Session #12 - A Dish Served Cold

Their tasks for Maggie completed and an additional five soul coins in their collection, it was time for the party to turn their attention to David while their vehicles were being made ready.  They convinced Maggie to take them most of the way in one of her vehicles.  “I have some salvage business up that direction anyway, and it wouldn’t do to have you die before you ever even manage to reach David’s tower.”

 

Maggie gave each of them a pair of goggles, not to aid in their vision but to prevent their eyes from being shredded by the sands of Avernus.  They climbed aboard the vehicle with some trepidation, not understanding how it operated.  All that is except for Donyxn who appeared exhilarated at the prospect of what was to come.

 

The vehicle was called Salvager.  It sat upon eight rubber wheels, each as tall as a man.  A cockpit was situated close the front where Maggie navigated the behemoth using a wheel similar to those found on larger ships.  Behind the cockpit was a partially open area, its sides four feet high and lacking any kind of roof.  The back third was given over to a swiveling boom crane.  Mickey accompanied them on the journey, as did a pair of red caps who eyed them warily.

 

Maggie removed a soul coin from a pouch on her belt and dropped it into a slot by the steering wheel.  A few seconds later the vehicle began to shudder, heat rising from the front in waves.  With a grumble it came to life, metal tubes attached to its side billowing black smoke and what sounded like screams.  The Salvager vibrated with barely contained energy.  Maggie turned back to where they sat in the open section, smiled, then stepped on a floor pedal that caused the machine to lurch forward.

 

It didn’t take long for them to become comfortable with the movements of the Salvager.  While the lack of proper seats made it less than comfortable, it was hardly the worst mode of transportation they had used and the speed was rather impressive, like that of a sprinting horse.  

 

The journey took a few hours, leaving everyone with time to become lost in their own thoughts.

 

Donyxn spent his time prepping his arrows, examining each individually and making the slightest of adjustments, a feather removed here, an arrowhead sharpened there.  While doing so he reflected on the way he was regarded back home, his infernal bloodline marking him as “other” in the eyes of most, a being to be distrusted and at times hated. Coming to Avernus felt comfortable from a physical standpoint and his appearance didn’t stick out in the slightest.  Yet somehow it didn’t feel right, the inescapable visceral sense of evil that permeated everything wore him down like sandpaper, layer by layer.  He looked forward to completing their quest and returning home.

 

Katla sat cross-legged reading the letter from Sensen.  How many times had she read it?  Hundreds.  The words of her former mentor and friend seldom brought comfort, only raising more questions in her mind.  Spending time trying to unravel Sensen’s meaning was a good distraction in times of trouble, her familiarity with the words filling her surface mind and allowing her deeper unconscious more freedom.  She didn’t need the letter any more; she’d memorized the words decades ago.  But the familiar shape of the handwriting, the way Sensen flourished his letter ‘s’, the ridiculously exaggerated ‘K’ he used when he wrote her name, anchored her to her past.  She could feel the hole his loss left in her soul on the barren planes of Avernus.

 

Almont’s right hand gripped his holy symbol, the medallion’s shape as familiar as the contours of his own face.  His eyes were closed in a combination of prayer and meditation as he envisioned the maneuvers he might use in the battle to come, the warhammer in his right hand, Lightbringer glowing and streaking light in his left.  As he fell deeper into a meditative trance the visions became less technical and more violent, his dream-self wading through seas of demons and devils, his weapons unleashing torrents of blood and black ichor.  Had his friends looked at him, they would have seen a slight smile forming at the corners of his mouth.

 

Kent sat as far away from the others as he could in one of the back corners.  His eyes, hidden behind the goggles, had a faraway look, while his hands busied themselves sharpening one of his daggers, swirling the blade against the sharpening stone in the same pattern over and over and over again, the sound of metal on stone putting him into the past.  His mind played the same scene on a continuous loop, the distillery on fire, the look of fear on Dothana’s face, and the sight of the arrow that took her life.  After a time, though, new scenes emerged, ones in which Kent killed David in different ways.  This time plunging the dagger into his back, the next piercing his heart with the scimitar, another beheading him, and others far too gruesome to recount.  A few of these ideas brought a thin-lipped smile to the dwarf’s face.

 

They were all still internally focused with the Salvager shuddered to a halt, lurching everyone forward.  “We’re here,” shouted Maggie over the sound of the infernal engine.

 

Looking over the side of the vehicle they could see they were at a sharp bend in the Styx.  During the course of their journey the river ran parallel to their path of travel, but now it was perpendicular, heading away to their left.  In the distance was a squat black tower sitting atop a rise overlooking the river.  

 

“That’s David’s tower you can see there.  It’s probably an hour walk from here.  But be wary, there are other warlords who operate here and if you’re spotted they will certainly fall upon you.  We have other business to attend to, but will be back her in perhaps six hours time and will wait for a time to see if you return.”

 

The four adventurers descended from the vehicle and began the walk west without so much as a word to Maggie.  She smiled and laughed as their shapes grew smaller.  “I hope it hurts.”

 

Thankfully the walk was uneventful.  As they got closer a pair of large figures came into focus, and they appeared to be throwing small boulders at boats in the river.  Given what they’d seen so far they suspected the boats were demon barges.  But the nature of the creatures assailing them was difficult to discern.

 

Once they were within about 500 feet of the tower it became clear what they were dealing with.

 

“Hill giants,” grunted Kent.  “I hate hill giants.”

 

Donyxn looked at his friend and smiled.  “Did I ever tell you about the time I helped rid the town of Rock Creek of a meddlesome hill giant?  They paid handsomely in coin, and some of the local women were particularly grateful.”

 

Kent shook his head and chuckled, reaching into his cloak to take a swig from his flask, which he then offered up to Donyxn.

 

They were discussing how to deal with the giants, who were at this point paying them no notice, when Donyxn, who was standing off to the side, interjected.  “Don’t forget the spined devils.”

 

“What spined devils?” Katla asked.

 

“The ones on the tower’s roof.”  Donyxn’s magic goggles enhanced his already excellent vision, so the devils were easy for him to pick out.  The others had to try a bit harder, but eventually they could discern the movement on the tower’s roof.  “I make three, no, four of them total.”

 

At that moment an imp appeared, the same who greeted them when they crossed the Styx after defeating the hell wasps.  “If you get past the giants David will be waiting for you,” it said.

 

“So what’s in this for you?” Kent asked.

 

The imp looked at him curiously.  “What do you mean?”

 

“What do you get from serving David?”

 

“I’m am sworn to his service.”

 

“So if he were dead, then what?”

 

The imp considered this.  “I would still be sworn to my master.”

 

“And who, pray tell, is that?”

 

“The great bone devil Yazu.”

 

Donyxn snorted, the imp turning to the tiefling, then back to Kent, who was chuckling and shaking his head.

 

“I don’t understand, what is funny?” the imp asked.

 

“Your master is dead,” Almont said flatly.  “At our hands.  Not three days ago.”

 

The imp considered this.  “Where?”

 

“In Elturel.  At the Shield Hall.  Yazu led a force of devils to destroy it, and we destroyed him instead,” replied Almont.

 

“Well, to be fair, Kent did die for a few moments before the paladin priestess restored his soul to his body,” Donyxn clarified.

 

“Why do you keep bringing that up,” Kent asked.  “It has no bearing on the story.”

 

The dwarf and tiefling began to bicker as the imp looked on, trying to understand what was happening.

 

Katla addressed the imp.  “We killed your master Yazu.  And shortly we will kill his servant David.  That should leave you free, or as free as a creature can be in Avernus.  Perhaps you should help us.”

 

The imp’s wings beat rapidly.  “Perhaps.  Perhaps if you kill the giants we shall speak again.”  With that it disappeared.

 

Ultimately the party decided to make it more or less a straight fight, all their creative ideas difficult to execute on the wide-open ground before them.  Katla’s ranged spells could inflict damage even at this distance, and if they closed to three hundred feet they giants would be in range Donyxn’s bow and Almont’s crossbow.  Kent was a bit more limited in options, so he decided to move up on the right flank to see if he might be able to find an attack vector.

 

Their plan in place they walked forward to get within bow range.  The giants stood next to one another now observing the group, but making no effort to move toward them.  Had they taken the initiative they might have had a chance.  But hill giants weren’t renown for their intelligence, and this pair were especially dim.  They were also huge, fifteen-foot-tall mounds of muscle and fat, nude except, mercifully, for some loose fabric covering their midsections. 

 

“I’ve been wanting to try something new,” Katla said with a grin.  A few words and a wave of her left hand caused six fist-sized black rocks to emerge from the ground, floating in the air to a height just above her head.  They began to slowly circle there before one more whispered word made them ignite.  The burning rocks continued to languidly circle here as her grin broadened into a smile. 

 

“I don’t even want to know,” Kent said.  He then turned and dashed off at an angle to begin his flanking attempt.

 

Donyxn launched the first arrow to get the range, distances being hard to judge in Avernus.  His arrow landed about ten feet short.  “I make it 310 feet,” he observed.

 

With that the spined devils at the top of the tower took flight.  One flew low to a point just above the giants while the other three circled the roof.

 

The giants began to laugh and taunt their assailants, remaining in the same spots. Donyxn and Almont both fired their weapons at the same time.  The ranger’s arrow arrived first, planting itself squarely in the foot of the giant to the right.  It howled in pain, lifting up its foot and cradling it in its massive hand, its companion looking at the arrow confusedly.  That is until Almont’s crossbow bolt arrived and struck the already injured giant in the left thigh, causing an even louder how.

 

That got their attention.

 

The pair of giants looked at them angrily and picked up their clubs, which more closely resembled trees stripped of their branches than they did formal weapons.  Before they could move forward they again got confused looks on their faces and turned their gazes upwards.  Just in time to be struck by the first of the fist-sized ice balls unleashed by the ice storm Katla created just above them. 

 

The spined devil above the giants was immediately shredded and fell from the sky.  The uninjured giant escaped the brief but severe weather event, though it did take some damage.  The other stood there and took the full onslaught of the storm.  When it emerged it was covered in welts, some bleeding, along with an arrow and a bolt sticking out of its left leg.  As soon as it walked out of the spell’s radius three more arrows struck it, two from Donyxn and one from Almont.  It staggered back from the blows, stopping its momentum and making it a perfect target for Katla.

 

With a flash a pair of the flaming stones circling Katla flew forward, trailing orange flame.  They struck the stunned giant in the chest, exploding in a shower of small, sharp, burning rocks.  The giant bellowed in rage and agony.

 

Both giants now strode forward.  Each carried a pair of small boulders the size of halflings along with their clubs.  After a few strides both reared back to throw one of their rocks.

 

At this point Kent was about sixty feet in front of the party, and another 30 feet to their right.  Seeing the giants readying themselves to throw he turned back toward the group and shouted, “Look out for the boulders!”  

 

What Kent didn’t realize is that one of those boulders was headed directly at him, the injured giant choosing to throw its rock at the closest opponent.  The dwarf never saw it coming.  Which means he didn’t see it hit the ground ten feet to his right.  In fact the first time he became aware of the rock was as it passed over his head on its first bounce, the air movement created by its passing causing his ubiquitous hat to fly off his head as he cheated certain death by blind luck. 

 

The second boulder was aimed at Almont, but at this distance he had plenty of time to take a few steps and move out of its path.  

 

The spined devils continued to circle the front of the tower but made no effort to get involved.

 

Donyxn placed two more arrows in the badly injured giant, slowing it even further.  Almont’s shot missed, his movement to avoid the boulder disrupting his aim.  Katla fired off two bolts of Eldritch energy, striking the giant to the right.  It staggered, a half dozen arrows and bolts protruding from it and dozens of small puncture wounds dotting it’s skin.  Off balance it made no effort to avoid the second pair of flaming mini meteors that Katla directed at it, both of which exploded as they struck it.  

 

Despite its injuries the beast still had enough strength to throw its second boulder at Kent.  This time the dwarf was paying attention and dodged it easily.  The other giant, seeing how badly its companion was injured, roared with rage as it catapulted its remaining stone.

 

This one was thrown with much greater velocity than the others and Donyxn was caught flat-footed.  He partially dodged the stone, but it caught his left leg as it went by and spun the ranger around.  

 

Donyxn recovered quickly and in one smooth motion went to one knee and sent an arrow at the stumbling giant, hitting it in the right eye.  It managed one more step forward before falling to its knees, then face-first into the ground.  

 

Almont and Katla turned their attention to the other giant, which reached down as it ran and grabbed another large rock.  Almont hit it with a crossbow bold while Katla unleashed a bolt of flame and her last two meteors, all of which struck home.  

 

The giant’s loincloth began to burn.  With a grimace of pain on its face it threw its remaining boulder, once again striking Donyxn, though this time on the bounce.  While that muted the impact somewhat the ranger was knocked flat on his back and slow to recover.

 

With the death of the first giant Kent made a beeline for the second, approaching it from its left side and hitting it with a bolt from his pistol crossbow.  It turned and looked at the bolt in its left arm, then up at Kent.  Kent came skidding to a stop.  Seeing that the dwarf was closer than the other three, it turned and ran toward him, raising its club menacingly.

 

The giant took another crossbow bold from Almont, as well as an arrow from Donyxn, who fired from his back.  Katla threw a flaming chromatic orb at the beast that slammed into its right side, expanding the fire that was now burning the giant’s hair.  

 

Kent wisely turned to run, preposterously firing his crossbow blindly over his shoulder.  Even more preposterously he managed to hit the giant, the small blot striking its let shoulder.

 

The giant was gaining on Kent quickly and it appeared the dwarf was moments away from being clubbed.  Despite his injuries Donyxn was back on his feet and took an extra second to aim at the moving giant.  The shot was perfect, the arrow penetrating the right side of the giant’s skull.  As it died it fell forward and it was only Kent’s magic boots that kept the dwarf from being crushed by the falling mountain of flesh.

 

The three spined devils continued to circle the area in front of the tower, seemingly confident they would not come under attack next.  

 

They were wrong. 

 

An Eldritch blast from Katla followed by one of Donyxn’s arrows knocked the first from the sky and sent the remaining two into evasive maneuvers.  Another pair emerged from the rooftop, formed up with the others, and the four began an attack run at the party.

 

The devils were badly outgunned and quickly dispatched.  Almont was struck by a few spines, both otherwise the battle with the flying beasts left everyone unscathed.  

 

The group approached the tower.  It was a squat nine-sided building, only two levels high judging by the placement of the windows.  The blackened stone comprising its outer walls was covered with a thick layer of soot and grime, and while sturdy the construction felt haphazard.  Chains anchored to hooks on the walls led down to posts sunk into the ground, while dozens of other chains hung loosely from the roof down the sides.  There was a door ahead of them.

 

Katla looked to Lola, who had simply flitted about above the sorceress during the recent melee.  “Lola, can you fly around the building?  Look in the windows and let us know what you see.”

 

Lola smiled and nodded eagerly as she often did when Katla spoke to her.  The hollyphant first circled the tower’s first floor, then gained altitude and did the same with the second.  As she reappeared from the backside of the building, just about to complete her reconnaissance, two blasts of Eldritch energy blasted through one of the windows.  One missed her, but the second singed Lola’s back before she could change direction.  She quickly dove lower and returned to the group.

 

“David is on the second floor.  There are others with him, but I could not tell how many before he tried to hurt me.”  She wasn’t badly injured but was still shaken.  “There are two bearded devils on the first floor.”

 

“How do we want to handle David?”  Katla asked.

 

“What if one of us was invisible?  Katla could create an illusion of that person to make it seem they were still with us, and that would allow them to sneak up on him,” Donyxn suggested.

 

“I’ll do it.  I’m the most sure-footed, and my blade thirsts for David’s blood.”  Kent’s voice was a rasp, his rage barely contained.

 

“I think it should be someone other than Kent,” Almont said.  Kent shot him a look.  “Here me out.  David enjoys tormenting Kent.  We need him there to respond to the taunts to buy time for whoever is invisible.  It won’t work if you’re the illusion.”

 

Kent could not fault this logic.  “Then who?”

 

Almont had already thought about this.  “It can’t be you, and Katla needs to be visible to control the illusion.  Donyxn’s arrows are his most effective weapons.  That leaves me.”

 

Kent stared at Almont, his eyes burning.  “Just remember, priest, he dies by my sword.”  Almont nodded, as did Katla and Donyxn in turn.  

 

But first they had to deal with the bearded devils.  Leaving aside any pretense of subtlety, they simply walked in the front door.

 

The bottom floor of the tower was one large room.  The space was barren, a few debris and bone fragments littering some of the corners.  To the right side along the wall a staircase curved around the building and disappeared into the first floor ceiling.  

 

Standing in the center of the room were two bearded devils, just as Lola said there would be.  With them was the imp, which turned to face them as they entered.

 

“We’ve been discussing your offer.”

 

“Have you now,” smiled Katla.

 

“We are sworn to serve Yazu, as is David.  Yazu gave us to David as his servants.”

 

“Did you really kill Yazu?” asked one of the bearded devils in strained common.

 

“I swear by Kiri-Jolith it is true.  We killed Yazu,” Almont answered sternly.

 

The devils and imp considered this and had a quick, quiet conversation amongst themselves.  

 

“If Yazu and David were to both be dead, we would be master-less.  If we were to maintain control over the tower that may come to the attention of another greater devil who will reward us,” explained the imp.  “David is upstairs.  He is attended by a half dozen lemures, which should cause you little trouble, and a pair of merregons, which are much more dangerous.”

 

“Are you coming with us?” Almont asked.

 

“No,” the imp replied.  “There are rules, and that kind of rebellion would not be tolerated, even if we were victorious.  No, we will wait down here and prevent anyone from coming up the stairs behind you.  You may take whatever you find upstairs and then leave when it is done.”

 

Almont looked at each member of the party in turn, and they all nodded in assent.  “Agreed.”

 

“But know this, devils,” Kent interjected.  “David dies by my hand and no other.  If one of you ends his life, I will end yours.”

 

If the devils were intimidated they didn’t show it.  “As you wish.”

 

Katla studied Almont intently for a minute.  Once she was sure she had all the details in her mind she cast an invisibility spell on the cleric, making him disappear before their eyes.  That accomplished, she conjured up an illusionary image of Almont.  It couldn’t speak, which some considered an improvement, but she could make it move and it would fool any casual observer.

 

“Donyxn, where’s that raven?” Kent asked.

 

Donyxn looked at him quizzically for a moment, then nodded in understanding.  He reached into his pack and pulled out David’s raven.  They captured it back in Elturel at the Shield Hall.  It had since died, but some basic taxidermy by the ranger kept it somewhat intact.  

 

His scimitar in one hand, the raven in the other, Kent looked to Katla and Donyxn.  “Let’s go.”  Before anyone could reply he started up the stairs.

 

When they reached the second floor the three adventurers and the illusion of Almont spread out to give themselves some space for the fight that was sure to come.  Invisible Almont was the last to ascend and he immediately began to make his way along the wall to the left.

 

Like the first floor, the second was comprised of one large room.  Directly across from the stairs and against the far wall was a low dais flanked by two pillars to the left and another two to the right.  David stood upon the dais, two sword-wielding merregons in front of him at floor level.  

 

Between them and the party were six lemures.  Reddish-brown, they looked as if cast from clay.  The top half of their bodies was vaguely humanoid, the part below the waist simply an undulating blob.  They wore anguished facial expressions that flowed like oil and they made gibbering sounds that implied their mental states were as deranged as their physical appearances.

 

“Ah, Kent Karrus and friends!  If it isn’t the bird murderers themselves!”  David smiled magnanimously.

 

“If you weren’t so weak I’d still be alive,” Kent replied in shrill voice, holding the raven in front of his face and bobbing it up and down as if it were talking.  He then threw the bird at David, but given its rather low weight it only made it as far as the lemures, which quickly ripped it to pieces in a frenzy.

 

Donyxn and Katla were both concerned that Kent was losing it.  They hoped this was an act.

 

“So predictable.  Just like a Karrus.  No imagination.  And no ability to protect your women.  Any of them.”  With that David looked to the pillars to his left and extended his hand.  “For example.”

 

Reya emerged from behind the pillar, devoid of her armor and clad only in dirty, bloodstained rags, her hands bound behind her back.  “Why didn’t you come back for us,” she asked in a pleading tone.  “We trusted you, and now they’re dead.  All of them are dead,” she wept.

 

Almont continued to skirt the wall, moving as quickly and quietly as he could.  He had to reach David before the fighting broke out.

 

“That’s not Reya,” Donyxn said, his anger showing.  “She would never surrender to the likes of you.”

 

“And what would you know of it, tiefling?  You weren’t good enough to become a paladin like her.  You failed the trials.”

 

Donyxn looked stunned.  How did David know about his past?

 

“I know everything about you, Donyxn.”

 

“It’s not her, it’s not Reya,” Katla whispered.  “He’s trying to confuse you.  Focus.”

 

Turning back to Kent, David continued.  “After we burned down your family’s distillery and murdered everyone in your extended family, I came to the attention of Zariel.  She liked my style.  She offered me powers I couldn’t refuse.”

 

Just keep him talking for a few moments longer, Almont thought, circling around behind the pillars to David’s right.

 

“I can offer you power as well, power the likes of which you can’t imagine.  All you need to do is fall to your knees and swear fealty to me.”  David smiled, his arms outstretched.

 

The smile melted, replaced by a look of surprise, then one of agony as Almont materialized behind the wizard, his left hand gripping David’s right shoulder.  A wave of necrotizing magic flowed through the cleric’s hand and into his adversary.  Almont could tell that the attack hurt David, but it was not as powerful as he hoped it would be.  

 

The room exploded in movement.

 

A pair of arrows, shrouded in a hail of magic thorns, flew forth from Donyxn’s bow.  The shot was perfect, aimed directly at David’s chest, but it failed to connect because one of the merregons stepped into the path and took both arrows into its own chest.

 

At the same time Katla threw a pair of lightning chromatic orbs, one directed at each merregon.  Almont was badly outnumbered at the other side of the room and she needed to even the odds.  As the crackling orbs launched forth, the Almont illusion dissipated, its job done.  Both balls of lighting struck home, blanketing the merregons in crackling energy and leaving them criss-crossed with black scorch marks. 

 

David broke Almont’s grip, moving to his left and avoiding a swipe from the cleric’s warhammer.  This wizard clapped his hands and on the other side of the room a black portal opened, tentacles whipping out of it and lashing at Kent, Katla, and Donyxn.

 

One of the merregons remained in front of David to shield the wizard from attacks from the other side of the room.  The other lunged at Almont, the cleric using the warhammer in his right hand to parry a pair of blows from its sword.  Seeing an opening past the attacking merregon the priest extended his left hand and called forth a guided bolt of energy.

 

Kiri-Jolith favors the bold and Almont felt the god’s presence for just a moment, infusing his energy attack with added power.  The second merregon was preoccupied with the party on the other side of the room and failed to shield David, who took the blast full to the chest.  It blasted him back five feet and into one of the pillars.

 

(Breaking the fourth wall for a moment, for D&D players I got a crit on Almont’s attack roll (for non-players, that means I rolled a 20-sided die and it came up 20), so the third level Guided Bolt struck for 12d6 damage.  And I rolled hot on the damage as well, doing 53 HP with the strike.)

 

“Protect me, you fools!”  David shouted as he pulled himself up off the ground.

 

Kent sprinted forward on his magic boots, circling around the onrushing lemures.  He was confident Katla and Donyxn could take care of them.  As he dashed he withdrew a wand from his belt, pointed it at the merregon protecting David, and bellowed.

 

The wand was called a wand of magic missiles, and it had the ability to fire darts of magic energy at his opponents.  Taking a calculated risk Kent unleashed the entire store of the wand’s energy at once.  He knew there was a risk of it exploding in his hand, but this was not a time to hold back.  Twenty-one glowing darts of energy flew forth, all of them connecting with and penetrating the merregon.  Its mass kept it from being knocked from its feet but it still fell backwards, dead before it hit the floor, the holes left by the missiles wafting with smoke.

 

On the other side of the room Katla and Donyxn were lashed by tentacles from the portal while also facing off against the six lemures arrayed in front of them.  What the lemures were too stupid to realize, however, was that by getting this close they too were now in range of the tentacles and the space in front of the portal became a roiling frenzy.

 

Though he was facing attacks on two fronts Donyxn chose to fire another pair of arrows at David, recognizing the wizard was the true threat in the room.  As the merregon guarding the wizard fell to Kent’s magic missiles the ranger saw his opportunity and planted two arrows into David, one in his chest the other in his left arm.

 

Katla knew she had to create some space to all her and Donyxn to get away from the portal.  Her hands shot forth two rays for frozen energy, obliterating a pair of lemures while tentacles from the portal grabbed two others and pulled them inside.  

 

On the other side of the room Almont was still in a dangerous fight.  David lurched forwarded, his face a mask of pain and anger, foam at the corners of his mouth.  “You… will… die…”  The wizard extended both arms and sent two blasts of Eldritch energy at the cleric.  One struck him in the shoulder, the other missed, the arrow sticking out of David’s left arm preventing him from aiming steadily.  

 

The merregon also landed a blow with its sword, knocking Almont backwards.  That created a bit of space between the priest and the devil, once again providing an opening that Almont exploited to strike the heretic with another guided bolt of energy.  As David staggered back from the impact he was waylaid by a dwarf running at full speed.

 

Kent crashed into his badly wounded nemesis, knocking him to the ground and landing on top of the wizard.  The rogue’s eyes burned with rage as he reached behind his back, retrieved his immovable rod, and set it in place against David’s neck, pinning him to the ground.  “I’ve been dreaming of different ways to do this David.  Which should I choose?”  Kent grinned maniacally.

 

As Kent basked in the impending realization of his revenge, Donyxn put down the remaining merregon with a pair of arrows while Katla blasted the remaining lemures out of existence.  The portal blinked closed behind them, David no longer able to maintain the concentration required to hold it open.  

 

Only David remained. 

 

“I’m going to enjoy this,” Kent muttered, reaching toward a pouch on his belt.

 

“This is your last chance, Karrus,” David rasped beneath the weight of the dwarf and the pressure of the metal rod on his neck.  “Join me and I will give you power you can only dream of.”

 

“The only thing I’ve been dreaming of is this moment, David.”

 

“Suit yourself.”  David reached up quickly with his right hand, tugged at the collar of his robe, and disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

 

Kent bellowed in rage, still on his knees and looking around the room like a rabid dog.  

 

A voice from downstairs brought him back to sanity.  “David is down here!  Hurry, we will hold him for you!”  It was the voice of the imp.

 

Despite Donyxn and Katla being closer, Kent was the first to reach the staircase.  He flew down the steps three at a time, only his magic boots preventing him from falling and breaking his neck.

 

The others followed behind as quickly as they could.  When they reached the bottom they saw Kent straddling the prone wizard, the dwarf’s knees pinning David’s arms to the floor.  The two bearded devils were a few feet away to Kent’s left, the imp hovering to his right.  None of the infernals made any moves to aid their master.  

 

“No more games, David.”  Kent unsheathed his scimitar, pressing its tip into the flesh under the wizard’s jaw.  “For Dothana,” he whispered as he shoved the blade up and into David’s brain.  

 

Kent hunched over, his physical and emotional energy spent.  Donyxn approached and extended his hand.  “Come, brother.  It is done.”