battle interuptus

     They pulled Rollobal clear of the rubble when some rocky debris nearly missed them, obviously having been targeting them. "Can you fix this?!" asked Van, referring to Rollobals leg, whom they were squatting over, his gaze trying to pierce the dust. Almost without waiting for answer he took off into the obscuring grit.

     "I got it!" she called to him as he disappeared from view. Inside the aerial grime, all he could make out were silhouettes. Only one of them seemed large enough to have thrown the debris at them with that amount of force. Summoning his sword then flaring the sides out to create a fan, a few passes cleared things up a bit. He willed it back to normal while summoning a floating shield to block another incoming ranged attack. The attack was powerful, powerful enough to send the shield flying after being harmlessly redirected. concentrating, Van flipped it sideways and sent it, frisbee like, back at the source. The dust, having settled enough, revealed the top of the enemy he, and the humanoid silhouettes, were facing. He could only describe it a giant troglodyte, of some kind. Thick facial bones and exaggerated features made it look thoroughly inhuman.

     One of the humanoids it had been fighting passed in front of it, as it and others were trying to loop ropes around it. Van had to dissipate the black frisbee lest it get to close to his possible allies. "Besides," thought Van, "If they're trying to take it alive, who am I stop them"?  He slowed but kept closing the distance, still trying to get a better look. The little ones whom he'd chosen to help turned out to be sharsham, Vestises race, or, as Van thought of them, the snakey people. They weren't doing well, and Van could see still figures on the ground behind them. He hoped they were simply unconscious but that consideration slipped to the wayside when, using their own ropes, the massive creature slammed two of them together with such force one of them was torn in half. This, however was its mistake, for it opened it up to attack from Van, who took advantage of that opening. Multiple black energy darts tore through it's chest.  It took to a knee as it focused in on Van. "You're not one of them!" it bellowed, It's deep rumbling voice full of amazement, "Why do you help... them!?" Before he could even begin to formulate an answer one of the Sharsham sprung forward, impaling the Monsterous giant in an eye.

     The Sharsham froze, staring with caution in Vans direction. One who seemed to be in charge, a female, approached him, her hips swaying. provocatively "She's wearing movie armor!" thought Van dumbly. Indeed, her outfit seemed more designed to seduce then to fight. She smiled, flashing narrow, baboon class fangs.

     "Are there more of you?" she asked. Van observing her closely and becoming more aware of the others as the dust finished settling, realized the other were more appropriately armored. Still, his teenage heart skipped a beat, until a beam of light reflected scaled skin, reminding him just how alien the sharsham people were. He took a deep breath, trying to decide whether to reveal the presence of his friends. Oolah made it for him.

     "There's two of us!" she called from somewhere behind him. "One of us is badly injured! Will you help us? He needs treatment we cannot render!"

     Rollobal was carried off when their medics came, Oolah staying with him. They would lead Van to meet their leader. They traveled through an underground city, most of it abandoned and ruinous. Occasionally they'd pass through a section that almost seemed pristine, and the nester part of Vans nature thought how cool it would be to live here. Supplies would be difficult to come by though, and Van liked being outdoors too much. Eventually the city faded behind them and they were travelling down a corridor much like the one they arrived in. Emerging from it brought them into a different style of caves, newer but not as impressive. Rather then looking like a surface city beneath the ground, this new area looked very self-aware of its status as caverns. Though some passages were carved, and of a smaller scale then the previous, many passages and rooms seemed co-opted from nature. Periodically they'd pass tremendous caverns and shafts that dwarfed many features on the surface. Glowing mosses and crystals had come to replace the mystical lighting from before. They passed into a cave that Van realized could only be a massive geode. It emptied into the chambers of their leader.

     Her scales seemed too dull, and her eyes were cloudy. This elderly woman was their leader. Van would discover during their stay here, theirs were a matriarchal society. What kept drawing Vans attention however, was what was behind the matriarch, a giant oval shaped window. Although the glass was crudely made, through it was a picturesque village on the shore of a foggy lake. Towering above it, of course was the cliff walls, similar to the one that brought them here. It was almost like a hole in the earth, being surrounded as it was, on all sides by the sky high sheer cliffs.

     The old sharsham greeted him, but did not seem happy about his presence here. "They told me you helped them in combat, slowing the enemy enough to allow a critical attack."

     Van nodded, "yes ma'am," he responded. She continued looking at a scroll, looking up at him from time to time to ask a question.

     "Three of you, and the others A different race?" "What are they, tell me about them." "They're not goerfo are they?"

     Van continued answering to his best ability. At one point another scroll was delivered and she seemed relieved about something. "Your companions have been taken to the village. You will be brought to them."

     Despite the long trek there, it only took a few minutes before Van was led outside. Within one of the little single story wattle and daub huts, was his companions. Oolah stood up as he arrived and rewarded him with a hug as Rollobal looked on jealously. He was in a cozy bed with his heavily wrapped and splinted foot elevated on a stack of pillows. Looking at Rollobal he commented, "Looks like we'll be guests here, for a while."