During their resting period, the group examines the books they had hastily taken from Ekso’s library. It seems they made some choices that may hold potentially valuable information, as they appear to be of arcane subject matter, rather than mundane information. Coriander is able to identify what appear to be spells, alchemical instruction, and in a book that seems to contain crude drawings of magical items, there is a sketch of what is almost certainly a Staff of Wizardry of the kind that the team broke, resulting in the explosion and the disappearance of Wendella and Eve. There are handwritten notes accompanying the diagram, written in dwarvish characters, but in a language that even Mishok can barely read. He is able to discern a few common words, including “invisibility,” “fire,” and an unmistakable term for “Hell.”
Uncertain where to go from here, vacillating between returning to Ekso’s compound in search of answers, and heading up the trail, they explore the immediate vicinity of their hiding place. They discover the bodies of slain goblins and hobgoblins. At least one of the hobgoblins is pierced by goblin arrows. Sartan, low on arrows himself takes 14 goblin arrows from two of the fallen creatures. They see that the grass in the area is quite trampled down and bloody. They follow bloody footsteps back to the main trail.
As they pause there, discussing which way to go, they detect a rumbling sound and vibrating sensation. Presently another “blurry spot” materializes. This one has an orange hue, and has wisps of black smoke wafting off of its surface. Mishok and Cycek approach from around a large rock and peer at the anomaly. A voice emanating from the orange blur addresses them:
“Well, well… if it isn’t my newest friends. Going somewhere are you? You made a bit of mess in the wizard’s playroom and lost your little girl. Now you’re buggering off to who knows where. Well it seems your shenanigans back there have maybe caused a little more damage than you thought. The curtain is a little threadbare. I can see you through it… I can see you through the worn spots and the little holes. When a hole gets big enough… well, maybe I’ll step through and pay you a little visit.”
Cycek tries to interrogate the voice, asking, “Who are you? And where’s Wendella.”
The voice is indirect in its answers, laughing and saying, “I’m he who will come someday to claim your lives. But I do appreciate you sending me my favorite helper. And you do have spirit. Maybe I’ll let you live and you can come here and join the ranks of my “helpers” too. In the meantime, here are some “friends” to play with.”
There is a deep laugh, and three bloated, fleshy little creatures come tumbling out of the orange spot. Their filthy skin is covered with sores. Their eyes are wild with hatred. They gnash their wretched teeth and rush to attack, clawing with their jagged claws. Several blows are exchanged, and two of the blobish creatures fall dead in puddles of rancid black fluid, and it looks like the battle is well in hand. But at that moment, 3 more creatures emerge from the weird orange blur. These are squat black fiends like hairless, wingless bats crossed with apes. They resemble the creatures that had been present in Hack’s dogfight pit in the Stoneyard. These creatures rush forward to attack, biting and clawing, and releasing a noxious fume. One of these creatures is killed as the melee intensifies. The party is hard-pressed in battle but manages to kill the last of the initial trio of attackers, only to have ranks of assailants again swell as two more horrific creatures come rolling forth from the orange portal. These two bizarre creatures are almost spheroid lumps of disgusting flesh with oddly placed stumpy limbs, goggling eyes, and most frightfully, enormous gaping maws lined with crooked, dagger-like fangs. The heroes attack these with gusto, unleashing arrows, vicious sword-strokes, sacred flames, magical frost rays and more. Mishok slams one of the bat-like creatures into oblivion with a massive swipe of his warhammer. Sartan improvises a molotov cocktail with a flask of pure alcohol. He lobs a perfect throw directly into one of the hellish maws, where it bursts into flame. The creature is only slightly phased as the smoke billows from its mouth.
The fiendish creatures press forward, and start to overwhelm the heroes by sheer force of numbers. Davros wisely puts some distance between himself and the fray, heading down the trail. He is followed shortly by Cycek, who has concealed himself in the natural cover just off the trail, moving with ranger-nimbleness from rock, to shrub, to shadow, avoiding the notice of the monsters. Mishok and Coriander begin to leave next, and are pursued by their horrific foes. Sartan disengages from the fight, and separated from the rest by the crush of bodies at the heart of the battle, heads the opposite way. One of the giant-mawed monstrosities grabs him as he attempts to move out of range, and delivers a brutal bite wound. He is able to break free and move away, although bloodied and seriously injured. The other maw monster catches up to Coriander and grabs her as she flees. The gruesome bite brings her to the ground, where she lies bleeding out as the scene comes to a cliffhanger end.