The not-immortal Blacksmith

The not-immortal Blacksmith - Interlude - Bird's Eye View

Authors Note: Gentle readers (or not so gentle, i.e. my brother), at this time I must switch the point of view from journal entries to a first person view. I apologize in advance.

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The dove soared in the crisp, dry air, as the sun crested the horizon, and the wind was barely a breeze. In it's opinion, the humans down below were being humans, crawling on the earth, moving in three distinct groups towards a central location.

The location itself was a low rocky plateau. A plateau containing old wood and stone building and a strange obelisk glowing with a cold blue and white light. It was also occupied by frost demons and their undead slaves.

The dove didn't care about that, only caring about finding food. Food that was currently in short supply due to the cold and ice. It landed on a lone, leafless tree, and watched the humans approach the demon camp. It cocked it's head sideways and quietly cooed when it saw a fluffy goat following the humans. Maybe the goat had food in it's fur?

Flying down to the goat, it didn't see any food in the fur, but the droppings behind it were full of undigested seeds! It laid into the feast, eating all it could before returning to the tree to observe the humans.

The center group of humans, being lead by a somewhat shiny human (good thing friend raven wasn't here to caw about that) was charging up the shallow slope, making extra noise, and calling out to the ice fiends. The other two groups were slowly making their way up the sides, as quietly as possible. I wonder if human is good to eat? The dove asked itself, friend raven likes it.

Predictably, the demons sent their undead out to stall the humans, while they formed up to start their ranged attack. The undead started dropping; arms and legs being easily shattered by the humans in the extreme cold. As the humans advance up the slope slowed, the demons began throwing balls of frost. Most of the frost balls impacted shields, and shattered harmlessly. Others would catch the occasional protruding weapon arm or undefended leg, causing shrieks of pain, and sometimes a fall. The ones who fell were targeted by more frost balls and killed.

When the initial charge slowed to a halt, the demons charged in. Being half again the height of a man, they towered over the soldiers. They tore through the front lines, talon tipped fingers slicing through armor and flesh, knocking soldiers down, and trampling the fallen.

The dove noted that only one of the humans, the one with the somewhat shiny armor, remained unmoved in the melee. He (all humans are 'he' to birds) laid about him with quick strokes and stabs, catching strikes on his shield and countering with thrusts. Once he was surrounded though, it seemed like it was over for him.

There was a blast of fire. Not towards the demons, but towards the sky! Some kind of signal, the dove decided, as just after the blast, the humans that had been climbing the steeper sides poured out. Half of them charged the demons from behind, the others let loose a withering barrage of arrows and spells. Caught in the pincers of the maneuver, the demons' cohesiveness crumbled, and the fight turned once again to the humans favor.

A roar billowed forth from the demon camp, the thus far victorious humans stopped, some with heads swiveling back and forth, trying to find the source of the noise, and others dropping to their knees, screaming and holding their heads. Out of the largest building in the camp strode a demon, twice the size of a man, ice blue and snow white of complexion, with ornately decorated horns and painted nails. Nails that were currently sunk into the flesh of someones partially eaten leg. An Ice Demon. "WHO DEFILES MY MEAL TIME?"

Shiny pulled his sword from a dead frost demon and yelled, "I do. You stupid, face bagging, Gwar concert reject! You best step off, pansy boy, before yo mama gets called."

The demon cocked it's head to the side, then bellowed out a roar and charged. A long spear of ice forming in one hand as the leg dropped from the other. Halfway to the human it threw it's spear too fast for the dove's eyes to follow.

Raising his shield almost in time, what would have been a fatal blow skitters off the edge of the shield and impales the human through the right shoulder. The human drops to the cold hard ground and lays still.

The towering demon stopped at the feet of the man, grinning, "You thought you could best me?" An arrow bounced off of it's back. "Your feeble troops can do nothing!"

As it grins in victory, a shadow falls over it from the right. "You have wounded my lord, and friend. I will not let that stand." A cold voice states.

The Ice Demon, slowly turned, and looked up. "L-Lord Grexireg, W-what are you doing here?"

"Killing you." The exceedingly tall and and strong looking demon, apparently named 'Grexireg' said, before backhanding the ice demon. A backhand that sent it flying backward several dozen feet.

A voice from the ground spoke, "I can get it from here, Grex. Just break this icicle thing off for me, okay?"

"Yes, my lord."

Shiny man stood up, shook out his arms, then spoke, "Okay, demon scum. That was the best hit I've taken since my master nut punched me during training. Let me return the favor." He dropped his shield and charged.

The dove's eyes caught a strange after image of a man moving. Then a flash of light. The dove dropped out of it's tree as a demon's head passed through the place it had been just a moment before. That's enough of that, it thought, and flew away.