More of the prisoners faint dead away. Esix slumps to the ground next to him and he’s unable to move to help his friend. Incapable of tearing his eyes away, he grips the bars of the cell in a grip so tight that his knuckles have turned incredibly white from the strain.
The six monstrosities move toward the circle of six surrounding the red glowing object. Each takes its place within one of the patterns surrounded by symbols. Once they are in place they come to a stop, turn to face the glowing object in the center, then become motionless.
At that point, the cowled figures suddenly start to move. Tinok watches as they turn and begin to cross the cavern toward the cell wherein he’s held. Realizing they mean to come for them, he’s at last able to let go the bars and moves to the very rear of the cell. All the prisoners who are still conscious do the same.
The cell door swings open even before the first cowled figure reaches it. When they enter, each one takes hold of a prisoner. Starting with the unconscious ones at first, they begin removing men from the cell. When Tinok sees Esix being taken by one, he is unable to do anything other than watch.
Having taken all the unconscious men lying on the floor, the remaining four cowled figures move on the men cringing at the rear of the cell. Pandemonium erupts as each man tries not to be the one taken. One man is shoved toward the approaching cowled figures by another. When one of the cowled figures reaches out and touches him, the man goes limp. Picking him up, the cowled figure carries him from the cell.
Fists fly as the others try to move someone else in position to be taken by the approaching figures. Tinok, to his shame, is no better. Using the skill honed in the Pits, he works to get others to go instead of him.
When the last cowled figure leaves with a man, Tinok remains within the cell along with three other men. The cell door shuts and the cowled figures carry the men toward the circle of six, places two on the ground before each of the monstrosities. Tinok moves again to the bars of the cell and looks out. He sees Esix where he lies at the feet of one of the monstrosities. A single tear rolls down his cheek.
Then pairs of the cowled figures move to stand behind the monstrosities. Once the last cowled figure is in place and has grown still, the dark one raises his arms and the glowing object seems to pulse twice. Words, painful, fearful words, begin to issue forth from the dark one. Then, Tinok looks on in horror as the monstrosities once more begin to move.
“Are we here?” asks Jiron.
No sooner had James completely stepped upon the dais then they were suddenly elsewhere. The light from the orb in his hand dispels the darkness of the room they suddenly find themselves in. The room itself is rather small, barely two feet wider than the dais. The only exit from the room is a single corridor that extends into darkness past where the light from the orb ends.
“Yes, we are,” replies Brother Willim. “There’s a feeling of wrongness here the likes of which I have never before felt.”
The prickling associated with the working of magic is very strong upon James’ skin. “They’re doing the rite here too,” he says in a hushed voice. Stepping down from the dais he moves to the mouth of the corridor.
“We’ve been here before,” Jiron says to him.
“I know,” replies James. They both look around for those little creatures that proved such a nuisance the last time they were here. Both are relieved that they are absent.
“See if you can locate Tinok,” urges Jiron. When he sees him hesitate he says, “They’ll know we’re here soon enough.”
“Right,” nods James. Pulling forth the cloth, he casts his spell and they are elated to see it begin to move and then point to someplace below them and to the right.
“Yes!” exclaims Jiron.
“Can you see if he’s still alive?” he asks.
Putting the cloth back in his pouch, he removes his mirror. Concentrating on Tinok, he tries to bring him into focus. They all gather around and watch the surface of the mirror as it begins to shift. Then it clarifies and Tinok’s image appears. He’s gripping what looks like iron bars as he stares out at something beyond the image in the mirror. His face is bathed in a red glow.
“Try to see what he’s looking at,” Brother Willim tells him.
He works to move the image away from the bars and just when something begins to appear, the mirror shatters in his hand. A drop of blood wells from his thumb where one of the glass shards impaled it.
“What happened?” asks Miko.
Eeeeeek!
They turn to see one of the little creatures James and Jiron had met before hovering not more than two feet away. Its shriek sends a chill down James’ spine. Jiron pulls his knives as Brother Willim exclaims, “A Hikuli!”
“You know these things?” Jiron asks him.
“Oh yes,” he replies. “We’ve known about them for some time, only we didn’t know where they were.”
Eeeeeek!
Screaming again, the creature disappears.
“Come on,” James urges the others. “We haven’t much time.” The prickling sensation suddenly intensifies, whether due to the creature that just vanished or for some other reason, he can’t tell. He sends forth the magic and creates a translucent floating sphere. He’s used similar ones before when trying to locate someone. As it moves down the hallway, he says, “Let’s go.”
Jiron takes the lead with James right behind. Miko and Brother Willim follow closely.
“Do you feel it?” Brother Willim asks Miko.
“I feel something,” he replies. “Never felt it before.”
“This temple resonates with evil,” he explains. “What you feel is the signature of evil. Remember it.”
Miko glances to him and says, “I doubt if I’ll ever be able to forget it.”
Following the sphere, they hurry down the corridor. The coldness of where they are increases the further they go until their breath begins misting in the orb’s light. And still the temperature drops. As they approach the end of the corridor, they see it open up onto a very large room. Jiron pauses a moment before entering.
“Why did you stop?” James asks as he comes to stand besides him. Then he looks to where Jiron is pointing.
Across the room from where they stand, lies a seat made entirely out of bones, some human, others not. On either side of the dark throne are two braziers burning with a purplish glow which seems to suck the warmth from them even from halfway across the room.
“It’s the seat of Ozgirath,” Brother Willim states, “the High Priest of Dmon-Li. We are in the Hall of Despair.”
“Where is he?” Jiron asks.
“I would think he would be wherever Tinok is,” he replies.
Eeeeeek!
All of a sudden the air is filled with Hikuli. They screech as they swoop down and begin raking them with their razor sharp claws. Each strike brings pain like acid.
Miko draws his sword and begins attempting to strike them out of the air, but they move so fast, that even with his speed he misses as often as not.
“The Star!” yells James as he pulls forth his medallion. “Use the Star!”
As Miko pulls forth the Star, its light shines brilliantly. For the first time in time unknown, light dispels the dark in the Hall of Despair.
The creatures pull back some distance and hover. Chittering among themselves, they shriek and hiss at the companions they are no longer able to come near.
James sees Brother Willim kneeling on the floor and is arranging a circle of leaves. “What are you doing?” he asks.
“Making a Vyrilyzk,” he replies. Once the leaves are in their proper position, he begins talking softly and quietly.
“What’s he doing?” asks Jiron. “We have to get to Tinok.”
James turns back to Brother Willim to tell him that they have to move on when he sees a small creature that looks remarkably like a garden gnome standing within the Vyrilyzk. “An earth spirit?” he asks in surprise. Brother Willim ignores the question. Instead he keeps his attention focu
sed on the earth spirit and points to the Hikuli hovering in the air.
The earth spirit looks up and sees them there. The expression on the earth spirit’s face changes to what can only be called hate. Disappearing for only a second, it reappears a moment later. Launching itself upward, it grabs hold of a Hikuli and the two creatures start clawing each other as the earth spirit drags the Hikuli to the ground. Then from out of the Vyrilyzk more earth spirits begin boiling into the room, each one launching itself at a Hikuli. The Hikuli in turn screech as they attack the earth spirits.
Brother Willim stands up and turns to the others. “Their enmity for the Hikuli is older than time,” he explains. Soon the air is empty of Hikuli as scores of battle-locked creatures writhe upon the floor. Still more of the earth spirits boil forth from the Vyrilyzk to join the fray.
“Let’s go,” he says to James and Jiron. “They’ll take care of them for us.”
Jiron gives him a grin and a nod. Then turns to follow James’ sphere where it is again moving across the Hall of Despair toward the opening of another corridor.
Ozgirath stands before the crystal that’s aglow with power being channeled to it from temples both within the Empire and without. Every temple is sacrificing slaves and sending the power here to Ith-Zirul, for what he’s about to do requires an incredible amount of magic.
The time for his lord to come has arrived. Ages have been spent in preparation of this moment. Plans that began centuries past have at last come to fruition. All is in ready. The six Gygnai from the home plane of Dmon-Li stand within the circles of power, two slaves who will give their lives to complete the ritual lie before each of them.
As he summons the enormous reservoir of power within himself, Ozgirath sends it forth. One by one he envelopes the Gygnai with the power and activates the magical symbols engraved in the floor about them. The symbols flare with a dark radiance as they begin absorbing power contained within the glowing crystal. When all six of Gygnai are fully intertwined in his magic, they bend down and grab the men lying before them, one in each hand. Then, they come erect again and await his command.
In the back of his mind he senses the presence of an age old enemy, but so engrossed in the ritual is he that it is soon pushed to the back of his mind and is lost. Once more bending the power to his will, he signals the Gygnai that it is time.
As the Gygnai begin absorbing the life of the slaves each holds, the symbols surrounding them begin to writhe. Then the symbols flare with a purplish radiance and the bodies of the Gygnai start to shift and waver as they in turn are absorbed by the symbols surrounding them.
The union of the life forces from this world and that of the plane which Dmon-Li calls home will now enable Ozgirath to create a gateway that will allow his lord to cross over and claim this world for his own. Enormous power is being sent to the crystal, which in turn is taken by Ozgirath. Bending the magic to his will, the High Lord of Dmon-Li invokes the final spell to create the gate.
Where the six Gygnai had stood are now six areas of shifting and pulsating darkness. With the power coming from the crystal, Ozgirath causes the areas of darkness to move toward the crystal. One by one, the darkness envelopes the crystal until it can no longer be seen. Then, the crystal ceases to be as the darkness completely consumes it.
At the point when the crystal ceases to be, the darkness latches onto the tendrils of power being sent from the temples and begins absorbing the magic directly. Coalescing into a large sphere, it slowly grows under the guidance of Ozgirath until it swells to fill the entire area within the circle of six where the Gygnai had stood in a domelike formation.
A dark redness appears deep within the blackness. As the dome absorbs the magic coming from the temples, the redness grows. Rapture fills Ozgirath as the way for his lord begins to come into being. His yellow eyes watch the redness as it consumes the blackness as more and more of it makes way for the gate.
When the redness has all but replaced the blackness, Ozgirath moves to stand before the gate. From the other side, he can feel the presence of his lord. Now, to stabilize the gate and make it permanent so his lord may cross over.
Bring them now.
At his command, four of the warrior priests who have been standing behind him motionless, turn as one and move toward the cell holding Tinok and the other three prisoners.
After leaving the Hall of Despair and the battling creatures, they follow the floating sphere along dark corridors. Several of the ‘Little Brothers’ accompany them. James takes note of their presence and asks, “I thought they were shy?”
“Little Brothers are normally very shy,” replies Brother Willim. “But I am here and they are hoping I will lead them to more Hikuli.”
James keeps glancing to them and their number constantly seems to change. First there were four, then seven, then two, and so forth. The most he saw at any one time was fourteen.
They steadily work their way deeper into the depths of the temple, all the while continuing to keep the sphere in sight ahead of them. Aside from the Hikuli they initially encountered, the corridors have been empty. James concludes that those who call this place home must be below where the magic is originating from. He maintains his orb in his hand to give them some light with which to see. Miko had replaced the Star back in his pouch once the threat of the Hikuli was past. The brilliant light the Star gave out here in Ith-Zirul was far too conspicuous and might have given them away.
Having just come down their third flight of stairs, they come across several cells that had at one time held people. “Someone was here not too long ago?” announces Jiron after he makes a quick inspection of one. “Less than a day.”
“What makes you say that?” asks Miko.
Jiron indicates the slop bucket. “What’s in there hasn’t been in there very long,” he explains. Looking around, he says, “He must have been held here.”
“You sure?” Miko asks.
“Yes,” he replies. “Unless you would like to come over and examine it for yourself?”
Shaking his head a bit more vigorously than intended, Miko says, “No, that won’t be necessary.”
“Then he can’t be too much further,” James says encouragingly. Already the sphere has moved further down the corridor. It hovers at the edge of the orb’s light as it waits for them to follow.
Jiron again takes the lead as they hurry to catch up with the sphere. Once they’ve come within ten feet of it, it resumes its progress down the corridor. After following it for another twenty feet or so, a red glow begins to be seen ahead of them. Motioning for the others to come to a stop, Jiron moves ahead to check it out.
The sphere continues to proceed down the corridor toward the red glow, then it reaches the top of a stairwell and begins to descend. The stairwell is where the glow is originating.
Jiron immediately comes to a stop and hurries back to the others. “That glow is coming from a set of stairs leading down,” he tells them.
“Did you hear anything?” James asks and Jiron shakes his head in reply.
“I think when we find the source of the glow, we’ll find your friend,” Brother Willim says. “We’re very close to whatever is going on.” Beside him, Miko nods in agreement.
“Then we don’t need the sphere anymore?” James asks.
“I doubt it,” replies Brother Willim. “And if we’re close, it could give us away prematurely.”
Canceling the sphere, James says, “It’s gone.” Then to Jiron he says, “Lead on.” Giving James a nod, Jiron moves to return back to the head of the stairs.
A growing sense of fear and doom has been developing within James since before they found the cells back behind them. And when the red glow first appeared, the sensation increased. Now standing at the top of the stairs, he feels the fear become an almost palpable force.
“You okay?” asks Brother Willim.
“I don’t know,” he replies.
Brother Willim glances from James and Jiron and can see the fear James is feel
ing reflected in Jiron’s eyes. “Wait a moment,” he says. Then he reaches into his robe and pulls forth a small crystal vial.
“What’s that for?” asks Jiron.
“It will help with the fear you are feeling,” he explains.
“I’m not feeling any fear,” Miko says.
“No, I wouldn’t think you would be,” replies Brother Willim. “You are after all a High Priest. The power of Morcyth shields you from such things.” He removes the stopper and pours out a single drop of the liquid contained within the vial upon his finger. “This is Asran’s Tears,” he says. When James looks questioningly, he adds, “Holy water in the simplest term.” He then takes the drop of holy water and rubs it across James’ left eyelid. Pouring out another drop, he does the same to his right eye.
As soon as both eyes have been treated, the fear that was threatening to take the heart from him subsides to a more tolerable level. “I can still feel it,” he tells Brother Willim.
Administering the holy water to Jiron’s eyes, he says, “It won’t remove all fear, just help you not be overcome by it.” When he finishes with Jiron, he stoppers the vial and replaces it within his robe.
Next to him, a Little Brother is beginning to behave in a most excitable manner. He looks at the earth spirit and says, “We need to hurry.”
“Why?” asks Jiron. Then all at once, a wave of evil rolls over them.
“It’s happening,” Brother Willim says as he races for the stairwell.
“What’s happening?” James asks as he rushes to follow.
Jiron beats him to the stairs right after Brother Willim and they move quickly down the steps. The further they descend, the more intense the red glow becomes. Moving down the steps, they finally come to a place where the wall on their right suddenly ends and opens up onto a large cavern.
Brother Willim comes to a stop just past where the wall ends and stares down at the cavern floor. “Lord Asran!” he exclaims.
James comes to a stop next to him and looks down. His eyes are immediately drawn to a massive red, somewhat dome shaped area with traces of black running through it. Seeing it there in the center of the cavern floor, he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is where the wave of evil had originated.
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