Chapter 3 - The Tree Of Inifus
Morning came brightening the sky and the lands below as the sun shone brightly on to the wilderness. The bright light was a change from the mostly dark cloudy days that had come before and this gave the Rogues hope. This was the first time in several days that the sun had broken through the cloud cover and it transformed the landscape, brightening the once dull dark areas of the wildrerness and making it seem like a more friendly place. Kirara's victories had also given the Rogues hope for the future and as for herself, Kashya felt relieved that Raven was at last at peace.
Liene woke from her slumber and lay there for a while just thinking of what had already occured. She remembered the battles she had fought alongside Kirara and smiled content in knowing that she was helping her sisters and wondering what Kirara's next step would be. She rose after a few moments and walked out into the centre of the encampment where a few other Rogues were sitting eating breakfast. She briefly looked around for Kirara hoping she would see her, but didn't have any luck. Instead of sitting to eat as she would normally do she decided to see if Kirara was awake so she headed towards her tent.
"Hello?" Liene said quietly. "Are you awake?"
Kirara heard Liene's voice and sleepily replied. "I'm awake. Give me a few minutes."
"Okay."
"Thanks."
It didn't take too long for Kirara to get up. She was eager to go to Tristram and discover what the small village was like so she rubbed her eyes and got up fairly quickly. As she left the tent she was a little surprised at how bright the morning was, much brighter than the previous day.Her first thought was to go to Akara to find out how to get to Tristram because she was unsure as to where the small village was and Akara would be the person most likely to be able to tell her.
"Good morning." Liene said smiling."
"Good morning." Kirara replied.
"We should go to this tower i know of that has lots of treasure!"
"I didn't know there was a tower full of treasure near here."
"It's the perfect place to go before we attack the Monastary so we can get magical items that might help us on our quest."
"Okay we'll go there, but I want to go to Tristram to see what it's like."
"Okay, Akara will know where that is." Liene said, "Let's go to whichever one is closer first."
"That sounds good." Kirara said. "Let's go see Akara."
"Alright."
Akara was awake scanning the maps of the surrounding area when the two enetered her tent. "Hi, I want to know where Tristram is and how i can get to it." Kirara said. "We believe that the demonic forces are using Tristram as a base of operations, so it will be dangerous to go there." Akara said. "Why do you wish to go?"
"Well, my father, when he left us, said he was going to go to Tristram for something important and I want to go there to see if i can find any clues as to where he might have gone."
"I see, I pray that you can find some clue as to where he may be now in that place. Kashya's Rogue scouts have imformed me tha the demonic forces have set up a barrier, which will destroy any creature that still has a soul, around the town to prvent anyone from invading it. In this way it is secure from any outside attacks."
"Then we cannot enter?" Kirara asked sadly.
"There is but one entrance that we can use to enter the town, but we will need a certain scroll to use it to get to Tristram safely."
"You are speaking of the scroll of Inifus?"
"Yes, the scroll was created by a mage by the name of Inifus, who came here during the sin war to trap Diablo within a sacred soulstone. He was killed in the act and a tree grew in the spot where he was slain by the demon. The tree of Inifus, which should be around this area," Akara said pointing to an area far off from the encampment on the maps that lay across her table. "should hold the correct sequence to touch the Cairn Stones to safely open a portal to Tristram."
"Why have the demons not used this portal?" Liene asked "If they used it they could easily surround the encampment and destroy us."
"I believe that the portal will only allow beings which have souls to pass through. Like the demonic barrier which only allows creatures without souls to pass through, the portal only allows beings that have souls to pass through without being destroyed."
"Is it the same with the ancient waypoints?" Kirara asked.
"Yes, i believe so, though i cannot be certain." Akara replied.
"I know how to use the waypoint so we can cut our journey a little." Liene said.
"Okay show me." Kirara said.
Kirara and Liene walked out of Akara's tent after saying their goodbyes. "Over here." Liene said moving towards the stone tablet in the east side of the rogue camp. The tablet had a large circle engraved into it and in its centre was a large runic symbol. Around the circle were other smaller runic symbols. "Each of these runes corresponds to a certain place," Liene explained. The large rune in the centre corresponds to where we are the Rogue Encampment. The others correspond to waypoints that are scattered throughout this land." Liene moived to the centre of the waypoint gesturing for Kirara to follow. "When you wish to go somewhere you must touch the rune that corresponds to the place which you wish to go. It is unwise to touch any rune if you do not know where it will take you since once someone tried to do that and it is rumoured he appeared in a pool of bioling lava at the other side." With that explanation Liene touched one of the smaller runes. Instantly the heros were transported to an area where there were alot of stones and rocks strewn around a large field. Liene looked around before smiling.
"This is the furthest I can go until I know what runic symbol is on the waypoints further ahead than this. The trail from here leads to an underground passage, which is sure to be filled with demonic forces. We should be careful."
Kirara nodded noticing that dark clouds hung around this place blocking out the sun. Already she missed the bright warm light as she shivered in the cool darkness. "It's cold here, isn't it?" she said
"Yes, the darkness seems to follow the demonic forces whereever they are. I wonder if the weather itself is controlled by them?"
"From what we've seen already, it certainly seems that way."
Kirara remembered the sunny days when she would lie down and just stare up into the sky looking at the clouds as they hovered overhead.
"I vcan see a mans face in that one!" Kirara said excitedly. "It almost looks liek you daddy!"
"Yes, it is amazing what we can see in clouds." Kirandor said. "Do you see that mountain range over there in that could?"
"Um, kinda." Kirara replied uncertainly.
Kirandor laughed. "The imagination is an amazing gift. "What can you see in that one?"
"Um, I can see a dragon! Are dragons real daddy?"
"Yes, I believe they are, however, I have not seen one myself. Many try to hunt them down for the treasure they hoard."
"Why? Life is more importnant than money!"
"I agree, but sometimes people can be consumed by greed."
"That's so sad."
"Yes it is."
"Rakinishu!"
The war cry of the fallen group that had spotted them broke Kirara out of her reverie. The little creatures charged at them directly brandishing their swords. They did not even attempt to dodge s Liene started loosing arrows at them and soon Kirara was lending her aid in the form of firebolts. The small creatures fell quickly, but the heros knew from experience that there might be a shaman nearby. There was. Liene focused her spiritual power into one of her bolts and loosed it at the shaman. As it hit it made a small explosion destroying the shaman.
"Were you just thinking of your father?"
"Yes, I was just thinking of how I loved to look up at the clouds with him and use my imagination to discover different things within them.
"I used to do that with my sister too. We wondered if we'd be able to reach the sky with our arrows one day. We never succeeded but it was fun to try. Raven would act annoyed saying we should be training to hit a target instead of trying to hit the sky." Liene said giggling.
"What did you say then?"
"We said that the sky was a target and Raven would just smile. I think she recognised in us a part of her own childhood."
"Wow!" Kirara exclaimed. "I wish i could have met Raven before she..."
"Was corrupted by Andariel." Liene finished. "I know she fought her hardest to allow us to escape in that time of peril, but the odds were against her. The demons just kept coming and it's not easy to fight in such close quarters especially if your specialty is ranged combat."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Liene said smiling. "You helped me save her from her torment, remmber? She is now at rest and i have you to thank for that."
Kirara blushed a little. "I only did what anyone would do in my place."
"Regardless, thankyou." Liene said. "Anyway, we need to find the underground passage first."
"Okay."
Soon they came to a group of large stones standing upright and in the centre of these stones was a large group of fallen, this time with blue skin instead of red. "Why is their skin colour different?" Kirara asked Liene.
"I don't know." Liene answered. "They must be another race of fallen."
"Look over there." Kirara said pointing to one of the fallen. "That one looks stronger than the rest."
"Interesting." Liene said. "That one must be their leader."
Kirara prepared her magic to cast a spell at the leader of the fallen.
"No, don't do that." Liene said holding her arm in front of Kirara blocking her from using her magic on the demons. "Not yet. We should find the scroll of Inifus first and then attack them. Then we might have the element of surprise when we attack Tristram itself."
"Good idea." Let's continue our search for the underground passage then."
It took them about an hour to find the entrance to the passage fighting more fallen, undead, and demons as they searched. It was easy going as the two used the advantage they had by running away from their enemies and turning back to fight them some more always at range. Both were aware that in the underground passage space would be limited and they wouldn't be able to run indefinately. Kirara's frost novas and ice bolts slowed the stronger enemies and gave them even more time to kill their enemies.
As they entered the passage it took them a few moments to get used to the new darkness. It was almost pitch black so it would be very difficult to fight here. "I an hardly see my hand right in front of my face in this darkness." Liene said.
"There's just a little light up ahead." Kirara noticed. Perhaps it's the exit?"
"I don't think so. See how the light is flickering? I think it's just a chamber lit by torches."
As they moved forward they found that Liene was correct. The chamber ahead was lit by a small number of burning torches and a few undead archers were patrolling the area along with some deformed demons which looked almost like huge dogs than demons.
"What are those?" Kirara asked indicating the deformed demons.
"I don't know."
"What should we do?"
"If we can i think it would be wisest to sneak past them. They're comming this way."
The two heros hid in a crevice in the rock walls of the passage hopeing that they wouldn't be seen. Kirara held her breathe for fear that the demons would hear her as they moved within inches of their position. One of the demons stopped right by where the two had hidden and began sniffing around. This continued for a few moments in which Liene and Kirara were scared out of their wits with fear. Both tried to get further away tfrom the demon, but the rock walls prevented them from doing so. Fear tightened it's grip around their hearts making it harder to breathe quietly increasing their fear that they would be caught and in this position be unable to fight back effectively.
Eventually after what seemed like hours the demon stopped sniffing around and moved on with the undead and the other demons. "Quick!" Liene said getting out. "They'll be coming this way again soon." Kirara moved quickly to get up and run behind Liene to get past the lit chamber. They repeated this process several times, but in doing so managed to avoid many encounters that would certainly have led to fights, which they'd have little chance of winning because of the closed space. They did end up having to battle a few undead and fallen, but nothing too powerful.
"Now i know how Raven must have felt when she had to fight in the closed areas of the Monastary to ensure we could escape." Liene said. "I think this way leads to the exit."
When they finally got out of the underground passage both Kirara and Liene were relieved. The darkness formed by the cloud cover which seemed to follow the demons was present on this side of the passage as well so it didn't take long for Kirara and Liene to get used to the light."I don't want to go back through that passage again." Kirara said.
"We shouldn't have to." Liene replied. "There should be another waypoint around here somewhere."
"Let's find it."
When their eyes got used to the light the heros realised that they were in a forest where many trees stood forming a canopy of leaves overhead and making this area darker than the rest of the above ground places they had travelled through. "This should be where the tree of Inifus stands and i know a ritual to take it's bark so we can bring it back to Akara."
"Great, finding a tree in a forest." Kirara said, "This should be easy."
There were three different paths to choose from. One to the East, one to the West and one to the North. All three paths looked the same and seemed to continue for quite a way. Any of them could lead to the tree of Inifus or the waypoint.
"Let's try this way first." Liene said indicating the path to the East. As they continued they came to a clearing where a group of demons were by a small fire. These demons weren't the small fallen that littered the area either. They were large goat demons, half goat and half man. They walked upright as men on cloven hooves and their heads were those of goats. In their hands they weilded great heavy axes which they carried easily.
"We should probably avoid them." Kirara said queitly.
"Let's gop around them." Liene said and started walking through the trees surrounding the clearing careful to not be seen or make too much noise. Kirara followed wondering if it was really safe to do this. They managed to get around the clearing without anything happening though and the heroes breathed a sigh of relief. Further on in the trail they were following they came to another clearing this time vacant with a great stone tablet in the middle. It looked just like the one in the Rogue encampment. "This is it!" Liene said. "We can go back to the encampment if you need a rest now?"
"No, I'm fine." Kirara said.
"Okay. Liene said. "Looks like the trail ends here, so we'll have to go back the way we came and try another path. They circled around the clearing with the goatmen again and went West from the entrance to the underground passage. This time many fallen and undead archers assailed them as they traveled down the path. Fighting was difficult with the trees acting as cover for the demons and archers. They continued down the path for a long time coming to several clearings, but not once finding the tree of Inifus.
"Is it really possible to find this tree in a forest like this?" Kirara asked.
"We have no choice if we wish to go to Tristram. We still haven't searched the Northern path. Let's go back and try that one."
Kirara nodded her agreement and they started backtracking until they reached the entrance to the underground passage once more where they turned to go for the Northern path. As they travelled the path Kirara felt some kind of magic in the air. "We're approaching something magical, but i can't tell what." she said.
"Maybe it'ds the tree of Inifus?"
"Maybe."
The going was relatively easy this time with only a few fallen and undead to take care of. "Why is this way easier than the other one?" Kirara wondered.
"I don't know." said wondering the same thing herself. "Can you still feel the magical presence?"
"Yes, and it's getting stronger." Kirara said.
"Then we're probably getting closer." Liene said hopefully.
They soon reached a large clearing and there stood one tree at the northern edge that seemed to shine with spiiritual energies. The path continued east and west from the clearing. "We've found it!" Kirara exclaimed. "This is where the magic is coming from."
"Good, I'll perform the ritual on the tree so we can get the bark and get out of here before any demons come this way."
"Sounds like a good idea." Kirara said. "I'll protect you if demons do approach or at least I'll try."
Liene nodded then turned to the tree and started the ritual. For a few moments nothing happened, but just as they were breathing a sigh of relief that there wasn't any traps here an army of zombies rose from the ground around them and three of the trees woke and started moving slowly towards Liene. "Treemen!" Kirara exclaimed surprised. She quickly looked around and saw that she was surrounded and Liene was still doing the ritual. "Hurry!" Kirara said to Liene. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hold these enemies off for long and it would be a waste to have come here and not get the scroll they needed. Kirara launched a frost nova which slowed the movements of the enemies which were all around her and cast several firebolts at the treemen hoping to burn them to death. The firebolts didn't do enough to start a major fire in the treemen, but it was enough to make them change their target to her instead of Liene. They moved fast towrads her and slammed her with one of it's branches knocking her clean off her feet. As the treeman moved to attack again Kirara knew that she'd have difficulty evading it, but she had to try. She just managed to avoid the treemans wooded fist as it came down at her.
"BUL KATHOS!" The warcry came from Kirara's right as a muscular man with a ponytail of black hair on an otherwise bald head came charging in directly at the treeman smashing undead warriors out of the way in his approach. He swung a mace in one hand and an axe in the other. The blows hit the treeman with such force as to make the treeman stumble backwards and away from Kirara who picked herself up slowly. 'A barbarian.' she thought.
"I'll deal with the treemen, you deal with the undead." the barbarian ordered Kirara.
"Hmph!" Even with her disdain at being ordered around, Kirara knew that the undead would be a problem if they were not dealt with quickly. Thanks to her frost nova they hadn't been able to move quickly enough to reach Liene, but they were approaching and something needed to be done. Kirara quickly launched a flurry of firebolts at the Zombies. Unlike the fallen she had been able to destroy with just one firebolt each the Zombies took up to four or five bolts before they went down. Icebolts had a simalar effect, but they also slowed the Zombies movements. She knew it would drain her spiritual reserves, but she chose to use more of her energy to form large blasts of ice that would do more damage than the lowly icebolt and in additoion freeze these enemies in place. Unfortunutly the magical attack could target only one of the Zombies at a time so she prioritized her casting alternating between frost nova to slow all the zombies and ice blast to destroy them She noticed also that if the zombies were frozen they would always shatter into ice fragments when they were destroyed.
The barbarian was having trouble with facing all three of the treemen at once as he could only attack two of them at a time with his surprisingly fast double swing attack. The blows splintered the wood that made up the treemen and was causing some impressive damage and he was as agile as he was strong dodging the treemens attacks with relative ease. Barbarians were well known as masters of melee combat and it really showed here.
Once the Zombies had all fallen and Liene was relatively safe again as she continued the ritual, Kirara fell to her knees exhausted. She hadn't recieved any wounds during the battle, but her spiritual energy or mana was depleted. The barbarian had no such troubles yelling loudly before he swung one of his weapons. He was so loud that Kirara worried that they might be heard and demonic reinforcements would come to aid their own. Strong and agile he might have been, but the barbarian certainl;y lacked subtlety. He would definately not be the best person to bring on a stealth assassination mission.
However, his constant barrage of attacks broke the treemen their bodies crushed by the combined power of axe and mace. "HA! It's going to take more than a few treemen to beat me!" the barbarian shouted to nobody in particular. With that he turned to Kirara. "I am Wulfgar, the greatest warrior alive!" he said confidently. "Who are you?"
"I am Kirara of the Zann Esu." Kirara replied politely. "And that," Kirara said indicating Liene, "is Liene, a Rogue from these parts."
"You women will need a strong man like me to help you out."
"I've finished the ritual," Liene said, "We can now go to Akara so she can translate it."
"You'll need a bodyguard." Wulfgar said arrogantly.
"Okay, you can come with us." Kirara said. "This is Wulfgar,"
"I heard." Liene replied. "The greatest warrior alive right?" she said sarcastically.
"Yes, that's me!" Wulfgar said missing the sarcasm
"We'll need to go back to the waypoint."
"Okay, lead the way."
"I should go in front so you women won't get hurt!"
"Fine."
Kirara and Liene let Wulfgar get ahead of them on the path. "We don't need an arrogant barbarian helping us." Liene whispered.
"I understand how you feel," Kirara whispered. "But I'd rather have him as an ally than as an enemy, wouldn't you?"
"Point taken. A barbarian is a powerful enemy if angered."
They walked back towards the underground passage and once there they turned down the path where the waypoint was located.The journey to the waypoint was uneventful as the goatmen that had been in the clearing had already moved on. Seeing that Kirara and Liene were both relieved since Wulfgar would probably just charge straight in without regard for anything, but proving he was the best. Soon they reached the waypoint itself.
"Stand in the centre of the stone tablet." Liene said mostly to Wulfgar who was just standing in the clearing away from the waypoint.
"This thing?" Wulfgar asked as he walked onto it.
"Yes." Liene said as she touched the rune that would take them to the encampment half wishing they hadn't found this barbarian.
Instantly they arrived in the encampment and Liene and Kirara headed straight for Akaras tent.
"Where are you going, and where are we?" Wulfgar asked.
"We're just going to get this translated," Liene said holding out the bark from the tree of Inifus, "And this is the Rogue encampment. Don't worry, we are safe here."
"I want to go fight more enemies." Wulfgar said loudly.
"Later." Kirara said.
Wulfgar followed them into Akara's tent still brandishing his weapons. "We have managed to get the bark from the tree of Inifus." Liene said.
"It was easy!" Wulfgar said.
"Who is your new friends?" Akara asked.
"I am Wulfgar, the greatest warrior that has ever lived!"
"It looks like he is a barbarian." Akara noted. "Have you got the bark of the tree of Inifus so i can translate it?"
"Yes," Liene said as she handed it over to Akara. "Here."
"Thankyou. I will need some time to translate the runes on here." Akara said. "You can rest here while I work."
"Okay." I need some rest to recover anyway." Kirara said.
Each of the heros went to their own tents with the exception of Wulfgar who simply explored the camp. Kashya saw him and approached telling him that he could use one of the empty tents that there were around the camp. He decided after only a little while that he was bored and he would enter his tent to rest.
Meanwhile deep in the Monastary catacombs where it was darkest and most protected from the bright light of the sun sat Andariel the demon queen.
'The rogues have been making greater progress than I thought they would,' Andariel the maiden of Anguish thought as she felt the power being released at Blood Ravens death. The demon queen was quite something to look at. She was huge by human standards, 13 feet tall when standing. Red fur covered part of her body leaving her arms and legs bare. Most terrifying of all were large spider-leg like appendages ending in sharp bony points protruding from her back.
The doors to her throne room opened and one of her strongest minions, a green skeletal mage infused with the power of cold and poison entered. "Demon Queen, Blood Raven has fallen."
"What?" the demon queen shouted in surprise and rage. "Who defeated her?"
"Kirara, a mage from the Zann Esu who uses powerful cold magics."
"Thankyou, Bone Ash." Andariel replied.This Zann Esu woman was proving to be a problem.
"What will you do mistress?"
"It is time for the rogues to learn who is boss around here."
"You don't mean?"
"Yes, send Cold Crow to lead an attack on their encampment. Tell her to take the strongest of the undead rogues and to specifically target this Kirara."
Bone Ash bowed to his master, "I will do what you command,"
"Good, now go."
As Bone Ash left Andariel thought about him, how she had created him. In life he had been a great mage using powerful cold magics against her, much like Kirara was using now. He had come deep into the monastary weilding his magic, but when he finally came face to face with the demon queen the battle had been brief with the maiden of Anguish winning by simply closing in and attacking him at close range where he couldn't easily defend himself. The wounds he had inflicted on her had healed within a few days due to Andariels demonic powers of regeneration and the mage had been drafted into her own army infused with poisonous magical power. His mastery of the element of cold served him well in death as it had in life making him immune to the effects of any cold based magics.
Cold Crow was in the monastary cathedral when Bone Ash appeared. "What is it?" she asked angrily.
"You are to lead an attack on the rogue encampment. Blood Raven has failed in her duties."
"Hmm?" Cold Crow said. "You're ordering me around you worthless mage?" she drew her bow and noptched an arrow ready to fire it at the skeletal mage.
"The order comes from Andariel, our queen."
"And if i refuse?"
"You know the punishment for refusing our mistresses orders." Bone Ash said
"Indeed. Who scares our master so?"
"Kirara of Zann Esu defeated Blood Raven and Corpsefire."
"Intruiging." Cold Crow said smiling. "If I defeat this Kirara then I will have proven that I am stronger than Blood Raven. I will go, but not for you or Andariel. I want to see just how strong this Kirara is." With that she walked out of the cathedral confidently.
While Blood Raven had mastered the art of enchanting her arrows with fire, Cold Crow had mastered the art of enchanting them with cold. And as such her training had made her resistant to frigid magical attacks. In short she was the perfect choice against a sorceress who primarily used cold magic.
Cold Crow moved through the ranks of Andariels strongest minions smiling. She wouldn't need any of them to destroy this Sorceress that had been causing so much trouble. Soon she had come to the great gates of the Monastary and opened them. "Follow me!" she ordered the few Rogue warriors she had chosen to come with her. These were all her elite troops each having a simalar ability to her. The ability to enchant their arrows with cold. With this small task force Cold Crow walked through the wilderness towards where she knew the Rogue encampment stood. She picked most of her army from the underground passage as they had been largely untouched by Kirara and her friends.
She also picked the mighty goatmen to add melee fighting strength to her warparty. She witnessed many of the destroyed minions of Blood Raven as she traveled through the areas closest to the Monastary graveyard. 'Soon, Kirara of the Zann Esu, you will die along with all the members of the Rogue rebels that have aided you.' Cold Crow thought as she surveyed her army. 'At night, when most of them are asleep, we will attack with full force!' Several loud cheers from the fallen and their shamans were heard in reponse.
The largest strike against the Rogue encampment was soon to begin.
Kashya was the first to notice the incoming dark clouds that heralded a storm, but she didn't think of their true significance. The clouds were almost black as they approached slowly bklocking out the bright sunlight that everyone in the camp had enjoyed all day.
"Darn!" Kashya said, "I was enjoying the nice weather too."
"Hopefully this weather will pass soon." Paige said looking out toewwards the clouds.
"It looks like a storm is brewing." Kashya said frowning.
"I'll take the nightwatch tonight." Paige said smiling. "I'll stay out here and watch for any enemies, although with the work Kirara and Liene have done we probably don't need to worry about any more attacks."
"I agree. The death of Blood Raven has been a great victory for us and has thinned the enemies ranks close to the encampment."
"No doubt Blood Ravens position was to raise an army to attack us, but now that threat has been dealt with."
"Still, be on the lookout. I wouldn't put it past the demons to try to launch a small counterattack."
"Such an attack will likely lack any true organisation and thus should be easy to rout." Paige said, "However, I will alert you if i see anything."
"Good, we cannot be too careful."
"I understand."
Later that night Cold Crow began to lead her army closer and closer to the Rogue encampment being able to hide in the darkness and hoipefully gain the element of surprise in the coming attack. 'Their defenses are admirable.' she thought as she saw the wooden fort, 'But with the element of surprise we shall defeat them all.' The fallen were squabbling amongst themselves as they advanced, an annoying trait, but they were needed as cannon fodder for the initial charge to the walls and the shaman could raise them from the dead if need be. Cold Crow expected that they would all be dead before even a single one reached the walls of the encampment, but even so they would prevent the enemy from firing at the stronger troops that marched behind them.
The clouds overhead were oppressive and blocked out any moonlight making the wilderness particularly dark. A definate advantage for Cold Crow and her army. The plan was going perfectly.
A bright flash of light from the heavens erupted from the clouds overhead lighting the entire wilderness for but a moment and with the flash of lightning came the roar of thunder waking many of the Rogues that had been sleeping. Paige was the first to see the great warhost as it approached and the sight of it made her quiver in fear, however her Rogue training took over and she walked away from the walls to wake everyone up. "The enemy is approaching from the North East. We'll need every able bodied warrior on the walls."
Cold Crow smiled as she saw the Rogues scrambling towards the walls. They had lost the element of surprise, but that did not matter. The Rogues were outnumbered thirty to one so victory was almost certain.She did search for the Zann Esu woman she had heard so much about. Kirara wasn't it? But for now she wasn't anywhere to be found. 'Perhaps she's terrified of my army?' Cold Crow thought smiling.
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Sorry for the cliffhanger. :P I thought it would be an interesting change to stop my heros going on quests for a while and have the villians attack the rogue encampment itself since it seems a little pointless for the Rogues to stay in the camp defending it if it is never attacked. Lol! How do you like Wulfgar, Liene and Kirara so far? Read and Review if you have time, since everyone is probably busy.
