Karlach let out a hearty, almost mischievous grin as she prepared for the task ahead. "This is gonna be fun!" she declared, her expression lighting up. With a mighty swing of her axe, she brought it down with full force, striking the trunk of a large tree right through the middle.
CRACK!
BOOM!
The tree responded with a loud groan, its trunk splitting apart cleanly along the line of the blow. The two halves of the tree fell to the side, sending a red-orange flame shooting high into the air as it landed on the freshly cut wood.
As she spoke, her voice held a hint of mischievousness. "I'm going to show Minthara, she's going to get so jealous!" she declared.
Then, with a sudden, decisive movement, she closed her eyes, trying her best to focus on waking up in William's inner world. And sure enough, when her eyes finally opened, she found herself no longer there.
Back in the Inner World, William finally opened his eyes, a few hours that on the outside had only lasted for a very brief moment. But when he did, he was utterly shocked to discover that Karlach was no longer present. Her vibrant presence, her radiating warmth, her distinctive lingering gaze that William had come to look forward to, all of it was gone, vanished into thin air.
He sat up, his muscles stiff from disuse, and began a series of gentle stretches, his body slowly loosening as he moved.
Finally, he closed his eyes, his consciousness fading into a hazy mist, and found himself back in the real world.
Elsewhere in the Underdark the air shook violently before seeming to split at the seams.
A terrifying symphony of screams, both filled with terror and raw, guttural rage, erupted from the gaping maw of the newly formed rift.
As the screams reached their peak, a creature emerged from within the rift, its body resembling that of a spider, but its upper body surprisingly humanoid in form.
The creature held a long and slender staff in its right hand; it featured a black and purple crystal on top, and this crystal seemed to shimmer with an internal shadow that added depth.
Its left hand, on the other hand, held a lamp, from which a bright and ethereal light emanated.
This light cast a gentle glow around the creature, illuminating its surroundings.
With a series of loud, echoing taps of the butt of the staff against the cold ground, a surge of demonic magic erupted forth from the rift, radiating outwards like a beacon.
In its wake, more and more demonic creatures surged out, consisting of minor demons that followed the spider demon due to the rigid law governing demonic hierarchies and the will of the demonic goddess that had summoned them.
A constant stream of minor demons, no more than a dozen at a time, poured forth, seemingly without end, and they lined up in a long, loud, and chaotic queue behind the spider demon.
By the time the queue reached its end, a total of sixty demons had joined the line.
The spider demons humanoid maw seemed to split at the sides as he spoke.
"The Dark Mother desires the blood of the Devil-Drow; search for him, bring him, and take him before the Spider Queen."
Upon hearing the Drider's words, the Quasits launched into the air with the sound of their wings slicing through the darkness of the Underdark.
The Drider listened intently as the screeching cries of the demons grew fainter and fainter until finally, he could hear nothing more.
After waiting for a short time he fell to his knees in prostration and begin to make fervent pleas and prayers to his dark Goddess.
"Dark Mother, we have arrived in the Underdark and will find your target, or may my soul be used as a breeding ground in the spider pits!"
It was as if Drider's spider body genuinely responded to his words, with its numerous legs shifting and twitching in a manner that suggested it was filled with anticipation.
Back at the tower Karlach and Minthara were dueling on the top floor.
Karlach swung her new battle-axe, the Fire and Fury, in a diagonal arc towards Minthara, who had her mace and shield prepared to defend.
The axe struck the shield in a glancing blow that forced the axe towards the ground.
CRACK
Before Karlach could recover, Minthara struck Karlach with her shield, the edges of which struck her abdomen and chin so hard it knocked the air from her lungs as it sent Karlach sliding backwards.
Karlach snarled and used the backwards momentum to swing Fire and Fury horizontally, the sheer weight of the axe stopping her backwards slide and forcing her to launch towards Minthara catching the Drow Paladin off guard.
Minthara barely had time to raise her shield much less position it before the axe struck and buried deep within the shields surface.
"Haha almost had me you red bitch!"
Karlach smiled wickedly before asking, "Almost?"
Suddenly the axe erupted into red-orange flames that forced Minthara to drop the shield or risk being burned.
Even though the shield had fallen to the ground, it was still held aloft by the axe that had been buried deep within it.
Minthara could see the flames beginning to spread outward, consuming the wood and metal in a horrifying, cancer-like fashion.
Initially, the sound was a mere soft whine, but it quickly escalated into a loud groan as the metal holding the shield together began to melt and the wood beneath it collapsed.
The shield, once sturdy, was reduced to nothing more than a pile of fragmented charcoal.
"Where... where exactly did you acquire that weapon?" Minthara found herself astonished not only by the potency of the flames she had seen but also by the weapon itself, her eyes gleaming with a fervent desire to possess one of her own.
Karlach raised her chin, a smug and cheesy smirk playing on her lips. "Beat me," she declared, her voice dripping with confidence, "and then I will tell you!" Immediately following her words, she raised her weapon, ready to engage in another bout.
For a brief heartbeat the air at the tower summit fell still.
Fragments of Minthara's ruined shield lay scattered across the stone floor, faint curls of smoke still rising from the charred remains where Fire and Fury had devoured it.
Minthara slowly rolled her shoulder, the muscles in her arm tightening as she adjusted her grip on her mace.
Her crimson eyes remained fixed on her opponent.
A thin smile crept across her lips.
"So," she said quietly, voice edged with amusement, "you wish to boast?"
Across from her, Karlach planted the burning axe against the floor and leaned forward slightly, grinning like a wolf that had just found juicy prey.
"Always."
Minthara's expression hardened.
Then she raised her mace.
The weapon lifted high above her head as her voice suddenly rang out in a fierce battle cry.
Golden light erupted from the weapon.
Radiant energy flooded the mace in an instant, holy power surging through the metal until it burned with a blazing divine glow.
"I hope," Minthara declared coldly, "you do not regret your words later."
She moved.
Not with reckless fury.
But with the precise, disciplined violence of a trained paladin.
She charged forward and brought the mace crashing down.
Karlach's grin vanished instantly as instinct took over.
She lifted the shaft of Fire and Fury horizontally to intercept the strike.
BOOM
The impact exploded through the tower summit like a thunderclap.
Radiant power detonated at the point of contact as the divine smite discharged into the weapon Karlach used to block.
The force drove straight through her guard.
The stone beneath Karlach's boots cracked violently as the shockwave slammed downward.
CRACK
Karlach's knee hit the ground with a heavy thud as she struggled to hold the line against the crushing divine force.
Minthara leaned into the blow, golden light pouring from the mace like liquid sunlight.
But she was not finished.
The drow paladin inhaled sharply and let out a second battle cry, her voice echoing across the tower chamber.
The holy glow around the weapon shifted.
It darkened.
Compressed.
Then erupted again.
This time the magic roared with raw elemental force.
Lightning-like arcs of violent energy crackled across the mace as thunder gathered around the weapon.
Minthara twisted her wrist and wrenched the mace free from Karlach's guard.
"Begone."
She swung again.
FWOOSH
The thunderous smite detonated the moment the weapon struck.
The explosion of concussive force blasted outward in a violent shockwave that hurled Karlach off her feet.
The barbarian went flying backward across the chamber, unable to recover her footing this time.
She crashed directly into a stack of empty wooden crates.
The impact shattered them instantly.
Wood splintered apart as Karlach disappeared into the collapsing pile, fragments of broken boards scattering across the stone floor.
Silence settled briefly over the towers summit.
Minthara lowered her glowing mace slowly, the last arcs of crackling thunder fading from the weapon as she watched the wreckage with cool, calculating eyes.
The wreckage of the shattered crates lay scattered across the tower summit.
For a moment nothing moved.
Then the fragments began to tremble.
A faint, rattling sound vibrated through the cracked and broken wood, as if something beneath that pile had finally stirred and begun to move.
The trembling grew stronger.
Stronger.
Then the entire heap exploded outward.
Flames shot up from the very center point of the wreckage, with pieces of splintered wood flying out in every conceivable direction.
A violent bloom of red-orange fire surged upward like a miniature inferno.
From the heart of it, Karlach rose with a thunderous roar.
The sound ripped through the very top of the tower summit, echoing violently and blasting its way out into the vast expanse of the Underdark, all the way beyond the open battlements.
Her body burned with heat.
Not just the flames of Fire and Fury.
Something deeper.
A cacophony of infernal noises erupted from deep within her chest, and a wave of scorching heat radiated outwards from her core, spreading across the cold stone floor around her.
Karlach stood tall and proud within the roaring blaze, her massive axe gripped tightly in her right hand.
The weapon responded with a hungry howl, its surface crackling with fiery energy as molten light snaked its way along the intricate runic patterns etched across its blade.
The air itself shimmered around her.
Across the tower, directly opposed to Karlach, Minthara did not flinch.
The blast of intense heat caught her, causing her long, flowing white hair to be whipped furiously backward, resembling a pale banner caught in the fury of a storm wind.
Yet her expression remained calm.
Cold.
Calculating.
Her crimson eyes, filled with a keen intensity, fixed themselves upon Karlach as the barbarian's roar grew louder and louder, building into a crescendo of fury.
Minthara moved with quiet precision.
Her free hand rose slightly as she whispered a short invocation beneath her breath.
Divine energy gathered around her armor.
A seemingly invisible force seemed to solidify her already firm stance, and as sacred magic intensified its protective effects, radiant energy flowed across her form, building a golden armor that seemed to sit atop her existing, yet steel-like defenses.
Then she lifted her mace again.
Golden light returned.
With a radiant glow, the weapon surged forward, and the divine magic that had been gathering at its head condensed into a blindingly bright halo of holy power.
Another smite prepared.
Karlach's blazing eyes locked onto the weapon.
Fire and Fury answered instantly.
The infernal flames that were wrapped around the axe seemed to surge upwards, their roar growing louder and more intense with each passing moment, as though they were alive.
The hellish fire reacted to the radiant energy pouring from Minthara's weapon like a predator sensing a rival.
The flames howled.
Demanding blood.
The air between them crackled with opposing forces.
Radiance.
Inferno.
Neither woman hesitated.
Karlach leaned forward, muscles coiling like a sprung trap.
Minthara lowered her stance, mace blazing with divine power.
For a single heartbeat the world seemed to pause.
Then both warriors launched forward at the same time.
Two streaks of fire and gold hurtled toward one another across the tower summit and below it all, the tower itself groaned and shook.