Something Magic....(1)

Dwarf, a shadow passes over them. Everyone looks up, shading their eyes with one hand against the three suns. A roar echoes across the land as the shape comes closer and closer. A dragon lands in the clearing away from the group and a human drops from the dragons back.

Walking toward the group JilaCosa shakes out her hair and says “What the Hezmana is going on? I was in my rooms, crying my eyes out to Geradan, there, and suddenly I’m on dragon-back in mid-air! Thank the Gods he thinks quick or I would have fallen off. And can you believe this?” Jila spreads her arms to show the blue light-weight armor she is wearing, the long sword that is slung across her back and the short sword that hangs at her hip.

“Okay,” begins Spyral “This is the short version of what Falador just told us. We all have an in-born magic and we have been magically called here to help fight beings called the “Sentinels” and save what little magic there is left.”

The newcomer nodded, made slightly nervous and uncertain by the lumbering approach of the barbarian giant. Magics such as these were tricky indeed. Obviously he had gotten them here but it remained to be seen just how much of the rest of the spell took. He needed these adventurers, yet he had to be careful. “Yes” he spoke mustering his most nonoffensive tone.

Ragnar stopped within easy reach of the _benefactor_. “Yes, that is obvious, but what I want to know now is how you are going to return us. The second season eps start next week and somehow I just don’t think this place comes equipped with a television and power.”

“Skip that part.” Ragnar intoned, one side of his lip curling up in what could either be a menacing snarl in the making, or a look of mirth. “Just get to the part about how we get back.”

“Well since you’re within reach you won’t mind if I wring your scrawny little neck will you little man.” Ragnar’s voice had taken on visceral tones, yet a small pocket in the back of his mind remained clear and cognoscente.

He took a step towards the little dwarf man, confident in the knowledge that his magic was spent. He had started to reach out when he caught himself...just as Spyral and Mouse had come up on either side of him.

“Yeah...” Mouse added, stepping between the unhappy giant and the dwarf. “This is not like you at all. You’re one of the gentlest people I know and the first thing you want to do is throttle this poor man.” She stood with hands on hips daring her giant companion to protest.

“Yeah maybe you should.” came 6th voice with a warning tone of its own. Others moved into position so that Falidin couldn’t get away should he suddenly choose to run.

The dwarf for his part at least had the decency to look abashed. “Please pardon me. This is not going at all like I had planned.” Ragnar snarled but didn’t advance.

“You see, as I said each of you has a kind of living magic within you. It is this magic that allows you to exist in this world. Yet at the same time it is magic that keeps our world alive, and as your resident sorceress can attest magic has rules.” He nodded at Rae, who stood listening intently, wondering at the voices and sounds buzzing in her head. “The magic keeps you alive here but I could not bring you here in you original forms, well not entirely.”

“I think what he is saying,” KaraS began, “Is that he brought the living magic part of us that makes us us but the bodies and outfits he put us in are more customary to his world than ours.”

“It means,” Spyral began, sensing a familiar ring to this tune, “That here we have the bodies and abilities that best represent us in our world. Rae is a wiccan, here she is a sorceress. Ragnar is a Viking, here he is a barbarian, Jila is a dragon friend, here she is a dragon rider... Am I on the right track Falidin?”

“Yes,” the old dwarf nodded enthusiastically, “Each of you here has abilities and powers suitable to what your talents were where you came from. This is the other reason why I chose you. With the abilities you have you should surely be enough to free the magic and save the land!”

artickat is playing with her hooded cloak. “Clap on!” artickat flips the hood of the cloak up over her head and disappears. “Clap off!” flipping the hood off her head and she reappears “He,he!”

and thought to herself, *ok, I see the potential use for a barbarian, a dragon-rider, a wiccan, and angel, and Artic’s invisibility. But what about 6th, Kara, and me? We are pretty mortal, with a few tricks up our sleeves, but what else? This saber I’ve got is nice, but* she give the saber a few practice turns and realizes that it’s flowing out like an extention of her arm. Soon she is dancing with the saber as if she was born doing this.

Kara swung her weapon experimentally. It swooshed in a satisfying manner. Getting hit with the hammer part would really ruin someone’s day. And as for the spiked metal ball....

“You’re right Mouse, there’s a barbarian, a sorceress, and angel, Artic’s invisibility, and my Dragon, But there’s also 6th, who as a secret agent is no doubt *great* at getting information and adapting things for weapons. Then there’s Kara’s Staff....and something else, I’m just not sure right now. Then there’s you Mouse. A thief perhaps? Isn’t “snurching” items of interest and worth one of your hidden talents. Also, a thief picks locks, can hide in a crowd, and get into places where maybe others can’t.”

“But here’s the biggest problem that I can think of.” JilaCosa unsheathes the blades on her back and hip and looks pleadingly at the group with a blade in each hand. “I Don’t Know How To Use These Things!! Faladore why did you give me these when I can’t use them?”

“Lochinar resides in his stronghold, high atop the Blackstone Spire.” the little man replies pointing off in the direction of the treelike. “To reach the spire, you must make you way through the Darkwood forest. There are eleven villages throughout the forest, but they should not cause you any harm.

When you emerge from the forest, you must then make your way down the Serpentine river, but beware of the water drakes. Once you start down the river, you must not stop at any of the islands along the way. Sirens reside on many of them and many sailor has lost his life after being swayed by their singing to seek them out.

Follow the river until you reach the Blasted Lands. You will know it when you reach it. A land of ash and devastation it is. It is where the Sentinels did most of their damage. Where they pulled the magic from the deep. The Blackstone Spire lies on the far side of the Blasted Lands.

Once you reach the Spire, you must make your way to the top and confront Lochinar. This will not be an easy task though. His Spire is a virtual fortress, protected by the most vile creatures and the darkest magic’s.”

“Well, gee, is that all we have to do?” Ragnar replied sarcastically. “I mean, why don’t we just go and tackle these Sentinel boneheads while we’re at it. Get back everything they took?”

The big barbarian huffed, after gently easing Mouse’s hand from his mouth. “You call that even Spyral? This guy just drags us away from our world and we are supposed to automatically believe everything he says? We don’t even know if he’s one of the good guys. That would be assuming an awful lot. Remember trolls come in many guises!”

“Besides, “ Ragnar continued, “That still doesn’t explain who’s going to copy the new Farscape episode on Friday night for me. Somehow I think it’s going to take a bit longer than that to trek to some pointed rock and pull the plug on some magic thief.” Ragnar couldn’t help but wonder if this was some hidden part of his personality or the barbarian mold he had been cast into.

“Snap on!” Artickat appeared directly at Spyrals elbow. “Hee hee, he does have a point. You know how grumpy the guys get without their Claudia fix! Snap off!” she disappeared again, behaving much like a child with a new toy.

She was sitting on a large rock, noticing how this new world had changed them all slightly in personality. Their emotions had gotten more pronounced, and their character aspects had become more stylized. She was all for adventure, but at the same time, she felt... different. Meaner. Less... herself. She wondered what aspect had taken over her regular cheerfulness. 6th seemed less inclined to care, she wanted... wanted... to fight, to hurt things, to draw enemy blood. A tiny bit of her was freaking out inside her head, but most of her, well, it was getting ugly in her brain. But 6th didn’t feel bad about it at all.

She stood up and walked a little bit away from the group, marveling at how she could still hear every word of their discussion. She hefted her mace. *Not bad* she thought to herself. 6th swung it around her head, and the mace began making an odd buzzing howl that’s pitch rose as she swung it faster. She had the urge to cast it out like a fishing line, and did. She wasn’t too surprised at all when the ball of the mace flew out, the chain increasing itself to go the distance. The mace head slammed down into a pile of rocks some distance away with a crash of thunderous noise that echoes across the valley. 6th flicked her wrist, and the mace head practically leaped back, to hang at on its normal length of chain.

6th stood for a second, gazing out across the green valley. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at the startled faces of the gang, an almost evil half-grin on her face.

“So.” she looked at her friends from under half lidded eyes, feeling a strange, but not at all unpleasant, evil feeling come over her, “Are we going to stand around all day listening to Canon Yammer on about his precious TV? Or are we gonna go kick some sorcerer booty?”

at the antics of the others. This place certainly is affecting them all. There are dozens of voices whispering in her ear, echoing in her mind, but it doesn’t bother her at all. In fact, it’s rather soothing.

“Okay, spell to see if our friend is telling the truth, right? Sixth, could you watch where you swing that?” Rae reaches into a fold of her robe and produces a spell-bundle. Unwrapping it, she sees dozens of vials of liquids and herbs and “EW!” bat guano. “Just.. get rid of you now.” She disposes of the less pleasant spell components and selects two vials and a sprig of herbs.

Rae produces a chalice out of her robes and mixes the liquids and the herbs together. “Sure do, easy as falling off a dragon.” Rae holds the chalice in her hands until the contents begin to boil. Then she hands it to the dwarf.

“That’s okay, neither did mine.” Rae takes the chalice and takes a long sip, then hands it back to the dwarf. “It takes a while to digest it, so you guys might as well get cozy-like.”

They all lounge around, waiting for what Rae says will be a ‘noticeable effect’. “I wonder what kind of sorceress I am.” Rae mutters. She wanders over to a dying tree and lays her hands against the smooth bark. The tree rapidly blossoms back into life. “Check it out, guys!” Rae calls laughing.

Spyral asks as the glow surrounding Rae and Falador glows even brighter and the group now has to shade their eyes to look at the two. “I don’t know a thing about spellworking, so you will have to educate me on this stuff.”

“Does anybody else here that?” Mouse asked. “Sounds like it’s coming from above, she added, turning her head skyward and shading her eyes as she stared into the triple suns.

The ‘Scapers all turned their heads to scan the sky. Small black dots suddenly came into focus. Dots that rapidly grew into giant batlike shapes with other white forms atop them.

As the batlike creatures closed the distance, the figures atop them leaped from their backs and dropped to the ground. Their bleached white bones glimmered in the sunlight, in contrast to the dull black armour that they wore. Each skeletal warrior seemed to be carrying a medium sized shield and either axe or sword. There appeared to be about two dozen of them. They began to advance at a slow and steady march towards the ‘Scapers.

“Holy Dren!” Ragnar muttered. Looking at the two oversize gleaming battleaxes in his hands, he muttered “Looks like you two are gonna get a baptism under fire. Or...I guess that should be BONE!!”

“LOCK AND LOAD PEOPLE!!!” Spyral shouted, pulling his bow from his back and nocking an ivory elven arrow. *If I remember correctly, elven arrows carry enchantments. These should be effective against the undead.*

Fae announces, then curse. “I mean... Hell, I’m scared shirtless, but at least the potion worked.” Rae laughs uneasily and raises her staff. “Never a cleric around when you need one, is there?” Rae pauses. “Is there?” she looks at the others. Is there a priest in the house? Is one of you a holy man or woman? Spy? Kara? Jila? Mouse? Artic?

“It never is.” The barbarian replied hearing the satisfying thunk on another pile of bones. “Remember folks hacking and stabbing here doeesn’t work well, just club them and they crumble well. The danger is in their numbers not their strength!”

“Sat on a wall...Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.... All the Kings horses and all the Kings men couldn’t put Humpty back together again!: Artickat sings as she sneaks behind the skeletons and attacks from behind. “Oops!... Sorry!” artickat apologizes to one of the fallen skeletons “Didn’t recognize you Allie McBeal!” LOL! *This is kinda fun!*

6th yells, diving into the melee. “Let’s kick some tailbones!” She swiings her mace left and right, the thunderous ball connectiing with skeletons and shattering them. Overcome with bloodlust, she winds her way through the battle coming up behind Ragnar to watch his back. Her short sword proves useful to keep the closer sketetons at bay, while swinging the mace in short powerful arcs, masterfully keepinig the mace head from thwacking Ragnar, but clobbering any skeletons that come too close. 6th kicks out her foot, disarming a skeleton about to try hacking into the barbarian behind her.

“Oh yeah, baby, this is what I LIKE!” 6th yells over the clashing of swords. She shrieks a skin-crawling war cry, spinning around and knocking another skeleton headless, while slinging the mace far out to smash a skeleton messing with JilaCosa to dust. “Too bad there aren’t more of these boneheads!” she yells to Ragnar. “This just seems too darn easy!”

Spyral says a silent prayer that indeed thise elven arrows come with the complimentary spell against the undead. Loosing the first, the arrow unerringly enters the eye socket of one of the deathknights and as it impacts with the back of its skull, the head of the skeleton erupts into splintering shards.

as Rae, 6th, Spyral, and Ragnar hack away at the oncoming skeletons. she tried to use her saber, but she kept passing through the skeletons and ended up having to bash them with nearby rocks. She didn’t feel the same bloodlust as the others seem to feel, fighting like they were possessed.

*Maybe it’s just not for me* she thought as she tripped another skeleton and watched him break into quite a few pieces. But a surprising calm was coming over her, and in spite of the skeletons all over, she was able to react quickly and capably, and soon there were no skeletons left.

JilaCosa drags herself off the ground, walks over to her dragon, and flops up the length of his back. “If only we had know what they were, you and I could have slowed them down in the air. I just don’t know what I’m doing. I’m going to end up hurtiing someone or being the reason they get hurt.”

Kara had enjoyed whatling on the skeletons with her nifty hammer, but had not felt the berzerk joy that had gripped Ragnar, Sixth and Raven_Kat. That was a little troubling. What if they should loose control in a more serious situation?

Rae says slowly. She feels quite like herself again, and isn’t sure exactly what came over her in the heat of the battle. It was like she was a different person. The voices whisper soothiingly and she soon feels better.

Slowly, Rae speaks. “I think we need to just hold on a minute and think about this. We can’t just go charging in there with no plan. This is a wizard who could probably turn us all into frogs without breaking a sweat. We need a plan.”

“Kind of hard to design a workable plan when you don’t know what half your party is capable of. That’s what we need to do first.” Rae looks at the others. “Right?”

in front of the gang, “Check these out!” lifting her paws she shows off some unbelievably long claws “They popped out when I was fighting the skeletons...aren’t they cool? GRRRR! He, he.” Artickat retracts the claws back in and her paws look normal again. “But how do we know when we know everything we can do? I mean how do you go about finding out?”

6th says as they all stop. “You said we all have magic in us, right?” she asks the Dwarf. He nods and she continues, “Well, does that mean we all have some magic power or talent or something? Kinda like Zhann-Super-Speed? That could come in useful...” 6th turns to JilaCosa and says, “And I heard you saying that you couldn’t figure out how to use your weapons... Well, I’ve never used amace before in my life, but I just seemed to know what to do...maybe you should try to relax and see if it works the same for you... don’t force it or anything... We’ll watch out for you till you figure it out, right Conan?” she grins at Ragnar, then turns back to the Dwarf, “So? Do we have magic powers or not? Come on, little man, chop-chop! I haven’t got all day here!” She looks around at the others, who are smirking at her ramblings.

“What!” she says to them, “You got a problem with me or something?” the tiny part of her brain that still seems to be 6th throws up its hands in disgust as the rest of her brain gives in to the compulsion to be a mean, son-of-a- you-know, mercenary warrior.

“Now, ah....” Rae sighs, unsure how to explain it in terms that a bunch of muggles would understand. “Just, reach inside and llisten to what your heart tells you. Don’t think, just DO Mouse, you’re thinking, aren’t you.”

and her generous offer to make some tea. The Viking half of his brain found it a wonderful idea, the barbarian half couldn’t shake its skeptisism of naything magic. The two wrestled for a blink of an eye.

“Humph.” Ragnar grumbled, flashing his _special_ smile for their so can benefactor. “Well we’ll just have to keep him within arms reach won’t we?” His voice had a slight ominous tone near the end. Beside him 6th’s eyes positively gleamed at the implied threat. Her voice was far more sultry but contained no less...encouragement for the dwarf to behave.

“Oh I kind of like that idea... Conan.” She oozed, digging her newest verbal barbarian jab at Ragnar while reaching out and running the back of one hand along the dwarfs cheek and winking at him. “You do want to be my...friend don’t you?” she cooed flashing her teeth.

Rae shook her head and produced a ferrer grin of her own. She cut quite a picture standing there in her robes. Her feathers had a more brilliant sheen in this place, they almost looked alive. Ragnar could have sworn he saw one raise itself and move in a silent waving fashion at him. He did a double take but it was just a feather again. He blinked. Maybe those things were more alive than he had thought.

He looked over at the othersl It was possible that each of their abilities would manifest themselves through out the course of the adventure. Not everything was to be known upfront. That was both good and bad. They would have to make do. Sometimes the best plans were made on the fly especially when you have no idea what lies before you.

“I must be doing something wrong because I just don’t *feel* anything. I still don’t know what my magic is. Could it just be him?” Jila points to the dragon sleeping in the sun. “If it is, he could have come be himself. I can’t figure why I’m here.”

“Be calm.” Rae say and offers Jila a cup of freshly brewed tea. “I guess your magic just isn’t going to show itself now. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you until you know how to use those.” She nods at the swords laying on the ground next to her.

Jila shakes her head wearily at the offered cup. “Thank you but, no, I never developed a taste for tea. I should probably just lay down and rest awhile. Wake me when it’s time to head out, would you?” She gathers up a bedroll (which was, oddly enough, attached to the dragon when she came flying in) and lays down in the sun for a rest.

It was not all that ofgen that humans came into herself’s territory anymore. Few and seldom now, yet they came. It was as if even they too could feel the land dying. The magic was fading.

Herself’s clan had been numerous in times past, but no more. With the leaching of the land their numbers shrunk. Some lost to disease, some to hunters for pelts. The ones that pained her the most were the ones lost to births. Even of her own litter none survived, the last born deformed and weak. She sighed inside....yet....

Herself and her kind usually remained hidden from the humans for their pelts were highly valued but something about this woman, the one that came with the dragon....something about her called out to herself. Something that made her stir.

Eyeing Jila with the cat, watching her softly talk andnuzzle it, Spyral realized that the group really needed to get a handle on this situation. Pouring a cup of Raes tea, the angel found a seat on a conveniently placed rock near the fire. Spyral took a sip and then looked long into the flames. “I don’t see how we can really have a plan when we don’t even know what we might encounter along the way.” Looking up and around at the ‘Scapers scattered nearby the campfire. “I think it’s best if we play it by ear for the time being. May not be the safest was to proceed but it seems like we have a long trip ahead of us. Maybe we can learn more about the ‘Magic’ of ours along the way.”

The little wizard nodded grimly. “He is aware of your presence now. I had hoped to keep your arrival secret for as long as possible. I guess it was foolish to think that I could keep that knowledge from him.”

“Good!” Sixth replied, a bit of the bloodlust from the previous battle returning to her voice, “Bring ‘em on! I’d prefer a straight fight to sneaking thru the brush anyday! What do you think big guy?” She asked looking to Ragnar.

“A dead hero don’t do his friends any good!: the barbarian/viking replied to Sixth. Looking to the others in turn, He continued. “We must remember that He has the advantage here. He is aware of us, He knows the terrain, and the beasts that roam it. We have no idea how2 much control he posesses of either one. We must be cautious of everything. Question everything. It is most important to remember that this is not our world. The same laws nay not apply here.”

The “Scapers only stared at Ragnar in silence. This was the most that the big warrior had spoken at one time since they had all been brought here. Artickat was the first to break the silence.

“I dunno about the rest of you but, it seems prety obvious to me that we each serve some sort of purpose here. The different weapons, the clothes. I think we each have a function and maybe the first stip is finding out just what that function is.” Raising the hood of her cloak for all to see, ‘I don’t really know what this is for, but there must be a reason why I ended up with it.”

“Because stealth is important for a thief,” Falador answered. “Wouldn’t really do for one to acutally be seen pilfering another mans property now would it? Quickest route to a dungeon usually.” he added.

“There are legends of groups of adventurers who once roamed this land long ago.” Falador began, without answering Jilas question. “Seeking fame, fortune and basically just good old-fashioned adventure. As I studied you all, I attempted to place with personalities that were close to your own.” Gesturing to the ‘Scapers one by one he continued. “Mage,” he spoke pointing to Rae. “Woodland Ranger,” pointing to Mouse. “Barbarian, elven archer” he said pointing to Ragnar and Spyral in turn. “Thief, Cleric, and Paladin,” he finished, jabbing his finger towards Artic, KaraS, then Jila.

“Fighter, what else?” Falador repied simply. “It will take time for you to adjust, but given time, you will realize just what you are capable of and how you all fit together. Trust in yourselves and each other. This is a journey of discovery for you all, but one that you share.” As he finished, the dwarf returned to his place on the grass and fell silent.

6th held up her hand to stop him. “Oh Please!” she said, trying not to sound to comtemptuous. “DON’T give me that ‘you’re a woman’ crap! I’ll watch over you guys for a shift, then someone else can do it...4 hour shifts, ok? Me, then Hercules over there,” she pointed at Ragnar, ignoring his grimace at yet another name, “Then you, ok?” Spyral opened his mouth, saw the look on 6th’s face, and closed it again. He shrugged.

“I need something to tie my hair back.” 6th said simply, pulling her dagger out and slicing through the leather laces. She unthreaded them and pulled the top part of her hair back in a ponytail, wrapping theleather laces around it, tying it, and sheathing her dagger which she had been holding between her teeth.

"Well, if you're sure. I'm not ready for bed just yet, so call if you need anything." Rae adds a handfull of special herbs to her own cup, then distributes the 'normal' tea all around. "Get some rest, guys." she suggests, sitting and staring into the fire.

Grumbling to herself. *Fine!* she thought, *They wanna stay up all night and be tired tommorrow, have at it. They just better not expect me to be nice when they're too tired to be of any use!*

She walked silently around the perimeter of the camp, always keeping one eye on the group. Finding a likely tree she climbed up it almost effortlessly, high enough to see the entire camp and the ground beyond on all sides, but low enough to get down quickly if she needed to. She realised after a few minutes that she could see in the darkness almost as well as she could see in daylight.

*Must be some of that 'magic within us'* she chuckles to herself. Her hearing had also gotten incredibly better, she could hear almost every word of what Rae and Spyral were talking about. She grinned. *I like it here, oh yes I do!* she thought. Her klutziness was gone, and she was so much more aggressive here. And as for sleeping? She didn't think she'd need to sleep for a long while. She leaned out, resting one hand on the limb she was straddling, the other slowly drawing her short sword from its scabbard. She let it dangle below her for a second, then brought the sword up above her head in a swift arc. It sliced neatly through the large snake that had been dangling above her head. 6th hadn't even needed to turn around. The headless snake fell to the ground below her, and 6th rested her elbow on the limb, her chin resting on her hand.

With a sigh and a pat on the flank of the dragon, who also decides that this would be the best time to hunt, she grabs her bedroll and finds a good place to lay down by the fire.

KaraS went through her backpack, looking for clericly things. Yep, here was a flask of Holy Water. And here was the sterling silver Holy Symbol. What diety did an octopuss represent?

According to D&D lore, with witch Kara was quite familliar, the cleric was the healer of the group. And could cast spells. Did she know any spells? KaraS thought deeply, curled up in her bedroll. She concentrated on bringing spells to the forefront of her mind. Yep, there they were. When they were needed, they would be handy.

Kara was just dropping off to sleep when the air was rent by a bloodcurdling scream. Kara sat bolt upright in her blankets, reaching for her war hammer right beside her. What the frell was that???

Ragnar snuggled down in the leaves, virtually disappearing from view. He closed his eyes to more quickly adjust them to the dark and took a moment to let his senses locate the rest of the party, even 6th in her tree perch.

So much for her saying she'd be walking around the camp, he thought. Her grist smelled a bit different but she was still 6th. Just a bit more cocky, a bit more testosterone than usuall. Somehow he didn't think her charms were going to work quite the same here. Unless she just intimidated the menfolk and was done with it. He'd have to keep an eye on her. Too many Xena eps no doubt.

Feeling comfortable in know where all the others were he opened his eyes and let them roam about setting the shapes and shadows into his mind. He was deffinately a light sleeper and it always paid to know what surrounded you should you wake with a start.

His mind was so instinctively doing all this that he almost missed the slight motion in Ravens feathers. Three of them had stood slightly up on the back of her head and were wiggling. They stopped when he spyed them.