Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 203
“Is that the Druid?” Kosk asked.
Brightbriar shook his head. “No, no,” he said. But Glori could not tell if that was an answer or a denial of a truth he did not want to acknowledge.
Darethan had an arrow fitted to his great bow. “I have a shot,” he said, looking over at Shreskra. But the Ranger leader looked uncertain.
Kosk turned to Embrae. “Can you hit him?”
The elf monk shook her head. “Too far.”
Glori started to reach for her own bow, though it would be a long shot for her lighter weapon. But before she could unlimber it the shadowed figure spoke. They could clearly hear his words despite the distance that separated them, suggesting that he was using magic to augment his speech.
“You will go no further,” the strange figure said. His voice was scratchy, as if he hadn’t had a drink of water in days. “The corruption you have brought will not taint the Reserve.”
“Thus far it seems pretty corrupted already,” Kosk said.
“We come to speak with the Druid!” Glori shouted, her trained bard’s voice carrying easily across the distance. “We have the authority of Tal Nadesh behind us. Stand aside, or we will consider you our enemy!”
“We know why you have come,” the dark figure rasped. “You shall not have it!” He raised his arms, the black cloth sloughing back to reveal pale, thin arms.
“Shoot him now!” Majerion barked at Darethan.
The command in the bard’s voice had the elf Ranger drawing and firing immediately. The arrow arced on a shallow parabola before plunging down directly toward the dark figure’s chest. But instead of striking him, the shaft sliced narrowly past his head. Darethan blinked in disbelief before reaching for another arrow.
But he didn’t get a chance to try again before their unidentified adversary unleashed his power. His head tilted up and he shouted something at the sky, a string of harsh syllables that grated on the companions’ awareness but held no meaning. But the land itself responded. Plumes of water erupted from two of the pools at the base of the cliffs in front of him, followed by two hulking creatures that rose into view. They had the vague shape of men but were half again as tall, their forms covered in muck and growth that made it difficult to see what exactly they were. The water in the pools rose to their waists, but that didn’t seem to slow them much as they trudged forward toward the companions.
Darethan launched his second arrow, which struck one of the creatures in the chest. If the thing felt it, it wasn’t immediately obvious. The dark figure had disappeared during the distraction of their appearance.
“We cannot fight these,” Majerion said.
“We must fall back,” Shreskra said.
“Into the swamp?” Kosk asked. “Something tells me those things will be able to move a lost faster than we can in that mire.”
“Whatever we do, we need to do it quickly!” Embrae warned. “Look!”
They turned to see that more of the things were emerging from pools further back along the cliffs. There were four of them in view now, though none of them would have placed a wager that they were the last of them. The first pair had emerged from their pools, revealing the sheer massive bulk that comprised their forms. They looked like giant shambling masses of vegetable matter, held together with mud and tendrils of vines and roots. They shambled toward the companions, the sodden ground shaking with each step.
“We have no choice, now!” Shreskra hissed, her voice sounding almost as strained as the dark figure’s earlier.
“I think we can get around them!” Majerion said. “Circle around and scale the cliffs!”
“Either way, we have to move!” Glori said. She followed her former mentor as he led them at a sprint along a path that would take them north, paralleling the cliffs. The others fell in behind them, glancing back to confirm that the shambling mounds were in pursuit, as if there could be any doubt with their ground-shaking footfalls drawing steadily nearer.
But for all their size the things did move slowly, and for a moment it looked as though Majerion’s gambit would work. The ground was soft but not excessively so, and no more of the monsters emerged to block their escape. The cliffs remained a good distance away as they followed the edge of the forest, but it looked as though they would be able to cut over once they were well clear of their pursuers.
But then, almost as if conjured by that fleeting hope, Loriellan stumbled into a waist-high bog that had been rendered almost invisible by a dense carpet of floating plants. Once revealed they could see that the water curved around them in a broad arc, almost as if designed to pen them in.
“You led us into a trap!” Shreskra cried.
“Is that the Druid?” Kosk asked.
Brightbriar shook his head. “No, no,” he said. But Glori could not tell if that was an answer or a denial of a truth he did not want to acknowledge.
Darethan had an arrow fitted to his great bow. “I have a shot,” he said, looking over at Shreskra. But the Ranger leader looked uncertain.
Kosk turned to Embrae. “Can you hit him?”
The elf monk shook her head. “Too far.”
Glori started to reach for her own bow, though it would be a long shot for her lighter weapon. But before she could unlimber it the shadowed figure spoke. They could clearly hear his words despite the distance that separated them, suggesting that he was using magic to augment his speech.
“You will go no further,” the strange figure said. His voice was scratchy, as if he hadn’t had a drink of water in days. “The corruption you have brought will not taint the Reserve.”
“Thus far it seems pretty corrupted already,” Kosk said.
“We come to speak with the Druid!” Glori shouted, her trained bard’s voice carrying easily across the distance. “We have the authority of Tal Nadesh behind us. Stand aside, or we will consider you our enemy!”
“We know why you have come,” the dark figure rasped. “You shall not have it!” He raised his arms, the black cloth sloughing back to reveal pale, thin arms.
“Shoot him now!” Majerion barked at Darethan.
The command in the bard’s voice had the elf Ranger drawing and firing immediately. The arrow arced on a shallow parabola before plunging down directly toward the dark figure’s chest. But instead of striking him, the shaft sliced narrowly past his head. Darethan blinked in disbelief before reaching for another arrow.
But he didn’t get a chance to try again before their unidentified adversary unleashed his power. His head tilted up and he shouted something at the sky, a string of harsh syllables that grated on the companions’ awareness but held no meaning. But the land itself responded. Plumes of water erupted from two of the pools at the base of the cliffs in front of him, followed by two hulking creatures that rose into view. They had the vague shape of men but were half again as tall, their forms covered in muck and growth that made it difficult to see what exactly they were. The water in the pools rose to their waists, but that didn’t seem to slow them much as they trudged forward toward the companions.
Darethan launched his second arrow, which struck one of the creatures in the chest. If the thing felt it, it wasn’t immediately obvious. The dark figure had disappeared during the distraction of their appearance.
“We cannot fight these,” Majerion said.
“We must fall back,” Shreskra said.
“Into the swamp?” Kosk asked. “Something tells me those things will be able to move a lost faster than we can in that mire.”
“Whatever we do, we need to do it quickly!” Embrae warned. “Look!”
They turned to see that more of the things were emerging from pools further back along the cliffs. There were four of them in view now, though none of them would have placed a wager that they were the last of them. The first pair had emerged from their pools, revealing the sheer massive bulk that comprised their forms. They looked like giant shambling masses of vegetable matter, held together with mud and tendrils of vines and roots. They shambled toward the companions, the sodden ground shaking with each step.
“We have no choice, now!” Shreskra hissed, her voice sounding almost as strained as the dark figure’s earlier.
“I think we can get around them!” Majerion said. “Circle around and scale the cliffs!”
“Either way, we have to move!” Glori said. She followed her former mentor as he led them at a sprint along a path that would take them north, paralleling the cliffs. The others fell in behind them, glancing back to confirm that the shambling mounds were in pursuit, as if there could be any doubt with their ground-shaking footfalls drawing steadily nearer.
But for all their size the things did move slowly, and for a moment it looked as though Majerion’s gambit would work. The ground was soft but not excessively so, and no more of the monsters emerged to block their escape. The cliffs remained a good distance away as they followed the edge of the forest, but it looked as though they would be able to cut over once they were well clear of their pursuers.
But then, almost as if conjured by that fleeting hope, Loriellan stumbled into a waist-high bog that had been rendered almost invisible by a dense carpet of floating plants. Once revealed they could see that the water curved around them in a broad arc, almost as if designed to pen them in.
“You led us into a trap!” Shreskra cried.