Medieval/Fantasy

[My email doesn't work anymore]

Havin chucked his bow and lunged at the portal but struck just as it closed up. Frantically he stood there trying to prepare a spell to find where it led but realized quickly that he wouldn't be able to track any portal created by something other than Shadow Arts. He dropped down to his knees on the floor disbelieving he had been so easily defeated. Havin clutched the sides of his head knowing his small stupid mistake could possibly bring an end to the work of generations of Roalds and the human race of the Surface.

Suddenly he felt the presence of a second portal opening up somewhere nearby. Havin knew it could be his father or brothers but he didn't care. He couldn't face any of them now under this sort of devistation. Still shaking with nervousness at what he was about to do Havin opened a new portal and uttered a spell that had been strictly forbidden by his father to ever use. All of his skin suddenly felt like it was burning and freezing at the same time as he clenched his teeth to keep himself from screaming.

When the sensation ceased Havin relaxed, still breathing heavily, and glanced into the large mirror across the room. His reflection staring back possesed ash black skin, pure white hair and all the other features of a Dark Elf. Havin already regretted transfiguring himself this way but it was pretty much necessary where he was going. Taking a deep breath he walked through the portal and ended up in a town near the palace somewhere in the Drow realm. It was the last place Havin wanted to be but it was his duty to protect the Heir of Hjary and his search had to start somewhere

*****

Diae's lips curled into a cruel delighted smile as she drew her sword and dismounted. "Excellent work Demith. I had my doubts earlier but now you've truly proven your loyalty." Taking her blade the queen severed a small lock of her hair and handed it to Thawheneb's apprentice. It was an old Drow tradition to show a great deal of gratitude and trust.

She then turned and placed the tip of her sword under the boy's chin threateningly if not mockingly. "As for you William Hjary just be gracious that this is not the time nor place for me to properly deal with you. Demith, have this scum chained up with the rest of the slaves and have the lot of them kept here under heavy guard during battle." With that Diae left a slash across the human's cheek and remounted her horse saluting Demith.

*****

Ke'vra sighed and relaxed staring up at the ceiling. Recieving kindness was something she was quite unaccustomed to and sincerely had no idea how to react to Gerju's willingness to heal her. She tried to remember how she had got here. All she could recall was breaking into Griswah to get Havin out of prison. Then trying to get to William with him until she sensed... "No!" Ke'vra shouted suddenly bolting upwards. But the pain in her torso was still raw and she winced laying back down.

Growling to herself Ke'vra gripped her forehead in annoyance "Oh terrific how could I have let that rat get escape me like that!"

[Heero007]

((I will be gone for 7-10 dyas starting tomorrow. I am sorry but I do not have enough time to post right now, I will post as soon as I get back though.))

[My email doesn't work anymore]

((Ok, thanks for lettin' me know))

[Heero007]

As Jamitre took his position on the wall he felt as though lightning had struck him. He froze for a few moments as he realized what it meant, one of his family members had used the Drow transfiguration spell. He cursed foully under his breath as he recalled that only he, Havin, and Gerju knew the spell. Of the three of them only one would use it, and then only if he had no choice, and that person was Havin.

The older brother shook his head. His father had encouraged them to choose one of their many siblings as a telepathic partner so if one was endanger the other could find him/her and bring them back to safety. The problem was that was only the "mind-linking" as their father had put it, could also cause injury should one die, but that depended upon how strong the linking had been.

He sighed and looked at what would become the field of battle, inevitably his father would pick up on the spell Havin had used. Jama knew his father would be in a foul mood, and he doubted that his father would use the spell himself, considering the fact that reversing it could cost one's life.

* * *

Demith put the Queen's lock of hair in a special pocket on his belt. All Dark Elves had one of the magicly protected pockets on them for just this rare occurance. He followed the Queen's orders and shackled the young boy with the rest of the slaves as he took up his position next to Thawheneb. He could tell that his master was proud of him, though he knew the great general would never say that aloud.

Thawheneb looked at his troops. "Forward march!" he ordered. The thundering footsteps of the army would be heard by the enemy, and it would be a glorious day. The last great Elven city from the time of the First would be plunged into darkness and their would be no recovery. All the Drow had fought for in the past centuries hung in the balnce here, if they crushed Griswah the Elves would be forced into pockets of rebllions. With no where to mount their forces for a military challenge.

* * *

Gerju looked at Kev'ra. "So their was another Drow in the city." he asked, still in the process of healing her, a process that could drain life from the person doing the healing, depending on how long it took to complete the healing.

[My email doesn't work anymore]

An hour passed and Havin still had no lead as to where William could be. And now his skin crawled with spasms of pain after being completely transfigured in such a dangerous form for so long. He knew his family members could have easily detected what he had done but it didn't matter. The truth was that Havin's father had threatened death to any sons than went against his word. Though he'd never done it before the younger Roalds knew Arnond would easily put his beliefs before his family. Havin figured that if he already single-handedly brought the entire Hjary legacy so far in danger then he would have to risk the threat to try to recover it.

Havin stopped short in his tracks halfway through an underground passage. It suddenly felt as if he were being followed. Whispering a small conjuraion of protection he reached for his crossbow only to remember it was merely ashes now. He tried looking around for the presence of another but his vision was still poor even while transfigured. Carefully he listened but heard only small rips of water echoing from farther back in the passage.

Suddenly he felt an enourmous blow to the stomach and fell hard to the wet stone floor. Shouting he scrambled for his pack of arrows but got cut short as needle-like talons clawed at his head and throat. After a few moments he stopped struggling and the creature stopped attacking but kept it's painful grip.

It sniffed the air loudly and spoke with a low snarl "You may appear to be one of my Kin but the scent of your blood tells me differently."

*****

Arnond stared down at Griswah from the rooftop where his portal had opened. There was no sign of his son or the Heir anywhere. He too had felt the warning that one of his own had used the forbidden spell and did not want to believe it. Mumbling to himself angrily Arnond worked his way down to the streets and approached General Theningwanur.

"I trust Jamaitre has already expressed his interest in fighting alongside your Kin. This may not be my place to ask Thenin but I have to know are the rumors true? I've heard from many sources that you have close ties with our enemie's general."

*****

Diae smiled cruelly to herself as the large city appeared in the distance. It gave her a sort of amusement imagining that all that would remain of the toweing metropolis by nightfall would be a flattened landscape of blood and ash. And then there would be no force great enough to prevent her from taking all of Kretog under her absolute rule. She toyed in her mind the most ideal method of destruction but her mind always flickered back to her father's threat.

The Queen shook her head and reminded herself that the most important thing was removing Quixon from the city quietly with as little disturbance as possible. Diae snarled to herself that she wouldn't see the King burn with the rest of his Surface Kin. Still it would be difficult to pull off the task without drawing attention to why she needed him slaughtered separately.

Cursing her father's name she began to prepare a powerful spell of obedience that not even the King of the Light Ones, her only equal in might, could resist.

*****

Ke'vra nodded still furious at herself. She could think more clearly now that the poisons were almost completely removed from her system.

"Yes there was another of my kind within Griswah. One I've been hunting unsuccessfully for decades now. And I fear Demith was there only for Hjary. I fear even more for Havin would be no match against that rat if he didn't get to he boy first."

She sighed and watched Gerju heal the poisonous wound and how much it was taking its toll on him. "I don't understand Gerju. Why are you doing this for me when it has such a risk of harming your life?"

[Heero007]

Jamaitre looked at the mass formations of the Dark Elven Army that was approaching and could onyl shake his head. It looked like their were at least one hundred thousand troops on the ground, but that could be explained as an illusion created by any one of the illusion spells Jama knew. He sighed as he put three arrows on his string, this was a battle that would almost inevitably end in the favor of the Drow, but there was still a chance, no matter how small, that their advantage could be used against them.

He could only hope that he would find out how to do that before it was too late.

* * *

Thenin looked at Arnond and nodded. "It is true Arnond, he is my nephew." he sighed and shook his head looking away. "All because of one Elf who wanted to bring down my family when my brother and his wife were merely talking abour trying to reunite our races." he paused and looked at the ground. "The traitor is dead no but that is of little matter now. I tried to convince the king to have mercy on my brother and his wife but he would not. Even when the traitor admitted that we were only talking about trying to reconcile with our darker kin."

The great general looked at the sky. "My brother, in his anger, cursed the king and the Surface Elves saying that one day Griswah would fall." he paused yet again and gave a great sigh of regret. "They took that as proof that he was dark, and then they said the final words of the Banishing spell and the hatred consumed him. He became the General of the Dark Elven army and was one of the founders of the Valderin Arts after becoming a master of the Dark Arts." He looked at his friend. "You may ask how I know this Arnond, it is simply because I am a telopath, and one who was linked to my brother. When his child was born he named him Thawheneb, the Corrupt Eye is his name meaning, and trained him in the Valderin Arts. Then one of our armies marched on the temple and killed my brother and sister-in-law."

He waited a few moments as he finished his story before continuing. "But know this, not once have I ever let family ties get in the way of performing my duties, and I don't intend to start letting them now."

* * *

Thawheneb looked at the great walled city, the last city in existence that would soon be dust. He smiled evilly to himself. "I will avenge my blood father's death today." he said as he watched his men contue the march.

Demith heard Thawheneb and nodded, he tended to be at the great general's side as he severed the head of the last remaining general of the Hjarian Era. He looked at the troops, the warriors who would die today who had not been trained as he had. He did not pity them, in fact if one got in his way he would cut that person down without a second thought. He would do whatever was necessary to defeat the enemy, even if he had to take a few lives of his own kin to do so.

* * *

Gerju finally finished healing her before he could respond, all of the color drained from his face. "Because unlike my the rest of my kin I don't believe that all of the Drow are evil." he said as he grasped the side of the healing bed so he could remain standing. "I believe that the Drow still have some good left in them, despite what we may think, that they are cold and heartless people and have no emotions at all. I do not believe all of the Drow are mindless butchers who want to see everyone dead." he sighed. "I may be wrong in some aeas of my theory, but I also believe that I am right in others."

He looked at Kev'ra. "If any Dark Elf has proved that it is you." he said. "You did not simply kill Havin when you were celled with him, you helped him escape and then you tried to stop this Demith from capturing the Heir." Gerju's brow furrowed in concentration. "What is so important about Demith any way?"

[My email doesn't work anymore]

Havin shut his eyes tightly and released a light spell once again. The light engulfed the passage's inky darkness and the creature crumpled in pain letting go of Havin's head and clutched at its eyes desperately. Despite the ebbing pain Havin struggled to keep the light active as long as possible. Luckily his transfiguration didn't effect his sensitivity to light. He turned and saw that his attacker resembled the Drow from earlier. Furiously he grabbed at the elf's collar and slammed him up again the nearest wall completely forgetting his pain.

"Tell me who you are!" he snarled "And what have you done with Hjary?!"

But slowly the Drow's fangs, wings and other features began to disintegrate and Havin could see that it wasn't who he was looking for. Realizing his mistake he let the limp elf drop to the ground, extinguished the light and continued down the passage.

"Wait." the Drow said as Havin stopped and turned to see him struggling to his feet. "Hjary... I know that name. And I think I can help you..."

*****

Diae summoned the two blades of the the Dark Arts and fused them together with ease. Then the Queen used her mastery to fuse the Heturtenm sword with her own Blade of Seraphims to form an new elegant but deadly Black Widow sword. Raising it high she made a quick downward motion slicing the blade through the air. Suddenly darkened clouds began rolling out in skies making it difficult to spot the Dragonic Elves up above. Diae's eyes flashed briefly in the sunlight just as it became blanketed by the foreboding clouds.

Already she could see the expressions of the Light Elves guarding the wall shift from confidence to worry as one of their advantages was taken. Grinning she let her hood down and eyed Thawheneb waiting for his order to attack.

*****

Arnond listened to his comrad's story with torn feelings of sympathy and disgust. He didn't like the idea of such a simple peaceful idea turning into such a tragedy but he was convinced that anyone with such thoughts deserved to be stripped of the living world. It would never happen under any circumstances.

He simply nodded and looked down upon the approaching horde "I am glad to hear it Thenin. In the end it does not matter who your family is. Simply whether they are friend foe."

The eldest Roald clutched the staff of his scythe causing a flow of energy to store up in the blade prepared to strike once a target came in close distance. It had been too long since he'd last slain a Dark One and much would be needed today if he was going to satisfy the hatred and fury Gerju had caused him.

*****

Ke'vra sat up on the healing table relieved that the pain was finally gone. But she still had no idea what to say. Gerju had shown her a great deal of kindness which she was completely unaccustomed to recieving. No one had ever done her such a favor for he was right, the majority of the Drow would've used her dying body to test out a freshly sharpened blade. At the same time it made her feel a new connection to Gerju that she couldn't understand.

She sighed and answered his inquery "Demith? I barely know where to begin. I began a hunt of sorts many years ago. To do away with the one "dark angel", mentioned in the prophecy, that would be able to successfully cause the downfall of the Reincarnated King Hjary. At this point I've slain literally hundreds of my cursed Kin that are part of a little-known Dark Angel caste. Demith is one of them and the only that has escaped my grasp time and time again. In know there's a chance more still exist out there but I'm afraid that Demith is the one mentioned in the prophecy."

Still a bit unsteady Kevra stood and took a long black feather from her pack. "This was from King Marsethius' Dark Angel form. It is vital to my hunt for with it I can call all the Drow of the caste within a certain area to transform. Today the Drow march on the Surface in the greatest number ever known to Kretog. That is why I must get back to Griswah immediately..."

[Heero007]

Jama pulled his bow off of his back. Unlike Havin, who used a crossbow, Jama used a classical bow better. He sighed and shook his head, that was just one of their differences, other than the fact that he would never use the forebidden spell, whereas Havin had.

Jamaitre remembered then one of his families weapons, a special bow given to them by William Hjary the Great. If there was one thing in the world about their ancestry that Arnond did not know it was that one of their ancestors had been a Hjary, but one who had renounced their right to the throne and had married a peasant.

It was a closely gaurded secret and one that Jama's great grandfather had known and passed onto Jama in his dying breath, making him promise to never tell his father or brothers. If Jama died today the secret would end with him, and no one would know it except the Heir.

Jama sighed and muttered a few words, calling forth the Phoenix bow. He put a single arrow on the string as he heard Theningwanur's Telopathic command; Fire at the sides of the formation and get them to bunch up in the middle. Then we will use the Trebuchts we have to kill as many as possible.

Jama nodded and aimed on the left flank of the enemy, releasing the arrow before the others. He watched as it appeared to break, but really was seperating into many small, razor sharp pieces. He watched as it continued to grow more and more until it hit the first row, a fact confirmed by the numerous explosions heard, another of the bow's special properties.

Then the Elves opened fire, the Battle of Griswah had begun.

* * *

Thawheneb snarled as he looked at the city. "Attack!" he shouted, the tip of his sword pointing towards the wall of Griswah. He narrowed his eyes as he saw an ever growing number of sharp objects grow. He cursed foully under his breath, the Phoenix Bow, he knew, had been fired.

He watched as they hit his troops and the started bunching in toward the center. "Hold the line!" he threatened. "Or the Surface scum will be the least of your problems." He watched at the second volley of arrows were fire and an part of another rank fell victim to the arrow without even wincing. This was the mark of a true Dark Elven General, there is no emotion only war.

Demith followed his master's commands. "Hold the line you cowards!" he shouted from his position in the line. He would kill these fools and take Griswah himself if he wasn't under orders to command them, not kill them. They were pitiful excuses for warriors, these fools would not have survived the first five minutes of his training with Thawheneb.

William Hjary sat with the other slaves, snarling at the Drow. He looked over at the slave who was chained up next to him. "Do you want to be free?" he asked quietly.

The slave laughed. "There is no freedom. The Drow will find us, kill us, and then feed us to their beasts. And that's just the men. The fate for women is worst."

"But we could be free." Hjary said, noticing that he still wore the ring of the Heir. It did something, he knew, he just didn't know what it did.

* * *

Gerju listened to Kev'ra as the color returned to his face, along with his strength. "Alright then, let's go." he said, unknowingly offering his hand to her to help her off the table. It was second natured, and most of the time when he did it Gerju was not even aware of it, or how to Drow it could be taken as an insult.

[My email doesn't work anymore]

Havin followed the other but stayed poised to summon the swords of the Shadow Arts if needed. Normally he wouldn't trust a Drow but he had no other idea where to search in these foreign lands. The walk seemed endless journeying through passage after passage. He reminded himself that most buildings in the Dark Elven realm were like icebergs. Small portions appeared above the Surface but the majority was hidden deep beneath the ground in the Underdark. During his years as a slave the youngest Roald had seen very little sunlight and had had become deathly pale, with the exceptions of his many beating scars, before he returned to his own realm.

Finally the Elf began up a stairwell that seemed to be emitting a weak fire light from higher up. Havin grunted as the pain continued to build as they climbed to an opening at the top. Beyond the entrance was a cavern larger and more lavihly decorated than Havin could have expected underground. He couldn't help but gape at the gradeur of the place. "What the...where are we?"

"This is just one of the recesses in the Palace of the Underdark. Here...put this on"

Havin coughed as a dusty garment was chucked at his face. He unrumpled it and saw it was some simple hooded robe similar to what the other Drow was wearing. "What's your name anyways?" he asked sliding the garment over his head.

"Just call me Torigan. How about you?"

"Er...Havin"

"Hmm. Stupid name."

"Well your's is no sonnet either."

*****

Diae rode past the fast dropping soldiers without a care. Regular untrained soldiers were beneath peasants and servants in her eyes. Most were just unskilled men who had no other choice for a way of life. Not even under Thawheneb's direction would they be of much use accept brute force. Looking up at the wall's egde a handful of archers were aiming at the Dragonic Elves up above but with no gain. Teguyt's troops were highly agile and easily resisted the assault. At least her allies were of some use.

The Queen cast an Aura of Flame around herself and all the soldiers within the invisible barrier surrounding her sudden caught flame to their armor and scatterd in panic. Grasping her steed's reins she souted a command and it sped towards the city gates. The sudden spread of flames surrounding her caused the soldiers to scatter and form an easy path to the wall. Upon arriving Diae summoned the same dome of force she had used the day before and with one large burst of white lighting the gates of Griswah were reduced to cinders.

Grinning and grabbing her blade Diae dismounted her horse and strode through the gates. All the Light Elves that attempted to attack the queen burst into flame as soon as they got close enough to the Aura. The onlooking Surface-dwellers could only back away in fear and try to prevent the soldiers from passing through the enormous gap in the wall. She smiled evily eying the king's dwelling in the distance. It was these events that made her glad to be the Chosen of the Gods

*****

Ke'vra stared at the hand and scowled. Normally it was an insulting Drow gesture to show another they considered them weak. But Gerju was no Drow so she just ignored it completely and slid from table grasping the feather. She tried to hide the fact she was forming feelings for him by resuming to her usual nasty temprement. "Well, you're supposed to be the portal summoner thingy here. You get us out there."

[My email doesn't work anymore]

*drops phoenix down on the thread*

[Heero007]

Jamaitre watched the gate disappear and sighed. He fastened his bow securely to his back and then drew his swords as he jumped off of his section of the wall. He landed lightly on his feet as he spun on his heel, cutting a Drow's head off. Thenin there are far too many Drow to win this battle. We must retreat if we are to survive. He sent to Theningwanur as he slew another Drow, working his way back towards Thenin's position.

Tneningwanur nodded grimly as Jama's message, he knew all too well that the battle was lost. I know Jama, but we must hold out for another few minutes before we flee. That message he sent to Jama, the next would be to all in his command. Men fall back and form one line, we must hold for a few more minutes, then we will retreat so that we can be of service to Hjary. He knew that this message would send many to their deaths. But he would have to take that chance.

* * *

Thawheneb sighed and kicked his horse forward, killing all the Light Elves who dared to get in his way. He wanted to kill his uncle and have his revenge for what Theningwanur had done to his own brother. He would cut him open, making sure that he was at least somewhat alive and then he would twist his innards. He would make sure it lasted as long as possible, and that he was as miserable as possible before he died.

Demith rodeat the side of his master, slaying any light elf that his master missed. Thawheneb had dreamed about killing his unlce for years, destroying Griswah while he was at it. Now that dream was a possibility, if he didn't get killed first. Demith smiled as he watched one of Tegyut's troops breathed fire on one of the Surface Scum, smiling at the pain he saw on the man's face. So far none of Teguyt's troops had been killed, and the Light Elves did not have any Dragonic Elves helping them. The battle would end in the hands of the Drow and Griswah would be gone.

Demith looked around for the Queen and saw her, he kicked his horse in her direction, leaving his master. He saw the power around her and smiled inwardly, the Chosen could not be touched, unless there was one who could break her spell. There was only one potenial weakness to the shield, it would not attack any Drow who rode beside her. If a traitorious Drow rode by her side then he or she could kill her, but Demith would not betray her, years of service to her and his devotion to their people, as well as his master's training.

* * *

Gerju looked at Kev'ra and scruntinized her carefully, then thought better of it, thinking of the insult that Drow could take by it, and bit back his words. "Fine." he grumbled under his breath, knowing that she could be as potentially stubborn and harded as he. He muttered a few words, but the portal wouldn't open. He cursed foully and then muttered the words again taking them to a different area of Griswah and it opened. "Cured battle most be going on there." he said and then looked at Kev'ra again. "Ladies first."

[My email doesn't work anymore]

Torigan led Havin furthur in until they reached what he quickly realized was the slave chambers. Scowling remorsefully the Drow unlocked a room that was packed to the brim with clothes, trunks, baskets and then some. Along the wall was what seemed to be an infinite colection of drawers of varying sizes. Torigan scanned these until her reached for a rather small one and fished around the contents.

"When the soldiers and slavers bring in a fresh batch of Surface Scum this is where we rid them of their clothes and possessions before they're branded and given their uniform." He pulled out something on a small but thick gold chain. "I couldn't help but remember this trinket. It was the week after the anihilation of the human's capital. I'd finished with the endless new lot that was brought back and when I thought it was over with the Chosen Queen herself came down carrying a human babe then left only saying to find a slave woman to take care of him."

Havin took the trinket and examined it in the weak candlelight. It seemed to be a simple gold locket with the Hjary emblem intwined with the phoenix on one side. He turned it and stared at the engraving of a single word. William.

*****

The Queen's eyes went wide with an expression practically that of insane amusement. Everywhere the Surface Scum had begun to pull back as her own forces made their way through the gap. But they'd left the gates of the Palace of Dawn unprotected and vunerable. Up in one of hte high towers Diae could spot the King's solomn figure watching down on the fray. Today you'll finally get what you deserve Quixon

Diae's head whipped around as soon as she felt something pierce through the barrier. "Demith!" she exclaimed as Thawheneb's apprentice slid through the aura with ease. "How did you...!?" then she remembered the one loophole in her spell. "Nevermind." she murmured directing her attention back towards the tower. "Say Demith," the queen muttered "Are we perhaps close enough that you'd be able to create a portal that could reach there?" she asked gesturing to where the Light Elve's ruler resided.

*****

Ke'vra only nodded and stepped through. Once she'd stepped through the Drowess landed in some now abandoned quarter of the city. The battle was barely audible in the distance but she couldn't see any of it. Spotting the tallest building in the area she hustled over and began climbing the vines growing up the exterior.

Upon reaching the top and moving towards the center she had to take a step back a bit for the sight was painful. What had been the peaceful wall surrounding the mighty city was now a blackened, smouldering landscape with both Light Elves and Drow slaughtering each other by the thousands and the Dragonics spewing their flame from above. Taking a deep breath she drew the feather and her dagger.