The Scorched Grove

The next day we arrived in the Scorched Grove. The place reeked of the unnatural. Where once there stood a mighty forest, all that was left was scattered tree trunks and layer upon layer of ash. Embers blew on the wind and even the air here remained uncomfortably hot.

“So Tevor,” said Crispin nervously. “What do you think happens after death?”

“Is it guilt that makes you wonder these things so often?” I asked Crispin, more angrily than intended.

We were all on edge as we surveyed the Grove. This was the place where Tevor’s master had disappeared and we were alert for any signs of danger. Tevor was practically quaking in his boots so we had put ourselves between him and the Grove leaving him nearer to the woods.

Crispin rummaged through his equipment. “What do you think is good against moles? My crossbow? A spell?”

He almost broke my concentration, but at that moment I saw it.

Approaching quickly from the depths of the Grove was a disturbance in the ash. A creature was burrowing toward us, cutting a curving trail below the surface so all we could see was a long shape pushing up the ash above. It was coming for us.

I watched intently. Whatever creature it was, it was long and I caught glimpses of scales as it occasionally passed too close to the surface.

“It’s a mole,” said Olive desperately. “Just a mole. I’m sure you can defeat it, Crispin.”

The creature exploded out of the ground before us. It looked like some kind of giant snake, a huge and monstrous visage that towered above us. Its eyes glowed orange and as it opened its mouth to attack we saw the same burning colour running hot through its insides. It had scales of rock and its fangs were sharp. Not a good combination.

As it roared out from under the ash the eruption knocked Crispin and me to the ground. I rolled out the way of its fangs as they plunged into the ground beside me but Crispin got caught tight as the creature wound its tail around him.

“I’m sorry Crispin,” shouted Olive. “It wasn’t a mole!”

“It’s a long mole,” gasped Crispin as he struggled against the constricting body of the ash snake.

Although the attack had surprised us, I was ready to strike back. I screamed a war cry to the sky and landed a heavy blow with my great axe. The ash snake’s tough scales cracked under the impact and revealed a gash of glowing interior.

“Ardea…” Crispin said with the last of his breath.

The Amaranthine must have heard him because Crispin’s spiritual weapon burst forth from between him and the snake, breaking him free. This time in the form of a glowing hammer, it crashed a ringing blow against the snake’s skull.

As the ash snake reared back to attack again, Olive cast a little magic of her own. A thunderous boom erupted from her lute and impacted with the snake, tossing it bodily to the side.

“Take that,” shouted Tevor.

All of us turned in horror to see the small Luma charging down the ash snake with a spear. He flailed wildly with his weapon, each of his blows glancing harmlessly off the creature’s natural defences. It looked like this might be the first time Tevor had held a weapon.

The ash snake barely noticed him. It focused all its attention on Crispin and slithered rapidly around him to constrict him once more.

I pulled one of Benna Seridan’s swords from the Bag of Holding and passed it to Tevor. He looked at me full of panic, his eyes wide and breath short.

“Like this,” I said, and struck another cleaving blow to the ash snake. I managed to cut away a whole section from the end of its tail. Steam hissed from the wound but it did not release its grip on Crispin.

Olive tried another wave of thunder but the snake braced itself before the impact hit. It tightened even more around Crispin who was filling his face with food trying to stay alive. Tevor and I hacked at the coils but we couldn’t break him free.

As suddenly as it had arrived, the ash snake plunged back beneath the surface. Crispin disappeared under the ash with it. I screamed and began to search wildly for a hint at which direction it was moving.

“Crispin, Crispin!” shouted Tevor as he ran deeper into the Grove. “Not again… Not like this…”

As if in response, the glowing hammer floating beside us began to move. Crispin’s spiritual weapon streaked across the Grove and crashed down into the ash to the west of us. There was another ringing crack and the ash snake burst up again from below the surface.

I ran forward, leaping to attack the snake, but its head reared up and my axe clashed against its fangs. Olive’s sling whirled and a rock bounced off the snake’s head. Tevor yelled as he ran and leaped to attack. I realised he was imitating me, but he lacked the strength to turn the blow into a really devastating one.

Meanwhile, for Crispin, time was running out. His eyes bulged as the ash snake’s coils grew tighter and tighter, constricting his breathing and crushing the last of his strength. His arms trembled as I grabbed them to try to pull him loose but it was no good.

Then Olive came to the rescue. She held the Blade of the Wood aloft and charged the snake head on. She jumped right at the last moment and thrust the sword up through the roof of the ash snake’s mouth, piercing through the top of its head. The snake thrashed from side to side. It let out one final shuddering hiss of steam and collapsed.

Crispin coughed and rolled away.

Then the ground shook again. Around us more ash snakes began to burst up from the ground, hissing and thrashing their heads. I cried out a warning as they slid closer, winding forward to encircle us.

But before they reached us another rumble, further away, shook through the ground. The snakes stopped their advance. In the distance, to the North, we saw something else moving. Something large. It looked like a hill, no, a mountain, and it was climbing to its feet.

The snakes hissed again and, one by one, burrowed back under the ash and fled. The mountain advanced toward us.

“Help Crispin up, Tevor”, I said unsteadily. “I think we’ve seen enough.”

Tevor stood like a statue beside Crispin. He just stared wide-eyed at the gigantic approaching creature. He gripped the sword I had given him tightly in his hand.

I swung my axe at the ash snake corpse and sheared off one of the fangs to take back to the Birdfolk council.

“Come on, Tevor,” said Crispin from the ground. “There’s no time to freeze up like this. I could use a hand.”

Tevor just looked into the distance.

“There’s no need to be scared,” said Crispin, and reached over to pat Tevor’s foot reassuringly. There was the unmistakable glow of magic on Crispin’s hand. Tevor’s eyes flashed momentarily with a golden light.

“You all have to leave,” said Tevor, suddenly focused and calm. “You need to warn Alderheart. I’ll buy you some time.”

“No! What—?” I lunged to catch him, but he slipped through my grasp.

Tevor held up his sword and ran directly toward the approaching danger. He vanished almost immediately into the stirred up smoke and ash.

The next moments were a blur. I lifted Crispin into my arms. Olive was shouting and leading us back to the forest. Falling rocks plummeted through the air and crashed around us.

We ran. Ran from the boulders. Ran for the woods. Ran for our lives.