Jerick didn't know how, but he had tracked down Gabriel. The fact that the half-elf was in a tavern was a bad sign, especially since the captain had just lost his father. Jerick knew what it was like, and he had also drunk away the pain when he was younger, but he was over it now. Now he just needed to get Gabriel away from alcohol, which was a big problem for the blacksmith.

Walking into the tavern, Jerick immediately spotted Gabriel at the bar, chugging down drinks faster than any normal drunk he'd ever seen. Jerick sighed as he approached the drunk man.

"Uh, Gabriel? I think now would be a good time to get away from alcohol." He knew that he wouldn't listen from personal experience, but he had to try. Hopefully his own loss could relate to Gabriel's.

Slowly and unsteadily, Gabriel turned to the newcomer. He sat and stared at the mans face for half a minute before his eyed focused and his alcohol-clouded brain recognized him.

"Oh! Jerich-" he stopped himself for a moment, realizing what he almost said. "Jerick, I wasn' esspecting to see you here." He passed the blacksmith his tankard and signaled the bartender for another.

"Come an' join me," He stared into the beverage, a spiteful look crossing his face. "I was jus'... celebrating, the life of a great man."

Jerick shook his head. This was going to be hard. He had no clue how to cheer this man up, yet here he was, going to try and do it anyway. All he had to do was get Gabriel out of the bar and away from booze. Then he had to wait for him to get sobered up before he gave him his dagger. Jerick knew a weapon was bad in the hands of a drunk person.

"Gabriel, you're lying and I know it. The same thing happened to me seven years ago. I did the exact same thing as you. This isn't going to help. Try to do something else, not this." It wasn't exactly the best thing to say, especially since Gabriel knew absolutely nothing about what happened seven years ago, but it was worth a shot.

"Yeah..." Gabriel slurred. "But it feels a whole lot beder than the aldernative."

He took another sip of the whiskey, and shook his head afterwards.

"So. Whas your story?" he asked as he twirled the liquid in his glass.

"Well... I lived with my dad for 20 years of my life. My mom died when she gave birth to me, so I didn't know her and my dad tried his best to be a good parent. Him being a blacksmith, he took us near a mountain that had lots of good metal in it. He was a really great user of magnetism too, so it was really easy for us to get the metal out of the mountain." Jerick found that he was beginning to feel sad and drank a little out of the tankard. He sighed and continued his story.

"My dad was a great man. He taught me everything I know. Magic, weapons, everything. It was seven years ago that something terrible happened though. We had just found some diamonds in our mine and we had made an incredible sword together." He motioned toward his sword. "A few days after we were done, one of the nearby mountains turned out to be a dormant volcano. We never knew, even after living there for twenty years. I managed to make it out in time... but my dad never made it. I saw him get burned alive right in front of me..."

Jerick stopped after the last statement. He was still trying to leave the horrible memories behind, now he had to remember them to help a friend. He chugged down the rest of his drink and gave the tankard to the barkeep, not wanting to have any more. He didn't want to start getting drunk again.

Gabriel nodded solumnly. He lifted his near empty tankard and held it to eye level.

"A toast," he said. "To great the great men who were our fathers."

He drained the contents of his glass and set it down. Turning to Jereck, he actually laughed.

"There's actually one thing that's funny about all this." he said.

As Jereck looked on, he continued. "By tomorrow morning I won't remember any of that!"

with that his eyes seemed to glaze over, he began to slowly slouch to the side, and fell over from the barstool.

"Oh great, I knew that was gonna happen," Jerick muttered. After somehow paying for Gabriel's bar tab, he started dragging the man back to the palace. After quite a 'fun' time of dragging the unconscious body, he laid him down in his bed. He then went off to his own bed and collapsed, immediately falling asleep because of his busy day.

Having finished his exercises, Talos came down to the bar with a large cloth slung over his shoulder. He overheard the two talking and emerged behind them. "At least you two had fathers. Mine was a poor, slaving bastard who only knew how to fight, and my mother was, if anything, worse."

OOC: Laine, in response to your query about a fight between Laine and Jaral...that would actually be a very bad thing, despite the coolness of Light vs. Shadow fights. For one thing, Jaral is deadly even without his magic (ninja! ninja! ninja!), and since he's an important villain....meh, odds are Laine would last about 5 seconds before getting sliced n' diced like a fruit salad.

by the way, if I make references to "the Hurricane" during this post....that was what Gwaethir was called during the period in which he was the Evil of Air (perhaps Fiend of Air might be a better term...).

IC: Gwaethir nodded in response to Sarin's question, "I would tell you even if there wasn't a reward. I just need you to remind me which tribe you came from, and I will find out who killed them...and then help you find them, so you may exact your revenge." Gwaethir's eyes lit up with enthusiam as he spoke, but then dimmed suddenly.

"Remember, though, revenge isn't always as sweet as you think it is. Find who killed your folk, avenge them, and then stop. Once you take it too far, there is no going back.....I learned that the hard way, and I was very, very lucky." the winged elf looked away, as though remembering something painful.

A caged city, the looks on the faces of the villages he had slain, entire cities destroyed in contests of power between himself and others. Gwaethir sighed, remembering the horror of looking at the world, and seeing for the first time what he had done, uncovered by the veil of self-righteousness he had pulled over his own eyes. He remembered also his vow to atone for that, his promise to protect the people he had once oppressed or tried to destroy...the original reason for his unwavering determination to destroy Antarrak. The kidnapping of his beloved niece and the murder of his best friend only added to that. Gwaethir's ice-blue eyes flamed as he looked out the window at the red sunset.....Antarrak had best beware, for the Hurricane had been roused.

"Remember what I have said, and we will exact repayment for those we have lost..." he said to Sarin, who was still standing there. The Avariel and the Grugach both had much to avenge.

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Hakar walked up behind Talos, having become thirsty after a long period of reading the minds of nearby people and lifting various objects with his newfound powers.

"I almost feel guilty...my father was a hero too, and a good friend of your father's, Gabriel." Hakar grinned, remembering his father, the huge barbarian warrior still strong and proud even when his hair and beard had turned grey, his hands still able to wield his twin blades with expert skill up to his last days. He remembered seeing him next to his mother....the Drow priestess looking so young next to her human husband, but with a maturity and motherly streak that was rare in women of her race.

"Delmenon often said that Jericho was the guiding force behind their group. My father may have been a strategist in battle, but he often said they would have been lost if it wasn't for the Windrider." the half-drow raised an eyebrow, realizing that Gabriel was probably too drunk to hear him. Sighing, he turned to Talos, "You knew my parents back in those days, didn't you?"

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

Jaral nodded. Normally, he scorned formal dueling and stances, but this seemed to be a special occassion.....he knew better than to underestimate Ashtar. He still held his sword, and lifted it easily to a ready position, "This should be an interesting battle, General." he said casually.

As soon as Metrius clasped on to Laine's hand, he felt the weave of magic enter into him. It was different, and yet the same as before. As more and more power built within himself, Metrius realizied that he had never attained such a high level of power before. The ground began to shake with the sheer power of the combined forces of the two elementals, and Metrius started glowing. What in all the earth is happening?, he thought. He heard Laine saying, "Metrius, on three, extend your hand toward the treant and blast it with every scrap of magic you have! 1....2....3! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" An enormous amount of energy, both Light and Earth, was unleashed upon the treant. It never stood a chance.

When the spell dissapated, Laine nearly collapsed next to a nearby tree. Rushing over to Laine's side, Metrius listened to what Laine had to say.