This is an excerpt from one of my older stories set in the world of Areth© homeworld of Ballidor, and the same world in which The Wizard's Task is set. I am in the process of revising and updating the original story for my page "THE WISE OAK" which centers around the world of Areth and the setting of Ballidor. I have many stories like this that are in the works or are in the process of being updated and revised. I do sincerely hope that you enjoy this excerpt of "Stormwulf and the Abandoned Outpost"

Fatigue gnawed at Stormwulf as he trudged heavily along the vast slopes of the Morningstar Mountains. It had been just over a week since the mighty barbarian had left his homeland of Valhara on a journey to Ballidor. The borderlands of the Frozen Wastes now lay far away and got farther with each stride of the big man’s long legs. Up until roughly three days ago, the barbarian’s travels had gone smooth and unhindered. As fate would have it, though, things were not to stay that way for long. Somewhere in the mountains farther north, a pack of vhärgen, the vile two headed wolves of Dhägor, had picked up his trail. Unrelenting in their pursuit, they had nearly worn out their prey, preventing him from even the slightest chance of rest lest they catch him in his sleep.

Stormwulf’s mighty thews ached as his leaden feet trudged along the rocky path that ran along the base of a steep mountain. Behind him, a chorus of howls seemed to mock his exhaustion, letting him know that the infernal beasts had closed much of the distance that he had worked intently to keep between them. The stout warrior grimaced with each step, stubbornly struggling against the fatigue that threatened to leave him cramped and defenseless against the ravenous pack. He stopped at a mountain spring long enough to soothe his dust-laden dry throat, and moisten his parched, chapped lips. His eyes roved over the mountainside in search for some escape from his relentless pursuers. High above him, Stormwulf noticed a balcony-like ledge connected to a narrow road that wound its way to it not far from where he was now.

A nearby howl told Stormwulf that he had tarried for too long. The Northman’s exhausted muscles ached in resistance as he shoved off once more. He spared a cautious glance behind him as he made for the narrow road. Vague, shadowy forms shifted at the edge of his vision, telling him that the vhärgen were nearly upon him. With a determination born purely of survival, he quickened his pace. He knew that if he could reach the mountainside road, the fierce pack would be forced to constrict their numbers into a line or climb the rocky walls; both of which gave the exhausted barbarian a fair advantage against the fell beasts of the pack.

Within moments he was on the narrow mountain road that led up the mountainside. Below him, the vhärgen howled as they began to close on their prey. Intent on catching the Northman, they hardened their pursuit. The pack leader a large vhärag even for the dire beasts own kind, bayed and barked commands his flanking hunters to close the gap before the human made it too far up the narrow road.

Stormwulf drew his broadsword as he pushed himself into a painful run. Only his iron will kept his legs from teetering out from under him. The vhärgen were closing on him with every second, and he knew that they would be on him before he made the ledge. A sharp right turn took the barbarian farther up the mountainside, placing more ground between him and the ravenous beasts below. To his dismay, he noticed that some of the monstrous beasts had separated from the main pack and began climbing the steep mountain walls to cut him off. Unwilling to give in to the exhaustion that threatened to claim him, Stormwulf pumped his legs even harder, refusing to allow these vicious predators to gain the advantage on him.

It wasn’t long before the first of the two headed beasts reached the road. Stormwulf met the first with a fierce backhanded slash that nearly removed one of its massive heads as he raced by. The great vhärag fell from its place, crashing into several of its fellow beasts on the way down. With no time or energy to gloat, Stormwulf pressed on. The road shifted to the left, leading the mighty Northman onto a steeper tract of road than the last. With heavy thrusts of his aching legs, he forced his way up the slope, but at only half of the speed that he had been going. Not too far below, he could hear the fierce baying of the vhärgen as they cursed him for slaying one of their own. His weary legs nearly collapsed as he stumbled over a loose stone, forcing him to find his balance on the move. He stumbled to the next turn, desperately fighting to keep his footing and balance while making the climb. Stormwulf found his stability as he leaned against the mountainside for support. Beneath him, the vhärgen were once more amassing their numbers as they scaled the slopes with little to no difficulty.

After what seemed like an eternity of running and climbing, a shaky staggered Stormwulf found himself on the last stretch leading up to the narrow ledge he had spied from the brook below. To his dismay, the voracious pack was closing fast, though two more of their number had gotten close enough to feel the bite of the barbarian’s broadsword. With a mighty shove, the weary Northman broke into a dead sprint, making for the ledge- only for his legs to give away within less than a half-a-dozen strides. To Stormwulf’s dismay, his sword escaped his grasp and clattered over the edge to the rocks below. Utterly defenseless, the barbarian scrambled for the ledge, hoping beyond hope that, somehow, he could be rid of the accursed pack.

As the tired stumps that were his legs trudged the final strides that brought him to the outcropping, Stormwulf all but collapsed from both exhaustion and the confounding frustration of discovering that his only hope of escape had turned out to be nothing more than a dead end. Where the road had once wound around the mountain, centuries of weather and neglect had taken a fifty foot section to the base, leaving merely a cliff where once had been a winding path big enough to accommodate an ox drawn wagon. As if to make things worse, the ledge was completely devoid of any logs which he could use as a cudgel; nor were there any stones large enough for him to bash their skulls.

A chorus of growls and baying howls came from behind him, raising the hair on the back of his neck. Less than forty yards away, the remainder of the pack began to gather for the kill. Stormwulf clenched his fists as he scrambled to put his back against the sheer rock wall of the mountain. As he prepared himself for what was to come, his attuned senses alerted him to something that didn’t fit as a stale breeze rustled his hair. It was almost as if the mountain had breathed a sigh against his neck. Careful to not let his guard down, the desperate warrior began roving the area for its source. He followed the air current with his eyes until he traced it back to a narrow crack all-but-concealed by the flat boulder that he was using to keep the vhärgen from flanking him.

The vhärgen were merely strides away; their slavering jaws foaming at the corners from the heavy pursuit of their elusive prey. They knew that the Northman was trapped, and basked in the scent of his desperation. Stormwulf, however, knew that the pack would leap upon him at any second; ending any and all attempts he made to defend his ground before he could do much of anything. With that in mind, he committed himself to one final act of desperation. Wedging his fingers into the crack between the wall and the boulder, he began pushing against the great rock with all of his might. The pulse pounded through his head in a deafening roar as he strained against the rock and against his weary physique in effort to create some form of escape route.

The vhärgen saw Stormwulf’s desperate attempt to escape and charged in for the kill. As he saw the pack rushing at him, the mighty barbarian let out a guttural roar as he put all of his strength against the boulder. The vhärgen bayed with wicked delight as they had their prey with no place to go, yet at the last possible second, the boulder leaned out just enough for Stormwulf to squeeze through before falling back into its centuries old resting place. Outside, Stormwulf could hear the yelps and howls of the pouncing beasts, followed by the growls and whines of bitter loss that told the might warrior of the north that he had lost his pursuers… at least for now.

With all the strength he could muster, Stormwulf crawled into the pitch black shadows of the cave. Running his hand along the ground, he gathered some dry leaves and grasses which had somehow blown in over the years, cupping them into a small pile. He searched his pouched blindly until he felt the familiar cold hard surface of his flint and iron scrapes. After a few strikes and scrapes, he had a small fire going. Though it wasn’t much, the tiny flame was all he needed to know that he had escaped his perilous circumstances. Once he knew that he was safe, the darkness of slumber fell over him, and exhaustion claimed the great barbarian from The Frozen Wastes of Valhara.

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt of "Stormwulf and the Abandoned Outpost" The rest of this story will be posted up here => thewiseoak.blogspot.com when it is complete, or in segments, it just depends on how it all goes. .

Anyway, I do thank you for stopping in and reading.

W. R. Frady

fell beasts of the pack fel beasts fel-beasts or felbeasts which is better? also , I'm envious of your maps on your facebook page , I'm struggling hard with mapmaking p.s. your skull shirt owns it pwns

Thanks, How about Fel-biests as it combines the Old French word for "wicked" with the German term for "beast". I often have many of the same thoughts when forming a name for a creature, place, object and so on. Before it's over I'll have an entire notebook page full of random variants and a headache for the brainstorming gone out of control. I'm glad you like my maps, it has taken years to get them where they are now. What issues are you having with map making? Maybe I can help.

Updated 24 June 2016 (21:57)

very cool.

Thanks

Thanks

Posted by W. R. Frady. What issues are you having with map making? Maybe I can help.

Software, artistic skill limits, and basic procedure to get a result that doesn't suck

Posted by Alanar RaskinnSoftware, artistic skill limits, and basic procedure to get a result that doesn't suck

Profantasy has Campaign Cartographer which is what I used for my maps, making a map by hand on the other hand is not quite so bad. Start off by creating a legend of map symbols that you can feel comfortable with, and then use them to fill in the areas where they are needed. Look at other maps including aerial shots from Google Earth, as a reference. Artistic skill won't matter too much in the wake of creativity, and when paired with the software like Campaign Cartographer, a little creativity will go a long way. Oh yeah, one last thing, don't let reality get in the way of your imagination. I hope this helps some.

Posted by W. R. FradyProfantasy has Campaign Cartographer which is what I used for my maps, making a map by hand on the other hand is not quite so bad. Start off by creating a legend of map symbols that you can feel comfortable with, and then use them to fill in the areas where they are needed. Look at other maps including aerial shots from Google Earth, as a reference. Artistic skill won't matter too much in the wake of creativity, and when paired with the software like Campaign Cartographer, a little creativity will go a long way. Oh yeah, one last thing, don't let reality get in the way of your imagination. I hope this helps some.

I've seen that software advertised on some mapmaker sites, good software. Unfortunately I just dumped my spare change on a digital tablet XD

Not sure CC3 works on wine under Linux , I know google earth doesn't like it. But I can use google maps in a browser an get the exact same results as google earth. I'm actually considering just doing Acryllic/Gouache paint on canvas then just import photos of that into Gimp or ProCreate. I've dabbled at least twice in paint-on-canvas landscapes, and family members seemed to be pleased with the results anyway. Maybe I've got hope in this direction.

Oh an PS. your blogspot page looks way better than any blogspot page I ever made XD

Updated 20 January 2017 (09:03)