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\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\insrsid80416 \tab Crimson Torrent kicks}{\insrsid6312319  at the green corpse.  The c}{\insrsid14552153 reature, whatever the hell it is, looks}{\insrsid6312319  reptilian and }{\insrsid5906450 
until recently}{\insrsid14552153  walked on two legs.  It has}{\insrsid6312319  thick, leather}{\insrsid14552153 y}{\insrsid6312319  skin and sharp claws.  The Exalt smiles in triumph.  His victory was far easier than he had imagined.}{\insrsid2819649 

\par }{\insrsid6312319 \tab A day ago Waldorf had told Torrent about a beast lurking in the swamps surrounding the village.  It had been terror}{\insrsid16730018 izing the locals for months.  The thing was eating}{\insrsid6312319 
 livestock and scaring away the hunter\rquote s game.  So far nobody had been killed, but the creature was moving closer an}{\insrsid14552153 d closer to the village.  None}{\insrsid6312319  had actually seen it }{\insrsid8725649 yet, but Torrent 
was certain he had slain the mighty beast.}{\insrsid6312319 
\par }{\insrsid8725649 \tab Mighty was not exactly the }{\insrsid14552153 best }{\insrsid8725649 way to describe the creature.  It barely stood four feet tall and though lanky, wasn\rquote t all that quick.  The Exalt had killed it in }{\insrsid14552153 
one stroke.  As Torrent ponders}{\insrsid8725649  his ne}{\insrsid14552153 wfound fame and heroism, he begi}{\insrsid8725649 n}{\insrsid14552153 s}{\insrsid8725649  to}{\insrsid14552153  realize how quiet the swamp has }{\insrsid8725649 become.
\par \tab Swamps are home to thousands of terribly noisy insects and animals.  After a}{\insrsid14489273  }{\insrsid8725649 while you simply learn to ignore the cacophony of soun}{\insrsid14552153 d.  Now, however, the silence i}{\insrsid8725649 s deafening.}{
\insrsid14552153   Crimson Torrent rubs his chin and looks around.  Everything looks}{\insrsid14489273  normal.  Behind him, the horse the village}{\insrsid14552153 r}{\insrsid12724371 s had given him}{\insrsid14489273  }{\insrsid14552153 whinnies }{
\insrsid14489273 in anxiety.}{\insrsid8725649 
\par }{\insrsid14489273 \tab The S}{\insrsid14552153 olar turns}{\insrsid7949314  to the mare }{\insrsid14489273 with a smile.  \'93Don\rquote t worry girl, there\rquote s nothing out here but us and-\'93
\par \tab A thundering sound 
drowns out his words as a spray of swamp water and chunks of mud fly through the air.  Torrent is rocked from his feet and finds himself on his butt, staring up at a massive green pillar.  Almost forty yards high and ten yards wide, it is dripping wet and
 covered in swamp grass and mud.  Torrent stares in utter shock at the pulsating beast.  It looks like a massive, slimy worm.
\par \tab At the peak of the pillar of flesh, the Exalt sees a hoofed leg sticking out from a hideous jaw lined with jagged teeth.  The beast closes its mouth, crunching bone and sinew.  Torrent gasps and staggers to his feet.  An eye the size of a man\rquote 
s head swivels towards the Solar and blinks dumbly.
\par }{\insrsid14047234 \tab A single gulp}{\insrsid14489273  swallows the horse}{\insrsid14047234  whole.  The creature}{\insrsid9269217  moves slightly, turning its at}{\insrsid14047234 tention to the terrified Exalt.  With surprising speed }{
\insrsid9269217 the beast sinks into the marshy ground, disappearing.}{\insrsid14489273 
\par }{\insrsid9269217 \tab Crimson Torrent summons his Orichalcum Diaklave, Burning Dawn, from Elsewhere and stands at the ready.  His mind races at the sheer com}{\insrsid14047234 plexity of fighting such a horror}{\insrsid9269217 
.  Will he be able to get close enough to strike}{\insrsid12724371  at it?  Will he even see it coming}{\insrsid9269217 ?
\par \tab The answer comes in a deafening crash of earth and stone.  The ground below Torrent gives way and he catches a glimpse of jaws closing in around him.  Sud
denly he is in complete darkness.  Oppressive warmth and an unholy stench surround his body as the fleshy inside of the creature\rquote s mouth presses up against him.
\par }\pard \ql \fi720\li0\ri0\widctlpar\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid9269217 {\insrsid14047234 Sheer desperation compels Torrent}{\insrsid9269217  to thrust his sword forward.  The glowing blade cuts through slimy flesh and }{
\insrsid14047234 drives into thick bone.  He}{\insrsid9269217  feels the pu}{\insrsid14047234 ll of the beast\rquote s throat urging}{\insrsid9269217  him}{\insrsid12724371  downward.  Burning Dawn burrows}{\insrsid9269217  in the beast\rquote }{
\insrsid14047234 s body}{\insrsid9269217  and }{\insrsid12724371 the Exalt remains}{\insrsid9269217  where he is.  }{\insrsid4735574 \lquote It\rquote s trying to }{\i\insrsid4735574\charrsid4735574 swallow}{\insrsid14047234  me!\rquote  Torrent}{
\insrsid4735574 \rquote s mind screams.}{\insrsid9269217 
\par }{\insrsid14047234 Panic grips the Solar.  H}{\insrsid4735574 is body }{\insrsid14047234 is }{\insrsid4735574 hopelessly p}{\insrsid14047234 ressed against the muscled jaw and }{\insrsid12724371 he }{\insrsid14047234 can do nothing but pour}{
\insrsid4735574  essence into his Diaklave.  The tip of the blade flashes brightly and r}{\insrsid12724371 ams into the creature\rquote s skull}{\insrsid4735574 .  Each time the weapon strikes forward with incredible force driving deeper and deeper.

\par }{\insrsid3412131 Torrent\rquote s vision turns to blotchy}{\insrsid4735574  red as the lack of oxygen drains his life away.  He continues his desperate assault and is rewarded by the sound of bone giving way to }{\insrsid14047234 the }{\insrsid4735574 
soft flesh}{\insrsid14047234  of the brain}{\insrsid4735574 .}{\insrsid3412131   A final thrust of essence yields a loud bellow from the beast and then silence.  Crim}{\insrsid3559679 son Torrent }{\insrsid14047234 feels the muscles in the}{
\insrsid3559679  mouth relax and a putrid blast of air }{\insrsid6710908 buffets him as the creature\rquote s mouth flops open.}{\insrsid4735574 
\par }{\insrsid6710908 The Exalt spills out onto soli}{\insrsid14047234 d ground in a heap of }{\insrsid6710908 digestive fluids.  }{\insrsid14047234 He gasps for air, inhaling some of the foul slime}{\insrsid91364  }{\insrsid14047234 that clings}{
\insrsid91364  to his face.  Crimson Torrent retches violently on his hands and knees, ignoring his dropped weapon and his surroundings.  
\par Seconds later he looks up through bleary eyes to see a woman standing over him.  She is thin, young, and pissed off. }{\insrsid14047234  \'93You killed my pet you asshole!\'94
\par }{\insrsid91364 Torrent sees a glint of silver as the woman flicks her wrist.  He is vaguely aware of a pinch on his neck and a burning sensation flooding through}{\insrsid1332191  his body.  T}{\insrsid10047941 he legendary hero }{\insrsid1332191 
Crimson Torrent faints face down in a pool of }{\insrsid91364 his own vomit.}{\insrsid6710908 
\par }}