Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 48
Quellan was the closest to the giant insect’s rush.
The mantis dwarfed even him, but the cleric did not flinch from its charge. He raised his shield and thrust forward, meeting its assault. Its front limbs snapped over the wooden barrier, seizing hold of it and trying to pull it from his grasp. But Quellan refused to either let go or let himself be dragged in. He let out a yell as he and the bug struggled for control. The creature thrust itself forward on its hind legs until it was half on top of him, its long neck slipping forward as it looked for a vulnerable place to bite.
The cleric would not been able to hold on long against that sheer ferocity, but fortunately his companions were quick to respond. Glori shot it from the flank, and while her arrow again did little damage it distracted it just enough for Quellan to yank his shield free and reset his defense. Kosk accomplished more, snapping one of its hind legs with a solid blow from his staff. The mantis leaned to the side as the limb collapsed under it, but it still clearly had a lot of fight left in it.
But the injury kept it from reacting in time as Bredan ran in from its opposite side. The creature snapped out a forelimb as he charged into range, perhaps intending to try the same trick of yanking away his sword that its mate had achieved, but this time the blade had the smith’s full strength behind the swing. It clipped the mantis’s limb, not only severing it at the joint but continuing through to strike its neck. The critical hit shattered its thick hide and separated the insect’s head from its body. The creature’s bulging eyes flashed in the weak light as the head tumbled end-over-end before bouncing to a stop a few steps away. The rest of the creature shuddered and crumpled, its limbs twitching a few times before falling still.
“Damn,” Glori said, staring down at it.
“Very effective,” Xeeta added.
It didn’t take them very long to find Colum’s remains. The man-at-arms hadn’t been dead long, but the stench of death already filled the thicket. When they saw the body there was no doubt. They took his gear, anything that might be useful or worth returning to his employers back in Northpine. None of them had even learned if he had any kin back in the village.
They found his sword lying a few feet away from the body, still in its scabbard. Glori took it and hooked the scabbard to her belt. “I can carry that for you,” Bredan said.
“No, I’ll take it,” she said. Something had changed in her manner, something that had him looking at her in surprise.
Not far from where they found Colum they encountered something else of interest, half-a-dozen ovoid eggs the size of a man’s forearm. There was no need to debate their fate; Xeeta roasted them with magical fire and then Kosk crushed them thoroughly with his staff.
As they were leaving the thicket Glori pulled Bredan aside. “Not now, but when we get back… I want you to teach me how to use this.” She tapped the sword hanging from her hip.
Bredan nodded. “You know you don’t have to be fighting in the front…”
“I know. I’d just feel better if I knew I could.”
“All right.”
They continued on in silence for a while. Colum’s maps indicated that their detour had actually taken them a bit closer to the estate, and they decided to press on instead of backtracking to the mill. It was easier to get lost in the open terrain, especially since all the hills and clumps of forest tended to look identical after a while. But the terrain was much more forgiving than it had been in their earlier excursions, and it was only a little after the sun’s peak at noon when they caught sight of both the road and their destination.
They could see the estate house from a good distance off. It was surrounded by fields that had been long fallow, the once-orderly rows overgrown with weeds. A small orchard of fruit trees followed the path before it turned into a thicket near the right side of the house. There was one large outbuilding, a barn or stable from the look of it, though it looked tired and decrepit. The house itself was in little better shape. Even from a distance they could see that one whole side of the structure was sagging and uneven, with damage to the roof that looked like at least a partial collapse had taken place sometime in the past. As they got closer they could see that the windows on the lower story had all been boarded up, but the purpose in that seemed to be defeated by the fact that the front door appeared to be partially open.
“Well, this looks like a mess,” Glori said.
“If the kid came here, he’s braver than I thought,” Kosk muttered.
“The open door suggests that someone might be using the place…” Xeeta began, but she was interrupted by Bredan, who lifted a hand. “Shh, did you hear that?”
They were all silent, but whatever sound had alerted the warrior was not repeated. “I thought I heard something coming from over there,” he said, indicating the barn.
“Let’s go check it out,” Quellan said. “The house will keep for a moment.”
They made their way over across the weed-strewn yard to the front of the barn. The heavy doors were closed but the wood was too cracked and rotten to offer much of an obstacle. After shooting a quick look at his companions to ensure they were ready, Bredan took hold of one of the doors and dragged it open.
The door swung on hinges that looked to be more rust than iron, creaking ominously. When he’d gotten it halfway open the upper hinge snapped. Bredan left the door hanging unevenly and stepped inside, the others close behind.
The entire front half of the barn was one large room. It looked unremarkable, with two stalls for animals and bins for grains that were all empty. There were a few pieces of rotten tack hanging from nails and heaps of what might have been tools in the corners, now just rusted junk. There was a missing board on the wall to their right that let in a shaft of afternoon sunlight. An open doorway led to a back room.
Bredan stood there in the entry for a moment, scanning the dim interior. He couldn’t shake the impression that something was off, something he couldn’t quite place. Dust raised by his entry sparkled in the light that filtered through the numerous gaps in the boards. The place stank of decay.
Glori finally shook him out of his reverie. “Come on, you’re blocking the way,” she said. Bredan shot her an apologetic look and started forward, but he’d only managed one step before a loud clatter from the back room shattered the quiet. He immediately unslung his sword, the steel hissing as he drew it from its scabbard.
A slight form shot forward from the back room, but instead of rushing the companions it made a beeline for the missing board. It was faster than Bredan, and it might have escaped if not for a dart of fire that shot past the young warrior and clipped the wall directly in front of the fleeing figure. It let out a startled squeak and fell backwards into a pile of rusted shovels and hoes that collapsed around it in a wild cacophony. The intruder managed to scramble out of that chaos but it barely got to its feet before Kosk smacked it heavily in the chest with his staff. The impact knocked it back to the ground, stunned.
Quellan ran past them and used his cloak to put out the flames from Xeeta’s spell before they could threaten the barn. The others converged on their captive, who turned out to be a very nervous goblin.
Quellan was the closest to the giant insect’s rush.
The mantis dwarfed even him, but the cleric did not flinch from its charge. He raised his shield and thrust forward, meeting its assault. Its front limbs snapped over the wooden barrier, seizing hold of it and trying to pull it from his grasp. But Quellan refused to either let go or let himself be dragged in. He let out a yell as he and the bug struggled for control. The creature thrust itself forward on its hind legs until it was half on top of him, its long neck slipping forward as it looked for a vulnerable place to bite.
The cleric would not been able to hold on long against that sheer ferocity, but fortunately his companions were quick to respond. Glori shot it from the flank, and while her arrow again did little damage it distracted it just enough for Quellan to yank his shield free and reset his defense. Kosk accomplished more, snapping one of its hind legs with a solid blow from his staff. The mantis leaned to the side as the limb collapsed under it, but it still clearly had a lot of fight left in it.
But the injury kept it from reacting in time as Bredan ran in from its opposite side. The creature snapped out a forelimb as he charged into range, perhaps intending to try the same trick of yanking away his sword that its mate had achieved, but this time the blade had the smith’s full strength behind the swing. It clipped the mantis’s limb, not only severing it at the joint but continuing through to strike its neck. The critical hit shattered its thick hide and separated the insect’s head from its body. The creature’s bulging eyes flashed in the weak light as the head tumbled end-over-end before bouncing to a stop a few steps away. The rest of the creature shuddered and crumpled, its limbs twitching a few times before falling still.
“Damn,” Glori said, staring down at it.
“Very effective,” Xeeta added.
It didn’t take them very long to find Colum’s remains. The man-at-arms hadn’t been dead long, but the stench of death already filled the thicket. When they saw the body there was no doubt. They took his gear, anything that might be useful or worth returning to his employers back in Northpine. None of them had even learned if he had any kin back in the village.
They found his sword lying a few feet away from the body, still in its scabbard. Glori took it and hooked the scabbard to her belt. “I can carry that for you,” Bredan said.
“No, I’ll take it,” she said. Something had changed in her manner, something that had him looking at her in surprise.
Not far from where they found Colum they encountered something else of interest, half-a-dozen ovoid eggs the size of a man’s forearm. There was no need to debate their fate; Xeeta roasted them with magical fire and then Kosk crushed them thoroughly with his staff.
As they were leaving the thicket Glori pulled Bredan aside. “Not now, but when we get back… I want you to teach me how to use this.” She tapped the sword hanging from her hip.
Bredan nodded. “You know you don’t have to be fighting in the front…”
“I know. I’d just feel better if I knew I could.”
“All right.”
They continued on in silence for a while. Colum’s maps indicated that their detour had actually taken them a bit closer to the estate, and they decided to press on instead of backtracking to the mill. It was easier to get lost in the open terrain, especially since all the hills and clumps of forest tended to look identical after a while. But the terrain was much more forgiving than it had been in their earlier excursions, and it was only a little after the sun’s peak at noon when they caught sight of both the road and their destination.
They could see the estate house from a good distance off. It was surrounded by fields that had been long fallow, the once-orderly rows overgrown with weeds. A small orchard of fruit trees followed the path before it turned into a thicket near the right side of the house. There was one large outbuilding, a barn or stable from the look of it, though it looked tired and decrepit. The house itself was in little better shape. Even from a distance they could see that one whole side of the structure was sagging and uneven, with damage to the roof that looked like at least a partial collapse had taken place sometime in the past. As they got closer they could see that the windows on the lower story had all been boarded up, but the purpose in that seemed to be defeated by the fact that the front door appeared to be partially open.
“Well, this looks like a mess,” Glori said.
“If the kid came here, he’s braver than I thought,” Kosk muttered.
“The open door suggests that someone might be using the place…” Xeeta began, but she was interrupted by Bredan, who lifted a hand. “Shh, did you hear that?”
They were all silent, but whatever sound had alerted the warrior was not repeated. “I thought I heard something coming from over there,” he said, indicating the barn.
“Let’s go check it out,” Quellan said. “The house will keep for a moment.”
They made their way over across the weed-strewn yard to the front of the barn. The heavy doors were closed but the wood was too cracked and rotten to offer much of an obstacle. After shooting a quick look at his companions to ensure they were ready, Bredan took hold of one of the doors and dragged it open.
The door swung on hinges that looked to be more rust than iron, creaking ominously. When he’d gotten it halfway open the upper hinge snapped. Bredan left the door hanging unevenly and stepped inside, the others close behind.
The entire front half of the barn was one large room. It looked unremarkable, with two stalls for animals and bins for grains that were all empty. There were a few pieces of rotten tack hanging from nails and heaps of what might have been tools in the corners, now just rusted junk. There was a missing board on the wall to their right that let in a shaft of afternoon sunlight. An open doorway led to a back room.
Bredan stood there in the entry for a moment, scanning the dim interior. He couldn’t shake the impression that something was off, something he couldn’t quite place. Dust raised by his entry sparkled in the light that filtered through the numerous gaps in the boards. The place stank of decay.
Glori finally shook him out of his reverie. “Come on, you’re blocking the way,” she said. Bredan shot her an apologetic look and started forward, but he’d only managed one step before a loud clatter from the back room shattered the quiet. He immediately unslung his sword, the steel hissing as he drew it from its scabbard.
A slight form shot forward from the back room, but instead of rushing the companions it made a beeline for the missing board. It was faster than Bredan, and it might have escaped if not for a dart of fire that shot past the young warrior and clipped the wall directly in front of the fleeing figure. It let out a startled squeak and fell backwards into a pile of rusted shovels and hoes that collapsed around it in a wild cacophony. The intruder managed to scramble out of that chaos but it barely got to its feet before Kosk smacked it heavily in the chest with his staff. The impact knocked it back to the ground, stunned.
Quellan ran past them and used his cloak to put out the flames from Xeeta’s spell before they could threaten the barn. The others converged on their captive, who turned out to be a very nervous goblin.