The Prince turned, quickly nocked an arrow and drilled it into the skull of the wight attacking Alyson. Returning his attention to the Necromancer, Willow took a deep breath then snapshotted three arrows at the fiend--two of them were flew straight towards the Necromancer's heart while the third one flew directly towards the fiend's head.

The necromancer screamed and jerked violently as the blessed arrow burned him from the inside out. The holy fire coursed through his body as he fell to the ground not screaming this time but letting out one last laugh, "MWHAAAAAA....!!"

Alyson and Lazheros watched as the necromancer exploded in a flash of fire. The wights he summoned screeched in vain as the ground pulled them back down into the depths and were no more.

"UGH! PU! That stench is horrible!" The elementalist plugged her nose.

Willow took a deep breath before he turned to the others, "Is everyone alright?"

"That was close," Serna deactivated her shield and exclaimed in relief, "They almost had us."

The Bronze Man spoke something in draconic again and his warhammer and shield disappeared from view. "It's been a long time since I've had to use my old weapon."

"Wow! That was scary. Really scary!" The fairy shuddered a little.

"Thank you, Lazheros," The Prince extended his hand in friendship to the Cleric, "Your blessing upon my bow made all the difference in our struggle today."

"You're welcome, Prince Willow," Lazheros addressed the ranger by his station.

Serna walked over to Alyson who was still lying on the ground and reached her hand down to the Elementalist, "Need a hand getting up?"

Alyson got up with a helping hand from the shield maiden, "Thanks, Serna."

"You're welcome," The Shield Maiden smiled before she turned to The Prince, "So what do we do now, Willow?"

The Prince turned to The Cleric, "Lazheros, can you please consecrate the ground upon which this village stands and give these poor souls a proper burial? I do not wish to see another Necromancer try and succeed where the previous one failed."

*********

Sounds of weapons clashing, cheers of victory, and screams of agony echoed out the valley floor below the group. At some point everyone could see an armored goat ramming the giant from both sides with riders impaling it through the torso. In one last attempt to throw off its attackers, the giant threw the tree directly at Lord Irzen.

"Not another tree!" The Swordsman hit the deck as the tree flew past him and crashed to the ground behind him, "What is it with this giant and trees? It's not like he's going to win a Gold Medal at the Olympics for tree throwing or anything."

"What would happen if you couldn't dodge out of the way?" Dragolem shook his head.

"That's an easy question," Irzen replied with a grin, "One of two things would happen: I would use Evenflow and slice the tree in half as it got to me OR the tree would hit me with the force of a runaway owlbear and I would go splat like a pancake."

Danvald helped Thinbar to his feet as the other hill dwarves on goats and mules came trotting up. Gruo and Gimim remained where they were acting as lookouts just in case the horde had any surprises.

The armored hill dwarf on a war goat stopped eyeing his kin in the company of a drow and some dark draconic creature warily. "About time you sounded the horn, what took you so long?"

Danvald stepped forward, "We got separated from the main supply convoy and ended up on the Ridge Line. There were eight of us but an ettin and a group of goblins ambushed us."

"What happened to the other four?" The rider asked.

"The ettin ate them," Thinbar said wiping the blood off of his weapons. "This is Irzen, and I forget the dragon man's name came along the Ridge Line with others. Three humans, a cleric, a sorcerer, a shield maiden, a fairy, and an elven ranger, who looks a lot like Prince Willow, sir."

"Prince Willow, you say? Can it be he has returned in our hour of need?!" The armored dwarf said.

"Should we tell them that their prince has returned?" Irzen whispered over to Dragolem.

The draconian moved forward, "To clarify, I am Dragolem and yes, the prince has returned although he seems to be out of the loop as it were."

"I see," The armored dwarf dismounted announcing his presence, "I am Captain Mandur, of the hill dwarves here. My cousin is Knight-Captain Martuk of Asylum."

"Asylum, huh," The draconian's shadowy form shifted a little, "Then you'll be happy to here that the guardian of Asylum is here too."

"What?" Mandur's eyes went wide, "Then where is the guardian?"

"Traveling with The Prince," The Swordsman stepped forward, "I am Lord Irzen, a friend to your Prince, he has heard about the plight of his people and he has come and sent us to aid you in your hour of greatest need. We helped save your colleagues when an Ettin and some Goblins fell upon them."

Irzen added regretfully, "We regret not saving them all, but we did the best we could, Captain Mandur. Is there anything further you need now that we have returned your kin to you? If not, then my friend and I will be on our way and rejoin the Prince."