No shaft of light can breach it,
No breath of air comes from it,
Only an endless dark rises,
Deep from the beginnings of the world.
Have fear.
Do not look down nor step too close,
The silence will take you and it will swallow you whole.
Awake Vanor, servant of darkness.
Face your foe and summon forth your strength.
For you must fight through endless dark,
Through chasms of stone.
To the end.
To the death!
“Ar sindarnóriello caita mornie” uttered Shemhend quickly. At these words, the snow inside the massive crater began to melt, and soon the narrow main volcanic cavity of the mountain was revealed. Quickly, Shemhend charged the Drarock, and the aura of a great red bull surrounded his frame as he did so. The Drarock was taken by suprise as Shemhend struck it. The beast was caught off balance and tumbled down the craters inner slope. It had managed to sink its claws into the slope, but it was sliding down into the chasm faster and faster. At this, Shemhend turned, thinking his enemy defeated. The Fellowship came running up the slope the congratulate him at this time, too.
The Drarock was not done. It used its ice breath and directed it into the rock just below the ridge of the crater upon which Shemhend stood. That part of the ridge lurched at the breaking of its foundation, and Shemhend tumbled into the slope of the crater. The beast below him finally reached the chasm and fell into it. Shemhend was quickly following along that same path. Faster and faster he slid, the Fellowship watching in horror from the ridge above. ”Fly you fools” yelled Shemhend. And with that, he slid into the chasm of the volcano and was gone.
Down he fell into the darkness, the Drarock nary a few hundred yards below him. The hot air of the chasm blasted Shemhend’s face as he fell headfirst down the massive shaft. He could see his black staff shimmering in the darkness as it fell below him. The pale light of the moon illuminated the upper reaches of the chasm. Shemhend was quickly descending on his staff. As he caught up to it, he grabbed it and pointed it below him at the Drarock. The beast was bellowing in the darkness as it fell. Uttering the fire spell once more, the end of Shemhend’s staff became enveloped in flame. He was quickly descending upon the demon. When he got to within a few feet of the monster, he struck at it’s back with his staff. The demon roared in anguish and turned mid-air and swiped at Shemhend, causing him to veer into the wall of the chasm. Shemhend grunted as he struck the wall hard and continued falling. He struck out at the Drarock again and again with the staff, digging the flame into its ice-cold flesh. The demon grabbed Shemhend and roared in defiance. Shemhend kept up his barrage of strikes at the beast. It hit a jagged outcrop that jutted out from the chasm wall, and bellowed in pain. Shemhend used this moment to dig the staff deep into the demon’s chest. It bellowed louder this time and threw Shemhend from its grip. Shemhend struck the opposite wall, and hit it harder this time. Down they continued to fall, the demon and the warlock. They were descending faster and faster, until finally an orange glow began to emanate below them. Shemhend saw what it was, and cringed in horror. It was the massive magma chamber of the volcano. He and the demon were now many miles below the mountain, and about to plunge into the chamber. They came out of the ceiling of the chamber. It was massive and cavernous. Molten rock filled it to the halfway point. Within a few seconds they would be consumed by the magma. Shemhend quickly uttered a spell: “Ar ilye tier unduláve lumbule!” Down, down they fell...closer, and closer. SPLASH! The magma quickly settled, and they were gone.
Many miles away from this epic struggle, Adellelend the White was leading the Fellowship on in their quest. They trod upon a great mountain pass that wound through the Cascades, and which would soon lead them through the pass of Bennett and into the Eastern Valley. It was only an hour after this that they finally reached the pass. “Rest easy, my friends” said Adellelend. “We shall sleep here tonite in the pass.” “I beg your pardon” said Nestor. “This pass is used by many wild men and beasts. What’s to keep them from attacking us in the night.” “We shall sleep in shifts, young Plan bearer” replied Adellelend. “Very well” said Nestor. Suddenly he started to violently spasm and writhe on the ground. “Ahhhhhh” he screamed as if in brutal pain. The others all ran to his side. Adellelend was taken aback, for she knew what this meant. “The Plan is trying to harm him” she said. “There is nothing we can do for him. His strength is the only thing that can stop this.” After a few more seconds, Nestor stopped shaking and he lay silently on the ground. “It’s the Plan” he said. “I can feel its evil getting stronger.” “Yes” replied Adellelend. “It is now almost fully awake from its long slumber. The more that it awakens, the more evil that will be drawn to it, and to us. Sleep easy this night my friends, for the agents of evil will not find us until the morrow, at the very earliest.” And with that, Adellelend and the Fellowship set up camp in a small glade on the northern end of the pass, at the foot of Mt. Bennett. That night, they all sat around a bonfire and told each other tales about their respective homelands. Adellelend delighted them with tales about the ages of man long past, and of the deeds and atrocities of ancient races of men. Of special interest to Nestor was the tale of the Plan, he being the Plan bearer and all. Adellelend recounted to story for them and left no detail unsaid. Kiran and Hana both wept a little at the recounting of the burning of the Willamette Valley native villages and the genocide of its native women and children. “I wish I was there to take on those evil men form the east” growled Felim, his heart ever stout. “But remember that the descendents of these people are most of our friends back home” said Jerhold. “It can be said that all of the eastern men were not evil like their leaders, but that they were probably made to follow orders and if not, they would be killed or exiled. Such was the punishment for insubordination in those times.” Felim nodded in agreement. “Perhaps you are right” said Nestor. “For we have seen in times not long ago that a majority of people can be swayed by one evil leader to do much harm and follow evil ideals. But regardless of any of that, the Plan was made to spread the evil of the leaders to all the free peoples, and if it is not stopped, then the world of men will die. This is why we must destroy it. Though the world does not realize that its fate lies in our hands, here in the wilds of the American northwest.” “And it is best that it is kept that way, my young warrior” replied Adellelend. “For the knowledge of something like this could cause a great panic amongst the common folk of the world.” The rest of the Fellowship nodded in agreement with her. The night continued on, and one by one the young warriors began to fall asleep. Adellelend and Nestor took the first watch in the late hours of the evening.
The next day turned out to be quite beautiful. The night had passed uneventfully, and a warm and sunny day greeted the Fellowship as they arose from their slumber. Adellelend rose up with a smile. “Come” she said. “We must be on the move if we are to reach the Gorge before the agents of evil can impede our progress.” Obediently, the young warriors all packed their gear, and followed Adellelend on down through the pass and into the Eastern Valley. The forests here got immensely thicker, and as the party journeyed further into the trees, less and less sunlight shone through the canopies. Adellelend’s smile only faded slightly, even in this menacing environment. “My Lord” said Nestor. “How is it that you are able to smile in times like these? My heart is still pained with the loss of Shemhend, and yet I knew him only a small part as much as you, yet you seem not to be sorrowful.” “My dear Plan bearer” began Adellelend, “My dreams last night offered me great hope. I saw the heroic battle of Shemhend and the Drarock in my mind’s eye. His valiant fighting of the demon is what has saved him. Death may have taken his body, but his spirit is more potent than ever. He is with us, even now. I can feel his presence, and it gives me great strength.” Nestor didn’t say a word, but only nodded slightly. A single tear came down his cheek. If indeed Adellelend felt Shemhend’s presence, then it also gave Nestor great hope for the success of the journey. Shemhend’s sacrifice was not to be in vain. As they continued on through the dark forest, Adellelend happened to glance up into the trees. There, watching the fellowship as they passed through, were many menacing yellow eyes. She knew exactly what this meant. They had reached the Badger Creek Wilderness, and the badgers were in the trees observing the party move on. This forest was dangerous due to the lack of sunlight that penetrated through the canopies. “Let me risk a little more light” said Adellelend as she raised her staff to the air. She mumbled something under her breath, and at once the end of her staff shone brilliantly. All the members of the Fellowship staggered back at the sight of the piercing white light. Some time later, the company decided to take a brief rest before pushing on. Adellelend only allowed it because Nestor’s energy was waning, and he sorely needed some time to recover. “We shall rest here for a while” said Adellelend. “But we will be on the move soon. We cannot linger in this evil forest.” The rest of the party nodded in understanding, and took their rest.
Verily thereafter they continued on. As they walked on in the foreboding woods, the air around them seemed to grow denser. “The air grows thick in this part of the forest” said Kiran. “Yes it’s almost as if the air here is very old” replied Hana. “You are correct in your assertations, young warriors” said Adellelend. “We are near the exit of the forest, however, this region of the woods is the most evil. Here under your very feet lie the remains of many of the natives whom died in the great war with the eastern men. After the battles in this region were over, the evil men carted their bodies here and left them to be consumed by the forest. In time the forest floor rose up and buried them, but the vengeful ghosts of the tribal warriors still remain here, unable to escape the realm in which their skeletons lie buried.” The party gave a collective shudder, and continued on. “Let us make our way quietly across here and hope that our presence will go unnoticed” said Adellelend. As they passed, they noticed many small stone piles on the forest floor. “These look like markers” said Nestor. “Indeed they are” replied Adellelend. “But as to who or what placed them there, I’d rather not know.” The ground seemed to get softer under their feet as they continued on. They were now in fact traveling through a small bog in the forest floor. With the lack of sunlight here, the moisture was able to soak the ground and create a small peat bog. They trudged on through the mud, slowly but surely. Adellelend’s brilliant white robe was now half covered in the mud, and when they finally reached the end of the soft ground she emerged with a cloak that shone on top with brilliance, and that was heavily soiled with mud on bottom. A simple wave of the white staff over her robes, and the party continued on through the forest. The end of the forest was now in sight, though it was still some ways away. The Fellowship walked with a little more bounce in their step as they realized that they were almost out of the forest. Suddenly, Nestor felt something tug at his leg and hold onto him. He couldn’t move on at all. He looked down and drew his sword out. Springing from out of the ground, there was a skeletal human hand holding onto his leg. Nestor slashed at the hand and cut it from the arm that held it aloft, but as soon as he did, 3 more skeletal hands popped out form the ground and grabbed him. Out came more and more, and soon the whole Fellowship was caught by the evil hands and was trying to slash their way free. It was to no avail, as more bony hands came out to grab their legs as soon as they slashed one. “Nestor, quick use the Plan just this once to rid us of these foul demons” yelled Adellelend. “Take it out and hold it aloft!” Nestor quickly took The Plan out of the safety of his pocket and held it above his head. Immediately shrill, unearthly screams echoed throughout the forest, and the hands retreated back into the ground faster than they had come. “They may be dead, but these demons still fear the power of the Plan. Quickly, we must head for the edge of the forest” yelled Adellelend. They all took off sprinting towards the exit of the forest that was still far away, yet in sight. Felim and Hana looked behind them and saw horribly disfigured specters begin following them in the darkness. They were the ghosts of the tribal men. “They are behind us” yelled Hana. “Fly! Fly! Faster! Towards the light my young warriors” yelled Adellelend in reply. “They must not catch us or we will not leave this forest alive!” They ran on and on through the woods, Adellelend’s light flickering in response to the gathering evil that was in hot pursuit not far behind them. Onwards they ran, the light at the edge of the forest growing larger and brighter. Adellelend’s light finally flickered out, and only the dim sunlight illuminated their path to the exit of the forest. “They are gaining on us” said Nestor as he looked back. Adellelend gasped as she saw that another small peat bog lay in front of them. They would have to circumvent the bog if they were to evade the ghosts. She led them around the bog and back onto the forest trail. They were now only about 300 yards from the edge. “Fly, Fellowship, fly! We are almost there” yelled Adellelend. Kiran felt a tug at her back as she was running. She looked back and saw that a ghost had taken a piece of her supply sack from her back. It was melted through as if acid had burned it. She screamed and pressed her legs to carry her faster. They were now only 100 yards from the edge. They all increased their output and tried to outrun the ghosts for the last stretch. Faster and harder they ran on, their salvation from this nightmare now ever so close. Nearly 20 yards from the edge, a massive barrier made of human bones sprung from the ground, hoping to block the path of the Fellowship. Adellelend saw this in the nick of time and used a powerful staff strike to tear through the bones and onward. She came out into blinding light and lost her footing. She rolled down a small hill, and the Fellowship followed in like. She hit the bottom hard, and turned to look at the top of the hill. She saw the demon spirits attempt to pursue them out of the forest, and as soon as the sunlight hit them, they screamed and melted into the air. The remaining ghosts stopped and peered at the Fellowship from the edge of the woods, and hissed in fury. Then they let out a shrill cry that sounded like a hundred evil crows shrieking out in anger, and the trees wavered at this. At this, the Fellowship quickly gathered themselves and ran onward. “We must reach the safety of the Eastern Valley before nightfall. Only there will we be safe from them” yelled Adellelend as they ran on.
At long last they rested after fleeing from the woods of Badger Creek for some hours. They were now within the confines of the Eastern Valley, and the mountains were behind them. The moon was now high in the night sky, and the white warlock urged the rest of the party to gather rest. “The next day or two will be the most pressing of all” she said. “In the morning we will follow the river Deshutes up to the great lava beds. After that, our road becomes extremely dangerous as we enter the Valley of Death and onward to the Dark Isle, where the Plan was forged.” The warriors all shook as if they had been in a trance. The words that Adellelend had spoken about the road ahead had filled them with fear and apprehension. They were all stout warriors ready to fight at any given second, but they all were aware of the evil of the lava beds and of the Valley of Death. They prepared their tents, albeit uneasily, and eventually allowed themself a night of restful sleep.
The next morning, Adellelend was the first to awaken. She rose up about an hour before dawn, so the sky was still dark yet the dull glow of the sun on the horizon could be seen across the valley to the south. She went and sat on the top of a small hill that lay near where she and the others were camped. She fixed her gaze on the horizon and thought only about the task at hand. The journey was now in the critical hours, and she was filled with a sense of dread. Her intution was telling her that though they may fufill the quest, she would not survive. On and on her mind went, and she lost herself to her thoughts completely. Only when the sun finally arose did she return to the camp below. She was quick to rouse the Fellowship from their slumber. Soon, they were yet again off and on their way.
It was not long before they finally reached the River Deshutes. "We will stop here and rest for a bit" said Adellelend. So they rested and quenched their thirst on the river. After about an hour, they were on their way north towards the Lava Beds of Pyrambattle. "It will be a few hours journey north to the beds" said Adellelend. "We should be across them and into the forbidden valley by nightfall. If our luck holds, then the stone bridge of Hilan will still be open to us." "Why can't we circumvent the beds altogether" asked Felim. "Is that not a safer route than crossing them outright." "I reckon it is, young Felim. But we do not have the time to go around the beds. They stretch across this valley for almost 50 miles. Yet it is a mere 3 miles to the other side by crossing directly over them." "Indeed I see your point, my lady" replied Felim. "Let us hope then that our presence across the beds goes unnoticed by evil eyes." "Yes, indeed." replied Adellelend. "For some of the foulest things ever begotten since the dawn of time dwell in that evil place."
It was more than a few hours past noon when the party finally came to the foot of the beds. Evil as the place was, it was a spectacular view. Across the valley it stretched, for miles. The charred black, old lava flows of ages past. The vibrant flow patterns on the surface of the now dense, hardened flows. "Now to illuminate our path through this forsaken place" said Adellelend. She said nothing but merely raised her staff and stood, silent and mysterious. The top of her staff ejected a shower of golden sparks and a pathway across the black flows was revealed. "Follow closely, young warriors" said Adellelend. Onwards they trudges across the soot and ash of the beds. It was not long before they came to a large rise in black flows. Adellelend led them up to the top of the rise, and bade them to come and look at the remainder of the beds below the rise. "Behold" she said as they all stood there, astonished at the sight. "The great former realm and warlock castle of Pyramkeep." Before them in the beds below rose a tower keep, noticeable even under the black rock that seemed to engulf it. "Pyramkeep was once a mighty stronghold of the numerous warlocks in this realm. It was ruled by the great warlock Pyram, as the name would suggest. But one day long ago, Pyram was experimenting with the black arts, and he mistakingly summoned forth a monster of great power and terror. He battled the monster here on what used to be beautiful green plains. The monster used all of its power towards defeating the warlock, and in doing so opened a deep fissure in the earth. Lava flowed out from within the earth and engulfed the plains and the great keep. Eventually Pyram was slain, and the monster claimed the now ruined plains as his own." The company stood there, listening intently to Adellelend. "Ok enough history for now. I think it is time that we made our move to the other side of the beds." She followed the path down towards the ruined old keep, and the others followed suit. The path led them right beside the keep, and Jerhold couldn't help but reach out a hand to touch what used to be a shining stone wall of the keep. "Adellelend, sensing that the balance in the beds was being disturbed, turned and saw Jerhold touching the keep. "No!" she yelled. "Jerhold remove your hand at once!" He did so obendiently, and trudged onwards. A few minutes later, the party paused in their path as the beds seemed to begin to vibrate. "What is this? An earthquake?" yelled Nestor. "No...I fear that we may have done what I feared we might." They all looked at Adellelend, puzzled.
Their bewilderment did not last long. For merely a few dozen feet behind them, the beds were cracking and breaking. They all turned to see what was happening to the beds. More and more did the beds begin to heave and break in that spot. Adellelend ran to the back of the group. "Stay behind me!" she commanded. With a roar and a thud, the black rocks over the spot were thrown aside, and fresh lava flowed out from the hole in the beds. Out of the hole came what looked like a long red neck. The neck ascended to about 5 times the height of Adellelend, and stopped. It then bent down and faced the party. Slowly, a mouth line became visible, and so did eye slits. The mouth opened and revealed many sharpened teeth. The eye slits opened and revealed firey red , menacing eyes. "What is this?" yelled Nestor. "This is Pyram's Bane...or as others call it...the Rizarwurm. This is what killed Pyram all those ages ago." The company gripped their swords tightly, but they trembled in fear as the serpent raised its head and let out a massive cry across the beds. "We cannot beat this monster without Shemhend's power added to mine. Run!" said Adellelend. And they ran as fast as their legs were able to carry them.
The beast was following them in close pursuit. Pools of lava boiled up and gurgled to the surface all about the pathway. Nestor and the others ran ahead of Adellelend, who stayed behind them to protect them. Into the beds the beast dove. It came out a dozen or so feet away from Adellelend and leaped at her. Adellelend leapt aside, barely evading the monster. The others were by now a ways ahead of her, and already crossing the bridge of Hilan to safety on the outside of the beds. The Rizarwurm leapt at the warlock again and again, but she was quick to dodge the serpent's swift strikes. She was able to gain some ground on the monster before approaching the bridge. She quickly turned and struck her staff into the end of the bridge. A flash of white light ensued, and she quickly made her way across. As she crossed, the bridge began to fall piece by piece into the deep drop below. She made it across just as the beast approached the other end. The serpent was slow to notice the bridge had collapsed, and it fell into the drop. Bellowing in anger as it fell, the Rizarwurm straightened itself. Adellelend looked over the side to watch the beast die. But it did not die. The Rizarwurm knew it's element far too well. When it hit the bottom of the drop, it burrowed back into the beds, creating another hole filled with fresh lava. Adellelend, realizing the beast could still get her, quickly ran to the edge of the beds, where the others awaited her. She sprinted towards them, in a frantic race to safety. She was not more than within 25 feet of the edge when the Rizarwurm burst out of the beds a few feet behind her. Lava globs flew everywhere, and one caught her cloak as she ran. The animal had leapt out of the beds completely, and was descending on the fleeing warlock. She was so close to safety...20 feet...15 feet...10 feet...5 feet. In a last desperate move she leapt out towards the safety of the edge. And the Rizarwurm came down on her like a hammer and swallowed her up as it tunneled back into the beds. The Fellowship ran up to the pool of lava and looked for any sign of the warlock. They saw nothing. Suddenly, they felt the ground rumbling again. They fled away from the hole, and stood watch from dozens of feet away. Out of the hole burst the Rizarwurm. More than half of its body breached the surface, and it writhed and screamed, as if it was in pain. Then without warning, its underbelly exploded, and out flew Adellelend the White. The Rizarwurm gave one last scream, and hurriedly dissappeared back into the hole.
Adellelend the White was quite alright. She had used all of her might to escape from the bowels of the serpent, and it had worked. After she gathered herself, the party decided to camp near the river for that night. "Tomorrow holds the decisive hours for our journey" said Adellelend. "Get some rest, all of you. I shall keep watch this night." None of them argued, as they were all very tired. Nothing happened that night, which suprised the warlock. It seemed a little too quiet for her. Being that they were now in the Valley of Death, evil should have tried to reach them in one way or another. But she realized that it may be the break she sorely needed, if they indeed were not going to be troubled this night.
The next morning, they all roused at dawn, and continued onwards. This was the home stretch of the journey, and the great river was very close. The land about them was not nearly as desolate as the beds, but it was quite desolate enough. No vegetation grew anywhere in the valley for as far as any of them could see. Adellelend continued to be amazed that, even within this valley of ultimate evil power, they still had not encountered any enemies. "Either we are very lucky, or we are coming to an end that will be tougher than I expected" she thought to herself. A few more hours of trudging through the dead land, and finally she could hear the gentle current of the great river. "We are close" she told the rest of the party. "Keep your eyes open. The enemy knows we are close and will try to stop us." They walked on for another hour, and finally they came to a hilltop. The river was in view below them, only a few more miles to go. Quickly they hurried on. "Time is short...we must move fast!" yelled Adellelend as she ran on. Closer and closer to the great river they went. The gentle shores of the river were now within their view, and their hearts were filled with a great hope. But it was not to be. For at that moment, out of the water came that great demon. Bloodied and limping, the great demon spider went towards the party. With thousands of it's small brethren on all sides of it, the giant spider labouriously made its way close to the party.
Adellelend kept one arm outstretched to her side and the other one gripped her warlock staff firmly. With one last breath, the demon collapsed onto the ground. The smaller spiders promptly gathered around it and waited. A dark cloud engulfed the body of the great creature, and lightning strikes could be seen issuing from the cloud that enveloped the body on the ground. Out of the smoke rose a dark figure. It was a humanoid figure, and was cloaked in a great black robe. It's face was hidden, except for the red glow that emanated from the eyes. The dark figure stretched its arms, and all at once the small spiders around it began to wither and die. From the exhausted bodies of the small creatures rose spirits. Adellelend took one glance at the spirits and recognized them. They were the ghosts of the dead pioneer men from the great war of the Willamette Valley. They were spirits, but flesh could be seen dripping off their rotted faces, and off the rest of their bodies. One by one, the spirits rose up from the dead bodies of the spiders. Now there was a great host of thousands of pioneer spirits. They all raised their hands in unison, and rifles were mounted into their hands. Only these rifles were real rifles, they were not ghostly rifles. At last the great shadowy figure began to speak. "Ahh at last you have come!" said the figure in a deep and menacing voice. "We have been especting you, Adellelend the white!" "We've come to put an end to the evil that the Plan contains, shadow master...and not you or anything else is going to stop us" replied Adellelend in a bold tone. "I cannot possibly see how you..a mere band of warriors and one warlock, can defeat one dark sorcerer and a great host of spirits" replied the shadow lord. "What a pity for you to have come all this way, only to be denied at the very end of your journey. For you see...I am the Lord of the Plan. I am it's very essence. I am the greatest power this world has ever seen, and soon when you are dead and the Plan is in my grasp, I will unleash a living hell on the planet...the likes of which has never been seen before!" "Over my dead body" replied the warlock. "As you wish" said the dark sorcerer. "Surround them and when I give the order, shoot to kill" commanded the dark lord to his evil spirits. "Yes my master" they all harped in unison.
The spirits pointed their guns at the party and surrounded them. Adellelend was holding Nestor in her reach while the others made a secure circle around them. The other warriors all drew their swords. "What shall we do" implored Nestor. "Do not lose faith young Plan bearer" replied Adellelend. "We will find a way to complete our task." Closer and closer they encircled the group. As the spirits drew closer they began to ready their guns. "Kill them" commanded the dark lord. "A terrible wail went up from the undead spirits, and they rushed full sprint at the group, guns at the ready. The first shots were finally fired at them. "It is over" Adellelend thought to herself. No sooner had she thought this did a great shield make of burning flames spring up around the group, protecting them from the bullets. The spirits all froze dead in their charge, suprised at this new barrier. Then, as soon as they had stopped, a great horn was blown somewhere in the distance and its echo rumbled through the entire valley. Adellelend and the others looked around looking for the source, and to the west, on top of a hill...was Shemhend the Black. Immediately he charged down the hill...and a great host of warrior spirits followed him! There was easily thousands of spirits charging down the hill with the dark warlock. "For all of humanity!" bellowed the dark warlock, in a voice that shook the entire evil valley. The evil spirits, seeing this new adversary, all charged towards Shemhend and his warriors. The two great ghost armies were sprinting at full speed towards one another. The pioneers fired a shower of bullets at the spirits and Shemhend, and the warriors unleashed a rain of silver arrows on the evil spirits. The two armies met with a booming clap of thunder, and a melee ensued. Warrior fought pioneer, and vice versa. Many spirits were struck and dispersed in the initial firings. Spirits on both sides were dropping left and right. "Warriors...drop!" commanded Shemhend. Immediately all the melee fighters dropped to the ground and assimiliated into the earth. "Archers...fire!" he further commanded. The legion of archers that stood behind him unleashed a firestorm of burning silver arrows on the evil spirits. Screaming and writhing, the evil spirits that were struck dropped to the ground and dissipated. Shemhend continued the barrage until every last evil spirit was destroyed. "Victory!" yelled Shemhend. "Archers...return" he commanded. The archers now dropped to the ground and became one with the earth. Shemhend blew the horn once more and ran towards the Fellowship.
"No time for questions now, my dear white warlock" said Shemhend. "We must defeat the dark lord before we destroy the plan." Both warlocks turned and faced the dark lord, who stood at the waters edge. Almost at once, the dark lord thrust his staff forward. A powerful blast of dark energy issued forth directly at the warlocks. Both of them returned their own energy at the dark surge, and they met at a stalemate. the dark lord pressed his power, and it surged ahead. Shemhend and Adellelend returned the power in their own staffs, and brought the power to a standstill once more. Furious, the dark lord put even more of his power into his surge, and the power broke through the combined energies of the warlocks. It struck Adellelend and she fell unconcious to the ground. Shemhend bellowed in anger and issued a huge blast of energy at the sorcerer. The dark lord was narrowly able to dodge the blast. Once again he issued forth dark energy, and the warlock used his own power to try and stop it. Putting forth all his effort, Shemhend's energy was still only able to slow the blast. It was creeping closer and closer to the warlock. "You will die warlock, just as she has done" said the dark lord, pointing towards Adellelend. Shemhend bellowed again and expended every ounce of power he had in his body at the sorcerer. It seemed to be working. Now Shemhend's power was driving back that of the dark lord. "No this can't be!" yelled the dark lord. "Arrgghhh!" bellowed Shemhend once more. "I have been through fire and death, shadow master. I have killed you once before, and I shall do it again!" Shemhend raised his had towards the dark lord, and another blast of energy issued from his other hand. The surge was too much. The blast struck the dark lord, knocking him to the ground." Noooo this can't be!" screamed the dark lord. His body began to crack, and rays of light shone through the cracks. With one final yell, the dark lord exploded, and his spirit escaped into the heavens as a black cloud. The mighty northern wind came and promptly blew the dark cloud away. Shemhend looked around him trying to find Nestor. He finally saw him...at the water's edge. "Nestor...did you...?" "Yes” replied the Plan bearer. “It is done. While you were fighting the dark lord, I snuck around the battle to the water’s edge, and submerged the Plan. It dissipated into the water andwas gone. That’s when your surge struck the dark lord and caused his destruction.” Shemhend nodded, and hugged Nestor. They went over to Adellelend, and tried to revive her. Luckily the blast had only knocked her unconcious without killing her. The rest of the party came over to the three heroes, and they all hugged each other and sang praises.
That night in the valley, while the young warriors all slept, Adellelend and Shemhend sat on the hill where Shemhend had made his grand entrance into the fray. “Where do we go from here” said Adellelend. “I don’t know...back to our normal lives I suppose” replied Shemhend. “But how can we and how can they after all that we’ve been through?” “Oh I have a feeling that the world will need us again sometime in the future, my dear white warlock.” “You may yet be right on that” replied Adellelend. “For although we destroyed an ultimate supernatural evil, there still exists the evils of mankind.” “This is true, but we must place our hope in mankind. We must have faith that humanity will choose the right path in the end.” “I hope you are right” replied Adellelend. She put her arms around Shemhend, and embraced him. “When they wake up the morning, pack light and leave all that can be spared behind.” “Why is that” asked Adellelend. “We travel light starting with tomorrow morning. We’re going home.” Adellelend simply smiled and gazed out at the horizon. And all the while, in his tent, Nestor could hear the warlocks speaking. “Home” he said to himself. “Where I am supposed to be. The way I am supposed to be.” He smiled and closed his eyes, and for the first time in a long time, he slept peacefully.
