Casting Shadows

The scroll of this part of travelling wizard, Marlin Tyrell’s adventure in The Kobold Lair comes to an abrupt end here…

Scene 4: The Decision

Daddy Foulmouth swore and tore off his molten armour as fast as he could, as I dragged the smouldering Sonny to the great cistern on the southern wall of the mess hall. Soon joined by the nearly naked Daddy Foulmouth, himself in hardly any better condition, we dumped the son into the cooling waters where his screaming finally ended in blessed unconsciousness.

Daddy helped me carry him out the northern door, which he said led back to the “liver room” and beyond that to the Captain’s Quarters, the only place with a real bed we had as yet encountered. We lay the son down and his father began to tend his very, very bad wounds. I returned to the mess hall, retrieved the staff (with its gem now safely replaced at the staff’s head and no longer a fiery lash) and dragged the Chieftain’s corpse (with no small effort I may say) back to the Captain’s Quarters. It occurred to me that Daddy, should he find himself able to, and in a position to fight again, may be able to wear the Chieftain’s armour. We did not know at all how many Kobolds there were out there still in the warrens: four cooks and a boy to be sure, but how many more? And who had made the ward that guarded the entrance outside? Was it the Chieftain, or was there another arcane worker?

I was drained completely, but rest and meditation would be able to revive me if there were time. The Dwarves were another story. Sonny was on his last legs, literally, and would be lucky to rise and fight another day in the distant future unless some divine powers would manifest and heal him. Daddy Foulmouth, that stalwart, doughty fighter, would never shirk from our next fight, but he was also not likely to survive it without further medical attention, or divine providence… And Daddy had used up his one miracle of the day earlier.

To be continued…but not tomorrow. If you enjoyed this, and would like to learn the rest of the story, let us know~

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