Now with more fire!

Fwoosh!! The crackling ball of flame sizzled as it struck the slime, leaving quivering molten mess. Fwoosh!!! The crackling ball of flame scorched the narrow mine walls as the light of flaming death was reflected in the eyes of the batlike varkolyn. Fwoosh!!! The crackling ball of flame singed the ratlin fur, softening it for the Vanquisher’s arrows.

Renza began to see the benefit of teaching Chevron his new trick. Though his new found enthusiasm was getting a little exhausting, Renza appreciated the extra firepower from her four legged companion.  They had scoured the third level looking for Brink to avail. Chevron looked disappointedly at the last of the smoldering corpses before him, then up to Renza. ‘More,’ he thought.

Then the sound of battle echoed once more just further down the tunnel. Chevron bolted as soon as Renza moved, summoning the arcane fire with a growl that would turn into a bark. The narrow tunnel led into a larger chamber with a rope railing, guarding against accidental falls. Lower levels could be seen faintly glowing by lantern light in the the depths beneath Torchlight. The square-jawed Brink clanked his blade against a very unhappy stone troll. The troll brought a powerful fist down the mercenary’s shield. The force of the blow buckled Brink’s legs from under him. Renza volleyed a hail of arrows into the monster. The troll roared in pain, pulling the arrows from its thick hide. Chevron let loose with his fireball, causing the stone troll to flinch. Brink gathered himself and slashed at the troll’s hamstring, dropping it to its knees. 

Renza landed several shots in the troll’s neck as Brink finished the beast off with powerful swing to the back of its head.

Brink looked at the fallen troll then at Renza. “ Did Syl send you after me? She must have thought I was in over my head again. Well she’s right, these monsters are getting stronger and I could use your help. I’m going after the fiend that was attacking Syl on the bridge, will you join me?”

Renza grinned and said not without innuendo, “For the right price, my bow is yours.”

Chevron rolled his eyes.

Fire it up, fire it up!

Dankness assaulted Renza before anything else in when she entered the mine. The clickety-clack of the mine elevator echoed down the shaft. As the elevator shuttered to a halt Chevron gave a quick whimper. It was going to be a long time before he would breathe clean air.

Renza could see several miners in the low lantern light.  In spite of the onslaught of ratlins and rock trolls, the miners continued their work. That was is the power of Ember. Without Ember, the town of Torchlight would be less than marginalized; it would cease to exist.

The Vanquisher and her companion moved cautiously through the mine. ratlins skulked in the darkness but were sniffed out by Chevron. Renza’s arrows found their mark, but the she could hear many more were the came from. She continued further in the mine and came upon group of ratlins who had a miner cornered. The burly but exhausted miner swung his pick ax clobbering one of the rat creatures, but the creatures continued to press the miner with attacks from their crudely sharpened weapons. The Vanquisher took a second to measure her opening shot. The arrow pierced the throat of the first ratlin, then bounced off the now gurgling creature into his unsuspecting neighbor. Not quite dead, the ratlin turned to face Renza, only to find Chevron at his throat. The miner smashed another ratlin as another ricocheted shot dropped the rest of the small gang of rat men.

The miner thanked Renza. He said he saw a crazed man chase a group of creatures down to the lower levels just moments ago. Renza took a second to look over the corpses of the ratlins. A bit of gold, a potion and a scroll were among the spoils. Renza disliked magic. While she understood its usefulness, she preferred her bow. Though Chevron could not speak, he was attuned to magic. It was not unheard of for such companions to be able to learn a magic spell or two. Renza looked at the scroll then at her dog, then at the scroll. The rough parchment had an ornate drawing of ball of flame in the midst of the magic mumbo jumbo.  Against her better judgment, she gave the scroll to Chevron.

Chevron’s eyes scanned the scroll, and the images on the parchment vanished.

‘Now I can set them on fire? Most excellent.’