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[Medriev]

The slingers let fly with renewed fury then, a stone striking Dulvarna in the shoulder and a clay pot of glue bursting over Lavren’s left leg and rooting him to the spot. A clay pot burst in front of Erlmoor to spread more glue on the floor and another stone struck Dulvarna in the leg. A stone skipped off the wall next to the warrior woman and another clay pot burst next to Erlmoor. Two of the slingers retreated into the cavern but the others held a line in front off the companions and continued their onslaught. Erlmoor roared his anger and started forward but Dulvarna remained helpless despite her desperate attempts to free herself.

Telkya stabbed her blade into the side of the remaining kobold before her as another stone skipped off the stone floor close to her. More stones and clay pots flew in from the kobolds and the creature that Telkya faught seemed to gain confidence from the defiance of its companions. It hissed at her, despite the painful wound it had suffered and rushed forward, stabbing into Telkya’s thigh. She cried out and fell back, a stone striking the floor close to her feet. Behind her, she heard Lavren utter a curse and from his wand, two purple bolts shot forth, one striking the spear wielder before her and the other striking a slinger on the escarpment. Both kobolds were hurled back into the cavern wall behind them and collapsed to the floor, unmoving. Telkya turned and nodded her thanks to Lavren before beginning a healing prayer to restore some of her strength.

Erlmoor roared again and charged at the kobold slinger line. His blade lashed out and clove through the shoulder of one of the kobolds and on into its chest. The kobold collapsed before him and died on the floor at his feet. Behind him, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt into another of the slingers and sent it reeling back out of the right of the line. The slinger recovered and loosed a clay pot towards the elf that burst on the floor in front of him and spilled sticky glue onto the stone. Enlishia raised her bow and loosed an arrow into the shoulder of the slinger. She fired again and this shaft drove into the leg of the kobold next to the first. The slinger whirled its own weapon and sent a stone lashing across the cavern to smash into Enlishia’s right leg. She lurched back to her right and staggered before raising her bow again.

More stones struck the cavern floor around Erlmoor but none found their mark until the line broke and fell back before the dragonborn. Then, two kobolds loosed stones at the same time that flew straight at the paladin. One struck Erlmoor in the shoulder and the other clipped the side of his head, sending him reeling back from the battle line. He looked back to Dulvarna and saw that she was still rooted to the spot and could not aid him. He looked back toward his enemies just as another stone flew at him and struck him in the forehead just above his eyes. He staggered again, reeled back, and then blackness took him as he collapsed to the cavern floor.

Lavren clambered up onto the escarpment as Erlmoor fell and raised his wand towards the nearest slinger. A black bolt of energy lanced out and seared through the kobold’s chest, throwing it back into the slinger next to it before it fell to the stone unmoving. Next to Lavren, Litiraan climbed up onto the rocky platform and lashed out with his wand to his right, sending a silver bolt into the cavern wall next to the nearest kobold. Enlishia climbed up on the other side of Lavren and loosed two arrows into the kobolds to the right, sending two back, reeling.

Again, the kobolds answered with sling stones, one striking Litiraan in the side and another striking Enlishia in the shoulder while others struck the stone floor around the companions. Another struck Enlishia in the leg and sent her lurching to the left while more struck the cave wall next to Dulvarna who remained helpless. Telkya responded with a bolt of light from her amulet that seared into the side of the nearest slinger and hurled it to the floor to lie amongst its fallen companions. More stones struck the floor around Enlishia and Lavren but the two remained unfazed. Steadily, the warlock raised his wand and unleashed more black energy towards his enemies.
Litiraan loosed a silver bolt that felled another slinger and Enlishia fired arrow after arrow into the ranks of the kobolds. Another barrage of stones followed but all struck the stone apart from one that glanced off Litiraan’s leg, bruising him painfully.

Dulvarna, meanwhile, manoeuvred herself around to tend to Erlmoor’s bleeding head with cloth from her belt. She bound the wound tight and then she set her energies to her apparently fruitless struggle for freedom once again. Behind the warrior, Telkya loosed a bolt of light into the nearest slinger and drew another barrage of stones that failed to find a mark amongst the companions. Lavren loosed a bolt of black energy into the nearest kobold and then Litiraan hurled a silver bolt into the same creature, sending it reeling back out of the line. It recovered for a moment but then an arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove through its throat and it fell amongst the dead. The ranger loosed another arrow before the kobold had hit the floor and the shaft drove into the chest of another kobold. This one too, fell back and collapsed to the floor. A moment later, the kobolds began jabbering loudly in their own tongue. One by one, they threw down their slings and unbuckled the daggers at their belts before holding their hands towards the companions, palms outwards, in the widely known gesture of surrender.

Next....The Clearing in the Forest