Saved by the Bell

Suddenly she found herself standing beside the table, without quite knowing how she had got there. The Drukens were ignoring her for now. Perhaps, blind as they were, they weren't even aware of her presence just yet.

Astra picked up a tankard. One sip won't hurt, she told herself as she raised it to her lips. It was all she had hoped it would be: cool, refreshing and delicious.

Less than a minute later, the tankard was empty, and she was reaching for another. That was when the intoxication hit her. The Drukens' brew did not contain alcohol, but something much quicker acting, though the effects were similar. Astra staggered. Suddenly the whole cavern seemed to be swaying from side to side. "Heh, 's jus' like the swings back in Allequaria," she chuckled. That didn't sound quite right somehow. Far more importantly, though, things weren't swaying so much as to prevent her stretching out her hand to grab another tankard, so long as she held on tight to the table with her other hand.

But before she could pick up the second tankard, a loud bell began to toll. Apparently this was some sort of warning for, with incredible speed, the Drunkens collected up all of the tankards and folded up the table. Within a minute, they were gone, with no sign that they had ever been there.

"Where they gone?" the befuddled Astra muttered. "Want 'nother drink." But even in her current state, it was obvious that there was only one exit from the cavern apart from the one she had entered it by.

1. Staggering from side to side, she made her way out of the cavern in not very hot pursuit of the Drukens.
2. She took a few steps, but then she began to feel so sleepy that curling up on the cavern floor and having a nap seemed like a better idea.
3. But before Astra could leave the cavern, the creature that the Drukens' bell had been warning of entered it.

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree