Into the Dark

 
We continued to search for the Watcher in a room that seemed empty. But I could tell that there were scraped on the floor near the wall. I know what that means. Nothing. I took a few steps back scratching my head and suddenly I felt the stone beneath my foot depress and the wall opened. A pressure plate! Of course. I hopped up an down on the plate in defiance. Look at how clever I am everyone I thought. But they were too busy looking inside the hall that had just opened up and at the end of the hall was two rotting beholder kin. I better check for traps before these eager beavers run in. Beholders are known for their distrust, secret doors, glyphs, and traps. Nothing. It looks clear but I really don’t feel in the mood to go rushing in. I hate these tunnels. Maybe I will just examine the wall a little longer and let everyone else go in first. Ozy doesn’t seem to be rushing in either. He’s a smart one.
 
Oh no Pedal just ran in. I hope she remembers to drop the bag of holding if she gets stoned so we can un-stone her with the diamond dust stuff. I fling a dagger of death at the one on the right as it looks like Freya already weakened it. One down and one to go. Freya almost slipped down the giant hole in the ground trying to move over to the one on the right. It really sort of cut the tension and I almost laughed out loud. Maybe she forgot she does not know how to fly. Two of Avery’s arrows zip past me and loge into the second foe. I don’t even see where he is. What a good hiding spot he must have found. Lamin finished it off with a guiding bolt.
 
Some colorful and soft vines grew out of the walls. There was a nice scent in the air and we all thought it would be nice time to rest. Lamin was rooting around in the vines a bit searching. She found a shiny thing. It was a pretty magic ring. That’s good. We need all the help we can get.
 
So we decided to go down the hole. We shoved the corpse of the dead beholder kin down just incase we needed a soft yet gross landing. Most of the team used ropes to climb down but Nacku tuned into a big spider and I flew. Suddenly Freya and Lamin slipped and fell into Pedal. Nakcku the spider spit out webs and they just few by Lamin and stuck to the wall. I dived for Pedal and had her hand for a moment but then suddenly she slipped. Pedal and Lamin landed hard at the bottom on top of a squishy Beholder Kin carcass. Pedal didn’t look too happy. It was pretty smelly. Freya bounced from wall to wall so gracefully it looked like she was stepping on air. I wonder if she can fly and just doesn’t to make everyone who can’t fly feel better. That would be nice of her. Maybe I should try pushing her off other ledges just to see.
My mama thought me and Hugin could fly so she pushed us out of a tree once. It was clearly wishful thinking because Kenku’s cant fly. I landed on top of Hugin and she broke her arm. Mom never tried again but she always insisted we were meant for great things and Kenkus would return to the sky one day.
 
At the bottom of the hole we could hear runt and growling down a hall. We all gathered in the hall ready for a fight. I could see past everyone that there were Ghouls in there but it was too cowered in this hall. So I threw my dagger and teleported. I could tell when I threw it I didn’t give it enough umph and I teleported short of where I meant to. I landed on top of the ghoul and shoved him down to the ground and stabbed him to death. Avery let lose two arrows into two more ghouls. The battle was over very quickly. There was no watcher in this room so we moved on down the hall. I am sill searching for traps just incase. Noting yet. There are some stairs that go up a little. We have been going down but I walk half way up the stairs to see a large empty room. No beholder in in there so I start to head back when Freya Pedal and Lamin go past me into the room. Suddenly they start screaming and since I am psychically linked with Pedal I can hear her screaming in my head and hear a deep voice say something about a “Goat Headed Giant”, It was hard to make out. They ran out of the room holding their heads and downing healing potions. I really hate these tunnels.
 
We did decide to go down another hole but this time I tied my self to Pedal to make sure she was safe. We all got down to the bottom safely this time. I was working on untying the rope between me and Pedal. I hadn’t even notice how dark it was. I hadn’t noticed the quiet or the way my friends stared across the gap into a dark corner. Lamin starts shooting at something in the dark. Freya jumped across first, and then pedal. Two of my friends disappearing into the dark corner and the rest scattering into the gap below. This is it. It’s over there. The Watcher. And for some reason even with the many eyes on my cloak I cannot see it. I call out to Pedal in my mind. “Pedal, can you hear me? Where are you? Can you hear me?”
I am out in the open here. I have two choices. Hide down in the gap below and attack from a good position like the rogue I am, or like a crazy person I jump across the gap and confront the thing waiting for me in the dark. The choice is clear. I have to save Pedal. I leapt across and rolled to my feet and drew my Rapier in one smooth motion. I swung in the dark a the thing but I can not see. Suddenly a torch skidders across the ground revealing in it’s glow 11 glistening eyes full of fire and doom. Nacku swiftly landed next to me following the torch he tossed. It’s as if he could still read my mind. Thanks Buddy. Pedal is not here. She must have hid. Smart girl. My relief was temporary as I felt the magic in the room let back in like a breeze. The eyes on my cloak fluttered around taking everything in just as a blast shot from one of its eye stalks at me. My arm stiffened and it felt like dried mud stiffening and then a second blast but I rolled out of the way. All of its eyes turn and it starts to fly away. I still cant hear Pedal so she must till be with in it’s anti magic cone. I frantically stab at it as it goes past.
 
Freya climbed up the walls and was going to pounce on it but slipped and fell. I heard Pedal say out loud “wow Freya that was almost awesome” Suddenly I knew what I had to do. I threw my dagger above the creature and teleported above it. With some luck, I fell with a thud onto it’s back and held on to its eye stalks. There was one with an Obsidian ring on it so I took my dagger and cut the eye stalk off. It did not like that. One eye attempted to blast me and I started to feel sleepy but managed to hang on. It was flying erratically flipping an turning trying to shake me off. The room spun and I saw pedal, and oh hey there is a mage over there. Pedal threw a Javelin at it and the beholder and I fell to the ground. The Lyich Queen Psyon Screamed and disappeared. I picked my self up and dusted off and found the Obsidian ring, the Tasmin of the Tyrant.
 
We did it. We killed the Watcher.