If Tinker had to guess he would say it was just after 12 at night in Royal Road. While thinking what he needs to do next, he realised he was getting cold. It was an odd feeling because it’s summer time on the continent. He decided he needed a warm place where he can do something productive and not something to taxing on his body or funds. He thought about the training hall but decided to go to the library instead.

At the other side of the city he entered the library, which was warm enough and seemed to have a few people in. He wondered how in the real world a library would be closed for the night but in here one has permanent access. That is one point in the favour of Royal roads.

He asked the librarian at the desk about where he could find books about the city history and warrior combat. She silently said ‘’Row A1 and F7, there are not many books about it, since most warriors don’t have the skill to right down accurate details of their exploits’’.

Tinker ’’I can see how things like that would happen, but thank you and good evening’’

He gathered about 15 books. 7 on the history of the city, 5 of the history of the Heaven kingdom and 3 books on warrior’s tales.

Scot would not think of himself as a bookworm but if he finds an interesting story he would read and keep at it, until he gets bored with the story or it ends.

He opened the first book. Founding of Avelon. It was interesting to read about the origin of the city. Long ago it had a different name called Midway when it was just a town. If you had a bird’s eye view of the map of the Stormy peak mountain range. One would notice that no matter from which side you enter you will almost every time get to the town that is located in the middle. So the town formed out of necessity. You could waist weeks by going around the mountains, thus it’s better to go through Midway and save a lot of time. There was a ruling lord in charge of the town until a thick mist blew in one day, a lot of nameless villagers died, but of course history books have no place for the lower class.

During this time when the thick mist was all over, strange sounds and big monster prints were found around the village. Robin the lord at the time sent out all the riders and ravens he could with massages that they need help. At the time there was no Warriors or Mages guild.

Only the barracks in the lords ground was there for defending the town, and they all vanished in the first mist. Fear entered Robin’s thoughts and all he could think of was run and hide till aid comes to the town of Midway.

Word reached the then capital of the heaven kingdom that also had another name at the time. The king requested for able men to go help the village of Midway. The kings younger brother Sven and his party of friends decided they would go help and earn the reward the king was giving. The king being a family man decided to send 50 men of the royal guard with his brother to keep him out of trouble. The king did not doubt his brother’s skill in battle but he was eager to charge in first and think later.

The party arrived at Midway to find the mist was gone and the town was in rune. The lord and most of the wealthy merchants were dead, half the population was either missing or dead, and the situation looked grim. They made camp for the night inside the lord’s garden and set to work. The royal guards were building temporary fortifications.

Sven called his friends closer and started to think. He knew his brother thought of him as an idiot who charges in first, but he could, because his friends were always there to help him. Sven was a warrior who wielded his larger than average broadsword, that cleaved any foe in two that stood in his way.

Sven ‘’Drow use your ranger skills and survey the surrounding area for the enemy, report back if they decide to or attack or by sunset at the latest and take Rikky with you and tell that dammed assassin he should start attending campaign meetings and not sleep. Also tell him he is to infiltrate the enemy hideout if you guys are able to find it’’

Drow ‘’At once’’

Sven “Rylia and Keal do you detect or sense any magic at play here’’?

Keal ‘’Some frost magic, maybe combined with wind. It explains how the mist comes and goes. No fire that I can detect’’

Rylia “Yes, there is strong frost magic here, Keal may have affinities for frost, wind and fire but I sense strong frost magic at the top of that peak over there’’ She pointed to what seems to be the tallest peak visible.

Davion ‘’Can’t the great evil or spooky monster be somewhere close and not in the lowest dungeon or the highest peak?’’

Sven ‘’I agree Davion, but darkness and evil will always start at places where most humans are not willing to go. Go into town and look for able body men and give them of the extra shields and swords we brought. Also show them standard formation of how they can form a unit for defence by using shield and a sword that might prevent a few less deaths’’

Davion ‘’Are you sure? I can’t teach them to be knights in one afternoon’’

Sven ‘’I understand, but I think those that survive might learn something and feel they helped in the defence of the town.

Sven ‘’Dazzle prepare bandages and a safe area where we can treat the wounded’’

‘’What should we do’’ asked the barbarian brothers Thrall and Gromm.

Sven had nearly forgotten about those two, they were warriors that fought with dual wielding axes. They said they were developing a new skill called berserker, which was pretty much exactly that. They would charge in and just go berserk and kill all foes with their superior strength. “You guys just rest and prepare for battle’’. Other then battle the brothers could do nothing more accept eat and brawl. Best to have them at full strength if they are needed.

Looking at the peak Sven could not help but feel this was his moment, his once in a lifetime chance… ‘’I will take this moment and no monster or evil spawn will stand in my way’’ he whispered.

Sven was not a very complicated man, he lived in the shadow of his brother the king, he did not want to take the throne by force and only wanted to make a name for himself. By doing great deeds was the only way he knew how. His brother on the other hand was one of the youngest kings in recorded history, after the plague took their father. He struggled in the start but all the training and preparation from birth kicked in. He turned out a good and fair king. With his 3 sons the line of the throne secured so Sven would not have to worry that the kingdom will fall if both he and his brother died. With all this thinking Sven decided it’s time for food and looking over at the brothers he could see they were hungry as well.

Just before dark Drow returned with news. “Sven there are giants, frost giants if I would have to guess, but I can’t be sure since I have never seen one. Also there is 1 about 5 feet taller than the others that seems to be there leaders and using a large bone as a club’’

The brothers seemed to get happy and Sven could barely keep his own eagerness in, but like a good leader he did.

Drow ‘’ Rikky is following them back to their hideout and will return when he can I guess. Judging from the direction they were moving I would say they have a cave somewhere in that peak’’

Davion chose this time for a smart remark. ‘’You see, all the bad things that will happen and that will most likely result in certain death is at that peak’’ pointing in the same direction.

Drow did not understanding what’s going on and wanted to ask what it is all about, but Sven quickly interjected ‘’That is how it is Davion, I don’t know how someone with such a negative outlook ever got to be a knight’’.

Davion only smiled and said, ‘’If I tell you, I will have to kill you’’

Sven ‘’Moving on, Rylia you think that frost magic is the driving force behind this?’’

Rylia ‘’ It’s a good guess as any, I am more concerned about the thing casting that power full magic’’

Sven had not even thought about that. It sure is good to have the right friends. ‘’Alright we will prepare for an attack, do the standard guard rotations tonight and wait for Rikky to return.

After 2 days Rikky returned demanding a hot meal. He gave a report to Sven about the situation ‘’Those giants went all the way up the mountain and entered the highest cave up there. They are smart, always a guard but no one doing a patrol. Guess they don’t need patrols because all the trolls and other monster fled the area.

Davion ‘Just peachy’’

Rikky ‘’It’s bloody cold up there and I am not sure if you want to attack or defend. I Counted 5 giants, but without going into the cave I could not get an accurate count of all of them.’’

Sven ‘’Best we prepare a defence. We will kill them all and then make our attack on the cave. We will also gain battle experience before we stumble in blindly.’’

5 Days later a thick mist rolled into town. Most of the remaining villagers had fled and only a handful stayed behind to help Sven and his party.

Sven knew his comrades well, Drow was in a mini tower using his ranger skills to look further into the mist and to yell enemy position and shoot deadly shots with his bow.

Davion was given command of the 50 royal guards and formed 3 defence lines with him right at the back. Thinking back Sven could not recall any one using the word brave and Davion in the same sentence, but when push comes to shove, Davion would leap into the mouth of a dragon to help his friends…he hoped…

Rikky per usual was no were to be found or seen. Most likely he was covering the giant’s rear and waiting for the opportune time to strike with his poisoned daggers.

Rylia was also standing far in the rear, fearing that her frost spells won’t be effective against frost giants. But she was mentally preparing ice shards for attack. They might not be strong but no one has ever enjoyed getting razor sharp ice shards in the face.

Keal was ready to blow the mist away with his tornado spell at Sven’s command. Also in his spell book he readied a few fire spells for the upcoming battle. He was part of the second defensive line.

Dazzle after buffing up all members with holy magic also took a position at the rear near Davion, Rylia and the few armed villagers.

Sven being the party leader stood right at the front point while being flanked by the Thrall and Gromm and 15 guards with nervous looks on their faces right behind them.

Since it took a week for the giants to arrive they had half decent fortification built from wrecked homes. They did not bother with a trench but made a sort of mine field full of spikes. The giants where not that big only a mere 15 feet. Sven explained the battle tactics. They would avoid direct hits while Drow, Keal and Rylia aimed attacks at the faces, while the other party members would attack the legs and bring the giants down. Once the giants are no longer mobile the guards would step in and attack the vital body parts.

Drow shouted 3 enemies are approaching from the north, no 4, the 4th seems to be coming from the north west alone.

Sven was ready, lucky for them it would seem the 5th giant which was also the leader did not show up. The 3 Giants from the north slowly made their way closer. They did not expect to find resistance but confident in their size and power they advanced. Seeing that all 3 giants would arrive at the same time Sven ran to the north east, in hopes of pulling one giant away. It worked, the brothers on the other hand did not think so far and thought Sven was charging so they did the same. Each marked a giant as their target and howled as they charged.

Sven cursed under his breath at the brothers and went to the forest while making sure his latest play mate followed him.

The brothers soon realised they made an error and started their retreat back, Gromm had his arm crushed and lost an axe. Thrall was better off with only mild bruises and broken axes.

Drow seeing it all told Davion about what was happening. He ordered the 3d line to the west along with himself to wait and see what the 4th giant does. Rylia advance to the first line with Keal. Dazzle came closer but was still too far away to cast healing magic on Gromm

Rylia’’ Left or right?’’

Keal ‘’I would say ladies should choose first but I will go left’’, and with that a big fireball was sent at the giant missing Gromm with just inches to spare. Rylia needed the giant to come closer before she used her spells. While all this was going on, Drow was firing arrows at the 2 giants at the north while keeping a close eye on the 4th. She saw Sven disappear into the woods with a giant on his heels.

After the fireball the 4th giant suddenly started tossing rocks and anything big at the 3rd line of defence. Davion and his troops stood tight and waited for the artillery fire to stop.

As the battle commenced the troops were looking good. The 2 giants in the north were getting fire and ice shards thrown at them while 2 barbarians were attacking the legs. In no time the giants fell and the guards finished them off. The 4th giant seeing his comrades dying decided now is the time to retreat, but Drow shot an arrow inside the left eye socket of the giant, blinding him in the eye. The giant was about to retreat when a fireball enveloped him. That gave enough time for Thrall and Gromm to close the distance and hack the injured giant to death.

Sven walked out of the woods to behold the sight of his friends walking back to camp. He saw 2 giant corpses at the north and 1 in the distance where his friends were coming from.

At camp Dazzle treated the wounded and started healing the bones in Gromm’s shattered arm. The 3de line of defence under the command of Davion had 4 deaths and minor injuries.

Thrall was the first to ask what happened to the giant chasing Sven. He casually replied ‘’ I used the trees and mist to hide and make an ambush. As the giant came near I chopped off the giant leg right above the knee and then chopped of his head’’. Sven chose not to add the part where he waited a while for the giant to bleed out and become slow before he chopped off the head.

Davion was about to complain or make a remark of sum sorts, then Sven asked Keal to get rid of the remaining mist in the area. With the mist gone they saw Rikky coming out of the shed where they kept the food, eating some salted pork and moving towards the house with the bedrolls. Sven contained his anger and managed to speak in a firm voice. “Where do you think you are going? We are not done yet, there could be more on the way.’’

Rikky calmly said, ‘’Not likely, they seem to hunt in packs of 5 and with all our injuries it would be best to attack the cave tomorrow, gives time to replenish mana and heal every one.’’

Davion shouted ‘’What did you do during that battle, no giants seem to have been attacked by you, you just watched us you lazy ass’’.

Rikky loosened his coat while saying ‘’That’s right, you did not see me attack giants because I killed the 5th giant that was suppose to flank us from the woods’’. With that said he went to his bed to go sleep.

It took a moment for everyone to comprehend that Rikky killed a giant by himself and managed to sneak past all of them during combat, an impressive feat for one lazy assassin.

Drow saw him return but chose to keep that information to herself.

The following day the party and all the guards from defence line 2 were marching up the mountain. I was decided since they did the least during the fight they would come along while the rest defended the town against possible attack. Drow was scouting out ahead, and following the markings that Rikky left behind. In the mist everyone just trusted Drow to lead the way.

There were no other monsters in the area so there progress was fast even with the mist, but Rylia kept feeling that some strong frost magic was getting closer and closer. Even Keal started getting a bad feeling about it.

Near the summit Drow halted and seemed to be staring at a rock. As the party came closer they saw Rikky sitting there. He explained that around the next corner is the cave they are looking for.

Sven went over the plans for the attack. “First we will take out the guard. Any suggestions?’’ Rikky replied after every one was silent for a while. ‘’Giants are not the smartest bunch, I suggest we use food, like a rabbit soaked in paralytic poison. We toss it near the entrance wounded so it can’t run away. I think this giant would not share his findings with his friends, so we can wait about 20 min after he eats the rabbit and then kill him. He would not be able to sound the alarm’’.

Davion ‘’Really a rabbit near the summit of a mountain, if this works we may have to right about it for future generations.’’ He said with a lot of sarcasm in his voice.

Sven knew Rikky well enough to know that the rabbit is under his cloak and ready to go. “After we enter we will assume a loose formation. Best not to bunch up in case the cave becomes narrow. If there are a lot of giants I shall shout the retreat, if not we attack. In the ideal world there will be only a few and the leader would be in a big room’’

Davion ‘’If we can be so lucky’’.

Sven ‘’ Rylia save your mana for defensive spell against the frost magic. Keal just keep doing what you do, maybe just next time try and miss your allies with more than a few inches. 1 guard will stay at the entrance once we enter to keep an eye out for late comers. The rest of you will bring up the rear and guard Dazzle at all costs. If we reach a big room half of you are permitted to from parties and attack giants, but the others will have to stay behind. Davion and I will take point while Thrall and Gromm will rotate to parties that need their help. Drow and Rikky you guys should just look for openings in the enemy and punish them for it. Anybody other then Davion have questions or comments?’’

Rylia ‘’ I shall enhance you all with frost armour before I feel that frost magic is attacking us. It’s a spell not commonly used, because it drains some stamina and lowers speed a bit, but in return your frost resistance becomes very high. It’s said those that have this buff can survive the breath attack from a frost dragon’’

Davion ‘’Is it myth or did someone really survive? Wait don’t tell me, I think its best I don’t know’’

Surprising every one Keal said ‘’ Guys if we encounter this big leader in a big room I want to cast a new spell I have been working on. Any of you remember that wine merchant that said he was attacked by a dragon right before we left on this quest?’’ a few mumbles confirmed most of them heard the story and dismissed it. ‘’Well that was me, I have developed a new spell that combines fire, wind and frost into a power full attack. I call it Deafening blast.

It temporally stuns enemies in front of me and even knocks back small monsters and humans by making a loud sound and messing up a person’s balance. I don’t think many of you know that your inner ear helps you to keep your balance…but now you do. Just make sure you are behind me when I cast this spell’’ The last part he added while looking at the 2 Brothers.

Sven ‘’That’s pretty impressive, Rikky release your rabbit and lets go.’’ At those words the whole party turned to where Rikky was sitting but he was no longer there.

Davion started muttering curses and Drow stood up and told them to come. They rounded the corner and could not see the cave entrance, but Drow walked calmly ahead and they followed. As soon as they entered the cave they could feel the temperature drop. There sitting on a dead giant was Rikky, looking bored and ready for bed again.

With boosted morale they assumed the battle formation and slowly advanced deeper. After about 10 min of slow walking and another drastic drop in the temperature. They noticed the cave starting to get a bit wider. At the end they heard what sounded like snoring, slowly going closer they were at the entrance of a large room. Counting 12 giants including the leader this was going to be the battle of their lives. At the back end they could see a smaller room, too small for a giant to enter, Rylia whispered ‘’that is the source of the frost magic’’

Sven looked and thought that we can kill the closest 3 sleeping giants before the others wake up, then at least it would be us against 9 of them. Seemed like the best plan, he was not fond of attacking the giants on equal terms, but they are many and will have the element of surprise.

While Sven informed the party of his plan in his whispers Rikky entered the room and disappeared into the darkness.

Sven and a few guards would attack 1 giant, Davion and a few guards the other and the brothers get a giant of their own. The rest would hang back and prepare for the real battle.

As soon as they felt the Blessing of Dazzle they were off. They moved as fast as they could while trying to be silent. When the first swords pierced the giant all hell broke loose.

The brothers being true to their nature gave a war cry that woke up every giant. At least the 3 closest to the entrance were dead before they could react. After securing a sort of beachhead for them, they formed an arch with the spell casters, Dazzle and Drow behind them.

The giants yelled and roared with anger and those closest started to charge. Keal took this chance to test his new spell. It worked very well, the giants stopped and looked dazed for a moment.

With the tables turned Sven and most of his party attacked. They had the upper hand and were doing well, but those giants at the back were getting organised. Seeing they are under attack they grabbed tree trunks to use as clubs and the leader picked up a piece bone. Later Sven them would conclude it was a dragon bone that the leader used but at the moment they did not pay attention.

Drow fired arrows at near blinding speed, all aimed at the face. Some hit the eyes while the others were just good head shots. At the end of the battle he would recall that he thought that 1 giant looked like he had spiky hear, but in fact it was just many arrows lodged into its head.

Keal used his Pyroblast on a giant that was approaching from the side, he hoped that Rikky was not in the general direction. The mana cost of Pyroblast was a lot and consumed most of his remaining mana, but that giant was out of the fight. Keal only had enough mana left for a few fire balls which he was saving for the other giant’s faces.

Rikky in the mean time took down another giant as it was waking up thanks to the war cry. It was a giant sleeping in the far corner and his allies did not seem to notice him not joining the fight. Next it was the type of fighting Rikky liked the most. He came up from behind on all the attacking giants. It was around this time that the first giants that charged started dying and those giants with weapons were swinging with insane strength and unnatural speed.

Gromm seeing the leader approaching took it upon himself to slay the giant in 1 blow. With his Berserk skill activated he was indeed strong but lacked defence. If he scored a clean blow on the giant he would one shot him.

The Giant leader was nearly 20 feet tall. He saw some little creature running towards him, but with a longer reach he swung his bone club and he 1 shot the noisy creature. As he moved on towards the battle he saw another little creature charging at him. He grinned and lifted up his bone club and swung down with all his might. To his surprise his bone club shattered, the little creature stared towards him and jumped, that was the last image the giant leader would see, before Sven cleaved a giant part from his stomach and chest away.

When Sven first met the brothers from the barbarian tribe he could not help but be impressed with their berserk skill. Being no stranger to battle’s he saw the weakness, you take more damage because you don’t really defend, you only attack. In private training sessions Sven tried to harvest the strength of berserk while still having a good defensive skill. After years of hardships and training he developed a skill where he has increased strength for a few seconds. He called the skill God’s strength. He always wondered how strong he was and now he knew. Strong enough to take a 20 foot giant attack straight on. That attack shook him down to his core and after thinking about it, he came to the conclusion that he was just a little bit stronger and his sword helped the shattering of the bone club. With the force the giant was attacking and his strength in blocking, thanks to the sharp edge of the sword, he came out on top.

There was no time to help the fallen they still had a few giants to kill. The battle was short lived after the death of the giant leader. The last giant to fall was backed into a corner and fell straight over on his ugly face, it was at this moment they saw Rikky pulling out his daggers from the back of the giant and climbing of and looking towards the small room.

Before they want to the small room they saw Thrall running over to his brother that was defeated in 1 blow. When everyone got closer to them, they were shocked to see a smiling Gromm with too many broken bones to move. Dazzle came over and said “you are welcome, when I saw you charge like an idiot I cast my spell on you that reject death for a few seconds, I call it Shallow grave. You won’t die, but you will need time to heal from all the broken bones and other injuries,’’ she quickly tucked away a small wand with a small skull for a head and hope nobody noticed it.

Gromm ‘’Yes I did act a bit rash, thank you’’

Sven ‘’Those still able to fight follow me to that small room’’. Sven, Davion and Rylia walked towards the room and peeked inside. There was a crystal on a pedestal in the centre of the small room. As soon as they entered an Ice Wraith appeared. It did not attack, it seemed to be guarding the ice crystal.

Davion ‘’Alright you all had opportunity to show off new skills and spells, it’s my turn now.’’ He put away his shield and sword, took off his armour and then the unexpected happened. He turned into an orange dragon. His size mostly stayed the same but he had wings and a tail now. In a deep voice he asked for frost armour which Rylia casted on him without any hesitation.

Davion flapped his wings and started towards the ice wraith. The ice wraith slowly edged forward as well. In an unexpected roar Davion used Dragon breath which was a combination of fire and green acid. The wraith seemed to take massive damage and got stunned. Davion flapped fast and leaped on top of the ice wraith. It seemed like he was performing bite attacks… But wait, no..Davion was eating the wraith. Sven did not know if he must be disgusted or cheer his friend on. Rylia on the other hand wore her disgust on her face. Davion was done and turned into a blue dragon…Smiling and showing rows of teeth he transformed back to his old self. “That is why I am known is Davion the Dragon knight, thanks to the frost armour I had a high enough resistance against frost to eat it. Now I can transform into an ice dragon if I want.’’

Speechless Rylia walked over to the ice crystal. After a few moments she talked ‘’This crystal is the reason why these mountain ranges have the cold weather, when the ice wraith moved in it tainted the crystal with evil. With that change the giants came to this region and decide to make it home. It will take some time to cleanse this and reset the balance. Leave me and tell Keal he must come here when I am done. Do not worry he will know when I am done’’

That said the party maid camp right in the cave, they gave 5 guards a proper funeral that had died during the combat. They should be leaving the next morning before the giant corpses start rotting. After the funeral each person told the story and his part in the battle. Only Rikky did not take part in all of this, he was as already seen sleeping. A few hours later Keal stood up and went into the small room. Another hour passed and they both left the room exhausted.

Rylia ‘’I have talked it over with Keal, we cannot move the crystal nor leave it here unprotected that it can be tainted again.

Before we leave in the morning Keal and I will combine magic and make a barrier that will keep out all monsters’’

Sven ‘’Alright that’s good’’

Rylia ‘’There is more, it’s also a power full magic item, that can help and strengthen any frost mage that comes here and meditates. I am going to have to stay at the town and make sure no one abuses the power, and maybe in time a wizard tower will be constructed in the village’’

Sven ‘’My brother the king talked about expanding trade and his influence in this area. As most of you know this town in located near the centre of the mountain range. Most traders pass through here, and with the frost giants gone other creatures will return. With most of the towns guard dead who will defend the village of not us?’’

A large cheer echoed in the cave hall.

Thus the small town of Avelon was founded and ruled not by a lord but a counsel of strong, brave and wise companions.