Gates of the Abyss

"Blood sacrifice to the Mother Goddess!" Theron spread his arms wide. The robe cloaking his body writhed like a living creature before abruptly ripping apart. "Ugh... ah! You forced my hand!" He let out a wail of agony as rigid, insectoid bristles sprouted across his skin. The tear running down his chest widened, forming the grotesque pattern of a colossal spider. A soft, cruel female laugh echoed from the vortex behind him, piercing and spine-chilling. "By Sehanine..." "Great Sacred Tree..." Everyone present felt a creeping dread. For the silver moon elves in particular, as if facing an ancient natural predator, the terror sank deep into their very souls, driving them nearly to madness. In an instant, malevolent energy surged. One Gate of the Abyss after another burst forth from the Sacred Tree, resembling hideous lesions oozing foul venom and pus. Repulsive, sludge-like creatures poured from these Abyssal gates, each sprouting eight thick, powerful tentacles and bearing a blood-red eye embedded in its body. —Those were yochlols, known as the Handmaidens of Lolth, who loyally served the Spider Queen across the infinite depths of the Abyss and various planar realms. Immediately after came abyssal ants, araneas, bebiliths, briar fey, darkweavers, deep dragons, driders, ettercaps, and grelloc scorpions... Scores of hideous, twisted monstrosities crawled out of the Abyssal gates, forming a churning, chaotic tide that surged toward the coalition army with deafening shrieks. Catherine leveled her scepter at Theron in the distance and said coldly, "Corrupting the Sacred Tree, throwing open the gates of the Abyss, and bringing about such tragic devastation—Theron, is this what you meant by 'giving everything for Therenia'?" Theron had already lost all semblance of elven form. Grinning like a beast, he let out an insectoid screech and repeated obsessively, "You forced my hand! You forced my hand! You are the true culprits! "Catherine, the sacrifice is about to begin, and you will be the Mother Goddess's favored offering! "Hahahaha! Once you are sacrificed, Therenia will enjoy a thousand—no, ten thousand years of peace! This land will become heaven on earth, the greatest nation in all of Feanso!" "Theron, you are beyond saving. You have lost your mind entirely!" Catherine rebuked him furiously. The sun dipped below the horizon, plunging the world into twilight as roiling black clouds choked the heavens. The moon high above was no longer its pure, radiant silver, but burned with the hue of fresh blood. Across the lunar face, the colossal silhouette of a terrifying spider emerged, its crimson compound eyes gleaming with chilling malice. A titanic pressure crashed down upon the battlefield, as if a baleful gaze hung over them from above, causing their bodies to tremble and their souls to shudder. Even the radiant barrier of the Sacred Tree was tainted by that eerie power, turning into a blood-red veil of light—like a gaping, ravenous maw waiting to swallow everyone whole. "A divine realm descends..." Gazing at the sky cloaked in black and red, a wizard from the Arcane Hermitage who was well-versed in divine magic blanched and cried out, "Dammit! The entire Therenia Royal Court has been turned into a blood sacrifice ritual! That madman intends to sacrifice us all to summon the dark deity he worships into the mortal realm!" "By the Goddess of the Moonlight..." "Absolute madness! Quick, stop him at all costs!" Catherine brandished her scepter and shouted, "We cannot fail! If that evil god succeeds, not only will Therenia be reduced to rubble, but the entire continent will be plunged into an unimaginable catastrophe!" Answering the Elven Queen's call, shafts of brilliant silver light pierced the pitch-black canopy, cascading down from above. Hundreds of monsters wailed within the moonlight, their corrupt bodies purified until they crumbled into charred ash. Yet robed drider elders raised their staves, sending waves of obsidian light into the heavens that gnawed at Catherine's moonlight, locking both sides in a fierce stalemate. "Go! Bring me her head! You shall receive the Mother Goddess's supreme blessing!" Theron leveled a barbed, spider-like leg toward the Elven Queen. In a flash, deep dragons, araneas, bebiliths, ettercaps, and other horrors surged toward Catherine like a rampaging flood. Dim rays shot from the eyes of the bebiliths, instantly turning several Silvermoon Followers into stone statues, which were promptly smashed to rubble by giant pedipalp spiders lunging behind them. Phase spiders flickered in and out of sight, stepping through the Ethereal Plane to materialize directly behind silver moon elves, their scythe-like, barbed legs punching through armored chests. Like a vicious wedge, these monstrosities hammered into the coalition's battle line, driving straight toward Catherine. Catherine remained suspended in midair, chanting elven prayers in a low, resonant voice to maintain the divine light in her bid to shatter the sacrificial circle, unable to move freely. Seeing the monsters bearing down on her queen, Rhea cast Dimension Door to cross the battlefield in an instant, leading her elite royal guards into position before Catherine. "Protect Her Majesty to the death!" "Not a single one takes another step toward Queen Catherine—even if it costs our lives!" Dozens of sword spiders waved claws as sharp as greatswords, darting forward at blinding speed like daggers aimed at the coalition's throat. "Oath spell." Rhea gripped her silver sword with both hands and shut her eyes. A pale violet radiance danced across the surface of her silver armor as ripples of warped space enveloped her, hastening her movements to a blur—Haste. She snapped her eyes open, vengeance burning in her gaze. Pitch-black wings unfurled from her back, radiating an overwhelming Aura of Menace. Beating her wings, she took to the air and transformed into an Avenging Angel, diving toward the sword spiders—the pinnacle form of a Vengeance Paladin! "Die—" With her furious roar, even the ferocious sword spiders faltered, frozen in their tracks under the legendary paladin's menacing aura. Rhea swung her silver sword mid-flight, unleashing the brilliance of dusk. A blade of radiant energy dozens of meters long ripped through the air, carrying peerless divine might. "Divine Smite!" With a deafening whistle of displaced air, the sword spiders were cut clean in half, littering the ground with broken limbs and carapaces. "Lowly mongrel!" In the distance, a drider sorcerer sneered with a contorted face, raising his staff to hurl a ray of corrupt, baleful energy at the half-elf paladin. Yet Rhea flickered and vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a wisp of silver-white mist. The drider sorcerer swiveled his cluster of compound eyes, finding no trace of the half-elf, and spat in frustration, "Dammit, where did she go?" The next instant, Rhea's figure materialized directly above the drider's head. Clamping both hands onto her silver sword, she drove it downward with all her strength. *Squelch!* Bone shattered with a sickening crunch. Brains and black blood erupted in all directions as the blade skewered the drider's skull from crown to throat. Nearby bebiliths immediately caught sight of the half-elf. Apex hunters of the Abyss, they locked onto her and closed in silently, the crimson compound eyes across their carapaces firing dim rays of petrification. Yet Rhea had long since tracked their approach with Divine Sense. Sneering coldly, she spun and wrenched her silver sword from the dead drider's head. The polished, mirrored flat of the blade met the incoming beam, deflecting the petrifying ray right back along its path. *Whoosh!* In the distance, one of the bebiliths was struck by its own beam, hardening instantly into a massive stone arachnid. Rhea lunged forward, driving her sword into its petrified head. The statue shattered into a shower of stony fragments. Yet several more bebiliths opened their dripping mandibles, baring jagged fangs as they pounced on her from different directions. Rhea swept her sword in a brutal horizontal arc, forcing back the beast before her. In the same motion, she spun and thrust backward, a pale crimson ray shooting from the tip of her blade. Hold Monster. The bebilith behind her froze rigid in place. Rhea sprang into the air and brought her sword down in a ferocious overhead strike, dusk light flaring along the blade once more. "Divine Smite!" With a single strike, the massive spider was cleaved in two. Holy flames engulfed its twitching remains, searing flesh and sending thick, black smoke into the air. Another bebilith lunged from her flank to strike, but Rhea did not hesitate. Flowing seamlessly through her turn, her sword drew a sweeping semicircle through the air. *Slash!* A crescent of radiant energy flew forth, severing all eight of the bebilith's legs in a single pass. The creature crashed heavily to the ground, thrashing in vain. Rhea kicked lightly off the earth, bounded high, and plunged her sword down once more. *Crunch!* With a spray of shredded flesh, the silver sword skewered the bebilith's head and sank deep into the earth, pinning the monstrosity dead against the dirt. In the span of a few breaths, three bebiliths lay dead at her feet. These horrors, which stalked the Abyss to hunt lesser demons and normally demanded the combined might of an elite adventuring party to defeat, were cut down with effortless grace by the Vengeance Paladin. Not far off, the silver moon royal guards Rhea had brought rallied together to slay another bebilith attempting an ambush. "As long as I stand, none of you shall take a single step toward Her Majesty!" Rhea withdrew her silver sword and leveled it at Theron, her eyes cold with killing intent. The spirits of countless fallen silver moon elves manifested behind her, howling and raging, transforming their dying despair into Rhea's resolute vengeance. This was the Soul of Vengeance. She would shield the queen she served, avenge her slaughtered people, and bring these fiends to justice—such was her sacred duty as a knight of vengeance! Theron spread his eight grotesque limbs and roared toward the sky, "Half-breed, your struggling is futile! "The great Mother Goddess will descend upon this realm at last! She will weave a magnificent tapestry of fate, ensuring you rebels are ground to dust and led to your predestined ruin!" Rhea yelled back, "Your so-called Mother Goddess is nothing more than a traitor who betrayed the Seldarine!" Yet Theron only grew more manic. He flailed his limbs wildly, carving one Gate of the Abyss after another into the Sacred Tree and summoning hordes of horrific fiends. Just then, two elven soldiers came sprinting toward Rhea, pursued by an arachnid as massive as a small hill—a monstrous spider. "Lady Rhea! Lady Rhea! Save us, please!" Rhea's eyes hardened. Before the stunned eyes of the onlookers, she drew her sword across their necks and lopped off their heads. "How could you—" Rhea sneered. "Daring to play such parlor tricks in front of me..." The fair, delicate heads thudded to the ground, their flesh squirming and shifting until clusters of compound eyes erupted across their faces. The elven corpses shrank and contorted, turning into the curled, eight-legged remnants of giant spiders. These were araneas, a notorious species from the Underdark that often mimicked frail human maidens to lure unsuspecting prey. Unfortunately for them, nothing could escape the legendary paladin's true sight, and Rhea had pierced their illusion from the start. Other coalition soldiers were not so fortunate. Several araneas had infiltrated the coalition lines, disguising themselves as elves, dwarves, and humans to strike from behind, sowing mutual suspicion through the ranks. Moments later, the wizard from the Arcane Hermitage raised his staff high, enveloping the surrounding area in a shimmering spherical force field. Globe of Invulnerability. Instantly, the araneas lurking in the ranks lost the power to maintain their spell-like abilities. Forced back into their hideous forms, they were swiftly cut down by the rallied soldiers. The one that had slipped into the dwarven ranks suffered the most brutal fate of all. The moment its disguise dissolved, a dozen dwarven warhammers crashed down upon it alongside a torrent of foul dwarven curses, pulverizing it into a bloody smear of crushed chitin and pulp until not even the shape of a spider remained. "Before us, these minions of an evil god are nothing!" Rhea severed the monstrous spider's head with a single slash, then beat her wings and raised her sword high. *Roar—* Just then, several serpentine dragons with slender bodies and dark purple scales emerged behind Rhea, letting out raspy hisses and exhaling clouds of flesh-corroding gas. They were deep dragons—creatures with winding necks, narrow wings, and sinuous limbs, known by surface adventurers as 'drakes of the deep,' terrifying predators native to the Underdark. Rhea nimbly dodged their breath in midair. As she turned to strike, a massive, majestic golden silhouette descended from the sky, crashing onto the slender deep dragons. "Filthy reptiles—" The ancient gold dragon roared with thunderous fury, snatching one of the deep dragons by its narrow neck and slamming it ruthlessly into the earth, pulverizing bone and scattering scales in a bloody spray. The remaining deep dragons hissed viciously, but none dared confront the mighty gold dragon head-on, settling for spraying toxic vapors from a safe distance. Titus stepped firmly upon the dying deep dragon, rearing half-upright. Raising his head high, he opened his maw as a blazing stream of fire welled up from the depths of his throat. *Boom—* A fan of dragon breath surged forth, igniting a raging sea of flames. The roaring tongues of fire engulfed the deep dragons, scorching their scales and driving them back in panicked, screeching disarray. A winged figure broke through the wall of fire—it was Rhea. Riding the momentum of her dive, she swept her silver sword across, cleaving the slender neck of a deep dragon in a spray of dark blood. "My thanks, Lord Titus." Holding her dripping silver sword, Rhea hovered in midair with beating wings, offering a respectful nod to the ancient gold dragon nearby.