"Thanks Kalthu, you're a lifesaver!" said Valentine. The blond gatekeeper had healed his wounds and changed into fresh clothes. He now sported a stylish deep green outfit with silver runes.
"No problem. It was fun," grinned the Warlord flexing his muscles. "Did you get it? The Lifestone?"
Valentine settled down next to the Witch. The Bello had settled back down when she realised the human and orc did not need her help with the Sentinels. She had returned her attention to the sick one, openly monopolising the Assassin. Poor Laz, he still couldn't move.
In a way, it was good because he was being forced to 'rest' and conserve his Health and Energy. The Assassin looked chagrin and slightly embarrassed. Valentine tried not to smirk. Nah, he'll get used to it. The Bello was o'kay since she wasn't strictly human. Some close contact with females may be good therapy for him.
"Yeah, I did."
Carefully the Thief retrieved the precious Item from his Inventory and held it up. The translucent ball sparkled in his hands reflecting the sunlight in a multi-coloured radiance. It was perfectly round and was the size of a standard baseball.
Valentine turned it around, peering into the sphere. Warmth emanated from the globe making him feel alive.
"It's very powerful. I can feel its life giving properties."
"That isss good. It meansss you have obtained the correct gem, Ghosst Lord."
"What next?" asked Kalthu. "Do we have everything we need?"
The Thief glanced at the paralysed Assassin. The light frost dusting on Lazarus had become more obvious. Quickly Valentine checked Lazarus' Health.
Lazarus, Health 6 per cent (Maximum 6 per cent)
Could Laz survive with only 6 per cent health? Or will he be wiped out instantly? The Annazzosh poison was more deadly than the nauk dzi vras right? He had seen what happened to the Vogeruk stallion when he was injected with the Bello's poison. It was not pretty.
"Laz, I'm not so sure about this. You only have 6 per cent health. You might die."
"What choice do I have? I have to try or I'll never know."
"You sure?"
"It's now or never. Better do it now before my max health drops again."
"Chosen!" Anya whined mentally. A wave of loss and sadness washed over the others in the group. Tania whimpered in reaction.
"It's o'kay Anya. I'm not giving up yet. I'll beat the poison or I'll see you soon. Stay in the Keep."
The Assassin sent as mush love as he could muster. Even the simple mental exercise exhausted him.
"Do it," Lazarus sent with finality. "I'm ready."
Valentine nodded ending the silent conversation.
He addressed the Witch. "How do we make the Annazzosh's antidote? Can you do it?"
The Witch folded the piece of parchment she had been studying. The Banished One had been thorough in his research. His reputation was well earned indeed.
"Yesss Ghosst Lord. I believe we have everything if the Warlord can provide me the rare ziokar herbsss and you the Lifesstone and Water of Life."
Valentine nodded handing over the precious translucent globe and vials of vampires' blood to the Witch. "You make the potion, I'll get the Bello to ... to give Laz the Annazzosh." He might be murdering his best friend with the request he thought sadly.
"Yesss." The Witch turned to the Bello, "Bello?"
"Bel-loo?" the Boss replied sadly. The fragile human nestled within her tentacles was as still and cold as dead fish. She poked him experimentally making his silver eyes refocus on her. "Bello! Chuu~uuu~" she said reassured that he was still alive. Whatever she said made him roll his eyes and blush.
"What did she say?"
"I'm so not telling you," came Lazarus disgruntled mind voice.
Valentine grinned. It must have been something good to make Laz embarrassed. He'll dig it out of him later.
"It isss time," the Witch said to the Boss and indicated Valentine. "Talk to the fair one. He will help. He knows the dark one well." Then she turned back to her task.
"Help me Warlord. Bring me the Frost Troll hearts and Field Dweller's scalps. I need to make the magical fire."
"I also need a cooking pot to brew the potion. It has to be boiled over the blue flame."
"Here," Valentine produced a brass pot from Anya's Inventory. She had obligingly highlighted the Item when it came into her possession. "It's from Laz," the Thief added hastily when the Witch raised one eyebrow inquiringly. Where the Ghost Lord kept the pot hidden on his body was beyond her. It was one of the great mysteries of the Destroyers.
It was amazing what Laz could obtain from his Keep through his familiar, thought Valentine. The Assassin's Keeper and Battle Master must be on high alert to respond so fast to their Lord's request. Anya was proving she was more than just a familiar; she was definitely raising the bar as a loyal companion. When this was over, he must ask Laz about his NPC set-up. Being able to transfer an Item from home base through his familiar or Inventory folder was definitely an awesome advantage.
The Witch worked quickly. She arranged the Frost Trolls blue hearts into a triple ringed-circle as per Sharak's instructions. Next she placed seven scalps into the circle. She lighted it whilst uttering an enchantment, glancing at Sharak's notes from time to time.
"My lord Kalthu, pleasse fill thisss with some clear lake water. It musst not be contaminated with the Ssentinelsss' blood."
The great warrior orc silently took the offered pot and went to the lake. Technically he was of much higher social status and the Witch had no right to order him around. But it was no time to pull rank. As the Warlord and second in command only to the Overlord himself in military rank, he well understood what a leader should; that teamwork outweighed ranking and prestige when there was urgent work to be done. Valentine was busy with the monster and Lazarus. The Witch was busy preparing to brew the Annazzosh's antidote. That left only him to fetch the water.
"Here," Kalthu returned with the half-filled pot.
"My thanksss Warlord," the Witch said gratefully and started stripping the small hard ziokar berries from the herbs. She dropped the black beadlike fruits into the boiling water to soften them. The green and brown star shaped leaves were then stripped and mashed into a paste on a flat rock. She squeezed the juice, dripping it into the pot while reciting the bonding spell over and over.
"Issesss mithral, rossta varuk, tifussss klaudissh, midgak valussh!!"
Letting the mixture boil, she measured out the vampires' blood, exactly three and four fifths vials. How the Banished One arrived at that amount was a mystery. But she had to trust him; he must have done countless trials to come to that conclusion.
Valentine had to get Lazarus' vampire blood vials too as he had only two in his Inventory. Luckily they had run the dungeon multiple times. If they had run it only once, they would not have enough of the immortal blood for the brew. Valentine shuddered at the thought. Imagine coming all this way and fighting through all the crazy quests only to lack some basic ingredients! He had immediately left a message for Jinx to inform those in the Gatekeeper's blog. Players shouldn't be left in the lurch by Simtrixx like that. True, they could still buy or trade the blood from other players still in the human realm but it would take time whilst being stuck in the orc realm. It was not fair.
"If you could be sso kind asss to ssmash the Lifesstone, Warlord ..."
"What?! Break it? Are you out of your mind?" Kalthu asked in shock. "I can't break it! It's the Lifestone!!"
The Witched looked up from stirring the bubbling brew to look directly at the Warlord. "Break it, then crussh it into fine powder, my Lord. It'sss essssence musst be fully abssorbed into the brew or all would be for naught."
The veteran warrior grimaced hesitating. How could he break the realm's life source? It went against everything he knew. He was the Warlord, a prince of the ruling family who had pledged their lives to keep the realm safe. He glanced at Lazarus' frozen form sadly. Now he understood. The Ghost Lord truly was the Destroyer. Kalthu grimaced knowing he had to make a very difficult choice. It was either this land which was also his home or the life of Lazarus, his human friend. But Lazarus had solemnly promised him that he would not destroy his home. The word of a Ghost Lord was not to be taken lightly. Should he trust the human? Could he?
"Warlord?" called the Witch. She waited for him to make his decision. Without his tremendous orc strength, there was no way to crush the Lifestone.
"Gaa-aaaaaah," Kalthu groaned already knowing his choice instinctively before it solidified in his mind. He would trust Lazarus, the very first Ghost Lord he befriended. The human had not lied to him so far. Besides, if he died so would his little brother. There would be no heir to the Overlord. If that happen then all life as he knew it would really be over. The Overlord would go on a berserk rampage and that would be very, very bad indeed. He would be the first to die or even worse, forced to live to see the total destruction of his people and home, bitter fruits of his betray indeed.
"I will break it," the Warlord said with a heavy heart taking the small ball resolutely. He glanced at Lazarus one last time. He'd better be worth it. Don't fail me human.
The orc steadied the baseball sized Lifestone in his huge callused palm, its whirling colours moving lazily inside. Suddenly it looked very small. He needed to pulverise it? No problem, it was child's play to a full grown orc. Orcs have been smashing things into smithereens since they were born.
Kalthu flexed his muscles and balled his fist. He lifted his arm up high, focusing on the small gem.
"Gwarrr!!" he yelled as he pounded his huge fist into his palm. He felt the small orb break. Magical warmth seeped into his rough skin making him feel more alive than ever before ... alive and hopeful. His black beady eyes widened in realisation. The Lifestone not only gave life, it also provided reassurance and a sense of well-being to whoever touched it. With renewed enthusiasm Kalthu repeated the action until the hard rock was grinded into gravel and then fine dust.
He held out his palm to the Witch. "Here," he said offering the sparkling rainbow grains in his hand.
Calmly, the Witch indicated her bubbling pot and added a few more scalps into the blue fire underneath to keep it going. "Pleasse put it all in, my Lord and thank you."
Kalthu poured the powder into the cooking soup. The dark ugly red faded slowly, the boiling broth lost its colour turning transparent. It resembled the purest of water with twinkling motes merrily swirling inside. The stench of blood and raw herbs were replaced by a fresh invigorating tangy yet slightly salty smell, like sea breeze.
"Now, all I have to do isss boil it until the circle of troll heartsss nearesst the fire turn black. Then it will be ready for the dark onesss conssumption." Her forked tongue flickered out for a moment tasting the fumes. "I hope he isss sstrong enough ..." she muttered worriedly. The antidote was stronger than it looked.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," the Witch looked up handing the ladle to the Warlord. "Here, you sstir the pot. When the nearest ring of blue heartsss blacken, sstop adding sscalpsss to the flamesss. Let it ssimmer until the remaining sscalpsss burn out. Then let it cool. It will be ready then. I will go help the Bello with the dark one."
She left Kalthu to his new task and hurried over to the Bello. The hybrid Boss and the fair headed Ghost Lord were having a heated discussion. She picked up her pace, worried that the Bello and the human might strangle each other before she reached them.