A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 63: Up the Mountain Trail
Our path took us out of the hills, and we started up into the mountains. I was glad to leave the hills behind without an unneeded conflict with the dragon that resided there. The path narrowed and we continued up, but before we could get too far a gang of 9 Half-Orges emerged from their hiding places behind some boulders and tossed javelins at us. Over half of them fell short, but the rest were on target, One hitting Charles, one hitting Lydratir, and the remaining two hitting Narcrath. I could see that the half-ogres were divided into to group, four to the left of the trail, and five to the right.
Narcrath pointed towards the group on the right and for a moment the air rippled and buzzed with power as all the half-ogres in that group clutched their heads as they collapsed. Lydratir took aim at the other group of half-ogres, and fired his bow twice in rapid sucession, taking another half-ogre down. Charles charged in, his greatsword reflecting the sun's light. With two deft strokes he took down another half-ogre, but then let his momentum carry him into striking another of our foes down great skill. The remaining half-ogre saw how efficiently we'd dealt with its allies, and fled.
We recollected ourselves, and continued up the trail as it wound higher up the slopes of the Greypeak Mountains. Our journey was quiet for the next few hours, nothing but small animals, occasional trees gripping desparately to the mountainsides, and pristine vistas as we climbed further. As to our next encounter, we heard and smell it before we saw it. The scent of unwashed bodies and eight voices shouting to be head over each other alerted us to something going on ahead. As we rounded the corner, we saw the eight voices belonged to a total of four creatures: four Ettins, arguing in a language I didn't know. As they noticed us, one of them pointed, while its other hand rubbed its belly. Even without knowing their language, the meaning was clear: they'd decided to settle their argument over a meal… and intended us as the main course.
Lydratir took aim, and put two arrows into one of the ettins, wounding it. Krisyra drove the end of her staff agaist the ground, and the ground under the ettins' feet burst upwards damaging them further. She then morphed into a giant scorpion, just like those we'd seen inside the Steaming Summit. As her transformation finished, she scuttled towards the Ettins. One of the Ettins reacted to her approach, and moved to attack her. However, both its axe and its morningstar glanced off her chitinous hide. I moved up to the ettin that had pointed at us, slashing at it with my claws. Narcrath pointed at one of the Ettins, and it seemed like the spell had serverly dehydrated the ettin. The ettin I'd attacked went to hit me, but its axe swing went wide and its morningstar bounced off my scales, doing no damage. Charles moved up to assist me, his greatsword cutting deep laving the ettin on its last legs. The ettin that Lydratir had shot moved over towards me. However, it too had no luck as my hide deflected the blows. The fourth ettin moved towards Narcrath. He evaded the first blow, but the ettin's second strike caught him.
Lydratir took aim again, and with a precice shot to the heart, took one of the ettins down before turning to aid Narcrath, putting another arrow into that ettin. Krisyra-scorpion struck out at the ettin nearest to her, pinching it with her claws before going in for the venomous sting. I winced slingly, remembering what that venom felt like. The ettin tried to break out of Krisyra's pinching grasp, but she held on tight. I struck out with my claws again, finishing off the ettin nearest to me before moving to assist Krisyra. I charged towards the ettin in her grasp, my claws sinking deep and finishing off this ettin. Narcrath channeled his magic, blasting the remaining ettin with lightning. It was looking worn down, and as it recovered from Narcrath's attack, Charles finished off the Ettin with a single might blow from his sword.
As the dust settled and Krisyra returned to her normal elven self, we gathered up again. Krisyra patched up Narcrath's wounds, and we continued on our way. The trail took us higher, up past the snow line. As night fell, my conpanions gathered firewood and we made camp.
"We must be getting close," said Lydratir, "we can't go much further up without running out of mountain".
"True enough," said Narcrath, "I remember hearing stories about these summits, tales of ancient, forgotten shrines hidden in high valleys. Perhaps that's where we'll find our missing mage".
As I glanced out into the night, I felt eyes on me and looked around cautiously. Icy fog rolled in, blocking view of the world around us. I readied myself, and listened carefully. I heard something large land nearby, and smelled someing familiar but different: a dragon.
"We're not alone," I said, "I Intend you you no harm, nor did I have any intention of intruding on your territory".
"I'll see about that," said a voice from the fog.
A figure emerged from the fog, another dragon, its scales shining silver. Based off it size, it couldn't be much older than me.
"We'll see about that, chromatic," said the silver dragon. "Why have you come to these lands… and who are these humanoids you travel with?"
"That's a long story," I said, "you can call me Valignatirisk, due to circumstances of my hatching, my sire rejected me, and my sibling drove me out. After being captured and nearly sold to some mad wizard's menagerie, I was rescued by a kindly gnome who watched over me until I was no longer a wyrmling. As for my companions, this is Charles, Krisyra, Lydratir, and Narcath. I met up with them while they were dealing with a small group of necromancers, and have been travelling with them ever since. As to why were here, we'd heard that a scolar named Quil has gone missing, and was last seen heading this way. We've been tasked with finding him and bringing him back, hopefully still alive".
The sliver dragon cocked his head, and considered my words. I felt a trickle of magic caressing the edge of my mind, and realized this dragon was trying to read my thoughts to see if I was telling the truth. I didn't with to enter conflict with this dragon, and allowed it to see what it was looking for. Images from my past flashed across my mind's eye as they were sorted through. Soon enough, the silver dragon finished what it was doing. As it did, some of the tension left its body.
"You're a strange one," said the sliver dragon, "you've been through a considerable amount in your life already, and still likely have a long road ahead of you. You may call me Brykienth. So long as you don't cause trouble you may continue your journey in peace. The Scholar you seek has made camp in a high mountain valley which you should be able to reach tomorrow. It's a strage place… I've never felt quite right in that area. Use caution, Valignatirisk".
The fog parted, and Brykienth lept into the sky, flying away towards his lair. I let out the breath I'd been holding, relieved that the first face-to-face encounter I'd had with a Metallic Dragon hadn't come to blows.
A/N: And there we go! our heroes encountered some of those native to these mountains, not all of which were friendly. They also received a lead on where to look for the missing scholar. Next time, our heroes reach the high valley and encounter Quil. See you then!