Metrius came over to Hakar, who was by Gabriel's side, trying desperately to heal him. "You want my help? I don't know how good I am at this, but I can definitely try." Metrius bent over Gabriel's battered body, closed his eyes, and concentrated, letting the mana from the earth flow into him, and willed it towards Gabriel with good intentions, unsure of what to do otherwise.

Gabriel felt his breath come easier as Metrius came to his side. He could almost feel the cracked and bruised ribs knitting themselves together slowly.

He saw Hakar examining his now useless eye. "Stop." Gabriel ordered. "The others need this more than me. I'll handle the eye."

The Half Elf reached down and pulled out the Dagger Jerick had given him. He closed his eye and concentrated, sending a steady course of electricity through it. The blade began to glow red; at that moment Gabriel pulled off his gauntlet and shoved one of the fingers in his mouth. He pressed the blade up against his wound and growled in pain as the searing blade cartaurized the wound. He pulled his shaking hand away from his face and pulled out the now-dented gauntlet.

Using Thanatos for support, he limped after Arkhon. The man had stopped by a blood stained tarp.

"This is how we re-took Bastion in the first place. The Orcs didn't know about it and we took them by surprise." He told the others, and folded back the tarp to reveal a smoking grate. Flames licked up a few meters from the metal slab. Arkhon began swearing in every language he knew.

Litheril stepped beside them. "It's okay, I can handle this."

The Water Elemental then stretched his arms out, slowly bringing them together. As he did the air around his hands began to ripple, then congeal into droplets of water. Soon the air in front of him was a flowing ball of water; he thrust his hands down to the grate, sending a torrent of liquid down onto the flames. The air around him became like a vaccuum, drawing moisture from the atmosphere and thrusting it down into the sewers. Gouts of steam began pouring through the vent.

"Step back." Hakar gestured at the others as he spoke, knowing that getting too close to Litheril might cause the water contained in their bodies to be pulled into the spell, too...a truly horrible way to die.

They all gave Litheril the space he needed to work, watching the steam pour up from the vents.

Litheril stopped after a minute, and turned to Arkhon. "You should be able to go now, the Grate is very cool."

Arkhon nodded and lifted the grate. "Everyone pile in. It leads into a larger aquaduct that empties out in a waterfall about three klicks from here." He jumped down into the pit. "I just hope that the steam didn't come out of any of the grates outside."

He then began to help Gabriel down into the Sewer; followed by Sarin, then Alec and Gug.

"Klicks?" Hakar frowned, not understanding the term.

"Should I get the others? Or is there some other plan for them?"

Jechir hopped down into the sewer, behind Gug. He asked to the people in front of him, "Can you guys see? I can provide some light..." He then waited. He hoped the orcs wouldn't follow them. He made a mental note to keep his ears open for danger, just in case.

"It means Kilometers. Please do get the others. We want to get as many people out as possible. Litheril, we also found a load of those Orc Bombs in storage when we took over, find some troops and have them put the bombs at the doors."

Litheril nodded and set off on his task. Arkhon turned to Jechir. "Light would be counterproductive, the last thing we need is a beacon of light shining through every opening we pass by. Besides, I know these tunnels like the back of my hand."

Metrius was going around, trying his best to heal the more serious wounds of the people that were still alive. He eventually came back to where he started, near Gabriel. "So, we are ready to leave this forsaken place? Or do some of us need to stay behind for some specific task? I myself am willing to stay behind to make sure that those still alive make it out."

Antarrak tutted. "Hah! Talos has accepted a job from the Arachnid Assassins two months ago! I know because I was assigned to the same mission: get in league with a malevolent human and assist them in destroying the surfacers. The Drow aren't happy, Gwaethir. They want blood."

************************************************** ***********
Talos desperately fought, and a sword ripped through his tunic and revealed the tatoo of the Black Death. To his amazement, it was glowing with a pale silver light. He hesitated, allowing the Slaughterman to strike him the back with his giant warhammer. He watched the giant Orc move on, blasting a fireball into six Avariel soldiers, and collapsed to the ground.

Several seconds later, a group of about 19 armored Drow, all carrying various weapons, torture tools, and survival gear, warped in around Talos. "The Bladesinger needs help, eh? We assist!"

Two of the Drow lifted Talos, sheathed Deathsong, ignoring the immense burning sensation on their hand as they touched the weapon, amd carried him away. The others smiled beneath helmets and masks and leapt off the wall.

************************************************** ********
The Slaughterman looked up suddenly, and saw a wave of black shapes descending from the walls. "The Black Death! Scramble!" The masses of Shadow engulfed him and stayed there for several seconds. They left the spot, leaving only a pool of blood and the Orc's crude warhammer. The black shapes, in the resemblence of Drow (which they were) crashed through waves of Orcs, Goblins, and Trolls, leaving nothing left and whooping like blood-crazed hyenas.

Blood sprayed through the air, and once the Black Death materialized, they licked their chops and attacked, warping through Orcs and stabbing them from behind, their black armor glinting in the flashes of lightning.

OOC: the Slaughterman is ALREADY DEAD. You were too late, man...Gug fried his brains after Hakar, Litheril, and Gabriel unleashed some pwnage on the orc troops who tried to get in the door.

One more thing...we're retreating. If the Black Death are doing a hit-and-run, that's fine. Otherwise, they will be slaughtered by the orcs....

One more thing...the Drow are not attacking, they're minding their own business. If you have a suggested change to the plot, PM me. Otherwise, stick to what we're doing.

IC: Gwaethir had heard Antarrak's last message as he was flying away, and he smirked slightly. Talos was still a killer, but he was no longer an Arachnid Assassin...he had made sure of that.

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

Among the black-armored drow moved a larger figure, one as graceful as a mountain cat despite his slightly greater size. The half-drow grinned as one of them mistook him for a member of the group, calling for his aid in slaying a particularly large, berserk ogre. Jaral laughed...and soon blood coated his blade, a black-armored figure slumping to the ground.

Their skills with Shadow magic were unimpressive, a few tricks and nothing more...he could sense with utmost clarity where each one was about to appear as they warped from place to place. Shurikens spun from his fingers, a deadly dance of poisoned steel snowflakes whirling through the air as the warriors of the Black Death dropped like flies.

"You might be good at killing weak orcs...but your tactics are woefully predictable." he remarked conversationally to a soldier he had just stabbed through the stomach, slicing across once to cut his belly open and spill his entrails onto the ground, then again across the drow's throat. Even as the warrior dropped to the ground, Jaral was gone, his laughter echoing on the wind.

He watched from his former perch, sitting with a look of satisfaction on his face as the hordes of orcs, goblins, trolls, and ogres recovered from their surprise, roaring as they descended en masse on the Black Death...overwhelming them with sheer waves of numbers, until the only survivors were those who teleported away, and those carrying Talos.

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

Litheril swiftly organized a group of soldiers to gather the orc bombs, setting them in strategic locations at the doors. He armed and lit them, then set off for the sewers. One bomb was left over, and he absently took it with him...reasoning that he might find a use for it, later.