Page 14 (2/2)

In truth, and in considering the ate easily dispatch, neither did Canthan

Coe of the hillock To her left loo replica of Castle Perilous, Palishchuk to her right seerandiosity of the new construction Before her rose the northeastern peaks of the Galenas, running north to collide with the gigantic floe of the Great Glacier Ellery squinted and ducked lower, trying to alter the angle of the black horizon, for she caught a movement down there in the near pitch blackness

"What was it, then?" asked Pratcus the dwarf, hustling up beside her

Ellery shook her head and slowly pulled the axe from her the harness on her back

Across the way, Entreri and Jarlaxle took note, too, as did Olgerkhan and Arrayan

A for fast on batlike wings

Ellery fell back with a yelp, as did Pratcus, but then, acting purely on instinct, the woman retracted her axe ar the weapon end-overend at her approaching assailant

The axe hit with a dull thud and crackle, and the winged creature lurched higher into the air Ellery ducked low as it came over her

"Delow of their ca off its clawed hands and feet, and its horned, hideous head It was hus Taller than Pratcus, but shorter than Ellery, the creature was both solid and sinewy

"Gargoyles," Jarlaxle corrected from across the way

The obsidian beast clawed at Ellery&039;s axe, which she had e froash It reer, but then tumbled head down and crashed and rolled across the hilltop

Ellery was on it in a flash

"More co!" she yelled

She skidded down to her knees beside the fallen gargoyle, grasped her axe in both hands, and tore it free

Behind her, Pratcus was already spellcasting, calling on the od, the Keeper of Secrets under thehis arh and wide, and as he spoke the last syllable of the spell, a burst of brilliant light filled the air around hiht, the dwarf and the others saw that Ellery&039;s words were on the es of the glowing ins," Entreri said to Jarlaxle

He drew his sword and dagger and charged forward into the fray, veering as he went, though he was hardly aware of it, to move closer to the woman Arrayan

"Form defenses!" Ellery yelled A call from Mariabronne soht formations!" she cried as she sprinted off to the lip of the rise, then disappeared into the night

Entreri dipped forward into a roll as a gargoyle dived for hi at the air above the assassin He caoyle&039;s foot before it rushed out of range

Entreri couldn&039;t follow, for a second was upon hi wildly The creature tried to coore with its horn, but Entreri&039;s sword ca both of its arms over to the assassin&039;s left

Entreri stepped forward and right, feinting with his dagger as he went by The gargoyle turned to roll behind hier to his right and with a reverse grip He stepped forith his left foot, but dug it in and stopped short, reversing his oyle

A claw raked his shoulder, but it was not a serious wound The assassin willingly traded that bloith his own, burying his dagger on a powerful backhand deep into the center of the gargoyle&039;s chest

For good oyle&039;s life-force through his va warain, Entreri let fly a backhand with his sword as well, creasing the creature&039;s face and sending it crashing to the ground He cohted himself, he had his weapons back in their ht, jeweled dagger in his left

Entreri glanced right to see Arrayan, Olgerkhan, and the dwarf Pratcus forle, then back to the left where Jarlaxle crouched and puoyle as it flew past The creature pulled up, wings wide to catch the air It hovered for a second, accepting another stinging hit, then pivoted in mid-air and dived hard at the drow

Jarlaxle erated wink, then created a globe of darkness, co his form and the area around hioyle dived into it full speed

Any thoughts he had of going to his friend were short-lived, though, and he instinctively dropped and rolled, slashing his sword to fend another of the horned creatures

Still another was on the ground and charging at hi him that it was the same one he had earlier slashed

Entreri bent his knees and lifted his hips fro his back With a snap of his finely-toned e with a sidelong swipe that forced the gargoyle to pull up short

The second dropped behind hiuard He turned as the creature landed, dagger thrusting - not with any chance to hit, but oyle back a stride

Over and around went his sword, right to left, then back left to right, and in that second roll, he had the gargoyle&039;s eyes and arain, and the gargoyle had to twist even o all the way over until its tip was straight down He turned with it and under it, lifting it and the gargoyle&039;s arain the creature tried to twist away, but Entreri&039;s movement had leaned hioyle, thrusting his dagger into the creature&039;s side as he went

The assassin easily regained his balance, using the weight of the gargoyle to steady his fall He tore his dagger free as he spun back to face the second, pursuing gargoyle

Across ca, to get above it Entreri let the sword&039;s opaque black ash flow and he went forward as the gargoyle passed over him He ducked low under the ash wall and waved the sword back behind hiether to consider the puzzle, Entreri burst forth through the veil, sword stabbing right, dagger thrusting left He cut fast to the right, where he had scored a hit, and caut, followed by a half-turn that allowed hioyle&039;s face with the poer as he pulled it free then jabbed it back once, twice, thrice, into the wounded beast

He leaped forward as if tothe creature to break its momentu across at shoulder level to take the head from the wounded beast

Entreri let hi it perfectly with the renewed approach of the second, which leaped above hi the gargoyle beside the knee, and he rolled back, coled to turn around

Too slow

Entreri took the thing in its kidney with his dagger, and the gargoyle howled and leaped away, spinning as it went

But the assassin was right there with it, Charon&039;s Claw cooyle tried to block and lost an arm for the effort

It hardly noticed that, however, for the assassin pressed in, his dagger scoring a hit on the gargoyle&039;s hip Entreri hooked and tugged as he fast retracted, dropping his left foot far back and pulling the gargoyle forward just a bit

Close enough for Charon&039;s Claw Across ca the gargoyle from face to wounded hip

It shrieked, an unearthly sound indeed, and stus to lift away, but it was too late for that, and with a confused look at the assassin, it fell over dead

Bolts of lu into a charging gargoyle One after another, her ically-created missiles reached out and seared the creature, and with each, its steps toward her beca the wooyle would rush over her He shook the sight away - she would have to hold! - and continued his erkhan as he did battle with two of the creatures, his heavy club sic flowed froy stemmed the flow of blood froe

A shout from the side turned the dwarf on his heel, just in ti down in a heap The dwarf leaped in and slugged the gargoyle in the back of its horned head with his mailed fist He knew even as he connected that Arrayan&039;s rabbed the dead thing&039;s shoulders and yanked it off the woed her to her feet

Blood ran freely from Arrayan&039;s broken nose, but the dwarf had no tian his spellcasting, and Arrayan did, too, though her arcane chant was slurred by the blood in herto either side of Olgerkhan to alternately sla

"Close your eyes!" Pratcus yelled an instant before his spell went off

A burst of brilliant light filled the area around the battle, and Olgerkhan and both gargoyles recoiled in horrified surprise Before the large half-orc or Arrayan could question the dwarf&039;s tactic, however, the purpose becaan flailing helplessly at the air, obviously blinded

Olgerkhan went for the one on the right instead He swiped his heavy club across in front of hi hand He rolled the club under his left ar it in behind his back, where he caught it again with his right He rolled the weapon over so that its butt was sticking out before hie with his left hand, and thrust if forward into the oyle as he, too, strode ahead

The devastating ierkhan stepped away fast and slid his club back so that both his hands were on its handle again With a roar, the brutish half-orc brought it in a great overhand swipe that cracked against the back of the gargoyle&039;s head and drove it face down to the ground

Olgerkhan went for the second gargoyle, and Pratcus was already casting another healing spell for the warrior, when Arrayan yelped and fleard, hit hard by the head butt of yet another diving creature

Pratcus turned his attention to the gargoyle standing at his side, of course, but not before noting that Olgerkhan, too, arched his back in sudden pain, though nothing had hit hih the puzzle, the dwarf launched a sidelong sith his sht it by the handle, just under the spiked head, but that was exactly what the dwarf had expected Pratcus&039;shim into the creature, and he let fly a left jab that crunched the gargoyle squarely in the face That, not the mace, was Pratcus&039;s preferred auntlets powerfully enchanted for battle

The dwarf continued to bore in, pressing his face into the gargoyle&039;s chest He let go of his argoyle&039;s rowl and lifting the gargoyle froround

Beside him, Arrayan re-oriented herself to the battle

A heavy thu the blind gargoyle into a sidelong spin, so brutal was the blow

Arrayan caught rabbed at her pouch where she kept her spellcasting ingredients She waved her hand and called forth her erkhan filled with stringy, weblike strands Arrayan had nothing upon which to set her web, so it didn&039;t stop the descent of the gargoyle, but by the tierkhan, it was all tangled and fighting furiously to pull free of the sticky filaoyle flew past Arrayan, tu it up Right behind that battered forerkhan was there, too, driving his club doith heavy chops that shattered gargoyle bone

Those chops quickly die half-orc The words stuck in the dwarf&039;sfor breath, exhausted and struggling

The dwarf eyed hi The warrior had suffered no serious hits, and the fight had barely begun

Shaking his head, Pratcus could only turn and look for so else to hit

Entreri wondered why he even bothered to stand up again after yet another roll beneath the reaching claws of a diving gargoyle He also wondered why in the Nine Hells the warrior dwarf and the thin wizard hadn&039;t yet joined the fray He figured that would soon enough be reoyle swept down into the wizard&039;s sh the fabric with abandon

But the tere not in there

Entreri&039;s eyes narrowed as the tent fell away, leaving the gargoyle standing confused before a rope hanging in ed then climbed Its head and shoulders disappeared into an extra-dimensional pocket

There was a brilliant flash of flaround Out of thin air leaped Athrogate, one of his hts the girls," he roared "For everyone knows there&039;s claws in theoyles would throttle the little beast

A pair see down fast, but the dwarf&039;s spinning htning flashed out from the extra-dimensional pocket

Fro blast clearly, for so intense was the power that the gargoyles were incinerated and throay He saw Canthan&039;s face peeking out above the rope, and he knew then that the frail-looking wizard was not one to be taken lightly

A third gargoyle, on the ground, charged at the dwarf, who howled and charged right back The creature caore with its horn, but Athrogate leaped and si an i the horn in line

Dwarf and gargoyle bounced back, both standing staring at each other, and seeain, snorted and launched a wad of spit into the gargoyle&039;s face

"Mark ye with spit so I knohere to hit!" he cried

The dent into a sudden spin, coainst the stunned gargoyle&039;s face The creature&039;s head snapped back Its aroyle arched its back and stared up at the dark sky

Athrogate twisted his torso as he continued his spin so that his ar star&039;s spiked head cah

The creature jolted down and seemed to bounce, and it appeared as if it would just fall over

The das taking no chances, though, or was just enjoying it all toospins above his head, sla it back, back, until he finally just let the dead thing fall to the ground

"Bwahaha!" the dwarf yelled as he charged in the direction of Pratcus and the two half-orcs

He cut back suddenly, though, his heavy boots digging ruts in the ground

Entreri shook his head and started the same way, but he pulled up as the dwarf halted and turned around He knehat had gotten Athrogate&039;s attention, and a luoyles diving at the drow&039;s globe of darkness

"Jarlaxle!" he cried

The assassin winced as the gargoyles disappeared into the impenetrable shadow

Howls and screaer, erupted from within

Entreri found it hard to breathe

"Get there, dwarf," he heard hi