Chapter 22 Part 2

There, in the corner of the small room was Dylan's heart's desire. She was curled up in a small helpless ball trying not to look at them.

Dylan ran across the room and knelt next to Cindy. He reached out and touched her arm.
"Cindy," he called to her softly.

With a start, she turned toward him, eyes wide and trembling. "No more, please. I want to wake up. Don't torture me like this."

"No Cindy," Crystal added as she too knelt next to Dylan. "It's not a dream. We're here to take you home."

"No," she shook her head. It was plain she wanted desperately to believe her eyes, but dared not or risk her sanity. "It’s another trick."

"You don't believe your eyes," Dylan said gently, then he took her face in his hands. "Then believe your heart," he gave her a long and tender kiss.

At first she tried to withdraw from him, but as the kiss lingered and he poured all his heart into it, he felt her reach out to him and hold him close to her with the strength of desperation.

"That's enough kids," Crystal interrupted. Dylan pulled back and Cindy's eyes were fastened on him filled with adoration and hope.

"You came for me," she wept.

"Of course I did," Dylan told her. "I would have come, even if I had had to do it alone, but as you can see, he nodded to Crystal, who was standing and walking to the door, I didn't have to. Coran, Rathe and Master Gage are here too."

Dylan helped Cindy to her feet and out of her cell. Coran came trotting over to them. "Are you okay, Little Bit?"

Cindy clung to Dylan like a drowning child to a bit of driftwood. "I think so," she answered. "Just get me out of here and home."

"Well we can't leave just yet," Coran broke the news to her. "We still have to find that staff or things back home are going to get worse and we will all wind up back here again."

Cindy looked as if she were about to cry. Crystal put a hand on the girl's shoulder in comfort. "Gage, can't we send her and Dylan back ahead of time?"

"We could, but that would alert the greater devils that we are here. They would come after the rest of us and they could follow the spell to attack Dylan and Cindy unarmed back home. Believe it or not, until we all can travel together, they are safer here with us."

"Why do you have to stay?" Cindy was on the verge of tears and begging.

"We have to get the Ebony Staff. The devils are using that to control all the undead back home. Someone named Miguel Blackheart is a slave here and is using it."

"I've seen him," Cindy told them. "They keep him in this tower at the very top. I saw him when I was first brought here, and he had a black staff. At first I thought it was Coran, but much older. I think it must have been the dark hair and eyes."

"To the top of the tower then," Coran urged. He led them back to the stairs and he and Rathe performed the same routine on three floors before they had the first hint of trouble. On the fifth level, there were three devils on guard, instead of the usual two. One of the guards managed to get off a cry of alarm before Rathe killed him too.

"That cuts it," Rathe swore. "The fat's in the fire now."

Coran turned to Crystal and Dylan. "Set all the prisoners on this floor free, quickly."
Dylan ran. He unbolted a door and opened it then ran to the next door. By the time he had gotten to the end of the curving corridor, he had opened nine cells. He ran back to the landing, dodging stunned prisoners as they stumbled out of their cells. Then they rushed up the stairs. At the next landing, they rushed the devils again, but this time they were expected.

Rathe managed to kill the lesser devil with his axe, but Coran's attack was thwarted when he suddenly fell to the ground entangled in thick webbing. The other devil was beginning another spell when nine jolts of light slammed into its chest from Gage's fingers. The devil staggered and fell to its knees. Then Rathe's axe finished the job.

Again, Crystal and Dylan rushed down the corridor turning the prisoners loose. He almost hated to do it. At first he had not understood why they were freeing the prisoners when they had not before, but as he thought on it he understood that Coran was using the former prisoners as fodder to slow attacks from below. It seemed wrong to throw those lives away like that, but in a way, at least they were being given the chance to die free and to have purpose.

As they approached the next level, their approach was observed and the devil guards charged down the stairs to in attack. Gage loosed a blast of flames which sent the minor devils flying in all directions. The other devils countered with flames of their own, but Gage had been ready for that, and threw up a wall of ice to block the flames. Then after the flames had passed, Gage followed the wall with a ram of pure force turning the shards of ice into daggers that inflicted massive damage to the enemy.

They won the next landing and again released all the prisoners. As they again took to the stairs, they could hear scuffling below and yells of pain and anguish mixed with cries of rage.

"We don't have a lot of time," Coran warned as he ran up the stairs two at a time. Rathe and Gage were hot on his heels with Crystal, Dylan and Cindy following.

When they got to the last landing, it was empty of devils. Coran drew to a stop and cautiously rounded the corner. There was a blast of flame and Dylan saw Coran flung backwards against the wall and fall in a heap.

Rathe charged and Gage paused only long enough to pull a glass rod from his shoulder bag. Then he too ran around the corner. Crystal stopped at the corner and did not allow Dylan or Cindy to follow until she had peeked around to see what waited.

There before them was a greater devil. It was huge, no less than twice the size of Rathe. The space was plenty large enough for it to spread its wings if it was so inclined. They were at the top of the tower and there was no roof.

Gage loosed a bolt of lighting and the monstrosity waved irritably and sent the energy flying into the rock walls, gouging a deep furrow. With the backswing of its hand, the creature creamed Rathe along the side and slammed him into the opposite wall.

Gage took a step backwards as Crystal grabbed Coran's dropped sword and rushed forward to stand by Gage. Dylan then was able to watch the scene from the corner.
He saw Gage rummaging frantically in his shoulder pack as the devil stepped in towards him and swiped at him also.

The nimble elf dodged the attack, but in doing so, fell backwards, the contents of his shoulder pack spilling out. A scroll tube rolled all the way back to the corner where Dylan reached out and grabbed it.

Desperate for a way to help, Dylan opened the case and pulled the scroll from inside. It was sealed with a wax spell-bond. Dylan knew enough about those to know that whatever spell the scroll contained, anyone could cast it, even a child. It required only breaking the seal.

Dylan turned the scroll over and saw the writing on the outside. He read the spell name and description. It was labeled as a frost hammer. Dylan did not know if it would help, but his master was in dire need of even a distraction.

Stepping around the corner, Dylan raised the scroll and broke the seal. The scroll unrolled itself and burst into flame. The flames clung to Dulan's hand, but did not burn him. Instinctively, he knew what to do and he thrust his hand out with his fingers pointed at the devil.

The flames shot forth and froze in mid-flight into a long pole of solid ice shooting like an arrow through the air. The pole entered the chest of the devil and then skewered the creature. The devil looked shocked as it fell over backwards.

Coran groaned and Cindy helped him to his feet. Crystal and Gage ran to assist Rathe. Dylan grabbed the fallen packs and ran to join his master.

"That was good thinking," Gage told his student as he retrieved the shoulder bag. "It is not what I had in mind, but it did quite well."

Across the opening, beyond the fallen body of the devil, there were two doors. One was open and the room was empty. The other was closed and locked. A barred window near the top showed a dim light within.

Peeking though the window, Crystal saw an older man sitting in a chair. The prison cell was much larger than the ones on the lower level, and was almost luxurious. The furniture was cushioned and clean and there was a variety of food on the table as well as a bottle of wine. The old man was facing away from them, but lying on a table near the door was a staff made of black wood. She could only assume that it was the Ebony Staff.

Crystal was gently, but forcefully pushed aside. A brief glance in the window and then Rathe stepped back and brandished his full weight and strength against the door in a hearty slam. The wood shattered around the lock and the door fell inward. The Minotaan ducked through the doorway and stepped into the cell to allow the others in.

"You are wasting your time," the man in the chair called over his shoulder. He stood and turned to face them. He was handsomely tall with black hair and black eyes. "Only one of my blood can take the staff."

Rathe was still in front of all the others so his was the first reaction. His bovine eyes went wide and there was a grunt in his chest. Finally he answered the old man. "I think we have just that," he said as he stepped aside.

Coran was immediately behind Rathe and when the Minotaan stepped to the side, Coran found himself staring at what might be a mirror. The man before him looked almost exactly like him except for the age. It was amazing.

Miguel Blackheart stared back at the young man he suddenly found himself confronting. "Who are you?" he asked incredulously.

"I am Coran," Son of Avery, who some call The Forester, and Nikki the Druid of the Northern Great Deep.

There was a smirk on the face of the older man. "So the line had not ended after all," he muttered quietly. "Oh how it will infuriate them." He appeared thoughtful for a moment. “You are the Light of Yesteryear.” Finally the older man gestured to the table where the staff lay. "Go ahead. Take it. Your blood will protect you."

"You don't want it?"

"No," Miguel answered. "It has kept me a slave as much as has Asmodeus. With that damned staff gone, they will most likely kill me. At least my torment will be ended."

"You could come back with us," Gage offered.

"No. I am a slave here. I entered slavery willingly in return for my life long ago. I am bound to Nessus now, until I am put to death, a pleasant prospect for one in my position."

Coran wanted to know more. "Why do we look so much alike? Are we related?"

"Yes, and no," Miguel answered. "It is a long story and you do not have time. Perhaps you can ask your father and mother. They can probably tell you more. I admit I very much would like to get to know you, but there is no more time. They are coming."

Shouts could be heard from the stairs, indicating the approach of the guards and probably even greater devils. Miguel placed a hand on Coran's chest. "I am no longer the man I once was. I have changed much and now I have one last duty to perform before I pass on. I charge you live your life as you have been raised. Do not succumb to the passions of power and greed. When you know the truth of your blood, you will know what you must do. Now go." Miguel stepped back and away from them

Gage instructed everyone to gather around as Coran took the staff from the table. It was not made of black wood as it first seemed, but it seemed to be forged from pure shadow. It grew warm in his hand and there was a tingling in his arms.

Gage opened another scroll and began to read from the page. Coran watched Miguel fade away.