Relara shook herself out of her shock and looked up to see the troll removing Amare's moonglaive from his shoulder.
He spat out a mouthful of dark blood and cursed in Common.
"Stupid elf girl! You gonna die slow for dat!"
Amare bared her teeth at him and pulled out a sharp dagger from her side. "Try me, beast."
The troll yanked the moonglaive free with a wet sound and tossed it aside, then drew a backup dagger from his belt. The wound in his shoulder was already starting to close because of his racial regeneration...
Amare ran forward with her dagger, but the troll parried her strike and countered with his own blade, forcing her to twist away.
She rolled to the side and came up in a crouch, then leaped at him again.
The troll caught her wrist and they grappled for a moment before Amare brought her knee up into his stomach. He grunted and shoved her back, but she used the momentum to flip backward and land on her feet.
Relara narrowed her eyes and raised her bow.
A silvery arrow appeared out of thin air as she drew back the string and aimed at the troll's head, waiting for the ideal shot between Amare's attacks.
Amare glanced at the stone wall beside them, then suddenly leaped up to grab one of the iron torch sconces. She swung from it like a pendulum and kicked off the wall, launching herself at another sconce higher up.
The troll turned to follow her movement with his dagger raised.
"Now!" Amare shouted as she pushed off the wall again.
Relara released her spiritual arrow. It streaked through the air and punched deep into the troll's chest, right through his leather armor.
He staggered backward and roared in pain, but didn't fall.
The troll grabbed the arrow shaft with both hands and yanked it out of his chest with a loud tearing sound. Dark blood poured from the wound for a few seconds, then the flow slowed as his flesh began knitting itself back together. The moonglaive wound in his shoulder was already half-closed.
"Dat hurt," the troll grimaced, throwing the bloody arrow aside. "But it gonna take more dan dat to kill Zek'tar!"
Amare snarled, dropping from the wall and she rolled between the troll's legs, slashing upward with her dagger. The blade cut deep into his hamstrings, and he stumbled forward as his legs gave out beneath him.
Relara drew another spiritual arrow and put it right into the troll's back.
He let out a wet cough and fell to one knee.
Before they could finish him off, a harsh voice began chanting in Eredun from the chamber entrance.
"Mor'gal thoros nethek!"
A ball of shadow-fel energy came crashing through the air toward Relara. She threw herself to the side, and the shadowbolt splashed against the red marble wall where she'd been standing.
The stone began hissing and bubbling as the dark magic ate into it like acid.
Two more jungle trolls ran into the chamber, both carrying double-bladed axes. Behind them came a human man with wild brown hair and a massive two-handed sword.
All three roared battle cries as they charged straight at Relara.
Where were Medriel and Shindre?
The first troll swung his axe in a wide arc that would have taken Relara's head off if she hadn't ducked. The second troll came at her from the other side, forcing her to roll backward to avoid his strike. The human berserker raised his sword above his head and brought it down where she'd been a moment before, the blade sparking against the marble floor.
Amare jumped onto the wounded troll's back and drove her dagger into his neck, but he reached around and grabbed her by the hair.
He flung her across the chamber, and she hit the wall hard before sliding to the ground.
Relara backed toward the far corner of the chamber as the three enemies closed in on her. She nocked another spiritual arrow, but there were too many of them coming from different angles. If she shot one, the other two would be on her before she could draw again.
The human berserker grinned. "The Cult of the Dark Strand sends its regards, night elf. Lord Athrikus prefers you brought back alive, but he didn't say you had to be in perfect condition."
Relara narrowed her eyes at the human. "You'll all die painfully for serving demons!"
"Tor ilisar'thera'nal!" she shouted the ancient battle cry and charged straight at him.
The berserker raised his massive sword to meet her charge, but behind him the dark iron dwarf warlock began chanting again. Dark energy spun around his hands as two small demons jumped out of a demonic gate to his left.
The imps stood about three feet tall with black skin, pointed ears, and two upright horns.
"Hah! More elves to burn!" one of the imps cackled.
"I love the smell of burning elf hair!" the other imp added with a nasty grin.
Amare pushed herself up from the ground just as the wounded troll assassin lunged at her with his dagger. She tilted her head to the side, and the blade passed inches from her left eye instead of punching through her skull.
She jumped up and spun behind the troll, wrapping her thighs around his neck in a chokehold.
The troll clawed at her legs as she raised her dagger and drove it deep into his ear three times in a row before he collapsed to the ground. One of the imps immediately threw a fireball at Amare, forcing her to release the dying troll and roll away. The flames singed her arm guard as she dodged.
"Stay still so we can roast you properly!" the imp shouted.
Amare's eyes flashed with anger as she spotted her moonglaive on the ground. She grabbed it and vaulted over a toppled brazier, then kicked off one of the red marble pillars. Using the momentum, she ricocheted her moonglaive in an arc that split the fireball-throwing imp in half.
"Nice throw!" the surviving imp yelled. "But you missed me!"
Relara felt inspired watching Amare's acrobatics. She decided to take a huge risk. As one of the axe-wielding trolls swung at her, she used a red marble pillar as vertical cover and leaped into the air. The axe bit deep into her side, but she ignored the pain and drew her bow mid-leap.
Three spiritual arrows appeared on the string, all glowing with the green light of her life-drain tattoos. She released them in a spread shot that skewered both axe-wielding trolls through the heart and punched through the human berserker's right leg.
Three streams of life energy flowed back toward her from the fallen enemies.
The two from the trolls were thick rivers of green light, while the stream from the wounded berserker was much smaller.
The stolen life force rushed into her body and rapidly healed the axe wound in her side.
Relara rolled as she hit the ground and drew her dagger.
She sank the blade down through one of the fallen troll's skull with a crunch.
Yanking the dagger free, she looked up just in time to see Amare scream as the warlock hit her with a curse. Shadow magic wrapped around Amare's body like chains, burning her skin and making her stumble.
Relara bared her teeth in rage.
She grabbed the dead troll's head and twisted hard, decapitating him completely.
Blood spurted from the severed neck as she held the skull in one hand and her dagger in the other.
She rolled left to dodge another fireball from the surviving imp, then raised the troll skull to her lips. The warm blood poured down her throat as her fel tattoos beat with stolen life. An immense bloodlust filled her mind, and for the first time since getting the tattoos, she felt completely satisfied.
This is what I was meant to do. Kill enemies and drink their life!
Relara glanced at the human berserker who was ripping the spiritual arrow out of his leg and charging at her again with his massive sword raised.
She dropped the troll skull and kicked it hard.
The bloody head flew through the air and smacked the berserker right in the face. He stumbled backward, spitting out bits of brain matter and cursing.
The surviving imp pointed at the skull and burst into giggles.
"Hah! She threw a head at you! That's the funniest thing I've seen all week!"
Amare had gritted her teeth hard enough to shake herself out of the shadow curse. Dark burns covered her arms where the magic had wrapped around her, but she raised her dagger and glared at the warlock.
Relara in turn sheathed her dagger.
She manifested her silvery spiritual bow and raised it toward the ceiling. A fel-fire brazier hung from iron chains directly above the berserker, its green flames lighting up the holding chamber.
She drew back the glowing arrow and aimed at the chain.
"Shaha Lor'ma Elune," she whispered, and released.
The spiritual arrow sliced through the iron links, and the heavy brazier tipped over mid-air to splash fel-fire all over the human berserker.
He screamed as the demonic flames ate through his armor and into his flesh.
He rolled on the ground, trying to put out the fire, but fel-flames couldn't be extinguished so easily with normal methods. The stench of burning hair and cooking meat filled the air as he writhed in absolute agony.
"Please! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!" he shrieked, clawing at his melting face.
Relara nocked another arrow and aimed it at the burning man. Her blood-stained lips curved into a grin as she watched him suffer.
"You serve demons," she said coldly. "This is what you deserve."
But instead of finishing him, she turned and loosed the arrow at the demonic imp. The spiritual projectile punched through the little demon's chest and pinned him to the marble wall.
"No! No! I don't want to go back to the Twisting Nether yet!" the imp screeched as his heart stopped beating. "I didn't have enough fun! I barely got to burn anyone!"
The imp's voice faded as he died, banished back to the Nether to be reborn again.
Relara ignored the human, nocked another spiritual arrow and aimed it at the dark iron dwarf warlock who was backing away from Amare's advance. The dwarf had wild gray hair and wore dark robes. His eyes glowed with shadow magic as he raised his hands.
"You're next," Relara snarled.
The warlock just smirked and finished his incantation. "Mor'goth kalak nethek!"
A massive voidwalker appeared out of an explosion of shadow between him and the two Sentinels. It was a large shapeless thing composed wholly out of blue and purple hues of shadow magic. Two purple eyes seemed to blaze as the void-being raised its two clawed hands wreathed in magic bracers.
"I must feed…" the voidwalker rumbled.
At the same time, the troll assassin that Amare had stabbed in the ear was slowly pushing himself up from the ground. His yellow eyes fixed on Amare with murderous hatred.
"Stupid elf," the troll growled. "Zek'tar not be sent to Bwonsamdi so easy. Now you gonna pay for dat."
Relara and Amare looked at each other across the chamber.
"Ashbalanol!" they both cursed at the same time.
The voidwalker raised both fists and brought them down where Relara had been standing.
She rolled to the side as the void-being's strike pulverized the marble floor into dust.
"These trolls keep regenerating," Amare called out as she dodged the assassin's dagger. "We need fire to stop them permanently!"
Relara glanced down at her fel tattoos. The green light seemed brighter after drinking the troll's blood.
What if I could drain enough life to stop their regeneration completely…?
She drew back her spiritual bow and aimed at the wounded troll assassin.
"Let's see how you regenerate without any life left," Relara muttered.