The Curse of Calamus II

[Quiet_Cool]

Rules:

1. This thread is by "invitation only." DONOT just jump in and post. If you want to join, PM me with a character profile and, if the others in the thread agree and the character is approved, and the story allows it, you will be included.
2. Check out the Profiles/rules thread for information before asking to join. Know the game before you get involved, make sure you're interested.
3. This thread is by "invitation only." DONOT just jump in and post.
4. No OOC posts are allowed on the basic thread, NONE. It slows the flow of the thread.
5. This thread is by "invitation only." DONOT just jump in and post.
6. DONOT assume that a character or type of character is the same as you've seen it in the past. Each notable character, meaning those being RPed and those who affect the plot otherwise, are profiled on the Profiles/rules thread, as are every type of enemy I post. Don't assume that an Orc or Goblin or Troll is what they have been in other games/books/movies and whatnot in the past.
7. NEVER, in any game, but specifically here, make decisions or impose actions on another player's character.
8. All OOC ideas and actions are to be conveyed by PM, not on either thread. Sorry if this is an inconvenience to anyone, but OOC posts tend to clutter up the thread, damaging fluency and continuity.
9. We reserve the right to add or delete any rules and make any changes, just wanted to toss that out there, just in case we need to change things...

Okay, on with the show...

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Re-entry...(The Old Man at the Bar)

Hello, again? I know you?
Ah, yes. I remember you now. You were looking for adventure. And have you found it yet?
I'm sorry to hear as such, though many will say adventure is over-rated.
And what can I do for you today, my young friend?
Oh, that story...
It is a long one, but well worth the hearing if its told the right way, by someone who knows what truly happened. And where, per say, did I leave off?
Oh, en route to the Witch, our heroes at Rock Face. That is quite a way into the tale, isn't it? But not nearly to the end. Not by a giant's reach.
Hmmm, let me see.
So much happened after that that it makes it hard to decide where to start next.
Perhaps we'll jump ahead a bit. In the caves, they fought hard, but only against those basic foes that haunted them already along the way. The Orcs were there, yes. And the Goblins, as well. And those pesky Nighthounds wouldn't be left out of all the fun. Even the Troll, Bob, was wound into things in one way or another. It was Richard who finally dispensed of that one, though how precisely I don't recall. Truth is, only Richard himself, and the now late Bob know what went on in their duel. And something special Richard did find on his remains.
Special indeed, but we'll get to that.
Hmmm, where to begin?
How about the Witch herself?
Druselda, her name was.
They found her deep in the caves, hiding in her own lair, the Serpents of Alanar there to protect her. By then, the group had been broken down, the heroes scattered here and there, traveling through the maze of labrynths the Witch had designed to protect herself from outsiders. Some of those heroes would never be found again, it seemed.
Yes, the Witch had known they were coming.
And she'd been waiting for them...

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Druselda the Witch

The caves were deep, but they found her. The old man moved quickly, hearing the serpents slithering around him, but unable to see them. When they got too close, he would react, but until then, he moved forward, following the footsteps of the elves. Boguras led the way, Tellion in tow and the female warrior whose name he hadn't learned yet, pacing very near him at the rear.
The others were gone.
Kyleen and Jurax; Richard and Sebulba;
Uwef and DaSanda. What had happened to them?
Alive?
Dead?
Pennindar had no idea of their fates, of whether he would see them again of not.
But at that moment, it didn't matter. All that mattered was the Witch. Defeating her, ending this retched Curse.
The nearest of the Serpents (he couldn't tell which it was) moved quickly up behind him, getting so close that it's breath heated the back of his neck. He turned, sending a burst of fire from his staff at the creature, sending it recoiling, illuminated for a moment to reveal its horrifying form. A giant snake, nearly thirty feet in length, its head about the size of a human's chest, but thickers, containing piercing red eyes that glowed back at him, reflecting the firelight. As it recoiled, it hissed, showing two top fangs, more than a foot in length each, and two more on the bottom, slightly smaller.
The creature turned its head, shielding its eyes from the light, and Pennindar spied the other behind it, recoiling as well, before starting to sprint again.
Ahead, the elves were arguing over something, having stopped their forwrd progress.
"What is it?" He panted, as he reach them.
"The door," Tellion replied. "It's open, as if she dares us to come inside."
"We shall accept that challenge," Boguras stated, moving forward, his sword drawn. Inside, the room was dimly lit by several candles, and the Witch's old form sat hunkered at a desk, facing the opposite direction.
The group stopped, seeing her for the first time, almost hypnotized by the sight.
"The door," the female elf said, half-dazed.
The old wizard turned, forcing it shut and barring it just as the first of the Serpents reached it, pounding its head heavily against the outside.
"You've finally come," the Witch said, her voice sounding weak. "Come to kill an old lady, have ye?"
"Aye. And you are the old lady in question," Pennindar returned, stepping forward, ignoring the advances of the Serpents on the door behind him.
"Step no closer, old man," she insisted. "Your magic is no match for mine."
"Perhaps not," he replied. "But magic is not all we threaten you with, hag."
She stood at that, then turned to face them, her body seeming to lose age as it did, until she stood facing them, barely a twenty year-old's face looking back at him.
"As do I, Old man," she stated, reaching out to one side and magically drwing a long spear from the wall to her hands. "Time to face your end, friends. And so sorry for the way things will turn out. The Serpents would have been much gentler on you, I promise."
"The time for talk has passed," Pennindar promised, reaching beneath his robe and drawing out the Battle Axe he carried.
"So be it," she returned.And the battle started. She moved with incredible speed, and they fought for what seemed an enternity, her facing off not one at a time, but the group all at once. Moving at speeds only magic could have created, using spells when given the opportunity.
And opponent to be feared, but they fought with heart, wounding her here and there, setting her off balance now and again. They used thier numbers to slow her and to weaken her, and in the end, with the loss of Tellion in the process, the Witch finally lay dead at Boguras' hands.
As he head struck the ground at the old wizard's feet, the ponding at the door ceased.
"What...?" The female elf asked.
"They sense she is dead," Pennindar returned. "Their purpose here is complete."
"Will they return to sleep?" She asked.
"Let us hope," he answered, gripping the witch's hair and using it to raise her head to eye level. Her face had aged back to it's real age, or in fact, many years past that, as her body had aged faster with the dark forces she had tampered with, and the lack of the sun's light hadn't done anything to help it either.
"At last she is dead," the old wizard stated. "This terror should be over."
He carried the head as they exited the chamber, unbarring the door and moving carefully into the darkness beyond it, Boguras using a torch to light the way.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

The world outside

All should have been well, had it been the Witch alone who'd cast the spell and brought about the dark forces at work. But all was not as they would have guessed.
They'd entered the caves during the day, but by then, the night had fallen, and with it came a mysterious calm. No wind blew just yet, and no night sounds were heard. No crickets chirped and owls hooted. All seemed perfectly still to those who might be out to witness it. And many were, feeling compelled to check out the odd behavior the night had taken on.
They were outside when the small bats, like Nimbles, but smaller and faster, came jetting out of the trees and the Nighthounds came racing down toward the towns and villages.
Things had changed, yes, but the Curse itself had just begun, it seemed.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Exiting the caves

"No," the old man whispered.
"What?" The female elf inquired.
"Something's wrong," Pennindar returned. "Something's very wrong. I'm not sure what... Come, let's take shelter inside until daybreaks. It isn't safe to be out here."
The truth was, Pennindar didn't believe it was safe anywhere at that exact moment.
The three ducked back inside, seeking shelter from whatever the darkness might be hiding.

 

[The GrandMage]

Richard

It was too simple. That had been his first impression when he saw the box. the wood was smooth, the edges straight but showing signs of wear, and it's size, it was odd. He had tucked it away, sure that something so simple would not be in such good condition were it not important. After all, how cautious were trolls with their possessions.

He'd worked his way down to where the great snakes were at a door and stopped. He'd waited for a long time, in fact, he'd bee almsot ready to leave when the door unlocked. He kept himself back, in the darkness, testing his skills on the group as he followed. While he thought he might have the wizard fooled, he'd heard too much about elves to be too sure.

When they retreated back into the cave, he thought it best to speak up. His scarf was down so he could speak normally, his hat tilted back. "Well, is the old hag dead?"

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Jocca Jolidotter

Jocca has spent the last two months guarding a caravan of spices from one smelly over crowded city to another and now had a nice jingle in her belt-purse to celebrate with.

But, she didn't feel like celebrateing. She felt like moving on into the queit of the woods and steams and...other nice places like that where the shit was in piles you could step over, not tossed out of windows into the streets to rot.

A giant can cover more ground walking than a man; and a lot more when in a nearly tireless fighters jog. Since Jocca was both a giant, and a fighter, she jogged a fair distance in three days and found herself in a errie place.

Arming herself with spiked battle club and sheild and tying her red-colored dreads back with a thong she walked more cauiously along the forest paths.

There had been men and elves, goblins and orcs, and other things afoot here lately. None of them smelled right. And Nighthounds.

She spat to her left and made the sign against evil.

The path forked and she looked both ways before watching which way the birds flew, the wind blew, and the ant toiled before choseing the left. Just as night fell she came across a old stone hut; its thatch roof long fallen away, the door leaning crookedly as the leather hindges had worn away.

"Good as any, eh, Granny?" she asked a fingerbone she wore around her neck. In short order she had propped up the door and braced it with stones from inside the walls and curled up against a corner, sheild over her, and slept.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

The wizard, the elves, and the thief

"Richard," Pennindar said, surprised to hear see the man. He stared for a moment, then remembered thier heading. "Quickly, we must get inside. Things have gone terribly wrong here."
He led the small group ino the dark caves, finding a small chamber they could close off and slipping inside.
"We should be safe here," Pennindar said, witting down in the corner. The battle had taken its toll on him, and his body demanded sleep.
"Tell me, Richard. Do you know anything of the others?" He asked.

 

[The GrandMage]

Richard

He sat down, taking off his hat and setting it down. he pulled off his scarf, and set that down as well before looking up. He sighed, and looked down again. He shook his head.

"The last I know of anyone, after we parted ways,....I heard,...I heard her sword, you know, the one that sings in battle? I heard that a while ago, but,...well, once I was done with the troll I didn't hear it. That doesn't mean anything, of course, I wasn't paying attention, and maybe we just moved away from each other, but,....I don't know how we'd ever find them down here...."

 

[poohlive]

Sabaka ran at a fast pace, his short and squabbly legs carrying him a great distance on the ground. Trees passed him on each side, like a blur of brown and green that he saw, but didn't bother to think about.
His mind occupied itself with his nose at the moment. Sniffing in the air, he tried to place a musty aged smell that was clean with dark earth and cold rock.
He was looking for a cave.
Something was coming.
He felt it, the earth shake. Omens popped up, all of them sending red flags at him, telling him to run. No need to stop for any sort of supplies or to go back home, just find shelter... NOW!
He searched.
To his side a single war axe, stained with the blood of many fallen orcs. He delighted in their destruction, as did all dwarves. They held a special hatred for orcs, goblins, and the like ever since their existence. He wandered out of his home caves for a year or two of orc hunting, before disappearing down below the ground once more to dig or mine.
The three greatest past times of a dwarven life, digging, mining, and killing as many orcs as possible.
A scent captured him, and he turned to the right to follow it. A small cave, amidst rocks and a grassy meadow. It wasn't big, or deep, but it would do for the time being. Half a mile away, he ran towards it at mothing more than a dwarven sprint.
Which, isn't as fast as you think.
There, he got inside, crept to the furthest part of the cave he could, and waited.
Whatever it was would pass soon enough. He growled deep, hoping he would get a chance to meet it later, and then get some revenge for ruining his hunt.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

The dark figure at the cave

As the dwarf waited inside the cave, a dark figure moved gracelessly toward the opening, stopping to shift its glance in one directin, then in the other. Were the dwarf near enough to the entrance to the small cave, he would have seen its darkened silhouette, appearing almost like that of a man, drunken but managing to stay on two feet, standing against the slightly more illuminated backdrop outside.
Then, appearing as though it decided it hadn't heard his small footsteps afterall, it staggered onward, past the cave's entrance and into the woods, now and again echoing a throaty groan. As it moved by, another such figure staggered along beind it, followed by a third. As the third disappeared into the brush and low-hanging branches of nearby trees, two more such figures stagered along, then three more, all moving toward the small nearby town of Stavenlow.
Along with the heavy footsteps of these figures came the much more graceful trotting sounds and heavy, panting breaths of Nighthounds, bounding through the night on the prowl for whatever victims might be out and about.
This strange collection of graceless soldiers and small vicious warhorses, moved steady toward the town below, where the citizens who'd managed to avoid the sudden onslaught of the small nimble-like bats waited, barricaded in thier homes and businesses, praying for morning's light to come sooner than it should.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Gabriela jerked out of her meditation trance her senses sharpening. She sensed something, something evil and extremely dangerous. She had no idea what it was but she knew she had to hide and do it soon. She gathered her supplies quickly then sprinted into the woods searching for some type of shelter. A very high tree would suffice. Being an elf she was rather good at climbing trees. So she ran until she saw one that offered shelter and without hesitation began rapidly climbing up the tree. When she reached the highest branch she silently asked the tree for protection. Then she crouched and waited instinctively praying for safety.

 

[Paendragon]

Xur

The wind smelled of evil. It wasn't an odor specifically, more of a feeling, but one he had learned to trust.

He could feel darkness, or danger, nearby, and knew, on instinct, that he needed shelter, but where to find it?

He squatted off to the side of the path, and balanced his staff across his knees. he held out his hand, palm down, over a smooth section of dirt, and rotated it slightly. The dirt and dust shifted, as if a liquid, and piled up onto itself until a landscape shown, miniturized, below his hand. it was the land around him for two miles. It was a novices trick, but a handy one. There were hills to the east, and in this areas, where there were hills, there were caves.

But his instincts told him they were too far. That this was a night not to travel in, even if it meant staying outside. He stepped off the path, and found an old hollowed out tree. He settled against it, sliding in, back first, after making sure there were no dangers inside. He pulled one of his long daggers loose, and waited, watching.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

As the night passes...

As morning fell, the sun's rays chased away the shadowns, sending many of the creatures that had stalked the night into hiding once more. Nimbles and thier smaller cousins, nightwolves, all disappeared into whatever havens they hid within throughout the day.
But still, safety was not evident.
The group had unleashed something far more dangerous than they'd realized. Even as the other threats disappeared from view, heavy footsteps stalked the day, moving clumsily from place to place, seeking out whatever victims might be fool enough to cross thier paths...

 

[Quiet_Cool]

The wizard and friends...

"I believe it might be safe now," Pennindar spoke. "But it is best to be cautious. Come, we'll move carefully."
As they reached the exit of the cave, they looked out at land which was much more at peace than it should have been. Little human activity, that was the problem. From here, they could see miles in every direction. There were fields being unattended to, and the distant field that the dragon hunters had recently set up camp was barely active. Tents were still up whereas they should have been taken down and readied for travel.
Unless, that was, these dragon hunters had finally had a change of heart.
The old wizard hoped it was the case.
"SOmething is definitely wrong, wizard," a small voice annonced from the pocket of the wizard's cloak.
"Yes," Pennindar muttered back, "I know old friend. It's time to evaluae the situation. Come, we must go to that town," he pointed off in the distance, where the only visible town waited. "Surely someone will know more than we of what went on throughout the night."
As they began thier trek down the mountainside, he turned to the thief, Richard.
"Oh, and before I forget," he said. "I'm certain you took the time to...shall we say, study the effects of the Troll. Didn't find anything interesting by any chance, did you?"

 

[The GrandMage]

Richard

He glanced at the wizard, and looked around as they moved. Something was wrong. Very wrong. If he were by himself he wouldn't be this out in the open, but he trusted what was left of the other. His hat was tipped back, his face in view. Something he wasn't used to.

"I found something, yeah. A box of some sort. But it's sealed, and damn if I know how to open it. I would have left it down with the corpse, but there's something about it. Here, take a look."

After a moment of fumbling, he brought out the smooth, plain box, handing it over to the wizard. "See how simple it is? And look, only a few scrathes here and,..." He turned the box, showing a few of the more obvious marks.

"Here. It's too well taken care of for a troll to have unless it's important. You have any idea what it might be?"

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Pennindar and Richard

A box? the old Mage thought. And one that a thief couldn't open?
He hadn't seen much of Richard in action, at least in terms of his thieving abilities, that was, but he doubted the man lacked the skills necessary to open nearly any lock.
Oddly, trolls tended to carry few items save that which are valuable, or those which they have taken in loot themselves. The box, unopenable by Richard's standards, would most likely have totally baffled the crude creature's intellect, to the point where he'd have tossed it aside, were it some unknown object.
But the Troll, Bob, had carried the Witch's crystal. Why not some other item of importance.
"Perhaps later, I'll look the item over." He said, nonchalantly. It seemed wise no to let Richard know that the item might be of great value. A good man, he was, but also a thief. It was best no to forget that.
They traveled down toward the town, reaching the bottom of the mountain, which they'd only been partway up to begin with, sooner than he would have thought, then heading down a long but narrow path between the trees. Here and there, as they passed through, they could hear the sounds of feet thumping clumsily on the ground and through the trees around them, but no one showed thier face so far as the Wizard saw.
Once, the female warrior turned to him, questioning eyes meeting his.
He shook his head slowly, as if to say, "Nevermind them, unless they come to us."
They reached the town shortly after midday, to be met by...
No one.
They walked to the town square, moving past house after house, business after business, to see closed doors and shuttered windows.
"Is anyone here?" Boguras asked.
The old wizard shrugged. "Perhaps we should ask." It'd almost been a joke, but the female warrior took no notice of the humor behind it.
"Hello?" She shouted.
No response at first.
"Hello?!"
Her voice loud enough it seemed as though it should have echoed back.
Nothing at first, then the shuffling of wood as planks were being removed from within a house nearby.
The door opened as second later and a man holding a shovel stepped out into the street, followed closely by a woman holding a young child of maybe three.
"A wizard?" The man asked. "Are you responsible for this? What have you done?"
"We've done nothing," Boguras replied. "We've only just arrived here. What's happened?"
Upon seeing the elves, the man lowered the shovel that he'd raised, slowly advancing, then stopped and looked among them again, no doubt taking note of thier weapons more than sizing up thier honesties.
"I assure you, I have caused no harm," pennindar insisted, keeping his arms lowered, trying to appear as no threat to him or his family.
Before the man could respond, the shuffling of feet could be heard nearby, moving steadily through the streets toward them from more than one direction.
THe man heard them, listening for a moment, then looked back to them.
"You'd be wise to take cover, lest you want yourselves dead," he warned, then returned inside his home and rebarred the door.
"This must not be a welcoming committee," Boguras stated, glancing around as the figures came into view. They appeared human, or as if they had just been human shortly ago, but thier motor skills had weakened, and they staggered around, almost mindlessly. Thier faces were slack, and their skin pale. While they made no notable sounds, their groans and growls were clearly apparent.
From every direction at once they came, staggering quickly, closing in on thier prey.
"Now what?" Boguras asked, drawing his sword.
"That's what," the wizard returned, pulling his axe from beneath his cloak and readying for battle.
He flicked his fingers in the direction fo the enarest one, sending a quick burst of flame in its direction. The fire struck it hard in the chest, setting it ablaze and knocking it backward a few steps. It wasn't deterred, in fact seemed to not feel the pain at all. It started its approach as though unstruck, clothing burning, the skin on its face seeming to melt to show the workings beneath.
"Okay," Pennindar muttered, drawin ga throwing knife from his belt and tossing it at the next one, catching it square between the eyes. It stopped moving, fell to both knees, then slumped to the ground before them.
"It appears the head is our target," he stated. "What say we see if we can't work our way out of here?"

 

[Quiet_Cool]

The dragonhunters...

"Gallion," the man began.
"Yes?" Gallion responded, already irritated with the question the man had yet to ask.
"Is it my imagination? Or is that an elf sitting in a tree?"
Gallion glanced up. He could see nothing. He looked to the man, annoyed. The man pointed and he looked up again, still seeing nothing.
"Are you senseless?" He finally asked.
"There, sir," the man said, pointing again. This time, Gallion caught sight of what he thought might be a foot, but he wasn't certain.
"Well, whoever it is, had better make themselves known," Gallion said. "Perhaps you might call them down from there?"
"Yes, sir," the man returned. "Whoever it might be in this tree, I would suggest you take to the ground and announce yourself at once!" The man shouted upward, and waited for a reply.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Let's not forget Sabaka.

THe creature moved carefully forward, not wanting to draw the dwarf's attention. At least it carried the scent of a dwarf. The Night hound, eyes sensitive to the light outside, move safely closer to the being in its cave, sniffing the air, its mouth watering with the temptation of an earlymorning meal...

 

[The GrandMage]

Richard

He saw them, his eyes widening as he stood rooted in spot. The staggering, pale fleshed people moved forward. He saw the one the wizard burst into flames, the way it continued forward ablaze. He watched as the throwing knife stopped one of them, dead. "What in the nine hells?"

He glanced around, his mind doing jumping jacks. Okay, he was too heavy to move through them without battle. He could ditch his cloak, which, in it's numerous pockets, hid what others carried in packs. It would leave him without protection and most of his goods, but he'd be fast and light enough to get through. No, he needed some of it. He had,...he took a quick inventory, about six throwing knives. He glanced around at the numbers. Too few for an escape.

His Fang was available, but only good in close combat. Even with his light frame, the way they moved suggested he might be able to take them on is close combat, as long as they didn't have any secrets. But their numbers would bog him down if he stayed in one place and he doubted if he could push through them all.

"Damnit. My mother told me I should carry a sword."

 

[Lady_Siren]

Gabriela glanced down warily at the source of the voice. They weren't evil. The tree would never allow them to see her if they were. Pausing she thanked the tree then climbed deftly down landing in front of two men. She sized them up boldly her hands staying close to her dagger with wich she was very proficient. "I'm Gabriela and who are you to so rudely interupt my time in the tree?" she regretted the words as soon as they left her lips. She always was one to speak before thinking. "I mean what pray tell are your names?"

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Jocca Jolidotter

Jocca woke up to dew settleing upon her sheild in the pre-dawn.

Sitting up and streching with joint cracking and leather creaking she noted nothing seemed distrubed while she slept. Which is how it should be, since she hadn't been woken.

"Thank you, Grandmother." she said, kissing the fingerbone around her neck.

She did her warm up, first with knives then with her club and sheild before covering up the traces of her sleeping spot.

Off her right hand lay cliffs and caves, around her the forest, and beyond that there must be cleared lands as she saw thin trendrals of smoke lineing the sky.

Chewing on some travel bread and hard cheese she made her way towards the smoke.

 

[poohlive]

Sabaka did feel at home in the cave, tough ground to sleep on, the familar echoy sounds that lulled him into a false sense of home. That old musty smell of aged dirt that got even the hardest of dwarves feet tapping. All of it was enough to overwhelm him.
He left though, knowing his real home was waiting. After the display last night, he felt certain it was time to go home. Orcs and golins could wait for a year or so, he didn't want to be out here in the open, the smell annoyed him. Death and Elven, two bad smells on their own, but combined, they drove dwarves away like the plague.
Outside, there was a friend waitin for him. Sabaka liked this. Something to take his anger out on. He gripped the wooden stock of his old battle axe, swinging it back and forth in front of him.
It sliced through the air with a deadly hiss, promising to tear through anything that got in its way.
The nighthound was in his fucking way.
"Come on then," Sabaka took an advancing step forward, his axe poised up and ready to strike. He didn't though, it was just a false charge, to see if the beast would retreat.
It wouldn't.
Hmmm, no ordinary creature. It didn't think cave was its home. Perhaps it did want something more after all. Fresh dwarf meat?
"Looking for a meal, are ya? We've got some dancing to do then."
Sabaka lunged bringing his axe down with a fierce vengeance. His battle cry echoed something fierce in the small hollowed cave.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

The Nighthound and the Dwarf

they were pack animals, so when the axe came crashing down, it stood it ground for a moment, as if its companions were there to close in from the sides while it held the dwarf's attention. When it did flinch to its left, the axe caught its right paw, severing two or three of the toes there and sending the creature whining as it leapt backward, blood spurting from its injured paw.
Without much pause, it lunged forward, bearing teeth and growling, its attack aimed from the dwarf's midsection.

 

[poohlive]

"Oh, ready to play now, are we?"
Sabaka caught the hound's attack, using his own axe as a shield. It caught inside the dog's teeth, and he clamped on nothing more than fine mahogany handle. Sabaka used his useless attackt o fling him away.
He readied himself for another blow. The nighthound stunned, caught itself for a moment in the bright morning daylight. With a single blow, the head came off. It rolled back down to the cave, the rest of the body twitching for a moment as fresh blood eased out.
"I love the smell of death in the morning," The dwarf laughed at this, looking around at the new territory before him. He didn't know of this place. In all the commotion last night, he ran without thinking of where he went.
Just him, a few caves, and a scattering of trees.
Off to his left Sabaka saw a trail. Thinking of no good reason to stay here next to the fresh carcas, he made his way to follow it.