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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7164898" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Thanks for the post, Azkorra. Back in the day my readers gave me the title, "Cliffhanger King," it's good to see I can still pull it off. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>* * * </p><p></p><p>Chapter 56</p><p></p><p>“Bredan!” Glori screamed.</p><p></p><p>Gakrak reached up and pushed off from the wall. As he moved Bredan slumped to the floor, blood pouring from the gaping wound in his belly. It glistened on the spear-point at the end of the huge axe, leaving behind spatters on the floor and the shattered boards of the barrels as its owner shifted ponderously back toward the front of the room.</p><p></p><p>A rumbling announced the return of Kosk moments before the collapsed rampart of crates and chairs shifted and exploded outward. The dwarf came out at a run, lunging at the bugbear. Gakrak turned, moving more slowly now as his wounds took a toll, and took a punishing impact to his left leg just above the knee. The joint cracked out of alignment as the dwarf’s staff drove into it, and the bugbear let out a hiss of pain. The creature swept his axe around, though rather feebly compared to the deadly strikes he had unleashed earlier, and Kosk was able to dodge back in time to avoid that questing edge.</p><p></p><p>Gakrak took a halting step after him, putting most of his weight on his good leg, but Kosk’s retreat didn’t last long. The dwarf fell back against the damaged crates but used them to push off—more carefully this time—and press his attack once more. The bugbear lifted his axe to intercept his rush, but before he could try another sweep another arrow slammed into his side. That was followed barely a heartbeat later by another <em>fire bolt</em> that struck him in the neck, searing his exposed skin and splashing flames over his savaged jaw.</p><p></p><p>The twin impacts staggered the bugbear and left him vulnerable to Kosk’s assault. The dwarf opened with his staff, delivering another punishing strike to Gakrak’s damaged knee. That was too much for the limb, which crumpled. The bugbear fell awkwardly, and as he flapped his arms in a vain effort to gain purchase on the bloody floor Kosk spun and drove the heel of his foot hard into the foe’s throat. Gakrak’s angry cries became a thick gurgle as the monstrous combatant slid the rest of the way to the floor.</p><p></p><p>“One, you bastard,” Kosk spat as the light faded from the bugbear’s eyes.</p><p></p><p>Glori rushed forward, heedless of any fight that might be left in the dying bugbear as she jumped over their fallen foe and rushed to Bredan’s side. The young warrior was unconscious, and blood continued to seep from the terrible wound in his belly as she fumbled for bandages in her pack.</p><p></p><p>“We have to help him… we have to…” she said while she worked. “Quellan! I need Quellan!”</p><p></p><p>Kosk knelt to check the injured cleric, frowning as he sought out the lifebeat in his friend’s throat. “He’s alive, but unconscious,” he reported. “I’m glad I didn’t insist on us leaving our packs outside this time,” he added in an undertone. The blow from the bugbear’s axe had been devastating, but the cleric’s armor and his leather pack had absorbed much of its force.</p><p></p><p>“But… he has to heal Bredan…” Glori said.</p><p></p><p>“I’m sorry,” Kosk said. “We’re out of potions.”</p><p></p><p>“You have to heal him,” Xeeta said. Glori blinked and looked up at the tiefling, who’d followed her over and was standing near the remaining barrels. She was holding a bloody rag against her back, but at the moment she looked better off than the rest of them.</p><p></p><p>“But I… I can’t, my lyre was destroyed…”</p><p></p><p>“No,” Xeeta said. “<em>You</em> have to heal him.”</p><p></p><p>“But I…”</p><p></p><p>“He’s dying!” Xeeta said. As if to punctuate her statement, Bredan’s body shook with a soft gurgling cough. Blood trickled down from the sides of his mouth and speckled his lips.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t have any magic…” Glori began, but before she could finish Xeeta knelt and took her hands. “I haven’t known you very long, but I know a little something about magic. I don’t know what your mentor told you, but it wasn’t just your instrument, it was <em>you</em>, it was always you. Your magic is in your music, and without your lyre, you have to make it on your own. You are the only one who can save him, and that’s that.”</p><p></p><p>The sorceress pulled back and rose to stand over them. Glori stared up at her for a moment and then turned back to Bredan. “Please,” she whispered, a prayer to anyone who might be listening, then she began to sing.</p><p></p><p>The melody came easily, even without her lyre. The music was a part of her, her voice creating sounds that matched exactly the notes she heard in her mind. But while the song was potent, haunting, there was no thrum of magic accompanying it.</p><p></p><p>She kept on singing, digging deeper within herself, holding nothing back. Tears filled her vision, blurring Bredan’s broken and bleeding form. She sang until her throat felt raw, and yet still nothing happened.</p><p></p><p>She had failed. Xeeta was wrong, she had no magic, had no secret power. Her best friend was going to die because of that lack, and she would have to live with it.</p><p></p><p>The song trailed off, and she lowered her heard.</p><p></p><p>A hand took hold of hers. She started to resist its grasp, thinking that it was Kosk or Xeeta, trying to pull her away. That would mean that Bredan was dead, and she wasn’t ready to accept that.</p><p></p><p>But then a soft rasp of a voice shook her back to full awareness.</p><p></p><p>“Glori.”</p><p></p><p>She opened her eyes and blinked away the tears to see Bredan looking up at her. He still looked horrible, his armor covered in blood, his clothes savagely torn, but he was alive, and he even managed to pull himself up a bit.</p><p></p><p>She could only stare at him. “You’re alive.”</p><p></p><p>“Thanks to you. You pulled me back, Glori. I heard the music, and it pulled me back…”</p><p></p><p>Any response she might have offered was consumed as they enfolded each other in a furious embrace.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 7164898, member: 143"] Thanks for the post, Azkorra. Back in the day my readers gave me the title, "Cliffhanger King," it's good to see I can still pull it off. :) * * * Chapter 56 “Bredan!” Glori screamed. Gakrak reached up and pushed off from the wall. As he moved Bredan slumped to the floor, blood pouring from the gaping wound in his belly. It glistened on the spear-point at the end of the huge axe, leaving behind spatters on the floor and the shattered boards of the barrels as its owner shifted ponderously back toward the front of the room. A rumbling announced the return of Kosk moments before the collapsed rampart of crates and chairs shifted and exploded outward. The dwarf came out at a run, lunging at the bugbear. Gakrak turned, moving more slowly now as his wounds took a toll, and took a punishing impact to his left leg just above the knee. The joint cracked out of alignment as the dwarf’s staff drove into it, and the bugbear let out a hiss of pain. The creature swept his axe around, though rather feebly compared to the deadly strikes he had unleashed earlier, and Kosk was able to dodge back in time to avoid that questing edge. Gakrak took a halting step after him, putting most of his weight on his good leg, but Kosk’s retreat didn’t last long. The dwarf fell back against the damaged crates but used them to push off—more carefully this time—and press his attack once more. The bugbear lifted his axe to intercept his rush, but before he could try another sweep another arrow slammed into his side. That was followed barely a heartbeat later by another [i]fire bolt[/i] that struck him in the neck, searing his exposed skin and splashing flames over his savaged jaw. The twin impacts staggered the bugbear and left him vulnerable to Kosk’s assault. The dwarf opened with his staff, delivering another punishing strike to Gakrak’s damaged knee. That was too much for the limb, which crumpled. The bugbear fell awkwardly, and as he flapped his arms in a vain effort to gain purchase on the bloody floor Kosk spun and drove the heel of his foot hard into the foe’s throat. Gakrak’s angry cries became a thick gurgle as the monstrous combatant slid the rest of the way to the floor. “One, you bastard,” Kosk spat as the light faded from the bugbear’s eyes. Glori rushed forward, heedless of any fight that might be left in the dying bugbear as she jumped over their fallen foe and rushed to Bredan’s side. The young warrior was unconscious, and blood continued to seep from the terrible wound in his belly as she fumbled for bandages in her pack. “We have to help him… we have to…” she said while she worked. “Quellan! I need Quellan!” Kosk knelt to check the injured cleric, frowning as he sought out the lifebeat in his friend’s throat. “He’s alive, but unconscious,” he reported. “I’m glad I didn’t insist on us leaving our packs outside this time,” he added in an undertone. The blow from the bugbear’s axe had been devastating, but the cleric’s armor and his leather pack had absorbed much of its force. “But… he has to heal Bredan…” Glori said. “I’m sorry,” Kosk said. “We’re out of potions.” “You have to heal him,” Xeeta said. Glori blinked and looked up at the tiefling, who’d followed her over and was standing near the remaining barrels. She was holding a bloody rag against her back, but at the moment she looked better off than the rest of them. “But I… I can’t, my lyre was destroyed…” “No,” Xeeta said. “[i]You[/i] have to heal him.” “But I…” “He’s dying!” Xeeta said. As if to punctuate her statement, Bredan’s body shook with a soft gurgling cough. Blood trickled down from the sides of his mouth and speckled his lips. “I don’t have any magic…” Glori began, but before she could finish Xeeta knelt and took her hands. “I haven’t known you very long, but I know a little something about magic. I don’t know what your mentor told you, but it wasn’t just your instrument, it was [i]you[/i], it was always you. Your magic is in your music, and without your lyre, you have to make it on your own. You are the only one who can save him, and that’s that.” The sorceress pulled back and rose to stand over them. Glori stared up at her for a moment and then turned back to Bredan. “Please,” she whispered, a prayer to anyone who might be listening, then she began to sing. The melody came easily, even without her lyre. The music was a part of her, her voice creating sounds that matched exactly the notes she heard in her mind. But while the song was potent, haunting, there was no thrum of magic accompanying it. She kept on singing, digging deeper within herself, holding nothing back. Tears filled her vision, blurring Bredan’s broken and bleeding form. She sang until her throat felt raw, and yet still nothing happened. She had failed. Xeeta was wrong, she had no magic, had no secret power. Her best friend was going to die because of that lack, and she would have to live with it. The song trailed off, and she lowered her heard. A hand took hold of hers. She started to resist its grasp, thinking that it was Kosk or Xeeta, trying to pull her away. That would mean that Bredan was dead, and she wasn’t ready to accept that. But then a soft rasp of a voice shook her back to full awareness. “Glori.” She opened her eyes and blinked away the tears to see Bredan looking up at her. He still looked horrible, his armor covered in blood, his clothes savagely torn, but he was alive, and he even managed to pull himself up a bit. She could only stare at him. “You’re alive.” “Thanks to you. You pulled me back, Glori. I heard the music, and it pulled me back…” Any response she might have offered was consumed as they enfolded each other in a furious embrace. [/QUOTE]
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