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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2441136" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 430Mole waited for the kelubar to try to finish her, poised to spring back up into an evading roll.  But Hexavog, it seemed, had decided that close combat with tough foes was less desirable than beating upon a solitary gnome, and its small wings beat furiously behind it, combining with its magic to lift it into the air.  It didn’t get very far as a barrage of arrows knifed into it.  Three missiles slammed into the fat kelubar’s body in rapid succession, and as the last disappeared into its bloated neck, its wings suddenly stopped working, and it plummeted to the ground to land in a sick splat upon the stone. Mole glanced over her shoulder at Dannel, who’d changed—he’d sprouted wings!  The elf was already drawing out another arrow from the quiver at his hip, switching targets to the hag. Beorna was already on her way, charging the witch, calling upon the power of Helm to infuse her sword with divine potency.  Slouva merely gestured for her golems to flank the charging templar, their incredibly long limbs giving them the ability to attack long before Beorna drew close enough for her own attack.  Mole flipped herself back onto her feet almost effortlessly.  She glanced back again, and saw Cal standing at the peak of the arch that led back to the farastu room, clinging to the wall with his magic.  Lok and Arun appeared in the opening below him, both looking a mess with acid burns on their armor, and their bodies and weapons coated with tendrils of clinging farastu slime.  Dana had not yet appeared, and Mole hoped that she was all right.  But at the moment, the battle continued, and she turned her attention to helping Beorna.  The templar took a pair of mighty hits from the golems, staggering but not abating her rush toward the hag.  But even as she lifted her sword to strike the hag leapt suddenly at her, seizing her with her claws, grasping her arms and twisting, sending agonizing spikes of pain through her body.  Pinioned by the hag’s incredible strength, Beorna could only struggle weakly, unable to break free.  “That’s right, my pretty,” the hag said, her face inches from Beorna’s.  “It hurts… but soon it will hurt much more, every day more than the day before!”  Cackling, she twisted again, and something popped in Beorna’s body, and the templar screamed in pain. Dannel had sighted down the length of a white-fletched arrow, but held his shot; the annis and templar were so closely intertwined in the grapple that even he could not clearly force his target.  He’d already used his seeker arrow against the kelubar, so there was nothing he could do to aid the dwarven woman. But he could help his companions.  Lok and Arun had immediately charged after Beorna, although the remnants of the farastu ooze continued to hinder them somewhat.  The golems moved to block the pair of warriors, but by a subtle agreement Lok moved to engage them while Arun burst through, ignoring the powerful blow that caromed off his shoulder as he blasted between them.  The golems immediately set about battering Lok, but the genasi was far too tough for even these foes to take him down quickly.  The genasi unleashed several powerful blows with his axe, and soon one of the golems was staggering backward, great rents opened in its legs and lower torso under Lok’s assault.Dannel picked that one, and commanding his quiver to produce normal missiles he began peppering it with arrows.  The golem was resistant to his missiles, but Dannel infused each shot with magic, and collectively they began to have an effect, tearing at the very form of the monstrous construct. Dana appeared through the arch, flying high over the battle through the power of her winged boots.  The priestess looked even worse than the warriors, her white skin splotched with acid burns, but a barely-controlled fury burned in her eyes as she fixed them upon her target.  The annis sensed her coming, but did not release Beorna, continuing her pressure until the inevitable snap that would mean the end of her first victim. But Dana wasn’t going to wait for that, and as she landed behind Slouva she reached out to lay a gentle touch upon the hag’s shoulder.  Slouva let out an involuntary scream as the priestess’s harm spell ravaged her body.  Snarling, she spun, hurling her grappled victim into the priestess, knocking both of them to the ground as she staggered free.  Arun rushed at her, but while he was able to just clip her with the tip of his holy avenger, it was not enough to stop her as she spun and darted rapidly away toward a door not far from the staircase where she’d appeared.  The paladin did not immediately pursue, instead looking to Beorna.  The templar could not move, both of her shoulders dislocated and several bones snapped, but through a haze of pain her gaze fixed on Arun’s.  “What are you waiting for, you fool!  Stop her!” she shrieked.  It was clear that only dogged stubbornness kept her clinging to consciousness; her body had absorbed more damage than anyone should have been able to take. But Arun only helped her up, pouring healing energy into her as he did so.  Only when it was clear that she could stand on her own power did he turn toward the departing annis. But she’d already vanished through the door.  And Dana, he saw, had rolled to her feet, and was already there, rushing through the portal after her. “Dana, no!” he cried.  Hoping that Lok could handle the golems alone, he ran after them. At that moment, Lok was having difficulties.  While his armor was holding against the powerful blows of the golems, each hit was driving a pulse of momentum through his body until his organs began to feel like jelly within his body.  Another few hits, he knew, and he’d be in trouble.  But the golem he’d targeted was likewise having problems.  Dannel’s arrows and his own powerful swings had left its body a mess of shredded flesh, with only the fell power animating it keeping it together.  The second golem was a problem, able to get in unabated attacks against Lok’s less-protected flank, but the genasi was aided by a shadowed dire lion that leapt onto the creature, slashing and rending with all four of its claws.  The brainless construct immediately shifted to this adversary, leaving Lok free to focus his attacks upon the golem in front of him.  It managed one more punch that Lok took on his shield, then the genasi brought his axe up into its left knee, severing the already-savaged joint and sending it toppling to the ground.  The golem struggled feebly for a few moments, then fell still.  Arun reached the half-open door through which Slouva and then Dana had disappeared, when a familiar scream from the chamber beyond, full of pain and despair, chilled him to the bone.  “Dana!”</blockquote>

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