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The three of them walked toward the poor villagers who had sent Kel and Elendel off to kill the vampires. When the elderly man saw Wolf, he grabbed his wife's arm and fled behind a nearby column of stone which was obviously at one time a portion of a beautiful estate.

"Hello again," Kel waved toward them. "Don't mind our cloaked friend here. He's a bit sensitive to bright light is all."

The woman peered out at them, whimpered and hid again. The man stepped out, but Kel could swear he'd seen the woman push him out. "Wha.... What do you want?"

"I want to give you this vampire's heart and get my reward is what I want!" Kel pulled out the wrapped package and threw it at the man's feet. He balked, hands waving up in a defensive gesture. Kel wondered what it was that he was so frightened of.

"Why do you bother with such weak and pathetic specimens of human flesh," Wolf growled from under his cowl, and his red eyes began to glow more brightly. "We should put them out of their misery!"

"Back off, Wolf. They owe me a good deal of coin, and I intend to collect. Killing them was not a part of the deal," Kel raised an eyebrow and looked at the old man. "Unless you want to alter it a bit?"

The man vigirously shook his head and pulled a sack off of his belt. It had a slight tinkling sound as he threw it through the air. Kel caught it deftly and tested its weight. "There's more in here than what we agreed to, I see."

"Y-ye-yes," The man ran back behind the column, grabbed his wife's hand and began to run into the brush. "Please don't hurt us!" His words echoed out of a nearby cave and all Kel could hear is the crunching of twigs and leaves as they fled.

Kel hefted the sack again. "Too bad I'm not the domestic type, or I'd consider cleaning up that tavern with this money!"

Elendel had stood motionlessly during the entire encounter, and as Kel looked at him, he noticed that the elf continued to hazard brief glances at Wolf. Kel wasn't quite sure what the big deal was, so he shrugged yet again, deposited the gold into his backpack, whistled briefly then coninued walking down the path to the east.

As he walked down the path, Kel noticed a series of stones standing in a pattern similar to the shrine he and Elendel had explored before. He walked closer and remembered the word of power he had read from the stone in that dungeon. As he went to speak the word, a blur of motion to his left warned him that Wolf was near. They both said the word at the same time and the ground rumbled and a trapdoor revealed itself in the middle of the circle of stones.

"We could visit this shrine if you would like," Wolf seemed almost excited at the prosepect. "I see that you already know the magical word! Impressive."

"I've learned a few things around this land," Kel continued walking down the path, turning his back on Wolf. "and I told you we are looking for that ogre lord."

Wolf zipped up beside him and Elendel followed wearily behind. "That's fine. Follow me, then."

The demonic Wolf ran blindingly down the path. From a distance, Kel saw him attacked by one of the jackal faced monsters he and Elendel had slain before. A large part of him hoped the monster would get in a lucky blow.

Wolf, however, sliced the monster in two with his acidic kamas, then in quarters and then more in a flash of movement that Kel could not comprehend. In the instant it took Wolf to slay the beast, he stepped back and looked sidelong at the two adventurers and gestured for them to follow him as he rapidly moved to the east.

As Wolf ran away, Elendel walked closer to Kel. "Do you think we could escape while that beast is moving so quickly ahead?"

Suddenly a reddish flash appeared, followed by erupting eath and stone and Wolf stepped out of the chaos as it subsided. "Damn it!" Elendel muttered.

Wolf made a "follow me" gesture and ran off again. Kel and Elendel followed the quickly departing demon, but at a much slower pace.

When they entered into a part of the forest which looked a bit older than the rest, Kel withdrew his sword and got his shield ready. Elednel prepared an arrow and moments later a brutish monster appeared from between two of the trees and roared at them in a gutteral growl.

Elendel shot the beast in its arm as Kel swept its feet out by shashing at its legs. The beast was about two feet taller than Kel.

"Are those the ogres? All that anticipation for nothing?"

Two more of the beasts came running toward the two adventurers, but ten feet before they reached them, a blur of activity behind them caused them to pause, then fall to the ground dead. Wolf had made his move.

"These are not the ogres you search for. These are petty ogrillions, which are lowly scum easily beaten to a pulp," Wolf expertly twirled a kama up into the air and caught it with his other hand in a quick juggle. "The ogres are north of here. Are you still sure you would like to face them?"

"I've only told you that about five times, I think," Kel shook his head. "Yes, already, lead us to their lord and we'll cut him down as well."

"Okay. But I need to get something first," Wolf pulled a golden gilded book out of his pack, read a few arcane words and made a portal appear. "I'll return shortly." And he ran headlong into the door of blusih energy.

"We couldn't be so fortunate as to get that thing off our backs," Elendel picked up a rock and threw it at a tree out of frustration. "I feel so helpless with him following our every step!"

"I know," Kel agreed. "But what are we going to do? Hopefully he loses interest eventually. Most demonic sorts are too chaotic to stick with one thing for too long. Shall we continue without him and test the limits of his power?"

Elendel nodded, and the two walked in the direction they had been heading.

As they walked deeper into the forest, they noticed that there was no longer the background sounds of wildlife. The birds, the squirrels, even the insects had stopped all movement and noisemaking.

Elendel walked wearily, also making no sound as he passed under the tree branches. Kel was amazed by this. He clomped through the brush and try as he did to keep quiet, his heavy footsteps were the only sound his own ears could detect.

As they stepped out from behind a large pine tree, they were faced with their first giant. The ogre stood at least ten feet tall and glared down at them for a moment, then swung a club that was probably made from an entire fallen tree!

Elendel nimbly jumpped out of the way of the falling piece of forest club. Kel was not so lucky. He was lifted off of his feet by the blow and fell back at least as many feet as the ogre was tall.

As Kel groaned and worked to get up off the ground, Elendel had drawn his swords and began hacking at the beast from its flank. He scored two large gashes in the ogre's unprotected skin causing it to stumble.

Kel finally recovered his balance, ran five feet to his right to pick up his fallen sword, and rushed into the fray. By the time he got there though, it was too late.

Another telltale blaze of motion, and the adventurers knew Wolf had returned. The ogre stood motionless for a moment, shock on its mushed face, then its head fell off its shoulders in an almost gentle way. The rest of the giant immediately tumbled beside it.

"So, did you find their leader yet?" Wolf acted as if nothing had happened. "If not, I'm sure he's up along the northern road. There's a cave up there that houses another sort of creature that the ogre does battle with."

Kel let out a large sigh. "No, Wolf, we haven't found the leader yet," He brushed some dirt off of his armor and readjusted his shield. "but now that our fierce guaridan demon has returned, the world is a lighter place, indeed."

Wolf focused his attention to the warrior for a few seconds, saying nothing. Then he pointed to the north. "There it is! Do you see it in the distance?" He bolted off, and the two adventurers followed.

When they finally reached the ogre leader, it was apparent why he was in charge. He was fifteen feet tall and carried a greatsword that was taller than Kel.

Wolf was running in circles around the giant, jabbing his dripping kamas at exposed flesh and Kel noticed a hissing sound whenever the blades struck.

Elednel loosed an arrow as Kel charged in swining his longsword. His sword connected solidly on the back of the ogre's thigh, and the beast twirled to meet his attack head-on. Kel angled his shield perfectly and the greatsword barely glanced off its surface.

Wolf raked both of his kamas along the giant's back as he turned and the beast screeched in pain and anger. His shout alerted a nearby ogre, who began to run toward them.

Elendel engaged the newcomer, loosing two arrows in rapid succession, killing the monster instantly.

Kel continued his battle with the ogre leader, ignoring Wolf's ongoing slices at the beast's back. The ogre, as well, ignored wolf and swung with determination at Kel, who jumped back out of the way.

With that simple evasion, however, Kel had something else planned. As soon as he had recovered, he jumpped to the ground between the ogre's legs, twisted and thrust his sword into the giant's groin.

The giant instantly dropped his sword and made a large grunting/moaning sound and fell forward. Kel stood up, stole a glance at Wolf, took of his helm and smiled at the demon. "It seems that we can actually survive without hell's assistance," Kel grabbed the giant's hair and swiftly cut off its head, ending its groaning. "But I suppose you did distract it, so I'll give you points for that."

Kel wrapped the ogre's head in a piece of burlap and placed it in his pack. He thought to himself that it was a strange thing that he had become so good at wrapping the miscallaneous body parts to keep the blood from getting all over the other items in his pack.

Elendel was busy collecting arrows from the dead ogre as Wolf stood nearby, both kamas in hand watching them both. "What is to be your next move, adventurers?"

"Our next move will be turning in this head," Kel stood up and crossed his arms. "Followed by whatever earns us the most money."

"While you do that, I have business to attend to," Wolf withdrew his rune from a pocket in his tunic and pressed a part of it. It began to glow and the jagged rocks began to rise from the earth. "I will have my eye on you two, though. Remember I am able to follow you anywhere."

As Wold disappeared in a shower of fire, Kel looked to Elendel, who was frowning deeply. "I do not like that beast," He withdrew one last aroow and placed it in his quiver. "Perhaps we will be rid of him now."

"I wouldn't think it would be so easy," Kel began to walk back the way they had come, and Elendel followed. "I have no doubt the demon will return."

When they arrived back at the village, Kel took the ogre's head from his pack and accepted the reward from the townsman. "What other tasks need to be completed around this village?"

"It is nearing harvest time," the man pointed back at the fields they had passed when entering the town. "We could use farmhands to assist in that."

Kel stared hard at the man, who sighed in turn. "Or I suppose there is one more bloody task at hand," he leaned his sword up against the side of the nearby barn and knelt down at the sandy path. "To the west of the village is an area that is the home to many dire wolves. If you are able to survive their attacks, you will find at the end of the path a large cave."

"I think I will like this better than shucking corn." Kel winked at Elendel.

"In this cave, an evil band of Uru-Kai have set up a stronghold. Their very presence threatens our village, but more than that, they have stolen from us a great heirloom," the man drew a shape in the sand. Kel could not make out what it was. The villager obviously was not a great artist. "This urn holds the ashes of one of the founding fathers of Skara Brae. It has been said that as long as the ashes remain in the village, we will prosper."

Kel looked around. "The crops seem okay to me," he shrugged. "What more do you need?"

"Skara Brae used to be a place of commerce, and was a waypoint between Blackstone Keep and the great wastelands to the north," the man brushed his drawing from the sand. "This urn has been gone for over ten years, and no one has been strong enough to answer our call for help. We hope that just by having the urn back, people will consider moving back. Making Skara Brae their home yet again."

Elendel pointed up the hill to the large granite structure. "What about that temple there?"

"Oh, the Shining Order are pleasant enough folks," he scratched his head and waved his hand toward the temple in a dismissive gesture. "But they care more for stopping the hoardes of Kazra's followers than helping the commoners with their troubles."

Kel nodded. "I have seen many such religous battles come and go," He kissed a ring on his own hand. "I am pleased to be apart from such petty struggles. Eon is wise not to be involved in such squabbles."

"So, are you interested? Are you strong enough to help us?"

Kel laughed. "Like I said, it sure beats farming any day of the week!"

As soon as they stepped into the dark forested area, Kel knew that something evil had taken root.

"You're not, by any chance, familiar with this sort of forest are you, Elendel?"

Elendel looked up at the trees, searched the ground and the shrubbery and shook his head. "The forests that I am used to are much less.... Forboding?" The elf sniffed the air. "And most forests smell like damp earth and water. This forest, I cannot place the smell."

"It's not the smell of wet dog, is it?" Kel drew his sword and adjusted his shield just before a dire wolf attacked. "I've never liked the smell of wet dog."

Kel slashed at the beast, who dodged with a snarl and lept at the warrior's throat. With its paws on Kel's chest and its foul smelling maw inching close to his face, Kel swiped his shield at the wolf, knocking it to the ground.

As it circled the warrior, it suddenly yelped in pain and Kel noticed two arrow shafts protruding from the beast's rear flank. "That's it Elendel! Make him your pincushion!" As the wolf pulled an arrow out with its teeth, Kel slit its neck with his sword and the beast went down hard.

"I think you are right, Kellion," Elendel retrieved the unbroken arrow. "Definitely the scent of wild, wet and now bloody dog."

Kel was breathing heavily from the battle, but Elendel could see a crooked grin under the mesh of his helm. "Nothing like spilling a bit of blood from orc-flesh," The large door slammed shut, and the adventurers heard hollow screams of orcish anger and thumping against the barricade. "Nice shots, by the way my Elven friend. Your archery skills are getting better by the minute! I don't even remember the last time your shot did not hit true."

Elendel blushed, then twisted in a fluid motion, drew and arrow and pierced the eye of an Uru-Kai who jumped from the shadows. The beast fell dead at their feet. Kel laughed. "I think that's just about as point blank shot as you can get!"

The duo quickly stepped to another door, which was standing open. Another lever loomed at the far end of the torchlit chamber. "Cover me." Kel whispered as he crept to the lever, sword and shield in hand. Kel looked both ways as he walked, sticking to the shadows. His armor shifted occasionally causing a clanking noise he hoped was muffled by the crackling of the otrches and the sounds of uru-kai in the distance.

He was rewarded by reaching the lever without incident. Standing in the light, Kel felt a bit vulnerable, but he stuck his sword in the soft dirt and pulled the lever anyway. It was obvious that the gears were not very well oiled.

A large scraping sound uttered forth from the device, and moments after it did so, Kel felt a thump on his upper thigh that caused him to lose his footing. He looked down and saw a dent in his leg armor and a broken arrow, shards scattered at his feet.

Kel looked in the direction the missle came from just in time to see an uru-kai fall to the ground, grasping at its neck as its bow flung a few feet away from its dying body.

Kel's hackles went up just in enough time to warn him of a sword thrust from behind. He ducked and swiveled back toward his sword, hoping to pull it out of the loose dirt.

Unfortunately, his blade had been dislodged and although he could see it a few feet away, he knew there was no way he was going to reach it in time.

The uru-kai recovered from its missed blow and turned on Kel. When it noticed his prediciment, the beast laughed in a gutteral manner and said something in orcish, pointing its pudgy left hand at Kel while its sword arm held the greatsowrd to one side.

Kel took the opportunity of the momentary distracting taunt and lept off the ground, landing hard on the flat of the broadsword, knowcking it from the monster's hand.

The urukai's face knotted in confusion and anger as Kel punched his shield into its face. Blood splattered at all angles, and Kel knew that he had broken its nose.

As it lifted both hands to its face, Kel went to pick put the greatsword but the uru-kai had the presence of mind to kick it out of Kel's reach.

As Kel turned back to the beast, it loomed over him. It was standing in a fighting stance, blood streaming from its face down to its wolf-pelt armor.

Kel crouched into a fighting stance of his own, but stumbled as a pain in his leg shot through his body. The splintered arrow must have at least caused some sort of bruise, or Kel may have twisted it during the battle. Either way, as he fell, the urukai grabbed Kel's head and started twisting.

Kel felt his neck twist and fought back valliantly, hoping that Elendel would be able to kill the uru-kai before it killed him. Not trusting in such blind faith, however, Kel scooped up a handful of dirt in one hand and flew it over his shoulder in the hopes that it might be thrown in the general direction of the uru-kai's face.

He heard a frustrated roar and the grip on his neck loosened enough for Kel to break the hold and spin around to face the brute.

Out of the shadows, a stream of small cackling lights hit the monster, making a sizzling sound and the urukai groaned and fell to the earth.

Kel looked over and saw Elendel holding the small wand, persipration on his face. Three more uru-kai laid at his feet and Kel could tell that he had had a bit of a struggle of his own.

The two adventurers decided to rest and heal their wounds before continuing on. Kel took a roll of bandages out of his pack and started wrapping his bruised leg while Elendel applied a healthy amount of healing salve onto a cut on his arm.

When leaving to see what door the lever had opened, they discovered a door larger than the others with a sleeping guard outside. Elendel easily dispatched the guard with a quick stroke of one of his blades and the two wearily opened the portal.

Inside was another cave, as vast and ill lit as the one before. Kel made small gestures to the elf, hoping that he was adequately communicating that he cover his approach. Elendel nodded as if such gestures were as direct as words themselves and he slunk into the shadows to one side, readying his bow.

Kellion walked toward an upward outcropping, noticing a chair at the top. He crept up to the side and listened to the gutteral speech of the uru-kai, not understandin a word of it, but noting that the speech seemed subdued. Perhaps the monsters had not yet detected their presence!

Creeping back a small way so he could see over the ledge, Kel noticed a large boot leaning out from the chair. A echoing burp confirmed the presence of another.

Kel again attempted a communicating gesture to Elendel to circle around and be ready to attack. He noticed movement in the shadows and grinned at how he and the elf were starting to think alike, at least enough to communicate in this way.

Kel walked quietly around the mound of earth, careful to keep out of the torchlight. When he reached the other side, he backed up so he could see both monsters enjoying some sort of beverage.

He scooped up two medium sized rocks and quickly let the two fly, first at one mug then the other, knocking the two from the urukai's hands and causing shouts of anger as both stood at attention and looked in Kel's direction.

Elendel responded with a volley of arrows that made it seem as there had to be not just one elf, but a contingent, firing upon them.

The monsters could not make up their minds which way to turn, and Kel noticed arrow shafts protruding from both of their backs.

The one that had been sitting in the chair began to yell a piercing, howling call as Elendel continued to send arrows their way.

Kel took the opportunity to limp-run to the end of the ramp leading to the top of the mound. As the second uru-kai ran down from his position, Kel surprised it by slashing at one of its legs, cutting it mid-calf.

As the monster wnt down, Kel quickly finished it off with a chop to its neck.

The remaining urukai ran towards Kel, looking like a porcupine with arrows jutting out at all angles. Kel noticed a jeweled crown upon its brow and prepared himself for the coming battle.

Before the uru-kai reached the bottom, Kel saw a shadow race from behind the beast and land on its back. Elendel began stabbing it in the back with his two swords, and the beast fell to the ground.

Kel took the opportunity to join in the fray, slashing at the beasts arms as it tried to find a way to regain a standing position.

Kel hit at the beasts several times before realizing it was moving no longer.

"Well, I suppose that was the king of these beasts," Kel wiped his blade on the king urukai's cloak, removing the blood from its surface. "Did you notice any urns sitting around while you were up that way?"

The duo walked back up to the throne and found the urn leaning against one of the legs. They also found a number of gems and some gold, which caused Kel to whoop in joy and Elendel to smile broadly.

They made their way back to Skara Brae and received multiple thanks from the man by the barn as well as a secret on how to us the portal located on the top of the plateau in the village.

Elendel's excitement to use the portal was only matched by Kellion's dismay. As the elf stood in the center of the stones touching one, then the other, Kel began to sweat.

"Elendel, are you sure we need to use this? I mean, after all, it can't be that far to walk?"

"But why walk, when you can ride the magical waves of this land?" Elendel pressed the last stone and disappeared in a flash of eldrich fires.

Kel seriously considered walking back down the hill and finding his own way, but he had no idea where the combination of runes led to, so he knew he had to follow the elf despite his fears.

"Unnatural, just bloody unnatural!" Kellion mumbled as he touched the first runestone, recoiling in terror after the gentlest of touches. He half expected the thing to shock him or turn him to ashes, but instead the runestone started to glow softly.

"Well, I suppose that wasn't too bad." Kel pressed the second, then the third stone both of which resulted in the same glowing rock result. He paused before touching the last one, remembering Elendel being consumed by the magical sparks.

Perhaps the elf was disintegrated, Kel thought to himself. Maybe the mages of this land decided to thin the ranks of adventurers by tempting them with easy travel?

He knelt in the center of the runestones and said a prayer to Eon to keep him safe and preferably in one piece. When he rose, his hands were dripping sweat, and he held one hand toward the final rune.

It seemed like months past as he stared at the stone, at first thinking he would just press it and be done with it and face his fate and the next moment pondering the virtues of running for the forest and perhaps living in the newly vacated uru-kai caves.

Finally, thinking that the elf may be off finding treasure without him, Kel slammed his hand on the stone, expecting the worst.

And what he experienced was very bad, in his estimation. He felt as if his body were being pulled apart in all directions. He had shut his eyes tightly as he touched the rune, so he could not see anything immediately, but as the sensation flooded all of his body, he saw a multitude of colors through his closed eyelids.

He felt as if he was floating, with no physical frame of reference. If he could have felt his stomach, he had no doubt it would be churning. He was torn this way and that, and in an instant he felt hard soil underfoot.

As he materialized in the same bout of colors as he had left on, he fell to his knees, eyes still tightly shut.

Bile rose to his throat and he almost lost his stomach contents, but when he opened his eyes he saw the smiling elf standing nearby.

"That was an amazing experience, Kel! You humans have such inventive and magical means of transportation!"

Not wanting to appear weak in front of Elendel, Kel swallowed his bile and weakly smiled, the taste in his mouth almost unbearable. He spit, and stood slowly, slightly dizzy. "Where are we anyway, elf?"

Looking around, he saw what appeared to be a jungle landscape, leaves and fog and moist humidity surrounded them. "We are in the swamps, I believe, Kellion," The elf walked up to him and helped to steady the dizzy warrrior. "I think it is refered to as the Tyranoid swamp, but I have not heard why that is."

Kell looked toward a tree about fifty feet away and noticed a large lizard-like beast walk out from the mists and level a longbow at them. "I think we're about ready to find out, Elendel."

The arrow blazed past them both. Kel didn't really expect that the archer could possibly hit them from such a distance. He was more than a little disturbed by the greeish liquid that hissed and spattered as the arrow hit the ground ten feet or so from them.

Donning his helm and shield, Kel followed by pulling his sword from its sheath while Elendel returned fire on the lizard creature.

The creature yelld at them from a distance, "Sssayiiii! Fut nat ye Seschlaaa!"

"Well, that sounds like a challenge to me!" Kel rushed the lizardman as it shot an arrow at him. The arrow hit Kel's shield and made the peculiar sizzling noise as the arrow before had. By the time Kel reached the beast, Elendel had already hit it a few times with his arrows, and a reddish-green ochre was oozing from the wounds.

Kel chopped at the lizardman's bow, hitting the string. The bow snapped apart, hitting the creature in the face. As its hands went up to protect its eyes, Kel ran it through smoothly. It slid off the blade making a faint hissing sound, then nothing.

Elendel rushed up and the two of them looked at the dead monster. Its blood also sizzled as it flowed onto the marshy ground.

Kel took off his shield and pulled the arrow from it. The indentation in his shield had the greenish substance on it as well, and the hole appeared to be larger than the arrowhead would have made it.

"Acid, Kel," Elendel stated as he retrieved one of his arrows from the lizard-creature. The head of the elf's arrow had melted. "The lizard's blood must be acidic as well." He tossed the ruined arrow to the side.

Kel realized that such liquid hitting flesh would probably hurt quite a bit. He made a mental note to avoid those arrows during future encounters. "I suppose those lizardmen are the Tyranoids of this swamp, then."

"I think you are correct," Elendel stated in a dull tone. "I heard tales of them in the inn, and they were not positive tales. I think we had better be careful."

Kel shivered despite the humidity. He had the feeling that this was not going to be a good place to spend any length of time.

"At least we don't have to deal with that Wolf character," Kel peered into the mists watching for lizards as they walked down the marshy path. "I'm not sure what plane of existence he hails from, but he was a bit more frightening than these acidy lizards."

Elendel was stealthily walking alongside the path, bow at the ready, but Kellion still noticed the elf shudder at the thought of the strange creature that had supposedly cursed them.

A tyranoid up in one of the willow tress shot an arrow at Kel. He noticed the green streak in time to bring his shield up. Elendel returned fire, but this time, when the arrow hit its mark, it exploded in a ball of fire.

The explosion shook nearby trees, dislodging moss and many birds. The tyranoid itself flew back off the tree into the swamp water where it remained floating face-down.

Kel stared wide-eyed at the elf. "What just happened there, Elendel?"

Elendel looked embarrassed. "I've been practicing an elven skill of combining magic with archery. I was able to focus a fireball onto the tip of my arrow that exploded upon contact."

Kel looked skeptical. "Magic and archery? Well, I suppose that's a good practical combination. Just make sure you don't accidentally drop one of those enchanted arrows. Barbecued lizard is one thing. I prefer not to be on the flame cooked menu, thank you."

Elendel nodded and continued his patrol of the swamp, looking one way then the other.

As they went around a bend, two tyranoid archers knelt behind a log. They had obviously heard the explosion and were prepared for the adventurers to come their way.

Kel yelled out as Elendel rounded the path. "Now might be a good time for one of those arrows, archer-mage!"

The tryanoids shot two arrows toward them. One embedded itself in Kel's shield, the other in his upper chest. Kel cried out as Elendel returned fire. The lizards had retreated behind the logs, however, and Elendel's arrows buried themselves in the dead wood.

Kel quickly examined his chest where the arrow had hit. His armor had deflected the missile, but the acid was beginning to scar its surface. As Kel began to run toward the tyranoid snipers, a lizard larger than the others appeared from behind a nearby tree.

The tyranoid held two swords which appeared to be surrounded in a whitish magical glow. It was clothed in a combination of metal and some strange leather armor. It growled deep in its throat as it stalked quickly toward Kel.

Kel, unable to make it in time to the archers, held his shield toward their line of fire in time to feel two arrows hit its solid surface. The dual-wielding tyranoid used that slight distraction to aim a well placed blow toward the opening from Kel's now absent shield.

As the blow connected, Kel felt at first a small vibration soon followed by a large reverberation throughout his body. He was thrown to the side by the sonic attack and instantly felt a headache forming.

He was able to hold his sword up to block an incoming slash from the tyranoid, but could not avoid an arrow one of the archers sent soaring into his back. The arrow amazingly hit at a joint in his armor and caused a sharp burn in his shoulder blade.


Kel glanced over and saw that Elendel hid behind a tree, out of the line of fire. He had drawn his wand of missiles and after a volley from the lizard archers, he jumped out and aimed at Kel's attacker. Two bright blue magic missiles arched from the wand and hit the large lizard.

As the lizard changed its path to rush Elendel, Kel aimed a well placed kick at the back of its knee, causing it to fall. In that instant, Kel chopped down on one of the lizardman's sword arms, severing it at the joint.

The tyranoid let out a howl and raised its other sword to chop at Kellion, surprisingly still able to fight despite the extreme pain it must be feeling. Kel deflected the chop with his boot, and ended the lizard's life with a sword thrust.

The two remaining tyranoids shot at both Kel and Elendel. Kel's shoulder continued to burn, but he grunted away the pain and rushed the archers.

Once he was close enough to the lizards, their arrows were easily deflected and he finished one off as Elendel picked the other off as it raised its head above the log it had been hiding behind.

Kel sheathed his sword. There was something about the large tyranoid that disturbed him. As he walked up to the beast, he immediately realized what it was.

"It appears the monsters are cannibals," Elendel said as he walked up next to Kel. "They must use their fallen brother's blood for their acidy arrows."

"I think you're right about that," Kel grimaced. "but notice the large one's armor..."

They both looked down. The leather components of the armor were dried lizard skin. Kel made a disgusted face and turned to Elendel.

"We should continue on before more of these scaly bastards jump out of the vines." as if on cue, it began to rain. Kel looked to Elendel who was looking into the distance.

"There's a cave over there," the elf said. "At least we can get out of the rain."

Kel grumbled as they walked toward the cavern. "I'm sure the lizards are thinking the same thing."

As they walked into the cave, a tyranoid guard instantly attacked.

"NOUG SH..." It began to scream before Kellion cut out its throat.

"We had better stick to the shadows, Elendel. That shout echoed and I'm sure this one has friends."

Elendel nodded and the two hid in the shadows as best they could. Kel's armor would occasionally scratch against the wall causing a slight clinking sound which caused him to cringe.

As they progressed through the cave, they came to an open area with a makeshift gate. The barrier was made from fallen logs, bones and more pieces of lizard leather.

Two of the dual-sword lizards stood guard, and both looked alert for intruders. Kel sighed and looked to Elendel. He nodded, and the unspoken agreement to advance was understood by Kellion.

As Kel stepped from the shadows, he waved at the tyranoids with his sword hand. "Hail! You don't happen to know the way to the keep, do you?"

As the lizards ran towards him, Kel laughed. "Well, maybe you'll understand this," An arrow hit one of the lizards, knocking one of its blades from its hand. "Noug YOU!"

Kel attacked the other tyranoid, parrying one of the swords with his sword, one blocked by his shield. He took a presented opening and lashed at its midsection, cutting off one of the leather straps.

The maneuver caused the tyrnaoid to hesitate, which was all Elendel needed to send an arrow shaft through the lizard's eye.

Kel turned to the other lizard, which attacked him with the one remaining sword in its hand. Its blade bashed into Kel's helmet, causing a large ringing in his ears adding to the headache from before. Kel twisted to the side and lopped off the tyranoid's other arm.

The weaponless lizard looked dumbstruck at the two adventurers. Elendel lowered his bow. Kel looked to the now pathetic creature as it raised its stump to its mouth and licked at it with a long, thin tongue.

Kel shrugged and made a slight twitch with his sword arm, opening the lizard's throat. Kel stepped back as acidy blood pooled and hissed on the ground.

Beyond the gate was a gathering of small huts, arranged in a semi-circle. Kel was amazed that the huts could withstand the acid of the beasts that lived within.

Remembering the prior time Elendel and he had almost suffocated by setting the goblin huts ablaze inside of a cave, Kel dismissed any idea of burning them to the ground, but wondered if there were a way to destroy them?

Elendel disrupted his thought by tapping on his shoulder and pointing beyond the huts. An opening to the outside let in patches of light. Vines over the exit kept it from being too bright, and Kel had missed it due to the harsh crackle and glow of sconced torches standing nearby.

A shout from behind warned them. Looking back, a small army of lizards were coming their way from beyond the gate. Kel quickly counted six archers and more than a dozen soldiers with swords and lances.

Elendel wasted no time and ran for the vine covered exit. Kel quickly followed suit and the two were followed by a number of greenish tinged arrows.

As they broke outside into the late afternoon light, Kel was momentarily blinded and shaded his eyes looking for cover to hide behind. Elendel yelled to Kellion, who then spotted the elf crouching behind a rotting wagon.

Kel ran over to the elf and sat what used to be a large wooden wheel. Elendel craned his neck over the edge, arrow notched, waiting for their pursuers.

Strangely enough, no lizards exited the cavern. No sounds escaped it either. It was almost as if the tyranoids had only existed in the adventurer's minds.

Kel and Elendel frowned to each other, but eventually walked from behind the wagon in a ready crouch.

Still nothing approached them. An eerie calm arrested the wooded area. It was unlike the jungle swamps on the other side. Where the entrance of the cave was wet, marshy and humid, the exit may have been a portal to another world.

The musty smells of the forest assaulted their senses. The cave they had exited rose up into a large mountain, jutting to the heavens in an immovable spire of trees and foliage.

Elendel turned from looking at their surroundings. "I hope Wolf did not bring us into his nether realms!"

He sounded a bit frightened, but Kel did not sense anything strange other than the environmental difference. Although, he admitted to himself, stepping into that rune portal could have led them anywhere.

There was a small dirt path leading from the cave out into the distance. With nowhere better to go, the duo began to walk down the path, weapons still at the ready.

They quickly came upon a rugged hut. It was of similar build to the ones inside the cave, but looked as if it had been constructed with more care and attention. An axe stuck out of a tree stump, a pile of firewood neatly stacked next to a cart.

The entrance to the hut glowed warmly as if from candlelight. Sounds of some sort of woodwind instrument piped out of the hut in a hauntingly sweet lilting series of notes.

Were the tyranoids in the cave afraid of whomever lived in this hut? Kel was not sure, but knew that there was only one way to find out.