Myntilly drew her cloak a little closer to her. “That’s really gross.”
As Acgar started to reply, Cinder interrupted. “There is a light down there! Just past the bend in the tunnel.”

Ever since the angel has told us about the fire giant, I’d been thinking about how to fight it. When I heard Cinder’s words, I cast cold shield on myself. Whenever the giant attacked me, he would take some chilly damage right back. I hoped that, as a creature of heat, the cold would hurt him that much more.

We quietly walked down the tunnel. At the bend, I took a deep breath and walked around the corner. My lantern showed two figures. A fire giant and a tiger-like creature. The tiger also held a lantern. The beams of both lanterns shown farther up the tunnel. The words of the mummy rang in my head — I wanted to avoid a fight, if possible. I set the lantern on the floor and raised my hand in greeting.

The tiger nodded quickly, but did not move. The fire giant shifted his weight. I realized I’d been holding my breath. I exhaled.

I felt Sadi move behind me and to the left. Alek came to stand at my elbow. “Don’t worry” he whispered to me. I looked down and saw a fireball bead in his hand. Before I could stop him, he lobbed it between the two creatures.

In the small space the blast from the fireball was loud. My face felt tight from the heat. In the blink of an eye, the giant threw a boulder at us. He was aiming for Alek, but I got in the way. The giant threw two more in rapid succession.

That's me underneath the boulder.

Myntilly used the chaos of the boulder attack to go invisible. She slammed the tiger and the giant with sonic damage. It really upset the giant. That combined with the cold that hit him when the boulder hit me, and he was in pain. The tiger did not move until Myntilly’s spell hit him. Suddenly he disappeared. Sadi let two arrows fly to the place where he’d been a moment ago, but they both bounced off the walls of the tunnel.

Cinder shot her two arrows at the giant. One hit his arm and he brushed it away like a bothersome insect. Acgar had narrowly missed being bowled over by one of the giant’s rocks. Later she told me that she decided that she might not get a cleaner shot at the giant, so she unleashed her breath weapon and covered the giant in acid.

Myntilly, who looks different now that Pelor has touched her soul,  helped me out from under the rocks. Since she was still
invisible, I knew it was her only when she spoke. “We have to do something different or we’re going to die.”

No sooner had she spoken but the floor and walls began to move in a wave-like motion. Everyone except the giant and Acgar was pushed back towards the opening of the tunnel. Myntilly grabbed my hand, “Use magic! Stay away from the giant!”

I’d had an idea in the back of my mind and I decided to try it. Since I was now effectively behind the battle, sheltered by the boulders, I had time to attempt a  difficult spell. I glanced down at my holy symbol. “Pelor, shine your face upon me.” And then I cast dismissal on the fire giant. In theory this should send him back to the plane of existence that he came from. I’ve successfully cast the spell before, but it was on a small extraplanar creature who’d been summoned to Cauldron. The giant, however, was 10 feet tall, almost as wide and had come to Occipitus of his own free will. This would be no simple feat. I imagined the hand of Pelor pushing the giant off the plane, through time & space and back to wherever he’d come from. I gripped the holy symbol tightly, concentrating.

Later, possibly in a bid to make me feel better, Sadi told me she thought the giant looked almost transparent at one point. “That must have been when you were casting your spell. It almost worked.”

Alek had been standing beside Acgar through most of the fight. He, like Sadi and Cinder, was shooting arrows at the giant and, when he’d been visible, the tiger. Myntilly moved up beside him to cast another bout of sonic on the giant. She heard Alek muttering to himself. “Too weak, too weak.” He dropped his bow, pulled out his sword and charged the giant.

It was a beautiful move. From where I was, I saw the giants eyes get wide. Alek took a running leap and slashed at the giant’s face. He almost succeeded in blinding him, I’m sure of it. But the blow was not quite strong enough. The move almost turned Alek completely around. He landed badly; he seemed to twist and almost fall. The giant roared and brought his fists together over his head. He smashed them down on Alek, who crumpled to the floor. As the giant raised his fists to smash again, Cinder and Sadi both fired arrows. The arrows found their marks in the soft flesh under the giant’s arms. He staggered and fell.

I’d forgotten about the tiger. The reality of Alek’s death was heavy and it wasn’t until Kaurophon spoke that I remembered. I heard Kaurophon say “It’s over. Show yourself.”

The tiger suddenly appeared right in front of Kaurophon. Myntilly walked up. “You might have noticed, we just killed your friend. Surrender or we’ll kill you, too.”
In a guttural voice, the tiger said, “He offer me to join! All time in fight, he say ‘join us. Join us’” He was pointing at Kaurophon. Sadi turned her notched bow at Kaurophon.

“He’s wrong! That’s not what I said. Or rather, before Alek threw that damned fireball I was trying to negotiate. Why waste time fighting them when we could join forces!?”

The tiger began to speak again and I cut him off. “My friend (I pointed at Myntilly) has a very short temper and if you want to live, you will leave now without another word.” I stepped out of his way, to clear a path out of the tunnel.

After the tiger left, we pulled the giant off of Alek. I knelt beside his body. I prayed: “Sleep, for now, favored son, Alek Tercival in the safe embrace of St. Cuthbert” and I cast gentle repose on him. If we can get back to Cauldron before 10 days pass, I can resurrect him. I couldn’t save him from himself, but I will do my best to return him, whole and healthy, to Jenya.

Leaving the Plane of Ulcers, we followed the beam of the lantern father north. Slowly a building came into view. As we got closer we saw a black-winged angel laying almost prone close by the building. He was pierced with black iron spears in several places. His eyes were closed but I thought he might still be alive.

I’d been walking beside Kaurophon and as I approached the angel, he lagged behind. “I’m not sure we need bother with this creature,” he said.
“I think he’s still alive,” I said. “We won’t tarry but I sense that he is good. I want to stabilize him, at least.”

Kaurophon nodded curtly, turned away and began to fiddle with his cloak. “Are you alright?” I asked.
“Hmm? Oh, yes. It’s just the acid has eaten holes and I’ve had this cloak a long time.”
“When I’m done with the angel, I’ll do a quick mend.” I paused, looking for a reaction. “I don’t mind at all.”

I knelt beside the angel, said a quick prayer and got out my first aid box. Within minutes the angel was conscious. He opened his eyes and they were a glorious shade of green. I was speechless for a moment, the color was so vibrant. And then I found my voice: “You are OK. We’re friends.”

He grabbed my arm and started to speak. But then his eyes slid past me. “Kaurophon?”

I sat back on my heels. “You two know each other?”
The angel nodded. “I am Saria and I offer you my help, as I have helped Kaurophon in the past.”

Myntilly had been following the exchange and came closer to the angel. “What kind of help?”
“You face the Test of Sacrifice next.” He said. “I know what you have faced to get here and it means nothing.”

Cinder laughed. “If you said that to the last group I can understand why you’re full of holes.”

The angel pulled himself into a sitting position. “I have been here since the beginning. I helped Adamarchus create the tests. I know the first two tests are meaningless because I made them that way! They simply weed out the weak or uncommitted. The Test of Sacrifice is the true test.”

As Acgar fingered one of the iron spears, Cinder asked the obvious question: “Who attacked you?”
“There are two ahead of you. One is a fire giant. They attempt the Test as well.”

“How far ahead?” I demanded. All niceties flew out of my head.
“A few hours at least. I’m not sure.”

A greasy fear filled my belly. Last time we faced a fire giant, Ragnara died in the melee and it was a close thing for the rest of us. Almost as soon as it arrived, though, my fear was replaced (and I’m ashamed to admit it)  by a burning desire to find our rivals and destroy them. My companions must have felt the same way. There was a moment of silence and then Sadi stretched her arms. “Well,” she said. “Let’s move out.”

The air was heavy with the stench of acid. Some pools were tiny and others huge and all of them bubbled and steamed.Cinder and Myntilly walked ahead of the group to scout a path. Acgar, because she is half black dragon and immune to such trifles as acid, wandered off a ways, inspecting some of the large pools.  I felt nervous. The smell of the acid, the tension of wondering what the last test will entail (it is, after all called The Test of Sacrifice), it all had me feeling jumpy. I walked slowly beside Kaurophon, who seemed deep in thought as well.

Cinder came back towards us. “Myntilly is going to fly me up and over the plane. We can really scout ahead and come back with the route through the ulcers!”  I turned to Sadi, who silently shook her head.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Split the party? Is that ever a good idea?”
Before anyone could answer, Acgar pointed to the sky. “Something is coming.” Through the mist we saw a black dragon lazily flying towards us. Cinder and Kaurophon both scurried to hide behind the rest of us. Alek got out his longbow, as did Sadi. We have successfully fought off a dragon before. We have the claws to prove it.

One of the problems with Occiptus is I never feel like I know what is going on. It’s this damned evil influence. I always feel muddle-headed. Before we left camp this morning, I had given each of my friends a treasure. I figured that “sacrifice” might just be monetary or that we could use the treasures to distract any rivals. Alek got a small carved statue; Sadi a fine brass mug; Cinder a silver chalice; Acgar a golden comb shaped like a dragon; Myntilly a pearl and I kept a decorative silver longsword for myself. Watching the dragon fly over us, I thought Is this the test?

Quicker than lightning, the dragon turned, swooped and picked up Kaurophon.  The dragon flew about 300 feet and dropped him in a large pool of acid.  Karuophon might be a half-demon, but he’s not going to die on my watch!

As I got closer to the pool, the dragon gently landed at the far edge of the acid. Kaurophon was struggling to reach firm ground. Sadi had the same idea I did: distract the dragon. She threw her brass mug as far as she could. The dragon watched it land, but didn’t move.  Alek  must have remembered the necklace of fireballs he was wearing because a ball of fire blossomed about 20 feet past the dragon.

I held up my holy symbol and asked for Pelor’s help. The dragon flinched as a beam of sunlight split the acid mists. Unfortunately all I accomplished was directing the dragon’s attention on me. He flapped his wings a few times, grabbed me in his jaws and flew back to the edge of the plane. Lucky for me, we were only a few feet off the ground when he dropped me into a pool of acid.

The acid was so thick that it only slowly seeped into my clothing.  It was a few minutes before I felt any burning on my skin. I’d landed on my back in the pool and as I turned over to try to swim out, my legs got tangled in the longsword. The longsword!

The dragon, as with Kaurophon, had landed just a few feet from me. Back on solid ground, I lifted the sword in both hands and presented it to the dragon. I don’t speak Draconic, so I chose not to speak at all.

I bowed my head, so I only felt the sword being lifted from my hands and felt the flap of his huge wings as he flew away. He only went about a hundred yards before landing with his back to us. That should have been the moment we ran for our lives. Our party was so scattered, though. Kaurophon and Sadi were almost to the far end of the plane. Myntilly had gone invisible, so no one knew where she was. Cinder and Alek were about halfway across. And Acgar was walking toward the dragon as if in a dream.

She called out to the dragon. He turned and walked towards her. They spoke in Draconic for a few moments. The dragon snorted, swiped with his tail and Acgar was on her back. She quickly stood up and in her hands was the golden comb. The dragon slowly came towards her. They spoke again and he took the comb. Again he flew away to examine it.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my arm. “It’s me.” Myntilly had flown back to get me. She put her arms around me and suddenly we were in the air. I am not fond of heights. I get dizzy if I look down. So I focused on the dragon. He was absorbed by the comb. We, in our separate groups, hurried to the far edge of the plane.

Cinder and Sadi made it safely out of the ulcers. Alek, Acgar and Kaurophon were lagging behind. Suddenly the dragon was landing in front of those three.
I put a hand on our bag of holding. “Put me down by the dragon! Please!”

As I landed on the ground, I reached into the bag and felt the circle of metal. I repeated my submissive stance as with the sword. I took the chance of speaking. “Sir Dragon: please accept this golden crown. We bow before your superior strength, wisdom and age.”

My arms were beginning to shake from holding the crown up when the dragon finally hooked one claw through it. As the weight left my hands, I stood up and saw the dragon looking at Acgar again. She was holding her breath and I suddenly went cold all over. If the dragon wanted, he could kill her with one blow.  After a few seconds he rose into the air and just as Acgar began to relax, the dragon’s tail whirled around and knocked her off her feet. It was an insult, to be sure, but he’d continued off into the mists and we were alone and safe.

Pain. Searing pain, centered in my chest. Looking down, I see a six-fingered hand erupt through my chest holding a bright sphere of white light.

Gasping, I awake and look around the safe hemisphere Myntilly cast before we went to sleep. Indira, Myntilly, Sadi, all asleep. Alek on watch outside, Acgar heading to bed after her watch, Cinder wrapping her listening coin in layers of cloth and burying it in her pack. Rolling over, I try again to sleep.

Light slowly fades to show a face above the sphere of light. Weakness. I drop to my knees before the six-fingered demon prince.

“What a price you are willing to pay,” he cackles. He holds the still gleaming orb in one out-stretched arm. “Arise. A realm is yours, and my greatest general will lead with you.” He uses his other hand to beckon behind me. “Occipitus, come to me.”

Looking up, I see legs and torso appear below a cloud of smoke and flames. The demon prince extends his free hand. Reaching into Occipitus’ chest, he pulls out a non-reflective black sphere. He pauses a moment with arms outstretched, then turns and pushes the white sphere into Occipitus’ chest. “My lord…” Occipitus groans and falls to his knees, cracking the ground beneath him.

The demon prince turns to me. “And now, your turn.” As he pushes the black sphere into my chest, darkness falls.

Awake again, I hear voices. Alek, Cinder, a high voice I don’t recognize. Then Acgar? Sadi? Disoriented, I look around. Indira and Myntilly are still asleep. I listen a while, then stretch and try again to sleep.

A pristine landscape. Snow covered mountain peaks, a lush valley, a sparkling lake, all under an azure sky. I am soaring above it. Following the valley toward a sea that stretches as far as I can see.

A scream, gaining higher and higher pitch as it grows louder. Then, falling past me, the scream lowers in tone. Occipitus hurtles through the sky to the landscape below. As he strikes the ground, it shakes violently, and cracks radiate outward from his body. The mountains begin to crumble and rush into the chasm that widens, widens, widens…Fires erupt all around. Occipitus roars in pain as his body slowly sinks into the ground and his flesh flows outward onto the land. Eventually, nothing is left but his skull, half submerged, and lava erupts from one eye socket.

Glonda was standing by the heavy front doors. “Well, if we don’t get these doors open the steps are all we’ll be enjoying.” We looped a rope around her bear-form and she pulled the doors open.

As we peered inside Cinder noticed a large purple-ish pit. “Kaurophon, what can you tell us about this pit?”

“I’ve never seen it. It’s been 20 years since I was here.”
Glonda lumbered forward. “Interesting stone work….” And then she was covered in webbing that had shot from the left side of the room. Sadi stepped in, to the right of Glonda and webbing flew at her from the right. Since she’d been expecting something, she dodged it pretty easily.

Alek charged is with his sword over his head. And was hit from both sides with lightning. I saw the flash and heard his screams. “OK, what in god’s name could it be?” I turned to Acgar. “Pissed off druid? Can they throw webs?”
Acgar shrugged. “Could be druid, but I’m betting creature. Some creatures are spell casters.”

I took a moment to bless our archers, Cinder and Sadi. I had a feeling that arrows would save the day. About then, feathers began to fall from the ceiling. The ground was covered with feathers. I turned to ask Kaurophon if he’d encountered this phenomenon before but he wasn’t there.

Myntilly, Acgar, Cinder and Sadi were doing some damage to what, in the dimness, looked like giant spiders. Glonda had cleverly and carefully burned her way out of the webbing. She and Squeak (a bat) ran to the far corner and started swiping at the spider.

I ran towards Alek. He had, as usual, suffered the most damage in combat. Will I ever teach him caution? As I approached him, I heard a thin voice say “Alek, you will be safe in the pit. Go to the pit.” He stumbled backwards towards the lip of the pit.
“Alek!” I yelled. “Hear me! Stand still. I am coming to help you.”
“But the voice. The pit. I can fire my bow from down there.”
“Stay!” and then I was beside him. I said a silent and heartfelt thank you to Pelor.

My commrades made short work of the driders. I have heard of such abominations — Drow and spider combined. I hope never to see one again. And, as though to have the last laugh, as Glonda killed the last one, the pit disappeared. It was an illusion.