Demon's Winter: Part 8 - SSI/US Gold

......Eregore's followers attacked us and the fight was long and
hard but eventually we were victorious though none of us escaped
unscathed. Eregore stood at the north end of the room in front of
a large black mirror and a look of horror came over his face as
he realised we had triumphed. I led the way as we walked towards
him.

As we got closer we could feel evil emanating from the black
mirror but to the other side of Eregore I noticed a beautiful,
round, multi-faceted mirror which hung by a thread from the
ceiling. Eregore spoke. "You fools - you believe you are so
powerful. You have no idea what true power is. Malifon, my
master, is the supreme power ... you're lucky he let you live so
long."

"He cannot harm us as long as we hold the Demon Crystal of
Kalek-Zin," replied Izzy, in his usual calm voice.

Eregore looked questioningly at the mirror, then said, "Who is
this Kalek-Zin?" "He was the greatest of the White Knights, but,
alas, has been dead for centuries," responded Izzy.

Eregore looked even more worried and we realised he was but the
tool of a greater power. He looked to the mirror for more
guidance and said, "All the White Knights are dead. There is
no-one to stop me taking over Ymros. Malifon will help me take
power and make me ruler of these lands."

I was amazed when Fidget stepped forward and said, hesitantly,
"If he plans to help you, then why has he stolen the Shard of
Spring?"

"That's not true!" screamed Eregore, turning to the mirror. He
stared at it and asked "Do you have the Shard of Spring?" A
powerful voice spoke from the mirror and replied "Yes."

Eregore shook with fear like a child. "If you destroy the Shard,
a bitter winter will strike the land." Then he thought and added
"Of course, you will spare your loyal followers....." The voice
spoke firmly "Your purpose was to free me. Now you have done
that, I have no need of you." "Why?" asked Eregore. Malifon
replied, "My winter shall cleanse the land of mortal souls and
once again silence shall embrace the Wind and Gods shall walk the
Earth."

I almost (but not quite) felt sorry for Eregore as I saw his face
change as realisation dawned. Suddenly he saw what he had done and
how he had been used by Malifon. Taking a curved dagger, he calmly
killed himself before any of us could stop him.

Malifon's voice spoke once more:

"Your meddling has become a thorn in my side. Eregore died a
fool's death, your deaths shall be worse. For now I shall shatter
your precious Shard and my Winter shall begin. Do not believe
you have felt the last of my wrath, Your pain is my sustenance,
your blood my drink. I do not intend to starve."

We heard a shattering sound that shook the bowels of the earth.
The black mirror shattered but the faceted mirror remained
whole. Swiftly, Lone rushed forward and took it, then we left the
Temple.

Outside, a grim sight met our eyes. As predicted, the land was in
the grip of a bitter winter and all the towns were in ruins. We
were on our own. "We have to continue," said Izzy. "We've gone
too far to turn back now."

So we returned to our ship and sailed south, avoiding battles
with pirates, monsters and ghost ships now there was no way
we could get our ship repaired. Fairly quickly we came to the
island with Malifon's volcano and found the glyphs the Ancient
One had mentioned. Anchoring the ship off-shore, we walked to
the first glyph, each of us losing one hit point with each step.
Arriving at the glyph, we set up camp and Izzy cast the Uncurse
Spell. Lightning flashed and the glyph was gone. The land was
now safe to walk on in this section of the island so, once we
had rested and regained our strength, we carried out the same
procedure at the other two glyphs. Each spell cost Izzy 50 spell
points.

In a bay to the south of the large island, we found a smaller
one on which was the Dark Chapel. On the floor in the centre of
the building was a large, round circle of glass from which a
never-ending stream of blinding, yellow light poured out. Lone
held out the facet mirror over the circle of light. Powerful
beams of light burst off its facets, blinding us, while I felt my
head reel. We felt ourselves being sent back in time and when
everything eventually slowed down, we found ourselves in the Dark
Chapel as it had been ten thousand years ago. The shifting walls
had solidified into white stone and the Chapel was filled with
the spectral forms of grossly-disfigured men - haunting images
from the dawn of Man, their heads bowed in prayer.

At four alcoves round the edge of the Chapel were circular
carvings with runic inscriptions. One showed a lightning bolt,
one wind being sucked up into blackness, another the creation of
the universe and the fourth some kind of ghostly apparition.
Clarence translated the runes: "Power, Void, Divinity and
Spirit." Soon, we found their significance as a spectral priest
at the north end of the room chanted "Power, Divinity,
Spirit...." and paused. "Void" replied Izzy. Without warning, a
huge, blue fireball burst into the mountain, melting the rock and
opening a passage from which stale air flowed.

The passage led deep into the mountain, to a room with an ancient
stone staircase which was covered with runes and cracked by time.
A huge stone statue dominated the room but, as we entered, it came
to life - a guardian was attempting to stop us continuing. It
had reckoned without Izzy's column of fire spell. Luckily he had
enough spell points spare to blast the statue and, defeated, it
turned back to stone. Sulphurous mist flowed round our ankles as
we ascended the staircase to emerge in an icy waste at the top of
Malifon's volcano. Another pit led down to our left and we
descended yet again, this time into the heart of the volcano.

The Demon Crystal glowed violet as we explored the caverns. At
the far east end we fell down a shaft, even deeper into the
volcano and in this section we found a golden bridge spanning a
lake of fire. It was not unguarded but once the two dragons and
the demon commanding them had been destroyed (our hardest fight
yet) we crossed.

The crystal was glowing red as we entered a hall full of
purple mist.  The mist swayed as though it was alive and as I
looked into the mist, I saw faces of people we had known and
places we had seen on our travels. As we stepped into the mist,
we travelled through our memories - the tent at the Kobold Camp -
the octagon room - the old woman's hut - and the icy tundra of
the northlands by the ice dragon's cave. During all this time,
the crystal had glowed violet, red and orange but as Lone
stepped forward to enter the cave Fidget shouted "Stop! Look at
the Crystal!" and I saw it was glowing pure white.

Quickly, we set up camp just outside the cave and Izzy cast the
Imprison Spell. Light flashed and a resounding primaeval scream
was heard from the depths of the volcano. The walls shook and
began to crumble around us. As the Imprison Spell took effect,
the sounds of Malifon's agony were quickly stifled but the walls
of the mountain continued to shake.

Just as I felt the walls were about to collapse about us, a
strange combination of darkness and light surrounded us and the
Ancient One spoke: "You have done well. As long as the spell
holds, Malifon's evil is contained in the volcano. Many
adventurers set out to destroy the root of this evil. Many died
along the way and many gave up the quest when they could not find
the courage to continue. You alone have succeeded, time and again
... to destroy Xeres, acquire the Orb of Evertime, destroy
Malifon's High Temple and eventually imprison Malifon himself."

"Although Malifon's evil has been contained, the effects of his
evil are still being felt on Ymros. With the Shard gone, the land
still lies in Winter and though Malifon's Corruption is now
ended, many towns have been turned to ruins. Perhaps worst of
all, the Gods that the people of Ymros relied on for centuries
are dead and the people have lost hope."

"I do not say the work is yours for you have done more good that
the land can ever repay. For this reason, I can offer to reward
you by making you immortal and you shall rule by my side for the
rest of eternity."

I couldn't see my companions but I felt their agreement when I
said "We must decline. There is too much work to be done here on
Ymros".

"You are indeed noble," said the Ancient One. "If mortality is
your wish then it shall be granted. I will make sure the rest of
your lives are visited by good fortune and prosperity."

And so it was. Lone went back to the town of Woodhaven and was
instrumental in its reconstruction. After rebuilding the city, he
settled down there and lived to a ripe old age.

Clarence became the first in two millennia to take up the title of
High Priest of the Ancient One. With his accumulated wealth, he

built an enormous temple to The Ancients and spread word of the
new God.

Fidget heard in the tavern of untold wealth in lands to the north
and went in search of the fortune. He gathered a party and
explored many dungeons, eventually retiring in luxury.

Izzy went on a great quest for the Lifestone in order to build a
new Shard of Spring. While he did not live to see its completion,
the new Shard was named in honour of him and still protects
Ymros.

What happened to me? Well, that's another story!

                 *****   THE END   ****