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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4956563" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>Session 24, Part 7</p><p> </p><p>A blur of movement out of the corner of his eye stopped Suniel cold. As Keeper stopped behind him, he glanced over at the wall where metal cables and pipes crisscrossed each other over the bare stone. <em>I could have sworn I saw something move through those cables.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em> He glanced down at Bail and Kormak leaning over the railing to judge their next jump and saw Harold stopped on the walkway below Suniel and Keeper, hand slowly moving towards the quiver on his back and staring at the same spot Suniel had been looking at.</p><p></p><p> A chill went up Suniel's spine and, with a practiced murmur, a ward of shimmering energy surrounded him. Without a word, Keeper's lightning shield and sword of light flared into existence.</p><p></p><p> “There's something in here!” Harold shouted, firing an arrow into a mass of cables.</p><p></p><p> Something slammed into the magical shield at Suniel's back, almost knocking him over the railing. On instinct, he wheeled around and raised his hand, engulfing the metal walkway behind him with fire. </p><p></p><p>The whole room shook as writhing red tentacles thrashed and burned, their charred stumps drawing back towards the wall as a dozen more burst through pipes and metal panels or writhed into view through grates. A roar coming from seemingly everywhere echoed and reverberated through the pit.</p><p></p><p> Suniel spared a quick glance down to see Kormak and Bail back-to-back on a walkway, a veritable sea of thick, barbed, ropey tentacles reaching for them as smaller whip-like tendrils lashed at their faces. Harold was firing arrows in every direction, aiming for the thickest concentrations where they emerged near the walls.</p><p></p><p> Lightning crackled behind him and Keeper's sword flashed as it seared through them, leaving bits and pieces thrashing and writhing one the walkways about them. Suniel stepped closer to Keeper and clenched his fists, feeling the magic flow into them. His mind when calm as a detached part of his brain intoned the familiar, memorized words of his magics.</p><p> </p><p> ***</p><p> </p><p> “There seems to be no end to them,” Bail shouted, cursing and ripping a grasping, fleshy feeler from around his wrist. He swung his adamantine greatsword in a huge arc, slicing through them like a scythe through grass. Kormak stretched one out and slashed through it with the blade of his hand and leapt away as a dozen more surged into the space he'd just occupied.</p><p></p><p>There was a flash of energy above them and another roar shook the room. Bail slashed through the mass of tentacles again, ran two huge steps and jumped – Kormak right beside him – as a the hundred or more tentacles that had surrounded them pulled apart the walkway they had just been standing on.</p><p></p><p> The distance down was farther than Bail had predicted and he landed hard on a massive pipe, almost losing his grip on his sword. He grunted as he got to his feet, glancing up to see the tentacles disentangling themselves from the twisted metal remnants of the walkway and thrashing about as if searching for Bail and Kormak.</p><p></p><p> “I suggest we keep moving as much as possible,” Kormak said. “Maybe if we get to the bottom and can reach the Stone, we can use it to blast these things apart.”</p><p></p><p> “Do you know how to use it?” Bail said, already running down the pipe to the next walkway and slashing, ducking, and weaving through the innumerable tentacles that seemed to be coming from everywhere.</p><p> </p><p>A massive blast of fire detonated above them, flattening them in a blast of hot wind. Bail muttered a thanks to the wizard as smoldering chunks of flesh rained down around them.</p><p></p><p> “We'll figure that out when we get there.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p></p><p> Harold dropped his bow and drew his greatsword, slashing and leaping to clear a path ahead as the mass of tentacles closed in around him. He had no doubts as to his fate if they got a hold on him.</p><p></p><p> He reached the end of the walkway and spun, slashing through half-a-dozen whip-like tendrils that darted towards him, then ducked into a metal-paneled tunnel that ran through the rock for a ways. Halfway down it, he considered just making a stand there, but then a panel just behind him exploded outwards with the press of a mass of razor-tipped flesh that still sought him.</p><p></p><p> A quick slash into the thickest part of them was all he had time for before he turned and ran again, reaching the end of the tunnel to another walkway. As he took his first step onto the grating, the whole room seemed to lurch sideways and the walkway tore free before him and fell onto the one below it. That walkway bucked as well and the two slammed into a pipe, denting it and wrenching it half-free from where it ran into the bedrock.</p><p></p><p> <em>I guess this is where I make my stand then</em>, he thought, stepping back into the tunnel. <em>Let's see how many of these things it takes to kill a Free Agent of the Crystal Towers.</em></p><p> </p><p> ***</p><p> </p><p> Suniel brought his arm down and a shock wave blasted out from him, shearing through the mass of flesh that hemmed them in. Below, Bail and Kormak still jumped from walkway to walkway, always just one step ahead of being caught and torn apart while a slow cascade of collapsing walkways and pipes fell towards them. Harold stood at the mouth of a tunnel, spinning wildly to hack away the tentacles that closed in on him from all sides, bleeding from a dozen small cuts and slashes.</p><p></p><p> Suniel glanced up at the doorway back into the Tower tunnels, sweat and blood running downs his face. “We might make it out Keeper, if we make a run for it now,” Suniel said as his construct slammed his lightning shield into the twisting mass he was holding at bay.</p><p></p><p> Over the terrible slither of flesh, the wrenching squeal and clang of collapsing walkways, and the crackle of Keeper's weapons, he could barely hear the reply. “But we won't.”</p><p></p><p> Suniel smiled and suppressed a wave of exhaustion from the sheer amount of arcane energies had channeled and summoned to mind the trigger word for one of his last spells. “You're right Keeper,” he said softly. “We wont.”</p><p> </p><p> ***</p><p></p><p> Bail and Kormak plummeted the last fifty feet towards the last walkway, but, as they fell through the air, a tentacle as thick as Bail's leg snatched Kormak out of the air. Bail landed hard and glanced up to see the dwarf slamming his elbows into it ineffectually in between swatting away a swarm of smaller spine-tipped whips that darted towards his eyes and throat.</p><p></p><p> Bail glanced down to where the True Stone flashed and flickered behind a foot-thick dome of glass, a sea of tentacles writhing around the base of the pedestal upon which it stood, some already reaching up towards Bail like a thousand blind snakes.</p><p></p><p> <em>Just maybe if I can break that glass, it will stop this thing.</em> He thought.<em> Maybe it feeds on it or, if I get my hands on it I can use it against this monstrosity. Maybe it will release enough energy to kill us instantly in a flash of light.</em></p><p></p><p> He spared one more glance above where his companions fought for their lives and the thousands of tentacles the closed in from every direction. He reversed his sword and dove off the pipe upon which he knelt, hurtling towards the glass dome of the Lightning Stone, hoping his sword was strong enough to break through.</p><p></p><p> <em>If this is the last thing I do, at least maybe I'll take this thing with me.</em></p><p></p><p>Time seemed to slow as he fell through the air, sword high overhead as he fell, death reaching for him on every side. <em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Better a quick death...</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 4956563, member: 60965"] Session 24, Part 7 A blur of movement out of the corner of his eye stopped Suniel cold. As Keeper stopped behind him, he glanced over at the wall where metal cables and pipes crisscrossed each other over the bare stone. [I]I could have sworn I saw something move through those cables. [/I] He glanced down at Bail and Kormak leaning over the railing to judge their next jump and saw Harold stopped on the walkway below Suniel and Keeper, hand slowly moving towards the quiver on his back and staring at the same spot Suniel had been looking at. A chill went up Suniel's spine and, with a practiced murmur, a ward of shimmering energy surrounded him. Without a word, Keeper's lightning shield and sword of light flared into existence. “There's something in here!” Harold shouted, firing an arrow into a mass of cables. Something slammed into the magical shield at Suniel's back, almost knocking him over the railing. On instinct, he wheeled around and raised his hand, engulfing the metal walkway behind him with fire. The whole room shook as writhing red tentacles thrashed and burned, their charred stumps drawing back towards the wall as a dozen more burst through pipes and metal panels or writhed into view through grates. A roar coming from seemingly everywhere echoed and reverberated through the pit. Suniel spared a quick glance down to see Kormak and Bail back-to-back on a walkway, a veritable sea of thick, barbed, ropey tentacles reaching for them as smaller whip-like tendrils lashed at their faces. Harold was firing arrows in every direction, aiming for the thickest concentrations where they emerged near the walls. Lightning crackled behind him and Keeper's sword flashed as it seared through them, leaving bits and pieces thrashing and writhing one the walkways about them. Suniel stepped closer to Keeper and clenched his fists, feeling the magic flow into them. His mind when calm as a detached part of his brain intoned the familiar, memorized words of his magics. *** “There seems to be no end to them,” Bail shouted, cursing and ripping a grasping, fleshy feeler from around his wrist. He swung his adamantine greatsword in a huge arc, slicing through them like a scythe through grass. Kormak stretched one out and slashed through it with the blade of his hand and leapt away as a dozen more surged into the space he'd just occupied. There was a flash of energy above them and another roar shook the room. Bail slashed through the mass of tentacles again, ran two huge steps and jumped – Kormak right beside him – as a the hundred or more tentacles that had surrounded them pulled apart the walkway they had just been standing on. The distance down was farther than Bail had predicted and he landed hard on a massive pipe, almost losing his grip on his sword. He grunted as he got to his feet, glancing up to see the tentacles disentangling themselves from the twisted metal remnants of the walkway and thrashing about as if searching for Bail and Kormak. “I suggest we keep moving as much as possible,” Kormak said. “Maybe if we get to the bottom and can reach the Stone, we can use it to blast these things apart.” “Do you know how to use it?” Bail said, already running down the pipe to the next walkway and slashing, ducking, and weaving through the innumerable tentacles that seemed to be coming from everywhere. A massive blast of fire detonated above them, flattening them in a blast of hot wind. Bail muttered a thanks to the wizard as smoldering chunks of flesh rained down around them. “We'll figure that out when we get there.” *** Harold dropped his bow and drew his greatsword, slashing and leaping to clear a path ahead as the mass of tentacles closed in around him. He had no doubts as to his fate if they got a hold on him. He reached the end of the walkway and spun, slashing through half-a-dozen whip-like tendrils that darted towards him, then ducked into a metal-paneled tunnel that ran through the rock for a ways. Halfway down it, he considered just making a stand there, but then a panel just behind him exploded outwards with the press of a mass of razor-tipped flesh that still sought him. A quick slash into the thickest part of them was all he had time for before he turned and ran again, reaching the end of the tunnel to another walkway. As he took his first step onto the grating, the whole room seemed to lurch sideways and the walkway tore free before him and fell onto the one below it. That walkway bucked as well and the two slammed into a pipe, denting it and wrenching it half-free from where it ran into the bedrock. [I]I guess this is where I make my stand then[/I], he thought, stepping back into the tunnel. [I]Let's see how many of these things it takes to kill a Free Agent of the Crystal Towers.[/I] *** Suniel brought his arm down and a shock wave blasted out from him, shearing through the mass of flesh that hemmed them in. Below, Bail and Kormak still jumped from walkway to walkway, always just one step ahead of being caught and torn apart while a slow cascade of collapsing walkways and pipes fell towards them. Harold stood at the mouth of a tunnel, spinning wildly to hack away the tentacles that closed in on him from all sides, bleeding from a dozen small cuts and slashes. Suniel glanced up at the doorway back into the Tower tunnels, sweat and blood running downs his face. “We might make it out Keeper, if we make a run for it now,” Suniel said as his construct slammed his lightning shield into the twisting mass he was holding at bay. Over the terrible slither of flesh, the wrenching squeal and clang of collapsing walkways, and the crackle of Keeper's weapons, he could barely hear the reply. “But we won't.” Suniel smiled and suppressed a wave of exhaustion from the sheer amount of arcane energies had channeled and summoned to mind the trigger word for one of his last spells. “You're right Keeper,” he said softly. “We wont.” *** Bail and Kormak plummeted the last fifty feet towards the last walkway, but, as they fell through the air, a tentacle as thick as Bail's leg snatched Kormak out of the air. Bail landed hard and glanced up to see the dwarf slamming his elbows into it ineffectually in between swatting away a swarm of smaller spine-tipped whips that darted towards his eyes and throat. Bail glanced down to where the True Stone flashed and flickered behind a foot-thick dome of glass, a sea of tentacles writhing around the base of the pedestal upon which it stood, some already reaching up towards Bail like a thousand blind snakes. [I]Just maybe if I can break that glass, it will stop this thing.[/I] He thought.[I] Maybe it feeds on it or, if I get my hands on it I can use it against this monstrosity. Maybe it will release enough energy to kill us instantly in a flash of light.[/I] He spared one more glance above where his companions fought for their lives and the thousands of tentacles the closed in from every direction. He reversed his sword and dove off the pipe upon which he knelt, hurtling towards the glass dome of the Lightning Stone, hoping his sword was strong enough to break through. [I]If this is the last thing I do, at least maybe I'll take this thing with me.[/I] Time seemed to slow as he fell through the air, sword high overhead as he fell, death reaching for him on every side. [I] Better a quick death...[/I] [/QUOTE]
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