The Stonespeaker Saga, Part 3
The children gathered around the small fire Sev’rak and Khez’ran had prepared for them. The times were hard, food was tough to come by, and their lands were dying day by day. The journey to the Earthen Voice had become impossible without a large accompaniment of hunters. Still, throughout all this plight, the pair did their best to provide for their children. They were still very young, and most did not understand the gravity of what was happening around them. Their numbers had dwindled considerably. Most of those who were not claimed by the tribal wars, found themselves vanquished by warped beasts that wandered in from the dying lands. The few who were left struggled to find food enough to feed the tribe, and to guide them to safe places outside the territory of other tribes. Still, Khez’ran did his best to hold story time with his children every few nights. The oldest, now a boy of seven cycles, was already showing the strength and fortitude to become a warrior.
Sev’rak had trained him well, but of course, he loved hearing the tales of battle. That was where Khez’ran came in. He provided wisdom and guidance to temper the boy’s spear arm. The stories aimed to inspire, and to guide him. Tonight, however, he had asked, once more, for the tale of the heroes. The same tale that Khez’ran learned when he was the boy’s age. And once more, Khez’ran obliged him, as Sev’rak looked onwards, their daughter in her arms, as she listened in to Khez’ran telling that tale for the hundredth time. Khez’ran had already begun the part about Arctaerus’ arrival, and so the story continued…
Even with Arctaerus’ support, surviving the instability of those four elemental portals was no easy feat. When the Prophet arrived on the scene, he knew Sindaria to be untouchable. Instead, he focused his energies on stabilizing those four portals. It would take him some time, no more than half a minute, but in the meantime, the heroes were vulnerable. He did the best he could in supporting them – he had summoned a shield for each kind of element. However, exposure to that shield for too long would instill weakness to that element in those protected, forcing the party members to scurry from shield to shield seeking protection from each elemental force.
Many of the party members fell in that fateful thirty seconds. Mad dashes from portal to portal, desperate grabs of fallen comrades, and seconds spent searching a fallen ally’s belongings for potions that could be used to revive them. Even the stalwart Aust fell to the overwhelming energy that surged beyond those portals. Finally, after spending that full thirty seconds concentrating, Arctaerus stabilized the four portals, and Sindaria, recharged and empowered, slowly floated do the ground, ignoring the prophet completely. She’d swat him down later. Right now, she had other insects to crush under her heel. With a stare up at Arctaerus, she spoke in a tone akin to the calm in the center of a storm.
“You will not close my portals, Prophet, try as you might. Now, for the rest of you..” she turned and set her glare upon those gathered party members, her body glowing with powerful arcane energy. Aust scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“CRAZY!” he yelled at her in a dramatic manner. Sindaria simply glared, then teleported directly in front of him, and clawed at him three times in rapid succession. Aust, shocked and unable to react, suffered those blows against his armor, the third one finally piercing throw and marring his flesh. As claw met flesh, lightning surged into Aust’s form and charred his exposed skin. Through gritted teeth, he snarled at her.
“I’m going to enjoy watching you die, Sindaria…” he boasted, his eyes alight with righteous fury. Sindaria merely laughed in his face.
“You won’t get the chance…” Honta, however, saw the advantage Aust distracting her with taunts had presented. With a few deft movements, he moved into a flanking position, and drove his weapons right into Sindaria’s exposed back. The Sorceress screamed out in pain and annoyance as those weapons were withdrawn. Liquid elemental energy oozed from the wounds, and the underlying glow beneath her skin grew more intense. Honta smirked.
“Thanks Aust!” he quipped, as Sindaria spun around to face him, rage burning in her eyes.
“No trouble!” Aust shot back, running his hand over his bleeding wound. Sindaria didn’t waste much time in dealing with Honta, however. She was tired of this nuisance biting her when she let her eyes off of him. She raised her hands up to the sky, and the four portals that were linked to her form began to surge with energy.
“The elements will destroy you!” she proclaimed, then lowered her hands, and channeled that raw, unbridled power right into Honta’s chest. Honta’s eyes went wide, then began to glow, as his form was overcharged with pure party. He opened his mouth to cry out, just as multiple wounds exploded open from his chest. His body was sent flying across the battlefield, as he began to bleed out. A massive hole had been opened in his chest. He wouldn’t survive more than a few seconds without immediate magical attention. His little sneak attack had almost assuredly cost his life!
The battle went on. The party knew that Honta’s only chance of survival lay in Aust. That meant distracting Sindaria long enough for Aust to slip away and tend to the dying assassin. Tanriel and Willow prepared spells to fire at her, as Vatyrius closed in once more to strike. The combined power of Tanriel’s Blight spell, and Vatyrius’ infernally empowered maul assault created more cracks in the Sorceress form, leaving her to roar in agony. Willow’s own spell fizzled out, but Sindaria was already looking for more power.
“No! You will NOT defeat me! I will find more power, no matter where I have to pull it from!” in a move borne from desperation, the Sorceress reached to the sky, reached out to the planes beyond the material world, and found a weak point to exploit. In the sky above them, a small rift opened, another ribbon of power joining to Sindaria’s form, infusing her with even more energy. Arctaerus quickly spotted the new rift, and reached to stabilize it.
“No, no no! You can’t open more rifts! They’re becoming too unstable!” he yelled down at her, though Sindaria completely ignored the Prophet, and left him to struggle to keep those rifts and portals from opening wide and swallowing up their world. Aust, knowing everyone had suffered significant damage from the portal stabilization, and aware of the state that Honta was in, quickly raised his hands and unleashed another powerful group healing spell. Wounds mended, gaping wounds closed up. Blood was restored, and Honta opened his eyes.
“Holy fuck, I’m alive…” he muttered from the ground as he watched the fight overhead. Carric, ever the resourceful kind, quickly transformed himself into a giant scorpion, then clattered his way to Sindaria. As she turned her attention to the awakening Honta, ready to deal a death-blow, Carric’s claws and tail lashed out at her from behind.
Though the tail missed her, he managed to grip her tightly in one of his large claws. Sindaria roared with annoyance, as the battle continued around them. With Aust, Honta, Vatyrius, and Carric all now closed in around her, they had produced quite the dangerous little combat circle. Tanriel saw this, and laughed to herself. Honta realized everyone had closed in, and couldn’t help but make a off-hand comment.
“Holy shit. All four of us are finally in close-quarters combat rage of an enemy. Together! Like, focusing on one foe!” he laughed in amazement, and prepared to spring upwards. Tanriel chuckled darkly, and responded in kind.
“Marvelous, all of you. It only took you… hmm… how many months to figure out how to work together? Charming, really…” she snarked, with Willow snickering and giggling beside her. Their little mirthful realization was cut short by the sound of that newly formed rift pulsing above them. From that hole in reality spawned an orb of planar energy, a meteor of unstable power, that began to spiral down towards the battlefield, right towards their concentrated group.
Sindaria made note of that falling meteor, but focused her attention on Aust. He was the one keeping the party alive, reviving those she had rendered immobile and prolonging this battle of theirs. He had to be removed. Spinning about in Carric’s claws, she raised her earthen hand, and struck down at him, all while growling out at him in rage.
“You won’t be healing any of your allies any longer…” Once more, the claws crashed into his armor, before finally breaking through and raking at his flesh. She smirked with triumph as Aust stumbled back, injured, then set about restoring her mobility. She pried Carric’s pincer grasp apart, and stepped out of it, tossing him backwards a few steps.
“Get your dirty claws off of me, Druid. I am beyond your ilk.” She muttered, turning to focus her attention on Tanriel. She was tiring of those powerful Blight spells and needed to be rid of her. She raised her flaming hand towards the Warlock, and prepared to cast. Her spell, however, was interrupted as Honta, renewed by Aust’s healing magic, sprung upwards and stabbed her right in those wounds he’d left previously. Sindaria’s screams echoed across the battlefield, over the rain and the thunder that blocked out most other sound. With her rage, the wind in the area picked up, whipping everyone in the face.
That Sorceress was not about to fall to that party. She knew she needed more power. Fighting through the pain, Sindaria reached her hands up to the sky once more. Calling the planes for more power, she ripped open several more rifts. Arctaerus struggled to contain them all, closing a few, but leaving several behind. While he was distracted, she also reached towards the portal of elemental water.
“Olhydra! I will have YOUR power and add it to my own!” she demanded. The portal flashed and wavered. The party turned to watch in fear as the elemental princess of water, Olhydra, a massive, immensely tall water elemental emerged from that portal. Obeying Sindaria’s will, that demigod fired blasts of potent enchanted water at Tanriel and Willow, hoping to distract them from spellcasting. While Tanriel dodged the attack, Willow was not so likely. The force of the tidal blast knocked her sprawling across the battlefield, and left her worse for wear. Sindaria swallowed down a portion of Olhydra’s power, then released the demigod upon the city below.
The party heard a tidal surge of water below the tower, followed by the screams of many soldiers and the collapse of several buildings. Sindaria was now bound to those other rifts, ribbons of energy pouring into her body from above. Renewed, she smirked at Tanriel and resumed her attack. Tanriel let loose with a hex spell, just as Sindaria’s flame beam wracked her form. Mindfire coursed over Tanriel’s body, and she instantly lost control of that Hex, causing it to fade out. Wincing in pain, Tanriel sneered at the Sorceress, raised her hand once more, and returned fire with another Blight spell. Sindaria felt the life drain from her face, then more cracks formed across her once beautiful visage, and her neck below.
The battle raged on between them all. Willow blasted Sindaria with a powerful Witch Bolt, Vatyrius levelled her with what would have been, for any normal mortal, skull-crushing blows with his maul, empowered by divine, infernal fury. Aust continued to heal the party, doing his best to keep them all standing and fighting despite the assault that Sorceress would levy upon them.
With all the harm she’d received, Sindaria felt a large fissure crack open upon her face, revealing the elemental chaos beneath. Moment by moment, she was looking less humanoid, and more elemental manifestation. She hated that. She had to have more power, more control. Once more, she reached upwards and rended the heavens apart, causing more unstable rifts to form above, all of which poured more energy into her body. She then pulled on her connection to that earth portal, summoning forth the demigod that lay in wait within.
“Ogremoch! Surrender your strength to me!” she demanded of that portal. The living mountain known as Orgremoch, the elemental Prince of earth, clawed his way out through that portal, and set his gaze upon that party. As Sindaria drew power from him, he grasped a massive boulder in this arms, and lobbed it towards Carric. The Druid, having once been on the receiving end of one of Ogremoch’s boulders, quickly skittered out of the way, narrowly avoiding the impact. Ogremoch then pulled himself from the portal, and crashed hard into the city below. Earthquakes rocked that tower, to say nothing of his landing’s effect on the city. Utter chaos enveloped Starhaven below. The party ignored it, and focused on the battle at hand. They could get rid of everything and close those portals if they defeated Sindaria. They had to press on, and hoped the defense forces in the city below could handle those demigods.
As Arctaerus struggled to close those extra rifts, Sindaria smirked triumphantly. She felt her face partially restored and turned her attention towards the Scorpion-shaped Druid beside her. Carric watched as her eyes turned a bright pink colour, and her face quickly pieced itself back together into something magnificent, something beautiful. She really was stunning. The sweetest voice entered his ears as the party moved to strike at her.
“Little Scorpion… that tail of yours could be put to better use than stinging me, don’t you think?” she motioned over towards the rogue who had constantly been a literal pain in her back. Carric’s scorpion eyes glowed the same colour, and he instantly turned and struck out at an unprepared Honta with both his claws, and that stinger. Those pincers grasped Honta before he could react, making him an easy target for that stinger.
“Carric, wait!” He called out, before scorpion stinger plunged into his shoulder. Honta screamed out in pain as poisoned flowed into his veins, and that wound burned like hot fire. Willow screamed out in anger and confusion.
“Carric, you jerk! Let him go!” she wailed, preparing to lob a spell at him, much like Sindaria had hoped. Aust called for her to stop, raising a hand to wave her off.
“To be fair, Carric’s an idiot. Focus on Sindaria, ignore him for now. If the charm doesn’t wear off once she’s dead, we’ll deal with him then.” Before Aust could even finish, however, the pink glow faded, and the scorpion, enraged, released Honta, and turned and repeated the same attack, more ferociously, grabbing and stabbing Sindaria with his stinger. Honta sputtered as he reached up to his bleeding wound. His body fought off the poison, though he still felt like he’d been kicked by a horse.
“Carric, what the hell? Whose side are you on?” he growled, to which, Carric merely clattered his jaws in response. Honta rolled his eyes, and moved to attack Sindaria while she was pinned. Wounded from the scorpion’s strikes, Sindaria reached into the planes once more for more power, causing several more unstable rifts to appear above them. Then, she teleported away from that melee battle, leaving Aust in her place. Honta’s blade impacts Aust’s armor, rather than Sindaria’s flesh. Aust stares down at Honta incredulously.
“Seriously? We’re doing this now? Is that what we’re doing? Attacking eachother?” Honta looked completely lost and confused. First Carric attacked him, now Aust was in front of him instead of Sindaria, taking his blades?
“What the hell?! The Queen was right here! I swear!” As the group struggled with confusion, Sindaria reached towards the air portal. Reaching for the handsome but turbulent Prince of elemental air, she called to the powers within that plane.
“Yan C Bin! I need your aid! Come to me now, my Prince!” she appealed to him, and sure enough, the living storm gusted his way out of that portal. Gifting her a portion of his power, he turned his attention towards the rest of the party.
“These will be easy enough for you to finish off, my Queen. They like to talk. I’ll ensure that none of them are able to hear any longer.” He then clapped his hands together, creating a loud and violent thunderclap that crashed over that tower. Then, his work complete, the flew downwards into the town, the sky darkening and becoming more violent at his presence.
The sound of ringing ears was all that the party could hear, aside from Tanriel. She had been the only one who had resisted that attack. As everyone else fell to their knees and clutched their ears, the redhead sneered.
“Weaklings, all of you! Would that I had the time, I would love to tell you all to your faces how much I despise each of you. It would be so funny to see you nod and agree with me. Sadly, that must wait for another day…” she muttered, priming up another spell to fire at Sindaria. The rain falling upon them doubled in intensity, drenching the field of battle completely. It became hard to see. The wind howling and the thunder crashing would make it difficult even for Tanriel to hear.
Unable to see what was about to befall them, there was no hope for that group of close-combat fighters to avoid the meteor that fell from above and crashed amongst them. It burst with a surge of unstable elemental energy, bathing Aust, Vatyrius, Carric, and Honta in burning light. When everyone came to, they found Honta unconcious once more, bleeding out from the blast, while the rest of the group had suffered significant wounds. Above them, the newly opened rifts pulsed, and several more meteors began their descent towards the battlefield. Chaos was quickly winning the evening.
Arctaerus was showing signs of strain now as he did his best to stabilize and close the rifts that Sindaria continued to open. The power she was pulling from the planes should not have been possible – and would have dangerous repercussions, not only to herself, but throughout the planes themselves!
Willow spotted Sindaria through the rain and darkness, now having isolated herself once more. She grinned widely.
“Hey Sindaria… you’re all alone again! Fireball time…” she yelled, even if she couldn’t hear her own voice. Sindaria turned to look at her, and screamed in rage, teleporting right up in front of the Gnome, and slashing at her with her lightning infused claws. Willow, on instinct, created and illusionary double, and teleported beside Sindaria instead. Sindaria shredded that double, which vanished into mist, and screamed in annoyance.
“Blasted Gnome, I’ll rip your throat out myself!” She swore, and as she turned on Willow, she felt the impact of another spell. Her strength faded from her, and her vision paled once more. Her body cracked and broke in many more places. Tanriel had struck her with another Blight spell.
“My dove… you should place your attention upon me, and not that insignificant little Gnome.” The warlock taunted over the sound of rain and thunder. Sindaria was not pleased. Nobody was more beautiful and powerful than she! Tanriel was inviting her doom. Sindaria turned to face the Warlock who had run up right behind her to cast that Blight spell. Sindaria roiled in hatred and fury.
Screaming out in rage, she raised her hands towards Tanriel. “I WILL DESTROY YOU!” she screeched, and pulled raw energy from all of those open rifts and portals. She then channeled it towards Tanriel, with the same force that had previously obliterated Honta and nearly left him dead. However, as that energy surged into Tanriel’s form, she stood resolute, giving Sindaria no satisfaction, not even a look of shock – the redhead maintained a deadpanned expression and absorbed all that power, only suffering minor wounds, and dissipating the excess energy.
Everyone looked onwards as Tanriel stood there, almost completely unaffected by a spell that had nearly ripped another man apart. Tanriel stared at Sindaria with a look that said “Fuck you. Bring it.” Sindaria, confused as to why her most powerful attack had no effect on the warlock, roared in an unhinged manner.
“WHY WON’T YOU DIE?!” she demanded of Tanriel, who merely smirked victoriously at her. Aust stared in awe of the series of events, and shook his head, turning to gaze down at Honta, who was slowly bleeding out.
“Holy fuck…” he muttered, nearly afraid of that Warlock, for even just a moment. “I’m… going to focus on healing Honta..” Sindaria, stunned and enraged over Tanriel’s refusal to be harmed, fell victim to the very distraction Tanriel hoped to create. With her attention focused on the Warlock instead of Willow, she was completely unprepared for the beam of disintegrating energy that blasted through the back of her skull. Tanriel smirked as she saw Willow raising her hands, and merely ducked to the side, allowing the beam to rock the Sorceress and lay waste to her form. Willow grinned and jumped up, cheering in victory.
“SEE?! I finally got her! Thanks Tanriel!” The Warlock smirked, but to their amazement, Sindaria’s form remained, though looking worse for wear, and missing several facial features, her head now completely devoid of hair. Snarling, the Sorceress raised her demands to the sky, and tugged hard on the portal of fire.
“IMIX! INCINERATE HER! I DEMAND THIS!” she cried, before ripping additional holes in the sky above. With Arctaerus distracted by those smaller unstable rifts, he could do nothing to stop the Prince of Elemental Fire from emerging from his home plane. Intense heat washed over that pillar, as the sound of hissing rain turning to steam began to surround them all. Imix then turned his gaze towards Willow, lifting its blazing fists and firing twin blasts of flame in her direction. Willow quickly dove to the side, dodging the first blast, but leaping right into the impact of the second one. Flames surrounded her vision, searing heat turning her hair to ash and violently burning her flesh.
Willow’s scream was drowned out only by Imix’s own roar. He pulled himself free of the portal of flame, then rolled into a ball of fire, and crashed right into the party’s former guild hall, completely incinerating whatever was left. More portals opened in the sky above as chaos reigned below them. The party continued its assault on the Sorceress, restoring Willow’s wounds, and focusing their attacks upon her to stop her from opening any further portals. Vatyrius struck her violently with his maul, Aust mended Honta and Willow, then sought to join the fight, as meteors from above crashed into the pillar, adding to the violence, carnage and chaos. Arctaerus pleaded with them to finish her, as his strength was waning, and the rifts above were becoming too numerous.
In the midst of it all, Carric had clattered up to Sindaria in his Scorpion form. Sindaria, panting and wounded, turned her attention towards Willow once more. She opened her mouth to threaten the Gnome, but was summarily interrupted as Carric’s stinger punctured her back and emerged from her chest, stopping a breath away from Willow’s face.
“Holy shit!” the Gnome cried out. “Ooooh…” Aust groaned loudly, as the rest of the party cringed. Sindaria glanced down at the stinger, coughed, then stared back to the skies, the glow behind her eyes starting to weaken.
“No…. No! I can’t fall here. I can’t. I need… I need more power!” she uttered, and put everything she was into pulling open more rifts in the sky above them. Then, she teleported away, swapping placed with Aust, Carric’s stinger clattering off his armor harmlessly. Sindaria continued to reach to the sky, ripping open several more rifts to other realms, seeking out any power that could sustain her. Her body began to glow in an erratic manner, as her flesh began to fall away from her form.
Arctaerus groaned with strain, trying to close the rifts as Sindaria opened more. Unfortunately for the Prophet, the Sorceress could open rifts faster than he could close them. Even more unfortunately, Sindaria was intent on pulling all that power into herself, no matter the cost; Arctaerus struggled and still feared pain, death, and destruction. They could not fail now, the fate of everything they’d ever known was at stake.
As the party spun around to attack her once more, Sindaria seemed to completely ignore them. She panted harshly, focusing instead on seeking out additional power sources. Her body couldn’t take the strain much longer. Everyone could see the cracks rapidly forming all over her form, and the chunks of petrified flesh that clattered off of her, turning to dust upon impacting a solid surface below.
“The elemental planes weren’t enough. I see that now. I need more. I need other worlds. Other realms. Gods, not demigods. There are… so very, very many worlds… So much power…” she muttered, and in an instant, opened double the number of rifts she had open previously. Arctaerus immediately cried out in pain. Meteors emerged from the countless rifts above, then hurled themselves upon the tower below.
Some of the rifts began to expand, forming unstable portals to other worlds. As the party cast their eyes skyward, they could see glimpses of worlds beyond. A beautiful, endless forest. A lovely, emerald green open field. A heavenly palace of gold and white stone, and a hellish fortress of obsidian and flame. New worlds were setting their eyes upon the land of mortals for the first time in years uncountable.
The party continued to batter Sindaria’s form, as she stood their, calling more power into her form. However, with each powerful strike, each stab, each slam of a maul, and each spell, more and more of Sindaria begins to crumble away, revealing the pulsing, powerful, raw energy trapped within her mortal shell. Meteors crashed violently into the tower, battering Willow and leaving her to bleed on the ground, unconcious. Arctaerus called to the party to end her, or everything will have been for naught.
At this, Aust drinks his last Daybreak potion, restoring all of his abilities, powers, and curing every last injury and wound. Instead of focusing on healing Willow, he set his sights on Sindaria. The Cleric then dug deep, looking past the divine flame that had been bestowed upon him, and instead calling upon the lessons of his childhood. With determination in his eyes, he raises his hands, bathed in black energy, towards the dying Sorceress.
“Harm.”
A plague of black, locust-like entities swarmed from his hands and instantly surrounded Sindaria’s head. She screamed in agony and rage as her body withered, and her form crumbled into dust. Her screams turned to sick gurgles, as bright light began to shine through that black cloud of death. Arctaerus felt her power wane, but knew that his grip on the planes was tenuous at best. It would take him some time to close all these rifts, and he needed the party alive. Sindaria was, by all intents, defeated.
“Focus on staying alive! I’ll do my best to stabilize her form now – defend yourselves! I need time to close these rifts, but she’s done! You’ve defeated her!” he called down to them. However, as if to spite the Prophet, the party would look up and see even more rifts begin to open above. Sindaria had caused too much instability – the veil between the world of mortals and the planes beyond was collapsing, causing more rifts and tears to open in reality.
With Sindaria defeated, the party focused on protecting themselves – gathering Willow, avoiding and weathering the meteor impacts, and seeking a way to escape. In the end, Sindaria’s form crumbled away, revealing a ball of unstable energy that was linked to all those opening rifts.
“In the end, the heroes could not prevent what Sindaria had set in motion, a catastrophe that has given us the world we now live in. They fought as hard as they could, seeking their revenge, and in the end, preventing an even darker fate – a world remade in her image, with all of us as her slaves, set to worship her as a goddess of all creation. Though they are long lost to history, their sacrifices live on in all of us, as they’ve given us the life that we otherwise would not have had.”
The eldest child was sent off to bed, content in hearing that story once more. So, too, was the daughter stowed away nearby. Sev’rak sat down with a worried looking Khez’ran, her hands rubbing over his back as she moved to join him.
“Husband… I know the fear and worry that sit heavily upon your shoulders and show themselves through your eyes. What can I do to help you?” Though Sev’rak was a strong warrior, and the tribe’s lead huntress, she still had a soft touch when it came to Khez’ran. He was grateful for her, but he looked back past her, in the direction of their ancestral home. The journey to the Earthen Voice was coming up once more, and they would need more of the tribe’s warriors to protect them. More of the tribe would die.
“I fear for our people, Sev’rak. We need the guidance of the Earth, but its voice is far now, and the journey to the old lands is perilous. How many more lives must we give up? And yet, we must seek its guidance, as the land continues to die, and our people lose hope. There must be something more we can do to save them.” Sev’rak tilted the shaman’s head onto her strong shoulder.
“We will find a way, Khez’ran, we always do. But you must stop dwelling on what may or may not happen.” She paused, momentarily mulling over a thought.
“You know…” she mused. “When I was younger, you told me that there was more to the story, that you saw more in your vision than the heroes simply dying heroically at the end. Tell me what it was you saw. I wish to hear more about them, who they were in those final moments.” Khez’ran looked back to her, a brow raised.
“Truly? What I saw involved not only the shattering of the world, but the presence – and deaths – of the forgotten gods themselves.” The Warrior woman merely nodded her head in assurance. Khez’ran chuckled, and continued. “You’re right. I should do something to keep my mind from wandering to thoughts of current doom and death. If it is your wish to learn more about how we got here… there is a little more of my vision to tell.”
The sky blazed above them, holes in reality opening at a pace beyond that which Arctaerus could manage. In a desperate attempt to close them all, he attempted to link himself to each, as more rifts opened and began to feed energy into the glowing ball of energy that had replaced Sindaria moments ago. Rain battered his form, and the forms of those upon the tower below.
Honta ran to the edge of the tower, scooping Willow in his arms as he did, daring to look down below as he arrived. His expression paled. What he saw below was not the magnificent four-quartered city he had long called his home. All of the major structures and landmarks had been completely obliterated. All of Star’s Hold Quarter lay in flames. Massive fissures stretched through the city, leaving parts of the outer ring wall collapsed. So very many dead lay in the streets as people panicked and sought cover from the four rampaging demigods below.
Soon, the others, with the exception of Carric, converged on Honta’s position. Aust glanced at him, then, nervously, looked down for himself. The group shared a concerned look, then allowed Aust space to begin casting a healing spell. Carric called out that he was fine, letting Aust mend the party once more as those rifts continued to rain destruction down upon them. Willow woke up, confused, in Honta’s arms. After a quick exchange, she hopped down and stared at the destruction below.
“Aren’t we supposed to be the bad guys?” Aust asked, turning to Tanriel, who laughed dryly in response. “Why are we the ones saving the world?” Tanriel glanced at the wreckage below, and shook her head. This wasn’t how she would have ended everything.
“Well… we’re saving the world so that there’s something left for us to rule when we win.” She quipped, though Willow quickly interjected as well.
“Well, we never wanted to destroy it!” Aust and Tanriel laughed, with the Cleric adding his own thoughts afterwards.
“Yeah, heh. I guess we were the sensible bad guys.” The party shared a laugh together as the world seemed to die around them. In the city below, great quakes began to rumble, reducing more buildings to rubble, and creating massive fissures that swallowed up parts of the city whole. More rifts open above, and the unstable energy on the tower continued to grow, glowing more brightly. Arctaerus was still focused above, trying to draw energy from that orb, and shunt it back into the portals and rifts above. This worked to close a few rifts, but every time he sealed on, two more would take its place. He set his jaw and continued out of sheer determination.
“I think I can do this… Just… just hang on, everyone…” he assured the group below, as the tower began to shake. The party quickly moved away from the edge, as the stairwell seemed to fall away from the side and collapse. They were now trapped up top, hundreds of feet above the ground. The party braced as another barrage of meteors crashed into the tower. Heat and shrapnel barraged them, leaving burns and wounds that would need attention.
Honta, however, decided this was where he checked out. He had signed on only to defeat the elemental cults. His work was done. Slowly, he lowered Willow to the ground, and, as the party looked on, he began to remove the magical gauntlets they had bestowed upon him. Then, he took a few steps towards the edge. As the party looked on, he turned around, and smirked, flashing them all the middle finger.
“Fuck you guys. I’m outta here.” Was all he said, before he dropped down the side, and began to walk downwards, his boots of Spider Climbing barely gripping to that magical surface in the rain and wind. “I’ve had enough of this! I’m not cut out for saving the world!”
“You coward! At least take Willow with you!” Aust called back, his expression twisting into shock and annoyance. Honta merely laughed, and called back into the storm.
“Not my problem anymore!” Aust dropped his shoulders in exasperation. So much for party cohesion. He glanced around at the group. Willow stared at the platform, the gears turning in her head, trying to come up with some sort of genius solution to get them out of this mess. Vatyrius stood next to Tanriel, who had taken out her pocket mirror, and appeared to be using magic to touch up her make-up. If she was going to die today, she’d at least die beautiful. Willow then glanced over at Aust.
“I don’t think I can take another blast from those meteors and stay standing. I’ve got one more Dawnbreak potion… before I drink it, does anyone else need it?” Aust stared in confusion.
“Why do you need the potion?” he asked, and Willow shrugged in response.
“I’m outta spells. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Can’t cast anything anymore.” The Gnome raised her hands into the air and made a magical gesture, but nothing came out. Aust shook his head.
“Look, Willow… you don’t NEED your spells anymore. The fight’s over. There’s nothing left to kill. So unless one of your spells is going to get us out of here…” the Gnome rolled her eyes and gestured dismissively at Aust.
“Fine, fine, fine… Do any of us have a real plan for getting out of here? Doesn’t seem like this tower will be… well, I use this word loosely, but… safe for much longer.” She gestured upwards, towards the constantly opening rifts, and the chunks of magically charged rock hurtling in their direction. Carric gestured wildly from across the tower. Everyone looked over at him. Nearby, the orb of unstable energy continued to grow, with every rift that opened above them.
“HEY! HEY YOU GUYS! I CAN FLY US OUT OF HERE!” the Druid suggested. Willow instantly brightened. Tanriel did her best to contain a disgusted sneer at the thought of riding Carric’s ruddy form anywhere. Aust brought a gauntleted palm to cover his face, shaking his head.
“Alright. Should have thought of that sooner, Carric…” he muttered to himself. “Willow, go. Get out of here while you can. See if you can find a way get the rest of us to safety when you get below.” Willow nodded and handed Aust her Dawnbreak potion, then made her way towards Carric. Aust glanced back over towards Tanriel and Vatyrius. Tanriel had finished her makeup, and paid no mind to the Cleric or the Wizard who was now running across the tower toward Carric. Vatyrius held her in his arms, staring down at her with concern in his eyes.
“We’re probably going to die here, Mistress.” The Paladin told the powerful redhead in his grasp. Tanriel nodded, though no fear crossed her beautiful features. She gazed at that Paladin with the slightest sense of accomplishment and longing. All her plans, all her plots could end here in an instant. The schemes she had corrupted Vatyrius for might never come to fruition now. Perhaps it was time to accept her mortality, then. Perhaps it was time to accept that there was an end. Tanriel cast her gaze into Vatyrius’ eyes, and opened her mouth to say two simple, telling words.
“I know.”
The wind howled above them, battering the tower and whipping the rain about. Thunder accented the intensity of the moment. Carric shifted himself into the form of a giant eagle, just as Willow made her way to him. She hopped upon his back, and clutched tightly as he took off. Carric leapt skyward into the wind, rain, and meteor shower. Though he tried to duck and dodge, those meteors were unavoidable now. Everyone was buffeted with magically charged rock, suffering significant wounds and leaving them all weakened and drained. Willow, as she had warned before, was knocked unconcious after another meteor crashed into her head, that Carric had failed to avoid.
The winds pushed back against Carric, forcing him back onto the tower, just as Willow began to slip from his grasp. He crashed down before the rest of them, Willow tumbling towards the remainder of the party. Those who remained glanced downwards to see Honta picked up off the side of the tower by that same wind, and lifted high into the sky above the tower by impossibly strong updrafts. As he screamed out, the party watched in horror.
The clouds above growled thunder as two powerful bolts of lightning struck Honta simultaneously. Everyone gasped, left wide-eyed and fearful as the first member of their party was well and truly eradicated. When the flash of light faded, there was nothing left of the former assassin. Honta was gone, dead, destroyed. Glances between those left conscious traded the fears that they were next, and if an equally horrible fate awaited each of them.
Vatyirus and Tanriel parted, though Vatyrius stayed close to her, hoping to shield her when the next barrage of meteors crashed into them. Aust joined the pair, and handed her the Dawnbreak potion.
“Look… if you have time, or a spell that sets you free, get out of here.” He then made a magical gesture in front of his forehead, chanting a few words. His body was momentarily covered by dark energy, as he warded his body against the death that surely awaited them. Tanriel took the potion and swirled it around. Its purple liquid shone with flecks of gold and orange, like the night parted by the warm sun and its golden glow. She set her jaw.
“I don’t know that there IS a way off now, even with magic.” She admitted. Aust opened his mouth to respond, but found no words. Was there really no way out from here for them? His lips closed, and he cast his gaze up at Arctaerus. All their bets were placed on him now. What was the cost of failure?
Arctaerus, however, strained over those numerous tears in reality. While strain had been bearing down upon him for many long minutes previously, he now felt a sort of peace growing inside of him. Each portal added to it, as he continued to link himself towards it. He began to visibly relax, his cares slowly swallowed up into the torn sky above.
“I… I think I have it, everyone. Hold on now. It won’t be long. Everything… is going to be… alright…” though as he muttered those last words, his body began to break apart into dust and particles of magic, and were promptly sucked down into the glowing ball of energy hovering upon that tower. Tanriel’s eyes grew wide as reality truly set in. Aust stared in horror, and called out as the Prophet was devoured.
“Arctaerus, No!” he screamed into the rain, wind and thunder. Carric transformed back, and brought Willow back to the group as they all looked at that menacing ball of power before them. Gears turned in all their minds. There had to be another way out of this. In response, the orb pulsed, and more rifts opened above. Then, the unthinkable happened.
A crack of thunder that was heard the world over rang out over the stormy skies above. A set of ornate, golden gauntlets, as large as cities each, pushed through one of the larger rifts, then began to pull. The sky ripped apart, as a portal opened to a glowing, golden realm of angels and holy energy. A golden helmed entity larger than anything any mortal had laid eyes upon began to pull himself from the portal. Aust felt himself grow weak with awe.
“Holy… holy shit, guys. That’s… that’s Pelor…” the group exchanged glances. Carric set to reviving Willow. Vatyrius growled as the greatest foe of Asmodeus had appeared. Tanriel sized the god up, and smirked to herself, the gears turning in her devious mind. A host of angels then poured from the portal Pelor had created, and took to the skies.
As if in response, another rift saw hellish, crimson red clawed fingers emerge and rip another portal open wide in the skies above. A great horned devil with a permanent scowl and crimson flesh pulled himself free of his own realm. He, too, was larger than mountains in scale, and as he emerged, hosts of devils and other infernal creatures rushed out into the skies above, and quickly clashed with the angelic host. War erupted in the skies above them. Tanriel began to laugh darkly at the sight, grinning wide at seeing her patron in his full, true glory. She basked in his power, as Aust stared in awe and fear.
“Dear Pelor… what have we done?” he asked, turning to the laughing Tanriel. She slowly composed herself, and swirled the potion around in front of him.
“Heh. Is this… this potion… really even worth it anymore? I don’t think we’re going anywhere now…” she mused, reveling in the chaos of it all. Aust couldn’t help but laugh, too. After all, in the face of warring gods, what else could one do?
“You’re probably right..” he said, before glancing towards Carric and Willow. “Hey you two! You might as well come stand with us.” Carric and Willow soon joined the remaining three party members, their eyes just as wide as everyone else’s.
“Are those gods? The magic coming off of them is crazy…” Willow asked, staring up in wonder. Aust nodded, as he and Tanriel glanced back and forth at eachother.
“Are we… at war now?” Aust asked. Tanriel shrugged in response.
“Who knows… It seems we’re all just going to die together, I guess… go team.” She drawled, unenthused. Aust walked over to Willow, and cast his Death Ward spell once more, this time warding the Gnome against the threat of destruction that loomed above. Aust sighed, and glanced at the potion he’d given Tanriel.
“If you want, I might have a spell that can get us down to the city, back into our old guild hall. But… I don’t know how good of an idea that’d be.” The Cleric suggested, as Tanriel shook his head. Willow continued to stare at those gods, her mind still a big foggy from having drifted in and out of conciousness several times.
“Well… it depends on whether you want to die by getting engulfed in flames, or if we want to die by being crushed by a demigod, or if we want to die skewered by devils and angels… and so on, and so on…” she rolled her wrist dramatically, gesturing to the chaos all around them. There weren’t really any good options. Aust sighed, and nodded to her. Tanriel then cleared her throat.
“That said.. I wanted to thank you all. You all served me – served the Order well. If I had to die with anyone, it was with the likes of… all of you.” She said, actual touches of sincerity gracing her tone for the first time in many months. The group seemed taken aback. Did Tanriel sincerely just thank them? The party went quiet, all enjoying a moment of relative silence.
Carric was the one to break it. He and Aust began to discuss what options they might have. Above, more rifts opened at a rapid pace. The glowing unstable energy on the tower grew with each rift, and seemed to become more unstable by the second. It gave off lashes of violent magical energy, which the party did their best to avoid or weather. Ultimately, the pair decided that they might be able to teleport down into one of the Elemental Cult Temples.
“I mean… what else are we going to do?” Carric asked. “Sit here and die on top of a tower?” Aust laughed, and gestured towards Tanriel.
“That seemed to be her plan.” Tanriel scowled.
“We get a nice view of the world ending from up here. Besides… which temple would we teleport to, and how would we get there?” the Warlock asked. Aust tapped his chin in thought.
“Which was the one that Sauruki had fled to? That one was pretty deep underground. What did that traitor call it… the Fane of the Eye?” Carric nodded.
“Yeah. That’s the one! There were plants down there, too, right? So all I need is a plant up here to travel through.” The rest of the party deadpanned at the Druid, who glanced around confusedly.
“What?” he asked. Aust growled in response.
“Carric… WE’RE ON THE TOP OF A TOWER OF MAGICAL STONE, CONJURED HERE, THAT HAS BEEN BARRAGED AND BATTERED BY MAGICAL ENERGY, LIGHTNING, FIRE, AND METEORS. THERE ARE NO PLANTS UP HERE, YOU NITWIT! YOU COULD HAVE EXPLAINED THAT REQUIREMENT BEFORE I GOT MY HOPES UP ABOUT LIVING!” Panting, Aust shook his head and turned back to Tanriel. Carric blinked.
“Oh. I guess you’re right.” He said simply, then joined the others in staring at the apocalypse that surrounded them. Above, more portals opened, as the forms of other gods began to emerge into the world, drawn to it by the potential for conquest, order, chaos, war, or peace. Pelor pulled himself fully from his portal, his armor shining like daylight in that dark night. His footsteps upon the earth sent massive tremors felt at far distances, even at the tower. His divine radiance bathed the party in invigorating light. Aust merely stared at him, slack-jawed. Then, he pulled a wineskin from his belt, and began to drink.
“Fuck it.” He muttered, as Asmodeus quickly did the same from his portal, and the two gods began to clash. Two living mountains engaged in violent melee combat far, far in the distance. Above them, the clouds began to float upwards, sucked out by some other force. A massive tearing sound could be heard, then the sky itself fell away to reveal the most beautiful, deep purple starry sky any mortal had laid eyes upon. Then, from the massive fissure above, great floating ships covered in armored carapaces emerged, armadas joining the aerial battle below them, firing great bolts of lightning from their charged hulls. From other portals, other planar creatures poured out into the world, as the sky descended into pure chaos. Gods and Goddesses alike began to emerge into the world.
The party looked on as Asmodeus and Pelor continued their fight. After a short time, Asmodeus found a weakness in Pelor’s armor, and drove his claws deep into the throat of the golden god. Pelor gurgled in rage, and raised a massive golden sword, then plunged it into Asmodeus’s chest. Tanriel and Aust both stopped in their tracks, Aust dropping his wineskin and Tanriel dropping her jaw. The two gods fell to their knees, as the light in their eyes began to fade. Energy flowed from them, across the world itself, to the orb upon that tower. It grew larger and larger, threatening to swallow the party up.
Carric cast his attention towards it, and tossed one of his spears in its direction. The spear, as soon as it got close, completely disintegrated, its energy swallowed up by that unstable energy. Willow wracked her brain trying to find a way out of this. She looks above, examining the magical auras of everything that she sees. She swallows hard.
“I… I think everything has gone out of wack, guys. I mean everything in the literal sense. I think those rifts are growing, and merging with our world. The planes of gods, the elemental planes, and our world… they’re all becoming one. Something’s seriously wrong. The flow of magic, normally orderly, has become completely chaotic and insane. And there’s just… so much power…” she flailed her arms about, gesturing wildly at all those massive portals that had formed.
Carric attempted to cast dispel magic on the unstable energy, to no effect. Finally, he, too, surrendered. He joined the party in watching those two gods beat eachother to death. Pelor withdrew his blade, then plunged it deep into Asmodeus’ skull, a sickening flesh rending sound echoing the world over. His body was quickly consumed by hellfire, which rapidly swallowed up Pelor’s form. The two gods fell to the ground, dead, as their divine sparks remained within them, ready for the taking. Tanriel’s eyes instantly brightened.
“Yes… this is my chance to ascend!” she muttered to herself, staring hungrily at the divine energy far, far in the distance that called to her. Vatyrius nodded. As Tanriel reached outwards, the unstable energy grew brighter, more violently, then rapidly began to shrink down into itself. Then, without further warning, it exploded, washing all of creation over with violent magical energies that laid waste to everything in their path.
Khez’ran stretched outwards, watching a wide-eyed Sev’rak appraisingly. “After that, my vision went white, for quite some time. It felt like hundreds of years must have passed, but in truth, my vision lasted mere seconds. When the light faded, I saw what remained. Terrain decimated by the blast. The city remained, destroyed, its inhabitants mostly obliterated. The lands beyond were devoid of life, of moisture, of anything but black, charred terrain. The tower still stood, above all else. My view extended south, through mountains shaped by the blast, to our lands. Our ancestral lands. The energies had corrupted our landscape, coalescing into large crystals and twisting our wildlife. It continued to encroach, until it reached the Earthen Voice. Then my vision faded.”
For a time, the two sat there, in silence. It was Sev’rak who finally moved to stand, glancing back, far from the camps, to the north, to the land Khez’ran spoke about in his tale. She shook her head.
“Perhaps you were right in withholding that story from me, husband.” Khez’ran joined her, nodding solemnly as she continued.
“The heroes are gone. Our world is dying. The destruction from that day continues with us even to this moment. But if the heroes could not stop it, and the gods perished with it… how could we, and our tribe, have even the slightest hope of survival against it?”
Khez’ran leaned down to kiss her softly upon her forehead. He felt her despair. He’d shared it many times in the last several years. He knew the answer lay in the very thing that haunted his waking moments.
“It is for that reason we sacrifice ourselves to journey to the Earthen Voice. Within our world’s dying whispers, our people seek the guidance that might, one day, lead to her rebirth. And so we must go. We must listen. And we must survive. That is why our people must survive.” He took her hand in his own, and squeezed it affectionately.
“And in truth, the greatest lesson was that mortals themselves were the ones who shaped the fate of the world. It was a terrible mortal’s greed who lead to our downfall, and several other mortals, not heroes, who sought to stop her. Even those who spend their lives enriching themselves can one day step forward for the greater good. No.. our salvation lies not in the hands of heroes, or in the promises of deities. It is mortal hands who will write the next chapter of our story.
I only hope that those hands are nobler than those of the past, lest we fall prey to the mistakes that lead us to this point once more.”
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