Pathfinder: The Vampires Revenge

Sand

Rattle

Five days passed as we walked through the desert, following Klarr as he tracked Morrigan. And as it turned out, we weren't headed to Nex.

I figured this out on the third day, when I looked at the stars that night and realized we were headed to the Shattered Range, mountains that stretch from the boarders of Nex, Geb and the Mana Wastes. I raked at my brain, going through my memory library and I recalled that Nex had a fortress in the Shattered Range that he used to store extra spell books in.

I must also admit, I didn't actually think Klarr could track Morrigan by mere smell, but not only proved he could, he was a pretty good damn tracker. So far we've stayed on Morrigans tail, which is quite astonishing, considering that he doesn't leave any tracks. It's quite impressive really.

"I still do not understand why you believe he is waiting for you." Klarr said as we walked up a sand dune. "If his objective is to see the death of all living things by using the....spellbook you mentioned, would he not have used it by now if he is there already?"

"Morrigan is a prideful vampire, and wants his victims to acknowledge the power he has over them." I said. "He wants us to tremble, and beg for mercy before he kills us and then the rest of Golarion."

"Which would make sense." Venom said. "We have been a thorn in his side for some time. If I were him, I would want to kill those that caused me much trouble as well."

"He already thinks he won." Tamora said and I nodded.

"As I said, he is very prideful and I have no doubt he is waiting for us so he can taunt us with his power before he....tries to kill us." I said.

"How comforting." She said in a sarcastic tone.

"And....how powerful is this spellbook?" Klarr asked.

"Quite powerful. It was used in a war that killed thousands of people." Jamada said. "And I estimate that it is around 5 to 10 times more powerful that the previous artifact that he had, if the legends about it is true."

"And....we think we can beat him why......?" Tamora asked.

"He may be a vampire, and based on evidence found in his previous lair, may have been an alchemist in life, I doubt he has the experience, or complete knowledge to unlock the spellbooks full potential." Jamada explained. "Though that is not to say that we should be arrogant. He may not be able to use it all, just a portion of it can be dangerous, so I would advise caution when we do finally confront him."

"Uh guys." I heard Tamora ask. "Is that a sandstorm?" We got to the top of the sand dune and sure enough, there was a huge cloud of dust, barreling our way.

"Yderius fang." I said.

"Just what we need. A damn sandstorm." Venom said.

"Wait, something seems off about." Jamada said. "Look." Just as he said that, the sand storm began to shrink rapidly, converging to a single point behind some sand dunes.

"That......really....doesn't look good." Tamora said.

"Out of curiously." I said, already fearing what the answer is. "Is Morrigans scent in that direction?"

"It is indeed." He said, pulling out his weapon. I cursed under my breath in Aklo.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to look." Tamora said as we marched towards the area the sand storm morphed. As we got to the top of the last sand dune, it took me a moment to process everything.

The first thing that I noticed was the obvious huge humanoid sand elemental with two glowing red eyes. I also noticed that there were some humans in armor, swinging their swords at the outsider, but it simply passed through it. Idiots. I thought. I also saw some witches in the form of a star, chanting, trying to conduct a ritual, and some wizards and clerics were to the side, casting spells at the elemental. I also saw a human monk in the group, fighting the elemental, and off to the left was a venom green carriage on its side, and the horses were panicking. I looked back to the fight and saw some more faces. There was a samsaran throwing bombs, and from the look o his face when he went to grab another one, suggested he ran out of them, pulled out his bastard sword and ran up to the elemental. I also saw two female figures running around it, one was throwing daggers while the other shot with her twin pistols, but neither seemed to do anything. There was a half-elf casting magic at the elemental, but it seemed to be doing little against it. Elder elementals are a pain to get rid of, and from the looks of it, they may not last any longer. I already counted seven among the dead.

"What in Gorums blade is that?" Klarr asked.

"That is a sand elemental." Venom said. "A elder from the looks of it."

"Doesn't look as thought there doing to go." Tamora said. "Should we help?"

"We don't have time, or need I to remind you of the fact there is a vampire that probably already has his hands on a powerful artifact that he is going to use to kill all living thing." I said. "Besides, I'm sure they can handle themselves."

As I said that, the elemental threw its arm across the ground, sending the fighters, monk, and samsaran flying away. It then threw a piece of its arm at the spell casters and killed two clerics and a wizard.

"Maybe." I said.

"Come one. We might as well help them out." Jamada said as he pulled out a brass potion. "Its the lest we can do."

"And how are we suppose to fight sand?" Tamora asked.

"Simple." He said, after drinking the potion. "By using fire."

"But how is.....oh." She said as she realized what he meant. Dragon wings appeared behind his back and he flew into the air as he transformed into his brass dragon form. I wasn't particularly happy about helping them, mostly that all of them were human, but I wasn't about to let Jamada rush into battle by himself. Klarr ran down the dune at full speed, with Tamora behind him, and the two of us came down behind her.

Klarr made the first move, and threw his warhammer at the elements arm, and its blew apart its arm. The elemental, along with the survivers, looked our way as we charged down.

Jamada came next, and breathed some fire onto the elementals reforming arm. The sand on it began to harden, and it swung out at him. The warhammer returned to Klarr, then took it into both hands and smashed it into its leg, blowing away most of the sand.

I muttered the arcane words to a spell and shot three rays of intense heat. The heat made glass form on the elemental and it made an attempt to cover it by absorbing more sand. I saw Venom shot out a ball of fire at the elementals leg, and some of it also turned to glass. Klarr wasted no time in bringing his warhammer onto the glass, shattering it. I looked to see what Tamora was doing and I saw the elemental raised up its arm and went to crush her, but she jumped up, and began to run up its arm. It raised its other arm to hit her, but Jamada came by and flew threw its arm, obliterating it. I then began to chant and I imagined a thunder in my mind and I shot a lighting bot at its chest, but it was still standing. It developed more sand to where it could stand and it tried to get Tamora off its shoulders, who was clearing bugging it. I then saw Jamada come in behind it and let lose another breath of fire onto its back and didn't let up. The elemental began to slow, and was hoping to finish this fight rather quickly until I saw Tamora slip and began to fall. Suddenly, Jamada came by grabbed her, then set her on the ground.

"I grow tired of this. I would like to finish this battle quickly and stop wasting time." I telepathically thought to Venom.

"Agreed. Are you thinking what I am thinking brother?" He said back.

"Indeed." I said as I raised my staff and though back to all the times that had angered me. Together, we slammed both our staffs onto the ground and cracks sprang forth from them and came into one underneath the elemental. Then, red hell fire erupted underneath and engulfed it. When it was done, all that was left as a glass statue of it, until I had Klarr swing his warhammer and throw it into it, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.

With the battle done, I looked around to see how many of the idiotic mammals had died. In total, I counted ten people dead. I saw the monk walk over and knell next to a dead samurai, and I saw two cavaliers with their horses dead underneath the sand, along with the three warriors. Idiots. I though again. Five spellcasters also fell in the battle, and the others started to bury them. I'll be honest, I did feel.....delighted at the humans deaths, but it replaced with agitation and anger as I saw the samsaran, half-elf, and two females who were attacking it before approach us, with the half-elf holding a rapier pointed our way.