Swallowed Up

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 4479

In near total darkness Rift searched frantically for the crystallic. Fred's torch, on the other hand, allowed him to see exactly what was happening in his corner of the crumbling chamber. Not that this comforted him any. Dob was standing atop the column Fred hid behind; the dwarf had finally found the high ground with which to make a stand. But it would be his final stand. Dob's axe cut deep into his enemy, splitting their skulls and chopping their bodies, but there were simply too many of them and the orcs were filled with a fury that was almost mindless in its intensity. The monsters finally rose up and Dob was simply swallowed beneath their hairy claws and slashing knives.

Fred reached out to grab the closest thing to a weapon he had; his torch. He had decided to fling himself upon the vicious horde and die fighting. Perhaps he would even kill one or two of them before they tore him apart. But as he stretched out his hand, he was suddenly yanked backwards. Something had grabbed hold of him from behind and was pulling him into the mound of fallen dirt that rose up at his back. Fred tried to break free, but it was no use. Whatever had him in its grip was too strong and so Fred was pulled into the mound. He choked as dirt and rock began to cascade down onto his head and face. And then the entire top of the mound collapsed and slid down on top of him. Fred disappeared from view. Like Dob, he too had been swallowed up.


When Fred opened his eyes again his face filled up with wonder. Standing before him was none other than Vincent Priceless, the mage of the Calamari Desert. "You looked like you were in some trouble," Vincent smiled, "I thought I'd lend you a hand. Pull you out of the fire, so to speak. And I can assure you that there aren't any orcs running around down on this level."

It was then Fred noticed the hot breath that blew upon the back of his neck. He cautiously turned his head to see what it was that had grabbed him. He had a pretty good idea of what he was going to find. And, just as he expected, standing there was an eight foot tall, pink haired, toaster-headed ape. Wait a minute, pink? Turning back to Vincent, and taking a few steps away from the monstrosity, Fred asked, "Why'd you make Bobo pink?"

"Oh that's not Bobo," Vincent answered, "that's Lulu. Bobo's over there, with Dada." The ancient looking magician pointed over to Fred's left. Standing next to a number of heavy sacks were two more of the strange ape-things. One was purple (Bobo) and the other (Dada) had fur with an eye jarring array of colored stripes; every hue of the rainbow could be found somewhere on his body. Each ape held the severed head of a dragon in its hairy paws.

"So you're the one who cut up the dragons!" Fred exclaimed. "Oh yes," Vincent replied, "dragon corpses are so difficult to acquire. I was overjoyed when this opportunity presented itself. I would have been here sooner, but it took me a while to build Bobo's new friends. Which is a lucky thing for you. If I hadn't been here, I would never have been able to give you this." Vincent motioned back toward Lulu.

Fred turned round and saw that the pink ape was holding a suit of armor. The fine metal mesh flashed a fiery red in the light of the cave (Vincent had brought along a number of floating light globes). Fred immediately saw that the armored suit was exquisitely made, the work of a master craftsman. But there was more to the armor than just a metalsmith's art. Etched into its surface were runes that told a story of heroic battle. Upon its right breast plate was engraved a pair of syglls and upon its left the image of a serpentine dragon. Fred had heard tales of such a suit of knightly power, and the way in which the steel links and burnished plates seemed to simmer and burn left no doubt in his mind as to what he was looking at.

"The Flamebane Mail!" he breathed with excitement. With a nod from Vincent, Lulu helped Fred put the armor on. "I found it, here among the dragon's things, along with quite a collection of weapons," Vincent explained as Fred donned the magical chainmail and strapped tight the plate armor. Fred's mind was in a daze, he couldn't believe that he now possessed one of the greatest artifacts of dragon slaying ever forged. He was so caught up with his newfound prize that he didn't notice Vincent opening up a magical portal. By the time Fred settled the magnificent helm upon his head, Vincent had already sent through Bobo and Dada with the sacks of dismembered dragon remains and whatever else the magician had picked up. "Lulu!" Vincent called out to the pink haired ape with a toaster for a head. The thing immediately scampered through the glowing doorway and was gone.

Vincent then turned his attention back to Fred. "I thought that would cheer you up," he said pleasantly. "Especially after all the hardship you've gone through. My, my, but the life you lead is a most arduous one. But to each his own, as they say. Oh, and the swords are over in that corner. Have a nice day." Vincent waved and then the magical door, along with the magician, disappeared. The room was immediately plunged into darkness. Vincent had taken all of his light globes with him.

"Damn!" Fred cursed, running toward the now vanished gateway. "Damn! Damn, damn, damn, damn!" Fred cursed again, "he could have taken us with him!" But he hadn't. And though Vincent had left Minestus' lair as mysteriously as he had arrived, the orcs and the dwarves hadn't gone anywhere. Quickly grabbing two swords, Fred rushed off to find his way back to the dragon's room. If Astra was still alive up above in that chamber of death, she might not be for very much longer.

He wished he could simply return the way he had left, but burrowing back up through the dirt mound wasn't really an option. He would have to find his way back using the passages that had been built by the dragon. Without a torch the cavernways were as black as pitch, but luckily the Flamebane helm gave him the power to see in the dark. Making his way through the stygian cave passages was now not much of a problem. But it would still take him time. He only hoped that he wouldn't be too late.

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WolfRun

9/29/1999 11:58:19 PM

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