House of Long Shadows Pt. 5

*For the first entry in a long time, this one seems to possess colors upon the pages and an sense of life the previous pages were lacking *

It turns out Fengie isn't exactly the cleverest of Oni (what a huge surprise). His main skill set involves hitting things. Suffice to say he didn't exactly know much of use to us on the layout of this place or where the Prince is. That and the way his eyes bulged and rotated in their sockets sent shivers down my back.

That could have been attributed to the lack of sake at the time, of course. I only had a couple drips left at this point.

He did know a little on the surrounding rooms leading from the chamber. Besides the door we came through, there are four ways we can leave. From the entry, the door to the left lead to a library that was home to some mad sorcereress named Eluta and her apprentice, Seren. Supposedly there was some kind of affection between the two and Fengie mentioned that only Seren can calm the sorceress at all when she gets into a fit. The right doorway is heavily barricaded and leads to a kennels of some sort. Fengie mentioned something powerful had been locked away within it, which is why that path is barricaded. The other doors are on the far side, one above the other on the second floor balcony. The top door leads to a hallway and some bedrooms. The last doorway on the bottom floor leads to some manner of courtyard. That door is forbidden for any of the Oni or residents to enter which sounds promising.

We started with the left door, Aiko picking the lock and everyone bustling in. I was expecting another brutal fight like the wizard we encountered earlier. It was only seconds before we had disabled the man, Seren, and Aiko had both him and the sorceress bewitched by the same magic that caused Fengie to follow us so loyally. The room did have a few other features that were worth noting. It was a two story chamber with a huge number of books. Unlike the books in the previous wizard's room, quite a few had passages written in them by the Oni. The large books were heavy, but we were able to stuff most of them away in one of the magical bags. Aiko figured they were worth 5,000 gold or so.

The real treasure we found though was a map displayed prominently on the wall of Seiya Zei. It was from many years ago when Seiya Zei and Akerfall were a single continent and ruled by the Oni. The historical value of such a work is incredible, but more importantly it showed the old Oni fortresses and cities, places that very possibly could be hiding the relics we are seeking. Suffice to say we snatched it up quite quickly to take with us.

After exiting from there, we tried the barricaded doorway to the kennels. After Keisuke broke us through the debris, a lone shadowy mastiff stood before our group and loosed a bone-chilling howl. Now, we can (and do) argue often about who exactly lead the retreat from its howl...I still say it was Baoji, but regardless over half our ranks turned tail and fled leaving Aiko, the Princess, and the sorceress Eluta as the only ones not affected by its fearsome unnatural cry. The walk back to rejoin them would have been a sobering experience if I wasn't already from the extreme lack of alcohol at that point.

With the beast dispatched, there was a few useful items scattered about the debris (a wand and necklace I believe) which we collected. A single, long hallway left the kennels. The hall grew darker the further we went and lead us to a door that was chained shut with runic, evil-looking writing all over it. The princess informed us it radiated an aura of conjuration but she couldn't tell much more than that. After a short discussion we decided to leave whatever fel creature was locked away for the moment and check one of the other doors first.

We tried the bottom door, not realizing what laid in store for us.

We stepped into a dark, rounded chamber with a large mirror, glowing with silver light, sitting on a pedestal in the center of a huge, pitch-black pond. As we entered, the shadows seemed to dance excitedly and stretch out, covering the walls. We had found Hai Ukumi, the shadow mirror that locked away Ushi-Oni.

Before we could so much as react the shadows lashed out, grabbing the traitorous sorceress, her attendant, and Fengie. Fengie struggled mightily, but the other two were pulled into the shadowy walls and sucked in quickly. We formed a defensive line and used blade and spell to fend off the grasping shadowy tendrils that lashed toward us. It was a brutal battle...the shadows seemed endless, with Ushi-Oni's mocking laughter echoing throughout the chamber constantly even as he had Bogden's voice begging us to save him.

We began to push our way toward the pool and mirror, though even as we did shadowy figures began to grow from the pool and charge us. What started as four soon doubled...and doubled again, an unlimited army of shadowy undead rising to stop us. We were being overwhelmed slowly but a loss seemed inevitable.

It was when things looked their bleakest that it turned around suddenly. Everyone was covered in wounds with little resources left to use. Suddenly, Keisuke fell one of the shadow undead and rushed the mirror, leaping high with his hammer grasped tightly. The room flooded with blue light shining off of him, much the same as when we encountered Skaetis, and he smashed the mirror in a single mighty blow. The living shadows suddenly vanished as Ushi-Oni cried out one last time before dying, hopefully for good. Eluta, Seren, and Fengie emerged from the shadows that were binding them. The first pair were dead, though Fengie had managed to survive. Most importantly, the Princess pulled Prince Bogden's body from the shadowy waters of the pond and cradled him close. He was alive, though unconscious.

I still haven't had the time to really ponder how Keisuke managed to destroy a being that the Lady Pandora herself only trapped. It's something I'll need devote more time to consider later, but suffice to say we didn't have a lot of time to ponder anything as the entire plane began to shudder violently. It was falling apart without the mirror and its master to sustain it!

With few options and a lot of pressure, we headed toward the chained door in the kennels. Perhaps the conjuration magic upon it lead to a way out we figured. A costly mistake it turned out to be.

The plane was coming apart all around us and when we entered the hallway there was what could only be called a river of shadows with rapid currents flowing. It suddenly surged and sucked a number of us in. Most quickly pulled their way back to the surface and as we caught our breath, the Princess cried out that Kiyoko wasn't here. Without hesitation I dived back in, finding her hand in the inky blackness and pulling her back to the surface, sputtering but otherwise alright.

Between Keisuke's amazing strength and some rope we were eventually able to get everyone across and found our way to the locked door once again.

The wards and chains broke away easily, too easily, and we were face to face with a terrifying demonic monster holding a...glaive? No that doesn't seem right. A hammer?  I can't quite seem to recall correctly now. Odd.

Regardless after the draining fight against Ushi-Oni we were really in no shape to battle the creature. This is a battle I do not recall well. The only memory that really stands out was when it slashed through Baoji then closed on Aiko and cut her down. I went...numb at that point and dashed to her, pulling her body outside the chamber. I think it may have struck at my back while I ran, but I didn't feel it if so. She wasn't breathing, her heart had stopped beating. There was no life in her at all. I used every potion I had on her to no effect.

With tears streaming down my face, I felt a strangely comforting hand upon my shoulder. It was Kiyoko, assuring me to have faith in the Dark Empress. Aiko could be saved. It was...perhaps a long shot, but it was the only glimmer of hope I had at that point and I held onto it for dear life.

Cradling Aiko's limp body I ran with the others. I found out later it was Keisuke you finally managed to kill the demonic being and afterward he took its weapon, a terrifyingly power hammer that steals the life from foes before grabbing Baoji.

The last slap in the face was when Aiko had fallen her power charming Fengie had vanished...and of course, the treacherous fiend betrayed us and fled during the battle with the other demonic foe, making for an even worse battle than it might have been otherwise.

Regardless, we ran with everything we had, past the Oni that rose up against us and the plan that was shattering and coming down all around us. Eventually we arrived back into the room we had first arrived in. In the roof we could see a tiny pinprick of light, the first light we had really seen that wasn't muted and dim since arriving. It was perhaps the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. We leapt toward it.

The next thing we all knew we were sprawled out in the middle of the Haytoma's streets. It had been a ten-day since we had initially vanished, even though it felt like only perhaps a single day to us. At this point Prince Bogden woke up and he and the Princess shared a tender reunion. I admit I missed most of it, I was still cradling Aiko's  broken body and that was about all I could focus on at that point.

I can say that Kiyoko was right, the Dark Empress brought Aiko back to us through the Prince. While I can't say what exactly Prince Bogden did with that strange machine of his, there was a mighty flash of lightning and Aiko was awake, if still badly injured. He was able to do the same for Baoji as well, thank goodness. But they were both alive! Never have I felt such relief!

The guard arrived shortly after and escorted the Prince, Princess, and Kiyoko back to the palace in town. We were treated with extreme suspicion at first, but let go when they realized the part we had played in everything (both the Prince, Princess, and Kiyoko vouching for us helped a lot).

We're now making our way back to the Inn for some well deserved rest. I can hardly wait to sleep. Aiko can certainly use it too, she's still not in great shape by any means. I feel like I could sleep for a few days at this point! 

...right after I get a quick drink.