Chapter 5
Orion's eyes widened as he surveyed their new surroundings. The glow from his torch lit up the room, revealing a library – the room was full of shelves overflowing with tomes. He pulled one from random off the nearest shelf. "The Light of the Dawnbringers," he read out loud to his companions. His eyes scanned the rest of the ancient tomes and scrolls covering the shelf. "Everyone of these is about Lathander or his followers."
"Would there be a book about your past lives?" Godric said, excited, as always, at the idea.
Orion smiled. "Possibly. I haven't worship the same deity in every life. Just earlier today I recalled a past life in which I worshipped the platinum dragon Bahamut. However, I'm sure at some point I worshiped Lathander. I can't imagine myself being complete without him." Orion's hands reached for a pendant of the Dawn Lord under the hem of his chain mail, and upon contact he saw a flash of himself sitting in this very room, pen in hand sitting over a book, scribing furious at the pages. He looked up at the bookshelf. Did he actually write one of these books?
"Fascinating." Vivificus said, yawning. "I do believe, however, we're following goblins?" Treks stood beside him, nodding anxiously, his hand resting on his greatsword. The Dragonborn was obviously ready for a fight.
"This half of the room is all on the weave and weft of magic." Lafayette said, ignoring her fellow eladrin. "The Evolution of the Weave." She read off of her book. "And there are quite a number of spellbooks up here as well." She opened to a random page in the spellbook, and was shocked at the intricate spells filling the pages, spells she never even heard of during her studies. She glanced over her shoulder at the Deva, and seeing him distracted slipped the book into her bag. She wasn't sure if reading spellbooks would help her at all, her own magics came naturally, but she couldn't pass the chance of picking up some new tricks.
"O, we go?" Treks said, stepping forward. Orion glanced up from his book. "The more time we spend here, the longer we give the goblins to loot." Treks spoke draconic, his natural tongue, this time.
Orion was glad that he could speak draconic; his large friend was much more verbose when speaking his native tongue. Something about Common must be offsetting to Treks.
"Of course, I suppose I could always return to this place once we've taken care of our foes," the Deva said as he stood up and wiped some dust away. "Let us move on, and restore this tomb to one of peace." He said this on purpose to the group, hoping to bolster their spirits. They began walking across the library towards the oak double doors, the only way out.
As the barbarian eagerly pulled open the door, he was greeted by a group of goblins. A quick scan of the room also revealed a very intimidating woman. The ne'er do wells looked up at the group, Orion pulling out his hammer and Treks quickly unsheating his greatsword.
"There they are! Destroy them!" The woman screamed, pulling out a weapon of her own – a heavely enchanted Morningstar, made of glossy black metal.
"Perhaps we should take more care when throwing open doors?" Vivificus sighed, exasperated with his companions but still drawing his own weapon, prepared to fight viciously. And, of course, see what this woman was carrying on her. He couldn't deny the fact that looting had become easier since he met this group.
***
Azara smirked as her eyes sized up her opponents. She could not believe this group believed they could stand up to one of her power. They were clearly unorganized and unprepared for a fight. She would strike them down in the name of Bane before moving back to the task that her god appointed her.
The Deva and Dragonborn rushed forward, knocking goblins out of the way with their mighty attacks. Mace, shield, and greatsword swung wildly and the goblins did not stand a chance at the assault. Behind them, two women and a scarred elf started to move forward. These three looked puny in comparison to their muscular companions. Azara didn't have much faith in her goblin lackeys. "Goblins! Get in the library. Hold them there." She barked the order. The goblin's obeyed, fearing Azara more than they feared the intruders, as it should be.
"Deal with the goblins!" The deva yelled back to his companions. "Treks and I will handle their leader."
"Keep telling yourself that, sweetblood." Azara taunted Orion using the insult for any that contained celestial blood, raising her mace and easily deflecting Treks overhead swing.
She quickly jumped forward, throwing her shoulder into Treks causing him to stumble back and throwing her weapon forward with such ferocity that the deva barely got his shield up in time to block the attack. Orion grunted at the blow, and wondered if perhaps he underestimated this woman. Before he had time to contemplate this, Azara's second swing went underneath his shield and dove into his chest. There was a muffled explosion, and the Deva fell backwards and his head hit the stone floor. Orion heard Treks yell in rage, but could focus on little more.
***
Vivificus swung his sword in front of him, it glowed with mounting power as he slashed down through a goblin's pathetic shield. The beast looked terrified for a split second, before a second upward swing ended its life. The goblin behind it didn't hesitate, stabbing his dagger forward with all his might. Vivificus turned his body slightly, and the poor creature, having put all of his strength into his attack, couldn't prevent itself from stumbling off balance. As the goblin passed Vivificus, the elf swung his sword in an arc, tearing into the creature. He pursed his lips and scowled as he couldn't follow through in order to guarantee a kill. Before he could, he had to retract his blade to parry the spear of the third goblin rushing at him. This new threat grinned a horrific smile at him as it pulled its spear back for another lunge. Vivificus didn't know how many goblins had flooded into this room, but there did not appear to be an end to the tide of little beasts. While he was defending against one gruesome foe, he realized that the last goblin he injured was not quite out of the fight, yet. To make matters worse, the wretch was now behind him.
The elf was no novice to battle; he knew that he had no effective way to defend against both of their attacks. Luckily, where might would fail, magic would not. He was a swordmage. He held his sword hand up, conjuring some arcane wards with his off hand while going, and swung his sword over his head, glowing bright as it collected arcane energy. Soon, he could release that energy, engulfing himself and his enemies. He would emerge unharmed. His enemies would not.
Unfortunately, that was when he noticed Godric had dropped to her knees and was currently rummaging through her bags.
"Shoot shoot shoot! I was so not ready for this. Where are my components?" As the girl spoke to herself, she was oblivious to the goblin running towards her, sword out and drool dripping down the slavering creatures chin.
The swordmage sighed and glanced at the goblin rushing at him, the beast's spear pointed at his chest. He was sure that behind him, the other goblin was doing the same. He knew he could either protect himself, or save the girl. He did not have time for both.
***
Orion picked his head off of the ground, dazed and bruised, but alive. He saw Treks and knew that the fury in the barbarian ran deep. He had Azara on the defense, attacking her relentlessly. Azara was parrying the attacks without fail, but Treks was not giving her a second to switch to the offense. Orion jumped up to his feet and ran into the fray to help his friend, amazed by the near musical quality of the constant ring of sword on mace.
Azara saw the deva approach. "Bane will destroy you! All power to the Black Hand!" With that proclamation, she dropped to the ground and swung her legs out, sweeping Treks' feet from under him. He hit the ground and Orion didn't have time to slow his pursuit. He stumbled over the woman's body and landed on top of Treks, rolling off quickly, but unable to regain his footing.
Azara smirked and raised her Morningstar for the killing blow. Orion saw her raise her weapon, and suddenly there was a flash. He saw himself and the female Dragonborn from his earlier memory. This time, her name was clear in his head. Surina. They were both adorned with the platinum dragon Bahamut's symbol, and they were both engaged against a worshiper of Bane. This new mystery man was equipped with a massive axe and although he was fighting valiantly, he could tell that this memory was of a losing battle. The memory got hazy, he couldn't grasp the details, but he saw the aftermath: he was cradling Surina's broken body, sobbing over it, as Bane's follower ran off, unharmed.
He saw the Morningstar descend towards Treks, and screamed in anger.
He would not lose another draconic companion.
***
Lafayette was not oblivious to the predicament Godric was in, but she was unable to do anything about it. She saw the goblin sneaking up on her precious daughter, but before she had time to react, a trio of goblins stepped in front of her. Lafayette chuckled slightly. The fools were in the worst possible place, in between her and her daughter.
She raised her hands, in what appeared to be an act of submission to the goblins. The fools were proud of themselves, that they had neutralized the spellcaster so easily. But they were blind if they believed that a sorceress could so easily be defeated. Lafayette spread her fingers wide, and flames shot out of her palms, incasing her foes. They screamed, but Lafayette paid their burning figures no mind. She hurried past, towards her daughter, but before she made it to Godric's side, a dark figure fell off of the ceiling, barring her way. She rose her hands, preparing another burst of fire, when the goblin moved forward with alarming speed. Lafayette had to cut her spell short, falling back to avoid the goblin's blade. The sword nicked the bookcase behind her and sliced straight through it. Lafayette gulped, thinking of what would've happened to her if the blade had hit her instead.
The goblin came forward with another attack, and Lafayette dared not raise her wand in defense. She valued its magic too much to see it cleaved in half, but as she barely dodged the second blow, she knew she would have to do something soon. She dove deep into her memory, recalling every incantation she knew. Before she could think up a suitable one for the situation, she knew she had to throw an attack and quickly. A personal favorite of hers came to mind, being both quick and deadly. She chanted a couple of curt words, and lobbed a ball of acid forward at her opponent. Before it made contact, the goblin closed his eyes, and blended into the darkness completely.
Lafayette sighed. She hated things that could sneak up on her. She spun around, on the defensive, praying that no harm would befall her precious daughter.
***
Godric turned at the last second, seeing her foe descending upon her, but having no time to react, all she could do was raise her hands in a pitiful shield. Suddenly a jag of lightning flew over her head into the goblin. When the energy made contact, it materialized into a whip, wrapping around the goblin. Before Godric knew what was happening, the goblin was pulled across the room, next to Vivificus.
The scarred swordmage smiled at the druid. Godric watched the spear make contact with Vivificus' arcane barrier and deflected, but he wasn't prepared to defend two hits. The goblin behind him stabbed forward, and the sword went into the Eladrin's side. Godric screamed as Vivificus' fell forward, his lifeblood leaking out of him.
He heard Godric's cries of denial and it was the last thing he heard before he fell into the darkness.
Godric finally saw her pile of components, and grabbed a handful of pinecones. She threw them straight up in the air, praying to Silvanus. As they rose, the druid dove over the goblins to cover Vivificus' body, knowing she would have to protect it from harm if the eladrin to have a chance of survival. As the pinecones landed, they burst into flames, engulfing the room. Godric felt the flames singe her tunic.
***
As the flames exploded across the room, they blazed over Lafayette, causing no damage to her. It was easy for her to put up the necessary wards. The goblin she was pursuing, however, had no such defenses. The flames rolled across his body, revealing him as he fell off of the wall he was clinging to. He jumped to his feet and attempted to blend into the shadows created by the dancing fires, but this time, the sorceress was ready.
Lafayette raised her hand, snapping her fingers which conjured a snowflake, suspended in air. She blew against the flake, which caused it to explode into a wall of icicles. The individual pieces of ice flew forward, impaling the goblin to the wall. The sword fell from his hands as a trickle of blood ran down his cheek.
Lafayette snapped once more, conjuring another snowflake. This one however, instead of exploding into deadly ice transformed into water droplets, sprinkling the room and dousing the remnants of Godric's fire.
…Godric! Lafayette spun, relieved to see her daughter looking shaken, but alive. Vivificus, however, did not look so good. Lafayette ran towards her companions, hoping she could at least help stanch the flow of blood.
***
Treks saw the Morningstar approach his face, and tried in vain to get his sword up in time. It turned out to be unnecessary, for before the blow struck true, Orion dove over his friend's body, accepting the blow to his shoulder. Orion grit his teeth in the pain, and his arm went numb, his shield clattering to the ground at his side. He tucked his legs in, rolling over his shoulder up to his feet, spinning to face the woman.
"I'm impressed with your skills. But you cannot stand up to me." Azara said, raising her massive mace. Orion gripped his weapon with both hands, eyes darting to his shield and knowing he would never make it in time. He dove forward, striking at Azara quickly before she had time to react. She took the blow to her chest, it hurt, but she knew that she'd survive.
She saw however, that there was no time for Orion to get back to a defensive position. She struck out, but as she struck Orion grinned.
"Poor choice." He said. The blow hit Orion again, crumbling him and dropping the deva to the ground. However, as Treks sword slashed across Azara's back she realized that Orion was using himself as bait. She bit back a howl of pain, and spun to face the Dragonborn. These infidels would pay
She started to open her mouth, a cocky insult ready, but before she got the chance a vine wrapped itself around her leg and pulled her down to the ground. She glanced back to see the two women standing by the door way, both chanting, preparing spells. Behind them the scarred elf wasn't moving. Azara rolled away quickly, avoiding a slash from Treks.
She breathed heavily. She refused to lose; this would be her last defeat. Bane would not forgive her again. However, she was tired and from the state of the deva and the Eladrin, she had inflicted considerable damage to the group in this encounter. Time to leave while it was still a victory and heal her wounds, she decided.
"When you're ready to face me again, I'll be waiting." She turned on her heels and took off down the hall. She felt another vine try to pin her down and a lightning bolt crackle past her head, but before another attack could come she was gone.
She prayed Bane granted her the necessary tactics to win her second encounter with the group. She would not underestimate them this time.
***
"O! O!" Treks screamed, holding the deva in his arms.
Orion had a fleeting thought of irony – Treks was cradling his body in the same way he recalled himself holding Surina, centuries ago. Luckily, unlike the scene centuries ago, Lathander had blessed Orion. His vision was already clearing. Treks grinned happily at Orion and Orion was oblivious to the terrifying sight. To him, at this time, the Dragonborn's grin was a relief to see.
"Orion?" A voice timidly asked. Orion sat up to see Godric, biting her bottom lip nervously. "Vivificus is in bad shape. I did not mean for him to get hurt, he saved me and…" Orion raised his hand to cut her off.
Treks reached his hand out to the warlord, helping him to his feet. Orion could only hope that Lathander would bless him with the abilities necessary to heal his friend's wounds. As he pulled his pack off and began reaching for the necessary medical supplies, he thought that this part healer, part warrior life that he had awoken to this time was a strange one. At this point though, knowing that if it were not for him, Vivificus would not survive, he couldn't complain.