face as he continued. 'One of you may not help a companion until you have defeated your own challenge. Then and only then may you come to the aid of a comrade. If this rule is broken, all three of you will die instantly!' The Element Master issued a loud, cruel laugh, and he and his cottage vanished.
The terrain seemed to shift and flow, and all three men found themselves within a large bowl, a natural amphitheater with cliffs forming a barrier around its half-mile diameter.
'Let's get this over with!' Chert exclaimed excitedly as he turned to face his opponent. Axe raised high, the hillman shouted a battle cry and ran forward to meet the bull's charge.
Chert thought the battle with the wild aurochs would be a fairly easy matter until he saw the true size of the bull. From a distance it had appeared to be of normal size, but close up there was no question that the beast was monstrous. The creature was fully as tall at the shoulder as the barbarian and its head was armed with wickedly pointed horns that appeared to be at least four feet long.
'If this is 'niggling' i'd hate to see the other challenges we were offered!' the disheartened barbarian marveled.
Meanwhile, Gord did his best to avoid the snake that threatened him. It was a giant cobra, its hood spread and its fangs dripping venom. The monster reared back, its head poised for a fraction of a second, then it shot forward. The young thief detected the attack at about the same instant it occurred and quickly did a back-flip to avoid the strike. The glob of poison the cobra spat barely missed its mark, a fact that Gord found somewhat disconcerting, to say the least. Circling, the two opponents began a game of cat and mouse, although it wasn't apparent who or what was which, since the snake was not eager to expose itself to the young man's two blades.
If Chert and Gord thought they were having a difficult time of it, they should have been in Eneever Zig's robes! The wizard was beginning to wonder if he would live to see the completion of this challenge, let alone the completion of his quest. The great bird had him pinned to the ground with a single, mighty talon. The horny claws of one foot caged the wizard as the roc sought to use its deadly beak to snap him in two. Eneever darted and flapped, too busy avoiding talons and snapping beak to cast a spell, but able to send forth a dart of energy now and again from his small wand. The crackling streak of power that issued forth from the crystal-tipped wand was aimed always at the terrible roc's massive beak. Each time the creature was struck by a little bolt of energy, it squawked in pain. The sound was earsplitting because of the bird's massive size, and the effect seemed to make the roc redouble its efforts to devour the wizard.
As the aurochs thundered down upon him. Chert managed to sidestep one of the great horns that was aimed right at the barbarian's belly. As the beast bellowed and screeched past its intended victim. Chert brought his massive blade down upon the animal's shoulder. Brool bit deep, but the shaft was ripped from Chert's grasp as the bull quickly skidded into a perfectly executed turn. Blood streamed down the animal's side, and this same sanguine hue lit its eyes as it came back with a look of vengeance the likes of which Chert had never before seen in man or beast!
All the huge hillman could do was grapple with the monster. Yelling like a madman. Chert ran directly at the bull, grabbed one of the massive horns, and twisted. But he wasn't quite quick enough and his leverage was off. The aurochs tossed its head, and its thickly muscled neck shot up and back. The barbarian sailed through the air and landed with a thump, twenty feet behind the enraged beast. The bull spun, brought its forward-curving horns parallel to the turn, and trotted ahead, horns parting the low grass as it came. Chert was on his feet instantly and he did the only thing left to do — he ran in the opposite direction. The bull's head shot up at that, and it quickened its pace to a lumbering, deceptively rapid run. The distance between man and animal narrowed rapidly. The monster's hot breath was beginning to warm Chert's back when the barbarian threw himself to one side, crouched and rolled. One hooking horn gouged a bloody groove across his calf, but he was otherwise unhurt. Somehow Chert managed to regain his feet quickly, a difficult act for the clumsy barbarian. He immediately sprang after the bull. Keeping to the flank in which his axe was still imbedded. Chert began a game with the animal.
The cobra was readying itself to spit again. Desperately, Gord took aim and hurled his long dagger. But the monstrous reptile weaved its head at that moment, so the blade failed to take it full in its gaping mouth. Instead the dagger's edge passed along the snake's skull, not piercing it, but slicing the thing's eye. Hissing in pain, the cobra struck, knowing that being blind on one side would assure its death.
Gord was nearly taken by the sudden attack, for he had been poised to counter a venomous missile when the strike came instead. He managed to bat the cobra's head aside with the flat of his sword, then darted ahead among the huge reptile's coils. Once, twice, the shortsword slashed, then Gord was beyond the writhing body. The cobra slithered so as to come at him again, and Gord decided that he had to get to close quarters quickly. He leaped to attack again, blade pointed ahead. The cobra reared higher, pulling its head back. Gord was on its blind side now. and, wasting no time, he jumped at the opportunity to finish the creature. Gord's blade struck upward. The tip went through the cobra's lower jaw from below, pierced its mouth, sliced its brain, and protruded from the reptile's thick skull in one smooth plunge. The snake thrashed in its death throes and Gord, utterly exhausted, stood by and watched till it died. Then he wasted no time in rushing to his friend's side.
The bull sent Chert flying with a sideways kick, but the barbarian managed to hang onto Brool. The bit came free, and Chert was ready and waiting for the aurochs when it charged again. This time he stood squarely in the huge animal's path as it bellowed and snorted in its charge. The great axe was above the hillman's head as the bull approached. In a blur of motion. Brool flashed down and split the heaviest portion of the auroch's skull, the poll, and passed clean through in the process. The animal's momentum continued, dead on its feet as it was. Gord screamed a warning as the charging beast struck Chert, flung him backwards, and parted man from axe once again. Then the aurochs crashed to the blood-splattered grass, kicked convulsively and finally lay still.
'Are you all right?' Gord asked, rushing over to where his friend lay like a heap of bloody rags. Chert's eyes were closed, and he seemed lifeless.
'Oh, Chert!' Gord moaned, dropping beside his bulky friend. 'If only i'd refused that dastardly wizard's proposal in the first place, you'd still be alive!' Gord was beside himself with grief and guilt. He allowed his head to fall on his friend's chest and the sobs came freely.
'Hey! Don't drown me!' Chert's eyelids snapped open suddenly, and the barbarian flashed a mischievous grin. 'Fooled you! But I’m happy to hear you'd miss me if I were ever to depart from this very strange plane.' Obviously the barbarian was battered and bruised, and the gouge on his leg trickled gore. But his wounds were definitely not fatal.
'Buffoon! You scared me out of a year,' Gord said in disgust as he stood quickly, the back of his hand attempting to wipe away any telltale signs of premature mourning. Then he added in as disgusted a tone as he could muster, a hard task since he was feeling nothing but relief, 'Well, I see you didn't get off without some pain, at least. And I say it serves you right. Anyone who'd pull a nasty prank like the one you just pulled on me deserves to suffer,' Gord said with mock severity.
'The cobra wasn't too much for you, I see.' Chert remarked, ignoring Gord's lecture.
'Piece of pie — snake pie,' Gord said with a smug grin. 'I'll bind your leg. and then you can help me find my dagger. …' The thiefs voice trailed off then because a resounding screech from the roc reminded him that the wizard was still in jeopardy.
'Balls. Gord, that bird's going to finish Eneever Zig in a moment unless we do something — fast!' Now it was Chert's turn to panic.
'Well, what are you waiting for?' Gord called over his shoulder as he trotted toward the struggling wizard. 'Don't stand there gawking, come on!' The young thief made it there before the hobbling Chert could come anywhere near.
Gord's shortsword was a puny pin against a creature with a wingspread of more than sixty feet and strength sufficient to lift an elephant. Nonetheless, the bold adventurer rushed ahead and hacked at the roc's tail. The blade severed monstrous feathers and must have cut the bird's skin as well. It squawked mightily again, pivoted on its encaging left foot, and glared at Gord.
'Oh, shit!' The exclamation rose unbidden to his throat as Gord saw that the roc was now intent on snapping him in twain with its huge beak.
Just at that moment Chert, limping along as quickly as he could, finally joined the group, and the roc was distracted for a crucial instant. Eneever Zig had been left alone long enough to recover his breath, gather his wits and cast a spell. With a courage bom of desperation, the wizard completed his dweomercraefting and grabbed fast to the nearest huge talon of the monstrous bird. One instant the glaring eye of the roc glittered menacingly at Gord
