• Turn 72
• Turn 73
• Turn 74

Turn 72

Keridwynne rushes to the body of Sherkas. Reaching down, the words of prayer on her lips, she touches him. Nothing happens. Keridwynne reaches up and closes the eyes of Sherkas, shaking her head slowly.

Nightshade clings to the edge of the parapet, staring in horror at the crushed body of her friend and mentor. Her shoulders shake convulsively. Then she visibly straightens her spine, swipes at her eyes, and turns back to the others. The look in her red-rimmed eyes makes her seem suddenly suited to the title "Wolf."

From below, Eifion dimly issues orders, "Take up position in the front of the tower and cover the back entrance. Enter slowly and engage the enemy."

Keridwynne jumps slightly at the bump at her shoulder. She turns around to see the end of a rope dangling from the tower. Looking up she sees Mero gesturing to climb. Keridwynne grabs hold of the rope. Mero and Talorc pulling on it, give her a quick ride to the top.

"I think it's time the gods had a little war," Nightshade says grimly. "Does anyone know, can that mirror be used to command?"

"As I understand it, you can cast spells through it, or talk through it just like they were with you. I could memorize some command spells, or one of us who has good "people power" could try to talk to those who are under the influence of the powder through it." Keridwynne says.

Talorc speaks up hesitantly, "I hate to bring us out of our mourning so soon, but shouldn't we do something about this tower while we're up here?" He heads over to release the dwarf.

Keridwynne follows behind Talorc, hoping that she is not too late for this one as well.

The cold morning air rushes over the tower creating a breeze that whips capes and cloaks. The blanket over Mintoc cracks like a whip in the wind. Talorc notices a strange decrease in temperature as he approaches. Mintoc lies face up, one blanket covering her and another that she lays upon. Her face is elegant for a dwarf. Quite beautiful, black hair, brown eyes but with a strangely bluish tint. Her skin also oddly a bit blue.

"The beginnings of frostbite, I would bet." Keridwynne says, noticing the strange look on Talorc's face.

Talorc reaches down to the shackles that hold Mintoc.

"Are you all right?" He asks.

"Zarakfen. Must.....find...........Zarakfen." she answers, spitting out the words.

Talorc turns to Keridwynne looking puzzled.

She returns his look.

"Tieron!" Talorc calls, "you had better come here."

Savi was the first to enter the tower. Though she never knew Sherkas, her rage for the senseless death of a friend of someone close to her, overwhelming her. She wanted something, anything to vent it on. Through the gates, she swept searching for a target. The first she finds is a man with his back to her. leaning over a podium. She move quietly to attack. He doesn't move. She hefts her broadsword and prepares for the blow. She stops, staring at his back. Reaching over, she touches him. He slides from the podium and lands with a thud on the ground. His hydra symbol flashing in the light of the torch on the wall. Savi searches on, her rage changing to confusion. Dead, one after another after another, either frozen solid from extreme cold or blood loss due to knife wounds in the back and other places.

"Sherkas," she whispers to no one in particular, "he killed them all."

She finds the central stairs to the tower, stepping over bodies here and there she climbs, sword in hand to the top.

Tieron turns to Talorc in a daze, "What?"

"Come here," Talorc calls back, "She is asking for Zarakfen."

"What?!" he says again, already moving for the prone form of Mintoc.

Mero, Nightshade and Shateera quickly follow.

Keridwynne is bent over Mintoc, looking her over, "She is unhurt but strangely cold to the touch. I would think frostbite but she shows no other signs of it."

"Zarakfen?" Mintoc says more steadily, "do you know where he is?"

Talorc turns to look at Tieron who is standing at his shoulder.

Tieron looks a bit unsettled, glances down to see the shackles are still in place and then responds, "I am the bearer of the amulet of Zarakfen, I guess."

Savi reaches the top floor and then stops just before opening the door. She lifts her head toward the ceiling as if seeing something on it. Her head begins to pound from the inside. She drops her sword and clamps her hands to the sides of her head. She can hear something faintly but its coming from inside her mind. A trickle of a something. Its faint. Its harsh and its getting louder. Then the dam breaks loose and a thousand screams ring out in her mind. She closes her eyes against the pain. Then it is gone. The pain, the headache, the screams just disappear. Savi doesn't know how she knows but a lot of her people just died. The only thing she can say for certain is that Sentares was involved.

"Where is Sentares?" she thinks at the bracers.

"He travels from Lambor Castle, northwest into the plain that separates the Pennine mountains from the Cambrians." is the response.

"Do you know what the screams in my mind were?" she thinks.

There is no response.

Savi grasps her sword again and bursts out onto the half done fourth floor. Her party is clustered over in the far corner of the tower. She strides quickly to them.

"I have something of yours that I must give you." Mintoc says, her eyes not really focusing on anything, "from a friend."

Mintoc extends her shackled forearms toward Tieron. Tieron hesitates for a moment and then pulls out a lockpick.

"Do you think.." is all that Mero gets out.

Mintoc's right forearm turns an unearthly blue and then something starts to move beneath the skin, like a larva about to burst from its cocoon. It wriggles and moves. Tieron steps back. With a horrible ripping sound of flesh parting the forearm splits opens and from its bloody depths pulls free a shard of wood about a foot long. Its splintered ends breaking from through the surface first.

"What the hell is that?" Nightshade gasps.

The wood piece pulls from the forearm of Mintoc and falls to the roof of the tower. It rolls over and over and comes to rest against a support beam for the roof.

"It looks like a piece of a staff." Shateera says, moving closer to it, "yes, that is what it is a piece of a broken staff. It has writing on it, just one word, "Black" the rest is broken off."

Keridwynne grabs for the arm of Mintoc to see the damage caused by the ripping staff piece. The face of Mintoc is no longer blue and she seems to have thankfully passed out. Keridwynne turns the arm over in her grasp to see the wound close and no scar appear.

"Why would Zarakfen want that?" Talorc asks.

Savi takes this moment to stride to the party, "They are dead."

"Who's dead?" Mero asks.

"Them." Savi says pointing to the door, "The tower. They are all dead."

"You killed them all? Already?" Mero asks stunned.

"No." Savi says lifting an eyebrow, "They are all long dead. Stabbed in the back mostly and a few frozen in their tracks."

"Damn. I was going to be impressed." Mero mutters to himself.

"And Sentares is on the move again, away from us. He is traveling to the northwest in the plains between the Pennine and Cambrian mountains." She continues.

Tieron moves quietly away from the party and the news that Savi brings. Stooping he looks at the quarterstaff piece laying on the ground. Looking around to make sure that no one is watching him, he grabs the wood and stuffs it quickly into his pack with its sister pieces. He returns to the discussion as quickly and silently as possible.

"I think that since the tower is basically destroyed we should sift out any information that we can gather and maybe any items that could be of use." Tieron says, trying to shift attention off of the scene that just happened.

"You are probably right. If the army below is going to intercept the dwarven army in Corrions pass it had better get moving. We should be going." Keridwynne says, "Mintoc has passed out and probably won't awaken for a while.

Talorc scoops Mintoc off the roof and carries her down a level into the warmth of the tower. He heads straight for Agravain's chambers. Setting Mintoc down, he pulls Agravains holy symbol from his pocket and opens the door to the room. A ghostly wyvern passes by and dissipates into nothing as the trap deactivates. Talorc lifts Mintoc once more and places her on Agravain's bed. The party spreads out and searches the tower. A hour and an exhaustive search later, they meet again in Agravain's room.

"Anybody find anything?" Mero asks.

Savi answers, "Lots of dead bodies but little else in the dungeon. No prisoners either."

"Nothing of great interest on the first floor either." Mero says.

Shateera adds, "Ditto for the second floor as well."

"The rest of the third floor was quite interesting wouldn't you say, Tieron?" Nightshade says.

Tieron nods and picks up a bucket with a cloth over it. He tosses the bucket scattering its contents, a hoard of gems and jewels skitter across the floor.

"I would guess some sort of tithing to the tower or ill gotten gains. Either way there is a room full of buckets about three doors down." Tieron says, "most filled with copper, silver and gold. I took the cool one."

"Agravain's room had little of interest in it except for a note that I will read to you." Talorc says.

"Agravain, my dearest son.

The Abbey of Beale construction continues on schedule. If all goes as planned a portal will draw more of Sentare's people through into this realm. With Sentares in the lead of such an army, Ashler will be assured victory. Though I have my doubts about Sentares, he may use those of his kind for his own purpose and not for the will of Ashler. But he can be dealt with later, should that be the case. I will arrive in the spring with reinforcements for the war with those surprising dwarves and with luck, my love Montossey, will follow with troll and goblinoid friends as well. Oh, how I have longed to see Montossey again but I will not boar you with details of the depth of my love. I will see you my son on the vernal equinox in the capital of the Pennine dwarves to strike the final victory, then we shall travel together to the abbey for the opening of the portal and the dawning of a new era in which we shall rule.

To other matters. I have not heard from your brother Gaheris in quite sometime. We parted in such bad company. I fear he may have done something quite rash. Should you find him, please send him back this way and all will be forgiven. Should you run into Talorc, give his corpse an extra whack from me.

Morgawse.

"Always enlightening don't you think?" Talorc says, grinning a wide smile.

"Quite enlightening." Keridwynne starts, "But I have some strange bit of news and well. I went back up to search in Sherkas's belongings and I found tucked in a corner, another body. A guard, or more likely a courier bearing a couple of messages, that he never got to deliver. The first is addressed to Agravain as well.

Agravain,
Do not attempt travel around the southern tip of the Pennine mountains or on the eastern side of the Pennines in the Perilous forest. We have sent several armies into the forest to gain a shortcut to Scotland without rounding the mountains to the west. None have returned. We are scrying upon the situation and are unable to locate any cause for the destruction. As of the day you receive this note, do not travel in the above areas. We believe them to be part of an Ashler resistance cell.
Cejeput.

"The second message is the same as the first except addressed to Sentares, Pryderi and Kevanish. This message was never delivered to Sentares, obviously. If you look on the map, Sentares is traveling Northwest right into Bedegraine forest. He may, of course, turn south into the Cambrian mountains but if he doesn't. I wonder just how he will fair where armies fear to travel." Keridwynne smiles wickedly.

Turn 73

"It seems as though we might want to stop by this abbey in the near future. I suggest we head out so we can beat the army to the pass, if we are quick enough we can poison the water on their side with this mind control powder and maybe drag an army with us to the abbey. We also need to have that mine shutdown." Mero muses.

Talorc nods solemnly, "Yeah, I pretty much agree with Mero. We should at least make sure the army is neutralized by helping hold the pass. The mind control is worth a try at least. I think Eifion perfectly capable of seeing to the mine."

"I can store the bucket of gems in my pockets of holding if the party so desires. I recommend we leave the rest of the loot where it is. It was undoubtedly plundered from these people, and will be needed to rebuild the community. I agree, lets tend Mintoc and rush on. I will attend to her medical needs." Keridwynne states.

Tieron reaches into his cloak pocket and pulls out the mirror and thinks of Heather. The face of Heather, brown haired and graying just a bit, appears. She appears to be resting, her breath visibly exhausting from her nostrils.

"An old friend and mentor, well, she's not that old but anyway... I haven't seen her in a while except through the mirror. She has been sending me pieces of this staff." Tieron pulls out the piece of staff that came out of Mintoc and a half of staff. Noticing that the wood ends match, Tieron touches the ends together. They weld and merge. The seam of the wood disappears in a matter of seconds as if it had never been. The staff shines with a blue light for just a second and then fades. Three quarters of a staff now rests in Tieron's hand.

"These three pieces are what I have so far. Why she is sending these, I don't know? The question on my mind now is, why did this piece come out of her arm? The other pieces I found on our journeys. What is this staff that is so strange and why does she need to give it to me?"

Mintoc exhales loudly and then starts to stir in her sleep. Her face full of color now and the blue cast of her skin gone. Her eyes flutter open revealing shocking blue eyes. Either a strange dwarven trait or maybe some after effect of the staff piece.

"Where am I?" she says, looking around.

Keridwynne answers, "In the town of Conisborough. In a tower of decimated Ashler clerics."

"Oh yes," she closes her eyes as the memories rush back, "Agravain."

"Yes, Agravain." Talorc echoes.

"Does he still live or did he die here?" Mintoc asks.

"He lives and is out of our reach for now, but have no fear he will die before we are done." Talorc replies.

Tieron inquires, "Why were you carrying the staff piece and why for me? Has you seen Heather and where?"

"Heather gave me the piece of the staff, when I met with her in the Cambrian mountains weeks ago. She told me to find Zarakfen and give it to him. She went on to search for the fourth and final piece. She hid the staff pieces after the first war with Ashler. She didn't want the staff to be found and destroyed by Ashler, should he return. So she hid it around the country and now is recovering it. She has been passing the pieces to trusted friends to make sure that they get delivered to you. Why you? I don't know. But she said it had to be given to Zarakfen."

"Did it embed itself in your arm when you got it or did it do that later?" Tieron probes on.

"It was carried in a pack until Agravain caught me. It then dug itself into my arm before it could be taken from me. It kept me alive in that prison. It's energy hummed into me when I needed it the most, but it started to change me as well. My skin became blue and I felt cold to the touch. I felt as if I were freezing solid, little by little." She says.

"Is that why your eyes are so stunningly blue?" Mero asks.

"Blue?"

"Your eyes are very blue, like no dwarf I have ever seen." Mero says, his charismatic tongue starting to weave its magic on the woman.

"Must be. They were a deep brown before." Mintoc replies.

"Where would you like to go now? Home?" Keridwynne asks.

"I have to get home, yes. I am needed. I must continue to fight against this stupid war with the Pennine Dwarves." Mintoc says.

"You are a Cambrian?" Savi asks.

"Yes, but I like so many others, do not like the fact that we are fighting against the Penninites. We are part of a rebellion, if you wish to call it that. We oppose the war and want to fight against Ashler and his hoard of gnomes."

"We wish the same." Keridwynne says, pulling an emerald from her cloak pocket, "this will get you home in style with a few guards if necessary. If you have money left over, use it to stop this Dwarven conflict. I would like the dwarves to fight as one and not against each other."

"I will rest for a few days and then return home," Mintoc says, accepting the gem, "I hope to see you all again. Thank you, for saving me."

"You are quite welcome, lady," Mero responds, smiling brightly.

"We have an army to stop, Mero. So come on." Savi says, staring down her nose at him.

"I really could use some sleep, but no rest for the weary or the wicked." Talorc smiles and says to no one in particular as he steps out into the bright morning sunshine of the tenth of January, 523. It is a warm morning for January, almost too warm for a thick woolen cloak of winter.

Lead by Eifion after rounding up the horses needed to travel to Corrions pass, the party and the small army depart. The ride is four hours but it is slowed somewhat by the melting snow that is creating rivers of cold water. By mid afternoon, Corrions pass is visible. Two high cliffs squeeze together here. From the air it would look like an hourglass and this point in the gray rock towering overhead, would the center, through which all sand or armies must pass. The cliff walls are scaleable by the nimble but travel over the tops of the mountains would be nearly impossible by the collection of peaks and jagged rocks.

"Where is the nearest source of fresh water for the army? Mero asks, pulling his horse up to Eifions.

"Two places. A few miles from here is a spring and about ten miles from here a well just before entering the pass. Normally, both would probably be frozen over at this time of year, but the weather as is, may have thawed them enough for both to be working." Eifion answers.

"The spring is useless, if we pour the powder in it will wash away before it does any good, but the well could prove useful." Mero says, pausing for a moment to consider.

"I think that I should head out and poison the well. I will travel faster alone and it will give you time here to take precautions and set ambushes." Mero says to Eifion.

"I will go with you, Mero." Nightshade speaking up for the first time since the death of Sherkas, "I wish to wage a little psychological warfare on them. Wolfprints all around might make them a bit nervous."

"The sun goes down in four hours, you could make it to the well by then, if you start now." Eifion says.

"Come on Nightshade, lets start the party." Mero says as he spurs his horse into a trot.

Eifion rounds up his troops and starts issuing orders for ambushes and defenses to be set, after several minutes of this he turns to the rest of the party, "I think that you should get some much needed sleep if you can. Your friends will be back soon enough and you should be well rested for the battle."

Taking Eifion's advice, the group stretches out in the fading sun and sleeps for the first time in two days. Nearing midnight, Mero and Nightshade return. They mumble, mission accomplished and fall into their sleeping bags and snore until morning. The dawn greets you cloudy but still warm. The melting water slowed in the night but it never really froze up again. It leaves everything with a damp feeling.

"Weather is about to turn for the worse." Keridwynne states staring at the sky.

All morning the sky darkens, as the clouds roll over the mountains. By mid morning the temperature has dropped considerably, the melting waters refreeze making things rather slick. By noon the first flakes of snow start to drift downward from the heavens, by one in the afternoon, the sky opens up and snow falls in great volumes. A few minutes later, the scouts report that the army is approaching the narrows of Corrions pass. They will be here in less than one hour.

"They outnumber us by a margin of 20 to one. I think that our first tactic should be one of fear and see if we can get some of them to break." Eifion says.

"I set many tracks around the spring and well. They should have seen those tracks before they were covered in snow. That may have stirred them up a bit." Nightshade says.

"And if they drank of the well, maybe we can order them back or at least some of them." Mero adds.

"The rest will have to pass through the narrows here to reach us and we can hold that for sometime. They won't get through or not without losing a great number of them." Talorc states.

The first warning of them is the sound of armor clanking together. It starts as a dull sound that echoes down the pass. The sound approaches, now mingling with the snorts of horses and the squeaking of cart wheels in the pass. The snow continues to come down in a fury.

Nightshade unknown to the rest, moves invisibly to the front of the narrows. Standing just in front of the narrowest part of the pass, she screams at the top of her lungs, "I am the Crimson Wolf. You have been mislead by the evil magic of Ashler, enemy of Moradin."

The echo rebounds and fades to silence. A murmur starts to whisper its way back through the army, building in volume as it goes.

"The wolf is here." some say.

"Bad omen." others whisper amplified by the stone walls.

"Turn back!!!" Nightshade shouts, "Protect your homelands. While the dwarves are fighting each other, your wealth comes one step closer to the clutches of Ashler's minions! They wish to enslave you, noble Cambrians!"

"Wolf!! If that is who you truly are, show yourself, you should have nothing to fear from us if you are truly a god!!" A voice cries out.

Nightshade sees something moving in the snow, a figure of a dwarf on horseback slowly emerging. He stops just so that you can see his outline in the snow but no more. The rest of him obscured as it continues to drift down.

Eifion's men start to murmur themselves but are quickly cut off into silence by a glare from Eifion.

Keridwynne, crouching down and whispering quickly to herself stands and points to the sky. Tieron turns to look at what she is pointing at, one by one they all turn to look. Keridwynne closes her hand into a fist and then as if yanking a invisible cord pulls down hard. Lightning rips from the clouds and crashes into the ground in front of the horsed figure. The clap of thunder echoes for many minutes.

" I have just freed the town of Conisborough from Ashler's chains!" Nightshade yells, "Do not doubt me!!"

The dwarf on horseback moves closer to Nightshade's position. He is dressed in the standard dwarven chain mail, but it is the helmet that draws her attention. The metal extends to cover the upper quarter of the left side of his face, where the eye should be is a bright blue gem. A scar runs from under the helmet down the left side of his cheek to his throat and passes under the chain mail of his chest.

"Wolf! Wolf!" come back the murmurs of the dwarven army, followed by shouts of "Stand your ground! and Come back here!" Close on the heels of that are the phrases of "Damn Gnomes. They're running, Captain."

Captain Latha turns his horse and shouts back, "Let them go. We have lost so many already that the last two hundred aren't going to make any difference."

Turning back again, Latha shouts, "You are only one against an army. You can't kill us all and we don't fear you as the gnomes do! We are charged with taking Conisborough. We don't fail for we are dwarves! Charge!"

The sounds of horses and feet rushing for the pass are overwhelming. Tieron steps to the forefront and fingers start to tingle from the spell bursting from his lips. Lightning rips from his fingers and sprays into the oncoming rush of attackers. The first dozen fall, some struggle to rise again but others lie quite still. The charge never makes it to the narrow point. It stops short.

More murmurs rise from the ranks of the dwarves.

"Turn around and there will be no more killing! Go home. Lay down your weapons and return to your lives in the Cambrians. Why are you dying in the Pennines and for what?!" Mero shouts, hoping that they drank some of the water from the well.

Questions start to rise from the army. "Why are we here?" What the hell are we doing?"

The clattering of a battle axe to the ground pierces the murmuring. Another and another fall. Then a great rush of sound as axes hit the ground all around, sounding as if a waterfall of metal suddenly started to flow.

"Stand your ground!" Latha shouting over the din of the axes.

"Stand!... Your!.... Ground!" he shouts again in a staccato of words.

"Go home!" Mero shouts.

Eifion points to two men standing close by. The move over close to him.

Eifion whispers, "Scout the army and see how big it is now. Hurry."

The two men run off. A few tense minutes pass as Latha continues to shout more orders. Mero countering here and there. Nightshade adding to the conversation as well.

The two return, "Can't be more than six hundred by now, sir." one of them reports.

"Still outnumbered by ten to one." Eifion says.

"We have a chance now." Talorc comments dryly.

A few tense minutes pass as no one makes any move. Then without a warning cry of charge, the dwarves launch themselves at the pass. Lightning rips from the sky following the path of Keridwynne's hand. It spears the ground in front of the charging dwarves. They pull up short after being sprayed with rock shrapnel.

"That was your last warning!" Nightshade shouts, "I will not be so tolerant, again!"

Latha maneuvers his horse to the front of the dwarves affording the defenders a good view of Latha's helmeted head.

"We have suffered enough of these insults by the Crimson Wolf and cohorts. I will tolerate no more. For victory and for life. Charge!" Latha shouts.

Latha spurs his horse into a run for the pass, the rest of the dwarves hesitate but just for a moment, then surge after him. Savi sights down her arm, bracers energized. Flame sweeps out from her hands, forms into a ball and collides with Latha. The impact unseats him from the horse and throws him back several feet. He lands in the arms of his onrushing troops. The charge again halted. The smell of burning hair wafts over the party. Some of the dwarves move forward to see who of their companions are still alive after the fireball.

"Enough!," Latha screams, ripping the blue gem from his smoking helmet, "We are being slaughtered because we can't get to our foes!. No more!"

"From the heart of Moradin I strike at you." Latha says, throwing the blue gem at the rock of the pass. The gem strikes the rock and plunges deep within it. The ground starts to shake and vibrate. Cracks open up along the cliff wall, and stone starts to pull away. A hand rips free of the stone and then the whole body. Sixteen feet high, comes a man made of the elements of earth.

"Come, creature. Widen the pass and kill any that try to stop you." Latha commands.

"What is that?" Eifion says.

"A stone elemental, I'm afraid and a rather large one. It will make short work of widening the pass." Tieron says.

Turn 74

"Not so fast, earth boy! First, you must fight the bear!" Talorc shouts as a very surprised looking black bear materializes in front of the elemental.

Tieron surprised by a bear appearing in front on the giant for a moment, smiles and gestures with his hands.

"This enlarge spell on the bear should make it a fairer fight."

Tieron reaches out and lightly touches the bear on the flank. The bear starts to grow. Enlarging to over ten feet in height, it moves for the attack on the stone elemental. The wind howls through the pass making a moaning sound and whipping the snow into a frenzy of action.

The stone man rips a chunk out of the rock of the pass and hurls it away, ignoring the bear until it uses a great clawed hand to scratch the skin of the elemental.

Talorc flings a magic missile at it and charges into the pass to be met by a flank of dwarves.

Tieron fires a magic missile spell at the giant, the impacts making a satisfying thud.

Savi, staring at the stone elemental, slowly extends her right hand forward and raises it. Nothing seems to happen to the rocky creature as the bear continues to press the attack. Then the feet of the creature slowly lift from the ground, pebbles dropping from its stony feet. A foot of air and snow now pass beneath the creature. It struggles to get down to the earth, the source of its power. .

Tieron's second volley of missiles impact on the elemental.

The creature raises its stony fists and slams them on each side of the bears head. The crunch of bone cracks the air.

Talorc pulls Altira from its scabbard as the first rush of dwarves makes it to him. The blade slides through the armor of the dwarves as if it were air. The first dwarf falls to a cut in his throat. Talorc drops to one knee and thrusts the sword into the stomach of the second dwarf. A third sprints by him to be cut down by Eifion.

From Savi's left hand a volley of missiles fly to the floating stone man. Shrapnel sprays from the shoulder as they impact.

Mero, hearing the order to the Stone elemental to only attack those who try

Mero shouts over the battle, "Latha has been untrue to you. Keeping you in poverty as he wallows in wealth. He spends your money and claims he has not received it yet!"

A surge from the line of dwarves in the pass, admits several on to this side of the pass. Now dwarves mingle with the defenders on both sides.

Savi fires another round of missiles at the stone elemental. The twang of a bow to the left of her catches her attention for a moment. Looking briefly, she sees Tieron launching another arrow in to the skin of the creature. The arrow rebounds after striking. Tieron turns his attention to the dwarves pouring through the pass.

Keridwynne eases her lightning wand out of her belt and whispers "expand and energize". She waits.

Nightshade caught behind the lines of the dwarves scrambles for some cover to get out of the way. She watches as Latha enters the pass and threads his way into the battle.

Talorc continues to attack. Around him he has collected an impressive array of bodies, but not at the cost of a few deep wounds himself. He fights on as if he can take the whole of the army himself.

"Latha," Mero starts to shout, hoping to further break the confidence of the dwarves.

"is right in front of you, Wolf." Latha says stepping in front of Mero, "For miles you have dogged me and now I am going to kill you."

Latha brings his battle axe up and swings it in a long arcing blow. It was not meant to hit Mero, just make him move. Silent Discovery appears in Mero's hand to block the real attack.

"You are fast, Wolf, I give you that, but your stance proves that you are no fighter." Latha comments.

The stone elemental smashes his fists into the head of the enlarged bear. It crashes to the ground and disperses back into the fog from which it came.

Savi, bracers glowing, fires a blast at the stone creature.

Fire envelops the stone creature and turns it red hot. The snow hissing as it touches the skin. Its legs still kicking as it dangles above the ground.

Tieron picks off another dwarf as it moves into the pass. His arrows flying from the string as he continues to reload and shoot as fast as he can.

Latha brings the axe around in a overhead swoop. It smashes into the moving form of Mero. A line of blood wells up from his right shoulder to his right hip, soaking into his cloak. It is really only superficial but could have been a whole lot worse had he not been moving.

Mero keeps moving and dodging, trying to get away from this madman that thinks him the crimson wolf. "If ever there was a time for this sword to reveal more powers to me now would be a good time." Mero thinks to himself.

Latha in his last attack over extends himself and turns his side toward Mero. Mero sees the helmet that covers the left side of his face and strikes with the sword. It scratches along side the helmet and draws blood from Latha's cheek.

"A good scratch, might even scar, but it will be another scar that I can tell tales about at the tavern." Latha comments.

He whirls to face Mero once again, battle axe coming about. He feints with the bladed edge and then slams the butt end into Mero's face. Mero staggers back, nearly tripping over the body of a fallen man.

Savi scans the area looking for Latha. Lost to her in the confusion, her bracers now charged again, searching for a target. A few seconds searching does not locate him in the fighting crowd and she targets the elemental once again. The fireball seeks it out and erupts all over him. The heat from both bursts has made the stone creature start to ooze molten rock. Lava drips from its feet. A flash of light tears into the elemental. It explodes into a spray of molten lava, blasting out over the remaining dwarven army about to pour through the pass. Talorc spares a smile in the direction of Savi, his fingers still upraised in the casting position of a Lightning bolt. A opportunistic dwarf takes this moment to slam his warhammer into the back of Talorc's head. He stumbles forward and falls to his knees. Savi grabs for her broadsword and rushes to Talorc. Dwarves swarming, like carrion to a kill, Savi struggles through them, belting them out of her way. A green glow catches her attention as she rushes on. She breaks through the crowd of dwarves to see Talorc regaining his feet. She watches with a bit of horror as the last bit of life blood of a now fallen dwarf drains into Talorc.

Keridwynne looks up from the healing of a fallen man to see Latha snap back Mero's head again with the butt of the battle axe. She finishes the incantation and the man struggles to his feet. She rushes to help Mero but is cut off by a crowd of fighting men.

Mero staggers back from the blow and finds himself backed up against the cliff wall.

Nightshade scrambles to the top of the cliff hoping to avoid any dwarven soldiers. From her vantage point, she watches the battle for a few moments trying to pick out her friends in the carnage. Savi and Talorc back to back in the midst of it all, as they prefer it. Tieron and Shateera at a safer distance unleashing several volleys of arrows at any who come near them. Keridwynne looking rather desperate in trying to forge ahead to something. Nightshade follows Keridwynne's gaze to Mero, who is pressed against a cliff wall, not doing well against a fighter much more skilled than he. Nightshade starts to scramble down hoping to reach him in time.

Mero jabs at Latha. Latha blocks it with the handle of his battle axe.

"And now, wolf, I know that you bleed, do you die as well?" Latha taunts.

His axe comes around hard and chinks into the stone where Mero's head just was. Latha swings his axe and Mero scrambles out of the way again.

"You can not run forever." Latha states.

Then it happens a misplaced step, a loose stone, a slick of blood anything could have caused the slight bobble that delayed Mero. His foot went out from under him and he sat down hard on rock.

"Now you die, Wolf."

Mero, back against the wall, lashed out with Silent Discovery. Latha brought the axe up to block it. Silent Discovery passed through the haft of the battle axe as if for an instant it wasn't in the same reality. It slammed into the helmet of Latha, striking sparks as it dragged along the eye line of the metal, the sound of fingers on a chalkboard coming with it. The blade passed into the bridge of the nose and through it. For Mero, it was in slow motion, the world coming to a slow crawl. Mero's eyes focusing in on the blade as he watched it pass through the nose into the good eye and out the eye socket on the other side. Latha staggered back, put a hand to his eyes to stop the blood and with the axe still in hand started swinging wildly. Mero scrambled to his feet, looking at the sword in his hand. He stepped away from Latha's swing with ease and came around behind the slowly retreating Latha. The blade in Mero's hand pulsed with intensity that he had never felt before. With a quick thrust, Silent Discovery passed into the back of Latha and emerged from the front of his tunic.

Mero leans over to the dying ear of Latha and whispers "I told you, I'm not the Crimson Wolf. She is much tougher."

Latha slides from Silent Discovery and collapses into a pile. His last bit of air escaping his lungs.

Energy washes over Mero as Silent Discovery seems to be drawing energy from the dying body of Latha. The pulse which has always been with Silent Discovery quickens its tempo, like a heart awakening from a long sleep.

"Latha!!!" Mero shouts over the din of battle, "is dead!!! What are you fighting for?!! Lay down your weapons and leave in peace!!"

The battle slows and then stops as dwarves quit fighting. Talorc and Savi enmeshed in a crowd of Dwarves stop fighting but stand at the ready.

"Go home!," Mero screams.

In silence, heads bowed, they depart and the snow keeps raging, the only thing with any fight left in it.