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The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4225866" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 42</p><p></p><p>ANOTHER STROLL THROUGH THE FOREST</p><p></p><p></p><p>“Well, this doesn’t look good,” Dar said.</p><p></p><p>The spacious chamber before them had been decorated to resemble a forest, down to the incredibly faithful depictions of leaves set into the stonework that ran around the perimeter of the place. Almost a dozen huge stone trees had been painstakingly crafted out of the surrounding stone, their highest branches reaching almost to the top of the vaulted ceiling thirty feet above.</p><p></p><p>The floor was covered with debris, bits and pieces of stone littered about carelessly. They were quick to notice the connection with the gap along the wall where another of the stone trees might have fit in. </p><p></p><p>“What do you think?” the fighter asked Allera. “Golems?”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t know,” the healer replied. “There is a strong... presence... here. And blood. There was a battle here, not long past.”</p><p></p><p>Letellia hovered behind them, her eyes open to things that none of the others could see. “Elementals.”</p><p></p><p>“Why aren’t they attacking?” Kiron asked. </p><p></p><p>“Maybe that... Amurru... has commanded them to let us pass,” Maricela suggested.</p><p></p><p>“Don’t count on it,” Dar said. Zethas had taken a step forward, his head craning nervously at the stone giants all around them, but Dar forestalled him. “Stay here,” he said to all of them. Drawing <em>Justice</em> from its sheath, he started forward across the room. </p><p></p><p>“Stand ready,” Qatarn ordered his men, unnecessarily, for everyone in the group stood on a razor’s edge, their weapons and magic held prepared on the edge of use. Zethas fingered his bow, an arrow held against the string, half drawn. Only Selaht seemed unaffected by the tense mood, but his penetrating dark eyes missed nothing. </p><p></p><p>Thus none of them were surprised when one of the trees along the wall suddenly swung its branches down and took a step forward, its lower body splitting apart to form legs, its massive roots acting almost like great splayed feet. Dar, only barely halfway across the room, spun to meet it, but almost immediately the one behind him also started moving, and then others, including a pair flanking the mithral door in the far wall. </p><p> </p><p>“We have to help him!” Kiron shouted. He lifted his sword, but even as the knights and soldiers started forward, Dar turned and yelled at them, “Hold the line!” Recognizing the poor odds, Dar continued his turn and started running back toward the others. But the nearest of the trees was already too close. </p><p></p><p>“Look out!” Allera yelled, but even if she’d shouted earlier, there was little that Dar could have done to avoid the branch that snapped down like a whip, cracking hard across his back. The blow knocked him forward and down, and he was fortunate to only fall to one knee. </p><p></p><p>Letellia, her brow furrowed in concentration, cast a spell, conjuring a <em>wall of force</em> that slanted across the room, forming a barrier from floor to ceiling. Three of the stone treants were caught behind the obstacle; they flailed at it with their branches, and for a moment they looked almost frustrated. </p><p></p><p>But while she’d placed the <em>wall</em> with expert precision, she’d been unable to block off one other besides the one that had hit Dar. That treant surged forward with a sudden burst of speed. Allera, acting quickly, hurled up a <em>repulsion</em> field to stop it, but the invisible barrier did not even faze the creature, and if anything it picked up more speed as it lumbered forward. Likewise Maricela’s beam of <em>searing light</em> dissolved as it struck it, indicating that the stone treants were possessed of considerable resistance of magic. </p><p></p><p>Dar felt rather than saw the monster coming up fast behind him, and he hurled himself out of its path. The fighter had been only an ancillary target of its rush, but even so one of the heavy roots clipped him across the left thigh, and this time he did go down fully, spinning as his legs were knocked out from under him. </p><p></p><p>There was nothing that the others could do to help him, for the huge creature kept on going, smashing into the front of their defensive line. Kiron with his knights, and Qatarn with his soldiers, each formed one side of the wedge. The fighters were ready with their weapons, but the treant hit them with the force of a charge of heavy cavalry. Tertius screamed and was launched flying, his sword flipping end over end before it hit the wall near the entrance and clattered loudly to the floor. The fighter did not travel quite so far, but he landed just as hard, and while he was still conscious, he did not get up. The other two watchmen were not struck quite so violently, but both were knocked back, Primus jostled to the side, falling to one knee, while Secundus was spun about so fast that he bounced off of the nearby wall. Only Qatarn held his ground, the huge centurion grunting as a root smacked hard into his gut. </p><p></p><p>The knights fared little better. Aldos had set his glaive against its charge, but while its momentum drove the curving blade deep into its stone trunk, the force of it knocked him aside as well, and he barely kept his grip on his weapon as he fell to his knees. Yellow fluid spurted from the gash, and where it landed on the knight’s cloak and arm it raised wisps of noxious smoke. Kiron, his big sword flashing, was only barely able to keep from being pinned under the thing, and he yelled a battle cry as he slashed at the roots all around him. Only Petronia avoided being trampled, and that was by falling back as quickly as she could, shielding her face as jagged branches scratched at her armor. </p><p></p><p>Dar struggled to get up, but before he could do anything, one of the long branches from the first treant wrapped around his body, lifting him into the air. He lashed out with <em>Justice</em>, and a segment of branch, covered in jutting spines like stone fingers, went flying. But more branches were tangled around his legs and torso, and he could not get free. </p><p></p><p>Trying to keep his orientation as the thing whipped him around, he brandished his sword again, but before he could strike the treant hurled him straight upward, into the ceiling. Air was blasted from his lungs from the force of the impact. He hung there for the barest instant, and then he was falling, the floor rushing up to greet him. </p><p></p><p>He grimaced at the expected impact, but he did not land as expected. Instead, as he plummeted downward, the treant whipped around another branch. The fighter barely had the time to register what was happening before it struck, batting him out of the air like a man swatting a bug. His sword was knocked out of his grasp, and clattered against the ground. A moment later, he hit high against the <em>wall of force</em>. His journey only then came to an end, as he fell a final eight feet to splat hard upon the floor, his body a maze of hurts from the battering he’d suffered. </p><p></p><p>He managed to lift his head to see that it was not yet over; the treant was coming his way.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 4225866, member: 143"] Chapter 42 ANOTHER STROLL THROUGH THE FOREST “Well, this doesn’t look good,” Dar said. The spacious chamber before them had been decorated to resemble a forest, down to the incredibly faithful depictions of leaves set into the stonework that ran around the perimeter of the place. Almost a dozen huge stone trees had been painstakingly crafted out of the surrounding stone, their highest branches reaching almost to the top of the vaulted ceiling thirty feet above. The floor was covered with debris, bits and pieces of stone littered about carelessly. They were quick to notice the connection with the gap along the wall where another of the stone trees might have fit in. “What do you think?” the fighter asked Allera. “Golems?” “I don’t know,” the healer replied. “There is a strong... presence... here. And blood. There was a battle here, not long past.” Letellia hovered behind them, her eyes open to things that none of the others could see. “Elementals.” “Why aren’t they attacking?” Kiron asked. “Maybe that... Amurru... has commanded them to let us pass,” Maricela suggested. “Don’t count on it,” Dar said. Zethas had taken a step forward, his head craning nervously at the stone giants all around them, but Dar forestalled him. “Stay here,” he said to all of them. Drawing [i]Justice[/i] from its sheath, he started forward across the room. “Stand ready,” Qatarn ordered his men, unnecessarily, for everyone in the group stood on a razor’s edge, their weapons and magic held prepared on the edge of use. Zethas fingered his bow, an arrow held against the string, half drawn. Only Selaht seemed unaffected by the tense mood, but his penetrating dark eyes missed nothing. Thus none of them were surprised when one of the trees along the wall suddenly swung its branches down and took a step forward, its lower body splitting apart to form legs, its massive roots acting almost like great splayed feet. Dar, only barely halfway across the room, spun to meet it, but almost immediately the one behind him also started moving, and then others, including a pair flanking the mithral door in the far wall. “We have to help him!” Kiron shouted. He lifted his sword, but even as the knights and soldiers started forward, Dar turned and yelled at them, “Hold the line!” Recognizing the poor odds, Dar continued his turn and started running back toward the others. But the nearest of the trees was already too close. “Look out!” Allera yelled, but even if she’d shouted earlier, there was little that Dar could have done to avoid the branch that snapped down like a whip, cracking hard across his back. The blow knocked him forward and down, and he was fortunate to only fall to one knee. Letellia, her brow furrowed in concentration, cast a spell, conjuring a [i]wall of force[/i] that slanted across the room, forming a barrier from floor to ceiling. Three of the stone treants were caught behind the obstacle; they flailed at it with their branches, and for a moment they looked almost frustrated. But while she’d placed the [i]wall[/i] with expert precision, she’d been unable to block off one other besides the one that had hit Dar. That treant surged forward with a sudden burst of speed. Allera, acting quickly, hurled up a [i]repulsion[/i] field to stop it, but the invisible barrier did not even faze the creature, and if anything it picked up more speed as it lumbered forward. Likewise Maricela’s beam of [i]searing light[/i] dissolved as it struck it, indicating that the stone treants were possessed of considerable resistance of magic. Dar felt rather than saw the monster coming up fast behind him, and he hurled himself out of its path. The fighter had been only an ancillary target of its rush, but even so one of the heavy roots clipped him across the left thigh, and this time he did go down fully, spinning as his legs were knocked out from under him. There was nothing that the others could do to help him, for the huge creature kept on going, smashing into the front of their defensive line. Kiron with his knights, and Qatarn with his soldiers, each formed one side of the wedge. The fighters were ready with their weapons, but the treant hit them with the force of a charge of heavy cavalry. Tertius screamed and was launched flying, his sword flipping end over end before it hit the wall near the entrance and clattered loudly to the floor. The fighter did not travel quite so far, but he landed just as hard, and while he was still conscious, he did not get up. The other two watchmen were not struck quite so violently, but both were knocked back, Primus jostled to the side, falling to one knee, while Secundus was spun about so fast that he bounced off of the nearby wall. Only Qatarn held his ground, the huge centurion grunting as a root smacked hard into his gut. The knights fared little better. Aldos had set his glaive against its charge, but while its momentum drove the curving blade deep into its stone trunk, the force of it knocked him aside as well, and he barely kept his grip on his weapon as he fell to his knees. Yellow fluid spurted from the gash, and where it landed on the knight’s cloak and arm it raised wisps of noxious smoke. Kiron, his big sword flashing, was only barely able to keep from being pinned under the thing, and he yelled a battle cry as he slashed at the roots all around him. Only Petronia avoided being trampled, and that was by falling back as quickly as she could, shielding her face as jagged branches scratched at her armor. Dar struggled to get up, but before he could do anything, one of the long branches from the first treant wrapped around his body, lifting him into the air. He lashed out with [i]Justice[/i], and a segment of branch, covered in jutting spines like stone fingers, went flying. But more branches were tangled around his legs and torso, and he could not get free. Trying to keep his orientation as the thing whipped him around, he brandished his sword again, but before he could strike the treant hurled him straight upward, into the ceiling. Air was blasted from his lungs from the force of the impact. He hung there for the barest instant, and then he was falling, the floor rushing up to greet him. He grimaced at the expected impact, but he did not land as expected. Instead, as he plummeted downward, the treant whipped around another branch. The fighter barely had the time to register what was happening before it struck, batting him out of the air like a man swatting a bug. His sword was knocked out of his grasp, and clattered against the ground. A moment later, he hit high against the [i]wall of force[/i]. His journey only then came to an end, as he fell a final eight feet to splat hard upon the floor, his body a maze of hurts from the battering he’d suffered. He managed to lift his head to see that it was not yet over; the treant was coming his way. [/QUOTE]
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