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Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1745939" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Heh, you can never have enough cliffhangers. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>The same way she always does... with verve and flair!</p><p></p><p>* * * * * </p><p></p><p>Chapter 216</p><p></p><p>A steaming hiss came from the dragon’s jaws as the dragon reared up before him, and Arun knew that a jet of acid was about to end his life. </p><p></p><p>But the dwarf’s companions had not been idle since their initial rush, and now they descended upon the creature with a violent fury. </p><p></p><p>Dannel and Hodge came at it from opposite flanks. Dannel leapt over a sweep of its tail as it swung back from striking Arun, and he thrust <em>Alakast</em> into the joint where its hind leg met its body, stabbing with it like a spear. Unfortunately, the dragon’s incredibly tough hide foiled the stroke, and the dragon, though both fearsome and evil, was not an outsider, and therefore not vulnerable to the staff’s special power. </p><p></p><p>On the far side, however, Hodge met with more success, puncturing the dragon’s hide with a thrust of his spear. The wound was not serious, but it was another tally upon the stamina of the dragon, which was clearly beginning to show the effects of its wounds. </p><p></p><p>A flare of red-hot flame washed over the head of the dragon, as Zenna unleashed her <em>scorching ray</em>. But instead of searing it, the flames flickered and died, their potency weakened by the magical resistances possessed by the creature. </p><p></p><p><em>Damn!</em> she thought, noting clearly that while her own magic had failed to harm it, Kaurophon’s spells had penetrated its defenses earlier. At that moment, she took little solace in the fact that her path as a mystic theurge gave her increased flexibility with her magic, at a cost in terms of potency. </p><p></p><p>With the dragon momentarily distracted by the attacks upon it, Arun slashed at it again with his sword, but with the shift of the dragon’s attention so too did its <em>shield</em> come around, and the dwarf’s assault was turned harmlessly aside. Now it was the dragon’s turn, and Arun drew back, lifting his shield...</p><p></p><p>Acid blasted into him like water from a sundered dam. For an instant he was lost behind the flood, which flared out around the shield, forming a dense cloud of liquid and smoke that splayed out on the blasted landscape, turning it black wherever it landed. Then it was over, and as the smoke cleared, each of the companions started in horror. </p><p></p><p>Arun still stood, somehow, although his shield was gone, with bits of metal that had once been part of it smoking as they clung to his flesh where they had been seared into place. The dwarf’s left arm was a ruin, the bones of his fingers jutting out of his melted flesh. Streams of melted mithral ran like drops of water across his helm and greaves, his armor having barely held up against the deluge, protecting the vulnerable flesh beneath. It was clear that he hung onto consciousness by only the thinnest of margins, and his face was a mask of pain. </p><p></p><p>“Go... to... hell!” he croaked, lifting his sword again in defiance of the inevitable. </p><p></p><p>The dragon’s eyes widened slightly, perhaps, surprised that this foe somehow still stood in the face of everything it threw at him. </p><p></p><p>While it knew that even one more attack would end the resistance of this stubborn enemy, the dragon was starting to realize that it was in trouble. Blows slid off of its armored hide, but more got through, and pain tore through its body mercilessly. Morgan cut into its shoulder with a two-handed strike from his holy sword, releasing a searing jet of glistening black blood, and as it turned toward him a bone in its left forelimb abruptly and unexpectedly snapped, Mole’s tiny figure tumbling away as she made her voice felt in the melee. The dragon drew back, the dwarf’s defiance forgotten as it focused now upon escape. Fortunately it was still faster than these humanoids, and even though it felt another stabbing pain in its side as it burst from the circle of foes around it, it was clear, and lifting into the air with a powerful if painful leap. </p><p></p><p>And then the world around it was fire, and it was falling, falling...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 1745939, member: 143"] Heh, you can never have enough cliffhangers. ;) The same way she always does... with verve and flair! * * * * * Chapter 216 A steaming hiss came from the dragon’s jaws as the dragon reared up before him, and Arun knew that a jet of acid was about to end his life. But the dwarf’s companions had not been idle since their initial rush, and now they descended upon the creature with a violent fury. Dannel and Hodge came at it from opposite flanks. Dannel leapt over a sweep of its tail as it swung back from striking Arun, and he thrust [I]Alakast[/I] into the joint where its hind leg met its body, stabbing with it like a spear. Unfortunately, the dragon’s incredibly tough hide foiled the stroke, and the dragon, though both fearsome and evil, was not an outsider, and therefore not vulnerable to the staff’s special power. On the far side, however, Hodge met with more success, puncturing the dragon’s hide with a thrust of his spear. The wound was not serious, but it was another tally upon the stamina of the dragon, which was clearly beginning to show the effects of its wounds. A flare of red-hot flame washed over the head of the dragon, as Zenna unleashed her [I]scorching ray[/I]. But instead of searing it, the flames flickered and died, their potency weakened by the magical resistances possessed by the creature. [I]Damn![/I] she thought, noting clearly that while her own magic had failed to harm it, Kaurophon’s spells had penetrated its defenses earlier. At that moment, she took little solace in the fact that her path as a mystic theurge gave her increased flexibility with her magic, at a cost in terms of potency. With the dragon momentarily distracted by the attacks upon it, Arun slashed at it again with his sword, but with the shift of the dragon’s attention so too did its [I]shield[/I] come around, and the dwarf’s assault was turned harmlessly aside. Now it was the dragon’s turn, and Arun drew back, lifting his shield... Acid blasted into him like water from a sundered dam. For an instant he was lost behind the flood, which flared out around the shield, forming a dense cloud of liquid and smoke that splayed out on the blasted landscape, turning it black wherever it landed. Then it was over, and as the smoke cleared, each of the companions started in horror. Arun still stood, somehow, although his shield was gone, with bits of metal that had once been part of it smoking as they clung to his flesh where they had been seared into place. The dwarf’s left arm was a ruin, the bones of his fingers jutting out of his melted flesh. Streams of melted mithral ran like drops of water across his helm and greaves, his armor having barely held up against the deluge, protecting the vulnerable flesh beneath. It was clear that he hung onto consciousness by only the thinnest of margins, and his face was a mask of pain. “Go... to... hell!” he croaked, lifting his sword again in defiance of the inevitable. The dragon’s eyes widened slightly, perhaps, surprised that this foe somehow still stood in the face of everything it threw at him. While it knew that even one more attack would end the resistance of this stubborn enemy, the dragon was starting to realize that it was in trouble. Blows slid off of its armored hide, but more got through, and pain tore through its body mercilessly. Morgan cut into its shoulder with a two-handed strike from his holy sword, releasing a searing jet of glistening black blood, and as it turned toward him a bone in its left forelimb abruptly and unexpectedly snapped, Mole’s tiny figure tumbling away as she made her voice felt in the melee. The dragon drew back, the dwarf’s defiance forgotten as it focused now upon escape. Fortunately it was still faster than these humanoids, and even though it felt another stabbing pain in its side as it burst from the circle of foes around it, it was clear, and lifting into the air with a powerful if painful leap. And then the world around it was fire, and it was falling, falling... [/QUOTE]
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