Path: usenet.ee.pdx.edu!cs.uoregon.edu!news.uoregon.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uunet!not-for-mail From: guido@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Guido Roessling) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives Subject: STORY: Qelrik part 57 Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc Date: 14 Dec 1994 08:40:09 -0500 Organization: UUNET Technologies Inc, Falls Church, VA, USA Lines: 174 Sender: smm@uunet.uu.net Approved: smm@uunet.uu.net Message-ID: <3cmsjp$jj5@rodan.UU.NET> NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net The Escape ========== Ulor was bored. Standing guard at the cell of the unconscious beauty and the brutish, large human had sounded interesting enough at first, but it had long lost whatever appeal it had held. The only thing that had kept him awake so long had been the bet with Nord. Strange how this duty had turned out to be so disappointing, when the setting itself had looked so promising... But to his utter surprise the brute had not taken advantage of the woman's helpless state - a behavior so strange that he simply couldn't comprehend the reasons for it... However, the man had sat quietly next to her, only touching the back of her head soon after she'd been brought in and he had freed himself - as far as he had been told, the would-be rapists were still jumping at shadows - while mumbling a strange phrase, almost like an incantation. Afterwards, the breathing of the woman had turned less shallow, and it seemed as if she had somehow recovered a little from the hard hit on her head. And then, after several boring hours had passed, he had suddenly reached out and stroked the woman's face, and shortly after that, a slight murmuring had been heard. And that had been all the action the prisoners had taken so far. Now, according to what he'd heard mentioned by a passer-by, Grunalf had taken the human boy to a little "pleasure ride", roughing him up enough to have fun, yet not quite enough to bring down Yrgoth's wrath. If only he had taken another duty for this shift... His reminiscence was brought to an abrupt end when he became aware that the sounds from the cell were getting louder. Turning his attention back to the prisoners, he noticed that they seemed to have broken into a heated argument that made then rise their voices in anger. Chuckling softly he concentrated on what it was they were arguing about. Perhaps this duty would turn out to be as boring as it had seemed, after all... "No! Keep your ugly hands off me!", the woman was yelling. "I won't suffer you to touch me again, you... you ugly brute! I don't consort with ogres!" "Oh, is that so, little one?", the man snarled back in anger. Ulor had to admit that that with his face contorted in anger he did look quite fearsome and, indeed, not quite unlike an ogre. "You think you're so noble that I may act as your guard, yet you refuse me when I ask a simple favor?!?" "A *favor*?!" the woman screeched, her voice nearly breaking. "You expect me to go along with your plans?! I'd sooner lie with an orc!". At this, both Ulor and Nord broke into a broad grin. Things were definitely looking better for them now... Lost in pleasant thoughts, they didn't catch the brute's reply. However, it must have been something very threatening, since the woman backed up a step, only to hit the gates with the small of her back. "Har! You can't escape me now, you little wench!", he snarled, advancing slowly, and relishing every single step. "Please! Please help me! I'll do anything you want me to, if you keep this monster away from me!" the beautiful woman pleaded, looking straight at Ulor's eyes. Fumbling with the keys, and too incensed with lust to consider exactly what they were doing, Ulor and Nord approached the gate. Ulor unlocked it, and immediately went to the woman's side, while Nord approached the brutish man with drawn club, trying to appear menacing. Hearing a grunt of pleasure and surprise from behind, Nord turned around long enough to see that the woman had thrown herself into Ulor's arms. 'It's always the others who get lucky', he grumbled to himself as he turned back to face the man, barely in time to see a large white lump approach his head from the side. He did not have the time to recognize the chunk of stone still clinging to Gernodt's manacle for what it was, or even think about the amateurish mistake he had made in turning his attention away from the man, since his head erupted in a reddish cloud of pain. The last thing he ever heard in his life was a crunching sound that made him think "sounds like a crushing skull", which, of course, it was. Then the world went black for him. Ulor, already busily fumbling with his trousers with one hand and trying to grab at the woman with other hand at the same time heard this sound and instinctively turned around to see what had happened. In his lustful state it took him a while to recognize what had happened to his colleague, and before he was able to decide on any action, the woman ripped free of his one-armed embrace and firmly kneed him in the groin. Bending double with the pain blossoming from his lower regions and cursing his stupidity for falling for this ploy, he tried to shout a warning to alert the rest of the complex. But all he managed to get out was a drawn-out groan. Chuckling softly at the both the orc's predicament and his ideal position which seemed almost to cry out for being hit over the head, Gernodt - who had by this time picked up Nord's club - took a good swing and brought the club crashing down on the poor orc's head. The hit connected with a loud crunch, grinding the orc's head into a pulp and nearly removing it completely from the neck. Seeing the keys lying on the floor near to Gladrial, he motioned for her to pick them up and free him from his manacles. All of Gladrial's anger had disappeared, and smiling happily at Gernodt, she proceeded to unlock his manacles. Freed at last from the weight of the piece of the stone wall that had up to now still hung to his wrists, Gernodt stretched a bit. "It was a good ploy, although it can't have been that comfortable to you", he said. "However, I also didn't care much about the part I had to play, but it certainly archived its goal." Smiling at the hidden compliment, Gladrial acknowledged the praise for her plan, and gave the ring of keys to Gernodt. "We'll have to hurry now", she said. "As far as I know orcs, they're bound to get more active at night, so I think we should try to get away as fast as possible." "Well - I still have friends held captive here. I cannot leave without them." "Then let's find them. Fast. And leave this place." "I agree," Gernodt replied. His keen senses also told him that evening was approaching, though he wondered briefly how Gladrial knew. Must be a seasoned adventurer in her own right, though from her near girlish appearance in her plain, cotton dress, he would have never guessed. "Our guards' shift must have been nearly over, so we don't have much time. Last I saw them, they were held in cells down this way." "Then let's go", Gladrial replied, and moved out of the cell. "And thanks for helping me." Gernodt smiled in return. "Thank you. We helped each other." They proceeded quickly and quietly down the hall. *************************************************************************** This story is a collaboration of seven people: one German, two Canadians and four Americans. Comments about particular characters should be forwarded to their character's "owners": Finn Ambrose - Sheryl Ann Galchutt* - fi48@sol.acs.unt.edu Gernodt - Guido Roessling - dida@pu.informatik.th-darmstadt.de Dahlarin - Brent Hughes - bhughes@student.business.uwo.ca Kyle - J.E. Mason - ** no current mail address ** Fox - Barbara French - bcfrench@mailbox.syr.edu Will appear in future chapters: Gladrial - Jennifer Immel - bhughes@julian.uwo.ca Sir Percy - Bret Rudnick - rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu If you have WWW access, you can also read the chapters there. The site is http://www.pu.informatik.th-darmstadt.de/dida/qelrik.html ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** Legal stuff about Qelrik All characters contained in this story are the sole and exclusive property of their authors. They are the copyrighted property of the authors, and may not be used for any reason without the express written permission of the authors. Qelrik is (c) 1993, 1994 Guido Resszling, Brent G. Hughes, John E. Mason, Barbara C. French, Jennifer Immel, and Bret Ryan Rudnick. Gernodt T'Slorung -- Guido Roessling Dahlarin -- Brent G. Hughes Growler --