Chapter 6 - Finding Innocents

Thursday 11th September

While the lift descends we ready ourselves, weapons are cleaned each of us has our back to the other not knowing when the lift will stop or where the exit will be we want to be ready for anything.

As it descends the walls of the lift change from the grey walls we were so familiar with in Jzadirune to smooth black walls that appear to be seamless and are highly polished. So polished in fact that our torch light can be seen glowing in the walls like sprites.

As the lift descends we shift awaiting the termination of our descent. Anari suddenly gasps causing us all to turn. She again is slicing though the dead hobgoblin ears removing their earrings. We all look at her slightly distastefully as she carries out her gruesome task.

I look at Owyn and comment that the lift is not exactly allowing us a stealthy entrance to the Malachite Fortress. He nods sadly and looks at the chains clacking through the floor and then over the pull system now high above us.

“No other way though.” His hand relaxing the grip on his sword hilt before tightening again, making the blade rise and fall slightly.

The lift continues its noisy decent for two minutes before coming to a shuddering halt. We all braced ourselves, shifting slightly after the sudden stop.

There was a single door way exiting the hexagonal lift space and we approached it cautiously. Looking through the doorway Anari and I noted that the hallway was made from the same highly polished black stone. There were two empty cages hanging from the ceiling but in the centre of the room the was a 5 foot tall sculpture, even with our eyes we could not make out what the sculpture was though, some light was reflected off it in stark contrast to the rest of the hallway.

We decided that it was a safer option to break into two groups each moving down a wall in the hallway. Moving cautiously along the wall was Anari, followed by Owyn and Cass brought up the rear. Moving down the right wall I was led by Kellen and tailed by Khandalar. As we moved down the corridor the stone sculpture became more detailed in the dim light. It was certainly five feet tall and the sparking came from four large crystal tipped forms, it certainly was interesting to look at but seemed out of place in the hallway with its high vaulted ceilings and smooth black walls.

It was possible this very feeling of displacement that forced me to focus my gaze upon it so long and lucky that I did, suddenly the four crystal tips started to move. Having been attacked all the way Jzadirune I was not about to wait to parlay with another fiend bent on our destruction, instead I pushed off from wall and attacked it.

My sword struck it with force and took a chunk out the stone, it continued to stir as Owyn lunged as hitting it mightily and causing more fragments to separate from the stone fiend. Anari following my lead then lunged at the creature causing more stone fragments to fly away from the moving sculpture. Kellen grunted as he heaved is huge sword in a downward arc, he his sword stuck the blade sang and the stone shattered into a thousand tiny shards. He smiled a satisfied smile as the last piece came to rest on the floor further down the corridor, his smile faded as a door opened slowly further down the corridor and a very large foot stepped out into the corridor.

Well all stepped back as the Ogre walked into the corridor, it noticed the fragments of stone on the floor and looked towards us. Its face twisted up into a gurning spectre of rage and hatred, snarling it approached us slowly and purposefully.

Cass immediately struck out calling the creature to sleep; I saw the air shimmer around the Ogre. It paused for a second, shook its head and continued its dread march towards us.

Khandalar looked to Kellen, said something under his breath and then so we could all hear, cried the word enlarge. Kellen was bathed a soft yellow light, the air in the corridor was squeezed around us as the light intensified. Kellen looked lightly confused for a second looking at his hand and then around him as his perception of the corridor changed as he grew in the corridor. The light surrounded Kellen completely and the magic affected everything including his clothing and his previous large bastard sword.

When the light suddenly winked out and the air stopped being squeezed in the corridor Kellen stood as tall, if not slightly taller than the Ogre. His sword was now massive to use but had the same proportions in Kellen’s hands.

He gave the Ogre a malevolent smile, “Right then, let’s get you dead”.

He rushed in swinging his sword and the Ogre parried with its falchion, the clash of the weapons in the corridor sent ringing peels up and down in a continual echo. Each echo refreshed as the weapons met again in the air.

As the Ogre concentrated his attacks and defence on the viciously swung sword of Kellen we all moved into attack the creature. Each of our strikes while not counting for much on their own, together soon started to have an effect.

The Ogre was breathing harder as we pressed on with the battle; bleeding wounds opening up over existing wounds soon formed a bloody lattice work.

In desperation and anger the Ogre swung it’s falchion at Anari, Kellen seized the opportunity and cleaved into the Ogre’s body from shoulder to hip. The Ogre’s weapon dropped harmlessly from its limp grip, as blood sprayed from the hideous, its head turned to Kellen. Blood poured from it’s nose and mouth, Kellen’s foot planted against the creatures chest, while holding his sword his pushed with his foot.

The Ogre fell to the floor, foul smelling entrails spilled out from the body mixing with the blood and other bodily fluids.

The light around Kellen reappeared, bright at first and slowly fading as he returned to his original size. As he did so the pressure in the corridor also returned to normal.

Looking at himself again and the corridor for his original perspective grunted, “Well timed end to that spell. Nice work Khandalar.”

In response Khandalar merely nodded but in his eyes and playing briefly across his face you could see both pride in his ability and the recognition for it.

Anari gave a gasp which directed our attention back to the oozing corpse on the floor, at the middle of the mass a dark green coloured hazed started to spread out over the corpse, as the colour spread it obscured the corpse below.

Once the corpse was completely covered in the green haze the colour started too shift and swirl with darker green, almost black being introduced. This continued for a few moments, with then paler greens joining the swirling motion that also picked up pace.

All of user were transfixed by the patterns in the haze covering the corpse, I managed to tear my eyes away for long enough to notice that Khandalar was studying it with his full attention. Kellen and Anari both stood ready to attack, their combat honed instincts preparing for the worst. Cass wore an expression of both intrigue and concern, while Owyn appeared to be the most relaxed of the group, of course with Owyn that could mean he was ready to leap back into a fight or merge into the shadows. Certainly no one had put away their weapons while watching the haze.

When I looked back at the haze covering the corpse, the paler greens were fading away and the swirling was slowing. Then the darker greens faded away and the swirling stopped, leaving just the dark green haze. Almost unnoticeably at first at the centre of the haze in perfect circle formed, lined with pale green, creating an opening in the green haze dome.

As the circle continued to expand the corpse below was exposed, when the view was wide enough for use to see the corpse he all gasped. No longer was there a body of an Ogre but that of an Otyugh, it was obviously dead. All the wounds including the grievous wound dealt by Kellen were still evident on the body. Khandalar smiled and explained at length and in great detail that the Otyugh must have assumed the form of an Ogre and upon its death the spell had been broken and the Otyugh had reverted back to its natural form.

Owyn was the first to move, searching through the gore of the body for anything of use and value. Ignoring the heavily used falchion and Ogre sized hide armour he found two iron keys. He then went into the room the Ogre left to attack us, I was about to follow before I caught the smell coming from the room. My stomach heaving from the putrid smell, I shudder as Owyn apparently unaffected walks further into the room.

I watch, trying not to gag, as he diligently searches the fairly small square room. This search included wading into to the oozing waste and litter banked up against the wall that also covered half the floor.

Owyn stops moving forwards suddenly, and I fear the worst, he reached down and pulls out a fairly big chest. He turns and grins as he wades back out of the filth dragging the chest behind him.

The chest apart from dropping rotting slime on to the floor every so often was quite unremarkable, there was a large lock built into the front of it. Owyn spends a second cleaning out the lock and then tries the keys found on the corpse. With the first key the lock snaps open and the lid is able to be lifted up.

The smile on Owyn’s face when he lifted up the lid indicated that the chest was full of some sort of loot, eventually when we got chance we found that there was 5,990 copper pennies and 2,248 silver shillings. In addition to the coin found there were also resting on top two deep green spinals and a dried fungi flask that contained a potion that smelt of mint and green in colour.

We moved the chest back to the lift so that it would be easily extracted later while we moved through the rest of the Malachite Fortress.

The rest of the party started searching the black polished walls of the hallway, I noticed a problem; within the lift shaft there was no switch to control the device. In a way I could understand the lack of controls in the actual shaft itself as the platform would smash them of the wall as it rose and descend. In the hallway there were no evident controls and this was a problem, how would we be able to raise the lift when it became time to leave this place.

I started searching the lift shaft for clues after I worked around nearly the whole shaft I found a secret door. Pressing against it, it sprang open revealing a small room and a very surprised Hobgoblin. I rushed forward, with my sword held out in front of me. As the creature rose to meet me a vicious snarl formed upon its face my sword slashed down. The creatures hand went to its throat, a look of surprise on as blood spilled between its fingers. I stood over the creature as life blood trickled down the stricken figure and pooled on the floor. After a few more moments I thrust my sword forward again feeling the resistance of the armour and slight resistance of the flesh behind my sword punctured its heart giving it an instant and clean death. When the sword was pulled sharply from the carcass, it crumpled instantly to the floor and the blood pooling faster on the floor.

I spent a few moments searching the room, finding the lever that looked like it would control the list mechanism, upon the body I found a paltry five copper pennies. Looking down at the body I sighed sheeting my sword, I then drew my knife and started to collect the earrings.

I rejoined the rest of the party in the hallway, as I approach Anari runs up to me excitedly saying that she had found a secret passage. I take hold of her hand and drop the earrings in to it, as she stares at me in surprise Owyn calls out that he has found another door hidden into the wall.

We look at the two areas marked out by stones on the floor; there is a door in the eastern and northern walls.

Owyn says that having looked at the secret doors; he believes them to be sound proof. I relax a little at the news and look around the group. Cass is standing near to Kellen and staring at the Otyugh lying dead on the floor, it is not fear that marks her face but rather wonder. Kellen is standing sword in his hand and looking between the two, newly, identified doors. His face could be used by sculptors as an example of heroic determination. Khandalar was examining the body of the Otyugh with a very close interest; occasionally he would close his eyes and mutter something under his breath.

Owyn grins impishly as he leans gently on the northern most door, causing it to open slightly. Cautiously he pushes the door open and giving us entrance into the next room.

It was a large hall, in fact it is a grand hall, obviously in times past used as a main area for meetings and gatherings. In each corner there is a brazier which are shaped like a Xorn, each brazier is burning leaves and producing a heavy putrid smell that claws at the back of your throat and nose.

Before we could take in the sights of the hall we were set upon by four hobgoblins, two had been guarding the western doors and the others the eastern doors. They snarled as they approached us and in return we settled into an easy formation with our weapons ready.

I move a fraction of a second too late and I am unable to block the swinging blow from the hobgoblin. As his sword bit into my flesh I cried out in pain, blood gushed out of the wound as I starred at it in horror. I fell to my knees in pain watching the hobgoblin start to smile as it drew its weapon back to deliver a final blow when Anari leapt forward and removed the head of the creature, as its head bounced away on the floor and its body collapsed blood spraying from the open neck I swear it looked surprised.

Owyn kills the next one after parrying a blow and then pushing his rapier through the creature several times. As it collapsed Owyn turned looking for the next target.

The nearest creature to him was denied him by Kellen who swung his sword viciously, the hobgoblin exploded into two parts. Cleaved from shoulder to groin all of what used to be inside was suddenly exposed to the outside, including the smell produced from several ruptured internal organs. A fine rain of red fell to the floor moments after the body hit the ground.

The last hobgoblin snarls in fury and rushes at Cass, Khandalar shouts something with previously unheard rage and swings his staff. It catches the hobgoblin square in the face with a sickening crack. The hobgoblin’s nose shatters and it cheek looks destroyed as it turns in pain from Cass to the very surprised looking Khandalar who still held his staff out stretched. The creature never saw the sickle in Cass’s hand open its throat, all it did see before its life ended was the floor rushing up to meet it as it collapsed forward.

The battle had been so short and violent I had not been able to pull out a wand of healing to aid myself before it ended with the last hobgoblin falling to the floor. I cast the smell and took a sharp intake of breath, sometimes it felt like warm soothing hands rubbing the wounded area but this time it was as if I had been doused with ice cold water.

In the centre of the great hall is a nine foot statue of a Dwarf holding a great axe, Owyn laughing at the irony of the statue stopped and whistled when he saw the two black gems that were used to mark the eyes. He was so transfixed by the gems he completely failed to notice the chains that were also draped over the statue and were covered in spikes.

Walking towards the statue we all called out to him to stop, with greater urgency as we saw the chains start to twitch. When got almost close enough to touch the statue the chains slithered of the statue and moved towards Owyn.

The chains were so great in length the uncoiling from the statue seemed to be vary languorous but when on the floor and moving towards Owyn they moved directly and at a great pace.

Owyn took a step back but the chain had coiled around his ankles and held him fast. As the chains wrapped around him his legs and arms were held fast and eventually he toppled to the floor.

Before we started to move towards Owyn the chains started to tighten around him and as the barbs and spikes dug into his flesh he grunted with the initial pain which slowly turned into a low moan.

As we all tried to break the chains to free Owyn, only Kellen’s sword caused link to spark regularly.

As the links drew tighter rivulets of blood ran along the links and Owyn’s moans grew louder and more desperate. The true pain he suffered was clearly etched in his face and eyes.

Cass suddenly grasped the links and tried to pull them away and then hold them on the floor, she managed to pull a section away and Kellen swung his sword, the links sparked and separated. Cass threw the separated section away and we watched it carefully. It lay there on the floor looking like a normal chain.

We all then started puling at the chains and holding them away while Kellen swung his sword. The chains writhed in our grips trying to break free as Kellen mercilessly separated the sections of chain.

On one occasion the chain twisted in my hand, with my hands slick with sweat and blood it managed to break free and lash angrily towards me. In a flash is fell unmoving to the floor Kellen’s sword continuing in a powerful arc to smash through another exposed link.

With that fateful blow the chains stopped struggling in our grasps and constricting against Owyn. We quickly extracted Owyn form the chains that still bound him,, the effects of the constricting barbed chains was obvious. Owyn suffered from a massive number of tearing cuts, which while on their own would not have been dangerous, together they proved near fatal. There was also the issue with the cracked and broken bones from the chains tightening around him.

Using the wand of healing moderate wounds it took two charges to get Owyn back up and moving again and a final charge from the lesser wand of healing to ensure that he was back up to full strength and vitality.

Before I was even able to put the wands away we were set upon four Hobgoblins entering from the same southern doorway with which we and entered.

Cass ducks the hobgoblin that runs straight at her, in the last second her arm lashed out at neck height. The extremely keen edge of her sickle and the momentum of the Hobgoblin did the rest, a fine spray of blood showed an injury, the following pulsing blood pumping from the body as it well to the ground should how serious it had been.

I could just stand and stare as Cass in one move had dispatched so cleanly a heavily armoured foe with a far more intimidating weapon.

Kellen moves in front of the two Hobgoblins moving to attack Cass, with one vicious and rapid sword stroke the head of one flew up in the air while the body of the other fell to the floor near cleaved in two.

The blood in the air had yet to be affected by gravity when Anari leaped over the two carcasses created by Kellen and plunged her sword deep into the body of the fourth Hobgoblin. Blood spurted out of its mouth as the sword pushed through its body and up to the hilt, forced so deep with the momentum carried by Anari’s leap.

As Anari twisted the blade and extracted it from the body allow it to fall to the floor, Owyn and I looked at each other. Four more Hobgoblins lay dead on the floor, before either of us had even had catch to draw our weapons.

As the others cleaned their weapons we continued to stare at them, only a slight play of smile on Anari’s and Cass’s lips showed that they were impressed by their own actions. In fact the only one that did not seem impressed was Khandalar, who was crouched on the floor inspecting the broken chain links and muttering to himself.

With the chains now removed from the statue Owyn climbed up it and prised out the black gem eyes, damaging them slightly in the process. He then searched through the broken links on the floor tossing them aside occasionally, each time he did he received a hard look from the studious Khandalar.

Once he was done with that we looked around the room once again, there was a double door in the Western wall and another double door in the Eastern wall.

We walked up to the door in the Eastern wall and looked through the grill, in the dimness beyond we could see a bridge and blackness. As the door was barred on our side, we decided to keep the door barred. As another precaution Owyn pulled the cover over the grill and locked it in place.

As we moved across the room to the door in the Western wall we saw the grill slam shut and as we rushed towards the door, we heard the bar dropping on the other side. Kellen slammed into the door and bounced away from it. The bar was firmly in place and the door was very secure.

We exchanged some worried glances as we realised that we had been observed in combat and our entrance was no longer secret.

As Owyn, Cass, Khandalar searched the room for additional secret doors Kellen and Anari stood in the middle of the room watching the three entrances we knew about. Their swords gripped lightly with the blade tips resting lightly on the floor. I knew from experience Anari was conserving her energy in that stance, if trouble beset us again she would be able to respond with great skill and agility.

I smiled sadly as I returned to the task of searching the walls as I remembered all the dance classes Anari took, I am quite sure the dance of the blades is not what Mother had in mind when she took that wilful little girl along to the studio.

A slight clicking sound came from my left and Cass looked over with a big smile, she backed away as Owyn and I approached with out swords drawn. Her grin was still playing on her face when she drew her sickle, idly testing the edge with her thumb.

Anari and Kellen, with the backs to us, approached the door they never once stopped watching the door to the under-dark, the other barred wooden door and the door from which he had entered and then been attacked.

Owyn as silently as possible opened the door and peered though, the door led into a small corridor. Owyn went first as he habitually did, Cass went second whispering that she had found the door after all. I followed then Khandalar with Anari and Kellen making up the end of the group snaking through the corridor. The corridor moved roughly north and had one door leading to the west and terminated with another door in the northern wall.

Ignoring the door to the west for the moment Owyn silently opens the door into what appears to be a small barrack room. A fire was lit in the east wall casting a dancing light around the room, as the door opened enough for us to move inside we realised the room was occupied by four hobgoblins.

Two were sleeping on rough pallets and two eating and talking at a table, their backs to us. Owyn stated towards the nearest hobgoblin at the table. Cass and I moved towards two sleeping creatures. Our blades worked quickly and silently, only the sound of cartilage and skin being separated could be heard as the sleeping hobgoblins ceased to be.

At the table the fourth hobgoblin only became aware of our presence a moment before if comrade died. The flash of Owyn’s blade in the fire light just before he opened up the throat of the talking hobgoblin, blood sprayed from the wound covering the staring face mesmerised by the now red stained blade.

Anari rushed in and swung at the hobgoblin but missed judged the distance and her sword chewed at the table instead. Kellen then ran swing his vicious sword but slipped on the rapidly pooling blood an his blow missed the hobgoblin by scant inches and the blade sparked against the wall.

I leapt up from the corpse and threw my weight behind my sword as it pierced the clothing and skin of the slowly rising hobgoblin, it’s eyes went vacant almost instantly as it sank back into the chair. Slumping forward when I pulled my sword out, it’s blood dripping on to the floor to mix with the others it once shared a room with.

As I cleaned my blade I looked at Anari and Kellen and smiled, muttering that I am sure they are the fighters of the group and that I should not have to fight their battles for them. Anari ignored the comment, she has had years of practice though, Kellen gripped his sword handle tighter for second the muscles in his arms bunching as he did so before relaxing and smiling at me. Patting me on the back he moved towards the door Cass was investigating and chuckled that there while many more times for me to be thankful his sword is next to mine.

Owyn searched through the room and the bodies and found eighteen copper pennies. He looks slightly panicked as Cass simply swings the door open and steps through it with Kellen and Anari following her.

We catch them up outside the room and in a long passage, which runs along a large ravine that fades away into the darkness. Far below and just barely visible below is a raging torrent of a river, we could hear it more than see it. The rapid waters surging echoing up the ravines wall to our ears. As we progress down it we come to a cross roads.

To the east is a closed door with a statue on either side of Dwarven warrior, a reminder to us of the original inhabitants of this place. The northern passage ends with another wooden door, we have come from the south so we know that has a room full of bodies and blood. It is the large bridge, to the west, over the ravine that grabs our attention the most as it leads towards a very large double wooden door.

Carefully we crossed the bridge, Owyn went first and then each of us followed carefully placing out feet. At the door Owyn checked it for traps and found nothing and looked very surprised to find the door unlocked. He slowly drew the door open and we entered into a very large hall with four massive malachite pillars. The room was illuminated with fire beetles suspended, in cages, from these pillars.

Looking quickly around the room I noticed a door in the west wall opposite to the one we just entered, a set of double doors in the southern wall with two hobgoblins stood on either side. At the northern end of the room was a raised platform, the whole edge of the platform was made up of five steps leading to the main area of the room.

Upon the raised area were seven figures; a powerfully built dwarf about five foot tall holding a chain that is attached to a collar around the neck of a young human male that fits the description of Terrem, three more children were huddled together in chains by a malachite pillar. The is another male person stood on the platform with flowing robes and a white beard he looks a little surprised to see us. The seventh figure was that of looked like a dog until it moved and the porcupine like spins clicked together, a howler I had only ever read about them in books before I knew thought I would see one.

Kazmojin, for it must have been, the slaver of the under-dark shouts at us that we a disturbing a private meeting and that we better have a good reason for interrupting. Owyn steps forward just before I can speak and asks how much for the four children. I closed my eyes and offered up a silent prayer to St Cuthbert that Owyn would not say anything to confrontational.

Kazmojin shouts down that we are too late for the three at the pillar but we are welcome to bid for the last and with that he cruelly pulled on the chain around Terrem’s neck. A growl uttered from Kellen’s throat and Anari’s eyes hardened as they shifted their stances preparing to attack. Owyn looked thoughtful for a second and I believed my prayers answered until he spoke again.

“So could he have all four if the other customer pulled out of the sale because he was dead?”

It happened so fast but the customer on the platform shrank back from the threat, Kazmojin screamed, the customer vanished. Kazmojin shouted for Prickles to rip us apart and the howler leapt from the platform and ran towards us. Owyn launched a flask of oil into the air and it hit the floor just as Pickles ran into the spray of oil. Cass ignited the air and sent forward a stream of fire that both ignited the oil and stuck prickles.

The sound of screams and smell of burning flesh from the conflagration indicated that Prickles was not yet dead. Kazmojin screamed once again as Kellen and Anari rushed forward to attack him. I started singing a sound about a group of heroes that cleaned the denizens of the under-dark from Jzadirune. Remembering the guards behind us I turned and charged the first of them, they seemed stunned by the events unfolding before them. The first guard looked even more surprised as my rapier burst his heart and he fell to the floor.

I was distracted for a moment when I her Anari scream in pain, a huge wound bleeding heavily as Kazmojin finished his strike at her. A fraction of a second was all it took but the second guard had closed the distance and swung his sword at me. Somehow I managed to deflect the blow and in doing so opened up his defences enough for me to be able to punch my sword though the creatures neck, arterial blood sprayed into the air like a dark fountain.

Owyn entered the fight with Kazmojin as both Kellen and Anari caused minor wounds to open up on the dwarf. Cass attacks the still burning and writhing howler with her sickles, its blade opening up a grievous wound in the burning flesh.

Before I enter the remaining fights I noticed the double door open slightly and then close, with my friends in a fight I was not going to go into unexplored areas on my own. I look back at the fight with Kazmojin; Anari, Kellen and Owyn were all causing grievous wounds to appear on the dwarf but he was also punishing them at the same time. All three were covered in cuts and wound of varying magnitudes. Khandalar fires a brilliant purple beam at Kazmojin who some how managed to duck the beam while parrying attacks from both Kellen and Anari. He then delivers a vicious blow to Owyn forcing him to retreat form the fight so that he can be healed.

After I had healed Owyn I turned to help Cass with the howler only to see it rake a paw across her midsection open up for deep cuts. Cass cried out just as I slashed at Pickles, in my haste I missed the evil creature. Pickles again attacked Cass this time it sank it fangs deeply into her thigh, blood gushed out as it let go and Cass collapsed to the floor. Owyn swings at Pickles and removed a few of the quills that hadn’t been burned away. With Pickles distracted by Owyn and myself, Khandalar bravely rushed in with a flask full of a healing potion and poured it in Cass’ open mouth saving her life.

Again I swing at Pickles this time I do strike and strike well my sword dug into the seared flesh and struck bone, the howler screamed and writhed under the attack. Owyn brought his sword down in a fearsome strike against the creature and it collapsed to the floor. Blood continued to drain from the multitudes of cuts on the cracked flesh but the foul beast breathed no more.

Owyn and I looked at each other for a second before turning to the battle raging with Kazmojin, Anari and Kellen both deliver a series of devastating strikes that stagger the dwarf before he once again lashes out and attacks Anari. This time the cut is deep and very serious; she staggered back and stumbled over her sword. Everything around me went peaceful and calm, the battles still raged, Owyn still leapt through the air in an attack on Kazmojin. It was just all in slow motion, my main focus was on Anari falling to the floor without her usual grace. I reached her wand in hand and directed the healing magic over her. As I felt before the healing magic a warm field built up inside me and then flowed through me and into Anari. I watched as the wounds closed up leaving no trace of a mark and the colour returned to her face. When I sensed she was fully healed I released, sadly, the warmth and let the spell end.

As Anari pushes up off the floor to rejoin the fight, Kazmojin collapsed to the floor while his blood still left Kellen’s sword in a fine spray. The look of disappointment on Anari’s face was plain for all to see and her shoulders sagged a little. I smiled as I watched getting back to my feet I noticed Cass was still being held my Khandalar, the potion hadn’t helped her fully recover the wounds she had received from the howler had been far more serious that I had realised. Against the warmth flowed through me as Cass’s beautiful eyes opened she looked up at Khandalar and I, smiled and spoke softly, “Thanks boys”. As the magic left me again I could but only smile at he grace and wit.

We look over at the group of three as they are discussing something, in a blur Kellen struck out at Kzmojins body and severed the head. Owyn shouted for the to wait as he frantically searched the body, only just finishing before Kellen then poured oil over the body and lit it with a torch. Anari looks over and explains that Kazmojin had fewer injuries than he should and he seemed to heal as the fight had progressed. So they decided to remove his head and burn the body just to make sure that he did indeed stay dead.

While we looked at the burning corpse of the slaver there was a popping similar to the sound of a cork coming out of a bottle, certainly is was not a sound that fitted in with the cracking and popping of the burning body. Suddenly the flames were pulled in the same direction as air rushed by us. Then the flames guttered out as if extinguished by an unseen force. As one we looked up, a round creature hovered above us, it opened it giant mouth it huge sword like teeth glistened and its large eyelid in the centre of the creature mass opened and surveyed the seen in front of it. Ten stalks each with an eye at the end moved independently an quickly looking over every square inch of the room.

My blood had gone cold; it went colder still when one by one an eye stalk fixed on each of us. I looked at a creature I had only read about and only ever wished to read about. May St Cuthbert protect us all, we were held in the gaze of a Beholder.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I whispered.

Bran Journal Session7