-- In Progress --



The Towers

Copyright (C) 1997 by Charles Tryon


18: Attack From Behind

It has been a long day, and slowly the sun begins to set. The web is long gone from the trapdoor in the plateau, but it has shown no signs of being opened. Coyle, GreyEagle, Laurel, Conrad, and Ormec all have bows, and are ringed about the roof so as to have clear shots from the trapdoor to the entrance on the lower level. Horton is lying on the ground, on the opposite side of the tower from the trapdoor. Trouble and Rex have spent the remainder of the day discussing magic and such. Sucaba also stands on the roof, occasionally pacing from the side where Horton is relaxing to the side with the trapdoor. Marianne and Red are both below, Marianne is sitting close to the trapdoor leading downstairs, keeping an eye on that, while Red continues to read his selected book.
After periods of intense discussion, Rex gives Trouble a pat on the back and an exaggerated bow. Rex goes over to the side of the roof to relaxes. He can see him muttering to himself and occasionally putting his head back to rest a bit.
The sun finishes its descent, and its last rays die away. The stars and moon shed some light, but are occasionally obscured by clouds. Horton creeps around the tower a bit, till he can see the trapdoor in the plateau. As darkness truly falls, you tense up expecting that at any moment, the trapdoor will be flung open. The silent night is suddenly pierced by a scream of terror from below, unquestionably Marianne.
Rex springs from his position and draws his longsword quickly. He does not say a word and continues on his path, jumping down through the trapdoor into the level below.
Conrad swivels to look at the trapdoor in the roof. He makes a motion to hop off his stand, but noticing the traffic in the way thinks twice and takes a quick scanning glance over the plateau in general, the trapdoor in the plateau in specific. Satisfied that there is nothing else going on he joins the stampede to the second floor.
GreyEagle is (or should be) standing watch at the edge of the tower. As she hears Marianne, she quickly fits an arrow to her bowstring, and peers down into the darkness to see if she can tell what is going on.
If she sees nothing more than she has seen before, she will drop her bow and follow Rex to the second level, though perhaps not QUITE as fast through the trapdoor...
Sucaba moves to the tower's edge. "We must keep a lookout. I will stay here. Conrad, report status to me as soon as you can. I fear a diversion." Sucaba moves to the edge where horton lies below. "Horton! Bring me my things, we are under attack."
Horton bugles his reply and leaps into the air and flies off to gain altitude then swoops back around towards the tower.
Trouble had been glancing down into the second level occasionally, keeping watch on the door leading down to the first level. But this attack fell in between his "rounds". When Marianne screams he quickly looks in again and then, hearing footsteps behind him, steps out of the way. He explains to whoever listens: "The trap door is still closed but there is a thing in there half-humanoid and half-black cloud!" Trouble appears reluctant to use his wand with party members in the area, but after a moment he takes the leaf-shaped brooch [from the chest] in his hand and starts waving it back and forth [to see if it might generate an unnaturally large amount of wind which would push the cloud-creature away].
Conrad continues in his actions, nodding to Sucaba in reply.
GreyEagle [who I imagine was just about to descend the stairs when Trouble spoke] advances down the stairs carefully. She draws her shortsword and holds it straight out in front of her, pointing at the "thing" there. Her knuckles are white from griping the hilt of the sword, and it is throwing off a brilliant white light.
"Who are you and what do you want with us?"
Suddenly, she reaches inside of her tunic and pulls out a brightly polished amulet hung on a chain around her neck.
By the way this cloud-thing has red glowing eyes!
Marianne moves away from the black cloud creature and towards the ladder. It is pursuing her, so she lets her holy symbol fall back to her chest and pulls out her mace. Rex leaps down from the roof, landing like a cat. He immediately puts himself between Marianne and the cloud thing and attacks it. Coyle shouts to Ormec to keep a watch and follows Rex down, not landing quite as gracefully, but keeping on his feet. GreyEagle quickly determines that it is nothing she can shoot with her bow and drops it. She climbs quickly down the ladder and draws her short sword. Trouble avoids getting trampled, and looks for the magical brooch he his holding.
There is no sign of the silent mage as Rex successfully diverts the creature's attention from Marianne. The creature reaches out and attempts to touch Rex, but he ducks and swings back fiercely. He seems to off balance however, and misses badly. Marianne retreats from the battle a bit, shouting, "be careful, that thing is undead."
Trouble puts away the brooch and draws his wand again, but does not use it yet.
Rex continues to keep himself between the thing and Marianne. He is quite pleased that she is (relatively) alright. Rex is also quite pleased that he has had someone join him down here. In the course of the (so far) short battle, Rex has noticed the creatures eyes. The glowing red is somewhat disconcerting to him and he concentrates on looking at a spot below the creature's chin while battling.
"Coyle, GreyEagle come in behind it! Quickly!" Rex shouts. For now, he is content to keep the cloud away from Marianne. He will continue to engage it until Coyle and GreyEagle join the fray. Conrad looks in, and then heads down the ladder, as Trouble waves his brooch about. Realizing this is having no effect, he puts it away and searches for something else. Laurel joins Trouble, and shouts out reports to Sucaba and Ormec who are still on the roof.
Coyle immediately joins in, but unfortunately the creature is aware of him and he can't get behind it. The creature moves quickly, flying here and there. Coyle slashes at it, but misses. Again it reaches out to touch Rex, but again, he quickly ducks and avoids it.
GreyEagle, who had just pulled out the amulet that she was wearing, gives Marianne a fearful glance when she hears that it is undead. Then, she steps to the center of the room and holds out her amulet.
"BY THE POWER WITHIN, I COMMAND YOU TO BE GONE!"
The creature hesitates and focuses on GreyEagle. Rex chooses that moment to swing mightily, but to his amazement, his sword passes right through the upper torso of the creature. It pays him no attention, but moves rapidly towards GreyEagle.
Just then Marianne lets out another scream, and backs towards Rex. Two more of the creatures apparently materialized near her. One moves after her, but the other seems to focus on a point right next to where she was standing. These two creatures look a bit different than the first. They are still black clouds with glowing red eyes, but their upper torso and head look like the fish-creatures you just battled!
Conrad looks aghast at the sight of the room, pulls out his "God I don't want to do this but I have to" expression, and heads to the 2 new foes.
Seeing the weapons and GreyEagle's amulet have no effect, Trouble says "Shield your eyes!" and points his wand down into the room and creates the same flash of greenish-white light with golden rays which he used during the confrontation on the ship.
She will keep holding her amulet up and repeating the command, while watching for its hands.
If nothing happens pretty soon though, she will have to attack...
Trouble finds his wand and extracts it. Seeing the weapons and GreyEagle's amulet have no effect, he says "Shield your eyes!" and points his wand down into the room.
GreyEagle shields her eyes, but not for too long. She doesn't want the creature to grab her. Unfortunately, the creature takes this exact moment to reach out and "touch" her. She lets out a scream and staggers a bit. She has her sword ready to slash and retaliates, striking the creature in its torso. A black vapor boils off of the thing, and it pulls back slightly from her. Just then Coyle also slashes it this time his sword seems to penetrate, and more black vapor boils off of it. "Rex," GreyEagle shouts, "Unless your sword is magical, you will not be able to do anything to it. Back off while you can! I suspect this one has been here before. Where is that mace?"
Conrad looks aghast at the sight of the room, pulls out his "God I don't want to do this but I have to" expression, and heads to the 2 new foes.
Rex grits his teeth and exclaims, "I did not miss it! What is wrong with this sword? Rex drops his long sword to the side and pulls the magical dagger from its resting place along his thigh. He shouts a warning, "These beasts see what the rest of us can not! Be wary silent one!" And then, Rex quickly adds, "Marianne! Make another attempt to turn these new ones, quickly!"
With that, Rex slides/scoots to a position where he can help Marianne and hopefully allow her to try and use her holy symbol again.
At Trouble's warning, Rex will duck and shield his eyes as best he can. "Their eyes are unlike ours... I hope light affects them as you wish."
Trouble creates the same flash of greenish-white light with golden rays which he used during the confrontation on the ship.
You all open your eyes again, and there is no sign of the black cloud creatures. You do see Red however, he is standing close to Marianne, and has a dagger poised, as though attacking. Marianne sighs with relief and leans against Rex. "I feel so weak. When that creature touched me, I felt as though it was sucking the life right out of me." GreyEagle nods her head, weariness showing clearly on her face. "Yes, I felt it too. The creature's touch was like frozen fire. I hope they are gone." Coyle scans the room and then calls up to Trouble, "are they gone, Trouble? We see no sign of them, but there is a terrible smell, like rotting corpses. I think everyone should go up to the roof and re-group."
Once the creatures are gone, GreyEagle looks up slowly and stares around the room blankly. She rises slowly with help, but she is disoriented and confused, and her legs seem to sink out from under her at random intervals. She shakes her head in an attempt to clear it, but it doesn't appear to help. Finally, she manages to stumble over to Coyle and leans on him for support.
"It didn't go away," she mumbles, suddenly shivering. "It was supposed to go away..."
"Why do I feel so cold?"
Trouble replies, "Those are gone, but there may well be others." He also steps back from the opening and stands next to Laurel.
Rex also has his dagger poised for attack. He looks about and lets out a half-shout, half-growl, "Damn beasts!!!
As Marianne leans against Rex, he looks at her and says, "Yes... I wish I could have been here quicker." Then he looks to the silent mage and says, "Thank you for doing your best to protect her........ the health of the group is very much in her hands."
The mage nods.
Rex then puts an arm around Marianne, practically lifting her off the ground. "Yes, let's get upstairs and figure out what to do. GreyEagle... it looks as though you may have been right about leaving here and coming back. But... who knows??? Something else could have happened to us."
Rex then goes about helping Marianne and the others back up to the roof. Rex nods over to the sword he dropped and says, "Someone grab that worthless piece of scrap metal that I left over there for me, please."
Horton lands on the roof and Sucaba quickly makes his way over to him, and frantically starts looking for something. Just then Laurel calls put that the battle is over. Sucaba looks up from his pack, with a potion clutched in his hand, and shakes his head in disgust. He gives Horton a pat on the head and thanks him. One by one, the group from downstairs makes its way up to the roof. Marianne and GreyEagle both are pale and shaken. They weakly move away from the trapdoor and sit down, leaning against the wall. Rex and Coyle help them, concern showing on their faces.
The tall mage doodles with his cloak so that it is loose around his waist and then picks up his book and pack and heads for the stairs.
Before heading downstairs, Sucaba shrugs off his backpack and forages for a moment to retrieve another potion, which he uses to replace the one he just lifted off Horton. "Keep an eye on that trap door in the plateau," he says motioning toward Horton with a bony finger. I'll go downstairs with the others." He then picks up the one he grabbed from Horton and carries it with him downstairs.
Upon his arrival downstairs, Sucaba does a quick look about the room. Satisfied, he moves toward GreyEagle and Marianne. He kneels near them. "What did you see?", he asks as he examines Marianne up close. He shakes his head and rises back to his feet and moves to find Red. "What happened here?"
GreyEagle gives Sucaba a blank stare. "Cold," she mumbles, "like fingers of ice, but their eyes were like fire." Suddenly she looks around, frightened. "They are gone, aren't they?"
The silent mage looked at Sucaba keenly and replies: "They came from nowhere; I don't know what they were."
Sucaba stares at Red for a moment, then nods. "Yes, the appear to be," he said, looking back to GreyEagle. "The tower is not as clean as we assumed it to be. How were these things dispatched?"
Trouble moves towards the women. "How do you feel? Can you describe what happened?"
Rex moves toward GreyEagle and Marianne. He kneels near them. "What did you see?", he asks as he examines Marianne up close. He shakes his head and rises back to his feet and moves to find Red. "What happened here?"
"So... who was on guard?" The question is clearly an accusation and it's clearly from Raal.
Rex has been keeping an eye on GreyEagle and Marianne. He has been anxiously waiting for information from either Dark Star or Marianne about what happened. At Raal's question, Rex turns toward him and says, "An interesting question considering we were *all* supposed to be on watch. However, the point is obviously a moot one when you consider that your Teacher himself said they appeared out of nowhere. For now, we are not able to defend ourselves against such an attack. So... what exactly is supposed to be the purpose of your criticism *this* time? I think we have better things to do now than snip amongst ourselves."
"Well, if everyone was on guard then clearly the plan was at fault..." Raal hesitates, but he's not one to let things drop. "If you'd just try using pudding between your ears for thinking instead of just holding your hat up, maybe you'd come up with a thought about what went wrong." There was a pause, followed finally by a loud "Humph!"
Conrad, who seems quieter than usual... "Raal, you have no point. We were all waiting for Giant-Lizard-Fire-Breathing Fish things on Ostrich-Lizard mounts to come at us. We didn't expect the non-corporal dead Fish things to come up at us through the floor. Thanks to Trouble, they are not here anymore, so just cool it. I don't think anybody had a fun time down there."
"Given their arrival though, we should all sleep up here tonight. (Instead of separately) The people on watch should hear the trapdoor open."
"So suddenly you're a philosopher," the rat voice spat back. "Well who said anything about them coming through the floor? My Point, though how you could _overlook anything is beyond me, is this: the room has nice magical doors and we're leaving them wide open! Is this what you call a Good Idea?"
Marianne answers, "Those things are called wraiths. The are bodiless spirits, pure evil. They were once alive, but now hate all living things, seeking them out and stealing their life energy. The touch of a wraith is like the coldest ice, cutting through you to your soul, and ripping a part of that from you. I have never encountered one before, but I have heard many stories of them. I don't know what happened to them, Trouble's wand just seemed to vaporize them." Marianne shivers and wraps her arms around her body.
Trouble had been waiting for a response to his question, and seemingly waiting impatiently for something else as well. As Marianne acknowledges his contribution he says "Yes, the Sunburst from the wand can cause great damage to the undead." Then, deciding that those who were involved in the battle are too stunned to properly express their appreciation of his efforts, he moves on.
Sucaba looks at Trouble with a crooked smile. "Nice job," he adds as Trouble expresses interest in the staff.
Laurel nodded. "Yes, I would like to see the staff." Sucaba handed it to her.
Rex looks down to Marianne and says, "That's enough for now, you need to rest yourself. You've had quite a shock." Then, he looks towards Trouble. "Yes.... and you, Trouble, once *again*, have shown yourself to be very worthy in battle. Not only are you an artist with the ways of magic, but you are also a pillar of strength in hand to hand combat." GreyEagle looks up slowly. "Wraiths... like those within the Great Rift?" She draws her knees up and hugs them tightly to her chest as she looks up at Coyle, her eyes wide with fear.
Coyle kneels next to GreyEagle and puts his arm around her. "We'll stop at a temple somewhere between here and there and se what kind of protection we can get. I'm sure I have heard of things that keep such creatures away. And we shall hope Trouble keeps his wand handy. Don't worry, we'll get through it together." Coyle puts his other arm around Marianne and holds both girls for a moment.
GreyEagle suddenly pulls away and fumbles for the amulet around her neck. She holds it up in Coyle's face. "But... but I already *have* this, and what good did it do?" The look on her face is somewhere between fear, anger and confusion.
GreyEagle's head still buzzed as she sat against the wall. Her body was drenched with sweat from the fever that still raged after the wraith's touch and she shivered with chills. She rocked back and forth, vaguely hearing the continued conversations of the others around her, like she had heard the conversations of her parents outside of the closed door of her room when they had thought she was asleep. She wanted to close her eyes, but every time she did, she could see those two burning red spots before her, the eyes of the wraith.
Wraiths. That was what they were called. Undead. Appearing out of no-where. She thought she could still hear them around her, laughing in emaciated voices. Her sword had done some small damage, but not enough to fend it off. It apparently had been Trouble's wand that had finally either driven it off or destroyed it. It was a good thing that he had been there. What might have happened otherwise? Perhaps the same thing as had happened to the other two creatures that she had seen there -- the victims of a previous attack perhaps?
Something nagged at her consciousness, trying to get her attention, but the buzzing was too loud. She bit her lip trying to concentrate. There was something she had heard, something that was important, somewhere they had to go...
The Rift. That was it. The wraiths were in the Great Rift. Stole your soul away and left your body to walk forever as an empty shell. She wasn't sure if she remembered right, but it was something like that. She looked up slowly. "Wraiths... like those within the Great Rift?" She drew her knees up and hugged them tightly to her chest as she looked up at Coyle.
She felt helpless, and looked to Coyle for support. She found some small consolation in the fact that he was there with her, but he too was flesh and blood. What could he do against such creatures.
Her shoulders dropped in her exhaustion. She had never been so tired. Every joint in her body ached. Her arm was still numb where the creature had touched her. Yet it was the chill deep in her soul that frightened her the most -- a deep down numbness that felt like someone had put a block of ice where her heart was supposed to be. She would recover, she told herself with deep determination, but she did not know if she could face that feeling again.
At some point, Rex gets out of "look at the staff" mode and goes over to GreyEagle. "May I see that amulet? What is it and where did you get it? What is it supposed to do?"
GreyEagle jumps at Rex's voice, and then turns towards him. "It is an amulet of life, given to me by... by... Schimray, to protect against undead creatures."
She shows it to Rex (but doesn't let go of it... yet).
Rex leans over a bit to take a look at the amulet. He moves closer to GreyEagle and peers intently at the amulet for a few moments. "Hummm. Schimray has been full of little surprises hasn't he. I wish he were here to give us a few more goodies."
After a minute or so, Rex stands back up and says, "Not everything is always guaranteed..."
Coyle shakes his head, "I don't know, but I'm sure if the brothers thought they would help, then we should continue to wear them. If we return there, perhaps we can ask them for more information."
GreyEagle turns back to Coyle and gives him a very confused look...
Coyle takes a closer look at the amulet that GreyEagle is holding. "Oh, I though you were talking about the gifts from the brothers. Never mind, perhaps Rex or one of the mages can help you with that one." Coyle watches as Rex examines the amulet with interest, but Rex apparently doesn't get anything, he shakes his head and drops the amulet.
Rex examines the amulet for a moment and shakes his head. GreyEagle continues to hold it tightly, and suddenly it begins to glow brightly. The amulet continues to get ever brighter, soon it is too bright to look at. As you all look away, it pulses with radiance, and then flashes one last time. As it dims, GreyEagle sinks back to the floor, looking confused. Shaking her head she says, "I feel warm all over suddenly." She continues to stare wondering at those around her.
Marianne doesn't appear any different, and GreyEagle is still hurt, but probably feels too good to realize it!
Laurel retrieves Rex's sword. Rex nods to her and says, "Thank you very much... I wish this thing would have been some use. And now, I fear that it is almost worthless to us. But I will keep it for a while and see what happens."
As the group mills about, Rex says to Sucaba, "With what has happened and our new injuries, perhaps we need to come up with new guard shifts for later on. I know we will not be turning in for the night just yet, but it may be time to think about who should be watching during the night. We should get those that can heal us rest first...."
Sucaba turns to Marianne. "You are on the third 2 hour shift currently. Can you get healing again after the first four hours? Is so, we have no cause to change the shifts."
Marianne thinks for a moment. "I believe I will be sufficiently rested to receive healing spells if Lathander fells I am worthy of them."
Sucaba returns his attention to Laurel and the staff.
Trouble smiles broadly at the praise he receives, especially the kind words, from Rex.

---- TO BE CONTINUED ----

7 April, 1998