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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3242693" data-attributes="member: 143">Short cliffhanger post today, but we'll have a lengthy resolution post (now with Extra Blood!) on Monday.* * * * * Chapter 66ENTROPYThe spell was devastating.  The terrible heat of the elemental was instantly forgotten, replaced by a cold that penetrated each of them to the bone.  Talen and Dar were hit by the full force of the blast, which covered both men with a rime of white frost.  Talen slumped over and fell to the ground, unconscious, and Dar looked only slightly better off, only Allera’s recent healing giving him enough stamina to remain on his feet.  The healer had been sheltered by the fighter’s body, or she might have been killed outright.  As it was, her pale skin was almost blue, and she shook uncontrollably. Varo, too, was hit hard, and he fell back, his teeth chattering as he rubbed his arms in an effort to create warmth.  The mage’s laughter sounded through the room. “I’ll g-g-get you, bitch,” Dar said, starting forward again, shaking off a cascade of ice crystals.  “Wait,” Allera said, rushing after him.  As he was still slowed, she caught him easily, pouring yet another powerful healing spell into his body.  Without hesitating, she rushed over to Talen, ignoring the deadly threat of the mage in order to preserve the lives of her companions. The wizard launched another attack, hitting them with a wave of crushing despair that seeped into their consciousness, sapping their will to fight.  Dar staggered forward, lifting his club, punctuating each step closer with a word that he spat from clenched jaws.  “I... will... kill... you... bastard...”  But like Talen, when he got within ten feet of the wizard, he just stopped, unable to progress any further.  He smashed his club down into empty air, roaring in frustration. “It is unfortunate that your will is not as strong as your stubbornness, servant of Orcus,” he said.  “I was wondering when your toady little masters would decide to contest their pathetic powers against mine... and I have been ready for this day!”A dark shadow swept down from above... a fiendish dire bat, summoned by Varo.  The creature’s echolocation allowed it to fix directly on the wizard’s position, but as it dove, it too hit the wizard’s repulsion field, and it was turned away, screeching as it pumped its wings to gain more altitude for another pass. “Nice try, priest!” the wizard shouted.  He no longer seemed to care about betraying his position with his speech; in fact, as they watched, a number of items appeared in mid-air from his location, flying across the room to land on the floor behind Dar.  The fighter glanced back in alarm, wondering at what new threat this portended.  They were... little white mice. “You’ve got a sick sense of humor, wizard,” Dar cursed.  But Varo saw what was coming, and he shouted a warning even as the air rippled with a dispel magic spell from the evil spellcaster. The “mice” shimmered and vanished, replaced by a confused-looking old man in a gray breechclout, and a trio of odd creatures that looked like a cross between a chicken and a snake. Varo’s eyes widened in dawning horror as he recognized what they were. “Cockatrices!”</blockquote>

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