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The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3897820" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 298</p><p></p><p>HOLD THE LINE</p><p></p><p></p><p>“Hold the line!” Dar yelled, gesturing with his sword as the outer wall of undead moved forward from Alderis’s collapsing barrier to the inner circle formed by Allera’s spell. Zahera rose to her feet, nodding in thanks as Marcus treated her injured arm with a <em>cure serious wounds</em> spell. The cleric drew his sword and joined her in place in the line of defenders, bolstered by the <em>divine power</em> of Soleus. Behind him Tullus incanted a <em>prayer</em>, infusing them with strength of purpose and iron determination. </p><p></p><p>Allera drew upon a pure cascade of divine potency, surrounding herself and each of her companions with the brilliant enegy of a <em>holy aura</em>. Each of the companions felt that glow to the core of their being, steadying them against the evil powers of the hordes of Orcus. </p><p></p><p>And then the arcanists unleashed their power. </p><p></p><p>Alderis extended his arms wide, incanting words of magic. In response a <em>wall of fire</em> rose up ring seventy feet out from where the elvish abjurer stood. The flames rose up to block the view of the undead that were gathered at the edge of Allera’s <em>repulsion</em>, just ten feet further out, but they could hear the screams of rage and pain as the heat of the <em>wall</em> scorched the bodies of the undead. A few that had just penetrated the healer’s ward were caught within the flames as they erupted upward, and they were consumed within seconds by the blazing pyre. The other undead fell back from the deadly circle, leaving behind a few dozen scorched skeletons and ghouls that had been roasted by the initial wave of heat.</p><p></p><p>Honoratius targeted the vrocks with a <em>greater dispel magic</em>. The spell cut away the <em>mirror images</em> surrounding two of them, but the demons continued their dance unabated, the supernatural potency of their ritual unaffected by Honoratius’s potent magic. The archmage frowned. </p><p></p><p>Dar and the knights met the undead charge, absorbing attacks on their armor and shields, bolstered by Allera’s <em>holy aura</em>. Tullus lifted his holy symbol and called upon the might of the Father, causing some of the weaker undead to recoil. But the others fought back with terrible ferocity. A mohrg smashed a powerful fist into Dar’s torso, and its sinuous tongue lashed out and pricked him on the side of his neck. But the fighter’s fortitude was such that he easily shrugged off the paralytic effect of its bite, and he countered with a two-handed downward stroke that crushed the creature’s skull and kept going, smashing it into a hundred pieces. On the far flank, Marcus faced another of the terrible monstrosities, but he too was able to fight it off, delivering powerful blows augmented with <em>divine power</em> that smashed bones and bit into the foul substance that crammed the cavity of its chest. </p><p></p><p>The knights were almost overcome by a pack of leaping ghouls, ghasts, and wights that surged into the center of their defensive line. Zahera was hit by a wight and groaned as life energy was siphoned from her body. Xenos was nearly dragged down by three ghasts, and only the potency of the <em>holy aura</em> enabled him to resist being paralyzed and torn apart. Alexion fared better, holding off two wights and a ghoul with his magical shield, but his pick was designed to cripple living foes, and his initial counterattacks had little effect on them. More undead continued to come forward, but as they spread to the flanks, trying to get around the fighters toward the juicy, unarmored casters behind, they found only Dar’s sword and Tullus’s holy power waiting for them. A small pack of ghouls rushed around the mound of rocks, seeking to bypass the warriors altogether. </p><p></p><p>And then a wave of healing power surged down the line, restoring the humans and destroying undead at the same time. The few undead that survived Allera’s spell were quickly hacked down by the defenders, who then reformed their line at Dar’s command. </p><p></p><p>The ghouls that turned their flank found only more destruction waiting for them. Springing over the rocks with feral agilty, they found Alderis’s shield guardian waiting for them. As the ghouls leapt to attack, Alderis glanced up and spoke a word to his construct. “Defense.”</p><p></p><p>The guardian invoked a spell, and a magical <em>shield</em> appeared in the air before it. The mithral-clad construct extended its arms and met the attacking ghouls with fists like battering rams. Gray bodies crunched and cracked, and ghouls fell in mangled heaps into the cracks between the stones. The monsters counterattacked, tearing at the guardian with claws and bite, but they had little effect upon its armored body. Several tried to get past it to get to the easier prey below, but the guardian abandoned its own attacks to block them, absorbing more damage as it knocked the creatures back. </p><p></p><p>The ghouls intensified their efforts, and two dove under the guardian’s arms as they hurled themselves forward at Alderis and Allera. The stench they brought with them indicated that these two foes were ghasts, more canny and deadly then their weaker cousins. The elf calmly pointed and cast a spell, blasting the first with an empowered <em>scorching ray</em>. The ghast’s chest turned black as the magical flames tore into it. The elf hit it with a second ray, transforming its head into a charred mess. As it fell, Alderis turned and fired his third stream of fire into the monster attacking Allera. It took damage but still managed to lunge at the healer with one jagged claw. It grabbed her arm, but Allera easily resisted the power of its touch. The ghast could not maintain its hold in the face of the healer’s <em>holy aura</em>, but its struggles ceased abruptly a moment later as the shield guardian brought a heavy stone boot down onto its body, crushing it. </p><p></p><p>“Alderis! The vrocks!” Honoratius yelled, pointing upward. The demons’ wild dance was approaching culmination, and tendrils of energy were beginning to flash within the chaotic space between them. </p><p></p><p>Another area-effect spell, this one an <em>unholy blight</em>, exploded around them. Ignoring both the sickening effects of the hezrou’s foul magic and the wild melees still going on both ahead and behind them, the arcanists focused their magic upon the greater threat above. </p><p></p><p>A screaming roar echoed over the battlefield, drowning out the cries of the gargoyles and the undead below. Honoratius’s sonically-substituted <em>chain lightning</em> blasted into the first vrock, shredding its spell resistance, devastating its flesh. The secondary arc hit the second vrock, and then cascaded through the <em>mirror images</em> of the last, drawing a scream from it as they finally found the real creature. Pulses shattered green bodies as the spell depleted itself through several of the gargoyles, which drew back from the demons. </p><p></p><p>Most were not quick enough to avoid the empowered <em>fireball</em> from Alderis that exploded in the wake of Honoratius’s spell. The blazing globe scorched the demons even through their inherent resistance to fire, and when the flames died, one of the vrocks—the one that had been the focus of Honoratius’s spell—broke away from the others and plummeted to the ground, its body blackened and quivering. </p><p></p><p>Another <em>chaos hammer</em> hit them, fired blind by the hezrou through the <em>wall of fire</em>. </p><p></p><p>“What the hells!” Dar yelled, grimacing as the spell’s energies blasted him, one pulsing strand of energy hitting his arm and running down the limb into the fist that clutched <em>Valor</em>. “Will somebody kill that freaking demon already?” The knights were equally hard hit, but Allera eased their injuries a moment later with another <em>mass cure</em> spell. </p><p></p><p>“Look!” Alexion yelled, pointing ahead. Dar looked up to see Alderis’s <em>wall of fire</em> fading, sundered by a <em>dispel magic</em> from one of the babaus. The companions, paled, all of them, as the barrier’s collapse revealed a ring of undead that completely surrounded them. There had to be at least six hundred of them, ranging from tiny zombies created from vermin, to hulking, monstrous skeletons of umber hulks and minotaurs. They had been kept at bay by the <em>wall of fire</em>, but now moved forward again, intent only upon the utter destruction of those who stood against their Master. Many stopped at the edge of Allera’s <em>repulsion</em>, but dozens did not, picking up speed as they rushed forward in a wave to attack.</p><p></p><p>And then Allera was hit by several targeted <em>dispels</em>, and in quick succession her <em>holy aura</em> winked out, followed a second later by the collapse of the <em>repulsion</em> spell. </p><p></p><p>A sea of undead rushed in from every direction, as the gargoyles above screamed in joy, and dove down to attack. </p><p></p><p>“You have got to be freaking kidding me,” Dar said.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 3897820, member: 143"] Chapter 298 HOLD THE LINE “Hold the line!” Dar yelled, gesturing with his sword as the outer wall of undead moved forward from Alderis’s collapsing barrier to the inner circle formed by Allera’s spell. Zahera rose to her feet, nodding in thanks as Marcus treated her injured arm with a [i]cure serious wounds[/i] spell. The cleric drew his sword and joined her in place in the line of defenders, bolstered by the [i]divine power[/i] of Soleus. Behind him Tullus incanted a [i]prayer[/i], infusing them with strength of purpose and iron determination. Allera drew upon a pure cascade of divine potency, surrounding herself and each of her companions with the brilliant enegy of a [i]holy aura[/i]. Each of the companions felt that glow to the core of their being, steadying them against the evil powers of the hordes of Orcus. And then the arcanists unleashed their power. Alderis extended his arms wide, incanting words of magic. In response a [i]wall of fire[/i] rose up ring seventy feet out from where the elvish abjurer stood. The flames rose up to block the view of the undead that were gathered at the edge of Allera’s [i]repulsion[/i], just ten feet further out, but they could hear the screams of rage and pain as the heat of the [i]wall[/i] scorched the bodies of the undead. A few that had just penetrated the healer’s ward were caught within the flames as they erupted upward, and they were consumed within seconds by the blazing pyre. The other undead fell back from the deadly circle, leaving behind a few dozen scorched skeletons and ghouls that had been roasted by the initial wave of heat. Honoratius targeted the vrocks with a [i]greater dispel magic[/i]. The spell cut away the [i]mirror images[/i] surrounding two of them, but the demons continued their dance unabated, the supernatural potency of their ritual unaffected by Honoratius’s potent magic. The archmage frowned. Dar and the knights met the undead charge, absorbing attacks on their armor and shields, bolstered by Allera’s [i]holy aura[/i]. Tullus lifted his holy symbol and called upon the might of the Father, causing some of the weaker undead to recoil. But the others fought back with terrible ferocity. A mohrg smashed a powerful fist into Dar’s torso, and its sinuous tongue lashed out and pricked him on the side of his neck. But the fighter’s fortitude was such that he easily shrugged off the paralytic effect of its bite, and he countered with a two-handed downward stroke that crushed the creature’s skull and kept going, smashing it into a hundred pieces. On the far flank, Marcus faced another of the terrible monstrosities, but he too was able to fight it off, delivering powerful blows augmented with [i]divine power[/i] that smashed bones and bit into the foul substance that crammed the cavity of its chest. The knights were almost overcome by a pack of leaping ghouls, ghasts, and wights that surged into the center of their defensive line. Zahera was hit by a wight and groaned as life energy was siphoned from her body. Xenos was nearly dragged down by three ghasts, and only the potency of the [i]holy aura[/i] enabled him to resist being paralyzed and torn apart. Alexion fared better, holding off two wights and a ghoul with his magical shield, but his pick was designed to cripple living foes, and his initial counterattacks had little effect on them. More undead continued to come forward, but as they spread to the flanks, trying to get around the fighters toward the juicy, unarmored casters behind, they found only Dar’s sword and Tullus’s holy power waiting for them. A small pack of ghouls rushed around the mound of rocks, seeking to bypass the warriors altogether. And then a wave of healing power surged down the line, restoring the humans and destroying undead at the same time. The few undead that survived Allera’s spell were quickly hacked down by the defenders, who then reformed their line at Dar’s command. The ghouls that turned their flank found only more destruction waiting for them. Springing over the rocks with feral agilty, they found Alderis’s shield guardian waiting for them. As the ghouls leapt to attack, Alderis glanced up and spoke a word to his construct. “Defense.” The guardian invoked a spell, and a magical [i]shield[/i] appeared in the air before it. The mithral-clad construct extended its arms and met the attacking ghouls with fists like battering rams. Gray bodies crunched and cracked, and ghouls fell in mangled heaps into the cracks between the stones. The monsters counterattacked, tearing at the guardian with claws and bite, but they had little effect upon its armored body. Several tried to get past it to get to the easier prey below, but the guardian abandoned its own attacks to block them, absorbing more damage as it knocked the creatures back. The ghouls intensified their efforts, and two dove under the guardian’s arms as they hurled themselves forward at Alderis and Allera. The stench they brought with them indicated that these two foes were ghasts, more canny and deadly then their weaker cousins. The elf calmly pointed and cast a spell, blasting the first with an empowered [i]scorching ray[/i]. The ghast’s chest turned black as the magical flames tore into it. The elf hit it with a second ray, transforming its head into a charred mess. As it fell, Alderis turned and fired his third stream of fire into the monster attacking Allera. It took damage but still managed to lunge at the healer with one jagged claw. It grabbed her arm, but Allera easily resisted the power of its touch. The ghast could not maintain its hold in the face of the healer’s [i]holy aura[/i], but its struggles ceased abruptly a moment later as the shield guardian brought a heavy stone boot down onto its body, crushing it. “Alderis! The vrocks!” Honoratius yelled, pointing upward. The demons’ wild dance was approaching culmination, and tendrils of energy were beginning to flash within the chaotic space between them. Another area-effect spell, this one an [i]unholy blight[/i], exploded around them. Ignoring both the sickening effects of the hezrou’s foul magic and the wild melees still going on both ahead and behind them, the arcanists focused their magic upon the greater threat above. A screaming roar echoed over the battlefield, drowning out the cries of the gargoyles and the undead below. Honoratius’s sonically-substituted [i]chain lightning[/i] blasted into the first vrock, shredding its spell resistance, devastating its flesh. The secondary arc hit the second vrock, and then cascaded through the [i]mirror images[/i] of the last, drawing a scream from it as they finally found the real creature. Pulses shattered green bodies as the spell depleted itself through several of the gargoyles, which drew back from the demons. Most were not quick enough to avoid the empowered [i]fireball[/i] from Alderis that exploded in the wake of Honoratius’s spell. The blazing globe scorched the demons even through their inherent resistance to fire, and when the flames died, one of the vrocks—the one that had been the focus of Honoratius’s spell—broke away from the others and plummeted to the ground, its body blackened and quivering. Another [i]chaos hammer[/i] hit them, fired blind by the hezrou through the [i]wall of fire[/i]. “What the hells!” Dar yelled, grimacing as the spell’s energies blasted him, one pulsing strand of energy hitting his arm and running down the limb into the fist that clutched [i]Valor[/i]. “Will somebody kill that freaking demon already?” The knights were equally hard hit, but Allera eased their injuries a moment later with another [i]mass cure[/i] spell. “Look!” Alexion yelled, pointing ahead. Dar looked up to see Alderis’s [i]wall of fire[/i] fading, sundered by a [i]dispel magic[/i] from one of the babaus. The companions, paled, all of them, as the barrier’s collapse revealed a ring of undead that completely surrounded them. There had to be at least six hundred of them, ranging from tiny zombies created from vermin, to hulking, monstrous skeletons of umber hulks and minotaurs. They had been kept at bay by the [i]wall of fire[/i], but now moved forward again, intent only upon the utter destruction of those who stood against their Master. Many stopped at the edge of Allera’s [i]repulsion[/i], but dozens did not, picking up speed as they rushed forward in a wave to attack. And then Allera was hit by several targeted [i]dispels[/i], and in quick succession her [i]holy aura[/i] winked out, followed a second later by the collapse of the [i]repulsion[/i] spell. A sea of undead rushed in from every direction, as the gargoyles above screamed in joy, and dove down to attack. “You have got to be freaking kidding me,” Dar said. [/QUOTE]
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