Chapter 19- Slayer Scrolls

Chapter 16- Chrissy Lydia

Day 15 Over the hills and through Hell we go

Road to A friend in Need

It was a few hours into the trip when Lydia finally broke the silence that was between them.

"You did the right thing."

"What do you mean."

"You are not the only one who can take care of others."

"Huh?"

"Yes, you are the Dragon born but you can't save everyone."

"I know it's just hard to leave him, but I have to get to Sexy because I can sense he is in danger. Even though he hasn't said it I can feel it. But you are right I don't like leaving a sick boy in the hands of a man I barely know."

"Jarlam has been running the wagon with his father who ran it for years. I have never heard anyone speak ill of him or his family. He gave passage to any who paid. For that he is one of the few that can go all over the keeps without issue other than bandits, wildlife, and now dragons." Lydia tells her.

"That is good to know. And that does take some worry off of me."

"Speaking of knowing? What do you know of where we are going?"

"Well, I am not sure how far, but I do know that we are going to go up against a tribe that eats people. Then after them there are three strange women that look part bird." Chrissy says.

"WHAT?! You mean we are needing to go up against the Pharcry and their HagRaven priestesses." Lydia exclaims.

"You can always turn around."

"No! I will not let you go up against them alone." Lydia affirms.

"I wonder if they are the same HagRavens we are needing to get that knife from?"

"No those are above Helena." Lydia informs her.

"Crap."

"Do you have any idea on how we are going to deal with them?"

"A frontal attack isn't a good idea as the have Pharcry have boobie traps, and good line of sight for their archers to take us out."

"How high are they?"

"If we go around this area." Chrissy says as she points to a high point off to the side. "There is a good vantage point we could use to snipe them."

They spend the next little while having the horses climb a steep mountain side. When they reach a slightly flat area, they get off the horses and tie them to an old tree. The two warriors climb up even higher. When all of a sudden Chrissy's fear starts to kick in.

"Chrissy? What is wrong?" Lydia asks as she sees Chrissy is not moving and starting to shake.

"I…I…" Chrissy stammers.

"You can do it think of your friend." Lydia says as she climbs closer to her.

"Oh, Sexy it's so high…This is higher than when… He…killed… me." Chrissy cries as she clings to the mountain and places her face into arm to hide from the height as tears of fear start to fall freely.

"Who killed you?" Lydia asks while she climbs up next to her.

"My…father… he chased me…. onto the roof of our…hiccup… apartment… hiccup….building" Chrissy begins to relay why she had become afraid of heights while hiccupping.

"Why did he chase you?" Lydia quietly asks as she places a hand on her shoulder.

"He like to touch me… in private places… the last time he did it…. It hurt.. I was bleeding from my private place and ran away from him. I told him I was going to tell my grandpa…So he pushed me off the roof…. I fell and fell... I landed in a large trash bin…I laid in much of the time it was dark, and I was so cold… until … Master Splinter found me…"

"What did this Master Splinter do?"

"He stayed with me until help arrived…. You are the only one that knows why I am afraid of heights." Chrissy tells her. "The healers said that I was lucky as I only broke a leg in 3 places, by arm in two and cracked by skull."

"Why didn't you tell your grandfather?"

"My father said that if I told anyone he would kill my mom than my brother." Chrissy explains.

"How long ago was that?"

"I was only 10 years old when that happened, but I think Master Splinter knows." Chrissy informs.

"Why do you say that?"

"I spent several months in my worlds house of healing and when I came back my father never touched me again. Plus, he somehow had his arm and all his fingers of the hand he used to touch me with were busted the next time I saw him. He would also freak out when he saw a rat." Chrissy said with a sly smile.

"Why would he freak out when he saw a rat?"

"Master Splinter had been a human but was changed into a humanoid rat." Chrissy explains.

"He let him off easy I would have ripped his balls off and shoved them down his throat for what he did to you." Lydia growls.

"I would have helped her." Sexy's voice is clearly heard in Chrissy's mind.

"Tell me about Master Splinter?" Lydia urges as she slowly helps her move upwards to a plateau area.

"I was at the hospital for a while after my fall. But when I got home, I found that my room was clean and there was a lock on my door. I thought was my mom at first. One night I had a nightmare about my father attacking me again and I ran out of the house in the dark. Some street thugs were going to attack me, but he saved me once again. He asked me if I was hurt again but I told him I was just having a nightmare. I told him I was tired of being weak. So, he agreed to train me. At first it was just him I trained with but a year so into the training I met his sons." Chrissy told her as she kept her eyes closed as they climbed up.

"Were his son's rats or humans?" Lydia asks.

"Neither they are teenage mutant ninja turtles." Chrissy answers with a smile as she recalls Mikey saying.

"What did he teach?" Lydia asks as they reach the top.

"He taught me how to fight and use different weapons but mostly he taught me I wasn't weak." Chrissy told her.

Lydia kept her going by quietly talking about her past as they moved painfully slow up the mountain even higher for several hours.

"You can open your eyes as we are at the top and there is a house here." Lydia says as she eyes the place and draws her sword.

"What?" Chrissy asks.

"Yes, see for yourself."

Chrissy did and she saw a very strange building. It looked like a Viking lodge but was made from the bottom half of a large, flipped upside down ship.

"Whoa… That is cool! Chrissy says as she stares at the large home. "But why is it all the way up here?"

"Look over there.. There is a path going down the mountain that looks like it ends up on the Road to MarkHall Keep. At least I think it does." Lydia says as she stares down the path.

"I wonder where the owner is?" Chrissy asks as she goes up to the door and knocks.

After several tries at knocking and not getting a response Chrissy tries the door and finds it locked.

"Any luck?" Lydia asks as she comes up beside her.

"No one seems to be home."

"They were not too long ago."

"Why do you say that?"

"The forge is still hot."

"Maybe we just missed them. Doesn't really matter Sexy didn't show me this or anyone who lives here. He did show me an overlook over there. That we could set up a good sniper's nest."

"What about your fear of heights?"

"Let's just take a look." Chrissy remarks then firmly says. "I have got to overcome it. By the way thanks for helping me back there I don't know if I could have done it without you."

"I am sworn to carry your burdens." Lydia says with a smile.

The two head over to the overlook but keep low. When they reach it, they find they can see most of the encampment. As they start to count the enemies, they realize that someone is trapped in a hanging cage which was hung high over a ledge as they hear him screaming.

"You are no Nords you are heartless!" The man was screaming down. "Cowards! A troll's ass is more Nord than!"

A low lighten bolt was sent at him. And the owner of it laughed as the man in the cage spasms from the pain.

"Tell us how we can enter your home, and we just might make it quick."

"Was that all you got? I have had sun burns worse." The caged man laughs back only to be hit with another bolt.

"I think we may have just found the owner of this place?" Lydia remarks.

"You would think that they would have guards up here." Chrissy says as she starts to look around them and finally sees a guard coming around the small barn.

Before he sees them, Chrissy pushes Lydia into some bushes and lands on top of her.

"I thought you didn't like women?" Lydia quietly teases.

"Guard." Chrissy hisses.

"I figured."

For the next twenty tense filled minutes they watched him circle the area. In his patrol he checked the small forge area, the small garden shed, and even stuck his head into the woodshed next to the front entrance. He headed up to the door and tried it, but nothing happened. The Phyrcry male takes off his battle axe and tries to hit the door with it only to be knocked back on his ass. The women try not to laugh. After he gets up, he heads back around and down.

"They must think they don't need someone here a permanent basis until they can get into that house." Chrissy remarks with a slight smirk.

"The house must be warded against intruders." Lydia says as they quietly get up.

"I figure we have about a little bit before the next patrol shows up." Chrissy says as she sneaks over to where the guard had headed and watches him some more as she follows, he walks the road down and round until he comes to a spot then turns out of their sight. They head back over to their sniper area and observe for a little while longer until they notice the guard from earlier come out from a small crack in the mountain.

"They have a short cut. We need to block that. Wait here and keep watching." Chrissy says as she runs down to where they had seen the guard go out of their sight.

It takes her a few minutes, but she finds the crack. It was just big enough for one person to slip through and not been seen unless someone was looking. Chrissy looked at the area to see if there was anything she could use to block it up but there was nothing close.

"This sucks.. hmmm.." Chrissy mutters as she suddenly hears Lydia quietly calling her. She turns and runs up the hill.

"He's coming back." Lydia tells her as she waves her over to the bushes they had hidden in earlier.

"They aren't taking any chances and someone finding this place before they can get in." Chrissy remarks just as she hides.

"Damn we can't attack with as often as they patrol." Lydia quietly says.

"Maybe… Oh thank you Mikey." Chrissy says with an evil grin as she looks carefully at the rock she was on.

"Huh?" Lydia quietly asks.

But Chrissy doesn't answer as they both watch the guard do his little patrol except this time, he has a war hammer and tries to bash the door in. Only this time he flies back farther. He lays on the ground stunned for a few moments trying to catch his breath. He gets up mad and throws the hammer at the door only to have it bounce off, almost hitting him except he managed to go jump out of the way before it did.

"They aren't very bright." Lydia remarks at the guard's stupidity.

"He sure isn't but let's not think they others aren't." Chrissy warns.

The fur covered guard gets back up and heads back down. Before he is out of eyesight Chrissy instructs Lydia as she takes a wood bowl out of her pack. "Take this wood bowl and follow him down to the cave."

"Why?" Lydia asks.

"I want you to gather some bat shit." Chrissy quietly tells her.

"Why?"

"Just do it. I'll explain later what I am going to do but I need to get the other stuff we'll need." Chrissy quietly says.

Lydia follows the guard down, making sure he doesn't notice her. While Chrissy went over to the fire pit and gathered up charcoal, she pulled out one of the herbs that Lydia had put in her pack at their first encounter with bandits. Lydia comes back with the bat shit. They both headed back to the bush they had been hiding just in case the guard came back.

"I wish we had an Alchemy Lab here it would be easier to make this." Chrissy grumbles.

"There is one by the forge." Lydia informs her.

"That's great. Has anyone gone into the cave?"

"No. In fact, we may have some time as the last guard has gone over to a table and started eating and drinking… I mean drinking a lot. He has already had 2 mugs of whatever he is drinking." Lydia answers as she just shakes her head at the idiot.

"He's more than likely trying to drink away the headache he got from the hammer. Keep an eye on the crack for me while I go and make a nice little surprise for them." Chrissy tells her as she heads for the Alchemy Lab.

Once at the Alchemy Lab Chrissy sets to work making a very crude version of black powder. She just hopes it's enough to cause a landslide in front of the cave entrance. She finds a small empty ceramic flask that smelled like it had contained some type of alcohol at one time but was dry now. She had just finished carefully packing the powder into the flask when Lydia came up on her.

"He's coming back this time with a bigger hammer." Lydia laughs.

"I need a fuse…"

"What is a fuse?" Lydia asks.

"It's a long or shorten piece of cotton or hemp, string or rope."

"Here let's go." Lydia says as she hands her a rope from on top of a barrel and pulls her back to the bush.

"Five gold says he knocks himself out on the second try." Chrissy quietly says as she watches the drunken fool come stumbling around the corner.

"I see your five and raise you 10 that he can't even hit it." Lydia retorts.

"You don't have much faith in that Nord." Chrissy teases.

"Like the owner said that aint no Nord."

"Why do you say that."

"A true Nord can hold their mead better than that." Lydia remarks as they watch him fall over his own feet.

Without a word Chrissy hands her 15 gold when she sees the guard can barely stand and drops the hammer on his foot.

It took him four tries to even hit the building with the same result as his last attempts. He finally leaves and the women quietly follow him down. After they were sure he was gone they made their way down to the entrance of the cave.

"Do you see that slight overhang." Chrissy says as she points to some large rocks that were just above the cave.

"Yeah so."

"I want you to climb up there and put this in there." Chrissy tells her as she hands her the flask that now had a long rope in it.

"Why?"

"Because I want to give them an explosive surprise." Chrissy smiles evilly.

"I am almost scared for them." Lydia remarks as she takes the flask and climbs above the entrance.

At the top Lydia shoves the flask into a cracked area then climbs down. When she was down Chrissy used her fire magic and lights the rope wick. She watches it for a few moments to make sure it will continue to go. About halfway up the wick Chrissy grabs Lydia and runs back up to the house.

"Go pick a target to hit with your new bow when you hear a big boom kill them. I'll do the same." Chrissy tells her once they were back in the bush.

Minutes tick by and Chrissy begins to wonder if she actually did the mixture right. She really starts to get nervous when Lydia points out.

"Looks like the drunk idiots is coming back. When is your surprise going to happen."

"I might have miss jud…."

BOOM! Echoed throughout the mountains.

"By the nine what was that?" Lydia says as she stares back at where the sound came from.

Before Chrissy could say anything there was a loud cracking noise that started to echo through the mountain range. Down in the Pharcry makeshift village everyone stops doing what they were doing and looked up at the high snowy peak above. After a few tense moments no one dared to breathe until one gave off a soft sigh of relief. Others follow suit until a small part of the snow above them starts to fall followed by several other larger pieces.

"AVALANCHE!" Several of the Pharcry scream as they run for their lives down the hillside.

It didn't matter how fast they could run the avalanche was faster and engulfed them. The power of nature unleashed was one not to be denied as everyone and everything in the village was utterly destroyed. Except for the prisoner who was hanging in the cage for the cage was placement out and over a cliff and attached to another mountain side the was the only thing that kept the man alive even when he was pelleted by hard ice that flew up at him as the rest of the avalanche went over the cliff side.

"Ooopss." Chrissy quietly remarks as she watches the snow and ice from the mountain peaks cascade down on the savages.

"I take it you didn't plan that." Lydia asks as she watches the horror in sick fixation below then checks and makes sure they didn't have any coming at them. She didn't know which god was protecting them, but she made a mental note to thank them all.

"Nope. It was just supposed to be enough to cover the cave on this side."

"You definitely got this side.."

"Well at least we don't have to take on all those Pharcry." Chrissy happily inputs.

"Or get their loot." Lydia deadpans.

"Damn. Oh well. Hey, look the owner of the house made it." Chrissy says as she points at the man hanging in the cage who was laughing his head off.

"He's not the only one check it out." Lydia says as she nods in the direction of two black feather cover old female chromes that had been on different area then where the avalanche had fallen.

"Crap and the snow didn't even dampen their feathers." Chrissy notices.

"Do you have any more of the boom dust?"

"No."

"Looks like we have to take them out the hard way." Lydia says.

"Okay I got the one on the left." Chrissy says as she pulls out her bow.

"They are too far away. They need to be closer." Lydia says as she also pulls out her bow.

"WHAT!? Hass happen too our ssslavesss?" One of Hag raven hisses out.

"Seems that the divines didn't like your pets. They went bye bye!" The man in the hanging cage laughs outs as gestures down and over the edge he was hanging over.

"That guy is nuts." Chrissy off handedly remarks.

"No, I just think that he is the whipping toy of the god of chaos. Considering he's not just in a cage hanging over a cliff but they also have him in chains." Lydia observes.

"Nah I thought you got that from the whip marks on his back." Chrissy states.

"That too."

"You caused thisssss!" The Hagraven accused as it pointed a boney finger at the man and sent a fire ball at him which only fell short as they were too far away to actually hit the cage, he was in. This only causes the man to laugh even harder.

"I dare you to come closer and try that again." The man taunts at the hags.

"Oh boy is that guy asking for it." Chrissy quietly states.

"Yeah, but look they are coming closer we can hit them." Lydia says as she aims her bow.

"Only the crazy tread where angels' wont." Chrissy says as she too draws her bow and takes aim all the while something wiggled at the back of Chrissy's mind until it hit her. "Wait.."

"What?"

"There should be three where is the third?" Chrissy demands as she frantically starts to look around.

It was Lydia that spotted the third as she was making her way up towards the house. "She is behind us." Lydia hisses as she hides deeper in the bush while switching her aim to the one that was coming up to the front of the house.

"THISSSS WASSS YOUR DOING!" The hag yelled at the house's front door. "YOU"LL PAY FOR THISSSSS!" The hag continued to yell as she cast several fire ball spells at the door only to have the fireballs be reflected by a female ghostly apparition who had walked through the door.

"Really hag?" The ghostly woman remarks. "Return what is mine or I will do worse to you and your sisters."

"You have what is oursss so we have what is yourssss." The Hag spits out.

"There is nothing here that belongs to the likes of you." The ghostly woman retorts.

"Give it to me or I have my ssssissstersss kill him out of your reach and you will never be with him again!" The Hag sneers with evil glee.

"You will not!?" The ghost angerly states.

The Hag goes to open her mouth only to have two arrows hit her. Lydia's arrow flies out of the open mouth of the hag. The arrow continues through and out the other side almost hitting the ghost woman who only glances at the arrow that hits the door then falls to the ground. The second arrow embedded itself into the creature's gut.

"Nicely done ladies." The ghost remarks while looking directly at the two women's hiding spot.

"Thanks?" Chrissy remarks as she aims another arrow at the ghost.

"I have no quarrel with you two. As you have only been polite." The ghost tells them then asks. "If you save my beloved, I would be grateful."

"Why do you think we would?" Lydia asks as she too has an arrow aimed at the ghost.

"Because he is of the living and only wishes for a peaceful life. Would you deny him that?"
"No offence but how can we trust you? I have only been attacked by the dead." Chrissy says.

"I am bound to this place as it is where I was born and died at. I was the last of my tribe and this place is built upon our most sacred land, it was built to protect those that come here for peace. It is to that I swear I will not attack you or yours if you save him." The blue ghostly woman vows.

"I am Chrissy this is Lydia." Chrissy says as she puts her weapon to her side causing Lydia to do the same.

"My name is Brana. The man down there is my husband Halvar. If you free him, I will allow you entrance to see what I say is true." Brana tells them.

Before they could answer Halvar's screams of pain could be heard.

"Damn! Fine just warn us if anyone else shows up." Chrissy says as she renotches her bow causes her to turn invisible while heading over to the cliff.

"Interesting. I didn't know there were weapons that could do that." Brana remarks. "Brave young women it is good to see more shieldmaidens."

"You lie you reside here by yourself forever." Lydia warns before following Chrissy.

At the cliff's edge Chrissy takes aim. "I got the hag in the back you take the one throwing the fireballs. Let me know when you are ready. Fire after me that way I can hopefully kill her before the other can react."

"Ready." Lydia says when she has the fire ball thrower in her sights.

"One.. Two…Three!" Chrissy says as she becomes visible as soon as she releases the arrow but as arrow flies true while Chrissy hits the ground. Lydia sent her arrow flying after a two count. Lydia follows Chrissy's lead and hits the ground.

The arrows hit each target as predicted each hag but only Lydia's arrow killed. Both Hag's scream in pain and terror Lydia's arrow hit the hag throwing the fire balls in the middle of its back piercing it all the way throw and pulling the hag forward over the cliff she had been standing by. While Chrissy's arrow pierces the hag's arm pinning her to the stone wall, she is standing next too.

"Nice shot." Chrissy says as she observes the hag Lydia had hit go over the clif.

"Thanks. Your shot wasn't too bad either. But she looks like she going to get free if we don't kill her now." Lydia says as she pulls out an arrow and notches it as Chrissy does the same. The two women kept firing into the hag until the creature resembled a poor form of a porcupine.

"I think it's dead now." Chrissy says as she looks down at the creature.

"Maybe but let's be on alert just incase any others survived." Lydia says as she puts back her bow and pulls out her sword. Chrissy copies her movements.

"I don't sense any other living beings besides my husband, you two, your horses and animals." Brana says as they walk by the front door.

"Can you sense the walking dead?"

"Not that I am aware of."

"How are we going to get down there?" Lydia asks.

"Your boom powder did start the avalanche, but it did not cover the passageway between the two places." Brana informs them,

"Didn't go as planned but hell it worked." Chrissy laughs. "We'll free your husband, but I must find my friend."

"There are no more humans close." Brana says.

"Never said he was human." Chrissy answers as she starts heading down the path to the cave.

"When you come back you are welcome as long as you don't try to steal from us." Brana tells them.

"Okay thanks." Chrissy says as she and Lydia make their way down.

It doesn't take the two women very long to make their way through the passage way as Chrissy led the way with her lit travel lantern. On the other side they find Halvar yelling up toward his wife's ghost happily.

"Brana you are amazing as always my beloved!" Halvar yells happily as he kisses up towards her.

"Think we should tell him?" Lydia asks.

"Let's not spoil it for them." Chrissy laughs. "Hey Halvar, you want down or not?"

"Who are you?"

"Your wife sent us."

"Then get me down."

"How the hell did they get you up there?" Chrissy asks as she walk around the area the cage was attached too.

"The controls are behind that boulder." Halvar says as he points to a strangely painted large rock.

Chrissy heads back there and finds a simple pull and lever device system. One set of the controls brought him to hang farther out, which scared him a little even though he tried to hide it. That was until Chrissy pushed it in the other direction which brought him to hang above Lydia who steps back just in case. Chrissy then slowly pushes another lever forward which lowers Halvar.

"Thank the Nines!" Halvar says. "I was afraid that I would die away from my wife."

"Not today." Lydia says as she tries to unlock the cage.

"The hag over there has the key." Halvar points out.

Chrissy gets the key and tosses it to Lydia who unlocks it. Chrissy has her sword ready just in case he tries something but what he does shocks them both as he pulls Lydia into a big bear hug. "Thank you young shield maiden!"

"You are welcome but put me down." Lydia demands.

"Sorry lass I am just so glad to be out of that small cage." Halvar says as he puts Lydia down. "Would you mind removing this?" Halvar says as he points to the chains and collar he was wearing.

Lydia undoes the chains on his wrists but has to have him bend over so she can reach the collar around his thick neck.

"Thank you, lass. Now what can I do for you two as you did free me from that cage." Halvarn says. Lydia gathers all of their arrows while Chrissy and Halvar talk.

"I have to find my friend so don't worry about it. Just go to your wife as she is worried about you." Chrissy says as she looks toward the direction that she felt Sexy and that he was in distress.

"There is no one up there." Halvar tells her.

"Yes, he his." Chrissy says worriedly as she heads up towards.

"I'll be right back my beloved." Halvar yells up to his wife.

"Have fun just don't die." Brana calls back.

"You don't have a weapon." Lydia points out as she follows Chrissy.

Halvar picks up a hammer that Lydia recognizes and laughs.

"What's so funny?" Halvar asks.

"An idiot tried using that." Lydia laughs.

"What happen?"

"He kept getting knock on his ass." Lydia answers.

"Serves him right for touching my hammer." Halvar remarks as he follows the two women.

They travel up some old well-worn stone stairs, then across a small stone bridge, after the bridge they head down. Chrissy is leading the way with the others not far behind them when they hear her let out a blood curdling scream.

"Dear GOD NO!"