Continuing from On the Road
Skirmish outside the temple
After seeing the fight break out, Del shook his head. They needed to act, and quickly - the longer they waited around, the more likely the adverse effects of the mountain would take hold on them.
"Have been thinking, comrades. While Bearrach suffered, Raff was unaffected. Perhaps gnolls do not suffer effects of this curse in same way. Am also thinking that if we stay too close together, your crystal of protecting will wear out more quickly, nyet?" He began to sketch on the ground, marking three distinct groups. "They are having advantage of numbers, but we can be seeming more than we are. Raff and Ferryll can move together, as can the Count and me, while the rest are remaining here."
"How are you going to resist the waking nightmares?" Kol wanted to know.
In response, Del placed his hand thoughtfully around the crystal about his neck, which was glimmering softly. "Was receiving this as gift from goddess, after cleansing her mountain from creatures of Hoarde. Then she is appearing to the Count in dream and wanting my aid specifically. Cannot be coincidence, comrade. Am thinking that this crystal will protect me, somehow. Or at least light the way forward." He grinned. "Also having a few bitter herbs in pack that have helped me focus before. Taste is very bad. Like cold water on face, be helping keep dreams away."
Kell shot an uncertain look toward his leader. "I don't like the idea of you going off alone with him, Rowe."
"The rest of you are needing protection of crystal, nyet? The smaller the area and the fewer the people, the longer shield is lasting." He looked to Dalivune for confirmation, who nodded. "Harasho. So, larger group is to be making traps - snares, hidden spikes, shallow pits, anything that is quick to make and will slow down pursuers. Am thinking those clusters of bushes," he pointed to several thick concentrations to the north, "along with nearby trees should be good rally point."
"What about you?"
"We will draw forces out. Small patrols, if we can - Ferryll and I dispatched more than one on last mountain. We can do so again, this time using two teams. If we encounter force too large, we retreat back here, drawing them across traps and leading them to your ambush."
"What if what happened to him," Kell pointed to Bearrach, "happens to you?"
"Is why we are going in teams of two and not alone. One of us falls prey, the other will protect. We are staying maybe eighty paces apart, close enough to help if one pair is overwhelmed, not so far as to risk overmuch." Here he gestured to his bow. "Am knowing how to be getting attention without putting us in harm's way."
Hauk was nodding. "It's not a bad plan, and while it has risks, not near as many as some." He cut off Kell's protest with a warning look. "I'm inclined to give it a try."
"Raff and I move when you do," Ferryll added. "You might be right. Maybe we cannot get the nightmares."
"You said you had black beans," Dalivune murmured. "You mean coffee beans? From the southern isles?" When Del handed him the bag in reply, he took one out and sniffed it cautiously. "Fascinating. I've heard of these before, though I've not had them myself. Perhaps these will help me to stay alert while keeping the spell in place."
"Da. Is what I am hoping." Glancing around, Del did not miss the scowl on Kell's face. He held up his hands in a conciliatory manner. "Understand, if anyone is having better suggestion, am happy to be listening... but time is not friendly, and I am not wanting to attack this place under cover of night. Is for the Count to decide if he agrees with plan or no. If yes, then we are moving very fast, and you will need to get shield ready and have traps in place within hours."
Rowe looked to Kol who nodded to him. "Aye, Del. I like this plan. But I think three teams is better. Buck will come with Del and I. He's the best hunter in Headwaters. Ferryll and Raff will make the other side of the pincer. Hauk and Dalivune will test out the crystal from the where the nightmares affected us. The rest can find a suitable place to fortify a camp."
Bearrach and Kol nodded along. They would make sure a proper camp was prepared. Kell seemed satisfied that Buck would join along with Del and Rowe.
Dalivune spoke to Del - "About your question earlier - it does not matter how many are inside the area of protection. The crystal will get worn down based on how big the area of protection is, and how much magic gets thrown at it. Though, I suppose the more people are in the area, the bigger the area will have to be. Does that explain things?"
* * *
They had soon gathered up their weapons and prepared for battle. The Gnolls looked particularly fierce with their giant axes.
Hauk looked at Ferryll and Raff with his usual grin. "I think I know why you are immune. You are the nightmares."
Hauk held a strange looking all-metal tomahawk in his right hand, while another one hung on his belt. He also carried a sling. Rowe had a short bow on his back and a spare longsword at his side, having recently sacrificed his heirloom sword to Ea, in exchange for his life. Buck had a longer bow and a short sword.
Dalivune wore a jacket with many pockets. Each pocked had some other little item of it. He handed out a tiny clear crystal to Rowe, and Kell. He told them, "Think of the sunrise, from Hot Springs on the first day of summer, and this crystal will shine a beam of sunlight. Clasp your hand around it and think of the cloudy midnight sky and it will go out. It's a little crystal, so I made the light weak. It won't last very long. But it could come in handy. I'll have one as well."
* * *
Kell's strength soon proved useful. The patrols had left twenty minutes ago, and he'd already piled up a sizable wall of boulders and stones. Behind this they placed their heavier gear and food supplies. The rest of the group gathered up logs and sticks and were making progress on a crude, but sturdy shelter.
* * *
Buck, Del and Rowe all move quietly but swiftly through the heavy forest up towards the temple. The path was rugged here, and muddy there, but they were all used to this sort of thing. The Count was not a typical noble. He was the youngest of six and had grown up adventuring in the slopes of these same mountains not so far to the West.
Buck was smaller and more nimble than the rest of the men of Headwaters. Few remembered his given name. Everyone called him Buck because of how good he was at hunting. His skin was darker and his hair black. His father had been an adventurer from Perthula, far to the south. His father had gained lesser noble status after distinguished service for the King, which Buck had inherited. His father had stayed in Headwaters after meeting the love of his life. Buck was the only half Perthulian he'd ever met.
* * *
Hauk tromped along in the woods with abandon. He could have walked quietly if he wanted to, but Dalivune was so clumsy that he figured it wasn't worth the trouble. He halfway hoped they'd draw some attention. He always loved a good close fight. He made sure they stuck to the densest thickets of trees as they made their way up. He knew if there were any snipers in the area, they'd be vulnerable, but the thickets would make them come in close. Then they'd be sorry.
* * *
Rowe hoped Hauk and Dali were doing well. The gnolls were the least of his concern. He and Del, and Buck were in position, spread out about twenty paces between each - perched around trees in just such a way that they could see each other, but were not visible from the temple area.
Rowe was starting to see beetles swarming on the ground, but he ignored them. He kept telling himself they weren't real.
Buck and Del could strike from here, though Rowe could not.
The temple up ahead lurched up out of a massive rock that jutted out of the mountain like a goiter. The top was made of carved stone and shone with an eerie red flame. The bottom was more rugged, as if they had tunneled into a giant rock, and built the temple on the top of it.
At least a dozen figures milled around the base of it. It was hard to count them through all of the woods. They dared not yet approach so close to the clearing.
The beetles had turned larger, and with claws. Rowe felt relieved. If they were real, they wouldn't change. But, alone in these murky woods he recalled Del saying that this god had the power to make nightmares real. He pulled out his tiny crystal and pointed it at the ground and thought of the sunrise, at the Hot Springs. The light weakly shined down, and where it shined the bugs disappeared. He held it in his hand and thought of a cloudy midnight sky. For now, the beetles seemed to scurry away.
* * *
Buck squinted through the trees for a while, and unable to find a good opening, moved forward one tree, then another, then another. He finally found a clear shot. The heavy canopy kept the wind at bay. He fired his arrow. The figure never saw it coming. His arrow hit its mark. It stumbled to the ground, but soon stood back up, and started shouting.
"What exactly happened to you back there?"
Bearrach gave an unreadable look in response to Morphran's question. A big man, he was moving more slowly than he was accustomed to, and needing to pause to catch his breath. "You know how some dreams vanish on waking, but leave you with that terrible sense of dread, like you've seen something that you weren't meant to see? It was like that."
"You are certain that there is nothing further to recall?" Morphran tied a knot into a rope snare and nodded; it would hold up, even if a particularly weighty creature were to fall into the trap. "Visions can tell a great deal about..."
"We should not speak of it," was the irritable interruption. "It is not wise to speak of the darkness while you remain in the shadows; perhaps, once we emerge into the light, but for now, we should focus on the task at hand."
"Yes. Yes, of course... I meant no offense, friend." He was about to say something more when there came a low whistle from Aedhan, who had been tasked with digging a few shallow pits.
At the arrival of the others, Aedhan simply pointed with the heavy branch he was using as a makeshift spade. At best, "hole" was a generous word for the indentation he had created; even so, the telltale white objects jutting out from the earth made the tribesman's halt obvious. The fingers of a skeletal hand had been exposed, reaching upward as if the unfortunate soul had been buried alive.
"This is the third time - I start to dig, get so far, and find bones," Aedhan breathed, clearly unsettled. "It's like this whole accursed place is a graveyard."
"Keep at it," Kol urged. "The dead are of far less danger to us than the living."
"I'm not so sure about that," Bearrach muttered darkly.
* * *
Del stared at the figure in disbelief. Buck had landed the shot squarely between the man's shoulder blades, yet their opponent had gotten back up and was yelling as if completely unhurt. Several of them were now scanning the trees, intently searching for the hidden archer and snarling at one another in a dialect that sounded less like a human language and more like some horrid patois borrowed heavily from goblins. Cursing, he advanced, flanking hard left from where he'd seen Buck go.
One of the men gave a cry and pointed, as if spying where the first arrow had come from - without a second thought, Del fired and took the man squarely in the neck, where between protection of helm and tunic. This time, he saw red blood begin to flow as a strangled cry escaped his target; now, at least, Buck had some room to maneuver, as the second arrow forced them to wildly turn in other directions.
"Die this time," he muttered as he prepared to loose another shot, taking aim at the one who had begun shouting, but just then his vision swam and doubled. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he wavered, blinking hard but no longer certain of where his quarry lay. "No, no, no, not now!"
Taking refuge behind one of the great trees, Del closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, one hand reaching for his mystical stone. The warmth seemed to flood his hand, and at once he felt more stable, more sure of himself.
"Goddess light my path." Stepping back out, he was about to take aim when a blast of flame exploded a few feet ahead, knocking him back.
* * *
The initial salvo, it seemed, was not going as expected - this much, Ferryll had been able to see from several yards off. What had escaped his notice until the throng of men had shrank back was the tall, cowled figure bearing a blood-red crystal clenched tightly in one fist. The first bolt of flame crashed into the wood like a wild animal, radiating outward in a semi-circle.
"Raff," he snapped, "get back there and cover our archers. I'm taking the caster."
"Are you mad? You'll..." Raff's protest fell on deaf ears as the gnoll charged recklessly forward, a second fireball slamming into another cluster of trees not far from where Buck had taken his first position. Luckily, the caster was facing the opposite direction from whence Ferryll charged, and the roar of the flames ensured that those who *had* spotted him were difficult to hear until he had nearly reached his quarry.
A second too late, the figure turned, and three hundred pounds of angry gnoll bore him to the earth. In a single smooth motion, the axe came down, decapitating the mystery caster; with his next move, Ferryll snatched up the red crystal and hurled it into the forest, hoping that the flames would consume that which spawned them. It was then that a blade struck his pauldron, and he twisted with the impact, rolling sidelong and using the momentum to get back on his feet. Nearly a score of the humans now faced him, blades drawn and rage writ large on their countenance.
Impossibly, Ferryll grinned. "Come and get me, you bastards!" he thundered, brandishing his axe.
* * *
Staggering back up with some difficulty, Del squinted through the flames to see what was happening in front of the temple. He slapped his palm to his forehead in frustration.
"The plan. He is not following it. Not even a little. Der'mo!"
With the blaze so close, the heat made the air shimmer and dance, but this at least was a natural phenomenon that Del was familiar with. An idea occurred to him, and he switched his target to one of the men who wore a thick, luxuriant cape. As the arrow passed through the inferno, it caught alight to find its mark, and within moments the blaze had transferred from missile to man. Although the arrow had failed to penetrate the man's armor, he shrieked at the unexpected blaze and began flailing heedlessly among the others... creating no small distraction.
Kell was just as unhappy about all of the skeletons as Bearrach. "Who all must have died here?" Not long afterwards a red glow washed over them, followed soon after by a low thudding boom.
"Do we have any firepower like that?" Aedhan asked.
"I think not," Kell responded with a concerned look.
"Maybe they need help?" asked Morphran.
Kol stroked his beard. "I think we should stick to the plan."
Morphran squinted at him. "I don't think explosions were part of the plan."
Kol scratched his head. "Perhaps not. Still - at least two need to stay here and guard our stuff."
* * *
Buck had recovered from the shock of the fireball and now picked a target that was paying too much attention to Ferryl. He pulled back his bow string, and just as he let go, something latched onto his leg, and he jerked his hand. The arrow struck Ferryl in his shoulder blade. Buck looked down - but nothing was there.
When he looked up there was a firey commotion, and two more lay dead at the feet of Ferryl, but he was starting to get surrounded.
He knocked another arrow, and fired. This one sunk straight through the head of one of the acolytes. He fell into another, and distracted, that one lost his right arm to Ferryl's axe.
He was ready to knock another arrow when a ferocious holler come from the woods, the sound frightening and hard to place. Out of the shadows came a mad man, charging at Ferryl. He raised his bow and took aim. It was Hauk who flew into the circle and sunk a handaxe into one of the acolytes, and kicked another back. He raced back into the shadows of the trees. Buck held his fire, and flanked back towards Del.
* * *
Rowe found Del after the explosion. "I'm going in to help Ferryl. I'll see if I can split their attention and draw them away."
Rowe bounded into the circle brandishing his sword. "I AM A WARRIOR OF EA," his voice boomed. The acolytes backed off and split at the sight of another combatant. A million bats swarmed down at Rowe, he couldn't see anything but he just kept swinging his sword and advancing, and yelling, "SCATTER BEFORE ME." He felt the sword sink into one of them. He thought of the sunrise at Hot Springs, and the little light shined in his off-hand, just enough to clear his vision. Eight fanged beasts were surrounding him, axes, swords, and spears pointed at him. The light did not seem to affect them. His head felt heavy and he soon felt his strength fading. He parried and rebuked the attacks coming at him, and slowly fell back towards the woods.
* * *
Dalivune stood alone trembling in the woods. Hauk had run off into the fight, and he had no idea in the chaos what was going on.
He tried to trigger the protection crystal, but his mind was too consumed with fear to initiate it.
"I am staying," Bearrach volunteered. "I am not being of use yet for a proper fight..." And am not trusting these skeletons, as crazy as it sounds, he thought but did not speak aloud.
"Then we move," Morphran said to Aedhan. "Our children's children will sing of this day." The two tribesmen were off and running before Bearrach even had time to wish them well, leaving him with Kell and Kol.
"Something tells me that digging further is wasting time," he muttered. "Am not knowing about you, comrades, but am wanting to cover these back up. They are giving me bad feeling in stomach."
* * *
Teeth gleamed from ear to ear as Ferryll finished a fourth acolyte; he had never felt so alive. Until he had met the funny-talking human, he had thought most humans to be little more than hairless pig-men with overgrown egos, barely better than the Hoarde... but these were different. These were warriors, and whichever one had just raced into the fray and then shot back into the darkened trees beyond had given him a beautiful opening, into which he slammed down his axe and nearly tore another of the acolytes in twain.
"Hey Hauk!" he shouted... or at least he thought that was the one he'd seen. Human names were still strange to him. "I bet I can kill more of these sons-of-bitches than you!" He laughed aloud; bitch was an especially egregious offense to gnolls, considering how often they were compared to dogs, and he relished the opportunity to use it on humans. "I already got four!"
One of the others leaped toward him, but he easily parried the blow - seeing the man's heavy armor, he chose a more brutal tactic and bit him in the face. When the man tried to tear free, it gave Ferryll the perfect opportunity to strike at his throat. "Make that five!"
* * *
Unlike his fellow gnoll, Raff preferred to keep hidden, striking from behind and melting back into the shadows. While the other raved like a lunatic, he had made his way back to where he had last seen Buck, only to find the archer had moved on. Instead, he found a peculiar-looking red rock, one that looked rather familiar and was warm to the touch.
Magic, he thought, irritated. He cared little for the stuff, though he could not deny that it was effective... as the billowing smoke was now making it all the harder to identify shapes.
Suddenly, he spotted a pair of fanged figures, advancing swiftly toward a slender figure that he recognized as the sorefoot mage. The latter seemed to be struggling with one of his crystals, though he looked to be sweating so badly that he was about to drop the blasted thing... and he wasn't even seeing the creatures moving on him.
Without hesitation, Raff slunk ahead, and as the goblins were about to fall on their unsuspecting prey, he managed to take them both with a single long, clean sweep of his axe. Dalivune, for his part, had a complexion the color of ash and seemed ready to vomit.
"Make yourself useful, magic man," snapped the gnoll, tossing the fire crystal in his direction.
* * *
Del shook his head; he had to hand it to the Count. The man was either braver or crazier than any he'd met... possibly both. And while a few of the acolytes had peeled away from Ferryll, more shapes had detached from the inner sanctum of the temple - hulking goblin forms were now poised in a half-circle around Rowe, and despite his shouting he was swinging his sword less readily than he had before.
"What in the name of all the gods...." Buck, seemingly from nowhere, appeared at Del's side. "Is he mad?"
"Never mind." It didn't matter what Rowe was thinking; they needed to help him. "You take right; I'll go left." Without waiting for a response, Del began running, nocking his arrow as he moved. Pausing for just long enough to take a shot, he managed to put one squarely on the snout of a beast just about to snap at the Count, before continuing to run ahead.
All at once, he stopped dead in his tracks; the blaze was continuing to intensify, and there was no clear path ahead for him to keep maneuvering. As he considered an alternate path, the smoke itself wisped forward, an invisible hand seeming to grab him by the throat.
Champion of the false goddess, a menacing voice hissed into his mind. Witness the might of my master!
Del felt his feet lifting off the ground, his hands grasping at emptiness before him. The bow fell numbly to the earth as the treeline began to recede, becoming a distant haze. In desperation, Del snatched at his pendant and whispered a prayer.
There was a blinding flash....
Kell was in the middle of hauling a rock the size of a small pig when he saw Morphan and Aedhan tear off into the woods.
He picked up his war-hammer and took off, barreling up the mountain, grumbling under his breath.
Kol didn't blame the other three for going, but now he was forced to stay put. He would never leave a wounded ally to fend for himself.
The two of them began to rebury the skeletons. "Peace be to ye. Forgive the disturbance." Kol kept saying.
* * *
Hauk grinned at the challenge from Ferryl. "We'll just see who can get more!" He swept one opponent off his leg, and Rowe quickly stabbed him. "Two."
Ferryl snarled. "Doesn't count."
A great white flash burst out of nowhere.
When he looked up most of the acolytes were stunned. With two swings, he landed his axes. "Two and three." Then he dashed ahead towards the temple entrance as the cowards ran before him.
* * *
Dalivune responded to the flash of light by yarfing all over the ground. Then he saw the red crystal laying at his feet, and picked it up.
When he looked up he said to Raff, "It's amazing how much better you feel after you throw up..... thanks for the red crystal." He blinked once or twice, not believing that it was daytime. For the last hour or so, he could have sworn it was night time.
He peered at the crystal. Cut by a crystal smith master for sure, though of standard quality. Based on the cut and the hue, he'd say it was Alaynian. He concentrated as he held it in his hand, getting a feel for the inner essence. Maybe he'd get lucky.
"Yes!" he smiled devilishly. "Raff, cover me for a moment." He had an idea, but he'd need a few minutes. He pulled out another white crystal out of his chest pocket, and looked through them both with one eye towards the dull grey sky.
* * *
Buck writhed on the ground clutching his eyes. He was blinded by the blast having been looking directly at Del at the time.
* * *
For a moment Rowe was disoriented, but then he felt a new sense of clarity. The hallucinations vanished. When he looked up, he saw that his opponents skin seemed to blister like a sunburn. Some even dropped their weapons and held their hands over their eyes.
Hauk dashed back into the foray swinging double hand-axes. Rowe, Hauk, and Ferryl showed no quarter and made short work of the stunned guards. The few remaining who had avoided the effects of blazing light of Ea broke into a run back to the temple, and Hauk and Ferryl giving chase.
He saw four new figures emerge out of the temple. Large, muscled, grey-green fanged orcs, who donned tunics with the symbol of Azkladash over armor. Rowe shouted a warning. "Heavies!"
As they re-buried the last of the skeletons, Bearrach sat down heavily to rest. Even though he bore no physical wounds, whatever darkness he had encountered back there had laid a chill upon his soul. Drawing a flask of milk of the mother, he took a long draught therefrom before offering it to Kol.
"Spasibo, comrade," he said, "for staying behind... and for helping the dead to find their rest again. Am not sure exactly what is happening up ahead, but am thinking that plan has gone - how you say - tits up?"
"You know, I never imagined myself here," he continued after a pause. "When I was small, was told that I would make pilgrimage to the sacred mountain of my ancestors. Never thought I would need to defend my goddess from attack of Hoarde. Strange times we are living in." He glanced at Kol curiously. "Is dawning on me now how little I know of the world outside; while some among my tribe are like Del, exploring the far off lands and adventuring, many of us keep to ourselves. What can you tell me of your lands, comrade? Or of your gods, for that matter." He managed a half-grin. "Is fortunate that our goddess took a liking to your leader, certainly, but while I have heard rumor, I personally know but little. Is shame to me, I suppose - you are so close to our lands, yet I have never ventured forth."
* * *
Raff gritted his teeth. He had heard the warning cry of "Heavies!" but was loathe to leave the crystalsmith alone after what had nearly befallen him... and watching him puke had left him no illusions as to the frail man's constitution. He readied his battle-axe and took up a guarding position in front of the other.
"I hope he knows what he's doing," the gnoll grumbled.
* * *
A thousand tiny stars were exploding in his brain. Del crawled around half-blind, grasping for his bow, feeling as if the earth beneath him were quaking. His throat remained tight and raw from where the invisible hand had laid hold of him, and his nostrils were full of smoke. The intensity of the blaze left his skin feeling cracked and raw.
"Heavies!"
The cry gave him something to focus on, and all at once the world swam back into a more stable view. His head was still pounding, but he could see his bow now, and snatched it up between hands slick with sweat. Moving from squat to stand almost caused him to black out once more, but the acute awareness of a familiar weight on his chest reminded him that Ea yet needed him... as did the others.
Moving ahead toward the sound of where he had last heard the voice, Del readied his arrow as he passed out of the inferno and toward the black temple.
* * *
"Buck!" Kell came upon his fallen friend as he was getting to his feet with some difficulty, Aedhan and Morphran pausing in their mad dash ahead to help him up. "Buck, are you all right?"
"Fine," he coughed. "Just got blinded for a minute is all."
"Where's Rowe?"
"Heavies!"
Buck grimaced. "That answer your question?"
* * *
"All right, Hauk," Ferryll snarled, a ferocious grin stretching almost maniacally across his face. "These guys count double. And I'm still ahead!"
The orcs shouted something unintelligible in their native tongue. Each of the quartet held a bastard sword in one hand and a kite-shaped shield in the other. Forming a line, they started their advance, each of their shields overlapping to protect against arrow fire.
At that moment, Aedhan, Morphran, Buck, and Kell arrived, weapons drawn and taking backup positions to Rowe, Hauk, and Ferryll.
"Apologies for not following plan," Morphran rasped. "Was sounding like you could be using help."
"Where is Del?"
As if on cue, the hunter appeared, his skin and attire stained black from smoke and ash, teeth bared in a snarl that seemed all the more savage for the contrast. The crystal about his neck pulsed with a powerful inner light.
"Am thinking is time we end these sons-of-a-bitches, nyet?"
Continues with Here come the orcs