The Purifiers

Chapter 3: To Reason Why (Scene 2)

Somewhere far south of Eyescend, deep within a Summoner's stronghold ...

The shadowy claw of the hooded Fiend slashes down at Bastiel. For an elder Dwarf, he moves well. He evades, the Fiend's hand smashing only into the floor below, its fingers tearing into the stone tile. Swinging out with his main weapon, the spiked chain seems to take a life of its own as it naturally coils around the Fiend's forearm. Its glowing yellow mouth forms a smile as its free hand takes hold of the chain and starts to drag its prey closer. The Dwarf doesn't resist being pulled towards impending doom. Instead he simply closes his eyes and mutters something under his breath.

Q'Uetel senses a sudden surge of mystical power. He turns towards Bastiel and his Fiend of an opponent. He looks just in time to see the ensnared section of the Fiend's arm vanish, as if it had never been there at all. No longer enveloping anything, the chain falls limp to the ground, along with the demon's hand and wrist. Blood gushes out from the severed limb and the Fiend stumbles back. Bastiel drops to one knee, panting heavily. The eyes of Q'Uetel go wide. "Was that --?"

Bastiel quickly interrupts by shouting, "Now is not the time! We have a battle on our hands. Stay focused."

Seizing the distraction the Fiend steps back and melds into the shadows surrounding the area. Q'Uetel cups his hands into a ball as an incantation flows from his lips. Giving the Fiend no time to regroup a Blinding Flash leaps from his hands and into the shadow with which it retreated. The intense bright light banishes the darkness and the Fiend lets out a deafening screech as it's ripped from the shadow's embrace, its entire shadowy form smoking.

Not far away, a Horror swipes at E'Sarinn. The Elf narrowly avoids the deadly blow by elegantly leaping back, landing on just the balls of his feet. He wields his scythe, using its length to help offset the reach advantage of the gigantic and hideous monstrosity before him. Thrusting forward with the blade he attacks with a flurry of jabs. His enemy avoids most, but suffers a few superficial cuts. This has been going on back and forth for some time now with neither side truly gaining the advantage. Growing weary of this game of cat and mouse, the Horror begins a different tactic.

With just one glance at the hand motions, E'Sarinn slams the hilt of his scythe between two stone slabs with the blade rising up towards the sky. He lowers his center of gravity as his hands slide across his left hip. His fingers grasp the hilts of his twin swords, but do not yet summon them forth. A bolt of lightning streaks down from the ceiling towards E'Sarinn, but curves just off to the side, striking the steel blade of his scythe instead.

Darting forward with incredible speed the Elf releases his swords from their leathery prison. Both blades slash deep into the legs of the Horror. As the Horror stumbles, he leaps up and slashes into some of its many eyes. That might not blind it, but the pain will be excruciating. By the time E'Sarinn lands on his feet again, his pair of swords are already returned to their sheaths. He reclaims his makeshift lightning rod and drives it into Horror's chest. "How is he summoning and controlling them so fast?"

"He's not," answers Kendroll. One of the newest recruits to the Purifiers, Kendroll is the young Dwarf that Lord Wilhelm assigned E'Sarinn to look after. "That's a Dimensional Rift. He just opens the portal and lets them wander through. However the portal shouldn't be attracting this many, nor should they be fighting with such zeal for him. There must be something else at work here."

E'Sarinn pulls his scythe blade out of the Horror along with its heart. "Well we need to figure it out. We cannot just keep fighting wave after wave."

Pax and a Fenry circle each other, snarling, hackles raised and lips curled back with fangs bearing. Haven draws his short sword ready to help and takes in a long breath through his nose. He pauses and sniffs the air again with a cringe. "What is that smell?"

Fenix asks, "Smell? What smell?" She sniffs the air, then pinches her nose closed. "Eww ... smells like ... rotten eggs! Only worse!"

The eyes of Kendroll shift back and forth. Then he shouts, "That's it! He's using a Brimstone Candle!"

"A what?" asks E'Sarinn.

Kendroll answers, "A Brimstone Candle. It's like ... catnip for Demons and Deevils, highly addictive. The smell must be drawing them to the portal and what's sending them into this frenzied state once they get here."

E'Sarinn says, "So if we take it out, we can get this situation under control. Give me a target."

Looking around Kendroll says, "It has to be close-by. I don't see anything that looks like a candle down here so ..." He looks up. "It must be in the room behind his observation balcony. He can bring them in to fight for him while he stays safe, watching from a distance."

Shooter says, "Too high for you but --" He trails off as he notches an arrow and fires it towards the balcony in one smooth motion. The arrow hits an invisible field in front of the balcony and snaps in two. He notches another arrow without pause when an Imp attacks. He leaps back. In mid-air he lets loose his arrow and clips the Imp's tiny bat wings.

Above, the Summoner starts to retreat into deeper into the safety of his chambers. As he backs away he bumps into something solid behind him. The Mad Mage turns with a gasp, then falls silent.

Below a half melted candle falls to the ground, a faint trace of smoke still rising up from its now extinguished wick. A few seconds later H'Dargoyn jumps down from the balcony, the hair of the Circle Master's now severed head clutched between his fingers. "You want flesh? Here's the head of the one who brought you here!" He throws the head through the portal.

"I calls the tongue!" screams the Imp as it, and two other Deevils, jump through the portal after the head like a pack of wild animals.

H'Dargoyn says, "We still need to close that portal before any more come through."

Standing over the body of a fallen Fiend, Q'Uetel rushes over and places one hand against the ground as he invokes the power of Cleanse. The spell purges all the symbols of blood and excrement from the now immaculate stone floor. With the Circle destroyed and all its components removed, the Dimensional Rift to Dyval seals shut.

Kendroll says, "All that's left is to destroy the candle."

"No," responds H'Dargoyn. "Even the Summoner feared such an action. The release of all that mystic energy could cause untold ripples."

E'Sarinn limps towards them using his scythe as a walking stick, a trail of blood traveling down his leg. "And how would you know that?"

H'Dargoyn answers, "I have a way with people. He told me before he died."

Bastiel the Empty adds, "I can deal with it. I'll make sure no one gets hold of it again. But it'll take time. I don't recommend doing it here."

E'Sarinn continues to eye H'Dargoyn, but finally turns to Bastiel. "All right, you can take care of it. We should head back to the cabin and reunite with Z'Xen. We can figure out details while she heals our wounds."