Sorry that this one took so long. I've been fairly busy. They've got me working at work about ten more hours a week then I'm used to. And of course a number of school projects are creeping up on me. But don't worry, I've got the schoolwork under control. It took me a bit of work, but I did it. And now that I've got the time I'm finishing this chapter. It's taken me a fair bit of work to do it too. It wasn't coming out the way I wanted to, but I think I've got it the way I want it. I hope at any rate.
As usual I have to thank Kenitra, Shade, Aeoros, Gavalin, Apples, Mirage, Casey and David. Also I want to thank everyone that reads my stuff. It's nice to know that I can write something that other people actually want to read. If you want to let me know what you think, or just want to chat, you can send it to either Mist_dark@hotmail.com or Mist_dark@yahoo.ca I check both so you'll get a response.
The disclaimer hasn't changed that much. If you're too young or it's illegal in your area to be reading this, I'd leave. Or at the very least, don't get caught. If homosexual themes offend you, I'd leave as well. The homosexual themes aren't really present in this one, but I'm hoping I can bring them out more in the next one. Parts of this story are based off the RPG Rifts. All trademarks belong to Kevin Siembieda and Palladium books.
Well that's all from me, for now at any rate. Let me know what you think. Enjoy.
Until next time, Rune
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The spiders were the first creatures to enter the chamber that the Summoner was in. There was a scuttling sound and then a wave of spiders flooded into the room. Among them walked Nathaniel. He held is left arm gingerly and a large bruise was forming around the shoulder. His shoulder had been dislocated during a short fight and as with all dislocations, the cure was more painful then the actual injury. Despite his injury he was still able to defend himself. Of course not many creatures were willing to wade through several hundred spiders to get at him.
An instant after he made his entrance Makyla made hers. A section of the stone rippled and the warlock stepped out of the wall. As her robes pulled free she muttered something under her breath about dead-end tunnels. She did a quick sweep of the cavern to see who and what was there. She sighed inwardly when she saw what was there.
Standing side by side were the Archfiend and an avian elf. The elven maiden didn't look very threatening, but she knew the Archfiend would be. She had also learned long ago that underestimating you opponent was a bad idea. She herself didn't look threatening, but was a very dangerous woman when she set her mind to it. And at the moment she had her mind set to it. She also saw the Summoner. He was standing inside a glowing circle and staring at a flower on a pedestal. For the most part the flower was a fleshy peach colour, but now and again it would become stone gray. He seemed to be waiting for something and paid neither Nathaniel nor her. He also didn't seem to pay any attention to the corpse of a Drow at his feet.
"I'm afraid I must kill you now," the Archfiend's shadowy voice said.
The elf smiled at them sweetly, spread her wings and took to the air. She flew in a lazy circle for a moment before being knocked out of the air. She spread her wings in time to slow her descent enough not be seriously hurt.
Joey half floated, half walked through one of the openings near the top of the cavern. He walked off the edge of the stone ridge and descended slowly to the floor as if he were walking down stairs. His eyes trailed psionic energy as he moved and anger radiated from him. The Summoner paid him no more attention then he had the others.
When Joey's feet touched the ground the Archfiend looked at him sadly for a moment before snapping its arms toward the psychic. Tendrils of shadows snaked from the creature's hands and shot toward Joey. They wrapped themselves around his limbs and with a throwing gesture the Archfiend sent Joey flying through the air to land next to Makyla.
"I am sorry," the creature said softly. For an instant the silver collar around its neck flashed visibly for everyone to see. "But I have no choice."
Nathaniel made a few clicking noises in his throat and the spiders around him surged forward. The Archfiend backed away from them as they came closer. The maiden pulled herself to her feet and backed away as well. They were too close for her to take to the air again. She made a sweeping motion toward them and a wall of flame sprung up between the spiders and their targets. Instead of continuing forward they shrank away from the flame. Nathaniel called them back away so that they wouldn't get hurt.
"Guess you're not the only psychic here," Makyla said as she helped Joey to his feet. "Any bright ideas for how to deal with them?"
"I should be able to deal with her," Joey said. "But I have to cut the link between the Summoner and his minions before he finishes whatever he's doing."
"Do you think Nathaniel and I can take care of the Archfiend?" The warlock asked.
"I don't know. It's worth a shot though. The spiders might be able to help." Joey looked up at the avian elf and closed his eyes. A moment later the elf stopped moving in her slow circles and the wall of flame winked out. The elf just hovered there with her eyes locked on Joey. Neither psychic moved.
The instant the flames disappeared the spiders moved toward the Archfiend. The creature hadn't moved since the wall of flame had appeared. Its yellow eyes narrowed at the advancing spiders. The shadows in the cavern leapt to save the creature. A small dome surrounded the advancing horde. It was barely high enough to avoid touching the spiders' backs, but wide and solid enough to effectively trap them.
The shadows swirled around the Archfiend as it made its way toward Makyla and Joey. It swatted Nathaniel aside when the priest moved between her and the shadowy creature. The priest slammed into the stone wall and slumped to the floor dazed. He blinked his eyes a few times trying to clear the stars from his vision.
Makyla brought her staff up and swung it at the Archfiend. The shadows that made up the creature's body swirled and moved as the staff passed through it without any harm being done. With no physical body to stop the staff like she'd intended Makyla was completely thrown off balance. While she tried to recover the Archfiend wrapped its shadows around her staff and pulled it from her grasp. It looked at the staff a moment before tossing it away.
"I regret this human," the Archfiend said softly. Its hand shot out and wrapped around her throat. "I have no desire to kill you. But he has told me that I must kill you."
Makyla clawed at the hand that seemed so solid despite the fact that it was made of only shadows. She gasped as the hand slowly began to crush her throat.
Joey met the avian elf on a mutual mental plane. Neither one had the advantage of a completely familiar terrain, but both were well versed in the arts of mental combat. The battlefield was completely featureless. Gray shifting mist covered the ground and a thick fog filled the air. They stood across from each other, but now and again the fog would waft through and their vision would be momentarily obstructed.
"You don't think you can win, do you?" The elf sneered. "My Master will soon be a god and you will be crushed even if you defeat me. And you won't."
Joey shrugged. He wasn't going to be tricked into fighting recklessly. He was angry as it was, she apparently hadn't noticed how his anger had focused his psionic abilities. "Guess I'll deal with that problem when I come to it."
The elf smiled and leapt into the air. Her wings caught her and she flew upward. She didn't need to move her wings to fly here. She could have done it based purely on her mental will. If he wanted to Joey could fly here as well, he just didn't feel the need to do it right now. He was more comfortable on the ground.
A rush of air was all that accompanied her attack. Joey didn't have time to avoid the elf's attack. She appeared out of the shifting fog and slammed into his chest. The psychic was knocked off his feet and slid into the mist as the elf turned and disappeared into the fog again. For a moment he just lay there trying to form a plan.
When he cautiously got to his feet he had an idea. He spun in a slow circle while holding his hand up with the palm facing outward. Multiple beams of energy shot from his hand as he moved. The fog glowed for an instant after they had left his hand, but the elf seemed to have avoided them all. He would have to meet her on her own terms to win this battle.
He formed a field around himself to prevent further attacks while he thought of the best way to attack. A smile crossed his face as the idea formed. "You'll love me for this one Justin." He dropped the field and started to make the mental changes to his `physical' form.
The psychic's form started to shimmer as he formed the image in his mind and forced his astral form into the new shape. His skin turned a vibrant blue and became scaly. Leather wings grew from his back while his spine lengthened to grow extra vertebrae. While those changes were happening his overall size was increasing. In short order a very large blue dragon was standing in his place.
"Hope I got it right Justin," Joey grinned inwardly. He spread his wings and propelled himself into the air to follow the elf.
She hadn't been idle while he was transforming himself. When Joey found the elf she was holding two swords comprised of psychic energy. Around her shimmered a suit of psionic armour. When she saw him she attacked quickly.
Her first attack was easily dodged and his counterstrike was just as easily dodged. She swooped in random patterns to avoid the icy breath that he could wield in this form, but was always close enough to strike out at him if he wasn't careful. His hide bore the wounds of such carelessness. Not that the elf hadn't taken a few injuries herself. A few times Joey's claws had racked across her body leaving a couple of nasty gashes. But she was able to ignore them like he was ignoring the ones she had given him. These weren't their real bodies, so injury to them wouldn't be fatal. And neither one of them would stay around long enough to be killed here. A death in the mind was as real as a death to the physical body.
The elf pulled away from him and flew back a couple of yards. She stayed there for a few moments before her attack struck. Joey barely had time to erect the mental barrier to keep her telepathic strike from ripping through his mind. As it was it destroyed his concentration. His form began to revert to normal as his body plummeted out of the sky. He had completely returned to his normal body by the time he could think straight again. With a quick mental push he landed lightly on the ground and shook his head. Evelyn had taught him that if you were forced to fight someone always do it on your terms.
It took him a few minutes to figure out how to do what he wanted to do. The elf was still in the air and hadn't attacked him since he'd fallen. She was probably saving her strength for his attack. Hopefully she wouldn't realize what was happening until it was too late. He formed the image of what he wanted to have happen in his mind and then quickly implemented the changes into the world before the elf could react.
The sky darkened and hurricane force winds came out of nowhere. The avian elf was tossed around by the sudden onslaught, but seemed to be able to keep airborne. Joey made a few more changes to force her to the ground. Hail stones as large as basketballs started falling from the sky. A few struck the elf's wings and she was suddenly at the mercy of the winds. In short order Joey had her on the ground with a broken wing.
"Bad move," she said lowly. Hatred flashed through her eyes as she advanced on Joey. He suddenly realized that he wasn't armed. She lunged at him and vanished. Joey looked around and then scanned the area for the elf. She wasn't there. Shrugging the psychic returned to his body to see why she'd left so suddenly.
Colours started to flash through Makyla's vision. The Archfiend's hand was doing a very good job of cutting off her air supply. Her struggles started to grow weaker. The Archfiend sighed deeply and seemed to look sorrowfully at the warlock.
"I truly do not wish to do this," it said softly.
"Then don't," Nathaniel said as he leapt onto the creature's back. The priest wrapped his arms around the Archfiend's neck. "You've been told to kill us, but you can toy with us. And if you toy too long and your master gets killed you'll be free."
The Archfiend cocked its head to one side and seemed to consider things. "What do you have in mind."
"Release my spiders and I guarantee that you'll never fear their bite," the priest offered.
"What makes you think that I'm afraid of spiders?"
"A creature of your power doesn't back away from something unless it's afraid of it. You fear spiders and I'm offering you a chance to never worry about them," the priest said. "Let her go and then pretend to fear my touch. That will cover your master's expectations. And if we fail you'll be able to finish your objective."
"Very well," the shadowy creature agreed. It let the warlock drop to the floor and started to struggle with the priest on its back. It removed Nathaniel and deposited him on the floor. Then the Archfiend backed away from the priest when Nathaniel started to advance on it.
Nathaniel made a few clicking noises. The shadowy bubble around the spiders vanished the moment the Archfiend had agreed to the terms that Nathaniel had offered. The swarm immediately worked their way toward the tunnel walls and up to the roof of the cavern.
"Makyla," Nathaniel called. "Are you alright?"
The warlock coughed a few times and rubbed her neck. "Fine," she croaked.
"If I can knock the elf out of the sky, can you deal with her? We need Joey to get to the Summoner."
"I can," the warlock assured him. She closed her eyes and murmured a few things under her breath. She slowly sunk into the ground as she continued chanting.
Nathaniel hadn't taken his eyes off the Archfiend and didn't notice the warlock's exit. He gave a few more commands to the spiders. The air was quickly filled with thin strands of silk. They attached themselves to anything that they fell on. This had little effect on any of the grounded people in the chamber, but it had a dramatic effect on the elf.
The silk wrapped itself around the elf's wings and prevented them from moving. She gave a startled cry as she snapped out of her trance and fell from the air. She tried to spread her wings to stop her fall, but the silk held them fast. If it had only been a few spiders she would have been fine, but with several hundred there was just too many of them to do anything about the silk. The instant her body touched the ground a pair of hands shoot out of the stone and grabbed her arms. The elf screamed and struggled as the hands pulled her into the stone, but the hands held her fast. She tried leveling psionic attacks at Makyla, but the warlock was safely covered in the stone and couldn't be hurt by most psychic attacks. The elf was too panicked to try any telepathic attacks. In a matter of seconds the elf had disappeared beneath the stone.
"Bitch," Makyla muttered as she pulled herself out of the stone. She brushed her robes off and turned to Nathaniel. "She's out of the way." The warlock ran to Joey's side as the psychic snapped out of his trance. "You alright?"
Joey nodded. He looked around the room with a look of confusion. "Where did she go?"
Makyla tapped the ground with her foot. "Ever heard of the saying about sculpting an elephant? That all you have to do is get a block of stone and cut everything away that isn't an elephant? Well, all you'll have to do is cut away everything from this floor that doesn't look like and elf."
"She's in the floor?" Joey asked in shock.
Makyla nodded. "She died the instant I let go of her. She didn't suffer."
"I guess we deal with the Summoner now," Joey looked at the mage. The man hadn't moved from inside the circle the entire time they'd been fighting. "Has he moved at all?"
"Not that I noticed," Makyla replied. She helped Joey to his feet and then retrieved her staff. "But then I was a touch busy with the Archfiend."
Joey looked over to where Nathaniel had the creature pinned against the wall. "I thought that it was more powerful then that. How is he keeping it at bay like that?"
"He's not," Makyla told him as they walked toward the Summoner. "But the Archfiend is a wonderful actor. Nathaniel found a loophole in the Summoner's commands. If we can't kill the Summoner though, we're dead. The Archfiend can only toy with us for so long."
Joey nodded and then stopped when he saw the circle that the Summoner was standing in. "I've seen this before. We won't be able to get through to him."
"What?"
"Try to hit him with your staff," Joey told her.
"What are you getting at?" Makyla asked. She raised her staff and slammed it toward the mage inside the circle. The staff stopped well before the man inside. "Damn. How are we going to hurt him?" The mage didn't even notice them. All of his attention was focused on the flower in front of him.
"You won't," a voice rasped.
A wind blew in a circular pattern around Joey and Makyla. It picked them up and spun them back the way they had come. When they were near the place where the elf was buried the wind deposited them on the ground.
"I will have my revenge."
The wind blown pair looked up and saw the Shaman working her way down the ramp on the left side of the room. The woman looked awful. Half her face was covered in blood and her beautiful violet hair was matted against her head with more blood. Her shirt was almost falling off her body and revealed a great deal as a result. A large gash in her upper arm had coated her left arm in blood. The Shaman had smeared mud into the wound to prevent excessive blood loss. She was missing two fingers on her right hand, but that didn't seem to affect her ability to wield her sickles. A huge bruise covered most of the right side of her upper body. It looked like her ribs had been broken. A dagger was buried in her right thigh, her left leg looked broken and she was walking on her right ankle like it was injured as well. Despite all of these injuries the woman was still alive.
Joey reached out and tried to touch the woman's mind. He gasped and his mental hand recoiled in revulsion. "She's insane," he whispered. "She shouldn't even be alive."
He and Makyla watched in amazement as the elf hobbled down the ramp. She pulled herself forward with her right leg while her left dragged behind her. When she reached the floor of the cavern she turned toward the Summoner. Her gait actually sped up the closer she got to the circle. When she reached the circle that surrounded the Summoner she raised her sickles and struck at the air. Sparks flew from where her blades hit the magical force field.
The Summoner's attention was caught by this and he actually turned away from the ambrosia long enough to look at her. He sneered and then turned back to the flower. It hadn't completely changed to a flower, but it would be there within minutes.
The Shaman didn't relent. She kept striking at the force field. Sparks filled the air as the silver sickles flashed against the field. The elf got in one solid blow and the field shattered. Blue light filled the cavern and momentarily blinded everyone.
When it cleared the Shaman was on the Summoner. Her sickles already drawing blood before anyone could see. The man screamed in pain and tried to roll out from underneath her. She refused to let go and the pair rolled into the pedestal. The stone structure rocked before toppling over and spilling the ambrosia onto the floor. Neither of them noticed.
Joey had recovered himself and opened himself to the auras in the room. He blinked to adjust himself to the sudden increase of colours. He found the Summoner's aura and searched it for a collar of some similar marking. He found what looked like a bracelet around the man's wrist with thousands of tiny threads leading off it. Smiling to himself he slammed it telepathically. If the man hadn't been distracted he wouldn't have been able to break it so easily. Since he was the bracelet clicked open and disappeared.
The Summoner pulled a dagger and stabbed the Shaman repeatedly in the gut. The woman didn't flinch. She ripped her sickles into the man's form. The man's death cries were silenced by blood that welled out of his lungs. The Shaman straddled the man's hips as she hacked at his chest. His dagger was still imbedded in her stomach but she didn't pay any attention to it. The Summoner was long dead before she stopped hacking at his corpse.
Joey and Makyla watched in morbid fascination as the Shaman pulled herself to her feet and stood over the corpse of the Summoner. She threw back her head and laughed. The laughter wasn't nice to listen to and it sent shivers up their spines. If there had been any doubt about the woman's mental state it was cleared by her laughter.
The Shaman laughed for a few minutes before her sickles dropped from her numb fingers. She slumped to her knees still laughing. A pale mist oozed from her skin and dissipated in the air around her. Her back arched as a silver cat leapt from her chest. The cat walked a few feet away and turned to watch the Shaman. It paid no attention to anyone else. The Shaman smiled at it before collapsing next to the Summoner's corpse.
"You have done well child," it whispered to her. "Come home and rest." It stared at the Shaman for a few seconds before vanishing into thin air.
"Thank you," the Archfiend's voice broke the silence that followed the Shaman's death. "You have done something that no mortal has ever done. You've earned the gratitude of an Archfiend." The Archfiend walked past Nathaniel so that it could see all three humans without straining. "I will hold you to your part of the bargain priest."
"I will speak with Tark on your behalf. She always rewards those that help her priests," Nathaniel assured the creature.
The Archfiend nodded and bowed deeply to all three of them. "Should you ever have need you may call upon me." The shadows of the room leapt out and surrounded the creature. When they pulled back it was gone.
"Sandy," Joey said abruptly. He pulled Makyla to her feet and started to pull her toward the opening he had come through.
The warlock pulled herself free and shook her head. "It'll be faster this way. The tunnels twist too much. I'll get us back to the hole we fell through and you can get us back up." She pointed her staff at the wall and it melted away. She walked through the new opening and the stone continued to move out of her way. The others followed close behind.
TBC
Well it's almost done. Not too much more to go. Hope you guys enjoyed it and let me know what you thought about it.
Rune