The other fight was going slightly better, mainly because Bane was a blur of frantic battling insanity, all four arms blurring as he slashed, stabbed, and cut, kicking and spinning as he moved in a cyclone of death. Cam had struggled back to his feet, the arrow sticking from his right shoulder meaning he was less useful, but his axe wasn’t exactly a precision weapon anyway, and each mighty swing forced the pair of Drow back from him, swearing.
Arrin waited until they were totally focused on Bane and Cam, then hit the faster of the two, a Drow armed with a pair of silver scythes, with three Magic Missiles in the back. They exploded on impact, sending the dark elf staggering forward as he cried out in pain and shock. Bane spun, his blades slicing across the Drow’s stomach, chest, throat, and face, ending him in a red mist of pain.
The other one fell quickly to the combined assault of all three.
The Drow guard, seeing the way the fighting was going, swore viciously and fired one last arrow, then turned to run. He only made it two steps before a red and black blur the size of a Pitbull leapt from the wall above him. As Horkesh landed, she bit down hard, her fangs sinking deep into the unarmored section at the junction of his neck and shoulder.
She forced her venom into him, pushing it hard, then leapt backwards, landing near the flowers and disappearing as fast as she could into the undergrowth.
He screamed, staggered, and started to run, tugging at his belt and trying to get a potion to his lips, but as he collapsed forwards, he knew it was too late. He hit the floor hard and watched the potion slowly pour out into the soil, inches from his face.
I laid there on the ground while the battle raged around me, frantically flooding my mana into the healing spell as I tried to outpace the damage, and I stared at the timer, ticking down. I could see the Drow mage refreshing the spell, channeling more mana into making sure he killed me.
Bane and Cam ran at him, forcing him to back up, growling in anger at them.
While Arrin hammered at the Drow with spell after spell, Magic Missiles exploding against the mage’s hastily raised shield, I breathed a sigh of relief as he switched from pushing his death spell on me to maintaining that instead.
The spell backlash of terminating his channeling so abruptly staggered the Drow, and Horkesh was there, ready to take advantage of the disruption. The shield the Drow had cast was directional, as she bit down hard on the back of his leg, causing him to scream and bat her aside.
I let out a relieved groan as the spell vanished. My healing spells, which had been barely holding back the onslaught, suddenly raced through my body, repairing and refreshing at an incredible rate.
I rolled over, forcing myself to my feet and staggering toward the fight, only to see Arrin blast the last Drow from her feet, the mage rolling on the ground screaming as Horkesh’s venom did its work.
In seconds, it was over; the only living Drow lay by the exit to the tunnels on the far side, paralyzed.
I stumbled over to the group; my breathing ragged as I tried to come to terms with just how quickly everything had gone wrong. I saw the others gathering around, most of them with minor wounds. Cam, being the exception, had two arrows sticking out of him.
I made it to him just as Lydia slapped him.
“Hey!” He complained, grabbing his cheek with his uninjured left hand, and Bane ripped the arrows out of his right shoulder and thigh.
Cam gasped in pain, collapsing backwards. Stephanos caught him, lowering him gently down, as Lydia popped the top off a healing potion and poured it down his throat, grinning at him.
“Got you!” she said, and Cam glared at her, shaking his head, and gritting his teeth as the flesh reknit.
“Next time just kiss me. Fuckload less painful,” He muttered, then went bright red as he realized what he’d said. We all burst out laughing, and Lydia stiffened, her eyes blazing, even as her cheeks reddened.
“I think he got you back, there…” I said, clapping her on the shoulder. Everyone started checking over minor wounds and their gear, while I scanned the cavern. “Horkesh?” I asked, and I saw several spiders moving into the tangle of roots under one of the larger flower beds nearby.
I moved over, the flowers coming to life for my approach in a way they didn’t for the spiders, so I sliced the head off the first to move too close, and the rest pulled back…exposing Horkesh crumpled on the ground. Half of her legs were broken, and a thin green ichor dribbled from her mouth, her breathing labored.
“Shit!” I said, moving forward quickly. The others gathered around, slicing through the flowers until the plants got the message to back the fuck up.
I crouched by her, checking the little spider over, and quickly cast my healing spell on her. It brought her back from the brink of death, but before it could do more, I ran out of mana. I tried giving her a healing potion, but when she almost bit me, I gave up on that, instead chugging a mana potion.
Bane darted off down the tunnels, but came back a few minutes later, shaking his head; the next tunnel led into a deserted cave system, and there was no sign of any more Drow nearby.
I waited until my mana reached fifty before pouring it all into her again. The tortured little sounds she made as her legs popped back into place
