Sierra312
Well-Known Member
Inside the next room was no lurking monster, but a chilling blast greeted the company, accompanied by the sight of freshly fallen snow. The walls and pillars of the chamber were likewise slick with ice, and the air was still, noise muffled, as the four crunched their way into the heart of the enchanted room, breath visible as steaming plumes in the unnaturally cold air. It was clear some spell lay heavy on this place, preserving in the chamber an endless frost, and, as if confirming this, the same magical green flames flickered in icy chandeliers high overhead.
The mage, the thief, the warrior and the knight fanned out, warily scanning for the threat that might present itself at any moment. On reaching the center of the chamber the emerald light in the chandelier brackets faded and died, to be replaced by a cold blue glow emanating from the far end of the room.
This pale shimmer too, receded, and the chandeliers sprang to life once more, revealing an impressive chair on the dais at the chambers end, carved from a single block of ice. Upon this frozen throne reclined a horned figure thrice the height of a man. Two sets of eyes blinked open, lit with a chilling malevolence, and pale lips curled back in a rictus over sharp fangs. It was a giant, but like no giant Sander had ever seen or heard tale of, and the four baleful orbs that regarded them now were yellow, set with slitted pupils like a cats. The monsters skin was almost as white as the surrounding snow, and its chest and shoulders were densely furred with a shaggy mat of dirty hair.
The entrance to the chamber grated shut behind, and the pallid form lifted itself from the throne, hefting a crude hammer crafted from the bone of some forgotten beast, bound with a scalloped rock head, and thundered towards them.
"Focus," the knight had told himself, "be faster," and in one motion he knelt, sighted, and sent a crossbow quarrel speeding toward their new enemy.
The bolt tore a bloody gouge past the monsters jaw, parting the flesh of its cheek with a spray of red, leaving severed flaps of skin and a horrific wound, but the creature continued undeterred, eyes fixed entirely now on the Redguard.
Sander reloaded, fired, and a second quarrel found its mark in the giants chest. There was no time to load another, and the beast lumbered forward with a snarl, each stride punctuated now by a wheezing crimson exhalation. The knight swept the crossbow onto his back, and sprinted forward, whirling to the side as the monster brought its club smashing down in a powerful overhead swing.
With a flurry of snow caused by his momentum, Sander sprang onto the haft of the weapon before the giant could recover, running up the creatures outstretched arm and taking a flying leap onto its shoulders.
The monster bellowed in surprise, dropping the club the knight had used as footing and flailing its arms in an attempt to unseat him. Gripping the creatures head and neck firmly between his legs, the warrior unslung his crossbow and began to reload as the behemoth staggered, roaring.
Placing the needle sharp tip of the now loaded quarrel at the base of the monsters neck, where vertebrae connected head and spine, the knight fired, sending him and the immense body of his foe ploughing forward into the undriven white carpet as he leapt clear.
The mage, the thief, the warrior and the knight fanned out, warily scanning for the threat that might present itself at any moment. On reaching the center of the chamber the emerald light in the chandelier brackets faded and died, to be replaced by a cold blue glow emanating from the far end of the room.
This pale shimmer too, receded, and the chandeliers sprang to life once more, revealing an impressive chair on the dais at the chambers end, carved from a single block of ice. Upon this frozen throne reclined a horned figure thrice the height of a man. Two sets of eyes blinked open, lit with a chilling malevolence, and pale lips curled back in a rictus over sharp fangs. It was a giant, but like no giant Sander had ever seen or heard tale of, and the four baleful orbs that regarded them now were yellow, set with slitted pupils like a cats. The monsters skin was almost as white as the surrounding snow, and its chest and shoulders were densely furred with a shaggy mat of dirty hair.
The entrance to the chamber grated shut behind, and the pallid form lifted itself from the throne, hefting a crude hammer crafted from the bone of some forgotten beast, bound with a scalloped rock head, and thundered towards them.
"Focus," the knight had told himself, "be faster," and in one motion he knelt, sighted, and sent a crossbow quarrel speeding toward their new enemy.
The bolt tore a bloody gouge past the monsters jaw, parting the flesh of its cheek with a spray of red, leaving severed flaps of skin and a horrific wound, but the creature continued undeterred, eyes fixed entirely now on the Redguard.
Sander reloaded, fired, and a second quarrel found its mark in the giants chest. There was no time to load another, and the beast lumbered forward with a snarl, each stride punctuated now by a wheezing crimson exhalation. The knight swept the crossbow onto his back, and sprinted forward, whirling to the side as the monster brought its club smashing down in a powerful overhead swing.
With a flurry of snow caused by his momentum, Sander sprang onto the haft of the weapon before the giant could recover, running up the creatures outstretched arm and taking a flying leap onto its shoulders.
The monster bellowed in surprise, dropping the club the knight had used as footing and flailing its arms in an attempt to unseat him. Gripping the creatures head and neck firmly between his legs, the warrior unslung his crossbow and began to reload as the behemoth staggered, roaring.
Placing the needle sharp tip of the now loaded quarrel at the base of the monsters neck, where vertebrae connected head and spine, the knight fired, sending him and the immense body of his foe ploughing forward into the undriven white carpet as he leapt clear.