Chapter 2
Blood Raven
As Glacian, Maeko, and Elly walked out onto the field just beyond the gates of the rogue encampment, it was foggy and dark. Gloom filled Glacian's heart, there was truly an evil presence here. Soon after leaving they spotted a dead quill rat; next to it was a large rock. Under the rock appeared to be a scroll of some sort. Glacian grabbed it and read it. The scroll claimed to be able to identify any magical item found. As Glacian stowed the scroll in his pack Elly pointed into the distance.
"Those are the Cold Plains of Despair." said Elly, her gaze directed towards the distant fields.
"Let's go, past that is the burial ground where we used to bury dead rogues, that is most likely where Blood Raven is." grumbled Maeko; obviously still tired.
"How far is it, how long will it take to reach the burial grounds?" asked Glacian as he walked slowly towards a barely discernable fence.
"Not far," replied Elly "It'll take a good twenty minutes for us to get there if we walk."
"And a good hour at this pace, let's go." said Maeko now awake and ready.
The three began to jog towards the fence and jumped it, as it was only a few feet tall. Suddenly a wave of coldness overcame Glacian and he knew he had entered the Cold Plains of Despair.
Nearly a half-hour later the three approached the burial grounds. It consisted of a tiled pathway leading to a large dirt area. Headstones were found every few feet and were all made out of wood, shaped like a cross. Around the actual cemetery itself was a broken metal fence, which was covered in vines. Every five feet there was a large hole in the fence, which looked like it was forcefully created and entered. Glacian knew right away that this was the resting place of the rogues and headquarters of Blood Raven.
Suddenly a skeleton jumped out from inside the fence and stared at Glacian and the rogues for nearly a half-minute. Stunned, the rogues did nothing, they had never seen a real skeleton before but they had heard about their lethal power and agility.
Glacian activated his fire aura immediately but its radius wasn't large enough to engulf the skeleton warrior. The rogues strung their bows and grabbed arrows from their quivers. The skeleton darted inside the cemetery and a few seconds later he came back out. This time, however, six zombies and two more skeletons accompanied him. Maeko let an arrow loose and hit a zombie between the eyes. Elly did the same. They were nearly fifty feet away form any of their enemies, which gave them the advantage. The skeletons waved their axes above their heads and the zombies walked towards Glacian and the rogues. Maeko and Elly both let arrows loose at skeletons and missed, as the skeletons were hard to hit because they were nothing but bones.
Glacian charged and his aura caught all four zombies and two skeletons off guard. The aura burned through all of them. Maeko hit the last skeleton in the skull and he dropped like a sack of flour.
"Good work." said Glacian, impressed again at the rouge's courage under pressure.
"You to." replied Elly.
As soon as this was said, eight skeletons poured out of the hole closest to Glacian. His aura only had enough power to destroy four of them; one of the others slashed madly and hit Glacian's leg.
"AHHHH," screamed Glacian "you'll pay for that!" He swung hard and his scepter connected solidly with the spine of the skeleton that had hit him. The skeleton collapsed in a heap of bones at Glacian's feet. He dropped his shield and took up the sword which the skeleton had dropped. Maeko and Elly both hit skeletons, but only one fell. Glacian hit the other with both his scepter and sword; it fell to the ground in a pile of bones. The last swung at Elly, but she blocked it with her bow, which she now used as a staff, and swung it to the side quickly enough to hit the skeleton on the skull and put it down.
Glacian administered himself with a healing potion given to him by Akara and his wound quickly disappeared.
"Let's go get Blood Raven once and for all." spat Glacian as he finished drinking the potion. His mind was filled with anger at the skeleton that had wounded him.
"Agreed" replied Elly.
As the three walked towards the cemetery, Glacian's aura burned through the attacking zombies and he sliced through skeletons, Elly and Maeko were right behind him waiting to find Blood Raven and destroy her. As they got inside the cemetery they saw a tree nearly thirty feet tall. On its highest branches hung three dead rouges. Their blood covered the ground below them and their bows hung off the lower branches, those too, were covered in blood.
"You made a mistake coming here, now you shall pay by joining my army of the dead!" came a loud raspy voice.
Suddenly a blur fell from the top of the tree to the ground only feet away from Glacian. It was Blood Raven. She was covered in markings made with charcoal and blood. Her hair was dirty and uncombed. She had a bow better than that of Maeko and Elly's put together. It shot bolts of lightning instead of arrows.
"Duck!" yelled Glacian as a bolt of lightning whipped over his head into a vine.
Before he knew it two arrows were stuck in the skull of Blood Raven's corpse, blood filled her face, but she drew another bolt and fired it at Glacian. As his aura burned her, two more arrows pierced her heart, but she was still standing. Glacian got up, and in pure rage shoved his sword into her heart and bashed her head with his scepter. Still she fought. As Glacian struggled to pull his sword out of the cadaver, he heard Elly scream. Maeko and Elly had been attacked by skeletons and were fighting them off. It was up to Glacian to take care of Blood Raven. He pulled his sword out of her heart and cut off her hand. Without it she could not fire bolts. He took advantage of the situation with a quick blow to the neck with his scepter and a strong slice to the leg with the sword. Suddenly his aura kicked in and burned her again.
This was enough to push Blood Raven over the edge and put her soul to rest. As she fell, she emitted a thick gray light, which struck each of her minions and disintegrated them immediately.
"May her soul rest in peace." commented Glacian as he watched her fall. Her bow bounced out of her hand and onto the ground at Glacian's feet. Quickly seeing that this piece of wood was much more, he picked it up and used his scroll to identify its powers. It turned out to be a lightning shooter, and added to the user's speed of firing it. "I will take this back to Kayasha as proof of Blood Raven's defeat." muttered Glacian under his breath, "Come, let us get back to the encampment before super, we have good news and I know the others will be eager to hear about the battle, thank you both for your help."
"Thank you, good paladin for doing something which we could not have achieved alone, putting one of our own's soul to the righteous rest she deserves, she was Kayasha's best friend and a holy fighter, she is defiantly where she belongs now, in heaven." replied Elly; Maeko nodded in agreement.
Blood Raven
As Glacian, Maeko, and Elly walked out onto the field just beyond the gates of the rogue encampment, it was foggy and dark. Gloom filled Glacian's heart, there was truly an evil presence here. Soon after leaving they spotted a dead quill rat; next to it was a large rock. Under the rock appeared to be a scroll of some sort. Glacian grabbed it and read it. The scroll claimed to be able to identify any magical item found. As Glacian stowed the scroll in his pack Elly pointed into the distance.
"Those are the Cold Plains of Despair." said Elly, her gaze directed towards the distant fields.
"Let's go, past that is the burial ground where we used to bury dead rogues, that is most likely where Blood Raven is." grumbled Maeko; obviously still tired.
"How far is it, how long will it take to reach the burial grounds?" asked Glacian as he walked slowly towards a barely discernable fence.
"Not far," replied Elly "It'll take a good twenty minutes for us to get there if we walk."
"And a good hour at this pace, let's go." said Maeko now awake and ready.
The three began to jog towards the fence and jumped it, as it was only a few feet tall. Suddenly a wave of coldness overcame Glacian and he knew he had entered the Cold Plains of Despair.
Nearly a half-hour later the three approached the burial grounds. It consisted of a tiled pathway leading to a large dirt area. Headstones were found every few feet and were all made out of wood, shaped like a cross. Around the actual cemetery itself was a broken metal fence, which was covered in vines. Every five feet there was a large hole in the fence, which looked like it was forcefully created and entered. Glacian knew right away that this was the resting place of the rogues and headquarters of Blood Raven.
Suddenly a skeleton jumped out from inside the fence and stared at Glacian and the rogues for nearly a half-minute. Stunned, the rogues did nothing, they had never seen a real skeleton before but they had heard about their lethal power and agility.
Glacian activated his fire aura immediately but its radius wasn't large enough to engulf the skeleton warrior. The rogues strung their bows and grabbed arrows from their quivers. The skeleton darted inside the cemetery and a few seconds later he came back out. This time, however, six zombies and two more skeletons accompanied him. Maeko let an arrow loose and hit a zombie between the eyes. Elly did the same. They were nearly fifty feet away form any of their enemies, which gave them the advantage. The skeletons waved their axes above their heads and the zombies walked towards Glacian and the rogues. Maeko and Elly both let arrows loose at skeletons and missed, as the skeletons were hard to hit because they were nothing but bones.
Glacian charged and his aura caught all four zombies and two skeletons off guard. The aura burned through all of them. Maeko hit the last skeleton in the skull and he dropped like a sack of flour.
"Good work." said Glacian, impressed again at the rouge's courage under pressure.
"You to." replied Elly.
As soon as this was said, eight skeletons poured out of the hole closest to Glacian. His aura only had enough power to destroy four of them; one of the others slashed madly and hit Glacian's leg.
"AHHHH," screamed Glacian "you'll pay for that!" He swung hard and his scepter connected solidly with the spine of the skeleton that had hit him. The skeleton collapsed in a heap of bones at Glacian's feet. He dropped his shield and took up the sword which the skeleton had dropped. Maeko and Elly both hit skeletons, but only one fell. Glacian hit the other with both his scepter and sword; it fell to the ground in a pile of bones. The last swung at Elly, but she blocked it with her bow, which she now used as a staff, and swung it to the side quickly enough to hit the skeleton on the skull and put it down.
Glacian administered himself with a healing potion given to him by Akara and his wound quickly disappeared.
"Let's go get Blood Raven once and for all." spat Glacian as he finished drinking the potion. His mind was filled with anger at the skeleton that had wounded him.
"Agreed" replied Elly.
As the three walked towards the cemetery, Glacian's aura burned through the attacking zombies and he sliced through skeletons, Elly and Maeko were right behind him waiting to find Blood Raven and destroy her. As they got inside the cemetery they saw a tree nearly thirty feet tall. On its highest branches hung three dead rouges. Their blood covered the ground below them and their bows hung off the lower branches, those too, were covered in blood.
"You made a mistake coming here, now you shall pay by joining my army of the dead!" came a loud raspy voice.
Suddenly a blur fell from the top of the tree to the ground only feet away from Glacian. It was Blood Raven. She was covered in markings made with charcoal and blood. Her hair was dirty and uncombed. She had a bow better than that of Maeko and Elly's put together. It shot bolts of lightning instead of arrows.
"Duck!" yelled Glacian as a bolt of lightning whipped over his head into a vine.
Before he knew it two arrows were stuck in the skull of Blood Raven's corpse, blood filled her face, but she drew another bolt and fired it at Glacian. As his aura burned her, two more arrows pierced her heart, but she was still standing. Glacian got up, and in pure rage shoved his sword into her heart and bashed her head with his scepter. Still she fought. As Glacian struggled to pull his sword out of the cadaver, he heard Elly scream. Maeko and Elly had been attacked by skeletons and were fighting them off. It was up to Glacian to take care of Blood Raven. He pulled his sword out of her heart and cut off her hand. Without it she could not fire bolts. He took advantage of the situation with a quick blow to the neck with his scepter and a strong slice to the leg with the sword. Suddenly his aura kicked in and burned her again.
This was enough to push Blood Raven over the edge and put her soul to rest. As she fell, she emitted a thick gray light, which struck each of her minions and disintegrated them immediately.
"May her soul rest in peace." commented Glacian as he watched her fall. Her bow bounced out of her hand and onto the ground at Glacian's feet. Quickly seeing that this piece of wood was much more, he picked it up and used his scroll to identify its powers. It turned out to be a lightning shooter, and added to the user's speed of firing it. "I will take this back to Kayasha as proof of Blood Raven's defeat." muttered Glacian under his breath, "Come, let us get back to the encampment before super, we have good news and I know the others will be eager to hear about the battle, thank you both for your help."
"Thank you, good paladin for doing something which we could not have achieved alone, putting one of our own's soul to the righteous rest she deserves, she was Kayasha's best friend and a holy fighter, she is defiantly where she belongs now, in heaven." replied Elly; Maeko nodded in agreement.