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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4587295" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 6 - The Horned Hold (Part 4)Dulvarna weaved her blade before her and retreated towards the southern wall of the chamber. Suddenly, she thrust her blade towards the orc but as the creature moved its axe down to parry, she twisted the heavy blade in her hands and swung it across to slash into the ribs of the duergar. An arrow flew past the orc and struck the wall behind Dulvarna’s right shoulder before clattering to the floor. The warrior woman cursed under her breath. Already they were hard pressed and it was likely that Lavren and Erlmoor faced still greater odds. She cursed again and then danced forward to battle her enemies.Lavren momentarily considered whether it was disloyal to retreat but then the burns that now covered the palm of his right hand throbbed and he knew he could not fight one with he sword. He ducked back through the doorway and called forth witchfire to engulf the orc that he had faced. Flame seared the orc and sent it staggering back into the chamber for a few moments. Erlmoor took his chance and smashed the hilt of his sword into the orc’s face, sending it staggering back and away. Then he turned on the other orc as it came at him with its axe.Telkya called a column of light down on the orc that Dulvarna faught and watched as the divine fire burned its flesh. It staggered but kept its axe high to defend itself as Dulvarna came at it with a flurry of blows. The duergar meanwhile, darted right towards the forge and lashed out with its hammer but Dulvarna stepped back and twisted to parry the low swing with her blade. The orc rushed at her from the other side but she twisted away and his heavy axe struck the floor where the warrior woman had been standing moments before. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared past the orc then and drew its attention back towards the doors but then the second duergar, invisible until now, appeared behind Dulvarna. He lashed out with his hammer as the woman leapt out of his reach.Erlmoor parried the axe of the orc to his left and then pushed the enemy away from him as he turned to deal with the other. Dimly, he saw the duergar smith moving around to stand before the forge and heard the dwarf begin chanting again. The gray dwarf extended his hand and a searing bolt of flame lanced out to strike Erlmoor in the chest and hurl him backwards against the door frame. The orc came at him then, slashing his axe out wide and driving the blade into the dragonborn’s left leg. Erlmoor roared his anger and pain for all to hear. The other orc started forward but Lavren was quicker, loosing black, crackling energy into the creature and keeping it back from Erlmoor while the dragonborn recovered from the double blow. Erlmoor nodded his thanks to the elf, pushed himself off the door frame and stepped forward to meet his enemies again.Dulvarna turned slowly on the spot, weaving her blade before her and daring her enemies to come forward. They watched her, the two duergar and the orc, circling and moving back and forth as she moved. She darted at one of the duergar and then the orc before finally driving her blade into the hip of the other duergar. The gray dwarf fell back, staggering and Dulvarna followed, raising her blade over her head and bringing it down on the skull of the dwarf. She turned back to face her other two foes but even as she did an arrow drove into the orc’s chest. It staggered back, falling sideways over the anvil before righting itself. Then a second arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove through its neck and it fell to the floor, gurgling its last breath as blood filled its throat. Telkya loosed light from her amulet that struck the wall beside the last duergar and then she charged at the gray dwarf with her sword in her hand. A silver bolt struck the wall above the head of the dwarf and it cringed, putting its back to the wall and holding its hammer before it. With a steely determination in its eyes, the duergar gave a guttural snarl and prepared to face its death.Erlmoor intoned a prayer loudly in his deep baritone as he parried axe blows to the left and to the right. Finally, as his sword glowed with a golden light, he thrust it at the orc to the left, driving the tip into the orc’s side above its hip. The orc snarled and fell back and Erlmoor slashed out with the sword to cut deep into the flesh of the orc’s shoulder. The orc reeled back from the dragonborn and lashed out with its axe only for Erlmoor to step back himself beyond the orc’s reach. He ducked left as the duergar near the furnace loosed another bolt of fire at him and then raised his blade crossways above his head to parry the axe blow of the other orc. Another black bolt from Lavren’s wand flew past the wounded orc and kept it back for a moment but then it hissed and snarled its defiance and came back at the dragonborn once more.Dulvarna stabbed her blade into the leg of the duergar as an arrow clattered into the stone above the dwarf’s head.     Telkya came at it from the other side, driving her blade into the shoulder of the gray dwarf and a silver bolt struck the stone beside it. The duergar let out a guttural roar and rushed at Telkya, smashing his hammer across her arm as she raised her blade to parry the blow. She cried out and fell back and as she did, the duergar vanished. Telkya felt a rush of air past her left side and then the dwarf was gone.Dulvarna cast around looking for the unseen duergar and then started towards the orcs that Erlmoor faught. No sooner had she done so than she felt a hammer whoosh past her back and she knew that the duergar was now behind her. She slashed her blade across the back of the nearest orc and then turned on the spot to face her duergar enemy, visible once more. Telkya rushed at the dwarf from the other side and, cornered once more, the dwarf raised his hammer and snarled his defiance.Lavren saw Dulvarna slash at the wounded orc and felt his hopes soar once again. His companions were close and would soon come to his aid. Focusing on the orc, he uttered a spell and loosed more black, crackling energy but this time he found his mark. The bolt seared into the orc’s chest where it’s heart should be and with a gasp, the orc fell to the floor, smoke rising from its ruined chest. Erlmoor roared in triumph and rushed at the remaining orc, driving his sword into the creature’s shoulder. It fell back from the fury of the dragonborn and for the first time, even the duergar beside the forge seemed worried. Desperately, the duergar chanted an incantation and hurled a bolt of fire at the dragonborn. The flame struck the black-scaled Erlmoor in the chest and sent him staggering back from the orc. The orc cackled at this small victory and came forward to finish his foe.Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that seared into the duergar and the dwarf roared in anger and pain. He spun on the spot and swung out with its hammer to strike Telkya in the hip and send her reeling back and away from him. Dulvarna came at the duergar from the other side and drew the dwarf’s attention while Enlishia loosed an arrow that clattered into the anvil beside the dwarf. Then, Telkya rushed in at the dwarf again and drove her blade into the dwarf’s shoulder blade. The duergar staggered but then spun around to rush at the priestess one last time.Erlmoor parried the orc’s flurry of blows and then stabbed out with his sword again, driving the tip into the creature’s thigh. Lavren moved into the room behind him and began to hurl black energy at the duergar close to the forge. His first bolt struck the mantle of the wide forge but within moments, the elf was aiming another at the gray dwarf. Erlmoor snarled at the orc before him and silently promised it the same fate as its companion. A bolt of fire flew past his head and he knew the duergar smith was worried now. With a smile, he parried the orc’s axe and advanced.Litiraan loosed a silver bolt over the head of the duergar as the dwarf rushed at his sister again. She raised her sword to parry but the dwarf’s hammer struck her shoulder a painful blow. The dwarf smiled for a brief moment but then it let out a long gasp. Looking down, it saw the point of Dulvarna’s sword protruding from its chest and then, with a look of resignation it slid off the blade to the stone floor. Telkya stopped for a moment, panting while she nodded her thanks to Dulvarna and between them, Enlishia ran, her bow in her hands. The ranger turned as she passed the anvil and aimed her bow at the duergar smith. She let fly the arrow and watched with satisfaction as it drove into the dwarf’s shoulder with a  dull thud. Lavren saw the arrow strike and hurled his own bolt of black energy towards the smith. It struck the dwarf in the chest and drove him back a step. A searing bolt of light struck the duergar then and he staggered, uncomfortably close to the forge. The dwarf reached one hand out to the mantle to steady himself and then pushed away from the stone with a roar of defiance.“You shall never take me!” the gray dwarf cried out. “Urwol, son of Urdek dies here or his enemies die around him.”“So be it,” Erlmoor answered from the doorway as he parried another axe blow. “Die here then.”The dragonborn smashed the hilt of his sword into the face of the orc before him and stepped forward but as he did so, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand. It seared through the throat of Urwol, son of Urdek and felled him beside his forge. The orc lashed out at Erlmoor desperately, seeking to escape now, but there was no way through. Dulvarna was upon the orc a moment later, driving it back with a blow to the shoulder and then an arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into its chest. The orc staggered and with a word, Lavren hurled a bolt of black energy that seared through the orc’s skull and finally ended the battle.</blockquote>

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