After everyone was rested and healed, the team voted on which tunnel to take. This was the first time they encountered a fork that opened up into different corridors. Unless they missed some secret doors, Jeze thought to herself.
"Can you determine which direction they came from before they made camp here?" Dunar asked Jeze. He was referring to the deceased team.
The Scout nodded and studied the floor for tracks. There were many bloodied footprints that came and went. It appeared as if the two adventurers that went mad had roamed back and forth between the two tunnels. It was strange that they did not wander down the third exit, which led to the tunnels from which Jeze and her team came.
Jeze pondered this when Ziplocke explained, "They were waiting to ambush you."
"The Imps knew we were coming?" She asked.
"I would bet on it!" The Goblin squealed with a clap of his hands.
"How can we be certain they are not watching us now?" Jeze wondered as she looked ahead with suspicion into the deepening darkness of the passageway.
"They can be!" Ziplcoke snickered with delight.
Jeze returned to the Proven and explained that it was her best guess that the deceased team came from the left tunnel.
"Before their demise!" Ziplocke added.
Mikal shook his head.
"We are to assume where they came from was not where we want to go, no?" Helga asked.
"Aye, they would not walk away from the portal that would have taken them to the next level," Dunar agreed.
Rolfe removed his helm to scratch his blonde hair. "We know the portal is not from where we came from nor from where they arrived from. So we take this last one?" He pointed down the right corridor.
"Very good, Rolfe!" Mikal exclaimed.
"I think you are mocking me," the large Protector growled.
"Ya!" Helga said with a boastful laugh.
Jeze was impressed with how quickly the team recovered from having their minds tampered with. She was also eager to move on and realized what Irvin meant was that only a few people have what it takes to be an adventurer. Jeze reflected on how her parents made the decision to settle and live a calmer life. That was not for her. She was hungry for more adventure.
"Is it agreed?" Dunar asked and motioned to the opening on their right.
The others nodded, and Ziplocke shrieked, "Very good! That was the one the Imp escaped through. We will be walking into an ambush!" He hopped around with glee.
"That Demon is not right in the head," Mikal muttered.
Ziplocke hissed at the Healer.
"Form up!" Dunar barked.
Jeze took the lead to scout ahead as the others marched close behind her in formation. She studied the ground for traps and the darkness ahead for ambushes. They traveled down corridors made from shaped stone until Jeze heard the fluttering sounds of the Imp's wings echo off the walls. Was this a trick? Jeze wondered and paused to center her Will. Dunar ordered the others to do the same. Helga and Rolfe grumbled but complied. Mikal took them through the breathing exercises that helped them focus their minds.
"Wait here," Jeze said to the team as she snuffed out the light from her Globe.
Ahead, in the distance, they saw a faint reddish light that came from a rectangular chamber. Jeze tapped into her Darkness ring and wrapped shadows around her and faded from view. She crept forward. The corridor opened into a long chamber, this one much larger than the one they just fought in.
Along the walls were torches that flickered with red flame, giving the room a sinister feeling. Jeze studied the numerous shadows that gathered and danced with the flames' light along the walls and corners. Across from Jeze, there were three exits evenly spaced out from each other and a fourth along the far left wall. The right wall had none and was lined with torches. Other than that, the room appeared empty. But Jeze knew otherwise, and she focused her attention and awareness within the room. She listened and watched.
Jeze heard noises coming from the openings across from her. She cocked her head to listen as the sounds grew louder. No, not louder, closer! Jeze realized. What she heard were frantic running footsteps that were followed by howls of madness that were running toward her! Jeze turned and ran toward her team just as the first hunched-over forms erupted into the chamber.
"Prepare yourselves!" Jeze cried as she sprinted down the hallway.
Without hesitation, the Proven moved into action. They opened up ranks to allow Jeze to pass through before closing up. Dunar and Rolfe equipped their shields to form a shield wall. Helga was beside them and readied her Dane axe. Mikal placed magical glowing light rods along the walls to give the team illumination for the pending battle. Jeze slid into place next to him and she retrieved her Fire aspect channeling tool to Summon, Shape, and Control Fire to launch down the hallway at their screaming attackers.
The flaming darts illuminated the hallway as they zipped down to strike the rushing horde of attackers. What the Proven saw surprised them. Their enemies were twisted people with gray skin, drooling mouths, and armed with weapons that were just as distorted as they were. They waved swords with jagged edges and warped axes and clubs lined with vicious spikes. Jeze realized the two mad adventurers they had fought earlier were in the early stages of their madness. What she saw before her were people who lived years with the condition. Their bodies were thin and twisted with their affliction. But how? Jeze wondered did they live this way? Where did they come from?
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"Focus!" Ziplocke hissed and added, "Knucklehead."
"What are they?" Jeze asked.
"Thralls. Mortals afflicted with Madness. They are slaves and serve as fodder to the armies of the Abyssal plane," Ziplocke answered.
"These are the poor adventurers taken from the previous Spires," Mikal observed.
"So sad!" Helga exclaimed.
"We will put them to rest," Rolfe promised.
Jeze continued her fire bombardment and whittled the attackers down as they made their mad dash across the hallway.
"Mikal, narrow the sides so that they do not surround us," Dunar ordered.
For the moment, Jeze's Fire attacks splashed into the surging Thralls and slowed them down, but the numbers were too great, and she was not able to stop every one of them. The hallway was wide enough for the Thralls to engulf and surround the team. The Healer tapped his Water aspect, channeling wristguard, and Summoned moisture as Jeze launched Fire beside him. Mikal weaved and Controlled the water to ring the walls, floor, and ceiling. When the mad warriors rushed forward in a screaming tide, Mikal completed the final gestures and Shaped the water into jagged spikes of ice. Some Thralls were impaled by ice, and others were frozen in place. Before the screaming horde threatened to push through the ice blockade, Dunar, Rolfe, and Helga rushed forward and attacked.
The Thralls slammed their warped weapons onto the shields as Rolfe and Dunar stabbed with their swords. Helga tapped Rolfe's shoulder, and the large Protector stepped back to allow the warrior maiden to deliver a powerful slice of her axe. Helga created a swath of death before she retreated behind the shield wall. Jeze Summoned and Shaped Earth into stone walls to further impede their insane attackers. Mikal healed the numerous cuts and scratches his teammates received from the Thralls, and the team fought like this until the bodies of their enemies filled the corridor.
The Proven defeated the first wave of Thralls, but they could hear more cries coming from down the hallway. Jeze began to hear whispers. Helga started to stare off into the space with a glaze over her eyes, and Rolfe twitched and scratched.
"Jeze, block off the hallway!" Dunar barked.
The Scout Summoned and Shaped the Earth aspect to form a wall that sealed the area in front of them. This blocked off the line of sight from the Imps at the end and ended the Affliction spell that was on them.
"The wall will not hold long," Jeze said.
Dunar nodded and already they heard the Thralls slamming into the Summoned wall. The team caught their breath as Dunar studied the situation they were in.
"These are much easier to kill than the two we fought earlier," Helga observed.
"The poor souls were malnourished from a life of slavery and madness," Mikal said quietly.
"Do we keep fighting? I can do this all day," Rolfe boasted. The giant Protector thumped his shield.
Dunar gripped Rolfe's shoulder and replied, "I know that. I'm not concerned about the fighting. I'm concerned about the Imps' foul magic."
Jeze's Summoned wall began to chip and crack. "We haven't much time," she observed.
Dunar was thinking out loud, "The Imps need to see us for their magic to take effect. Come with me."
The Leader led the group back into the circular chamber and picked a spot that was off to the side. "The Imps cant see us if we fight here," Dunar observed.
"We will be surrounded!" Mikal cried.
"Good! A chance for me to let loose," Helga stated as she hefted and swung her axe in a slow circle around her head.
"Yes! You will now see what I am capable of!" Rolfe roared as he thumped his sword against his shield.
Dunar replaced his shield with his axe, as their goal was to fight offensively. The Leader turned to Jeze, "You will hide and wait until the Imps enter the room. Demon, you will assist us by revealing them so that Jeze can kill them."
"I merely serve as a consultant," Ziplocke replied with his chin up in the air.
"I think I can spot them," Jeze said.
The Goblin knew that would be hard for her and with his ears back against his head he added, "For a full jar of a paste, I will aide you."
"Shameless!" Mikal snapped.
"We must hurry," Helga stated as a big chunk of Jeze's Summoned wall crumbled off.
The screams from the Thralls grew louder. Any moment now and the chamber will be flooded with mad attackers.
In a hurry, Jeze responded, "Deal."
"Fool!" The Goblin snickered. The young girl didn't bother to negotiate.
"Proven! Prepare for battle!" Dunar roared.
"For Glory!" Helga shouted.
"Hurrah!" The others cried before getting into position.
Jeze Summoned and wrapped Shadows around her to hide. In addition, she prepared Summoned Mounds of Earth in the room so that she would have different options for attack angles. The Proven placed themselves off the side of the entrance, and Mikal readied Summoned Water along the floors, which was to be Shaped into Ice to freeze the pending rush of Thralls.
The Thralls broke free, and with howls of crazed laughter, they charged down the hallway. A mere moment later, they erupted into the room like a tidal wave and immediately swarmed the Proven. It was pure chaos, but the Frostsworn fought with brutal skill. Helga and Rolfe were not lying, and the two giant warriors let loose to create a swath of carnage in the likes that Jeze had never seen before. Dunar weaved about and swung his axe and sword. Each blow delivered death.
The three warriors formed a semi-circle around Mikal with the curved wall of the circular chamber to their backs. The Healer Shaped Ice to freeze groups of Thralls, and he tapped into the Life aspect to heal the numerous gashes and cuts his teammates received from the mad Thralls. Jeze hungered to join them, but like a hunting Wolf, she waited in the shadows. She had an important role because if the Imps were allowed to let loose their Affliction spells, then the Proven would be in dire trouble. So Jeze waited with her body wrapped in Summoned shadows.
The fighting raged on as Thralls continued to flood into the chamber to die in piles before the mighty Proven. Jeze waited, observed, and hunted. She vowed that she would not fail her team and she would kill the Imps when they appeared.
Something odd happened. Helga stumbled and took a hard blow from a wicked spiked mace. Rolfe was delayed in his response, and Dunar barked orders as he tried to keep the team together. Jeze recognized the symptoms of the madness Affliction! With narrowed eyes and determination, she scanned the shadows of the room through the throng of Thralls.
"Ziplocke!" She dared to hiss.
"A moment more. We will get them all," the Goblin responded with a snicker.
Can she spare a moment? Jeze wondered as she watched her team slowly get overwhelmed. Their fighting ability was hampered by the madness creeping into their minds. Rolfe not only attacked the Thralls, but he also swung at imaginary foes. Helga glanced at the walls every now and then, and Dunar's was distracted. Mikal did his best to remain calm, but the situation was turning dire by the moment. She had to do something!
"There!" Ziplocke squealed. The Goblin materialized and weaved his tiny hands. Shadows parted to reveal the two bloated forms of the Imps with their oversized heads and glowing eyes. Jeze reacted immediately before the Demons could escape. She struck them down with a hail of Stonefists. Their magic broken, the Proven resumed fighting with top efficiency. Jeze howled and joined them with her axe and long knife.