Hello, Everyone!
I’ve been catching up with all the chapter illustrations but I’m not sure if I can keep it up. My schedule is so busy these days! :( I hope you can be patient with me…
Anyway. Last time, our heroes left Frinkeltong in order to go find out more about the person who’d stolen Mary’s notes and made them into a book. On the way, they stopped by a small fishing village named Pritley and, while setting camp in its outskirts, witnessed some kind of a summoning ritual. A dark cloaked figure rose some undead and disappeared into thin air. Then, the undead, lead by a creepy Flaming Skull, headed towards the village and started a fire. Mary and her friends rushed to help the villagers. Mary used the scroll of “Chain Lightning” which she found in one of their previous adventures, to destroy several of the walking skeletons, but thus attracted the attention of the Flaming Skull which shot a blast in her direction.
The streak of fire flew from the Flaming Skull’s eyes, through the air, and right into Mary. She saw it burn around her, burn on her. She felt the pain and the heat, and screamed in agony, almost losing consciousness.
Through the roar of the flames, she heard Aurum’s voice. Soft light enveloped her and she felt the power of his Healing Word flow through her. She raised her head and saw him run at the undead and crash his sword into their bodies.
That’s when a scream came from the direction of the village. The first undead had found a villager hiding in a bush near one of the houses. It was a woman, she sprang up and tried to run away, but was mercilessly cut down. She fell in the tall grass.
Aurum sent a Shatter at the undead who’d slain her, reducing it to a pile of flesh on the ground. The others lunged at him, but Bruno met them with his warhammer and the fight moved aside.
Mary’s heart jumped with the realization thath her friends were too busy to help the fallen woman. She had to do something! She didn’t have healing spells like Bruno or Aurum but if she could just reach the woman in time, she’d be able to at least stabilize her.
But she hesitated. She was afraid.
There were two undead on her way towards the woman, and the Flaming Skull was too close as well. Mary didn’t know if she could survive another one of its blast. With trembling hands, she cast Mirror Image and her illusory duplicates started dancing around her. That was, at least, some protection. She collected herself and started running towards the woman.
She heard Bruno yell a powerful prayer and the undead nearest to him turned and ran away as fast as they could. Mary met them with two Eldritch Blasts and they fell. The Flaming Skull flew away, too. It passed by Mary without engaging her, and kept fleeing as far from the cleric as it could.
“Don’t attack it!” Bruno called out. “Or it’ll go back to trying to murder us!”
Mary had almost reached the place the villager woman had fallen in, but now she had to be even more careful. A few of the more ‘fleshy’ undead stood on her way. They were a lot tougher and smarter than the skeletons. They were learning. One of them even managed to plunge its sword into Bruno’s body, finding a weakness in his otherwise inpenetrable armor.
The dwarf shouted a word and, suddenly, the undead’s armor glowed red-hot. The smell of charred flesh filled the air and the creature snarled at him.
“Heat Metal,” Bruno said. “Such a useful spell!”
Meanwhile, Aurum made another Shatter, then a Thunderwave, and, finally, there was only one undead left. It swung its sword at Mary and, before she could react, destroyed two of her Mirror duplicates. Bruno came to her aid. He brought his warhammer down on the creature’s head, and, finally, it crumbled on the ground.
Mary rushed towards the fallen woman. Her heart was going to beat out of her chest. She rummaged through the tall grass, but didn’t seem to remember the exact place the woman had fallen. The few panicked seconds if took her to find her, seemed like an eternity.
But it was too late. The woman was dead.
Mary knelt on the ground and took her head into her hands. Unfamiliar voices surrounded her. People were shouting, running around, calling out for ‘water!’ and ‘help!’ Far in the distance, the Flaming Skull was burning the wheat fields.
Bruno tapped Mary on the shoulder and took her out of her regrets. He pointed and ran in the direction of the fire. The Skull’s green light was now barely visible amidst the burning crops. It was aimlessly zigzagging between the furrows, throwing fire left and right, as if simply having fun burning the villagers’ livelihood.
People were lining around, too afraid to come closer but desperately watching the devastation happening before their eyes. If the fields were destroyed, their winter was going to be a hard one.
Mary, Bruno and Aurum ran ahead, and when they were in range, each of them blasted the Skull with their magic. The thing froze in the air, its light went out and it fell to the ground, unmoving. That was like a signal for the villagers. Buckets of water started travelling from the lake and were splashed on the fire. Mary and her friends helped as much as they could but it wasn't working. As the fire was spreading towards the village, the shouts of the people filled with desperation.
"I have an idea," Aurum said.
He reached into his shirt and took out the ruby amulet he was wearing.
"Granny, we need you!" he said into it.
Mary looked around, expecting to see “The Hut” appear in the field. Instead, a tall figure came briskly walking from the direction of the village.
It was the first time they'd seen Granny Gretel in full height. She was hunched over and leaning on her walking stick, but even like that, she was more than eight feet tall. Way taller than anyone could imagine when looking at her sitting behind the counter of her little shop.
"Hellooo, children," Granny Gretel croaked under the hood of her long black cloak. "So nice to see you! What do you nee… Oh, I see!"
She smiled her toothless smile and faced the burning fields. She waved at the flames, speaking softly, as if trying to calm down an angry toddler.
“Come, come,” she said. “Easy now.”
Following the movement of her freakishly long fingers, the flames danced and waned, and finally went out, leaving only the charred ground behind them.
Sooo, the day is saved? Yay?
I’m sorry, I’m still bummed out that the trio couldn’t save everyone in this encounter. It was a tough one, Mary almost died. At that initial blow from the Flaming Skull, she was left at something like 2 hit points.
Anyway. See you next time when we’ll see what happens after the fight with the undead.
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)