The Beast Within
Chapter Twenty-Five – The Immil Vale
It was as if the earth had cracked opened. Steam burst out from between rocks and dry grass, blurring everything they saw. Red glowing light shimmered among the darkened rocks, when approached, pools of lava bubbling and swirling away, tugging their nerves and sending goosebumps down their spine. The air was sticky and hot, every breath they inhaled nearly send their blood to the boiling point. All of them were sweating buckets.
"Arh…I can feel that my clan was here…long ago. Look at the size of this mountain—the thought of my kin fighting their way to the top. Must have been a glourious battle." The dwarven warrior Khelgar Ironfist, unfazed by the hellish surroundings, stared at the sight of Mount Galadrym and sighed in content.
"Bloody Nine Hells," Bishop grunted, pulling his collar slightly: "It's this hot already and we haven't meet those fire giant yet. Please don't tell me they live right on the crater of those volcanos!"
"I need to drink something ice cold!" Neeshka fanned her face: "What was that drink they served us in Sunken Flagon? Duncan's finest? Well, whatever, I am drinking it"
"I was under the impression tieflings aren't really troubled by those kind of thing." The ranger half-glanced at the rogue.
"Hello, I still have a limit!" Neeshka's hands were both on her waist: "And this is way beyond that!"
"Oh, well. The sooner we get this done, the better." Elanee the druid shrugged: "I don't suppose we can ask those giant nicely to return the belt, aye?"
"Nah, fight your way and grab the belt is more fun." Khelgar slammed his knuckles onto the palm of another: "Heheh."
"First we had to crawl through that hideous rings that lead us to Gods-knows-where, now we have to climb this steaming hot mountain to 'talk nicely' to the Fire Giants. Oh, jolly good fun!" Bishop rolled his eyes.
"Still don't like the portals, I take it?" Leela chuckled.
"No." Replied the ranger simply: "And I am so glad we don't have to use the portal to get here."
The air genasi smiled. She reached out her hand and gently tugged Bishop's cloak, straightening it back. The scout flashed a side-glance at her, grabbing her hand and pressed the fingertips against his lips tenderly. Suddenly, Mount Garadrym, their companions, and the entire Toril vanished. It was only he and she…
"Wyverns." Leela uttered almost to herself as she watched the giant lizards pacing back and forth at the bottom of the narrow path. Their heavy grunting voice could be heard through the swirling smoke, emitting from the volcano under their feet: "And several of them. What a lovely change."
"Indeed." Gannayev grinned, cocking his head sideway. "A nice change from being frozen to dead, no?"
"A funny place for a ice hag to hide." Safiya's arms folded and arched her tattooed eyebrows.
"Yeah, good point." Okku looked at the blue hagspawn next to him: "An ice hag in volcanic area?"
"You're asking me?" The dreamwalker cast the spirit leader an absurd look: "I was abandoned by a hag at a tender young age—"
A loud roar shook the ground they stood on. Small rocks crumbled down the cliff next to them.
"Oopsie!" Kaelyn the Dove withdrew her quarterstaff and hunched her back: "They noticed us!"
The sound of wings flapping could be heard through the heavy drapes of steams. Something large and heavy landed right in front of them, sending a gush wind blowing straight at their faces, clearing the smoke away. At about four meters high, the beast glared down at them, eyes beaming with fury. Its red scales glittered under the fainted sun hidden behind all the smoke and humid steams. The wyvern tilted its head; nose flared, before opening its mouth and breathed fire straight at the group. They dived away just in time.
Another thud sent the path they stood on quiver. One of the other giant lizards also noticed them and jointed in. It slashed its tail spike and swiped towards their direction. Leela jumped over the large tail and managed to hop onto its back. Quick as a flash, she unsheathed her dagger and synched it into the back of its skull. The beast made a couple of rattling noises before collapsing.
"Leela! BEHIND YOU!" Gannayev cried. The air genasi jerked her head up, just in time to see another wyvern's huge claws smashing down straight at her. She leaped down the dead giant beast, allowing the other's claws crush its body. Bits of flesh splattered everywhere.
The druid wiped the blood away from her face, leaving several smudges. The crimson blood drops also got into her silvery hair, making her look incredibly wicked and dark. She withdrew her Ice Maiden and held it tightly in her hand, before arching her eyebrow at the remaining wyvern by the cliff. The beast snarled, its wing flapped furiously, and charged directly toward the knight commander. She dived away again; slide down the slop and onto the next corner. Her fingers out stretched and shimmering, several magic arrows flew straight out of her hand and hit the lizard. The giant creature staggered a bit, shook its head and swore something in Dragonic, before glaring at her angrily.
"Safiya." There was another pair of wyvern's gigantic shadows moving behind the smoky fog, Leela cleared her throat and shouted over her shoulders: "Cast something…not fire."
The Red Wizard giggled. Her fingers sparkled and soon magic missiles rained, burning holes on both the dry ground and the giant lizard. The arcane spell penetrated through their scales. The giant lizard roared in pain, and their attack became aggressive.
The blue hagspawn leaped down the slop and landed next to the air genasi. His long hair swayed wildly in the air. He steadied himself, took a side glace at her and began to click his tongue.
"Oh, my, my." He smirked: "You are that desperate to compete with me, are you? Covered with blood? That's new. Here." He waved his fingers and cast a rejuvenation spell to remove the red splatter and smudges on her: "Like me, blue suit you the best."
Leela frowned and blushed a little, before turning her attention back to the two giant lizards that were now circling around her.
"Immune to standard magic." She mumbled: "Well, looks like we will have to do this the old fashioned way."
She reached for her back and pulled out her katana sword. She found this medium sword from a small drow merchant at the docks market, just before they headed off to the Ashenwood. According to the merchant, he found it on the way to the surface in the Undermountain, lying next to a dead advanture's body. Safiya got enough essences to have their entire weapon stuck enchanted when they were on the boat.
She hasn't had a chance to use it yet. Looked like today was a perfect day.
She switched the katana sword in her left hand, and held the Ice Maiden tightly in another. The druid hunched her back and lowered her stance, readied to leap out at any minute. The wyvern snarled and dived its head at her, mouth wide opened, readied to snap her in half. Leela leaped aside and rolled on the sandy ground. The air genasi quickly sprung back to her feet and swung the katana toward her back. The sharp blade glittered under the pale sun. The giant lizard paused; made a few series of unidentifiable rattling sounds, and then its head slide off its neck. Dark blood immediately poured out from the gash on its neck.
The druid turned, found Gannayev had shot several bolts at the other wyvern and was now darting between its spiked tail attack, trying his hardest not to get poked several holes on his body, while Fluffy, being tossed in the mid air, squirted two shots of web toward the beast, ready to pin it down where it stood. The air genasi rushed to the giant lizard, hopped up the slop near the creature and jumped. Her upper body sprung, and her swords held backward. She landed on the back of the huge beast and stabbed the monster vigorously. Icicles emerged between its scales. The giant lizard screamed in pain. It shook the body violently, intending to throw Leela off. The druid clamped her leg on its neck tightly and continued to wave her swords away. On the ground, Safiya cast Magic Missile Arrows at the beast, attempting to cause some more damage and distraction, while the blue hagspawn re-aimed his crossbow and fired continuously. Before long, the huge monster swung and finally collapsed.
For a while, the air genasi leaned against the dead wyvern's body, panting, unable to utter a single syllable. Her body was totally drenched with sweat. Her silver hair were wet against her cerulean face. She glanced sideway, noticed Gannayev was the same, and totally soaked from top to toe, lying flat on the ground, too busy to fill his lung with air than mumbling anything. A few steps away from them, Okku and Kaelyn had just finished off another giant lizard, with one of its wing ripped off from its body.
"What….what in the Toril were those wyverns doing here?" Asked the air genasi after a while: "Guarding something?"
"Gods know." Safiya pulled out a stagger from her backpack and moved toward the dead lizard: "Treasure nearby, perhaps?"
"What are you doing?" Gannayev raised his head up and arched his eyebrow.
"Those scales." The Red Wizard grinned: "Damn useful, they are. Found a weapon or armour specialist once we're back and see if we can trade them for money, or turn them into something."
"Goodness, you are worrying about that in the time like this?" Gannayev rolled his eyes.
"Especially in the time like this." Safiya flashed the dreamwalker a little smile before turning her head around to remove the scales off those wyverns.
They continued on. Soon the heavy curtains of steam began to retreat and lift. What was on the bottom of the winding steps soon slowly revealed. It was something they found entirely unexpected—something they only saw the second time since entering Ashenwood.
"Wow, would you look at that!" Kaelyn smiled as they stepped down the final step from rocky volcanic path: "A heaven hidden among the snow. Make you wonder if you are still in the same Plane!"
Indeed, they found themselves standing in a small valley of eternal spring. The air was warm and moist, but not humid and sticky. There were flowers and green grass under their feet. Water streams could be heard somewhere. In the distance, there were sound of ocean washing over the beach. The gentle breeze whooshed past their faces, brought them sweet scent of cherry blossoms and lavender. Leela squinted her nose and smiled
"This is nice." She reached out her hands with palms opened, catching the falling petals of blossoms drifting in the air. Her hooded thick silver lashes fluttered with enjoyment.
"Again, it's so not the environment a ice hag would dwell in." Safiya grinned and scanned around: "Hey, would you look at that." She pointed at an old tree nearby.
It was an old tree. Not as old or as large as the Wood Man's but it was quite huge nonetheless. What was special about this tree were its leaves—nearly covered the small part of this area, they were as red as blood. They glittered and shun under the sun, given its admires shivers. Yet somehow it did not appeared to be evil.
It stirred and waved in the wind, as if someone was greeting its visitors.
"Wow, I like this tree!" The Red Wizard clapped her hands and enthused: "I would like to think that everything looks good in red... and I think that tree is no exception."
"Well, you certainly look good in red, my sweet!" Gannayev winked towards Safiya. The latter immediately blushed like a teenager, while Okku nearby threw his eyes skyward.
Intrigued by the unusualness of the Red Tree, Leela slowly stepped towards it. Its bark seemed moving somewhat, as if the whole thing was breathing. She tilted her head and scanned the tree from top to bottom, before reaching out, a bit hesitantly, to touch the rough surface. The stubbles tickled her skin. A wave of tremor rippled through the whole trunk, the tree suddenly swung a little more widely than usual.
Cursed one…
A voice, almost inaudible whispered in the wind. The druid's companions looked around nervously, trying to figure out its source.
The Cursed one's here, once again…
The voice murmured again. Then it stopped, like it was never there to start with. The air genasi and her companions walked around the tree, trying to grasp something in the air. All they heard now was again wind blowing and birds sing.
"Now that's spooky—" Gannayev frowned, was about to say something when the air behind them suddenly moved. They sprung around and saw blinding light burst through a long slit, like someone sliced a knife through. The light got brighter and the gap gradually getting wider. Finally, two spirit stepped out of it, before the whole slit sealed off again.
"Arh…." One of the spirits murmured as they spotted Leela: "The cursed one."
"We would like to have a word with you." The other one grinned.