We were content it had not spotted us, but the four people were less fortunate. The monster flew straight to them, killing one instantly, and another before they had time to figure out what was going on. The last two escaped in panic, the monster pursuing one of them. By the muffled cry some instants later, it seemed clear that the escape had been brief.
The creature didn't return, but stayed hidden between houses. Given it had already shown it could glide through solid objects, it seemed likely that it would soon be in one.. or many.. of the houses.. and some there would not wake up the next day.
I raised an alarm, and together we hoisted Drai up from the crypt. Father Argyle came to us, and used his powers to bring Drai back to life - weak as a drenched kitten, but alive once more. We then headed for sanctuary at the temple to coordinate our next move while two living dead climbed up the ladder from the crypt. The second one stayed at the top of the ladder, blocking the path of the rest, and Father Argyle destroyed them all with a glance and a word. collapsing the chute that had taken so much effort to dig.
Then the good Father came to us. Alarm bells were ringing in several places already, people appearing in windows, asking whether the city was on fire or under attack. There was much noise and panic, but what was not as good were the several houses that remained peaceful, with no faces appearing in windows, no lights lit, no one roused to ask what the bracket was all about.
The anger and panic passed gradually as there was no fire, no invading army of orcs.
At dawn came another voice, more horrid still. It was a voice hurt, sorrow and loss as the people of the city began to realize just how many friends, relatives, co-workers, and owes-me-money people had died during the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment