Chapter 3

Hickory asked, "What is the name of those foul creatures?"

Aylia replied, "Most of us call them 'groks' because of that ridiculous noise they make just before they fire the flame. At least, that's what we call them in public."

That brought a wry laugh from the rest of the party. More groks appeared as if by magic, but Nosef pointed to some strange looking structures and said, "That's where they are coming from. Maybe we can shut off the supply of groks by destroying what looks like their hives."

That sounded like a good idea, so Jack launched atlatl darts at the hives while Aylia shot at the groks with her explosive arrows. As soon as Jack targeted the hives, groks poured out, probably to try to stop Jack. Nosef directed his clay golem to attack the hives, and between the golem and the atlatl darts, the hives were soon destroyed. The end of the hives also marked the end of the groks in that area, so Jack and Aylia took the opportunity to rest.

It wasn't long before Nosef called out a warning, "WYVERNS ARE ATTACKING!" These small dragons attacked by stabbing the victim with the barb on its tail. The touch of the barb felt something like a lightning bolt, but there was no flash of light. Jack sorely wished that Sue was there with her movable firewall. All of the team fought as best they could, but the arrows and atlatl darts were the most useful.

Jack remarked, "Man, I wish my wife was here. Her firewall spells would work wonders on those wyverns."

Aylia said, "There is a sorceress in camp. Maybe she would be willing to join us. She ought to have some sort of firewall that could be useful."

Jack agreed. "It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask her. Let's transport back to camp and see if she is interested." At Jack's instruction, they joined hands and Jack used his transport spell to carry them all back to the Rogues' camp.

Aylia pointed out the sorceress talking to a man in shinning armor. Jack approached and asked, "May I interrupt, please. I am Duke Argo of Isbardia. Lady, are you a sorceress?"

"Yes, I am. My name is Inferno. This gentleman is Sir Manfred, a paladin. What may I do for you, Sir Duke?"

"Lady Inferno, I am leading a team of heroes who are trying to remove all of the demons and monsters from the land of Samsor so that the Rogues may return to their monastery. We are in need of someone who has some fire spells to join us. Right now, we are encountering many wyverns, and I thought that a firewall, particularly one that moved, would be very helpful. Would either, or both, of you be interested in joining us?"

"Unfortunately, my firewall spell does not move. Actually, I have not mastered it, yet, so it would do you no good in any case. However, I do have some other fire spells that would be useful. Sir Manfred, how about you?"

"Yes, I have a useful fire spell. It is an individual blob of fire, though, and it does not move. I suppose that it could be described as a fire that targets an individual, but does not do anything until it reaches that target. It is effective against several enemies at the same time, so it is helpful in that respect. An advantage is that it can hit a target whether that target is moving or stationary, it makes no difference. I would be happy to join you if you can use my humble skills."

"Both of you are welcome to join us. Besides a Rogue who is our guide, we have a Necromancer and a Druid. I am an accomplished warrior, plus I have a useful transportation spell. Together, we should make a formidable fighting force."

Inferno commented, "All we lack are an Assassin and an Amazon to have a full complement of heroes. Maybe they will join us very soon.

The group assembled and Jack introduced everybody. They joined hands and Jack transported them back to the land of groks and wyverns. Manfred activated his Holy Fire aura as soon as they touched down, and there were a couple of immediate flashes of flame as two wyverns were caught by the aura.

They proceeded to scour the countryside, looking for demons and monsters to kill. As it happened, Manfred's Holy Fire aura killed the greatest number of demons and monsters, but Inferno's fire balls did take care of several. Her fire balls were most useful against the hives, which turned out to be used both by groks and by wyverns.

They also met zombies and skeletons, and Nosef's skeleton troops, which had grown to 20 in number, were very good at eliminating them. Hickory called in a couple of Spirit Wolves, and they, too, were helpful against the zombies and enemy skeletons, but they were most useful against the small demons and their shaman.

They had almost completely cleared the area Aylia said was known as the Stony Field when they came upon seven monoliths arranged in a circle of five with two to one side. Aylia could not remember the significance of these stones, but did know that they were important. The demons certainly thought that they were, because they made a determined effort to keep the team away from the stones. The demons called in wyverns, groks, zombies, and skeletons to join in the fight. There was one demon that was especially hard to kill, but Jack's atlatl darts finally disposed of him. Everyone of the heroes was worn out by the battle, and too tired to go on. They simply needed rest. Jack transported them back to the Rogues' camp for a little R&R.

While he was at the Rogues' camp, Jack talked to Akara about the strange monoliths. She called them the Cairn Stones. They were the gateway to a little town taken over by the demons and monsters. A certain wise man, Dekard Cain, had lived there, and he could be a key character in driving the demons and monsters back to where they belonged if he still lived. She asked Jack to try to rescue Cain.

To do so, they were going to have to find the Tree of Inifuss and bring back a scroll to the camp. Akara could read the glyphs on the scroll and tell him how to activate the portal to the town of Tristram where Cain might be found. There was a tunnel they had to enter and follow to reach the Dark Wood where the Tree of Inifuss was located.

That afternoon, Jack got a call from Sue to return to the palace so that she could finalize some of the last details for the wedding and the official installation of them as the rulers of Isbardia. Jack explained to the rest of the team where he was going and asked if they would like to join him in traveling to Isbardia. All wanted to go, so they linked hands, and Jack transported them to the palace.

Jack had already told Sue of his companions, so she was happy to meet them. The chamberlain had time to put on a State Dinner for the visitors, and they were thrilled by the occasion. Both Sue's and Jack's families were at the dinner, of course, and they were thrilled to meet real heroes. Hickory entertained the children by changing back and forth between his werewolf and werebear forms.

After the dinner, Sue gave Jack his marching orders in regard to the wedding and other stuff. She had the date set for two weeks away, so he had plenty of time to come to a convenient stopping place for a few days while they took care of business. Sue didn't say so, but she was in a hurry to get the formalities over and send the families home so that she could join Jack in the fun in Samsor.

The team was ready to enter the tunnel to the Dark Wood where they would hunt for the Tree of Inifuss. Nosef had raised his troop of 20 skeletons and his clay golem, and Hickory had called his two Spirit Wolves. Manfred had cast his Holy Fire aura, so all of the preliminaries were done. They entered the entrance to the tunnel and were met on the spot by a gang of skeletons and demons. The golem and skeletons tore into the mob of enemies and quickly had them reduced to useless bones and dead demons. Nosef's amplify damage curse had made a significant difference in the battle.

They worked their way through the underground passage, fighting the familiar skeletons, zombies, and demons at almost every turn. Occasionally, they would meet a supercharged individual, but Jack's atlatl darts usually did him in without much difficulty. Rarely, one of the other heroes would have to help, but that was all that was required to knock off the monster.

When they finally broke out into daylight again, they were set upon by groks and wyverns. These were more powerful that any previous creatures of the type that they had met. Inferno, the sorceress, was hit by two blasts from groks and took a fatal dose of the fire blasts. Her body vanished before they could do anything, so the team could only mourn in absentia. This was the first of their group to be lost, and they were deeply affected. They only had a few minutes to reflect on the companion that they had lost before they were hit by a new wave of groks, so their mourning was cut off rather abruptly. They lay into this set of groks with renewed determination and wiped them out with a feeling that they had somehow paid the monsters back for the loss of Inferno.