Travel through the tunnel took a few days, however they finally found themselves facing the other side. However, it was hard enough getting the horses down the steep decline entering the tunnel, and it seemed that it would be even more difficult to get them up the incline leading out. The Cleric came up with an idea to mold the stone into a flat base and tie a rope around something on the other side of the door. The Drow made her way to the rock dead-end that was the other side of the tunnel, did what she needed to do in order to open solid stone, and then there was their escape.
The Paladin exited soon after, only to find that they were on the shore of a lake with their back to a shear cliff about ten feet up. The Cleric asked if the Druid could use her tree shape so that they could cinch their rope around her. She agreed and, together with the Paladin, they were able to move the horses out of the tunnel. The Drow and Wizard rode on the back of the Cleric's horse while the Druid flew away and the Paladin maneuvered his horse through the waters.
When they came to shore they spotted several people along the shore and on two docks. Some had spears, others had nets, but all seemed to be concentrating on what was in the lake: Fish. As they came closer one of the villagers spotted the group and alerted the others. The entire townsfolk quickly yelled to the rest of them and made their way into a nearby building. Caught off guard, the Cleric and Paladin decided to approach the villagers and make amends. They went up to the door, quickly followed by the Drow, and announced that they meant no harm to them. After several moments (and the mention of the Ridarri family, again) the villagers opened the door and greeted the prince and his followers.
He explained that they were on edge because of the recent goblin sightings over the past several weeks. In fact, they had managed to trick a small group of them into believing that there was treasure in the middle of the lake down a hole. When the goblins made their way down, they covered the hole with wood and stone, trapping them inside. If they wanted, they could show them the hole. They would actually be very grateful since most of the children had been having nightmares from hearing the goblins yelling and screaming every night. They took them out to the middle of the lake to a small island. They showed them the hole and stood back while the party inspected.
The Cleric pushed aside some of the planks of wood and stones to see down, though he couldn't see far past the darkness. The Drow reached into her pocket and pulled out a small gelatinous cube. She went and dipped it into the lake and it began to emit a very bright light. She went back to the hole and dropped it down through the space made. At that point all chance of surprise was lost, so the Cleric and Paladin cleared enough room for them to climb down. The Drow, again, reach down and pulled out a silver rod and placed it in thin air, then tying a rope to it. She dropped it down and then jumped into the darkness, rolling out of sight. The Cleric flew down and called the all clear to the rest.
They seemed to now be in a decently sized cavern with ruins gathered around. They heard whispers from all around, though there was no sign of the goblins. Then, they saw where the whispers were coming from: Three wraiths appeared from the walls around them and attacked. The first one swung at the Cleric, slashing him across the face. It glided over to a space in the middle of the cavern where a runic circle appeared on the ground. It threw it's hand down upon the circle and held it there. After only a few moments the wraiths disappeared into the ground, only to be replaced by a large black creature. it's wings were nearly twenty feet across and it stood eight feet high. It's tail swung back and forth, and the spikes protruding from it's shoulders, head, and back quivered with excitement.
Try as they might, the party found it very hard to penetrate the demon's defenses, though it had no problems getting to their soft tissues. Despite the attempts of the Wizard to summon her hypogryph and the Druid calling for the help of a satyr, it seemed that all was lost. After several unsuccessful attempts at attacking the demon, including the Drow leaping onto it's back and trying to stab at it with her dagger, all seemed lost. But suddenly, a thought occurred to the Druid: She cast a spell that allowed her to read the runes and marking surrounding them.
True evil lies beyond this path
Blood shows it the way
Called forth the slay the chosen
Blood shall seal it away
This sparked a thought in her mind. "Get it's blood!" She cried. Without hesitation the Paladin, exposing himself to the demon, reached up to an arrow that the satyr had plunged into one of it's arms. Not knowing what to do, the Cleric caught on and yelled out "Damnit, put your hand on the circle!"
The Paladin reached down and put his hand on the ground, though nothing happened. He reached up to attempt to block an incoming blow from the demon, though it slammed his shield sending it bashing into his head. After a moment the Druid came up with another idea. "Hold you hand down!" and the Paladin caught on. He reached down yet again, but this time holding his hand against the circle. It began to glow until finally a burst of light came from it and the devil was sucked into the flash.
While they rested the Drow searched around for the treasure the villagers claimed were down here. Searching around revealed no treasure, but she did manage to find a hidden passage. When they opened the door water gushed, then turning into a slow trickle. They decided that they would rest inside the cavern for the night and then make their way into the tunnel at daybreak.
