Sadly, we found the doors to the Labyrinth - which we found with the help of a guide - tightly locked. "Now what?" I muttered.
Just then, a voice said. "Hey, it's been moons, carrot fairy!"
"Christina!" I cried, turning around to see her in a new get-up of clothing. "You look different."
She giggled. "That miner's suit was getting sweaty and nasty, so I got more comfortable duds. And you two look pretty decent yourselves! Anyways, we need to report to Ambrose ASAP. He wanted to see all of us."
"But..." I began.
"You're not getting anywhere right now," she interrupted. "Besides, you were going to just stand here all day, right? Ambrose has some news about Grizz."
I lit up. News from Grizzleheim was always an excuse to escape for a while. "Okay, we're in."
 |
| (Ignore Christina, I cut this from a picture I made a while back before I changed her clothes.) |
We went back to Wizard City and entered the Headmaster's office. "Oh hello, young wizards!" he said with a smile - I couldn't tell under his thick beard. "I am glad that Christina caught you in time. Bjorn Ironclaws wishes to speak to you, Sierra."
I smiled. "I'd be happy to see him again, but... what about Malistaire?"
"Cyrus will keep watch on him to ensure he doesn't get too quick about whatever plan he's scheming," said Ambrose. "He promised to do this as a favor to me, since you have done so much for Wizard City and the other worlds and Silenus and Zeus Sky-Father spoke highly of you."
I smiled. Having friends in Aquila, the realm Cyrus loves so much, had its weight. "Okay, we're off."
I greeted Bjorn again and he greeted me back and told me I had an audience with the king at long last. "He is the mightiest of Grizzleheim's warriors and tales of his victories have no doubt spread across the Spiral. Your fame has marked you and your friends as great heroes, so he is showing you respect by meeting with you."
"Thank you, Bjorn," I said, bowing.
"He may ask of you another great deed, so he can be sure tha your reputation is deserved," said Bjorn.
"I will try do my best," I said, nodding.
He raised his voice. "King Valgard Goldenblade is in the Great Hall. He will speak with you now." He pushed the doors open and I went in with Christina and Grace.
The place was intense, what I expected of a great sub-arctic king like Valgard. We approached and bowed gracefully to him and Varik(who I remembered as the leader of the Wolves) and raven in red who flanked him.
"Your Majesty," I said in a whisper. I bowed respectfully.
"So," he said, smiling toothily. "This is the great hero all of my people are telling stores about?"
"And her friends," I said. "I owe them my life."
"Indeed," said Valgard, nodding. "A great warrior does not work alone. Rise, Sierra, Grace, and Christina. I speak to you as an equal warrior. There is no need for the formality."
We raised our heads. I saw the raven's beak twitch. Clearly he was not to be trusted.
He told us about his attempts to promote peace but I shook my head sadly. Clearly the Ravens were in trouble. "But that peace is already in danger," he said with a frown. "A terrible old foe threatens our land once more. To counter it, Fate has brought forth a new hero... you."
"Us?" I asked.
He nodded. "Jotun, a fierce and massive Grendel, is one of the oldest and most deadly of the land. He has issued a challenge to face you in combat."
"He must have heard about my victory over Skellek," I murmured. "Shouldn't have tossed that spiderbane blade."
"Jotun has heard tell of the battles you have fought against his kind and kin," said Valgard. "He seeks revenge. He has two brothers, lesser in strength by still mighty."
I became a bit afraid but steeled my courage. "I am not afraid of these three. Bring them."
"You can find them in their lair in the old ruins of Nidavellir, under the bridge to the Spiral Gate," said Valgard. "I wish you and your friends good victory." The Raven snickered, hoping we would meet our end there.
"Come on, let's go," I said to my friends, eager to prove that bird wrong.
"We should take out his brothers," said Christina. "I've seen them, they are..."
"No, we need to surprise him, attack now," I said.
Luckily, a Necromancer called simply "Wolf" managed to bring the brute down so Grace finished him off with a Tempest. Christina arrived late. "I was distracting the others," she said.
"The brothers?" I asked as the giant crumbled to dust.
"No, hey... a note," Chrstina plucked a note from the dust. "It's for you, Grace!"
"Me?" asked Grace, taking the note and reading it aloud. "Grace, I know you've been busy with your own companions but I wanted to put this here if you found it - we found a Stormgate here and took out those two big grendels, Ullik and Grutthir, while you were facing the big one. They didn't expect to see a girl who could turn invisible and then backstab you with poisoned blades or a spark-gun sharp shooter like Bonnie Anne! We left as soon as we could so the warriors didn't spot us. Please be careful and meet me after you are done with your investigation. Your Captain, Clever Agnes."
"You have friends in weird places, Grace!" I said, and she blushed.
(Christina got pulled by a mob and I had to have her flee so she didn't get there in time. Also, thanks to Wolf for using Dr. Von's Monster - he ended up taking out the rest of Jotun's health[9000 HP!] with a wand strike because a Judgement and Tempest[which sucked because it only used two power pips and Jotun is Storm] were not enough, though the Tempest DID take out the mook. For some reason the two brothers did not show up - I think it's because Grace defeated Ullik in the Helgrin Warren. *shrugs* I was smart enough to get the book here, though Grace will have to go fight the evil golem in the other place so she can get the final yardbird.)
"You have to thank Wolf," I giggled. "But thank you all the same, I do not deserve the honor."
"Now, I must ask you your counsel," said Valgard. "Accusations fly like arrows - the Ravens and Wolves give words of angry hate and from what I learned from your adventures, the Ravens were trying to cause a war between the clans."
"Yes they were," said Grace. We explained how one of the Ravens disguised himself as the Thane of Ander's Holt and caused chaos and then another Raven called Munin Mistweaver..."
The Raven had heard enough. He mocked us and teleported away.
"It seems we have been deceived," said Valgrad. "Our rune stone was damaged in the war."
"What are these rune stones?" I asked.
"They are the magic that protects Grizzleheim from evil," said the king. "This is a terrible thing - the Ravens pitted Wolf against Bear, but for what ends? There is only way to know for sure... go to Ravenscar, home of the Ravens. There is one I trust, Hrafn. He will help you."
I nodded. Not all Ravens were evil but clearly the three we had met were. Something was brewing...
"I'll go check out the Wizard City Library to find out more about Grizzleheim's history," said Christina. "You go to Ravenscar and tackle this situation."
"Okay, good luck!" I said, saluting. Christina teleported away.
"Yes, we are, Rra Lorespeaker," said Grace. "We need your assistance in an investigation of your people."
"What she means is we need to find out who these Ravens are that are causing trouble between the other clans."
Hrafn nodded somberly. "You can trust me. I am a loyal friend of Valgard Goldenblade, and I do not want to see the bears at war with the ravens." He sighed and leaned on his staff. "This is the work of an group of evil Ravens called the Coven. We must learn what they plan and put an end to their mischief."
"So, this group, the Coven, is responsible," I said. "We've seen a few of them." I briefly explain what had happened in Vigrid and Mirkolm and he grew dour.
"One of our own, a scout named Skullin Icebrand, claimed to have learned terrible news," he remarked. "The Coven captured him and put him in our prison... go and find out what he learned."
"Right, we're off," I said.
Turns out the caged Raven was being held by a single guard which quickly got put down. :l (I felt bad for that lowly guard because Sailor Venus appeared and brought me to a place where I learned the Strong spell after Diego taught me how to use new spells. I was sworn to secrecy.) (New ritual - every time one of my wizards hits Grandmaster, I spend that training point they got on Strong by having them warp to a higher wizard's realm in Celestia. I waited until we got to the Necropolis and defeated Jotun before I got Sierra the Strong spell.)
Skullin told us that the key was in another hut in the caves. We went and took that guard and his pet crow down and rescued the scout. He then told us what he knew.
"Yes," I said. "Skullin said the Coven took the scroll and locked it in a Tower of Lore."
He nodded. "That place is for shamans and magicians only."
"We're wizards, duh," I said.
"You may be a Wizard on your world," said Hrafn. "But your ways are not our ways. You must have a Spirit Totem to get in. But we can make you one. Get some raven feathers."
I plucked at his wing.
"Not mine!" he snapped. "Defeat some Winterwing battlers and get their feathers."
This took a long time, but luckily Christina jumped in to help me since the Battlers were Myth. Still, I was getting strong and with my new Strong spell, I could make my Puking Frogs do more damage. But it was nice to have a Tempest and Power Nova user on my side. ^_^
(Grace got the talons before Sierra, which sucks. I hate random drop quests. The first picture is of Sierra helping a group from another set of players.)
With that done, Hrafn sent us to get some items to enchant the spirit totems - we found an old bone near the red teleport stone, then a jar of eye of newts in the entrance to the village and finally some ice water which we collected in a jar in a large glacial area. I had a feeling we'd be coming back here.
"Good, now go put the eye of newts and old bone in the cauldron in the entrance to the village and give me the water," said Hrafn. "This will allow your mystic essences to bind to the Spirit Totems and attune to you, so they will work for you."
We did so and dipped the feathers into the vile stuff. A magical totem was created and we returned to Hrafn. "Now I shall enchant the totems with power so you can enter the Tower of Lore safely," he said. He incanted some archaic tones and the totems glowed violet briefly. "There, it is done."
"What happened to the water?" I asked.
"Oh the ice water?" he said, smirking. "I drank it." I grew cross. "Don't get upset, young ones. Incanting words of power is hard and thirsty work!"
"Get your water next time!" hissed Penny.
Grace struggled with her a bit. "Forgive my secretary, Rra Lorespeaker, she is a bit..."
"It is fine, I have dealt with wizards with rambunctious pets before," he said with a chuckle. Penny screamed through Grace's fingers and I assume she was yelling "I am not a pet!" "Now, the Tower of Lore is at the top of the caverns, you will have to deal with some Guards but I am sure they are no threat to you. Go now and enter the Tower."
Christina saved us time by a tactic she'd use a lot in the future - she battled the guards and we slipped behind them, unnoticed. We saved our resources. (Expect this tactic a LOT - even though that means we don't Raven badges, I prefer to save time by using this tactic instead of having everyone try to slip by and getting pulled. I'll use it in the Great Spyre because forget about fighting the stupid mobs that pulled you in the beginning. :p)
"Let's go," I said to Grace. We entered the Tower...
We ambushed a guard and his crow and destroyed them - Grace took out the crow with a Prismed Triton and a powered up Earthquake wiped out the guard.
Hrafn teleported in and scanned the shelves, pulling out a scroll. "This must be the scroll Skullin found. Let's see what's in it the Coven wants to keep secret..." He read it and gasped in horror.
It wasn't good from the reaction.
Ugh. ANOTHER apocalypse?!?! Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself, readers, sorry. But I was shocked. "They're going to create an endless winter that will cover the Spiral?"
"At least this world," sighed Hrafn. "If we do not stop them..." He perked his head. "No, we can not speak here. Quickly, back to my cove!" He teleported away.
We went back and he explained the situation. "They have a plan to enchant the runestones with dark magic - if the magic of the rune stones of the bears, wolves and ravens are harnessed, they could have enough power to bring forth the Everwinter."
"That explains why Munin and that other guy were causing a war between the other clans!" I said in shock. "In the chaos, they could sneak in and corrupt the stones! The bear and wolf stones were already tapped, which means they'll use their stone next!"
"I understand, Rra Lorespeaker," said Grace. "This is not good. If this Everwinter happens, we will all freeze to death. They must be stopped."
I shuddered. "We'll do everything to stop the Coven!"
"I will need Mystic Talons from the Winterwing Guards which lurk near the entrance to the great glacier," said Hrafn. "Be careful, Sierra, as they are Myth."
I groaned. Seriously? I think the Ravens have found my weakness. I was grateful to Grace's help, her Sirens easily handled the Guards.
"I'll need a shard of pure ice to purify the talons," said Hrafn when we returned. "It is where you found the ice water..."
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" cried Penny in rage.
"Yeah, like, that's totally unkind," said my pet. I groaned and held my head.
"Yes, I could have told you to get it while you were getting the ice water," said Hrafn, annoyed. "But I didn't realize how grave the need was."
"We'll get it," I mumbled. "Come on, you two, don't force me to unequip you."
The ice was easy to get and the talons were made into necklaces that we put on as wards against runic magic. Now we had to find the Coven and defeat them. "The ways of the Coven are they are dark and mysterious," said Hrafn. "No raven knows their names, save me... I know more than most ravens. Of one of the Coven, I know their name - Mord Runechanter."
Something struck me and I questioned him. "What color robe does he wear?"
"Green, why?"
I lit up and spoke to Grace. "We saw him before!"
"What?" said Hrafn. "You know of him?"
"Ee," said Grace. "In Frostholm, Rra Runechanter impersonated Thane Ivar and betrayed the bears to the Red Claw... while the Red Claw had control of Ander's Holt, he was able to take the power of the Bear's stone. This is not good."
"He took the shape of the Thane of Ander's Holt?" said Hrafn. We nodded. "Well, it seems they already know of your meddling and will be ready for you. Be wary."
"We can handle ourselves, Rra Lorespeaker," said Grace. "Let's go, Mma."
"Surprise!" I laughed. "Bet you didn't think you'd see us meddling kids again."
We immediately laid into him. Penny dealt with the Winterwing Guard and I summoned the Pigs to deal with Mord himself.
He groaned in pain as the pigs slashed his body. "You foolish girls! You cannot stop the Everwinter!" With that he vanished.
"He got away," I said, snapping my fingers.
"But we got something useful," said Grace, pulling a scroll from a chest. She opened it and read it. "We found two more members of the Coven, Kol Shadowsong and Munin Mistweaver."
"Ugh, my old 'friend' from Mirkolm Keep," I groaned, recalling how he had incited the wolves in Mirkolm Keep. "Let's take out Minun first."
Munin gasped as he saw me. "YOU! You and your stupid little miner girl friend made me speak truth in Verik's hall, you... but it's too late, I've absorbed the power of the Wolf's stone, the Everwinter..."
Grace summoned the Storm Titan to zap him silly. "Silly bird, electricity is super-effective against birds, you know." I giggled. (Yeah, I do like Pokemon. Sue me. :p)
"You can't stop us, humans!" sneered Munin as he teleported away, smoking and burned.
I found a chest and looted it, shaking my head. "No scroll, we'd better beat up Kol for info."
I recognized Kol, he was the guy I met in Valgard's hall, the 'envoy' of the ravens. "Bad envoy, I say," I joked. "So, you think our doom is still at hand? Guess what, Malistaire is scarier than you!"
My Pigs quickly took him out. "You're too late, girls!" he cackled as he vanished. "The Everwinter is at hand!"
"Sure, talk to the hand," I said with a sneer. "Grace, find anything?"
"Success," she said, brandishing a scroll. "This scroll tells of their plans. We must give it to Rra Lorespeaker quickly."
Hrafn was pleased as he read the scroll and told us what it was about.
"So how long do we have to stop him?" I asked.
"We can stop it immediately," said Hrafn, smiling. "It we can steal the Mystic Chalice and Heart of Winter they have hidden, we can prevent them from casting the ritual. I know where these items are. The Chalice in near the cauldron where you made the totems and the Heart of Winter in deep in a glacial cave near their hall."
"We'll get them ASAP," I said. "Let's book it, Grace."
Christina was there at the hut. "Look, there are guards here," she said. "I'll distract them again and you get the chalice while they're fighting me."
It worked like a charm and I grabbed the chalice and ported back to Northguard to give the chalice to Valgard. She teleported away when she saw we were gone.
"Thanks," I said. "We make a great team."
"Sure do, carrot top," said Christina with a smile. "I'll be there to help you with the Coven."
"You don't have to help us anymore, we can handle things from here, thanks again. Go do whatever you were doing." I winked.
She nodded and rode off to the Spiral Gate.
Golem defeated. Chest opened. Heart taken to Valgard. (Also, that battle took so long that it gave enough experience for Grace to hit Grandmaster, woot! This is the first wizard who hit Grandmaster level outside of Dragonspyre. ^_^)
"Uh, what now?" I muttered. "We won."
"Sadly no," said Hrafn, who was visibly nervous. "I felt the magic - the Coven has managed to begin the ritual on their stone without the Mystic Chalice or Heart of Winter!"
I blanched. "How?"
"I have no idea," said Hrafn. "You must attack them now, go to their hall in the glacier."
We found the place being guarded by Coven initiates, but a glowing wall surrounded the place. "Another dang barrier," I groaned. "Now what?"
Grace saw a cave with a lamp hanging nearby. "I sense a powerful magic coming from there. I have a feeling that the Coven is using that power in there... I believe that is where the barrier is being maintained." She went in and I tried to follow her but I was thrown back.
"Grace!" I cried. A few minutes later she came out and shook her head. "I think the Coven covered all their bases - they had a feeling someone would break the barrier and put a magic spell to only allow one person at a time. Are you okay?"
"Yes," said my pal. "But it is true, there is a great power... a mighty demon like the Death Oni is being held prisoner there and his magic is being used to create the barrier. He wants us to banish him back to his realm, and if we do that, the barrier will fall. We must get some magical dust carried by the Coven Initiates as well as some feathers from the Winterwings and Coven shamans so the spell can be dispelled."
We went to work and collected the items, but again I was barred passage, so Grace had to do the ritual. She came back. "We need to get the blood the Coven took from him to bind him here. It's hidden in the Coven house in the village area." (The feather collection is the hardest collect quest in the game - you have to collect them from two different areas and they have a 30% drop so you need to get as many of them in as you can. It will take moons to complete and the Guards being Myth did not help the cause any. I almost forgot about the boss you have to fight before the Gurtok.)
I sighed. "Summoning rituals are too complex for me. I'm never doing one."
We quickly stormed the Coven House, slew the guard, and grabbed the bottle of blood before heading back. The barrier remained so Grace went in... and moments later I heard Penny screaming loud profanities and yelped in horror. "GRACE!"
Christina arrived. "Forget it, I am not letting you two do this alone... what's wrong?"
I wept. "Grace is dead! That demon has killed her!"
Christina hugged me. "Relax, carrot fairy. Grace can handle herself. Just give her your power."
I nodded and closed my eyes, concentrating on Grace. Please be safe...
I then felt myself in a dream, fighting that evil elephant demon as if I were Grace. I cast my Ninja Pigs and did a fatal blow and then the Triton emerged and finished him off. "That was embarassing," said the demon. "I guess I underestimate your power. I wish you good luck with the Coven."
"It is all right," we said, and the trance faded. (This guy has to be solo-fought, but despite having 7000 HP, he is relatively not a threat if you have Tower Shields. Be careful - he will use Snow Shield to protect him from Ice spells. Oh yeah, and dreamwalking trances are the best way to portray both fights - for some odd reason Gurtok Barrier Demon didn't use a single Weakness on Sierra and I had two worthless Treasure Cards of Cleanse Charm ready for that, but Grace did hold on to her trained Cleanse Charm and used it to get rid of a Weakness that was put on her. Her Supercharge was at 70% when she unleashed her Triton on that thing and, to my surprise, both Sierra's Pigs and Grace's Triton did almost EXACTLY the same amount of damage! Fate! ^_^)
"I'm so glad you're alive," I wept.
"Hey hey heyso!" cried Christina, dancing. "Forget that! We need to bust the Coven's beaks in!"
We nodded. Time to stop these crows. (The Feints came from my Evil Magma Peas when they got to Elder. I can handle one for now but I will have to get more soon. I wish we could harvest other people's gardens and get their Evil Magma Peas but it looks like we'll have to wait until Avalon.)
We barged into the hall and confronted four ravens. The one in the purple robe introduced himself as the leader of the Coven, Orin Stormfather. I knew Grace would have trouble with him.
"This madness ends," I said. "It ends now."
The battle was probably the toughest I have ever faced - Christina got annihilated and then Orin threw a Heckhound at me which annihilated me with its burn damage. But only one thing was on our minds as we fled and potioned ourselves and then returned...
Keep Grace alive.
(You have to fight four enemies with 4200 HP each - Orin is Storm, obviously, Mord is Life, Munin is Death and Kol is Fire. They will use lots of terrible spells on you - I got hit with Centaur, Skeletal Pirate, Stormzilla and Magma Colossus. Christina had to flee when she got dropped to fatal levels and then Sierra was hit with Orin's Heckhound and got defeated when the damage over time finished her off so she had to flee. I did want Grace to Satyr because she eventually finished the job and wiped out everyone but Orin, well, she did take everyone out but Christina weakened Orin with Judge as I couldn't find a prism. I don't want you using boss decks as while you can take out the Ravens one by one, they'll be hammering you with spells. Ouch!)
"It's over," she said. "Rra Stormfather, you and your kind are evil and must be destroyed - turning our Spiral into a giant ice age is not allowed." She invoked her spell....
And for once, "Tempest" seemed appropriate as the Coven were swamped and knocked out.
(I used Supercharge[40%], Stormblade, Balanceblade, Bladestorm and Elemental Blade to get this much damage on these guys. They had been weakened a bit with Earthquake. From now on, Christina will buff Grace, Sierra will keep shields off, and Grace will one-shot with Triton, Penny's Sirens or a max-pip Tempest.)
"You won't win, Wizards!" screeched Orin as a contingency spell teleported him and his fellows away from the place. "Tell your king the Everwinter is nigh, ha ha ha ha!" His cackling faded.
"That's not the last we'll see of them," muttered Christina. "I know it. But at least we can take this raven's stone and give it to King Valgard so they can't corrupt it to complete their ritual."
"Ritual!" I screamed, my glee at stopping the Everwinter muted. "We have to stop Malistaire!"
"Calm down, carrot fairy," said Christina. "We'll stop him too. I just saw him in the Great Spyre. He's getting close to completing it but I'll help you get to there so we can end this."
I read a book and it reminded me of the first big villain I defeated in Grizzleheim, Skellek the Grendel - I remembered long ago when I first quested in Grizzleheim. The first people I helped were Hagen Shieldbreaker and the raven with him, whose name I forgot - I helped him make a fate potion, and he told me that I was destined for great things. I'm sure that raven is happy that the Coven was stopped... for now.
"Let's get out of this freezing hole," I said. "King Valgard is eager for good news."
I bowed politely. "It was with the help of my friends, Your Majesty. I owe them my life. Without them, I never would have been able to reach the Coven, much less stop them. Grace gets the most, she was the one who defeated them."
"Stop putting yourself down, carrot top, I mean, Sierra," said Christina, smiling. "You helped!"
"Nevertheless, we think they will try again," said Grace. "We must be on guard."
"Indeed, but with this stone in our possession, they will be set back greatly," said Valgard with a toothy grin. Verik nodded, agreeing with the Bear King. "All of the warriors of Grizzleheim must now look to your legend as an example of what a hero can do. On this day, mere Outlanders, and women at that, have become the greatest heroes in all of Grizzleheim!"
We all bowed respectfully. "We are honored," we said together. I heard Christina mumble something about Couch Potatoes and farming for better pets than her little elephant and I whispered something about hatching with her later.
"Your home world awaits," said the king. "It is certain that Fate has greater adventures for you three."
"Definitely," I said, remembering that we had to return to Dragonspyre. We bowed again and left.
Christina met us at the Spiral Gate. "Okay, it's settled. I'm helping you guys out."
"What?" I asked.
"We need to hurry to the Great Spyre and stop Malistaire once and for all, and you need to get to Dragonspyre Academy to do that," said Christina. "I have an old badge showing myself to be a Myth student, but sadly I don't know where to go. So I'll help you guys until we beat Malistaire."
"Yes, I also promised Mma Fairyfriend we would work together to end this investigation," said Grace. "Sierra, we will stay together a little longer."
I smiled and wiped a tear from my eye."Thanks you two. Come on, let's go back to Wizard City to recover and restock our potions and sell our junk, then back to..."
Cyrus's voice rang in my head. "Oh Sierra, I have some news you need to know. Once you have finished in Grizzleheim, come back to me at once."
Ugh, he never shuts up, I thought. "Okay, let's hurry!"
[To be continued...]
No comments:
Post a Comment