EB p.2 The Dark Times

[Awesomoman]

"Um. Okay? But to be clear, i out rank you and out size you." Agate turned around to face her. "And something else, could you PLEASE not get in challenges or what ever with Targus again. Every time i look away hes doing something to get him in trouble. I know you two dont like each other, so just keep away."

[Nohiki]

"If you think you outrank me then whatever, i'll leave you to keep that thought. And once good advice about the size..." she said and her voice went to a dragonlike tones, "Don't judge the book by it's cover." she said and bashed Agate a meter away. "Size doesn't matter." (OOC: Bow chika wow wow) "Like Targus, i too am a halfbreed, but not halfblood. I have the same condition as the demon Jackel. And in fact, you are wrong. I think that Targus might be the closest thing i have here to a friend. I believe it was impossible not to notice we are kind of kindred spirits, at least judging by earlier today. Well, remember, mouth locked. See ya." said Ignis and hurried away to search for a restpit to sleep that terrible headache off.

[Awesomoman]

"Jeez, i totally out rank her. That is one strange lady." Agate said scratching his head. "Ill say." Targus said litteraly jumping up. "Hey, how did you sleep that hangover off so quickly?" "Easy, i didn't." Targus pulled out a small vile. "I call it a relife potion. one swig and your hangover is gone is seconds." "Then why did you lay on the floor for so long." Targus looked around. "I was following Ignis." "What? But i never told you." "Didn't have to, the way Amber seemed so confused and the way Ignis was so protective about the braclet gave it all a way. She was hiding something and both me and Amber wanted to know what it was." "...OOoohhh so you layed on the ground to make it seem like you weren't doing anything so Ignis would go about her day not knowing that you were really tracking her with your earth skills. Wow, and here i thought you were just the same drunk idiot i've known for years." "Hey, 2 years as a spy, i've learned a few things. But today i've learned where our 'almost friend' has been and what shes done." Agate couldn't beleive Targus had thought of all this. "So. now what?" "Well, last i checked, she went to bed. So now is our chance to go to where she was and figure out what she was doing."

[Kauria]

Athvesa pushed open the massive stone doors with his shoulder, finally bursting into a vast room with an immense domed ceiling. Lamya looked up sharply at the sudden intrusion, flaring her black wings and hissing. Rama, however, simply placed both hands on the arms of his high-backed chair and stood to greet the ice dragon.
"General Athvesa, it's a pleasure to see you again," he said, tapping Lamya lightly on her scarred neck as he passed her. "I have to say, though, I didn't quite recognize you at first." He gestured at Athvesa's now-black scales with a questioning smile.
"I haven't really got the time to explain it right now. Where are the other Night Hunters?"
"Getting ready, I suppose. News travels faster than you do."
The ice dragon turned his head to the side with an exasperated sigh. "If any of them come back here, tell them to prepare the proper counterspells for illusions and invisibility. The rebels might have anticipated our attack, and I don't want to be caught off guard."
The demon nodded. "Of course. We're not going to be joining in the attack ourselves, though," he added, referring to himself and Lamya. "My injuries have been giving me more trouble as of late."
"It's fine," Athvesa said with a nod, glancing out the window. "I must be going now. Don't forget to tell the other Hunters if you get the chance," he called, backing out through the doors again.
All that may have been slightly awkward, but at least we're ready now, he thought, sending the second half of the message to Maela.
Good, his bond responded. Can you—
Hang on, he interrupted. Just remembered one more thing I have to do. The ice dragon made a sudden turn down a flight of stairs, sprinting through the lower hallways to the forge.

------

Maela sat on the rooftop above the courtyard, watching the troops assemble and make last-minute preparations and adjustments. The sun was rising once again, its golden light spilling over the mountains and catching the leaves of the ancient tree beside the demoness. Despite the recent prevalence of shadow magic in Janahal, the tree appeared just as green and healthy as it must have nearly a century ago, free of any sign of the corruptive energies.
The rustle of wings behind Maela alerted her to the approach of her bond, and she turned expectantly to face him.
Athvesa landed gently, grasping the ridge of the roof in his black claws and lowering his wings.
"Where were you?" Maela asked, pulling herself onto the saddle.
"I'll tell you later. It's a surprise for now," Athvesa explained, turquoise eyes glimmering. "Let's go get some rebels."
With a sudden lurching motion, the disguised ice dragon threw himself into the air, swooping low over the first regiment. The officers below took off at his signal, the rest of their black-clad forces following in a wavelike motion.
With a nod of approval from their leader, a group of sorcerers' dragons powered high into the air, riders standing confidently on their backs. Bracing themselves against the specially-structured saddles, each spellcaster performed unique set of motions, yet together, the well-trained individuals were able to create a single, unified spell. The golden clouds that had settled on the stony horizon darkened from a gentle cream color to an intense, violent shade of red, choking off the sunlight as they spread across the sky.
Maela gave a sigh of relief, allowing her slitted eyes to open fully in the crimson half-light. I suppose they'll know we're coming now.
You're worrying far too much, Athvesa replied, turning his head to gaze at the distant towers of Essylia. A violet beacon flashed in response, indicating that the reinforcements were fully assembled. He nodded and summoned a blue orb of light between his own talons, extinguishing it several moments later. Even I know that we far outnumber them by this point.
It just doesn't seem right that things could be ended this easily, Maela thought as the demon forces closed in on the concealed valley.

[Midnightmoon]

It was midday now, or so Amber had been told. Nibbling halfheartedly on a chunk of meat she looked over reports about the Dark Clan progress, and their own progress on the serum to counter act the conversion potion. There was a knock on the door frame. "Ma'am?" "Yes, what is it?" "There's something you might want to see, on the northern horizon." "Ok, lead the way." Putting the sheets down on the desk Amber followed the soldier. It took longer then expected but they finally reached one of the lookout holes near the top of the mountain that their base now resided in. The man pointed and sure enough there was something. Just as he had said on the norther horizon was a red haze. "Any idea what it is?" "Not really Ma'am. Though the same thing happened before my village was hit." Amber stared out at it for a few seconds, then said, "Keep a eye on it. If it moves then I want to hear about it." "Yes Ma'am."

[Morty]

Leucrocuta trudged up to the gate about an hour later, where Jack was sitting crosslegged on a pillar, shaded by a colourful parasol.
"Well, they'll be long gone by now." said Lulu, collapsing in a heap by the door, her tongue lolling out.
"I think I'm gonna cry a little." said Jack, hopping down and cranking open the gate. "Come on, get up, we gotta get you to the infirmiry." he said, nudging her nose with his boot. Lulu whined. "Get me some water, a slice of lemon and one of those little umbrellas and we'll talk."
Jack rolled his eyes and disappeared over the wall. In a few minutes he was back. "Happy now?" he asked, placing a glass by Lulu's snout. Lulu eyed the glass, then eyed Jack. Jack pouted. "Fine." he muttered, and disappeared once more. He returned with a shark tank dragged by four demon trainees, deer-sized ice cubes floating around inside. "I couldn't find any lemons big enough." he said apologetically. He looked around, then plucked the parasol from the pillar he'd been sitting on. "Voila." He placed the parasol delicately in the tank.
"Now we're talking." said Lulu, rolling to her feet.

[Kauria]

Athvesa flared his purple-streaked wings, galloping to a stop on the path to the concealed entrance of the mountain hideout. Silhouetted against the blood-red sky, the sleek forms of the swiftest dragons shot into the sentry towers high above, prepared to shred the elven guards stationed there.
The ground shook as a massive pair of turned earth dragons came to a heavy landing on the chiseled walkway, empty-eyed riders looking expectantly down at Maela. She signaled her approval, and both dragons lunged forward, muscles rippling as the tore down the trail to the cave.
The demoness leaned back in her saddle, hand drifting down Athvesa's side. Do you suppose the door's been trapped? she asked, tapping her fingers gently.
The disguised ice dragon crouched lower and extended his neck eagerly. Quite possibly, but that's why you send the disposable ones. His body tensed, but an unpleasant grin was spreading across his face. The large dragons crashed through the cover of brambles and rammed against the solid stone slab obstructing the tunnels.
"Good. Looks like it's safe," he said with a roll of his shoulders, straightening once again.
A slender, red-striped dragon ran up beside him, panting slightly. "General Athvesa, the lookout towers were completely abandoned and stripped of all useful equipment."
"I'm not surprised. They would have noticed our coming nearly an hour ago," Athvesa said with a grimace.
"Have your team work on clearing the higher entrances," Maela ordered. "We want to be able to attack from as many angles as possible." The dragon nodded before springing into the air to deliver the instructions.
As soon as they had left, Athvesa surged ahead, leaping through the remains of the foliage that had once camouflaged the main entry cave. More dragons had joined the first two, and under their efforts, the false back of the cave fell away with a thud.

------

One of the former earth dragons made as if to move forward into the dust-filled cavern, but Maela held up a hand and dropped from her saddle. She flicked out both daggers and crept forward, leaping lightly onto the slab of stone and peering out into the depths of the shadows. She gestured, and a Night Hunter stepped forward, golden threads of an illusion counterspell shimmering in his hands. With a flick of his fingers, a web of light glowed briefly across the room, stripping away any spells of deception that may have been cast in the area. Maela hopped forward another few steps, her black eyes penetrating the layers of natural darkness. Apart from a shaft of murky red light coming in through one of the higher entrances, the cavern remained completely empty.
The demoness gave the signal to advance, darting forward and edging along a rough-hewn stone wall. Athvesa made no attempt to hide himself, instead stepping over the thick rock panel and sniffing the air inside the room.
"The scent's stale. No one's been in this room for nearly a day," he whispered, turning his vivid blue gaze upon his rider.
Maela's slender tail clicked nervously on the wall behind her. "But we only left an hour or so ago," she said softly, wincing at the harshness of her voice in the dusty silence. "There's no way they could have known that we were coming that far in advance."
Perhaps they have elected to retreat farther into the mountains, Athvesa thought, attempting to be reassuring, although Maela could feel the bitter twinge of his uncertainty. Let's keep looking.

[Nohiki]

Ignis looked at the darkening sky, her bracelet's wings flashing. She touched it and something appeared in front of her. She smiled on the sack and went through it. "Good, goooood." she said, as she stuffed her armor with poisoned darts, shurikens, gem bombs and tunneling crystals. "It is done. The only problem will be getting there. The bracelet's invisibility spell is used up." She rolled her eyes. "I'll get them there! Over and out." she said and the bracelet went off. She wiped the sweat out of her forehead. "I need to get another job."

[Awesomoman]

Targus and Agate went out of the base to the location Ignis traveled a few times. "Its around here somewhere........HERE." Targus knelt on the ground. "There is something here for sure, Agate, think you can get us in?" "One entrance coming right up." Agate motioned for the ground to break open, but nothing happened. he tried again and again. "It wont do anything!" "She must have some sort of magical seal on it, and i dont know the first thing about that stuff." Agate started punching the ground. "OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN!" "You really dont want to be beat by this do you." "WAIT!" Agate stopped. "A few days ago scouts came back with a group of survivors from an ambush." "What about them?" "Sid and Maruk where in that group!" "REALLY! dude, Maruk basically invented magic. If anyone could get that open it would be him." Targus jumped up. "Lets hurry back."
------------------------
Targus and Agate got back to the base and headed for the medical wing. They found Sid and Maruk in the back. "Hello Targus and Agate, its been a while." Maruk turned towards them. "AAAA, i forgot you talk with your head. Anyway, whats up with you guys?" Targus asked. "Well, i took a few arrows, other than that i got about 5 of them." Sid sat up in a bed he was in. "Owch, i thought you had a bunch of armor on?" "They found the weak points." "Thats enough, i know you came for a reason. so lets hear it." Maruk interupted. "Okay okay. look, we were ordered to follow someone. turns out they have been going to a cave doing who knows what." "And you thought you could just go and smash your way in, but once more magic has beaten your brawn." "Look we can talk about this later, right now we have important business to attend to." "Sorry, but Sid is hurt to bad to go out and..." "Im fine Maruk, you can go with them. Im sure nothing bad will happen while your gone." Sid interupted. "*sigh* Very well, i will help you." Maruk followed Targus and Agate out of the base.

[Nohiki]

Ignis was on her way to armory. She turned right on the crossroads, when... "Ouch!" she looked up as she hit somebody. "DUDE! Not this crap again, my head still hurts!" she shouted to Targus and knocked on her forehead. She went around him and few steps along the hall, when she stopped in the middle of the step. She twice knocked on her bracelet and it flashed in blue. If you're going where i think you're going, you're gonna get it. I warned you. Aquariah prepared those tunnel crystals herself, and they are foolproof. Even Targusproof, come to think about it. At the same time as she knocked on her bracelet, the blue gem she stuck deep in the crystal wall before flashed as it's spell activated.

[Awesomoman]

Targus gave her a weird look. "You should just keep going, Igy, i've got more important stuff to do." Targus motioned for Maruk and Agate to follow him. "What was that about?" Maruk asked. "Remember that someone we were ordered to follow, that was her." Targus responded. "I take it you two dont get along as well as most people." "Yeah, id say we're like rivals." "She and Targus tied in both fighting and drinking." Agate snickered. "Targus being beaten in drinking, now i've heard everything." Maruk rolled his eyes. "Well other than that fact, why is she so important?" "She may know the location of an old friend, Aquariah." Maruk stopped when Targus said that. "The water elf?" "You know her?" "I've heard of her, She and her dragon are very skilled in magic, perhaps even better than me. If we do find her in doing this, i would like to learn some of her spells." "Well i guess it works out for all of us then." Agate said. "But first we got to find her, so lets get moving."

[Kauria]

Dark clan warriors fanned out through the abandoned base in near-silence, each group headed by a trapsmith to clear the way.
Traveling ahead of the rest of the force, Athvesa ripped through the pale curtains that veiled an arched entrance, charging into another deserted cavern.
"They're not here," he hissed, glancing about at the barren stone walls. "They knew we were coming and ran like the cowards they are. We've been played," he spat.
"But how?" Maela threw her daggers to the ground with a clatter. "You said they left nearly a day ago, yet we hadn't even assembled until this morning. It's impossible!"
"It could just be a coincidence," Athvesa replied, regarding her show of frustration with distaste. "They might have merely chosen the right day to relocate."
"In any case, we've lost, Athvesa. We didn't even fight them, and they managed to beat us." She walked over to the ice dragon, jerking his reins down so he was on eye level with her. "We're going to have to tell an entire army that we—"
"Generals?" a voice behind the pair inquired.
Maela whirled, her inky wings shooting open. "What?" she demanded, facing the messenger.
Calm down. An army is only as confident as its leader, Athvesa chastised.
"I-Itzal wanted me to inform you that all of the caves have been entered and searched. The rebels appear to have completely abandoned this base," the demon stuttered, surprised by her reaction.
"We just came to that conclusion ourselves," Maela hissed through gritted teeth, feathered wings folding beneath her cloak once more. "Tell him to withdraw the troops and send word to Essylia that we will not be needing their aid." She hopped into her saddle, and Athvesa turned towards the curtained doorway.
The messenger caught the demoness' cloak in his hand. "One more thing." Maela turned curiously. "Iztal requested that you both come speak to him privately. He seems to have found something that could be of use."
"Where can we find him?" asked Athvesa, arching his neck.
"Western aerial entrance."
"Let's go see what he wants." The large dragon surged forward, the tattered remains of the curtains rippling in his wake.

[Midnightmoon]

(OOC: bored, filler.)

Amber walked into the strategy room. "I'd like to see if they've broken into the old base yet." Most of the few occupants turned to give her their attention while two kept adjusting and assembling stuff around the room. "Would someone please set up the crystal on the center table?" One of the soldiers turned and went to the corner to rummage though the many boxes, full and empty alike, coming back with a jagged clear white crystal. It was a bit bigger then ones head and had one side polished flat. Setting it down in the middle of the new map table he set down seven small rods made out of purple amethyst, each a rough size of your forefinger. Amber selected one and slipped it into the notch at the top. Before the rod was even fully in place a image started to appear. Black forms of all sizes rushed around. Unfortunately that's all they could see due to insufficient light. Amber retrieved the amethyst rode form the white quartz. The image disappeared. Amber tried a few more with the same results. Then on the fifth one they got a look at one of the entrances, one close to the top from the looks outside. Amber leaned on the table to watch the commotion. The personnel around her doing the same as well as looking over her shoulders to see what was happening to the place they had thought safe only the night before.

[Morty]

"Greetings, Generals." said Vera respectfully as Maela and Athvesa entered the room. "You are Maela and Athvesa, correct? We have heard of your exploits, though you may or may not be familiar with ours. "
Absalom turned from his occupation of watching the traffic on landing zone, ruffling his pristine feathers. "If you are, you should be able to tell which one of us is Vera, and which one Absalom." he said, smiling amusedly.
Vera cast him a glance, then went on as if he hadn't spoken. "I am Vera, this is Absalom. We came direct from the water capital when we heard the rebels were to be crushed once and for all. We've only just arrived." she explained, holding out a bandaged hand in greeting.

[Nohiki]

Ignis was waiting. She was sitting behind her table, knocking on it nervously. She couldn't wait for it to happen. "damn you, Targus, step in those tunnels NOW!" she whispered for herself. I can't wait for the intruder trap to activate! she thought. "On second thought, i don't want him to die. YET. We still have a score to settle. Last time it was a tie." she said and stood up, searching for the tunneling gems. When she found them, she slipped out of the base and went to her tunnel, hiding up on the side of the mountains to avoid being seen.