The next morning they were moving with the first light, before proper dawn, so that they could get to the city before the Frost Giants could see them coming. Hawk had been sent out early to scout their route, and had informed them to stay further from the ash, as the heat was increasing, and the areas closest to it were becoming muddy as the snow melted.
That was bad news for the Giants, but there weren’t any of them out at the moment. The flow of reinforcements had entirely stalled, and the only enemies that Hawk could find were patrolling around the city’s perimeter.
There was no sign of activity in the city, and the signs of previous occupancy were fading as the wind blew the snow over the roads and paths.
A few hours after dawn, Bob gestured into the distance. “Turn right a little, but stay out of the slush. The valley that I was referring to should be over there, and I’m curious to see if it’s still frozen.”
Karl led the group forward, with the less physical members all mounted, though that meant that the Spider Golems had to take passengers to bring their travel speed up to standards.
Ty was a Ranger, not a warrior, and while he was quick, he didn’t have the sort of stamina for an all morning run the way that the warrior classes did. So, he needed a ride, and Doug was more than happy to take a place on the other Spider Golem, so that Thor wasn’t overburdened.
The Lightning Cerro had hit a minor growth spurt after reaching Commander Rank, and he could easily accommodate four on his back with a suitable harness, but it was better to just have Tessa, Dana and Tori, so their bodyguard didn’t get too tired to fight.
Karl slowed the group as they got close to the valley that Bob had mentioned, and had Hawk circle the area.
[That place isn’t right. It’s all melted now.] Hawk reported.
[What’s there? Just slush?] Karl asked.
[A small lake.]
Karl led them cautiously forward, in case there were still more Magma Elementals or other servants of the Dragon around. The temperature was rising rapidly as they approached, and Lotus was getting excited.
“I know what this is. This phenomenon is common after a volcanic eruption. There was an underground fissure here, and now the frozen lake is a volcanic hot springs.” The little nature cleric declared.
Her hair had changed to an icy blue today, nearly matching her cloak, but looking more like thick ice. That seemed somehow appropriate to their situation as they came over the ridge, and saw that the whole valley was covered in ash, while the lake was gently steaming.
“That’s too hot. The water is nearly boiling. I was hoping for a spot to swim, not to become soup.” Lotus sighed.
“Check everything. There might be magical items dropped by the Giants, possibly fire element infused gems, and if we’re really lucky, the remains of a summoning circle.” Karl announced.
Tessa laughed. “Flag on the play. You can’t just ask for the prize to be in the first spot you look, that’s definitely a red flag.”
If there had been anything in the valley, it was long gone now. There were some signs that the Frost Giants put up a fight, bits of obsidian stone that Doug assured them were the remains of a dead magma elemental, and a few charred bones, but no loot, and no sign of the summoning circle.
“See, what did I tell you? Now, let’s take out a patrol and see if we can sneak into the city. I have a good feeling that there is something left to kill hiding in there.” Tessa declared.
Karl thought that should be counted as a flag as well, but it was most likely divine guidance.
There was a small stand of trees between them and the city, so that was where Karl led the group to wait for a patrol to pass and then attack the next once they knew the timing. If they were patrolling in sight of each other, it would be a huge fight to enter the city, but if they could find a way to sneak past, their search would go much more smoothly.
The first group didn’t reach the open area between them and the city for nearly ten minutes, then went down the hill and out of sight.
“That valley is a blessing. If we attack there, we will be able to take out a scout patrol without them seeing us coming, and then we can make the city before the next one arrives.” Bob noted.
The team moved into position, and when the next patrol came over the edge of the valley, Thor led the charge out of the trees, letting Karl and Ophelia fall in on his flanks with the warriors outside of them.
“You’ll enjoy this, just watch them work.” Tori joked to Bob and Harry as Thor ran, and she tried not to fall off.
Karl fired two shots as they ran, causing the Awakened Rank Frost Giants to stagger under the effects of [Chain Lightning], and killing two of them with the arrows themselves. Then he switched to his hammer, coated with [Flaming Body]. The first swing shattered bone and sent the Ascended Rank leader of the team flying like a rag doll while Thor charged through the lines, and Tessa stabbed at everything she could reach.
Ophelia leapt into combat with an axe in each hand, hacking at the Giants in a frenzy that would make Rae proud, and caused nearly as much of a mess as the Bloodbath Spider usually did.
In seconds, it was over, and the rest of the group didn’t even get a chance to engage in the fight before Remi pulled the corpses into her space and intensified the snow of [Blizzard] to hide the battle.
Ty whistled in appreciation from his spot on the back of a Spider Golem.
“No wonder everyone said that your team were monsters. Even without the advantage of numbers, your attack power is just stupid. What sort of skill one hit kills an Ascended Frost Giant?” The Ranger asked.
“The maul lets me stack layers of the same skill on it before I attack. That first hit was five layers of Flaming Body at the same time. Even if he was a Commander, taking that hit square to the chest would have killed him.” Karl explained as the group ran for the wall of the city.
Their entry point was a small secondary breach, where something had melted the stone and caused it to run in liquid form.
The blast went outward, so whatever had attacked had already been inside the city. That was not a good sign for the residents, who were sensitive to even normal heat.
The team made the wall without being detected, and paused just inside the city to take in the level of destruction that had come for the residents.
There were bodies everywhere, and not just Frost Giants. There were Yetis, some sort of Satyr species, and even Mountain Ogres, who lived in the hills before the border expanded.
Each and every one of them showed signs of fire damage, and they were all long dead, likely two days, as they were frozen solid and covered by a layer of snow.
“The Dragon wasn’t holding back.” Karl whispered as he looked over what used to be a residential area of the city, and now didn’t have a single standing building.
Not even the little ones had been spared, everything had been levelled as the invaders had passed through. From their entry point, they could see the main breach, so this was the start of the fighting, but that meant that the destruction didn’t make much sense.
If they had seen the attack coming, they would have at least evacuated the vulnerable to the other side of the city, so there wouldn’t be many noncombatants near the walls.
Tessa looked over the destruction, and drew little lines in the air with her finger, as she worked to recreate the battle in her mind.
“They attacked from the other wall first. A diversionary attack that breached the walls, and made the Frost Giants retreat. Then they breached this wall, probably from the hot springs valley, where they wouldn’t have been seen.
This side of town should be nearly completely destroyed, and the number of bodies might be more than everyone is prepared for.” She explained.
