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The slaying of Cherek
Written by Deproelius
"Tell us again, Monika!" I cried, banging my tankard on the grimy bar top
for emphasis. The rest of the soldiers in the bar cheered their encouragement,
urging Monika to recite her tale once more.
Monika grinned evilly, and jumped up onto the top of the bar. She had
already told this tale three times since her feat, but the other soldiers
and I still hadn't grown bored of hearing the tale, which grew more
outlandish with each telling. In these times of war, with the might of all
of the forces of good arrayed against us, it was a great boost to our morale
to hear of the death of one of our enemies.
Monika struck a heroic pose, her evil glinting eyes focused on the distance.
With a melodramatic flourish learnt, no doubt, from her study as a dark
disciple, she began to recite her tale.
"We had been fighting for what seemed like an eternity, trading fierce blow
with blow. The sun had long since sunk from sight, and the streets of
Flotsam were only just illuminated by the pale glow of street lanterns
smoldering in the evening mist. Blood was oozing from cuts and scrapes on
both of us, but Cherek was tiring faster than I was, and I had managed to
keep my magic in reserve.
"Momentarily managing to stun Cherek with a well-placed blow to the head
from my trusty runed mithril warhammer, I sang a special hymn of praise to
the dark gods. Summoned by the dark music, a horde of grubs, insects and
worms rose out of the very dirt of the street and knit themselves over my
wounds, transforming themselves into bits and pieces of flesh and bone. My
wounds healed before Cherek's very eyes, and the dark ecstasy I felt from
the malignant power of the evil spell was enhanced by the look of horror on
my foolish opponent's face.
"It was as if Cherek had never been exposed to the dark powers of the
disciples before. His attacks faltered, and he panicked. Pressing home the
advantage, I landed another heavy hit on his head, and followed up with a
crushing blow to his leg. Cherek feebly tried to respond, and managed to
graze my side with the sword Wyrmslayer, but even with that mighty weapon,
his doom was clear to see.
"After one last crushing blow to Cherek's thigh, his morale completely
dissolved, and he panicked and fled, trying to make it to the docks of
Flotsam and the supposed safety of a ship out of town. Hampered by the
crippling blows to his legs however, he was unable to outdistance me, and I
casually followed, twirling my warhammer in circles.
"I caught up with Cherek where he had collapsed, on a street in the upper
parts of Flotsam. Raising my warhammer high above my head, I brought it
down, smashing Cherek to a pulp killing him instantly. A sudden chill
permeated the air, and a dark shadow seemed to sweep over the gruesome wreck
of a man. I blinked, and the shadow was gone.
"Screaming out my warcry - 'Long live the Goblins!', I picked up Cherek's
pulp and the equipment he had been carrying, and returned home. If you look
in the armoury, you will see the red dragonscale armour that he was wearing,
and also the mighty Wyrmslayer, which we now possess.
"And of course, we all know what happened to Cherek's pulp!"
With one last evil grin, Monika jumped down off the bar top, and picked up
her wooden bowl. We all laughed, as she took another mouthful of the stew
that our chef had made from Cherek's well and truly pulped remains.
