A Crash Course on Cave-crushing

[SuperMachinegun]

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Lu found herself panting as she ran to a faint glow of blue. She had to get to it. Too many. There were too many of them. She pushed her little legs to run. There was someone running after her. No. Running with her. Flashes of light and sounds of blazing fire filled the cave in short bursts. Roars grew louder, from behind and from the light. She had to get to it. She pushed herself to run as her hair flew in a frenzy around her sight. Straight ahead. Just straight ahead. She was getting close. Just as she thought she was close to the bright glow, her head struck the ground. A large spicule of ice protruded from the ground next to her leg. Blood flowed from it. Just as she was to cover the wound, a reptilian figure struck at her. Lu woke up startled, though Tara slept beside her rather peacefully. She knew, from the soft blue glow she saw around her that a gate was being opened. She knew whenever a gate opens, it was not good news for anyone.

Night fell quicker than expected upon the town. Stars boasted their light on the dim sandy dunes of the Frontier. The cold air swept through the town, howling like a ghost as it tapped on the houses' fragile windows. Iedomee watched the night horizon as he waited for his two companions to wake up. They agreed they would do it together. They ride on Helos to the caves and close the gates before it fully opened. Iedomee polished the tip of his arrow, he knew what to expect and what to do. He had already helped closed four Gates so far. All he needed was go sign and they were off.

The door swung open and there stood Tara, all geared up and behind her stood Lu. The girl's usual gray irises now glowed blue as she looked down the floor with a worried expression. Iedomee knew what this meant. He knew they needed to act quick. "Quick." Iedomee said as he carried the silent Lu on his arms. They quietly sneaked out of the inn and into the stable, careful not to alarm anyone.

"Come on, boy," Iedomee softly said as he woke up the large sleeping dog. Helos rose and stretched its muscular and furry legs as it yawned and bared its large and pointed teeth.

Iedomee lowered himself to look at Lu face to face. His face was lit with the soft glow of Lu's eyes. "Lu, everything is going to be fine. I promise."

[GIR]

As the day had worn into night, and as more creatures from the Wyrm's homeworld found the gate and trickled into its new lair, the Wyrm had been steadily gathering forces, even as it slept. Several more kahur-koored and shadow wolves had been made puppets, as well as three large, scaled birds of prey known as schatten falkens.

As the Wyrm awoke with the setting of the sun, its puppets were made to take up defensive positions around and within its lair. Within the chamber that held the gate, two of the kahur-koored stood on either side of the gate, the Wyrm's magic pulsing through them to create blizzard within the cave. One each stood watch in side chambers, also being made to whip up blizzards. The area just outside the cave was a dense fog of darkness as an entire pack of shadow wolves patrolled the area, awaiting the mages and their male companion. As for the human and dog puppets, they were already on their way to the town. Blown though their cover had been, it was deemed useful by the other fragments to alert the 'town elder' many of the humans in the town had spoken of, in the hopes he would stop the group from leaving the town. Even if that plan failed, however, the Wyrm knew it could use the puppets to summon a blizzard to afflict the town, as well, a move which would definitely alert the townspeople. The downside was that the Wyrm would have to leave its cave and deal with the town afterword, but the action was deemed acceptable. So long as the gate remained, it knew, it would not starve. The town served no purpose beyond warning other humans away.

As it schemed, the Wyrm detected another human attempting to pass by the wolves, this one armed to the teeth. The eyes of the shadow wolves, as well as the memories of the human puppet, identified the human as a treasure hunter. More importantly, however, the human bore a close enough resemblance to the dreaded fire mage's build from before that, with a little magic to alter her face, the fragments believed she could pass for the genuine article. As the human fought the creatures, the Wyrm studied the human's actions, waiting until the fragments assured it that the human had not guessed that they were anything other than ordinary magical beasts before making its move. The Wyrm eagerly burrowed out just far enough to get in range before devouring the human's mind and setting her on the path to the town, high over which one of the schatten falkens circled, hidden in a large cloud formation, despite still having a clear view of the town. As the human walked, the Wyrm used the basic magics within the human's body to alter its appearance, making the resemblance stronger. The main concern, however, to its believability was the Wyrm's lack of knowledge. Mimicking another's appearance was all well and good, but, without the fire-mage's mind to work off of, it had only its brief encounter with her to work from. Anyone who knew the fire mage in any capacity beyond mere acquaintances would easily spot the deception, not to mention the fact that the Wyrm, being a Snapwyrm, specialised in ice magics, rather than the body magics needed for the spell, meant the likeness, though good, was not perfect. The puppet would need to keep at a slight distance, and the Wyrm would have to learn as it went and avoid allowing the puppet to encounter anyone who would know her proper mannerisms if it was to succeed.

With no further reason for being outside the relative safety of the cave, they Wyrm burrowed its way back inside, then waited just below the surface for its enemies to arrive, should they get past its obstacles.

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As night fell upon the city, a girl and her dog ran through the streets, the puppets made to act just normal enough to fool any stray humans they came across. As they neared their destination, the puppets were made to slow to a walk. This was the house the human puppet's memories marked as the elder's home. The puppet was made to frantically bang on the door. "Elder, please, wake up! Something's happening!", she was made to shout in a tone imitating a fearful human female. As she did, several of the shadow wolves from the cave entrance made their way toward the town.

Meanwhile, the look-alike puppet waited in an alley with a clear view of the stables, watching three of the group from earlier apparently preparing to leave. But where was the fire mage? The Wyrm saw only the novice, the male, and the smallest. Had she gone on ahead? No. If she had, the sentry flying over the cave would see her. The Wyrm considered the possible reasons as its mage puppet watched the smallest and her companions. Also of note were the shining eyes of the smallest.

[paganchick]

Madaline knew in her gut that the trio would head to the cave. Just the way the man had questioned it so she decided she would wait for them, follow them, she wanted to see the cave for herself, and whatever monsters lay within its walls.
So soon after the trio left and she started planning how she was going to follow them. She didn't want to confront them, then they might change their mind, they couldn't know she was stalking them.

Madaline waited in the darkness. Hidden between a bush and a building. She stayed completely still as she peered out of the darkness. She had a good view of the direction the trio would have to go but not a good view of inside the stables. She didn't need a good view of inside the stables though. She kept her breathing slow and silent and her mind focused. She had a feeling that a fight would break out at some point during this little adventure and that made her nervous.
Madaline was never one who enjoyed fighting, but she knew she could if it came down to it.

[SuperMachinegun]

The three were all set and climbed onto the Goromutt; Lu at the front, Iedomee in the middle and Tara behind him with her two arms wrapped around his torso.

"Where's this cave Lu is talking about?" Tara asked Iedomee.

"East of this town, a few minutes away by horse," He explained. "But with Helos, we should get there faster. We can't risk whatever is coming out of that gate to come into town."

Helos slowly walked out of the stable doors. Once they had a good look around and didn't see anyone, Helos pounced swiftly across town. The sand and its fur muffled the strides it made as they exited town.

Lu still hadn't told Tara or Iedomee abut her dream. She tried to keep out of her mind but the reptilian-face, the memory of it, fed her fear of the monsters that could come from the gate. The last moment before she woke up was what scared her the most. Was that her end? She avoided the thought and instead, kept her eyes looking at the distance wishing that the cave she dreaded in her nightmares never existed in the first place.

[GIR]

As the trio departed, the look-alike puppet was made to hide until schatten falken overhead had observed their departure. As silently as a remotely operated body could be made to, the puppet moved its way to the gate, the Wyrm using knowledge from its other human puppet's fragment to move the puppet through back alleys and side streets toward the gate.

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Overhead, the schatten falken puppet was made to serve as another living (for a given definition) weather generator, turning the clouds it had hidden in into storm clouds, and chilling the air to create a light snowstorm. It then resumed its circling, the Wyrm waiting for the elders to take notice before revealing it further.

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The human puppet continued its pounding and yelling, seeming, by all accounts, a girl desperately in need.  After a few minutes, the door finally opened.

"What's all this racket, child? Don't you know what time it is?", the woman asked, slightly annoyed at having been woken up by the others. A yawn escaped her as she looked around, only to be cut off as her mouth snapped shut at the sight of the snow falling. The very out-of-season snow.

"Some treasure hunters tried to sneak out of the village, ma'am! They want to steal things from the forbidden cave, and I think the spirits inside might get angry!", the puppet cried, "I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen!". Had the elder paused to think, she might have noticed the blank stare of the otherwise panicked girl, or questioned the fact that she apparently knew what was in the cave without having been inside, or even that her arrival seemed rather close to the snowfall for someone who had just found out about an attempt to disturb the cave, but only one thing ran through the superstitious woman's mind: She had to get the other elders, and find a way to appease the spirits.

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As the shadow wolves were moves swiftly toward the town, their sensitive ears heard what no human's would have: The approach of another creature, one much heavier. 'or', one of the human fragments reminded the Wyrm, 'a mounted beast. The one in the town seemed large enough to carry at least a couple of them.'.  The wolves, still possessing their instincts, if not their minds, howled at the scent, a warning at the heavier beast to back off, as they went from a loose delta formation to a tight one that allowed them all to hide within the same dense fog, one which the puppet at the lead began to generate. The fog spread to thirty meters within seconds, enveloping the wolves in a dark cloud.

[paganchick]

Once Madaline had watched the trio move out she herself snuck into the stables, putting a bridle on the horse and jumping on its back, there was no time for a saddle. She urged the beast into a full gallop out of the stables. She couldn't waste time, she had a bad feeling that the trio would need help, especially as the snow started to come down.
She didn't know what was in the cave, but whatever it was, it was bad.

The snow hit her in the face, stinging a bit but she didn't slow down, then she saw the mass of shadow. This was not good, this was not good at all. At the edge of the mass of shadow her horse reared up, neighing in a panic, she had no choice but to jump off of its back and let it return to the town. She faced the shadows with a sigh. She didn't know how exactly to deal with it so she entered it, her body surrounded in a cloud of electricity.

[SuperMachinegun]

Something cold stung Iedomee's face. Snow. There was frost falling everywhere. The temperature dropped down and the wind slashed at their faces. He looked up to the stormy clouds. There were no stars to gaze upon now and the air seemed to grow heavier. Helos ran faster keeping the whole group warm with his own heat but the temperature kept dropping. Iedomee knew that if this continues, it would be too cold for them to do any fast movement.

And then there were howls. Three? Four? No. More than five awaited ahead. Helos growled and barked bark; a sharp, intimidating boom of voice was sent that Iedomee noticed the air in front of them slightly ripple at the moment his goromutt barked. Something awaited them at the end. Iedomee nocked an arrow in preparation. They stopped as soon as he saw the silhouettes of the wolves beyond the mist.

"Tara," Iedomee whispered. "We need some light."

Tara snapped her fingers, the first few timed sparks only flew but the third proved to be lucky and in no time, she had a fireball as big as Helos' paw resting on her open palms. She held it as high as she could and as the fire illuminated their surroundings, ferocious, untamed looking wolves stood before them in formation; they did not seem to be ones lurking randomly through the Frontier. Without hesitation,
Iedomee aimed at one of the wolves, Tara drew out her blade from her waist and Lu held herself close to Helos' heated body. Getting to the Gate never seemed to get any easier with experience.

[GIR]

As the look-alike passed the gate, the hard part of its part of the Wyrm's plan began: Approaching the group without being seen by the genuine article. For this purpose, a shadow wolf had been dispatched seperate from the rest of its pack, a rather literal lone wolf (or as literal as was possible when one's body has become the sole property of another being. Several of the human fragments were bitterly amused by the observation.). The puppet was made to mount the wolf, and, under cover of its fog, made haste toward the others.

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The elder ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the pre-arranged meeting point for the town's elders and unofficial leaders, or so she thought. As the (in her eyes, at least) unholy abomination descended from the sky to shorten the town's bell tower by several feet, however, she soon found her legs to be much stronger and faster than she thought. The woman's voice was nearly a shriek of prayer as the snowstorm worsened, becoming a full-on blizzard marking the schatten falken's descent. At the meeting place, many of the wizened faces there told of similar terror. Whatever had rested in the cave had definitely been disturbed, and there was no mistaking its fury.

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The answer to the barking was instant, the result of raw instinct with little knowledge of the alien beast, and, thusly, no fear of it. The howl the leader answered with was less a howl than a demonic wail, a sound enhanced with darkness magic designed to sap the will of those who heard it. The instinctive answer was clear in its meaning: They would not yield.

As the fire burned away their leader's fog, the rest of the shadow wolves added their own fogs to it, once again shrouding themselves in darkness. The sound that came from the leader's throat this time, however, had never been uttered by a true shadow wolf. It was a combination of a hiss and a roar, the Wyrm making its voice known through its puppets, and the air seemed to grow still colder with the sound. Its utterance was a pointless signal, as it was by the Wyrm's volition that the pack broke formation, attacking in a pincer maneuver, the shadow wolves carefully kept within 30 meters of each other, with the exception of two. These two left the main pack to head off the bearer of a new scent, that of the dreaded fire mage.

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A loud, rythmic thumping echoed in the air as one of the kahur-koored marched toward the dense fog, only ceasing when the creature had reached the spot from which it would act as artillery support, a term the human fragments enjoyed. streams of darkness magic, easily seen, even to those not adept in magic, converged on the beast's mouth, then solidified into a jet-black pearl. Its ammunition formed, the puppet was made to summon a chain of gravity wells controlled in such a way as to affect only the pearl, and spaced closely enough that its momentum would carry it into the gravitational field of the next, allowing it to continuously accelerate. Satisfied with the strength and number of the fields, the puppet was made to release the pearl, firing it at the Goromutt through the space the shadow wolves had just vacated, a shot no normal kahur-koored would have even attempted, and made possible only because the Wyrm was able to use the shadow wolves and the position of the kahur-koored to aim the shot, though one could hardly call the calculations precise. Indeed, three of the human fragments expressed disapproval of the Wyrm's work, referring to it as shoddy and imprecise at best. 'You're more likely to hit your own creatures than one of them.', one of the fragments lectured.

'One degree. That's all it would take for you to miss them entirely.', another snapped, 'One degree, and you could lose what little advantage that creature held.'.

'Even if the air was perfectly clear, that creature could never make that shot. They are nowhere near close enough for you to be making such desperate mistakes.'.

[paganchick]

Madaline's electricity flared hot against the air creating sounds of popping and cracking. Still she walked deeper into the blacked out madness. She followed the shoulds of the shrieking of the wolves, walking closer to it with each step. On the outside she appeared fearless her body pulsing with power, on the inside that was a different story. On the inside she feared the unknown.

[SuperMachinegun]

The three stayed on Helos as the wolves converged in on them. Iedomee fired arrows on side and Tara swung her sword to the wolves on her's. Even with Helos pouncing about and thrashing ferociously at the wolves, Iedomee was still able to hit the wolves on the middle of their eyes, not one arrow missing. Tara twirled her sword with grace and strength. Her blade smoothly travelled through the wolves' bodies making several cuts with just one swing of it as she completed her atttack with an incinerating burst of fist sized fireballs. No doubt about it, they were experienced in these kind of situations. They were hunters after all, trained with skills, strength, and intellect to survive an ambush of feral animals even under the most unfavourable environments.

A shot through the mist narrowly missed Iedomee's ear. A bullet? No. Something foul radiated from the little shot that was supposed to kill him. With one swift leap off his Goromutt, Iedomee swiftly shot back precisely where the attack came from. In a flash, a medium sized explosion wiped the fog off from his target. Thin black smoke with little embers covered his view of the adversary as he continued to stab attacking wolves with an arrow. Creatures had already begun crawling out of the gate, and he knew this cold weather was the doing of something that came out of that Gate.

[GIR]

As several of the wolves fell, the remainder halted their attack, hanging back while the Wyrm tried to figure out a new strategy. Clearly, relying on the dense bones, tough hides, and dense fog of the shadow wolves wasn't working. As soon as they got close enough for the enemy to see, they fell. No, there would have to be something else... As the fragments argued over which strategy would be best, the look-alike was made to dismount her wolf and continue on foot as the puppet she'd been riding went to join the attack on the fire mage.

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The explosion did little against the scales and hard shell of the kahur koored, though it did much to blind the creature, unprepared as it was, making it even more difficult to line up a shot. The creature was made to retreat into its shell as the Wyrm debated just what to do with it. Until the group got close enough to reliably aim at, there was little use in firing more shots at them, not to mention it would have to rely on its own mind's eye, as the creature's physical eyes had been burned out.

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As the arguing continued, the Wyrm took a count of its forces. Of the shadow wolves, there were nine left. Of the schatten falkens, both remained. Of the kahur koored, all five were still there, though the eyes of one were useless. The problem was what to use. The four kahur koored within the cave needed to be as fresh as possible, so moving them was not an option. The wolves were clearly inadequate, except... No. Maintaining the various blizzards was already stretching the Wyrm's mind as it was, and it knew there would only be more, tougher casting in its near future if it was to stop its enemies. Yet there was also value in using its magics to stop the intruders where they were, even if it was more taxing to cast through its puppets. There was the option of using the schatten falken circling above the cave, but how? The blizzard seemed to be doing little to stop the enemies, and its size made it more suited to much larger targets.

The Wyrm began to realise that it had chosen its defenders poorly, and deployed them even more so. But what else was there? Most of what else had come through the gate had become food, and what hadn't was either already in use, or of no use. It was decided. Three of the six wolves that remained of the ambush were made to retreat to the cave. They would be part of a final stand. As they retreated, a foot-thick wall of ice rose from the ground, the result of a spell, in order to cover the retreat. The wall's length ran about that of a football field, an attempt to also slow the group until the Wyrm could work out a more viable strategy. Or gather more forces.

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As the trio of shadow wolves meant for the fire mage neared their target, they were made to stop as ice magics flowed through them. As the Wyrm cast its spell, meter-tall spikes of ice rose from the ground in lines from the wolves to the fire mage. The Wyrm did not wait for its spell to complete its work, however. Its puppets immediately sprang at the fire mage, weaving around the ice before lunging at her.

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As the blizzard within the town worsened, armed officers streamed out of the city gates at the behest of the elders. Their orders were to stop the 'treasure hunters' at all costs, and, if possible, find a way to calm the 'spirits' of the cave. Even as the darkness made them nervous, the officers plunged into it, spreading out in order to have better luck finding the so-called treasure hunters.

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The look-alike was getting closer. The Wyrm could see the magics within the group as its puppet approached. The puppet was made to slow down as she came within physical sight of them, though she made no effort to communicate yet. The Wyrm intended to first see if the appearance fooled them, before attempting to speak.

[SuperMachinegun]

The trio and the dog were left astounded by the tall and thick wall of ice after they quickly disposed of the three remaining wolves that had not retreated. The mist subsided for now, but then the frozen wall was a hindrance now. Strong ice magic emanated from it, enough to make make even the extremely warm-blooded Helos give a little shiver.

Iedomee swore as he punched the solid ice out of frustration. Somehow, whatever thing was from the gate was toying with them. He took a deep breath in and brushed his hair fiercely through the cold gust of the frozen air. Tara and Lu looked at him in concern as he walked in a circle through the snow.

"I can burn through--"

"Your magic can't," Iedomee swiftly interrupted Tara. "It's a waste of magic."

"Fine. Then at least we can ask some help." She replied.

"And expose the fact that Lu is an un-chipped mage? Even we know her magic was not even heard of anywhere in Edanith. Imagine what they'll do to her if they find out. So, we have to find a way through this thing."

Iedomee ran a few metres away from the wall and nocked an arrow with a bright orange tip. The rest followed behind him and covered their ears, even Helos folded his ears to his head. Iedomee fired his arrow and a loud explosion shook the ice wall. Clearly,  a mere shot wasn't even close enough to bring the ice wall down.

"All we need is to pierce a hole through this wall and we can go on ahead." Iedomee said as he nocked another arrow ready for another fire when the smoke subsides.

All Lu could do was hold on to Iedomee as he fired the next arrow to the wall. She thought of her days in the orphanage before her powers showed up. Everything until then was fine and happy and even if her adventures with Iedomee was more than she could have asked for, she was not comfortable with the fact that she could not, not even in the slightest, alleviate her burden from Iedomee.