13th Day of Goodmonth, 565 CY
Drachensgrab Hills, The Pomarj
"Zantac!"
Talass spun around and hurled herself forward, winding up on hands and knees over the Willip wizard's unmoving form. Her husband simultaneously rushed over towards Cygnus.
Four more tentacles exploded out of the stalagmite's form. These were thicker around than the previous two had been. Although they had no barbs on their ends, they were prehensile. Argo, Aslan, Nesco and Tojo quickly found them encircling around their waists, though their hands remained free.
Talass frantically examined Zantac. A tiny hole in the mage's yellow tunic was now dark orange with blood, but so small a wound could not possibly explain how he had been dropped so quickly. The answer, distressingly obvious, came quickly to her.
Poison. Damn it, why didn't I prepare for this? Talass mentally screamed at herself. We've been hit by it enough that I should have known better by now!
Getting to her feet, the cleric tried to ignore the sounds of combat all around her as she grabbed Zantac under his shoulders and slowly began to pull the wizard away from the battle. Angry at herself, Talass instead snarled at her burden.
"Next time, I'm prepping for this. You carry your own damn food!"
"Come on, Cygnus- wake up! I forbid you, as your party leader, to die; come on now!"
Elrohir, dragging Cygnus backwards, was forced to move in a wide circle, away from Talass and Zantac, due to the tentacles snaking everywhere through the air. He managed to get him all the way back to the wall before risking a quick glance around the battlefield.
Something was wrong.
Besides the obvious.
All four of his friends seemed to be gasping for breath, more so than the tightness of the rocklike tentacles grasping them would indicate. Aslan, currently closest to the creature, turned a fatigued face towards the ranger.
"Elrohir!" he gasped. "These tentacles… sapping our strength!" The paladin struggled to draw his sword, but the tentacle covered his weapons belt.
The monster's hole-like mouth opened wider. A second, smaller mouth, likewise encircled by sharp teeth, opened and closed in apparent anticipation. The tentacle holding the paladin retracted, pulling Aslan directly towards the hole, but at the last second he thrust out both arms, pressing his palms against the thing's rock-hard flesh.
"Use your Talent!" Elrohir nearly shrieked at him, then turned to check out the others.
Argo Bigfellow, closest to Elrohir, had his right hand dug underneath the tentacle holding him. It seemed as if he had grasped Harve's hilt but was unable to draw the sword from its sheath. Argo's left hand was trying to pry the creature's limb loose, but it was uncertain whether he was going to do so or not.
Nesco had both hands around the tentacle grabbing her but wasn't getting anywhere. The look of panic on Lady Cynewine's face told Elrohir the story. Aslan was in the most immediate danger, but Elrohir was sure the paladin's Talent would save him. Nesco, not thinking clearly, needed aid first.
A split-second glance at Tojo revealed that the samurai had gone limp upon being entangled, his weight bearing him down to the floor. Although the tentacle holding him had started to pull inwards, the samurai had planted his foot firmly against a small rock outcropping on the floor and was now holding his distance from the monster. Tojo's hands moved almost serenely along the length of the limb holding him; checking for weaknesses, perhaps.
Lord, I wish I could be as calm as you, Tojo, thought Elrohir. He was about to head towards Nesco when a groan at his feet distracted him.
Cygnus was regaining consciousness.
Zantac, too, was starting to come around.
"Thank the Justice Bringer," Talass murmured, exhaling a sigh of relief while roughly patting the wizard's cheek. "Zantac! Zantac? Are you all right?"
The magic-user's brown eyes seemed to have trouble focusing. Talass was torn between yanking the mage to his feet and shoving him towards the ongoing melee and wanting to get him out of this cavern entirely and make sure he could recover safely. She had no idea if there were any lasting effects from the creature's poison. At the very least, she supposed he'd be suffering from the same physical debilitation the others were.
"Zantac," she repeated, bending down low over him. "It's me, Talass. The others are in battle- I've got to go aid them. Lie here until you feel strong enough to move."
Zantac's eyes finally focused on hers. A deep frown spread over his face, and his brow furrowed.
"I'm hungry," he snarled.
With his left hand, Zantac suddenly grabbed the chain links of Talass' armor and pulled her down further. His right hand drew his dagger from his belt, and he thrust it upwards as hard as he could.
Gokasillion was on target.
"Thanks, Elrohir!" Argo chirped. The big ranger was already drawing Harve as the stalagmite's severed tentacle writhed reflexively on the stone floor.
They both stared at Aslan. The paladin's high forehead was bathed in sweat as he continued to press against the creature.
"Aslan!" Elrohir yelled again. "Use your Talent, dammit! This is no time to be cheap with it!"
Aslan did not reply. Argo reacted first. "I'll cut him loose," he said, then cast a quick glance behind Elrohir before heading off. "Cygnus is up."
Elrohir turned back and saw the tall mage, a little unsteadily, rise to his feet, using the cavern wall by him for support.
"Cygnus!" the party leader yelled. "Are you all right? I've got to go help Nesco! Can you attack this thing?"
The sound of Elrohir's voice seemed to snap Cygnus back into action. He stared at his friend for what seemed like a very long moment, and then extended his right arm.
"Great!" Elrohir was already turning around to go to Cynewine's aid- when he suddenly turned back again.
Cygnus wasn't pointing at the stalagmite. He was pointing directly at Elrohir.
In horrible slow motion, Elrohir saw it all, like still paintings of increasing detail of smaller and smaller items.
Cygnus.
His right arm.
His right hand.
His ring of shooting stars, glinting in the continual light.
Blazing death came hurtling straight at Elrohir.