The Endless Pit
Upon the iron platform we stood, a band of miscreants, awaiting the arrival of the holy priest to bless our final journey. I fought valiantly against the surging urge to retch, for the taste of iron overwhelmed my belly and mouth. It seemed the captain had indeed inflicted grievous harm upon my innards. Witnessing my wretched state, Vephril, ever eager to revel in cruelty, turned his attention to me, parting his abhorrent maw. "Ha-ha! Behold him, squirming before we even descend. Soon, he shall disgrace his britches!" The folds of Vephril's corpulence trembled with his malicious laughter. A repugnant smile adorned the swine-like visage of Orxswine, its sight alone exacerbating my struggle to withhold the vomit. Scamper, too, joined his companion, gleefully mocking my plight. "Verily, fiends find kinship with haste," I retorted, crooking a smirk as I regarded the bestial duo. But swiftly thereafter, I turned away, for bile, intermingled with blood, surged toward my throat. The gnoll, not comprehending my words entirely, merely cast upon me a peculiar gaze of puzzlement. Yet Orxswine, swift to grasp my meaning, advanced swiftly toward me and seized my neck, hoisting me aloft. "Dost thou reckon goblins would wager their lives for a puny cur such as thou? Nay, my forefathers feasted upon the likes of thee in multitudes. Mayhap I should snatch a morsel from thy form?" Vephril snarled malevolently, parting his foul maw wide, its stench rendering my self-control over the sickness even more arduous. I heaved forth my stomach's contents directly into the gaping mouth of Orxswine, who, stunned, involuntarily swallowed it whole.
Cast aside, Vephril rasped and grasped his throat, his breath labored. The sight turned the rest of our fated band away in disgust, their faces twisted in revulsion. "How quaint," Rialto remarked sardonically, adjusting his coiffure with a flick of his hand. "By the oath of Turgan, what a foulness!" The aged dwarf covered his mouth, his gaze averted, unable to bear witness any longer. "I already rue the meal I partook," the fair-haired youth murmured, pain flickering in his eyes as they glanced at his sister. "And well you might," the girl replied, her voice tinged with repulsion. "Bon appétit! Now it may be said that a fragment of me resides within you, my swine-like companion," I intoned, rising to my feet and wiping the mingled blood and bile from my lips with a grim smile. Before I could draw a full breath, Scamper fell upon me from behind. The gnoll's claws tore through my back, nearly causing me to stumble, but with a swift motion, I extended my foot, anchoring myself and maintaining my balance.
Wasting no time, wrath kindled within me, and I retaliated with a blazing strike, my backhand connecting squarely with the wretch's lower jaw. Scamper growled in fury, raising a paw in an attempt to slash me with his lethal claws, but providence smiled upon me, for I anticipated his move. Diving beneath him with practiced agility, I unleashed an uppercut of unyielding force. Momentarily dazed, my foe staggered, but I knew the respite would be brief. Thus, every precious moment had to be seized with precision and wisdom. With all my might, I shifted my weight and stamped forcefully upon the gnoll's enormous toe, targeting one of their vulnerable pressure points. Agony wracked the creature's frame, its jaw clenching as a pained howl erupted from its throat—an opportune moment for me to strike. Seizing upon the opening, I swiftly and decisively delivered a palm strike from below, connecting with the creature's lower jaw, thereby exposing its coveted prize—the throat so fervently desired.
Harnessing the entirety of my inner energy, I channeled it through the tips of my fingers, delivering a piercing blow to the gnoll's throat, invoking the words, "Infernus!" A concentrated stream of flame, focused to a singular point, aided me in piercing through Scamper's thick hide. Grasping the jugular vein with my index finger, I yanked my hand toward me with a sharp motion, inducing copious bleeding from the gnoll's neck.
But lo, even such efforts proved insufficient to vanquish this dire foe. The beast-man's blow struck my countenance, rending my right cheek to the bone. Agony engulfed my senses, causing me to plummet upon the wretched creature with all my weight. With righteous wrath, I seized hold of its lower jaw, yanking it downwards with all my might. Alas, such recklessness it was, for in an instant, the beast-man clamped its teeth, severing my fingers. In retaliation, I, too, sank my teeth into its form, choosing its left eye over its paw. A taste of acidic jelly intermingled with metal filled my mouth. Sensing my success in depriving it of its ocular orb from its infernal howl, I swiftly rose to my feet. Towering above its shaggy frame, I proceeded to rain down kicks upon its ashen snout. As its visage became tinged with a crimson hue, I leaped and landed upon its groin, producing a sound akin to the bursting of a water-laden sphere.
The scoundrel, wide-mouthed, emitted a mighty bellow, as if its flesh had parted from its very bones. Its unkempt form convulsed, and its lone eye whirled madly to and fro. Then, with sudden finality, all ceased. It stood frozen, its heart stilled, and its chest ceased its rhythm. The beast-man exhaled its last breath, its mortal coil vanquished.
*******
Standing above the lifeless husk of the beast-man, besmeared in my own lifeblood, I found myself unable to fully fathom the depths of what had transpired. It unfolded with such celerity, a surge of tumultuous emotions engulfing my being—anguish, exultation, deliverance—only to intermingle for a fleeting moment, birthing a tempestuous conflagration. Yet, that inferno waned all too swiftly, leaving naught but smoldering coals and ash in its wake. My vacant orbs surveyed the countenances of the remaining doomed souls, yearning for even a modicum of comprehension or dread. Alas, it was a vain hope, for in this assembly were naught but monsters donning their masks. Indifference alone adorned their visages. How foolish was I to anticipate otherwise. To them, whether I had spilt blood or not mattered little, for each had already sipped from the crimson cup, unlike my timid self.
(The gnoll, though devoid of charm, was endowed with intellect, akin to my own. A creature harboring aspirations and dreams of a brighter morrow, not a mere bestial entity driven solely by ravenous hunger. Alas, it was not a mere beast, but a personage—though a repugnant one, indeed. Yet, doth it merit my agonizing contemplation? Were our roles reversed, would it lament my lifeless frame? Scarcely so. To this creature, perchance I would be no more than another prey, distinguished solely by my mortal flesh. In the end, it was this vile entity who led me down this path. As for the others, I know not, but my inaugural act of slaying begets more bewilderment than fear or gratification. Mayhap, it heralds the dawn of a somber era, or mayhaps a descent into further darkness. Verily, the fates lie in the hands of old god. I shall offer a prayer, beseeching for thy soul, foul gnoll, in the hope that my course hath been charted aright.)
With limbs quivering and breath laboring, I approached the goblin standing a little apart from the platform. "Pray, bestow upon me something to staunch these wounds," I entreated, striving to maintain courteousness as I extended my bloodied hand. In response, the goblin pointed a gnarled finger toward the lifeless gnoll's remains and hissed, "Take what lies with him!" The creature's countenance seethed with irritation at such a feeble request. Nodding in solemn acquiescence, I slowly retraced my steps to the platform, intent on rifling through the corpse's possessions. Providentially, no soul contested my rightful claim, and I was permitted to retrieve my due from the expired beast. The Scampers had procured a handful of elixirs of lowly restoration, owing to their standing within the betting circles. Though these potions possessed no power to regenerate severed limbs, they held the capacity to stem the crimson tide. Favored by fortune, the hyena's lack of certain dental faculties prevented it from wholly devouring my digits. Instead, I had suffered the loss of the distal phalanx. With mouthful dexterity, I uncorked the vial and hastily administered its contents, drawing forth a relieved exhalation. "It seems this day shall not witness my demise by sanguine depletion, ha-ha," I wearily chuckled, my palm tenderly tracing the punctured orifice upon my cheek. The sensation of an icy zephyr infiltrating my mouth by way of the facial aperture proved both uncanny and agonizing in equal measure.
By some twist of fate, I managed to extend my tongue through the gaping hole in my cheek, a sensation both peculiar and unsettling. Engrossed in my arcane studies, I was abruptly interrupted by a gruff male voice from behind: "Seems this year shall grant me far fewer labors." Turning with my tongue still protruding, I beheld a priest draped in a somber black cassock, his visage concealed beneath a cloth, leaving only frigid azure eyes visible, a chilling sight to behold. Adorned with golden motifs upon his robe, it was evident that he served Nerull, the deity of despair and avarice.
"Had you but arrived a scant few moments prior, perchance we could have salvaged this wretched soul!" Rialto hissed venomously, motioning towards the lifeless husk. "Alas, we cannot rescue every wretch," retorted the priest calmly, drawing nearer to the corpse. With a cursory examination, he offered a nod of grim satisfaction before casting his gaze upon me. "A most heinous method to dispose of your companion," intoned the priest, seizing my hands. He scrutinized my wounds with a dispassionate eye before relinquishing his grip. "I would mend thy wounds, were it not for the lingering stain of thy forsaken faith," he spurned with evident revulsion, departing to attend to the remaining captives. "Oh, the burdens of mortality," I murmured in response to the retreating priest. The servant of Nerull proceeded to bestow his sanctification upon the other prisoners, finally granting us passage into the stygian abyss. With a single goblin's pull of a lever, we descended slowly into the impenetrable darkness that awaited us in the depths.