The Shadows Thicken

[Takanuva]

Tandros Kreel ran along the darkened corridor. his torch casting flickering shadows on the walls. He was followed by Ana Karithon, with Erevan Sunshadow behind her and Darrak Ambershard bringing up the rear.
A band of Goblins numbering just under five score had been tracking them since this morning, and were hot on their trail. Though they were wary of the party, especially after Erevan had fried a few of them, they were slowly gaining courage. The adventurers knew that soon, an all-out attack would take place - one that they did not have the power to withstand. The Goblins always stayed just behind the corner, but every once in a while one would jump out of hiding an fire off an arrow towards them. Especially dangerous in the treachorously black corridors, the arrows were impossible to see in time, and they could only hope that the Goblins would miss.
After making several more turns, they came to a dead-end. Their only escape, a large, black, inticately carved door - which Tandros guessed was made of foot thick solid metal - was locked. As Darrak thrust himself upon it with a snarl, trying to open it in time, the other adventurers prepared to fight. They were trapped. Even now the first Goblins had rounded the corner, fully armed, their teeth bared in hideous grins.
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Tandros threw his torch at the first couple of them, then fired two arrows in quick succesion.
Erevan raised his hands - which were now glowing, then pushed them forward while muttering an incantation. A blazing wall of fire instantly formed between the Goblins and the Adventurers, blocking off all line of sight. A few hostile arrows sallied forth, but they were disintegrated before getting through the flames.
There was a resounding click, but it was barely audible through the barrier. Amid the chaos, no one noticed; and when the fires died down, the adventurers were gone. All that remained in the now dark tunnel was a door at one end, and some very confused Goblins at the other.
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Tandros blinked in disbelief. when he had rushed through the door with the others, he had expected it to be pitch black, especially when the door had re-locked itself behind them. Instead the cavern they were standing in was brilliantly illuminated from all sides. He looked around and realized that it was not a natural hollow, but a large dome that looked like a temple. Rare treasures and items were strew across the floor in piles. Evenly placed alond the edges were three other doors identical to the one they had come in from. The walls of the structure were covered with highly reflective gold plates all the way up to the ceiling, which was about sixty feet high. at the top was a perfect circle around ten feet in diameter. Sunlight shone from this hole, and no matter what time of day it was, a beam of light was reflected off the metal into the exact center of the structure. In the center was a large crystal sphere atop a pedestol engraved with priceless jewels, most of them shaped like spiders. The light was reflected still more off the crystal, making Tandros squint, but he could distinctly see, curled around the pedestol, a black, sleeping dragon.

[Takanuva]

Sorry for the double post, but I added two chapters to the main page...

[Takanuva]

Tandros caught his breath. He saw the dragons side go softly up and down as it breathed, the scales rippling like waves. He now realized the purpose of this room, and why it was chosen as a dragon’s den. Light was reflected off the domed walls from all sides, to all places. All places except up. When the dragon was in flight, its body would block off all light, giving a perfect view of his prey, with absolutely no shadows. Likewise, the dragon itself would be almost impossible to see. He looked back at the dragon and saw a large, yellow eye staring back at him. It blinked.

[Takanuva]

Okay, I wont be posting for at least a few day, but I finally got around to posting an actual battle scene, and it long

Tandros shouted, warning the others. Lightning fast the dragon shot a blast of acid towards them, a few flecks finding – or burning – tiny holes in Ana’s hastily constructed shield. The acid ate away at his clothing, searing his skin before he brushed it off with his heavy, chain mailed gloves. The dragon’s tail whipped around, faster than the eye could follow, and slammed into Darrak Ambershard. There were a few dull cracks – the sound of the dwarf’s ribs breaking – as Darrak flew backwards and smashed into a large pile of gold, scattering coins in all directions. Ana rushed over to try and heal the unconscious dwarf as Tandros and Erevan fought off the dragon.
Tandros squinted upwards, light glaring into his eyes, making them water. Erevan shot off a few stray fireballs, but it was clear that he too could not see, and none of them managed to hit. Tandros’ eyes slowly adjusted, but the golden light still burned his eyes, and distortion made the dragon’s image shimmer and blur its precise location impossible to make out. Suddenly a blast of acidic darkness rained down on him, and he lunged forward, rolling down a mountainous incline of gold and gems. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ana healing Darrak’s bones, which twisted and turned, making sudden stick out of his chest before coming in and drawing back his skin. It was a curious thing to watch, as the bones softly popped back into place, but Tandros didn’t have time to think of it as he dodged another wave of acid.
Fire shot forth onto the dragons form, engulfing it. The dragon bellowed in pain, and then dove to the floor towards the Eladrin. Tandros rushed to the wizard’s aid, swinging his sword high and screaming a battle cry. Darrak was now up, though groggy and disoriented. “Find us a way out of here!” Tandros yelled to him as he furiously battled the dragon. Darrak looked around, slowly recalling what had happed. Then his eyes fell on the pedestal, holding to the crystal ball that reflected the light. The dwarf grinned.
Despite the dragon’s ferocity, Tandros could tell it was still young. And it was small – only a bit bigger than a large horse. If its chances of victory didn’t improve soon, it would be forced to retreat. And Tandros was sure that it had a plan. The dragon flicked its heavy tail towards him, and after avoiding it Tandros managed slice at it, cutting deep into the tip. The dragon roared in pain, then, jerking its head forward, it spit out a spray of inky blackness. As Erevan blasted the acid with fire, burning it away, Tandros saw the dragon pounce.
It was unseen by the wizard through the wall of orange, black, yellow and green, and only Tandros knew of the Dragon. Leaping to the side, Tandros slammed into the Elf, pushing him away. The next instant, the dragon hit. Tandros could feel its front claws pushing down, crushing him; its jaws ready to devour. He pushed against its face, desperately trying to keep it at bay. To the side he could see Darrak running towards the pedestal, shouting something about a hole, the crystal, and explosives. The dragons hot breath was nauseating, Acid mixed with saliva dripping in strings of drool down on him. As its jaws bit downward, he twisted to the side and the dragons teeth clamped down on his bow*. The Dragon flicked its head up, and the strap to his bow broke off, sending him sailing through the air and back onto the ground, about twenty feet away. As the dragon chomped the wood to pieces, There was a deafening boom. Tandros looked toward it to see the pedestal explode, revealing a tunnel underneath. And then he heard the war drums.


*I'll bet you forgot about this, didnt you?

Oh, and also...

PLEASE post comments, ideas, or even just random thoughts

[bumper15]

interesting story, but why mention the bow?

[Frylock]

I like it. Especially how you incorporated their abilities, like when Darrak opens the door, or Tandros takes the hit for Erevan. Nice.

[Takanuva]

YES!!!PEOPLE READ MY STORY!!!AND THEY ACTUALLY REPLIED!!!

Originally Posted by bumper15

interesting story, but why mention the bow?

The reason I mentioned the bow was because after I had Tandros get pounced by the dragon, I expeirenced a case of major writers block and spent about half an hour thinking how he could get out of there alive. Then I looked at the figure and saw the bow, and thought "That just might work". I put in the red asterisk because I hadn't mentioned it since the beginning, and thought it might have been forgotton.

Originally Posted by Frylock

I like it. Especially how you incorporated their abilities, like when Darrak opens the door, or Tandros takes the hit for Erevan. Nice.

Thanks

[bumper15]

I can understand that, I've been trying to right a story for ages, I get a few paragraphs in and then completely start shooting blanks.

[Takanuva]

Originally Posted by bumper15

I can understand that, I've been trying to right a story for ages, I get a few paragraphs in and then completely start shooting blanks.

, when I started this story it was completely different than what it is now. I wrote about 5 chapters before I realized it would make a horrible story plot...