"Finally, my time has come," cackled the Shaman. The Lil'Noamuth around him shivered as his beady red eyes looked at the grey foamy clouds above. Spouts of mist exited his mouth like the chimney of a dwarven blacksmith. He looked quite comical, and Icekiss would have chopped him into two if he didn't acknowledge how powerful a yellow Lil'Noamuth was.

The Gob put his left hand behind his back and pointed at the Elf with his free hand, and said in a mocking voice, "Good Elf, I must thank you for coming here and bringing your friends with you. Tell me, how was your trip? Did you face any challenges along the way?"

Icekiss stood still. His light freckled skin turned a bit pale, where his hands gripped his axe and shield tightly.

Several seconds flew by, and the Gob resumed his callous conversation.

"Ahh.. you're the shy sort, but your race has always been a reclusive sort. You know the kill before talk types", it chuckled.

"You're in a dilemma, youngling, but I'm a merciful Gob. I say that because you barely reached a century old, and killing such a young skilled warrior such as you is not something I will enjoy. Luckily for you, I will give you one opportunity to save yourself or someone else. Let's say such as your sister, which you hollered to earlier", it said with a smirk.

The Elf gritted his teeth; his eyes turned towards his sister and found her on her knees, one palm on the ground the other on her semi-healed injury. The Druid who was healing her earlier was long dead. He had three arrow punctures on his back, the arrows long dissipated.

Icekiss looked at Frostbreath's eyes; oceanic pupils stared back at him. Her eyes were sad but still filled with a fighting spirit.

He smiled faintly at her and turned back at the Shaman and calmly said." let my sister leave safely, and I will give you what you yearn for, lost one."

Meanwhile, Nassaria, who appeared to be dead, cursed her luck. The arrow which had hit her earlier long turned to mist. She was lucky as it went through the space between her arm and chest and got tangled in her cloak, anybody who didn't inspect her earlier would have thought that she died. She just acted at the moment as if she was hit.

Now she contemplated her next step; luckily, her sharp ears overheard the conversation between that bloody Elf and cackling Gob.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She laid there quietly, but her mind sensed it—an opportunity to escape.

While she contemplated her next step, she sensed the air getting cooler and noticed frost slowly accumulating around her, quickly covering her like a blanket. She tried not to shiver and could hear heavy breathing not too far from her.

"Frostbreath," she thought excitedly.

She turned slightly, hoping no one noticed her, to find the Elf sorcerer breathing heavily as her palms covered in ice pointing towards her brother. Frostbreath suddenly spat blood, and large Icicyles parallel to each other emerged from the ground and stretched towards her brother, any Lil'Noamuth in its way was flung, cut apart or impaled.

The Gob cursed, "fools, stop them!" but it was already too late as his vision on her and her brother was suddenly blocked by a wall of ice.

"Run!!" screamed his sister, which Icekiss did. He ran between the two walls of ice, enough to fit one person. Meanwhile, his sister grabbed a Golden Orb from her pouch. She was bleeding extensively from her mouth and nose. Her brother saw the blood and thought, "Mana Overload", and quickened his pace.

Nassaria watched with intensity, her hope rising as she watched Frostbreath whisper words towards the Orb held between her hands. The Orb shaped like an egg, melted into a golden liquid state, and dripped quickly between her fingers towards the floor until it shaped itself into a large puddle.

Nonetheless, Frostbreath kept breathing words of Majick, and more blood poured out of her eyes and ears until she fell face first, her hand fell on top of the golden liquid disappearing through it.

"Noooo!!," screamed both the Gob and her brother. One was seeing the spectacle, the other feeling the large pool of Majick in the air. The Gob quickly made circular movements with his hands, and a tiny fireball appeared between his palms, which quickly grew more significant as he spread his hands wider until it was the size of his body. He then shouted a word, and the fireball flew towards its intended target.

Icekiss sidestepped the puddle, which was not eggshaped and grabbed his sister. She looked at him, disoriented, her blood seeping through the sizeable golden puddle. She said three words," gate.. go... now".

He nodded, and just as he was about to push her in, the fireball smacked into the wall of Icicle, covering his flank, causing a powerful explosion. The force of the blast caused anything within its range to be flung. The ice broke and turned into shards. Some of the fragments skewered and cut the Gob's Minions and Divers too close to the explosion. The heat from the blast melted the broken ice chunks and turned them into steam, which quickly covered the whole area.

It didn't take long for the Shaman to rush towards the scene where the explosion happened. He used his Majick and swept the steam aside with a show of his hand. Hysteria betrayed his face as his eyes turned bright red, he looked around frantically for the golden puddle, but it was gone. He stared at the elves and found the girl dead and her brother sobbing and on his last breath. There was a massive icicle that penetrated his chest.

The yellow clothed Gob screamed in frustration, the remaining Lil'Noamuth around him stepped back, but he quickly ordered them to search around for the Orb. Time flew by quickly, and the search was fruitless.

Finally, the Shaman gave up and ordered his minions to pick up the dead and feed them to the mist. He sighed and muttered, "Centuries have gone by for nothing, but something will show up. I'll have to keep sentries within the mist and watch the road for as long as it takes.

One by one, the dead were either picked up or dragged towards the mist. Save for one opportunistic and lucky Elf.