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Barsoom Tales I - COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1285052" data-attributes="member: 812"><p>Isaac gripped his sword with one hand and kept Arrafin behind him with the other.</p><p></p><p>The Naridic girl had no sense. No caution. She saw something old and she wanted to look at it. She kept trying to press past Isaac and approach the terrifying apparition that led them into the caverns they'd fallen into. Her incessant questions echoed down the stone hallways where he led them.</p><p></p><p>"Are you Peranese? What are the Scar'ith Tushan? What's a Keyad'ar? How many of you are there? Can you read?"</p><p></p><p>Behind Arrafin and Isaac came Etienne, Elena and Nevid. Etienne couldn't stop staring at the big guy who'd commandeered them. He stood seven feet tall, muscles cut from what looked like solid obsidian, moving with unnerving grace and quiet. He didn't breathe. Etienne was quite sure of that -- he kept watching, waiting to see the creature's chest expand, to hear it sigh or make some unconscious noise.</p><p></p><p>Nothing. And it was wounded beyond what any man ought to be able to withstand, and yet shed no blood and seemed more or less unconcerned, even with the terrible gash in its side, the arm lopped right off and the leg that didn't flex properly. It wasn't moving too fast, but, Etienne mused, it was moving faster than he himself would be able to in similar circumstances.</p><p></p><p>Nevid kept watching behind them. They passed through what had obviously been a dining hall of some sort, tables and chairs now thrown about in wild disarray. A few Kishak bodies lay about, looking as though they had been cloven by some massive blade. Probably, he thought, stealing a glance at the huge black man's strangely curved archaic sword, THAT massive blade. He wondered if they were the previous group to have been pressed into his service</p><p></p><p>Elena noticed grimly that they appeared to be descending. The rock through which the tunnel passed dripped with moisture, slick limestone that crumbled underfoot. Somebody lived down here, for lamps burned fitfully along the walls, casting a feeble, shuddery light up and down the length of the hall.</p><p></p><p>Laughter of Stones, or 34, or whatever his name was, turned on Arrafin.</p><p></p><p>"Silence, small mortal. Enemies lie ahead."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin shut her mouth, but her eyes remained as round as ever as the big undead warrior stepped around a turn in the passage, sword held high. Isaac shook his head and yanked a pistol free with his left hand, sword clutched in his right, and with a deep breath, rounded the corner behind his spooky ally. Etienne, eager for some sort of action to distract him from his worries (and also curious to see this guy at work), rushed forward as well, leaving Elena, Nevid and Arrafin looking at each other and bracing themselves for sounds of battle.</p><p></p><p>Which sounds consisted of a sharp crack of a pistol, a curse from Isaac, and the sound of a door slamming shut.</p><p></p><p>Etienne called out, "It's safe."</p><p></p><p>Isaac grumbled, "Yeah, in that 'I've just been shot' kind of way."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin ran into the room, intending to hand the skull to Isaac, but stopped dead at the massive fresco adorning one wall.</p><p></p><p>Elena, "tsk"-ing, took the skull from Arrafin's stunned hands and knelt next to Isaac, who was bleeding from a piercing wound in his side. Nevid stayed back in the passageway. Etienne joined Arrafin in her study of the painting.</p><p></p><p>"Are those lizards or people?"</p><p></p><p>"The ones being eaten are people, I'm pretty sure. But these ones look like... lizard-people."</p><p></p><p>"They are the Keyad'ar. Long ago they nearly exterminated the human race. Thus the Three Hundred. Thus the Scar'ith Tushan. One lurks beneath us now, still unaware of my approach."</p><p></p><p>Isaac, trying to avoid not being creeped out by watching his flesh knit itself back together, jumped to his feet and gestured to either side of the chamber.</p><p></p><p>"Behind which door?"</p><p></p><p>The room was arched, and roomy enough that two people could comfortably fight a duel in it, but running two such fights side-by-side would be a little cramped. One wall peeled with the ancient fresco Arrafin continued to study, while opposite a bare wall sported only a heavy-looking wooden door. The two walls forming the other sides of the room were pierced with the opening from the passage, and a massive iron door, respectively.</p><p></p><p>The great black-skinned man pointed silently towards the wooden door. Etienne immediately moved over to the iron door and began inspecting it.</p><p></p><p>Isaac grimaced. "So those clowns who shot me are what? Its doorkeepers?"</p><p></p><p>"Yes."</p><p></p><p>"So maybe it DOES know we're here."</p><p></p><p>"They did not see me. Only you."</p><p></p><p>"Great. What are we, bait?"</p><p></p><p>"You understand the situation precisely. Go through the door."</p><p></p><p>"There's Kishaks with guns behind that door!"</p><p></p><p>"Go through."</p><p></p><p>"Fine."</p><p></p><p>Isaac sheathed his sword and took out both his pistols. He studied the wooden door for a second, then looked over at Elena.</p><p></p><p>"Open the door on my signal. Arrafin, get back."</p><p></p><p>"Huh? What?"</p><p></p><p>Elena pushed Arrafin back to the passage where Nevid cowered, drew her own sword and took up position next to the door. Etienne left off his examination of the other door, drew his knife and stood opposite Elena. Isaac glowered at him.</p><p></p><p>"You jump in there too fast, Kishak, you'll be taking one of my bullets in your backside."</p><p></p><p>He nodded to Elena, and as she threw open the door, Isaac lunged forward, stumbling down a short flight of steps, wincing at the impact of bullets against the wall behind him. Two faces appeared around a corner and he fired both pistols, grinned as he heard an impact of lead with skull and dropped to one knee. One head reappeared, ready for him with sword drawn, charging at the Saijadani who'd just expended both his firearms.</p><p></p><p>Or at least, one barrel of each.</p><p></p><p>Two more explosions and the Kishak warrior flew backwards. Isaac's smug grin vanished as he spun to face the THIRD Kishak, this one charging at him from an unseen alcove. He dropped the guns and grabbed for his sword, cursing and stumbling backwards.</p><p></p><p>Etienne launched himself from the top of the stairs head-first, both arms spread out in a perfect cross shape. He sailed down in a descending parabola, his right arm smoothly intersecting with the Kishak's throat. The charging defender's feet kept running and he lifted right up into the air as the sudden application of Etienne's weight forced the top half of him backwards. Both men hit the stone floor with a thunderous crash, but Etienne had already tucked his head in and flashed to his feet in a quick roll, shooting a manic grin at Isaac as he stood up.</p><p></p><p>They both looked down at the motionless Kishak, supine between them.</p><p></p><p>"He hit his head pretty hard."</p><p></p><p>Isaac shrugged.</p><p></p><p>"Sucks to be red."</p><p></p><p>Elena and Arrafin came down the stairs, followed by Laughter of Stones. Nevid peered down from the doorway. Their immense guide pointed around the corner the Kishaks had come from.</p><p></p><p>"This way."</p><p></p><p>The lower caverns seemed danker, and the light less regular. Isaac led the way, having reloaded his pistols, and Etienne kept close behind him, both going up to corners, peering around, and then waving the others forward. Elena considered asking if they really needed two point guards but decided to keep her counsel to herself.</p><p></p><p>Etienne felt like he was shaking all the time. Forgotten was his earlier desire to simply return to Pavairelle; this was adventure. Thrills. The only frustration was the big Saijadani guy's insistence on staying up at the front. Etienne was sure he could move much faster and quieter without the older man tucked onto his heels.</p><p></p><p>They came to a widening in the passage a sort of natural chamber, and Etienne's keen eyes caught a faint shaft of light spilling out from an archway across the wide room. He nudged Isaac to indicate the light.</p><p></p><p>"I can see it. Keep still."</p><p></p><p>Isaac rose from where he'd been crouching and studying the floor of the room. Something seemed strange. He sniffed, noted the dry, musky smell in the air.</p><p></p><p>Too late he realised Etienne had slipped from his hiding place and rushed across the room.</p><p></p><p>"Damnit!"</p><p></p><p>He rushed forward too late, as a figure appeared in the archway and raced to where Etienne approached. There was a flash of steel and the half-Kishak youth collapsed with a gurgling cry. The figure turned to Isaac and he saw it was a woman. A Lohanese woman, her slanted eyes exotic and unreadable. She held up a hand and spoke something he couldn't understand.</p><p></p><p>A tree trunk slapped him aside and he realised that Laughter of Stones had charged past. In his wake came Elena and Arrafin, and Nevid, wide-eyed, rushing behind. Isaac got to his feet and joined in the general rush. The woman made no effort to flee, instead just standing watching her enemies charge.</p><p></p><p>Elena didn't know what she was doing. Laughter had turned to them and said, "Now. Follow me." And they did.</p><p></p><p>Only they weren't as speedy as he was. By the time he'd reached the woman and was raising his sword for a wood-splitting blow, she was only half-way across the chamber. She and Arrafin and Nevid and Isaac.</p><p></p><p>So that the gigantic snake, bigger around than she was tall, was able to surge out of a dark alcove and get in between them and Laughter. Who seemed otherwise occupied.</p><p></p><p>Arrafin screamed. Or it might have been Nevid. Elena sighed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 1285052, member: 812"] Isaac gripped his sword with one hand and kept Arrafin behind him with the other. The Naridic girl had no sense. No caution. She saw something old and she wanted to look at it. She kept trying to press past Isaac and approach the terrifying apparition that led them into the caverns they'd fallen into. Her incessant questions echoed down the stone hallways where he led them. "Are you Peranese? What are the Scar'ith Tushan? What's a Keyad'ar? How many of you are there? Can you read?" Behind Arrafin and Isaac came Etienne, Elena and Nevid. Etienne couldn't stop staring at the big guy who'd commandeered them. He stood seven feet tall, muscles cut from what looked like solid obsidian, moving with unnerving grace and quiet. He didn't breathe. Etienne was quite sure of that -- he kept watching, waiting to see the creature's chest expand, to hear it sigh or make some unconscious noise. Nothing. And it was wounded beyond what any man ought to be able to withstand, and yet shed no blood and seemed more or less unconcerned, even with the terrible gash in its side, the arm lopped right off and the leg that didn't flex properly. It wasn't moving too fast, but, Etienne mused, it was moving faster than he himself would be able to in similar circumstances. Nevid kept watching behind them. They passed through what had obviously been a dining hall of some sort, tables and chairs now thrown about in wild disarray. A few Kishak bodies lay about, looking as though they had been cloven by some massive blade. Probably, he thought, stealing a glance at the huge black man's strangely curved archaic sword, THAT massive blade. He wondered if they were the previous group to have been pressed into his service Elena noticed grimly that they appeared to be descending. The rock through which the tunnel passed dripped with moisture, slick limestone that crumbled underfoot. Somebody lived down here, for lamps burned fitfully along the walls, casting a feeble, shuddery light up and down the length of the hall. Laughter of Stones, or 34, or whatever his name was, turned on Arrafin. "Silence, small mortal. Enemies lie ahead." Arrafin shut her mouth, but her eyes remained as round as ever as the big undead warrior stepped around a turn in the passage, sword held high. Isaac shook his head and yanked a pistol free with his left hand, sword clutched in his right, and with a deep breath, rounded the corner behind his spooky ally. Etienne, eager for some sort of action to distract him from his worries (and also curious to see this guy at work), rushed forward as well, leaving Elena, Nevid and Arrafin looking at each other and bracing themselves for sounds of battle. Which sounds consisted of a sharp crack of a pistol, a curse from Isaac, and the sound of a door slamming shut. Etienne called out, "It's safe." Isaac grumbled, "Yeah, in that 'I've just been shot' kind of way." Arrafin ran into the room, intending to hand the skull to Isaac, but stopped dead at the massive fresco adorning one wall. Elena, "tsk"-ing, took the skull from Arrafin's stunned hands and knelt next to Isaac, who was bleeding from a piercing wound in his side. Nevid stayed back in the passageway. Etienne joined Arrafin in her study of the painting. "Are those lizards or people?" "The ones being eaten are people, I'm pretty sure. But these ones look like... lizard-people." "They are the Keyad'ar. Long ago they nearly exterminated the human race. Thus the Three Hundred. Thus the Scar'ith Tushan. One lurks beneath us now, still unaware of my approach." Isaac, trying to avoid not being creeped out by watching his flesh knit itself back together, jumped to his feet and gestured to either side of the chamber. "Behind which door?" The room was arched, and roomy enough that two people could comfortably fight a duel in it, but running two such fights side-by-side would be a little cramped. One wall peeled with the ancient fresco Arrafin continued to study, while opposite a bare wall sported only a heavy-looking wooden door. The two walls forming the other sides of the room were pierced with the opening from the passage, and a massive iron door, respectively. The great black-skinned man pointed silently towards the wooden door. Etienne immediately moved over to the iron door and began inspecting it. Isaac grimaced. "So those clowns who shot me are what? Its doorkeepers?" "Yes." "So maybe it DOES know we're here." "They did not see me. Only you." "Great. What are we, bait?" "You understand the situation precisely. Go through the door." "There's Kishaks with guns behind that door!" "Go through." "Fine." Isaac sheathed his sword and took out both his pistols. He studied the wooden door for a second, then looked over at Elena. "Open the door on my signal. Arrafin, get back." "Huh? What?" Elena pushed Arrafin back to the passage where Nevid cowered, drew her own sword and took up position next to the door. Etienne left off his examination of the other door, drew his knife and stood opposite Elena. Isaac glowered at him. "You jump in there too fast, Kishak, you'll be taking one of my bullets in your backside." He nodded to Elena, and as she threw open the door, Isaac lunged forward, stumbling down a short flight of steps, wincing at the impact of bullets against the wall behind him. Two faces appeared around a corner and he fired both pistols, grinned as he heard an impact of lead with skull and dropped to one knee. One head reappeared, ready for him with sword drawn, charging at the Saijadani who'd just expended both his firearms. Or at least, one barrel of each. Two more explosions and the Kishak warrior flew backwards. Isaac's smug grin vanished as he spun to face the THIRD Kishak, this one charging at him from an unseen alcove. He dropped the guns and grabbed for his sword, cursing and stumbling backwards. Etienne launched himself from the top of the stairs head-first, both arms spread out in a perfect cross shape. He sailed down in a descending parabola, his right arm smoothly intersecting with the Kishak's throat. The charging defender's feet kept running and he lifted right up into the air as the sudden application of Etienne's weight forced the top half of him backwards. Both men hit the stone floor with a thunderous crash, but Etienne had already tucked his head in and flashed to his feet in a quick roll, shooting a manic grin at Isaac as he stood up. They both looked down at the motionless Kishak, supine between them. "He hit his head pretty hard." Isaac shrugged. "Sucks to be red." Elena and Arrafin came down the stairs, followed by Laughter of Stones. Nevid peered down from the doorway. Their immense guide pointed around the corner the Kishaks had come from. "This way." The lower caverns seemed danker, and the light less regular. Isaac led the way, having reloaded his pistols, and Etienne kept close behind him, both going up to corners, peering around, and then waving the others forward. Elena considered asking if they really needed two point guards but decided to keep her counsel to herself. Etienne felt like he was shaking all the time. Forgotten was his earlier desire to simply return to Pavairelle; this was adventure. Thrills. The only frustration was the big Saijadani guy's insistence on staying up at the front. Etienne was sure he could move much faster and quieter without the older man tucked onto his heels. They came to a widening in the passage a sort of natural chamber, and Etienne's keen eyes caught a faint shaft of light spilling out from an archway across the wide room. He nudged Isaac to indicate the light. "I can see it. Keep still." Isaac rose from where he'd been crouching and studying the floor of the room. Something seemed strange. He sniffed, noted the dry, musky smell in the air. Too late he realised Etienne had slipped from his hiding place and rushed across the room. "Damnit!" He rushed forward too late, as a figure appeared in the archway and raced to where Etienne approached. There was a flash of steel and the half-Kishak youth collapsed with a gurgling cry. The figure turned to Isaac and he saw it was a woman. A Lohanese woman, her slanted eyes exotic and unreadable. She held up a hand and spoke something he couldn't understand. A tree trunk slapped him aside and he realised that Laughter of Stones had charged past. In his wake came Elena and Arrafin, and Nevid, wide-eyed, rushing behind. Isaac got to his feet and joined in the general rush. The woman made no effort to flee, instead just standing watching her enemies charge. Elena didn't know what she was doing. Laughter had turned to them and said, "Now. Follow me." And they did. Only they weren't as speedy as he was. By the time he'd reached the woman and was raising his sword for a wood-splitting blow, she was only half-way across the chamber. She and Arrafin and Nevid and Isaac. So that the gigantic snake, bigger around than she was tall, was able to surge out of a dark alcove and get in between them and Laughter. Who seemed otherwise occupied. Arrafin screamed. Or it might have been Nevid. Elena sighed. [/QUOTE]
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