Grendel’s Demon
Bal Vyr and Abu joined Harbinger and myself a few hours later. I had woken up to them entering the house from the catacombs. A different Clade member had brought them and gave the same warning about entering the catacombs alone.
We asked what the delay was all about since Harbinger and I were in the shack about 2 hours before I fell asleep. Who knows how long I was out when they finally arrived. Bal Vyr mentioned that there was someone following them and that was what detained them for longer than anticipated. They then informed us that they tried getting the Priests of St. Cuthbert to help as well as Myranda who helped us nearly 2 weeks ago when we first fought the undead in the graveyard. Then there were some of the dock folk that seemed likely to help, but all seemed ambivalent and very much dependant on if the Mayor was corrupt.
“So how long are we to wait here?” Bal Vyr asked.
“Someone is to come for us by tomorrow night,” Harbinger responded.
The Drow scoffed under his breath. “Why?”
“That’s how long it’ll take them to prepare.”
“So they say. Heaven knows if this’ll all turn out favorable for us,” I muttered.
We all then hunkered down and went to sleep. I forced myself to not think about the ‘what if’s’ that could make our plan go horribly wrong.
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We puttered around the shack for the most part of the day. I tried my best to distance myself from Harbinger to avoid making the other two uncomfortable. We nibbled on rations and I whipped out the cards I took from the Goblins (and considering they’re all alive again... I feel a little bad about that). I think the games saved our sanity for the most part.
Bal Vyr eventually sat down in a corner with a book. I paid no mind at first, but eventually curiosity got the better of me.
“Did you get that book from the Library?” I asked.
“Huh? Oh- yes I did,” he responded.
“Were you able to find anything useful while you were there?” Abu asked.
“Actually-” the Drow began before some footsteps were heard stopping outside the shack’s door. The door was unlocked and in entered our escorts from the night before.
“Okay, it’s time for you all to go to the Mayor now,” one of them said.
“Where will the Clade be?” Harbinger asked.
“We will be around. Go do your part and we’ll be doing ours,” he responded. Collectively, we all exhaled a sigh of reluctance, but I had no reason to believe they were setting us up. There was almost a sense of the less we knew, the better we’d be.
As a group we made our way over to the Town Hall. The sun had nearly set, casting the sky above in dark shades of purple and blue. The moon was half full and part of me wished I could just fly away from the mess we were in.
“Remember, the plan is to not give the Mayor the orb,” Harbinger stated.
“Duh. That’s why we left it back at camp,” Bal Vyr responded.
“No we didn’t,” I said, “It’s in my haversack.”
“Oh Heavens you did not bring that with you!” the Drow seethed. I lifted an eyebrow at the idiotic notion.
“And you think it’d been safer to have left it back at camp? What would have prevent someone from just waltzing in on our site and taking the deific item for themselves?” I snapped back.
“Actually, Dawn is at the campsite currently,” Harbinger added.
“Doesn’t matter. I personally feel much safer to have it on my person so I can know exactly where it is and defend it properly if needed to,” I responded.
“Well it’ll certainly make it impossible to lie about orb,” the Drow stated bitterly.
“Says the guy who said that lying was futile the other night.”
“Will you two stop it! Or shall we have the whole town knowing about the item?” Abu snapped at us. The Drow and I held our tongues. The little spat put me even more on edge as we approached the Town Hall.
We had our usual entourage of guards to escort us. Shortly we were placed within the dim and murky room. The guards that guided us closed the doors and an echo of a lock sounded. It would seem they were anticipating some kind of confrontation.
A half dozen guards stood between us and the Mayor, the robed figure standing conspicuously behind him. It suddenly dawned on me in an eerie way as I looked at the anonymous personage. I was certain he was a mage of sorts and therefore quite possibly scryed upon us as we went about the Mayor’s request.
“I am so glad that you all made it safely home from the ordeal with the Goblins,” the Mayor began in his slow and punctuated tongue, “Were you able to locate the orb?”
“Don’t play dumb with us. You know very well how successful we were,” I said flatly. I looked on with narrowed eyes and my lips pressed in a thin line. The Mayor smiled at my smart.
“Then hand it over,” he demanded. Over my dead body, I thought.
“Not until you return our friends first!” Bal Vyr spoke. The smile vanished as the Town leader looked back with mild humor.
“If that is what you want.” He leaned over and pulled a lever. A rumbling behind the guards rattled the room. Some kind of platform lifted up and out of the ground, presenting Trickfoot. He looked even worse than when we saw him 5 days ago.
“Now hold on there! This is an unfair exchange! You’re giving us damaged goods!” Bal Vyr spat.
“Oh he wouldn’t have been so bad if you were hasty in your return,” the Mayor countered. Trickfoot scurried over to us, I holding out my hand for the old Gnome. I protectively positioned him behind myself and made no attempt to retrieve the orb as we demanded the release of Grendel. The Mayor seeming impatient with us, yet desiring the orb above all else, pulled another lever.
To the left of the room another platform arose presenting someone unfamiliar. It appeared to be a Dwarf man, but the scars that marred his skin and left his face beardless had me wondering if he was. As I observed his battle worn (or tortured...) skin, something else caught my attention. The mark of Erythnul!
I stared on in utter shock. What is on us!? I thought. It was comprehensible now why the curse we bore was different than I remembered, but there are elements that still don’t make sense. Like what had happened to Meryth? Wasn’t it her demon form I saved her from? Yet I couldn’t deny Erythnul’s mark as it stood before me. That is the mark of the evil I was suppose to destroy!
The anguish that built in me from my confusion made everything else around me vanish. My thoughts raced and I was only brought back when my introspection was interrupted as a third platform rumbled to the surface, presenting a recognizable dark figure; Grendel’s Demon.
I then realized that everyone was scattering throughout the room. Three guards charged toward me. I whipped out Lash’s scythe and began to make quick work of the men. My first swing took the closet guard to me down. I then prepared a fire bolt on the scythe as I caught sight of Harbinger raging toward the Mayor. My concentration almost broke as the political figure transformed into some spirit like wrath.
The two guards remaining hit me with their swords. I had tried to dodge one, but the blade left a gash on my cheek, hot blood streaming down my neck. I rendered a another guard dead as I swung the scythe again, igniting the fire bolt on him. The magic of the crystal in my weapon healed the wound on my face some, the pain subsiding a little.
With the one guard actively trying to render me, I placed another fire bolt on the scythe and struck hard. My attacker tried to avoid the hit, but ducked too slowly. The scythe cut his head clean off, the spell igniting it as it toppled away. It actually startled me some at how vigorously I had killed the man. With the three guards dead about my person, I looked toward the wraith that once was the Mayor. My quarrel was with him... and the cloaked figure. These men were just doing their job.
It was only a few short moments that those thoughts and feelings of remorse washed over me. With Grendel a demon, I had to focus once more to the fight at hand. He was more difficult to hit, so I attempted to work strategically with the Dwarf as he fought our comrade.
A strange sound caught my attention in the midst of the chaos. I looked to my left and I spotted Bal Vyr suddenly get grappled by a serpent like being. Unable to run to his aid, I threw a fire bolt at the creature. When I turned my focus back to Grendel, I looked right as he swung his fist into my chest. The square hit crack some ribs as the air was knocked from me. It burned as I tried to breathe.
I glared back at the demon of Grendel’s, trying hard to rationalize that he wasn’t in control despite knowing how much he hated me. I reminded myself he needed to be saved and for humor sake added, you’ve always wanted to get back at him for trying to kill Harbinger. Oddly enough, as I looked at Grendel, he seemed... bigger! The need to destroy his demon form triggered my adrenaline and gave me the strength to attack. I managed two hits, which did wonders for my chest. The fiery pain dulled to which breathing didn’t hurt so much.
Harbinger eventually joined us and after a few short blows, the demon crusader fell to his knees, then flat to the floor. We let out a collective sigh of relief. I looked about the room littered with bodies and was grate to see the fight was over.
In my scan of the room, the Mayor and the hooded bodyguard were no where to be seen. Bal Vyr, on the other hand, was free from the snake like creature, but looked really hurt. Abu was already assisting him and so I turned my attention to Trickfoot.
The Gnome was collapsed on the ground when I spotted him. I alerted Abu and when he was able, he came over to assist. As Trickfoot came too, I couldn’t help but overhear Harbinger and the Dwarf talking. The scarred man said his name was Tornar and Harbinger introduced himself with his full name.
“So A’aluke-”
“Just Harbinger,” the Goliath corrected.
“Uh, sure. Harbinger, what are you? How did you get so big during the fight?” Tornar asked. Harbinger told him that he was a Goliath and that his people’s blood runs thick with strength. His size increases to show the power of his soul. His body barely manages to contain the spirit of his people as it tries to break free. And all this time I thought it was a symptom of his anger.
“I see you have the same mark we bare. I guess that’s why the Mayor thought you were with us,” Harbinger stated. I looked to the Dwarf and sure enough, there on his right leg was the curse mark we all bore.
“What do you know about it!?” Tornar asked earnestly.
“Nothing really,” I blurted out. The Dwarf looked to me.
“Ah, that’s Blackwing,” Harbinger introduced, “She’s a fallen Angelic and she knows pretty much everything about the mark.”
“No I don’t,” I corrected, “I thought I did, but... with the mark of Erythnul clearly on his forehead, I haven’t a clue who’s behind the mark we all bear.”
“What do you know about Erythnul’s mark?” Tornar demanded. I let out a sigh, but did my best to explain it quickly.
“From where I came from, Erythnul was placing his mark on people to claim their souls and to prevent them from being Exalted into Heironious’s Kingdom-” I began to reply when the Dwarf doubled over. Bal Vyr stood behind Tornar, dagger in hand. There was a crazed look in his eyes before he said something incoherent and collapsed to the floor.
“What the hell was that!?” the Dwarf exclaimed.
“Um, Bal Vyr,” Harbinger replied, “But look, that creature must have bitten him.” We all gathered around to see what the Goliath saw. Sure enough there were some puncture wounds on his shoulder.
“I suspect he’s been poisoned,” Abu mentioned.
“That’d explain his random outburst,” I lied. Eventually the Drow’s paranoia of Dwarves would be revealed, but for the mean time, I figured it best to not mention that.
Harbinger and Abu worked to cure Bal Vyr. As they did that, the great doors unlocked and in walked a guard. It was the very guard that I remember the Drow chatting with the first time we came to the Town Hall, and it appeared Bal Vyr was right that he was an anarchist.
“Are you all going to just stand around and chat all night? People are coming and I need to get you out of here now!” Part of me wanted to counter that we were the one’s locked in and didn’t know we had an ally waiting outside, but alas getting away was more pressing.
Tornar lifted Bal Vyr over his shoulders while Harbinger grabbed the unconscious and marked ridden Grendel.
“You’re bringing that with you?” the Dwarf asked.
“He’s one of us,” the Goliath responded, “What we fought was an unfortunate side effect of the mark we bare.”
I let the two men lead the way, bringing up the rear with Trickfoot and Abu.
In the hallway, we saw the other guards that escorted us in, dead. Our alley was truly willing to assist us at the cost of his brothers in arm. He led us into a room and after fiddling with a wall, managed to open a secret passage that was behind a grand painting.
“Here,” he said, passing Tornar a piece of paper, “follow the map exactly! It will get you out of here. Best of luck.” He then turned on his heels and began to leave us.
We looked to the dark corridor. As a group we should be fine, but it was still unnerving to go back into the dark catacombs without a proper guide.
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