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Elemental's Story Hour: Updated 30 /5
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<blockquote data-quote="Elemental" data-source="post: 847752" data-attributes="member: 7931"><p><strong>Prelude</strong></p><p></p><p>They were hunting us.</p><p></p><p>Hounds—or things that sounded vaguely like hounds—howled and drooled behind us. The magically produced rain that came each night and kept this nation from totally becoming a desert—drove down oppressively. They stopped me seeing more than a few dozen feet in any direction, but I could make out Urafak, his dwarven legs labouring to keep up. Behind us, the magic lights burned, pinpoints of light undaunted by the rain and mist.</p><p></p><p>Ashelt ran alongside me, and we exchanged a glance—neither of us had enough breath for words. He looked as bad as I felt. I had no idea what had happened to the other escapees besides us three. I didn’t have time to consider it—I needed all my concentration not to stumble on the stony, slick, ground. My hair flopped forwards into my eyes, and I swatted it away.</p><p></p><p>Ahead of us loomed a cliff. Cunning! The tharchion’s henchmen had driven us into a box canyon. The three of us stopped before the wall, and looked up. It was climbable, but barely—though it wasn’t as though we had a choice. A gibbering howl rose from behind us—man or beast, I didn’t want to speculate.</p><p></p><p>Urafak didn’t hesitate. With a yell of ‘Hurry up!’, the gold dwarf threw himself at the cliff, hauling himself from handhold to handhold. But then, he never had been the hesitant type.</p><p></p><p>Ashelt drew the sword he’d stolen from the guard. ‘Start climbing, Usha.’ he shouted over the ambient noise.</p><p></p><p>‘I’m not leaving you! I love you!’</p><p></p><p>‘I know! I love you too. But damn you, start climbing!’</p><p></p><p>Not without hesitation, I began climbing, constantly looking back. He began to back towards the cliff himself, waiting until I was safe, the noble fool. But then our pursuers caught up with us.</p><p></p><p>Varoc stepped forward, the hulking gnoll holding a brutal double axe. He gestured to the other hunters to stop, and restrain their hounds, and advanced forward, grinning ferally.</p><p></p><p>Ashelt managed to block the first attack, but was knocked back against the wall by the second. He fought as well as he could—and he was as good as you’d expect a Cormyrian soldier to be—but the gnoll was simply overwhelming. I looked down to see his sword shatter, and one head of the axe rise for the kill.</p><p></p><p>I pushed myself off the cliff face, and jumped down to the ground, almost sending myself sprawling. I inhaled, and sent a jet of fire into the face of Varoc. He howled in pain, and in that moment, Ashelt slipped past him. We both hurried to climb as quickly as we could. From below came an enraged stream of curses, (“Find you and kill you!” was the only legible part.) and a few arrows, though the driving rain foiled those.</p><p></p><p>‘You could have been killed.’ he said to me, at the top of the cliff.</p><p></p><p>‘And so could you!’ I replied. ‘I’ve lost too many people I love to this country already. Not one more, Ashelt, not one more.’</p><p></p><p>He hesitated a moment, then smiled and took my hand. Urafak came over.</p><p></p><p>‘We need to get moving again. The Aglarond border isn’t that far now.’</p><p></p><p>I looked back at Thay. This country had claimed so much—my home, my brother, the last few years of my life—but I would come back one day. And heaven help the country when that happened.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Elemental, post: 847752, member: 7931"] [b]Prelude[/b] They were hunting us. Hounds—or things that sounded vaguely like hounds—howled and drooled behind us. The magically produced rain that came each night and kept this nation from totally becoming a desert—drove down oppressively. They stopped me seeing more than a few dozen feet in any direction, but I could make out Urafak, his dwarven legs labouring to keep up. Behind us, the magic lights burned, pinpoints of light undaunted by the rain and mist. Ashelt ran alongside me, and we exchanged a glance—neither of us had enough breath for words. He looked as bad as I felt. I had no idea what had happened to the other escapees besides us three. I didn’t have time to consider it—I needed all my concentration not to stumble on the stony, slick, ground. My hair flopped forwards into my eyes, and I swatted it away. Ahead of us loomed a cliff. Cunning! The tharchion’s henchmen had driven us into a box canyon. The three of us stopped before the wall, and looked up. It was climbable, but barely—though it wasn’t as though we had a choice. A gibbering howl rose from behind us—man or beast, I didn’t want to speculate. Urafak didn’t hesitate. With a yell of ‘Hurry up!’, the gold dwarf threw himself at the cliff, hauling himself from handhold to handhold. But then, he never had been the hesitant type. Ashelt drew the sword he’d stolen from the guard. ‘Start climbing, Usha.’ he shouted over the ambient noise. ‘I’m not leaving you! I love you!’ ‘I know! I love you too. But damn you, start climbing!’ Not without hesitation, I began climbing, constantly looking back. He began to back towards the cliff himself, waiting until I was safe, the noble fool. But then our pursuers caught up with us. Varoc stepped forward, the hulking gnoll holding a brutal double axe. He gestured to the other hunters to stop, and restrain their hounds, and advanced forward, grinning ferally. Ashelt managed to block the first attack, but was knocked back against the wall by the second. He fought as well as he could—and he was as good as you’d expect a Cormyrian soldier to be—but the gnoll was simply overwhelming. I looked down to see his sword shatter, and one head of the axe rise for the kill. I pushed myself off the cliff face, and jumped down to the ground, almost sending myself sprawling. I inhaled, and sent a jet of fire into the face of Varoc. He howled in pain, and in that moment, Ashelt slipped past him. We both hurried to climb as quickly as we could. From below came an enraged stream of curses, (“Find you and kill you!” was the only legible part.) and a few arrows, though the driving rain foiled those. ‘You could have been killed.’ he said to me, at the top of the cliff. ‘And so could you!’ I replied. ‘I’ve lost too many people I love to this country already. Not one more, Ashelt, not one more.’ He hesitated a moment, then smiled and took my hand. Urafak came over. ‘We need to get moving again. The Aglarond border isn’t that far now.’ I looked back at Thay. This country had claimed so much—my home, my brother, the last few years of my life—but I would come back one day. And heaven help the country when that happened. [/QUOTE]
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