Hmm, I think I much prefer these short updates to the massive ones you guys are used to getting. They may not contain as much material, but at least I can get them out faster. Enjoy this latest installment.
Chapter 27
The battle raged on around him, but Terenon was not worried. The magic of his cloak had been successful, and the wizard’s mind was now split in twain. Thoughts raced back and forth between Bazim-Gorag’s skulls in the blink of an eye as he formulated a plan.
A blast of cold lightning sprang from Allanon’s fingertips, tearing open vicious wounds in the dragons and their riders and leaving them rimed with frost. More rays sailed through the trees as Terenon, with the benefit of a fly spell he had already cast, rose into the air. The mage saw Grundar, though horribly wounded, manage to dodge aside a black ray. Rumar, who had just managed to get untangled from the tree branches, was struck by a yellow ray that seemed to slow his movements, and Rhys grunted as a green ray tore into his shoulder. Then Terenon was above the treeline and could see the source of the rays.
The bulbous form of Orichalxos the beholder-mage floated in the clearing. Eight images of the aberration twisted and danced about as the aberration continued its horrid spellsong. The mage spared the beholder only a passing glance before swiveling around to face the three dragons, already beginning to barrel toward him, claws outstretched. The githyanki riders lowered their lances, ready to skewer the apparently defenseless target.
The fools.
“You picked the wrong mage…” began the first of the slaadi skulls as Terenon’s hands began a series of complicated gestures.
“…to mess with,” completed the second as Terenon released his spells.
He made a grasping motion with his left hand, and the githyanki riders suddenly froze in place, paralyzed by the powerful spell. He then thrust forth his right hand, shooting forth an enormous cone of bitter cold coupled with shards of tearing ice. One of the dragons plummeted from the sky, its wings torn asunder by the spell. It spiraled down into the forest, snapping its neck against a tree before impacting the ground with enough force to sever its rider’s spine.
With but a thought, Terenon released the spells he had stored in a sequencer earlier that morning. Twelve rays of sonic force sprang from his forehead, six crashing headlong into each of the remaining wyrms. The dragons wailed in anguish as the energy rays battered them about, wails that were abruptly cut off as their bodies reached the threshold of the punishment they could take. Two more holes were torn in the canopy as the wyrms fell from the sky.
Down below, Jelani and Rhys completed their summoning spells. Jelani had conjured forth two glowing balls of light, lantern archons, and he instructed them to head out into the clearing. A few celestial griffons emerged from Rhys’ portal, and the priest had them remain nearby as the rest of the group advanced on the clearing.
Grundar grunted as he staggered up to a tree and activated his ring of blink. He had learned his lesson from the lance strike, and he wanted to be sure he was well protected once he reached the clearing. As he looked up, though, he heard a crackling noise and instinctively pulled back. The elf winced as an enormous bolt of lightning struck Jelani and knocked the theurge back before arcing over to Allanon and Rhys. All of them cried out in pain as the electricity played over their bodies. Grundar began to move over to help them, when their came several flashes of light.
When the light cleared, four creatures stood in the party’s midst. They appeared to be crosses between githyanki and red dragons, with scaled red skin, shaggy black hair, and large, ridged ears. They raised greatswords that seemed to be made of liquid silver and prepared to strike.
“Look out!” the elf cried.
