Beneath the chamber where we found Esmerelda, was a large cave void of all light. As a dwarf I found this to be just perfect, my dwarven sight worked just fine. Rashaad and I moved forward to scout out the cavern, he seemed to be just as skilled as I.
During my first encounter with mindflayers, I was found myself sneaking through a chamber filled the dazed victims of the vile creatures. Those poor souls were unaware of anything happening around them, and the ones I found in this cave appeared to be the same, well at least they did at first. There were a number of dazed dwarves at the far end of the cave. Above them was a ledge, looking around this appeared the only other exit in the cave. We would have to pass the dwarves to continue our search.
I moved past the first of them and the bastard took a swing at me. He was no warrior, neither were any of the others. I felt we could have taken them without causing them any serious injury, unfortunately were never had the chance. A shrieking blast of sound assaulted me and the other dwarves, it was only by reflex that I turned away from the sound and covered my ears. The dwarves attacking me fell to the ground writhing in agony. A few moments later they stopped moving and lay unconscious, blooding dripping from their ears.
In a rage I scaled the wall and rolled over the ledge bring my axe to the ready. I did not expect the strange creatures that waited at the top. They crouched on two legs with wide round mouths open. The screech that I had heard was the creatures scream. They also had a talent for wrestling a person to the ground. I was lucky to experience both of these things. I did not expect the creature to try and tackle me. Surprised I was knocked to the ground while the creatures unleashed their screams on me over and over again.
I managed to fight my way free and stand up only to take one more blast, rendering me unconscious for a few moments. Once the aberrant beasts were dead we tended to the injured dwarves. The cave on the ledge lead to a Dead End filled with the remains of those the mindflayer had feasted on. Where was the bastard? We were about to find out.
|
