Part 3 – Fallen Star

Chapter One – Ardeyn

I woke up inside a hospital room with a nurse and another woman I didn’t recognize standing at the foot of my bed.

“Ah, good morning, Miss Benson,” the nurse said cheerily. “I’m pleased to report you have fully recovered from your ordeal. Quite remarkable, really.” She glanced at the woman next to her. “Your cousin is here to see you. I’ll leave you two alone.”

I watched the nurse leave, then turned an inquiring eye toward the stranger who claimed to be my cousin.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Elsa, a professor of anthropology. I’m very happy to meet you.”

In the distance, I heard a familiar tune. “Is that Erlkönig?”

She smiled broadly. “Oh, yes, the ballad of the fairy king. Always reminds me of home.”

Feeling a bit easier knowing she wasn’t a complete fraud, I sat up and reached for my belongings. My phone wasn’t among them. After dressing, I made my way out of the hospital, not bothering to stop at check-out. I needed to know what happened to the others. Elsa followed along behind me without a word.

Outside, I started looking for a cab, but Elsa said she had a car so I let her drive me to Jeremy’s. She seemed to know the place. He answered the door after a single knock, and ushered us both inside.

“Hey, Jeremy,” I said. “This is, uh, Elsa, I guess?”

He nodded. “Yea, she’s a friend. You can trust her.”

“Good to know. Have you heard from P.T. or Claire? Are they okay?”

He nodded. “Yea, they’re fine.” Then he handed me my phone. It had some scorch marks but otherwise looked undamaged. “You dropped this at the auction house.”

“Thank you,” I said then texted both P.T. and Claire. P.T. answered within seconds, stating that they  fought the fire demon, and Claire defeated it by dropping a water tank on it.

“Thank goodness they’re both okay,” I said. “That was….something.”

Jeremy nodded. “Sounds like it. What can you tell me?”

“A lot, I guess. I don’t know. It was very weird, and kind of seems like a dream.”

“What do you remember?”

I furrowed my brow, trying to piece together everything that happened. “There was this other…Angel, or whatever. He mentioned a place called Ardeyn.”

Elsa’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yea, that’s an old MMO from the nineties.”

“Really?” I tried to remember the details. “He said something about logging in, so I guess that makes sense. We’re supposed to find someone named Sir Carbury or something like that.”

“Okay, I can set up a system for us all to login,” Jeremy said. “It won’t take too long.”

“Great,” I said, halfheartedly. “I’d like to run back to my apartment to freshen up first.”

“I’ll take you,” Elsa offered. As much as I wanted to be alone with my own thoughts, the idea of trekking across town wasn’t terribly appealing either, so I accepted, but asked her to stay in the car while I went inside. On the way, I texted P.T. to join us at Jeremy’s when he had the chance.

At the apartment, I found a note from Claire indicating she needed some time to process what had happened, and also that she would be needing an increase in pay. I could hardly blame her, though I wasn’t sure I could really accommodate her either. I decided not to worry about it for the time being, as I cleaned myself up and grabbed more ammo for my gun. I didn’t know if I would need it, but I felt better having it.

Elsa and I returned to Jeremy’s, and by then P.T. had arrived. I told them Claire wouldn’t be joining us yet, so we proceeded to log into Ardeyn without her. The graphics were clearly old, and we were greeted with a character creation page. Not knowing what I was doing, I clicked mostly at random and ended up with a character that looked very much like a court jester. Before I could change that, however, we all received messages from Sir Carbury in a string of ones and zeroes.

“What is this?” Jeremy asked.

I stared hard at the numbers, but they didn’t appear to be based on any language.

“I think they are a ritual,” P.T. said. “Like the one we used before.”

“Oh, great.” I groaned. “Another portal.”

Jeremy sent a message to Claire explaining what we were doing, then we held hands around the circle of computer terminals. I focused on the numbers, which began to swirl as I entered into a trance. The next thing I knew, we were on a hillside with mountains in the distance standing beneath a purple sky. The air was chilly, and my jester’s hat jingled as I turned. We all matched the characters we created. I moaned in despair.

I sat down, and began to meditate, trying to calm myself. Distantly, I heard the others talking, and Jeremy mentioned someone named Lotan.

“Yes, yes, all know the name of Lotan the Sinner,” a new voice with a British accent rang out, waking me from my trance. I looked and saw an elderly man with a staff walking up to us. He smiled and bowed. “Hello, I am Sir Carbury. Thank you for joining me here.”

Chapter Two – Recursions

“There is a town nearby,” Sir Carbury continued. “Efelor. We should start our adventure there.”

We followed him down the hillside, and soon found ourselves in a thickly wooded area, the sounds of songbirds, a bubbling brook, and Sir Carbury’s constant babbling filling the air. A short time later, we arrived at the quaint village, built in a thinned out section of the forest where animals were playing and people were preparing for a festival. Strange birds sat upon a sign post on the side of the road, staring at us as though trying to intimidate us into leaving. Sir Carbury ignored them as he passed by, humming quietly to himself.

We passed through the village, which reminded us of medieval times, though the people here seemed comfortable enough. A tavern lay ahead, and a figure with the head of a jackal stood outside, tending to his horse. He wore full plate armor, and a glowing sword hung at his side.

P.T., who himself had a sword at his hip, walked up to the strange-looking individual. “Greetings,” he said in as friendly a manner as he could. “That’s a pretty neat sword you have there.”

The figure turned to regard him, but didn’t smile. “Yes, it is.”

I followed Carbury inside, leaving P.T. to his own devices. Elsa whispered to Jeremy, asking what the creature was, as they fell into step behind me. Inside, the tavern appeared unexpectedly colonial and clean with only a few patrons. Carbury was already seated in one corner, a drink on the table in front of him. We joined him, and ordered more drinks for the rest of us, then I turned to Carbury.

“What is this place?”

“A recursion,” he said with a sly smile. “So named because of Earth’s collective conscience.”

I remembered the word from the book I’d found in the warehouse, but I still wasn’t sure what it meant.

“It’s a real place,” Carbury went on. “Not just a fantasy. Discovered by a man named Carter Harrison. It protects Earth against planetovores, buffering us from their hunger.”

I still didn’t know what he was talking about. Carbury sighed in resignation.

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that this place is real, and it has always existed. Lotan the Sinner, as you mentioned earlier, created humans and dragons. He attacked, but was ultimately betrayed by his own creations and imprisoned. Then the Betrayer emerged, killed Ardeyn’s God and now seeks to free Lotan.”

“I see,” I said, not really seeing, and ordered another drink. P.T. entered and joined us at the table.

“Beyond Ardeyn is the Strange,” Carbury went on. “That’s where we need to go.”

“Why?” I asked.

“To save Earth, of course,” Carbury said.

I stared at him blankly.

He sighed again. “Nevermind. The point is, Earth is in trouble, and I could really use your help.”

“Okay,” Elsa said. “So why are we here instead of in this Strange place?”

“Ah, I’m glad you asked,” Carbury said. He glanced around the room, found someone and waved them over.

An older woman with wild hair and unkempt eyebrows approached the table.

“This is Meena,” Carbury said. “She kind of runs the village.”

Meena stared at us with hardened eyes. “So, these are the heroes.”

Carbury nodded enthusiastically, but she didn’t seem impressed.

“What has he told you?”

“Nothing that we understand,” I said.

She sighed. “Okay, I’ll make this brief. A star has fallen, and possibly opened the Screaming Crypt. Our hunters have been getting attacked by dark things in the woods, and a floating creature has been spotted blasting at everything in sight. Two of our young ones have gone missing, Alton and Velena. We need your help finding them, and if possible, closing the crypt.” She then tossed some baubles on the table. “Here, these should help.”

I stare at the trinkets. Among them are a dagger, a glove, a crystal, a tube of liquid, a small wand, a ring, a bracelet, and a scarf.

“These are cyphers,” Carbury said as though that explained everything.

I picked up the dagger, and instantly I could sense the power within, or more accurately, within the ruby inset into the handle. It seemed to be a curative of some kind. “Interesting,” I said. We each gathered up a few items, with me collecting the bracelet in addition to the dagger.

“I won’t be able to join you right away,” Carbury said, “but you should talk to Old Gez down at the wrestling ring. He can help you get on your way.” With that, he excused himself and left the tavern with Meena at his side.

I looked to the others. “What do you all think?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Well, we’re here. Might as well see where this takes us.”

They all seemed eager to explore this strange new world. “Very well,” I said, “but let’s go shopping first. I want to make sure we are as prepared as possible for whatever we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

Chapter Three – Mouth of the Screaming Crypt

A few hours later, we re-gathered near the wrestling ring outside. I had a brief run-in with a proud but dim-witted wrestler named Burok the Bold. P.T. managed to step in and save me from my own stupidity, and he even gained a potion from the man, which we all assumed could be used to boost his strength.

At the ring, we found Old Gez, a man with one eye and a peg leg. Inside the ring was a fox-like woman we learned was a qephilim, similar to the jackal-headed knight P.T. had spoken to at the tavern. She was practicing her martial arts.

“It’s a dangerous place, the Screaming Crypt,” Old Gez was saying. “Look for the fallen star. She is the key.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. “What’s a fallen star?”

Gez scowled at me as though I were an impertinent child. “A powerful qephilim, of course, a star of great power. It was her fall that caused the crypt to open.”

“How did she fall?” P.T. asked.

Gez shrugged. “No clue, but she can help you if she’s right.” He drew a map on the ground to show us how to get there. Elsa recorded it in a book she had while the rest of us moved away to discuss our options.

“I heard rumors of something called an umbral wolf, maybe a pack, attacking the hunters,” Jeremy said.

Considering whether we should approach at night or by day, I received a brief vision of a strange figure partially blocked by a ball of light lashing out in the darkness with reckless abandon. I sensed meeting with this creature during the night would be dangerous.

“I think we should head out now,” I decided. “Approach during the day when it’s safer.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and we headed out, following the map Gez provided us. After a couple of hours travelling uphill through the woods, we heard strange keening sounds echoing through the woods. Then, several hunched shapes lurched out from behind the trees, wolf-like but up on hind legs.

“Kill them quickly,” Elsa shouted, seemingly with a sudden rush of insight.

Jeremy burst forward, weaponless but prepared to strike, and came up short when he realized he had blundered into their trap. He was quickly surrounded, and the rest of us were forced to rush to his aid. Dagger in hand, I struck out at the nearest creature, missing as the bells of my jester hat disrupted my view. Elsa lashed out with her whip, and P.T. sliced with his sword.

Some of the creatures turned away from Jeremy who ducked and weaved as others swiped at him. I drew one away, letting it follow me into the woods as we traded attacks. It sunk it’s teeth into my arm, the pain nearly blinding me, but I took advantage of the momentary opening in its defenses, sinking my dagger into its skull. The creature fell to the ground dead. I scrambled back to the group to see a few others slain and the rest in full retreat.

In the distance, we heard desperate cries for help. Elsa pointed deeper into the woods. “That way,” she said, and charged ahead.

We followed the sounds to a small camp where a young man sat huddled over a young woman. “Please, help us,” he said as we entered the grove.

Jeremy stepped forward and took a look at the woman’s wounds. With a medical knowledge I didn’t know he possessed, he staunched her wounds and prevented her from bleeding out.

“Thank you,” the man said, his face filled with relief.

He introduced himself as Alton, one of the two people who had gone missing from town. We stayed with him for a few minutes, allowing ourselves to heal up, and to make sure the woman would be well enough to return home. While we waited, he explained where the crypt was, and warned us of the rampaging qephilim.

We left, and arrived at the crypt a few minutes later to the angry screams and howls of more of the wolf creatures. Beams of light shot out from a shining woman floating in the clearing, blasting the creatures with bolts of lightning and keeping them at bay. A moment later, the creatures grew tired of the battle, and retreated into the woods.

The woman seemed to be alternating between weeping and laughing maniacally as the creatures ran off. “Foul spawns of darkness,” she cried. “Where is my scepter? Did you steel my scepter? Thieves!” She sent a final blast at the trailing creatures, missing wildly, but seeming self-satisfied.

“She reminds me of someone…an Egyptian goddess I think,” Elsa said.

P.T. stepped forward. The woman turned on him, but didn’t immediately blast him, which I felt was rather fortuitous.

“Did you steal my scepter?”

“No,” P.T. said, “but I think my friends and I can help you find it.”

She raised her arms as though prepared to strike, then her face softened. “If only I had my scepter,” she said. “Then my mind would not be so….fragmented.”

“What is your name?” P.T. asked.

“My name?” She considered the question for a moment. “Teremiel. Yes, Teremiel is my name.” She glanced down at the mouth of the crypt. “I have lost my scepter. Perhaps it’s in there.”

P.T. offered her a deep, sweeping bow. “We’ll find it for you, my lady.”

Together, we approached the mouth of the crypt. A cracked stone seal revealed the opening, a carving of a screaming demonic face upon it. Elsa leaned down and picked something up. I glanced over, and saw her holding a dual-edged shamshir blade.

As I considered the potential dangers inherent in entering this apparently demonic crypt, my hat jiggled, and suddenly a small, blue figure burst into being beside me. “Hey, boss,” the creature said.

“Um…” I responded, taking a step back. “Hello?”

“Hi. How can I help you?”

Startled at his sudden appearance, but feeling strangely comforted by it, I asked him to check out the entrance to see if there were any traps. He readily agreed, and searched it thoroughly. He soon finished and reported no issues, then returned to my side. We lit some torches, and descended into the crypt.

Chapter Four – The Lost Scepter

A circular tunnel descended into darkness, the outside light fading quickly. The sound of thousands of insect carcasses crunching under our boots echoed off the high ceilings, ending only when we reached a large rectangular room. It seemed to be a kind of foyer, with images of strange creatures drawn on the walls, and a fetid-smelling pool in the center. Parts of the ceiling had rained down upon the floor, leaving a smattering of debris. An opening in the wall on the far end exited into a dark corridor.

Elsa took out her notebook and began mapping while I stepped up to examine the drawings. The images were disturbing, featuring skulls, demons and dragons. Some even matched the creatures we fought outside. As I traced my finger along one battle scene, there was a click and a secret cache opened. I peered inside to see a small collection of coins, an earring and a pair of ebony statuettes carved in the shape of frogs. I reached in to grab the coins, and a sudden sharp pain lanced through my hand. I pulled my hand back reflexively, a small needle protruding from it.

The blue imp from my hat floated up and peered inside. “Oh, sorry, boss, maybe you should let me reach inside first.” I looked at the cache warily, and agreed, gesturing for him to proceed. He reached both hands and his head inside, and soon emerged with the treasure.

The sound of Elsa’s panicked cry drew my attention, and I turned to see her reeling back from the pool, a look of terror upon her face. Jeremy was at her side at once, offering a steady hand, but before I could move to assist, the sound of booted steps and crunching insects drew my attention towards the entrance. I readied the bow I purchased in town, but it turned out to be Sir Carbury and a woman carrying a shield and a heavy mace.

“Ah, there you are,” the woman said.

I gave her a puzzled look.

“It’s me, Claire,” she said. I lowered my bow and let a broad grin spread across my face.

“Good to see you again, Claire,” I said. “You’re just in time.”

She frowned. “In time for what?”

“We’re searching for a scepter. Did you see the qephilim above?” She shook her head no, so I quickly explained our current situation, then retrieved the two ebony frogs, and gave one to her. Simply holding them, I knew they would allow us to communicate telepathically with one another for a time.

Once everyone was settled and ready to go, we proceeded down the next corridor, Claire in the lead and Carbury hanging back. The corridor went a short distance before opening into a wide chamber where drops of water formed small pools upon the cavern floor. Wide corridors exited to the left and straight ahead, but there was also a small hole in the wall to the right.

I decide to put my forensics skill to work, and check in front of each exit for signs of life. The corridor across from where we entered bore flakes of dried skin upon the floor, but the others showed little to no use, so we decided to go straight. The corridor wound along in a serpentine route for a short span before widening to allow a smaller corridor to intersect from the left. There was rubble upon the ground and cracks in the ceiling above that looked fresh.

“That must be from the recent starfall,” Elsa said. “We should be careful in case there are areas of weakness.”

I nodded in agreement, and gestured for Claire to continue down the main corridor, following the trail of dried skin flakes. A moment later we arrived at another junction, this time with passages to the right and left and an opening straight ahead that showed signs of collapse.

Following the trail, we turned right and followed the corridor until we reached an area with several openings to the right and left. The walls themselves bore carvings similar to those found in the foyer, depicting images of demons and Lotan. Some of the lettering appeared to be similar to that found in ancient Egypt, but also matched some Hindi and Japanese fonts. I could decipher only some of the lettering, which read “land of the curse” and “entrance to the night vaults”, both of which were less than reassuring.

We checked out the first opening, which was once blocked by a wooden door now long since shattered and burned. Beyond was a room filled with shattered urns and sarcophagi. Jeremy took a torch and moved into the room. I held Claire back in the hallway with me while the others looked on.

Within moments of him entering the room, dark shadows descended from the ceiling with bone-chilling chattering sounds. As they drew near, we could just make out their skeletal figure and purplish aura. Two of them moved to embrace Jeremy, and he screamed in terror.

Elsa, Claire and P.T. rushed forward with their weapons drawn, intent on freeing Jeremy from their grasp. I pulled out my bow, and began firing into their midst, scoring a strike on one of the creatures hovering above the melee. A wave of bright energy rolled out from Jeremy’s location, and seemed to provide a boost of confidence in my companions, which Claire used to smash down a creature that was rushing towards me.

Jeremy screamed again, one creature’s dark claw lodged in his shoulder and pumping energy into or out of him, it was hard to tell which. I fired more arrows while the others continued their work, and soon the creatures were no more. As P.T. finished off the last, Jeremy fell to his knees gasping for breath. Soon, though, the color returned to his cheeks, and we resumed our search of the room, cautious of any more of the shadowy creatures.

Elsa stumbled upon a collection of crowns, and started collecting them, soon realizing they were spilled from a leather pouch in surprisingly pristine condition. Picking it up, she realized it was another cypher, and tucked it away for later use. Jeremy checked out a nearby sarcophagus, which he thought was used to detain evil creatures, and might have been opened during the starfall.

We left the room, and moved on to the next one, which looked remarkably similar to the first. A little nervous from his previous experience, Jeremy held back, allowing P.T. to stride confidently into the room instead. Somewhat less surprisingly, more skeletal shadows descended from the ceiling. Jeremy channeled some inner power to aid us while I pulled out my bow and the others rushed to flank our enemies. We made short work of them, and searched the room. This time, there wasn’t much of interest. Jeremy climbed into one sarcophagus, but didn’t find anything interesting.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a few jars with strange runes on a high shelf. I reached up and plucked one down, disturbing the dust and spider webs. Sir Carbury, who was peeking over my shoulder, indicated the images on them were transferable runes.

“What do you make of these?” I asked Elsa as she joined us.

Elsa took the jar, and thought about the runes for a moment. “I concur with Sir Carbury. They seem to be transferable, though I’m not sure of their purpose.”

“Could I have it?” Carbury danced back and forth on his feet with a child-like grin upon his face.

I rolled my eyes, and handed him the jar. “Sure. Knock yourself out.”

With seemingly nothing else in this room, we moved on to the next one. P.T. once again entered first, and again skeletal shadows dropped from the ceiling to attack. This time there were five of them, and they swarmed around P.T. hoping to drain the life force from him, but he crouched defensively and fought them off.

Growing more confident in our cooperative efforts, we again make quick work of the strange creatures, and set to searching the room. Though similar to the others, this one contained a new feature, a small nest. Searching the floor nearby, I saw the same dried flakes of skin from earlier and some congealed blood, but there were no other signs of life. There was, however, a metallic shaft of elaborate design, that seems like it could be used as a club of sorts. It appeared to be part of the scepter we sought, but it was missing another piece. I handed it to Claire for safe keeping.

We checked the last few rooms, but they proved empty of anything interesting. I brought the group to a stop where the corridor turned to the right beyond the last one.

“Okay, we seem to have one piece of the scepter,” I said. “Anyone have a thought about where to go next?”

Jeremy closed his eyes and swayed back and forth for a moment, then his eyes snapped back open. “I just saw a creature with a piece of the scepter, apparently struck by it.”

I had surmised already that whatever was in the nest probably was struck by the shaft we retrieved, but the way he said it made me think he meant a different creature.

“What did the creature look like?” I asked.

Jeremy shook his head. “I’m not sure. I didn’t get a good look.”

“Wait,” Elsa said, pulling a crystal from her pocket. “I think I can use this to track it.”

Chapter Five – Destructive Rampage

Elsa led the way, following the flash of her crystal, as we moved deeper into the crypt until we came to a very narrow passage the crystal seemed to want us to find a way through. I wished there was a way to scout the area ahead, and suddenly my imp, whom I’d forgotten about, appeared next to me.

“Hey, again,” it said. “Something I can help you with?”

“Oh,” I said, startled. “Um…yes, actually. Can you take a look through there and see what’s on the other side?”

“Sure thing,” it said with a mock salute, and vanished into the passage, squeezing its oddly malleable body through the jagged rocks lining the passage walls.

We waited for a couple of minutes, and just as our patience was about to expire, he returned.

“The passage turns right ahead, and there seems to be more damage. There’s also a staircase down and some strange statues.”

Thinking about the possibility of pushing forward, I was assaulted by another vision, this time a bit less staggering than before. In this image, the qephilim, in a clearly deranged state, was floating through the crypt passages indiscriminately blasting everything in sight. We decided to continue forward in the hopes of avoiding any confrontation.

P.T. squeezed through first, and was nearly cut by the jagged walls. Claire went next with little issue. I followed, and though I did cut myself, I was able to get through okay. Jeremy went next, but stopped with a sudden grunt of pain.

“Jeremy, are you okay?” Elsa’s voice filtered through the passage with a strange metallic echo from the other side.

“I think so,” Jeremy said through gritted teeth, “but I don’t think I can move.”

There was a moment of silence, then Elsa said, “I see the problem. I can reach you, but I don’t have anything to wrap the wound the with. Can you reach your first aid kit?”

I could hear some jostling as Jeremy maneuvered within the tight confines, then there was the clatter of metal on stone.

“Got it,” Elsa said. There were another few moments of shuffling and grunting, and then suddenly Jeremy was ripped free from his trap and the passage was clear once again.

“Are you two okay?” I called through to them.

“Yea, I think so,” Elsa said. Then there was a pause. “I think we’ll have to go around.”

“I should join them,” Claire said. There was no time to protest before she slipped back through to the other side. Once there, she activated her ebony frog and contacted me telepathically. “Can you hear me?” Her voice carried a strange tinny noise along with it, but I could hear her well enough.

“Yes, I can hear you,” I thought back to her.

“I will keep you apprised of our progress,” she said through the frogs.

“Alright we’ll try to meet you at the stairs then,” I said out loud. “Be careful!”

I turned back to P.T., and pointed down the next corridor. “Let’s go.”

The passage was partially blocked by a pile of rubble, but P.T. and I managed to scramble over it and we found the stairs on the other side. As the imp had suggested, there were strange half-broken statues lining the staircase on either side, depicting dragons and other terrifying creatures. Beyond the staircase, the passage continued to another room, but we hardly had the chance to check it out before we an aura of light appeared on the far side and the sound of lightning blasts echoed through the corridor.

“Quick, back to the staircase,” I hissed at P.T.

We hurried back, and tried to huddled behind the statues. I wished we had a distraction, and inadvertently brought the imp back into being, having not realized he left in the first place. Before he could say anything, I whispered to him that we needed him to help keep Teremiel from finding us. He nodded, and floated off into the corridor. A moment later, he zipped by screaming in terror as Teremiel floated after him, blasting lightning at him and screaming nonsense words.

Then there was a pitiful scream, and the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air. Teremiel cried out in triumph and returned to the stairs. I gasped in surprise as she turned the corner and seemed to stare right at me. Too late, I realized my mistake.

“You,” she cried, pointing a threatening finger at me. “Give me my scepter!”

My mind went blank, but my hand held up my dagger as if that would somehow fool the qephilim. She screamed in rage and fired a blast of lightning at me, narrowly missing and shattering the statue I was supposed to be hiding behind. I stumbled down the stairs, and fell hard on my rear.

P.T. stepped out from his hiding place, and waved his arms. “Hey there, Teremiel. We were just looking for you. We found part of your scepter upstairs through a really narrow passage, but we weren’t able to get there. I bet you could, though. What do you think?”

Teremiel laughed gleefully and charged down the hall while P.T. came over to help me back to my feet.

“I doubt we have much time,” he said. “We should find a better hiding place.”

“I agree,” I said. “Thanks for that. That was some quick thinking.”

He nodded, and we proceeded down the rest of the stairs to a vast cavern lit by bio-luminescent fungi, and filled with funerary structures. We found a place to hide in a dark corner, and just a few moments later Teremiel flew past shrieking in anger. Thankfully, this time she was didn’t spot us as she fled deeper into the underground tunnels.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and contacted Claire through the ebony frogs to update her on our situation.

Chapter Six – Terrors of the Night

The images pushed into my mind through the ebony frogs were confusing. A hazy figure stepped up to an urn, or a statue perhaps, and seemed to reel back from it. Claire tried to fill in the blanks, but the jumble of thoughts and imagery moved too quickly for me to grasp. Then the images faded, and only her thoughts remained.

“Jeremy’s okay,” Claire said into my mind. “We’re searching the rest of the room. Teremiel seems to have moved on.”

“Yes, she’s down here with us,” I said back.

A moment of silence passed, then her thoughts intruded once again. “We found these strange jars filled with a white-bluish mist.”

“Leave them,” I thought. “We need to find the other half of this scepter before Teremiel finds us.”

“Okay,” she said. A few minutes later, the rest of the group caught up to us. Jeremy noticed the wounds I’d taken from the shattered statue and used some inner energy to heal them.

Sir Carbury joined us a moment later looking a little pale.

“Everything okay, Car?” I asked.

He shook his head. “One of those statues…it’s a soulshorn. Nasty things. I hope there isn’t one down here.”

“What’s a soulshorn?” Elsa asked.

“A powerful necromancer,” Carbury said. “If it catches you, it’ll suck out your soul and eat it.”

“Great,” P.T. said with a roll of his eyes. “Cause a deranged lunatic with lightning shooting out of her fingers wasn’t enough?”

“Come on,” I said. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get out of this hell hole.”

A few minutes later we arrived at a deep chasm with a narrow, arched bridge spanning the sixty foot width. After a brief debate on how to cross it safely, Claire used her cypher earring to boost her dexterity, and crossed over with a rope in tow. Once the rope was secured, the rest of us followed.

Beyond the chasm was a vast maze of rocky formations. We gathered a few of the smaller rocks and used them to mark our path as we made our way through the dizzying array of passages. After a few hours of travel, we stopped to take a rest, leaving one glowing lantern in the center of camp to lend what little light it could. Elsa offered to take first watch, and it seemed only a few minutes before she woke us and alerted us to danger.

The sounds of rocks skittering across the floor filtered through the darkness, and I readied my bow. Claire, P.T., and Elsa drew their mace, sword and shamshir, respectively. We waited for another heartbeat, and then a small swarm of skeletal creatures emerged from the shadows, their claws raking. I aimed my bow at the nearest one, but it was too quick. It ripped the bow from my grasp, and sent it clattering away.

Scrambling backwards, I drew out my dagger and slashed at the creature, slicing a chuck of bone from its wrist. I could hear the sounds of metal on bone echoing through our campsite as the others engaged in their own melee. I gave more ground as the creature showed little signs of letting up, but I managed a few more hits before it scored one of its own. Ignoring the pain, I fought on, lashing out with strike after strike until finally the creature fell, it’s bones collapsing to the ground in a jumble.

I peered into the dim light offered by the lamp and saw Claire surrounded by three of the strange creatures, but she remained on the offensive, swiping at them with her mace and battering one over the head. Then someone, Jeremy I thought, stumbled into the lantern, and the cavern fell into darkness. I scrambled forward, grasping for my bow, as my eyes adjusted to the change in light. There was just enough from the local fungi to make out the various shapes of both companion and enemy.

My hand clasped the upper limb of the bow, and I grabbed hold, drawing and notching another arrow. I took aim at one of the creatures near Claire, and let loose, but it skittered off the creature’s skull without doing any real damage. Claire bludgeoned another one, sending it staggering back, and just as it seemed on the verge of collapse, it shot forward once more as if it found a reserve source of energy.

I fired again, and this time the arrow sunk deep into the eye socket of my target, and it fell to the ground dead. The sounds of more bones clattering to the ground echoed through the chamber, and a moment later, the only sound was our own heavy breathing. The battle was over.

“Every one okay?” My voice echoed through the darkness, but all confirmed their status.

“I heard a name,” Elsa said. “Gulizar, I think.”

“Probably the soulshorn,” Carbury mused.

The name seemed to trigger another vision in my mind, one of a massive stone-carved demon face, like the entrance of a dark cave. I shook the image away.

“Wait,” Elsa said. “My crystal is flashing. I think one of these creatures is the one we were looking for.”

As if on cue, a single skeletal hand began clawing its way up a small rocky hill, as though trying to escape. P.T. pounced on it, and grabbed it. I pulled out a pair of manacles from my pack, and placed one end around the hand to use as a leash.

“Maybe this will lead us to the other half of the scepter,” I said.

“We still need to rest,” Claire said.

I nodded in agreement. “Yea, but not here. These things reek.”

We traveled for another hour, allowing the strange animated hand to guide us, until we found another suitable camp site. This time, our rest went undisturbed, and we woke a few hours later feeling a bit more ready to face the challenges ahead.

Chapter Seven – The Fungal Forest

After another hour or two of travel, the maze of rocks opened up into a large cavern. Before us stood a massive cave entrance carved in the shape of a demon’s face, exactly like the one in my vision.

“Yep. That’s a soulshorn,” Carbury said, looking as though he was about to throw up.

Before anyone could respond, a deep raspy voice emerged from the cave entrance. “What brings visitors with fresh souls to my realm?”

We glanced at one another, a mixture of fear and confusion on our faces. P.T. stepped forward.

“Are you Gulizar? We seek the scepter,” he said.

“I am he,” the voice confirmed. “So, you would correct the fallen star?”

P.T. nodded. “She does seem to be on a destructive rampage.”

Gulizar emerged, purple feathers protruding from the back of his skull, and his mouth wide, a row of jagged teeth on each side instead of top and bottom. Carbury practically choked on his own vomit.

“Perhaps there is a use for you beyond food,” Gulizar hissed. “I’m in position to aid your quest, but you must aid me in return. I need something,” he stopped, glanced over his right shoulder, then turned his dark eyes back on us. “It is near. Get it for me, and I will give you what you seek.”

None of us dared speak, his terrifying visage frightening us into silence.

He sniffed at us, drawing closer. “I have found,” he said slowly, pausing to inspect each of us as he went, “in my dealings with the souled that they are not always trustworthy.” He stopped in front of Carbury who turned ash white and stepped backward.

Gulizar raised one hand, and clenched it into a fist. Suddenly, Carbury began to choke and gasp, clawing at his throat and rising steadily into the air. A moment later, Elsa and Jeremy did the same. As they rose, they stopped fighting, their arms fell limp, and their eyes glazed over as though caught in a trance.

“Get the violet spiral from the fungal place,” Gulizar said to the rest of us, “and perhaps I will spare the lives of your friends.” With that, he retreated back into the darkness of his lair, leaving our companions to hang limply in mid-air.

Claire, P.T. and I exchanged surprised glances, then something seemed to trigger in Claire’s memory.

“If purple turns to white, don’t touch,” she said, recalling something from the distant past. “My grandmother told me that when she caught me coloring a violet spiral in one of her books.”

“Sounds like good advice,” P.T. said.

“Agreed,” I said, then looked around. There was another passage leading away from the cavern. “Come on. I doubt this thing has much patience.”

The next passage lacked the bio-luminescent fungi from earlier, so I lit a torch and we proceeded, Claire in the lead. A brief vision of a field of giant mushrooms around the skull of a giant beast flashed through my mind.

“We need to find a cluster of giant mushrooms,” I said, as we clambered over a pile of rubble.

We proceeded in relative silence after that, making our way through the dark underground for a few minutes before coming into sight of a glowing fungal garden. We crept closer to the edge, and peered in. The vast chamber glowed a bright purple, and massive mushrooms the size of small buildings dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see. The echoing hum of buzzing insects filled the air.

P.T. stared ahead in wonder and frustration. “How are we supposed to find a violet spiral in a sea of violet?”

Claire offered him a wry grin. “Well, if we’re lucky it will look just like the spiral from my grandmother’s book.”

I stepped forward and examined the ground, hoping to find signs of, well, anything, but there seemed little to go on. We continued forward, following the winding path through the mushroom forest. Suddenly, P.T. reached out and grabbed Claire by the shoulder, barly preventing her from stepping into a deep ravine. I heard a sickening crunch beneath his foot, and the sounds of buzzing seemed to intensify.

The three of us stared down at the ground, and P.T. stepped back as a cloud of insects burst from the ground and swarmed all around him. He raised his hands to ward them off, but there were too many, and he stumbled backward. Thinking quickly, I leaped after him with my torch, the smoke driving the biting insects away. After a few moments, they were gone, but when I turned around, Claire was no longer in view either.

I called out to her. “Claire, where are you?”

There was silence, then suddenly an image appeared in my mind of a large fleshy blob-like creature.

“I don’t think it’s evil,” Claire’s words floated through my mind, our connection between the ebony frogs apparently still intact. “But, good Lord, does it smell.”

“We’re coming to you,” I thought back to her, then grabbed P.T. and led him back to the ravine. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the exact path back, and when we reached the edge of the ravine, Claire was nowhere to be seen.

I sent my thoughts out to her. “Where are you?”

“Still at the ravine,” she replied.

I frowned and peered around, spotting something familiar in the distance. “Do you see that bony structure up ahead?”

After a moment, Claire responded, “Yes.”

“We’ll meet you there.”

“You know,” P.T. said. “Your face looks all screwy when you’re communicating telepathically.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Come on. We’ll meet her up ahead.”

As we pressed forward, I noticed a line of damage as though something large had hurtled through the forest in a slight downward trajectory.

“We’re here,” Claire said through the frogs. “Looks like the skull of a giant dragon. There’s a small cairn here, too. Doesn’t look natural.”

“We? If your new friend doesn’t object, check out the cairn.”

“There’s a scroll inside,” she said a moment later. “Oh, cool, it’s a map, and I think the glowing dot is showing my current location.”

I thought that sounded promising, and told her to hold on to it.

The path of damage veered off to the left, but we stayed on course and soon caught up to Claire and her new friend. The blob-like creature stood near her. If it had eyes, I would have thought it was watching us like a guard dog, but I couldn’t really be sure. The stench of it, though, was more than enough to keep P.T. and I at a reasonable distance.

“Oh man,” P.T. said, swatting at the air as though that would somehow disperse the stench. “How can you stand that?”

Claire shrugged. “You get used to it.” Then she wrinkled her nose. “Sort of.”

Before us stood the gaping maw of a long-dead creature. The skull was the size of a large truck, and the mouth opening tall enough for us to enter without ducking. I took a step forward, and the blob creature lunged forward, taking a swipe. I backed up.

“Uh,” Claire said. “I’ll just stand over here.”

She stepped back a few paces, and the blob creature followed her. P.T. and I were then able to make our way into the skull without further impediment.

Inside the skull was a nest made from mushroom parts large enough for a human to use, but thankfully no sign of whatever creature called it home. P.T. climbed inside, and looked around, coming up with a few coins and a bag of dust.

“Hang on,” he said. “I see something shiny.”

He handed me the coins and the bag and ducked back down under the edge of the nest, returning a moment later with a triumphant look upon his face and the head of the scepter in his hand.

“Uh, there’s something out here,” Claire said from outside the skull.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Well, there’s a lot of bright flashes of light, and what sounds like small explosions.”

P.T. and I looked at each other, the color draining from our cheeks.

“Damnit,” I said. “It’s Teremiel. Claire, hide!”

Chapter Eight – Desperate Times

I snuffed out the torch, and joined P.T. behind the nest as the glow from Teremiel’s light drew nearer. We could hear her muttering about her lost scepter and randomly blasting things in her path. Then the glow halted, and her voice boomed, strong and with more than a hint of annoyance.

“What foul putrescence is that?”

There was a strange gurgling noise, which I thought came from the blob creature, then a flash of brilliant energy. The creature roared in pain and defiance, and I could hear the echo of pain through my connection with Claire.

“Ah, crap,” I said, grabbing P.T.’s arm. “Come on.”

We raced out from the shelter of the skull as Teremiel continued to blast the poor blob creature, and made our way over to the ravine. I looked back to see Claire crawling out from behind a large mushroom the blob was crashing into, pieces of the stalk flying in all directions. Distracted, I tripped on a rock, and tumbled to the ground with a loud thud. P.T. scrambled to my side,  and dragged me behind a mushroom.

“I think it heard us,” he whispered. We held our breaths, but the blob creature seemed to recover from the initial blasts and roared in outrage, drawing back Teremiel’s attention.

“Stop smelling, you foul creature,” Teremiel cried out, blasting the creature yet again.

I dared to peek out from behind the stalk, and saw Claire dashing toward us, a swarm of insects right behind her. As she neared, the insects attacked, sinking their tiny teeth into our flesh. Not daring to light a torch this near to Teremiel, I removed my cloak and began swatting at the buzzing cloud. P.T. and Claire did likewise, using their shields. After a few moments, we were finally able to drive them off.

Looking back, Teremiel had apparently finished off the blob creature and was moving away. I handed Claire my ring, and she used it to heal herself.

“Now what?” P.T. said, still keeping his voice low.

I pointed towards the path of damage I spotted earlier. “We follow that.”

We followed the path towards the crash site of an apparent meteor. There we found a violet object in the shape of a spiral radiating warmth. The material appeared flimsy, but it was metallic and strong.

“I do believe this is what we’re looking for,” I said. Claire nodded in agreement, and pulled out the map she’d found.

With the map in hand, we made our way back to Gulizar’s lair where Carbury remained suspended but Jeremy and Elsa were missing.

“Place the spiral in the statue’s palm,” he gasped, grasping at his throat as if being choked by an invisible hand. “We can still save your friends.”

I felt a tingle of warning, as though something was trying to warn me about Carbury, but I didn’t want to take any chances with our friends’ lives, so I stepped inside the skull cave. Gulizar was nowhere to be seen, but there was a large statue resembling him. I placed the violet spiral in it’s hand, then there was a bright flash and the spiral disappeared.

Carbury, Jeremy and Elsa all fell to the ground, with Carbury writing in pain. Both Jeremy and Elsa remained unconscious, but a quick search revealed they were both healthy. P.T. also found a small ring which appeared to be the right size for fitting the pieces of the scepter together.

The moment the pieces were brought together, there was a loud, anguished cry from the direction of the fungal forest.

“Uh oh,” P.T. said. “She must have sensed it. Now what?”

“I think it’s still night,” I said. “We’ll need to keep it from her for a little while longer. I’ll draw her off while you three go on ahead.” I pointed to our unconscious companions. “Bring them with you. I’ll meet you at the third pillar before the bridge.”

Claire looked at me with concern. “What are you going to do?”

I shrugged. “I’ll think of something.”

“Maybe I should be the one…” Claire started to protest, but I was already shaking my head.

“I won’t be able to carry either of them,” I said, indicating Elsa and Jeremy. “You can. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

I gave her a confident smile, to which she frowned but offered no further protest. Together, with some help from Carbury, P.T. and Claire managed to lift our companions and head off down the path back towards the bridge.

Teremiel was not yet in sight. I looked around and considered my options. There were no other obvious paths, and even if there were, I had to consider what it would look like to a creature floating overhead. What kind of trail could I leave that she would even see?

Nothing truly inspiring came to me, so I pulled out my dagger and cut my hand. I let the blood trickle on the ground, then strode off the path into the rocky terrain beyond. I traveled for several minutes before Teremiel’s light became visible at the edge of the cavernous space. At that point, I bandaged my hand, and carefully began picking my way back towards the main path.

By the time I reached our designated meeting point, the others were already there, huffing just a bit from the exertion of carrying the extra weight. Looking back, we saw Teremiel had reached the skull cave, and seemed to have discovered my false trail. She zipped away, following the blood I left behind.

I looked toward the bridge, remembering only then how narrow it was.

“I don’t think we can cross quickly carrying them,” Claire said.

“You may be right,” I said, my response nearly drowned out by the sudden sounds of lightning blasts and battle cries behind us.

Dark figures and bursts of light seemed to converge on Teremiel’s location. I pointed across the bridge.

“Claire, you’re the fastest. Take the scepter and get to the surface. We’ll stall her as long as we can.”

Claire nodded, and zipped across the bridge, slipping once, then disappeared into the darkness beyond.

“Okay, how do you propose we delay her,” P.T. asked.

“I don’t know,” I said with a grin. “You’re the fast-talker. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

He groaned, and together we pulled our companions off the road. Carbury hid behind some rocks and muttered quietly to himself how terrible the idea was.

Chapter Nine – Mended Star

Teremiel finished her battle with whatever creatures she had discovered, and made her way towards the bridge. We stayed crouched nearby, but when she arrived, P.T. stepped out to confront her.

“Greetings, my lady,” he said with a sweeping bow and a broad smile. “We have located your-“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before Teremiel lashed out, sending a blast of lightning at him. He dived aside as the rock below his feet shattered into a spray of shards.

“Where is my scepter?” she shrieked, prepared to blast again.

P.T. pointed into the ravine, but she was less than impressed and sent another blast. This time, he was unable to dodge it, and took the blast full in the chest.

I jumped out from my hiding spot, and pointed across the bridge. “It’s that way,” I yelled. She turned a glaring eye towards me, and seemed to consider blasting me then thought better of it and flew across the bridge after Claire.

I went over to P.T. who was groaning and clutching his chest. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“Yea,” he said through gritted teeth. “At least I think so.” He looked around, and a look of disappointment spread across his face. “She go after Claire?”

I nodded. “You did everything you could. Come on, let’s see if we can catch up.” Looking back over my shoulder, I saw Carbury still cowering behind some rocks. “Carbury! She’s gone. Help me pick up Elsa and carry her across the bridge.”

“What?” he asked, incredulous.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, stop being such a weasel, and make yourself useful for once.”

He seemed about to protest, but fell short, and scrambled to his feet. Together, we lifted Elsa and carried her across the bridge. P.T. flung Jeremy over his shoulder and followed, careful to use the rope to steady himself.

It took use some time to make our way back up through the twisting caverns and out the broken seal to the crypt. By the time we did, the sun was out, and Teremiel had the scepter in her hand. Her eyes no longer appeared crazed. Claire stood nearby, seemingly unharmed.

“Thank you,” she was saying as we emerged. “You have performed a great kindness for which I cannot repay you. I will repair the crypt, and free your friends from their current state. The rest of you are free to travel as you will.”

There was a flash of brilliant white light, from which I staggered back and raised my arms in defense. When the light faded, I blinked several times, and saw that we were once again back in the village. Claire, P.T. and Sir Carbury were with me. Jeremy and Elsa were missing, but I could sense they were safe, wherever they were.

“Ah, excellent,” Carbury said, rubbing his hands together. “Now, then, whose ready for a real adventure?”