Illusion Vale: A Spirit's Cry

[Mantra]

Jay

The Stalker spewed out its deadly muck in a wide arc, trying to counter both Jay and the ent's attacks. Jay danced away, but not quite fast enough as globs of the sticky, burning gunk stuck against his left hip and flank.

It hurt really, REALLY bad.

Jay leaped away, his hooves carrying him up and away from the fight. He screeched in both pain and rage as the napalm-like stuff seared into his flesh. The burned sores smoked and spattered, as if boiling lead were poured into the wounds. His flaming tail whipped at the spots as if the fiery tail could somehow beat out the burning spot as Jay leaped and tore through the air and erratic circles and zig-zags.

 

[Wolfsister]

Silverfang

Varic nodded slowly as Silver mentioned the feeling of 'being watched'. "Its possible that somebody is scrying me. However, seeing as nobody's ever even seen you in this world, they wouldn't be able to either. Scrying is a tricky business. Powerful, but useless to those that haven't seen you in person first."

He shrugged.

Eric hopped over and cocked his head, he turned around a few times, squawking and ruffling his feathers. He opened his beak to speak when suddenly an arrow found him in the middle of his black breast.

Varic's eyes widened. He scrambled to his feet and yelled out in a different tongue, "Varin isksar!" Wiping his hand in a wide arc, he was only barely able to put up a shield in time for the next volley of arrows. They blackened the sky and Varic was able to count at least fifteen shafts.

"I can't hold this weak shield for long. Its not meant for physical attacks." He told Silver. "I don't know what's going on, but you better stay on the ground where you're faster."

Over the horizon, mounted figures could be seen fast approaching them.

 

[Wolfsister]

Michael

A war council was indeed held, that very night. Amongst those present were Queen Tula, Maccan - who was in fact the current Dwarven WarLeader, Renvir and Takkin as a common courtesy for their efforts in the Abandoned City, Ganiro - the chief chirurgeon for Tula's consort as well as many other faces that were both unfamiliar and familiar to the werewolf. Surprisingly, the smith so friendly to Mike, Durbin, was not present.

Of course Micheal and Sila were present but had been instructed to remain silent until called forth.

"The greenskins almost killed my daughter!" Tula spoke up in a strong voice. "We may not have numbers on our side but we have strength. And we have Michael."

There was a general roar of approval from the crowd that listened. Maccan stood up next, "I do not ever condone war. But this thing, it must be done. We have lost too many to a cause that is not our own. The Goblins will pay." He slammed a great hammer in his hand onto the sturdy wooden table before him. There was yet another roar of approval.

Then he turned to Micheal, "You have said it before, but it needs to be said again. Will you aid us, WolfKnight?"

 

[wolfknight20]

"I can't hold this weak shield for long. Its not meant for physical attacks." He told Silver. "I don't know what's going on, but you better stay on the ground where you're faster."

Over the horizon, mounted figures could be seen fast approaching them.

silver looked to varic and nodded he curled his tail and body round Eric to protect him and waited to see what these riders were

as the riders approached silver looked to varic and said that this might explain his feeling of being watched

 

[Kalika84]

What a night, Sita thought to herself. Rolling her head around to loosen her stiff neck muscles she stood and walked away from her desk to try and relieve some of the tension.

She had been sitting at that godforsaken desk for hours! Not only that but the case she was working on was hardly worth her time. A favour? To the boss? Pfft. The only reason she was doing this was to get into the bosses good graces. She could give a rats ass about the client, or come to think of it that the client was the boss's son. What she did care about is that the boss asking her to do this meant he thought she was the best for his son, which meant....possibly a partnerhsip around the corner? more money? Excellent.

Walking over to her floor to ceiling tinted windows over looking Melbourne city she folded her arms and sighed. Sometimes she wondered what it would have been like if.....No. He was gone and so..so was the baby. Sucking it up she straightened and fixed her usual haughty disdainful look back on her face.

To be honest she loved the money but it was harder and harder to keep people away. She wanted to leave, get out, go somewhere where no one knew her, start all over as someone else.

Closing her eyes she imagined if she could really have that a new start. Drifting off into her fantasy her eyes snapped open when she heard her door shut. Whirling around she saw it was the boss's son letting himself into her office. Nineteen year old twerp. "Jackson what the hell are you doing in the building let alone my office at 11 o clock at night?"

"Heya Sita, I thought we could get a bite to eat you know? Id Take you out and stuff..."

Raising one eyebrow Sita thought to herself, is this guy serious? "Jackson, I'm your lawyer. We can't go out and 'stuff'. Now please leave I'm busy."

Jackson went red with rage. "You can't blow me off like that I'm the bosses son you have to do what I say or I'll have you fired" he yelled at her while stalking towards her.

Sita skirted around her desk and tried to keep her cool. "Jackson, be serious. I am nearly a decade older than you, and the 'do what i tell you to or else' line? Grow up." then Sita did a VERY stupid thing. Turning her back on Jackson she picked up her coat and bag saying "Now come on and..."

Thats as far as she got as Jackson grabbed her by the throat and smashed her head against the wall. Dazed and feeling ill with the pain she managed to bring her $800 Emporio Armani stilletos into his crotch. Jackson dropped like a rock clutching himself and moaning.

Turning on her heels Sita flew out her office door to the elevator and started rapidly pushing the call button. Oh christ what the hell was taking so long!!

She heard her door shut ominously behind her. Turning she saw Jackson standing there, livid and murderous. Fuck this she thought and slammed through the stairwell door to the left off the elevator and raced down the stairs. Not long after she heard Jacksons heavy footsteps behind her. In panic Sita started running too fast....and tripped over the last step and flew headfirst through the air.

This is it she thought as the concrete rushed up to meet her. Before the impact though she felt strong tugging on her body like very strong winds....then nothing.

 

[rengadeirishman]

Michael had attended the council in wolf form armed and armored. When Maccan called upon him he rose, his eyes took in every detail of the those present before he spoke, powerfully.

"I was brought to this world to save it, i can think of no better place to start then the defeat of forces set on destruction. I will fight, and I hope that the rest of you will join me, if anyone here waits for a time when the dwarves and fae-folk equal the greenskins in number, they will wait for eternity. Even in my own world our legends, myths and stories focused on the overwhelming numbers of their kind. Even the weakest dwarf is worth many goblins, and i have seen no weak dwarves among those here. The Fae-folk can call forth magicks that no goblin could ever hope to concieve of, let alone use. With discipline and the might of dwarven steel and fae magick none can hope to stand against us. WHO WILL COME TO WAR WITH ME!?"

 

[Angelus]

Largos looked straight at Menos and wondered why he was talking about his sword in such a way; as if it was something that he should know more about. He looked down at it and ran his hand slowly across the top of its hilt before he looked back up at Menos.

"I haven't had that many fights with it. I think at most it has been around three. There was the inn keeper in the Dark Woods as people call it called Raster. There were some lizard men inside of the woods, a vampire named Talon and some more lizard men near here."

He noticed that Menos's eyes went wide when Largos mentioned Talon's name and knew that she should ask about it but wondered if it was one of those things that would be best to talk about it later. He knew that Talon was evil, knew that he was older than most things he would ever come across but it was the look in Menos's eyes that told him there was something more, something far worse about Talon that he had not been told yet. He looked over at Len and wanted to ask her what she had not told him but did not want to do so in front of the whole settlement.

As he picked up the cup of whatever drink was in front of him Largos looked over at it to Menos and saw that he was once more looking down at the sword that was strapped to his waist. Largos knew that he could ask question after question about it and not get an answer so he got to his knees, slid out the sword and placed it on the table in front of them.

As soon as it came into view the sword did something that Largos did not expect and started to pulse with a faint blue light that came from the core of it. He sat back down but found that he could not take his eyes from it. Very slowly and reluctantly he did so, looking back at Menos who he found was looking down at the sword.

"Can you please tell me what is so special with this sword? You look at it as if you never expected to see it ever again."

He knew that what he said was blunt but he needed answers.

"As long as I am asking questions I have two more. Who exactly is Talon and what are you doing here?"

 

[ultimate_nerdslut]

Noah

Noah had to admit that he rather liked the story about the Spirit. He liked to hear things about people seeing and believing. Though here he was about to blindly follow a, in his own opinion, very attractive dragon man to meet a woman who was considered to be a Goddess of sorts.

He had to be out of his mind but he wanted to so badly be distracted.

"I suppose in that time I can teach you a bit more of this place. And other such skills. I don't suppose you know how to break a camp?" he raised a slightly scaly eyebrow ridge.

Here was his ditraction.

In the form of this dragoon.

"No... But... I'd love to learn," he said.

 

[ultimate_nerdslut]

Fay had to smile as she walked around the city. She rather liked this. She was having fin now, shopping.

She liked to shop as most women did. She like to browse the small shops and the surrounding area. Trikets, scarves, and treats were all laid out for her choosing. She didn't mind looking at the world around her as if she had never been there before. Though the strangely wonderful.

It was thrilling and honestly... she wanted something nice to wear.

"Have you thought more of L'elal?" she yipped as they stopped at colourful stall that seemed to sell colourful baubles and trinkets. "He would make a good match for you, you know...."

She smiled.

"Lee... Yes, I have thought of Lee. Quite a bit actually," she admitted as she picked up a lovely little stone avian. She smiled and showed it to her wolf friend. "I miss him terribly, he and I may not have known each other long but... I know that I miss him."

She smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"Is that silly?" She asked as she set the avian back and started to head toward another stall. "Should I be more wary of him? Because I can't... and... I don't want to," she said with a goofy smile.

 

[Wolfsister]

Silverfang

Varic kept up the invisible shield, his link to his Magi being the only way to tell if it was still up. That and the fact that arrows kept bouncing off the air before him. He looked within himself,

"Akar, how are you holding up?"

You know I can do better much more than this, Young One. The remarkably younger looking Magi replied. Though the shield is about to fail. That is a weak spell in itself.

Varic nodded and risked a glance backwards, "Can you feel Eric, Akar?"

The Magi shook her head, her large blue eyes drawn into sadness, I cannot. He is gone from this world. Though it was quick.

Varic shook his head, "There's no point, Silver. He's dead. Put him in my pack and I'll bury him later. The sheild's about to fail. Be ready to run."

The elf looked back at the mounted figures as they steadily grew nearer. Even with his elven sight, he couldn't tell who they were. However, for an arrow to have such a range was uncommon, so he had a fair idea of who their attackers were.

"Raiders..." he growled as the shield flickered visible for a second before finally dying out. Luckily, it seemed the Raiders had run out of arrows.

 

[Wolfsister]

Michael and Sila

"WHO WILL COME TO WAR WITH ME!?"

There was a deafening roar as Michael finished his speech. Many thumps of feet, tankards, staves and basically anything that had a solid base could be heard. There were shouts of agreement and snatches of grand war speeches as well.

The fairies turned out to be as rowdy and blood thirsty as the dwarves were more commonly known to be.

Maccan took both Sila and Mike aside, and after a moment Tula hurried across the room to join them. "Tonight many preparations and plans are ta be made. I know ye be invaluable in the fight ahead, but for both our sakes, I tink ye should at least have a night ta rest."

He grunted towards Tula and then excused himself. A moment later, his booming voice could be heard bringing the council back to order.

Tula looked once over Sila and nodded, giving her a brief hug and a warning glance at Mike, then she herself waded back into the still bellowing throng.

Sila blushed and looked up at her one true love. "Shall we go get some.... rest, Guardian?"

An impish grin was plastered all over her face.

 

[Wolfsister]

Largos

Menos shook his head, "I know not who, or what, this 'Talon' is. There have been rumours of a dark force in the woods near here, but he never chose to manifest outside of them. I shall look into it when we are finished here, however. He may prove a great threat."

Then he took another long look at the sword that lay across the table before them. Then he took another look at Len, pursing his lips. Or at least, the platelets that seemed to serve as lips for him.

"He is a Guardian. Do not hold anything from him," Len suddenly spoke up and Menos simply nodded, taking her words easily enough.

"Very well, then."

Menos sat forwards, his voice becoming lower as he spoke, "Do you know of the Dark Times?" he waited for Largos's nod before going on, "Good. Then you know a bit of the history of how the Vale was formed and how the Spirit came to be. What is not common knowledge, however, are the roles of the Eight Relics."

"These relics... well, there is much more to it, but simply put, they are the binding essence to the Spirit's power. That is, they are the Seals to the Forgotten Past. Eight souls traveled the rocky path to Peace. The Dark times swallowed seven of those souls.The Eighth went on to become the Spirit. She holds her own Relic.

To protect the ensuing Peace, the Relics were hidden away. Presumably scattered across the lands and all records of their existence expunged from history."

Menos paused for a sip of Ale before continuing his story, "I was a lad when I was first taught of them. It is a knowledge that comes to Blue Guard only. Only we are strong enough to both guard and protect them, should we find them again."

He shook his head, "I'm getting ahead of myself. Seven Relics were hidden, some hundreds of years ago, however, they were found and since then lost. We Blue Guard have three purposes. One is to protect the Spirit at all costs. The next is to give our lives to the Land and the last, secret purpose is to hunt out the remaining Relics and restore them to the Spirit."

He pointed at Largos's sword, "I have never seen a Relic before, but I would know that energy signature anywhere. It was bred into me since childhood."

Len's eyes had gotten steadily wider and wider as she listened to the story of the past she thought she had known so well. Her fingers twisted idly in a small bit of ribbon she'd pulled from her hair earlier. She couldn't tell if she was anxious or excited.

"Oh, I forgot," Menos turned back to Len and fished something out of a hidden compartment in his armor, "You gave me this a long time ago and charged me with its safe keeping. You said to give it to you when next I saw you, though you may not remember. You have a different body now, but I verified your identity while sitting here."

Len's eyes widened even further as Menos handed over a glowing blue orb, roughly the size of her palm. "What do I do with it?"

Menos shook his head, reaching up to scratch a plated ridge above his eyes, "You said that you would know..." he shrugged.

Then he turned back to Largos, "These Relics have certain power. Only a few should be able to wield them. Though, you being a Guardian, I'm sure you can handle it. I have extensive knowledge - well as much as can be gained - about the Relics. All my guards know and I will instruct them to tell you about them should you ask."

He nodded, "For now, I feel its safe in your hands. It seems to still be Bound."

 

[Wolfsister]

Eeth

“Terms? Oh, you mean wagers. No, no, no, no. Your majesty, the games I have in mind cannot be wagered upon in the manner of which you speak. No, there is only the options in the games of chance, no wagers.”

Ilandria arched an eyebrow, her breath hissing as she sucked in a breath, there was a collective silence from all those present. The Elders hidden amongst the hidden crowd chanted silently, completely unnoticed in the tension of the moment.

Her voice was low when she spoke, "You presume to give me Options?" but Eeth was not listening and continued to ask an anonymous Elf for a coin. He hesitated, but the Queen - with slitted eyes - nodded her consent. Drawing a single golden piece from a pouch, he handed it over to the Guardian.

She silently listened and watched as Eeth gave a brief demonstration. Her breathing slowly shallowed out and became much more even as her mind worked through several nasty scenarios as the young elf strutted before and prattled on.

She leaned back casually, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she casually flicked out a remark, "Perhaps I should 'flip' to determine whether I should take your head or your heart!"

There was a nervous patter of laughter from the ladies in waiting that surrounded her. Though their heart was clearly not into it, they did their best to amuse their queen.

“For the second game, I’ll need four things: a bowl and three beads or small stones, preferably of different colors. Anyone happen to have those items handy?”

Ilandria waved her hand and one of her ladies rushed off, soon to return with a small wooden bowl. She clipped off three beads that dangled from her hair and dropped them into the bowl before placing them at Eeth's feet. Then she scurried back to the Queen's side. The beads were coloured blue, red and yellow respectively.

Ilandria simply lifted a delicate hand and seemed to yawn.

 

[Wolfsister]

Noah

That entire morning was spent teaching Noah the basics of breaking and setting up a camp. Drak made sure to cover things from burying offal, to collecting wood, to setting traps. He was thorough and meticulous in his work, though he was a patient teacher with a ready smile and often laughing.

"Did you perchance do women's chores in your world?" he teased as Noah yelped at yet another splinter burying itself under his thick fur. Drak smiled to take the sting from the words and helped Noah with the stack of wood he was carrying.

Looking up at the sky, Drak sighed and shook his head, "There's no point moving on today. We might as well set camp again. Besides, I would hate to waste all this good wood you've gathered." He smiled again.

The word 'gay' was never again mentioned.

"I'll teach you to forage for the rest of the day, how about that?" He looked up past the canopy again, his wings flexing, "Tomorrow we will make haste for the Spirit."

 

[Wolfsister]

Fay

Faelin shook her massive head and gave a small yip, "Its not silly at all. If it were left up to me, all males would be kept like children. The Spirit knows they only use the brain power of one. But that's me. If you want to trust him, I don't see why you couldn't."

She cocked her head to the side, inviting a scratch, "I have known him for a long time and he hasn't steered himself wrong." She nodded sagely, "Perhaps has a higher functioning brain than usual?"

She yipped and then trotted along the stalls, "You know, you can buy things. I had Celeste sow in a coin pocket in that dress. As well as add a few."

Honestly, the wolf wasn't sure why the Avian hadn't noticed the small coins clanking against her thigh yet.

 

[Wolfsister]

Sita

Brod strode along, the Dark Flow bubbling and running along to the left of him. He looked to the North and knew that some miles ahead, Vale City was rising from the cliffs to his right. But right now, West was what concerned him.

Something, and he had a vague sense of what, was drawing him to the west along the widening Southern Dark Flow. He thought a little bit about the land around him. Though mostly grasslands, it would soon give way to sandy beaches and lead to the endless Bottomless Sea ahead. The Dark Flow itself was actually one river split into two.

Fed from Suvin Lake, Suvin River flowed through Dark Woods and split into two other rivers. One running north westerly called the Northern Dark Flow, and one running more south westerly which was called the Southern Dark Flow. Though it was the same river, simply split in two, many people had odd superstitions about the Dark Flows as they came out of the Dark Woods. A place rumoured to be evil beyond knowledge and harbouring said evil without distinction.

Brod, with his Hammer forced onto his shoulder, strode along the northern bank without so much as a worry. What harm could a simple river to, anyway?

Stopping for a second, Brod squinted ahead. Something caught and glinted in the moonlight. He nodded, more to himself than anyone else, and headed straight for the glint.

As he walked, he began idly swinging his hammer around in small circles. It was a great two handed affair, but what with his familiarity to the weapon, it seemed to weigh nothing more than a child. As he walked along, the Hammer began to sing a sweet, sorrowful song. He whistled in tune with it.

As he came upon the glint, it was revealed to be a small, necklace half buried in the grass. He bent and lifted it free from the dirt. Hefting his hammer onto his shoulder again, he inspected the odd greenish stone that served as a pendent. Not far away, an indistinct form was sprawled on the grass.

Brod walked over, tucking the pendent into a small pouch he carried at his waist. As he stood over the figure, though clearly unconscious, he gave it an experimental poke with his hammer before bending down for a closer look.

It was a female. Elven, it looked like but when he sniffed the air, he smelled something else entirely. Reaching over and lifting the corner of one lip, he inspected the canine like fangs on the unconsious woman and nodded to himself.

"It would have to be a vampire, wouldn't it?" He sighed and settled down on the grass next to the woman. The hammer he stood on the end of its haft, with the hammer head facing the sky. Leaning casually against the makeshift pole, he patiently waited for the vampiric woman to come to.

"Guess I should be lucky she doesn't know what she is..." he sighed.

 

[wolfknight20]

Varic shook his head, "There's no point, Silver. He's dead. Put him in my pack and I'll bury him later. The sheild's about to fail. Be ready to run."

.

I am truly sorry i will not run not till I have re-payed the loss of Eric in kind

this said silver threw his head back and howled a war cry that was part dragons anger and part wolfs mournful call the riders where still some distance away but to a one all the mounts reared and threw there riders silver followed this by firring a fire ball at the lead rider with a ice one hid in its shadow.

one was bound to find its mark.

 

[Kalika84]

Why is my bed wet? Sita thought to herself. Cracking one eyelid she realised she was actually face down in soft wet grass. Wait...grass? What the hell was going on? Pushing herself up on her hands to a seated position she pushed her hair out of her face and slowly pried her eyes open.

WHOA. Okay did someone slip something into her drink and she was still feeling the effects? Everything was brighter, more vivid. There was a deep purple flower 100 paces away and she could clearly make out the pink bleeding from the centre of the flower along the lengths of the petal. Tipping her head back slightly so her nose was in the air she took some cautious sniffs. My god the smells!> She marvelled. Everything was so strongly scented now.

Struggling to her feet and weaving slightly she waited until her head cleared of the sleepy fog and looked down at herself. One eyebrow climbed as she noted her change of wardrobe. Talking to herself she started ranting "Where the hell are MY clothes? Last time I checked I shopped at Armani, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana! Not freaking...." at a loss forwards she waved her hands about wildly, "amazons 'r' us!"

Gone was her black armani powersuit and her stilletos, instead she was clad in a soft darkbrown hide skirt with slits up both sides for ease of movement and some sort of...rough dark green sleeveless top with metal and leather detail.

Working herself up to start screaming at the top of her lungs she looked around furiously then stopped dead in her tracks. There right infront of her leaning on the biggest hammer she had ever seen, was the biggest....thing she had ever seen.

"Oh yeah. I've slipped right into fantasy land. What are you huh? Where the hell am I? I want answers mate. Right now."

Sita was so worked up she felt tears threatening, so, naturally she bit down on her lip to try and stop them. "OUCH! What in the hell was...." trailing off she felt her bottom lip which was now bleeding. With a puzzled look on her face she pressed the pad of her index finger against her left canine tooth...which was now much longer than it had been and sharp as hell!

Staring in shock at the creature across from her she promptly sat on her ass put her head in her hands and started mumbling away to herself. "Great stuck here...by myself..wonder if it over there even talks...."

 

[rengadeirishman]

Michael smiled as his speech had its intended effect, Tula and Maccan bade them get rest, a welcome suggestion, as michael had yet to recover from his trip for the saeriel, even though part of him wanted to be present, but he knew that no war would be planned in a night. He morphed back to his dwarven state and took Sila's hand, he kissed her lovingly.

"Aye love, i think rest is in order."

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Elmhand

Elmhand saw the heated claws the Night Stalker brandished, and being a tree, heat was not a good thing. The Night Stalker launched into an attack, but before Elmhand could do anything about it, the attack was interrupted by the appearance of the flaming horse. Elmhand felt the heat coming off of both the fire horse and the Night Stalker’s claws and decided to put some distance between himself and the Night Stalker. With that, he did an about face and moved as fast as he could away from the Night Stalker.

Unfortunately, the Night Stalker had a trick up its sleeve as evidenced by the goop that it had spit out of its mouth that had the consistency of Jello and smelled of burnt tarmac. Elmhand was not quite out of its range when it reached him, part of it landing on the back of his left leg. It smoked and hissed when it made contact. And it burned. But thankfully, elm wood does not readily burn and when it does, not very well. The goop could only blacken and eat away at the added wooden armor, which was still very much alive and therefore all the harder to burn.

Elmhand felt some of the ooze that had managed to slip through his armor start to burn at his leg and it hurt. He let out a cry of pain that sounded like nothing any creature other than an Ent could make. To describe how it sounded would be next to impossible, aside from that it was caused by pain. Elmhand wished he could get the stuff off, but realized that if he tried, it would just spread. There had to be some way to remove it, he just couldn’t think of how.

 

[Angelus]

Largos watched the fear flash in Malakiel's eyes when Talon's name was mentioned. He knew then that he was speaking to the wrong brother about him. He wanted to ask Malakiel what he knew but knew that now was not the right time to do so. As he looked at him he thought it weird that he didn't have the same reaction to Largos being a Guardian but realized that some of the people didn't hate Guardians like the rest of them. He knew though that if anyone else was to find out what he was that it would put himself and Len in danger.

He looked over Len to see her looking down at the orb in her hands. There was one thing he would never let happen to her he told himself at that point and that would be to put herself in danger.

"What does it mean for a Relic to be Bound? What happens if it is unbound?"

He saw the fear now roll over Menos's face at that time and knew that it was a question he should of asked later on, when they had time to talk alone. He then looked over at Len and could see the same fear in her eyes. There was something so wrong with a Relic being unbound that neither of them ever wanted to see that happen. It was as though Menos would kill before he would let that happen.

Largos slowly picked the sword up from the table and as he did he could feel something pulsing through him. He looked at the sword as he slid it carefully back into its scabbard. He looked at Menos again.

"There is one question that I have to ask. What is plaguing the people of this settlement that would cause the Spirit to send out her elite people? What would scare her that much?"

He could tell by the look on Malakiel's face that he wanted to leave before Menos spoke of it but Largos reached out a hand and took his arm to stop him. Malakiel looked at him and tried to pull away before he spoke, "I do not wish to speak of what plagues us guardian. Please let me go so I may see to the rest of my people."

When Largos let his arm go Malakiel got to his feet and left the hall so fast that Largos wondered what was indeed wrong in this place. He then noticed that Menos was now leaning forward to look at him.

"You had no right to make my brother worry like that, even if you are a guardian. I will tell you what plagues these people but only if you promise to help us fight it. Give me your word that you will not run this night and I will tell you."

Largos looked at Len and then back at Menos, "You have my word. I will help you fight whatever plagues these people. I just need to know what it is I am fighting."

 

[Wolfsister]

I am truly sorry i will not run not till I have re-payed the loss of Eric in kind

this said silver threw his head back and howled a war cry that was part dragons anger and part wolfs mournful call the riders where still some distance away but to a one all the mounts reared and threw there riders silver followed this by firring a fire ball at the lead rider with a ice one hid in its shadow.

one was bound to find its mark.

One indeed found its mark, as the sudden cry from one of the mounted warriors attested to. It was soon revealed that the riders were indeed rider and horse, not a single entity at all, as could be mistaken in this part of the land.

Varic nodded in satisfaction as Silver's fire ball scattered the group, the ice ball hitting the first man square in the chest. With the raiders scattered, Varic found that he could not sustain the sheild any longer, so instead reached back to withdraw the two scimitars that had been crafted for him at birth.

On their respective blades, a strange purple glow emanated. It looked like the spatter of blood, but it had somehow stained the steel. Varic paid it no heed. As long as the dead Shadow Wraith's blood stained his blade, he was happy in his vengeance wrought.

"Come Silver, to your first battle. Try not to be killed!"

And then the elf was off and running. He swung his scimitars in a horrifying fashion and roared a challenging battlecry. Two of the seven raiders were down before they knew it. While he tackled the third and fourth, Varic life the fifth, sixth and seventh to whatever Silver could pull from his furry sleeves.

 

[Wolfsister]

Sita and Brod

"Great stuck here...by myself..wonder if it over there even talks...."

Brod's voice came out surprising melodic, a deep baritone that seemed to vibrate through the air, "It does indeed talk, milady."

With that, the pinkish orc drew himself up to a standing position and ambled over, leaving his impressive hammer laying on the grass near them. Bending down, he offered his hand to the distraught woman at his feet, a completely gentlemanly gesture indeed.

"You may call me Brod, milady. May I have the pleasure of your name?" He went on in a rumbling voice that somehow managed to impress as well as soothe and calm, "You find yourself situated in a place called Illusion Vale. It is in deep distress and such fine specimens such as yourself have been called forth for most wonderfully heroic deeds."

What Brod knew of the Spirit's Tongue was somewhat antiquated, having learnt the syntax some hundred or so years ago. However, despite his impressive physique, his speech had yet to catch up with the rest of his modernism.

"Pray do tell, have you any idea of how you came to be here? Just a curiosity, you understand. I simply wish to know what you know, so as not to muddle you even further by repeating information." He raised what was intended to be an eyebrow, but was instead just a thick hump of skin over his eyes.

 

[Wolfsister]

Michael

The next day saw them in a bustle of activity that proved to put Sila in a spin. She has seen battles being prepared for when she was a child and had vowed to stay away from them, but this was unavoidable and so she simply resolved to keep out of the way.

Clinging onto Michael's arm while he marched around gathering information and making decisions wasn't exactly keeping out of the way. But she did, to her credit, keep her mouth shut and her eyes wide open.

The arrangements were quickly made and soon they were off to march. Tula and her retinue, along with the dwarven commanders and Michael were all, naturally in the advance guard while the rest of the dwarven and fairy army trailed behind in disorderly, yet orderly fashion.

All in all, there were some ten thousand dwarves mustered as well as a further five thousand fairies. Not too impressive an army, but it was all they could get on short notice and even shorter supplies. Feeding an army was hard work.

The magic castors would be able to tip the scales more in their favour and add to their numbers however, so that at least was a plus.

They marched a single day without resting. The dwarves were a stocky bunch, so their reserves of strength and endurance were easy a match for twice that of a normal human, but for the sake of their fairy allies, they stopped for the night and made camp.

At the command tents, the generals and captains gathered to go over strategies once more.

"We're gonna 'it them a home. It's gonna be 'ard, but if yer haft ta do it, yer haft ta do it. An its how we haft ta do it," puffed a previously unknown dwarf that seemed to carry a bit of weight with Maccan.

The older dwarf nodded thoughtfully, "Just what kan we expect from yer, Mike? How are yer studies with the steel and armor going?"

 

[Kalika84]

Still cradling her head in her hands Sita jolted slightly when...it spoke to her. Looking up at him through her fingers she took his offered hand and cautiously got to her feet.

"Brod huh?Thats a new one. Look I am going to try awfully hard to be civil here, but seriously this can't be real. I have fangs for godsakes." There was a pause at this point while she ran her tongue over her new found fangs....which were actually kind of cool.

In a rather belated response to his question she answered, "Sita, the name's Sita." Deciding to go along with this wonderfully random dream, atleast until she woke up Sita smiled at Brod who was looking at her with benign curiosity. "To be honest, I have abso-freakin'-lutely no idea how I got here. Some twerp was chasing me and I am pretty sure was going to try and hurt me, fell down some stairs and poof! Here I am....Hey! thats a thought, maybe I am in a coma."

Wandering around the clearing trying to get her bearings Sita looked up into the night sky and inhaled deeply. Looking over at Brod she assessed him quickly. He wasn't that scary really. Just really really big and that hammer hadn't helped first impressions any.

Walking towards Brod she proceeded to circle him while talking. "Heroic deeds huh? Sounds cool. Let me guess? Defeat the evil queen? The big bad dragon?" At this point something random caught her eye. Part of a chain was hanging out of Brod's waist pouch and the glint of the metal in the moonlight caught her eye. Reaching towards it and asking Brod at the same time, "Hey whats that?" Sita really couldnt resist sparkly shiny things. She adored jewellry.