HS&S:WT Short

[sabremeister]

Mis-match

The two swordsmen ducked behind another pillar as another fireball swooshed past them and splashed against a further pillar. There were a lot of stone pillars in this hall, and quite a lot of them had scorch marks on them.



“Bloody wizards!” one of them gasped to the other. “I hate bloody wizards!”

“Why didn’t we bring one of our own?” asked the other, peering round the edge of the pillar, and hurriedly ducking back as yet another fireball sped towards him.

“Because none of them were daft enough to come and face this guy!”

A particularly large fireball washed against the stones of the pillar behind them. They decided that it would be a good idea to run again.

There came a manic laugh from behind them. “I can keep throwing these fireballs at you all day, warriors! Give up now, and I’ll make your deaths swift!”

In response, the taller of the two drew a slim knife, took a couple of deep breaths, stepped round the pillar and flung the knife, before ducking back behind cover as the wizard flung yet another fireball towards him. There was a metallic tinkle.

“Fools! Did you think I were not prepared for any weapon you might bring to bear against me?” Another fireball. The two swordsmen ran to the next pillar.

“There must be something we can do against him?” the shorter one asked, exasperated.

The tall one looked upwards. “Bringing one of these pillars down will just drop a block of stone on our heads. We’ve no fire protection, he’s protected himself against anything we attack him with. So, no, basically.”

Flames flickered around the edges of their current pillar. They ran to the next one.

“We’re screwed!” the shorter declared.

“Looks it,” agreed the other one. Again, a fireball warmed their hiding place. The two warriors looked at each other, at the now short distance to the still-open gates, and then ran as fast as they could across the space. Two fireballs screamed towards them, the first missed, the second impacted the gate, which was old and weathered enough to decline to catch fire.

The two swordsmen didn’t stop running until they were safely halfway down the hill that the wizard’s hall stood atop. They stood leaning against some handy rocks for a few minutes until they had their breath back.

“Swords against wizardry,” muttered one. “Whoever thought of that needs his head examined!”


So - can anyone spot the rather obvious reference?