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Lazybones's Keep on the Shadowfell/Thunderspire Labyrinth
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4443918" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Wait no longer!</p><p></p><p>* * * * * </p><p></p><p>Chapter 21</p><p></p><p></p><p>Beetle stirred. He felt bad. It wasn’t pleasant, not at all. He blinked once. He was in a dark place, but there were torches not far away, and he recognized the smells. </p><p></p><p>He was lying on the floor. It was cold. He was tied up, with his hands bound behind him; he couldn’t move. A gag that tasted nasty, like old fish left out in the sun, was thrust between his teeth. </p><p></p><p>Something poked him in the back once, then again. Something sharp, stabbing him. Not to hurt, although it did. He felt like the way he’d had that time that Farmer Jamberson’s cattle had trampled him. Beat up all over.</p><p></p><p>He heard a laugh, behind him. He didn’t move, not again, and the poking eventually stopped. He lay there, quiet in the dark, and took a deep breath, slowly. His muscles tingled, but he ignored the urge to try to move again. He could feel them watching him. The voices, again, low, just a few steps away. He didn’t understand what they were saying. He was a mouse. A mouse caught in a trap, maybe. He felt a moment’s remorse for the creatures he’d caught in like fashion. Maybe they’d felt as bad as he did now. </p><p></p><p>A few minutes passed. Beetle did not spend them idle. When he heard the others approaching, he cracked an eyelid, just enough to see the bottom of a hide tunic that he recognized. His abused skin burned a little just at the memory of it. At least he could see, his eyes hadn’t been burned out by its terrible spit. He wanted a drink of water, real bad. </p><p></p><p>The creatures were talking again. He thought there were two behind him, and two others that had come in with the one that had spit in his face. Those two were the nasty kind with the shields made of dragon skin. </p><p></p><p>Someone else had come in; he hadn’t noticed it, but there he was. Booted feet, not the scaly bare feet of the kobolds. This one was bigger, too. Bulging with muscles. Not a kobold, he had green skin and a squat head, with a huge tooth bulging from one side of his mouth. He stank; Beetle could smell him from here. </p><p></p><p>“Get him up. Take off gag, hold him,” the spitting kobold said. Beetle realized he understood what the kobold had said, this time, it was in his own language. He almost flinched as the kobolds behind him picked him up. He kept his head lolling forward as the kobold yanked off his gag. His tongue felt big and awkward in his mouth; he really wanted that drink of water. </p><p></p><p>“Wake him up,” the kobold spitter said. “Lord Irontooth wants to speak to the prisoner.”</p><p></p><p>The big green guy came forward. Beetle decided that he didn’t want to be here any more, and he certainly didn’t want to talk to Lord Irontooth. He shifted, and the ropes holding him fell away. </p><p></p><p>The kobolds looked at him in surprise. The one holding him grabbed at his belt for a knife, the same knife he’d taken from Beetle, but found only an empty scabbard. </p><p></p><p>The big goblin reacted faster. He lunged at Beetle, not even going for the big axe slung across his back, but his hand forming a fist that no doubt would have hurt quite a lot, had it connected. But Beetle dodged back, and felt the wind of the punch as it swished through the air right in front of him. Even the kobolds holding him fell back a bit in the face of that attack. The goblin was a skilled fighter, and he recovered <em>real</em> fast, not even lunging off-balance the way that a stupid brawler might have done. </p><p></p><p>But Beetle was pretty fast as well. </p><p></p><p>The natural reactions of the kobolds behind him had given him just enough space to move. He grabbed the strap holding the goblin’s axe in place and leapt up as he drew back. The goblin grabbed at him but he was already up and moving past, kicking off the goblin’s shoulder. As he sprang he reached down and caught the tip of his knife on the goblin’s ear, slicing a deep notch in it. Blood spurted out and the goblin staggered back, clutching at the nasty wound. </p><p></p><p>That had to hurt. </p><p></p><p>Beetle landed just outside the reach of the nearest kobold, which looked down at him with its jaw dropped. It reached for its sword, but Beetle was already running, darting through an opening into another room beyond. Something splashed against the wall behind him, and he felt droplets of something splatter onto his collar and sleeve. Fortunately, none of the acid touched his skin. </p><p></p><p>“KILL THAT HALFLING!” came a truly echoing cry from behind him. Ahead of him, kobolds shifted, blocking two passages that exited the room. There were kobolds all over the place. Luckily, they were as surprised to see him as he was to see them. Directly ahead of him, a wall of water glowed bright with the light of the sun. More kobolds were coming into the room behind him. A javelin sliced past his ear, almost doing to him what he’d done to the goblin. The ones in the room he’d just entered unlimbered spears and javelins, and Beetle realized that in a second or two he’d be a pincushion, like the one his Aunt Wanda kept on the table near the fireplace. </p><p></p><p>There was only one thing to do. Charging forward, he sprang into the wall of water. Something hard struck him in the side, and then he hit the waterfall, and everything vanished in a chaos of water and noise and motion.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 4443918, member: 143"] Wait no longer! * * * * * Chapter 21 Beetle stirred. He felt bad. It wasn’t pleasant, not at all. He blinked once. He was in a dark place, but there were torches not far away, and he recognized the smells. He was lying on the floor. It was cold. He was tied up, with his hands bound behind him; he couldn’t move. A gag that tasted nasty, like old fish left out in the sun, was thrust between his teeth. Something poked him in the back once, then again. Something sharp, stabbing him. Not to hurt, although it did. He felt like the way he’d had that time that Farmer Jamberson’s cattle had trampled him. Beat up all over. He heard a laugh, behind him. He didn’t move, not again, and the poking eventually stopped. He lay there, quiet in the dark, and took a deep breath, slowly. His muscles tingled, but he ignored the urge to try to move again. He could feel them watching him. The voices, again, low, just a few steps away. He didn’t understand what they were saying. He was a mouse. A mouse caught in a trap, maybe. He felt a moment’s remorse for the creatures he’d caught in like fashion. Maybe they’d felt as bad as he did now. A few minutes passed. Beetle did not spend them idle. When he heard the others approaching, he cracked an eyelid, just enough to see the bottom of a hide tunic that he recognized. His abused skin burned a little just at the memory of it. At least he could see, his eyes hadn’t been burned out by its terrible spit. He wanted a drink of water, real bad. The creatures were talking again. He thought there were two behind him, and two others that had come in with the one that had spit in his face. Those two were the nasty kind with the shields made of dragon skin. Someone else had come in; he hadn’t noticed it, but there he was. Booted feet, not the scaly bare feet of the kobolds. This one was bigger, too. Bulging with muscles. Not a kobold, he had green skin and a squat head, with a huge tooth bulging from one side of his mouth. He stank; Beetle could smell him from here. “Get him up. Take off gag, hold him,” the spitting kobold said. Beetle realized he understood what the kobold had said, this time, it was in his own language. He almost flinched as the kobolds behind him picked him up. He kept his head lolling forward as the kobold yanked off his gag. His tongue felt big and awkward in his mouth; he really wanted that drink of water. “Wake him up,” the kobold spitter said. “Lord Irontooth wants to speak to the prisoner.” The big green guy came forward. Beetle decided that he didn’t want to be here any more, and he certainly didn’t want to talk to Lord Irontooth. He shifted, and the ropes holding him fell away. The kobolds looked at him in surprise. The one holding him grabbed at his belt for a knife, the same knife he’d taken from Beetle, but found only an empty scabbard. The big goblin reacted faster. He lunged at Beetle, not even going for the big axe slung across his back, but his hand forming a fist that no doubt would have hurt quite a lot, had it connected. But Beetle dodged back, and felt the wind of the punch as it swished through the air right in front of him. Even the kobolds holding him fell back a bit in the face of that attack. The goblin was a skilled fighter, and he recovered [i]real[/i] fast, not even lunging off-balance the way that a stupid brawler might have done. But Beetle was pretty fast as well. The natural reactions of the kobolds behind him had given him just enough space to move. He grabbed the strap holding the goblin’s axe in place and leapt up as he drew back. The goblin grabbed at him but he was already up and moving past, kicking off the goblin’s shoulder. As he sprang he reached down and caught the tip of his knife on the goblin’s ear, slicing a deep notch in it. Blood spurted out and the goblin staggered back, clutching at the nasty wound. That had to hurt. Beetle landed just outside the reach of the nearest kobold, which looked down at him with its jaw dropped. It reached for its sword, but Beetle was already running, darting through an opening into another room beyond. Something splashed against the wall behind him, and he felt droplets of something splatter onto his collar and sleeve. Fortunately, none of the acid touched his skin. “KILL THAT HALFLING!” came a truly echoing cry from behind him. Ahead of him, kobolds shifted, blocking two passages that exited the room. There were kobolds all over the place. Luckily, they were as surprised to see him as he was to see them. Directly ahead of him, a wall of water glowed bright with the light of the sun. More kobolds were coming into the room behind him. A javelin sliced past his ear, almost doing to him what he’d done to the goblin. The ones in the room he’d just entered unlimbered spears and javelins, and Beetle realized that in a second or two he’d be a pincushion, like the one his Aunt Wanda kept on the table near the fireplace. There was only one thing to do. Charging forward, he sprang into the wall of water. Something hard struck him in the side, and then he hit the waterfall, and everything vanished in a chaos of water and noise and motion. [/QUOTE]
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