Searing heat. Dry air. Dry skin. Thirst, always the thirst. One foot in front of the other... by Tunare, the heat!
Stumbling slightly, Eala shook her head to clear it and followed her companions. The air around shimmered with heatwaves, arid desert stretching for miles on all sides. Far ahead the cleric could see mountains, beyond the edge of this Blast Zone in the Dreadlands. On the other side of those mountains, there apparently existed a lush green valley, and this was the group's destination. There they would meet a druid at the teleportation rings who would take them to the Southern Desert of Ro. From there it would be a short journey to the ruins of the city of Guk... and then...
Well, what would happen? Eala wondered. She hoped to find her sister there. Surely it was the same person... Flexen had even said they looked alike. Try as she might, she couldn't stop herself speculating on what might be. At least it kept her mind off the heat.
Ahead of her ran her companions: Flexen, the wood-elven warrior (not ranger, she reminded her self again), Tassa the High Elf enchantress, and Cuculainn, Shaman of the Tribunal. Tassa had shrouded them in a cloak of invisibility, so the monsters who inhabited the Dreadlands were oblivious to the party as they ran on.
Suddenly Eala spotted a dot in the sky, getting closer. As it neared, she realised a second, slightly larger dot was behind the first. Flexen had seen them too, he skidded to a halt, pointing out the strange things to Cuch and Tassa. For some reason the Fier' Dal was muttering something about "an impatient old wolf". She didn't understand, but the other two apparently did, they just laughed though, and said nothing.
The dots were now recognisable as a wolf running through the air, followed by a female High Elf. Eala's stomach churned at the thought - she had never liked heights, and levitations spells terrified her! The wolf and elf halted above the party as the four dropped their invisibility spell. There was a brief shimmer, and then a dark man stood where the wolf had been.
"Darck!" cried Cuch, "I thought we were meeting you at the rings?"
The druid replied that he had gotten bored waiting for them, and so decided to track their position and fetch them himself. Eala listened with half an ear as she studied this soft-spoken Half Elf. So this was Darck... the leader of the Silent Avengers. Well, he seemed quieter than the others she had met so far, but perhaps that was a good thing. There didn't seem to be very much "Silent" about Tassa, Cuch and Flexen.
Ealandariel smiled as Flexen introduced her to Darck, before turning to the High Elf floating beside him.
"Nienor, what on earth are you doing out here?" he asked.
The woman smiled.
"I needed a teleport, and Darck was free." she replied. "I'm going to help Siffe kill the Ancient Cyclops. I think Darck may be helping as well."
Darck nodded.
"We're not accomplishing much standing around here though," he remarked. "Shall we be on our way?"
Eala took a deep breath as Darck began to cast his teleporation spell. Ports were better than flying, but only just... Mystical lights flew round her, creating a portal. With a gut-wrenching jerk, the group disappeared from the Dreadlands...
...and reappeared seconds later in the Desert of Ro. Swapping one desert for another, thought Eala, a touch moodily. A creature of the forests, she was not exactly at home in these dry environments.
Another woman was sitting at the druid rings, evidently awaiting their arrival. She was introduced to Eala as Siffe, a warrior from Halas. Yet another Silent Avenger, she seemed a nice person, Eala quite looked forward to getting to know her more. The original four party members thanked Darck for his help, and wished him, Nienor and Siffe good luck with finding the Ancient Cyclops. Before the three departed, Nienor cast a spell, and Eala felt her mind expand beyond the bounds of space and time. Her mana pool must have been greatly increased, and she wondered what the spell was. Such thoughts had to be shelved for another occasion, as with a final equipment check, they set off for the entrance to Innothule Swamp.
The air inside the swamp was humid, flies swarmed over the stagnant pools of water. No sunlight penetrated the thickly grown trees, and fungus grew in abundance. Shuddering slightly, Ealandariel followed Flexen through the swamp, avoiding the brackish water as much as possible.
After about an hour of walking, Flexen stopped, and pointed to a dark opening ahead.
"That's the entrance to Upper Guk." he murmured to her. "Take a look at the guards and see whether they tolerate you or not. They should do, and it will make things easier if we don't have to make ourselves invisible to get to the Old Ruins. We'll need all our mana once we get there."
Eala peered over the top of a log at the guards. They regarded her apprehensively, but said nothing. Lowering her head again, she reported her finding to the group, and they all nodded in satisfaction.
"Right," said Cuch, "Let's go."
They were nearly at the doorway to Guk, when they heard a muffled scream, which rapidly became louder. Suddenly a young High Elf barrelled out of the entranceway, straight into Cuculainn, who staggered and nearly fell. Blood oozed from a cut on her forehead, and another on her arm, and her robes were tattered slightly.
"Am I OK... are they following, can you see them!" The young Elf sounded slightly panicked.
Flexen looked into the entrance.
"It seems that you are lucky, young one." he said. "They're not following."
The Elf breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh thank goodness! I thought perhaps I could kill the frogs in there, I was always told that wizards couldn't solo at my level of experience, and I wanted to prove them wrong... I don't think it worked."
Eala tried not to laugh. She didn't know who this wizard was, but she couldn't help but like her. The four introduced themselves to her.
"I'm Lalamilea, Wizardress of Eternal Honor." she told them in return.
"Eternal Honor? They're our allies!" exclaimed Tassa.
As Eala healed Lalamilea's wounds, Cuch explained to her about the alliance Silent Avengers had forged with Eternal Honor.
Lalamilea flexed her arm experimentally as Eala finished her spell.
"Wow, thanks Ealandariel! That feels so much better!"
"It was my pleasure." smiled the cleric.
Flexen hovered by the Guk entrance impatiently. After bidding Lalamilea to be more careful, and wishing her well, the rest of the party moved up to him.
"All set?"
Three heads nodded.
"Then let's go."
