Chapter 17 – Beholders vs Gnolls
Metiva offered a logical reason to trust the gnolls, so Shaki agreed to recruit them. Milia received the Gnoll King’s Flail and Buckler, and immediately smacked the Pillar of Eyes, triggering its scream of pain.
A head-splitting scream stunned everyone inside the palace. The gnolls went into panic, unable to hear each other.
Metiva rushed to the warbanner, while the witches calmed down the group. Using the spell Cure, she restored everyone’s hearing.
The gnolls threw hateful glances at the minotaur.
“If it could scream, why didn’t that happen when we stepped inside…” Milia muttered.
“We need to go right now. Do you know the exits?” Shaki asked.
“Yes, they can’t block them all! Ranna, lead the way!” Metiva shouted.
“Yes, matriarch! We need to pass that bridge first, follow me.”
“I’m going too!” Milia said.
Slade jumped on Milia and wrapped her eyes. She still needed help with Dark Vision.
The minotaur followed the female gnoll at the head of the group.
They stormed out of the palace, rushing into the empty bridge. They made it halfway to the middle gate when they halted. Underneath the well of light, suspicious shapes emerged from the shadows.
Beholders appeared behind the middle gate, climbing from the sides of the bridge.
Floating above the gate, the evil eye gleamed. The gnolls stopped in their tracks, frozen in fear.
“Starting intruder extermination.” Its voice echoed.
“What do we do?!” Ranna shouted.
They looked back, thinking about hiding in the palace. But ambushing beholders cut off their retreat. They were using their tentacles to climb up the side of the bridges.
After shapeshifting into a beholder, Slade gained insight on the physiology of those creatures.
Somehow, he recognized the pair of sentinels and patrolling guards who had an internal dispute.
No way?! A flash of intuition struck Slade’s mind.
The beholders pondered about the mysterious distress call and the ceiling-climbing slime. They sneaked around and spotted the party from afar with their greater vision. The minotaur on watch duty was no match for their scouting abilities.
Finally, a messenger gathered their allies while they planned and prepared their ambush, undetected.
As a result, they flanked the party on the bridge with no cover.
Slade’s side was outmatched in strategy and fighting power. The odds stacked against him; he lost all hope. Yet, someone just couldn’t allow that.
Whistling gusts of winds swept among the demoralized warriors and gathered around the gnoll witches.
Like a gentle hand brushing their shoulder, it was a reminder that they were not struggling alone.
“Raise your shields!” Metiva shouted as the witches prepared a spell.
The gnolls obeyed despite their rock-bottom morale. A rain of lights struck their shields and flesh.
“Fight until the last drop of blood!” Metiva screamed.
Casting the wind magic Airshield, Metiva wrapped the rear guard with protective tornadoes.
“I will deal with the rear. Minotaur, charge!” she shouted.
“For glory!” Milia roared, raising the Gnoll King’s Flail.
“No, wait-” Shaki and Broglodyte weaved in and out of the gnoll group towards the front.
Milia ran forward like a fool, drawing all the attention onto herself.
Oh my fucking god! Slade thought as he traced countless warning rays for her vision.
She swung the Gnoll King’s Buckler, miraculously parrying the incoming Disintegration Rays.
“Let’s fucking do it!” she yelled.
Guided by Slade, she managed to deflect and dodge most attacks. She was thrilled and invincible.
“Follow her!” Metiva sent the gnoll pawns after Milia at a swing of the warbanner.
Ranna witnessed Milia’s solo charge with incredulity.
“For the clan!” She led the gnoll-borns forward.
Warriors fell each time the Evil Eye shot in the middle of the crowd. Perched on the gate, it looked for priority targets.
“Protect the matriarch!”
It failed to snipe Metiva, as five warriors wrapped with Airshield were tightly guarding the three witches.
Wrapped around Milia’s eyes, Slade could only feel his own pounding pulse. The screams blurred and the light rays faded. He was strapped at the front passenger seat, and Milia was driving in the wrong lane of the highway, dodging lasers of death.
The unstoppable minotaur opened the way for the gnolls. But they still fell one after the other, pierced by rays.
We need Ranna to survive the breakthrough since we don’t know the path! Slade thought.
The gnolls were getting obliterated. They couldn’t overcome the odds, unable to hide from the pelting rain of lights.
Yet they burned their life in a last brilliant spark. Breaking through the gate became their sole purpose.
“Give it your all! We’re almost there!” Ranna shouted.
The Evil Eye jumped down, landing behind the beholders guarding the gate. Two beholders ran to its sides.
The creature’s tentacles sliced through the air, opening a tiny spatial rift. It picked out a spell book from it.
Characterization Errata
Sorry everyone, I made a characterization mistake on chapter 10 and 13 about Milia!
She's thrilled in horror/scary situation, but I painted her to be slightly scared by the hide-and-seek in the sarcophagus area (ch10) and when they are ganging up the beholder (ch13).
The changes are documented in red on public posts hosted on SubStar:
chapter 10: https://subscribestar.adult/posts/311000
chapter 13: https://subscribestar.adult/posts/318352
TL;DR:
Milia is still scared during her escape, but she's able to operate. Her skillset doesn't let her carry the situation on her shoulders, but she'd be happy to do it. On the other hand Slade is scared, but his skill set is too valuable for him to shut down and let Milia on her own.
Release Pace
After the ore mine arc, I will slow down the rhythm of public release from 2 chapters/week to 1 chapter/week. They'll return to 2 chapters/week when I have enough backlog chapters.
Thanks for your understanding!