Fimmtiu said:
That's the problem, isn't it? From a story point of view, Dar is necessary for comic relief, to relieve the incessant bleakness, and perhaps for a dramatically appropriate tragic death later. Varo's just too evil to kill off -- it might lighten things up too much, and he's a good place to hang many neat plot hooks. And if you kill off all the remaining members of the original Bastards (barring the elf, of course), then it's not really "The Doomed Bastards in the Dungeon of Graves" anymore. More like "Some Guys Who Met the Doomed Bastards in the Dungeon of Graves". They could make T-shirts.
Heh, I may have to kill off Varo and Dar just to surprise you guys.
And for the record,
anybody in Rappan Athuk is a "Doomed Bastard", pretty much.
* * * * *
Chapter 40
TRIBULATION
Dar, Talen, and the troll continued to exchange blows in a violent storm of melee. The troll, having taken down Shaylara, found these two foes more tenacious, both men fighting with a furious determination. Dar slammed his club into the troll’s leg, smashing the limb. An ugly white spike of bone stuck out of the wound, but as the troll fought on, the extruding bone sank back into its flesh, and its skin knit together around it. Talen did his share, opening vicious rents in its torso with his sword, but at tough as it was, he couldn’t manage to score a critical hit that would dig deep enough into its body to cripple it. Aelos’s
spiritual weapon continued to harry it as well, but the pounding blows from the magical torch did not burn in reality, and once the troll had failed to affect it with a claw swipe, it ignored the divine weapon to focus on the foes that could bleed.
The troll on the far bank was likewise going quickly through Varo’s centipedes. It brought down the edge of its shield once, twice, three times upon the one that had bitten it, severing its head from its body. As that creature dissolved, the troll turned on the second. The centipede managed to bite him on the back of its thigh, but the troll in turn got a grip on its long body with its claw, and started smashing it into the nearest stone column, even as the centipede continued to stab its fangs into its hand.
Varo, standing unengaged on the shore of the stream, knew that his companions were in dire straits. But he also knew that once the last centipede was destroyed, there would be nothing stopping this last—and apparently toughest—foe from joining the battle.
Summoning the power of Dagos, he hurled a potent enchantment across the cavern, calling upon the sinister might of his god to cloud the mind of the troll. The troll, though mighty, was not as strong of body as it was of mind, and it suddenly stopped its attack on the centipede, babbling incoherent scraps of phrases in Giant.
The centipede was quick to take advantage, breaking free and delivering another painful bite to the troll’s leg.
Aelos looked down at the water where Allera had suddenly vanished. The only part of the troll that had seized her that he could see was the top of its head. It fixed him with its yellow eyes, which seemed to smile at him, as if promising a like fate to him.
“Burn, fiend!” the cleric cried, opening his palm to release a bolt of
searing light into the face of the troll. The beam struck the troll squarely in the center of its forehead, blasting away a blackened streak of flesh. The troll responded by erupting out of the water, surging up onto the shore directly onto the wide-eyed cleric.
Dar was a tough fighter, but the troll was incredibly strong, and there was only so much abuse that he could take. As he slammed it in the chest with one last blow from his club, the troll stepped forward and seized his shoulders with its claws. Unable to break free, the fighter could only struggle helplessly as the troll opened its jaws wide and bit down on his head. Fortunately Dar was still wearing his half-helm, but as the troll tore it off his head, its teeth took a few good-sized chunks of flesh with it.
The troll’s total focus on Dar gave Talen the opening that he needed. The veteran fighter came at the troll from behind, lifting his sword and driving it deep into the creature’s back. The troll shrieked and tore away, releasing Dar, who staggered back and fell to the ground, his face a bloody mess. The troll was still regenerating, but it was now critically wounded, and its legs collapsed under it. It fell to the ground, thrashing wildly. It tried to get up, but failed as Talen stepped carefully within its reach, and slammed his sword up to the hilt in the monster’s neck.
Aelos felt pain explode in his body as the troll tore into him. Its claws dug into his flesh, and it held him pinned as it loomed over him, close enough for him to feel the hot fetid stink of its breath on his face. He knew, and the troll knew as well, that there was no way he could break free of its grapple. All he could do was lift one hand, streaked with blood , and touch it to the troll’s chest.
”Umbra predate!” the cleric hissed, spitting blood at the troll. Darkness flashed between the priest’s fingers, and the troll reared back as a dark hole opened in its chest. Black blood gushed out of the opening, covering the cleric’s body.
In its fury, the troll tightened its grip, prepared to tear the cleric to pieces. But it heard a soft cough, and looked up into the face of Licinius Varo, who laid a gentle touch upon its brow.
The
inflict serious wounds spell ravaged its terrible course through the creature’s body. The troll, furious, nevertheless realized that two humans that could deliver such terrible hurts with mere touches were not something to be confronted lightly. It fell back, and leapt into the stream, vanishing from view.
Varo bent to examine the cleric, who was drenched in blood, some of it his own, but most belonging to the troll. “Where is Allera?” When the cleric, still somewhat confused, shook his head, Varo repeated, “The healer! If we don’t find her, then this battle is lost!” He glanced up to see that the troll on the far bank was smashing what was left of his second centipede. The spell had been about to expire, in any case. His other summoning had been replaced with his
water breathing spell; there would be no more aid forthcoming from Dagos this day. Lacking any further magic that could delay or discomfit the creature, he could only hope that his
confusion would keep it delayed for a few more critical seconds.
Looking over at the others, he could see that the first troll was down, but its body was still intact. Aelos’s
spiritual weapon was still smashing it, but as he watched, the spell’s duration expired, and the glowing torch faded away. Talen—the fool!—had gone over to Shaylara, as if there was something that
he could do for her. Dar was down too, barely clinging to consciousness by the look of him.
Varo knew that the troll he and Aelos had faced had only been temporarily stunned, and that it would be back as soon as it had regenerated the damage suffered at their hands.
Where was Allera?
There! The cleric spotted the pale strands of hair floating near the submerged bridge of stones that connected the two sides of the stream. Trying to ignore the troll that continued to pound the already-dissolving body of the centipede into the stone, as well as the one that was continuing to regenerate just a few paces away, he ran over to the bridge, and pulled the limp form of the healer from the water.
She lived, if barely. He cast one of his last remaining healing spells into her. As her eyes fluttered open, he fixed them with his own.
“Listen, do not speak. We stand on the brink of destruction, and have only seconds to act. Heal the others, starting with Dar. Do not hold anything back. Do not hesitate.”
She nodded, and got up, with his help. She could barely stand, but she didn’t bother to heal herself, instead rushing over to Dar. The fighter groaned as she propped him up, but he gasped a moment later as she poured pure healing energy into him. The shock of it left him staggered, but she didn’t stop, darting over to Shaylara.
Varo had started toward the downed troll, but a roar from behind drew his attention around. Whether because it had finally shaken off the
confusion, or because its addled brain had finally registered upon them as a threat, the big troll was coming.
It surged forward, ignoring the bridge, and leapt over the stream. It landed on the near bank with several feet to spare, ten feet and six hundred pounds of death waiting to be unleashed.
