Exton

Damnation, the fool has let himself be seen! Nathlyn has been careful to shield his men from detection, but the spell has a limited range, and this idiot has gone beyond it.

Well, don't just stand there! You're caught, make the best of it! Whether the unspoken words somehow penetrate the space between, or whether the lummox had the same thought, he stoops to make a grab at Tomas - but the little boy is no longer a little boy. Claws with the strength and texture of granite dig into the warrior's neck, while below the claws on Tomas' feet work to disembowel the Drow. It's as though the warrior had grabbed what he believed to be a kitten, only to find that he's facing a full-grown tiger.

Nathlyn motions for another of his men to grab Teri, keeping the rest under cover of his spell. Tomas' opponent is bleeding freely at neck and waist, and as Nathlyn watches disbelieving, Tomas rips the throat out of his captor. There's a great gout of blood and the warrior's eyes roll up. Tomas frees himself before the body can topple onto him.

The second warrior manages to grab Teri but is hard put to keep him. If anything, Teri quickly exacts a greater toll than his cousin - ripping, tearing, snarling, biting - and then Drai drops silently from the tree behind the second warrior. Teri's eyes go wide, just for a second - then a wicked smile stretches across his face, a smile that is mirrored on Drai's. The warrior is taken aback by that grin, then he feels his captive become dead weight. Heavier and heavier the boy becomes, till his mass is that of a small boulder. The warrior tips forward, unable to hold him but unwilling to let him go - and then Drai strikes, the garrote drawn tight in a trice. The warrior drops Teri and claws at his neck, but too late. Drai has cut off the blood flow to his brain and he can only thrash and grasp and die while Teri watches with that same terrible smile disfiguring his face.