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While on route to our date with destiny with Kissenth, I had a rather strange dream.
Well, it probably wasn't a dream.
Anyway, it started with four ... beings arguing. Over me.
I think they were gods.
I'm serious. All too serious.
One was a man, dressed all in black. One was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. The third was a... Thing. A demon. No doubt the thing that had laid claim to my soul after I killed that cultist.
They were engaged in a lively discussion over my soul in a way that reminded me of old ladies haggling over a piece of bread. During the discussion a small dragon with butterfly wings-
Yes, it did. I remember it all too well. And I've been trying to forget about it for quite some time.
Anyway, a small dragon with butterfly wings landed on my shoulder and chortled about the other three beings. Shortly after that, another woman came up to me and told me I needed to talk to her. I went along (not that I had a choice) and was taken somewhere else.
I was asked to tell everything I knew about Garth.
What did I say?
Well, I told the truth, as I saw it. I will admit that I am not terribly fond of beings from other planes. To say that their actions are different would be to miss a perfect opportunity to use the word 'incomprehensible'. Admittedly, I'll probably wind up going to one of them if I die, but I fully intend on putting that day off as long as possible. Besides, when I get there I'm fairly certain things will make a little more sense.
In any case, I informed them that Garth was a being that trusted me when he had ever reason not to trust me, helped me when he had no reason to help me, and saved my life from that were-panther.
I was then told I could request a boon. The butterfly-winged dragon suggested that I 'ask that the location of the sword be given unto you'. So I did. After a lot of prompting. Prompting in the sense that I was fairly certain the thing wouldn't have shut up unless I said it. The dragon also told me that the only way to get my soul back would be to destroy this sword. And that the only one that could destroy a sword would be a priest of the 'Wandering God'.
In another eyeblink, I was elsewhere. Somewhere dark. Somewhere hot. Somewhere that stank of brimstone.
Hell? I don't know. Possibly. Probably. I sincerely hope never to find out for certain.
On the bright side, the dragon was gone. And more importantly, my friends were with me again.
We walked for some time, met a demon that was terribly bad at riddles, and eventually came across a rather large tower that was floating over a pit of approximately a mile in diameter.
After a long discussion with a door-
Don't ask.
We fought many, many battles. Several of my friends died reaching the top of the tower. At the top of the tower, we met another demon and several of it's minions. The rest of my friends died in that battle. I very nearly did myself.
Fortunately, a poisoned crossbow bolt brought down the last vile creature, some cross between an ape and a insect of some kind.
But not before it killed Falahara.
I remember wishing it had killed me instead.
So I was there, on the top of a tower in the middle of Hell, looking down at the remains of my friends and the demons that had killed them.
I had no idea what to do next. There were undoubtedly more enemies in the tower, and I was in no shape to outfight anything at this point. And even if I made it out, where would I go?
The sword that held my soul rested on a table in the room.
I tried to destroy it myself, but was unable to.
Finally in frustration I picked it up, intending to hurl the damned thing into the pit in which the tower was hovering. Then quite probably hurl myself in after it.
Then I woke up.
I back in the valley near the dragon's cave. I was unwounded. My friends had no recollection of the events I had experienced. I thought it was just a dream.
I was relieved.
Then I found the sword lying in my bag.
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