The battle for Ravensfield part 1

We managed to make it back to Ravensfield just before nightfall. Which was good, as it allowed us to put our new plan in order to deal with Reynis’s transformations in motion. The plan was rather straightforward, namely wrap him up in heavy chains in order to prevent him from moving.
 
However, as the saying goes, if you want to make the gods laugh, simply tell them your plans. So as Reynis started transforming, he effortlessly broke the chains apart. Fortunately however we managed to subdue him before his transformation was complete this time. Allowing us to get through it without any major injuries. Which was good as we still had other business to take care of that evening.
 
Our captives, whom we had left in the capable hands of Zem and Saphira, had regained consciousness. We started our interrogation with the mage that we had captured. Or the professor as we had come to know him. Now as you can imagine, he was less than forthcoming with any information. So in order to speed things up, Hayley decided to use her magic in order to read his mind directly.
 
It turns out that the final goal of their experiments is to find a way in order to turn humans into dragons. Upon questioning the sanity of this, the professor finally decided to speak up. The main reason for it all was envy, plain and simple.
 
Now there is a whole philosophical debate to be had about the right and wrong reasons for seeking power, but I won't delve into that right now. No, what truly bothered me about it all wasn't their motive or goal, but rather the actions they took in order to achieve them. If their experiments had only involved willing individuals, I might have questioned it all, but I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with it. However, when the professor started preaching about the necessary sacrifices for the greater good, he lost me. For it is far too easy to speak off making sacrifices when you are not the one making them. So no, these fools are insane and I had no sympathy to give them.
 
We then turned our attention to the identity of the so-called champion that now resided in Keralon. However once more, the professor immediately shut down when we broached this topic. And to make matters worse, when Hayley moved in to read his mind once more, he actually bit of his own tongue and spat it at her. A good thing that Liliana was there, as she was able to quickly seal his injury to prevent him from bleeding out.
 
Although the professor could no longer answer our questions, his drastic actions did have a profound effect on our other prisoner. By which I mean that he was so intimidated by all this that he sang like a canary. And while he did not know the champion's name, he was able to provide us with a detailed description. A description that, to our great shock, matched that of one of our dear friends, Robert Talespinner.
 
While there was of course a small chance that it was all a coincidence, the realistic part of me knew that there could be no doubt about it all. Robert had betrayed Keralon and was in league with the cultist that had attacked us on numerous occasions. But despite all of this, I resolved myself not to judge him immediately and at least give him a chance to explain himself. After all, he had been our friend for years and even made the journey to Keralon with us. So this was at least the most basic courtesy that we could afford him.
 
After this, there weren’t that many more answers that the cultists could give us. So we decided to turn in for the night.
 
The next morning, we immediately set out to see Dan of the Restoration Consortium. It was our hopes that he might have a scroll for sale that had the spell needed to undue to curse afflicting Raynis. Though admittedly, the changes for this were slim, as we are talking about advanced magic here. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when he told us that sadly he had no such scroll in his possession. However, he did offer an alternative solution.
 
Just outside of Ravensfield, there's an old dead tree once used to hang convicted criminals. Next to it, there is apparently a small path that is flanked by a trail of mushrooms. If you follow that pad, you would reach a small clearing with some standing stones. And according to Dan, if you provide an animalistic sacrifice there, you could summon a hag. With whom you could then negotiate in order to get what you need.
 
Now I do not need to tell you that this is an absolutely terrible idea. And fortunately, most of my friends were quick to agree with me. Though I do question there wisdom in wanting to go there anyway in order to check things out. To me this sounded almost as bad as summoning the hag, as the only thing that could result from this is drawing attention from forces that we really do not want to be messing with. Especially, considering my suspicions that this hag might actually be part of the coven that had made a deal with Keralon so long ago. Don’t get me wrong of course, if need be I will follow them into any danger, but to me a needless risk is the same as a foolish risk.
They did not however get the chance to sate their curiosity. For just as they were getting ready to set out, we could hear shouting coming from outside the house. And as we went outside, we could see various people running away while shouting that the village was under attack.
 
Wasting no time, Allistan called out to Thorin. And as the horse sprang into action, both Liliana and Allistan jumped onto its back and charged towards the danger. And I must admit that it was certainly a most valiant sight to behold. To see that poor horse carrying the fully armoured siblings on its back, while charging towards the enemy. Gods bless Thorin’s iron back, for its sturdiness is surely only matched by its nerves of steel.
As the rest of us headed out, I shouted towards Sapphira to keep an eye on the prisoners. After all, the last thing we needed was for the insane mage to get loose and causing more chaos.
When we got to the centre of the square, the twins were already engaging the monstrosities that had attacked the village. There were two of them. Towering brutes that I can best describe as some strange amalgamation of a human man and a dragon. Flanked by a small group of zombie kobolds.
 
As soon as they got into range, Hayley and Luke unleashed their potent spells upon them in order to reinforce Liliana and Allistan. And as twisting vines and an orb of flame caused havic, Dadroz and me started sniping them from a distance. However despite their appearances, it seemed that these creatures had at least a rudimentary form of intelligence. As a third one had passed through some buildings in order to attack us from behind.
Fortunately, Dadroz quickly moved to intercept it. Which was most appreciated. For while I sometimes wish that I had the ability to join my friends on the frontline, I know what I’m good at. And melee combat is not really one of them. This allowed us to refocus our targets and take down the three brutes without too much difficulty.
 
The zombies however were proving not to be that easy to take down. Not that they were particularly strong combatants mind you, but rather they refused to bloody stay down. One of them even got cut down so many times that it started to seem like only a few pieces of sinew were holding it together. But in the end, even it went down with a most satisfying thump.
 
After this, we immediately set out to discover where they had come from. But just as I was about to follow the trail, a bit of movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Which allowed me to dodge the initial charge of several dragonel and their riders. Though I did not have that much luck with the second one.
 
It seemed that this battle was not yet over. For as we recovered from the initial surprise, we could count four dragonel with their riders circling above us. They were using hit and run tactics in order to wear us down. Knowing that we were at a disadvantage, we dashed towards cover in order to prevent them from having an easy target. Though Allistan and Liliana remained in the open in order to hold the line.
 
Now I would like to say that in this battle, I was able to pull my weight. But the wounds that I had suffered seemed to be influencing my aim and I had the utmost difficulty to hit these damned flyers. Fortunately Dadroz was there to pick up my slack and skilfully started picking off the riders.
 
But this also had the effect that the now feral dragonel started swarming the largest target amongst us, namely Thorin. And while Allistan and Liliana valiantly held them, they could not prevent Thorin from going down. Though a quick application of some healing magic did prevent the worst from happening.
 
After a while, a loud roar echoed through the sky and the remaining riderless dragonels flew back up. As we looked up, we could see a heavily armoured individual, mounting a massive wyvern, sizing us up. And we got ourselves ready for round three.