Flames erupted on the abomination as the vial burst letting air mix with oil. Ulthok clung to Divot’s back attempting to void the creature's unnaturally strong arms. Through the spreading inferno the monster still fought on, reaching back over its shoulder it snatched Ulthok by the hair and drug him over to face him. As he was pulled around the mage wanted to draw his sword of lightening speed, but being pressed to Divots body his hands could only reach his pouch and wand. Experience had taught the mage that not only was fire a curse to undead but so was light. This may serve, but it was a risk. Then the smashing hand of the zombie crushed into his face. Divots hand held Ulthoks hair and didn’t allow his head to recoil, blood splattered from a flatten nose and began coursing down his face.

Sometimes pain and shock dull the mind and slow the victims reactions, sometimes it peaks the sense of survival and clears away doubt. The mage knew that Divot would see Ulthok’s hands rising to cover the damaged nose. This would seem the most natural of reactions, so he would not see the wand as a threat. Using this Ulthok pulled his wand of illumination from beneath his cape and raised his hands placing one over his eyes, the other holding the wand between him and Divot. In milliseconds he coursed will and spirit in the wand and released a mighty flash of light directly in Divots face. The wand released a brilliant “Sunburst” of golden glow and rays. No undead with eyes could resist the damaging brilliance (6d6, no save). Ulthok hoped the flash would also cause Divot to release his hair so he could move and draw his sword.

The risk was that the flash would affect any within 40 feet or looking in the direction of the flash, possible leaving them blinded for a short time (1 round, save against wand). With the minions facing his direction as they attacked the party it could benefit his friends who backs were to the mage; making the creatures of Alasdair facing him vulnerable to attack.

Maggot, not realizing the sword was gone knew that what he longed for, what his companions sought after for so long was just beyond the this enemy he faced. With this new drive and a well known blade the old man once more went on the attack.

With Alasdair’s departure with the sword, the fight for the party had changed from one of gaining a goal, to one of survival with the odds not so much in their favor.......

Kenji once more shouting a fierce "KIAI" continued to engage the huge minion before him in melee combat, however seeing minion #2, ’the healer’, moving forward to assist #4 he decided to divide his attacks and that cost the Samurai badly as 5 out of his 6 Hasted attacks this round missed. And even though he hit minion # 4 it was a light glancing blow as the big warrior having recovered moved past him to engage Rayne in melee. As #2 moved into melee with the samurai Kenji felt a burst of weakness and a desire to flee but resisting the urge to flee, though not the weakness, he stood to meet the shielded minions attack blocking all but it’s last.
Feeling the bite of a winter like cold penetrate his body as the creatures sword broke his skin Kenji was not about to allow any weakness to stop him from confronting this new foe and standing firm he prepared for the next round of attacks.

Minion #4 having by passed Kenji now engaged Rayne, his large crushing maul at the forefront. Having drawn her Longsword of Agility after healing Kenji, it along with her Elvin heritage and dexterity allowed her to jump away from his attacks. His first attack a clear miss and his second only a glancing blow, the female Ranger/Cleric counted her blessings as she returned his attacks with three Hasted of her own, gaining a single, but good hit.

Conall knew he was dying and that nothing short of divine intervention would save him. The Holy Avenger in his hand his weapon of last resort he pushed his body further down the blade piercing his body towards the minion before him no longer caring if he lived or died, he had served his purpose upon this world, just that he would take his foe with him. His foe minion #1 was taken totally by surprise having never seen this happen before and was unable to protect itself as Conall thrust the Holy Avenger with all his remaining strength up through the bottom of it’s jaw into it’s brain.

The blow causing so much damage due to Conall’s dying all out rage that the two of them, minion and Paladin, began a slow fall to the floor, both of them dead before they hit and then lay still. Within a few moments minion #1’s body, it’s Sword of 9 Lives Stealing holding Conall’s essence, and all it’s gear disappeared along with the Holy Avenger that had killed it, stuck deep within it’s skull.

Maggot, his well used and familiar sword yet to hand felt a drive within himself to see to the missions end and gain the sword they had come for. Unaware of Conall’s death and Alasdair’s departure with the sword his two attacks were blurs as he lunged, parried, then struck forward, only to be blocked by battle axe and hand axe. However his attacks were such as to keep the summoned minion, at least for this round, on the defensive and so no attacks were directed at Maggot. For this round the fight, in hits scored, was a draw.

THE FAR CORNER
The first of the three companions in the far corner to act this round was surprisingly the just awakened Cor. His eyes popping open, helped by the healing kiss of Sirene, the first image was of her pulling her face away from him. The feel of her lips somehow yet upon his own.

Why lass, I dinna know ye cared."
Whatever the thoughts in his head at that moment were quickly discarded as the Dwarf Knight Cleric stood to see Ulthok locked in a flaming wrestling match with his brother Divot. Knowing Divot to be dead this thing resembling Ulthok’s brother could only be some type of undead so without hesitation Cor’s first act was to attempt to turn it, with no success!
Axe in hand the Dwarf moved into melee range.

Sirene having healed Cor watched as his eyes opened and could not help noticing the twinkle in the dwarf’s eyes as he realized she had kissed him. Quickly putting all thoughts of that aside as Cor stood, then moved to help the halfling Thief/Mage. She looked not to the corner where both Ulthok and his brother wrestled on fire but back to the main melee, once more just in time to see Alasdair vanish, the sword along with him. An elvin curse upon her lips, she chose her next spell as Conall killed minion #1 and then died. The spell of disintegrate cast she watched as the green ray sped to it’s target, minion #2.

However as it came in contact with #2’s shield it seemed to be sucked in or absorbed as the shield glowed blue for a moment then returned to normal. The minion itself seemingly taking no notice of the spell continued to engage Kenji in melee.

The creature once known as Divot was far from stupid in it’s rage to kill it’s brother. It knew it’s real task and reason for having been brought here was in danger of failure and knew what it had to do. Seeing the Dwarf Knight Cleric once more on his feet and headed towards it, knew time was running out. Leaping away from Ulthok it gave out a loud cry and thrust out both burning hands back towards the center of the room.

As for the brother left on the floor, Ulthok’s face felt like it had been punched so much that the stout halfling Thief/Mage no longer felt the pain from his broken nose. Still unaffected by the flames he repeatedly attempted to draw a weapon, any weapon, with no success. Then without warning it all changed as Divot jumped to his feet and began a short quick chant.

Using this brief respite from the beating of his undead brother, Ulthok pulled from a pouch at his side his Wand of Illumination, raised his hands placing one over his eyes, and the other holding the wand towards what had once been his brother. In milliseconds he coursed will and spirit into the wand and released a mighty flash of light directly at the Zombie Lord. The wand released a brilliant “Sunburst” of golden light, it’s rays enclosing Divot, Cor, the still living though crippled panther, and Ulthok and the effect was almost instantaneous. As the light and rays touched, then covered Divot, the Zombie Lord ceased to be as his whole being flared and turned to flaming bits of ash. Cor though in the bursts radius was luckily unaffected by the wand having made his save.

With the end of this round of combat for all surviving party members what must of had so far seemed to be a never ending battle had at last seemed winnable. With Divot gone and Conall having killed minion #1, though his death in doing so was by far an uneven exchange, the party for a brief moment could feel the tide shifting once more in their favor.

However as it had been since they had arrived on this floor it was not to be as Divot’s last act was perhaps his deadliest. All around the room what had been alive, then killed, now once more rejoined the fight within this room, as seven of the Roach/Scorpions arose ready to fight once more. This time however as giant undead mutated insect zombies......................

(DM OOC: Ok there you have my post for this week and on time too .
Man I feel for you guy’s just when you think it’s over and can’t get any worse some other enemy raises it or their heads. Or claws, or mandibles, or pinchers or what have you. Ya just gotta hate Zombie Lords and their ability to create zombies from any dead critter. ~sigh~
Ok next post next Sun/Mon)

Cor watched as his attempt to turn Divot failed and then he saw the burst of sunlight from ulthok's wand. There was no good way to describe the beautiful and powerful burst, it was simply beyond words. As a creature of darkness, Divot stood no chance to withstand the light; he simply ceased to be. Yet his final act casued the dead scorpion beasts to rise as zombies themselves. "Aye, we trade one littel zombie for many bigger ones" Cor sighed. Once more using his axe he faced teh newly created zombies and once more attempted to turn the vile creatures.

The blues of Sirène’s almond-shaped eyes widened in alarm. The unnatural creatures, half-scorpion and half-insect, that had caused so much blood to be shed and so many lives to be lost, were beginning to stir once more. Like a monstrous puppet-show, each was gripped by some invisible hand, forced into an upright posture, and slowly, silently, forced to walk in horrible jerky spasms. Some were missing legs, others chitinous pincers, but all trailed green ichrous blood and yellowing organs.

“Ambar quende aire fyria nu urwa wilma wili!” Sirène muttered quickly, each word part of a swiftly cast spell.

Within moments the Elven sorceress began to rise out of harm’s way empowered with near-effortless flight. Her eyes, however, lingered upon the forms of Cor and Ulthok. She knew that in saving herself, she may well have damned her friends.


OOC: Sirène is casting ‘Fly’ and flying roughly above Bug No. 1.

As the light and rays touched, then covered Divot, the Zombie Lord ceased to be as his whole being flared and turned to flaming bits of ash. Ulthok pulled his hand away in time to see the final seconds of Zombie Lord. As the effect of the Sunburst consumed the abomination the Mage felt a wave of relief as the Cursed Divot pasted into oblivion. Family is a valued thing to “The Folk” and now the family was whole again. When the family gathers around and the stories of Rydenhams are told, Ulthok will see to it that the adventures of Divot Rydenhan tell of service to his friends and that he departed in the a “Blaze of Glory”; no need to include this minor detail the he was a Zombie Lord. “Be free my Brother, may Brandobaris guide you home.”

As ashes faded Ulthok stepped over to the injured panther releasing the spell as he approached. Returning to its stone form the panther was returned to its place of safe keeping. The words of Cor drew his attention, "Aye, we trade one little zombie for many bigger ones”. Turning he saw the new zombie bugs between them and their companions.

The distraction of the Zombie Lord had prevented him from helping get to the sword. As Cor cast out prayer to the turn these new abominations Ulthok tried to assess what had been happening on the other side of room. Chaos seemed to rein; Ulthok could not see all of his party. A naked Maggot was fighting alone while Rayne and Kenji were also engaged with new enemies. But where were the rest?

It was apparent that things had changed but there was no time to sort it all out he must do something to help. Willing spirit into his ring the Thief side took command and the small companion became invisible. Ulthok could pass the wall of zombie bugs for they would never see him. Readying his bow Ulthok advanced to aid Rayne and Kenji . When he reached a position beyond the bugs where he had a clear shot on Kenji’s attacker Ulthok would once again appear from nowhere and place four arrows into the foe.

(O.O.C., if Cor's Turning works and the bugs go away then Ulthok will just rush across the room, if still in haste he may cover the distance quickly enough to get off an attack. It will still be the four rapid shots with iron tipped arrows at Kenji's attacker.)

The ebb and flow of battle was nothing Rayne had a moment to pay attention to. The minion before her (#4) was her target and she attacked that one with all her strength and ability, with all her heart and soul. She could do not less, and frankly could not do more than what she was already doing. Though she wished it true.

"Kith Hora, Strength my arm and guide my hand," These abominations must fall.

Faced the way she was she had not yet caught light of the formidable combined scor-roachesm Did not realized how much worse things had just gotten. All she could see right now was Kenji fighting on against these implacable enemies, blow for blow Kenji fought on. She wonder about the others but had not the time to look around to see how anyone was doing.

They had all known that in the end they would succeed or die trying. So many had died already, so few of them were left. "Kith Jora" she prayed as she fought on.

The old man realizing he had not hit his enemy but his enemy did not return any attacks. It was then the old man felt something in him he had not felt in many years. For so long the old Ranger/Bard had felt drawn. Always able to fight but not quite as he wanted or used to. The old man felt a rush but this rush seemed to wash over him again and again. He felt as if he could do this all day. He felt young again.

Maggot once more moved in to attack.

An endless fight lasting days but really only seconds. Roach/Scorpions once alive, then dead, then undead, back to attempt to kill more of the party. Three party members dead and gone, a fourth revealed as a traitor gated away. The goal of the mission sheathed at his side, a trip to hell looked to be upon the parties horizon.

The first of the party to act this round was Sirene her eyes widened in alarm as the once dead Roach/Scorpions began to rise as undead, thanks to Divot’s dying act. Mouthing the words of a spell the female Elf Mage/Druid rose up into the air on the back of a spell of flying. As she headed towards the first of the now undead mutated creatures she hoped Cor and Ulthok would be ok and that she had not left them to their deaths. However the beautiful Elf should not have worried as it was Cor’s turn to shine.

Cor, now once more finally back on his feet, found himself very frustrated that his ability to turn undead had yet to have any effect on the undead encountered so far. Yet the stout Dwarf was not one to give up or admit defeat and as the Roach/Scorpions arose as undead he again attempted to turn them. This time however his ability did not fail him as all seven of the mutated undead creatures were at once turned to ash. Immune to all magic they may have been while alive, but as undead they did not rate as more then 2-3HD creatures.

With the Roach/Scorpion threat once more neutralized the only remaining enemies before the party were the last three surviving minions.

Kenji, having gained a free attack last round as his opponents switched targets was granted a small hit on #4 as it moved to face Rayne. However faced with a tougher opponent then the larger minion again shouted a fierce "KIAI" and continued to engage the shielded minion before him in melee combat. Still hasted his attacks again numbered 6 and this time he hit with two, clearly giving the slender female like minion pause. However it roared back, shield leading the way, and again gained a good hit of it’s own. Both combatants clearly hurt it would come down to who had the most life left.

In that regard the Samurai fighter found himself helped with the arrival of four arrows, sent towards minion #2 from the bow now held in Ulthok’s hands. As the first and second arrows were blocked by the again blue glowing shield, arrows three and four were not. Arrow three punched past the armor on #2’s right side to lodge between it’s ribs while arrow four struck just below the waist. The minion clearly effected by the two arrows began a defensive retreat towards the now empty glass stand and the still dazed Althena, shouting to it’s other companion’s in an unknown language.

Minion #4 now engaged with Rayne, his large crushing maul swinging before him was easily seen by the Ranger/Cleric to be hurting. Her Long Sword of Agility having given her a good hit on the large minion before her knew that it was just not enough. One good hit by the huge maul and she would be on her back lying on the ground dead or dying.
Her dex and the sword once more helping her, the maul wielding minions first attack, swinging right to left, was a miss. Seeing her limited advantage Rayne struck for all she was worth at his unprotected left side, managing yet another solid hit. However this put her at a disadvantage and his return swing from left to right struck her as she struck him pushing her into Kenji’s path of advance, tangling them both momentarily.

Maggot was starting to realize just how much of him the Goddess Freya had changed. Though still clearly old in mind he was no longer such in his body and he slowly began to use this new self properly. As minion #2 cried out in their strange language he moved forward to the attack, sword thrusting and swinging looking for a weak spot, striking a grazing hit but mostly just finding air. His opponent it seemed while blocking his attacks had also returned a few and gave back better this time hitting Maggot across one knee slicing it open. Thus hindered he was unable to do anything but swing and miss with his free attack as the minion backed away.

With the three surviving minions disengaged and moving backwards, the party survivors moved forward, all wondering what was next and what new enemy would appear..........

SOMEWHERE WITHIN DROW MOUNTAIN
Valene hurried to finish cooking the Hill Giants dinner as Lothor gathered wood for the fire below the hanging slowly roasting meat. She knew that if was not done by the time they returned from the far side of the bridge between the two peaks they would be beaten and given nothing to eat themselves. She had been a slave of the Hill Giants now for little over a year and had watched as slowly they had eaten all the other captives. Lothor was sure to have been next having been captured three months ago but with the capture of the Elf and his Pegasus that had changed. Indeed it was the flying horse, now wingless, that Valene was busy cooking. Though she hated cooking it, it had been so beautiful and the first of it’s kind she had ever seen, she did as she was told and would happily eat the scraps of it too as after all it was still a horse and horse meat was tough to chew, but really not all that bad when seasoned. As she turned the spit once more she saw Lothor arrive, followed by a young Giant guard and gave him a quick smile of friendship. Strangely, the Hill Giant guards cared not if their slaves talked amongst themselves, as long as it was in common and Valene knew she or Lothor would be talking to the new Elf once he woke up............

Lothor knew something was up, as he moved towards Valene and the fire, with his captors and had been for some time now, even before they had captured the Elf and his winged steed. Dropping the wood in his arms and grabbing an old rusted wood axe he began to chop the gathered wood.
The Giants had seemed nervous and maybe a little scared the past week and kept looking to the sky above the two peaks. At first Lothor had thought it was the air mounted Elf but even after his capture they continued to watch the skies and even he had to admit at times he had felt a cold chill pass over him as if something evil was just around the corner. Smelling the cooking Pegasus Lothor could not help his mouth watering at the thought of the scraps he and Valene would be given. The Giant clan had, had little food for days now, afraid to wonder out from the caves safety, and it could have very well been Valene cooking him and not the wingless horse. In the three months that he had been a slave he looked for ways for Valene and he to escape as slowly the other captured people had been eaten, however the number of Giants had so far made that impossible. Even now with most of them across the bridge on the other peak discussing whatever had them all scared, the numbers were still too many. However maybe with the help of the new Elf prisoner an opportunity could arise for the three of them to escape and gain their freedom........

Ayreon awoke groggy to the smell of seasoned meat and could feel his belly roll in hunger. Then came the realization that he was tied hand and foot, his weapons and gear gone and the meat cooking was that of Tarenmenel his Pegasus mount. What had at first been hunger now caused him to heave the meager contents of his stomach up and onto his once shiny plate armor. Then his mind snapped clear as he remembered what had put him here, A SHADOW WRAITH!! Could it really have been one of them?
He, as a member of Callahorn’s Special Air Service, had been searching the area in this part of Graymark, per the King’s orders out of the fortress of Craggen Core. Looking for a missing group of the King’s personal guard sent to retrieve some old relic kept somewhere near here or so said the barrack rumors. During this search he had felt the presence of some form of great evil and had gone to investigate, only to spot a dark flying shape above him. His orders not to engage any enemy found he yet flew closer only to realize what he faced, a black garbed Shadow Wraith of old upon an ancient red dragon!. Quickly diving down and away he found himself flying between the two peaks of this lone mountain only to come to a jarring dead stop, the impact knocking him out cold till now. Taking a glance around he first spotted his new enemies, three young Hill Giant males, four females, and a number of Hill Giant children. Then he found possible allies in the girl turning the spit and the thirtyish looking man chopping the wood. Though long odds with no gear or weapons, Ayreon was not ready to give up yet.........

(DM OOC: Ok there you have this weeks post and I hope you enjoy it. Ok if you have not done so already please give a big welcome to Inn newcomers Kriea, and Brundel and my fellow longtime Staff member Raven. I hope the three of you will enjoy Trilogy as much as the rest of us do and that I do you all proud in my DMing. Map is up and Damage has been updated so my next post will be two weeks from today on Sunday the 15th due to the fact I will be attending an annual three day gaming Convention here known as ChimaeraCon this upcoming Easter weekend. Enjoy!)

Valene hummed softly as she worked, moving about the cave quietly, trying not to think too much about the source of the meat she was cooking. The halfling woman glanced over at the sleeping elf often, curious and concerned. Idly she wondered which of the newcomers would get eaten first. She sent up a little mental wager to her god, putting her figurative money on the elf, they tended to be more tender and therefore the better meal. She barely stopped the look of disgust from crossing her face as she realized how desensitized to ideas that would appall a normal person she had become in her time here.

Her perpetual smile fell back into place a moment later and she glanced over at Lothor as he got to work on the wood. She gathered some of it up to stoke her cooking fire, chatting amiably. “Depending on how things go on the mountain, we may get something in our bellies tonight,” she said cheerily, ladling spiced juices across the meat. At least she had proved that she could make anything delicious, even things that made her heart ache to cook.

Silently she studied the sleeping elf for a moment out of the corner of her dark eyes before going back to humming quietly, waiting for any sign of movement from him. When he did finally wake she approached him cautiously, offering him a cup of tepid water. “Easy now, don't sit up too fast. This isn't fresh, but it will help clear your throat. You've been out for quite a while. Do you happen to remember anything that happened?” She glanced nervously at the giant guard, wondering if she would get in trouble for her kindness, not that she cared. They would have to eat her raw if they killed her and she could take beatings galore. It was all too obvious to her that she was the only one in the camp capable of taking the things they passed off as food and making them edible. Her god taught her that all pranks came to an end eventually and she knew that her turn was coming, she simply had to bide her time until then.

Cor called upon the power of Odin, his faith not diminished in the least by his recent failures, and the scorpion creatures turned to dust and crumbled away. "Taht'll teach ye to mess with a sevant of Odin ya vile beasties!" Cor quickly took stock of the situation and knew what needed to be done next. Setting off at a full sprint, or as close to one as a dwarf can manage, he headed for Kenji. "Hold on Kenji my lad, I'm coming!" he yelled. It was time for Cor to weild a powerful weapon indead; a samuri. Once more taking his axe and calling upon the powers of his god, he cast heal on Kenji.

Maggot attempted to move forward and give some from of chase how ever useless the attempt with his limited move ability. “Flee from this world as your captain did. But tell him this, As long as he feeds upon the scraps of others he will never be more than a lap dog for the great evils of this world! And as for you! You will even less!" With that the old man spat upon the ground at the retreating foe. Hoping his taunts and eyes might renew the fight in his enemy so he may kill them this day and not another.

The battle was at last coming to an end. Cor channelled the power of his god and swept away the newly risen zombies like brittle leaves in a gust of wind. The armoured cohort, which Alasdair had summoned as one last cruel parting gift, appeared to be in retreat. One had been slain and the other were all wounded, their strange armour punctured by arrows, axe-wounds, and Kenji’s intricate sword-work.

Sirène, however, was in no forgiving mood. From her aerial vantage point, she could see all their handiwork. Her elven eyes lingered upon Connall’s shrivelled corpse; a sad reminder of the fate that had earlier befallen Cynil and Haila. All three had died without Sirène knowing any more about them than their names and that each had suffered before the end.

‘Where were they from? What Gods did they pray to? Will any mourn their passing? ... Will any mourn ours?’
Sombre thoughts swept through her head one after another, hammering like raindrops on sheet metal. But Sirène had no answers to give. All she could do, all she felt like doing, was take revenge.

“Koron en' naur; bragollach en' templa.”
The words of power escaped her mouth in an angry hiss. Within the bat of an eyelid, a ball of blue fire was streaking towards her foes, burning with unforgiveable fury.


OOC: Fireball time! Sirène will try to avoid any collateral damage obviously. If it’s not possible to avoid friendly fire, Sirène will aim the fireball slightly above the ground (since it bursts as a sphere), and therefore limit its area of effect on ground-level.

Ayreon woke to a dull throbbing pain in his head and hunger twisting the insides of his stomach. It wasn't quite as bad as he thought though. The Shadow Wraith's spell or whatever it had been that took him down from the skies, had hit him hard. How he had survived the fall, the elf had no recollection of. Actually Ayreon had no idea of his whereabouts either. Trying to sit up, he quickly found it fairly difficult as his hands and feet were tied with a thick knotted rope. Still very much out of strength, he let himself fall back down on the hard rock and closed his eyes to push away the pain.

When he came to again, he could smell a roast cooking somewhere nearby. Ayreon usually avoided eating red meat as much as possible, but right now he was so famished he felt he could eat a horse. Dismissing the thought, the high elf turned his head around and let his gaze suck in the details of his prison. It was clearly a cave of some kind and fairly big at that too. Although the sweet smell of the food filled the air, Ayreon could still feel and smell the cold mountain air from outside. They were definitely somewhere fairly high up still. Perhaps he hadn't fallen that far. The elf's heart sank when he saw what was cooking on the spit. He no longer had his wings or the beautiful white hair coat, but Ayreon recognized his former mount and friend nevertheless. And it made him sick.

The first being that caught Ayreon's attention was a halfling woman heading his way. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and waited until she reached his side. Not saying a word, the paladin opened his green eyes and smiled softly at the halfling who was offering him a cup of water cautiously. “Easy now, don't sit up too fast. This isn't fresh, but it will help clear your throat. You've been out for quite a while. Do you happen to remember anything that happened?”

Sitting up did seem like a good idea now. Lying on the cold, hard floor wearing a suit of plate armor, even one made by the best elven smiths, was not exactly enjoyable. And judging from the words of his new best friend, he had been doing it for quite some time. Tightening his stomach muscles, Ayreon swung his legs around and forced himself up into a sitting position of sorts. It wasn't really much more comfortable, but at least he got blood running to his hands as well. Fortunately whomever had tied him down had left his hands in front of the body, so he was able to take the offered cup and drink without assistance.

Ayreon took a couple of smaller sips first and then drank the water to the last drop. The halfling hadn't lied. It wasn't fresh or cold, but still it tasted better than he could ever have imagined. The elf passed the cup back, bowed awkwardly and smiled. "Thank you.", he said in a soft, singing and perhaps a bit too cheerful voice. While he was looking at Valene as he spoke to her, she could see his green eyes dart at the two hill giants every now and then. Despite his bound form, the elf was clearly assessing the situation and looking for a way out of it. And despite the smile, Ayreon had no way of knowing if he could trust the halfling or not.

"Thank you.", he said again and looked Valene in the eye. "I am Ayreon Larenthanar, knight of the King and pleased to meet you. I have a few questions of my own, but will gladly answer yours first." The elf took a short pause and cast another look at the guards. "I am afraid I do not remember much. One moment I was flying high up above the mountains on Tarenmenel", Ayreon looked sadly at the cooking form of his former mount and friend, "and then as we swooped down between two peaks something hit us very hard and I lost my consciousness. And now I find myself a captive of giants. My mission did not go quite as planned, seems."

The elf sighed and then smiled again. "But now do tell me, whom I have the pleasure of addressing? Am I correct in assuming the two of you are also being held against your will in this cave? Are there any more of you?", Ayreon took a break to let the halfling answer before continuing: "My mission is of utmost importunes. I must get out of here as soon as possible and I will need your assistance. To begin I need to determine three things: Do the giants have some kind of daily rhythm and how many of them are there? Have you seen any weapons I could use around? Is the bridge the only way in our out of here?"

The paladin of Corellon Larething looked Valene deep in the eye and the smile had gone from his face: "But first I need to know… Will you help me escape? If you do, I would be happy to take you with me."

Ulthok grinned as his arrows found their mark. The strange attacker had evaded two of the iron tipped missiles by luckily positioning the glowing shield to catch them in their flight. But the other two were now resting nicely in its side. At last something helped the first time.

The enemy was now withdrawing. Kenji could recover but it wasn’t time for Ulthok to let up. Continuing forward the halfling followed the creature with the strange blue glowing shield. The first set of iron tipped arrows had hurt it so now it needed more. If these enemies could be destroyed they won’t have to be faced again.

Pursuing the retreat of the blue shield Ulthok once again used the speed of his bow to place four more iron tipped arrows in flight to drop this invader in its tracks.