Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Quest for the Unknown Power (team story) - Ambrosia Software Web Board

*Lava gurgled and spouted in fits of agony as the party travelled close to the walls, under protection from Avatara's heat shield. Eldrien pressed as close as he could to the walls, despite the heat shield preventing him from being burned. Avatara, his native magic being fire, hurried along calmly, without a second glance at the fiery doom waiting for an unwary adventurer.

Rounding a corner, Avatara sighed in relief. This part of the volcano had no indication that outworldy visitors had trespassed here.

Shinikath and Ithrun fared almost as well. Having to explore the southernmost reaches of the volcano, they too found no signs of the demonic terrors. Turning around, Ithrun was about to suggust they return to find the others, when Shinikath motioned him to stop. Staring around with an expression that caused Ithrun to worry, Shinikath moaned and suddenly looked very old and tired. Ithrun, attempting to discover what Shinikath had, reached out with his magic. He suddenly sensed something that made his eyes go wide. All their hopes suddenly faded...*

******

*Avatara turned a corner and almost ran into the group, Eldiren on his heels.*

"Thank goodness we found..." Eldiren began.

"What are you doing..." Avatara interrupted, then stopped, an expression of fright crossing his face. He turned around, looking for something. An expression of fear and shock crossed Eldiren's face, and Theo looked strange, as if there was something he knew was nearby that he couldn't place.

Shinikath suddenly burst around a corner on the south tunnel, Ithrun hot on his heels. "We've got company!" Shinikath shouted as he spun around and drew his blade in a fluid motion. Slashing it at a seemingly invisible foe, the air in front of Shinikath shimmered slightly, and a black demonic beast appeared out of the air, dark blood splattering as Shinikath's blade sliced it in two.

The creature had near-black scaly skin and duck-like feet with talons at the end of each "toe". The hands were four-fingered with each finger ending in a wicked claw that was at least 5cm long. The neck was longer than a human's, and it led to a gruesome looking face. A flat nose with two gaps for nostrils topped a wicked lipless mouth, that probably contained teeth inside as sharp as the glare from its eyes. The eyes glowed a blood red and were fixed in an expression of hate and hunger as the beast's body fell, cloven in two.

"So...this is the Methrikador?" Sasha asked, more of an exclamation than a question.

"No, this is the end of life as you know it." Eldiren said, drawing his blade, but still unable to stand.

"Look out! More are coming, they're trying to surround us!" Avatara shouted, his sword at the ready. Turning to the humans and the Ronin, "No! Don't try to use hand to hand weapons, that'll be the death of you! Use magic, just none of the dark arts! If nothing else, embrightenment, that'll blind them!"

Shinikath stood over the fallen body of the Nîthruk muttering to himself. "Damn beasts can't even fight their own wars, they have to use slaves to do their dirty work. At least that gives us a fighting chance..." He was cut off as a cry from both Flynn and Ithrun showed that the Nîthruk were attacking.

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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."

[This message has been edited by Avatara (edited 10-13-2001).]

***OoC***
Sorry this is so long, guys, but I thought Avatara's excellent post deserved a decent
reply! Actually, he just created a situation in which my characters had a lot to contribute; but it was still a great post, Avatara!
***BiC***

"Look out! More are coming, they're trying to surround us!" Avatara shouted, his sword at the ready. Turning to the humans and the Ronin, "No! Don't try to use hand to hand weapons, that'll be the death of you! Use magic, just none of the dark arts! If nothing else, embrightenment, that'll blind them!"

Flynn had drawn both swords at the first indication of trouble; at Avatara's warning not to use physical weapons, he turned to look at him in surprise. Suddenly, something he couldn't see struck his right leg, slicing a wicked gash. Flynn cried out in agony and collapsed to one knee, as Ithrun attacked the invisible creature with a loud war-cry.

Sasha fared a little better; she looked around in shock as something struck her shield, but she couldn't see a thing. Fortunately, the shield was undamaged; whatever magic these creatures might have was apparently weaker than the ancient magic inherent in the shield. Sasha ineffectually thrust her sword at the air in front of her, and cursed under her breath.

Of all the Ronin, Kwon realised that he might just be the best equipped for this fight; he pushed in front of Sasha. "Hold the shield in front of me," he ordered. Reaching into his bag, he closed his eyes. He felt a disturbance. "There," he thought, and quickly threw a shuriken. His aim was true, and the razor-sharp star stuck fast in - something; it seemed to float in the empty air. Something screamed, and beat against Sasha's shield so viciously that it was almost torn from her arm.

Seeing Flynn fall, Ulf let out a bellow of rage and leaped to protect his friend. For a few moments he flailed wildly about, unable to see an enemy to strike. One of the creatures obviously wasn't paying attention, and walked headlong into one of Ulf's fists. Twelve yards away, something crashed into the undergrowth.

Inside Ulf's tunic, the Friendsooth amulet began to glow once again. Ulf paused, as he began to sense the hate emanating from around him; he grinned as he realised what was happening. Imitating Kwon, he closed his eyes to better isolate the centers of negative emotion; one of them drew close, and Ulf lashed out - feeling a satisfying 'crunch' at the limit of his swing.

Moonshadow bent to cast a healing spell on Flynn's leg, only to see the wound closing before her eyes. She looked around at the other mages. "Who -" she began, only to be interrupted by Flynn.

"Nobody," Flynn said. "We Ronin heal fast; it's one of those 'other effects' the Voice mentioned. Help me up."

Moonshadow grasped Flynn's extended hand and pulled. She was turning to join the battle, when she saw a shadow fall over the group; looking up in surprise, she drew her bow and aimed at the dark shape drifting down towards them.

------------------------------------

The winds had been favourable, and it took only a few hours for Wolmark's zeppelin to reach Kosha. After a few minutes looking around on the ground, Trinias looked up and waved in the general direction of the east. "They went that way - roughly." They all climbed back into the zeppelin, and Wolmark coaxed it back into the sky.

After a brief detour to a cave ("I wonder why they went there?" Leandra asked in annoyance) they travelled eastward, over the swamp. The three Ronin looked wistfully at the ruins of Maayti, but pressed on. They passed over a large patch of blackened ground with a strange carcass in the centre; the occupants looked at each other in bewilderment, and shook their heads.

Eventually, they came upon an even more bewildering sight. Below them they saw the group they were seeking; they seemed to be mounting a defence against something - but against what, the flyers couldn't see.

After staring downwards for a few seconds, Trinias turned to Wolmark. "I need to get get down there; any ideas?"

Wolmark pondered a moment. "I might have something; but I haven't tested it yet."

"So what else is new?" Trinias muttered under his breath. "OK, clue me in."

------------------------------------

"No!" Flynn shouted, grasping Moonshadow's arm. "It's Trinias!"

Moonshadow looked closer, and realised Flynn was right. Trinias was drifting down toward them, dangling below a rectangular piece of material. He touched down and quickly collapsed the silk. "Sorry I'm late," he grinned. "Did I miss anything?"

"No time!" Flynn said. "We're being attacked by an enemy we can't see. The elves, Kwon and Ulf seem to be able to find them though. Get Ulf to point them out to you and get to work!"

Trinias nodded and moved over to Ulf. The giant still had his eyes closed, but nothing had come within reach for some time; the enemy was learning. Trinias tapped him on the arm; Ulf opened his eyes and glanced at his friend, whose presence the Friendsooth amulet had already alerted him to.

"Point them out to me," Trinias said, putting an arrow to the string of his bow. Ulf closed his eyes again, paused, and pointed. Trinias aimed and fired in one fluid movement. As the arrow left the bow, it flared into a shaft of white light; the shaft struck, doing little damage, but shining out as a bright beacon to the others. Shaft after bright shaft flew, as Ulf continued to point out the invisible foes.

Kwon glanced behind at Trinias, and saw what he was doing. "Ah," he thought, "If only I could do that." He paused, as a scene from the recent battle against the undead flashed through his mind - a picture of the ground, tearing open in a vast chasm. "Of course, the Lost Magic." He concentrated briefly, then cast another shuriken from his seemingly inexhaustible supply.

As the star left his hand it burst into an incandescent red glow, imbued with the ancient power of fire. Each weapon he threw now also served as a beacon to the other warriors.

Above, in the zeppelin, Wolmark watched as the bright white and red dots flew outward and began to dance around the group; he saw a creature appear as one of the elves sliced it neatly in two, and instantly realised the situation. Grasping a bag from the floor of the basket, he pulled from it a grey metal vial with a screw-on cap, which he opened. From the vial he extracted a small glass tube, filled with two separated liquids. Choosing a spot some distance from the group below, he dropped the tube over the side.

The tube fell to the ground in the middle of a swarm of red- and white-glowing specks, the glass shattering on impact. The extremely volatile chemicals mixed. Bits and pieces of several of the creatures became visible, as they were scattered about by the large explosion.

Turning to the remaining passengers(1), Wolmark passed over another of the bags. "Here, start dropping these, but be careful!"

------------------------------------

(1) I'm not sure if anyone else from the tavern came with the Ronin, yet. The 'passengers' may only be Leandra.

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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

[This message has been edited by Ronin (edited 10-13-2001).]

Katze stood on the opposite side of the zeppelin away fromLeandra, dropping the dangerous items in her hands whenever she spotted a chance.
***
Moonshadow stood close to Trinias, and whenever a white arrow struck its mark, an icy-blue one followed, freezing the creatures on impact, thus clearing a space for the warriors to jump in and slice them. It was not necessary for her to use the beacons aas aims, though, since - as an elf - she could see and sense the beasts all too well. It were creatures like those that elven parents always used in their tales to scare young children. But it had been just that to her: fairy tales. Now the horror was real, and she was beginning to wonder which other of her mother's tales contained smililar truth. A chill went down her spine as she recalled her mother's stories about the Methrikador, and for once in her life she prayed to the Gods, hopingfor those tales not to be true. But then she recalled the dark elves' and Avatara's horror, and her expression went grim, as her magic took on a deadlier aspect. She dropped her bow and took her staff again, reforming the spell she had used in the cavern, shooting the icy tips at the creatures. wherever they hit, the beasts dropped dead as all liquids in their bodies turned to ice. She would ask Avatara about the Methrikador when the battle was over.

*I start to fell ashamed of my posts being so short...*

------------------
This is not dead which can eternal lie,
and in strange aeons even death may die!

[This message has been edited by Moonshadow (edited 10-13-2001).]

***OoC***
Hey, I'm glad Katze could join us!

Quote

No need, I think you averaged more lines per character than I did; it's just that I'm writing for seven characters at once!

Anyway, I think I made the battle sound too easy (what can I say, it was late I was tired...), so I'll try to make it a little tougher.
***BiC***

Wolmark surveyed the situation below. "We'll have to stop. They're getting too close to our friends, and we might hurt someone." The three people in the zeppelin looked at each other uncertainly, not knowing what to do next.

Flynn tested his leg: no good, it was still too weak for him to take an active part in the fight. He looked around the group, seeking some way he could be of help. Ulf continued to point, oblivious to the blood trickling down his body from numerous cuts and scratches; many of the lighter ones were already beginning to heal. Trinias was beginning to tire, but still kept up his barrage. Flynn sighed, and turned to Sasha and Kwon - just in time to see Sasha's shield thrust roughly aside; something struck Kwon in the stomach, and he doubled up in agony.Flynn hobbled over and dragged Kwon back to the centre of the ring, with Sasha holding her shield over them both.

Kwon's wound was deep; ordinarily it wouldn't be to great a concern due to the Ronin's ability to rapidly heal, even from wounds that ought to have been fatal; but every time Kwon had used the Lost Magic on a shuriken, he'd used up a little bit of life force.

The wound wasn't closing.

Flynn looked around wildly, almost in a panic. "Somebody, help!"

------------------
There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

*Trundaylan heard the call for help, and broke out of his daze. He was in the middle of the group, attempting to give the group extra strength to keep fighting, having his weapon be useless without sight of the creatures. He turned and saw Kwon with a deep wound. Rushing over, and kneeling next to Kwon, Trundaylan took a quick survey of the injury. With an incantation he knew by heart, Trundaylan placed his hands on Kwon's chest, surrounding them with a soothing blue glow. The glow spread to an aura eminating from Kwon's body.

Trundaylan concentrated, pouring magic in an attempt to hasten the body's recovery. Suddenly, the soothing blue changed to a frightening green. Trundaylan abruptly shut off the spell and frowned.*

"There's some kind of evil magic from another world. Its preventing him from healing, and nullifying my magic. We need to find this magic embedded within him, and remove it or he will die!" Flynn knelt down, and started searching Kwon's wound for any fragments of the blade that struck him, or anything else that might be emeniating the dark magic that was killing Kwon. Trundaylan, meanwhile, used this break as a chance to heal Flynn. The blue glow proceeded successfully, and the glow changed to a gold-white radiant light eminating from Flynn. Swirls of magic surrounded him, rising from the ground, and then the glow and the magic faded after mere seconds. When the glow faded, Flynn noticed most of the pain was gone.

"That's a temporary fix. You'll want to heal it a bit more after this." Trundaylan told Flynn.

"I think I've found it!" Flynn stated triumphantly, pulling an inch long fragment of what looked like a sword out of Kwon's wound.

"Yes, that seems to be it, but he's so far gone that he won't be going anywhere for some time. I can heal and strengthen his life force, but I can't reverse the effects of what the magic did to his mind." Trundaylan said as he knelt and went into a long healing trance.

[This message has been edited by Avatara (edited 10-13-2001).]

(Those posts found a reality warp )

*With a quick glance behind him, Avatara noticed Kwon was out, and the group was tiring already. We need to end this Avatara thought.*

"Everyone, rally around me! Ulf, Trundaylan, Flynn, and Sasha will stay here with Kwon, though I doubt you'll be needed after we leave." Placing a hand on Flynn's shoulder, "Flynn, good luck and take care. You Ronin will be really busy soon, but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle." Avatara turned and signaling the others to follow, he left Flynn to puzzle the last words Avatara left Flynn.

*Shinikath and Avatara formed the front of the group, hacking away at the Nîthruk as they went. Twisting and turning through seemingly endless passages and tunnels in the volcano, they ran onward blindly. Moonshadow had already lost all sense of direction and was unable to determine which direction they were travelling. Suddenly, with a cry, two last Nîthruk fell, and the group burst into a chamber within the volcano.

A sole rock path in the center about four meters wide was surrounded by lava on all sides. They were in a chamber right below the rim of the volcano. The lava churned and bubbled, some five feet below the top of the path. But, what really caught the group's attention was a swirling mass of purple and blue mist orbiting a red globe about the size of a watermellon hovering in the air. The mist and the ball were placed in the center of the chamber, the path ending in a small platform of rock around the ball.*

"The rift..." Ithrun grunted. Avatara broke out of his daze, and started quickly down the path, but before he could get halfway he stopped. The rift glowed a bright golden for mere seconds, then in a blinding flash and a shower of sparks, three beings materialized. Avatara dropped his sword in shock, and staggered back a couple of steps as the beings came into view.

Almost 10 feet tall, and 5 feet from shoulder to shoulder, they were huge. A head shaped like a wolf's but with bloodstained teeth of a giant crocodile, with large red eyes that glowed and glared at the group. Sandy tufts of dark brown hair sprouted from a gap in between two horns that adorned the top of the head. Small scraps of flesh hung between pairs of dripping teeth in a snarling mouth.

The head adorned an equally powerful body. The creatures were covered in a matted-down light brown fur, with blood around the hands and feet. The two arms ended in hands bigger than a human head, leathery palms glistening with oil, sweat, and in some cases blood. The 4-fingered hands each had claws over five inches long, the dark brown covered with a redish tint from the blood of hundreds. The two legs each accounted for 3 feet of the creature, the kneecaps forwards like a humans'. The feet had the same leathery substance on the bottom, and were elevated off the ground by about two inches due to five long talons, longer and more menacing than the claws, that branched out of the foot. Four were in front, and a particularly nasty claw stuck out of the heel.

With only a quick glance as the effects and heightened sense of rift travel wore off, the Methrikador glared at the elves (and humans) and smiled, if it could be called a smile.

Eldiren froze with horror, and dropped to the ground; Ithrun grabbed Eldiren's sword and stood defiantly with both blades, gritting his teeth. Theo and Shinikath stepped to take up opposite sides of Avatara, an intense feeling of dread filling them.

Avatara, after staring at the creatures even he feared for what seemed like an eternity, sighed and cast a spell to break the enchantment he hoped he never would have to. Almost instantly, green swirls of energy wrapped around Avatara, and with a blinding flash, subsided. Avatara stood, but as most had never seen him before. Fully elven, with sandy hair braided back into a ponytail that hung around his shoulders, dipping around a full metal plate embroidered with the elven rune of fire on the chest. The amulet with the nine magics of Elënir, each in their respective color, surrounded a ruby in the center, marking the natural magic of Avatara's life essence.

Swords gripped in hands, the group prepared for the futile battle ahead as the Methrikador howled in delight, sensing blood and battle, and charged. Their demonic essence causing the cavern to both shake, and the volcano to begin to erupt.*

------------------
"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."

*The first of the Methrikador seemed a bit overeager and unfortunately for it, it was the target of the first wave of spells. Blasts of fire, a searing arc of lightning, and several various other spells struck the beast head on, scorching some of its chest hair. The creature let out a terrifying howl and raised its claws high in the air. The howl echoing around the chamber, and ringing in the party's ears, knocked loose a fragment of rock off of the cone wall.

Avatara prepared his next spell, but a violent jolt from the now-shaking volcano knocked him and a few others off their feet. Avatara's sword flew from his grasp and skittered across the pathway to land at the other two charging Methrikador. Avatara scambled to his knees, attempting to help Shinikath hold off the first beast. Shinikath's sword slashed, splitting the skin of the beast with dark magic, but it only caused the creature to attack in an even greater frenzy, ignoring the puny scratches around the dark sticky fur. Avatara tried to regain his balance, but missed a step and fell headlong into a blow from the creature. Avatara fell back, almost falling off of the edge of the path and into the churning chaos below, ever so slowly rising as more lava rose from deep underground.

Eldiren and Ithrun fared hardly as well, Eldiren recieved a nasty blow from a claw, that almost ripped his left arm off. Eldiren dropped to the ground in a loud scream of pain, his blood flowing through his fingers. Ithrun shouted back, a war cry, and slashed his sword in fury, slicing a deep gash across the creature's leg. Ithrun kept up his fury of slashes, going into a beserking rage and flinging death into the Methridakor's face. The demon was completely unprepared for this full assault on it. Fueling his rage off of his lifelong friend's agony, Ithrun let out a final yell, and plunged his sword deep into the beast's chest. Ithrun heard a crack, but was numb to the pain suddenly flashing through his hand. His sword splintered down the middle, breaking off at the hilt in a shower of molten metal. With a long reverberating death howl, the demon fell to its knees, spilling a black blood all over Ithrun and the ground where it stood, before finally collapsing to the ground.

Ithrun stood, letting go of his shattered sword, and ignoring the blood and pain from his hand, as he turned to Eldiren. He was knocked off his feet by another violent tremor, as red arcs of fire and lightning swirled around the dead demon. Dark black coils arched up from the ground and sucked a red energy from the creature, as if the Keeper of the Underworld himself wanted the soul of the dead Methrikador. The fur caught on fire, and in a brief inferno, reduced the body and the sword burrowed within, to ash.

Avatara had staggered to his feet, after a quick glimpse of the remaining members of the group futily fighting the third creature. With a quick spell, a purple searing beam cut into the first beast's arm, leaving a black scorch and the nausiating smell of burnt flesh. The creature howled, shoving Shinikath aside like a rag doll, and smacked Avatara with its other clawed hand. In a spray of blood, Avatara fell backwards off of the path into the churning abyss below. The lava engulfed him blazing around in a column of fire. Shinikath almost laughed at the foolish mistake of the Methrikador, but found himself promptly facing the creature alone...*

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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."

***OoC***
Avatara: WOW!
***BiC***

The three remaining aviators looked down in surprise, as the group below split in two.

"Come back, you cowards!" Leandra shouted.

"Stop that!" Katze scolded her, roughly.

"You know better than that!" Wolmark continued where Katze left off. "You've fought alongside those people; you know their loyalty, their courage! Whatever they're doing, they have their reasons!"

--------------------------------------

Flynn looked after the retreating figures in despair. Somehow he knew that for many of them, this was the final parting. Once more he was going to lose some dear friends, and there was nothing he could do about it.

In a sudden tremendous rage he rose up, his weakened leg finding a strength he didn't know he had. He saw one of Trinias' arrows floating before him, and lashed out with the Ruby Fang, screaming at the top of his voice. The sword flamed red, and there was the stink of seared flesh. A creature faded into view, falling aside in two different places.

Inspired by his example, Sasha targeted another beacon and thrust her sword as close as she could. She struck something, and an area around the blue blade began to ice over. With a wailing moan, another Nîthruk appeared and collapsed; what passed for its heart was frozen solid.

Above them, Wolmark suddenly realised that most of the dancing red and white lights had broken away, following the elves. "Look!" he said, drawing the two women's attention, as the last few attacking Nîthruk were quickly destroyed by the enraged Flynn and the remaining adventurers.

--------------------------------------

After the battle was over Wolmark brought the zeppelin lower, dropped an anchor and then a rope ladder over the side. The three occupants climbed down and joined the group on the ground.

"What's going on, and what can we do now?" Wolmark demanded.

Flynn looked back toward the volcano, the expression of despair now firmly back on his face. His leg finally gave out, and he collapsed to the ground where he stood.

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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

[This message has been edited by Ronin (edited 10-15-2001).]

[Avatara, that's twice now that you've miss-named me. Lindor, not Theo, is here ]

Shinikath slapped one of the Methrikador's claws away, but before he could counter, the other was diving at him. He brought his sword back, and managed to block that one, too. Then the original hand was moving toward his gut. Shinikath snapped the sword down while jumping back. He caught and held the Methrikador's crude weapon a centimeter from his body. The other hand then leaped at his throught. Shinikath threw himself backward violently to the rocky ledge floor, and the appendage swiped at the air over him. He had avoided being beheaded, but now he was prone on the ground with the ten foot monster lumbering over him.

Lindor glanced over at Shinikath, and saw his precarious position. Ah, cr@p. he survayed the battle around him. His group had done relatively well against their Methrikador, but it wasn't nearly over yet. And no one else seemed to notice the dark elf about to be squewed.

For a moment, Lindor didn't care. After all, Shinikath was a dark elf. But even as Lindor shrugged and turned back to the other Methrikador, he knew in his heart that he couldn't abandon a friend, and despite all racial differences, Shinikath was one of the best.

Without another regret, he sped across the room. Even as he neared it, the Methrikador raised one craggy hand high above his head; it could taste the nearness of the death of the dark elf. Lindor leaped at it, twin swords of his lineage leading, a dark blue fire burning in his elven eyes. The beast then sense his presense, but it was too late to stop the oncoming steel, and the blades sank half way to the hilt in its side. It whirled on him, but Lindor wasn't finished yet. As the evil head turned towards him, he reversed grip on his swords, and crossed them, ripping the a hole a foot wide. Then the monsters backhand caught him in the side of the face, and he flew headlong into the wall. As the blackness of unconciousness sank over him, his last hope was that he had given Shinikath his chance.


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I am no one, and I am everyone. But most importantly, I am
The One And Only:
~Theo Nean Donly~

[This message has been edited by Theo Nean Donly (edited 10-15-2001).]

Just as Moonshadow watched, Lindor flew into the wall. She let out a frustrated sigh, carefully eyeing the remaining demons... Methrikador, the word shot through her head. They were worse than anything her mother could have made up! Tears started to form in her eyes as she noticed how dreadfully their group had shrunk, with Avatara gone, and Lindor and two of the dark elves out of the battle. But then she saw that the second demon was still standing, still - despite Lindor's brave effort - threatening Shinikath's life, for although the dark elf had managed to get up and into a defensive position, the demon had him backed up against the firery abyss that had already taken Avatara. Moonshadow gritted her teeth, knowing that her ice spells had appalingly little effect on the furry Methrikador, apparently they were used to cold. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could the the last of the demons near her position, ignoring her fallen comrades for already defeated. She also saw Ithrun slowly rise to his feet again, grasping his sword, his eyes fixed on the last demon. If she could just bring one of the Methrikador down, the remaining dark elves might stand a chance against the last monster. Even though she was unsure of the effect her last spell would have against the beasts she decided not to turn it on the already wounded.
Aware of the danger she closed her eyes, fully concentrating on gathering energy from her surrounding, since her own inherent powers were already running low. It was not easy for her, winter elf that she was, to coax the necessary energy from the vulcano, but need helped her to manage. As she opened her eyes again they blazed with an unearthly golden light. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, then opened them again, their fingertips barely touching. An orb of light began to form between her hands, growing brighter by the second. She raised her hands up above her head, the swirling orb taking away the last energy she had. With a low growl she hurled it against the approaching Methrikador. With satisfaction she heard the howl of pain caused by her, and silently thanked her mother for teaching her that spell, one of the last spells of the Light Elves known to her people, before passing out.

------------------
This is not dead which can eternal lie,
and in strange aeons even death may die!

***OoC***
Nice one, Moonshadow. A little bit of history to add mystery to your character
***BiC***
Trundaylan bent over Flynn, who was prone on the ground. "I told you it was temporary! You've overworked your leg." Once again he began to heal the reopened wound.

Before he could do more than start, Flynn heaved himself upright and stood swaying for a moment. "Everyone stay here. I'll be back." Staring fixedly in the direction of the volcano, and ignoring the pain, he limped after his departed friends.

Sasha ran after him, and grasped his arm. "Flynn, don't! You heard the warning!" Flynn turned to look at her; Sasha recoiled at the bleak and empty expression in his eyes.

"I have to know, Sasha. Wait here, I shouldn't be long. And the others - may need you." Flynn hobbled on; Sasha stared after him in bewilderment.

Flynn slowed as he reached the cave, drew his swords, and began to cautiously make his way inside. As he reached a corner, he edged forward until he could just see around it. He stared in shock - the battle going on before his eyes was worse than anything he could have imagined. Ignoring Avatara's instructions, he took a deep breath and prepared to enter the fray.

------------------
There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

Flynn, in his frustration, entered the chamber without his usual caution. Suddenly he stopped in shock as he glanced around at the scene. Avatara was missing, Ithrun and Eldiren were unconscious, possibly dead considering the blood pooling there, Moonshadow was unconscious, and Lindor lay in a crumpled heap against the wall, probably with broken bones. Shinikath was standing alone, fighting some type of demonic beast. Flynn broke out of his trance, and was starting over to help Shinikath, when the dark elf noticed him and gestured frantically at Flynn. Shinikath shouted something, but Flynn couldn't make it out, and gave a puzzled expression for a reply. Shinikath was forced to turn away. A gnawing feeling of dread rose in Flynn, but he couldn't make out what it meant.

Suddenly, the dread feeling grew a reality. Flynn spun around, and dove backwards as the other Methrikador slashed out with his claws. Flynn wasn't fast enough to completely dodge out of the way, and the claws seared his leg, causing Flynn to release a bloodcurling scream of pain. The beast loomed before him, raised its claw and swung it at Flynn's skull. Flynn was in too much pain, his vision swam, and he couldn't get his leg to move. Flynn squeezed his eyes shut, and surrendered himself to die.

"Halt!" A voice commanded. Flynn was uncertain whether or not the voice was in his head, or if someone else spoke it. For a brief instant Flynn toyed with the idea that this was someone in the afterlife telling him to stop moving. But his leg...

Flynn opened his eyes and stared in wonder at the claws inches from his face. The demon appeared to be looking at something behind it, begging for permission to finish the job.

"I said halt!" The voice commanded again, its harsh echo sounding throughout the cavern. Flynn sighed in relief that it wasn't just his mind playing tricks on him. The Methrikador with its claw imbedded in Shinikath's arm dropped him, and walked with the other demon to stand behind the voice. Flynn's vision still swam from the pain, and he collapsed on his back. Tilting his head slightly, he saw a blurred vision of the "voice". It looked strangely famillier, Flynn tried to recall where he had seen that person before.

Movement caught Flynn's attention; Shinikath had staggered to stand somewhat in front of Flynn, his left hand covering the gash from the demon. For a moment, Flynn couldn't tell what was going on, the pain numbing his mind to the outside world, but slowly the Ronin realized that Shinikath and the voice were talking.

"...you'll doom us all!" Shinikath was saying.

"Fool, you have no idea of the power...the immortality that you would be given! If you joined our ranks you would be stronger than a god! Even better, you'd have these worthless human slaves to do your bidding. However, if you resist, you will become like all your friends, and soon the rest of this world." The mage waved his hand across the scene, guestering to the fallen group. "Its your choice. Think of the limitless power you would have!" He said in a voice of awe, hoping to inspire his recipiant.

Flynn seemed to feel almost confident that Shinikath would accept, and was surprised to feel himself shocked that he had declined. "The cost is too great. I will never join your foul ranks." He said simply to the voice. Something inside Flynn clicked into place, the mage talking was the false Alaric they had run into earlier! Flynn tried to make a sudden movement, but the pain forced him back down, his head swimming. Blackness was crawling over the edges of his vision.

But still, Flynn faught to remain conscious, noticing something about the Methrikador behind the false mage that sparked his interest. The demons were glancing at the mage and each other with a menacing unspoken language that both understood. It appears that they control him, rather than he controlling them. Hope flared into Flynn, and he almost jumped up to take advantage of the situation, when the pain flooded into him, burning every nerve in his leg and giving him the sensation of someone twisting his bones and muscles in a direction they were never meant to go.

Throughout all this, the others seemed to be unaware of Flynn's existance. They were saying something again, but the words were gibberish to Flynn; he attempted to arrange himself so he wouldn't be able to see with the Methrikador in his eyes, leaving him facing the rift. Flynn imagined he felt the ground shaking, and that a pillar of fire rose near the rift, as he relaxed the fight to remain awake. As his vision blurred, he fancied seeing Avatara step calmly onto the path, and face the mage. The clang of swords and a defiant yell rattled in Flynn's ear as the world tilted. Just before it slipped out of focus, and into the bliss of unconsciousness, he noticed the rift sparkling peacefully for a brief instant, and then everything went to hell...

------------------
"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."

[This message has been edited by Avatara (edited 10-17-2001).]

"Flynn?"

"Flynn?" The voice came again, a little more urgently, disturbing Flynn's thoughts.

"Flynn? Wake up! Come on Flynn, please wake up..." The voice seemed almost sad, yet distinctly famillier. Flynn realized that maybe this voice wasn't just in his head, and opened his eyes.

Being nearly blinded by bright daylight, Flynn quickly moved his aching arm to shield his eyes, and twisted to rest at a better angle from the glaring sun. Or he tried to, his leg causing a flash of pain that contorted Flynn's features so they matched his emotion. Appearantly Sasha caught the flash of pain on Flynn, for she suddenly became very concerned, and her face dissapeared for a moment. In a moment, he saw her again, Sasha having fetched Trundaylan fearing something wasn't wrong with the leg.

"I'm afraid there's not much more I can do. I did say it was temporary." The last part Trundaylan said was a reprimand and Flynn knew it.

"What happened?" Flynn finally dared to ask. "If I recall, I was unconsious in the volcano."

"Shinikath carried you out, as he did the others. Its a good thing too, I doubt anyone has seen an eruption as violent as that one. Anyway, Trundaylan and a couple healers from Pynx that Walmark brought in his zeppelin healed you guys. But, I did notice something odd that I had to wait to ask you. Shinikath didn't say anything besides you all needed healing and fast. What happened to Avatara? Lindor says he doesn't remember, Moonshadow said he was killed." Sasha began her interrogation.

"I actually am not sure." Flynn replied after a moment. "Where's Shinikath?"

"She was getting to that. A short bit ago, after I had healed Ithrun and Eldiren's wounds, man I've never seen anything that bad, Shinikath took them and went back inside. He said something about being unable to close a rift permenantly, but would try to drain its energy, buying time so that a permenant solution could be found. He also said that we shouldn't expect to see him or the dark elves for a while, if ever. I guess it was his way of saying goodbye. Though I sometimes wonder..." Trundaylan trailed off, obviously not wanting to bore Flynn to death. Trundaylan walked over a boulder nearby, and sat down brooding on something.

*Flynn finally noticed that he was on a grassy field at the edge of the forest, the volcano smoking away somewhere south of him. He could see everyone from the group, including all of the Ronin, present and relaxing on the grass in the midday sun. Maybe it had all been a bad nightmare, those beasts the material from a fairy tale or ghost story passed down among a family. Maybe none of that had been real....maybe...*

------------------
"We've added years to life, not life to years."

Talos paced around his confined chamber. The darkness for heaven-knows-how-long about ready to cause him to go mad. A single slit of moonlight entered through a narrow window on the side of the building. Talos doubted it was real, it had been visible the whole time he had been trapped.

But he hadn't been idle. Biding his time, Talos had learned some of the biggest weaknesses of his unknown enemy's prison. In time he would escape. In time...

Deep within the cavern of the volcano, the rocks themselves being witness to a terrible clash of powers, life entered the chamber once more, if only briefly.

"So tell me Shinikath, you weren't impressed with my appearance at all?"

"I've seen you do it before, back on Pyran. Remember that giant figure and the lava pit? Then it was an amusing surprise. But, I do have to ask, what took you so long? I can't hold off those beasts forever, and words only go so far."

"I had to wait for everyone to fall unconscious. Its best for them if they believe I'm dead. By the way, you still owe me for saving your life. Remember Karthuîr?"

"Ah yes...we both learned something there. I learned not to let you drive moving vehicles, you learned how to compress three meters of hoverspeeder into a rock wall. Was that your idea of saving me?"

"Well...maybe not. But what about Ganthos Station?"

"If your definition of 'saving me' is ramming a dreadnaught into a star cruiser for a diversion, while leaving me to battle atmosphere leaks..."

A chuckle from Ithrun, who was carrying his badly injured and still unconscious friend. The group stopped in front of the rift for a brief moment.

"I did manage to take out the internal defense systems. You have to admit with those you never would've made it anywhere."

"Yes, but still. You could have simply vented the..." The rift flared, having been activated. In a flash of golden brillance, the four dissappeared. The rift too, drained of most of its energy faded out of view, remaining only as a small tear in the space-time continuum. The last echo of the elves' voices faded, and then the room was left in silence...

------------------
"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."

***OoC***
Wow, that's a lot to take in.

I can't really move anything forward here, so I'll stick to a 'character development' post; Ferazel, if you want to continue with your original objective, that's fine with me. I'll have to take a few characters out to take care of Kwon, though.

Verran, are you still out there?
***BiC***

For two days and nights the group camped in that spot; resting, healing - and waiting to see if the four missing elves would return.

With the Ronin's tendancy for quick healing (one of the few benefits granted them from being cast adrift in time), Flynn's leg rapidly regained it's strength - but the dark magic had left it's mark: three wicked, parallel scars across his right thigh.

However, the worst effects ran much deeper.

Flynn had always been a cheerful, friendly man, always seeming to think of others and trying to do his best for them. Perhaps this was still true, but after recent events he'd become introspective, dark and brooding, preferring to spend his time alone.

On the morning of the third day Sasha found him at the edge of the jungle, staring back at the still smoldering volcano. "Time for breakfast, Flynn; come eat." Flynn glanced at her briefly, but made no move to return to camp. Sasha sighed. "Tovarisch, please tell me what's wrong. You know I'd help if I could."

Flynn remained silent, and after a pause, Sasha sadly turned about and retraced her steps.

Moonshadow looked up from her breakfast, to see Sasha re-entering camp with tears trickling down her face, carefully avoiding everyone as she made for her tent. Glancing around the camp, Moonshadow saw that no-one else had noticed. Putting aside her breakfast, she approached Sasha's tent.

"May I come in?" Sasha looked up in surprise at Moonshadow's voice, and quickly dried her eyes.

"Of course, please enter."

Moonshadow ducked through the flap of the tent, and sat down on the ground facing Sasha, cross-legged. "I couldn't help noticing you were in distress; I wondered if I might help."

"Thankyou, but I don't know if anyone can. It's Flynn; he seems to be shutting himself off from the rest of us, and he won't tell me why." Sasha cocked her head, and eyed Moonshadow speculatively. "Perhaps, you could try? He once told me you were the first to greet him in this time period, and he considers you a special friend because of that."

"I never knew that," Moonshadow said in surprise. "Of course I'll try; that's all any of us can do."

Outside the tent, Moonshadow gave Sasha a brief hug. "You must trust that everything will turn out. Flynn is a good man. Whatever demons he is fighting, he will win; and we won't allow him to fight them alone - no matter what he might wish."

With a parting grin and a wave, she set off to find Flynn.

---------------------------------------

Leandra had hardly slept in the two days since the battle; she was watching over Kwon like a mother hen watches her chicks, and had refused all offers of relief. While Kwon's physical injuries had rapidly healed after the fragment of the dark blade was removed, he still remained comatose.

She was just beginning to nod off after 48 hours of sleep deprivation, when Kwon suddenly began to thrash about, mumbling in an agitated fashion. Leandra started awake, and leaned closer to make out what he was saying.

"It's coming... the darkness... no escape... swallows everything... NO!!"

Kwon subsided back into unconsciousness, and Leandra settled back, resuming her vigil.

------------------
There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

Moonshadow walked along the edge of the vulcano silently, thinking about what Sasha had told her. 'A special friend?' It still kind of surprised her. She didn't even remember the first person on this world to greet her. It had neither seemed real nor important back then. She remembered having come through the sparkling abyss a long time ago. Once, on a hunt, she had visited the forbidden ruins of Ometheon's heavenly tower, and in there she had come across the counterpart of the Cytherean abyss. She had ventured into it unprepared, knowing that she wouldn't get a second chance, and found herself in the strange, lively, and _green_ world of Cythera. She remembered standing on the edge of a cavern, staring out at the wood below her. Her native language didn't even have a word for it...
She almost stumbled across Flynn, lost in her thoughts as she was.
"Come to get me back to the camp?" He asked, without looking up at her.
"Kind of..." she replied, and sat down next to him, studying him intently. She gently put a hand on his, and Flynn was surprised at how cold her hands felt, considerably colder than a human's. She smiled, noticing his surprise. "Fir'Dha is a cold world..." she let her voice trail off.
"Your homeworld?" Flynn inquired, getting curious despite his brooding mood.
Moonshadow nodded, staring off into the sky.
"Why are you here?"
She didn't react to his question, did not even acknowledge she had heard him. She just sat silently for a while, as if pondering what to say. "We're worried, you know." she finally said.
"So? This is not an answer to my question..."
"No, probably not. But I thought I'd let you know anyways. Sasha came back to the camp crying..." She returned her gaze to him, waiting for a reaction. He looked startled, but didn't say anything. "What are you brooding about, Flynn?" She paused. "Tell us, tell your friends... we might be able to help you."
Flynn shook his head. "There's no need to worry you."
She laughed a little. "Oh, don't you worry about that! We already are, didn't I tell you this before?"
Flynn looked up sharply. "That's not what I mean! I don't want to burden my problems on you!"
"Your problems? So you think you're the only one to have problems?" She raised her eyebrows questioningly. "The recent crisis affected all of us, Flynn." Abruptly, she seemed to change topics. "On Fir'Dha, we live in clans. Every clan consists of about a dozen of families. Every clan has its own realm to live in. Those realms are huge, Flynn. They have to be, or else we couldn't find and hunt enough food for all of us to live. We rarely ever visit other clans, because it would take weeks to find them, if we find them at all... Because every few years, we have to move to a different location, for the one we left behind is depleted, and needs time to regenerate. The knowledge of the importance of friendship and society are inbred. You know what I want to say? If you have a problem, you should tell your 'family', at least. You consider the Ronin your family, don't you? Where one man alone could not stand a chance, the combined power or advice or even just the company of the family and friends might help." She squeezed his hand tightly. "Don't shut yourself off, Flynn!" She pleaded. "It would be such a pity!" With those last words, she got to her feet again. She waited a little, to let her words sink in, than reached out her hand to Flynn again, offering to help him up. "If you sit here much longer, I'll freeze you solid!" she threatened playfully. "Come on, let's go back!"

------------------
As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

***OoC***
Nicely done! And long, too!

Oh, I like your new .sig, too.
***BiC***

Flynn hesitated, conflicting desires reflected in his expression. Then, Instead of rising, he began to talk.

"I never told you about my family."

Flynn hesitated again.

"Not surprising, you didn't remember much," Moonshadow said, as she sat back down. "Go on."

Flynn looked into her face, looked away and continued. "I remember I had a sister, once. Do you remember the story of how I came to join the Ronin?"

"Yes, something about being accused of murder, and being acquitted. I don't understand, what's the connection?"

"The girl who's fiancé was killed - she was my sister. That's why they thought it might have been me, that I didn't approve of him."

Moonshadow nodded in comprehension. "So first her fiancé was murdered, then her brother was accused of the crime. She must have been devastated."

Flynn didn't reply, directly, but looked away at the mountain once more.

"When my father chose to leave that land, it wasn't just because the Count was dishonoured. You see, the double shock - first the murder, then my arrest for it - it made her a little - crazy. On the day before I was released, she went missing. No-one knows what really happened, most think she just wandered off."

Flynn fell silent again. "Did they find her?" Moonshadow asked.

Flynn took a deep breath, stifling a sob. "They found her body the next day, at the foot of a cliff. It appeared she just -stepped off."

Flynn turned back to face Moonshadow, and she saw tears streaming down his face. "And there was nothing I could do about it!"


------------------
The only substitute for good manners, is fast reflexes.

[This message has been edited by Flynn (edited 10-18-2001).]

Moonshadow looked at Flynn pitifully, and helplessly lost for words. She had never been confronted with such a situation before, simply because there existed neither murder nor tragic suicide in her world. No winter elf in their right mind would ever do anything like this, because they all knew the mistrust and suspicion following such an act could threaten their society, and therefore their survival, on their hostile world. It occassionally happened that an old elf, or someone injured beyond healing, chose to end his life as not to burden the others, but something like this... was simply not done!
She kneeled down in front of Flynn, looking straight at him with a determined epression. "I cannot imagine how hard this must be on you, Flynn." She said softly. "But, cruel as it may sound, you have to face it. There's nothing you can do about it now, just like there was nothing you could have done back then." She winced at his hurt expression. "I cannot help you, Flynn. I'm sorry..." she whispered. "But I think you should stop blaming yourself..." She sat down beside him again, staring off into nothing in special, apparently in deep thought.

------------------
As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

After a few moments, Flynn's breathing became calmer.

"I thought I understood that, then; but I still felt the burden. Later, when we were transported here to Cythera, I lost the rest of my family, although in a different way. At first, there was always the hope that we could somehow get back; but now, who knows how many centuries have passed there? There'd be no point; everyone we knew has long since turned to dust."

Flynn's voice had become gradually more certain as he spoke. He looked at Moonshadow speculatively.

"I wonder if you know what it's like; being cut off from all you know, all alone, knowing no-one, and finding nothing familiar? Perhaps you do, you're as much a foreigner here as I am. That's how I felt, when I appeared in the tavern. I needed a lifeline, and you gave it to me. Thankyou for that."

Flynn's attention returned to the smoking volcano.

"I also grew to trust Avatara. There was something he had, a presence; I can't define it, but if he were a General, I'd have followed him into Hell itself. I would've gladly died to save him!" Flynn sighed, and stared down at the ground. "Now you tell us he's dead, and from what I can remember, I have no reason to doubt you. I feel like the anchors of my world are being torn adrift; and I don't know which way the winds are blowing."


***OoC***
OK, I'm all done; you can wrap it up now if you like.
***BiC***

------------------
The only substitute for good manners, is fast reflexes.

The silence was shorter then they had both hoped for when a slight rumble in the rocks nearby noted that something was coming up from the ground. A small cave apeared from a under a rock. From that rock came a red troll. Upon seeing the two sitting there, the troll sprinted toward them. This troll was no ordinary troll, it was 8ft high and looked about 320lbs. It was wielding a long blue sword and a shield. The blue sword was as blue as the sky and looked as it had been made out of pure crystal. It had a shield on the opposite arm which was just as impressive. It appeared to have the picture of the dragon in the center but inside that was not solid, but different gems lined the interior section of the shield. The sheer weight of it would cause a human severe discomfort in holding it but this troll had enough strenth in its left arm to carry it with ease. Its helm looked like a demon face in its ferocity and the eyes of the troll made the appearance even more sinister. This was a more dangerous troll than had ever been seen before.

Moonshadow, though caught off guard, didnt let it show. She quickly enchanted her staff again with her icey spell and she casted a few fast bolts at the troll
The troll brought his shield up and easily blocked each shot. It was at this point that Flynn drew steel and charged the beast. His lighning fast furious attacks kept the troll on his toes with both shield and sword as he used both to protect his body. Ice attacks threw this off every once and a while and it was apparent with as many slashed that were getting through. After the 15th successful attack, the troll let out a furious war cry and started attacking with both sword and shield. The first shield swing took Flynn by surprize and smashed him in the head, sending him sprawling 5 yards to the right of the troll. When the troll started towards him, swinging the sword, Flynn, drew his other sword. It was merely an emergency sword but this constituted itself as an emergency.
A quick roll brought him out of range of the heavy downward swing the troll was making and a quick hop gave him an instant advantage as he got a nice shot at the troll's back. But before he could make a thrust, the troll whipped around and blocked the sword with its shield. Flynn let loose a faster flurry of attacks with both swords but surprizingly the troll kept up and let out a vicious slash along the belly line of Flynn as he was about to swing again.
Flynn fell back a few steps and droped his swords to grab his stomach area. As he fell to the ground, the troll advanced, determined to finish him off. It was about to do just that when all of a sudden his helm seemed charged with electric energy. It raced back and forth and all that could be heard was the extremely loud shrieking from the troll as it tried its damndest to get the charged helm off. Its struggles were pathetic as it stumbled around a bit mre while trying. Flynn took this as a cue and grabbed up the Troll's sword, which seemed cool to the touch and stabbed the beast deep in the chest. The troll looked at Flynn with a thankfull look as his screams died off, the electric surges continued for the next few seconds when the head exploded in the helm.
"what the hell?" Flynn asked immediately as he was wiping down his new sword
"I saw you fall. There was no other option, that helm was the only weak point for my magic" Moonshadow said quickly as she passed over the ground until she reached Flynn "the troll was on you so I cast the only magic that would work on that helm, a lightning one"
"And thats why it was shrieking, the helm made it pass through many times which was damaging his head" Flynn said with new realization
"Also the pressure inside its head was building to unbearable levels" Moonshadow said "I never wanted to cause him that much pain, thanks for taking it down so quickly"
"No problem" Flynn said as he collapsed to the ground and checked the gash that went right across the belly "Fortunately its not deep enough to complicate things but Id rather not move out just yet. Give it time to stop bleeding"
"No problem, let me help you with that" Moonshadow said as she pulled a sash from her pack and tore it a bit to make it longer and wrapped it around the gash on Flynn
"Should take a few hours before it stops but I want to look the mouth of that cave over a bit now instead of waiting, ok?" she asked as she stood up and charged her staff with cold energies instead of lightning ones.
"No problem, just dont go too far, we cant tell whether or not we will run into another one of those" he responded as he poked the sash "Nice and tight, should stop the bleeding in a couple hours"

Moonshadow nodded as she moved on towards the cave. As she peered in the edge she couldnt see anything. Before she entered she pulled out a torch and lit it with her fire magiks and hopped into the hole in the ground. The area was empty of people but the items here were astounding...

------------------
DesertFox: Once they go down, they really suck later
a topic about cheetos

[heh, DF: always going for the items Such a shame, though, that you have never felt emotion...but perhaps I just envy you]
[Ah, cr@p, I'll shut up about my life now]

As he sat, Flynn's thoughts came back to haunt him. The exitement of the fight, the immediate danger, was quickly wearing off. He sat, and tried to postpone the shade that was drifting over his heart.

* * * * *

Moonshadow stepped back out into the would of sun, and exclaimed to Flynn, "You won't believe what's in here! Piles upon piles of all sorts of magicall objects. Why, there must be an item for every purpose imaginable."

A shudder swept over the Elf as Flynn glanced over at her, such remorse in his eyes. "Is there anything that can make me forget the past?" he said. The shade had completely enveloped him.

Moonshadow's quickly forgot the treasure. "Come on, it's been enough time," she said. "Let's go back to camp." Flynn had no will left to reject.

* * * * *

Back at the camp, the group was pondering over the events that had happened. They wondered if they would see the dark elves again, and if the Methrikador had been stopped. But they're thoughts constantly turned back to Flynn, and what to do about the burden that had fallen on him.

Lindor sat just outside the group, staring far into the West. Without looking at the rest, he spoke with such certainty in his voice that no on could dipute him, "Flynn now stands on the edge of a drawn sword. To one side lies dispair. To the other: insanity. To falter at all can only result in death. We must help him walk that fine edge." He then fell silent for the rest of the day.

------------------
I am no one, and I am everyone. But most importantly, I am
The One And Only:
~Theo Nean Donly~

***OoC***
Hmm, so Flynn now has three magical swords. Pity he's only got two hands! Any tips on the properties of this one, DF, or can I develop it myself?

I was planning to start to bring Flynn out of his funk; but it seems to have caught the imaginations of some posters, so I'll let it go a little longer and give them room to work on it.

Oh, and please don't stray too far from that new cave just yet, I have an idea there that'll have to wait until Flynn's a bit better.
***BiC***

Flynn didn't respond to Moonshadow's suggestion; but neither did he resist, as she took him by the hand and led him back to camp. He probably wouldn't have made it back on his own, since he was no longer watching with his physical eyes. He was looking deep within his own tormented soul.

Everywhere he looked was black. Everywhere - except one tiny, far off speck of light that had come into existence. That light was one small grain of hope; perhaps unburdoning his soul to Moonshadow had done some good.

Flynn began his spiritual journey, keeping focused on the bright light at the end of the darkness.

------------------
The only substitute for good manners, is fast reflexes.

Desert Fox was in deep meditation in Cythera. He had stayed far away from most others to keep his mind clear of any emotion. His training required far more concentration than he ever gave it before. His grotto lair was deep in the ground with targets set all over the place. He closed his eyes and cast a dark spell which enveloped his entire mind and body. Unlike times before, DF didn't become overwhelmed by the power, he was in full control this time. The others that held his power before now had assisted him in his control methods. He would no longer become overtaken by the power within himself. the dark spell formed into many small bolts and struck out to each target, disintegrating each.
DF let out a small chuckle, he had improved his aim about 10x since he went hermit after his adventure in the other realm. Death takes its toll on one and sucking the energy takes the rest away. For a time DF had gone insane thinking about what he had done. He fell into the care of those around him that knew of his exploits in the Cytheran lands. They kept watch over his body in the fields and fed him if necessary. He told them to leave him in the field for fear of outlashes of traumatic power that could be released in an insane rage. The insanity had generally subsided and he was able to get into civilization some more.

He had a girl for a time in towns but he couldnt stay there. His spirit could not be bound to any one place. He bid her farewell one day and united her with a man that had been trying for her for several years. the joy he felt from that went along with him when he found the hole in the ground. It was a medium sized hole, he could fit easily into it. The cave inside was also medium sized, big enough to live in but not much else. DF had carved more of the cave out to train in and live in at same time.

DF spent more or less 3 years in that place, living off of animals and what he found in the forests. He crafted weapons and imbued them with dark power when he touched them. His sword from the treasure hunt had become his only real weapon though he did enjoy having his other. His charm which he drew power from stayed attached to his wrist, a very special charm. This helped him furthur control his power and eventually cured his insanity.

The darkness spoke to DF. He learned in that time how to speak to the shadows for evil that may lurk and lure in the pure. He was with Guelenthak when he led a troop of his men against a pack of wild demons that had been torturing townspeople in eastern Cythera. His spirit guided Guelenthak in his battles, allowing him to make pinpoint strikes and fight more couragously than he could naturally. His spirit was also with Flemban when he went on a crusade against the ice spirits of the northern caves. His men died off but with DF's help, Flemban found and destroyed the corrupt ice spirit and returned peace to the northern realm. DF had a hand in wars, taking out the corrupted leader's soldiers with strikes on moral and making them question the war they fought. Cytheran troops with victories that were so decisive it seemed that they waged war on sheep instead of armies were all assisted by DF in some way.

But with all this training of the mind and his magic, DF had lost most of his sword and fighting skills. His sword fighting was the level on a novice fighter and his blocking ability was only good when he enchanted his shield. But his magics more than made up for the loss of fighting skills.

The shadows told DF of a new group making its way out to find an unknown power. A power so great, it could shift the balance of the world. Avatara was one of the people he could discern out of them all and this intrigued DF. Only a noble heart could wield it without catastrophic results. DF noticed that all of them possesed the ability of holding it, but one of them was not noble. One had joined to steal the power and control this realm. DF's powers did not give him the actual identity of the evil one among the group but he was determined to keep the world from the evil it might fall to.

DF packed light, over his hermit years he learned how to hunt the wild and eat good on foot. He used a rarely used teleportation power to bring him to the volcanic mountain, to a cave that led both up to the surface, and down to a fiery pit of the mountain. His spell wore his magic out significantly but he still had a lot left. As he reached the surface, he met with two adventurers who immediately drew their weapons
"Crud, not only do we have a troll but we have a smelly troll minion man too" Moonshadow called out as she cast a fast ice spell. She and Flynn had journeyed back towards the cave to investigate a bit. Flynn seemed to be in a daze a bit and out of it as he sat while she went to see the treasure again.
DF moved admirably as he countered the spell, switched location with a confuse spell, and cast his own dark magic to knock Moonshadow to the ground
"Nice attack but a little slow" DF called out with a chuckle "I am not your enemy. Well, maybe I am but this remains to be seen. I am here to offer my services to your group for your mission for the power"
Moonshadow and Flynn looked at each other incrediously
"You..you..you just came out of the cave after the troll" Moonshadow stammered as she pulled herself to her feet
"I used a rare technique to get myself here, I wore my mind out doing so. I am just here to help, refuse it and I will go for it myself, but not as your friend" DF responded as he sat on the ground
Moonshadow, still agitated from being thrown on the ground, cast an extreme ice attack. DF saw this immediately and cast a dark bolt. The bolt not only shattered the attack but it also hit her and knocked her down again.
"Not believing me yet?" DF said, a bit more agitated this time "I have not attacked you, I have merely defended myself from agression from you. Continue on this and you will find yourself in a world of trouble"
"How can we trust you?" Flynn asked before Moonshadow could say anything "We just met you and you have just embarrassed the hell out of her"
"Avatara trusted me, more than once. I never went back on my word, even when it meant dying to protect him" DF said on a somber note
"Died?!" Moonshadow said with a slight snicker "How did you die when you are standing here?"
"Wait!!" Flynn immediately said "Avatara told me a bit about a warrior who would do anything to keep his word. His death was to protect him but the evil that killed him got greedy and died to restore his life. This is another one of those adventurers from that quest. Not just any one too"
"Yes, you are on the right track, just follow it a bit more" DF said with a big smile stretching across his face
"You must be...Desert Fox" Flynn said quickly, with so much excitement that he forgot about his wound
"Correct" DF said with a clap "and hopefully that makes me trustworthy of you two too"
Moonshadow, after thinking for a few minutes, decided for herself
"I must apolgize for my behavior" she said "it was totally unneccessary"
"Heh, I might have appeared a demon. Those pesky things followed us on the early leg in that mission" DF said with many laughs "If that were the case, I would have attacked myself until I was on the ground dead. You have no need to be ashamed, you were trying to protect yourself from the unknown"
"That's funny" Moonshadow said with a couple laughs herself
"Yes, just talk with Rogan, he has troll tales for you. Now for that wound" DF pulled a small vial from his vest that covered his armor "Just rub this on your wound, Avatara made it as an instant salve to heal wounds in battle. this is an actual one, not one of my copies. I try, I am ok but nowhere as good as he is"
"Thanks, this is very generous" Flynn said as he rubbed the salve on
The wound bound miraculously fast and it surprized even Moonshadow as she saw its effectiveness
"no way, it couldn't have worked that fast" Moonshadow said, trying to rub the memory into her eyes
"Heh, ask Avatara, he made it" DF said "Now, are we going to just stand around or shall we continue?"
"Lets gather the gems and gold from that stash first" Moonshadow said as she started over that direction
"Leave it. Gold means nothing. Find what is only the most necessary for your needs. Otherwise you will get bogged down with frivilous items" DF said with caution
"Huh, leave it?!! Are you insane?" Flynn asked with a bit of venom in his voice
"No, Im used to this kind of adventuring, carrying all that will tire you easier, let it go and you will be fine" DF said with a finality in his tone
Both Flynn and Moonshadow followed him back into the hole in which they hunted the piles and found only unnecessary weapons and gold in the piles
"These could fetch riches untold in any town" Flynn noted as he passed them by
"you acts will be the only thing you have at all times. If you have gold, it will go, weapons will go, magic will go, acts of valor will remain forever" DF said with deep satisfaction
"Do you just like to hear your own voice?" Moonshadow asked sarcasticly
"Ive gotten used to it but I do enjoy others piping in too" DF responded, with the same sarcastic tone "Lets head on down"
The two adventurers now followed DF down into the depths of the volcano.


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DesertFox: Once they go down, they really suck later
a topic about cheetos


[This message has been edited by Desert Fox (edited 10-19-2001).]

Moonshadow stared at Desert Fox thoughtfully. She did remember having heard stories about him... she quickened her pace a little to catch up with him. "You know, before we continue deeper into the vulcano, we should at least inform our friends."
She stopped walking, and Flynn and DF did, too.
"They would be worried about us otherwise..." she glanced over at DF and grimaced. "Besides it would really be pleasant if you could wash yourself, at least a little. Humans may not have that problem, but elven noses are usually rather sensitive to such stench." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking DF up and down.
"He really annoyed you, didn't he?" Flynn asked, which brought him a sour look from Moonshadow. He smiled a little. "But I must admit, she's right." He added, turning his attention to DF, and noticed that the other man was giving him a simliarly sour look as well. "So?"
"Well, I would prefer hurrying on." DF said, looking dow the corridor.
"Well, then go alone." Moonshadow said decidedly. "I'm not going in there with just two companions." the thought of the Methrikador made her shiver. "And besides, Sasha will have my head if I don't bring Flynn back in one piece."
"Well, that being the case, we'd better go back first." Flynn couldn't help but smile.
DF pondered for a while, but then nodded his head. "Agreed. It would only be half as much fun to annoy you without seeing your indignated expression."
Flynn laughed. Moonshadow grimaced at both of them before turning around, heading back towards the camp. DF gave Flynn a questioning look. He shrugged, and both followed Moonshadow back out of the volcano.

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As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

[This message has been edited by Moonshadow (edited 10-19-2001).]