Our morning was overcast, a change from the fairly relentless sun we\u2019d experienced across the Hastwith desert.\u00a0 Surprisingly cool, a southerly breeze was chasing up from the pass just visible on the horizon.\u00a0 Smoke from the fire added a stale smell to the air, already weighted with humidity.\u00a0 I came out of my tent and moved to the fire, extending my hands to warm them up while tapping a finger on the kettle to check its contents.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Full, good thing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I poured a bit of water into my mug and added some dried mint leaves to make a weak tea, and sat on a \u201cstool,\u201d little more than a carved piece of rock around the semipermanent firepit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The others had arisen already, and were variously bustling about.\u00a0 Sered was off to one side discussing something with Bingo, while Karac worked out with his axe in a small clearing.\u00a0 Morin sat on a similar stool on the opposite side of the fire, smoking a clay pipe.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I finished my tea and was stretching my back before returning for my gear, when I noticed Bingo heading off back the way we\u2019d come.\u00a0 Puzzled, I called out to him, but he never turned, just kept heading away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s he going?\u201d\u00a0 I nodded in the direction of the diminutive bowman when Sered walked back to us.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s seen us this far, he\u2019s heading back to Al\u2019Veydra now.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?!?\u00a0 He\u2019s just leaving us?\u201d\u00a0 I dropped my hands to my sides, spilling tea on the dusty ground.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re under no contract to remain with each other, he has things to attend to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike leaving us without any warning at all?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going on business for Fellbane.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that mean?\u00a0 If it\u2019s something for us, then it\u2019s something we should all hear about!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has his reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I hope his reasons don\u2019t leave us finding his bleached little bones in the desert, because I\u2019ve half a mind to set him on fire from here.\u201d\u00a0 I looked down, realized I\u2019d spilled my tea on my boots, and tossed my cup aside.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Something howled in the distance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An hour later, we had discussed what to do with our time here at Vor Kragal.\u00a0 Serim Selduzzar had told us that Kaenig had visited the Pool of Bronze to gain a boon and a memento for his troops to follow in the form of a new metallic arm, and I was torn on whether such action might be necessary for myself.\u00a0 Ultimately, it seemed more important that we travel after him rather than waste days here chasing what might be a pointless effort.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As we were discussing this, another Shadrim entered the camp from the caldera, hooded and cloaked against the ashen winds.\u00a0 He dropped a few coins \u2013 ancient, tarnished things with a patina that can only come from long periods undisturbed \u2013 into a bucket next to Selduzzar\u2019s own tent.\u00a0 I walked over to the bucket and examine d a few of them, comparing them to a few of the remaining ones I still possessed from my former life as a citizen of Bael Turath.\u00a0 My own money still had the glimmer of newness, of fresh use.\u00a0 These relics were old, they almost smelled old in my hands\u2026marred with scratches, etched with soot, they had seen disaster and decay in plenty.\u00a0 Two were even melted together, testifying to some great calamity they had witnessed as impartial observers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Shadrim un-hooded himself and poured hot water into a bowl of\u2026something.\u00a0 I think it might have been soup at one time.\u00a0 \u201cWell met,\u201d he said, regarding the bunch of us.\u00a0 \u201cWhen did you arrive here?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cJust last night, yourself?\u201d\u00a0 Morin replied.\u00a0 Only his eyes followed the Shadrim, the rest of his body made no move other than to breathe and occasionally pull smoke in from the pipe.\u00a0 He had watched my exchange with Sered closely, but said nothing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been here several weeks, exploring the outlying sections of the city.\u201d\u00a0 He nodded towards the edge of the crater.\u00a0 \u201cSelduzzar has helped me in finding my way.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you from?\u201d\u00a0 Morin pulled a small pouch out, extracting more pipe-weed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cBanner.\u00a0 Lived there most of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cBit of a long way to have come on your own, no?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWasn\u2019t alone.\u00a0 I joined Caudlron\u2019s Boil a couple months back, and we were coming here together.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cComing here sounds like you didn\u2019t all arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The man hesitated for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cWe didn\u2019t.\u00a0 I\u2019m the only one.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Morin looked more interested.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Shadrim shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI convinced them to come here, I was looking for traces of my ancestors \u2013 I am a descendant of House Zolfura.\u00a0 We made about a week when we hit Tarsis, and we heard of their troubles.\u00a0 Decided to stick it out and help.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I nodded.\u00a0 \u201cWe found Tarsis ourselves.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t stay, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHow was it?\u00a0 Had anything improved?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I shook my head.\u00a0 \u201cNo, the town was dead when we arrived.\u00a0 Perhaps sixty living survivors.\u00a0 We got them out, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Morin looked back to the Shadrim.\u00a0 \u201cWhat was it like when you were there?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He looked steadily at us, shifting his gaze from one to the other.\u00a0 \u201cMany people had disappeared, but there were still thousands, perhaps six or eight thousand, still there.\u00a0 People were getting sick, and they knew there was a problem with the dead rising.\u00a0 But the whole town is gone now?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Morin nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI take it you were defeated then?\u00a0 What happened to the other survivors of Cauldron\u2019s Boil?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat survivors?\u00a0 I\u2019m it.\u00a0 They were all killed, we were overrun.\u00a0 I only just escaped with my life.\u201d\u00a0 He set his bowl aside, apparently no longer hungry.\u00a0 \u201cI stumbled onto a few nomads heading this way, and I had nothing to lose.\u00a0 I traded my way for passage here, been here ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your name, then?\u201d\u00a0 Morin turned his eyes back to the coals of the fire.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cDeimos.\u00a0 Yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cMorin.\u00a0 That\u2019s there Azrael, the blue-skinned one is Sered, and that\u2019s Karac over there.\u00a0 Bingo was the midget who left a little while ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you all doing here?\u00a0 Going into the ruins?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThought about it, but it sounds like we\u2019re going south.\u00a0 Know anything about the army that was here a few days ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cJust that they went in and found the Pool.\u00a0 They were here arming up, so there might have been a trip to the Crucible in there, but I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Deimos looked around at each of us.\u00a0 \u201cWell, if you\u2019re short-handed, I\u2019m available.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sered looked over at me, the question on his face.\u00a0 I raised my hands up, palms out.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re all free to come and go, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I walked off, pulling a cigar out and lighting it off a small conjured flame.\u00a0 I stared out over the caldera, as the grey light filtered in on it.\u00a0 A deep fog filled the bowl of the mountain, from which the Charspire extended like a blackened finger.\u00a0 A few other small tower peaks broke through the mist, but only momentary glimpses revealed their presence.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After a period of thinking things over, I turned back to the camp and gathered my gear up and packed it back into the saddlebags before strapping them back on my horse.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The others did much the same, and we started out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Somewhen during the following day, as we were passing through a wide expanse of scrub, we found ourselves among irregular \u2018ponds\u2019 of black ashes that stirred as though things swam within them.\u00a0 The darkness of the black was so profound that you couldn\u2019t really focus your vision upon it, your eye just seemed to slide away from the shadow and onto the land next to it.\u00a0 Something like a drowning man clawing back onto shore, your vision accepted the normal ground with relief at finding something solid upon which to settle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I\u2019d known this sort of thing could happen, magic of ancient pacts had the power and the virility to defile portions of the ground it touched.\u00a0 I suppose this was once a battlefield upon which that sort of conflagration had been unleashed.\u00a0 Whether it was my ancestors or the Arkhosians, or perhaps even some Nerathian interloper since then, I could not tell.\u00a0 I only knew the stained earth and ash was a dangerous commodity \u2013 and not something to be trifled with.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We steered among the pools carefully, treading only on solid earth.\u00a0 Perhaps it was this very caution that provided enough distraction for the wolves to sneak up on us, for they set on us without warning from almost every side.\u00a0 They were a grotesque form of wolf or lizard, it was hard to tell specifically what group they belonged to \u2013 there were scales, claws, fur, the long-jawed skull of a wolf and the howl of a pack hunter.\u00a0 There really weren\u2019t many of them, but those that were, were both quick and strong.\u00a0 Perhaps six in total.\u00a0 Without even thinking, Deimos unleashed some burst of lightning that danced among each of them, singeing fur and scoring flesh.\u00a0 Before we knew it several had teamed up on Sered, forcing him into the pond of ash behind him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The ash swelled up around his legs, and like a vomitus of molasses crept up past his waist.\u00a0 Tiny violet sparks sang out with the smell of rot over the ozone of Deimos\u2019 arcane power, and Sered adopted the look of grim determination he normally wore when he resigned himself to fighting down to the ground.\u00a0 He swung a blow clean through one of the three lizard-hounds that was harrying him, but as he did the other two brought him down under their thrashing jaws.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I ripped my way through space, teleporting to the shore next to him, and swung my dagger with a charge of eldritch power behind the stroke.\u00a0 The weapon buried itself to the hilt in the creature\u2019s flank, and the power surge detonated into its body, throwing it into the froth of black dust and ash.\u00a0 Deimos meanwhile flung a bolt of lightning across the field that cast the other into the ashes as well, and set it into wild spasms.\u00a0 Both hounds howled furiously as they hit the blackness, struggling to keep their heads above the surface.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We dragged Sered\u2019s unconscious form out of the ashes, which made a curiously slick sucking sound that was almost inaudible as it relinquished its hold upon him.\u00a0 Once he was secure on solid ground, I raised up to take stock of the other enemies on the field.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The pair of dwarves had gone back-to-back, and between Karac\u2019s axe and Morin\u2019s brilliant flames and beams, the other three animals were swiftly being taken to task.\u00a0 One had already gone into full retreat, howling plaintively as it receded into the scrub brush.\u00a0 Another lay in a bloody mess at Karac\u2019s feet, its body leaking a strange combination of red and black fluid that did not mix when they met.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As I wound up to infect the remaining one\u2019s mind with nightmare, Karac landed a blow with the flat of his axe against its side that drove it to the ground, and his follow up drove the point of the shaft above the blade down through its eye.\u00a0 The body struggled for a few moments, trying to drag itself away from the weapon pinning it to the ground, but the axe was firmly embedded in the ground and had the beast locked in place.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sered came to with a little water in the face, and Morin turned out to be more than just a magical healer.\u00a0 As he was tending to Sered\u2019s wounds, the rest of us retrieved our mounts.\u00a0 When we were returning, I saw Morin reach up and hold the Deva\u2019s face in his hand.\u00a0 \u201cHold still.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He pried open Sered\u2019s eye and held it, looking hard into his face.\u00a0 \u201cNot good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of you, come here.\u201d\u00a0 Morin waved us all around to him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is infected with mind rot.\u201d\u00a0 He looked down at his hands, turning them over.\u00a0 He told Karac, \u201cLook into my eyes here.\u00a0 Do you see it bloodshot?\u00a0 Bloodshot with black, not red?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karac looked at him, then leaned back and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYep.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, I\u2019ve got it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Over the next few minutes, he inspected all of us.\u00a0 With the exception of Deimos, we were all infected.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me a bit of time here.\u201d\u00a0 He went through his packs and found several bags and jars.\u00a0 He whipped together some concoction in a mortar dish, muttering over the container, and wiped it into his eyes.\u00a0 Sneezed three times, hard.\u00a0 When he stood after the third sneeze, a trickle of blood ran from his nose staining his moustache.\u00a0 He looked back at Karac.\u00a0 \u201cStill black?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The dwarf warrior shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNope, red now.\u00a0 Maybe a little more spread than before.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Morin nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYep, that\u2019s good.\u00a0 Each of you, take some of this and put a bit of it in your eyes.\u00a0 Each one.\u00a0 Better if you do both eyes at once.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I did as he told us, getting some of the greasy gray paste on each forefinger and spreading it onto my lower eyelids.\u00a0 When I closed my eyes, a sense of burning, like acid, covered my eyes as though I\u2019d dunked them in a vat of the stuff.\u00a0 Then, in a flash, the pain was gone \u2013 and in the moment where my face relaxed, my sinuses went haywire, forcing me to sneeze violently.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When I rose up, I too had a bloody nose, but that was the extent of my injuries.\u00a0 Each of us had a small stain in our eyes, I saw \u2013 a grey smudge at the corner of the left eye.\u00a0 Strange effect, that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After resting a short while \u2013 and flinging the bodies of the hounds into the pools of darkness \u2013 we remounted and headed on our way.\u00a0 We passed through the ruins of a town, around which were scattered the ribs of an ancient Turathian airship, a zeppelin that had once served as an observation device as well as an aerial assault platform.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The following afternoon, towards nightfall, we came into sight of the Bonegate \u2013 the enormous pass between the mountains, fortified on each side by towers and battlements constructed of millions upon millions of bones, and arched with a skyway of similar ossified remains.\u00a0 I remembered the tales of its creation, how the necromantic energies binding the bones together made the gate more impregnable than if a mountain itself had stood there.\u00a0 Though I was sure the abjurations had long since faded from the gate, its structure remained against the elements, so some portion of its enchantments must have remained.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We put up for the night in a crushed keep just short of the Gate, overlooking the pass.\u00a0 Through the night, shadowy echoes of armies long passed drifted through the air, and the colorful fade-and-surge lights of more of the living spells gave the Bonegate a fascinating, if dreadful, atmosphere.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The following morning we set out a bit earlier than we\u2019d expected, most of us quiet after our night watching the lights and listening to the ageless souls of long-dead armies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We were passing through the other side of the gate, when we came to realize our path ahead was blocked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An enormous devil stood on the road, flanked by two Shadrim mounted on nightmares.\u00a0 A small squad of four or six infantry spread out from them, infernals all.\u00a0 Malebranche, I remember the name being given to the thing that led them all.\u00a0 A devil of war.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHold and return, Azrael.\u00a0 Your presence here is unwelcome, and if you do not turn about, you and your thralls will be slain.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I pulled up the reigns, and held a hand back to keep the others in abeyance.\u00a0 Dismounting, a walked forward.\u00a0 \u201cYou have me at a disadvantage.\u00a0 What may I call you?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI am Sariel.\u00a0 You are Azrael Ille Macreane, and you are prohibited from passing further.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no quarrel with you, my lord, only with he who leads the army we follow.\u201d\u00a0 As I spoke, I saw several of the other devils moving to either side of us, setting up flanking positions.\u00a0 \u201cHe is a betrayer, and I would have my\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know of your plans, Azrael.\u00a0 Horn Prince Kaenig has the support of the Lord of the Rod.\u00a0 You are ordered to return from whence you came and trouble him no more.\u201d\u00a0 As he said this, he flung a small object to the sand before me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I reached down and picked it up.\u00a0 A small chess-piece, a pawn, weathered and beaten.\u00a0 Much the same as the one Mahar had used on his board in Al\u2019Veydra.\u00a0 Perhaps of the same set.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sered spoke quietly.\u00a0 \u201cThis enemy is beyond us, Azrael.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I stood for a long while, looking at the force arrayed against me.\u00a0 I recognized the two Shadrim now.\u00a0 Zakne and Molonor, they had been contemporaries of mine in the Cairn Jale.\u00a0 No doubt they recognized me as well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I disagreed with him regarding whether this was beyond us, but looking back at the skepticism in their faces, I realized this fight was already lost.\u00a0 We would not be able to battle anything when we ourselves could not successfully fight down our own internal strife.\u00a0 This was not the time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As I walked back to them, Morin asked under his breath, \u201cWhat\u2019d he throw you?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I tossed the piece to him.\u00a0 He looked at it, and threw it back.\u00a0 \u201cGuess you\u2019ve been checked, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t respond.\u00a0 Just took another look over my shoulder before we rode away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our morning was overcast, a change from the fairly relentless sun we\u2019d experienced across the Hastwith desert.\u00a0 Surprisingly cool, a southerly breeze was chasing up from the pass just visible on the horizon.\u00a0 Smoke from the fire added a stale … Continue reading