Fifteenth chapter Confrontation

Ankthar landed in another room, somewhere seemingly far away from the corridor Mizra was now in.

After making sure he was, in truth, in one piece he stood up and looked around.
The room he was in now seemed to be connected to the corridor but with a closer look one could clearly see that there was actually a large gaping ravine between the two rooms.
In the wall heading to the corridor was a big gap where Ankthar had been pushed through.

With a good bit of will and a tilt of ones head one could clearly see the outlines of Ankthars elven form.
Ankthar sighed and said to himself:„ I most certainly believe that it is quintesially the blood elves and their uncanny ignorance and incompetence fault that I have to be blasted through a godforsaken stone wall to another in a deliberately desperate attempt to save my not so glorious at the moment –life.“

He paused for a moment smacked himself on the forehead and said grudgingly:„ damn you mother and your elven way of thinking! Clearly I am more accurate and undisputable than..“
He stopped there ,smacked himself again and tried to focus on the situation. Exent’tor, the very reason for him being here had just disappeared through a trap door after being wounded by several arrows.

And he himself had just been smashed through the corridor walls to another pretty much unknown area, leaving Mizra alone and shattering the group. The very thing they feared the most.
The distance between the room and the corridor was much too great for him to jump and there was no apparent way to swing his way back.
It seemed as if the only way out was the broken stone door in the corner of the room that led somewhere to the darkness.
Ankthar sighed and started walking towards the door.

He had only taken about three steps when his dwarfen instincts alerted him on the last moment and he swung his axe to repel the incoming attack.
He blocked what seemed like six little swords coming from the hands of a troll that had silently and effortlessly leaped over the great gap and attacked him.
Ankthar jumped backed and barely dodged the second strike.

Two panthers landed in the room coming via the same route as the troll.
The troll continued to attack Ankthar relentlessly with some overgrown metallic claws.
Like a cat on all fours the troll jumped around the dwelf as if playing cat and mouse, always missing him and Ankthar wasn’t sure it was because he was so good at dodging.

The panthers sat down a fair distance from the ongoing fight and surveyed it patiently without moving.
At last the troll managed to scrape ankthars back with one of his claws, and immediately jumped away to the cats, landing right between them and squatted around while staring at Ankhar.
Ankthar immediately felt the unnatural pain from the wound.
A poison! He dictated as he felt the paralyzing effects spreading.

„Ya must be feeling tha poison streaming thru ya be now mon“ the troll said almost hissing so low was his voice.
„Let me introdoss tha prey to tha hunter, I be Arlokk high priestess of tha panther aspect, in tha service of das blood god hakkar.“
Ankthar grumbled as he felt the poison spreading but only weakening him a small bit.

“A panther aspect doesn’t exist, there are only four aspects, tiger,bat,spider and snake, there is no fifth, therefore no panther, ergo you don’t exist.“ Ankthar was quite proud of that reasoning of his until arlokk pointed out:„ then how can ya be paralyzed by ma poison?“
Touché, ran through ankthars mind as he reached for his gun and said quite content: „then in order for me to be correct you must be eliminated,“ he pointed his gun to the unwavering troll and said: „an elf does anything to be correct“., and shot directly at the troll.

What happened then was quite impossible. Arlokk took a sidestep and jumped around the bullet as if mocking Ankthars uncanny shooting skill, then charged with the panthers in tow directly at Ankthar with unbelievable speed.
But Ankthar was ready and with an axe in hand charged right against him.

Unprepared as Arlokk was for this kind of retaliation Ankthar scored a minor hit to Arlokks dodging shoulder.
But the two panthers came directly at him and Ankthar was knocked back by one of them who had jumped right at him.
Ankthar rolled backwards readying himself for the coming attack from Arlokk who had instantly recovered from his failed charge.

Suddenly Ankthar found himself cornered in a high speed battle by the greatest decree.
If he wavered for a portion of a second he would die by the hands of the biting panthers, if he failed to listen to his instincts on when to dodge he would be killed by their raking claws and if he didn’t keep a clear head he´d never see his change to launch a counter attack.

It was an impossible situation, any simulation run in his head led to his sudden and horrible demise, nothing seemed to be able to help him or stop his attackers.
This situation was doomed to be his death but Ankthar was in ecstasy.

He finally saw his change and swung his axe in a circle as if beginning a whirlwind but drew out a vial with his left hand and thrust it to Arlokks face.
The purple liquid that broke upon his face began its work instantly and arlokks face began boiling and breaking.
She screamed. A terrifying scream of unimaginable pain shook the room and the panthers relented their attacks in fear of the berserked troll.
Arlokk screamed and held her hands over his face while white smoke steamed from the wounds.

„That poison is extracted from the spiders of the dead forests of the plaquelands “,Ankthar said calmly, „it will eat its way to through everything organic ,effectively killing everything with a drop of it. You just got a full vial of it straight to your face. There’s no way you’ll survive it.“

The troll began screaming in another way, deeper, more savage, her form began to change and take another black hue.
Black hairs began growing from her hands and legs, her ears changed to those of a cat and a tail began growing from her rear.
„Ya frekkin bastids“ she screamed and revealed her face, now completely healed but changed to that of a panther. Her eyes were glowing with a blood red color.

Ankthar was stunned, her appearance had changed this much and the poison seemed to have disappeared. He found that all he could do was to say rather uptight„: you know, I had a cat bigger than you.“
,„WHAT!“? Arlokk yelled at him.
„I’m sorry I’m sorry “he said holding his hands in front of him and looking down in kind of a shame,„I’m sorry i´m being really elfish today“.
Arlokk let loose a roar and charged at Ankthar faster than ever before.


Before her were two trolls, some kind of a strange overgrown snake, and a former companion of hers.
Gehennas.
As soon as she realized what kind of company she was in she started fighting the chains she was bound in.
But they did not relent their grip and she hung there completely defenseless.

„What is the meaning of this gehennas?what is going on?“
The nagalike creature smiled and turned to his companions:„ yesss this iss indeed heeer, now all we need to do isss to wait.“
„ANSWER ME GEHENNAS“
„Hehehe gehennas hissed,did you actually thinks that my lord ragnarossss would bless youss with his power out of hisss good heart. Dear sssira he doesn’t have a heart.“
„Then what was the purpose of his gift?“she asked rather hopelessly.
„The same assss hakkar here, the same as minessss the very purpose he has been holding for sssssso long timessss.“
„What is it? What are you trying to do?“
„Hehehe and they say you elfs are intelligent, and we even though you had figured it all out when you ran from us.“
„Answer me now Gehennas or I will..“
„Tonights, gehennas interrupted, your spirit will be sacrificed to the benefit of our glorious lord.“

„Ragnaros? No that wouldn’t …“ and then the memories hit her. she had been out of it for so long she had forgotten,forgotten what she had seen in the molten core, what she had heard.
She fought the chains even harder and screamed with rage and desperation.
She should have killed herself, she should have hid better she should have done something, anything instead of this.
Gehenneas chuckled raised his hands and said with complete satisfaction and content: „yesss tonightsss on the evess of the falling moon we will releasssse from hisss prison the unsssspeakable lord of our livessss, the ancient god of fire.“