Amanita (Chapter 27)

Template:Amanita nav The next layer of the abyss looked a little more organized than the ones above. There were buildings there, for one thing. They were all burned up and falling over, with plenty of gaps to snipe through, but urban warfare isn't such a bad thing. The damned were all lined up in rows, with open flat areas on either side. The landscape was in worse shape, though. Lots of big holes were knocked in the ground, and a red glow from below lit up the layer. Bridges went over some of the big gaps. Naturally, I had to look down. The layer below was a pit of bubbling lava, with chunky bits floating in it: just what Hell is supposed to look like. I hocked up a loogie and spit. Never even heard it sizzle.

The first building looked like it used to be a barracks or meeting house. It was empty and roofless now, and half the walls were gone. While I was poking around a gap in the wall, a group of Balrogs on the other side noticed me, and swarmed in. Only two of them figured out they're supposed to walk around the building to get me, not through it. A few Vomiters came to clean up the mess. Once you know what they're going to do, dodging them is easy, and the digestive gunk helps give the place a little color.

Most of the time, the terrain worked to my advantage. Balrogs and Vomiters are both the "big, ugly, and dumb" type, and keep getting lost in the buildings. I could snipe as I pleased through gaps, and quickly put a wall between me and anything smart enough to go around. Everything was going great until I saw the Abyss Knights, undead made from combat mages. They're smart, organized, and like to snipe almost as much as I do, with magic and elemental spirits instead of bolts. One bolt will still kill 'em, but lining up for a shot without making myself a target for the whole pack is tough. At least they can't do anything once they're hit. It's kind of funny watching them cast Bone Armor once they feel the poison draining their energy, like more armor is going to help them.

One ruin was weird: it was built like a cathedral in reverse. The building was square, with thick outside walls. Inside through a double door, most of the floor was a massive glowing red pit that looked like it had been made that way deliberately. An island was out in the middle of the pit, with stained-glass windows in purple and orange around the edges. Most of the windows were broken already, and some big Balrogs were running around inside. When I got close enough, they ran for a bridge and charged. With Abyss Knights, I might have been in trouble, but I can outrun a Balrog any day. My biggest problem was running out of bolts, I wound up putting so many in them.

The biggest pack of Abyss Knights were waiting next to the biggest pit in the layer. More than one high-ranking wizard was there, along with a Balrog lord and his buddies. The opening volley of elemental spirits knocked down half a building -- I ran for my life in among a group of small pits and started attacking mentally. I'd been avoiding the mental side of my options, for the most part. The less I know about what goes on in their minds, the happier I am. Hitting them while keeping my own shields strong is exhausting, so confusing a couple of Balrogs was all I could do. It got most of them out of my hair, so started hitting them a little less frantically. Once I got some of the weaker Abyss Knights attacking their lords, I knew I was safe and went back to sniping. The Balrog lord was the last to go.

In the pit, there were stairs down, into the lava lake. I could see a few small islands down there, but no sign of Diablo's fortress. Next to the pit was... a waypoint? I made a portal and went back to Pandemonium.

"Hey Cain, have you ever heard of demons making a fake waypoint?"

"Ah, hello," he said, looking a bit warily at me. "Is all well?"

"Yeah, it's going fine. Had some trouble with undead wizards, they're dead now. Do you think the demons could make a fake waypoint, and trap it?"

"Hmm... I cannot recall such a thing ever occurring. If you have found a waypoint, that should not surprise you. The Horadrim are known to have entered Hell during the Sin War, and I believe they did construct waypoints for their own use."

"Huh. Wouldn't think that would be safe."

Cain smiled. "I believe the waypoints are enchanted in such a way that they respond to the presence of mortal life-force, which would prohibit demons from using them."

"Unless the demon's possessing somebody, which we know they do."

"Ah." Cain frowned, and diligently studied his shoes. "Well... we know that now. We can hardly blame our predecessors for acting on the knowledge of the time. The rank-and-file demons of Hell surely could not use a waypoint against us."

"For now, anyway. Tyrael said anything else?"

"No. I fear your report of Izual's corruption has disturbed him deeply. I fear it may be possible that Izual deliberately betrayed his fellow angels, which would be even worse."

"I don't think so. I think he got broken, and was trying to justify it to himself. Uh... Cain, I'm sorry about some of the things I said earlier. They were way out of line. I don't even know why I said them."

The old man nodded, vague bafflement on his face. "I am as confused as you."

"I don't know, it's kind of weird. Out there, I hate what I see, but when I come in here, I don't like it either. It's like they're opposites, but I can't stand either of them. Hell is cold and nasty, but this place is so pure and clean and forgiving, I come in here and I start thinking the filthiest things. And I don't know why."

Cain slowly raised an eyebrow. "It has occurred to me that you seem more comfortable in a different setting... something more earthy."

"Yeah, I guess," I shrugged

With a faint nod, Cain smiled. "And like many people of action, you are would rather crawl through a sewer than sit in a church?"

"Well, yeah. I might get something done in the sewer. Speaking of stinking pits, did you know there's a layer of boiling, flaming lava down there?"

"Ah, you are approaching the River of Flame! Diablo's Chaos Sanctuary is there, as is the Hellforge Izual sought to destroy."

"Oh, his fortress's down there! I was wandering around this ruined city looking for him."

"Yes, they are there. The Three are fond of the River of Flame, for they can draw power from its immense heat to use during battle. Now, before you enter Diablo's sanctuary, it is vital that you find the Hellforge. Only there can the Soulstones be destroyed, and free our world from their evil forever!"

"Ok, that'll be important. Diablo can draw power from the fire?"

"All demons can, to some degree... though I understand Andarial is not fond of the flames. Now you must go. I am afraid you will have to venture out onto the River of Flame, and face whatever forces of Hell inhabit that frightful place. Surely your efforts have angered Diablo, but he will not leave his fortress to seek you out."

"No, that would be stupid. And stop calling me Shirley. First, the Hellforge. I'll avoid a direct frontal assault swinging an angelic runeblade, so I should be all right. See ya!"

Sixty-six steps down, and I was standing on an island. The ground was rough and bubbly, and cracked into sharp edges wherever I stepped. The heat was suffocating. Chunks of building stone floated out in the lava, probably fallen from above. There might have been other stuff out there, but I couldn't see more than 10 yards through the shimmering. The other layers of the abyss looked like they'd been built. I wondered who in their right mind would build a giant tub of lava. While I was looking, a burned human skeleton tried to crawl out, then fell back in. The river has as good a reason to exist as anything else down here, I guess. Somehow, they draw power from it all.

There were Abyss Knights down there. They obviously relished the chance to blast me from other islands. Not that I blame them, it was a good strategy, so after a little persuasion to direct their attention elsewhere, I returned the favor. Seeing Vomiters was no surprise, they seem pretty common. The maggots, I didn't expect. I guess they made a good impression on the big D while he was in Aranoch; he imported a whole mess of them to the River of Flame. How they could tunnel through the ground here, I'll never know. Heat from the lava should kill anything, and if that didn't, the sharp ground would.

The islands in the river were connected by bridges, natural or made of cut stone blocks. On some of the islands, I found shrines and even wells, quietly steaming in the heat. Maybe the heat wasn't that bad down inside the islands. The maggots might go down there for some relief. Out in the river, sometimes I could see submerged walls or archways, like there used to be something out there before. Maybe, during the wars, drowning an area in lava was Hell's way of making sure they'd keep it -- sort of like spitting in the cookie jar.

One of the worst fights on the river was an island covered with maggots. I'd had to move around the island and approach it from the other side. Meantime, they'd been breeding like mad and the place was knee-deep in hungry baby maggots. There was hardly room for the Vomiters to move around. My first move was to tell all the starving babies about those big slabs o' juicy flabby meat over there, much tastier than stringy ol' me. My next move was to move around and snipe at the mommy maggots, and a few unhatched eggs. That cleared things a little, and stray bolts killed most of the Vomiters. They killed a few Abyss Knight I didn't notice in all the confusion too. How sad. Again, my biggest problem was running out of bolts. I had to finish the last maggots with the katar.

One of the out of the way islands was built up with a high platform. As I approached, I saw what looked like a blacksmith's forge on top. The smith, a fat grotesque with a green aura, was almost alone. He looked like he could lose some weight, so I shot him a few times and gave him some exercise. One thing about the high-mass demons: they take forever to die. I hate waiting. At least he wasn't running around naked. I do not want to see that.

After clearing out a few Abyss Knights, I had the forge to myself. I had no reason to doubt this was the Hellforge Cain was talking about, but there was really only one way to be sure. Smashing Mephisto's Soulstone before I went after Diablo would be a good idea anyway. If I died in there, at least one of the Prime Evils would be out of commission. One hard hit from the demon smith's hammer shattered the stone. There was a howl in a familiar raspy voice, and dozens of skeletal human spirits escaped and floated away. Maybe they might even float out of Hell. My good deed for the day was done.