//------------------------------// // Baldur's Redux: Fire and Brimstone // Story: Dark Alliance: A Kirin's Tale // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// "With three of the four Elemental Foundations claimed, it now falls to you to claim the Fire Foundation so we can teleport into the Plane of Shadow to claim the Onyx Tower." Jherek said, giving them one last reminder as he handed Rain the last of the artifacts they had recovered previously, the Brazier of Eternal Flame, because if they fell it would deliver the Tower right into the hands of their enemies, even though he suspected the group would succeed. "If Rain is correct, we'll need to beat Aizagora to claim it." Dorn remarked, which he suspected was the truth, a dragon of her skill would be the ideal Guardian for the last Elemental Foundation, in fact he had a feeling that the Plane itself would give her an advantage over them, but he had faith in their abilities. Rain said nothing as she readied herself, where Omduil weaved his magic over them and teleported them to what looked like a massive cavern that had blackened ground and walls, though there were also pools of lava that everyone had to avoid as they found that the ceiling was high above them. This confirmed that Aizagora would have the advantage, as she was sure that the area that the Fire Foundation was resting in would mimic what they were seeing right now, but she had a surprise in store for the beast when they finally found her. Once everyone got used to the fact that they were in another Plane, this one full of fire and giving off some foul smells, potentially toxic, where Rain knew they were fortunate for Omduil's magic since it was protecting them from the worst that the Plane had to offer, they turned to her and she started to head out. This was a benefit she wasn't expecting to discover, that she seemed to have some sort of connection of the Foundations, no doubt due to the fact that she carried the onyx blade as her weapon, one forged in the Tower itself, so like called to like. Not a few moments later they found that the first foe of this Plane was none other than bats that were on constant fire, no doubt an elemental creature based on what Rain had seen so far, before the second type, a fire giant made of fire and stone, attacked them as well. Rain was pleased with this change of events as her friends attacked their enemies, as it was totally different from having to fight one foe and then discovering the second later on, not to mention the fact that the fire giants were tougher than the elementals they had fought in the previous Planes. Of course her friends ended up winning, though this time around it did take them slightly longer to bring their opponents down, even with their newfound power and skills, but they were fine with that as they continued to follow Rain as she carefully navigated the cavern and searched for the area that held the Fire Foundation. Another thing that they discovered was that they had to avoid the flaming rocks that came out of the pools of lava, an environmental hazard like what had been seen in the last three Planes, but it was easy to avoid the flaming rocks as Rain carefully moved along the edges of the path. There were also sections of the path that passed by cave-ins, either Aizagora having rearranged the terrain to give herself more preparation time or it being due to the areas in question being on the outskirts of the Foundation's domain, but Rain and her friends continued to move forward, keeping an eye out for additional dangers. Borador did find areas that held a few treasure chests, a difference from the Planes they had been in previously, causing them to realize that the chests had to be part of the dragon's vast hoard, causing the dwarf to smile as he looted each chest that happened to be along the path they were following. Rain suspected that this was a bad move on Aizagora's part, bringing part of her hoard here, to a Plane her enemies would be visiting at some point, but she wasn't about to argue the point with the others, as they were fine with the additional treasure, allowing her to focus on the path and the enemies that were waiting for them. She did have to take a moment to wonder if they'd find some sort of massive fire elemental with wings or something, but found that no such beast came out to fight them, though they did, eventually, discover some Zhentarim guards that fell in seconds, meaning they had to be close to the last Elemental Foundation. A few moments later their thoughts were proven correct as they entered a large section of the cavern that held the obelisk that was the Fire Foundation, along with Aizagora in her dragon form, meaning she must have been using her time to get ready for when her foes arrived. "Your fortunes end here, Rain Shine, as this place with be the tomb of you and your companions!" Aizagora stated, where she opened her wings and showed them that she was going to burn them to ash, based on the flames that were building in her throat at the moment. "We'll see about that, Aizagora, because I've gotten a few power boosts since our last meeting." Rain replied, something that was followed by her sheathing her blade as her body changed before the dragon's eyes, where she took on the form she gained from the kuo-tao before rushing towards the beast that was in front of her. Aizagora froze for a moment as the rest of the magic washed over Rain, allowing her to take on a form that was identical to a fully grown dragon, in fact it stunned her for more than she was willing to admit as Rain's claws reached her neck and slashed through some of her scales like they were nothing. As she took to the air Aizagora gathered her flames and let out a torrent of flames down on the Pretender, fully intending on bathing Rain in fire and blocking her view before raining a lot of meteors down on where she was standing. Rain, on the other hand, did the same thing and turned her head towards the ceiling as she loosed a burst of white flames up into the air, causing the two attacks to collide in the space above them while the others stood near the Fire Foundation, which protected them from harm. It came as a surprise to Aizagora as her flames were pushed back into her face, blasting her out of the air as she realized that something had happened to her foe, allowing the 'False Dragon', as she had called her, to become a very real one, channeling her insane skills into power that was allowing her to overcome her powerful flames. Rain's friends, however, understood what they were seeing, as the kuo-tao had empowered her far more than any of them had realized back when it happened, rather the insane individuals had actually given Rain the power to turn into a dragon, and right now she was utilizing her new power to the fullest. Rain switched up her magical power as she opened her mouth and loosed a burst of white lightning into the air, blasting the red dragon backwards as she tried to come to terms with what she was seeing, though as that happened she pushed herself into the air and chased her foe before she decided to flee. Aizagora realized that things were going to go south if she let Rain do whatever she wanted to turned down to face her foe as well, allowing the two to clash in the middle of the air as they lashed out with their claws and tails as each sought to find an opening to use their teeth. Such a thing allowed the others to see that there was a slight size difference between the two, as Aizagora was definitely larger than Rain, but such a thing allowed Rain to avoid some of the more damaging attacks as she used her speed to deal some blows to the larger dragon. Ysuran discovered what was going on not a few moments later as Rain shrunk a little more and seemed to get another speed boost, she was using her magic to shrink her form and was transferring that into speed, likely some sort of illusion spell that was messing with Aizagora's mind, since she seemed to be having trouble right now. The other thing he noted was the most staggering fact, that Rain's talons and spine spikes looked like they were made out of the very material that her onyx blade was made out of, which explained by she was able to cut through Aizagora's own scales like they were nothing, and he even noticed that her teeth were blackened as well. Rain outmaneuvered the meteors that Aizagora tried to drop on her head, noticing that her foe seemed to have a select set of skills that weren't useful against another dragon, especially not one like her for that matter, before slashing at her foe's neck and found that her attack was successful. There were several gashes on the red dragon's neck as she roared in pain for a moment, showing everyone that she had been hit as she started to stagger towards the ground, prompting Rain to strike the other dragon in the back with the edge of her tail, the end bladed as she found out. Aizagora struck the wall to the left of the opening that allowed Rain and her friends to enter this area, though it wasn't long before Rain blasted her with her white lightning attack again, weakening the red dragon's defenses even more as time went by. Once she was done with the attack Aizagora put up one last resistance as she pushed herself back into the air and rushed at Rain, who avoided whatever was coming her way and chomped down on the red dragon's neck, allowing her to tear a chunk out not a few seconds later. The result of that was that Aizagora crashed into the ground near the Foundation and stared up at Rain, who landed near where she fell, causing the red dragon to weakly chuckle before letting out what seemed to be a sigh as she bled out, as if she gave up in the face of Rain's might, who roared before reverting to her normal form. "...wow... that was epic!" Dora remarked, as he had wondered how they were going to fight a red dragon, given that this one had tried to kill them the last time she saw them, but now he knew and he was, once again, grateful to have Rain on their side, as the mere thought of fighting her filled him with dread. "Indeed, and the last Foundation is now ours." Rain said, where she pulled out the Brazier of Eternal Flame and activated the obelisk that was in front of them, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief as they returned to Omduil's manor and turned to face Jherek, who smiled as he realized that they had succeeded. As Jherek opened his mouth to say something, no doubt to congratulate them before they moved into the next stage of their plan to deal with the Onyx Tower, they were interrupted as an unexpected arrival entered the manor, Kharne to be exact, who held up his hands to show them that he only wanted to talk. "I know what you are thinking, old man: yes, the Zhentarim have lost the Tower... but so, too, have the Harpers, despite all of your plans." Kharne stated, something that immediately caused Rain to beckon for everyone to back off, because if he was speaking truthfully it meant there was another force in motion that had been waiting for this very moment and they had played right into their hands, while also allowing Kharne to lower his hands, "I recently discovered that the vampire lord Mordoc SeLanmere holds the only known Onyx Gate that isn't under your direct observation, one that leads right into the Tower itself... it is he who controls the Tower, now that Rain Shine and her companions have done the hard work by reactivating the Elemental Foundations." "Mordoc? Truly?" Jherek inquired, all while Omduil freaked out, mentioning that the figure in question was the 'Pale Knight' and the 'White Prince', meaning he was a big deal and that they should be very worried by the news that he had gained possession of the Onyx Tower, while his remark caused Kharne to nod his head, "He hasn't stirred for nearly a century... why now? What in the world could he be up to?" "The Zhentarim and I have no idea, but we agree that disaster looms over all of Toril if he commands the power of the Onyx Tower." Kharne said, where he glanced at Rain for a moment and she understood what he would say soon, that all of them should band together to deal with Mordoc, before it was too late, while the victor could claim the Tower once the dust had finally settled, of at least that was if her thoughts were right on the matter, "Darkhold already sent troops to deal with him, while you were busy dealing with the Guardians of the Elemental Foundations, but they were slain by the foul undead guarding his keep. I can help you get passed the magic keeping it well hidden, but we'll have to fight the undead, and whatever is inside the structure itself, before we get to him... and Rain, I have it on good authority that your friends, the first adventurers you traveled with, are being held by him as well." Rain was more than willing to fight Mordoc on the principle of stopping him from using the Onyx Tower, but hearing that he had her friends was just an added bonus for her as it spurred her into helping the others get ready to depart on the last leg of their adventure, all while hoping that they would emerge victorious once it was over.