The Breaking of the Siege

The relentless battle for control of Van Myrid continues. Taryn, Hosskal, Brazer Silverbow, Skraal - a Leonian martial artist, and Streng are on the walls above the Temple District taking the brunt of the Elenorian assault head on. Siege towers and ladders are deployed. The fighting is just as savage as before but in the failing light of the last day of Janos a new threat emerges. As a backdrop to the battle a slow moving cloud crawls across the sky, edging closer to the tower that the party fight to defend.

Brazer’s mind senses many dangerous minds within. G-Lest senses both demons and undead within the noxious vapours and realises that the night shift is almost upon them The Malakarian priest gauges that when night falls the cloud will envelop them.

Taryn sets the tone from the beginning. He decapitates the first three Elenorians who make the ramparts, their blood igniting all around them as they twist and die. Hosskal is just as murderous. His Kal blade Valkaras finds many targets as the party move in formation; their opponents line up to be slaughtered by quick blades and quicker minds. Brazer (who can control eight minds simultaneously) causes chaos on the walls by making eight Elenorian attack each other. G-Lest, safe inside the corner tower, uses spiritual hammer to crack Elenorian skulls as Streng uses the shadows to sneak and stab; he finds many exposed backs and brings down scores of Elenorians on the walls.

All the while Brazer links his mind to that of his companions so that they fight as one tight unit; at all times each member of the party knows where his companion is located. Such is the link that Hosskal, Brazer and Taryn are able to defend blows aimed for their friends – this defence means that very few blades reach them and those that do are turned aside by the stoneskin present on each of them. The telepath controls minds all around him, turning his attention to Elenorians on the ladders he makes them cut the ropes halfway up the walls. The carnage is terrible as hundreds fall to their deaths before they reach the ramparts.

And still the cloud approaches…

Taryn uses a lull in the fighting to draw his shortsword across his palm. Blood trickles through his clenched knuckles and he soon catches the sword arm of an attacker. The Elenorian screams in pain as Taryn’s secret fire consumes his soul. More follow. Taryn now does not even bother to keep hold of them; instead he stops the weapon arm and releases it immediately to watch the attacker scream and die as he moves onto the attack.

Brazer Silverbow turns his attention to a siege tower a hundred yards up the wall. He concentrates hard, controls eight Elenorians to spill their guts inside the crowded troop carrier. The morale collapses of all around as the Elenorians watch their comrades commit suicide before them. The fear is tangible now to Brazer. The attackers that come against the party do not have time to feel fear…they just have time to die.

Night is almost upon them…as is the cloud.

Taryn peers over the battlements during the melee. A well aimed warp wood sheers the thick axle of the nearest siege tower. The ranger does not wait to watch it topple, instead he cuts through the ranks of Elenorians and the bodies pile up all around them, the dead number five score and rising.

Hosskal’s movement is nothing more than a blur. Each time an opponent gets close the warrior cuts them down mercilessly; all the while he is mindful of his companions. When one of them is in trouble he is there, his blade knocking aside any danger before plunging through the throats of his unfortunate victims.

Brazer feels the awesome touch of Hamroth’s mind in his. "Beware Brazer," the Glaennyn lord says, "driving that cloud is an arch demon, an unnamed ruler of some unnamed plane of the Abyss. Be on your guard for there is powerful sorcery within."

The party continue to fight. Thousands of tendrils of snake-light smoke emerge from the cloud when it gets close; they trail across the sky and seem to converge upon them. Taryn slips through the tower door and bounds up the steps to where the Bretonians and Khulans are stationed. He takes out his bow now clearly able to see the black globes at the head of each tendril. To his utter horror – and that of his companions – the first arrow is unmade as it touches a globe.

Now fear drives them all. Hosskal shepherds the party up to join Taryn at the top of the tower. The cloud is thick and within tens of feet of them. They form a circle and wait for the globes to strike. Incredibly the globes do not cross the threshold of the walls, nor do they reach the inner citadel as Hamroth’s primal shield bursts them. But their joy is short-lived as the cloud envelops them.

Demons swarm all over them. Unseen blades, claws and teeth are all around them like maggots trying to strip a corpse. In the darkness the party are crushed by the sheer force of numbers; back to back they defend for their souls. Brazer uses his mind compartment to look through the eyes of Hamroth, who towers above them on the Jarik temple, and through the Glaennyn’s eyes Brazer sees the arch demon almost upon them hefting a mighty void blade.

Streng – through the ring of Kal Amoth – senses other void weapons as well as the impending arch demon. Saved only by the stoneskin the party are taking many hits. Unable to defend every blow now it is only a matter of time.

Brazer can feel the Bretonians and Khulans on the tower being massacred. No defence can withstand this demonic horde for long and he realises that his companions have only minutes left to live. The arch demon is clad in thick magical plate mail and towers to the height of a large troll. He scatters the demons in all directions and hurls a dispel magic into the party. Now exposed and devoid of all magical defences the party are vulnerable. The void sword swings viciously at Taryn and Hosskal, the two men duck under the blow and prepare to attack.

But the arch demon is accompanied by other attackers. Taryn feels the exquisite pain of a knife in his guts, a soul-sapping pain that he suffers in silence. Brazer is cut similarly and feels the icy cold pain right to the very core of his being. Taryn bites hard on his tongue, his blood fills his mouth as he faces the terrible foe that towers above him.

Hosskal is first on the offensive. With astonishing blade-given skill he disarms the arch demon and cuts deep into the putrid flesh. The demon lord screams as fetid blood spurts from open wounds; Brazer follows suit and they inflict many small wounds on the powerful demon. As the arch lord bends to pick up his blade Taryn spits fiery blood into its face; the left eye bursts and the demon lord screams.

Hosskal disarms it for a second time and opens the throat of the beast with a blinding backhand stroke. Gurgling, hurt and powerless to stop the party’s onslaught the arch demon backs away in pain. Taryn maims the beast’s last remaining eye with a well aimed spurt of blood from his mouth. The cloud of smoke now falters, the demonic horde scatters over the walls fearing the worst; their leader is about to fall.

Relentless and inevitable is the party’s attack. The arch demon from a plane far away is on his knees and faces the unthinkable…out of reach is the deadly void blade, in his blind state he can only fumble for his weapon. Hosskal and Brazer inflict terrible wounds until – eventually – Hosskal hits him with a blow of incredible power. He cleaves through bone and sinew and buries the blade into the beasts failing heart – it slumps onto the sword and vanishes, obliterated by the weapon it brought from the Abyss.

At last the cloud is gone. Every single demon vanishes the instant the arch lord falls. For a time there is silence. Brazer scans the minds of the Elenorians; the army are not regrouping, they do not reform or return to their encampment – instead they flee the plains of Myrid north. The entire army runs north, their morale crushed.

Soon – when realisation of what has happened filters through to the general population – the cheering starts. In all sections of the citadel there is rejoicing, a bursting of pure joy that they have survived. On the highest tower stand the party. The applause and jubilation rings out, a tumultuous reception that is for them and them alone.

They feel the warmth of Hamroth’s mind in theirs; "You have turned the tide of Elenorians and broke the siege," the Glaennyn says, "even now Valadain Raikos is on his way to be at your side. You are true heroes my friends."

Amongst the carnage on the tower only one Bretonian has survived. The man is badly wounded but crawls towards the party, face full of pride, head bowed as though he addresses royalty. "If I never live another day I can die happy! To be witness – and indeed part – of what has happened here fills my heart to bursting point. It is a miracle!"