The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)

[Lazybones]

Although another Wall of Force may be more effective in this situation, assuming there's another one to be had?

They say great minds think alike...

* * * * *

Chapter 307

A WATERY CHASE


Dar bit off a curse as he banged his head for the fourth time on a low-protruding bit of stone. If it wasn’t for his helmet, he would have likely bludgeoned himself into unconsciousness a while ago.

And this was the high part of the river tunnel.

They had come this way several times in their explorations of Rappan Athuk. The river route was never easy, but with an indestructible monster following them, it became rather more... challenging.

He glanced over at Allera. He’d given up on getting her to go on ahead with the others; she remained at his side regardless of what orders he tried to issue. He didn’t need to look back; the noise made by the creature’s progress behind them was constant. The knights were visible up ahead, having as much if not more difficulty that him in managing the tight confines of the tunnel. Nelan had shown them the trick of pushing into the water to get by low overhangs, letting the current grab hold and drive you forward at a faster pace until you were past the obstacle and could let the spell push you back up to the surface again. It was the only thing that had kept them ahead of the creature thus far, that and the fact that the creature nearly filled the tunnel with its bulk, holding back the river and lowering the level of the water in the tunnel slightly for the rest of them.

He felt the surge of energy from Alderis’s second haste spell fade from his limbs. It wouldn’t be long, now.

He looked up to see Honoratius and Alderis drifting back toward them. The arcanists were the only ones to have no difficulty in the tunnel, their overland flight spells letting them drift through even the smallest openings with relative ease.

“It would seem that the monster has gotten over its aversion to water,” Honoratius said. They matched their speed to Allera and Dar, who kept moving as quickly as they could despite the lack of magical augmentation. They were gaining on the knights, who were starting to flag. Moving quickly in difficult circumstances was a challenge in heavy armor.

“Yeah, no kidding. If you’d let me face it in the cavern, we could have fought it head on, and had a chance. If it catches us in this tunnel, we’re screwed.”

“Can either of you delay it?” Allera asked.

Honoratius glanced at Alderis. “I can polymorph myself into an umber hulk, and collapse the tunnel.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Dar said. “So why aren’t you doing it?”

“The river complicates the procedure,” Honoratius said. “And Alderis would be at considerable risk; the burrowing ability of an umber hulk is not a sovereign protection against being crushed by falling stone.”

“And our avenue of retreat would be cut,” Alderis added. “The river would overflow its banks, and might flood the lower levels of the dungeon...”

They were interrupted by a loud crash behind them, and suddenly the dung-Orcus appeared from under the low overhang they had just navigated. The knights all turned around, so they too caught sight of the creature rising up out of the water, not ten paces behind Dar and Allera. It surged forward toward them

“Whatever you’re going to do, just do it!” Dar yelled, turning awkwardly in the confined space, drawing Valor from its scabbard.

Alderis invoked a limited wish. In response, a transparent wall of force appeared across the tunnel, blocking the river entirely. Instantly the water level plummeted, and within a few seconds Dar and Allera had fallen to their knees on the muddy floor of the tunnel. Ahead of them, Xenos fell, and Alexion moved to help him back to his feet.

The elf looked pale for a moment. Through the wall, they could see the dung-Orcus, surrounded now by water as the river backed up against Alderis’s barrier. “That will not hold it any longer than the last wall of force did,” Honoratius said. “We must hasten!”

The others needed no encouragement, and they charged down the now-dry tunnel, the mud sucking at their boots. Dar and Allera caught up to the knights quickly, but Dar remained behind them, urging them to greater speed. All of them were covered now in filth and mud, their once-fine garments utterly spoiled. But the determination that shone in their eyes had not yet faltered. Just ahead of them, Marcus and Tullus were just keeping the pace, while Nelan and Alderis’s shield guardian took the point about fifty feet further on, the cleric’s blazing shield marking a clear path for them along the underground river’s course.

Dar tried to estimate how far they had gone thus far, and how much further remained, but his thoughts were more than a bit jumbled. A sound of rushing water became audible behind them. “It’s breaking through,” Honoratius said; needlessly, in Dar’s opinion.

“Can you collapse the tunnel before it gets here?” Dar asked Alderis. The elf met the fighter’s gaze for a long second, and then nodded. “Then do it.”

Alderis drifted to the ground, already spellcasting. His shield guardian approached, summoned by some unspoken command. As he summoned the polymorph magic, his form began to shift, expanding and growing until the familiar but alien features of an umber hulk regarded them. Dar and Allera had witnessed this metamorphosis before, when Honoratius had used the form to reopen the staircase that led to the third level of the dungeon. But it was still jarring, especially when the creature looked at them with huge eyes that shone with the intelligence of the elf.

Alderis turned toward the nearest wall.

“Everyone keep on going,” Dar said. “Don’t stop until we get to the cavern at the far end.”

Allera forestalled him with a hand on his arm. “We can’t just leave him here,” she said.

“We can’t help him. Either this works, or it doesn’t, but once the roof goes, it’ll be up to him to dig free.”

Reluctantly, Allera nodded, and let herself be pulled back down the tunnel. The elf and shield guardian fell rapidly behind, and as the darkness swallowed them up again, she could hear the rumbling noise of stone giving way.

 

[Lazybones]

Chapter 308

EXCAVATION


“How much longer do you intend to wait?” Honoratius asked.

“As long as it freaking takes,” Dar snapped. He rubbed his head. “Sorry. I don’t know. How long has it been, ten minutes?”

“A bit longer. Alderis’s polymorph spell would have ended by now. I asked only because my ability to remain with you today is limited, and I will have to release Letellia and return to Camar within the hour.”

“The fact that the river hasn’t started up again means that he was successful, right?”

“Possibly. In any case, the wall of force that Alderis created would have long since expired.”

Dar turned away from the archmage. “Anything, Nelan?”

The cleric stepped back from the edge of the dry riverbed. Alexion and Marcus were with him, keeping watch on the dark, empty tunnel. “Nothing, general.”

They were in the large open cavern where they had once battled a pack of vicious displacer beasts. The chamber was considerable, extending for almost a hundred feet on its longest axis, although much of that was inaccessible due to the rock formations and squat stalagmites that were cluttered along the walls. Other than the riverbed, there was one other exit, an opening in the rear wall that accessed a small cluster of natural caves before it gave access to the Second Temple of Orcus. That outpost of evil had been destroyed by Nelan on their last visit. Zahera and Xenos were keeping watch there, just in case some new occupants had moved into the complex since that trip.

Dar glanced over at Allera. The healer was helping Tullus, who had made it out of the river path, only to slump to the ground, complaining of stabbing pains in his side. The cleric seeked all right now, but the healer continued to talk to him quietly.

Honoratius was still waiting for a reply. “All right,” Dar said. He started to turn back toward the far exit, but was interrupted by a shout from Alexion. “Something’s coming,” general!”

A flurry of activity followed the announcement, as the companions hastened to prepare weapons and assume defensive positions. Dar hurried over to where Nelan held his shield out, shining its light down into the river tunnel.

He heard it before he saw anything. At first, the heavy tread sent a trill of alarm down his spine, but as the sounds grew more distinct, he realized that they weren’t those made by the dung-Orcus.

The shield guardian appeared in the glow of Nelan’s light about a minute later. Cradled in its arms was Alderis. The elf looked pale, and he was covered in muck and grime. He grimaced as the construct reached the edge of the river where it met the cavern, and clambered slowly up the incline to join the others. He ordered the guardian to put him down, his face twisting with pain as he shifted within its grasp.

“What’s the matter?” Allera said, gesturing for Marcus to help her ease the elf down to the ground.

“My leg, I believe it’s broken,” the elf said. He looked up at Dar. “General.”

“Glad you could make it, elf. We were about to move on without you.”

Honoratius stepped into view. “We assumed from the absence of water that you were successful in instigating a collapse of the tunnel.”

“Apparently you were a little too thorough,” Nelan said.

Alderis nodded, the pain in his expression easing as Allera poured healing magic into his injured leg. “Yes, but that’s not all. The creature. It’s still coming... I could feel it moving the stones... as I dug myself out.”

A sudden silence filled the cavern at the elf’s announcement. And then, like the pounding of a drum, came a distant sound from the dark opening of the river tunnel.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

The rhythmic pounding continued, growing slowly but steadily closer.

 

[Nightbreeze]

It's...persistent.

 

[Lazybones]

Chapter 309

ROUND ONE


Marcus looked pale. “There’s no stopping that thing...”

“We stopped it before, we’ll stop it again,” Dar said. He gestured around the room. “This is as good a place as any; it’s big enough for us to take it from all directions, and for some maneuver, if necessary.”

“The properties of the creature appear to have changed significantly since our last encounter with it, general,” Honoratius said. “It may prove beyond our ability to defeat.”

“Then we’re screwed either way. We keep running from it, eventually we’re going to run into something nasty, and it’ll just come on us from behind while we’re distracted. This way, at least we have a chance to face it on our terms.”

The noise from the tunnel was growing louder. Dar gave some more instructions, listened to a few suggestions from Alderis and Honoratius, and set Nelan to keep watch for the creature’s approach. Not that they needed a watchman; they could all hear it coming, and bits of dirt had begun falling from the top of the river tunnel, as the ground shook with the heavy tread of its coming.

Marcus turned to Dar. “I am sorry for my earlier outburst, general. I will face the thing with all honor...”

The fighter cut him off with a slash of his hand. “I expect nothing less, cleric.” He held the younger man’s eyes for a moment, and then unslung his bow and club, followed by the straps that held the leather wrap in place across his back. “You may be able to make some use of this,” he said, unfolding the wrap to reveal Beatus Incendia.

Marcus’s eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the blade. “That is...”

“Yeah, I know.” He hefted it, and extended the hilt toward the cleric. “Don’t miss.”

“I can see it!” Nelan yelled, falling back from the edge of the riverbank.

“All right, everyone hold your positions!” Dar shouted. Blue-white light flared from Beatus Incendia as Marcus took it up, the bright flames casting his youthful features in stark relief. He began to chant, invoking the power of Soleus to protect him and infuse him with strength. Elsewhere throughout the room, Honoratius, Alderis, and Tullus likewise placed buffing spells upon the warriors. Allera waited until the very last instant to cast her holy aura, to maximize the duration of the protective magic.

She did not need to wait long. Barely ten ticks after Nelan’s shouted warning, the huge form of the dung monster, clad again in the form of the demon prince Orcus, exploded out of the mouth of the river tunnel. The creature’s lifeless eyes regarded them as it rose to its full height, and it immediately clambered forward toward the crumbling bank of the river bed. The obstacle offered no hindrance to it, and as it stepped up, the thing loomed high over them, its horned head nearly scraping the cavern ceiling.

“Hold your ground!” Dar shouted.

The dung monster started to turn toward Alexion, who was stationed along the left wall of the cavern. Dar, standing near the far exit, stepped forward. “Over here, you freaking prick!” Zahera, standing behind him, lifted her bow and let fly an arrow that struck it in the face. Instead of sinking into its noisome substance, however, the steel head glanced off, as though it had struck a granite wall.

“The structure of its external shell has changed,” Honoratius said. “Ware!”

The monster shifted and started coming forward toward Dar. “That’s right, come to daddy,” the fighter muttered, his fists tightening on the haft of his club.

Everyone tensed as the monster moved into the center of the room. Dar held his ground as the creature lifted an arm to strike; bits of stone clattered around it like rain as the limb scraped the rough natural ceiling. It was only one step away from being able to reach the fighter.

As that foot came down, Honoratius disintegrated the ground beneath it.

The monster’s left foot vanished into the pit that suddenly gaped before it. Unable to adjust in time, the creature toppled forward, its body crashing into the forward lip of the pit, its right leg jutting back at an awkward angle as its weight dragged its body down into the ten-foot hole. Its arms caught on the edges of the new hole, and it started dragging itself up almost at once.

“NOW!” Dar yelled, surging forward.

Dar bellowed a violent cry of battle as he leapt forward and smashed his club into the monster’s head with the full power of his considerable strength behind it. Instead of sinking into its body and sticking, like their weapons had in their last encounter, the blow cracked hard against it substance, hard enough to shake Dar’s bones with the force of the impact traveling up the length of his club. A pulse traveled through the creature’s head, and Dar could see cracks traveling out from the point where he’d struck, cracks that rapidly closed shut, leaving its body unblemished.

All around it, the warriors leapt to assault the creature. Stuck in the awkward position of being half-in, half-out of the pit, it could not bring its superior reach to bear before they could attack. Alexion and Xenos hewed at it with their weapons, but they had little effect upon it. Alexion’s pick scraped loudly against its right shoulder, while Xenos’s first strike cracked the hard shell of its back, but otherwise seemed to faze it little.

Zahera had fired a second arrow that had struck the creature in the arm. But that hit was as ineffective as the first, so she dropped her bow and rushed forward, drawing her scimitar as she came.

As the divine power of his patron filled him, Marcus lifted Beatus Incendia and charged forward to join the attack. Stepping in beside Xenos, he tried to target the crack that the knight had opened, and which was already starting to seal shut. But the cleric’s foot struck a loose stone, and the hit went wild, glancing harmlessly off its back. Off-balance, the cleric was struck by the creature’s body as it surged up out of the pit, and he fell to the ground.

Nelan hurled a spell at the creature, but his divine magic proved as ineffective as the arcane power of the wizard, dissolving against the indefatigable resistances of the unnatural creation. Swallowing, the cleric drew out his mace and looked for an opening to attack.

Alderis held his ground, but ordered his shield guardian to attack. The construct surged forward, slipping past Alexion as it bowled into the dung creature. It smashed down with both fists, trying to push the monster back into the pit. The sound of its mithral-encased fists striking the creature’s shoulders echoed loudly through the chamber, but it failed to stop the creature from lifting itself up out of the pit. It shrugged off more hits as it got both legs up under it, and it was the companions that were forced to give ground as it drove forward, rising up again to its full height.

The companions continued to hew at it, shifting their attacks to its legs and torso. Marcus, struggling back to his feet, joined Xenos in striking at its back, while Alexion and Zahera harried its flanks. Nelan started to come in beside Zahera, but was forced to dodge back as the monster’s huge arms came around to confront the shield guardian. Alderis’s construct continued smashing the creature across the chest, but the spiderweb cracks that each blow created were healed almost as quickly as they were made.

The monster countered with a powerful swing of one arm that hit the shield guardian squarely across the chest. Alderis’s construct had to weigh over a thousand pounds, but it was knocked back like a child’s toy, toppling over backwards and hitting the floor with a loud crash.

Dar roared again as he brought his club up into the monster’s gut. Again the blow had a significant if transitory effect, as cracks opened across its torso, and a pulse reverberated through its body. Its wounds continued to close, if slower now that it was absorbing more damage from its tormentors.

“Keep hitting it!” Dar yelled, lifting his weapon to strike again.

The monster struck with its other arm, bringing its fist down on Dar’s right shoulder. The blow felt like he’d been struck with a sledgehammer, and he was driven down almost to his knees by the force of it. But he had bigger problems; the fist had flattened across his shoulder, and it stuck to the dragonhide plates of his armor like strong glue. As he tried to pull away, the substance of its fist became amorphous, oozing out to engulf his neck and chest. A scream was torn from his lips as that vile goo burned his flesh, but that cry died as it spread up over his jaw, and tendrils of it flowed into his mouth, eating away his flesh as it traveled.

 

[Richard Rawen]

*gags* YUCK! Man I was eating breakfast! *shudders*

Can't they go back to fighting undead? Erm...
I mean instead of a Evil-Pile-of-Crap-from-Hell?
I cannot wait till <see above> is vanquished forever... however the heck they're supposed to do that!

 

[Lazybones]

... however the heck they're supposed to do that!

Can it be killed? Stay tuned for next week!

* * * * *

Chapter 310

WRESTLING WITH DUNGIE


“Corath!” Allera yelled, rushing toward the creature. “We’ve got to get it off him!”

The knights were there first, attacking the creature with furious intensity. Xenos hacked at the limb that held Dar, the burning sword flaring in his hand. The blessed steel bit into the monster’s substance, but it was like hewing a log. Not to be forestalled, the knight raised his weapon and kept striking at the minor gash he had opened, trying to cut through enough to make it release Dar.

Zahera and Alexion continued to smash at its body, trying to draw its attention. Marcus and Nelan struck at its back, but their blows, while they struck sparks and made loud noises, failed to harm the creature in any identifiable way.

Honoratius, concentrating intensely, conjured a globe of pulsating sonic energy. She hurled it at the creature, striking the arm holding Dar just above the wrist. The spell, a variant of the acid arrow magic, had fashioned an autonomous energy pulse that existed independent of the wizard’s arcane power. As such, it did not wink out as it struck the monster, and instead embedded itself into the creature’s substance, blasting tiny bits of its matter into dust as it penetrated slowly deeper. The monster ignored it.

Dar was still holding onto his club, and he brought it up with desperate strength into the oozing claw that clasped his shoulder. He felt his head begin to swim with nausea and lack of air as the monster’s substance probed into his throat, cutting off his ability to breathe. The skin of his face and neck felt like it was on fire.

And then the monster’s hold on his slipped incrementally. Summoning a last desperate reserve of strength, he tore free and fell to the ground, gasping for air. He tried to get up and failed; his armor had become incredibly slick, no doubt what had allowed him to pull free of the monster’s grasp. He retched violently, spewing up some of the gunk that the monster had poured into his throat.

And then Allera was there. “Hold still, this will only take a few seconds...”

“Help me up,” he croaked. He managed to get onto his side, and looked up to see chaos raging just a few steps away.

The dung-Orcus was under heavy attack from every quarter. As he watched, a beam of searing light cut across his vision, causing glowing spots to obscure his view for a few seconds. But Tullus’s spell had vanished the moment it had struck the creature, absorbed without causing any damage or inconvenience to the monstrosity. The thing had seized onto Xenos, wrapping its right claw around his waist, its substance oozing out around him the same way it had with Dar. The knight was still slashing with his holy sword, trying to break free, while Zahera was trying to get around to its side, hewing at its arm in an effort to help him escape the creature’s hold. Alexion was down, but he didn’t look to be hurt bad, and Marcus was there, helping him to his feet. The two of them attacked its right knee, trying to unbalance it. Dar could have warned them not to bother; the creature had neither bones nor muscles, and seemed barely conscious of the damage they were wreaking upon it.

“Get back!” he tried to yell, but his voice rasped in his throat. “Allera, tell them to get back!”

Healing came in a torrent, but it did not push away the feeling of dread that was growing in his gut. That feeling expanded tenfold as the monster lifted Xenos off his feet, and slammed the struggling knight into the fat, bulging mass of its gut. Xenos screamed as the creature’s body split open, and then he vanished as it pushed him inside, driving him deeper until only the edge of his shield protruded out. The others watched in horror as the gap closed, cutting off the knight’s cries with grim finality as it sealed itself.

 

[Lazybones]

Chapter 311

SMASH SMASH AND SMASH SOME MORE


Dar managed to stagger to his feet. He started forward, but Allera grabbed him, her hands sliding on the magically slick surface of his armor. “No, Dar! He’s gone... we have to get out of here!”

Dar looked around and saw a situation that looked hopeless. The only sign of Xenos was half of the knight’s shield, jutting from the monster’s fat gut. The knights and clerics were continuing to attack it, but while their hits continued to inflict damage, the monster’s regenerative powers were as strong as in their past meetings. And with its newly armored shell, it was far more difficult to injure than when they had beaten it before.

Alderis’s shield guardian had gotten back up, and doggedly resumed its attack. As Dar watched, the dung monster seized the construct by one arm, and hurled it across the room. It landed in the river bed in a loud clatter, and while Dar could hear it moving, it was not quick to rise.

Dar could still hear Allera’s voice, and the shouts of the knights, but everything seemed to fade back into an indistinct blur. Only the creature existed in clarity, a monstrosity that rivaled anything that Dar had ever faced. Even the Ravager’s spawn seemed manageable in contrast to this thing.

Marcus managed a solid hit against the creature’s leg. Beatus Incendia flared as white fire surged through the cracks in its limb.

Dar’s gaze lingered there. The cracks were not sealing...

Dar charged. His yell filled his ears. The monster, perhaps sensing somehow that this foe was more dangerous than the others, turned to meet his rush. It almost casually batted Marcus aside with one fist, knocking the cleric off his feet. Its other arm came up, no doubt to try again what it had failed to do before with this defiant human.

Dar kept on coming. The arm came crashing down.

Dar shifted, and Valor exploded from its scabbard in a blur as he dropped his club. The axiomatic blade met the descending arm, the blue steel striking right at the spot where Honoratius’s sonic arrow had opened a deep pocket in the creature’s limb. There was a flash, and then Dar spun away.

Their eyes were drawn to the monster’s hand, which clattered across the floor, coming to a stop at Honoratius’s feet. The severed fist lay there for a moment, inert, and then it collapsed into a heap of noxious goop that spread across the floor in a thick puddle.

Dar rushed at the creature again, but the dung monster still had a lot of fight left in it. It drew back its injured arm, the stump already bulging as it began to regenerate. But as Dar had seen, the damage being wrought by him and his companions was overpowering the monster’s ability to repair itself. Even as he watched, Marcus scored another powerful hit with Beatus Incendia that expanded the network of cracks that now splayed up and down the length of its right leg. Alexion was digging at the same spot with his pick, but his weapon, while magical, lacked the potency of the holy sword wielded by the priest.

The monster shifted, lifting its damaged leg in an attempt to stop the cleric that kept harrying it. Alexion thrust Marcus out of its way, but the leg caught both men as it thundered down, knocking them sprawling. Fortunately neither were caught under it, and the battering they suffered was eased almost at once as Allera flooded the chamber with a mass cure serious wounds spell.

Dar watched the monster carefully as he swept Valor around for another strike. The axiomatic blade clanged loudly off its body, and this time Dar felt a tug as he dragged it across its torso. Ooze was beginning to seep from the wounds in its body, and Dar briefly wondered if they were going to have to face it again as a blob.

Such musings were driven rather forcefully from his mind as the monster brought its arm down to strike. He’d been ready for it, but even so he took a glancing hit across his back that nearly tumbled him forward into its left knee. The creature caught him by surprise again as it dropped its still-regenerating left arm down across his back. Pain exploded through his torso as he was slammed hard into the stone floor.

He looked up in time to see the creature’s foot descending toward his head.

 

[Lazybones]

Heh, this one's fun.

Is it just me, or has the story hour forum been pretty quiet of late? I've been too busy writing to read much lately, but it seems like there's fewer of the "big names" I remember up on page 1 these days. And many of the threads that are up there a lot are all but dead save for bumps (e.g. Sepulchrave, Piratecat, Destan).

Every six months or so I download a bunch of threads to my flash drive (no EnWorld at work), and take them with me to read during slow stretches (esp. times when my own words are slow in coming). Any can't-miss threads that people want to recommend from the newer crop of authors? I generally avoid threads that don't have at least 50 or so author posts and 10,000+ views, as I want something that looks like it's going to be around for a while if I'm going to invest time in it. But I'll make exceptions for really good stuff.

Without further ado, today's chapter:

* * * * *


Chapter 312

DESPERATE MEASURES


Dar felt a sudden tug, and his magically slickened armor slid him out of the way just as the monster’s foot slammed into the ground, mere inches from his face.

He looked up and saw Allera holding onto his right ankle. She reached down to help him up, but before he could take her hand a dark shadow loomed over them.

“Look out!”

Dar sprang up, sweeping his arm across Allera’s body, knocking the healer back as the dung monster struck again. Pain exploded in his arm as the creature hit him hard in the shoulder, driving him hard into the ground. He felt a solid pressure against his torso, and for a moment he could not draw a breath. Then he was being lifted into the air, and he realized that the monster had grabbed onto him.

He struggled, but his right arm hung limp, broken in several places, and even with the grease spell on his armor he could not get enough leverage to break free. He’d lost his grip on Valor and had no idea what had happened to the sword. He heard shouts and the clash of metal on stone, and knew that the others were still attacking the creature, but details were lost in the haze of pain and twisting sensation that were dragging him down toward unconsciousness.

Suddenly the dung monster came into clear focus as that disorientation sloughed away. His arm tingled as Allera’s mass cure spell poured life back into him, but his situation hadn’t otherwise improved. The dung monster’s hand had melted around his body, securing its grip, and tendrils of its caustic substance were probing through the gaps in his armor, eating away at leather, clothing, and flesh.

The monster itself looked like a wax figure that had been left too close to the fire. Foul ooze had issued forth from the cracks in its torso, forming long runnels that buldged down over its legs. Its right leg was likewise a mess where Alexion and Marcus had savaged it, but that had helped it in the short run, for Dar could see that Beatus Incendia had gotten stuck in the morass of ooze, and the young cleric was struggling without much success to free the weapon from the monster’s grasp. On the far side of the creature, Zahera and Nelan were continuing their attacks, but that side of it showed much less damage, indicating their overall lack of success.

Dar looked up into the “face” of the monster. The representation of the Demon was frighteningly detailed, the one part of the creature’s form that had remained unblemished. For a moment, Dar thought he saw something... alive in the putrid brown orbs of its eyes, a mocking look that swirled and was gone.

He knew what was going to happen, and there didn’t seem to be anything he could do to stop it. But before the monster could do to him what it had done to Xenos, he felt a soft touch on his ankle, and looked down to see Alderis standing there, touching him.

The dung monster thrust its hand into its gut, but as it did Dar dissolved into mist, gusting effortlessly out of the creature’s grasp as the elf’s gaseous form took hold. The monster swept its other arm, the hand still incomplete as it continued to regenerate, though the fighter’s insubstantial form. The swing cut right through him, driving him back across the room like a wisp of smoke caught in a strong wind. Dar drifted to the ground, where he again took on solid form.

Alderis lifted his hand and fired a cone of cold point-blank into the dung monster’s face. The magical spell had absolutely no effect upon it, save to draw its attention. The creature smashed Alderis with a fist, knocking the elf flying across the room. He flew past Honoratius and landed in the far corridor, groaning but conscious thanks to his stoneskin spell.

Marcus had finally pulled Beatus Incendia free from the creature, and as he smashed it yet again into the creature’s knee the battered limb finally collapsed into a mass of foul ooze. The dung monster listed hard to its right, but as its weight settled its entire lower body dissolved into the blob-form that they had fought before. Its arms became long pseudopods of ooze, but the head alone retained its form, bloated and bulging but still clearly recognizable as the face of their Enemy.

The companions continued their attacks, but with the reversion of its form the dung monster’s body had regained its adhesive properties. Zahera and Nelan had their weapons torn from their grasp as they struck it, and Alexion was nearly dragged inside of the creature as his pick stabbed deep into its body. The monster extended its tendrils toward Alexion and Marcus, smacking both of them hard. Both were stuck fast, and were drawn toward the creature, which oozed forward to engulf them.

With a heavy tread Alderis’s shield guardian, recovered somewhat from the beating it had taken from the monster, charged back into the fray. It was about to attack, when a series of shouted commands in elvish brought it about. Instead of smashing the dung monster with its fists, it reached down and grabbed onto Alexion and Marcus, dragging them back from the creature’s grasp. The monster did not release its captives easily, however, its substance stretching as the construct pulled at them. Both men continued to struggle, and Marcus slashed Beatus Incendia across its body, opening a long gash that spat forth a gusher of foulness from it.

Dar had stumbled to his feet, rather the worse for wear from his narrow escape. He was covered in filth, and his clothes hung in tatters from his body, where the dung monster’s acidic secretions hadn’t eaten them away entirely. His armor was still intact for the moment, although the leather straps and fasteners that held it together had been seriously damaged. Allera rushed over to him, Valor cradled in her hands. As he took back the blade, she touched him, pouring healing energy into his body.

“Thanks, angel,” Dar said, as he rushed back into the battle.

The dung monster formed a new pseudopod and smashed it across the chest of Alderis’s shield guardian. The construct took the hit but refused to release its grip on Alexion and Marcus. It could not pull either man fully clear of the dung monster, but it did keep the creature from fully absorbing them.

Dar charged into the thing from behind. Valor flashed, and he cut a great swath through its form with a powerful cut from the blade. Filth splashed over him, but he kept cutting and hacking, tearing long gashes that oozed terrible fluid like blood. The monster reacted by surging at him, lunging at his arms and face with its tentacles. It seized one arm and nearly dragged him off his feet, but he merely shifted Valor to his other hand and kept cutting at it. With the creature focused on him, Alexion and Marcus were finally able to pull free, and they renewed their assault. Zahera, unable to recover her scimitar, fell back and recovered her bow, while Nelan retreated and fell to the ground, violently ill.

Ooze and sludge flew about in every direction, as Dar kept hacking and cutting. The monster drew back, but he merely stepped forward, deeper into it, unleashing a violent fury. Blood splattered the brown as the creature’s secretions dissolved his flesh, but Allera continued to pour healing energy into him, and new skin kept regrowing over the ruins of the old.

He no longer looked like anything human.

“Corath! DAR!”

The yell finally reached him, and he stopped. Around him, the remains of the dung monster were collapsing into a shapeless ooze that spread out over the floor.

Dar looked down. There were a few large lumps in that mass, which became visible as the creature came apart. A jagged piece of metal that had been the rim of a shield. The hilt of a holy sword, now just junk attached to half a foot of steel. An oblong object that became recognizable only when Dar prodded it with his boot, and he could see the ivory white of it, slicked with filth. There were more bones, most at least partially dissolved.

Dar vomited. Someone came toward him, but he held them back with a raised hand.

The fighter stepped forward awkwardly, stiffly. His wounds had been healed, but he was covered in wretched filth, and everything he had was either ruined or damaged. Even the wrappings on the hilt of Valor had been eaten away, although the blue steel remained unblemished.

He trudged forward through the slime. He was aware of eyes following him, but he did not pay them any heed. He made it to the edge of the river, where a muddy trickle had resumed. He stumbled forward, down the steep slope, and all but fell into that weak flow. The stream was slowly growing deeper, as the river widened whatever opening the dung monster had opened in Alderis’s collapse, but it still barely rose to his ankles.

The water was muddy, but Dar buried his hands and face in it, sloughing off some of the filth that still burned against his skin.

When he finally lifted his head, he dropped Valor into the water, letting it cleanse the foulness that covered the blade.

The others came up behind him; several of them clambered down to join him in washing the remnants of the battle off their bodies. Allera’s holy aura had faded, leaving them clad in shadows and gloom that their everburning torches could not quite dispel. He heard some of the others talking, but he was barely aware of the words.

Finally, he was, if not clean, at least purged of the worst of it. He leaned back, his sword bare in his hand.

“I’m getting too freaking old for this.”

That was when the demons attacked.

 

[Fimmtiu]

How can Dar see what's going on on the far side of the monster's body?

Definitely check out both of Shemeska's story hours, if you haven't already.

 

[javcs]

Shilsen's and Jollydoc's Story Hours are ones I have subscribed to, along with yours.
The styles are different, but, it's still pretty nice.

Ouch ... demons right after the Orcus-dung ooze? They're screwed.

Fimmtiu, at that point, it's still vaguely humanoid shaped, and therefore it can be seen around. Aka, one of the abstractions of DnD combat.