Elendria’s POV

“Bastard specters.” I muttered as I shredded yet another group that was nearing our convoy. We had been fighting a running battle for nearly three hours now, and Sean wasn’t looking good. “Just hold out for a while longer, Master.” I whispered, wiping a mana cooled hand over his fevered brow. While the bleeding from his nose came and went, his color had rapidly paled as his temperature rose. A cold sweat was constantly beading on his brow, and he rarely blinked anymore. Just stared vacantly at the constellation he had summoned. A constellation that suddenly disappeared.

“Bribis!” I shouted. “Sean’s passed out!” His eyes finally closed, I frantically grabbed his wrist. “Whew.” I breathed out a sigh of relief. His pulse was steady, he just couldn’t hold it any longer.

“He ok?” Bribis asked, after slowing the oxen down.

“I think so. Heartbeat is steady.” I replied, shifting Sean so that he was lying flat and covering him with a few blankets.

“I pray he bought us enough time.” Bribis said, settling back down. “I’m sorry to ask-“

“It’s fine.” I said, interrupting him. “Survival first. He was willing to push himself this far, it was his choice.”

We continued on, much slower than before. The specter attacks had slowed, though the shambling constructs were now able to catch up to us. A wall nearly four feet tall was more than enough to stop them, as their dexterity was lacking. As we moved, I took the time to study our enemy. Something I felt Sean would approve of.

“Bribis.” I got the gnome’s attention. “These bodies. Are they just bog material molded into a human shape?”

“Yeah. That’s what they concluded after the last several raid attempts. So long as the core of the swamp, or whatever is running things, has the mana it can create these shapes to attack. Since they aren’t true summons or real golems, they give no experience.”

I nodded, glad for his explanation. It meant my magic was going to be particularly effective. And so we settled in for the grind. The constructs seemed to come at us in waves, though as time passed they were weakening. Originally it would be nearly thirty of the physical bog men, along with ten specters. After an hour those numbers had been cut in half, and an hour after that they were completely separated.

“Bribis, have you noticed?”

“Yeah.” He said. “The waves are weakening. Either the bog has given up on us, which I doubt, or it is preparing a nasty surprise. How’s your mana?”

“Just above half. Want me to start meditating to recover it?”

“Yeah, that’s probably best. I’ll warn Carrigan.” He said, pulling out a talking stone. While he was doing that, I bent down to check in on Sean again. He had stabilized over time, but it was still worrying. Noticeably pale, fighting a fever, and covered in sweat. He had started lightly thrashing. I ran a cooling hand over him again, before settling in to meditate. Despite all my practice and skill, it still took a few minutes to overcome my worry for Sean.

“Son of a bitch!” Bribis’ curse brought me out of meditation. A quick check showed me at around 80% of my mana, hopefully enough to handle whatever we had encountered.

“What is it?” I asked, stretching and standing to look. I almost wish I hadn’t. Standing before us was a veritable army of bog men, with roaming specters moving among them, covering the next mile of road. The only thing saving us was whatever kept their attention facing the direction we were already travelling in. As I took in the sight, a red orb screamed into the sky, hovering when it reached three times the height of a tree.

“Damnit, that’s the Dwarf garrison. They’re under siege and calling for reinforcements.” Bribis muttered.

“How far away are we?” I asked calmly.

“Rough guess? A mile or so.” He muttered.

“Would they have someone there to treat Sean?”

“Huh? Yeah, they probably won’t have a healer but they all have an herbalist. Doesn’t matter though if we can’t get there.”

“Leave that to me.” I said, patting the gnome and jumping out the back.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bribis’ POV

“Leave that to me.” The crazy elf said as she patted me on the back. I turned in time to see her jump out the back of the wagon and take a few steps to the side. She took a moment to look things over, then made a sweeping gesture. “Ice Ramparts.” Erupting seemingly out of the ground, towering ice walls nearing ten feet tall cut off our views. Her construct was odd though, extending nearly thirty feet into the bog itself before making a small tower. The wall in front of us cut straight across the road, while the wall to our side angled from her tower back toward the wagons bringing in the rear.

“Elendria? Why so far away?” I asked, confused as to why she needed the construct. As I watched, her entire demeanor changed. While normally easy going and happy, she radiated a cutting coldness. Her spine was rigidly straight, tension apparent in her muscles. Her eyes though. They had gained a slight blue glow, and it pierced straight through me as she turned her head.

“Silly gnome. It’s so that I don’t accidentally kill the lot of you in my rage. They pushed my master to the brink of death.” Her voice sent chills up my spine. No inflection, just a promise. Of pain. Of retribution. Dealt uncaringly. “For that, they will pay. Things with this much available water should not anger an Ice Mistress.” As she spoke, stairs to the tower started forming, and she calmly strode forward. Ice Mistress? She was more an Ice Queen at this moment. Her magic swirled around her, condensing shards that refracted light into glittering motes. It gently moved her clothes, and her hair billowed behind her as the crystals danced between the strands. Neither rushed nor lazily, she seemed to epitomize grace as she climbed the stairs. At the top, she turned to face the garrison and stared imperiously down upon the army before her. I didn’t believe it was possible to convey more contempt in that one glance, then she started her chant.

“Lonely hunter of the desolate plain.

A land ever devoid of the sun.

Come forth now and obey me, for my word is law.

Let your lonely howl freeze their very souls.

Your claws shall rend their supple flesh.

Your fangs crack their bones.

The icy wind of your passage

Makes the north wind feel like a summer breeze.

Remind them to fear the killing cold,

Frozen famine, and endless despair.

Embody my icy wrath.

And leave behind the white death.

Frozen Hellscape.”

As she chanted, her magic changed around her. Instead of something inspiring awe, a ravenous white wolf emerged. Already tall, Elendria barely came to this wolf’s chest. Clouds billowed out as it breathed, a cruel smile as it anticipated its orders. Even from this distance, my own breath was clouding in front of me. A second of panic hit as I saw a specter flying directly at her, but that was swiftly put to rest. The ghost froze as soon as it got within twenty feet of the elf, dropping and shattering out of my view.

“AAAAHHHHWWWWWHHHOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!”

The wolf’s howl reverberated in my chest as she finished her chant, and with a single pointed finger, she unleashed her spell. The wolf flowed around her, then formed into a howling whirlwind of blue and white. I could tell she aimed it slightly downward, but that was it as her wall blocked my view. She slowly turned, and by the time she was done had spun nearly 225 degrees, stopping only when she was pointing backwards but still parallel to the road. Any closer and I would have feared for the rest of the caravan, as clouds of their breath was visible even with the distance between them and the spell.

“Bribis.” She said, striding down the stairs that disintegrated behind her. “I need a mana potion.”

“Last one.” I said, handing her a blue potion. As she drank, the icy ramparts fell and my jaw dropped with them.

“By Bruin’s Beard!” I swore. The land was white with frozen crystals. The army? Completely immobile. The specters were gone, likely obliterated by her spell. As I stared, she climbed into the back to check once again on Sean.

“Give me a minute my Lord, and I’ll clear the way to the garrison. We will get you proper treatment for whatever ails you. I promise.” Despite the care and concern in her voice, it still scared the living hell out of me. How she could switch back and forth between such strong emotions so swiftly? Not only that, but the sheer power of her spell! I was so grateful she didn’t have any reason to hate me, despite the rough start with Sean. How could someone think that simply enslaving someone so powerful wouldn’t turn into their own death? She sat down in front of the oxen and set about meditating for about thirty minutes. Bit of a waste of a mana potion in my opinion, unless-. Was she that low on mana after those two spells that she risked passing out? While she was recovering, I spent the time reassuring the rest of the caravan that we were indeed ok.

“Are the oxen ok to finish the journey?”

“Ye, Yeah.” I stammered. “The garrison changed its alarm to yellow. Still calling for reinforcements, but no active attack.”

“Excellent. I’ll clear the way, just follow along behind me.” She said. Jumping down, she sauntered to the front of the convoy and took a centering breath. “Come, my frostlings. It’s been far too long since I’ve allowed you to frolic in this world.”

Around her feet, arose several bluish white otters. They were nearly to her chest, and their frenzied swarming around her brought forth a tinkling laughter. “I’ve missed you too, my friends. I’ll summon you again to play sometime soon, but we have work to do. We need to clear the path.” Striding forward, the otters followed for a second before shooting forward. Behind them, the ice disappeared, leaving clean dirt. Playing in a rough and tumble manner, they led us on. Frozen bog men didn’t shatter so much as simply fall apart into dry components as they passed.

“How?” The wagonmaster asked, confused.

“Sublimation.” I replied in an awed breath. “They’ve gotten it so cold, the ice is turning straight into a gas.” The oxen started moving forward, and I used the slightest bit of earth magic to make sure that the way was clear. It took nearly twenty minutes, but we finally reached the garrison.

“Return for now my friends, I’ll call you back soon.” Elendria cooed at her otters, and each one came to sniff at her face before disappearing. While she did this, there was a small squad of guards standing nervously a good distance away, halberds in the air but ready to drop into charging position at any moment.

“Looks like it’s my turn.” I muttered, jumping down and heading towards Elendria. “Thank you Elendria. Without your spell, I doubt we would have made it.” I ignored the sigh of relief from the leader, focusing on Elendria.

“We all have to do what we must.” She said with a tired smile.

“Why don’t you check in on Sean again? I’ll deal with these fellows.”

“That sounds nice.” She said, slowly walking back to the cart. As she left, the nervous guard came forward.

“Sir?” He asked.

“Caravan master Bribis, coming from Edgehall.” I said, holding out a hand to shake. “We were midway through when the bog awoke, and had to use some powerful magic just to make it here.”

“Squad leader Brom.” He said, shaking my hand. “And damn glad you arrived when you did. We can handle the bog men, but the specters were a bit more than we normally get and were pressing us awfully hard.”

“I hear that.” I nodded. Most garrisons only had a few mages, and they were generally below master rank. “Listen. Brom?”

“Yeah.”

“Brom. We are in a spot of trouble here. One of our guys was forced to hold a spell for over a day so that we could make it here, and he collapsed a few hours ago. Any chance we could impose on your healer?”

“Bring your caravan in.” He said. “We’re fully stocked, but we don’t have an actual healer. Lucra the herbalist will take a look at him, but some things are going to be beyond her abilities. Not that she’s bad at all!” He got nervous, looking around. “She’s right on the cusp of becoming a master! It’s just-. We don’t get a wide variety of injuries around here with the bog sleeping most of the time.”

“It’s alright.” I reassured him. “We’ll take what we can get. In exchange, I will inform your commander of what I know from our travels, and have our other mage available as well. Not the elf.” I added when he got rather nervous.

“Very well then. Let’s get going.” He said, leading the way into the garrison. “Commander Gronig will appreciate the information. If you can spare a few days, the full reinforcements should get here. Right now we only expect a scouting force within a few hours.”

“That’ll be fine.” I said, beconing the caravan to follow as I walked with the squad leader. “After the last few days, we will be more than glad to rest for a few days. I would be especially appreciative if your stable master could look at our oxen. We traveled for a solid day under a travel buff for stamina, and I really want to make sure none of them are hurt.”

“I’m sure that could be arranged.” He said. “Raise the portcullis!” He shouted to the guards on top of the wall, and I nodded at the design of the fort. The side facing the bog had a solid wall, and the entryway we were at didn’t have a straight shot into the fort. Instead, we walked through the first gate, and had to move twenty feet down a killing corridor before turning back to our original direction to enter. The second gate would be incredibly hard to bring siege equipment against, even if you could ignore attacks raining down upon you from three directions at once. If the commander was as solid as his fort was designed, we would be in good hands. I just hoped that whatever was afflicting Sean was something they could treat.