Lazybones
Adventurer
Glad to have you on board once again, wolff.
I'm being sent to a conference tomorrow for work; I'll post the next update on Saturday when I get back.
* * * * *
Chapter 11
FLIGHT
“It’s still coming,” Varo said, glancing back over his shoulder.
“Damn it, those doors barely even slowed it,” Dar said. He looked slightly winded, but was far better off than Tiros, who had slumped against the wall, his body heaving as he fought for breath.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Navev said. He started for the corridor on the far side of the intersection, but Dar cut him off.
“Idiot! Where do you think you’re going? Have you forgotten the bars, and the crusher trap in the mausoleum?”
“Maybe the trap has reset by now.”
“If you want to take the chance of being caught in a dead-end, with that thing filling the entire passage behind you, go right ahead. We haven’t gone this way yet,” Dar said, indicating the passage that branched off to the right. There might be another way out, or at least some way to slow that thing’s pursuit.”
“Are you all right?” Varo asked Tiros, but the marshal shook off his offered arm, and straightened. He looked pale.
“Let’s go.”
They made their way down the rough passage, bypassing a few side branches that quickly narrowed into impassable slits. They didn’t have to go far, however, before the main corridor opened onto another chamber. This one was also nearly barren, with only a large wooden coffin lying against the far wall. Some more narrow cracks were evident along the walls, but the only real exit was another passage mouth in the far wall. They quickly moved in that direction, but as their light reached the dark opening, it revealed a pile of rubble—a total collapse.
“Dead end,” Dar said, grasping his dagger tightly.
“What... what are we going to do?” Navev said. “That thing will be on us in a few seconds! There’s no place else to go! What do we do?”
“We sell our lives as dearly as we can, boy,” Dar said, smiling grimly as he drew out his second dagger, and tested the weights of both by flipping them over, letting the hilts slap into his palms.
“Maybe we can get around it,” Tiros said, looking around the room.
“To what end?” Dar replied. “We can’t keep running. We’re faster than that thing, but look at us... we’re beat, and we won’t be able to go much longer without a rest.”
“I would have thought that you, at least, would have offered a more tenacious resistance.”
“Look, marshal,” Dar began, his voice growing more angry.
“Gentlemen,” Varo said, from the entry, where he’d lingered back. “If we are to have a plan, I suggest we implement it now. I can hear the creature approaching.”
Tiros looked at Dar, who crossed his arms. “Well, marshal? You’re supposed to be the strategic genius.”
Tiros scanned the room. “Navev,” he said. “Stand by the left wall. I want you to draw the creature with your blasts. Keep it near the wall.”
“What? I’m not going to be a sacrificial...”
“We’ll all get out of this alive, if we work together,” Tiros interjected. “Dar. You and Varo, take up a heavy rock or two from that rubble, as heavy as you can carry and still move fast.”
“What will that accomplish?” Dar asked. “Throwing rocks isn’t going to faze that thing.”
But Varo had divined the marshal’s purpose. “The pit?”
Tiros nodded. “It probably won’t stop it, but it may give us enough time to get away. I’ll try to keep it distracted. Navev, once it comes halfway across the room, run behind that coffin, and around to the others. Dar and Varo will be slowed, but they should have a chance to get a slight lead if we can delay it for a few moments. And once we’re ahead of it again, we should be able to outdistance it.”
Navev still looked uncertain, but Tiros said, “Can you do this, warlock? Our lives depend on it.”
Navev nodded, but his hands were still shaking as he took up the position ordered by Tiros. Varo and Dar were already gathering their stones, and Tiros paused to pick up a handful of fist-sized rocks of his own.
The dung monster rolled into view, its amorphous form making a sick slurping sound as it moved across the floor. The stench came with it, a rolling wave that instantly fouled the air in the chamber. It hesitated a fraction of a second in the entry, before it started sliding toward Tiros.
“Now!” the marshal shouted.
Navev’s eyes glowed a bright crimson as he started hitting the monster with eldritch blasts. The other three held their position near the rubble pile, and the monster shifted and started moving toward the warlock, along the wall.
“Draw him...” Tiros said. “Keep it up,” he added, as the warlock fell back, hitting the dung monster several more times. The blasts seemed to have an effect, or at least they left a visible mark, but the creature seemed to heal the damage almost at once.
“Now!” Tiros said. Dar and Varo darted past, staying close to the opposite wall. The monster started to move toward them, but Tiros hit the creature with a thrown rock, and Navev blasted it again, drawing its attention back.
“Circle around!” Tiros said to Navev. The warlock fled, narrowly avoiding a prodding pseudopod that swept through the air in his wake. Tiros was ready at the coffin, and as the monster surged forward he upended the rotting wood object into its path. The coffin slowed it barely a second, but it was enough for the warlock and marshal to break free, and keep running toward the exit, the monster in close pursuit.
They had barely made it back to the entry intersection before they caught up to Dar and Varo. The fighter was struggling with the weight of a stone that had to weigh over a hundred pounds. “I assume it’s coming?” the cleric asked.
“Oh, we got its attention,” Tiros said. He sent Navev up to clear the way, while he himself brought up the rear, conscious of the sucking sound that was growing louder in the corridor behind them.
They made their way back through the complex of rooms. “Hey, warlock, remember to step over that broken step!” Dar shouted ahead. But they made their way without difficulty back to the edge of the pit. Navev and Tiros helped the others with their burdens, easing around the perimeter of the pit.
“Here it comes!” Varo yelled, gesturing with his torch.
The dung monster surged forward, slow but certain in the determination of its approach. Bits of stone and wood clung to it, detritus picked up in its pursuit but not yet absorbed. It came straight at them, and as it had before, it spread its body around the edges of the pit. As its weight triggered the trap door mechanism, the central mass of its body sagged downward for a moment, but the adhesive properties of its hide allowed it to continue to move forward.
“Now!”
Dar and Varo hurled their boulders square into the center of the creature. The sudden boost of weight caused the center of the creature to sag into the mouth of the pit, stretching out the edges that still clung tenaciously to the edges. For a heartbeat the four men held a collective breath, but then with a “plop” sound the dung monster tore free, and plummeted into the pit.
“The lid!” Tiros urged, but Dar was already moving. He had unslung his sword belt, and dropped to the ground, using the loop of the belt to catch the edge of the pit’s lid. With Varo helping, he pulled the lid up, using the trap’s natural counterweight to help him draw the heavy mechanism shut.
“That won’t stop it,” Varo said.
“No,” Tiros said. “But it might give us a few seconds.” He indicated the one remaining passage, the broad corridor that stretched out to the south. Leaving the pit, the companions hurried in that direction, moving deeper into Rappan Athuk.
I'm being sent to a conference tomorrow for work; I'll post the next update on Saturday when I get back.
* * * * *
Chapter 11
FLIGHT
“It’s still coming,” Varo said, glancing back over his shoulder.
“Damn it, those doors barely even slowed it,” Dar said. He looked slightly winded, but was far better off than Tiros, who had slumped against the wall, his body heaving as he fought for breath.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Navev said. He started for the corridor on the far side of the intersection, but Dar cut him off.
“Idiot! Where do you think you’re going? Have you forgotten the bars, and the crusher trap in the mausoleum?”
“Maybe the trap has reset by now.”
“If you want to take the chance of being caught in a dead-end, with that thing filling the entire passage behind you, go right ahead. We haven’t gone this way yet,” Dar said, indicating the passage that branched off to the right. There might be another way out, or at least some way to slow that thing’s pursuit.”
“Are you all right?” Varo asked Tiros, but the marshal shook off his offered arm, and straightened. He looked pale.
“Let’s go.”
They made their way down the rough passage, bypassing a few side branches that quickly narrowed into impassable slits. They didn’t have to go far, however, before the main corridor opened onto another chamber. This one was also nearly barren, with only a large wooden coffin lying against the far wall. Some more narrow cracks were evident along the walls, but the only real exit was another passage mouth in the far wall. They quickly moved in that direction, but as their light reached the dark opening, it revealed a pile of rubble—a total collapse.
“Dead end,” Dar said, grasping his dagger tightly.
“What... what are we going to do?” Navev said. “That thing will be on us in a few seconds! There’s no place else to go! What do we do?”
“We sell our lives as dearly as we can, boy,” Dar said, smiling grimly as he drew out his second dagger, and tested the weights of both by flipping them over, letting the hilts slap into his palms.
“Maybe we can get around it,” Tiros said, looking around the room.
“To what end?” Dar replied. “We can’t keep running. We’re faster than that thing, but look at us... we’re beat, and we won’t be able to go much longer without a rest.”
“I would have thought that you, at least, would have offered a more tenacious resistance.”
“Look, marshal,” Dar began, his voice growing more angry.
“Gentlemen,” Varo said, from the entry, where he’d lingered back. “If we are to have a plan, I suggest we implement it now. I can hear the creature approaching.”
Tiros looked at Dar, who crossed his arms. “Well, marshal? You’re supposed to be the strategic genius.”
Tiros scanned the room. “Navev,” he said. “Stand by the left wall. I want you to draw the creature with your blasts. Keep it near the wall.”
“What? I’m not going to be a sacrificial...”
“We’ll all get out of this alive, if we work together,” Tiros interjected. “Dar. You and Varo, take up a heavy rock or two from that rubble, as heavy as you can carry and still move fast.”
“What will that accomplish?” Dar asked. “Throwing rocks isn’t going to faze that thing.”
But Varo had divined the marshal’s purpose. “The pit?”
Tiros nodded. “It probably won’t stop it, but it may give us enough time to get away. I’ll try to keep it distracted. Navev, once it comes halfway across the room, run behind that coffin, and around to the others. Dar and Varo will be slowed, but they should have a chance to get a slight lead if we can delay it for a few moments. And once we’re ahead of it again, we should be able to outdistance it.”
Navev still looked uncertain, but Tiros said, “Can you do this, warlock? Our lives depend on it.”
Navev nodded, but his hands were still shaking as he took up the position ordered by Tiros. Varo and Dar were already gathering their stones, and Tiros paused to pick up a handful of fist-sized rocks of his own.
The dung monster rolled into view, its amorphous form making a sick slurping sound as it moved across the floor. The stench came with it, a rolling wave that instantly fouled the air in the chamber. It hesitated a fraction of a second in the entry, before it started sliding toward Tiros.
“Now!” the marshal shouted.
Navev’s eyes glowed a bright crimson as he started hitting the monster with eldritch blasts. The other three held their position near the rubble pile, and the monster shifted and started moving toward the warlock, along the wall.
“Draw him...” Tiros said. “Keep it up,” he added, as the warlock fell back, hitting the dung monster several more times. The blasts seemed to have an effect, or at least they left a visible mark, but the creature seemed to heal the damage almost at once.
“Now!” Tiros said. Dar and Varo darted past, staying close to the opposite wall. The monster started to move toward them, but Tiros hit the creature with a thrown rock, and Navev blasted it again, drawing its attention back.
“Circle around!” Tiros said to Navev. The warlock fled, narrowly avoiding a prodding pseudopod that swept through the air in his wake. Tiros was ready at the coffin, and as the monster surged forward he upended the rotting wood object into its path. The coffin slowed it barely a second, but it was enough for the warlock and marshal to break free, and keep running toward the exit, the monster in close pursuit.
They had barely made it back to the entry intersection before they caught up to Dar and Varo. The fighter was struggling with the weight of a stone that had to weigh over a hundred pounds. “I assume it’s coming?” the cleric asked.
“Oh, we got its attention,” Tiros said. He sent Navev up to clear the way, while he himself brought up the rear, conscious of the sucking sound that was growing louder in the corridor behind them.
They made their way back through the complex of rooms. “Hey, warlock, remember to step over that broken step!” Dar shouted ahead. But they made their way without difficulty back to the edge of the pit. Navev and Tiros helped the others with their burdens, easing around the perimeter of the pit.
“Here it comes!” Varo yelled, gesturing with his torch.
The dung monster surged forward, slow but certain in the determination of its approach. Bits of stone and wood clung to it, detritus picked up in its pursuit but not yet absorbed. It came straight at them, and as it had before, it spread its body around the edges of the pit. As its weight triggered the trap door mechanism, the central mass of its body sagged downward for a moment, but the adhesive properties of its hide allowed it to continue to move forward.
“Now!”
Dar and Varo hurled their boulders square into the center of the creature. The sudden boost of weight caused the center of the creature to sag into the mouth of the pit, stretching out the edges that still clung tenaciously to the edges. For a heartbeat the four men held a collective breath, but then with a “plop” sound the dung monster tore free, and plummeted into the pit.
“The lid!” Tiros urged, but Dar was already moving. He had unslung his sword belt, and dropped to the ground, using the loop of the belt to catch the edge of the pit’s lid. With Varo helping, he pulled the lid up, using the trap’s natural counterweight to help him draw the heavy mechanism shut.
“That won’t stop it,” Varo said.
“No,” Tiros said. “But it might give us a few seconds.” He indicated the one remaining passage, the broad corridor that stretched out to the south. Leaving the pit, the companions hurried in that direction, moving deeper into Rappan Athuk.