Chapter Nine:
Back at the secret room, the group snuck inside. The room was still empty and the taste of evil in Laguna's throat rose like bile as they descended the spiral staircase. He and the ranger led the way into the lower level.
They stood in a room that glowed with the same pale phosphorescence as the rest of the temple. The gouge marks were even more numerous now, and the evil Laguna sensed seemed to be at the other end of the long hallway in front of them. Seeing as that this was the only way to go, the group proceeded, creeping as quietly as they could.
The hall way incredibly long, close to several hundred feet. It made a sharp right turn at the end, and seemed to open up about 15 feet down that passageway, into a huge room. Laguna and Jea poked their heads into the room, looking for anything moving.
Unfortunately, they forgot to look up. An earth shattering roar shocked the shit out of Laguna Kimsteed as a set of jaws grabbed him by the shoulder, throwing him into the room. He staggered backwards, trying to regain his balance, wincing at the pain in his shoulder.
Wolf, Jea, Ambermist, and Dumbugg moved into the room, deciding NOT to be frozen targets and taking stock of their lone opponent.
This monster was about the size of a small horse, not counting the wings. It had three heads: a lion, a black goat, and a red dragon. The forequarters were those of a lion, and the hindquarters those of a goat. It had the wings of a red dragon, and was obviously angry and evil.
"Shit!" Jea swore, her face showing recognition. "It's a damned chimera! Split up folks!"
While Laguna regained his footing, the others scattered, and the chimera attacked again. This time, it attacked Jea, who had launched herself at it as a distraction. It reared up on its hind legs and swatted at her with both paws while its dragon head breathed a stream of fire.
Both sets of claws struck her, one on the arm, the other on the chest, but she managed to avoid most of the fire, escaping with the exception of her left leg.
Defiantly, the fierce half-elven women gave a battle cry and attacked with her mace, ignoring her hideous wounds. Laguna joined her in laying about its heads while Dumbugg and Ambermist hacked at its flanks.
The creature, realizing it was partially surrounded, backed up so it could see its opponents. The dragon head twisted on serpentine neck and took out its anger on Dumbugg, sinking its teeth deep into his torso and shoulder, picking him up off the ground and shaking him.
Dumbugg was then thrown, unconscious, to the floor. Laguna, upon deciding that his less than intelligent friend called for more attention than the monster, wasted his swing in favor of his innate healing ability as a paladin, bringing Dumbugg back to a vague consciousness.
By now the monster was hurt bad enough that it was missing more and more of its attacks. Ambermist continued to carve chunks out of its flank and Laguna was soon back to attacking its heads.
It was Laguna who eventually killed the thing. It screamed one last time in defiance, and breathed a stream of fire at the ceiling as the body collapsed.
For several long moments, the party did nothing except stand there, panting, taking stock of their injuries. Jea hobbled over to Dumbugg's form, casting a healing spell on him. Then she moved to Laguna's side to inspect his shoulder, which was already healing, thanks to the ring.
"Looks pretty good, but lemme help it along a little," she murmured, inspecting the torn flesh.
Laguna stopped her. "It's okay, Jea. With this ring it'll be healed in about 10 minutes. You need to take care of yourself. Those wounds are pretty bad," he said gently, taking her hand off his shoulder.
"You sure?" she asked.
"Yes."
After they'd patched themselves up, Jea proceeded to skin the chimera and pull all of its teeth and claws. She tucked these into her bag and moved back so Dumbugg could behead the beast.
Investigating the room, they found the creatures hoard. A pile of gold, gems, and various items met their gazes. Ambermist fell on it with glee, sorting through the pile of treasure. She eagerly helped Jea load the coins into her Bag of Holding. Once all the money had been removed, they took stock of the remainder of the treasure. Laguna looked and found the prayer beads. Next to them lay an ornate longsword that seemed to call to him. Before he could stop himself, his fingers had closed around the scabbard and picked it up. Other than that, all that was there a few potions, some gems, and a scroll. Nothing particularly interesting though.
Further inspection of the room showed that part of the back wall had shattered, revealing a cave beyond. The group snuck into the cave and discovered it was, in fact, a passageway.
They started following the dripping tunnel as it sloped downward. They did not get very far, however. Laguna stopped to ask if his comrades knew where the tunnel went. Ambermist shook her head, not quite sure. When they turned to ask Jea, she was quivering in fear. The ranger woman whimpered, looking around herself in absolute terror. "T—th—this leads…..to…to…the U—U—Und—der—d—d—dark…Can we go back?" Her last question was such a heartfelt, fearful, piteous plea that it shocked her friends. This was the same woman, who, just minutes before had been fighting a vicious monster without a sound of even the slightest hesitation, ignoring grievous wounds. To see her reduced to a quivering ball of fearful nerves was, quite frankly, frightening.
Laguna put an arm around Jea's shoulders. "Yeah. Let's go back. C'mon."
They hiked back out of the tunnel. By the time they got back to the room with the dead chimera, Jea was back to normal. She apologized profusely.
Laguna waved it away. "No problem. I think we've done what we were supposed to do; am I right?"
"Yes." Jea's voice held none of that former quiver.
"Then we should be leaving. Let's leave this desecrated place and return to the city."
Back at the secret room, the group snuck inside. The room was still empty and the taste of evil in Laguna's throat rose like bile as they descended the spiral staircase. He and the ranger led the way into the lower level.
They stood in a room that glowed with the same pale phosphorescence as the rest of the temple. The gouge marks were even more numerous now, and the evil Laguna sensed seemed to be at the other end of the long hallway in front of them. Seeing as that this was the only way to go, the group proceeded, creeping as quietly as they could.
The hall way incredibly long, close to several hundred feet. It made a sharp right turn at the end, and seemed to open up about 15 feet down that passageway, into a huge room. Laguna and Jea poked their heads into the room, looking for anything moving.
Unfortunately, they forgot to look up. An earth shattering roar shocked the shit out of Laguna Kimsteed as a set of jaws grabbed him by the shoulder, throwing him into the room. He staggered backwards, trying to regain his balance, wincing at the pain in his shoulder.
Wolf, Jea, Ambermist, and Dumbugg moved into the room, deciding NOT to be frozen targets and taking stock of their lone opponent.
This monster was about the size of a small horse, not counting the wings. It had three heads: a lion, a black goat, and a red dragon. The forequarters were those of a lion, and the hindquarters those of a goat. It had the wings of a red dragon, and was obviously angry and evil.
"Shit!" Jea swore, her face showing recognition. "It's a damned chimera! Split up folks!"
While Laguna regained his footing, the others scattered, and the chimera attacked again. This time, it attacked Jea, who had launched herself at it as a distraction. It reared up on its hind legs and swatted at her with both paws while its dragon head breathed a stream of fire.
Both sets of claws struck her, one on the arm, the other on the chest, but she managed to avoid most of the fire, escaping with the exception of her left leg.
Defiantly, the fierce half-elven women gave a battle cry and attacked with her mace, ignoring her hideous wounds. Laguna joined her in laying about its heads while Dumbugg and Ambermist hacked at its flanks.
The creature, realizing it was partially surrounded, backed up so it could see its opponents. The dragon head twisted on serpentine neck and took out its anger on Dumbugg, sinking its teeth deep into his torso and shoulder, picking him up off the ground and shaking him.
Dumbugg was then thrown, unconscious, to the floor. Laguna, upon deciding that his less than intelligent friend called for more attention than the monster, wasted his swing in favor of his innate healing ability as a paladin, bringing Dumbugg back to a vague consciousness.
By now the monster was hurt bad enough that it was missing more and more of its attacks. Ambermist continued to carve chunks out of its flank and Laguna was soon back to attacking its heads.
It was Laguna who eventually killed the thing. It screamed one last time in defiance, and breathed a stream of fire at the ceiling as the body collapsed.
For several long moments, the party did nothing except stand there, panting, taking stock of their injuries. Jea hobbled over to Dumbugg's form, casting a healing spell on him. Then she moved to Laguna's side to inspect his shoulder, which was already healing, thanks to the ring.
"Looks pretty good, but lemme help it along a little," she murmured, inspecting the torn flesh.
Laguna stopped her. "It's okay, Jea. With this ring it'll be healed in about 10 minutes. You need to take care of yourself. Those wounds are pretty bad," he said gently, taking her hand off his shoulder.
"You sure?" she asked.
"Yes."
After they'd patched themselves up, Jea proceeded to skin the chimera and pull all of its teeth and claws. She tucked these into her bag and moved back so Dumbugg could behead the beast.
Investigating the room, they found the creatures hoard. A pile of gold, gems, and various items met their gazes. Ambermist fell on it with glee, sorting through the pile of treasure. She eagerly helped Jea load the coins into her Bag of Holding. Once all the money had been removed, they took stock of the remainder of the treasure. Laguna looked and found the prayer beads. Next to them lay an ornate longsword that seemed to call to him. Before he could stop himself, his fingers had closed around the scabbard and picked it up. Other than that, all that was there a few potions, some gems, and a scroll. Nothing particularly interesting though.
Further inspection of the room showed that part of the back wall had shattered, revealing a cave beyond. The group snuck into the cave and discovered it was, in fact, a passageway.
They started following the dripping tunnel as it sloped downward. They did not get very far, however. Laguna stopped to ask if his comrades knew where the tunnel went. Ambermist shook her head, not quite sure. When they turned to ask Jea, she was quivering in fear. The ranger woman whimpered, looking around herself in absolute terror. "T—th—this leads…..to…to…the U—U—Und—der—d—d—dark…Can we go back?" Her last question was such a heartfelt, fearful, piteous plea that it shocked her friends. This was the same woman, who, just minutes before had been fighting a vicious monster without a sound of even the slightest hesitation, ignoring grievous wounds. To see her reduced to a quivering ball of fearful nerves was, quite frankly, frightening.
Laguna put an arm around Jea's shoulders. "Yeah. Let's go back. C'mon."
They hiked back out of the tunnel. By the time they got back to the room with the dead chimera, Jea was back to normal. She apologized profusely.
Laguna waved it away. "No problem. I think we've done what we were supposed to do; am I right?"
"Yes." Jea's voice held none of that former quiver.
"Then we should be leaving. Let's leave this desecrated place and return to the city."