"Okay, that grin right there? That's not a good grin."

Alec glanced around at the group, then grabbed a bag and stuffed Gug into it.

"There. Problem solved."

The bag charred away and the pyromancer tumbled out. "Bag me once, I probably deserved it, bag me twice and I burn it." Gug said dusting himself off. "I'd like it if we sneaked in a way that didn't involve me thrashing around blindly."

OOC: Ok, I'm back. Sorry about falling behind.

IC: Metrius serveyed the landscape, seeing beauty in most of it, and it calmed him. Until, of course, he looked out at the sea. Dozens upon dozens of warships, waiting for their moment of glory, their pormised piece of death and desruction. He had been silent for most of the journey, thinking about what Gabriel had said. Rumors of surviving elves in the north...Metrius would have to explore this possibility later, though. Right now, they needed to find a way into the city, but with Gug among them, it would be nigh-impossible to get in unnoticed. Noticing the grin on Gabriel's face, Metrius had to know. "What do you have in mind, Gabriel?"

...They strode through the crowds of peasants within the city square, eyes shifting every which way in order to determine possible threats. In Gabriel's arms Gug twitched. He looked down at Gug, wrapped up in a cloak to resemble a newborn infant. "Hey, quit squirming!" he whispered to the Goblin. "You're going to give yourself away!"

Arthos struggled not to laugh as he indicated the Citadel nearby. "The easiest way in is through a small passageway built into the perimeter wall. It runs straight into the base of the Tower and spirals up to each level. Be aware that it is quite a climb though."

Before they could near the wall, though, a loud trumpet blaired from on high. All around the peasents turned their eyes to the Citadel.

Arthos swore under his breath. "That is the signal of a public announcement from King Macharendir himself. We won't be able to get to the entrance until the crowd diverts it's attention elsewhere."

"Hmph, you try to fake being swaddled..." Gug grumbled. He peeked around and saw a woman holding a baby, and saw the baby chewing on a...something. As the woman passed by a green hand raised up and snapped its fingers. The baby's mother stumbled as her kneecap flared in a hot pain then subsided. She coddled her child, who seemed to be crying since it didn't have any more sweets to chew on.

Examining the object he just caught, Gug quickly burned off the salively end and started munching on it. "He he...that was easy. It should be a saying...something like...like, uhm, 'Popping a hags knee and snatching her kids dessert when he tosses it up"..prolly gotta make it shorter though." the ragged 'baby' pondered.

Ashtar starred out the window at the masses below, Jaral standing at his side.

"They're here." the half-drow noted casually.

"Yes, I see them." Ashtar returned. "And it seems they didn't kill my messanger. A pity." he glanced over at the imposing assassin. "Is everything prepared?"

Jaral gave a most malicious smile. "Indeed, we need only wait until Macharendir shows himself."

OOC: Sorry about all of that before. Brain fart, Laine's mother is dead. I do suppose that that was all a little, okay, a lot of a takeover. I'll try again.

Laine got up groggily and surveyed his surroundings. The collapsed wall of Bastion was all around him. "What the...?" he started, and then it all came flooding back to him. The battle, the orcs, the fall, the Speakstone... the Speakstone! He fumbled around in the pack, but it was nowhere to be found. Oh, yeah, he'd been holding it when he fell. It would be impossible to find in all of this rubble.
"Think, Laine. If you were Gabriel, and you had just lost a battle for a crucial fortress, where would you go? Hmmmmmmmmmmm... Aha! The city! Perfect...but...the problem is, I have no way of getting there, my wings are injured. Oh, hell, I need to get back to the others."
At that he attempted to take off, but stopped with a yelp of pain. He waved a hand impatiently a let a flow of soothing light envelope his wing. Not at all curative, he didn't have time for that. With that, he took off.

He flew all day and all night, stopping only twice. As the city came into view, he landed in a stand of conifers. "Alright, now how am I going to do this? I can't just waltz in there. No one would let me pass them without a gazillion questions. Maybe that trick of the light thing?" He weaved his hands in an intricate pattern in front of him, but as soon as the magic left his wing, he fell to his knees in the excruciating pain. "Oh, jeez. Apparently I'm going to have to do this the hard way." He took off again, but not before swathing his wings in the pain-dulling light. He flew over the walls, and it was not long before he was leaping from roof to roof, so as not to be seen. "Come on Laine, you can find them. Just look for magic use." He bowed his head, feeling for traces of magic. There! East, about five hundred paces east! Some type of magic, I know. I have to find Gabriel and the others!

OOC: There, was that better? I certainly hope it was. Oh, and I'll warn Jaguar for you.

Ooc: That was passable. A few continuity errors, such as the South retaking the city, but nothing too blatant. However, Laine will not find the others until after they emerge from the citadel. A little winged guy will most likely garner quite a bit of attention, and we don't have another bag to wrap you up in as well...

OOC: No problem. What would you like me to do in the meantime?

Laine leaped across the rooftops, and reached the place the the magic use. There was residue of magic on a woman's kneecap, but that was about it.

Ooc: Just stick around and watch from above for now.

Ic: As the crowd starred up at the balcony above, a dark figure emerged before them. Ashtar stalked forward and placed his hands on the stone guard rail. "The King has an important announcement about the future leadership of the Empire." he called down to the masses. "And the status of the War as it stands."

With that, he backpeddled away and knelt down on one knee. The entire Town square did likewise. There was a slight hesitation from the elementals until they finally clued in a second later and did likewise.

As Gabriel bowed, he heard what sounded like a muffled cry. He looked down at Gug, and realized he had him shoved up against his chest. Belatedly he straightened up so that Gug could see again. "AIR!" the goblin gasped quietly.

And then Macharendir emerged. The old man scanned his eyes over the crowd for a moment before speaking. "Arise." he said simply, and the people complied.

"It is a sad thing, this turn of events, for we have suffered and succeded in these passing days. The recapture of Bastion is a wonderous victory, though it came at a horrible price. Many lost their lives, including many of our allies. But their sacrifice means that we can now take the war straight to the Orcs! Even now our great fleet prepares to cripple their navy and invade through their northern boarders! Our hearts and prayers are with those souls who man those ships."

"The second announcement," he continued. "is in regard to my heir."

Gabriel starred up, a feeling of unease swelling in his stomach. "I have a bad feeling about this." he whispered.

"Due to the tragic murder of my son, the only heir to the throne; it seems as though my bloodline has ended. In the event of my death before a suitable heir can be produced, the Supreme Commander of the Military Forces shall take command of the Empire, until the end of hostilities; at which time, the council of elders shall select a new king. So let it be written, so let it be done."

"But we will not allow events to flow in that direction, not while we have one arm to fight with, and one leg to stand on...." The king continued his speech to the masses, but Gabriel tuned him out.

He looked around for Arthos, to find that he had disappeared. "Damnit!" he whispered. "I'll cut out his liver!" he signaled Hakar to come over. "Ashtar's up to something. Can you reach out and see if anything is amiss?"

But before the half-Drow could respond, a shadow passed overhead. The masses looked up to see a beautiful Avariel woman, dressed in full Dragoon armour, a mighty lance in hand.

It was Kiiri. And she was heading straight for the King. Guards began to bark orders and crossbows were raised, but the Avariel pressed forward.

And then a figure dropped from a higher balcony and landed beside the king. It was wearing exactly what Hakar was wearing, and had almost the same facial features as well.

"Jaral!" Gabriel hissed. All around him the crowd went into a panic.


Ashtar had already drawn his blade and joined several guards in dueling with the newcomer. Macharendir tried to retreat from the balcony, but it was too late. The lance that Kiiri was holding but a few minutes ago was now protruding from his chest. Jaral kicked away from the other combatants and stood upon the guardrail. He backflipped off and fell gracefully to the ground, but was intercepted by the Avariel girl. She began a flight over the crowd and dropped the half drow near the ground. Right beside Hakar.

Before he hit, he phased into shadow and passed through his brother, and then vanished completely. And now the entire crowd was starring at Hakar.

"Kill the Murderer!" Ashtar's call came out from the balcony. "And anyone who assists him!"

Gabriel starred at the enraged crowd. "Shit!"

"Vith!" The drow epithet burst from Hakar's lips with unusual force, even as he watched Kiiri withdraw her lance and leap back into the air...whirlwinds appearing and diffusing the storm of arrows that followed her, vanishing into the sky.

"I think we just found out what is 'amiss'!" Hakar snarled, drawing his blade. Grabbing ahold of the others, he closed his eyes and concentrated...the world seemed to shift around them, and then they were standing at the base of Ashtar's Citadel. Hakar reeled, transporting so many people at once was more difficult than it looked, but regained his senses quickly as he cast a second spell...rendering all of them invisible.

Ashtar glared over the balcony and swore. "They just disappeared? They couldn't have gone far." he sheathed his sword and turned to several of the guards. "No one is to leave the town square until they are found. Send out search parties to scour the city, then place the citadel on lockdown."

Striding off the balcony and into the citadel, he turned to Cerberus who was standing by just inside the entrance. "Notify Antarrak that we will be keeping the Avariel girl. I have new plans for her. Has he already launched his navy?"

The pale man nodded.

"Good. Launch the fleet imediatelly and follow them as per our plans."

Cerberus saluted and headed off to the lower levels of the citadel.

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

Gabriel shook off the sudden disorientation and got his bearings. The entrance to the citadel was open and soldiers were pouring out. He unravled Gug and signaled to the others to follow him in.

"Now what?" Sarin whispered to the others. He had been silent for so long, the others might be surprised to still see him there. "Do you think we could finish this as quickly as we've seemed to try to start it?"

((Sorry, was at a con all weekend))

Laine reeled as a sudden onslaught of magic used assailed his senses. I know exactly where that came from. He headed for Ashtar's Citadel, itself dwarfing the sky above the surrounding urbanscape. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally throwing up a Flare, hoping against hope that one of his fellow Elementalists was here, and that they would see it. I need to find out where they are. For all I know, that could have been a teleportation spell. But, wait, the only person who could have cast such a spell would be...
"Hakar!!!!!!!!!" Laine yelled. He saw them now, still hundreds of yards away. They were at the base of the citadel. He leaped into the air, ignoring the pain that screamed in his wings. He had to get to them fast. He flew straight forward...

...and was met by a hail of arrows, all aimed at him.

Ooc: Warmage, make your way to the ground, I'll get you to safety from there.

Ic: Ashtar strolled down the hallway and into his quarters. He passed through the hidden tunnel and emerged once again within the antiroom which housed Kiiri. Already standing there were Jaral, smirking maliciously; and standing in parade ground attention, was Kiiri.

Ashtar clapped lightly. "Bravo. Now the populace will beg us to go to war with the Avariel and the Barbarians. You did well today." He reached over and pulled the dragoon helmet off Kiiri's head, revealing the Control Helm beneath.

"What an interesting mix of magic and technology you managed to aquire here." Ashtar commented. "It works quite well, I must admit. Back in the shackles."

Kiiri obediantly walked over to the shackles on the wall and chained herself up. Jaral then moved over to her and removed the helm from her head. She seemed to colapse completely, and lie unmoving on the floor, emitting the occasional weak sob.

Ashtar barked out a harsh laugh. "Jaral," he said. "I think I'm going to double your pay."

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

Gabriel nodded to Sarin. "Let's hope so. Everybody inside; split into two groups. Hakar, you take Alec, Gug, Mat and Jechir and track down Jechir's sword. Sarin, Jerick, Talos, Metrius and I will see if we can find Kiiri. Track us down if you find it and we'll all take on Ashtar together. Antarrak can wait. Something tells me that Ashtar is the greater threat."

He never saw Laine coming. His blind eye was turned to him.

"Let's move out." he said and strode passed the last few soldiers to run through the entrance, and into the citadel.

Jaral grinned wickedly, "That suits me almost as well as the agreement we made concerning my brother...he is mine to kill, I want to keep this a family affair." he laughed cruelly.

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

Hakar shook his head, "Jaral will be guarding Kiiri, not some sword...I can find him, I can find her. Besides, I know how he fights, what tricks we can expect from him, and it is my duty to see this through...he is still my brother, despite everything he has done. I must be a part of the group that searches for Kiiri. Jechir, you can use, and thus detect Light magic...you go with Alec, Gug, and Mat to find the sword."

Gabriel wanted to protest, to say that Hakar was in no shape to fight his own brother; but he saw the steel behind the man's eyes. He gave a slight sigh and conceded. "Very well. I'll take the others to find the sword." he placed a hand on Hakar's shoulder. "But be careful. Those half-drow are not to be trusted." He said with a half grin.

He signaled Mat, Alec, and Gug to come along and turned to Jechir. "Lead the way." he said simply.

"And let those who betray a half-drow learn the meaning of fear!" he laughed, clapping his friend on the back as he walked toward the entrance to the citadel. His powers seemed to come easier to him now, he felt himself recovering more quickly than he had before.

"Does anyone have a plan for getting past the guards?" he asked suddenly, realizing that they had made no plans for confrontation, except against Jaral and Ashtar.

"They could always stop in their tracks," Jerick mentioned. He knew the guards were all wearing plate mail, which would make this easy for the balcksmith to do. With his idea put in, Jerick secretly put a magnetic shield around the group. He didn't want anything metal getting anywhere near them at this point.

Jechir was flustered momentarily. "I've never really used my magic to detect magic before, but I guess it's worth a shot..." Jechir closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. He reached down to that place inside of himself where he knew his magic came from. He concentrated, letting his magic fan out in all directions. He felt the warmth spread all throughout his body, and after a few moments, it spread out even further. More and more, he was losing himself in the inner glow. After a few more moments, he felt another, smaller glow pulsating. This had to be Flashblade! He opened his eyes, still feeling out with his magic. In a voice that seemed not his own, he spoke to the group with him, "This way..." He began following a twisting alleyway deeper into the citadel.

Laine saw the group beginning to break up. "WAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!"
He held his hands in front of him, and, not bothering to mold it into any specific form, released a burst of searing light. The closest of the arrows disintegrated, but there were many more. He knew that Jechir was feeling for magic, maybe he'd sense it.
At the last possible moment, Laine hurled himself to the ground at the base of the citadel, arrows falling everywhere, and many more taking there place. Pain screamed in his wings, and he fought for conciousness. One of these arrows is going to hit me in the heart, and then it will be over.

He closed his eyes... and waited for the end.

Ic: -And found himself sliding away from the archers, their arrows seeming to stop just in front of him and lie hanging in the air. He was dragged back for several meters until he finally fell back into a recently opened manhole.

The cover seemed to slide into place on it's own, and in the darkness that surrounded him, a voice echoed beside his ear. "If you wish to survive, come with me..."

**********************************************
As Jechir lead them through the corridors they encountered little resistance; Gabriel's group passed by several guards unnoticed due to the lingering effects of Hakar's spell.

It was while they passed beside a group of soldiers exiting their quarters that it finally wore off. Gabriel saw the five of them reach for their weapons, he and the others sprang into action. He dove at the group, clotheslining two of them and knocking them onto their backs. "Knock 'em out and take their armour!" he called to the others; then smashed the hilt of his dagger into one of the soldier's heads.

Jechir reacted to Gabriel's command while still in his trance-like state. Reacting out of pure instinct, Jechir held one hand to the side and shot a blinding beam of light into one of the guard's face. The man dropped to his knees, holding his face in agony as his retinas were completely burned away. Jechir pulled out a dagger and calmly used the hilt to break the man's nose and knock him out cold. Jechir knelt down and began stripping the man of his armor, donning it himself as he did so. During all of this, he never let his detection spell drop.

Laine attempted to cast a light around him, but found he could not. It was not that he couldn't command the magic, it's just that something was making it unable to manifest.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Hakar bashed one guard in the temple with the pommel of his sword, knocking him to the floor, then pointed at another one...who promptly fell to the ground, unconscious.

His severe headache was finally starting to relent, and he found that he was feeling stronger.

Gug simply overheated the hilt of one of the soldier's swords, causing him to drop it in a cry of pain. The goblin pointed Fireshrieker and watched as the armor on him glowed bright red, forcing him to drop down to the ground, where Gug promptly batted his face with his weapon, knocking him out.

Surveying the armor, the pyromancer let it lie, since he would never be able to use it.

"I am a man trying only to right a lifetime of wrongs." The voice in the shadows said calmly. A hand reached out and grabbed Laine's arm. "Follow me and we will save your friends."

**************************************************
...Gabriel headbutted the last of the soldiers, knocking him unconsious. He joined the others in changing into the armour and the group of them dragged the unconsious soldiers back into the empty barracks, placing each one in a bunk as to not arouse suspicions. He picked up a claymore that was the standard issue of the Southern Guards and passed it over to Jechir.

"Here." he said. "This should last you until we find Flashblade."

***********************************
Ashtar smiled cruely at the half-drow's comments. "Very well. If he does arrive you have my blessing. The kill will be yours."

He turned and passed through the hallway. He strode through the citadel until he reached the lower levels; where he pulled on a torch, revealing a staircase spiralling down in the floor.

And as he reached the bottom, he was slammed up against the wall by one huge open palm.

"What do you mean 'you're keeping the girl!?" the enormous Orc bellowed. "I was promised her in return for laying siege to bastion! Gwaethir deserves to suffer for our losses that day!"

The General merely looked calmy at Antarrak. "Yes, I promised her in return for the destruction of those who are a threat to my power here. You didn't fulfill your part of the bargan."

"Lies!" the monsterous creature roared. "Not a single southerner survived! I personally made sure of that!"

"Then why is it that the Elementals that Gwaethir sent out are now in my Capital?!" Ashtar returned, his voice dripping with venom.

The orc slowly released his grip and stepped backwards.

"Now, you didn't fullfill part of your bargan, so I will not honour part of mine. I can use the girl more efficiently as a barganing chip for the Avariel's eventual surrender. You would probably think about doing it, but then decide to eat her once that Orc brain of yours took over." He continued.

"I could squish you like a bug, here and now. human." The creature said the word with vile contempt.

"Need I remind you of what happens to people who threaten me?" Ashtar asked calmly; his eyes glowing with an internal fire.

Antarrak twitched, not that noticable, but clear to anyone who knew what to look for.

"I didn't think so." the dark lord sneered. "Now, I think it's about time you returned to your ship, your gruesomness."

Antarrak sneered and shoved something into his hand. "In the interests of beter relations in the future. " he said before he disappeared into the shadows.

Ashtar gazed down at the glowing blade he was now holding. It seemed to shimmer even in little light afforded here.

He smirked slightly under his mask. Ah. another one for my collection.

Hakar was able to fit the plate armor of one of the larger guards, a captain, over his own suit of white leather armor. He removed his cloak, folded it up small, and tucked it inside his pack. Taking the helmet of the same guard, he put it on and pulled down the visor...hiding his rather distinctive features from view.

"Hey, do you think we could disguise Gug as a little kid?"

With a quick flick of his wrist, Jerick sent a gaurd flying head first into a wall. The man would have died if it weren't for his armor, so he was a little lucky on that part. With another gaurd down, Jerick went took off his armor and put it on himself. It wasn't too comfortable like a suit of chainmail, but he could at least manipulate himself if he needed to get anywhere fast.

"And what is a kid going to be able to do with a bunch of knights? It's not exactly incognito," Jerick mentioned as Hakar suggested to dress Gug up as a kid.

"Hey...little kids get lost sometimes, right? If he cries and says he lost his mommy, and one of us finds a way to make him look like a human child, then we have the perfect excuse to get past the next set of guards. We'll just say that we're taking him to our commanding officer!" Hakar shrugged, grinning.

Laine gave into the mysterious voice, and followed him through the dark. "Where are you taking me, anyway?" he asked. "And do you mind explaining to me why I can't cast any spells?"

Mat shot a bolt of electricity at the guards face, shocking him, and then jumping at him, knocked his head against the wall with enough force, to knock him out, not to mention dent the helmet. After fixing the helmet, Mat put the armor on and said. "We could also say that we found him snooping around here, and that were bringing him to our captain so he can decide what to do, if he found out something."

"It would be better not to draw attention to ourselves in that respect." Gabriel noted as he fitted a helmet into place. He then picked up the shoulder cape worn by the soldier he had put down, the colour indidcated that it was a commanding officer. "He can latch onto my back and hide under this." he said and attatched it to his shoulder plate. "Provided that he doesn't squirm too much anyway. It's time to split up into our respective groups. You guys track Kiiri while we find Jechir's sword. Good luck to all of you."


With that, Gabriel, Alec, Gug, and Matt followed Jechir down a corridor to their left; leaving Hakar, Metrius, Jerick, Talos and Sarin to their own devices.

*********************
The voice snorted in the darkness. "We're going into the citadel. And how should I know about your powers? Raging hormones perhaps?"

**********************
Ashtar gazed once again at the sword within his grip as he walked into a grand room lined with asorted weapons. It was indeed a thing of beauty, he might need to have the entire room adjusted to lead the viewer's eye directly to his newest acquisition.

No matter. he thought. I'll figure something out.

He suddenly froze; he stretched his mind out once again as he felt a flash of something. Not far away he detected five heat signatures, none of which were familiar.

They've made it into the citadel... he thought and drew Melafus with his other hand.

Hakar kneeled down, concentrating...

He focused on his memories of Kiiri, her smile and laughter, the sun flashing off the golden highlights in her wings as she flew.

He pushed his memories back deeper...to his childhood.

Young Hakar walked along the bottom of the canyon, climbing over the rocks that lined the ancient streambed. The lake that had once caused this path to be flooded during rainstorms was completely dry now, it had been that way since the War...and he had been playing here ever since he could walk.

His keen, slightly pointed ears listened intently for the sounds of movement, both hands on the hilt of the padded practice-sword he carried. He wondered where he was hiding, what he was planning.

Suddenly, there was the sound of rocks clattering behind him, and he whirled around. He saw a fist-sized stone fall off the larger rock it had just struck, hurled from above, just as he felt something strike him hard in the back.

He winced, bent down, and picked up the padded-tip pointless (literally speaking) arrow that lay there. He looked up, and saw his younger sibling standing at the edge of the canyon wall, another such arrow nocked on his small bow...pointed directly at him.

Jaral's eyes flashed as he grinned, "I win."

Hakar glared, waving the arrow at him, "You asked me to come out here for an honorable duel! A contest of swordplay! You cheated!"

Jaral scowled back, "I did not cheat...if this was a real weapon, you would be dead, and I would be the victor."

"You fight without honor!"

Jaral shrugged, "Honor is for those too weak to fight with whatever they have available. I used every weapon at my disposal, and manipulated you into a situation where you could not win. I demonstrated superior skill...how have I not won?"

Hakar remembered the look of uncaring on his brother's face, and memory faded back into reality...

The half-drow's eyes opened, and he stood up, "This way..." he set off down a corridor to the right, not even looking to see if the others were following him.

This was the second time in about as many hours that Gug found himself stuffed into a cramped, uncomfortable spot lined with cloth. And the worse part about it was that something was making his ears burn. "Guys, you don't think anyone would be talking about me behind my back right?"

"We were mentioning how smelly you were," Sarin snorted. "Now be quiet so we can somehow execute this fool plan."

"Oh, you just got told."

Alec pulled uncomfortably at the gorget and asked out loud, "Seriously, why does every single guard uniform need to be extremely uncomfortable?"

He continued along with his group and tried to fight the feeling of impending doom down.

OOC: Thanks to SAAM for the new avatar. Go Hurricane!

Laine obediently followed the mysterious figure. He drifted into his thoughts...

It was a dark passage. Demons lay dead everywhere. "Good, boy. Keep that up, and you'll be first-class demon hunter in no time." When was that? And who was that voice?

OOC: SAAM is the Hurricane again? Warmage is Hurricane-Boy, his sidekick? Superhero duo! :D

IC: "It's simply so that they don't notice the abysmal pay, high chance of death, and long, inflexible hours." Hakar grinned, following his senses down the passageway...towards Jaral.

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

Most creatures would have been unable to detect such a light mental touch, recalling a shared memory would have been viewed by most as coincidence, but most creatures weren't ninjas trained in the Shadow discipline, attuned to Shadow magic. Jaral sat in the room where the still-weeping Kiiri had been transferred, and waited for his brother.

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

Hakar saw the guards at the door, and knew Jaral and Kiiri were on the other side. Part of him wanted to go through with his plan, and he began to speak.

"We found a lost child wandering the Citadel, and our superior officer has vanished."

The guard began to reply, then let out a choked scream, falling forward to reveal the shuriken planted in his back. The remaining guards stared, then lunged for their weapons, only to fall one-by-one beneath an invisible blade.

The shadows cast by the flickering torchlight on the wall seemed to waver, forming into letters.

This is between us, and your friends...these were expendable.