“Give me back my son,” Leigh screamed at the Archbishop. A bolt of white hot light slashed across the intervening space.
The Archbishop batted it aside with one negligent wave of his hand.
“Oh, I don’t think so. I will play you for him, however.”
“For both of them.” Vi’s voice was as steely as her sword and twice as sharp.
“Oh, yes, of course. Best me and you will win their freedom and your own.” The Archbishop smiled.
“What’s the catch?” Gavriel watched the Fey Lord intently. “There’s always a catch.”
“Nothing you’re not already used to. We play by the rules of the level, upon the board we have been given.”
The Archbishop gestured languidly to the cathedral-like cavern, with its throne and altar, sweeping pillars of stalactite and stalagmite, strange carvings and shattered statuary, all shrouded in half an aeon’s dust.
“Not even I could alter the magics that birthed this place. Shall we play?”
“You’re on, little man.” Drang drew his sword and strode forward.
Valeral and Leibrev rose up, smooth, swift motions that were all too unnatural. The chains fell to water and sunlight and faded away completely. As one, they drew swords of night from the darkness around them.
All color ran from them, like oil driven by rain, bletching them in raiment of sable from head to toe. Even their eyes were robbed of color, of white, no more than two black pearls stuck in the sockets.
“What have you done?” Vi’s voice was a deathly whisper.
The Archbishop laughed.
***
The Black Pawn squeaked. The White Pawn paled.
“Where are we?” Glag hissed to Dhurka.
“I have no idea.” Dhurka was staring at Valeral and Leibrev.
“How do we get out?”
“The same way we got in, with the idiot humans clearing the way for us.”
Dhurka grinned nastily.
“One way or another…”
***
The Archbishop was laughing.
Vi’s hand tightened on the hilt of her sword.
The Archbishop was laughing.
Valeral and Leibrev stood before him, holding a defensive position. They did not move. Their faces registered no emotion.
The Archbishop was laughing.
“Shut. Up.” Vi roared and launched herself at the Archbishop.
Her sword flashed. Valeral and Leibrev were there in an instant. Valeral blocked the thrust, twisting her sword through parry and into his own riposte. Blades sang in the darkness.
Light flashed. Darkness roiled.
“Holy Magelord’s Hands,” Gavriel breathed. “The Andyr’nach variant.”
Where Vi had stood, her mirror raised its sword. Eyes like black pearls, with raiment to match, Vi had gone over to the other side.
In exchange, she had redeemed Valeral. Her attack on him had been her downfall. His attack on her, his ascent once more into light.
The youth yelped as Vi and Leibrev turned upon him. Swordblades met and darkness and light danced across the cavern once more.
The Archbishop laughed.
“Oh, bloody hells,” Gavriel muttered.
***
Oh! Oh my. Hello gorgeous. I think I’m going to like this.
Deep in the recesses of its iron prison, the spirit of the Sword of Justice laughed.
I am coming for you, wizard. And this time, you won’t be able to turn my own powers against me…
***
It was chaos. Pure, unadulterated chaos. The cavern existed in a perpetual state of twilight, stained by the continual flash of light and surge of darkness.
It was as close to gray as anything they had seen since they arrived.
“Stop it!” Gavriel shouted in the face of a dark and maniacal Drang.
The barbarian grinned wider and continued his slow advance, sword at the ready.
“I’m not going to attack you, Drang. I can’t attack you. As soon as I attack you, I’ll flip to the darkside. That’s not what anyone here wants. Trust me.”
The barbarian continued his advance.
“Hey, I’m not the one that had your child and didn’t tell you about it. No. Leigh did. Why don’t you go after her?”
Drang paused for a moment.
“That’s right. She betrayed you. Go on. Sic her!”
The barbarian glanced at Leigh. The sorceress was currently shrieking and running from Dark Vi.
“She’s busy,” the massive man rumbled. “Besides, I think we’d have more fun.”
The barbarian leered at Gavriel. Gavriel stared back, askance. Drang stepped forward once more.
“Come on, faery boy, you know you want to help me polish my sword.”
Gavriel hauled back and slammed his fist into Drang’s jaw. The barbarian spun on his heel, tottered, and collapsed. The sorcerer yowled and clutched his hand.
“Dayum that hurt!”
His eyes widened. The shadows rose about him.
“Oh f–”
***
The Black Acolyte and the White froze. Their chance just presented itself.
“Quick, while Gavriel distracts him,” Leibrev called to Valeral.
“And we’re still in our right minds,” Valeral muttered.
The two young men moved quickly through the shadows, trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible.
***
“Is the Quean-Sign ready?”
“Almost.”
“Will it work?”
“Yes. Just be ready to move on my mark.”
Dhurka and Glag hunkered down, still out of sight, watching the battle and waiting for their moment.
***
Valeral and Leibrev dashed towards the altar. As one, they came to a stop, one athwart either side. Leibrev pulled a white ches piece from beneath his tunic. It dangled on its fine golden chain. Valeral had already produced its twin, done in jet and silver.
The Archbishop roared, sparked to an emotion other than sardonic amusement for the first time in centuries. The Fey Lord flung himself towards the altar, Air and Darkness speeding him through the intervening space.
He was too late. Valeral and Leibrev raised their arms, Valeral his left, Leibrev his right, and a swirling barrier sprang into existence. From beyond the dance of light and dark, their voice rose in a perfectly cadenced hymn.
“What’s happening?” Vi screamed.
“I have no idea!” Leigh shouted back.
The rocks of the cave began to thrum in harmony to the rising crescendo of the chant. The Archbishop drew himself up and blazed with fey fire. Fear and rage roiled in a mad maelstrom within his eyes.
“Oh, that can’t be good.”
***
“They’ve betrayed us once, they will do so again.”
“We cannot take that chance. We are too close to give up now. We will have to deal with them.”
Glag grinned at Dhurka. Dhurka grinned back.
“Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”
“Yes. Only way–”
“–is to play.”
The two goblinesses hissed with laughter and waited for an opportunity to present itself. It would. There was no move in ches that did not leave an opening somewhere. All you had to do was find it.
No one knew that better than the pawns on a ches-board.
***
Black and White, Light and Dark, all took cover as the mad fey lord lashed out. Bolt after bolt of pure, blazing energy lashed out at the dome. After each failure, the Archbishop raged and redoubled the blow. The very cavern shook, gripped in the vise of reverberating power and raging chaos.
Throughout it all, the harlequin globe persisted serene.
The chanting reached full crescendo and abruptly stopped. The resultant silence was deafening. Even the Archbishop paused in his assault.
The two-faced sphere shattered. Shards of energy fell away to reveal three figures. Valeral, Leibrev and a radiantly beautiful being with vast gray wings.
Mad with fey instinct, the Archbishop lashed out. The angel’s eyes widened, but it made no move to dodge the blow. The strike fell…and the Archbishop turned from black to white.
The angel, bloody and cold, smiled as it fell upwards towards heaven. There was no trace of pain on its features as it went. It’s parting words were rich and smooth.
“Be well, Sons of Arthand Kelem1. Be well. You have done well this day. The Blessings of the God go with thee.”
“Swordlady’s sacred sheath, they’re priests?” Vi looked dumbfounded.
“Lady of Incantations, I hope not,” Leigh muttered in reply. “I have a hard enough time dealing with that boy without worry about offending one of the Gods.”
The angel faded from view. Valeral and Leibrev, stared upwards, awe and religious ecstacy plain upon their faces. The Archbishop in White stretched and yawned.
“Well, that was fun. I do hope you enjoyed yourselves. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am late for a saining.”
And with that, he vanished.
***
“Here comes our chance! Activate the Quean-Sign and get the idiot humans. I’ll deal with our allies.”
Glag grinned and bit deep into her arm. Dark blood welled up and dripped onto the floor. Chalk lines blazed to life and vanished, leaving a faintly shimmering hole.
“Just don’t forget to drag me with you.”
“Please. I’m not a human. I can handle it.”
“Make sure you do.”
Dhurka scurried off.
***
Gavriel continued to chant, eyes as black as the dark between the stars. Words of pure shadow dripped from his mouth and the syllables he spoke reverberated throughout the cavern.
“We can’t let him finish that evocation,” Leigh shrieked. “By all that’s Holy in the Nine Hells, where did he learn that spell?”
“I can stop him,” Drang raised his sword.
“Not an option,” Vi snapped.
“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Leigh demanded.
“We have to get him out of here before he goes supernova,” Vi shouted. “If he’s not on this level, maybe he’ll revert to normal.”
“Maybe? What do you mean maybe?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“No.”
“This way,” Glag squeaked, popping up next to Vi. “Found hole! Way out! Quick-quick.”
Vi blinked and gave the gobliness a hard look.
“Alright. Drang, check it out. Here’s what we’re going to do–”
***
The Grandmaster called to the Quean. His voice rising and falling in thunderous reverb, he called her to wake.
Before him, a titanic dragon, red as blood, stirred restlessly as she slept upon a small sea of gold, gems and other, more precious, things.
***
“Where are they?” Leibrev asked Valeral, his voice tense.
“I can’t see them.”
“They’re here somewhere. They have to be.”
“Perhaps they found a way into the Quean’s chamber?”
“Even if they had, they’d never advance without some muscle.”
“We have to stop them before they pull us any deeper in.”
“Agreed. Let’s move.”
Before the two youths could take action, hwoever, Vi strode up to them and grabbed each one by an arm.
“You two have a lot of explaining to do.”
“But, Aunt Vi–”
“Shut up. Later. Right now, you will do as I say. If you don’t, we’re all dead. Now listen–”
***
The lights were blinding. Or rather, they were blinding to Gavriel. Leigh had shielded the eyes of everyone else present.
Riotous color roared in a technicolor hurricane throughout the cavern. Leigh was the blinding white eye at the heart of the storm.
“Drang,” Vi yelled, “now!”
The barbarian bellowed and charged forward. Gavriel’s eyes flicked towards him. The barbarian was a credible threat. However, Gavriel would not stop chanting his spell, and therefore could not effectively defend himself.
He was forced to take a strategic retreat.
Valeral and Leibrev joined the attack, alternately driving him to the left and right. Gavriel was backed further and further. The sorcerer continued, evading as best he could, his voice increasing in tempo and urgency.
“Vi, he’s in position,” Drang shouted.
Vi leapt from behind a stalagmite and grabbed Gavriel from behind. As the shadows rose up to claim her, she flung herself backward, falling into the open hole behind her.
She carried Gavriel with her. They disappeared out of sight. Drang shot a look at Leigh.
“We should follow them.”
“Do we have to?” Leigh’s response was dry.
“You’d rather stay here?
“You make a strong argument. Let’s go.”
The barbarian and the sorceress strode towards the exit. Leigh called back over her shoulder as she went.
“Leibrev, dear, hurry up. We might as well get to the bottom of this place and get you some proper training.”
“No, mother, wait–”
It was too late. Leigh and Drang had vanished down the hole.
“Dayum. We have to go after them,” Valeral said.
“Right. Hurry, before–”
Something whirred towards the youths. Instinct took over. Swords flashed through the air. An apparition wielding twin rapiers lashed out at the boys. They moved to defend, swords rising to the quick. Steel rang against steel and the illusion faded.
Blade rang against blade, darkness and light strobed in a vicious war. Valeral and Leibrev stood, toe to toe, caught up in the eternally cycling magic of the level, attack-defend-riposte-repeat. They were stuck in an ever-repeating loop.
Dhurka cackled and stepped from the shadows. Together, she and Glag stepped into the hole and vanished, leaving Valeral and Leibrev to fight it out.
The hole vanished as they passed through it, leaving only the sound of ringing steel in their wake.
To Be Continued…
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