The demon plummeted towards the ground, with both Levin and
Ravyson joining it. Jerreck bit his teeth together as they
crashed into the ground before him. His own leg wound wouldn't
heal, even as he spent his last energies on it.

"Liander... the pool... go!" The warrior sunk down to the red
dust covered ground, pointing towards the glowing pool of lava
that bubbled not too far away from them.

Acting as in trance, Liander nodded and ran towards the pool. The
elemental spirit of Apyrel screamed so loudly he could hear it
through the fabrics of space that separated astral from the "real"
world. The closer to the pool he got, the louder were the screams.

Daenth, guide my hand, he thought as he braced himself. For
a moment everything was still in his mind. Total peace, as he
concentrated on opening his eyes to astral and the creatures that
dwelled there.

And in astral, the screams of the Apyrel-spirit grew louder, this time
with fear mixed in the pain. Everything was distorted here, Liander
idly noted. He saw the patterns of his companions, weaker than normal
but still glowing brightly. The ground itself here had a pattern,
and the pool in front of him had one as well. Inside the pool was
Apyrel. Liander stepped in.

And in his hand, the staff began to hum and vibrate in unison with
Apyrel's agonized screams. Inside the staff, a blue ball of energy
formed. The spirit in the pool seemed to move and stir, as if to leave
its usually safe haven or perhaps even attack him, but Liander wove a
strong thread to bind the elemental right where it was, inside the pool.
While he was at it, he placed another restraining thread to silence the
spirit.

I am your master now, Apyrel. Unfortunately I have no need for you.

A flash eminated from the staff, and a beam seared through astral to hit
Apyrel's spirit straight in its core. Quickly, the intricate, complex
pattern that was the elemental spirit began to simplify. Threads
melted into eachother, forming fewer, thicker threads. These in turn
melted into eachother and formed yet fewer threads in Apyrel's pattern.
Finally, all that remained was a single unattached pattern thread. The
beam from the staff flickered, and the thread was disintegrated. The blue
glow died down.

Liander let go of the binding threads.

***

To the onlookers, strange things occured. Liander had grasped the
staff, walked straight into the pool of bubbling lava and disappeared
under its surface. The body of the demon was still, but its eyes was
still moving, fearful. Huddled together, Ravyson, Levin and Jerreck
could only sit and wait.

Jerreck spoke quietly as he looked towards the pool. "We have done what
we could. It's up to him now."

"Damn, I hope that kid knows what he's doing..." Ravyson sighed.

Levin, rubbing his limbs, said "Well i should hope so... looks pretty
hot in that pool. I mean I like warm baths but this.... is..."

Jerreck looked at the prone demon. "We better keep an eye on it. You
never..."

And Apyrel's physical form twitched and screamed!

And screamed!

And screamed!

The roar filled the sky, shook through the ground, echoed through the
whole plane of fiery existance. It was as if the whole world stopped
for a moment to listen, and all that was heard, all that existed, was
the wails of Apyrel.

Moments later... nobody really knew how long, there was yet again silence.
In the spot where Apyrel's body had lain, was now just a large bump in the
ground, as if it had become one with the land. The pool of lava had stopped
bubbling. The wall of fire had died down and vanished as though it never
existed.

Torlax and the remainder of his wolfriders joined the three heroes and
a lightly armored elf with a large hip-bag started to tend to their wounds.
Traug, Reeven and Beliana were there as well, and for a while there was a
nervousness among the Phaemans. Everything was so quiet. Was this really
it then?

Jerreck spoke up.

"Attention all!"

People quieted down. The warrior stood up with a large white clothpiece
around his wounded leg.

"Stay alert. The demon Apyrel may be dead, but we are not home yet. Our
embermage has not yet come back from the lava pool. We'll have to give him
a chance to come back to us."

Traug, a sad look on his face asked "But... but whats then if he... he
not return?"

Beliana shot the big troll a hard glance. "Don't be a fool. Of course he
will!"

Traug shot back "Me no fool! Me smart troll! Don't you.."

Jerreck raised a hand. "Please! Both of you! The question is valid."

Traug nodded.

"If Liander does not return soon, we will simply have to assume he gave
his life in the process. Get your gear ready, people. We won't be going
anywhere until the Weavers bring us back home to our own plane... but when
they do, we better be ready, Liander or no Liander." People nodded in
agreement. All except for one.

People prepared their gear, talking amongst eachother about home, and the
tales they had to tell. Only a few of them saw Liander as he walked out
of the lava pool, looking slightly disoriented.


/Jerreck