The bodies of monsters were piling at their feet. "We must press through, we cannot afford to wait." said Lothar. Bob tracked their lord, while the paladin and his wife followed closely behind, all the while fighting through the monsters. They passed a cemetery in the caves where the warlocks buried their dead. Some very powerful ones were making the transformation into liches. The Princess unsheathed her silver kryss and began to impale them as they were manifesting. The thought of killing liches as they were reborn made her chuckle. Lothar and Bob seemed more intent on getting to the objective.

"Brother, this way." Bob said, his nose and eyes were scanning the cave. With so many monsters in the cave, it is a wonder the man could track his friend through it all. "You would think bear-brain would have a clue with all these monsters around," Leah explained "I mean, if you saw your study mates turning into liches and zombies you might get the hint."

"Princess, none of us here understands the mind of a mage," Lothar continued, "Please love, let us find our comrade."

After fighting through the endless hordes of monsters, the adventurers found themselves in front of a tower, with a large balcony. Several men, dressed in red and blue robes, were watching a ceremony on the balcony. The three warriors ducked behind some stalagmites. One of the mages in blue was chanting words of power , in front of a giant, bluish-black orb. It seemed to glow as he chanted. In the tower below them they heard the cry of what sounded like Aeolus, in agony.

"Leah, you and Bob attack the men on the balcony, and destroy that giant pearl. I will enter through that ground portal in the building, and try to free Aeolus."

"Sounds like a plan," the Princess whispered. "Let's see if they can chant this away."

Leah and Bob removed longbows from their packs. They let arrows fly, the accuracy felling a few of the warlocks before they heard the cries of the other mages. 

At that, Lothar charged into the ground portal into the tower.

There were two acolytes upon Lothar's entry. With lightning speed, he sliced one man in two, the other he stabbed through the throat. Neither got a spell off. The tower began to shake, as the battle outside ensued, and the magics were shaking the entire temple. A guard held three hellhounds on chains, and loosed them upon the paladin. As they leapt, Lothar held his shield to take the brunt of the charge, stabbing one through the back, and then slashing the other two. The hounds breathed fire on Lothar, while the guard shot a bolt of energy from his fingers. Lothar killed the hounds, but was charged by the guard as his sword was stuck in one of the corpses. As the guard charged in, Lothar countercharged with his shield, knocking the warlock back. Using his shield, the knight bashed the poor man to death.

Meanwhile outside, Leah and Bob were back to back, with mages all around. They had to drop the bows in favor of closer combat, using the corridor of the cave to lessen the impact of the mages’ numbers. Some of the spells were being absorbed by Leah's tall shield, but she was still absorbing the energy from the attacks. She struck with rage, her speed was almost blinding as she cut down the red robed mages quickly as they charged. Bob's axe was drenched in blood and gore, as were his once sandstone colored robes. The magics seemed to bounce off him, and the darkness of the cave was working well to his advantage. He grabbed one man by the head and smashed it into a stalagmite. With his free hand he swung his axe into the midsection of another mage. Leah chased three men down, stabbing into their flesh with her kryss, laughing insolently at them. 

The two blood soaked warriors climbed over the bodies of the fallen onto the balcony. "Well done, never seen a pair of mindless monkeys deal with my retinue of men," said a tall, lean figure of a man. He wore light blue robes, and was the one chanting the entire time. "Welcome to our home, I am Yllthannon. You have violated our temple, and I will feed you to the zombies." With that he chanted, and bolts of lightning hit the two warriors, knocking them to the ground. The princess got to her feet, and with a blood curdling shriek charged the man. "An Ex Por!" he yelled, and she found herself frozen mid charge, unable to move at all. "My, what a pretty monkey. I make keep you a while before I feed you to the zombies." 

Lothar opened a large steel door. The first thing he saw as he entered the room- his old friend, Aeolus, unconscious and chained above a pit of magma. To his hands were attached large black pearls, like the one on the balcony. He looked barely alive.

"So the Patron saint of Skara Brae has come to free his lord. How touching. I would hook you up to the machine as well, but you don't have what I need." As Lothar clenched his sword the man in the dark blue robes smiled. "I know all about you, Lothar. Your master speaks so highly of you. I am Kwan Li, the master of your master. It will be fitting I kill the patriarch and his knight together." With that the man cast an energy bolt on Lothar, which was absorbed by his shield and body, leaving him in pain. Kwan Li then attacked with fists and feet, with a furious speed. As Lothar was knocked back by the initial spell, the barrage of punches and kicks were landing terrible blows on his body. Kwan Li glowed with the dark power of the pearl, which was drawing its power from Aeolus and feeding it to Kwan. Kwan shot fireballs from his fingertips, which burned Lothar's back. Kwan kicked the sword out of Lothar's hands. Lothar began to swing back with his fists, and the two were almost equals in hand to hand combat. But Kwan’s magical powers gave him the upper hand. Every time Lothar would be winning Kwan Li would unleash another magical attack on the knight. Lothar charged the man with the force of his body, smacking him against the wall, which shook from the force. Kwan Li cast a healing spell on himself, and with a flying kick knocked Lothar over a metal chest. Lothar looked up at the mage with a bloody mouth, trying to get on his feet. He had no strength left in him. "Now that's pathetic, a mage beating a monkey at his own game, combat." Kwan Li laughed.

Bob picked up his axe, and walked towards Yllthannon. Yllthannon spoke, "And you sir, are the greatest savage of them all. I have heard of you, they say you're not even human. Your parents- mongbats. I will feed you to my hounds. An Ex Por!" He shouted the words, and Bob continued to move. "An Ex Por!!" The bat closed in on him. Ylthannon stood in sheer terror, his words were meaningless to the bat. "Kal Vas Flam!! Corp Por !! Por Corp Wis!!" The spells did hit the target, and though they shook Bob, He continued on. He raised his mighty axe. But instead of felling the mage, he brought the axe down upon the giant pearl, splitting it in two. Just then the entire tower shook, a psychic shockwave overcame the mages. Most went mad and killed themselves. The more powerful mages were unharmed, but their spells were broken. Just then, the princess charged the archmage and embraced him with her kryss. She forced the blade through his midsection, and brought her body close to his. As she twisted the kryss, she made sure her smiling face was the last thing he would see. She bit his nose, and tore some skin off, for added discomfort.

The two warriors walked in on the scene taking place inside. Kwan Li chanted, his hands glowed, and he reached out towards Aeolus, still on the wall. "Say good-bye, Aeolus" Kwan Li said, reaching for his forehead. He drained the last bit of power, and life, from the mage. Lothar, seeing his lord dead, began to scream. He rose to his feet. With a roar that shook the very earth, Lothar was changing. A brilliant light shot through his entire body, blinding the three witnesses momentarily. A white aura surrounded his body. His hair, once jet black, turned a brilliant white. His copper chainmail glowed white with heat. But instead of burning his sandstone colored robes, the robes were changed to a white color as well. Kwan Li was frozen with fear. In desperation, he punched and kicked, only to burn his hands and feet on Lothar's body. He could not concentrate enough to cast spells due to the blinding aura. Lothar picked his sword up from the ground. With renewed strength, he charged the mage and thrust his sword into the mage's heart.

"You have not seen the last of me. Captain Neb, I…." And Kwan Li gasped his last breath. Lothar let his body hit the floor. Leah and Bob took the body down of their master. Lothar, laid his hands upon the corpse of Aeolus. With the last bit of strength in him, he pressed his glowing hands on the head and heart of Aeolus. The mage started to breathe again. Mini Me came to pick up the warriors, who were all exhausted from the tremendous battle….