Chapter 47

It was mid-afternoon when Darras emerged from his tent to seek the jakes, finding the Elves already about though Balat was still asleep. There were no sounds of battle so he presumed progress was being made and so, after seeing to his ablutions, he joined his friends around the fire to enjoy a hot herbal drink and to eat some jerky.

“Sleep well?” Tinara asked.

“About as well as a man could away from home,” Darras chuckled. “Have you heard how the army is doing?”

“There have been several clashes of forces, but no full confrontation on either front,” she replied. “They don’t really have anything that will stop the advance of the Dwarven infantry.”

“Not with the armour they carry around, no,” Darras nodded.

“I suspect they are just trying to slow us, not sure why though,” Firios opined.

“Might be to wait for reinforcements,” Darras replied.

“Seems likely, though what forces we’ve seen so far are not of the same quality as ours, even those facing the Torgillons.”

“And still few, if any, magic users.”

“Yes, though the ones we brought with us are having a good effect in helping us detect our foes.”

‘Just had word from Tsumi. A portal has been activated near the woods, only five ... creatures, so expect something nasty, ’ Erren warned.

Darras passed the information along to the group and Amina hurried off to the command tent to pass the warning along. At this point Balat emerged from his tent looking bleary eyed having clearly been roused by Doriel. Nodding to the group he placed a hand upon a tree and chanted a spell, causing the tree to glow slightly before the effect ceased.

“Wendigos,” he informed the group. “A pack of five, very dangerous as they are incredibly strong as well as difficult to kill.”

“Axes and fire,” Firios stated, getting a nod from Balat. “Our Dwarven friends are about to earn their pay.”

“Aye, seems that way,” Darras agreed as Nemmos hurried off after Amina with the additional information.

“The forest folk have cleared out the Gnomish problem and are hurrying to our aid as well,” Balat informed the group.

“Treants?” Annos asked.

“Two, along with several nymphs, fauns and a Dryad.”

“How soon?”

“Unsure, they are travelling a route that avoids mankind,” Balat shrugged.

“Understandable, if frustrating,” Darras nodded as did the Elves.

“Indeed so,” Traskis replied. “They will even avoid Elves if they can.”

“Whilst they have more respect for Elves, they still prefer to avoid those who live in the woods, even if respecting them, than those that live with the woods,” Balat explained.

“How does your village manage?” Darras asked out of curiosity.

“Whilst a majority are followers of Erren, the forest kin are the ones in charge and who keep offences to a minimum,” Balat replied. “The followers of Erren rarely leave the environs of the village, simply working upon the food and lumber brought into the villages by the followers of Doriel.”

“And if they do choose to wander?”

“They do not have the blessing of Doriel so cannot find the hidden paths nor penetrate the deep woods. Plus all know what will happen if they leave the woods and are caught by the followers of Darmela, to whom they are outlawed.”

“Rather like the ordinary Elves in our communities,” Tinara added. “We scouts have been permitted to find some of the hidden paths, though I suspect not all.”

“Definitely not all,” Balat chuckled.

“Are the Wendigos remaining as a group?” Firios enquired.

“For the moment, yes,” Balat nodded. “Though they rarely co-operate as a group, so it may change.”

“Is there any way to get them to attack where we want them to attack?” Annos asked.

“They can be goaded, yes, but unless you trap one in a gully, any creatures they meet will struggle to take them down. They are simply too powerful.”

“We haven’t come across anything like that in these woods,” Firios grimaced.

“Indeed we have not,” Darras agreed. “Looks like we may need to trouble the Dwarves to deal with them and the casualties they’ll take in doing so.”

“We can use fire arrows to goad them, though I doubt they’ll kill one,” Tinara commented in thoughtful tones.

“No, they won’t, from what Doriel tells me,” Balat confirmed. “Though they’ll like them less than ordinary arrows.”

“We’ll just have to do our best, at least until the forest folk get here. They, at least, will be able to use the woods to aid them,” Darras finally replied.

“We’ll begin scouting. At least we can try to find out which direction they are heading and where they’ll strike,” Firios stated.

“Just be careful,” Balat warned. “Doriel tells me if they spot you, you’ll not easily escape them as they are faster of foot than you Elves.”

“Then we’ll ensure they do not spot us,” Tinara chuckled grimly.

Amina returned at this point, along with Nemmos, and informed the group that the plan, such as it was, was to draw the Wendigos into an encounter with the Dwarves who were preparing a few lighter siege weapons to counter the threat.

“Let’s hope it will be enough,” Darras replied, even as the Elves, other than Sondrast, melted into the woods.

“If we join the Dwarves, I have a few surprises that may check these Wendigos.” Sondrast stated.

“I’ll help as best I can, though what we need is a magic user steeped in the flame lore,” Balat offered.

“They’ll be back in Diriona,” Sondrast replied. “They were deemed as only really useful for siege warfare as their talents can run wild.”

“Yes, we really don’t want a conflagration in these woods,” Darras agreed.

Darras’s group, including the Thieves Guild, made their way to where the centre of the Dwarven lines were, finding many Human and Elvish archers also making their way there. Once there, Sondrast and Balat drew casting circles, each aiding the other with the form for the symbols representing their own specialisation along with Sondrast’s knowledge of wind magic from Annos. There was activity everywhere as the Dwarves pounded stakes into the ground to try and channel the Wendigos into a certain path. Here Darras spotted several weapons he recognised as being scorpions being prepared with their powerful bolts that would hopefully cause the Wendigos to think again when they attacked. He also noticed a magic user, presumably of the water discipline, soaking the ground and trees ahead of the Dwarves as the Elves lit fire pots to enable them to light the bundles of flame arrows they were carrying. It was noticeable that there was none of the usual insult flinging from both groups to each other. Both realised they could be in for the fight of their lives and had to rely upon the other.

“They’re coming!” Balat yelled out as a high-pitched roaring began to be heard.

“Hold your ground; trust your comrades!” Doorf’s deep voice boomed out.

“Assist our allies; keep these creatures distracted!” Keltranas ordered the Elves.

And then it happened, five huge, shambling creatures came into view. Darras had been expecting something like a Treant, which admittedly looked somewhat like a moving tree. But Wendigos were far more sturdy and looked both fast and strong with distinctly predator-like features as they gave a great howl and advanced towards the Dwarves, batting away the implanted stakes as if they were matchsticks.

Sondrast appeared to concentrate and ran his thumb down one of the symbols upon his staffwand and the air around the Wendigos seemed to curdle and stiffen, slowing them down and making them vulnerable to the hail of fire arrows that were now being fired towards them.

This, however, only seemed to irritate the creatures, whose skin mostly shrugged off the arrows. Balat then made his stand with a spell that caused the bushes and scrub the Wendigos were pushing through grow and entangle their feet pinning one in place and hampering the others. The trapped one was hit by three scorpion bolts all of which penetrated its armoured skin causing it to howl out in rage and pain, though not stopping it.

“Are there any weaknesses, my Erren?” Darras asked.

‘Not many. About the only one is, is that they do not co-operate well together so will attack as individuals.’

Other scorpion bolts shot out as the other Wendigos closed and the Dwarven front ranks steadied themselves to face a massive blow from the creatures powerful limbs. The trapped one had been hit by a torrent of fire arrows and was now keening out its distress. It now appeared to be trying to escape its tormentors only for three more scorpion bolts to hit it, causing it to fall to the earth, presumably critically injured, though clearly not dead.

Despite the strength and armour of the Dwarves, the four remaining active creatures batted their front ranks aside as if they were skittles. This, however, permitted the Dwarves to surround them and attack with battle axes even as the storm of fire arrows continued above the heads of the Dwarves to slam into the Wendigos. Again and again the Dwarves were batted away, though most survived due to their armour and would, if able, re-join the fight as another of the Wendigos fell due to their axes. The end for the Wendigos came as the Dwarven rear ranks opened to allow a pair of Treants through, aided by a glowing Dryad as well as a hundred diminutive Fauns who, despite their size, swarmed the Wendigos down, enabling the Treants to rip them apart.

“We thank you for your aid,” Linota thanked the now quiescent Dryad, who had obviously been using her magic to enhance the strength of the Treants and Fauns.

“Lomarris, she whom you know of as Doriel, bid us aid you in your fight to free this land,” the Dryad replied, then smiled as Balat approached. “Greetings, young Balat, I am the Dryad Syllar.”

“May the blessings of Lomarris and the forests be always with you, Syllar,” Balat politely replied.

“Our forces are now re-occupying the abandoned woodlands. Your rear areas will be safe,” Syllar informed Linota, who had been joined by Prince Rigilo who was, somewhat in awe, observing the Dryad.

“This is good news indeed,” Rigilo replied politely. “Our rear security was tying down too many of our soldiers.”

“We will supply warnings of any large scale infiltrations by Thenarron and the dark kin, have no fear.”

“And should they attempt to do this again?”

“We will aid you. Lomarris demands it of us,” Syllar replied with a smile as the Treants and Fauns dragged away the five Wendigo corpses. “Your people did well, these are a most dangerous foe and should not be in this place.”

“Aye. Well, our Dwarven brothers and sisters took the brunt of their assault, but our thanks anyway,” Rigilo replied with a bow,

“Casualties?” Rigilo asked Linota.

“We lost nine, and have over forty badly wounded, though, with the help of potions, healing rapidly,” Linota replied.

“We got off lightly.”

“Aye, we did, had not the people of Doriel come to our aid,” Linota nodded. “All the casualties came when they closed and despite our best efforts, we were getting the worst of it.”

“You were winning. We just ensured it was quickly,” Syllar noted.