"Oh Errol, my beloved! I've been waiting for you such a long time!" cried the voice.
Another voice, a man's voice, cried out in answer, "My dear Olivia. Never again shall we be parted!"
"Errol!" cried the female voice with great joy.
The clouds began to break up and the locket vanished out of thin air. Soon enough, the sky was clear as it had been before.
"Well that's wonderful," commented Alice. "After all this time those two can finally be together."
"And now we should be able to make it to the Shrine Jail," said Suzanne.
After hesitating for a moment, Captain Marbeley ordered the crew to get back to work and the Mad Hound once again attempted the river. This time, nothing was stopping them and they successfully crossed from the Naxly to the Narls Sea.
With the directions given to them by King Crayton, finding the Shrine Jail was easy. It was on a small island covered in forest. The Jail was a small building in the middle of the forest. It looked like a shack made out of concrete. The four entered the Shrine Jail.
Inside the concrete shack was a locked hatch leading downwards. The lock was augmented with powerful magic but was still no match for the Final Key. The four descended down the stairs that the hatch revealed.
At the bottom of the stairs was a ball of flame that looked and moved much like the flame-images from the phantom ship. Unlike the images, this flame actually moved towards and then greeted the group.
"This is the desolate Shrine Jail," said the flame. "You seem too well equipped for new prisoners. I take it you have been sent to check up on someone?"
The four were surprised to hear the flame address them. "You could say that," answered Suzanne after a moment. "But, if I may ask, who are you?"
"You weren't sent by the king?" asked the flame. "He should've told you who I am."
"He told us about the Shrine Jail, and we heard from another that we could find Simon here. But he never mentioned any spirits," answered Suzanne.
"Really?" asked the flame. "Has anything happened to the king recently?" The flame's voice seemed to have a note of hope in it.
"Well, there has been an imposter on the throne for the last six or seven years. Recently that imposter has been defeated and the true king is back on the throne," said Suzanne.
"Oh that's great!" said the flame. "That explains everything!"
"If I may ask, who are you?" asked Suzanne again.
"I'm the jailor. This jail has been absolutely horrible in the last few years," answered the flame. "Not that it was ever supposed to be a bright place, but I never thought I'd have to work here after I died!"
"You mean your spirit has been forced to work here?" asked Suzanne.
"Yes. Judging by what you're saying, I died a year or two after the imposter took power," said the jailor. "And he used necromancy to keep me here. Not to mention that I don't actually do anything here. Since I died, the prisoners aren't even kept alive. They lock them up here and let them die. I make sure to keep as far away from the cells as I can so I don't have to watch them."
"That's horrible!" said Alice.
"Another example of the imposter's sadism," growled Thomas.
"Now that he's dead, you should be able to leave," said Suzanne to the flame.
"I wish I could figure out how but something's keeping me here," said the jailor.
"There must be some way to break the necromancy," said Thomas. "We should look for a way."
"We have to find Simon's body too," said Suzanne. "It sounds like there's no chance he survived."
"Oh Simon?" asked the jailor. "You can find him in the last cell on the right. You can find his body in the cell across from where he is. The king saw fit to keep him on this plane as well."
The four followed the jailor's directions and found another flame inside a cell. They unlocked the door and entered.
"Who are you?" asked the flame.
"I am Suzanne. These are my comrades Ron, Thomas, and Alice," introduced Suzanne. "We are friends of your son Matthew and have also made the acquaintance of your friend Mathias."
"Really? How did you get here? How did you find out I was here?" asked Simon.
The four spent some time conversing with Simon's spirit and letting him know what had befallen Samanao. Simon was filled with joy to find out that the king who had imprisoned him was not the real King Crayton. His only lament was that he did not survive to reunite with his family.
After the chat, Simon told the four to search the cell with his body in it to find the Sword of Gaia. The Sword was even greater than Mathias had described. It had a golden cross-guard and pommel with a crimson grip and crimson hair coming from the pommel. The blade was incredibly sharp and gently curved. Alice examined the Sword.
"I've never held anything with such power in it!" Alice had exclaimed. "There is incredible elemental energy within this sword. This has to be it! The Sword of Gaia!"
The four thanked Simon for the Sword and made sure to go straight to Samanao. They related everything they had found to the king and made sure to tell Matthew of his father's fate. Matthew was saddened that his father had met such an end but was comforted by finally knowing what happened to him. King Crayton immediately dispatched some mages and clerics to go to the Shrine Jail and undo the dark magic that held the jailor's and Simon's spirits in the Jail.
Meanwhile, the four began preparing for the greatest challenge yet. Using the information Suzanne had gained from the man in Billville and all maps the group could find of the region, the four decided they needed to use the Sword of Gaia to get to the region. They needed the Sword to get past the rough waters that had been enchanted by the Archfiend to resist any attempt to cross. After that, they would have to travel through a large part of the Necrogond Valley.
In order to prepare for their journey, the group bought some new equipment. In the shops of Samanao the group found some powerful silver shields for sale. Each one of the four bought a silver shield. In Billville, the four found suits of armor made from dragon scales for sale. The suits of armor inherited the dragons' resistance to physical harm and magic. The armor proved too heavy for Thomas and Alice so only Suzanne and Ron received the suits of dragon armor.
The team spent an additional two weeks training and preparing for their upcoming excursion. Besides making sure to work on their swordplay and magic they made sure to go over any situation they could think of so that any one of them would know what to do in the worst of circumstances.
Finally, the group teleported the Mad Hound to Assaram so that they could begin their journey. The time had come for the four to enter into the Necrogond.
Chapter 27: The Necrogond
Following a day of sailing, the Mad Hound reached the Valley of the Necrogond. After a short trek through the forest the four came to the foot of the mountain they were looking for. Alice had studied the maps of the valley and identified the volcano she thought would work best. The four readied their gear and began the climb. It took the rest of the day and part of the next but eventually they found themselves at the top.
"So this is a volcano," mused Suzanne. "As dangerous as this place is, it's beautiful in a way. No matter what artifacts and magic we come across, the world always has more power than any of them."
"Are you alright, Susie?" asked Alice.
"Yeah, I told you guys, I'm fine with my father's death," replied Suzanne. "Anyway, let's just review the plan quick. Alice, you begin casting the teleportation spell. I'll listen to your casting and when I can tell you're finishing it up I'll signal Ron to throw in the Sword. Thomas, you have a wing of wyvern ready if something goes wrong and make sure not to enter Alice's spell area until Ron does."
"We got it Susie!" said Ron impatiently, the Sword of Gaia already in his hand. "Let's get this show on the road!"
Alice began the incantation while Ron stood as close to the mouth of the volcano as he could without needing Thomas to constantly heal him of burns. Suzanne listened carefully to Alice's spe
llcasting; as she knew the spell herself she could tell when it was near its end. Thomas had a wing of wyvern out.
After some time Suzanne gave a wave to Ron. Ron took a few steps more towards the mouth of the volcano, taking some burns in the process, and threw the Sword of Gaia inside. As the Sword descended towards the lava it began to glow with a bright red light. As the Sword hit the lava great flames shot up, almost hitting Ron as he retreated from the mouth of the volcano. He and Thomas went into the area of Alice's spell in time for her to finish. The four teleported away without incident.
Back in Assaram the four watched the spectacle from safety. Even though the eruption took place miles and miles away flames and smoke could still be seen from the city. When the other people in the city saw the eruption they stopped what they were doing to watch the show. People left their houses and places of business to go outside. The streets of Assaram were filled with people watching the eruption coming from the Necrogond, many wondering if this was an ill omen.
"Trolls!" yelled Ron, pointing down the hill.
Running at the group were two huge, orange humanoids. Besides the different skin color, these trolls were slightly smaller than the troll who had impersonated King Crayton and they did not carry any weapons.
"Ha! I knew they were supposed to be orange!" said Alice triumphantly.
"Not the most important thing right now, Alice!" scolded Suzanne.
Having been sure to read up on trolls Alice knew that these beasts could regenerate just as the troll in Samanao had. Knowing that her staff did not have enough power she instead cast her strongest fire stream spell. A huge stream of fire engulfed the trolls, with an additional jet of flame bouncing up and down the stream. The flames did considerable damage to the trolls but the four could see they would have to be quick or even these serious burns would soon disappear.
Suzanne, Ron, and Thomas charged the beasts. Thomas fell behind the other two, chanting a spell as he ran. A large whirlwind engulfed the two trolls, giving them cuts large enough that the wounds did not disappear immediately. Suzanne and Ron made it down the hill to engage the two in melee. The trolls had the strength advantage but were clumsy and stupid. The two warriors made sure to position themselves to the right of the troll on the right. By doing this, the right troll's own body effectively blocked the left troll, and the two beasts were not smart or nimble enough to get around each other quickly.
Suzanne stabbed upwards into the troll's gut, causing a river of blood to fall out which covered Suzanne. The wounded troll swiped angrily at Suzanne. Suzanne tried to jump clear over the strike but could not jump high enough; the troll caught her legs. This caused Suzanne to fall hard on her back. Thankfully, Ron was able to use the opportunity to climb onto the troll's shoulders. He drove his sword deep into the troll's skull, dealing a mortal blow. He was then knocked to the ground himself as he was hit by the living troll as he tried to get off the dying troll.
With the two warriors in prone position Alice knew she had to act quickly or else either Suzanne or Ron would be in trouble. She recast her flame spell, once again engulfing the troll in the raging rapids of her fire river. Amazingly, the troll still stood. It was about to deal a terrible blow to Ron when Thomas made it into the melee. The troll abruptly stopped its advance towards Ron to try and swipe at Thomas but the troll's wounds slowed its attack. Thomas fell backwards to avoid the swipe and managed to escape untouched, though he was now also on the ground.
Nevertheless, Thomas' diversion gave Suzanne and Ron time to get back to their feet. They launched another double attack on the troll, this time with Suzanne going high and Ron low. They successfully felled the beast and got out of the way before its girth hit the ground.
"Damn, those bastards are tough to bring down!" cursed Ron after he had caught his breath.
"Yes they are," agreed Suzanne. "But we still have to be judicious with our resources. Alice, you can't afford to cast that spell so often. This journey is going to be an endurance test as much as it is a test of power."
"But Susie, you and Ron were sitting ducks!" protested Alice. "What was I supposed to do?"
"Tom was close enough to help us out," said Suzanne. "A shot from your staff would've been enough. But you bring up a good point. We all had a breakdown in that battle. We have to be in better position to help each other in the future. That way we won't have as many of those predicaments."
"Got it, Susie," said Ron.
The four continued their trek through the Necrogond Valley. On the first day of their march they went through a forest, over the new land bridge created by the Sword of Gaia, and ended the day in another forest. This was now the second day and they had quickly left the forest and made it onto a vast stretch of plains. They could have taken a more direct route to their destination by cutting through the hills to the west but Suzanne did not like that idea.
"It'll be easier for enemies to hide in the hills and as this area is their home, they'll have enough of an advantage as it is," she had said.
In comparison the plains had many smaller hills, such as the one the group had just fought on. Suzanne had been nervous that while they would find it easier to see enemies in the open plains that the four themselves would be easier to see. As it turned out, the plains provided a much better advantage for the group. The only enemies that the four came across were trolls and smaller green imps. The imps seldom appeared alone, preferring to work with the larger trolls as their brawn. And the trolls were large, orange, and stupid making them easy to spot on the open plains. The four were able to see most of the enemy parties and avoid them without conflict.
That did not make travelling easy, however. There was often little cover to conceal themselves with and so the four would have to take long, zigzagging routes through the plains. And all too often their efforts would be futile and their enemies would see them, causing a fight to break out. In one incident the four defeated a group of imps with a troll but were almost immediately set upon by another such group, as the other group had seen the fight and rushed over to join. Now the four had to find ways to end their fights quickly, using as few of their resources as possible.
At the end of the third day they came to another forest. They proceeded even more cautiously through the forest. The trolls were even easier to avoid in the forest as they were not experts in being quiet. However, smaller monsters proved to be tougher to avoid and much better at hiding.
"Behind us!" warned Alice.
Her warning came too late. Five strange blue clouds with faces had ambushed the group. Two of them let out waves of frigid breath. The other three converged on Alice, engulfing her with their equally frigid bodies. Fortunately, neither the monsters' breath attack nor their engulfing attack was very dangerous. Nevertheless, being pressed by three monsters in melee kept Alice from getting her staff out. Instead, she slashed at one of the cloud monsters. Her sword flew through the monster as though it were normal air, causing Alice to lose her balance. However, the monster recoiled and its face showed pain, indicating that Alice's attack had hurt it.
"Let's help Alice out so she can use her staff!" yelled Suzanne. Two of the three monsters that had focused on Alice renewed their attacks. The third broke off and unleashed another wave of frigid breath upon the four. The two other clouds floated over to Suzanne and Ron to cut them off. Suzanne and Ron both dueled their opponents and both landed a blow upon their gaseous foes. Seeing Alice almost fall over during her attack, the two warriors did not put all their might into their attacks in order to avoid the same mistake.
Thomas was able to make it to where Alice was and sent his blade through the monster that Alice had already wounded. The monster dissipated, apparently destroyed. With Thomas' arrival, Alice was able to avoid the other cloud and pull out her staff. She sent a stream of fire at Suzanne's and Ron's opponents, causing them to dissipate.
One of the remaining monsters continued the fight with Thomas. Thomas instinctively held his shield up at the creature's advance and
was amazed to find that his shield was able to block its non-solid body. The other surviving cloud sent another wave of frigid air at the group. But as they no longer had a numerical or strategic advantage and since Alice now had her staff out, the two survivors were soon taken care of.
Thomas performed his usual healing routines after the four were sure that their enemies were gone. "Those monsters and their breath attacks add up," he remarked. He had to cast a healing spell on each one of the four.
"Alice, if we get ambushed by them again you need to cast one of your spells," said Suzanne.
"What happened to conserving my magic?" asked Alice.
"We all need to conserve our magic," answered Suzanne. "Thomas had to expend a lot to heal us after that fight. Those monsters weren't powerful but between their numbers and their ambush, we took some hits. You shouldn't need to pull out your most powerful magic but we'll need some help if we get ambushed again. On that note, we need to be more careful as we continue."
It took another two days before the group left the forest and came upon a cave leading underground. This cave would take them underneath the Necrogond Mountains and into a canyon, where the man from Billville had pointed Suzanne. Although they had covered most of the distance to their goal the four knew that the worst part could be yet to come.
"According to what I could find about the area, the caves of the Necrogond Mountains are notoriously dangerous," Alice had told them. "Even when there isn't an Archfiend residing in the region."
The four descended into the cave. It did not take them long to see that this was no ordinary cave. A large hallway just inside was decorated with emerald statues, one row on each side of the hallway. The statues were of valiant warriors, covered head to toe in heavy armor, armed with swords and each one in an identical battle stance.
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