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Fred once again unfurled his map, handing his torch to Astra. He studied
it a moment before throwing it down in disgust, bristling with frustrated
anger."Absolutely useless," he muttered. "This map is the most shoddy
piece of work I've ever seen. It doesn't even list the two entrances!
Whoever made this map should be dragged into the streets and beat to
death in front of their entire community. Then their family should be
hunted down and destroyed, one by one, until..." Astra shook her head. "Your map is old," she said. "When it was drawn up there probably was only one northern cave mouth. This moony underworld labyrinth has a tendancy to change. There are very strong magicks at work here." Fred sighed and retrieved the outdated map from where he had thrown it. "So what should we do?""Let's keep going," Astra suggested. "I remember coming this way before I was captured, there is a small settlement of kobolds a little deeper in. They have all manner of provisions, though you must be a good haggler just to get a decent price on the more simple provisions, like torches and foodstuff. Thing is, most of the armament and weapons they try to sell off are worth more than they can imagine, being they are stolen from the dragon's very hoard. We'll have a much better chance at this if I'm well- armed." Fred surveyed the shallow streams they would have to cross, then turned to Velus. "Perhaps we should send the dog-boy accross first, to see if the streams are crossable. If he gets sucked away to his death then we'll devise a new plan."Velus, dog-boy that he was, had an inherint instinct to please and obey his master, the role that Fred now played in his life. He gingerly trotted forward, toward the first stream. Just as he was about to reach the water's edge, a wind in the tunnel instensified, blowing out the torch yet again. Evil laughter reverberated through the chamber...
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4/13/2003 7:45:38 AM
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