It had been almost a full day since the two travelers had encountered the rowdy bunch at The Raven's Roost in the town of Oberon, and they had grown tired of traveling at such speeds and attempts at stealth. Sh'lzzt and Dalmar decided early the previous morning to divert their path off the main roadway, and undertake a bit of journeying across the countryside through a passage between two small, round mountains covered with trees. As luck would have it, they also found a shallow stream of water trickling down the side of one of the mountains into the ravine that raced with great speed towards some downhill destination. Finding a dry place near the stream's edge, Sh'lzzt decided to create their camp and get some rest. The droning trickle of the fast-paced currents against the river rocks soon had the two snoring as they leaned against large boulders, equally oblivious to their surroundings and their stomachs.
Dalmar awoke a few hours later as the moon, high in the sky above them, shined down upon the barren strip of pebbles and water. The heavenly light seemed to be absorbed revealing only indiscernible mounds of darkness to either side, and Dalmar was a bit thankful that he and Sh'lzzt decided to rest in an area where their sight would be useful. Dalmar stood up slowly, allowing his bearing to take hold, and then walked over to the water's edge, scooping some cold refreshment from the stream. As he did so, he began to see small pink and purple fish darting between the rocks to avoid the disturbance, and his stomach began to announce its disagreement with being empty. Dalmar thought the water was shallow enough and the movement of the fish would be hindered enough by the shallowness of the current, and he decided he would catch a couple of the fish for he and Sh'lzzt to eat. Dalmar walked to the edge of the clearing and grabbed a suitable branch, and soon fashioned it into a crude spear with the edge of his blade. Within moments, Dalmar has secured five fish, and created a small campfire with which to cook them. The aroma of the fish grilling over the open fire sent Dalmar's stomach ablaze with the accompanied visions of how wonderful the fish would taste when he got to eat them. The crackling sounds of the food and the smells of searing meat soon broke the focus of Sh'lzzt, and he, too, rose from his slumber. Sh'lzzt wiped his eyes and smiled at Dalmar. "Ahh, fine catch you have there, Dalmar. Right now, I should be happy to eat your right boot" he said as he grinned. Dalmar chuckled, but as he looked at his boot he noticed that Sh'lzzt was talking about the hole in the toe of his boot. Embarrassed slightly, he smiled and put his hand over his boot for a moment.
"Well, I guess I'll get some whenever we get to a town again." Dalmar said shyly.
"Dalmar..." Sh'lzzt said suddenly as he sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?" Sniffing the air as well, Dalmar
raised his eyebrow.
"The fish, you mean?" Dalmar lowered his head closer to the cooking meat and wafted the aroma towards his face with his hand. "Yeah, and it smells..."
"No, you silly man, the other smell. It smells like...like..." Sh'lzzt paused after interrupting Dalmar.His eyebrows curled towards the lower half of his face as he tried to remember where he had smelled that foul odor before that blew in on the small breeze under his nose. Dalmar shrugged, and removed a piece of fish from the fire, juggling the hot pieces of meat as he bit a chunk off the morsel. Dalmar sniffed himself as he looked at Sh'lzzt inquisitively.
"What is it? All I smell is this fish and the stream. Maybe a little dirt and trees...but nothing else." Dalmar said as he bit into the fish and munched away with a smile. Dalmar sat back, picking fish bones from his teeth. Sh'lzzt stood up and began to look around the area, sniffing the air as tiny gusts of wind gathered around the adventurers. Dalmar tossed a fish skeleton aside into the water as he leaned forward to grab another fish from the campfire. "You should eat. Who knows when we'll have this chance again, and besides, it's already finished cooking" Dalmar added in order to diffuse Sh'lzzt's uneasiness.
"In a moment." Sh'lzzt said as he listened intently to the surrounding environment and sniffed the air again. Dalmar shrugged once again as he bit into the fish and slid its meat away from its bones. Sh'lzzt's mind darted back and forth between old conversations and forests he once traveled years ago. Sh'lzzt grew frustrated. Why did this smell evoke these memories? Then, in a flash like lightning, Sh'lzzt remembered. Sh'lzzt smelled the odor of Ogres. Sh'lzzt's face turned white as he turned towards Dalmar who was reaching for his third fish of the morning.
"Dalmar, I remember that smell. It's an ogre, possibly more than one." Sh'lzzt said with a hurried, nervous tone. "We should be going. Put out that fire and...here. We need to get rid of the fish." The two colts serving as the two comrades' mounts at that moment gave a sharp whinny each and pulled at their reins. Sh'lzzt grabbed the two remaining fish and shoved the meat into his mouth, cleaning the bones of their flesh and tossing the skeletons aside in the water. Sh'lzzt swallowed the jumbled glob of meat in his mouth as Dalmar stared at Sh'lzzt in amazement. "Ok, let's get out of here. Quickly, now, Dalmar." Dalmar stood up kicked the burning wood into the water that raced downhill a few feet away. Again, the horses' nervousness echoed across the faces of the two mountainsides, and they tugged hard at their reins. Dalmar and Sh'lzzt turned their heads sharply with the trickling of a large stone into the clearing from one of the mountainsides. Their eyes, simultaneously, drifted from the stone along the side of the mountain. As their eyes fell upon a medium-sized outcropping of small sapling, the small trees split to either side underneath the moonlight as two opalescent orbs appeared about ten feet in the air, blinked, and then moved closer. "Damnit, Dalmar! We've been seen. Let the horses go!" Sh'lzzt barked as he drew his bow and quiver. Dalmar turned and untied the horses as they ran in the direction of the river and out of sight. Turning back to the Sh'lzzt and the ogre, Dalmar was able to survey the situation.
The ogre strutted down the side of the mountain holding a large club in its hand, chuckling to itself with a low rumble. It's yellow eyes squinted at its two opponents, and it delighted in the thoughts of tasting each of their bones in the broth made from the two horses as the ogre picked at its teeth with the leg bone of a small dog. Sh'lzzt notched an arrow and aimed it at the ogre. Dalmar watched as the ogre's expression changed to one of anger and it tossed its toothpick aside and spit in the direction of Sh'lzzt. The sounds of more rocks trickling down the side of the mountain on the other side of the ravine grabbed Dalmar's attention, and he looked to see another ogre of equal size and gumption nearing the opposite edge of the stream. "Sh'lzzt...!" Dalmar said sharply.
"Let me guess..." Sh'lzzt said, careful to not loosen his gaze upon the ogre in front of him and lose his arrow's aim. "...there's another ogre behind us?" Sh'lzzt smiled slightly because he knew he was right. He had smelled the other ogre a short while ago when the wind changed direction briefly. This one was female, and the one with the arrow pointed at its head was her mate. Sh'lzzt knew how this story ended many times before, but not this time.
"Yeah, and it's even uglier than the other one. I think...I think it's a girl." Dalmar looked harder as the green skinned beast that entered the water and began splashing as it confidently walked towards Sh'lzzt and Dalmar. "...I think so..." Dalmar reinforced.
"Ok, on three, we hit the same one. Ok?" Sh'lzzt said calmly, the ogre stepping into plain view at the bottom of the ravine.
" Umm..." Dalmar paused and began to think briefly. Sh'lzzt obviously had a plan and he'd usually been right up to this point. "Ok." Dalmar said as he turned towards Sh'lzzt in order to keep both ogres within sight.
"One..." Sh'lzzt began. "Two..." Sh'lzzt shifted his foot slightly in anticipation of his next move. "Three!" Sh'lzzt yelled as the arrow from his bow sliced through the air and struck the ogre in the side of the head, glancing off its thick skull and into the distance with some of the ogre's green blood. The male ogre roared as it grabbed the monstrous tree trunk in its hand with both hands and charged Sh'lzzt. Dalmar could hear the pounding of the feet in the water of the ogre behind him, but he stayed true to his agreement. Dalmar flanked the ogre's charge and opened his hand flat as he met the ogre in front of Sh'lzzt. Dalmar slid to his knee and struck the ogre as hard as he could in the side of the knee. With a loud CRACK!, the ogre's knee snapped out of joint and the beast tumbled to the ground with a crash. Sh'lzzt quick and agile, jumped upon the belly of the great beast as Dalmar watched. With one mighty stroke, Sh'lzzt drew his elven blade and plunged it through the throat of the male ogre as a thick, gushing squirt of blood shot into the air and landed on Dalmar's shoulder. The ogre wriggled mightily, however - jets of green goo spewing from its neck - and swiftly grabbed Sh'lzzt with one hand, throwing him several meters away from the ogre's body. As Sh'lzzt's body landed with a thud and rustling of river rocks, Dalmar drew his own sword to finish the job, jumping onto the massive beast's belly. The ogre reached to grab his new foe, but Dalmar deftly drew his blade and pierced the ogre's wrist with the elven blade. The ogre, unable to grab his enemy, began to rumble as he tried to stand up. Dalmar, remembering the other ogre, quickly stepped on the ogre's breastbone, and bent down with both hands, through the beasts gaping would in its neck, and latched on to its windpipe. Tugging with all his might, Dalmar could see the creature's eyes begin to bulge as it swung wildly at his attacker. The ogre frantically struck Dalmar's who's uniqueness was the only thing that kept him attached to the ogre's windpipe. Dalmar gritted his teeth, and with one quick jerk, the beast's throat cracked open revealing both end's of the beast's airway. Dalmar stumbled backwards with the sudden, rolling off the beast's abdomen and onto the rocks.
Dalmar landed on a blanket of bedrock as he fell off the ogre's chest. Dalmar hit his head, jarring his subconscious as he laid there on the ground in a daze with the flailing ogre. As Dalmar's vision slowly came into view, Dalmar turned his head towards Sh'lzzt as he leaned against his blade like a walking cane, stumbling on the rocky riverbank. Suddenly, the great three-fingered ogre's hand fell lifeless to the ground beside Dalmar, prompting Dalmar to retrieve his blade. Dalmar shook off the daze and jumped back upon the dead ogre's stomach and over the side where he removed the elven blade from its wrist. Removing his second blade from its sheath, Dalmar raced around the dead ogre as the female approached the wounded and ailing Sh'lzzt. Dalmar made one heavy inhale as he turned the sword around and grabbed its blade and kissed its hilt. With one strong toss, Dalmar hurled the blade at the female and raced after it. The blade turned through the air, hilt over blade, and struck the gruesome beast in the back between the shoulder blades where it hung. The female bellowed with pain as she tried to reach the sword jutting from her back with an awkward grasping motion. Dalmar ran up to the back of the ogre. "Stay back!" Dalmar shouted to Sh'lzzt, alerting the ogre to his presence. The female ogre quickly picked a large, heavy stone up off the ground and hurled it at Dalmar who spun aside without a moment's hesitation. Dalmar, now flanking the creature, pushed the elven blade through its stomach as he turned a full circle to face the ogre's back. Dalmar reached into his pack and fumbled for one of the daggers. The female ogre grabbed another boulder in its massive grip and turned in an instance. Dalmar dodged the stone as it shattered on the ground, joining the pre-existing rubble at that spot. Dalmar stared the gruesome female in the eyes as if he could somehow communicate with the green-skinned beast. Madness shot through her bloodshot eyes of amber back at him, piercing him to his soul. Dalmar dropped his sword and reached into the pack once again snatching the second dagger in his hand. Dalmar and the female ogre, eyes locked paused for a moment surveying each other in anticipation of one another's next move. Finally, the stare-down was broken as the female ogre raised her trunk-like arm and began to swing it in a backhand motion at Sh'lzzt. Instinctively, Dalmar ran at the beast as her arm seemed to whistle through the air towards its target, certain to break Dalmar's comrade in two. Within a flash, Dalmar drew the two daggers simultaneously and plunged them through the soft, bulbous belly of the ogre female as every bit of her motion stopped dead in mid-stroke. Sh'lzzt, having closed his eyes waiting for the impact, paused. Sh'lzzt opened one eye and stared at the giant fist directly in front of him frozen in the air. "Dalmar....?" Sh'lzzt said with a rasp in his voice. Dalmar leaned against the ogre's outstretched arm as one might lean against a fencepost while talking to a neighbor and breathed hard.
"Yeah?" Dalmar asked as he looked at Dalmar's condition.
"What just happened?" Sh'lzzt said with some uncertainty rattling his voice.
"Nothing yet." Dalmar said holding his side where the ogre's fists had landed, and wiping his own blood from his nose. "But if you like, you can finish her off...." Dalmar said as he stepped under the ogre's arm and stood beside Sh'lzzt.
"No, I'm going to sit down if that's Ok with you, Dalmar." Sh'lzzt said as he plopped down on the ground and stared into the distance, oblivious to area around him. Dalmar shrugged, and moved around the back of the ogre to pull his sword free from her back. Wiping the green blood from its blade, he re-sheathed it and walked around to the front of the ogre. Dalmar scratched his head, and turned to Sh'lzzt. "Sh'lzzt...?" he shouted, but he got no answer. Dalmar shouted once more, "HEY! Sh'lzzt....!"
Startled, Sh'lzzt answered, "Yes, Dalmar?"
"You wouldn't happen to know of anything that might, oh say, be used as something to make someone fall asleep, would you?" Dalmar asked. Sh'lzzt cocked his head sideways and looked at Dalmar in confusion.
"Dalmar, what are you thinking about doing?" Sh'lzzt inquired of his strange, but loyal, friend.
"Honestly? I want to see if we can put this thing to sleep." Dalmar said as he sighed.
"Why in the world would you want to do that?" Sh'lzzt asked. Sh'lzzt stood up and hobbled over to Dalmar to face him directly, looking at the frozen beast with a bit of intrigue. "Well, even if we had the proper ingredients for such a thing, they would have to be prepared, and frankly, I'd be just fine should ogres disappear from the world altogether" he continued, standing up straight.
"Suit yourself." Dalmar said as unsheathed both of his sword and prepared to slide them into the ogre's belly.
"Wait a minute, Dalmar." Sh'lzzt said.
"Hmm?" Dalmar replied.
"Let me get out of the way..." Sh'lzzt said with a nonchalant sort of address, hobbling out of the way. Dalmar plunged the the two blades into the female ogre's belly as its innards spewed forth in a river of green blood and foul putrescence of undigested articles of flesh. Dalmar was covered in the rotting, fetid carcasses chewed upon at one time by the female ogre, and was soon covered by a cloud of buzzing flies that found sustenance and salvation in the filth. Dalmar quickly found the two massive hearts of the ogre, and cut them from their venular webbing and tossed them into the river.
"Ok, get back and be ready." Dalmar said as he gripped the two daggers jutting from the ogre's lower ribs. With a quick snap of each wrist, Dalmar pulled the dagger's from the beast's body and it emitted one last, dying roar and fell with a thud as the momentum of its swinging arm continued around the axis of its body. Dalmar took a large inhale, and wiped the blades of the daggers on his pants leg. Dalmar then returned them to his pack. Dalmar looked at Sh'lzzt once again. "I guess I'll go try to find the horses. You stay here." he said to his friend as Sh'lzzt sat down once again near the old campsite. "Try not to summon anymore ogres while I'm gone, eh?" Dalmar said as he turned and smiled. Dalmar walked for a meter or two before he stopped and turned to address Sh'lzzt again. "By the way, tell me once again why we untied the horses?" Dalmar asked Sh'lzzt.
"It was so the ogres wouldn't eat our horses, Dalmar." Sh'lzzt said dryly.
"I see. I'll be back when I find the first horse to get you or within a couple of days' time - whichever comes first." Dalmar said as he paused waiting for Sh'lzzt to respond. Sh'lzzt nodded to his friend as Dalmar said, "Hope to see you soon, friend."
"Safe journey, Dalmar!" Sh'lzzt shouted to his friend.
Invino Veritas
9/11/11
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