Something Magic.... (2)

The voices in her head implied some sort of telepathy. She had even begun to pick out the voices of some of her freinds there, though they were still difficult to understand.

The lightning that had come from her staff and her healing of the tree implied some sort of Green magic was at work. *Lucky me. I could have ended up a chaos sorceress. Or a necromancer.* Rae shivered at the thought.

Suddenly, a scream sounded in the night. Cursing, Rae jumped to her feet, orienting towards the sound. Raising her staff, she summoned a ball of light so that she could see what was happening. It was a simple trick, one she had done at home often enough, but she was totally unprepared for the result.

Rae staggered backwards, stunned by the force of the spell. She leaned against a tree and slumped to the ground, still struggling to locate the source of the scream.

she's not invisible." 6th said, handing the cloak to Rae. "I swear, I could see the whole camp, and I didn't see anything happen to Artic. But I think we've got bigger problems..." she cocks her head back, indicating the darkness behind her.

"That's right, you guys can't see as well as me. There's 7 of them, in the trees. Two more coming up from the north, and 3 from the south. I swear they're as big as horses, and uglier than... well, they look like gargoyles to me. You guys got any ideas?" 6th looked around the group, then turned her head to look behind her.

"You might want to think real fast..." she trailed off drawing her short sword, as the first of the ugly creatures came out of the forest. It wouldn't step into the light, but it growled, as more of the beasts came forward, circling the camp.

The group looked up as one, as another scream pierced through the air. Artickat was in the claws of one of the creatures, who was flying slowly away, highlighted by the moon...

With a howl of fury, Ragnar swung his huge axes around like hedgeclipper blades and leaped for the nearest monster. The monster growled and leaped to meet him.

Spyral nocked an arrow and loosed it at a second great beast, hitting it in the eye. The gargoyle screamed, but instead of falling over dead, it began to advance. Spyral put an arrow in it's other eye but by that time it was almost on top of him.

Rae pointed her staff at one of the monsters and hit it in the chest with a fireball. Burning like a torch and screaming in agony, the creature started towards her.

"Not for long." Kara growled and smacked him a good one upside the head with her hammer. The creature shivered like a bell and collapsed into a heap of dust.

*Now this I can do.* Jila thought to herself as she jumped on the back of the dragon and held on tight. She had read every one of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonrider books and just knew this was going to be a rough take-off.

With a leap the dragon was off the ground, his wings snapped open and grabbed for air. Jila held herself loosely and tried to move with the dragon like a rider on a horse. Higher and higher they rose until they were nearly a spec in the sky. With a backward glance she could see her friends in the middle of a terrible battle and knew that she wouldn't have been much help. This was the way she would help this time.

Faster and faster the dragon flew until the wind nearly blew Jila off the dragons back. She took a tighter hold on the harnesses and said a silent prayer for herself and the others. They seemed to fly for a long time, over and past the woods and the Elven villages, and on down the Serpentine River. Straight toward the Blasted Area and Lochinar's Spire.

Jila noticed the singing of the sirens but they had no ill effect on her. She remembered reading somewhere that the voices of Sirens only affected males. *When we make it back, if there's anyone to make it back to, I've got to remember to let them know about that little piece of information.

the blinded gargoyle advanced on him, the feathered ends of the ivory arrows protruding from the creatures eyes like insect antennae. As the creature closed and batted at him with a massive claw, Spyral began to dive sideways and in a flash, found himself six feet to the immediate right of his former position.

A sudden roar behind him caused the angel to whirl around only to see another gargoyle bringing his two massive fists down in an arc in an attempt to smash him. Quick as the thought to move entered his mind, Spyral found himself once again six feet to the immediate right and out of range of the rampaging beast. The gargoyle stumbled forward as his fists smashed into the ground.

*Some kind of short range teleportation?* Spyral had little time to wonder as the first monster with the arrow 'antennae' sticking out of his eyes had found him again. As it dashed madly forward to pummel him, Spyral quickly drew, nocked and fired six arrows in rapid succession which sunk deeply into the creatures chest area. As the last two entered, the creature crumpled forward, its body, as it impacted with the ground sending up massive chunks of earth.

"Hey! We got a little kidnapping going on here!" Spyral shouted as he ran forward, nocking arrows and firing at the back of the gargoyle as the angel gave chase. Two of his arrows hit their mark, sinking into the monsters back, bringing a howl of pain from the monster as it disappeared into the trees.

"NEED A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Spyral shouted to the rest of the 'Scapers as he reached the treeline. "LET'S GO! If we don't get the little guy back, we may never get home!" the angel shouted as he plunged into the forest, hot on the heels of the fleeing monster.

into the gargoyle that held KaraS with speed and grace. Soon, the thing was howling in pain and KaraS was on the ground, shaken, but not stirred. Mouse moved in to decapitate the gargoyle, Highlander-style. One good hack, and the monster was no more.

Mouse and KaraS stood back-to-back and took turns hacking and smashing the gargoyles as they came in waves. Finally there was a break, and Mouse yelled to Kara, "We have to get Falador!" Rae, 6th and Ragnar looked like had a good handle on the remaining gargoyles, and as Mouse saw Spyral dash through the trees at an amazing pace, she followed. Kara followed Mouse, and kept her guard from the back.

Spyral reached the gargoyle and put a couple arrows in his back, carefully aiming away from Falador, who was under the gargoyle's arm. As the gargoyle slowed, Mouse and Kara advanced with him and formed a triangle around the gargoyle. The monster tried to use Falador as a shield, but then the person (or angel, as the case may be) behind it would slash out at it and soon the three were able to get Falador away from the gargoyle. Kara reduced it to dust with one good swipe from her hammer.

The shaken dwarf was hurried back to the group, where Rae, Ragnar, and 6th had dispatched the remaining gargoyles. They were calmly cleaning their weapons near the fire.

The large cat that had been Jila's constant companion was quietly cleaning herself next to the fire. "Nice Kitty, nice kitty," Spyral said tentatively as he walked slowly towards the animal. The cat regarded him and the assembled Scapers and Falador with the disdain only know to cats.

"Wow, you guys look as bad as I feel." she said, dismounting the dragon and walking toward the group. Looks of anger, sadness, and questions mixed with exhaustion and hunger appear on the faces of the group as they come to realize that Jila is alone. She walks to the others with an ache in her bones and a pain in her heart. To ride a dragon as it flies is not an easy thing to do... and she has failed to bring back Artickat.

"YEOW!!" she yelles, stumbling through four or five steps. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to having you around." Jila laughs and reaches down to fluff the cat's head.

"By the time we passed the edge of the forest we had cought up with Artickat and the gargoyle. I can't even describe to you the way Geradan and that thing flew around and around each other up there. Everything just happened so fast. I took out my long sword, just in case, and a few times we were close enough to it for me to take a good swing. I know I made contact the last time because the gargoyle went down fast and I had blood on my sword."

"No, I'm sure I didn't hit artic, we were slightly above the gargoyle's wing at the time. I looked and looked but I couldn't see where they landed. I knew I had to come back right away because you'd want to know which direction to start looking." She paused to take a drink of cool water.

Artickat exclaimed in childlike joy as the gargoyle spun around the dragon! Not that she wanted to be nabbed by a living rock but the thrill of flying was more exilerating that most anything she had known. Her momma always said she never had any sense!

"Whoa...whoooaa...whee.." she screamed as the gargoyle shifted directions again, the imputous flinging her into a 'V' across his arm. her limbs flailing out.

Suddenly there was terrible stone cry as Jila sword flashed down and caught the animated minion....giving artic a nice flat top hair cut in the process. Her ears instinctively flattened out to the side sparing them a trimming as well!

Down they spiraled, Jila and the dragon in hot persuit, but too late to grab the beast as it crashed into the foilage and vanished from sight. Jila could only watch as her friend slipped from her view.

****** The gargoyle crashed thru the canopy of tree limbs, badly wounded but still driven with the need to capture this prey. The master would not be forgiving! Artic continued to screech and flail but the gargoyle tucked her in close to guard her from injury. That two had been a specific of his master.

A little white paw came sliding it's way out from under one of the creatures arms. It's fingers pinching together as if to make a shadow figure on the wall it pointed first left that right. Nothing happened.

With a quick popping motion two white furry ears appeared, the hair between them now trimmed flat. The gargoyles other arm still held her tight. She wiggled and suirmed.

"Well, if she went down on the far side of the forest, then we have no choice but to make our way thru it best we can and hope that we find her," the angel said. "Rae, is there any kind of divination that you can do to make sure she is OK?"

"I assure you that she will remain perfectly safe and that the gargoyle will give it's own life before he lets anything happen to her," Falador replied.

"Think now!" the little man replied. "It is obvious that the gargoyles were sent by Lochinar. Since Artic was taken, it is obvious that Lochinar wanted her alive, for reasons that remain unknown to us. It is also obvious where we can find her...our original destination: Lochinars lair. Now all that remains if for us to make 9ur way there," the little man slumped down to a rock, as if the effort of the little speech had sapped his energy temporarily.

Spyral looked at the assembled 'Scapers. "Let's break camp and get going. The sooner we get to this wizards lair, the sooner we get Artickat back and get home." He turned to Rae again. "But keep trying to work up a spell or two to get a message to Artickat that we are coming for her."

"Okay! I say Jila and Rae take to the air on Geranden, keep a watch on the skies, while the rest of us work our way thru the forest on foot," Spyral said.

"Easily fixed," Rae said, walking over to Mouse. "I figured this one out a little while ago." Pulling out a long and thin piece of thread, Rae leaned closer to Mouse, touched one end of the thread to Mouses' ear and the other to her own, then spoke the incomprehensible words of an incantation. With a flash, the small piece of thread vaporized.

"Alright then! Let's get moving!" Ragnar said. "I don't like the idea of Artickat having an involuntary date with this Lochinar guy!" The big viking marched off into the forest without waiting for the others to follow.

"Let's mount up!" Jila said, hopping aboard the dragon. As Rae secured herself behind her, Geranden, leaped into the air with a beating of his massive wings and moved toward the treeline, as the rest of the 'Scapers disapeared into the trees.

Rae searched her memory for a spell that would allow her to be certain that Artic was okay. The problem was that ordinary divinations required several elements she was currently missing. Like a quiet location free from distractions.

Rae considered the alternatives, and found one that would work. "Jila. I need you to keep the dragon perfectly level. I'm going to cast a spell that puts me in direct mental contact with Artic, but I'm not going to be able to concentrate on staying aboard a rocking dragon while I do it."

Jila gasps as Rae begins casting the spell. She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, she's in a forest clearing, and a stone gargoyle is holding her tightly.

Artic is either asleep or unconscious, which is probably just as well, since Rae has yet to meet anyone who enjoys the sensation of having another consiousness inside of them.

Rae returns her conciousness to the body aboard the dragon and tells Jila and Mouse. "Artic is okay. She's in a clearing somewhere. The gargoyle is still hanging onto her, but I don't think it's alive anymore. She's out of it at the moment, though."

"I don't know yet. Just tell him I'll do my best, okay?" Rae sighs. "What's the point in having all this magic if you feel like drenn every time you try and cast it?" she wonders, leaning back against the dragon to get some rest.

Open's her eyes and the throbbing in her head becomes more apparent so she lays there for a while until it subsides. Artickat realizes she is still being held by the Gargoyle and begins to crawl towards what light she can see.

"You know...you're not a very comfortable pillow buster!" Artickat begins to wiggle and squirm her way out of the stone Gargoyle's clutches. "What's the idea of just grabbing me and taking off...I mean a girl likes to be asked out...Geez!"

When Artickat gets about half way out before she realizes she is not alone anymore. "DREN!" Trying to squirm back into cover Artickat is grabbed by the arms and pulled free "Hey! Watch the fur! Whatever happened to asking a girl?!!!"

"Hey! Don't you kno......" GRRRRR....Artic was cut off by a sudden wafe of putrid breath and the snapping of large vicious jaws inchs from her head. She rolled back out of the way.

"Still Woman!" The gravely voice intoned again, as a chainmail armored form placed a foot on her chest...enough to hold her in place. "Or I will let the creature have you!"

Artic gulped glancing around. Several armored men surrounded her, checking on the gargoyle and looking about, but that wasn't what caught her eye. Now a mere two feet from her stood the largest, nasties looking mongrel wolfspawn she had ever seen. It's handler strained to contain it as it tugged and pulled to get at the "Kat" it smelled within reach.

KaraS, Mouse, Sixth, Ragnar, Spyral and Falador trudged through the forest. It was tough going. The trees were sparse here which let in lots of light which meant lots of underbrush. Ragnar flatly refused to cut their way through with his war axes because that would be bad for the blades. So the group was reduced to wading through blackberry brambles and poison ivy and other unpleasant things. Jila's lynx cat darted through the underbrush like a minnow through a stream. Kara was envious.

Mouse explained her plan to the others. Soon Jila came with her dragon to pick Mouse up. Rae had stayed behind, near the clearing, so that Jila could find it again. Soon Mouse was examining the area.

"Uh oh." Mouse said. "Artic didn't leave on her own. There were a bunch of people and animals here. They took her somewhere. We'll have to reunite the party and follow after her."

the ring of five Invisible stalkers waited with the still patience of the magic that created them. Within their ring a woman moved around on the ground, inspecting the dead gargoyle and reguarding the tracks that had been purposefully left for her to find. Another woman was nearby and a dragon circled above, being far too large to fit thru the canopy above. The "Walking Forrest" was just that. In more ways than one.

Being constructs of magic, the creatures made no sound, left no marks on the ground in passing, and were invisable to the naked eye. Yet the same weavings of magic that created them for a task also left them without the thought abilities of a living mind. They had been tasked, and that task was their purpose, nothing else mattered.

Listening to the lady curse, Spyral expected the very vegetation to begin wilting at any moment. "Sixth! Why not put more of that energy into hacking thru these damn things and less energy trying to talk them out of our way!"

Spyral just shook his head and just continued to shove his way thru. All at once, the group plunged out of the brambles and into a verdantly green clearing. Almost too green and verdant compared to the condition of the other foliage they had seen in this forest.

A literal paradise of greenery spread out before them, and located almost as if they had been deliberately set by humanoid hands were half a dozen massive elm trees whose limbs twisted and turned with a grace unmatched by any other tree the group had ever seen. The bright green leaves of the tree almost glowed with life.

"Hey!" Spyral exclaimed walking to one of the trees. "Looks like some kind of writing," he said, peering closely at the intricate glyphs that were carved in swirling lines along the trunk.

"What do they say? Can you translate them?" Spyral asked moving his hand to touch the arcane letters. As his fingers touched and began to trace the lines of the words, a mournful voice began to sing in the most beautiful dulcimer voice that he had ever heard. Even Angel-song paled before the hauntingly beautiful voice that began to fill the glade. As he pulled his finger away from the words, the voice disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Elven song for the dead," Falador said reaching one small arm up to gently grasp the barbarians wrist. Ragnar looked down at the small man and as the dwarf slowly nodded his head, slowly lowered the axes back to hip level. "It is said that when an elf of great importance to his community passes on, he is buried under a "Great Elm" and a eulogy is carved into the trunk then ensorcelled by elven magic so that those who know not the elven tongue shall be able to hear of this eulogy as it is sung by an elven maiden."

"It's the most beautiful thing I have ever heard," Spyral said as he ran his fingers over the words and listened to the strange voice and it's tearful words. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Spyral looked to the others who shifted uncomfortabley as they too felt affected by the voice and its song of sadness.

"Yeah...." Spyral said removing his hand from the large tree. "We need to get going." With one last look at the strange writing, the angel moved away from the tree and started toward the edge of the smal magical clearing, hearing the others following close behind him....

I think I got stuck in an eddy between dimensions. I've been able to hear and see all that's been going on, but I haven't been able to get through until just now.

"Um. . . Guys. I'm sensing other things here too. Not bad things, but I hear whispers from all around. It's really weird. It sound kindof like wind in the leaves or something."

Once everybody's said their hello's, the group sets out once more. Sixth curses as she hacks through the thorns. Rae (the only member of the gorup who is not all scratched up) laughs softly from the back of the group.

Ragnar and Spyral step forward to prevent what could be the worst cat-fight in history, but Rae holds up her left hand and they both stop dead, paralyzed.

Rae shakes her head, smiling. "Aren't warriors supposed to be adept at following the path of least resistance?" Rae walks past Sixth and where she walks, the thorns seem to pull back. "This way, everybody."

I had this feeling that the thorns weren't very happy with all the hacking and slashing. I'm getting much better feelings from them now. I think they like you.

Artic grumbles "I've never meet a worse bunch of grouchy grouches! You know you guys might have better attitudes if you took some of that chain mail off...all that weight and the heat can't be helping your dispositions any." The guard shoves Artic again to get her moving faster as the hound from hell growls and snaps at her. "You know someone should brush his teeth, bad breath you know..."

"We don't brush Sabors teeth, that would be a stupid womanly thing to do." Came the sarcastic reply from the monster's handler and the other guards snickered.

"I wasn't talking about the doggy…" Artic replied with a big smile. She began to run, as the handler became enraged because the others laughed aloud at her reply.

"Not so fast fur ball!" Artic is grabbed by the scruff of her neck and held up so her feet don't touch the floor. "Just where do you think your going?" Her captor gives her a little shake.

"Ouch! Let go you big bully!" Artic takes a few swings at him but can't reach him. "As for where I was going...I was running from that!" Artic points at Saber and his handler.

"You say?" Artic's captor asks the handler as Saber snaps and growls at Artic "ENOUGH SABOR!" the hound immediately becomes silent and sits at attention and the leader turns to the handler "The only thing you say is what I want you to say…am I clear?"

"Ummmm....thanks for saving me from the big bad doggy...but...your hurting my neck." Artickat is promptly dropped onto her butt for her trouble. "Geez...you have to work on your people skills!"

The leader crouches down and looks Artic in the eye "The only reason your still alive is because you may be worth some coin…otherwise you would have been Saber's lunch long ago. Stop your endless chatting and don't give me and my men anymore trouble." Seeing that Artic is about to respond he holds up a hand to silence her. "You cause to much trouble and I may decide that Kitty Kabobs is on our dinner menu."

Just then he sneezes "AAAAAAAAaaa...CCCChhhhhoooooo!" Shaking his head he stands up "Move out!" Grabbing Artic by the arm he flings her to one of his men "Watch her."

*When Rae gets here,* she thought to herself, *I have got to ask her to magic up some food. A Big Mac, a hamburger, maybe just a jelly sandwich. If I don't get something besides trail food soon I'm going to go nuts.*

As she sat, some of the forest animals came and sat by her. She was deep in conversation with a rather interesting raccoon when she her Mouse with a note of uncertainty in her voice.

*I believe we're almost with you, the trees seem to be thinning out ahead of us. Just remember, you're the one with the Woodland sense. If you think you've found something, you probably have.*

Jila stood up as she heard the sounds of footsteps coming through the woods. They were finally together and maybe now she could get a decent meal.

Rae frowns thoughtfully at Sixth. "Only lunch." She gestures to the other end of the clearing where a blanket is spread on the ground and covered with food and wine. "Enjoy."

as they entered the clearing where Mouse and Jila waited. She was muttering to herself and eyeing Rae. She knew she cared deeply about her, about all of her friends, but this new world had made her very untrustful. There was something about Rae... She walked over to where the stone gargoyle lay, pushing at it with her foot and looking around. She sat down on its back, unsheathing her sword and pulling out a whetstone from her pocket. 6th began sharpening her short sword,watching Rae out of the corner of her eye as the others discussed what to eat, what to do next.

"With you? No I don't have a problem with you, Rae, I have a problem with everyone else relying on your magic for everything...Don't you guys see how it's draining her everytime she uses it?" 6th said, not looking at anyone, but out into the forest. "If we constantly rely on her to provide for us for everything, food, whatever, when there's really no need, what if she's too worn out when we really need her?" She looked around at the group finally. She could tell they didn't really understand what she was getting at.

"Fine. You guys eat the 'fast food' she provides. Sorry, Rae, but I don't trust it, and I don't want you wearing yourself out for me just to eat, when there's other things to eat around here." 6th said, walking into the forest.

"I'll be around if you need me. I'll keep an eye out for trouble, don't worry. if you guys decide to go off after Artic before I get back, I'll be right behind you. Conan? Feel like a little hunting?" she called over her shoulder to Ragnar, not waiting for an answer, but hoping he'd come with her. She needed to talk about her concern over Rae. Something was just not right...and she had the feeling she was being watched.

of the unusuall mage the stalkers moved to surround their target. Unknown magic in the land was not to be triffled with. It must be crushed quickly, before it could interfear. Lochinar bid it.

Something was wrong. Spyral looked around at the surrounding forest, a quick cold chill running up his spine and settling right at the base of his neck, causing the short hairs there to stand on end. Was it just him or did the forest seem to be closing in on them? The angel casually glanced around at the group searching for signs that some of the other had noticed and that it was not just his imagination working overtime in this strange new world.

The angel rose slowly so as not to alarm anyone and possibly alert whatever might be out there. Casually he approached Lurkingghost. She turned at the sound of his approach.

Kara cast a circle of protection against evil, locking the waiting things away from them. Through the circle, hazy dark shapes could be seen, watching them. They seemed to be targeting Rae...

She slid to a stop as she entered the clearing, and what she saw caused her to duck back behind the nearest tree. The gang was huddled in the middle of the meadow. They were all in a circle, facing outwards, with KaraS in the middle. Surrounding them all was a shimmering bubble. 6th could almost not see it, and she guessed that most people probably couldn't. Passing around it were hazy shapes, dark, that 6th could only see when they passed in front of the protective bubble.

*spirits* 6th thought to herself, *Crap. What am I supposed to do about THOSE?* She hefted her shortsword, and peered around the trunk of the tree. *Well, I'm out here, they're in there, and surrounded...hmmmm, what can spirits do to people?* she thought. *Possession? I've never heard of a spirit killing someone...I can distract them and give the gang time to get away. What are those spirits going to do to stop me anyway?* and with that cocky thought she stepped out from behind the tree.

"HEY!" She yelled, taking a fighting stance with her short sword. The spirits she could see looked like they turned towards her so she kept going. "You know, I don't like the way you've scared my friends. That's MY job anyway. So big deal, you can look all spooky. You couldn't be tough if you had a manual!" She laughed, tossing her head back. "Come on over here, and I'll show you what real evil is!" She waited, watching the hazy forms, hearing her friends inside the bubble yelling at her. The spirits converged with one another for a second. Inside the bubble, 6th heard Ghost moan "Oh no..." then as one the spirits flew at her.

"Oh crap." 6th said and began to back away. "Just get out of here, guys!" she yelled, not turning, not running, just leading the spirits away from the bubble. She saw the gang confer for a second, then they began to walk forward. The bubble moved slowly with them, and they began walking faster, then running, away from the clearing, away from the spirits, away from her.

6th, noting all of this without taking her eyes off of the spirits, sighed inwardly. She kept up a steady stream of insults, but knew she really couldn't do anything to them other than distract. After a few moments, they seemed to realize this too, and swarmed her. 6th was easily overtaken, her weapons torn from her by unseen forces. She felt herself lifted off the ground by an invisible hand. She was shaken violently, until her teeth clattered together. Something else hit her in the back of the head. *Not again...* she thought as she drifted into darkness. She barely heard voices in her head say "What to do with this mongrel?"

"Take her to our Master at once. Our orders did not include this one. He may have some use for her. And if he doesn't..." the spirit speaking paused, and grinned at his brethren.

"He will surely give her to US." The spirits chuckled evilly, and split off into two groups, some after the gang, and some lifting 6th into the air and flying towards the evil magician's lair.

Rae keeps running, right past the spirits who don't even seem to notice her. *Mouse, you guys get Artic. I'll find Sixth.* Rae thinks to Mouse as she runs in the direction that Sixth was taken.

moaned Falador. "This is going very badly. You people are not even close to restoring the magic. You keep getting distracted by inconsequentialities."

"Inconsequentialities!" Ragnar roared, picking the dwarf up by his collar and shaking him. "Those are our friends! People you kidnapped to do your dirty work! And now they're in trouble because of you!"

Mouse found the trail again and soon the adventurers were back on it. They followed it for several hours until they heard a commotion ahead of them. Jila's lynx scouted the area and reported that there was a camp ahead. Artic was tied up in the center of camp near the fire. It was uncertain if she was just a prisoner or the future main course.

"Before everyone goes charging in there, I think I have a plan." Jila starts rummaging through various packs. "Where is that darn thing. I know somebody took it when it was found." Jila mutters to herself as she searches.

"Here it is!" she says victoriously as she holds up artic's cloak of invisibility. "Faladore, I've got to know, this is really important. Can anybody besides artickat use this, become invisible as she does? And if someone else can use this, will it cause them any harm?"

Faladore considers the cloak for a short time (a time shortened considerably by the increasing volume of Ragnars growl). "I..I'm really not sure, Paladin. It is hard to say at this time." Faladore continuously glances sideways at the Viking, making certain of their distance from each other.

"It's got to be tried," Jila says to the group, "and I guess Mouse and I are the only choices. Kara, you can't because we at anytime your spells may be needed, and you're getting so that you can handle that weapon of yours pretty well. Ragnar and Spyral, you two need to be out there in front. I'm not saying that the three of us 'ladies' are helpless but you two seem to know more about this than we do. So what do you think Mouse? Will it be you or me?"

"Okay everybody, here's the plan. Get close, I don't know how well sound travels here or how good there hearing is. Now, Ragnar, Spyral, Kara, and I (yes I know I'm not that good yet) will go out there and create a disturbance while Mouse (hopefully) goes invisible with the cloak and rescues Artickat. If anybody has a problem with this, Please speak up now."

Mouse disappears from sight. *I can still see them, but can they see me? or hear me??* She walks over to Spyral and sticks her tongue out at him. Nothing. She calls him a big mama's boy wimp. Nothing. She wanders over to Ragnar and kicks his axe out of his loose grip. She catches it before it falls, and watches his startled expression. She uncloaks next to him, and to his credit, he doesn't jump too high.

Meanwhile Rae hears a little voice in her head. *Mouse, why are you calling Spyral a big mama's boy wimp?* she asks. *I'll explain to you later. We're about to get Artic. You work on 6th!!* Mouse thinks back.

"Ok, this works. You guys ready for a diversion?" Mouse asks. "Ready" KaraS shouts, along with Ragnar, Spyral, and Jila. "I'll take off this way and you guys go the opposite way and in a few minutes, make your noise." Mouse says.

Mouse sneaks around to the south, first pulling the cloak over her head. The rest of the group moves north, through the trees. Mouse sees the fire and Artickat tied up. Mouse feels for her saber, and holds it tight as the ruckas begins. The groups is making a combination wailing, beating, pounding, growling noise, and it works. Everyone from the camp moves towards the noise, and Mouse heads in behind them. She slides her saber between Artic's hands and slices her bonds. As they drop off, the startled Artic squeaks, but stays still. Mouse waits until no one is looking, decloaks herself, hugs Artic, and pulls her under the cloak. They both disappear from view, and head away from the fire.

6th awoke with her head pounding. She kept still, as she cracked one eye open. A cloud whizzed by her, and she could feel something holding her under her arms. *oh hooray* 6th thought sarcastically *I'm flying* she managed to let her head hang down in such a way that she could see the ground below her. Looking down, she could see a tiny Rae far below her, running to keep up with the spirits who held 6th.

6th realized she could see the spirits who held her now, as well as the ones surrounding Rae. They didn't get too close to the sorceress, and 6th guessed that Rae had some kind of magic spell protecting her. The spirits flew over a huge river, and 6th saw Rae stop at the edge. She paced back and forth at the river bank, staring upwards, watching 6th fly away. The spirits holding her sped up, and 6th lost sight of Rae before she could she which direction she headed in.

6th flew on, carried by the spirits, over the lands Falador had described. Up ahead, a huge castle came into view. It looked to 6th like a giant burned-black claw stretching towards the sky. The spirits flew towards the castle, faster and faster, coming up to it quickly. 6th couldn't contain a gasp as they flew towards the wall. She shut her eyes, afraid that they were going to slam her into the castle wall like a bug on a windshield. She felt a tingling sensation and was then uncerimoniously dropped to the floor, landing flat on her face. She struggled to sit up, opening her eyes, and looking at the inner wall behind her. She realized that the spirits had pulled her through the wall with them. She looked around, not moving.

She seemed to be inside the evil wizard's chambers. Bottles full of foul looking things lined the walls, evil nausiating smells wafted through the air. Books were everywhere, and 6th could see they were all written in some odd runic language she couldn't read. 6th didn't know what anything was there, was it was used for, and she didn't want to. She stood and looked over the table that had been blocking her view of the other side of the room.

"Oh...my...god...Scorpius!" 6th said. The wizard looked at her, smiling evilly, his teeth showing. He looked identical to Scorpius, except he was wearing long black wizard robes instead of his Leather Farscape outfit.

"I know not of this man you speak of. But I know who you are." he said, standing and walking closer to her. 6th fought the urge to run, she had no where to go, anyway.

"I am so glad you could come and visit me. I have something I'd like to talk to you about. Have a seat." he gestured, and 6th was pushed back by an unseen hand into a chair.

"I see you're a mercenary." Lochinar said, his voice quiet. "I have watched you and your traveling companions since you arrived here. The dwarf was most unwise to try and stop me. He shall pay. But you, I can use." he sidled up behind her, leaning over to speak quietly to her, his head beside hers. 6th struggled not to flinch away from him.

"How would you like to help me" Lochinar whispered. "I can make it well worth your while. I can give you anything you can imagine, and more. I have the power to make you rich beyond your wildest imagination. Money...Power..." he stopped, looking into her eyes for a second, "Ah, you like men...I could make you so irristible to men that anyone you meet would instantly be your slave...all you have to do is help ME out a little..." 6th looked at him, then smiled slowly.

"Well now, that sounds like a nice idea. But I have a better one...How about if I give you the finger," she did. "And you get the HEZMATA OUT OF MY FACE!" Lochinar leaned back, frowning.

"Not willing to help me? Are these companions of yours your friends? No matter, I can still use you." he snapped his fingers, and 6th was suddenly stuck to the chair. She couldn't move one inch. She watched Lochinar as he rang a bell on one of the walls. 6th heard a thudding approach. The door opened and a huge man came lumbering through. He has to be at least 9 feet tall, and was horribly burned on one side of his body. He was filthy, and 6th could smell him as soon as he entered. In his arms, wrapped in silk, he carried a teddy bear.

"No, no!" Lochinar waved his hand at the big man. "Just put him in his basket." 6th watched the lumbering man carry the teddy bear to a basket by the throne, and tuck him in gently. She couldn't keep it in any longer.

"A TEADDY BEAR?" she howled with laughter. "Oh how sweet! Lochinar, I didn't know you were that kinda guy!" He spun and slapped her across the face, but 6th kept laughing. She couldn't help it. Lochinar grabbed her face in one hand, pinching her cheeks between his fingers, making her mouth pucker.

"You will help me!" he shouted at her, "I will be rid of your 'friends' annoying presence in my life. Get that bottle." he called to the big man. The giant brought a black bottle to Lochinar, who unstoppered it and held it out to 6th. "Drink this." he growled.

"You must be joking." 6th said derisively. Lochinar's lips thinned and he said. "Demitri, hold her mouth open. And don't rip her head off, either." 6th tried to struggle as the giant pryed her mouth open, and Lochinar poured the foul think green liquid into her mouth. The giant shut her mouth, and held it shut, pinching her nose closed as well, until 6th had to swallow. The giant and the big man, Demitri, stepped back. Lochinar told the giant to leave, and sat back down on his throne, watching 6th. He picked up the Teddy bear, and stroked its head, his eyes never leaving 6th.

6th began to feel wierd almost immeadately. Her skin felt like it was burning, her heart pounded, and her muscles tightened invonuntarily, making her body convulse. Her brain felt like it was melting. She screamed in agony.

After a while, 6th sagged into the chair, head hanging, eyes closed. Lochinar stood and walked to the chair she was sitting on. He snapped his fingers and waited, watching 6th.

Slowly her hands moved. She rose up out of the chair, standing before Lochinar, her hands to her sides, her eyes still closed. She raised her head up, and opened her eyes. They were completely black, no color, no white. She smiled a smile that would give children nightmares.

Lochinar waved his hand, and images of the gang swirled before her face. "Go." he said "Dispose of these irritations. But bring me the sorceress and the thief. The others I care not for. I will send you to where they are." he waved his hand, and the images disappeared. 6th remained where she was, while Lochinar picked up a huge sword and handed it to her. She hefted it easily. "I have made you stronger, swifter than you already were. None of your former friends will be a match for you. Magic cannot harm you. Weapons cannot harm you. Death cannot harm you. You will have no problem defeating them." Lochinar turned his back to her as she bowed to him. He snapped his fingers, and 6th vanished in a puff of smoke.