Thunder rolled across the skies as the rain fell to quench the thirst of the land. Myth stood like a silent wraith outside the walls of Glen Durel. His eyes were closed but his face looked skyward feeling the rain upon his face. He was dressed in his basic trousers with and was wearing his guantlets but stood there bare chested feeling the rain upon his skin. The days since his child's birth had been grueling for bothi himself and some of the group gathered in the castle.

Rayann was allowed to rest as was needed being a new mother but Myth had stepped up to the plate and each day as the magic hour passed Myth drilled and trained Kali and Nol into the dirt. When he had a purpose Myth was a tenacious unforgiving task master but at the same time he knew the limits of others were not always as great as his own. Nol was an obvious exception and Kali handled the preasure better than he could have hoped. He felt a tinge of regret but knew it was for the greater good.

Myth's eyes slowly opened and the runes upon his blade glowed in the dim light. Myth could only prepare them for the worst. He knew for a fact Rorie had failed to many times to be sent alone. When the attack came he knew there would be others beyond the black robe. They would be Myth's secondary copncern. His target would be Rorie and woe be to the person that tried to prevent his blade from piercing the flesh off his offspring's uncle. Myth looked at the blade in his hand and only shook his head. In time she would hopefully forgive him for what he knew must be done.

Myth spun on his heel and headed towards the entrance of the castle. The sound of the rain was both comforting and disconcerting. The one comfort Myth had in this situation was that this time around there were more people to defend the infant than before.

Rorie stepped through the portal and looked around. He stared down the hall and saw the door to Shulamite’s room. He ran, hearing the footsteps of Bad Rock and Pela behind him. He turned to face the door when it suddenly burst open and Kali stood several meters inside the room, just finishing an incantation and throwing her hands forward. The push spell hit Rorie dead in the chest and he flew through the air, crashing into the wall behind him. He fell to the floor and Pela and Bad Rock would hear her before seeing her step into the hall way. Her honey blond hair was flowing with shadows and her red robes seemed to be glowing with power. “YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED UNCLE! BY LUNITARI I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DO THIS!” Her hands came up and this time the magic was more brutal, a force wave shot from her hands and Rorie spun out of the way just in time. The spell blew a chunk of stone the size of a jack rabbit out of the wall right behind where his head just was and he scrambled to his feet, casting a shadow orb around himself and then bringing his hand up to stop Kali.



She stopped and the fire in her eyes bored into Rorie as he spoke, “Niece, you are no match for us; I assure you it is best to give up and let us have what we came for.” Rorie was indeed perplexed that she was here, every calculation took her out of the timeline, the fact she was standing before him caused him to reformulate his plan. He knew Myth and Rayann would be here, but never in a full moon night had he expected Kali; this obviously complicated matters immensely. Kali looked over his shoulder at Pela and Bad Rock as they came through the portal and turned her eyes back to Rorie… “So you bring more dogs of Tahkisis to our home? Very well, you can all feel the wrath of a family scorned!!!” She brought her hands up and Bad Rock and Pela would feel a draw on magic more intense than they had ever experienced. The woman was seemingly willing magic to happen rather than commanding it to do her bidding. Her hands came up and her hair twirled as if being blown by hurricane winds. Spells began erupting from her and Rorie was hit first, his shield absorbed the spell but he flew backwards and pushed against the floor, the friction of his boots stopping his momentum. He came to rest not far from Bad Rock and he began to prepare another spell.




Bad Rock hissed magic words and slammed the end of his staff into the floor as he stepped in front of Pela, a glowing half sphere appeared and deflected the spell into the ceiling, knocking a candle chandelier loose and it crashed to the floor after bouncing off the sphere. Bad Rock could see that this was clearly not the mother, she was too young and her body did not have the padding of a woman who had just recently given birth. He spoke in his gravelly voice and squared off with Kali as Rorie recovered. “You are good, but you are not prepared…” That was the signal, it was what he usually said just as he moved forward and Pela would know the queue to release her own brand of magic as he shielded her. He charged, moving incredibly fast for a creature of his size, his sword came free of the sheath and he hissed magic as he swung the staff before him. An arc of golden light erupted from the swing and flew like a scythe through the air with him just on the backside of it. He lifted his sword and prepared to follow the magic with a swing of incredible brute force. Kali’s eyes went wide as she reached into her robes; never in her dreams would she have assumed this massive warrior looking creature would be capable of casting…

Myth knew the moment that the encounter had started. He could feel the energy being drawn and released within the halls of Glen Durel. The voice of his daughter prompted Myth to hurry his steps but he did not run. Myth was calm as the eye of storm as he came to the corner that would lead to the confrontation. Myth unshouldered his bow and took a breath.

With his weapon out he stepped around the corner. He had expected Rorie to bring help but he had not expected to see Bad Rock. Rorie was in more trouble then he realized if the Queen's special go to man was involved. He did not recognize the woman though. These thoughts were cast from his mind in moments as Myth drew the bow. For the moment attention was focused and Myth took in a breath as the mystic arrow was willed into existence.

The notched projectile swirled with arcane and ambient magic. He ignored all other distractions and kept his target in sight. This was a moment of distraction he could use to his advantage. Myth let out his breath as well as let go of the mystic arrow. His voice boomed down the hall as the projectile flew towards it's target "RORIE!!!"

Pela awoke feeling refreshed and she stretched like a lazy feline before she pulled herself out of the comfortable bed. Once she was dressed and ready to face the world again, she joined her father in the common room and ate her breakfast. She was very calm and very focused. Knowing what the task was at hand ahead of them, she felt a little better knowing a little more about the parents of the child than going in blind, so to speak.

As they joined Roie just before entering the Sanctum of Shadows, Pela stole a glance at the handsome mage almost feeling sorry for the fact he would most likely end up dead before the day was over with. Still, as they walked to the Sanctum, she felt the power it held and she knew this was a special place indeed.

As Rorie gave them their last minute instructions and warnings, Pela took several deep breaths to once more calm herself. Ahead was a challenge unlike any she had ever known before. Just after Rorie gave them the rings and before he opened the portal, Pela reached out her slender hand and touched Bad Rock’s arm as she always did just before they engaged an enemy. It was her way of telling him she was prepared for the outcome, regardless of what it may be for her.

Pela stepped through the portal to find all hell breaking loose already. She had yet to fully see the caster that had knocked Rorie back several feet and shot a spell at him that took a chunk out of the wall. As Bad Rock launched himself forward to attack the caster before him, Pela was already conjuring her spell. Like she always did, she hesitated a few seconds to let Bad Rock get into place and once she saw him swing his blade, she ran forward as well.

Using his massive frame, she leapt like a gazelle onto his body using his legs, back and shoulders as her landing points. As soon as she reached his shoulder, her spell was ready and she thrust her hands out before her letting loose a wave of ice missiles towards the unsuspecting caster. When she saw the young face of the caster, something told her this was not the mother.

As soon as the missiles were released, she began to whisper the spidery words of magic preparing her next spell placing an ice shield just in case the caster was able to deflect her missiles. It was always good to have a back up plan…or three.

Rayann felt the pull of magic the instant Rorie opened the portal and she knew the dreaded day had arrived. Cradling Shaeraer close to her, she quickly blinked to the Tower of Kells and placed the sleeping infant in the hand made cradle sent by the Speaker of the Stars. With a light kiss to his brow, Rayann whispered her love to him before she stepped back to join the others in their fight to protect the baby from the forces that had come to steal him away. With a prayer to Lunitari and the other gods, she closed her eyes and disappeared.

When she appeared in the hallway where Kali had confronted Rorie, she appeared just in time to see Myth let his arrow fly and yell at Rorie. It was all happening so fast. But instantly her attention was drawn to the massive creature that charged Kali and the young woman who was confronting Kali at the same time.

As Rayann cast, she let loose an arcane bolt towards Bad Rock, aiming to hit him in the back while she quickly cast another bolt at the young woman with him. This was HER home and she wasn’t going to let anything happen to her family as long as she drew breath into her body.

Kali looked up with surprise as the woman appeared on top of the massive creature, it happened so fast and they were right on top of her. She hissed another push spell, aimed right at the woman and spun around, the blade coming so close it passed through her hair before crashing into the floor and carving a massive crater into the stone. She spun again only to get grazed by an ice shard in the side, she wailed in pain as it grazeded her and smashed into the floor. She shifted her gaze as her father appeared to join the fray, and thanked the gods for it was just in time.

She blinked and reappeared behind them, hissing words of magic and erecting a golden wall of containment just after the arrow whizzed by, the smell of ozone filled her nostrils and she turned to Myth giving a gaze that spoke of her thanks. Kali saw the ice wall appear around the creature and the female mage, she could see these two were used to working with one another. She quickly hissed her magic words again and contained them on the other side as well, encasing them in the hall with no escape routes, “Trapped like the rat you are Rorie!”



Rorie was mid incantation when he heard Myth scream his name, he spun and shifted his pull on magic, reaching out and drawing on the ambient field around them he ‘grabbed’ the arcane magic that was ripping through the air towards him. He twisted the energy into a purple orb and fired it back at Myth, the spell hit the containment wall and exploded in a dazzling array of dark purples and blues, dissipating across the surface of the golden wall, which didn’t even appear to falter upon impact. Rorie stood upright to his full height and stared at his sister, “Good to see you again Rayann, why don’t you just hand over the child and make this easy on yourself.”

He laughed as he saw all three faces twist into hatred at the same time, “Oh come now, you knew I was coming, and let’s face it, Shulamite can’t avoid her fate.” He walked up towards the containment field and flicked it with his finger, the energy rippled outwards like a pebble hitting water. “Nice trick Kali, unfortunately it is nothing more…”



Bad Rock sensed the third party arrive and he turned his head to see the arcane missiles coming at him, he waved his staff and it blocked the magic like they were mere stones being thrown at him. The magic reflected and smashed into the walls, sending shards of rock in all directions. He stood upright when the shields were erected all around them and he furrowed his massive brows, turning and look at Pela. The look said it all, “So much for three escape routes.” He stood in silence, slightly in front of Pela to protect her should it become necessary and listened as the three and Rorie exchanged their bitter words. His blade rested at the ready and his staff glowed with power as he watched and waited to see what would happen next.



Rorie hissed words of magic and tossed something shiny at the wall in front of him, the reagent impacted the wall and began to sizzle and hiss. Slowly, from within the wall was being eaten away, almost as if he had introduced a sickness to a healthy body. The magic was dark and sinister, and Rayann and Kali both began to feel the nausea of twisted, dark ambient magic going to work. The sensation was getting worse and worse as the magic devoured the divine magic it was feeding on. Kali grasped at her stomach after looking at Rayann and Myth, clearly Rorie was beginning to remove the hidden aces up his sleeves. “It is only a matter of seconds my friends, and we will be on top of you like you have never imagined, I don’t care if I have to kill everything in the whole Glen, I AM leaving with Shulamite!”



As Kali began to feel the almost debilitating effects of the ambient magic she whispered in a missive, “ ~Ceri…. It is time.~ ”

Pela knew he escapes routes Rorie had indicated weren’t a sure bet. She was more than thankful of the rings that would allow them passage back to the Sanctum of Shadows for it appeared as if they would need them after all. Asher eyes shifted to the three people in the area that were fighting against them, she took time to study the two females. They looked a lot alike and she swore she heard Rorie call the girl niece. And she also got the feeling the girl was not supposed to be there.

As Rorie, Bad Rock and herself appeared to be trapped in the hallway that was supposed to lead them to their escape, Pela furrowed her brows. While the walls had been erected by herself and the others, she knew she was still able to do something that would aid her and her father. Whispering the words of magic softly as Rorie began to do something to that wall, the temperature in the area began to drop and drop quickly.

Bad Rock and Pela would be immune to the cold that was engulfing the area but everyone else would feel its numbing cold. But something began to happen to her. As Rorie unleashed what ever it was he had Pela felt a strange sensation. Blinking, she looked at the other two casters and saw they were affected by what was taking place. Stepping closer to Bad Rock, she laid her hand on his large one as she felt like something awful was about to happen.

When Bad Rock let his black eyes fall on Pela’s blue ones he would see the worry in her gaze. It was the first time he’d ever seen such a look from her. Slowly moving her head negatively letting him know she had a terrible feeling, she silently pleaded with him to go but knew it was already too late.

Rayann gasped when she heard Kali cry out in pain and when she saw the enormous creature sing magic, she knew the Dark Queen was doing anything and everything she could to try and get her hands on the baby. As Kali helped encase the trio in the hallway, Rayann was about to cast another spell when she felt the sickening sensation of Rorie’s magic. Like Kali she grabbed her stomach and bent over slightly as the nauseating sensation grew astronomically within her.

Reaching her hand out to steady herself on the wall, she stumbled slightly as she tried to fight off the feeling she was about to get sick and pass out. She looked at the wall and saw Rorie’s face as he made his proclamation of taking Shulamite. Her voice entered his mind as she screamed at him.

~YOU’LL NEVER TAKE MY CHILD, RORIE! NEVER!~

((*post removed to better accommodate combat flow and saved for personal evaluation later*))

Bad Rock looked at Pela and his eyes said it all, they were hired, and they would not run. There was no sympathy in his face, there was simply the look of a determined creature that was set on doing what needed to be done to get the job finished.

As Pela began to cast her chill spell he readied himself, he was not sure if the wall spell was a channeled spell or not but he was hoping that the wall would fail and he would have some space to move, it did not. Rorie’s spell hit he wall and Bad Rock began to feel queasy as well, and he looked at Pela curiously. He had never felt magic like this and he grasped at his mid section as the magic took hold. Rorie seemed to be unaffected by the cold and began bantering with the three again, hurling his insults and threats.



Rorie smiled as Rayann’s missive hit his mind and he struck back with his own words, but also a mind attack spell. The words came on the wing’s of excruciating pain, and he attempted to bore himself into her mind like a weevil hungry for wood. “You will lose your child Rayann, again. I assure you I will not fail in this task and I WILL leave with Shulamite!! His face twisted as he pressed himself into her mind, it was an attack that only a dark wizard could perform, and he wielded the magic like a composer, pushing himself as deep as he could go.



Kali clutched at the wall like her mother and she looked up as the sensation gripped her. The magic was ambient, but it was thicker than anything she had ever witnessed Rorie cast. She looked at him as he smiled at her, knowing that she was in agony. She dropped to her knees and then turned her head to look at her parents, she would have to do the only thing she knew would stop this debilitating feeling. With a word and the wave of a hand she dispelled the wall which was being devoured by the dark magic, almost instantly the sickening feeling left her and she screamed as she brought up her hands, “ARASH LE’MORTA!!!!” A shock wave exploded from her hands that was the width of the hallway, it knocked every single thing on the wall at the three as well as ripped loose pieces of stone blown off by the previous spells at them. In addition the impact would force the three back into the containment wall that was still behind them, and most likely crush them to death.



Bad Rock saw the spell destroy the wall and he reacted swiftly, hurling himself towards Myth in a display of speed that would impress any seasoned warrior. His staff exploded in brilliant light as a shock wave moved in front of him and he brought his blade up to strike down Myth.



Rorie saw Kali’s move and it completely broke his concentration on Rayann. He brought up his hands and cast but not soon enough, the spell hit him and threw him into the wall of containment. He impacted the wall and all the air left his lungs as he crumbled to the floor, landing hard on his knees. He wheezed as he tried to catch his breath and looked up at Kali with distain. Quickly thrusting out his hands he disappeared, reappearing at a new location and forcing the wind from his lungs to cast. Kali never saw the spell coming and she turned just in time to see the shadow engulfed skull smash her in the face, knocking her to the floor. She was unconscious before the scream could even escape her lips.

The pain that ripped through Rayann’s mind was like nothing she’d ever felt before. She wanted to scream but her voice was caught in her throat. Her hand left her stomach and clutched her head as she tried to stop the pain. She concentrated as hard as she could and was starting to push Rorie back out of her mind but it was taking every ounce of energy he had to do so and her entire body trembled as she strained with the effort.

She was aware of Myth moving but she didn’t know to where, although she had a fairly good idea. As she watched Kali drop to her knees as the ambient magic that filled the area began to rob them of their strength with the sickening feeling and pain in their midsections, Rayann pushed even harder to get Rorie out of her mind. With a concentrated effort, she pushed harder than she ever had and like him sent a piercing pain with her effort.

It was then she heard Kali cast her spell and saw the shockwave hurl towards the three intruders. Seeing Rorie fly back and drop to his knees, she was getting ready to cast once more when she saw her brother blink away only to reappear and cast a horrific spell that caught Kali by complete surprise. As sshe watched her beloved daughter fall, Rayann screamed audibly and cast arcane lighting at Rorie. Bolts of sheer energy erupted from her fingertips as she channeled her anger into her spell in an effort to stop her brother from doing any more harm.

Pela gasped when she saw the shockwave coming for her and Bad Rock. Without even thinking, she quickly cast a spell to block the full brunt of the wave and as the wave hit her ice, the ice erupted. As the shards of the cold wall began to disburse, they quickly turned to water and became harmless as they showered her and Bad Rock, who was now turned to defend and attack against the fastest moving object she’d ever seen before in her life.

As she felt the ground beneath her feet shudder and the wall behind Rorie erupt, rubble from the explosion found its way to her and she felt a sting to her cheek. A thin, red line appeared as a piece of stone grazed her usually unmarred skin and easily sliced her cheek open. She gasped and turned her head as she instantly brought her hand to her cheek. When she pulled her hand away and saw the blood on her fingertips, she grew very angry.

Turning quickly, she whispered words of magic and large missiles of ice began making their way towards Rayann as she saw the younger woman was now laying on the floor, hopefully dead. If they had to stay and fight, then fight she would.

As the missiles left her hands, she began conjuring her next spell and below Rayann’s feet, she would feel the bitter cold as ice began to form around them, holding the woman in place. Daring to take a step away from Bad Rock, she turned her hand over, palm up and began to slowly lift her hand. The ice around Rayann’s feet began to get higher and higher.

Rayann felt her feet get so cold they hurt. And she was beginning to feel the bitter cold all around her. As she quickly looked on Pela’s direction, she saw the woman was an ice mage. Why she hadn’t caught onto that before she would not know. But now, as the freezing cold began to encase her feet and begin to rise up her legs, Rayann began to shiver. She needed to break free from this cold so she could concentrate and cast her next spell.

Finally closing her eyes, she raised her hands, just as the ice reached her waist, and whispered the spidery words of magic. A blast of fire erupted from her hands engulfing the whole area in it’s blazing heat, instantly melting the ice that was encasing her and breaking Pela’s chill spell. Now as she concentrated on the young woman, Rayann cast another spell. Thrusting her hands out ahead of her, she cast an arcane blast intent on blowing Pela back away and hopefully towards the wall behind her.

Pela screamed when the mage used a fire ball to break her chill spell and melt the ice that was encasing the woman. She barely had enough time to see the blast that was coming her way before she braced herself and cast a shield around her and Bad Rock. The blast pushed Pela back and she did go tumbling but not with the sheer force it would have been had she taken the blast on fully.

The world seemed to move in slow motion as Myth observed the chaos before him. As barriers flew into position Myth cast away his bow letting his hand slip to the hilt of the Blue Moon at his side.
There was not a lot of room for him to enter into the fray with all the magic being cast around by all the parties involved. Cerdiwyn and Nol had yet to appear but Myth was not certain if Nol was able to participate in any case.

Barriers were shattered and the chaos erupted again. Myth could see a duel of the minds between Rayann and Rorie. At the same time however he saw Kali make her move against her uncle. Bad Rock stripped away from the group heading in Myth's direction. Myth had no personal grudge with the beast. He knew that Bad Rock worked for the money and that was about it. He was impressed the way they great man weilded his weapons but Myth simply responded by muttering something in elvish. The ring on his right hand flashed and the air around Myth shimmered faintly.

Myth ran forward to meet Bad Rock seemingly head on. As the shimmering air around Myth came into contact with the shockwave it acted as if it ceased to exist. Myth had activated his ring of nullification and was now surrounded by an anti-magic field for a fifteen foot radius. Sword in it's hilt Myth swung contacting with the blade of Bad Rock. Upon contact Myth continued to spin drawing the blade at an odd angle. Myth still spinning struck out at the earth at the feet of bad rock and watched the earth beneath the warrior sunder from the point of contact all the way to Rayann and their other uninvited guests.