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[Lazybones]

Thanks for the supportive comments, Voyeur.

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Chapter 59


The companions hastened forward, giving the stone warrior a wide berth. For a moment they couldn’t see anything clearly, as the dragon’s breath had flared in their vision, like a sudden ray of sunlight breaking through the clouds.

When they could finally see, there was no sign of Beetle where the stone dragon’s breath had struck.

“It obliterated him,” Elevaren began, but Jaron pointed and said, “No, look!”

They followed the halfling ranger’s finger and saw Beetle, clambering up atop the back of the statue, coming into clear view as he pulled himself up onto the crest where its neck met its head. The statue did not react, although a ruddy glow was still visible in the opening of its mouth, waiting for another opportunity. Beetle almost gave it that chance as he leaned precariously forward from its neck, his weight balancing on one hand clinging to the statue’s ear. His other hand shot forward, and then he flipped ahead, landing easily on his feet a few feet ahead of the statue.

Almost as soon as his shoes touched the floor, the statue’s head turned to track him. “Look out, Beetle!” Mara warned, starting forward to pull him out of the way of another energy discharge. But Beetle did not even look back as the red glow flared, and streaks of energy erupted around the hilt of the dagger that the halfling had wedged into the dragon’s mouth. For a moment the statue was surrounded by a blazing corona of streaking crimson, and then the head exploded in a shower of stone shards and dust. Mara lifted a hand to shelter her face from the debris, but Beetle merely stepped out of the chaos he had created, walking forward to rejoin the group.

“You really are crazy, aren’t you?” Mara asked, shaking her head to clear away some of the particles that had clung to her. Beetle merely grinned up at her.

There seemed little reason to test the second dragon statue, so they gave it a wide berth and made their way across the room to the far alcove they had noticed earlier. They could see a door now, on the far end of the alcove, which extended for a good twenty feet ahead of them. There were also more statues, which the companions regarded dubiously as they approached. There were four of them, carved into the semblance of cherubs, plump human-like infants with small wings and carrying large stone jugs in their stubby arms. They stood at the four corners of the annex, affixed to low platforms that merged into the walls, set at around chest-height for the taller of the adventurers, almost too high for the halflings to reach.

“All right, even I can tell that this is a trap,” Mara said. They all watched Beetle, who walked back and forth before the alcove a few times, studying the statues, the floor, and the far door in turn. Finally, with the same deliberation he’d used in dealing with the warrior statute, he took a step forward into the alcove.

In response, a shimmer flickered into being in the air just behind him. Beetle turned and tapped a dagger against it, revealing that the vague distortion was in fact a nearly-invisible barrier of force. Jaron and Elevaren moved quickly to test its edges, finding that it stretched between the two closest cherubs, extending across the entire face of the alcove. Beetle was trapped.

“We’ve got to find a way to get him out of there,” Elevaren said. Beetle looked unconcerned, and he started toward one of the statues. He managed only a few steps before all four of the statues shifted slightly, turning their stone jugs forward and down. They had barely finished the motion before a gout of water erupted from inside each container, splashing onto the floor of the annex in a powerful and apparently unending stream. Beetle, caught by the force of the deluge, was driven back, fumbling to keep his footing as the impact of the water drove him toward the center of the annex.

“The statues!” Jaron exclaimed, pointing to the one that had knocked down his cousin. The two nearest the entrance straddled the force barrier, leaving a part of them accessible to those outside. Mara drew her longsword and hurried toward it, but Devrem was faster, thrusting his staff against the stone carving and unleashing a torrent of divine magic. The silver flashes flickered brightly as they flared out around the stone, which withstood them without cracking. But the attempt drew a reaction.

“Look out!” Elevaren warned, as the intact dragon statue in the corner released a pulse of crimson energy toward the companions. Mara dove out of the way, but Devrem was not quick enough, and the blast struck him solidly in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The cleric blinked, dazed by the impact.

Meanwhile, within the magical trap, the flood of water continued, and had already risen to the level of Beetle’s hips. Without anywhere to escape, and with the cherubs’ jugs continuing to pour out their deluge, the water began to swirl in the direction of the flood, forming a whirlpool that picked up the hapless halfling, carrying him in a spiral that left him little opportunity for escape.