The Battle of Darkness

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. In fact, they had moved farther east due to the black curse that plagued the Valley. Now with the looming dangers of their homeland, they had begun to take over various towns in the Valley. This is where our story begins….

“Our best course of action is to go into the forest and get the Ember of Light,” firmly stated Alaria.

“Why should we waste time on a fool’s errand trekking in the forest for something we don’t even know exists?” Kriuroth argued.

“If it does, we could save all the dragons and their offspring for centuries to come. They used to be fierce protectors of the Valley. It’s our turn to help them. Besides we could use their protection in case you hadn't noticed,” spoke up the other woman in the group- Zara. To her left, one of her companions looked at her gratefully. She was not sure what to make of that.

Up until now, their garishly attired companion, a 300-year-old gnome had been quiet, letting the others debate their next step. But he felt he needed to interject.

“I can assure all of you that it DOES in fact exist. The issue will be in acquiring it.” Gimbleknackle had never lied before and he was not about to start now.

For a moment, they were all quiet as if deliberating on the truth behind that. Finally, the last of the group spoke up. “We leave at dawn. If you wish to come and search for it, that is when we leave,” and he stood up, throwing back his drink, before walking up the stairs to his room, leaving the rest of the group behind.

After he had gone, Kriuroth spoke up. “Who put him in charge?”

“Let it go,” Zara insisted. “We should rest up and meet down here in the morning.”

While the rest of the party agreed, Kriuroth was still hesitant, grumbling under his breath. But he finally agreed to go with the group. "Who knows? Maybe he would find something which could help him find who was responsible for tearing apart his family," he thought.

He stayed at the table, while the others each headed to their rooms for the night. He motioned for a wench nearby to bring him another drink. When she did, he couldn’t help but wonder obscenely inappropriate things about her. She caught his eye and spoke in a flirtatious tone, “That’s an extra charge sweetheart.”

He slammed 2 pieces of gold down on the table, as acceptance and she led him upstairs. He knew it would be nothing more than meaningless sex, but all the same, he needed the distraction tonight. In the morning he could very well find the perpetrators responsible for murdering his family.

*****

In the morning Phira was the first of the group to be down and waiting. He clutched a silver mug, which was no easy task with his claws. He was grateful to the women in the group for defending the draconic race. The battle between those of evil and those of good was a story as old as time and he worried that the evil force behind this war would snuff out those who were good. His thoughts were interrupted by Alaria.

“Isn’t that cup hard to hold in that form?” She teased.

“Yes, it is.” Throwing back his drink, he stuffed the cup in his sack before throwing it over his shoulders again.

“How many does that make now?” she asked. Alaria knew he could not control his kleptomania.

“231,” he replied a bit smugly.

“231 what?” Kriuroth inquired suspiciously.

“The number of drinks we’ve had waiting for all of you,” Phira said sarcastically.

“Oh, tough guy are you?” Kriuroth responded. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something about the man he did not trust and it had now put him in a foul mood.

Before Phira could offer some sarcastic reply, Zara and Gimbleknackle joined the group. They were quiet leaving the tavern, but after they had walked a mile or so out of town, Zara decided to break the silence. “Gimbleknackle, tell us more about the Ember of Light. You told us acquiring it would be the most difficult part. Why is that?”

Gimbleknackle spoke loudly for the group to hear while they walked. “It has a protection spell on it and will be nearly invisible to those who are searching for it.”

“Nearly invisible?” Kriuroth asked.

“Yes, nearly. 500 years ago, there was a war declared between griffins and dragons. Griffins sought to destroy villages and eat those-human or not- who fought back. Dragons were the original protectors of the Valley and all its inhabitants and often were at odds with the Griffins for that reason. The Ember of Light was created when Queen Hydra of the Gryphons attacked a small village, taking all children of it prisoner, before her band of griffins descended on those remaining, ripping them apart. The Dragons fought valiantly, but even the Dragonborn of the village were unable to save those who had been left behind. One of the dragons who lay dying from their wounds was said to have cast a spell on an item, using their last flame of life to sustain it. It had a powerful protection spell around it and was considered unbreakable. In the hands of the beholder, it can be used to provide protection for up to 70 miles from any magic, evil or good.”

The others had stopped, intently listening to Gimbleknackles' story.

“What was the item?” Zara asked.

Before Gimbleknackle could reply, they were suddenly thrown back by some huge invisible force. It knocked them to the ground. Kriuroth hit a rock going down. Alaria had hit her shoulder on a tree, having done a near backflip into it. Gimbleknackle lay unconscious near Kriuroth. Zara stood up eagerly, a few scratches on her face and hands, looking around at what had happened. Phira, lay 100 feet from Alaria, unmoving. Alaria muttered a single phrase under her breath and instantly could see a faint outline of something in the air. It was black and sparkled, appearing right before the group had been thrown this way and that. Then the vision vanished.

“Black curse,” she thought. “They were in trouble.”

No sooner had she thought it, than the group was surrounded by 3 huge griffins. She and Zara were the only ones conscious at the present. She looked over at the religious woman and loudly yelled at her. “Take the one on your left and I will take care of these two!” Throwing a blast of light at the griffins, she hit one of them hard and he fell to the ground before his body disappeared instantly, as if he had never existed. Then she turned her attention to the other one who had descended near Gimbleknackle, opening his beak.

Alaria threw another blast of light his way, this time uttering a single phrase. “Bind nomeno soti vur leor jacion de hesi treskri.” In an instant. the griffin burst into a bright flame that was almost white and moments later vanished. There was no ash or body left behind. Rather it was as if he had not existed. She took a deep breath and looked to where Zara was fighting off the last griffin. Zara had a sword in her hand. The hilt was covered in blue sapphires and glistened in the sunlight as she thrust it into the monster. When it fell down dead, the sword fell from her hand before she too fell to the ground in exhaustion. Alaria, seeing her collapse ran to her, but she was unconscious by the time Alaria reached her.

Fearing there was more griffins coming, Alaria cast a spell of protection over the group. They would be invisible to any evil creatures for a while. She hoped the others woke up soon. She did not know how long the spell would last in her weakened state. As hard as she tried, she could not fight the exhaustion that was setting in and for a moment closed her eyes.