As you may have noticed, it's been several months since I've last updated; a bit longer than usual. There are a couple of reasons for that; they are A) writer's block, and B) a Harry Potter fic that is getting better responses than this one. So, as a word of warning, output for this chapter will be much slower for now. Yeah, on with the story now, I know….

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Diablo, I don't own Blizzard, blah, blah, blah….

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"Hi," she said cheerily. Korven winced slightly, reminded of how Charsi acted that morning. "My name is Sylarria, and I am of the Zann Esu."

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Chapter 6 - Smiths and Ashes

"A Zann Esu?" Korven said, disbelievingly. "Here?"

"Umm…yeah," Sylarria said hesitantly. "Why?" Instead of answering, Korven just held his head in his hand and muttered under his breath. "What? What did I do?"

"What are you doing here?" Korven asked through clenched teeth.

"I summoned her here, Korven," Akara said behind them. "I believe that there is a phrase, 'strength in numbers'. And with the importance of your mission, you will need all the assistance that you can muster." With a muttered "Fine," Korven pulled Sylarria aside to assess her abilities.

"What's his problem?" Kyle whispered to Ordan. "I know that he's not the friendliest character, but this is unusual. Even for him." With the faintest hint of a smirk, Ordan replied, "You have heard of the Mage Clan Wars, correct?"

"Yes."

"During those times, whenever a Rathman priest would fight against or alongside a Zann Esu Sorceress, often their manipulations of cold magicks would shatter enemy corpses, leaving the Necromancers with no bodies to resurrect. This has lead to quite a bit of frustration, and consequentially, animosity from one to the other." At this, Kyle barely suppressed a snort of laughter.

Meanwhile, Korven was trying to ascertain the extent of Sylarria's abilities.

"So, what spells do you know?" he asked. Sylarria scrunched her face in concentration.

"Umm…I can cast fireballs, ice bolts, and some sparks of electricity. Oh, and I can cast Shiver Armor!" she replied. Korven sighed in frustration. Of all the things the Zann Esu could have sent, they had to send a novice!

"What kind of equipment do you have? Preferably something enchanted." Again, Sylarria contorted her features as she concentrated on her answer.

"I have an amulet that increases my maximum mana reserves, a staff that enhances the power of my lightning attacks, and gloves that protect my hands from the cold," she said merrily. Korven rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Great. Now come, we have a monastery to clear. If we're lucky, then that portal should still be—" Korven paused mid-sentence as he saw that the portal leading to the underground level of the Countess' tower had vanished. "Damn it."

With the portal gone, the four adventurers had no choice but to go through the Black Marsh waypoint and continue on foot. Thankfully, due to their previous escapade, the path was relatively clear, with only a few monsters hindering them.

The entry into the Tamoe Highlands was largely uneventful, with strangely few monsters attacking them, and almost all of which were Carver. "The demons are going easy on us; don't complain," was Korven's response. When they were not killing monsters, Sylarria was trying to strike a conversation with Korven about the intricacies of magic. When he elicited no response, she turned her attention to Ordan, who responded in his ever-calm voice.

Eventually, the beaten path led them to their final destination: a monastery with two large, ornate oak doors. While Korven recast his Bone Armor, Ordan pushed the two doors open, swinging forth with a bang. Surprisingly, there were no monsters waiting for them on the other side.

They warily made their way past the monastery gates, where they found another set of doors leading to the outer cloister. With their weapons raised, the second set of doors swung open, revealing an open courtyard, with a grand fountain in the center. There was another waypoint next to the fountain. Beyond it was yet another set of doors.

"Beyond those doors lies the Barracks," Kyle said, her arrow still nocked. "There will surely be monsters there." Nodding, Korven turned to Sylarria.

"Perhaps you can open them," he said. Sylarria looked a little hesitant.

"O…kay," she trailed. She raised her staff towards the door and closed her eyes in concentration. With a bang, the doors to the Barracks swung open. Sylarria opened her eyes and sighed. With their weapons raised, they adventurers waited with bated breath. Soon, a small group of Devilkin emerged to see what opened the door. They were quickly torn down with arrow and spell.

They walked in and slew the Devilkin Shaman. All was silent in the front chamber of the Barracks.

"Well, that looks like every–AHH!" Korven screamed as he collapsed, an arrow protruding from his left shoulder. Everbody turned to see a lone Skeleton Archer standing at the far end of the room. Kyle shot an arrow at it, only to pass harmlessly through its ribcage.

"Incendia!" Sylarria shouted, pointing her staff at the undead being. A fireball shot out of the end of her staff and hit the Skeleton, exploding on impact. Kyle got on her knees to tend to the bleeding Korven, who lay on the ground groaning in pain.

"Here," Kyle said, pulling out an arrow and holding it in front of Korven's face.

"I'm not going to put an arrow in my mouth," the Necromancer protested, wincing in pain.

"Bite your wand then! But you need to bite on something to catch the pain while I extract the arrow," Kyle said angrily. Growling in anger, Korven took the arrow and placed it in his mouth. Kyle placed one hand on his shoulder and grabbed the arrow with the other. "On three. One, two, THREE!" She yanked the arrow straight out, causing Korven to scream in pain and bite the arrow almost cleanly through. Korven spat the arrow out and hissed in pain as Kyle poured a healing potion from his belt onto the wound, leaving only a pink scar and a hole in his armor.

"Thanks," Korven said as he stood back up. "I suspect that we'll be dealing with a lot more of those."

"Probably," Kyle confirmed. Korven sighed in irritation.

"Oh joy," he muttered darkly. "Let's get a move on then. These demons aren't going to kill themselves…."

And so the four adventurers plowed on. They killed countless Devilkin, Skeletons and even giant spiders that could kill a man with one bite (thankfully, they all died before they could bite anyone). But they were presented with another, more serious problem: they were lost.

"How big is this place?" Korven groaned, tired and frustrated.

"I don't know," Kyle said, leaning against a wall and trying to massage her foot through her boot. "I never took the time to explore the Monastery in its entirety." Korven sighed.

A short while later, they heard a metallic clanging in the distance.

"What do you bet that it's some big ugly monster wielding the very thing we've been sent to get?" Korven sighed.

"Ten crowns," Sylarria said without hesitation. Korven rolled his eyes.

"Deal," he said. He opened the door and they walked down the corridor. They peered around the corner to see a large, obese demon slaving away at a forge. In its hand was a small hammer that seemed to glow with magic.

"You owe me ten crowns," Sylarria whispered. Unfortunately, a whisper seemed to be all that it took to alert the demon of their presence.

"Who goes there?!" the demon thundered. "Come out, so I shall make weapons from your bones!" Sylarria shot an ice bolt at its foot, freezing it in place. As the demon roared in anger, Korven blew its leg off at the knee with a well-placed Bone Spear. Roaring, the demon swung its hammer wildly, hopping around on one leg, before falling and shaking the entire Monastery.

While it thrashed about, wolves and skeletons attacked its remaining limbs, and Kyle shot an arrow at its head, hitting it squarely between the eyes. The demon fell limp.

"So anyway, you owe me ten crowns," Sylarria said. Rolling his eyes again, Korven deposited ten gold coins into Sylarria's open hand and wrenched the Horadric Malus out of the demon's hand.

"We'll return this later," Korven said, sliding the surprisingly light hammer into his belt. "Now how do we get out of here?"

"Well," Kyle said, "to get to the Inner Cloister, we need to pass through the jails." Korven groaned in frustration. "But, I know a shortcut. Come."

After navigating several confusing passageways, as well as the monsters guarding them, they reached the entrance to the jails. Kyle ran her hands along the far wall, as if feeling for something. She pushed on a stone, and a section of the wall slid away to reveal a secret passage.

"Come on," she said, walking down the passage. The others soon followed. When they emerged on the other side, they squinted from the sunlight.

"Andariel first emerged from the depths of the Catacombs," Kyle said as Korven activated another waypoint. "We'll have to pass through the Cathedral to get there." The four walked to the doors to the Cathedral and swung them open.

The Cathedral was a small room, filled with ornate tapestries and candles. And standing in the center of the room, in front of an altar, was a skeleton. But this one was different than the ones that they had faced before. The bones were tinged blue, and while one hand had blue mist swirling around it, the other had green mist. Blue mist poured out of the eye sockets, while green mist spewed from its mouth. The skeleton raised one bony finger at the adventurers.

"Vestri iter itineris vadum terminus hic letalis," the skeleton hissed. "Vos vadum non pervenio meus regina." Kyle drew her bow and shot an arrow, which pierced the skeleton right through the eye socket. With a hollow laugh, it reached up and yanked the arrow out. Sylarria shot an ice bolt at it, freezing its leg. The skeleton laughed again as the ice absorbed into its body. "Ego gratias ago vos pro vox, veneficus." Ordan shifted into a werewolf and charged at the skeleton, claws bared. Ordan swung, but was blocked by a shield made of ice. The skeleton was knocked down, and the two wrestled for dominance.

"Bis poena," Korven chanted, cursing the skeleton. A loud cracking was heard as the skeleton's brittle frame began to splinter, so it brought Ordan's face down to its own and opened its mouth, bathing his face in noxious fumes. The Druid choked and gasped as he collapsed. The skeleton stood up to get an arrow in the forehead, followed by a Bone Spear, shattering it.

The remaining three ran towards Ordan, who began to shift back to his human form and began convulsing. Korven opened a portal and the three of them lifted the unconscious Druid through the portal and to Akara's tent. The aged witch poured a black, viscous liquid down Ordan's throat, and he fell into a fitful sleep.

"You arrived just in time, or I might not have been able to save him," Akara sighed. "Have you retrieved the Malus?" Korven nodded. Akara sighed in relief. "Then at least we have some good news." Then they left to leave her to tend to Ordan.

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And I'm finally done. Enjoy.

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Bone Ash's dialogue:

Vestri iter itineris vadum terminus hic letalis – Your journey shall end here mortals.

Vos vadum non pervenio meus regina – You shall not reach my queen.

Ego gratias ago vos pro vox, veneficus – I thank you for the power, witch.

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All are from InterTran. All are loose Latin translations.