| "I am coming, Clara!" Salem shouted, setting his feet and running as fast as he could around the crippled monster. Salem rushed past the owlbear, and dove for Clara, who lay on her side. As the owlbear backpedaled towards the wall of ice, Salem dove head first towards Clara and snatched her up in his arms. The two panthers slid out of the way of the owlbear as it backed up into the thick ice with a loud collision. Salem, laying on Clara to protect her, watched as the ice wall, likely five feet thick or greater, ruptured with loud cracks from one side to the other. All watched as the lower part of the great wall of ice became separated from the rest, and plunged some 50 feet down into the frozen river, with the blinded owlbear tumbling after. The travelers looked over the edge at the river of ice below as the great mass of ice that once protected them from the winds plunged into it with a deafening crash; to their surprise, the huge block of ice did not break through the river. The owlbear followed suit, landing on the broken chunks of ice; as it landed, blood splattered from its back outward towards the edges of the rivers in a great jagged circle. It struggled to rise, roaring loudly in agony. Suddenly, from high above, another chunk of ice was separated from the parent column and fell further down from the cliff. The spear-shaped ice mass fell downward; all watched as it plunged onto the owlbear's head, cleaving through its throat cleanly, penetrating it all the way through, breaking as its fall was stopped by the frozen river under the great beast. The owlbear uttered a strangled growl as its breath was taken from it, then died slowly from suffocation. It's blood ran down its neck onto the river, soon forming frozen red pools. Salem turned over, uncovering Clara, kneeling before her. "You're safe now, Clara," he said, wiping his forehead. "The owlbear is dead; it is all over now." Clara sat up, clutching her left hip, tears running from her eyes. She crawled to Salem and fell into his arms. "You--you saved my life," Clara whispered, cringing. "I owe so much to you. I thought you were a burden to me, and you saved me." With any strength left, she threw her arms around him. "It's fine, really," Salem assured her, as she buried her face in his chest. Kat, thoroughly exhausted from the fight, and still certain all her ribs had been broken, staggered over to Clara and Salem. "Are you two all right?" she asked, falling to her bleeding knees. "I think I'm going to die again." "You will be healed," Salem assured her. "My father can heal us all." Isengrim ran to his son, and Keilich followed after him. "I don't believe it, son!" he exclaimed to Salem. "You saved Clara's life. I'm so proud of you!" "I've got to get all of you healed," Keilich said. "Kat, I can see that your ribs are shattered. You lie down now, and I'll repair you." Kat lay down on her back, her body covered in blood, both of her and the owlbear. She put her knees up and her feet flat on the ground, wrapping her arms around herself under her breasts. She closed her eyes to pray that her life be saved, all the while writhing about in immense pain from her injuries. Keilich hobbled over to her, kneeling at her side. "Hold still," he said, resting his hands on her belly. His magic focused about his hands and ran through Kat's blood, refreshing her as it flowed. Blue light covered her body as Keilich's great spell lifted her broken ribs from her shattered inner cage, knitting them into place where they once were, and repairing her internal injuries. Clara was also healed by Isengrim; her crippled legs were fixed by his healing hands and spells. The pantheresses stood up slowly, realizing soon enough that they could each stand comfortably and effortlessly. "Without magic, you both may have died within hours," Isengrim said. "Thank you both so much," Kat said, hugging Keilich. "What do we do now?" Salem asked, still looking over the cliff at the dead owlbear. "It's still late," Isengrim said. "We could try to go back to sleep, but I fear, because of what we've been through, that we could die in our slumber. Even still, the sun will be up within two hours or less; maybe we should just keep going." "That's fine with me," Clara said, "but I must rest for another minute. That was a tough fight; without magic and determination, we would have all died." What does she think of me now? Salem inwardly wondered, sitting down for a moment to catch his breath. He looked at Clara, who sat a few feet away, resting her freshly-healed legs. I must talk to her later about all this. After sitting down for a while, the travelers all stood up and continued on their way, enchanted by warmth, up the mountain. In the early morning on the mountain, it soon began to snow, and the flurries produced a thin blanket of snow on the slopes. The river remained frozen solid, the liquid water running under a surface of thick ice. At last, the group reached a truly treacherous obstacle; a great chasm separated the path up the mountainside into two ends, dividing the upward path by almost 10 feet. "Now what?" Kat asked. "We can go no other way without possibly traveling further out of our way." "We might still be able to keep going," Clara said, "if we figure out some way to bridge that gap. Isengrim, Keilich, can you help us with magic?" "Not so," Keilich said. "My magic is limited only to healing and defense. So is Isengrim's; we cannot float magically across that chasm." "There is no way we can continue," Erma said. "Remember that our magic is limited, and that Keilich, my husband, and I are of old age and failing health. This may be as far as we can go on this mountain." "If you cannot go," Kat interrupted, "then I may, and so may Clara and Salem. I know we can get across by jumping over." Next page >> |