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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4265279" data-attributes="member: 143">Indeed, this one is going to get bloody. Readers, I may have something extra for you on 4e Release Day. Stay tuned. * * * * * Chapter 52DISTRACTIONSThe ravager spawn dove through the illusion at full speed, knocking aside those of the companions who could not get out of the way quickly enough.  Kiron was hit squarely by its left foreleg; even though the impact hadn’t been intentional it was strong enough to slam him hard against the wall just left of the mithral doorframe.  The creature seemed to realize what was happening and started to stop, but its momentum carried it forward, and its head and shoulders thrust into the partially open doorway.  It snarled as one of its legs cracked hard on the mithral ring that encircled the doorway, but the collision angered it more than causing serious injury. The companions were quick to recover.  The group had become divided, with Qatarn and the soldiers on the far side of the doorway, back in the laboratory, along with Zethas, Selaht, and Maricela.  The twang of crossbows sounded over the noise of the creature’s roars, indicating that they were attacking.  Aldos jammed his glaive into the joint where one of the creatures hind legs met its body, but the weapon slid harmlessly off of its armored hide.  On its far side, Kiron found himself with little room between the creature’s body and the wall.  He lifted his sword to attack, but was forced to jump back to avoid a clawed leg that sought traction against the wall where he’d been standing.  Dar stepped into the gap between two of the creature’s legs and sliced down with Justice.  The axiomatic sword opened a long gash in its body, and a stream of blood, hissing with the heat of the monster’s body, shot out over the fighter’s chest.  The ravager spawn’s roar became an angry shriek, and all six of its legs seized onto the doorframe or the surrounding stone as it sought to pull itself free of the door.  But before it could free itself, Letellia drove a clenched fist into the back of the door, slamming it hard against the creature’s body, crushing it in the jam of the portal.  The mithral hinges creaked loudly in protest, but the door held.  “Hit it while it’s caught!” Dar yelled.  He put his own words into action, slicing Justice through one of its legs as it flailed violently, seeking a fresh purchase.  The sword again bit deep, but it was like hewing a log for all the injury suffered by the monster.  Aldos hit it again, and this time his blade bit through its hide, but the gash he opened barely showed blood.  Kiron was shouting something across its body, but the words were lost in the noise made by the ravager spawn’s struggles.  They did not get a chance to press the attack further, as the ravager’s claws tore into the door and its frame, and with a sudden lurch of its body it simply ripped the vault door off its hinges.  The mithral disk, which had to weigh thousands of pounds, went flying, almost clipping Allera before it spun and clattered to the floor.  The creature pushed off and spun as it hurled itself back into the prison chamber.  Dar and Aldos were hurled backward by its violent movements; both fell to the ground, although they were able to keep their grip on their weapons.  They saw that a half dozen quarrels jutted from its head and neck, but none of the missiles had penetrated deep enough to draw blood.  A black streak ran along the side of its head below its right eye; apparently Maricela had been able to hit it with a spell.  The creature seemed a bit disoriented, having just freed itself, surrounded by foes.  It reacted by lashing out blindly at the nearest opponents.  Kiron, still behind it, slammed his sword down into its thick torso, and the monster reflexively flexed, pinning him between the wall and its body.  A claw slammed down into the joint of wall and floor to anchor it, almost crushing the knight’s leg under it.  Kiron struggled to free his arms enough to use his huge blade, while trying to avoid being mangled under the thing’s awesome weight.  Selaht leapt forward, flames blazing around his hands.  He delivered a punch squarely in the center of the creature’s chest, a blow that seemed almost pathetic against the thing’s size and bulk.  But the ravager spawn responded immediately, slashing its head down like the chop of an axe.  The side of its jaw, ridged with bone, hit the monk squarely on the shoulder, spinning him around as he went flying through the wreckage of the doorway.  The creature started to follow, but another storm of quarrels and arrows flew into its face, and Qatarn stepped into the breach, thrusting with his sword like the point of a spear, trying to buy time as Maricela helped the injured monk to his feet.  His weak attack did little to hinder it, and as it lurched forward the claws of its foremost right limb clipped his shins, slicing through the greaves protecting the front of his boots as though the metal plates were wraps of parchment.  The veteran centurion’s face twisted in pain, but he held his ground, poking at the creature’s leg with his sword, keeping its attention focused on him. “You all right?” Dar yelled at Aldos.  The knight nodded, using the haft of his weapon to help him regain his feet.  Healing power flooded through both of them, as Allera expended one of her remaining mass cure wounds spells.  Letellia was just a few feet away, but her attention was directed inward, toward the Ravager’s prison, rather than at the spawn.  “We cannot linger here,” the sorceress said.  “Our enemies have gone ahead, to collapse the barrier.  We must stop them.”Dar looked torn; he’d fought the ravager spawn before, and he had to know that their current forces had little chance of defeating even one of the creatures.  But Allera stepped toward the sorceress decisively.  “We’ll go,” she said.  “Follow as soon as you can!” Dar started to shake his head, but another roar from the creature drew his attention back in time to see Qatarn’s upper body vanish into the ravager spawn’s jaws.  The sickening crunch of bones being crushed traveled clearly even over the noise it was making, and they could see the man’s body go limp even before the creature lifted its head, its prize dangling beneath its clenched mouth.  “General!” Aldos yelled, clutching his glaive with white-fingered hands. “Go!” Dar shouted at all of them, the word torn from him.  Aldos started forward, but Dar seized his shoulder and roughly spun him around.  “You’re with them, knight!” he yelled, pushing him toward Letellia and Allera.  Aldos had no chance to protest, as Letellia reached out and touched both him and the healer, invoking a dimension door.  All three vanished.Dar’s roar was part frustration, part fury, and part fear as he lifted his sword and charged at the creature.</blockquote>

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