Lost in the Abyss – Episode 1.7

Resentment remains, but the four companions turn their attention back to negotiating the Miner’s stronghold.

Shaaaarghraio leads them out into the tunnel, suspiciously eyeing the Cleric of Bone and Law as he does so. The Minotaur then pauses for a moment to sniff the air. The reek of Demons is still strong. He puts his head down and charges the wall.

CRUNCH!

In seconds the obstruction has been demolished.

No sooner has the way been cleared, than a lightning bolt crackles along the tunnel. It clearly originated from somewhere off to the left of the T-junction. Shaaaarghraio immediately charges. Though to everyone’s surprise, when he reaches the corner, he turns right and runs away from the Demons.

Blanca looks up to the heavens. She is feeling increasingly exasperated with the Minotaur’s unpredictable behaviour.

“I warned you that he cannot be trusted”, asserts Tanemous sourly.

Out of sight of the others, Shaaaarghraio pounds down the passageway. He finds himself heading towards a heavy curtain that hangs across the tunnel up ahead. Undeterred by this seemingly minor obstruction, he puts his head down, intent on ploughing straight through it.

Without warning, dark magical energy crackles all around him and he finds himself transfixed. Death magic courses through his veins and tears hungrily at his soul. He is barely able to break free of it.

Alive but substantially weakened he plunges through the curtain and on into the unknown.

Meanwhile, in the Minotaur’s absence, Tanemous moves up to the T-junction and conjures magic tentacles to deal with the Demons.

Since he seems to be in control of the situation, Blanca turns to the right to look for Shaaaarghraio.

“Where’s that stupid Minotaur gone now!?” she mutters.

She runs down the passage; though she knows she can’t go far because, unlike Shaaaarghraio, she doesn’t want to get separated from the others. As she approaches the curtain, death magic once again arcs from the walls and ceiling. If she were weaker, the terrible wrenching at her soul might have been fatal, but she is strong. Like Shaaaarghraio, she breaks through, though she too is weakened.

She staggers and stops short of the curtain. Turning back, she spots Marcus running out of the darkness towards her.

“No Marcus! Stop!” she commands. “Come no further!”

Marcus skids to a halt, looking perplexed.

Blanca looks pale and strained. She explains the situation to him.

Just then Shaaaarghraio remerges from behind the curtain. Without a word the Minotaur marches determinedly back towards the T-junction. He pushes past Blanca.

“Shaaaarghraio!” she exclaims angrily. “Wait! Where are you going?”

But the Minotaur offers no explanation. Bent on some unknown purpose, he scrambles over the remnants of the wall, and disappears off in the direction that they came in.

Tanemous, who has continuously been blasting the Demons with magic, directs a cone of cold into the tunnel and then remarks, “There seems little point in trying to follow him. He can easily outpace us. I’m sure he will eventually return.”

Blanca doesn’t like the idea of leaving Shaaaarghraio to run off on his own, but she has to concede that, for the time being, the Minotaur has gone.

Tanemous finishes off the Demons in the tunnel with a combination of magic orbs. When the explosions subside, he says “That ought to hold them for a while. If anything comes, the tentacles will deal with them. Now let’s see what’s behind this curtain.”

He goes over to Blanca and Marcus who are still standing either side of the death magic barrier. It takes him a few minutes to decide how to circumvent it. Once he has done so, he calls upon the Lady of Bone and Law for protection, and then he and Marcus step through, unaffected.

Then all three go through the curtain together.

Beyond is a massive cavern, containing a huge lake of lava. The young girl they met before is there, sitting on an ornate throne. She watches them impassively as they approach her. The heat is intense, even hotter than out in the tunnels.

Suddenly a large serpentine head rises from the lava. It is followed by another and then another. Twelve heads emerge all told. They belong to a monstrous Fire Hydra. The little girl smiles and the creature’s many heads breathe out searing hot streams of magma.

The three companions scatter.

Marcus immediately casts protective magic about himself and runs towards the Hydra brandishing his weapon. It seems somewhat foolhardy. The others hope he knows what he is doing.

Meanwhile Tanemous retaliates by blasting both the Hydra and the little girl with an intense cone of cold. The Hydra roars in pain and the little girl is frozen solid.

Then, as the Hydra’s fire breathing heads turn towards Marcus, the young man attacks it with his sword. Had he not been protected by sorcery, he would surely have been burned to a cinder but, as it is, he survives and his blade bites hungrily through the creature’s scales.

Each time Marcus strikes the Hydra the creature grows weaker and the sword pulses brighter. Likewise Marcus seems invigorated. He is almost glowing with the power of his blade. Three of the creature’s heads are soon useless and another lies severed on the cavern floor. Tanemous hurls an orb of cold into the fray and then Marcus drives the blade deep into another of the creature’s skulls. The Hydra’s legs buckle and it slides back into the lava.

With the battle over, the three companions look around the cavern and spot two huge bronze doors on a ledge some forty feet above the lava. Using magic, Tanemous transports them up to take a look. The doors are finely crafted and depict hordes of demons fighting some indistinct form emerging from the darkness.

Tanemous tells the others to stand back and opens the doors with a spell. Slowly they grind open. Beyond is a narrow rope bridge over a lava-filled chasm. On the far side is another ledge.

“Well what do you want to do now?” asks Tanemous.

“I think we should wait” Blanca replies.

“For the Minotaur?” Tanemous says disapprovingly. “And what if he doesn’t come back?”

“We should give Shaaaarghraio every chance to return before continuing”, Blanca maintains.

“So that he can simply desert us again?” Tanemous protests.

Blanca frowns. “Perhaps it was not his doing”, she suggests hopefully. “What if he were under some form of magical compulsion.”

“You are too trusting Blanca” Tanemous scoffs. “He cannot be relied upon. But perhaps you are right, we should not convict him in his absence.”

So they wait.

Time passes.

Then, off in the distance, they hear sounds of masonry falling. Gradually the sounds of destruction come nearer.

When they go to see what it is, they find Shaaaarghraio wrecking the tunnel. All they can see behind him is rubble.

Blanca demands an explanation and Shaaaarghraio indignantly tells them that he has been dealing with an attack that was coming up behind them.

“The little girl told me that her Undead minions were after us and I didn’t much like the look of that Fire Hydra. Nobody followed me into the cavern, so I thought ‘bugger this’ and went to deal with them. I found a whole bunch of Wights back there so I collapsed the tunnel on them” he relates.

“Why didn’t you tell us any of this earlier?” Blanca enquires.

“There wasn’t time” Shaaaarghraio replies unconvincingly.

Tanemous looks sceptical but says nothing. Blanca is lost for words. Marcus just seems happy they are all back together.

Aided by magical flight they return to the ledge and cross the chasm. On the far side they find two tunnels each occupied by Petitioners wearing long skirts and wielding scimitars.

When they approach them the Petitioners demand in Abyssal, “Drop your weapons and get down on your knees”

“Why does everyone have to be so belligerent”, Tanemous complains. ” We’ve already defeated the Miner and the Glutton, must we despatch your master also?”

It seems that the Petitioners are unwilling to negotiate however. Each time they are approached they simply repeat the same instructions.

Just when the exchange is becoming tiresome, a cloaked female figure appears. She comes towards them and tosses back her hood, revealing red skin and serpentine hair. She is a Medusa.

“Please, surrender your weapons and come with me”, she states firmly.

Tanemous sighs. “I’m very sorry but that’s not going to happen” he replies.

The Medusa looks them up and down for a moment.

“Very well” she concedes. “It matters little. Come. Follow me”

Surprised by their apparent success Marcus whispers to Blanca, “I don’t believe they gave in!”

Blanca looks at him sideways “I’m not sure that bodes all that well for us. It was certainly my impression that they simply aren’t that bothered if we have our weapons” she whispers back.

“Oh” Marcus says, slightly deflated.

The Medusa takes them along the passage and eventually brings them to a large hall. Before them is a huge crimson skinned, horned and winged, Demon sitting upon a gigantic throne. The Fiend is wreathed in fire and exudes a palpable aura of evil. It looks down on them with disdain. This terrible creature is a Balor.

Standing in chains to either side of the throne, are the Miner and a dog-headed Humanoid that some might recognise as a Hound Archon.

“Show some respect!” the Medusa commands.

Tanemous looks towards Blanca and she raises an eyebrow “How did you put it before?” she says “Oh yes, ‘That’s not going to happen’.”

“We have yet to meet a denizen of this place that is worthy of our respect” Tanemous says bravely.

Fire glows in the Balor’s eyes but it says nothing, the Medusa glares back at Tanemous. “Why have you invaded my master’s territory?” she demands.

“We haven’t invaded” Tanemous clarifies. “We are simply travellers passing through this realm”

“Simple travellers do not pillage and destroy as you have” the Medusa accuses.

“We have merely done what was necessary to survive” Tanemous states.

“And does that include stealing?” the Medusa presses, “It comes to our attention that you have in your possession some property that belongs to us.”

“You mean these?” Tanemous says indicating the small box of coins that he is carrying. “I was under the impression that they belonged to the Glutton. How is it that you now lay claim to them?”

The Demon Balor speaks for the first time. The words form in their minds like gobbets of fire. “Everything here is mine.”

Tanemous scowls, feeling less confident now he is dealing with the Balor directly. He knows that it is not a creature to be trifled with. As a species Balor are legendary for their violence.

“Very well” he says after a moment of consideration. “As a gesture of good will I shall let you have the coins. They are of little use to us”. He does his utmost to feign disinterest.

A crooked smile spreads across the Balor’s face. “A wise decision” it chuckles. “Perhaps it will not be necessary to rend you limb from limb after all.” It scratches its chin thoughtfully. “Every six cycles an event is held here to appease the bloodthirsty masses. I have decided that you should participate. To make it worth your while, if any of you survive, I will tell you how to leave this plane”

“And what exactly is this event that you speak of?” Tanemous asks.

“A gladiatorial contest” the Balor declares. “You have already demonstrated that you enjoy killing Demons, so it is sport for which you are well suited.”

“And if we survive you say you will tell us how to get out of Carynach?” Tanemous confirms.

“Yes”

“Who would we be facing?”

The Balor stands, picking up the Miner and effortlessly hurling him down the steps. “This pathetic creature for one. He came to me crawling on his belly and snivelling for mercy. It would amuse me to see him put to the sword? Are you not eager to do so?”

“I must discuss your proposal with my comrades for a moment?” requests Tanemous.

The Balor nods “Very well”