Part VII: The Last Key The last part of the Key was a mystery to me then. Try as I might I could not understand the last verse. Love? Redeem? Such things were ... difficult to grasp. The location was simple enough. The Portal. The shortest and safest way there was to go through the Tower of High Sorcery, deep in the Shadow Grove. There we could enter a Gate to reach the Portal of Darkness. But the Tower was held then by the greatest of heroes. The White mages also knew the foretelling. There they gathered the most powerful of heroes to await our coming. It was hopeless. How could we two battle our way through such an army. The Light was getting too unbearable even then. The nights were getting shorter. My loyal companion grew weaker every day. I was about to give up hope, but Lord Gilean, with his final, ebbing strength, transported us magically into the Tower, past the Armies of Light. Our rejoicing was however, cut very short. A welcoming party of Heroes had opted to make the Portal Room their headquarters. A furious battle ensued. Lord Ash took on 4 Crusaders alone, while I pieced the Key together. It was not long before I was also engaged in combat, with the clerics and mages of Good. A battle I could not survive even if I won. And I still had not figured out the last piece of the puzzle. The 3 parts were assembled and inserted into the Keyhold, but to no effect. Despair! Somehow we had been betrayed. All had been for nought, I thought. It was then Lady Liv entered the Tower, amidst the raging battle. I had managed to defeat my enemies, but was dying fast myself. Lord Ash too lay unmoving, his body hacked to pieces, but 3 of the Crusaders lay dead and the fourth barely conscious. She came to my side and laid her hands upon me, healing me. And she said, 'I finally understand now. Paladine himself has told me. The world must regain The Balance.' Then stepping onto the threshold of the Portal, she turned to me and whispered, 'I ... am the Last Key. The Portal was sealed with blood. It must have blood to unseal it again. Farewell ... my love.' With that, she leapt into the swirling vortex of the Portal.
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|  | Part I: The Defeat of the Great Evil Part II: The Prophecy Part III: The Departure Part IV: First Encounters Part V: The Recovery of The First Key Part VI: Death of a Kender Part VII: The Last Key Part VIII: The Final Chapter
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