It's time

[Anastasia]

Thus they head inward, further and further.

Until at last they come before the paths to the portals. Here Ajan waits, looming and silent. "It is time," he says, as if that say sit all. "Are you prepared?"

"As I'll ever be," Oberuth agrees, "Never thought I'd be the one, but history cares nothing for what men think."

"From the past to now," Marianne says, "There's a symmetry here, one I'll see through to the end. Yes, I am ready."

Lyris nods slightly to that, "I've been ready for this. Let's put this to bed."

[Corwin]

She'll need to honor that deal with Ajan, too....

That's what avatars are for, Seira decides. She'll invite him to the Cauldron afterwards, and figure things out. She'll invite all of them!

[Anastasia]

"Finish this," Amaryl replies aloud to it, even though they can't hear her. "It's finally here."

Oh, are you watching, Seira?

We are all watching and hoping in the coming victory, Seira.

[Corwin]

I put everything aside for this

[Anastasia]

A final door appears before them all, Ajan moving out of the way. "Go ahead," he says, "Beyond this lies the path to Kangap and Goldan."

Oberuth nods, blade and shield at the ready. He advances slowly onward.

Marianne smiles up at Ajan, "Seira hasn't forgotten you."

Lyris glances up at that, "You think she'd forget," she murmurs to Marianne. "Honestly."

[Corwin]

Is it the Prophecy? She'd started the long path towards both goals at roughly the same time, so is it a coincidence that one is finally coming to fruition even as she had at last managed to make headway into the other?

Regardless, it is time for her first glimpse of the pair of the dragons of legend!

[Anastasia]

Warmth.

Amaryl takes your hand and smiles at you, all while Lagann calls, "About time! Go and finish this already!"

[Corwin]

"Good things come to those who wait~"

[Anastasia]

Another portal. Everything blurs a moment as the three step through.

Here is a vast hall carved out of the stone of the deep earth. Light comes from the walls, which are rough and unadorned. Great banners fall from the ceiling dozens of feet up to the floor, each bearing a single holy or unholy symbol of a deity.

Prepare, those who have come this far.

A voice that is not a voice speaks, Oberuth sharply looking about. Marianne merely readies her blade with a thin smile and Lyris checks her darts. For a moment all is calm.

Then they emerge - monsters. Enemies. From the small and the simple, goblins lead by a face familiar and yet only seen so long ago.

Malmuthian soldiers, great battalions at the ready, gryphons soaring above, all lead by a long forgotten Emperor.

Devils. Devils of sand and fury. They are lead by a forgotten pit fiend, thought sealed away for all time for his evils and for whom he truly bows to.

Fey and pixies, the spirits of the forest manifest. They laugh along with a voice unseen, the laughter of children heard in the distance and yet from nowhere at all.

Liches. A familiar cabal, absently only one of their members, cloaked in the darkness of the deepest magics mastered by the passing of ages.

Shocker lizards, staring and unrelenting and so many, spreading about the walls and the ceiling, all gazes on the three. They are lead by a blue dragon, a phantasm from a long ago battle.

Celestials brave and true, lining up. They prepare as one, lead by a green skinned planetar once met before the temples of Balmuria.

Shadows. So many shadows, gathering faster and faster yet. Amid them are familiar figures, a royal family as rotten as filth leading them all.

The dead. So many of the restless dead, rising from all about, like a plague joining every force. Amid them you can see what once called itself Death, leading them on.

More. So many more. Memories of the past, of glimpses of battles forgotten in the flow of time ever forward.

"What?" Oberuth says, "Do you seek to drown us in worthless filth?"

"Aaaaah," Lyris smiles tightly, "Another test?"

Marianne merely gestures, cold gathering around her, winds of snowflakes and ice razors coiling before her. "It matters not, we won't be stopped."

Then prove yourselves against the phantasms of the past. Your nation has seen much conflict and turmoil in its short lifetime.

There is a moment after that, until Oberuth raises his blade and lets out a battlecry, before rushing forward. From there chaos erupts, the battle joined.

[Corwin]

Don't let yourself be manipulated, Seira thinks to the figments of the celestials. There are undead and fiends present, who are your true enemy! Fey and pixies, too, are mischievous and even malicious at time, but they represent life. As such, the many dead are an abomination for them, while the flightier of the fey would play far more havoc with ordinary soldiers than with the champions Oberuth, Marianne and Lyris are!

[Anastasia]

If your thoughts reach the figments, nothing happens as a result. Instead...

> roll 1d100
<Penuche2> Kotono invokes Penuche's magic: < 70 > [d100=70]

It is a battle. They fight as one, disparate memories waging war together.

Oberuth charges into the lines and stands firm, surrounded by a sea of foes.

Marianne takes to the air, cold winds and blasts scything into her foes. She stays above the majority of them, as the forces of the air flock towards her, looking to entomb her with sheer numbers.

Lyris is a blur. She runs to the sides as her hand works. Darts fly freely, seemingly appearing in throats and stomachs without warning.

[Corwin]

"The hardest thing is to wait on the sidelines," Seira admits. "I know they've got this, but I still want to share the same risks alongside them. Not the vague risks of failure, but...."

She trails off unhappily, eyes kept on the battle.

[Anastasia]

"It should have been us," Amaryl finishes. "This was our battle. Look," she says, "So many of the Guard's enemies or the enemies you vanquished."

[Corwin]

"Then again, facing off the Kesse monsters three times was plenty as it is." Seira shakes her head. "It should have been me. But it's not, and the feeling's pretty bittersweet."

[Anastasia]

"The path never found in the forest," Amaryl murmurs as she holds your hand.

> roll 1d100
<Penuche2> Kotono invokes Penuche's magic: < 5 > [d100=5]

It is like scythe before wheat. Foe after foe falls before Oberuth, fading away once his blade is done with them. What few wounds touch him heal in moments, never even slowing him down. His expression is simply one of determination as he goes on, another, another and another falling. He reaches Ferdi and with a clash of blades he shoves past his guard, taking his head in one blow.

Marianne keeps flying about, striking and evading. She bears wounds but none serious, focusing on her foes and trying to avoid being pinned. At the rate they're going down, she looks to be just fine. When Death comes for her, this time he meets a rapier point of arcane fire, piercing through his empty eye and beyond.

Lyris meanwhile draws away some of them and keeps moving, thinning the pack amid all the chaos. The goblin hordes in particular pursue her, but this time she is faster, stronger. Yezrut himself falls, clutching at a pair of darts in his throat.