ftp.ee.pdx.edu/2014.02.ftp.ee.pdx.edu.tar/ftp.ee.pdx.edu/pub/frp/Archives/944

Internet Message Format | 1995-04-22 | 10KB

Path: usenet.ee.pdx.edu!cs.uoregon.edu!reuter.cse.ogi.edu!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uunet!not-for-mail
From: Guido Roessling <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives
Subject: STORY:  QELRIK  part 71
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Date: 21 Apr 1995 15:10:35 -0400
Organization: UUNET Technologies Inc, Falls Church VA USA
Lines: 162
Sender: [e-mail]
Approved: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <3n8vvb$[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net



                        ==================
                          Duel of Magic
                        ==================


     Dahlarin floated quickly through the ether, passing through
foggy stone walls in search of his spellbooks.  The retrieval spell
had given him a rough idea of where the amulet was, and he assumed
that his pouch would be at least nearby.  It didn't take him long
to locate the room where the amulet came from, and he materialized
in the corner to look around.  At first he saw nothing in the dark
room, and realized with a curse that he would have to cast some
sort of magical lighting, possibly betraying his location in the
process.  He decided on the fastest and simplest light spell - a
rune-light.  He traced a symbol against the closest wall and spoke
the name of the rune.  Immediately it flared into light, startling
Tsog by the door, who didn't even realize the mage was there.
Fortunately for the shaman, Dahlarin was just as startled to find
Tsog, and they both gaped at each other for a moment.

     Then, with a growl, the shaman latched shut the door and lept
at Dahlarin, chanting a spell.  Hearing the shaman casting confused
Dahlarin enough that he barely had enough time to dive behind the
table as the shaman finished his spell.  Hearing nothing, Dahlarin
peered over the table edge, only to see the deadly flail slam into
the table in front of him... in absolute silence.  Immediately
Dahlarin realized what had happened.  He was in the lair of an
orcish priest, and the priest had just cast a silencing spell,
rendering Dahlarin's magic useless!  Realizing he had just vastly
underestimated his foe, Dahlarin stumbled backward away from Tsog,
as the shaman pried the flail from the table, and advanced at
Dahlarin.  As Dahlarin tried to get out of the spell's radius, the
orc silently whirled the flail above his head, and sent it crashing
down on Dahlarin.

     Instinctively Dahlarin lept back and held out his silver arm
in defense.  The flail crashed down on the arm in eerie silence,
the chain wrapping around it and jarring Dahlarin nearly off his
feet.  Immediately, the orc yanked on the flail, pulling Dahlarin
one step toward the orc.  The orc's left fist came forward at the
same instant smashing into Dahlarin's jaw.  Fortunately, Dahlarin
had spent some time on the streets and, unlike most mages, knew at
least the fundamental of handling himself in a street fight.
Shaking off the force of the punch, Dahlarin pulled his metal arm
back, and twisted around, trying to throw the orc over his
shoulder.  The orc, however, outweighed Dahlarin by too much, and
Dahlarin only manage to throw the orc to his knees.  Still, this
was enough of a distraction for Dahlarin to untangle the flail and
step back as the orc got to his feet.

     'I just have to avoid him until that spell runs out', thought
Dahlarin to himself as he and the orc eyed each other up.  Tsog was
obviously surprise that the mage was able to handle himself so well
in a fight, and paused for a moment to re-evaluate the situation.
Dahlarin edged back to the table, and as Tsog charged again, he
lept around the table, trying to keep it between him and the
shaman.  Still trying to judge the area of the spell, Dahlarin made
an unexpected leap into the corner of the room, throwing himself
against the wall.  To his delight, he heard the clang of his arm
against the wall.  Losing no time, he uttered a quick command word
just as the orc moved to place Dahlarin in the silence spell again.
     "Dahl-shock!", he shouted just as the silence spell closed in
over him again.  As expected, he felt the silver arm hum in
response to the spell.  Tsog closed in on Dahlarin, trapping him in
the corner of the room.  With a brief swing, the orc smashed the
flail at Dahlarin again.  Dahlarin ducked down, and once again
caught the head of the flail on his arm.  Immediately blue energy
surged through the arm and into the flail.  It travelled down the
chain and lept onto the orc's hand, quickly travelling through the
orc's body to completely surround him.  The orc convulsed wildly,
his mouth open in a silent scream, and his eyes bulging alarmingly.
He dropped the flail and fell to the floor, still convulsing, with
tiny blue arcs of energy surging over his body.  Dahlarin quickly
ran to the far side of the room outside the silence spell's radius,
and untangled the flail.  The orc, smoking slightly, hesitantly got
to his feet.  Without wasting any time, Dahlarin cast another
spell, dispelling the magical silence.  The orc recovered
surprisingly quickly, immediately casting a spell of his own.
Healing energy surged through the orc, and the burns from
Dahlarin's spell quickly healed over.

     "You are an admirable foe!", said the orc in perfect common.

     Dahlarin nodded, thinking the same about the orc, and trying
to anticipate the orc's next move.  With admirable speed, the orc
suddenly flicked the serrated dagger toward Dahlarin.  Although he
saw it coming, Dahlarin could not move out of the way quick enough,
and the razor-sharp dagger sliced deep into his side and stuck
there.  The orc lunged back at Dahlarin, fully expecting the mage
to double over and pull out the dagger, causing the mage more pain
in the process.  However, Dahlarin had seen too many fights and
received too many wounds to be so predictable.  Ignoring the pain
in his side, he began a spell, completing it just as the orc
reached him.  He held out his good hand, palm outward, and
immediately, a horizontal column of fire surged from it, slamming
into the oncomming orc.  This time, the orc's howl of pain was not
muted by a silence spell, and the orc was thrown back across the
room with the shear force of the fire.  Dahlarin face was a mask of
concentration as he tried to keep the flame centred on the
thrashing orc.  With a flash, the rune-light went out, and the
entire room was bathed in the redish glow from the column of flame.
Dahlarin held the fire as long as he could, then the whole room was
plunged into blackness as the fire went out.  He gasped for breath
for a moment, then activated another rune-light in the air.  On the
other side of the room, the orc, now a black and charred mass, was
struggling to rise to his feet.  Dahlarin stared in disbelief at
the strength of this orc.  Before the orc could get up, he raced
over to it and chanted a quick spell.  Several quick pulses of
energy surged from his fingertips to slam into the remains of the
orc.  The orc shuddered briefly and fell still.

     "That one's for me..", Dahlarin murmured softly, then did a
quick search of the room.  He quickly found all of his belongings,
and a quick magical scan revealed several minor magic items, which
he gathered up as well and placed in his pouch.  Outside the door,
he could hear a commotion gathering as the sounds of the battle
alerted orcish guards.  After a moment's thought, he grabbed the
heavy flail, assuming Gernodt might be able to use it.  Although it
wasn't magical, it was a finely made weapon.  As he picked it up,
a pounding started at the door, as the orcs outside began to try
and break in.  Dahlarin judged the oak door for a moment, and
decided that in its condition it wouldn't hold for long.

     "Well, time for a little more magic... This one's for Kyle..",
he stated coldly as he activated his silver arm again.

     "Not much energy left.  Still, there should be enough."

     "Dahl-bolt!", he commanded.  Immediately the arm surged with
energy, and a blindingly bright bolt of energy surged from it to
slam into the door.  The orcs, on the other side of the door, had
no time to react as the door exploded outward, ripping itself to
shards.  White bolts of electrical energy surged through the
opening, disintegrating the orcs where they stood and arcing in a
white column down the walls, floor and ceiling of the corridor.  An
entire squadron of orcs, more than 20 strong, died as they were
caught in the blast of energy that ripped almost a hundred feet
down the corridor.  As the destruction ended, Dahlarin stepped
calmly through the remains of the door to survey the damage.  He
nodded grimly, and stepped over the charred remains of the orcs to
arrive at the first door down the corridor.

     As he suspected, when he opened the room contained an
assortment of weapons, armour, and personal possessions, likely
taken from prisoners.  He grabbed a nearby sack, and began
searching the room for anything that looked faintly familiar,
hoping he would be able to retrieve all of his friend's
possessions.  He found most of them in a pile near the door, and
assuming this must be everything from his group, grabbed all of it
and put it in the sack.  As he was finishing, the sound of
approaching orcs was heard from down the hall.  Exclamations of
surprise were soon to follow as the orcs came upon the destruction,
and Dahlarin hurriedly finished and began casting a spell.  When he
finished, he caught a brief mental glimpse of Gernodt, and of the
steel ball he had enchanted.  Before the orcs could arrive, he
activated the amulet once again and faded into the ether...