by Eric Schetley, with additional input from Richard J. Pugh
[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
The Eternal Wanderer hovered in place above the island where, up to a short while ago, their captain Onestar had been. He traveled to this remote island on Krynn's great Northern sea to fight a battle with the man known as Scillabba, someone from the samurai's past.
Hall-ee-mor Dargess and his wife, Belieth, stood in the very center of the island where Onestar was last seen. They tracked the samurai down by modifying the planetary locator onboard their ship and seeking his magical armor, an artifact of some power.
The tropical island wasn't very large, and other than trees covering it, there was no place to hide. No caves or other holes could be found. His disappearance was a mystery.
"Hall, over here!" Grimmore, the ships second battle wizard and an adept in illusions, waved to the pair from the north. They ran toward the man, wondering what he had found.
"I think I know how he disappeared. Kath found a path that the captain took inland... it was well concealed. He certainly knows how not to be seen if he doesn't want to be."
"Yes, yes," Hall told Grimmore. "What did you find?"
"There are traces of magic here, at where Onestar last stepped. Some sort of illusion was set up here to cover something else."
"A dimensional door," Kath said, appearing behind Hall and Belieth. "I've seen them used before many times. Scro battle wizards are famous for hiding one, covering it with an illusion, and then waiting for their victim to pass right through. It usually leads to some nasty trap."
"But where did this one lead to?" a voice said from behind Kath, causing him to turn. No one was able to ever sneak up on him but Tabatha, a new arrival onboard the Wanderer and an old friend of Hall and Belieth's, who stood there grinning like a Cheshire cat.
The mere fact that she was a Tabaxi made the grin even more devilish.
"What'sa matter, Kath. Cat got your tongue?" she asked.
"Lady, no one has ever been able to sneak up on me. How'd you do it?"
"Good clean living, I guess," Tabatha said.
"There'll be time for that later," Hall interrupted. "Is there anyway we can find out where he went?"
"I think I can tell, but it will take some time. I think I may know a spell that will help us." Belieth said. As Hall heard this, he turned to face her. His eyes pleaded with her not to try anything; he knew that such divination spells could sometime hurt the caster. He didn't want to lose her again after just finding her.
"He's worth the risk," Belieth said, knowing what her husband was thinking. "He is a friend."
"How much time will you need," Hall asked, already knowing the answers but asking them anyway.
"Just about an hour. Let me go back to the ship and get the scrolls."
"Just promise me..."
"I'll be careful, my love." Belieth kissed Hall for a few moments, then turned and made her way back to the shuttle. Hall watched her leave before turning and facing the others.
"All right," he said, trying to act like a captain and not like a husband. He sometimes had trouble separating the two. "Let's get this area ready. Kath, get Karamon over here. We have to secure the perimeter."
"Yes, sir." The scro turned and headed off. Hall pulled Tabatha off to the side.
"Don't let her out of your sight," Hall cautioned.
"That's what I'm here for, Hall. Don't worry."
It was too late for that, Hall thought. Already too late.
"Omni."
The word just fell from the samurai's mouth. Onestar had sworn sometime back that he would never again enter this sphere, and did his best to keep that promise. But now, he was back, at the Temple of Sirinx, a place that he knew quite well.
Scillabba the demon was there with him also. Years past, the pair of them were sent to retrieve a number of artifacts from this place, but failed to get most of them. Only Onestar and Scillabba were able to reach one of the throne rooms; the rest of the party either killed or injured greatly to be of any assistance.
There, Onestar bonded with a magical armor. Scillabba was cast into a magical rift, removing him from this plane. Onestar thought his nemesis dead all these years, but a recent attack by Vlasic, one of the other members of the party and the underling of Scillabba, proved this wrong.
Onestar finally regained his senses enough to look once more at Scillabba. When he knew the man, Scillabba was a tall man, with ruggedly-handsome features. This creature was not the man Onestar remembered. This creature had the head of a beast, quite like a minotaur. His chest was human, but his hindquarters were more goatlike, closer to a satyr.
"I suppose you're wondering how I got these good looks?" Scillabba asked the samurai. "You try spending any time in Gehenna without getting a little body work. Actually, I like this form better. It's more magical."
"Of course, you could never understand magic all that well, could you Onestar? I remember when you had that cursed Wand of Wonder. Ah, the fun we all had laughing at you..."
Scillabba stopped in mid-sentence and looked behind him. He narrowed his gaze to the east, the direction Onestar came from. He grumbled, and beams of magical energy poured forth, striking something off in the distance.
Onestar watched as Scillabba pulled something from the trees. He was amazed at the creature's abilities, while still in shock from returning to his home sphere. After a few seconds, someone was pulled from a hiding place in the trees. She was quite lovely, wearing a long white flowing dress. Her hair was silver, and her elven features were nothing short of perfect.
"A present," Scillabba commented as Crystal Ravenheart was pulled closer. "Onestar, how thoughtful! I didn't know you cared."
Seeing Crystal captured brought Onestar back to his senses. He swung his katana at Scillabba's leg, causing a gash. Blood started flowing, but stopped and the wound healed within seconds. Scillabba, however, howled in pain. Crystal was still trapped in the beam.
"AAARRRGGGHHH! Damn you to the seven hells, samurai. That hurt!"
"Release her or else I'll make the wounds more permanent!"
"I don't think so. You see, now I have a bargaining chip." Scillabba focused on Crystal once more, and the beam of magic changed color. Crystal faded from sight as the beam died.
"Where have you sent her!" Onestar cried out, taking another swing at Scillabba. The creature backed away.
"She's safe... for now. She is inside the temple, Onestar." Scillabba began to fade away. "Which is where I am going. I give you thirty minutes, samurai. Find her and release her or else I'll take her. And you remember my way with the ladies. It's a killer."
Scillabba faded from sight. All that could be heard was his laughter as Onestar ran toward the temple.
Belieth sat, legs crossed under her, near the place where the door had been located. Eloiela and Father Armas joined her, with Hall, Tabatha and Blaise on the island. Armas commented when he arrived that the land was "cold. There was a definite sense of evil to the place."
Belieth held in her hands a scroll. Hall had seen it once before, in a chest of personal belongings he saved from long ago when they were last together. He never read the scroll, nor did he give it to anyone to read. It was a cherished memory, one of his love he wouldn't part with.
She told Hall it was a powerful divination spell, one that would reveal the location of anyone, as long as they had some fix, some last known point of where the person was. It had its risks, she said. Such knowledge could cause insanity, or even death.
Hall didn't like the waiting. He was normally patient, but this kind of wait drove him out of his mind. Onestar, his friend, was missing, and his wife, his love, was risking her own life to find him.
He paced around the perimeter like an expectant father. Blaise Pascal watched him walk back and forth in the same space for nearly fifteen minutes.
"If you keep walking, you're gonna dig yourself into a hole," Blaise said, trying to make a joke.
"What is taking so long?" Hall asked.
"Spells like these take preparation time. You should know that."
"What if something goes wrong," Hall said, finally stopping. "What if she's hurt, or they can't find him, or she dies, or..."
"I honestly don't know who you are more worried about, Belieth or Onestar. Both are adults; both know what they're into. Onestar will be found. I am sure of that. And I somehow don't think the fates will be unkind to your wife. They've already separated you two for too long as it is."
Blaise was trying to be helpful, and Hall appreciated it. He was ready to say something to the Arcane, but then Kath stepped into the scene.
"They're ready," he said.
Hall and Blaise followed Kath back to the clearing, where they stood near the edge of a great circle marked by stones. Belieth sat in the very center of the circle, with Father Armas to her left and Eloiela to her right. The three of them formed a pyramid of sorts, to help focus the magic.
Belieth began reading the scroll. Once she finished, the trio in the circle joined hands and waited. Tense minutes passed with nothing happening, and just as Hall was ready to break the intense silence that filled the area, a pinpoint of intense white light appeared in the center of the pyramid.
It floated above them, first to Eloiela then to Armas, then finally it rested right between Belieth's eyes. The pinpoint grew and expanded, covering her face in a bright light. The glow grew in power and intensity, until, finally, in enveloped her whole body.
From within that light, an image appeared. First, there was a tower, reaching far into the heavens, near the shore of a lake. The tower was made of metals; gold, silver, platinum, and reflected the majesty and power of those who dwelled within.
The image shifted. Pictures flew past at an alarming rate, of cities, villages and towns. Castles came and went with each second. Finally, the image slowed. There were a huge grove of trees, a days walk would be needed to travel from one end to the other. In the center was a clearing, and there was a temple.
The temple was obviously in ruin, but even decimated, it had the look of grandeur. Stone column, some still standing, most in ruins surrounding the base, had carvings of bas-relief. The temple was old, true, but none could mistake its presence.
Still looking at the scene from overhead (about the height of a bird's eye), a man wearing a shining armor and carrying two swords, one shorter than the other, could be seen running to the temple. As the image moved in close, they could see him scream something, but no sound accompanied the image.
Hall just stood there with the others, his mouth opened slightly. He recognized the place from what Onestar had told him in the past. It was a place that held nothing but bad memories for the samurai. The place he swore he'd never go again.
Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of fire in the image. The glow flew from Belieth and formed a large sphere in the sky directly above them. Glowing with a fire itself, it was like another sun in its intensity.
Belieth slumped to the ground, exhausted but not in pain. Hall reached her side in an instant, but she brushed him away with an "I'm-okay-don't-worry-so-much-dear" look. Then, she turned her attention to the new sun directly above them.
"Don't even think of looking for the samurai now," a deep, guttural voice commented. "By the time you found him, his bones will even be decayed! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!!!!!!!"
As the voice faded, the glow did also. Everyone looked among themselves, trying to determine what they saw. Hall, holding Belieth tighter than before in his arms, was the only one who could speak.
"Omni. He's on Omni. That...whatever that was... took him into another sphere. There's no way we can reach him now. He's gone."
All gathered bowed in silence. His words rang true. There was no way they could reach their captain now.
Continue to Chapter VI