I13DT - In The Grip Of An English Winter

[Narrator]

As Will, Dee, and Graham walked towards their intended target, the snow on the ground became more noticeable. The tree they were working towards was a twisted old growth ash tree with smooth, dark bark.

[Graham Jaeger]

"Winter holds sway here," Graham said quietly to himself.

[Will Stanton]

"I'm from New York. This is nothing."

[Graham Jaeger]

"Michigan. Same."

[Narrator]

A blast of cold wind blew from the direction of the tree.

[Will Stanton]

"Well..." Will said, heading towards the tree.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Let's not read too much into it," Dee says as she continues on.

[Narrator]

Will, being in the lead, was the first to vanish as he approached the tree.

****

There was a lot of hammering on metal happening where Will was now, as well as the sounds of bellows and fire. It all appeared to be behind him though as he was still looking at the tree.

[Will Stanton]

Will whirled.

[Narrator]

He was just outside a large open air forge being worked by a lot of squat humanoids that were nearly as broad as they were tall. Their skin was gray and they had full beards in various colors. One on the edge of the forge was looking at him in confusion.

[Will Stanton]

"Where is this place?" Will asked the closest one.

[Graham Jaeger]

Graham cursed when Will disappeared, and rushed towards the tree with an arrow notched.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"...so we're doing this, are we?" Dee says as she approaches the tree warily.

[Narrator]

The dwarf seemed about to answer him when Graham barreled in behind Will, followed by Dee at her slower pace. He hefted his hammer, "Brothers! More stragglers! They brought a golem with them this time!" The other dwarves turned to look, lifting their hammers as well.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"...Mister Stanton, just what did you tell these nice dvergr?"

[Graham Jaeger]

"Dverwhat?" Graham asked, raising a brow. He wasn't yet outright aiming at anyone.

[Will Stanton]

"I asked for directions, oh lady Golem. Something's up here. We're not the first they've encountered."

[Narrator]

"You're in Lady Maelona's territory," the dwarf who was doing the talking said as the others left their forges. A quick glance showed they'd been working on various weapons and armor. The lead dwarf stepped forward, "Your bad luck to come into my forge. If the Lady wasn't busy trying to gain control of her new beast, you'd have the much kinder house guards to deal with you."

[Deirdre Quinn]

It certainly wasn't visible that Dee's eyes narrowed inside her helmet.

"What... sort of beast?"

[Graham Jaeger]

Seeing everyone else not fighting yet, Graham relaxed the tension on his bow. He could draw fast anyway. However, he stayed alert for aggressive movements.

[Narrator]

"Some Summerlands beast, some sort of large cat," he said with a dismissive tone, twirling his hammer a bit.

[Will Stanton]

"Yeah, you're going to take us there immediately."

[Narrator]

"Oh, aye," the dwarf said, "that we will, but you'll not be conscious for the trip. Lunk!" A large form, which they'd all mistaken for a piles of rocks rose, towering over all of the them before aggressively moving in their direction.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Just remember, you're the ones that started this."

She raises both hands towards the creature and lets loose a repulsor blast.

[Graham Jaeger]

Graham quickly eyed the environment for something he could shoot that would actually help. Meanwhile, he aimed at the lead dwarf for show.

[Will Stanton]

Will held his action, waiting to see what the repulsor did.

[Narrator]

Lunk took a step back after taking the repulsor blast, gravel flying off. "That hurt Lunk!" Its voice was deep and carried a bumpkinish tone. It lunged forward, fast for its size, taking a swing at Dee.

The dwarf pointed his hammer at Graham as the other dwarves fanned out around them. "You'll be wantin' to point that somewhere else, boy."

[Will Stanton]

"I don't think so," Will said, growing in size to back up Graham. "Call off your golem. NOW."

[Graham Jaeger]

"I take the left, you take the right?" Graham whispered confidently.

[Will Stanton]

"Dunno how fast you can shoot, kid. Take what you can get--but let's see if they back down."

[Graham Jaeger]

"Whoever said all I could do was shoot?" Graham smirked.

[Deirdre Quinn]

Dee brings her hand up to meet the fist, palm out as she sets her repulsor to a wide burst to try to negate the force of the blow.

"You at least have an excuse. I wonder why your friends really want to test me today."

[Narrator]

The blast deflects the blow and his fist buries into the ground, leaving his face closer to Dee. "Mingus use you for parts after Lunk break you," he snarls at her before he attempts to bite her.

"Lunk's not a golem. He's a mountain troll and you don't call those off," he said, waving his hammer at them. As he waved it, a gout of forge fire leaped from the head of the hammer and lashed out in their direction.

[Will Stanton]

"Nya!" Will said, his legs turning springy to bounce himself over the fire.

In mid-air, he shifted his legs into a heavy anvil formation, and manuevered to try to come down on the dwarf.

[Graham Jaeger]

Graham reacted quickly and ran for a nearby support structure and ran up it just enough to flip himself over the gout. Just like against a tree back home. He immediately launched a precise arrow at the weapon arm of dwarf close to him.

[Deirdre Quinn]

Dee fires her boot jets, making a sharp turn as she tries to land on the creature's back.

[Narrator]

"Nya!" Will said, his legs turning springy to bounce himself over the fire.

In mid-air, he shifted his legs into a heavy anvil formation, and manuevered to try to come down on the dwarf.

The dwarf lifts his hammer to block, but isn't prepared for the anvil blow. He's knocked onto his back, glaring up at Will as two dwarves charge in to beat on Will with their hammers.

Graham reacted quickly and ran for a nearby support structure and ran up it just enough to flip himself over the gout. Just like against a tree back home. He immediately launched a precise arrow at the weapon arm of dwarf close to him.

The dwarf grunts in pain as the arrow buries itself in his arm, throwing his aim off as fire erupts for hammer. It blasts past Graham and he can feel the heat of it. Another pair of dwarves whirl their hammers on their straps, hurling them at Graham.

Dee fires her boot jets, making a sharp turn as she tries to land on the creature's back.

The troll rips his fist free of the ground and swats at her with his other hand like someone would wave at a fly. Although she manages to land on his back, he begins turning quickly like a dog chasing its tail to try to find her. This motion makes holding on somewhat difficult.

[Deirdre Quinn]

The moment she makes contact, she tries to start pulling veins of metal from the creature's rocky hide, guiding them up to obscure its sight.

[Graham Jaeger]

The dwarf grunts in pain as the arrow buries itself in his arm, throwing his aim off as fire erupts for hammer. It blasts past Graham and he can feel the heat of it. Another pair of dwarves whirl their hammers on their straps, hurling them at Graham.

Graham knee-slides under the hammers as fires two more arrows aimed to debilitate his opponents.

[Will Stanton]

Will turned his skin to a hard metal to avoid taking painful damage, preparing to counter-attack.