by L. R. Wolf
Party chat- Elohwa “I will be careful, if I feel there are too many then I will have Thorn stop pulling and wait for you to come back.”
With that, Aya turned her attention to the video call. She once more felt guilty for abandoning them in the middle of a long camp like this, but her kids and family came first. She recast the Ice Walls and Lightning Fog before she placed a Spell Shield and Fire Shield around Elohwa and Thorn before she retreated behind the back most Ice Wall to open a call with her husband and children.
Chapter 25: The Throne Room
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After almost an hour of seeing her children off to bed and sending off various emails and messages to friends and family, Aya finally closed her interface and returned to the battle. Hearing the sound of metal on metal she peered out from behind the wall to see Elohwa fighting a much larger gnoll. A quick look at the gnoll told her what she needed to know.
Gnoll Commander-This gnoll wears a silver armband denoting the position of Commander within his clan.
Skill Level 117
Aya had been keeping the Ice Walls and Lightning Fog spells refreshed while she had been talking to her family as well as throwing out an occasional Fire Dome so she hadn’t been able to see what exactly Elohwa and Thorn had been fighting in her absence. The Commander bashed Elohwa back and away from him giving Aya the perfect opportunity to attack. With a practiced gesture she surrounded him with a Fire Dome, blocking the sword strike he was leveling at her Companion.
Party chat- Aya “I’m back, so sorry about that.”
Party chat- Va'lore “Your timing is impeccable. The gnolls have been becoming increasingly difficult for just Elohwa and your little bundle of vines to handle by themselves.”
Party chat- Aya “First of all, why the hell didn’t anyone send me a message? I would have been more than happy to help!! Second of all that little bundle of vines has a name, it’s Thorn. ”
Party chat- Va'lore “I learned long ago not to cross my sister, so when she said to leave you be I did.”
Party chat- Aya “Damn it, Elohwa! Next time you’re in trouble let me know! I’d much rather take a moment to help out with a spell or two then to have you die!
Party chat- Elohwa “I would much rather take risks than to cut in on precious family time. You only get to talk to them, what, twice a day? I do not want you missing out on time with your family.”
Party chat- Aya “Yes but if you die you’re gone and I’m not about to let you sacrifice yourself when I could have done something to help. Pull that shit again and I will recall out of here and drag you with me. We can always come back and try again, but it would be more difficult without you.
Aya met Elohwa’s eyes across the hallway. Judging by that look, Elohwa knew that what she had said in the Party chat-was no bluff and that she would rather abandon the mission than sacrifice her. As they exchanged looks, the Gnoll Commander had fallen before the fury of flames surrounding him revealing a much larger loot marker than they’d seen previously. Thorn glided over to the marker looting it. Some of his vines had been blasted off, scorch marks from casters marked his chest and back. Elohwa wiped away a thin stream of blood that oozed from her nose and mouth. She pulled a healing potion from a quick release slot on her belt removing the cork with her teeth, spitting it out and then quickly guzzling the contents. Aya watched as the small cuts on Elohwa’s face began to close, disappearing as if they had never been. She couldn’t help but also notice the nicks and gashes in Elohwa’s armor where she had been wounded and had healed herself.
Thorn shuffled over to Elohwa holding up something to her in a vine covered palm. Elohwa picked the item up and examined it, her eyes going wide before she linked it to the party with a thought.
Party chat- Elohwa “[Symbol of the Royal House of Shadow Elves]”
Aya opened the link, her eyes mirroring Elohwa’s as she read the description.
Symbol of the Royal House of Shadow Elves- Born of Fire and Darkness the Shadow Elves are the most ancient race within the world of Marod. This symbol is the crest of the Royal House. Can be socketed within an item to further amplify both the item and the person wearing the gem. +200 to main stat. Effects are halved on anyone not designated a friend of the Royal House. Effects are doubled on a member of the Royal house.
Party chat- Aya “Wow, very nice! Grats!”
Elohwa looked at Aya, joy and something else warred across her face for the briefest of moments before she extended the gem to Aya who raised an eyebrow.
Party chat- Aya “No, that’s yours. It will do you more good than it would me and it would end up helping us both out in the long run if you’re the one to use it since you’ll get double the effect.”
A frown pulled down the corners of Elohwa’s mouth. She knew Aya was right, technically speaking the gem was hers by birthright, but she had felt compelled to offer it to her anyhow. Aya’s refusal to accept it only increased her respect for the woman. She placed the gem in a slot on a bracelet that adorned her wrist. The bracelet had been a gift from an old lover long since dead and had served her well through many battles serving as a constant reminder both as to what she had lost, and what she knew she could have again if she just continued on.
While Elohwa was equipping the gem, Aya knelt down beside Thorn and held out a healing potion to him. His head tilted to the side before he held one of his broken vines up in front of him and shook it. Aya smacked a palm to her head as she realized what she needed to do. She brought her hands up and created a large swath of entangling vines that Thorn could use to repair himself. He trudged his way over to the nearest vine and brought his foot down on it. As Aya watched, Thorn absorbed the vines into himself repairing the damage that had been done over the last hour of battle. After a few more vines, he was back to his original size. Aya hadn’t given a second thought to the vines that he had been creating to perform various tasks, it was only now that she understood that he had been using the very vines that had made up his body. It was only once she had come back to them after her family time that she had seen that he had gotten much much smaller as his vines were used up on traps or destroyed. As an apology, Aya summoned another large swath of vines. Thorn tilted his head again questioningly then, with a grateful nod he began absorbing the new vines, his size swelled from his previous height of four feet to well over five and a half feet, the bulk of the vines acting as extra muscle.
Party chat- Elohwa “Thank you for allowing me to use the gem. Thorn looks much better….and much taller!”
Party chat- Aya “Lol, yes, he does. I wish I had thought about reinforcing him with more vines before, but I just didn’t realize that he was using his own body for the traps and everything, I just assumed he was summoning his own vines for that.”
Party chat- Elohwa “Yes, I had assumed the same thing. When we have more time we should probably experiment some more with him and see how we can help augment him.”
Party chat- Aya “I had actually thought that same thing about augmenting him in different ways. Great minds think alike, eh?”
Party chat- Va'lore “If you two are all done chatting about your pet and fiddling with new loot, you might want to prepare for the rather large group of very angry gnolls who are headed towards you. It appears to be one of the roaming sets of guards on patrol, but they will most definitely duck in to say hello.
Party chat- Aya “Bring em on!”
Aya and Elohwa immediately turned their attention back to the matter at hand. Aya quickly refreshed her spells before ducking behind the closest Ice Wall while Elohwa dashed back to her side of the hallway, diving into cover just as the first gnoll turned the corner through the door coming face to face with a much bigger and much stronger Thorn. Vines lashed out towards the Gnoll Guard, the sharp needles lining the vines ripping into the soft flesh of the gnoll’s face and neck. The gnoll howled in pain, his allies flooding through the doorway and spreading out putting them directly in the center of the Lightning Fog. Before the gnolls could collect themsel
ves and find the ones that had been hunting them, in their own territory no less, they were stunned as electricity arced through their bodies.
Elohwa noticed that one of the gnolls was a Royal Guard.
Party chat-Elohwa “Royal Guard 118 in the midst of that.”
Party chat-Aya “Gotcha, there’s a caster in there too get him down ASAP.”
Aya stepped out from behind her wall and threw out a Fire Dome to encompass the pack of six gnolls that had come for them. The Royal Guard barked out something. The Shaman with him immediately started casting something to counteract the Fire Dome but before he could finish, vines shot out from behind the group wrapping themselves around the neck of the caster interrupting his cast.
Elohwa targeted the Shaman and unleashed a barrage of arrows. The Guards, having recovered from the stun, raised their shields in front of the shaman to block her arrows. Thorn’s vines kept putting pressure on the shaman’s neck. Three of the gnolls faltered and perished from the Fire Dome that surrounded them. The Royal Guard performed a special attack, a charge which allowed him to pass through the Fire Dome, his red eyes burning with fury as they locked on to Aya.
Aya met his gaze with a challenge of her own. She lifted her hands to cast the Engulfing Orb spell that she had used on the Ghoul in the Dead Fields. The Royal Guard charged towards her, his weapon raised, time seemed to slow as he rushed forward. Aya needed a few more seconds to get the spell off, but at the rate he was moving she wouldn’t have time before the gnoll slammed into her. She interrupted her cast, and ducked behind the Ice Wall nearest to her. The Guard brought his sword down on the Ice Wall shattering it, chunks of ice flying in all directions, a few of them striking Aya in the head and face, causing a cut on her forehead . She looked up to see the Guard looking down at her, a feral grin causing his canines to show. Blood from the wound on her head ran down into her eyes momentarily blinding her. He raised his sword once more to strike at the Dreamer. Aya raised her hands in a defensive gesture, but flesh would do little to protect her from this blow. Vines suddenly lashed out and wrapped around the gnoll’s neck and yanked him back and away from the Dreamer. He howled in pain and anger as the thorns tore into his neck, his fury mounting at being denied his prey. He grabbed the vines that had begun to strangle him, the thorns burying deeper into his neck. When he couldn’t remove them with his hand, he whirled and brought his sword across severing the makeshift noose.
“AYA!!” Elohwa had been busy fighting the other Guard while Thorn had been keeping control of the shaman by not allowing him to cast any spells. She triggered her Shadow Step ability disappearing into the shadows for a moment before reappearing directly behind the Royal Guard. She drove her Twin Blades up, impaling him. The Guard still had some fight in him and spun violently, yanking Elohwa off her feet and slamming her into the wall.
Aya seized the distraction that Thorn and Elohwa had caused, and raised her hands once more preparing the giant Engulfing Orb. She poured in as much mana as she could, before she unleashed it upon the Guard who was already very nearly dead, Elohwa’s blades still buried in his back. The Engulfing Orb slammed into him with such force he was thrown off of his feet. The ball passed through him, burning him from the inside out before it continued down the hall and passed through the remaining Guard and Shaman. The Ball grew smaller with every gnoll it passed through before it finally disappeared after the Shaman collapsed. Stones appeared where the gnolls had once stood.
Elohwa felt a wave of healing wash over her. Hitting the wall had knocked the wind out of her, but she managed to push herself up and back onto her feet. She looked over to Aya, who appeared a bit wobbly. She had used up a tremendous amount of mana on the Engulfing Orb and then had cast a heal on Elohwa rather than herself. Blood was dripping from a gash on her forehead, where a piece of ice from the Ice Wall had hit her. “Are you alright?!” Elohwa frowned. She quickly moved to Aya’s side to steady the Dreamer who swayed a bit. She turned Aya a bit so that her back was to the stone wall.
Aya leaned back, resting against the cold wall to recover. “Just….really tired.”
“I can imagine, you used quite a bit of mana.” Elohwa pressed a mana potion into Aya’s hand, while at the same time gently wiping some of the blood off the Dreamer’s face with the cloth she kept attached to her belt.
“Ow! Wouldn’t it just be easier to heal me?” Aya flinched as the cloth came in contact with her wound. She hadn’t even noticed the pain until now.
“I could, but then I would not be able to be this close.” Elohwa continued to gently probe at the wound while the Dreamer turned multiple shades of red. Upon not finding any loose debris, she lifted her hand briefly, a green glow surrounding her hand before she placed a finger on Aya’s wounds. The gash knitted together swiftly before the wound completely disappeared.
Aya relaxed a bit more against the wall as the pain in her head subsided. “Thanks. You do love teasing me don’t you?” She raised an eyebrow at the Companion.
Elohwa grinned and winked. “I can stop if you would like?” She finished cleaning the blood from Aya’s face before reattaching the cloth to her belt.
“No it’s fine...just not used to the attention, I suppose.” Aya drank the potion that her Companion had handed to her. The peppermint liquid soothing her parched throat. She quickly removed a waterskin from her satchel and took a quick drink before handing it to Elohwa.
Party chat-Va'lore “Sorry to interrupt you, Ladies, but The King still has one more Royal Guard with him and two casters to heal and buff him.
Party chat-Aya “Wow, you guys were busier than I thought, we’re already up to the king?!”
Aya was surprised at how much they had managed to clear while she had been spending time with her family. She quickly put away the waterskin in preparation for the next fight.
Party chat-Elohwa “Based on the last Royal Guard this will not be easy. It is highly likely the King has some special abilities of his own. We will need to drop the casters as soon as we possibly can and then focus on the Guard before we target the King.
Party chat-Aya “Would it be better if we confront them out there? Give us more room?
Party chat-Va'lore “We could try. The sides and back are clear of gnolls for the moment but while you were away we were cleaning up respawn. We either need to go all out on them in the Throne Room and be prepared to be swarmed, or attempt to pull them back here where we have more control.
Party chat-Aya “Then we do it here. Let’s get set up and get ready to pull.”
Aya recast all of the Ice Walls, adding two additional walls to both her side and Elohwa’s and laying down two Lightning Fogs. Once the gnolls had entered the kill zone, she would unleash two staggered Fire Domes as the Royal Guards had a skill that would place them outside of the first. Thorn went out to pull the King and his entourage as Aya cast three swaths of Entangling Vines to help keep Thorn regenerated during the fight.
Thorn’s hitpoints suddenly dropped by a massive seventy five percent and continued to fall rapidly. When he finally turned the corner into the hall he was only standing only a foot high and most of his vines had been destroyed. In the blink of an eye, he began absorbing the vines that Aya had laid down especially for him. Aya was feeling incredibly grateful for the ring and the mana regen potion they’d gotten today. If it hadn’t been for both items working together, she would not have had the regen required to be casting so many spells constantly with very little need to take the time required to use a mana potion.
Party chat-Va'lore “The King has a Touch of Death spell. We need to kill him before it refreshes or it might hurt a bit.
Party chat-Aya “Any idea how long it would take to come back?”
Party chat-Va'lore “My best guess would be at least 15 minutes.”
They could see the red dots on their mini maps indicating where the gnolls were hovering just outside the doorway as though they sensed the danger within. Before the group could react, a giant bolt of magic slammed int
o the wall opposite the door dissipating the lightning fog.
Party chat-Aya “Well, that’s not good….”
Aya cast some more patches of Entangling Vines as the Guard finally rushed through the door. Thorn lashed out at the Guard pulling him away from the door where the casters could keep him healed. The loss of their target caused one of the casters to move through the door where he was yanked back towards Elohwa by a patch of vines there. The Gnoll Wizard was so focused on what was in front of him that it gave Elohwa the perfect opportunity to attack him from behind. She raised her twin blades in preparation to release a devastating sneak attack, but rather than penetrate the soft flesh in the back the blades hit a magical barrier that deflected her blades away from the Gnoll wizard and pulling his attention. The Guard threw his head back and howled as he focused his full attention on Aya. The howl caused Aya to shudder in fear, a debuff appeared in her vision.
Demoralized All stats reduced by 10%
She shook it off and put on a brave face, she knew Elohwa had the attention of one of the casters while Thorn was trying to keep both the Royal Guard and the Gnoll Wizard occupied with his thorns, the bleed effect from the small needles causing only a slight amount of damage.
Aya created a Fire Dome to encompass both gnolls and then immediately cast two more walls, one to separate each woman from their foe. The vines that ran through the hallway and into Thorn took on the familiar glow of a fire buff, now, Thorn would be able to inflict fire damage and possibly apply the Burn debuff.
The Royal Guard, now being buffeted around within the Fire Dome used his charge ability to escape it, only to be faced with the second Fire Dome that Aya had dropped. Thorn continued to lash out at his two targets, resupplying his vines from the patches of Entangling Vines that Aya had dropped for him.
Party chat-Va'lore “Not to rush you, Ladies, but you really should get a move on, The King is out here gathering more forces while he waits on his Touch to refresh.”