| Four more hours went by, and by now it was nearly pitch black on the mountain. Even with the warmth offered by Isengrim's spell, the party was very exhausted from the days travel. It would be almost impossible to see ahead were it not for the full moon, which shone upon the river, frozen at it's edges with the same chunks of ice floating in it. "We should find somewhere safe to camp tonight," Clara said. "This wilderness I do not trust. Right now, I can see no place of suitable lodging." "No one will live up here, except the hardiest of beings," Erma said. "We may just have to sleep on the ground." Kat looked around herself. "Wait, I see something," she said, pointing into the distance. What she pointed at was a huge waterfall, it's waters frozen solid. Large, sharp columns of ice hung from it's huge cliff; they must have been hundreds of feet long. "I think we could probably go there to stay. Maybe the ice of the waterfall will act as insulation from the cold?" "That might be a good idea," Keilich said. "It can also shield us from sight of other beasts." The party set off in the dead of night to the great frozen waterfall. To their convenience, the path led right under the cave of suspended ice, over the river; it even widened to a space of about 20 feet, allowing each traveler enough room to lie down. Isengrim's enchantment continued to keep the travelers warm through the night. The group prayed, then layed down to go to sleep, blanketed and protected by a thick, wide wall of ice. In the middle of the night, Clara's arm was contacted with something warm. She turned over in her blankets, still asleep, attempting to make herself more comfortable. Again, the warm object touched her arms and abdomen. Clara began to squirm about, trying in her slumber to shove the irritation away. "Leave me alone," she moaned. The irritation continued. Clara finally was startled awake, sitting straight up, her eyes partially open. What was that? she wondered, looking at the rest of her friends, still fast asleep. Was that Salem touching me? He'd better leave me alone. Clara looked over at Isengrim's son, who lay asleep on the ground. Clara crawled a few feet over to him and shook him. "Wake up, Salem!" she whispered, sternly. Salem slowly awoke and rolled his eyes towards Clara. "Clara!" he said, trying to sit up. "Why are you awake?" "Did you wait until I fell asleep to touch me in an unwelcome manner?" she asked. "I don't appreciate it." "I didn't do anything," he answered. "You were probably having a dre--" He suddenly stopped talking; his eyes grew wide. "What?" Clara asked, confused as to why he didn't finish. "And what are you staring at, anyway?" Salem lost control. "AAAAAAAAHHH!" he screamed, scrambling out of his bed, waking up everyone else. Clara turned around to see what he was afraid of. Behind her was a huge, hulking owlbear, a beast that she and Kat had only learned about in their youth. It had the head of an owl and the height, build, and body of a grizzly bear. The beast stood close to 10 feet tall and had huge claws on its front paws. "Everyone up!" Clara cried. By that time, the rest of the party was on their feet, weapons drawn; Keilich and Isengrim concentrated to protect the younger members. Isengrim sent Erma away behind some rocks to protect herself. Kat armed herself, then threw Clara's sword to her, passing it between the owlbear's legs, letting it slide into Clara's grasp. Salem scampered away to get his shortsword. Clara first stood against the beast, holding her sword in front of her. "I'll take you down yet!" she cried. "You will never harm any one of us!" She did not take the first swing, however; instead, the beast roared and swung it's massive left paw at her head. Clara ducked away, then made her move. As the owlbear's razor sharp claws narrowly missed her head, Clara stood and swung her sword. Her blade ripped through the owlbear's belly; blood splattered against her face and chest as she stepped back, anticipating another attack. Kat also engauged the beast; she attacked from behind, hacking furiously at its legs and back, hoping to sever either. She also wound up being covered nearly from head to foot in blood. The owlbear reared its head in disturbance, irritated by Kat's sword cleaving its hide. With great strength, the beast swung its right paw backward at Kat. Before Kat could react, the heavy appendage struck her in the chest with devistating force, knocking her backward at tremendous speed. The young pantheress flew through the air for at least ten feet before landing and sliding further on her back, until finally crashing into the great wall of ice the group fought under. Kat struggled to rise, indeed dazed, but she was severly injured. My ribs feel all broken, she thought, clutching her chest and belly. I must try, though; Clara needs me more than ever. Meanwhile, Clara struggled with the owlbear some more, attempting to reach its throat. Even Salem stabbed furiously at the beast's legs with his shortswords. No such luck was there with Keilich and Isengrim; their protective magic for the three fighters and their disruptive spells toward the owlbear seemed to be failing them. The owlbear was so frenzied from the fight that it seemed entirely uncontrollable. Again, the owlbear attacked back furiously. Even as Kat crawled away from the ice wall, several of her ribs shattered and her organs possibly bleeding internally, Clara was struck as Kat was by the owlbear's enormous paws; she was thrown to the ground and slid against the wall of ice, her hips aching from the blow. "Clara!" Salem cried, as the girl was thrown against the wall. "I will save you!" Salem faced the owlbear as Kat rose slowly to try to fight once more. He readied his shortswords as the owlbear once again swung his mighty paws. Salem quickly jumped up high as the claws swept under his feet; he lept so furiously that he nearly reached the owlbear's head. Uttering a strangled curse, Salem swung his left arm backward as hard as he could. His blade swept near the beast's left ear, and came into contact with its face. Salem felt suspended and watched as the blade swept through the beast's eyes like a hot knife through a stick of butter, the cut leaving a trail of fresh blood after it. The owlbear roared in agony as its paws flew to its face, now surely permanently blinded by Salem's attack. It was sent reeling backwards toward the ice wall, right where Clara lay, horribly injured. Next page >> |