A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 85: The Temple of the Justicars
As night fell, we set off actoss the desert once more. The lands here seemed even less hospitable than the region we'd been traversing before. For several hours, we traveled on though the desolate lands. Eventually, a range of low mountains rose in the distance. However, as we got closer, I could see the sand rising and falling rhythmically, and the motion coming towards us. As it got near we scattered, and a Purple Worm burst out of the sands to attack us.
Lydratir took aim at the purple worm, and fired off two arrows. His shot few true, and sunk into the creature's massive form. Uxarix uttered a prayer, and an empowering light surrounded us. Krisyra morphed into an Earth Elemental, and began her assault against the purple worm. However, her stony fists simply seemed to bounce off its thick hide. I charged up to the purple worm, and slashed at it with my claws. My first swing glanced off, but my second found purchase, my claws flaring with radiant power as they struck. The purple worm surged forwards, attempting to engulf me in its massive maw, but I leapt and glided out of the way. Meanwhile, the purple worm's tail stinger whipped around striking Krisyra. luckly, her current form was quite durable. Narcrath summoned up on orb of crackling lightning, and lauched it at the purple worm, wounding it further. Charles stepped up to the purple worm, and unleashed his full might. He swung, cutting another gash into the purple worms's hide. His next strike was accompanied by a shriek of pain from the purple worm, and a large amount of ichor fountainied out, staining the sand. Another swing, and he cut into the worm again. Just when I thought he was done he surged into motion again, cutting into the purple worm two more times. Already this creature was in sorry shape.
Lydratir took aim again, and fired two more arrows, the first one sinking deep, while the second struck something vital, and the purple worm writhed in its death throes, soon stilling.
We continued on, head down a worn but still noticeable road leading into canyon in these mountains. As we rounded one of the bends of the canyon, the path opened up again into a roughly triangular area at the end of this canyon. I could see several cave entrances dotting the walls. However, before we could examine the area further, 5 gaint scorpions skittered downt he cliffs towards us.
One of the scorpions went after Charles but he evaded each if its attacks. Uxarix moved up to assist Charles, stabbing at the scorpion with his rapier twice, dealing a good bit of damage. Charles finished off the wounded scorpion near him, and then ran over to another scorpion, slashing it twice. Lydratir aimed at the scorpion Charles had wounded, and finished it off with two shots from his bow. One of the remaining scorpions crawled over to Lydratir. He evaded the first claw, but the scorpions other claw casught him off guard, pinching him. However, he was lucky enough to fend off the scorpion's tail. Krisyra, who was still transformed into an Earth Elemental stomped over to the xcorpion grappling Lydratir, and bashed it with her stony fists. One of the scorpions went after Narcrath, but he deftly avoided each of its attacks. Another of the scorpions attacked Krisyra, bashing at her rock-hard form to little apparent effect. I stepped over to assist Lydratir, and took out the scorpion attacking him with my claws and fangs. Narcrath blasted the scorpion near him with lighting, and moved away from it safely while it was unable to react.
Uxarix stepped to Krisyra's side, and attacked scorpion that had attacker her, leaving it badly wounded. Charles joined in fighting the scorpion near Krisyra, finishing it off before moving to the last of the scorpions and wounding it further as well. With one final arrow, Lydratir finished off the scorpion, and the area was clear… for now.
We set camp in this dead end canyon, so that e could explore this place at our own pace. There was definitely something special about this place, but it didn't feel quite right. I remembered the words of that Brass Dragon I'd met earlier. Could this feeling be a deception? So far, we'd not encountered any fiends. Could this truly be the right place? Once everyone was settled in, I decided to voice my concerns.
"It looks like we might be at our destination," I said, "but something about this place just doesn't feel right".
"In what way?" asked Uxarix.
"I don't know," I said, "this place feels… wrong somehow. Yesterday while the rest of you were resting, a thankfully nonhostile and apparently sane Brass Dragon found us. We spoke for a time, and he mentioned that this place is supposedly occupied by powerful fiends. I'm worried that we're walking into a trap of some sort".
"Now that you mention it, there is something strange here," said Uxarix, "the light of the stars above seems distorted. There is most certainly something powerful near here, but perhaps it is something dangerous".
"How certain are you of this Brass Dragons words?" asked Narcrath.
"He was wearing a necklace bearing the same protective sigil that we'd seen on our journey through this reigon," I said, "he seemed glad, if a bit desperate for someone to speak with".
An icy wind blew though the canyon, and my companions huddled closer to the campfire.
"Let's hope that's not an omen," said Charles.
"I don't think so," said Krisyra, "It's most likely just the climate around here: dangerously hot at daytime, frigid cold at night".
I glanced up at the stars, seeing familiar patterns, albeit somewhat muted. I could feel it, there was something of great power nearby, but was it something good, or a tool of great evil? The skies held no answers. All I knew was my own strength, and that of my companions. I knew that it would have to be enough to retrieve what rested in this place.
A/N: And there we go! Next time, our heroes make their way into the temple itself, and work to uncover its secrets. See you then!