Shredder IV
A fifty foot climb awaited them before they would achieve the top of the cliff face, and although each individual had reservations about making the climb, all objections went unspoken when placed in contrast to descending toward the day’s previous noises. The group began their ascent with minor encouragements offered at opportune moments.
As the last of the party crested the top of the clogged ridge, a Shredder burst forth from a nearby thicket, taking each of the travelers by surprise. The engrained reflexes of the Ranger were all that postponed the female Halfling’s grisly fate. As it was, the Shredder catapulted into the small clearing, arms, limbs, saws and gears flailing, and with a wicked sweep of its arced momentum, the Human was no more. More precisely, the top half of the poor man went plummeting back over the precipice, cleanly severed about mid torso. The rest of the freshly sectioned corpse collapsed in a wet heap, with slow disjointed movements and splashes of crimson ichor to mark the soul’s passing.
How the mechanical monstrosity made it to the top of the ridge was uncertain, but it was evident that this was their pursuer over the last few days. The Dwarf brought a savage looking halberd to bear on the limb flailing mechanism in an attempt to shove the creation off the edge. Several quick swipes of numerous jagged appendages however reduced the length of the halberd in incremental stages, and the look of consternation on the Dwarf’s face was almost worth witnessing the death mask which replaced it.
Having judged that his time was near, the Dwarf launched himself at the Shredder, timing his bum rush in such a way, that he received almost no damage from impacting the giant metal frame as he grunted in fury, attempting to push the creature back over the edge. He gained a momentary advantage which actually had the Shredder flopping backwards in chaotic disorder before the countless appendages of the beast found purchase not only in the brittle earth nearby, but in the flesh and bone of its Dwarven assaulter as well.
The events unfolded so quickly that Gerard had almost no time to react to the brutal violence unfolding around him. Gathering his wits, he prepared to defend himself and his Halfling companion. The fact that she shoved Gerard into a free fall with an arcane incantation was more surprising than the immediate sense of plummeting which overcame him. His descent was piqued by a thunderous whoosh of hot air and an explosion from the ledge they had only just occupied, and his eyes closed in a silent prayer as the earthen floor raced toward him. As fiery debris rained down around him in sizzling metal and scorched wooden chunks, Gerard’s breath caught in his throat as his fall was abruptly halted only a few feet from the ground which had until moments ago promised to murder him. His feet landed on the ground, and he found himself dumbfounded with shock at the turn of events.
In little more than thirty seconds, the entire–
With a sickening thunk, the seared corpse of the Halfling woman landed on the ground only a few feet away. Glazed and blackened eyes stared up into the haze of sky above. Gerard did not hear the whirring of gears or the grinding of metal from above. The only sound which permeated his frantic state was the heavy impact of that delicate frame which had been walking beside him and joking lightly only a few scant hours ago. Something deep within Gerard stretched several degrees tauter and began fraying along delicate emotional connections, threatening to snap at the merest thought of recent events.
So he ran.