Rashemen IV

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Kelvados had his composure back, and he quietly checked his blades. Inwardly he knew ever fight the monster that was him, was getting stronger. But the monster was keeping him alive, he vowed when this is all ovewr he'll lay down his blades, they have only caused him trouble and pain. H drew the stone over the blade, the repeptition of the swish on the iron. It lulled him into a trance, Viconia's death came back to him, he saw the blades rip her body, he was them pierce the delicate flesh. Over and over her anguish played over into his mind. Delinos had shook his shoulder and he came out of the vision. He realized something at that moment, Viconia had sacrificed herself for them, she had saved them at her one expense. He felt..... ashamed of letting her die, he could of saved her. He should have, he should have been powerful enough to save her. It finaly dawned on him that, he will neverbe able to do anything but kill. He could stop it, but he would have to get used to it.

 

Miranda looks around; she is amazed by the bravery look of Kongol’s friends, she had never seen such thing. However, the thought did not linger in her head for long; she was more preoccupied with what it is to come.

She approached Kongol and presented another big smile, “My caring Kongol, let us go, I will lead the way out of here, but please keep me close company. I feel that more of your help will need it” Kongol blushed as he smiled back at Miranda, still unclear on his emotions towards her kindness and compassion, Kongol got his Axe and stepped next to her.

Once everyone got ready, they moved on further into the cave; as they continue, the group got very quiet. Kongol had observed new emotions and not only his own but out of several of his friends, he was not sure if this was the reason that they were all in silence or was it the uncertainty of what the future was going to depart to each one of them. Besides the silence of the group, the cave itself became very silent, the usual sound of bats, water dripping or just small rocks falling had all gone away, in fact the air itself became thinner and drier, the sand under there feet was finer. The more they went on, the deeper they got until a point that Del and Atten had to use a torch to light the way.

After a while, the group reached the end of the passageway, in front of them was two pillars, in between was a huge wooden door, Miranda turn around, smile and said “Pass this door is the exit, please Kongol open the door for me so we once an for all leave the place”

Kongol pushed the double doors open and walked thru, beyond it was a great bright hall once everyone was inside the doors shut close, Miranda look at Kongol, jumped and with a swift move stabbed him in the upper leg with her dagger, she twisted the dagger inside his thigh and Kongol kneeled down in pain. Another jump from Miranda and using a Rapier envelop in blue flames, she cut Kongol's back and landed in front of him.

With an evil laughter “Stupid, I mean, how stupid can you be. Damn… so easy… did you really think that I would call you, so you could save me? Idiot, you will die as you deserve, and your friends will have to meet the same fate to follow to follow such filth.”

The group charged towards her, but suddenly a huge thunderclap landed just inches in front of Miranda, a roar rumbled the hall and behind Miranda, the shaped of a Dragon landed.

Miranda stud there, looking at the rest of them laughing. “Come on, what are you waiting for…Kill! kill them ‘all?” while Kongol’s bloody body laid in the sandy floor.

 

Sepp looked astonished at Miranda for a moment. He felt crushed, Miranda had seemed so nice. Well, if it was going to be this way, then so be it.

He charged at the dragon, waving his Staff. With a quick bend of its huge neck it gulped him up and swallowed him down without even a bite or a chew.

 

Nakia screamed. The hall was bright with light, there were no shadows to hide in but she was small and instead of charging at the Dragon she raced around it. Its tail swiped at her with vicious spikes but she slipped under it.

An exploding bullet flew from her sling, not at the dragon but at Miranda. There was a flash and a boom that echoed through out the hall. Miranda fell to the floor and Nakia was on her in a flash stabbing into her body with both dagger and sword. Rarely had anyone seen her so enraged. All she wanted to do was kill the thing that had betrayed them.

The dragon roared and its massive head swung towards her. She didn't care. Her one regret was that she couldn't kill Miranda slowly and painfully.

 

Jex, didn't flinch, he had fought and killed a dragon before. Although that was with the assistance from Johen, Jex's dwarf friend. Without even thinking, he cast a solid black orb over the dragons head. Without it's vision, it wouldn't be nearly as much of a fight. Not that dragons weren't a challenge, but for the experienced half drow. It was just another fight. Bringing the magic of his amulet into power he sprinted around to where Nakia was slaughtering Miranda. Grabbing her by the waist he rushed the halfling away from the dragon. Leaving the beast to the others.

 

From the dragon's darkened head came first one slight wimper of pain, then a howl of agony. Its claws raked at its belly, trying to get the painful stone out. When that proved fruitless, it sniffed, then let out a bolt of lighting in Jex's general direction before lashing out with claws and tail at anything nearby.

Nakia, Jex, and the drow brothers heard Sepp's voice in their heads, "Hey all, I'm allright in here for now. The dragon's got stomach acid eating away his innards and I've cut some larger veins and arteries, I think fatally, though probably slow. Anything you can do to speed up the process would be great. I can't claw out through his scales."

 

Nakia struggled and shrieked in Jex's arms in every language she knew. The gist of it was, "Let me go, I'm going slice the freaking briata to tiny little bits. Nothing left but dots. Even a fish wouldn't eat her.." What she actually said just can't be repeated in front of young children.

Jex had an armful of berserk halfling, maybe the dragon would have been a better choice.

 

Kelvados ran around the wyrm, he dodged a swinging tail. He rolled under the beasts body, and looked for a spot under the belly. He moved with the thing trying to keep with it, he saw a openning in the scales and thrust his sword up. The dragon growled and dropped his body down, it wounded him greatly as he forced himself down on he blade, but it might crush the attacker. Kelvados fell to the ground and roared in pain, he saw stars as the massive body crashed down upon him.

 

Delinos had been lowering the magic resistance of the dragon, and also had been trying to distract him from Kelvados with bright lights and flashes of magic. It worked, but not enough for him to ignore the pain of his brother's blade. Delinos cast a quick Dimension Door onto the back of the dragon, and stabbed dual blades into the hard scales of the dragon. One blade managed to slip through and already wounded part, and the other simply bruised the back badly.

Before the wyrm could throw him off, he cast another Door and appeared beside the monster's belly. Delinos pulled out a small explosive potion he had picked up and shoved it under the belly, leaving room for Kelvados to get out. The potion exploded and burned the bottom of the dragon, just enough pain to stand and recoil. Delinos threw himself onto his brother's unconcious body and teleported them to the doorway of the hall.

"Kelvados, KELVADOS!" Delinos yelled as he dodged a breath of fire, "Wake up!" He slapped the KO'd drow with a reckless panic. The drow started to get frustrated, and grabbed Kelvados's bag from his side.

Potions, herbs, potions, herbs.. Aha! He found a vial of purple liquid and slipped it into his brother's mouth. A moment later, the brother choked and spluttered, suddenly alert and awake. He coughed and inquired as to what the taste was in his mouth.

Delinos smiled as he hastily placed the potions and herbs back into his brother's bag. "Crushed and liquified beholder eyes. Horrible taste and disgusting smell, but so potent that it can wake the deepest sleeps. Only thing I could find." Kelvados stared, open mouthed at his brother. Then, a tail came crashing down between them, and they jumped back into the fray.

 

The Dragon had enough; the wounds under his belly were painful. Once the Drow bothers had move back, the dragon lifted itself from the ground for a moment, just to flap his wings in front creating push of wind moving anything and everything in front him. Nakia and the body of Miranda were the first to be lifted in the air, Perim and Jex were next, flying to the very end of the room, lastly the bloody unconscious body of Kongol was thrown as well precariously landing him at the corner of the Hall.

Once the area in front of the Dragon was clean, the dragon moved back and opened its mouth allowing the dry air and sand around him to move in, it was attempting to use its breath weapon, just as it had done before; however, inside of it the body of Sepp interrupted his action causing pain that was more excruciating than before.

From his mouth, blood starts drip down as the dragon roars shaking the whole cave…

 

Perim quickly leaped up saw that Nakia was all right and already headed towards the body of Miranda. The dragon was thrashing around in agony but was still a menace to all. He leaped and twirled gracefully around the tail, agilely avoiding the wicked spikes.

He thrust his sword into the soft back area of the dragon twisting the sword and plunging it deep as he could. The dragon roars again the thrashing tail slashes against Perim and once more he tumbles across the hall to land near Jex.

He looks up at Jex and his twin scimitars, smiles, jerks his head at the dragon, "Hi brother, shall we dance?" With that he is off to the dragon again literally dancing his way around the tail.

Suddenly over even the roar of the dragon sounds an enraged scream. "Alive, the freaken vampire lives." Nakia leaps on the moving body and stares with horror as Miranda opens her eyes and her mouth exposing fangs. Miranda lunges towards her mouth wide but Nakia hits her with a vicious punch and pulls a shining blade from somewhere. It gleams silver in the light of hall as Nakia plunges it into Miranda's heart and the body crumbles into a pile of dark grey dust.

She stands up rather shakily, "Really was a vampire." She says quietly then turns her attention to the dragon.

[ February 13, 2007, 01:44: Message edited by: Nakia ]

 

Kelvados leaped up into the dragon's open mouth as it roars. He plungs his blade up into the roof of his mouth. Driving it deep into it's brain, the mighty beast fell and Kelvados came tumbling out. He amassed many bruises, but he stood up shakily. He grinned and limped off to a place to sit.

 

Sepp was rather enjoying the ride inside the dragon, he was quite cushioned from the flesh and organs. It was exciting, actually. He had moved from the stomach, slashing possibly the liver or maybe a kidney with his hands, that he had turned into sharp obsidian blade, and was now in the large colon, or at least hoped he was.

He was trying to make it to the bowel and find a way out, when he came to an obstuction. It was a partial skeleton, maybe of an elf, wearing a still intact chain vest. It had worked its way into the folds of the bowel lining and was quite stuck. He grabbed its torso and shook it. A dagger rattled out of its rib cage. Sepp took it and started jabbing viciously in every direction.

He must have hit a major artery going to the back legs, because the section of bowel he was in was suddenly filling up with blood. The dragon was rocking in agony, though with less vigor now. It filled its lungs full of air, preparing for a blast of lightning.

The diaphragm pushed against Sepp, and he slashed it with the dagger. Explosively, Sepp and the elf torso was propelled out of the bowel with the biggest flatulence he'd ever heard.

At exactly the same time the dragon let loose a bolt of lighting, but the chainmail vest and dagger were a shorter path to ground than its projected target, and the electricity jolted backwards through the dragon and out its rear end, sparking on Sepp, the chain vest, and the dagger.

After the thunder clap, the dragon dropped to the ground, smoke and the smell of charred flesh wafting up from it.

"WHAT A BLAST!" Sepp roared. He felt totally energized. His stone body was none the worse for its trip through dragon stomach acid, though his newly acquired clothes and gear, what was left of them, were falling off of him. He looked at the chain vest, now in a loose pile of rib bones, the skull had flown off somewhere.

He picked up the chain vest and shook it off, then slipped it over his head. It came down to just above his knees, and wasn't too baggy, must have been a skinny elf. With a belt, it would be just fine, and maybe he'd be able to keep a clothing item for a little while with it. It having spent a long time in a dragon's bowel and being none the worse for the wear.

He hefted the dagger in his hand and looked for Miranda, he really wanted to give her what for. He saw Nakia standing over a dust pile and understood that vengeance had been served.

"Hey, could one of you guys with a big blade help me get my Staff out of the dragon's lung? I didn't think it would fare as well as I in the stomach acid, so I shoved it through the esophagus as I was going down."

He made the motions of shoving the Staff with his right arm, trying to figure out which way he had been facing. "I think it must be the left one."

 

Nakia raced over to Sepp and started to hug him then stepped back. "Am I glad to see you but well I don't know how to put this politely but you need a bath."

She then turned her attention to Kongol. "Delinos, can you help him. Hurt bad. Needs a healer." She pulls out a flask and a cloth and starts gently cleaning him off. A tear rolls down her face. "Poor sweet giant but do not feel bad. What betrayed you was not the Miranda of your youth but a travesty. That most unnatural of all creatures, a vampire." As she cleans his wounds she just keeps talking quietly not knowing if he hears or not but hoping the sound of her voice might penetrate his darkness.

 

Sepp looked at what was still covering most of him, dragon blood and other substances that one would expect to find in a dragon's bowel. His sense of smell didn't really work when he was in stone form, but he was sure Nakia was right, the problem was, where to find water. Well, over there was a sand pit, that would be better than nothing. He rolled around in the sand for a while, then when it and the muck dried brushed it off. He hoped he smelled somewhat better.

He went to help tend the wounded. He couldn't pull the same trick he had with the big desert monsters, because the dragon was definitely very dead, and Miranda had had no life force to give. But he did manage to help get all the injured stabilized.

 

Delinos crouched silently beside the man who he had once belittled and taunted. He felt a tinge of anger as he realized what it must've felt like for him to see Miranda reveal herself. Much like it felt to see Viconia die again, or similar. Like you've lost something that was once so dear to you. A flash of blades ripping at the flesh of his sister caused him to squeeze his eyes shut, suppressing tears.

He still had Kelvados' pack, so he pulled out some herbs, a pestle and mortar, and several potions and vials varying in size, color, and texture. He unplugged a small vial filled with a translucent green liquid, and poured it into his palm. He rubbed the liquid onto Kongol's face, leaving little trace as it was absorbed. Delinos took out the pestle and mortar and began to grind some small talons together, soon making a fine dust. The talons were that of a Phoenix, and the dust was called chath suru vress'lvel.

Another potion appeared in his hand, this time a tad larger and holding a brown ooze, that was very thick and slow-moving. It seemed to recoil as he popped the plug off, absorbing the oxygen and shrinking. Delinos flipped it over into the mortar, but by now it had hardened into small chunks. While he ground the Tanth Vlos, Wyrm's Blood, he hummed a tune that was quite strange sounding to the others. It was very disjunct, yet still sounded melodious as a whole. While doing this, the tanth vlos seemed to return to the state of ooze, and grew back to the size it was when it had been sealed.

Delinos glanced at the pile of potions and satchels of herbs for a moment, then nodded as if to assure himself and grabbed a black leather pouch. What came out seemed to be glass, and sounded as such when it hit the mortar. As the others watched, they saw that when the glass like substance, called darthirii olath niar, reacted with the tanth vlos, it became a shiny, silvery liquid. It was mixed by Delinos with the pestle, and soon changed into a black, vile smelling liquid.

The others' eyes' watered, and their noses plugged as the scent wafted over them. As they got used to it, they felt as if it had cleansed them. He then gestured with his hands, "We need to rub this on Kongol's injuries, as well as his joints." He paused as the others displayed looks of disgust and fright, "The blade that he hast been stabbed by was no ordinary blade. It was of Drow nature, poisoned with the Darkest magicks. This is simply called, Niar d'Afya, water of life. Although it's name is simple, it's effects are grand."

Delinos dipped his finger in the Niar d'Afya, and spread it on Kongol's forehead. It seemed to spread well, as he covered the giant's entire forehead with just one finger. "Use it sparingly, we are running low on supplies, and these were our last chath suru vress'lvel."

He put the mortar on the floor beside him as he continued his healing.

 

Nakia carefully reached out to the mortar and took some of the black liquid. She followed Delinos' example and began spreading it on Kongol's injuries.

At one point she looked up and saw Jex and Perim. She smiled at them both.

"Jex, I owe you thanks. You saved my life, maybe twice over. Perhaps more than my life. A vampire bite can be worse than death. Sorry i was such a handful but she made me mad."

 

Atten could tell that there was something wrong with Kongol that was more concerning than a normal sword wound. There was definitely some sort of dark poison at work. Something unnatural and abhorrent to Atten.

"Only powerful magic can fully heal Kongol now, I think. His condition is beyond my powers to influence."

 

"I understand. Anger can help in a fight. As we saw even a angry halfling can kill a vampire. I understand the idea of using anger in battle as well as anyone. But be careful young lady in battle the anger can lead to mistakes, you must walk a fine line." Jex said placing a hand on Nakias shoulder. "My blades sensed something unnatural in the cavern, but I couldn't tell what it was. But upon entering this room it was clear that Miranda was the threat."

"Sepp, thats Slyvian chain. Usually it is stored for bladeslingers. They are elven fighters who are devoted to protecting Rillifane Rallathils temples and his devoted servants. They were the most loyal of his followers. Treat it well, it is a wonderful find."

 

Ciana finished singing her fingers gently stilled the strings on her lute. While the battle had raged she had sung to give them vigour and courage, while trying to downheart the dragon. Her song had almost never started when she had seen the fury that was Nakia at Kongol's betrayal; and sha had almost faltered when he had been below the dragon, fortunately his brother had been there to revive him. She had overheard the conversations regarding Kongol and then searched in her bag til she found a bright potion bottle, she handed it Delinos saying

"When you have finished get him to drink this, it is my last one, it is a Heal potion created by the high healers of Corellon; they tell me that it will cure all ills and poisons and bring someone backc whole from the brink of death. His need is great for this, give it to him."