As we turned a corner, we saw it. The Tree of Shackled Souls.

Tree of Shackled Souls

The sight of the tree drove other thoughts from my mind. I’d heard about it for so long and the reality of it was so much worse than my imagination. I saw the dwarf Zenith in a cage on the tree.

A familiar face

We tried to save him. We thought that we’d saved him when all we did was make it easier for them to cage him.

So many mistakes. Would we be able to rectify even one of them?

Before my attention was wrenched elsewhere, I caught a glimpse of one other familiar face. Terrem.

The child from the orphanage.

The child taken by a beholder.

Perhaps the same beholder that now spoke.

Beholder

“I see that you have found the Tree at last.” He fixed his main eye on me. “We can be friends in this endeavor, child of Pelor. You want to be friends, don’t you? We’re on the same side, really.”

I frowned. “No. I don’t see it that way at all. We’re enemies and I owe you a debt. I mean to repay it in full.”

His great eye blinked slowly. “Foolish humans! And pitiful subhumans. You dare to defy me! You will perish, worshiper of a dead god. Yes! Pelor is dead. Did you not know?
“I deny you any last words. Any useless supplication to your dead god. You die now!”

Triple Tail

At his words, Triple Tail, another old enemy, rushed towards me.

His massive teeth swiped at my head.

I barely had time to duck. Brus was beside me in an instant. Faithful Brus.

He reared on his back legs to rake Triple Tail. They struggled and I stepped back to try to rain fire on the beholder.

Streams of fire fell all around him, not touching. It was then I remembered that that main eye had an anti-magic field.

Two things happened in succession. Durilin rushed past me, yelling a warcry. In three strides she was at the beholder. She swiped with her great axe, connecting solidly on the side of his head.

In response, one eye stalk lazily turned to her and suddenly she was asleep. She slumped to the ground, snoring.

As if from a distance, I heard Buzz beseeching Pelor to smile upon us while He frowns on our enemies. “God boy,” I thought. “Stay in the back.” The last thing I need was another corpse and the beholder might easily chew up a young cleric like Buzz.

Myntilly uses dimension door

Sadi, Ian and Brus worked on Triple Tail. I was still trying to figure out how to combat that anti-magic eye when I saw the strangest sight.

Myntilly was standing behind the beholder. She’d used dimension door or something such spell.

It was the most brave and stupid thing I’d seen since Sadi dumped a bag of flour on an invisible evil mastermind.

….. to be continued.

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.

Everyone else discussed the visit over breakfast. Acgar was coming off second watch and saw the creature. Sadi woke to their voices and peaked out of the hut to see. Even Myntilly woke up. I slept soundly, although Cinder said she tried to wake me. The creature, who said its name was Netzaquotl, travels to Octipitus every so often to see if anyone is attempting the test of the Burning Eye. Cinder said she asked the creature for advice on how to pass the three tests. According to Acgar, we got chided for trying to cheat. The creature then paused and then said “I will tell you this: You must work as a team. Stay together; stay true to each other.”

After breakfast Myntilly was standing beside Kaurophon talking. I caught the word “library” and joined them. “There’s a library? Where?”

Kaurophon turned to me. “You have a test to pass! This is not a Sunday picnic! Forget about the library!” Myntilly walked toward the right-hand door. “Is this the library?”

I opened the door. In case it was trapped I didn’t want Myntilly to be hurt. The room was huge and if I’d expected it to be in ruins like the rest of the cathedral, I was wrong. There were hundreds of books. the only thing was, the books were flying around about 20 feet above our heads. Myntilly cast mage hand to bring a book to her. As the selected book came forward seven other books flew at her. In a second they had all slammed into Myntilly and she collapsed at my feet. As she fell, the books fell.

Kaurophon began waving his hands and shouting. “I told you to forget the library!”

Sadi strolled up. “Those books attacked Myntilly? Well.” And she fiddled with the string of beads around her neck. Cinder grabbed Myntilly’s arms and tried to drag her out of the room. Before I could move Sadi threw the bead towards the back wall. A huge fireball erupted and the flames came with in a few feet of me. I turned to glare at Sadi. But she was being attacked by eight or nine books, so the look would have been lost on her.

Kaurophon was practically hopping around in anger. “We. Are. Wasting. Time!” Sadi was still standing after the book attack, but she was bleeding from several wounds. I healed them both and cast mend on Myntilly’s robes.

As we walked to the far door, Kaurophon was chattering on about the ancient ruler of Ocipitus. I was not listening. Instead I was thumbing through my spell book thinking about the upcoming fight with a bebolith.

Kaurophon had told us that it was a huge spider-like creature. “But,” he cautioned, “it’s been 20 years since I was here. You might fight a different monster.”

As we entered the room, I saw a dessicated figure in a chair. It’s been awhile since I’ve turned any undead and the spell sprang to the front of my mind. When the figure began to rise, I reached for my Pelorian symbol. Kaurophon stayed my hand.

“Welcome” said the figure. At his words, Cinder, Sadi and Alek leapt backwards. Acgar, Myntilly and I stood still. “My name is Adimarchus. You have come to try the Test of the Burning Eye? Who has the strength? Who has the courage? Step forth now!”

I started forward and checked myself. The serpent had said we need to be a team. But half the team was behind us, fearful of Adimarchus…… Myntilly waved one hand and calmed the three in the blink of an eye. She turned to me, winked and said “Love being a favored Soul.”

We all lined up and stepped forward. “We do!” We spoke in unison. He nodded. “Behind this door (he motioned vaguely with his right hand) is an evil creature. Behind this door (the other hand moved) is a good creature. Choose! Choose now and fight that creature! Destroy the creature and you will have passed the first test. I have spoken.”

He slumped in his chair. Alek walked quickly to the left. “Alek? Wrong door.” Acgar shook her head. Cinder opened the right-hand door and stepped in. We could see a door at the far end of the room. The only way to get there was by using a series of narrow suspension bridges. Kaurophon began to speak. “The bebo–” and he disappeared. The door opened and Kaurophon tried to come back in the room. He reappeared at the threshold of the door.

Cinder walked up to him and said, “I guess you’ll be our anchor for the rope.”

The last thing I wanted was to be attached to anyone. I am not very nimble and I’m not fond of heights. If I lost my footing and pulled one of my companions into a pit, if I survived, I’d never forgive myself.

Cinder took the front part of the rope. She stepped on to the first bridge. At that, we heard a scuttering noise coming towards us. Out of the gloom came a huge spider. Huge.

When it was still pretty far away, Sadi and Cinder let arrows fly. I murmured a blessing on their aim. The arrows did hit the bebolith, but it did not slow. Alek had his sword in one hand and his bow in the other. He looked between them for a moment and dropped the bow. He stepped past Cinder and about half way over the first bridge.

Myntilly threw an orb of acid at it. Acgar unleashed her acid breath on it. I called down the vengeance of Pelor upon it. All that and it slowed its approach to us. It stopped about 50 feet from us. Suddenly a spray of webbing flew at Acgar. She sidestepped it easily. She’s pretty big so it was an impressive move.

Alek took that moment as a chance to strike the spider unaware. But the bebolith was not surprised and grabbed Alek with three of its arms. With another two, it began to pull off his armor. The metal clanged as it hit the pit floor 30 feet below.

While Alek tried to swing his longsword, Sadi and Cinder shot more arrows. If they hit Alek, I’d heal him later. Their arrows might ensure there was a “later” for all of us. Acgar moved out on to the bridge, hoping to use her longspear. Myntilly fired magic missile after magic missile. Alek somehow stabbed the spider. In its surprise, it dropped him. He hit the edge of the bridge and fell into the pit.

I stood my ground. I could not heal Alek in the middle of battle. I could only hope that he was still alive. Myntilly’s orb reminded me of a spell I’d rarely used: Nimbus of Light. I concentrated and felt a heat in my hands. I looked down at the glowing ball forming between them. I waited, waited until the heat of the ball was almost too  much and then I flung it at the bebolith. As it hit, the bebolith simply exploded.

Myntilly levitated Alek from the pit. He was pretty banged up. Between the bebolith and the spikes in the pit, he had several serious wounds. As I tended him, Sadi looked in the bag of holding for spare armor.

As we stepped into the next room, Myntilly made herself invisible. She stepped over to the right side of the room. At the far end I could see a statue. It was a hideous figure with wings and a pointed tail. Since early in our adventure we’ve had a distrust of statues. I made a note to stay away from it in case it came to life.

Sadi, Cinder and Alek moved to the left side of the room. There was more rubble on the ground and I could see Sadi and Cinder scanning the ceiling for Driders. Then several things happened at once. Myntilly must have been having a heightened reaction to the statue because she unleashed a lightning spell that blew it into several pieces.
It made a lot of noise.

At the same time, I saw a blurry figure appear in front of Alek. It was vaguely female and bathed in a shimmery white light. And then in the next moment, a wall of fire 20 feet high blocked my view of the left side of the room.

Acgar and I had just stepped toward Myntilly, which was a good thing since the wall appeared where we had just been standing. I found out later that Cinder & Sadi saw the female figure too. To them, at first, she looked like an angel. Later they found out the truth.

The wall of fire started at the base of the (now shattered)statue. I yelled to my friends that I wanted to get closer to the statue. The heat was intense and the fire seemed to suck away any sound. It was eerie. We moved cautiously, expecting an attack at any moment.

I had a status spell still active from our fight with the Driders. I knew that our companions on the other side of the flames were alive and uninjured. The shimmery white figure, however, worried me. I wanted, more than anything else, to be on the other side of the flames.

I have made a silly, and so far, silent vow to keep Alek alive. Considering his reckless behavior, I might fail, but I keep imagining riding up to St. Cuthbert’s with Alek at my side. Jenya runs up to Alek and in the middle of their tearful reunion, she meets my eye and whispers “Thank you.”

As we got closer to the statue, we realized that a giant salamander was squatting at base of the statue. It was belching flames and, if possible, looking very pleased with itself. Myntilly let loose another lightning spell. We saw an arrow land on the creature and burst into flame. Hooray for Sadi or Cinder!

I realized that Alek was unconscious. Aw shit. What was that shimmery creature?!

The salamander suddenly turned white all over and bellowed. Acgar was close enough to see clearly. “Frost!”
Myntilly turned to her excitedly — “Yes, of course! Cold spells….. I don’t have any cold spells! Yet.”
“Alek is unconscious. Does Sadi have a cold spell?” I suddenly felt stupid.
“Gotta be Karuphon,” Acgar said with a shrug. “Let’s see what it thinks about acid.”

The creature bellowed as each new spell hit it. The flame wall began to wavier. I could see the shimmery figure move towards Cinder. And then I felt Cinder fall unconscious too. She wasn’t injured, like Alek, she just suddenly was out. Like she’d been hit over the head.
I saw Sadi draw her bow as if to shoot at the salamander, and then at the last moment she turned and shot the shimmery figure. As the arrow hit, I realized that it was a succubus.

Sadi’s arrow lodged in her chest. She screamed, beat her wings and then disappeared.
A few moments later Karuphon, Myntilly and Acgar had defeated the salamander. The wall of flames vanished and I ran across the room to Cinder. She was unconscious but unhurt. Alek was about 30 feet away, but when I checked him, the same.

We’ve laid them side by side. Karuphon has assured me that they will wake up without any damage from their brush with a succubus. I pray that he’s right. I pray for myself as well. Something is changing inside me. I feel sullied by this battle, this place. Is the evil of Ocipitus poisoning me?