T Lain - Treachery's Wake

Lidda dropped her crossbow. “I can’t risk a shot,” she said, drawing the short sword from her side. “We’ve got to move in.” She crept up. “Stay close to me.”

Malthooz gulped and followed her into the fray. They moved along the ground toward the center of the camp. Krusk was still tangling with his opponent as more gnolls emerged from their tents around the clearing. They looked disoriented at first, but they snapped out of their stupor when they spotted the barbarian in their midst and saw Malthooz and Lidda approaching.

Before he knew what he was doing, Malthooz found himself in the middle of the fight. He moved with Lidda as the rogue cut a path through the gnolls toward Krusk. Malthooz let out a groan when a gnoll appeared in the space between him and the rogue. He swung his club at the thing’s nose, catching the tip of it and sending the creature yelping into Lidda’s back. The rogue spun on the beast and plunged her sword into its chest.

“Careful,” she hissed.

Malthooz and the halfling fought side by side, the rogue’s sword slashing through the ranks of gnolls as the half-orc brought his club to bear. Another gnoll fell to the ground, clutching its broken wrist where Malthooz’s club had struck. Malthooz felt the frenzy of combat pounding in his head. The pulse of blood rushing through his ears drowned out the sounds of the fighting going on all around him. He swung his club at anything that moved, whether it was in reach or not. He felt it smash in the side of a skull with a sickening sound.

The halfling and the half-orc worked well together in a strange sort of way, the rogue keeping her body between Malthooz and gnoll’s blades while he swung his club at them over her head. It was an awkward but effective tactic. His unseasoned recklessness kept the creature’s guard up while the rogue’s sword found its purchase in their flesh. The rest of the company fought alongside them. The bodies of dead gnolls littered the ground at their feet as the companions slashed through the monsters’ ranks.

The crunch of heavy footsteps sounded in the woods nearby, coming over the more immediate noise of fighting, echoing above the ringing in the half-orc’s’ ears. Malthooz turned on the commotion in time to see the huge form of an ettin erupt into the camp. A harsh and dissonant screech peeled through the air as the giant rushed forward, covering the length of a body with each of its tremendous strides. Malthooz shouted an incoherent warning.

Two sets of eyes fell on the half-orc, whose knees trembled at the sight of the thing. It was a grotesque monster, unlike anything he’d ever imagined. Two heads sat upon massive shoulders. Each face was riddled with warts and scabs. Rotten brown teeth protruded from the creature’s lower jaws. Its legs and arms were the size of small oaks. Either of its hands was easily as big as the half-orc’s head. Thin, greasy hair hung limp over the creature’s brows. It was clothed in a crude, hide loincloth. Bits of dried flesh still clung to the garment.

Mialee turned on the ettin with her magic bolts. A trio of them raced from her fingertips at the giant. The missiles slammed into the creature, burning holes in its thick clothing but doing little else.

The gnolls backed off as the giant waded into the melee wielding the lower half of a tree as a weapon. It moved toward Krusk at once, bringing the huge club around on the barbarian, sending him reeling to the side to avoid the blow. The return swing caught both of Vadania’s phantasmal wolves, sending their broken bodies hurtling across the camp.

The ettin’s attacks became less precise as the passion of the fight overtook it. It leveled a handful of fleeing gnolls, catching them on the end of its tree as they tried to get away from the flailing stump. The rest of the gnolls backed off entirely to the edge of the clearing, not wanting to run but unwilling to stay within the ettin’s indiscriminate reach.

Malthooz blinked as he watched Mialee disappear for an instant then reappear at the ettin’s side. The wizard flashed into and out of sight while she struck at the creature’s feet with her staff.

The door flap of the main tent was thrown open from inside. A large gnoll stood in the doorway, mumbling words, its hands weaving patterns in the air. Malthooz felt something rubbing against his boots. He tried to lift his foot but it was held firmly to the ground. The earth seemed to come alive under his feet as tiny sprouts sprang up around him, snaking their way up his legs. The vines wrapped themselves up his calf, tightening as they grew.

He looked around at the others. All of them were caught in a web of foliage. Its spell completed, the gnoll dashed from the tent and into the woods.

“He’s mine,” Lidda said, hacking at the ground with her sword. She severed the last of the creepers that held her in place and raced after the fleeing gnoll.

Krusk and Mialee faced the giant, all three of them literally rooted to the battle. As it bent to add leverage to its swing, the barbarian’s axe flashed upward and severed one of the ettin’s heads from the body. Like an enormous melon, it rolled across the clearing, leaving behind a splashed trail of blood. One hand slipped from the giant’s club as it lost control of half of its body. The beast spun in a circle, one leg tangled in foliage, the other stomping free, as it swung the tree around. Mialee dodged to the side and slammed her staff into the creature’s chin. With a loud pop, the weapon snapped in two, but the jagged end stabbed upward through the ettin’s jaw. The giant toppled backward, crashing into the side of a tent and bringing the structure flapping down around itself.

Seeing their champion down, the gnolls watching from the edges of the clearing turned and scattered into the gloom of the forest, leaving their attackers in possession of the camp.

“I lost the spellcaster,” Lidda wheezed, her breath coming in short rapid breaths. “At least we have the staff. And I found this in its tent.”

She tossed a roll of heavy parchment to Mialee. The wizard grabbed the thing, unfurling it and studying the writing on its surface. Arcane symbols covered its length. The wizard stuffed it into her pouch.

Lidda squatted down and set the box on the ground.

“It makes no sense to me that a band of gnolls would be after this magical device,” she said, running her hand along the smooth surface of the case. The ornate silver lines that were previously animated still traced the natural contours of the wood but no longer moved as they had.

Vadania unwrapped a length of vine from her boot and threw it aside.

“It makes little difference now,” she said. “We have what we were after.”

“And I doubt the others will be back,” Mialee said, “with the giant dead and their leader gone.”

“That’s probably true,” the druid agreed. “Still, I’ll feel better when we’ve put more ground between ourselves and this place.”

“I agree,” Malthooz said.

He touched the druid’s arm. A warmth passed over his hand and into Vadania’s body through the tips of his fingers. Vadania pulled away from him. Scrapes on her legs from the entanglement quickly healed over.

Malthooz stared in amazement, then touched the symbol hanging from his neck. It felt like a lifeless piece of wood. He felt no different from before, but all of them saw what happened.

Vadania ran her hand over her skin.

“Perhaps you were visited by Pelor after all, Malthooz,” she said.

“Stick to the club,” Krusk snarled, and moved away to search the bodies of the fallen gnolls.

Vadania ignored the barbarian’s comment.

“Now maybe you’ll take some time to find out,” she said.

They searched the area hastily. Krusk found a pile of torches in one of the tents and Malthooz watched the cone of flame moving through the darkness as the barbarian passed among the bodies of the dead gnolls. Lidda and Mialee combed through the wooden building. Malthooz and Vadania stood guard near the wizard’s box.