Not all Laughter comes from Fun

"By all that is holy," murmured Nomino.

"I'll save you!" yelled Fred, somewhat instinctively and without much forethought.

Velus, farmboy that he is, was simply stunned.

The Wizard's first belief that the laughter was a result of tickling proved far from the truth. In fact, the laughter seemed to be an autoresponse within the amazonion for all the pain that she must be feeling at the present moment. Her body was on a rack, her arms uplifted over her head and her legs pulled downwards from her hips spread-eagle. A contraption was on her belly, it was made of metal and wood, had springs and triplets and wires, and it... was moving. It wasn't moving here and there like some mothball, it was moving up and down in very limited movements atop Astra's body like some insect. And where it moved there flowed the redness of blood... Astra's blood.

"I, Nomino, have never seen such an evil construct of dastardly design!"

"AAAAAAIRGH!" growled Fred as his unsheathed sword ready to lash at the thing.

Velus began to whimper.

Before Fred's sword could make contact with the thing atop Astra, a second... thing ...this one similarly made but hanging from the ceiling of this cavern, dropped down atop Fred's head.

"AAAIIIIIGH!" yelled Fred as a piece of wood punctured his right eyeball!

The Wizard of Kamiro quickly raised his arms, pointed the forefinger of his left hand as well as his pinky finger and shouted some arcane phrase. The strange creature atop Fred's head disappeared in a blast of violent smoke, searing off Fred's eyebrows and most of his hair. Before the mage could do the same for Astra the whole cavern was filled with a terrible light. With a well-thought twitch the Wizard shielded his eyes, but Fred, half-blinded and bleeding as he was lay on the floor, Astra was still restrained with a killing machine slowly making surgeries upon her, and Velus was cowering in a corner.

"HOLD!!" yelled the Wizard at the figure that formed within the light. "I, Nomino - GrandWizard of Kamiro, MageSeer of the Angreness Wood, command you tell me - Friend or Foe?!?"

The form slowed but minimally, upon hearing the laughter-scream of Astra, the figure moved towards the Princess.

"I REBUKE you!" yelled the Wizard and the figure was thrown, as if by invisible assailants, across the cavern. "HA!," laughed Nomino. "You are nothing compared to me!"

The light still shown in the cavern, all were blinded but for the mysterious stranger and for Nomino. The newcomer pulled out a hatchet from the wrap of a robe and flung it towards the Wizard. A twist of the fingers caused the hatchet to explode into a hundred splinters. "HA!" yelled Nomino. "Try again."

The figure lept to the left while slinging a few darts at the mage, more finger movement brought the darts down like lead weight before they found their target.

The figure lurched forward and then back to the left, this time throwing another axe with the right arm and a small needle with the left hand. Nomino didn't even flinch, twists and turns of fingers and wrist shattered the axe and dissipated the needle.

The figure pulled out a vial from the sleeve, it shimmered with a purplish octamarine. Nomino breathed in, this was more serious a threat. The figure threw the vial into the air, at just such an angle, with just such force to have it hit the cavern ceiling, breaking open its contents. Nomino caused the vile to change its trajectory, and fly towards him and the safety of his own hand - he concentrated on that vial making sure it hit no intervening obstruction. When it was safely in his hand he laughed and smirked: "Bwahaha! You cannot beat ME! Your show of physical force is useless gainst such a one as I!"

But he received no answer, the figure was gone and as the light faded he saw to his astonishment that Princess Astra was now quite dead - not at the hands of the dragon's insect-thing (for it was crushed in the dirt, destroyed), but rather at the hands, surely of the hands of that mysterious figure - a needle lodged in the Princess' heart.

"I was tricked!" growled Nomino. "This Wyrm has greater powers than ever I had imagined; but worry not - I SHAN'T be tricked again!"

And shortly the threesome, Nomino - Wizard of Kamiro, Fred - Knight of Allaria, sightless in one eye but not bleeding to death due the healing magicks of the Wizard, and Velus - freckled farmboy still shivering but having cleaned the urine from his clothes, walked again northwards down the cave tunnel - not knowing why the Dragon was so keen on killing the amazon princess, but resolved to give the Dragon the same as he gave.

1. Follow the Stranger...
2. Follow the grim threesome...

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