Tad had the men place several of the now charged wards. These would make creatures with ill intent wander away from their location. Two of the smaller ones from the wagons were also placed near the tree. They had put them evenly around the tree and garden paths where the tree grew in the center. He remembered when similar wards around Catarine's caravan hadn't worked. That time the creatures had not moved, and the caravan had parked almost on top of them. It probably didn't help that the creature was some necrotic tree.

Jack was standing near the portal pillars. The sun was coming down through the large Fey Tree above. He had a soft yellow and white glow now. Tad was still trying to get used to seeing him like that. He was happy for his friend and wondered what the Goddess had in mind for Aea. He was certain Gweleth, or more likely Niucrelath, had somehow changed her to affect Jack. He had so many questions that he had yet to ask his Goddess. He tried to forget them for now as he looked around. Lamruil was up in the lowest branches. Nico was off to the side, and Tad was going to be in front with Jack. The plan was to find Samphire using the portal, and if they could, they were going to open a way for him to escape back here. Gweleth had agreed to scry for him using the Gate of Stars. She was very interested in the idea of helping Samphire return. Tad was going to use the mana of the amulet attached to Galadinidú to open the way when needed.

Tad looked off to the side. He had all six of the large stone guardian constructs standing near the bridge. Just in case things got out of hand or the wards didn't work as intended.

Scekan, the god of monkeys, was near the entrance of the cathedral watching. Tad had talked him into coming out of the magic monkeys of mayhem's wagon for this, just in case. He knew Scekan and Samphire knew each other from way back, and hopefully, his help would not be needed.

"Jack, can you think of anything else we should be planning for with this? Gweleth said she could scry the location, but she had no idea where it was or which plane other than it appeared somewhere in the void," said Tad.

Jack turned to eye Tad standing near him. They were both about fifteen feet in front of the Gate of Stars. "Nothing that could help. If we can't do this, we will stop scrying and think of something else. Any opportunity will be short once the surprise wears off. Get in, grab him, and get out. "

Tad nodded, then closed his eyes and prayed, "Gweleth, let us begin."

Tad felt an affirmative feeling from the Goddess, who had not made an appearance. The Gate of Stars started to glow, and the air between the pillars started to ripple. There was just blackness then Tad saw a light in the canvas of black between the pillars. It was far off, and the image moved forward, approaching quickly.

Gweleth spoke in his mind, "The location from your memory is coming into view now."

Tad saw a glowing ball of light with a human sitting crosslegged in the center. The light was surrounded by darkness. No stars or other light came from the surrounding blackness. The scrying of the Gate of Stars moved forward, and Tad could see the bald head and familiar features of Samphire. As the image grew nearer, Samphire, who was staring off into the distance, turned toward them as a smile reached his face. Samphire could see their scrying. There was a small spark of magic in one of his eyes.

Gweleth spoke with urgency, "Tad, something is wrong. Samphire is pulling us towards him. "

Lamruil spoke loudly from behind, "Tad, you need to see this!"

Tad glanced back, and the Celestial Bow Lamruil was holding glowed white and rippled with magic fire, and he was still holding it. The elf looked back down at Tad, then at the gate, and a look of shock came upon Lamruil's face.

Tad turned quickly back to the Gate of Stars. Where there had been an image, there was now a portal, and Tad could see Samphire a couple of dozen feet beyond the portal.

Samphire spoke. The voice was loud, much louder than should come from someone that small. It was almost a snarl, "The human worm, I was told you had escaped. You again spring into something meant for another. There will not be a third time. "

Samphire's face had taken on a cruel mocking look, and his whole face and neck turned red as if in rage. Then the body of Samphire split apart, and the darkness that was inside exploded outwards toward the gate. Tad recognized the dark tendril arms of a void creature, except these were huge. They emerged from the now open portal wrapping around each of the pillars of the Gate of Stars.

Gweleths frantic voice entered Tad's mind, "You must free the gate! It attacks from above. " Gweleth appeared and flew upward towards the energia beam from the cathedral tower that powered the shield above the valley. Beyond the shield, Tad saw a huge hand form out of blackness that ripped a hole in the sky. The hand formed a fist, and it descended as the rest of the arm reached through the rift above, and the fist slammed into the shield over the valley. There was a great sound like a giant gong had been rung, Boooonnggggggg. The wave of noise was so loud it made Tad's teeth rattle.

Below, in the temple, Zanna's Cacoon stirred. In Zanna's view below where Esta stood, the great tree was again hammered by the giant void creature. Boooonnggggggg, the reverberation shook the Primal Tree.

Tad looked back at the Gate of Stars and watched as more tendrils lanced out of the portal towards Tad and Jack. Jack had started to glow, and he looked like he was fencing with the tendril, horn against whip. Where his horn touched, the black flesh crumbled. Where the whip touched, blood appeared. As one tendril was destroyed, more tendrils were right behind, pushing from the gate.

Tad was bringing Galadinidú around in tight circles as the energia blade on end severed deeply into the tendrils as he dodged left then back. His soulmancy space was up, and he could see the tendrils coming in slow motion. There were so many that it was impossible to keep track of them as he dodged and lept. He brought up shields to deflect blows, and many of them were smashed away.

Booonnnnngggg, the giant fist above hit the valley's shield again. Tad chanced a quick glance up to see Gweleth directing mana from the massive flow that existed in the valley directly into the shield. He didn't have time to see how well it was holding.

Below in the temple in her cocoon, Zanna watched as dark energia raced up the Primal Tree towards Esta. She heard Esta shout to the tree spirit, "I release you spirit of my people, be free. " A large spirit rose from the spot where Esta stood bright as the sun for a few moments. Then it shot off through the sky towards the mountains. Then Esta collapsed, and Zanna's vision went dark. Boooonnggggggg…

Tad shouted over the keening wail coming from the gate, "We need to free those pillars and close this gate. "

This cost him as a massive tendril slammed into a hasty shield and then through it, slamming him back into the Fey Tree's roots. He saw stars as he forced himself to stand back up. He cast a quick heal as he brought the staff around to severe a tendril that had reached farther past the others. The whole gate looked like some giant black sea urchin of writhing tentacles. Tad saw Jack backing away from the onslaught, and there was blood coming from several spots along Jack's flanks and hindquarters.

Tad shook his head to clear it as he poured more energia into his staff. "Galadinidú smite! " then he brought it down on a clump of tendrils, severing them from the top all the way down to the flagstones of the walkway. The tendril arms flopped and then disintegrated almost instantly as they hit the ground. Tad saw the other tendrils stop waiving for a second, acknowledging the pain that had been caused. Then they shot forward with renewed vigor as several more shot forward from the Gate of Stars directly at Tad.

Tad had yet to see the body of the void creature, but he was certain it was the same one that had knocked him unconscious for the demons to imprison several months ago. He sent more energia into Galadinidú again, calling for a smite. This time he dodged forward and sliced through more of the tendrils coming through the gate. Dozens more shot forward from the same spot where those had been, slamming him back again. This time, he felt a crunch in his chest. A rib or two had broken as he gasped to breathe. He felt wetness on his chin.

"Bleeding stopped, " said Galadinidú.

Tad spit out blood, cast his healing spell, and touched his chest as he worked on sitting up. The ring on his finger was a solid glow as it worked to help regenerate the damage to his body. He heard a great roar as Scekan leaped over Tad's fallen form. He looked like the great gorilla Tad had first seen him as long ago. Scekan's arms glowed yellow with energia as he slammed them down on the tendrils that had just sent Tad across the pathway. The tendrils were crushed and dissolved as the pure life energia flared from his fists and arms. He hammered at the tendrils, driving them backward and destroying all that he hit. Jack had moved up alongside from the left, his horn slashing forward and burying itself in tendrils that dissolved when he struck them. Tad saw a flash of bright white light fly from the bow in Lamruil's hand, directly into the center mass of the tendrils. There was a rippling effect of magic as the creature pulled back its half-burned and mangled tendrils. They disintegrated as they were hammered, slashed, and shot. One black mass to the right glowed green as the necrotic poison from Nico's daggers entered it. Nico disappeared again away from the melee. Tad could see the void creature now on the other side of the gate. It was a huge amorphous blob of black with two red piercing eyes set in a vague face of swirling void mana, staring at him. Tentacles formed and shot forward from the mass that was its body as again Tad lost sight through the portal.

There were just the large tendrils wrapped around the Gate of Stars and only two left. Tad's chest pain was easing as he felt the bone and sinew nit under his magic. He stood and moved forward once he could breathe fully.

Boonnngggggss... There was another strike on the shield. Tad looked up, Gweleth had grown. She was huge, hovering above the cathedral directing mana from the flow into the shield, where Tad saw a crack forming.

He took another deep breath, some pain still in his chest, and croaked, coughed a second, then half croaked a shout, "We need to close that portal!!! "

The noise from the portal was loud. There were wailing screeches behind the black mass. They grew louder as Scekan and Jack started striking the five-foot-thick tendrils holding the pillars. Tad started forward again as another brightly lit arrow shot above him into the mass in the center of the portal. Tad felt magic then, a lot of it on the other side of the open gate. Void magic was pouring from the Gate of Stars. The sound of the screeching from the portal reached a new piercing level. Tad tried to cover his ears, and dozens of tendrils shot out of the portal, striking Jack and Scekan and lashing out at Tad and Nico.

Nico disappeared again as Tad put up shield after shield, bringing Galadinidú around time and time again, trying to ignore the pain in his ears. He saw Jack knocked off the edge of the garden into the water below. Scekan had two tendrils wrapped around him, and they were trying to draw him into the Gate of Stars. The monkey god wasn't moving. Another bright arrow shot past Tad into the Tendril mass that held Scekan. The tendrils dissolved, and the Monkey god slumped to the ground, his eyes paralyzed and his face scrunched in pain.

Tad saw the void magic energia swirling around the god of monkeys. Tad brought his staff blade around over and over, cutting against the tendrils near him. Then another group of denser tendrils shot forward, some grasping for Scekan. Two flew at Tad as he who formed a shield while striking at the same time. His slice didn't work as the tendril threw him to the side, and the second tendril shot through the space he had just occupied. He hit the ground hard as he slid across the flagstones, his chest burning in pain again.

They were losing. Tad called his constructs forward, ordering them to chop the tendrils from the pillar nearest them and destroy tendrils. He didn't know how well they would do against this void magic, but their mass and strength were not something to ignore.

Tad had slid for several yards, and he hadn't broken anything this time. He was standing up when he heard something he didn't expect.

He heard a female voice shouting, "You will not have this place, creature of darkness. " A ball of demonic fire slammed into the center of the black mass of writhing tentacles. They burst into flame. It was Zanna!

Tad looked over to where Zanna was standing on the tree roots. A single tree root was looped up around her left hand as she summoned another ball of chaos fire and hurled it into the mass. Zanna was channeling life mana from the tree with her left hand and somehow creating chaos magic with it in her other hand. Another ball of fire was forming. The tentacles were burning, and Tad saw Scekan still lying under them, paralyzed, his fur singed.

Tad stood and ran forward, bringing the energia blade around over and over. He brought it around his body and back and forth, clearing the mass of burning void creature. Pieces were flying everywhere as they disintegrated. No further tentacles were coming from the Gate of Stars now. Tad was standing between the gate and the fallen god of monkeys. He heard a noise behind him and turned briefly and saw tree roots break through the ground around Skecan, encircling him and holding him in place. Several more tree roots shot up around each pillar, burning with life energia as they wrapped themselves around the pillars and the dark void tentacles holding onto them. The two competing mana types flared as they met along the pillars. The sound of crackling energia became louder as the roots and tentacles fought for control of the pillars.

Another loud gong struck, and Tad looked up to see the giant crack was now a series of cracks in the barrier protecting the valley.

"Zanna, we need to close this portal. Concentrate on removing those tendrils on the pillars! " Tad moved forward, slicing everything that wasn't disintegrating. A giant flaming tentacle released a pillar and flew across, swinging in a wide arc in front of the gate. It smashed Tad as he put Galadinidú between himself and the tentacle calling up another shield. He was hammered out of the way as the tentacle tried to latch onto him. He cried out in pain from the heat of the blubbery burning flesh on his face and head where oily flames were spreading from the giant black tentacle. There was a flash of light as a shining arrow sunk into the tentacle where it had emerged from the gate. It started to disintegrate. Tad was on his knees. He couldn't see out of his right eye, and the pain along his neck and face was excruciating. He could feel the skin there bubbling, and the smell of burnt flesh overwhelmed his sense of smell.

He saw a flash to his left as the other tentacle covering the left pillar was pulling back into the gate. Some of the void creature disintegrated as the life energia overwhelmed it. The Fey Tree roots took hold of the pillars, wrapping them from the bottom and forming a complex latticework of roots up both pillars. A wave of life energia flowed across the roots as they protected the Gate of Stars pillars.

Tad pushed hard off the ground with one arm and rose shakily to his feet. He leaned forward, using his staff to steady himself. The blade at the end had gone when he had lost concentration. He shuffled forward as tears filled the vision of his one good eye. He touched the end of Galadinidú to the pillar between the roots, willing the energia from the amulet on the staff to activate against the Gate of Stars. He struggled to hold his thoughts and magic for the few moments it would take for him to close the portal.

The blackness of the portal disappeared as another bright arrow flew towards the closing gate. It passed through the space and landed far beyond out in the lake. The gate was closed.

Tad hit the ground on his knees, trying to think enough to summon a healing spell. His face and eye burned as he tried again to make the simple hand gesture and pull some of the last remaining energia from his mana pool. Then he felt a cool hand place itself on his scalp, and the power of healing life energia suffused his scalp, neck, and face. The relief was almost instant as Tad blinked several times, trying to get the soot and tears out of his eyes. His eyes were struggling to focus as they both started working again. He took a deep breath and looked up to see Zanna standing there smiling at him. She looked different. Her wings were no longer leathery, hooked, and red. Instead, they had feathers and were a light grey. What in the world. He blinked a few more times and smiled back at her. She still had on her red leather outfit, and everything else looked the same. He watched as her wings shrunk and disappeared entirely in a few seconds.

He stared at her, then he smiled, stood, and gave her a huge hug lifting her off her feet and twirling her around.

"Your back!" he said loudly.

It took a second, then Zanna hugged him back, and she laughed softly. Tad spun her around and looked up above the cathedral beyond the Fey Tree's upper branches to see Gweleth was high above them. The goddess must be thirty feet tall now. She was still directing energia from the mana flow into the shield. The giant void arm and fist dissipated in the sun as the rift it had emerged from shrunk and disappeared.

"You can put me down now, " said Zanna in his ear.

***