Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 318
DISASTER
Alexion started to move forward to meet the advance of the Abyssal hounds, but Dar forestalled him. “Wait for the wizards.”
The arcanists answered with a deadly barrage of spellpower. Honoratius’s fireball, substituted for cold energy, erupted in the heart of the hound pack, blasting a terrible barrage of cold through their ranks. Hounds collapsed, frozen into immobile hunks of meat that toppled over onto the hard floor. On the right, Alderis targeted those coming from the far hall. Recognizing that fire would not harm beasts such as these, he instead peppered them with a flurry of magic missiles. One hound crumpled, and a second barked with fury as the fifth missile pocked its mangy hide. The three survivors leapt forward to attack, but one staggered aside as Zahera buried an arrow in its shoulder. The other two charged toward Marcus, who lifted Beatus Incendia to greet them. One breathed a gout of fire upon the cleric, while the other surged in to bite. The cleric’s armor, bolstered by the magical protections of his faith, withstood the attack, and he slammed the sword hard into the hound, opening a terrible gash in its shoulder.
Honoratius’s spell had cleared the chamber itself of hounds. Dar and Alexion started to shift to assist Marcus, but they were interrupted by another loud growl, followed by an explosion of wood as another hound burst through one of the doors. This monster was half again the size of the other hounds, a hoary old creature with jaws as large as a bear’s. This fearsome matron did not hesitate over the destruction of her pack, but charged forward with blinding speed, its lips drawn back over its jagged teeth. Dar stepped forward to take its charge, Valor sliding down into a ready position, both fists tight around the long hilt of the sword.
The battle was all but over; even the fearsome den mother seemed no more fierce than Corath Dar, and there seemed to be only one possible outcome.
And then, disaster struck.
Zahera heard it coming, and as she fitted a second arrow to her bow she started to turn, her mouth opening to issue a warning. But then she hesitated, and the bow dropped, and she just stood there, idle, as the dark-clad, gray-skinned creatures issued from the hallway behind them. They ignored Zahera, who did not respond to their movements, and came upon the mages from the rear.
Neither Honoratius nor Alderis heard them over the sounds of the battle against the few remaining hounds. Honoratius sensed danger and began to turn, but she was not in time as one of the creatures attacked her. These were not like the flayers, muscled and powerful, and she cried out as it grabbed her. One meaty fist snagged in her hair, and she screamed as it tore the Web of Transposition from her head. She fell, the grimlock bearing down upon her.
Alderis began casting a spell, but two of the grimlocks leapt upon him, seizing his arms and interfering with the movements required for his magic. The shield guardian, standing just a few steps away, reacted at once, turning toward its master. One of the grimlocks, hefting a large battleaxe, charged to block it, but the construct ignored the blow to its chassis, thrusting forward and striking one of the pair holding Alderis. The grimlock took the heavy blow and loosened its grip, but the second enfolded the elf in a neck lock, dragging him backward.
Nelan, was only a few paces away, and he shouted a warning to the others as two more grimlocks rushed at him. “Ambush!” he yelled, lifting his mace and shield to defend himself. He summoned the power of the Shining Father, and prepared to speak a holy word to incapacitate the attackers.
But even as the power filled him, a beam of twisting, sinuous black energy erupted out of the darkness and struck him. The blast caught Nelan in the chest and hurled him roughly back. He hit the chamber wall at an angle and fell hard to the ground, stunned. The grimlocks rushed after him, seizing him before he could recover, their muscled arms wrapping around his like iron bands.
The black beam forked away from Nelan and struck Allera, who cried out in surprise as a final grimlock leapt at her. The blast of energy slid past the creature and hit her in the gut, knocking her across the room to land in a rolling stop some fifteen feet away. The grimlock pursued.
Dar heard the shouts of warning even as the huge hound met him in a violent collision. His blade bit deep into its neck, but in turn the monster bit down on his left wrist, nearly crushing the limb despite his greave. He tore free, and glanced back to see all hell breaking loose behind him.
“Go!” Alexion yelled, leaping forward to take his place before the creature. The monster started to pursue its original prey, but turned as Alexion dug his pick into its back, opening a vicious wound that pulsed black blood. It snarled and leapt upon the knight, who nimbly stepped out of its path. He lifted his pick to finish it...
An avalanche of mental power reverberated through the chamber. Alexion staggered in mid-stroke, stunned by the mind blast. The giant hound tore into him, seizing his hip in its jaws and dragging him roughly to the ground. On the opposite flank, Marcus clutched his head as the wave of mental power washed over him. He resisted the first blast, but the second overwhelmed his mind, and he fell to his knees.
Dar withstood both, although his steps wavered as he tried to get back to aid the others. He cut down the grimlock rushing toward Allera, his blade ripping through its armor of layered leather, biting hard into its side. Valor was the only thing clear in his perceptions; everything else wavered and spun before him. Summoning up a reserve of fury, he shook his head to clear it, and looked up to see a mind flayer standing before him.
He raised Valor to attack the creature, but before he could strike, he heard a voice in his mind.
“You cannot win this fight. Flee, warrior, flee for your life!”
Overcome by the suggestion, Dar turned and fled.
Alderis’s shield guardian turned to the grimlock still holding onto Alderis, but before it could assist its master, a mind flayer stepped up and splayed its long fingers across its leg. Summoning its power, the creature transported the construct to another plane. The grimlock it had knocked free leapt once more onto the elf, smashing his fingers hard against the floor as Alderis tried to cast another spell. Protected by his stoneskin, the elf was not seriously injured, but neither could he work his magic.
Mind flayers strode forward, sinuous and silent as they stepped through the raging melee. One had a hand on Zahera’s shoulder, guiding the knight like a dog through the press. Out in the chamber, Alexion screamed as the huge abyssal hound tore away his gorget, then his cries abruptly died as it sank its teeth into his throat.
Allera struggled to get up. She extended a hand toward Marcus, who knelt a few feet away, stunned by an illithid’s mind blast. A noise drew her attention, and she looked up to see the grimlock that Dar had crippled, clutching its side as blood continued to pour down its leg from the devastating wound. The creature still had enough strength to lift its axe and come toward her, however.
And behind it, four mind flayers approached. One attempted to use its psionic powers on her, but the tendrils of its thoughts found no purchase against her disciplined mind.
The healer cast a mass heal spell. The power surged through her companions, but did not accomplish as much as she had hoped; Alexion was beyond her help, and her magic could not remove the compulsion that had been placed on Zahera.
But Marcus surged to his feet, Beatus Incendia shining in his hand. “Get behind me, Allera!” he yelled, stepping forward to face the enemy. The grimlock, leaving prints in its own blood with each step, lifted its axe and somehow managed to summon the strength to rush the cleric, but one flash of the holy sword was enough to finish the crippled creature off.
Nelan staggered to his feet, fighting with all of his strength against the two grimlocks trying to hold him down. At that moment he did not look like an old man. He slipped free of one grimlock’s hold and nearly broke free, already reaching for his holy symbol. But before he could cast a spell, a form clad all in black stepped in front of him, and extended a hand. An eldritch blast, fired at point-blank range, blasted into the cleric’s chest, and knocked him back hard into the wall. The grimlocks were on him again in a second, and this time they grasped him tightly. A mind flayer approached in the wake of the dark figure, its tentacles eagerly probing for the held cleric’s skull.
“NO!” Marcus yelled. He leapt forward, only to find his way blocked by the other mind flayers. Tentacles flared, and mental power blasted over him, but the young priest resisted the power hammering at his mind. He swung Beatus Incendia, and an illithid went down, cloven nearly in two by the powerful blow. But the other flayers persisted in their assault, and finally Marcus lowered his sword, his expression growing slack as one of them penetrated his defenses and seized his mind.
Allera felt a blazon of pain in her shoulder and staggered back. She looked up in horror as Zahera drew out another arrow from her quiver, and fitted it to her bow.
But her terror and revulsion deepened as she looked past the charmed knight, and saw Alderis, on his knees, a pair of grimlocks holding his arms at a vicious angle. A mind flayer had seized the elf’s skull in its tentacles, and as she watched, helpless to intervene, it sank its mouth to his head in a grim mockery of a kiss. There was a loud crack, and terrible slurping noise, and then Alderis was released, falling forward to lie limp on the ground.
Even from where she stood, Allera could see the breach in the top of the elf’s skull, a black hole that she knew opened onto an empty cavity.
Another of the creatures had bent over the fallen Letellia, and was affixing its tentacles to her head.
Off to the side, bones crunched as the abyssal hound continued its feasting. Already it was difficult to tell that its victim had once been a man.
“It is over, Allera Hialar.”
The black-clad figure strode forward. As the light of the fallen torches revealed its features within the cowl covering its head, she could identify the owner of the voice. But she had known him from the first eldritch blast.
“Navev,” she breathed.
The warlock laughed, and the mind flayers started forward, the tentacles glistening wetly as they probed the air.
DISASTER
Alexion started to move forward to meet the advance of the Abyssal hounds, but Dar forestalled him. “Wait for the wizards.”
The arcanists answered with a deadly barrage of spellpower. Honoratius’s fireball, substituted for cold energy, erupted in the heart of the hound pack, blasting a terrible barrage of cold through their ranks. Hounds collapsed, frozen into immobile hunks of meat that toppled over onto the hard floor. On the right, Alderis targeted those coming from the far hall. Recognizing that fire would not harm beasts such as these, he instead peppered them with a flurry of magic missiles. One hound crumpled, and a second barked with fury as the fifth missile pocked its mangy hide. The three survivors leapt forward to attack, but one staggered aside as Zahera buried an arrow in its shoulder. The other two charged toward Marcus, who lifted Beatus Incendia to greet them. One breathed a gout of fire upon the cleric, while the other surged in to bite. The cleric’s armor, bolstered by the magical protections of his faith, withstood the attack, and he slammed the sword hard into the hound, opening a terrible gash in its shoulder.
Honoratius’s spell had cleared the chamber itself of hounds. Dar and Alexion started to shift to assist Marcus, but they were interrupted by another loud growl, followed by an explosion of wood as another hound burst through one of the doors. This monster was half again the size of the other hounds, a hoary old creature with jaws as large as a bear’s. This fearsome matron did not hesitate over the destruction of her pack, but charged forward with blinding speed, its lips drawn back over its jagged teeth. Dar stepped forward to take its charge, Valor sliding down into a ready position, both fists tight around the long hilt of the sword.
The battle was all but over; even the fearsome den mother seemed no more fierce than Corath Dar, and there seemed to be only one possible outcome.
And then, disaster struck.
Zahera heard it coming, and as she fitted a second arrow to her bow she started to turn, her mouth opening to issue a warning. But then she hesitated, and the bow dropped, and she just stood there, idle, as the dark-clad, gray-skinned creatures issued from the hallway behind them. They ignored Zahera, who did not respond to their movements, and came upon the mages from the rear.
Neither Honoratius nor Alderis heard them over the sounds of the battle against the few remaining hounds. Honoratius sensed danger and began to turn, but she was not in time as one of the creatures attacked her. These were not like the flayers, muscled and powerful, and she cried out as it grabbed her. One meaty fist snagged in her hair, and she screamed as it tore the Web of Transposition from her head. She fell, the grimlock bearing down upon her.
Alderis began casting a spell, but two of the grimlocks leapt upon him, seizing his arms and interfering with the movements required for his magic. The shield guardian, standing just a few steps away, reacted at once, turning toward its master. One of the grimlocks, hefting a large battleaxe, charged to block it, but the construct ignored the blow to its chassis, thrusting forward and striking one of the pair holding Alderis. The grimlock took the heavy blow and loosened its grip, but the second enfolded the elf in a neck lock, dragging him backward.
Nelan, was only a few paces away, and he shouted a warning to the others as two more grimlocks rushed at him. “Ambush!” he yelled, lifting his mace and shield to defend himself. He summoned the power of the Shining Father, and prepared to speak a holy word to incapacitate the attackers.
But even as the power filled him, a beam of twisting, sinuous black energy erupted out of the darkness and struck him. The blast caught Nelan in the chest and hurled him roughly back. He hit the chamber wall at an angle and fell hard to the ground, stunned. The grimlocks rushed after him, seizing him before he could recover, their muscled arms wrapping around his like iron bands.
The black beam forked away from Nelan and struck Allera, who cried out in surprise as a final grimlock leapt at her. The blast of energy slid past the creature and hit her in the gut, knocking her across the room to land in a rolling stop some fifteen feet away. The grimlock pursued.
Dar heard the shouts of warning even as the huge hound met him in a violent collision. His blade bit deep into its neck, but in turn the monster bit down on his left wrist, nearly crushing the limb despite his greave. He tore free, and glanced back to see all hell breaking loose behind him.
“Go!” Alexion yelled, leaping forward to take his place before the creature. The monster started to pursue its original prey, but turned as Alexion dug his pick into its back, opening a vicious wound that pulsed black blood. It snarled and leapt upon the knight, who nimbly stepped out of its path. He lifted his pick to finish it...
An avalanche of mental power reverberated through the chamber. Alexion staggered in mid-stroke, stunned by the mind blast. The giant hound tore into him, seizing his hip in its jaws and dragging him roughly to the ground. On the opposite flank, Marcus clutched his head as the wave of mental power washed over him. He resisted the first blast, but the second overwhelmed his mind, and he fell to his knees.
Dar withstood both, although his steps wavered as he tried to get back to aid the others. He cut down the grimlock rushing toward Allera, his blade ripping through its armor of layered leather, biting hard into its side. Valor was the only thing clear in his perceptions; everything else wavered and spun before him. Summoning up a reserve of fury, he shook his head to clear it, and looked up to see a mind flayer standing before him.
He raised Valor to attack the creature, but before he could strike, he heard a voice in his mind.
“You cannot win this fight. Flee, warrior, flee for your life!”
Overcome by the suggestion, Dar turned and fled.
Alderis’s shield guardian turned to the grimlock still holding onto Alderis, but before it could assist its master, a mind flayer stepped up and splayed its long fingers across its leg. Summoning its power, the creature transported the construct to another plane. The grimlock it had knocked free leapt once more onto the elf, smashing his fingers hard against the floor as Alderis tried to cast another spell. Protected by his stoneskin, the elf was not seriously injured, but neither could he work his magic.
Mind flayers strode forward, sinuous and silent as they stepped through the raging melee. One had a hand on Zahera’s shoulder, guiding the knight like a dog through the press. Out in the chamber, Alexion screamed as the huge abyssal hound tore away his gorget, then his cries abruptly died as it sank its teeth into his throat.
Allera struggled to get up. She extended a hand toward Marcus, who knelt a few feet away, stunned by an illithid’s mind blast. A noise drew her attention, and she looked up to see the grimlock that Dar had crippled, clutching its side as blood continued to pour down its leg from the devastating wound. The creature still had enough strength to lift its axe and come toward her, however.
And behind it, four mind flayers approached. One attempted to use its psionic powers on her, but the tendrils of its thoughts found no purchase against her disciplined mind.
The healer cast a mass heal spell. The power surged through her companions, but did not accomplish as much as she had hoped; Alexion was beyond her help, and her magic could not remove the compulsion that had been placed on Zahera.
But Marcus surged to his feet, Beatus Incendia shining in his hand. “Get behind me, Allera!” he yelled, stepping forward to face the enemy. The grimlock, leaving prints in its own blood with each step, lifted its axe and somehow managed to summon the strength to rush the cleric, but one flash of the holy sword was enough to finish the crippled creature off.
Nelan staggered to his feet, fighting with all of his strength against the two grimlocks trying to hold him down. At that moment he did not look like an old man. He slipped free of one grimlock’s hold and nearly broke free, already reaching for his holy symbol. But before he could cast a spell, a form clad all in black stepped in front of him, and extended a hand. An eldritch blast, fired at point-blank range, blasted into the cleric’s chest, and knocked him back hard into the wall. The grimlocks were on him again in a second, and this time they grasped him tightly. A mind flayer approached in the wake of the dark figure, its tentacles eagerly probing for the held cleric’s skull.
“NO!” Marcus yelled. He leapt forward, only to find his way blocked by the other mind flayers. Tentacles flared, and mental power blasted over him, but the young priest resisted the power hammering at his mind. He swung Beatus Incendia, and an illithid went down, cloven nearly in two by the powerful blow. But the other flayers persisted in their assault, and finally Marcus lowered his sword, his expression growing slack as one of them penetrated his defenses and seized his mind.
Allera felt a blazon of pain in her shoulder and staggered back. She looked up in horror as Zahera drew out another arrow from her quiver, and fitted it to her bow.
But her terror and revulsion deepened as she looked past the charmed knight, and saw Alderis, on his knees, a pair of grimlocks holding his arms at a vicious angle. A mind flayer had seized the elf’s skull in its tentacles, and as she watched, helpless to intervene, it sank its mouth to his head in a grim mockery of a kiss. There was a loud crack, and terrible slurping noise, and then Alderis was released, falling forward to lie limp on the ground.
Even from where she stood, Allera could see the breach in the top of the elf’s skull, a black hole that she knew opened onto an empty cavity.
Another of the creatures had bent over the fallen Letellia, and was affixing its tentacles to her head.
Off to the side, bones crunched as the abyssal hound continued its feasting. Already it was difficult to tell that its victim had once been a man.
“It is over, Allera Hialar.”
The black-clad figure strode forward. As the light of the fallen torches revealed its features within the cowl covering its head, she could identify the owner of the voice. But she had known him from the first eldritch blast.
“Navev,” she breathed.
The warlock laughed, and the mind flayers started forward, the tentacles glistening wetly as they probed the air.
Regular readers of my stories know that occasionally I like to "shake things up" with something unexpected. That won't change as we move forward; hope you all enjoy what's coming.
