Chapter III - Into the Mine

Reggie hovered invisibly outside the passage way that lead to the room containing the Orc that the group was there to kill.  He looked to his left at the zombie that was standing no more than 5 feet from him just as its nose dropped off and fell towards the floor.  With an agility that bordered on the supernatural, Reggie silently flew down and caught it inches from the ground.  Chuckling evilly to himself he placed the nose upside down on the zombies face and cast a minor enchantment to hold it in place, deftly moving aside as the creatures arm came up to swat whatever was in front of it.  

'Gimp' pulsed Shyne from the eastern corridor 'are the undead still in place?' he queried.

Reggie sent back to him.

‘Of course they're still in place you dumb &$%#*@# idiot ‘

'Yes Master'

'Proceed into the Orcs room and remain hidden until the assault begins' replied the Elf.

One day I am going to &$%#*@# kill you in your sleep you b@stard 
"As you command my Master" replied Reggie before flying as silently as possible into the lair of the Orc.

Upon entering the room Reggie took the time to study the creature before him.  It was without doubt the largest Orc that he had ever seen.  It stood well over 6 feet in height and had a powerful physique.  Two course braids hung from either side of its head and from its round flat face its eyes peered intently into the gloom.  It was so big that Reggie was quite certain that even its hair had muscles. 

Reggie thought to himself with a laugh as he settled down to wait for the fun to begin.

'It's going to kill them all'

"Are you absolutely sure that they won't be able to see or hear us?" asked Llona with a nervous look on her attractive Elven face.

"Sorry?" replied Slobba as his attention was dragged off Llona's ample bosom and back to the conversation at hand.

"I said are you sure they won’t detect us" Llona replied impatiently.  

"Cough, um, of course not" said Slobba with a tinge of embarrassment "The spell granted to me by Mighty Thor will mask us from detection!" he said with a note of pride in his voice.

"Time to cast your spells my friend" said Elvis as his hair waved slightly in a light breeze.

'There isn't any wind down here' thought Slobba to himself suspiciously as he commenced his enchantments.

"Done" he said triumphantly after finishing the final incantation.  "We can move into the room and they won't even know we're there".

"Get ready everyone" said Elvis with a gleam in his eye "this could get messy".

With Llona leading the way the four companions crept as silently as they could into the room.  Just as Gimp had described there were 3 skeletons and 3 zombies scattered about it, not one of which appeared to notice them.  

"Seems to be working" said Shyne to Slobba with a nod of approval.

"Thor's powers are mighty indeed" replied Slobba.

"This way" whispered Llona urgently "and keep the noise to a minimum".

The group continued towards their destination.  Although they attempted to mask their sounds they were not overly proficient at doing so.  Llona cursed for the umpteenth time after one of her companions made more unnecessary noise.

'By Prada the Holy Goddess of Shoes these men are Neanderthals!' she thought to herself.

Llona motioned for the men to hold their ground as she entered the narrow passage way.  As she eased herself around to the left a hulking shadow appeared before her.  The Orc!  It had heard them!  Leaping forward she lashed out with the short sword in her right hand, smiling viciously as she felt it strike true.  The Orc reared back in pain and snarled in rage.  At that moment Shyne stepped to her side and launched an assault with his great sword, again drawing blood.

"GIMP!" he roared "KILL THE ORC!"

‘With a bit of luck from the Lord of the 9 hells it'll kill you’
"Roger"  replied Reggie "Attacking now". 

The Imp exploded into action and began to tear at the Orc with its talons, sending chunks of flesh flying through the air.

Outside the room Elvis looked up in surprise as the zombie nearest to them began to shuffle towards him.
"Errr.......Slobba?" he said

"Yes I see them" Slobba replied "Um... come to think of it there is one drawback with that spell"

"And that would be? Elvis asked nervously

"Ah.....it is broken if one of the people it was cast on attacks anything" Slobba responded in an embarrassed tone.

"And you didn't think to tell us this?" asked Elvis incredulously.

"Ah no.  I forgot" replied Slobba.  "Elvis?"

"Yes Slobba" said Elvis as he drew his rapier from its sheath.

"If you've got any rousing songs that will raise our courage and help us fight, now would be the time to start singing them” said Slobba.

"My thoughts exactly" said Elvis as he cleared his throat before launching into one of his all time favourites:

"You've got to fight.

For your right.  

For xxxxxXXXXXPPPP! 

For XXXXXXXXXXXXXPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!"

And the battle began in earnest.

Writers note: XP is an abbreviation for Experience Points.  In DnD monsters and encounters have an XP value.  If you over come the monster or encounter your character earns XP.  Once they earn enough XP they progress to the next level, thereby gaining additional abilities be they spells for a Wizard or combat proficiency for a Fighter etc.