Our front rank warriors stepped forward to meet the oncoming wolves. I took to the nearest tree to have the best vantage point to cast spells and fey blasts, and Ireena soon followed. Ismark took up position near the tree to defend his sister. The first wolves quickly slammed against our front rank, Akkiir was dancing his blades in strange arcs and slashes while Uphir grimaced and swung her mighty axe. Janlynn summoned a blessed, glimmering mace which hovered forward to smite her opponents with her god’s wrath. Tetsuo’s staff and feet swept in upon the wolves and deftly darted away while Nim took up an archer’s posture to fire his crossbow into the creatures.
The sheer number of wolves was an oppressive sight, and we could see more coming from the trees ahead as well as sneaking up from behind us on the road. To stand against such primal fury would be a task hard won by any group of fighters, but our company stood un-moving before the onslaught, felling wolf after wolf almost as soon as their snapping jaws came within reach.
The rear wolves were upon us quickly and I used a spell to outline these wolves in a green glowing enchantment to aid in the fight against them. Ismark and Janlynn met these foes with staunch bravery as the others finished off the front group of wolves and awaited the run of the next wave. Blessings were cast from both Nim and Janlynn to aid their fellows with the strength of their just gods. Never have I seen such bravery and teamwork as they fought beside each other, each complimenting the other with their own specific skills.
The second wave of wolves at the front were being held at bay by Uphir, Akkiir, Tetsuo and Nim (who had moved to close ranks to fight) when we saw the dire wolves upon the ridge. One dark wolf had yellow glowing eyes and could only be Skennis. The last of the rear wolves were fleeing and most of the front rank wolves were down and we thought things were going quite well – Skennis was determined to ruin our day however. He rushed in with several other huge wolves and charged heavily into the front line, for a moment it looked like they would break the line, but our line held!
These wolves were much more powerful (They may have possibly been werewolves) and likely our silvered weapons worked well against them. Many of our company were bloodied and I could see Janlynn applying healing miracles amidst the melee. I cast another enchantment upon these new wolves. Amongst the biting maws and expertly swung blades, we once again saw the might of Lathander blast forth from Janlynn – pushing past everyone in it’s path to find it’s target in the yellow-eyed wolf. In a blinding flash of light we could see Skennis being pulled and twisted in a strange way as it appeared he was drawn into a quickly vanishing portal. He had been banished by Janlynn!
Seeing this, some of the wolves fled and a few remained to ultimately be killed by this courageous troupe. The battle was soon over and we took a moment to catch our breath, and look around at our fellows with a relieved look upon our faces. We had just overcome an intense obstacle. While the flush was still upon our faces, suddenly the strange portal deposited Skennis right back to where he had been taken.
Fierce battle was upon us all at once as a confused Skennis attacked wildly and our fighters responded with sharp silvered weapons. My fey blast was fortunate once more and skennis, bloodied from many wounds and almost dead, was finished off and his blasted body was hurled down the road. He died in a horrible almost transformed half wolf – half man form. With his last breath, he croaked out “Wait until Silvo finds you” or something to that affect.
We could not even take this time to celebrate our victory as the wolves who fled could be back upon us a any moment, possibly with even more of their ilk. Their unearthly howling could still be heard through the pounding sound of the rain. We rushed on to try and make the next village as soon as possible.
After 2 miles we soon came to a branching of the road – one clearly went to the town, still some distance away, and the other seemed to lead to an ancient looking wind mill. Well, we all knew what likely awaited us at the windmill, so we decided first to get to the town and rest before another big fight. As we rushed through the mountain trail, many of us fell under a strange beguilement. I cannot speak for the others, but I can say that all of the sudden I knew in my mind; in my soul, I must run down the road to see the most amazing sight one could ever behold. I did not know any specifics, but the power of that urge overcame all other senses.
As I understand it, we all rushed forward along the trail with a steep drop off to one side and a dense tree line on a slight elevation – this area was where we were desperately trying to get to in our silenced minds. Some of the group’s minds were released before the others, but when I came back to my senses I was in Uphir’s arms and she had a look of relief on her face as she saw my eyes register my surroundings.
What I woke up to was chaos and confusion. I could hear the thudding impact of objects embedding themselves into the tree’s around us in a flurry and noticed that I had the hard spine of a dart sticking out of my arm. How long it was there I cannot say, but it certainly hurt now. I could see my friends bravely rushing in to try an extricate their mind numbed companions, even as small creatures, barely seen amongst the foliage, fired blowgun needles at us in rapid succession.
Uphir rushed in and scooped up Ismark who was fighting her in his beguiled way. He seemed intent upon staring up into the trees quite happily. Uphir grimaced apologetically as she thumped Ismark solidly on the head, knocking him out. She threw him in my direction and moved back into the fray with needles riddling her mighty form. I took up Ismark as my burden and dragged him the rest of the way toward the road to hide him behind a wide tree trunk.
Shadows flitted in the trees and I could not make out what large entities lurked above, but either way, the needling blowguns were the immediate threat. Ireena was captured by Janlynn and Akkiir fought his way towards Tetsuo, whose mind was completely held by whatever demanded he stare into the tree tops. He was absolutely covered in darts and had bloodily dropped to one knee from the loss of blood, unconcerned with his impending death. Akkiir suffered much for his heroics as Tetsuo had gone farther than any of us into the copse of trees, but he managed to drag him back to the road and behind cover. Things did not bode well for our group!
