Chapter Eleven : Return to Darkness to Seek the Light

Looking back I have to admit that that I have to have more faith in Morgan’s and Buerick’s intuition in the future. For while I will admit for a few moments there I was beginning to have a doubt my lack of intuition could have aided our downfall but then again I guess that is what friends are for to make sure you get it right. So with our new found ally Swami Donnie got to love these guy's names and his enchanted crystal that we brought into our confidence and the stoic yet persevering Druid Buerick we managed to get a good hold on the tip of the iceberg which I have come to call our mission. On the bright side no one died and not for the lack of trying I assure you and while Morgan is still the ever Nimble as well as Iron Willed perhaps the quest for the Lamp helped him realize what he has been missing even Nialla’s close encounter with the Red Menace may have helped her to realize that the Light of Love was closer then she might have thought. Either way the Lamp of Al-Hazred was now in our possession and while it did answer many of my questions it left us with whole lot more but that’s about what I have come to expect from Emerald and now that I had learned their language it was truly time to get the show on the road after I relate how we acquired the goose that laid the golden egg or in Emerald terms the Lamp of Al-Hazred of course

So there we were and I was wondering how we were ever going to get out of the bloody sewer before we fell prey to the ambush that I just knew was bound to be coming. Buerick looked to us and spoke to me as if sensing my concern and said “Do you wish to leave right now.” I of course said with a smile “That would be preferable Buerick”. With that Buerick told us to go into Orb which is what I have called the Stone of Tongues but now that I thought about it might have been in disguise and in reality be an Orb of some kind. Yet another mystery to be solved but for now we all touched Stone of Tongues and entered the Realm within the Stone. I had looked to Nialla and taken her hand and told her I had a place I wanted to show her where we could watch Buerick and with that we vanished to the Tree House where from the balcony we could see through a natural arch and keep an eye on Buerick. I watched as Buerick began to cast and his body took on the form of an Earth Elemental and I have to admit for the first time the concept of exploring the shape shifting Druid began to really plant itself into my mind. He moved up within the earth without a care in the world and within moments he was on the surface. He moved to a secluded area in the park and called to us to come out the others were near the grove no doubt watching as well for when next I blinked we were all standing in the park. We were some distance from the abode of the Shoggoth I reached out with my message spell to Pete, Ed and Donnie and after a moment I received a response from Swami Donnie who asked if it was really us. As I looked around I could not find the children’s park anywhere and in the distance I could make out the two silver cars which we had ridden in. There was a flash from the cars and then he told me that he had never seen us leave and was surprised to see us hence their apparent apprehension. I asked Smiling Ed to confirm if everything was alright and he did and told me that Swami Donnie had told them that the Shoggoth was inside alone and was getting ready to stage a rescue attempt if we had not exited soon. From what I was beginning to observe Donnie seemed to be really as they say here trigger happy or there was more to him than met the eye which meant he was someone to keep an eye on. Swami Donnie asked us where to and told him somewhere where we can rest for the rest of the day for I informed him that we ran into a little trouble and not to mention the illusion which had been placed on the area by the Shoggoth was quite impressive. So while the Shoggoth had recommended a few places I no longer trusted him. Before we left Morgan had felt the need to locate the hatch where we had entered and it was as if we had never entered but it was still there. I could tell Morgan as well as Swami Donnie were in the mood for a little payback on our friendly neighborhood Shoggoth but I convinced them that we needed to keep our eye on our objective and in order to do that we needed to be rested and at our best. So showing quite a bit of the decisiveness I would expect from a leader instead of a henchman Swami Donnie told us then we were therefore headed to Lake Forest and the estate of Starving Marvin.

Instead of pulling up to the door of the estate after a fifteen minute drive or so we instead pulled up into a garage where there were a number forty to fifty cars milling about. As we exited the cars Swami Donnie seemed to take charge and told Ed and Pete to see to the cars and catch up with him later. I still had a personal message set up with Smiling Ed and I asked him why he was deferring to one of his men. For in the past he seemed to be really concerned over Donnie’s decision to blow up the area in Hilltop and forget to grab the money. He informed that actually Swami Donnie was the Boss and that Big Vic had been merely a client of his or in other words someone that had hired some of Donnie’s people to perform services. He even went on to inform me that even Starving Marvin was also in the employ of Swami Donnie but that Donnie liked to keep things low key. I informed the other just so they would be in the loop as we walked to elevators and rose to the second floor and were soon being introduced to business suit wearing Starving Marvin who from the looks of him was far from someone who had ever know the meaning of the word. Starving Marvin it seemed was someone that Swami Donnie had hired due to his experience to be an advisor of sorts. He actually had an interesting two function philosophy which he called carrying the mail or finding the holy grail. Which basically meant if you were seeking something in the grail variety like say the Lamp of Al-Hazred and you were not getting it done due to obstacles which he equated to the delivery of mail. Then you obviously needed assistance carrying the mail if you were ever to get to your own holy grail not a bad philosophy really. He offered us his assistance and I at first merely asked for hospitality and perhaps in the morning we would discuss matters pertaining to our own possible collective ventures. I was sure to give him nothing to work with for I knew never try and negotiate from a position weakness only strength and right now we all need to build ours back up and I for one needed another shower or perhaps even a bath. Starving Marvin seemed disappointed but let us know that they would be ordering in and while we would be shown to rooms on the third floor we would need to send someone down to pick up our food. He then asked if we had any requests Morgan spoke first asking for fruits and vegetables while I deferred to our associates who had just returned and while Donnie, Ed and Pete ordered an assortment of pasta’s, fruits, drinks and sandwiches I added an assortment of juices which I will admit I was growing fond of. I asked Smiling Ed to tell me a little about the place and he told us there was a range, garage an assortment of rooms and the idea of the gun range struck me as a good idea. Shiron was thinking the same thing and I asked Smiling Ed if he could lead the way since I told him we could all us some practice and he deferred to Swami Donnie and let us know that he was the expert and Swami Donnie was more than glad to show us to the range. As we talked I confided with Swami Donnie about the opposition we had encountered while in the sewer and he told us all that it sounded like minions of the Stolen Eye Wizard a strange being who exact sex was unknown. Once at the range which seemed quite stocked we all had our try at firearms and Swami issued anyone who needed one a Colt M1911 automatic pistol he also handed us each two extra magazines which held seven forty five caliber bullets each and showed us to a box of ammunition. I grabbed two of the boxes which along with my extra pistol which Nialla showed to Swami Donnie as well as the missile launcher with which he was quite impressed brought me up to two pistols with four total clips and one hundred extra bullets and two pistols. Swami Donnie was curious how we had attained the launcher as he showed up how to use the one shot device and Nialla told him she had acquired it from a De’Moulay and he said it figured. After our little shooting spree I will admit the weapon felt not more foreign than a long sword would feel and while Shiron and Nialla had wanted to try and acquire a few sub-machine guns Swami Donnie advised become familiar with the pistols and then moving you way up was the best way to proceed and he seemed convincing enough for the them to take his word for it. So I made sure everyone had a weapon since after witnessing the power of these weapons on the range I realized they were about as dangerous as a heavy crossbow and could indeed come in handy as part of a cover or even in a pinch. By the time we were done it was time for dinner and I told Nialla and I ate in our room we had each already showered and I was now only wearing my Feycraft Mithral Shirt which fit my body like a seductive second skin and accented every one of my curves. I knew that Nialla had been have a rough few days since we had arrived on Emerald and since I realized she believed that we would never be returning to Hyboria then perhaps it might indeed be time to unleash some of her old beliefs and taboos. I also knew that sharing myself with her would be the best way for her to relax over those she had felt she had murdered and the stress of being attacked on the street. It was my plan to explore the tantalizing fruit that was Nialla that very evening and I could tell from the way she was looking at me that she was having similar thought but was perhaps unsure how to make them a reality. When I had gone downstairs to pick up our dinner the others were there and I had asked Buerick if everything was alright since some of the fruits were bigger than any I had ever seen before and he told me that had never seen nature and were artificially grown and were perhaps a hybrid and I could tell he would be adding samples to his plant sample bags. While I was downstairs I had asked Morgan if he would not mind following me back to my room since Nialla and I had some things to discuss in private and I informed him that he was more than welcome to join us and I was sure that Nialla would not mind or I was sure could be convinced as I had looked at him with lust as well as longing in my eyes. It was then that he had told me “I would but for the contract my love.” I was awestruck for a moment had he just called me love. I responded “Morgan my love if sadly the contract holds you back will you at least hug me.”. I moved my body toward him and while I had expected him to push me away instead he embraced me and gave me a kiss so full of longing, zest and torment that I almost was brought to my peak within moments. It was a moment that I had dreamed of for most of my adult life and I never wanted it to end I coiled myself around Morgan never wanted to let him go but he like his namesakes both Nimble and Iron Willed was able to pull himself away and he looked at me and said “So that you know it is contract that binds me and so you will not wonder anymore how I feel about you my love.” I looked at him and I swear if Nialla had not been on the other side of that door waiting for dinner and desert which I planned to be each other I would have hurled every spell at my command at Morgan and forced him inside and had my way with him. I managed to control myself and put on a mask of optimistic irritation and smiled at Morgan and told him “We will find a way to deal with the contract.” I had then turned and joined Nialla which had lead to an even greater sense of arousal during dinner. I could perhaps place in my journal every line that lead to the seduction of my beloved Nialla and her great performance and while mine was one of my personal best and I am sure memorable it will always remain so for me breathtaking. For while I am sure Nialla was able to place all the darkness behind her with the light of joy and love I was able to find harmony with another woman which helped me to forget at least for the moments we shared and into the day that Nialla desired me and Morgan did as well and where that left Erik I left to another day for I was with Nialla now and to her I would devote myself for while I knew in the past I had been a heartbreaker I vowed to myself that by Aphrodite I would not break her heart. We fell asleep in each other’s arms and when I awoke with the dawn I once again was able to see clearly why we were on this mission for while I knew there would be violence on the coming journey ahead we were doing were justified if we did those actions in the name of love and beauty and as I looked at treasure that was Nialla laying next to me I knew I would not let the darkness within her lay claim to her for she was mine and if I had to call down an entire Celestial Host to protect her someday than that is what I would be prepared to do.

In short order I had awoken, changed, showered and ordered breakfast for everyone and spent a little time dancing from room to room to make sure everyone was awake and then after our morning meal it was time to once again meet with Starving Marvin. I know I may have said it before but the assorted juices they have here on Emerald simply have to be tasted to be believed they are as close as the nectar of the God that I believe a mortal shall ever be honored enough to sample. As I expected after a good night rest everyone seemed in much better spirits and we caught up with Swami Donnie who informed us that he had already consulted with Starving Marvin and he had already advised him to come with us regardless of whether or not we decided to accept his offer to assist with the delivery of the mail as he liked to put it. It seemed that my bluff had worked as I had hoped which had caused Starving Marvin to believe that we did not need or care for his help which in reality was the exact opposite of the truth. So once we were in his office we discussed with Marvin that for now we were focused but in the future we looked forward to assisting each other. We also discussed with Donnie since he did have what I have come to realize is the Mob mentality his concerns about us being well within our rights to as he said whack the Shoggoth for setting us up. I will admit I felt the Shoggoth needed to be taken care of or at the very least find a way to lead the Red Menace to his doorstep and let them deal with it or vice or versa either way was fine by me. Shiron’s military bearing was brought to bear and he felt or primary objective was still the Lamp and it was best to deal with the others afterward. So with no opposition and everyone seeming to be alright with the concept of taking Swami Donnie with us we were ready to return to the darkness of the Summit sewers and face off against the Glaaki. Since Swami Donnie was coming with us it was decided by Donnie that we would take three cars and Starving Marvin, Sneaky Pete and Smiling Ed would be our drivers. As we made the drive to Summit Swami Donnie asked us if we wanted to enter from the location we had entered before or from a new location that he had located yesterday. It was decided of course to choose the different entry location. As we arrived at the hatch Smiling Ed used a knock spell to open the lid while Moran examined it to make sure if it relocked itself he would be able to open it. Once he seemed satisfied I asked Smiling Ed if he knew if it would reseal and he said he was unsure either way I was confident we could find our way out as long as Buerick remained conscious. The sewers were still the dank and dirty environment that I had already expected and I had been sure to not wear any clothing besides my feycrafted mithral shirt well actually more like a form fitting bikini really and my thigh high rugged explorer boots since I was expecting to get down and dirty that afternoon and I was not to be disappointed. Once we had entered the sewer the gem on Swami Donnie turban glowed and his eyes shifted and after a moment he asked us if we wanted to deal with the Glaaki or just acquire the Lamp. I inquired and I found out he could actually see the Lamp and the Glaaki and would be able to lead us thru the sewers right to our goal. I discussed with the others in confidence if we could trust Donnie enough to allow him entry into the Realm within the Stone which would allow Buerick to take us directly to the location of the Lamp if Donnie could give him directions and the other seemed alright with the idea since it would save us a tremendous amount of time. With very little need for debate it was decided to head into the Realm within the Stone we only need to wait a moment while Swami Donnie asked Buerick to open his mind and he projected an exact map into his mind of where he would need to go once he had changed forms. I turned to Nialla and asked her to come with me since I wanted to show her the tree house and there was an arch nearby where we could keep an eye on Buerick. I had looked to Morgan and while I still remembered the kiss he had given me yesterday all I could keep thinking about was the reality of us being unable to ever return to Hyboria and how I would convince him to change his mind about relationship situation. Wow I actually used the word relationship and it still throws me of a little but if it’s an open relationship which I am cool with it only would be a matter of selling Morgan on the idea. Nialla and I vanished and reappeared in the tree house and we were able to see Buerick make the journey to the dwelling of the Glaaki which it seemed to be right above the Lamp and all I could think was it figured. Within moments we could hear the mental call of Buerick and it was time to exit and deal with the Glaaki and acquire the Lamp of Al-Hazred.

As we emerged the first thing that assailed my senses was the stench and while I will admit I had participated in some interesting rituals during my times with the Loki cult what with demons and other creatures and I shall leave those details for another time it was still bad. So from what I could see we had emerged into what looked like a passageway that opened into a huge water filled pit that seemed to be over four hundred feet across and at least sixty feet deep. On an alcove around two hundred feet away was where Swami Donnie had told us the Lamp was to be located which ironically was right below the body of the Glaaki sixty feet below. Of course let me not forget there were a number of tentacles extending from the Glaaki into what I had to assume were its zombie minions of whom there were several and the Glaaki itself seemed to resemble a porcupine with huge teeth and it seemed to be looking at us. It turned out by the way what I had thought was water was actually a pit of foul waste which no doubt was what was giving off the foul stench or perhaps it was the zombie minions or a combination of the two it was hard to tell. I quickly cast a spider climb spell upon myself since falling into the pit was really the last thing I wanted to do. While we discussed our plan Morgan had looked anxious and I asked him if he wanted to try and climb over to the opening and retrieve the Lamp and he seemed eager enough so I cast a spider climb spell on him and told him he could now cling to the wall if he wished. I had actually planned on casting a few other spell like invisibility for him as well as haste spell for the others but I did not have the time. For within moments of me casting the spell on Morgan he climbed out around the ledge and was within seconds pined to the very wall by two quills that had been ejected by the Glaaki and then his skin went pale and he went rigid. Nialla who had been holding a scroll with a lightning bolt spell that Shiron had been worrying about her using began called forth her beautiful shadowy wings and lifted off while reading from scroll and unleashing the lightning bolt from the scroll which actually seemed to hurt the Glaaki. I anticipated that Shiron was soon to be going into combat and while I worried for Morgan I knew for the moment there was nothing I could do and even if the worse had befallen him I knew we had a scroll that could raise from the dead as long as Nialla or I survived so I cast a displacement spell on him which I knew would protect him from the quills of the Glaaki. Buerick had summoned a large Water Elemental that he had directed toward the zombie minions that had basically just become a waste elemental but at least it would help get the job done. Swami Donnie meanwhile had suddenly revealed that he also possessed the power of telekinesis and could lift some of us into the air if we wished and simultaneously he had somehow created a telepathic link between us that enabled us to suddenly be in perfect sync. He had told Shiron he could maneuver him over to the Lamp and then we could withdraw which was a plan which I did not have a problem with. Buerick meanwhile was directing the Water Elemental to deal with the Glaaki tentacles and zombies while Nialla had begun blasting at the Glaaki with her eldritch blasts but she was having I could tell a great deal of difficulty. She had floated back to Morgan to see if he was alright I called out to Buerick to protect himself from the Glaaki poison since I had realized that if he went down we would have to get out of here the hard way and I was glad to see that he did not hesitate to cast the spell my time with the Nymph Aretusa while filled with the joy and pleasure had also focused on the drudical arts so I was glad I could put my knowledge to use to aid our cause. I called to Buerick as Shiron was flung toward the Lamp to please cast the same spell on Morgan and I was thankful to see that he was already doing it. It seemed that Swami Donnie must have been distracted for while he fired his pistol in what seemed an utter act of futility Shiron had missed the alcove entirely. Morgan came conscious and my breath seemed to come back to me and I had not even realized I had been holding it and Nialla called for me to cast a haste I answered her not with words but with action and cast the spell for her so that she would have a better chance of damaging the foul Glaaki. I was glad to see the arrival of Erik from the Stone of Tongues just in time as he received the benefit of the haste spell and dived bravely into the muck and breathed gout of heated plasma upon the Glaaki. I was excited to see him not only for his killer physique but because he was our second strongest physical threat behind Shiron. I had realized before this conflict began that in order to achieve our objective we might very well be on the receiving end of punishment from the Glaaki or its minions which were even now being dealt with by a whirlpool at Buerick’s direction but those quills or something like them was what I had hope to have them both around for while Buerick and Nialla kept the foul creature busy while Morgan or I had managed to reach our goal well I had planned on Morgan while I would be using my magic to support and assist the others as needed. The plan I had put together in my head was working fairly well with the exception of a few kinks and seeing Erik struck repeatedly by the quills was proof that without him we might have really been in trouble. Buerick had needed to cast a neutralize poison on Eric and a delay poison on Shiron while Nialla had managed to score a few strikes on the Glaaki but Shiron had achieved the objective and had acquired a bag that Swami Donnie informed us was the prize we sought. I had pulled my wand of cure light wounds and used it on Morgan and Buerick cast a cure light spell on him as well even Nialla had read the same spell from a scroll for he was still quite literally hanging in there since the quills had him pinned to the wall a point I had made “Hang in there Morgan we are almost out of here.”. I was glad when he had replied “Always Elysia” and Shiron had even gotten into the act and replied “Ah humor on the battlefield I miss it helps build character.”. We had a little confusion when it was time to depart for once Morgan had pulled himself free I transported into the Realm within the Stone but I kept watch on what was going on. There was a moment where I had thought there might have been a problem and I had exited the stone which had drawn a rebuke and confusion from Buerick and Swami Donnie but I explained I needed to be sure everyone was alright. The problem had been that Shiron had been struck by the Glaaki and paralyzed before Buerick had cast the delay poison spell on him and I had been worried while Morgan it seemed who must have been healed by Null with the Realm within the Stone had exited as well when he saw me. With little additional fanfare we were all able to withdraw within the Stone of the Tongues and I had channeled drudical energy to find a location within the Realm where I could clean myself up since the Water Elementals while quite helpful had made sure we all were now covered with the foul muck and waste I for one needed to clean up let the other wallow in the waste if they wished.

We managed to regroup within Realm within the Stone and I sang a danced to a beautiful sylvan song of spring for I was truly filled with joy and excitement so much so I had needed a moment to compose myself. I could feel the pull of the area calling to my Fey nature and I could tell it was growing stronger but now was not the time and as I willed myself back to the other I was just time. I had noted that for quite some time Buerick and Morgan are shall we say not cut from the same sylvan cloth. For while Buerick is more like the Elves of the Fey Realms and Elven Realms one with nature and attuned to magic Morgan is more civilized and truly more like a Half-Elf of Corinthia who spend much of their lives in trade and intrigue. So I was not surprised nor did I feel that Morgan was insulted when at a point when we were discussing magic as well as tactics and Morgan seemed completely overwhelmed by the subject Buerick had reason for harsh comments towards him. In reality Morgan I know likes to downplay his intelligence for reasons of his own so when Buerick had rebuked him and said and I quote “You are an embarrassment to the Elven Race!” I could totally understand his viewpoint from a purely Elven point of view. I could tell that Morgan who I knew had been the last survivor of his Elven Ninja Clan who had always felt like an outsider among Elves and truth be told my Mother was the closest I had ever seen him come to calling one a friend was not doubt used to such treatment. So I decided that for now I would do the same not that it did not bother me. Shiron had begun to empty the contents of the sack he had acquired and within we found more than the just the Lamp of Al-Hazred we also found a strange alchemical healing ointment as well as what Swami Donnie called bara-bonds or forty large which was a fancy way to carry money in smaller packaged kind of like gems which Buerick was wise enough to notice and which Swami Donnie had confirmed. It seemed we had acquired around eighty thousand dollars ($80,000) which more than covered the six thousand he claimed he had lost on his two lost cars which was something that Shiron had been concerned about. Then the magic happened for not sooner had I crossed to Nialla as she touched the black Lamp of Al-Hazred it began to speak and speak and speak. For accuracy I realize I needed to write down perhaps a little more than the basics since now we had just received information that gave us insight into the cryptic message we had received on Hyboria. Of course I needed to paraphrase for while it was not the vast about of knowledge which had been imprinted by the first Moonbeast upon my mind which I realized had enabled me to already learn the local language. What we had just received with the exception of the location of the Emerald Spells of Power we needed was an exact breakdown of the plan of attack as well as the location of all the required artifacts to build the Lightning Gun as well as a few additional others that could also prove useful and the icing on the cake knowledge of the races of Emerald. To say the least quite a haul and to be honest even my genius intellect was reeling quite a bit and I really don’t think the others had truly grasped the vast gold mine we had just acquired. Upon further thought I will create a separate document which will include all of the information we had gained for the other to review at the leisure for I had noticed whenever I tried to explain the complexities of our situation only my beloved Nialla and sometimes Morgan even seemed to be paying attention. On the up side we have gained a stock ally in the form of Swami Donnie for while being present and being aware of all of the major groups in possession of devices we needed he came to realize that what we were doing was far too important for him to not to assist us for it of course involved the eventual destruction of his world as well. So while we now had him in our confidence I came up with a cover story that we were unable to dispatch the Glaaki which in actuality Swami Donnie had felt was a trap set by the Fascist anyway we would stick with the story that we had recovered money and leave the Lamp within the Realm within the Stone. Buerick with the aid of his shape changing abilities and the UHF tracker that Swami Donnie had been carrying was able to reach the cars and we headed back to the estate of Starving Marvin. On the way back I sat with Swami Donnie and we covered some additional information using my message spell in order to maintain privacy his history which had began as a De’Moulay and ended when he had refused to fire on fifteen thousand (15,000) civilians during a Hub raid on a Ves stronghold. Since that time around five years ago he had been on his own he shared with us that Starving Marvin’s was retired for the most part and now ran a number of used car lots hence the plethora of cars around his place. He also shared that he was the Boss and I covered with him our situation with the Ves, Hub and Psi Corp and he let us all know he would check and see just how hot we really were. I kept in the back of my mind what the Moonbeast Commander had said about Ves Beach being a place of safety and to be honest I had a feeling we would be lucky to have another safe night pass at Starving Marvin’s so I realized I needed some of that cash now if possible. I was child’s play to acquire an advance on the bara-bonds and soon I was in possession of ten thousand dollars ($10.000) and while we still only had limited number of reds I also reminded Swami Donnie that we needed papers and the sooner but the better was what we needed and he had informed me things like that would be no problem. What did go thru my mind briefly was something that Donnie had said back when he had first seen the Stone of Tongues and he had said the it had looked like an ancient orb relic of legend to him. All I could think was I hoped not as we rode to a bathhouse so the others to get cleaned up but then again the more mysteries to solve the better I always say. It had so far been a good day but this was Emerald and it was far from over and now was not the time to let our guard down for I had a feeling we were going to have to deal with that Red Menace strike team any time now and then there was the list which I would not even go into at the moment. Well from what I could tell we were not exactly on a time limit so we had perhaps some time to plan since in reality while a lot had already happened we had not even been on Emerald for a week yet and while paradox’s aside I know that could be considered subjective for I was going to stay positive everyone was alive and while we might not be planning a big fun filled party I for one was going to have a drink and cherish the good times for we now had a road map and while I will admit it did seem just a little odd how so many diverse groups seemed to have items we needed it did not matter we were Hyborians and woe be to those who were foolish enough to stand in our way.