Edge of Destiny

INTO THE LAIR

Eir and her companions stood atop a frozen ridge and gazed down at the lair of the Dragonspawn. The wide cave mouth was fronted by rows of jagged ice, standing like fangs or horns in terrible clusters.

"You never told us about that," Rytlock pointed out. He patted the hilt of Sohothin. "Lucky for us, I brought an ice cutter."

Eir shook her head. "We can't go through it. It'll be filled with icebrood. We'll have to go over it."

Rytlock turned to her quizzically.

She smiled and said, "Avalanche."

Logan frowned. "Conditions have to be just right."

"He should know," Rytlock snarled in remembrance. "Guy specializes in rockslides." Under his breath, he added, "Jerk."

"I think we have exactly the right conditions," Eir said cryptically.

Just then, Big Zojja pounded up behind the others, her footfalls cracking the ice they stood on. From the cockpit within, Little Zojja piped up, "Right conditions for what?"

The ground trembled again as Sandy thundered to the top of the ridge.

"What'd I miss?" asked Snaff, who stomped to a halt between Sandy's ears. "Sorry I lagged a bit. Set off a little avalanche back there."

Eir's smile broadened. "I brought along a pair of avalanche machines."

Caithe gestured along the rim of the valley, where a thick snowpack clung. "That ridge ahead should do the trick."

"Perfect," Eir said.

"Perfect for what?" Snaff and Zojja chorused.

Eir reached up to Sandy's head and lowered Snaff to the ground. "Can Zojja drive that thing from a distance?"

"Sure," Snaff said, "as long as she has the laurel."

"Come on out, Zojja," Eir commanded.

The windscreen on the cockpit cranked open, and after buckles clanged loose, Zojja emerged and climbed down the golem's leg. "What do you want?"

Eir said, "I want you and Snaff to march your golems on ahead to trigger an avalanche-one that'll sweep down over those defense works and bury them."

Snaff's eyes lit. "That'll be fun!" He began pumping his arms and stomping his feet, and Sandy marched excitedly away across the ridge.

Zojja glowered like a teenager watching her father dance. "You're enjoying this too much." Reluctantly she began marching as well, and Big Zojja pounded out after Sandy.

The two golems had crossed about a quarter mile of icy ridge before anything happened-but it happened all at once.

A thunderous boom! shook the ice, and a crack shot like black lightning along the ridge. The whole face of the ridge broke free. It slid down as one thick ice sheet, grating over the cliff face. A network of cracks raced through the ice, and it shattered into huge boulders. They stampeded down the side of the mountain and swarmed over the labyrinth. House-size ice chunks flattened the defensive works. Walls smashed and spikes shattered. Whatever icebrood might have lurked in those defenses were crushed. Hundreds of thousands of tons of ice wiped the barriers from the world.

"Perfect!" Rytlock said.

"Not quite," Eir replied, pointing toward the ridge.

Sandy had had one foot on either side of the crack when it gave way, and now the sand golem was struggling not to tumble down the slope. Already, its legs had stretched to twice their usual length. Big Zojja grasped Sandy's hand and tried to pull it back up.

"It's no good!" Snaff yelled. "Let go!"

"Too late," Zojja replied.

In the distance, Sandy toppled, dragging Big Zojja after it. They rolled together down the ice-ravaged rock face.

Little Zojja shook with each impact, eyes glazing.

Snaff grasped her. "Separate your mind!"

Down below, Sandy's head crashed into an outcrop of stone.

Snaff staggered, "Wow! That smarts."

Out across the ice field rolled Sandy and Big Zojja, clinging together like a giant, dirty snowball. They held each other a moment more before limbs of sand broke away from limbs of steel. A battered and gritty Big Zojja staggered back and toppled to the ground while Sandy shuddered as it reformed itself.

Meanwhile, on the ridge, Snaff released Zojja. "Are you all right?"

"Feel like I got run through a gearbox," Zojja said.

"Do you need to rest?" Eir asked them.

"Not me," Zojja replied huffily, "but I'd say the Big me is out of service."

They all stared down at the tableau, where Big Zojja lay twisted with smoke rising from her joints.

"That's not good," Eir said.

"Sandy's fine," Snaff put in hopefully, seeming to check his pockets.

The sand golem was meanwhile reshaping itself. It gave a massive wave.

Eir reached down and hoisted Zojja to her shoulders. "Phase One is complete, but we're down to a single golem. Someone grab Snaff. Let's move!"

Rytlock picked up Snaff, slung him onto his shoulders, and growled, "Don't touch the horns."

The asura sheepishly released them. "Sorry. They look like handlebars."

"I don't need to be steered," Rytlock said.

"Can't steer a steer," Snaff quipped.

"Shut up."

"Right."

Rytlock ran after Eir, with Logan and Caithe following. Garm brought up the rear, his black head turning from side to side to make sure they weren't followed.

Moments later, the group reached Big Zojja. She was, indeed, beyond repair. One leg was shattered outright, and the conduits had been ripped from the knee of the other.

Zojja leaped down from Eir's shoulder. "That's a wasted night." She turned to Snaff. "I told you you put too much trust in metal."

Snaff was too grieved to reply.

Eir scowled at Zojja. "You seem almost gleeful that the golem is wrecked."

Zojja grinned. "I almost am."

Eir huffed. "Good luck fighting without it."

"I've been expanding my portfolio of spells for this," Zojja said with a grin. "Fire spells. You'll see how magic can trump machine."

"I hope," Eir said, watching Zojja march jauntily away.

Snaff stepped up beside Eir. "You must forgive her. She's a genius in the rough."

"She won't follow orders, she won't listen to others," Eir muttered.

"You're both strong-willed," Caithe broke in. "You're not followers."

Eir and Snaff gaped at her.

Caithe was wide-eyed. "Well, look, she's leading the charge."

They turned to see that Zojja had broken into a run.

"Let's go," Eir said ruefully, turning and charging after her. All the others followed. It took only a few moments for them to catch up to Zojja and pass her.

The group ran to the ice cave. It yawned darkly before them, a thousand icicles hanging overhead.

"Wouldn't like to get one of those down the back," Rytlock said.

"Rytlock and Logan, you'll take the fore," Eir said. "Garm and I will back you up. Sandy will back us up and give cover for Snaff and Zojja. Caithe, you're the rear guard. Weapons, everyone."

The group shifted into position. Sohothin roared from its scabbard, and Logan's war hammer spun in circles around him. Zojja cracked her knuckles and sent flames leaping into the air, while Sandy remolded one stretched-out leg. Behind them, Caithe scanned the rubble field, her daggers whirling.

Eir nocked three arrows. Their heads sparked with arcane energies prepared by Zojja.

Rytlock eyed the arrows. "More nets?"

"You'll see." Eir drew the bow until the string pinged with tension and then let fly. The three shafts whistled away into the cave, diverging from each other. Simultaneously, the arrowheads burst into three red fireballs. As they flew, the flames intensified to orange and yellow and white and blue.

They lit up a ceiling crowded with giant icicles. Among them lurked dragon minions in the form of ice bats.

"Whoa!" Rytlock said.

Another explosion came from each arrow. Shock waves cracked the icicles loose, and blue flames melted the wings of the bats. Giant icicles and watery bats plunged, crashing side by side on the icy floor of the cavern.

"Awesome," Logan said.

"Phase Two complete," Eir noted, then shouted, "Charge!"

Logan and Rytlock broke into a run, leading the rest into the ice cave. Ahead lay shattered icicles and bats flailing in their death throes. The flaming sword and the war hammer ended their torments.

As they ran on, Rytlock called over his shoulder, "What's ahead?"

Eir replied. "More dragon minions. They might be transformed norn, or more ice bats. I expect something much bigger, though. Stay sharp."

The team passed beyond the killing fields, rushing down a smooth throat of ice into a deeper, darker chamber. Eir fitted another shaft to her bow and let fly. The flaming comet soared through a deep, broad ice cavern with a smooth ceiling. There were no icicles, no lurking bats-only a colonnade of frozen pillars lining either wall.

"It doesn't feel right," Logan said.

Rytlock barked a laugh. "Course not. It's a monster's lair."

Together, they ran down the center of the chamber, between the pillars of ice.

A groan echoed up the cavern, as if the glacier itself moaned in pain. The floor shook beneath their feet.

A splintering sound came from a pillar to one side of Rytlock. He swung his flaming sword toward it, seeing the shaft pull free from the wall.

It wasn't ice, but an icy giant.

It lunged toward Rytlock, hurling a mace at him. He ducked, but the icy spikes bashed one shoulder. "Damn!" he growled. "It would have been nice to know about these!"

Eir nocked another shaft and loosed it, point-blank.

The arrow cracked into the ice giant's chest and exploded in its transparent heart. Red flame evolved to orange and yellow, melting ribs. The fire turned white and beamed from the giant's astonished eyes. Then the wretched figure toppled.

Eir scrambled back as the massive warrior struck ground. It burst open, its melted heart gushing across the ice.

"Help!" shouted Logan from across the chamber.

Eir and Rytlock looked, seeing that he had been snatched up by another frozen giant. The thing had lost an arm, which lay in shattered ruins on the floor, but its other arm hoisted Logan toward a mouth that bristled with fangs.

Zojja rushed up to the creature and set her hands on its leg. An orange curtain of flame blazed from her fingertips and ripped through the leg. The flame split the icy limb and sent steam blasting from it. Falling back, Zojja slapped hands on the other leg and blasted it, too. The thighs of the giant slid outward over the calves and cracked, dropping the torso. It struck ground and shattered. Cracks raced up it, and blocks of ice dropped loose. The fangs that were just then biting down on Logan disintegrated, and the thing came apart around him.

Buried to his chest in chunks, Logan said, "Nice job, little one."

"Little one!" Zojja seethed.

"You'd rather be big? Like Eir?"

"No," Zojja grumped. "Little is fine."

They turned to see that their teammates had the other giants well in hand. Sandy was pummeling the next two, and Caithe had scrambled up the back of a third. As it thrashed, she plunged her dagger into the seam at its neck and twisted. The neck cracked. The head slid off its massive shoulders and plunged face-first to crash on the floor. Bits of giant skull skittered out all around.

Eir, meanwhile, loosed shaft after shaft at the remaining giants.

Boom! Boom! Boom! They fell.

Suddenly, there was only silence in that deep, dark place.

"Onward!" Eir called.

Leaping over melted monsters, the companions formed up again and charged deeper.

"Ahead is the inner sanctum," Eir called out to them. "The Dragonspawn will be there."

They ran onward a thousand more paces before they reached the end of the chamber.

And it ended abruptly.

The team stopped atop a cliff that overlooked a deep, dark chamber. They couldn't see the bottom, but the space was far from empty.

A guttural roar erupted from it-a mob incensed at the sight of invaders.

"The inner sanctum," Eir said. She raised her bow and shot an arrow into the chamber. It flared, showing a mob of norn warriors-or once-norn.

None retained a fleshly body. All now were made of ice and stone. Some had great spiked clubs for hands. Others had frozen plates jutting from their backs. Still more had monstrous faces stretched by forests of icy fangs. The arrow flew past them, showing perhaps five hundred before it struck the far wall and exploded.

"What in the Foefire are those things?" Rytlock wondered.

"Icebrood. Hundreds of years old, corrupted by the Dragonspawn. We'll take this battle to them."

"Phase Three?" Rytlock guessed.

"Phase Three," Eir said. "Snaff, stay up here and control Sandy. Caithe, stay here as well and guard him."

"Yes," the sylvari agreed.

"What are we doing?" Rytlock asked.

"You, Logan, Zojja, Garm, and Sandy are going down with me to fight them, to draw out the Dragonspawn." Turning, Eir nocked three shafts and sent them down into the cavern. Three more arrows followed, and three more before the first volley struck the floor. The arrowheads exploded, blasting apart their foes and clearing a patch at the cliff's base.

Eir slung her arm over Sandy and said to Logan and Zojja, "Climb on."

They did.

"Sandy, give our charr friend a ride," Eir commanded.

The sand golem grasped Rytlock and slung him up to piggyback.

"Take us down," Eir ordered.

The golem bounded from the cliff's edge and plunged. On the way down, Eir loosed six more shafts, tearing holes in the enemy army.

Sandy landed at the base of the cliff, legs flexing to take the impact. Eir, Logan, Rytlock, and Zojja rolled free and scrambled to their feet. Garm landed heavily beside them.

"Charge!" Eir shouted, sending arrows ahead of them. Explosions cleared the way.

Behind her came Sandy, marching over the icebrood. Giant feet crushed the ice minions, and giant hands smashed them. The few icebrood that evaded Sandy ran headlong into the charr, the man, the asura, and the dire wolf.

"At last, real combat!" Rytlock roared.

He reared back as a frozen sword glanced off his armor. Lunging, he rammed Sohothin through the body of an ice monster. The creature split, shards sliding past each other to splash on the ground. Rytlock spun around and seared the head off another warrior.

Logan meanwhile traded blows with one of the icebrood. Its ice axe rang against his breastplate, but his war hammer cracked against its knee. The warrior toppled to its back. Logan leaped on it and emptied its head with his maul.

He jumped back and flung his hand out. His fingers smeared blue aura in the air, solidifying it in a shield before Zojja. The icebrood pounded up to the shield but couldn't reach the asura apprentice.

Zojja sent gouts of flame bursting from her hands and melted the monsters all around.

Garm bulled through ranks, smashing them down to break on the icy ground.

Shattered shards, broken bodies, steaming pools-the comrades flattened the icebrood.

But then a blue-white light erupted in the center of the chamber. It emerged from the icy floor and pierced the ceiling and cast all in its horrid glow. Out of that shaft, a figure took shape. Its crystalline back was hunched and spiky, and spiraling energies infused its frigid frame.

"The Dragonspawn!" Eir cried, halting her team.

Even the icebrood fell back from that horrid presence.

The Dragonspawn's eye sockets beamed a wicked blue light across them all, and its icicle fingers weaved strange magics in the air. It spoke in a voice like ice grating on stone. So, you have killed a hundred of my warriors?

It was hard to reply, hard to scrape words together. The shaman's mind was filling the chamber, infusing every mind with its aura. Only the tattoos kept the companions' minds from being taken over entirely.

At last, Rytlock managed a few words: "We've killed… half your army."

A deep moan came, a sound of infinite misery that evolved into a drone of delight. Not half. Not one-tenth! The Dragonspawn flung out its algid arms, and purple light jagged from its fingertips.

The walls of the cavern shattered, tumbling to the floor to reveal more of the icebrood. Rank on rank, the dragon minions stretched into the unseeable distance.

Your sandman and your tiny band cannot kill them all. Nor will you kill me. Instead, I will make you my own.

Eir closed her eyes, fighting against the Dragonspawn's aura. She mustered the words "You have no power over us."

So many have said that, the shaman replied, and have been wrong. It beckoned to its troops. Come to me!

Thousands of icy feet pounded the ground. The icebrood converged on Eir and her companions.

"We must escape," Logan muttered, fear creeping up his spine.

"Sandy can get us out," Rytlock added.

Eir shook her head. "That's the Dragonspawn talking."

Rytlock said, "Your plan has failed."

"Not yet." Eir pulled another exploding arrow from her quiver.

"What are you going to do?" Rytlock raged.

Eir drew the gray vial from her pocket. "Adapt the plan." She rammed the vial into the explosive head and said, "Phase Four." Eir aimed at the Dragonspawn and launched the shaft.

The arrow whined through the air and crashed into the shaman's icy chest. It exploded. A fireball engulfed the Dragonspawn, embedding tiny gray powerstones all across its figure. The shaman's mesmeric mind, which once filled the cavern and drowned out all other minds, suddenly imploded.

The mental onslaught ceased.

Eir and the others could think again.

The Dragonspawn was cut off from every mind in the chamber-cut off even from the mind of its master.

The marching armies faltered. A thousand ice warriors halted. They had obeyed the Dragonspawn because it was the champion of their lord. Now, it was only a terrible, foreign power in their midst. They turned from Eir and her comrades and turned on the Dragonspawn.

They were no longer marching but running, converging on the spectral creature. The icebrood tore into the Dragonspawn. They ripped off its icy arms and cracked open its body and shattered its head. Each time a shard came away, though, the storm of energies around the Dragonspawn whipped wider. It became a whirling cyclone. Its circling arms bashed into its attackers.

"Is this what you planned?" Rytlock yelled.

"In the end." Eir nodded. "The lust for power turns on itself."

The swirling storm of blue magic around the Dragonspawn picked up the icebrood and smashed them together. They broke into flying shards of ice and stone, which spiraled around the dragon champion. It was taking a new shape, not as a single entity but as an ice storm. The souls and bodies of its minions were becoming part of the champion. Already, the cyclone of ice and stone whirled fifty feet high and twenty feet wide, and it roared as it consumed even more of the icebrood.

"The Dragonspawn seems to be winning," Rytlock noted. "What's Phase Five?"

"Escape," Eir said grimly. She turned and ran, with Rytlock, Logan, Zojja, and Garm close behind. Eir shouted back to Sandy, "Get us out of here!"