From: cam@gu.uwa.edu.au (Cameron Neylon) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [DQ] Week 10 part 2 and a little surprise Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 00:57:22 GMT Message-ID: <1992Oct6.005722.1146@gu.uwa.edu.au> William raised his head from an appraisal of the ground,as he heard Valgar gasp. The cave was dead, and dank, without being wet. It was dusty, not the place to find clay. Not a place you'd want to find anything in, who'd want to be here in the first place? "Oh my god!" he retched violently, dashing from the path of the lamp light to the side of the cave. The others were too startled to notice the forlorn sight as he threw up quietly on the floor. The sight that they beheld was horrific. Alita was hanging from the roof of the cave,a rope tightly wound around her neck, and leading up into the darkness above them. Her eyes bulged and her tongue hung languidly,almost, in a horrifying way, suggestively out of the side of her mouth. The whole scene looked calculated for greatest effect.Just after a corner, where a lamp would first alight, making the first sight in the new passage . . . He retched again. The others stood frozen in time, too shocked to react. Most, though, held on to the contents of their stomachs. William dared another look at the macabre sight,and again was convulsed by stomach spasms. The others seemed less effected now, though even 'Raelf was still quiet. Not for too long though. He walked over deliberately and cut the rope, despite its unusual toughness. Alita feel to the ground in a crumpled heap releasing a miasma, a disgusting stench wafting over the questors. The movement galvanised the group, or some of it, into action. The party disconnected the rope that had held them together through the other parts of the cave. It no longer seemed as necessary, and it was good to do SOMETHING to get their minds off of the sight of Alita. "Is she still alive?" asked Shockwave. "Not a hope guys," 'Raelf's speech was strangely comprehensible. "She's a gone one. . Hey what. . . !" The rope had whipped itself from around Alita's neck and was intent now on constricting around 'Raelf's. For the first time since they had entered the cave,indeed since they had left the inn, shouting broke out. The noise sounded strangely hollow in the cave but it was a comfort almost that there was some noise. "Hey! Stop that - gaggk - cut it OUT - ag..." The rope had now would itself around the neck of its captive and was beginning to tighten. Sharp intake of breath, "Stay back dudes! I gotter get this sucker on my own. . . Valgar, _stay BACK_!" He managed to get a hand between the rope and his throat, and pulled in a ragged breath. "Stay clear guys, gonna blow GGK" the thing wrapped another loop, <> 'What on earth does he think he's doing,' thought William, coming around briefly, 'if he dosen't get out of there soon, he's . .' And then, as if on cue, William felt a wash of warmth, and saw 'Raelf turn a bright yellow color, then burst? into? flames! and the rope burned fiercely, crackling almost cheerfully. And then there was a strange sort of negative image of a feline figure, and then the fire wasn't there, but 'Raelf was, his usual self. 'What the f$#@!," William almost forgot about the body briefly. 'Who in hell are these people anyway? Why do I always end up involved with strange people on strange quests?' "Are you okay 'Raelf?," he asked hesitantly. "Hey,I'm fine dude, gratias muchly for the concern, what about you though?" "I'm fine. . just . . .fine, its just . . ." "You sure?" asked Valgar, as the group started hesitantly to move off again, the weird lighting almost obviating the need for the lamp, except that without the lamp the light would have been almost unbearable. "Yeh, you went one bodacious shade of green there. Totally bogus color scheme," reiterated 'Raelf. "No I'm fine, there's just too much death in here. The whole place stinks of dead. . . of dead . . just dead." -- Cameron Neylon cam@gu.uwa.edu.au I can't think of anything witty enough that people would really want to see it time after time after . .