Hello, Everyone!
Last time, our heroes managed to enter Nurvureem’s cavern and successfully sneaked all the way to the innermost chamber. There, a strange ritual was taking place. A thiefling was hanging from the ceiling, bleeding into the dragon’s open mouth. A few cultists in white masks chanted, summoning powers from the Lower Planes. Nurvureem herself was transforming into something more than a dragon. Something demonic.
And in her mouth…
😢
Paulina's body appeared and disappeared between the dragon's teeth. Nurvureem was chewing it, passing it from one side of her mouth to the other, and the candy-pink hair of the dwarf girl flashed on the outside, hanging from her lifeless head.
Paulina was dead, that was for sure. Nobody would look like that and still be alive.
Mary could feel her eyes fill with angry tears. Her friend had to be avenged. She sneaked in and took cover behind a column.
"Heads up!" Agatha's voice sounded in her mind. "I can see Kalien on the other side of the ritual site."
Mary couldn't Message the others to be careful. If she used a spell, her invisibility would end and leave her vulnerable, so she headed towards the Draconite herself. Insects and arachnids crunched under her feet but she couldn't avoid them anymore. They were covering the whole ground.
The chanting continued, hiding the sound of her approach. At the mention of Yeenoghu's name the ground shook and Mary barely managed to hold herself upright. She had almost reached Kalien, when the cultists sang something about Juiblex and it made her so violently ill that she doubled and wretched, spewing the contents of her invisible stomach on the ground.
"OOOH! YOU'VE ARRIVED, AT LAST, LITTLE MOUSE!"
Mary's heart stopped beating. She pressed her hand to her mouth. For one long, excruciating moment, she thought that Nurvureem had seen her… But then, she saw the dragon's head turn towards the other end of the cavern, where Agatha was hiding.
Bruno's voice echoed in the darkness.
"Now!" he yelled.
A shimmering barrier shot out through the air and wrapped around Nurvureem, squeezing her--wings and all--into a tight bubble. Aurum had appeared from behind a column and was holding his arms up, concentrating on the spell.
Nurvureem screamed in fury and began thrashing into her confinement.
Bruno jumped out on her other side. His amulet was glowing, and from it, three tendrils of light slithered out. One of them animated the chain that captured the tiefling. The metal twisted in the air and slipped the woman off into safety. The other two tendrils of light merged with two of the pillars and they squirmed like rubber, smacking the cultists from under themselves and slamming them on the ground.
Nurvureem's eyes glowed with malice.
"RELEASE ME, MOUSE!" she ordered.
She took one of the people tied to her chest and snapped his neck, looking Aurum straight in the eyes. The other people cried in horror.
The bard gritted his teeth. He glanced at Agatha who was sneaking on the other side of the dragon, ready for attack, and his melodic voice sang a magical inspiration in her direction.
"OH, IT'S THE BARD THEN!" Nurvureem said. "LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN, BARD! RELEASE ME!" Just as easily, she snapped another person's neck.
"Please, my Lady, don't kill the captives!" a cultist yelled out. “They’re important for the ritual!”
He cast a Thunderwave, pushing Agatha away from his Mistress and into a pool of acid. Bruno managed to save the tabaxi almost immediately – he cast a Waterwalk which shot her out of the liquid, before it was able to do too much damage. The animated columns slammed into one another, splattering a couple of cultusts between them.
Mary was almost close enough to weave a spell against Kalien, when she saw another cultist try doing the same. Almost by habit, she shot her hand for a Counterspell, but hesitated. What if she had to save her spellpower to fight Nurvureem instead?
Kalien grinned. The moment the cultist’s charm hit him, his movements became unimaginably fast. He loaded his crossbow and shot a few bolts at Aurum, then quickly started loading it again.
All the cultists' attention was now on the bard. They'd realised that he was the one holding their Mistress a prisoner and showered him with spell attacks. Unable to do anything to help, Mary watched him take hit after hit. He was covered with wounds now but stood tall, keeping his connection to the spell that kept Nurvureem contained.
Enraged, the dragon snarled and spoke a command in a language Mary didn't know. A crackle echoed through the air. Nurvureem's giant sword, driven into a nearby rock, burst in flames. A fracture appeared underneath, zigzagged through the cavern, and reached Aurum. A fountain of lava erupted under his feet. He yelled out in surprise and pain, and fell to his knees. The barrier holding Nurvureem dissipated.
She was free.
But that’s what Agatha needed, too. The tabaxi scaled the dragon’s leg and hung under the monstrous neck. There were two people tied there, writhing inside their leather straps. Agatha started cutting the harness to free them.
Nurvureem tried to take the tabaxi off of herself but it wasn't that easy. Agatha managed to avoid the dragon’s claw and kept doing her work.
Nurvureem grumbled with annoyance and stood up, grabbing her sword. Her eyes burned with malice as she turned towards Aurum.
“NOBODY KEEPS ME IMPRISONED!” she hissed.
Kalien kept on shooting at him, too. Why did they have to concentrate their fire at him?! The bard took one, two more hits, and then Nurvureem’s sword reached him.
He was down. The pit of lava under his feet flashed red and his limp body started slipping in.
Mary cried out.
(It was all her fault. Because of her hesitation, another one of her friends was going to die.)
She hurled herself forward and pulled him out of the pit. Then, sitting on the ground with his head in her lap, she poured the most potent healing potion she had in his mouth.
“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Nurvureem said. She stared at the two of them and recognition burned in her eyes. “OH! IT”S YOU, LITTLE MOUSE! YOUR ILLUSIONS WON'T WORK ON ME ANYMORE!”
She grabbed the lifeless body of one of the victims tied to her chest and hurled it at Mary.
As the corpse clashed with her, Mary tumbled to the ground. She was no longer invisible. She’d lost her advantage. But Aurum was fine. His eyes met Mary's and her heart fluttered.
She began saying something but then saw that he was reaching for her. His face was burnt and bloodied but his hand was holding a cocoon, and Mary could swear she’d seen him do that before.
The small thing touched her forehead and suddenly, Mary began to change.
That's such a tense fight! I hope you're able to follow everything that's happening, and that you're excited for the rest. There's so little left of this chapter!
What do you think Aurum is going to do with this cocoon next time?
See you then! Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.