Part H: Tomb of Tal Rasha
On the other side, Duo came face to 'face' with a large stone head, laying half-buried in the sand. He walked around it, being trailed by his undead and lumbering golem. When he came around, he saw the others watching him.
"It looks cool," Duo said, shrugging. Heero smiled slightly, surveying the wasteland before them. The land was littered with broken statues and half-buried columns, with the occasional tree to prove it wasn't as dead as once thought. Their journeys revealed Hell Cats, half-human half-cat warriors who's cousins they'd seen roaming the areas outside Lut Gohlein; Crushers, cousins to the giant ape-people who dwelt near the Rogue Encampment and Larvae, similar to those encountered in the Maggot Lair.
They had numerous, desperate fights, fighting off poison and whatever else that was thrown at them. It seemed like there were far more monsters here than in any of the other lands. Or, that they were more... desperate.
Exploring a bit more, they found a tomb, marked by a square. Duo peered at his scroll.
"Nope, not this one," he said. Quatre looked at the tomb curiously.
"I wonder what would happen if we went into the wrong one," Quatre mused. Duo fwapped him.
"Do not say something like that!!!" Duo exclaimed. Quatre smiled at him calmly and poked his nose. Duo's eyes crossed and laughed.
Traveling to the left, they came across another tomb, this one being marked with a crescent. Continuing to the left, they found yet another tomb, this was was marked with a circle. After that, they hit corner and turned, only to run right into a large party of Hell Cats and Crushers. Caught by surprise, only Duo and Quatre began to attack. Duo's undead stumbled forward, swinging their arms to attack.
The others snapped to awareness and attacked them too. After the last Crusher fell, Duo eyed the corpses, rubbing his hands together. He raised his arms, only to see the body explode into useless, bloody bits and the body of a vine disappear beneath the soil, coming to rest beside Trowa. Duo glared at him, and Trowa shrugged back.
"I wanted that one!" Duo said, though he was far from angry. Perhaps a little miffed... he selected another Crusher, chanted a complicated spell and the Crusher reanimated. Duo grinned to himself, addressing it. "You will fight for me. You will behave. You will obey me."
The Crusher grunted and Duo nodded in satisfaction. His friends stared at him and he walked on.
"I didn't know he could do that. Did you know he could do that?" Heero whispered to Wufei. Wufei shook his head. Trowa shrugged eloquently and they all continued on, finding other groups of enemies but no tombs. They continued to follow the canyon wall, encountering several groups of enemies, many of them Crusher beasts. Duo's beast seemed reluctant to attack them and several times Duo had to order it harshly before it obeyed.
As they continued, they encountered a group of a dozen Crusher beasts. Duo's Crusher refused to fight them, and even struck a glancing blow at Duo before it fell to the ground. Duo glared at it's body and turned away. Heero decided wisely to give Duo some space.
"How big is this place?" Quatre wondered, looking around at the seemingly endless stretch of desert. He noticed that as with nearly every place they'd been in Lut Gohlein, Trowa seemed edgy. Quatre didn't understand why. He loved the desert, having lived in one most of his life. He could tell the land wasn't healthy, certainly, but other than that... Quatre decided to watch Trowa. Just in case.
Trowa for his own part hated this place. There were barely any trees, and the strange cacti didn't connect with him like normal trees did. There were also no birds, no animals, just countless monsters. He noticed Quatre watching him and smiled slightly. Perhaps not everything in this desert was bad...
Duo had stopped and was currently staring at a large, sandstone column, one of the few that was still standing. It was not particularly tall, and tapered in, then was capped by a wider top.
"You know, that looks very phallic..." Duo noted. ((It DOES! O.O)) Heero turned red.
"Let's move on..." Heero said. Still following the canyon wall, they made it to the next temple. Duo very nearly wept when he saw it was a circle with a crescent underneath.
"How many temples are there?" he demanded.
"Too many," Wufei said, ever the helpful one. Duo fwapped him and stalked off. Fortunately for all of their sanity, the next temple was the correct one. Heero tapped the door and it shifted down, unsealing the temple. The temple itself was dusty, causing numerous fits of sneezing which attracted the attention of red Fire Skeletons and large Gore Beasts, huge creatures that wielded large clubs.
They took a hallway to the left, one filled with huge columns that made it difficult to cast spells at the creatures lurking in the shadows. After killing various creatures, they arrived at a room containing an orifice. It was set on a disk divided into seven, each 'slice' had a symbol of the false and real temples on it. From the orifice, a light glowed sleepily.
Heero brought out the Horadric staff, placing it in the orifice, which began to hum. Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei placed their hands on the staff, increasing the humming, and turned it as one. A ray of light sprung up, then each one of the symbols lit up and emitted a ray of light, meeting with the initial ray of light coming from the orifice. When they all met, the light gained strength, turning into a powerful lightning bolt. It lashed out over their heads, striking the wall. They ducked and shielded their eyes as the temple began to shake.
In a cloud of dust, the wall opened. One by one they opened their eyes. Quatre coughed heavily.
"Is everyone well?" Heero asked. They all nodded. Silently they prepared themselves for the next encounter, making sure they were at full health, assuring the health of Trowa's companions and Duo's undead, even going back through the temple for more undead. Finally, Duo pulled out a dagger, one they hadn't seen him use before.
He set it down on the ground and backed away, waving his hands and chanting. The others watched as a large iron golem formed from the small dagger. It roared and banged its fists together. Duo smiled fiercely.
"I'm ready." One by one they filed into the room, and saw...
A giant, green and black mantis-demon. His sharp, demonic face stretched into a wide, toothy grin. His two giant mantis arms beat together in delight.
"Diablo told me I would have visitors... welcome, tasty morsels..." it said. "To give a name to your death, I am Duriel..." Duo's iron golem walked forward and struck at him. With no visible damage, Duriel struck back, dropping the golem to the ground. Duo's eyes widened.
Quatre edged around behind Duriel, keeping out of his line of sight. Whispering a brief prayer, Quatre cast Firewall under Duriel. At that moment, Heero struck from the front, distracting Duriel from turning against him. Heero staggered heavily under the blows, then Wufei offered him another tasty distraction.
Duo made it to Quatre's side, quickly casting an amplify damage curse, then began launching bone spear. Trowa stood still, closing his eyes a moment. Suddenly, he seemed to double in size, fingers ending is large, black claws and furred hands. He let out a bellowing roar and charged at Duriel, unfortunately slow but very powerful.
However, nothing they did seemed to weaken it. Quatre snapped his fingers suddenly, and disappeared from Duo's side. Duo gulped and kept casting. Quatre appeared next to Duriel and seemed to be throwing sparks at him. However, these sparks were actually weakening the large demon. With renewed hope, Heero, Wufei and Trowa struck out at Duriel.
With a sudden whuff of breath, he collapsed, leaking a huge amount of white, oversized lice. Not giving them time to take a breath, the chamber began to shake heavily. Protecting their heads, they waited until the shaking subsided.
On the other side of the room, a perfect doorway formed. Looking at one another, they dusted themselves off and walked to the doorway. Deciding it was safe, they took a moment to evaluate each others wounds. Trowa dragged Quatre to the side.
"What were you thinking?" he demanded. "You should have stayed back there and-"
"And what? Let you all get killed?" Quatre demanded. "I was lucky I remembered that spell, it's one of the first we learn. It doesn't look like much, but it weakens enemies by twenty five percent! If I hadn't, you might have died."
"If he had turned on you, you would have," Trowa argued. Quatre glared at him and stalked away, turning the corner.
"Of all the stubborn..." Trowa muttered, following him. Duo laughed and shook his head.
"There both stubborn as rock," Duo declared. He offered his hands to both Wufei and Heero. They hooked their arms around his and off they went. "We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of..." Duo trailed off, eyes widening.
In the centre of the vast chamber was a large pit of lava, with a sort of bridge over it. At it's centre stood an angel of the highest order, an archangel. Quatre and Trowa stood at the foot of the bridge, staring openly.
"It is good to see you all, though I was expecting you sooner," the Archangel said pointedly. Duo gaped and repressed the urge to throttle the Angel. "I am the Archangel Tyreal. Here we attempted to seal Baal in the very body of Tal Rasha. However, Tal Rasha's sacrifice was in vain, and Baal is now free. He was freed by Diablo, and together they seek to go east to Kurast to free Mephisto, their elder brother and the Lord of Terror. You must go there, quickly, to stop them." Tyreal waved an arm, and a blue portal opened. "My powers are diminished, but I will help you any way I can. Return to Lut Gohlein. I believe that Jerhyn will want to speak to you."
Duo opened his mouth, then noted the look on Heero's face. It was one of pure reverence he had not seen since... since the Monastery. He placed a hand on Heero's arm. "Let's go buddy, we still have to talk to Jerhyn."
Heero nodded absently, and allowed himself to be led to the portal. Wufei, Trowa and Quatre went next. Duo paused at the portal, and turn back to glare at the Angel. "You don't impress me, you know. You let this mess get out of hand, and now you expect us to clean it up. People like Tal Rasha had to die to fix what you were too lazy and uppity to deal with when there was still time. If any of my friends die, I will hold you accountable."
Tyreal's face was sad, and Duo could see his light was diminished. "Duo..."
Duo spat at his feet. "Don't even try." He stalked through the portal, and it closed behind him. On the other side, the others looked at him curiously. He merely shook his head. "Let's get going."
They walked to the palace, and Jerhyn was waiting for them. "I have heard that you need to go to Kurast. I have given Meshif, my fleet captain, permission to bring you there. Please, stop them. You are the only hope we have."
"Sure, as long as there's no pressure or anything," Duo muttered. They walked to the docks, stopping to thank Drognan and Deckard Cain for their help. Deckard Cain beckoned them to wait.
"It was Tyreal that gave the Horadrim the soulstones. It is rare for the beings of heaven to interfere so directly in the affairs of the mortal realm." Deckard Cain ignored Duo's snort. "While the motives of the Hell born are straightforward and bent towards destruction, the motives of the beings of heaven are unfathomable. I have heard that you travel to Kurast. I believe I will join you. I fear you will need the council of one as old as I."
Quatre smiled warmly at him. "We welcome your wisdom, elder. How far is Kurast from here?"
As they walked towards Meshif and his waiting ship, Deckard Cain laughed. "Oh, quite a way from here, lad! Quite a way... Why, when I was last there..." ((Dinosaurs roamed the earth...))
End Act II
To Be Continued... *insert demonic laughter here*