Things had gone from bad to worse ...in a hurry. They had fought a running battle for the last hour, slaying at least a dozen, but they were tiring and the enemy seemed endless.
The winter storm was upon them , battering them as they ran. The cold resistance prayer was long gone, most of Clovis's magical infusions were used up. Even their pack horse was dragged into the night . Things weren't looking good.
A large Taer galloped on all 4s out of the darkness, and charged towards the band. They were like wolves, preying on the small and slow. Unfortunately for them the smallest and slowest of the group was a very angry dwarf . The creatures long arm , reached out and slashed at Ymir's back. She grunted in pain but kept her balance as she ran. She shortened her grip on her axe and drove its pommel straight back . The force knocked the surprised creature down. Ymir kept running as the beast stopped and howled into the air.
The main group of Taer were almost upon them. Half humanoid, half snow beast monsters, they were the ghosts of the tundra. Fetch fought them before on the plateau, but only a few half starved ones . Now he was in there territory and they were hungrier then ever.
After accepting Royal Adventurer Reinhardt's offer, the group prepared for their long trek. The Grommers were quite generous with their funds, and Fetch realized how they earned their reputation as the richest kingdom in the land.
Frank and Clovis handled most of the procurement. Fetch made a list of necessary supplies but knew Clovis would probably buy extra potions wands and scrolls. Fetch liked to be ready for any situation but Clovis took that maxim to even further lengths.
When they were supplied and ready, the group set off to the infamous Scar. Apparently the Scar was just a volcanic fissure in the earth. Nothing remarkable, except 30 or 230 years ago depending on the calendar, a great battle between knights and demons was fought close to there. The demons were defeated , when the famous hero and professional Lemming ball champion , the mighty Zug, kicked a mountain into their ranks. Most of the remaining demons fled and most were hunted down and slain on the open Tundra. Some however escaped to the Scar, where their kind have holed up ever since.
Maps in the north were hard to judge. Ever since the grey mists came, people report terrain moving, or disappearing. Even the greatest rangers and druids would get lost in the mists. Its said your best bet is get as much maps as you can , head in the right direction and hope you end up close. The journey to the scar was approximately 250 miles away. A 10 day journey if the weather was clear and there was no complications.
The first weeks journey was relatively peaceful. The companions laughed and joked. Enjoyed each others company, and savored the fresh tundra air.
Everything changed on the 8th day though. The storm came, then the Taer.
"Ummph", cried Clovis as he stumbled to the ground. Another taer immediately pounced on him. If you saw a taer from the distance while its at rest, you might think it was an intelligent primitive humanoid, but at that moment all Clovis could think of was wild animal. The taer bit into his shoulder .
"GAAAAAHHH", was all Clovis could cry out as white hot pain seared through his body.
Ymir stopped , spun , and immediately set upon the beast. She braced her foot on Clovis's head and performed a single underhand swing motion with her axe. It sent the creatures head flying. Clovis stared at her foot pressed against his head and how close the axe came to his shoulder, but was still thankful for the intervention.
A pursuing taer stopped 10 foot from the dangerous looking dwarf and unleashed an icy cone of frost from its wide maw. Ymir held her gauntlet to absorb most of the assault. For a moment she stood there motionless, trying to deflect the breath with her hand while standing over the decapitated taer and the wounded Clovis. After the breath subsided she performed a single axel jump towards the creature , while holding her axe in both hands. She judged the distance perfectly as the axe caved in the creatures chest.
Ymir shouted defiantly into the winter storm,"Is that all you got! My axe thirsts for more blood!"
Fetch knew more were coming. He said a quick prayer to the wounded Clovis. He could see Ymir was hurting bad. Her face was caked in ice, and her skin was already beginning to crack. His prayer magic was almost diminished , he luckily still had that healing wand Clovis made for him. It was handy , but not a replacement for his magic.
Fetch went to the dwarf and touched her with the wand. Ymir gave him an angry glance. He could tell she was tired of running. She was probably right, Clovis was stable but in no condition to run. The more they ran, the more likely they would get split up in this storm.
The cleric gave the signal to prepare for contact.
Frank smiled and gave a couple of cocky flourishes with his sword. Fetch thought hes either too brave or too stupid to understand the situation they were in. He thought having had 2 brothers died in the last 5 months, would make the knight more aware of his mortality. Instead Frank had become fearless in the face of certain death , hopefully not reckless as well.
Clovis struggled to his feet, muttered an infusion, then Ymir's axe blade bursted into fire. Fetch thought the way the fire and shadow danced across Ymir's face, was one of the most frightening things hes seen. The dwarf's visage told him, that she intended to make them pay dearly if she was on the menu.
Tyris , started her war hymn again. It was strange how such a bad melody always raised his morale for battle. She had her rapier drawn but appeared to struggle with her footing from the fierce tundra winds.
Fetch said his final prayer. The ring of blades. It wasn't as strong as the infamous barrier of blades , that was far too complex for him to attempt, but it was impressive nonetheless. Magical blades swirled around him, ready to slice into his foes flesh. He channeled the last bit of divine energy he had into to comrades , it invigorated and healed them, but he wasn't sure if it was enough.
"Behind us!", The bard shouted as 3 taer circled around and charged out of the snow behind of them.
Fetch glanced to see 2 of the monsters advance towards Ymir and Frank from in front , he realized there's no running now.
Ymir struck the first taer with an overhead swing. it brought the beast crashing to the ground. Its head bursting into flame. She shoulder checked the second beast , pushing the surprised creature back a bit. She turned her back to the second taer for a second, but before it recovered she spun around while swinging her flaming axe in a mighty arc both disemboweling and roasting the still surprised creature.
Frank walked to her side, and once again with a flourish stabbed his sword into the stunned and burning beast on the ground. "NEXT! ", he laughed into the storm as he readied his sword and shield.
Clovis , unfurled a scroll from one of the many scroll tubes he carried. He quickly read it and a horse sized wolf appeared in front of him. It was clearly not a normal wolf, it had evil red eyes, and painful looking bone spurs all over its body. It gave a fierce howl , before leaping into the fray.
Tyris swung her rapier in wide arcs, to keep her foes at bay . The beast in front of her was wary ,of her blade at first. It finally struck one, and the monster roared, realizing the rapier didn't have enough power to kill them. It charged, but was met head on by the large dire wolf.
The wolf tore at the creature , ripping and shaking the beast. The other 2 leaped at the wolfs flank. Biting and clawing. The beast was a creature born of the abyss, and its skin was enchanted so most of their blows were useless on it. It dropped its now lifeless prey, and looked at the attacking monsters . The taer were beasts, but Fetch could tell at that moment they knew fear. The wolf savored it, before leaping and tearing at another one.
Fetch's ring of blades was a blessing and curse. On one hand , if enemies were to engage him, they would be ripped to apart. On the other hand, if he approached his friends they too would be slashed. Fetch knew he had to place himself in a tactical position to fully use his ring. He spied a few more taer trying to outflank Tyris, and engaged them head on. The taer seemed unsure of what to make of his cloud of blades. But howled in anger as they started to rip into them. A particularly angry and large taer shrugged off the blades as they bit into his skin and jumped directly at Fetch.
"Oh, this is too easy.", thought Fetch. As he slammed his shield into the creatures face. The creature fell on its back, all the while the blades tore into him. It try to rise to its feet, but Fetch playfully pierced its hand with his sword. Briefly pinning it to the ground. The creature was a mask of fury and anger, even as blades slashed up its face and body, before it fell to the ground.
"Stop playing around", chastised an amused Frank.
"ROOARRRRRRR", the battle field paused for a second, as a monstrous roar pierced the howling winds. Something big, gulped Fetch.
He saw more taer swarming their band. 4 rushed the wolf and Tyris. Tyris was slipping through their ranks, stabbing the monster engaged with the wolf. The wolf was methodically chewing taer one at a time. Savoring the blood and carnage it was creating. 6 more rushed Frank and Ymir. Fetch could see Frank was relatively unscathed, but Ymir head and arm were bleeding profusely. Her once beautiful curly brown hair , was a mat of blood now.
Dazzling streaks of energy erupted from Clovis's wand. It struck one of the wounded creatures engaging Tyris. Fetch would have supported Ymir's flank, instead of Tyris's but now was no time for admonishment. Fetch charged a couple of Taer engaged with Frank. The knight had enough wits about him to leap back, as the cloud tore into their attackers. Ymir's breathing was labored, but her actions didn't show her slowing down. She swung her flaming axe in another wide arc. Setting fur on fire, and severing limbs as it streaked around her. A taer ducked through her swing, and lept at the dwarf. The creature knocked her over, the stunned dwarf dropping her axe. The creature roared in victory, drooling over the prone and disarmed dwarf. the roar was short lived however, as Ymirs gauntleted hand shot up and grasped the creatures face.
The surprised creature tried to claw away the mailed hand, but the dwarf's grip tightened. The creature was slowly forced from its straddling position , to on its back , its struggles grew weaker.
"NEVER, EVER drool on a girls face!", Ymir shouted at the pinned beast , her other hand grasped one of her hand axes, and embedded it into the creatures chest.
She looked around for her greataxe, but between the blood in her eyes and the bodies on the ground, she didnt see it. She instinctively drew a pair of war axes, gave them both a quick twirl in her wrists , mimicking Franks little show off maneuver. Frank was impressed with her move and gave her a thumbs up.
"Yiiippppp", Fetch wondered what could have made that noise. Clovis shouted, " Incoming!"
Through the snow storm Fetch could make out a monstrously large creature slamming its fist into the wolf. He could see bursts of energy harmlessly explode on its hide. This is bad, Fetch thought. Tyris was at the creatures feet , battling 2 of the creatures, seemingly unaware of the monster beside her.
Tyris avoided a Taer's swing, and answered with a swift kick to the chest. The creature staggered, but before she could seize her advantage, another taer backhanded her across the face. She fell to the ground. The giant taer pounced at her body, but she had rolled away as she fell. Leaving the giant monster to flail and claw futilely at the empty ground.
Ymir blocked a taer's blow with one war axe and chopped away at it with another. The Taer pushed the blocking axe away , but she responded by swinging both axes at once hitting its arm and it shoulder. The beast stumbled a bit, but before it could react, the axes swung again , this time on both sides of its neck. Its head popped up a bit, and in a fluid motion, the dwarf spun around and kicked it like a ball at an incoming taer. Having its comrades head strike it in the face stunned the charging creature for a second. Which was enough time for Ymirs axe to embed it self into the creatures chest. She used the second axe to push the stuck creature off her first axe. Fetch rarely saw Ymir use 2 axes, she preferred the power and accuracy of the great axe, but she was surprisingly adept with using them.
"Show off,!", smiled her partner. Frank blocked another taers attack, and countered with a slash to its exposed side. The creature was hurt bad so Frank slashed again at its head to put it out of its misery. Slash, block and counterattack , his style wasn't as flashy or lethal as Ymir's, but it was effective and methodical. Also it gave him time to make funny remarks on the battlefield," What the hell do these things eat in the Tundra to get them so big? Seriously whats up with that."
"Apparently ,they eat guys like us.", replied Fetch sizing up his giant opponent. He knew he had the best chance against this beast, He was going to concentrate on blocking while his blades tore into it. Hopefully his blades will finish the creature, before its giant claws finish him. But before he could put his plan into action , Ymir charged at the creature both axes twirling and swinging.
Ymir ran toward the creature, she had summoned the magic of her dark heritage and grew to a towering 7 foot tall and charged with her axes swept behind her. She planted her foot off the fallen wolfs rapidly disappearing body and leaped into the air, while bringing her back stretched axes forward. She smiled as both axes embedded into the creatures head like bizarre earrings. Her smile quickly faded as she realized all she did was make the beast mad.
" RRROOOOARRRR", the beast yelled once again, splattering Ymir with drool.
"Why you...", she never got to finish her sentence as the creature violently shook its head sending the large dwarf to the ground. She somersaulted in midair and landed square on her feet, but the creature was too fast for her, as it brought its fist down on her back , flattening her with a sickening crunch.
It brought its fist up again and sent it hurtling down on the prone most likely dead dwarf, but was blocked with a grunt by a metal shield. Frank grimaced with effort as he raised his shield to block for his fallen comrade. He made a quick jab at the beasts leg , but its thick fur protected it from his blow. He jumped back, and circled the beast trying to draw its attention away from the downed dwarf. A flash of energy erupted on the creatures back, but it ignored Clovis's attack. It roared again and charged the knight. Frank stood in front of the charging creatures path and in the last moment sidestepped the attack and deflected it with his shield. He tried to force it to the ground, but it was too big and too strong. Another slash with the sword, and a spurt of crimson rewarded Franks persistence.
The creature withdrew then charged again. Once again Frank sidestepped the attack , like a matador, and slashed at his exposed foe. He even added an additional slash at the creature's back as it once again withdrew from range. Both blows were rewarded by sprays of crimson.
"Look big guy, I can do this all day. Show me what you got", snickered Frank.
The creature reared back, and opened its mouth, a blast of frigid air struck Frank directly. A thin sheet of ice formed over his shield and armor, freezing his skin, and flesh..and more importantly locking his joints and feet. ,"This is going to hurt," was the last thing Frank said as the creature charged again.
It crashed heavily into the frozen knight, sending him tumbling onto the hard gore splattered ground. Before his body came to a stop it quickly pounced on Frank like a snow lion with its jaws, and threw his limp body into the air. He crashed wordlessly on the ground 30 feet away, contorted in unnatural ways.
"No!", cried Fetch. 2 of his companions were down , most likely dead. He didn't have enough magic to save them, and he knew his wand was insufficent to make a difference. This was about revenge now. He lept onto the creatures back, holding its fur tight. His ring of blades slashed repeatedly into the monster. It howled in pain and tried to scratch him off, but Fetch held on. Fetch felt its momentun suddenly shift, and he lept off the creatures back as it rolled on the ground like a dog. He kicked the beast in the face as the ring once again made contact with it . This time at its vulnerable head. Its eyes and nose were torn apart now. It gave one more defiant roar, and snapped its jaws onto Fetch's side.
Fetch's last thoughts were " Nara..."
Fetch was dead. He had never died before, but he just knew he was dead. He got a brief glimpse of the battlefield, he saw the remaining Taer retreat, he saw Clovis firing his wand at the fleeing creatures, he saw Tyris running to his side. Satisfied that he died bravely and honorably in battle he felt his spirit "ascend". He was in a large hall. Hundreds, maybe thousands of warriors were lined up . He could see Frank waving at him. "I saved you a space in line , buddy.", the warrior behind and in front of him seem greatly vexed at his boldness. "Hey he died fighting a giant snow monkey man...what killed you? A kobold? A giant rat? Maybe you slipped on your way to the toilet. "
Before things got violent, Fetch felt himself "descend". A small part of him didn't want to leave. It felt "right" there, but a large part of him welcomed it. There was still things to be done, and Fetch didn't like to leave loose ends. He felt a powerful presence directing him away. It felt familiar... Innke...
Fetch felt a gentle hand stroke his hair. When he slowly opened his eyes, He saw a set of concerned piercing yellow eyes , a beautiful golden face, framed by beautiful copper hair. His head was rested on Tyris's soft lap.
"He's up", said a relieved looking Tyris. Fetch hadn't seen her looking like this since the day he woke naked up in her room. That sounded better then it was , he said chuckling to himself. He took another moment to savor the moment burning the image in his mind. ,He looked up at Tyris, "Marry me?", he said jokingly.
She rolled her eyes and pushed him away and his head landed hard on the ground. "Owww...".
"You will be ok...you survived being bitten in half by King Taer there, you can survive a bump on the head." , said a relieved looking Clovis.
Fetch was confused , till it dawned on him he actually died there . He thought he was dreaming. He vaguely remembered a big hall or maybe it was an inn , Frank was there. Frank opened his mouth , there was going to be a fight. Wait that was last Tuesday at the tavern. His memories rapidly faded, and he found it harder and harder to recall his moments in the realms of death.
Fetch surveyed the camp. Ymir was wrapped up, in a blanket. She was gravely injured and barely survived the beating she took. She was breathing though , that's a good sign. Frank was dead. He was sure of that. Clovis or Tyris had laid his body on a blanket and tried to straighten his corpse. He still had that smirk on his face.
Clovis helped Fetch up," That was close, I wasn't sure if I could make that scroll work. Divine magic is not my specialty. Oh..I took some of our funds and bought a couple of raise dead scrolls for this expedition. Didnt think I would have to use them right away. Here use this on Frank. Should be no problem for you. "
Fetch read the scroll, it was a difficult prayer, but he managed to intone it correctly. Frank was bathed briefly in a reddish glow.
"GREETINGS! ", a familiar voice shouted behind them. The storm had greatly subsided, but the weather was still inhospitable and they were in the middle of nowhere. The chances of a random encounter with a traveler here was close to zero. Fetch was weakened but he still gripped his weapon at the mysterious stranger.
As the stranger advanced, Fetch was surprised it was Frank or someone that looked exactly like Frank, the copy approached Frank's corpse lying on a blanket in front of him. The stranger wore only light clothing, and appeared unarmed, but warning bells flared in Fetch's head.
"My god, my brother is dead! ", the stranger said with what appeared to be a practiced speech.
"What will mother say? Fear not brother I will avenge you! I have with me the last copy of your will, I will take possession of your belongings and more importantly magic items and I will avenge your death. Please strangers allow me to introduce myself. I am Tank, the younger brother of the triplets Frank,Hank and Frank . Please give me the opportunity to join your band, and continue where my brother left off. I am the perfect replacement for my fallen brother, I am a defensive fighter like he was, except I have studied the ways of survival in the tundra .", said Tank.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute...we are in the middle of the wilderness here, in a snow storm no less. Hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement. You mean to tell me you just happen to be Franks brother, and just happened to be strolling around here...right when he died!",demanded Fetch.
"Err...YES! ",said a puzzled Tank," That's right I was just wander..."
"cough, cough...its ok, Tank I'm alright", Frank said as he slowly got up.
"Frank!", exclaimed Fetch as he came to his friends side, Frank held up his hand.
"Tank meet my friends, Fetch, Tyris, Clovis, and over there is Ymir. Guys meet my younger brother Tank. Ok , now get lost Tank. I'm alright we don't need you right now."
"Yes brother! It was nice meeting you guys, bye!", he said cheerfully as he wandered off back into the tundra.
"Wait! The man doesn't have any gear, no weapons or armor! What if there are more Taer or worse ! He will die by himself! He should stay with us for awhile! He's your brother for Rawk's sake." , exclaimed Fetch.
Frank stared at Fetch for a second, clearly annoyed. Fetch stared back determined that Franks brother wont march into the tundra to his death.
"TANK! , cmere for a second, Tank! ", Frank cried out into the snow.
Tank made his way back to the camp appearing confused.,"err are you going to suicide or something? If you are...im ready to take your spot!"
Frank looked at Fetch, as he walked to his brother. He handed him a short sword, and a shield." HAPPY? want me to give him a bagged lunch as well?...OK now git".
Tank once again waved at the companions,"Bye ! ", he said cheerfully as he once again walked into the unforgiving tundra.
Clovis walked up to Fetch and put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't think too much about it, its a brother thing."