(you would be so awesome if you could do that, CF!!! and who is alanya??)

Aeryn stumbled and fell onto his knees as heat surrounded his entire body and his ears still rung from the chant. He was surrounded by darkness and could barely see the Keepers or his other two compainions in all the smoke. He stuggled to see.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

((Oi........ Sickness - yuck. Anyway... Can anyone explain to my oh-so-confused mind what is happening and where I am supposed to be?))

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

(Alayna was Raven's character, but she dropped out. Umm, SG, right now we are in the room with the mages. They have summoned some spirits, and no one really knows what to do to make things better.... Sorry if that's confusing, but I'm not good at explaining things. Lol. BTW, get well soon! )

Naidele uttered a cry as she too dropped to her knees. The pain that the shrieks sent stabbing through her ears was near unbearable. She watched in horror as the flames of the torches were almost effortlessly put out. She knew too that her fire powers would not do anymore here. She shrank back from the terrible black void and spirits in fear. "What do we do?!" she screamed over the horrible peircing cries.

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I'm back!

((Ah... I see... Thanks, Artemis! And I hope I get well soon too...))

Khienro, with the little energy he had, crawled his way over to Naidele.

"Well first," He said, wrapping his arms around her, one over her stomach and his hand encirling firmly around her arm, the other around her waist, dragged her away from the mages and their dark, screaching void. "You move!" He put her up against the wall, doing his best to see through the darkness.

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

Through the darkness Nakaida could make out the dim, faintly glowing shapes of the spirits. "Goddess - " she gasped again, and gritting her teeth at the sound of the unearthly keening tried to summon the concentration she needed.

Slowly at first, then faster and faster wind whirled around the chamber, carrying with it many spirits that had risen out of the yawning hole like a jagged mouth in the floor. Nakaida clenched her jaw so hard it hurt. Faster, faster... she thought dimly, unable to see any effect this impromptu tornado might be having on the mages.

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Abruptly the mages' concentration was cut short and the spirit rift closed, affording eerily contrasting silence in the chamber yet again. As the tornado funneled towards them, most of the mages threw up magical shields.

Three didn't react nearly as quick.

Now only eight mages remained, and their combined mantra was noticeably weaker. Despite this, their remaining coalition bolstered them and they continued spellcasting like automatons.

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Aeryn was able to make his way towards the mages. He felt useless and his body weakened at every moment of being in this horrid place.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Nakaida could feel the drain on her strength as the whirlwind intensified, a drain that she knew would kill her should she maintain it too long. Somehow this both terrified and drove her on, and with difficulty she shrieked Naidele's name into the darkness, hoping her sister would hear and add her efforts to the rampaging tornado, just now gathering to assault the mages again.

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Aeryn wished he could help Nakaida in some way, but he couldn't. He looked over at Khienro for a suggestion of what to do.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Naidele saw how much effort Nakaida was putting into fighting the mages. She saw that she was weakening. She scrambled away from where Khienro had dragged her and once again made her way over closer to the mages and their dark void. She stood beside Nakaida. "Save your strength!" she shouted to her sister over the noise, "You won't be able to do any good if you weaken yourself much more."

Naidele fought to gain concentration. She sought that peaceful place in her mind where nothing existed but herself and her power. For a brief moment, the mages, the screaming void, that darkness were all gone.

She thrust out her hands, and in between them appeared a small rolling ball of fire. She focused all her strength and mental concentration on it, and it began to grow larger and spin faster. It was such an effort, but she gritted her teeth against the exhaustion and worked her hardest. She sent the ball of flame spinning towards the eight remaining mages.

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I'm back!

In the brief respite offered by the intermission between the mages' spells, Orindil strung his bow and fired off a rapid succession of arrows. His missiles did nothing to actually harm the spellcasters, but it did disrupt their concentration long enough for Nakaida's tornado and Naidele's fireball to gain power.

The two phenomena - air and fire - smote the mages with the force of an avalanche. The flames fed off the air, but instead of weakening the tornado, this only seemed to bolster it. The last agonized screams of their enemies were lost in the devastating roar of the Keepers' terrible wrath.

When the conflagration ceased at long last, the wizards were gone - completely annihilated in the face of this celestial fury.

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Nakaida, her breath coming in great gulps, staggered to her feet. "It's not over," she gasped as the tornado weakened and died, and some color returned to her face. Her eyes roved about the room, searching for the enemy she knew was more powerful by far than any coalition of mages.

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Aeryn strung his bow and asked Nakaida, "ARe you alright?" He helped Orindil fire arrows when they thought right.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Orindil moved by Nakaida's side to steady her - though after her display of unalloyed puissance, he was almost afraid to touch her. They were no longer equals, as they'd been before this apocalyptic battle. In his mind, he already stood beside the venerated mantle of a goddess, an entity both beyond him and above him. The revelation inspired no small amount of sorrow as he gazed at her now.

Mentally punching himself and wondering what in the abyss had caused his mind to daydream in such dire straits, he strung another arrow to his bow and slowly revolved in place, searching for any magical disturbance that might hint at Okandar's presence.

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Aeryn could tell Orindil was bothered and said to him, "Take care of Nakaida. I can distract for a while." Even though Aeryn was less experienced and still nothing but a young man, his voice was strong and his gaze told Orindil that is was okay as he fired more arrows.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Khienro looked up after the massive front of wind had subsided. Looking up and emedietly retreaving his sword, flipping it in his hand. Walking up a few feet behind the keepers.

"Where is that..." Khienro had to fight the urge to adress the cowardous ruler by one of the not so kindly words in his vocabulary. "...That... Coward." Looking around when he heard a hard clang on the stone floor, he was completely oblivious when Okandar swirled back into the room, looking none to impressed with him, nor with anyone else. Especially not the keepers.

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen