Shyne sent two bolts of energy streaking into the Ogre that had just finished off Nancy, then drew his greatsword and charged at the putrid creatures. He arrived just in time to parry the blow from a club that would surely have killed Slobba. Shyne launched a vicious counter attack that slammed into the ribs of the monster in front of him, before he dropped to one knee to avoid the swinging club of the second. Behind him he heard Slobba trying to regain his footing, but he knew that he was in no condition to fight.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Elvis draw his rapier and move towards a flanking position. Shyne knew that the Bards weapon would be all but useless against the undead but he appreciated the assistance. Once again he managed to parry one of the clubs but, as the second club caught him a painful glancing blow on the left shoulder, he knew that this was a battle that he could not win alone.
"GIMP!" he roared "I need you!"
Shyne didn't see where the Imp came from. One second it wasn't there, then the next it was tearing chunks of flesh off the undead Ogre to his right.
'I might actually survive this' he thought to himself calmly as he launched another over handed assault with this sword. As it bit into the decaying flesh of the monster he saw the tip of Elvis' rapier emerge from its chest.
'Yes, I might just make it.'
Elvis knew that he would struggle to harm the undead with his rapier, he needed a crushing weapon and he didn't have one. All he really wanted to do was to distract them until the others arrived to help. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder and saw that Grumpy, Alyse and Llona were still engaged with their last opponent. He turned his attention back to battle in front of him and winced as he saw Shyne stagger from yet another body blow. Elvis doubted that Shyne could take much more punishment and, thinking quickly, he threw himself into the back of the knees of the Ogre standing before him. The Ogre managed to remain upright briefly, before it lost its balance and fell backwards on top of Elvis, covering him in a mountain of rancid rotting flesh.
Amazed at what he had just witnessed, Shyne stood and stared at the creature laying on the ground before him. He didn't know if Elvis was still alive but he did know that if he didn't finish it off quickly he wouldn't be, so he hoisted his greatsword and brought it down repeatedly across its torso until it stopped moving.
Shyne never saw the second Ogre as it swung its monstrous club at his unprotected back; the first he knew of it was when it slammed into him and broke the Gods only knew how many ribs. Oddly, the last thing he thought he heard before the darkness claimed him was someone say:
"YES!"
With a workman like efficiency Grumpy continued to chop into the Ogre until it finally fell at his feet. As the Dwarf turned towards Alyse he heard Llona scream in what could only be described as a mixture of shock and fury, and he quickly brought his head around in time to see Shyne collapse to the floor. Bellowing in rage, he raced across the room and hurtled himself at the Ogre, smashing his axe into its right leg, almost severing it at the knee. Not an instant later Llona thrust the short sword she carried in her right hand into its lower back, while Alyse hacked at its torso with her longsword. Nothing living nor dead could stand up to such a relentless assault, and the Ogre soon fell to their fury.
Llona threw her weapons to the ground, rushed to Shynes side and felt around his neck for a pulse which, although feint and erratic, was there. She then began to frantically bandage his wounds, concentrating firstly on the most serious, before moving to those that were less so. While Llona was tending to Shyne, Alyse was trying to rouse the unconscious Slobba. To her relief he was clearly not in danger of dying; his breathing was strong and there were no serious visible wounds, however his colour had a sickly pale hue which was evidence of a head wound. Alyse pulled her backpack off her shoulders, opened it, and then began to rummage through it to find the only healing potion in her possession. After a few seconds she gave a cry of joy as she found what she was looking for. As she went to pull the stopper from the top of the potion bottle Llona lunged at her and tried to rip it from her grasp.
“Give to me!” she yelled in a hysterical voice “we must save him!”
“Foolish woman” snorted Alyse as she snatched the bottle to her breast and out of Llona’s reach. “If we use the potion to heal Slobba he’ll be able to summon the healing powers of his God to save Shyne.”
“Yes! Yes of course!” Llona said excitedly “Quickly now, I fear that Shyne is only just hanging on to life!” she finished urgently.
Alyse pulled the cork from the bottle then gently raised Slobba’s head with her left hand before she slowly poured its contents into his mouth. At first it did not appear to have any effect, however his colour quickly began to improve and his eyelids suddenly flickered open.
“That was disgusting” he whispered in a croaky voice.
“Oh don’t be such a baby” Alyse said sternly “it doesn’t taste that bad.”
“I’m not talking about the potion” Slobba replied in an unsteady voice.
“Then what are you talking about?” she asked as for the first time she noticed Elvis covered in rotting flesh standing behind Llona.
‘By the Earth Mother that man stinks’ she thought to herself before covering her nose to protect it from the stench. ‘However can he stand it?’
“It was during the battle” began Slobba “I was lying on the ground and couldn’t move; I thought I was going to die, and then Shyne appeared. He stood over my body and protected me from the undead. It was horrible!” he finished with a moan.
“Horrible?” said Llona incredulously as tears ran down her face “how could that be horrible, he saved your life!”
“He doesn’t wear underwear”
Elvis threw up on the ground.
Authors Note: Apologies that this has taken so long and that it is such a small post. I promise that the next one will be bigger.
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