Another week, and another pair of chapters. I have just been having a blast writing lately, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. The story is nearly completely finished, only the trip through Hell left to go. There are some really exciting developments coming very soon, so be sure to check back next week for more.
I'm on the verge of moving again, so I don't have net access at home, or else these chapters might come faster. But between the wife and kids, I don't get much time to jet over to my mom's house to post new material. I'll do my best to put out at least a chapter a week, every week. For the next few weeks, it'll be at least two, until I catch up with where I'm writing.
I'm considering a sequel/spinoff type idea, involving an Amazon, probably the one that escaped when Frost attacked in the beginning. If you'd like to read that, leave a review and let me know, and I might just write it up. Well, enjoy this week's chapters!
X
As Frost sank to her knees and darkness began overtaking her vision, a thunderous roar erupted from somewhere down the east hall, behind the pack of mummies. The cry was powerful and deep, but more importantly, human. The monsters, startled by the sound, turned to investigate, allowing Frost a moment to hide behind a stone pillar.
A whooshing sound echoed down the hall, immediately followed by smashing of steel against flesh. Frost peeked around the pillar to see the mummies in the direction of the noise erupt in showers of blood. They were sliced in half at the waist, their torsos flying away from their bodies and smashing into the walls. The lower portions were knocked away by what appeared to be a human cyclone with weapons of some kind jutting out from its center.
The whirling stopped, and there stood a mountain of a man, wielding a sword in one hand, and a large axe in the other. He was nearly bald, except for a single lock of hair emanating out of the back of his head, as black as death itself. He was clothed only in a loin cloth, and a pair of thick knee high boots. A blue tattoo ran down his cheek vertically, imitating a great scar. His entire body seemed to ripple with muscles, and it was obviously apparent that this man possessed incredible amounts of physical power.
"A barbarian!" Frost whispered breathlessly. These men were rare to see, almost legendary. They very rarely left their highland home far to the north. Since travel to their homeland was hard, and being deemed worthy of admittance even harder, most people had never laid eyes on a barbarian, but all had heard of the mighty fighters.
The barbarian stopped only long enough to regain his balance after his whirlwind attack and immediately drew out a pair of throwing daggers from his belt. Gripping them deftly in the same hand as his sword, he drew back and tossed them at the remaining two mummies. Both blades flew true, and caught each mummy directly under the chin, killing them nearly instantly.
The man then turned and saw Luther lying on the ground. Before he could move towards the fallen warrior, one of the salamanders charged forward in a striking attack. The barbarian did not even flinch away as the beast flew towards him with lightning speed. Just at the instant when the viper leaned forward to jab with his tail, the man drew his axe back and swung hard. The axe was turned, so that instead of the blade striking, the flat side would connect instead. It crashed hard into the salamander's head, removing it instantly from it's base, and causing it to fly off to side, and bounce off the wall. The monster's body didn't have time to realize it had perished and so continued on in its attack. The tail flew forward, but the barbarian caught it with ease, and tossed the body to the opposite wall of the head.
A low growl issued from the man's throat. The remaining monsters squandered the moment they had to reconsider how to proceed against this powerful new threat. The barbarian shouted and leapt into the air. He sailed farther than any human had a right to, and landed right in the middle of the demonic pack. Fear gripped at Frost's heart again when she witnessed the warrior's move. Luther had fallen from just dealing with the outer edges of the pack, less lone being in the middle of them.
Her fear was unfounded, however, for the barbarian started making quick work of the monsters. He began swinging his sword and axe in rapid succession. With each blow landed against a minion of hell, the barbarian's speed increased. Before long his weapons were moving almost too fast to be seen. His attack wasn't as fast as Luther's zealous rage, but still faster than any normal person's. He was in no danger, that much was certain.
Seeing that the battle had turned in her favor, Frost ventured out from behind her pillar, rushing over to Luther. She dragged him away from the fighting, leaning him against the wall. She pressed her face against his helmet and was relieved to feel his ragged breath on her face. Still alive, barely Frost thought to herself, but not for long if she couldn't get him back to town. She checked his side, looking over his wound. The bleeding had slowed considerably, but had not stopped. She quickly reached down, gripping the strip of long green cloth that hung down from the front of her skirt decoratively, and tore a large piece of it off at the bottom. She balled the cloth up and thrust it into the hole in Luther's armor, ensuring it would place pressure on his injury and hopefully stop the bleeding.
Satisfied that she had done all she could for the paladin, she stood and returned her attention to the battle. The barbarian was still swinging his weapons with wicked speed, and the endless horde had been culled down to only a handful remaining creatures. Frost stepped to the side, away from the wounded paladin, and fired a bolt of chain lightning that danced from creature to creature. It failed to kill any of them, but did serve to weaken them to the point where a single blow from the barbarian destroyed them. One more chained lightning, and a few more seconds of the barbarian's frenzied swings cleared the opposition.
The barbarian gathered a few corpses and moved into the stairway room. He quickly set up grim, grisly totems with the remains of the slain creatures at the doorways leading to side rooms, which existed on both sides of the main chamber. The gruesome sight would serve to ward away the demons from the area, allowing a portal to town to remain secure enough for the band to use for a return trip.
As soon as the wards were in place, Frost used the scroll she obtained from Drognan to cast a town portal. She grabbed Luther and attempted to lift him. She failed miserably however, the weight of the man might have been manageable, but together with his armor was more than she could bear. Not willing to give up, she gripped the paladin's arm, and pulled for all she was worth. Luther slid a small amount, but nevertheless, he did move. It would take some time to move the man the few feet to the portal, but Frost could do it.
The barbarian trotted up to Frost, and pulled her away from Luther, gently but firmly.
"I got him, you go ahead" he said, nodding his head towards the portal.
Frost stared hard for a moment, then nodded her head and stormed through the portal.
"Well, lets get you some help, buddy" the man said, scooping up Luther and stepping through the portal.
"Help! We need help over here!" Frost shouted, emerging from the portal.
Frost ran for Cain, waving her arms frantically.
"Slow down young one" Cain said, holding his hands up in a defensive manner. "What is the matter?"
"It's Luther" Frost said, catching her breath. "He's been badly wounded."
At that moment, the barbarian stepped through the portal into the town, carrying Luther in his arms. "We need a healer over here" he bellowed.
Fara had been watching the town portal in anticipation of congratulating Luther for retrieving the cube. Instead of the paladin returning from a mission completed, he was carried in by a barbarian, and appeared to be grievously injured. Fara ran to Luther, quickly taking charge of the situation.
"Take him to the inn, and get him into a room immediately. I'll gather some medicinal herbs and be right there" she directed. "Go now!"
In a matter of minutes since the group had arrived in town, Luther had been placed in a room, stripped, and bandaged. Fara had run everyone out of the room save Cain and the alchemist Lysander. Frost had protested a great deal, even threatened to use her magic to teleport if she had to, prompting Cain to place anti magic glyphs around the room to stop her, before he urged her out of the room.
Frost stepped outside and teleported herself to the top of the ten foot wall that surrounded the town. She sat, watching the sun set over the golden desert, attempting to gain an understanding of her own feelings. She truly thought that she did not care for Luther, but yet here she sat, furious that Fara was in the room with him, and she wasn't. She couldn't seem to get her mind off of the idea of that other woman caring for the paladin.
She was jerked from her brooding by the sound of a deep grunt. With the grace of a cat, the barbarian landed beside her on the wall.
"Mind some company?" the warrior asked.
"No, I don't mind. Did you jump up here?" Frost responded.
The barbarian just smiled and nodded. Frost was amazed, she had seen him jump, but didn't imagine he could clear such a distance as to the top of the wall, and do so without even any sign of effort.
"What is your name? Or should I just call you wonderboy?" Frost queried.
"Ha! Wonderboy! That's a good one!" The barbarian chuckled. "My name is Keltar, of the Bear Clan."
"Well, Keltar, of the Bear Clan" Frost said mockingly "What are you doing here?"
"Just doing the usual, looking for loot and a demon strong enough to put up a good fight" Keltar said, stretching. "By the way, don't worry about me helping back there, you're welcome"
"Yeah yeah" Frost responded, with a wave of her hand. "I'm Frost, and the paladin is Luther."
"So Frost, why are you guys here?"
Frost told Keltar of all that had happened, and went on to discuss some of the more exciting events of her life. Keltar listened to every word, and did the same, telling of his history with his clan. They stayed on the wall for hours, swapping battle stories, rumors of loot, and anything else they could think of. The barbarian was most impressed by Frost's abilities, noting repeatedly of how strong her magic was. Living in the frigid north, he had seen little magic at all, and no offensive spells. With every compliment to her skills, Frost's ego grew another size.
When they finally parted company, Frost checked in on Luther, or attempted to at least. Fara's quarantine was still in effect, the door locked, and the anti magic field still in place. The innkeeper told Frost that Cain had reported that Luther was going to make it, but was still unconscious. Irritated, Frost made her way to her room.
As Frost lied in her bed, vision of Keltar, not Luther, ran through her mind. The barbarian was so overwhelmingly powerful. Luther had wounded while fighting on the edges of the demonic group, yet Keltar leapt into the middle of the pack and had slain them all, and done so quickly, and without injury.
Frost was attracted to power, and found herself extremely attracted to this newcomer. He was the polar opposite of a sorceress. She was immensely powerful in the elemental arts, he was amazingly strong physically. Part of his attraction for her was just that, he would not impede on her magical territory, just as she would not impede on his physical expertise. How perfectly matched we would be! Frost thought to herself.
The thought of the paladin wormed into her mind, interrupting her adoration of the barbarian. She was annoyed by Luther, because of what had to come to pass. He had fallen, to a group that Keltar had handled deftly, lowering Frost's consideration of him a great deal. Not only that, but his attachment to Fara troubled her deeply as well. She had decided that she truly wasn't interested in the paladin, but instead would rather pursue the barbarian, but yet she loathed the idea of anyone, especially Fara, holding any sway over Luther.
She did not want him, but she fully expected him to love her, to pine for her, to be miserable alone without her. He couldn't have her, but he was not free to have another either, at least in her mind. This stance made Frost hate Fara that much more, for trying to be close to Luther. Anger welled in the sorceress.
Frost turned her mind from the thoughts of the red headed whore, and back to the gorgeous barbarian, falling to sleep with dreams of kissing him floating through her mind.