Asher released the handle on his second axe and began to consider what to do next. He had brought no other weapons on him, and he doubted he would have time to retrieve any from his bag before the Kathakos began to attack.
The Kathakos sat down and continued to devour Asher's lovely axes.
At this point, Fitz removed an item from his belt and began to walk under the belly of the mighty Kathakos. He was extremely careful as he passed by its mouth.
As the beast consumed the last portion of Asher's weapons, it screamed out in pain as its eyes began to dim and its massive body began to fall to the floor.
Fitz screamed out as the body fell toward him. "I can't get out in time, you saved me, now I saved you, now move this beast before it crushes me."
Fitz's words woke Asher from his confusion.
He grabbed the mighty beast's neck and began to lift with all his might. As his muscles began to bulge, the beast began to rise off Fitz.
Fitz quickly ran out from under the massive corpse.
Asher let go of the beast and it fell to the ground as Fitz dove onto his shoe.
After a moments rest Fitz ran to the machine and turned it off.
The cavern grew completely silent.
Fitz smiled as he returned to Asher's shoe. "Were lucky my machine was on, or we would both be dead. Drove the Kathakos into a state of rage, out of its mind just like the other beasts. Had it had its mind, we wouldn't have stood a chance."
Asher realized now what the redness in its eyes had been. The redder its eyes became, the less of its intelligence it possessed. The Kathakos had been acting purely on instinct, and even that had disarmed him, he would have soon perished.
Asher replied, "What were the machines supposed to do?"
Fitz frowned as he replied with a sullen voice. "They were meant to mine the stone from the caverns so that I could look for ore. Woulda made a fortune if they didn't have that side effect. But alas, all magic comes with a price, and the price of the machines is apparently pissing off every beast in a wide radius."
As the two considered the reality of what could have happened, the Kathakos began to glow, and its hide gained a yellowish tint, much like Asher's axes had been.
Fitz laughed as Asher jumped up and began rummaging through is bag, trying to find a weapon.
"Relax, it is in the process of digesting your axes. As it digests, the metal from them will be incorporated into its body. Its dead, but its digestion will continue. Quite the interesting phenomena really. Its insides act more like a machine than creature."
Regardless, Asher removed a few of his longswords from his bag and attached them to his belt.
He then opened his bag to its widest and put it over the muzzle of the beast.
As his bag moved over it, the beast shrank to fit the opening until it was entirely gone.
Fitz gasped in astonishment as he moved toward the bag and began examining it. "Can I come with you? You could be my bodyguard. I did save your life after all."
Asher smiled as he responded. "If I hadn't arrived when I did you would have been a paste on the floor when that stampede caught you. Id, say we call it even? I'm Asher. If you don't mind coming to a slave camp, your welcome to join me. But I must ask, what did you do to that Kathakos to kill it?"
Fitz smile grew every larger as he removed a device from his belt. A blade of light emerged from the handle. "It's my newest invention. I call it a laser. It can't be used like your sword, but if I am at the right spot and turn it on, it can easily obliterate a heart. Wouldn't have done much against that stampede though. Put my machines in your bag and let's head to this camp of yours. I'm exhausted and would love to sleep without the fear of being eaten."
Asher did as Fitz had requested, while carefully exploring the rest of the large cavern and placing all the loose rocks into his bag to help build his home.
Asher cautiously returned to the entrance with Fitz riding upon his shoe.
When they arrived however, this arrangement had to change. Much to Fitz's disappointment, Asher lifted him and slid him down the front of his hide armor, encouraging him to be silent as he spoke into the stone, and the gate began to open.
As Asher entered, the guard snickered loudly. He could see that Asher had neither of his axes, nor did he have any beasts from the hunt.
Asher ignored it and continued moving toward his home, his steps becoming more sluggish as he travelled.
Once Neve spotted Asher, she quickly ran out to help him into their partially built home.
Once Asher was seated, Neve took one look at him and began waving her arms around in intricate patterns carefully measuring each movement as she began to weave her spell.
Asher's world again began to darken, until darkness was once again all he could see.
When Asher next awoke, Fitz and Neve were excitedly having a discussion he could not hear.
As Asher began to lift his body from the floor, Neve excitedly ran over to him.
"Asher you found a gnome. Fitzburt and I have been discussing your current situation. Gnomes have a natural affinity for earthen magic. He feels that if I give him access to the stone from Birtle, he may be able to free you from this curse."
At this point Fitz chimed in. "Its not quite that simple. I would need the stone, and a laboratory to perform a complicated set of gnomish rituals. Judging from the stench of these caverns, you don't have anywhere suitable."
Neve smiled as she lifted Fitz and lead Asher into her tower of wizardry.
Neve visualized the words Technomancer Laboratory, and they were instantly transported to a room deep below the tower.
Fitz squealed in delight as he began to explore the lab.
Neve proclaimed, "Will this suffice to heal Asher? If you manage to heal him, this lab can be yours to use as you please."
Fitz smiled as he led Asher to an operating table in the center of the room. He instructed Asher to carefully lie upon the table as he wrapped his hands around the crystal that Neve handed him.
Fitz began to chant in Gnomish as the crystal began to glow with a dull brown hue. As Fitz continued to chant, the crystal began to glow brighter and brighter.
When the crystal became so bright that only Fitz could see, he plunged it into the center of Asher's chest, releasing it as his hand contacted the sides of the wound.
The room quickly became dark, and Asher now lay breathlessly with a hole the size of a human's fist in the center of his chest.
Neve moved to Asher's side and began examining the wound.
To Fitz utter horror she began dumping every troll blood potion she possessed into the open wound.
The veins that were slowly forming off the sides of the crystal began to absorb the potions, more rapidly spreading throughout Asher's body.
Asher's eyes bolted open as he began to scream in pain and writhe on the table, clutching and tearing at the hole in his chest.
"You stupid woman, help me restrain him before he kills himself. The spell put him to sleep while the crystal formed into his body. Now he will have to feel the entire process." Screamed Fitz in a state of panic.
As Neve fought with Asher's hand, Fitz reached into Asher's bag and began chanting again in Gnomish. As he chanted small crystals rose from the bag from the creatures that Asher had slain.
Fitz pointed at Asher's chest, and they fully filled in the top of the hole.
Asher continued to writhe and claw and scream as he lay upon the table.
Neve had long since flew to the side as Asher moved his massive arms. She now lay unconscious against the wall she had been thrown against.
Fitz did not dare to get close to the big man for fear of being completely crushed. Yet he continued to chant in Gnomish.
Five hours later, Neve began to stir, as Asher suddenly grew still, and Fitz passed out from exhaustion.
Neve felt for a pulse on Asher's throat, and to her horror there wasn't one.
For fear of making things worse, she returned to the wall, curled up in a ball, and began to weep.