Previously, the heroes confronted Epidemius during his second appearance at Steward’s Square. Luca’s frustration grew as he continued to be cut off from Aurion’s powers, and he considered turning his cloak and aligning himself to the infernal aspect that Aurion used to appear as. This opened him up to Epidemius, but Réonan intervened, and called upon Aurion to redeem Luca. Luca further deepened his pack with Aurion, but not without a price to pay.
Fourth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262
(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is waning, Darkmoon is in low sanction)
The battle again Epidemius and his forces continued with an overwhelming barrier of fire roaring up between some of the heroes and Epidemius. The flames burned and blistered those who stood too close to the barrier, and caused Luca to lose consciousness. Réonan, who stood near Luca, failed to help stabilise him, while Chakuq kept a nearby hamatula at bay. Eventually, the archmage teleported Luca to the Cathedral of the Platinum Father for assistance. The hamatula that fell to Chakuq’s weapons hissed “I am a hunter, too. I will come back for you,” before it died.
The hamatulas continued to kill the last of the rat ogres, nailing it to the ground with the barbs that they had snapped off their carapaces. The blood of the rat ogres seemed to flow with a mind of its own, and formed into a large circle of power, complete with major and minor sigils, As each rat ogre exploded into a cloud of noxious cloud, the vortex carrying the vapours up into the eye of the storm above grew more pronounced until it started to radiate with a fel glow.
Epidemius strode forward on his mount until he stood directly in the centre of the circle of power. He withdrew a bony sceptre and held it aloft as he spoke menacing words in a language that nobody could understand. The words rang like the buzzing of a thousand insects in the minds of all that could hear him. Once done, he dropped the sceptre in the blood which formed the circle, and the blood lit up with the same fel glow as the vortex. The light drained from the blood into the vortex, and was carried into the storm, where the energy was spread across the sky above the city like a blanket.
Epidemius wheeled his mount around and started making his way back to the portal while the fighting continued around him. Quentin and Astrid fought side-by-side after Quentin ordered the Morvrayne riders to retreat. Neamhan had shifted her form to that of an enormous elk and charged into the infernal forces. Emrys continued to unleash his magic, eventually resulting in a surge of uncontrolled magic to well up inside of him and spell out, causing persistent lightning to play across his body. The griffon riders had managed to take down one of the erinyes, which came crashing down into one of the houses like a fiery comet. Luca had regained consciousness in the cathedral and was able to help by casting spells through his dragonling.
When it looked as if Epidemius was about to depart through the portal, Emrys made a dash for Toruviel, which he had unsheathed and was hovering in the air, fighting unaided. When he snatched up the blade he ran for the portal, vaulting through it aided by Toruviel. Immediately the corona of light around the portal started to flicker, and the perfect oval started to shiver and warp. Emrys’ strange bloodline, so expertly crafted by the mysterious Mohiam, started to disrupt and collapse the portal, threatening to cut Epidemius off from his retreat.
