[coronatiger]

Five minutes later, the night elf thanked us for the chat and indicated to the elementals that they should attack. I quaffed my potion, drew an arrow and stepped forward. The whirlwind blew forward, as fast as I could have run. Ilzo charged ahead as well, but on the opposite side from the air elemental. Leopold packed down the wax tablet while Va’lyndra and the ice elemental summoned magic missiles. The magma elemental stomped up to the corner of the fountain. The night elf did magic gestures towards the ice elemental.

I shot at the ice elemental, but it dodged. The air elemental continued towards Va’lyndra. Then the ice elemental looked at me and returned fire, but its missile didn’t go where it had planned; it landed just behind Ilzo, who was in front of me and to my right. The missile exploded in a shower of ice particles, but did little or no damage against the orc.

The magma elemental continued towards Ilzo, boosted by the night elf’s magic. I fired at it, but my arrow didn’t penetrate deeply through the stone breastplate. A little magma spurted out; that was all. On my left, the air elemental reached Va’lyndra and swept its hand past her. On my right, Ilzo waved Surkalpi in the vicinity of the magma elemental.

Va’lyndra fired her ice dagger at the night elf, but struck the door behind him. The ice elemental began to prepare another explosive missile, and the magma elemental thrust its hands into the ground, making stone spikes shoot up from under Ilzo. They glanced off his armor. The night elf continued doing his unknown magic, this time in the direction of Va’lyndra and the air elemental.

I drew an arrow and asked Va’lyndra if she needed help. The air elemental made sparks between it and Va’lyndra, but she didn’t think it was serious enough to speak up. She just stepped aside and swept her staff through the whirlwind. Ilzo swung Surkalpi at the magma elemental and made a big gash. Magma sprayed out towards him, but didn’t touch him. The elemental tightened its fist and gave Ilzo a powerful blow to the chest. Leopold had finally retrieved his wand and came running past me. I fired at the night elf since Va’lyndra seemed satisfied to duel the air elemental. The night elf threw himself down to avoid getting struck.

The air elemental shot a narrow cone of sparks towards Va’lyndra and me. Va’lyndra failed to get out of the way, unlike me, but the sparks didn’t harm her through the hydra armor. Ilzo stabbed at the magma elemental, who parried. Leopold fired a massive lightning bolt at it, and it took a nosedive but was still struck. Va’lyndra kept waving her staff ineffectively at the air elemental. The water elemental fired, or should I say iced, at Ilzo. He dodged the explosion.

I dashed across the garden to the corner of the building, where I could shoot at the enemies from partial cover. The air elemental swept past Va’lyndra and headed for Leopold. With the magma elemental temporarily out of commission, Ilzo ran for the ice elemental. Leopold faced the air elemental, turning his back on the rest of the battlefield. Va’lyndra began to run, but towards me, not after the whirlwind.

The magma elemental began to rise, so I shot at it. I hit a crack in its armor, but the arrow didn’t penetrate deeply. The air elemental hit Leopold, who began to shake violently. Ilzo slammed into the ice elemental, bounced off and fell on his back. Va’lyndra changed directions and ran for Leopold, shouting for him to watch out; the air elemental could shoot lightning.

I shot another arrow at the magma elemental, but my arrow hit the stone plate and bounced off. The air elemental hit Leopold one more time, and whooshed after Ilzo, who began to rise. Va’lyndra doused the magma elemental with a water jet spurting from her staff. The water hissed and turned to steam when it struck. The magma elemental tried to punch her but missed. The ice elemental shot its missile at the ground under Ilzo and it exploded as expected, but Ilzo kept rising.

The night elf was still doing magic, and I tried to shoot him. The arrow struck the wall behind him. The air elemental reached Ilzo and touched him, but Ilzo shook off the stunning effect easily, unlike Leopold, who was still shivering. Ilzo gave the ice elemental a mighty blow, sending ice fragments flying, and toppling the elemental backwards.

Va’lyndra kept her water jet going. The magma elemental must have disliked it, for it reached into the ground again and stone shards shot up at Va’lyndra, shattering one of the potions on her chest and penetrating the hydra leather. I shot the magma elemental through the crack above its breastplate.

The air elemental went berserk on Ilzo, offended that he ignored it. Va’lyndra ran towards them. The magma elemental saw Leopold facing away from it and punched him in the back, sending him flying. I shot it in the neck crack again while the air elemental continued to harass Ilzo. Ilzo turned, dropped Surkalpi, and kicked the air elemental, calling out for Gromsh to aid him.

The magma elemental turned and followed Va’lyndra. I shot it yet again in the neck. Why wouldn’t the damned thing go down? Ilzo drew his pick from his belt and Leopold finally began to move, climbing carefully to his knees. Va’lyndra ran for the night elf instead of helping Ilzo. Maybe she knew something I didn’t. The ice elemental made an explosion under her, but she dodged most of the blast. The magma elemental ran after her but looked over its shoulder at me. I wonder why…

The night elf moved away from Va’lyndra. I ran to the northwest corner of the garden, shooting the ice elemental in the back as I passed it. The air elemental gave up on Ilzo and tried to take Va’lyndra in the back, but it missed. Ilzo missed the ice elemental with his pick. The ice elemental summoned a new missile and retreated from Ilzo. That put it within reach for me. I drew Scorchmark and cut it across the back, twice. The fire magic in my knife was too much for the ice elemental, and it melted into a puddle.

The air elemental struck Va’lyndra across the back, but her armor neutralized the lightning-infused attack. Ilzo began to retrieve the wooden sword from his backpack, but it was difficult for him to reach it. Va’lyndra focused on the night elf, trying to hit him with her staff, but she kept missing. The night elf ran away, past the magma elemental and towards Leopold. I shot an arrow over the fountain, but an invisible shield protected the night elf. The air elemental came for me, but I dodged its attack easily.

Ilzo finally dropped to the ground. All the small injuries had added up and he just couldn’t keep going any longer. Va’lyndra ran after the night elf, swinging and missing as usual. The magma elemental turned and followed them.

I attacked the air elemental with Scorchmark, hoping the magic blade would prove as effective against that as against the ice elemental. The whirlwind dodged, though. I ducked under its retaliation. Leopold zapped the night elf with another empowered lightning bolt and caused him to fall. Va’lyndra hit him with her staff.

The air elemental and I both missed with our next attacks. Leopold shouted that we needed Ilzo’s sword. Va’lyndra, who hadn’t seen Ilzo fall, called for him while pummeling the prone night elf. The magma elemental ran up to Va’lyndra and swept its huge fist past her.

I ran to Ilzo, swinging Scorchmark wildly towards the air elemental as I passed it. I dropped the knife and drew the wooden sword from Ilzo’s backpack. Va’lyndra doused the magma elemental with her water jet. Its leg stiffened and broke as the magma elemental fell backwards. Boiling rock poured out from between the armor plates.

The night elf began to rise, but Va’lyndra broke his skull with her staff. The air elemental tried to attack me, but I retreated and made for the night elf. He was the avatar of Nimbus, and Queen Manara had told us we had to kill him with the weapon made from the world tree. I didn’t know if our mission failed if Va’lyndra’s head blow was fatal.

Since I was paying attention to the air elemental, it went for Va’lyndra instead of me, making a futile attack against her armor. Leopold was hiding behind a tree, aiming his wand at the night elf. He was clearly on the verge of collapsing.

I stabbed the night elf in the back with the wooden sword. The air elemental came at me, but it missed. Va’lyndra tried to distract it with her staff, but it ignored her. She was about as effective against it as it was against her. Since my stab didn’t penetrate very deeply, I tried a swinging attack instead. I had no experience with a longsword at all, but I treated it like an oversized knife, and that seemed to work all right. My swing connected and cut into the night elf’s back, but I had no idea how many times I needed to hit in order to kill. I would just have to keep attacking.

That proved slightly more difficult than I had hoped. The air elemental grazed me with an attack, and I shivered uncontrollably. Fortunately, my hands tightened around my bow and sword, so I didn’t drop them. Va’lyndra tried blasting the air elemental with her water jet, but that was about as useful as her staff. It just went straight through.