Winstrom's Tales#1 part 4: New friends.
So the party, minus Winstrom, edged to the back of the old mill as Winstrom walked to the front door to set motion his scheme. They waited for the signal, legs cramping in tension and expectation,crouched and ready to burst through the back door in high velocity. Any day now... Shadox thought, mentally calculating the seconds gone by.
Suddenly a shock-wave is felt rippling through the mill and a strumming of metallic strings and high rhythm was heard. "NOW!", Helfdane cried, launching himself forward breaking through the back exit and swiftly exiting the premises with his companions. As they kept on moving, sounds of Winstrom's concert could still be heard and the ominous crackling of lightning and the agonized shouts of the unfortunate skitterer or goblin to be in proximity of the power.
Trim turned and risked a glance behind, to see a flood of light and arcs of energy embracing their pursuers, and saw many corpses litter the ground, and many dazed figures moving around erratically. "Wow," he silently muttered, as he looked forward and resumed his run.
The trio made good distance until they finally stopped in a large clearing, surrounded by more menacing trees that hid more twisted and unending paths.They silently waited and listened, if they were still being followed. They heard nothing but the wind flowing around with its harsh creaking voice.
"Hmmmm....," Shadox grumbled, pondering over the sudden change in the wind. "It didn't blow before we got here."
"Doesn't matter," Trim said shrugging aside Shadox's observations,"this looks like as good as any place for a big boss battle.Bring the old geezer, Helf!"
Helfdane exchanged glances to both the notts , then walked forward and took a deep breathe before bellowing out:
"Arise, Great hoarder of hoards, Lord of the skitterers!I summon you, Melglorlblik Lobnig,The terror king!"
Helfdane's voice echoed around the desolate clearing.he turned unsure at his allies,"Maybe I pronounced it wrong?". Suddenly a large whirlwind rustled the entire clearing, knocking the adventurers back in its great gust.The whirlwind settled, to show an impossibly fat goblin astride a large arachnid.That must be king, what's-his-name, Trim thought, bracing himself for the oncoming battle.
The figure stared around with a snobby face on his feature,"What's this?" ,he exclaims in a thick grotesque voice.He turned his sunken eyes towards the party."Heh!Looks like more lamb for the slaughter!"
The heroes then charged, Helfdane jumping skywards and smashing unto the king afterwards quickly taunting.The mages flanked his side as they began pelting with their bursts of fire and lightning.They chunked a significant amount of health from the king before he retaliated with his flickering bite of spear and nimble movements and fierce force of his spider-steed. Helfdane quickly charged his horn and shielded them from the oncoming flurry as they swerved around and assumed new positions.They began their routine again but this time the king knew their gambit,he quickly urged his skitterer to launch a large missile of web as it tangled into both mages firmly rooting them then he simultaneously jabbed at Helfdane, piercing his armor at every hit and knocking him back, ready to feast on the webbed prey.
The king's huge beast skittered across the clearing, using its forelimbs to grab hold of the mages as it used the rest to swiftly move away. Shadox and Trim both stared in horror at the vile maw of the spider ,displaying it's row of serrated teeth, seething with saliva to gorge on its captured prey. Shadox gulped as he stared into the abyss of fangsThis is it. My time has finally ended. whereas Trim was trying not to soil his new robe. Helfdane frantically got to his feet and ran, trying to save his friends.He knew he can't reach them in time and pictured him watching helplessly in dismay as his friends were consumed.
Then, a soothing tune ebbed across the clearing, flowing into Helfdane and empowering his charge, dashing like a river going downstream.He collided with all the force of a waterfall descending upon rocky ground , knocking the king's skitterer aside. Trim and Shadox let go collective sighs of relief then tore through the webbing.The party turned back to the way they entered. To behold the sight of Winstrom, eyes closed, gently walking by playing a violin, having torrents of air enveloping him. He reached the party ,paused his performance and took a deep bow. "Good day,"
"What took you so long?", Helfdane said , rubbing his arm gently after the collision.
"Well, I didn't ride the lightning, so I just rode the river instead." Winstrom explained.
"Something tells me there is a certain relevance in the wind." Shadox replied, referring to his previous point.
"Ahh,yes! The wind.." Winstrom started as the king began to attack again. he ducked and then sidestepped out of the close radius. "I'll explain it while we don't get killed,"
Afterwards resumed their confrontation with king What's-his-name, they avoided blow after blow whilst trying to attack without getting skewered.Poison erupted from the creatures body in toxic spouts then quickly sealing afterwards.The ground laid drenched in virulent pools as they king quickly healed himself. Winstrom efficiently walked around a pol as he began.
"The wind here is powered by ancient spirit, spirits which their shamans angered and cursed them," Winstrom said as he ducked a blow.
"Is that why there is a noticeable lack of shamans?" Trim said, as he tried to shoot,"Does the curse include that all gobbies will be a talking spear whirling maniacs?"
"Not exactly,the curse makes the wind inhibit their power and fury so they are enfeebled and very sluggish. So they tried to counteract the effects through usage of skitter venom but the side effects..."
"Include boiling blood spouts?" Helfdane asked as he shields from a geyser erupting from the king's body at different joints like pipes bursting. Winstrom also ducked then resumed his seminar on wind inhibition and bloodboil.
"Sort off, the poison boosts their weapons and power but leads to recoil effects varying from bleeding to..", The kings body gave way as his grey sickly skin burst in cracks showing red vulgar sinew making Winstrom gagged.The king's body was undergoing an unholy metamorphosis, ruining his physical body and turning it into a hulking ogreish arachnid nightmare.
"We can't wait for the wind now! We have to make our own !" Winstrom cried, as his friends took battle stations, "Cover me as I String my biggest concert!" the bard cried enthusiastically.
So the heroes began their advance dancing with the monstrous king to the beat of Winstrom's drum which he mysteriously summoned. The terror king swung boulder-sized hands as he came free from his now squashed spider, trying to maim his opposers. They effortlessly moved away as they struck a counter attack.The sluggish brute was unable to react fast enough as the group quickly re-positioned, but he didn't need to. A massive roar shook the ground as goblins came from far reaches of Oaken-bridge, the collective intelligence ramping up their king as he began attacking more tactfully.
"WINSTROM!" Shadox squealed for him to quickly help.
"I'm working as fast as I can," the bard replied arranging his orchestra.
"WINSTROM! WIND! NOW!" Helfdane urged as his group took down legions, endlessly erupting and aiding their king.The terrifying brute raised his twin mallet hands to squash down the pestering heroes!
Then, a large trumpet blew and stopped the behemoth in its tracks. followed by the booming noise of large drums ,forcing the goblins back. Then all at once, a massive crescendo of music and magic sky-rocketed in all directions, clouding the air with the constant sound of music both threatening and weakening the foul horde and emboldening the allied heroes.The air stirred around like a whirlpool, churned by the orchestrated music of Winstrom. Winstrom made his move, playing his violin in serrated sharp notes and creating an aura of arcing lightning and gale-forced winds and walked to the hordes, decimating and scattering them.
The heroes took their cue, and went all in, shooting,smiting,hacking,chopping at the gruesome king as he began to suffer from the curse of the wind.The earth cracked with the force of a resounding hammer, the sky ripped apart in showers of lightning and torrents of arcane magic ripped at the body of the monster as Winstrom still performed his concert. Melglorlblik Lobnig staggered back in the fury, who seemed to be getting more dumber and disoriented.The collective intelligence must be wearing off,Helfdane thought for a split second and taking notice of the smoldering piles of ash and electrocuted corpses still flinching.Helfdane quickly move fleetly as an unexpected blow came down from the king as he stopped to look at the graveyard of a clearing.
Winstrom, rising from a mound he previously sat on, and stared at the direction the direction of the king. With his cold gaze, eyes in a shade of hazy blue,he struck the strings of his violin harder, amplifying the power of his song as he walked forward in brisk pace towards the weakened king, being dethroned by the arcane heroes,again.With one finally blow the team struck with all their might and in a large burst ending the king's reign once and for all.The large figure, fell to his knees, and with a resounding roar of agony collapsed onto clearing.
"TIMBER!" ,Trim shouted as he moved out of the way of the falling corpse.The heroes cheered in their victory as Winstrom resumed his masked smile of mischief and joy.
"I wonder what loot we'll get from it..." Helfdane wondered as the two mages scurried around the body for loot.
"LOOK! I see something glowing yellow!" Trim cried as the others went to see his discovery.
THE END.
