We all looked towards the imposing cliffs that marked the edge of Wyrm Territory. The area made up a large section of the kingdom and was akin to a rocky desert, winds whipped down from the mountains in the north blasting the elevated area. The wind was incredible fast and fierce but it died down around the edges and didn't blow the sand further into the kingdom. It was considered a natural wonder because of this. The main bulk of wyrm territory consisted of cliffs, ravines, rock pillars and a lot of fine rock sand flying around at high speeds. The kingdom had tried settling there in the past, monster attacks and the lack of arable land meant that each settlement had failed. On top of all of that the river that ran through the area was a wash with fine rock dust making undrinkable to most creatures.

  The reason it was called Wyrm Territory was for the simple reason that every monster that lived there was a wyrm or wurm of some kind but the wyrms varied wildly. There were rock wyrms, sand wurms, small winged wyrms, wind wyrms, trap wurms, banded wurms and the list went on. The size of the creature was just a varied from the small 2 foot small winged wyrms all the way up to gigantic banded wurms that could supposedly reach up to 200 feet long. Although they have never been confirmed there were historical accounts of them. The cliffs marked the edge of their territory and while it was possible for them to leave the area, they rarely did. They seemed content to hunt anything that entered their domain. I was fairly sure that we could handle most monsters that we would find up there wind, trap and the small winged wyrms would be easy if we came across them. If we came across a rock wurm it might be a risky prospect since they tended to be 80 feet long and up to 20 feet wide. I shuddered at the thought of being eaten whole by one of them, that was not a good way to die.

  The creature I was truly worried about coming across was the legendary sand stalker. While I had never seen one, I had heard a few rumours that were worrying. Supposedly they had 6 legs, 4 arms, were over 9 feet tall, they were masters of stealth and overwhelmed everything with sheer brute force. While I didn't exactly believe all the reports of their abilities, there were enough rumours and legends that I was worried it might be something we couldn’t handle. I was brought out of my thoughts by my friends and I focused on what Clair was saying.

  "How do we want to follow the tracker?" Clair asked.

  "On foot?” I asked hopefully.

  “No, we need to move quickly to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. We can fight them if we need to, but I would rather avoid it.” Harold said.

  “Agreed.” Taylor added.

  I sighed, my hopes of leaving the four-legged demon behind dashed, a bit like how I had hit the ground after it kicked me. I grumpily took the reins to the monster back from Clair and used Etheric Step to mount the monster, not wanting to deal with any of its shit. It turned to look at me and I could swear it looked like it was planning revenge. I glared my middle finger at it and it snorted at me. I looked up at a reproachful look from Clair, I shrugged. Everyone else mounted their horses and we continued our journey.

  Our trek towards Wyrm Territory was interesting, more so than our journey through the Toe hills. We had to leave the road behind and ride up the slopes towards the cliffs. The slopes were covered in small dead or uprooted tree stumps but they quickly gave way to sparse patches of rocky dirt and large boulders. Our pace slowed drastically as there weren’t any paths to follow. Everyone kept an eye out as we moved but thankfully there were no more ambushes. The rocks took a long time to navigate around, meaning that by the time we got to the base of the cliffs the sun began to set.

  We made camp at the base of the cliffs. We created a platform out of the wood everyone had forced into the bag of holding. Our tent sat atop and had a little balcony area that had an incredible view. The Royal Plateau dominated the distant skyline, it towered over everything else. Below it and to the left I could just about make out Halden Holme or at least the ruins of it. To the right of the plateau were the Toe Hills, they formed a large portion of the kingdom and should have also been covered by forests, farms and villages. Far off in the distance I could just about see the large tree that grew out of the center of Soyalls. It was only now that we were so high up, that I could see the magnitude of the desolation the goblins had wrought on the kingdom. The Toe Hills were now brown churned dirt from the horde. The farms and villages were all gone, burnt and destroyed. The forests that once filled the Kingdom were reduced to the last few trees that looked like they were struggling to stay upright.

  Our camp was subdued that night. We didn’t dare light a fire as it would have been a beacon at this height. We didn't expect trouble but no one wanted to go out of their way to invite it. Our tent was warm enough though, Taylor pulled out a few heat crystals to banish the cold. As we ate cold bread and cheese, I could sense how tense everyone was. I understood why, we were so close to Wyrm Territory that everyone was worried about being ambushed by one of them.

  The night moved quickly and I spent my guard shift having a miniature breakdown. I'd tried carving more figurines but kept making stupid mistakes that ruined the figurines. Worries about our quest plagued my mind and I wasn’t sure if we should keep going. Something felt deeply wrong but I wasn’t sure what. I kept thinking that it was something I was doing but I had no idea what it was. I debated long and hard about continuing on or putting a stop to it all. I would have stayed there, wrapped up in my own thoughts till day break if Taylor hadn’t woken up to take over guard duty. I fell into an uneasy sleep when I made it back to my bedroll.

  We woke the next morning to a world of grey. The clouds rolled over the cliffs a few hundred feet above us, they looked like crashing waves as they rushed southwards. They piled into each other turning the dull grey to a thunderous black as they flowed out over the Tow Hills. It would be a good heavy rain I thought, it would wash away the grime that the invading horde left. I was also very thankful that we weren't going to be caught in it. Breakfast was a quick and quiet meal. We were all eager to get underway again and hopefully catch the necromancer before he went too far into Wyrm Territory. The demon horse glared at me as if blaming me for every single woe that it had faced so far. Surprisingly, it didn't try to bite me and I mounted it, it did try to buck me once I had settled into the saddle though. I managed to hold on and was ready to smack it around its ears but a look from Clair stopped me.

  We spent the morning riding along the cliffs we camped next to until we found an opening where the ground rose up at an angle. It was difficult to get the horses up the incline and about half way up we had to get off and let Clair guide them. I was hoping she's say that we needed to go on foot but that didn't happen. The wind had steadily picked up the higher we climbed. It started out as a brisk breeze and by the time we had reached the top it was a howling gale. Clair pulled out cloth that she wrapped around the heads of each horse, she said it was to protect them from the sand filled wind. After about 2 minutes in the wind I understood why. sand and rock dust blasted us removing at least 3 layers of skin before I’s activated Right Clothes for the Job and been covered head to toe in my robes. I’d never worked out why, but the hood stopped most things that tried to pass through it. I was unbelievably thankful now as it also stopped the rock dust and sand, it did nothing for the actual wind though.

  As the others wrapped themselves up and put on goggles so they could see, I scanned the horizon to get a better understanding of what we could expect in Wyrm Territory. Rocky pillars and outcroppings dominated the area, they rose up into the sky like resting stone giants. The ground was smooth stone that looked like it would be extremely slippery if it was wet. There wasn’t a single piece of greenery, though I suspected that should something have tried to grow, it would have been blasted to pieces by the wind. I kept looking for threats because I heard that the wyrms and wurms hid in the cracks and crags and seemed to appear out of nowhere.

  We carried on our journey and it was almost as slow as climbing the incline. The horses refused to trot and seemed reluctant to keep walking. It was only due to Clair's abilities that the moseyed deeper into Wyrm Territory. My anxiety about losing the necromancer kept increasing as the horses refused to move faster. However after about 30 minutes they began to trot and my anxiety lessened. Time and time again, we had to backtrack as we came across ravines that stretched between stone pillars or stone pillars that had tumbled down and blocked the way forwards. I was nearly at the point of suggesting that we find a different way to travel, but then we came across an old stone road. The stones had been worn smooth and most of the typical road indicators, i.e. curbs, galleys, mile markers, were all gone. It was only because the stones were symmetrical shaped and placed in a sequenced pattern that we actually noticed it, otherwise we would have ridden straight past it.

  Harold made a few hand gestures in the language we created for silent communication during dungeon dives. It was a crude language but it made getting points across easy. He drew a big circle, closed his fist and then made a pushing gesture above the open palm of the other hand. Stick together and follow road. I nodded along with everyone else and we began to follow the worn road hoping it was the old road to Spring Falls.

  The ride was tedious as we passed stone pillar after stone pillar, rocky outcropping after rocky outcropping. They all looked the same and hid exactly the same things behind them, you guessed it, more stone pillars and more rocky outcroppings, one even led to a massive ravine that we couldn't see the bottom of. A trial of patience and a test of monotony were two great ways to describe our journey, however it wasn't like we were idle during that time. Everyone was on high alert, rock wurms and trap wyrm could attack without warning. To make things worse the road was not easy to follow, it weaved in between the endless number of stone pillars and made odd turns for no reason. Some sections were nearly invisible, having been worn away through time or more likely the weather. The wind never let up, instead it gained a high-pitched whistling noise as it shot through cracks and holes in the stone around us. Speech became truly impossible as the noise drowned everything out.

  Throughout our journey I’d been channeling Detect Evil continuously, so far it hadn't picked up anything. I didn't expect it to detect any wyrms or wurms since they were not inherently evil. I almost jumped out of my saddle when it picked up the first evil signature. I rode up to Harold and signaled him, we came to a stop and grouped up on our horses. Everyone looked at me as I used hand gestures to speak crudely.

  "Danger. 14 Bad ahead." I signed.

  "Distance?" Harold gestured. I paused for a second and focused on my spell, distance was not an easy thing to gauge but I had a range of about 500 feet. They weren't on the edge of my range, maybe just over half the distance away.

  "300 feet." I pointed behind a rock to our right, the road looked like it curved that way ahead.

  "Up, down or flat?" Raven gestured.

  I focused on my spell and tried to single out individual signatures but I couldn't focus enough while being blasted by the wind and the wind creating so much noise. The harder I focused, the more blurred they became.

  "Unsure." I eventually gestured.

  "I climb and peek?" Raven asked, pointing to the rock wall next to us.

  "You sure? Wind fast." Harold asked.

  "I walk and peek." I offered, my stealth skills were superior to Raven's and would let me walk down the road while remaining invisible even in this wind.

  "Time?"

  "I have gloves, 20 minutes."

  Harold turned to me.

  “Time?”

  “Longer.” I gestured. “30? maybe.”

  Harold debated for a few minutes, both were risky plans but eventually he turned to Raven.

  “Go, be safe.”

  Raven grinned like a wolf who’d snagged a fat cow right from under the nose of the farmer. While I’d never tried to make it a competition, my stealth skills and abilities were markedly better than hers. Unless I purposefully let myself be seen I could hide from almost anything and tracking me was nearly impossible. The problem was that my stealth skills were actually abilities and over using them left me mentally drained and unable to do much. Raven’s stealth skills were mainly skills and honed technique which could be used endlessly without draining mental energy. Which meant things like this were often delegated to Raven since speed was needed. If we’d been in a monster lair, where time was not a factor then I would be the one scouting.

  Raven dismounted and pulled out a set of dark brown gloves that had hooks on the palms. I looked at them longingly as she clipped on shoe spikes. With an ease that came from years of experience, and possibly a few skills, she scaled the rock wall next to the road and disappeared out of view. Now we just had to wait and let me tell you, waiting like this was always the worst. My brain started to imagine Raven getting ambushed by a rock wurm or a sand stalker and not being able to signal for help. Or Raven being blown off a pillar and dying, and we’d have no way to know about it. Or Raven getting ambushed by the skeletons while she was trying to scout them. All of these and more played out in my mind as we waited. I became nervous and started to fidget with the reigns of my horse.

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  “Stop worrying. She good.” Clair signed to me as she put a comforting hand on my arm. I blew out a breath before replying.

  “I know, I worry though.”

  “She good, just wait.” Clair signed, I couldn’t see her face but I could tell she was smiling at me.

  Clair was right, Raven was a reliable rogue, she would be fine. She had done this plenty of times before, including during the invasion which has been the riskiest. I just needed to trust her to do her job. My worries didn't ease until I saw a black figure slowly lower themselves over the side of the top. I sighed in relief as Raven carefully made her way down the rock pillar, she speed you bounce excited while she told us what she found.

  "24 undead total, 12 swords, 6 pikes, 5 archers, 1 monster." Raven gestured, her giddiness evident in how fast she was gesturing. "Archer up high, pike around side, sword in front, monster behind." She then gestured with her hands to show the scenery.

  It sounded like there was a partially collapsed stone pillar that created a patchy wall on the right hand side of the road. The archers stood on parts of the fallen pillar but were slightly hidden from the road. The pike skeletons were also hidden behind it as well but they were on the ground. The left side of the road was the edge of a cliff that fell into a deep ravine. In the middle of the road were 12 skeletons with swords and behind them was a skeletal minotaur holding a huge battle axe.

  We brainstormed various ideas of how to get around them, however one thing was certain, we had to use the road to continue to Spring Falls. We couldn't safely navigate around them and be sure that we'd make it back to the road. In the end we ended up settling on a plan that wasn't completely stupid like walking down the road into the skeletons.

  It was close to it though.

  I dismounted a used Etheric Step to reach the top of the rock pillar. The wind hit me instantly and I dropped to the ground, I slid back a foot which brought me close to the edge. My heart began to race as I scrambled to grab onto the rock. I crawled away from the edge just as Raven's head appeared behind me.

  “5 pillars, that way.” Raven signed, “stay low, no cover.”

  We both crawled towards the signals my Detect Evil spell was picking up. Looking around, all I could see were the bare tops of the stone pillars, some were lower and others continued to rise up into the air. Everything was completely bare with no cover whatsoever, which made sense. The wind was speeding across the tops so fast that nothing would be able to grow up here. Raven led the way and followed as she moved to the edge of the pillar, while staying low she leapt a 5 foot gap onto another pillar. Honestly it was quite impressive, I wasn't sure I would be able to do anything similar. She turned to look at me expectantly and I used Etheric Step to appear next to her.

  "Cheater." Raven gestured.

  "Cry later." I teased. I would have stuck my tongue out at her but I thought better of it.

  We crossed a few more pillars before we laid eyes on the skeletons. The terrain was just as Raven had said, the road came around a blind corner about 35 feet from the skeletons. One side fell into a massive ravine and the other side had a pillar that was broken into sections, it almost looked natural, almost. As I looked it over some of the stone seemed to be unnaturally balanced, like it was created to hide the more skeletons. From what Raven had said the archers were set up so they would be able to fire down on us while we were stunned by the minotaur that was standing behind the skeletons on the road. The archers were divided into 2 groups of 3 and had good lines of sight to the road. I couldn't see the pike skeletons but I could sense a large group of evil signatures hidden inside the fallen pillar. I wondered how Raven had found out about them while scouting but pushed the thought aside. Those were questions for later. The skeletons in the road all stood perfectly still as if they were waiting for something to appear. Behind them was what looked like a minotaur, it stood about 15 feet tall and was holding a gigantic battle axe that looked like it could cut through a town gate with ease.

  "Focus, ignore monster. We split archer, you 3, me 3." Raven gestured. "Regroup on me."

  "What if spotted?" I asked.

  "Retreat."

  "Which 3 you want?"

  "You cheat, far 3. I, close 3." She pointed at where they were before peering over the edge. "2 minutes stay, then go."

  I nodded and moved up so I could watch her. The way down was not a hard climb, but doing it without alerting the undead was extremely difficult. Raven was right in a sense, my Etheric Step ability was a cheat, I didn't need to master multiple skills in order to pass without a trace just like she was doing. Raven descended the pillar without a single pebble of stone falling, she was completely visible to the minotaur and only her various stealth skills let her pass unseen. She stayed low as she crawled across top of the fallen pillar to the were the first set of skeletons hiding. I watched her look back to me and then disappear down a hole in the stone.

  Now it was my turn.

  I activated Man on the Job and felt my Stealth skill activate as well. I was now all but invisible for anyone who wasn’t using a True Sight spell. I focused on the pillar where Raven said the archers were hiding, I could see a small section of stone just above the hole that would be a good landing point. I laid on the ground and then used Etheric Step to appear laying on the new rock. My Detect Evil spell started going crazy, letting me know that there were 3 skeleton less than 5 feet from me. I stopped channeling the spell and let out a slow breath as my mind calmed. My Stealth skill hadn’t deactivated so I was still hidden, I slowly edged my way forwards till I could see into the hole.

  Below me was an alcove the archers were in, it was small, maybe 15 square feet in total. The skeletons were only partially visible to the others below. Two of them stood further back from the hole in the wall out of view, but one of them was right at the opening. I thought about how to get the one by the hole for a second, it was going to be tricky and my timing would need to be perfect. The blade of my scythe appeared as I cast Mage Armour, I swung the scythe around a few times to limber up my body. After a few rotations I used Etheric Step. I appeared 2 feet to the right for the skeleton by the entrance and the flat edge of my scythe slammed into its face causing it to stumble backwards. I twisted my arms and the scythe cut though its spine and pierced its skull. I had to stop the momentum of my scythe as the other two skeletons raised their bows. I dashed forwards and rolled as the arrows flew at me. I brought my scythe round in a right slash that split both of their skulls. The sound of their bones clattering to the ground was music to my ears.

  You have slain a Skeleton Archer Level 12, as this creature is recognised by your class as a foe, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 10xp.

  You have slain a Skeleton Archer Level 12, as this creature is recognised by your class as a foe, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 10xp.

  You have slain a Skeleton Archer Level 12, as this creature is recognised by your class as a foe, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 10xp.

  I cautiously walked over to the entrance and peeked out to see if my fight had caused any stirrings. While I was fully confident I could walk through the undead with my full abilities in use, I didn't want to risk alerting them. There was way too much was riding on finding the necromancer to make stupid mistakes. The skeletons still stood in the road not doing much, none of them had noticed anything thankfully. I wondered if skeletons ever got bored with standing perfectly still. I shook my head as I moved away from the entrance. I crouched low before using Etheric Step to get out of the alcove, I appeared 20 feet above the hole and began to fall back to the ground. I quickly caught my bearing and used Etheric Step again to get over to Raven's area. Unfortunately I had misjudged the distance and fell down through the hole into the alcove she was in. I hit the ground awkwardly and all the air in my lungs exploded out in a huge breath. Raven was crouched in the corner of the room away from the hole, there were 3 piles of bones around her. As I caught my breath I locked eyes with her and saw that she was laughing at me. I wanted to snap a retort at her but I was still trying to catch my breath so I closed my eyes and let her have this one.

  "You good?" Raven gestured with concern when I finally opened my eyes.

  "Not hurt, too much cheating." I half heartedly joked.

  "You good to magic?" She raised an eyebrow.

  "Pppshhh, I fine. I speak to Harold."

  I cast my Message spell and a small colourless butterfly appeared, I gave it a mental message and sent it to Harold. The butterfly rose into the air before turning an etheric green colour and zipping through the solid wall. I quickly checked my mana and winced.

  Mana: 862/2600

  "5 minutes before attack." I began to gesture before there was a loud cawing from outside that managed to be louder than the raging wind.

  I had used too much mana keeping Detect Evil active, while Etheric Step didn't use mana it took a lot of mental focus to use it and overusing it like I had been doing would leave me feeling dizzy and disorientated. I joined Raven at the entrance and saw a fortuitous sight. The skeletons were under attack from a group of small winged wyrms. The wyrms were odd creatures, they had the head and body of a snake with wings attached at the sides, it also had small feet with sharp talons. I cast my Identification spell as the closest of them.

  Name: Small Winged Wyrm

  Level 14

  Type: Common

  Description: The small winged wyrm is one of the smallest of the wyrm species and is commonly found around windy rocky areas. They are known to possess various affinities and have different attacks that utilise these affinities. This small winged wyrm possess a wind affinity.

  Health: 500/500

  Mana: 200/200

  Effects: Immune to wind affinity attacks.

  The small winged wyrms swooped down on the sword skeletons, their talons lashing out and crushing anything they got a hold of. The skeletons lashed out with their swords in return cutting through their small bodies with ease. A few of the winged wyrms hovered above the pack and spat what looked like globs of colour goop at the flailing undead. It looked like a fierce attack but the skeletons' counter attack began to decimated the small creatures that had flown down to attack. Suddenly the pike wielding skeletons charged out and began lancing the hovering wyrms. The hits weren't instantly killing them but they would poke holes in wings and the injured wyrms fell to the ground only to be swarmed by the berserking skeletons.

  After 5 minutes only a few wyrms remained in the sky as they’d had to take to moving around to avoid the pikes. I watched as the rest of our party appeared around the corner of the road, Harold led Clair and Taylor, without the horses, they paused for a second to take in the scene before them. Harold and Taylor exchanged a few gestures while it looked like Clair cast a spell. 2 of the small winged wyrms, a green one and a purple one, turned their heads to her before flying at her. I guessed she had cast some sort of charm or tame spell on them. I didn’t realise that she had a spell like that but being a Wilds Master it only made sense.

  As the last of the small winged wyrms died, almost as one, the undead noticed them, there was a brief pause before they raised their weapons and charged. All except the minotaur, who stayed back and watched. The sword and pike skeletons thundered forwards for a dozen feet before they ran up against a wall of ice that sprang up out of the ground. They crashed into it and began trying to climb or dig their way through it like the mindless undead they were. What happened next was a thing of beauty.

  I watched in awe as Taylor froze the ground on the road, the ice slowly extended along the side of the wall and under the undead’s feet. The process wasn’t fast at all as there was a lot of power they were using. When enough ice had built up, and Taylor had downed a mana potion, they raised up their hands like they were holding an extremely heavy box. They began to drag it to their right as if to throw it into the ravine. There was a loud cracking sound and the ice that had been created began to slide off the road. Everything began to rumble as the ice shifted and after a few seconds both the sound and the ice picked up speed before sliding into the ravine. All of the skeletons that had been clawing at the wall went with the ice and disappeared into the darkness. The wind seemed to die down so we could hear the mighty crash of the ice hitting the bottom of the ravine.

  I think everyone took a second to reassess Taylor. I had know that they were a powerful mage as it took a gifted person to study at Haldron’s Academy for Mages, but this was something different. Taylor stood tall behind Harold but I could see their shoulders rising and falling with the strain and mana deprivation of what they'd just done. The minotaur reacted first, it lowered its head, bone horns pointing towards Taylor and charged. It took 4 lumbering steps forwards as it started to charge when it slipped on the ice still coating the road and crashed face first into the ground. The two small winged wyrm sized the initiative and flapped into action. The purple one spat a small glob of goo at the minotaur, it crashed against its back causing the monster to roar. I had to cover my ears as its roar was audible over the wind that had picked up again. The green one swooped in and landed on the minotaur's neck and started to use its talons to crack bones. It flung a few bones away form the minotaur before, faster than the Wyrm could react, the monster’s hand flashed out and grabbed it. The poor creature only had a few seconds to realise what happened before it started to squealed in pain as its bones began to break.

  It was my turn to leap into the action, I used Etheric Step. Dizziness overcame me and my legs slipped out from underneath me just as my scythe came down on the minotaur's arm, my weight added onto the strike as I fell. My scythe resisted passing through the bone for long enough for me to awkwardly bounce off it and slide away. I scrabbled at the ground trying to make sure that I wouldn’t fall into the ravine, while at the same time resisting the urge to throw up. The minotaur screamed in rage and there was a loud bang. I felt 3 feet into the air before splattering back to the ground like a fresh homemade apple pie falling onto the kitchen floor. I groaned in pain and I felt that the ice beneath me was now cracked. I guess that was also the reason why I was no longer sliding towards the ravine.

  I looked up to see the minotaur had slammed its battle axe into the ice. About 2 feet away from my head. All around the impact the ice looked like a broken window, there were also large sections of the stone road that were poking up as well. Clearly, I would have been dead if not for me sliding away like an idiot. I gulped as my Identification spell finally worked on the monster.

  Name: Skeletal Minotaur

  Level 50

  Type: Rare

  Description: A monster turned undead. This once proud monster has been brought back to life by a powerful necromancer and has managed to retain some of its skills and abilities.

  Health: 18000/24000

  Mana: 90/100

  Effects: Immune to intimidation. Enraged.