Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1992 13:33:03 EDT From: The Dreamer Message-ID: <92294.133303ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu> Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [MI] Little Rat and the Necklace of Souls References: <1992Oct20.040949.21911@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca> >..." he said, bending down to Little Rat. He swiftly >whispered in her ear, "Sneak back in. When I give you the amulet, you put it >around Elstree's neck, and then get out of here. Okay?" He stood back up, >patted her on the head. Little Rat became nervous, but on the outside, she showed nothing but practiced calm. She pretended to follow Queriche and Delmara out of the room, but as they were shutting the door, she darted back inside and twisted her body to fit one of the corner's many dark shadows. >Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shape flit into the shadows. Right. >Time to move. Who knows how much longer Elstree will last. "Okay." He took >off the amulet, and held it out. Noctu approached eagerly to take it. When >he was close enough, Alfvaen tossed it to Little Rat in the shadows. "Oops, >how clumsy of me," he said. Little Rat snatched the necklace and rolled across the floor to another shadow hoping to reach another shadow before she was seen. Noctu gasped and ran to where Alfvaen had thrown the necklace. "You idiot, for that little trick, I will hunt down and kill your friends as well." While he was looking in the corner, Little Rat looked toward Alfvaen. He saw her, smiled briefly, then motioned her toward Elstree with a worried look on his face. Little Rat looked up at Elstree. She looked so pale that Rat was sure that she had the sickness. Worse yet, she was surrounded by hairy-crawlers...the biggest ones Rat had ever seen. Pushing her fears aside, Little Rat ran over to the base of the altar and began climbing. "Give me that necklace you little #!$@!," Noctu screamed when he saw what she was doing. Alfvaen interposed himself between Noctu and Rat in an attempt to give the girl a few more moments. Noctu was atopped, but not defeated. He mentally commanded the spiders to attack Rat and stop her from reaching Elstree. The spiders moved closer to their prey. Their master had been kind to give them two meals in one day. This latest one was even climbing into their lair. It was samller than the other one, but it would be just as tasty. Little Rat saw the hairy-crawlers moving along thier silken web toward her. From deep inside, a primal fear rose in her chest. "Spiders are not supposed to be that large...run away..." it said, but Little Rat ignored it and reached the top of the altar. She was still too far away to reach Elstree's neck. She would have to climb her too. Little Rat jumped from the top of the altar and grabbed one of Elstree's legs, slick with her own blood dripping slowly from a hundred tiny bites. With the sudden contact, Elstree woke. She knew that she was about to die, yet this little girl was trying to rescue her...how sweet, but how sad. From the position of the spiders, the girl would die before she could cut her loose. Elstree tried to tell her to save herself, but all that came out of her mouth was a dry groan. She had lost too much blood and was severely dehydrated. A spider lept from its web and flew toward Little Rat. Instead of blocking the jump, Little Rat redirected it toward the floor where it landed with a sickening *squish* sound. Another spider jumped, but this one had more luck. it clung to the bottom of Rat's new trousers and quickly scrambled up her. It planned on biting her in a human's most vulnerable spot, the neck. Little Rat knew it was coming, but could do nothing about it. If she held on with one hand to brush the spider off, she might drop the necklace. She had to get it to Elstree. She had to repay Elfman for rescuing her from the guard at Yirma's. Then they would be even and Little Rat could return to the Low City where she belonged. The spider was about halfway up Little Rat when it suddenly stopped. Elstree's hand had grabbed one of its rear legs stopping its ascent. The spider twisted to get free, but to no use. Finally, it turned and sunk its venomous fangs deep into Elstree's arm, injecting enough poison to kill 100 humans. With a few beats of her heart, Elstree pumped the poison to all parts of her body causing her to twitch uncontrollably. Two seconds later, her heart stopped beating all together. Her sight grew dim as death approached... Sensing that something was amiss, Little Rat shoved herself higher up Elstree's body. She let go with both of her hands and in the split second before falling, she managed to get the necklace around Elstree's neck. She let herself fall to the ground, rolling as she reached the floor to reduce the possibility of injury. Little Rat looked around the room. Elstree was gone. Alfvaen was gone. The spider that was on her was crushed in the fall. The only immediate thread was Noctu who was shaking with rage. She could see his white teeth clenched behind his dark lips. His eyes had a strange reddish color. Losing all control over his temper, Noctu slipped back into his native Drowish language and swore for a good two minutes. Little Rat took this opportunity to run up to him, stab him in the leg, and dash out the door. She was followed by a shout of frustration that echoes throughout the gaps. Little Rat knew that he would come after her, but hopefully, she had slowed him down. She ran blindly through the gaps' passages without the aid of a torch or a scented trail. When she slowed down to get her bearings, she realized that she was hopelessly lost. Panic washed over Little Rat. Where was Elfman? Where was Delmara and Queriche? Where was she? Was this the end? ADMIN: Tune in next post Same Rat time, Same Rat channel. Love and Peace and Hopelessness, -The Dreamer-