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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7187395" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 67Kosk threw his staff at the same instant that the snake lunged at Xeeta.The improvised missile didn’t hit the creature, but the sorceress let out a startled sound and flinched back as the staff shot past her.  The snake’s initial lunge came up short, but it quickly recoiled and tried again.  It looked for an instant that this time it would connect, but its fangs brushed against the invisible barrier of the sorceress’s mage armor and rebounded harmlessly away.The snake didn’t get another chance, as Xeeta finally realized the nature of the threat and beat a hasty retreat.  She summoned a handful of fire and flung it at the creature as she fled, but the fire bolt was just as ineffective as the snake’s initial attacks.But by then its attention was taken up by the lumbering bulk of Quellan as the half-orc charged forward.  The snake hissed at him and make a probing move toward his legs, but the cleric quickly shoved his shield down into the uneven ground to form a rampart between them.  The snake looked big enough to launch itself over that barrier, but the creature already appeared to be having second thoughts about the encounter.  It turned from the priest and began to slip back into the dense knot of weeds from which had appeared, but before it could reach the shelter of its nest it was intercepted by a brilliant arc of steel.Bredan’s sword struck it decisively a hand’s span beneath the dagger-shaped head.  The sword clove through its thick hide like it was parchment, spraying droplets of blood over the ground as its head went flying into the tangled growth.  Its body continued to coil and twist as if searching for its missing end, but within a few moments it uncoiled a final time and fell still.Glori stepped around it and recovered Kosk’s staff.  “You okay?” she asked Xeeta as the tiefling returned to rejoin them.“Yeah.  Thanks,” she said to Kosk.Quellan knelt to examine the remains of the snake.  “Ah.  Giant golden viper.  Highly toxic bite.”Xeeta shuddered.  “Do you think there are any more of them?”“Large predators like this tend to be solitary, but there’s no way to be certain,” Quellan said.“Maybe a whole nest of ‘em down there,” Kosk said.  They all stared into the dark opening for a long moment, then the dwarf shrugged and said, “Let’s go.”Kosk had no difficulty making his way into the hole; as Glori had predicted it widened once past the tight overhang of the foundation stones.  The others watched—all save Xeeta, who kept a close eye out for more snakes—as he crawled to the back of the cave before dropping out of sight.“Kosk?” Quellan asked.“It’s okay, there’s a drop off here, but it’s only about five feet.  There’s a much bigger cave down… ugh.”“What’s wrong?” Glori asked.“Bats.  Better step back a moment.”That was all the warning they got before a wild flutter of wings and high-pitched squeaks announced the arrival of several dozen bats that fluttered up through the cave and into the air.  For a moment they swirled around the companions, but then they were gone.  Glori leaned into the cave mouth, only to jerk back as one last bat flashed past her, squeaking as if protesting the invasion of its home.“Was that really necessary?” she yelled down to Kosk.“Better to clear them out then run into them while we’re in a hurry,” Kosk’s voice drifted up to them.  “The cave goes on a ways, but I’ve found the source of the sound you heard.  Better get down here.”Glori shot a quick look at the others, then knelt and started wriggling into the cave opening.</blockquote>

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