Tim Waggoner - Lady Ruin

“Enough talk,” Vaddon growled. “Longstrider, Shatterfist, destroy the Overmantle!”

If Lirra understood what Elidyr had said, the Overmantle’s power made this cave an in-between place where two dimensions overlapped. If the Overmantle was destroyed, the two dimensions would become separate once more, and no further aberrations would be able to cross over from Xoriat to attack them.

The warforged didn’t hesitate. The two constructs turned toward Elidyr and charged. Elidyr watched them come, seemingly unconcerned. Lirra wondered if it was because her uncle was too mad to fear them, but an instant later she saw the true reason why he wasn’t afraid. Another figure stepped through the cave wall, this one roughly the size and shape of a human, though its rubbery greenish-mauve flesh glistened with slime. The creature’s head looked like a four-tentacled octopus that possessed a pair of bloated white eyes. It wore a black robe that was tattered in places, and it moved with sinuous, inhuman grace.

Fear gripped Lirra as she recognized this creature. It was an illithid, sometimes called a mind flayer. Its sobriquet was well-earned, for according to what Elidyr had told the members of the symbiont project, the creatures possessed highly developed psychic abilities and could shatter minds.

The illithid stretched out a four-clawed hand toward the warforged, and its eyes glowed bright as it unleashed its power at the charging constructs. Warforged might have been created magically, but they were still living beings with minds of their own-minds that were vulnerable to psychic attack. Realizing the illithid was a more immediate threat than Elidyr, Shatterfist and Longstrider turned toward the loathsome creature, but it was too late. The illithid’s mind blast struck them full on, and the two constructs stumbled and crashed to the cave floor, stunned. With a single move, two of the Outguard’s most powerful members had been neutralized.

Elidyr smiled and gestured toward the surviving members of the Outguard. “Feel free to attack whoever you like next.”

But before the illithid could select another target, crisscrossing trails of long wounds appeared on its chest, running from shoulder to waist. Black blood gushed from the injuries, and the illithid let out an ear-splitting eerie screech, its mouth tentacles writhing in agony. Its eyes glowed once more before the creature turned and fled toward the cave wall, back the way it had come, and it passed through the stone as if it wasn’t there, returning to Xoriat. An instant later, Ranja appeared on the floor, lying unconscious where she’d fallen after the illithid had managed to stun her.

Elidyr gazed upon the fallen shifter and shook his head in mock sympathy. “It must be so frustrating for you all, to come this far and to feel victory in your grasp, only to have it slip away in the end.”

“Don’t start celebrating your victory just yet, Uncle,” Lirra said. She, Vaddon, Ksana, and Osten-the last of the Outguard-closed ranks and stood with weapons ready. Vaddon spun his sword into attack position, Ksana gripped her halberd with both hands, Osten held the handle of his sword in a white-knuckled grip, and Lirra grasped her own sword tight in one hand while she used the other to lash her tentacle whip in the air.

“Yes, yes, you are all impressive warriors,” Elidyr said. “Especially you, my dear niece. But you don’t seriously think you have a chance of winning, do you? From the moment I activated the Overmantle, you were defeated. All we’ve been doing here these last few moments is putting on a show for the amusement of my master.”

At first Lirra didn’t understand what Elidyr was talking about, but then she recalled what he’d told them when they’d first entered the cave.

“The Overmantle has turned this cave into a place where our world and Xoriat overlap,” she said. “Here-and only here-creatures from both realms can meet. And that means the daelkyr lord you’re trying to release …”

“Is on his way,” Elidyr said, grinning.

Lirra started to reply but stopped when a fresh wave of nausea gripped her, accompanied by tingling at the back of her skull so strong it felt as if her head might split open. She sensed the same malignant presence she’d experiencd at the lodge, when Elidyr had managed to temporarily open a portal to Xoriat, and she recognized it as that of a daelkyr lord. She sensed the presence originating from a spot on the cave wall behind Elidyr and trained her gaze upon it. Through the rippling gray stone that served as a demarcation line between the in-between zone and Xoriat, she saw a sour yellow-green light off in the distance. As she watched, the light slowly grew larger, and she knew that she was seeing the daelkyr approaching, striding through his dimension as he headed for the in-between zone. On one level, the light offended her senses. There was a wrongness to it, as if it weren’t truly light at all but rather some corruption of it. But on another level, she felt an attraction to the foul light, as if part of her was being drawn to the daelkyr, and despite herself, she took a half step forward.

Elidyr saw and smiled.

“You have Xoriat in your soul now,” her uncle said, “and that part of you recognizes the approach of your lord.”

His words revolted Lirra, especially because she knew them to be true. She could feel the tentacle whip’s growing eagerness as the daelkyr drew closer to the in-between zone, as if the symbiont were a dog awaiting the return of a beloved master.

“You said the Overmantle hasn’t opened a true portal between dimensions this time,” Lirra said to her uncle. “That means the daelkyr won’t be able to permanently cross over to our world.”

“True,” Elidyr admitted. “But that’s unimportant right now. Once Ysgithyrwyn has dealt with all of you, I’ll be able to finish properly repairing the Overmantle. Then I can truly free him once and for all.”

“So you plan to have the daelkyr kill us,” Vaddon said.

Elidyr laughed. “Why would my master wish to kill you, when with a single touch he can open your eyes as he opened mine? I’ll enjoy watching you experience a changed perspective, Brother!” He chuckled before turning his gaze on Lirra. “You mostly belong to Ysgithyrwyn as it is, my niece, but I’m looking forward to your transformation becoming complete.”

Lirra would die before she allowed that to happen.

She leaned over and whispered in Vaddon’s ear. “I’ll take his left, you take his right.”

“Agreed. Watch out for that crawling gauntlet of his. It’s a weapon in and of itself.”

Lirra nodded and then father and daughter rushed forward to attack the man that was brother to one, uncle to the other. Lirra felt a rush of excited bloodlust from her tentacle whip, and she fought to ignore it. With a foe as powerful and deadly as Elidyr, she’d need all of her training and battle experience along with a clear head to prevail.

At first it seemed as if Elidyr intended to do nothing as his brother and niece attacked, and given his insane state of mind, Lirra wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if her uncle had simply stood there and let the two of them carve him up. But when Vaddon and Lirra came within five feet, Elidyr opened his mouth and extended his tongueworm toward Vaddon, while the stormstalk oriented its milky white orb on Lirra and unleashed a bolt of lightning.

Lirra dived to the side to avoid the blast of energy, did a shoulder roll, and came up on her feet running. Vaddon swung his sword at the tongueworm, but the rubbery hide of the aberration was tougher and more durable than normal flesh, and while the general’s blade cut into the creature, the wound it inflicted wasn’t very deep. Still, it hurt enough for the tongueworm to jerk back in pain, allowing Vaddon to get closer to his brother.