Cassandra

XVIII. The Dark Descent

    The air was suddenly shockingly cold, every breath coming out as thick steam. Tiny spider threads of frost were creeping out from the tombs on either side of the mausoleum, spreading across the floor in a deadly sparkling sheet. Out of one of the tombs on the right, like some creeping thing from a nightmare, crawled a half formed creature made of mist, that tumbled over the edge of the stone coffin and began to draw itself to its feet. Another, on the other side of the mausoleum, melted through the wall, a thick web of frost spreading across the wall as the creature walked though it. With a loud crack, Percy shot at the one that had crawled out of the coffin, a plume of dark smoke rising from the gun. The bullet passed through the phantom harmlessly, cracking against the stone, and ricocheting into the ceiling.  
    "We need magic." My brother shouted, spinning the barrels of his gun, and locking a new one into place. This shot exploded outward with a flash of fire, visibly impacting with the figure this time, and there was a flash of enchanted fire that burst outward from the bullet as it hit, and the phantom snarled at the attack. Spinning the barrel to a new chamber again, Percy let off a third shot, that impacted with a magical burst of ice, that formed inside the creature then dropped to the ground.
    The phantoms seemed to take very little notice of this. One crawled across the floor, reaching up to embrace Grog, while the other wrapped its arms around Keyleth from behind. Instead of doing any damage, both figures melted into Grog and Keyleth, disappearing from view. When the two lifted their heads, all signs of both Keyleth and Grog were gone, their eyes alight with a weird parasitic intelligence controlling their bodies.
    "Cas." Percy said, swiftly reloading the two spent chambers of his weapon. "What the hell do we do?"
    "I'm not a holy woman!" I exclaimed helplessly. "I have no symbols, I have no power, I have nothing!"
    With this began altogether the strangest, and most terrifying fight I had ever witnessed. For while the men and women around me exchanged blows, they all still looked like me or my brother. I was surrounded by exact copies of myself and my family, all fighting each other viciously, and had I not been caught up in the adrenaline of the moment, I probably would have laughed at the ridiculous comedy of the sight.
    Snapping the chambers of his gun back into place, Percy vanished back into the shadows, pursuing after Vax. I heard his gun go off, but the sound was wrong, too muffled, and I heard Percy swearing profusely, cursing his god awful luck. Scanlan meanwhile, whipped out a tiny scroll from some hidden pocket in his outfit, and with a flourish he began to read it. There was a burst of energy from the scroll, like warm sunlight, that rippled outward, and the paper desolved into a floating beacon of light hovering next to Scanlan. The wave of warm energy from the spell passed through the possessed forms of both Keyleth and Grog, and both snarled, the intelligent light in their eyes flickering as if it had been injured.
    "Trinket!" Vex'ahlia called out to her bear, backing away from the hulking figure of Grog, and into one of the open tombs "Cannonball!"
    With submissive obedience, the giant bear lowered his head, taking several steps back, until his vast haunches were pressed up agains the wall. For a moment he braced himself, his claws digging into the stone floor, then he took a bounding run forward. As he ran he put his head down, and shoved off from the floor with his back legs, doing an entire rolling summersault. The bear's stubby front legs gathered up his hindquarters, turning his body into a rolling boulder covered in brown fur.
    Scanlan, the one closest to Trinket, yelped, his eyebrows going up, and he tried to dive out of the rolling bear's way. But before he could dodge Trinket slammed into him, flattening the tiny copy of my brother to the ground, and rolling over him. The bear had too much momentum to stop now, and continued to roll, buffeting the possessed form of Keyleth who barely managed to roll out of the way. At last with a grunt Trinket slammed into Grog's towering form, on whom the bear's impact had as much effect as if he had met a brick wall. The bear tumbled backwards, landing awkwardly on his bottom, and he moaned plaintively up at the unmoved Grog on whom he had made almost no affect.
    "Good job Trinket!" Vex praised enthusiastically, releasing an arrow that sank less than an inch into the half giant's shoulder. Grog hardly flinched, and his head whipped over his shoulder, starring down the slender woman who had dared to shoot him, and the ghostly presence controlling him hissed venomously. The mountain that was my fake brother, raised his hammer, which besides the difference in hight, was the only thing that helped me remember that it was Grog instead of Percy. A second burst of the same warm energy radiated out from Scanlan, and he stumbled for a second before bringing the hammer down. Twice he slammed into Vex's image of me, first crushing her against the floor, then up against the wall, and she slid back down to a standing position breathing hard.
    Once again ripping his shirt open, Scanlan screamed dramatically "YAAAAAAAAH," and a second wave of force burst from him, impacting Keyleth and Grog with a clap of thunder. Keyleth doubled over, clutching her stomach, and once again Grog endured the force with no more reaction than a stationary stone. Vax appeared out of the shadows, still looking like my brother, but he had daggers instead of a gun, and his face (what I could read of it under this damned magical disguise) was shaken. Scanlan noticed him, his face lighting up. Brushing the sweaty hair out of his eyes, and raising his hand to the heavens as if struck with divine inspiration from the gods themselves, Scanlan began to sing at the top of his lungs, posing as if he was on the world's stage from which all the people of the earth watched and admired.
    "Rip out someone's tongue and I'll know you," the gnome sang, pointing at Vax, "kill someone dead and I'll show you. You got those moves with dagger, you got those moves with dagger, you got those mooooves like dagger!" Vax only rolled his eyes, but smiled none the less, looking less shaken than he had been before.
    Once again the same warm energy burst out, this time impacting Keyleth, who hissed angrily. Then she shook off the pain, and attacked the newly encouraged Vax'ildan with her staff. Caught off guard he took the strike, the possessed form of Keyleth hitting him as viciously as she could. But he was prepared for a second attack, and ducked underneath the strike.
    "Trinket!" Vex once again commanded, this time her voice tinged with urgency, as Grog's form towered menacingly over her. Trinket leapt up onto Grog's shoulders, dragging long gashes down the possessed half giant's back. But Grog still ignored the bear, the intelligence that controlled his body still intent on Vex, and she called out quaveringly. "Um help?"
    The call for help pushed me into action, and I smoothly drew Traitor, feeling the blade's perfect balance in my hand. Low to the the ground, I also leapt on Grog from behind, stabbing down as hard as I could. Trying to make an impact on the thick muscles of the half giant in front of me, was like trying to stab old tree roots, and my sword only gave me an anchor to hold onto without doing much damage, but my dagger did better. Drawing the thin blade, I brought it down, and with the combination of the blade's sharpness, and my own expertise, it found a mark. Going deep under the skin, I sliced into the half giant's spine, and felt a satisfactory growl of pain from Grog. This offered the distraction that Trinket hadn't been, and as I dropped back to the ground Grog turned to face me.
    I was facing off against my brother, or a much larger, more aggressive copy of my brother, and I shrank away. My grip on Traitor was one of iron, and I had to remind myself that it was actually Grog in front of me, the resemblance was so uncanny. With an angry roar the giant in front of me raised his hammer. But as he did, there was a second burst of warm sunlight energy, and I saw the possessive intelligence in Grog's eyes dissipate, banished by the residual magic of the scroll.
    "Grog," Scanlan said as the half giant came back into control, "I know you don't know what's going on, but kill Keyleth.
    For a moment Grog paused, the image of my brother's face twisting thoughtfully, as the half giant underneath considered the command sluggishly. Then his face cleared, and he grinned eagerly. "Ok."
    The sound of Percy's gun interrupted this conversation, and my whole attention was instantly dragged toward the sound. Vax'ildan cried out in pain, stumbling as three bullets struck him in the back, and he stumbled to the side, taking cover against one of the tombs. I could see my real brother in the distance, his gun arm raised, and a third alien intelligence glowed in his eyes, controlling his body. Concern bloomed in my stomach, my whole mind fixed on my brother.
    Cracking his neck, Scanlan turned toward Percy, then thrust out his pelvis. From the tiny man's nether regions, a crackling line of lightning spewed forth, striking into both Keyleth and Percy in the distance. Keyleth with a hiss crumpled to the ground, the woman's body going unconscious, while the possessive mist was forced out of her body and reappeared next to her. It looked extremely weak, its form much smaller, and it flickered, moving much more sluggishly, as if it was keeping a solid form with difficulty.
    I lunged away from the clustered people around me, moving toward my brother in the distance. What I hoped to do to him, I couldn't tell, but I felt that once I reached him I would do something. Two arrows hissed over my shoulder, the first one striking through the ejected phantom with a burst of magical fire, and it's form was torn to shreds. The other struck at Percy in the distance, who doubled over, and I felt a small protective burst of indignation.
    "Com'ere Percy!" Grog said, bounding past me, and he brandished the hammer as he came, slamming into my brother twice. Percy stumbled as Grog struck him, his breathing a little ragged, and blood tinged the corner of his mouth. Clumsily my possessed brother tried to dodge away from Grog, but a third strike crushed him to the ground, and my brother crumpled.
    The creature that had possessed him was banished, like Keyleth's had been, and slashed down at Percy's body. It left gashes across my brother's back, but they didn't bleed, and I could see all the skin around the wounds turning gray, as if all the life was sucked out of them. Spidery threads of frost spread over my brother's clothes where he was struck, and I felt a thrill of fear run through me.
    Vax appeared behind me from out of nowhere, and sent two daggers through the darkness, that both collided with the creature. Brushing past me, the half elven man took a protective stance over my brother, standing between the phantom and his body. Scanlan in the distance vaulted over Keyleth's unconscious form, but his shorter legs weren't able to bring him all the way to Percy's fallen body, and he stopped several feet away. Gathering himself, he made a similar throwing motion, like I had seen Keyleth do in professor Ander's study, and Percy suddenly drew in a ragged breath, life coming back into his limp form.
    Glaring hatefully at the still lingering creature, Scanlan raised his hands and cupped them around his mouth, magic warping his voice, as if he were speaking through a magical filter. "You're not even corporeal!" He jeered, pointing a finger viciously, as if he were the most incurable gossip. "You have no substance! You're a nothin', you're a nobody, you won't amount to nothin' in this world! You were nothing in life, and now you're nothing in death!" Then he theatrically gestured as if he were spitting at the creature, "Fuh!"
    The creature listened to this, its frenzied motion slowing, until I could see the figure behind the mist. It looked like a young man, not much older than me, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and in the ceremonial robes someone important being buried. Silently it looked down at Percy, who was still breathing hard, barely conscious, and it moaned. With a last sob it vanished, the form dissipating into nothingness.
    "Scanlan." Percy said, still out of breath. "Which one of my ancestors did you just shame to death? Again."
    "The one that tried to kill you?" Scanlan offered sheepishly.
    As soon as I found an opening, I hurried to my brother's side, eagerly supporting him against my arm. I carefully examined his face, glad to see that he seemed at least functioning, if not quite unhurt. Percy silently patted my arm as I looked at him, and murmured "I'm alright Cas, stop being such an idiot." I laughed, and shoved him half heartedly, but still lingered near him affectionately.
    Vax'ildan meanwhile bent over the fallen form of Keyleth, lifting her into his lap, and helping her as best he could. With his help, it didn't take her long to come back to consciousness, and she sat dazed for a moment. Then she realized where she was, who was supporting her in his lap, and instantly pulled away, blushing ridiculously. Everyone else settled down to rest, an unspoken agreement to catch our breath hanging in the air. Scanlan pulled out his lute, and began to pluck out a quiet tune that everyone listened to as we rested.
    "We can rest here for a moment," I said at last, breaking the silence that had fallen. "But I don't think we can stay here much longer. The more time we spend here, the more chance they have of returning, and if they get the jump on us...We're done..."
    "Grog," Keyleth said, as everyone began to stir, preparing for the next part of the journey. "Speaking of, how many health potions do you have? We might need to redistribute."
    "I've got a shitload." Grog said, brandishing a small satchel he had at his waist, with the strap over his chest. "I never use em'..."
    "I am all out of tricks, just about," Vax said soberly. "So may I have a good one, please Grog?"
    "Oh boy, is everyone gonna want a piece of dis pie?" Grog said, his face lighting up, and he clutched tightly onto the satchel. Then he tilted up his head, hitching up his chin, and regarding Vax with narrowed eyes. "Well, wot are you off'ring?"
    "I am offering..." Vax said, considering the question for a moment. "Safety for your facial hair, from now into the unknown..."
    "Nope," Grog refused, tyrannically holding onto his prize. "Gimme somethin' else."
    "No?! Well now it's in danger..." Vax hinted, as if he were about to vandalize Grog's beard on the spot.
    "I like those pointy daggers you 'ave."
    "He could promise safety for your life, Grog." Keyleth suggested. "He'll have your back."
    "'Ow could he 'ave my back, if its on me?" Grog said, his slow comprehension struggling to understand the phrase, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, as if they were trying to steal his skin from him.
    "I will..." Vax said, steeling his resolve. "Let you flick me hard in the nads. Should we survive."
    Grog's face lit up, and he suggested "'ow about you let me flick you now. An' then I give you a healin' potion."
    "Can we take another rest after that?" Vax asked, clearly dreading the prospect of letting Grog flick him in exchange for a healing potion, and he slowly got to his feet.
    "It'll be a little one," Grog assured him. "I won't even go into a rage. It'll just be a little tap on your walnut."
    "I will do this trade." Vax said, gathering his courage, then after a moment, "...oh god..."
    Scanlan with a wicked grin, flicked his wrist, and a glowing ethereal target appeared in front of Vax's crotch. The half elf, looking like a cornered animal, backed up against the wall, supporting himself against the stone. Grog with a show stretching and cracking his knuckles, bent down in front of Vax. Sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, Grog considered his positioning, as deliberate as an artist intent upon his work. Then he flicked him. Vax bit down hard on his lip, curling in on himself as if to contain his pain, and at last whispered "fuck..."
    "A'right, I'm satisfied." Grog said, straightening, and he reached into the satchel. But instead of functioning like a normal bag, Grog's arm went in all the way past his elbow, and he drew out a potion. Vax quietly took the potion, still not trusting himself to speak.
    "An' Percy," Grog said, drawing out two more small potions, and turning to my real brother. "I like it when you turn into da smoke thing, so you don't 'ave to take a nut shot."
    "Thank you Grog," Percy said as he took the two vials. "I offer the satisfaction of Vax knowing that I got them for nothing."
    "I myself don't have anything I could use to protect myself," I murmured hesitantly. "Does anyone have something that they could offer?"
    "Ah yes, hello!" Scanlan said, perking up as soon as I spoke. "Hi, I look like your brother, but I'm shorter. You can have one of mine." From some pocket, hidden by the magical illusion that made him look like Percy, Scanlan drew a potion and passed it to me. With silent understanding, the real Percy next to me passed me another one.
    "But real quick," Scanlan said, as I tucked the two potions away. "Percival, any point in looting the--"
    "Don't loot my family's crypt!" Percy cut him off indignantly.
    "Of course, sorry, sorry..."
    "Lets just start heading down there," Percy said, after shaking his head disbelievingly at the gnome. "And...I can't believe I'm saying this...we'll have Vax scout ahead."
    "Don't DO anything!" Vex'ahlia commanded her brother savagely.
    "And do you remember the new codeword Vax?" Percy asked sternly.
    "No," Vax said, "did we change the codeword?"
    "Yes! It's now Jenga, one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four one thousand, five one thousand, six one thousand, seven one thousand, eight one thousand, nine one thousand, ten." Percy recited severely. "Then you go."
    "Grog just flicked me in the nuts, I'm not doing that. I'll just say Jenga." Vax said, then added, seeing his sister's frown of disapproval, "I mean I'll wait for a bit, so long as no more of your siblings are in danger. I did do that for a reason."
    "We know." Percy said fairly. "I consider the matter settled."
    "Theres no way to know exactly what was going to happen, but I saw a blade against your sister's throat. I would hope that you would do the same for my sister..." Vax argued. "And, just hypothetically speaking; Scanlan back me up, if you were to turn into some sort of giant three horned beast, and then go running into, say, a house full of enemies, we would give him a similar talking to, correct?"
    "That would never happen." Scanlan said soberly. "I'm more measured than all of you."
    "We don't actually believe that he will listen to sense," Percy said with a shrug. "So..."
    "I'm Percy!" Scanlan declared  brightly, proudly displaying the magical illusion over his body, and making an effort to copy my brother's stance and manner of carrying himself. 
    "Honestly," Percy said wearily, looking down at this ridiculous display, "we just can't waste our breath really."
    "Just to point this out," Scanlan said, dropping his imitation of Percy, and becoming serious again. "Before we go in and kill ourselves: we have evidence now, we could abandon this whole thing and go fight our day in court..."
    "I want to see what they're building down here," Percy said, "and I worry that it will be dangerous."
    "You're saying," Keyleth questioned, turning to Scanlan, "that we just abandon this entire town? This entire revolution that we caused?!"
    "People are putting their lives on the line." Vax'ildan said quietly. "And Sovereign Uriel is suspect now, he's been corrupted, he's not trustworthy. There's no point in going back."
    "And I can't leave again until this is taken care of." Percy added, that same icy resolve chilling his voice for a moment.
    "Right," Scanlan said. Then he suddenly turned to Keyleth and added scathingly, "that was a stupid, stupid, suggestion Keyleth."
    "What?" Keyleth said, completely caught off guard. The others only laughed, but Grog, apparently the only one unable to tell the difference between Scanlan and Keyleth said, "I'm really disappointed in you Keyleth!"
    "And Cassandra, I want to say something a little frank..." Vax'ildan said, suddenly turning to me, his voice hard and almost accusatory. "I'm very happy that we found you, I'm very happy that you and Percival have been reunited, but we have been burned very badly in the past by seeming allies. Past experience has taught us to be very careful, and we are all watching you, for signs of corruption or control. I want to believe that you are in control of your faculties, but I don't fully trust that you are, and I think just letting you know that a knife could hit your back as soon as the slightest misstep happens, is maybe enough to insure some safety for this group."
    "Of course." I said, smiling sadly. "It is true I've been living with them in this castle for the past three years, not out of choice of course, but were I in your position, would think the same."
    "Onward?" Scanlan suggested, and the others slowly got to their feet. Percy gestured to the gaping earthen tunnel that awaited us, and said, "Vax?" The half elf, taking his hint, moved to the front of the group. Keeping low to the ground, and making almost no sound as he moved, he began to scout ahead into the tunnel. But before he had gone out of sight, a tiny yellow light flared in the darkness, flickering like a firefly in the tunnel. Without hesitation Vax reached towards it, and it brightened. As he grasped it, the light grew into a hand, faintly glowing. A face emerged from the darkness, followed by a body, and finally a voice.
    "I'm back!" The figure said, as they emerged completely from the darkness. It looked like the tiny face and body of a second female gnome, this one dressed in heavy plate armor, with a shield, and a very prominent holy symbol that was glowing brightly. But her form was almost see-through at the edges, formed out of golden light itself, that radiated outward from the holy symbol, as if its power was giving her physical form.
    "Oh, Pike I'm so glad you're here!!!" Grog crowed exultantly. Loosing his head completely in his excitement, the half giant heedlessly shoved through the group, and roughly seizing the tiny woman in his arms, lifting her in the air.
    "Hello Grog!" Pike said, laughing at his display, and she affectionately head butted him as hard as she could. Then drawing back and looking at him, she frowned in confusion. "But you don't look like Grog..."
    "Oh, yeah, it's me." Grog said, finally setting her down.
    "Pike, what happened?!" Scanlan asked eagerly. "You disappeared before, but now you're back? Are you here to stay, or what's going on?"
    "I'm here to stay for as long as I can." Pike said reassuringly, gesturing down at her half substantial form. "It's very hard to stay in this form, especially because this place is very, very dark, and sometimes I just get pulled away...So I'm going to stay as long as I can...How are you guys? Are you okay? Where are you at, in terms of health?"
    "Vax is hurtin' a little 'cause I hit him in the nuts." Grog said proudly.
    "Oh, Grog..."
    "And we have a new member." Scanlan said, turning and looking up at me. "Well, a new traveling companion. This is Cassandra de Rolo."
    "The actual real Cassandra." Vex'ahlia added, looking down wryly at the illusion that made her look like me.
    "It's so very nice to finally meet you," Pike said, stepping up to look at me, and I suddenly felt as if I had nothing on. There was something about the warm eyes of this tiny gnome that made me feel as if I could willingly share every single thought I'd ever hidden or been ashamed of, and find a kindly listener. She smiled gently, lifting her tiny hand all the way above her head so that it would reach my height. "I'm Pike."
    Her hand felt soft, almost liquid, not fully solid, and there was a strange warmth to it. She was very short, even a few inches smaller than Scanlan, all her proportions diminutive and petite. Like Percy her hair was white, but it looked less stark and unnatural than his, pulled back into a braided bun at the back of her head, and her round eyes were a very warm shade of sky blue. Freckles were scattered over her small nose, and on her arms. But contradicting her warm appearance and bright smile, her armor was very functional, and though well maintained, was clearly used, and she had a spiked mace at her back, ready to her hand. A blue bandana was knotted around her neck, and trailing out from underneath on a long chain was her holy symbol. It was shaped like a spiked star, with longer and shorter rays, but I couldn't immediately identify the deity associated with the symbol. Unlike the rest of her gear this religious emblem was in perfect condition, lovingly polished, and I could see from the buffed look of the metal that it had been handled many times.
    "It is my pleasure to have good people around me, for once." I said as I shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, young gnome."
    "Well, shall we keep moving then?" Vex'ahlia suggested, after bending down to give Pike a hug.
    "Now we're def'nately gonna kick some ass." Grog said, his teeth bared.
    "With Pike with us," Scanlan declared enthusiastically, "we can do anything!"
    "You're here because Sarenrae willed you to be." Vax said, patting the top of Pike's head, and respectfully nodding at the holy symbol around her neck. "Now please hide behind giant Percival."
    Pike shrank toward the back of the group, the warm glow of her half solid form lighting up the hallway around her. Trinket perked up when she joined him, snuffling at her affectionately, and trying to lick her face. The two half elf twins, like identical shadows, melted into the darkness first, leading the way for the others. And as the others moved down the tunnel, I followed behind, another silent shadow at the very back of the party.
    Just as I had done when I was alone years ago, we reached the fork in the tunnel, and the twins silently passed the branch that lead toward the acid pits. Turning the corner, we continued to follow the same tunnel downwards, into the bowels of the earth. But unlike the last time I had come, Vax'ildan discovered and marked two places on the tunnel floor, where he commanded us not to put our feet. The first, even I could see was a trap: several stones laid neatly across the hallway, waiting for someone to put pressure on them. At the second, I could see that the ground had been disturbed, and skirted it without much issue.
    At last we reached the door. This was where I had been defeated before. Everything looked just the same, the mixed metal material in front of us was the same, and the door was closed, just as it had been last time. Pulling out a set of thieve's tools, Vax crouched in front of the door, searching for a lock, but he discovered just as I had, that it was only barred.
    "Oh, it won't open, it won't open--" Vax said, pushing against the door, than suddenly exclaimed "whoa!!!" pushing open the unlocked door like he was performing a magic trick. Motioning to the others to stay back, Vax slithered through the cracked door, and vanished into the darkness beyond.
    "This is a room, made entirely of metal, that presumably did not exist five years ago..." Vax explained gravely when he reappeared moments later. "I think this is probably bad...Sister dear, would you help me look, just from the door please. Just look." Both twins now moved up to the door, and after a moment Vex pushed it open, allowing everyone a shadowed view into the chamber.
    "Scanlan," Grog said, "shoot a lightning bolt."
    "No, in a moment please!" Vax said, waving the half giant off. Quietly Keyleth stepped forward, and as she stepped up to the door one of her hands suddenly burst into flame, and she thrust her burning fist into the room, revealing the alien metal in all its strangeness. The room was still as cold and unnerving as it had been last time, weirdly quiet so that the slightest sound was magnified, and the same chilling affect settled over everyone as the stepped into the room one by one.
    "This is as far as I've gone down here." I said in a reverent murmur, that the metal walls magnified, sending back echoes that were far louder than my voice had been.
    "Do you know what's on the other side?" Vex'ahlia asked.
    "I assume the project..." I said with a shrug. "Last time I came here, I was following the Briarwoods at a distance, when I made it to this door it was empty on the inside. I assume they traveled through that far door, but I've not actually gone there myself, it was at that point that I was discovered, and dragged back up to the castle."
    "Did you make it to the acid pits?" My brother asked, stepping up next to me and looking into the room.
    "Back that way?" Pointing back up the tunnel. "I saw them from a distance, but I didn't want to get to close. They're just large troughs that these chemicals have been refined in, and for what ever purpose they've been kept there."
    "Percy and Cassandra," Keyleth said, passing her burning hand back and forth in front of the metal to get a closer look at it. "Does this material mean anything to you? The bronze, does it keep any type of energy out, or something in? Why build a room out of bronze?"
    "I'd like to get a better look." Percy said, stepping up to examine the metal.
    "Do any of the magic users make anything of this?" Vax asked searchingly, glancing at Keyleth, Scanlan, and Pike.
    "God, I don't even know." Keyleth whispered, gesturing hopelessly. "I'm not good with magic, I'm good with nature..."
    Vax'ildan, who had been carefully moving toward the metal groove in the floor, suddenly stiffened. As soon as he did, everyone stopped and looked at him, perfectly aware of his movements. Silently he pointed down into the trough, where a smooth white gem had been embedded in the floor. This at last was a difference, last time I had come, there had been no such stone on the floor. But even though it was new, I did recognize the material: the hidden stone that I had seen Anna use the last time I was here, had been made of the same stone.
    "Could we clear out," Vex prompted, "and I'll try to shoot that?"
    Obediently everyone filed out of the room, clustering around the door. Vex, standing just outside the threshold, methodically knocked an arrow, drawing the string tight all the way back to her cheek. For a long moment she silently deliberated, taking careful aim, then she suddenly released. The arrow leapt from the bow, and struck the stone perfectly in the center, but with a loud ping it bounced off and vanished into the shadows.
    "Aw...it did nothing..." Vex said, her arms dropping to her sides.
    "Does anybody else have a good idea?" Percy said, stepping back into the room, and looking over the gem from a distance as Vax had done.
    "Why don't we just walk past it?" Scanlan suggested.
    "I'm kind of with Scanlan," Keyleth put in doubtfully, "I say we just go."
    "In the absence of good ideas," Percy said, "bad ideas I think are always reasonable."
    "But maybe Scanlan's idea was a good idea." Keyleth argued.
    "Maybe just try to get through the room." Vex agreed, adding, "some of us stay on one side, and some of us go through. And we'll just see what happens to the first person."
    "As long as the rest of you will pick me up off the ground, I'd like to skirt the edge of the room, and see if I can make it to the other door." Vax'ildan humbly offered, respectfully seeking the approval of his sister and potential love interest, who had both already scolded him for risking his life without having the others there to back him up. "Please help me if I fall down."
    "Sure." Scanlan conceded.
    "After a good giggle." The half giant added cheerfully, as if he wanted something to go horribly wrong, just for the fun of it.
    Intently everyone watched as Vax melted into the room, waiting to see what would happen to him. Low to the ground, and somehow completely silent, despite the magnifying echoes, he slid along the edge of the wall, dropped down into the trough across the floor, and leapt up onto the platform on the other side. Completely unharmed, he pulled out another dagger, this one clearly magical, as reddish orange flames licked the up the blade as he drew it. Using this blade like a torch, his light revealed the solid stone door on the other side of the room, which I had previously been unable to open. The half elf lifted his hand to one ear, intently examining the door, and Grog without any signal or command to do so, suddenly stepped into the bronze room. Brazenly he crossed to the other side, and reaching into the seemingly bottomless satchel over his shoulder, drew out a pickax, with which he tried to open the door.
    Taking the success of both Grog and Vax as a sign that the room was safe, the others began walking into the room, examining the stone in the floor. It turned out that this gem wasn't the only new addition either. Six other gems, (a set of three on each side of the room), had been planted on the walls above the trough. Grog meanwhile hadn't managed to do anything more to the door than scratch it with the pickax. Grunting angrily, he suddenly swung the pick down as hard as he could, and the pointed head broke away from the wooden handle.
    "Stop," Percy said, wisely stopping Grog before he could begin beating at the door uselessly with his wooden stick. "We're not thinking about this clearly."
    "We've been beaten by doors before," Scanlan said tragically, throwing a hand to his head, and posing like a defeated hero. "But goddammit, I'm not gonna be beaten today."
    Resolutely Scanlan pressed down on the gemstone in the center of the room. The stone didn't shift, but when the gnome pulled his hand away, it was glowing faintly, and the light faded as soon as he stopped touching it. Eagerly he touched the stone again, Vex, Keyleth, and my brother all rushing to do the same. Their stones too, glowed when they touched them, and Scanlan triumphantly called out "touch one of the stones Grog!" Obediently the half giant strode to the nearest gem, and placed his hammy fist on top of it. After hesitating for a moment Vax'ildan also touched a gem, leaving only one left. 
    "Cassandra," Scanlan barked, "make yourself useful for Christ sakes."
    "Who's Christ?" Vax asked curiously.
    "A friend I knew, back where I'm from."
    As I moved to touch the final stone, Pike reached it first. Her glowing etherial form, almost made of light itself, illuminated the inside of the chamber as she stepped into it. But as she put her hand on the gem nothing happened.
    "This is totally going to work..." Vex said sarcastically.
    "Maybe if we all think about the strength of our friendship, and bond together." Keyleth said hopefully, screwing her eyes shut and concentrating as hard as she could.
    "Hold on, hold on." Scanlan interrupted her. "As much as I love Pike, you aren't a real person right now. Maybe we should swap out Pike?" However when the phantom gnome pulled her hand away, the stone was glistening under her touch, and Scanlan said "oh sorry...Never mind Pike, I love you."
    As this conversation had been passing back and forth, I, with nothing else to do, also had sneaking suspicion at the back of my mind. I crossed the room, bending down to search for the hidden gem I had seen Anna use. In the dim light it was difficult to see, but as Scanlan apologized to Pike, I spotted the same saucer sized metal plate I had seen before. Just as I had seen Anna do, I pulled up the metal, and it lifted readily in my hand, revealing the gem underneath. Taking a deep breath, I placed my hand on the hidden gem.
    The room shuddered, as hidden contraptions shifted, and a fine rain of dust fell from above. Sending another shudder through the room, two thick walls of green Residuum glass dropped out of the ceiling, locking in place on either side of the trough with a crash, trapping everyone but myself into the depression on the floor.
    "Fuck." Grog said, pulling his hand away from the stone in front of him, and gazing up at the walls that trapped him in.
    "Goddammit." Percy exploded, understanding dawning in his face.
    "Wait!" Vex said, throwing her hands up compromisingly, "maybe it's a transporter?"
    "It's not." Percy declared, frowning darkly. "I think I know what it is."
    "What do you mean, you think you know what it is?" Keyleth demanded fearfully.
    "We've got to get out of here right now." Percy shouted urgently, jerking his hand away from the gemstone.
    Fear, mixed sudden understanding, constricted my throat. I also knew what this room was for, and blind denial swirled among my other wild emotions. Hurriedly I started up from the ground, crossing the tiny platform I was standing on in one stride, and pressing myself up against the glass.
    "Is everyone alright?" I demanded through the glass, pushing vainly against the wall between me and them, even though I knew I couldn't shift it.
    "Grog," Scanlan called out, "can you hit it?"
    With a wild yell, Grog slammed his hammer into the glass. It hardly reacted to his blow, sparks and a few tiny shards of glass flying off from the strike. Fueled by frustration he hit it again. Keyleth clasping both hands on her staff, brought it down as hard as she could, and a shockwave of force burst outward from her. Everyone near her was thrown off their feet, and a clap of thunder echoed deafeningly around the metal walls of the room, but the magical force of the spell scattered uselessly across the green glass, doing no damage at all.
    Behind me I heard the stone door shift, but I didn't turn. There was no need. A familiar instinctive chill ran down my spine, and I shuddered, instantly bitten to the core, but I didn't have to see who it was behind me. I already knew.