A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons & Dragons. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 91: Information Collection
We made our way deeper into the caves, and soon encountered more cultists. Upon spotting us, they immediately drew weapons. I could see a fanatical glint in their eyes, and knew they would not surrender.
Narcrath channeled his magic, and a lound ringing noise eminated form between the cultists. They suddenly grabbed their heads in pain, and all but two of the cultists fell. Lydratir took aim at the cultists, and fired his bow. One shot took out a cultist, while other other remaining cultist still fighting. This cultist came after me, its first strike glancing off my scales, but its second attack pierced my hide, the sword stike accompanied by an icy aftereffect. I countered the cultist with my claws, badly wounding my foe. Charled moved up to assist me, and with two swings of his sword, he took down the cultist.
As the last cultist fell, we searched the area, finding little other than some scattered coins and a few bottles of ale. We moved deeper into the caves, and came to a storeroom. This chamber was well stocked, containing considerable quantities of food other supplies. It was clear that the cult was seeting up for a long stay. We contined on, and came to what must have been the chambers of the leader of this place. It was a lust living space. Decorated with various art and craftworks likely 'procured' from locations they'd raided. Natuarlly we were not alone here. Sitting on a makeshift throne was a man in mage's robes, and standing nearby was an Abishai. The fiend had blue scales, and was clutching a staff.
"Ah, it seems our guests are here," said the mage, "It seems they took the bait".
"Of course they did," said the Abishai, "they couldn't ignore it, especially that foolish wyrm".
"Why don't you just surrender now," said the mage, addressing us now, "it will make things easier for all of you".
I tensed, my claws digging into the stone floor.
"Never," I snarled, "we'll never surrender to the likes of you!"
"As expected," said the Abishai, "to be honest, while you are quite a fool to try and oppose the will of your one true queen, I must admire your resolve. Nevertheless, you will fall, and you will return to the true way thing should be. if not today, then some day. It is inevitable".
I took a deep breath, and unleashed my flame. The mage dived to the side to avoid the full effects, while the Abishai simply stood there, completely unaffected. Uxarix charged into the fray, going after the Abishai. His first strike left the Abishai reeling, allowing him to get an even more powerful strike in the opening. Krisyra, still in the form of an earth elemental, moved to attack the enemy mage, but he evaded her strikes. Narcrath called upon his arcane power, and seven motes of light appeared, orbiting around his head. He then pointed at the mage, and one of these motes of light shot out at our foe, searing him with its radiance. The mage looked worried, and vanished in a burst of mist, reappearing a short distance away and launching a firebolt toward Narcrath, but his aim was off and the spell splashed against the floor. the Abishai attacked Uxarix, hitting him with its staff, but he managed to evade its bite. Just like the mage had done, the Abishai teleported away in a cloud of mist. Lydratir took aim at the mage, and took him down with a single precice shot of his bow. He then shifted his aim, and put an arrow into the Abishai, further wounding it. Charles charged over to the Abishai and swung low with his greatsword, knocking it to the ground. He followed up with two more stirkes, leaving the Abishai in bad shape.
I stepped up to the Abishai, and tore into it with my claws, I managed hit it once, but it rolled away from my second strike. Uxarix slowly walked over, and stood over the Abishai.
"Tell your mistress that she will never have us, our Light is not hers to corrupt!" said Uxarix.
He stabbed the abishai, with his holy avenger, and it vanished in a burst of light.
We searched the chamber, finding a few pieces of correspondence, a few tomes of magical lore, and a journal. We searched for anything else we could find, but this seemed to be all that was here.
We made our way back out of the cave, and started down the road. We headed back in the direction of the Greenhall Academy. Along the way, we encountered various foes. First, we came upon a small band of mercenary warriors, likely working for the cult. Next was several Shambling Mounds, followed by some Yuan-Ti. We stopped to rest of the night, and the next day continued, encountering some giant apes. After this we were clear of the forest, and continued across the hills towards our destination. We next ran across a Cyclops, but it was the last encounter before arriving back at the Academy that is of most importance.
As we were drawing close to the academy, a shadow passed in front of the sun, and a large creaturw descended towards us. As it closed in, I caught the details of its form. The shape of and placement of his horns, the pattern of markings on its body, there was no doubt: this was my brother. It seemed the recognized me was well.
"Well, what do we have here?" he said, "you? You're still alive? What a surprise. Who could have imagined that a weakling like you would survive? No matter, you won't for much longer. Are these your servants… or maybe your owners?".
"They are my allies," I replied, "And I would suggest you leave, and not waste your life today".
"You think I would flee from a weakling like you?" he said, "I am Korinthixen! I fear no one!"
"We have fought and slain foes far stronger than you," I said.
"Enough!" said Korinthixen, "I will show you my might!"
Narcrath was the swiftest to react, lauching an orb of lightning at Korinthixen. Lydratir took aim, and fired two arrows at our foe, wounding him further. Krisyra morphed into an Air Elemental, and flew up to confront Korinthixen. Her first attack simply bounced off, but her second attck did some damage. I took flight as well, joining Krisyra in the attack against my kin. He evaded my claws, but I caught him with a stike from my tail. Uxarix took aim with his crossbow, and put a bolt through Korinthixen's hide. Our foe struck back, raking me with his claws. Charles fire his crossbow at our foe as well, but his shot went wide.
Narcrath launched another orb of lightning, and I could see that Korinthixen was in bad shape. Lydratir fired agaist our foe again, putting two more arrows into Korinthixen. Krisyra swung at him again, but he evaded her strikes, and did the same when I tried to attack him. Uxarix finished reloading his crossbow and fired, but Korinthixen dodged once more. He then fell back, glaring at me.
"You… you got lucky!" snarled Korinthixen, "we will meet again, and next time I will destroy you!"
I glided back to the ground, and my allies and I continued on our way. Before long, were were back at the Greenhall Academy. Verrax swiftly flew out to meet us.
"Ah, you've returned!" said Verrax, "what did you discover?"
"We retrieved some note and journals the Shadow Triad was using. It also seemed they were cooperating with the Cult of the Dragon. We ran into some of them as well as an Abishai".
"Troubling to hear of this alliance," said Verrax, "We also could see you battle with that other dragon from here".
"Did he cause you any trouble?" I asked.
"No, it seems to have been focused on you," said Verrax, "any particular reason?"
I thought on it for a moment, then decided that I could trust him with this.
"That was my brother," I said, "apparently I've garnered enough attention for it to reach his ears. He was in bad shape, he'll hopefully stay away and lick his wounds for a while".
"Well, in any case we'll have to look over this information you've found," said Verrax, "why don't you get some rest?"
We split up for now, doing as he suggested. Later, I spotted my friends going about their individual activites. Charles was in a training yard, practicing his combat skills. Krisyra had headed into a small glade, most likely to meditate. Lydratir was honing his stealth skills, to the point I almost didn't see him. Uxarix had headed of the the temple to pray. Narcrath I found sitting by himself. He'd remove his robe, as well as his shirt, and seemed to be focused on something. Then, in a burst of magical energies, a pair of draconic wings appeared on his back, and we briefly took flight before landing again. We were all getting stonger, but I could feel we needed to be even stronger to face what awated us.
A/N: And there we go! With their return to the Greenhall Academy the party has reached level 14! Next time, the adventure continues! See you then.