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New Quest Objective

- Survive

You’ll be playing Amaryllis a former novice of the temple. Born in a small village, she has spent most of her life training to take over from her mother and father as a priestess while always inwardly desiring to see more of the world.

***

Before the army continued it’s march northward, Palvane appeared once more to toss cloth rags onto the carriage bed, the smug bellow-hearted puke taking great pleasure from the startled cries of panic he caused before striding off with a big grin on his lips. The cloths he left behind leaving the same kind of aromatic smell she’d associated with the seeds used to treat wounds and infections back in the temple.

Head tilted upwards in curiosity, she saw that all the guards around her had stopped to lift up their helms and wrap the cloths around their mouths.

Gromel, who’d lost all colour from his face, looked to her in question, and try as Amaryllis might she could sense no darkness within the rags. Still, the very idea that Palvane would do anything to help them, no matter how she thought about it did not sit well with her. He must have some ulterior motive in mind and yet as the wagons began to trundle forward once again, she could almost smell the powerful stench of death and decay that wafted up towards them. The road ahead turned pitch black, with a light green mist filtering out from the soil.

(Click here if you decide against covering your mouth.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Too worried it may be a trap of some kind, she refrained from taking the rag when they began to pass through into the Ash Lands, the foul stench that hit them, burning her nostrils, and making each breath difficult to take. The banks of poisonous gas that drifted through the breeze stinging her eyes as she coughed and hacked up her lungs. (- 40 Health Points. Magical Damage.)

Blinded by tears, she tried to cry out, tried to see through her blurred vision, but her voice was lost in a fit of coughing, the struggle to breath becoming harder, till she could barely breathe, a large shadowy form moving to join her side and press the cloth to her mouth and nose. The overwhelming stench of death somehow lessened to a dull roar, allowing her to finally see where she was.

Halmark down on one knee beside her, had a look of mild annoyance in his eyes as he took a seat beside her. His voice holding that same hardened edge that cut right through her. “I did not realise you wished to die before you could save these people.”

“Gromel?” she coughed.

“He’s fine, though a little worse for wear because of you.”(- 2 Light.)

(Click here if you decide to cover your mouth.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Reassured by the guards who’d wrapped the cloths around their mouths and her own memory of the Ash Lands, she nodded her head to Gromel and quickly did the same, wrapping the cloth tightly around her mouth and nose, and tying it up at the back of her neck when they began to pass through the blackened soil, the foul stench that hit them almost burning her senses alive. The banks of poisonous gas that drifted through the breeze stinging her eyes and ears, but it seemed that with the protection of the cloth she could still breathe and smell. (+ 2 Light.)

Safe from the worst the Ash Lands had to offer, the wagons continued to rumble across the rutted White Stone Road, the borels that dragged the carriages forward able to withstand the noxious fumes as their leathey heads waved from side to side. The path they followed a cracked mess of bumps and pitfalls that made travel quite bumpy. While the armoured ranks of the warriors that flanked the wagons, stared fretfully off into the coming gloom. The noises she heard in the dark, enough to bring a chill wind coursing through her veins. A part of her certain they were being watched.

For awhile there, she found herself staring out into the thick fog, when she felt a quiver of fear run through her spine as she saw something move at the edge of her vision.

Blinking rapidly and hoping it was all a part of her imagination, she saw a creature appear in the mist, and squat down on all fours beside a pool of putrid green acid that steamed with heat in the air. The beast looking up at them with the face of a minotaur but one shed of all it’s fur, it’s red fervent eyes full of hatred and horns painted black as it lifted up it’s ill shapen skull to let out an ungodly roar. It’s haunted call bringing forth more of the cursed creatures galloping into the clearing. Their pale pink flesh glistening wetly as they raced along the edges of the column, waiting and watching with eyes that flashed in the mist.

Breath caught at the back of her throat, she frantically backed away from the bars when Halmark spoke to her from behind. “You have nothing to fear from them, at least for now. The Ashlings won't dare attack us during the daytime, especially not against so many.”

“Ashlings?”

Halmark nodded his head and moved to stand watch by bars, the big warrior completely at ease despite the danger they were in . “They are our brothers and sisters, slain in the Ash and spawned back by the darkness that lurks within it. They hunt, kill, and devour anything that enters their home and when night falls, we shall all die here.”

Young Gromel who’d been listening in, quivered in fear at the Honor Blade's words, the whites of his eyes showing as he nervously glanced around himself. Sigren, the woman who had lost her child in the night oblivious to all else around her, the cloth that had been wrapped around her mouth almost falling soundlessly from her lips when Gromel quickly tightened it for her, then whispered, “I don’t want to die here.”

Turning to look back at the boy, she couldn't but feel a surge of sympathy for him, a part of her wanting to tell him her plan of escape so that at least he would have some hope to hold onto, but she was too afraid about those that would overhear. The guards that marched alongside them in columns of four, seemed preoccupied with the beasts that trailed them in the mist, but that could change once they got wind of her plan. As soon as nightfall came, she intended to escape this nightmare, but as she watched the creatures jostle each other and cry out to the suns that hung above, she began to wonder if that would even be wise?

She still needed to act before anymore of them were taken, and yet as she searched the darkness, she could see no way out without encountering those things that had once been minotaurs. The forest that loomed ahead of them, a sprawling mass of shadows that covered the ground where they walked. The trees, great lumbering behemoths with bare boned branches that clawed at the sky.

Emboldened by the growing darkness, the Ashlings began to dart in closer to the lines of warriors who slowed to form ranks. When the monsters Colmar had brought with him fell back from the front in waves to protect the entire army in a wide screen that encircled the wagons and men. Their awkward, stunted movements creatures, spurred into blasts of unnatural speed as they drove back the Ashlings with short swords that methodically stabbed in and out. The guards nearby laughing anxiously as they pushed on into the darkened forest.

Mouth dry with unease, she could feel the tension that had building up inside of her, become almost unbearable. The moment they crossed into the bounds of the forest, bringing them into the pitch black of night.

Filled with a heavy sense of dread, she wanted to scream, shout, do anything to remove the quaking fear she felt in her bones, but nothing came out. The rattle of the cages as they crossed patches of uneven road, jarred her teeth together as she closed her eyes and tried to think of something else to get her mind away from the terrible feeling that something was about to go wrong, when a powerful roar reverberated through treetops, the chilling howls mimicked by hundreds more, deafening the air.

Column immediately ground to a halt, she saw the borel’s begin to sweat with fear, their round white eyes wild with terror as they tried to break free of their harnesses.

Halmark who’d stood silent all this time, held up an arm to keep quiet them all down, when the distinctive clatter of steel against steel echoed throughout the forest. The guards that had been strung out in lines, pressing in tighter closer to form up blocks of shields and swords. Colmar’s tamed monsters vanishing off into the darkness. The growls of rage she heard, causing her heart to skip a beat, when a voice spoke in her mind. If you desire to live, you must act now. The guards will not be distracted for long.

Who are you?She asked.

Quiet, there is no time. Go! Go now!

Fur soaked in sweat, she heard a deathly scream come from behind, and saw a wolf larger than anything she’d ever seen before flash by in the shadows. Gromel, his face wet with tears, let out a groan of despair and sat there huddled up in a ball, while Halmark stood still as a statue. The planes of his face tight with worry.

Not sure why or what was happening, Amaryllis knew she had to act now.

Scampering across to the corner of the wagon, she pressed her hands against the floorboards at her feet and she whispered a prayer to the Lightbearer, letting the light she felt inside of her flow down into her arms as she tore through the wagon’s bed to create a hollow space behind the wheel. The power she felt inside of her filling her with a warm glow that thrust back her unease. (- 2 Light.)

Finger pressed to her lips, she turned and gazed back towards the others who stared at her disbelief and waved for them to join her. The warriors that had been guarding the wagon, advancing forward in solid ranks of polished metal to the cries of their comrades and telltale song of battle. The brief flashes of the torchlight, exposing bloody jaws, death, and snarling monsters that crawled in from all directions. The dying echoes of those that were killed, fueling her with renewed desperation.

However one look back at the captives with her and she could tell they were too afraid to move, with none of them willing to meet her gaze.

She began to worry none of them would follow her when Halmark shoved and pushed everyone towards her. The large burly warrior, scowling at any that did not move quickly enough. Amaryllis, helping them down through the gap where they waited for her, Halmark the last to arrive. The Honor Blade who had said he would do nothing to help them, stopping before her to shrug his wide shoulders, and grunt with a smile, “Fate is fickle.”

He then squeezed himself through the gap and helped her down beneath the wagon where everyone was huddled together.

Gromel, his left eye twitching horribly, let out another groan and darted a look towards the darkened forest. “What now?”

(Once you run out of Light Energy, you will be drawing on your own internal magic reserves, the stuff that keeps you alive and breathing. - 20 Health Points each time you use your internal magic reserves and do not have any Light Energy left to expend. Damage cannot be Reduced.)

(Click here if you wish to cast an Illusion Spell. Cost: 10 Light)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Having never cast a shield spell before, Amaryllis decided the safest option would be to use an Illusion Spell.

“Quiet and stay still. I will cast a spell that will make us invisible but it won’t last very long so we must move quickly. Grab hold of each other and hurry after me.”

She could see the fear in their eyes, but they did as she asked. The group linking hands together with Halmark the last in the line.

She then held out her hand before her, took hold of Gromel's, and expelled the magic out of her like a surge of energy that used her as a conduit. The spell taking effect instantly with everyone disappearing right before her eyes.

That part done, she guided them out from beneath the wagon and hurried away from the column. The monsters that came into view all but ignoring them as they raced through the darkened woods. Amaryllis slowing down gradually so she wouldn’t trip over the tree roots and stones that riddled her path. The voice in her head telling her exactly where she needed to go when a massive wolf bounded forward to a stop before them, it’s nose lifted to sniff the air. The silver patches of fur replaced by red leather skin and yellow eyes glinting in the dark as it licked the blood from its lips.

Breath coming in fast, she heard a whimper of fear come from behind her and prayed the creature did not hear. The wolf continuing to sniff the air when it grew distracted by a far off sound and raced away.

Not sure, how much longer she could hold the spell in place, she quickly moved again until she could no longer hear the crash of steel and with a rush of relief released the spell.

(Click here to attempt a Shield Spell. Cost: Unknown)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Not sure how much use an Illusion Spell would be out in the woods with danger all around them, she decided the safest course of action would be to use a Shield Spell, one she had never attempted before. Still from what she remembered of her father’s teachings they could be quite effective.

“Be quiet and stay still. I will cast a spell that should protect us but it won’t last very long. So grab onto each other and hurry after me.”

Her mind made up, she held her arms out before her, waited till everyone was holding hands, grabbed Halmark’s rough fingers and tried to expel the magic from her. The light she felt inside of her difficult to control as she tried to grapple with the unfamiliar magic when suddenly it roared to life, surrounding them in a huge ball of fire that incinerated the wagon and everything else around them in a powerful blast of heat that sent shockwaves coursing through her. The guards turning to stare at them in shocked dismay, before she hurried away into the cover of the forest.

The monsters that came into view shying away from the flames that licked the ground and air as they raced through the darkened woods, the light from the fire allowing them to see the many tree roots and rocks that riddled their path. The voice in her head telling her exactly where she needed to go when a massive wolf bounded forward to a stop before them. It’s silver patches of fur replaced by red leather skin, and dangerous yellow eyes shining in the flamelight as it licked the blood from its lips.

Breath coming in fast, she heard a whimper of fear come from behind her, and prayed that the wolf would realise the harm to itself would be far too great for this particular meal, then smiled in relief as the wolf became distracted by a sound further off and loped back off back into the darkness.

Not sure, how much longer she could hold the spell in place, she quickly moved again until she could no longer hear the crash of steel and with a rush of relief released the spell.. (- 30 Light.)

To be continued…