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To the travellers in the Terrene, it appeared they were hurtling through a kaleidoscope of colours – red, orange, blue, yellow, green, purple and others they couldn't put a name to. Yet oddly, there was little other indication of movement. There was a total absence of sound. When the rush of colours ceased, they found they could see through the transparent walls of the Terrene, and its bright golden light allowed them to take stock of their surroundings.
They were in a long tunnel stretching out into the distance. Stalactites dripping what appeared to be water, hung from the ceiling, and dark openings that presumably lead to other tunnels or caverns dotted the length of the walls. There was no sign of any kind of life, but wispy tendrils of a mist swirled from some of the openings.
Behind them the rosy light of the Terrene reflected off a dark rectangular swirling mass, which they guessed was the gateway they had just passed through, for it was similar to the ones they had come across in the Gualich towers at Tor-Arnath.
“Sweet heavens,” Pagan whispered, his eyes wide, as he looked around. “If Moon was here, he would compare this to one of the six hells ruled by Sutr.”
Elphemina nodded. “We are likely the first humans to set foot uninvited in the Gualich
world.” There was a slight tremor in her awed voice. “Though the last thing we want to do is actually set foot on this demon-haunted place, for we would be doomed if we left the safety of the Terrene. On the other hand,” she added darkly, “we wouldn't be here at all if not for that self-serving sorcerer, Castillan.” Liang and Pagan exchanged glances but remained silent.
As Liang and Pagan peered uneasily at their surroundings through the walls of the Terrene, Elphemina spoke urgently. “We need to move swiftly for I don't know what to expect here. The light of Mithros working through me and the Terrene, together with the power of the Storm Blades should be enough to destroy the portal. Once I open a small gap on the Terrene, draw your blades and touch them together” She glanced at Liang. “When I give the word, summon the power of the swords, and direct the energies into the opening. We will have only one chance at this.”
Liang and Pagan nodded and drew their swords. As they did so, the Terrene wobbled and shook as a tremor hit the tunnel. Elphemina whispered a word and the sphere lifted to hover off the ground.
The walls and roof of the tunnel shivered and shook with increased intensity, and they could hear the ominous sound of grinding rock and shifting stone. Mist billowed from the dark openings in the walls and swirled toward them.
Elphemina reached out and placed the flat of her hand against the side of the Terrene facing the portal. Lowering her head, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Akin to a child blowing a bubble, a small section of the sphere, the size of a human head pushed out, elongated into a tube, and attached itself to the swirling mass of the portal.
“Now!” Elphemina said, lifting her head and turning to her companions. She stepped back, her arm upraised and fingers spread. Liang raised her head, her eyes like the darkest of storm clouds, and blue light danced along the Storm Blades.
Elphemina took a deep breath and whispered a word of power, releasing the energies slumbering within her. Reddish-gold light blazed from her hand and lanced through the opening of the tube. It was followed a heartbeat later by the silver-blue light spearing from the Storm Blades. Both lights blazed with terrible incandescence as they streaked down the tube, causing Liang and Pagan to avert their eyes.
The twin-tracks of light hit the portal and engulfed it. Nothing happened for a few heartbeats, then the swirling black mass of the portal oscillated furiously, pulling and tugging at the Terrene and making it wobble.
Glancing over her shoulder, Liang saw a cloud of dark wraith-like figures rushing toward them, but she dared not alert Elphemina lest she lose her concentration. Then, large cracks of gold and blue light spread through the eddying mass of the portal, and a sound like thunder echoed through the tunnel, the sound waves hurling the Terrene forward.
When they looked again, the dark whirlpool that had been the portal was gone, replaced by a sheer rock wall. Elphemina whispered a few words, and the tube retracted.
“Behind us!” Liang yelled, then the black wraiths engulfed the Terrene, buffeting and spinning it. The three inhabitants, cushioned in its magical interior remained upright, but the walls of the sphere pulsed and bulged inward under the pressure.
The Terrene glowed brighter, gold light burning through the wraiths and peeling them away – black globules falling to the floor of the tunnel. But still they came, a black churning mass sweeping down the burrow.
“What are they?” Pagan cried, eyes wide with concern.
“The core-essence of the Suanggi,” Elphemina said. “The Terrene is holding them back, but...” As she spoke, two black tendrils burst through, wrapping themselves around Liang's ankle, making her scream in pain as searing cold ran up her leg.
Pagan reacted swiftly, his sword sweeping down to slice through the black whorls. They dropped to the floor of the Terrene and shrivelled, but more burst through seeking to attach themselves to its passengers.
Liang and Pagan slashed, spun and cut at the invading whorls, but the tight space inhibited their movement and more of them broke through the walls of the Terrene.
“I think it is time we left!” Liang yelled, as she cut through a tendril tugging at her waist. Gold light lanced from Elphemina's fingers, splashing against the walls of the Terrene, making them glow brighter. The black whorls inside the globe withered and those outside fell back.
Pagan and Liang breathed a little easier and Elphemina, her face pale in the eldritch light and eyes ringed with fatigue, drew on her reserves of power to propel the Terrene home.
But as Elphemina focused her energies, the mist billowing from the openings along the tunnel wall grew denser, speeding toward the Terrene. Indistinct figures looming as high as the tunnel roof took shape within it, flickering in and out of existence. The gold light of the sphere reflected off what appeared to be iridescent scales. Multiple arm-like appendages tipped with long articulated fingers from which black whorls squirmed, reached and quested from the roiling mist. Atop this horror, pairs of crimson eyes shone with dreadful intelligence.
Pagan was the first to see it. “Hell’s teeth, what is that?” he asked, eyes wide in alarm. Elphemina's head came up, her face wan in the light. “Mithros help us...I think it's Beleth and the other Gualich,” she gasped.
Semi-solid arms reached out, black-tendril fingers wrapping around the Terrene. The light of the sphere burnt them away, but they grew anew, tugging the globe further into the mist. A bone-chilling cold spread through the Terrene, making its inhabitants tremble, though it might have been the miasma of malice clutching at them, that made them quake.
Sweat poured down Elphemina's face despite the cold. “I can't,” she croaked. “I can't break their hold!” Taking a deep breath, she looked at Liang and Pagan. “I have to go out there and face them, it’s the only chance we have.”
Liang shook her head. “No, Elphemina, don't, you’ll die out there.”
The High Priestess nodded. “Perhaps. But it’s the only chance we…you have. I have to destroy the demons and break their hold on the Terrene” or we all die.”
“There must be another way!” Liang protested, her eyes pleading
Elphemina shook her head. “I must, Liang. I always suspected it might come to this.” She unsheathed her sword. “Give this to Astianna – my successor, when you return to the temple at Kandros. It belongs to her now.” She took a deep breath and her eyes shone brighter, matching the radiance of the Terrene. “May Mithros and the Storm gods smile favourably on you both, and be faithful to each other.” She sliced the blade of light through the wall of the Terrene, parting it like a curtain. Reaching back, she handed it to Liang, and stepped out of the safety of the globe, the slit closing instantly behind her.
Indescribable agony tore throug
h Elphemina as her feet touched the rocky ground of the Gualich world – a world totally inimical to human life. Letting the pain flow through her, she turned and smiled a farewell at Liang and Pagan.
Feeling the dreadful presence looming over her, she turned back and looked up at the crimson eyes floating in the billowing mist. She could make out several indistinct figures and guessed all seven Gualich were present.
“Ah,” Elphemina whispered. “Beleth, Narok, Kbari, Kalor, Taron, Surgat, Jakut, come to me...come to me...” She lifted her arms out wide, whispered her last words of power, and her last prayer to Mithros. A nimbus of reddish-gold light played around her head, then her whole body.
The High Priestess of Mithros brought her hands together and a sound like a thunderclap resounded through the burrow. Elphemina's body exploded in a rage of incandescent light, and coruscating reddish-gold flames shot through the demon-haunted crawl-way, instantly incinerating the Gualich and all present. Great chunks of rock fell from the roof and the ground rippled and buckled, hurling debris into the air.
When the flames and light died away, all was clear in the burrow of the Gualich. Chunks of rock lay strewn about, parts of the roof had caved in, and dark holes leading to depths unknown had been torn in the ground. A few whorls writhed fitfully on the ground and wisps of mist shrunk back into the dark caverns lining the shattered walls.