!!" He called out to the golem. He didn't know if he could keep this thing alive on this adventure or not... but he really didn't want to explain to Eddick how they broke his favorite toy.

"Therogeon... " the warrior asked with a touch of panic. "If you don't have anything fast... I REALLY think we should be running now!"

Meanwhile, back in Impresk...

After their time tormenting poor Calim, Romen and Me'awen passed out on the soft couch in Therogeon's library. Almara had just stepped out for a few minutes to tend to her own duties, as there was no point in standing next to the mirror anymore...

She knew that the wizardess was in contact with Therogen, and that there was no reason for immediate concern, but Ashara found herself jittery all the same. Raising her hand to her throat, she ran her thumb along the path the blade's keen-edge had traveled. There would be no scar from the ordeal the previous evening. No physical scar at least, but the priestess had never felt so vulnerable as she had while being abducted from their own home, immobilized and thrown over the back of a horse!

Not that she felt all that great right now either... Elric and Therogeon were off on their own, though she was thankful that Eddick had sent Thornton with them, but now to make matters worse she couldn't even watch them through the scrying mirror as hoped! More than once she found herself glancing in the direction of the Moonlit Chain that rested in a pile in the corner of the room. More than once she found her hand drifting to Dawnspeaker's haft and thinking about how she could be at the ruined tower within moments using Transport Via Plants! She had promised Elric that she'd stay in the magical tower, but if Almara relayed to her that they were in dire straits... Hmm...maybe she should put on the chain right now just in case...

While Ashara struggled with her worry, Arturo came over to his mother's chair and clambered onto her lap, resting his head against her chest. He always seemed to know when something was wrong, and the boy did what he could to distract her from her troubles.

"Momma, could you tell me a story?"

"Would you like to hear the one about the leprechaun?" she asked, smiling as she brushed a few strands of brown hair from in front of his eyes.

"No... A scary story this time!"

Ashara arched an eyebrow and looked down at him skeptically. "A scary story?? I don't know if you're old enough for a scary story, my dear..."

"Yeah I am," the little boy piped up before he was quickly hushed so as not to wake the sleeping twins.

"Well, how about I tell you the one with the green dragon?"

"That's the one daddy throat punched right? Bradwen told me that one! Tell a new story, pleeeaaassse??" Arturo pleaded.

Ashara wondered just how many stories the old bard had been telling to her children... The priestess sighed and chuckled in resignation, while wracking her brain for scary stories that weren't TOO scary for the precocious little boy. The adventure on Donna Ravensight's isle? A little too complicated... The Shade? The flaming dracolich? Zaebos? Umm...no...

It would probably be easier to come up with a new story, that would be new to BOTH of them!

"Alright then," she grinned, shifting the boy to a more comfortable position, "let's see..."

"There once was a great knight," she began, "a paladin of Tyr! His name was Sir Gideon...Stromgard, and was good and just and very brave!"

"As brave as daddy?" Arturo interrupted.

"No, not as brave as daddy but quite brave just the same" she laughed, squeezing the boy before continuing. "He lived in a big keep with his wife and daughter, and lots of people who loved him very much. One day he saved a caravan from attacking bandits who wanted to hurt them and steal their things! Sir Gideon captured the leader of the band and turned him in to the magistrate to be punished for his crimes. Well, the leader of the bandits turned out to be the only son of the guildmaster of a theives' guild in the nearby city, and he was not happy at all that his son was brought to justice, so he vowed to take revenge on the good Sir Gideon!"

Arturo's eyes widened, and the priestess chuckled at her captive audience.

"A few months later, the knight's daughter was celebrating her eighth birthday, and one of the servants gave the girl a beautiful gemmed locket as a gift that she said had been in her family for years, and since she was too old to have children she wanted to give it to the little girl. Nobody knew that the locket was actually cursed, and the servant had been magically tricked by the guildmaster into giving the girl the necklace, thinking that it would protect the girl from harm!

"Years passed and the poor girl was plagued with constant nightmares that made it difficult for her to sleep. The locket was the only thing that made her feel safe from the awful dreams, but she didn't realize, nor did her parents, that it was actually the cause of them...

"One day the girl's mother got very sick and she...umm...had to leave her family for a time to go to a beautiful place called Mount Celestia where she would get better." Ashara shook her head, chastising herself for forgetting the age of the boy to whom she was telling this story! No sense in worrying him in the same way as she recently had his father!

"Well, the girl was very, very sad that her mother had to go away, and her sadness was so great that the entire keep was covered in it! The servants, priests, soldiers, and her father had nightmares from then on, and even the trees and animals grew very sick because of the girl's sadness.

"Sir Gideon was also very sad that his wife had to leave, and since he was having nightmares every night, he stayed in bed most of the time and didn't ever want to talk to anyone. In the keep he had three good friends... The captain of the guard, the steward and the chaplain of the temple. They went to their friend, thinking that the knight had done something very bad that made Tyr upset with him and that caused Tyr to punish everyone in the keep! Sir Gideon didn't think he'd done anything wrong, and he hadn't, but he wasn't thinking clearly because of all the sadness and the nightmares, so eventually he began to think that Tyr wasn't being fair to him.

"But Tyr's always fair, isn't he momma," the boy asked. "Tyr likes justish lots, right?"

"Justice," she corrected gently, "and yes, lots and lots!" Ashara agreed with a sparkle in her eye. "Very good, Arturo!"

"Now, while all this was happening with Sir Gideon's friends, the girl grew even more sad because her father didn't spend time with her anymore and her nightmares grew worse and worse. It got to be too much for the girl, and she ki... er...decided to run away and find her mother at Mount Celestia.

"When the knight discovered that his beloved daughter had left him too, he went to the chaplain to have him call the girl back home. The priest tried and tried, but he couldn't call her back, and Sir Gideon got really, really upset and hurt the priest who had been his friend! That DID make Tyr angry, and then to make matters worse, the once good and just knight burned down the temple to the god that he had loved for all of his life...

"Legends say that Sir Gideon is still there," the priestess whispered eerily, trying for some of that scare factor that the boy had asked for at the beginning of the tale. "He wanders restlessly around that keep that lies blanketed in sadness. The guildmaster had gotten his revenge on the great knight..."

"That's not really a scary story, momma," Arturo complained, "it's a saaad story!"

Ashara laughed and mussed up his hair. "I suppose you're right, but it's all I've got for now! You'll have to ask your father to scare the daylights out of you when he gets back!

"There is a moral to the story though," she thought, eyes drifting to the defunct mirror. "Sometimes bad things can happen to us in this life and we won't always understand why, but we have to remember to always keep our faith and know that if we stay on the path of goodness, that nothing can truly harm us!"

When Master had given him the magical decanter, he'd told him of other uses it may have besides putting out fires and watering himself occasionally. Deciding to use one of those abilities to wash away some of the voracious insects, Thornton had just pulled out the stopper when Elric ordered him to get back!

A fraction of a second too late for the golem to halt his intended action...

A twenty foot long geyser of water burst from the decanter with such force, that Thorton was thrown backwards, slamming against the wall behind him! The force of the water also had an effect on the swarm thankfully, crushing a wide swath of them that had been closing in!

Caring not at all for their fallen comrades, the others rushed on, the chittering growing louder and more frightening to the sensitive elvish and half-dragon ears.

"Interesting" mumbled the elven wizard as the geyser erupted from the poor golem. Therogeon drew a wand from his belt, this one decorated with little carvings of fire.

"Thornton, please stand behind me." So saying Therogeon activated the wand and suddenly infront of the trio was a large wall of fire. The heat from the wall was mostly directed away from the adventures but some of it was still radiating back towards them.

"And now, the coup de grace." The wizard concentrated and moved his fingers through a familiar gesture. "Flatus of Ventus" he proclaimed grandly and suddenly, generating from behind the insects, a powerfull gust of wind erupted. This wind was strong enough to knock birds out of the air, the poor insects didn't have a chance.

After a few minutes of a rather disturbing popping sound, the bugs exploding in the walls heat, the wind died down. With a gesture Therogeon dismissed the wall of flame. The few bugs that were left were the ones that were soaked from Thornton's fountain and hadn't been caught in the wind. They were few and far between however.

He turned to Elric, "We should press on. Something doesn't feel right."

Elric just shook his head in amazement. "That's a bit of an understatement." While no expert on bugs, he was fairly certain they were not a naturally occuring phenomon. Too many varieties, too small an area... And they seemed as if moved by a malevolent force. Priest or Demon he couldn't guess, but something sent them after the Champions.

"I think we're getting close, be ready for anything..." With a sickening crunch accompanying each step they continued forward.

The companions crunched cautiously through the cooked carapaces, making their way through the hall which turned to the west then opened up into a large room. In the center of the room was a large wooden table with two chairs, one on either end. Paintings decorate the walls here, though it is difficult to make out what the art was depicting. From the look of them, the insect swarm had tested their edibility as it passed through here looking for a meatier meal.

Finding neither magic nor traps, they move through the room into the hallway that continues to the west. The passage is a long one, winding around to the south before turning north. The only lighting here is provided by Elric's holy symbol, and by that light they can see that the dust in this area has been recently and frequently disturbed. Not by insects, but by humanoid footprints and...something else...

No sounds apart from their own footsteps can be heard as they make their way north, where the hallway before them opens up into what appears to be another room, though it is black as pitch within. As they approach a bit closer, they notice that the Continual Light from the holy symbol is not advancing their vision into the room...

"Hold up!" Elric said raising his arms to his companions. He wasn't hearing anything in the darkness, but if his holy symbol wasn't lighting it up... that was bad.

Still, this wasn't the first time they had come across darkness, regular or magical. If there was one thing being married to a morninglord had taught him, it was way to beat the dark.

He reached down into the pouch of light enhanced marbles. It seemed dimmer somehow. He knew light canceled dark, and vice-versa and if he didn't take care of it then the light on his holy symbol would be extinguished...

He grabbed a handful of the marbles and threw them in a wide arc. Light canceling Dark, yet since the magic of the stones was also canceled still left natural darkness. That surprised Elric. The only one that should have been canceled was the first one in. Either every marble hit the darkness at the exact same time... or there was more than one spell cast in there...

At least what remained was natural enough darkness that his holy symbol could penetrate. Carefully he started to move forward.

The Continual Light marbles clattered against the stone floor, winking out one by one as the areas of magical darkness were negated.

This was the same room that the trio had seen in Therogeon's scrying mirror back in Caradoon. The room they'd first seen the marilith and the priest of Cyric! The summoning circle could still be seen where it had been drawn on the floor, though it appeared as if something had been dragged over it, marring the lines.

The room is about forty foot square, almost completely dust-free, and undecorated save for a raised dias in the northwestern corner upon which stands a large statue of a robed man that reaches nearly to the ceiling. It is the same statue that the priest had run behind before exiting the room through a secret door...

Nothing else can be seen within, but when Elric stepped through the opening into the room, a veritable hail of metal slashes and stabs and hacks down at him from either side of the doorway!

The two mariliths attack Elric as the first one to enter through the doorway, though they are careful to stay out of the direct line of sight of the powerful mage that they know is close behind.

Seeing the familiarly scryed room put the half-dragon on guard. More than ever he was convinced they were near their journey's end. Cautiously he approached the door and heard the faint sound of scales sliding against stone. Smiling to himself he moved in expecting the six armed demon to attack viciously. What he did not expect was TWO six armed demons...

Arms spinning and body twisting into shapes few could imagine, sadly wasn't enough. Though many blades whistled sharply past his body, some did not. Spinning and rolling to his feet he stumbled in pain. A quick survey noticed the thin lines of blood covering his arms and one leg. Glancing blows for now, but numerous enough to give him concern. Based on the blood dripping from axes, spears and sword, they had each gotten a few hits in. From his position, the one on the right was a sickening looking creature, striped with yellow, black. The one on his left was all black. Realizing he was out of his depths he screamed out to Thornton who was coming through the door "THORNTON!! RIGHT SIDE!" As the golem turned toward the black monstrosity. Elric charged the striped one.

As Thornton swung his axe at the beast, it faded out of view. Confused the Golem wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. If his target disappeared, did that mean he had won? What of the other one? Since Elric had sent him over here... Perhaps he wanted him out of the way so he could fight his own battle?

As the warrior in question confronted the demon he saw the malevolent intelligence behind her eyes. Smiling at him she spun her her blades in defensive pattern and turned her head around the corridor towards the approaching mage. It's body shuddered as a noxious gas started spewing from her mouth into the doorway and out into the hallway behind them.

Fear gripped Elric as he wondered what Therogeon would do. He had already cleared away magical clouds above ground... could he do it twice?? Would he send the poisonous gas back this way with his wind spells? Where did the other demon go? The warrior's eyes narrowed. His arms were already getting weak from the damage. He hoped the blades weren't poisoned... this looked like the kind of thing that would poison.

Determined to end the fight quickly he cautiously approached the waiting demon. Carefully he watched the spinning blades for an opening. Confident he had a measure of their movement he lowered the magical wraps over his eyes, with an eager grin he hoped would unnerve the demon.

The familiar sound of steel on leather filled his ears as he drew forth the sword of both his ancestor's and his descendants. He'd promised Ashara that the Everdawn blade would taste demon this day.

Once the magical darkness dissappeared things happened quickly. A great number of weapons suddenly struck Elric. The warrior staggered through the blows and Thornton ran into the room, heading to the right per Elric's orders.

The wizard started forward to help his friends when suddenly a noxious gas started to fill the area. Therogeon backpedeled quickly, barely staying ahead of the cloud. He quickly activated his staff and a solid yet clear wall of force blocked the passageway in front of him. It prevented the cloud from reaching him but it also prevented him from entering the room himself until he could dissapate the cloud.

Therogeon coughed once, more from mentally imagining the cloud affecting him than it actually doing so. He stood up straight and prepared to cast a powerfull dispell, one that would remove the wall and the cloud. He was half way through his casting when he suddenly felt three sharp pains in his back moving through his chest. Suddenly bereft of breath the spell he was casting collapsed on it'self and was lost. The wizard looked down and saw three long sword blades sticking through his chest. He got a confused look on his face as a drop of his blood fell from one of the blades and hit the floor.

As the warrior maneuvered in toward the demon, every sense was on edge. He could hear the multitude of blades whirling and feinting. Through it all he simply sidestepped the few real attacks and ignored the feints completely. One spear came a little close for comfort and a quick slash with his sword knocked it off target. Confidence was starting to overwhelm the fighter when he felt a tingling sensation in his arm.

Concerned he retreated a step and peeked through the mask. The tingling was overwhelming now, and he could barely control his arm. Expecting the wound to show the tell-tale signs of poison... he was in for a surprise. The long gash along his forearm was not infected in a traditional sense... The blood along the side of his arm was bubbling and popping. As he looked in shock he turned toward the demon wondering what those weapons were!

To his surprise the demon looked as confused as he did! He could see in her eyes that she was calculating whether to attack now or wait this out. With a quickness that surprised the half-dragon she apparently made her decision. She slithered toward him just as he noticed the blood start to spark.

Elric knew now what was happening. Therogeon's words came back to him suddenly "This spell will only activate after you've been hurt. It locks magical lightening into your blood. For a short time after you are wounded and only once in all, you can either use the magic to heal a minor amount or to unleash a magical attack of lightening at everyone around you." The spell Therogeon had cast on him before coming down here!!

The mage had seemed convinced that Elric would be able to control it... but now Elric was starting to wonder. He was no caster... and this was VERY different from the spells that Ashara had granted him... more violent. more... raw. And when he cast Clerical spells, he could almost feel Lathander himself guiding him. It took everything he had not to unleash this... but he still had no idea where Therogeon was! He was right behind him in the hall... but he hadn't come through the door yet! And the cloud was still there! That didn't bode well.

He really didn't want to unleash the lightning this close to the hallway... His years with the Staff of Thunder had taught him THAT much... but without training, and without Lathander guiding the spell...

The Snake creature took advantage of his distraction. Four weapons came in fast, but as he parried for all his worth he realized his mistake. She had slithered in a circle and attacked from all around... but as her 'tail' suddenly constricted on he realized where the true danger lie... just a moment too late.

Yellow, red, and black stripes pinned the Everdawn blade to his side, but barely missed his left arm. The situation was too familiar. His mind drifted back to another dark tunnel. Once again he had been caught in a constricting tail of the demon lord Zaebos... Held helpless as he watched the monster stab Ashara with claws, teeth and a wicked looking sword, over and over again.

As his concentration slipped, he felt his hair begin to stand on end and his free arm seemed to catch fire. The demon's expression turned from gloating victory to surprise. Dark crimson lightening filled his sight, and most of the room. An unearthly scream sent shivers down his spine. Suddenly he felt the coils slip. Free again, he leaped back and quickly brought his sword back up.

Thornton was slightly confused. He was beginning to wonder if he should have come. When one demon disappeared, and reappeared behind Therogeon, he ran as quick as he could to help. Elric couldn't have seen it from where he was, so the only one who could help was Thornton. He was exited because if he could prove useful in this battle, he might get thanked again, or maybe even recognized by Elric! As this was going through his mind, he prepared to leap to the rescue in the hallway, where he ran into an invisible wall. Therogeon locked him out of this fight. He must have wanted to handle the beast alone.

He went back into the hallway, ready to help Elric with the other one, and as soon as he did, this huge bout of electricity shot through his body. Thornton knew he had been effected, brutally by the strike, because his senses blanked out for a moment and he reeled. Elric had been getting close to the demon, and it must have released this terrible attack at the both of them, but right now, Elric couldn't get away. The golem ran at the monster, swinging wildly but unable to hit it with the deft movements of the beast. Now he held its attention, and the dread beast brought all of its weapons to bear on him. Four attacks bounced off his magical protections to the marilith's surprise, and Thornton brought Ivy's axe up low, cutting into its slightly armored belly. A bit of its intestines began to leak out of the hole, and the marilith took one of its arms and held the rest of them in as pulled out the axe and spun it around, this time coming down at the face of the demon. He hit it hard, gashing the cheek, and digging down into the neck a little, but must have nicked an artery, for a spout of demon blood shot all over Thornton. It swung its arms wildly, and pushed two spears through him, not really damaging him very much as piercing damage found difficult to do, but the axe that hit him nearly severed his leg.

Thornton fell to the ground, and took inventory. Those blows would probably prove mortal to that creature, unless they could heal themselves. But his damage was mounting up. Likely, he would be torn asunder by those remaining five weapons. He wondered where he would go. He turned his head to the side and thought of the open fields of the plains. Perhaps he would be there again.

Still dripping blood and a bit of intestine, the marilith poised over him for the kill.