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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4903534" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 24 - The Hungry Dead (Part 3)Erlmoor staggered where he stood as he fought to keep the wights at bay while three rats scurried around him, biting at his ankles and legs whenever they could. Already he bled from a wound in his left leg and another in his side while the chill of the grave afflicted him and made his movements sluggish and laboured. Desperately, he roared and spat acid over the wights while shouting out a prayer from his rapidly numbing mouth. His blade swept out, glowing brightly as it did, and tore into the side of one of the wights, flinging it back and away from the dragonborn. As the wight recovered, hissing at the paladin, a bolt of light seared past Erlmoor and blasted into the creature’s chest, driving it back again. Looking to his left, Erlmoor saw Telkya standing ready with sword and amulet in hand and as he saw his friend, the dragonborn let out a roar of defiance. Then the wights came forward, two surging out of the room past the stalwart paladin while the other two came at him with their blades. He parried to his left but as he did, s blade swept in from his right and drove into his right hip, sending him staggering back. Again the dragonborn roared but this time in pain as he tried to draw back from his fiercesome enemies.Enlishia dazedly tried to fend off the rat that had leapt from the alcove next to her while retreating toward her companions. She looked back over her shoulder and saw that Rendil was retreating himself as the wraith swiped at him with its shadowy arms. Another blast from Lavren’s wand tore through the creature and it shrieked in pain but still it flailed at Rendil. Weakly, the halfling lashed out with his blade, green flame igniting it again but the wraith paid it no mind. Only when Gendar loosed another silver bolt from his staff that struck the creature did it seem to falter. Slowly, the wraith seemed to shrink away from the halfling and the others and for a moment, Enlishia could not see why. Then a plate-armoured figure with glowing green eyes strode around the central stonework behind the wraith. Help was coming, the wraith had no more need to fight.Erlmoor looked over his shoulder as the wights moved into the chamber toward his friends and knew he had to get back to them somehow. He also knew that his strength was fading, the wounds from the grave-touched swords the wights wielded numbing him quickly. Still, he shouted out a prayer and lashed out with his blade, striking the arm of the nearest wight and keeping it at bay for a few moments longer. From Erlmoor’s left, Telkya called down a column of burning, divine light onto the undead creature but still it did not fall. Hissing and snarling, the two wights surged at Erlmoor and he parried furiously, meeting each slash and thrust of their blades with his own sword. Finally, he staggered back and the wights retreated a few steps, held at bay for now. It was a small victory, the dragonborn knew, but a victory nonetheless.Rendil saw the wight round the central stonework and steeled himself for the new struggle that was to come. The plate-armoured creature rushed the last few steps toward the halfling and swept its blade out at Rendil’s head. The halfling ducked but the blade still glanced off the top of his head, tearing his scalp and taking away some of his brown hair as it passed. Another of the undead warriors followed behind the first and the halfling stepped back a pace, knowing that he had to deal with the wraith before this new enemy reached him. As the halfling raised his blade, the wraith suddenly shifted to the right and vanished into the stone next to the alcove from which it had emerged. Gendar leapt forward as the wraith suddenly emerged from the stone behind him and swiped at him. Its shadowy arm passed over the drow’s head and Enlishia reacted at once. She loosed an arrow into the rat that had bedevilled her and then turned her bow on the wraith, loosing a second shaft that passed through the creature’s body and clattered into the stone beyond. A moment later, a blast of black, crackling energy from Lavren’s wand tore into the wraith and with a final, chilling shriek, the creature dissipated into shards of shadow. Gendar nodded grudging thanks to Lavren and then stepped forward to aid Rendil. He levelled his staff at the wight that the halfling fought and with an uttered incantation, he hurled a bolt blue energy from its tip that seared past the undead warrior and struck the wall behind it. Rendil took his chance and lashed his blade into the side of the wight’s leg, forcing it to stagger to its right to keep its balance. It snarled in response and then raised its blade to strike down the halfling.Erlmoor lashed out with his blade and then leapt back toward Telkya, hoping to face less enemies with his back to the central stonework. Telkya touched his shoulder with her hand and as her hand glowed, the dragonborn felt some of his strength return. A rat bit into his foot and he drew his leg back and as he did, the second wight strode past the other and lashed out with its blade at Erlmoor’s side. The dragonborn brought his own sword down and parried, his blade pointing at the floor. The wight hissed at the paladin and he snarled back, eye to eye with the undead warrior for a moment before he pushed the creature away.Enlishia rushed forward to stand behind Rendil, firing arrows as she came. The missiles struck the stone beside the wights or bounced off their armour leaving the undead warriors unharmed. A bolt from Lavren’s wand flashed from the ranger’s left, searing past the wights and drawing hisses of derision from them as they came forward at Rendil again. The halfling lashed out with his blade, green flames wreathing the sword as it struck the leg of one of the wights. A trail of flame followed the sword and drove the other wight back and as it retreated, lightning burst forth from Gendar’s staff to strike both of the undead creatures.  Both wights fell back, reeling, but the companions knew that it could not be for long. The undead would come forward again and they would be hard pressed to hold them off.Erlmoor looked back over his shoulder at Telkya, waving her back so that he could retreat into the narrow gap between the central stonework and the wall of the chamber. She laid a hand on her shoulder and uttered another healing prayer before stabbing her sword into the thigh of the wight before Erlmoor. More healing energy flowed into the dragonborn and he roared his renewed defiance as Telkya retreated behind him. Erlmoor lashed his blade out at the wight with all his strength but at the last, the creature brought its blade across and parried. The wight twisted its blade around and drove it into the dragonborn’s shoulder, driving him back another step toward Telkya. One of the rats scurried forward and sank its teeth into Erlmoor’s leg and again he retreated until Telkya stood just behind him. The wight hissed, raised its blade and came forward after him.Rendil swatted aside a thrust from the wight before him but as he did, the other creature stabbed its blade into his hip from his left. The halfling cried out and staggered back a step while behind the two wights, another came forward, its armour damaged and its flesh torn. Its eyes glowed with a furious anger and the halfling knew that if the two foes he faced did not finish him, the third wight was determined to do it. Two more arrows from Enlishia’s bow clattered off the armour of the wight on Rendil’s left and then purple bolts of energy seared from Lavren’s wand to strike both wights in the chest and drive them back. Rendil leapt forward, a spell on his lips, and plunged his sword into the belly of the wight before him. As the blade drove in, Rendil knew that what passed for the undead warrior’s blood was thickening and turning to leaden ice. The halfling drew his blade back and lashed it across from left to right while uttering a spell of fire and sure enough, a wall of flame sprung up where the wights stood, curving round to engulf all three wights. The undead creatures shrieked and hissed as the flames seared and blackened their rotten flesh and from behind Rendil, a bolt of blue flashed from Gendar’s staff to strike one of the creatures. Together they snarled and hissed, seeming to promise revenge but for the moment, they were helpless to deliver it.</blockquote>

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