Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 88
FORCED ASIDE
The Ravager lurched forward eagerly to do to Maricela what it had done to Kiron earlier. The cleric did not shy from its fury, but drew back her mace to strike, her guttural cry echoing the loud roar of the creature.
Dar dove toward the priestess, but there was no way he would reach her before the two foes clashed. But Letellia was faster, and in the heartbeat before the Ravager’s long claws would have torn into her, the sorceress called down a wall of force between them. The transparent barrier crossed the intersection like a knife, rising a full forty feet into the air, forming a diagonal line between two of the four corners.
The Ravager hit the wall and rebounded off it like a sling stone striking a shield. It fell onto its back but was up again in a flash, shrieking with fury. Maricela was no less angry, slamming her mace against the barrier, looking up with frustrated grief twisting her face.
Given a moment to consider, the Ravager could have easily gotten around the barrier; the buildings that fronted the wall’s termina were stout two-story structures with sound foundations, but that just meant it would have taken the beast four seconds instead of two to get through them. But its attention was drawn anew down the street, as Varo called a flame strike down upon the creature. The Ravager could sense the source of the magic that burned it through the haze that lingered over its mind, and it turned to the easier target, lurching down the street toward the square. The street, the broadest in Highbluff, was still a bit small for it, and its claws tore deep gouges in the facing buildings as it came. A wagon, left behind with a broken wheel in the middle of the street, was crushed into kindling by one tread of its huge feet.
The Ravager went through Varo’s blade barrier without breaking stride. The whizzing blades of force bit into its flanks, for the most part merely scratching its hide, but a few droplets of black blood were left splattered on the paving stones, seeping into the gouges left by its claws in its passage. The creature burst through the barrier and stepped into the square.
And then it got to experience the spinning blades again, for Letellia had raised another wall of force on the far side. As it had before, the Ravager rebounded off the wall and fell back, right into the midst of the spinning blades.
The Ravager got up, leaving more blood upon the stones. It was looking like a mess now, its crimson hide smeared with blood, both its own and that of others, bits of debris from the buildings it had destroyed, black smears where spells had struck it, and a few lingering gobs of tanglefoot mixture that hadn’t fully crusted off. But it continued to regenerate, and it was starting to recover from the mental fog that Varo’s symbol had laid upon it.
Once back on its feet, the Ravager took the most direct course around the wall of force, tearing through a line of buildings fronting the square. A tavern, a cabinet maker’s shop, a brewery, and two houses were destroyed in quick succession, and then the creature emerged once more into the square, sheer murder burning in its black eyes.
Standing to face it, on the far side of the square, his tattered robe billowing around him, was Licinius Varo.
The Ravager started forward once more, and this time, it would not be turned from its prey.
FORCED ASIDE
The Ravager lurched forward eagerly to do to Maricela what it had done to Kiron earlier. The cleric did not shy from its fury, but drew back her mace to strike, her guttural cry echoing the loud roar of the creature.
Dar dove toward the priestess, but there was no way he would reach her before the two foes clashed. But Letellia was faster, and in the heartbeat before the Ravager’s long claws would have torn into her, the sorceress called down a wall of force between them. The transparent barrier crossed the intersection like a knife, rising a full forty feet into the air, forming a diagonal line between two of the four corners.
The Ravager hit the wall and rebounded off it like a sling stone striking a shield. It fell onto its back but was up again in a flash, shrieking with fury. Maricela was no less angry, slamming her mace against the barrier, looking up with frustrated grief twisting her face.
Given a moment to consider, the Ravager could have easily gotten around the barrier; the buildings that fronted the wall’s termina were stout two-story structures with sound foundations, but that just meant it would have taken the beast four seconds instead of two to get through them. But its attention was drawn anew down the street, as Varo called a flame strike down upon the creature. The Ravager could sense the source of the magic that burned it through the haze that lingered over its mind, and it turned to the easier target, lurching down the street toward the square. The street, the broadest in Highbluff, was still a bit small for it, and its claws tore deep gouges in the facing buildings as it came. A wagon, left behind with a broken wheel in the middle of the street, was crushed into kindling by one tread of its huge feet.
The Ravager went through Varo’s blade barrier without breaking stride. The whizzing blades of force bit into its flanks, for the most part merely scratching its hide, but a few droplets of black blood were left splattered on the paving stones, seeping into the gouges left by its claws in its passage. The creature burst through the barrier and stepped into the square.
And then it got to experience the spinning blades again, for Letellia had raised another wall of force on the far side. As it had before, the Ravager rebounded off the wall and fell back, right into the midst of the spinning blades.
The Ravager got up, leaving more blood upon the stones. It was looking like a mess now, its crimson hide smeared with blood, both its own and that of others, bits of debris from the buildings it had destroyed, black smears where spells had struck it, and a few lingering gobs of tanglefoot mixture that hadn’t fully crusted off. But it continued to regenerate, and it was starting to recover from the mental fog that Varo’s symbol had laid upon it.
Once back on its feet, the Ravager took the most direct course around the wall of force, tearing through a line of buildings fronting the square. A tavern, a cabinet maker’s shop, a brewery, and two houses were destroyed in quick succession, and then the creature emerged once more into the square, sheer murder burning in its black eyes.
Standing to face it, on the far side of the square, his tattered robe billowing around him, was Licinius Varo.
The Ravager started forward once more, and this time, it would not be turned from its prey.