Crypt of the Moaning Diamond

CHAPTER SEVEN

Zuzzara stumbled back toward them, one leg angled oddly out in the air, shouting that she could not shake her attacker off her leg. The only problem was that nobody could see anything.

Gunderal told Zuzzara to stop playing stupid jokes.

Zuzzara screamed, "Half-orcs never play practical jokes!"

She slammed her shovel down on the space near her leg. The shovel hit something with a sickening thud. The smell of rotting mushrooms filled the room. Zuzzara and her invisible attacker tumbled into the empty bath.

"Look at that!" said Mumchance, pointing at the dusty tiles of the bath.

The group could clearly see the signs of four big round feet being dragged after Zuzzara as the half-orc stumbled in circles and continued to beat down with her shovel. Each stroke of the shovel thwacked into something solid that stopped it at the level of Zuzzara's knee. Each stroke also released more fungal stench into the air, so that even Kid was choking a little and covering his nose with one ruddy hand. But Zuzzara's efforts seemed to have no effect on her attacker.

Ivy and Sanval leaped into the bath. Both swung their swords at the same time, cutting through the air near Zuzzara.

Ivy felt her blade hit something solid and sticky. When she pulled back on the stroke, she could see a gelatinous shimmer drip down her blade.

Closer to Zuzzara, the stench was overpowering and reminiscent of the strange mossy smell that had clung to the dead bugbear's corpse. Ivy gagged and staggered back. She concentrated on breathing through her mouth and sawing away at whatever was attacking Zuzzara.

Kid's two stilettos went whistling past Ivy, and thankfully missed Zuzzara. One struck and seemed to stick in whatever was attached to the half-orc's leg. The little stiletto bobbing in the air gave them another reference point for their attacks.

Beside Ivy, Sanval swallowed grimly against the stink and slashed at the invisible creature. Like Ivy, he had trouble with his sword sticking in whatever he struck. His blade was almost wrenched out of his hand, and he overbalanced, dragged to one knee as he wrested the sword free. Sanval rolled to one side to avoid Ivy's next awkward stroke and jumped straight into the air. As he launched himself forward, he brought his blade point down with a two-handed stroke into the space nearest to Zuzzara's ankle, trying to skewer whatever was attacking her. He missed. The sword buried itself into the mosaic floor with a sickening thud. Even Mumchance winced as the big fighter's shoulders and arms took the shock of the misdirected stroke. Sanval simply grimaced, pulled his sword free, and immediately swung around to assault the invisible foe again.

Zuzzara's attacker dragged her in a circle. She was pivoting on her right leg with her left leg almost straight out in the air. Ivy danced around her, trying to figure out from the angle of Zuzzara's leg where her attacker was. She slashed down just as Zuzzara pivoted farther right. Ivy stopped the stroke in midair, nearly knocking herself off balance, but she managed to avoid slicing into Zuzzara's knee.

"Watch her leg! Watch her leg!" screamed Gunderal, as both Ivy and Sanval continued to swing their swords blindly at the area near her sister's left boot. "Be careful!"

"Get it off me," cried Zuzzara, the leather in her boot now starting to visibly shred around the calf. "Gunderal, do something! It's magic!"

With an elegant swirl of silk skirts, Gunderal leaped into the bath. She landed gracefully but with a wince of pain as the movement jarred her sprained arm. With her uninjured hand, Gunderal fumbled loose the canteen at her belt, worked its cap open, and tucked it into her sling. She sprinkled drops of water into her good hand. Her canteen slipped out of the sling and fell onto the floor a thud. Stepping over the canteen, Gunderal muttered the words of a spell as she walked toward her half-sister.

"Get back!" screamed Zuzzara, terrified Gunderal would walk into the blades of the fighters or fall victim to whatever was trying to chew off her leg.

Gunderal ignored her. She continued to chant, cupping her hand in front of her face, and blowing out her breath.

Gunderal's breath sparkled in the air, glittering like crystals. A frost formed on the invisible creature revealing four stumpy legs and a square body, with a cluster of round nodules covering its sides.

Now able to see the creature, Ivy and Sanval hit it on each side with their swords.

"Go for the head, go for the head," cried Gunderal.

"Where is the head?" screamed Ivy.

"Where it is attached to my boot!" yelled back Zuzzara, giving a mighty kick. The creature hung on. Sanval swiftly spun and sliced away the cluster of nodules on the top of the creature's head, barely missing Zuzzara's foot. The creature gave off an even more noxious puff of stink and collapsed.

A mottled green and brown hide became visible underneath the glittering frost that coated it. Although it was not easy to tell head from tail, what appeared to be the attacker's mouth remained locked around the calf of the half-orc's boot.

Using Zuzzara's shovel as a crowbar, Sanval broke open the creature's jaw and released Zuzzara's leg.

Gunderal observed with satisfaction that the creature had not been able to completely bite through Zuzzara's double-dragonhide boots. "I told her that the expense was worth it," she explained to Sanval, who was still looking a little dazed from the stench of the creature. "Besides looking fantastic, those boots can survive the worst attack. It never pays to wear cheap footwear."

"Certainly," Sanval replied courteously. He flicked out a clean cloth from his belt pouch to wipe disemboweled fungus off his sword and the front of his own fine leather boots.

"But look at that tear," said Zuzzara, leaning down to finger the long rent in the top layer of leather.

"We will just take them back and get them exchanged for a new pair. Probably something in green, that would be nice."

"Do you think that cobbler will do that?"

"He gave us a lifetime guarantee," said Gunderal with the assurance of a wizard who was always willing to make merchants live up to their promises.

Ivy poked the creature with the tip of her sword, just to verify that it was dead. It let out another puff of stink.

"Ivy, leave it alone," said Gunderal, pulling up one of her long silk neck scarves to cover her nose.

"Poor baby," said Mumchance, looking down at the four-legged creature. He snapped at Wiggles. "Don't touch. Don't roll in it! Bad dog! Wiggles, stay!" He lunged for the little white dog and scooped Wiggles up into his pocket before she could roll over the corpse.

"Poor baby!" said Zuzzara. "It nearly chewed my leg off."

"Oh, stop making a fuss," said her unsympathetic sister. "I told you that we can get you new boots."

"What is it?" said Ivy. "Besides smelly."

"Phantom fungus-you get them in old tunnels and caves. It's a little one though. Full grown, it would have been chewing off Zuzzara's hip, not biting her ankles," said Mumchance. "Good thing you used that frost spell, Gunderal. It is the only thing that could have made it visible. Their invisibility talent is immune to most magical counterspells."

"It should have frozen in place," said Gunderal. She sighed from deep in her chest and shook her head. "Not just sparkled."

"Hey," said Zuzzara, "last time that you did that freeze spell, you turned me into a snow orc. That spell can sting!"

"The spell did not work anyway," said Gunderal, ignoring her sister's criticisms as she usually did. "I just can't seem to concentrate long enough."

"The frost was fine," consoled Ivy, "all we needed to do was see it to kill it."

"It was an excellent use of magic," agreed Sanval with a slight bow. "In Procampur, we say that subtlety always takes more talent than brutality."

"Oh, do we say that?" said Ivy, remembering some of her wilder strokes as she tried to bash Zuzzara's attacker. "How very refined of us."

Sanval simply looked puzzled at her tone.

"So, if this is the baby," said Kid, poking at the dead pile of fungus with one shiny hoof, "where is the mother, dear ones?

Everyone glanced around the room.

"I think it is time to start moving again," said Ivy.

For once, nobody argued with her.