34: Celestial

[Start from the beginning]

Nyvara looked at the water ahead of them, filling the tunnel as it sloped down into the depths. That Zarenis wanted her to swim though it was just ridiculous. She already regretted having agreed to help the tiefling out, but the problem was that she was too far into it to back out. The only escape route from this passage that she knew of was through a hideous barrier of flesh-eating vegetation that she had absolutely no idea how to neutralise. If she tried to leave, she would probably die in the attempt.

But going ahead looked no safer. She had to try to appeal to whatever sense of preservation Zarenis still had.

“We don’t know how far the water goes,” she pointed out, “we could drown.”

“It’s not that far. We’re physically fit; we can swim it.” The tiefling woman sounded quite positive. Nyvara almost asked her how she could be so certain, but bit back the question. It was the Presence, of course; that strange infernal entity that spoke to her in her head, or whatever it was it did.

“Well don’t forget, there’s a celestial waiting on the other side,” she said instead, “the creature we fought before was one thing, but how can we hope to fight a celestial? I don’t know much about them, but I do know they’re incredibly powerful. I bet even hardened adventurers would think twice about taking one on, and we’re going to allow it to jump us while we’re trying to get out of the water. It’s suicide!”

33: Rupinder

[Start from the beginning]

Calleslyn waited and watched nervously as Vardala fiddled with the lock on the door; they really didn’t want to be caught by anyone while doing this. She and Almandar were standing in the alley behind the house that Sashjant had rented in the city. There was no sign of life inside, although she knew that the demon was at home, along with, at the very least, two of his female companions, and probably all of them. Except, of course, Mei-Xing, and they did not yet know whether he had worked out what had happened to her,

Hopefully not, because that would give them the element of surprise. Sashjant was expecting Ornejirhs, and doubtless had warding spells in place to warn him of the approach of a dragon, whether in human form or not. But, with any luck, he had no idea about the adventurers, allowing them to quickly get inside and deal with him.

To her surprise, the lock on the back door to the house had not been enchanted, so it had nothing to do with the magical key they had stolen. That had to be for something, but evidently it wasn’t just for accessing the building, which used a standard Haredil lock on all of its doors. Which meant that Vardala should not be much longer.

32: Mei-Xing

[Start from the beginning]

The woman was most immediately notable for her flaming red hair; a rarity in Haredil. Her long skirts and the high collar on her dress marked her out as a native of the southern lands, far from her homeland. But that was no surprise to Almandar, for that was where Ornejirhs had followed her from.

Or, more accurately, that was where he had followed Sashjant from. As the dragon had indicated, the shape-changing demon travelled with a personal harem, and the redhead was one of that number. Almandar and the others had observed the group, confirming Ornejirhs’ story, at least as far as it could be. According to Lady Tarissa, Sashjant was an unusual type of demon called a rakshasa, and highly skilled in the ways of magic. Mind-affecting enchantments were clearly among his powers, and he had used them to gather the women, and to hold them in thrall.

It had soon become apparent that the women were the route through which they could tackle the demon. Each carried some kind of magical key that they used to enter Sashjant’s home; there was no other way in, which perhaps explained Ornejirhs’ failure to get close, especially since the demon could obviously sense his approach, and knew Imrilda’s identity.

It did not, however, know the adventurers, and that was the basis of their plan. Almandar would get one of the women on her own, allowing the others to capture her without the demon realising. Between himself, Calleslyn, and Lady Tarissa, they were confident of being able to end the enchantment, freeing the woman from her slavery. Once they had the key, they had a way to approach the demon, and deal with it permanently.

31: History

[Start from the beginning]

“I hope you know where you’re going,” said Nyvara, as the three of them trod the branching passageways beneath the city.

“I know the direction,” replied Zarenis, “I can feel it. This thing,,, the Presence, whatever you want to call it… it shows me images sometimes, but mostly I just sense the way I have to go. All I have to do is work out the details.”

“That doesn’t sound very reassuring,” complained the sorceress, “how do we know it isn’t lying to you?”

“It has no reason to. It wants to be released, and my demonic ancestry is the strongest link it has to this world.” She didn’t add that the Presence had already shown her that it had been responsible for her own birth, through a lesser demon. Since she had touched the censer, it could send her visions while she was awake, and she had experienced first hand its ability to manipulate the infernal taint in her blood, tying them together.

At least, she had now been able to gain some measure of control over the new powers in her blood. She was able to suppress all the transformations it wanted to make in her body, restoring her eyes and horns to their usual forms, and now looked as human as any tiefling should do, not like the hideous half-demon she had been at risk of becoming.

30: Ornejirhs

[Start from the beginning]

Calleslyn awoke suddenly. She felt refreshed, invigorated, as if she had just had a long nap and was ready to face the new day. And yet… she was sitting on a small, backless armchair, bound to it by her wrists, and with her ankles also tied together. There was a man sitting across from her.

“Welcome back,” said the man, “it would seem I owe you an apology.”

“You attacked me!” snapped the elf, as her memory returned.

“In fairness, you had just attacked my fighting companion. What was I supposed to infer?” His voice was calm, sounding reasonable, and almost affronted by the accusation.

“And now you’ve kidnapped me.”

“That was a necessary precaution. I did not know how you would react when you woke. I have not treated you badly.”

Glancing around to gain her bearings, Calleslyn had to admit that things could have been worse. She was not in a dungeon, or anything of that kind, although neither was she in the house where she had first encountered the pair. Instead, she was in what appeared to be a tent, a large and luxurious one of red and gold cloth, with soft cushions and mats upon the ground. The chair she was sitting in was padded, and would have been comfortable had she not been bound to it… with, she now noticed, white cords of silk that were tied firmly, but not overly tight.

29: Nariti

[Start from the beginning]

“She went to see a magician named Ornejirhs,” explained Almandar, as they stood outside the Wizards’ College, “he’s a visitor to the city, not somebody I’ve heard of before.”

“I have,” said Tarissa, unexpectedly, “he’s a demon hunter. They mentioned him at the Pardror temple. I was going to suggest we pay him a visit anyway.”

“And after seeing him, Calleslyn disappears? I’m not sure I like this, especially since we don’t know anything about him. We don’t even know where he’s from.”

“I was told that he was from the south,” replied the paladin, “although I suspect they may have got confused on that point – it’s not a name from any southern culture I’m familiar with.” Tarissa, of course, was from the southern lands, herself, as her blonde hair and blue eyes made apparent. “Although I was told that he does have a companion called Imrilda, who certainly is southern, from the description. She belongs to an order called the Shield Daughters, who have some rather strange ideas about dress, but are essentially honourable. From everything I was told, this Ornejirhs sounds a trustable person.”

“Then why hasn’t Calleslyn returned?” Almandar reminded her, “she went to see him yesterday afternoon.”

28: Leren

[Start from the beginning]

Two figures crept their way along a narrow tunnel beneath the city. The larger one held a small lantern, casting long shadows on the walls, and illuminating patches of glistening moisture where the warm air condensed against cold stone. The tunnel turned sharply downwards, uneven steps plunging into the darkness beneath. With a grunt, the larger figure extinguished the lantern.

“’Er ladyship don’t like no lights,” sad a gruff, masculine voice, “‘sept the ones already down there. So watch yer step.”

“Easy enough for her ladyship to say,” commented a woman’s voice, “drow don’t need light.”

“We do it ‘er way, and that’s that. Or you ain’t coming. I only brung yer ‘cause she asked. You ain’t one of us, I can leave yer behind and say yer’s too scared.”

“I didn’t say I needed light, did I? You’re the one going to have difficulty on those stairs, not me.”

The man grunted again, put out. “Yeah, whatever. You comin’ or what?”