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Part VII: The Last Key
The last part of the Key was a mystery to me then. Try as I might
I could not understand the last verse. Love? Redeem? Such things
were ... difficult to grasp. The location was simple enough. The
Portal. The shortest and safest way there was to go through the
Tower of High Sorcery, deep in the Shadow Grove. There we could
enter a Gate to reach the Portal of Darkness.
But the Tower was held then by the greatest of heroes. The White
mages also knew the foretelling. There they gathered the most powerful
of heroes to await our coming. It was hopeless. How could we two
battle our way through such an army. The Light was getting too unbearable
even then. The nights were getting shorter. My loyal companion grew
weaker every day. I was about to give up hope, but Lord Gilean,
with his final, ebbing strength, transported us magically into the
Tower, past the Armies of Light.
Our rejoicing was however, cut very short. A welcoming party of
Heroes had opted to make the Portal Room their headquarters. A furious
battle ensued. Lord Ash took on 4 Crusaders alone, while I pieced
the Key together. It was not long before I was also engaged in combat,
with the clerics and mages of Good. A battle I could not survive
even if I won. And I still had not figured out the last piece of
the puzzle. The 3 parts were assembled and inserted into the Keyhold,
but to no effect. Despair! Somehow we had been betrayed. All had
been for nought, I thought.
It was then Lady Liv entered the Tower, amidst the raging battle.
I had managed to defeat my enemies, but was dying fast myself. Lord
Ash too lay unmoving, his body hacked to pieces, but 3 of the Crusaders
lay dead and the fourth barely conscious.
She came to my side and laid her hands upon me, healing me. And
she said, 'I finally understand now. Paladine himself has told me.
The world must regain The Balance.' Then stepping onto the threshold
of the Portal, she turned to me and whispered, 'I ... am the Last
Key. The Portal was sealed with blood. It must have blood to unseal
it again. Farewell ... my love.' With that, she leapt into the swirling
vortex of the Portal.
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Part I: The Defeat of the Great Evil
Part II: The Prophecy
Part III: The Departure
Part IV: First Encounters
Part V: The Recovery of The First Key
Part VI: Death of a Kender
Part VII: The Last Key
Part VIII: The Final Chapter
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