Session 18

The group left the ruined windmill and found Mercy outside talking to the other members of his band. He saw them approach and turned to face them.

“I hope the docent could help you?” Mercy said.

Ebyn nodded. “It did. We need to travel to a colossus known as Landro. Harmony suggested you might be willing to guide us there.”

“Landro? Yes, I can take you,” Mercy said. “But the war machine is shielded.”

“Harmony said as much,” Seknafret said. “But we’d like to see for ourselves.”

Mercy’s eyes darted and he glanced over his shoulder to where his team stood. He took a few steps and motioned for Ebyn and Seknafret to follow. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Seknafret said. “What’s up?”

Mercy shifted from foot to foot. “I haven’t shared this with anyone, but the last time I scouted Landro something happened. I did a shameful thing, and I hope that with your help I can make it right.”

Ebyn looked at Seknafret who shrugged in response. “What do you mean, Mercy?” he said.

“I, along with my companion, Wisdom, were sent to check the barrier on Landro,” Mercy began. “We got there and at first everything looked as it had the last time. Then Wisdom noticed a fissure in the rock near the base of the colossus we’d not seen before.”

“A crack you say?” Ebyn said. “Would it grant entry past the barrier?”

Mercy shrugged. “Such fissures aren’t unusual. You’ve all felt the tremors as the terrain shifts, but before we could get a proper look we were attacked. They just came out of nowhere, and I … well, I ran away.”

“Who attacked you?” Ebyn asked.

“Agents of the Lord of Blades,” Mercy said. “At least five of them. We wouldn’t have stood a chance. I sprinted away hoping to hide in the rocks and mist.”

“And Wisdom?”

“That’s just it,” Mercy said. “I don’t know. I left him.”

The box at Ebyn’s side clicked again, another secret collected. Mercy left Wisdom and ran away in fear.

Seknafret gasped. “And you never tried to find him?”

Mercy looked up, clearly ashamed. “I waited for a few hours, in case he managed to escape as well, but I was too afraid to go back. I reported what happened upon my return here. I just left out the part where I abandoned my friend.”

“How can we help?” Ebyn said.

“Since we’re going to be in the area, maybe you could help me look for Wisdom,” Mercy said. “I can’t undo what I did, but if the worst did happen, I can at least bring his body back here so he can be laid to rest with dignity.”

Seknafret placed a hand on Mercy’s shoulder. “I know how it feels to be so afraid for your own life that everything else gets pushed aside. I lost several of my own companions in a surprise attack, so I understand the guilt you are carrying. Of course we will help you.”

Mercy smiled weakly. “Thank you. It means a lot. Are you ready to leave now?”

Ebyn nodded. “We are.”

“We won’t make it the whole way before nightfall,” Mercy said. “But we can make a start.”

The group gathered their belongings and left immediately with Mercy as their guide. The purple warforged was determined to find out what happened to his friend and pushed the group across the blighted landscape with a purpose that suited Brabara perfectly.

They’d covered plenty of ground before darkness settled on the land and the nightmare took them:

Vecna is on campaign in the Flannaes, his armies – a mix of mortal legions led by Kas and undead hordes led by Acererak win battle after battle and take city after city. Much of the land between the Barrier Peaks in the north, to the Crystalmist mountains to the west and the Lortmil mountains to the east are under his control and he seeks to turn his dreams of conquest further toward what would one day be Furyondy.

Vecna stands in his command tent looking over a vast map of the Velverdyva River valley showing the disposition of his forces and those of his opponents. Kas and Acererak listen as Vecna outlines a complex stratagem of feints and deceptions to try and lure their enemies away from the high ground. After Vecna finishes his explanation, Kas laughs and claps him on the shoulder.

“Don't over think it,” Kas said. “There are way too many variables here, my friend. We have the numbers, and the dead feel neither fatigue nor pain. Send them forward en masse and let necessity be the spark that delivers inspiration.”

Kas’s simple gambit works, and the battle is won, with new territory now under Vecna’s control.

---

They awoke, not exactly refreshed but feeling better than they had on previous days. Whether this indicated a growing resilience to the dream’s debilitating effects, or simply that last night’s dream hadn’t been especially taxing, would remain to be seen.

Mercy led the group the rest of the way to Landro. They could make out the distinctive shape of the colossus through occasional breaks in the mist.

It stood several hundred feet high. Most of the construct’s body was encased within the rock of the mountain, but its head and shoulders remained clear. It had one arm raised as if pointing at something in the distance.

Brabara gasped. “Incredible. How could anyone build something like this?”

“The real question is why?” Seknafret said.

Xalen snorted. “The war is why.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Seknafret explained. “What could drive a nation to create such a thing? How is it possible to hate your enemy enough to develop a war machine on that kind of scale. Imagine the destruction it would have caused.”

“Thankfully we never had to find out,” Mercy said. “Landro remains trapped within the mountain as it has since its deployment.”

“How did that happen?” Ebyn asked. “It would take a powerful stone shape to move that much rock.”

Mercy shook its head. “No enemy mages caused this. It is said that Landro was equipped with a kind of dimensional gate to allow it to move about a battlefield quickly.”

Xalen scoffed. “Surely its operators wouldn’t have purposefully caused it to become trapped in the stone like that.”

“The day of mourning changed this place,” Mercy said. “Teleportation magic became unreliable here, particularly over long distances. Landro was first launched during the cataclysm and ended up there as a result.”

“Hold on,” Ebyn said. “What do you mean about teleportation magic? We’d planned to use it to return home.”

Mercy shook his head. “I would advise against it. You will risk ending up like that. Short point-to-point jumps appear to work, though.”

“So, what?” Brabara said. “We’ll have to walk back to the portal.”

“It would appear so,” Ebyn said.

Brabara sighed. “I fucking hate this place.”

They found a suitable spot to camp a short distance away from Landro. Mercy showed them the fissure he and Wisdom found before the attack, then returned to camp to wait while the Succulent Juices entered the fissure.

Beyond the narrow crack in the stone, they found a natural cave system leading further into the mountain. A trickle of strange grey fluid flowed in a channel on the floor before disappearing below ground.

Ebyn crouched to examine the grey fluid. “Have any of you seen something like this before?”

They all shook their heads.

“Why don’t you try tasting it?” Xalen suggested with a smile.

Ebyn looked at him flatly. “I’m not going to touch it. It could be acidic judging from the channel it has created in the stone here.”

“Shall we go deeper?” Brabara asked, peering further into the tunnel.

“Let me send my arcane eye first,” Ebyn said.

He cast the spell and sent the invisible floating sensor into the cave system.

The caves did not extend far, with two largish caverns connected by several tunnels. At one point, the magical eye’s progress was blocked by an invisible barrier, beyond which was a long chamber with a curved roof ending in an open archway.

Ebyn moved the eye back, taking a different path out of the furthest of the two caverns and found the body of a lone warforged on the ground there.

“I think I found Wisdom,” Ebyn said as he had the eye examine the unmoving figure.

“Is it alive?” Seknafret asked.

“Hard to say,” Ebyn said. “It’s not moving at all, but I can’t see any obvious wounds on the body and the eye can’t roll it over.”

Seknafret nodded. “When you’re finished, we’ll head there first.”

Ebyn continued to map out the area.

“There are some human bodies here too,” Ebyn said. “They’re not moving either, but their weapons and armour are well preserved. They’ve been here a while based on the dust.”

“Any idea what killed them?” Seknafret asked.

Ebyn shook his head. “Nothing obvious.”

The eye returned a minute later.

“It’s a closed loop,” Ebyn said. “We’ve got the bodies in the next cave, with the warforged a bit further along. A magical force blocks access into what I assume is the foot of the colossus and there’s a metal door blocking one of the tunnels between here and there. No sign of anything moving.”

Brabara gripped her glaive. “Let’s go then.”

They moved forward to the first cave where the human bodies lay. Ebyn again stepped forward, using a mage hand to clear away some of the dust while he leaned closer to examine them.

“Clearly dead,” Ebyn said. “No apparent wounds, but we’ve seen that before in the battlefields.”

Seknafret stepped closer. “No decay either. Any idea why?”

Ebyn peered closer. “The dust, I think. It could be the residue of that grey liquid that is flowing here. Perhaps it has preservative properties.”

Ebyn collected a small sample of the dust with his mage hand and held it near his face where he could study it closely. He used his dagger to push the dust around the palm of his magical hand and tried to smell it. A small amount of the material went up his nose causing the mage to sneeze.

Seknafret came up once Ebyn’s fit of sneezing ended. “Are you okay?”

“Glumble thagny opness trub,” Ebyn said.

Seknafret frowned. “What did you say?”

“Glumble thagny opness trub,” Ebyn repeated.

“I have no idea what that means,” Seknafret said, and looked to the others. “Do you know what he’s saying?”

Xalen shrugged and Brabara shook her head.

Seknafret returned her attention to Ebyn. “How do you feel? Are you in pain at all?”

Ebyn shook his head. “Lurpet argluy.”

“The dust has somehow effected your speech,” Seknafret said. “Let me try something.”

Seknafret used her restorative magic to try and undo the effects of the grey dust, but Ebyn’s words remained garbled.

“We can’t proceed like this,” Seknafret said.

“Why’s that?” Xalen said. “Be nice to have some time free of Ebyn’s lectures and observations.”

Brabara chuckled. “Yes, I agree.”

Seknafret eyed them flatly. “Magic requires precise articulation. If he can’t talk, he can’t cast spells. Do we want to explore this place a man down?”

Brabara shook her head. “No, I guess not.”

“Do we know if this effect is temporary?” Xalen asked.

Seknafret shrugged. “No, but we can’t risk going further now.”

“How far along the tunnel is Wisdom’s body?” Brabara asked.

Ebyn raised a hand with his thumb and forefinger only an inch apart.

“So not far then,” Brabara said.

Ebyn nodded.

She looked at the others. “We can at least go there and find Wisdom before we back out of here. We’re so close.”

“I agree,” Seknafret said.

They moved forward and found Wisdom’s unmoving form on the floor of the tunnel. Brabara knelt and rolled the body over, checking for any obvious signs of injury. She found none, but the warforged did not respond to her ministrations.

“Is he dead?” Xalen asked.

Brabara shrugged. “Could be. Let’s bring the body back to Mercy.”

They left the caves and walked to the camp where Mercy waited. The purple warforged gasped when he saw what Brabara carried and rushed over to meet them.

“Wisdom?” Mercy said.

Brabara nodded. “We found him on the ground inside the fissure. There’s no sign of injury, but I can’t seem to wake him.”

“Please lay him down,” Mercy said. “He may just be powered down.”

Brabara did as Mercy asked and stepped back to allow the warforged to examine its friends body.

Mercy opened a panel on Wisdom’s shoulder and rolled the body on its side so the mechanisms below the panel were bathed in light. A minute or so later, Mercy twisted something on the palm of his left hand and placed it on the opening he’d made.

A few seconds later, Wisdom’s hand twitched.

“He’s going to be alright,” Mercy said, relief evident on his face.

Mercy stayed kneeling beside Wisdom’s body with the palm of his hand over the other warforged shoulder mechanism for several minutes. Eventually Mercy closed the panel and rolled Wisdom flat once more.

Wisdom sat up. “Mercy?”

“It is me,” Mercy said, and the two of them embraced. “I am sorry I left you. What happened?”

Wisdom blinked, turning around to look at the others. “Who are your companions?”

“Living,” Mercy said. “Here to locate an artifact inside Landro. They found you and brought you back to me.”

“Thank you,” Wisdom said. “I should never have sought refuge in that fissure.”

“What happened after the two of you got separated?” Brabara asked.

“I saw Mercy running,” Wisdom began. “And I tried to follow but a missile blast exploded in front of me, so I doubled back toward the fissure we’d found. It was stupid of me, but I went inside hoping they hadn’t found it yet.”

Brabara nodded. “It must have worked though. There’s not a mark on you.”

“I hid in there for a time,” Wisdom said. “The chase outside must have continued for a while. Mercy, I am so sorry I abandoned you out there. I should have stayed with you or at least tried to find you after the ruckus ended.”

Mercy stared at his friend. “You’re not the one to blame for this, Wisdom. I shouldn’t have run away like I did.”

Wisdom smiled. “It appears we have each adopted our own burden of guilt. I forgive you, my friend.”

“And I you,” Mercy said.

“In any case. I stayed hiding in the tunnels for a while when I saw the ones who ambushed us approach the fissure.” Wisdom reached out to grip Mercy’s arm. “Glaive was leading them.”

Mercy gasped. “I see. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“Who is Glaive?” Brabara asked.

“An agent of the Lord of Blades,” Mercy said. “One of his scouts, skilled and dogged in his pursuit of the Lord of Blade’s goals. A fearsome opponent, it would be best to avoid contact with him or his squad entirely.”

Wisdom nodded. “As soon as I saw who was leading the party I moved deeper into the cave system, found a concealed alcove and powered myself down. I guess they mustn’t have found me because your friends here brought me out.”

Brabara scratched at the base of her skull. “We didn’t find you in a concealed alcove. You were lying on the floor of one of the tunnels. Not hidden at all.”

“I was?” Wisdom said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t explain that.”

“Ebyn did mention something about a metal door,” Seknafret said. “Could be there’s someone or something living down there.”

“Or Glaive did find you and just left you there,” Xalen said.

Wisdom shook its head. “I doubt that. If Glaive had found my powered down body, I’d have been taken before the Lord of Blades for reprogramming.”

“Sounds unpleasant,” Brabara said.

“It is,” Wisdom said. “I either fully commit myself to the cause, or I am dismantled and used for parts.”

“Well, you’re safe now,” Mercy said, squeezing Wisdom’s hand tightly. “We should return to Ialos and let Harmony know what happened here.”

Wisdom looked to the others. “Thank you, friends, for saving me. It is rare to find living who consider our kind as anything other than tools.”

“What about Glaive,” Brabara said. “Do you think the scouting party is still in the area?”

Wisdom shrugged. “It’s possible. I cannot say for certain, sorry.”

Wisdom and Mercy said their goodbyes and left for Ialos while the group rested. An hour or so later Ebyn’s ability to form words had returned. There were still several hours before sunset, so they decided to return to the small cave system to see what they could find before nightfall.

They made their way back to the pile of well-preserved bodies dressed in pristine looking armour adorned with the crest of one of the fallen nations.

“There must be magic at play here,” Ebyn said, eyeing the layer of dust warily. “Hold on while I check.”

Ebyn performed the ritual and studied the area. “There’s a faint aura of abjuration magic here.”

“Abjuration?” Brabara asked. “What’s that?”

“Protection, prevention,” Ebyn said. “That kind of thing. It could explain why they are free of decay.”

“What about the ooze?” Xalen said.

Ebyn glanced toward the flowing channel of sludge and narrowed his eyes. “This is magical as well. A kind of transmutation magic.” He stepped closer to the fluid and caught his reflection all twisted and wrong, before stepping back with a gasp.

“Are you okay?” Seknafret said.

Ebyn stood panting for a moment. “That fluid. It’s … wrong, somehow. I recommend staying away from it.”

Brabara nodded. “Good to know.”

They moved deeper into the cavern heading toward the metal door Ebyn’s arcane eye revealed earlier. Brabara led the group down the passage with light from Seknafret’s staff illuminating the way.

Shifting shadows as they walked caused Brabara to miss a circular gap in the stone. She put her foot on the ground within the circle and heard a sharp click. With reflexes honed by years on the watch, she managed to leap back before the sharp metal jaws could snap shut around her leg.

“Whoa,” Brabara said. “That was close.”

“You want me to go first?” Xalen said. “I’m better at this than you.”

Brabara nodded and stepped to the side to let Xalen pass. “Lead on.”

They continued up to the door, slower and more wary than they had been. The metal door was fitted into the natural cavern walls by a makeshift frame built from scavenged wood and dressed stone. While the door itself appeared solid the frame could probably be pushed clear of the wall with some effort.

Xalen checked the area for traps and found nothing.

“It’s unlocked,” he mouthed, then made a gesture to suggest opening it.

Brabara nodded and assumed a fighting stance.

The room beyond was lit by a low burning lantern sitting on a table at the centre of the space surrounded by four chairs. Xalen peered in and spotted three stained sleeping pallets, all empty. He tilted his head to listen and detected the unmistakable sound of someone breathing in the area behind the door.

Xalen stepped back quietly and let the others know what he’d discovered before Brabara entered the room.

“Hello in there,” she said as she came around the corner. Her eyes widened when she saw the misshapen figure on the sleeping pallet, and it was all she could do to keep from gagging.  

A tall, muscular humanoid dressed in the tattered rags of a soldier’s uniform stood up. Its deformities, pustules, lumps, and twisted limbs, made it impossible to tell whether it was male or female or even what species this creature might once have been.

The monster rose quickly and let out a loud bellow, jagged teeth poking in every direction from its mangled jaw, yellow eyes of different sizes fixed on Brabara.

Brabara took an involuntary step back, unsure whether to try and help the unfortunate creature or put it out of its misery. All doubt swept aside when it leapt at her in a murderous rage.

Brabara recovered quickly and managed to block the first of its blows, but the monster fixed her with a piercing gaze from the larger of its eyes that sent a spike of agony into Brabara’s brain.

Seknafret stepped forward, one hand thrust toward the beast. Magic leapt from her to surround the creature freezing its limbs and keeping it from moving.

Brabara closed in and struck the helpless creature several times with her glaive. Blood flowed freely from deep wounds before Ebyn stepped between her and the stricken creature, a set of manacles in his hands.

“We can restrain it,” Ebyn said. “Maybe it has something useful to tell us in exchange for its life.”

Brabara nodded. “Yes, good idea.”

She took the manacles and stepped around to the back of the creature securing one of its wrists. Xalen shouted in alarm before she could lock the second wrist in place.

“There’s more of them,” he yelled and darted into the room.

Brabara moved to the doorway to intercept the newcomers, glaive extended. One of the grotesque creatures fixed Ebyn with its baleful glare.

The pain was terrible. Ebyn gripped his head and screamed as he felt his body twisting and changing in painful and unnatural ways. Seknafret noticed Ebyn’s distress and moved to help him. She laid a hand on his chest and channelled her restorative power into his body.

The effect was immediate. Ebyn’s limbs ceased trying to pull themselves out of their sockets and the pain that wracked his body ended.

Doing this, however, caused Seknafret to lose control of the magic she’d used to paralyze the first of the monsters and it roared behind them, one manacle hanging from its gangly arm.

Too close for arrows, Xalen turned to face the creature with his blade while Brabara used the narrow opening of the door to make the newcomers fight her one at a time. Brabara fought well, managing to kill one of the three new arrivals, though she suffered several solid blows in return.

Xalen, for all his agility, was no match for this beast’s brute strength. Were it not for the fact that it chose to spread its attacks over multiple opponents, one or more of them might have been downed.

Ebyn, completely unused to fighting at such close quarters, suffered a strong blow to his chest. He knew he might not survive a similar strike and touched the weave to create three duplicates of himself that shifted and moved around him, confusing his opponent.

In the doorway, Brabara suffered another terrible hit that brought her to her knees before striking upward and opening a deep gash in one of the two remaining newcomers.

Another blow from the creature in the room caused one of Ebyn’s duplicates to vanish and brought a look of panic to the wizard’s face. He disappeared in a cloud of mist to reappear a moment later in the passage behind the last of the monsters, then turned and sprinted away.

The last beast took a swing at the fleeing wizard and another of his mirror images disappeared.

Seknafret slammed her staff on the ground causing the air around her to fill with blinding sand. She alone could see through the swirling mass and managed to find a corner of the room where she could use her eldritch blasts to devastating effect.

The tables had turned.

Xalen, with Seknafret to direct his attacks, quickly dropped the first creature, while Brabara killed the second of the newcomers in the doorway. The fourth, despite the blinding sand, must have realised that its companions were dead and fled up the tunnel, ignoring Ebyn who hid in the darkness, and ran away.

“What are these things?” Xalen asked, wincing.

“I don’t know what they were, but they hurt like hell,” Brabara said.

Seknafret stepped over to Brabara, who leaned in the doorway in obvious pain, and used her magic to mend the big warrior’s wounds.

Brabara stood a little straighter. “Thank you.”

Ebyn entered the room then. “The last one is gone.”

“Will it be back do you reckon?” Xalen asked.

Ebyn shrugged. “Can’t say. Let’s not hang around here just in case.”

“No,” Brabara said. “Like it or not this is the best place for us to hole up. We have a choke point and a solid door. If it does come back, we will have the tactical advantage. I reckon we could all use a rest.”

They all nodded and set about barricading themselves in the room.

Xalen searched while they rested. The search turned up nothing of any value, only a few poorly maintained weapons, and scraps of stained cloth. On the table he found an assortment of bones of small rodents and mushroom scraps. Clearly these things have been eking out an existence by living off whatever they could scavenge or harvest.

“Any idea what they are?” Seknafret said looking at the misshapen forms.

“Could have been soldiers,” Ebyn said. “Their clothing looks like it might have been a uniform.”

Brabara frowned. “If they were soldiers, shouldn’t they be dead like all the others?”

Ebyn shrugged. “Who can say. I wonder if their deformities were caused from contact with that grey fluid out there. I did detect transmutation magic and when I saw my reflection it was all twisted and wrong.”

“It is possible I suppose,” Seknafret said.

Brabara stared at the nearest body. “I hate this place.”

With their rest over, the Succulent Juices waited while Ebyn linked them all telepathically and then left the room. They made their way down to the damaged foot of the colossus where Ebyn’s eye was blocked by the invisible wall of force.

On the way they passed by a small patch of mushrooms – where several funghi appeared to have been dropped mid harvest. This must have been where the other three monsters had been when their sleeping companion raised the alarm.

Upon reaching the foot and the force wall, Ebyn spent several minutes studying the barrier to see if there was any way to disable it. His familiarity with this type of magic led Ebyn to conclude that this was some kind of enhanced wall of force, and as such there was little he could do to remove it.

“What about that dispel magic thing you did in the underdark?” Xalen said.

Ebyn shook his head. “It is immune to that kind of magic. A disintegrate spell might let me punch a hole through one section of it, but I’m loathe to use such powerful magic unless we have no choice.”

“Why don’t we just teleport inside?” Brabara said.

Ebyn frowned. “I didn’t prepare that spell this morning, and even if I had I’m not sure if it would work. Mercy warned us that such magic is unreliable in the Mournlands and this giant construct embedded in the mountain before us is testament to the truth of that.”

“Damn it!” Xalen spat. “I guess we need to find some other way inside.”

Brabara scratched her ear. “Doesn’t the rod piece we have let us jump from place to place?”

“Of course,” Ebyn said, eyes widening. “How did I forget that? We can use the rod piece to create one side of a gate here and the other over by the archway beyond the wall there and step through. Good thinking, Brabara.”

After retrieving the rod piece from his backpack, Ebyn triggered the artifact’s arcane power and two linked portals sprung into existence.

“After you,” Ebyn said while bowing and gesturing Brabara forward with a smile.

Brabara hefted her glaive and stepped through the swirling ripple of magic and into the room on the other side of the force wall. Seeing no immediate danger, she signaled for the rest of the group to follow.

“There is one thing,” Ebyn said once they were all on the other side. “We can only use this once per day. So, unless we somehow find the third rod piece in under ten minutes, we will be forced to spend the night inside the construct.”

Brabara clapped the mage playfully on the back of the head. “You couldn’t just let us have this brief moment of success, could you?”

Ebyn stepped back making sure he was well out of the large warrior’s reach. “Facts are facts, our mood changes nothing. We need to be aware of the situation so we can plan and act accordingly.”

The chamber with the semi-circular ceiling where they now stood was featureless save for the archway. Beyond that was a circular chamber with a set of steel rungs fixed to the far wall that extended into darkness up what could only be the colossus’ leg.

“Can anyone else feel that?” Seknafret said. “Like we’re somehow lighter in here.”

Xalen paused for a moment. “Yes,” he said, then jumped a full ten feet into the air before falling back down slowly. “This is amazing.”

Ebyn took a deep breath, then started floating slowly upward. “It’s just like in the Astral Sea,” he said. “Just think where you want to go and the magic here will take you.”

“Nope,” Brabara said. “Not doing that again. I’m happy to climb the ladder.”

The four rose to the top of the colossus’ left leg where the circular chamber ended at the construct’s pelvis. They stepped out from the magical anti-gravity area and onto a level platform that must once have served as an armoury, given the amount of weaponry that was strewn across the floor.

Apart from this, the colossus’ other leg could be seen on the far side of the room, with its own anti-gravity field allowing access back down that leg. A smaller circular chamber, with its own ladder rungs affixed to the walls, rose upward from the centre of the landing, roughly equivalent to where the spine might run up a humanoid’s torso.

“Can you check if any of these weapons are magical” Xalen asked indicating the scattered weaponry on the floor.

Ebyn nodded and cast the spell. “Nothing,” he said. “All mundane.”

“Up the spine here, or down the other leg?” Xalen said.

“Up,” Seknafret said. “Far more likely what we’re after is in the heart or head rather than the construct’s boot.”

Ebyn nodded. “Agreed.”

This column was much narrower, wide enough to allow only for single file. The anti-gravity magic in the legs did not function here so they had to use the ladder.

Brabara went up first, her bulk obscuring any visibility beyond her. Still, she climbed the ladder swiftly and before long they all stepped out onto a level surface possibly at the height of the colossus’ stomach.

The way up from here was blocked by collapsed stone debris. Whether this stone came from the mountain or from the colossus’ own materials was impossible to tell. Flowing down the side of the spinal column was more of that grey ooze that Ebyn had warned them to avoid.

“We might need to clear that debris,” Brabara said, peering up ahead of them. “It’ll take some effort, but I reckon’ it’s doable.”

“Except for that,” Ebyn said, pointing at the grey ooze. “Would be tricky to work in there without coming into contact.”

Brabara frowned. “We don’t know if it’s bad, do we?”

“No, we don’t,” Ebyn said. “But is that something you’re prepared to take a chance on?”

“I guess not,” Brabara admitted. “Let’s see if there’s another way up.”

There were two rooms at this level, on either side of the body.

On the right was what appeared to be a workshop. At its center stood a stone bench, strewn with various tools, bits of material and other odds and ends. The wall opposite had a large crack in it, where more grey ooze seeped down to pool slightly on the floor before flowing out into a set of natural tunnels that curved away into the darkness.

Ebyn sent Hoot out into the tunnels, but the fey owl crashed into an invisible wall of force that prevented it from leaving the room.

“That’s strange,” Ebyn said. “This ooze is flowing past, but my familiar is stopped.”

“Maybe the ooze has made a hole down there,” Xalen said. “Let me check.” Xalen cast mage hand to feel around. “Yes, there is a gap in the forcefield here, barely a foot wide. We won’t be able to pass by that. Let’s try the other side.”

They went over to investigate the room on the other side of the construct’s body. This chamber appeared to be set up as a kind of barracks. Rows of bunks were visible beyond the two archways granting access to the room at either end.

Ebyn went in first and, as soon as he crossed the threshold, all sound deadened. He stood for a moment to adjust to the change and could feel a persistent wave of tiredness washing over him. His fey heritage prevented him from succumbing to the siren call of slumber, but the lack of sound made spellcasting impossible, so he stepped back out.

“I think Xalen should go in,” Ebyn said. “There’s a silence spell in effect there so Seknafret and I would be limited in what spells we can cast.”

“I can go,” Brabara said.

Ebyn shook his head. “No, there is a kind of sleep compulsion at play too. Elves are immune so Xalen’s really the best option.”

“Fair enough,” Xalen said, and entered the room.

Once he passed the archway and stepped fully into the room, he could see about a dozen bunk beds lined up in neat rows around the outside of the darkened chamber. He walked further into the room and stopped when he spotted the unmistakable shape of a person seemingly asleep on one of the beds.

Xalen moved forward to get a closer look.

The figure appeared human, female, with long blond hair curled in a braid around her head. Gingerly, Xalen reached forward and shook the woman to try and wake her. His touch caused her eyes to snap open, and she sat bolt upright. Seeing Xalen looming over her she quickly rolled off the bed and ran to the corner of the room.

“Who are you?” she shrieked, her words sounding in Xalen’s mind.

Xalen didn’t respond. His attention fixed on the corpse still lying on the bed before him. She must have died years ago, the cheeks were sunken, the flesh grey and desiccated, but there were no signs of injury as far as Xalen could tell. Whoever this woman was, she must have died peacefully in her sleep.

The woman, who’s ghost now stood in the corner of the room, whimpered. “Please don’t hurt me, sir,” she said, her telepathic words conveying her emotions perfectly. “I guess I slept in. It will not happen again.”

Xalen lifted his arms palms forward in a non-threatening way and moved closer to the still cowering ghost. “Who are you?” he said, though the words made no audible sound.

“Alamar-Vatashi, sir,” she replied snapping to immediate attention. “Corporal First Class, Legio Mechanica, attached to colossus Lima Rho.”

Xalen frowned. “You can hear me?”

“Of course, sir,” the ghost said, her words appearing in his mind. The experience was like the telepathic bond which Ebyn used to link them.

“Can you guys hear her?” Xalen asked the others over their link.

“Hear who?” Seknafret replied.

“There’s a ghost in here,” Xalen said. “She’s speaking to me telepathically. I just wanted to check if you could hear her too.”

“Only those present at the time of the ritual can communicate,” Ebyn explained.

“Are you in any danger?” Brabara asked.

“No,” Xalen said. “At least, not right now. I’ll try and keep you guys informed on what’s happening.”

“Okay,” Seknafret said. “Be careful.”

Xalen turned his attention back to the ghostly female soldier. “Relax, Alamar,” Xalen said, thinking the words this time to see if that worked. “No need to salute here. I am no officer.”

Alamar looked confused for a moment, and her expression changed from fear to suspicion. “Then what are you doing here? This is a restricted…” she paused mid-sentence then her eyes widened. “Oh, no… What time is it?” She ran to one of the narrow slits in the colossus’ wall that might have served as windows. “Did I miss the deployment? Why is it still dark outside?”

“Alamar,” Xalen said, hoping his telepathic voice came across as reassuring. “Relax, there’s something you need to understand.”

Alamar turned away from the window, looked at Xalen and then looked over to her body lying unmoving on the bed. “I’m dead, aren’t I?” she said, with a resigned slump in her shoulders.

Xalen nodded. “Yes, and it probably happened a long time ago. What do you remember?”

“I remember… something… but I can’t seem to feel the memory.” She looked up and gave Xalen a pleading look. “Maybe you can help me bring the memory back?”

“Help you? How?”

“It’s easy, I think,” Alamar stepped forward, so her face was just a few inches from Xalen. “Let me touch you and I can use your mind to fuel mine.”

“I don’t know about that,” the young elf said taking a step back, all the while conveying the conversation to the others via Ebyn’s bond.

“Do it,” Seknafret offered. “If anything happens, I should be able to heal you.”

“Yeah, do it,” added Brabara. “We’re just here.”

Only Ebyn remained silent.

“Ebyn?” Xalen queried. “What do you think?”

“We’re here to find the rod piece,” Ebyn’s thoughts responded finally. “Perhaps this ghost’s memories can help with that goal.”

Great, thought Xalen, keeping this thought to himself. For once, Xalen was hoping for a little of Ebyn’s annoying brand of caution, but even he seemed ok with this course of action.

“What will happen?” Xalen said to the ghost. “If you touch me, I mean, is it going to hurt?”

Alamar tilted her head slightly and smiled. “I wouldn’t think so. Does it normally hurt for you to remember things?”

“Okay,” Xalen said. “You can touch me, but before you do that, I have a question.”

“What question?”, Alamar said.

“Is there a way to pass through the force barriers protecting the colossus?” Xalen asked.

Alamar frowned. “All who are in the service of the Legio Mechanica may pass freely.” She tilted her head sideways again. “But you must know that already since you are here.” Alamar stepped back and looked Xalen up and down fully for the first time. “Wait? You’re not in uniform? Who are you?”

Xalen looked around the room, hoping something here might help him answer the question. In the end he decided to go with the truth. “I am on an important mission. The fate of the whole world depends on me and my companions. There is something in this colossus that we need to fight a great evil and without it everything will die.”

 “But I am already dead, why should I care about this quest of yours?”

Xalen thought quickly. “But maybe there are still people you care about out there who are not. If I were to fail, then they too would suffer.”

“I can’t remember if I have people I care about,” Alamar said while scratching her chin. Her head suddenly jerked sideways, and her expression blanked for a moment, before she turned back to Xalen. “Maybe you can help me get my memories back?”

“I can do that,” Xalen replied quickly, taking advantage of the ghost’s reset to avoid the previous line of questioning. “What do you need me to do?”

Alamar moved close and raised her hand up to Xalen’s face. “I am going to touch you here,” she began, indicating Xalen’s temple, “so I can send my memories to your living mind to help me remember what happened.”

Xalen swallowed. “Okay.”

Alamar smiled and placed her hand on the side of Xalen’s head. It was bitterly cold – not so much to cause pain but still deeply uncomfortable – and then she closed her eyes.

Images began to flood into Xalen’s consciousness. A jumble at first, but soon things started to fall into order, and he was able to make sense of the stream of consciousness Alamar was projecting.

As if through the eyes of a soaring bird, you see a titanic statue of metal and stone standing amid a circle of glowing sigils. A dozen figures, all with the symbol of the Nation of Cyre emblazoned on their robes, stand around the circle and murmur arcane words, their heads bowed in concentration.

Nearby, on a tiered seating area, numerous high-ranking officials watch the proceedings, all with a satisfied expression on their faces.

The view from above fades to be replaced by a view from inside the colossus, peering out a window about halfway up the massive construction. Alamar’s own eyes now bearing witness to the commissioning of Cyre’s latest and most terrible war machine.

Alamar looks on as the ritual reaches a crescendo, the stone colossus begins to levitate causing the assembled audience to applaud loudly.

As silvery light swirls around the colossus, the ground quakes. The mages manage to complete the ritual, but their magic seems to warp, and the spell goes awry. The colossus is buried in crumbling stone, surrounded by shifting mountains and sickly gray clouds.

The calamity sent Alamar sprawling but she managed to claw her way to a bed where the subtle magics of the room coaxed her into a deep slumber.

The vision faded and Alamar stepped back from Xalen clutching her hand to her chest, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “How long have I been like this?” she asked.

“About five years, I think,” Xalen replied. “A lot of terrible things happened on that day.”

“So, my country of Cyre lost the war?”

“Everyone lost that day. Cyre more than most, perhaps. It has become known as the day of Mourning and since then there has been no more war.”

Alamar nodded. “That’s something, I suppose.”

“Please forgive me, I need to show my companions that I am still in one piece.”

Xalen left the ghost alone and returned to the group who waited outside the sleeping chamber. He told them what he saw when sharing Alamar’s memories and Seknafret explained that her order has rituals that could help ease this spirit’s passage to the other side if she wants to be given rest.

Xalen conveyed the request to Alamar, and she agreed without hesitation. Everyone she knew was most likely dead and she had no desire to spend eternity in this stony prison.

Seknafret assembled her ritual items and began casting. While she did that, Xalen re-entered the barracks and searched the beds and any small coffers beneath them. He found nothing of any value, just bedding and the occasional mundane personal item.

After ten minutes of chanting and burning incense in a small metal bowl, Seknafret brought a felt covered hammer down on the edge of the bowl to emit a resonant dong that echoed around the room. As the sound faded so did Alamar fade away peacefully.

“Well,” Brabara said once Seknafret had collected her gear. “It appears we need to be dressed in the uniform of the Legio Mechanica to pass freely through the force barrier.”

“There’s nothing like that in there,” Xalen said. “Looks like we need to go back down to the cavern and get the uniforms from the pile of bodies near the entrance.”

Ebyn nodded. “And to do that we need to wait for dawn, the rod is only able to create the arcane gate once each day.”

“Fuck,” Brabara spat. “More cursed dreams.”

“I’m afraid so,” Ebyn said sadly. “Let’s return to the armoury area to bed down. I don’t like being this close to that grey ooze.”

The group went back down via the spine and Ebyn set up his tiny hut for everyone to shelter in.

With sleep came the next nightmare.

Vecna has aged, his hair has thinned, and his skin wrinkled with liver spots dotting his flesh. He no longer goes on campaign with his lieutenants preferring to leave such physical pursuits to younger men. His magic is as strong as ever, but his body grows frail as he looks over a scrying pool to watch Kas and Acererak’s progress as they bring more lands under his control.

While his dreams of conquest continue to unfold before him at the hands of his lieutenants, Vecna realizes that he might die before he can fully achieve dominance over the whole of the Flannaes.

With the mundane campaign of conquest well in hand, Vecna decides to focus his research on ways to extend his life so that he might yet be there to enjoy what his vision had wrought.

Immortality must be his new goal.

The party awakens with both Seknafret and Xalen deeply affected by the terrible dream. Seknafret used her magic to remove the physical impact, but the spiritual and emotional burdens remain.

“I thought we were past this?” Seknafret said once they were ready to resume their search.

“Me too,” Xalen said. “The one the night before was nothing like this. My head hurts like I’ve woken up after a three-day bender.”

As soon as Ebyn had finished making his notes on the dream, they returned to the base of the foot and used the second rod piece to create the linked portals and pass through the force barrier. They proceeded directly to the entrance chamber and set about trying to pull a few bodies free so they could get access to their uniform tabards.

As soon as the first body was dragged clear, two of the weapons animated along with two of the armoured figures.

Despite the initial shock of being attacked by floating swords and armour, the animated equipment proved to be no match for the Succulent Juices, and the threat was dealt with quickly. The only injury came when one of the swords nicked Xalen who stood staring down one of the passages instead of his opponent.

“What were you looking at?” Brabara asked once the brief scuffle was over.

“I don’t know,” Xalen said, still glancing down the tunnel. “I thought I saw something down there.”

“Could be that ugly monster has returned,” Seknafret said.

Xalen shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. This was smaller and made from metal.”

Brabara bent down to collect the once animated sword that cut him. “This is small and made of metal. Maybe all you saw was a glint from its blade.”

Xalen shrugged. “Maybe.”

Ebyn and Xalen worked together with mage hands to strip the bodies of their uniforms. Ebyn then used another of his cantrips to clean the material thoroughly before letting anyone put the clothes on.

Once he was satisfied, he handed out the garments to each of them.

Now, wearing the tabards and jackets emblazoned with the symbol of Cyre they returned to the construct’s foot.

Brabara stretched a tentative hand out to where the barrier should be and felt no resistance. “It works,” she said before stepping through into the natural caves beyond.

The others followed and once they’d all passed beyond the force barrier, Xalen led them down a short tunnel that finished at a ledge overlooking a large cavern. The grey fluid had carved a path along one side of the tunnel they’d walked along and disappeared over the edge.

A human figure dressed in the uniform of Cyre stood beside the ledge looking down into the cavern. It turned and waved as they drew closer.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” the man said. “I seem to have become separated from my squad. Can you help me?”

Brabara stepped between Xalen and the man. “What’s your name, soldier?” she said in her command voice.

“Private Chandry, sir,” he said and snapped to vibrating attention. “Legio Mechanica, Second Platoon assigned to Lima Rho.”

Brabara nodded. “And how did you come to be here, private?”

“I don’t know, sir,” Chandry said. “I… ah… I can’t remember.”

“At ease, lad,” Brabara said. “Come away from the ledge and we’ll see if we can find them.”

Chandry visibly relaxed, anxiety melting from him as he took a step closer to Brabara. His body flickered as he moved, then vanished for a heartbeat to appear standing on the ledge where they’d first spotted him.

The man turned to face them. “Thank goodness you’re here. I seem to have become separated from my squad. Can you help me?”

“Another ghost,” said Seknafret. “I can try and send this one to the beyond too, but it’ll only work if they know they’re dead.”

Brabara raised a hand. “Hold on there, soldier. It’s Chandry, right?”

The ghost stopped and snapped to attention before placing his fist over his heart in a crisp salute. “Yes, sir.”

Brabara took a deep breath and looked around the area. She moved up to the ledge and looked down. She spotted Chandry’s corpse on the ground below them leaning against the cavern wall, his left leg twisted at an unnatural angle with a shard of bone visible through one knee.

“Stand easy, Chandry,” Brabara said. “There’s something I need to show you, and it’s going to be hard for you to see.”

Chandry’s posture eased, and he crossed his hands behind his back. “Sir?”

“Okay, Chandry,” Brabara said. “I need you to look down there and tell me what you see.”

Chandry did as she asked and frowned. “It’s a body, ma’am. One of ours from the uniform, likely died from…” his words ended abruptly as realization dawned. “Is that… me?”

“Yes, it is, soldier,” Brabara said in a matter-of-fact tone. “What does that tell you?”

“Well, I suppose,” Chandry began, the discipline he’d been showing up to now evaporating. “I suppose it means, I’m dead.”

“Very good, Chandry,” Brabara said quickly, hoping to keep him focused on her rather than his own corpse. “Now, there’s someone in my squad that can get you all squared away if you’d let her.”

“Back with my squad?” Chandry said, a little bit of hope returning to his speech.

“Exactly right,” Brabara assured him, and she beckoned for Seknafret to approach. “You just stand here and let us reunite you with your squad.”

Chandry stood to attention once more. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good lad.” Brabara said and stepped back to let Seknafret do her thing.

Seknafret took out a small metallic bowl and burned incense inside it while muttering a ritual in the arcane language of her people. Chandry stood by while she worked, his military pose never wavering as he waited for Seknafret to complete the ritual. Once again, she used the felt hammer to emit a resonant dong. As the pristine note faded so too did Chandry’s ghost.

With the ghost now dissipated; the group continued their exploration of the tunnels.

At the bottom of the ledge the fluid had pooled in a depression in the rocks. In the middle of the pool, different coloured gemstones sat poking out from the grey ooze and around its outer edge lay bones and battered weapons and armour, all warped and disfigured in some way.

Despite the size of the cavern, it had only a single exit large enough for them to navigate, another natural passage curving upward at the far edge of the grey pool. Several other narrow tunnels branched off in different directions, one of which was filled entirely by the strange fluid.

A metallic voice echoed throughout the cavern. “This wreck has been claimed in the name of the Lord of Blades. Leave the area now or your lives will be forfeit.”

Brabara stood in the center of the cavern scanning the area for the source of the voice. “We’re not here for the colossus,” she said. “Once we find what we’re looking for we will leave, and you can do whatever you want with this bucket of bolts.”

No response.

Brabara signalled to gain Xalen’s attention, then pointed at one of the narrow passages exiting the cavern. Xalen nodded and took flight in that direction.

Seknafret took cover behind one of the larger stalagmites, eyes darting in search of threats.

Ebyn, meanwhile, stood staring at the grey sludge, as if transfixed by the fluid. He leaned in, brow furrowed, eyes searching the surface of the thick, murky liquid. Did something move under there?

A ripple pulsed outward, subtle yet deliberate, displaced by something beneath.

Ebyn stiffened, his breath catching as he tilts his head, trying to pinpoint the source of the motion. Another ripple, followed by a faint bulge.

A figure launched from the pool. Grey sludge sloughing clear of a metallic body, green eyes fixed on the wizard.

Ebyn threw himself back as twin blades flashed toward him. Somehow, he managed to get a shield up in time to deflect the attacks as he stumbled into Seknafret who yelped in alarm.

The warforged landed beside them and moved with terrifying speed.

“You were warned,” the metallic voice echoed.

From the darkness, two bolts whistled through the air to strike Xalen as he flew. One bolt ripped through his shoulder and the other pierced his thigh. Metal strands attached to the bolts trailed behind the rogue who turned to see his attacker.

Another warforged dropped from the ceiling, it held the chains firmly as it landed and yanked hard pulling Xalen down to crash amid a cluster of stalagmites. A third warforged emerged from the shadows nearby and struck the stricken rogue twice with blades.

A fourth warforged, copper coloured and armed with two glaives entered the cavern from the side. Its eyes fixed on Brabara who stood turning around, eyes wide with shock, at the speed and ferocity of the surprise attack.

She growled when she spotted the copper warforged. “You’d be Glaive, I suppose.”

Glaive nodded. “I am,” it said. “I’d ask your name, but I don’t care.”

Brabara charged, weapon raised. She closed the gap quickly and struck with her usual skill but the copper warforged swayed nimbly to the side and stepped back leaving Brabara off balance.

Glaive raised an arm, and a serrated bolt flew out to strike Brabara in the thigh. The pain was terrible, but worse, the wound slowed her down.

Xalen struggled to his feet; the fine chain attached to the two bolts in his body had him tangled which posed a challenge for one so used to mobility on the battlefield. His opponents fought as one, working expertly together in coordinated attacks that struck home painfully. Xalen used his magic to shield him as best he could, while trying to dig out the bolts that had him trapped.

The sludge covered warforged attacked with blistering speed, its two blades opening deep wounds in Ebyn’s flesh. Seknafret sent a series of eldritch blasts at their opponent forcing the warforged back with each strike.

The distance gave Ebyn a chance to gather his wits. He removed a lodestone and a pinch of dust from his component pouch, blowing the dust in the direction of the warforged as he touched the weave. The effect of the spell was terrible to behold.

The warforged stiffened as bright sparks erupted across its entire body, it flashed for a moment leaving only a pile of dust where the figure once stood.

“What was that?” Seknafret said with a gasp.

“Disintegrate,” Ebyn replied, chest heaving.

Seknafret looked over to where Xalen was being harried by two attackers. “Can you do it again?”

“Not today,” he said. “But I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

Seknafret sent another barrage of Eldritch blasts at the ones fighting Xalen. She missed one but still managed to knock the other of his opponents back.

Xalen tore the second bolt free just as Seknafret’s eldritch blast sent one of his opponents reeling and launched into the air above his other opponent’s head. The distance allowed him to use his bow, and in a heartbeat, he sent two arrows into the warforged’s chest.

Brabara and Glaive circled one another. She bled from several wounds, while the copper warforged appeared unhurt despite the blows she’d landed against it. As though it had a way of repairing itself. She could hear combat all around her, blades on armour, the thud of arrows and the crackling energy of magic as her companions fought their own battles. Brabara didn’t like leaving them to fight alone, she’d spent years training to protect others, but Glaive refused to be ignored. She had to hope Xalen, Ebyn, and Seknafret could handle the rest of Glaive’s band without her.

The pair clashed again. Weapon on weapon, some turned away, others finding gaps in each other’s defences, but while Brabara exited the exchange with a fresh wound on her arm, Glaive appeared unhurt despite Brabara’s solid strike against the warforged’s leg.

Ebyn, blood flowing freely from the initial attacks, sent firebolts into the frame of one of the two warforged attacking Xalen while Seknafret kept them both off balance with her eldritch blasts, giving Xalen the freedom he needed to pepper the pair with arrows.

One warforged fell in a tangle of metallic limbs while the other issued a questioning chirp as its eyes darted, seeking a way to flee. Glaive’s reply, while unintelligible to the others, left no doubt as to the answer.

Stay and fight.

The lone warforged was no match for the three adventurers and it dropped soon after.

Brabara, saw the last of Glaive’s companions fall. “Your squad is dead, Glaive,” she managed between ragged breaths. “You’re on your own.”

“I will be sufficient,” Glaive said, and touched an engraved panel at its waist.

Sections of Glaive’s body slid outward, and tubes emerged from the gaps. A whirring started to sound and suddenly Glaive’s speed, already impressive, increased significantly. The warforged twisted toward Ebyn and launched one of its signature weapons with blistering speed into the wizard’s chest.

Ebyn’s eyes widened as the glaive struck him, travelling through his body to pin him against the cavern wall. He looked down to see the haft of the weapon protruding from his body and gripped it weakly before passing out from pain and shock.

Without pausing, Glaive darted in close to Brabara and slashed with the other weapon. The strength of the attack knocked the big warrior down and Glaive launched upward to attack Xalen in the air.

Seknafret’s eyes widened in horror. She turned between Ebyn and Brabara, unsure which of her fallen companions might need her the most. She noticed Brabara slowly getting to her feet and moved over to where Ebyn hung limply impaled on the polearm.

Xalen had never seen anything move so fast. He did his best to dodge the warforged’s attacks but even with his impressive agility he couldn’t avoid them all. Still wounded from the initial attacks, Xalen knew he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. He spotted Brabara clambering to her feet and decided to move toward her, Glaive in hot pursuit.

Brabara saw Xalen approach and steadied herself. Glaive wasn’t the only one who could be tricky. Brabara took a breath and activated rune magic to grow larger. As her body expanded so did her strength and as Xalen flew past with Glaive behind him, she snatched the copper warforged from the air and smashed its body against the cavern floor.

A loud crack echoed in the cavern. That time, something broke.

Glaive wasn’t done yet. Far from it. The warforged wriggled free of Brabara’s grasp and used her body as a springboard to leap back into the air. The force of Glaive’s launch caused Brabara to stumble and trip on the uneven ground to fall flat onto her back amid a cluster of stalagmites, one of which found a gap in her armour.

Brabara screamed as the sharp limestone impaled her.

Xalen took a swig of a healing potion then placed himself between the warforged and Seknafret who leaned over Ebyn’s limp body. Glaive was not moving as freely as it had before Brabara’s attack but even injured the warforged would be more than a match for the lightly armoured spellcasters.

Glaive raised an arm to send another bolt at Xalen. The serrated missile flew true, but Xalen raised a magical shield in time and the bolt deflected into the stone in a shower of sparks. Glaive roared in frustration and flew at the young rogue with a murderous look in its eyes.

Brabara clambered up, swaying as she downed a healing potion. She spied Xalen in combat with the injured warforged and surged toward them. The pair were flying, but the low ceiling of the cavern coupled with Brabara’s extra height kept them in range of her weapon.

Her arrival changed Glaive’s posture from attack to defence. Brabara and Xalen worked well together finding openings to exploit and soon Glaive began to falter.

Ebyn snapped awake with his mind swimming and his entire body aching. He saw Seknafret above him, her eyes fixed on his. “Are you okay?” she said.

“I’ve felt better,” Ebyn said, then shuddered as he recalled the polearm piercing his body. “And I’ve been worse. Thank you, Seknafret.”

“The fight continues,” Seknafret said.

Ebyn leaned to the side so he could see where Brabara and Xalen battled the copper warforged. He painfully climbed to his feet and reached for the weave.

A dolorous bell sounded beside Glaive’s head and necromantic energy rippled about the warforged’s body. Whatever process is used to create warforged must include some aspect of lifeforce because Glaive’s body twitched in pain as the magic coursed through it.

Glaive turned to give Ebyn a withering glare, resigned now that its ambush of the party had failed. Like the warforged agent they’d trapped before reaching Ialos, Glaive opened a panel in its chest and twisted a handle contained beneath.

Brabara’s eyes widened once she realised what Glaive had done. She jumped between Glaive and Xalen who hovered behind the copper warforged just as the blast rocked the cavern.

Brabara, shielding Xalen, copped the brunt of the explosion, her back shredded by stone and burned by fire as Glaive’s self-destruct ripped the warforged apart. She collapsed, her body returning to its normal size as she fell unconscious to the ground.

Seknafret instinctively pushed Ebyn back down to shelter him. They were beyond the range of the fire but flying chunks of rock peppered them both as the stalagmites were obliterated.

Xalen, largely protected from the blast, landed beside Brabara and tipped another healing potion into her mouth, before flying to Seknafret to do the same.

The cavern fell silent save for their laboured breathing. Ebyn and Seknafret used each other for support, sweat mingling with blood as they watched Brabara struggle to stand.

Brabara spat, wiping blood from her face. “I fucking hate this place.”