Wizards of Breol Forest [PG-13/Started/Accepting/IC]

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Having heard the sound of an angry bear behind him, Alaster had immediately turned about to find Toklo now almost the size of a full-grown bear and quite angry about something. Within half a second his weapon was wreathed in flames and he'd assumed a fighting stance set to allow him to quickly counter an attack which came his way. Then Mel woke up and called the bear off, which brought him quickly shrinking down back to the size of a bear cub. A moment's explanation later, and the little one was on watch with him. Not exactly one to enjoy being watched, the Battlemage returned his gaze to the window so as to be able to see any sort of threat coming their way.

A bump at his leg brought his attention down to the ground, only to find the bear cub at his leg again. Shifting his weapon over to his left hand, he reached his right down to gently scratch behind the little creature's ears before projecting his own telepathic message. [i]No I understand. Trust me he's more likely to put himself in danger than anything else, jumping headlong into combat when he doesn't even wear armor.[/i]

Reaal's comment brought his attention back to what he should be doing, and to that end he nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'll wake you when it's your shift." Alaster then once more returned his attention to the window, for now he'd let Mel sleep as he was doing so. Beatrice would probably not be very happy about having had him fall asleep and use her as a pillow after all.

[Love of Ghibli]

With eyes slowly blinking open the fainted princess and her pet cat started to wake-up vaguely. It was then that had gathered the obvious information about the cub and the new Alaster. New Alaster was impressive, she immediately felt a weight on her shoulder and she looked to her shoulder and there she saw Mel...sleeping. Her face now mortified as she stared at new Alaster trying to figure out what happened. However awkward this was though she didn't make any move to wake the sleeping Mel. He was gentle in this space. it was odd to say the least as she tapped on Silvest head and the cat familiar woke up slightly groggy and annoyed that someone had disturbed his slumber. Of course he awoke to find a bear next to him and another human attached to his human.

He blinked a couple of times and looked up at Beatrice as to figure out why in the world is there a bear here. Beatrice's increasingly red face and eyes looking everywhere revealed that she clearly didn't know what happening. He looked around to try to gather information on what was happening. That wasn't really working out so he just decided to ask. [color=#800080]What exactly did we miss?[/color] Beatrice on the other hand was just looking at everyone and pointing to Mel's sleeping face as to she is clearly looking for an explanation.

[Aix]

Jak regarded the lights and colors that enveloped his friends with interest, though Alaster’s transformation was rather startling. He reached out towards a particular grimoire that drew his attention and upon contact with the hard leather cover, sparks burst out followed by a torrent of darkness that engulfed him, encasing him in a pitch black sphere. Images flew past him, burning orange constellations of five of the first Signweavers, each showcasing a basic handsign which they had created and mastered. The basic hand signs that formed the start and foundation of each spell, and were spells in their own right. Though the masters disappeared almost the instant they appeared, each sign was ingrained into his mind, burned into his brain like a fiery brand. As the darkness dissipated, Jak dropped to his knees from shock. Selena went to help him, but he had already come to his senses. As he stood up, eager to try out his newfound power. With a quick sequence of three hand signs and a gesture telling something to rise, a wall of crushed rock burst out from the stone floor in front of him. After three more quick signs, he thrust his right palm forwards and the little wall exploded with incredible force. He looked at his smoking palm in wonder.
“‘This is amazing,’ he says,” said the hat. Jak turned to his friends. “‘I’ll take the watch after Reaal, then,’ he says.” With that, he set up his bedroll and settled down, with Selena following suit beside him.
[hr]It took him forever to fall asleep, far too excited, but eventually he did and morning came soon after. Beatrice appeared to have gotten up as well, but the rest were fast asleep. [i]"You collapsed after you received your magic. Remember?"[/i] he mindspoke, as his hat was still asleep. [i]"You missed my awesome magic,"[/i] he said ruefully.

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Mel pulled himself awake. He saw Beatrice looking at Toklo with a rather odd expression on her face, and he quickly filled her in. Toklo nuzzled up to Silvest and began conversing with him. Stretching, Mel woke up Reeal and En and said; "We better get moving. Nekrom could be building his forces even more. Toklo. Let Beatrice up." Toklo had shifted himself to sit on Beatrices lap as he conversed with Silvest, but hearing Mels voice, he headbutted Silvest and Beatrice and trotted over.

The group trudged down the tower, and after some directional advice from Toklo and Evesilith, the group progressed further into the forest.

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"My lord Nekrom, they found the Tower of O'neron. What do we do?" A black-robed man kneeled before Nekrom, high in the obsidian tower. Nekrom held a black crystal ball in his hand, and in it he saw the group plowing through some thorny bushes, with En and Alastar hacking them apart after getting stuck in them. Mel didnt escape the thorns either, although he had gracefully burned his way out whereas En and Alastar were busy cutting. Beatrice and Reeal were standing back, trying pretty hard not to laugh at the boys predicament. Toklo and Evesilith on the other hand were rolling...at least, as well as snake can roll, on the ground with laughter. "Remove them." Nekrom said, his voice and breath rattling. "Send...Rautar after them."
"Yes my lord Nekrom. Rautar will be happy to have a new mission. But wouldnt you rather send Jack?"
"Jack...the Shifty. No...he has...better things to take care of....like Julia. Send Jack to the hidden city of the Elves."

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"Yaku my lord. We have news. The tower of O'neron has been discovered." "And the riddle?" "Awnsered." A pale, hunched man sat on a throne of marble. He was completely bald, and had slightly tapered ears. "By whom? Julia?" "No...a group of travelers, with her blessing. They aim to oppose Nekrom." Another pale man was knelt before the throne. He had a longspear in his hand, and wore armor of black. Although this ones skin had a blue tint to it.
Yaku stayed silent, puzzling over what to do. "I see. Send a force to them to assist in the assault of Nekroms tower. We may as well assist them now that O'nerons tower has been found."
The other man rushed off with the news. Yaku stood up, producing a cane from his black cloak, and walked over to a window.

Looking out, he said: "For the first time in centuries, Tuayu, the city in the sky, will be engaged in warefare...I had hoped to never fight another war after the incident with the All-Devourer, and Nekrom. But I am Yaku. Ruler of the Syron Race, and O'nerons successor. I will fight to the death if I must..." Yaku continued muttering to himself, as all over the cloud city of Tuayu, the Djinns, Syrons, and Air Spirits prepared for war.....

[Astolfo]

En trudged through the forest with some mild complaints when a meaty THUD! that slammed down right near him almost knocked him off his feet. "GUYS! BATTLE STANCES!" En yelled out. A dull greenish fiend standing about 12 feet tall blocked the way. [i]Jeez. Super-regen to everything except strong acids, magic, or fire. It's got a giant hammer too, that only strong beings could use. Unfortunately, this seems to be one of them.[/i] En muttered to his fellow friends with his mind. [i]A complete destruction can be regenerated by this guy in about 10 minutes. Sword slashes will heal in seconds. Looks like magic seems to be our only choice. Doesn't seem like anyone brought any chemistry sets or matches with them?[/i]

As his friends faced off the deadly creature, En started to whisper some words of power. [i]Deos hujus mundi, benedícat nobis viribus tuis, et ineamus vincere hoc troglodytam plane sine amittendi aliquos amicos. Gods of this World, bless us with your strength, and let us defeat this troll utterly without losing any friends. [/i]Once En said those words, he charged up his blade, and started slashing the very air, sending a salvo of lightning bullets at the Troll. [i]I just hope 'cold' fire works as well.[/i] The troll let out a guttural cry when it was struck, and En could see bad damage, but as he looked, the wounds started sealing up slowly. [i]Good god... this is bad... hope the others can help more...[/i] Slightly weakened, although nowhere near weakened, En let out his tentacles of lightning, and surged forward, slashing and stabbing with both swords and tentacles. En bombarded the Troll with strikes, dodging and twisting around blows, but when a fist glanced off his head, he barely rolled out of the way avoiding the hammer blow. Even as he looked on, the wounds were sealing up slowly.

[i]Slash...stab...cut...strike...spin[/i] The sounds of battle were resounding in En's head. Ducking a hammer swipe, he plunged the blade into the Troll's hand, but the troll lifted up En bodily before slamming him down, tossing the blade out like a minor nuisance. "To me!" En called to his blade. Within moments, his blade was back in his hand. En looked at his comrades helping, fire blasts here, animal strikes here, powers of death there, and more. "Thanks!" He called out to Mel, as Mel burnt the metal of the hammer, hoping to crack it. He yelped though, when the super-heated hammer hit his behind. [i]Should I? No... I'd be shunned.... Black magic isn't kind to its users, and what if I turn bad? What then.... [/i]En fought continuously, the burden of his Darkness Magic weighing on him, trying vigorously to persuade him, even trying to get him hurt, so the magic would take over in the pain and confusion. Little did En notice his blade's aura slowly filling with black, his vision getting slightly darker, and fighting with a bit more bloodlust inside of him...

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Mel had jumped into a tree with the help of Toklo at first sight of the troll, and he wondered if En could take it on his own. Seeing he obviously couldnt, with the troll regenerating its wounds, Mel strung an arrow. [i]Toklo, protect Beatrice![/i] At that message, Toklo grew to a full-size grizzly, and planted himself in front of Beatrice. [i]I will protect you Miss Beatrice! And you too Silvest![/i] Toklos' voice was quite a few octaves deeper full-grown, and sounded very reassuring. Mel pulled back the bowstring of his Seeker bow, arrow notched. [i]Alright, Trolls are resistant to fire and lightning. So suck on this, b****.[/i] "Impetus spiritus moriens animam exspirans repraesentatum a velit." Mel muttered under his breath, and the arrow notched to the bow flared up with black energy. Mel released the shot, and it struck the troll dead in the stomach. The troll let out a huge breath, and it rattled in his throat. The flesh around the wound of the arrow began to decay a little, and was regenerating very slowly. [i]Hit that sumbitch with Death magic guys. It's currently weak to it.[/i]

[Aix]

Everyone, driven by the sweeping blows of the troll, had become scattered and separated, far apart from each other and mostly unable to provide support. As much as Jak and Selena tried to stick together and complement each other's attacks, as they were used to fighting side by side, they had to each jump to a different direction as the troll smashed down right between them, in attempt to hit them both.

Experimenting with his power, Jak had efficiently bound his dagger to the back of his left hand so not to impede his hand signs. HIs Lantern Blasts only required a single sign to create and the recharge was definitely shorter, perhaps by half or even more, and it was efficient to distract the troll by attacking its eyes with them. Seeing as he wasn't doing enough damage with mere Lantern Blasts, Jak leaped back and exited the fray so to prepare for greater magic.

With a slightly more complex 5 sign sequence, he touched his hands to the ground and the roots of nearby trees grew so to bind the troll's feet. He kept his hands on the ground, urging the roots to climb up the troll's legs and bind the monster more firmly, perhaps impeding its entire frame.

[i]"Everyone attack. NOW!"[/i] he cried into their minds, though they had already gotten the message. Hearing Mel's message, he began the sequence for "Black Torrent". Finishing it, he placed his hands in front of him and spoke to everyone to get out of the way. His thumbs and forefingers formed an upside-down kite shape, or diamond and from the diamond, what looked like pitch-black water burst out as if coming from a suddenly collapsed dam and the torrent knocked into the troll. It's corrosive acidic property covering and searing the trolls skin, but more importantly, almost completely halting its regeneration. After three full seconds of sustaining it, Jak dropped down onto his knees, drained. However, the troll's skin still emited residue black smoke from the attack.

After a second of rest, Jak got up again and charged forwards.

[Astolfo]

Seeing Jak use his Darkness worried him, but seeing it wounding the troll heavily, En brushed it away as there were more pressing issues at the moment. Slowly concentrating, he started up one of his more powerful Lightning spells.

"Everyone! Take cover and move back some!" En suddenly blurted out. "Listen guys! I'll give you a strike all at it! Once I do this, I should be tired though, but not too weakened, like that stupid headache last time, so don't worry about me! Finish the troll!" When everyone did, En closed his eyes, and a small flurry of wind was rotating around him. "[i]Fulmen est, creatura tua scelerata pia numina istum ruinas! Ego evocant! FULMEN BOMB!" [/i]When En finished yelling out the last few words, he floated into the air, like he had done when he had accepted the power of Swordmage. This time however, En was more or less in full control.

"RRAAAAWWW- URGHKHK!" The troll's yelling suddenly got cut off as a shockwave of electricity literally vaporized the first 2-3 feet around En, and crushed and blew back everything else within another 20-feet radius about. En's group members, being pre-warned had taken some cover, but even they were hard pressed to resist the gale-force winds and energy sweeping by. The troll however, was not so lucky, and flew into the sky about 30 feet, before dropping with a sickening CRRRACK! The troll, severely winded, lay on its back, its hammer smashed in half from landing on it, with some dozens of the monster's bones shattered. "FINISH IT!" En yelled, slightly stumbling over the words, as a hacking cough took him for a little bit.

[Aix]

However, the troll's face and chest was intact enough, or had regenerated enough, for the troll to make sounds. It spread its maw wide open and let out an ear-splitting roar, the silence following it was deathly silent in contrast. Jak realized with a start that the roar was not completely out of rage, frustration or hate. His suspicions were proven correct as he felt the light beating of the earth beneath his feet. Footsteps. Massive footsteps.

Three more hulking figures appeared out of the wood. The troll's friends... and they had the group, who had went to close in for the kill, completely surrounded. Jak looked at each of them. One of them carried a spiked morningstar mace, the other a crude spear, but the biggest, and most fearsome, carried a black hilted sword. All of the weapons, Jak estimated, would be incredibly heavy, but the trolls carried them with almost casual ease. The three trolls looked side to side at each other and emitted a soft rumbling whisper to each other in predatory anticipation.

Jak was at loss. Only 1 had pressed them harshly, but three...

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Having sufficiently anchored himself to the ground by driving his sword into it, Alaster was able to easily hold his ground where he had been against the sudden gale which lashed out from En. He was angry that he had not been given the chance to fight the other troll, but then it let out a roar which forced him to cover his ears to avoid being deafened. Whatever had been done, there was still time to, as En had told them, finish it. Alaster rushed forward, not wasting his magic just using his feet, to the downed troll and with a single stroke of his blade separated its head from its body before retreating from its corpse to be in a better position when the source of those thunderous footsteps showed itself. His blade came alight with fire as he took up a combat stance in preparation.

As the trolls emerged, he waited patiently for them to fully form up into a combat formation before striking. He brought his weapon across in an arc parallel to the ground which sent the flames upon it hurtling out in a wave to sweep over the trolls and ignite anything flammable they wore or carried such as the spear and mace, if the mace was upon a wooden handle. Another charging of flames about his blade and another stroke thereof sent a swarm of fiery needles flying through the air and splitting into three separate swarms of reduced size. All the same, these swarms then divided just enough so that all of the needles struck home in the eyes of the trolls, eliciting roars of pain and frustration as their advance was halted. Preparing to run one of them in with his weapon, he channeled the power of the wind and utilized this to launch through the air towards the biggest of the trolls. Holding his blade at the ready, in mere moments he should have sunk it deep into the chest of the apparent leader and from there the fun really started. With the weapon still embedded in its chest, Alaster channeled the power of fire into a violent burst within the troll. [i]If memory serves, trolls are weak against fire so this should be enough to bring it down.[/i]

"Ahah!" He let out a triumphant cry whether this strike was sufficient to bring it down or not. His blood was pumping and this was the most exciting encounter he'd had yet. Well, except for his dance with Beatrice. That one was the high point so far on that venture.

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Mel grimaced as three more trolls emerged from the forest. [i]Toklo, be careful. Leave that last troll to Alastar, and dont let those three touch Bea. [/i]Toklo affirmed the order and with a large paw, drew Beatrice behind him. [i]Stay safe little one. Mel would be devastated if something happened to you.[/i] Toklo said in his deep growl, directly to Beatrice. Mel drew another arrow and spoke to Alastar; [i]Watch out. Three more. I'm gonna light them up like a bonfire, so duck.[/i] Mel drew his bow, smiled, and released. The rest of the group saw the arrow fly towards the trolls, and about midway through its flight, explode into the flaming likeness of a phoenix. The war cry of a phoenix could be heard as the arrow soared to its target, the middle troll. When the arrow contacted, it exploded into a ball of fire, severly injuring the troll it hit. The flames then flew off into the distance, in the perfect form of a phoenix. Mel then broadcasted to the rest of the group; [i]Concentrate on that middle one. I'll wound the others. Toklo, see to any injuries.[/i]

[Love of Ghibli]

Oh look more forest. Beatrice was thinking sarcastically. Though she was in a somewhat sad mood while crossing the through this dense jungle land. After Mel had explained everything she realized that she clearly was the physically weakest one of the group. She didn't want everyone to see her just break and start crying in front of them. It was very disheartening. She would be moping throughout the forest as others were comically getting there. It was sad to think that the boys were going to see her as the weakling that they have to protect. Silvest felt sorry Beatrice especially having a mental link with her and he knows how important the image she projects onto others is to her. Silvest was mentally trying to give her pep talks to boost her self-esteem. But it was already too late too many things happened in a short span of time that shook her confidence. Apparently the have some warrior elf women tag along who was clearly more combat proficient than herself, she made a complete drunken fool of herself with the elf queen lady, and worst of all she clearly was the only one who could not handle the bestowing of her new powers. Clearly some low points of this journey.

Of course she had to stop pitying herself for just a moment because the group apparently began to get attacked by a troll. Such a massive beast that seemed to excel in brute strength and combat that it looked like magic would be needed to kill it. Of course it was slightly tragic that immediately she was retreated to the rear and forced to be guarded, by a bear. She knew that the boys subconsciously thought of her as dead weight at this moment. But still she watched as En, Mel, and Jak went to work on the beast eventually felling it. She then proceeded to watch as Alaster delivered healthy dosages of pain to the felled creature but not before that beast called for friends.

Three trolls! Now what was she going to do? Oh wait it seems like she would be doing nothing because the giant bear was keeping her safe. It was sad to say the least. She wanted to be of help but it seems like the boys only saw her as this thing that need protecting. This "+1" on their journey. She was not to contribute to this victory over the trolls she just supposed to sit back and watch. It probably would have been more kind to just shoot her at this moment she was so hurt. Silvest was feeling everything she was feeling but sense he has self confidence that it borders on a superiority complex he would never see a problem with having other people do the fighting for him. Then again he was exponentially older than these younglings so he had long forgot teenage drama. This bear however was starting to become a reoccurring event though. Not really annoyed more like...questionable. Its really because Beatrice comes from a family of animal summoners and beast tamers so Silvest was almost and expert on animal magic, yet he couldn't figure out this thing. Nonetheless he had resolved to save his summoner from sinking into the despair of her own self doubt.

What that would entail though is unknown for right now though.

[Cray-Crow]

Trolls aren't the first thing you'd like to encounter in the morning, but the monster seemed more than willing to skip introductions and start a frenzied battle. Upon its emergence, En, Mel, Jack, and Alaster all sprung into action. It was an amazing sight. All of them working together to fell this regenerating beast. It was difficult, but in moments the four succeeded, but not soon enough. Before its death, the troll cried out, signalling for its own. Sure enough, three more showed themselves from the dense forest, looking no weaker than their fallen ally.

Alaster made a brilliant show of attacking their eyes and striking the presumed leader dead in the chest, bursting it with flames. Mel then fired a phoenix from his new Seeker weapon, damaging that same troll with an explosion.

[color=#696969]"Everywhere I see there's fire, but no death!" [/color]Reaal ran to the left, flanking the trolls while Mel and Alaster's flames distracted them. Scanning the area quickly, only Alaster was near Reaal's targets. [color=#696969]"Alaster! Hold your breath! Summus fixura!" [/color]As he spoke the incantation, Reaal thrust his javelin at the trolls' direction. A gust of caustic wind surged forward, billowing into the trolls. Their skin rendered under the acid, and hopefully Alaster wasn't too afflicted. [color=#696969]"That should halt their regen for a couple minutes! Try to strike one down, now!"[/color]

Even a strong spell such as that wasn't enough to slow Reaal down; he had a large affinity for his type of spells, and a high endurance from his travels. [color=#696969]"Impusum!" [/color]Reaal threw his javelin, and like a shooting star it streamlined through the air and struck the left-most troll in the belly almost instantly after being let loose, the collision causing its belly to burst open. In the same instant, Reaal also swung Evesilith at said troll. Growing to a gargantuan size, she coiled around the split-open beast and commenced tearing its head from its thick neck.

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Toklo sensed something was wrong. As a spirit of the forest itself, he noticed sadness emanating from Beatrice. He blasted a message to Mel, yelling in his ear. Mel nearly fell out of the tree, the message was so strong. But he got the idea. He dropped gracefully out of the tree behind Beatrice, grabbed her hand, and pulled her through the brush signaling for her to be quiet. Toklo had shrunk back down and was guarding their rear. Toklo had informed everyone of the situation. Mel brought Beatrice behind the trolls, and mindspoke to her: [i]We got them flanked now. Take them down. Your turn to show off.[/i] Mel smiled and squeezed her hand. [i]You arent dead weight. You may not be the most powerful person in the group, but you get your moments in the sun. Take this one. You're a lot more important than you belive. [/i]Mel then gave her a hug. Not a big one, just a quick squeeze. He then jumped into a tree a few feet away, with Toklo planted at Beatrices feet. [i]Kill them Beatrice! You can do it![/i] Toklo said, headbutting her forwards.

Beatrice was about ten feet behind the trolls, and needed to decide something quick.

[Love of Ghibli]

Reaal seemed to jump in and deal with the epicness of his new found powers quite well. Once again someone else who got the hand of this lost magic thing and was able to contribute to the cause. Lemon juice and salt on open wound would have been kinder. Nevertheless she was starting to become content in this new role of hers. Providing transportation if needed is always a good luxury to have. Emphasizing luxury, meaning something that is not needed and one can do well without. She had resigned herself to being extra.

Unfortunately she couldn't relax just yet because someone had decided that they should try to come and give more pep talks than the cat clawing at her mind. Needless to say she didn't put up much resistance when Mel just dragged her away somewhere. She had equated herself to furniture at this moment, a portable bike maybe that should be moved out of the line of combat. However she found herself closer to the trolls that she was before and now she was behind them. Not really grasping the situation she went into what could be considered super light shock. She was frozen in fear. Clearly she had become such a nuisance in less than one day that it was time to simply kill her off. The elf women has already come and replaced her and she seems to have a boyfriend in Jak so that's...a thing. Death by troll clubbing was not how she wanted to go, but well maybe it'll be quick.

Then Mel started mental talking which just conflicted with the already horrifically melodramatic and tragic thoughts scrambling in her head. But apparently her friend from the same village had some sweet words to share. It was genuinely sweet, a tad frivolous, but sweet nonetheless. She figured his words were that of pity almost like you would a child, or when a coach puts in the permanent bench warmer only because he knows his team has already won the game no matter what. She was being placated. Then he hugged her and it shattered her perception. Her ill will towards herself was like a glass wall and no words were getting through but action was another story. It didn't shatter mind you but there was a crack. Mel and the bear's words were slowly seeping through. She looked at all the guys the moment that hug finished. When she went back to see Mel he had hopped in some tree somewhere.

Now with the crack in her self pity she decided that living was probably something she should attempt right now. Yeah she heard the words "kill them" from the bear but that wasn't something she deemed herself equipped for yet. No time to waste though because the trolls seemed to have realized they have been flanked. Of course they would be preoccupied with the exploding bellies, swordsmen in the gut, and a giant snake trying to pop one like a gusher. Still it seemed like they weren't going to go away empty handed this day. Silvest ran his way to her side and poked her with a nail so she would move out the way of eminent death. Beatrice grabbed the little cat man and ran trying to dodge the attacks of the incoming trolls.

"Oh my God, I'm going to die!" [color=#800080]Calm down.[/color] "Seriously not the time for this Sil. He threw me to trolls and I don't know what to do. I don't know a summon strong enough for super brute troll combat, I don't have any weapons, and worst of all I'm the only who doesn't know how to use their new magics!! Why did I even think I was cut out for this? I'm a book worm my future is in a library telling young kids to shhhh. Scratch that was in library." In her massive hysteria she tripped and fell. Naturally this was as the three dying/not dying trolls were approaching her. She was doing her best to fight back the tears but they just kept coming and coming to the point where she just let it all out. Such a sad way to go. Killed off by a dying enemy.

It was then that a voice echoed inside her head and it drowned out and repelled the voices of anyone else attempting to talk to her. [i][color=#800080]So now that you got that out of the way can we get back to the fight now?[/color][/i] She recognized that it was Silvest but she wondered why she hadn't been painfully escorted to the next life yet. She turned to notice that she was eclipsed by the shadow of the three trolls but it seems as if there was an equally massive creature holding these three being off. It was when she saw the white lab coat that it was her familiar just ultra upgraded. Silvest had clearly become 12ft tall but gave himself bladed wings, an entirely slim battle frame, and to top it all off his claws were the texture of steel. On his chest glowed the purple runes that gave him this ability.

In her mind Silvest mentally reached out to Beatrice. [color=#800080][i]Look we are different. We are not the brutes, we are not made for troll combat, we are none of this. We are the intelligible ones who do what needs to be done. We aren't the ones who will lay on the wire for a teammate, we're the ones who simply cut the wire. Now lets show these boys what happens when they mess with smart people[/i][/color]. Beatrice was a little moved so she wiped her tears and stood up straight, she took a deep breath and just focused on the task at hand. "Alright Sil, let's do this!" The cat smiled and pushed the three super weakened trolls back while they were still being tortured by the magics of Beatrice's comrades. First thing to know, a rune is an incantation that you inscribe and will said power to something else. So let's try bringing out a family.

Beatrice understood what Silvest intentions were but she didn't fully know if she was capable. She closed her eyes and started doing Power Ranger-esque katas with her fingers leaving purple marks in the air. It was almost as if she had was being moved by the magic herself. Slowly the purple came to form some kind of inscription. Silvest smiled and opened his mouth wide and aimed at the floating inscription. Beatrice mustered all the courage she had and yelled out "I am your Queen savage beast now learn your place, GENUS FELINE!" Silvest fired the white balls into the air and at that time the purple word floated from in front of Beatrice to directly in the pathway of the white lights. Then all three white lights touched the purple at the same time. In a bright flash Beatrice was surrounded by 12 of her cat creatures instead of the 3 she summoned. She smirked as she just learned of the Rune of Duplicity.

[color=#800080]Nice to see my girl back [/color]Silvest said out loud as it was time to finish these beast off. Beatrice flicked her hair as she realized she did get a power boost like the other boys and she was back to her confident self. She snapped her fingers and two of the trolls would find themselves being mauled alive by 6 large cat like creatures. The third one that Alaster was hanging from Silvest wanted to handle personally. He never did get many chances to show off in a fight. He ran at the beast and laughed. [color=#800080]STRIKE LASER CLAW!![/color] He extended his nails to where they more like talons and since he didn't trust the density of the skin of the troll he ran his blades through the beast eyes and throat. When all three creatures fell over Beatrice could only look and say. "Wow...that just happened."

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Mel smiled, and Toklo hugged Beatrices' leg. [i]Atta girl.[/i] Mel thought. He leapt out of the tree, no longer needing a sniper position, and hugged Beatrice again. But this time he hugged [i]hard.[/i] "That. Was. AWESOME! Why the hell didnt you do something like that at the beginning!?" Mel said, still hugging Beatrice. Then, out of the shadows, came a clapping sound. "Veeeery nice." A rattling voice said. "I'm impressed. No wonder Master Nekrom wanted you dead. But I think you'll make wonnnderful toys for Jack and I." Out of the shadows came a skeletal figure in a black cloak. There was still some skin on his scalp, and a few hairs too. He was still clapping his bony hands. At a rustling sound, Alastar looked around and saw that the group was surrounded on all sides by skeletal archers, warriors, and even some skeltons riding skeletal horses. They were all armed and armored, ready to strike. Alastar snarled though, and charged at the cloaked skeleton. The skeleton laughed maniaclly, and with a swish and flutter of his cloak, had teleported behind Beatrice, and seperated Mel from her. "Ooooh, you have guts. I think Jack will enjoy you veeery much. But this one I'll keep for myself." The skeletal figure ran his bony fingers across Beatrices' face. Mel body-slammed him and yelled; "Leave her alone!"

The skeletal figure giggled, which was a pretty creepy things. "I think I'll have you two share a cage! Bring out the cages!" The cloaked skeleton snapped his fingers, and some normal skeletons brought up four large dog cages. "Now, you all have a choice. Drop all your weapons, give them to me, and head inside these cages all nice-like. Or, you can have us beat you to death first and THEN we'll put you in a cage. Your choice. And by the way, when you address me, I am Rautar. The anti-Paladin."

Mel saw that they were outgunned and outnumbered, so he reluctantly set his bow and wand down on the ground. Rautar smiled. "Good! Now put him and that little girl there into their cage!" A few hulking zombies showed up and tossed Mel and Beatrice into a cage. Rautar waved his hand, and a group of skeletons picked up the cage and started to carry them away. Mel relayed a message to the rest of the group via Toklo though.

[i]We're outgunned and outnumbered. And since this creep obviously works for Nekrom, it'll be easier to go with him and break out of whatever dungeon he puts us in than to break into Nekroms fortress. Plus, they can just knock us out, and I'd rather be injury-free for any jailbreaks. Toklo and Evesilith can act as messengers, seeing as these skeletons cant do jack to a spirit.[/i]

[Cray-Crow]

Hearing Toklo's message, Reaal surveyed the scene. A large number of smaller enemies were grouped together, surrounding a single unique foe who was indeterminable in power. Mel had already laid his weapon down, and Rauter's minions were on the approach to take Beatrice. Reaal stuck his javelin into the dirt.

[color=#008080][i]Mel may be right about this. [/i][/color]Evesilith didn't sound completely reassuring, but her voice still carried hope.

[i][color=#696969]I know, and that's why I'm doing the same. [/color][/i]Reaal raised his hands above his head, and walked slowly forward, presenting himself unarmed. A group of skeletons grappled Reaal and hustled him to a cage. The steel door was shut and locked with only himself inside. [color=#696969][i]Hope you know what you're doing, Mel..[/i][/color]

[Aix]

Jak felt hopeless, they were utterly surrounded by undead denizens. There looked to be at least a thousand completely encircling them. Many of them were archers as well, their bows already cocked back, ready to fire at will. Selena looked grim as well.

Mel's message reached them all and, frankly, Jak agreed. It was best to surrender now so that they could survive and break out or fight back when the enemy's guard was down. First of all, they would be able to reach Nekrom's place without having to go look for and, and two, striking from within would also give them a greater chance of success as one's defenses are generally focused on the outside perimeter, leaving them already past some of the greater hurdles of their quest.

Jak unbound the dagger from his wrist and dropped it. "'I surrender,' he says," said the hat. Selena looked at him, seeming almost betrayed, but Jak sent her a mental equivalent of a reassuring smile, while his eyes focused on the approaching zombie hulks.

"A mute, we have here, eh?" said the anti-Paladin with a cackle.

As the two zombies approached, Selena tightened her grip on her longswords. [i]"Don't. There's no way we can win here. We will do what Mel says,"[/i] sent Jak to the elf. Selena's arms trembled with rage and frustration at their situation, but she gave in to wisdom and her swords clattered onto the ground. Each of the hulks slung one of them over its shoulder and tossed them into a cage while another, smaller, zombie collected their weapons.

[Astolfo]

En was severely frightened by Rautar's incredibly powerful aura of malice radiating out from him, suffocating and cruel, but put on a game face. "No way I'm going to just go along with some dumb Gramps that looks like he should've died a thousand years ago." "Guys! Wide-rangers get rid of his skeletons! Me and anyone else, to Grampa!" Sensing Rautar had an incredible reserve of power, he knew he had only one shot at this. Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that any Darkness or Death magic would just be absorbed by Rautar, empowering him further.

With a guttural cry of ancient powers within, En charged, letting loose his newer Electricity spells helped with his sword. "LIGHTINING STORMNADO!" With a crack and a resounding 'Boom!', En cloaked himself in Electricity, spinning, jumping, dodging, curving, flipping, and striking at Rautar. However, as he kept slashing, he noticed not one strike even touched Rautar, and the seemingly old mage deflected strikes with such ease it was almost contemptuous. Noticing just the slightest flickering of movement, he instinctively ducked, as a strike that could've easily destroyed En within the splitting of a second whistled past. [i]Holy mother of Breolia....[/i]

"Guys!" En yelled out in ragged gasps, with some tones reaching desperation, as Rautar now went on an offensive, whirling around, striking, and sending blasts of pure evil his way that En barely managed to dodge each time, but he knew Rautar wasn't even breaking a sweat. [i]He's toying with me...[/i] "GUYS!" As a devastating spearing arced towards his chest, he rolled tiredly, but the magic still blasted him off his feet and sent him back almost 30 feet through the air, and before En even hit the ground, a sharpened staff dripping with a blackened tar-like substance plunged towards his heart appeared out of nowhere, as Rautar lept off his feet towards En with ungodly powers. [i]He truly is a Dark Paladin.... [/i]En's vision started to fade to black.... when suddenly, a blast followed by a multitude of other attacks streaked towards Rautar, and the evil wizard was distracted temporarily. However, for En, who had been grazed with the tar as it burned at him when it dripped onto him, a strange change was happening. The bright yellow of his sword which was harshly bright yellow, yet still comforting was being replaced almost instantly with a darker black...[i]NO! I CAN'T! NOT THE DARKNESS! NO! I CAN'T UNLEASH I- AAAAAAAAAUAAAGH![/i] All faded to a pulsating black and purple....

[Meanwhile]

En's friends noticed something strange when a black tar started to appear all over En himself, coincidentally the same-looking as the ones dripping off of Rautar's staff, but as they stared, another, deeper, fuller black was replacing it, until a battle of half and half was happening. Strangely, the tentacles from the tar seemed to be overtaking the fuller black, but the tentacles were occasionally burned. They suddenly jolted back when En erupted in black flames, which subsided almost as quickly as it started. However, En himself was quite....[i]different somehow.... Like he suddenly became.... worse....[/i]En's skin was a dull gray, overlayed with a pulsating web of purple across his skin. His eyes which were normally blunt, but kind had disappeared, replaced with deep black voids. Laughing cruelly, En jumped a couple of feet in the air, before launching himself at Rautar, shooting a torrent of black from his sword, which now looked as darkened as its owner. He then leaped near Rautar, dodging a strike, before smashing Rautar's shadow with his sword. The shadow moved itself under him, before erupting in a pillar of dark purple. When the smoke and rubble subsided though, Not-En was worried as well as the others. Rautar looked even stronger now, and laughed at the group. Roaring with feral rage, En whirled and leapt into battle with Rautar, although even the common eye could see Not-En couldn't even hurt Rautar, and even Not-En was weakening strangely fast....

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Rautar laughed softly as En engaged in combat with him. After deflecting his pathetic sword attacks with ease, he noticed a change come over En. [i]Oh now this is lovely....this one will make a lovely little toy. I love schizophrenzics.[/i] After Rautar had beaten the s*** out of En, he still persisted attacking. [i]Ooooh, this is fun~[/i] When En began weakening, Rautar cackled and said out loud; "And now for the finale!" Rautar opened his mouth, and a green beam of energy shot out FROM En, and into Rautars mouth. [i]Ohhhh, I love this part.[/i] En collapsed about halfway through the ordeal, and once Rautar shut his mouth a group of skeletons appeared and tossed the unconcious En into a cage. Rautar then gestured at Alastar towards the cage in an obvious [i]Get in.[/i] statement.

Rautar waited. Meanwhile, Jak, Mel, Beatrice, Reeal, and Selena were being carted across a huge plains on the shoulders of skeletons. Each cage was at least a league apart, and all each wizard could see was a wave of bone-white and the occasianal rusted black of a piece of armor or a sword.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Alaster was suddenly not doing so well. Though the wound he had inflicted to the largest of the trolls was most certainly enough to kill it, he had a great deal more to handle from his allies. He had just enough time to turn his head and think [i]"Oh crap." [/i]as he suddenly had a sweeping conflagration in the form of a phoenix rush over him and quite handily destroy his robes utterly. Somehow his hair managed to avoid the same fate, as did the beard he had been growing since their encounter with the elves and the armor he wore was protection enough from the blaze to save the rest of his skin. As much fun as he was having, he needed to make a tactical withdrawal and thus leaped back from the troll with his blade in hand, a deep cauterized wound left in its chest that even the mystical regenerative properties of these creatures could not mend.

[i]"Mel, you owe me a new robe."[/i] Came a broadcast message, just in time for him to be told to hold his breath and do so as the air around him and the trolls became caustic. Between the corrosive effects of Reaal's windstorm and the fact that he'd just been consumed by fire, his once shiny steel plate armor was irrevocably colored black to match the blade of his sword. And now without the orange and white robes to cover it, well he might have resembled one of the fabled Death Knights at the moment were it not for the fact that he still had flesh on his bones.

It was then that he noticed that Mel had dragged Beatrice out right behind the trolls and hugged her. He didn't hear what was being said between them, rather he simply was growing still more irritated with that particular member of their party...and then irritation turned to terror when he noticed that Beatrice was running and fell down right in the path of where the trolls were now going. Smoking though he was from his exposure to the various harmful substances and tired from using so many spells so quickly, Alaster rushed forward with the intent of defending her. It was then that he found himself pleasantly surprised that she could defend herself against such massive foes. Furthermore he felt very lucky not to have been unfortunate enough to have remained hanging from the largest of the trolls for long, else he would have been ripped apart by a gargantuan Silvest.

"Well, Beatrice, I've gotta hand it to ya that was impressive." He chuckled quietly, and was about to approach for some camaraderie in the form of further congratulations when he caught the sound of further movement. He was immediately in a combat stance again, and that was when he noticed the skeletal horde with them. He began analyzing the lot of them and thought full well that he could bring them down...and then Mel just went ahead and surrendered not only himself but Beatrice. Clenching his teeth, the now black-armored fellow let out a bellow of rage as he realized just how impossible it would be for them to win with those two having surrendered as they did. All the same he refused, blatantly refused, to surrender himself under any circumstances. He did charge this skeletal fool who, like the coward he was, teleported away with naught but a flutter of a cape.

[i]"You're wrong Mel, we could have beaten him if you weren't such a damned coward!"[/i] The mental broadcast from Alaster had all the volume of a crack of thunder, and was followed shortly by the battlemage driving his blade into the ground. Instantly, the air about him was whipped up by a powerful wind and a vortex reaching well into the skies began sucking in the skeletal hordes which had surrounded the party as well as many tree branches and more or less anything which was loose enough to be grabbed by the wind. A few seconds later, the lot of the contents of what had been sucked into the air found itself suddenly consumed or just generally ignited by fire. As Alaster rose to his feet from driving the blade into the ground, the vortex began to die and it started to practically rain fire down across quite a large area. When Rautar gestured towards the cage, telling him to get in, he lifted his left hand and put one particular finger to the sky before conjuring a vortex around his blade and thrusting it forward. A sudden gust of wind easily reaching gale force launched out towards the decrepit being with the intention of knocking him down or at the very least distracting him. Blade in hand then, Alaster charged with the intention of splitting a certain Lich's skull open with his blade regardless of his growing exhaustion from the amount of magic he'd cast so quickly.

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Rautar would've cocked an eyebrow if he had any. The idea of the final member of this party charging him was so rideculous he was caught off-guard for a few seconds. But that was a few seconds, which was a sight slower than it took Alastar to charge. Rautar dropped his staff and pulled out a very long, semithick blade. The metal was black, and it had a kind of glow or sheen to it. When Alastar struck, Rautar blocked with perfect speed and precision. Rautar then engaged in a fast series of blows with Alastar, who began to tire quickly. Rautar was using almost no magic in this fight, and his swordfighting skills were superb. "I'm Rautar the Anti-Paladin you fool. I am one of the best swordfighters in history." Rautar hissed, still striking and blocking with perfect precision. After toying with Alastar for about 3 more minutes, he rattled: "Ending this," and his blade flared up with a green energy. At Alastars glance, Rautar laughed and said: "No, I am no petty swordmage. This blade is known as the Lifedrinker Blade." And with that he struck the underside of Alastars elbow, finding a chink in the armor. The blade sunk right into Alastars flesh, and the blades aura suddenly turned red. Alastars pupils dilated as Rautar let out a sigh. "You know dumbass, you should never ever engage in a fight without knowing the strength of your opponent. Plus, I have my army, which is about to kick your uptight ass. Your buddy was right to surrender. I've been watching you all for a while, and this group consists of a Seeker with untapped powers, a Rune Maker who doesnt trust herself, a headstrong Swordmage, another Seeker with the choice of Javelin, oddly, and then the other strange one who's currently in the cage now. Oh, and that Signweaver and the elf girl. But honestly, you all are pieces of crap. The only people with any semblance of [i]strategy[/i] that isnt of the 'charge in head-on' variety is the Seeker whos name I belive is Mel, the other Seeker guy, and the mute. Which normally would be good, but you, that girl, and your other buddy there drag them down with your headstrong 'holier-than-thou' additude, the girls complete lack of self-trust, and this guys general uncontrollableness. But maybe you can all work on that in Nekroms' dungeon." By the time Rautar was done with his little speech, Alastar had collapsed to the ground. Rautar had made sure he heard every single word though, because he mindspoke them as well as speaking out loud. He then snapped his fingers, and Alastars armor was gone and replaced with a black suit of long underwear. He was still bleeding from the wound on his underarm. "Do your thing." Rautar said to the skeletons. He then mounted his own black horse, and rode off. The army unleashed nets and blunted arrows at Alastar, who was starting to stir again. When they were sure he was knocked out completely, they took his sword and the hulks placed them in his cage with En, who was also beginning to wake up.

They then began carting them off to Nekroms tower, which was about ten leagues off.

[Astolfo]

Rautar laughed quietly as he strode off to the front of the skeleton army and made his way for Nekrom's tower. [i]How foolish. To think. It's almost an insult, thinking a group of ruffians like them could stand the slightest chance against me...[/i][i]The child of darkness already within him could be helpful.... It was quite interesting..... Perhaps the Death-user as well... And that foolish swordsman who just attacked me might have the attitude to work for me.... I might just be able to 'persuade' them to join my cause. If Nekrom doesn't need the rest after he's done with them.... Well, there's fun to be had with torture~[/i]

<hr>

Jack lay in wait for a regular tradesman, hiding in the darkness. [i]Boy... Is this fun.... I love killing~ [/i]Jack suppressed a maniacal laugh from within him. As the trader walked by, Jack lashed out with his knife, slicing off the man's hands and then stabbing him repeatedly in the gut. He then tore the stomach open with his bare hands, and ate the trader, still alive, listening to the man's screams as if it were the most harmonious music in the world. When he finished, he dusted his hands off, and leapt again, somewhere else into the darkness......

<hr>

En groaned with pain, as he suddenly sat up, and smashed his head on something hard. Confused, he looked around, before the memories rushed back. [i]Death.... A Dark Paladin.... Skeletons.... Friends... FRIENDS![/i] He looked around quickly, worried of what he might see, and sighed in partial relief when he saw his friend Alaster with him in a cage of a sort, with his other friends at his sides. Alaster started to wake up, and En watched over him carefully. As he took care of Alaster, he realized he felt something was drained from him, and searched within him, until he realized it was his Life, in part, and realized Alaster had suffered a worse variation of the same draining.... [i]Curse that dumb Anti-Paladin. If we had worked together and not given up, and if it wasn't for his stupid Skeleton Army, we could've won. Damn it all.[/i]

En watched closely over Alaster, and checked to see if he seemed to be all right. "Hey Mr. Grumpy, you fine?" Alaster's lips twitched into a smile briefly at the familiar prod, but became tired, and propped himself up against the cage to rest a bit more. [i]I hope he's fine..... Despite his 'grumpiness', he seemed great enough....[/i] En felt slightly anxious. As he looked out, he saw a black tower in the distance, exuding sinister feelings, even from all the way over. [i]Good god... Is that.... Nekrom's tower? Breolia have mercy. [/i]As En looked around, he realized there were literally thousands of soldiers of the Dead. [i]No way we can get out of here until we're wanted out by Nekrom or one of his lackeys. [/i]Despairing, En tried to think of a plan, when he realized there was a fragment of something looking black and purple in his mind, that was just out of his reach.

[i]Gah. Why can't I remember! I WANT TO! STUPID DUMB BRAIN![/i] For the next half-hour to an hour, En reached at his brain, poking and prodding, but by the end of the time by which he was exhausted, En decided to just stop for now, and take a rest. As En sleeped, the fragment of his memory crawled out, and became En's new dream.....

[i]No![/i] En suddenly bolted out of his dream, wide awake now. [i]I couldn't have! No! I shouldn't have! DAMNIT! I SHOULDN'T USE THE DARKNESS! DAMN RAUTAR! DAMN THIS INFERNAL CURSE OF MINE! DAMN BREOL! DAMN IT ALL! [/i]En suddenly yelled in pain as something snapped, and En fell unconscious, a stream of dual black and dark purple, each burning at each other, oozing out of his nose and other extrusions and openings.

Meanwhile, Alaster watched En, carefully and worried, now that he was wide awake, albeit groggy. Unfortunately, En had fallen unconscious [b]right[/b] before Alaster woke up.


[meanwhile, within En's heart and brain]

A creeping black spider like creature is wandering over En's heart, while a slime of dark purple is slowly covering up parts of En's brain..... The two creatures sense each other, and they each want to be dominant, for although they are from the same type, their origins varied greatly....

[Love of Ghibli]

Needless to she Beatrice was cursing up a storm inside her head. She had just gotten self respect and she just gotten compliments from both Mel and Alaster but not a full minute later she's straight up captured. She was sitting cross legged inside her cage with her cagemate Mel and holding Silvest in her lap like she usually does. She was snickering though because she did just do something awesome. She was remembering this Raustar character and how Mel surrendered so quickly. Mel [i]was[/i] the first person to touch the "anti-paladin" so maybe he sensed some kind of foreboding power source. Though to be honest Silvest was telling her inside her head to stand down as well because Beatrice, in a rare moment, was feeling like Alaster in that she could take on an army.

Then Beatrice was flashbacking to En's fight with the boss even with En's transformation he couldn't hold a candle to the boss so at least there was walk backing all of this talk. Maybe once everyone has a better grasp of their own powers they'll be able to lay out some fresh beatings to these people. But while she was flashbacking certain incidences started becoming a little more clear. This put an odd smirk-blush combo on her face. Silvest on the other hand wasn't so subtle he just started laughing out loud. She looked across her cage and decided while she was on her way to the tower better to ask the question now.

"Hey Mel, what's up with you and Alaster? Seems like some unspoken animosity there."

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Mel frowned at Beatrices question. "I dunno. He seems like a nice enough guy, although he's really closed up and headstrong. I love the guy to death though. But not in THAT way. I mean like...oh you know what I mean." Mel said, waving his hand to dismiss any weird comments. "I really dont know what the guys problem is with me though. Is it my jokes? I know I rib on the guy all the time, but I do that to everyone. I hope its not the jokes." Mel continued to ramble on like this for a few minutes like he normally did when a different possibility popped into his head. He blushed. "Oh. Wait. I think I know." Mel frowned again, then turned towards Beatrice, still blushing a bit. "See, I kinda like you. A lot. And uh...well...I dont think Alastar really approves of my uh..forwardness. Like hugging you back there, or falling asleep with my head on your shoulder. Totally sorry about that if it freaked you a bit by the way. Although I suppose Toklo freaked you out more than me, but I cant really tell." Mel realized he was rambling again, and stopped for a moment. "Alastar probably thinks a lady should be wooed or something though. But to be honest with you, I think thats a stupid idea. I have an older sister you know, and she hates the whole wooing idea. Although she and I are noble, so its kind of expected of her to [i]be[/i] wooed in the first place." Mel almost never brought up the fact that he was Viz nobility, and he checked himself so he didnt sound uptight or anything. "But thats probably the most likely scenario. Also uh...I'm not good with people of the female variety except my sis and mom. So if I messed up here somehow, feel free to slap me or something." Mel tensed in preparation for what was likely going to be a lot of yelling and slapping. He had left Toklo with Reeal, so no help there.