Scroll 8: In Which We Consort With Chaos

Chapter 85: Consulting the Oracle

It takes evil
to destroy evil.

Hosei warned us that the magical/magic-using being that he's been sensing here is now about 10-15 yards ahead of us, through the curtain. I said that's likely Kyosuke's demon. Hose said it may also be the Great Master. It wasn't moving, which was all I cared about now.

Ravena and Peter and I stared at the head labeled "Index". I asked what the dwarves had called the Crystal, and Ravena remembered "Crystals of Power". I walked up to the head and said, "Crystals of Power", and it told me a rack number and a head number.

The next several minutes were taken up with trying to come up with useful questions and returning to the index, only to be directed to another head. In the end, we were told that we must return the Crystal to the void in order to destroy it. We were told yet another version of the prophecy of us doing so. And we received one pronouncement that told us how might do so, although we could not find out what the pronouncement meant.

The false followers of Tzeentch may detroy the Crystals of Power with the Leather Hawk of the East Egg.

What a leather hawk or an east egg, or how to find and use them we didn't know.

While Ravena, Peter, and I struggled with prophesying disembodied heads, Baku and Hosei looked at what else was in the room. They came up with a couple of magical things, including a book that held spells which were obviously used to create this unholy library.

Hosei was convinced we needed to find an eastern dragon. But the heads didn't know where one might be, and I had reservations about Leather Hawk meaning a dragon, although it sounded possible.

Although still lost, we had discovered all we could here, and we had no need to attack the demon on the other side of the curtain. We returned to the temple. Peter and Hosei felt strongly that the library should be destroyed, while Kyosuke and I argued against it. We left it as it was for the time being.

All we needed to do was call the rock to us. And find the Leather Hawk of the East Egg.

In the temple, Peitra still lay still on the altar, and we could the sounds of people screaming. The net was gone. On top of the cliff, someone was heaving a large crock of oil on the end of a rope over the side and aiming it into caves. The cave wtih the Crystal was next, and Hosei quickly summoned the thing to us.

The Coldfire Knights, again.

Kyosuke grabbed Peitra and pulled her to join us. One of theit burning crocks of oil came near us, but hit the cliff instead. The Crystal arrived and I took it. We needed to leave immediately.

Ravena called up air spirits to take people across the ravine to the opposite cliff. Peitra finally started struggling against leaving the temple, and Kyosuke knocked her unconscious, only to discover he couldn't fly very well and carry her. Still, he struggled off into the distance, down the ravine, since he couldn't climb to the opposite cliff.

Ashe summomed a fire spirit and told it to destroy the library and then catch and destroy any oil buckets. Hosei called an earth spirit to carry him.

Finally, only Ashe, Sun, Ravena, Baku, and I remained. I shooed them along, and waited until I was certain we were all safe. For the first time, I called on the Crystal to use its power, and I flew to meet the rest. I will not do that again.

We all rendezvoused far down and outside the crevice, away from danger. We found Kyosuke and Peitra, wounded somewhat from arrows he had been too laden to avoid. Ravena healed everyone, Peter supported her, and we considered our next step.

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