22 - Into Darkness
As they hurried, they began to hear something. There was fighting up ahead, judging from the noises of metal striking metal and the shouts that came with them.
They emerged to see the Queen below on a different platform. She had two guards with her that both looked bloodied and torn and they were facing a worryingly large gathering of pale blue humanoids with bulging eyes and unkind expressions. One of them lunged at a guard to have his hooked club turned aside, but that just opened the way for another to bring down his weapon into the guard, forcing a grunt of pain from the stallion.
Twilight moved to hurry forward, but her way was blocked with a pile of rocks. The passage appeared to be collapsed, with the only way forward being a forty foot drop to where the Queen and her guards battled.
Iliana tossed her head and fire exploded violently in a large sphere that put Sunset's little blasts to shame. "Let us pass," she demanded sternly, but those that weathered the blast seemed ready to fight and were pressing in against them with the advantage of numbers.
True set up his bow near the edge and began faithfully raining arrows down at the humanoids, the distance mattering little to him so long as the queen and her guards put off the light they did.
Roll looked around quickly for a way down, but there appeared to be none save jumping or digging through the rubble. Neither were particularly favorable options. "Tell me one of you can fly."
Morning pointed down. "On the count of three, jump." Her idea seemed mad, and Sunset raised a brow in quiet objection, but she counted anyway. On the calling of three, she leaped forward, Roll immediately behind and Sunset half-toppling afterwards as she hesitated. Morning sang a song of freedom and they were set free, of gravity, at least a little. They floated gently but quickly to the lower platform.
Twilight was left out. She scurried back to True's side and saw him busily firing on the enemies, but what could she do? She gathered her energy with a roaring rush of frost and chill before trying to reach one of those approaching the guards. To her surprise, it did reach, hitting her unprepared target and knocking him off-balance long enough for the guard to cut him down.
Roll stormed forward as Morning sang of brighter days and the warmth of the sun turning back all darkness. She deployed her hoof claws and slammed one into one of the blue-skinned foes as Sunset sent flames licking in the direction of another.
The advantage of numbers no longer seemed as absolute. The creatures showed their true resolve in battle by breaking ranks and retreating into the darkness rather than face the sudden reinforcements.
One of the guards tipped dangerously to the side, then collapsed, bleeding and unconscious.
Morning closed distance with him swiftly. "He was dying on his hooves and fighting anyway." She ripped off a strip of her clothes and staunched the bleeding as best she could.
Sunset tilted her head faintly. "Why don't you heal him?"
"We need to get our friends down." Morning pointed up to Twilight and True in the gloomy light. "I'm running out of magic."
Iliana approached her saviors on uncertain hooves as the other guard moved to place himself between the queen and the new guests. "I did not expect anyone, but it is difficult to say your timing is poor." She glanced towards the entrance far above. "I would advise you to go home, but I suppose that is not practical." She drew a soft breath. "It seems you will be working for me, but not in the service we agreed on. Rolling Precision, Morning Song, will you accompany me?"
Sunset blinked, and Iliana seemed to pick her out. "I'm not excluding you, good spellcaster. I do not know you yet. Retrieve your allies, if you will not have them turn around."
Morning sung the song that prevented Twilight and True from becoming pancakes and soon they landed beside the others.
Twilight bounced towards Queen Iliana and dipped her head. "A pleasure to meet you. We've come to make sure you're alright."
"I'm fine, perhaps in part thanks to your arrival. These tunnels were safe when last we visited them, but that has ceased to be the case." Queen Iliana turned forward. "We need to get through. It seems someone, or someones, is quite set on my not doing so.
The remaining guard marched to the entryway to the next tunnel and peeked inside. "The way is clear. We should go."
Iliana glanced to her fallen guard and marched past him.
Twilight looked as well. "Aren't we going to take him?"
"Will you force that decision on me?" The queen turned to face Twilight. "We don't have a way to carry him that won't slow us down and lead to us all being slain. He didn't fight as he did so we could fail now."
Twilight would not have it. It wasn't that the Queen was wrong. They had no way to transport the pony and his gear, but something had to be done.
"Do you love him?" asked the voice in her head.
"The same way I'd love any living person," Twilight replied as she watched the others move to depart.
"Then trust in your power. Cold may seem distant, but winter can help life start anew. Cut off his injuries, let his body recover. He will shiver in the cold, but he will live."
She had little choice in her mind but to try. She gently gathered her coldness and sent it running through the fallen form of the guard. She stemmed the worst of the bleeding and isolated the most traumatized wounds. He jerked and started, but he was alive, and responding.
"What?" he asked weakly as he sat up, then stood up slowly, clearly still groggy for the experience. "Where is the queen?"
Twilight pointed ahead. "We're with her now. You're alive, but barely, so let us take care of things, alright?"
He dipped his head towards Twilight. "You have saved me from dying so far away from the warmth of the sun, and you have my thanks, but I could not live with myself allowing the queen to come to danger." He shook out his legs one at a time. "I feel better now, at least able to fight. I will perform my duty and I will do so without regret."
Twilight was certain some of it was bravado. She didn't argue though, instead she let her chill run through the guard one more time, giving him some buffer between life and death. "Please, be careful." She would be sad if he met an end after being saved. "She's not alone."
"She has loyal people at her side, myself included." He nodded once more than trotted forward into the darkness to join his queen.
When they reached the others, the Queen smiled to see her guard whole, if injured. "What are these blue lines? It's as if you've been... How?" She raised a brow at the curious wounds even as she marched forward.
Twilight accepted the blame. "I did that. He's a little, uh, frost burned, but he'll get better from that and his real injuries are handled."
The other guard approached Twilight. "I would submit myself to your healing, as rough as it is. We need to be as whole as we can be."
"Are you sure?" Saving a dying stallion was one thing, to do so for one still standing felt odd.
"Better your healing than the swords or claws of an enemy, and your healing means I will take another one or two of the other. We must endure the hardships to see the Queen delivered safely."
Twilight focused on the chill, making the guard shiver softly as he gained blue lines of his own, but the worst of his slices and bruises went away, banished by the cold power. "Please, be careful."
Morning whistled with soft appreciation. "It's good to know my meager talents will not work alone to keep this group intact."
Iliana nodded. "Stay towards the back, we may have call for your services again before this journey is through."
Sunset came in from the side of the Queen. "Speaking of through, where are we trying to get to?"
"A safe place." The queen frowned. "Or it should have been. My doubts rise with every step. This is a very pointed attack, trying to get to me."
"We won't let anyone harm you, Your Majesty," promised a guard.
She shook her head. "But who will protect you?"
"You will, of course." Turning around the next stoney corner came a figure that looked dessicated and worn, but radiated a power most unsettling. "Surrender yourself and your guards and sycophants walk freely. Do not, and you all die together in this grave we've arranged for you."
The Queen scowled even as guards moved to protect her. "Who are you, and who do you work for?"
"The time of ponies is finite, as all things on the surface are destined to be. The underground has more staying power, and we tire of your pathetic existence." He threw a hand to the side, knocking one guard into the other and sending both to the ground. "We will outlast you, one way or the other."
Roll jumped over the fallen form of the guards as she charged the gaunt figure, only for him to raise gnarled fingers and force her to float in the air, powerless to advance.
The Queen scowled before she lowered her horn and a thin ray of fire surged forward, lighting the underground bipedal figure on fire in a moment of brilliance. He hissed in pain and Roll fell to the ground. Freed of the telekinetic grip, Roll swung her pick powerfully, but he dodged aside and lashed out at her with his crooked fingers, striking with sufficient force to knock bits of metal to the floor in a spray of sparks.
The guards recovered from their unexpected trip and hurried to their hooves to charge into the fray with the melody of Morning to guide them on, singing of the defeat of the darkness and the stirring of noble hearts. Seeing he was badly outnumbered, the foe as the other creatures of shadow had done and retreated. He took a single step back with his hands shaking and suddenly vanished.
"Dimension door," announced Illiana. "He didn't go far, but far enough. He won't be alone when we run into him again." She advanced to the others. "Maybe I--"
One of the guards wheeled on Iliana. "Do not finish that thought, Your Majesty. Your surrender would only embolden them, and they will hold no bargains made. You would only sentence us to a miserable death."
Sunset nodded in agreement with the guard. "I have no idea what we're doing, but that guy didn't exactly strike me as trustworthy material, and few people that offer those terms are."
"You are correct." Iliana took a slow step forward. "They are feeling out our strengths and weaknesses. Expect an anti-magic field. We will be far more hampered than they ever will be." She glanced over her shoulders at the others. "I would not hold it against any of you if you began making your way back for the castle."
They didn't turn back.
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handled? or "dealt with" might be a better choice.
7359873 I confess both sound about the same to me.
Ah, kinetic healing. An invaluable aid to any party. (Also, it seems Twilight leveled up without noticing.)
In less crunchy terms, this is certainly an interesting development. Still, the forces of darkness are coming across a lot of bluster without much to back it up. Still, an antimagic field will certainly trip up the group. This could get a lot worse in a hurry.
Also, it's really unclear what precisely that figure is. Anything can look desiccated and worn. I wasn't even sure if he had limbs until he started moving them.
Still, looking forward to more. For now, time to bring some typos to light:
Them, since the antecedent seems to be "noises."
Missing quotation mark after this sentence.
This is emblematic of a larger problem of pronoun inconsistency. You use "it" and "he/his" interchangeably with this thing. Please pick one.
7359935 The typos did not appreciate the daylight spell and are filing charges of assault.
Gaining a level doesn't come with a nice little jingle of music and flash of light we've come to expect. The Internet has lied to me again!
7359895
Er... you misspelled handled. Missed the l.
7359962 Oops, fixed!
Might not be Sun underground, but you can get th next best thing.
Magma.
Ah, anti Magic fields. Just what cold iron, and lamp oil is for, but how will roll be affected, being a magical clockwork being? It would also take care of Tatoo Familiars and other magically enabled, enhanced beasts, unless awakening or other raw intelligence feat been used?
Was that guy a Lich or something? Im trying to remember what Level Dimention door is.
Feather Fall, so very, very useful. Ideal for falling without use of wings.
7360106 The terrors truly never end.
I like this story and I've noticed that it revolves around typos.
7360267 The typos run all our lives.
7360054 Handy dandy reference!. A wizard could cast dimension door as early as 7th level; no other Pathfinder class gets it earlier unless I've missed some shenanigans. A lich must be at least 11th level, and so could easily cast dimension door (or, for that matter, telekinesis, which the mysterious figure seems to have used on the charging Roll) if it wanted.
Interesting to note that the figure has "fingers." Ordinarily I might dismiss that as an oversight, but the word appears twice in connection to the figure, as does "hand." On top of that, Mr. Silver has a habit in his stories and sourcebooks of harping on how different hands are from hooves.
Don't worry about Roll. Antimagic field "has no effect on golems and other constructs that are imbued with magic during their creation process and are thereafter self-supporting (unless they have been summoned, in which case they are treated like any other summoned creatures)."
7359935 Still waiting for Sunset to level in that case, she has cast about 2-3 different spells, but hasn't seemed to do much else besides snark.
ahead, judging from
pass
This sentence has a lot of "surprise" in it. How about: "To her surprise, it did reach, hitting her unprepared target and knocking him off-balance long enough for the guard to cut him down."
pancakes
asked (not the same in this case)
guards
the foe...had done
This is getting quite exiting. You rarely get to see a queen that does stuff.
7361219 Typos banished from the queen's presence. She is a sorcerer of some skill and a driven personality. She will not sit back as her people die around her while other options remain open.
7361312 I'm very interested to see how you handle this. Iliana is obviously much higher in level than her allies, which in a game would mean she has more hitpoints. But in a story it will come off as weird if the sorceress is shrugging off deadly wounds just because she has more practice throwing fireballs. On the other hand, it would make her more relatable and likeable if she wades in and puts her own life on the line to protect her friends (or recent acquaintances). If the fight is hard, I think she should get hurt, but maybe I'm just mean.
That's fine. *attaches an alchemical flamethrower to Roll* I've got an alchemical fire weapon. Very effective in tight tunnels.