Look What I Found Under a Rock

[Imperial Overlord]

Mikos had seen foes far more horrific than the demilich. Flayed undead drow, raging dragons, primordial amphibious monstrosities, and vampiric demons just to name a few. But none of those foes were as powerful and deadly as the demilich, none of them were so powerful that his bow and swords were useless against them.

Time seemed to slow, like molasis on a cold day. His bow slipped from his hands as the demilich slid through the air. His hand slid towards a satchel as his bow fell to the floor. The demilich's "eye" rubies glowed and he felt a cold hand tugging at his insides. The soul taking he realized. And then it was gone. Kaeryn's magic held. Now all he had to worry about magic even more powerful than Nalifan's.

His hand closed on a spiralburst bottle and he pulled it out. Rigorous testing in the form of snowball fights held during the winter had established that all of them were good shots, but none better than Mikos. That's why the bottles were his. It felt right in his hand as he cocked his arm back to throw.

Power flared around the demilich as the bottle left his hand and tumbled through the air. Nalifan could kill with a spell or turn flesh to glass. What would the demilich do?

The bottle struck the upper part of the demilich's spine and shattered. Violet glass spun away from the impact point and then halted and began to spin in an whirlpool of air. There was a whooshing noise as the air around the impact point began rush inwards.

The spiralburst bottles held a tiny gate to the Deep Ethereal. Once broken, the gate was activated. The suction was purely the result of differentials between the planes, not the magic of the shortlived gate which was right on top of the demilich.

The begemmed spine began to spin and then came apart under the stress. Segments spiralled into towards the gate. The hole was too small for the segments or the gems to pass through. One of the rubies plugged the hole. For a moment the suction was gone.

Then the ruby shattered and its pieces were sucked through the gate. In moments the rest of the demilich suffered the same fate, shattered or torn to pieces small enough to be pulled through. And then the vortex was gone.

There was a moment of silence. "Is she?" asked Fadina.

"If the phylactery is destroyed, yes," Nalifan answered.

Trizkel gently lowered Sylvetria and held a potion bottle to her mouth. "Drink this. We have a priestess nearby. Everything will be fine." Sylvertria greedily drank the bottle down.

Nalifan walked over to the place where Szarida died. "Not even a trace," he said smiling. "Nice shot."

"Thanks," Mikos replied. Then the house shook. "What in Baator?"

"The phylactery was destroyed," said Nalifan. "Our intrepid Kuuni has delivered unless I am mistaken and Szarida is quite dead. The demiplane is collapsing with her death. Narcissistic to the end. Consistency isn't always a virtue. Let's go."

Trizkel wrapped Sylvetria in his cloak. "I've told Kuuni to meet us by the entrance. She's confirmed the destruction of the phylactery."

"Wait," said Fadina. She uttered a spell and rose up off her feet. Nalifan and Kaeryn joined her.

"A mass flying spell," said Nalifan. "Good choice." Trizkel floated up and a moment latter Mikos joined them. The adventurers swooped through the corridors, travelling through areas they had previously cleared. The house went through another series of tremors, these ones more serious.

They flew out into the ruined garden, swooping out over the burnt and burning wreckage towards the gate. Kuuni was standing beside it, waiting for them. "How does she move so fast?" Kaeryn asked Trizkel.

"Early start and magic," the drow replied. "We're almost there," he said softly to Sylvetria. "Almost out of here and then to home and healing. It's almost over." She said nothing, but held on to her lover a little tighter. The earth shook and they flew through the gate, leaving Szarida's demense behind them. They didn't look back.

[Imperial Overlord]

The wine bottle floated across Nalifan's table and into the drow's hand. "Another?" he asked Kaeryn.

"Thank you," the priestess replied as the drow refilled her glass with golden wine from the Underdark and then filled his own. The meal that his staff had whipped up was magnificent and included a staggering number of courses. "I have to ask," she said, "is this all part of some nefarious plot to kill us all by getting us to gorge ourselves to death?"

Light laughter spread along the table. The physical wear and tear of the ordeal had been overcome for the most part. Sylvetria sat beside Trizkel, eating with her new arm that was almost indistinguishable from the old. The mental scars remained, but for now they were pushed away. "You have discovered my evil plan," Nalifan replied. "I going to have silence you. Ah ha! You will not be able to reveal my secrets while eating. Thus, I will place more food in front of you."

"Your cunning is diabolical," she replied. She looked across the table and exchanged a smile with Fadina. The Calishite mage had forgone her mask tonight, as she had done the last several. A healthy sign in Kaeryn's opinion.

Nalifan rose and held his glass aloft. "Friends," he began, "we have been through a lot. And we have triumphed. We have overcome all the obstacles that were set before us. We have reclaimed a home, a friend, lost lore, and justice. We did so together with everyone's hand reaching out and seizing the prize of victory. The spoils, our lives and our happiness, are ours. Our work by our hands. One could not wish for better friends or allies. Let us drink to that. To us!"

Glasses were raised. "To us!" they roared. Mouths were opened and the toast was drunk down. The first of many of a feast continued long through the night in celebration of a victorious homecoming.


FINI

[Rogue 9]

BRAVO! Szarida's destruction was almost anticlimactic, but not quite, particularly as there's no way they could have survived a prolonged battle with her.

[LadyTevar]

TO US!!!!!

Great story. I could feel Miko's fear as I read the passage... And then the idea of Nal out in the snow throwing snowballs at Trisk just broke the fear completely. It was just too humorous a vision at that point in time.

But when the ruby stuck, I worried again, afraid that would be the one think they couldn't control. Great job, and congrats on another fantastic episode.

Let me know if you need another character or two for another

[The Nomad]

Great story. A bit too long, too short an ending ( understandable, given the foe they had to face ), but massively enjoyable.

Now back to "A Piece at a Time" .