We moved slowly as we continued along the hallway. The Malarites had already proved that they liked their traps, after all. None of us wanted to get smashed up, unleash spells on the group, or get dumped down into a mine with no sure exit and a probable horde of undead waiting for anyone unfortunate enough to drop in. That just wasn’t any of our’s idea of a good time.
Fortunately, we didn’t find any more traps between us and the stairs. One by one, we descended the stairs, finding ourselves in a small room, with a corridor leading off of it, ending in a set of iron bound doors. Carved upon the doors were symbols of Malar, and runes of warding and protection. There was no lock, but the door did not budge when Siora pushed upon it.
The door was locked by magical means, clearly. The spell to create an arcane lock was a relatively simple one. A scroll carrying the spell would be cheap, and easy enough for the Malarites to acquire.
Unfortunately, the spell also made simply forcing your way through, by kicking it in (or, in our case, letting Frostmane shoulder his way through) would be even tougher. The magic could be dispelled, however, and I knew Siora was capable of the feat.
I was watching with my ability to detect magic when Siora’s spell hit the door. Her spell ripped through the magical protections, shredding them into useless bits of spellwork, before they faded away into nothing. I let my second sight fade, and took a breath. “Let’s do this.”
I kicked my way through the door, leaping into the room, ready to fight. The others were on my heels. This would be the final battle of the mine, and then we could rest, and decide our next course.
I noticed immediately that this room, unlike the others in the mine, was brightly lit, with everburning lanterns casting a pallid glow in each of the four corners of the room. Inside, there was a pit, five feet below the level of the rest of the room. The pit was stained with blood and had a glowing ritual formula burned into the stone.
There were three of the demonic werewolves we had come to expect, two warriors and a sorcerer. But in the center of the mine was something else entirely. Large as a werewolf lord, but sprouting black demonic wings from her back, this Mistress Rena (for it could only be her) was more than a mere ‘fiendish’ werewolf. She had to be half-demon, at least!
The priestess of Malar glared at us. “Infidels! You dare interfere in the Great Hunt’s work? SLAY THEM ALL!”
One of the warriors was close at hand, so I shot them with my first blast. The bolt of acid chained from the warrior to the sorceress, and then to the priestess in the depressed area below. “Slaughter them all, like the mindless beasts they are!”
Siora called out the world of a spell, and a wave of power rushed over the room, striking each of our enemies. Unfortunately, only the sorceress staggered back under the blow. She, at least, looked like it had rung her bell quite cleanly.
Frostmane stepped forward, and closed his jaws around a werewolf’s leg. With a wrench of his head, the warrior went falling to the ground. “I’ll keep this one under control. Deal with the rest.”
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The priestess snarled as she saw Maura standing in the middle of our group. “TRAITOR! DIE!” And then she growled a word of power, and Maura fell to the ground, dead.
The remaining sorceress pointed at me, and called out her own spell. A bolt of magic slammed into me, rocking me back on my back foot. I was dimly aware of the missiles branching off, striking the others.
The Warrior closest to me charged in, his flaming sword in hand. Unfortunately for him, I was far too nimble. Easily, I danced out of the way of his blade, letting it strike the stone where I had stood a moment before.
Frostmane, on the other hand, easily dealt with the warrior who tried to rise and strike at him. Another bite, and another wrench of the wolf’s head, and down the warrior went. He was growling loudly when he finally got to his feet.
“Oh, unholy temptress of souls, aid us in the fight!” With Vestele’s prayer, a reddish black aura surrounded each of us still standing. I felt fortified, which was good, because we were clearly in for a hell of a fight.
I ignored the damage from the mage’s spell. I could deal with them in a moment, once this warrior was no longer a threat to the group. I stilled my movements, before unleashing my next blast from the hip, striking the warrior in the gut. Magic chained from the warrior to the sorceress and on to the priestess, more acid burning their flesh. I hoped that it hurt like hell.
Siora grit her teeth as she looked at the dead sorceress next to her. “Damn you! I was looking forward to properly breaking her in!” With a scream of rage, she unleashed another burst of power, same as the last. This time, both the sorceress and the warrior in front of me staggered. As the sorceress fell to the ground, unconscious, Siora moved out of my aura, not wanting to risk the priestess’s retaliation if she had more of those spells prepared.
Frostmane answered the warrior before him’s growl with one of his own, before casting him down once again. With a chuff, the white wolf taunted the warrior. “Foolish pup. You’d have better luck on four feet instead of two. You’d still lose, but at least you would make me work for it.”
Snarling, the Priestess looked at Frostmane. “Make you work for it? WORK FOR THIS! MALAR, GIVE ME STRENGTH!” And, with a mighty howl, the priestess grew in size, doubling her height. That also made me VERY aware of the spear in her hands, which grew along with her oversized claws and fangs.
Once more, I danced around the strikes from the werewolf, allowing them to just barely miss me, rather than showing off how easily dodged they were. And, once more, Frostmane took the warrior that tried to rise, and promptly threw him back to the ground. The warrior struggled to his feet again, for all the good it did him.
Vestele raised her hand, and called out a word of power, calling upon her goddess. From her hand, a blast of red light flew out, striking Rena in the chest. Unfortunately, it did nothing to her. “Damnation! Her resistance is too strong!”
As the acid I’d already dispensed continued to sizzle, I turned my sights to the Priestess. “Stupid bitch, thinking like a man! Bigger doesn’t mean better, it just means you’re an easier target!” And, with that, I blasted her, before letting the acid chain to the two warriors who remained standing. None of them were looking that good, which only made me happier.
Siora chuckled at my joke. “Aw, the little girl’s growing up! Soon, we’ll have to have a talk about the best ways to get a man to do everything you want.” She laughed when I stuck out my tongue at her, and threw a spell at the massive werewolf, but nothing happened. “Sorry, Mel. Looks like fur for brains is all yours.”
Looking almost bored, Frostmane threw the warrior to the ground again. “Stay down, pup. The bitch is more of a challenge than you are, and even she is going to be eating the floor soon enough.”
Responding to my attack as much as my taunts, the comically oversized werewolf stabbed out with her spear, but the size of the oversized weapon telegraphed the moves. I danced easily out of the way of her thrusts, causing her to roar in frustration. When she tried to bite me, I again danced out of the way, but not before I booped her lightly on the nose. She didn’t appear to like that too much.
The warriors were… less than pleased with the way we disrespected them, as well. Of course, the one by me might as well have been a child swinging a cardboard tube around pretending to be a ninja for all the good it did him, as I continued dancing around his blows. Frostmane’s warrior was too stubborn for his own good, and wound up eating the floor yet again.
Vestele sighed. “Fine, Bitch Priestess wants to be all barky, let’s give you guys a bit more bite!” And, with that, a warm redness flowed over us, as she channeled the powers of her demon goddess into healing, despite the fact that we still had the fortifying power from before.
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Book I - Game Start
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