Erevan watches as the three werewolves and the robed wight walk out of the treeline onto the lake. The others look past Erevan at them.

"More are coming. They're weak to fire just the same. Get ready." Crenshaw says.

“The one in the robes has to be a mage.” Marvela says.

“Then let's get ready for a fight.” Valerie raises a fist.

The wight in the robes mutters an incantation as a blue ball of ice forms in his hands. He pushes his hands out and like a cannonball the ice ball slams down in the middle of the group. It explodes, sending shards of ice through everyone.

“Called it.” Marvela says, wincing, pulling ice shards out of her arm.

Erevan runs to his ballista and reload it. Valerie charges across the ice at the three undead werewolves. They counter charge, closing the gap between them. The first lunges at her, pouncing through the air. Val slides underneath them, letting a sword of bone grow out of her wrist. She pops back onto her feet, parries a slash from one werewolf, spins around slashing at the midsection of another.

“We need silver.” Erevan mutters.

Nortom charges towards the werewolf that flew over Val and fires three shots at it. Marvela keeps behind Nortom and tosses her containment cube out next to Valerie. Edwin the slime quickly grows to fill a five foot cubic space. He slides across the ice into a werwolf, sucking the poor creature into it, slowly dissolving the undead lycanthrope.

The mage forms another ice ball and launches it behind Valerie. The ice shards hit Val in the back, hit Nortom, Marvela, and Edwin.

Valerie weaves and dodges between attacks, slashing arms, wrists, and midsections. As she dodges past the werewolves Crenshaw blasts them with a ball of fire.

“Aren’t you going to summon something?” Erevan yells at Crenshaw.

“Already did!” Crenshaw yells back.

A creature leaps out of the treeline behind the undead mage. A small imp, with stubby wings, and a scorpion tail. It wraps its hands around the mage's eyes and its tail wraps around stabbing the mage several times.

The wolf by Nortom scrambles to its feet and charges at the gunslinger. A ballista bolt slams through it sending it sliding across the ice away from Nortom. He quickly shoots the ice out from under it, sending it plunging into the icy water.

One of the werewolves slashes out at Valerie. She twists their arm, slamming on their elbow, forcing it’s claws through its own face.

The wight mage grabs the imp off its back and throws it to the side. The creature sits up off the ground, its wings flutter, before a spike of ice is thrown through it. The mage turns towards the adventures as a ballista bolt sails through the air and slams through the wight. It falls to pieces.

“Alright, they’re dead. We should move off.” Erevan calls out.

“Where did they come from?” Nortom asks.

“There is a trail over here!” Valerie calls from the otherside of the bridge.

“Maybe we should retreat and heal.” Erevan suggests.

“Well I can apply salves to whoever needs it.” Nortom says.

“I do.” Marvela says as she sucks the slime back into their containment cube.

Nortom walks over to her and injects her with his needle.

“I mean, I almost died.” Erevan waves a hand to himself.

“It’s okay if you need to sit the rest of this out.” Crenshaw puts a hand on Erevan’s shoulder. “No one will judge you.”

“No, that's not it.” Erevan huffs as he picks up his ballista. “Fine, I’m coming with you.”

The group follows Valerie along a trail the undead created through the woods. It seems they came to this lake often and had a well trodden path.

“Why would wights need water?” Marvela asks herself.

“Moisten their skin.” Erevan says.

“This is no time for jokes.” Valerie turns around. “Take this seriously. There could be something really wrong here.”

The group exits the treeline and walks down a ridge to the mouth of a cave. Hvardrik’s cave. Erevan stops for a second, hearing a twig snap, and he’ll quickly turn around. There are two figures in the woods behind them.

Erevan turns back around to the party and as they approach the cave mouth he says something.

“Someone’s following us.” He looks between his friends.

“Where?” Nortom asks.

“They were in the treeline.” Erevan answers.

“What do we do?” Marvela asks.

“We don’t want to be attacked from behind if we go into this cave.” Valerie says.

“Then we let them know we’re onto them and force them to play their hand.” Crenshaw says.

“Alright.” Valerie nods.

The kinitecist walks back towards the treeline, open her arms wide, and call out to whomever may be listening.

“If you are going to do something, do it now. We know you’re following us.” Valerie calls out.

“Fine, we’re coming out!” A booming voice calls out.

The blonde hunter with the barrel chest steps out from behind cover. He has a large battle axe on his back. The second figure steps out, a blonde woman with a bear head hat and a bow. It’s Celise. And she looks so similar to the man. It must be her father.

“Celise!” Valerie calls out.

Erevan squints. Them knowing each other was bad news for him.

“Hey Val.” Celise says.

“What are you two doing here?” Valerie asks.

“Watching you guys to make sure the hunter’s guild doesn’t need to step in to help. Considering I am a part of their guild and yours.” Celise says.

“Well I am glad to see you. We’re about to go into this cave. Could have more undead in it.” Valerie explains.

“I’d be glad to assist.” Celise says.

Celise, her father, and Valerie walk back to rejoin the group. Celise eyes Erevan, considering how to dissect him, as she glares intently.

The three move past the group and into the cave. Each member of the party follows. Crenshaw pauses next to Erevan and looks at him.

“What did you do to her?” Crenshaw asks.

“Killed her brother.” Erevan answers knowing it's not true. “If things go south, do you have my back?”

“Of course.” Crenshaw nods.

Erevan holds Crenshaw back as the others go down into the cave. Erevan walks up to a skull near the entrance of the cave. He looks down at it and watches as its dark eye holes glisten with arcane energy.

“Hvardrik. It’s time.” Erevan states.

Erevan and Crenshaw rush down to rejoin the group. They creep along the dark caverns, lit only by a torch that Marvela holds up. There are the sounds of scuttling and water dripping. Far less inviting without Hvardrik’s welcome party.

The party emerges into the large cavernous space that houses the necromancer’s keep. Only without light none of it is visible. The group walks down into the large cavern. Hearing only some distant rattling.

More than a dozen arrows fired from skeletal archers whizz through the air. Nortom, Valerie, Celise, and her father all are hit by arrows. The torch drops to the ground. Five arrows pierce through Marvela’s chest, shoulders, and arms. She falls backward slamming onto the uneven stone floor.

“Find cover!” Celise yells as she raises her bow and fires an arrow with an incantation.

The arrow sails slowly through the air, glowing bright like phosphorus, lighting up the cavern. The group runs to nearby outcroppings of rocks to take cover. Erevan drops his ballista and rushes to Marvela, dropping down next to her. He pulls his left bracer off and pulls it onto her arm. Focusing on it he forces it to inject the werewolf serum into her.

The arrows are slowly pushed out of her flesh as it regenerates. She gasps for breath, quickly sitting up, and grabbing Erevan. The siege mage scoops her up and runs for cover. He hides behind a stalagmite.

“I’m going to run out of cover, all of you who can, pop up and take your shots.” Valerie says.

Before anyone can argue she darts out of cover. Nortom fires three shots, Crenshaw throws an explosive blast, and Celise fires an arrow at the skeletal archers on the keep walls. They continue their volleys as Valerie runs faster, bobbing and weaving, staying completely untargetable.

“Thank you.” Marvela smiles at Erevan before getting to her feet.

With all the skeletal archers dead the group moves up towards the keep. Erevan runs over to the stone box off to the side and unlocks the door to it. He looks through the small opening at the werewolf inside. He nods to the wolf before leaving to rejoin the group.

They stand where the gate would lower so they could cross the moat into the keep. The moat is filled with dozens if not hundreds of swarming undead. They were mostly undead troglodytes. Erevan furrows his brow wondering what else Hvardrik’s done.

“Erevan can you lower the drawbridge?” Nortom calls out to him.

“The drawbridge is too heavy for my telekinesis. Note how I carry around the ballista with my hands.” Erevan says as he moves up next to him.

“Don’t bother.” Celise says. She fires an arrow at the drawbridge with a rope attached to it.

The arrowhead pierces the drawbridge and then pops open to hook onto the wood. Celise and her father pull on the rope dragging the drawbridge down, fighting for every inch, as others in the party join in. As the drawbridge lowers they spot four zombies on the other side behind the gate. They are cranking the drawbridge back up, but are much weaker than the party.

“Crenshaw, the crank.” Celise barks the order.

Crenshaw throws an explosive orb at the crank. The magic blast throws all the undead aside. The drawbridge falls down completely. Celise’s father runs over the bridge, grabs the bottom of the gate, and starts lifting upwards. Forcing the gate up. Celise and Marvela slide under. Followed by Valerie and Nortom.

Erevan pushes the gate up and it gives a resounding crack as it gets lodged in place with a few extra feet of clearance for everyone to enter the keep.

The group enters a foyer. There are two doors on the left wall, two on the right, and one large set of double doors ahead of the group.

“The double doors.” Celise says.

“Definitely.” Valerie comments.

The group moves through the room. Celise’s father rushing to the front of the group as Crenshaw hangs back with Erevan. The doors on either side open up and a couple of armored wights rush out of each doorway. The big front doors open as Larry the skeletal giant and the undead Yeti step into the room.

“Is that a fucking Yeti?” Crenshaw calls out.

The wights crash against the group. Celise’s father pushes one away and then cleaves through another going after his daughter. Celise fires an arrow into one wight and it explodes into shrapnel and rotten gore. Nortom fires a barrage of cannon shots at wights running towards him. Marvela tosses her containment cube out and her slime blocks two wights from bearing down on her. Instead they start to float and dissolve inside of the slime cube.

Crenshaw throws an explosive blast at two wights rushing towards him. Erevan turns to see a wight charging him. He sets down his ballista and raises his fists, but the wight lunges past Erevan and tackles Crenshaw. It ignored the hunter completely.

Erevan grabs the back of the wight and tosses it off Crenshaw. The hunter helps Crenshaw to his feet, who in turn blasts the wight with a spell of dark fire.

The two turn to help the rest of the group. Seeing that Valerie is kicking off of the undead yeti and twisting through the air above it, while Celise fires an arrow into it. The yeti pops in a shower of fur and gore.

Celise’s father takes out one of the ankle of Larry, before Nortom blasts Larry’s head off with three shots.

The room falls quiet save for the heavy breathing of the adventurers. Erevan grabs his ballista and properly sets up the tripod. He can sense two more ballistas, extras they had made, set up in the next room. He had bonded with all the ballistas they made for Arfall. Erevan hopes he doesn’t have to use them.

Celise marches to the last door and throws it open. Inside the room Corvo stands on the left side of the table near the back wall, Anna stands on the right side of the table near the back wall, and Hvardrik sits at the head of the table. Behind them are two loaded ballistae.

“I am ready to negotiate my surrender.” Hvardrik calls out.