Personae Dramatis

Part Number Ten: Let's Dance!

A vast horde of gigantic wolf headed spiders covered the fields before them, most were the brutal creatures that White Raven had encountered previously. Many others were more highly "evolved" for lack of a better term resembling wolf-centaur hybrids. These reminded Ugezivius of the cursed drow elves known as driders. Besides the spyder-fiends the heroes saw more 'mundane' demons such as schir, babau and other lesser demonic soldiers.

Prior to the attack the six companions cast numerous preparatory magics. Knowing that this was an all or nothing assault, Ugezivius, Lady Sterling and Mathias virtually wreathed the companions and themselves in as many enhancing and protective dweomers as possible.

Five of the six were ensorcelled with the power of flight by Ugezivius – Lady Sterling, still in draconic form, relied on her own wings to remain airborne. Ugezivius – still mounted on his carpet, using it as a 'battle platform' – again summoned the elder air elemental he called the Storm-bird. He spoke to it in Auric, the ancient tongue of the Wind-Giants: "In the name of She whom you serve, the Silent One. I call upon ye ancient raptor of the winds, heed my call. In the name of She whom you serve, the Glorious Zephyr, I call upon ye eagle of the tempest. Slay my foes. Rend them with the fury of the hurricane's wrath!" With that the Storm-bird flew forward at lightning speed leading the companions.

The Storm-bird formed the tip of a flying wedge. With Silas and White Raven on its right flank and Mathias and Zyrax on its left. Ugezivius remained on his carpet in the 'center' of the wedge while Lady Sterling in the form of a large silver dragon descended toward the earth. During her descent, Lady Sterling cast a powerful transmutation. Her draconic form shifted and reformed to basically the same dragon, but this one was larger – and more powerful. She strafed over the first large unit of wolf-headed spiders and breathed a vast cone-shaped gout of killing frost. Catching nearly a score of the horse-sized creatures causing many of them to freeze solid instantly and fall to the ground and shatter. She continued her strafing run and gathered wind to her lungs to breathe her deadly cold again.

The Storm-bird struck into another clump of the primitive spyder-fiends with talons and beak of razor-sharp, solidified air. It screeched in a thunderous call like a terrestrial raptor as several of the wolf-head monsters attempted to leap upon it to little or no effect. To its right flank, Silas landed and with preternatural quickness swung Angelus Novacula down in a great overhand chop as he turned sharply to the left, beheading the closest wolf-spider hybrid. He then spun back to the right, his black-glass blade catching the second fiend through both of its eyes, continuing to its foul brain beyond in a startling fast straight-armed slash. Silas continued this slash as the grievously injured beast stumbled backwards blinded and dying, shearing the right foreleg of a third fiend, finally ending his initial attack with a finishing thrust at the same fiend impaling it through the roof of its mouth into the brain beyond before it could make its hissing-roar.

White Raven stayed about five feet aloft and ten feet back and fired her chu-ko-nu over Silas' shoulder catching one creature, seeming larger and more intelligent than its fellows straight between its eyes. The beast stopped in its mad rush and stared at nothing for several seconds before slowly falling to the ground. However, White Raven did not witness her fatal handiwork as she scanned the horde for other targets of opportunity, selecting another fiend encroaching on Silas, she placed a second killing shot through its left eye.

On the elemental's left flank Mathias landed in front of several spyder-fiends. Catching the first one with a skull-shattering strike from Lux est Iustitiam. The demon died with a sound somewhere between a yelp of pain and a growl. The priest swung the mace a second time but slid in blood-slick mud and missed his target outright. The demon thinking him flat-footed snapped its foul, venomous fangs at him but Mathias parried with his shield catching the beast in its face. As the beast snarled and shook its head Mathias stepped in on his right foot and with two quick blows ended its cursed existence.