Chapter Eighteen: Enemy Unknown

"Now, let’s see what we can find out about these lands" Rynn suggested as Arokh set down by the fire burning in the town centre.
"Could you spare a moment?" Rynn asked the man tending the fire.
"No, I have to keep this fire burning or Ranwolfe will have my head" he grunted.
"Polite I see" Arokh noted.
"Hmm" Rynn murmured jumping down from the dragon's back.
"Do you want me to have a word? I can apply my more forceful methods" Arokh said quietly.
"No, leave it." Rynn said knowing that Arokh may well loose his temper and they wanted the Northmen on their side. "Ill ask around, you warm yourself by the fire. I won't be long."

Rynn knocked on the door of the nearest house which also served as a clothing store, the solid wooden door needing a lot of effort to make some noise that could be heard.
"Come in" a voice sounded eventually.
Rynn entered into the dark wooden shack; it was only lit by the fire and a single lantern on a table where a man sat with his feet up on the table staring at Rynn.
"Hmm" he mumbled to himself bending over to empty the ash from his pipe into a wastebasket. "Well, what do you want?" He demanded now looking back at the weary looking woman.

Rynn thought for a moment and began to ask about the Northlands. "I'm wanting to know what can be found in the lands around here and in which direction the Halfmen come from" she said.

The man shuffled about on his chair and let out a fart smiling to himself when he saw Rynn's disgusted look. "You want to know about the Northern Tundra? Well let’s see. There is a temple to the east, a couple of Grull camps, various caves and nothing else much apart from wilderness." He explained in a slow voice as if he could not be bothered to talk to her.
"What hostile creatures are they around here?" Rynn continued, still eager for information.
"Grull, Wartocks, Yeti. Yes, Yeti; they were thought to be extinct but a couple of us have seen them. There's blackwings, ice bats and apart from that nothing else much. Now if you don't mind I'm busy. Close the door on the way out." He said ending the conversation.
Rynn looked despondent for a moment; the man clearly wasn't busy, he just couldn't be bothered. She realised she wasn't going to get any more information out of him and left closing the door behind with a slam.

"Find anything?" Arokh asked as she mounted him.
"There is nothing here but wilderness. We should see Ranwolfe to ask the way to the Halfmen's lands, the people here seem rude idiots" Rynn said exasperated.
Arokh didn't reply and walked up to Ranwolfe's hut. "Well, go on in, we haven't got all day" he said to Rynn when she did not dismount.
"Oh, I thought you were going to shout him" Rynn said jumping down sinking to her chest in the soft snow. Arokh smiled to himself at the sight and pulled her out of the snowdrift with a front foreleg and placed her in front of him.
Rynn shook herself down and knocked at Ranwolfe's door.

"Ah, glad you came back. I was just going to tell you the way to Shiverbane" he said welcoming her into his home.
"Shiverbane?" Rynn questioned.
"Its the Half-men's homeland." Ranwolfe informed.
"Oh, right, we were just coming to ask you the same thing." Rynn replied closing the door.
Ranwolfe showed her to a chair and he sat down opposite at a table. "Shiverbane is higher up in the mountains. It’s a lot colder than here, the Halfmen make their homes in caves and caverns cut into the ice itself. There is a different breed of dragon that lives up there which breathes solid ice shards so be careful."
"I will" Rynn muttered.

Ranwolfe began to explain. "To get there, follow the path through the valley beyond the city, there you will find a tunnel cut into the mountainside which leads to the Northern Tundra. You can just fly over or around the mountains but it’s a handy short cut. Okay, once there, again follow the tundra and it will eventually merge into Shiverbane; you will see where as its pretty obvious. The mountain at the end of the Tundra is actually a huge glacier; the river that flows through these lands is water, which has come from the melting glacier. In winter, these rivers freeze over."

Rynn took it all in, the directions were pretty simple and surely Arokh had a good sense of direction. "Okay, thanks for your time" she said making for the door.
"Oh, I forgot. We have an outpost in the Tundra, stop by if you need any supplies." Ranwolfe said raising his voice so Rynn would stop. "Oh and good luck" he added as she opened the door and was gone.

The journey to the outpost took them the most of the morning as it was difficult to navigate through the thick snowfall and mist that clung to the mountains. Blackwings made travelling dangerous and the great red dragon was always on edge keeping a lookout for danger.
On the ground, Rynn collected any items that were of use such as gold and healing potions from the Grull camps that were scattered throughout the Northern Tundra and around Ravenshold. The bow, which the Grull named 'Hoarfrost' came into Rynn's possession when she stopped by to explore a cave used by the Grull as a base.

Eventually, as they neared the next bend in the canyon, humans could be seen below in a large clearing where a large fire burnt. Arokh landed and Rynn dismounted running up to a group of men huddled around the fire for the harsh wind and snow was unforgiving, even to men wearing the thickest of clothes. They was not alarmed by Rynn's presence but as soon as they saw Arokh, they leapt to their defence surrounding the dragon so he could not get away.
"Stay back. I mean you no harm" he grated eyeing the men with glowing red eyes.
"It’s okay. He is with me" Rynn shouted beginning to walk over to where she left Arokh.
"And you are?" One of the men asked sharply, his hand placed firmly on his sword so he could draw it if need be.

"I am Rynn and this is Arokh, a dragon of the Elder Breed. Ranwolfe said we could find supplies and shelter here" she said, introducing herself and her fiery companion.
The man continued to stay on edge but after what seemed like an eternity, he relaxed. "Okay, so you are friends of Ranwolfe. Go on inside but one of us will accompany you; we have had Desert Lords come by here before and they can disguise themselves as humans. I'm sure you understand" he said hoping his explanation would forgive their hostility.
"I understand. Arokh, would you mind?" She asked, carefully choosing her words so not to appear like she was treating Arokh like a taxi. Dragons hated being taken advantage of and as far as he was concerned, there was no need for them to stop by the outpost as time was of the essence.
"No, but don't be long" he replied sitting down in the cold snow watching to make sure he didn't sit on any of the Northmen.

Whilst Rynn was gathering information and food, Arokh waited patiently. He glared at the men surrounding him and neither him nor they spoke and there was a tense atmosphere.
Arokh rolled his eyes and let out a low growl as the silence began to anger him. "Stand at ease. I won't attack" he said quietly to the men in front trying to break the tension.
The guards obeyed and the ones behind the red dragon walked round to join their companions around the fire but not one of them turned their backs on the dragon. "Forgive me for being rude dragon, but who are you to tell us to stand at ease?" One of them said; he didn't want to argue with the dragon but wanted an explanation.

A glare of anger flashed in the dragon's eye and straightaway the guard knew he had made a wrong move. He stepped back a couple of feet and looked up at the dragon.
"Who am I? I tell you who I am!" Arokh snarled, angry but trying to keep his temper. "I am Arokh, destroyer of Navaros and the Dark Union, saviour of all Drakan. I was awakened by Rynn and now we make up part of the New Order of the Flame so don't you dare question my authority!"
"The Order? That's just a story isn't it?" The guard continued.
Arokh bared his teeth in anger. "Yes, but a true story!"
"I'm sorry Arokh, but I don't know much about the Order and I don't know your background" he apologised thinking it would be best if he just shut up.

Arokh breathed out sharply, his breath forming in a large misty cloud. "Well, it was six centuries ago, I can't expect everyone to know about my heroic antics" he said with a smile. "Be aware though; if we are successful, you will be seeing a lot more of the Order of the Flame and the Elder Breed. Just take one tip from me; don't argue with a dragon of the Order."
The guardsman nodded "Well, I won't and I'm sorry for being hostile. Shake on it?" He said extending his hand towards the dragon.
"Shake on it?" Arokh questioned cocking his head to one side puzzled by what he had just heard. He looked down at the man's extended hand and frowned.
"Oh I forgot I was talking to a dragon, it kinda does not work. Forget it." The guard laughed.
"No really, what do you mean?" Arokh asked.
The guard sighed. "Okay, put your hand, foot, claw whatever in mine and shake it up and down."
Arokh obeyed and then placed his foot back down on the ground. "What was that in aid of?"
"It’s a way of showing that two people have agreed on settling a dispute" he explained.
"Oh. Ill bear that in mind" Arokh said and walked closer to the fire. The other guards quickly moved out of his way as he sat down beside them.

Half an hour later, Rynn had not come back and Arokh was becoming impatient. "Where has she got to?" He grumbled.
"Give her a shout, she can't be far" someone suggested.
Arokh frowned and stood up walking to the cave entrance. It was too narrow for him to enter so he just stuck his head through and shouted "Rynn! What are you doing in there?"
The dragon's voice boomed through the tunnels, even he was surprised by the loudness of his own voice. A short while later, he was answered.
"I'm coming, just give me a few minutes" Rynn shouted back, her voice sounding awfully distant. Eventually she showed up at the cave entrance clutching a small cloth bag which she tied to her belt.

"What's that?" Arokh asked.
"Healing potions and another Invulnerability potion. It was expensive but you never know when they come in handy" she said. Straightaway, Arokh noticed the smell of food on her breath.
"Lunch already?" He commented "That's all you think about is your stomach, I'm surprised you have a slim figure with what you eat!" He laughed trying to add some humour to the tense atmosphere.
Rynn smiled. "Well, thanks for the compliment but I don't eat that much."
"Really" Arokh said sarcastically but Rynn knew he didn't mean to be nasty; it was just his sense of humour.
"Come on, we had better get going" Arokh demanded letting Rynn mount him.

“Heh, heh, you got yourself a nice chick there Arokh” one of the men shouted raising up his bottle of spirit.

“Shut up” Rynn hissed turning her head round to look at the man who had just spoken. Arokh smiled to himself and did not speak. “Well, aren’t you going to say something?” Rynn objected at the dragon’s silence.

“They are only being friendly” Arokh noted. “After all, they may well be our future allies.”

“I think he was rude” Rynn muttered as Arokh began to walk away.

“He was only being comical” Arokh disagreed.

This statement got Rynn’s back up straightaway. “Well, you would take his side wouldn’t you? Typical male, always thinking about sex and showing off.”

Arokh laughed loudly. “Well, I admit to being a bit of a show off.”

“Yeah, you are. When you go anywhere, it’s like ‘look everybody, here’s Arokh. Look how handsome and powerful he is, let’s all bow down to his greatness.’ Talk about liking to be the centre of attention” Rynn snapped.

Arokh grinned. “It’s not like that at all. I’m just different. And I am handsome and powerful” he added.

“I’m sorry Arokh” Rynn apologised.

“It does not matter” the dragon answered as he flew up into the air. Both of them had a smile across their faces.

It was another hour before they reached the borders of the Half-men's lands. The snow had almost stopped enabling the red dragon to see further as he cut through the icy cold air, the frost forming on his leathery wings. Rynn pulled her clothes tighter and rubbed her hands against her furs, she could feel them stinging with the cold, wishing she had bought some gloves when she had the opportunity.

Arokh began a steep decent and landed on an ice covered path. Looking behind, Rynn could see there was a large cave behind them, its entrance blocked by a mound of rocks and ice that had been brought down by a recent avalanche.
Suddenly, a large vaguely human form burst from a tent on the pathside and started waving its arms as if it was trying to attract attention.
"Umma rumla swampy!" it seemed to say. Arokh swivelled his head round startled at the sound and fixed his eyes on the grey-blue skinned creature. "Umra rumla swampy!!!" it shouted again, by now Rynn had noticed.

"It seems we are spotted,” she said quietly.
"It would appear so, yes" Arokh mumbled looking around uneasily expecting something to happen. "Something is not quite right" he continued as the creature ran away retreating to his tent. Rynn kept looking at the tent half expecting a small army to rush out but suddenly a ball of ice crashed into the path almost hitting them.
"Dragons!" Rynn cried as Arokh took off to deal with the arial foe swooping and dodging the onslaught of icy missiles. Arokh had a hard time killing the creature but eventually, his superior skill sent the winged beast crashing to the floor.

Arokh glided down and stood beside the fallen beast looking it over with interest.
"What's so interesting?" Rynn asked climbing down from his back to see what he was looking at.
The dragon raised his head to look at Rynn. "It’s a half breed. Something that is very rare - a cross between an Elder Breed and an Ice bat."
"It looks like Werokh" Rynn noted seeing that it was covered in thick fur rather than scales, exactly like Arokh's dead friend.
Arokh gave a sad smile "You are correct. Werokh must have been the same species of dragon this descended from although Werokh was a true Elder Breed dragon."

"Umra rumla Swampy!" sounded again from nearby. Arokh looked up to see the creature they first saw running towards them, its weapon held firmly in its hand. Without hesitating, he unleashed a stream of flame killing the large creature in a few moments. He put out the flame by kicking snow over its body so he could see what it was.
"So, this is a half-man" he growled kicking the snow off its body. Rynn came closer to examine it; the creature was human in shape and was about twice her height with a strong muscular body covered in grey-blue leathery skin. It wore some sort of cloth around its groin and carried a large battle-axe and a shield in the other. Its face looked like a goblin and was withered with age. It certainly wasn't a young creature and Rynn hoped that the rest would be smaller.

"They seem easy enough to kill" Arokh remarked "but these ice dragons seem to be their allies. We should exercise caution."
"Easy for you to kill. Maybe not for me" Rynn grumbled putting her sword away.
"There's your negative side again" Arokh smiled. "Be positive... Come on, we need to find the second gate."

"Where do you think this second gate is?" Rynn asked after they had been flying for a while. They had explored a few Halfmen camps on the ground but nothing indicated the location of the gate. There was nothing but frozen wasteland with the odd clumps of trees dotted around and a thick mist hung in the air.
"I would say there used to be a city or large town around here at one point. The gateway should be close" Arokh replied, his warm breath showing in gusty clouds as he spoke.
"Here?!" Rynn exclaimed "Why would anyone have a city high in the mountains?"
"Dragons" Arokh noted. "There is probably a network of caves in these mountains where dragons made their homes. The gateway would have been used for them to quickly get to the rest of the world. Now, it appears the Halfmen live here."

Rynn didn't reply and shivered, the cold wind was almost unbearable. "Maybe its underground?"
Arokh turned his head in a questioning manner and was about to speak when Rynn answered his question. "The gate" she said.
"Not likely. It will be on the surface somewhere" he said thoughtfully "Keep your eyes open."

They travelled further encountering more of the fur-covered dragons and Halfmen. Some carried a bow and arrow and hid amongst the trees where they could gain advantage over the great red dragon and were a serious threat especially when the dragon stopped occasionally to see what was below. However, his eyesight was sharp and they were easily spotted out in the open against the bright white snow and the dragon killed all on sight. The mountains were becoming narrower until they ended up in a narrow canyon, the trees were becoming less dense as they got higher and higher. Eventually, something caught Rynn's eye - something that looked out of place in the bleak wilderness.

"What's that?" Rynn exclaimed noticing a huge wooden door in the base of a mountain. The red dragon peered in the direction she was looking and was about to say 'its a door' sarcastically when a loud bellow sounded from below.
"A Yeti. Look out" he snarled dodging to miss a huge snowball. Suddenly a bolt of energy hit him in the chest knocking the breath out of him. Looking up he saw it came from some sort of defence tower fastened to a natural bridge over the canyon.
He hastily retreated to a safe place and landed, sinking in the soft snow.

"Its well guarded I see. There must be something important in there" he said quietly glaring in the direction of where the attack came from.
"Maybe" Rynn suggested wearily looking up at the towering mountains. She laid herself flat against the dragon’s back whilst he was sitting to warm herself more. Despite what she was wearing, the cold wind chilled her to the bone and slowed her progress as her hands were numb. “Arokh, I’m cold” she muttered.

“I know. So am I” he answered slowly. “Here, dismount me” he continued squatting slightly to let Rynn off. She obeyed and stood at his side. “What?” She asked when he remained silent.

Arokh flopped down in the snow and sat more or less upright on his hind legs. “Here, stand against my chest” he beckoned putting one of his front legs around her and pulling her close to him. “That better?” He asked.

“Much better, thanks” Rynn mumbled pressing herself tighter against him feeling the slight warmth from beneath his scales. Arokh rubbed her back with one of his front feet and patted her as she put her head in his armpit to warm her face.

There was a long silence where neither of them spoke. Rynn was happy though as she was enjoying the warmth and the stinging feeling on her exposed skin was starting to subside. The sound of the dragon’s gentle breathing and his slight body scent offered some sense of relief as she knew that she was safe from harm. She eventually realised that they couldn’t stay there all day and pulled away from him, the dragon looking down on her lovingly for a moment as if he was protecting one of his own offspring. It seemed to her that he also enjoyed their quiet moment together but she didn’t mention anything.

“Couldn’t we just fly around the mountain to reach the other side?” She asked looking up into the rocky peaks thoughtfully.

The dragon scratched absently at the underside of his jaw. "I doubt it. The door must open to a tunnel through the mountain and you can bet that's where the gate is" he answered in disappointment.
Rynn noticed his attitude. "Now you are being negative. Be positive remember?” she said with a smile.
Arokh grinned slightly noting her humour. "The yeti is easy to deal with but I don't know about that tower, I haven't seen anything like it before" he continued.
"What? Macho Arokh who can deal with any threat and deals death to anything that gets in his way? Come on!" Rynn said surprised that her partner was not his usual confident self.
"Optimistic I see." Arokh said getting to his feet. "Very well, this big red flying death machine will deal with it. Get on."
Rynn mounted, healing potion in her hand and together they flew towards the tower, streams of brilliant flame bursting from the dragon's jaws.

Meanwhile, Jassad, the emperor of the Desert Lords had noticed that the gateways in Surdana and Ravenshold were open and that his forces were unable to stop them; some of the beings Rynn and Arokh encountered were in fact Desert Lords serving as spies, but they were completely unaware.
"Useless Wartocks!" He snapped stomping up and down his palace floor. "I thought they were the elite force of the Dark Union and they can't even kill a dragon and a pathetic human!"
"Perhaps the Halfmen would be more successful" one of Jassad's generals pointed out. He ducked slightly; he hated it when his master was angry.

"They had better be or they will suffer the same fate of the humans of this world. See to it that two messengers are sent to Shiverbane immediately; I want to inform Mulgalak of our progress and to warn him of Arokh."
"Certainly" the general bowed and left the palace to carry out his master's task.

Back in Surdana, Lady Myschala was writing the events of the previous day in her diary when general Dherimon walked into the room.
"Ah General. Have you heard from Arokh today?" She said standing up from the table.
"Yes, he came by this morning. He and Rynn opened the gate in Ravenshold and are on their way to Shiverbane, in fact they are probably there by now" he answered boldly. They even managed to take care of Snotmaw so we are safer from Wartock attacks for the time being and it gives our men more chance to prepare.
"Excellent. I knew the dragon would do well, he is a good fighter and we can certainly put our trust in him. I just hope he does not let that Rynn get her own way... such a stubborn woman."
General Dherimon laughed. "I'm sure Arokh has her under his thumb so to speak."
"He could do with teaching her some manners" Myschala grumbled walking over to the window. The view outside looked so peaceful; smoke could be seen rising from Wartock camps beyond the city walls indicating there was evil still lurking outside despite Arokh’s best efforts. She sighed and wondered what the world would be like in a few years. Justice would be done... eventually.

Back in Shiverbane, Rynn and Arokh had managed to reach the huge door and were looking around to find some way of opening it.
"There must be something!" Rynn said in desperation, thinking that they had come so far to be stopped by something so simple. Arokh refused to try and fly around the mountain and she didn't want to ask him again.
Suddenly, Arokh's eyes lit up in surprise as the huge door swung open revealing an unnatural icy tunnel cut through the glacier itself. Somebody or something had opened it but not from their side.

"Shall we enter?" He asked, his red eyes glittering against the orange-red scales around his face.
"I don't see why not. But be aware it may be a trap" Rynn replied blowing on her hands to warm them.
"I think I know that" Arokh growled sarcastically and entered the tunnel. All was quiet as he slowly walked down the central path taking care as the floor was very slippery and even his claws couldn't get a grip.
"Ambush!" Arokh shouted suddenly as a huge crowd of Halfmen came running down the tunnel towards them. Straightaway, Arokh fired balls of flame killing many but some still managed to get through and came further towards them undeterred at their companion's misfortune.

"What's the matter? Kill them!" Rynn shouted seeing that Arokh didn't attack.
"I'm not a living fireball you know. I have to let my breath regenerate" he snapped. "It will take a couple of minutes."
"We don't have a couple of minutes" Rynn objected. "Retreat, go back the way we came."
"That's not possible. The doors closed behind us. You will have to get off and fend for yourself, there are only a dozen or so. Go on, Ill be right behind you" Arokh said lifting his back into the air in an attempt to push her off.
Rynn obeyed and took a stance in front of the mighty dragon. His words offered some comfort but she was unsure about the threat looming ahead. She took a deep breath and ran at the nearest Halfman, the flamestrike held firmly in her hands.

Swords and axes clashed followed by cries of agony both human and inhuman. Arokh defensively followed his bonded to back her up but the Halfmen were not frightened of the beast and ignored him. With an angry snarl, Arokh lunged at one of the Halfmen with his front claws landing on its shoulders knocking it to the ground, Arokh then standing firmly on its chest pushing with all his strength until a horrible snapping sound was heard. The Halfmen's ribcage shattered and the broken end of a rib penetrated the lungs and heart leading to a painful death. Rynn was still occupied by the first Halfman but its companion was closing in fast.

"Rynn! Behind you!" Arokh yelled, there was nothing he could do as he was too far away. Rynn immediately ducked and rolled sideways doing a neat backflip and slashing at its legs with the sword. The Halfman howled in pain and crumpled to the floor. A few seconds later, Rynn's fiery companion was on it, his jaws firmly clamped around its neck riving at it until the head came off in his mouth. He quickly spat it out looking up to see Rynn finishing off the first Halfman. She was injured and limped about painfully trying her best to stay alive, the slippery floor was making it harder as she kept falling.

Rynn breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Arokh say "Rynn! Get out of the way!” she knew his breath weapon had regenerated. She dived onto the icy floor sliding along towards him crashing into his front legs nearly making him loose his balance. She just about managed to get underneath him when a huge cloud of flame erupted from his jaws incinerating the last of the Halfmen and melting the ice.
Rynn breathed heavily and observed the scene in front of her. The floor of the tunnel was turned into a icy slush, reddened by the blood of the Halfmen and charred corpses lay amongst the whole mess.
"That was close" she panted getting to her feet. She began to walk further into the tunnel, the dragon following behind, the clicking of his claws on the ice making a comforting sound. Whenever Arokh was with her, she felt safe and she was glad of his company.

Eventually, they reached the end of the tunnel where another huge door blocked their progress. Again, there was no obvious way of opening it. "Not again" Rynn said bitterly.
Arokh walked up to the door and nudged at a rotten looking panel with his nose. As he half expected, the panel gave way leaving a hole big enough for Rynn to go through.
"There Rynn. You go on and see if there is a lever on the other side" he suggested pushing her forward with one of his feet. He noticed her expression as she turned round to face him. "You will be fine. Go!"
She nodded and disappeared through the hole but returned a couple of minutes later. "Well then?" Arokh grunted quirking an eye ridge and fixing Rynn with an questioning red eye.

"Nothing" Rynn grumbled. Arokh shoulders sagged slightly. "You are going to have to go through on your own and try and find a way of getting me through."
"I knew you would say that" she complained bitterly. Arokh noticed her attitude and angrily replied "For goodness sakes Rynn. Have confidence in yourself! You have good weapons. Just try and use your bow and arrows whenever you can and keep moving."
"Wartocks, Grull are easy but these are difficult creatures to kill and I'm unsure of their tactics" she said then noticed the look in Arokh's eyes. "But Ill manage them nevertheless." She added in a quieter more apologetic voice.
"That's better. Now will you please go? I'm freezing in here." Arokh said in a more friendly voice as a way of apologising for being nasty.
Rynn grinned as an overwhelming feeling of confidence suddenly rushed through her. “No problem, Ill see what I can do. Oh and by the way Arokh, thanks for the warming hug back there, I really appreciate it. You know, I bet you can be quite romantic”.  

Arokh grinned. “Don’t mention it…. Romantic?” he questioned. “Yeah” Rynn answered and leant forward to kiss the side of his face and then knelt rolling through the small hole in the door. Arokh shrugged his shoulders and made himself as comfortable as he could on the freezing ground.

Almost immediately an arrow whizzed past her head missing her and landing in the soft snow beside her. She was in a small rocky bowl overlooked by a path going around the most of its perimeter. A lookout tower stood on the right hand side and a cave entrance could be seen on the left. She didn't want to waste time standing there like a sitting duck so she just ran straight ahead around a rock pile and straight into a group of Halfmen.
"Oh crap" she muttered and pulled out her sword. Suddenly, she had a better idea; turning around and running back to Arokh.

"Back so soon?" The red dragon asked craning his neck closer.
The breathless Rynn just about managed to point towards the hole through which Arokh could see the advancing Halfmen.
"Oh, I see" he grinned and pushed his head through the door. The unsuspecting Halfmen stopped dead unsure of their fate; they did not expect to see a dragon in there. Uneasily, one of them began to retreat whilst the other two decided to attack pulling their bows from their backs and loading them. However the dragon was quicker and engulfed them in a cloud of deadly flame, they didn't even have time to aim and fire.

"Thanks Arokh" Rynn muttered now having got her breath back.
"You know you just can't keep coming back to be for help" he grumbled.
"Well, I was trying to avoid the archers. Ill use my stealth tactics" Rynn answered shortly. She tried to stand but slipped on the ice.
"Here, let me help you" Arokh offered holding out a front leg. Rynn grasped his foot as he helped her up and the dragon frowned; he was becoming a little worried about Rynn's confidence. He grasped her shoulder and shook her slightly. "Look at me in the eyes when I'm talking to you. You must be more confident Rynn, there will be harder battles to fight later and I can't manage it on my own. I really need you and I'm not just saying that."

Rynn stared blankly and tried to push his foot away but his grasp was firm. The dragon let out a sigh. "I know your feelings for me Rynn. For me to feel the same about you, I need someone I can depend on. I know you are a capable fighter, you truly are the best warrior I have seen possibly even better than Heron. Come on eh? We must not let each other down."
Rynn smiled slightly. "I'm sorry Arokh, I'm not myself since the death of my brother. You are the only family I have now, Ill try not to disappoint you."
Arokh nodded and let go of her shoulder understanding her loss and how she felt. “Perhaps that's why she showed so much emotion towards me when I left her in her village to bury the dead” he thought. Perhaps.

"For me to feel the same about you." She thought. "That means he does love me. He certainly can be thoughtful and kind and very caring; he obviously has deep feelings for me. His foul temper is the only problem… hmm, I will have to learn to overlook that.”

“I had better show my willing to help him even though it probably is a load of nonsense" she whispered to herself as she walked back towards where the three Halfmen were standing.

The path split into two paths at some old ruins. Rynn decided to look amongst the fallen stones to see if anything was of any use. A few barrels were stood up against the stones under a ledge to shelter them from the snowfall. Rynn decided to break one open carefully and found a handful of coins, an invisibility potion and a few healing potions. "At least these will help" she muttered walking out from behind the stones. She decided to take the left path leading up to where one of the archers were stood. Carefully, she walked through a short cave and squatted down behind some crates.
"Now to see how effective this lightning spell is on Halfmen" she said out aloud drawing the elemental powers to bring forth lightning. She remembered it exactly as Master Sevoth told her back in the Andrellian Isles.

The lightning bolt wasn't as effective as she had hoped. She was out of mana with only a couple of shots but the creature had now got her attention. Roaring with fury, it began to run straight at her. Rynn swallowed and pulled out the earth blade and swung at him but what happened startled both her and the Halfman. She had inadvertently touched the crystal embedded in the pommel and suddenly, the earth opened up and pulled the Halfman under then closed just as quickly as it had opened.
Stunned, Rynn placed the sword back in its sheath and continued up the path. The sword did seem to have extraordinary magical properties.

Now more confident, Rynn ventured into the cave she could see from below killing a couple more Halfmen inside. Suddenly she stopped, she could hear voices below, and somebody was having a real good argument. Carefully, she crept nearer to the large cavern below and hid behind some boxes. She could see two Desert Lords and a huge Halfman, twice the size of the others below.

"I didn't have to help you" the Halfman shouted.
"You did have to help us, Mulgalak" one of the Desert Lords snapped. "Jassad would have had you slaughtered like the humans" the other added.
"It’s not my fault" Mulgalak complained bitterly.
"Look. I don't care for your incompetent... offspring... allies... whatever but listen to me. Make no mistake you WILL make sure the gate is never opened and kill that damned woman and the dragon. They are a real problem for us. You do know one gate has already been opened? If you had some intelligence, you would have destroyed the city of Ravenshold as instructed."
"I know. The Northmen were stronger than anticipated." Mulgalak complained, angry with himself for failing. He suddenly stopped dead. "Arrgh, the woman is nearby, I can sense her"

The two Desert Lords, Indjya and Najeem looked at each other briefly. "Okay, we will take care of her. You see to it the gate is defended" Najeem snapped. Mulgalak nodded and disappeared down a tunnel to the side, a large wooden gate slamming shut behind him.
Rynn stood up from the crates in full view. Both Desert Lords floated up to attack with their magical energy bolts. Rynn used the Hoarfrost bow to retaliate and found them surprisingly easy to defeat. All it needed was 3 to 4 arrows on each one to destroy them.

Rynn drank one of the healing potions and rubbed where the energy bolts had hit her. Their attacks were certainly powerful but they were very weak creatures she thought. If the Order did come back, they would certainly have no problem... they would be dead in no time. She wondered why they had managed to make so many of her own kind extinct.
Rynn jumped down into the cavern below using some stacked crates to break her fall and began to explore Mulgalak's quarters whilst he was away.

There was quite a lot of gold he had stashed in chests in the sleeping areas, which Rynn helped herself to. It would be more use to her rather than him she thought as she smashed open another chest. Rynn noticed the human skeletons hanging from the ceiling - his 'trophies' - skeletons of warriors that had met a sticky end. Rynn shivered with the extreme cold and returned back to the fork in the path. She thought for a moment. It was probable that Mulgalak and his forces were heading towards the gate wherever it was and it seemed too quiet. She pulled her clothes tighter and began to follow the right hand path into another cave leading upward towards the lookout tower. She had to find a way of freeing Arokh and fast before they could bring in reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Arokh was getting bored. He thought about turning back and trying to find another way around but he had the feeling that Rynn would return soon. He didn't want her to worry where he had go to and he was relatively safe in the tunnel, nobody knew he was there. He yawned openly and sat down on the cold floor. Suddenly, a pain went through his head as if he was struck from behind but he heard nothing. Bewildered, he raised his front foot to touch the apparent wound but before he could touch it, the throbbing pain got more intense making his vision hazy. With a pain filled groan he collapsed to the floor letting out a loud growl of anger and pain as he passed out.

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