Expedition to the Silver Mountain-12

The demon wanted whatever the chamber held, yet the fallen angel that previously occupied it denied that demon access to the chamber. I could not ponder this at the time, as I had to focus upon the ritual, but in retrospect it becomes clear what the situation actually was: the fallen angel sired the demon by way of the cult, likely using one of the many hapless prisoners as the vessel for its seed. We removed the angel, so the demon assumed that the way was clear; it assumed, so I speculate, that we would be gone also. It erred.

Eloc, Gar and Ray now felt the full fury of the demon, unable any further to break contact and regroup. Slowly they fought as good a fighting a retreat as they could, but without mercy the demon smashed away and one by one the men-at-arms and then Eloc’s bodyguard fell before its infernal might. They stabbed it, slashed it, cut it, threw debris at it, and all they did was slow it down. Its endurance let it shrug off wounds that felled the men fighting it, and its determination demonstrated why the savages worshipped it. Nonetheless, it had to die.

The three of them attempted to lead the demon on a circuitous route, knowing that they could not keep it away from the chamber entirely. They blocked off corridors, but it seemed to discern that the barriers were weak and bashed through them instead. They tried to incite the demon to chase them regardless of its desires, but it somehow sensed the chamber’s proximity and declined to do so. With no other options before them, they made their stand at the mouth of the final hallway before the chamber. Eloc, Gar and Ray stood ready to buy time by blood.

Eloc had been in such situations before. He knew that they need only hold until I completed the ritual. What he did not know was how close I was to doing just that, so he made as good a guess as he dare, and placed his trust in me to come to their rescue. This did not comfort Gar or Ray much at all, but they had no choice but to make the best of it. With the demon in sight, they met its charge and entered battle one last time- and as this was the end, no quarter allowed.

The demon, so close to its goal, went berserk and made an all-out attack against them, trusting to its supernatural prowess and endurance to finally smite its mortal enemies dead. The three of them ducked, blocked and moved as best they could in that corridor to avoid its massive club. But, one by one, each took a blow and could barely fight thereafter. When the demon felled Eloc, it moved to kill them all with one sweeping smashing swing. That did not happen.

I completed the ritual, and quickly I rushed to save them. One spell felled it. We survived.