Pela was thankful when Rorie opened the door and allowed her entry. She was starting to get the feeling she was not alone in the hallway even though she couldn’t see anything or anyone skulking about. In fact, she actually questioned herself if this were a good thing to do when the door opened and she saw Rorie’s handsome face. With a slight hesitation, she slipped into his quarters and waited for him to close the door.

As she stepped in, she looked around his room and immediately smelled the hint of the sweet cherry scent of the pipe he smoked. Books upon books lined the walls, a table sat off to the far side with several different containers in them and she was curious as to what they were. Regents were foreign to her.

Finally she turned her attention to the mage and when she looked at him this time, without his robes, she felt a flutter stir in her stomach. Her eyes slipped over his form as she took in his masculinity. He wasn’t full of muscle but he was definitely male. Forcing herself to concentrate on the reason she was here, she blinked then brought her eyes back to his.

”Pardon my visit at such a late hour, but I need to know.”

When Rorie gave her a confused look, she continued.

”You are at an advantage. You know what the parents are capable of. It’s only fair father and I know what they are as well. It appears he knows what the father is capable of, but I, unfortunately, am in the dark. Tell me all you know so I will be prepared for tomorrow’s confrontation.”

She didn’t ask. She didn’t suggest. She all but demanded to know what Rorie knew. While it could be taken as rude, yes, and in most cases it would be. But Pela wasn’t one to beat around the bush. She was, if nothing else, direct. This was due in part to her father and in part to the fact she didn’t really want to be in this place and the sooner they took care of the job they’d been hired to do, the better. Then she and her father could be on their way and never return.

Rorie appreciated the woman’s forwardness; in many ways she reminded him of his sister, strong willed and determined to have what she wanted…, it was also the thing he loathed about his sister. He smiled and his face reflected a strange kindness, almost as if the mask of a tyrant had been lifted and a true self was being revealed. “Come Pela, sit and have some tea and I will be happy to give you all the information you desire.” It was odd, he was more than compliant to her request, in fact he was willingly divulging all she wanted to know, and he was looking at her with hunger in his eyes. He brought her to a very comfortable chair and sat down across from her, waving his hand a delicious smelling tea and trays of cheese toast with broiled tomato appeared on the table between them. He poured a cup of tea and handed it to her, then one for himself. Looking at her with his sea blue eyes he smiled and spoke.

“The parents are more than capable of destroying us, Myth’alas wields a sword known as ‘Blue Moon’; it’s a legendary weapon that has been in the Elven nation for millennium. The sword itself is capable of feats beyond imagination and trust me when I say Myth wields the blade with a precision and speed that will boggle your mind. Rayann, the mother of the child is a Red Robed mage of Lunitari and she has also been favored with a special grace by the gods of magic. She has a casting style known in the wizarding world as ‘loading’, she is capable of stacking one spell on top of the other, up to three at a time. She is one of if not the most formidable mage you will ever face, the only mage that is capable of being more powerful is her daughter Kali, but we believe Kali is dead.”

He looked up at her, noting the look on her face and continued, “Myth’alas and Rayann are a duo of destruction and I can assure you that this extraction will not be an easy one, but it has been done before, by me.” He saw her face twist in curiosity and he smiled as he continued, “I have extracted the daughter of Myth and Rayann once already, along another timeline. I kidnapped her and brought her back to the celestial plain, raised her as my own daughter and then returned to Krynn so as to bring forth the justice against those who oppose the Dark Queen. Myth and Rayann are enemies of the Queen, it’s as simple as that Pela, they have been a major thorn in the side of Tahkisis and though it may seem cruel to kidnap their daughter and use her against them this is war and where war is concerned all is fair.”

He looked at her over the rim of his tea cup as he sipped and then set the cup down on the table, reaching across the table and taking her hand, “I want you to know that since I have faced these two before I will guide us, and I will protect you to the best of my ability.” She could see in his eyes he was being truthful, and the fact that he was now gently rubbing the back of her hand wasn’t hurting his sincerity.

Pela watched Rorie’s facial expressions and the way his eyes moved. She’d learned at an early age one could get a lot of unspoken information from these two things. Sitting in the chair, she accepted the tea and found its taste to her liking, surprisingly, but she let the food alone. It wasn’t like her to eat much, let alone anything such as what was offered to her here. While she could have easily eaten all she wished when she and Bad Rock went for a meal, she knew when they got back on their own the meals wouldn’t be as extravagant so she kept to her own principals of eating within her means.

But the tea, that was most enjoyable and she sipped it slowly as she listened to him describe the parents of this child, one he had already kidnapped. She found that tickled her curious nature. So if he kidnapped the child once, why were they doing it again? And how did the child die? All of these questions would be answered when they reached this castle at Glen Durel, no doubt.

The fact the father wielded such a weapon and possessed such incredible speed will be something her father would no doubt be prepared for. But the mage, on the other hand, would be something to contend with. Pela had never really gone head to head with another mage before, let alone one who could cast as quickly as this woman apparently could.

As he reached across the table and took her hand in his once more then started gently rubbing the back of her hand with his fingers, Pela looked down the slowly let her eyes slide back up to his. She didn’t try to remove her hand from his as she tilted her head slightly.

”I thank you for your offer of protecting us but you should concentrate on the child. After all, that is what the mission is all about, at the basic level. Father and I will engage the parents to distract them, if nothing else, from you. And I have no doubt we will need to be ready to engage them the moment we arrive. No sneaking about sort of thing.”

She nodded her head as though to let herself know that was indeed the best way to handle the situation. Her eyes still held his as she took another sip of her tea. She’d never been alone with a man before, let alone one as handsome as this mage. She would have loved to stay and talk more with him, but the hour was growing late and now that she had the information she needed, she would be able to finally get some rest.

Still, she remained glued to the seat. Why? She knew she had to stand up and leave, but something held her where she was. Again she looked down at the way his fingers slid over the back of her hand before she blinked slowly and drew her eyes back to his.

”I should be getting back now. Father is a sound sleeper but I need not press my luck anymore than I have already.”

There was multiple meanings in her words for they both knew she was pressing her luck in more ways than one right now.

Rorie smiled warmly as she spoke and nodded his head, there was desire in his eyes but he responded to her wishes, “Pity that you have to go… perhaps another time then.” There was obvious intent in his statement, but he too agreed they would need their rest and a good romp was not necessarily the best thing the eve before a battle, not that he hadn’t in the past. For a moment he considered pressing his luck, however he also didn’t wish to invoke the wrath of Bad Rock, though he knew nothing about the creature he didn’t appear to be the type one wanted to mix it up with.

He stood and escorted Pela to the door. Opening the door enough for her to exit he spoke, “I shall see you in the morning then Pela, rest well.” As she exited the room he closed the door and the demeanor fell, his heart was racing, it had been a very long time since his heart was captivated by a woman, it was almost regretful that he would have to kill her tomorrow.

As Pela glided across the floor of Rorie’s room to the door, she once more let her eyes take in the masculine form before she looked into his sea blue eyes again. Bidding him a well rest, she slipped out of his room and back into the hallway. If Rorie only knew Pela’s thoughts were so much along his very own, they would have no doubt tried to kill each other right then and there just to get it out of the way. Still, Pela stood a moment outside his door to take several deep breaths and get herself under control before she returned to the room she shared with Bad Rock.

Glancing both directions in the hallway, she walked back through the quiet palace to her own quarters and just as she had done when she left, she quietly turned the door knob, opened the door just enough for her slender frame to step sideways through then closed the door until she heard the soft click letting her know the door was indeed latched.

Bad Rock was still snoring and she glanced toward the door of his bed chamber before she glided silently across the floor to her own bed chamber. Tomorrow would prove to be quite the challenge. As she let her worries settle, she stripped down to just her under clothes then slipped into the enormous bed and drew the soft blankets up over her exposed skin.

As her head sunk into the soft pillow, Pela finally closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. And she dreamed of sea blue eyes, a warm smile from a handsome, bearded face and blood.

Fifth watched as Piramay wove her special brand of destruction and as the five balls of fire erupted from the wall he cast his own spell, massive orbs of shadow rose from the ground, the very shadows that the fireballs were casting and “pushed” the fire at a blinding speed. The fice orbs of flame exploded in front of the advancing army and the shadow engulfed the area, spreading like a virus and blinding the remaining soldiers that were outside the blast radius. The look on the faces of the commanders on the hill turned to instant concern, almost half their troops were already dead and they hadn’t even broken the perimeter yet. They withdrew backwards and out of sight. Fifth turned to Piramay with a sick smile and spoke, “It appears as though they don’t want to play with fire anymore little phoenix.”

He turned his head back towards the hill top and spoke again, “I say that in jest of course, these Knights are too stupid to know when they are beaten.” As if on queue several dozen wizards suddenly appeared on the hill top, about half in white and the rest in grey robes, “Well, well, well, battle mages with a hedge of protection to keep them on task, one would think that after hundreds of years they would make an ATTEMPT to change the tactics.” With a sigh that almost sounded like the frustration one gets when a gnat won’t stop buzzing around your ear Fifth reached into his robes and removed a handful of black stones. “Blow on these for luck will you darling?” He held the stones up towards Piramay who waved her hand over them, infusing them with fire, and then tossed the stones into the air as he hissed words of dark magic, the stones exploded before them in a cone shape, engulfing the entire hillside with pulsing waves of power. Many of the white robe mages who had not even begun casting yet were knocked to the ground and wailed in pain when the rest of the mages scattered to avoid the destruction coming at them. Fifth turned to Piramay again, “Like scattering the sheep, now we get to pick off the strays…” He raised his hands and began to hiss words of magic again, his palms firing off shadow skull’s of energy that struck solo individuals, killing them instantly and harvesting their souls into the soul well.

Morning came quickly and Bad Rock awoke, finding a pile of fresh meat in the common room between his bed chamber and Pela’s, her door was still closed but he assumed she was up. The sun was only about 30 minutes from rising and Bad Rock grabbed some of the meat as he walked around the room gathering the few things he needed. Her door opened and he turned to look at her with a face that expressed his concentration of the day to come. He spoke in his normal, gravelly voice, “Did you sleep well Pela? I hope so, today will be a trial that is certain, but I am confident we will be successful.”

She could tell he had no clue that she had left the room last night, and he sat patiently as she ate. When she had finished he walked to the door that lead to the hallway and opened it, “The Sanctum of Shadows is on the ground level, it is a place of concentrated magic that will allow us to travel to Glen Durel. I am assuming Rorie is taking care of that small detail.” He watched as she came along side him and he spoke again, “Be careful today, remember we are only to distract and aid, not capture the target, but should you feel the need do not hesitate to blast anyone in our way to hell.” She could see it in his black eyes, his primary concern was getting in and out, not necessarily killing anyone in the castle, though he would at the drop of a hat should it be necessary. “If Rorie fails at his task we are to kill him, nothing was mentioned of grabbing the child ourselves, though it might show initiative if we were to do so, and subsequently the payment would be increased.” Bad Rock, always the Mercenary. He never hid the fact that he did what he did for the money, his loyalty was to the highest paying bidder, as usual, and it was on very rare occasion that he didn’t achieve the goal.

He stomped out into the hallway and led them to the lowest level. Pela would feel the magic field increase as they approached a set of black double doors. They were not like the typical wooden door all over the castle, these were shiny, like black mirrors the reflected everything back upon itself with an eerie clarity. The doors opened and Rorie looked at both of them, he was in his battle robes. Iridescent sleeves adorned the inky black fabric that flowed off his shoulders like liquid shadows and he spoke with a warm yet serious tone, “Good to see you are on time, come in, we leave in five minutes.”



The two entered and Rorie could not help but sneak a glance at Pela as she passed, truly she was a delicious specimen of a woman. He walked to the center of the room and turned to face them. “I will open the portal, and we will be brought instantly to the place in the hall I showed you on the map. Rayann will detect the magic instantly and I can almost guarantee she will blink to the location so be on your guard the second you hit the floor. I cannot stress to you enough that she will protect the child with everything she has, as will Myth, so be prepared to cast protection spells as well as offensive spells, if we work in tandem we stand a good chance to overwhelm them and acquire the target. The exits are as I mentioned and use these to return to this room. I will be closing the portal to prevent anyone from coming through and doing any mischief here, that’s just the sort of thing Myth might attempt.” He handed them each a runed stone, “Hiss the magic word inscribed on the back and you will be brought to this very spot.”

He could see that they understood him and he nodded with satisfaction, “Very well, prepare yourselves.” He hissed the spidery words of magic and a portal opened revealing the hallway he had described and leapt through, disappearing from sight.