VII.
VIII.
VIII
A few minutes later, they managed to make it out a side passage. There were no immediate yeth hounds or other danger.
Dariaza grimaced, knowing the giants would be up in arms if they woke up in the next few minutes and discovered the persistent image spell she'd left, of the servants sleeping soundly. Even if her spell expired before it was discovered, the magic mouth the gnome had left behind had some creative insults regarding their parentage and how much goblin offal they were made out of that it would utter the moment a giant asked, "Where did they go?" That would no doubt inspire an instant hunting party.
While they were gathering supplies, Dariaza learned that all of them had been abducted from various places, civilized and otherwise, in Ysgard. Anyone who, like herself, had wandered in by mistake were assumed to be "spies of the Aesir" and tortured to death. The moon elf was a planar wanderer who had been in Alfheim when she was abducted, along with the other elves. They had all lost family and friends when the giants took them, and others had died once they were prisoners here. All the survivors had gone a little barmy from the howling winds. Dariaza understood that part. Now they just wanted to get back to their own lands.
Most of them weren't going to be much use in a fight against a band of giants. The prisoners had been able to find only bits of gear and a few weapons. Even so, they had all formed a bond and none of them was willing to abandon the others. Dariaza couldn't help but admire how such disparate races had banded together without cruel domination. The 2 drow were siblings, Tebryn and Glannath Vrinn, who loved each other. Dariaza found herself fascinated with the male who did not cower before females and found it made him more intriguing, even more desirable, than any drow male she had ever met before.
Despite the desperate desire to return home as quickly as possible, no one would leave the others behind. So when some agreed to escort Dariaza to Windglum, they all agreed. Dariaza was touched by this. Whether they did so because of the barmy winds or because of some sense of honor and compassion that she had rarely experienced, she wasn't sure. But she would be their light for as long as they were with her. Even the dwarves and faery elves.
But first, they had to navigate the howling blizzard to find Yggdrasil, hopefully before something--especially the dreaded Master or Mistress--found them. Luckily, Artin Gorunn was a dwarven ranger and able to help keep them walking in a straight line. Unfortunately, the humans were near blind and she had to cast a light on a sword for them to see by. But maybe the blizzard would keep the light from being too visible, though Dariaza doubted it.
It seemed to be going good, but the male drow Tebryn halted them. "I believe Yggrasil is that way," he told the grumbling dwarf, "but there is a line of winter wolves that way."
Artin nodded, frost flaking his eyebrows and beard. "They're guarding the borders. Probably they'll try to flush us toward the Hunt Mistress once they detect us."
"How many are there?" asked Aramil, the wood elf.
"Five," replied Dariaza, studying them through her magical goggles. "At least that's how many I see. They do seem to be a single pack that is guarding something." She hoped it wasn't a Hunt Mistress they were guarding.
They prepared themselves for the charge, and then Dariaza pulled her wand of fireballs. When hit just right, a fireball would kill one or more of them, as they were particularly vulnerable to its heat. "Inflammaro," she whispered.
The fireball hit, and a winter wolf went down with a yip and stayed down. A mere moment later, the winter wolves were charging them. Dariaza got another one, wounding a third in the process, before they were onto them. Plenty attacked, though one elf hung back using the one bow they were able to salvage (and she shot true, despite the wind, Dariaza noted). But Dariaza knew that these wolves were beyond the capabilities of some of their party to endure at all, and was determined to take them down as fast as she could, without hurting the other warriors. She cast burning hands at another winter wolf. It turned on her, but the dwarves and humans quickly took it down.
Unfortunately, most of her spells were to deal with tanar'ri, and so she didn't have anymore fire spells. The fireballs were too likely to take down those engaged in fighting with them. So she'd have to work with what she had. She began casting a sonic orb, when one of the wounded wolves leaped at her, blowing forth a blast of cold air that ruined the spell with its punishing cold as it hit her. Before she could recover, it had bitten her, shaking her viciously before tossing her aside.
Then the other wolf, though wounded, was attacking her. This time she managed to dodge most of the cold breath, but she was still further injured. She pulled her wand of magic missiles and let forth a barrage of spell bolts. It yipped, and then Dariaza saw that Tebryn and the moon elf Silaqui were on the beast, expertly using the crude swords they had managed to acquire. The swords were sufficient to dispatch the beast, and they both rolled off as it fell.
"Are you injured?" asked Tebryn of Silaqui, which both amazed Dariaza and even made her feel slightly jealous. Easy, Dariaza, you just met these people, she told herself.
Silaqui was instantly on her feet. "I'm fine. Check the wizard, I think she's hurt!"
Dariaza sighed. How had she ever managed to hate the faery? Did the winds make her like the faery now or make her think she had hated her before? "I'm f-f-fine," chattered Dariaza. She wasn't, really, but she was functional and would heal with some real rest or healing magic.
The other wolf was down, and nothing else moved to attack them. But there was commotion, and Dariaza feared one of their number had fallen to the beasts. When she got up there, she saw Glannath, the drow, had healed the human boy Igan. But the human warrior Randal was in bad shape still. Dariaza sighed and pulled her healing potion out and offered it to him. He drank it and the bleeding stopped, though he was still injured.
"Thank you," he said sincerely.
Dariaza nodded, and then for the benefit of the nearly blind human, replied, "I welcome brave warriors like you at my side." She realized she was grateful that they would all be leaving together.
"Do you have anymore potions or healing magic?" asked Glannath.
Dariaza shook her head. "No, that's it. Sorry."
"Don't apologize for giving your last healing potion to another who needed it more desperately." She could see Dariaza had injuries of her own.
"I told yer she was barmy," muttered the dwarf Taklin.
"We should go in case our fight drew attention," remarked Dariaza to no one in particular.
"There's a foulness in the winds," remarked Aramil.
"Really?" responded a sarcastic Taklin. "Do tell."
Then Dariaza saw an icy winged humanoid, much larger than the mephit in Zelatar, and radiating a palpable menace. She quickly drew her wand and said, "Inflammaro." The flying demon dodged the ball and then lunged towards her, an insane laugh chilling them all. Dariaza's next fireball got it, causing it to explode in a hail of ice that they all tried to duck away from.
Moving on, they were led around a patch of deadly brown mold that had begun to grow. Still, the blizzard continued with no sign of the tree. If the winter wolves were guarding a border, it was a border that was also somehow hidden.
Glannath revealed herself as a fighting priestess of Eilistraee, then, by casting a spell to locate the trunk of Yggdrasil.
"I didn't know she was a priestess," said Dariaza, particularly stunned because she was not possessed of the murderous intensity of the priestesses of Lolth. And then Dariaza nearly broke down in tears, cursing her mother and Lolth, as she realized Glannath loved her brother and was allowed to! What a different goddess Eilistraee must be from Lolth, who would demand the hearts of anyone a drow got close to on her unhallowed altars.
"She cast a good keen edge spell on my blade," replied Urth Hornraven, a human who had fought bravely against the winter wolves. "And cast it on a couple of others, too." Dariaza realized she liked Urth, and was not offended that he spoke to her without having been spoken to first. "She healed the boy who was at death's door, too. Glad of that, I wouldn't want anyone of us to die in this wretched land. Thanks for helping us, svartalf."
"You're welcome," Dariaza replied bemused.
"I got it!" shouted Glannath. And sure enough, not long after they came to a trunk.
"Uh, does anyone else feel that?" asked Dagnal, one of the dwarves.
Moments later, Dariaza felt the tremor, too. "Giants!" she hissed.
They hurried onto the tree and Glannath led them along its bark.
A few minutes later, the tree bucked under them. Obviously, the giants had gotten on it. They continued to scramble down the wood to the cavern that led to Windglum and after awhile, the violent vibrations caused by the giants lessened and then stopped.
"What happened?" asked the boy Igan.
Glannath chuckled. "They're heading to Ysgard, where they think we went!"
Others laughed nervously, and all were suddenly glad they had agreed to accompany each other and the strange drow wizard to Windglum.
