The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)

[Lazybones]

Have you ever thought about compiling this into a book and publishing? This is really great stuff. Seriously...

Thanks for the praise, but I'd need permission from WotC and Necromancer Games, since this story is based on their IP. When I started writing stories for EnWorld I knew it was highly unlikely that they'd ever see print. However, I will compile the story into a free PDF like my other works, once the tale is finished.

I among many others have exhorted you to take up the published pen, yet your choice does give us much pleasure, so I will complain with only half hearted insistence.

Heh, it's not through lack of trying; I've farmed my non-D&D work to over two dozen agents, magazines, and publishers over the last ten years. In addition to my serialized stories here, I have written six and a half novels. A quote on my Web site has a definition from The Cynic's Dictionary: "Author: A Writer with connections in the publishing industry." In all seriousness, my earlier work is a bit rough, and in hindsight I can understand why I got a lot of rejections. Plus, the feedback I get from you guys is better than form letters.

I played in an LB game at neverwinterconnections back in October of '03. The Tome of Secrets. It was rather freakin cool. He's as good a DM as you'd imagine. If I remember correctly, LB even created the module. A month later, I got to co-DM it with another DM and it was still cool, even from behind the scenes.

Neverwinter Connections (http://www.neverwinterconnections.com) is still going strong, although the community is smaller now than it was when the game was new (NWN2 has a less than stellar multiplayer component, so it failed to revitalize the community). In fact, I saw that someone at NWC was running Tome of Secrets next weekend. I have been running two games a week in my regular NWN campaigns since August 2002 and September 2003, respectively.

If you missed the NWN online experience the first time around, I encourage you to give the site a visit. I'm a moderator there, so I'd be happy to show you around. I also have a number of DM-required modules and a guide to DMing in NWN up at the Neverwinter Vault (http://nwvault.ign.com/); just do a search for "Lazybones". In particular, my puzzle-oriented module Shrine of the Eth'barat has seen over 50 playings at NWC and is extremely easy to DM (full DM's guide is included with the download).

Pray continue Gentle Lazybones.

Of course.

* * * * *

Chapter 103

LATE ARRIVALS


Varo’s announcement was met by another long pause, as his companions struggled to assimilate what had been told to them. Finally, Dar snorted. “Yeah, big surprise there,” he said, turning away and moving over to where he’d dropped his pack.

“It is almost unbelieveable,” Shay said. “Demons, gods... what are mere mortals like ourselves supposed to do about something like this?”

“A good question,” Talen said. “What do you expect from us, priest?”

“I expect nothing,” Varo said. “Except that we do what we can to save our friend.”

Talen looked at the priest for several long seconds, then nodded. “I will personally see that Marshal Tiros knows of what we have found here, and what both you and the elf have told us.”

“A prudent course,” Varo said.

“Something is coming,” Malerase said.

Talen and Shay drew their swords and looked around. “Where?”

The answer came before the elf could respond, as they heard a pounding on the double doors of the temple. Dar’s spikes held and the doors failed to open, and after a few seconds the pounding went away.

“Whoever it is, I doubt that they’ll be satisfied with that,” Talen said. “They probably found the bodies of the minotaurs and displacer beasts, and are coming to check on the temple.”

“You should take Valus’s scroll, and return to Camar,” Malerase said. “I will remain behind.”

“You will not,” Varo said, simply.

“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” Talen said.

The door sounded again with another heavy blow, and then more; it was clear that this time that whoever was behind it wasn’t going to give up and go away.

“We’re out of time,” Talen said.

“Bring them on,” Dar said, lifting Valus’s heavy shield, and sliding his arm into the straps. Before the others could stop him, he walked out into the center of the room.

“So much for tactics,” Shay said.

“At this point, all he wants is blood,” Talen said, taking out his bow, and setting up a firing position at the nearby corner. “I don’t think he cares whether or not it’s his or theirs.”

Varo had taken Malerase aside, and now pointed to the doors, and to the center of the room near the edge of the pentagram, where Dar took up position, Valor balanced easily against his shoulder.

The assault on the doors continued. Metal groaned and spikes dragged gouges into the stone floor as the huge double doors to the temple were slowly but inexorably forced open. A huge, hairy fist appeared, grabbing onto the inside of the jam and pushing forward. The gap between the doors widened, revealing a number of bovine faces: more minotaurs.

A fireball exploded in the gap between the doors, and the minotaurs let out angry cries of pain as the flames rushed over them. But the assault did not dissuade them; if anything, they assaulted the doors in a greater fury, driving them fully open and charging through into the temple.

This group was much larger than the last; there were well over a dozen of the creatures. They looked around the room for enemies, and settled their attention on the solitary foe standing in the center of the room, his sword flashing blue in his hand. Valus’s shield shone at his side, the sigil of the torch across its face blazing with the light of a continual flame. It was just an illusion, but it looked impressive nevertheless.

“Come on, you freaking cows!” Dar yelled.

The minotaurs roared and charged as one, their hooves shaking the ground, crushing the bodies of the temple’s priests beneath them as they charged. Dar held his ground, bringing his sword up into a ready position.

A second fireball exploded in the midst of the onrushing creatures, but again the charge did not falter, and the minotaurs kept on coming. Arrows lanced into them from the flank, and one of the hulking monsters fell, clutching the missile that protruded from its gut. Two of the minotaurs, bringing up the rear, swerved in their charge to rush at the small group of enemies now evident on the side of the room, the source of the barrage of spells and arrows.

The lead minotaur, a crusted old veteran with gray beginning to mark its furry mane, lowered its head and put on an extra burst of speed toward Dar. But it suddenly lost control of its feet, as it hit a slick of magical grease that had been summoned by Malerase while the door was being forced. The minotaur hit the ground hard and slid forward, colliding into a pair of bodies of slain priests.

The minotaurs following behind the leader swerved to avoid the black smear on the ground, which allowed them to keep their footing, but cost them the momentum of their charge. Still, as they spread out to come at Dar from the flanks, it looked as though the fighter would be quickly overrun.

Dar simply stood there, waiting.

One of the minotaurs in the second rank didn’t turn aside, but just kept on coming. It fell into a crouch and leapt forward, clearing the grease, its fallen companion, and the bodies of the dead priests alike. It landed and drove its head down, slamming into Dar’s shield with enough force to drive him back several steps. The much smaller human shook his head; the blow had driven the edge of the shield into the front of his helmet, breaking the visor and momentarily stunning him. The minotaur immediately sought to exploit its advantage, bringing up its axe to cut its foe in two.

But Dar recovered quickly. Stepping forward under the minotaur’s reach, he swept Valor around in a low arc that sliced neatly through the creature’s belly, disemboweling it. The monster fell, but Dar immediately found himself forced back as axes and long horns came tearing down at him from the left and right, as the minotaur’s fellows joined the fray. It was only their sheer size that kept him from being taken down at once, as the creatures blocked each other from getting at the incredibly outnumbered warrior.

Talen fired off a last arrow—at the ones battling Dar, not the pair that was charging toward their position—and dropped his bow, sliding his sword out of its scabbard. “Shay... help Dar!” he yelled, remaining behind the cover offered by the protruding wall, while making sure that the minotaurs could see him. The two charging creatures could not get a clear line on the fighter for an all-out charge, but as they lifted their huge axes and ran closer, that seemed like a small advantage for the human.

After a moment’s hesitation, Shay turned and ran out toward Dar. Another fireball streaked out past her, exploding out in the open space of the chamber. Malerase had placed the blast precisely, so that the flames did not extend as far as Dar, but that also meant that only a few of the minotaurs were caught within the flames. The majority were already engaged in close combat with the mercenary, who could no longer be seen within a rage of hulking figures and flashing axes.

And blood. There was a lot of blood flying around.

Talen took a glancing hit that only a quick jerk to the left kept from being much worse. The minotaurs had a much longer reach than he, and they put it to good advantage as they came at him with their axes and goring sweeps of their horns. The wall gave him some cover, so they couldn’t easily flank him, but their blows were backed by an incredible, animalist strength. Within ten seconds he was bleeding from a pair of deep gashes to his torso, while he’d managed only a fairly weak cut in return. These two minotaurs had been at the rear of the enemy column, so they’d only been caught in one of the fireballs, and had only suffered minor damage from that one.

That could not be said for the creatures facing Dar, and now they began to fall, staggering back to crumple to the ground, blood gushing from terrible wounds. But there were still more of them to take the place of the fallen, and it was not clear how Dar could possibly still be standing as they rained heavy blows down upon him.

Shay came upon the melee from behind. The minotaur she targeted, its thick brown fur singed and blackened, never saw her coming. She sprang ahead, her elven blade darting in and out so fast that a blink would have missed it. The creature roared in agony and fell, dropping its axe as it clutched at the deep puncture in its back. A moment later, it spun around violently, its throat wide open and spraying red.

Talen found himself driven back against the wall, but suddenly the tide turned abruptly in his favor. The minotaur he’d wounded turned as Varo walked up to it, slashing his axe around in a broad arc designed to take the cleric’s head off from his shoulders. Varo calmly ducked under the swing, and reached out to touch the creature on the arm. The minotaur shrieked and dropped its weapon as a long red gash exploded along the limb. It reached for him with its other hand, but staggered as a pair of five magic missiles from Malerase’s wand blasted furrows into its chest. The cumulative damage was too much for the creature, and it slumped to the ground, wheezing pitifully on the edge of consciousness.

Talen exploited his advantage, taking the attack to the second creature. He scored a pair of hits that had it reeling, although it refused to yield the fight in the face of multiple adversaries.

In the center of the room, the bodies were piling up around Dar. Valus’s shield was making the difference; that and Shay’s attack, which had secured one of his flanks and was distracting several of the minotaurs on that side of him. The scout darted nimbly back and in to strike, not giving the minotaurs a chance to unload a full attack upon her. In turn, she wasn’t able to inflict much damage, but Dar was doing more than enough for both of them. Already six of the monsters lay bleeding their lives out upon the floor. The minotaurs tried to hang back and unleash powerful strokes with their axes at a distance, but Dar would simply deflect the strikes with his shield, then step up and deliver powerful strokes to their bodies that left them bleeding from deep wounds. Valor seemed to pulse in his hand, the blood shearing off of the blade as it darted back and forth in his hand. He wasn’t able to deliver attacks of the magnitude he had before when he wielded the sword with both hands, but with most of his foes already wounded from Malerase’s blasts, the creatures were going down before his attacks like wheat before the farmer’s scythe.

Not that Dar was getting off easy himself; already he bore several serious wounds, both cuts from the minotaurs’ axes that had partially penetrated his armor, and puncture wounds where their horns had gored him. But every hurt drove him to a greater fury. He fought as though every swing was a personal retribution for what had been done to them, and especially for what had been done to Allera.

Finally, those foes remaining began to belatedly realize that they could not stand before the raging human that was killing their companions. One turned to flee, only to go down as Dar sliced through its left leg, scoring to the bone. A second fell as Shay slashed its hamstrings. One last one broke away and started for the door, but Dar spun from the one he’d just taken down, roared, and brought his arm back, hurling his sword through the air at its back. Valor pierced its body, driving through a lung, and the minotaur made it barely a half-dozen steps before it collapsed to the ground.

The battle was over; Talen had taken down his remaining adversary, and Shay was quickly putting the coup to those few left breathing. Dar stepped over the bodies of the creatures he’d killed, and walked over to the minotaur he’d impaled. It was still struggling, feebly, sucking in gasps of air. Dar drew out his punching dagger, and drove it through the minotaur’s neck, killing it. Then he yanked Valor out from its body, snapped the blade to flick a few clinging gobs of blood off of the blue steel, and slid it back into its scabbard.

He walked back over to the others. Blood trailed behind him at every step, and continued to drip from the rents in his armor. Ignoring Talen and Varo, he walked past them, to where Allera lay cold upon the ground. Drawing the cloak back over her features, he bent and lifted her up into his arms.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, heading for the door. His companions gathered up the remaining bodies and followed him, leaving behind the bodies of fifteen minotaurs to add to the wreckage of the second temple of Orcus in Rappan Athuk.

 

[Verbatim]

As always I feel it is too simple to say, but....wow.

 

[Dungannon]

And blood. There was a lot of blood flying around.

This is becoming a frequent occurance with Dar.

 

[Brogarn]

Butt kicking goodness.

 

[jfaller]

What can you say after a scene like that? Holy fancy dancin Moses...that was soooo cool! You're pretty darned talented LB. I'm happy I found this little gold mine, it's an inspiration for my game. Keep it coming.

 

[Lazybones]

Glad you guys enjoyed that scene, it was a lot of fun to write.

Keep it coming.

Heh, I have no plans on stopping anytime soon.

We're approaching the end of Book II; we'll reach it by the end of next week. Expect some... interesting... developments.

* * * * *

Chapter 104

THE FLICKERING MOTES OF FATE


They were not attacked again as they left the evil temple. Talen carried the body of Zosimos, while Shay and Varo dragged the armored form of Valus between them.

“Well, we’re not going to sneak up on anybody,” Shay commented, grunting as Valus’s armor scraped on the stone floor.

They did not have to explore far; they found a complex of unoccupied rooms not far from the passage leading to the caves where they’d battled the displacer beasts. The corpses from their last battle there were where they had left them, but Shay pointed out fresh hoofprints tracked through the blood, suggesting that the others had indeed stumbled upon the site of the battle earlier, alerting them to the presence of intruders in the complex.

“Lucky for us we didn’t find them until after we’d taken out the temple,” Talen said. The others agreed; if the minotaurs had come upon their rear during that battle, it was almost certain that they would all have shared the fate of Zosimos and Valus.

After checking several rooms, they found one that was defensible, and made preparations to rest. Varo and Malerase were given preference, as always; they needed to refresh their spells. That meant long shifts for the others, but despite showing clear signs of exhaustion, none of them complained. Dar took the first watch, Valor sitting bare across his lap. He let Varo heal him, but he said nothing to the cleric, either before or after. When Talen woke to take over for him several hours later, the fighter merely rolled over and went to sleep, his sword still clutched in his hand.

Talen lingered on his watch, but finally he could not keep his eyes open any longer, and he nudged Shay, who woke at once and spelled him to collapse into his bedroll. More hours passed, and finally Varo woke on his own, nodding to the scout as he took himself a short distance off to pray.

Shay prepared a cold breakfast of trail bread and hard cheese, and then took several bits of charcoal, a waterskin, a small iron pot and cooking frame, and a fist-sized cheesecloth bag out of the bag of holding. These tools came together with practiced efficiency to make coffee. The smell woke the others, who gathered around the tiny flame to take draughts of the almost magical elixir and shake off the last vestiges of sleep. Only Malerase refused any of the coffee, instead sipping water while he reviewed his spellbook a short distance away.

“Gods, Shay, this is better than a healing potion,” Talen said, cupping the beaten iron mug in both hands, letting the steam rise up into his nostrils. Dar downed his ration in a single gulp, then got up and walked over to the far side of the room to piss noisily into a corner.

“What do you think about all of this?” Shay asked Talen.

“I don’t know,” the captain replied quietly. “I do not trust Varo any more than he does,” indicating Dar with a nod of his head. “But I’ve seen enough with my own eyes to know that he’s not lying about the threat posed by these madmen. And he’s our only chance, right now, for Allera.”

“What if... what if her soul is...” she trailed off.

He took her hand in his. “We’ll do whatever we can,” he told her.

“You lovebirds want some quiet time?” Dar said, as he returned to the camp.

“Shut up, Dar,” Shay said, getting up to attend to her own personal needs.

Varo finally stood and returned. He looked haunted, and his glass eye was cocked to the side, its pupil off-center, but in the other burned a furious intensity that belied his calm exterior.

“When will you attempt the commune?” Talen asked.

“I have already completed the spell,” the cleric said, as he took a small piece of biscuit.

“What? I thought that we were going to do it together...”

Varo interrupted him with a raised hand. “A commune is among the most personal experiences that a cleric can initiate,” he said. “It is not like an idle conversation; it involves direct communication with the intermediaries of a god, if not some fragment of the god’s consciousness itself. It is not something that can be shared.”

“What did Old Creepy tell you, then,” Dar said. “If you feel you can share that much.” The fighter had calmed considerably since the previous day, but there was still a clear undercurrent of danger in his tone, and Valor still sat naked against his hip, the sword shining blue in the light of their continual flames.

Varo took something out of his pocket, and held it out in the palm of his hand.

“Where did you get that?” Dar began angrily. He reached for it, but Varo snapped it back. The green stone flickered slightly in his grasp.

“I found it on Allera,” he said. “Her life force, her soul, is trapped inside the stone.” He looked at Dar. “I take it you have some knowledge of the device?”

Dar muttered something under his breath.

“If we are to help her, I must know what it is,” Varo persisted.

“I found it on the body of one of the clerics we fought in the first temple,” Dar said. “Not the boss guy, but one of the reinforcements. I gave it to Allera... as a gift.”

“Interesting, that the priests of Orcus would just let her keep it,” Varo said. “There is a very complex weave of enchantments upon it. I do not fully understand it myself, but I believe that it saved Allera from having her soul drained away into the cult artifact.”

“Can you free it?” Talen asked.

“Possibly,” the cleric said. “I have prepared a spell that should be able to weaken the enchantment enough to free her, and another to restore life to her body. Mind you, this will require a great investment of my power, and I cannot guarantee success.”

“Do it,” Dar said, rising, pointedly taking his sword into his hand as he stood. He went over to where they’d stored the bodies of their erstwhile companions. The corpses were starting to stink, but all of them were so covered in blood and sweat and dirt that they barely noticed.

“What about Zosimos and Valus?” Shay asked.

Varo shook his head. “It is as I feared; they are gone.”

“Did you ask about the cult’s plans?” Talen asked.

“I did.”

“And?”

“The response was... not clear.”

“I thought you were talking to your god.”

“Even the gods are not omniscient,” Varo said. “And such matters grow complicated when more than one being of divine power is involved.”

“Enough of this crap,” Dar said, as he brought Allera’s body over to them. He kicked out Talen’s bedroll fully, and laid her upon it. “Do your magic, priest.”

Varo nodded. He came to kneel in front of Allera. He looked up at Dar. “Stand watch, if you please. I will need some space.”

Talen took the fighter by the shoulder. “Come on,” he told him, drawing him off a short distance.

“Shaylara,” Varo said. He indicated the space opposite him, on the far side of the dead healer. When she had knelt there, he handed her the green gemstone. “Hold this a few inches over her chest. Don’t do anything else unless I say so.”

She nodded, and held the stone as directed.

As the others watched, he first took his divine focus from around his neck, laying it on the floor before him. Then he drew a small drawstring pouch out from under his armor. He sprinkled its contents upon Allera’s body, a fine, sparkling powder that glittered brightly in the light of their flames.

“What’s that stuff?” Dar asked.

“Diamond dust,” Varo said without looking up. “Now kindly do not interrupt me again; this requires considerable concentration.”

He began casting, muttering syllables in no tongue that any of them could comprehend, all the while making complicated motions with his hands.

The spellcasting went on for a full minute. As the cleric’s chant reached a crescendo, the gemstone in Shay’s hand began to pulse with tiny surges of light from within.

Then, the cleric spoke a final word, and the gem shattered.

Shay started in surprise, but kept her hand in place as a pair of silvery wisps emerged from the pieces of the broken gemstone. Varo was already chanting again, moving his left hand out over Allera’s body. One of the two wisps flashed in the air, and descended toward Allera’s chest. The diamond dust he’d sprinkled over her began to glow softly, and it was as if her body was infused with the light of a dim starscape.

The others watched in amazement as the cleric completed his spell, and the mote vanished into Allera’s body. The glittering sheen of dust flashed once and then faded. She lay there for a heartbeat, and then her stricken body convulsed once, and she took a breath.

“By the gods,” Talen whispered.

“Indeed,” Varo said.

The other mote, meanwhile, had also begun to descend. It settled upon Allera’s chest as Dar and Talen came up and knelt beside Shay. Faint tendrils of substance began to take shape around it.

“What’s happening?” Talen asked. “Is that part of the spell?”

“The spell is complete,” Varo said, sagging slightly as he leaned backward upon his haunches. “This is not my doing.”

As they watched, the flickering mote was obscured as a body took shape around it. It only took a few seconds, and when it was done, there was a tiny dragon sitting on the healer’s softly rising chest.

At least it looked like a dragon. In truth, it was unlike anything any of them had ever seen. Its entire body was maybe a foot and a half long from head to tail, and colored a faintly orangish hue of brown infused with a silvery sheen in its scales. Tiny silver horns jutted from its head, matched by little silver claws. Instead of typical dragon wings it possessed a pair of brightly colored, almost delicate butterfly wings, which flapped slightly as it materialized. It seemed a bit disoriented, and as it looked up at them, it opened its tiny jaws and let out a tinny little bleat.

 

[Dungannon]

A fairy dragon?! This should be interesting.

 

[Richard Rawen]

Butt kicking goodness.

Butt kicking for goodness would also be accurate, Minsc would be proud of the carnage wrought upon 'the bad guys'.

Fairy Dragon . . . huh.

 

[Lazybones]

Chapter 105

A NEW COMPANION


“What in the hells is that?” Dar asked, reaching for the little creature. The dragon hissed and retreated, crawling up to Allera’s neck, entwining itself in what was left of her hair, its tail twisting around her thoat.

“Get off her, you little beast,” the fighter snarled, grabbing the hilt of his punching dagger with his other hand. But Varo raised a hand in caution, and Talen restrained the fighter. Dar shot a dark look at the captain, but did not break free.

“I would recommend against precipitous action,” Varo suggested. “Allera? Are you all right?”

The healer stirred. A faint moan escaped her lips. The dragon looked down at her, but did not loosen its grip.

“Allera?” Varo repeated, his voice insistent.

The healer’s eyes fluttered, then finally opened. “Aaagh,” she managed to get out, her throat rasping.

“What’s wrong with her?” Dar asked, still looking with suspicion at the tiny dragon.

“She’s been dead,” Shay said, shooting a cold look at him.

“Indeed,” Varo added. “Give her a few moments. Shay, some water, perhaps.”

The scout was already unslinging her goatskin bag, and carefully lifted Allera’s head, trickling a few drops into her throat. The dragon drew back enough to let her provide help, but it did not relinquish its position entirely. The healer coughed, but then gratefully drank a more generous stream before leaning back. Her breathing was easier, now, but her body still bore all the marks of ravage from her torment at the hands of the cult of Orcus.

The dragon let out a concerned croon, and drew its mouth to her lips, its tiny forked tongue whisking out to brush the cracked and blooded skin.

Finally, Allera’s eyes opened. They seemed vacant, at first, as they drifted from one to another of her friends, but they finally focused on Talen and Shay.

“You... you came.”

“A bit late, but we’re here,” Talen said. “Don’t try to talk... we’ll get you out of here.”

“No,” she said, closing her eyes. She tried to move, but was forced to give up as her face spasmed with pain. She took a deep breath, and moved her lips in soundless speech. A blue glow flickered around her, weak and hesitant, but it seemed to give her some added strength. She stirred again, but it took Shay’s help to get her up to a sitting position. As of yet, she had not appeared to notice the little dragon clinging to her.

“The... cult?”

“Dead,” Varo said. “At least those that were conducting the ritual.”

She nodded.

Malerase had crept forward unnoticed, until he was almost within arm’s reach of the dragon. “What of the fae?” he whispered, almost inaudibly. The dragon looked at him, blinking its tiny eyes.

Allera lifted a hand to the dragon, and brushed the creature’s neck, careful not to foul its delicate wings. The creature crooned again and rubbed its head against the tender, scarred flesh across her temples. “He... saved me,” she said.

“The dragon,” Dar said, looking at it dubiously.

“Its essence was trapped within the gemstone,” Allera said. “When the sphere tried to take my soul... somehow, he drew me inside with it, gave me sanctuary against destruction.”

The elf had reached out a hand, but shopped short of actually touching the creature. He whispered something to it in a strange language, and to the surprise of everyone, the dragon responded in a faint, tinny voice.

“You can communicate with it?” Talen asked.

The creature turned and bleated something at Talen, and Allera smiled. “He asks that you not refer to him as an ‘it’,” the healer said. “His name is Snaggletooth.”

“I did not know you spoke elvish,” Shay said to Allera, recognizing the language that the dragon had used, if not the meaning of the words.

“I don’t... Somehow, I understand his speech, in my mind...”

“Many of the fae are masters of telepathy,” Malerase said.

Dar had hung back, on the edge of the ring surrounding Allera. Now, he stood. “In case all of you are forgotten, we’re still in the middle of Rappan Athuk. I don’t imagine the cult is going to be happy when they find out we’ve trashed another of their temples. I don’t know about you, but I’d just as soon get out of this hellhole, sooner rather than later.”

Talen nodded, but looked down at Allera. “Can you walk? We can build a litter for you, if necessary.”

Allera shook her head. “I... I can manage. Just... just give me a few minutes.”

Shay turned to Talen. “That means get lost for a few minutes. I’ll help her.”

Talen looked down, and seemed to just then realize that Allera was lying there nearly naked, save for the cloak that she clutched to her battered body. “Ah... yes, we’ll strike camp, and get ready to move out.”

The men moved a short distance away to give the women some privacy, while Shay took out some extra clothes from her bag of holding.

“What about them?” Dar said, nodding to the corpses of Valus and Zosimos. His jaw was clenched tightly, and he seemed to be avoiding looking in the directon of Shay and Allera.

“They cannot be raised; their souls are well and truly gone,” Varo said.

“We should bring the bodies back for proper burial,” Talen said.

“Are you going to carry them?” Dar returned. “Zosimos is just bones and skin, but Valus, he was a big man. And don’t forget, we still have the river to go back over, and then dung monster again beyond that. Unless that’s part of your plan for getting out?” he added, looking at Varo.

The cleric shook his head. “We should cremate the bodies. We can bring the ashes back to their respective orders, but we should not leave corpses, unless we want to encounter them again in undeath in the future.”

Talen shuddered slightly at the thought. “Fine, we’ll burn them once we’re ready to go, so we can open the doors and let the smoke escape.”

“Also, I would strongly recommend that both you and Dar take the heavy armor worn by Valus and the enemy high priest,” Varo said.

“I don’t like full plate,” Dar said. “Too constricting.”

“He’s right,” Talen added. “We’re going to need mobility, especially on the river...”

Varo shook his head. “I know that I am not a warrior, but I must respectfully disagree. Speed has proven to be less vital than protection, here in Rappan Athuk. As one of those who has had to patch you two fighters up after every battle, I would suggest that you consider how frequently both of you are brought to the edge of death, and what that means, within the boundaries of Rappan Athuk. Even if we move beyond the grasp of the Sphere, and am able to draw you back across the veil, Dar, at least, will understand how serious a matter that is. One drawn back from death never comes back with the same strength as before.”

Talen looked guiltily at Allera. Dar looked thoughtful, but did not reply.

“In any case, both suits are heavily enchanted, and of masterwork quality. I suspect that you will find them less constraining than you think.”

Dar fixed Varo with a heavy stare. “You haven’t addressed how we’re going to run past the dung monster, loaded up with heavy gear. You don’t intend for us to return that way at all, do you?”

“I had an alternative in mind, yes.”

Dar stabbed a finger into the cleric’s chest. “I thought I’d made it clear... no more bull. You’re going to come clean with us; no more secret plans or hidden agendas.”

Varo withstood the fighter’s verbal attack with equanimity. “I had no obfuscation in mind, Dar; I was merely waiting until everyone was ready before I made my suggestion. In brief, it is this; that we bypass the upper level, instead taking the river to the wererat cave, then down to the second level of the dungeon. From there, we have an easy route to an alternative exit.”

Dar nodded. “The fungus cavern. But that place was dangerous; Tiros almost got killed there.”

Varo nodded as well. “True. But at that time, we did not have him,” he said, pointing to Malerase, who looked up as three heads turned toward him in unison, a slightly confused look on his face.

 

[Brogarn]

“What’s wrong with her?” Dar asked, still looking with suspicion at the tiny dragon.

“She’s been dead,” Shay said, shooting a cold look at him.

I remember the good ole days when it was Dar that would have said something like that. See what happens when you get involved with a woman? Your sense of humour dies.

I keed I keed. Don't tell my girlfriend I said that.