Sadun shut the door behind Talna and slumped against the wall, holding her head in her hands. "What a day," she muttered.
A loud knock sounded on the door, followed a moment later by the door being hesitantly pushed open. Pip Squeak stood in the doorway. "Can I come back in yet?" he asked.
"Just shut the door behind you please," Sadun said, noting that the kobold based protection of the tower appeared to be gone.
"Where is the warlock?" the ratfolk asked as he headed towards the stairs.
"I think she went upstairs," Sadun said, wearily. "Could you save whatever fight you want to pick until the morning?"
"Sure, sure," Pip said, absently, slinking quietly up to the second floor.
With a heavy sigh, Sadun collapsed against the front door and closed her eyes, attempting to get some much needed sleep. As she was drifting off, she noticed the silver liquid slowly dribbling down the stairs, but it seemed nonthreatening so she ignored it and dropped into a light doze.
------------------------
On the fifth floor, Fee picked herself up from where she had been meditating. It had been an odd afternoon, she had heard a lot of commotion below, and at one point the rat had entered the room, dumped a flaming backpack on the floor, rolled in the flames until he caught fire, then rolled on the floor squealing until the flames were extinguished. None of it had seemed particularly relevant to saving the world from the beholders, so Fei had remained where she was, contemplating the complexities of nature and the strange wand her mentor had left with the kobold wizard for her.
"Oh, the rat has those magic glasses," the druid muttered, picking up the wand and heading downstairs. She passed through a scorched fourth floor, half of the kobold's treasure horde melted or burnt. "What have they been doing?" she wondered aloud, her voice bleeding with exasperation.
The third floor was less of a mess. The desk drawers had been straightened up, although Balazar was asleep in a pile of blankets on the only bed in the room. The kobold wizard slept against one wall, although something seemed different about him, even considering the relative darkness of the nighttime. Cassian lay naked on the floor, the dragon egg cradled against his chest as he snored.
Scanning the room, Fei found the person she was looking for slinking silently up the stairs from below. "Pip, could you help me identify this wand?" she asked, startling the ratfolk.
"Yeah," Pip whispered, obviously trying not to wake anyone in the room. Fei handed him the wand, and the ratfolk examined it a moment. Then he took off his shaded goggles and replaced them with the normal glasses. "Can't see in this dark," the Pip muttered. "Oh, there's magic here. It sort of weaves up from the bottom, through this stone, up to the top, then loops back down in a sort of mobius strip of magic." The ratfolk extended his tongue and licked the tip of the wand, looking slightly disappointed not to receive a shock. "There's also a spot of magic at the top here."
"Thank you," Fei said. "What were you doing sneaking around here?"
Pip glared at the druid a moment, then slunk to the nearest wall, sat against it, and pretended to sleep. Fei shrugged at his pretend snoring and walked back to the top of the tower, intent on getting a good look at the moon from the rooftop.
-----------------------
As soon as Fei was gone, Pip was on his paws and creeping over to the still form of Tella the warlock in a kobold body. "Where is the stone," he thought, "I just need the stone and then I can get out of here." Examining her closely, he realized she had no pouches or pockets on her clothing in which to hold it, and her hands were empty. Frustrated, Pip looked around, and realized the desk drawers had been cleaned up. Quietly but swiftly the ratfolk sprang to the desk and began looking through the first drawer. Inside he found several books and papers, but no leather pouches, and no magic stone. One of the papers tore as he searched and he froze in place, but none of the sleepers stirred. Turning to the second drawer, Pip caught his breath as he pulled it open and found a pile of leather pouches. One of the pouches was slightly heavier and warmer than the others. Hardly daring to believe his luck, the ratfolk opened the pouch to see the soft glow of Sorzen's stone.
Keeping quiet, Pip moved to the stairs and descended past the sleeping Arzen and strange kobold on the second floor to the first, and stopped short. Sadun was sleeping against the front door. Pip scanned the walls, but there were no windows on this floor, the door was the only way out.
"Didn't I ask you to save it for the morning?" Sadun asked, from behind closed eyes.
"I just want to go outside and stretch my legs," Pip lied.
"It's dangerous to let the door open when we're all trying to rest," Sadun said. "Why don't you stretch your legs on the stairs, or go to the roof if you need fresh air."
"Thanks, I will," Pip said, a new plan forming in his head. The ratfolk turned and left Sadun to her doze on the first floor, and swiftly ascended to the third floor again. After checking that everyone was still asleep, he leapt out of the broken window and landed with a dull thump on the ground ninety feet below.
------------------------
Sadun had just drifted back to sleep when she was woken by the sound of a thud from outside the tower. In an instant the silver dragonborn was on her feet, reaching for her great sword and preparing to defend her sleeping friends. She opened the door and looked around, seeing a robed figure rushing from the tower. Without thinking she took her sword and plunged it into the ground, keeping her eyes on the figure running away from her. A bolt of lighting split the cloudless sky and struck the figure with a crash of thunder, staggering it, but it kept running. Sadun hurried to catch up.
As she drew closer, she was able to make out a tail poking from under the figure's robes and she growled. "Couldn't save it for the morning could you Pip?"
"No!" the ratfolk shouted over his shoulder, attempting to get away from the gaining dragonborn. Pip reached into his pouch for one of his devices, but before he could spring the trap he found himself frozen motionless midstride, unable to work his legs. He slowly toppled to the ground.
A mysterious figure appeared, and began poking Pip with a silver flute. "Is this yours?" she asked, as Sadun finally caught up.
Sadun looked the newcomer up and down. She was a slight humanoid woman with pale blue skin and long white hair. She wore simple clothing in pink and shades of lavender, and had a playful demeanor about her. "Sadly, yes," Sadun said. "My thanks for your assistance. May I ask your name?"
"I'm Whistle," the newcomer replied, as Arnick ran up behind them.
"I-heard-a-noise-and-I-saw-the-door-was-open-so-I cam- running-and... hello beautiful, who are you?" Arnick said, coming to a stop and staring at Whistle.
 |
| The new character, Whistle. Art by @kelbremdusk on twitter |
From above them, Fez's voice called down from the tower. "Sadun! What happened down there?"
"I don't know yet," Sadun called back up to Fei. "I'm trying to work that out!"
"What's all the commotion!?" Balazar shouted from the third story window. "I'm trying to get some sleep here! Oh, it's the rat is it?" the red dragonborn peered out from the tower. "I knew it, when there's trouble it's the rat these days. Can I rip his soul out?"
"I don't know that yet either, but I will seriously consider it if I can't get any sleep myself tonight," Sadun shouted up to Balazar.
"You people are disturbing the egg's sleep!" came Cassian's irritated voice from inside the tower.
"Blame the rat!" Balazar shouted.
"So, Whistle," Sadun said, turning back to the newcomer, who was staring at the group in fascination. "What are you doing around here?"
"Oh," Whistle said airily, "I like to wander around and meet new people, hear new stories, things like that. I happened to be passing through the area and I saw the town over there, but nobody was home! So I thought I'd check out this tower."
"You are a pretty lady," Arnick observed, still staring at Whistle.
"Why thank you sweetie," Whistle said.
At that moment, Pip's paralysis wore off and the ratfolk tossed a silver globe in the air, shouting "Behold!" Sadun instinctively dived on top of the ratfolk, grabbing onto his cloak as he began attempting to burrow underground. Small metal pellets fell in a shower around the pair.
"I didn't think he had any of the blinding ones left," Arnick said. Whistle looked back, realizing she was safe, and renewed her paralysis spell on the rat, who again froze in mid burrow. Sadun dragged him out of the ground.
A fierce downdraft of wind heralded Fei's arrival atop a gargoyle she had apparently fashioned from the top of the tower. The gargoyle hoisted Pip up in its claws as Fei dropped to the ground, and at a mental command from the druid rose to hover in midair with its prisoner.
"So what is going on?" Fei asked again.
"I heard a thud and saw someone running away from me. I thought it might be an enemy, and then when I realized it was Pip I assumed he had stolen something from us," Sadun explained.
"And this is?" Fei asked, looking at Whistle.
"My name is Whistle, I travel for fun and stories. Would you mind introducing yourselves? I'm starting to feel mighty isolated amongst you all."
"My apologies," Sadun said. "I am Sadun Dorgona. The lovestruck gnome is Arnick."
"I am Fei, the druid of these parts," Fei said with a bow.
"The rest of us you may have heard shouting. Cassian and Balazar are still in the tower. Why don't we head inside where we're less likely to be attacked by night predators?" Sadun suggested. "And so that Pip can stop being target practice for Tella," she added, noticing beams of light flying from the third floor window, barely missing the still frozen ratfolk.
Fei, Sadun, Arnick and Whistle begin to walk back to the tower. The gargoyle follows behind them, maintaining its height. When the group was halfway back to the tower, they became aware of a muffled cursing above them. Looking up, the four realized that Pip had recovered yet again, and was clawing and shouting at the gargoyle.
"Do not worry, I doubt he could truly harm a stone creature like that," Fei said, as they continued walking. "Well, unless he does that," she added a moment later.
Pip had drawn his lightning sword and was swinging it awkwardly at the gargoyle's leg, despite being over a hundred feet in the air, and the gargoyle appeared irritated and was swiping back at Pip with its free claw.
"Ah, you may want to move to the side," Fei said, as a particularly poor swing on Pip's part saw his sword plummet from his grip and embed itself in the ground near the group. Whistle picked it up, impressed with the sparks of electricity leaping from its edge.
The four walk back into the tower, Sadun shutting the door behind them, and head up to the third floor where the gargoyle's was depositing the cursing ratfolk.
"You took it!" Tella was screaming at Pip as Fei, Arnick, Whistle and Sadun entered the room. "Give it back to me!"
"It's mine," Pip sulked, "I'm the only one who can make it work. He doesn't want to be alive again, so who cares if I make something out of him."
"He only gave up because he had no friends left, but I'm back now. Look," Tella said, with a false calm in her voice, "you can either give me back the philosopher's stone or you can die."
"I can help if you choose the second option," Balazar offered, raising his ghost hand.
Pip reached into his robe and tossed another device into the air with a shout of "Behold!" Tella reflexively covered her eyes, but again the device exploded in a shower of metal pellets instead of blinding light. Pip began to dash for the stairs only to realize the way was blocked by Sadun, Arnick, Whisper and Fei. He turned around but found himself paralyzed by another of Whisper's spells.
"Pip, we will find some other poor soul for you to play with!" Cassian said, trying to be conciliatory while moving to defend the ratfolk. "The kobold seems to have a better claim to this one."
"We could always swap the soul in the stone for the rat's soul," Tella said mildly.
"Yes, let's do that!" Balazar said.
"Wait, you can pull souls out?" Arnick muttered, turning to run back downstairs.
Balazar stalked up to Pip and darted around Cassian, his ghost hand disappearing into the ratfolk's form. Cassian pushed Balazar away, and Balazar's hand came out empty. Pip began to move again.
"There are beholders out there killing the people of this world!" Cassian shouted, "Why are we killing each other in here?"
"To be fair, he would not die," Tella said. "We would just store his soul in the philospher's stone in exchange for Sorzen's."
"Why do we need to do that?" Cassian demanded.
"Because I would like my friend back." Tella said simply.
In the doorway, Fei turned to Sadun. "Where is Talna for all of this anyway?" the druid asked.
"Talna, yes," Sadun said, "she left. After all that has happened, she decided we were taking a turn for the worse and left us."
"Oh yes, the reasonable depressed one," Tella said. "She did abandon you to your own devices."
"If Pip would like to leave as well, he is welcome to do so," Sadun declared, "he has no real stake in our quest, and I would not like to bring an unwilling person into such danger as we will surely face. However, Tella is Sorzen's last remaining friend, and she has the better claim to decide what happens with the stone."
Balazar ignored Sadun and continued to struggle with Cassian, attempting to reach past him to drag out Pip's soul by force. Tella watched the struggle with interest. The others were distracted by a loud crash from the floor below. Pip Squeak took advantage of the distraction to dash up the stairs and leap over the struggling fighters towards Tella, screaming in rage. Fei was the only one fast enough to respond, hurling her lightning spear at the kobold, but her throw went wide, piercing into the ceiling of the room and lodging there firmly. As Sadun turned and ran down the stairs to see what happened below, Pip landed on Tella and bit her repeatedly, ripping off her horn and swallowing it whole. Tella collapsed to the floor, crying in pain. Cassian leapt onto the ratfolk and dragged him off of the screaming warlock, only for Tella to hurl a bolt of black energy at the ratfolk. Pip sagged in Cassian's arms, unconscious.
With a sigh, Fei walked to the warlock's crumpled form and began channeling healing energy into her to staunch the flow of blood from her head.
"Are none of us responsible adults around here?" Cassian wondered aloud.
"Who wants to be responsible?" Balazar asked, as he plunged his hand into Pip's unconscious form once more and successfully drew out the ratfolk's soul.
---------------------
On the floor below, Sadun looked around quickly, wary for new threats. The floor was quiet. The kobold inhabited by the amalgamated souls lay quiet on the floor, and the room was still a mess. The sound of falling masonry drew Sadun's eyes to the far wall. An unconscious Arnick was embedded halfway up to the ceiling, bits of stone falling around his splayed limbs.
Thinking quickly, Sadun pulled one of the blessed Goodberrys Fei had provided her several days before and worked it down the gnome's throat. Arnick opened his eyes and shouted "Elle!"
"How did you get lodged in the wall?" Sadun asked in shock.
"What were you feeding my sister?" Arnick asked, looking at the kobold as Sadun helped him out of the wall.
"Did you miss the part where we mentioned the soul of an old god may also be mixed into whatever that kobold is now?" Sadun asked.
"Oh. I guess I should not do that anymore then," Arnick said to himself.
"I do not know what you were doing to end up like this, but please do not do it anymore," Sadun said. "We have enough to worry about already."
"I just miss my sister," Arnick said, tears streaming down his cheeks. He shook himself, and said more calmly, "Right. No hugs for Elle. What is going on upstairs?"
"I do not know," Sadun said. "I do not know if I want to know. It has been a very long day and I am worn to the bone."
"Right, I am going to sleep. I'll be here, keeping an eye on the kobold," Arnick said, pulling his bedroll from his pack and using it to gently tuck the kobold in. Satisfied, the gnome curled up next to the kobold and closed his eyes.
Sadun stood there a moment longer, making sure things were going to remain peaceful, before turning and striding towards the stairs once again. At the bottom she hesitated though, and closed her eyes. Did she really want to know what they were doing up there?
----------------------
"Why do you keep ripping people's souls out?" Cassian demanded.
"Have you ever ripped a soul out before? It's such a rush of adrenaline," Balazar explained, holding the squirming shape of Pip's soul up.
"Great, good for you," Tella said. "Now let's switch that with Sorzen's soul so we can be done with this and I can have my friend back."
"No, Pip's vexed me long enough," Balazar said. "I want to put it in something embarrassing, where is the privy?"
"Just swap the soul with Sorzen's!" Tella demanded.
"What's in it for me if I do?" Balazar asked.
"I can't believe we're even discussing this!" Cassian shouted. "The beholders are out there! Put Pip back in his body!" the half-orc took a swing at Balazar, smacking the dragonborn's arm. Balazar released his grip on Pip's soul, and the ratfolk began streaming towards Cassian. Cassian held up Pip's body for him, but the ratfolk ignored it and went past the half-orc, streaming into Tella's kobold form instead.
"Great," Tella said.
"Don't worry, I can fix this," Balazar said, walking over to Tella. "I'll just reach in and pull him out of you now."
"Well, I haven't much choice," the warlock said dryly. "Do what you can."
Fei walked over to Cassian and put a knife to Pip's throat. "Pip!" the druid shouted, "come out of there or you won't have a home to return to!"
"What are you doing?" Cassian demanded.
"I'm trying to get him to do the right thing on his own for a change. Sometimes you have to be cruel," Fei said.
Cassian backed away from the druid. "Of all of us I'd have thought you would be focussed on the beholders most," the half-orc said in disbelief.
"Believe me, I am. These champions are a chaotic bunch, and the ratfolk has not been helping us focus, but obviously we cannot proceed until we resolve this situation."
"I've got him!" Balazar crowed from across the room. "Hold on, he's fighting back. I think I can..." The dragonborn stopped mid sentence, his body slumping against Tella as his ghost hand disappeared.
"Oh even better," Tella said, still holding her hands to where her horn used to be. "I think the rat pulled the dragonborn in too. Could someone get the body off of me? I have this massive headache right now."
----------------------
Balazar found himself in a dark void, the edged of which seemed to be getting closer even as he watched. Pip's soul form leapt on his own, attempting to bite and claw at him, but the rat fell right through Balazar. "You damn rat!" the dragonborn shouted, "you couldn't just come peacefully, could you?"
Pip latched onto Balazar's ghost hand, which had a skeletal appearance in this void, but jerked back in shock. Balazar glanced down and then slapped Pip with the skeletal hand, sending the rat soul flying to the other side of the shrinking void.
"Ow, that's cheating!" the ratfolk complained. " Fine, go away. If I control the warlock's body, I can get the stone!" Pip said, standing up determinedly. "I almost have it I'm sure, you just leave me alone!"
---------------------
"Lovely, now I'm feeling dizzy," Tella said, staggering backwards as Fei pulled Balazar's body off of her. "Having should fighting each other in your body is a most unpleasant experience."
"You know, having these two around has been rather detrimental to our progress in defeating the beholders," Fei remarked.
"What are you saying?" Cassian asked, with dawning horror.
"I'm saying if we got rid of them, we might actually accomplish something," the druid stated.
Cassian put his face in his hands and sagged against the wall. "I do not wish to see more companions come to harm. It still hurts so much to think of the friends I have lost already," the half-orc said. "But I cannot deny your reasoning."
"I will take care of it," Fei said calmly. "You need not worry yourself."
"Do what you must," Cassian said at last with a resigned breath.
Fei nodded and transformed into a giant eagle. Grasping Pip's and Balazar's bodies in her talons, she sent a mental command to the gargoyle still lingering by the window. The stone beast tore away the wall around the window, creating an opening large enough for Fei's form to fit through, and the eagle flew high into the air.
Cassian kept his face buried in his hands, grief and regret writ large across his soul.
-----------------------
"Fine, I'm leaving," Balazar said. "I wouldn't want the others to think I've left them." Turning, the dragonborn spirit walked to the edge of the void space and pushed, departing Tella's internal space.
"Huh, I never thought to do that," Pip muttered to himself. With a shrug, the ratfolk returned to attempting to gain control of Tella's body. The void continued to shrink around him, though he paid it no mind.
"What are you doing here?" A voice asked from behind Pip. The ratfolk spun around. An amorphous shape was hovering in front of him.
"Who me?" Pip asked, his eyes looking for somewhere to hide. "Nothing, nothing."
"It is obvious you are doing more than nothing," the being said. "What else would you be in the body of my patronee for?"
"Oh, is this yours?" Pip asked innocently.
"In a technical sense, yes," the being replied.
"Then I will just be leaving," Pip said.
"You had a chance to leave," the being said. "From what I can see, you are trying to control my patronee."
"Oh, I thought she was a free agent," Pip said.
"So what do you want?" The being asked.
"Nothing?" Pip said.
"Just leave," the being said, forming fingers that made a snapping motion. With a pop, Pip found his soul back outside Tella's body, missing one soul leg.
"What is this?" the ratfolk cried in horror. He was immediately distracted by the sight of the philosopher's stone on the floor. He leapt for it, one to find it moved out of his way.
"Sorry, this is way too entertaining," Whisper said, picking up the soul stone. "I want to see what else you do."
----------------------------
"Put me down right now!" Balazar shouted. His soul had flown back to his body only to find himself in the claws of a giant eagle; presumably Fei in an animal form. "I swear to all the gods if you don't let me go I will stab you!"
The eagle ignored his protests and flew higher. The tower began to look small as the dragonborn struggled int he eagles grip. They must have flown several hundred feet up. Balazar noticed the gargoyle's Fei had summoned earlier keeping pace with them nearby.
"Alright, not in the mood to bargain? If you're going to kill me I'll take you with me!" Balazar swore, forming his ghost hand into a sword and swinging at the eagle's leg. The blade bit into the eagle's flesh, droplets of blood spattering Balazar as they began their long journey to earth below, but the eagle pressed on, flying higher still. With another curse the dragonborn began swinging in earnest.
----------------------
The sound of tearing walls had woken Arnick and sent him running up the stairs after Sadun. Sadun was cursing herself under her breath for having left things to simmer too long. The pair burst into the third floor to find a gaping hole in the wall. Cassian sat with his head in his hands, and Tella was still leaning against the wall clutching the stump of her horn. The whisky form of Pip's soul made repeated leaps for the philosopher's stone held by the newcomer Whistle, who seemed to be enjoying herself playing keep away with the one-legged ratfolk spirit.
"I could use this to separate that demon from Elle," Pip said slyly, seeing Arnick enter the room.
"Could I have that stone please?" Arnick asked Whisper.
"In a moment, I'm having fun with it right now," Whisper replied.
"I would really like the stone," Arnick insisted, grabbing for the stone, but Whisper kept it away from both the gnome and the ratfolk.
"Why do you suddenly want the stone? Sadun asked Arnick, turning her attention away from the hole in the wall and back to the room's occupants.
"We could put the rat in the stone and let the wizard kill him! He can't do anything with the stone if he's trapped inside it!"
Sadun turned to Tella. "Can you hear me? You're covered in blood..."
"Yes?" Tella replied, looking up.
"The suggestion is that we let the rat's soul enter the stone with your friend Sorzen," Sadun explained. "I consider you to have a philia claim on the stone and your input is very important."
"The thing is, the ghost hand your friend has is what allowed our souls to swap. I do not know if the rat forcing his way into the stone would swap their souls or fuse them without the ghost hand. And I would rather not have them fuse," Tella explained.
"But wouldn't your wizard friend's soul murder this rat?" Arnick asked.
"I'm right here!" Pip protested.
"The question is, is the kobold down there your sister?" Tella asked Arnick. "Are the memories of your sister present? Does it even recognize you?"
Arnick looked sadly at the floor. "No, it does not."
"Exactly. So that's not your sister. And what I want to come out of that stone is Sorzen, my friend. I do not want some strange amalgam soul," Tella said. "Could you find me a cage?"
"A cage?" Arnick asked, taken aback.
"Yes, I would like a cage," Tella repeated, closing her book.
"Anything beside a cage you would like?" Arnick asked, confused. "Anything for your head?"
"No, this will heal eventually. Just find me a small cage please."
Sadun, Arnick and Whisper, curious, departed to search for the cage the warlock desired. As they departed, Pip's spirit attempted to dive into Tella's book, but bounced off the cover forcefully. The ratfolk started making digging motions with his ethereal paws, attempting to burrow into the book somehow.
Sadun returned a moment later with a small cage from Sorzen's horde. Wordlessly, she handed the cage over to Tella.
"Thank you. Now, let us see what I can do about this irritation," Tella said with relish.
--------------------------
Hundreds of feet in the air, the eagle that was Fei tossed the still limp form of Pip's body to one side, the gargoyle swooping to follow its arc as it fell. She then reverted to her human form, turning midair to face Balazar as they began to plummet to the ground.
"You have failed as a champion!" Fei shouted over the rushing wind. "Like a misheedist's cub I must put you in your place!" The druid gestured and hurled a knife of ice that pierced Balazar's shoulder and exploded into shards that lacerated the dragonborn's face and arms.
"You're going to kill yourself just to kill me?" Balazar shouted back, swinging at Fei with his short sword and ghost sword, slicing the druid several times across the legs, and following up with a breath of fire that scorched the druid's robes and arms.
Fei conjured a wall of water that crashed over Balazar in response, bludgeoning the dragonborn's body.
The pair spiraled around each other, trading blows as they fell in the pale moonlight.
---------------------------
Tella picked up the cage Sadun offered and chanted a spell. Pip's soul was suddenly drawn into the cage. The ratfolk hurled himself against the bars of the cage but they did not give.
"Now I will get some honest answers," Tella mused. "Can you get my friend out of this stone?"
"I can build him new body," Pip said.
"What type of body?" Tella asked suspiciously.
"That depends on what you have around."
"He was a kobold, could one of the kobolds that died here work?"
"I can work with that. I would need a lot of extra parts as well," Pip pointed out, the Soulcage compelling him to honesty.
"What do you mean extra parts? What are you trying to do?"
"I mean machinery, things to improve him!" Pip said eagerly.
"What? Metal parts are for weapons, swords and armor, not for people!" Tella said, aghast.
"Your mind is limited," Pip said. Tella shook his cage in response. "Ah, stop that!" the ratfolk protested. "It's just like you, your soul powers your body."
Tella stopped shaking the cage. "What? You mean Sorzen would merely power this being you create?"
"Yes, just like your soul powers you now," Pip said. "You are just a machine made of meat."
"I don't want to hear this," Tella said.
"You just don't have an open mind," Pip sneered.
"You know what? Go back to your body loose soul, I command you," Tella said. "You are obviously no use to me.
"No!" Pip screamed, but he was drawn inexorably out the window and into his body, hurtling toward the ground. "I'm going to die," he thought. "I guess I don't need this anymore." The ratfolk dug in his gear and removed a glowing green rock that exuded the same gases he used to enter his rage and hurled it away from him, then turned on his back. "Well," the ratfolk said, staring around him, "at least I get a show." He folded his arms and watched as Fei and Balazar fought each other nearby.
----------------------
Across the room, Cassian stood and confronted Whistle. "Who are you, and why do you have Pip's sword?"
"The lady is tired," Arnick said, taking Whistle's hand. "Leave her be please." The gnome led Whistle to the second floor, Sadun following behind. "We can get some rest down here."
"It seems Tella has things under control now," Sadun said. "I need a rest. There is nothing I can do anymore," she added under her breath, a note of hopelessness tinging her words.
"I don't think you heard me," Cassian said, walking down after them, fully armed. "Give me that sword back. You did not earn it. I do not know you and I do not trust you."
"Can we please do this in the morning?" Sadun and Arnick said at once.
Whisper stepped forward and hurled a magical sigil at the half-orc. Cassian found himself dazed and unable to move. Whisper pushed him back to the stairwell, rushed over to Arnick, Sadun and the kobold, and conjured a small magical hut around the four of them. "There," she said. "Nobody can get in here without my permission, and nothing can harm us here. You two look like you need some rest, and now we can deal with things in the morning."
Sadun, nodded, unable to keep her eyes open any longer, and fell asleep.
------------------------
"Enough of this," Fei said, reaching out her hand and summoning her spear from the tower. There was a loud crack as of thunder, then the boom of masonry smashing into masonry, and another crack. Then the spear was flying towards the druid's outstretched hand, still embedded in the fourth floor of the tower and hauling the fifth floor as well.
Fei and Balazar both started in horror as ten cubic feet of stone and mortar hurtled toward them. "You can at least take the brunt of this," Balazar shouted, "you started it!" And he and Fei began struggling to position the other between their body and the oncoming masonry. Fei launched several magical knives of ice, attempting to break the structure apart, but only succeeded in knocking part of the fifth floor away. The remaining masonry continued toward the pair.
"I did not mean for it to come to this!" Fei shouted. "I only wanted you to learn your place!"
"Ha! Better people than you have tried," Balazar shouted back. "I know my place, it's killing people and drinking!"
"Please, I am sorry," Fei said. "I am sorry." She turned back into an eagle and with a powerful sweep of her wings pushed away from Balazar.
"Well fu--" Balazar muttered, an instant before he was disintegrated by the accelerating tower roof.
The roof continued toward Fei. Acting quickly, the eagle dived around it and latched on to the stonework. The chunk of masonry began swirling in circles as the spear tried to reach Fei, until the druid finally placed a talon on the spear. Immediately the entire structure halted its journey in midair and began to fall back to the earth.
Fei sadly began to descend after it.
-------------------
Cassian recovered his senses and pounded on the door of the hut before him, but to no avail. Suddenly he heard a crack above him, and the entire tower shook around him. "Well, that's not good," he thought to himself. "Oh no, the egg!"
The half-orc darted back to the third floor as swiftly as his legs would take him. Above him was a hole revealing open sky. The tower shook again as pieces of stonework tumbled down from above.
He hurried to the dragon egg where he had left it on the floor and turned. Tella was leaping from the gaping hole in the wall where a window once was, just as the entire roof collapsed in on the fourth floor above Cassian's head.
"No time to run down!" he thought, and followed the warlock out the window. He turned as he dove, tucking his body around the egg to shield it from the impact.
A pair of loud thumps sounded as Cassian and Tella collided with the earth. They lay there for long minutes as the tower noisily collapsed in on itself behind them.
Above, a large eagle slowly spiraled down. Fei returned to human form when she reached the ground and stared in horror at the ruins of Sorzen's tower. "Where are the others?"
"They were in some sort of hut on the second floor," Cassian said, when he caught his breath. "I don't think they had time to get out."
"I killed them," Fei breathed. "I killed the champions. What have I done?"
Above her, the gargoyle caught Pip's body and arrested his fall. Savagely, Fei gestured at the gargoyle, commanding it to swoop up again and causing the rat to black out from the gravitational forces. Then Fei slumped over in defeat. The gargoyle came to earth and dropped Pip to the ground.
Cassian walked over to the ratfolk's body just as Pip's eyes opened. "I'm still alive?" Pip asked.
"You are," Cassian said. "I'm sorry about this."
"Sorry about what?" Pip squeaked.
Cassian smacked Pip on the head, knocking him out again. "I'm sorry I have to leave you like this, but I don't think you can come with us," the half-orc muttered, tying Pip securely to a large piece of the tower. "But I think we need these more than you," he added, taking the magical goggled from Pip's head, and walking back to where Fei was kneeling.
With a last crash, the last of the tower fell down, leaving only a pile of rubble and a giant cloud of dust.
TO BE CONTINUED?
Amazing 😂
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