<HTML> "Bloody crazy place, this is," mumbled one of the Lutins. "Aye. Hard to believe those damned keepers can survive here." The second Lutin barked a laugh. "At least we made sure that a lot of them won't have to worry about that now!" The first Lutin slapped his buddy on the back, both breaking out into roaring laughter as they continued down the hallway. Neither one noticed the raccoon crouched down the hall, peering at them from around the corner and considering what kind of devastating magic to send their way. It was just then that Rick's concentration was broken by a cackling laugh from behind. "Well, what do we have here?" said a rather loud and grating voice behind Rick, causing the fur on the raccoon's neck to bush up. "Looks like a little raccoon who's--" Whatever else the man might have had to say was cut off by the sphere of magic that Rickkter threw at his chest. Blood and bits of ribs flew over his compatriots as they caught the body. All this was noticed at a fleeting glance by Rickkter, before he whirled and darted around the corner. Of course the Lutins also whirled around at the sounds of the shouts from the other mercenaries as they gave chase to Rickkter. They had chance to draw their weapons before the mage was upon them, hacking away at their defences with his own swiftly drawn blade. The battle between the three was swift, Rickkter breaking through after giving the smaller Lutin a swift kick in the gut, sending him against the wall in agony, and severing the sword arm of the larger. A quick burst of lightening aimed back at the pursuing mercenaries allowed him precious seconds to get away. All of the effort seemed to no avail, alas, as, skidding around into an adjacent hallway, Rickkter was brought up short by another group of a half dozen more invaders, four Lutins and two humans, a man and a woman. Snarling a quick curse, Rickkter cast an arc of fire back the way he came, actually hitting several members of that group with it. One man screamed as his long beard and bushy head of hair went up in flame, the others falling away to try and extinguish the crawling flames of magical fire. This also had the advantage of giving the other group pause, allowing Rick the opportunity to lunge with his sword and open up the throat of one of the Lutins. He managed to kill a second as the group scattered. "Okay, spread out and surround him," said the largest of the two humans. He was a beast of a man, standing close to seven feet tall, dark hair and eyes and an a small goatee. Rick glared at him and snapped out his open paw at the woman, sending a spike of white hot magic at her. She managed to shriek once before her face was melted off. Taking advantage of the opening, Rick drove his katana down through the sword, head, and most of the upper body of the Lutin next to the woman, swiftly moving to put distance between himself and where the two groups of mercenaries were gathering. Rickkter looked them over and growled, his lips pulling up to reveal his muzzle full of teeth. He noted that the fire seemed to have taken care of most of the initial group of attackers, and he only had to deal with three more total. His eye caught the slinking green from of the first of the two Lutins he had spied further down the hall. He drew a knife from his belt, gestured with, daring his opponent to attack before flipping it around to a stabbing grip. With a high pitched shriek, one of the Lutins launched himself at Rick. The raccoon used his sword to bat aside the Lutin's club and caught him between the shoulder blades with the knife as he passed. That was when one of the two remaining humans decided to make his charge and try attacking Rickkter from the back. It was his magic sense that saved Rick, though the attacker's sword bit into his chain-mail as Rick rolled with the attack and jammed his knife into the attacker's neck at the collar bone. The man made one gurgle of protest and fell to his side, taking Rick's knife with him. Rickkter let out a yelp as a sword came down on the metal guard over his wrist, his entire sword arm going numb. His sword clattered to the floor and was kicked out of reach by the remaining human, the man with the dark eyes he had run into. "Oh, you're going to pay for that one, Keeper. You're going to pay dearly." And with that, he lunged at the mage. Never one to pass up opportunity, Rickkter side-stepped his attacker, sliding in against him and trying to wrestle the sword from the man's grip. Alas his attacker was even stronger than he looked and all Rickkter succeeded in doing was forcing his opponent to point the sword at the floor, not let go of it. Grunting and panting as they tried to gain control, the two warriors eventually ended up face to face, the sword held down between Rickkter's legs. "Well now, Keeper," the man panted into Rickkter's breath. Rick couldn't help notice the stink of bad camp food on it. "You're only making it harder on yourself. Not that I mind, of course." And he bared a smile of large white teeth at Rickkter. Rickkter returned the sentiment, only with a roar, an open mouth, and a lunge at the man's exposed neck, which was at the perfect height. Rick couldn't see the startled expression on his attacker's face, nor see his mouth bob open in an attempted exclamation. He was only aware of the hot coppery taste that filled his mouth and nose as the arteries in the man's neck pumped out his life's blood. A pulse that went almost up his nose caused Rickkter to snort and pull back, taking the entire front of the man's neck away with him. Almost as startled as the now dead mercenary by the action, Rickkter gaped into his face and let the man pull them both to the floor, Rick landing on top of the body. He blinked a few times at the head, lolling to the side and the swiftly spreading pool of blood. Rickkter looked up from where he crouched over the body, eyeing the remaining Lutin. It was the little guy he had first seen, and he was now huddled against one of the statues along the hall. The Lutin was shaking in fear as he looked at the mage and the carnage surrounding him. Rick flicked his ears back and gave a full, open muzzle snarl at the Lutin, letting him have a good look at the now pinked stained teeth. That did it, the Lutin bolted like a startled deer. And like the hunter he was, Rickkter jumped up right after him, catching up his katana on the run. Unfortunately the Lutin was a wiry little bugger, in addition to being scared out of his wits, and was opening up a sizeable lead on the raccoon. Rick snarled and grabbed a large vase off a pedestal, winging it in a long arc at the Lutin. It was a good toss too, and caught the little green simpleton right between the shoulder blades, knocking him sprawling. Rick gave him a good kick to the back, flipping him over, when the Lutin tried to rise. "No.... no, please don't kill me!" the Lutin blubbered. "And how many times today have you heard that?" Rick asked. He removed the Lutin's head with one clean stroke of his sword and resumed his silent jog down the hall to find Misha and the Long Scouts. ***********************************    end part 63b</HTML>