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The Worlds Within Choose a chapter: Chapter 8 Hypatia and Valen had already spent the better part
of a day trekking through the wilds of the Underdark when they stumbled
upon the strange shadowy bridge. It
certainly did not look substantial enough to support any weight, which
naturally made Hypatia all the more determined to see what could possibly
be on the other side. There was an old alien looking control panel with a
dimly glowing screen and odd buttons just to the side of the bridge.
She studied the runes on it for a while, but could not decipher
them. With a smile she began
pushing buttons, to see what they would do. It did not take her long to figure out how to work them.
The screen changed in a surprisingly predictable and logical manner
once she had pressed a few of the buttons. With a bit of a flourish she pressed the final button
and watched to see what would happen.
Three pylons rose out of their cradles in the floor of the cave and
each emitted a beam of light. The
first pylon activating the second, the second activating the third, and
the third activating the bridge which suddenly became as solid as the
stone they were standing upon. Hypatia smiled at Valen and stepped out onto the
bridge. They crossed without
incident and found themselves on a narrow ledge outside a smallish tunnel. With a glance at Valen, Hypatia entered the tunnel,
only to find that it wasn’t a tunnel at all, but the entrance to a
gigantic cave complex. The
ceiling was lost in the shadows above them and the floor was actually a
series of high natural bridges. Peering over the edge, Hypatia gazed down into the
darkness. Curiosity drove her
to toss a small pebble into the dark depths.
She listened for a very long time before the distant sound of the
pebble striking something solid echoed back to her.
She shuddered and turned back to the middle of the path. As they traversed the ledges and bridge she noticed
steam rising from some of the crevasses.
They had just made their way onto a place where the natural bridge
widened out into a small plateau when a drow coalesced out of the shadows. Hypatia gasped for it took no effort on her part to see
this man. He was empty.
His lavender eyes echoed a hollowness that frightened her.
There was nothing of him that had not been taken by another.
With an effort she turned her mind away from this shell of a man. Valen bristled beside her as the drow spoke in a
menacingly expressionless voice. “Well,
what have we here?” His lavender eyes swept contemptuously over
Hypatia’s form. “When the
Valsharess told me of the trouble you have been causing her I somehow got
the impression that you would be more…imposing.
I hardly expected someone who looked so soft.
If you are the best the Seer can muster, than her cause is most
assuredly doomed.” Hypatia raised her chin in defiance.
“Who are you?” She demanded. The only answer she got was the sweep of his cruelly
curved double bladed sword. She
screamed as it bit deeply into her. Her
armor, true to its enchantment retaliated with a white-hot beam of light. Beside her Valen leapt into the fray while all around
drow marksmen materialized out of the shadows, raining a hail of bolts
upon them. The darkness of
the Underdark was dispelled time and again by the multiple beams of light
that her armor shot forth in response to each successful strike. Hypatia swung with her katana and took another
ferocious blow. She didn’t
even come close to striking the soulless drow.
She had to heal herself and tried to get behind Valen so that she
could do so, but the drow managed to hit her again, breaking her
concentration. Desperate, knowing that she would not survive another
such attack, she used her special healing spell. It was only the fact that
she was able to cast it in half the time a normal one would take that
saved her. Valen was taking tremendous damage too.
This drow weapons master was powerful and relentless, striking
through even Valen’s defenses as often as Valen managed to get to him. The hail of bolts was taking its toll too.
Hypatia knew they wouldn’t last too much longer if she didn’t
do something, and quickly. Valen needed her. He
was hurt. Steeling herself against Valen’s pain she began
casting. With tears in her
eyes she held her concentration and called forth a brilliant beam of
white-hot light. Directing it
with her hands, she aimed for the lavender eyes of the drow weapons
master. Hypatia’s aim was true and the fierce drow warrior
screamed and stepping back threw one arm across his seared and useless
eyes. Valen, near death,
stepped forward and finished the drow with a single mighty blow. Already casting again, Hypatia took another hail of
arrows, but managed to touch Valen before it was too late. A healing glow surrounded him and he dashed toward the
nearest drow marksman. Hypatia turned, her armor still sending beams of
light toward her opponents and ran to engage the marksman opposite of the
one Valen had already dispatched. The
battle took but a little while longer as they worked their way around the
perimeter of the plateau. When
it was over they were both wounded and weary.
The bodies of dead drow littered the ground around them. Hypatia looked around quickly, then cast one of her
most prized healing spells. A
glow surrounded them both and their wounds were healed. Hypatia then knelt beside the body of the
lavender-eyed warrior and tears filled her eyes. “Hypatia?” Valen’s
concern was evident in his voice. “What
is the matter?” Slowly she raised her eyes to his. “In all my life I have never committed such a calculatingly
cruel act as I did during this battle.” Valen’s brow furrowed in confusion,
“He nearly killed us both. You
did what you had to.” A single tear flowed down Hypatia’s cheek and fell
onto the dead drow. “Yet I
can imagine the pain and terror as the light of a hundred suns burst forth
on eyes that have never seen even a single dawn.
It was the last thing he ever saw; this, to him unimaginable
brightness.” Valen took her hand and guided her to her feet.
“My lady, we are battle weary and should rest.
If I am not mistaken the beholder tunnels are around here
somewhere.” Hypatia nodded and with one last mournful look at the
dead drow allowed Valen to guide her away.
“I fear that in his whole life he never knew a single
kindness.” “Do not let him haunt you, my lady.”
Valen commanded softly. Wiping her eyes with trembling hands, Hypatia nodded
determinedly. She turned and
relieved the fallen of anything they had that might be salvageable.
Methodically she pushed each body over the edge of the plateau as
she finished with it, saying a brief prayer as she did. Then she sought out a defensible corner where they
could set up camp. While they were eating Valen broached a subject that
had obviously been on his mind. “Might
we speak?” “Certainly, Valen.
What would you like?” “I find it curious that you loot the bodies of
those you fell in battle. It
does not seem like the kind of thing a cleric would do.” Hypatia favored him with a long thoughtful look.
“I do not like to leave behind things that another foe might pick
up and use against me.” Valen gave her a surprised look. “That is a very practical way to look at it.” Hypatia studied him for a moment then, made bold by
his seeming willingness to talk, spoke.
“Would you tell me more about your time in the Abyss?” He looked at her curiously.
“You want me to speak about my time spent fighting?
Whatever for?” Blushing, Hypatia glanced away. “I’m curious. I
find your past interesting.” He thought about it for a long moment and then
shrugged. “Very well.
If it will please my lady, I would gladly tell her a tale or two.
Ask what you will.” Hypatia’s eyes flew to his in surprise even as a
dozen questions filled her mind. “What
did you do before you were taken captive?” “I was a young lad in the streets of Sigil, if you
must know. An orphan since my
mother had died, and a thief when I could get away with it. Hypatia’s heart went out to the orphaned Valen,
though she had a very difficult time picturing the strong warrior beside
her as a thief. “How did
your mother die?” Valen’s eyes grew sad.
“She was murdered by a customer.
Or so I was told.” “You don’t believe that?” “My mother worked for a…very greedy and selfish
demoness. I am certain that
the demoness killed her because she did not perform sufficiently one month
when she was ill. The
demoness disliked mortal frailty.”
He frowned deeply at the memory.
“And disliked me even more.
I was on the street, homeless, within an hour of my mother’s
death.” Hypatia was horrified that a child could be treated
so coldly. “That sounds
terrible!” Valen nodded. “And
not unusual for Sigil in the slightest.
It is a cruel place.” “How did you get captured?” “In Sigil devils and demons walk the streets along
with many other types of creatures. It
is not an uncommon sight. One
day a demon by the name of Grimash’t saw me.
He saw the demon blood within me and scooped me up.
There was no escaping him. I
suppose I should be thankful that he saw a use for me, else I would likely
have been nothing more than a snack for him that day.” Valen spoke of his kidnapping calmly and Hypatia was amazed
that he seemed to bear no bitterness about the cruel events that had
shaped his early life. “Were there many others like you in the Abyss?”
She asked, half fearing the answer. Valen smiled grimly.
“The armies of the Abyss are legion.
There were more warriors with my same tale than there are grains of
sand. Few survived as I did,
however.” Hypatia shivered as a chill ran up her spine.
“How is it that you didn’t die during all of that?” His brow furrowed as Valen pondered her question.
“To tell you the truth, I do not know.
There were times I wanted to die.
There were times I tried to die.
But I never did. Perhaps it was simply my fate to survive long enough
to escape Grimash’t’s grasp. I
certainly do not question it overmuch.” “Well, I’m certainly thankful that you
survived.” Hypatia declared. Valen smiled a bit bashfully. “Thank you my lady. That
is most kind of you.” Hypatia hesitated, but couldn’t quite stop herself
from asking, “Have you ever been in love?” Valen turned and looked at her, shock evident on his
face. “That…that is a
most personal question, my lady…” Blushing, Hypatia hastily told him, “You don’t
need to answer it if you don’t want to.” He was silent for a long moment, and then finally
nodded. “Yes I was.
Once.” Looking
directly at Hypatia he added. “She
died.” Hypatia’s hand flew to her mouth. “I am so very sorry.” A flash of pain crossed his face, but Valen swallowed
it back and nodded slowly. “Thank
you, my lady. It is…not
easy to discuss her even still. She
was a mortal servant of my master in the Abyss.
When I was being tortured, my master brought her before me
and…and he killed her.” No! Oh,
no. Oh, Valen, how you have
suffered. Yet there is no
bitterness or hatred in your heart. Hypatia’s eyes mirrored the pain
she felt on his behalf. Valen closed his eyes, frowning. “It was meant to cause me pain and it did.
But that was a long time ago.” “And there has been no-one else since?”
The question was out before Hypatia could stop it.
Haven’t your questions brought up enough painful memories for
him? She chastised herself. Valen smiled gently, not looking at her but rather at
an image that only he could see. “No,
nobody else since. I have
moved on, however…but there has been no-one else.
Perhaps if we…could move the topic to something else, my lady.
I would appreciate it.” “Forgive me, Valen.
My curiosity gets the better of me sometimes.” Hypatia spoke softly. They were up early the following morning and entered
the beholder tunnels with trepidation. They fought their way through the tunnels slowly,
encountering the deadly rays of the beholders’ eyes at every turn.
By this time they had developed a method to their battles; Valen
would charge into the heart of the enemy’s forces while Hypatia would
use her divine spells to back him up. The beholders, she discovered, were particularly susceptible
to her brightest spells for they were unable to function competently if
blinded. A contingent of drow loyal to the Valsharess proved
to be an unpleasant surprise. Not
an insurmountable one though and they continued on, searching for the
Beholder Tyrant. It wasn’t too much longer before they found her.
Valen was all for rushing into the chamber, but Hypatia managed to
convince him to wait until she lured the Tyrant out. She cast protective
spells upon herself and Valen before darting into the entryway to the
tyrant’s lair and loosing a beam of white-hot light.
This enraged the Tyrant and she floated toward Hypatia, who turned
and ran past the waiting Valen. The
Tyrant followed, allowing Valen to destroy her. The other beholders, quite naturally, took exception
to this and attacked in force. Again
Hypatia cast the spell that brought a beam of the sun to the
Underdark and blinded many of the magical monsters.
Together she and Valen cut them down before they could recover.
Hypatia had to dispel some of the magic the creatures had cast, and
she found that she was converting most of her remaining spells to keep
herself and Valen healed enough to fight. Once they’d finished with the beholders they
rested, thankful to have survived against such a terrible foe. The following morning Hypatia returned to the
antechamber of the Tyrant’s lair and looked thoughtfully into a large
hole in the floor. “There
could be something terrible down there.
We must explore this.” Reluctantly, Valen agreed with her.
Hypatia carefully lowered herself into the hole and, finding hand
and foot holds on a large boulder climbed down.
Valen was quick to follow her. She took but one step when she was suddenly and
terrifyingly dragged to the ground, barely able to move under some weight.
She gasped and looked around frantically for some cause.
Slowly it dawned on her that the weight was from her own
possessions. Something had
stripped the magical strength enhancements she wore of their power. “My lady!” Valen was by her side in an instant. She gasped again as she realized that she could no
longer cast any of her spells. A
dead magic zone! The
thought skittered through her mind. She
had heard of such terrible places, but had never encountered one before. “There is no magic here,” she said, eyes wide
with fear. Valen tried to help her stand, but she could not
under the weight of all the things in her pack. Hypatia called upon Mystra to help her and was
granted a blessing. Standing
she rapidly emptied her pack of every item that was not absolutely
essential. Swallowing her fear she moved farther into the passageway.
“Lets be quick. I am
frightened by the lack of magic in the air.” With a nod Valen followed her as she started down the
passageway. She had to be
sure that there were no horrors waiting to be called upon by the
Valsharess in this place. The giant bebilith spotted them as they made their
way around the final corner of the passageway.
The creature moved to the center of the large cavern waiting for
them. Hypatia was very frightened. She had not fared well against the giant spiders that
occupied the complex of tunnels and caverns beneath the beholder lair.
She had been made all too aware of her reliance upon magic and
magical items here in this dead magic zone.
Unable to call even the most minor healing spell, she had watched
helplessly as Valen battled vermin twice his size.
He’d been poisoned and she had been unable to do more than use
bandages and what poultices she could mix up from her meager supply of
healing herbs. She had also, to her everlasting shame, become aware
of how poor her skills with her blades really were.
She was lucky to land a single strike against the nimble spiders
that swarmed them at every turn. She worried about the time they had had to spend
recovering from each battle. There
was still much to do and the Valsharess would not wait too much longer
before starting her offensive against Lith My’athar.
Yet she had to explore the caverns below the Beholder tunnels.
She had to be sure that there wasn’t a more dire threat hiding
below, waiting the Valsharess’ command to come forth and fall upon the
Seer and her followers. A startled cry from Valen shocked her out of her
paralysis and she watched open mouthed as his breastplate was tossed
effortlessly across the cavern by the bebilith.
He couldn’t last against such a foe without protection. Hypatia ran as fast as she could under the heavy
weight of her own armor and managed to get herself in front of Valen in
time to catch the next vicious strike aimed at him.
The Bebilith squealed as its clawed foreleg scraped across her
armor. The Golden Searing
armor had been stripped of its enchantment as well in this place and
Hypatia was disappointed but not surprised when it did not retaliate with
a brilliant beam of searing light. She swung with her katana, the giant bebilith easily
dodging her attempt. Her
action had distracted the creature from Valen though and he was able to
get in another massive blow. The monster turned from her and again to Valen,
scoring a ferocious hit. Valen
grunted but stood his ground, gritting his teeth against the pain. Hypatia took the opportunity to strike again and this
time was successful. One
katana bounced off the thing’s chitenous exoskeleton, but the other
found purchase in a joint. She
wasn’t certain if she’d done much damage, but she had gotten the
things attention. It turned
to her and more quickly that she would have thought possible, used its
nimble cruelly clawed forelegs to strip her out of her own armor. She took another swing at the thing as her armor went
sailing across the cavern. She
missed again. Valen, however, took full advantage of the
opportunity presented to him and rained a hail of powerful blows upon the
creature. Chunks of its
exoskeleton broke off under the relentless assault. Squealing in fury and pain it turned to Valen and
ignored Hypatia’s inept attacks. Terrified, knowing that Valen couldn’t last long,
Hypatia attacked in a frenzy of desperation and fear. “By the pits of hell!”
Valen swore as a particularly nasty strike drew blood from his
shoulder to his hip in a diagonal across his chest. Hypatia gasped as the wounds he’d already received
combined with this new terrible one took their toll and he crumpled to the
floor. She swung mightily
again and the bebilith itself fell. She
knew it was only because of Valen’s might that it had been weakened so. With a sob she flung herself over Valen as the giant
creature collapsed. She was
afraid it would fall on him. He
was hanging on to life by a thread and he wouldn’t survive being crushed
by the thing. She silently thanked her goddess as the creature fell
the other way. Quickly she
ran to her pack, which had been tossed aside by the bebilith early in the
battle. She grabbed one of the
healing kits she’d found in the beholder tunnels and ran back to Valen. She rapidly checked the worst of his wounds.
They were bad. She wished she could call upon even the smallest healing
spell. He was going to die if
she didn’t find a way to help him. Breaking open the healing kit she took out some herbs
and linen strips. Mixing the
herbs with a small amount of water she made a thick paste, which she then
pressed gently into the wound on his chest. It was the worst of the lot as
far as she could tell. The
paste slowed down the flow of blood from the wound and she carefully
wrapped some of the linen strips tightly around him. She shook her head in frustration and a worried frown
marked her face as she glanced quickly around the cavern. She had to move him, get him to a defensible position.
Her gaze fell upon another tunnel across from them and she got the
distinct impression that there was safety to be found on the other side of
it. Grateful that her
instincts were still working she tried to figure out a way to move
Valen’s inert form. She
didn’t bother to try to get her armor back, she’d never be able to
move him if she had that on too. She
just wasn’t strong enough. Not
without magical enhancement, and there was no magic to be had in this
forsaken place. She wrapped her hands under his arms and leaned back
in an attempt to drag him toward the tunnel.
Leaning her full weight back she was able to move him a few inches
before she fell on her bottom. Some
particularly sharp pebbles bit into her flesh and her eyes flew wide as
she realized that she was going to hurt Valen even more if she didn’t
come up with a better way to move him. She thought about it for a brief moment, then ran
back to her pack and grabbed every one of the cloaks she had horded.
Returning quickly to Valen’s side she laid the cloaks, all four
of them, one atop the other next to him.
Then she rolled him carefully up onto his side.
Holding him there with her shoulder braced underneath him she
dragged the stack of cloaks into position and let him settle gently onto
them. Pausing to catch her breath for a moment she looked
around the cavern again. She
couldn’t afford to be caught unaware by anything at this point. Taking the collar edges of the cloaks in her hands she began
the difficult process of dragging Valen toward the tunnel. She paused to rest and catch her breath again once
she’d gotten inside the first turn of the tunnel.
She could see a smaller cavern, almost as if a room had been carved
out of the rock, just ahead. It took her some time to drag Valen into the room and
make him as comfortable as she could.
She started a small fire and put some water on to heat. Into this she put some more of the herbs from the healing kit
to steep. Valen drifted in and out of consciousness as she
gently cleaned the remainder of his many wounds.
She chewed her lower lip worriedly, noting the gray pallor his
bluish skin was taking on. He also felt warm to her touch. Though to be
honest she didn’t know if this was normal for him or not.
From her brief contact with him, she suspected…hoped, it was. She feared that the monster’s venom was poisonous,
and that he was suffering from that too.
There was nothing she could do about it though. She couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of poison the
creature possessed, much less what an antidote would need to consist of to
be effective. She looked critically at his wounds, knowing that
they needed to be wrapped at the very least.
But she had already used up the one healing kit she had gotten.
Though loath to leave him, she knew she needed to return to the
cavern of the bebilith to get her pack. Leaning over him, she brushed a lock of his blood red
hair away from his face and whispered.
“I’ll be right back. Just
rest.” Then she stood, looking around with determination.
She searched the room thoroughly for any signs of life.
She found a door over on the far end, but was unable to figure out
how it opened. It worried her
that someone, or something on the other side might be able to get it open.
With a frustrated sigh she turned, and just as she was about to
leave the tell tale signs of a trap caught her eye.
The door was trapped. She
felt much better about that. Convinced that Valen would be moderately safe she
made her way back to the tunnel and out into the bebilith’s lair.
She scurried over to her pack, expecting something awful and
spider-like to jump out at her at any moment. Snatching up her pack she turned to hurry back, but a
gleam of iridescent green caught her eye and she detoured to pick up
Valen’s breastplate. It was
precious to him and she would not leave it for someone or something else
to find. Carrying as much as she could, she ran back to the
room where she’d left Valen. She
set his breastplate nearby and immediately knelt next to him.
Rummaging around in her pack she found some more healing kits and
her packet of dried fruit. The water she’d put on to heat was boiling away
quite nicely and she dropped several pieces of the fruit into it. She wanted to reduce it a bit and the fruit would improve the
taste. Some of the herbs were
quite bitter, especially those that eased pain. Taking the pot off the fire she set it aside to cool
while she used up her healing kits treating Valen’s wounds. It was only after she’d taken care of him as best as she
could without her magic, that she even noticed the long ugly gash on her
side. Once she’d noticed it
though, the pain set in with a vengeance.
She was also sporting a nice sized gouge on her thigh and several
wounds on her arms. The pain caused her to hiss between her teeth when
she went to strain the liquid from the pot through a cloth and into a cup.
Taking a quick drink herself first, she then took the concoction to
Valen. Cradling his head in
her arm she coaxed him to drink almost all of it.
Then she set about binding her own wounds.
Finally she got her tunic out of her pack and slowly, mindful of
her hurts, put it on. No longer running on fear and the need to tend to
Valen, Hypatia found it difficult to force her tired, wounded body to
move. She needed to get their
weapons from the bebilith’s cavern though.
She did not relish the idea of finding herself facing some enemy
barehanded. Her movement through the cavern was much slower than
the last time and she could carry no more than Valen’s flail and one of
her katana. That would have
to do. She wouldn’t leave
Valen alone any more than she had to.
The rest of their things would just have to wait until they’d had
some time to rest and heal a bit. Returning to Valen’s side, she noticed that he seemed to be resting a bit easier. With a grateful sigh Hypatia was finally able to turn her attention to the room itself. It was a smallish room, compared to the great caverns
and carved halls they’d been through already in this strange place.
A large glowing obelisk completely dominated the space.
It was carved with ancient runes and from the base of each of its
four sides a series of rune carved tiles ran out in straight lines. She could sense the magic waiting to be unleashed
within the obelisk, but was unwilling to experiment with it while Valen
was incapacitated. She made up some more of the medicinal concoction to
give to Valen during the night and then made up a pot of tea. Through the long hours she watched over Valen as he slept. By the time Valen regained consciousness she was so
weary she could barely keep her eyes open. “My lady,” Valen croaked.
“We survived.” Tears sprung to Hypatia’s eyes. “Yes. I am so
sorry. I thought my healing
abilities would always keep you safe, but here…”
She closed her eyes for a moment.
“I have let you down. I
was unable to cast any healing spells.
I am no fighter, for all I train with two weapons.
Now, to my everlasting shame I have put you at risk.
I never understood what she meant.” Hypatia helped Valen lift his head so that he could
drink some more of the medicine she had made. “What who meant, my lady?”
Valen asked after drinking. “We, the servants of Mystra are told that we are to
gather and protect magic. But
the Lady of Mysteries also has told us that the more we know magic the
less we should use it. That
it is the knowledge of magic that is important.”
Hypatia lowered her eyes. “I
never understood what that meant, but now in fear and sorrow I do.” “What do you suggest we do now?” “You are too weak yet to be up and about for all
your heart is valiant and no doubt you would try.”
Hypatia looked around thoughtfully.
Her eyes fell upon the strange obelisk and she felt lead to it.
Feeling the importance of the object, she forgot her weariness and
stood. “I believe it is
time for me to figure out how to activate or deactivate this artifact.” “Are you certain?”
Valen seemed alarmed. “Yes.” Hypatia
circled the obelisk studying it closely.
After a few moments she lightly tapped her toe on one of the tiles.
She jumped back when the rune on it changed.
Her brow furrowed in concentration as she again circled the
artifact. Then as if suddenly reaching some kind of understanding, she
began tapping the tiles of one row. She
tapped three of them until they all displayed the same rune that was
engraved on the tile at the base of the obelisk. Once the tiles all matched they lit up and a magical
current traveled from the obelisk out to the farthest tile in the row. With a satisfied nod, Hypatia repeated the process
for the other three rows. Upon
finishing the last tile of the fourth row the entire assembly lit up with
magical energies and she felt the power flow through her.
She had deactivated the strange device and thus returned magic to
the area. Laughing with delight she danced over to Valen and
cast a healing spell. More
than pleased to see the pallor leave his form and the pained expression
leave his face. She then healed herself and whirling, began to
inspect the Obelisk itself. On
one side she found a small door. Opening
it she reached inside and removed the core.
This was the artifact that had been activated inside the obelisk.
This was what had caused the dead magic zone.
Now at last she had an artifact worthy of bringing back to the
temple of Mystra. She turned to tell Valen of her find, but found herself surrounded by a bright light. She stood very still, recognizing it as a visitation from her goddess. |
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