Rashemen - Book 3

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Sepp stood up, feeling a little less shaky after the food and water. "Okay, up this way I guess."

He and Jex went up the tunnel. It was dark, with a soft crimson glow coming from ahead. The tunnel started to slope downwards, then opened up into a large cavern with a pool of deep crimson liquid in the middle of it. Small ripples washed across the pool from drops dripping slowly into it from the roof of the cavern. He felt irresistably drawn to the pool.

"Look Jex," he called, and the ripples shifted into a vision. A beautiful island, filled with wonderful people and creatures, and lead by an upright and outstanding lord was in the middle of a pristine lake. But it was being assaulted by several demonic creatures, of varying sizes. They would surely fall without help!

"Jex, we've got to help those good people!" Sepp called. He turned to Jex and was stunned to see that Jex had turned an ashen color, a horrified, joyous look on his face. His hands were on his scimitars' hilts, but they were only halfway drawn. A shade stood in front of him, with a hauntingly familiar face on it. Was this Jex's father? Or merely an impostor?

In the vision, more good creatures and people were cut down by the demons. Sepp was sure Jex could deal with this shade on his own, and if not, what help could he be?

"I'll leave you two alone for a little bit," he said. "Don't be too long, Jex. I have a feeling I'm going to need your help over there."

He stepped into the pool. The crimson liquid stuck to him, covered him with a muscusy membrane, and he was sucked into a whirlpool at its center.

He came up gasping for air. The pool was now a well in a brick lined room. His senses immediately told him he was back on his home world. The outstanding lord from the vision stood in a blazing circle of light on in front of him, looking quite dissappointed.

"What's this?" the lord demanded. "We have need of a mighty warrior from beyond and all that is sent is a pipsqueak with a dagger? This will not do. Unless you are more than you seem." He focused on Sepp for a bit, then on the well. "Ah, now I understand. You are a servant to the warrior, his squire, per-say. You have come ahead to prepare his way. Please assure him, everything is as it should be, and his compensation will be most satisfactory."

A loud thundercrack sounded from somewhere above the room. "I have pressing needs elsewhere," the lord suddenly said. "Please, when your master arrives, lead him to me, you'll know the way." Without further ado he turned and left out of the single door.

Sepp climbed out of the well. He could smell where the lord had gone, and wanted to follow him, but some invisible barrier on the floor prevented him from moving more than three steps from the well. Of course, he had to wait for Jex!

He sat down with his back against the well and began to wait.

 

In front of Jex stood his father. Well at least his fathers image. In his head he could hear the words. "It's alright, the demons are gone. Move ahead with your life."

With a jolt, Jex snapped out of the trance he was in. Looking into the pool, he saw Sepp standing on an island. Slipping into the water, he grimaced at the oily feel of it. Holding his breath he plunged underneath.

Comeing out in the same place as Sepp, Jex pulled his blades and dropped into a fighting stance. "Whats going on Sepp, where are we?"

 

Sepp was glad to have Jex beside him.

"We're back in our world. We're in the dungeon of a small keep on an island. It is ruled by a noble lord, he and his people are being attacked by demons. We must help them!" Sepp started off following the lord's trail that he could somehow smell.

They left the door and went up some stairs. They found the lord in a small room, probably the gatehouse to the keep, just as he was sending a fresh squad of soldiers out to fight the demons. He turned to look at Sepp, then at Jex.

"Ahh, that's more like what I expected when I called for the spirit of a mighty warrior," he said after looking Jex over. "I'm grateful that you have come to my call. These recent interlopers have given us more problems than expected. Please deal with them with extreme prejudice. Your reward will be great."

Just then, a demon weilding a sword and a flail broke through the door, two soldiers of the keep falling down beside it. It screamed something unintelligible at the lord, then moved to attack Jex as the lord retreated into a back room.

Sepp hefted the dagger he had acquired from Jex and waited for an opening. This demon wielded its weapons well, and Sepp wasn't feeling totally healed yet.

 

Jex drew his scimitars and stepped in front of Sepp. He waited until the demon took a trained but wild swing with the flail. Ducking beneath the swing Jex, lashed out towards the demons stomach. with a skilled motion the demon blocked the strike with his sword.

Jumping back Jex, smiled. "Come then, lets not dance." He muttered at the demon and lunged towards it, with blades leading.

 

Peleane shifted her flail in her hands, turning it upside down so that the powerful holy symbol of her god was prominent.

"Back to the grave with you!" she shouted, letting divine power flow through her to assault the two strange specters now facing her. The wave of power flowed over them with no effect. "That's odd," she thought, maybe they're some type of demon. Just then, the smaller one darted in for a slash at her side. She gathered holy might in her center, then let it out as she kicked her assaliant with a powerful blow to smight the evil thing.

The blow landed solidly, and knocked the imp sized creature back towards a wall, but the sizzle that usually accompanied her attack when divine met diabolic was lacking. She brought her sword up to parry a high attack from the other opponent, and just barely managed to shift her grip on her flail back to normal in time to block a second blade coming in towards her middle.

She stepped back to give herself a second to regroup. This fiend was very skilled, and agile. It would be a supreme challenge to defeat it. She hoped some of the other adventurers would quickly arrive to watch her back.

 

When the demon stepped back, Jex took full advantage, launching into a series of difficult attacks, looking for a simple opening he punished the defenses of the demon.

 

Delinos looked at Nakia incredulously, overwhelmed by the prescence of Jex and Sepp, and the spell that covered them. The Brothers' heads' ached as the prescence became stronger.

"Vel'bol zhah nindol llanath d' udossta abbilen?" Delinos yelled, "Usstan shlu'ta satiir mina, quin naut kyorl mina!" He cast a series of simple and increasingly more complex spells to dispel the hex cloaking their friends.

 

Nakia swept the cavern seeking for Sepp and Jex. There was a redish glare that hurt her eyes and all she could distinguish was the Paladin, Delinos and his brother and Kongol close behind her. Two figures, one short and tall were attacking the Paladin.

"Sepp, Jex where you? Hurt? Prisoners? Answer." She yelled.

She turned back to the two redish figures. One short like Sepp; One tall and moving like Jex. Could it be? Why would they attack? She could feel the magic in the cavern; a strange unholy magic and also the magic from Delinos' spell. Her skin crawled as if icy little bugs were running over it.

What was going on here?

 

Delinos tried to reach out with his mind to the two shadowed figures, but was blasted against the opposite wall with the unholy magic protecting their minds.

Kelvados tried a few spells that were used only in the Underdark, for fear of breaking Common people's minds. The magic was too strong! Delinos uttered dark power words in a booming voice that echoed throughout the chamber. Still too strong.

He didn't know what to do but protect one of them from themselves. He cast a modified version of Otiluke's Resilent Sphere on the smaller one. The ivory orb encircled the smaller one, silencing him, unharmed.

 

Kongol did not understand what was going on, all that he knew is that two evil images were attacking the bright paladin. Seeing as how the different spells that she was trying did nothing and the skill blades of the evil images were driving her back, Kongol swong his axe down. As the creature parry the blow with his own blades, the hit send sparks from the contact with the metals.

"What the..."

Kongol had never encounter such a small figure so skilled!

 

The repercussions of the magic slammed Nakia to the floor just in time to save her from being smashed to pieces by a lumbering ogreish figure. She rolled away and leaped to her feet.

Now she had an enemy she was sure of. It looked and smelled just like an undead deformed ogre. The glaring light cast no shadows but she could move faster than the creature.

She ran around it stabbing at it's legs and lower parts. It slowly swung round as she moved trying to get her with its' club. She ducked, dodged and stabbed.

 

Jex had the demon, he was sure. It's parries were slow, and desperate. Jex was lucky he sense another attack from a second demon, this one was much larger than the first, it swung a giant blade down at Jex's head. With lightning reflex's he crossed both blades above his head and felt the blow all the way to his toes. This demon was strong.

He needed help and received it in the form of some of the mages people joining the fray.

 

Delphinae stumbled along behind the group, still occupied by thoughts of Jex. Was he okay? Why did she agree to go on this expedition when he was in trouble? Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? And the way he moved when he was fighting...

Wait. There's a fight going on right now. Delphinae cursed herself for getting lost in thought for the dozenth time and pulled her bow, looking for likely targets. Then her gaze locked on the crimson figure that had jolted her out of her reverie. The movements...so familiar...how...? Jex. That's Jex's style! A demon shadow with his skills? He must have been killed and absorbed!

"NO!!!" Del screamed as a flurry of arrows issued forth from her bow aimed at the 'imposter'...

 

Atten watched Delphinae target the crimson enemy. It definitely seemed like a good tactic as the figure in red certainly looked more formidable than the myriad undead they had encountered thus far. Maybe this was the menace behind the whole undead abomination that had taken over the swamp!

Atten still felt to weak to attack anything, but he found that he was still able to draw on some of the arborial forces from the trees in the swamp to provide a bark-like protection to the party members engaged in combat. It looked like they were going to need all the protection they could get against the flashing crimson blades.

 

Sepp struggled up from where he had been slammed against the wall. Jex had the upperhand on the demon with the sword and flail, but then another, larger one came at him. He started to move in to help, but suddenly he was surrounded by a glowing blue ball. He ran as fast as he could, but went nowhere.

More demons came into the room, yelling horrible sounding screams at them. Something seemed out of place though, oddly familiar about one of the voices. Was it Nakia? He listened again. Yes, it was! He was sure of it. But where was she? He tried to feel the vibrations through the floor, but the strange bubble around him prevented him from even doing that. He put his palms against the wall of the bubble, trying to figure out what type of element it was made of, so he could get out of it and help Jex.

 

Feeling a strange buzz, Jex was being pressed from all angles. The demon kept firing strange bolts at him. He blocked a few, but dodged more. One struck the guantlet from Torturous . With that Jex called upon the magic of the amulet, suddenly everything slowed down, with a devastating punch, he dropped the first demon on it's back. Leaping over top of it's prone form, he found the demon firing the bolts. Grabbing it by the neck. Suddenly he felt a blast of magic and he saw a quick image of Del.

Stopping he realized what the strange buzzing was, it was his connection with Nakia, and the drow brothers. "Sepp, its the others", he yelled releasing Del and dropping back.

"It's Nakia and the brothers, Dels here to. It's a trick, the holy man has tricked us to fight our friends."

 

Nakia heard the figure that resembled Jex call out and she yelled, "Ware! Them Jex, Sepp. Fight Ogres not them. Trick."

She leaped and tumbled over to the Jex figure as more of the ugly undead creatures came into the cavern now headed towards Jex with obvious intent to demolish him.

She yanked out her sling and began to bombard them with bullets both regular and fire bombs causing a bit of havoc and adding to the reddish glare. Bits of smelly flesh began to fly around but the things kept coming.

 

Del watched the crimson figure bowl over Kongol and race toward her, moving even faster than it had before. Fumbling both mentally - Damn it, neither demons nor shadows can be hurt by normal arrows! What was I thinking? she scolded herself - and physically, for her Claw, she wasn't prepared when it slammed into her, grabbing her by the neck. In that moment her fingers touched the Claw, and suddenly there was a flash of Jex's face, superimposed over the shadowy head.

Just as shockingly, the figure abruptly released its grip, causing Delphinae to fall backwards. She landed hard on her bottom, nearly cracking her head on the wall behind her. Hearing Nakia's shorthand seconds later, she wondered if perhaps she had hit her head...and then she came to a decision. It didn't matter what had happened; she was going to fight on regardless. No more retreating, whether from the group, from consciousness, or from her feelings. With newfound courage, the ebony ranger leapt at one of the ogres, the Claw an extension of her will.

 

Delinos reached out with more spells, intending to break the hold on Sepp and Jex. Finally, he managed to weaken the spell on Sepp, and got into his mind. He could feel Sepp's internal defenses battering against him, but they were tired and weak.

Sepp. I am Delinos. Do not be alarmed. Let me enter your mind. I am not here to harm you. I am here to help you. He let the internal defenses of Sepp slow and stop, then continued. To rid you of this poison, we need to know where the poison originated from. Let your memories open to me. Retrace your life through the last few days, weeks, months, whatever it takes.

 

Jex turned and cut down to of the mages people. He realized what fool he had been. He needed to get to Sepp. Slashing down a third of the mages men, he rushed across the cavern towards where he had last seen Sepp. They needed each other to keep their heads clear now.