Rasmus wasn't sure what was happening. One moment, Hector the Silver Knight was barking out orders, the next moment the fell to he ground next to him, charred and smoking.
Sylgja and Tremane weren't quite as confused as they swiftly drew their weapons, and turned on their foe.
"I'll give you one chance to surrender, then I'll cut you down Kasmir," warned Hector.
Sylgja skipped the warning part and proceeded straight to the attack. She swung her heavy make shift club at the mage. It was a perfect strike, aimed right for his head, but the mage shimmered, disappeared, and reappeared ten feet back from his original position.
"You lot have worn out your usefulness. Nothing will keep me from my goal," said Kasmir as he waved his hand, sending a lance made of lightning thundering across the room, striking Sylgja squarely. Luckily for the Paladin, she raised her shield in time but it still threw pushed her back, striking the big Chuul display's tail.
Rasmus knew this was bad. He was in the middle of an interparty combat, and he was shackled and gagged. There was no way he could break his binds through strength but perhaps he could escape. He rocked his body to the side, and began rolling slowly across the trophy room. It was a small chance but he had to take it. Though it was confusing and dizzying, mid roll he managed to spot the dwarf aim his crossbow and fire.
"Aahhh!" shouted Sylgja as she was shot in the shoulder. While she was concentrating on Kasmir, she did not expect the attack from her flank.
"Sorry chaps, I'm all for your Reclamation and everything, but Kasmir pays me in gold and not ideals," said the dwarf as he took aim again.
"Treachery!" shouted Tremane at the dwarf. The big Hellknight drew a great sword and swung it high at the sniper. The dwarf had height and cover on his side, but the blade came dangerously close to his hip, forcing him to scramble down the back of the Grey Render.
As Rasmus continued to roll towards his target, Sylgja charged again. Kasmir laughed at her clumsy swing, teleporting back once again, but the Paladin turned on her heel mid swing and bolted at the surprised Mage. Rasmus didn't know she could move so fast, as she closed with her opponent before slamming her club down onto his head. Rasmus winced as he expected an exploding head at the end of the club, but the blow was stopped by a spectral shield shimmering into existence above Kasmir.
"Very good. You drew me in with that feint," said Kasmir. He had little time to gloat though, as Sylgja gave a hard front kick into his stomach before he could shift the shield.
"Ugghhhh," gasped Kasmir as he bent over in pain. "You dirty…."
Sylgja never let him finished as she literally batted his face with her club, sending the mage tumbling , head over heels into a crumpled pile.
Rasmus considered stopping his escape, since his 'side' seemed to be winning, but he changed his mind when the dwarf swung down from the Grey Render and caught his shoulder into Tremane's chest.
As big as the Hellknight was, there was an indomitable quality about dwarves that made them heavier…denser. This was in full display as Tremane was knocked over by the dwarf who then proceeded to dive in with what looked like a hatchet and pick. The dwarf laid into his fallen foe, hacking and piercing in a frenzy.
"Marshal Cansellarion should have never trusted you," said Sylgja as she pressed her prone opponent and brought her club down on him.
While he was severely beaten, Kasmir still had his wits about him as he stopped the blow again with his shield. As Sylgja followed up with another kick to the side, the mage teleported once again out of her reach, this time ten feet behind the paladin.
"HLOOOKK HOUUUT!" shouted Rasmus through his metal gag as Sylgja scanned for her foe. It only took a few seconds, but when she finally spotted him it was too late.
A massive humanoid creature made of stone and bricks rose out of the ground, tearing up the floor of the Trophy room. It's towering presence seemed to bring the battle to a standstill as it roared an inhuman battle cry. It slammed one of its fist into Sylgja , who to her credit managed to block the brunt of it with her shield, while the other fist snatched her from overhead, enveloping her head, and upper shoulders with its huge stony grip.
The Paladin squirmed and writhed under its grasp, dropping her club in her struggles. At first she seemed to test her opponent's strength and grip, but quickly she began to thrash and kick wildly. Rasmus wasn't sure if it was due to desperation or if she was being choked, but he feared the worse.
"I never did like you, you stuck up bitch," spat Kasmir as he wiped the blood from his mouth. Several teeth fell loose in the process. "You and your boyfriend Hector playing your little games in camp, and pretending that no one noticed. It makes me sick. "
Boyfriend?
Rasmus shook his head and cleared his mind, he couldn't be distracted now. He rolled himself to one of the dustier displays in the Abberation section and hoped his plan would work.
"Ughh. By Torag's beard you'll pay for that." Rasmus glanced and saw that Tremane had managed to kick or throw the dwarf off of him. The big Hellknight rose with his blade but he was covered in cuts and gashes.
The Hellknight was too wounded to charge, but stumbled towards the dwarf swinging at him in a wide arc. The dwarf chuckled as he simply ducked under the blow , but his mirth was short lived as Tremane followed it up with a heavy skull splitting pommel strike to his head.
Despite blood pouring profusely out of his forehead, the dwarf powered his way through to the Hellknight. His hatchet was deflected by Tremane's heavy armour, but his pick manage to target a joint under his arm and pierce through the mail there. Tremane howled in pain. It was too close for his great sword so he dropped his blade, and wrapped his hands around his tormentor's neck even as the dwarf pressed and worked his pick deeper into his foe.
Both Knight and Dwarf pushed each other to the limit in their struggles, but only one could win.
"You shouldn't have aimed for my head," gasped the bloodied Dwarf as Tremane fell lifelessly to the ground. Instead of helping Kasmir, the Dwarf set upon the big knight's pockets.
Meanwhile, Sylgja laid limp in the massive stone creature's grasp. Kasmir strode up to inspect her with a big broken and bleeding grin on his face. He brushed his lecherous hands along her body, admiring particularly her long legs. "Though you were too good for me did you, well I hope you're not too good for the worms when I'm finished with you. Don't worry, I'll be …."
Rasmus thought she was done but the Paladin's legs shot out and hooked Kasmir's head into a triangle. For a second, Rasmus was jealous of the trapped mage, but that was until she started squeezing and strangling him.
The massive earth creature seemed confused at first and tried to shake Sylgja to release Kasmir. When that didn't work, it hefted her, and correspondingly she dragged the mage, high above its head and smashed them both into the ground. Rasmus thought they would both be dead, but surprisingly she held her grip and continued to choke the mage as the elemental raised them up to repeat its attack.
As the battle raged, Rasmus finally reached his destination. It was a strange specimen in Leroung's Trophy room, one whose appearance and properties seemed more fantastic and fanciful than all the rest. It was a fat insect creature with black beady eyes and its skin bore the appearance of stone. It had a long tail ending with what looked like a propeller, and two feathery tentacles attached to its face. Leroung told Rasmus that this strange creature could defeat Iron Golems but Rasmus never believed him. At least until now. He still didn't fully believed, but Rasmus hoped with all his heart that not only was his master correct, but there was some magic left within it as he rubbed his face and bonds against its tentacles.
"IOMEDAE TAKE YOU!" shouted Hector as the electrocuted knight charged. Rasmus had thought the Silver Knight slain, but he clearly wasn't as he cleaved through the earth creature's hand with a powerful blow from his glowing blade.
The severed hand inadvertently turned back into mortar and bricks as it released Sylgja who in turn released Kasmir when she fell to the ground. Sylgja gasped and wheezed even as Kasmir hacked and coughed from their ordeal.
The Silver Knight, actually more of a blackened or charred knight now, turned towards the earth creature and slashed again at its feet. His glowing blade bit deep into the monster, tearing great chunks out of it, but his foe did not appear fazed by it. It simply swung its remaining fist down on him, but instead of squashing him like a bug, Hector sidestepped its blow and severed its other arm with a deadly counter attack. Confused at being literally disarmed, the earth creature tried to stomp on Hector but fell into a shower of bricks as the knight bisected his torso with a final strike with his sword.
Turning towards Kasmir, Hector stalked towards the mage. "We trusted you, but you turned against us. Cowardice I could forgive, but betrayal I cannot. Before I slay you, ask yourself, was it worth it?"
Kasmir attempted to cast a spell, but Hector easily disrupted it with a kick to the chin. "Immortality is worth the risk. I'd sacrifice the lot of you if I could steal Leroung's secrets."
"Immortality? What are you…"
*THUNK*
Hector staggered as a crossbow bolt struck him squarely in the back, easily piercing through his armour. The knight reeled and slowly turned to face his foe, but another bolt struck him in the chest. As Hector fell to his knees a final bolt pierced through his throat.
"My fee just doubled, " gasped the Dwarf. "Pity, I preferred their company over yours, but at least you pay better."
Kasmir laughed as he rose and stood over the last knight. He ground his foot into her hand as she struggled to rise. Sylgja still hadn't recovered from the Earth creature choking her, and her Paladin powers had long been depleted.
"You'll get your pay, and I'll have my immortality," said Kasmir with a wide jack o lantern grin.
"What about the girl? You going take out your frustrations on her, housebreak her?"
"Hah. She's too dangerous. I'll break her and have my fun but she's too dangerous to live. I'm simply going to hire some strumpets at Westcrown after we loot this tower."
"Now, yer talking my lingo," chuckled the dwarf.
At this point, the shackles and gag had finally rusted off Rasmus. While slow, some of the infamous rusting powers of this monster remained intact.
Initially Rasmus hoped to simply set himself loose and flee, but after witnessing what they did to those knights, and what they threatened to do with Sylgja, he had other plans. An anger flowed through him, though instead of turning everything red, he saw grey. He knew the curse would advance if he used his magic, but he didn't care as he unleashed his rage.
A dwarf was strong and healthy and this one was also quick on his feet, so Rasmus filled his mind with phantasms of his bloodied victims. The dwarf shrieked as he was surrounded by visions of Hector and Tremane taking turns chopping and hacking him up in his mind.
Kasmir was powerful, but he had suffered through a lot of punishment and he was just a mage. A great spectral hand materialized out of nowhere and seized him.
"ARRGGGHHHH! " cried Kasmir before spotting Rasmus. "I knew it! I knew it! You were Leroung all along. Wait till I get free…AARRRGGHHH!"
Despite his cries of pain, the mage still managed to summon another earth creature, and a being of equal size made out of flames. The Earth creature attempted to pry free Kasmir while the Fire creature charged Rasmus. Rasmus easily vanished before the creature reached him, but already the Trophy Room had begun to burn and be engulfed in flames.
Rasmus turned to face Kasmir, prepared to unleash more of his wrath, but that was when his strength had finally failed him.
