The Adventure of the Temple of Ubasti

Except for the hierophant, they were the only ones armed.

  She also noticed that both Medb and Sunny were gagged, to prevent them from using their magic.

  Ubasti had come through the opening and crouched behind the other leg.

  "What do we do?" Eile whispered.

  "I will distract them. You descend to the floor and remain hidden until I signal you. Then, your only responsibility is to free your friends and get them out of the temple. I shall deal with the others."

  "There's too many of 'em. You'll need help, and Medb can get Sunny and the animals out."

  Ubasti gazed at her, and her expression sent shiver down her spine. The avatar looked predatory. "I will need no help, and you and the others may become trapped if you linger. Once they are free, you must flee. Understood?"

  Ubasti's voice possessed a quality that silenced her further protests. She swallowed and nodded. "Understood."

  She looked off to her left. The dais sat next to the wall very closely there, providing a narrow space she could hide in.

  "I'll drop off over there."

  "Would you not rather wish to be close to Sunny?"

  "She can take care of herself. Besides, Mayv is more powerful than both of us put together. If I can free her, we stand a good chance of getting away."

  "As you wish, but do not delay any further."

  "Right." But as she turned to go, she hesitated.

  "Umm--"

  "Say nothing. I know you are grateful, but I have done only what I was required to do. Just rescue your friends."

  "Yeah." She sidled to the edge of the dais. She paused and glanced back at Ubasti, and saw her stand and walk between the legs of the statue. Eile jumped down and flattened herself against the side of the dais before creeping forward to peer into the chamber.

  At first, the celebrants seemed to take no notice of Ubasti standing in their midst. In fact, the chanting seemed to fast reach a crescendo as the high priest bought his hands together and poised the knife above his head, ready to strike. Then one of the lesser priests looked up at the statue. His jaw dropped and his face went white as his eyes bugged out. He pointed up at the eidolon.

  "Ubasti!"

  Immediately, all eyes in the chamber snapped up towards the idol, including Medb's and Sunny's, as the chanting ceased. Hysterical babbling and wailing filled the air as the celebrants voiced their consternation. Only the high priest remained calm, as his initial look of shocked surprised morphed into intense suspicion.

  "Heretics!" she heard the avatar cry. "Apostates! How dare you blaspheme against me and the Crawling Chaos. Is it not written in the holy scripture, the Black Rites penned by Luveh-Keraphf at the behest of Ubasti Herself, that the Goddess demands not the blood of innocents or non-believers, but of Her own worshipers? That She commands you all to acts of self-sacrifice, especially Her Heirophants?"

  The chief priest answered back, spitting out a string of invective in a strange tongue. She didn't understand a word he said, but his meaning seemed clear.

  "Fool!" Ubasti replied. "You dare defy me? Your suppositions cannot substitute for the commands of your Goddess. Obey me! Release your prisoners and return to the old way, or face my wrath!" She heard the smooth slip of metal sliding against metal as Ubasti pulled her swords free.

  The Heirophant made no verbal reply, but he jerked up the hand with the knife as he prepared to plunge it into Medb. Taken aback, she tensed and made to charge him, but she jerked herself back when she saw Ubasti sail through the air over the altar, her swords raised above her head. She landed, planting one foot in the middle of the High Priest's chest, pushing him backwards off his feet, and away from the altar.

  When they both hit the ground, Ubasti charged into the group of lesser priests, swinging her swords, slashing and beheading bodies and amputating limbs left and right. The acolytes screamed as the priests broke and ran, and the guards surged towards the demoniacal cat-woman.

  Ubasti engaged and held the guards. "Eile, now!"

  She sprinted to the nearest corner of the altar. Medb gave her a look of pure astonishment as she slammed her sword down on the ring, cutting through the leather thong that bound the massive woman's wrist like through soft butter.

  Medb reached over and tore the gag from her mouth, and focused on one of the acolytes holding Sunny.

  "Setim!"

  A burst of light slammed her backwards into the wall. She bounced off, collapsed, and didn't move. Sunny immediately turned and slugged the other in the face. She shrieked as she let Sunny go, then she grabbed her face and bolted for the cavern's entrance.

  One of the guards broke free of dueling Ubasti and ran at Eile. She parried his initial blow before Sunny pulled off her gag.

  "Zap!" The guard lit up and stiffened as electrical current played around his body. When it vanished he dropped, a thin wisp of smoke rising off his body.

  She cut the bonds to Medb's other hand, then ran for the foot of the altar. She paused long enough to scoop up the golden knife from where the Heirophant had dropped it.

  She tossed it to Sunny. "Here, free the animals!"

  "Right, partner!" She saluted with the knife and rushed off.

  She quickly cut the thongs securing Medb's feet as another guard came at here. Medb leapt off the altar, punched him in the throat, and took his sword as he crumpled, then raced after Sunny, intercepting a third guard who tried to stop her.

  Eile stepped up beside Ubasti to help her engage the guards. Aside from the three already dispatched, Ubasti had taken care of four others, leaving five, and she took down another even as she came abreast of her.

  "Get your friends away. I can handle these."

  She felt no inclination to argue. She whacked one of the guards in the face with the flat of her sword and started to back away, when someone grabbed her from behind and pressed a dagger against her throat. From the curses flowing from his mouth, she knew it had to be the Heirophant. She cursed herself for thinking him out of the fight.

  Ubasti turned to confront him. The four remaining guards took a step towards her--and then vanished in flashes of fire. Medb and Sunny, who had been rushing back to join the fight, came to an abrupt halt at the sight of their demise.

  "Let her go, coward!" An expression of intense fury masked Ubasti's face. It looked unlike anything she had ever seen, even on Medb.

  She felt him tighten his grip on her waist as he pressed the dagger deeper into her neck. He replied in a sneering defiant voice that also sounded confident.

  Ubasti took a step towards them. The High Priest jerked her back, drawing the dagger across her throat. She felt it slice into her flesh ever so slightly.

  Ubasti stopped. "I said, let her go." Her eyes blazed and her countenance darkened. "Or be prepared to face thy doom."

  She tensed, expecting her to blast him, but she did nothing. A strange silence fell over the chamber, except for her heart beating in her ears. Then she felt an odd vibration in the floor. Moments later a soft rumbling sound drowned out her heartbeat. It rose in volume quickly, as the vibration became more noticeable. Suddenly the whole chamber pitched and swayed as rock grated against rock and the rumbling turned into the sound of crashing surf. Cracks split the floor, walls, and ceiling as the stones seemed to scream in pain. Slabs sheared off the walls and toppled onto the floor as chunks dropped down from the ceiling.

  She felt the Heirophant loosen his grip. She stabbed him in the thigh with her sword while she used her free hand to push the dagger away. He screamed as she sprinted away from him, and Ubasti leapt past her, seizing him by the throat. The remaining priests and acolytes fled the chamber, shrieking in terror; three were crushed by a single wall slab before they could make it.

  Medb and Sunny ran up to her, moments before a chunk of ceiling fell where they previously stood.

  "Sunny, get the animals out!" she shouted above the cacophony.

  "I'm not leaving you!"

  With an ear-splitting shriek, the legs of the statue broke. It to
ppled forward and crashed into the altar, crushing both it and its own torso.

  "Sunny, please, you hafta get them out; they can't make it on their own. I'll be right behind you, don't worry."

  Sunny stared at her for a moment, then grinned. "Gotcha, partner. Let's go, guys and gals; Elvis is leaving the building!" The animals raced for the entrance, dodging falling debris, and Sunny chased after them.

  She waited until Sunny had passed out of earshot. "Go after them," she told Medb; "make sure they get out, and don't let Sunny come back for me."

  Medb hesitated, giving her a concerned look.

  She smiled to reassure her. "Go on, I'll be right behind you."

  The massive woman gave her an odd look, but nodded and sprinted towards the exit.

  Focusing on Ubasti, she saw she held the Heirophant by the throat suspended off the ground. It also seemed as if she had grown taller.

  "Ubasti, come on, the others are away." She ducked as a chunk of ceiling landed only a couple of yards away.

  Ubasti turned, and in the same instant transformed into a shadowy being, coal-black, featureless except for the blazing orange eyes, her outline shifting and indistinct as if she was composed of smoke.

  "Gaaah!" She jumped a couple of steps back.

  "You are an extraordinary girl," the avatar said, only she realized it wasn't Ubasti that spoke, but Nyarlathotep.

  As if sensing her thoughts, he stated, "Yes, Ubasti has returned to the Void wherein we all dwell until summoned. But her obligations are binding upon me. I had planned to claim you and your friends, once her task had