The Strike of Saarii - Chapter VI

Once the party was satisfied with their purchases, new weapons and trinkets with magical properties to boost their abilities in combat, they regrouped at the start of the passage up the mountain to the north of Enligt and were on their way to find the Master Druid. walking up through the snow was slow but nothing interfered for a while, until they started hearing wolf growls all around them. Careful and alert, they moved on until they found a white dire wolf in their way. Dan immediately drew his axe, not a wise move he learned as more dire wolves jumped out of the surrounding trees ready to pounce if he makes a move. The leader of the pack didn't move and neither did the rest, but Dean did. He edged forward, slowly, motioning to the others with his hand to drop their weapons.

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"Vargo?" Dean said, to which the dire wolf nodded. The reply was confusing though, for he spoke only in riddles.

"In riddles I must speak, the reason I cannot say.

A trident found in a mountain pass,

The first spike is colder than the rest,

One is short and dark,

The last, rumoured to host great power.

At the end of each,

you can find what you seek."

At that, the speaker left, as did the rest of the dire wolves when their leader was done. Confused at what Vargo had said, the group discussed what the clues could have meant, not agreeing on their guesses. In the end they decided to keep walking and find out on the way.

They walked until they found a fork in the path, split into three other paths; "A trident found in a mountain pass," said Amal, "this is what Vargo meant, three passages, each with its own perils." They discussed again what these troubles might be, in the end choosing the last option, the one hosting great power. Moving on, they found that the path was not the most comfortable to choose; only enough room for one person to walk forward for quite a while. They walked this tight passage until they found a clearing with four long poles stuck in the ground, placed to form a square; remains of cloth hanging from the top, hinting that this was some form of tent or canopy. Behind the remains of the tent was an entrance to a cave, the only possible way out of the clearing, other than the drop off the side of the mountain.

When Uuragan, Dan and Duryraen started walking inside, a booming voice shouted "You have no busniess here!!". A blue light sparked deep inside the cave, a bolt of lightning shot towards them. The three warriors ducked the lightning strike, which hit one of the four poles outside, immediately spreading to the other three, forming four high walls of electricity; blocking Dean and Amal inside a cage. A bright white light also shone inside as a form of magical shield was created to protect the aggressors, two human mages were walking towards them inside the barrier. A man, who started shooting electric bolts at the party and a woman who kept up the barrier.

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Whatever Uuragan tried, his magic could not pierce the barrier, and wherever Dan and Duryraen hit, the barrier was reinfored, the enemies' red eyes flickering in delight when they saw the futile attempts of the people who fell into their trap. Amal tried all he could from behind the shock wall, creating small shields for his friends outside, to deflect the bolts shot from the shock mage. Dean shot arrow after arrow, at the enemies, none of them piercing the barrier.

Dan, furious that his mighty blows were not hitting home, tried to enter the barrier himself instead of his weapon, which worked. He was now standing between the two mages. He hit the healer with his head, his helmet dealing enough damage for her to loose focus and drop her barrier, and turned to smash her partner with his axe, not knowing how agile his foe was. Noticing what had happened the shock mage turned his focus onto Dan and quickly grabbed the dwarf's axe, channelling his fury through its metal, into the dwarf, sending him flying into the cave wall, falling into an unconscious lump on the ground.

Having no magical barrier, the mage was now vulnerable to Uuragan's frost magic, slowing his movement, while Duryraen launched a full frontal assault. Although his agility was diminished, their enemy was still able to deflect most of Duryraen's attacks. As his fury grew, the shock mage's wall around Dean and Amal grew in intensity, allowing them barely any visibility; Amal tried to help Dan from inside the cage, but it was difficult to do so. Dean on the other hand tried shooting arrows at the enemy healer as she was separated from the group, this way he could not hit any of his friends. One of his arrows hit the mark, piercing her side, her scream in pain filled the cave. Hearing this, her partner knew exactly what had happened, he cast a huge explosion of electrical energy around him, blasting Duryraen and Uuragan away from him. He was now invisible except for a whisp of electricity, which floated over to his healer, her physical form also turned to electricity, they flew off deeper into the cave and out of sight. Only then did the electrical barrier around Dean and Amal vanish.

Having defeated the mages, the group needed some time to recover their strength, Amal tending to their wounds. They camped for the night in the cave, and followed the whisps into the cave to find another exit, the one the mages took to escape. Here they followed the trail until they arrived at a large plateau, with elves guarding the only entrance, spears crossed, denying entrance.

For the curious readers: 
The first spike is colder than the rest > Frost trolls
One is short and dark > Underground tunnel full of goblins

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The Saarii Strike - Chapter III

Having packed their belongings, the group started moving again, deeper in the woods in Joki's direction, following Amal Cal as he was the most knowledgeable of the area. After a few hours of travelling, they arrived at a huge clearing, several uprooted trees laying around and tree stubs which seemed like they were mowed down by something much larger than any of them.

At the edges of the clearing, they could see carcasses of creatures they could not immediately identify due to their bodies being mutilated beyond recognition. Duryraen, however, did recognise the thin legs as those of spiders, and these particular spiders being as large as they were, he immediately knew where they were from. Suppressing a tear, he urges his team mates to keep moving. As they were moving Eastwards towards the edge of the clearing, heavy footsteps started pushing through from the North, trees being pushed away and uprooted as something sped towards them.

Most of the group started to move faster, getting away from danger being their priority. Duryraen, however, was rooted on the spot, facing the moving trees, daggers out and eyes glaring, determined to get back at what killed the spiders who raised him. As the last trees were uprooted, an enormous arm emerged first from the dark, followed by a cave troll of immense dimensions; horns covering its entire body except the face and chest. A belt made of bones and skulls was tied around the beast's waist, grass used to cover up its lower body; blades hanging at the end of this cover-up. In its right hand was a huge wooden club with what seemed like swords and pieces of armour stuck to it, trophies of its enemies it dealt with in the past.

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Duryraen instantly started running towards the troll, screaming at the top of his lungs. Seeing their friend in this state, understanding that something in his past was connected to this situation, the rest dropped everything and joined in the fight. Glad that it did not have to chase its meal, the troll was prepared to take them on. Being much faster and smaller than the troll, Duryraen and Dan found it easy to start striking it with their weapons and Dean shooting arrows at it from afar, but no strike seemed to draw blood. The frost coming from Uuragan's hands did seem to irritate the beast, Amal noticed this and shouted "Freeze his feet!"

Taking the hint, the guys at the front provided some space and Uuragan focused all his energy to try and freeze the feet of their colossal enemy. Although at first it did not seem to be working much, it did slow down the troll. Screaming in rage, the troll hit his own foot to break off the ice, breaking off a part of the foot in the process. The subsequent scream was blood curdling to say the least, but seeing the frozen meat on the ground, the fighters at the foot of the monster started striking the areas which Uuragan froze. In its rage, the troll started swinging its club around savagely, managing to hit Dan in the process, sending him flying through the air and smashing against a tree. Seeing this, Amal ran towards him and focused all his power onto his downed friend, healing his injuries as fast as he could.

In the meantime, Uuragan had managed to freeze both the troll's legs, and after a lot of hard work and strikes of daggers and swords, one of legs broke off. The troll's screams could surely be heard from Joki, if not further. Falling over, the troll dropped his weapon, quite defenceless as it was still in agonising pain from the lost leg. Uuragan quickly ran up to the fallen beast, aiming his ice at the troll's neck, Duryraen hacking away at it and Dean joining in with Dan's sword, finding it much easier than expected, as its skin seemed to be much thinner on the neck. After what seemed like hours, the dead was done, head rolling, the guys dropped to the floor, panting, Uuragan's hands feeling colder than they ever were before. As the group were trying to recover their energy, horses could be heard galloping twards them from the West.

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