I finally suggested a plan which worked nicely. I magically disguised myself as a cultist, and enchanted the mercenary to get us to the artifact as safely as possible. The priest removed the mercenary's shackles and attached them to the others. All of their weapons were placed into my magic backpack, though the samurai was hesitant, and even went so far as to threaten my life if I were to touch his sword. This does not bode well for his continuation with our group, though he was somewhat repentant when the Infiltrator told him threats were not necessary.
With this ruse, we approached the front gate. The mercenary and I were cultists, and the priest was our hired man-at-arms, while the rest were slaves to be delivered. It was not difficult to get past the guards, and down to the basement and sub-basement, though once there, we began to have problems.
The sub-basement was an huge cavern – not so large as the one under the kobold's tower, but that had been a natural cave, while this one was carved out as a room. On the right side of the room was a crystalline object on a pedestal, and a few levers and knobs that were being manipulated by a wizard and a cleric. Three of the draconic creatures that abounded in the castle were guarding the pair. In the center of the room was what looked like an enormous upside-down jar, full of wispy elements resembling human beings in incomparable agony. Hundreds of thin cords ran from the jar to a tunnel in the rear of the room. Also in the rear was a dragon – an undead dragon, according to the priest – who for now was doing nothing. On the left was an object that was perhaps the most dangerous of all – a giant window or portal into a far away location, which displayed an innumerable collection of tents; an army asleep before going to war.
The cleric told us to leave
I've had to find a new place to write, though it's far darker than my seat by the fire. There are too many people here. I look forward to getting rid of them.
The cleric told us to leave, and the priest stepped forward instead. That action triggered a battle which seemed to be hours in duration, though in fact it only took five or ten minutes. The draconic creatures, along with the priest and the wizard, attacked immediately, while the undead dragon let out a bellow loud enough to make my head ache for minutes. We knew that, before long, the entire force of the castle would be at our backs, so we acted quickly.
Not again. Everywhere I go, there is someone looking over my shoulder. Can I have no privacy? I'll have to summarize what could otherwise be a very useful account.
We managed to take out the wizard and cleric before they could cast any spells. One of my enchantments inflicted the cleric with an incurable laughter that all but immobilized her while we took care of the wizard and the guards. The undead dragon caused us more trouble, and by the time it was defeated, we could see the castle guard running down the stairs towards us. We could not hold them back for long, especially once a red dragon joined their ranks. The Empty Hand followed the cords to their end while we fought. At some point, the mercenary escaped. Well, he does not know who we are, and he has helped us a good deal. Of the enemies we have gained in the world of man, I think he will be the least.
Before we had to retreat to the far room, I destroyed the crystalline object with a wand designed just for such a purpose. I tried to destroy the jar and portal as well, hoping to cripple the Enemy as much as possible, but they were too large for the magic to affect them. While the guard ran in, the Empty Hand returned, exclaiming in shock that he'd seen hundreds of bodies in the other room, attached to the cords.
As we retreated, A figure appeared in the portal, and I have no doubt that this was our Enemy himself. We can only hope he did not recognize us for who we are. This was a disturbing event indeed. Unless I misunderstood our master, the Enemy should not have been able to see us. There was no time to think about this at the time – will these people ever leave me alone? Perhaps by that tree…
We retreated along the cords and saw what the Empty Hand had described. A round room, a hundred feet wide and a hundred high, was lined with bodies, level after level of them, each standing against a wall with six cords attached to his or her body, at the temples, the hands and the feet. These were the slaves that the cult had gathered to power the Enemy's artifact.
Before doing anything else, we blocked the passage. The priest reshaped the walls to seal it off, but could only cover two thirds of it. The samurai's servant created an illusory wall to cover the rest – it is a miracle that the guards tried to force their way through the priest's wall instead of the servant's.
The Infiltrator was the first to realize that these cords were connecting the bodies to their souls, and to cut the cords would probably be to kill the person. Instead, the priest tried to use the energy normally reserved for destroying the undead. This worked well, causing a hundred twenty of them to fall, depleted but alive. There was little hope for the remainder – there were seven hundred in total – as we would have difficulty escaping with as many weakened people as we had already freed. Still, a quarter was better than none. If our Enemy could recover from the physical damage we had caused, it would still take him time to capture a hundred more slaves, and any delay would be to our advantage.
While the priest freed prisoners and the winged woman carried them down, the Infiltrator and the Empty Hand searched for secret exits along the walls. At this point, that was our only hope, short of charging through the increasing force outside our artificial wall. Once again it was my own foolishness that nearly got us all killed. A minute or more had passed before I remembered that I had a magic scroll that could be used to find the exit in seconds.
Indeed there was an exit. The Infiltrator, the Empty Hand and I guarded the passage to the artifact's room, while the samurai led the prisoners through the door and the priest made sure they moved in an orderly fashion. I nervously tapped a scroll that would allow the three of us to escape if things went wrong. The deaths of the others would be unfortunate, but we three had to survive, or the fate of the world would be forfeit. It was fortunate that I did not have to use the scroll. I'm not certain that the Infiltrator or the Empty Hand would have gone along willingly, and had they evaded the effect, I alone might have survived.
The crowd was moving hardly at all, and the wall could be breached at any moment. The priest began to push through the crowd, hoping to help the samurai, but he could not move quickly. Finally frustrated at the delay, I cast a spell and flew over the heads of the prisoners, some of whom refused to get out of my way quickly enough, which slowed me down unnecessarily.
At the end of the passage, the samurai was standing indecisively behind a large rock. On the other side, oblivious to our presence, a long line of guards filed down the stairs. The secret passage opened into the basement, which was hardly an ideal place to be, so we had to wait as the remaining force passed us by. To our left, a bunch of undead skeletons were chained to the wall. Were it not for them, we surely would have been heard. It is difficult to keep a hundred twenty prisoners quiet.
Finally, the room was empty but for the skeletons, ourselves and a single woman who stood as sentry. We caught her by surprise, myself enveloping her in magical fire from above, and the samurai shooting her with an arrow, and she was dead before she could cry for help. Then the line finally started to move. When I flew back into the cave to help the others, the samurai was sending scouts down the various tunnels that led from the room.
Besides a minor skirmish or two, our escape went smoothly. I cast a spell to hold the secret door shut after the last of us passed through, and one of the samurai's scouts found a long tunnel that led to a temple in the city. As the last of the prisoners left, the winged woman held back, pointlessly attacking the chained skeletons, until we told her to come along.
The temple was infused with the familiar power which drew away all my magical ability, made my backpack impossible to open and hindered my reflexes by disabling my magic gloves. This was almost unbearably uncomfortable, but we had to organize ourselves before leaving. The Infiltrator and the Empty Hand scouted the area, and found that we could escape through the nearby forest. They also noticed that the purple vortex was gone from the sky, indicating that the artifact was inactive. This was a good sign, but not totally reassuring.
The guards were almost certainly following us by then, and I suggested we leave. At the samurai's request, I relinquished my staff, giving it to one of the stronger-looking prisoners, while others gave their own weapons away, and twenty prisoners were placed under the command of each of us. We would need as many able people and as much organization as possible in the dangerous forest. Here they are again, some of my group. Those twenty under my command have been the most irritating of the bunch, and ask no end of questions, most of which I ignore. I can hardly be expected to write my thoughts with people following me wherever I go.