Read Steel Wolves of Craedia (Realm of Arkon, Book 3) for Free Online Page B

the burner. "They're off to gather moss, they'll have you believe... Won't you send Aritor and Zara for raspberries while you're at it, dar? I'm sure they'll bring back enough to feed the whole clan..."
    "Why are you always such a sourpuss?" Salta sighed heavily. "Why do you care what they do?"
    "But Salta should go by herself. Maybe she'll kill some critters and finally find peace," turning around, Reece winked at the grim huntress.
     
    Clearing the swamp cave was the final stage of the quest given by Gvert, the elder of Ballan. Once done here, I planned on taking my clan to Xantarra. Our treasury now counted nearly twelve thousand old bones, which needed to be turned in to the city's quartermaster for another quest. We had also compiled a ton of rare and uncommon quality items that we couldn't use—so much, in fact, that I was starting to fear we simply wouldn't be able to carry it all, not even with the help of the residents of Ballan whom I had promised to lead to a safe place.
    We had liberated Uriatta the day before yesterday, after clearing the whole zone of the undead that had swarmed it. The strategy had remained unchanged: just like with Feator, we first picked off all archers and mages, then drew the remaining fifty or so warriors into a nearby ravine where, after creating a choke point, we proceeded to massacre them from high ground with ranged attacks. Their boss—wedged in on all sides—was the first to fall.
    Our party had spent all of yesterday burying the fallen Uriattans and transporting trophies to our permanent base. This morning we had finally made it to the cave marked on the map, where we were welcomed by two packs of huge horned frogs, each the size of a small horse. The very first specimen had dropped a recipe for an elixir against Nature magic. The fortunate drop had forced us to make this impromptu stop to allow Reece to brew enough elixirs for the whole party on account of our severely lacking Nature damage resistance. I hadn't doubted that we would sweep through the dungeon even without it, but there was no sense in being reckless and risking the lives of my clanmates. The instance was designed for a party of five to ten players, but we were heading in all together. I was perfectly happy to sacrifice experience under the game's laws in order to maximize our chances of clearing the dungeon with zero casualties. Besides, the rewards for being the first to clear it would most certainly make up for it.
    Reece had been right on the money with his estimate, as the elixirs were ready in exactly thirty minutes. But he had lied about the taste, and what a vicious lie it was! Chicken stock my ass! It was all I could do to keep myself from puking after downing the muddy liquid with a yolk-like consistency that reeked of something terribly, repugnantly rotten. It took three deep breaths and sheer force of will to keep it down. Why oh why were elixirs necessary to consume while potions were sufficient to simply break open? Sure, they had a longer duration and it was assumed that they would be drunk in a calm atmosphere out of combat, but then why the utterly repulsive taste? Then again, considering the ingredients that went into this particular concoction, perhaps it could have been even worse.
    "Everybody ready? Let's go!" Fixing the sword at my waist, I patted the razorback on the withers as he rose sharply at my command. "Wait for us here, Gloom. We won't be long."
    "Go on, sweetheart. Eat some acorns," Salta scratched the beast behind the ear as he screwed his eyes shut with pleasure, then motioned at a nearby oak.
    "Ha! What kind of idiot do you take him for, settling for acorns after his royal diet of apples and plums?" I grunted. Then, casting one final glance at the stone monsters depicting fish reared on webbed feet, I shook my head and entered the dungeon first.
    An underground river rumbled somewhere ahead. Moss and lichen glimmered off the cave's walls in uneven green patches. Stalagmites stood