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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4598485" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 7 - Beyond the Gate (Part 4)Enlishia retreated from the advancing duergar and loosed an arrow deep into the shoulder of one of the dwarves that then shattered to send splinters of wood deep into the flesh of the duergar. The dwarf fell back against the wall dropping one hand from the haft of its warhammer. Litiraan took his chance and retreated from the duergar, loosing a silver bolt from his wand as he backed away. The missile of eldritch energy struck the wall beside the gray dwarf and the duergar snarled at it as though it were an enemy itself. Taking up his hammer again, the dwarf came forward.Lavren retreated from his own foe, uttering powerful curse as he did so. The dwarf staggered then lashing out at invisible enemies with its warhammer and grasping its head with the other as terrible visions assailed it. The elf loosed a black bolt then that struck the wall next to the duergar. The duergar flinched and then threw himself to the left in a delayed reaction that only slammed him against the wooden door in the east wall. Lavren looked to the left and a sudden movement drew his eyes downward. There, under the table next to him, the man who had been carrying the tray of dirty dishes when they had entered the room cowered. He held a finger to his lips and looked meaningfully at the duergar as the dwarf recovered and started forward.The two duergar rushed past Telkya’s fallen form and rushed at Litiraan and Enlishia. The first, wounded by Enlishia’s arrow, swung his hammer weakly and struck the wall beside the ranger but the second came on in a terrible fury, lashing out with his hammer. The blow struck Litiraan’s shoulder and drove him back until he bumped against the table and had nowhere else to go. He reached for the sword on his belt and prepared to make his last stand and die beside his sister if he had to. Then he saw a blur of movement as Telkya rolled over on the ground with her sword glowing bright with divine power in her hand. She stabbed out with her blade, driving the sword into the leg of the duergar who had struck Litiraan. She leapt to her feet and with a roar the duergar turned on her. Telkya flashed a smile and a wink at her brother and his heart soared. In that moment, Erlmoor was struck in the chest by Rundarr’s hammer and smashed back across the chamber towards the door. He lay where he fell, unmoving, and Litiraan’s fleeting hope for victory was dashed. Desperately, he plunged his sword into the shoulder of the duergar and held him at bay for a moment. But it could only ever be a moment and then his own doom would come.The duergar hurled a quill from its beard at Lavren and then rushed at him as the missile drove into the bench next to the elf with a thud. The man beneath the table let out a squeal that he quickly muffled with a hand and Lavren looked down, distracted just as the dwarf reached him. The elf twisted aside at the last moment, realising his peril and as he did so, the duergar’s hammer struck his shoulder a glancing blow. Lavren leapt back, leveled his wand and with a word, loosed another black bolt, this one more accurate than the last. The searing eldritch fire drove through the duergar’s chest and hurled him back against the wall at his back. He fell to the floor then like a broken doll and lay still. Lavren turned towards the centre of the room and saw that Erlmoor had fallen and that Rundarr was a huge monstrosity grown from his previous form. All sense of triumph died within the elf then and he leveled his wand at the huge duergar Enlishia drew her sword and lashed out at the duergar she faced but the dwarf parried expertly, twisted its hammer and struck her a glancing blow on the hip. She retreated towards Dulvarna and as she did so, Litiraan ducked towards her and a warhammer struck the table behind the elf. Enlishia looked over her shoulder and saw Dulvarna circle around the far end of the table and rush at the back of the huge Rundarr. She raised her sword above her head and struck the dwarf’s back a huge blow that actually drove the huge duergar forward a step towards Telkya. Rundarr twisted around to face this new threat while behind him, Telkya retreated and knelt beside Erlmoor while uttering a healing prayer. Golden light washed over the paladin and he opened his eyes. His right hand reached for his blade and slowly he began to rise. As he did, he saw Rundarr’s warhammer smash into Dulvarna’s shoulder and send her reeling. A second blow struck her in the chest from the other side and sent her flying back against the west wall of the chamber. Gasping for breath, the warrior woman struggled to raise her sword as the huge gray dwarf stepped towards her.Litiraan and Enlishia faught desperately side by side, striking out with their swords when they could but for the most part parrying urgently. Litiraan drove back his own foe with a stab to the shoulder and bought himself enough time to bind the poisoned quill wound in his own shoulder. Still the numbness was spreading and weakening him reminding him that he could not stand and fight for much longer. Suddenly, he heard Rundarr roar again and saw that Lavren was chanting as unseen jaws tore at the huge duergar. The gray dwarf raged towards Dulvarna but even as he did so, Erlmoor rose slowly behind him. With a roar of his on, the dragonborn charged, his sword leading. He plunged the blade into the base of the duergar’s spine and drove it in up to the hilt until the point burst out of the dwarf’s belly. Rundarr, son of Roleth roared one last time, looked down at the blood soaked steel protruding from his belly and then fell forward, sliding off Erlmoor’s blade to strike the floor hard. He lay there unmoving and died in a growing pool of his blood.</blockquote>

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