The entire party except Syrus and the mule's had made it across the river when they realized that as good as Syrus' plan was it was simply not going to work.
Syrus was surprised that the group had not expanded farther from the river than they had and was about to say something when he looked toward the middle cave entrance. He immediately found out why they had not made a more definitive move from the side of the river.
In front of the tunnel was the Basilisk. The old mage thought it odd that the creature moved that quietly but then he realized this creature was much bigger, than the one they had seen coming out of the larger cave entrance off to the left. This was the alpha male which was a bad sign for the group as that meant they would be facing more than one of the beasts.
Syrus looked over toward the larger cave to see if the female had moved and as he expected she had only inched closer. The male had made it fully into the large cavern now as it walked over toward his life mate.
Perhaps they would get out of here without a fight after all. He was about to indicate a move forward when a third creature about the size of the female exited the middle cave. Once into the cavern all three of the beasts began to make slow methodical progress toward the party.
They had fanned out making sure they were blocking the group's progress through the tunnel. It would appear the group could either go back from whence they came, or they could fight their way through.
"It would appear this group of beast tire of the ample supply of cod nesting in the riverbed. It seems they are going to try and add something new to their diet," Syrus said with a slight chuckle. He nodded to Magus Sheplin indicating he was ready for the fight.
Skarnum had heard of these creatures and new of their awesome fighting abilities, but he was bound and determined to make sure that if he was going to be a meal, the huge beast was going to have to work for it.
Gripping his large two-handed sword, the large Hybonian began to make his way toward the beast on the right, one of the females he thought to himself.
As he passed by Hawk, he noticed that the Elf had not moved. Certainly, this veteran warrior was not afraid of battle, the young prince shook his head, it had to be something else he thought. So, he decided to slow down a bit.
As he got up to the Elf one of the Hawk's hands extended as if to stop him. Normally this would have enraged Skarnum but if there is anything he had discovered about Hawk and the other master for that matter is that they always had a plan.
This time was no different as he came up even with the Veteran Elf, he glanced over to see what he was about. The wizened figure caught his gaze and nodded toward the casters who had already begun to cast spells.
As he looked back to the targets, he noticed large areas of darkness forming around the two females heads. At first, he was confused as he knew from his studies that Basilisks hunted by scent and motion as their vision was horrid.
Then it struck him, it was also said that the Basilisk could with only its gaze paralyze its victims for several minutes. This was usually long enough for it to sink its teeth into you. If the bite did not sever any large organs and kill you then the acidic droll that found its way into your body would paralyze most any large beast and would kill most any of the smaller ones.
It would appear that the legends were true and that the masters came prepared for such an encounter. Skarnum simply shrugged his shoulders as the preparedness of the three masters no longer surprised him.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
Kelsee and Kyjus both were relieved at the preparedness of the masters, but Kyjus had noted the incantation of the spell the masters had just cast and thought he would try a little trickery of his own.
Since a caster can only have one darkness spell active at a time, he thought he would try his luck with the darkness spell seeing how there was still one very large beast running around with the ability to see.
Of course, Kyjus had no previous knowledge of the Basilisk so he could not know that the darkness spell was enacted to protect them from being paralyzed and not so the creature would be blind in combat.
As the young mage began his spell concentration, he noticed that arrows were now streaming from Weemus and striking the blinded female to the left with amazing accuracy. Deemus and Syrus were both busy casting spells, but Kyjus now attempted to block all of them from his stream of thoughts.
He was now fixated on the large male that was making his way toward them. The creature was less than one hundred feet away. Kyjus had the picture of the cone of darkness in his head, so he spoke the incantation that he had heard from Syrus.
"Producius Globo Notte", at first nothing happened and Kyjus had feared he had done something wrong. He was too stubborn to quit so he redoubled his efforts. "Globo Notte", he said again.
The darkness came slow at first but the clearer the picture became in Kyjus' head the more intricate the pattern of darkness surrounding the creature became.
Kyjus opened his eyes to see a large sphere of darkness surrounding the large male. Smiling Kyjus looked again at the monster; something was not quite right with it. In looking at the creature's feet he could see that they appeared to be embedded within the rock. It would appear that the old mage already had a plan for this beast.
Syrus looked around and smiled at the young mage who in turn smiled back.
Syrus then looked to the princess who had already unleashed a few magic missiles at the large male, but all this seemed to do was enrage it as it now fought to get out of the grasp of the hardened rock.
She was about to go to a much more volatile spell when a thought penetrated her mind. "Please do us the favor of not using your devastation line of spells, while it is true, we want these creatures dead we do not want the cavern to come down upon us in the process," a voice within her head whispered.
The intrusion was in Syrus' voice, so she looked to him and nodded her understanding. The old mage simply smiled as he began to launch into several volleys of ice shards.
Kyjus noticed the ice shards that Syrus used caused far greater devastation then the magic missiles from the princess. Was this because Syrus was a much more prolific caster than she or was it because the beasts were far less resistant to the ice line of spells than they were too magic or the arcane line of spells.
Kyjus had guessed the first might play some small part in the general picture but he had guessed the latter played a much bigger role so he decided he would utilize the ice line of spells that he had memorized.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
Weemus' motions were nearly a blur as arrow after arrow found its mark striking the now wounded female upon her head and torso. Her once slow gate now turned into a more determined trot as she made her way toward the commotion ahead.
Hawk grabbed the large Hybonian's arm and gestured toward the female toward their right and then pointed to him. Skarnum nodded that he understood and strode forward to meet this newest challenge.
As he strode forward, he felt a tingly sensation up and down his entire body, he suddenly had the feeling that he was invulnerable. This had to be the magic of a powerful priest but whom, Skarnum shrugged as he was unaware of any within his party, but he knew better than to question good fortune.
Hawk had a much larger distance to traverse than did his pupil, but his agile stride and quick pace were more than was needed to successfully navigate the distance. Within seconds the Veteran warrior now circled its prey. It scraped the tip of its sword upon the ground to get the females attention as his steps were so light, she was unaware of his approach.
The Elven veteran also felt the tingly goodness of light upon his body and smiled. Unlike Skarnum, Hawk new all of the abilities of those he was engaged in battle with, so he shot a quick look and a sly wink back to Deemus for his help.
The Gnome smiled back as he began concentrating on his next spell. This one however, was meant to attack the foes he faced instead of helping his friends.
With Hawk actively engaged in his target it was no longer safe for Weemus to continue firing upon it. While he had every confidence in his ability to hit a given target, he also knew the fighting style of the Elf.
Hawk engaged his opponent consistently moving, making it so that his opponent had to work to keep up with him. This unfortunately had him consistently moving in what appeared to be every direction. While Weemus was convinced there was a pattern that lay within the dance, he simply did not have enough experience fighting with the Elf to understand it.
Ascertaining his surroundings Weemus gauged where he could best be of some benefit in the on-going battle. His initial thoughts were that Skarnum could most use his help, but he would either have to navigate around the rest of the party or risk shooting through them. Neither of these were very appetizing to the little gnome. However, with two steps to his left he would be in position to attack the giant male Basilisk, so this is the choice he made. This poor creature had now become his new target.
Deemus did not change his intended target as he vowed to offer any assistance he could to the Elf. Reaching into the folds of his white robe he pulled out a small steel shank in the shape of a hammer.
His brother, still firing on the large male and successfully connecting on shot after shot at the beast, smiled as he knew what was about to come next. Oh, how he loved this spell.
The incantation was longer than most. It built into a crescendo and as the spell neared its end. Deemus, in his final act in this spell, took the shank and threw it near the female that hawk was fighting. As the shank neared its target the little cleric spoke the final words of the spell "Animar Hammare", resonated throughout the chamber.
Kyjus mumbled "cool" to himself as he now saw a very large hammer hovering in midair relentlessly pounding on its intended target.
The princess also thought it was neat as she took a moment's pause to catch the sight out of her peripheral vision.
What they did not understand is that Deemus was now out of this fight as he must maintain a concentrative link between himself and the hammer or it would fall to the ground and turn to ash.
Weemus on the other hand was fully aware of this and should anything get to close to his brother he would first throw his brother to the ground, in hopes of breaking his concentration. He would then throw himself in front of whatever wandered to near in the hopes of deterring the creature from its intended target (his brother).
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
Skarnum swung his mighty sword to and fro keeping the vicious female at bay, occasionally landing a strike or two. This was an even fight however, as the female had occasionally landed a successful strike or too with her tail. The combination of the priests spell and armor were more than enough protection, something that his attacker probably did not anticipate. The most that the four-legged assailant could hope for given the situation were a few small bruises, of course the basilisk would not realize this until it was far too late.
Syrus saw that the fight with the tall warrior was not progressing as well as he had hoped but it was going as he had expected. These creatures are fierce close-range combatants and if anyone expected it to be a short battle given Skarnum's limited battle experience Syrus knew them to be sadly mistaken.
Perhaps it was time to shift the odds slightly in the young warriors favor.
With the large male embedded into the ground with his liquefy stone spell and blinded by Kyjus use of a summoning darkness spell. He could perhaps take a few minutes to help the young prince. Slipping around the Magus put him within a clear shot of the creature, but Skarnum was clearly obstructing his view of the intended target.
The young prince felt the intrusion upon his mind almost immediately, he knew it to not be foul and so he did not fight it, "I am prepared to lend you some help if you will have it young warrior, but I am afraid you will need to reposition the creature so that I have a clearer view."
Skarnum nodded that he understood and baited the monster into position with a few steps back and to the left. Slowly the mob turned exposing its side to the old mage.
Perfect the old mage thought to himself, he could now lend a hand to his young friend. He could only help in the form of a few of his simpler spells as he was nearly exhausted mentally from casting his earlier liquefy stone spell. It seemed that all of the mages elemental spells always drained him so.
Any help was better than none he thought to himself as he reached deep into his left pocket. Pulling out several silver studs he began to get a mental picture of his target and where he wanted the impact of his frost spell to strike his target.
When he was satisfied, he said the words that would enact his bolts of frost spell, "Frio Projectilus".
His hand warmed as the spell converted the matter of the silver studs to bolts of frost. In seconds four bolts of frost went screaming across the open expanse of the cavern blasting into the side of the creature that stood in front of Skarnum.
The creature stood immobile for a few brief seconds unable to move or make any sounds as the cold impact from the frost spell left it momentarily incapacitated.
Skarnum noticed the hesitation and took a large swing with his sword clipping something, but he was not sure what as he could not see within the confines of the darkness spell.
Reversing directions, the young warrior now brought the sword in an overhead chopping direction. It was a quick strike hoping to catch the creature off guard. The Basilisk caught the movement as it began to recover from the bolts of frost.
The creature was able to manage to get out of the way of the bulk of the swing as the sword barely clipped the side of its head before it struck the ground hard.
Skarnum knew that his blade had grazed something, most likely the side of the creature's head, before striking the ground and sending shivers of numbing pain up his arms and down his spine.
The old mage wasted no time as he took a few more silver studs out of his pocket and enacted another bolt of frost spell. This time in his mind's weakened condition only two bolts of frost left the hands of the mage, but these too struck nearly on top of the last four.
This impact, in addition to previous impact that had already weakened and froze the side of the beast, caused the skin of the beast to open and separate. Blood and entrails now flowed freely from the creature who knew its doom was upon it but once again was powerless to react.
Sensing victory was at hand Skarnum quickly lifted his sword, again bringing it straight down in a chopping direction toward the beasts head.
The young warrior felt the blade bite through the skull of the creature but with all of his strength behind the blow his sword cleaved right through the creatures head and again struck the floor albeit with much less impact than the time previously.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
The Elven veteran paced himself now as he measured the strikes of the giant hammer and did his best to compliment the hammers attack sequence.
The creature was confused as it knew it was being struck on both sides, but it could only sense one person in the area. This is where the corporeal being of the hammer and its distant wielder, in Weemus, left the Basilisk more than somewhat dumbfounded.
Hawk sensed this and continued to bait the creature with lunges and strikes that were not intended to cause any significant pain. The real damage to the creature was being caused by the hammer and if Hawk could buy some time, he knew that the creature would most likely tire before Deemus spell.
The seconds turned into minutes as the hammer continued its relentless assault. Each strike continued to take its toll on the Basilisk. On one such strike the hammer split the thick hide of the beast. Hawk knew his moment to act would soon be upon him, but he continued to feint and lunge keeping the monster at bay.
The next couple of swings of the giant hammer missed their marks but alas the moment Hawk had been waiting for finally arrived. The hammer went down and penetrated the opening it had created only moments earlier. It did not strike with an intense thud as it had on most of the other occasions when the thick hide of the beast had resisted its attempts of penetrating it but rather it struck with a sickening slurp and suction kind of sound.
If the sound of the strike had not given away the strikes success the reaction of the creature certainly would have as the creature stopped as it could no longer find the breath it needed to sustain life and fell in a heap to the ground.
Hawk knew the creature was not yet dead and would most likely recover soon. He would not allow this to happen so before the Basilisk could react to his movement both sword and dagger buried deep into the monsters brain stem.
There was one involuntary jerk and then the monster fell again to the cold hardness of the cave floor. Death had become it.
Deemus had sensed the battle was at its end but so too was his ability to maintain the summoned hammer spell. Releasing his magical hold over the hammer it dropped to the cave floor with a loud clank and then returned to the realm of light from whence it came.
Somewhat exhausted the little Gnome fell to one knee.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
The large male sensed that both of his female companions were struggling in their fights against the group of humanoids. It would appear they underestimated this group, expecting them to be just another easy meal.
He too was stuck and could do nothing as missiles slammed into him. They were more an inconvenience than anything else, but it was something he was forced to endure. The creature could not comprehend why his feet would not move; nor could it discern why it could no longer see. The only thing it did know is that its life mates were in trouble and if things did not change soon, he would be quick to follow suit.
The creature then heard loud thuds as if something began to strike the female off to his right. This infuriated the large male. Too make matters worse he now heard a whistling sound, followed by several repetitive thuds and the sound of ice as it seemed to smash into a different target, presumably the female to the creatures left.
The large male struggled to break the bonds of the rock that held it as several more missiles lodged in its side. The creature merely shrugged away any pain these may have caused.
Then the sound he feared the most as one of his females fell to the cavern floor followed by the empty sounds of death. Enraged beyond comprehension the beast started thrashing violently trying to get loose of the rocks surface.
So desperate the creature was, too break free, it strained one of its legs to the point that it was broken. Moments later the rock began crumbling around it. The male Basilisk was now free to exact revenge on those that entered his domain.
As the creature broke free of the rock, it now sensed another presence that it had not noticed earlier. The presence was close, and it was foreboding as it was not something that would come from the corporeal world.
This Basilisk was an old sentient being and as such it sometimes was afforded the luxury of existing in other planes. It recognized this being and knew it too be formidable but given his current situation he cared not.
Lunging at this new assailant he had hoped to make quick work of it and move towards those that inflicted pain upon his life mates.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
Magus Shepplin could tell the young warrior had his Basilisk amply entertained and that with help Syrus was providing the two of them should have little problem eradicating the Basilisk.
With a quick look to his left, he could tell that Hawk and Deemus (or more precisely Deemus' Summoned Hammer) had things well under control against their female.
With both females out of the picture that left the gynormous male to confront. The magus could tell right away that this creature was ancient. He could feel the magic that welled within it. He could tell this was no ordinary Basilisk but that this was one that had done some extensive traveling. Most probably through other planes of existence, he was not sure how this was possible or why, but he knew he was not wrong.
He also knew the best way to fight this beast was to bring a foe that also was from a different plane of existence. Knowing these things, he began to search through his backpack for the proper reagent for his spell.
Kyjus was still excited from his darkness spells success. He was however, more than a little surprised that Syrus had moved over to help Skarnum. That meant just he, the princess and Magus Shepplin was left to deal with the male and the Magus appeared to be busy rifling through his bag.
He had two spells that he knew would work against this formidable foe but to what degree he did not know. Glancing over at the princess he could tell that the several minutes of casting her magic missile spell was beginning to take its toll.
To make things worse it appeared that her spells were having very little impact upon the foul beast.
Kyjus decided he needed to be a bigger part of the process in bringing this creature down. Reaching into his front left pocket he pulled out a few silver studs. Recalling the words of his bolt of frost spell he began to concentrate on where he wanted his spell to impact his target.
As he began to focus, he noticed the ground began to shake a bit and a mist began to churn off to the right of the large creature.
Being an acolyte in the field of magic this ruined his concentration as he watched the myst began to form and take shape.
The myst stopped almost as quickly as it started. After it dissipated in its place was a somewhat disproportionate brown creature. It stood about 4 feet tall with arms that nearly equaled its massive torso. It appeared to be made of dirt and stone. It had very stubby legs and a very rotund torso.
Kyjus looked over to Magus who was now on one knee. Apparently, he had summoned this as his pet and the summoning had left him somewhat fatigued.
Kyjus smiled thinking that someday this would be him or at least that ability would. Not for the first or last time he thought to himself how cool it was to be a mage.
Seeing the Magus with one knee on the floor gave him an idea. "Producius Liquidus", he said as he concentrated on a metal canteen of ice-cold spring water. He smiled as he produced the exact type and quantity of item that he had intended.
He then opened his robe and popped open a leather pouch that he had strapped to his belt. Inside the pouch were 8 vials or flask. The vials were oils and elixirs, and the tiny flask were potions.
The pouch and all of its contents were given to him by Syrus. This was gift was accompanied by a full introduction of what each vial contained and produced.
Kyjus began perusing through the pouch's contents looking for something specific. It was not long before he located the object for which he was looking or so he thought.
He produced a vial with a greenish brown liquid, much the same color and consistence of olive oil. Only this oil was known as Galbanum oil. He popped the top and smelled the tiny vial.
The liquid contained within the small vial smelled moldy and dank; this was not the Galbanum oil that he needed. This oil was known as Myrrh Oil and came from the Sanctuary Rose plant. He did have an idea on how to use this oil, so he sat it in his left robe's left front pocket.
He quickly sorted through the remaining vials contained within the leather pouch. Finding the other vial that was similarly in its consistency, he pulled the vial from his pouch. He unstopped the top and took a sniff.
The aroma was strikingly inspiring to say the least as it smelled of fresh cotton candy on a cool breezy summer day. He then poured the contents of the vial into the canteen of spring water. He replaced the lid and shook the contents in the hopes of dispersing the oil.
He walked over the Magus who was still on one knee and handed him the water. "Here you go sir, this is mana water. It should help," he said as he handed him the flask.
The magus smiled as he took the canteen and began to gulp down its contents.
The young mage then took out his water jug and dispersed the contents of the not so pleasant-smelling liquid into it. He again shook this up and proceeded to drink as fast as he dared. The liquid tasted as bad as it smelled but the dilution of the water made the taste bearable.
Kyjus noticed that the male Basilisk was now fully out of the liquefy rock spell. However, with the pet occupying the creature's full attention and his darkness spell enacted upon its head he felt safe from eminent danger.
He watched as the princess continued to pelt missile after missile into the creature, each having the same minimal impact as the one before.
He almost smiled at the futility of it all; she had to see that these were not causing any real damage. Why did she not focus on a different line of spells Kyjus thought to himself? He merely shrugged as he reached into his pocket and again pulled out a few silver shards.
Kyjus began to focus on the creature that now seemed to be winning the battle against the Magus' earth pet. This creature had to die and die quickly. Picking a spot out on the side of the creature, as that was now the part exposed to him, he said the words for bolt of frost spell.
"Frio Projectilus", he said as he held his staff outward pointing it toward the creature.
Three large bolts of ice shot from the staff and sped across the cavern smacking the side of the behemoth with three distinct and very loud thuds. The creature roared in pain as the last of the bolts hit the same spot as the first leaving his side racked with pain.
With a determined pounce the Basilisk landed upon the earth elemental pinning it to the ground. With its massive claws it began to rip and shred layers of soil from the creature weakening it.
Kyjus saw this and took out several more silver studs. Eye on his mark, "Frio Projectilus," he said. Again three large, jagged bolts of ice darted thru the cavern with amazing speed and accuracy.
Each slamming into the already painful side of Basilisk as the creature once again roared in pain.
At this time the princess discontinued casting her missile spells as it was painfully obvious, they were causing no real damage. Instead, she concentrated on a different type of spell and while she promised Syrus that she would not bring the caverns down around them she was not about to get overshadowed by the Acolyte mage beside her.
"Acido Arma," she said with a slight smile. This spell was very similar to Deemus' in that it summoned a weapon. This weapon, however, was a flail and not a hammer and it was dormant not animated.
This flail handle was made of hardened steel as was the chain that ended in a 4-inch circular sphere. The sphere was made of mithril and had multiple spikes attached to it. Each of the spikes contained acid that would secrete upon impact.
At first this appeared to be a normal weapon to the young mage and for all intentional purposes that is what it was, which seemed absurd to Kyjus since the princess seemed very out of place with a weapon in her hand.
She looked over at him to make sure his eyes were upon her, when she noticed that they were she continued.
"Animeâ", she said and then proceeded to throw the flail at the creature.
Unlike Deemus' spell that could only be cast as an animated weapon, the wizards equivalent is first cast as a normal weapon with the additional acidic properties of course. In this manner it can be used as a weapon should the caster or a friend have the desire to wield it prior to its dissolution.
The second option and the one that the princess chose to enact was the casting of a second spell. This spell when cast would animate the weapon so that it would fight on behalf of the caster. Where this spell and Deemus' were alike is that both of them took the concentration of the caster to keep the weapon engaged upon the given target.
Kyjus noticed her intense concentration upon the battle and surmised that the princess needed to concentrate to keep the spell alive. The question he had was how long could she withstand the draining of the spell?
It seemed liked Deemus held his spell for a minute or two, could she do the same, he pondered?
At best case Kyjus figured they had five minutes to down this thing or they were in trouble. Hopefully the members engaged against the other Basilisk would be able to end their encounter and help them with theirs.
Kyjus now noticed that Magus Shepplin was now up and casting his own version of the Bolts of Frost spell. Kyjus and his teacher took turns as they released bolts of frost that pounded into the enemy.
Fate played a card that was not with the team of adventurers though in that Kyjus darkness spell was somehow dispelled. He had not released it, of that he was sure, and yet it was gone.
Kyjus could not know of the spirit that lie within the beast and of its ancient ancestry from a distant plane of existence. Only the Magus could truly sense what the group was up against.
As the females on each side of the creature were killed it was overwhelmed by pain and sadness letting out a roar of defiance the Basilisk began to transform.
The maw elongated as did the teeth within it. The skin turned a dark purple. It appeared almost black within the confines of the cavern. The body of the creature began to expand around the mid-section.
The tail also extended considerably. On the tip of the tail were two ivory spears, much like that of an elephant only they were not circular and dull they were straight and sharp. They were attached to a large mass of bone by some sort of sinuous membrane.
The creature now had wings although Kyjus was not certain if it could take up flight as there was so little room. One thing that was for sure is that in this form this creature could no longer fit down any of the tunnels.
Kyjus had guessed at what dispelled his darkness spell. It was amazing he had actually gotten the thing to stick in the first place he thought to himself.
With both females dead the group could now concentrate their efforts on the creature that stood in front of them. Kyjus had no idea what this monster was, but he was no longer sure of the outcome of this battle. He was more than a little shaken by what had just transpired.
The Magus saw this and turned to the young student. "Your spells will hurt it young master. They hurt it in his other form they will hurt it in this one as pain registers the same in all forms of shape shifters whether they be doppelgangers, wyverns, dragons, or wizards".
He was relieved to hear this from his teacher, not fully convinced he still paused. The Magus seeing this continued to speak to him, "It is true this creature is far more formidable now but your job is to cause damage to this creature and let me assure you that you can hurt this creature so focus your mind to the task at hand".
The Magus smiled at the young mage and began his spell casting anew.
Kyjus half smiled not convinced but dug deeper into his left pocket. He found the item he was searching for in a flat silver chain. Kyjus smiled as he thought of the spell he was about to attempt.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
Hawk had just put an end to the life of the female he was facing when he looked over to see how Skarnum was doing with his adversary.
Between the young warrior and Syrus it appeared they were well on their way to putting an end to its existence, so the veteran turned his attention to the far more dangerous male basilisk.
At this time the creature had fully escaped the liquefy earth spell that had been cast upon it and was now engaged with the earth elemental that one of the mages had summoned.
Risking a final glance over to Skarnum he witnessed the young warrior as his blade bit through the skull of the creature sending it with a thud to the floor, ending its life forever.
With both females dead Hawk liked the odds of them winning with two warriors to consume the hate of the monster and several casters to inflict pain upon it.
Hawk was supremely confident in the final outcome of this battle but there was still something that the Elven veteran sensed about this creature that did not seem right. Shrugging this nagging feeling away he advanced toward his new target.
As Hawk advanced the creature roared in pain, only it was not the pain wrought from physical destruction it was more a roar that was brought about by mental anguish. The anguish that was caused by losing both his life partners, perhaps?
The Elven veteran continued his advancement towards its target when the creature began to physically alter its appearance. Then as the magic ripped at the fabric of this plane a wave of force was dislodged from the creature.
Whether this wave was directed at the veteran warrior was not known but as Hawk advanced toward the creature the wave slammed into him full force. This not only lifted him into the air but also knocked him back a full twenty or so feet.
The Elven veteran could not gain his footing as he came down despite his best attempts at righting himself. If the truth were to be told the force from the sonic wave must probably left him a bit stunned so his mind was most probably not clear.
The Elven warrior crumpled in a heap landing awkwardly upon the ground. He tried to lift his head and make an attempt to get up but the world lost focus in his eyes and he slumped back to the ground.
Deemus had regained his composure a bit, from the draining summoning spell, at least enough so that he was able to place a spell upon the Elven warrior.
Hawk was still not conscious to his surroundings, but he was now covered by an aura. This aura would not only help him to quickly regain consciousness but would also hopefully protect him from harm while he recovered.
Deemus was exhausted at this point, he knew there was very little he could do. He also knew that they only had one opportunity to keep this creature off of them and that was Skarnum.
Looking off to his right he saw the warrior advance toward the beast that stood in front of him. He had one idea that might help the group and he decided to play that card now.
The diminutive priest cast a spell very similar to the one that he had just cast upon Hawk, it was not as powerful a spell since he had very little energy left. Deemus` thought was that Skarnum was not left vulnerable in the way their Elven friend was so hopefully he would not need the same spell.
That was the little Gnomes belief anyway. After casting the spell upon Skarnum, Deemus had realized that he had overextended his abilities. It had in fact been nearly fifty years since he had been forced to cast spells in this manner.
He remembered thinking he was too old for this. It was the last thing he remembered thinking as he collapsed in a heap.
"Deemus", his brother called to him as he fell. Weemus wanted to run to him but knew that he could not as he was needed in the battle.
So, he decided to improvise in that he side stepped his way to his brother continuing to volley arrows at the now larger and much more formidable target that stood in front of him.
As he stood above his brother, he never missed a beat as he continued to rein arrow after arrow at his target.
As he flipped his brother over Deemus groaned. Weemus smiled as he found his brother not to be seriously injured but was simply in a state of mental anguish. This state was brought on by overextending the boundaries of magic. Deemus had exhausted his mind to the point that it had shut down to regenerate itself.
Smiling, Weemus continued the barrage of arrows toward his intended target.
The problem in this was twofold. One was the arrows did very little to damage the beast although they were a definite distraction and the second was his arrows were nearly gone.
The the flail conjured by the princess was still active although her control over it was slowly starting to fail it also had the issue surrounding that it too was doing little in the way of true damage. With the change of the monster, into its new form, the acid lined within the flail had little to no effect on the creature. This meant she was doing little more that attempting to beat the creature with a normal metallic object.
This was still a decent offense, but it was not doing near the damage she had hoped. However, since there was little guarantee anything else would work any better she continued upon her chosen path.
The Magus was now, back into the thick of battle, sending frost bolt after frost bolt against the creature. With each impact the monster reared in pain.
The dangerous foe was getting more disgusted by the second. With a loud snap of his maw the winged creature bit down upon the earth elemental snapping it into and dispersing it into a pile of dirt and rock.
Enter the young warrior into the fray as he made his way over to battle. Skarnum swaggered with as much confidence as he could muster. The dark creature's eyes were fully upon him now, as the young warrior strode to meet his destiny.
The Wyvern, for that's what it truly was, extended its wings and puffed out its chest as it rose upon its massive claws. It was a defiant tactic meant to scare the pup of a warrior.
In truth it gave Skarnum pause but he shrugged off the creatures fear attempt. He was made of tougher stuff than that he thought to himself as he shouted his own challenge and strode into battle to meet the beast head on.
As the young warrior shouted the Wyvern paused and sniffed the air. The warrior had no idea what was going on but was confused as to why the creature would change tactics before the fight even started.
Perhaps it figured he was not worth the trouble, the young warrior sneered at the thought. He would make this monster pay for that transgression.
In truth this creature was of extreme magical nature and as such it had the ability to understand the magical properties of his surroundings. This creature could tell that something magical was a foot and he now needed to be cautious as magic was the only true threat to his existence.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
Kyjus saw the Elven warrior get tossed to the ground by the sonic blast. He then saw Deemus fall to the ground most probably from exhaustion. He wanted to go to him to help but he knew he was needed in the upcoming fight.
The young mage placed his hand in his front left robe pocket. Pulling the hand from his pocket he produced a long sliver of silver chain. Visualizing his target, he was about to begin concentrating on a new type of spell when he observed Skarnum making his way over to face this creature.
He had little time as the spell he was enacting needed to go off before the young warrior was too close to the creature. The frost sphere spell he was attempting to cast was an impact spell, so much of the damage would occur during impact.
However, unlike the bolts of frost spells he had been casting this spell does not simply dissolve on impact. Quite the contrary, as the sphere explodes upon impact. While most of the explosion was directed toward the target it is quite possible that some of the exploding shards could hit anything within the given surroundings of its target.
He had to hurry.
"Frio Esphera", the young mage shouted as he pointed his staff toward the gargantuan beast.
At first nothing happened but Kyjus held firm to his resolve that the spell was right, so he continued his concentration. A few seconds went by, and the air stilled.
The pain of concentrating was now pressing deep upon the temples of the young mages mind. He finally had to release his concentration as the pain was too great.
As he did, he saw the creature stare at him with iron resolve, had the creature foiled his attempt at the spell? He pondered.
Kyjus felt the oxygen being drained from the air at a rapid pace. He was still somewhat woozy but was recovering fast due to the potion he had drunk, prior to spell casting.
Only a few seconds had passed after Kyjus released his concentration of the frost sphere spell. He could now see an extremely large ball of frost forming in front of him. Seconds after it started forming it hurled itself at its target, gathering its intensity as it headed towards its destination.
With a loud blast, much like an old musket, it struck the Wyvern rocking it back. The sphere exploded into thousands of little ice shards each one as sharp as large kitchen knife.
The creature roared in pain as it staggered backwards, never before had it felt such pain.
The Wyvern shook off the pain as it focused on the warrior that was making its way toward him. He had to make quick work of him. The great beast above all else wanted to sink his teeth into a certain young mage.