A/N: and here's the next chapter! Into the 2nd dungeon delve for our party!

Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas

Chapter 21: The Mountain Door

Over the next couple days, we made our way north towards the Stone Tooth. Eventually, we came upon a well-worn trail, leading up towards the bare stone at the top of a large hill.

"Do you see that?" said Lydratir, "there's smoke coming from somewhere on the hill".

"It's not just that," said Krisyra, "Look, on the trail: four people came down this trail not long ago, and headed into the forest. Looks like some of those who reside here may be out".

"It might be best to keep going then," I said, "we'll have less foes to battle through that way".

We continued up the trail, which soon turned rocky as we approached a switchback. As we approached, I heard some muttering in a guttural tongue up ahead. I gestured for Lydratir to scout ahead, and he soon reported back.

"Orcs, two of them," whispered Lydratir, "Looks like they're on guard duty, but aren't paying a lot of attention. It also looks like there's arrow slits in the northern wall. It seems like this place is well fortified".

"Best we take them out fast, then," said Charles.

"Hold on," said Narcrath, "Before we do anything too rash, I have an idea".

Narcrath stepped forwards, pointed at the orcs, and muttered "Sleep now" in Draconic. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then the orcs looked at each other and then slumped over. Narcrath motioned us forwards, and we moved swiftly past the orcs. As we passed, I could hear snoring. (1)

We continued along the trail, coming to a large door set into the hillside. I could only assume that had we alerted these orcs, they'd have raised the alarm. We continued inside, finding ourselves in a large hall. Further ahead, We could see a yawning chasm, spanned by a rope bridge. On the far side, I spotted a pair of orcs preparing for battle, drawing javelins and snarling at us.

Krisyra was the first to react, summoning a cloud of greenish flames around the orcs. The flames seemed to stick to the orcs, not harming them but marking them. One of the orcs threw its javelin, grazing Narcrath. I leapt into the fray, gliding across the crevasse in an attempt to strike one of the orcs, but I only just caught it with my claws as orc dodged away. Narcrath struck back at the orc who'd attacked him, blasting him with a Chromatic Orb. The orc was still standing, but looked pretty weak. Charles aimed his crossbow carefully finishing off the orc Narcrath had attacked. Lydratir raised his longbow and fired, taking out the remaining orc.

With the area clear, my companions carefully made their way across the rope bridge spanning the chasm. We continued down the passage, and arrived in a larger cave. The wall and floor of this natural cavern had been carefully smoothed. I could spot four diffent routes out of this chamber, with one guarded by a crude wooden door. The floor was covered with firs, crates and random junk. We decided to check this passage with the door first. The passage soon ended at a crudely made barrier of tree trunks, forming the wall of a jail cell. Behind it, we could see a couple of humans. They quickly noticed us.

"Who are you?" said one of the prisoners.

"Not friends of the orcs," said Charles, "Let's get you out of here".

"The ones who are hold us here," said the prisoner, "they've got an Orog known as Old Yarrack with them. He's got the key!"

"I think we've got another solution," said Charles glancing at me, "You think you can break open the lock?"

"Just give me a moment," I said.

I brought my claws down upon the padlock, smashing it with ease.

"Oh thank the Gods, we're saved!" said the prisoner, "Thank you!"

"You best make your way out of here," said Lydratir, "the way out should be clear".

"Thank you!" said the prisoner, "We'll be sure to tell everyone how you helped us!"

The two of them hurried off, as we continued our exploration. We checked the passage to the southeast which, while it primarily led to a cooking fire, also connected to another passage leading deeper in. we wound our way down the passage which soon turned from bare cave walls into worked stone. We soon arrived at what appeared to be a blank wall with various symbols carved on it. However when I took a closer look I realized I could feel airflow from beyond the 'wall'. I wasn't the only one who noticed, as Krisyra stepped forwards a pushed on the wall, which slid aside. We emerged into a larger chamber, where we were confronted with 3 orcs, one wearing necklace, made from its own gouged out eye!

"Ah, it seems we have visitors," said the Orc shaman, "Deal with them, will you?"

Narcrath reacted first, stepping forwards and striking one of the orcs with Shocking Grasp. Charles attempted to cut down the same orc with his greatsword, but it managed to dodge away. The 2nd orc charged forwards, intent to attacking Lydratir, its greataxe biting through his armor. Krisyra turned to face the orc who'd charged forwards, her staff glowing with energy. She stuck a good blow to the orc, but it remained standing. I moved up, putting my focus on the shaman. My claws tore into my foe, and she reeled back, snarling at me.

"You dare strike me, wyrm?" said the shaman, "Submit to the power of Gruumsh, you will GROVEL!"

A wave of power washed over me, and broke through my defenses. I felt myself falling to the ground, unable to resist. I heard shouts of concern from my companions. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lydratir striking back against the orc who'd struck him, and took it down. The other orc stuck at Narcrath, causing him to reel back.

Narcrath was breathing hard, inhaled deeply, and spat forth a stream of lightning. Neither of the remaining orcs were expecting this attack, and as such both caught the full blast. The nearest orc to Narcrath fell iinstantly, sill arcing. The shaman remained standing, however. Charles stepped up to the shaman, his eyes flashing with determination. He brought down his greatsword in a fierce blow, leaving the shaman looking quite weakened. Krisyra stepped around, and finished the shaman off with a quick blast of flame. A short time later, the magic commanding me faded, and I got back to my feel feeling rather embarrassed.

"My apologies," said, "I wasn't able to aid you in battle as I should have".

"Don't trouble yourself," said Krisyra, "I recognized the intonations of a Command spell when I hear it. At least she didn't try and force you to do anything worse".

"I guess there's that," I said, "What's next?"

"I vote that we rest for a short time," said Narcrath, "I don't know about you, but that orc hit me pretty hard".

"I agree," said Lyratir, "this chamber should be secure enough".

I watched as my companions sat down to tend to their wounds, and readied myself for whatever lay ahead.

A/N: And There we go! Next time, the party continues deeper into the orc-held stronghold, encountering the leaders of this band. See you then!

Footnotes: (1) Never underestimate the usefulness of a Sleep spell.