by Amy E Hix
“This place is crawling with them,” Cenathor said to Mabashi and Archaos as they stood back, firing arrows and hurtling flame wreaths. One of Cenathor’s conjured wreaths spiraled its way up to the neck area of a Cerapithalis, causing the wolf-man to become completely set ablaze.
When we were finished with the room, the King led us down several flights of stairs on the side and into a cellar area.
“This it?” he looked to Zaaid who nodded that he was correct.
Zaaid and Stheta had been here before, once.
“Take a minute to replenish yourselves. It might get ugly in there,” he told us.
We used our time to heal up and eat some of the provisions we had stocked up on back in Minzkala. We hadn’t fought too awfully hard, but we were famished. The trip from Minzkala had spent a good amount of our morning hours, and just getting to the cellar took us into mid-day.
“How do you guys know where to go, anyway?” Cenathor asked.
“Five years ago, we were sent to rescue King Ederich of Rhalas after his traveling party was attacked somewhere on the road between Rhalas and Vicete,” Stheta began to tell us, “King Ederich had been the target of the attack and was brought to Vahael. We only had to go a short distance into this dungeon area to get him. We recognized him by the ring he wore.
“It was the first time anyone had been into the lair, so the Cerapithali had foolishly left the beast that tainted him close by. We were able to enter the dungeon easily because the Cerapithali only had a few guards posted. And we only had five people to carry past the guards, us four and an Illusionist/Enchantress who went by the name of Shift.
“She had been the leader of the Illusionist classes from Rhalas and had considered it a great honor to come to our aid, especially to save her King. It was her who located King Ederich before we got here.”
“I remember that happening,” Cenathor told her, “They still tell the story in Rhalas. Didn’t the Enchantress die, or something like that?”
“She’s just missing,” King Naethan looked down, “We’re going to find her, too. Just not now…not here. Show me to the entrance,” the King said to Zaaid, seeing that we were all ready to go. With a few quick spells from the Spirit Healers we were all back on our feet with swords drawn.
Upon the King’s command, Zaaid walked over to a corner piece of the wall just around the side of a counter. “It’s here,” he said and pointed to the wall.
“Ok, all in after me…and be quick about it.” The King walked to the wall area and then straight through it.
Stheta and Zaaid followed him almost simultaneously. The rest of us quickly made our way through the wall and into the dungeon with them. We saw three dead Cerapithali already on the ground underneath the King’s feet.
“No way!” Fouad exclaimed as he studied the three of them for any signs of recently being in a fight.
King Naethan tilted his head and grinned at Fouad, “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”
Now that the entrance guards were dead, we could concentrate on finding our way through the dungeon. The hallways were larger than most dungeon hallways to accommodate the size of the Cerapithali running through them. They made it easier for us stay together.
We ran into a few enemies on our descent, and quickly made waste of them. Every now and then, we would find a room full of doors and have to peer through the barred windows to see which way to go next.
When the ground became level again, no longer creeping deeper into the earth, we heard voices coming from one of the doors, the deep monstrous voices of the Cerapithali.
“Inform them that the Minzkalans have arrived,” was the last thing I could make out.
Determined to get inside before the messenger had time to make his delivery, the King flung open the doors to find a group of Soothsayers with an apparent informant and the messenger who was to warn the Digvi’ja.
“Zara, levitate,” the King commanded as he almost instantaneously pounded his scepter into the ground, causing a mighty earthquake in the room that knocked all the Cerapithali down. We were floating above the ground, safe from the earthquake’s effect.
Zarathustria and Alusia took one Cerapithalis each to hold them entranced. I went for the messenger first while Welkin, with Mank’s help, kept the informant occupied.
Valkryiex began to play a Song of Slumber for yet another so that we could concentrate our efforts on the two Welkin and I were fighting.
That left one loose, a Soothsayer. Shelija capped the final blow to my target with her combustion spell; the messenger was dead.
The Soothsayer left open was making his way toward Shelija, drawn to her by the last blast she had created. Fouad stopped it with a paralyzing blow, which gave me the opportunity to get a handle on the Soothsayer.
I wasn’t sure what was happening to me. I felt very agile with my sword, blocking every single strike the Soothsayer attempted to make on me and landing nearly every blow I dealt. It was like a kinesthetic adrenaline rush; my focus on the target was incredible. I was knocked back by a charge from the beast, but I sprang right back to my feet, unblemished.
Then I leapt up into the air, my sword drawn back. I came down with it, driving the sword into the beast’s neck. With a burst of strength from one of Sigge’s spells, I rammed the sword further down into its body, finishing it.
Sigge had been watching the last part of the battle intensely. When I looked at him, he was standing with a look of disbelief on his face.
Welkin had his target down, and after we finished the two left, we got ready to move deeper into the tunnels. Mank and Stheta healed our wounds as we all went for the door. Vespa and the twins began to recondition us for more fighting.
“Wait a minute,” Vespa said. “I hear something.” She was near the back wall behind the Soothsayer’s scrying cauldron and tried to focus on the sound she heard. Then she stuck her hand through the wall…
“Vespa, no!” cried Zaaid, but it was too late. Something grabbed her from the other side of the wall and pulled her through. We followed her in to find a room full of Slickers. One had her strung on a tentacle, holding her to the ground. Its mouth was around her shoulder, tearing the flesh to pieces.
Fouad was already on his Demon Master tasks, petrifying two before I could even think about how to react. The two demons now stood as statues and would until we could get to them. He immediately began to subjugate a third to his command.
Vamble took on a fourth, using his acrobatic flips to dodge the beast’s strikes. He jumped behind the beast and with one more flip into the air, came down slicing the entire head from its body, tentacles and all.
King Naethan stood in the middle of the room, closing his eyes. He raised his arms up to his sides. As he did this, the beasts were struck blind temporarily.
It gave us a huge advantage. Raffe slipped Vespa off the tentacle of one of the petrified beasts and Stheta came behind him, laying her hands on the puncture wound, saving Vespa’s life. Within moments, all the beasts lay dead.
The portal through the wall wouldn’t let us pass back out, some sort of force field to keep the Slickers inside.
On the far end of the room we found a locked door. Vamble used his sword to free the lock. We opened the door to find a large dungeon lair. We were high in the air, on a ledge in this cave-like dungeon. There were stalagmites and stalactites throughout with pools of water spotting the floor.
To our left, there was a ramp that led down to the ground below. We could see the entrance we should have entered in the northwest corner from where we were.
Cerapithali patrolled through the place, but none had noticed us standing in the doorway yet. To our right, the dungeon opened wide and seemed endless. We backed inside the room again and decided to find a way to get a closer look around the place.
Zarathustria focused her will and entered one of the Cerapithali on the far side
of the room. As he walked through the dungeon, she kept count of how many others she passed.
Tainted ones in ankle-chain restraints lined the edges of the walls. There was a rocky barrier near her host. When he moved around it, she could see Ciergral. She reappeared before us.
“Ceirgral is around that ledge,” she pointed to the rocky barrier on the far end. “He’s big. There are two giant Slickers with him, twice the size of any of these,” she said referring to the dead corpses around the room, “and three guards patrolling plus the one I entered.”
“Did you see any tainted?” the King asked her.
“All these around the sides of the dungeon have yellow eyes. There are more around the corner, probably ten or so in total. They’re chained to the wall.”
“How many guards do you see walking around out there?” the King was addressing Zaaid who had been invisibly stationed near the door, keeping an eye out.
He looked out once more and answered, “There are four here, plus the one she entered.”
“Ok, Archaos, I need you to step out there and hit the Cerapithalis on the far end with one of your arrows. When he starts coming this way, the others will take notice and come as well. Everyone be ready, we’ll fight them just below this ledge outside.”
Shelija’s invisibility had been spent, so Zaaid took care of us. Archaos hopped down from the ledge. He took a few paces toward the beast in the back of the room to place him within shooting range. Once the arrow struck the Cerapithalis, Archaos became visible, and the beast started running to him. It called for assistance, running past four more. The rest of us remained invisible until the enemies were close enough to strike.
The battle was brief. We had already taken on multiples of the wolf-men and knew what needed to be done. At some point within the fight, Mabashi had been charged and was picked up and thrown.
He landed near one of the tainted, which immediately began to maul him. Loren ran to his side and began to play her Song of Slumber. The beast slowly released Mabashi and they both ran out of range of its grasp.
When the battle was over, two of the tainted on the wall had been transformed back into men. Sigge and Raffe, being two of the fastest in our group, got a jump start on heading over to release the men from their chains.
They were dazed and didn’t know where they were. The twins brought them back over to us, near the ledge.
Sigge and Raffe gave them the internal strength of a bear as Alusia provided clarity. Their combined efforts helped to slowly bring the men back to remembering what had happened to them.
They said they were both from Vicete and had been traveling together to the Agalago Harbor when they were attacked. Judging their appearance, I guessed the Cerapithalis may have mistaken them for warriors. They were dressed in armor and sword hilts, but their weapons were now missing.
Stheta gave them food and water and instructed them to climb the ramp and stay hidden until we returned. Newly freed, we didn’t want to take the chance of them dying in the battle with Ceirgral.
We took a few moments to rest ourselves, seeing that none of the guards around the barrier had been alerted.
When we were all ready to face Ceirgral and his cohorts, the King instructed us further, “Kal, I’ll need you to bypass the patrolling Cerapithali. We’ll handle those from behind. Don’t worry about the two Slickers, either. Just move straight for Ceirgral.
“Fouad, your first task is to control whichever Slicker is to our left. Welkin, draw the attention of the Slicker on the right and Vamble, strip that beast of its tentacles before you join us on Ceirgral.
“Alusia and Zara, use your staves to hold the first two Cerapithalan guards we come to. On our way in, we’ll focus fire on the third one, but as soon as it hits the ground, everyone needs to attack Ceirgral.”
We then used our beneficial spells to prepare for battle and headed toward the ledge, leaving the two men from Vicete behind.
On the King’s signal, we sprinted around the corner and into battle. Everything went according to plan, although Fouad had a little trouble subjugating the giant Slicker at first. With another attempt, he was able to bring the beast under his control and commanded it to start attacking Ceirgral, the Keeper.
I was already on the monster of a beast, coming up to its mid-thigh with my massive Forest Elf height. Ha. Stheta ignored healing all the others in order to keep me on my feet. Vespa took her lead and concentrated her efforts on me alone as well.
Zaaid and Archaos threw out tremendous damage to the first Cerapithalis on our way in, leaving it dead on the ground behind us and allowing everyone to almost run straight past it to Ceirgral.
Welkin had his target under control with Vamble by his side. When the Digvi’jan serpent made its first strike on Welkin, Old Bleu appeared and began to rip into the flesh off the beast.
The giant Slicker was now left without three of its tentacles, two of them due to Old Bleu’s efforts. Vamble continued to remove the last two and then leapt around to the backside of Ceirgral.
Fouad’s subjugated demon struck Ceirgral twice with its tentacles. The Keeper clasped its mighty hand around the Slicker’s throat and sent it soaring to the side wall.
Then Ceirgral flung his left arm at me, throwing me back a good distance as well. He sped back to me as I lie there on the ground.
Mabashi fired a vortex arrow, which sent a spiraling wind of damage and created a puncture wound to the back of his shoulder large enough to split a man in two, but it didn’t slow him down.
I jumped to my feet before Ceirgral reached me and immediately had to dodge another blow, this one from the massive knucks the beast wore.
Fouad continued to throw out his paralyzing blows, which jolted Ceirgral a bit and caused him to miss a hit or two aimed at me. Then Fouad used a plague spell. Ceirgral’s muscles began to deteriorate from a leprous-like condition caused by Fouad’s spell.
Ceirgral let out a mighty roar, “You will feel my wrath!” When he said this, razor sharp darts were sent hurtling through the air around us, striking everyone.
“Now you see them, now you don’t. Disappear now, darts begone.” The darts faded from the entry sites on all of us at Zarathustria’s words.
Sigge used his nature magic to heal the group, “Healing waterfall, come and heal them all.” Immediately a light mist fell from the sky above us, closing the injuries caused by the darts.
As I continued to keep Ceirgral occupied Shelija pyroblasted the beast with a multi-shot fireball spell, scorching the skin around his face and neck. The two other Pyromancers continued with her to pour on huge amounts of fire damage. Zaaid managed to burn away the tough leathery parts of Ceirgral’s armor, leaving him exposed in several regions.
Vamble was now able to put his blade to an uncovered elbow area and with a few repetitious strikes, left the beast with enough nerve damage that he could only use one arm effectively.
Cenathor conjured smoldering acid on the rest of the armor, slowly thinning the thick protectorate around the Keeper’s body. He then noticed a complete hole in the breastplate and drew his focus there, sending in conjured daggers.
As we fought, Loren and Valkryiex played their battlechants along with Songs of Slumber, which didn’t have the same effect on this monstrous beast. Instead, the songs only worked to slow him down a bit.
The King stood there, in the middle of the battle, focusing his protective powers on us the whole time. With his help, the hits we took throughout the fight were nothing like they would have been without him there.
Instead of knocking me unconscious, a ramming force from Ceirgral only threw me down. And instead of plunging deep into our vital organs, Ceirgral’s darts only made superficial wounds. We continued in this fashion to try to bring the Keeper down.
It may sound crazy, but in the middle of all the chaos, I started to think of Cyrow. I wanted nothing more than t
o be reunited with him.
Seeing the other two men recover back at the ledge made me realize how precious life truly is and how I wanted my brother to be able to enjoy it. I, more than many, knew what it would mean to defeat Ceirgral.
And it was the inner determination to break past this monster and get on with finding Cyrow that kept me going, hit after awful hit. But as my thoughts were distracted, I began to fall.
The King must have known what I was thinking because it was then that he took his attention off his protection duties and did something I’ll never forget.
He turned back to the Cerapithalis Zarathustria had been holding and reached out his hand, symbolically grasping its throat and causing the beast to be lifted into the air, suffocating it. It fell lifeless to the ground.
As it did, Cyrow appeared in chains off to the left, behind the spot Ceirgral had been standing. He collapsed on the spot.
Catching a glimpse of my brother in the distance and realizing this giant dog-beast was the only thing that stood between me and Cyrow, something I can’t explain happened.
I began to fight.
I ripped through the monstrous beast with my sword like no Champion, to my knowledge, had ripped through anything before. My movements were extraordinarily quick and agile, as I leapt around the area in front of Ceirgral like a Blade Maven would.
The sheer force of my blows penetrated deep into its body causing anguish to the giant Cerapithalis. Then I lifted myself from the ground and, hovering there, sliced a huge gash across the front of the beast’s throat.
Ceirgral reached for his neck in pain and began to stumble around. I used two hands to drive a final blow into the beast, straight through the armor and down his throat, into his heart.
With clinched fists, I twisted the sword and then hammered it in further. The Keeper almost fell on top of me. Ceirgral was dead.
The giant Slicker on the right was also dead, and Welkin led a few members of the group to the last Cerapithalis behind us.