Alix rushed down the earthen passageway, terrified of what he would find at the end, hoping he wasn’t too late. After only a short way, the rough ground gouged by the passage of Tifayn in her demon form, the tunnel began to spiral upwards. They climbed the winding path until they passed a watermark in the wall, beyond which the walls were thick with a glowing moss. A few more turns later, Mr Bones stopped and motioned for Alix to take the lead.
Good luck, my lord, he said through the ring as he caught sight of the demonic form lying beyond.
The path came to end at a small chamber, from the floor of which grew a curling, branching white stem with a few leaves sprouting from the ends; a root of Babyl. A reverent hush lay about the chamber. As Alix stared at the root of the World Tree, text appeared before him:
* Gifts of Babyl Received
* Health and Mana Increased
At any other time he would have felt elated at boosting his Health and Mana, and whatever else the gifts were, but at that moment it meant nothing to him and he didn’t care to ask. Curled around the root lay Tifayn, still in her unbound demon form. Alix felt a weight slam down into his gut at the sight, wondering where they had gone wrong.
I’m going to win the Terminus Ritual, Evory, if only so that I can punish you longer for handing me that damn crown.
“Tifayn?” Alix called softly as he stepped into the glowing chamber.
As he got closer, he saw a sheen of sweat covering her body, her breathing coming in short gasps, as if she were wrestling with some invisible foe holding her tight.
“What can I do to help you? Why are you still in this form? The bond should have been restored once I gave up the crown.” There was no response from Tifayn. Was she still under the effects of another spell?
As soon as he had the thought, he turned and ran out of the room, back down the circling path, until he was standing back before the vault. He quickly grabbed the Nullblade, making sure to keep it away from himself in case it somehow destroyed the ring or something else, closed the vault and made his way back up the spiral pathway.
“Do you think this will harm her?” Alix asked Mr Bones once he was back up at the top of the spiral. “All I can think is that she is under the effects of a different spell. Maybe the blade will be able to nullify it.”
“It is worth a try. I cannot understand it myself.”
Alix stepped forward, whispered an apology to Tifayn, and then touched the blade to her exposed skin.
The demon Tifayn roared, and Alix was worried that he had made a horrible mistake, but almost instantly, Tifayn’s body began to retract in on itself, almighty horns reversing into her skull, bones cracking and reshaping, black scales sloughing off into the moss, skin like a new born appearing underneath. The process felt like it took forever and looked and sounded painful, but eventually Tifayn was lying naked before him in her bound demonette form.
Alix carefully placed the Nullblade off to the side, making a mental note to craft a scabbard for it as soon as possible, preferably one with a lock so the sword couldn’t be drawn accidentally, then knelt down by Tifayn’s side. He was relieved to see that her breathing had steadied and she was no longer sweating profusely.
“Tifayn, are you alright? I’m sorry it took me so long to return.”
Tifayn slowly opened her eyes, but it took her a while to focus on his face and recognition took even longer.
“Alix? Where am I?” Tifayn said groggily, her mouth fighting what her brain was telling it what to do.
“You don’t remember? You turned into an unbound demon when we were at Mortlake. You only listened to me when I took the whole Obscene Privilege potion. I told you to bring the Ringtail’s back here, but I wasn’t able to return until the potion’s effects wore off. I was told you came down here as soon as you got back, and I came to find you as soon as I could. I’m sorry Tifayn, this is all my fault. That bloody vampire crown cut the effects of the bond, but for some reason you never changed back,” Alix said, relaying the events as he knew them in an attempt to return her memory. He had to believe she had still been in there somewhere, otherwise why would she have come to the roots in the first place? No one would come here unless they already knew what was down here. Maybe that was how she was able to deal with the toxic water. She knew it was fine to swim through them temporarily, as the roots could heal any damage caused.
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“No Alix, it wasn’t your fault. I will make Evory pay for being so careless with such powerful artifacts, but that isn’t all that happened. I remember now.” Tifayn tried to get to her feet, but the effort caused her to flinch and gasp with pain. Alix was quickly there and she lay back down in his arms. “I never knew it was so painful to become a demon. The history of those times are barely remembered legends. The first thing I remember is your command cutting through the fog of rage driving me. It helped me to think clearer for a while until I had carried out your command. I knew I had little time so as soon as I had deposited the Ringtails, I came here as fast as I could. The root of Babyl gives off immense healing powers and I thought it would help to shield me from the other presence I could suddenly hear within me. I was terrified of what I might do if I couldn’t control myself. I feel like I have been fighting for an eternity.”
“Other presence?” Alix asked. “I thought you had to be under the effects of another spell, so I used the Nullblade to nullify the effects. Who is it that dared to cast a spell on you?”
“Alix, I’m not the only demon that turned into their unbound form. Something ancient inside of me recognised what was happening. With the bond to the Darknight broken, the elected Demon Lord manifested his ancient powers, which according to the legends was the ability to command all demons. It was one of the reasons we were thought of as so animalistic. Only the cruellest and wildest demons ever became Demon Lords. All they desired was to fight, and none of the other demons had any ability to stop them or themselves from carrying out their will.”
“What did the Demon Lord try and tell you to do?” Alix asked.
“I don’t know. The roots of Babyl were able to protect me from the full influence, but it still took all my control not to listen. As soon as that sword touched me, the voice instantly cut off and I was myself again.”
Alix felt a comforting glow in the presence of the roots of Babyl, but suddenly Tifayn shivered in his arms and he remembered she was naked and in a pit deep underground. He lifted her up from the ground, his newfound muscles making it an easy task he would have found impossible only a few short weeks earlier, and made the way back down the spiral. He left the Nullblade where it was, thinking this had to be the safest place for it until he could return.
“So is the bond back now?” Alix asked Tifayn as he walked, Mr Bones following silently behind.
“It is,” she replied, and Alix thought he saw her blush but she hid her face behind her hair. “I realised something as well, something I was unable to say before. I realised my feeling for you are the same, with or without the bond, so you can stop worrying about trying to find a way to mask the effects, and just take me to bed already.”
It was Alix’s turn to blush then, but he still had some work to do. In a matter of moments they were back at the boat at the bottom of the shaft. Alix placed Tifayn carefully inside, and Mr Bones took over helping her steady herself while he performed his next task.
Once they were all securely seated, he opened his inventory and began selecting the copious amounts of Purified Water, and then withdrew a load of it at once so it burst through the shaft into the chamber beyond. He kept pumping the water out until the level reached the boat and it began to rise, and then emptied his inventory faster, only pausing to steer them away from a collision with the stairway. He could just imagine the water washing away all the filth that had built up, the drain finally unblocked after all these centuries.
The upper platform drew closer at a steady rate.
“Get ready to jump out with Tifayn,” Alix said to Mr Bones, unsure just how quickly the water was draining out down below.
It became obvious that it was draining pretty quickly, as Alix dumped out the last few units of water and the boat was a lot farther down the shaft than the he remembered. Mr Bones jumped out onto the stairs with Tifayn in his arms as soon as they reached the top unbroken piece of stairway. Alix had to make more of a step when it was his turn. He quickly turned and absorbed the boat into his inventory so as not to lose it down the shaft, then turned and followed Mr Bones back to their rooms and the comfortable bed calling to him there.
There were probably a dozen other things that needed his attention, but they could wait until tomorrow. He needed to rest after so many days on the road, and he was sure Tifayn needed the rest as well. He intended on offering her a Nightbringer Draught but as soon as Mr Bones lay her down on the bed, she curled up in the sheets and instantly fell asleep.
“Thanks for the help,” Alix said quietly to Mr Bones, “I’m going to rest for a bit as well. I trust you can handle things until tomorrow? I’d like to talk with the Gargoyles at some point, but I’m sure they already know their job better than I do.”
“I will take care of any issues that arise, my lord. The Gargoyles are an industrious bunch, I’m sure they are working on repairing their perches already.”
“Great. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, and then the real work can begin, now that all this mess is out of the way.”
Mr Bones bowed slightly and left him to it. Alix quickly undressed out of the road weary clothes, making a mental note to craft himself some new ones tomorrow, and climbed into bed. It felt like an eternity since he had slept peacefully beside Tifayn. He downed two Nightbringer Draught’s, not wanting to be disturbed for anything, and felt his whole body sigh with relief as the soothing darkness washed over him.