Elathan sighed as he stood in the shade of the castle's stairs, still trying to sort through his thoughts. How could he have let himself be influenced that way? Worse, how could he have put his friends in so much danger? He leaned a shoulder against the stone staircase and thought about how the grey elf had manipulated him and it momentarily sent him into thoughts of his past. He gave a light shudder at the memories and shook them away, not willing to let himself fall into that pit again.
“Elathan.”
The sudden whisper of his name caught the elf off guard and he looked about for the source. Had Kayla come to find him?
“Elathan,” came the call again, and the mage went on his guard, realizing the small voice couldn't possibly be that of his friend. As he turned, though, he couldn't spot anyone on the grounds nearby, leaving him confused.
“Up here.”
Elathan paused, suddenly very wary of the voice and thought of half a dozen spells he may need to put into practice in the next few moments. As he looked up, though, he was surprised to see the snake that Rel and Gaylia had been searching for earlier staring down at him, its glittering red eyes seeming to almost smile. The sorcerer didn't respond in kind, though, instead folding his arms.
“What do you want?”
“I bring an offer from my master,” the reptile replied with a perfect command of the common language. Elathan's eyes narrowed as he looked at it, having a feeling where things may be going.
“And that master is?”
“I believe you know.”
The mage gave a snort at the confirmation and waved his hand. “Fine, what offer are you referring to?”
“My master wants an audience,” said the snake, its head bobbing slightly. “If you accept, the future may be brighter for this city.”
“So he can manipulate me through magic like he did before?” the mage responded hotly. “Why should I believe anything you're telling me?”
“You wish proof of good intention?”
Elathan snorted again. “I doubt you can give me that, but sure.”
“Hold out your arm.”
The elf found himself on his heels at the snake's words. He honestly hadn't expected it to make good on its offer, but here it was, seemingly on the level. Elathan couldn't help but let his intrigue get the better of him and he slowly extended his hand to the reptile, who slithered out just a bit to meet him. The snake touched his hand lightly and the mage felt magic wash over him, leaving Elathan with a feeling of being lighter on his feet.
“What spell was that?” he asked as he retracted.
“A dweomer to increase your maneuverability. The grace of the cat is yours, for a time.”
The reptile didn't miss the still-suspicious glance the elf gave him, but it only flicked his tongue out languidly.
“Why do you want an audience?”
“My master only wishes to talk.”
“I have obligations I can't ignore.”
“Hear my master's words,” the snake pressed. “Should you refuse, he cannot guarantee anyone's safety. Like that of the cleric.” At mention of Kayla, Elathan's eyes went wide and he stared up incredulously, but the thing only continued, “You do not wish to see her injured, do you? Or even still in death?”
“Fine,” the mage snapped suddenly, waving an arm curtly for the thing to stop. “Say what you will. I'll listen.”
“Very well.”
The snake disappeared from sight for a few moments, only to slither out of a crack near the base of the wall. It made its way past the mage and into an open space where lines began to form in mid-air. Soon, a portal completed right in front of them, appearing to lead into darkness.
“Come.”
“You didn't say anything about leaving.”
“My master waits,” the snake hissed. “Come!”
Elathan's mind whirled with thoughts as he stood in front of the magical archway. Something in his mind screamed at him for even considering going through the doorway. There were too many unknowns. Anything could be waiting for him beyond. But his heart screamed even more for his dear friend. Thoughts of seeing Kayla broken and bleeding in the street flashed before his eyes and just that nearly brought the elf to tears.
He glanced back up to the main entrance of the castle for only a moment before following the snake through the magical doorway.
*
The group marched along the city streets with a contingent of soldiers headed for the southwestern wall. They were met with cheers from the townspeople who had lined the streets, thinking a fine military parade had started. The party felt ill at ease when they thought about how none of those people really knew how threatened their city was.
When they arrived at the portcullis, they found that barriers that reached a man's chest had already been constructed just in the manner Willem had suggested. The crusader felt a brief swell of confidence at seeing that his plan was actually being put to use, but stifled it quickly as he let himself fall completely to the task at hand. That moment wasn't the time for pride: it was the time to defend.
Everyone took their to their positions, Gaylia climbing to a low roof to benefit her archery, Asla and Rel in the midst of the ranks of Farrlmarrvian warriors and Farrln and Willem forming a line at the rear. All of them could hear the shouts of Yenfalcon Millstone ordering people to get into position and form tighter ranks and none of them doubted his battle prowess. Even though the dwarf was old, only had one eye, and bore a bit of a limp, they knew there was fight in him to spare.
“He's a loud one,” Kayla said with a nod of approval as she walked by Willem and Farrln and the pair gave her an odd look before drawing their weapons proper. If the cleric noticed, she gave no indication, though, since she had retreated into her own thoughts.
She moved the join with the monk and the drow, but wore a concerned expression, searching the lines of people for her absent friend. Where could he be, she wondered. But she knew that she couldn't dwell on the missing sorcerer for long, especially with an attack on the horizon. As she moved to stand beside Rel and drew her warhammer, though, she could only hope that the mage was all right, wherever he may be.
*
As Elathan walked a short distance into the tunnel, he noticed the glow of candlelight. He came around the bend and was greeted by the vision of a small cavern, filled with glowing motes and candelabras, making it as bright as any room in a well-furnished home. Simple chairs and a table stood in the cavern, save for one splendid-looking piece of furniture that seemed as if it would fit right in at a noble's home. And in it, turning from a glowing mirror to regard the mage, was Horendithas, a smile slowly coming on his face.
“Hello again, Elathan.”
“Just get to the point,” came the curt reply. “I don't have time to hang around here.”
“I wanted to talk.” The grey elf gave a wave of his hand and Elathan, cursing silently, noted that the glow from the magic of the door behind him suddenly extinguished. “But I would be lying it I said I didn't have ulterior motives. I couldn't run the risk of you being hurt out there. The battle will be fierce.”
“I don't plan on staying.” The grey elf only chuckled helplessly.
“You still have duty to those who would turn on you so easily? Ah, well. I can understand. One does need friends, after all.” He folded his hands casually and glanced toward the mirror. “Curious how you would befriend that little tunnel-crawler, though.”
“That's really none of your business.”
“It is my business,” Horendithas said with a smile. “I want to know everything about you. But I would rather hear it from you than dig about using magic and demons. It seems far less gaudy, don't you think?”
“So you don't plan on stopping,” said Elathan, growing more angry by the moment. “I thought the point of this was in relation to what you're doing to the city, not to dig for information about my past.”
“Stop the orcs? No. They'll be killed whether I stop them or not. And I did say I had ulterior motives, my dear.”
Elathan shook his head, clearly wanting nothing more to do with the grey elf. “I should not have come. I've got nothing else to say.” He turned to make his way back around the corner and find an exit.
“If you leave, I will join the battle. I will bring allies and yours will die.”
The words froze the elf in his tracks. Was he serious? Could he actually do it? Elathan turned back to the grey elf to see there was no trace of mirth on his face any longer. His eyes were cold and bore straight into the sorcerer. His threat was not an idle one.
“You'll throw away the lives of your orcs if I stay put? What kind of madness is that?”
Horendithas laughed coldly. “My orcs? Those are Yronna's pawns and Yronna is mine. Pawns are expendable.” The grey elf let the thin smile fade from his face and stared again. “In either case, their lives are in your hands. Stay beside me, or leave and doom them.”
“Send me back,” Elathan said firmly and actually drawing the first look of minor shock the mage had ever seen from Horendithas. “I'm not going to stay on your say so.”
The grey elf's eyes narrowed to near slits and suddenly Elathan felt a wave of strong magic overtake him. Unprepared for such an onslaught, the sorcerer succumbed to the spell and felt a cold creep into his mind and spread through his limbs, gradually taking control of his body away from him. He stood frozen, unable to move with only his own thoughts at his command. Horendithas let an evil, dominant smile come on his face and he motioned to a chair.
“Sit.”
Elathan screamed at his body to stop every step of the way, but found himself sitting in the chair the grey elf had indicated despite his mental protests. From his position, he could tell now that the mirror Horendithas had been looking in was actually a magical portal that gave a view of the city and was focused on his friends. He saw Kayla among the group, who, like the others, were now fully engaged in combat with a band of orcs, and he felt some sense of relief, but his feelings of rage at being so completely tricked and capture quickly overtook them. Horendithas, as if to add insult to injury, came out of his chair and gave the elf a gentle stroke on the head as if he were a precious pet.
“Stay right were you are, my dear,” he cooed. “I'll make it quick.”
The grey elf waved an arm and another dimensional door appeared, leading to the very spot Elathan had left from by the castle stairs. The door vanished as soon as Horendithas stepped through, leaving the sorcerer frozen and helpless. As he looked at the mirror to the heavy fight his friends were involved in, Elathan could only think back on a similar time in his past and it was all he could do to keep himself from crying.
*
The party battled hard as the orc flooded through the gates, howling and attacking everything in sight. Magic and metal sung in a cacophic harmony all along the southern walls as the foot soldiers, mages, and archers worked to battle the waves of vermin as they came on. As soon as they managed to defeat one wave, another would appear to take its place. Still, the troops fought hard and Willem and Farrln held the back line strong to prevent any stragglers that made it through the lines from coming into the city.
The others, too, were doing their part in the battle, Gaylia's deadly arrows streaking through the sky to find a mark nearly every time and Asla leaping, rolling and punching his way through the pitiful orc formations. Kayla put her warhammer to good use that day, as well, delivering a devastating blow to an orc that made the thing's chest cave in with a sickening crunch. The dwarf gave a grim nod of satisfaction when she looked at her work, then thought of her friend, whom she still hadn't seen since the start of the battle. A quick scan of the area showed her the elf was still nowhere in sight and Kayla blew a brief sigh, then was forced to hop out of the was as an orc lead in with a spear to try and take the distracted cleric. It was rewarded with a sidelong chop that nearly took its head from its shoulders.
“Dammit, Elathan, where are ye,” she growled as she waded back into the battle full force.
Screams drew everyone's attention away from the orcs for a brief moment, then, and when the party looked behind them, they knew they were in trouble.
A hellish-looking spider, grown to a gargantuan size, had suddenly appeared in the streets behind them. The arachnid crawled over buildings and shot webbing from its mouth, trapping a few unfortunate citizens. Rel and Asla were quick in response after a shout from Kayla that she could hold, running full speed down the path toward the creature. Willem gave a frustrated sigh as they blew past, knowing the worst possible scenario was beginning to play out not so far behind them.
*
Elathan's eyes widened in horror as he saw the spider—no, spiders, for now there were two!—appear in the streets of Farrlmarr, one of the heading straight for the backs of his comrades. He screamed at his body again, willing it with all his strength to move so he could do something, anything, to help his friends, but it was no good. He got no response.
He was taken away from his silent plight when he felt movement behind him. What was it? A purr and a nuzzle quieted his fears when he realized it was Tasha, who had been sitting silent during the whole encounter. So much happiness and relief surged through the elf that he thought he could sing, but he sat still, as his magical orders insisted. Tasha worked her way nimbly down to the floor from Elathan's hood and looked up at him with a face as akin to concern that a cat could muster.
“I'm going to search for a way out,” said the cat, using the pair's magical ability to understand each other's speech. “I'll help you, so don't worry.”
Elathan stared back at her intently, silently imploring her to do just that.
“We have to get you another mage,” Tasha reasoned, talking to herself as much as her master. The cat sensed a wave of agreeing feelings come from Elathan and gave a little nod. “I'm going to look for an exit. Hang on, Elathan.”
As the sorcerer watched his familiar bound away down the tunnel, he felt relief to know that she was both safe and on her way to try and help him. He silently willed her to hurry as he looked back at the mirror, noticing that the drow and Asla (with two people he didn't recognize) had taken the fight to one of the spiders. It was agonizing for the elf to sit by, knowing he could use his spells to help them, but being powerless to do anything about it. For a few moments, images of his past began to flash in his mind, but he forced them back, knowing this wasn't the time for such things. Still, that didn't let his anger and hate for what Horendithas had done to him leave his mind. He'd make the grey elf pay for this, and soon.
Time seemed to stretch on for an eternity as he watched the battle unfold through the magic mirror and Elathan grimaced visibly as he saw both Asla, who had become trapped in a web, and the drow take devastating hits from the spider's mandibles. The monk began to bleed openly from the bite while the drow suddenly seemed unable to stand on his own. Probably poisoned, the elf thought. One of the strangers, a woman in gleaming armor, seemed to be giving her all as she swung her sword against the creature, but it only seemed to shrug off the blows and began to move toward the back line again and Elathan held his breath.
It was then he heard a familiar meowing and Tasha came streaking back into view. He sent feelings of curiosity to her, the only way he could ask her what she found at the moment, but stopped when he saw Caraliss glide in behind her. Confusion took over the elf's features, then. Where was he? Where had Caraliss come from? Was she part of the grey elf's forces? Elathan looked up at her as she neared him, but he couldn't sense any ill intent, which did give the sorcerer some relief in the back of his mind.
“Think about what has happened, Elathan,” she said. “I will read your thoughts.”
The elf blinked for a moment, then did so, leaving no detail unmentioned. Caraliss cast her magic and nodded as she heard the tale from Elathan's mind, not showing any hints of what might be going through hers on her face. When he was done, the archmage quickly went into another spell, her hands working intricate patterns over the captured sorcerer. Relief and near joy surged through Elathan when he was finally able to move on his own again.
“Finally,” he said as he rose quickly, sending the chair skittering behind him. He picked up his beloved familiar and gave her praising strokes and scratches as he hugged her close to him. “Thank you, Lady. But where are we?”
“In a cavern beneath the castle.”
Elathan stopped cold at the revelation. How could he have orchestrated this right under everyone's noses? Caraliss saw the beginnings of the elf trying to work through the conundrum and shook her head.
“We've not the time to sort through the depths of deception,” she said, turning toward the exit. “Come.”
The sorcerer offered no complaint and followed after the woman, who lead him up a steep incline and eventually, out a door that had been cleverly wrought in the base of the wall under a servant's quarters in the back of the castle. A glance at the mortar told Elathan the entrance had been hidden with magic, as ruined sigils were now plainly visible around the portal. He shook his head and turned back to Caraliss, only to see her in the midst of yet another spell which she placed upon him. The mage felt a surge of energy that tingled down to the soles of his feet.
“What is...”
“Run,” Caraliss said shortly. “I have enchanted you to move more quickly. Aid your friends as I shall go to aid Karrashiva in her fight.”
Elathan nodded, knowing better than to offer anything but complete obedience in the face of the archmage. He replaced Tasha in his hood and took off with a stride far more quick than he could ever manage normally. It took him a moment to get used to the speed, and nearly fell down a flight of stairs in his haste, but he quickly found his footing and streaked through the streets toward his friends. He only hoped that fate hadn't dealt them a bad hand during his rescue.
*
Gaylia blew a light sigh as she streaked yet another pair of arrows into the throng of orcs that still kept coming through the gates. Would they never cease? Suddenly, a flit of movement in the air caught the ranger's attention and she looked hard at the hovering figure. Horendithas! He was here!
She quickly notched an arrow and took aim, eying the distance as she held the weapon at the ready. Gaylia saw another spider in a section of the city, then, but she knew there was little she could do to help there. Her frustration mounted when she realized the was out of her range, so she turned back and sent her readied arrow into another orc, but quickly looked back to see what the mage was up to. She faintly heard Asla call out that there was another spider in the streets, but the elf found herself wishing she had a pair of wings herself.
*
“This is bad,” Farrln muttered to Willem down on the ground.
“They are single targets; we must hold here.”
“There is panic in the streets,” the catfolk contended. “People will run for the exits.”
“I know, lad,” said Kayla, who had come to stand in a line in front of the pair. “But we can't let these orcs get past us or we'll have even more chaos.”
“I know. I will hold the line with Willem. I'll just have to trust that Mother and the rest will do their parts.”
Nearly everyone in the party stopped when the eastern sky flashed red for split second. A faint cheer went up and shouts of “It's gone!” came from up the line. The spider had vanished in that flash. Gaylia was still staring in that direction, barely believing what she'd seen, but turned her gaze just enough to see a familiar figure streaking up the road.
“About bloody time!” she shouted at Elathan.
And that call was quickly drowned out by a tremendous roar that shook the very stones of the city. All fighting came to a standstill as every soul in the city looked to the sky and stood in awe as a great silver dragon began to take flight over the whole of Farrlmarr. A quick beat of its powerful wings took it over the northeastern gate, where it breathed a line of sheer cold, surely destroying any orcs that were still there. The troops and the party alike cheered heartily at the sight of the aid and went back to the battle with renewed vigor, taking advantage of the fear that paralyzed many of the orc forces where they stood.
The ones who were slaughtered in those first few minutes turned and fled.
The Farrlmarrvian forces followed close behind, with Farrln quickly taking the lead of the troops with whom he'd been fighting.
Soon, yet another sound, that of an explosion, rent the air and the others turned to see a billow of smoke rising from the back of the snake, the remants of the fireball Elathan had loosed on the creature's back. Not to be outdone, Willem turned from the retreating forces and headed back the other way, toward the creature that was now looking heavily damaged. The crusader rushed headlong at the creature, dodging a shot of webbing the thing spat at him and drove his longsword deep into its belly. He felt the energies born from his own determination, anger, and hate channel out of his sword and into the spider as he yelled and it gave a bloodcurdling screech, then shuddered and began to topple over. Everyone scrambled back as the thing rolled on its back, its legs curling until it finally lie still in death.
The warrior gave a broad grin, then turned on his heel to join in the pursuit of the orcs, sheathing his sword and picking up a pike from a fallen member of the troops with a silent nod of thanks.
Gaylia, who still stood on the low roof, missed all of that, though, as she still looked toward the sky. Not at the dragon, though it was now moving to the opposite side of the city to lend its breath weapon there, but to the figure of Horendithas who was now in the midst of a battle with another winged creature, one who the ranger recognized as none other than the Queen herself. The two flew about in a deadly aerial dance, spinning and dodging one another, lightning from the mage crackling through the air. Karrashiva managed to duck one of the bolts and drove hard into the mage, sending him plummeting to the ground. Gaylia lost sight of them as Karrashiva dove after him in pursuit.
She jumped off the roof and made her way over to where Kayla was busy both yelling at Elathan and casting a spell of healing on Rel, who lay prone on the ground. The drow immediately tried to move when the cleric was done, despite her protests, but she needn't have done so, since Rel was still far from able to completely stand on his own.
“Take it easy, we'll have to get you a crutch for that,” Kayla chided, but the stubborn dark elf continued to try to get to his feet, growing all the more frustrated when he found he couldn't. Asla offered him a helping hand after he pulled enough webbing off himself and shouldered him into a standing position.
“Good battle,” the monk commented offhandedly. “Looks like that poison hit you hard.”
“You've a penchant for understatement,” said the drow. Rel offered a nod of thanks, but immediately started staring intently at the mysterious woman, who upon closer inspection was clearly a stately paladin, though the female averted her gaze quite adamantly. Kayla, who looked quite put out at her elven friend, walked right up to him and folded her arms.
“And where the Nine Hells were ye all this time?!”
“I'm sorry,” the mage said quietly. “I was detained. I'll explain later, once we've driven them out.”
“Speaking of that,” Gaylia put in as she joined the group proper, “let's go check where Horendithas would have fallen.”
As the ranger led the way to the site where the grey elf likely landed, no one saw the dark look that crossed Elathan's face as he took up the rear.
