The Butcher of Gadobhra

"What can we do to hurt that thing or drive it off? Or is our only hope hiding in a hole until it gets bored?" Themis knew the tactics to fight a dragon, (Not that she had the right troops for that.) But she'd never come across a good description of how to fight some sort of sentient tornado.

"I believe the proper term is Frost Devil. I suggest spells that will disrupt either ice, cold, or wind. Large area-of-effect spells will do the most damage as they affect the most material. Its body is composed of cold and wind elements. The weaker it is, the better chance we have to attack the core. And it won't die until its core is destroyed." Caldrius was staring up at the Cyclone, excited to see the creature. He'd had a far-off glimpse of a Firenado once, but nowhere near as close as this Frost Devil was. And it was getting closer.

He looked to where a large group of Fire Mages were grouped at the entrance to the bunker. "Sadly, the range of a Fireball or similar spell is short compared to the radius of the creature's winds. Being caught at the mouth of the funnel will do one of two things: Fling you far, and probably to your death. Or suck you into the funnel to whirl around until you freeze."

Ozzy was growing and feeding Smoke into Chainey as he contemplated a plan. "There's a chance I can snag its core and hold it in one place, but not for very long. You'll have to hit it hard when I do. I did it once before, but these things are insanely powerful."

"You fought a cyclone?" Claudia had a high opinion of what the Butcher was capable of, but he had surprised her once again."

"Snagged one and threw it around, punched another one in the face, but both times it was someone else who did the killing. I'm just a minnow compared to those monsters." He smiled, "If it comes low enough, I'll grab it, and the rest of you kill it. Even if it doesn't work, when do you get a chance to do something insanely dangerous like this?"

"Far too often, lately, but I agree with you." Ben was mounted on Mudhead and shouted over the wind, "I'll buy you some time and try to bring it to you. Mudhead needs some exercise." The horse whinnied, almost as if he was laughing, then reared and sprouted wings. The two of them leaped into the sky and began flying toward the Frost Devil.

Themis stared for a second, then turned to Harmonia. "Damn, your people always have some new trick to surprise me."

"I'll be honest, Ben surprises me a lot, too. And I'll admit I'm a little jealous right now. That looks like fun."

Caldrius raised his voice, "We can talk of your love of ponies later, ladies. I am going to be utilizing a Heat Shield to keep us from freezing, do you have the ability to Calm Winds, Harmonia?"

"What sea captain doesn't? So useful when you need to steal the wind from an enemy's sails. I'll do what I can to blunt any attack and use a Mage Wind to push it where we need it."

"Excellent. If the Butcher is successful in his endeavor, then Baron Fallowstone can lead out our contingent of Mages to set the creature aflame. Rastfian, I believe two spells will be very useful for you to hold in your mind: The improved Spear of Baetalus you have mastered recently, and Binding Chains of Earth. The Butcher may need assistance. I am preparing a similar spell."

Ozzy had enlisted Jon and Cham in his scheme, as well as the Silver Sorceress. They moved away from the bunker, closer to the ruined college building. Ozzy had reached his full height of twelve feet and set down his Hefty Bag on the ground. Filled with rock and dirt, it weighed over nine tons. Jon began tying it securely to the Butcher's right leg.

Suzette knew how much it weighed, but the windstorm coming at them looked powerful. She'd seen Ozzy dragged away from her by one, once before. "Tornados can pick up houses. Ask Dorothy about that. I'm not sure a big bag of dirt will be enough to hold you down. I don't want to watch you sailing off into the sky on the tail of a windstorm and lose you again."

Cham was standing to Ozzy's right and Jon on his left. "That's why I brought my two friendly forest princes."

Cham and Jon slammed their fists together, "Woodbuddy powers! Activate." Heavy bark covered most of their skin in only a few seconds, making them resemble a pair of young Ironwood treants. Then their feet turned into roots that dug deep into the ground while branches twined around Ozzy's legs, linking all three together.

"And to protect us from our friend here who likes to play with fire, we have Professor Aleister's best Fire Protection Tonic and No-Burn Cream."

"Something we never leave home without. We take a little more damage from hot stuff when we go full tree."

Suzette applauded and did what she could to help. "Trees and dirt to hold you to the earth, and now I'll add my own touch, be careful of the thorns. Little ones, seed the ground around each of those handsome tree princes, please."

The wind fairies giggled as they did so, their voices sounding like wind chimes. The very idea of a High Fae Lady who said 'please' to them was unheard of and novel. They had quailed in fear as the sorceress broke the bonds Winter had placed on them, and waited fearfully to be bound by her. They were truly confused when the bindings didn't come. Instead of fleeing back to an underhill realm, they stayed and watched. They saw that the brownies served the lady, but willingly. Having a choice was a new thing and they bound themselves to her, for now.

Once planted in a circle around the three men, the sorceress walked the perimeter, scratching runes in the hard frozen ground, and added a drop of her blood to each seedling. The Silverthorn vines took root, spreading around the circle, wrapping around Ozzy, Cham, and Jon's legs, adding more anchors to hold them down.

Ozzy hoped it was enough, he knew how strong the winds of a cyclone were. "Thank you for that. But, you should take shelter, this could be ground zero."

Suzette whispered something to the fairies and they sped off, "I believe that I'll stick around. You may need someone to piss that thing off and make it get closer, and I've got the range to do that. I also happen to have three bottles of my finest beer with me. I'm trying to get better and this batch is enhanced with one of my potions. I think you'll like it." She handed the earthenware jars to the three men.

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Jon eagerly pulled the wax seal from the crockery quart jar and poured the liquid down his throat. "Now, normally we agree that 'Free beer is good beer.' but damn, that was really good beer. I need a few kegs for our bar." The other two agreed, just before the notification filled their vision.

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"Sorry about the last part. I haven't been able to lose the slowness effect yet."

Cham was slowly sipping his quart, just to annoy Jon, who had gulped his down, "I'd leave it be. For a tank in a dungeon, movement isn't so important, and it might even help when something charges you. And we sure aren't moving anywhere today."

"Well, not if this works...OH SHIT! Incoming. I think Ben pissed it off."

Ben had indeed gotten the Frost Devil's attention. He and Mudhead had flown high, gaining altitude at a rate that astonished Ben. Mudhead had put his Enhancement Points into Pegasus Transformation and unlocked a new skill called Fast Flight. Ben bought the first three levels of the new skill, spending 30 of his saved points. Just the look on Harmonia's face had been worth the points and he couldn't wait to show off for Harmony. But first, he had a Frost Devil to annoy and buy the people below some time.

Ben had two ideas on how to do that, and both depended on a magical cloak that had served him well in his travels since gaining it at the end of the battle when the dungeon spewed out an army of deranged ratkin. The Half Cloak of the Wandering Gentleman had protected him from rain, hail, sleet, and anything else a blustery day had thrown at him. Today he was going to test it on the Ice Devil and settle a long-standing argument with Rolly, hopefully in his favor.

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As Mudhead flew closer to the storm, the winds didn't slow him down. The Frost Devil opened two glowing blue eyes and a mouth that breathed out a cloud of frost. The frosty breath flowed around mudhead, not hurting them at all. Ben flew higher and the Frost Devil lost interest in them, intent on the army of hiding warmlanders below.

Ben's original plan had been to charge down the eye of the cyclone from above. He had more faith in the tactic now that he knew his cloak offered protection against the creature. Gaining hundreds of feet of altitude as the cyclone slowly descended on his friends, he nudged Mudhead into a dive at the creature's center. Ozzy said there was a core he would be able to target, and as he got closer, he could see it, a glowing blue-white ball of condensed mana several feet across. Drawing Glitterspark, he used the long blade of the estoc like a lance.

Unaware of the small creature above it, the cyclone helpfully dropped straight down, and Mudhead charged through its center. Ben braced and leaned into the charge, enchanting the blow with Burning Brand, and then his sword hit the core dead center. Things got confusing after that. His weapon was torn from his hand as it lodged in the core and stuck fast, and his right shoulder screamed as muscles tore. He was able to lessen the pain by casting Triage but knew he needed more healing than that. The cyclone winds roared in anger and pain. Frost Devils were always angry at one thing or another, but rarely did anything hurt them other than another of their kind as they wrestled in the elemental planes. For a creature from the Conjunction to hurt it was an insult it couldn't bear.

And the pain didn't go away, with Glitterspark impaling its core, burning with fire, and more was on the way. The intensely cold winds of the Frost Devil created an imbalance as it dropped through the warmer air below it. Nature had had enough and decided to balance the charges in the area, sending a huge bolt of lightning through the Ice Devil's core and into the ruins of the Arcane Collegium below. Ben was lucky he and his mount were heading rapidly away from the bolt's path, pushed by the cyclone's winds. They weren't hit by the lightning, or blinded by the flash. Even the thunder was muted, another example of the cloak's abilities.

As the Frost Devil jerked and spasmed, Ben pulled Mudhead out of his dive and began flying upward again. He couldn't charge, but he had one more trick to try. The cyclone wasn't ignoring him any longer. It was in constant pain and needed to kill him. It slowed its descent and began chasing Mudhead as the pegasus ascended higher and higher. When Ben judged he had enough distance, he circled twice, sneering at the Ice Devil, and made a rude gesture that he hoped was universal. Then he and Mudhead charged down again and entered the Ice Devil's cone, twisting in a spiraling dive and trying to avoid the blasts of cold winter air and sharp projectiles of ice aimed at them

Mudhead took hundreds of points of damage from the Icy Spear that hit his flank and both man and horse were nearly frozen solid. Without the cloak's protection, they would have instantly died.

The only part of Ben that wasn't suffering from frostbite was his left hand which held a ceramic jug filled with the fiery ammunition used in the catapults. They aimed straight for the core and Ben threw the jug, with Mudhead immediately dodging away. The ammunition shattered on the icy core, the thick mixture of Smoke and Heat-infused resin, whiskey, and pepper juice sticking to the core and burning inward. The pain caused by Glitterspark was nothing compared to this. The roar of pain could be heard from miles away. This time, Ben kept his mount in a steep dive, and headed downward, aiming for a spot on the ground a half-mile from the Butcher.

Ozzy said, "I don't think you'll have to worry about getting that thing's attention."

Suzette agreed, "I agree, Ben did a fine job of that. Maybe too good. Now we have to hope he can outrun it."

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