From alt.pub.dragons-inn Tue Aug 30 16:45:53 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7602 Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!news.hal.COM!olivea!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!usc!cs.utexas.edu!convex!news.duke.edu!eff!wariat.org!malgudi.oar.net!sun!vax.cns.muskingum.edu!hsexauer From: hsexauer@muskingum.edu (Rapunzel) Subject: [Legacy] Repost Message-ID: <1994Aug27.171620.1@muskingum.edu> Lines: 109 Sender: root@sun.cns.muskingum.edu (Operator) Organization: Muskingum College Date: Sat, 27 Aug 1994 21:16:20 GMT [ADMIN] Recap of events: Aleric has recently been healed of the venom, and they are on their way downriver to Highspire. If you've forgotten plot, email me. There are too many to repost all of them. Elcoran's wrist was being scraped raw by the force the kraken's tentacle was exerting, not to mention the tiny suckers on the underside of it that were fastened to his skin. He pulled as hard as he could, aided by Laurenth behind him. Tierge had her dagger out and was sawing at the tentacle, but it was slow to sever. When it finally did snap against the strain of being stretched and cut, Elcoran and the two women fell back into the skiff in a jumble. The elven lad peeled the remaining piece off his wrist and tossed it into the water. The three readied their various weapons and helped defend the craft. Durstrin's idea was evidently sound because as the water became shallower, the tentacles withdrew and attacked with renewed vigor on the river side. Nevertheless, with seven fighting them, they were able to keep the creature at bay until Aleric could get the skiff to shore. The kraken stayed in the deeper water, but they could see part of the main body now that it wasn't completely submerged. It seemed to be mostly tentacles, but beneath those was a lump of a body and an orifice with what looked to be teeth. If one didn't drown first by being dragged under, those teeth would surely do the job! But now, Aleric beached the skiff with a final flick of the rudder, running the craft ashore. They all clambered out and dragged the skiff the rest of the way out of the water. They looked around at each other, observing the greyish ichor coating both them and their weapons, wondering what to do next with the kraken out there. Aleric blew out his cheeks and ran a hand through his hair. "Right. Well, it's midday, we can afford to wait a bit and let it lose interest." He looked around the group, noting their general condition. "Besides, I'm sure all of you can stand the rest. I didn't have to fight it because I was steering, but you all did. We'll break here and dig out some of the provisions." "But Aleric," Ruel protested, "I don't really believe the kraken will just go away if we ignore it. It's not stupid. Think about how it knew to come after us in the first place." Jaerodyn frowned. "How is that it even was bothered by us? I would guess it's not the only one, and we've been unmolested all day. Why now?" The elven lad fidgeted slightly. Fortunately, no one was looking at him just then. To his relief, Kieriah spoke. "Uh.... Well, maybe I can answer that." All eyes turned to look at the Lyorn girl. She reddened slighly, and her fingers reached to her hairline where the streak of white seemed to shine incandescently. "I've been advised that we're being watched." She pointed upward to a tree about twenty yards away where they now saw a dark lump perched on a limb. It saw her point and spread its wings, prior to flying away. Its bloodred eyes were now open fully and blazing in triumph. As it leapt from the branch, a pair of large stones whistled through the air and hit the creature with a dull thunk. One shattered the right wing while the other smacked into its chest. It fell and lay flapping on the ground helplessly. Kieriah turned around to find out who had been fast enough to stop the watcher. Ruel and Durstrin were coiling a pair of hand slings that had launched the missiles. "Chandra provided them," Ruel shrugged. He gave no other explanation, nor did Durstrin who made no motion or sound. The two hung the slings from their belts and wandered over to the fallen watcher. It was squawking in a breathless fashion; its ribs crushed by the stone had probably punctured a lung. Durstrin reached down a hand to take a hold of the sound wing, and Ruel knocked his hand away just in time to be missed by the slash of the watcher's talons. "Don't touch it. As long as it is living it will try to kill you," the valeman advised. "But what do we do with it?" Durstrin asked. "I don't want to leave it there where something may yet come to help it." Tierge grinned maliciously. "I'll take care of it. Let it go play with its friend." She called her magic and lifted the squirming body effortlessly with a gesture. It hung there in the air until the little mage flipped her hand and it was thrown into the water where the kraken waited. Three tentacles snaked around it and crunched the body further. The watched in fascinated horror as the kraken pulled the watcher into its orifice and the teeth snapped the body in half. Kieriah suddenly smiled wolfishly and chuckled. "Somehow I don't think it will be following us again. And look, even the kraken seems to be satisfied. It's moving away." True enough, the creature was drifting back to center stream. But the group remained on shore and rested over lunch anyway, just to make certain it was gone. -- Heather Sexauer Muskingum College hsexauer@muskingum.edu Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. -- H.L. Mencken