Special Brownsville Report : The Late Edition
No matter how much her magic cloak had helped the assassin with the lesser party members, this hulk was proving to be a problem. It wasn't that the cloak's magic didn't work on him like the squirrely one they called Aren, it was that his axe was so huge and his swings were so massive that there was nowhere to dodge to and no room for error. It mattered not to this beast that he could not pinpoint her exact location when he was demolishing 5x5 squares of tile with each swing! And what was worse, she couldn't get inside of his 10 foot reach without being subjected to one of his awesome blows. Now Aren, the one who could see through her cloak, was moving to get a flanking position on her, and once that happened she would be minced meat. She had already been staggered by a single glancing blow to her right side from this beast. It was bleeding profusely and needed immediate care. "Where in the blazes is that imbecile Blackguard?" she screamed inwardly. "This beast is more his specialty than mine." At this rate, she'd be pounded into paste long before she was able to retrieve the heads of Fox, Pas and Aren; though from their chatter it had sounded like the Tendriculous might have finished Pas for her. After one last, fierce swing by the half ogre that shattered yet another window pane, the assassin decided to make a tactical retreat. She needed the Blackguard with her if she was going to stand a chance of getting past the War Hulk. She saluted with one of her serpentine daggers, then somersaulted out the broken window and was gone into the darkness.
Nera skidded to a knee next to Fox who was hovering over Pas' lifeless form. Pas' lips had turned blue and his skin was peeling away like great sheets of sunburned skin. His armor still smoked and hissed where it had been soaked in the foul stomach bile of the Tendriculous. She performed a quick check of his vital signs and determined that he was barely clinging to life. Working quickly, Nera grasped the Holy Symbol of Pelor that hung from her neck down between her six feline breasts. The symbol was in the shape of a blazing sun and the points of the sun's rays were somewhat sharp so that when her concentration faltered in battle she need only grasp the symbol harder and let the pain of her God's rays piercing the palm of her hand help her focus her thoughts.
Pas was still but a child, as were Fox, Blossom and Auren. Not one of them were more than sixteen human equivalent years of age. Fox was the oldest of the gang of juveniles that had released her from the captivity of the Uniclops. But even he was only 30 human years old-still but a babe, both emotionally and physically, in elven terms. She had to admit that all of them were prodigies in their own right: Fox was master of stealth, Pas rained bolts onto a target like anyone else pointing a finger, and Auren...well, Auren had SOMETHING very special about him, she just hadn't figured it out yet. He struggled with combat immensely but it wasn't from a lack of skill. There was something else that seemed to make him unable to focus. Someday he would shine, she just knew it.
Her medallion flared and cast brilliant yellow light across the room causing the shadows to darken even further; like a metaphor for the eternal struggle between the two forces. In the weird light, the tentacles of the horrid vine creature seemed to dance and writhe momentarily. "Just a trick of the light" she thought, and pressed her free hand down upon Pas' chest. The holy light washed over Pas like a ripple of water emanating outward from her hand. As the healing light raced across Pas' face his skin began to reweave itself to cover the inflamed flesh; first the tip of his nose, then his cheekbones, and finally hair began sprouting to fill in the ragged gaps on his scalp. Out of Nera's sight and under Pas' armor his entire body was likewise healing. Pas' eyes fluttered, then opened just as the bluish pallor of death left his features and he stared up at Fox and Nera. Fox audibly sighed and Nera grinned widely and stroked a newly reformed strand of hair from Pas' face.
"You were a goner, pal!" Fox exclaimed. "Lucky for you Nera got to you in time to save your ass. Maybe now you'll lay off the breastfeeding jokes, huh?"
Pas grinned toothily and replied with a glance at Nera's chest, "Hey, there's just SO MUCH good material...I can't help it!"
Nera snarled. "That's it, I'm taking the healing back, Fox." Pas turned to Fox with a look of alarm. "Woah, wait...you can't do that Nera! She can't do that, can she Fox?" Fox shrugged in mock sympathy and spread his hands out before him.
"Pelor giveth, and Pelor taketh away" he responded sagely. Pas scrambled backwards on his elbows until he bumped into one of the dead tree's limbs. He looked in horror from face to face until he caught the beginning of a smile on Nera's, then he crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. Fox and Nera had a good laugh at Pas' expense and Pas didn't think it was funny at all.
Suddenly, Pas completely overbalanced backwards from his leaning position on the floor and bonked his head painfully.
"Uh Fox, I'm still injured over here. Can we go easy on the 'old pillow snatching prank' until I've had a chance to heal up a little better?"
"That wasn't me" Fox whispered as Nera formed a low, feral growl in her throat. Pas heard a slithering sound behind him, not unlike that of a serpent.
"Fox, Nera...Did I fail to mention that these things regenerate?"
"We'll discuss your timely dissemination of relevant information later Pas. For now, let's get the hell out of here...unless you don't mind being both lunch AND dinner?" Fox offered Pas a hand up.
"No, no...going is good. Good idea. 'Better part of valor' and all that." Pas'head looked like it was on a swivel as he took Fox's offered hand and sprang to a standing position. They all three looked back to where the severed tentacle had slithered back to the prone trunk and was reattaching itself.
"Groth's gonna be pissed!" Nera muttered and Fox nodded his head slowly in agreement while watching the macabre scene.
"Right, ok. Didn't someone say something about going?" Pas whispered nervously. "Like now? Before I'm eaten again?" The three of them backed away from the writhing creature, slowly at first, then quicker, and finally they broke into a sprint.
"Relax Pas" huffed Nera as they ran,"there is NO WAY your ass tasted good enough for that thing to eat you twice!" When the jibe got no response from Pas, Nera glanced over at him. Pas was too busy ogling Nera's multiple bouncing breasts to pay attention.
Groth and Auren heard approaching footfalls and turned to face them. Nera was cuffing a slightly worse-for-the-wear Pas on the back of the head as they came to a stop in front of them.
"Where's the Dark Lady?" Fox inquired breathlessly.
"Out" Groth rumbled stabbing a thumb back over his shoulder.
"Yeah, it appears she didn't want any part of Groth's chopping lessons" Auren chuckled. "Don't think she'll be causing us any trouble for a while. You shoulda seen the way Groth wiped that stupid smirk off her face when he almost parted her hair with his axe!"
"Was she injured at all" Fox asked skeptically, he didn't like the fact that she was on the loose and unaccounted for once again.
"We managed to land a few superficial blows on her but nonetheless," Auren motioned out the broken pane of glass, shaking his head in amazement "she tumbled out of here like a circus acrobot." Groth growled angrily at the description of the assassin and pounded his hand into his fist saying "Stupid swirly cape!"
Auren was incredulous, " What is it with you guys and that beggar rag of a cape she wears?!" From across the chamber, they heard a rasping thud and then saw a hulking shadow loom large against the moonlit skyline. Groth's eyes widened and he looked questioningly to Fox. Fox, however, was looking around frantically.
"Where's Blossom? Nera?" The alarm was evident in his voice. "Oh no!" she began "I was able to find a window in one of the rooms after we both got blocked out of here, but she..." Nera was equally alarmed now and it was infectious.
"Let's go, quickly" Fox shouted, and then he vaulted out of the broken window to the yard below. The others quickly followed suite, all but Groth, who stared off in the direction of the reforming vine creature and growled. Worse than moving targets, Groth hated regenerating creatures. He could not believe that this tree had the audacity to just stand back up after he had properly beaten it to a pulp (Groth didn't catch his own pun. Groth did not DO puns). Hell, he'd almost even broken a sweat while chopping the thing down. This would not do. One did not simply stand back up after it had been properly pounded by Groth Nasty! He would have to rectify this situation after seeing to Blossom's rescue. With one last thunderous roar, he turned and launched out of the arboretum, not even bothering to exit using one of the openings that had already been created.
No matter how much her magic cloak had helped the assassin with the lesser party members, this hulk was proving to be a problem. It wasn't that the cloak's magic didn't work on him like the squirrely one they called Aren, it was that his axe was so huge and his swings were so massive that there was nowhere to dodge to and no room for error. It mattered not to this beast that he could not pinpoint her exact location when he was demolishing 5x5 squares of tile with each swing! And what was worse, she couldn't get inside of his 10 foot reach without being subjected to one of his awesome blows. Now Aren, the one who could see through her cloak, was moving to get a flanking position on her, and once that happened she would be minced meat. She had already been staggered by a single glancing blow to her right side from this beast. It was bleeding profusely and needed immediate care. "Where in the blazes is that imbecile Blackguard?" she screamed inwardly. "This beast is more his specialty than mine." At this rate, she'd be pounded into paste long before she was able to retrieve the heads of Fox, Pas and Aren; though from their chatter it had sounded like the Tendriculous might have finished Pas for her. After one last, fierce swing by the half ogre that shattered yet another window pane, the assassin decided to make a tactical retreat. She needed the Blackguard with her if she was going to stand a chance of getting past the War Hulk. She saluted with one of her serpentine daggers, then somersaulted out the broken window and was gone into the darkness.
Nera skidded to a knee next to Fox who was hovering over Pas' lifeless form. Pas' lips had turned blue and his skin was peeling away like great sheets of sunburned skin. His armor still smoked and hissed where it had been soaked in the foul stomach bile of the Tendriculous. She performed a quick check of his vital signs and determined that he was barely clinging to life. Working quickly, Nera grasped the Holy Symbol of Pelor that hung from her neck down between her six feline breasts. The symbol was in the shape of a blazing sun and the points of the sun's rays were somewhat sharp so that when her concentration faltered in battle she need only grasp the symbol harder and let the pain of her God's rays piercing the palm of her hand help her focus her thoughts.
Pas was still but a child, as were Fox, Blossom and Auren. Not one of them were more than sixteen human equivalent years of age. Fox was the oldest of the gang of juveniles that had released her from the captivity of the Uniclops. But even he was only 30 human years old-still but a babe, both emotionally and physically, in elven terms. She had to admit that all of them were prodigies in their own right: Fox was master of stealth, Pas rained bolts onto a target like anyone else pointing a finger, and Auren...well, Auren had SOMETHING very special about him, she just hadn't figured it out yet. He struggled with combat immensely but it wasn't from a lack of skill. There was something else that seemed to make him unable to focus. Someday he would shine, she just knew it.
Her medallion flared and cast brilliant yellow light across the room causing the shadows to darken even further; like a metaphor for the eternal struggle between the two forces. In the weird light, the tentacles of the horrid vine creature seemed to dance and writhe momentarily. "Just a trick of the light" she thought, and pressed her free hand down upon Pas' chest. The holy light washed over Pas like a ripple of water emanating outward from her hand. As the healing light raced across Pas' face his skin began to reweave itself to cover the inflamed flesh; first the tip of his nose, then his cheekbones, and finally hair began sprouting to fill in the ragged gaps on his scalp. Out of Nera's sight and under Pas' armor his entire body was likewise healing. Pas' eyes fluttered, then opened just as the bluish pallor of death left his features and he stared up at Fox and Nera. Fox audibly sighed and Nera grinned widely and stroked a newly reformed strand of hair from Pas' face.
"You were a goner, pal!" Fox exclaimed. "Lucky for you Nera got to you in time to save your ass. Maybe now you'll lay off the breastfeeding jokes, huh?"
Pas grinned toothily and replied with a glance at Nera's chest, "Hey, there's just SO MUCH good material...I can't help it!"
Nera snarled. "That's it, I'm taking the healing back, Fox." Pas turned to Fox with a look of alarm. "Woah, wait...you can't do that Nera! She can't do that, can she Fox?" Fox shrugged in mock sympathy and spread his hands out before him.
"Pelor giveth, and Pelor taketh away" he responded sagely. Pas scrambled backwards on his elbows until he bumped into one of the dead tree's limbs. He looked in horror from face to face until he caught the beginning of a smile on Nera's, then he crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. Fox and Nera had a good laugh at Pas' expense and Pas didn't think it was funny at all.
Suddenly, Pas completely overbalanced backwards from his leaning position on the floor and bonked his head painfully.
"Uh Fox, I'm still injured over here. Can we go easy on the 'old pillow snatching prank' until I've had a chance to heal up a little better?"
"That wasn't me" Fox whispered as Nera formed a low, feral growl in her throat. Pas heard a slithering sound behind him, not unlike that of a serpent.
"Fox, Nera...Did I fail to mention that these things regenerate?"
"We'll discuss your timely dissemination of relevant information later Pas. For now, let's get the hell out of here...unless you don't mind being both lunch AND dinner?" Fox offered Pas a hand up.
"No, no...going is good. Good idea. 'Better part of valor' and all that." Pas'head looked like it was on a swivel as he took Fox's offered hand and sprang to a standing position. They all three looked back to where the severed tentacle had slithered back to the prone trunk and was reattaching itself.
"Groth's gonna be pissed!" Nera muttered and Fox nodded his head slowly in agreement while watching the macabre scene.
"Right, ok. Didn't someone say something about going?" Pas whispered nervously. "Like now? Before I'm eaten again?" The three of them backed away from the writhing creature, slowly at first, then quicker, and finally they broke into a sprint.
"Relax Pas" huffed Nera as they ran,"there is NO WAY your ass tasted good enough for that thing to eat you twice!" When the jibe got no response from Pas, Nera glanced over at him. Pas was too busy ogling Nera's multiple bouncing breasts to pay attention.
Groth and Auren heard approaching footfalls and turned to face them. Nera was cuffing a slightly worse-for-the-wear Pas on the back of the head as they came to a stop in front of them.
"Where's the Dark Lady?" Fox inquired breathlessly.
"Out" Groth rumbled stabbing a thumb back over his shoulder.
"Yeah, it appears she didn't want any part of Groth's chopping lessons" Auren chuckled. "Don't think she'll be causing us any trouble for a while. You shoulda seen the way Groth wiped that stupid smirk off her face when he almost parted her hair with his axe!"
"Was she injured at all" Fox asked skeptically, he didn't like the fact that she was on the loose and unaccounted for once again.
"We managed to land a few superficial blows on her but nonetheless," Auren motioned out the broken pane of glass, shaking his head in amazement "she tumbled out of here like a circus acrobot." Groth growled angrily at the description of the assassin and pounded his hand into his fist saying "Stupid swirly cape!"
Auren was incredulous, " What is it with you guys and that beggar rag of a cape she wears?!" From across the chamber, they heard a rasping thud and then saw a hulking shadow loom large against the moonlit skyline. Groth's eyes widened and he looked questioningly to Fox. Fox, however, was looking around frantically.
"Where's Blossom? Nera?" The alarm was evident in his voice. "Oh no!" she began "I was able to find a window in one of the rooms after we both got blocked out of here, but she..." Nera was equally alarmed now and it was infectious.
"Let's go, quickly" Fox shouted, and then he vaulted out of the broken window to the yard below. The others quickly followed suite, all but Groth, who stared off in the direction of the reforming vine creature and growled. Worse than moving targets, Groth hated regenerating creatures. He could not believe that this tree had the audacity to just stand back up after he had properly beaten it to a pulp (Groth didn't catch his own pun. Groth did not DO puns). Hell, he'd almost even broken a sweat while chopping the thing down. This would not do. One did not simply stand back up after it had been properly pounded by Groth Nasty! He would have to rectify this situation after seeing to Blossom's rescue. With one last thunderous roar, he turned and launched out of the arboretum, not even bothering to exit using one of the openings that had already been created.
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