From: cgirard@neumann.une.edu.au (The Blade of Malchrntyne)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [T&R]3.7: The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Message-ID: <2252@grivel.une.edu.au>
Date: 18 Oct 92 13:32:59 GMT


>Mouzdin-Zor's head snapped back suddenly, his hand holding his temple as
>he gave a wincing groan.

>"The Drake is dead" he said simply.

>A mirthless grin spread across Alvyt's face.

>"Then he has assessed their strength. Come, we attack."

				***************

	Timelord looked down at the remains of the Shadow Drake, which
had been so neatly cleaved in two.  Well, not as neatly as he would have
liked, but then again he didn't have his katana with him.
	"A very nice piece of work," said Rollik, as he moved towards his
friend.
	"Thanks," Timelord responded, "but it was those moves of yours
that gave me the chance."	
	He cleaned the blade on one wing of the creature and stood up.
	"I think that we'd better get back to that last tunnel pretty
quickly," he said, looking at Rollik and Hyala.  "If the Drake's a wizard's
familiar, then the others can't be that far behind."
	So saying, he led them back through the twisting tunnels at a
fast jog, his sword and senses ready to do combat at any instant.
	They burst back into the cavern, to find that it was empty.  Puzzled,
Timelord motioned the others to silence, and stood for a while, listening
intently.
	Nothing.
	Hoping that they had out sped their enemy, but still wary, they
spread out slightly, Hyala between the two fighters, and began to make their
way across the cavern to the final exit.
	They were half-way across when a shout from their right made them
spin in that direction.
	From the tunnel that lead to the harem came a human fighter, longsword
and shield at the ready.  Behind him came a wemic carrying a spear encrusted
with dried blood.  Finally a massive Umber Hulk shambled into the room.
	"You cannot escape," shouted Alvyt.  "Here your miserable lives
are at an end!"
	"Only if thou canst run fast!" shouted Rollik in defiance, and
the three broke into a dead run for the safety of the tunnel ahead.
	They were twenty yards from the mouth of the tunnel when suddenly
the drow mage stepped out of it into the cavern, his hands weaving
designs in the air.
	"Down!" shouted Timelord, and the three threw themselves onto the
floor as Mouzdin-Zor released the spell.
	Vicious bolts of lightning arced over their heads, barely missing 
their backs, cutting a swathe through the dead plants and setting some of
them on fire.  Their exit blocked, the three got to their feet and darted
back into the centre of the cavern.
	Rollik and Hyala found themselves side by side as they ran through
the cavern.  Hyala was white with fear, but her grip on the mace was rock
solid.  Rollik was grateful that she knew how to defend herself at least.
	They could hear Alvyt shouting commands to the others.  Rollik
made a snap decision.
	"We must take out their leader!," he panted to Hyala.  "Maybe then
we can escape!"
	Hyala nodded, and the two of them separated, both finding alternate
paths towards Alvyt.

	As Timelord ran, he saw the wemic moving towards the place where
Rollik and Hyala were partially concealed in the foliage.  Knowing they
would have little chance against the wemic and the others, he snatched
up a fist sized rock and hurled it at the creature.
	His aim true, it struck the wemic high on the right shoulder,
tearing the skin slightly.  Snarling in fury, Halkathe spun to face in the
direction the rock came from, and saw Timelord standing with his sword in
hand.
	Gripping his spear, Halkathe charged.
	Timelord stood motionless as Halkathe bore down on him, then at
the last possible moment dove to one side, rolled, and slashed out
with the ninja-to.
	The moved was timed to perfection, but the great speed and agility
of the wemic saved it from serious injury.  Instead of opening up a 
gaping would in the creature's side, the blade lightly sliced the hind leg
of the wemic, a wound that bled only slowly.
	Halkathe skidded to halt and cast a quick glance at the injury.
Seeing it was minor, he turned back to Timelord, his eyes glowing with
hate.  He approached slowly, the spear twirling in his hands, vowing to
make the insolent human's last moments as painful as possible.

	As Rollik moved towards Alvyt, he immediately saw a flaw in his
plan.  Standing next to him was the huge form of the Umber Hulk, and
Rollik balked at the idea of taking that creature on alone!
	Suddenly Hyala leapt out of hiding, her body covered with a strange
glowing nimbus, and ran straight at the Umber Hulk.  Before Rollik could
cry out in shock she swung a huge blow with her mace, striking the creature
in the side.
	Bellowing in pain, the Umber Hulk lashed out with on arm, but Hyala
ducked under it and swung again, striking in the same spot.  This time she
opened up a small wound in the creature, and dark blood slowly welled up
out of it.
	Rollik leapt out of concealment, straight at Alvyt before he 
could turn to attack Hyala.  His sword flashed through the air, but Alvyt
was a seasoned fighter, and he brought his shield down to deflect the
stroke, swinging his sword around at the same time.  Rollik managed to 
avoid the blow, but was forced to take several steps backwards, away from
Hyala, in order regain his balance.
	He cast a quick glance over at Hyala, only to see the Umber Hulk
land a savage blow to her shoulder that knocked her flying into the wall.
	Gasping in dismay he tried to reach her, but was blocked off by
Alvyt.  His eyes narrowing in little-felt hate, Rollik prepared to fight
to the death.
	
	Timelord and the wemic circled each other slowly, probing with 
their eyes for weaknesses.  Halkathe suddenly leapt at Timelord, but he 
spun out of the way and swung at Halkathe's head, only to be blocked by
the rune-carved spear.
	They began to trade blows, each trying to find a gap in each
other's defense.  Halkathe's speed was offset by Timelord's finely honed
skills, and the two circled continuously, sparks flying as their weapons
clashed.
	Halkathe suddenly broke off the fight and stepped backwards. 
Timelord began to step forward to press the attack when excruciating pain
lashed across his back, and he was thrown sideways to the ground as the
barrage of magic missiles pummelled into him.
	He had forgotten about Mouzdin-Zor, and the mage was showing him
the folly of that lapse.
	Staying calm despite the pain, Timelord rolled sideways to avoid
the mage's wrath, then sprang to his feet and ran towards a stand of large
bushes.
	
	Alvyt smiled coldly when he saw the anger in Rollik's eyes.
	"So your precious woman dies," he purred.  "Good.  Although Ak'lssh
wanted you  alive, it is much more fitting that you die here and now, in
this place of death!"
	With that he attacked, using his sword and shield to maximum 
advantage over the solitary weapon of Rollik.  Rollik was forced to  
retreat step by step, valiantly protecting himself and trying to land a blow
whenever possible.
	Alvyt grew more and more confident as the moments passed, seeing
Rollik giving ground before him.  He could feel the fear beginning to 
emanate from him, and almost laughed aloud at his own mastery.
	Then Rollik seemed to stumble, and Alvyt saw his chance.  He swung
his shield at Rollik, intent on knocking him senseless so he could be
finished off at his leisure.
	But as he swung, Rollik miraculously regained his balance (if indeed
he ever lost it at all), ducked under the blow, and slashed upwards with  the
sabre.
	The shield flew through the air, landing some distance away, its
straps severed and bloodied.
	In amazement Alvyt stared at the inside of his left forearm.  A
gash from elbow to wrist spoke of the seemingly impossible move Rollik
had just performed.  He looked up to see the swashbuckler smiling casually.
	"My dear fellow," informed Rollik, "do you really know so little
about one-on-one combat?  I'm sure you'll agree that this makes the contest
much fairer."  
	The fight continued anew.  Now it was Alvyt who was forced to give
ground, his left arm afire with pain, his right beginning to tire as he 
wielded the longsword.  Rollik pressed the attack, his sabre biting into
Alvyt's shoulders and torso almost at will.  Then, with a beautifully
executed feint and thrust, he ran Alvyt through.
	Alvyt gasped in disbelief, the sword dropping from his suddenly
nerveless hands.  He coughed, and a stream of blood flowed from his mouth.
Rollik pulled the sabre from Alvyt's body, and he slumped to the ground.
	Without pausing, Rollik turned to where Hyala had been fighting 
the Umber Hulk, fearful of what he would see.  To his amazement Hyala was
on her feet, but was obviously heavily dazed, and the Umber Hulk was closing
on her.
	Without regard for his own life, Rollik charged at the massive
creature, shouting,
	"Away from her, you lumbering lummox!  Away, I say!"
	The Umber Hulk turned its head towards the sound, Hyala momentarily
forgotten.  Its maw agape, it turned to face this new threat.
	Its large eyes began to glow with a hypnotic emerald light, and
Rollik felt an almost overpowering urge to gaze into those luminescent
spheres.  He slowed as he concentrated on blocking out that potentially
fatal compulsion.
	To no avail.  As he stared into its eyes, Rollik felt as though
the entire cavern had begun to tilt widely, and he staggered to a halt as
the Umber Hulk bore down on him, eyes ablaze.
	Rollik knew the gaze was causing his confusion, but was powerless
to do anything about it.  He tried to raise his sabre, but it seemed to
be suddenly made of rubber and ice, wobbling in his grip then slipping out
of his hand.
	
	Mouzdin-Zor stood unsmiling as he watched the battle.  "Enough of
this guard duty," he thought to himself.  "Alvyt thought he could handle
these pitiful humans, and all he managed to do was get himself killed.
Well, now it's my turn to kill!"
	So saying he strode towards the centre of the cavern, looking for
targets, mentally browsing the spells he had at his disposal.

	From the marginal safety of the bushes, Timelord glanced around
to see how the battle was faring.
	He saw at once that they were in serious trouble.  Hyala was on her
feet, but staggering badly; Rollik appeared overpowered by the gaze of the
Umber Hulk as it shambled closer; and the mage had left the tunnel entrance
and was heading towards Timelord's position.  Smoke had begun to fill the 
cavern from the plants lit by the mage's lightning bolt, and he knew that
unless they finished the fight quickly, they would all soon be dead.
	Mentally berating himself for leading the others into such an
obvious trap, Timelord looked around again, searching for the wemic.
	Too late he detected Halkathe's presence behind him; before he
could react the wemic brought the spear horizontally over Timelord's head,
then it was savagely brought into his neck, choking him.  His sword clattered
to the ground.
	"Now you die slowly," hissed Halkathe as he strained to crush
out Timelord's life.
	Timelord struggled to force the spear away, gurgling as he tried
to breathe, but the wemic was too strong.  He had to do something fast,
while he still had strength left.
	Drawing on his hidden, inner strength, Timelord brought his arm up,
then plunged his elbow into Halkathe's stomach.  The wemic grunted in pain,
and the pressure on Timelord's throat lessened slightly.
	Taking advantage of this, Timelord thrust his head backwards, crashing
into Halkathe's chin, stunning him slightly.  Then in a desperate move, he
used the spear as a pivot point and swung over the wemic's head, onto his
back.
	Halkathe went mad as he felt for the first time the weight of a 
rider on his back.  Timelord held on, his hands still clenched around 
the spear.  Halkathe tried to throw him off, bucking and plunging wildly,
but Timelord was not to be dislodged.  Jerking his arms backwards, he 
crashed the spear into the wemic's neck, choking him in the same way that
he had been choking Timelord.  Then, with a savage upwards twisting motion,
Timelord snapped the spear up and around.  With a hideous crunch, the wemic's
neck broke.
	Timelord jumped off the back of the wemic before it collapsed, and,
breathing hard with the spear still in his hands, he looked around for
the mage.
	A blast of magic missiles striking his right side told him where
Mouzdin-Zor was.  
	
	The Umber Hulk was only a few feet from Rollik, who was desperately
trying to get his limbs to obey him.  He staggered a few feet backwards,
then tripped over his own feet, landing with a thump on his back.
	It was only a few feet from the helpless swashbuckler when with a
whistling sound Hyala's mace struck the beast in the back of the head.  With
a roar it turned to see where its attacker was, and as soon as it had turned
its head, Rollik's mind became clear again.  He quickly rolled to the right
under a stand of hedge brush, so when the Umber Hulk turned back to his intended
prey, he was nowhere in sight.
	With his mind now clear Rollik remembered the ring he wore on his right
hand.  
	"Of course!" he whispered to himself, "how could I have forgotten it?"
	Then a scream made his blood run cold.
	Darting to his feet he turned to where the scream had come from, and
the blood drained from his face in horror at the sight.  Deprived of its
previous victim, the Umber Hulk had turned on Hyala, who was now defenseless.
Before Rollik could move to help, it had reached her, and as Rollik watched,
thrust one of its massive claws through her chest.
	Rollik was frozen to the spot as he saw her life cruelly ripped from
her body.

	Timelord heard the scream, and snapped his head around, just in time
to witness Hyala's death.  He cringed and looked away, and saw Halkathe's 
spear in his hands.  Without hesitation he got to his feet, took aim and
threw, all one motion.
	The spear arched through the air and buried itself through the Umber
Hulk's left shoulder.
	Looking back to where the mage was, Timelord saw him beginning an
invocation as he faced Rollik's undefended back.  Seeing only one option,
Timelord raced towards his friend, hoping that he could reach him before
the mage released the spell.

	The sudden cry of pain from the Umber Hulk when the spear hit brought
Rollik back to his senses.  There would be time to grieve later.  Now was the
time for action and vengeance.
	"Very well, spawn of hell," growled Rollik, "now feel the power of
my anger!"
	He raised his right hand towards the creature, the ruby becoming a
rose as he began the first word of power.
	"Bribar..."
	He got no further, for at that moment Timelord crashed into him,
throwing him to the ground.
	"..ik!" completed Rollik, and the thorn shower pummelled harmlessly
into the ceiling.
	"What, pray tell me, did you do that for?" asked Rollik as he and 
Timelord lay on the floor.
	"The mage...casting a spell," panted Timelord.  "Had to save you.."
	"But failed miserably!" cried Mouzdin-Zor triumphantly.
	Timelord looked over his shoulder, only to see arcing bolts of
lightning snake towards them.  Desperately Timelord covered Rollik with his
body, raising his hands as if to ward off the approaching doom.
	The bolts crashed into Timelord's hands and arms, covering his body
in a crackling aura.  He lashed about as the power surged through him.
	"Master!!"  he screamed, but not to the mage, "is it enough?!  
Master!!!"
	With a final scream of intolerable agony Timelord was wrenched aside.
The lightning faded suddenly, leaving his body smoking and still.
	Rollik looked with shock at the body of his friend.  Only a few
minutes ago they had been three; now there remained only him.  Distractedly
he noticed that the glove that had encased his hand was now no more than
ash that lay around his outstretched limb.
	An evil chuckle brought his head up to view the mage.  Mouzdin-Zor
was rubbing his hands together in glee at the sight of such pain and death.
	Rollik, left with no other choices, again raised his ring-adorned
hand, this time towards the mage.
	"Petaclud!" he cried, rising to his feet.
	With a solid WUMPH! the air was suddenly filled with whirling rose
petals.
	"So much for that power," muttered Rollik as the mage, with a slightly
bemused expression on his face, walked unharmed through the petals.
	"Here goes nothing," said Rollik.  "Odacham!"
	For an instant nothing happened.  Then Rollik's senses were awash with
the overpowering smell of rose blooms.  His head swam briefly, then cleared.
	The mage had stopped his advance, obviously taking in the odour, but
nothing else seemed to have happened.
	"Great," thought Rollik, "umpteen magic rings in this world, and I
get one that's an air freshener!"
	He looked at the mage, who was still smiling.  
	"This is it," thought Rollik.
	"Master," said the mage suddenly, bowing to Rollik, "how may I serve
thee?"
	Momentarily taken aback, for the first time in his life Rollik didn't
know what to say.  Then seeing the Umber Hulk approach, he turned to the mage.
	"Be a good chap, will you, and get rid of that bloated buffoon,"
Rollik said with an extravagant gesture towards the Umber Hulk.
	"As you command," responded Mouzdin-Zor.  He turned to the Umber Hulk
and spoke a brief incantation.
	With a puff of green smoke, the Umber Hulk disappeared.  Mouzdin-Zor
turned back to Rollik.
	"As you commanded," he said with a bow.  "I took the liberty of
teleporting the creature above an acid pit we have.  He will bother us no
more.  Will there be anything else?" he inquired.
	Rollik thought for a moment before replying.
	"Go," he commanded.  "Tell Ak'lssh what transpired here, and give him
this message.  Tell him that Hyala and Timelord will be avenged, and that I,
Rollik, shall prove his villainy on his very flesh, taking full retribution
for the blood of my companions.  Now go!"
	"Very well," replied Mouzdin-Zor, and left the cavern for the tunnel
leading back to the harem.
	Now Rollik could mourn.  He moved slowly over to Timelord's body, the
tears streaming down his cheeks.  So many adventures they had been on, so many
perilous situations, only to have it all end in a smoking cavern in an unknown
part of this land.  He knelt down beside him, resting a hand on his chest,
thinking back over all the times they had spent together.
	A black and ash-covered hand suddenly gripped him by the shoulder.
	Gasping in amazement, Rollik looked into Timelord's face.  A pair
of clear brown eyes stared back at him, clear of the hidden pain that had
been there for so long that Rollik had forgotten what it was like to see them
so clear.
	"How....I mean, why aren't..." Rollik whispered brokenly.
	"This was my catharsis, my healing," replied Timelord softly.  He looked
at his now free right hand.  "I have paid for the wrong I did.  After all these
years, it is finally over."
	"Aye," said Rollik hoarsely.  There was nothing else to say.
	After a few minutes, Timelord rose painfully to his feet.  Then the
two crossed to where Hyala's body lay in a pool of her own blood.
	Tenderly, Rollik bent over and closed her eyes.
	"Two shall become one," he whispered.


 The Blade of Malchrntyne (CJ)| There comes a time when the jewels cease to
 Drummond College A100        | sparkle, and the gold loses its lustre, and
 x 3069                       | the throne room becomes a prison - and all
 There can be only one.       | that remains is a father's love for his child