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Forgotten Lore (Updated M-W-F)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7095342" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Thanks, guys! I appreciate the feedback. I'm having fun writing this one.</p><p></p><p>* * * </p><p></p><p>Chapter 26</p><p></p><p>The four companions dove for cover as the magma mephit breathed a spray of flames onto them. But only Glori had good protection, ducking behind the solid mass of the altar. Both Bredan and Quellan retreated from the flames and got only mildly singed.</p><p></p><p>But Kosk had nowhere to go. The dwarf ducked and turned, protecting the clay jug in his arms from the flames. He didn’t know what it held, but he’d felt the slosh of liquid inside and guessed that whatever it was would only add to their difficulties. He quickly tucked it as far under the altar as he could reach and then rounded on the mephit, his staff sweeping up to intercept its attack. The iron-tipped end struck it in the body but it was only a glancing blow that inflicted little damage. The creature responded by lashing out with one of its hind legs, slashing into Kosk’s shoulder with its claws. The heat of its body caused the wounds to sizzle, and the dwarf stumbled and went down, scattering a few dozen of the steel balls as he fell.</p><p></p><p>Before the creature could finish him off Bredan lunged forward, sweeping out with his sword. He was moving a bit awkwardly, sliding his feet instead of striding, but that kept him from slipping on the steel balls. The mephit saw him coming and started to draw back, but the young smith still clipped its body with the tip of his blade. It wasn’t a killing blow, but the sharp steel ripped open a gash in the thing’s side, and it let out a sharp squeal that was now obviously a cry of pain. It fluttered back out of his reach, dripping gobs of blood that sizzled as they struck the floor.</p><p></p><p>Quellan immediately moved to help Kosk, but as he came around the altar the half-orc slid on several of the steel spheres littering the floor. He grunted hard as he caromed off the protruding stone, but as soon as he struck the ground he pushed himself up, crawling forward the last few steps to the fallen monk. His healing magic had been depleted in their earlier confrontations, but he didn’t hesitate to take out his own potion and pour its contents down the dwarf’s throat. Kosk coughed and gasped but managed to keep the healing liquid down while it worked its magic.</p><p></p><p>Bredan kept pressing the mephit, sliding after it as it flapped awkwardly around the perimeter of the chamber. The creature could have escaped through the open door, but either the magic that had summoned it kept it here or its anger overrode its fear of them. With the need to be careful moving around the smith couldn’t easily catch the more nimble creature, but the room wasn’t big enough to let it escape the long reach of his huge sword. An arrow flashed past it, narrowly missing its head, and it chittered an angry remark in Glori’s direction before diving to avoid another sweep of Bredan’s sword. But its escape had pushed it closer to the others, who were beginning to recover from its initial assault.</p><p></p><p>“You’re running out of room!” Bredan yelled at it.</p><p></p><p>The mephit spun back to face him, and let out a cackling sound that might have been laughter. Bredan frowned and lifted his sword, but before he could launch another attack he felt a wave of heat pass over him. Looking down, he realized that the heat wasn’t coming from the creature, or rather it wasn’t directly. It was coming from <em>him</em>, or more precisely from his armor, which had begun to glow. That glow quickly deepened into the familiar ruddy color he knew so well from the forge.</p><p></p><p>He managed to get the coif protecting his head off, tossing the glowing links aside even as they burned his fingers. But he couldn’t get the hauberk that covered his body from neck to hips off him, and he screamed as the heat seared through his body.</p><p></p><p>“Bredan!” Glori cried, as her friend collapsed. Without thinking she leapt over the altar and ran toward him, steel balls skittering away as she kicked them. Somehow she managed not to fall, but as she neared the fallen smith the mephit turned and dove at her. She had her dagger, but that seemed a pathetic weapon against such a thing.</p><p></p><p>The mephit extended its claws toward her unprotected face. In reflex Glori brought up her hands, including the one that still held onto the stone of the Eth’barat. The crystal seemed to glow in her hand, and against that radiance the planar creature was repelled almost as it had been by the magic circle earlier. It fluttered back, trying to get its bearings.</p><p></p><p>Something flashed in the air and struck the creature. The mephit flinched, and as it spun around Glori could see one of Kosk’s knives embedded in the sagging flesh of its torso. The wound seemed to focus its attention again, however, and it came again toward Glori. She lifted the stone again, but this time the little imp kept back and opened its jaws wide to breathe another spray of flames.</p><p></p><p>Glori flinched back, but before the creature could unleash its magic a loud roar from right behind her startled her and nearly caused her to slip on the unsteady floor. The mephit apparently was startled as well, for it aborted its attack and tried to swoop clear of the approaching threat. But it couldn’t get out of way in time of the charging half-orc who shot past Glori and leapt into the air after the fleeing creature. His mace intercepted it with a solid crack of shattering bones. The mephit let out a hiss and flopped to the floor, where its body seemed to collapse into a heap of what looked like bubbling magma.</p><p></p><p>When Quellan saw that his eyes widened. He turned and grabbed hold of Glori, thrusting her in front of him as he turned his back toward the creature. The bard tensed, expecting something terrible to happen, but the remains of the mephit just sizzled for a moment and then dissolved into smoke that disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.</p><p></p><p>“Bredan!” Glori said. She pulled clear from Quellan and ran over to him. The smith was still conscious, but he was obviously in incredible pain. Glori took out her waterskin and sprayed its contents onto his armor. The water hissed into steam, enveloping him for a moment but cooling the armor enough for the cherry glow to fade. She followed that up with a healing spell from her lyre, the magic steadying his breathing and easing the color where his skin had been burned from contact with the hot mail.</p><p></p><p>“That… what was… that thing?” he asked.</p><p></p><p>“A mephit,” Quellan explained. “A creature of the elemental planes.”</p><p></p><p>“What… what was that about, with Glori earlier?” Bredan asked. “You acted like it was going to attack again, after you hit it.”</p><p></p><p>The half-orc looked embarrassed. “Ah, well…” he said. “From the accounts I’ve read, they can, ah, explode when they die.”</p><p></p><p>“Explode?” Bredan asked. “Remind me not to take any more jobs for wizards.” He grimaced as Glori helped him up, but he didn’t seem seriously hurt by his near-brush with death.</p><p></p><p>“Speaking of jobs, maybe we’d better put an end to this one,” Kosk said. The dwarf was moving a bit gingerly as well, shuffling to scatter the lingering steel balls out of his path as he came over to join them. His robe looked as though it had been shoved into a fireplace a few times.</p><p></p><p>“We’d better take a short rest first,” Quellan said. “Our resources are almost depleted, and we’re in no state to deal with any more surprises.”</p><p></p><p>The others all looked to Kosk, and for a moment it looked like the dwarf would protest. But finally he shook his head and said, “Fine by me.” He shuffled forward to the nearest wall, and with a grunt slowly slid down against it, then folded his legs in front of him and closed his eyes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 7095342, member: 143"] Thanks, guys! I appreciate the feedback. I'm having fun writing this one. * * * Chapter 26 The four companions dove for cover as the magma mephit breathed a spray of flames onto them. But only Glori had good protection, ducking behind the solid mass of the altar. Both Bredan and Quellan retreated from the flames and got only mildly singed. But Kosk had nowhere to go. The dwarf ducked and turned, protecting the clay jug in his arms from the flames. He didn’t know what it held, but he’d felt the slosh of liquid inside and guessed that whatever it was would only add to their difficulties. He quickly tucked it as far under the altar as he could reach and then rounded on the mephit, his staff sweeping up to intercept its attack. The iron-tipped end struck it in the body but it was only a glancing blow that inflicted little damage. The creature responded by lashing out with one of its hind legs, slashing into Kosk’s shoulder with its claws. The heat of its body caused the wounds to sizzle, and the dwarf stumbled and went down, scattering a few dozen of the steel balls as he fell. Before the creature could finish him off Bredan lunged forward, sweeping out with his sword. He was moving a bit awkwardly, sliding his feet instead of striding, but that kept him from slipping on the steel balls. The mephit saw him coming and started to draw back, but the young smith still clipped its body with the tip of his blade. It wasn’t a killing blow, but the sharp steel ripped open a gash in the thing’s side, and it let out a sharp squeal that was now obviously a cry of pain. It fluttered back out of his reach, dripping gobs of blood that sizzled as they struck the floor. Quellan immediately moved to help Kosk, but as he came around the altar the half-orc slid on several of the steel spheres littering the floor. He grunted hard as he caromed off the protruding stone, but as soon as he struck the ground he pushed himself up, crawling forward the last few steps to the fallen monk. His healing magic had been depleted in their earlier confrontations, but he didn’t hesitate to take out his own potion and pour its contents down the dwarf’s throat. Kosk coughed and gasped but managed to keep the healing liquid down while it worked its magic. Bredan kept pressing the mephit, sliding after it as it flapped awkwardly around the perimeter of the chamber. The creature could have escaped through the open door, but either the magic that had summoned it kept it here or its anger overrode its fear of them. With the need to be careful moving around the smith couldn’t easily catch the more nimble creature, but the room wasn’t big enough to let it escape the long reach of his huge sword. An arrow flashed past it, narrowly missing its head, and it chittered an angry remark in Glori’s direction before diving to avoid another sweep of Bredan’s sword. But its escape had pushed it closer to the others, who were beginning to recover from its initial assault. “You’re running out of room!” Bredan yelled at it. The mephit spun back to face him, and let out a cackling sound that might have been laughter. Bredan frowned and lifted his sword, but before he could launch another attack he felt a wave of heat pass over him. Looking down, he realized that the heat wasn’t coming from the creature, or rather it wasn’t directly. It was coming from [i]him[/i], or more precisely from his armor, which had begun to glow. That glow quickly deepened into the familiar ruddy color he knew so well from the forge. He managed to get the coif protecting his head off, tossing the glowing links aside even as they burned his fingers. But he couldn’t get the hauberk that covered his body from neck to hips off him, and he screamed as the heat seared through his body. “Bredan!” Glori cried, as her friend collapsed. Without thinking she leapt over the altar and ran toward him, steel balls skittering away as she kicked them. Somehow she managed not to fall, but as she neared the fallen smith the mephit turned and dove at her. She had her dagger, but that seemed a pathetic weapon against such a thing. The mephit extended its claws toward her unprotected face. In reflex Glori brought up her hands, including the one that still held onto the stone of the Eth’barat. The crystal seemed to glow in her hand, and against that radiance the planar creature was repelled almost as it had been by the magic circle earlier. It fluttered back, trying to get its bearings. Something flashed in the air and struck the creature. The mephit flinched, and as it spun around Glori could see one of Kosk’s knives embedded in the sagging flesh of its torso. The wound seemed to focus its attention again, however, and it came again toward Glori. She lifted the stone again, but this time the little imp kept back and opened its jaws wide to breathe another spray of flames. Glori flinched back, but before the creature could unleash its magic a loud roar from right behind her startled her and nearly caused her to slip on the unsteady floor. The mephit apparently was startled as well, for it aborted its attack and tried to swoop clear of the approaching threat. But it couldn’t get out of way in time of the charging half-orc who shot past Glori and leapt into the air after the fleeing creature. His mace intercepted it with a solid crack of shattering bones. The mephit let out a hiss and flopped to the floor, where its body seemed to collapse into a heap of what looked like bubbling magma. When Quellan saw that his eyes widened. He turned and grabbed hold of Glori, thrusting her in front of him as he turned his back toward the creature. The bard tensed, expecting something terrible to happen, but the remains of the mephit just sizzled for a moment and then dissolved into smoke that disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. “Bredan!” Glori said. She pulled clear from Quellan and ran over to him. The smith was still conscious, but he was obviously in incredible pain. Glori took out her waterskin and sprayed its contents onto his armor. The water hissed into steam, enveloping him for a moment but cooling the armor enough for the cherry glow to fade. She followed that up with a healing spell from her lyre, the magic steadying his breathing and easing the color where his skin had been burned from contact with the hot mail. “That… what was… that thing?” he asked. “A mephit,” Quellan explained. “A creature of the elemental planes.” “What… what was that about, with Glori earlier?” Bredan asked. “You acted like it was going to attack again, after you hit it.” The half-orc looked embarrassed. “Ah, well…” he said. “From the accounts I’ve read, they can, ah, explode when they die.” “Explode?” Bredan asked. “Remind me not to take any more jobs for wizards.” He grimaced as Glori helped him up, but he didn’t seem seriously hurt by his near-brush with death. “Speaking of jobs, maybe we’d better put an end to this one,” Kosk said. The dwarf was moving a bit gingerly as well, shuffling to scatter the lingering steel balls out of his path as he came over to join them. His robe looked as though it had been shoved into a fireplace a few times. “We’d better take a short rest first,” Quellan said. “Our resources are almost depleted, and we’re in no state to deal with any more surprises.” The others all looked to Kosk, and for a moment it looked like the dwarf would protest. But finally he shook his head and said, “Fine by me.” He shuffled forward to the nearest wall, and with a grunt slowly slid down against it, then folded his legs in front of him and closed his eyes. [/QUOTE]
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