A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas
Chapter 77: Towards the Desert
The following morning, was said our goodbye to Verrax and set out with Uxarix, heading northeast in the direction of the desert. As we set out, Uxarix keeled for a few mintues in prayer, and as he finished what looked to be a drake appeared before him, equipped with barding and a saddle. A few hours away from the academy, we ran into the first foes of this particular journey. We heard some sort of chanting, and spotted a group of seven hobgoblins marching across the plains. The leader noticed us and pointed, and even though I didn't know his language, the meaning was apparent: attack.
Uxarix was the first to react, charging forwards on his mount. He slowed near one of the hobgoblins, brandished his raiper and drove it between a small gap in hobgoblin's armor, striking something vital and taking him down. He then turned, and drove his blade into the hide of another hobgoblin, and with a burst of radiance a second hobgoblin fell. Krisyra summoned a small flame to her hand, and launched it at one of the hobgoblins, taking it down as well. Lydratir took aim with the bow he'd recovered from the medusa and fired, stroking one of the hobgoblins right the in eye, taking it down. he then changed targets, putting an arrow into the hobgoblin's leader. Charles moved in to attack the leader, and with two mighty swings of the greatsword took it down. One of the remaining hobgoblins snarled in rage and swung his sword at Uxarix, hitting him hard. I hurried over to help my allies, clawing at the hobgoblin that had attacked Uxarix and taking him down. the last of the hobgoblins swung at Charles, the his sword glanced off his armor. Narcrath moved up to the last of the hobgoblins, and blasted it with lightning, taking it down.
We collected ourselves, and after Krisyra patched up Uxarix's wounds, we continued on our way. We continued across open grasslands for several more hours, before we were interrupted by a wandering pack of giant boars. They snorted, and looked aggressive. I roared a challenge, attempting to scare them off, but they wouldn't be deterred.
Lydratir was ready for this possibility, and fired his bow at one of the boars twice, the arrows sinking in deep. One of the boars snorted loudly, and charged Lydratir, knocking him back a few steps, but he managed to not be knocked down. another of the boars charged Narcrath, but he dodged its attack. One of the baors tried to charge into Krisyra, but she too evaded its attack. Another of the boars went after Lydratir, be he managed to dodge this one. One of the boars charged at Charles, but he stepped out of the way of its wild attack. Krisyra focused for a moment, and then transformed, becoming a creature of solid, animate rock. She swung her stony fists down on the boar, badly wounding and nearly crushing it. Narcrath channeled his magic, and unleashed a blast of lightning into the boar nearest to him, getting a good hit. The boar which Lydratir had shot charged forwards, striking Narcrath be he kept his balance. I moved over to assist Narcrath, taking out the more wounded of the boars near him with claw and fang. Uxarix and his mount examined their options, and then moved to help out Lydratir, driving his rapier into one of the boars and striking a good blow. Charles swung his greatsword low, knocking the boar nearest to him prone and then brought the blade down in a killing blow. The last boar in the pack charged me, but despite its momentum was stopped by my physical mass and did me no harm.
With a deft stab of his rapier, Lydratir finished off the wounded boar near him, and then attacked the other one. the boar near Narcrath attacked him with its tusks again, slipping past his defenses and wounding him again. The boar near Krisyra-elemental attacked her, but its tusk couldn't do much to her stony form. The remaining boar near Lydratir attacked again, finding its way past his armor to wound him. Krisyra-elemental punched the boar near her with her boulder of a fist, slaying it. She then moved over to Lydratir, slamming her fist down on this boar as well. Narcrath unleashed more lightning into the boar near him, which now smelled strongly of fresh-cooked pork. I bit and clawed at the boar that had tried to attack me, and left it wounded badly. Uxarix drove his rapier into the boar nearest to him, finishing it off with two deft strokes. Charles moved over to me, and and finished off the boar near me, and then did the same for the one attacking Narcrath.
With all our foes defeated, we gathered together again, and hatvested some useable meat from the boars, my allies dressing it as they went. Meanwhile, Uxarix went up to Narcrath.
"It looks like you were hit pretty hard, my friend," said Uxarix, "do you required healing?"
"That would be appreciated," said Narcrath.
Uxarix's hand glowed with a soft light, and Narcrath's injuries were mostly healed. A short time later we were ready to continue. We travelled on for a few more hours before making camp for the night. They cooked up some of the boar meat (the rest had been salted to preserve it better), and we had to good meal. We decided on our watches for the night, and lay down to rest. I knew from glancing at the maps of the region that we'd be able to reach the desert some time tomorrow. As I was just beginning to drift off a particular odor caught my attention, the scent of rot, carried along on a hot wind blowing from the northeat, the same direction we were travelling. I looked cautiously around but didn't see anything that might indicate a source. I slowly calmed down, and difted off to sleep again, into a peaceful rest.
A/N: And there we go! Next time, our heroes arrive in the desert. What might await them there? See You then!