A journey, a test of ones spirit (what started Whispers)

Chrum's mood darkened with each minute and each of Aly's looks. This was NO way to affect a rescue. Time was always essense in these things, and here they were camping, not three hours after he had passed the word,to the mounted soldiers, to be prepared for a night ride.

He sat off to himself for a good long while, contemplating the events as they were unfolding, remembering his words to the Queen. Chrum had pledged that Lady Blu would be found and brought home safely. HE had pledged this to the queen herself. And it was looking all the more, at least for the moment, he and the dragoons were being no more useful than a handful of young squire.

To top it ALL, and it was hard for him to oblige, but equally to argue the point, the looks the mounted soldiers offered him, after Aly would offer an order. The question of WHY he was even on this mission was in their minds. Chrum had little doubt of it. Chrum father would have put it simply, "Ta mana Clan chiefs ta fight t'war".

On the other hand, the whole affair seemed to be out of his, or any of the soldiers, reach. He felt it, even if he didn't understand it. It brought to mind his one and only visit to Lamb's Head. It was a magical, mysterious place. This place made the hair on the nape of his neck stand on end. Chrum supposed it was not the place for a squad of blade weilding mortals. Yes, the lads had ALL stayed their ground when Aly offered them an opportunity to back out, but did they really have an inkling of what might be coming, or what they might step in to? Chrum doubted it.

The other thought crossed his mind. Did Aly or BJ ? His head ached and the more he tried to push it back, the worse it seemed to get. What he would give for a tall tankard of ale just now...........

The stale air and darkness sought to envelop her as she stood within the ruined great hall, unable to get the front door open.

With a gusty sigh, she turned and looked. Finally moving towards the door which he had not disappeared through. Carefully she turned the knob.

In response the ancient door swung open, revealing a tangle of cobwebs so thick as to make seeing beyond almost impossible. Steps wound down, and from the looks of it, the passing of the one named "William" had not disturbed the barrier before her.

One more look behind her before she took a breath and swung her hands against and through the thickness of the cobwebs.

The webs clung to her hand as she swept them away, ancient stairs winding down into the depths of the earth.

With a shimmer she sunk down upon the steps as her body quivered with the reaction of the change. A sleek black head lifted and sniffed the stale air, the smooth tail twitched just before paws took her below, the hairs on her back quivered as the webs brushed against them.

Heightened senses picked up the distinct scents of things long dead lurking in the pitch blackness below. Even as her sleek form descended the door behind her swung closed, sealing out what little light was reaching her from the main hall. She was now utterly alone, deprived of sight.

Her senses did go on alert...eyes of deep blue narrowed and peered into the darkness as muscled shoulders hunched forward, taking small sure steps for she did indeed need to rely on those heightened senses. Her ears, normally so delicate as the lady, now soft and sleek, perked and twitched, listening for everything and anything..although the one sound she heard for sure was the beat of her strong heart.

The muscled panther form eased it's way continually down the stairs with only her sense of smell and hearing to cue her in on any danger. Thus far, other than the faint scent of something ominous, there was nothing before her other than the stairway down.

The soft black hairs stood up upon her back as she kept descending lower and lower into, probably the bowels of some sort of hell. There was the sound of a low grumbling growl as her side brushed against the wet slimy wall of stone. She was given this horror to work her way through and she would not cower, even if she wanted to.

At last she reached what seemed to be a cool, wet, level floor. What lay beyond could only be revealed through scent.... speaking of something dead that she was drawing ever closer to with each passing step.

Again, she raised that sleek head and sniffed the putrid air..alright..dead..yes. Face it she would. "Alright, William, you are trying to frighten me, are ya? So, it's dead, show me!" The words passed lush lips as the lady shimmered in the room.

Nothing, apparently the lich was not about to rush into things. Afterall, he had an eternity to wait and it was only a matter of time until she succumbed to the needs of any mortal. Silence greeted her, that and the suffocating darkness that enveloped her.

A slight smirk crossed her lips as she moved straight forward, her head held high and her spine ramrod straight. The stubborn tilt of her chin was obvious.

She found out the hard way that she was in a long room as she thunked against a slimy wall after but a dozen strides. What was worse than the slime laiden walls, however, was the fact that something small was inching it's way over her forearm. Small, yet definitely there.

A slender hand came up to touch her nose as she literally hit the wall, but when she felt the thing on her arm she brushed at it. "Ohhh, William! Bugs? How quaint."

Again it seemed as if she was utterly alone, the whatever it was falling most likely to the floor.

Another sigh escaped her as she peered around the room. "Don't you need me alive, William? Or is it your intention to starve me and then not get your prize?"

Nothing.

"You are such a coward." Sniffs and turns around to make the trek out again.

It was only a matter of moments before she found the stairs again, met with the same cobwebs that were not swept away when she came down in panther form.

Ignoring the cobwebs she made her way up the stairs, not even shivering once as the cobwebs tangled in her hair and on her arms and shoulders. Muttering something about men and creatures and bastards.

It was only a matter of time until she reached the door at the top of the staircase, though it did not budge, having been magically sealed tight.

Rolling her eyes, she huffed. "Alright." With a very unladylike flounce she found herself seated on the top step where she leaned back and closed her eyes tightly shut.

... and so she was left atop the stairs for as long as she wished.

She had not intended to sleep but sleep did overcome her. It was restless and short and she came awake with a shuddering start. Slowly she blinked and ran her tongue around her dry mouth at the same moment her tummy growled in protest for the lack of food.

Once she came to her senses, she realized that she was still perched at the top of the staircase in the pitch black of the lightless corridor.

She thought back over the things he had said and a smile curved her lips a moment, a somewhat disturbing smile just before she started to laugh. Hesteria? Maybe.

Her laugh echoed ominously down the stairwell, only to die off in the depths.

Small hands rubbed at her weepy eyes as she took a gusty breath. "Is this to be it? Shriveling to nothing in a dark dank room?" Another snort of a laugh. "I have to admit, I am not so surprised. Life can be so unpredictable. Of course I could use a few pounds dropped off of me. Although, this outfit could have been a bit more elegant for my demise, don't you think?" Blue eyes looking up at the unseen ceiling.

Her words were lost to the depths of the darkness, for no one or nothing answered her.

Again she rubbed at her eyes and sighed softly, leaning back against the cold wall. "The blue gown I wore to the first ball, that would have been nice. Was it your forever wish to become an almighty wizard dead thing, William?"

"Would you like something to eat?" A seemingly disembodied voice drifted up from the depths, a raspy parody of the warm dulcet tones she heard when William had his illusion in full swing.

"Seems a lonely life to me. Noone to care. I do have ones that care..." Trailing off as that voice actually caressed her skin. "Aye. I would."

"Come to the bottom of the stairs then. I will light the way." On cue, a flickering glow winked into life below, barely illuminating the stairs with sets of human and panther prints in the dust.

Risng, she brushed her skirts off and carefully made her way down the stairs. "Thank you for the light." She did not fool herself into thinking that he would actually feed her and if he did it probably would be something horrid, but she had no other choice but to find out.

"Embrace what I offer you and you will not want for anything, my dear. Never to hunger or thirst, not feeling the cold of night or the weariness of a body frought with mortal frailty" The light grew in warmth as she neared the bottom of the stairs, showing a high walled room with corpses hung from iron hooks overhead. The bodies occasionally shed a maggot which was most likely what she felt upon her arm. Along the left wall was yet another door. "Enter and allow me to continue your mortal existence for at least a small while longer."

That voice was working on her senses and she had to shake her head to clear it. Her eyes opened wide as she looked up and then she closed them for a moment. Averting them when they opened again she hurried to the door and opened it with a slight shake of her hand.

The door gave way to another room, this one having a squat table dominating the middle of it. On the other side, the angry red pinpoints of light from a dessicated skull like head peered out at her. "You are a woman of reason. Come, let us talk over your meal." A skeletal hand gestured forth from rotting robes to a plate of some meat and a goblet that lay upon the table.

"What is on the menu this evening?" Her voice was soft and sultry and there was a hint of shakiness as she crossed the room and gracefully sat.

"The blood and flesh of the freshly slain." The edges of leathery flesh tugged up over his teeth in what must have been a smile. "It will sustain you and I will continue to gladly provide this as long as you wish to exist as one of the living."

There was a lift of a slender brow, but she did not reach for either the meat or goblet. "I would rather have the maggots." Giving him a oh so sweet smile of her own.

"As you wish" The hand withdrew into his robes. "This can come to an end, and all you need is to embrace my offer. Much can be had by you, with very little to give up to me in trade."

Another lift of her brow, this time a bit higher. "You consider the giving up of my life very little? To end up as you, alone and without happiness, without life? I guess it is to be considered that when you *died* your brain turned to mush, eh?"

"What is life but a state of existence? I have retained all of my memories, all of my feelings, and have access to unbridled power and the comfort of knowing that I will not cease to be through illness or old age."

"We are only here for a short moment, but one must live life to the fullest. Without love what kind of existence is that?" Staring at the red points across from her. "It is a sad existence and I feel sorry for you, especially since those humanitarian feelings you say you have do not exist."

The thing tried to chuckle, it coming out more as a dry gurgle than anything else. "I have loved more deeply than you have ever known, and will love again long after you are dust if you refuse my offer"

"Tell me, William, did you kill the one you loved?"

That left the lich silent for several moments. "What matters is what you will choose, Lady Blu. They all call out to me before the end." Repeating that statement from before, raising a bony finger.

"What you love is power. Know this, I will not give you anymore power. I have had enough of that kind of love."

"Pity really.... thinking that you can hold onto what will eventually ebb from your very body." A harsher tone now cut across the room. "Know if you will refuse me I will feed upon your lifeforce as it leaves your body while you slowly starve to death. Then.. up on the hook you go with the others as a reminder of the foolishness of those who would choose death to the gift"

She thought about those poor corpses in the other room and shivered but she straightened her back once more and looked him straight in the so called eyes.."The gauntlet has been thrown down, William and now we shall see."

"Indeed.... once you are dead I think I shall go forth and collect another Solurian... and their fate will be upon your head as well." Steepling it's hands together as the light slowly faded, leaving only the vision of those two pinpoints of reddish light glaring out at her from the darkness. "Yessss..... I'll decorate my walls with many of your friends given you refuse to offer you to me."

Rising with a twitch of her skirts, she returned his gaze. "Thank you for the meal, William. I shall bid you good eve." Quaking inside as she turned quickly and headed for the corpse filled room and her maggot dinner.

::BJ kept camp mostly to himself, waiting...but he did not wait idly. First off, he traded one of the dragoon's a carving for some hard biscuit and cheese, his first real meal in several days, and though he politely refused the dragoon's offer of wine, he did accept the fresh water he carried. More time he spent grooming Knight, quietly braiding the stallion's mane into a herringbone pattern...and when he thought no one was looking...he prayed.::

::The word were in his native tongue, murmured so softly that if any heard him they might believe he was talking to the stallion. But the words were meant for One who was not seen, who was not there to hear...for the safety of the one they sought. He repeated the prayer over and over, finding comfort not only in the words, but in the soothing cadence and inflection.::

Creator protect the ones I love...keep them safe from harm and fear. Let them know that someone lvoes them, someone cares...that there is One who watches over them.

::It was an old prayer, spoken by parents for their children, wives for their husbands, and husbands for their wives...spoken for the lost, the injured. It had been taught to him long ago, and though he rarely sought the counsel or protection of his god, he found himself turning now to the Creator...not for his sake, but for hers. He prayed she was safe, and well...that she had the strength and will to keep herself alive...and that she had the hope that someone was looking for her.::

There was a hard tug on her belly as she stepped away from that table, away from whatever form of meat *William* had chosen to serve her. She had not fooled herself into believing him to be anything more than evil. Whatever kindness he had ever possessed had surely died with the rest of him whenever that may have occurred. Power was a heady sensation and she would not deny that, there had been times in her life, especially as Panther, that she had experienced a small faction of such power, but unlike *William* her desires laid elsewhere or maybe it was just not something she wanted...not so much power that she gave up her life and soul. That is what he wanted but she would do everything within her to deny him for if she did she was forever..doomed.

Again, a hard tug within her and a growl of not only her tummy but of herself. She was hungry. She was thirsty. She braced herself as she opened the door and held her breath as the stench washed over her. How could she do this? The only other option, it seemed, was to actually starve and that would give him exactly what he wanted. No! She would not cave.

Carefully she moved into the room and said a prayer for those poor people who had met their end here in this place. Prayed for those souls taken. She tried not to think about what was upon that floor as she bent and picked up a small wiggling maggot. She held it close to her face and examined the wormlike creature. "It is only a worm, Blu. Just a worm."

Swallowing hard she brought it closer and then stopped, trying not to gag. "Think..grapes...think prunes. That is it, a prune!" With that image filling her head she closed her eyes and popped it into her mouth, she did not even chew, she just swallowed and the horrible thought occurred to her...What if it wiggled in her belly and she felt it?? "Oh, stupid, do not think of that...do not!" Picking up another one she popped it into her mouth and swallowed...another and another. It was small substenence, especially with so few on the floor...no, they were burrowed and feasting on the rotting flesh of the corpses hanging within this dank room. Closing her eyes, she huffed out a breath and drew one in and out. "Forgive me." Opening those eyes of blue, she made herself look up at the closest *body* hanging there. A small shaking hand reaching up to dig into the rotting flesh and remove a handful of feasting maggots.

Shuddering as she herself...feasted.

((posted by request of Blu-mun - please note this post like the preceding one may .. unsettle those with weaker stomachs. Bry Helgraz mun))

Perhaps it was the gruesome meal ... or perhaps something else altogether. But as the carcasses of the death-eaters were slowly broken down by the relentless process of digestion, it seemed she could hear tiny sighs, last little breaths. It was an altogether queer sensation, not in the least diminished by the feeding she had forced herself to do almost robotically, but there was an odd sense of ... relief to the sound.

Absently - or as absently as she could trick her mind into doing it, she took another .. and as she ate, again the tiny sigh .. but this time she stopped. For a moment she'd heard a voice ... faint, mouse-quiet.

Liche...

The body needed sustenance, or her captor would be victorious. And so she had to return to the putrescent feast once more. A particularly bulbous specimen she chokes down, barely keeping her gorge. Then she almost did retch, feeling her stomach heave hard once as the voice seemed to speak to her from inside her own head, though in no voice of her own.

... what is courage to one who hides their mortality away ...

A reach, scrabble with nails to pull another loose...

... who hides their most precious possession inside a beautiful earthen prison ...

Through so much she has come already, and this is not the first time she has been held prisoner against her will, though never before as woman or panther had she been forced to live as a carrion crow. Yet this close to the tenebreous curtain, she fought all the harder to maintain her spark of life. Another swallowed... trying to keep her thoughts rigidly away from the neccesities. The strange ... bubbles of thoughts come more steadily now - it is a single message but it is spoken in dozens of voices, each speaking a word or two.

... and forgets that beauty and power ... are meaningless distractions without it ...
... freedom. Forgets that he has replaced one prison with another solely because he built the bars himself...
... his mind becomes as corrupted as the body shell ...
... freedom ...
... For your sacrifice ... we thank you ... for our freedom ...

The rending of rotting flesh to garner a meal was not a pretty scene, yet, the woman did what she must to prolong her life and her chances for escape. When all was said and done, pieces of previous victims lay upon the floor, rife with squirming larvae that had yet to be consumed by the captive healer.

She burped quietly and then gagged, the thoughts entering her mind was a welcome distraction, she did not question the voices in her head, they just were and helped her take her mind from the grizzly task, she did however, pause as they thanked her for their freedom...having her to say..."You are welcome, I just hope I find my own freedom." Quietly it was said as her stomach finally settled enough that she was not gagging. She remained thirsty but at least her hunger was somewhat abated..for now. Turning quickly she wanted out of that room..anywhere but here.

All was silent once more, quiet enough to pick up the barely audible sound of the larvae making their way through the flesh that hung above. Without light, she could but feel her way around and had the choice of the dining room or the stairwell, each taking her away from the grisly room of the unfortunate.

Her sleeve showed the remains of the meal as she had wiped her mouth afterwards. She could feel the sliminess seeping through her sleeve but ignored it as she felt along the wall and found a doorknob. The crude sounds of the munching maggots were getting to her so she hummed loudly!

In the pitch blackness she could only guess what was beyond the portal as she rotated the latch which protested loudly, opening into the dining area where the lich had offered her a meal of the flesh and blood of the innocent nearly an hour ago. For now, nothing stirred.

"What do you have next for me, William? Tis a crude game you play. Chess? Have you played chess?" Her own voice as much a distraction as a comfort. She stepped into the room and drew in a deep breath.

By now she was realizing that the lich held all of the cards, and could wait out this game at his leisure. He would decide the time and place to interact with his newest toy, and this moment was not one of them. Whatever comfort hearing her own voice provided would have to do, for the walls were apparently deaf to her question.

"Helg was teaching me. He is a great wizard, powerful too. Your power you take, he has his within. Isn't that a crocker?" Chuckling softly.

The sound of her voice died in the stifling opressiveness in the room, as if the mustiness swallowed up whatever beauty her lilting tones carried in other places.

She lifted her gaze up and then stumbled into the table, cursing as she banged her knee. Rubbing it as she felt her way and found the chair she had sat in before and sat..even in this danger she still sat gracefully, even while cursing. "You know they will come, don't you?"

The thick table did not move as she bumped into it, and as she sat an eerie feeling of eyes upon her could be felt. Still, no answer seemed to be forthcoming from her captor.

"You chose the wrong Lady, William. I am not some wilting flower, ready to fall at your feet and beg." A thought still niggled in her mind, a thought she had been trying to latch onto, something Helg had told her once. Her slender brows furrowed as she tried, again, to remember.

And then...it was there.

A smile curved her lips. Not quite a triumphant smile but one that said...I have a chance. It would not be easy but she knew if she could find the thing he stored his *lifeforce* in she could destroy him.

A butterfly held within a jar, it's beauty there to ponder by some insane child... such was her state as the words did not bring forth any reaction.
.
"Tell me, William...did you have a horrid childhood?"

Again, there was no answer forthcoming. The lich did not seem inclined to play her game. Maybe in a week or two he'd make another appearance when she was delirious and willing to do anything to end her nightmare.

Sighing softly. "Not very talkative, are you? Well, that is alright, I do not mind my own words or voice."

Somewhere above, very distant, the sound of something being struck could be heard. It happened but once, then silence insued once more.

Crossing her long shapely legs she rested her chin in her hand. Then she lifted her head at the faint sound. "Is that you, William?"

The feeling of her being watched wavered for but a moment as if whatever it was that was keeping tabs on her was distracted by what went on above.

Rising..she held her hands out and wandered the room, then she stopped and listened. Closing her eyes to tune in better. "Alright, Blu, it is worth a shot." Whispering to herself as she focused and did something she rarely did and did not know if it would work, she tried anyway, what did she have to lose?

The unseen watcher seemed to be absent as she felt her way about the darkened room that would serve as her tomb if William's plan came to pass.

She called the mists. They engulfed her, swirling around her, soft and moist. She concentrated on the place she most wanted to be...home. Suddenly feeling the strong pull of the evil magic that surrounded this place.

In the darkness her form was enshrouded by the very mists that came forth from the dank air itself, dissapating to travel along the floor towards the stairwell with the magically barred door. Without a corporeal form, Blu's consciousness drifted up the dank stone steps, slipping through the doorway into the ruins of the main hall... then similarly out the heavy oaken door onto the castle grounds. The wards around the ancient walls, however, served to cease her progress as she began to materialize in the shadow of the outer wall out of the direct sunlight that streamed down over the keep. The grotesquely helmed and armored mortal mercenaries were about, tending the keep until the sun went down and the dead could hold sway.

Sunlight? It was day? Blinking against the light and then focusing on the mingling mercenaries. It definately was not home. Lifting her skirts with as much dignity as she could muster she walked towards the nearest helmed man. Still remaining in the shadows.

Just above the sound of boots upon the ramparts above her spoke of at least one antagonist above, while several others could be seen milling about mending clothing and cooking a modest meal. The nearest brute happened to be one with the donkey faced helm, leaning upon a wickedly barbed halberd to rest his tired feet.

"One thousand gold pieces are yours if you get me out of here."

The man was startled enough to whir about, lowering his halberd and turning his gaze to the shadows where the voice came from, whatever expression he may have had lost within the confines of his helm. For a few brief moments it looked as if the man would raise an alarm, however, in the end the cry did not come. "The forest will kill you if you run. No living thing can survive the horror within." A gruff voice was heard as the man brought the halberd up again, adopting the bored pose once more so as not to attract attention.

There was a slight tilt to her head as she stilled for a moment, again there was something just out of her minds reach. "Then, how did those men bring me through unharmed?" Whispering.

"The dead steed carries with it a ward against that which dwells in the shadows. The sun above also serves to drive them back as does the devout of religions of Light." Another helmeted man passed, but seemed unaware of the potential escapee within a few feet of the halberd toting mercenary.

"No living thing will survive the horror within that castle either. Help me..please. You will be rewarded." Going quiet and still as the other man passed.

"You'll damn me to joining the ranks of the undead if I help you..... You're on your own." The man hissed out that whisper, fear evident in that gruff voice. A moment passed, and after a small curse lost in the helm the man continued. "Wait here..... if I take the dead steed the mercenaries will not be able to follow us. Pray we get to the stone before night falls and the lich can come forth from the keep."

Surprise was evident upon her pretty face as he spoke and then she quietly said. "Thank you."

Just then a wail could be heard issuing forth from the very bowels of the keep in the center of the grounds, bringing the attention of all the living men towards it, their brows creased with fear and worry.

Blu looked towards the Keep and shuddered as she knew he had found her gone. "Hurry, we must hurry." Whispering fiercely to the man.

"Find HER! FIND HER! BRING HER TO MEEEEEE!" A disembodied voice rumbled through the grounds, bringing the living contingent to their feet, reaching for their weapons and preparing to conduct a search of the grounds.

In the chaos, the donkey helmed brute let out a shrill whistle, summoning the dead steed under the guise of using it to search for the woman beyond the immediate grounds. The dead thing lumbered forward towards the gate even as the man moved to pluck up a scimitar and large shield that would be used to provide cover for a crossbowman.

Her gaze flicked quickly to one side and then the other, noting the scurrying men, then she looked at the man helping her.

The man was putting the men's aversion to the skeletal horse to good use, staying near it as it made it's way towards the gate. A subtle hand gesture to the shadows tried to relay that the woman should wait there for the moment.

Seeing that, she stepped a bit further back in the shadows. Telling herself to slow her pounding heart.

"Where you going Mule?" One of the men upon the gates called out which was duly answered "Going to check the forest, Rath! She may have made it there" The man continued towards the gate while the others began to conduct a search. The drawbridge was lowered and for a moment it would seem that her potential rescuer would leave her behind. Skeletal hooves rattled against the ancient planking as the horse and man were now several yards away from the gate.

Again a click of some slight memory slithered through her mind and then flittered out. Her skirts were lifted and her heart lurched into her throat. The words..Don't leave me..were on her lips as she watched horse and man clatter across the bridge.

About fifteen yards distant the man turned about and set the shield down on the planking, calling out to the keep as the bridge began to winch up. "RUN!"

No hesitation..none as she lifted her skirts and ran.

The others, hearing the bellow, seemed a bit perplexed until a woman came scrambling out over the closing gate to race across the bridge towards the man. "There she is!" "Get her!" Voices called out as crossbows were hastily loaded.

She did not look back.

And the gate ground to a halt, only to reverse itself. The dull twangs of bowstrings came just as she passed the shield bearing mercenary who jumped behind her to take the shots with the large shield. The armed man backpeddaled as best he could, trying to stay upright and afford the woman the cover of the large shield as the horse continued towards the shadow of the forest.

The instinct to duck was there but she kept going, hearing the twangs and the thuds of the offending arrows hitting the shield. She felt his heat behind her, felt the brush of his body against her back and ran faster.

The missiles ceased after two more hissed forth, one striking the shield and the other imbedding itself into the planking. A fearful voice was heard at her back as the shield was cast away. "Take the horse into the woods, do not look back. I have to keep our pursuers on this bridge until you're well in the forest then I'll try to catch up! Go!" The man's footfalls ceased, the shield cast away as he stopped, brandishing the scimitar to try to use the narrow bridge and himself to hold back the oncoming pursuers until the ghouls could be used to keep them at bay. The sound of battle cries and bootfalls could be heard in pursuit as steel was about to be crossed upon the narrow bridge.

She did look back and for a moment she stopped and ran back to him giving him a hug before she darted off after the horse. "Thank you! God be with you!"

The sound of steel against steel could be heard as she raced to catch up with the horse, her one ally continually giving ground as he fought to buy the horse and woman time to get within the shadows of the dead forest.

Grabbing the horses, what was left of it's mangy mane, she swung herself onto it's back and smacked it's skeletal ass. "GO!"

The creature was a mindless thing that accepted orders from the living, so it did as it was told, rattling into an ungainly canter, then gallop across the remainder of the bridge and beyond the ancient, foreboding trees into the perpetual dark under their boughs. The man was left behind, with mercenaries at his front and now ghouls behind.

And then there was that click again..registering with a bit of disbelief and horror. The eyes, the voice, the name. "Oh god!" She whirled the steed around and galloped back towards the fight.

The man slapped away one last thrust from a pole arm before he broke into a rout, running for all he was worth towards the horror that awaited him in the shadows of the forest. He hoped against hope that the horse with it's protective wards could be reached before he was swarmed with the flesh hungry undead that lurked in it's boughs. The other mercenaries were not nearly as foolhardy, stopping short at the end of the bridge as the donkey helmed man ran to what they thought was an untimely and painful death.

Horse and woman lurched out of the darkness and raced around him, her arm shot out as they whirled around. "COME ON!"

"I.... " the man heaved out a breath, stumbling over the rough ground of the forest as she reached out her hand.. "don't know how to ride...." His last word cut short as he tripped over a root, tumbling to the earth as she rattled past him, taking the protective ward away from him as things long dead began to race towards the fallen and helpless man.

She turned the steed so quickly she almost unseated herself, but she held on and darted back, this time coming to an abrupt halt beside him and reaching her hand down, there actually was a smirk upon her face. "You did it before, just hold onto me."

The creatures were almost upon him, sensing living flesh ripe for the feeding as he struggled to his feet. Her quick horsemanship, however, served to save him from a gruesome death as she thundered forth, driving the ghouls back from the horrified man in the nick of time. The helmeted man looked up at the smirking woman, breathing heavily as he said nothing for several moments. At last, a hand clad in a ratty gauntlet came up to peel off the helm, revealing the haggard features of one Argus Tal.

"Damn it all if my concience doesn't damn us both," breathing heavily as he reached up for her extended hand "but I couldn't let you end up as some nightmare given you saved my life once."

That smirk turned into a smile, a smile that showed just how glad she was to see him. "Hello, Gus, I always knew you had a heart beneath that ragged armor, now come on. Let's get out of here."

The man struggled to mount up upon that desiccated parody of a horse, succeeding at last to settle in behind her. "I fear that we've only postponed the inevitable, Blu. I don't like our chances...." The man looked out into the perpetual gloom of the trees, shuddering as dozens of pairs of sickly yellow eyes stared back hungrily.

"Have faith, Gus. Help is coming." This she said with confidence. "Now, hold on." Clicking to the steed and moving them further into the darkness.

::BJ had found among those encamped a nibbed "pen" and a small bottle of ink. He settled off by himself to sit and to think...leaning against a tree trunk and staring at the journal in his lap. It was her journal...he read the last entry quietly, a light finger tracing over the words she had written. Stones...she had written last about stones.... He dipped his pen in the ink and began to write on the first clean page...he wrote in his own tongue, one unknown to most here...he did not want other seeing what he put down.::

Domina...I wonder if ye knew on some level what was coming when ye wrote of these stones...as I write these words we sit near stones...a gateway through which ye have gone that we cannot pass as yet. I still remember the last night we saw one another...the words we spoke...the fact that I rested outside your door that night after driving myself to boredom within the Library. And then ye were gone from me...before I could speak to ye, before I could see ye again. At first I thought...ye were upon the business of a healer...but then I began to wonder...and when Dancer returned home I began to worry. Worry enough that I forgot myself and managed to get into trouble...mihi Domina, I need ye here with me to keep me from trouble. I would not admit just how much I truly missed ye...how much I worried. I let the feelings eat at me until I lashed out at the Knights of this land...they did not understand the agreement ye and I had come to so many years ago...that should one of us be taken, the other would provide and watch over the children. The children...Nikola asked each day where ye were, and when ye were coming home...I began to run out of answers for him...and to see Kaileigh wander in her silence from room to room looking for ye tore my heart. Rowann...young Lady Rowann has grown so much since I saw her last. She takes care of young Malachi. It was finally the children and the Lady Aria who convinced me to "chase after ye"...I feared that after that last night we had seen each other, ye would not wish to see me...I always fear such. Ye asked me once why I still wear the scarves...and I did not give a full answer. The truth is that they remind me of ye...of what I lost and cannot regain. They keep me grounded in the knowledge that I still love ye...that I will always love ye, and that ye do not share the same feelings as I. I understand that...and though I perhaps do not accept it, I respect ye. And Lady Aria...I do not know where my feelings lie with her. She is a wonderful person...a beautiful lady...but I worry her feelings for me are misplaced...that once she learns the truth about me, she will find the love she states she feels will disapate. And I...I shy away from any admission of feeling, for fear of the pain. Domina, I love ye...but I find myself caring more and more for this lady mage. And truth be told where no one will see it, I am afraid.
I miss ye, Domina...and whosoever wrote that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" knew the worry of never seeing one they love again...

::He paused in his writing...looking up as a shadow passed across the paper. Knight had come up to BJ, watching the Elf quietly. BJ carefully stoppered the ink bottle, tucking the pen and bottle away before closing the book with the now dried script. In silence he placed the journal and the rest away in the saddlebag, lifting the bag to settle on Knight's rump. He swung onto the stallion's back, ready to head back toward camp...secure in the fact that what he had written could not...would not be read.::

Just beyond the circle cast by the wards, dozens of pairs of sickly yellow eyes stared hungrily at the mercenary and healer, slavering over the taste of living flesh that they were denied by the presence of the dead steed.

Blu took a breath and looked around. "Do you know which direction the way out is?" The spiny back of that creature was making her uncomfortable, to say the least, and she shifted.

The man looked about, worry eating at his gut for he thought their chances for survival slim "Without being able to see the sun or stars I don't know Blu... but this thing does" Trying to stay atop that ghastly beast as it galloped along unabated. "Slow this thing down and let me get off to command it."

"Why do you have to get down to command it?" She slowed the creature even as she asked the question.

"It's not meant to be ridden... " The man was all to eager to slip off the creature's back as soon as it slowed, more for the fear of him falling off the horse and being left behind to be eaten by ghouls rather than his lie about the horse's function. The scimitar he once had was lost when he was first set upon by the undead so he had to resort to the short sword at his belt. Drawing it, he let out a shrill whistle which brought the desiccated skull of the creature turned slightly to the left and began to plod forward. "Pray we're close, Blu.... for if the sun sets all is lost."

Blu was not so dense that she did not know that, but even so, she felt safer upon it's back than on foot and surely they could move faster upon it. "But, did you not say that we would be safe as long as we had this...creature with us?" She, herself, lifted her skirts high enough to show a nice soft thigh and the dagger strapped to it, withdrawing it from it's sheath with a soft whisper.

"It's the lich's pet, and once the sun draws down and he can extend the reach of his powers, he'll drop the ward... or worse." Looking over his shoulder, seeing several creatures loping along in the gloom of the woods. Hell, why did he play the hero for this woman? Now his life as well as hers will be forfeit. That thought weighed heavily upon the man as he heaved out a sigh, trying to prepare himself for the inevitable.

"I am sorry, Gus. I should have just stayed where I was and found another way." Softly. "What are doing here, anyway? With this evil."

"What's it matter.... " the man grumbled out, plodding along a few more steps in silence before speaking once more. "Surviving... I need to eat." Leaving it at that.

Meanwhile, back at the dark keep the lich railed against the escape of his prey, it's madness fueling vengeful and evil thoughts as the sun hung low in the sky. "Sooooon, my love.... I will show you the error of your ways...."

She would not lecture, although it was upon her tongue to do so. "Well, we still have a chance, give this thing the command."

"G'won... you give it an order. It listens to anything."

She looked down at the creature and opened her mouth and then shut it. "What am I telling it to do? I mean..how did I get in this forest?"

"There's a travel gate.... and we're heading for it right now" Pointing in the general direction that the creature was traveling.

Nodding, this time she said plainly and loudly. "Take us to the travel gate and do it quickly."

The dead horse bolted off in a gallop, leaving the terrified Argus calling out in horror as he couldn't keep up. The ghouls immediately pounced and tried to swarm the man as he swung his short sword about.

Again, she gasped and then cussed as she changed the order. "Stop and go back for him! Quick!" Calling out to Gus as they pounded towards him.

The beast skittered to a halt, rearing up and moving back towards the mercenary who could not keep the press of hungry undead at bay. By the time they were driven back, he had sustained several wounds and began convulsing as his muscles began to stiffen. Frothing at the mouth and wide eyed, he fell to the earth.

"Noooo Gus! Nooo..please!" She was already coming off that horse before it had come to a stop and running towards the fallen man.

Paralysis overtook the man as the nature of the ghouls' claws became evident. The man stiffened and twitched, unable to regain control of his nervous system.

Her hands were all over him as they glowed and pressed and searched for the wounds inflicted. "No Gus, come on you have to stay with me." She slipped her arms under him and began pulling him back towards the horse. "Stay away from him!" Hissing to the ghouls.

Wounds inflicted by beastly claws and rotting teeth were evident upon arms, shoulders and torso, and would no doubt fester if not properly cleaned. That, however, paled in comparison to the man's immobility which left the woman with a difficult choice: leave the man to his fate or stay and die with him once the sun went down.

There was one other choice and she took it. She could not get him up on that horse but she was determined to help him so with a growl she turned and became panther. Grasping his collar with razor sharp teeth she jerked him closer and then leaped upon the steed, draping him over the creature much as they had done herself and in the same moment she shimmered and became the lady once more, holding onto Gus tightly as she clicked to the horse. "To the travel gate..Now!"

It wasn't easy, but her feline form had enough strength to haul the man up upon the horse. Her true form regained and the order given had the creature clicking it's jaw, moving towards the gate once more.

Leaning over Gus and closer to the steed's head. "Faster!"

From a walk to a canter, it's mechanical gait making it difficult to keep the paralyzed Gus upon the dead thing's boney back. Behind, and all around, those wicked dwellers in this dead wood stalked them, awaiting their chance to feed.

There were tears stinging her eyes as they fled closer to freedom. She used all her strength to keep them upon that creature. "Damn you, William, Damn you to hell!"

"Hell will be a much more pleasant place compared to what I have planned for youuuuuu!" The whole forest seemed to rumble as the sun finally creeped below the horizon, allowing the dead arch mage to extend his consciousness into the dead forest and seek out the woman who ran from him. The steed beneath them immediately crumbled, the power of unlife suddenly swept away with a thought. Both she and Gus tumbled to the ground with a great deal of force.

It seemed as if the world had suddenly collapsed and in a way her's had and Gus's. She tried to roll with the impact but when she hit hard to the ground she was tossed over Gus's prone body and slammed into a log, which sent her rolling back to slam into Gus once more. There was a yelp of pain as the silence was filled with a resounding crack.

"Watch, as my children feed upon he who has betrayed me." The booming voice seemed to come from the very earth itself as the ghouls which were free roaming horrors were now brought under control of the one called "William". Eyes of putrid yellow turned to the paralyzed man as several stalked forward with the intent of eating Tal before Blu's eyes.

She grabbed her wrist with her hand and rocked forward, even with the horrific pain the break had caused, she did not give in to it and draped her body over Gus's. "Leave him be, William! Call your ghouls off!"

The juicy sound of inhuman teeth sinking into flesh reached her ears as one of the creatures pounced, tearing at the helpless man's calf, drawing forth a spurt of crimson.

She screamed and lunged forward and punched at the ghoul, just before she changed to panther with a loud wail of rage. She shimmered back and forth and could not hold it, before the lady was there again.

For every one creature she batted aside, another darted in from behind to rake or bite at the man who was now bleeding profusely and was near death, in the process of a very painful death in being eaten alive.

"I'm sorry, Gus, I'm sorry!" She grabbed ahold of him, best she could, and gave him whatever healing magic she had left. Closing her eyes she envisioned home and once again the mists gathered and engulfed them.

It was enough to keep him from slipping away and becoming one of the undead as well even as the mists gathered and enshrouded them. Claws and teeth no longer found flesh as the lich howled out his rage. "You will not escape me so easily! I will not be denied!" Within the mists two minds drifted in a direction, being shadowed by creatures that could no longer directly harm them. Even in this state she could sense the magical gaze of the lich upon them, seething in rage. Across the twisted roots of the floor and the stagnant bog two ethereal horrors sailed out with great speed.... eager to do their master's bidding. Spectres approached, having the power to reach into the mists with spindly ghostlike claws and drain the very lifeforce from the living within.

She looked down at the man in her arms and for a moment hugged him and prayed. She did not trust the lich to bargain with her and knew a terrifying end was near. "Gus, if you can hear me, know that I am sorry. I won't let us die horribly." It was getting harder to maintain the mists, she looked down and spied a glisten of steel, she did not remember stuffing the dagger in her waistband of her skirt, but there it was. Taking it out with her good hand she held it poised, then called out. "William? Will you bargain?"

Over the rough, dark landscape they traveled, now in the pitch black of the heavily canopied forest in the middle of night. All seemed lost, until... ahead... another clearing. Within the center lay a circle of standing stones surrounding a darker, foreboding one in the middle. "There is no bargain. You are mine regardless of what you wish!" Ghouls swarmed about, sensing the protective mists lifting, and approaching fast were those ungodly spectres that would act as lifeforce leeches, sucking Argus then Blu dry of their living essences.

The notion to laugh suddenly came and she gave into it, for a moment the forest was filled with that eerily musical laugh. "I won't let you take us like that. I will end us both, myself, before you can take me." There was conviction in her words.

"Do it! Amuse me by losing hope and taking you and your weak willed pet's own life! DO IT!" The rake of a ghoul's claw jarred Argus's motionless body before passing through it.. the mists were lifting and within moments the hungry flesh eating dead would finally feed upon the man she carried.

Her gaze darted from the ghouls to the stones and back to Gus. She then raised the dagger and whispered the words. "Forgive me."

The two figures cowered several dozen yards away from the gateway stone, the dim light from the clearing showing that they were utterly surrounded by the slavoring ghouls controlled by the Lich. Meanwhile, a half league away, two macabre spectors raced over the ground, their skeletal claws flexing in anticipation of harvesting some much desired life force.

Blu took a breath, and it was a shuddering one, those blue eyes welled with tears as she looked down to Argus. "Forgive me, Gus, I can't let you go this way." The dagger was raised a bit higher and her other hand came to grasp the hilt, she felt no pain as yet, too much adrenaline passed through her to notice.

"End his life! That's it! Repay him for his foolishness by killing him with your own hands!" The echo of the disembodied voice urged the woman to slay the man who helped her while the ghouls closed in, ignoring the woman to try to tear the man apart.

Hissing to the ghouls and then to William. "Shut up! You bastard!"

Like a pack of grisly hyenas three of the ghouls leapt upon the fallen mercenary, grabbing hold of the nearly dead man and tearing him away from the woman to carry him off.

"You will not win! Those creatures or you!" She screeched as he slipped from her grasp and she shimmered and growled and leapt after them. Panther leaped at a creature and grasp it by the throat and shook it's head til the blood spouted out and the head came off.

The powerful form of the panther did nothing to dissuade the undead things from rending flesh from bone as the mercenary was disemboweled and torn limb from limb. The powerful panther's attacks did fell three of the creatures before the man was beyond saving. "Ahhhhhhh..... see what ruin you have wrought, my love?" Many pairs of sickly yellowed eyes glared out at her from the tight circle now formed by the ghouls, their cadaverous mouths contorted into grisly smiles while under the control of the lich.

A cold wind rustled long dead leaves as the temperature dropped...Something truly horrific was approaching...Blu sensed it.

Again her form shimmered and then shook before her form wavered as if it couldn't quite make the change, this time was a slow process before the woman stood in the circle of power and evil. "You damn coward!" Softly but fiercely said.

"Now.... save yourself from the fate that has befallen your rescuer. Come back to me and embrace what I have offered youuu."

"You are too much a coward to face me?"

The two figures cowered several dozen yards away from the gateway stone, the dim light from the clearing showing that they were utterly surrounded by the slavoring ghouls controlled by the Lich. Meanwhile, a half league away, two macabre spectors raced over the ground, their skeletal claws flexing in anticipation of harvesting some much desired life force.

Blu took a breath, and it was a shuddering one, those blue eyes welled with tears as she looked down to Argus. "Forgive me, Gus, I can't let you go this way." The dagger was raised a bit higher and her other hand came to grasp the hilt, she felt no pain as yet, too much adrenaline passed through her to notice.

"End his life! That's it! Repay him for his foolishness by killing him with your own hands!" The echo of the disembodied voice urged the woman to slay the man who helped her while the ghouls closed in, ignoring the woman to try to tear the man apart.

Hissing to the ghouls and then to William. "Shut up! You bastard!"

Like a pack of grisly hyenas three of the ghouls leapt upon the fallen mercenary, grabbing hold of the nearly dead man and tearing him away from the woman to carry him off.

"You will not win! Those creatures or you!" She screeched as he slipped from her grasp and she shimmered and growled and leapt after them. Panther leaped at a creature and grasp it by the throat and shook it's head til the blood spouted out and the head came off.

The powerful form of the panther did nothing to dissuade the undead things from rending flesh from bone as the mercenary was disemboweled and torn limb from limb. The powerful panther's attacks did fell three of the creatures before the man was beyond saving. "Ahhhhhhh..... see what ruin you have wrought, my love?" Many pairs of sickly yellowed eyes glared out at her from the tight circle now formed by the ghouls, their cadaverous mouths contorted into grisly smiles while under the control of the lich.

A cold wind rustled long dead leaves as the temperature dropped...Something truly horrific was approaching...Blu sensed it.

Again her form shimmered and then shook before her form wavered as if it couldn't quite make the change, this time was a slow process before the woman stood in the circle of power and evil. "You damn coward!" Softly but fiercely said.

"Now.... save yourself from the fate that has befallen your rescuer. Come back to me and embrace what I have offered youuu."

"You are too much a coward to face me?"

In the meantime, on the other side of the portal, ALy looked at Bj and Chrum. "We need an animal. A dead one."

Thinks a moment. "One of the dragoons...he went hunting this morning."

Chrum jerked a look at BJ.

Glances at Chrum...then at Aly, and falls silent.

"I kne dead thin's es YE depaertment BJ." Rolls his eyes.

"We need tha' animal now. An' Bj..." Said as she gets out a small wooden bowl, and a pouch...."I'm gonna need yeer bluid as well as min' feer this."

Blinks at Aly...tilting his head slightly. "Might I ask ye...why?"

Chrum turns to look at Hame, his claymore held at his waist.

"Ye ere full Elven...I am half. I want ta make sure this spell works." She looks over at Chrum, sensing his mood. Takes some herbs and puts them in the bowl, closing her emerald eyes, going over the spell. There can be no mistakes. They didn't have time for long explanations and they were gonna need to trust one another without question in this thing..ALL of them.

Nods...the explanation wasn't a whole lot, but it was enough.

Lifting his blade high, closes his eyes and brings it down in a forceful arc across Hame's neck. The horse teetered but a second and fell sideways, into Chrum.

Looks at Chrum. "What in hades are ye doing?"

"A dead thin'...aye?"

Shakes his head. "Aye...but not this big."

"Ye dinno specify laddie."

Just stops and blinks. Her eyes want to mist but they don't.

Shakes his head slightly, and a glance to Aly. Looking down at the dead animal, murmurs quietly. "A pity."

Looks sideways to BJ and clenches his fist to strike.

Takes out her dagger, and makes a slice across her palm, a breath sucked in as she did, then she held it over the bowl and squeezed so her blood ran into it. "Drop 't Bj..I need yeer blood." She looks to Chrum with sadness, but holds out the bowl to Bj.

Nods to Aly...taking his own dagger and placing it in his palm, closing his fingers about it a short pull, eyes closing a moment at the pain...and squeezes his hand about the blade, crimson running between his fingers and down his hand into the bowl.

She mouths the words *I'm sorra* to Chrum, and she was truly feeling pain for him and Hame.

Slowly he turned back to the fallen horse, lifting it's head, loosing the bridle from it's mouth, then stood and watched the preparations.

She stirred the mixture, and added one more herbs, then began a chant in Elven, as she walked over to Hame, laying her hand on him, giving him her thanks for his sacrifice.

Looking back he offered the grounded dragoons a steely firm lipped grin and nodded toward the portal. They in turn looked back to Chrum still a bit shocked he had slain his horse. Chrum leaned down, laying his hand in the blood oosing from the horse's neck, letting it feed his need for courage just now.

Looks down at the mixing of herbs and Life for the blood-magic...silently binding his hand with a strip of cloth.

She then took the potion made of Elven blood and some special herbs, and poured it into the horses mouth, all the while chanting. It didn't take long for Hames eyes to change, Aly kept chanting till Hame was on his feet...a shell of what he was just a few moments before.

Watches the magic quietly, his mind running through a simple request...Creator protect those I love...over and over not speaking, merely thinking those words over and over...stepping back slightly as the horse rises.

He blinked at his horse on its feet again and stepped back, looking to his bloody hand.

She layed a hand on Chrums arm. "Meleth?"
He smeared the blood on his face and looked to Aly. "Aye?"

"We needs go. Tell Hame to go throogh th' gate."

Nodding to Aly, "I wae sae tae te lad m'self", and stepped up next to the gelding nudging him forward.

(( A quick OOC note, so there will not be any confusion. I am listing what color of text goes with which char.

(( Red=William, the Lich.
(( Green=Aly
(( Blue=Blu
(( Black=BJ
(( Brown=Chrum

The Latin inscriptions upon the gate began to glow softly from the Solurian side, as if some necromantic power was being drawn into the area.

Turns toward the stones...watching the inscriptions begin to glow.

"The ghouls closed in, and now two other unearthly creatures hovered above, their tattered robes fluttering on an ethereal wind. All seemed lost until.... the gate several dozen yards away suddenly sprung to life amidsts a crackling boom and a steady hum. The spectres and ghouls turned to look that way. "What is this???? It cannot be!"

Her head whipped around at the sound.

A half-step back at the boom...then regains his solid footing, looking to Aly and Chrum.

Turns at the sound too., then back to Chrum, and the dragoons knowing that they may not survive this. Aly took some of the blood from her hands, and wiped one lone stripe diagonally across her face, from forehead to chin.

Hame hesitated, then started forward again. Chrum squinted to see past the gateway and what was there. "Cuim un laddie", to Hame, " w'hae werk ta du!"

Aly looks at Chrum. "I will love ye always." Then she looked through the gate and was getting a glimpse of something.

Chrum looked back to Aly and past her at the tentative dragoons, "Cuim un lads...ye cun nae live f'ever!"

Tosses his cloak over a tree-limb nearby...and draws his blades, an experimental turn before falling into step just behind Aly.

Passing through the gate, Churm stayed centered, but looked back to the dragoons, "Spread oooot...dun bunch up!" Aly words echoing in his ears as he strained to stay focused.

"Render her helpless... but do not feast!" Several ghouls turned in unison to try to leap upon Blu now, their vemomous claws raking out to try to strike hits.

Through the gate they could see only a few yards that dissapeared into a dark, forboding wood.

She tried to run, but one caught his claw in her skirts and brought her down, she cursed more as she kicked and kicked again, striking at least one in it's head. Kicking and kicking..stomping whatever part of the ghouls she could get to.

Her strikes fell true, but unfortunately so did many of the black, elongated claws. Legs, arms, and torso were soon bloodied by light wounds.

She felt pain and then a stinging sensation that began at her toes and quickly traveled up her legs.

Makes his way through the gate, shaking off the tingle of transport as he moved off to the side and forward...eyes searching.

The gateway stone was in a small clearing, and those entering could only hear something going on beyond in the darkness. Elven sight however, revealed a different, desperate situation.

It was only moments before she could no longer kick her legs or feel them, it was moments more before her whole being seemed to just cease to move.

Taking a knee, he looked for what he cold hear, but not see.

Inside the realm of the dead, she caught Blu's scent and her eyes found her, drawing her sword, she again looked at Chrum and Bj..."Ghools! Bluidy fargin' ghools!"

Her eyes of blue widened then lost all focus.

Seeing movement amongst the trees, a moment to realize what he sees.

He glanced to Aly, then to the troops, waving his hands for them to fan out even wider. "Forward!"

"BJ! They canna hurt ye...Yeer Elven! Go mon Go!"

Soft, low growl...and sprints forward toward Blu...passing Aly and Chrum quickly, heading for the Ghouls. Close enough to see her upon the ground, to smell the death about them.

Ordering her body to move was useless, but she could hear...she heard her sister's voice and then a buzzing filled her ears.

"INTERLOPERS! YOU HAVE COME TO YOUR DOOM!" The forest rumbled with rage as the creatures abandoned the paralyzed healer to leap over the detritis, eager to feast upon the living.

She ran too, then sensing another force, those eyes of hers glanced all around her. "Chrum..they c'n kill ye an' th' others...keep away from their claws and teeth..paralysis will set in an' they will feed on ye while alive!" She knew she could be hit by the ghouls and would weaken, but not be paralyzed.

Coming up among the ghouls, slashing at them as he moves to pass them, his whole mind, his whole thought on reaching Blu. His two blades working separately and together, attacking any that got in his way. Working his way to Blu's downed form.

From the darkness macabre creatures with mishappen limbs charged out like a pack of crazed wolves. Numbering sixty in all, they seemed to come from many directions at once.

Staying low, the voice seemed of God himself, but Chrum knew better and followed close behind BJ. Even Chrum could make out these evil things now, and he brought his short blade to bear and worked behind BJ slicing an upper then an over hand at the swarming things.

There were so many of them and she looked over at her beloved Chrum, when the first ghoul hit her. Swinging she managed to keep hitting the ones that came at her, hoping she was making headway.

Several creatures fell as the living tried to hack their way to the prone Blu, but the undead were also managing to rend flesh of their own. Several wounds were sustained by the force, even as the two spectral forms moved to settle over the form of Blu.

Soft, low growl as he works...the injuries hurt, but pain he had learned to mostly ignore where he had made ground by feet, he now fought for inches...but every inch was one closer to her.

Aly saw the things hovering and knew them for what they were. "Spectres!!! Dinna let them touch ye Chrum! They steal yeer life force...yeer soul!"

The muscles of his arms strained as he tried to severe with each blow he offered. He didn't have time for all this talking. Didn't the lass see he was busy? Chrum rolled his eyes as he stepped deeper into the fray.

"Cease things of the living! Or the woman you wish to reach will be nothing but a dessicated corpse!" The lich was no fool, and the spectres did not concentrate upon the attackers, but the fallen Blu. Ethereal hands seemed to reach down to caress the woman's cheek, their empty eye sockets springing to life with an eerie glow.'

Blu's hand twitched and then again and the look upon her face was one of "Come and get me and then get the hell out of here!"

She swung hard and heavy, hacking away at the side of her brother and love. There were so many of them and she could feel the weakening every time one scratched her with his filthy claws. "NAY! "She swung at those hands.

Surges forward...and then tucks his blades close to his sides, concentrating. Disappears a moment...to reappear at Blu's side. Swinging wildly at the spectres to at least have them back off a moment.

As he turned to strike he could see the soliders taking a beating on the flanks. "Criminy BJ!! Cun ye nae carra t'lass???"

"GET her OOT O' HERE!" Arced her sword high catching one on his hands with her blade.

Bj's disappearing opened up a flank to Chrum's left and he FELT the blow and screamed. "AAARRGGHHH!!!!!"

Weapons passed through their bodies given they were incorporial.

Growls softly to Chrum, but it was too late. "In the name of the Creator...back off!"

Meanwhile, the ghouls swarmed over the rescuers, keeping them distracted or they would suffer grievous wounds of their own.

Aly was weakening, at each claw by the ghouls. The spectres didn't bother her so much, but she worried for Blu and Chrum and the others that were falling all around her.

Instinctive his blade swung around to strike at the source of the pain.

Hears Chrum's cry...looks up past the spectres, sheathing a blade, he drops to one knee beside Blu. Softly...a whisper. "Domina..."

Meeting Bj's eyes, "GET 'Er OOOOT !"

Article Enhancer Number of posts : 267 Registration date : 2007-09-26

((This WAS soooooooooooo awesome!! Glad to have all of it, Elle! ::hugs: Smile

)

(It was soooo much fun to play too. Sure do miss Doug and his wonderfully complex chars and plots ! Thanks ellie for posting all this!)

"CHRUM!" SHe found strength she didn't know she had and started hacking at the ghouls to get to him, she was as bloody a mess as he was.

"So be it! You wish her to die before your eyes, then my pets will drain her dry!" The spectres began to draw the very life from the paralyzed Blu.

That touch of the spectres upon her cheek was a lie as it felt so soft and warm and caressing. She tried to scream but she could not.

Scoops her up...moving between her and the spectres.

She gave a owl hoot to let those that were still alive to head back toward the portal.

Ah.. but being incorporeal, the spectres merely reached through the elf... continuing to work upon the fallen woman.

The touch of the creature an icy feel to his own skin...shielding her with his body as best he could as he tried to run and through him, he had difficulty gathering breath. Even with a blade in his hand, holding Blu and fighting was too cumbersome.

Seeing BJ falter, he lunged forward, hacking and spearing.

She looked at Chrum and saw the pain he tried to hide. "Lets go meleth." She was trying to get behind Bj and Blu, do the same as the others, hitting anything that dared come near her.

The remaining ghouls leapt in masse upon the elf carrying the healer, their claws and teeth frantically seeking to rend him limb from limb. Years began to show upon the woman as her life slowly began to ebb from her body. MEanwhile, some of the dragoons were being felled and feasted upon.

Chrum dropped to a knee with the rake across his back...tearing deep grooves near to his spine.

She saw him fall, and ran to him. "Dinna ye dare! GET UP!" Tries to help his large frame up. ALy watched as some of their men were being eaten alive, but there was nothing she could do. "Come meleth. Try feer me..feer th' bairns who need ye...I need ye."

The blood on his face now was his own from biting his lip to hold back the scream in his throat as he pushed himself to his feet. Finding his footing, swung at a ghoul baring down on Aly as she approached him.

With a silent prayer, lowers his head to shield her and sprints, trying to *barrell* through.

She was burning..pain..so much. Inside out her soul seeming to latch on and then wavering.

Mutters quietly as he moves to a flat out run. "Domina! Do not dare...we still need ye to hang on, to be strong!"

Three undead saw the large man as a likely feast, jumping in to try to claw and bite despite Aly's efforts to remove him.

She hacked away while trying desperately to get him to his feet before paralysis took over. She fought them hard, fists, feet and blade. "Ye canna ha' him!" She was really weakening by all the hits, but she wasn't going down yet, and she would be damned if she would lose Chrum too.

As he spun and flailed, he could see the soldiers fall and become gruesome feasts.

A mere twenty ghouls remained animate with BJ pushing his way through the majority of them while suffering several grievous wound. The spectres turned from the prone Blu to now try to stop BJ. A horrific cold gripped the elf as they began to drain years away. With such a long life, however, the elf was not nearly as affected as humans.

Manages a few minor hacks and slashes with Blu in his arms, but they are mostly to keep the ghouls at bay and not effective.

The transformation that was occuring was quite strange..streaks of silver shimmered in her raven hair and her skin slowly began to wrinkle, a ghostly palor touched her cheeks.

Flinches at the cold, burrowing deep to his soul...seeks to move faster trying to outrun the creatures, he can see the portal up ahead.

Turning finally to Aly, he grasps her blade in his hand producing a deep cut..."Get yesef OOOT Aly!" "Du it NOOOOW !"

The ghouls were undeterred, leaping back away from blade strike while delivering blows to unprotected flanks. It would only be a matter of time until they feasted.

She tried to cover Chrum with her own body as best she while fighting off the creatures, but she was so small. "NAY! NAY!" SHaking her head. "GET UP!"

A creature managed to latch upon Chrurms leg and tugged at it, trying to yank the man from the smaller half elf's grip, rending the flesh of the man's leg nearly to the bone.

Chrum pushed her HARD off him and toward the gate.

She shifted as quickly as she could after catching herself from the stumble, and in her place was the gargoyle.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!" Chrum's scream at the pain in his leg just blended in with the remainder.

Catches Aly's change out of the corner of his eye, and about does a stumble of his own.

She let a out a deep loud growl that shook the trees, swooped Chrum up and took to the air. She flapped her leathery wings and flew as fast as she could toward the portal.

Claws, teeth, and spectral hands of death left BJ in a haze of horrific pain, yet his determination nearly got him to the gate.

Catches himself quickly, and a slight pause before heading back to a run for the portal. Continues to move, starting to falter, starting to stumble. Managing to keep hold of both Blu and his blade more from sheer force of will and dumb luck than any skill.

Despite being in flight the ghoul clung to Chrum's leg and was greedily gnawing at the man's flesh, tearing hunks from it and gulping it down.

Aly took her own clawed foot and kicked as hard as she could. She was so tired and didn't know how long she could keep up this shape, but the gate was close.

Aly's kick produced another scream from Chrum.

What remained of the dragoons were a small circle, protecting each other's flanks though they were losing numbers gradually.

Finally getting in a position to slice at the ghoul to take it's head off as they fly through the air.

Seeing the dragoons, calls to them. "Go...through the gate." Following close behind Aly's flightpath...so close.

The spectres continued to draw force from BJ, feasting upon him with impunity as centuries were now erased from his existance.

Stumbles, dropping to one knee, jarring Blu in his arms.

"Our commander is abandoning us!" Was all that was heard as they were cut off from escape, knowing if they broke ranks to run they'd be cut down and eaten.

"Aly! Puuut m'doooon!!"

The dragoons were still there, but she needed to get Chrum through the gate. She would come back.

He began to pummel Aly's talons. "Dooon!"

"NAY!" Came a booming voice. "I'll put ye doown at th' portal..I canna leave th' men behind."

He shook himself till he freed himself from her grip and fell with a thud to the ground.

SHe was now at the gate, and watched as Chrum fell toward it.

Rolling over, and up on an elbow, looked back toward the soldiers trying to defend themselves.

She turned at the felled ghouls and growled, then turned around and told Chrum and Bj. "Get throogh th' damned gate now. I"m goin' after oor men."

One arm completely useless, and a leg not working all that well, he struggled to find his feet, "Nae 'lone!"

Only a handful of the most staltwart dragoons remained, fighting even as their bretheren were being consumed by the ghouls about.

Struggles once more to stand, cradling Blu and moving the last steps to the gate.

The wrist that had already been broken smacked the ground and there was another loud crack, her bones now were becoming quite brittle.

At the gate, he shoved BJ and Blu through, then turned back to Aly and the dragoons.

"You will not leave this place alive!" Another booming voice, followed by a crack of thunder and the appearance of a mist that began to rise.

She looked down at him from her eight foot height. "Yeer in no condition ta argue..oor men need me."

Moves with the shove, far enough to stumble through the portal and lays Blu upon an overturned stone...pausing long enough to grab his cloak from the treelimb and throw it over her and turns back in the hopes of going through the portal once more to help Aly and Chrum.

The spectres shrieked out their horror at losing their prisoner, turning their rage upon the large man near the gate.

A deep growl of his own..."May'aps nae...but may'aps sa" He charged limping forward to the surviving soldiers.

She stood over Chrum, her wings trying to protect him as best she could with her own claws and fists. Then followed him into the fray trying to protect all of them left.

Steps back through...right into the midst of the spectre, seeing Aly as gargoyle and Chrum below her, heads for them and the remaining Dragoons.

"Ye wan' suim o'ole Scotland...ye got it!!!!" Haphazardly striking at those things between him and the soldiers, trying to make a hole.

Article Enhancer Number of posts : 267 Registration date : 2007-09-26

((And to think we never knew how good we were! LOL))

(I know right? lol)

A hole had been opened, with bittersweet results. So many of the soldiers...young warriors really, had been slain. Those wounded by the ghouls had to have been mercifully *expired* else face the horrible way of perishing. Survivors were wounded and shocked but, survive they did. Not yet knowing the rath of William had only just begun.

::Bj could not rest, could not bring himself to settle. He saw that the others settled into rest, and he relieved the man, once a young man now of middle age, immediately of guard duty, taking the human's turn at the watch so the man could rest and perhaps start to heal. Himself, he could not. Now that she was here with him he refused to rest for fear of losing her again. And so he wandered the perimeter of the camp, Knight a big, black shadow following him.::

::Finally, sheer weariness forced him to wake one of the dragoons, but he split the watch with him, each taking but one half of the small camp. BJ returned near Blu, tired; haunted eyes watching her rest. He gently touched her now silvered hair, a light caress...in his eyes she was still beautiful, still lovely as always. She could be eighty, with hair of snow-white and wrinkled as a prune...and she would still be as beautiful to him as the day he first laid eyes on her. He took the leather journal from Knight's saddlebag, settling down near her, and began to write...words he never expected to be read, words in his native tongue...::

Domina...ye are back with us once more, but at a great price...a price that will haunt all of us, though the men gave their lives willingly to save ye. The years those of us who remain have lost...in my eyes my lost years have been well spent, a heavy price bot not undesired. Not all may agree with me, but for me, years spent without ye are years I would rather not have. I see ye lying here, sleeping nearby as I write this...and I remember our times together, the good and the bad. Ye are still beautiful to me, for those who say "beauty is only skin-deep" have not met ye. I know ye will not see this...will not be able to read it even if ye did, the ramblings of a tired elf who above all else cares for ye more than life itself. Had the spectres left me only one/tenth of my expected years, if I can spend them at your side, be it friend...lover...it would not matter. For now, I cannot be certain the years left to me, though I can hazard a guess at perhaps half of what might have been...four centuries shall be long enough. Ye cannot ever know...I will never let ye know how close I came...better ye never know my despair...my fear. Ye have returned to us, and that is what matters...all that matters...

::He paused in his writing, for a moment feeling once more the sensation of icy cold along his spine, his head dropped a moment, eyes closing as he gathered himself once more. BJ opened his eyes to watch her...settling himself back further against the tree, the sharp stinging of the still fresh wounds refreshing pain that woke him some, brought the world into sharper focus. The weary elf looked once more at the journal before him.::

I love ye...have never stopped loving ye, will never stop loving ye. There...I have put into permanence what I have always told ye, though ye cannot understand this language I write in. Ye worry too much of the image...and that is not what I fell for so many years ago, it was the person inside...the lovely, gentle, kind and patient woman who took me by the hand and showed me what it was to have friends, to love and be loved. And for this, I will forever be in your debt...more than ye will ever realize or know. For without ye I would not have become who I am now, I would have been caught and returned to Celtus, destroyed by my own anger...or worse.
There are those who want me to be what I cannot...do what I cannot. The children could see before I left that I was trying to follow the letter, but not the spirit...and they knew, better than I...they let me follow my heart, follow the spirit. It is said that the Creator protects Fools and Children...and if that is so, then we are doubly blessed.

::BJ closed the journal, closed his eyes a moment to rest them...only a moment, but that moment became two...and then more as his mind succumbed to the needs of his body, his head falling to rest chin to chest, the journal upon his lap.::

It would be weeks passing while people healed, some better than others. It was not only the aftermath of the physical, but the psyche as well. The changes caused by the spectres was an *effectual* wound. Leaving Blu to deal with the after effects of suddenly aging. Her lustrious blue-black hair was now totally white and she walked with a hobble and hunch. Although dignity still remained.

Guilt had been born as well as resolve. She thought alot about Gus. Wishing she had done him different. They all had helped save her life, but it had been Gus that helped her escape. Without him...

She could not change what happened but she would forever be thankful for his sacrifice. Time later, he would be immortalized with a certain tribute..but that was a later time.

There was the guilt that BJ had that would weigh upon her too. She knew he had done his best to protect her and remove her from the horrid things in William's power. She certainly did not hold anything against him. But, she flinched each time he looked at her with that sadness in his eyes. It was another relationship, long in the making, that was slowly falling apart. Another thing that was not yet known...that wasn't meant to be.

It had been so long since Blu had felt...lost. She had lost her balance and even though she moved along as normal as was possible...vulnerability gave him the way in. A quiet night at Court had turned into a chaotic takeover of the Healer. William making himself known again to the point that Blu was completely controlled by the Liche. Those *whispers* not just in her mind but creeping into the Queen's and Aly's as well. A moment of distraction and it was managed that the infected Blu was incarcerated in the Dungeons.

New magics engulfed her, courtesy of the Liche. Fire was a formable weapon. A weapon that she was learning to use accurately. Blu struggled to resist the Liche but was losing the battle. A small part of her essence remained but was slowly beginning to be snuffed out.

Cooped up in this room was driving Blu insane, more so than before. She had paced til there were charred footprints in the floor and hadsat for hours throwing fireballs at the door. But with the wards they became smoke before doing much damage. Her senses were on full alert and crying out for...him. She maintained her belief that she would not be abandoned and would have revenge. Her head tossed back and she sniffed the air. Her skin was almost translucent as she stood there sensing something or someone.

Blu knew it was not the mage and she felt that a pity. A smile curved her lips at the thought then a low growl expelled as she felt a presense.

Issotta arrived silently after much meditation and shielding, to the building which held the cell of one Lady Blu. Entering silently and felt her way to the cell by the sheer feeling of darkness alone, and arrived before the barred enclosure, to see her within. What a sight she was! "Midnyt Blu McDraven..." she said softly. "Today is your day to be free."

A slight bend of her head was given and a eerie kind of smile. "Ahh, Lady of Avalon. You grace us with your presense."

BJ found his way once again to the Mage's tower...having been summoned. At the door he surrenders his weapons, his cloak...knowing they will be kept safe until he retrieved them. His steps were light, silent, as he made his way to the chamber where Blu was kept...his heart heavy. Coming up behind ...and standing silently, hearing the creature address her.

"And, of course, the ever present elf." A slight sneer crossed Blu's face.

Issotta smiled without mirth and then turned to see BJ. "I am glad you have come."

Softly. "I...could not *not* come...she draws me and I was summoned."

"She draws you?" turned to Blu. "Why do you call him here if you do not want him?"

Softly. "I am drawn by Love, milady, whether she seeks me or not."

Blu hung her arms to her sides. Her slender fingertips dripping sparkling drops of fire and what would be unexpected..tiny drops of blood mixed with it. "One needs all the players for this play, do you not agree? Besides, he pleases me with his trembles and fears."

BJ gave a simple nod...his gaze upon her.

"So, what is the meaning of all this fire and blood, here?" She raised a brow.

"Are you in a hurry, Lady of Avalon? The play has just begun."

"I have all night. You just seem to be trying a little too hard."

"Shall we begin?" She could not completely hide the growl in her voice or the sarcasm. "Ahhh touche."

BJ was watching the interplay quietly, listening.

"Begin as you wish." added quietly. "Perhaps..you might tell me who I am playing with?"

"Does the door make you feel safe?" Again a eerie smile appeared. "I would think you have already met William."

"William hid himself from me when I stole our Queen away from him."

BJ looks to Issotta...and then to the creature.

"I believe they cut the head off of the corpse he was using." This came soft from Issotta.

A swift glance to Issotta...he had not heard that part.

"Ahh, twas not so big a loss. Useless man that he was."

"But enough about William....let us have a word with Blu herself, shall we?"

"It would only be fair for a trade. I get something and you get to speak to the Lady Blu."

"That sounds fair enough, depending on what it is you want. What can I do for you?" She looked over at BJ a moment.

She stepped closer to the door. The heat radiating from her. "I want...him." Hissing softly as a finger, dripping with fire, lifted to point to the Ranger.

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