A/N: And here's the next chapter, Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 92: The Letter
It had been a few days, and my companions continued practicing their skills, with Narcrath joining me in the skies as he learned to use his new wings. Meanwhile our allies had finished going over the information we'd retrieved. Unfortunately, while it did provide some clues, it still wasn't anything definite.
"So far, we've managed to discern that the Shadow Triad's master doesn't reside in the Material Plane, the Feywild, the Shadowfell, or any of the Elemental or Outer Planes," said Verrax, "it just doesn't make sense… it's like their aiming for something outside of all known realms".
"So, some sort of Demiplane? We've encountered the hidden sanctum of a powerful wizard in the past," I said.
"Possibly, but the issue is that we've no good way of knowing exactly where they're attempting to open a gateway to," said Verrax.
Before we could discuss the details further, a courier arrived, bearing a letter.
"Excuse me, but I was asked to deliver this letter to Verrax of the Greenhill academy," said the courier.
"That would be me," said Verrax.
Verrax took the letter, and opened, and read it over carefully.
"Well, it seems we've recieved a new lead," said Verrax, "see for yourself".
The letter was written in meticulous script, clearly by someone highly educated.
Master Verrax,
I hope you are still doing well. Unfortunately, I am in a bit of a situation. I heard of a new group studying arcane lore, and became intrigued. By the time I learned their true nature, I was in too deep. I fear their intentions may spell doom for all, but I believe they can still be stopped. If you were to send someone to extract me for this situation, I would greatly appreciate it. As well, I can deliver information and artifacts crucial to the cult's plans. Without them, the Shadow Triad will find it much more difficult to complete their plans. These items are in an ancient wizard's tower, being studied and guarded by only a handful of wizards, including myself.
The danger of my treason becoming known grows with every passing day, and if I'm discovered, I'll surely be killed. Please hurry, for the sake of everyone and everything you value.
Eric Samsire
"He sounds desperate," I said, "how do you know him?"
"He is a former student and travelling companion of mine," said Verrax, "when I met him, he was immediately respectful of my position. I took him under my wing, and helped him to improve his skills and control over the arcane arts. He specialized in evocation magic... and a bad habit of setting everything around him on fire. He improved, and I even offered him a postion as a professor, but he was more interested in continuing his travels. It seems he's gotten himself in a tight spot. He not a bad person, just not the wisest human I've met".
"Well then, it sounds like we should go help him out," I said, "where exactly is this tower?"
"To the west, near the foot of the mountains," said Verrax, "there's also a village nearby. The tower is a bit of a local legend, as the wizard who build it is said to of been experimenting with some extremely powerful magic. From what I've heard, the spells guarding the tower are still functioning".
"Is there anything dangerous there I should be aware of?" I asked.
"It's a wizard's tower," said Verrax, "be ready for anything".
I went and gather my companions, and relayed the information about our new goal.
"So, we're rescuing someone who's willing to defect from the cult?" said Narcrath.
"It seems that way," I said, "your thoughts?"
"You mentioned that he's basically a decent man who ended up in a bad situation without intention?" said Charles, "if we can help him out, we should".
"Indeed," said Uxarix, "the more people we can aid, the better the wold becomes".
"You also said he can deliver information about what the Shadow Triad is really up to," said Krisyra, "the more information we have, the better".
"We've come this far together," said Lydratir, "I'm seeing this through to the end".
"In that case, we better get going," I said.
We set out to the west, travelling towards the mountains. For the first few hours of our journey, we were undisturbed, seeing nothing more interesting than a stream of smoke emerging from a small chimney in a hillside. However, this peace wouldn't last. Around noon, we were attacked by a group of seven creatures: half-man, half-boar.
One of the wereboars charged towards Charles, striking him with its tusks. Another of the wereboars meved up to Lydratir, and managed to hit him as well. Krisyra uttered an incantation and a massive firestorm descended on the battlefield, burning all of the wereboars. Uxarix moved to assist Lydratir, attacking the wereboar near him and severely wounding it. Charles brought his greatsword to bear, and with a series of powerful swings he took out the wereboar near him. Narcrath reached into his coinpurse, and imbued magic into ten coins, making them fly at our foes. The animated coins slew one of the wereboars, and severely wounded another. Lydratir finished off the wereboar near him with a jab of his rapier, and then took aim at another with his longbow. He fired, and it his its target hard, leaving it barely hanging on. another wereboar went after Charles, and managed to slip past his defenses, wounding him again. A second wereboar went after Lydratir as well, but he managed to deftly evade its strikes. One of the wereboars came after me, and managed to drive its tusks between my scales, but I shook of the pain. A second wereboar approached me, this being the severely wounded one. It tried to hit me, but it just couldn't manage to make contact. I snarled, and slashed at the wounded wereboar, tearing it apart with ease. I then brought my claws to bear against the other wereboar, wounding it as well.
Krisyra called upon her magic again, and an icy wind blew over the wereboar near me, chilling it and making it move sluggishly. Uxarix stabbed at the wereboar near him and Lydratir, and took it down. Charles swung his greatsword at the wereboar near to him, and left it as nothing but another body on the ground. Narcrath's animated coins flew over to the last remaining wereboar and pelted it, slaying it with a barrage to tiny projectiles.
As the last of our foes fell, we regrouped and continued on, heading towards whatever awaited us.
A/N: And there we go! Next time, our heroes continue their journey towards the Wizard's Tower. See you then!