Lord Fred's Encounter with a Demon
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 25440
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"I am possessed by the devil!" This was the thought the blared through Lord Fred's mind as he lay prone on the ground. After the devil had knocked him down, it had taken control of his body. He could not will his muscles to move, and in fact they shuddered and clenched at the behest of a supernatural power. Some of the motions were grotesque - muscles in his chest tightened weirdly, and Fred was waging a battle to breathe, and to keep his heart beating. Then came the pain, which came in waves, and was of such a variety that Fred's mind was on the verge of slipping into the black world of unconsciousness. From the center of all these sensations, just to the left of his right armpit, there was a circle of numbness, as if a hole had been torn out his body. Near his right shoulder and especially in his throat, a dull but intense throbbing pain, as if someone had struck him several times with a club, made itself felt. Throughout his arms and the rest of his body, he felt a sharp and unpleasant unpleasant tingling. The devil was laughing at him, playfully exercising his power over Fred's stricken body. Now the devil had struck again. The devil was now pounding him, trying to tear out his heart and lungs. His body was burning from inside - Fred could feel it. All those sermons from the local padre over the years - they did not do the devil and hell justice! "Another such blow from the devil and I am dead!" thought Fred. "Help me, Astra, Checkers, Belboz, Saint Excelsior, anybody! I cannot help myself. I swear that I will be good from now on - no more impure thoughts for me! Just save me, please!" Astra looked in horror as she got closer to Fred. He appeared to be in a sinister trance, with an invisible hand ravaging his body. The muscular, exuberant form of the young Lord and knight was being reduced to a powerless shell before her eyes. Heedless of the danger to herself, she knelt down and looked at Lord Fred. The light was poor, Astra could not see the bug that was causing these problems. Fred twitched and shuddered in all sorts of ghoulish ways, hampering the search. Astra quietly hummed a soothing in her mind, in praise of the great heroine and warrior, Fortie Sapienta. Her mind now somewhat calmed, she concentrated, blocking out the horror of what she was seeing. Another wave of spasms racked Fred's body, and Astra felt a flash of heat from Fred's armour. She had to get it off! The first blow had knocked Fred's sword out of his hand. It did not go far, and she picked it up. Fred's armour was chainmail, but the design was such that there were two pieces, bound by thin, but strong leather straps, buckled together. It took Astra half a minute to cut through all the straps and remove the armour. Fred still lay motionless, with a weak pulse and slow, laboured breathing. Astra cut off Fred's tunic in hopes of discovering the source of the injury, unaware that she had just cast it aside as part of Fred's armour. Suddenly, Astra heard a clang from the direction of the Arsenal. She looked up, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw something approaching from another direction. A small, ungainly form was rapidly closing on her from the rear! Checkers had hardly had time to recover from her encounter with the dragon when she heard the horrible cry from deep in the tunnels above. It was the voice of Lord Fred, but it was not a cry of battle. It was the cry of someone in great pain, of someone who had lost a fight and was being tortured. And poor Princess Astra, being mute, could not cry out, so she may also be in trouble! Could it be the dragon again, or was this some other threat? Well, if a Glider and mage could not defeat whatever threat lay up there, it was not going to be defeated. Attack was the best response. She remembered saying to Belboz that "Fred was in trouble!", and another shot of adrenaline spurred her overworked body into action. She ran to the spear, and gently lofted it into the tunnel's entrance. It was a difficult shot, but Glider reflexes, honed by generations of necessity, served her well. ("You often get only one shot at a meal, dear, so make it count" was a favourite mantra of Glider Guides throughout the RDL.) Checkers had to hope that someone was not going to pick up that spear and use it against her after she had climbed the ladder, but if she were going to help, she needed a weapon. Carrying the spear up the ladder would delay her, and Fred and Astra may not have much time left! She clambered up the ladder, with Belboz following, hoping that she arrive in time to help. From the screams, the goblin knew that he had scored a hit! The master was surely going to give him a rich reward - maybe he could guard a tunnel near the wine cellers, or the kitchen, or the room with pretty things. It would be better to kill the second intruder, too. The goblin shuffled quickly out of his tunnel, armed with a more primative weapon of a rusty iron rod about forty centimeters (16 inches) long. Maybe master could give him a new iron rod, too! He closed, excited at the prospects of reward. A woman was cutting the armour off the man, and not paying attention to him. What luck! He could get the first blow in without her answering. This was going to be a good day. Belboz was wondering what the goblin had done. It appeared that he was far more effective in the attack than he expected. This certainly bore investigating. Belboz did not exactly mind - it would be good to humiliate the knight, and his life was not essential to his purpose. He would prefer to keep Astra and Checkers alive, though, for two very different reasons. This was looking like a good day. Meanwhile, the beetle ...
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4/9/2003 11:12:51 PM
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