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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1302258" data-attributes="member: 6294">"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 4As soon as the dogs see Macwood approaching, they scramble to their feet.  Ignoring the cured meat in his outstretched hand, their hackles rise, and they begin to growl menacingly.The halfling pauses, giving them time to get used to his presence, hoping this will calm them."Enough of this." Elspeth mutters.  Drawing her bow, she looses an arrow at the dog on the left.  The shaft plunges deep into the creature's flesh, knocking it to the ground.  It gives a howl as it goes down, and the other dog immediately adds to the noise, barking aggressively as it lopes toward Macwood.The adventurers rush out of hiding, Stormstrider and his wolf 'Blackfang' leading the way.  Seeing them come, the dog that is still on its feet gives a rumbling howl, the skin and fur on its face peeling back to reveal the bloody flesh underneath as it does.Though hideous to behold, this display does little to unnerve the Company: after all, they have three to one odds in their favour.At first, the progress of the fight seems to confirm their confidence: the wounded dog - if a dog it truly is - is quickly slain, and the second is hard-pressed.And then "One Eye" bursts out of the cave.The ogre - for that is what he is - is a particularly large and badly-scarred example of his race, with a massive gnarled club in one hand.  Strings of frothy saliva drip from his lopsided mouth as he roars his rage at these attackers, veins standing out like thick cords in his neck.The baleful red glare of his single eye falls first on Ming Li.  The ogre bellows, and there is a sickening crunch of broken bones as the club slams into the monk's chest, knocking her ten feet through the air.  Ming Li's training has taught her how to overcome her pain, but even her iron self-control is shattered by the sheer agony of this wound.  The mind resorts to the last defence against pain, and she is unconscious before her body hits the ground."Somebody flank it!" Elspeth yells, her sword cutting a shallow gash in the ogre's chest.  "We need to keep it off-balance!  Twinkle!" she calls on the nearest of her companions, "Aid me!"But Tweedlefinkle, taking one look at the state of the battle, steps back and quaffs a potion, vanishing from sight."Gods damn you, gnome!" the ranger rants, "After I'm done with this monster I'm coming after you!"Whatever else she might have said is driven out of her in an explosive whoosh of air, as the ogre's club slams into her stomach.  Elspeth's body all but folds over the weapon, yet she somehow stays on her feet.  Stormstrider is not so lucky: as he moves to take the position that Twinkle refused, One-Eye sweeps his club in a wide arc.  The elf ducks just a little too slowly, and hits the ground like he's been pole-axed, blood streaming from a gash in his head.Twinkle, folded in the safety of a cocoon of invisibility, winces at the blow.  The dangerous reach of the ogre's weapon has been clear to her since the moment it emerged, and she knows that she would have fallen as easily as Stormstrider, had she tried to do as Elspeth desired.The gnome also knows that she is not as strong, or as brave, as many of her companions.  Even Rose is moving in to the melee, seizing the moment while the ogre recovers from his swing.  As she does so, Macwood runs to Ming Li's side, where he drops to his knees, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.No, Twinkle is not as strong, or as brave, as many of her companions.But she wants to be.The gnome rushes forward, the shield of her invisibility letting her race unseen between the ogre's legs.  As she does so, she shouts in anger, and fear - and in triumph.Her shortsword - her tiny, insignificant blade - cuts straight across the tendons in the ogre's leg.One-Eye bellows in pain and rage, even as he crashes to one knee, blood spraying from the wound.  The ogre twists, his club sweeping round to pulp the insolent foe who just harmed him.But he is swinging at a gnome, not the human or elf he expects: his blow is too high, and Twinkle finds herself miraculously unscathed.One Eye bellows again, summoning his pet to aid him, but the dog-thing's path is blocked by Blackfang.  The wolf pays a terrible price for its temerity, as the beast savages it brutally, but it stays the creature just long enough for the tide of the battle to turn.Ming Li staggers to her feet, somehow revived by Macwood's ministrations.  The monk is moving gingerly, but she is back in the fight.  And Elspeth, despite her injury, still stands: she uses the ogre's moment of distraction to drives her blade deep into his side.The dog-beast savages Blackfang again, dropping the wolf, which falls beside Stormstrider, before loping toward its own master.  But it is too late: Twinkle, clutching her blade in white-knuckled hands, steps in its path.With an explosive shout, Ming Li rushes into the battle, pointing her staff like a spear.  The thrust smashes through the thinnest part of the ogre's skull, driving deep into its brain.The ogre falls.  And as the dust settles, it reveals Twinkle standing over the corpse of the dog-thing, her bloodied blade still in her hands.  The gnome turns, her face split in an enormous grin."I killed it!" she exults, "First I stabbed him and then I stabbed it and I killed it!"  Limping, she walks around the ogre's body.  "It bit my foot but I killed it!  Dead!"She points at her boot, which has been torn by the creature's teeth."Well done." Ming Li says gravely, "You did well.  And your injury is a proud one.  It still bleeds, I see.""Bleeds?" Twinkle looks down, her eyes widening as she sees the red fluid seeping from her boot.  Her face goes pale, and she manages a faint "I think I need to sit down." before she passes out completely.</blockquote>

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