163: The Azyr Cavern

We carried Greta’s body back to the circular cavern which we would probably have to go through to leave the caverns, so hopefully we would be able to bring her with us as we left. And despite Blume suggesting we should just throw her over the waterfall, we resolved to give her a proper Sigmarite burial at one of the shrines or temples along Black Fire Pass. It’s what she would have wanted (apart from the dying bit).

Fred examined the sword he had found, and it felt particularly fast and precise to wield. He sensed something about it, and asked me to examine it through my magical eyes. To be honest, with all the dark magic and the swirling winds within the caverns, I couldn’t really tell anything about it, but I told him it was fine. It was probably elven, so that meant it was probably safe.

When we reached the cavern we spotted a heavily armoured figure coming our way. We were ready for another fight, but we hailed him and he answered. He explained that Colonel Sievers had sent him to make sure we were safe, or rather, I suspect, to spy on us. We quizzed him about Sievers and the Imperial Ostlanders, and he seemed to be genuine, and we all agreed that Sievers was a good man and a capable soldier.

He said his name was Karl, but didn’t give his second name, and that he understood we were on some sort of secret mission. He clearly wanted to know what it was, and Blume was anxious to tell him all about it, but Fred interrupted to simply say we were looking for an object but we weren’t entirely sure what it was. But I expect Blume spilled the beans as soon as she got the chance, anyway. So Karl said that he would help protect us, whatever we were doing.

Although there were several routes through the caverns we decided to go back through the beast chamber and cover the area methodically. There was a corridor off to the right hand side of the beast chamber and we looked down it but it was preternaturally dark down there.

We continued through a passage and found another three-way junction, and ignored the right way and continued straight on. And we began to sense a wind blowing our way, and as we went the wind got stronger. And we emerged into a huge cavern, but the wind was blowing so strongly through it we could barely enter it. Fred and I made some way, but the rest of the group fell to the floor through the force of the wind and we retreated back to shelter to think again.

I sensed the wind and could see this was all Azyr, the blue magical wind. I wondered whether the magical winds in each chamber were caused by spells, and I thought about trying to dispel it, but it seemed that the wind was far more profoundly linked to each chamber than by a simple spell.

So we headed back down to the junction and took the other route. We followed this for some time, and passed several other junctions, with the idea that if we kept going we might get to the other end of the great Azyr chamber. And we did.

So, this time when we entered it, we could see the chamber ended in a strange, huge carving of a skull, only a matter of yards away. But the wind was blowing as hard as ever and we still needed to walk against it to reach the skull.

We decided to try to brave the wind together, in a huddle, with Fred going first and all of us holding on to his rope. But that was easier said than done, and as soon as we were in the wind, Willow and Blume fell over and the rest of us only made a couple of yards. Blume struggled to get back to her feet but Willow just curled up in a ball.

But then, suddenly, from the ground emerged any number and every type of snake. And they writhed around us, trying to bite us, and constrict us. I couldn’t hope to do much about them, so I pressed on, ignoring them as best I could. Fred continued too, and Karl tried to cut into them with his two-handed sword but there were so many it was hard to see what that could achieve. Blume said she had heard that the best way to defend against snakes was to lie still so that they couldn’t see you, so she did, but they saw her. She also said snakes were misunderstood.

The snakes bit me and the venom in their fangs made me feel fatigued. And I tried to press on but I couldn’t manage it. And they bit Karl, too. I decided that it would do no good to struggle against the wind, so I sat down and gathered up some magic. Blume was stuck, like me, but Karl managed to get to his feet and he picked up Willow and tried to follow Fred.

Fred was still making steady progress towards the skull. I think he may have been feeling guilty that he had struggled in the mud in the beast cavern, and wasn’t able to help Greta, so he was making an extra effort to help us through this cavern.

I unleashed a magical fire against the snakes around me, but it didn’t do much good. But Fred managed to reach the skull where he was out of the wind, and so he could loop his rope around a rock and use it to help pull the rest of us to safety.

Helped by the rope, Karl and Willow closed in on the skull, and I managed to get to my feet, but Blume was engulfed by the snakes and was bitten many times. And then slowly but surely we managed to get closer to the skull. Karl and Blume were bitten again, but Fred managed to pull me to safety, although once I got to the skull I was too tired to help pull the others.

I think Blume despaired of ever reaching shelter and she said a prayer to Harry’s uncle Isaac, but it didn’t do her any good (and nor should it), and I told her to have faith in Sigmar instead. But then Karl hearing Blume praying to uncle Isaac, thought he had better do that too. And I think we should warn him against that as soon as possible.

But whether they were helped by Isaac or Sigmar or neither, eventually Karl and Willow made it. Blume was exhausted and nearly dead through the many snake bites, but we all helped to pull her to safety, and eventually she was close enough for Fred to grab her.

Willow saw to our bite marks, but we were all, except Fred, feeling strangely tired and affected by the venom.