Helen Brass shakes me again. “I can’t
believe your here, Alisandrian. Hurry! There could still be people alive in the next
jail cell.”
I sit up slowly, but even still my head
throbs. “Jail cell?” I ask as my eyes
light on the bared door. Beyond it I see
the well of Lantern Hook, which at least suggests the dampness of the stone
floor I’m nestled on.
“I... but what?” I begin to ask, trying to
understand, when a burst of flames shoots by our cage, followed by two servants
of Maelforge. I try and put the pieces
together, but no matter how I place them in my mind I cannot. “What happened?” I ask, standing as steadily
as I can. “What is going on?”
“Maelforge has consumed Telara, Ali.” Helen says quietly as she pulls me towards
the cell door. “We’re all that is left. There is still time though, if you can get
out of here and defeat Maelforge before he burns Lantern Hook to the ground.”
“Me?” I ask stupidly, “You want me to do
it?”
She simply nods as she pushes me into the
cell door. Strangely it opens easily
with only a slight click.
I go to the other jail cell and push on the
cell door. It comes away freely. Puzzled, I walk inside and am further
confused to find the cell empty. I turn
to leave and but an older man, a magician I believe, no not magician, a
sorcerer, is standing behind me. My
fuzzy memory pushes the name Karkh Nistor to the forefront.
“Karkh, can you help me?” I ask him, and somehow
it seems that I have known him, and he has known me, even though I cannot recall
the time or place of our meeting.
He leads me to the entrance to the upper
area of the Hook, but it is blocked by fire.
He seems to consider walking through it and then stops. “If you can keep those dogs at bay, I shall
set to dowsing the fires.” He turns to them
and breaths quickly, as if trying to blow out a small candle, not a raging
flame from the plane of fire.
The flames are extinguished easily, and I
place my hand to my head in confusion and pain.
Perhaps I got a concussion when the servants of Maelforge tossed us into
that cell. That could explain the pain
and confusion. The fuzziness creeps in
around my vision again and I give my thoughts a quick shake. A concussion would not explain the strangeness
of what is happening.
The fuzziness recedes as another of
Maelforge’s dogs come to prevent our entry.
As with Karkh, I remember this invader as if I had always known
him. Mister Opal, my memory persuades.
“Who dares defile the sacred flame?” He shouts at Karkh. “Die!!!”
Karkhl does as commanded and falls to the
ground.
“You?!” He shouts at me as I come up the
ramp. “This is a blessed day. All those years of tolerating your inferior presence
and now I get the honor of tearing out your heart.”
I am confused, as always, when my right
hand reaches across my body and pulls a blade from my belt. I didn’t know I was armed. With one quick slash Opal is defeated,
consumed quickly by the flames.
I climb through the levels of Lantern Hook,
dispatching Maelforge’s minions and his flames.
Unlike so many of the memories I am experiencing, I clearly remember
Lantern Hook. There is no haziness or
confusion surrounding the city, only the flames. I am
not surprised there are no Telaran survivors here. The flames consume every room, every place to
hide. Even still, as I walk to the top,
I continue to blow out the flames, and dispatch the minions. All live here is from the plane of fire.
When at last I reach the outer ledge, the
highest point I ever found it safe to climb to, I find Helen Brass waiting for
me, head in her hands, already fading into dust.
“What happened?” I ask her again, wondering
how she came to be here on this ledge.
“I couldn’t save them, everyone fell to the
fire.” She says with accusation. “Now
you’re all that is left of Telara and Maelforge is coming to consume you as
well.”
“But, I... “She cuts me off and her voice
becomes stronger. Her shape reforms from
the dust she was becoming and she begins to run.
“Hurry, Please. We must go now! I know a place where we may be safe.”
Following her back down through Lantern
Hook, I begin to hear screaming from all sides. As I stop to look for the source of the
distress, the flames fall down around me.
“You punny Ascended cannot stop me! Now you will die!” A voice, deep and resonating, seems to emanate
from the walls of the Hook itself, mixing with the sounds of the screams.
I pull my attention away from locating the
source of the screams and look up through the windows. He cannot fit through the stone slats, but
his fiery breath still rains down on me.
This fire cannot be extinguished with
simple breaths. I run for cover, hoping
to reach the pool before I am unable to move for pain and burns. Lower and lower I descend, and although I
know Maelforge is not following me down into the Hook, his flames continue to
chase me. I reach the pool and dive for
the water.
As I open my eyes below the watery shield I
see the flames licking the stone roof, the intricately carved pillars. The oil candles go up in balls of flames, the
room is consumed, and I see nothing but red, orange, and blue flames as my
vision becomes hazy.
But instead of blacking out, I sit up
panting, gasping for breath.
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