Book 5.8 Demon Battle

18 Esterealan, continued

Canliss and Val took turns listening at the door. They concentrated for several minutes then stood up, shaking their heads.
“It’s a door, all right,” said Canliss.
Obviously, I was going to have to do all the scouting in this group. I asked them to move aside so I could send a creeping shadow under the door. I planned to follow this with a find traps spell. I’d skip the divination for now – the results were likely to be inconclusive.
Before I could so much as retrieve my spell components, Val grabbed the handle to the door and opened it.
“What are you doing?” I cried in horror.
She shrugged. “What? It’s a door.”
Such recklessness. When Rhavin gets back, I’m going to ask him how he keeps everyone in order so well. I think I’m losing control of these people.
The room beyond was enormous. The eastern wall opened into a pit of lava. Near the opposite wall was a stone well, which looked rather innocuous at the moment. Directly ahead, a large platform was flanked by two huge statues of the strange, ophidian creatures we’d seen before. We could see the bloody footprints we’d followed came from a smaller, now-empty platform in one corner of the room. Four identical platforms, however, were alarmingly occupied. Each one sported a humanoid figure covered in blue-black, metal chains to which bits of glass and jagged metal had been fused. It was impossible to make out their features; only their burning, yellow eyes were visible beneath the tangle of chains. At the feet of each creature was a circle of carved runes, with gold inlays pulsing with magical power. Magical beams of energy connected the chained creatures and the statues in the shape of a pentagram. Well, that settled it – if these weren’t summoned demons or devils of some type, I’d apply for a job at Our Lady of the Dove.
A man wearing the robes of the Brotherhood of the Flames stood in the far corner, near one of the writhing creatures. He was the same mage we’d aided in the battle against the fire elemental when we’d first descended into this horrid, subterranean realm.
The mage grimaced, his wild eyes bulging. His hair was a complete mess. Apparently, summoning demons is hard on one’s toilette. I found it hard to be sympathetic. Honestly, the city is already being besieged by armies of undead, and this mage is down here summoning demons? How incredibly arrogant he must be, to think he can control beings of such evil.
“… because I command it, you gods-forsaken fiend,” the mage screamed at the creature before him as the door creaked open.
“Um, is now a bad time?” asked Ester, poking her head through the open door.
The mage turned to us. His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t look especially pleased to see us. Like a spoiled child, he stomped on the gold inlay of the creature beside him.
“I release you. Kill the intruders and return to the hell from whence you came!”
Well, that’s gratitude for you. We saved him from a fire elemental, and now he was siccing demons on us. Some people have no manners.
The gold in the circle turned liquid, spraying outward as the magic consumed it. The line of power connecting that demon (or devil; I’m going to have to look that up to be really certain which it was) to the statue dissipated. The stench of brimstone filled the air.
The barbarian rudely pushed everyone out of the way and charged into the room. He drew his axe and proceeded to foam at the mouth. In elegant contrast, Val nimbly ran inside and leaped onto the platform in the center of the room, drawing her bow with a flourish. She fired an arrow at the mage. It flew straight and true, only to be deflected aside by some magical force. Almost simultaneously, Canliss cast magic missiles that were similarly ineffective.
“Like we’ve never seen that before,” Aren muttered. “These mages need to get some new tricks.”
I wasn’t sure if Aren should be encouraging our opponent to be creative. He already had demons at his command.
The one he’d already released flung two long, barbed chains at Val and Gor. They slashed bloody lines in the arms of both warriors and fell to the ground at their feet, where they lay like coiled snakes. The demon snarled and strode towards Val, even as more chains erupted from its body.
“Hey, we’re here to help!” Ester bellowed as she ran into the room with her sword drawn. “This is all a big misunderstanding.”
“I don’t think so, Ester,” I told her. “The mage is a bad guy. Go get him.” (Sometimes, Ester needs to be told who is good and who is evil. It’s fortunate she has me to provide direction.)
Quick as a thought and just as quiet, Aren slipped into the room. Familiar-looking blades of black energy glowed in his hands. He looked grim, and understandably so. The mage was resisting our attempts to harm him, and there were far too many demons in this room. We were in for the fight of our lives.
Canliss responded to the crisis by pulling Haquia to the back of the group and fiddling with her arrows for several minutes. I wasn’t sure what those two were up to; I could only hope it would justify all the time they were wasting. I’d like to have a little talk with Canliss, but it wouldn’t do any good. He takes direction only marginally better than Gor.
Meanwhile, the mage ran to the platform housing the nearest chained demon and stomped on the magical circle. “I release you. Kill the intruders and return to the hell from whence you came!”
This pentagram exploded just as the last one had, and another line of force vanished. The demon snarled at Val, its eyes glowing yellow. The mage headed for the next demon, but he paused long enough to cast some sort of protective spell on himself that caused his robes to glow briefly. We could only guess at its purpose.
I didn’t care for the ratio of demon to warrior in the room. I stepped inside the door and summoned Gabriel. The hound archon appeared right next to the mage, and one could practically feel his aura of menace from across the room. The archon showed his opinion of those who would summon demons by stabbing the mage in the stomach with his great sword. The mage cried out in pain -- which, I have to say, was rather satisfying.
Meanwhile, Gor charged the nearest demon. Before he reached it, the creature lashed out with a chain, slicing the barbarian’s cheek open. This wasn’t as satisfying as I might have expected. Perhaps my dislike for Gor isn’t as strong as I thought it was. Certainly, when he proceeded to sink the blade of his axe into the demon’s shoulder, I was pleased that he was on our side. (Not that I’ll ever admit it.)
Despite the obvious danger, Val leaped to attack the remaining loose demon. She darted forward with her rapier, piercing right through the chains, then darted back. Unfortunately, even Val’s grace wasn’t a match for those ten-foot-long chains. She was rewarded for her courage by a chain-swipe that left her thigh bleeding. The accursed demon then flung two of its chains, straight at Aren and me. Both of us were slashed by the sharp chains, which continued to float menacingly in front of us.
“Hey!” I complained. The warriors getting hurt was one thing – that was their job. But I resented this affront to my person. If I wasn’t careful, that blood was going to stain my dress. Aren responded to the attack by launching two of his energy daggers at the nearest demon, which certainly made more of an impact than my complaints. The demon roared in pain as the black, glowing daggers penetrated its flesh, then vanished as if they’d never been.
Meanwhile, the demon who’d assaulted us tried to push Gabriel from their platform, but my hound archon resisted. He stabbed the demon for good measure. I think Gabriel was really enjoying himself; archons were born to fight demons.
The battle continued in its usual, bloody fashion. The demons loosed more chains at us. There were now six independently moving chains and two loose demons in the room. Since our numbers were staying constant, even Gor could see the odds adding up against us.
Ester, apparently deciding to put a stop to the person who’d started all this mess in the first place, charged the mage. He was already beset by Gabriel, and now Ester and the hound archon were flanking him. The mage did what spell-slingers always do in the face of danger – he fled. Specifically, he teleported to the third platform and released another demon. He followed this up, rather smugly I thought, by tossing a volley of magic missiles at poor Jven. The mage had the nerve to cackle with glee.
No, the odds definitely weren’t changing in our favor.
Jven decided to make a dramatic change to the odds. She was looking towards the lava, at the large demon still bound on the platform beneath the natural rock ceiling of the cavern when she cast her spell. Suddenly, the rock ceiling turned to mud. The last thing we saw before the demon sank out of sight was the spark of the magical circle being broken, even as the last of the beams of force vanished. Even beneath all that mud, we could hear the demon roaring, triumphant in its unexpected freedom.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and our warriors battled fiercely against the mage-controlled chain-swinging demons, but they didn’t seem to be making any progress. The loose chains were multiplying, the demons just weren’t dying, and neither was the mage who’d summoned them. Perhaps I could do something about that. I cast dispel magic on the mage, hoping to get rid of some of his annoying protective spells. It must have worked – he looked quite displeased with me. I smiled back at him; it was my turn to be smug.
I wouldn’t have been smug for long, seeing that there was a loose demon heading in my direction. Seeing the danger, our brave Val left Gabriel to handle her former opponent and charged the creature. She slashed at the creature then leaped nimbly back, placing herself between the demon and me. Our friend Val seems to have a sharp mind, in addition to a great deal of style. Nearby, Ester sunk Hilt into her opponent with less style, but equal effectiveness.
Gabriel and Gor both staggered as they were simultaneously slashed by demons. At the same time, two chains appeared out of the mud pile Jven had created on the far side of the room. The remaining demon pulled himself free, looking around him with his glowing, yellow eyes. I prayed to Torodin that he’d decide to attack the mage who’d summoned him. We had rather a lot on our plates right now.
Deciding to deal with the unsavory morsel right in front of him, Aren summoned more of his glowing daggers and slashed at the dancing chain. The chain shuddered and sparked. I frowned at Aren. I could understand him wanting to dispose of the annoying menace, but I felt it was beneath our dignity as priests of Torodin to be attacking inanimate objects. Perhaps I should have a talk with him later.
Jven understood the need to avoid grappling with all the loose chains in the room. She ducked into the corner of the room and cast Sanctuary on herself. Presumably, this would allow her to wade into the fight while still preserving her dignity.
Sadly, the combat tactics of our fellow party members make preserving one’s dignity in the midst of battle difficult in the extreme.
About this time, Haquia and Canliss had finally finished fussing with the archery equipment. She launched an arrow at the mage; there was something glittering tied to the arrow head. It struck the wall behind the mage and shattered. A cloud of gas erupted, briefly engulfing the mage, the demon beside him, and Val. Demons are not affected by poison gas; I could have told Canliss that, if he’d bothered to ask. The mage shrugged off the effects and promptly vanished. Val dropped like a stone at the feet of the raging demon.
“Canliss, what are you doing?” I scolded him. Despite the heat of battle, everyone paused for a second to glare at the six-fingered mage. He tried to deflect blame by pointing at Haquia, but none of us were fooled (especially those of us who remembered the greasy goblins).
The chain before me slashed me across the arm, which did nothing to improve my mood. I could also see that my hound archon was badly hurt. I ordered him to teleport behind me so that I could heal him, but poor Gabriel was slashed so badly by the chains surrounding him that he couldn’t concentrate. I felt bad. Every time I ask Gabriel to come down here and help us out, he gets treated rather badly. Deciding to help him out, I cast Dismissal on the demon he was battling. Sadly, the demon resisted my spell and proceeded to kill Gabriel. I didn’t even have time to apologize before the hound archon disappeared.
“Aarrrrgh!” Gor bellowed. He’d been doing this all during the battle, but it sounded especially loud in the midst of the stunned silence caused by Canliss’s folly. Gor slashed the demon in front of him once, twice. The demon exploded in a cloud of sulfur. Its chains, including the ones that had been bothering Aren and me, disappeared with it. We all cheered (except poor Val). My opinion of Gor is definitely improving – the barbarian does have his uses.
Canliss cast magic missiles at the demon menacing the sleeping Val. They worked this time, but Aren and I still turned to glare at the six-fingered mage.
“Aren’t you going to do anything about that?” Aren asked, pointing at the unconscious warrior.
Canliss, looking rather shame-faced (but not as much as he should have been), rushed over to Val. He retrieved an antidote from one of his many hidden pockets and proceeded to force her to swallow it. This was going to take a while; meanwhile, both Canliss and Val would be vulnerable to the demon looming over them.
Thinking to offer them protection, Aren cast a spell. A cloud of mist appeared, engulfing that entire corner of the room. This may have offered concealment to Val and Canliss, but it also made it impossible for any of us outside the mist to target any spells. I couldn’t even see Jven, who was presumably still trapped in the corner of the room, unable to see. Now, I don’t presume to call myself a military genius, but it seems to be we’re going to have to come up with some more workable combat strategies.
Meanwhile, the demon who’d been freed by the mud slide pulled itself free by means of its chains. It leaped onto the nearest statue and looked about the room with its yellow eyes. We had no way of knowing if it would attack us, attack its fellow demons, go after the mage, or simply sit there and scratch himself. In a way, the demon symbolized our group’s fighting style – toss random destruction into the air and let it land where it may.
Everyone decided to ignore that demon for now; provoking it was clearly unwise, even to the likes of Canliss. Ester and Gor charged into the mist. I heard grunts and slashes as they attacked the demon looming over Val and Canliss. Aren rushed over, suffering the slash of a chain. He pulled the warrior free of the mist and helped Canliss to administer the antidote, a process which involved a great deal of choking and sputtering, but which eventually landed Val on her feet.
Meanwhile, we still had two enemy demons and one of unknown loyalties. I cast Dismissal on the demon that had destroyed Gabriel. This time, the demon succumbed. It disappeared with a satisfying pop of displaced air. I turned my attention to the loose demon perching on the statue. It surveyed us all for a moment, then headed for the door. Clearly it intended to depart and would not trouble us further.
In the short-term, this was a good thing. Our group was wounded and running low on spells. We were still battling a demon, and we didn’t know where the mage was. However, as a responsible cleric I couldn’t help feel a twinge of unease at the thought of the demon running loose in the streets of Istur; I knew what that would lead to – a long lecture in Donar’s office. Using one of my few remaining spells, I tried to Dismiss the creature. It didn’t work, but at least I could tell Donar I’d tried to stop it. (Besides, it was all Jven’s fault.)
With a great deal of effort, our warriors managed to defeat the remaining demon. This left us alone in the room, except, just possibly, for an invisible mage. We spread out, searching for him. I cast ‘detect thoughts’, trying to find some sign of our enemy. I didn’t pick up any sign of the mage, but I did pick up an interesting though from Aren.
I wonder what she’s doing. I wonder what she would do if she knew who I was.
This stopped me in my tracks. Could Aren be someone I know in disguise? Who do I know that would want to conceal their identity from me?
“What’s your name?” I asked him.
Which name should I give her?, came the thought. Aloud, Aren said, “I already told you my name.” He feigned confusion, although not well. My question had surprised him.
Sadly, the ‘detect thoughts’ spell dissipated then. I couldn’t spare another spell just to satisfy my curiosity; especially when he might resist a second attempt at probing his thoughts. What a shame all my telepathy spells require the person’s cooperation. There must be some way to learn Aren’s identity.
Of course, we had more pressing concerns at the moment. Val and Haquia headed in the next room to look for the mage, only to be stopped by a wall of force. The demon-summoning miscreant had escaped us yet again.
We decided to cast the Rope Trick and Nap. This led to another argument with Gor, who isn’t afraid of chain-wielding demons but doesn’t trust extra-dimensional spaces. Our argument was interrupted by Canliss, who’d taken out his spell components and stood there, looking puzzled.
“We won’t all fit in the Rope Trick,” he said. “Not if we pull the rope up to protect ourselves.”
We all stared at Canliss in confusion. We’d talked Gor into a brief appearance in the Rope Trick once before, and we could clearly remember all of us fitting. When we pointed this out, Canliss launched into a lengthy and confusing explanation of the ever-changing nature of magic and how spells were still unstable ever since the Great Storm – it was almost as if the rules of the universe had been changed, and we were only now starting to understand them.
Most of us didn’t follow the explanation, but one thing was very clear. We were trapped down here with an invisible enemy, and we couldn’t all hide from him.