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[Roger de Clare]

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Captain Roger de Clare screamed in agony as his femur broke with a resounding crack! Bouncing off the ledge he hit on the way down the dark hole, he spread out his hands to claw at anything he could grab...and grabbed plenty of air.

He smacked the rocky bottom of the pit full length. Only his ornate helmet saved his skull from cracking like a melon, but the impact mercifully knocked him out.

He awoke to a bright light, so bright it blinded him. Breathing came hard and hurt intolerably. He blinked and shook his head. Big mistake. Hammers clobbered his brain and darkness whisked him away.

He awoke. This time to blackest night with occasional flashes of lightning that he now recognized as pain rather than actual phenomena. He moved to get up and blazing agony nailed him to the hard earth. His breath wheezed in and out in shallow gasps as he fought to suck it in against the pain that fought to keep him from doing anything so foolish. His mouth so dry he struggled to swallow.

Convinced he should lie still for now and take stock of his situation, he thought about how he came to be here. He cursed himself for a fool when he remembered it.

He had gone hunting an ancient wyrm. He'd done so before, but he had been scared enough to use wisdom and strategy. This time he had gone in with confidence and pride as he thought of past victories. As he fought the ancient wyrm, he had circled away from the lair's exit.

Suddenly the ground had collapsed beneath him. Arms flailing, he fell backwards into a cleverly hidden pit. He opened his eyes and squinted in the blackness. Yes, indeed, he had made it to the bottom.

He whispered, "Obsu vulni" which were the words of a healing spell used by paladins and targetted himself. Nothing happened except for a deep rumbling from far above him. After a moment he recognized the rumbling as quietly amused laughter. "I'm glad someone is having fun, " he muttered.

Tentatively he wiggled the fingers at the ends of his outstretched arms. He lifted his head off the ground and pulled his arms in, gloved palms flat on the ground. Panting as the pain in his back told him not to try this at home, he thought, "So far, so good. I can do this. I'm just going to roll over. Don't nobody panic."

With a sudden effort meant to elude the pain demons, he straightened his right arm and tucked his left arm under him with a strong twist of his shoulders, instinctively willing his hips and legs to follow as he sought to roll onto his back. One of the lightning bolts he'd been seeing made a direct hit and he didn't have time to scream before darkness took him again.

[Roger de Clare]

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Xana lifted his head onto her lap and bathed his face with cool water. Coming fully awake, he stretched out his arms and yawned happily. Looking up into her lovely face, he felt at peace. He wrapped his arms about her waist and hugged her. She smiled and leaned over to kiss his lips. Hmmm, he loved those lips. He loved her with his whole being.

Sunlight filled the room and a breeze stirred the air. The quiet hum of the forest and the constant ebb and flow of the coastal seas made a pleasant orchestra of sounds that soothed the mind and rested the body. They basked in the serenity of their home while pleasantly occupied with each other.

Roger attempted to shift his position to pull her over to lie beside him but his legs seemed immobile. He pushed it out of his mind and relaxed again. What better place to be than here with his head in his beloved's lap anyway?

Then a harsh screeching noise broke the delightful choruses nature played for them. Xana's eyes widened with surprise and Roger jerked awake.

Darkness dropped like a hot blanket over him as reality kicked him in the ribs, ribs he knew that were broken by his fall into the deep pit of the ancient wyrm's lair. Gone the bright sunlit filled room of their home by the sea. Thirst made his tongue thick. Pain made his mind reel. The only light came from the flickering of flame emanating from the nostrils of the great horned head looking down at him from only a few feet away.

At first Roger stupidly wondered how the great monster got down the shaft. Then he wondered why the beast had not already feasted on him. The paladin and the ancient wyrm locked gazes for long minutes. Finally the man could no longer find the strength to look any more. He had hoped to see a glimmer of humanity, but all he had seen was malevolence.

He glanced down at his legs. His body was twisted at the waist so while he lay flat on his back his hips remained at a vertical axis to the ground, the right leg bent in an unnatural direction. With a long sigh he relaxed and waited for the final curtain to fall on his life.

He regretted Xana may never know know what happened to him. He focused his mind on her, marshalling his remaining strength on one last message, praying whatever prevented spells down here would not block the empathic link.

He heard the great body of the ancient wyrm shift to its feet and step closer.

"Xana!"

......

The ancient wyrm had not been in a hurry to finish the man because watching his miserable and slow demise provided much satisfaction. When it sensed the man would finally die, it made its move so the man would see it come and give it one final glimpse of delicious terror. Instead, the man fixed his last gaze somewhere beyond the dark hole and gave a final shout. Still, the man's body made a very scrumptious crunching sound as its jaws snapped shut on it.