Chapter 1 - Durgen's Pass (Part 4)
As the kobolds clashed blades with Erlmoor and Dulvarna and circled around them, seemingly trying to put the companions between them and the dragon, Enlishia raised her bow again. She loosed one arrow and then a second and watched with satisfaction as both drove into the kobold’s back and threw the creature forward against Erlmoor. The dragonborn pushed his enemy away and as he did so, Litiraan unleashed another silver bolt that seared through the kobold’s neck. It staggered and then collapsed in front of Erlmoor. The dragonborn roared and turned his attention towards the dragon.
Lavren heard the dragonborn roar triumphantly and knew that aid was coming. Looking down to the kobold priest, he leapt down from the outcropping on which he stood and raised his wand. With a word he unleashed another black, crackling bolt that seared into the shoulder of the kobold shaman and hurled it back a step. Telkya saw what her husband was doing and turned her amulet towards the kobold priest. A bolt of light shot forth and struck the cavern wall next to the kobold’s head. Lavren looked up and winked at her and she smiled back.
Erlmoor leapt up onto the outcropping and rushed past Telkya with his blade in his hands. He charged at the dragon, roared as he reached it, and sprayed acid from his mouth. The dragon paid the acid no mind but Erlmoor began to pray as he lashed out with his sword. The blade glowed with golden light but as it struck the scales of the wyrm’s right foreleg it simply clanged aside and smashed into the stone before the dragon. Caustrex looked down at its distant kin with obvious disdain and then raised a claw to swat the paladin aside.
Lavren raised his wand again but before he could utter another curse, the kobold priest lashed out with its left hand and hurled a blue orb towards the elf. Lavren dodged to the left but the orb struck his right shoulder and covered him with burning acid. He staggered and cried out but as he saw Telkya’s concerned look, he forced a smile. She moved towards the edge of the ledge but Lavren nodded towards the kobold priest for her to concentrate her attention on her enemies. As she turned away, Lavren gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.
The kobold before Dulvarna rushed at her, driving her back against the foot of the rocky outcropping. She parried desperately and just kept its blade at bay before forcing it back to give herself a few moments to recover. As the kobold drew back, an arrow flew in from its left and drove into the side of its neck. A second shaft followed and drove through the creature’s throat from left to right. The kobold gasped, gurgled as blood filled its throat, and then collapsed to the floor of the cavern. Dulvarna nodded her thanks and turned to clamber up onto the outcropping.
Litiraan saw the kobold fall and turned away as Dulvarna had. He rushed along the lower level of the outcropping and passed Lavren where he stood against the cavern wall. Raising his wand, the wizard unleashed a silver bolt into the stone next to the kobold priest. The creature hissed its derision and Lavren raised his wand and loosed his own, black, bolt of energy, hoping to silence it once and for all. The blast struck the kobold’s left arm and spun it back into the stone wall of the cave. It tried to push itself away but before it could recover a golden bolt of energy from Telkya’s amulet struck it and hurled it back into the stone again.
Erlmoor ducked as the dragon lashed at him with its left claw and then leapt back as the right claw swept in at him. He lashed out with his blade as the huge claw passed him and this time the sword tore into the dragon’s flesh and drew blood. The dragon roared and slashed its left claw back across. Erlmoor ducked under the swing but as he stood upright again, the dragon lashed out with its wounded right claw to smash the dragonborn away from it. Erlmoor was sent sprawling and the dragon came forward, hoping to finish its troublesome kin.
The kobold priest hissed its defiance and hurled another blue orb, this one aimed at Litiraan. It struck the elf in the hip and burst into burning acid that seared his flesh. He staggered but raised his wand as he did so. Before he could bring a spell to his lips, Enlishia appeared beside him with her bow raised. She loosed an arrow that clattered into the stone beside the kobold and just as it began to his its renewed defiance, she nocked another arrow and let fly. This shaft drove into the creature’s eye and on into the brain behind. The kobold’s mouth fell open and the creature fell to the floor. Litiraan nodded his thanks to the ranger and then rushed along the side of the higher outcropping until he was behind the dragon. He turned and raised his wand, loosing another silver bolt towards the wyrm. The bolt flew past the creature’s head and struck the stone wall high up beyond the dragon.
On the outcropping, Dulvarna raised her blade and rushed at the dragon, hoping to slash her blade across the back of its left leg. Aecris sang out but at the last, the dragon lifted its claw and the sword clanged off the hard scales of its toe. From the dragon’s left, Lavren loosed another bolt of black, crackling energy that seared over the wyrm’s head and struck the stone beyond it. Telkya raised her voice in prayer and from the cavern roof, a column of divine fire descended, enveloping the dragon and burning its flesh. The dragon screeched for the first time and turned its eyes towards the priestess. As it did so, Erlmoor charged in and slashed at the dragon but it reared back and avoided his blade.
As it came down on its front claws once again, Caustrex lashed out with its left claw and sent the dragonborn sprawling with a wound in his side. Its tail lashed around a moment later to strike at Dulvarna but she ducked under the attack and then leapt back beyond the dragon’s reach. Enlishia sent two arrows in from the left but both clattered off the dragon’s scaled and it roared its defiance and anger again. From behind the wyrm, Litiraan loosed another silver bolt and this one found its mark in the creature’s right flank.
The dragon turned its head towards the source of the attack and Dulvarna rushed in to land a mighty blow on the dragon’s opposite side. Aecris tore into the wyrm’s flesh and exposed the white of its ribs as Dulvarna drew the blade back. The dragon screeched again and turned back towards the warrior woman as a bolt of black energy from Lavren’s wand flew past it. A golden bolt from Telkya followed and seared into the dragon’s back leg. Again it turned towards the priestess and again, Erlmoor leapt to his feet and rushed at it. His blade sang out and slashed a deep wound across Caustrex’s right foreleg. The dragon reared back and Erlmoor roared in triumph and defiance.