Monday, December 29, 2008

The Valley at War

Ned opened her eyes and saw Chen kneeling over her. "What happened??"
"There was a blast of energy soon after the white lady disappeared! It was so strong that you passed out!" Her headache seemed to confirm the last bit. Chen helped her up and they went to the nearest window. The battle seemed to be over and the ground was covered with slain wolves. There was a moment of relief when they saw Durin and Mendez walking from body to body to make sure it stayed that way.
They walked down the tower, constantly watching out for the night hag. They met Durin and Mendez near the portcullis where the guards were carrying the bodies of their dead friends towards the tower. They spent half a day carrying and burning bodies before going back up the tower where they decided to stay over night. Ned led them to rooms that she remembered from the earlier search and that looked like guest quarters. Mendez who was the first to look out of the window urged the others to come and look.
In the distance to the west they could see the battle. The twilight was illuminated by huge magical lights and explosions; the whole north-western part of the valley was a warzone. After watching the spectacle for a while they were able to make out huge elementals and even the giants near the green tower. It seemed as if they slowly moved north.

The next morning they decided to leave. The war was still raging in the distance and the party wasn't good at sitting and waiting. The grateful guards gave them horses and only Ned decided to fly and scout. After half a day they reached the village they stayed at the day before. Slowly riding through crushed defenses and smoldering ruins they saw women and children crying over the dead bodies of men lying in a row near the village centre. They had had no chance and the wolves had completely raised the village in under an hour. Filled with rage the four heroes moved on, determined to join the forces who fought against this abysmal evil. They met a few stray wolves who seemed to have fled the battle, most of them heavily wounded. The travelers made short work of them and moved on quickly. Resting on a small upheaval later afternoon, they saw the battle concentrating on the area around the black tower. The rest of the valley seemed calm with only columns of smoke giving evidence of the recent fights.

The next morning they reached the black tower. Throughout the night they had hunted down wolves that tried to escape the battle or had assisted hunters and druids taking down groups of fugitives. The ground was covered in bodies - humans, animals and wolves alike. Every creature seemed to have joined the fight. Groups of fighters moved towards them checking the bodies on the ground indicating an end of the fights. They arrived on the yard of the black tower just in time to witness the final showdown. They could see the white and the green lady together approaching a huge werewolf lord who was kept in check by five huge earth elementals. One of the giants was lying heavily wounded near the group, surrounded by at least 30 dead werewolves. With the elementals opening a corridor, the lord slowly turned, looked at the two women and with a roar started to charge. The two women stopped, looked at each other and in unison, raised a hand. The werewolf, suddenly surrounded by white and green energy, slowed down in agony and was forced to the ground a few yards further. Slowly, his convulsing body started to levitate. As the two women moved closer, they raised their hands, moving the hybrid body upwards. With a sudden burst of energy emerging from the two, the body was dashed against the wall of the black tower where it was fused into the obsidian material, leaving behind a grotesque wolf shape above the entrance.
"Looks good, don't you think?" The white lady started to smile. Both women looked at each other and bowed. They turned and while the elementals vanished one by one and the remaining fighters cared for the wounded the white lady approached the group. "Loranna told me about your heroic actions. Without your help, this valley would have descended into darkness. We owe you a great debt of gratitude! Please join us for the celebrations at sunset the day after tomorrow."
Lorna appeared next to her "My mother invited you to stay at the green tower till then!" Surrounded by so many beautiful women, Mendez immediately accepted the offer in the name of the group. Lorna bowed to the white lady and turned to the group. After a few debates, the group decided to be eagles this time.

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