Heedless of the poor footing afforded by the wet grass, the four pelted down the declivity, directly at the wriggling tentacles and black eyes of the darkweaver. Magadon came last, covering their retreat by firing into the swarm of wraiths.
Despite the dire situation, Cale felt a momentary flash of hope.
As they closed, two of the darkweaver's front tentacles rose before it and began to wave hypnotically.
In his head, Cale heard a soft, reasonable, but strangely-accented voice say, Stop for moment, and place weapons at your feet. This be only a misunderstanding. You be not harmed if you stop now. Gate be by you used.
Despite the poor syntax, Cale felt the magic in that command pull at his will. Weaveshear vibrated slightly in his hand, and Cale resisted the compulsion.
Jak didn't.
"A misunderstanding," the halfling said thoughtfully, slowing. "That makes sense."
He reduced his run to a jog and sheathed his blades. Nodding agreement, Magadon too lowered his weapon and slowed his pace. The wraiths moaned in anticipation, still speeding forward.
Cale and Riven slowed their own pace, nearly slipping on the rain-soaked grass. Jak and Magadon stopped all together, looking around with bemused expressions. Cale and Riven tried to pull them along, but they resisted.
"Move," Cale ordered the halfling.
"He'll let us use the gate," Jak said. "Ease down, Cale."
"Nine Hells!" Riven oathed. The assassin and Cale looked at the darkweaver to see its tentacles scrabbling up the declivity toward them. The squirming motion of those limbs made Cale want to vomit.
Riven looked past Magadon to the advancing cloud of wraiths. He took fistfuls of Magadon's cloak and shook him.
"Mags! It's a spell. Don't be a fool!"
But Magadon only stared vacantly and said, "It's a misunderstanding, Drasek. Put down your weapons. You'll see."
Riven's face twisted in disgust and he shoved the guide away. He fixed his gaze on Cale and asked the question with his eye.
Cale gave a nod; there was little else to do.
"This is where it ends," he said.
He pulled his holy symbol from his vest, wrapped it around Weaveshear's hilt, and pushed Jak down behind him. Shadows streamed from Cale's flesh.
The halfling pulled at his cloak and said, "It's a misunderstanding, Cale. You can scabbard the steel."
Cale ignored the halfling and said to Riven, "I've got the wraiths and Jak."
"I've got Mags and that thing," Riven answered, nodding at the darkweaver.
"I'll hold them off as long as I can," Cale said, eyeing the advancing swarm. "You finish that abomination fast, and we might yet make the gate."
Riven only smiled.
They spaced themselves a pace or two apart, enough room to provide them some space to maneuver, but not enough to allow attacks from the rear.
Ready, the First and the Second of Mask awaited their foes.
The wraiths reached them first, swooping upon them like dark birds of prey, eyes burning. Cale stood in front of Jak and faced the onslaught, ducking, slashing, dodging, and stabbing. Each time Weaveshear struck the body of a wraith, a portion of the creature boiled away into wisps of foul, sulfurous smoke. The creatures were all around him. He could not help but strike one with each slash. Their moans of hate and pain filled his ears; the image of their red eyes burned itself into his brain.
"Cover me, Cale!" shouted Riven, as he darted out of the melee, dragging Magadon by the cloak. The assassin charged the darkweaver, saber blade whirling.
Ten pairs of red eyes followed Riven's back and started to give chase. Cale spun away from the wraiths near him and leaped in front of the would-be pursuers. He drove Weaveshear through one incorporeal body, then another. Both moaned, bleeding greasy black smoke, and retreated.
"Be quick, godsdamnit!" he shouted after Riven.
He would not be able to hold for long. As it was, he could not effectively keep the wraiths from Jak. Despite his best efforts, some flew past him after Riven and Magadon.
He was an island in an ocean of black. The wraiths attacked from all sides, from above, even emerging from the ground under his feet to attack from below. Their icy touch passed through his enchanted leather armor as though it did not exist and pulled at his life-force, chilling him to the bone. He managed to resist the pull of their touch time and again, and somehow knew that he could do so easily only because of what he had become. Still, the cold engendered by their fell touch was slowing him down.
He forced three wraiths back with a flurry of cross slashes from Weaveshear, then whirled around to check on Jak. A blanket of wraiths covered the halfling. Still deluded by the spell, Jak struck at them with his hand as if they were nothing more than annoying insects. But they were not, and each time they put their dark hands to the halfling's flesh, Jak grew a little paler, a little weaker.
Cale lunged at the wraiths attacking Jak, slashed the head from one-it vanished in a cloud of smoke-stabbed another through its chest. It too vanished, but another took its place. And another. There were too many.
Cale scooped Jak into his right arm and held him protectively against his body. The halfling was ice cold. With Jak in one arm, Cale knew that he would not be able to move effectively, but it was the only way he could protect his friend.
"Put down the steel, Cale," Jak said through chattering teeth. "This is a misunderstanding."
Cale ignored the halfling, brandished Weaveshear, and channeled the power of Mask through the blade.
"Down to the shadows," he said in a firm voice, his sympathy for the city's dead washed away by the heat of combat. Weaveshear pulsed forth a wave of divine power, amplified in power by Cale's anger. The wave obliterated a handful of wraiths; another handful fled the battle. But more took their place. He decided then and there that he would kill Jak himself before allowing the wraiths to drain the halfling's soul.
Desperate for another option, Cale stole a glance over his shoulder at Riven. The assassin wasn't faring much better. The darkweaver's tentacles had already walled in Riven and Magadon. Riven was unable to get close enough to strike at the creature's body. The huge appendages swung wildly at the assassin and guide, narrowly missing Riven but knocking Magadon to the ground. Riven answered with a flurry of saber slashes and yanked Magadon to his feet. Above them, still more wraiths hovered, awaiting an opportunity to attack.
Cale looked once more at the gate, the darkweaver, the wraiths, and realized that it was hopeless to fight. They were never going to reach the gate. If they persisted, they were all going to die. Riven wouldn't be able to finish the darkweaver before the wraiths had claimed them all.
"Hold as long as you can, Riven!" Cale shouted, not sure if the assassin could hear him. "I'll return."
With that, Cale did the only thing he could. Still clutching Jak, and not knowing whether his ability would work while carrying another, he tried to shadowstep as far away from the cemetery as he could.
For an instant he felt the strange sensation of rushing air and rapid motion, then he and the halfling materialized on an empty street somewhere in the middle of Elgrin Fau. Only the patter of the rain, Jak's chattering teeth, and the sound of Cale's breathing broke the silence of the street. He hadn't traveled as far as he'd hoped. His ability to shadowstep obviously enabled him to cover only so much distance. But they had escaped the wraiths.
Jak, still pale and weak, groaned, "Cale, what are you do-"
Cale shadowstepped again, still hoping to get outside the city-and he succeeded. He and Jak found themselves on the low ridge that overlooked the ruins of Elgrin Fau. From there, they couldn't see the cemetery, and the buildings below looked quiet in the rain.
Cale looked into the halfling's wan face and asked, "Are you all right? Jak?"
The halfling nodded, though his eyes were heavy with shame. Being removed from the necropolis seemed to have allowed him to shake the effects of the darkweaver's compulsion spell.
"I'm all right," he said. "I can heal myself. Go."
Cale thumped Jak on the shoulder and said, "Stay here. I'll be back."