Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 35: Mending

All three of us ran towards the temple as the pirates cheered, ready to chase down fresh prey, and just like my plan, they followed right after us as the elemental also jeered.

"Lure them to the base of the church, trust me!!" I yelled to Finana. "BahnBarr, come with me!"

Without waiting for a response, I booked it towards the damaged church, with BahnBarr following close after me, nearly stumbling from her spell exhaustion. She managed to keep pace with me as Finana held her glaive, and when both of us dove into the church, I stared up at the large statue, of the Goddess Waukeen, the Goddess of fair trade and commerce, and I shrugged while giving the statue a sympathetic look.

"Sorry about destroying your temple."

I spied outside of the temple, at the ship that was now coming down in front of the large, stone steeple that stretched high above the ship. BahnBarr looked about ready to pass out, but I needed one more spell from her.

"BahnBarr, I'd really hate to ask this." I said, backing away from her range. "But can you blow out the structure?"

She nearly protested, but then, it seemed to click together in her mind as she looked at the ship, then up at the steeple above. We had mere seconds until the pirates would jump off the ship, so it was now or never.

"DO IT!!!"

In a flash, BahnBarr stuck her staff into the ground and shouted in Elvish, and a wave of thunderous force, just like Finana's, burst forth from her, and the already fire damaged temple walls were blown apart by the force. She dove to the side as a loud cracking noise sounded throughout the temple, and the entire steeple structure began to fall. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. I prayed to every god I could think of, including both Waukeen and Tempus, that this might work.

The steeple fell, right on top of the airship, and all of the hard stone blocks completely crushed the airship, killing most of the raiders as it collapsed. BahnBarr and I smashed through a window, then ran outside to the wreckage of the airship, and I saw Finana, miraculously unscathed by the steeple falling, and she was staring at it with wide eyes.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" She yelled as BahnBarr collapsed next to me.

"Whoa there wizard!" I cried, grabbing her arm and hoisting her up. "Don't pass out on us yet!"

"Mmmmm nap." She mumbled.

I draped her arm over my shoulder, then hobbled over to Finana.

"She can't cast anything else." I said. "If she did, she'll probably slip into a coma she's so tired."

"Mmmmm I need a nap." She mumbled again.

I was about to give some smart remark, but suddenly, a raider climbed over the concrete, battered and bruised, and he was about to draw his scimitar, when the only airship left exploded behind a row of neighborhoods. The raider looked back with wide eyes, then dropped his scimitar.

"Pl-please don't kill me, man." The bandit said. "Please."

I raised my halberd, ready to lop the guy's head off, but I realized that he had to be no more than sixteen, and my anger died down.

"Get the hell out of here." I said. "Rebuild your life."

"Th-thank you man! I promise I'll never do this again. I'l-"

"You'll get the hell out of here before I change my mind!"

The bandit threw off his ill-gotten loot, then stumbled over himself as he ran away from the burning town. And now, all was quiet as the rest of the bandits were routed by the militia and the watchmen. I sat down against the stones as the firefighters were going around, dumping water on all of the houses to put out the roaring fires, and I took in a heavy breath.