Darkvision - Bruce R. Cordell [117]
Thankfully, the momentary release from the lightning was all Monolith needed.
The elemental noble crashed into the giant and grasped the bigger humanoid with his huge, earthen hands.
Warian fell several feet as the giant dropped him. It needed both hands to resist Monolith's elemental hug.
* * * * *
The vengeance taker aimed, fired, loaded, and cranked the mechanism. Again. And again.
The mantis-men were especially vulnerable to Iahn's deadly aim. As soon as Iahn saw a servitor's amulet, it was as good as out of the fight. If the way each creature screamed and collapsed was any indication, a servitor severed from Pandorym's control was dealt with permanently.
An insectoid broke cover, dashing from behind a canister. It hurled a spear, its aim perfect, and its speed lethal. Iahn slipped left, and the spear whispered its regrets in his right ear as it flew past. He wondered if the creature's speed was the result of its own skill or was an enhancement of Pandorym's power. No matter.
"Got you," he grunted as the mantis-man's amulet shattered, speared by an answering bolt from Iahn's new crossbow.
His was a winning strategy. "Break their amulets!" he yelled to the others, trying to project his voice above the din. "It's their connection to Pandorym. Break-"
A gray-skinned creature appeared from behind a large canister and loped forward, much larger than the mantis-men he'd so far eliminated. A mountain troll, like the one he'd faced days earlier. Iahn took aim… where in the name of the Great Seal was its amulet? He spied a chain, but no crystal.
He fired a bolt directly into the charging creature's forehead. The troll's head rocked back, then forward, a grin on its face. Blood trickled toward its mouth, but the troll roared and accelerated.
The vengeance taker shot one of the creature's eyes before it reached him and snatched at his legs. He skipped left, then right, careful to keep his footing on top of the tall cylinder. The creature was so big, it easily looked over the top the cylinder on which Iahn stood.
The vengeance taker holstered his crossbow in his thigh sheath. When the creature lunged at him again, he launched himself into the air.
He jumped up and forward, rotating into a somersault so that as the troll moved below him, the vengeance taker's legs flew high and his hands were free to grab the troll by its filthy black hair.
Before the creature realized where its target had gone, Iahn was on its back, securing his position with one arm snaked around the creature's thick neck. He squeezed.
The troll's rubbery flesh was resilient. That didn't prevent the vengeance taker from crushing its trachea. The troll squeaked and started to stagger. But Iahn knew the troll's body would repair itself in an instant. He kept squeezing, making certain that the troll couldn't get a breath. Nor could it roar, scream, beg, or even gasp.
The vengeance taker rode the troll down as it collapsed first to its knees, then onto its face. Even then, Iahn didn't relinquish his hold. Instead he yelled, "Ususi! Give me fire!"
* * * * *
Ususi heard the vengeance taker's command, but she couldn't afford to break her concentration. The wizard didn't turn or even process his words. All her energy was necessary to maintain the blockage she'd thrown down Pandorym's throat. The shimmering portal through which Deep Imaskar's plight was visible hazed further. Its wide diameter fluctuated, and the surrounding void black vapor whipped and lashed as if struggling to maintain its shape in a stiff wind.
Something punctured a small hole in her barrier. Her spell didn't collapse, but she spied something moving from the opposite side of it into the weapons cache.
An Imaskari man appeared in the gloom of Pandorym's form, stepping out of the portal. Had an ally