I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or any of the characters.
Ice
Jasper narrowed his eyes as he slaughtered his way through the Gnolls, his rapier flashing out rapidly in thrusts and slashes, each strike felling a Gnoll. The woods were thick, but it served a similar effect as the cramped tunnels of the Upperdark. The Gnolls and wolves that attacked weren't able to properly ambush them, so they were able to slaughter them rapidly. Doric raced to-and-fro as a range of animals, slaughtering Gnolls as an Owlbear mostly, but using smaller forms to avoid strikes. Simon and Adrianna rained spells upon the Gnolls, Adrianna also using her staff to defend and attack the Gnolls. Vahn and Mia used their arrows to clear the wolves before adding their efforts to slaughtering the Gnolls. Xenk and Edgin's sword tore through the Gnolls rapidly, Holga supporting Edgin as well as slaughtering her own share of the Gnolls. Kromlech's sword hacked off limbs and tore through the Gnolls' shoddy leather armor. And Aranea used her hybrid form to combine her webbing and her spear to trap and slaughter Gnolls rapidly, also setting up traps for the others to use to their advantage, doing more than anyone to drive back the Gnolls as the narrow spaces between trees was so similar to her old home of Lurkwood and made it easy for her to spin webs and traps.
Though an exhausting, near-constant battle, they made short work of any Gnolls they met, and they rapidly cut down the army of organized Gnolls and a handful of Ogres. They carved their way through the expansive woods, clearing out a handful of encampments, eventually having to spread out during a more clear area in order to stop the Gnolls from surrounding them, though here they added Shadow to their number and their progress increased rapidly. At some point, Kobold joined the ranks of the monsters they were slaughtering, but their addition made no difference. They died even easier than the Gnolls and Ogres. And then, finally, they had found the cave. A great wall of ice blocking entrance into the face of the mountain. In the warmth of the forest, the ice seemed out of place and unnatural, but Jasper knew exactly why it was there.
"The Ice Dragon will be inside somewhere," Jasper warned them as Kromlech raised the horn.
"Agreed," Xenk nodded. "We must be cautious."
The others all nodded, and Kromlech blew into the horn. A loud, strong note blared from the horn, vibrating the forest around them. Leaves shook loose from their trees, and before them, the ice vibrated harder by the moment before finally cracking. As the note continued, Kromlech quickly running out of breath, the cracks deepened and spread. Then, just as he had to stop for breath, the ice shattered and crumbled, clearing their passage into the ice cave.
Together, they all strode into the cave, several Yetis immediately rushing to greet them, only to rapidly be slaughtered as Jasper and the others swept through the narrow tunnels of the cave. The path branched into two, and they split accordingly without discussion, slaughtering the Yetis that awaited there, then met up just as the paths joined and then opened into a single, enormous chamber. They all stopped, staring around at it in shock. To call it massive would be an understatement. In sheer size, it exceeded even the Dwarven mines. Its cavern had more than ample room for a full-size dragon to fly about, and though smaller passages and chambers lined the outer walls of the cavern, most of it was open. Jasper shook his head. It reminded him a bit of the Underdark, though the eternal, pervading sense of dread and danger was missing here.
Several more Yetis rushed forward to greet them as they headed deeper into the cave, but with nothing obstructing their view and their aim, their ranged fighters were able to slaughter them with ease, Shadow remaining out and about now, racing off from time to time to slaughter a group of monsters himself, never taking longer than a few minutes per group. Then, ahead of them, several Displacer Beasts stood, snarling, only for Shadow to immediately flash forward, dropping into an Ephemeral Hangman, and instantly bound and crushed all of the Displacer Beasts before they could become a problem. Finally, they found a sloped tunnel leading downward, the tunnel guarded by Yetis, but a pair of Fireballs and a volley of Flame Arrows slaughtered them, and they all started downward, Jasper, Mia, Aranea, and Adrianna sliding down the slope at the front.
As they reached the bottom, Jasper narrowed his eyes at the wide passage ahead of them, several Displacer Beasts patrolling its length. Adrianna raised her staff and extended a hand, and a Lightning Bolt flashed out, branching and splitting as it went, striking the illusionary Displacer Beasts uselessly, but also striking the real ones, though they remained invisible. As they did, Jasper and Mia opened fire, Jasper's Flame Arrows striking the spots the lightning had seemingly struck nothing and igniting them, then Mia firing arrow after arrow into the burning Displacer Beasts, killing them all by the time the others joined them. Together, they all continued, Shadow jogging ahead as a wolf to scout for them.
As the wide passage turned into an even more expansive cavern than the level before, more Displacer Beasts moved to meet them, only for Shadow to move to meet them, joined by a pair of Lightning Balls from Adrianna and Simon. Winter Wolves moved to meet them from a side passage but were slaughtered in minutes. They headed left, quickly clearing a maze of side passages of Winter Wolves, only to stop as they met a Frost Giant. It roared, ripping a frozen stalactite from the ground, hurling it at them. Simon hurled a Fireball into it, blasting it apart, and Jasper, Adrianna, Mia, Vahn, and Simon all opened fire with their ranged strikes. The Frost Giant roared, shielding his face as he stepped forward, roaring and swinging his massive axe down at them, only for them all to scatter. Jasper and Xenk both lunged, slashing the giant's shins, and it crashed to its knees. Then, Shadow was an Ephemeral Hangman, its tentacles shooting out and binding the giant's arms and neck, crushing its throat as the giant was trying to tear his arms free. It collapsed with a thundering crash, cracking the ice, and they all sighed in relief.
"I'm so happy we have Shadow," Edgin said.
"It's much easier to punch above our weight class when he can just bind it and crush its throat," Jasper agreed.
Edgin nodded in agreement as they continued exploring the side passages before finally returning to the main cavern. Another Frost Giant roared at them in the distance, but as it stomped toward them, it stepped into a pool of water, and both Adrianna and Simon sent a Lightning Bolt into the water. The electricity arced across its surface, then up the Giant's leg. It roared, convulsing and crashing down in the water, then continued to convulse for several more seconds before Jasper reached it and drove his Ironwood spear into its eye, piercing its brain before rolling the spear and ripping it back out, killing the Giant. More Winter Wolves charged at them, only for Mia and Vahn to kill them all with their arrows, Vahn opting for explosive ones.
More Frost Giants stomped toward them, but they were in the water as well, so Simon and Adrianna again used the water to electrocute them, this time with Mia filling the Giants' faces and throats with Quicksilver arrows once they'd crashed to the ground. A swarm of Frost Spiders scurried out of a wide passageway to their left, but Jasper and Mia filled them with Flaming and Quicksilver arrows, slaughtering them while the others all focused on a pack of Winter Wolves that charged them. A Giant Frostbite Spider rivaling Aranea's true form for size scurried toward them at the back of the swarm, but Mia focused on it, planting arrow after arrow into its face and cephalothorax, killing it after a few moments. They pressed on, more spiders and Winter Wolves swarming them from up ahead, they and a Frost Giant guarding a passage deeper into the cave.
Mia, Simon, Vahn, and Adrianna all stopped, focusing their spells on the Frost Giant as the others rushed forward to meet the spiders. Aranea surged ahead of the others, spinning and flipping, her spear lashing out over and over as she slaughtered the spiders. As one lunged at her from the side, Jasper crashed into it as a rhinoceros, goring it with his horn before shifting back in time to slash down through another's front half. He spun, slashing a pair that had passed him across the sides, removing their legs before turning to the front and slashing up through another's cephalothorax. Edgin killed the two Jasper had wounded, then passed Jasper, slashing the spiders rapidly with his sword. Holga stepped up beside him in time to plant her axe down into another spider's body. She ripped it up out of it, smashing the hammer on the back side up into another spider's body, stunning it just before Kromlech slashed it in half across the middle. He turned, stabbing another through the face, then ripped the blade back out, slashing another across the side, killing it. A spider leapt at him, but he roared in effort, smashing his shield into the spider, holding it back just long enough for Doric to grab it as an Owlbear, then smash it down on another repeatedly, crushing both.
Finally, the giant crashed to the ground, smoking and riddled with burns and arrow wounds, and a moment later, Mia flipped over Jasper just as he leapt backward away from a trio of spiders, Mia slashing them all across the cephalothorax with her Ironwood sword, killing them. She landed on one, stabbing another spider as it passed her, then ducked as Aranea slashed over her, splitting one to her other side. As Jasper passed Mia again, having traded his rapier for his Ironwood sword, slashing several spiders, Aranea followed him, stabbing several spiders that had survived before thrusting out her hands, flames roaring from them and bathing half a dozen more. Finally, the fight had ended, Shadow having killed all of the wolves for the others. They all walked over to the tunnel heading downward, only to stop, all of them sensing the danger ahead.
"We've found the Ice Dragon," Jasper said.
"Everyone prepare yourselves," Xenk said.
Everyone nodded, readying their weapons. Mia swapped her sword for her bow, and Jasper readied his Ironwood sword. Then, they all started down the sloped tunnel carefully. They walked forward though a wide passage before the path opened into a massive cavern after barely a hundred feet. Ahead of them was the Ice Dragon, a truly enormous creature with white-grey scales. The cavern wasn't high enough for it to truly fly, but it could hover, and as it did when they approached, the wind from its wings beating caused chunks of ice and stalactites to break free from the ceiling all over the cavern and fall. Everyone scattered, struggling to avoid the falling debris, then broke into a charge if they'd chosen to fight up close.
"Jasper, its wings!" Xenk shouted.
Jasper nodded, the two of them charging toward the dragon ahead of the others, only Shadow moving faster, growing into a Grey Render as he ran. The Dragon roared, spewing a cone of frigid ice magic, ignoring Adrianna and Simon's spells, only for it to pass through Shadow harmlessly. Shadow roared, leaping forward and sinking his claws into the dragon's head, only for the dragon to swing its head, tearing free of Shadow's grip at the cost of several large gashes. It beat its wings to try and lift off, only for Jasper and Xenk to leap into the air, driving their blades into its wings and carve their way back to the ground, causing the dragon to crash down hard. Jasper turned, slashing the dragon down the side, and it roared, lashing out at him with the serrated claws of its back leg. He dove to the side, rolling back to his feet just as the dragon's head whipped around, its jaws opening. Before it could attack, Adrianna stepped in front of him, shouting in effort as she formed a shield around them, blocking the breath attack. Then, Holga had planted her axe in the side of its neck. It roared, swinging its head and throwing her away, along with her axe. Xenk and Edgin both past its head, Edgin sprinting and taking a wild swipe and Xenk spinning and slashing it twice in a more controlled fashion. It roared, recoiling, then lunged, snapping at Aranea as she approached, only for her to drive the back end of her spear into the ground, flipping over the dragon and stabbing down into its head. She ripped it free instantly, leaping off just as the dragon reared up, and Jasper leapt past its chest, slashing hard with both hands, splitting its flesh and scales easily, but his sword barely left a scratch across its ribs.
"Shit!" Jasper swore, rolling out of the way of the dragon's foot as it slammed them back to the ground.
Shadow's Ephemeral Hangman tentacles lashed out, coiling tightly around the Dragon and binding its jaws shut, but it roared, pushing off the ground, beginning to slowly pass through Shadow as its strength exceeded his own. However, before it could break free, Mia and Vahn had managed to shoot out its eyes. It roared in pain and rage, finally breaking free of Shadow, only for Jasper and Adrianna's Lightning Bolts to both slam into its chest. It shrieked in pain, rearing back and opening itself up to another volley of enchanted arrows, Quicksilver arrows, and spells, including Jasper's Flame Arrows. As it crashed to the ground, Kromlech charged it from the front. It roared, its breath attack flooding out at him, only to part around his shield. Frost began to gather on it immediately, and the arm holding the shield began to freeze, but he continued to push forward. Then, Jasper and Xenk passed under its throat together, slashing its throat and stopping its breath, as well as sending blood spraying from its neck's arteries.
The dragon made a gurgling, retching sound as it reared up again, and Holga and Mia slashed its hind legs from the back, severing the tendons in its knees, Holga removing its leg entirely. It roared, pitching to the side and crashing down hard, narrowly missing Holga, and its tail immediately whipped around at Mia, only for her to flip over it, slashing it from above. The Dragon roared, retracting its tail as Aranea drove her spear into the base of its throat. The dragon roared, swiping its feet at her, only for Shadow to bind them as an Ephemeral Hangman. Aranea lunged instantly, her spear tearing down through its chest, the blade slicing through the tendons connecting rib to sternum. As she finished her gash, the corners around the cross her slash and Jasper's had made, spread open, the ribs spreading slightly. Blood flooded from the dragon's chest, but before it could bleed out, Kromlech drove the sword into its chest in the gap Aranea had made in its ribcage. He shoved his arm in up to his shoulder, feeling it impale the dragon's heart by the twitching around it. Then, he slashed the sword out to the side and released it, leaving it deep inside of the dragon as he leapt out of the way of the spray of blood that burst from the dragon as its heart was cleaved nearly in two, tearing the rest of the way almost instantly. The dragon shrieked and flailed, thrashing on the ground, only for its convulsions to grow fainter by the second before it fell still, blood still flowing from its fileted chest and from its throat and mouth.
"I can't believe we did it," Edgin breathed, staring at the dragon.
"Kromlech, your arm alright?" Jasper asked.
Kromlech looked down at his arm, then shook it. The mounts for the shield's handles snapped off instantly, and when the shield hit the ground, it shattered apart. Xenk walked over, quickly healing his arm, and Kromlech tossed the shield's handles aside as well.
"We killed a dragon," Doric breathed, shocked.
"Your ancestors would be proud, Holga," Simon said.
"Yeah," Holga nodded, grinning. "Shame about the sword, though. We could cut it out."
"Nah," Kromlech shook his head. "I promised Kolgrim to stick it in that Drow bitch's heart and in the dragon's heart. But I prefer my family's axe."
"Should we take it back so it can be laid to rest with Kolgrim?" Jasper asked. "We have to go back for Kira anyway."
Kromlech considered, then nodded, and Jasper used his Ironwood sword to gut the dragon, Kromlech retrieving the sword from among its innards. Then, together, they all turned, heading back to the camp.
"I can't believe you really killed that thing!" Kira gaped."
"Of course we did," Edgin said.
"No overgrown lizard's killing us, Bug," Holga promised.
"Jasper, Mia, what are you two doing?" Simon asked.
"Collecting souvenirs," Jasper said as he finished cutting another claw free, Mia working on the back feet while he worked on the front.
"Not that I disapprove, but why?" Holga asked.
"We can make daggers out of these," Jasper explained. "Like Mia's."
"And out of these," Aranea said, ripping a tooth from its upper jaw, already finished the lower jaw.
"Gross," Edgin said. "Good thinking, but gross."
"Trust me, it's worth it," Jasper chuckled, ripping the last claw free and tossing it into the air, as the others were.
Shadow, currently as a wolf, dropped low, barking, then ran to the side, catching the claw in his mouth and immediately absorbing it into whatever extradimensional space he used to store items. Jasper moved to the jaw to help Aranea, and within another minute, they'd finished and walked over to the others.
"Now that that's over," Mia said. "Shall we?"
"Let's," Vahn nodded.
They all walked through the gate together, finding themselves inside of an ancient building, a ruin. Jasper frowned, looking around, and drew his Ironwood sword again.
"There is evil here," Xenk warned, drawing his own sword and trailing his fingers along the blade to make it shine. "Undead."
They all nodded, readying themselves, then headed through the door of the small room they were in. Sure enough, zombies stumbled toward them from the next room. They were more rotten than those they'd faced in the crypt in Baldur's Gate, and coated in mud, except for their feet where the ruin had been flooded by ankle-deep water. They all quickly swept from the room and into the rest of the ruin, slaughtering the zombies that opposed them with a practiced ease, after the crypt. The undead here were not nearly as numerous as in the crypt, making slaughtering them easy. As they reached what looked like a church, several skeletons charged at them, but Xenk, Holga, Kromlech, and Jasper all moved to meet them, Jasper expanding into a Girallon, and within seconds they'd killed the half-dozen skeletons. Off to the right was a stairway leading up out of the ruin, and after a few minutes of walking, they were standing on a small, muck-covered island in the middle of a swamp. Thick, muddy water surrounded them, and as they reached the surface, several Lizardfolk let out shouts of anger and charged. Jasper didn't waste his breath trying to reason with them. He merely lunged, into the battle, slashing two of them across the chest before ducking under a spear from the third before Mia planted an arrow in his skull, killing him.
"What the hell!?" Edgin yelped. "Why'd you kill them!?"
"They meant to kill us," Jasper said simply.
"How do you know?" Holga asked.
Jasper knelt, ripping off one of the lizards' rope necklaces, then tossed it to Holga, who caught it and stared at the odd chain of circles carved into a circle of wood hanging from the front.
"That symbol was on the floor of the room where we fought Xantam and on the horn we took from Ilivarra's corpse," Jasper said. "These Lizardfolk serve whoever's been behind this whole thing."
"And they're all our enemies," Edgin said.
"Then we are gravely outnumbered," Xenk said.
"Wouldn't be the first time," Jasper shrugged, swapping his Ironwood sword for his rapier. "Let's keep going."
The others all glanced at each other, then nodded, following him off of the small island and into the much of the swamp.
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