A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 78: Among the Sands
As morning arrived we got an early start, and began our journey into the desert. As we mafe our way forwards, I started noticing unusual sights: tracks marking the sand, leading in various directions, as well as spotting large creatures moving in the distance, but closer examination revealed them to be nothing but mirages. However, near a small oasis we came upon something all too real. It was a pair of creatures, resembling humanoid women from the waist up, but below that was the body of a large feline. One of them smirked at us, and spoke.
"You, warrior," said the Lamia, "come closer, bask in our glory".
Uxarix's holy symbol glowed for a moment, and Charles' expression hardened.
"Your tricks won't work on me!" said Charles.
"Ah, the best ones always play hard to get!" said the Lamia.
Narcrath reacted quickly, unleashing a burst of magic that disorted the air around the Lamias, and they looked a bit dazed. Charles rushed up to one of the Lamias, slashing at it with his greatsword and severely wounding it. Krisyra morphed into a giant scorpion, moving up to the same Lamia as Charles, pinching at it with her claws and then stinging it with her tail and taking it down. the other Lamia was looking worried now. It went after Krisyra-scorpion, but both its claws and its dagger glanced off her carapace. I charged into battle, slashing away at the remaining lamia with my claws. Uxarix and his mount approached the lamia as well, and he stabbed at the lamia with his rapier. It evaded one of his blows, but the second struck true, accompanied by a burst of radiance. Lydratir took aim, and deftly fired two arrows at the lamia, finishing off the second of these monstrosities.
With the area clear, we continued on our way. More mirages presented themselves, images of mountains seemingly floating in midair, more beasts moving across the sands, seven large spiders phasing in and out of existance. After a moment, I realized that these spiders were in fact reappearing and seemed more solid that the other sights. These weren't mirages: they were real.
Two of the spiders blinked out of sight for a moment, and then reappear next to Charles and Uxarix, and both were bitten by the spiders in a surprise attack. The spider near Uxarix attempted to strike him again, but this time he managed to defend himself. Krisyra, who was still a giant scorpion, attacked the spider near Charles clawing and stinging it to death. Lydratir took aim at one of the spiders, and unleashed two arrows, both impacting with his foe, and the second arrow piercing right through the spider to land in the sand beyond. I stepped closer to the main collection of spiders, and unleashed my flame upon them, leaving most of them badly burned. Uxarix struck at the spider near him with his rapier, getting two good hits and casuing his foes ichor to begin dripping into the sand. One of the spiders came after me, but its fangs coulding pirece my hide, though I could feel the venom running down my flank. Charles moved to attack the spiders I'd roasted, quickly taking out two of them. One of the remaining spiders scuttled up to Charles successfully biting him. Narcrath moved to assist Uxarix, blasting away the spider near him with a burst of lightning.
Krisyra-scorpion scuttled over to one of the burnt spiders, finishing it off with ease. Lydratir took aim at the last of the spiders, and unleashed his arrow, taking it down as well.
We continued deeper into the desert, and the day wore on. The heat didn't bother me too much, but my companions were suffering from it. As such, as we continued I spread my wings wide, giving them some shade. Further on, we came upon a pair of people in tattered robes resting in a shallow cave. I noticed that Uxarix was looking at them oddly, but didn't seem worried.
"Are you two alright?" asked Lydratir, "are you in need of assistance?"
"We're lost," said one of the travelers, "if it's not too much trouble, could you help guide us back to our camp?"
"Of couse," said Lydratir, "stay close. We've already run into truble out here".
The pair of traveler stepped out of their cave, stopped and looked at me with surprise for a moment, and then joined us in our continued progress. Later on into the afternoon, we spotted a flickering flame coursing across the desert, bearing a vaguely humanoid form as it approached. Uxarix loked at the elemental, and drew his rapier.
"By your power, guide my blade," prayed Uxarix in Draconic.
"You two, stay back," I said to the travelers, "we'll deal with this".
The fire elemental coursed closer, only briefly slowed as Krisyra struck it with an icy wind. I moved in to strike the fire elemental, but while I was sure I'd dealt some damage, it was less than expected. the elemental stuck back at me, its fiery touch singing my scales, but I too resisted its attack, however I was wreathed in flames by the attack. Lydratir took aim with his bow, pulling out the enchanted arrows we'd found before. He fired two of them into the elemental, making its flames sputter and weaken. Uxarix charged into battle, his rapier striking true and taking down the elemental. With a final guttering flame, the elemental vanished, leaving little sign of his presence. I swifty dropped into sand and used it to smother the flames coating me before they did more damage.
The travlers soon rejoined us.
"Are you alight?" I asked.
"Yes, we are unharmed," said the traveler.
"Good, how much further do you think it is?" I asked.
"Not far now," said the travler, "thank you once more for your assistance".
We continued on further as the sun approached the horizon, and eventually came upon our goal: a small campsite consisting of three empty tents. I could only guess what had happened to these traveler's other companion.
As we settled in for the night, Uxarix decided to pose these travelers a question.
"So, what brings the two of you out here?" asked Uxarix.
"We're on a pilgrimage, to the city of Dryvale," said the traveler, "what of you? What is your reason for coming to this place?"
"We're following a rumor, a rumor speaking of a forgotten temple somewhere among the desert sands," said Uxarix, "It's said to have been built to honor a particularly storied Paladin".
"I've not heard anything of that," said the traveler, "but perhaps someone Dryvale will be able to set you on the right path".
"Perhaps," said Uxarix, "It sounds like a good option".
The evening wore on, with nothing disturbing us.
A/N: And there we go! Next time, our heroes arrive in the city of Dryvale, seeking clues to their path. See you then!