The group left Aloysius, Gala, and Tauster behind when the headed for the house where Lytern had been taken. Tauster stood in his doorway, watching their progress.
As they neared the house, no one stirred. Most of the villagers had retreated to their homes. The only people remaining outside were a few trying to move the bodies of the two dead village men that lay in the streets. The body of the guard with the two handed sword still lay outside the house.
The tense stillness was broken by a couple of crossbow bolts from the windows of the house. They fell short of hitting Blacky and Jana. Blacky was about to barrel through the front door when everyone noticed a faint haze lingering around it.
Blacky tossed a rock at the door. It fell to the ground; nothing else happened.
"What ta hell . . . .?" muttered Will. "Well, we can't stand here, and I ain't goin' back. A little smoke won't stop me." With that, Will charged forth, his shoulder lowered. The insubstantial haze formed itself into the shape of a huge winged lizard. The lizard's tail struck Will; the man stopped in his tracks, unable to move. The lizard disappeared without a trace.
Two more crossbow bolts came from the windows. One of them struck Johnt, who bellowed in pain.
Jana stepped around Will and forced the door with her shoulder. It came open easily. She quickly went inside, followed by Kuiper and Johnt. They stepped into a large room with three doors on the far wall. The dark-clad priest was in the room and began casting a spell when they came inside. The men wielding the crossbows at both windows each fired a final bolt before drawing short swords and moving to attack. The priest's spell manifested itself as a black spiked rod with a knobbed head, glowing with a dim blue radiance.
One of the bolts fired hit Blacky.
Kuiper and Johnt headed for the priest, weapons drawn.
Blacky charged into the room and swung his axe at one of the fighters. The man took a fearsome blow. He attempted to counter with his short sword, but failed to wound Blacky.
Jana and the other fighter exchanged blows. Her bastard sword seemed to hurt him considerably more than his short sword hurt her.
The priest swung his evil glowing weapon at Kuiper, striking the ranger solidly. Kuiper, already wounded from a run-in with a two-handed sword earlier and never fully recovered from his capture at the hands of the orcs, collapsed to the floor. Johnt stabbed at the priest fiercely with his meager knife, hitting the dark-clad man. The priest hardly seemed to notice the cut.
Two more men came into the room. One of them wore leather armor and carried a short sword. The other wore no armor and prepared to cast a spell.
