Daelor's hunt

The closer they got to the rim, the more excited Iferit became. He was absolutely entranced with the place, to the point that he scarcely noticed the rest of the group. If not for Helock’s words, he may have never noticed he was not alone at all.

"Are limping abominations all you are capable of?" egger to reply Iferit opened his mouth to speak, but only a blank face followed.

His attention was yanked away abruptly when a booming wail echoed across the flat terrain. His eyes followed its shadow into its body. The sight of this magnificent creature baffled and captivated him. It was as if the land had been given a body.

As the beast landed Iferit could not help but stare in fascination. A smile encroached upon his face as he crouched to the ground, his belly and tail lying flat along the mushy surface of the land. He slowly buried himself in rot, attempting to conceal himself in the terrain.

The fae at his side seemed to match Iferit’s expression, excited at the sight of the rot behemoth. It bounced across the landscape making its way behind the giant creature as the green serpent rose from the ground before him. As the first few blasts of energy rained upon it, the small glowing fae sprung onto its tail, and began to climb its unexposed side towards its head, holding tight to its body, but being careful not to be noticed.

Cerys glared at the oncoming wave of undead things, and then looked beyond them to where Daelor and his companions had gone.  She growled and sprang into the air with a snort of disgust.

None of the crimson horde appeared capable of flight, and the guardian was through with walking and sneaking around.  She was not about to let a bunch of undead beasts get in her way.

“You’re not getting away from me that easily, tundra.” She muttered and began heading in the direction she’d last seen the group.

*********

Daelor’s shattered serpent was managing to keep the giant undead guardian’s attention, but the tundra knew it would not last. Even as he gathered his energy for another attack, Daelor watched his pet get broken into several pieces before reforming quickly to resume the fight.  The spell that kept the serpent intact was not indefinite however, and eventually would stop working. The great beast roared again and it shook its wings in an attempt to dislodge Helock.

They had to either defeat the beast or find some way to escape it. Escape seemed almost as unlikely as defeating the thing, as there was still a good distance between the group and their destination.  Realizing the gravity of the situation, he shook himself just enough to get the fae’s attention.

“Flutter fly!”

Sylvanas was startled, “What? Where?”

“Too small, just go! Run!”

She hovered, struck speechless as the tundra returned his attention to the fight and launched another barrage of arcane bolts at the behemoth.

The idea of fleeing, while quite tempting, bothered her. Abandoning Daelor was out of the question, but she did understand his reasoning. She was far too small to do much against such a terror. It was even bigger than Valthyra.

She glanced around, and with a determined huff, dashed off as fast as her little wings could take her, back the way they’d come. Maybe she could find some help.

Daelor spared only a brief glance to see her go, and nodded before the great beast spun quickly around to snap at the pesky mirror and its tail slammed into his side. Landing hard on the sloped and rough ground, the tundra coughed and blinked to clear his vision again. Pain lanced all along his left side and peering over his shoulder at himself, Daelor frowned at the barbs embedded in his fur and flesh from the guardian’s tail.

He looked around but couldn’t spot any of the others, and only hoped that they were able to escape at least. Krathak shattered one last time and vanished in a puff of green smoke as the spell finally wore off. Daelor took a deep breath, wincing again at the pain in his side as he moved forward again toward the undead monster.

His own instincts screamed to take wing and fly away and hope he could outrun the beast, but the more rational part of his brain told him it was already too late for that. He could barely feel his left side, and assumed some new toxin had found its way into his system with the barbs.

The monstrosity turned around and its gaze locked on the tundra. Its great maw opened wide as it stepped closer, preparing to devour the defiant mage. Daelor mustered as much magic as he could and launched another massive arcane blast at the monster’s head.

Suddenly his vision seemed to darken, and Daelor sank to the rotting ground. He tried to focus his eyes as the great beast lost interest in him, raising its head to look skyward, but slipped into unconsciousness.

************

A searing bolt of crackling, charged acidic flame exploded against the great guardian’s side, drawing its attention away from the disheveled ball of fur. Deep crimson eyes burned with rage as Unforgiven swooped in and blasted the undead beast again before raking his talons across its face. The lithe imperial drew the guardian further away from the inert form of the tundra.

Unforgiven circled around and as he prepared for another assault on the guardian, he spotted the form of an equally undead and strangely glowing fae clinging frantically to the base of one of the monster’s wings. The imperial spared the fae no further attention, instead resuming his attack as he blasted the guardian again. The highly corrosive nature of his breath was beginning to show as gaping, oozing craters began to form along the behemoth’s body where the blasts hit.

Finally the undead beast pushed itself back into the air, losing interest in the living things that were becoming far too much trouble to eat.

Unforgiven hovered in mid air for a moment to watch the giant beast leave, before finally dropping to the ground and tucking his long wings against his sides. He shook his head with a disgruntled sigh as he walked toward the crumpled tundra.

“Get up before I eat you myself, mage.”

Sylvanas fluttered over to Daelor, and trilled at the imperial. “He’s hurt badly, don’t be so mean!”

Inside she was absolutely trembling with fear as she faced their Clan leader. On top of it all, she was close to sheer exhaustion having flown so hard and fast before spotting Unforgiven and getting him to come help. The tiny fae bravely stood her ground by Daelor’s head.

Unforgiven lowered his head, and snorted. The burst of air knocked Sylvanas over and the imperial chuckled. “He’s not hurt nearly as bad as he should be, and I doubt it’s as bad as it looks.”

A bone fiend landed, perching on a raised bit of rubble nearby. It remained still, simply watching its Master for any commands he might have for it.

Unforgiven reached over and tapped one clawed forepaw against Daelor’s horn. “I will not repeat myself, mage.”

The tundra opened one eye and then closed it. A few seconds passed and he opened it again, and muttered something incoherent. He slowly raised his head as Sylvanas busied herself pulling the barbs out of his side.

“Unforgiven.”   Daelor’s voice was slightly more normal as he spoke again. The word was uttered with no trace of emotion, just a simple acknowledgement of the imperial's presence.

The mottled green imperial sighed before glancing at the fae, “See? His head’s too hard and empty already, he’s fine.”

He turned around and his crimson gaze slid over the landscape, finally spotting the forms of two mirrors, one he recognized, and one he didn’t. He nodded to them both, and returned his attention to Daelor.

“I trust you have an explanation for this?”

Daelor shook the dirt and debris from his fur as well as he could. “Almost there. Find the thing, then go home.”

Unforgiven’s nostril’s flared as his annoyance grew. “Of course, I shouldn’t have expected any different.”  

He looked over at Sylvanas. The little fae swallowed hard.

“He found something in a book, he says it’s old, it’s big, and it’s important and we have to find it.”

Her courage finally vanished beneath the harsh crimson glare, and she squeaked and tucked herself under Daelor’s wing.

Renivis stepped back, away from the guardian, and grit his teeth, anxiety squirming deep into him. He quivered inside as he couldn't help but wonder if they were ever going to beat this abomination. He couldn't help but notice Sylvanas flying off into the air above for a quick second before hearing a loud thwack coming from Daelor's direction.

Fearing the worst, he rushed towards the downed tundra and tried to reach him as the guardian got close. However, just as he neared Daelor, his concentration broke as a powerful flame slammed into the undead beast. He tripped and tumbled to the side as a green imperial rushed from the skies above and dealt incredible amounts of damage onto the guardian.

Renivis recovered and stared as the monster flew into the air and vanished into the horizon. As the imperial landed and spoke with the knocked out tundra and the fae, the latter whom returned earlier, he couldn't help but tense a little as the imperial looked over each one of them, for he seemed to exude a demand for deference at all times. Feeling like a small hatchling, he stumbled to the tundra, and tried to keep himself composed.

"So... Someone important, I presume?" He took a small glance at Unforgiven before poking the wing Sylvanas disappeared in.

...

Bali froze in horror as the undead slowly crawled to her. When Cerys fled, she quickly flew up and hightailed away in the group's direction with the green guardian.

"Wait for me!"

Faster... I have to work faster...! Roslia fumbled with her equipment as the attack of the mages reached her ears. She had been busy latching her string to sturdy objects poking out of the ground - rocks, branches, large bones of unknown creatures. Her plan would have worked, but the creature came before she had time to prepare.

Her attention was broken, however, when one of her companion's presence started to flicker. She quickly turned her sightless gaze into the distance and to her horror, noticed that the undead guardian was inches away from Daelor, who's essence was threatening to go out. She rushed towards them, figuring that what she had done was enough to at least distract the guardian. Just as she reached the clearing where the two dragons were, she was forced to stop yet again as she sensed another presence approaching. Careful to not tangle her string on the environment, she pulled the rest of it taunt and hid behind a bush of tendrils. The closer the new presence came, the more certain she knew who was approaching.

Roslia breathed a sigh of relief as a loud crack exploded above her and the scent of melted flesh wafted in the air. After hearing the guardian flap away, she untied the excess string from her fingers. Roslia made her way towards the emerald imperial who was looming over Daelor and Sylvanas. After listening to the three bicker, she chuckled.

"Stern as ever, Unforgiven." Roslia gave him a slight grin. Knowing he was not one for idle chatter, she finished reeling her spool before continuing, "We all happened to be at the same place at the right time. Daelor told us he was on an errand... and now, here we are." 

Roslia had forgotten how immense Unforgiven was compare to most imperials. She lifted her head to fixate on his eyes, which were no doubt casting the most piercing of gazes at her. Even though she had long lost her sight, she still attempted "eye contact" with those she respected.

She broke her gaze from Unforgiven as Daelor started to rise. "Are you going to be alright?"

______________________________________

Helock grinned to himself as he landed squarely on the undead guardian's back, "How delightful!" 

He shouted in excitement as he proceeded to dig his claws into its back, and then turned his attention to its wing. As the guardian attempted to shake him off, he simply dug his claws in deeper to keep himself from dislodging. A few moments were given to Helock as the guardian seemed to turn his interest to the shattered serpent and Helock aimed his powerful jaw at the soft tissue extending from its shoulder blade. He was disrupted yet again as the shattered serpent disappeared and his vision was suddenly filled with rows of teeth bigger than his head.

He merely laughed, ducked, and snapped his teeth into the guardian's wing. It was a good thing he did because the guardian had spun very quickly, and Helock released his maw to cuss at the guardian. His eyes widened when he noticed the guardian had stopped, its dribbling maw facing the unconscious Daelor.

"Damn it!" Helock threw his teeth into the guardian's back, hoping it would deter it from Daelor. When he realized that his action wasn't working, he loosened his front claws and aimed at it's wingbone... However, his claws never met the guardian as a powerful toxic blast erupted into the guardian's side, throwing Helock off completely. Without flight, he merely flew off with the guardian before hitting the ground. 

Helock flailed for a moment before flipping himself over and turned to see what caused the impact. His crimson eyes narrowed as he spotted Unforgiven. Anger boiled within him as the undead guardian made its escape - another meal gone to waste. His stomach growled in protest and moments later, he finally turned towards the group with his mouth ajar.

"HEY." He snapped at Unforgiven, his disappointment of a lost meal irritating him, "What's with you, barging into my...! Mph!"

Helock's jaws had snapped shut, and he struggled a bit before looking around. Roslia had made her way over and tied his snout together. She locked it tighter as she hissed at him, "Do you have a death wish?!"
 

OOC:

The fae gripped the dragon tightly, digging in its claws in a desperate attempt to keep ahold of the giant beast. It thrashed about as it fought with the shattered serpent, almost throwing the fae off a few times. The fae passed Helock, as he latched himself to the side of the dragon, a hungered look in his eyes. Ignoring Helock, it franticly climbed to its destination on the back of its neck.

A crackle boomed in the distance as a wave of heat flushed over the fae, radiating from acidic flames now being spewed all over the side of the dragon. The fae slithered to its uncorrupted side. Now covered in bright green flames, the guardian finally given up took flight, and flew off carrying the fae along with it.

Iferit got cozy in his rot bed, eyes fixed on the events unfolding around him. He watched as Daelor was struck, a giggle leaving his lips. As the new dragon landed, Iferit remained hidden and watched to see what unfolds.

Sylvanas peeked out from under Daelor’s wing, and slowly resumed her usual perch between his shoulder blades. She nodded at Renivis with her eyes bugging.

“That’s Unforgiven.” After a second, realizing that it still might not be enough of an answer for him, she added. “Our Clan Leader.”

She scrambled up to the top of Daelor’s head and grabbed one ear and whispered, “Are we in trouble?”

Daelor simply offered a noncommittal shrug.

“Are you going to be alright?” He heard Roslia’s question and turned to give her a hearty grin as he nodded.

“Am fine.”

However, he proved himself wrong as he took a step and ended up toppling over on his side again as his left legs appeared to still be rather numb from the residual effects of the guardian’s toxin.

Sylvanas squeaked as she was thrown off balance before she could do anything and landed on the ground beside him.

Daelor groaned and fumbled around with one satchel until he managed to get it open and pull out a grotesque ooze covered blue and purple mushroom. He stuffed the fungus in his mouth and munched for a moment before swallowing. He lay still for a few more moments before attempting to get back up. Gingerly he shook out his left legs and carefully put weight on them. Once convinced he would not fall over again, he nodded to himself and started to walk toward the other side of the impromptu battleground.

Unforgiven watched the tundra’s antics and just shook his head. He’d grown used to the eccentric mage’s odd behavior over the years. He turned his attention back to Roslia as she spoke to him.

“Daelor does have the uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time.” He glanced past Roslia to Helock, and then back to her. “I see you still favor keeping the walking corpse around? Are you sure you require its vocal chords? ”

The barest hint of a grin accompanied his inquiry.

**********

Cerys was utterly livid as she drew near enough to witness the fact that Daelor had survived, again. She angled her wings and dove toward the tundra, determined to put an end to his dumb luck once and for all. As she swooped in, she was focused on her target, completely disregarding all else.

Seconds before she could strike the irritating tundra, the guardian suddenly lost control of her flight as a paralyzing blast slammed into her side. Crashing hard to the rubble strew ground, she muttered curses between clenched teeth as she tried to push the pain out of her mind.

She struggled against the lingering paralysis that caused her limbs to disobey her mind’s commands as she attempted to stand up again. Cerys growled, but the sound died in her throat as her eyes finally focused and she looked up to meet the furious crimson glare of Unforgiven.

The guardian swallowed hard as she realized that he had exercised an extremely rare show of mercy and had kept the venomous acid from tainting the blast he’d hit her with. However, as he stepped closer, she could see the toxic green glint of droplets between his bared teeth which told her it would not happen twice.

“I see I did not make myself clear enough last time.”

He closed in on the stunned guardian and lunged. He pinned her to the ground, his weight pressing forward on one taloned forepaw placed just behind her skull. He dug the sharp tips of his talons into the thinner scales of her neck until she whimpered from pain.

“You will learn your place, spell-wielder. I will not repeat myself. Understood?”

He released his grip on the young guardian and took a step back. Cerys gasped for breath as she felt the pressure finally subside on her neck. She lowered her head, unwilling to test the imperial’s temper any further.

“Understood.”

“Now, return to the Clan. You do not belong here.”

Defeated but still seething with fury inside, the guardian reluctantly turned and launched herself back into the air headed in the direction of the clan’s territory.

Unforgiven watched her go, fully aware that she would likely cause trouble again. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the group as he remembered one detail he’d let slide during the fight with the great undead guardian.

“It seem’s there is yet one of this group unaccounted for. The necromancer.” The contempt he held for such arts was clear in the way he said the word. “I saw the risen fae clinging to the Watcher as I attacked it. I know it is not Daelor’s work.”

Renivis listened to Sylvanas in solemn interest.So, Clan Leader eh? He looked up at Unforgiven before shaking his head. I wonder how much this guy has to go through, plus, what's with the name, he thought to himself. Before he could ask, he recoiled as Daelor fell onto the ground after attempting to get up. He stared in reluctance as the damaged tundra took out a small, slimy mushroom and consumed it. As the tundra rose, Renivis sighed in annoyance and took a long look at Unforgiven, before suddenly remembering what his mission was.

As the imperial spoke with the others, Renivis plopped to the battle scarred ground, slight dismay evident on his face.

He breathed deeply for a while, "This is becoming more trouble than it's worth..." He looked around in the dark, cloudy sky, "Wonder what's going to happen next..."

...

Bali followed Cerys close by as the guardian neared the group, and noticed a big and intimidating imperial, "Wait! There's this large imper-"

As the guardian was blasted to the ground by the imperial, she herself was hit by Cerys as they were both tossed to the ground. She slammed into the ground hard and rolled on the kinda living earth in pain. She rose weakly and coughed a spattering of blood on the ground. Her vision was blurry, but as Unforgiven reprimanded Cerys, she heard a familiar yell; when suddenly grey and chocolate appeared in front of her. Renivis?

She shook her head and saw with a clearly, a confused and stressed mirror she knew as the leader of her own clan. "Bali! What are you doing here?!"

"Oh- Um, I..."

"Moreover, what are you doing with that guy?!" He gestured at the departing guardian.

"I- I followed her in search of you." She gulped as Renivis froze and realized the implications.

"They- they ARE still looking for me..." He stood in fear for a quick second before shaking his head, "Look! What will it take for you to shut up about this?!"

Bali stood there for a moment or two in thought before a smile crept on her face, "Simple, let me follow you!" Renivis gaped at her for a moment.

Renivis couldn't help but nearly say 'no' in reflex, but the thought of getting pummeled AGAIN was a good motivator, "I... Ugh, fine." He shook his head in anger, "Get five feet away from me, however, and you will have a problem!" He quickly scooped her up and shoved her in his hat, and locked it in place with magic. The hat shook and stirred with an angry fae as he chuckled in amusement. He quietly returned to the group as Bali sat miserably in his apparel.

After hearing Daelor fumble with his satchel, a foul odor was released, and Roslia couldn’t help but crinkle her nose as the tundra supposedly started munching on the mushroom. Whether he was really alright or not… she supposed it mattered little now.

Roslia finally released Helcok and straightened herself as she listened to Unforgiven speak to her. A wide grin escaped her and she couldn’t help but return his harsh humor, “He has his uses, but I will consider the absence of his vocal cords when we get back.”

She nodded at Unforgiven before following Daelor and made sure to keep a good distance away from Helock, certain that she had damaged his pride quite a bit. As fate would have it, however, the excitement didn’t end there when she sensed two more presences diving at them. One was a very small aura, and the other visitor was teeming with a rage that Roslia could sense from a mile away. She merely continued walking with Daelor and shook her head as she heard the resounding roar from Unforgiven – an announcement of his disapproval. From what she gathered from their quarrel, the envious guardian had been following them for quite some time.

It seemed that the other presence with the guardian was a fae, Bali, who happened to know Renivis rather well. Renivis’s moaning sounded prolonged after Bali stated their agreement.

What an interesting development… She mused aloofly. Figuring that this was a more personal issue between clan members, she didn’t bother to come up with any questions for either party members.

Unforgiven’s words broke her attention and Roslia clenched her teeth a bit. “It seem’s there is yet one of this group unaccounted for. The necromancer.”

It wasn’t a question, but a demand to know the intentions of Iferit who was currently lazing about somewhere.

Since lying was far worse when dealing with Unforgiven, Roslia answered calmly, “The necromancer. Despite his obvious insanity, he is an able mage. We could use him on our quest. Surely, you can relate?” 

She turned her head towards Daelor, hoping Unforgiven could see Iferit as just another loony magic user. It seemed the group was a mage magnet anyway, and she amused herself with the thought of whether or not Daelor had anything to do with it.

__________________________________

Helock stretched his jaw when Roslia finally released him. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before yammering at his curator, "Very funny!" He gave Unforgiven a snarl before turning away, "If it wasn't because of me, halfling, you'd be dead by now!"

As he continued throwing his tantrum, Roslia started looking skyward. He couldn't help but mimic her when she did this but saw nothing. 

His curiosity got the better of him, "Quit spacing out. What is it?"

When she didn't answer, and instead turned to join Daelor, he grumbled to himself and figured it was nothing. Helock eyed the ground and spotted a lump on the ground in the distance. A quick look through his second pair of eyes told him that there was someone there. He walked over and plopped down a few feet away from Iferit.

The next few events were rather mundane to Helock. A neon green guardian attempted to attack Daelor from the sky, only to be diverted away with Unforgiven's attack. His only interest in the mage guardian was the amount of flesh on her, but he gave up on that thought as she flew away. There was also a fae dragon who was supposedly called Bali and was far too small for a good meal at this time. His stomach rumbled loudly anyway.

He couldn't help but hear Renivis complain about people looking for him. When the fae chimed her response to join them, he furrowed his brows.

"Friend of yours, Renivis?" Helock stood, and left Iferit's side to circle around Renivis, his eyes boring into his hat with an immense sense of hunger.

Iferit’s eyes remained fixed on the new arrival. A huge Imperial dragon stood in front of him, much more powerful than any other in his presence. His power practically radiated from his eyes. Iferit smirked and an unexpected sound grabbed his attention. Two entity’s falling very quickly came into sight as a force dispatched their course and caused them to tumble to the ground midflight. Iferit imagined them hitting the ground, their bones shattering on impact. He envisioned a pool of gore emerging as they struck the rot below, but he was disappointed when they crashed against the soft ground and little harm befell on them. His eyes moved back to the imperial, fixed on his actions Iferit pondered his next action and was surprised at his mercy.

“Such weakness,” he muttered to himself, as he realized Helock had come to join him. “Such a waste…” he said directing a whisper to Helock.

Iferit shook the dirt from his body as the imperial was distracted and casually walked over to the group stealthily. His crimson arcane wounds still covered in muck making it harder to notice him. A ways away he saw Renivis speaking to one of the new arrivals, but being so far away, heard nothing of their conversation. He watched the fae slip under his hat and turned his attention to Roslia, who was now holding a conversation with the huge imperial.

“…unaccounted for. The necromancer.” He caught the last of the imperials words as he crept up behind him and circled around.

“The necromancer. Despite his obvious insanity, he is an able mage. ”Roslia spoke, in a calm domineer. “We could use him on our quest. Surely, you can relate?”

Iferit stepped from beside the imperial, finishing his circle observing him from tooth to claw as he passed him. As if he had been there the entire time, he casually added to their conversation.

“Indeed, I’m sure you can relate, humm..?” Iferit spoke in a raspy voice. “One with such power surly knows the might of the mystical arts.” He laughed quietly awaiting his response. He finished his pass and stood next to Roslia, with a grin on his face.

A rumbling of dust in the distance grew. A maw of insects, small creatures and winged monstrosity’s flooded from the distance, covered in a red sheen. The wave of minions he had cast out earlier had picked up the dead along their path. His arcane virus spread to any dead entity in a waste and trapped its body under his servitude. Iferit’s silent will drew his brethren back to him, and a wave of undead soon flocked behind him as he faced the imperial. A grin grew brighter on his face as the group of minions gathered behind him.

Unforgiven scowled at the undead horde converging and gathering behind the strange mirror. He despised necromancy most out of all the arcane arts, and his disgust and contempt were palpable in his voice.

“I do suggest you keep that wretched lot of monstrosities under control, necromancer.”

Turning his attention back to the absentminded tundra who had already started walking away from the group, Unforgiven growled irritably.

“Just exactly what is it you’re looking for, Mage?”

Daelor was too focused on the fact that they were so close now he could feel the Thing’s power drawing him to it. He offered an incoherent muttered response as he kept walking away from the annoyed imperial.

The amulet around his neck was now glowing quite brightly and Daelor shivered with delight at how strong the Thing must be to be felt already even though they still had a ways to go before they reached it.

Unforgiven sprang into the air and landed in front of Daelor, his tail sweeping the tundra’s feet out from under him. Daelor tumbled over and landed in a puddle that had collected in a recess in the rotted ground. The imperial glared at the disheveled tundra as Daelor blinked and shook the foul liquid from his fur after picking himself back up.

Sylvanas sighed and covered her face with her forepaws briefly before fluttering over to perch on Renivis’ head. She peered at the other fae tucked in the mirror’s hat. “Hello, I’m Sylvanas.” She glanced back over at Daelor and Unforgiven. “The tundra is Daelor, the imperial is Unforgiven, our clan leader. I think Daelor’s in trouble again.”

Daelor sat back on his haunches, and stared at the big imperial with such intense, confused curiosity that Unforgiven briefly wondered if he’d suddenly sprouted a second head. He reached out and whacked Daelor on the head.

“Pay attention, Mage. What are you here looking for?”

The tundra shook his head with a disgruntled sigh, and pulled his notes out again and held them up in front of the imperial’s face. “The thing from the book. Have to find it.”

Unforgiven looked at the unintelligible scribbles and bizarre diagrams on the page and snorted. “That doesn’t tell me anything. What is it?”

“Just come and you’ll see.”

Daelor stood up again and stretched his wings, pushing himself airborne. Gaining a bit of altitude was just what he needed, as his pink-crimson eyes scanned the landscape ahead he spotted it. Ahead of them was a cave, a jagged chasm that looked like something had once attempted to rip the very fabric of the Rim itself in half but failed. But the wound in the landscape remained visible, although over time the rot and disease had sought to cover part of it.

Unforgiven stifled a chuckle of amusement at the airborne tundra who so rarely ever flew. Launching himself, he moved to where he could see what Daelor was pointing to, and gave the mage an incredulous glance.

“There? You plan to go there?” He dropped back down to the ground with a heavy thud, and folded his wings back. “You planned to go there, alone? I know you didn’t start out with this motley group.”

Daelor landed and nodded, “Have to go, is where Thing is.”

Unforgiven took a deep breath and regarded the shaggy tundra, “You’re crazier than I thought. However, if that’s where it is, let’s get moving.”

Daelor did a happy bounce and grinned before he turned and started walking toward the cave.

As Renivis took note of Unforgiven and Daelor's quarrel, Bali found herself with Sylvanas. Listening intently to her, she tried to respond only to learn that her voice couldn't come to her. As she tried to yell her way through the barrier, a snicker from Renivis created the realization that her voice was being transformed into thought and sent to his head. Infuriated, she clawed at the mirror's head.

His voice came muffled, "Ow, ow! Okay fine!" He threw his head up, tossing her into one side of the hat, "Bali says she is pleased to meet you, and that her name is Bali." She grew even more angry, that wasn't that she wanted him to do and he knew it! He chuckled silently before rising to the air, just behind Daelor. "That's where we were going?" His head shook wildly, much to Bali's dismay, "Whatever is here better be worth it." The world seemed to have forgotten the idea of gravity to Bali as Renivis descended along with Daelor.

He chimed merrily, "This is what you asked for, my dear Bali!" Before walking beside the odd tundra once more.

Bali was not happy at all.

Thankful that Unforgiven didn't just immediately attack Iferit and his undead horde, Roslia relaxed, listening to Unforgiven and Daelor bicker again. Without turning her head towards Iferit, she spoke just loud enough for him to hear, "Dismiss your minions, or I will do it for you."

She was worried that the glow his minions gave off would attract more trouble. Knowing how fast the necrotic virus could spread, and it could turn the area around them into a sea of red.

As she waited for Iferit's response, she couldn't help but notice Unforgiven, Daelor, Renivis, and an unwilling Bali fly up into the air. She caught a few words about an area not too far in the distance and hoped they were close to their destination.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Disappointed in not being able to retrieve Bali from the hat, Helock watched as Renivis rose into the air. Stretching his wings, he gave them a flap before remembering that his right wing was still completely torn. He quickly lost interest in the airborne group then eyed Sylvanas.

"You." He licked his lips but his curiosity stood against his hunger, "What do they see?"

Iferit stood before unforgiven, a grin upon his face as he responded.

“I do suggest you keep that wretched lot of monstrosities under control, necromancer.”

As Iferit began to respond, each corps snapped its gaze at the imperial for a brief moment, each of their eyes widening and there once wobbly form became strained as they focused intently on the imperial, their heads turning in unison as he moved.

“Oh, you flatter me. Don’t you worry… they are quite under my control.” He spoke in a sinister tone. Then as quickly as they had turned their gaze, they went back into disgruntled stance.

As the imperial attended to Daelor, Iferit’s chuckle was disrupted by Roslia’s words,

"Dismiss your minions, or I will do it for you."

His face went blank as he turned to Roslia, unamused with her … request. His dissatisfaction with her words lasted but a moment as a smile lead his eyes to Helock. “Dispatch yours first, and I may consider it.”

Iferit turned to the gathering ahead and slithered off, his tail snapping close to her face as he left. Each of his minions eyes now cast there gaze on Roslia and Helock. A creepy somber of red hued statues. Rotting and festering, only given life when their target moves.


The guardian flew roughly through the air as it now hovered over the worm wound. The fae, clinging to the dragon suddenly let go, as the guardian flew off in an attempt to make it to wherever it called home. The fae headed an unspoken acknowledgment. As if by instinct it began to fly back towards Iferit. It did not even look down, as many others would in shear horror at the soup of ghastly contagions being brewed beneath it. Instead, it flew strait towards its destination, never hesitating or panicking.

Sylvanas felt sorry for her fellow fae as she watched Renivis fly up in the air with Bali still stuffed in his hat. Out of curiosity she fluttered up high enough to see what everyone was looking at, but when she saw it a shiver ran down her spine and she sank back to the rotting ground.

"You." "What do they see?"

Helock’s words drew her attention to the mirror and she eyed him suspiciously, noticing the hungry look on his face.

“Hmph. Don’t you even think about trying to eat me with Unforgiven around or you’ll be missing more than just part of a wing.” She fluttered over closer to Roslia. “As for your question, there’s a big scary looking cave up ahead.”

*******

Unforgiven walked beside Daelor, regarding the tundra closely. It would have been easy to dismiss Daelor’s mission as reckless insanity, however, he’d grown to know the tundra too well. Daelor did not risk such dangers without good reason.

Whatever had drawn the tundra to this place could not be brushed aside casually, despite his own personal feelings towards all things magical.

One of Iferit’s minions drew a bit too close for Unforgiven’s liking. He took a deep breath and with one blast reduced the glowing corpse to a smoldering puddle of goo and charred bone. He glanced over his shoulder with a pointed look at the necromancer and then returned his attention to the path ahead.

They had cleared the crest of the Rim, and the landscape began to slope in downward ahead of them now. Now the cave which apparently held the object of their journey lay in clear view. Beside him, Daelor’s pace quickened and he stifled a chuckle at the tundra’s eagerness to reach his destination.

Sylvanas fluttered near him, and he tilted his head to look at her.

“Um.. Is Daelor in trouble?”

He gave her a stern look, “You’d do well to ask that question for yourself, Fae.”

She swallowed hard, “I’m in trouble?”

“You both are, but that will be discussed when we get home.”

Her crest frills drooped and she flew over to land on Daelor’s back again.

********

When they finally neared the entrance of the cave, Daelor blinked. It was a lot bigger than he’d thought it was. The gaping chasm of darkness spanned wide enough for two of those great undead guardians to stretch their wings without touching. He briefly pondered the cause for such a deep wound in the Rim, but the thought flitted away as he took another step closer to the entrance. The pulse of power was unmistakable and his medallion glowed brightly against his chest now. He glanced over at Unforgiven and then muttered a brief incantation and a small globe of light appeared and hovered just above them.

Unforgiven nodded, “Tread carefully, we don’t know what may be lurking inside.”

********

Power attracts power. Deep within the cavern’s heart something began to awaken- stirred by the presence of new power, of living things coming closer.

*******
Sylvanas cowered, burying herself in the thick fluff on Daelor’s back. The tundra simply pressed onward, into the ink black gloom. The conjured light only spread far enough that they could just make out where they were walking, but did little to pierce the darkness.

Daelor stopped suddenly with a grunt of annoyance. Before them was a seemingly solid wall. He conjured a second ball of light and began examining the wall closely.

Unforgiven watched, “Dead end?”

“Door.”

Finally he backed up a step and launched an arcane blast at what he called a door and runes and lines began to glow across the stone. Two more blasts slammed into the stone and he waited. Slowly, the stone in front of them began to shift, splitting in two and each half receding into the perpendicular walls.

The chamber beyond the door was lighter; a large sphere in the center cast an eerie purple glow that lit up most of chamber. Daelor walked toward the sphere, it was even more amazing than he had imagined it would be.

Before he could reach out to touch it, the cavern shook and a voice came from the shadows. “Who daresss to ssssseek that which should not be known?”

A shadow serpent slithered into view. This one was larger than any Daelor had ever seen before, easily as big as Unforgiven.

The big imperial stepped forward, his crimson eyes glowing. “Who are you then, serpent, to ask?”

The serpent grinned, poisoned fangs gleaming in the light. “Ah, the unforgiven one. You are not unknown to me, but this is not your place. It is not you who comes seeking.”

Daelor stepped forward, just in front of Unforgiven. “I come. I seek. I am Daelor’ne’rath. Born of the Arcane flight- dead clan, now sworn to Plaguebringer and Unforgiven.”

“These secrets are not for you.”

“They are now.” Daelor’s gaze was steady as he gathered his energy and hurled a massive arcane fireball at the serpent.

The serpent hissed and lunged for Daelor. While Unforgiven sprang into the air and spun to target the beast with a corrosive blast.

The mirror trailed behind Daelor and his leader, feeling awfully small. The group was getting larger, but was it going to be enough? If this thing that the tundra was looking is sealed in that cave over yonder, what could it be? What could be so enticing to acquire? However, something was more important that that.

What would be guarding it?

He grumbled softly as Bali made another attempt to force her way out, only to greet impossible odds. This continued every so often till they entered the cave. Bali noticed the sudden decrease in light, and the onset of a small light from Daelor's direction. Knowing they had reached their destination, she stopped and waited in anticipation.

True to Renivis' prediction, a massive shadow serpent made itself known. He tensed at the sight of the it, large and threatening wasn't enough to describe its form. Whatever was in here, the snake probably was not going to let it go so easily. A small part in his mind felt intrigued at the serpent's brief discussion with Daelor. However, the fight had just begun. He huffed at the serpent's retaliation over Daelor's strike and released a kinetic blast of his own at it.

_____________Roslia_____________

Even though Roslia couldn’t see the actions of the horde of abominations, their essence always reflected those of their master. When Iferit was excited, they would “glow” brightly in her mind's eye. When he became unamused like this… they dimmed, but she felt an odd sensation that she was being watched.

“Dispatch yours first, and I may consider it.” Was Iferit’s response to her.

Roslia pursed her lips tightly, and decided to challenged the necromancer’s patience. She turned to Helock who had just finished speaking with Sylvanas.

“Helock. Walk with me.”

Helock took his hungry gaze off of Sylvanas and eyed Roslia suspiciously, “Why?”

Roslia grinned then quickly bent over and shot a hand out at one of Iferit’s minions that wandered too close to her. She grabbed it roughly and squeezed it until the squirming critter's spine snapped and fell still. The audible snap more than likely caught Iferit’s attention…

_____________Helock_____________

Helock lost interest in Sylvanas but pondered about the “big scary looking cave” they were approaching. He didn't care too much about it as long as it meant he was going to be able to go off on his own soon.

When his curator demanded that he walk besides her, he scoffed, but Roslia's reaction surprised him. She began dangling the dead minion far too close to him for his comforts and he growled at it.

"Keep that THING away from me!"

_____________Iferit_____________

Iferit looked intently at Roslia, awaiting her response, but was met with only the most unimpressed expression. Iferit scoffed and looked the other way and started to head off when something took hold of his attention. Instinctively, Iferit turned to look at Roslia who was now holding one of his creations. A snap rang delightfully through the air and caressed his ears. Iferit snickered, a growing smile began to light his face. He cocked his head in curiosity as Roslia beckoned Helock to her side. Her frustration with Iferit was palpable, and Iferit was loving every moment of it.

“Yes, dispatch him TO ME! HEHEHE.” Iferit grew in delight but then quickly realized his influence had left the corpse and the arcane energy began to fade.

Iferit, shocked but still curious, awaited her next action, “Humm, and you plan to do what with that?” He snickered.

Taking notice to Iferit's passive response to his minion being destroyed, Roslia grabbed the head of the corpse and with an unnerving mastery and grace, ripped the head off yet keeping the spine attached to the skull. Left with the muscle and tissue, she dug her claws into the flesh and tore it open. Satisfied with the results and realized she wasn't going to be disrupted she grabbed two more undead minions and gave them the same treatment. When she finished, she was left with pieces of torn muscle, and started stretching out the muscle tissue. After a few minutes of doing this, she was left with semi torn but flat muscle tissue and started stitching them together.

_____________Helock_____________

Helock watched Roslia from the corner of his eye as they walked toward their destination. If he hadn't seen her do this before, he would have been thoroughly creeped out.

"What are you doing?" He growled as bits of the dead flesh threatened to land on him.

When he received no answer, he sighed and examined Roslia's condition. Helock noted how unusually calm she was despite the fact that her hands and forearms had become covered in grime and rot. She clearly had no interest in anything else happening around her and he glanced at the members that were traveling in front of them, hoping they wouldn't take too much notice to what she was doing.

When Roslia was finished, Helock noticed what her handiwork had become, a makeshift wing tissue large enough to repair his injury. She turned towards him and gave her work a flap before smiling at him expectantly. Helock grunted, stretched his wing towards her, and she started to massage his wing, trying to find points to stitch on her work. As she found the spot to repair, Helock turned forward and recognized a large cave opening.

That must be what the fae spoke of...


_____________Iferit/Roslia_____________

Iferit watched Roslia intently as she tore his minions apart and flattened them into flaps of flesh and muscle. A fascination with the way the flesh tore, and bones snapped drew him to subconsciously command his minions to wander closer to her. Iferit’s excitement grew as more minions were given a new form. He watched contently as she stitched all the pieces together.

“What might you be making, my dear.” He could not contain his delight in seeing her majestic performance.

Iferit walked closer to Roslia and Helock, stepping on a few minions seemingly by accident, crushing them into the rotten ground. Iferit paused as she held it up and gave it a flap, straining it and testing the security of the stitches. Iferit cocked his head, still curious as she stitched the flesh to Helock.

Behind Iferit a glimmer in the distance began drawing closer to them, he looked in its direction briefly and smiled.

“I do so love to watch you work.”

Roslia stayed silent, but Helock shot a dirty look at Iferit before baring his teeth and turned his head forward again, ignoring Iferit. Iferit merely grinned and continued to observe Roslia's work and suddenly realized why he had been following her.

”Tell me weaver, how have you fared with our project?”

Roslia finished her work as they entered the cave to meet up with the group. The half-dragon shook her arms in an effortless attempt to rid herself of the filth but started to weave her threads onto her fingers. Turning to Iferit, she finally spoke, "I've made little progress, but that's why I'm here."

Iferit grinned again, not responding but looked up to see the cave in front of them drawing closer. It was a huge hole in the rim now populated with a group of the oddest members and his minions skittering in from behind him. They spread out across the cave floor - the insects and those with claws scurried up the walls. Their red glow illuminated the cave as they occupied more of the walls. A small amount of them scurried ahead to help light the way, adding to Daelor's light spell.

Not taking any chances, Helock inched closer to Roslia and away from the glowing critters and hissed at her, "Why don't you just kill them all off?"

Roslia raised an eyebrow, "What for? Do you want another set of wings?" Roslia suppressed a smile, knowing Helock was getting annoyed again. She couldn't focus on their dialogue anyway due to the energy that radiated throughout the cavern. It was so powerful that even Iferit's minions were engulfed by its aura. Whatever it was that was housed in here was certainly powerful.

Daelor had just sent a blast to the wall when Iferit, Roslia, and Helock drew near to them. As it opened, Iferit stayed in the back blending into his minion’s glow that now lined the area surrounding them.

Realizing that Iferit was keeping his abominations away from the chamber, Helock joined the group up front, only to have his sight blinded by the mages' attacks. He made an observation of the enemy, completely ignoring the orb, and licked his lips.

"I like this place more and more!" He knew nothing about what was going on, only that he was clearly able to attack his next meal. He circled to the back of the serpent, making sure to hide in its blind spot before dashing towards its backside.

Roslia had stayed behind, knowing she could do little for now but had her equipment nonetheless. Hearing Helock's cries of excitement, she was relieved that she was able to fix his wing before the fight.

Iferit sneaked over to Roslia, and snickered, his raspy voice adding to the rashness of his statement. ”I do hope someone dies.”

Roslia listened carefully to how the battle unfold, but spared a moment to attend to Iferit's morbid comment, "I hope so too. Preferably that serpent." She played on Iferit's impulsive nature and added with a smile, "Just think... if it died, you could bring it back."

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