Chapter 21 - Umar's End

Faster!

Faster, you fat fool!

Neracer chided himself as he ran for the safety of his fellow adventurers, carrying the halfling warrior Mazzy Fentan in his arms. They were but scant yards away from the rest of the party, but Umar’s hag-witch servants were just scant yards behind him.

“Hang on, Mazz, we’re almost there!” he said to his unconscious companion. Just a few more feet and we’re home free. If the blindness magic can last just a few more…

The not altogether unexpected sound of angry screeches behind him made Neracer’s blood freeze.

Oh shit.

The hags had regained their eyesight, and they had spotted him! The remaining distance between Neracer and the rest of the party suddenly seemed a lot farther. The witches were unnaturally swift of foot, and he was burdened down by the combined weight of the armored halfling and both of their adventuring gear. Not to mention the forty extra pounds he was carrying around his gut.

If I make it out of this alive, I swear I’ll never have seconds of Ma Fentan’s mumbleberry pie again! Neracer prayed as he lumbered forward, to whatever power might care to listen at the moment.



*


Theodoric delivered the final blows against his undead opponent, a rather sizeable skeleton warrior of particularly ill temperament. Theodoric whooped in triumph as he shattered the skeleton’s backbone, sending the remains tumbling to the ground. Glory filled his heart, in part because he was fighting his chosen enemy, in part because of the inspiration he gained from hearing Neracer’s resonating performance of The Tale of Wiedemar moments earlier. So it was not unexpected that he felt a great appreciation for the illusionist’s attempt to rescue his friend from Umar’s clutches, if not the questionable wisdom behind it. He could see the now very angry hags had recovered and were about to overtake him.


“Forward!” Theodoric bellowed in mid-charge. “Our help is needed!”

*

Neracer let out a mental sigh of relief as he saw the paladin and his friends coming to his own rescue. The distance between them shrank rapidly. Neracer slowed just the slightest bit, only too aware his rubbery legs were about to give out. It’s hell getting older, he thought sourly.


At that moment, one of the hags behind him slashed at his back, ripping his tunic to shreds and missing his skin by a hair’s breadth. In that same moment, Neracer found that he had just a bit more of the energy and speed of youth left in him.

“Gahhh! Get ‘em!” he shouted as he stumbled past his comrades, tumbling hard to the ground when his legs finally gave out. He landed on his side, using his arms to protect Mazzy from the fall. Grateful to be alive, Neracer sprawled on the ground next to her, gulping in deep breaths of air.

*


Theodoric intercepted the first of the two hags, breaking her stride with a quick slashing attack. He could tell immediately from her infernal features and the stink of brimstone that this coal-black creature was of the lower planes. He slashed at it more forcefully, drawing blood and howls of rage from the indignant witch. A magic missile the size of a man’s fist leapt from her palm and slammed into Theodoric’s chest. The paladin gasped in shock and pain, the breath nearly knocked out of him.

Jaheira moved in on Theodoric’s right, attacking the hag on her unguarded flank. She smashed the witch against the side of the head with her quarterstaff, striking with such force it bent the hag’s head back at a right angle. It was blow enough to snap a man’s neck. The infernal creature merely twisted her head upright and pounced on Jaheira with unearthly speed.

The hag is far quicker and stronger than others of its kind! Jaheira shouted to herself as she backpedaled, desperately using the superior reach of her weapon to keep the hag from overpowering her. She butted the witch twice in the face with her staff, then brought it up to block a swipe from the hag’s claws. The powerful blow nearly tore the weapon from her grip, but Jaheira smartly used the momentum from the attack to whip the other end of the staff about and smash it into the hag’s ribs.

Theodoric struck an instant later, laying open the hag’s shoulder. Sulphurous blood spurted from the wound. The hag howled in pain and took a wild swipe at the young warrior. Jaheira again battered the hag from the other side, intent on keeping it on the defensive.

“Keep it up, Jaheira!” Theodoric shouted. “Together we’ll finish this wretched creature once and for all!”


*


Yoshimo and Minsc had intercepted the second of the two hags, a hideously ugly creature made more revolting by its shriveled green skin. Yoshimo struck first, ripping through the hag’s tattered robe but doing little more than scratching the creature’s tough hide. The hag hissed in pain and clawed at him, opening a deep gash on his left forearm with a glancing blow.

Minsc bashed the hag hard, several times, with his mace. The hag staggered back, but did not appear to be harmed in the slightest. Realizing the hag was unaffected by nonmagical weapons, Minsc grabbed for his sword. He then remembered with horror he had dropped it when he’d been blasted by the witches’ “evil eye” attack minutes earlier. And in his haste to protect Aerie when she’d been wounded, the big ranger had simply gone berserk with the closest weapon at hand.

“Ah, any advice you have would be appreciated, Boo!” Minsc shouted as he landed a blow that would have cracked pavement, but didn’t so much as bloody the hag’s lip.


The hag retaliated with a withering glare. Her eyes became sickly, growing jaundiced and bloodshot, with thick yellow pus encrusting the edges. Minsc caught a glimpse of it, and found himself unable to avert his eyes. A wave of pain and nausea swept over him, and he felt his strength begin to leave him. He staggered, trying not to lose his balance or drop his guard as the hag came at him again.


Yoshimo leapt in front of Minsc, fending the witch off with his katana. The hag snapped her jaws at him and grabbed for his blade, prompting Yoshimo to punch her hard in the nose with his free hand. The sensation was similar to punching a castle wall. The witch cackled and didn’t so much as blink as she casually backhanded the Kozakuran thief, sending him reeling and several of his teeth to the temple floor.


Through his blurring vision, Minsc could see the hag advancing on him. He desperately fended off several swipes of its claws. But weakened and without a magical weapon, he was no match for the witch. He was now burning up with fever, and his many earlier wounds were sapping his remaining strength. He lost his footing and sank to his knees, unable to stand any longer. The hag towered over him, leering as she reached out for his throat.


“Soon we will be with Dynahier again, Boo” Minsc murmured as he prayed for admittance to the Hall of Fallen Heroes.

*SSSTHWIPT* !!!

A glowing green arrow shot past Minsc’s ear and stuck the hag in the belly. The sizzling bolt consumed itself, dissolving into a dose of gelled acid that clung to the wound it had made. The hag screamed in surprise and smacked at the searing hole expanding in her skin. Minsc groggily snapped his head about to see a blonde elf standing just a few feet behind him.

“Aerie!” cried Minsc.

“MINSC!” shouted Yoshimo. The thief ran past the hag, tossing a handful of caltrops behind her. Summoning the last of his strength, Minsc dived into her. She stumbled back, losing her footing as she stepped on several the spiked jacks. The hag landed on her backside with a surprisingly heavy thud. Yoshimo rushed her, raising his katana above his head and cursing the witch sulphurously.


“KUTABARE!!!” he screamed as he swung with both hands.


The whistling blade took one of the hag’s hands off at the wrist, prompting a shriek of pain Yoshimo found most satisfying. Blood gushed from the stump, spattering Yoshimo in the face. He ignored it, hacking viciously at the wounded hag while uttering any number of exceptionally creative profanities.


Aerie limped over to Minsc, fighting the pain and the fear she felt. Her back was on fire, and the warm sticky trickle she felt running down her side told her she had reopened her wound. She swallowed hard and chanted out a healing spell for Minsc with quavering hands and trembling voice.


*

Neracer was leaning over Mazzy now, working feverishly to free her from the rest of the wretched tentacle that was wrapped around her. He pulled the disgusting thing off of her, slashing it with his dagger where it was coiled tightly. Mazzy’s breathing was steadier than before, but she was still pale and her face was contorted with pain. Neracer cursed under his breath as he pulled the last of it away.


“Damn your soul, witch! What did you do to her?” Neracer glared over at the corrupted altar Umar was spawning from. The illusionist’s eyes went wide with dismay and he scrambled to his feet.

“LOOK OUT!”


*

Theodoric struck another blow against his opponent, sinking his glowing blade into the hag’s ribs. The hag-witch had tremendous stamina, continuing to fight on after he and Jaheira had inflicted enough damage to kill an ogre. But the contest was no longer in doubt. The hag was bleeding from a half dozen wounds, and her left arm hung uselessly where Jaheira had shattered it.


“You face final justice this day, fiend!” he shouted, pressing the attack.

“LOOK OUT!”

Theodoric heard Neracer’s voice from the rear of the room. He struck the hag again, then glanced around quickly as Jaheira stepped in.

“Theodoric, Yoshimo!” Neracer yelled again. “The altar, it’s coming from the altar!”


At the last moment, Theodoric spotted the danger. A pair of snake-like tendrils had sprouted from Umar herself and raced across the floor. One headed for him and the other towards Yoshimo. Theodoric let out a cry to the thief and raised his sword defensively. To his surprise, he wasn’t the intended target. The tendrils rose up like striking snakes and lashed themselves around the throats of the two hags, who cried out in terror.


*


Yoshimo darted out of the way of the striking tendril, stunned as he saw the hag he had been fighting attacked by her own master. The creatue went into a violent seizure, thrashing on the ground and screaming and frothing at the mouth.

The hag's belly swelled, ballooning to three or four times its normal size in moments. Yoshimo could see the distended flesh ripple, countless shapes moving just under the skin.


By the gods! he swore, backing away from the horrific scene.

The hag’s belly split where Aerie had wounded her, sending out a spray of gore. In the next moment the hag's gut burst open, a black mass of spiders and centipede-like creatures boiling forth.


“Mattsu!” cried Yoshimo as something hairy and black landed on his face, stinging him badly before he squashed it with his hand. Hundreds more were right behind it.


*


The dark hag Theodoric and Jaheira were battling succumbed peacefully by comparison. As Umar attached herself to the hag, its eyes rolled back in its head and it fell to the floor, dead. For a split second, Theodoric wondered if they had prevailed against it. But then dark mists swirled around the hag’s body and took shape. Theodoric could feel great evil coming from it.

“Jaheira, beware!” he shouted. “The witch is unleashing someth-”

The rest of the paladin’s words were drowned out by an infernal cacophony of noise and darkness. Twisted shapes swarmed over he and Jaheira, a hundred screaming voices demanding to be heard. They whispered insane gibberings of fear and madness, of despair and unspeakable pain. Theodoric could see the faces of some of them and knew instinctively these were the spiritual remnants of Umar’s victims. The witch had collected their final sufferings as keepsakes, and was using them now to breed terror in his heart.

Theodoric’s jaw clenched. Fear did not find its way into his heart, but righteous fury did. A faint echo of the song Neracer had sung earlier played through his mind again, bolstering his courage still further. He raised his sword and shouted a challenge to Umar herself. The spirits howled mocking echos of his challenge, and one of them grasped him with wispy claws. The creature dissipated almost instantly, but delivered a chilling shock in the process. A dozen more of the creatures swooped down on him.



*

Yoshimo swatted at the vicious stinging and biting creatures crawling all over him. For every one he knocked away, two more sprang from the carpetlike mass pouring towards him. Minsc was even worse off, being covered with dozens of bites. Aerie had a number of bugs crawling on her too, but she’d thought to cast a stoneskin spell on herself. For the moment at least, she was immune.


Aerie cast the lone fire magic she’d thought to memorize, burning scores of the pests with a scorching plume of fire. She swept it back and forth, trying vainly to hold back the swarm. Yoshimo hurled a flask of lamp oil into it, which caught ablaze and burned a hundred more to a crisp. But there was seemingly no end to the horrid things crawling out of the dead hag.


Neracer watched the battle, pacing back and forth frantically, trying to figure out what to do. He had no fire magics memorized to use against the horrid swarming things to his left, and was unsure even what would work against the spirits attacking Theodoric and the druid. Not that it would have done much good if he had either. Umar seemed to have nearly limitless power to channel through the hags.

Wait… he thought. She’s channeling…of course!

“Cut the tendrils!” he screamed. “Yoshimo, Aerie, you have to break Umar’s connection with the hags!”


Yoshimo heard the mage’s warning and ran for the fleshy thing wrapped around the greenhag’s throat. Something black and distinctly slimy landed on his arm and inflicted a nasty bite. Yoshimo squashed it with a slap of his hand, not allowing himself to wonder what the thing had looked like. He probably squashed a dozen of its friends sprinting towards the hag.

Yoshimo whipped his katana up and severed the tendril with a single stroke. The appendage flopped about and Yoshimo slashed it again for good measure. Immediately, the flow of insects and arthropods stopped pouring out of the hag’s eviscerated gut and the remaining pests began to disperse or even attack each other.

“Aha!” Yoshimo cried triumphantly as he brushed the remaining bugs off of himself. He smiled fiercely at his victory over the hag, unaware how unintentionally humorous he looked missing his two front teeth.


*


Theodoric and Jaheira stood back to back, fighting off the suicidal spirits that swarmed around them. Their ranks had thinned slightly, but there were dozens more. They died quickly when struck, but with such great numbers it was impossible to fight them all off. Another one struck Jaheira, expending itself and inflicting pain in the process. The spirits abruptly halted their attack and vanished just as suddenly as Aerie put a spread of magic missiles into the second tendril, pulverizing it.


A silence fell on the room, broken only by the breathing of the adventurers. Umar writhed on her altar, but made no further attacks against them.


“What happened?” Theodoric said in disbelief. “Why does she no longer attack?”

“She can’t” replied Neracer, coming up behind the warrior. “I should have surmised it sooner, when they hit us with that “evil eye.”

“Surmised what? I don’t understand.”

“Umar is not fully reborn, Theodoric. You can see that for yourself. She has power in her, but not the ability to use it without a vessel Remember the previous attacks? Umar joined physically with the hags then, too.”

“The hags!” Theodoric said, seeing where the illusionist was going.

Neracer nodded wearily. “Yes, the hags. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Umar used the hag as intermediaries for all of her attacks against us. When she realized they were losing to us, she sacrificed her servants in a last ditch effort to stop us.”

The two men looked at the ruined bodies of the hags that lay before them.

A terrible fate, even for creatues as wicked as they , Theodoric thought to himself. “Umar cannot harm us, then?”

“I wouldn’t stake my life on her being completely powerless, but we’ve weakened her, no doubt.”

Theodoric eyed the altar, looking for signs of further treachery from Umar. “Very well. Let’s see how badly we are hurt before we do anything else.”


*


It had taken nearly all of Aerie and Jaheira’s healing spells to put the party back on its feet and to get Yoshimo’s teeth back in his mouth. Minsc had needed the most attention, but for all the pain he was in, he remained cheerful.

“Are you going to be alright, Minsc?” asked Theodoric.

“Ah, Boo says we will be fine. Though Minsc has had better days, Theodoric.”

“I understand, my friend” the paladin said, patting Minsc on the shoulder. He walked over to Yoshimo and Neracer, who had been keeping an eye on Umar. The witch waved a few tentacles about defensively, but made no other action.

“Shall I kill it now, Theodoric?” asked Yoshimo as he nocked an arrow to his Tuigan bow. The paladin nodded and Yoshimo took aim.

The arrow struck Umar in the chest, wounding her. Umar let out a keening wail and plunged into the surrounding mound of flesh, drawing her remaining tendrils in around her.

“So much for that approach” Neracer said.

Theodoric scowled. The witch would not escape justice, but he was loathe to risk his comrades further. Turning to Jaheira, who had finished her healing, he asked “Jaheira, how much oil do we have left?”

“Eleven flasks, nearly three quarts.”

Theodoric nodded and stared coldly at the defiled altar.

“Break it out, along with all of our remaining torches.”


*


The mass of flesh surrounding the altar and Umar herself quivered fearfully as it was drenched with flask after flask of lamp oil. Theodoric bound a half-dozen torches together, which Yoshimo dutifully lit.

“Your time has come, witch” Theodoric said harshly as he hurled the flaming bundle at the altar.

The mass of corrupted flesh burst into flame, sending a terrible stench into the air. Umar burst from the flaming mass, trying futilely to tear herself free. Unable to sever herself, Umar was quickly awash with flame. She burned with startling ease, causing the flames to grow brighter and hotter, consuming the altar and all of the corruption defiling it. In minutes all that was left was a smoldering pile of ashes.

The darkness above the ruined altar room melted away, leaving only the natural darkness of a star-filled night above them.

“It’s –it’s over?” Aerie asked, still visibly shaken.

“It would seem so” Jaheira said, stopping herself when she saw Theodoric’s expression.

“What?” she whispered. “What is it?”

“We aren’t done yet” he announced. “Remember, Amuana and her brethren burned Umar once before.”

“But they didn’t get her soul” Neracer finished. “We have to find her phylactery.”


“Where would we find such a thing?” Yoshimo asked. “Such a thing must be very well guarded, or hidden.”

“Indeed” Theodoric said. “The witch would not trust anyone with it.”

“Except maybe herself” Neracer said softly.

The party exchanged looks, then looked to the ruined altar.


*

There, under a pile of ashes and charred flesh, they found a flawless black opal, shimmering faintly from some inner glow.

“Is that it?” Yoshimo asked.

“I think so” replied Theodoric. “Minsc, would you care to do the honors?”

The Rashemani berserker, eager for some payback, grinned fiercely and took out his mace. With a single mighty blow, he shattered the soul gem. Umar’s screams echoed throughout the abandoned temple for several moments, giving the adventurers the immense satisfaction of knowing the witch was finally, at last, truly destroyed.


*

A search of the temple area led to the grim discovery of the missing villager’s fate. Those not used to “build” Umar had been fed upon by her tendrils, or her hags. The village ranger Merella was among the fallen. Her mummified corpse looked as if the life itself had been sucked out of her. At her side was her scimitar and she wore what looked to be a fine suit of elfin chain mail.

“Collect the items, Yoshimo” Theodoric said gloomily. “We are too late to save her, but at least we can return her personal effects to whoever might claim them.”

The paladin saw Neracer hunched over another victim, a small one who might have been a child. Or a halfling .

“Neracer?” he spoke gently. The mage looked up with a tired, beaten expression.

“It’s Patrick” he said, shaking his head. “It could be no other.” He shook his head sadly, drawing the halfling’s cloak over his body.

Theodoric helped the mage to his feet. “How are Jaheira and Aerie coming with Mazzy?” Neracer asked quietly.

Theodoric pointed across the room. “They are nearly finished, according to Jaheira. She’ll let us know in a minute.”

“I see.”

A sudden thought occurred to the paladin.

“Neracer?”

“Yes, Theodoric?”

“I am curious. How is it you know The Tale of Wiedemar?”

“The what?”

“The song you sang, right before you rescued Mazzy. It is an inspirational verse well known amongst paladins, but not many others.”

“Oh…that. Ah, I guess I am just full of surprises. Well, I see Jaheira is ready for me.” Neracer excused himself and headed across the room.

“ Tale of Wiedemar ?”

Yoshimo and Minsc had finished their work and had joined Theodoric. The thief was frowning. “That was not what I heard” he said. The mage was reciting the Kuribayashi Tadamichi, a famous Samurai poem from my homeland. And it was in perfect Kozakuran. Most inspiring.”

“No” said Minsc. “Boo is sure you are both mistaken. It was an epic from Rasheman the chubby wizard was telling. A fine story of brave heroes buttkicking much evil!”

Theodoric looked across the room at Neracer, who was now speaking with Jaheira and Aerie.

Full of surprises, indeed.



*


Neracer knelt down by Mazzy and looked at her. The look of pain was gone from her face and she appeared to be resting peacefully. But her face was still thin and pale and she was in a far deeper state of unconsciousness than mere slumber.

“We have done all we can do here” Jaheira said frankly. “Her wounds are not merely physical. There is deeper damage that I cannot undo here. She will need the attention of a powerful cleric, one who can cast the most powerful kind of healing spells.”

“Is she in any danger right now?” Neracer asked. Jaheira shook her head.

“I, or Aerie, can sustain her with our spells for a few days. We could safely take her to Trademeet, or even Athkatla, if necessary.”

“I understand. Could I have a minute alone with Mazzy?”

Jaheira nodded and took Aerie by the hand. “Come child, let us see how the others are faring.”

When the two were out of earshot, Neracer spoke softly to his friend.

“Aw, damnit Mazz” Neracer said. “It isn’t supposed to happen like this. You’re the tough one, remember?” He stroked her hair with his hand. “Just hang on a little longer, I’ll get you home.”

For a moment, Neracer saw something in the halfling’s face that made him think of another. He shook the thought away. Not again. I’ll not let this happen again.

“I’ll make this right, Mazzy. Somehow, I will make it right. I swear it.”