User:JohnB/Fanfiction/Book Four

BOOK FOUR:

Dagoth Gilvoth was no match for Yumiya and John-John, whom she had instructed to the level he was at when she first met him (63), though he was as yet unaware of his prior existence. All that remained was the Facility Cavern beyond the rough wooden door. From there Dagoth Ur had been taunting them with a booming voice that seemed to echo in their heads.

"Ready?!" Yumiya asked.

John-John held up a set of Her Hand's darts and gave a quick nod, but he was alarmed to see what looked like self-doubt in her eyes.

"Holy Lady," John-John prayed, "don't let her down now!"

Yumiya hesitated as she flexed her fingers over the sword hilt to let the blood circulate again after so much gripping that made her knuckles turn white.

"Let's go!" she shouted, and they burst through the door.

There were multiple explosions as Dagoth Ur's spells hit Yumiya, and she went down but vanished into thin air.

With a roar of anguish, John-John hurled the darts one after another at the masked demon. When the resulting explosions ceased, Dagoth Ur slipped unseen through the spherical entrance into Akulakhan's Cavern.

"Yumiya?" John-John asked wondering what had become of her.

"She's here," JohnB answered nearby.

He removed the constant-effect Chameleon Robe that he used to cover her and himself to prevent her from being hit with any more spells.

"Is she alive?"

JohnB knelt and bent over to put his ear to her chest.

"Just barely. I would say she has a sliver of health left. I want to get her out because it stinks to the high heavens in here."

Thinking this "slip of a girl" would be a cinch to lift, he put his arms underneath her body and nearly felt his back start breaking as he lifted.

"Holy shmoley! What has this lady got in her inventory?!"

He opened it and found all manner of loot and assorted knick-knacks and pretty things. They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but Yumiya was also partial to emeralds and rubies. There were hundreds of gems that she never turned into cash. There was also the dai-katana she'd enchanted and dubbed "The Almalexia" after its namesake. There was the unused Fortify Luck ring he'd given her, so he slipped it onto her finger to help her pull through. He began piling up all the stuff wherever he could.

"Uh, JohnB. How is it you are here?"

"I'm the ever-present observer in all my stories, but I keep myself discreetly hidden so as not to affect the narrative, except in times of dire need such as we have now."

"What do we do about him?" John-John asked poking his thumb in the direction of Akulakhan's Cavern.

"Oh, don't worry about him just now. I need to get this girl to safety. However, one must needs finish what one has started, must one?" He gave John-John a meaningful look as in, "Get my drift?"

"You mean me?!"

"Yes, you!"

"But I'm not the Nerevarene!"

"Starting now, you are the 'Vice Nerevarene'."

Yumiya had kept quiet about it, so JohnB explained very carefully what had happened before his existence was reset in Ald'ruhn, that he was at one time a real Nerevarene. JohnB had taken the added precaution of requesting that Azura accept John-John as a proxy should anything happen to Yumiya. Considering that the Dagoth Ur quest had failed so often before and that John-John had been the Nerevarene from a quest left unfinished through no fault of his own, Azura had no objection, and she gave JohnB a subaltern Moon- and-Star Ring with reduced powers but still identified the wearer as a Nerevarene stand-in. This he gave to John-John to show Dagoth Ur that the fight was still on.

JohnB removed the Wraithguard from Yumiya and stuffed John-John's hand into it.

"Now, pick those up," he said pointing to Keening and Sunder, "and put them in your inventory. I dare not touch them. Good. Now take this."

He gave John-John the levitation amulet and specific instructions what to do. He was to ignore Dagoth Ur's babble about being a god and blah-blah-blah, but fly around avoiding Dagoth Ur's spells to the Heart of Lorkhan. The worst Dagoth Ur could do once John-John reached it was throw rabbit punches that were more annoying than dangerous, so the focus had to be on busting up the Heart as soon as he got to it. The destruction of Dagoth Ur would take care of itself.

"So, all set?" JohnB asked.

"Yes, for Yumiya!" John-John exclaimed doing a fist-bump with JohnB.

He jogged to the spherical entrance and it closed around him.

Dagoth Ur Starts to Crumble:

JohnB lifted his daughter off the floor, carried her to the Inner Facility, and laid her gently on the floor. He lifted her head and poured a few drops of Exclusive Restore Health potion between her lips. She swallowed, so he continued until she sputtered and coughed.

"Easy now! Drink all of it."

She was becoming more lucid now as the color returned to her face. She opened her eyes.

"Where am I?"

"You very nearly got killed in there," JohnB answered motioning with his head toward the Facility Cavern door.

"And John-John?!"

"I'm certainly hoping he's in the process of turning the Heart of Lorkhan to minced meat."

"Oh, no! I must..." she exclaimed sitting up quickly, but JohnB held her shoulders hard.

"No, the door to Akulakhan's Cavern won't open again until he comes out of it."

All they could do was wait. Yumiya shifted her legs to the side and looked restless.

"HEAVENS TO MURGATROYD!!!" JohnB suddenly bellowed.

The room lurched sideways back and forth the way it did in the 3/11/'11 quake that killed over 150,000 (God rest their souls).

"My shield! Where's my shield!" Yumiya cried as masonry fell from the ceiling, but she found her inventory emptied.

"Sorry, it's in the cavern," JohnB answered trying to shield his head, "I had to empty it in order to move you here."

The shaking died down, but then the room lurched once more, and there was a loud bang as a wide fissure appeared in one of the walls and rubble poured through.

"This place is going to collapse into Red Mountain!" JohnB muttered.

The cavern door then opened and John-John came sauntering out tossing a ring up and down as if he had all the time in the world.

"Look what the cracker-jack lady gave me!" he chuckled.

"Are you crazy?!" Yumiya scolded him. "We've got to get out of here!"

They returned to the cavern so Yumiya could retrieve The Almalexia. She decided the rest of the junk could stay. She then equipped the Castle Vianden teleportation ring and set it for the Knight's Hall.

"Papa?"

"Yes, daughter!"

They held hands in a circle and warped out together.