Something Magic...(5)
JilaCosa -- With amazing quickness
(amazing for a guy who has just been kicked in the stomach) Ragnar reaches out, grabs Rae's ankles and yanks her off her feet.
*Payback time* he chuckles evilly to himself.
Just at that moment a thunderous roar fills the air. Everyone stops in mid-sentence, turns to look at Jila's dragon, only to change direction as the head of a huge Water Drake rises over the deck of the bridge.
The sounds of weapons being drawn and the words of spells about to be cast can just be heard over the roar of the Drake.
"Wait!" Jila yells frantically "This is it! This is why I'm here!!"
The group pauses and looks at Jila as if she has finally lost her mind.
"It's my Magic! Remember? I can talk to the animals of this realm and I'm wasting time! I'm going to talk to it but stay ready, I'm not sure that it will listen."
Without waiting for assurances Jila runs over to Geradan and begins to speak.
"Water Drake! she yells, not entirely sure how well it can hear her "Please listen to me!" The Water Drake stops and cocks it's head sideways, almost with a look of confusion. "Aaaah, you can hear me. My name is JilaCosa. My friends and I have been summoned here to destroy Lochinar and bring the Magic back to the land."
The Water Drake gave a mightly roar *What do I care about you, the others, or Magic? I have no magic.*
"You may not have magic, Great One, but I believe that you are Magic. You exist because of magic. This river where you live, have you noticed that it is not as it once was?"
Another mighty roar *The hunting becomes less and less. Is there magic in this?*
"Yes. The land is dying and so is everything that lives here. We need your help, Great One. We need to get to the other end of the river as quickly as possible and others of your kind may try to stop us. Could you travel with us down the river?"
An even louder roar this time ending in almost an evil chuckle *I might but, what if I decide to make a meal of you instead?"
"I would hate to see you killed but my friends and I would not allow you to eat even one of us. You see, the male with one wing there (Jila points to Spyral), he has elven arrows which carry spells. The very large male, there, has two very sharp (ARE NOT! ARE TOO!) Battle axes and there are three magicians among us. I don't think you could survive very long.
"Will you help us?"
Lurkingghost -- I will not!!
Boomed the water drayke. "But I will not harm your party either. I have no wish to suffer the injuries that I might incur as I slew you all one by one. Go your way. This Lochinar has nothing to do with me. I wish you well on your journey. Go and bother me no more."
Sixth Sense Dreamer -- Teasing the lion
As the water dragon slipped silently back into the depths of the river, the gang looked relieved, puting away their various weapons. Rae was in a huff, quickly putting the rest of the gang between herself and Ragnar, who put away his axes. He was seriously on the edge, having had little sleep for the past few days. In fact, the whole gang looked weary.
6th, having taken a nap on the back of Jila's dragon, felt much more like her old self, and as the gang started their trek onward following the river, she decided to have a little fun with the Viking. He seemed to need a release, and 6th knew just what would help.
Sidling up next to him as they walked she started to giggle.
"What's so frelling funny?" Ragnar growled.
"Oh, nothing much, girly-man. Just watching you fight with Rae, I never realized what a pansy you were." 6th grinned, watching him tense.
"What did you just call me?"
"You heard me, you sissy. Picking on Rae. She's no match for you! And spanking! The idea! How cowardly are you, picking a fight with a lady like that! You ought to choose your opponents better! Or is it just that since Rae's no match for you, you knew you could beat her?" 6th looked out of the corner of her eyes at Ragnar, who was red in the face from anger. No one else from the gang heard this conversation, so they all stopped and stared at Rag when he yelled "ARE YOU CALLING ME A COWARD???"
"If the shoe fits..." 6th shrugged, grinning slightly.
"And just who DO you suggest I pick a fight with?" the viking growled, towering over 6th.
She grinned, cracking her knuckles. This was what she had been waiting for. "Why, me, of course."
Ragnar laughed "You? I thought you said I shoudn't pick fights with ladies."
"Aw, come on now, girly-man, you know I'm no lady!" 6th laughed, stepping back. "You got some inner tensions? Bring it on, you big, hulking potato sack! Let's see if you can take a real warrior down." she paused, shining her fingernails on her vest brashly, one hand on her hip. "Or are you just a big CHICKEN?"
At that last wise crack, Ragnar couldn't take any more. With a roar, he lept at 6th as the others scurried back, unsure of what to do.
Ragnar charged 6th, his fist raised. She stood unmoving, a smile on her face as she watched him advance. He brought his fist down, and 6th snaked out her hands, lightening fast, catching his fist between them and stopping it. In the same movement, she kicked up one leg, planting it on his chest. She allowed him a moment of shock that she could kick her leg up that high, then she shoved him backwards. Offbalance, he went crashing down easy. 6th bent over him, her hands on her knees. She cocked her head to one side and cooed "Awww, did the big baby fall down?"
"6th, what the frell are you doing?" KaraS yelled at her.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt him." 6th said.
"That's not what I'm afraid of." KaraS muttered to Spyral, who nodded. What was 6th up to?
Seeing her momentary distraction, Ragnar took the opportunity to grab 6th's collar. He flung her hard, expecting her to crumble in a heap, but she tucked and rolled,landing in a crouch and laughing.
"Oh what FUN you are!" she giggled. "How HONORABLE! Grabbing me when I'm not looking! Got anything else? Or is that all your addled brain can come up with?"
In answer Ragnar rolled to his feet nimbly, and rushed her again. 6th crouched as he neared, wrapping her arms around his waist and using his momentum to toss him over her shoulder. The viking flew through the air, a look of surprise on his face. He crashed down, skidding a few feet, but leaped up, drawing both his axes and spinning them around like a gunslinger.
"Enough of this child's play!" he yelled, and charged 6th, who looked cooly on at him.
Spyral drew out one of his arrows and knocked his bow.
"You're not going to shoot him, are you?' Mouse asked.
Spyral looked grim. "Only if I have to. Just wound him, to get him to stop if it looks like he's going to hurt her."
6th waited. Ragnar neared her, swinging both axes in deadly arcs. 6th moved like liquid silver, dodging the blows, giggling. "Oh, where IS your honor?" she cried, laughing, "attacking me when I'm unarmed!"
"Honor? I'm a BARBARIAN!" Ragnar yelled, furious.
"NO." 6th said, one hand flashing out to catch hold of one axe handle just below the blade. "YOU are an honorable Viking warrior." and she caught hold of the other axe handle as it swung down. Facing him, holding onto an axe in each hand she looked him in the eyes. "You're our friend." she jumped up, hands still holding the axes, and ran up his chest, kicking him hard under the chin as she flipped her self over, letting go of the axes and landing on her feet in time to watch him stagger backwards, dropping one axe and leaning on the other. "So QUIT ACTING LIKE A JERK!" she yelled.
Ragnar's head was spinning from the kick. He hefted his remaining axe up over his head, swinging it down toward 6th. She stepped in close to him as the axe whistled over her head. The arc of the swing brought the axe thumping down into the ground behind her, and Ragnar found himself standing with his arms around 6th. Before he could let go of the axe, or pull it out of the ground, she reached up one hand, grabbing his beard and pulling him down eye to eye with her. "This is for saving my butt those times." she whispered, and kissed him hard.
The big Viking's eyes widened in surprise, but before he could react, 6th pulled away. "Now, are you going to start acting like the guy we've all grown to love and care for, or are you going to keep picking fights with girls?" she said.
"She started it..." he began, and 6th frowned.
"If you keep up that attitude, it's going to get ugly. Save your anger for someone who really deserves it, big guy." she said quietly. "Now, why don't you go tell Rae you're sorry?" she asked, patting his cheek.
She ducked under his arms and walked to the gang.
"What were you thinking?" Mouse asked, upset.
"I figured he needed to release some tension. A little wake-up call, you know?" 6th shrugged. "It seemed to work." she nodded towards the viking, who had begun apologizing to Rae.
"I missed the sweet guy he used to be, and I thought if I knocked some sense into him, he'd start acting like he used to."
"Was it that, or did you just want to kiss him?" Mouse asked, noticing the gleam in 6th's eye.
6th chuckled. "Well, I owed him one."
(I dreamed this last night, and thought it fit in well. Sorry Rag! ;-) Hope no one minds!)
Raven Kat -- Well, that makes Ragnar feel better
(and probably Sixth, too :), but what about Rae?
"I can't believe you kissed her!" Rae snaps at Ragnar before starting off again. She quickly has a substantial lead over the party.
Poor Ragnar just stares after her in confusion. "But, uh..."
JilaCosa -- Ragnar, care for a bird’s eye view?
Ragnar looked at Jila and then toward the dragon. Being more of a 'keep the feet on the ground' type he was reluctant at first but thought it might be a good idea after all.
"I'll be back for anyone else who wants to give it a try in a few hours." Jila calls to the rest of the group.
Jila climbs up on the dragons back first and then shows Ragnar the best place for a passenger to sit.
"Hold on tight!" She says to Ragnar "Lift-offs are a little on the rough side."
Jila laughs as the dragon leaps into the air. As the dragon starts to gain altitude she looks back at Ragnar, who's knuckles have turned white from holding on. As the dragon levels off Ragnar takes a good look at the Kaldorrian landscape.
"Isn't it incredible?" Jila yells through the rushing wind. "If it wasn't for my kids, I'd stay here forever."
The dragon flies up and soars down while the two, keeping an eye on their friends below, make sure that nothing unexpected happens. Jila lets her mind wander, thinking of this, that, and nothing all at the same time. She finds herself humming along with a melody that is unfamiliar but calming and relaxing to the body and spirit.
Suddenly, she realizes that the melody is not in her head, not one of those songs that your mind makes up out of boredom. The group is traveling along the river and Falidor warned them that Sirens lived on the isles of the river.
*Dren!* She thought in panic *With everything else that's been going on I forgot to remind everybody about the
Sirens!* She turns quickly around to check on Ragnar. Unfortunately the Siren song has also worked its magic on him and he is just starting to swing his leg over the dragons back to dismount.
"Land!" Jila yells to the dragon "Land now!"
The dragon roars in reply *It will be a rough landing. Are you sure that's what you want?*
"Land Now!" She roared back at the dragon "I don't care how rough it is. If you don't land in the next few seconds Ragnar's going down without us!"
The dragon went down, FAST, like a rock. With a dozen yards left to landing, Ragnar lets go and falls to the earth. The Siren song calls *Come to me, Handsome One, Come to me*. He lands on his feet but tumbles and rolls to a halt. Ragnar get up and with a bit of a limp starts walking toward where his mind tells him he needs to go.
*Come to me, handsome one* it calls, *Come to me.*
Jila jumps off the dragons back just as it lands, runs after Ragnar. Running as fast as she can, Jila leaps and slams into Ragnar knocking him flat on his face. She hurries to her feet and sits on his back.
"Rae!" She yells, almost in tears, "Mouse, Kara, 6th, Ghost, help me, please! I can't hold him all by myself"
As Ragnar starts to squirm under her, Jila gets into a kneeling position on his back to try to put her full weight on him.
"We're going to try our best to help you Jila," Rae calls back, "but we've got problems with Spyral and Drum too."
Drumheller -- “What beautiful music!”
Drumheller says, side-stepping, as Rae and Mouse try to
grab hold of him. "I MUST find out where it is coming
from!"
Just as Drumheller starts to walk off into the woods,
Sixth runs up, and with a quick leg-sweep, Drum falls
face first into the mud. Quickly she sits down on top
of him. "Rae, Mouse, grab Spyral! I got Drum taken care
of!"
"I....MUST...FIND...THAT...MUSIC!" Drumheller shouts,
still stuggling to escape.
RagnarRB -- Aaaah Such Contentment
Sighing aloud and feeling all the days stress and achs fade away, Ragnar pushs himself up, Jila and all. All memories of the discord and confusion with Rae, 6th, their previous struggles, even the journey in general seeped quietly from his mind, replaced with that haunting, pleasent tune.
"No Ragnar stop!" Jila cries trying to desperately halt his advance but finding her self ignored as oine would a spring fly.
"Such wonderful music..." Ragnar softly speaks. "Doesn't it just stir your soul?"
"Gang help!"
"Yes Jila help me get to the music."
Jila looks about desperately. The other ladies had their hands full, It was as if the men had become stronger in theirdesire for the music. She turned to the only other thing she could think of. "Geralden!"
Jila quickly jumped out of the way as the dragon lumbered foreward and....applied a little extra leverage to holding the viking in plase.
"Oooffff!!!"
Mouse2000 -- Trudging up the other side
of the Serpentine River, Mouse, Spyral, Kara, and Ghost turn around to see Sixth take Drumheller out with a leg sweep, and sit on him. Rae jumped on the pile too. Noticing that Drum is squirming a lot, Kara ran back towards him to see what the problem is. Suddenly Spyral's entire body seems to perk up as he turns to face the river. "Can you hear that, Mouse? What a beautiful sound! Where's it coming from?" Mouse looks at Ghost, and they quickly put two and two together and luckily come up with the right answer (this time!). "OW, Spyral, I REALLY hurt my foot. Can you take a look at it?" Mouse whines loudly as she grabbed his arm. "Hurt foot, yeah, yeah, later, ok?" he muttered as he tried to pull away from Mouse and find out where that beautiful music was coming from. It seemed to call him, and why was Mouse hanging on him when he needed to go? Ghost tried to stop him, but having no real shape, she really couldn't put any leverage into it. He pulled harder but Mouse just held on tighter. "NOW Spyral! I think it's broken, OWWWWW!" she yelled. He seemed distracted for a minute and looked away from the river. "WHAT?" he yelled at Mouse. "Can't you see I'm busy?" he asked her as he started to turn around again.
Mouse took advantage of her training, and looked around to find some strong creeping ivy-type plants. She saw some in front of Spyral, and as he turned to walk toward the river, took a lesson from Sixth and tripped him, winced as he went down, and quickly used the vines to tie his hands and feet. As he was trying to get up, she then tied his hands TO his feet in that classic cattle roping fashion, even throwing her hands up in the air after it was secure to signify the end of the action. (Good thing she watched a couple rodeos on TV!). Lyrics from Kid Rock's song went through her head, and she adapted them..."I'm a cow-girl, ba-by". Then she tied the vines to a nearby tree, and made sure they weren't giving out. Spyral continued to squirm, and called Mouse and Ghost a few really nasty names, which they ignored (for the moment). Then Mouse and Ghost gathered up the remaining vines, and rushed to help Rae, Sixth, and Kara with Drumheller. Once he was secured, the ladies looked around to help Jila with Ragnar. Men!
Sixth Sense Dreamer -- The 5 ladies hurried over to Ragnar
except for 6th. She went a few steps, then noticed that Drumheller and Spyral were still struggling. Spy was trying to loosen his bonds, but Drum was still face first in the mud. She quickly rolled him over, and decided that 5 girls and a dragon should be enough to stop a viking warrior from moving too far. Besides, the other two men might get free from their bonds and escape if no one watched them.
She sat down between them, and began wiping some of the mud off of Drum's face. Both of them kept struggling.
"Cut us free!" Spyral said, forcefully trying to pull the ropes off.
"Must hear the music better!" Drum sputtered,as 6th wiped more mud off of him.
6th looked at the mud. Then back at Drum. The mud was of a stickly thick consistancy, not wiping off well, hardly dripping. She got an idea.
Scooping up double handfuls of the thick mud, she clapped her hands over Drum's ears. The mud made a wet squelching sound, coating Drum's head on both sides. His ears were completely stopped up.
He struggled to sit up. "What's going on? Why am I tied up? And WHY do I have mud in my ears???"
"It was the only thing I could think of." 6th shrugged, then, seeing Drum's puzzled face, she asked "Can you hear me?"
"WHAT?" Drum yelled.
"I said CAN YOU HEAR ME???" 6th yelled.
"Man who beer see? What are you TALKING about?" Drum shouted back, looking more puzzled.
6th pantomimed. She pointed to him, mouthing "you" then cupping her hands around her ears mouthed "Hear", then pointed to herself "me"
"OH! Can I hear you? Of course I can't! I've got mud in my ears!" Drum said loudly, as 6th sighed and cut his bonds. Rubbing his wrists, he said, "I'd hear a lot better if this mud was gone!" he put his hands up to his ears to scrape it away, but 6th grabbed them, shaking her head "NO".
"NO? Why not?"
6th pantomimed singing. It took Drum several guesses, but finally he got it.
"Oh the singing! Leave it on so I can't hear them! Ok, but couldn't you have found something less gooey?"
6th shrugged, then scooped up two more handfuls and slapped them on the sides of Spyral's head. He stopped struggling immeadately and looked at 6th.
"What's going on? Why am I tied up?" he asked, and 6th sighed inwardly, going into her pantomime again as she cut him free. After they were both sitting up, she pointed to Ragnar and the struggling girls and dragon. They still hadn't managed to subdue the viking, and things looked like they were starting to get rough.
She reached out to get more mud for Ragnar's ears, when she heard a resounding splash. She looked up to see the girls and the dragon standing by the river. But no Ragnar.
Then she looked out farther into the river, where Ragnar as swimming towards the small island in the middle of the lake. He was making great time.
"And I thought he couldn't swim!" she muttered as she pulled Drum and Spy to their feet and motioned them to come with her.
They hurried over to the gang.
"HEY! they're loose!" KaraS cried and the girls all started forward to try to grab the two guys.
"No it's ok! I put mud in their ears! They can't hear a thing!" 6th said
"What?" yelled Spyral.
"Huh?" shouted Drumheller.
"See?" 6th said, "But what are we going to do about Ragnar?"
Lurkingghost -- ‘Ghost sits down, closes her eyes,
and takes a deep breath. Then ice starts to form around Ragnar. A lot of ice. Soon the viking isn't swimming anymore, but is instead stuck in a large chunck of ice that, unfortunately, has started to float rather quickly down the river.
'Ghost sighs a little, wobbles, and faints.
Raven Kat -- As Ragnar struggles to break free
Mouse and Kara help Ghost. Rae looks at Spy and Drum thoughtfully, then strikes on an idea. "Sixth, get the mud out of their ears. Ladies, cover yours."
Rae raises her hands and beginns chanting. Suddenly, an incredibly loud boom sounds directly over-head, knocking everybody to the ground. Spy, Drum, and Raganr are looking around in confusion, and messing with thier ears.
Mouse tentatively uncovers her own ears. "What happened, Rae?" she shouts.
"I fixed it so they won't be able to hear the singing for some time. Now can we get out of here."
Ragnar breaks loose of the last of the ice and struggles onto shore. "What happened?" he shouted loudly.
"Nothing. It's okay." Rae responds frimly.
Ragnar stares in confusion, and shouts, "What? I can't hear you!"
Lurkingghost -- Anybody have an aspirin
Magic poltice, anti-pain spell? Oy, I've got such a headache.
Are we going to just let the sirens alone, or are we going to make sure they're not a threat anymore?
artickat -- “EEEWWW!”
As Captain AhhChoo escorts Artic to a secure room in the Castle, Artic’s mind is spinning “Queen?! Married to...to
‘Scorpie’?!! Queen wouldn’t be so bad but married to ‘Scorpie’? NO WAY!”
The Captain slides a look at Artic “You will do whatever the Master says.”
“Yeah right!!” Artic replies sarcastically “I don’t take orders very well...and who’s the Scarlett woman?”
“You will learn to take orders...we all do. You don’t need to know who the Scarlett woman is. Now in you go.”
Captain AhhChoo shoves Artic into the room and locks the door behind her.
“Wait! How do you know I won’t escape out a window or something?!” Artic yells as she pounds on the door.
“I’m sorry...well...not really.” Captain AhhChoo replies from the other side of the door before walking away with a
chuckle.
“What do you mean your so...” *GRRRRRR!* Artic stops in mid sentence when she hears a familar growl. Slowly
turning around she faces Saber. *GRRRRRR!* “Nice doggy...good doggy...long time no see there buddy.” *GULP*
“GRRRRRR!” Saber begins to advance towards her.
Artic begins to back away, never taking her eyes off of the dog “My what big teeth you have...has no one brushed
your teeth yet? You know I could take care of that for you...I hear the chicks dig clean teeth.”
Saber stops growling and tips his head as if listening...
KaraS -- On the island in the river
the sirens continued to sing. One of the males they had been ordered to waylay had actually jumped into the river and started swimming toward them, but his female companions had retrieved him. It was most frusterating. The males were so close. And they were attractive too.
Three of the siren sisters kept singing while the rest of the group fanned out up the river. Esmeralda kept watching the strangers. They stood around and talked for a while. One of the males, the biggest one, got back on the dragon with one of the females and took off. Then the rest of the group started heading up the river again. Good. Esmeralda kept pace with the party. She moved through the water without a ripple, the strangers didn't know she was there. Then the strangers came to the rocky place...
The party moved upriver. Drumheller and Spyral stayed near the back of the group. Being temporarily deaf from Rae's thunder clap was affecting their ballance and making it hard for them to keep up.
They came to a place where the path thinned out as it skirted the edge of a small cliff. They would practically have to wad in the water to get by.
Esmeralda signaled her sisters and two of them showed up to help. When the party passed the cliff, the sirens reached out of the water and grabbed the men by the ankles. The two males entered the water with a splash. Quickly, the sirens pulled them under and headed back toward the island...
Raven Kat -- “Drum, Spy!”
Rae curses as the two go under. She hadn't counted on their ballance being affected THAT much...
Oh, well, rescue time. Taking a deep breath, Rae dived under the water and grabbed the first human-feeling thing she came into contact with.
Her eyes were closed, but she had no trouble recognizing that neither Spyral nor Drumheller had hair THAT long. Shaking her head, she tightened her grip and jerked the siren towards her and into shallower water.
"WHERE ARE THEY?" she demanded of the siren, keeping one arm tightly around her neck and pinning her arms with the other. The siren looked at her in surprise, and... recognition
Spyral -- Under the water
Spyral struggled to pull free from the grasp of whoever or whatever had ahold of his ankle. The grip was incredibly strong and the angle with which the hand gripped him prevented the angel from gaining any leverage. He could see Drumheller struggling as well, with as little success as he at freeing himself.
The angel marveled at how speedily he and Drum were being pulled thru the water. Whatever had them was only strong but very at home in the water. Unfortunately, he and Drum were not, and the angel was beginning to feel his lungs start pounding for air.
*DAMN! I REALLY hate doing this!* the angel thought, as he reached back and with a quick tug, pulled free two white down feathers from his wing. Getting Drums attention, the angel made a show of placing the tip of one feather into his mouth, and mimicked pulling breath from it, then struggled and eventually managed to pass the other feather to Drum, who quickly stuck it into his mouth and began to pull oxygen from it. The angels lungs began to feel better, even though his mind and heart pounded wondering just what the Frell they had gotten into now.
He struggled to get some sort of bearings. They appeared to be descending, as he could feel the pressure building up in his ears. Taking hold of his nose, the angel attempted to equalize best that he could. Strangely enough, the water did not seem to be growing any colder, but warmer as they moved deeper and deeper into the depths.
Soon they reached what seemed to be an underwater chain of mountains. Incredible that such a geological structure could exist in a mere river. Incredible that a river could run so deep! As they crested one of peaks, a soft glow shone in the distance. Once again they began to descend, straight toward the glow which began to grow ever brighter.
artickat -- “Hold Still!”
Artic yells out as Saber turns his head again "If you don't hold still this is going to take forever!" Armed with a tooth brush and a tube of toothpaste Artic begins to scrub at Sabers teeth "Yuk! I can't believe you let your teeth get this bad!" Saber just makes some whimpering sounds and looks at Artic with soulful eyes. "I know it's not your fault...they just don't take good care of you."
After scrubbing for what seemed like hours Artic sits back and checks out her handy work "Smile..." Saber shows his now pearly white teeth "Beauty! You just needed a little elbow greese to get them clean..." Artic frowns and tips her head to the side "You know...I think you could use a bath too."
Saber's eyes get big as Artic grabs him around the neck and begins draging him towards the tub. Putting all four paws out he begins to struggle against her "Come on Saber! Stop being such a big baby!" Artic yells as she drags, pushes and pulls Saber into the tub.
As she crubs Saber she begins to sing "Rubber Ducky...your the one...you make bath time so much FUN!" and Saber begins to howl as loudly as he can.
Pouring more soap and water on Saber Artic begins to chuckle...seeing his chance Saber makes a break for it...water splashes everywhere as he jumps out of the tub and runs for his life.
"Get back here you! Your not done yet!" Artic calls out and begins to chase Saber around the room.
"WHAT THE HAZMANA IS GOING ON HERE?!!!!" Captain AhhChhoo yells from the door way.
Artic and Saber try to stop but with the soap and water that is impossible. As they skid accross the floor Captain AhhChhoo takes in the picture...Artic totally soaked and covered in soap suds...Saber totally soaked also but with a spiked furdo. he,he. and he thinks...*Good lord...what has she done now?*
RagnarRB -- My word
"Captian...surely you cann't be serious!" The woman standing directly behind the Captain exclaimed.
AhhChoo grumbled.
Artic had clasped her paws behind her back in typicle innocent fashion. Saber, showing more intelligence than one would think a dog might posess, growled and tried to look intimidating...hard to do with a spiked doggydoo!
The Lady was nearly swooning. "Captain please..."
"You have your orders Martstel. Clean her up and put her in a dress. If she gives you any trouble summon the quards...They'll be glad to help." He smirked and evil smirk.
The Lady Marstel waved a hanky in front of her face. "Or dear..." she examined artic..." This is going to be quite a challenge..."
Raven Kat -- “It’s you!”
The siren exlaims as Rae all but chokes her in an effort to get some answers. "But, how?"
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Rae bellows, twisting the siren's arm behind her.
"They have been taken to our city." The siren says. "Please... Don't hurt me. I beg of you..."
Rae pulls the siren onto dry land and drops her onto the ground, giving her a swift kick in the ribs for good measure. "Name and rank."
"I am called Skye, milady." The siren pulls herself into a kneeling position. "I am one of your own priestesses. I WILL serve."
Rae raises an eyebrow, but tries hard not to show her surprise.
"Rae?" Mouse whispers.
"I don't know." Rae whispers back, shaking her head. To the siren, "I have many forms, many avatars. By what name do YOUR people worship me?"
"You are Kar'an the Vengeful among my people." The siren says softly. "Also Kar'an the Wise and Kar'an the Bringer of the sacred Flame."
Rae nods slowly. "Vengeful to your enemies." She says, more of a statement than a question.
The siren nods. "You give life and death on a whim. It is your way."
"If the men I travelled with are harmed in any way, you will see that my past acts of vengance against your enemies were only mild examples of my power. You will take us to them."
"But we were ordered..."
"By who?" Rae demands. She makes a series of gestures behind her back and is suddenly eight feet tall and glowing. "That fool--that false god--Lochinar? Can he protect you against me?"
"There can be NO protection against you." the siren answers softly. "None."
"Then take us to your city and pray that my friends are unharmed."
Lochinar -- From his tower
Lochinar kept careful track of the small party's progress as the siren's high-priestess led them to her city. That one had become a problem that would have to be dealt with. Not yet, though. Her death would cause problems.
The adventurers, though. The sooner they were removed the better. They were too familiar too him, too much like a group that had defeated him once before. From the bird-brained sorceress (who had more power than any ONE deserved) to the lumbering barbarian hulk.
In time, though. Right now, he had more important problems. He clapped his hands and shouted "bring me Falador."
The dwarf walked into the throne-room. "You require my services again?"
Mouse2000 -- The Siren rushed to
Do as Rae commanded but was confused as to how she was going to get these air-breathers safely to her city. The LAST thing she wanted to do was anger the Ka'ran! Kara, and Ghost solved that problem by casting a bubble around the group that would allow them to descend into the water while still breathing air. The siren assured them that her city was equipped with a protective wall that reminded Mouse of the scene in "The Phantom Menace" that allowed the people to breathe under water.
The bubble was cast, the group was protected and the siren led the way. "Onward, Your Vengefulness..." Mouse whispered to Rae, with a smile. "Let's hope this one doesn't backfire on us, for once!" Rae whispered back. The gang was worried about Spyral and Drumheller, but was assured by the siren that they would not be harmed. "Then they would be no good to us at all." the siren said, in an offhand remark, which led Mouse to think "what good" the siren was talking about! Were her friends doomed to work as slaves for the sirens? Perhaps used as hostages? Prisoners? These thoughts clouded Mouse's' head as the bubble passed over the sunken mountain ridge and descended toward the bright, glowing city.
Meanwhile....
The siren holding their feet pulled Spyral and Drumheller through the protective shield into the glowing city. Their lungs filled with clean, pure air and the men both took deep, appreciative breaths. "Welcome to our city." the siren said. "You didn't have to drag us here!" Drumheller yelled as he turned to face... one of the most beautiful women he had ever had the good fortune to see. He also noticed his hearing had returned to normal. He poked Spyral hard in the ribs. Spyral was too busy taking in the scenery outside of the shield to notice they had an audience. With another sharp poke, Spyral turned around and had to fight to keep his mouth shut.
The city was filled with beautiful women, not supermodel clones, but truly beautiful women who seemed to glow slightly. "Welcome, again, to our city." the closest siren said. "Normally we have to sing men down here, but I saw you two walking along the edge of the water, seemingly unaffected by our songs, and we had to find out why! You posed such a mystery, we just couldn't help ourselves. Please forgive us for the indelicate way we brought you here. We would like to be friends. Good friends." The assembled sirens nodded their heads in agreement, but with a strange llok in their eyes.
Drum looked at Spyral, and they said, in unison, "Okay!"
Raven Kat -- “So tell me.”
Rae asks Skye softly as they travel to the city. "What did Lochinar promise your people? Why have you forgotten me?"
As Skye struggles to find an apporpriate answer, Mouse whispers to Kara, "Aren't we going to have a problem with Ragnar when we get down there?"
Kara nods. "Not to mention Drum and Spy."
KaraS -- Entering the Siren’s city
the party was surprised but happy to see Spyral and Drumheller unharmed. In fact, they seemed to be having quite a good time. Music was playing and tables of food were sperad all over the lawn.
Spyral had his left arm around a pretty redhead with freckles and his right arm around a statuesque brunette. Two blondes who looked like twins were playing with the feathers of his wing.
It was hard to see too much of the siren Drumheller was... with... because he was busy sticking his tounge down her throat.
"Oh my." Ragnar said, turning a bright pink color.
Several unattatched sirens took one look at the handsome barbarian/Viking and started to head on over.
"Back off Bitches." Sixth scowled at them.
"This isn't quite what we were expecting." Rae said.
"This isn't a usual situation." Skye said. "We haven't had any males wander by in a while and everyone is very excited. It's a shame they won't last."
"What do you mean they won't last?" Rae asked, a dangerous tone in her voice.
"They never do." the siren sighed. "A few weeks and they die of exhaustion. But we should get several dozen babies out of this pair."
The unattatched sirens hadn't gone away. They were still looking at Ragnar with longing in their eyes. His eyes had started to glaze over and he started to move toward them. Sixth jabbed him sharply in the stomach with her elbow.
"Several dozen babies..." Rae trailed off.
On the lawn, Drumheller and the siren had laid back on the grass and the siren was starting to fumble with his clothes.
Spyral was laughing as one of the blondes tickled his ear with one of his own feathers and the redhead was feeding him grapes...
Raven Kat -- “I do NOT think so!”
Rae snapps. She points at Ragnar. "Sixth, keep him honest." Then she shoves her way to where Spyral is sitting and whispers in his ear, "You'll never get your wings like this, now snap out of it!"
Spyral shakes his head in confusion, then smiles when he sees Rae. "Hey, when did you get here?"
Rae sighs and walks back to the group. "Well, looks like we'll just have to blind them as well as make them deaf."
Drumheller -- “Oh, hi guys.”
Drumheller says, looking up. "When did you get here?"
Rae walks over to Drum, as he stands up, and twists his
arm behind his back. "Ouch, what was that for?"
"We are leaving!", Rae says, pulling him back to the rest
of the group. "We got a job to do, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. That Lochinar thing, but can't we stay just
a little while?"
"NO!!", Rae grabs something out of her pouch, and waves
it under Drum's nose as she chants a spell.
Drumheller shakes his head as if dizzy. "Thanks Rae. I
don't know what came over me, but we better get out of here before it happens again!"
Mouse2000 -- The Sirens gather
around the group and suddenly the carefree attitude is gone. In it's place is a attitude of steel.
"We respect and admire you, our great Ka'ran, but we cannot allow these men to leave. Our population is dying because we do not get enough men here to create a good gene pool. You MUST allow these men to stay, especially the large, muscular one." She eyes Ragnar appreciatively. "But they are ALL excellent specimens and must be allowed to stay and procreate with our sirens."
Mouse and Kara have to hold Sixth back as she tries to tell the head siren exactly what she thinks about the guys staying here. "No one is TOUCHING my, uh, OUR guys." But Rae calmly waves her hand in Sixth's direction and Sixth stops her attack. The guys look a little stricken too, at the expression on the women's faces. They mean BUSINESS!
What will Rae do??
Raven Kat -- “Mine, mine, mine!”
Rae jumps up and down in protest, but for some reason she is waving her arms at Mouse behind her back. "Look, you have have the skiny ones, but the big one is MINE."
"Uh, hey?" Ragnar says, somewhere between offended and flattered, but mostly just confused.
"It's not my fault you keep killing your men-folk off. Deal with it! You chose your path."
Mouse looks where Rae has been pointing, and sees a door into the ocean. "She's right, you know. Besides, did it ever occur to you that they don't want to stay?"
As the sirens are distracted with Mouse, Rae makes the others aware of the door.
"No." the lead siren says softly.
"Well, there, now. See?" Rae says shortly. "I'm glad we had this little talk."
"I meant, 'no, they may not leave'." The siren clarified.
"Oh." Rae grabs Ragnar by the arm as Kara and Mouse grab Drum and Spy and propell them towards the door. Kara and Rae both chant spells to allow the party to breath under the water.
The guys feel themselves surrounded by water as the girls push them through the door. They swim quicly to the surface and pull themselves onto the beach, gasping for air and from relief.
"We made it!" Drum gasps.
"Yeah." Ragnar says, "But where are the ladies?"
KaraS -- But where are the ladies?
The ladies were surrounded by hostile sirens and were fighting a loosing battle. Though they had magical weapons and skill at using them, they were hopelessly outnumbered and in unfamilliar teritory. the outcome of the fight was a foregone conclusion.
"Lock them up." the head siren said when all of the Scooby women had been subdued.
Meanwhile, up on the surface...
Spyral, Ragnar and Drumheller were still waiting for the women to join them.
"Where are they?" Drumheller asked for the fifteenth time, once again looking at his left wrist where he was no longer wearing a watch.
"They must have run into trouble." Ragnar sighed.
"Shall we go back and look for them?" Spyral asked.
"Yes." Ragnar said.
"No." Drumheller said. "If we go back we'll just get enchanted again and then what use will we be to them?"
"Well we are no use standing here." Ragnar said. "We should go back."
"We'll let Spyral decide." Drumheller said. "I vote no. Ragnar votes yes. What do you say?"
"Well," Spyral said. "I think..."
Spyral -- On the shore
"They came after us, We can't leave them down there, regardless of the risk to ourselves," the angel replied.
"DANGER?" Drum asked. "If that's Danger, being "Loved" to Death by an army of mermaids, then lead me on!"
"Get Ahold of Yourself there Stud!," Ragnar said. "I don't know about you boys but as good as the prospect may sound to me, I have a life back in our own realm and I plan to make it back. WITH OUR WOMEN!!!"
"That goes for me as well," Spyral said. "Drum?"
"Hey! Count me in!" Drum replied. "Guess I can die with a smile at home just the same."
"Got any ideas angel?" The big Viking asked.
"I've got a feeling that since we escaped, those Sirens might try to hold our women as hostages to get us to stay," Spyral said.
"Well, we can't just go in a slice 'n dice a bunch of women can we?" Drum asked. "There has to be another way....."
"Anyone got any magic?" Ragnar asked as the three looked at each other.
Drumheller -- “I’m offended at that.....
question, Ragnar! You happen to be looking at the greatest
mage alive!", Drumheller says, striking a manly pose.
"O.k. then, Mr. Archmage, you got a plan.", Ragnar replied.
"Of course!", Drumheller says, as he pulls a crystal ball
out of his bag. "Let's see whats going on down there first."
Drumheller waves his hand over the crystal ball and gazes
intently into it. "It looks like the gals have been taken
captive. They are being led into some sort of dungeon! I
might be able to teleport us down there, and if you two
can hold them off, I can try to put the sirens to sleep
long enough for us to get out again."
"Well," Drumheller says, putting the crystal ball away.
"Does that sound like a good plan to you two?"
JilaCosa -- The best laid plans of Mice and Men
(something my mother used to say, you understand shortly)
Tucking the crystal ball back in his bag, Drum looked at Ragnar and Spyral "Ok, is it a plan?"
Spyral and Ragnar looked at each other and then back at Drum "Magic away, Mage." they said with a bit of unease in there voices. (The experiences that they had had with magic of late were enough to make them more than a little nervous about the use of magic)
Drum started to concentrate. First he would need to put a spell on their hearing to protect them from the Sirens. Nothing as potent as Rae's spell, just some white-noise to block out everything except what is spoken by the group. He spoke an spell under his breath and clapped his hands.
"Hey, what did you do?" Asked Spyral.
"What is this buzzing in my head?" growled Ragnar.
"Just a bit of protection so that the Sirens can't affect us again." spoke Drumheller confidently.
Then he concentrated again. In an instant they stood directly in front of the cell where the ladies were being held. A couple of short, startled, then quickly silenced yelps came from inside the cell as Drum, Spyral, and Ragnar suddenly appeared.
"We're here to rescue you." Spyral whispered quickly. "Drum, start that spell to get us out of here quick!" As Spyral touched the locked on the cell door alarms sounded through the corridors. Just as the lock sprang open the Sirens guards poured into the hallway.
*Now for step two* Drum thought *The spell to put them to sleep while we pop out again.*
Ragnar and Spyral stepped in front of Drum to slow down the guards while the ladies ran acrossed the hall into the next cell to retrieve their weapons. As the adventurers and the guards fought in the crowded hallway Drum spoke the spell for sleep.
Unfortunately........
With the confusion of weapons clanging and Ragnar and 6th's battle cries Drum accidently said the word *sweep* instead of *sleep*.
There, in the corridor, with looks of confusion on their faces, were the Sirens guards with brooms in their hands.
*Oh Noooo* as Drum stood there, his shoulders sagging, he realized that he had done it again. How could he have made such an idiotic mistake as THAT??? The Council of Mages would surely know of this mistake, they seemed to know everything that was going on anywhere at any time. How was he going to become a full Mage if he couldn't get a simple spell right under pressure???? He knew he had to get his friends out of the Sirens dungeons and city so he used this moment of confusion to transport the group to the back of the river.
C L A P !!!!!
The group looked at each other in surprise. They were out of the dungeons and safe, back where they started at the edge of the river.
*Maybe nobody will say anything about the brooms.* Drum thought to himself. *I reeeeally hope they didn't notice."
Mouse2000 -- The group stood on
the riverbank, blinking their eyes and trying to adjust to their new/old surroundings.
"Uh, Drum?" Mouse ventured, "what exactly was that?"
"No time to explain now!" Drumheller said quickly as he looked around to try to see the spire and start in the right direction. "We really need to get cracking."
With a quick wave of his hands, the white noise was gone from the guy's ears and they all hurried to get as far from the riverbank as possible.
IQ120 -- Before the gang was too far....
...the river, they heard a loud "Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
In the middle of the river IQ was struggling to reach shore. He quickly grabbed a low hanging branch and pulled himself to shore.
"Hey guys," he said trying to catch his breath,"You know the next time you gonna dissapear into a parrallel realm without a trace; you should leave a note! You'd never believe the things I had to do to get here. By the way, can somebody remind me to reemberce(sp?) the scifi channel for the fridge. I'm afraid it went for a swim.Hey...what the frell."
IQ suddenly realizes his apparel has changed. He is dressed almost entirely dressed in brown leather. He is wearing face paint, and has a nose ring. In his belt hanges a bola and in his hand is a long spear.
"This is highly unusual."
Drumheller -- “Howdy IQ!”
Drumheller says, seeing a chance to divert the groups
attention from his latest goof-up. "I like the nose ring."
"Thanks, I think.", IQ replied.
"Well, we better keep moving, BROOMheller.", Jila says with
a smile, not fooled by the change in subject.
Cringing at the reminder, Drum mumbles, "Yeah, I guess your
right."
Kaybe0 -- Once again a stillness came over the air
and a small whirlwind of leaves formed, as something starts taking shape in it's midst. Then Kaybe appears, not at all the shy creature she normally is, but dressed in ivory colored soft skin pants with knee boots and a tunic of the same softness with emerald green feathers in her red hair flowing out wildly behind her. In her hand is a spear with green feathers in it as well. Looking confused, she glances down at herself, and then at the group. "I don't know where we are, or if this is a dream, but I have been looking for you guys." What's going on? Then, senseing something strange about herself, she raises the spear in her hand, and everything and everyone around her stops, suspended in time. She notices that the group looks battle weary. As she raises the spear, again, the group, and everything else starts moving again. "Uh, Drum, Spyrel, Mouse, Jila, Anyone? Are we dreaming?"