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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7377698" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 138</p><p></p><p>When Xeeta finally staggered clear of the maelstrom of dark energy, she found a battle going on all around her.</p><p></p><p>When the hobgoblin’s spell had first hit, she’d felt a moment of panic. She’d been raised to be a creature of night, using its cover to complete her missions in the back alleys and dank sewers of Li Syval. Normal darkness held no terror for her, but against this unnatural shroud her enhanced vision was useless. It didn’t help that there was <em>something</em> in there with her; sinister whispers assaulted her ears, and she could feel vile tendrils probing at her legs and arms. On top of that it was <em>cold</em>, the chill penetrating to her core and stealing away the very life from her body.</p><p></p><p>Quellan’s call finally snapped her out of her fugue, freeing her of the paralysis of fear and urging her forward. She tried not to think of what might be waiting for her in the darkness, stumbling over the uneven ground as she focused on the voices of her companions.</p><p></p><p>It felt like she’d traveled far more than fifteen feet before the darkness and cold vanished and she found herself again in the comparatively blinding brilliance of the day. She mostly felt relief, even if the scene that greeted her was one of chaos and danger. The worgs were attacking, their goblin riders launching arrows or waving swords from atop their backs. But Xeeta’s attention was drawn to the cloaked figure atop the stone mound. She could sense the potency in him, and knew him to be the greater threat.</p><p></p><p>Her hand tightened on the familiar roughness of her arcane focus as she called upon the power of her magic. It came at her summons, but as the raw energy coursed through her she could feel it surging, building beyond the <em>scorching rays</em> she’d intended to cast.</p><p></p><p>No! she thought. Not now!</p><p></p><p>She knew it was no use; the Demon would not be turned aside once it woke. Those raw surges were sometimes harmless, sometimes devastating, but always they did what they wanted, rather than what <em>she</em> wanted.</p><p></p><p>Still, she tried. And as the unfamiliar magic pulsed through her, she found to her amazement that she <em>could</em> control it, drawing the wild energies into a single point that blossomed into a brilliant glowing sphere in her grasp.</p><p></p><p>Stunned, she barely managed to launch the <em>fireball</em> before it exploded in her hand.</p><p></p><p>The blast enveloped the mound. For a moment the fight was interrupted as the combatants on both sides were distracted by the impressive explosion. She thought she’d spotted the hobgoblin warlock dodging back behind the mound an instant before the spell hit, but that was fine; at least she’d taken him out of the fight for the moment. The goblin leader and his animal proved less agile, though both survived the blast and likewise withdrew from view.</p><p></p><p>But the respite her dramatic spell attack had gained proved brief, and as the fighting resumed she could see that her companions were in rough straits. Kosk was surrounded by foes, though it looked like he was putting up a hell of a fight. Worgs and their riders were snapping and slashing at him, and while he was somehow avoiding most of those attacks it seemed like only one final outcome was possible. Quellan was trying to get to him, but a worg without a rider was holding him at bay, its jaws snapping violently as it tried to get past his shield. Bredan and Glori were also engaged, and for a moment it looked like the warrior was in trouble before the bard summoned a <em>thunderwave</em> that blasted one of his attackers off of him. Bredan lurched to his feet, summoning his sword back to his grasp just in time to meet the attack of a second worg and its rider.</p><p></p><p>Xeeta stepped forward into the fray. She wasn’t sure what had just enhanced her magical abilities, but she was certainly going to put them to use.</p><p></p><p>But before she could prepare a second spell, she saw a flash and felt a sharp jolt of pain in her side. Grimacing, she sought out the likely source and spotted the hobgoblin warlock, standing in the shadow of the stone mound a hundred feet away. The creature extended his hand and launched a second <em>eldritch blast</em>, but this time she saw it coming and ducked out of the path of the beam. Before she could manage a response, the warlock darted back into cover and out of her line of sight.</p><p></p><p>“So, you wish to challenge me, hobgoblin?” she said. Her power thrummed in her, and with the Demon apparently content to remain quiescent, she marched forward to confront their adversary.</p><p></p><p>But she quickly realized that her friends needed her more at that moment. Kosk was still on his feet, but now that she was closer she could now see several bloody gashes that his foes had managed to inflict. Two worgs and a goblin continued to harry him. And Quellan was also in trouble; even as the warlock sniped at her the worg facing him got a grip on the cleric’s shield and pulled him to the ground. A second worg that had a goblin archer on its back seemed to have been waiting for just that moment, for as the half-orc fell it lunged in to attack him from behind. Both Bredan and Glori were fully engaged and in no position to help them.</p><p></p><p><em>So be it</em>, she thought, lifting her hands as she summoned her magic.</p><p></p><p>Another <em>fireball</em> would have incinerated her allies as well as their enemies, but this time the <em>scorching rays</em> worked exactly as she expected. As she channeled the power through her rod she could feel an unexpected intensity, and the magical beams seemed almost eager as they leapt out at her foes. A burning stream scorched the worg that had pulled Quellan down, and a second brushed the backside of the one carrying the archer, distracting it from its attack. She almost casually hurled the third <em>ray</em> at the cluster of creatures savaging Kosk, and was rewarded with a quite rewarding yelp of pain from that direction.</p><p></p><p>The worg she’d hit in the rear spun away from the half-orc and launched itself at her, its rider holding on for dear life. Under normal circumstances it would have easily reached her before she could manage another spell, but at the moment her magic was flowing through her like a raging river, and it seemed almost trivial to summon a <em>fire bolt</em> that she threw into the worg’s face. Once again the flames seemed hotter and stronger than she was used to, and the creature let out a terrible howl as they flashed into its open jaws, scorching it from the inside. The worg collapsed just a few paces short of reaching her. The goblin archer managed to scramble clear. He looked up at her for a moment, their eyes meeting briefly before it turned and quickly darted off.</p><p></p><p>Xeeta didn’t get a chance to savor her victory as a scream drew her attention back across the battlefield.</p><p></p><p>This time it was Bredan who was having trouble. The young warrior had clearly dished out some serious damage, as a worg was lying dead at his feet and the others around him bore obvious wounds. But he was also hurt. Xeeta could see that he was clearly favoring his left side, and trickles of blood covered the left side his face.</p><p></p><p>Glori was trying to help him, but three worgs had formed a circle around Bredan, keeping her at bay. She had her sword out, and blood glistened on its length, but she couldn’t get past the worgs without leaving herself open to an attack from those deadly jaws.</p><p></p><p>Xeeta saw that the goblin leader and his beast had joined the group menacing her friend. Both bore the marks of her <em>fireball</em>, but from the look of it they still had plenty of fight left in them. Bredan held his sword in a ready stance, waiting for his foes to attack. Xeeta could tell that they were moving into a position where they could overwhelm Bredan from all sides simultaneously. He had to see that too, but there didn’t seem to be anything he could do to stop them.</p><p></p><p>Reflex had Xeeta reaching out to her magic once more. Once again she let instinct guide her as she channeled that power into a spell she’d never used before. Once again the Demon stirred in response, but she ignored its presence as she directed a flood of power into Bredan.</p><p></p><p>As if that were some trigger, the goblin leader barked a command and the worgs surged forward.</p><p></p><p>Bredan met the first worg with a powerful slash of his sword that tore deep into its shoulder and drove it at least momentarily to the ground. But the other two came in quickly, and it looked as though a repeat of Bredan’s first exchange with the worgs would immediately follow. The goblin leader’s beast, a huge creature that looked even more ferocious for the scorch marks that streaked its ugly hide, darted in and snapped its jaws at the warrior’s injured side.</p><p></p><p>It didn’t seem possible that the attack could possibly miss, but Bredan suddenly shifted and in a blur his arms came around and he drove the hilt of his sword hard into the side of the worg’s head just behind its jaws. The impact knocked it roughly aside. The goblin on its back swung his axe at Bredan’s head, but again the warrior reacted with preternatural quickness, ducking so that the weapon sliced through the air a finger’s breadth above him.</p><p></p><p>The last worg slammed into him from behind, and for a moment it looked like the warrior would finally go down. But even at the worg’s jaws snapped on his cloak, trying to find purchase, he lifted his arms and drove his sword under his left arm and behind him. The edge of the blade tore through the worg’s side, and it let out a pained yelp as it leaped back. It quickly fell back into a crouch in anticipation of another attack, but before it could jump Glori stabbed it in the flank with her sword. Now seriously hurt, the worg stumbled clear of the fray.</p><p></p><p>The goblin leader lifted his axe again, but Bredan’s enhanced reflexes were making it look as though his foes were moving in slow-motion. His sword, trailing blood from the worg he’d just stabbed, was a blur as it sliced through the air at the goblin’s head. But Usk Bloodrider was a canny veteran, and he saw death coming. He yanked hard on his reins, and his mount instantly sprang backwards. But his escape left the last rider in the path of the human warrior’s sword, and as Bredan finished his swing it knocked that unlucky creature from his saddle and slammed him to the ground.</p><p></p><p>Xeeta blinked as she watched the effects of her spell; the entire bloody exchange had taken just a few seconds. Bredan and Glori seemed to now have things well in hand, and she started to turn back toward Kosk and Quellan. But even as she began to gather her magic she caught sight of the goblin leader out of the corner of her eye. The wounded creature and its mount had fallen back a good ten paces, out of the fight for now, but as she watched his head came up and his gaze fixed on the top of the stone mound.</p><p></p><p>She followed that stare in time to see the hobgoblin warlord reappear. He seemed to appear out of thin air as rose up and his cloak, colored to match the surrounding stone, fell open. It revealed something in his hand, something that Xeeta immediately recognized. She knew it because she’d just summoned a similar globe of fire just a few moments before.</p><p></p><p>She instantly realized that letting her focus shift from the warlock, even for just a few seconds, had been a mistake. Her companions, battered and wounded, were all within the blast radius of a <em>fireball</em>. The surviving goblins and their worgs were as well, but it looked as though the hobgoblin was not particularly concerned about their fate.</p><p></p><p>She desperately called upon her magic, but knew it was already too late.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 7377698, member: 143"] Chapter 138 When Xeeta finally staggered clear of the maelstrom of dark energy, she found a battle going on all around her. When the hobgoblin’s spell had first hit, she’d felt a moment of panic. She’d been raised to be a creature of night, using its cover to complete her missions in the back alleys and dank sewers of Li Syval. Normal darkness held no terror for her, but against this unnatural shroud her enhanced vision was useless. It didn’t help that there was [i]something[/i] in there with her; sinister whispers assaulted her ears, and she could feel vile tendrils probing at her legs and arms. On top of that it was [i]cold[/i], the chill penetrating to her core and stealing away the very life from her body. Quellan’s call finally snapped her out of her fugue, freeing her of the paralysis of fear and urging her forward. She tried not to think of what might be waiting for her in the darkness, stumbling over the uneven ground as she focused on the voices of her companions. It felt like she’d traveled far more than fifteen feet before the darkness and cold vanished and she found herself again in the comparatively blinding brilliance of the day. She mostly felt relief, even if the scene that greeted her was one of chaos and danger. The worgs were attacking, their goblin riders launching arrows or waving swords from atop their backs. But Xeeta’s attention was drawn to the cloaked figure atop the stone mound. She could sense the potency in him, and knew him to be the greater threat. Her hand tightened on the familiar roughness of her arcane focus as she called upon the power of her magic. It came at her summons, but as the raw energy coursed through her she could feel it surging, building beyond the [i]scorching rays[/i] she’d intended to cast. No! she thought. Not now! She knew it was no use; the Demon would not be turned aside once it woke. Those raw surges were sometimes harmless, sometimes devastating, but always they did what they wanted, rather than what [i]she[/i] wanted. Still, she tried. And as the unfamiliar magic pulsed through her, she found to her amazement that she [i]could[/i] control it, drawing the wild energies into a single point that blossomed into a brilliant glowing sphere in her grasp. Stunned, she barely managed to launch the [i]fireball[/i] before it exploded in her hand. The blast enveloped the mound. For a moment the fight was interrupted as the combatants on both sides were distracted by the impressive explosion. She thought she’d spotted the hobgoblin warlock dodging back behind the mound an instant before the spell hit, but that was fine; at least she’d taken him out of the fight for the moment. The goblin leader and his animal proved less agile, though both survived the blast and likewise withdrew from view. But the respite her dramatic spell attack had gained proved brief, and as the fighting resumed she could see that her companions were in rough straits. Kosk was surrounded by foes, though it looked like he was putting up a hell of a fight. Worgs and their riders were snapping and slashing at him, and while he was somehow avoiding most of those attacks it seemed like only one final outcome was possible. Quellan was trying to get to him, but a worg without a rider was holding him at bay, its jaws snapping violently as it tried to get past his shield. Bredan and Glori were also engaged, and for a moment it looked like the warrior was in trouble before the bard summoned a [i]thunderwave[/i] that blasted one of his attackers off of him. Bredan lurched to his feet, summoning his sword back to his grasp just in time to meet the attack of a second worg and its rider. Xeeta stepped forward into the fray. She wasn’t sure what had just enhanced her magical abilities, but she was certainly going to put them to use. But before she could prepare a second spell, she saw a flash and felt a sharp jolt of pain in her side. Grimacing, she sought out the likely source and spotted the hobgoblin warlock, standing in the shadow of the stone mound a hundred feet away. The creature extended his hand and launched a second [i]eldritch blast[/i], but this time she saw it coming and ducked out of the path of the beam. Before she could manage a response, the warlock darted back into cover and out of her line of sight. “So, you wish to challenge me, hobgoblin?” she said. Her power thrummed in her, and with the Demon apparently content to remain quiescent, she marched forward to confront their adversary. But she quickly realized that her friends needed her more at that moment. Kosk was still on his feet, but now that she was closer she could now see several bloody gashes that his foes had managed to inflict. Two worgs and a goblin continued to harry him. And Quellan was also in trouble; even as the warlock sniped at her the worg facing him got a grip on the cleric’s shield and pulled him to the ground. A second worg that had a goblin archer on its back seemed to have been waiting for just that moment, for as the half-orc fell it lunged in to attack him from behind. Both Bredan and Glori were fully engaged and in no position to help them. [i]So be it[/i], she thought, lifting her hands as she summoned her magic. Another [i]fireball[/i] would have incinerated her allies as well as their enemies, but this time the [i]scorching rays[/i] worked exactly as she expected. As she channeled the power through her rod she could feel an unexpected intensity, and the magical beams seemed almost eager as they leapt out at her foes. A burning stream scorched the worg that had pulled Quellan down, and a second brushed the backside of the one carrying the archer, distracting it from its attack. She almost casually hurled the third [i]ray[/i] at the cluster of creatures savaging Kosk, and was rewarded with a quite rewarding yelp of pain from that direction. The worg she’d hit in the rear spun away from the half-orc and launched itself at her, its rider holding on for dear life. Under normal circumstances it would have easily reached her before she could manage another spell, but at the moment her magic was flowing through her like a raging river, and it seemed almost trivial to summon a [i]fire bolt[/i] that she threw into the worg’s face. Once again the flames seemed hotter and stronger than she was used to, and the creature let out a terrible howl as they flashed into its open jaws, scorching it from the inside. The worg collapsed just a few paces short of reaching her. The goblin archer managed to scramble clear. He looked up at her for a moment, their eyes meeting briefly before it turned and quickly darted off. Xeeta didn’t get a chance to savor her victory as a scream drew her attention back across the battlefield. This time it was Bredan who was having trouble. The young warrior had clearly dished out some serious damage, as a worg was lying dead at his feet and the others around him bore obvious wounds. But he was also hurt. Xeeta could see that he was clearly favoring his left side, and trickles of blood covered the left side his face. Glori was trying to help him, but three worgs had formed a circle around Bredan, keeping her at bay. She had her sword out, and blood glistened on its length, but she couldn’t get past the worgs without leaving herself open to an attack from those deadly jaws. Xeeta saw that the goblin leader and his beast had joined the group menacing her friend. Both bore the marks of her [i]fireball[/i], but from the look of it they still had plenty of fight left in them. Bredan held his sword in a ready stance, waiting for his foes to attack. Xeeta could tell that they were moving into a position where they could overwhelm Bredan from all sides simultaneously. He had to see that too, but there didn’t seem to be anything he could do to stop them. Reflex had Xeeta reaching out to her magic once more. Once again she let instinct guide her as she channeled that power into a spell she’d never used before. Once again the Demon stirred in response, but she ignored its presence as she directed a flood of power into Bredan. As if that were some trigger, the goblin leader barked a command and the worgs surged forward. Bredan met the first worg with a powerful slash of his sword that tore deep into its shoulder and drove it at least momentarily to the ground. But the other two came in quickly, and it looked as though a repeat of Bredan’s first exchange with the worgs would immediately follow. The goblin leader’s beast, a huge creature that looked even more ferocious for the scorch marks that streaked its ugly hide, darted in and snapped its jaws at the warrior’s injured side. It didn’t seem possible that the attack could possibly miss, but Bredan suddenly shifted and in a blur his arms came around and he drove the hilt of his sword hard into the side of the worg’s head just behind its jaws. The impact knocked it roughly aside. The goblin on its back swung his axe at Bredan’s head, but again the warrior reacted with preternatural quickness, ducking so that the weapon sliced through the air a finger’s breadth above him. The last worg slammed into him from behind, and for a moment it looked like the warrior would finally go down. But even at the worg’s jaws snapped on his cloak, trying to find purchase, he lifted his arms and drove his sword under his left arm and behind him. The edge of the blade tore through the worg’s side, and it let out a pained yelp as it leaped back. It quickly fell back into a crouch in anticipation of another attack, but before it could jump Glori stabbed it in the flank with her sword. Now seriously hurt, the worg stumbled clear of the fray. The goblin leader lifted his axe again, but Bredan’s enhanced reflexes were making it look as though his foes were moving in slow-motion. His sword, trailing blood from the worg he’d just stabbed, was a blur as it sliced through the air at the goblin’s head. But Usk Bloodrider was a canny veteran, and he saw death coming. He yanked hard on his reins, and his mount instantly sprang backwards. But his escape left the last rider in the path of the human warrior’s sword, and as Bredan finished his swing it knocked that unlucky creature from his saddle and slammed him to the ground. Xeeta blinked as she watched the effects of her spell; the entire bloody exchange had taken just a few seconds. Bredan and Glori seemed to now have things well in hand, and she started to turn back toward Kosk and Quellan. But even as she began to gather her magic she caught sight of the goblin leader out of the corner of her eye. The wounded creature and its mount had fallen back a good ten paces, out of the fight for now, but as she watched his head came up and his gaze fixed on the top of the stone mound. She followed that stare in time to see the hobgoblin warlord reappear. He seemed to appear out of thin air as rose up and his cloak, colored to match the surrounding stone, fell open. It revealed something in his hand, something that Xeeta immediately recognized. She knew it because she’d just summoned a similar globe of fire just a few moments before. She instantly realized that letting her focus shift from the warlock, even for just a few seconds, had been a mistake. Her companions, battered and wounded, were all within the blast radius of a [i]fireball[/i]. The surviving goblins and their worgs were as well, but it looked as though the hobgoblin was not particularly concerned about their fate. She desperately called upon her magic, but knew it was already too late. [/QUOTE]
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