|
|
Dorlas Animir lunged at the vampire, then rocked backwards on her heels and cast Sanctuary. A cool nimbus of Nodonn's power enveloped her, and both Zada and Sorte turned their attentions to other targets. Dorlas, his expression showing his doubt as to the benefits of this, whirled his short sword but failed to make any marks on the vampire.A second later, he gasped; the darting rapier had pierced him again, draining more of his blood. Gritting his teeth, he struck again - and wounded the vampire! It was hard to tell who was the most surprised...
Shielded by her Sanctuary spell, Animir moved in behind the stricken Dorlas and cast a healing spell. The leatherclad man straightened, his wounds receding, though the effects of blood loss were undiminished. Turning from him, she worked another healing on Thorkil, returning him to conciousness. The dwarf looked around wildly, siezed his sword, and scrambled to his feet; and he, Animir and Dorlas redoubled their attacks on the vampire Sorte.
Despite this reinforcement, the undead pushed them back and back, and Zada, now armed again, cut two deep wounds into Thorkil. Tiring, Animir attacked again, calling on the Swift Sure Hand in a loud voice. Suddenly, she felt another grip on her sword, subtly altering its' path. She let it happen and was elated to see the blade tear through the vampire's undead flesh. With a dreadful cry of fury, his body dissolved into vapour, seeped through the floor, and was gone.
| ||||||||||||
Gasping, the companions stood for a moment. Zada's sword fell with a clang as she dropped to her knees and buried her head in her hands, shaking. Beside her, Thorkil slumped to a sitting position, blood running down his armour. She looked up, her face paling, and started helping him bandage the wounds.
Where the vampire had fallen, there was only a puddle of black silk clothing and a couple of pieces of equipment. Dorlas scooped these up and stuffed them into his backpack. As he finished, Animir handed him a healing potion, and he quaffed it with gratitude.
|
|
CoranixThen it was out, away, as far from the tainted den of the Lamenters as possible, and back to Coranix' house to recover. The merchant was amazed to see them back at all, and stunned that they had managed to recover their lost friends. Hot baths, clean bandages, plentiful food and soft beds soon restored them, and they turned in to get what sleep the remainder of the night allowed.
Varensen, Northern Stryre, 9th May, 1601
During the night, Animir was awakened by strange noise. Emerging from her room, she realized it was coming from Zada's, and went to investigate. The human woman was weeping inconsolably, unable to come to terms with the fact that she had fought against and nearly killed her closest friends, so soon after the disasterous loss of her first adventuring party to the Lamenters' Rune. Sorte was not dead; would it happen again? Animir spoke words of comfort, and reassured Zada that with the magic provided by Nodonn, she was capable of shielding them from this in the future. Reassured, Zada slipped off to sleep, and Animir returned to her room.