Driven to her knees, Seryl was dimly aware of the new arrival through the blood-red haze of paralyzing pain that clouded her vision. She gasped for breath, the sound a rasp in her throat, unable to move or cry out. Her sword fell from her nerveless fingers to lie useless in the bracken.

A wave of fury drove back the pain. "Coward - a thousand times over!" she hissed through clenched teeth.

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Erillyn was taken by surprise by the two shadows that advanced towards her. She swung her daggers at the shadows but they evaded her. She could hardly see them in the darkness. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Seryl drop to her knees, and Erillyn knew that she was in pain. She wondered at why Seryl had not been able to penetrate their minds. Were they somehow resilient to their powers?

"Leave her alone," Erillyn growled while still trying to dodge the shadows. She knew that the plea was no use and would only draw more attention to herself, but she couldn't hold her tongue. Then she saw the second Demon appear. Erillyn turned her attention on him. "Counter this, fiend!" she shouted.

Erillyn retreated deep within the core of her being where she felt the power of her new magic. The feeling was still new to her, but she knew enough for her purpose. Using her weather manipulation gift, she created a storm cloud. Lightening bolts struck around them, but she was careful to keep them away from Seryl and herself.

_________________
I'm back!

Ewaviner strode to her and kicked her sword away. He then gripped her neck and bent down to whisper, "Soon all of your companions will be meet the same fate." He began turning her blood into ice. "Soon the word will spread how the Chosen Ones tried to prove themselves capable of overthrowing the Archfiend. How they thought they were greater than the lowest imp. How they fell, one by one, on their knees, begging for death. They will say how I, being merciful, obliged." He knew Devarion came. He felt it. But he allowed him to see what was happening.

_________________

I was cured all right.

"I won't," gritted Seryl, tears starting to her eyes. "I won't beg..." she cried out as cold enveloped her, and felt her vision blur. "I'll never beg..."

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Gah. I lost my post the first time I just tried writing it up.

-----

Damien cursed inwardly at this delay. Why did Radearle even have to bother with his name? Didn't the foolish woman realize that time was something that they had in short supply? From what he had found, and what she had felt, they were being hunted, and yet she insisted on socializing with Mrug. Of course, outwardly there was no sign, save his scowl getting deeper.

The dwarf could very easily be lying about his identity, so the only way to find out whether or not he was telling the truth would be to probe his mind. At this point, it seemed likely that he was an enemy--to find their camp in the dark, without running into battle against those creatures prowling around it, seemed a little unlikely for any person of the Light, and he had never heard of a skilled dwarven tracker.

Damien prodded the dwarf towards Radearle with his spear, to hurry the process up a bit. If the jabs were harder than they needed to be, well, that was just because he was frustrated. The dwarf could complain all he wanted, but he was still going to get his mind searched.

_________________

Seryl fell to her hands and knees, breath coming in great shuddering gasps as her blood warmed again. She remained silent, still trembling from the pain and shock. Life now seemed a gift - but still Seryl would not persuade their friends to walk into a trap. She would die before that.

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And complain the dwarf did, grumbling and stumping and grousing every step of the way. The elf's jabs bit into his back, but like the stone mountain he was, he squared his shoulders. He turned back to glare at the elf before stalking over to the auburn-haired woman - Radearle of An - of his own accord. "Search me then," he demanded, all fiery bluster. "I've nothing to hide!"

As soon as he stopped shouting, though, the silence upon the camp was ominous. And was that lightning...? A dwarf's ears didn't lie, was his philosophy. Scratching his beard in bemusement, he looked up towards the sky. Who ever heard of lightning on a clear night?

He cocked his head and glanced back towards the others. He'd known since childhood that dwarven hearing was no worse than an elf's, but he could never be too careful. "You. Elf," he grunted. "You hear that?"

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Erillyn was surprised to see that her lightning had been taken care of so easily. A bewildered look came over her face. Were they to be so easily taken care of? Why hadn't the Mages prepared them more? But she quickly had to banish her furious questions as more shadows came after her. She didn't know what to do to fight them off. The Demon had treated her lightning attack as if it were nothing. There wasn't much else she could do.

_________________
I'm back!

Ewaviner had to let go of the half-elf to dodge a lightning. He snarled in distaste but then he heard another shrieking call from a Shadow. One of the many still at the rendezvous point. Ewaviner knew what the Shadow was saying. He smirked. "Well if you want a third party, Devarion," Ewaviner said. "Here's your chance. A platoon of human soldiers is on his way here." He turned towards the Chosen Ones that the Shadows were fighting off. "I say we kill these fools here, meet the soldiers, kill them, and find the others."

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I was cured all right.

Ewaviner created icy bonds that twisted around the half-elf's limbs. He ordered the Shadows to fly back to the rendezvous point. He took out a small box that he opened to reveal nothing inside. At least nothing they could see without a special arrangement of glass. Inside were viruses. Taking his sword, he cut a small cut on the half-elf's arm and threw the invisible contents of the box in the direction of the cut. He then manipulated the viruses to proliferate, to infect, to kill. He closed the box and said to Devarion, "Our job is finished. All we have to do now is wait."

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I was cured all right.

Seryl felt herself go limp where she knelt in the brush, bonds twisting around her helpless limbs - an utterly defeated figure of hopeless defiance. This is it, she thought dimly. I'm going to die. And I never -

Fear not, Seryl Dallandra. The voice, a resonant thought of swelling power, encompassed her entire consciousness for a split second before fading to leave a very vivid memory.

The sense of numbness faded as if by magic and Seryl forced her gaze up to meet Ewaviner's. "I think not," she said, voice piercing the air clearly.

_________________

Ewaviner laughed to himself. "And I think so," he said coldly.

_________________

I was cured all right.

Damien cocked his head to one side as he watched and heard the lightning. "That would be Erillyn and Seryl," he said, to no one in particular. They had gone that way, but he hadn't followed them, since the lazy louts at camp were sleeping. As for the dwarf...."Your hearing is exceptional for one of your stunted kind," the elf said, no sign of humor in his eyes or voice. The dwarf's hearing was better than normal, though not up to Elvish standards, of course.

He gestured at the dwarf. "If someone will just take over watching this short creature, I will head back to the forest for a time--don't expect me to be watching, though. I'm going to help the two fools who thought it might prove fun to crash around through the forest at night." Damien snorted. To even think of a normal, inexperienced person wandering these forests after dark was mortifying. It was as good as wearing a glowing white outfit with the words "Kill me" written on it in very apparent letters.

Slipping back among the trees, he used, for one of the first times, one of the Gifts he had been granted. He shapeshifted. One moment he was Damien the elf, the next, he was Damien the striped cougar, which was one of the largest (closer to being the size of a tiger than a normal Puma/Mountain Lion would be) creatures of the forest, and certainly the best one for this situation.

The tracks of the two females were easy enough to follow--wihle they were skilled enough that they might give an untrained person difficulty in following, they stood out plainly to him, especially with the keener sense of smell the cougar had--he could follow the scent of them, too.

They led to a clearing a few miles from the camp, where Damien shifted back into his elven form. The sight that greeted him was not something he wanted to take in animal shape. Two tall figures stood in front of Erillyn and Seryl, their eyes destroying any doubt that the elf had that they were demons. No doubt they had minions around, too.

Stepping further into the cover of the trees, Damien began hunting through the area for the creatures he was certain were there.

--------------

Please don't discover him, Ellie and Caunion--after all, demons do have limits in this RPG. He stopped out of their sight, and I figure something needs to kill Ewaviner's Shadows, so Damien might as well do it.

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At the elf's words before his swift departure, Mrug's beard fairly stood on end. He needed no one to watch over him! He was fully capable of - ! But then a cold trickle of rationality took over, and he realized that there was more than condescension at work here. Danger was afoot. With a grunt he pulled out his adamantine battle axe, Cleaver, and pondered going after Damien.

But pragmatism refuted the notion. He was quiet, but he wasn't that quiet. He'd hung out around elves enough to realize that he didn't want to disrupt the rote of an elf on the hunt. Instead, he moved to the edge of the clearing and cocked his ear for any sounds of impending all-out battle, where he was certain his berserker fury could hold sway. "Look sharp, lads. Er, lasses," he directed at the other Gifted ones behind him.

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Radearle sighed, determined not to be 'someone' yet again. As the elf disappeared into the trees, she raised an ironic eyebrow at the dwarf. "Let's make this short, shall we? I've got some business to take care of." She reached for his mind, sending tentative threads of thought into it. Just relax, she sent into his mind. He wouldn't hear the thought as words, but more as an impression, an urging to relax.

Searching, as one would search for a particular room in an unfamiliar house, she wandered the paths of his thought, gaining cursory impressions and retracing often. This mind was somewhat like a house in need of tidying. Finally she found the cusp of his identity.

Warrior stone mountain The Grainayar. There was pride in there, images of his clan, of a plague, commitment to a cause, belief in the Chosen. He had a shell, she realized, of defiance and boldness, but what lay concealed beneath was a dedicated and noble soul. Treachery? None.

She withdrew, nodding at him. "Welcome, Mrug Axethrower. I am sure we'll be needing a strong arm."

Radearle reached out again with her mind, feeling the darkness. Shadow. There were minds in there.

Walking over to the base of a tree, she sat down, bracing her back against the trunk. If she was going to engage in conflict, it would be best for her to ensure the safety of her actual body.

She felt again, this time for the enemy.

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

Ewaviner allowed the bonds to melt before turning to Devarion and asked, "Did you heard what I said? Our job is finished. They will all die soon."
He turned into a bat and flew away, bringing his Shadows with him. He reached the rendezvous point where the Shadows were assembled. He noticed a fairly large group of them were missing. He turned to one of them who immediately said, "We've organized an ambush for the human soldiers."
"Good," Ewaviner said.

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I was cured all right.