Well, a whole lot of exciting things happened.We were exploring around a bit, and even took another look at that
funny room with a chain in it. After a while of getting nowhere, we tried
the trapped door. Well, technically Canliss tried it from about twenty
feet away (the traps in this place sure are nasty!).And, of course, what should come through the door but one for
those Drugdear spider-riders! Geez. A body gets awfully tired of those
things. So I ran forward to attack it-- Nikita cast some kind of spell on
me; I guess she couldn't reach Rhavin. It must have been a good spell--
that Drugdear could hardly hit me at all.So we got the spider, and the Drugdear backs through the door at
the end of the hall, and I follow him (I guess maybe I should have thought
about that one first)-- into a PACK of those spider-riders. Spiders in
front of me, spiders on either side, spiders on the walls... It was this
big kind of market room, with all these people down below, and a
spider-rider across the room blowing the alarm. I guess if I was
shopping, and all these strange people burst in, I´d be surprised and
scared too.It was pretty neat, I mean, besides the fact that it looked like
we were in big trouble. Those spiders could jump from all the way across
the room-- unfortunately, they were jumping at US. Rhavin and I had our
hands full. With my new flaming sword, I could cut their webs off me, but
there were still a lot of them.Then, all of a sudden, things got very quiet. Not quiet like
everyone stopped fighting, but like someone turned all the noise off. I
could see the drugdear yelling at me, but no sound came out. Most
importantly, I couldn't hear the spellcasters in the back-- I guess I was
so used to Kariya and Canliss casting missiles, or Jven and Nikita healing
us, that I didn't notice until it was gone. And without them, Rhavin and
I were in a pickle.I was hoping that maybe we could get this over before more
spider-riders came, but it didn't look good. Rhavin motioned me back in,
even though there was a spider-rider left (maybe he wanted it). Just when
I got through the door, Kariya slammed it shut. With Rhavin outside! And
I didn't see Nikita either...But there was no time for that-- Kariya was trying to hold the
doors closed-- there must have been invisible drugdear out there. I tried
to help, but they broke the door. just in time, Kariya cast a wall of ice
in the way-- there were a lot of angry looking drugdear out there.Now I saw there was a drugdear in the hall with us too... Jven and
Canliss were trying to kill it. I took care of it, and waited for Kariya
to tell us what to do next-- where were Rhavin and Nikita???She poked her head around the end of the hall, and then suddenly
there was a big explosion. I guess there were drugdear coming that way
too. She threw up another wall, and led us to the funny room with the
chain. We were going to blow it up so we could go back down and save
Rhavin and Nikita!!! I don't know how, but Kariya probably had a way.The funny room made a really loud sound before it blew up, and
then Canliss was in there, tying a rope to the broken end of chain so we
could get down. I handed Kariya Hilt and took Ulfie down with me, then
Jven, and Kariya went last.There was more lights and steam and noise down here, but it wasn't
the market. Fortunately, Kariya knew just where to go. We HAD to save
Rhavin and Nikita.Finally, we found the right door. There were a bunch of drugdear
and spider-riders standing around this big ball of blackness. I *knew*
Rhavin and Nikita must be in there somewhere. Kariya told me to run in
there and see if they were OK; Jven, Canliss, and her would hide in the
confusion (which there was a LOT of).I guess I was too excited, because the first thing I did was run
smack into a tent. And Hilt wasn't burning anymore! I couldn't think
what to do, so I tried to say "Blade of Last Laugh" but nothing happened.
I tore through the tent, calling Rhavin's name.It was pitch black, but I could hear all these people running
about, and figured I'd head sort of toward the center of it all. Which
would be where Rhavin and Nikita were. Some drugdear grabbed onto my leg
and wouldn't let go, so I just kept walking, calling for Rhavin.And then, I heard a voice I didn't know, asking who I was. I
could hear the sound of a large weapon being swung through the air. I
prayed to Azkal, and tried Hilt again-- "Blade of steel".Hilt was back! I clubbed the dwarf off my leg... I was ready. I
knew where that voice was coming from, and I was going to swing Hilt right
at it.This guy was quick-- he hit me before I could ready Hilt (it felt
like a battle axe). I swung-- he must have ducked, because when I came
back around to try again, he got me again.I didn't feel so good. I tried to stay up-- who knows what else
could have been there in the dark, and I had to find Rhavin and Nikita,
but...Maybe I just lost my balance and hit my head. I came to on the
ground. The lights were back on, and everyone was there; including Rhavin
and Nikita. I guess I must have found them. There was a scaly dwarf
with a bloody battle-axe-- I guess from me-- and priest of Azkal who was a
drugdear too.For a minute, I thought that that meant I was dead, but then I
heard Jven and Rhavin arguing about something, and I knew things were back
to normal. But no one was attacking us-- I mean, there were HUNDREDS of
drugdear standing around, and lots of warriors and spider-riders.Nikita and Jven were hugging. Jven said that she was going to
stay with the drugdear for a while and make water for them, and she and
Nikita were just saying good-bye. We would pick her up after we were done
saving the world. I tried to smile, but the thought of saving the world
just now made me feel really tired. Maybe the drugdear will let us rest a
bit before we go on.I'm going to miss Jven. Even though it'll only be for a week or
so.
Love,
Ester