Travels through the Wild West: Books V-VIII (Epilogue)
- Thread starter Lazybones
- Start date
Black Bard
First Post
A tough fight, that's for sure... I wasn't expecting such a challenge so earlier in their journey...
What the Hell this mystery guy Fariq is? He's really full of surprises...
What the Hell this mystery guy Fariq is? He's really full of surprises...
Black Bard
First Post
Thanks, Lazy!!! I'm quite curious about him...
djrdjmsqrd
First Post
*smirk*
/delurk
Hey, LB,
great job again, sorry I have not mean posting support for awhile, but, I have been dealing so much personal deamons/bull
/drama in the past bit...
...great escape though, this story hour, thanks so very much for keeping it going.
Djordje.
/lurk
/delurk
Hey, LB,
great job again, sorry I have not mean posting support for awhile, but, I have been dealing so much personal deamons/bull
/drama in the past bit......great escape though, this story hour, thanks so very much for keeping it going.
Djordje.
/lurk
Lazybones
Adventurer
Sorry to hear that things haven't been going so well, Djordje. Been there, done that, to be sure. In many ways writing this SH has been theraputic for me as well, as tensions are high here in the office due to a huge crisis in the state budget, programs and projects are being slashed, and everyone is running around scared for their jobs.
Not to mention the current world situation; we won't talk about that due to the rules here at ENWorld (rules that I agree with wholeheartedly), but suffice it to say it's a good time for a little heroic fantasy.
Here's Part 17; I've also posted Fariq's stats in the Rogues' Gallery (link in my sig).
* * * * *
Book VIII, Part 17
“What was that?” Dana shouted, over the constant rushing of the wind.
Lok did not reply, but Dana could feel the slight tensing of his arms as they continued in the direction of the sound, the low rumbling that had risen up out of the mountains. The noise came from the direction they had been going, and although it faded after a few minutes, the sick feeling of worry in Dana’s gut lingered on longer.
The two sliced through the air, flying upward over the uneven ground, over jagged ridges and plummeting ravines, averaging about fifty feet in altitude above the rough mountain slope. At one point they sailed over a deep gorge that stretched a good three hundred paces across, and easily five times that in depths, its bottom lost in shadows. Dana could feel Lok stiffen, but the genasi did not falter, and within a few moments they were across, and continuing their rapid ascent. Dana patted Lok’s armored shoulder in reassurance, although she doubted that he could feel the gesture through the thick magical plate.
She was aware of the genasi’s fear of heights, but there was nothing to be done for it. The pair had quickly realized what happened when they materialized on a naked bluff of stone surrounded by unfamiliar peaks. Dana had a powerful spell at her disposal, a new boon granted by the goddess, that would allow them to unerringly find the path to the valley where, presumably, the others waited for them. Assuming that they, too, had not teleported inaccurately...
Dana could not attempt another teleport until the following day, but neither was willing to remain apart from the others that long. Although the evil humanoid tribes that had smashed Asbravn were broken and scattered, the Sunset Mountains were still full of dangers, and apart the companions were far weaker than they were as a team.
It had been Lok who, despite his obvious reluctance, had suggested the inevitable course. “Use your flying spell,” he told her, once she had told him of her divination magic. “It’s the only way to carry us there quickly.”
“I will have to cast it upon you,” she said. “The spell allows the user to carry aloft a normal burden, for them; I could not possibly lift you, even without all your armor and gear.”
Lok nodded.
While casting her spells, calling upon the power of her goddess both to guide them to the valley and grant Lok the power of flight, she had covertly added another enchantment; a spell to remove fear from the recipient. Thus bolstered, the two had lifted off into the air, moving swiftly to the southeast in the direction indicated by Dana’s spell. Lok carried his shield and axe as if charging into battle, while Dana clung to his back, her arm hooked into the steel ridge at the neck of his breastplate.
They had been streaking through the mountains for about an hour when the rumbling sound had risen from ahead of them, echoing through the mountains for several minutes before fading. The distortion wrought by those echoes made it impossible to guess from how far ahead the noises had come, but Dana could not help the dark guesses that kept popping unwelcome into her thoughts.
Dana thought she recognized one of the peaks that rose up to their left. Ahead of them rose a tall ridge, a barrier that became almost vertical near its summit. She reached ahead and gestured upward where Lok could see, but he was already rising, and although she could not see his face, she could almost picture the hard look of determination that he must be wearing.
Even with the power of Dana’s spell, it took them several minutes to ascend high enough to float over the barrier. As soon as they reached the crest, Dana recognized immediately, even before she felt the tingle from her still-active divination, that they had reached the valley.
That wasn’t all that they saw. The mystic wanderer’s gaze was drawn to the cliffs where the dark opening into the tunnel complex had been. Had been, for now the cliff face was broken by a jagged tumble of rocks that formed a new hill of debris where the opening had been. Dust still hung in the air around that sloping mound, indicating that the rumbling they’d heard had been the sound of the cliff collasping.
Dana sucked in a breath, her heart freezing in her chest. But there was no time for further consideration, for even as Lok slowed to a hover, they spotted two massive, green-skin dragon-like creatures clambering across the valley floor in the immediate area of the rockfall. Dana hurriedly scanned the valley floor, but she could detect no sign of Benzan or Cal, or the Harpers they’d brought with them. There were many places where the rise and fall of the land obscured her view, but somehow she knew that their friends were not hiding down there. Inexorably, her eyes were drawn back to the rockfall, and the collapsed tunnel beyond. Had the whole complex caved in when the cliff gave way? Or had the falling rocks—tons of it, by the size of the mound—just blocked the entrance?
She became aware that Lok was lowering them to the ridge below.
“We’ve got to get down there!” she yelled, heedless of alerting the creatures below.
Lok rumbled something in reply, but the words were lost in the rush of wind over the lip of the valley wall. But as they drifted down to the rocky crest, the genasi lifted his axe and pointed.
She saw it, cursing herself for her earlier inattention. A third creature, perched on a rocky outcropping on the far edge of the valley to their left. It resembled a mighty bird of prey, only with mottled scales rather than feathers covering its muscular frame. Its dagger-shaped head seemed distorted by some sort of protruding horn, but there was little more that they could make out about it at that distance. As they watched, the creature spread its massive wings, and pushing off with powerful legs lifted off into the sky above the valley.
Toward them.
Not to mention the current world situation; we won't talk about that due to the rules here at ENWorld (rules that I agree with wholeheartedly), but suffice it to say it's a good time for a little heroic fantasy.
Here's Part 17; I've also posted Fariq's stats in the Rogues' Gallery (link in my sig).
* * * * *
Book VIII, Part 17
“What was that?” Dana shouted, over the constant rushing of the wind.
Lok did not reply, but Dana could feel the slight tensing of his arms as they continued in the direction of the sound, the low rumbling that had risen up out of the mountains. The noise came from the direction they had been going, and although it faded after a few minutes, the sick feeling of worry in Dana’s gut lingered on longer.
The two sliced through the air, flying upward over the uneven ground, over jagged ridges and plummeting ravines, averaging about fifty feet in altitude above the rough mountain slope. At one point they sailed over a deep gorge that stretched a good three hundred paces across, and easily five times that in depths, its bottom lost in shadows. Dana could feel Lok stiffen, but the genasi did not falter, and within a few moments they were across, and continuing their rapid ascent. Dana patted Lok’s armored shoulder in reassurance, although she doubted that he could feel the gesture through the thick magical plate.
She was aware of the genasi’s fear of heights, but there was nothing to be done for it. The pair had quickly realized what happened when they materialized on a naked bluff of stone surrounded by unfamiliar peaks. Dana had a powerful spell at her disposal, a new boon granted by the goddess, that would allow them to unerringly find the path to the valley where, presumably, the others waited for them. Assuming that they, too, had not teleported inaccurately...
Dana could not attempt another teleport until the following day, but neither was willing to remain apart from the others that long. Although the evil humanoid tribes that had smashed Asbravn were broken and scattered, the Sunset Mountains were still full of dangers, and apart the companions were far weaker than they were as a team.
It had been Lok who, despite his obvious reluctance, had suggested the inevitable course. “Use your flying spell,” he told her, once she had told him of her divination magic. “It’s the only way to carry us there quickly.”
“I will have to cast it upon you,” she said. “The spell allows the user to carry aloft a normal burden, for them; I could not possibly lift you, even without all your armor and gear.”
Lok nodded.
While casting her spells, calling upon the power of her goddess both to guide them to the valley and grant Lok the power of flight, she had covertly added another enchantment; a spell to remove fear from the recipient. Thus bolstered, the two had lifted off into the air, moving swiftly to the southeast in the direction indicated by Dana’s spell. Lok carried his shield and axe as if charging into battle, while Dana clung to his back, her arm hooked into the steel ridge at the neck of his breastplate.
They had been streaking through the mountains for about an hour when the rumbling sound had risen from ahead of them, echoing through the mountains for several minutes before fading. The distortion wrought by those echoes made it impossible to guess from how far ahead the noises had come, but Dana could not help the dark guesses that kept popping unwelcome into her thoughts.
Dana thought she recognized one of the peaks that rose up to their left. Ahead of them rose a tall ridge, a barrier that became almost vertical near its summit. She reached ahead and gestured upward where Lok could see, but he was already rising, and although she could not see his face, she could almost picture the hard look of determination that he must be wearing.
Even with the power of Dana’s spell, it took them several minutes to ascend high enough to float over the barrier. As soon as they reached the crest, Dana recognized immediately, even before she felt the tingle from her still-active divination, that they had reached the valley.
That wasn’t all that they saw. The mystic wanderer’s gaze was drawn to the cliffs where the dark opening into the tunnel complex had been. Had been, for now the cliff face was broken by a jagged tumble of rocks that formed a new hill of debris where the opening had been. Dust still hung in the air around that sloping mound, indicating that the rumbling they’d heard had been the sound of the cliff collasping.
Dana sucked in a breath, her heart freezing in her chest. But there was no time for further consideration, for even as Lok slowed to a hover, they spotted two massive, green-skin dragon-like creatures clambering across the valley floor in the immediate area of the rockfall. Dana hurriedly scanned the valley floor, but she could detect no sign of Benzan or Cal, or the Harpers they’d brought with them. There were many places where the rise and fall of the land obscured her view, but somehow she knew that their friends were not hiding down there. Inexorably, her eyes were drawn back to the rockfall, and the collapsed tunnel beyond. Had the whole complex caved in when the cliff gave way? Or had the falling rocks—tons of it, by the size of the mound—just blocked the entrance?
She became aware that Lok was lowering them to the ridge below.
“We’ve got to get down there!” she yelled, heedless of alerting the creatures below.
Lok rumbled something in reply, but the words were lost in the rush of wind over the lip of the valley wall. But as they drifted down to the rocky crest, the genasi lifted his axe and pointed.
She saw it, cursing herself for her earlier inattention. A third creature, perched on a rocky outcropping on the far edge of the valley to their left. It resembled a mighty bird of prey, only with mottled scales rather than feathers covering its muscular frame. Its dagger-shaped head seemed distorted by some sort of protruding horn, but there was little more that they could make out about it at that distance. As they watched, the creature spread its massive wings, and pushing off with powerful legs lifted off into the sky above the valley.
Toward them.
Black Bard
First Post
What a cliffhanger!!
Lok and Dana are really in trouble, and I see no way for them beating those monsters... I hope that a dimension door spell do the trick...
Lok and Dana are really in trouble, and I see no way for them beating those monsters... I hope that a dimension door spell do the trick...
Lazybones
Adventurer
Book VIII, Part 18
Lok looked at her, and at the flying creature as it lifted higher into the air on beats of its massive wings. The genasi nodded, and said, “Right. I’ll take care of that overgrown lizard.” With a grim look on his face, he hefted his axe and began rising into the air.
“Good luck,” she told him. “I’ll be right behind you.”
He nodded, and then he was off like a dart, not looking down as the ground dropped out beneath him and the wide expanse of the valley opened up below. Dana, however, was already opening her mind to the siren song of her goddess’s voice.
A buzzing sound filled her head, penetrating and annoying, but with a purity of focus she shed the distraction as she called upon the divine power of her patroness to initiate a summoning. She did not notice as the two creatures on the valley floor below abruptly looked up, and almost immediately started flapping their wings to lift themselves ponderously off of the ground toward the brewing confrontation.
Lok glided higher to meet the ascending arc of the first yrthak. Rather than taking the time to draw out his bow from his bag of holding and string it, he simply lifted his axe and swept straight for it. The creature seemed intent upon the far ridge where Dana waited, and did not even seem to notice the armored figure coming straight for it. However, as Lok drew nearer, less than a hundred paces off, it suddenly swung its strangely-shaped head toward him. The air suddenly hummed, and Lok was blasted roughly back, as if struck by a giant’s club. His roar of pain was torn from him, but even as the creature’s flight drew it closer and above him, the doughty genasi spun in mid-air and launched himself straight up to meet it.
The frost-rimmed axe tore around in a mighty arc, and as the two flying enemies drew apart a spray of red erupted from the deep gash in the yrthak’s abdomen. It did not cry out, but continued its sweeping pass, its jaws clenching and opening as its slanted head tracked the movement of its painful adversary. Slowly, it turned for another run.
Dana finished her spell, and at her calling a giant eagle appeared in the air through a momentary rift in the planes, swooping down to land on the rocks before her. It regarded her with regal, knowing eyes.
“Why hast thou summoned me, mistress?”
“I require thine aid against some deadly foes,” Dana said, falling into the eagle’s archaic speech pattern despite herself as she leapt forward and smoothly hopped upon its back. The eagle settled under her weight, but did not seem troubled by the burden at the least.
“To battle, then!” the avian cried, uttering a more normal-sounding screech that resounded off of the walls of the valley. It leapt ahead and as it plunged off of the edge of the plummeting slope, its powerful wings lifted it smoothly into the air.
The two yrthaks from the valley floor were already winging up to meet her, gathering speed as they rose higher into the air.
“Verily doth it appear that the odds be stacked against us!” the eagle cried, but it did not waver as it angled into a rapid dive.
Dana, already lost in the casting of another spell, did not respond.
Lok’s foe, meanwhile, had already completed its arc and was coming once more for the armored warrior. It blasted him with a second sonic lance as it drew near, and while the warrior was clearly distressed as the focused energy slammed into him, he did not retreat as it swooped at him, claws outsteteched to snatch him out of the sky. Its claw snapped down and struck him, but at the last moment Lok lurched upward, tearing free from the hold and driving his axe once more into the creature’s belly. This cut crossed over the gaping wound from the first stroke, and the yrthak faltered as a bloody mess of gore and entrails poured from the terrible wounds. Its momentum carried it past the warrior, his armor twice splashed now with the blood of his foe. The yrthak apparently decided it had had enough, what with its wounds from the earlier confrontation and now these twin gashes from this second foe, and flapped haltingly away, still trailing great gobs of blood that plummeted far to splatter on the rocks below.
Dana dove down to meet the other two yrthaks on the back of the giant eagle, her spear cradled like a lance in one hand. With the other, she pointed and called forth a blast of searing light that struck the first of the yrthaks solidly in the head. The blast tore a fiery gash in the side of its jaw, and the wounded creature veered unevenly to the right.
But a moment later, the first sonic lance struck.
Dana felt it through the body of the eagle, a terrible vibration that tore through the noble creature’s taut frame, sundering flesh and muscle and bone. The eagle faltered, and for a desperate moment the two were falling together, out of control, until the eagle was able to spread its wings and catch the winds beneath them.
Shaken, Dana looked up just in time to see the yrthak’s outstretched claws reach for them.
Without thinking, she thrust upward with her spear. The electrically-charged head of the magical weapon slammed deep into the yrthak’s body, and she could feel the shudder of its frame down the length of the haft she clutched with desperate strength. The eagle tried to sweep free, tearing the spear from her grasp, but then the claw snapped down and caught them, and the world spun.
And then the beast was away, and Dana realized that she’d been knocked from the eagle’s back, and was falling... falling...
The rocks of the valley floor rushed up to meet her.
Lok looked at her, and at the flying creature as it lifted higher into the air on beats of its massive wings. The genasi nodded, and said, “Right. I’ll take care of that overgrown lizard.” With a grim look on his face, he hefted his axe and began rising into the air.
“Good luck,” she told him. “I’ll be right behind you.”
He nodded, and then he was off like a dart, not looking down as the ground dropped out beneath him and the wide expanse of the valley opened up below. Dana, however, was already opening her mind to the siren song of her goddess’s voice.
A buzzing sound filled her head, penetrating and annoying, but with a purity of focus she shed the distraction as she called upon the divine power of her patroness to initiate a summoning. She did not notice as the two creatures on the valley floor below abruptly looked up, and almost immediately started flapping their wings to lift themselves ponderously off of the ground toward the brewing confrontation.
Lok glided higher to meet the ascending arc of the first yrthak. Rather than taking the time to draw out his bow from his bag of holding and string it, he simply lifted his axe and swept straight for it. The creature seemed intent upon the far ridge where Dana waited, and did not even seem to notice the armored figure coming straight for it. However, as Lok drew nearer, less than a hundred paces off, it suddenly swung its strangely-shaped head toward him. The air suddenly hummed, and Lok was blasted roughly back, as if struck by a giant’s club. His roar of pain was torn from him, but even as the creature’s flight drew it closer and above him, the doughty genasi spun in mid-air and launched himself straight up to meet it.
The frost-rimmed axe tore around in a mighty arc, and as the two flying enemies drew apart a spray of red erupted from the deep gash in the yrthak’s abdomen. It did not cry out, but continued its sweeping pass, its jaws clenching and opening as its slanted head tracked the movement of its painful adversary. Slowly, it turned for another run.
Dana finished her spell, and at her calling a giant eagle appeared in the air through a momentary rift in the planes, swooping down to land on the rocks before her. It regarded her with regal, knowing eyes.
“Why hast thou summoned me, mistress?”
“I require thine aid against some deadly foes,” Dana said, falling into the eagle’s archaic speech pattern despite herself as she leapt forward and smoothly hopped upon its back. The eagle settled under her weight, but did not seem troubled by the burden at the least.
“To battle, then!” the avian cried, uttering a more normal-sounding screech that resounded off of the walls of the valley. It leapt ahead and as it plunged off of the edge of the plummeting slope, its powerful wings lifted it smoothly into the air.
The two yrthaks from the valley floor were already winging up to meet her, gathering speed as they rose higher into the air.
“Verily doth it appear that the odds be stacked against us!” the eagle cried, but it did not waver as it angled into a rapid dive.
Dana, already lost in the casting of another spell, did not respond.
Lok’s foe, meanwhile, had already completed its arc and was coming once more for the armored warrior. It blasted him with a second sonic lance as it drew near, and while the warrior was clearly distressed as the focused energy slammed into him, he did not retreat as it swooped at him, claws outsteteched to snatch him out of the sky. Its claw snapped down and struck him, but at the last moment Lok lurched upward, tearing free from the hold and driving his axe once more into the creature’s belly. This cut crossed over the gaping wound from the first stroke, and the yrthak faltered as a bloody mess of gore and entrails poured from the terrible wounds. Its momentum carried it past the warrior, his armor twice splashed now with the blood of his foe. The yrthak apparently decided it had had enough, what with its wounds from the earlier confrontation and now these twin gashes from this second foe, and flapped haltingly away, still trailing great gobs of blood that plummeted far to splatter on the rocks below.
Dana dove down to meet the other two yrthaks on the back of the giant eagle, her spear cradled like a lance in one hand. With the other, she pointed and called forth a blast of searing light that struck the first of the yrthaks solidly in the head. The blast tore a fiery gash in the side of its jaw, and the wounded creature veered unevenly to the right.
But a moment later, the first sonic lance struck.
Dana felt it through the body of the eagle, a terrible vibration that tore through the noble creature’s taut frame, sundering flesh and muscle and bone. The eagle faltered, and for a desperate moment the two were falling together, out of control, until the eagle was able to spread its wings and catch the winds beneath them.
Shaken, Dana looked up just in time to see the yrthak’s outstretched claws reach for them.
Without thinking, she thrust upward with her spear. The electrically-charged head of the magical weapon slammed deep into the yrthak’s body, and she could feel the shudder of its frame down the length of the haft she clutched with desperate strength. The eagle tried to sweep free, tearing the spear from her grasp, but then the claw snapped down and caught them, and the world spun.
And then the beast was away, and Dana realized that she’d been knocked from the eagle’s back, and was falling... falling...
The rocks of the valley floor rushed up to meet her.
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