I was up and running towards the third troll before his spear stopped skidding behind us. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I got to him, since I didn’t have a weapon in hand.
It had already turned its attention so fray between the Frau and his companion, so my leaping kick landed squarely on the side of his enormous kneecap. I felt and heard the crunching of the bone. His leg buckled and collapsed on itself.
I tucked and rolled out of the way of a massive fist that sought to crush me as the thing lashed out n a blind rage at its sudden immobility.
By the time I had tumbled to safety and regained my bearings, I saw that Jim had already found his own footing and was racing to help the Frau in her struggle.
Ravyn was striding forward towards the troll that was now trying to hobble towards me. She smiled as she sent a lancing bolt of flame into the back of its skull, ending his miserable life before his smoldering corpse hit the floor.
I turned to see how Jim and the Frau were faring just in time to see Excalibur slash downwards in a fatal stroke across the already tattered throat of the final troll. The Frau had rolled clear in time and stood on all fours, panting with exertion. Her fur was torn and bloody in several spots, but it wasn’t entirely clear how wounded she might be. Most of the blood seemed to be darker ichor of the troll.
I jogged back to pick up my batons and joined the rest of them near the mangled body of that final victim.
Jim mopped the sweat off of his forehead and nodded as I approached. “I can’t wait to give you back this damn sword and let you play at being the hero Rusty. I’ll be more than happy to resume my roles as a counselor, researcher, and treasurer.”
I chuckled at that. “Yeah, this sort of stuff is a lot less worrisome when you’re already dead.”
Before anyone else could join in the banter, there was a loud grating of stone on stone as a very large doorway opened in the back of the chamber. Several more armored, well armed trolls marched into the chamber, their hobnailed boots echoing in a strange unison as they lined up four to a side on each side of the doorway. The strangest part of this scene was the two smaller, hooded figures that emerged from the shadows behind the trolls. They looked to be human and seemed to have a distinctly feminine aspect to them that was not entirely concealed by the heavy cloaks that obscured their faces. One of the women was clearly taller and heavier than the other, but neither carried any weapons in their hands.
We all turned to face these new foes, each of us wondering how we would be able to face eight trolls and these two women of unknown strength.
Jim broke the silence first. “Fuck! Why would this damn sword choose now to go quiet?”
I glanced over at the blade in his hands, which was now no longer glowing. It had cooled and quieted as the women had entered the room.
The larger of the women gave a short, throaty laugh as she reached up and pulled back the hood to reveal her face. “Maybe that blade doesn’t want you to swing at a friend by mistake.”
Ravyn gasped. “Cerry? Is that really you?”
Cerrydwen nodded before turning to the trolls that now seemed to be under her command. She grunted an order in their guttural tongue that sent the guards trooping back from whence they had come.
I had my doubts. I had seen Excalibur go quiet on me at inconvenient times before. “Careful everyone, she may be a Doppelganger. And we don’t know who the other one is yet either.”
The smaller of the women stepped closer and brought her gloved hands up to her own hood. Zenny Al Farhan’s soft, musical voice spoke from within. “Rusty, we are not shapeshifters. You can touch me if you would like to confirm that.” She pulled the hood back to reveal her face.
“How is this possible? We had heard that you were captured by El Diablito and Papa Locks.!”
Cerrydwen walked forward slowly. As she came closer, we could each see that her face was badly bruised. “We were caught by surprise at the safe house and were captured with Alexa and Naomi. It’s a long tale though and I don’t think we have the time to tell it here. We need to leave before either El Diablito or Papa Locks return. My control over those trolls will not survive long if they comeback. I’ve found out though, that the trolls can tell who the Doppelgangers are. They are very efficient at hunting them, when they choose to do so.”
“Wait, where are the others? Where is Alexa?”
Her face clouded over in obvious pain. “I don’t know where Alexa or Naomi are right now. But almost all of our other allies who had been taken in the raids and were brought here are safe. Herne and Moira are watching over them on the next floor up since some of them were badly wounded. Let’s go get the others and get out of here. We can tell our respective tales once we are safely away from this place.”
Monday, October 08, 2007
Little Keep on the Borderlands...Part 3
I gripped the batons in my hands and stepped forward onto the bridge that the Frau had created and led the way towards the shattered doorway of the tower.
Jim followed close behind, muttering half heard imprecations under his breath. Ravyn swung back onto the Frau’s humped back, burying one hand into the thick black fur to maintain her balance. With Ravyn secure on her back, the Frau shambled behind Jim, bringing up the rear of our small party.
Passing through the portal, I felt a wave of magickal energy pass over me that was similar to passing from one world to another. Inside, the dark grey monotony of the Shadowland was replaced by the vibrant colors and rich textures of the ‘normal’ world. I was standing in the brightly lit foyer of what could have easily passed for a modern office building. The walls and floors of the place were of highly polished red and white marble tiles while the abundant golden fixtures gleamed in the bright yellow light that they put out.
I had stopped in the middle of the foyer, caught off guard by the opulent setting until Jim bumped into me from behind. I stepped to the left and forward, batons held at the ready despite the apparent emptiness of the place, to allow Jim and the others to join me inside.
Jim stood there as stunned as I was. All he could muster was a whistle and a look of consternation that reflected how I felt myself.
Ravyn slipped off of the Frau’s back again and stood to her right, eyes narrowed as she tried to take in the sights as well.
The Frau gave off a wuffling snort and scraped a disdainful paw across the marble. “Children,” she called out to us mentally again, “don’t let this man’s illusions distract you from what we are trying to do. Rusty, watch out!”
Just as she called out, I felt more than I saw the presence of another being come up in front of me. Her warning came just in the nick of time as I jumped back just as the head of a huge warhammer landed right where I had been. The fine marble flooring shattered under the impact, sending red and white shards to go flying.
Excalibur leapt into action as the hammer head hit the floor. Before the unseen creature who had swung the massive weapon could pull it up for a second swing, the shining, singing blade lashed out and sliced into the massive wooden haft of the weapon, severing the metal head from the handle, pulling the surprised Jim in front of me as it did so.
A lancing bolt of red hot flames erupted from Ravyn’s outstretched hand and struck the unseen creature full in the chest. The explosion of energy that ensued shattered the illusion of opulence and modernity and laid bare the face that we were in a huge, unlit stone chamber that was littered with the bones and refuse of a trio of troll-like guardians.
The other two creatures that had been shambling into position to lay their own ambushes on us now gave up all pretense of sneaking by roaring out their own challenges and coming forward in attack mode.
The troll who had been hit by Ravyn’s flame bolt staggered back as it tried to put out the flames that began to consume him in earnest.
The Frau gave an excited snort and leapt to the attack against the troll on the right who was wielding a huge spiked mace. Even as she ducked under his first wild blow, she was growing and morphing into a larger, browner bear with much longer claws. Rearing up on her hind legs, she was as tall and nearly as massive as the nine foot tall troll that she now wrapped in a massive hug of claws, teeth and fur. The two of them tumbled to the ground, growling and snarling at each other in a titanic battle of beasts.
Seeing the final troll rear back and prepare to throw the massive spear in its hands, I dropped my batons so that I could reach and grab Jim with my left hand and Ravyn with my right and dove to my left, dragging them to the ground. The spear struck the stone floor where Jim had been standing creating a shower of sparks and a spray of pebbles.
(to be continued tonight)
Jim followed close behind, muttering half heard imprecations under his breath. Ravyn swung back onto the Frau’s humped back, burying one hand into the thick black fur to maintain her balance. With Ravyn secure on her back, the Frau shambled behind Jim, bringing up the rear of our small party.
Passing through the portal, I felt a wave of magickal energy pass over me that was similar to passing from one world to another. Inside, the dark grey monotony of the Shadowland was replaced by the vibrant colors and rich textures of the ‘normal’ world. I was standing in the brightly lit foyer of what could have easily passed for a modern office building. The walls and floors of the place were of highly polished red and white marble tiles while the abundant golden fixtures gleamed in the bright yellow light that they put out.
I had stopped in the middle of the foyer, caught off guard by the opulent setting until Jim bumped into me from behind. I stepped to the left and forward, batons held at the ready despite the apparent emptiness of the place, to allow Jim and the others to join me inside.
Jim stood there as stunned as I was. All he could muster was a whistle and a look of consternation that reflected how I felt myself.
Ravyn slipped off of the Frau’s back again and stood to her right, eyes narrowed as she tried to take in the sights as well.
The Frau gave off a wuffling snort and scraped a disdainful paw across the marble. “Children,” she called out to us mentally again, “don’t let this man’s illusions distract you from what we are trying to do. Rusty, watch out!”
Just as she called out, I felt more than I saw the presence of another being come up in front of me. Her warning came just in the nick of time as I jumped back just as the head of a huge warhammer landed right where I had been. The fine marble flooring shattered under the impact, sending red and white shards to go flying.
Excalibur leapt into action as the hammer head hit the floor. Before the unseen creature who had swung the massive weapon could pull it up for a second swing, the shining, singing blade lashed out and sliced into the massive wooden haft of the weapon, severing the metal head from the handle, pulling the surprised Jim in front of me as it did so.
A lancing bolt of red hot flames erupted from Ravyn’s outstretched hand and struck the unseen creature full in the chest. The explosion of energy that ensued shattered the illusion of opulence and modernity and laid bare the face that we were in a huge, unlit stone chamber that was littered with the bones and refuse of a trio of troll-like guardians.
The other two creatures that had been shambling into position to lay their own ambushes on us now gave up all pretense of sneaking by roaring out their own challenges and coming forward in attack mode.
The troll who had been hit by Ravyn’s flame bolt staggered back as it tried to put out the flames that began to consume him in earnest.
The Frau gave an excited snort and leapt to the attack against the troll on the right who was wielding a huge spiked mace. Even as she ducked under his first wild blow, she was growing and morphing into a larger, browner bear with much longer claws. Rearing up on her hind legs, she was as tall and nearly as massive as the nine foot tall troll that she now wrapped in a massive hug of claws, teeth and fur. The two of them tumbled to the ground, growling and snarling at each other in a titanic battle of beasts.
Seeing the final troll rear back and prepare to throw the massive spear in its hands, I dropped my batons so that I could reach and grab Jim with my left hand and Ravyn with my right and dove to my left, dragging them to the ground. The spear struck the stone floor where Jim had been standing creating a shower of sparks and a spray of pebbles.
(to be continued tonight)
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