Yevoc Cryoblood's Story

Yevoc walked the halls of the castle. This was where he was raised, though he could hardly call it home. He was the youngest of ten children, it seemed his father couldn’t even kiss his mother without getting her pregnant. As the youngest a majority of his upbringing came from his brothers, as a member of the Snow Elf royal family the remainder of it came from the servants and other staff around the castle. His father was rarely able to give his sons the attention they deserved and it was true that he did pay more attention to his favorites, but Yevoc knew that his father still loved him.
Yevoc finally came to the royal blacksmith’s work quarters. He had received word that his specialty order had finally been finished. He had a reserve of ice sapphire, and the royal blacksmith was the best for miles around. The sapphire was forged into a pair of twin short swords. The ice sapphires were often used by the Snow Elves as a means of magnifying and intensifying their elemental ice magic. Yevoc, however, was the first to come up with the idea of forging them into weapons. These were the only ice sapphire weapons in existence. He took the blades and could instantly feel his ice powers being drawn through the hilts into blades. He sheathed them and strapped the sheaths to his back so he could draw them easily.
“Thank you, Damel.” He said as he bowed in appreciation. “These are the finest blades you’ve ever forged for me. It couldn’t have been easy working with sapphire instead of metal.”
“You’re right, your Highness, the ice sapphire is not an easy stone to hone, but laser cutting and sub-zero plasma quenching make the job easier. They also made those blades harder and sharper than diamond, they should never need sharpening.”
“You’re truly a master of your trade, I will cherish these.” He replied as he took the exit that lead out into the castle courtyard. He didn’t want to make a big fuss about leaving so he only told a few people.
He went to the stables and got on his horse, a jet black steed named Shade Runner. “Ok, kid, let’s get going.” He said as he gave him a pat on the neck. They flew off in to the south in the direction of Frosthiem, a smaller city that was home to a large Nordic population as well as a few Snow Elves and a tribe of Therians that were related to snow leopards. Word had reached Polara about the trouble they were having with an ice troll who was attacking every shipment of supplies that was coming into the city. It wouldn’t be long before the people there would run out of produce and other supplies that could only be shipped in. Killing this troll would be his first adventure in what would hopefully be a long line of them.

Yevoc was nearing Frosthiem and he heard the screams of goblins being torn apart in battle and the strained grunts of pain coming from a creature that sounded large. He got off Shade Runner and began to fallow the tracks in the snow that seemed to be running away from the city. There were also thick globs of brownish goo in the snow that was definitely goblin blood. Something in the town had sent a large group of them running and had injured most of them. Yevoc remembered that there was a couple of goblin tribes in the area, but they usually kept their distance from the major cities because they usually had heroes guarding them. They also weren’t organized enough to mount an attack like this on their own. Someone or something was directing these little terrors into an organized unit, and that was dangerous.
Yevoc drew his swords, his magic instantly being channeled into the blades giving them a pale blue glow. He heard a loud growling coming from the steep hills that bordered the wall that sounded the city. He looked up to see a small cave not far from the city entrance. He had no doubt that the troll was up there, but the rock face looked pretty steep.
He heard conversation coming from near the gates to the city, but he ignored it as it seemed calm and he was focused on the troll.
Yevoc re-sheathed his swords as he got to the base of the hill, though it looked more like a small mountain, and the grumbling and growling from the cave got louder. He began to climb the steep face of the hill and he was having a hard time finding good footholds and handholds and some of the rocks were loose. As he grabbed a larger stone about half way to the cave the ice troll burst out of the cave letting loose a loud howl and startling Yevoc. The rocks he was hanging on to shifted and he lost his grip as he fell backward in fright. He plummeted back to the ground landing with a thud. The wind was knocked out of him and he struggled to catch his breath. He kept his eyes on the troll above expecting it to jump down and beat him to death with his own limbs after dismembering him. This was no ordinary ice troll. The ice troll grabbed a boulder and threw it down at Yevoc. It landed on his legs crushing all of his bones from the waist down. He let out a howl of pain. And lost his view of the troll.

“Well, well, well, looks like you’re in a bit of a predicament aren’t ya?” He heard a smug voice asking, though he couldn’t see where it was coming from.
“Who’s there?! What do you want? Please just help me get this boulder off of me.”
There was a poof of blue sparkling fairy dust and a small fairy appeared on Yevoc’s chest.
“Now, now, it’s not that simple. You see if I get you out of this you’re free, but I don’t get anything out of it. No, I’m going to need something from you if you want me to save you. Or you could wait for the local towns folk to come save you, but even if they did brave an angry ice troll and get to you before you bled out, there’s still the matter of your legs. There aren’t many doctors around that wouldn’t amputate. I can’t remember the last time I heard of an adventurer that went around with a wheelchair.”
“Okay, what do you want already? I’ll give you anything just fix me.”
“As you wish.” There was another poof of fairy dust and then he was kneeling next to Yevoc as a human sized fairy with a contract and a pen. “Just sign on the line and this will all go away.”
Yevoc took the pen and scribbled his name on the line. “There, now fix this please!”
The fairy snapped his fingers and the boulder was instantly gone and Yevoc’s legs were back to normal without a scratch.
“Thank you, kind fairy.” He exclaimed as he stood up and inspected his legs to be sure they working properly. “Now the matter of your reward, what am I to give you to repay your kindness?”
“Oh gods, do all you royals talk like that? It’s so pretentious. But anyway, if you were to have read what you signed, you would have seen that you will be giving me half of something that’s incredibly valuable to you.” the fairy grinned devilishly as he handed the contract to Yevoc.
Yevoc looked at the contract reading the last few lines out loud. “As payment for Ash Jinxwisp removing aforementioned boulder and saving my life, I hereby grant him half of the credit for any and all future adventures. As such Ash Jinxwisp will continue to be my adventuring companion until I either die, am unable to go on anymore adventures or I help him find and kill the one who killed his parents.” He read. “What the hell is all this?!”
“It’s simple buddy.” Ash replied throwing his arm over Yevoc’s shoulder. “You get to go out and make a name for yourself as an adventurer, but I get to go along with you on all your adventures and get the credit along with you. Or you could help me with one adventure and kill the therian who killed my parents and we’ll call it even. Your choice.”
“Well, buckle up kid, you aren’t getting out of this that easy. Sure I’ll share the credit with you, couldn’t hurt having a fairy along for the ride. And when I’m done with all the adventures and quests I want to do, then I might consider helping you with your little vengeance plot.”

Vanarak was throwing long glances towards the Elf, She seemed pretty interesting.

His gruffy laugh escaped once more "Haha, I like your spirit! But that troll is a rough one, He'll not go down easily and in all honestly, I take your words as a challenge..." Vanarak knew very well that his injuries was no joke. This amount of damage would be more than enough to kill an Orc. But if there was one thing that Vanarak believed in then it was his ability to simply enough never die.

And thus he slowly rose again, The arrows in his back no longer caused pain, They were only being annoying, A restraint. "..Let's show this troll some blood... " and in the moment of those words being muttered a lone yell echoed from the hills in which Vanarak had fought the troll, A yell from from someone neither troll nor goblin. "...And it seem we are not the only one wanting to try that." Someone seems to have had the same stupid idea as Vanarak. His grip around the axe tightened and in one motion he swinged it up on his shoulder, passing dangerously close by Serrina's head.

Without giving a single look to her Vanarak started a jog towards the hills, From the small impression she had given he knew that she would come along wether he liked it our not. Without looking back he addresed her shortly "Mind doing me a favour and getting these arrows out? I think that we are going to need to be at our best soon." A small smile appeared on Vanarak

Tikal

"I don't get it.."

"I just really don't understand it.."

The day was young but everyone was already on their toes. Elves, Therians and warriors alike. When the giant troll had first appeared, terrorizing the small villages on the outskirts of Polara, challenegers from the Kingdom had come in droves. Even the royal armies had made a small showing, thinking that it was just another troll that stumbled too close and was now stupidly angry at all of the negative feedback for its arrival. Now their glistening armor was strewn about the impromptu battlefield and one or two bodies lay amongst the undergrowth.

Tikal frowned at the sight and kicked her legs gently. She was sitting, in her tiny state, on one of the many middle branches of a tree that surrounded the area. Her chin was in her hands and her wings lazily opened and closed. Her Spellbinder was open beside her. On the left page was half finished writing and on the right was a sketch of the Troll culprit howling at the sky with two scrabbling warriors in each grubby hand. Her blue eyes glanced down at her book before she commanded the item to her lap and summoned her pencil to her hand. She filled in a few more footnotes along the margins of the sketch, drawing lines to the subject of the foot note. Still though, she sighed. Her dilemma wasn't that since the flow of challengers had died down dramatically, she couldn't get a good look at the beast. Her dilemma was that she couldn't figure out what was allowing the beast to rule over the local goblins and tiny trolls in the area. It was fascinating. They acted as an angry swarm of bees protecting their queen. She just craved to know why and how.

She recieved little reprieve when she watched yet another warrior come charging up to the hill that led to the temporary dwelling of the menace. She silently wished him the best of luck until she witnessed a boulder tumble down the hill, crushing his legs to mush. The sight was just awful. Not to mention the sounds. The crunch of bone and the squish of muscle made her want to vomit and his squeals of agony made her wings shudder. "Poor soul.." she pout. But she hadn't moved a muscle. One of her cousins was nearby and had quickly aided the elf. Earning a tiny applause from Tikal.

Then she was back to staring at the Troll Hill, tapping her pencil on her shoulder as she thought. Vaguely she registered the sound of chatter and the approaching swish of feet through the grass and leaves.

"Uhhh... I swear I walked by here three times already..."

Lailah sighed, looking between the map in her hand and the ocean of foliage around her. So dense, so homogenous! It had been a week since the young fencer departed from her cozy boat home in the Far West Ocean, a week since her dear father tasked her to seek out the Kingdom of Polara. And a few days since she first started getting lost.

Lailah's suit of chain rustled and clinked with every step. The bushes brushed against her faded brown leather boots, damp soil embedded on her soles. Over and over again, the fencer stared at her map with gaping blue eyes. Pointlessly, since no matter how she looked at it, she had no idea where she was. Or where she should go.

She chided herself. "Damnit, Lailah! Focus!" She had heard of the recent troll trouble this area had gotten into. She was confident of the locals' ability to face the monster, and thus sought not to go out of her way to hunt it down. She was late enough already. She hoped the snow elf royals were the forgiving sort (though somehow, she was skeptical of it). A sudden, high scream in the distance caught her ear. With wide eyes and without further thought, the fencer bolted to its source.

"Hellooooo?! Is anyone there?" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Her right hand reached and gripped onto the hilt of her rapier, wary of incoming trouble.

The sound of clanking mail soon alerted Tikal the fairy of Lailah's approach below. Loud, unsubtle, the very antithesis of a jungle inhabitant. The young woman soon slowed to a halt right underneath the fairy's tree. She panted and lurched forward, both hands on her thighs, azure cape fluttering behind her.

The fencer stopped, stood straight, then looked around.

Only to realize that she had gotten herself even more lost than before.

"Agh, I swear! This Forest looks the same everywhere...!" she whined, slapping a hand to her forehead. All the while, she remained oblivious of a certain fairy's presence overhead.

“Well, now, your highness, I have a question for you. Why did you come down from the Elven high kingdom to Frosthiem?” Ash asked with an arrogant tone.
“Obviously to kill this ice troll, but I get the feeling there’s a different answer that you’re looking for.” Yevoc replied.
“Ah, yes. Very observant of you. Tell me, does this troll act like a typical ice troll? What has he been doing? What’s his goal?”
“No, he’s organized the local goblin tribes and other smaller trolls. He’s leading them on raids against the supply shipments that are going into the city.”
“So what does this tell you?”
“That there’s either something on the supply shipments that the troll is looking for, or he’s trying to starve out the town’s people.”
“And why would he be trying to starve out the town’s people?”
“There’s something in Frosthiem that he wants and he can’t get to it when the town’s people are attacking him.”
“Exactly. Now I ask again, is this typical behavior for a simple ice troll?”
“No, they aren’t that smart, they act on basic instincts, there’s no way a troll would be able to do any of this unless he was being controlled.”
“And who ever or whatever is controlling the troll wants something that’s in Frosthiem, and I’d be willing to bet whatever it is they’re looking for is in the ruins of old Frosthiem under the city.”
“So what do we do?”
“Well if you plan on killing the troll you might want to do it soon. We’re about to have some company, sounds like something big is coming this way as well as a few others, not to mention one of my own kind hiding in the trees.” He sneered as he pointed to the branches, though she was too small for Yevoc to see from that distance. Yevoc looked off in the distance and saw another elf and a white minotaur walking up to the hill.
“Maybe they could help us kill the troll.”
“Sure, I guess. If you don’t mind sharing the credit with them too.”
“You know I’m not just in this to make a name for myself, don’t get me wrong I like the idea of getting some notoriety, but that’s not the only reason I’m doing this. There are people out there that help others because it’s the right thing to do.”
“Okay, whatever you gotta tell yourself.”
“Hey, you guys, are you here to fight the troll too? We could use some help if you are.” Yevoc called out.

A heavily armoured figure moved through the forest, greatsword at the ready and wings folded close to his body to avoid catching them on stray branches. During his journey northward into Polara, Alexander Typhen had heard from the last couple of villages he had passed through about an ice troll terrorising the surrounding countryside. And with the aid of goblin minions, which struck him as quite unusual. His curiosity became yet another reason to track the beast down.

Thaumatic servos quietly whirred as he strode through the undergrowth, relying on his size and powered armour to wade through and create a new path where none were readily available. His greaves had become stained with mud during the long trek, and his tabard was in a similar, slightly tattered condition. He would give these due attention once his business was concluded here.

Just then, a voice. Alexander stopped dead in his tracks. A maiden's voice, all the way out here? He grew suspicious, expecting fairy trickery at play, but not long after came another voice elsewhere, this one male. Staying still for some time as he decided upon a course of action, the sky knight finally chose to head towards the source of the girl's voice, as that one sounded much closer. While he made an attempt at trying not to be spotted, he was hardly the most subtle thing to be found in the forest, unless the eyes and ears of the forest happened to be blind and deaf.

Vanarak continued his slow jog up the hill, He had no intention of being quiet, Anyone nearby would easily hear him. And that was quite apparent since somebody was already calling him out, Was it the one who screamed earlier? His hearing already witnessed of several people being up by the hill, perhaps they are trying to ambush him. It seemed his earlier intuition was wrong since the elf had stayed behind. It didn't bother him since the clanking of heavy armor could be heard above.

Reaching the summit Vanarak took a moment before cresting it, A thought struck him to actually be smart and scouting out what he will encounter on beforhand, But he quickly pushed that thought away, He would use his usual approach. Doing this he made one sudden charge up the hill, kicking up a large cloud of snow around him, The arrows in his back barely bothering him anymore. He swung his axe of his shoulder as the snow settled around him. Honestly he was mostly attempting to look a mighty combination of Intimidating and Majestic. With the snow and arrows an untrained eye could easily mistake him for a monster.

He grunted slightly as he looked around, An Elf and a Fairy was before him. The fairy didn't look all that threatening but they rarely do. The Elf on the other hand looked like he could atleast put up a fight. He walked slowly into the clearing, No words. He knew very well that there where more people around, This could perhaps just be some kind of robbery...

Tikal settled down with a tiny sigh and laid back on her branch, disrupting some of the snow around her. It was cold in Polara but within her first week of being here she'd learned and mastered a simple spell for warmth. Being bundled up didn't do much good for flying. Closing her eyes, she placed both hands on her stomach and began thinking of subjects that made her relax. Knitting, flying, doodling.. "Hhmm.." she exhaled. A good idea could hit someone in the face, but for some people it had to be coaxed out and convinced that it was indeed a good idea. But Tikal was only allowed rest and relaxation for a maximum of 10 minutes before someone came bursting through the trees. They didn't physically make much noise, besides that squeaky sound that snow made, but vocally they made her sit up and look down. "Huh." Tikal huffed, watching the girl with a flowing blue cape. She listened to her aggravated plee about being turned around, smiling a little. Human misfortune was often funny. "Poor soul.. Ah well." She kept her voice low so that the girl couldn't hear her speaking to herself. Not that it would be easy to find her in the first place. She was still tiny.

Soon after having a laugh at the female, on the other side of the branch, that elf and her cousin began talking about the Troll King. The name just popped into her head. Summoning her binder and pen she labeled her doodle just that. But as she listened to their conversation they made a solid point. A Troll, especially a big one, wasn't very smart. So they wouldn't be able to rally even more dumb trolls and goblins and make them attack as one coherent group. Outside forces and magic seemed to be the only option.
Sitting up, she snapped her binder shut. "This will make for a very good story. And as a plus, when they kill it, I can examine it closer!" She giggled maniacly for a bit before clearing her throat. "Easy Tikal.. just stick to the sides and keep it cool.." she did a little woosa before continuing to observe the feild.

After a while of observing, a third player entered the game! Well not really a game because there was a strong possibility of dying.. But still. The thing made a grand entrance. It charged up the path, throwing snow into the air and creating a puff trail behind it. Tikal stuck her upper body over the branch, upside down to see what the hulking figure really was. Another goblin? This one sure was brave! But when the snow settled her breath caught and her eyes widened. Oh.. Oh my.. What is that... What is that.. What is that?! Quickly, she summoned her book and scrabbled to stand up, distrupting more snow on her branch and causing it to tumble to the forest floor. Her wings fluttered as she took off down the length of her branch to get a better view of the white bull that was now quietly entering the field. Tikal felt her excitement travel to her hands and could hear her wings humming. She was shaking for a few moment before she snapped out of it and quickly began doodling, but only taking up the top half of the page when she did. She was going to study this white bull. Yes yes. She was going to study him down to its favorite tune and bathroom habits. She giggled excitedly and began bouncing knocking more snow to the ground, but she would still be out of sight, especially to the eye untrained for tiny-fairy spotting.

As the white minotaur got closer it became apparent just how much larger he was compared to Yevoc. He didn’t respond but had rushed up to him in a show of grandeur. Ash, coward that he was, shrank back down to his smaller size and fluttered up onto his shoulder.

“Not to be a downer or anything, but didn’t the Snow Elves enslave a bunch of minotaurs, like 400 years ago as labyrinth guards? Not saying that this guy’s holding a grudge, but you might want to be careful around him.”

“Oh shit! I completely forgot about that.” He gasped as he instinctively raised his arms up and crossed his swords in front of himself in a defensive position just before the minotaur stopped inches in front of him.

Vanarak was ever so gently smiling to himself, Certainly, That was very hard for anyone to notice. It seemed he had found someone who would be a much more enjoyable fight than standing off against a troll surrounded by damn goblins.

The Elf seemed suprisingly steady as he took a combat stance the moment Vanarak made his approach. As standard among Fairies the one accompanying that elf immediately dissapeared into a cloud of dust, How unusual. Those damn fairies was always so difficult to spot.

As Vanarak approached the elf, His body itching for a fight the thought struck him of those earlier ambushers he had heard. They seemed to lay low, Well suprisingly "Un-low" as voices could be heard from them along with a small, Hard to spot, Flutter among the trees.

None of this bothered Vanarak all that much. If they truly planned to attack him then he would atleast grind this elf down to the bones first. Getting suprisingly close to the elf, Close enough to clearly see the Fairy on his shoulder Vanarak released a large cloud of steam from his nose, Practically spraying Yevoc. Lifting his axe slightly, Touching the suprisingly ornate and well made swords that the elf wielded

"Do you know how to kill with these?"

The minotaur was intimidating, there was no question of that. Yet, in spite of this, Yevoc looked up into the creature’s eyes with a glare that let him know exactly how insulted he was by the question he had just asked.
“Considering the fact that these are the only two swords of their kind in existence, it goes without saying that I would know how to kill with them.” The blades began glow a pale shade of blue as he channeled his power into them.
“The better question would be: Do I want to kill with them? And given that you’re obviously the warrior type, you would know by my defensive stance that I don’t want to kill with them. However, that’s not to say I wouldn’t if I had to.”
With that he pointed one of the swords at a tree a few feet away and a beam blasted out from the sword freezing a small section of the tree’s trunk within seconds. The wood became so brittle that it snapped like a twig under its own weight. It fell in a way that it would have landed on Yevoc but as it fell he slashed through it like it was butter and knocked the debris away with the other sword.
“As you can see, I know how to handle my weapons. But, judging by the goblin arrows sticking out of your back, I’m guessing you’ve had a run-in with the troll and his minions as well. I'm guessing I'm not the one you came here to fight.” He said confidently as he sheathed his swords in a gesture of trust. “Looks like you could use some help removing those, there’s no way you can bend your arms back to get them. Don’t want them to get infected.”
“Why the hell did you put away the swords? This guy wants to murder you and you’re over here offering to pull arrows out of his back?!” Ash practically yelled into Yevoc’s ear.
“He doesn’t want to kill me. He just doesn’t trust me yet, that’s why I put the swords away.”
“Whatever, it’s your funeral.”
“Trust me, you annoying blue firefly, this guy isn’t bad, and he could be a much more valuable asset as a friend than an enemy.” Yevoc insisted. He suddenly realized that the minotaur had been watching and listening to the two of them talking the whole time. He looked up at him grinning sheepishly.

It had taken a few shuddering breaths but Tikal had finally managed to calm down and focus on her craft. She was studiously quiet while sitting on a branch close to the pair. Her hand moved quickly, making soft edges or long lines with her drawing untencil. Every few moments she would look up and study the white bull, while her hand continued to move, before looking down again and either making adjustments or adding more to her drawing. When she was nearly done, it was clear that she was making a detailed sketch of Vanarak with equin muscles bulging, tattoos clearly defined, accurate dress code, his weapons in hand and the intimidating arrows potruding from his back. She even added soft shading around him to portray the snow cloud he created upon his entry. When she would sketch her discovered beasts she would always draw short directory lines around it, pointing to parts of her subject that she deemed interesting and ending in stars and numbers. To the side of the sketch she would make a legend to indicate what made the stars and numbers important.

Tikal's wings hummed softly, fluttering like a humming bird's wings move. But they were so thin that it was like they were moving, but one couldn't be quite sure. She stayed stuck in her 'Sketch-mode' all through the conversation between her white bull and elf until she was satisfied with her work. On the right page was the sketch and on the left page was a space for the bull's story, which she was becoming increasingly excited to hear and document. She gazed at her work, absorbed in it and quietly fantasizing about all the time she would spend with her white bull. The possibility of being rejected away was there but she rarely payed much attention to that. Those with ambition never gave up! Tikal smiled and happily snapped her book shut before dismissing the item to who knows where, it simply vanished from her hands.

Just when she was standing up to make first contact, she paused at the sound of crackling and creaking. "Huh..? Wha-..!!" Out of nowhere, well if she had been paying attention she would have seen the elf's display of magic know-how, a tree was hurtling towards her. Screeching in terror, she darted out into the clearing and quickly poofed into her human size. She tumbled through the air and to the ground, wailing the entire time. She landed right into a mound of snow, tossing the powder into the air She hit the natural cushion just as the destroyed tree took out the branch she was on and even maimed a bit of the trunk.
Now laying in the snow, she voiced her trauma. "By the magical gods! One moment I'm hhh..! And then boom!" She got up and dusted snow from her apparel, panting while her now transparent wings fluttered to release the snow on them. "That would of been the end of Tikal.. You bet your best enchament it would of.." she sighed, checking herself for injury.

Vanark was Amused, Suprised and Shocked. The elf had responded the way Vanarak had expected him to. Seemingly angered, His blade was clearly of the highest quality, and the elf seemed to consider himself the same. After showing his powers freezing an nearby tree Vanarak was prepared to lop off his head right there and then. But the elf did something.. Interesting. He sheathed his blades, turning to speak to his fairy friend, Showing his confidence. That was... Very new for Vanarak, And it honestly stunned him.

But it was only slightly as stunning as the woman who fell straight out of the tree that had been earlier demolished, Diving head down into the snow with a soft "Puff". She was the fairy that Vanarak earlier had seen fluttering about! These people.. They seemed so exhausting, Yet fun. Vanarak's axe slightly slided down along his hand, The end of it touching the ground as Vanarak suddenly threw his head back. A loud echoing laughter erupting from him. Several seconds passed as Vanarak's laughter continued. He was visibly shivering from laughter as it finally died down. "Y-You people. Hehehe..."

Vanark took a large step completely turning his back to the three. his laughter had finally dissapeared as Vanarak's voice grew gruffy again "Sure, I'll play along with ya, Now I'm atleast sure you won't try to kill me" Vanarak suddenly sat down in the snow, The many arrows in his back moving slightly as his wounds started opening from the movement. "But It will be the little one... Vanarak swung his left hand upwards, Using his thumb to point towards Tikal ...That will help me with the arrows. You should know, Elf, That you have a terrible intuition, I'll be no asset. Nor a friend for that matter. So since you have those fancy kitchen knives, Could you please keep a watch for that damn troll? I would like to avoid being blind-sided by any boulders"

Completely unaware to the previous trauma which Yevoc had suffered Vanarak sat quietly, He was clearly attempting to act tough, But it was pretty clear for both Yevoc and Tikal how painful the arrows must be. Many of the wounds seem to have been forcefully "Pried Open", In a very distressing way.

While he was relieved by the fact that the minotaur was in a cheerful mood and laughing, Yevoc once again couldn’t help but feel insulted by the comment about his sword being kitchen knives. Nevertheless, he figured it was better to stay on this guy’s good side so he obliged and kept an eye on the cave where the troll had retreated after throwing the boulder at him.
“Oh yeah, this is much better than killing the troll on our own.” Ash muttered.
“Why don’t you make yourself useful and fly your tiny ass up there to see if the troll is there or not?"
“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Ash said before fluttering off to the cave at the top of the hill. A few minutes later he turned around and flew back out of the cave and hovered a few feet in front of the entrance before turning to human size. “Hey you guys might want to come look at this. The cave comes out into a goblin village and they seem to be enjoying the supplies they stole. Also there’s a group of people in the woods a few yards over there.” He said as he pointed to the group still in the woods.
“Well, …” Yevoc paused, realizing he didn’t get the minotaur’s name “… sir, once your friend gets those twigs out of your back, I’ll get my pixie and we can go put my fancy kitchen knives to the test. Or if you’d like we can stay and see if these others are friendly.”
“Watch your tongue snowflake!” Ash snapped at Yevoc, pixie was viewed as a derogatory slur to the fairies.
“Well, you don’t have to come along with me everywhere if you don’t want to.” He chuckled back at him.
“I can put you frozen ass back under that boulder again, too! Remember that!”

Vanarak found himself completely dumbfounded, Again. The elf had taken his suggestion and together with his fairy he was scouting the cavern. He was quietly observing the woods from which he had heard the sounds of heavy armor, Expecting and preparing for the other fairy to start attempting to remove the arrows, But that was not at all what happened.

It only took a moment before Vanarak heard several very excited sounds behind him. The fluttering of her wings accompanied by small

Me's

. Vanarak didn't care much for it. He thought at first that she was simply being hesitant and questioned why just she had to help him, It was the usual thing that most people do when they are forced to do anything with him. But her small sounds only got louder, and soon enough Vanarak could hear the amount of pure, Joy in her voice. And with that she started happily proclaiming

Me! He means me! Me me!

all the while throwing her arms out in random directions. Vanarak had not a single clue about her reaction, He had never experienced any of the sort.

She suddenly twirled directly to him, Reaching the ground while still gesturing like an Overjoyed schoolgirl. She started to swoon over him, all the while followed by Vanarak's now curious gaze. She was noting every slight detail about him. All from his eyes to his fur. Until she suddenly sat herself down beside him, Like exhausted from her outburst. Her eyes seemed to have increased several sizes to fit with her wide smile.

Are you staring into my soul right now? I want you to, go on.

Vanarak had completely forgotten about his arrows, just the way that the fairy also probably did, He was far to busy attempting to talk with her. Vanarak was someone who could talk, he knows what to say although his appearance rarely allows him to have a good conversation. But he, as said, Found himself completely dumbfounded. Only staring directly into bright blue eyes meeting his. "Your soul? Hrmh, What is there to say, You certainly seem, Interesting" Was she not afraid of him in the slightest? Not on her guard or anything? Her wings was still gently vibrating, For a moment Vanarak thought that he could have been struck by magic, Been charmed. He switched the grip on his axe, Laying it down across his lap. He had never been so... Overwhelmed, And he kinda enjoyed it.

Yevoc glanced over at the minotaur and the other fairy. They seemed to be otherwise occupied.
“Well, I guess it’s just you and me dragonfly.”
“Oh for fuck sake, my name is Ash!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m on my way up. Just warn me if the troll comes back.” Yevoc called up to him as he began to climb up the hill to the cave. As he reached the top he was able to see the others that Ash had mentioned earlier. He was no just slightly more cautious when he was able to make out that a Dark Elf seemed to be leading the group. While Dark Elves and Snow Elves didn’t really have anything against each other, Yevoc knew that Dark Elves were not to be trifled with.
“So should we wait for the other two?” Ash asked.
“I think they’re busy, I’m sure they’ll catch up, though, if they’re serious about killing the troll.”
“So what’s your plan, run into the village, swords swinging, freezing everything in sight until you can kill them?” Ash asked sarcastically.
“Well, it was more along the lines of killing and freezing as I go, but basically yeah that was it. Why? You got something better? I doubt you can do much damage with that dagger there, so a little magical backup might be nice.”

Vanarak was regaining himself, He was still thoroughly surprised by the fact that this small Fae seemed so comfortable by his side. Even soldiers which have had their life saved by him rarely let down their guard when he was close.

Vanarak let out a small muffled laugh when she proclaimed that she had never been

Safely close to a subject before

. Safe, that's certainly not what people feel in his presence. She stood up, Vanarak's gaze still locked on her. Tikal, that was her name. Vanarak was extremely bad with names, But not this time, He would be sure to etch that name into his memory. Tikal continued her gentle rambling, Stating how they would quickly become friends, How they were about to be completely inseparable until her "study" was completed. Vanarak didn't care much for what her "study" might be, He honestly didn't mind Tikal's company and thus didn't really see anything wrong with what she was saying.

Suddenly sitting herself down again, expending her seemingly unending amount of energy. A short movement with her hands, Using her innate magic, Causing a large book to appear in her hands. The book was, Huge, Atleast compared to the Fae wielding it, Like one of those magic tomes that battles had been fought for. Holding it in a mildly cute manner, Like a child proud of her drawings, She showed it to him. Leaning in slightly, Vanarak's curiosity getting the best of him, He took a long glance over the pages detailing him. It was, Impressive, Worryingly so. One of the pages holding a picture of him, Was extremely, well detailed. The tiny text accompanying it, speculating about facts surrounding him. The amount of detail made a small alarm in the back of his head go off. "This is... Very detailed..."

With another small ripple of energy the book dispersed, Just as suddenly as it had appeared

Vanarak had still a hard time wrapping his head around it, Who was she? What is she even doing? He could have easily killed her. Was she incredibly brave or just stupid? But he disregarded the questions, It was nothing that he needed to know, Instead he allowed a small smirk to creep up on him. Lifting his hand of his axe, Softly poking Tikal directly between her eyes
"...But my fur isn't all that shiny like you have drawn it, It's only the snow"

Vanarak could clearly see out of the corners of his vision, It seemed the elf was going. He would need to catch up. But if he really wished to gain any speed then the arrows potruding out of his back would need to be dealt with first.

Excitement bubbled inside the Tamer Fae as she stared at her new devotion. In her head she barely listened to what he was saying, only made plans for the forseeable future. That practice soon ended when Tikal went cross-eyed trying to look at the finger that was suddenly at the center of her face. It made her turn off her buzzing brain to listen to his gently spoken words. "Haha! That wasn't meant to be shimmers! It was meant to be the clouds of snow you kicked up when you came charging up to that elf." She smiled, humming her amusement.

Then, Tikal blinked and the rest of the world came back into focus. Forest. Snow. Troll! Elf. Cousin! "Hey.." she stood up and began looking around. "Where did that elf go anyway.. oh." She looked up the hill just in time to see his leg vanish over the lip of a cave. She hummed curiously and quietly, her nearly transparent wings opening and closing just once. "They must be after that Troll King. How brave." She commended while turning to look at Vanarak again.

"Oh! What's your name by the way I what in the heavens!" She jumped and immediately scrabbled around to stand behind him, kicking up snow in her rush. "Oh! Oh no.. My highest apologies! You're such a rarity that I completely forgot about this!" She threw her arms out to gesture to the arrows sticking out of his back. "What a fluff brain I am.. I even sketched them on you.." she shook her head at her own ignorance. "Don't you worry though!" She brightened. "You will feel some pain. But it will be relieved as fast as it comes! Ready?"
And then she didn't wait for any signal that he was. She simply snatched out the first arrow and tossed it aside in the same motion. Then, by the time it hit the snow, she was drawing a circle around the entry wound with her finger. Vanarak should feel as if she were rubbing ice all around the shallow hole, which would soothe the throbbing he was sure to be feeling after she snatched out the arrows. Then, after soothing the immediate pain Tikal would set to work directing healing runes, that she made in the air with her fingers, around the wound that would treat any goblin concocted infection. She would do this until it stopped bleeding and the visible flesh, if any, was a healthy red again. She did this again and again after snatching out arrow after arrow. And all while humming softly.

Vanarak continued his streak of being surprised, The small arrows weren't much. But without any of Vanarak's usual rage and bloodlust he had none of the immunity to pain. Through the entire process it would be seen how Vanarak was tensing his entire body, his hands tightly clenching the axe sprawled across his lap. One would think that he was trying to cope with the pain, But in reality he was trying his very best to remain calm. The smell of his own blood, It would perhaps had been overwhelming if it weren't for the gentle healing that Tikal was forcing on him. He cursed himself in his mind. These are just goblin arrows! They barely hurt! Why are you getting so worked up!? If one thing was clear, then it would definitely be how incredibly good Tikal was at what she was doing. The swift removal followed up by direct healing kept almost any blood from escaping, even the soft humming that was emanating from Tikal was almost, Soothing. It took a few arrows until Vanarak felt he had full control of himself. He visibly relaxed, The remaining arrows going without a hitch.

Throwing his head back, His right eye locating Tikal. "That's better, Thank you.." The last arrow being loosened from him, Not waiting for any of the pain relieving or magic runes he rose from the ground, Suprisingly quickly and agile for someone of his size. Taking one quick step forward, Like to test himself, and with a smile turning towards Tikal "...Now I hope you aren't afraid of blood or anything like that, Becuse if you are to study me, Vanarak the White Bull. Then you are going to get, a lot, of that."

A wide smile crossed Vanarak. He felt fired up, more so than usual. The arrows was out, The general low damage they caused in the first place being healed made Vanarak feel like he was completely on top again. With a a loud laugh he suddenly started running towards the stone wall leading to the cavern. He dived straight towards the wall, Gaining a suprising amount of air. The entire motion was quite terrifying as Vanarak swung his axe in a wide arc along with it, Plunging it deeply into the stone. A loud crash echoed from it. For a moment there was only dust until Vanarak yelled happily. "Keep up now Tikal, We are going to have some fun!" Releasing his left hand, and grabbing a nearby stone potruding from the wall, Vanarak used his right hand, Holding his, axe to swing upwards again, And then swinging himself up the wall. Repeating the motion, Loud crunching sounds being heard each time he swung his axe.

A small witty thought crossed Vanarak. He was going to make this really enjoyable

"FIRST ONE TO REACH THE TROLL KING GETS THE BOUNTY"

Vanarak's voice was cacophonous. Echoing up through the cavern and out across the forest, Even the goblins in the village would be able to hear it. It was a formal challenge, To everyone.

Yevoc and Ash were startled by the thunderous sound of Vanarak’s proclamation. He turned to see Vanarak climbing into the entrance of the cave. He and Ash turned back to check if the goblins at the other end of the cave had heard the voice as well. He heard the garbled chatter of the native goblin language and the sound of tiny bare feet tapping on the cave floor.
“Damn it! The least that bull-headed son of bitch could have done is wait ‘til he was in the front before letting a battle cry loose.” Ash stated in a snarky tone.
“Hope you got some kind of magical attack strategy planned, because all I got is freezing and hacking.”
“I can hold my own, just watch where you point those ice beams. I don’t want to end up like that tree.”
As a large group of goblins came around the corner in the cave, Ash shrank down to fairy size. The goblins weren’t heavily armored, mostly animal skins and leather. Their weapons were primitive as well, spears, bows, and the occasional stone battle ax or club. While Yevoc had been trained for battle in many of the Elven fighting arts, he had never had to put them to use until now. He blasted the first waves few rows of goblins running at them while dodging the spears and arrows. He hacked into the frozen bodies with his blades and frozen body parts hit the floor of the cave and shattered. Other goblins he just hacked into with his nearly indestructible blades. Meanwhile, Ash took a more comical approach to battle. He would land on the face of a goblin and they would swat him with their weapons, but he’d fly away or poof onto another goblin until they were fighting themselves.
“Hey, big white bully, you mind giving us a hand?” Ash called out to Vanarak as he was still pulling himself up.

Lailah's smile disappeared, replaced by a straight, serious expression. Her eyes gleamed like cold steel, as she looked straight forward. "Yes, sir!" she replied boldly. Knees bent, sword arm readied. Lailah ventured forward by Nobody's side, her vibrant azure cape contrasting against his more muted colors. It seemed like the fighting had become quite wild ahead.

The sound of booming magic and cracking ice drove Lailah to instinctively slide against the cave walls. The fencer slightly peaked from behind a wall of rock, inspecting the melee that had broken out between a goblin pack, an elf, and an adorably tiny fairy.

Wait!

Lailah's eyes took notice.

That elf! The young girl did a double take, then turned to Sir Nobody and whispered in disbelief, "Captain! Am I delusional, or is that prince Yevoc of Polara himself?!"

Lailah gripped her sword tight. She had to restraint herself from charging forward and joining the fray, remembering the plan Drake had laid out for them. They needed to wait for Sir Alexander and Lady Nyx to draw out the troll.

Of course, that plan did not count on having the crown prince of Polara and his fairy concubine around.

"What should we do next, Captain?" The fencer asked her leader, glancing left and right. Her hand was as restless as her eyes, not letting go of her sword's hilt.

A thundering rumble alerted her of another presence, not far from the crown prince and his companion. Massive. Well-groomed. And with the largest axe she had ever seen. And by the fairy's words, it seemed that the three were allies.

"Look at the size of that thing....!" Lailah marveled, jaw hanging low. She had heard that Therians could become truly gigantic, but actually seeing one in person...!

Nyx looked on at the battle before her. A snow elf a giant bull man and two fairies soon joined by her own group. She then noticed the goblin mage preparing to cast a spell at the already engaged snow elf...He would have never seen the spell coming...But the goblin never got the spell off as a dagger appeared in its neck followed by the dark elf holding it.
The goblins around turned to face Nyx but too late as shadowy beams shot from her fingers turning them to ash. Another jumped at Nyx with it's spear only to hit air as Nyx teleported behind him sinking her dagger into his skull.
Nyx began to laugh darkly as another goblin felt the sting of her shadow bolt. She was clearly enjoying this.

Vanarak was chuckling, heavily as he hefted himself over the cliff entering the cavern. A quicke glance was certainly not what was needed to take in the entire situation. Several people had joined the fight, One of them spewing forth black magic like a chimney while laughing madly, He liked her. The tunnel itself was small and pretty cramped, Especially with the goblins flowing like an river through it. They had a strange dedication, Almost crushing themself trying to reach their enemies. That troll was definitely one of it's kind.

But Vanarak hadn't stopped smiling for a second. Not even at the sudden, "Vanny" He shook the name quickly. Vanarak could feel that familiar heat bubbling inside him, Hopefully he would be able to keep himself from losing grip completely. So before that, he needed to share some expertise around bloodthirsty beasts. He started that same, slow jog as he used to run up the snowcovered hill, Slowly gaining speed. Gripping his axe with both hands he yelled out before reaching the goblins Elf! That troll is smart, He won't attack unless he knows he is going to win! We will need to reach him... A dangerous glint appeared in Vanarak's eyes as the stench of blood reached him "...So you people better dodge"

He had just reached the goblins when that was uttered, Now at a high speed he changed the grip on his axe, Placing his right hand way too far up the handle and his left way too low on the handle. It would be very impractical to swing this way, But that was not his intention. Lowering his axe into the same height as an average goblin Vanarak engaged a wild charge straight into them, Using his axe like a plow. None of the goblins possesed even a fragment of the strength that would be needed to stop him. He was heading straight through the cavern, Determined to reach the end. With the goblins piling up against his handle wildy swinging towards him and the ones who fell of crushed by his hooves Vanarak only started losing himself more, A faint last thought hitting him. "Hopefully the others actually dodged"

Alexander followed his group towards the caves, noting with some concern that the cavern's ceiling would limit his ability to fly. He would still be able to fight just as well on the ground, it would simply be more difficult moving quickly among the battleground. But it seemed that they were not the only fighters. The sounds echoing from the cave indicated that the battle was already well underway, the goblins locked in combat with a fairy, a white bull Theiran, and a snow elf.

And not just any snow elf, at that. Unless he was very much mistaken, that elf was none other than the Prince of Polara. All the more reason to lend them his aid!

"CHAAAAAARGE!" he roared, dashing forward with wings spread and sword drawn. The sky knight pressed a button on the hilt with his thumb, and the edge of the blade began to glow with the pale blue light of magic. While Nyx created a distraction, Alexander slammed into the goblin horde like a tsunami, each swing of his magic-enhanced greatsword bisecting several goblins at once. With his powered armour, his movements were more fluid than those of someone wearing normal full plate.

Noticing the Theiran preparing to charge, Alexander kept his distance. It appeared that the white bull was a berserker. Taking advantage of the opportunity presented to him, he carved his own bloody path in the barbarian's wake, allowing his more fragile comrades to press on.