Jump to content


Unwilling to Acquiesce – Part 6


  • Please log in to reply
No replies to this topic

#1 Guest_No One of Consequence_*

Posted 18 June 2003 - 01:45 AM

The companions trudge upward through the long dank tunnel. The oil from their stolen lamp is low and the shadows threaten danger at every turn. However, they are encouraged by the occasional flashes of light which they can see ahead. Jaheira says nothing, her face is an impassive mask. There is a weariness in her movements that is uncharacteristic and she walks leaning upon her quarterstaff, as though she has grown suddenly quite old. Imoen too is unlike herself, her footfalls becoming almost staggering with fatigue. There is a bundle of captured wands in her hand, magical tools which the party has looted from a series of fiendish traps which guarded the exit from Irenicus’ dungeon. She mutters to herself about the darkness and dark things. Mostly the companions pretend that they cannot hear what it is that she says, but it is clear her time enjoying Irenicus’ hospitality has wounded her more deeply than just in her flesh.

For his part, Yoshimo seems relatively light-hearted. For a time after his confrontation with Adamant he was quiet, almost surly, but now his smile return has returned and he steps swiftly from stone to stone across the wet tunnel floor, avoiding the puddles of noisome water. Recently he even boasted of being “fleet of foot”, though his new found friends are learning to ignore his self congratulations.

Adamant has had enough of this underworld of dirt, torture and death. Across blood trickles down his face from a small slash in his forehead. He received the wound from a ‘prisoner’ the companions had rescued only to find that the ‘prisoner’ was in fact a doppelganger. The creature had waited for what it judged was the most opportune moment and then ambushed the party, revealing its true form in the process. Adamant’s Chaos Blade took the thing’s head from its shoulders, but not before it’s claw struck his face. The wound will need the attention of a healer of some skill, else it will scar. Normally Adamant would entrust such a task to Jaheira, but she has exhausted her magics and moreover, Adamant cannot bring himself to lay any burdens on the half-elven druid at this time. Perhaps after they have all rested. In the meantime he leads the party onward, careless of his own pain, and marching in van with determined strides. His stolen armour is spattered with muck.

----

The tunnel ends as a ragged hole in the earth, as though a giant had torn through the stone, harvesting whatever a giant might harvest. The light floods the passageway in a cascade of broken shafts, dancing over broken earth and fallen rock. The heartening sight lifts the spirits and speaks of the joy of freedom and the burgeoning sky. Adamant even manages to smile as he reaches back and helps his friends out of the tunnel and into the open air. His smile falls from his lips however as he emerges himself, blinking in the beautiful, too-bright-light, and hears the sounds of gathering conflict. A voice like the sound of a winter’s wind blowing through a mausoleum says “You dare to attack me here? You shall suffer…you shall all suffer!”

The party sees that they are standing in the midst of a vast building, an arena perhaps, with long marble colonnades running around its sides. The tunnel which they have exited emerges in the midst of a deep wound in building’s north side. The rubble lends the space where the companions stand the look of a mine site, but within a few paces slender pillars and flying buttresses support graceful arches with gilded carvings and intricate reliefs. From about the colonnades the sound of hushed voices can be heard and as their eyes adjust to the light, the party can see a crowded market which fills every available tier of the building’s ovoid sides. In the arena-space of the building’s sides there even appears to be a circus or carnival of sorts.

The threat of imminent danger helps the companions to override their feelings of fatigue and their wonder at the strange sights before them, as they quickly take up combat stances. As it turns out, there is no need. They watch as their erstwhile captor, the strange and evil mage Irenicus, does battle with several masked and hooded figures. The assailants charge fearlessly but in an impressive display of power, Irenicus slaughters them all. One is turned to stone, others are burnt by conjured flame or torn apart by invisible forces. The fray is brutal, swift and unspeakable. Only one opponent lives to flee and as the figure disappears into the market crowd, Irenicus turns to face his escaping prisoners.

“So godchild,” he says. “You have escaped. You are more resourceful than I thought.”

Irenicus’ cold voice is too much for Imoen’s nerve and she blurts out suddenly, “You’re not going to torture us any more!”

“Torture?” replies Irenicus, seeming genuinely surprised by her choice of words. “Silly girl, you just don’t understand what I am doing, do you?”

“It’s over Irenicus,” says Adamant. He holds his sword at the ready and his face is hard, but he has no delusions about their chances should the mage fight to hold them. “We will be your playthings no longer.”

“I won’t let you go,” counters Irenicus. He shakes his head and Adamant can see that the strange face is in fact a mask made of some sort of leather. The edges of the mask can be clearly seen, as well as the straps that hold it in place. Adamant wonders what the mask hides, though he has no desire to find out. “I won’t let you go, not when I’m so close to unlocking your power.”

The tense stand off is too much for Imoen and she launches a magical assault. Irenicus absorbs the magical bolts without so much as a flinch. However, he seems angered and he invokes a magical retaliation on Imoen, saying “Enough! I will no longer listen to the babbling of ignorant children.!”

The evil mage continues his assaults upon Imoen and she returns, though she is obviously outclassed. Adamant and Jaheira move to support their old friend, clambering over the broken rubble to get to Irenicus. They are suddenly forced back however by an unseen magical force which blankets the entire area. Everyone standing amongst the rubble and dead bodies, with the sole exception of Irenicus, is thrown from their feet. All about the space, pockets of air ripple and shimmer and a half dozen robed and hooded figures step into existence, as though through doors in the fabric of the world. A voice booms out, “This is an unsanctioned use of magical energy! All those involved will be held.”

With a snarl of defiance, Irenicus begins a further magical battle with the new arrivals. Like his earlier assailants, several of the new mages are slain by his power, though these attackers are more successful in their attempts to attack and for the first time Irenicus begins to look pressed. Even as the newly arrived mages are slain, so more appear through doors in space to assault him.

“Even if you slay us,” says one of the new arrivals. “Our numbers are many. You will eventually be overwhelmed.”

His words appear to make sense to Irenicus, who ceases to cast spells and lowers his arms. “Very well, mageling. But you will take the girl as well.”

It takes the companions a moment to realise that he is referring to Imoen. As two cowled figures step towards her she cries out in protest. Excuses pour from her mouth as the magic that will imprison her begins to form. Adamant rushes to help her, but before he crosses even half the distance between them Imoen and her captors disappear. Behind him, Irenicus is likewise teleported away. In an instant, only Adamant, Jaheira and Yoshimo remain, standing amidst the destruction, exposed to the gaze of the entire market.




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

Skin Designed By Evanescence at IBSkin.com