Chapter Twenty Two: Hell Comes To Pig Town

The pace of a Wizard’s learning was completely at his or her own discretion. Nevertheless, Zuglah felt compelled to tell Slorric that he would not be in class this morning. He was very understanding, especially when he learned that Zuglah hadn’t ascended. “I had thought,” he said, smiling, “that you would be after the tier two spells as soon as possible. Now I see why you haven’t yet asked me for them. Very well.”

Zuglah and Pliesson had a lot of people coming by their table to congratulate them on their incredible good fortune. A great many made the timid Driole promise to show them Phantom at some later date. He was unused to the attention, but Zuglah thought it might be growing on him.

They ate as quickly as they could, Chayah explaining that they needed to hurry. She surprised Zuglah by leading them out of the tower. The three of them made their way through the streets of Loud.

It was quite different from what was seen from above. The people were full sized, full volume and full of smells too. Everywhere he went, there were more scents and odors. Some quite alarming, others almost inviting.

He tried to forget how he had barely eaten two plates of breakfast. Two plates! How had he gotten so spoiled so quickly?

Fortunately they only had to go a few short blocks before they arrived at a large, three story stone building that dominated a major intersection. It was an Inn called The Fastest Lion, and it looked very expensive. “My father’s stewart told me that a couple of my brothers have taken up residence here, recently. I’m willing to bet that at least one of them will be a Wizard.”

They climbed the stairs and entered the large lobby. Most of the ground floor was dedicated to the restaurant, but it was still richly appointed and comfortable. The hostess who came to greet them was a High Elf. This place was expensive.

She and Chayah spoke together quickly, and then she bowed her head respectfully to the much younger Chayah and left. Chayah pointed towards one of the couches, and Zuglah and Pliesson took seats. A young Half-Elf appeared and told them that she had available beer, wine and tea. “That sounds great.” Zuglah told her. Chayah spoke to her in Elven and she too nodded before rushing off. She did indeed return with all three, plus some warm bread and cheese.

“Do you guys want to wait here while I go talk to my brothers?” Zuglah nodded, already tearing a large chunk of bread off. There was melted butter inside. He didn’t even notice her leaving.

The beer was like bread and butter in a mug. The wine was light and crisp. Elven food was his new favorite thing. Chayah came back almost too soon.

“Good news,” she said, beaming her usual radiant smile. “My brother Krane is here. He absolutely adores me. You guys ready?” Zuglah stood, nodding.

They followed Chayah up the stairs. They ignored the second floor completely, and walked past the stern looking High Elf minding the bottom of the stairs to the third floor. He gave Zuglah and Pliesson both a hard stare as they went by. At the top of the stairs there were nothing but Elves. It was almost all High Elves, but there were also Half-Elves and Wood Elves, Dark Elves and even the occasional Green Elves from the Emerald Mountains. They were shorter than normal Elves, and unlike any Elf he had ever seen, stocky. Muscular, even. Nowhere near as short or stout as a Dwarf, but definitely the toughest Elves that Zuglah had ever seen.

There might have been fifty Elves in the room. It felt very crowded indeed. Chayah took his hand and led them directly through the dead silent, one hundred percent focused on the giant blue Troll, crowd of heavily armed and extremely well-practiced Wizards, Warriors, Mages, Paladins, Rogues, Druids and Clerics. He kept his eyes riveted on her tawny copper braids and followed closely. He hoped that Pliesson was keeping up. He really didn’t want to turn around.

At what could only be described as the head table sat a group of High Elves that clearly had all of the rank, or seniority, however they sorted themselves out. In the center of the long table sat a tall, stately Elf with long hair that was gold. It not only was the color, it appeared almost as though his hair was actually made of the metal. It would have been blinding in sunlight.

The man was smiling as he arose. He was tall and slim, as all Elves were, but there was an aura of age about him. There was not a line on his face, of course, but he had the bearing of someone who had seen it all, and it wearied him. This was Krane.

He came around the table to greet them. Chayah introduced everyone within eyesight. “Pliesson, Zuglah Glun, this is my brother Krane. And that glowing fellow is my brother Oswick, that’s Aneras, Belfu, Starm, Breena and- you know what? You can meet the rest later. We’ve got a quest to get to!”

“The rest? How many of these guys are your brothers?”

She thought about it for a second. “You know the guy standing at the bottom of the stairs?” He nodded. “Everybody except him. My dad is like, six thousand years old. I have literally two or three thousand brothers. But Krane is my absolute favorite!” She reached out and gave him a hug, which he pretended to suffer through.

“Nice to meet you, Zuglah Glun. And you, Pliesson. I congratulate you on embarking on your very first quest. My sister has been looking forward to this day for as long as I’ve known her.”

They went outside, because Chayah said that her brothers were a meddlesome bunch, and a few were sure to jump through if they opened the portal right there. Zuglah didn’t like the sound of that very much, so he agreed wholeheartedly.

Krane was surprised when Chayah told him the destination, but he didn’t say anything. Zuglah didn’t know what or where Dreymar was, but he figured he would find out soon enough. They stepped through the portal.

They were on the top of a grassy hill that overlooked a sprawling, interconnected series of grassy mounds and alluvial hills that ran down the slope to a pristine beach. Off to the left was an island, it seemed a city and a mountain all at once. Chayah pointed. “Feydaeillyn. And this is Dreymar Island, the home to the Clariot Drioles.” Behind them, down the other side of the hill, was a village. It was made of grass-roofed huts and log buildings, there were cooking fires and laundry lines and Drioles of many varying colors and markings.

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Pliesson came through the portal, and stood with them. “Zuglah, I honestly didn’t know how I was going to get through my first fight ever, much less get to tier four. I was scared, so I always put it off. But I made it through in one try, thanks in large part to you, and I learned how to be valuable to the team. I think I can do it now.” He pointed to the village, and the forest alongside it. “This is how I got to youn sazal, and goan. Our island is infested.”

“Oh no. Infested how?” Chayah was caught up and wanted to help.

“Well, from wild boars, actually. They swim over from your Royal Preserve, where their population is strictly controlled, to here. Where it is not. In a few short years they have infested the entire forest, and they are quite powerful. I only had a firebolt spell and a boar spear, so I had to be very careful and pick my victims. But I don’t expect any boars to give you trouble, Zuglah. You should be able to kill them as fast as you can regain your mana. You have your Pots with you?” Zuglah assured him that it would not be a problem.

Pliesson went down to the village and introduced them to his family. His mother and father were so overjoyed to see him, and in the company of friends, that they tried to pull them inside for a visit. Pliesson was forced to be quite firm with them before they believed that they were in a hurry, and on official business. Pliesson soon found the village chieftain.

The Chief was a white-furred and dignified Driole, also an Enchanter, who had led the village for the last twenty years. He was in a state of worried desperation, because the wild boars not only feasted on their crops, but they attacked the livestock, and the young and elderly as well. People were afraid to leave their houses.

Drioles made natural Enchanters, and the village had several at the moment. Pliesson asked the Chief to gather them, and he told them their plan. They were going to drive the hogs Westward, towards the hills and into the open. From there Zuglah could destroy as many of them as he could, and Chayah and Pliesson would make sure that none escaped to the North to slip around back into the woods, or worse, into the fields. The Chief looked skeptical at first, but eventually he agreed.

And so they stood, Zuglah and Redda Mo on the top of a hill that dominated the Western clearing. Chayah and Pliesson were with him, standing back and under a nearby oak tree for the shade. A great cacophony rose from the East, directly in front of him. The forest was long, but it was on an island so it couldn’t be very wide. The Chief, it would seem, had taken the opportunity to beat the entire forest clear of wild boars, in the hopes that they might solve their problem for good. The trees shook. Thunder rumbled deep, resonating in his chest. The ground through his feet trembled.

A hoard of screaming, maddened boars charged out of the woods, looking for blood. Zuglah gave it to them.

He sent as many Ice Knives as he could quickly summon directly into the crowd, the area of effect damage and the slow down would help him tremendously. He switched to Dancing Mana, and unloaded a stream so long that he lost count half way through. Every bullet killed a boar, and the stream moved onto the next in rapidfire fashion. An entire wave of boars fell to Dancing Mana, Zuglah sweeping the crowd with bullets at an unsustainable rate. He started to see double, and had to stop sending. In that moment, the crowd of boars swelled and grew aggressive, charging up the hill towards him and his friends. He allowed them to get a little closer, then unleashed Blazing Inferno. It stopped the entire surge in its tracks.

Deeper into the crowd of hogs, a Lightning Bolt erupted. Soon after, a Fireball. Waves of fire swept the field. Chayah and Pliesson were helping to thin the crowd. they must have realized that he could never kill them all. But he certainly tried.

“AGGRESSION!” Redda Mo once again made him jump so badly he almost dropped him. He felt an incredible rush, so energizing that he was afraid that he might snap his quarterstaff in half if he wasn’t careful.

His Infernos Blazed hotter, his Dancing Mana struck faster and deadlier. Before, the odd boar would require two bullets, if it was tough. But now there was not a boar in sight that he could not kill in one shot. Even his Blast of Frost would now almost stop a charging pig in its tracks. He used it to gather larger and larger groups together before he cast Blazing Inferno. It roared so hot that not even the smell of burning hair remained.

His Dancing Mana had to go farther and farther afield to find targets. Other streams of Dancing Mana chased down boars also, and lightning bolts still fell among them too. Chayah was picking off strays, keeping them from wandering off and causing trouble.

In another ten minutes, it was all over. The second it was, Pliesson came right up to him. “Okay, how on earth did you do that?” When Zuglah gave him a puzzled look, he pointed to the bandolier. All of the Pots were still there.

Zuglah sighed. “I may as well tell you. But you two have to keep it to yourselves, okay?” They both agreed. He told them about how he regenerated mana, and that these spells were low enough of a drain that they could not really outpace his regeneration. He had been told that would not always be the case, but for now it seemed to be.

Pliesson simply shook his head. “Well, now I feel like you were holding back on us, in Spellman’s. That was incredible.” It wasn’t that incredible. He had killed an untold number of wild pigs, but he still hadn’t ascended.

Pliesson frowned in frustration. “That’s very disappointing. I would have gone up to sazal five just by being in your party, just now.” Zuglah apologized for not inviting him. “No no, I would have just taken away your experience, being a higher level. We’re here for you to get as much as possible.” Chayah tried to apologize for killing too many boars, but the truth was that they probably would have escaped and run amok if she hadn’t.

“There’s always the Drake,” the Chief suggested, when Pliesson told him of their less than perfect outcome. “We’ve never been able to get rid of it, of course, but for Thiri Lensa it should present no problems.” He performed what Zuglah suspected passed for a smile among Drioles.

He explained that at the top of that mountain, a day and a half from here, there was a Mountain Drake. Zuglah sighed. He really didn’t like lightning. It hurt, and he had no natural resistance to it. The Chief invited them to stay for the big feast. After all, they were the Guests of Honor.