Fire and Ice AGAIN (The Wild, Part 2)

(I apologize for the cliffhanger last time, but I wanted to give more updates, so enjoy!)

After my brief panic, I calmed down and found a brown-clothed fire elf jumping in place to warm himself. "Excuse me," I said. "You seem okay."

"Roidh F-F-Firehilt's me name," said the Fire Elf. "You must be Wizards from Ravenwood, no?"

"And upcoming knights of the Silver Rose," said Grace. "Why is this place frozen solid?"

"Aye, tis a s-s-sad tale," he related.

"We can help," I said. "A few pyros can..."

"No," stated Grace. "Fire Magic is too dangerous - we could hurt the people we were helping. This is like the Coven's magic - we must be careful."

"Just saying," I muttered. "So what can we do?"

"If you c-c-can get us a Living E-ember," said Roid. "It will h-help us. You can f-f-find them at the F-Fire Fountain near the T-Toadstool Village."

We found the fountain which was pouring flames instead of water. "Time to find a Living Ember."

Suddenly we heard sobbing. "Someone is here," said Grace.

 We found the crying woman. "What ails you, Mma?" asked Grace.

"Oh, I didn't see you," murmured the fox-woman. "I am crying because my family is about to be put to shame." She sniffled. "My brother was the Flame Knight who protected the Fire Fountain, but recently he was defeated by a wicked giant called Malduit Soulban. He fled to Caer Lyon and..." She lit up. "Can you talk to him and ask him politely to return to his duties?"

"We will try," said Grace.

"I like it here," said Brinley.

I scowled. "Look you fox, I have a friend who failed her duty and she... she..." I growled.

Grace held my shoulder.

"Look, if my sister is so worried about the family honor, she can become the Fire Knight herself!" said the fox-man.

Grace took me aside. "I understand the situation - our friend is suffering the same shame. But we can't let our emotions control us."

"You're so calm," I said. "Even after the events in your world, you never got angry."

"I have suffered so much," murmured Grace sadly. "My daddy's death, my imprisonment... but if I let my emotions control me, I will fail to be a good private detective. Let us tell his sister the news."

I nodded and breathed deeply. I couldn't allow what Christina was doing get to me.

"He said if you were so worried about being shamed, you could be the Fire Knight in his place," I said. "You know, you..."

"Actually, that might be a good idea," said Ceara. "If I become the Fire Knight, our honor would be restored... but Maduit Soulban stole the Fire Knight's armor!"

"We'll get it back and make him pay for his crimes," I said, smacking my fist.

(Another close-up zoom with the update! Haven't seen these since Wizard City! I need to go through the worlds and see if any other cutscenes got the Malistaire zoom. ^_^)

"You act so big beating up a knight," I said. "Let's see you face a pair of WIZARDS!"

"The old blood-splattered garb will be your own," said Grace coldly.

This was one tough battle...

 

But Maduit Soulban was soul-banned thanks to Penny's sisters and my six-legged freak of nature. (Maduit Soulban has 13500~ HP and is Fire, and he's with a Formori, so be careful of Quakes. Also, be warned: If you come in with three people, you have to fight two Indigo Giants, which are Rank 12 Storm Bosses, which I found out when Christina was doing this battle with a Team Up. I think that KI needs to fix these encounters because fighting three Bosses should be restricted to worlds like Azteca. :( )

We found the armor draped across the throne. "Let's get out of here," I muttered, holding my nose. "I am going to retch with all the stinky brimstone around here!"

"I concur," said Grace, grabbing the warm bronze armor and placing it in hammerspace.

"Let us get you some privacy to don the armor," I said.

it was remarkably light and flexible for plate armor. "You look gorgeous!" I whispered. "I'm jelly."

"Thank you, fair Wizards," said Caera. "Now, why did you come?"

"For a Living Ember to help thaw the Fire Elf village," I said.

"Then you are welcome to one," said Ceara. "But if I may ask another favor?"

"Spill," I said. "I mean, go ahead."

"This weapon is my brother's and I want to have a unique weapon to prove I am a worthy Fire Knight," said Caera. "I heard whispers of a Stag Charger who lives in Caer Lyon called Morag Bloodtine who owns a weapon called Angela's Mace. If you can recover that for me, I will be ever grateful."

We gladly helped her in that regard. (If you are willing to do this side-quest, be warned - the Deer Knight he's with is a random mob in the last area of Avalon, the Outer Yard, and he's Life with a LOT of health. Nothing a boosted Medusa couldn't handle, though. ;) )

We delivered the mace to Ceara, got our Living Ember(which wasn't hot at all and didn't burn) and headed back to the Fire Elf Village.

We showed it to him. "I feel w-w-warmer already," he stammered.

"But this is too weak to melt anything," said Grace.

"Yes, you will n-n-need to defeat the Winter Wyrm before you c-c-can use it," said Roidh. "However the way to his c-c-cave is covered in ice, you won't be able to cross it."

"Aw, it's just careful treading," I said, tiptoeing on the ice... I suddenly was flung back. "Ow!"

"Warned thee," muttered Roidh. "Y-Y-You will need special sh-sh-shoes to cross the ice. T-Talk to Shane MacGobhann in the Toadstool V-v-village and he'll enchant your shoes to cross the ice."

The guy we needed was a leprechaun.

"Yes," I said. "We need to enter the Winter Wyrm's lair and defeat him, but the ice is too slippery."

"Well, I can help ye out there," said Shane. "But I will need to recover my nails. When the Fire Elf village froze over, the Wildfire Treants went on a rampage and stole me nails! If ye can get them back, I'll cobble yer shoes to make them able to cross the ice."

"We'll be back," I said.

But we got distracted by a familiar face, Cassie the Ponycorn. "Greetings Wizards," she said. "I thank thee for saving me from those nasty witches! My horn is a source of powerful magic and witches harvest them for their spells."

I was disgusted. "Well, you're safe now."

"I wish to repay thee again, by teaching thee new spells," said the unicorn.

"You do not need to do that, Mma," said Grace. "You got us into the Tower."

"Still, I am sure thy spellbook would welcome what I have to teach," said Cassie. She did a little jig and suddenly cards appeared in our hands. "Now thou can convert thy attacks to the opposite school against all you fight!"

I nearly wept for joy and I think Grace was stunned too - Prisms that could be applied to every enemy in a fight! While we didn't really need them - I could Earthquake any Storm foes and Grace would cover for me against Myth enemies - this would probably be useful if fate forced us to fight enemies of our school solo. "Thanks," I said.

(Yep, rejoice! Once you free Cassie - even if you don't complete the White Owl Tower - she appears in the Toadstool Village and teaches you the Mass Prism spells. For a lowly power pip cost, you apply a Prism to all enemies. This is great if you are soloing - you will have to do some solo battles - and also helpful if you are fighting enemies you would boost on, if ONLY you were the opposite school! For example, Grace could Mass Storm Prism a load of Balance and Ice enemies and boost on them with Storm Lord. You only need one copy of this spell - which is free for you school and requires you to be a Trascendant. Christina ignores Cassie - she could learn any Mass Prism spell but it would cost a Training Point since Balance has no Prism and thus no Mass Prism, and it's not like she would get any benefit as all of her attacks are Balance. Spectral Blast, maybe, but it's not really worth it to use Mass Prism with her non-balance damage spells.)

Defeating the Wildfire Treants was awesome with my new spell - I could help boost on them. (If you thought these flaming tree men were anything BUT Fire, well, you should stop playing this game. The nails are a 100% drop, so don't worry about fighting too many of these guys.)

The leprechaun gladly enchanted our shoes to be slip-free on the ice.

"But they we--- never mind," I said. "So we're ready to go?"

"Aye," said Roidh. "We need all of our courage and strength to defeat the Winter Wyrm, and by we, I mean 'you.'"

"Thanks for the support," I mumbled.

 

We crossed the ice and entered the cave of the vile beast...

In hindsight, I should have shielded. :(

 

(The Winter Wyrm has 13500 HP and is Ice. The Spirit of the Brocken is Death and has 2220 HP. I got the worst-cane scenario - the Wyrm cast Tower Shield on himself and the Spirit and Sierra doesn't have Infallible so she didn't kill the Wyrm in one hit and nearly died.)

(That... could have gone better. :( )

"Let's get out of this place," I moaned, holding my side. "I'm getting hypothermia."

"Sorry, but you mean 'us'," I said acidly.

"Let it go, Mma," said Grace. "We need to use the Living Ember." She unbottled the flame and tossed it into the trees.

 

 The results were instant and miraculous. Everyone was freed from the ice.

"So this is where Professor Falmea grew up," I murmured after talking to the women living there. They certainly looked like Falmea. ^_^

One even knew some magic we could use... but she refused to sell to us. (One of the women here teaches the school Spears, which give armor piercing... but you need to be an Archmage to learn them. Ugh. One more level to go.)

 I quickly began to wonder whether Sir Drustan had his faith misplaced in Sir Robin, because he didn't SEEM very brave. (sigh) We told him about our quest.

"The Sword of Kings?" he said. "Yes, I was given charge of it, I took it out of the Weirwood. There is a teleport arch in the Wild that goes back to Caliburn, could you activate it for me? We'll meet there."


That was great news! We could find a portal between the Wild and Caliburn and we wouldn't have to go through Caer Lyon.

 

"Here it is, Mma," said Grace.

We used the technique we learned from the book in the Archives and the portal burst into life...

 And someone came through. I gasped. "Christina!"

"I wish you would not mistake me for your friend, dear ladies," said our friend. "I am Saint Agnes Oblique..."

"Yeah yeah yeah," I muttered. "Vestal of Balance, seeking the Sword of Shadow's Bane. Listen, stop this act. I don't like you as you are now."

Her lip quivered. "How dare you, madame! I have seen terrible things, I have faced vicious beasts and dragons the likes you have never known! You think you can best me in finding the Sword? You are but mere pups to me! I will find the Sword and smite that foul harlot for all she has done to Zafaria! You should return back to Ravenwood and stick with studying magic. Fare thee well!"

I resisted the urge to throttle her as she rode off. "Mgrgr!"

"I am sure she will be alright," muttered Grace, but even she was feeling upset.

"Let's just talk to the cowardly knight," I growled. "Before I hurt someone innocent."

Grace bowed to him. "Rra Bravely, we seek the Sword to fight the Dark Queen, Morganthe."

Sir Robin shuddered. "Ugh, a name I had not heard in a while."

I gasped. "Morganthe was here?"

"It is a terrible story, my ladies," said Sir Robin. "But you seek the Sword, nay? I heard about the Fire Elves having trouble with the Froudlings. I was... anxious to lose the Sword if I fell in battle, so I gave it to my loyal Minstrel, Inne Idles, and told him to fie away to safety."

"I know where he is! Back to Caer Lyon!" I cried.

I cursed under my breath. "He was here last time we were here!"

"Perhaps that badger could aid us," said Grace, pointing to a badger-man. (You have to talk to Pike Del Lago, then Sir Brennan, then Kay before you can talk to Jeremiah Carver.)

We nodded. "Thanks," I said. "Did you see a minstrel with a weird watermelon lute?"

"Aye," said Jeremiah. "He took up residence with the foul Amber Knights. They bring shame to the title, preying on the weak! Confront them and they'll tell you where the minstrel is."

We gladly 'confronted' them and taught them the errors of terrorism. ^_^ (These guys are Balance, so a strong Frog or a Prismed Storm Lord can deal with them.)

"Okay, we'll talk!" cried one of the knights. "That minstrel is hiding in the Amber Manor! Talk to the guard, Sir Jean-Paule."

"Can't you make an exception?" I asked, giving puppy-dog eyes. "We need to talk to a minstrel."

"Innes Idle?" asked the knight. "Aye, he's here, but I was ordered not to allow anyone but an Amber Knight inside. I am sorry."

"You... do not seem like the type to associate with brigands like these, Rra," said Grace.

He sighed. "I am forced to serve the Amber Knights out of shame. I lost my war mount."

"Ouch," I said. I had an idea. "Say, if we got you another mount, maybe you could be unshamed."

Sir Jean-Paul lit up. "You would do that for me? If I had a new war mount, I would be free to rejoin the Order of the Silver Rose and the way would be open for you."

"We'll do it," I said, smiling. "How hard could it be?"

"I know of a way to get an excellent war mount," said Sir Jean-Paul. "We need to collect the ruined shields and armor around the towers in Caer Lyon. Four of each should do well."

Little did I know we were in for a wild adventure...

[To be continued...]