To Train...

by Ragedwarf

o train with a dwarf, Thelin thought, is to invite danger. This thought occurred to him as he met up with his dwarven friend whose name was forgotten, so was called Ragedwarf, Raged, or even just Rage at times. He couldn't believe he had agreed to go training with this dwarf. He wasn't the strongest dwarf, but he had killed dragons, something Thelin definitely couldn't do. Thelin didn't even fight often; he was an illusionist, specializing in entertaining spells that could get him hired for parties! "Hey Raged, where are we going anyways?" Thelin inquired.

    "Ah. I thought you would ask that. I hope you have money, I'm only paying my way through the teleporter to Minath Elion."

    "Minath Elion?!?" Thelin cried. "Why would you take me there, I'm too weak!"

    "Don't worry, I'm not going in the prison, and definitely not dragging you in there. We're elf hunting today. We'll divide up the loot after we empty...oh let's say 10 houses. Watch out for the arrows though, they're a bit tricky. Hard to dodge too." Ragedwarf stumped down King's Road beside the spellcaster and illusionist Thelin. "Ah, there's King's Road Inn, we're but a short way from the Department of Transportation in Alaria," he said with satisfaction at the time they were making.

    Thelin glanced up. "Rage, what kind of shrieker is that?" he asked, pointing at a pink toadstool by a giant willow behind King's Road Inn.

    Ragedwarf followed his gaze and said, "Oh, that's Oxbow Wildlife Reserve. Binyamin made it. Binyamin is a powerful wizard, like nothing you've ever seen. There are many of them, including Rhialto, the legendary wizard that helped the gods themselves forge the Lands of Wyvern. There is also Binyamin, Legolas, Fenixdown, Raedan, Zypher, and Arilou among others."

    "Oh," murmured Thelin, with dreams now in his head of becoming a legend like Rhialto, Legolas, Binyamin, or one of the other mighty wizards.

    "Here we are, Alaria. Now it's only a matter of minutes before the elf hunt begins. When we get in town," Ragedwarf handed Thelin a sack bulging with platinum, "I want you to go to the hospital and potions shop and buy all the potions of healing of any kind, including, but not limited to, elixirs and potions of full healing. Then meet me at the first house you see when we enter Alaria. Ok?"

    "Got it," Thelin nodded.

    Thelin dashed through the stores, wondering if this "elf hunting" would really take all the healing potions he could find in Alaria, especially when it was Ragedwarf we were talking about here. In Thelin's eyes, he was super powerful. As Thelin ran through the potions store, he decided to check upstairs, just in case. He went up all the stairs, then started back down. At the floor above ground level, a display case caught his eye. It was filled with lore three spellbooks. He could use those... He checked his pockets and found he actually had ten thousand gold of his own. He picked out two spellbooks, firebolt and lightning bolt, and dashed down the stairs, where a nice old sage rang it all up, and he paid for the potions out of Rage's money, and the spellbooks out of his own gold.

    Ragedwarf had lost track of time in the house. As he stepped in, he was swarmed by elves who, when they saw him, yelled "Vedui!" or something to that extent. He ended all this by unlatching the heavily enchanted whirlphlosion axe from its holder, swinging it into an elf which he saw was wielding a green spear, a particularly valuable weapon that elves often carried. It didn't die on the first swing, but Ragedwarf was afraid he himself might, because all the other elves started attacking him at once. Ragedwarf promptly sliced off the heads of the first elf, and another one, then glancing at his hands, noticed they were chilled. The power of his axe was about to be unleashed. He wanted them to feel the full effects of it, so he barely grazed an elf, and a protective barrier of blue light swirled around him as the frost wave froze three elves. He quickly finished all the other elves off and looted their corpses, and separated the loot. He then went through all the chests, and went up to an iron gate. He saw the lever that activated it, but he had angered the beasts on the other side by murdering their brethren. They were elven wizards. "Oh, all right, I'll risk it," he said, and he pulled the lever.

    Thelin read the spellbooks as he walked, finished them, cast them aside, and arrived at the house. He then waited. And waited. And waited some more. Fine, he thought. I'm going in. Thelin stepped in, and saw it all. Ragedwarf was surrounded on all sides by elven wizards, enraged; it seemed, by the murder of all their comrades. One stepped back and began to mutter strange words, but Thelin recognized them. The words to the fireball spell. "No!" Thelin saw some throwing stars on the ground, scooped them up and threw them. They only did minor damage, but enough to catch the elf's attention. It whirled on him...and received a face full of firebolt. It felled, charred, to the ground. "Rage! Hang in there!"

    Ragedwarf turned partially, as his axe unleashed another wave of frost. "Don't worry about me kid! Grab the loot!"

    Thelin was amazed that the dwarf could still only think about the loot in a situation like this, but decided to do as he said. He ran in and shoved his staff into a crack between a chest's lid and the rest of it. He pulled, but the chest glowed green, then nothing happened. "Magically locked, maybe?" Thelin wondered. He called to mind the words to the knock spell, and watched as a blue beam shone out of his hand and hit the trunk full force. The lid popped open. Thelin glanced inside. "Jackpot!" He pulled out a cloak, a blue gem, and piles of gold and silver, stuffing them in his pockets to show Ragedwarf later. Then he heard a shout and turned, seeing Rage getting torched by three fireballs.

    "Thelin! The potions, throw me a full healing!!!"

    Thelin obeyed quickly, "Catch!" he cried. The potion hit its mark, perhaps too well. It hit Rage's face and burst into pieces. The dwarf hungrily drank up all that ran into his mouth. It seemed to be enough, as in one fatal sweep, he chopped them all in half.

    "Thelin, let's go to this well first," said Ragedwarf, "After a run in with one of my least favorite monsters, elven wizards, I wish to kill some easy monsters."

    Thelin readily agreed. "Ok. I'll go in first."

    "Be my guest."

    Thelin jumped nimbly down the well, followed by Ragedwarf. "Let's go this way first," suggested Thelin. Ragedwarf made no objections; he only began stumping down the narrow passageway.

    "Oh, narrow passageway, is that bad for you Thelin?"

    "Oh no, not with my spells. With the spells I have I think a narrow passage might work to my advantage, especially against weaker monsters. Ah, some action." Two kobold lords were rushing down the passageway followed by a saurian.

    Ragedwarf's grip on his axe tightened. "Easy prey, Thelin."

    "Aye," Thelin muttered, unconsciously picking up the speech of the dwarf. He began muttering words and his hand glowed with a brown light. A small laugh escaped Thelin's lips. "Watch this Rage," he said and waved his hand. Two walls of earth appeared out of nowhere. "Well, they are only illusionary, but it fools the monsters well enough." Thelin was visibly drained after only summoning up enough walls to cover the narrow passage. "But I'm not finished. Dispel!" He cried, and the walls vanished. Already more words of magic sprung to Thelin's lips and a cone of small skulls erupted from his fingertips. It collided with the bewildered monsters, and then a look of entire dread passed over their faces. Ragedwarf let out a hearty laugh. "I can see now how you'd be good at parties!" Thelin laughed too, but not for long. More words were spoken, and wind and sand swirled about, concentrated into a deadly beam by the narrow passage. It began to slice away at the fear-stricken monsters, killing them. "Only minor experience, but fun, all the same."

    Things continued in much the same way for many levels of the dungeon. Then, after Ragedwarf had had a rather nasty run in with a number of giant rats and kobolds all at once, he was savoring an elixir when Thelin pointed behind him. "Raged! Behind you!"

    A shadow fell across Ragedwarf. Never a good sign, thought Ragedwarf. But then again, about the only thing that doesn't cast a shadow on me is a halfling. He laughed at this thought, then remembered his situation and whirled. An umber hulk. Not too much of a problem. If he had had a good head start. He chugged the last of the elixir and threw the bottle in the umber hulk's face. He dashed down the corridor, grabbing Thelin by the hood of his cloak on the way past. "That thing is dangerous, Thelin. We have to watch out."

    "Right. What spell is it again that has blue half-moons?" Thelin asked, looking behind them.

    "Confusion, why would you ask th-" he suddenly knew why he had asked. He was enveloped by the spell. He was befuddled. All the directions were wrong. He wasn't moving right. He was walking straight for the hulk. Then his mind cleared up.

    "No!" Thelin cried out. He waved his hand and made four illusionary walls to completely cover the corridor. He then began reciting the words to his firebolt spell.

    Ragedwarf was out of it. He didn't get it at first. The he understood. The umber hulk had cast confusion and instead of running away, he had been running towards him, and Thelin had fooled it into thinking it was a dead end, and now was going to scorch it through the "walls". Ragedwarf just sat, in a vegetable state, as Thelin killed it. Ragedwarf's vision was blurry. "Wh-wh-where am I?" he asked.

    "Apparently that much excitement is too much even for you, little dwarf." Thelin smiled.