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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7608111" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 296</p><p></p><p>Bredan had a sinking feeling even before he glanced back over his shoulder and saw that the exit to the chamber was gone, the passage replaced by an apparently solid wall of stone. He remembered a similar encounter in the Silverpeak Valley, and here they had walked into the same trap. There he had faced two elementals, but he’d had his friends with him. Kalasien might be competent and Kavek brave, but they were in no way the equals of Kosk, Glori, Quellan, or Xeeta.</p><p></p><p>But Bredan had changed since that last encounter, and he did not shrink before the challenge that came toward him with an earth-shattering gait.</p><p></p><p>He summoned the magic that was the book’s gift to him as he came forward to meet the elemental. Once again he <em>enlarged</em> himself until he was a match for the creature in height, if not in weight or raw power. It leaned forward, using its momentum and its mass as a battering ram, but as it slammed into Bredan he held his ground. He absorbed the impact and with a guttural roar thrust it off him. It swung its arms at him, its ponderousness more than balanced by its raw strength, but the warrior evaded the first blow and took just a glancing hit from the second that was mostly absorbed by his armor. The elemental lifted his arms to strike again, but Bredan was already counterattacking. His sword clanged loudly through the cavernous interior of the chamber as it slammed into the elemental’s body. The thing was made of rock, but the magical greatsword tore great gouts of substance from its torso that crumbled into gravel as they fell away from its form.</p><p></p><p>Kalasien and Kavek had both been given pause by the sheer scale and intensity of the melee between the two large combatants, but they recovered swiftly and moved to Bredan’s aid. They spread out to come at the elemental from the flanks, Kalasien moving around to the right while Kavek circled from the left. The Arreshian darted in and delivered a minor blow from his rapier that knocked a bit of rock from the joint where its right leg met its body. The wound was not enough to distract it from Bredan, but added a slight hitch to its step as it launched a fresh series of attacks on the embattled warrior. This time Bredan held his ground until the last instant, then summoned a magical <em>shield</em> that reverberated from the force of the impacts but held together just long enough to get clear. Even as it dissolved Bredan continued hacking at it with his sword, tearing away a good chunk of its left arm.</p><p></p><p>Kavek had clenched his mace in both hands and was about to join the fray when he heard a sound of rushing air coming from above. He looked up to see an ethereal, half-transparent form descending from the conical peak of the chamber. A pair of glowing eyes shone from within the core of the entity. It was coming right toward him.</p><p></p><p>The sailor immediately glanced aside at Bredan, but the warrior was fully engaged with the first elemental and likely hadn’t even recognized the new threat. Kavek turned back and closed his eyes. Frost crystalized around his clothes as the sound of the onrushing creature filled his ears.</p><p></p><p>He made no move to evade as a colossal impact drove him back several steps. But within the protection of the <em>Armor of Agathys</em> he barely felt the blow. He looked up to see the form of the air elemental swirling with bits of magical frost. It looked like a snowstorm hovering in the air in front of him.</p><p></p><p>He lifted his weapon as the creature came at him again.</p><p></p><p>Bredan detected movement out of the corner of his eye and heard the sound of <em>something</em> engaging Kavek on his flank. He didn’t dare shift his attention from his foe for an instant; even that minor moment of distraction nearly cost him as the earth elemental swept an arm forward and caught him a glancing blow to his shoulder that knocked him back a full step. The creature had absorbed considerable damage already, but Bredan had no idea how much of it he would have to carve away before the magic that bound it to this plane was sundered. Even as it tried to swing at him again, he brought his sword around and smashed a chunk the size of his head from its leg.</p><p></p><p>“Kalasien!” he yelled. “Help Kavek!”</p><p></p><p>The agent didn’t say anything, but his presence on the edge of the battle disappeared. Bredan was alone again.</p><p></p><p>Kavek was lifted off his feet as the air elemental shot forward and engulfed him in a swirling maelstrom of tornado-force winds. His spell had already been depleted, but the magic had inflicted serious damage on the creature. He swung his mace blindly, trying to connect with some part of its substance, but he quickly lost all awareness of his surroundings as he was flipped end-over-end before he was flung violently from the whirlwind. He caught a glimpse of Kalasien, approaching fast, but the doppelganger stepped smoothly aside as the warlock shot past him and bounced painfully off the chamber floor.</p><p></p><p>Bredan was only dimly aware of the second fight going on just paces away as he and the earth elemental continued to trade blows. His left arm throbbed where a solid impact had caught him, but the creature in turn was covered with scattered pockmarks where pieces of its substance had been torn away.</p><p></p><p>The elemental reared up and spread its arms wide as it lurched toward Bredan once more. He wasn’t sure if it was trying to crush him or tackle him, but either way he didn’t wait. Even as its arms began to swing forward, he stepped in and drove his sword up with all of his strength behind it. The <em>enlarged</em> blade pierced its chest and kept on going until the crossguard caught on the edges of the wound. The elemental sagged and then just started to come apart. Bredan was spattered with bits of stone that formed a mound around his legs as the elemental was reduced to what it had been before, just a loose heap of rock and dirt.</p><p></p><p>He took a deep, steadying breath before a sound of rushing wind drew his attention. He looked up to see Kalasien giving way before what looked like a living tornado. His rapier flashed, and for a moment Bredan saw the outline of what looked like a wound appear in the thing, but then it countered with a buffet that knocked the agent sprawling. Kavek was just staggering to his feet a few paces away, but he looked hurt. He lifted a hand but hesitated as he saw Bredan watching him.</p><p></p><p>Bredan charged forward, the rubble giving way as his elongated legs pulled free. He picked up speed as he won clear and shouted a challenge that drew the creature’s attention toward him. He could see the pair of glowing eyes within its nebulous substance, and used them as a guide as he swept his sword around in a powerful arc through its form. He felt resistance as the magical blade cleaved through the air elemental’s body, then with an echo of a shriek the thing dissolved into nothing.</p><p></p><p>Bredan let his sword drop to his side. Kalasien got to his feet, looking a bit battered but otherwise intact. “Are you both all right?” Bredan asked.</p><p></p><p>“That was a nasty combo,” Kavek said. He walked over to pick up his mace, which had been flung a good ten paces away during the fight.</p><p></p><p>Bredan noticed the crust of ice crystals that clung to the sailor’s back. “What happened to you?”</p><p></p><p>Kavek turned and noted his gaze. “That thing… it was freezing cold. Do you know what it was?”</p><p></p><p>“Some kind of elemental,” Bredan said. “I’ve fought other kinds before.”</p><p></p><p>“That rock one looked like it hit hard,” Kavek said.</p><p></p><p>Bredan shifted his arm. No bones were broken, but he imagined he could feel the limb swelling within the confines of his armor. “Yeah,” he said.</p><p></p><p>“Maybe we should take another rest,” the sailor suggested.</p><p></p><p>“No,” Bredan said. “We have to press on.” He lifted his sword and pointed it toward the far wall of the room, where the weapon’s glow had revealed a staircase that ascended through an arched opening.</p><p></p><p>Kalasien came over to him. “Do you sense something?”</p><p></p><p>Bredan shook his head. “I don’t know for certain. But I have this feeling that we’re running out of time.”</p><p></p><p>Kavek joined them, holding his mace. After a look at the Arreshian agent he nodded. “Forward, then.”</p><p></p><p>With Bredan in the lead again, the three of them crossed the room and started up the stairs.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 7608111, member: 143"] Chapter 296 Bredan had a sinking feeling even before he glanced back over his shoulder and saw that the exit to the chamber was gone, the passage replaced by an apparently solid wall of stone. He remembered a similar encounter in the Silverpeak Valley, and here they had walked into the same trap. There he had faced two elementals, but he’d had his friends with him. Kalasien might be competent and Kavek brave, but they were in no way the equals of Kosk, Glori, Quellan, or Xeeta. But Bredan had changed since that last encounter, and he did not shrink before the challenge that came toward him with an earth-shattering gait. He summoned the magic that was the book’s gift to him as he came forward to meet the elemental. Once again he [i]enlarged[/i] himself until he was a match for the creature in height, if not in weight or raw power. It leaned forward, using its momentum and its mass as a battering ram, but as it slammed into Bredan he held his ground. He absorbed the impact and with a guttural roar thrust it off him. It swung its arms at him, its ponderousness more than balanced by its raw strength, but the warrior evaded the first blow and took just a glancing hit from the second that was mostly absorbed by his armor. The elemental lifted his arms to strike again, but Bredan was already counterattacking. His sword clanged loudly through the cavernous interior of the chamber as it slammed into the elemental’s body. The thing was made of rock, but the magical greatsword tore great gouts of substance from its torso that crumbled into gravel as they fell away from its form. Kalasien and Kavek had both been given pause by the sheer scale and intensity of the melee between the two large combatants, but they recovered swiftly and moved to Bredan’s aid. They spread out to come at the elemental from the flanks, Kalasien moving around to the right while Kavek circled from the left. The Arreshian darted in and delivered a minor blow from his rapier that knocked a bit of rock from the joint where its right leg met its body. The wound was not enough to distract it from Bredan, but added a slight hitch to its step as it launched a fresh series of attacks on the embattled warrior. This time Bredan held his ground until the last instant, then summoned a magical [i]shield[/i] that reverberated from the force of the impacts but held together just long enough to get clear. Even as it dissolved Bredan continued hacking at it with his sword, tearing away a good chunk of its left arm. Kavek had clenched his mace in both hands and was about to join the fray when he heard a sound of rushing air coming from above. He looked up to see an ethereal, half-transparent form descending from the conical peak of the chamber. A pair of glowing eyes shone from within the core of the entity. It was coming right toward him. The sailor immediately glanced aside at Bredan, but the warrior was fully engaged with the first elemental and likely hadn’t even recognized the new threat. Kavek turned back and closed his eyes. Frost crystalized around his clothes as the sound of the onrushing creature filled his ears. He made no move to evade as a colossal impact drove him back several steps. But within the protection of the [i]Armor of Agathys[/i] he barely felt the blow. He looked up to see the form of the air elemental swirling with bits of magical frost. It looked like a snowstorm hovering in the air in front of him. He lifted his weapon as the creature came at him again. Bredan detected movement out of the corner of his eye and heard the sound of [i]something[/i] engaging Kavek on his flank. He didn’t dare shift his attention from his foe for an instant; even that minor moment of distraction nearly cost him as the earth elemental swept an arm forward and caught him a glancing blow to his shoulder that knocked him back a full step. The creature had absorbed considerable damage already, but Bredan had no idea how much of it he would have to carve away before the magic that bound it to this plane was sundered. Even as it tried to swing at him again, he brought his sword around and smashed a chunk the size of his head from its leg. “Kalasien!” he yelled. “Help Kavek!” The agent didn’t say anything, but his presence on the edge of the battle disappeared. Bredan was alone again. Kavek was lifted off his feet as the air elemental shot forward and engulfed him in a swirling maelstrom of tornado-force winds. His spell had already been depleted, but the magic had inflicted serious damage on the creature. He swung his mace blindly, trying to connect with some part of its substance, but he quickly lost all awareness of his surroundings as he was flipped end-over-end before he was flung violently from the whirlwind. He caught a glimpse of Kalasien, approaching fast, but the doppelganger stepped smoothly aside as the warlock shot past him and bounced painfully off the chamber floor. Bredan was only dimly aware of the second fight going on just paces away as he and the earth elemental continued to trade blows. His left arm throbbed where a solid impact had caught him, but the creature in turn was covered with scattered pockmarks where pieces of its substance had been torn away. The elemental reared up and spread its arms wide as it lurched toward Bredan once more. He wasn’t sure if it was trying to crush him or tackle him, but either way he didn’t wait. Even as its arms began to swing forward, he stepped in and drove his sword up with all of his strength behind it. The [i]enlarged[/i] blade pierced its chest and kept on going until the crossguard caught on the edges of the wound. The elemental sagged and then just started to come apart. Bredan was spattered with bits of stone that formed a mound around his legs as the elemental was reduced to what it had been before, just a loose heap of rock and dirt. He took a deep, steadying breath before a sound of rushing wind drew his attention. He looked up to see Kalasien giving way before what looked like a living tornado. His rapier flashed, and for a moment Bredan saw the outline of what looked like a wound appear in the thing, but then it countered with a buffet that knocked the agent sprawling. Kavek was just staggering to his feet a few paces away, but he looked hurt. He lifted a hand but hesitated as he saw Bredan watching him. Bredan charged forward, the rubble giving way as his elongated legs pulled free. He picked up speed as he won clear and shouted a challenge that drew the creature’s attention toward him. He could see the pair of glowing eyes within its nebulous substance, and used them as a guide as he swept his sword around in a powerful arc through its form. He felt resistance as the magical blade cleaved through the air elemental’s body, then with an echo of a shriek the thing dissolved into nothing. Bredan let his sword drop to his side. Kalasien got to his feet, looking a bit battered but otherwise intact. “Are you both all right?” Bredan asked. “That was a nasty combo,” Kavek said. He walked over to pick up his mace, which had been flung a good ten paces away during the fight. Bredan noticed the crust of ice crystals that clung to the sailor’s back. “What happened to you?” Kavek turned and noted his gaze. “That thing… it was freezing cold. Do you know what it was?” “Some kind of elemental,” Bredan said. “I’ve fought other kinds before.” “That rock one looked like it hit hard,” Kavek said. Bredan shifted his arm. No bones were broken, but he imagined he could feel the limb swelling within the confines of his armor. “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe we should take another rest,” the sailor suggested. “No,” Bredan said. “We have to press on.” He lifted his sword and pointed it toward the far wall of the room, where the weapon’s glow had revealed a staircase that ascended through an arched opening. Kalasien came over to him. “Do you sense something?” Bredan shook his head. “I don’t know for certain. But I have this feeling that we’re running out of time.” Kavek joined them, holding his mace. After a look at the Arreshian agent he nodded. “Forward, then.” With Bredan in the lead again, the three of them crossed the room and started up the stairs. [/QUOTE]
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