Solo Warrior 9: Demons to Dust

[Bungleau]

Back to Chapter 8 - - - Back to the Beginning

Finally, the rain broke and Missy Hissy was able to leave the caves near Ishad N'ha and resume adventuring.

"What a mess," she grumbled as her chain boots squished in the mud, pushing the mud up between her toes. It felt neat at first, but once the mud dried, it would turn into scratchy dirt, custom-fitted sandpaper. She'd be having blisters on her feet and toes that would last for days.

She returned to Shurugeon Castle, spirits raised that she had removed all the mantraps from the area. She entered into the castle, searching for the other evil elements that the wizard had told her about. At least she now had a use for the hideous mask she'd picked up in the Serpent Temple. Although she'd tried it on, she didn't like the looks of it, and hadn't had the urge to sell it yet.

She entered the castle and began wandering around. In a smithy (or was it a torture chamber?), she found a skeleton chained to the wall inside a cell. He was out of the reach of her sword, and any spell she tried to cast simply hit the walls of the cell and bounced off. Frustrated, she backed away, climbed on an opened treasure chest, and cast a venom bite spell at the skeleton. Miraculously, the spell zipped between the thick metal bars of the cell and nailed the skeleton; it fell against a pull chain, and opened the doors to the cell with an ancient squeal.

Missy ducked inside the cell after shoving a barrel into the cell doorway, in case it tried to close on her. Inside the cell was a chest with one of the evil elements.

She left the cell and ducked 'round and came across a large dais surrounded by columns. On the larger columns were a series of chain pulls, and as she stepped forward to investigate, a host of imps and undead soldiers materialized from the gloom. She began to battle, sucking down the occasional healing potion, and eventually vanquished her foes. She set about decoding the chains, and soon found another chest with another evil element. Her total was three, and it felt close.

She went south, looking for more, when she stumbled across a tightly closed door. Faint voices were on the other side, but too muffled to be heard clearly. As she approached, the door suddenly swung open and she realized she'd discovered some kind of a ghostly soiree, with skeletons and ghosts alike. Slinging her blade with vigor, she managed to work her way through the room, dispatching one after another until she stood, face to ectoplasm, with the ghost of Gliebott that the guildmaster had been asking about. Well, at least she could finally answer his questions… Spiritual sword was no match for physical sword, and in short order, the long-suffering ghost lay at her feet, dissolving into the next world.

She felt her stomach grumble, for it had been a long time since she’d had anything to eat, and there were still two more elements to find. She stumbled into a water-filled tunnel under the castle, apparently a long-forgotten sewage tunnel. Aside from a few gems that littered the murky waters, she found little until she stumbled across an imp with an attitude.

After a brief battle, she wiped her sword and placed it back into her sheath. “Time for you to zippy-dippy-die,” she muttered, pulling a chain behind where the imp had been. Turning around, she realized she was so hungry that her head was starting to ache. “Not exactly the best way to walk around the world,” she thought, heading back down the stairs.

Climbing a short flight of stairs she found a lonely vampiress who started playing all friendly-like. “Great,” Missy said. “Not only am I hungry, and not only is my head throbbing, but now I’ve got to get hit on by every last beastie in the sewers. Drawing her sword, she began attacking the vampiress, who also mentioned something about another element. As the she-fiend began her journey to everlasting death, Missy picked up the element, partly wondering what the vampiress had found so intriguing, and partly not wanting to know.

The fifth element was found shortly thereafter, in a chamber that apparently had been D’Soto’s. Fitting, that Ardibren had stored the last element with the one he had betrayed.

Running back to the wizard’s study, she placed all the elements in their holders around the mask, her head pulsating with each one. As the last one went in, there was a blinding flash, and when her sight returned, the elements looked dimmer and grayer than they had before, while the mask now glimmered with an eerie dark light.

Running back to the entrance to the castle, she opened one last door and soon found the demon. Now tired, hungry, achy, and irritated, she practically threw the mask on him and began swinging. As the demon moaned, her blade sang through the air, sending off sparks wherever it hit against his otherworldly bones. He tried casting spells against her, but Jathil’s teachings continued to prove beneficial. If she ever got to the Lyceum, she’d find out more about those Gezurites.

A few moments more, and Haleabus was no more, trapped back in the hell he had come from. A grateful D’Soto thanked her for freeing him, told her about the shroud that would welcome her to the next watcher, and went to find Ardibren, to take his faithful companion to the spirit world with him forever.

Grabbing all she could carry, Missy ran out of the castle and headed back to Ishad N’ha for a warm meal.

On to Chapter 10

[ 02-26-2003, 10:50 PM: Message edited by: Bungleau ]

[LiOnHe@rT]

hahaha this is real interesting!!!
mmmmmmm.............the last 2 words "warm meal" really makes me hungry right this minute. okok gotta go n grap something 2 eat before i start drooling!!!!!!

[Packrat]

I'm glad to see the weather has cleared.. and Missy is back in action.

I hope she wasn't too surprised when she found out that....alot of the undead Knights like to wear...or...carry, Womens garments....(The last time I was there quite a few of them dropped either a Leather or Chain mail Bra...when they were killed)

[WillowIX]

Excellent Bungleau. And rofl packrat! Apparently cross dressing is another popular spare time activitty in the Serran. Apart from cheating mantraps, flying horses, night clubs in the crypt etc. etc. lol [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img]

[Packrat]

It puts a whole new slant on the phrase...."A wild (K)night, in the Gael Serran"...

[LiOnHe@rT]

yea i shiver at the thought that undead spirits are wearing BRAs???!!! could it be that the spirits feel horny ??? hmmm.......i wonder if u come across a bandit who drops a bra when killed !!!!! lolz