Lunch Break

"Run!"

The party didn't need to hear Khan yell twice; their situation was dire enough that nobody felt like sticking around. Khan's eyes narrowed as he led them on, his sword raised and at guard in this dreadful place. Danger was all around; if what their erstwhile cellmates and ogre guard had said was true, they could be killed at any moment by the Elder Brain ruling this city. Not that he should have been surprised, he supposed. It was the Underdark; if the drow didn't kill you, the illithid or beholders would.

"They're still coming!" Imoen's alarmed yell spurred them on even faster, Khan sneaking a quick look behind them to spy their pursuers-

The sound of chittering and swirling tentacles preceded the visage of the mammoth umber hulks and the thin yet infinitely more dangerous mind flayers that swarmed down the halls after them, intent on recapturing their gladiatorial prisoners. Khan redoubled his stride, cursing the path that had brought them here. It hadn't been intentional; just an attempt at exploring the dangerous Underdark, hoping to find a way out of this dread place of legend. Two tunnels, one heading east and the other south. Khan snorted; last time I trust Haer'Dalis to give us directions. Especially considering he's the only one who seems to be enjoying himself.

True enough, the tiefling bard found the chaos of their situation quite enjoyable; the same could not be said for the rest of the party. After escaping their cells and the arena with the aid of the Githyanki, a contingent of umber hulks and illithid had been dispatched to recapture or kill them; despite their attempts at losing them in the turns and twists of the city, their pursuers had done nothing but gain on them. Khan's eyes lit up as he spotted a door at the end of the long hall they were running down; perhaps they might have a chance at this after all-

A cry lit out behind him as Khan's head whipped around, seeing Mazzy take a fall as they went, tumbling along the ground. The monsters at their rear would catch up to her quickly if something wasn't done; Valygar whipped around with surprising speed, darting down and yanking the halfling to her feet and back down the hall, a split second before an umber hulk's claw would have crushed her. The others were already past the doorway, Valygar leapt through, Mazzy right behind him-

Khan slammed the door closed, wiping his forehead with relief. "Nice save, Valygar... almost lost you for a moment, Mazzy."

"That door will scarce hold them for long; we should get moving quickly, good raven." Haer'Dalis said, gesturing towards a set of closed doors on the other side of the room.

"What are you talking about?" Khan frowned. "We finally find someplace safe to rest for a bit, and you want to get moving again? Sorry, but I don't have that kind of energy."

"So how do you intend for us to stop the beasts that will pile through that door in seconds?" Jaheira demanded, her spear leveled in the direction of the door they had just come through.

"Relax, they won't come in. I closed the door."

"Er... maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't know how to lock the door. Do you?" Imoen asked nervously.

"What, you think they'll open the door?" Khan asked, chuckling. "Forget it... just relax." An air of disbelief seemed to fall over the group as Khan took off his pack, sheathed his sword, and then stretched, sitting down with his hands behind his head as he leaned against the wall.

"Too much magic will make a man lose his senses." Valygar frowned, walking over to the relaxed paladin. "Khan... are you certain you feel all right?"

"Well..." Khan said, frowning a bit, "I am a bit hungry. Lunch break!"

X X X X X X X

Six umber hulks and three illithid stood at one end of a closed door. A chittering noise echoed through the chamber; two illithid glanced at each other, then the door. The third made its way over to the door, scratching his head. He looked back over to his fellow mind flayers and shrugged. They looked back at the umber hulks... who were apparently sleeping.

X X X X X X X

Khan sighed in contentment as he finished the last of his meal, scratching his belly. He had proceeded to discard his armor before eating, quite content and relaxed. The only other one who seemed to be just as relaxed was Haer'Dalis, also quite at home after observing Khan's behavior for a few moments. The rest of the party was still obviously on edge, no one really keeping their guard down in case the door beside them blasted open. Still... nothing had happened, despite all logic and sane reasoning. The doors weren't particularly sturdy; surely the umber hulks could have broken them down by now. Or the illithid could have opened them with a touch. But no, they remained, untouched and unharmed.

Jaheira, finally fed up with the tension, turned to Khan to say something... she rolled her eyes in exasperation, seeing the paladin lying against the wall, his mouth moving up and down slowly as he snored. She clutched her spear tighter and walked over, shaking the man awake. "Khan! Wake up, where do you think we are?"

"Jaheira...? Why did you wake me up?"

"Why? Why?" she asked incredulously. "Because we're in a city of the illithid, umber hulks and mind flayers lurk everywhere, and there is a horde ready to tear us limb from limb right behind that door!"

"And I told you before..." Khan sighed, pulling away from her and lying back down. "I closed the door, didn't I?"

She stared at him with unbelieving eyes, about ready to ignore the paladin's protests and drag him to his feet, before Mazzy grabbed Jaheira's arm, sighing with acceptance. "Let the man sleep, Jaheira. He has enough faith in our safety... perhaps we should as well."

Jaheira inwardly disagreed, but tried to calm herself, following the halfling to a small spot in the corner of the room, sitting beside her. "Come Jaheira, the rest of the group has decided to follow Khan's lead; get some rest. We shall need it to escape this place."

Mazzy turned over, leaving Jaheira alone, the only one still awake. She shifted, gathering her spear close to her and slowly began to give in to her exhaustion, though a small part of her could not help but fear and wonder what terror the mind flayers and umber hulks would inflict on them when their guard was down; such a great threat lurking right behind that door...

X X X X X X X

A mind flayer glanced at the umber hulk swaying beside him. Its tentacles chittered for a moment... the umber hulk moved over, settling in beside the door. The illithid nodded in satisfaction, then took the umber hulks place in their little crowd. It glanced at the door again. It shrugged, then went back to standing and thinking.

I wonder when we can get lunch...