The Black Gem is Destroyed

Victory comes with a deadly cost 19DEC20

DEC/20

Things go well until they don’t:

Oni watched as the group rested in the ghost room. Oni took up a position near the southern hall. He kept looking at the crypt in the hall. David had said that a lizardman vampire had shoved souls within it. He wanted to open it. He stared at it as if he could see through it. He thought to Herman to see if he wanted to come out for a little treat. Herman refused. All the hairs on Oni’s neck popped. Herman always new about danger. He shifted his gaze from the crypt to the hall beyond. A ghost knight was coming down the hall towards them.

Oni yelled: “We have company.”

Sora: “one of the ghost things is coming up the stairs.”

Mar’iya: “we have movement over here too.”

They were not going to get rest yet. Oni moved into the hall to block his ghost from the rest of the group, “I got this one.” Sora blocked the stairs. She and David attacked it. Mar’iya lead the attack against the third. Oni held the line. The other two ghosts flanked Sora. Luckily Oni had placed some magical protection upon her. David extended his psionic blades and protected them both. Oni held the line. Once the rest of the team finished off the two ghosts, they came back to help him. Mar’iya came in and gave Oni’s ghost knight its final death.

Oni stared at the crypt some more. As they sat there and caught a little rest, they had to make plans.

Oni: “should we open that crypt?”

Selise: “that would set ghost free to attack us.”

Mar’iya: “yeah, I do not think we know what would happen.”

Oni: “so we move on to the secret door.”

Naga: “We need a longer rest.”

Selise: No, we cannot rest in this cursed place. It is not safe.”

Oni Thought: “I need to work with her on her fears and cowardice.”

Oni: “I think Selise is right, we cannot rest in this place another day.”

Oni smiled his support over to his sister. She was nervous and did not hardly look back.

Mar’iya: “Okay, let’s head over to the secret door.”

Oni: “if things start to go bad, someone should fall back to the crypt and open it.”

Selise and David stood in front of the secret door. It was odd that David was helping her and not Mar’iya. Selise was bounding with David more now than Mar’iya and he could feel it. He was on the north end of the hall. He was giving Selise the distance she now needed. He was stoic but Oni could read him. Oni might be the only one who could. He was the only one Mar’iya had let in, even a little. Oni could see his concern for his sister. He could now feel Mar’iya’s concern for all of them. Even in his stoic manor watching over all of us now, he truly was a new man from the one that Oni met so many months ago.

David finally broke their investigative silence, “the door is not here.” Selise, now a little snarkier, “was it ever here.” Mar’iya was with David when they found the door. He knew that David had found it , but they were both looking for it and so now that was partly his victory as well. He sighed as he spoke, “try the words from the scrolls.” David spoke the three words, “Darkness, Death, Memories.” The wall magically changed revealing Magical symbols. As David examined them, he released they were magical hinges and a door outline, but it was not quite complete, “the door is not complete.”

Mar’iya: “we should try and find another scroll.”

Oni: “we have two doors to check.”

Sora: “where?”

Oni: “up in the northern section of this chamber. I think the door on left goes to the room where David saw the undead. We should try the door on the right.”

Selise: “let me check it out.”

Selise moved up to the door on the left, nodded and stepped away even before David and Mar’iya where there. She was clearly wanting to do the door checks on her own and no longer needed them. Sora moved up to the door. Sora reached out to open the door. All the hair on Oni’s arms moved as electricity moved through the room. A blast of lightning shot out and crashed into Sora. Selise turned to face the group, “opps, I missed that.” Sora looked at Selise with a new level of distain. Oni knew that Sora was trying to figure out if Selise was getting even for the cursed sword attacks from the pyramid.

Sora must have decided it was just a mistake as she moved into the hall beyond the door. The hall led to two chambers with two crypts labeled, Lilith and Lareth. One of the crypts reached out with its electrical fingers to attack Sora again. Each had some undead monster within. We tried to pull back to more easily attack them. Sora and David stayed long enough to kill one of these wraiths. Oni was trying to draw the second out into the main chamber. Before it came after him, it noticed David and would never leave the tomb. Oni rushed in to help re-kill it.

Oni fell back to guard the main chamber as the David and Mar’iya started to search the room. They found a beautiful set of gems, but no scroll. David handed them to Mar’iya who looked at them, “they look like the eyes for the five.” Oni then looked over to the other door. Selise went up to check the next door. She nodded again and walked off.

Oni: “Selise, are you sure?”

Selise: “yep, no trap.”

Oni: “Are you sure, you have been wrong twice.”

Selise: “Yes”

Sora opened the door a crack: “I see the three in there.”

Selise: “I could sneak in there and try and grab the scroll.”

David: “do you think, you can do that?”

Selise: “I am quite stealthy, I worked hard at it in Raam.”

Oni was finally feeling proud of his sister. Most of the time she would run and abandon the group, but now she was stepping up to solve a great problem and maybe even do it safely. Oni looked over at the other door, “If you run into trouble I will charge in from over there.” Mar’iya moved over to the other door to back up Oni. Selise moved into the room.

Oni waited for some disaster to happen. He just knew it was not possible to sneak around undead. He knew they could sense the living, no matter how quiet they were. He waited for the scream. Herman shuffled into his sleeve. Oni almost charged into the room for the tiny movement. Time clicked by in the slowest of moments. Seconds became hours. Oni was in agony. Would Selise even be able to scream out. Just as he was about to go in, she stepped back out of the room from the same door she had entered. Oni could not believe it. What had she learned in Raam. He would need to talk to her and see if he could learn from her skills.

In Selise’s hand was a scroll gently rolled up, “it says RESPECT.” Oni marveled in her stealth and arrogance. Not only had she snuck into the crypt and taken the scroll but had taken the time to read it before coming backout with it. She handed the scroll to Mar’iya. David ran over to the hall with the coin on the floor. He looked at the wall, “Darkness, Death, Memories, Respect.”

Sora opened the door. It revealed a small room with a door on the for side. There were two crypts and four vessels that poured blood into the crypts. Sora and David flooded into the room. The door had a message carved into it, “Bury deep, Pile on stones, my mind will always, Dig up those bones.” Oni hated this part of their quest, “great, a riddle.” Mar’iya loved this part, “Maybe the words on the scrolls will help.” Before anyone could start to figure out the riddle two vampires came from the two crypts and attacked.

As a Vampire died a new one seemed to be born from the blood vats. Oni was battling on one end of the room, “Naga smash the crypts.” He charged in and smashed it with his club. Selise screamed, “the door is opening.” Oni thought, “how the hell did that happen.” Was this very crypt against them. Naga charged in again and smashed the crypt again. Nothing was changing. Selise screamed again, “There is more writing on the door, should I read it.” Mar’iya wanted to deal with the current situation, “no. We will deal with it later.” Overt concern had now left Selise’s voice, “never mind, it is opening too.”

Another two vampires were dropped, and another two came in to replace them. Naga moved in and smashed on of the vessels. It shattered and stopped flowing blood. Oni noticed the vessels now for the first time. This was just like the realm of the gods. He just noticed it for the first time but knew he had known about it the whole time. Selise started to shift toward the door, “another door and its opening.”

A new threat came strolling out from the doors. A thin lizard vampire strolled from the doors. Somehow the gods have given all of them the name of this most vile creature, “Rach.” He came out and attacked without mercy. He attacked Sora. She turned gray and dropped to the ground. Everyone knew she doomed to become a minion of his. She was lost. Rach phased through the wall. Oni charge out of the room stepped into the north chamber and launched lightning at it from the staff. He wanted to harm it in the same way his tomb had hurt her. Oni ran back past the door, “we need to open that crypt.” Selise ran past Oni to the crypt. Rach phased back in and killed Naga in the same way as Sora. Oni knew they had lost. Mar’iya ran past them into the far chamber to destroy the gem. He could not. He grabbed the gem

Selise could not open the crypt. Rach phased into the hall between Oni and Selise. Oni wanted to protect her.

The Shattered Gem and a Shattered Life:

The only sound that could be heard throughout the entire tomb was Oni screaming out, “NO!!!”, Oni stood there screaming out in pain. In his mind he knew he should try to warn the others, but he could not. Herman was the only one who would know in this instant. Herman reached out to the others trying to help them, but Oni was the only who ever heard his thoughts. A Warning could not go out.

Que: The Beastie Boys Sabotage

Thoughts raced through Oni’s head. Physically he could do nothing but cry out his unhelpful no. His mind raced. He had to process everything here. In his mind he reached out to Herman alone:

“I can’t stand it, I know you planned it

I’m gonna set it straight, this Watergate

I can’t stand rocking when I’m in here

‘Cause your crystal ball ain’t so crystal clear

So while you sit back and wonder why

I got this fucking thorn in my side

Oh my God, it’s a mirage

I’m tellin’ y’all, it’s a sabotage”

Mar’iya showed up in the hall between Oni and Selise. She had changed. She was now the living avatar of Nuatuhl. They were never going to make it out of here alive. Oni could not make himself attack her again. The main force that they depended upon was lost. Sora would have attacked this evil avatar of Selise but Oni could not even think of it with out her. He was done. He was still crying out as Mar’iya handed him the Black gem. His thoughts raced as he screamed out in his own head.

“So, so, so, so listen up ‘cause you can’t say nothin’

You’ll shut me down with a push of your button?

But you, I’m out and I’m gone

I’ll tell you now, I keep it on and on”

“’Cause what you see you might not get

And we can bet, so don’t you get souped yet

You’re scheming on a thing that’s a mirage

I’m trying to tell you now, it’s sabotage"

Oni held the gem in his hand. Thoughts flooded his mind. Tears flowed down his face. He knew he was not going to attack her, and he knew he was not going to survive. His screams of no changed. He was still screaming out at the top of his lungs, but it changed to “why”. He just yelled out why over and over.

“Why”

“Our backs are now against the wall?

Listen all y’all, it’s a sabotage

Listen all y’all, it’s a sabotage”

Oni placed the gem on the floor and flung the staff is a giant arch smashing it where it sat. They might die today. They had lost, but he would smash that gem in his final act of defiance towards Tiamat and his sister. His brain still raced. Again, he thought. Herman was safe but was blasting Oni with his own words of support.

“I can’t stand it, I know you planned it

I’m gonna set it straight, this Watergate

Lord, I can’t stand rockin’ when I’m in this place

Because I feel disgrace because you’re all in my face

But make no mistakes and switch up my channel

I’m Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle

What could it be? It’s a mirage

You’re scheming on a thing, that’s sabotage”

Oni took off running. His cries changed again. He cried out, “Run.” He hoped the last of them could make it out of the temple. He hoped that somehow, he could find help from his godly friend Arnia out in the light of the day. He ran for the second time in these so many months. Even if he died he felt good that he had made Badna, the black head vulnerable again. Someone would pick up the mantle where they had left off. The gods were back, and Tiamat could not stop that now.

Mar’iya was infinitely smarter than Oni, He ran, but before running he laid out a quick prayer to the Morninglord, “help us with the dawn of the day.” He started to run and teleport. David was the slowest in the group and was attacked several times before finding the exit to the tombs. Somehow Selise could never hit him. She tried several times and that slowed her down just enough.

Oni reached the plaza. He stopped right in the middle. It was now above the sand. It was cleaning and healing itself just like the pyramid. The sun was high in the sky. It was several hours after mid-day. Oni had hoped it was dawn, so that his staff could recharge as he recharged with his god. He heard Mar’iya behind him. He looked down and his own hands now glowed as if giving off their own light. He looked up to the sun. He heard Selise. She had become the White Rider and reach the secret door at the far end of the temple. Oni reached out his voice to the sky, “ We have given up so much. You have rebirthed, Mar’iya, David, and me. Please help up great god of dawn and protect us.”

A sound entered his mind. He knew that this same voice pounded into everyone else as well. “You may control the night, but it is not night. I control the dawn again.” Time stopped and rolled back several hours as the sun moved back to the dawn’s horizon. Just before going dark again, the sun broke as the dawn. The staff in Oni’s hand warmed again as the dawns power filled it again. A wall of light formed over the temple and covered it completely. Oni was just outside the light dome. He knew this was protecting him. He smiled through his still teary face.

Mar’iya continued to run out of the temple and past the light dome. Oni turned. He felt his entire body a glow. David finally reached to secret door. Oni needed to distract the beast that Selise had become. He surrounded her in a wall of fire. David ran past her. She stepped out for one last attack on David. With the dawns glory she missed again. David ran out to the plaza. The White Rider was trapped. Likely not for long but she was trapped. Without saying a word, they ran out into the desert. They wanted to make as much time as possible before she could come after them.

After about an hour they stopped to rest and drink water. They all looked at each other. David cried quietly. Mar’iya had his stoic stone face again. Oni had only one thing on his mind and wanted to make sure both David and Mar’iya knew what it was, “Agis dies.”

Herman and the Gods:

Herman moved into a tunnel that led to his personal space. Whenever he felt danger he would go into his safe space. He hated leaving his friend Oni, but he wanted to be safe. It was his place to think. He looked about his workspace. He had a very comfortable chair next to a desk. He was writing a book on the desk. His little bug facial features twitched as he read the title of the next section. He often wrote as things happened but from time to time thoughts and Ideas came to him before the events revealed themselves.

He gave up trying to tell Oni about these unrevealed things. For some reason beyond Herman infinitely smart mind in this space, some thoughts and ideas could not be supplied to Oni. He just could not form the thoughts within his own bug mind. Initially it frustrated Herman as he wanted to warn Oni, but now he just accepted it as it was. He stared at the title of the new section, “Selise becomes the White Rider.” Herman would just stay in here for a while.

A bell rang. Over in one corner of the room was a bell hanging from the ceiling. Ceiling is not correct as this space did not really have walls or ceilings. So, a string dropped from the space above where it attached. It was a linked out of his space into another space. It rang again. Resting on a small side table next to the bell, a letter rested. Someone was sending him a message. Herman hoped it was another game of Canasta. He loved playing and taking those fools to the bank. Plus, they bring snacks.

Herman opened the note. It was indeed an invite to play Canasta. It had a sting of warning in it as well. He could not tell the future, but they could. This was not good. Herman knew that if Oni died while he was in his private space he would only survive here. Oni was the material connection for his space. He had many other connections in his space, but only Oni could connect him into the real world. Herman often visited friends that could no longer connect to the real world. He wondered if he could invite them to his space and let them out into the world through Oni. He had talked to several and no one had tried this before. At some point he would try it.

Kelu, a cute little mammal worried that once through the Herman/Oni connection he would be lost in the world alone forever. The two of them had visited many familiar friends looking for the answer to this very question. Many of the space citizens write books about their adventures and the adventures of their masters. There was even a great library within the space community. No one had any writings about using someone else’s connection. Herman worried he was going to be trying it soon for himself.

The note read, “Please come and play Canasta. It is important you come now. I have your favorite snack. Torm”

Herman headed to Lathander’s great plain of light. It was not as great as it once was, but it was still pretty awesome. He stepped out of the tower. The horned beast Torm, had already set up a table. A big bowl and a deck of cards were sitting on the table. Llira was dancing up with five bottles of wine. The smile across face was infectious. Selune was sitting at the table with a new godly friend. This blue cobra looking snake had his tale wrapped around the entire area of the table. This snake could see in all directions. Its entire body was covered in eyes. Herman knew these were all seeing eyes. This god saw all. Herman did not want to play cards with him. He was not going to be able to beat him like the other fools here. They brought in a ringer. Herman worried for Oni.

Herman walked up to the table. He pulled out his pipe and smoking weed. He reached out one of his many bug hands to the new snake god, “Hi, I am Herman. What is your name?” The snake looked at Herman with a small portion of his eyes, “I know who you are.” Selune laughed a little, “Oh Savras, don’t be rude. Herman this is Savras. He has dominance over magic and knowledge.” Selune elbowed Savras in the side. He reached out a hand to shake Herman’s. His hand like all things on the plain now existed and always existed. Selune smiled back at Herman, “He is a really good canasta player.”

Herman started to smoke. Torm loved to share Herman’s pipe. The two of them smoked much of Herman’s weed. They started to play cards. Herman reached into the bowl for some snacks. Torm and Herman were the only ones that liked the little brown crunchy balls of dung. Herman loved the crunchiness of them. They played cards. Selune was right. Savras was a really good card player. He seemed to know every card played and every card about to played. Herman won a couple of hands but thought it might be Savras letting him win.

Herman heard Oni’s voice scream out, “NO!!!!!!!”. His antenna and little bug hairs jumped to attention. Herman knew something was wrong. Herman looked over to the big window. In the window Herman and all of them could see Oni and where he was. Herman saw Selise had changed. He knew this was the moment. Why had the gods drawn him here? Lathander walked gently up to Herman. Still in the form of Arnia she reached her hand out to him, “You will be safe here.” She had a slight smile trying to comfort Him, “No matter what happens, you are safe here.”

Herman understood. They were not sure the outcome of this change. They had foreseen the change but could not see the next step. They did not know if Oni would live or die. Herman in an instant knew that Sora and Naga were dead. Grief and Pain were pulsing through both David and Oni. They were in great mental anguish. All of them started to watch the window. This moment was important. Herman understood, the gods are not all powerful. They cannot even see the outcome of the truly important events. So, they watched.

From here Herman could feel Oni. He did not know if Oni could feel him. He felt pulses of rage and despair. Oni had to pass through his despair to move forward. Herman tried to send him a message in that moment. The gods had all gathered around Herman watching. All of them hoping Oni made the right choice. Arnia put her hand on Herman again, “he needs to crush the gem.” Herman tried to give Oni all his support and to tell him to smash that blackest of all gems. Herman looked at her, “can we help him.” She did not answer but nodded her head no.

Oni no longer screamed no. He was now crying out, “WHY.” Tears poured down his face. Herman knew him best. This was a good sign. Oni was moving through his emotions. Herman fell to one leg. Oni’s thoughts poured into him. Rage, Anger, Revenge. These were the thoughts that Oni now felt. Herman watched Oni place the Gem on the group. All of the gods shifted slightly towards the window. One name came through to Herman from Oni, “Agis.” All of Oni’s pain and suffering had moved to one person. Agis was everything that Oni hated. Oni swung the staff in a great circle and slammed down upon the gem. It shattered into billions of pieces.

Selune changed. Lathander did as well. The two of them more solid, more real. Llira giggled. She was about to join them in the new world. Savras touched her on her shoulder, “I do not think it is your time yet. Without a doubt the world needs your joy, but they need knowledge more.” She looked into all the snake eyes, “you are correct, knowledge is what they need today. Joy will come soon. Take with you the knowledge of the next gem. Can you do that?” Savras looked back not seeing anything but Llira, “I will reach out to Wink, and see if I can share it with her.”

They watched as Oni, David, and Mar’iya ran out of the temple. With the second gem smashed new gods connected and the power of Lathander increased. Using his power, he reset the day and gave the second dawn. With the new dawn the White Rider was trapped, and they could run off into the desert. Herman placed his pipe into his shell, “it is time for me to go.” As he left into the tower Arnia spoke, “Remember, you will always find safety here.”