Sekilan waited until the last of Lord Hades' clerics had given up the fight and then grabbed him by the shoulder, teleporting to where Lord Malkor would be waiting at the smelting grounds. They appeared far to the north where only those loyal to Malkor would be foolish enough to enter. A bitterly cold wind wrapped around them as they walked across the icy rock in front of them, and the morning sun was lost behind thick black clouds overhead. The air had a thick metallic taste to it.
Sekilan approached the war lord with care, pulling the cleric along behind him before waiting for Malkor to notice that he had arrived. It was several minutes later when Malkor's gaze finally shifted towards him, his mind clearly lost in other matters.
'Apologies, Lord Malkor,' Sekilan said. 'Hades' clerics took longer to find than I imagined.'
Malkor's opaque white eyes turned towards him, the skin around their sockets riddled with tiny blue veins. 'You lack the skills required,' he said in a flat voice. 'I should have sent someone else.'
Sekilan held his peace. It would do no good to argue with a war lord. 'I brought one with me.'
'Only one?'
'The others died.'
'Then I hope for your sake he can tell us what we need to know.'
'He can, Lord Malkor. He has spoken of hidden passages that lead beneath the domed city. The entrance is concealed and shielded but this crystal will grant us entry.'
Sekilan held out a fist-sized crystal that sparkled in the sunlight. Malkor took it, turning it briefly in his hand before tossing it back to Sekilan and making a harsh, guttural barking sound in the back of his throat.
'This is how Hades protected his city all this time - with a trinket? There must be more that the cleric hasn't told you.'
Sekilan gazed over his shoulder towards the cleric who was standing behind him. 'Is there more you haven't said?'
The cleric barked twice and looked down at the floor. He knew better than to cause trouble in front of Malkor, but he denied knowledge of anything more.
'The crystal is all we need,' Sekilan said. 'We can force our way in from there.'
Malkor turned towards the smelting grounds behind him as the smell of hot metal and burning tar floated on the wind. 'Take a legion of clerics. Wait inside the tunnels until you hear from me.'
'Yes, Lord Malkor,' Sekilan said, turning towards the northern edges of the smelting grounds.
He walked with a brisk pace until he found Lord Greeman Hostler standing in a howling wind, his head tilted back as he stared up at the swirling black clouds above.
'It won't be long now,' Hostler said, a thin smile spreading across his tight, muscular cheeks. 'The guardians are coming.'
Sekilan waited until Hostler dropped his gaze and turned towards him. His charcoal grey robe rippled in the wind as it hung from his broad shoulders, and his thick brown hair tilted first one way then another, flattened and tossed by the breeze.
'I need a legion of clerics,' Sekilan said. 'Malkor has ordered me to take them through the tunnels beneath the domed city.'
Lord Hostler grunted, seemingly uninterested. 'How do you intend to get them there?'
'I was hoping you would provide a gateway.'
'Gateways are restricted, reserved for the armies.'
'Then they'll have to run. How long will it take?'
'There's an army travelling there already. I can let you have a legion from that maybe. It should be there in a few days.'
'Very well. I'll go ahead to find the entrance.'
'As you wish.'