There wasn’t really a deeper reason for my decision to help the dwarves. It was simply due to the fact that we were looking for something shedding Death Astral Power and the potential for a connection between a bunch of undead coming out of a creepy swamp and death in the water seemed obvious. Maybe the dwarves had information we could draw on and if they had, having them in our debt would be useful. Another factor was that the undead looked, quite frankly, absolutely disgusting and ridding Mundus of those bloated, shambling monstrosities would be a boon to all of existence. And it should give some experience-points while being fun. All good reasons, in my book.

Thanks to Lenore, I could get a good picture of the problem before we ever got there. The dwarves were equipped with a mix of spears, hammers, crossbows and axes but the undead they were facing seemed to mostly ignore their efforts, unless one of the axe-wielding dwarves managed to lob off a limb. Even that seemed a little difficult for the dwarves, the bloated, rubbery flesh looked a little spongy, absorbing a good part of the impact before it could be cut.

The only reason for their continued stand seemed to be a spellcaster in the back, creating a golden glow that enveloped the other dwarves in a protective manner. My gamer-senses identified the guy in the back as some sort of priest, cleric, healer, holy-support spellcaster-type, which fit with established gaming-tropes. If you faced undead, having one of those on your side was a good thing. My party didn’t have one, but we made do in other ways.

“Lenore, do you want to imitate a dragon?” I asked, amusement transmitted alongside my idea.

“Sounds like fun. But wait until you are a little closer, channelling that much Ice Astral Power through me will take quite a bit out of me.” she reminded me, to which I nodded, even as I pulled the staff we had crafted together out of my bag. It had started its life as a perch and for that, it should still be useful.

We burst onto the small clearing the dwarves were on, just as Lenore started her attack-flight. I stopped, quickly drawing the runes into the air in front of me, letting the spell flow through my bond with Lenore and materialise from her position, allowing me to get a better angle on the undead. The spell itself was relatively simple and based on my experience with the Draugr in the Barrow Den. Back then, I had used a simple ray of cold, trying to freeze them, stopping them and making them more vulnerable.

By now, I had grown quite a bit and learned more about magic. Instead of simple cold, what I channelled through Lenore was a torrent of Liquid Moonlight, spreading out in a cone and splashing all over the undead, the extreme cold tearing through their bodies and freezing them solid. Coming from the flying Lenore, it looked truly as if she had gone to school with dragons and learned some of their tricks, in this case, their fabled breath-weapon. Part of it was just for the show but a little shock and awe might be useful when dealing with the dwarves later.

It worked a great deal better than I had expected but after a moment to think about it, I should have expected it. The undead had been soaked in the swamp, turning them into bloated monstrosities but also saturating their flesh with water. And water was an excellent way to transmit thermal energy, or in this case to draw out thermal energy.

Even before Sigmir and Adra managed to get past the dwarven line, to roll over the zombiciles, the dwarves took advantage of the sudden vulnerability and use their warhammers to break the undead into chunks of frozen flesh. Their spears and crossbows were still ineffective but there was little I could do for that.

Instead of running up, I slowly walked forward and moments later, Lenore landed on the top of the staff I was holding, radiating exhaustion. Even though I had cast the spell, the way our ability worked meant that it had actually taken more out of her than me, due to her lack of affinity for Ice-Magic.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

But our actions had already turned the tide of the battle, especially with Sigmir slamming into the undead on the side, her aura glowing in the dimming light of the day as her Lok’nar ripped through them. Overwhelming strength, always useful in a fight. And her Lok’nar had been augmented, back in Neyto, turning it even more effective against undead. I noticed that Adra seemed to be quite effective as well, even if she had to wield her spear in a strange manner, almost using it as a halberd or bashing frozen undead with the blunt side as if it was a quarterstaff, but her speed served her well In addition, there was a telltale glow of magic around her, giving away one of her tricks.

Rai, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling quite a bit. Sure, he was able to hit the undead with impunity but his short blades were unsuited to lob off limbs or break them if the had been frozen by my spell. It was almost a stalemate, he wouldn’t get hit, he was too fast for that, but his hits were largely useless as well. I made a mental note that he needed some sort of way to deal with such enemies, maybe I could train him in some sort of counter-magic, allowing him to go after the power animating the undead. Or he would just have to deal with the fact that there were enemies that he was unsuited to fight against, helping him focus to get better at fighting enemies he was suited to fight.

By the time I reached the back of the dwarven line, quite a few of the undead had been destroyed so I decided to add some more shock and awe.

“Back, everyone!” I called out, noticing that even the dwarves quickly made way for me. Maybe it was due to the massive, glowing magic-formation that I had begun to draw, forging nine runes into one of the biggest combat-spells I had ever used, even adding a tiny sliver of Eternal Ice from my bag, putting it into the middle.

It only took me a few extra seconds to finish the spell once everyone was clear, which was quite fortunate. The result surprised even me, if the spell I had channelled through Lenore had worked well, this one had the same effect, only dialed up to eleven. A massive blast of Liquid Moonlight, shining with cold, silvery light burst from the formation, the eternal ice providing even more power to the effect, turning the swamp in front of me into a icy hellscape, the remaining undead frozen solid. But only for a moment.

With a imperious gesture, I knocked the butt of my staff onto the frozen ground, instantly projecting three shatter-runes, using my lingering connection to the Astral Power I had just unleashed to destroy what was in front of me.

“That is dealt with.” I declared, watching the destruction I had wrought. Most of the trees were still standing, the cold having been too brief to fully penetrate but their leaves, everything that had been fresh and green, had been ripped apart by my magic. The undead were no exception but I might have gone overboard.

“I thank you, stranger.” one of the dwarves spoke up, his voice hesitating and a little unsure. It was quite obvious that he had been rattled. “But would you please tell us what brings you here?” he asked. I noticed that his armour seemed a little more elaborate than the others, making me think that he might be the leader. The cleric-type I had noticed earlier hadn’t walked up, they seemed to be busy dealing with the wounded.

“The disturbance here was noted elsewhere. We decided to take a look.” I said, remembering the word I had given Leneira, not to tell anyone about her and her grove.

“You are Morgana, aren’t you?” another dwarf asked, this one female, sounding less awed and a lot more afraid.

I merely looked at her, with an eyebrow raised, realising that I was dealing with a Traveller. That could be good or bad, which, I didn’t know.

“What is a Morgana?” the original dwarf asked, sounding displeased that the other dwarf had spoken.

“She is one of us Travellers. Only that she has a…” the lady-dwarf paused for a moment, clearly looking for the right word, “... daunting reputation. There are some who look at her with fear, others with awe. I think you just saw why, at least in part.”

“I am indeed Morgana. Now, you know my name, why don’t you introduce yourself as well? It is only polite, is it not?” I asked, trying to project calm power, even as I mentally freaked out a little, trying to decide what the best way forward would be.