Julian shoved his broadsword straight though Bazil's chest and was more than a bit surprised to find that the mage's chest was made of stone. He was even more surprised to find that Bazil's chest, or any other part of his body was no longer there.
     "What the hell?" He muttered. It seemed the mage had somehow teleported or been teleported to safety at the last moment. "Blast it, why won't he die?!" He moved to pull the sword out of the ground, only to find that it was wedged into the stoney floor. "Dammit!" He was in a really really bad mood, (as can be seen by the frequent short outbursts of profanity) and his day wasn't getting any better. He really wished he had stayed outside. The furniture army had to be having much more fun destroying the skeleton army than he was. Wondering if the day could get any worse, he heard a rumbling from behind him, and as he turned around, a stone golem clubbed him along his torso. The day had gotten worse.

     Outside the temple, a fould battle raged. Bal's undead army of darkness had managed to get strategic ground and outnumbered the furniture army. Things didn't look good for the armoir and the other passengers of the ss argio. The furniture was slowly being pushed back into the water ( a clear disaster for any furniture made of leather or even nonpressuretreated lumber) it was then a miracle happened. Out of nowhere came a cry: "Kirainssnsnearty Julian!!!!!!" (Txccol for "for Julian and all his glorious honor!") What appeared to be a large stuffed dragon flew onto the scene. Several of the skeletons laughed outrageously. They stopped laughing when they were incinerated by a breath of fire from the dragon's mouth. More plush dragons arrived and made quick work of the skeleton army. the battle was over in moments.
     After it was over, the dragons landed on an open space directly in front the remaining members of the furniture army, who were slightly nervous, wondering just who their deliverers were, and whether or not they were next. A golden figure dismounted what appeared to be the lead dragon. he appeared to be made of pure gold, almost liquid metal.
     "Asinfar!" called the armoir, "By wicker chair i thoguht that was you frying those boneheads!"
     "It is good to see you again, armoir, i notice your numbers are much lower than last we met."
     "As are yours"
      "Tis a long story friend. some time ago i met with your leader, a lord Julian Stillsmore. He owes me his aid, and he cannot repay me if he is dead. where is he?"
      "He went inside the temple, to find the bard and finish him once and for all"
      "Honor decrees that I wait out here, much to my dismay though. let us hope he is well."
     
      Julian was not doing well. fighting hand to hand combat with a creature made of stone was not a smart decision. He had fallen back on using some proffesional gladatorial moves he had seen once. They of course didn't work very, probably considering the fact that the move were done normally by professional gladiators and everyone knew they were fakes. Julian was tiring out. He was getting much too old for this. His only hope was to somehow use the golem to free his sword from its stony prison. With all his might, he heaved the golem at the floor. another bad move. The golem's fall did free the sword but it also caused the floor to crumble beneath the combatants. The fighters fell to the ground. The golem crumbled upon impact. Julian on the other hand landed on something much softer. Imagine his surprise when he found that he had landed on none other than the bard.

Next Chapter