"NOT INVERSE?"
"No, My lady. Lord Hellmaster's..... watchdogs attacked him. He cleverly destroyed them, but in an attempt to control the sands, he caused the cliff to collapse beneath himself."
"THEN HE IS DEAD?"
"I believe so."
"YOU BELIEVE?"
Gulping, the Priest of the Greater Beast replied, "I will go to make certain, Mistress."
"DO NOT KILL HIM, XELLOSS. IT MAY BE THAT HE WILL...."
"Mistress?"
"GO."
Nightfall in the desert. A canyon hidden deep in the sands. One part of the canyon's western wall had collapsed, tons of sand pouring down, creating a ramp of rubble and sand to the floor. Sunlight glittered on the western wall, leaving the landslide and eastern wall to cast shadows across the scrub and the tiny stream on the canyon floor.
The silence of the evening was broken by the sounds of shifting rock and sand. Emerging from the rubble of the landslide, a single hand of blue stone clawed at the brown rocks around it. An arm clad in ripped beige fabric followed, along with another hand, and soon, Zelgadis dug his way out of the rock and sand.
Gasping and coughing, he tore his mask from his face, flinging back his tattered hood, and just breathed for a moment. He'd come to in a pocket of sand, luckily uncrushed by rocks. When he'd felt the ground beneath him crumble, saw the sands pour down on him, he'd been certain that it was the end. He spun, tried to launch himself off the cliff, but with no purchase, he'd stumbled, taken a rock to the temple, and lost consciousness.
Now, alive and battered, bruised, and exhaused from digging himself out of a desert grave, he decided the stars never looked so beautiful. Almost laughing, he recalled an arguement months ago.
"It's too dangerous! You can't keep going off by yourself! What happens if you're hurt, and we're not there to help you?!? You could die out there in the middle of nowhere, and then what, huh, Zel?!?"
"Nearly got me, that time," he said to himself.
He pulled himself out of the rocks and staggered down to the floor of the canyon. There, he plunged his whole head into the stream, gulping water. Sitting back, he took stock of himself and his surroundings. For the most part, his clothes were still in one piece. The sleeves and legs were tattered, the cloak ripped in a number of places, as was the hood. The sturdy leather of his belt had held, so he still had his sword. One canteen had held, looped across his body, and miraculously, the bracelet still dangled from it. Plunging his hand into his pocket, he withdrew a small bundle of cloth. Carefully unwrapping the black fabric, he sighed gratefully to find the lock of hair still there, gleaming in the light. Reverently, almost supersticiously, he gripped it tight a moment, then retied it with the red string and returned it to its place. One ankle sheath and it's accompanying knife was gone. His wrist sheath still clung to his arm, but its knife was missing. Much of his other gear he'd abandoned in Elmikia so long ago.
The stream in the canyon floor fed a number of small scrub plants. To the south, the canyon twisted out of view. But to the north.......
A squat forboding keep dominated the northern end of the castle. The stone of the keep was tan and brown, blending the walls of the fortress into the rock of the canyon walls. Only two or three stories high, Zelgadis supposed that the interior plunged deep into the earth. Hellmaster seemed fond of deep holes.
Sighing, Zelgadis decided to just stay where he was for the night, and clutching his sword, he fell into a healing sleep.
High above, a figure stepped out of astral space. "My, my. Isn't THIS interesting?" the figure observed, and dissappeared.
The peeping of tiny birds woke Zelgadis. Not that he could see it, but dawn was creeping up in the east. The canyon's depth would keep in shadow until nearly noon. With a groan, Zelgadis sat up. Casting a healing spell on himself, he decided he'd been an idiot to fall sleep in the open like that. And damned lucky too, that nothing had attacked in the night.
Finally ready to start the day, having healed and eaten what little jerky remained in his pockets, he rose and started walking towards the fortress of Hellmaster Phibrizo.
Far off, another discussion about Zelgadis was taking place.
"Mistress, why are you so pleased he lives?"
"XELLOSS, YOU ARE MY MOST TRUSTED SERVANT. KNOW THAT IF YOU REVEAL ANY OF THIS, I WILL DISSOLVE YOUR EXISTANCE IN A MOMENT."
Xelloss knelt obediently in submission.
His Mistress continued, "HELLMASTER WAS A FOOL, ARROGANT, BUT POWERFUL. WHEN HE ATTEMPTED HIS IDIOTIC PLAN WITH THE INVERSE GIRL, HE LEFT PART OF HIMSELF BEHIND TO GUARD AND MAINTAIN THE BARRIER. BUT WITHOUT HIS WILL, HIS POWER COLLAPSED. THE BARRIER OF LIGHT FELL, AND DIVINE MAGIC RETURNED TO THE PENNINSULA. BUT THE POWER OF HELLMASTER DID NOT DISPERSE. IT WITHDREW TO HIS CITADEL, HIS SEAT OF POWER. IT WAITS NOW FOR A NEW HOST. THE NEW HOST COULD NOT HAVE THE POWER THE ORIGINAL HAD, BUT WOULD STILL HAVE THE PLACE OF HELLMASTER IN THE HEIRARCHY, THE POWER OF DEATH."
"You hope that the chimera will become the new Hellmaster. But why did you not claim this power for yourself."
"WE CANNOT USURP THE POWERS OF OUR FELLOW LORDS. WERE IT SO, WE WOULD FIGHT AMONGST OURSELVES FOR SUPREMECY."
Bowing, Xellos observed, "Ruby Eye is wise."
"THE CHIMERA IS ALREADY PART MAZOKU. A MINOR BRAU DEMON PROVIDES HIS POWER. INFUSED WITH THE LAST OF HELLMASTERS POWER, HE COULD BECOME HELLMASTER. AND WE WILL BE THERE."
With an evil smile, Xelloss percieved his mistress plan. "He would be under YOUR influence, my Lady."
Zelgadis peered into the dark passageway into Hellmaster's Citadel. The tunnel seemed to lead straight into the fortress, going ever deeper into the earth. Zelgadis drew his sword and took a deep breath. Now or never. He glanced one last time at the brightening sky, then cast, "LIGHTING!" As he had in Rezo's lab beneath Old Sairaag, he tossed the ball of illumination down the shaft, then followed it into darkness.
An unknowable time later, he still treked down the tunnel. He'd seen no branchings, no doors, no sign that the tunnel led anywhere but straight into the earth. Just as he was about to give up, thinking Hellmaster was obviously insane, or maybe blasting some walls, just in case, he sensed a widening ahead. Tossing another light ball ahead, he discovered an large chamber. Square and nearly two stories high, he noted that three passages led from the room. One, to the left, seemed to head upwards. The one to the right was blocked after a few yards by a rockfall. The one straight ahead was the start of a shallow spiral staircase ever deeper.
Knowing Hellmaster's proclivities for underground chambers, Zelgadis chose the spiral stairs.
After another hour of going down and down and down, Zelgadis was starting to get nervous. Either there was absolutely NOTHING of interest down here, or he was due for an ambush any moment.
Finally, he found himself in another chamber. Unlike the plain square above, this room was round. A door to the right was ornately carved. Looking more closely, he saw scenes of death and destruction carved into relief on the blackened ancient wood. With a shove and a rumble, the door swung open. And Zelgadis thought he'd hit the motherload.
A library! A library of texts on shelves, hundreds of them. Casting his Lighting high, Zelgadis snatched the first book off the nearest shelf. Flipping in open, he eagerly began to read..... a cookbook? A commonplace one at that. Dropping it, he grabbed the next book. A collection of Elmikian fairytales. Frantic, he began to tear at the books. Nothing but trivial nonsence.
Finally, a shelf alone on the back wall drew his attention. Standing alone, the books were all bound in something he couldn't identify. Pulling one down, he touched the cover, and shuddered in realization. Human skin!
Disgusted, he dropped the book, wiping his hands on his cloak. But still, these were probably the texts he wanted. Carefully he knelt and opened the book.
A minute of reading, and he had to stumble aside to vomit. A litany of atrocities had met his eyes, written in a strange brown ink that part of his mind, the part undisturbed and logical, guessed was blood. Leaving it on the floor, he shakily reached for the next book. This one told of the myriad abilities of lower mazoku, with illustrations. Bound in leather and written in true ink, it must have been made by a human, for there were rude notes disputing the information in the margins. Hellmaster had been one sick, demented, bored Demon Lord, he thought.
Suddenly a breeze brushed his neck. Turning, he saw the other shelves shimmer. Drawing his sword, he looked about, but the breeze stopped. Glancing back at the book, he saw to his amazement that the words were fading! A check of the book on the floor revealed the same. Snatching the next book, he flipped through the pages only to see the words dissapper.
"No!" he gasped, grabbing another book. Flipping it open randomly, he read To remove the chimeric curse..... and the words vanished.
"NO!" Zelgadis cried, pawing through the pages, but they were blank. Enraged, he flung the book to the floor. In his head he heard again the mocking laugh of Phibrizzo. The library was protected still. Shaking in fury, Zelgadis raised his hands.
"FIREBALL!"
The shelves in front of him burst into flames. The pages of the last book, at his feet, where he'd read the words he'd hunted for years, began to flutter. Picking it up, Zelgadis meant to tear it in two, but the book began to shriek!
The keening wail knifed into his ears. He dropped it to cover his sensitive ears, when all the other books, the volumes of pointless information began to literally leap off the shelves. Diving about like demented birds, they flew at him. Battering them away as best he could, he backed to the door. Friezes on the wall came to life, snakes hissing at him and images of demons reaching to rip him.
"BOMB DI WIND!" He blasted back the flock of books, dodging the claws of the carvings. He felt his shirt rip as he got too close to a demonic wolf carved into the door. He grabbed the handle of the door he'd opened, hissing as a moulded snake sunk its fangs into his hand. Yanking the door closed, he stumbled backwards, falling into the center of the round chamber.
Grimly, he cast a healing spell on his hand as the ornate door subsided back to its former state. Monsters and creatures returned to their frozen decorative state, if anyone could call them that. Defeated, bitter, and angry, for a while Zelgadis could only glare at the doors for a long time, sitting on the floor. Finally, a logical thought worked its way through his mind -- SOMETHING is still running things down here.
Determined to discover what was going on, he rose and chose another doorway. And found a passage down.
Either Hellmaster and Rezo shared architechs, or all evil loonies had the same idea, he thought sourly. He had no idea how long he'd been inside the citadel, but again, down seemed the best choise.
It took much less time for this passage to open up. This time, the chamber was part of the hallway, a long rectangle with only one egress at the far end. Hundreds of rectangular pedistals lined the chamber. Approacing one, he saw the decomposed corpse lying there, covered in dust. Zelgadis soon realized that all the pedistals bore corpses. All of them seemed centuries old, blackened with age, mostly skeletons and scraps of fabric. The one nearest was adorned in ancient dusty clothes that had some resemblance to the robes of the Ryzia. Humans, then. Victims of Hellmaster. Zelgadis knew that Phibrizzo had lost all of his upper level monsters in the Kouma War. So these people must have been..... personally attended to. Shaking his head at the gruesomeness, Zelgadis walked down the path between the biers, his footsteps echoing oddly. Another breeze seemed to float through the room, and instantly alert, his sword still in his hand, Zelgadis froze. The end of the hall was dark. A thought sent his lighting high above, and he mentally enhanced it. The sudden gleam of light revealed the new threat.
The corpses had begun to rise.
Shuddering and stiffly moving, they slide of their resting places, shedding dust and fragile fabric. In each, a dark shadow of power coiled out from the ribcage, winding down the arms, warping exposed handbones into wicked claws, sharpening teeth to razor points, lighting empty eyesockets with an unholy green light.
Steeling himself, Zelgadis raised his sword as they surrounded him. "ASTRAL VINE!" The red glow of power rippled up the blade as the first attacked.
Whirling, Zelgadis used two swings to sever arms and heads. "FLARE ARROW!" He blasted several more, but still greater numbers rose against him. Dead hands clutched at his cloak, trying to drag him down. He sliced off most of his cape himself to free himself. Another skeleton siezed his arm, and he yelled as demonic teeth sunk into his forearm. Smashing the skull with the butt of his swordhilt, he cast more Flare Arrows. A lucky swipe of his enchanted sword split the ribs of another, and Zelgadis saw the green light die as it collapsed. Now knowing where to aim, he chopped at the darkness in the chest of each skeleton, destroying others with with Elmikia Lances. It seemed only astral attacks were truly effective.
Still, the sheer numbers were overwhelming. He bore many oozing cuts and wounds from their teeth and claws. Desperate, he fought his way towards the one exit. "BURST FLARE!" Setting a group on fire, he leapt through the flames, kicking the still-grasping forms aside. Finally past, he skidded to a halt to turn and destroy them all. But a sudden sight caused him to freeze.
With a clicking and clacking of old bones, the skeletons began to merge. His own flames began to wind about the monstrous figure, forming the musculature. The bones stayed black, and the dark power converged to become a single pulsing heart of blackness.
And at its feet, a single forlorn canteen with a pink and blue bangle bracelet. And next to that, a tiny package of black fabric, tied with a red string.
Zelgadis's hand flew to his pocket to find it torn open by a skeleton's claw. Snarling himself, Zelgadis rose. Reversing his sword, he stabbed it into the stone, forcing it to stand by itself, point imbedded.
The giant demonic skeleton opened a mouth glowing green and red, ringed by a hundred sharp teeth. A howl of death emerged, battering at Zelgadis. Giant clawed hands reached for him, green-lighted eyesockets sparking in anticipation of his death.
Drawing his powers about him until a blue aura flared around, Zelgadis poured everything he had into the spell. "Source of all souls which dwells in the eternal and the infinite, everlasting flame of blue. Let the power hidden in my soul be called forth from the infinite! RA TILT!"
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