Page 177 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Both hits landed on Julian’s [Barrier], but it held. The last member of Alice’s party was a beastfolk in folk form, and she didn’t attack because John had grabbed her by the ankle, dragging her down into a shadow.
She appeared a moment later, falling from the ceiling. Pram attempted to hit her with an ice spear but missed.
The last member of Alice’s party didn’t attack because John had dragged him into a shadow by the ankles, dropping him from the ceiling near Pram.
“The place is trapped!” I told the group. “Stay clear of the left side of the platform, that rock face, that ground icicle—Antidotes, now!”
The adventurer that Pram had tried to skewer with his ice attack jumped to her feet with eight bottles of poisons, one squished between each finger ninja-knife-wielding style. She threw them at us and they exploded in a large cloud of poison.
I’d handed everyone a bunch of potions for this very reason. Spies, assassins … I’d assumed this place was as dangerous as the sanctuary wedding before I got to it.
There was a split second where every person in the room except Alice and John stopped to drink a high grade antidote. It was kinda silly, but it worked.
John used the opportunity to pop out of the shadows and cut the legs out from under the lizardkin mage while he was drinking his antidote. The mage surprised the rogue by pointing down and silent casting [Fireball]. He’d deliberately cast aloud earlier to catch us off guard now. Both attacks landed. Pram was ready to help put out the fire when John appeared back on the platform.
“I’ll clear an opening!” their tank said. “[Charge].”
Holding his broadsword, the giant barreled through the plumes of poison smoke. Before he reached the [Barrier], Julian jumped down from the platform and met the broadsword with his Valarian Royal Sword. The weapons clashed, sliding down to the handguard, and then Julian’s blade was swung wide until it hit the ground. At that point, the half elf silently activated [Crushing Blow] and hit the giant with his shield.
The giant grunted under the blow.
While John healed up, Pram was back to firing another [Ice Spear] as the cooldown came off. One hit a trap, and an explosion rang out across the room. The ice stalactites still hanging from the ceiling shivered from the blast, but only one fell. It landed six feet from where Julian and the giant were engaged in battle.
Visha decided that the quickest way to join the fray without risking setting off more traps was going up and over. She crossed the cavern by jumping from the top of the ice stalactites that had fallen and pierced the ground. Her twin blades were drawn, and she lashed out with one, shooting a water blade at the beastfolk poisoner.
Jeffry stood beside me, his epic blade drawn and his wings activated so that he could leap into flight at any second.
Alice smiled. Surprisingly, she stood back, waiting.
I didn’t like that.
Julian clashed swords with the giant three times in quick succession while Pram attempted to hit him with a [Freeze] spell, but it was repelled. Visha locked down the beastman as John, healed, vanished into shadow again.
Sir Tully had earlier jumped off the right side of the platform and was walking very, very carefully, almost on tiptoe, across the cavern floor and between the fallen ice. At this point, he activated his first trap. A blast of Void damage hit the column of ice behind him, and it vanished.
“I’m alright!” he reassured us, taking another step and falling into a pit trap.
Julian had the upper hand on his opponent, and whittled down the giant’s hit points as Pram finally ran out of mana and retreated to stand beside me. Jeffry traded off and flew to go help Visha. The elf wasn’t faring well against the beastkin, who was agile enough to dodge her attacks and had ranged [Claw Blades] that had already dealt Visha some damage.
“This is going well,” Pram told me with a smile, pulling out his mana potion.
A soft voice whispered from across the cavern, “Now.”
Julian was bringing up his shield to block another strike when the giant shifted midswing, spun in place, and threw his sword. It landed against the [Barrier], shattering it.
“[Sever Fate].” Alice appeared behind me, her palm on my back.
[You have been affected by [Sever Fate]. For twenty-four hours, you are immune toRaise,Resurrect,Revive, orRespawn.]
Pram stabbed the celestial with a pocket dagger before she managed to portal away again.
I cursed.
Across the cavern, the wyvern disintegrated into sparkling experience points.
CHAPTER 98
Tully Lost His Temper
