The horn rumbled throughout the land, though Adam paid very little attention to it. There was an immediate threat right in front of him, and Freya was currently too weak to protect herself.

“Assist the others!” Hisan shouted at him, still in combat with the wyrm. He was struggling against it, dropping down and raising his blade to slam against its mighty tail.

The iceywyrm howled with delight as it managed to slash against the man’s armour, causing him to drop to a knee. He was on his last legs, though he remained steadfast in his position.

Lay on Hands

25 -> 5

Spectral Sentinels

3D6 + 3 = 13 (3, 3, 4)

13 damage!

Adam placed a hand on her forehead, his hand glowing lightly. The warmth spread through his arm and to the little girl, healing her. He had very little Mana to utilize in the battle, but he would need as much as he could in order to face the two wyrms before the dragon appeared.

“Let’s deal with this one,” Adam said. He stepped forward so the icewyrm was on the edge of his glowing owls. The owls shot forward with blinding speed as they struck against the icewyrm, slamming into it and turning into bits of light as the icewyrm howled in pain.

Spectral Sentinels

3D6 + 3 = 13 (1, 4, 5)

13 damage!

Attack

D20 + 10 = 28 (18)

Hit!

3D6 + 9 = 17 (2, 3, 3)

Mana

16 -> 15

Divine Smite

2D6 + 2 = 12 (5, 5)

29 damage!

Attack

D20 + 10 = 30 (20)

Critical hit!

6D6 + 10 = 35 (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6)

Mana

15 -> 13

Divine Smite

8D6 + 8 = 36 (1, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5)

71 damage!

It turned to face Adam, its eyes unfocused and unclear. Adam raised his eyebrow as a beam of frost appeared from the sky, a horn blown in the distance suddenly echoing from above. The beam of frost expanded until it was as wide as a ten men abreast, and a figure formed within it.

With his giant blade in hand, Gant appeared from the heavens, dropping down as he swung his blade. He lopped off the icewyrm’s tail with ease, and as he crashed on the ground, the snow kicked up around them. The icewyrm screamed out in pain, howling as it stumbled aside, dropping onto its side.

“You hurt me, Adam! To think you’d have all the fun by yourself!” Gant raised his greatsword onto his shoulder.

“Gant?”

“I’ll deal with this one,” the giant said, motioning his head to the other icewyrm.

“I’ll leave it to you,” Adam said, about to move when Gant’s eyes fell onto the Winterdotr.

“Winterdotr?” Gant asked, his attention caught by the girl as the icewyrm flew up and then hissed wildly. Gant turned to the icewyrm, but it rent against his armour and bit into his leg.

“Hisan, go help your companions, we’ll deal with this!” Adam said, raising his blade with both hands and charging forward. The owls darted forward to strike against the creature, and his blank sank into the wyvern’s chest, flashing white hot with divine energy. The wyvern howled with its wicked cry, turning to face Adam with rage in its unfocused eyes.

Adam inhaled deeply, ducking under its snapping jaws as he spun around, his blade flying behind himself. He sunk his blade through its neck, flashing white again, as he smote through its neck. The head of the creature fell to his side, the body at his other side. The wicked howl echoed in the distance, though it had long died from the icewyrms throat.

Gant and Hisan both stared at him, Adam looking up at the pair of them. There was a moment of silence shared between them before Hisan turned and bolted off towards his companions to assist them.

“You stole all the fun again,” Gant said.

“I’ll let you deal with the other one…” Adam turned. “I need to look after Freya.”

Gant hesitated for a moment before he turned and left. Adam wondered what the giant wanted to say to him, but he quickly dropped to a knee beside the girl. She wasn’t looking particularly healthy, though she was conscious and ready to defend herself.

“Are you alright?” Adam asked.

Freya replied in her own tongue, though he could not understand her words. He blinked a few times and then raised a hand. “I’m going to heal you a little more. I don’t have much more Mana I can spend.”

Freya raised her hands and formed an ice shield around herself, and Adam retreated. If she didn’t want to be healed, then he would not force it on her. He grabbed his blade and looked around, watching Gant and the others deal with the last icewyrm. He looked off in the distance, only hearing the whipping wind.

He looked up a the sky, blinking at it. The purple tear had completely disappeared, and almost nothing in the world betrayed the fact it had actually existed. Except for half a mountain crashing off in the distance. He wondered what kind of sight he would see on the other side.

Gant blew his horn, snapping Adam out of his thoughts. He turned to see the giant and Dark Harvest had dealt with the icewyrm quickly once they had all rushed it.

Typ darted over to him, clutching at her knees. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine, and you?”

“Yeah, not bad. The icewyrm was pretty rough, handling two of them was too much for us.”

“Sorry, I was in the middle of something.”

“Did you see the dragon?”

“I was fighting it for a short while, but I needed to run.” Adam glanced back down to Freya, who held up the shield around herself.

“You fought the dragon?” Typ asked, staring up at him with surprise.

“Yeah. It did quite a number on me, though I fled with Freya.” Adam looked back towards the distance.

“Looking for the dragon?” Gant approached the trio. “Chief Joti and the others are dealing with it.”

“Then it should be fine,” Adam replied. “I managed to land a few blows on it, so I doubt they’ll have too many issues.” Adam dropped down onto his bottom and then onto his back. He was panting for air.

“Rough day?” Gant asked.

“Yeah, but it’s much better now that you’re around.”

“Your words honour me.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Did you see the black sun?”

“Yeah, we did. Let’s talk about it once the others have come.”

It didn’t take long for the giants to appear, the three dragging the dragon behind themselves. Adam raised a hand and waved at them as Dark Harvest approached.

Joti dropped the dragon and then grabbed at his greatsword. “A Winterdotr?”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, hopping onto his feet and grabbing his sword. “Is there a problem?”

Joti looked to Gant, who shrugged his shoulders. Joti put his greatsword away. “No, no problem.”

Adam sheathed his sword, and nodded. “I’m glad.”

“I am too,” Joti said. “I would prefer not to face you again, even if you are injured.”

Adam laughed. “I doubt I could handle everyone here.”

Joti’s moustache twitched slightly, though he approached the group. “I assume you were dealing with the dragon before we arrived,” he said.

“Something like that.”

“Did you have anything to do with the creature in the sky? We saw some figures fighting it.”

Adam’s lips twitched slightly and he looked away, obviously guilty. “Something like that. I met a friend and an old foe.”

“Let us set up camp and then speak,” Joti said, motioning his head to the outpost in the distance.

Adam glanced down towards Freya, whose eyes were darting between the giants. She stood beside Adam, keeping him between the giants and herself. ‘I wonder what kind of issues the giants have with her…’

They returned to the outpost and Karasmith began cooking. Gant glanced out the window, remaining on watch, with Inga looking out from the opposite side.

“It seems much has happened since you had left,” Joti said, looking out to the other group around.

“Yeah, we do have a lot to talk about.” Adam sighed, throwing a look to Freya, who was sitting beside him and Klara. Klara caught his eyes, and within them were questions. “I have a lot to talk about with everyone…” He rubbed the side of his neck and sighed.

“Let’s begin with the purple creature.”

“Do you remember the two creatures we fought before? You had come to help me save some humans.”

“I remember. I had to use my Everfrost to deal with it.”

“The purple creature you saw in the sky was it’s… god?” Adam wasn’t sure if that was the right word for it.

“I assumed they were related. It’s quite a powerful creature, and it dares to invade in the north.”

“I’m not entirely sure it was here to invade. Sozain sent it here.”

“Baktu?” Joti asked.

“That’s what he said.”

Joti remained silent, staring down at Adam.

“It’s true,” Klara said. “Lord Sozain took over my body for a moment, and I assume that was when he sent the message.”

“Why would Sozain send it here?”

“I think Sozain sent it here with someone from…” Adam paused. He couldn’t really tell them that Galahad was a Brit, they wouldn’t understand. “Sozain sent someone with some distant relation to me to face off against it. He’s a powerful warrior, one we couldn’t hold a candle to. He was fairly evenly matched with the creature and it seemed the Wintermother was also involved.” Adam looked to Freya.

“This seems to be something above our roles,” Joti said, brushing a hand through his beard.

“It seems it’s gone for now, and Galahad, the one Sozain sent with the creature, is currently fighting it.”

“There’s not much to think of it then.”

“I can’t help but feel slightly responsible, but there’s not much we can do.”

“No. Let us speak of what happened to you, and how you managed to find a Winterdotr.”