Dragon Revived, Chapter 2- Soaring on wings of pain

[/)eathKiller]

"By all means use your spells to destroy as many enemy forces as possible, but it's most liekely the others will be held captive in the pallace. If it is not too much trouble, I'd recomend that you do whatever you can to clear as many open paths to the pallace as possible. That way there can be multiple escape routes. Once again, the attack will begin at nightfall... the second the sun can no longer be seen beyond the horizon..."

[Lady Blue03]

Avalon cleared his throat and pulled Alliene aside,
"I don't think storming the castle is entirley wise, Alliene. They will see and hear you, and then they'll kill my children before we even get close to the castle. This has to be like a drow raid. Utter stealth is needed. We can't even attack these people until the twins are safely out and with us."
Alliene closed her eyes, "Of course, how foolish of me. Zachana's raiding party should be sufficent, I think. She will pick the best." She turned to Gus, "We won't be attacking the city in the least until the twins are safely out of the castle. We can't risk being discovered and having them killed."

~~

Alaerth growled, "The only way to get past our defenses is to dig under them. I wouldn't be surprised if our mages saw that any underground contact set off some toxin in the tunnels the enemy would use."

[Lady Blue03]

ooc-DK need to edit plz, i explained the mistake to you already [img]tongue.gif[/img]

EDIT: There shouldnt even be a mention of toxins or tunnels in your post. Alaerth isn't with you [img]tongue.gif[/img]

IC-The first thing Alae did when she woke was jump out of bed and immediatley search within herself for her draconic essence. She growled when she didn't find it, not entirely surprised. Sensing the presence, she went tense and activated her infravision. Just because she was without dragon powers and Isan didn't mean she waa totally helpless. She searched the room for the source of the presence, ready to defend herself if she had to.

[ 10-15-2003, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: Lady Blue03 ]

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Alae could feel the being in the darkness smile. “Calm down, child.” spoke the voice, it was a male and held a dark amusement within it. Alae felt somewhat confused, it was familiar and yet, it was evil. Both alien and familiar she felt off balance. Its words were odd too; and Alae was not as young as a child, unless the speaker was incredibly old... “Your Infravision shall not help you; unless I choose to reveal myself, you cannot see me.” spoke the voice again, still amused. Alae found herself flinching as the speaker revealed itself. It was the Black that had brought them here. A fully adult dragon stood in front of her, it’s eyes intelligent sparkling with self confidence. It was in no way afraid of her, and Alae realised that she was at the beast’s mercy. Towering above her, it was lying on it’s forepaws, and still, it had to bend to avoid hitting the ceiling, and the roof was well over 20’ high! The dragon smiled at her, and shifted into a humanoid form. 6’7, it was taller then Alaerth. Garbed in black armour, only it’s face was uncovered. It spoke again, “Do not fear child. I have not summoned you to harm you. In fact, even as we speak, your aunt brings an army to free you, though you father convinced her not to attack until you were freed. It matters not.” it smiled, and reached out, seizing her by the throat. Holding her at arm’s length, it was at eye level with her. “You would do well to remember where you are; and that you are at my mercy here. You will obey, and you will listen. If you do not, I will be most displeased. You are merely a child and if you irritate me, I shall have you punished as one.” it set her down on the floor, surprisingly gentle. “Now… there are several things you should know of. The first is that not all of us are in agreement of the methods used, and we are not all of one mind. You may find unexpected allies within our ranks. Not all of us willingly serve our masters and there are many who would see them dead. Some of us are forced to work with those we despise and my advice to you, child is, to seek out those who might aid you, within our ranks. If they’re hatred is powerful enough, they may side with you.” The dragon snarled and hissed, “Some of us loathe these damnable snakes, yet are unable to act. Do not think we all serve willingly.” it looked into her eyes, and sighed. “Do not think I aid you, child. By aiding you, I aid myself. If one such as you were to strike, you could tip the scales in our favour, and we could extract vengeance upon those who hold us in bondage. The organisation would be in chaos, and you could achieve your own ends with little resistance.” it paused, “Tell me, child, do you know why you were brought here?” the dragon proceeded to tell Alae many things, including an alliance of demons, lead by a demonic lord who had enslaved some of the tanar’ri and forced them to work along side his other supporters; an unstable alliance which included Yuan’ti, the drow of a former first house, greenskins and goblinoids, and many, many others as well as a few dragons bound to his will. It also spoke of mind games the Yuan’ti psionics used, and how the snake below would have infiltrated her mind had not the dragon intervened. The dragon, wished only to return home to his domain but could not…

~~~ Meanhwhile… ~~~

Alaerth felt a strange presence enter his mind, knowing instinctively it was the snake. The Yuan’ti had stopped it’s questions and was trying to suck all the information Alaerth knew out of his mind, and replace it with it’s own. Worst, Alaerth couldn’t do anything to stop it… and it would eventually get what it wanted. The thought of this was enough to make anyone fume and Alaerth fuming was very bad… of course the Yuan’ti did not know of the half dragon’s berserk ability…

~~~ Meanhwhile… ~~~

Arlyth was curled up in the drow priestess’s lap, snuggled against her. What she had told him… scared him. She knew too much and when he had asked about more of his father’s past in the Underdark, she had provided detailed information about Alliene’s house, under the rule of her mother as well as under the rule of Alliene. She had told him of Calaethis, when he was a similar age to Arlyth himself. When Arlyth asked her who she was, she merely smiled and held him close, saying how much he resembled his father and how she did not wish to see him tortured along with his cousins. She could not do anything for them, but she could take the young elf under her wing and since he was so young, convert him to their cause. She had seen to it that he was comfortable and cared for. The rooms, she had warded and they would not be disturbed. She also told him that he would not be able to return to his cousins for a time. They needed to retrieve Tagnik’zerjuss… making Arlyth swallow. He was to wield it and his father had left it for him… Throughout all of this, the priestess had held the young elf close, often kissing his brow, stroking his hair and generally being affectionate towards him. This served only to confuse Arlyth further, it was not the affections of a captor trying to convert him, but this was more genuine, more personal. She almost seemed to know him. She knew more about his father and mother then he did. She also knew Alliene. If that was the case, why was she here and what were her real goals?

After that, she had personally bathed him and prepared him for bed, something that confused the boy even further. Explaining he needed sleep and would probably not be able to sleep for at least another three days afterwards, she sent him to bed and watched over him as he slept. Her vigil lasted until he awoke, and when he had, she dressed him for battle. The two elven slaves that had first tended to the boy also arrived, and they were garbed in white robes, and wielded quarterstaffs. Slaves they looked like, but Arlyth felt they were something more, the way they walked, the way they stood beside the Drow… like bodyguards. His instincts proved to be correct, and sure enough they also dressed for battle, donning mithril chainmail, silver daggers at their waists. With long, hooded cloaks, they were finally ready, as was the drow priestess herself. Kissing Arlyth on the forehead, the priestess handed him a ring… she didn’t say what it did, only that it would help protect him, and had a few enchantments and spells and to use it sparingly. They were ready, but for what Arlyth couldn’t say. Five drow entered the room, all the priestess’s personal bodyguard, and they ascended to the roof off the palace. From there they could see for miles, and Alliene and Avalon, if they looked would see a few distant silhouetted figures on the roof. The drow formed a rough circle around their mistress, the two elven ‘slaves’ Taking up position either side of her, Arlyth at her shoulder, her arm around the boy’s own…

~~~ Meanhwhile… ~~~

Zachana’s party prepared themselves, and were ready to infiltrate the enemy city. The finest of Alliene’s warriors, all they lacked were the words of their mistress to attack. If they attacked soon, they could reach Alaerth with minimal difficulty…

[Lady Blue03]

Alae retreated away from the black. Alliene was coming? That was a relief. She frowned at the mention of the psionic snakes. Why even bother asking questions when they could just infiltrate her mind,
"I...well, thank you for taking me from the yuan-ti. You are aware of my brother's berserk ability? Because it isn't magic it can't be hidden from him like our dragon power. If he realizes what the yuan-ti is doing, he may very well get mad...oh no..." If Alaerth got free and killed the snake, he would go on a violent rampage through the castle looking for her. He could very easily be killed.

~

The yuan-ti wasn't finding anything new about the castle defenses. Alaerth had told what he knew, and the truth, to protect his sister. Now that she was gone, he didn't have the slightest idea why he was still being questioned, or what they were doing to Alae. His burning temper shriveled into a crisp and his muscles bulged, rage coming to the surface. The snake felt its mind suddenly cut off from the half-dragon's,
"You...you..." Alaerth was lost to intelligeble words. One of the bolts holding him down snapped free.

~

Alliene waited patiently until Zachana and 10 drow warriors were gathered in front of her, "I cannot stress enough how important this is, so I won't waste time trying to tell you. If you are discovered, you are dead, and that's that. Zachana has told me she caught the scent of an adult black. If you encounter it, let her deal with it. Your main objective is to save the twins. May Shar give you luck. Now go."

The drow bowed and waited for Zachana to give Alliene a parting hug before the party melted into the night...
Once at the back entrance of the castle Zachana paused and looked confused,
"Odd, I can't sense the twins draconic blood..." She took a deep breath and frowned again, "They are definatley here though. Chances are they are under gaurd. We will lookf for Alae first. When we get close enough I will be able to scent her elven blood."
The drow nodded and drew their blackened swords. All were garbed in black adamine chain and various other dark colors that blended with shadow and darkness. Zachana in the lead, they formed behind her in ranks of five and entered the caslte. If all went well, they would reach Alae's chamber shortly

[/)eathKiller]

Gus ordered his familiar to go into the castle. We won't even have to cause an assault if my shadow can find a room with a prisoner in it... Then I could create a portal to his destination and we could send troops in directly..." The shadow gently glided across the ground, in between the trees, and out of his sight.

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

As Alae backed off the dragon smiled. "Oh, but I know. I will enjoy hearing the Yuan'ti is dead. Alas, I fear I must take my leave of you child. There are intruders in the castle, and it would spite my allies, the Yuan'ti plans to let you escape, so, I plan to do just that." he smiled wickedly. "Take care child. We will meet again." then the dragon teleported away somewhere.

~~~ Meanhwhile… ~~~

Alaerth managed to break loose, and the Yuan'ti ordered two guards restrain him. Big mistake. Alaerth slew them both, leaving the Yuan'ti backing into the corner, and Alaerth armed with a longsword or two, if he wanted to take them. The Yuan'ti seemed to be in some sort of ritual or trance...

~~~ Meanhwhile… ~~~

Zachana’s infiltrated the castle, and about half way through were detected. A wave of elf slaves were upon them and they slew them all with only one casualty. The drow were nowhere to be seen. A yuan'ti approached them though; and soon there were five of the snakes, three bearing swords, the other mages, priests of psionics... Alae couldn't be far away.

~~~ Meanhwhile… ~~~

Gus's shadow found nothing - or not what he was looking for. He'd have to search harder.

Edit: Sig.

[ 10-15-2003, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: Calaethis Dragonsbane ]

[Lady Blue03]

Alaerth didn't even think of using a sword, seperated from reality as he was. With a bellow he flung himself at the yuan-ti, hands going for the thing's neck. His rage wouldn't be sated until he saw it's blood. Once he was finished, he'd take up a sword and start looking for his sister.

Alae almost followed the dragon out until she realised she would probably be caught. She didn't have the berserk rage to empower her like Alaerth. Sighing, she retreated to her bed and waited.

"You four, get your crossbows and take care of the casters! The rest of you, with me!" The remaining 6 warriors, 3 weilding two-handed swords and the other 3 massive halberds, charged the snakes.

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

In short, Alaerth broke the Yuan'ti's neck, and it hissed and died but not before doing something, what it did, Alaerth wasn't sure. He picked up the sword and realised he was in the dungeon. He had no clue where to go, but ascended the stairs. After much searching, he ran into an elven slave who upon seeing the half dragon garbed in only his breeches, prostrated. The elven slave was female, fairly young. About the equiverlent to a human 13 year old. She was terrified of Alaerth. Garbed in blue breeches and a tunic, she had been carrying landary or something.

~~~Meanwhile...~~~

Zachana lost four of her party, but all the snakes were slain. Not of them were in any condition to speak, too dead to. Continuing, they found a fuming Alaerth and a prostrated elven girl... the girl was too young to have any part in the conflict, politics, and was most likely innocent and forced into serving.

Edit: Keep spelling "Centre" the correct way. Meh.

[ 10-15-2003, 07:22 PM: Message edited by: Calaethis Dragonsbane ]

[Lady Blue03]

Without thinking Alaerth raised his sword and sent it flying down towards the elf girl. He didn't care how old she was; she was part of this castle, aiding in what had enslaved Alae and him. A powerful hand stopped his arm though. Fury rising again, he spun around only to be smacked in the face with such force he staggered back into the stone wall. When the stars finally cleared from his vision, he saw Zachana and her remaining five warriors. The drow were giving the elf sinister looks. That they wanted to kill her was written all over their faces. Zachana set them back with a look of her own, and reached down, snatching up the girl by the back of her shirt,
"If you want to live, little elf, I suggest you run. Run fast, because if I still see you in ten seconds, I'll send one of my warriors after you." She dropped the girl and waited for her to take off, then turned to Alaerth, "Forgive me for slapping you, my lord, but there is no need to be killing little children."
Alaerth shook his head in confusion, looking abashed, "No, thank you Zach. I almost did a horrible thing." Anger came back to his face, "You're looking for Alae? So am I. She's up more, I can feel her spirit." He started off, Zachana and her drow following.