The fish clamps down on Lulu and her mind turns completely blank for a few seconds. When the fish releases her and she realizes what has happened, she tries desperately to swim away from it. S**t. The pain of the bite limits Lulu's mobility and she fails to surface.
Dorin drops the boat with a grunt, flexing his hands to work some feeling back into them. Turning back to the river, his teeth bare in a frustrated snarl when he catches a glimpse of Lulu and Anhur both sinking beneath the surface. Dipping a shoulder, he unslings his hammer and tosses it onto the shore as he lumbers back into motion, pounding for the river and leaping in after them in an increasingly desperate attempt to get his companions back to land before the monstrous fish pulls them under entirely. He swims powerfully towards Lulu, cutting the water like a blade, he's able to grab her and haul her to the surface.
When Argoth sees the fish bite Lulu and Anhur go under, he curses and slams both his sword and the oar straight into the muddy ground. He uses them to launch himself into the water, aiming himself for Anhur as he is farther down the river. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Dorin pounding through the water like a madman. Argoth has little trouble reaching the drowning diplomat, and getting a grip around his chest.
Anhur attempts to aid Argoth, but his awkward attempts at swimming do little but splash water everywhere.
Xanos picked himself up off the ground in a seething rage. He was a proud man. Being dumped into the drink and forced to drag himself to the shore was extremely undignified. He might have been able to maintain his composure, but the events of the last few days had weakened his emotional control. The voices inside him were roiling constantly. The burst of anger and frustration was all they needed to establish a foothold and exert their influence.
The runes on his skin took on the appearance of raised chrome and his eyes shone like silver mirrors. He reached out with the raw power of his mind and the great fish rockets out of the water in a wide arc, flopping and rolling as it flashes through the air. Xanos' only warning that something is wrong is a puff of blood mist bursting from his tear ducts and a flash of pain. Suddenly eight grubby fingertips worm their way free from beneath his eyelids, four per lid. They claw their way simultaneously up over his eyebrows and down over his cheekbones, the filthy, hairy backs of the fingers pressing tight against his ocular globes. His eyes feel as if they might burst under the pressure. The cracked yellow fingernails dig into his face, before all the fingers withdraw as rapidly as a hermit crab into its shell. The nails tear through flesh, leaving sixteen short bloody rivulets etched into the immortal sorcerer's face.
Meanwhile, the fish crashes into the canopies of a few trees on the bank with a loud cracking sound. Branches shatter under it's weight until a bough big enough to impale it snaps at the right point. A wooden spike the width of Dorin's fist erupts through the side of the creature, and it flops a few more times before laying still.
________________________________
Xanos stood on the bank, head bowed. The blood that ran from his eyes was the color of old rust. It hit the ground thudding into the mud like it was heavy and solid. His lips curled revealing a mouth full of shining chrome teeth. He spoke with a voice like metal grinding on metal, punctuated with the crack of a lash.
You are a fool Mammon. Rogalson knows the signs. He knows when I am not myself. This body is weak yet. Would you do battle with him? With all of them? What can you possibly hope to accomplish?
And what then? We are linked. My pain would be yours. How much worse would it be for you, in control of a broken body? Able to think, but unable to move? A prisoner in my flesh instead of my mind. Go ahead then. Enjoy the control you have wrested. I can wait. I can always wait.
By all means. I am hardly in a position to stop you.
Xanos raised his arms as his muscles began to tear through his skin, revealing metal cables where flesh should be. The inhuman voice snarled and spoke in a language of primordial darkness.
Darkness surged from his eyes and heart, coiled around his hands and dissipated.
Nothing happened.
The shackles.
Hardly unhindered. I am but a pale shadow of what I should be. I simply learned to work around them.
Unlikely. She is a potent sorceress. With nothing but my flesh to overpower her with, you would quickly find yourself at her mercy. Make up your mind though. With no crisis to distract them, the others will soon take notice.
Xanos stood, an expression of inhuman frustration and hate on his face. The silver runes slowly receded to their usual pale blue. The exposed metal muscle returned to flesh and blood welled up to quickly scab over.
His eyes were the last to return to normal. The tall sorcerer smiled.
"A wise choice." he said as Lulu approached. Allowing himself to be manhandled by the tiny woman, he chuckled and answered her question. "In a manor of speaking, yes. I am pleased you are alright."
"I am Xanos."
Another word out of you and I will put you in the vault with Asmodeus
Anhur gasps for air while lying on the land, staring into the sky. He sees the fish impaled, dead, and briefly feels empathy for the creature. He subsequently wonders if it is edible.
"How hungry is everyone?" Anhur asks, hoping to redeem his swimming skills with cooking skills.
Bunken curses in confusion through all the splashing water, grunts, and cries. Squinting against the blurry motion surrounding him, he zones in on the shape of the flying fish and cries out in confusion, stumbling into the shallow rocks at the river's bank.
"What in the blazing Hells?" he says, rubbing his eyes and sore bottom. "Who did that? And how?" His eyes finally focus in on Xanos as he stands dominated by his inner powers; Bunken watches the sorcerer in a drunken haze, fear brimming around his eyelids.
Eventually he moves back to his place at the back of the boat, the bottle of alcohol close at hand, waiting for the others to decide if they want to stop or continue -- it makes no difference to him, who is apparently having a hard time coping with the spectacle they'd just witnessed.
"I suppose I'm still not sure what is native and what is monstrous." Anhur sighs, feeling nonetheless successful in his offer.
"Well, shall be continue by boat or is it too dangerous? That fish could have been then end of us." He walks back to the shore and retrieves the oar and his sword. His clothes are now drenched.
"I like boat." Bunken says, still sitting and sulking in the back of the boat while it rests on the riverbank. His bow lies in his lap and one hand keeps an arrow loosely notched, as if he doesn't actually trust the water anymore.
"I am no admirer of water travel, but I suspect it is our best means of swift and silent transport."
"Alright, let's go then." Argoth shoves the boat back into the water. It takes him a bit, attesting to the huge show of strength Dorin had lifting it out of the water.
Xanos was not thrilled to be getting back in the boat. He settled himself next to the engine, focusing his attentions on watching it work.
Anhur clings white-knuckled to the side of the boat, hoping to reach dry land again soon.
Dorin, who had been quiet, shakes himself and sits at the oars, pulling absentmindedly.
From time to time, he forgot what Doom was, and the powers at his command. After all this time, it was easy to treat the towering, taciturn man as a regular companion - but then something would happen that would remind Dorin of his eldritch nature, and it unsettled the big man.
Still...nothing for it. Xanos Doom was their best hope for returning to where they belonged, and at least so far, the sorcerer had not proven malign. He would keep his eyes on him, though.
Argoth sits in the boat watching Xanos. The man truly had demons inside him. Literally. The sellsword considers the fact that the time could come when they would have to kill the sorceror. Or try to at least.
The group continues down the river, the current moving the boat along most of the time, Argoth and Dorin work the oars when it doesn't. There are a few shallow spots where everyone has to get out and carry the boat over some rocks, but mostly it's smooth going. A few yellows wander into the creek, attracted by the noise and movement but most of them don't get very close. The ones that do catch swords to their heads. They pass out of the suburban buffer woods, and into a small city center park, complete with a scenic wooden bridge and a small man made waterfall. They pass under a concrete bridge supporting a road and the creek gently widens again and they leave the small city behind.
The pattern of woods and suburban back yards continues on endlessly. It seems impossible that so many people could have all lived here in such big houses. Where did their food come from? There were no farms, just endless housing. They pass under another of the great mega-highways. It soars over them majestically on concrete supports. Then they begin to pass acres of what appears to be wild land. Lulu tells them that they were once places where people played a game called Golf. But fifteen years of being unused have returned them to the wild.
Just as they pass the last of the former golf courses, there is another boat anchored longways across the creek up ahead of them. There are four men in the boat, all armed with long rifles and pistols. As soon as they see the party they set down the joint they'd been passing back and forth and stand up, rifles at the ready. One of the men calls out, Thas far enough amigos. This's our crik. You wanna pass, you gots ta pay da toll."
Argoth didn't understand the men, but he saw the rifles and the posture. Lulu was smart. These men probably wouldn't understand anything but death. He grips his rifle tightly and gets ready to kill them.
"What the f!!~'s a little chicka doing on the river with all dem hombres? You a putana?"
Anhur mumbles "Can we get to land before anything bad happens? The last thing I'd like is to be shot and drowned."
"You think we wuz born yesterday b!$+!?" This from green.
"It's been a long time since I had a woman." says yellow, licking his dirty lips.
Red whistles loudly and four more men come rustling out of the thick undergrowth on either bank of the river. They are all armed with rifles as well. Unseen hands in the trees haul a thick chain net up out of the water, blocking further passage down the river. "I'll ask you one more time nice. You give us dem pieces, or you give us dat pussy. Either way you aint gettin' past fo' free."
Red squints his eyes for a moment, and then says "So you are a puta! Aight, but the boat stays in the middle of the creek. You and one other wade to the shore, it aint deep. No guns."
Anhur
Argoth
Bunken
Dorin
Xanos
Lulu
Thugs
Thugs
Thugs
Thugs
Thugs
Thugs
Thugs
Thugs
Lulu tries to hide her displeasure with the man's offer. She nods and shrugs her shoulders. "Let me give the orders to my men. A few of them are a bit... slow."
She quickly translates the basics of what has transpired to her companions, using the gestures and intonation of one giving orders. "The leader said two of us can get out unarmed and go pay him a toll. Not gonna happen. Bunken and I are going to get out of the boat, act like we're putting our guns down, but we're going to start shooting. Then everyone starts shooting." She snaps her fingers in Bunken's wasted face. "Did you hear that? I want you to aim for the leader."
She faces Red once again, smiling. "Okay! We're ready." She and Bunken climb out of the boat and stand in the shallow water. She pulls out her pistol from under her coat as Bunken takes out his rifle. They both motion to set the guns down in the boat, but quickly crouch in the water, take aim and fire.
The leader of the enemy bandits ducks down and Bunken's shots fly over his head, the man Lulu shot at on the bank ducks behind a tree and she misses as well.
Initiative
Party 8
Thugs 7
Argoth leaps out of the boat on the same side as Lulu and makes a bee-line towards the closest bandit on that side. "Don't stay in the boat!" he shouts to the others. He gets most of the way to the shore, when he brings his rifle up and tires to fire off some shots. Again, his lack of training with the weapon shows and the shots go wild.
Anhur also bails from the boat and fires his rifle at the near thug. "I never wanted to be in this boat in the first place!" he responds frantically.
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