Part IV: Barbarians are (mostly) armless

Jandyr had been worried at first when the light from the other corridor had started to recede. He had no wish to be left here with the incapacitated Wizard alone in the dark, and had frantically searched the small cellar where the prisoner had been. Luckily there was a candle and flint with which to light it, but he couldn’t tell how long the wick was.

In haste, he had scaled the rope quickly before the light receded too much and slung the Wizard up onto the ledge overlooking the pit, finally hauling himself over. The Wizard was still covered in a thin layer of frost beneath which his wounds had healed considerably.

Dragging the unfortunate human by his ankles, Jandyr hastily walked towards a large opening in the wall which had not previously been there, but from which a light was now emanating.

“Why do we have to wait for them?” he heard the booming voice of Trogdar from around a corner.

“Because it is the done thing,” came the grumbling tones of Short-arse in reply.

“But that Wizard is clueless, yet somehow he steals all my kills from me, and as for the Elf, I think he’s a little g… Hey, great to see you!” said Trogdar as Jandyr rounded the corner to find his companions sat in front of a large wooden door.

“Thank you for your assistance back there,” said Jandyr sarcastically, dumping the Wizard’s legs to the floor, “it was most appreciated.”

“Now hang on a minute,” began Trogdar, rising to his feet, “you’d been at that door all morning. How else was I going to get you away? And besides, we didn’t even know you were in trouble until now.”

“Well your impatience nearly cost the Wizard his life,” Jandyr replied haughtily, motioning towards the stricken Wizard who was just beginning to come round and was staring at the lichen on the walls. He half-moved, half-fell head-first onto the wall and began to lick the purple growth.

Short-arse shook her head in disbelief and stood up, “Right, enough fighting you two, let’s get on with this thing. I would like to find my ancestor’s axe before I turn 100, so through the door please Trogdar.”

Trogdar turned away from the Elf and pushed open the door before peering through. The floor was covered with a thin layer of fine sand, but the most striking feature was the four corpses lying in their death poses in the middle of the room.

The group walked over to them to examine them. Putrefaction had clearly set in, but even still it was obvious that a Barbarian, Elf, Dwarf and most probably a Wizard met their end here.

“We’re not the first group they sent down here, are we?” asked Trogdar, looking with purpose at Short-arse.

Short-arse shook her head sadly, “Be wary of traps, it does not look like these poor souls met their end in ba…aaaAAARGH!”

She tripped over a rope concealed beneath the sand. An ominous rumble sounded and a stone slab began to lower over the doorway they had just come through. More sand began to fall from gratings revealed in the roof, filling the room.

“Quick, back through the door,” shouted Trogdar, starting to run but finding his leg caught on something.

“Come on Trogdar,” called Jandyr who had leapt across and was trying in vain to hold the heavy slab open.

Trogdar pulled with as much strength as he could muster, and with a little resistance he was free. As he ran across the room he felt something still clutching his ankle.

“IT’S AN ARM!” he cried as he looked down to see a disembodied hand clutched around his boot. Stopping in fear, he turned around just as the stone slab ground shut behind him to reveal the faces of the 4 warrior corpses now stood in front of him, the Barbarian missing his left arm. “I’VE GOT HIS ARM!!!” he screamed at the others who had missed the opportunity to escape while waiting.

“Well give it him back!” cried the Wizard, the sense of danger bringing him to his senses.

Trogdar reached down and peeled the arm from his leg, throwing it at the Barbarian zombie as he did so. The arm struck it in the chest, bouncing off and away. The zombie glanced down at the impact in confusion, then back up again at Trogdar, and with his undead colleagues began slowly advancing on him.

“Do something Wizard!” shouted Trogdar in fear, “Freeze them!”

“I cannot!” wailed the Wizard, “the Winds of Magic have forsaken me!”

“Please!”

The Wizard closed his eyes tightly in concentration, the sand now burying him up to his knees. He knew the winds were weak in this room, but he wracked his brain, trying to think of something, anything to stop the foul creatures. Finally, his eyes snapped open and he cried, “Got it!”

“Then quick!” shrieked Trogdar, already fending off the Barbarian and Dwarf zombies.

*“#The arm bone’s connected to the… shoulder bone.”*