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Having managed to pass through the doorway, you lean your back up against the stone wall, your breathing harsh and ragged from your close run in with death and watch as Gorrack makes his way towards you, pausing to study the doorway.
"Is it safe now?" He asked.
You nod your head in reply, the big orc cautiously walking through the doorway, then waving his arm for Lorna to come through after him.
Her honey brown eyes already moving to the next chamber that appears several paces ahead of you, which seemingly appears empty with strange white balls of lights much like Lorna's dotting the air like floating snow. "We should keep going."
You wince as you feel another wave of pain crash through you from your many wounds and grunt. "Just give me a sec, I'm not feeling so good."
Lorna looks back over to you and rolls her eyes in consternation, before kneeling down beside you and incanting another one of her spells. (+ 40 Health Points). "There, now let's keep going."
Feeling much better you gaze at her with questioningly. "You could heal me along? Why haven't you healed me before?"
Lorna sighs heavily at the question, wiping the blood from her fingers onto her clothes. "It is the only healing spell that I've memorized. I was hoping to save it for much later when we really needed it, but that doesn't matter now."
"Wait! You can't use it again?"
She shakes her head in reply. "I had never intended to be away from my homeland this long, so I did not think to bring my spell book with me. The longer I'm away from home the harder the spells become to repeat."
"And when exactly were you going to tell me this?!" You splutter.
She smiles at you in amusement, highlighting her refined cheekbones and shrugs her shoulders innocently like it wouldn't even have mattered. The damn elf was going to get you both killed with the amount of information she holds from you. "Come along then, we had best keep going," she says.
You push yourself off the wall with a grunt and take point once more, Gorrack nodding his head at you, before following close on your heels.
Carefully watching your step for any traps, you enter the next chamber and scratch your head in confusion. It was a dead end. The circular room despite being lit up by white balls of light that glided across the ceiling had no passageways leading out from it.
You open your mouth to tell Lorna and Gorrack to go back, when all the light in the chamber winks out of existence leaving you all in pitch black darkness, unable to see anything.
"Lorna, we sure could really use your light spell right about now."
The elven mage lets out a hiss and curses beneath her breath, muttering another incantation, but nothing happens. "I can't. Something seems to be blocking my spell. It won't work here."
Gritting your teeth, you try to think what to do next, when a booming voice calls out from the darkness. "I followed the light towards my bitter end, but it was the darkness that took my soul. Listen to my words and come to me."
You feel a breeze blow in from the corridor ahead of you, which could be what the voice was talking about, but you're not really sure.
Lorna quick to grasp the situation as well, pokes you in the back, before pushing rope into your hand blindly. "Here tie this on around your waist, so we don't lose each other."
You quickly tie on the rope around your waist and wait for the others to do the same, calling to them. "I'm ready."
Once you hear them call back, you stretch your hands out before you and slowly walk forward deeper into the pitch blackness with only your footsteps tapping the stone to comfort you and tug of the rope around your waist when you pull too far ahead.
Sick of the silence, you ask, "You think this is where Ice Eyes was truly buried?"
"I'm certain of it. The Honor Blades must have set all these traps to guard his resting place and to test those who wished to join their order,"she replied.
"Then why did they abandon the place?"
"You've seen why for yourself. The swampland was never that large before, but now it has expanded to the very doorstep of this Citadel, no doubt making this place extremely difficult to defend," she continued in a breathless voice.
Gorrack surprisingly speaks up from behind you offering his words of wisdom. "With the swamps so close to the citadel, the trolls would have been easily able to sneak up on the castle from the cover of darkness and launch countless attacks that would have given the enemy no rest and little time to prepare. There would also be the threat of large army assembling in the swamplands and they would not know or be able to send for reinforcements until it was too late. As for why they did not send out scouts? You yourself witnessed how treacherous the swamp can be."
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As you're talking your trying to come up with a sarcastic comment about how Gorrack talks too much, you feel the gusts of wind shift to either side of you with cold wind blowing from the left and a warm breeze blowing from the right.
As miraculously as the Minotaur disappears so too does the pedestal and chest from the room.
Lorna staring at you wide eyed punches you hard in the back. "You could have gotten us all killed! Why didn't you ask me help?!"
You shrug your shoulders back at her in the same way, she had done earlier, which turns her face beet root red, but before she can give you a lecture, you move towards the next passageway that has mysteriously appeared ahead of you and say, "Come along then, we had best keep going." Doing your best to mimic her voice, which gets a snort of amusement from Gorrack and irritated glower from Lorna, who huffs loudly and stares daggers into your back.
You stride into the passageway, which is lit up by those same white lights you'd see earlier, the tunnel curving off slightly and arrive at another chamber. This one much larger than the others is the exact replica of the temple above with a sarcophagus in the middle of the chamber, blue eyes painted into the ceiling above and paved stones. These stones however have no images on them.
As your trying to think what test this could be, the lid on the coffin slides off the sarcophagus to crash into the ground and a undead Minotaur in ancient silver plate armor wielding a rusted jagged greatsword steps out to greet you with saddened blue eyes.
He stands by the sarcophagus gazing at each of you and gives a mournful smile that makes the skin on his face flake off. "I have one last test for you warrior, end my life and bring me peace."
In that moment you realise you are facing the spirit fueled body of Ice Eyes a legendary Minotaur warrior of unsurpassed skill in battle. The stories and ballads told of him have been sung for centuries. This would be no easy feat. You quickly untie the rope around your waist and prepare for battle. (Boss Level Battle)
1. Do you attack the creature with a normal weapon?
Gorrack readies his battle axe and Lorna shrugs off her bow from her shoulder in one swift movement, knocking an arrow while you ready your weapon.
A flicker of a smile crosses Ice Eye's lips as he charges forward in a blur of movement far too fast for an undead creature brought back from the dead.
Deflecting an arrow from Lorna with the flat of his blade, the undead Minotaur warrior brings his weapon crashing down hard towards you. Forcing you to parry the powerful blow which reverberates up your arm, before assaulting your party simultaneously. His greatsword sweeping towards you in another attack, while his fist hammers into the side of Gorrack's jaw, then whipping his great sword towards Lorna forcing her to roll out of the way.
Her bow twanging again and again as she fires arrow after arrow, all the while dodging to keep away from the undead warrior. The few arrows that find their mark in Ice Eye's decomposing body having very little effect upon him, besides pushing him back.
Gorrack with blood dripping out from his mouth let's out a mighty roar of rage and begins his transformation, when in a blur of movement Ice Eyes kicks you hard in the chest to send you flying hard back into the wall, pain shooting down your back as you smash into the rough surface. Allowing the undead warrior time to attack the big orc with a blistering series of attacks that halt the orc's transformation into a berserker, driving your large friend backwards. His greatsword repeatedly tearing into the orc's green flesh to leave behind bloody gashes.
With Gorrack in desperate need of help, you quickly clamber back up to your feet and rush forward to try attack Ice Eyes from behind, when in a flash of steel the undead warrior spins around and sends a sweeping cut towards you that slices across your chest, almost disemboweling you, before pressing his assault against your tiring friend.
Lorna having found a better angle to attack without hitting Gorrack fires off another stream of arrows to knock the undead Minotaur back to create an opening.
Grinning at the new plan that quickly formulates in your mind, you call out to Lorna as you leap forward to attack the undead warrior. "Aim your arrows at my back!"
You sense her hesitation at your words, but she does as you command releasing arrows at your back, while you do your best to block and parry Ice Eyes lighting swift assaults which shake your arms and weaken your grip around your weapon, a few of his strikes slipping through to cut you badly.
You focus your mind on the whistling of the arrows as they come and step to the side a split second before the arrows can hit you, letting out a cry of delight as your plan works, the arrow finding its mark upon the undead warrior's chest, thrusting it back. Using her arrows to create opening, you repeatedly chop into unbalanced warrior, taking him apart piece by piece. Hacking off his left hand with a powerful strike, before trying to chop off his legs.
However Ice Eyes is no slouch in battle and quickly adapts to your tactics, moving as you move to break the train of arrows and counter assaulting. His skill with the great sword even with one hand missing more than a match for you, forcing you to back away again, when Gorrack at last recovering from his wounds stumbles to your side to join the fight.
Lorna worried she might hit one of you, stops firing her bow and begins incanting a new spell that does not sound familiar to the ear at all, which must mean it is a new spell. Whatever it is you hope that she uses it soon, you can already feel your arms beginning to tire and the aches and pains on your body starting to cut through your nerves, exhausting you mentally as well as physically.
Gorrack doesn't look to be doing too well either with a blackened bruised on his cheek, gaping wounds running the length of his body and blood dripping from a serious head wound. The only thing keeping the big orc going right now is pure will, his fiery orange eyes showing a level of determination that fills you with awe.
Together you fight alongside each other exchanging blows for what seems like an eternity. Ice Eyes constantly forcing you both back despite having only one hand in a never ending storm of movement that has you both dodging to avoid lethal slices when you hear Lorna at last release her spell.
Ice Eyes having heard the invocation as well, launches one last backhanded swipe at the pair of you, before leaping backwards, just in time to avoid a fiery golden spear that flies through the air to plant itself in the ground where he stood.
The undead warrior shaking his head at the failed attempt, shoulder charges both you and Gorrack to bowl you off your feet and races towards a terrified Lorna.
With only seconds to act, you roll to your feet, grab the spear and throw with all your strength. Catching the undead warrior from behind.
Letting out a gasp of surprise Ice Eyes turns to face you, the golden spear still in his body and bows his head towards you, his blue eyes glistening with tears, before collapsing into a heap.
Battle Results
- 150 Health Points
Companion Reputation, (+1 Gorrack and +1 Lorna are both pleased with your actions.)
Loot
None
Side Quest Complete