The Big Fight
Hey, I got inspired today and the words started coming again, just like a faucet had been turned on within my mind. At any rate, very much overdue and with my apologies, I present the next installment of my SH. Hopefully inspiration will not leave me and I'll be able to catch up quickly (I'm about three sessions behind now).
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Gnish blinked his eyes to clear the spots he was seeing. He no longer stood in the entrance chamber of the wizard school. Now he was in an open area dominated by a large bubbling fountain in the center of the chamber. A couple of female drow stood by the fountain, surrounded by a trio of males in fine garb. The dark elves seemed unaware of his presence but he knew that wouldn’t last long. With a shout, the deep gnome raised his hand crossbows and fired a volley of bolts at the group of elves, then dropped his weapons and unsheathed his kukri as he surged forward…
…and found his path blocked by a badly scarred dark elf warrior wielding a wickedly sharp double shortsword in either hand. Gnish grinned and lunged low, sweeping his kukri towards his opponent’s legs with the aim of crippling him. However, the dark elf was just too quick and too skilled to be removed from battle so easily. He twirled his blades low and swept both the gnome’s kukri out to the side, then reversed his grip and slashed at the small warrior’s suddenly exposed head and chest. Both blades connected with a shower of sparks and Gnish was driven backwards, feeling like a mule had kicked him. The gnome’s enchanted skin saved him from serious injury but he regarded the dark elf with respect and caution now, waving his blades in a defensive pattern as he fell back from the whirling death before him.
Dorinna T’sarran realized in an instant what had transpired. “Treachery!” she screeched. “Destroy the interlopers!” she commanded. “I will have Ned’razak’s head on a pike for his betrayal!” As the sounds of combat erupted through the chamber, she began concentrating on the largest group of invaders, chanting a prayer to her goddess as she called a storm of divine fire upon their heads. She completed her chant and raised her arms triumphantly, waiting for the wrath of the Pale Lady to consume her foes, when she felt the power drain from her and dissipate with no effect.
Dorinna blinked in confusion as a small, broken figure levitated from her enemies’ midst and waggled a finger in her direction. “Tsk, tsk,” chided the goblin. “Not on Higreld’s agenda roasting is. No match for my power are you. A new playmate for you to play with, perhaps?”
A splashing noise came from behind her and Dorinna whirled to see the water of the fountain broken by a gnarled green giant that rose from its surface. She shrieked in anger and sudden fear as the troll stretched to its full height and leaned towards her with grasping talons.
While Higreld focused his attentions on the high priestess, Artimas scanned the room and assessed the situation. Gnish was fighting a furious but losing battle against the scarred male, while unseen to the gnome, a great black hunting cat with tentacles protruding from its shoulders moved in on his flank. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of movement and turned to see a pair of driders scuttling across the ceiling. Meanwhile, the second female and the pair of richly dressed males were striding forward to meet Tierak and Larala in combat. The necromancer frowned and considered a moment, murmuring a spell under his breath. As he completed the incantation he felt his vision changing, and as the arcane energies coursed through his frame he turned and scanned the room again with the eyes of the dead.
Immediately the situation became much clearer. Out of all the opponents before him, only the swordsman, the great cat, and the second drow female still drew breath; the rest, including the driders, were undead. The necromancer smiled and turned to the fey’ri beside him.
“Bruskin, shed some light on this problem for us, please,” he suggested and then turned his attention back to the fight. Ripping a portion of his own life-force away, the necromancer empowered it with the touch of the dead and sent the resulting energy hurtling toward the second dark elf priestess. She froze suddenly as the missile slammed into her, chilling cold spreading through her body and paralyzing her. Artimas chuckled grimly and sent a mental command to his ethereal assassin, then considered his next strike.
Bruskin understood the mage’s suggestion and pulled a slender wand from his belt an instant before a pair of crackling streams of white hot energy tore through the air around him, setting his clothes alight and causing his hair to stand wildly on end. Luckily, the protective spells he’d cast so long ago were still intact and he barely felt the jarring strikes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Artimas hurled away by the force of the blast and could only hope that his ally was as well protected. Bruskin closed his eyes and leaned forward, touching the tip of his wand to the cold stone floor.
Light flooded the chamber, a blinding, white burst that rivaled the sun. Screams of pain and dismay sounded from the assembled drow and then a masculine voice spoke a command and the room went dark again.
The brief flash of light bought Gnish a sudden opening in his opponent’s defenses and the gnome went back on the attack, drawing two deep cuts in the elf’s side and then raising his blades for the kill. His opponent recovered with preternatural quickness and easily parried the next strikes, slashing and chopping at the deep gnome with the other end of his weapons. In an instant Gnish was back on the defensive, all of his skill focused on keeping the flashing blades at bay. It seemed to matter little to the drow, who penetrated Gnish’s elaborate defense seemingly at will and rained blow after blow upon the gnome’s head and shoulders. The little warrior backed away and parried as best as he was able, fully aware that the enchantment upon his skin weakened with each hit and brought him one second closer to death.
“Gnish, behind you, look out!” Zooky’s voice rent the air and made him aware of a new threat. He dove to the side and rolled away just as a long spiked tentacle swept through the air. He received a glancing blow on the shoulder but was saved from a much worse injury by his friend’s warning. A huge displacer beast with glowing red eyes and bony spurs protruding from its spine pounced at him, but he dove forward underneath it and rolled in the direction of the swordsman, who now seemed to be engaged in frantic combat with some unseen enemy. Ignoring the sounds of the beast coming in at his back, Gnish charged the dark elf, accepting no less that four stinging hits from his blades, and drove both his kukri deep into the swordsman’s gut. The dark elf staggered back, disbelief showing on his face, until an instant later something heavy and blunt struck his face and shattered it.
The pair of gnomes, one visible and one unseen, turned from their fallen opponent to face the enraged displacer beast.
Bruskin faced the driders as they perched on the ceiling and summoned eldritch power with which to strike him down. He recognized the first spell and raised a shield of invisible force before him just in time to catch the volley of fiery green bolts, but the second spell passed through his barrier and burned into him, sizzling and sputtering as it bore deeper into his flesh. The sorcerer gritted his teeth against the pain and spoke the command word for his wand again, once more bathing the chamber in bright light. Once more the light was quickly countered by the drow but at the cost of valuable seconds, and the battle raged on.
Dorinna recovered her wits moments before the troll sunk its talons into her flesh and uttered a word of banishment. The creature howled in rage as it was ripped from this world and sent hurtling back to the nether realm from which it came. Rage contorting her beautiful features, she turned to confront the troublesome goblin, a prayer on her lips that would tear the life from his flesh. Yet once again as she completed the final intonation the power was drained from her and her spell had no effect. Higreld grinned crookedly and waggled his finger at her once more, heightening her fury, and she began praying once more to summon the power of her goddess to smash the wretch.
Meanwhile, in the center of the chamber Larala entered combat with the two handsome drow, joined by the Mask after the helpless priestess was disposed of. Larala was a skilled swordswoman, but her opponents were possessed of supernatural strength and speed and easily dodged her slashes and thrusts, striking her with their bare hands over and over. With each touch the crazed half-drow felt her life drained from her, until she was barely able to stand. Her life was saved then by Tierak Morcane. Standing calm as the battle raged about her, the priestess focused her will upon the closer of the two drow and dominated the undead elf, bending him to her will. He turned to attack his companion, buying Larala the moments she needed to withdraw from the battle and hide in the darkness in the corners of the room.
Artimas saw that despite the fall of the swordsman, the gnomes were hard pressed by the ferocious displacer beast and fought a losing struggle for survival with each passing second. He started to chant a ritual that would aid them in their fight, but his concentration was broken by a flurry of stinging red darts from the ceiling above him. Growling in frustration and pain, the necromancer turned away from the desperate melee and bent one of the undead driders to his will, commanding it to attack the other. Freed from distraction, he turned back to the combat and began casting again. Black rays of energy knifed from his fingers and cut through the air where the beast should have been, bursting harmlessly against the wall behind it. Ignoring the miss, Artimas pooled his energies and sent beam after beam streaking towards the beast. Finally he connected and the creature slowed considerably, all the strength drained from its muscles. Gnish and Zookie renewed their efforts against the greatly weakened beast and soon succeeded in slaying it.
Dorinna completed her chant and stopped, breathless, waiting to see if her spell would have any effect. But Higreld the Dispeller was at the height of his powers and easily dissipated the ravening energies, chanting a ritual of summoning in return. The dark elf priestess glanced around the room and seemed to notice for the first time how quickly her allies were falling, and the first thoughts of flight entered her mind. Before she could act upon them, however, the air around her rippled and five hulking brutes stepped through. The summoned ogres raised their clubs high, and Dorinna only had time to scream and raise her arm feebly to ward off the blows before they descended with crushing force. The priestess was crushed completely, her body dissolving into intangible mist that floated up through the ceiling and away from the battle…
At the same instant, Bruskin activated his wand once more and flooded the room with daylight. The remaining enemies thus got a clear view of the defeat of their leader and quickly fled, dispersing into smoke and following her through the ceiling. The companions stopped to catch their breaths, hardly able to believe that for now it seemed they had reached a lull in the fighting…
Coming soon: Welby makes some new friends, and the saddest day…
