What's a necromancer like you doing in a dungeon like this?

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 107870

"No. It looks like Belboz. What the hell was he doing here?" Fred answers, confused. "I think I can smell blood, too. Damnation, old man! Why didn't you put up a shield?"

"Hold still. I'm coming to the front. Can you see if he's breathing?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe?" Fred answers as Astra wiggles between the dragon and the rock wall as quickly as she can, ignoring the minor scrapes to her uncovered upper half as she goes.

The warrior princess makes it past Fred where she can start to assess the casualty herself in the dim light Fred is producing - which is barely enough to make out silhouettes. Without light to see by, the best she can do is to listen and feel for breathing followed by a pat down to check for major bleeding.

"Is it bad?"

"I can't find any brea- oh, lovely."

"What?"

"Abdominal bleeding. Lots." Astra says. "I don't have a knife. Fred, slice up his robes to make bandages."

"I don't have a knife either!" Fred protests. "I lost all my equipment when Belboz turned..."

Astra holds her tongue while she does her best to stem the flow of blood with her hands, giving Fred that Did I really just hear something that stupid? look again.

"Dragon. Claws. Right." Fred mutters as he gets to work. Astra notices his confusion and the slightly dazed look in his eyes, probably signs that the dragon knight is suffering from shock at accidentally wounding - and possibly killing - the helpful necromancer. "Like this?"

"That's fine, Fred, thank-you," Astra says as she starts tying up the wound.

"Did I see a piece of rock in there? Shouldn't you take it out first?" Fred frets.

"If I do it'll just rip the hole bigger on the way out. Shut up and let me work."

Fred waits impatiently, shifting his weight from foot to foot to foot to foot. He has a strong urge to try and help, to do something to improve the odds of Belboz's survival, but can't think of anything he could do with his monstrous claws that wouldn't just make things worse. When Astra is finished with the bandaging she starts performing the Breath of Life to try and get the old man breathing again. Unable to watch the mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions for very long, Fred closes his eyes.

"... Damn-it-Fred. I-need-you- (twenty) -to-watch-this- four-five-six ..."

"What? Why?"

Astra waits until after giving Belboz another two breaths before answering. "Your-eyes-are -the-on-ly -light-down-here- (ten) -one-two..."

"My eyes? What? How-?"

"...Just-shut-up -and-watch-nine- (thirty)"

Fred sits in the dark, feeling increasingly awkward as time ticks on, marked by Astra counting out chest compressions. Guilt at such a dishonourable accident gnaws at his psyche. He had sworn to perform a service for Belboz at the completion of his quest to slay the resident dragon, but now the necromancer lies dying by Fred's own actions. And what of Belboz's magic? Will the spell wear off with the necromancer's passing, or will he be trapped as a monstrous beast for the rest of his life with nobody to change him back? Neither future seems very appealing at the moment.

  1. Unable to revive Belboz, they finally cover his body and leave him in the caves.
  2. Belboz starts breathing, but is still unconscious.
  3. Astra revives Belboz, who recovers astonishingly quickly.

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Sam (A-par-ent-ly -the-hy-phen-a -tion-counts-to-wards -a-thir-ty- let-ter-word -li-mit)

12/12/2014 12:42:58 PM

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