"GO!" The bronze man waited until they were well out of range when he raised his warhammer up to the sky, shouting divine words in draconic. The divine energy filled his weapon and Lazheros brought down the warhammer to the ground with a thunderous sound. All the undead that remained were turned instantaneously. The small village was cleansed of undead completely.

When Willow got clear with Serna and Caliaphy in tow, the Prince set them both down and the Shield Maiden looked back upon what the Cleric had done.

"WOOOOOOW!" Serna gasped with a wide-eyed gaze upon her face, "Now THAT'S what I call putting the hammer down!"

The elementalist remained where she was keeping an eye out for anything else that might sneak up on them. After watching the bronze man turn and cleanse the village of undead, she heard the maniacal laughter of the villain who raised the villagers standing on the edge of the village not more than thirty feet from Lazheros. ~ Necromancer.~

The bronze man looked to the eastern edge of the village and saw a gaunt looking elven man wearing a hooded black tattered robe wielding a crooked bone staff.

From the shadows of the hood, a wicked smiled revealed a mouth full of chipped and sharp teeth covered in blood. "Since you so effortlessly took out the pawns, lets see how well you handle these!"

"Who the heck is that?!" Serna exclaimed to no one in particular.

The necromancer raised his staff and slammed into the ground. Half a dozen shadows emerged as wights, vaguely humanoid looking wearing armor and weapons. Their eyes glowed pale blue.

"What the heck are they?! The Shield Maiden pointed to the half a dozen shadows emerging around them.

"Wights!" Lazheros backed up from his spot but did not take his eyes off the necromancer or the wights still keeping a defensive position.

The elementalist ran up to Willow and Serna, "Wights! Only magic or magic weapons can harm them!"

Caliaphy gasped, "Oh-no! We have to help the Bronze Man!"

"Where's Neven when you need him?" The Shield Maiden gasped openly.

"As much as Neven's aid would be welcomed, it would be a bane not boon for us since his weapon of power draws from the Shadow Realm itself," Alyson threw down a Wall of Fire between the party and the wights, "Necromancers can draw their power from the Shadow realm because of its relation to the dead."

"We must deal with these things without him, Serna," The Prince declared, "Neither my sword nor my bow nor my arrows will be able to aid me this time. So, I am in your care, my friend."

Lazheros had backed up just in front of Willow and Serna and half turned to the ranger, "Which weapon do you prefer to use, bow or sword? I can bless one which will allow you to harm them. Or better yet take out the necromancer in the back. I would get he's prepared for ranged attacks, so getting up close and personal might give you the edge you need."

"Don't worry, Willow," The Shield Maiden activated her shield, "I won't let you down!"

******



"Uh, Danvald?" Gimin said looking back the way they came and saw the giant heading their, "the giant is coming this way."

Danvald looked at his kin giving out hand signals to each of them. "Alright lads. Lock and load. This giant ain't going no further. Gruo, you're up!"

Gruo was the little guy for a dwarf being under four feet tall, but size mattered not when he pulled out a horn that was as long as he was tall. From that little dwarf came sounded the long horn loud and long.

Both Dragolem and Irzen had to cover their ears briefly until Gruo stopped and put the horn down. The giant in the distance definitely saw them now and picked up its pace.

Somewhere to the northwest and the southwest horns of just like the one Gruo sounded blew in the distance. The draconian wondered if Danvald's kin would arrive in time to help kill the giant or come too late.

Irzen had his sword at the ready and never took his eyes off of the approaching giant while he spoke to Dragolem, "In case whatever these dwarves are planning fails, you go high on the giant while I go low. Go for his eyes while I'll go for his Achilles tendon. We've got to give our charges every opportunity to escape. Understood?"

"You worry too much for a drow, Irzen. Here is out in the open but the ground is rocky with loose stone other the boulders behind us. Don't forget of the thick shrubbery all around us and the large thick trees off to both sides. Use the area to your advantage. It will give the time we need for Danvald's kinsmen to show with whatever they're bringing." Dragolem gestured to the area they were in, "Go for the eyes? I don't even have to move to cause damage."

Danvald and Thinbar remained on the loose ground while, Gimin and Gruo took the high ground on top of the boulders.

"Don't mistake worry for preparation, Dragolem," Irzen smiled at the Draconic Elemental, "I've survived as long as I have by having a contingency plan for every situation. This one included. I have no problem following their lead. Heck, I would follow you into the Gates of Hell as long as you had a plan and you knew what you were doing."

"Funny, you mention the Hells," Dragolem gave the swordsman a toothy grin, "That's where I just came from making my way here. You've seen wars and conflict over your lifetime but I've seen things in the Nine Hells that scar you to the bone. So I will be nice and not summon a fiend or two to cut the giant in half."

The giant had almost made its way to Danvald and company preparing to smash them into bits when Thinbar's hunters trap triggered. The giant roared in pain as the thorn bushes impaled the lower right leg of the giant. The large humanoid reached down to free itself from the thorny bush only to trigger another one as it stuck the five inch thorns in and around the giant's hand.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Dragolem," Irzen smirked, "That's one of the things that I have always liked about you, pal, you're always thinking of others. Good things. Bad things. Terrible things. And everything in between."

"LOOK OUT!!" Both Gimim and Gruo shouted to the rest on the ground as a medium size tree was hurled at them where the giant stood.

All the dwarves ran around and took cover behind the boulders just in time when the tree hit with a resounding thud sending splinters of wood and bark everywhere. Dragolem jumped up and over as the tree came down but it was not enough for him evade a piece of wood catching him in mid section knocking back down to the ground with a sickening crunch.