Kull's 16th Report - Part 3
The massive lizardman slammed into Ulfgar, hammering him with an axe blow that tore a great rent in the dwarf’s plate armour. Ulfgar, already wounded by the bodyguards, rocked on his feet. Knowing that we needed his blade to hold our position, I called on Hextor, and Our Lord’s energies filled the dwarf, cleansing every wound he had suffered.
The lines of battle were now formed: Dargrim and Ulfgar stood side by side, holding back our scaled enemies. The wizard lurked to the rear, seemingly bereft of any further useful magic. For my part, I stood at the centre. There was not room for me to step forward and join the line, so I used the powers of Hextor to assist us. One of the lizardfolk stood to the rear, firing arrows into the melee. He I struck with a pillar of divine fire; then, knowing that an army lurked outside the cave, I sealed the entrance with a wall of spinning metal blades. The archer had not fallen, but the sting of his arrows was far less troublesome than the thought of further reinforcement for our foes.
S'Slakk's guards were now being slaughtered. Though staunch warriors in their own rights, they had not faced the kind of foes which Dargrim and Ulfgar had aided me to defeat. S'Slakk himself, however, was a fighter of another calibre: his technique was rudimentary, but he had raw power and an overwhelming rage that more than made up for it. As the last of the guards in the melee was slain, he hammered a series of mighty blows into Ulfgar's body. Even the sturdy dwarf could not survive such an onslaught: he fell, the trunk of his torso all but severed in half.
S'Slakk roared in triumph ... and then bellowed in frustration. The blinding curse is a prayer of only modest power, but it is highly effective against enemies such as the mighty lizardfolk chieftain. By Hextor's Will, he was robbed of his sight.
Dargrim stepped before S'Slakk then, planting himself like an immovable wall. With the field of battle now clear, I moved forward, ending the life of the archer, whose arrows had been a gadfly to us throughout the battle. This left only S'Slakk himself. Dargrim and the lizardman hammered blow after blow upon each other. Even blinded, S'Slakk had the better of the fight: his blows came with too much force for even dwarf-crafted steel to stop them. It was only his lack of sight that prevented him from felling Dargrim in the first few seconds.
Mighty though he was, S'Slakk now bled from many wounds. Seeing his opponent was blind, Dargrim stepped back, leaving me room to enter the fray. I charged, Hextor's name as a battle-cry on my lips. My flail struck S'Slakk across the jaw, tearing away the lower half of his face as bone and scale alike were shattered.
The great lizardfolk renegade fell, his life snuffed out, as will be the lives of all those who oppose the Will of Hextor.
Gathering the bodies of Ulfgar and the wizard's companion, I led the other back to Saltmarsh. Once there, I made preparations for the town's defence, in case the renegades did not disband as peacefully as the lizardfolk ambassador had supposed. His information proved correct, however, and the mighty host S'Slakk had assembled did not survive his fall. The renegades dispersed into small groups, or were absorbed into the local lizardfolk tribe, where their threat would be diminished.
Ulfgar, whatever his foolish religious notions, had been a doughty companion. He had also amassed considerable wealth. With this, I was able to purchase the soul gem needed to call his spirit back from the realm of the Gods. He returned, his beliefs apparently unchanged, but the fact that he answered the call at all shows that what he found there could not complete with the honour of serving in Hextor's divine host.
The wizard, too, had grown wealthy. He financed the purchase of a second soul gem, for the purpose of restoring his lost companion. I have misgivings about the wizard's attachment to this individual, who has been of little value in any task I have undertaken. The wizard himself has been useful, however, and thus I humoured his request.
The defeat of S'Slakk left only one task unfinished.
The dragon is next.
In Hextor's Name,
Kull Redfist
), rather than his familiar.
