---

Olanthius waited on the other side of the portal, standing atop a fresh pile of slaughtered devils and demon ichor. He looked hard at Aziz Morad, who met his gaze, then spoke. “Where have you been?” he rasped.

“You know where I have been,” Aziz Morad answered.

“There is no time. There are only hours before Elturel will fall.”

“I agree. Will you come with us? We go to the final battle with Zariel,” Aziz Morad said, his voice ringing with clarity.

“Yael sends her regards to you,” Torgrun interjected, watching Olanthius closely.

“No she doesn’t,” Spider corrected, “She sends her love, Olanthius. That’s what she said - and that she is lookin' forward to seeing you.”

“In Celestia,” Torgrun added quietly.

The Death Knight froze for a moment, then looked up at the burning sky, as if to see clear through to Celestia. He looked down again. “I will fight with you,” he growled, “But there is only one way I will be free. Zariel must be destroyed. If you will honour your word and destroy her - I will fight for you.”

“We’ll get you sorted,” Spider agreed.

Torgrun needed more clarity. “Yael has provided us with two paths. One is Zariel’s destruction. The other is the saving of her soul - which should release you.”

Olanthius shook his head angrily. “She cannot be redeemed. She has cursed me, she has cursed Haruman, she turned her back on the Hellriders who were her loyal companions and gave their lives for her false crusade. She cannot be redeemed. She must die.”

Aziz Morad heard Olanthius’s passion, but he could sense there was no truth in his words. Olanthius believed, deeply, that only Zariel’s death would suffice, but Aziz Morad knew that, as Yael had said, there were two possible paths.

“Our intent is redemption. Our path is unclear,” Torgrun responded.

“Either way, Zariel will not be who she is now,” Aziz Morad added.

“Understand that if I get near her, I will do all in my power to take her down. And you will not stop me.”

“I don’t think we would try,” Mak said softly. Aziz Morad didn’t answer this.

“Fair enough,” Spider said. “Are you comin' with us or not?”

Olanthius nodded. “I will travel with you. My time here is done, I have had enough. The Hellriders are free - all that remains is Zariel.”

---

The journey toward Elturel was faster than expected, Spider juicing the Holy Terror II with the iron flasks of demon ichor he had been saving since the ruined flying fortress.

Bili had started to feel the final stages approach, sharp pains in his abdomen, his lower belly cramping, and occasional false contractions, as if his body was preparing for the birth. He could feel the baby shift and move within his swollen belly, and it had turned and dropped some time recently - the fighting no doubt assisting with the change. Bili sensed the birth would happen sometime in the next twenty-four hours, and spent the travel-time mentally and physically preparing himself.

The landscape was strangely empty of movement - the clusters and patrols of devils were all gone. As Morad drove hard toward Hellturel the reason became clear.

Morad drew the vehicle to a stop as Hellturel came into view for the first time at the peak of the pass that led down to Fort Knucklebone. It was a shocking sight. The city was no more than fifty feet from the churning waters of the Styx, and the Companion hovered above cascading endless chains of lightning into the ruined city. In the scorched sky above the city several fortresses hovered, including one particularly impressive machine that must be Zariel’s. Explosions of flame leapt from the battle raging below and massive trebuchets delivered payloads of death as Devils and Demons met head-on in the final fight to claim Elturel’s souls.

---

Everyone was speechless at the sight. Olanthius had been right - time was short.

“Barely looks worth saving, if I’m honest,” Albert said, trying to make light of the dire situation.

“Zariel has brought all of her armies,” Olanthius rasped. “Every army under her command is here, to win Elturel’s souls. Yeenoghu leads the Abyssal forces against her. Both believe the victor will gain a decisive advantage in this pointless war.”

“How many souls would be left up there,” Albert said, looking up at the ruins of his long-lost home.

“There’s obviously people still trapped up there,” Spider said glumly, “Despite the fact we haven’t seen them.”

“It’s not the souls there now,” Aziz Morad said slowly, “It’s every soul for the last two centuries. Recall the Creed Resolute: thanks to the traitor Thavius Kreeg, all who signed it have turned their souls over, no matter how long ago nor where they may rest now.”

The words hung in the air like grim doom. Hundreds of thousands of souls. Albert swallowed nervously. There was no choice but to proceed.

---

As Morad started the engine again, Bili grunted. “The baby is close - very close,” he gasped between contractions. The rough and tumble journey had obviously brought things to a head sooner than expected.

“Shit,” Spider spat.

“Let’s go to Fort Knucklebone,” Torgrun said quickly, “The midwife awaits.”

“I feel Bili may need some help with whatever the hell is about to happen,” Mak agreed.

It didn’t take long to reach the armoured fortress. The barricades had been reinforced with more infernal iron, the gates welded closed, and nothing moved on the parapets. Knucklebone was prepared for war.

“Make your call, Bili,” Torgrun advised. Bili was too busy getting through a bad cramp to respond. Spider sprung up onto the top of the Holy Terror II and yelled, “Maggie! Bili needs your help!” He heard scuffling sounds, something pinging into the gate, some yells and small-voices arguing. Suddenly a shrivelled face appeared above the gate, eyes wide. “Nope!” it cried, before the Redcap acrobatics collapsed beneath it.

In amongst the swearing Spider made out a slurping noise. “Mickie! Go get Maggie, it’s Spider!”

“I’m here, I’m here, hold your horses,” Maggie’s voice said impatiently. “Bili is ready is he?”

“To burst!” Spider cried as Bili grunted out in pain. Albert watched wide-eyed as Bili’s belly started shifting and shaking.

“Very good! Let me summon my sister. Bili can come in,” Maggie said gleefully. A shimmering portal opened in the middle of the iron gates, big enough to walk through, but not big enough for the Holy Terror II.

Bili slowly clambered down and started to wobble toward the gate. Torgun jumped down beside him. “Bili, we want you by our side at the last battle. If you go in here by yourself there’s every chance you won’t come out.”

“He’s not going by himself,” Albert said definitively.

“Let’s go then,” Bili grunted. The crew assembled in a circle around Bili and escorted him to the gate. Maggie and Red Ruth stood inside. “Just my Bili,” Ruth cackled, “No-one else may pass.”

“Lady, it will not matter within one day,” Aziz Morad intoned with his Voice.

“What won’t matter?” Maggie asked suspiciously.

“Whether you help us or not, you will not be judged. You fear Zariel? Zariel will not be here.”

Maggie and Ruth erupted into cackles at this preposterous statement.

“LOOK AT ME,” Aziz Morad roared, “And do not laugh.”

Both hags froze mid-cackle, the Voice demanding attention. They tucked their heads together and started whispering furiously, Ruth gesticulating toward Bili. Eventually they turned back to Aziz Morad.

“What do you mean Zariel will be gone?” Maggie asked.

“I will explain once we are inside.”

“It is true that I have foreseen a seismic event, but I find it hard to believe it could be you that causes it.”

“Maybe not me, but it will happen.”

“Almost as fascinating as the dream.”

Spider cast his mind back to Lulu’s dream, when Maggie had experienced the fall of Zariel. “It will be along those lines,” Spider said, “But the result will be different.”

Bili suddenly clutched his belly and grunted loudly. An instant later he had shape-changed into an enormous female polar bear, completely out of place in the hellscape of Avernus, but perfectly suited for the impending birth. As soon as she had changed she lifted her leg and her waters burst, gushing freely onto the parched earth. Steam rose from the overheated earth.

“Oh my!” Ruth cried. “Don’t let that go to waste!” Dozens of Madcaps and Redcaps came scurrying through the portal and tried to collect what they could, opening their mouths under the flow and catching it in their hastily removed boots. Torgrun was disgusted, kicking them away like rats and swiping them with the shield.

“Quickly now, everyone inside, there is no time for bickering!” Maggie cried. The finally noticed Olanthius, which caused a micro-pause, before then hustled Bili inside.

Inside the gates Albert was surprised to see Feonor leaning idly against her golden vehicle, studiously ignoring everything that was happening. Nearby another cluster of vehicles were also gathered, and squatting atop a Demon Grinder was a muscle-bound Chain Devil, who watched the unfolding drama closely, accompanied by a dozen or so Bearded and Barbed devils. A third group of infernal rides was parked close-by where a gaggle of Hobgoblins stood menacingly in front of a large Horned Devil atop a Tormentor, whose wings had been removed. A Warlord convention, Albert figured.

---

Aziz Morad turned his gaze on the gathered Warlords. Feonor continued to act like nothing was of any interest, the Horned Devil looked back for a moment before looking away, as if shamed. In sharp contrast, the Chain Devil held the gaze unblinking until Aziz Morad turned away to follow Bili. That one was trouble, Aziz Morad surmised.

“There’s a shiny place in the new hierarchy for the first one to kill Feonor,” Albert whispered to Spider.

“Madam P, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I think I am,” Albert grinned.

“We should see if we can get these guys onside and make a flying wedge. Cut our way through the armies to get to Elturel. We both know there’s gonna be a regime change down here sometime soon, and you know what, if we have a chat to ‘em maybe they’re gonna want to be on the right side of history,” Spider smirked.

“Yeah, a smart devil…” Albert pondered.

---

Ruth was busy mussing Bili the Bear’s fur, lovingly stroking and slathering kisses and hugs on her. Maggie and Ruth chattered incessantly in an impossible language as they escorted Bili inside the Fort, leading him to Maggie’s dream chamber. She hauled the curtain aside to reveal the inner chamber, dimly lit by thousands of candles.

“None may pass this barrier once we enter,” Maggie warned. “This ritual is for us alone. Do not try to enter, for if you do you will never return.”

Albert took this advice to heart. He wasn’t too worried - the baby was blessed by Mooncolour, and Auril, so it seemed unlikely any harm could befall it. The hags may think they were getting what they want, but he wasn’t so sure that was going to happen. On the other hand, Albert wasn’t quite as confident about Bili’s fate, but the Bear had been so full of surprises that was one more seemed likely. Albert almost uttered a quick prayer to Al’Akbar, before noticing Aziz Morad already was - and was eminently more qualified.

Bili squatted down in front of the entrance. Despite the pain, he shifted back into his human form. Ruth flushed when Bili’s lithe form was revealed, running over and grabbing his firm behind. “When this is over, let’s do it again,” she squealed.

Bili started singing a summoning song, calling forth a fey spirit. The hags clapped with excitement, “Yes, yes, the fey, our baby will be one with the fey,” they cheered. Bili spoke to the creature in Bear, hoping that Ruth and Maggie would not understand. “Channel this message to one called Mooncolour,” he sung. “I need her to fulfil her blessing and take this baby once it is born. If I do not return, protect it from all harm.”

“A moment,” the fey spirit replied, then an instant later Mooncolour responded. “I hear and respond, Bili Tengervaald. I will protect your child as you request, but I cannot if the hags take it.”

Bili hesitated at this. He had Auril’s promise, but Mooncolour would not know that. “Auril will help-”

As soon as Auril’s name was mentioned, the fey spirit recoiled, breaking the channel for a moment.

“It is important that you work together,” Bili pleaded, “Despite your differences.”

“If the hags don’t fulfil their destiny for the child, I will do as you ask, this I promise” Mooncolour sung softly in reply.

This was enough for Bili. “Thank you.” He knew Auril had promised the child would not fall to the Hags, but now in the moment of truth his confidence in the Frost Maiden’s word was shaken badly. How could he have trusted her, he thought with mounting fear.

He turned to his faithful companions. “Mooncolour will protect the child, but the hags will try to take it,” Bili whispered in Elvish to Albert. “Tell the others. You must save it from them if I do not survive this. Mooncolour, the Frost Maiden, you will all have to work together.” Albert nodded solemnly and passed the message on.

Spider looked Bili in the eye. “I’m starting to think coming here was a bad idea to start with.”

“I know,” Bili said quietly, “But we have no choice.” Bili sighed deeply, looked one last time at his friends, and shifted back to Bear form. Torgrun placed a hand on the big bear’s haunch and quietly granted Bili a blessing and freedom of movement. He stepped inside the birth room.

---

What happened inside the chamber Bili could never explain.

From the outside, each person experienced a different vision depending on their beliefs. Blackness engulfed the tent as spirits of every faith sworled in and out of the darkness. Vivid flashes of light and cries of pain and terror from unrecognisable voices rang out, and time seemed to slow to an infinite crawl. And yet hours seemed to pass in minutes, screams and roars growing in intensity as time warped past, an unrelenting horrorshow.

There was a last lung-piercing howl, then silence.

Bili shifted back to his human form and looked upon the child he had birthed. Everything was in this moment, a pure melody of intense focus and joy. He heard no other sound, saw no other thing, thought no other thought. His child was born. The most beautiful thing Bili had ever seen.

A pale-skinned humanoid sat calmly on its backside, serene amongst the chaos. It’s sex was undetermined, and may never be. Bili sensed it was of fey origin, and its eyes, pools of night-dark brilliance, stared back at Bili with curiosity. After a moment it spoke.

“Hello father, I am Betrask.”

---

Bili was rocked when he heard the name. Betrask. The allmother of the Bear tribe.

He slowly became aware of the hags, who were cackling with joy, welcoming their new sister to their coven. But as they started to dance Bili saw frowns start to form on their faces. The frowns deepened as they slowed and started circling Bili and Betrask. Screeches and hisses emerged from their furious faces as they sensed what had happened.

“You have stolen her!” the cried in unison. “Our sister, our darling baby sister, our childe. You have taken her!?” They cursed and cursed, trying to snatch at the child, but an invisible force kept their grasping claws at bay, causing them to shriek ever louder. Ruth almost managed to touch Betrask, crying through the pain it caused, before recoiling.

“Auril?! You have given the childe over to Auril?? What have you done my darling Bear!” Ruth cried.

Bili picked his baby up and nursed it to his chest. It watched the hags with passive interest as they circled father and child.

Ruth hovered close above Bili’s sweat drenched face, eyes glowing red with rage. “You are cursed, Bili Tengervaald,” she howled, “Forever I will be part of your miserable memory!”

Maggie joined her sister, the two hags unified in hatred and fury. “You are twice cursed, Bili Tengervaald,” she hissed, “The terror of every father will torment you: your child will die before you.”

---

Outside the tent, the darkness and swirling tenrdrils vanished as they were sucked into the birth room. The only sound from inside was the hags screaming curses - Bili and his baby were silent.

Everyone ran inside. Bili sat calmly cradling his child, obviously exhausted, but both were alive! The two hags were circling Bili, cursing and howling in a language no-one understood.

The baby turned and looked impassively at the new arrivals. Bili followed its gaze and smiled. “They’re with me,” he said to Betrask. “Yes father, I know,” the baby said, much to everyone’s shock. The baby could speak?! Albert looked and Spider, then Morad, hoping for insight and seeing none. “Well that’s weird,” was the best Spider could offer.

Bili turned back to Maggie and Ruth. “Goodbye ladies,” he said bowing slightly, oblivious to the hag’s fury.

“Oh no Bili, you are not protected,” Ruth screeched. She raked a ragged claw over Bili’s face, five deep scratches ripping his cheek. Bili flinched but didn’t move or retaliate. “Is that all you have, my love?”

“Maggie!” Spider coughed, trying to attract her attention, but both hags paid no heed. They kept circling, clawing and scratching Bili, who accepted the punishment. He understood they had a right to be angry, and wouldn’t raise an arm to them - and his friends instinctively followed his lead. The hags kept reaching for Betrask but seemed unable to get close, clutching their ragged arms back as if in pain.

“Let’s get Bili out of here,” Torgrun said, directing everyone to form a protective circle around him as he stood. Bili was cautiously escorted from the room, his flesh shredded by the hag attacks. Betrask turned to Maggie and Ruth, looking over Bili’s shoulder.

“Leave him sisters,” she said. The hags recoiled as she spoke, fear in their burning eyes. “I will return, mothers.”

Everyone - the hags, the party - were stunned into silence. “What is happening,” Morad whispered, terrified.

Only Bili remained calm, a serene peace on his face. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

“If that baby gets hungry I don’t know if I can cope,” Morad cried, clutching Albert’s arm. Albert nodded in wide-eyed agreeement.

“No,” Betrask said, to Morad’s relief. Bili nodded and held the childe close. It behaved like a baby, nestling into his embrace, but the star-filled eyes were full of wisdom far, far beyond its years. Alert, aware, watching. Bili sung a quiet song of healing.

Maggie and Ruth emerged from the tent, arguing furiously with each other. The shoved their way past the gathered group, ignoring everyone entirely as they headed outside.

He took off his bear-talon talisman and hung it around Betrask’s neck. “This is who you are, and who you are from,” Bili said. Betrask wrapped her tiny hand around the icon, smiling. “Thank you father, one of my homes awaits. Summon Mooncolour,” Betrask said.

Bili kneeled down and started the ritual chant, calling on the feywild to return Mooncolour, telling the unicorn the boon awaited and calling for fey protection. The song of summoning was beautiful and calming, recalling in everyone’s minds the melody first heard in Ruth’s brambles. Rainbows of colour started to swirl around Bili and Betrask, coalescing slowly into Mooncolour who shimmered with beauty.

“You have done it, you have borne the childe,” Mooncolour whispered with wonder.

“I have. And I ask that you would take the child to safety, to the North and my tribe, and protect it. Until I can return - and if I can’t, then continue to protect it always, as a force of good.”

“The baby is not what I expected,” Mooncolour said slowly.

“That’s the understatement of the year,” Mak whispered to Spider.

“What did you expect?” Bili asked, confused.

Mooncolour tilted its head. “Not this. This baby straddles two worlds, two possibilities, and could step into either.”

“I believe it will become a force for nature, for good.”

“As do I,” Mooncolour said.

“But it has it’s own choices to make, that’s the balance we live within and strive to maintain,” Bili said, displaying his deep wisdom and empathy with the fey. Even with this simple statement, Aziz Morad felt he understood Bili now, understood why he had feasted on the dead guards in Baldur’s Gate and bonded with hag and minotaur alike. Bili was a free spirit, but a free spirit that always wanted to balance the scales for good.

“I do have a choice to make,” Betrask said quietly. “I wish to meet my other mother before I do.” Everyone’s eyes widened. What other mother?

Mooncolour understood though. It dropped its head slightly then looked up. “I have…negotiated, with Auril, as you asked. For now the childe may stay with me, but its time will be split. Two ways without you,” Mooncolour locked eyes with Bili, “Three with you. Survive Bili. If you wish to tip the scales - survive.”

“It sounds like that might be important,” Mak muttered.

“Auril will have her say, that is the price you agreed. And I will have mine. Maggie and Ruth won’t sit idle, though their fear of Auril will keep Betrask safe from them. The third voice, your voice, will determine the fate of Betrask.”

Bili nodded, lent down and kissed Betrask on the cheek and forehead, and lifted her onto Mooncolour’s back. Betrask grabbed the unicorn’s golden mane. “There is another voice - mine. Do not fear, father.”

“I won’t, and don’t. I know you will find your way,” Bili smiled wistfully.

“Thank you for finding me. I will return when I’m ready.”

Mooncolour bowed its head, then vanished. Bili felt the wrench in his chest as Betrask disappeared, throwing back his head and letting out an ursine roar, trapped between deep sorrow and great joy. He knew he had done all he could, and that Betrask was always going to have to leave, but that didn’t dull the pain. He turned and thanked everyone for keeping him safe, then withdrew to hibernate and recover as best he could.

---

Session played: 23, 30 Nov 2021