We managed to sneak up the stairs unnoticed. Lucky us, the troglodyte leader was distracted, gazing out a window, and his pet, a big white toad dripping with slime and that had two huge tusks wasn’t being very attentive. I remember being at the head of the group, giving a silent hand signal to attack, and then we all went at them at once.
Figuring the frog would go down faster, I flung one of my little axes at it. It hit right on the monster’s back and the thing squealed pretty loudly. The others were already attacking too though, and struck before either frog or shaman could react. Roban blasted him right off the balcony with this huge rush of water, and Suzume shot an arrow that brought down the frog in a single hit! Must’ve gone right into a vital organ or something.
When I looked over the edge I saw the shaman getting up on the ground far below us! In a split-second decision I asked Roban if he had enough magic left to cast that slow-falling spell of his. He said yes, so I said good and leapt over the edge to finish off the trog. I felt the spell around me and grabbed one of my small axes as I got closer to the ground, flinging it when I was just close enough to be sure of my aim. Damn lizard sidestepped it though, and when I landed he chanted some spell and a pair of huge centipedes appeared between me and him!
The bugs couldn’t get through my chainmail so I stepped back and flung an axe over them at the troglodyte. It hit, but must not have got very deep. The shaman winced in pain, cast some spell, and then started trying to limp away! Well one of the bugs must have gotten around my armour at that moment ‘cause I felt a little nip of fangs. Must’ve been poisonous too, I started feeling stiff right away. Still, wasn’t about to let the troglodyte get away. Bugs be damned, I dropped my guard and ran around them, got close enough to fling another little axe, but I missed him. The bugs came up behind me, and one bit me pretty bad on the leg at that point, and the shaman cast another spell, blanketing the area with a thick mist. It looked like something to cover his escape, meant he was still in there, or maybe on the other side. The bugs disappeared, and I charged through.
There he was, running at full speed. I wasn’t thinking when I ran after him, splitting up from the others, and after a little less than a minute he slowed, spun around, and summoned two more centipedes! The bite from the ones before had hurt, but they’d only stayed around for a few seconds. Praying that was a limitation of his magic, I charged forwards, out of throwing axes, and swung my big axe. A centipede latched onto my other leg as I went by them, but I caught the trog in the jaw with the axe’s blade, and he fell!
I took up a defensive stance until the centipedes disappeared, then turned my attention to the shaman. He was down, but not dead, so I set to work trying to bandage his wounds. I was pretty sure we’d have questions for him later, and we needed him alive for that. Once I was pretty certain that he wasn’t in danger of dying on me I picked him up and carried him back to the tower, stopping to pick up my axes on the way.
I met up with the others at the base of the tower. Chimi had a verbal thrashing ready for me, saying I hadn’t matured at all and was acting just like I did when she’d last seen me seventeen years ago. I don’t remember much from when I was six, so I guess I’ll just have to believe her on that. I’m pretty sure the fact that I’m alive, and that I won this fight is what matters most anyways.
We’ve set up a camp in the tower now, in the empty room that had the javelin trap. This one smells the least like troglodyte. Balenar’s healed my wounds already, but I’m still going to rest to see if I can shrug off the effects of the centipede poison. Suzume and Roban are searching the tower for valuables, and I think Chimi and Balenar are discussing what to do with the troglodyte, what they want to know, that kind of stuff.
Well… I’d better get some sleep.
--Holly Hay, 14 Desnus, 4712 ar.
~The End
