Hill Top Adventures

In the darkness of the labyrinth below the ground a young woman fought the beasts that rose to stop her at every turn. Skeletal warriors marched in unison towards her in quick strides. Pulling the Mithril kriss blades from their scabbards she began to fight off the putrid smelling skeletons. Crack of bone shattered the stillness of the dank halls, illuminated by a fallen torch. A few more skeletons and now she can rest. Raena rested against a fallen brick, leaning against the wall breathing heavily.

There, out of the corner of her eye she sees a doorway with electric blue light emanating from beneath the wood of the door. Stabbing her blades into the floor, she pulled herself up. Wrenching them free, the young woman sheathed her blades and went to pick up her torch. Holding the light high she walked towards the door, excitement building with every step. Reaching the door, she found that the lock was rusted beyond belief so decided to break the door.

With a deep breath, she slammed her shoulder into the wood and felt it give a little. One more push and the door cracked free from the lock and opened with a groan. Bringing the torch in to the room first she looked what lay beyond. "Books!" she squealed with delight and went to the closest shelf and ran her fingers over the spines as she walked the length of the room. "Transfiguration, Regeneration, Chain lightening, Wow, I need this one." she said as she pulled the book from the shelf in a plume of dust. Red leather bound pages yellowed with age, written by a powerful mage that had once lived down here in the labyrinth of tunnels that stretched for miles and miles below the Earth. Shivering, she pulls her cloak up about her to warm her weary bones and begins to read the book. When all of a sudden! she feels the hair on the back of her neck stand up as a clank of metal falls in the corner. Placing the book in her satchel she gets up and looks in the corner to see what had fallen.

There , glistening in the fire light from the torch was the most beautiful medallion she had ever seen. It was a three inch long silver tear drop with a large Onyx scarab in the center. Runes and Hieroglyphs etched around the edge that began to reconfigure as she touched the silver. The scarab began to spin and stopped with it's head pointed to the left. Gathering the long chain up she placed it around her neck and removed her cloak and placed it in her bag. Reaching inside her bag for her silver dust she threw it into the air." Shamanch rhie rhom" She spoke and a large green portal opened up and Raena walked into it. She spun around with a great force and slammed into the ground outside of the labyrinth.

Sitting up slowly, she gathered up her things and rose from the ground. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her cloak and slung it over her shoulders and adjusted the clasp so that it would hang right. Slowly, she began to walk back to town against he wind. Angry gusts whipped her cloak about her and she struggled to keep the hood up when The rain began to fall angrily just as she crested the hill. Water fell down her face in rivulets when a voice called to her from behind and she waved them off and kept walking up the hill faster. The men behind her grabbed roughly and shoved her down on the ground ready to do her bodily harm when she pulled back and blasted the one on top of her with a bolt of chain lightening ,blasting a hole in his chest. With a scream the other man fled into the woods. The young woman shoved the man off of her with a grunt and struggled to her feet, Looking down below her she saw the town of Hill Top.

Houses and farms, stores and stables spotted along the valley floor. To her left about ten yards away was Hill Top Inn. She could smell the roasted meat in the air and realized she was quite hungry and decided to pop in and see Old Rosie.

She and her husband Tom had owned the inn for several years and were very close friends. As she clicked the latch on the door, a gust of wind came by and ripped the handle from Raena's hand slamming it into the wall inside. Rosie looked up and smiled," Raena, it's good to see you child. Come warm yourself by the fire. Veldon, Veldon, come shut the door please." She said as she waved her hand towards the door. The cranky old dwarf got up from his roast pork muttering under his breath and went to close the door as Raena seated herself down by the fire. Removing her cloak, she rubbed her hands together next to the flames. Rosie came towards her carrying a platter of meat and veggies roasted to perfection. "Eat ,girl, it will give you strength, you are far too thin, eat, eat."

 Raena smiled and pulled the small knife from her boot and cut a piece of the juicy meat and put it into her mouth and began to chew. She closed her eyes as she savored the taste and then swallowed it down with a bit of ale. Her tall frame was by no means too small. Her long red hair fell almost to her waist and her green eyes were uncommonly beautiful. Many a man ,old and young turned their heads her way as she walked by. Veldon came over to where she was sitting and spoke kindly, " Raena, I've missed ya while ya been gone girl." He said in thick Irish accent. The young woman smiled and offered him some of her meat and gestured for him to sit. The old dwarf sat down and looked at her, she had the signs of wear and tear about her. Her tunic was ripped and the side of her breast was showing. He averted his eyes and motioned for Raena to cover it up." Come on now cover up Raena, those are too pretty to be leavin' 'em uncovered."

Looking down, she realized her clothes were torn and tattered from the battle below and called out to Rosie." Miss Rosie, do you have any extra clothes nearby?" the older woman smiled and left the room to fetch her some new ones." Yes dear , I'll be right back.

I think Brandie has some that will fit you nicely. I'll just pop over to Smity's and see if she's home."" Than you Rosie." She said as she sat back to take another bite of her roast. Looking down she fingered the medallion lightly, so that it caught the light from the fire and the flames glistened off of the scarab. Veldon saw the scarab and thought for a moment. "Could it be? "Yeah, it was. It was the medallion of Oman Shaver, an ancient Eastern priest who's antiques were priceless beyond compare. Smiling he looked at the young woman and spoke," Ya found the labyrinth didn't ya? How did ya get so far alone? Are ya goin' back down there?" Raena raised her hands and waved them about," Whoa, whoa, how did you know I was down there?" she asked. And the old dwarf replied," Well, the medallion is legendary. There's been a lot of people looking for it and it seems you were the lucky one to find it. Take it to Lord Brennan ,he can tell you what it is ."Well, I do have a book for him." She replied quickly. Catching the gleam in Veldon's eye she knew he was up for the trip.

So the two finished eating and Raena dressed herself in the new clothes that Rosie had brought for her, Creamy tan mountain goat hide laced up the sides and hemmed with little sharp crescent moons of silver that were quite sharp. Smiling to herself, she knew that they could be used as weapons if need be. Smity Rhines was the town's black smith and he made all sorts of weapons and so did his daughter Brandie. It must have been her that made the lovely tunic. The leather pants laced up the side of her legs showing her tan flesh beneath them, they too had little silver crescents along the waist of the pants. The outfit fit her tightly enough to show every curve of her body and still give her flexibility to fight. Brandie had done a wonderful job in curing the hide to be so movable. The two decided they would go see the sorcerer to see what he could tell them and went to the local stables where Joe kept the horses.

Raena saddled their horses and started on their way towards the forest where the old wizard lived. The path was winding and creepy as the trees grew close to the path. Raena had to duck her head a few times to elude low lying branches which made the dwarf howl with laughter that caused his horse to side step quickly. Veldon grabbed onto the pommel to keep from falling off. Raena smiled and looked over her shoulder and said," See what the Goddess does for laughing at the plight of others?" " Aye , girl, you are always hexin' me. Why last week my fingers were achin' and I just knew it was you punishin' me for slapping your rump. "Chuckling to herself, she spoke clearly," You'll never hear me admit to that Veldon. But it did sting fairly bad and I was a bit angry at you." They rode on in silence for some time until they reached the edge of a lake. There in the center of the lake was a large island surrounded by deep forest. In the very center of the island lay the long hut of Lord Brennan. Raena stopped her horse and helped Veldon down off of his and boarded the ferry that would take them across the lake. An old man came out from his hut and limped onto the ferry and untied the rope.

 Veldon became a bit nervous as the ferry lurched when it freed it's self from the bottom of the lake floor. Raena's horse shifted a bit and began to grow nervous and stomp it's hoof loudly. " Shh, Mystic, It will be ok." she crooned into her ear. Some few minutes later the ferry bumped into the bank of the island. The old man tossed Veldon the rope and said, " Tie this onto the post." The dwarf growled and jumped onto the bank and tied off the rope and jumped back onto the ferry to help Raena bring the horses back onto the dry land.

Meanwhile..

Lord Brennan lay asleep on his bed dreaming of a medallion and terrors no one should behold, woke from a sound sleep. He sat up and called out to Sony," Shadow Wolf " She stopped what she was doing and came to help the old man get up. "For a werewolf, you sure are nice." The young woman smiled at him and began to rub his old gnarled fingers so they would work. Lord Brennan had found her some years ago when she was travelling with her family. He knew she was different right away and still continued to associate with her. He had been teaching her the art of healing and she was quite adept with the art. The Goddess had sent her to him to keep him company in his old age. She was the child he'd never had, someone to pass on his knowledge too. Little did he know that his life was about to change. He and Sonya would be needed for something but he wasn't clear as to just what it would be just yet. Sonya was half Elven and half Human her mother had fallen in love with a Human and she was born, three years later.

 Time moved on and she grew to be a vibrant young child full of curiosity. One day she was wandering in an open field where there were several wolves laying in the sun warming their fur. Soon she stumbled upon them and tripped right over the Alpha female causing her to nip her hand. She had been infected with werewolf's blood and then had passed the infection on to her. The child ran home crying to her parents and soon the change set upon her. At first she began to howl at night as the Moon waxed to full. Her parents seeing that they had to do something, performed many protective rites of magic over their only child so when the Moon waxed full, Sonya would only turn into a beautiful black and gray wolf and retain her memories.

 Years passed and she tried to master her abilities without results until Lord Brennan came to them one year while traveling the villages, healing the maladies of many people. He taught her how to use the Elven magic within her to bring out the qualities of the wolf, everyday. She could smell for miles and could see in the dark. She could commune with the wild wolves and could fight very well with the bow and dagger blades and she could move really, really fast. " Someone comes soon, Sonya." he said as she helped him flex his fingers." It's amazing how a sixty year old man can barely use his hands in the cold weather. What's that you have there child? She smiled as she pulled out a container camphor salve and rubbed it into his fingers visualizing green light flowing from her fingertips into Brennan's knuckles freeing them of their pain."

She dropped his hand and rose from her spot on the stool next to his bed. Lord Brennan flexed his fingers and thought, "I've taught her well." he chuckled as she went out to see what he was talking about. There in the distance right at the tree line two people came towards them on horseback. She could smell the dwarf and wrinkled her nose and went out the door of the thatched roof hut to greet them. " Hello," she said as Raena jumped down from her horse and held out her hand to the young woman before her. Veldon, jumped down from the horse and fell on his rear, Grumbling," Why do the horses have to be so smeggin' tall?" Sonya stifled a laugh as she went to help the old dwarf. She reached down and pulled him to his feet, giggling at his growling antics. " Sonya darlin', we've come to see Lord Brennan about this medallion Raena here found." Sonya looked over at Raena and saw the medallion and nodded her head." Come inside , my master will be with you in a moment." They followed the young woman into the hut and sat where she motioned for them to sit.

 It had been a while since she'd seen Raena, she'd been working for Rosie and Tommy at the inn off and on for six years now. She always helped them when they needed it, between plundering dungeons. A movement at the door made Raena turn to see the old wizard walk through the door. "Raena, Veldon, always good to see you." Raena rose and walked towards him and the pendant caught the glint off the sun through the window. He made no comment as to what he saw and allowed the young woman to hug him.

" It's good to see you , father is well and sends his regards." The old man looked at her and spoke," So what do you have for me?" Raena's eyes sparkled with glee as she opened her satchel and pulled out the books and handed them to the Sorcerer. " I knew you would like the book about Transfiguration, but this one , the Chain lightening, I need your help to cast this." He thought for a moment and nodded his head. He never turned down a promising student and he knew she was trained by Lord Fury her father. They both were very good friends and shared many techniques with each other as they were trained by Lady Maria Franchesca Fury. " You must remember to focus Raena." He stated simply and continued on." How many times have I heard your father tell you to concentrate on a objective or goal, to find yet another clumsily cast spell bouncing off the wall. Hmm?" He looked at her and grinned , receiving the books from the young woman and kissing her on the cheek. " Thank you dear." He said as he went to sit in his chair by fire. He knew that she would need him down in the dungeon, there was way too much knowledge to gain not to go..... And she needed his focus or she would get hurt. Sonya rumbled around in the hearth for a few moments and the whole room began to smell of Sage and roasted chicken. She had been ready to begin cooking the meal and decided to finish. " Come here Raena, help me finish this." She beckoned to her and she rose from her spot and came towards the heart. The light of the fire playing against the silver crescents along her hem.

" That's a new tunic, what happened to the one you used to have? We tracked that damned elk for two days to get you that hide," Raena smiled and replied, " I ended up ripping it to shreds down there in the labyrinth. It's pretty rough down there and, to put it bluntly, I need your help. "