The third page to my wiki, I'm even more loved. ^_^ <3
To WF RP to read where it all started,
To WF RP 2 To see more on what has happened
To WF RP Members to see who has joined.

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Angel motioned without moving the cloak to get behind Shae. He drew his sword silently out of its sheath, ready to strike.

Rachel, piggy-back on Angel tensed and  got ready to jump  off. She saw the arrows heading towards Anessa "No!"She whispered and squeezed her eyes shut. The arrows stopped mid-flight.howdid I do that?

Anessa eyed the arrows carefully, and looked at Shae, and realized with a start that it wasn't Shae who was stopping them. In fact, the only spell in the area was the reeking one that meant something to Rachel and the one being cast by... Anessa.

Anessa sat bolt upright, knocking a frozen arrow sideways. She adapted her spell to send the arrows to the ground, just to be sure it was her and for safety's sake, and then she finished both bits of magic. Never wise to leave stuff hanging half finished.

Then she started dancing happily.

Shae raised her hand and, smiling, squeezed it shut. The THING stopped hopping about. Instead, she was frozen in pain. Shae started to laugh. "Not so afraid now, are we? The archers," she shrugged. "they were nothing. But now, the real test. I will tell you what I will do after you tell your little friends behind you to leave. And I mean leave!!!" Shae giggled at the creature's confusion. "Yes yes, they are right behind you! But, ah ah ah! Don't move, or you will have pain you have never known. That's right, children of the father, I am a beater!" She cackled. "I will kill her if you don't come out this instant! I will also kill her if you do not go with my men. They will escort you safely," she emphasized the word safety, "away."

~Lady,~ Anessa said, so politely it was only barely icily, ~I don't believe you realize I am a dragon. I have never met one from this world, despite my thirty years in it, but I do know my kind have power. I will not hurt you if you turn around and leave. Now.~

Angel was surprised that the woman knew that they were there. He pulled off the cape and went over to the guards, who immediately disarmed his shuriken but couldnt touch the sword without incredible heat coming from it.

Shae laughed. "If you try, you will only be hurting yourself. Don't you see?" She squeezed her hand shut and saw Anessa crumple to the ground in pain. "You introduced your magic to me. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be in this situation right now." She let go. Shae laughed inwardly as Anessa groaned. "I am hurting you by your magic. Do you undestand now? So, if you think a nasty thought about me, I will know. Oh, and if you ever try to get away, you will thorughroly regret it." She turned. Fully expecting Anessa to follow. Anessa didn't. Shae halted. And said without turning around, "You know, it's in your best interest to follow me. If you don't, you will surely die."
~*~
Aurelia watched it all from her perch in the trees. She carefully considered. The only way to stop Anessa's pain is to kill HER. By her, Aurelia meant that woman. That evil, wicked woman that she had seen earlier in the forest.

Rachel realized the same thing at the same time as Angel did. "Surrender now, and we won't harm you." Rachel prayed that her bluff worked to buy them some time.

Anessa reflected that, in all likelihood, it wouldn't. After all, hers hadn't. She was no more capable of casting a spell now than she had been before she cast her first one - she'd just figured out how to move the arrows, and when she'd finished the spell - hey, wait, that was inaccurate! She could still move arrows. Not that it would do any good, but still. It was exciting.

So, what to do now... it was difficult to think of anything, except disgust at herself, for falling for the oldest predator's trick in the unwritten book of survival. And now, because of it, her friends were being forced to capitulate.

Anessa's stomach growled. With a start, she realized she still hadn't eaten. And that sent her on just the train of thought she'd been searching for, always assuming Shae's spell worked like she thought it did.

Done thinking, Anessa began following Shae.

-What is she doing?- Rachel  thought as she  saw Anessa  walk after Shae. Rachel started to follow Anessa, but was stopped by Angel.

Meanwhile Anessa's mind was busily conjuring thoughts for Shae to read. Rather montonous thoughts, actually; they went pretty much foodfoodfoodfoodfoodmusthavefoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodmusthuntmusteatmustgetfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfood, accompanied by abstract pictures of recently deceased creatures Anessa had caught in her life, which would completely nauseate most creatures, but only fueled Anessa's hunger, bringing on more foodfoodfoods and more pictures. This combined into equal parts completely unappetizing nausea and contagious hunger.

Angel could see Shae's face go slowly green, something that he only thought happened in funny books. Aneesa was concentrating furiously at Shae and Angel wondered what she was doing. He then reflected on what had happened so far. It was all his fault that they had got in this mess. If he hadn't spotted Aurelia, he, and the rest of them wouldn't be in this mess. And all this had happened in a couple of days.

Aurelia pulled her bow back, and SPRUNG! It zoomed straight toward the nasty woman. Aurelia was takin aback when the lady caught it. Aurelia thought she was going to fall out of the tree in surprise. The woman just turned and looked straight into Aurelia's eyes and grinned.

Anessa continued her mental assault, dreaming up pictures of prey she'd forgotten about. Once, many years ago, she'd flown far off and caught a creature that was like a furry snake with wings, albeit too small to lift the thing. Possibly a whole new species waiting to be born, but that hadn't lasted. It was small, defenseless, edible... more than edible, Anessa reflected. She wished she could have something like that now, never mind the messiness of the kill, the way blood sprayed everywhere, and that wierd gray-purple-green color, too...

Angel thought about Aurelia, and memories from the lab came back to him. Sometimes there was an elven girl on the other side of the viewing glass. She taught him new emotions, like happiness and laughter. She was basically the only one that kept him going, with her open curiosity. Come to think of it now, Aurelia looks a lot like that girl. The same eyes and nose. It was all happening too fast for Angel and he collapsed on to his knees.

Sudden movement from the direction of the two others caught Shae's attention. She turned her head and saw the bird-man fall. "Can't bear to see your friend leave you?" she cackled at her joke. The men laughed also. "Oooooh...do you want to come too?" she crooned like a mother would to a child. The men laughed harder. Getting bored of her little game, Shae walked on, Anessa following suit.

This is taking too long, Anessa thought abstractly, under the continuous flow of food-thoughts. And I really am really, really hungry... She mused, much less abstractly. ~Feed me?~ She asked Shae.

Aurelia, dangling from a tree branch, glared at the evil woman in pure hate. How could she have caught my arrow? HOW? she just couldn't figure it out. Then she saw Angel fall to the ground. She jumped down to the ground and ran over to him. Aurelia wanted to punch the woman in the face for poking and prodding her fallen friend. Instead, she tried to help Angel to his feet.

~Food?~ Anessa asked Shae hopefully. Her previous plan had backfired, and she was currently unable to think of another. In fact, in a broad, general, low-key way, she was exuding hunger to everyone within thirty feet of her.

Shae glanced over her shoulder at the stupid thing. "Food? You want food?" She hollered to the men, and one of them threw a steak back to her. "Here you go!" Shae said as she threw it back to Anessa. "But, wait!" she cried with glee. "That is not a normal steak made out of cow." she waited for the creature to answer, giggling the whole time.

~Who eats steak made out of cow?~
"Apparently these people will eat anything" said Rachel with contempt.

Shae's smile faded. Her joke didn't turn out the way she had wanted it to. No matter, I shall still get a rise out of this animal!Shae thought bitterly. She stuck her chin up in the air and said, "Of course it's not made out of cow! That's what I just said!" She sniffed. "It's made out of Dragon!"

"Oh, yes that's ssooo much better, lady." Rachel's words were dripping with sarcasm"If you haven't notices she is a dragon." Rachel's bitter contempt was growing by the second.

~I think that was the point.~ Anessa commented. She sniffed at the meat. ~But I don't believe you. Smells wrong. Unless big dragons really do smell like cat and eagle...Seems improbable.~

"I don't believe you understand," Shae said with a cocky grin. "This is all your getting unless you come with me. You will have to go through some tests and then we will let you go hunt all of the bats you want to." She turned and beckoned to the captain of the guard. She whispered something in his ear and he nodded and laughed a little. They all glanced at the three(Angel, Aurelia& Rachel) and started to walk.

~Oh, very well, then. I can't carry it, though.~ Anessa warned them, and took a bite. ~Very good.~ She commented, pleased. ~Tastes natural, too. Dragons and griffins being mortal enemies, you understand.~

Shae ignored the creatures blabberings and kept walking. She motioned for some of her men to take the other three away. Shae couldn't wait until she showed Father Rahl her findings.
~*~
Aurelia cooed softly to Angel as he stared intently at the soft earth floor. "Angel, it is allright. We will figure out what to do, we will! It'll all be fine!" She knelt down beside him and started to wonder what could have made him fall like this. He wasn't hurt, and he seemed fine about Anessa's leaving earlier....so, what? Then she started to remember what she thought about earlier. How she seemed to remember seeing Angel before. Was it really him? She shoook her head in disbelief. It just couldn't be... With a start she remembered the pain in which her mother had put the boy behind the glass through. Aurelia's mother was trying to find if she could make humans fly without pain, but she had failed. Tears came to her eyes as Aurelia remembered the screams that would follow her down the hall.

"Mama, what's his name?"
"Not now darling, not now."
"Was he hurting bad again today?" Young Aurelia asked her mother. She just shook her head and sighed.
"Yes." She said after a while. "He is not coping well, I do not believe he will make it."
"Mama, are you gonna name him after your experiments?"
"His name is Angel Flight now."
"What was his name before?"
"N-"

Aurelia's thoughts swirled to a silence. She looked down at Angel. It is.....! She stopped and got up as the guards started to lead them away.
~*~
Parr watched as Shae approached, and then dropped out of a tree into her path. He crossed his arms and drawled. "Shae, if I've told you once I've told you fifty times, stay out of my business."
~*~
Angel looked up at Aurelia, his head pounding. He had a massive headache and it was building by the minute. He looked into Aurelia's eyes, the same that he remembered looking through the glass to, then fell unconsious.
~*~
Shae grimaced jokingly. "Oh, lord!" she exclaimed as she pushed Parr aside. "Father Rahl sent you, did he?" She smiled and tried to walk on.

Parr bristled and shoved Shae back. "I don't work for your 'Father Rahl', as you well know." He told her, considering adding a 'can it or' threat. Then he got a grip on himself and continued drawling. "You have something I want." He commented.

Shae raised her eyebrows. "Oh? And what is that?"

Parr eyed her. "Actually, you have several things I wouldn't mind having. But I don't think I'll tell you which one in particular I need. You don't work like that." He smiled condescendingly at her. "I'll just have to take it. Men!"

The bushes rustled, and a moment later quite a number of men dressed in green the color of Parr's cloak revealed themselves, all holding bows aimed at Shae's people.
~*~
Aurelia nearly fainted at the sight of her unconciouse friend. "Ohmygosh! Rachel! What should we do?"
~*~
Shae laughed. "Take it? Whatever it is, you shan't take it!" She turned and looked at all of her people. She saw Anessa following, and the other three still where they had left them. Shae turned back to Parr. "Parr, my good friend, do you, indeed, want the dragon? For, if you do, she is all yours."

Parr frowned, noticing Anessa for the first time. "A moment and I'll tell you." He informed her, and cast a quick spell. then burst out laughing.

Shae wore a puzzled look on her face. What is he going on about?? she thought.

"If you'd bothered to cast a simple - ah, no, I'll handle it when I get time." Parr controlled himself, but a smile still played about his lips. "I find I must thank you, Shae, for you have provided me with the most ridiculous spectacle I have seen in years. However, business calls." He took a moment to look at the rest of Shae's captives. "You can have the little one." He decided after a moment.

Shae stomped her foot and yelled, "What in Father's name are you talking about?!" She quieted and looked behind her. "The little one? You mean the dragon, or the girl?"

"The girl. If I meant the dragon, I'd say 'the dragon'." Parr informed her. "Although traditionally, your line here is 'You can't have any of them', or something along those lines. In which case, I move in and, being allied with the Forces of Evil - albeit not the difinitive Forces of Evil - slaughter you all."

"Parr," one of the men with bows said, "You've been reading too many novels." Parr ignored him. He could discuss the difference in availability between a good debate and a book later.

"God dam*it, Parr!" Shae threw down her hand in frusteration. "I will not be held up for your games! Tell me, or leave me, do you understand?!" Shae got controll of herself once more. She started to walk slowly in a circle around Parr, who was unmoved. "Or....could I persuade you to travel with us for a little while? At least...until we arrive at the white temple, then, you can be on your way. If you keep up your little games, though," she stopped and looked at him straight in the eyes. "I suppose I am just going to have to show you exactly what I am good at."

Parr yawned. "I know what you're good at. Do you think I don't do my research?" He asked. "But one of the things you're not good at is keeping your temper. It's amusing to watch you lose it." He smiled maliciously. "So I debate whether to answer you or not. Let me rephrase myse - " He caught a proper glimpse of Rachel and stopped midword. "lf. I'll be taking all your captives now."

"You wouldn't dare!" Shae half smiled, with a hint of doubt.

Aurelia wondered what the man, called Parr, was talking about. She shook Angel until finally he woke up. "Are you allright? What is going on? Why did you faint?"

Rachel had been watching the conference between Shae and Parr with quite amusement, all the while thiking how this could be used to her advantage.

Anessa, likewise watching the exchange, wondered what had so amused Parr about her. She had considered asking him, but the moment had passed. ~I think he would. Dare.~ She told Shae instead. ~He looks pretty serious.~ She considered the men with bows. ~And competent. Probably competent, but you never know until you've met them properly.~

"and I can assure you neither of you will have our help," Rachel stated as she stepped out from behind the tree that had consealed her.

Parr glanced at her, considered laughing, and ditched the idea in favor of ignoring her. The dragon had said nothing relevant, either, except, "The drac - mini-dragon, my apologies, Anessa - was correct. I would dare. In fact, I will dare. I am giving you three minutes to decide whether to surrender them willingly or force me to take them."

That said, he turned to the prisoners. "You, too, have a decision to make. You will be prisoners either way; I will not let you slip off during battle, and I already have tags on you - I won't say what kind, or whether they're magical, for I assure you I believe in your competence. So, would you rather be prisoners of Shae and Darken Rahl, or me and my master? You'll probably engage in the fighting, you see."

"We'll just see about that."Rachel looked down her nose at him, an impressive feat, seeing as she was such a small child."And, just for curiositys sake, who is your master?" continued Rachel in a cool voice.

Parr watched Rachel look down her nose at him, which was really not working so well, as he wasn't anywhere near as short as she was, and so she was looking down her nose at something around his knees. "That would be telling. But I'll leave you some hints. He or she has no assosciation with Darken Rahl, is very powerful, influential, etc., has a large and varied army that most often isn't deployed, and his or her public main base is in Quarth."

This was safe to say, as there were at least six groups that fit this description, depending on one's conception of 'large'. It was what he was supposed to say if someone asked.

Angel awoke and after Aureia's question, said "Yeah, but I should be OK." He was already alert and jumped right back on his feet.

Shae backed away and let Parr talk to the prisoners. He always seemed to like that. Shae nodded to her bowmen and they ran off into the woods. She then turned and said to her shoulder, "We need to get them out, now!" Shae saw Parr turn to look at her, but just then, Shae, the little girl, the dragon & the winged man dissapeared.

Aurelia was glad that she was changing 'masters" honestly. This man seemed to be nicer and seemed to enjoy debating with her friends. Out of the corner of her eye, Aurelia noticed some of the bowman run away. Then, in a split second, Shae and her friends just dissapeared. Leaving her with Parr and his men.

Parr frowned, irritated. Teleportation caused such awful delays. It was a good thing he was a mage as well, and a good one. All the same, there was business to be done, and there was still Aurelia. A bird in the hand was worth two - or in this case, three - in the bush.

So, what now? He cold teleport after them, but that would leave his men behind, and teleporting them as well would exhaust him, not to mention leave Aurelia behind. If he took Aurelia back to his camp, he could go after them with more impunity, but they'd have made ground. However, he had tagged them before they left, so he would know where they went.

Stupid of him not to have claimed the dragon from the first. Still, no use crying over spilt milk. Best to get this girl safe, and then he could go after the rest. Maybe he could get assistance from the - no, best not to plan too far ahead and become dependent on things working out.

"We'll be taking her back." He told his men. "Yren, Trath, you'll stand guard. I trust you not to be converted." His men knew the unspoken orders; they were, after all, a Small but Effective Force. A few moments later, the group set off through the forest towards Parr's camp.

---

Shae walked briskly through the halls, not waiting a moment for the three following her. She wasn't a bit worried about Parr following her, she knew he would be too worried about leaving that elf. Shae stopped in front of the enormous double doors. Intricate designs were carved into them. There was not an inch of door that had not been carved upon. Shae raised her hand as if to knock, but a voice came from inside. "Enter, for I have been waiting." Despite her experience with Father Rahl's uncanny knowing, Shae jumped. She looked over her shoulder at her three prisoners. "Well, you heard him! Enter!" she told them in a shaky voice. "Bow when you enter, and keep your head below Father's." With that, she pushed the doors open, letting the three pass by her into the large room.

~That won't be difficult. For me at least. Unless you expect me to go spiralling up toward the ceiling in some over-vaunted escape attempt? If you had half the common sense of that Parr, you'd know better.~ Anessa commented, drawling as best she could in hopes to provoke Shae. ~Actually, if you were clever, you'd have taught us to bow first. I don't know how, Angel's wings probably get in the way, and Rachel should curtsy. You're not thinking this through, are you?~

Angel surpressed a laugh. It was amazing how Anessa could keep her cool like that.

Shae blushed furiously. Just as she opened her mouth to answer, a loud voice from the room boomed, "Ah, good, dragon. But, you need not worry about the bowing. You may just enter." Shae's cheeks turned redder, if that was possible. "Y-yes, you heard Father Rahl. J....just enter," she stuttered.

Anessa was rather surprised by Rahl's good hearing. She intended to compliment him on it. So she boldly fluttered into the room, and lit on the ground a few feet from the door, perched on her hind legs like a meer cat looking for trouble. A distinctly curious look came across her face as she took stock of her surroundings.

Angel got confidence from Anessa's bold stride and walked in after her, one hand on his sword.

Shae did not wait for the child. She strode in with a proud air, the embarrassment of earlier forgotten. Shae looked around at Father Rahl's walls and ceiling that seemed to touch the sky. This was only her fifth time coming into Father Rahl's private "office". The walls were decked wit shelves upon shelves of books. The shelves touched the ceiling and the floor. There was not one space where you could see the actual wall color. Shae stared at the intricately carved upon ceiling that seemed to go up for miles. She then looked at the marble floor which she lost herself in the endless colors. Finally, Shae looked up to see Father Rahl smiling at her in an awkward fashion. She hastily got down to her knees and bowed and chanted, "Father Rahl guide us, help us, teach us. Father Rahl guide us, help us teach us." When Father Rahl motioned for her to stop, she did.

~Y'know,~ Anessa commented, ~This place would really get hurt if there were a fire. You'd think he'd plan for that. Or do Dark Lords only consider every possibility of military thingies?~ She paused a moment to consider. ~Really, pretty stupid of him to bring a dragon in here.~

Darken Rahl aknowledged her words with a nod. "Ah, yes. But, alas, this is a mere image," he said breathlessly. With a wave of his hand, the room wentt blurry and swirled a bit. Then, in a split second, they were on top of a grassy hill, overlooking a neverending meadow. "It comes in handy, you know. Being able to teleport, that is." He smiled his awkward smile and waved his hand again. Then were in a dungeon. "Do get used to this treatment. If you do not cooperate, it will get much much worse. Unlike any normal ruler, I do not just leave prisoners in my dungeon to rot and waste away, I would rather like to have my information first."

If Anessa had eyebrows, they would have raised. ~What, you wanna know how to keep predators thrice your size away and finish your dinner in three minutes flat?~ She asked. ~It is handy, but it takes practice.~

Angel swore he cracked a rib trying not to laugh. He would never have had the nerve to say that.

Anessa did not really have the nerve to say it, either. She just didn't know better. Also, she'd found when she was younger, if you got a predator to notice you, they just might be surprised enough by your scales to drop you for a second.
~*~
Aurelia wondered where the men were going. Not good, they seemed to be on guard or something. Oh no! We are not going after them! It may be a while until I see my friends again... she thought. That thought hurt her, for she missed her friends terribly already and wondered what was happening to them right now...
~*~
Shae whirled onto the dragon at her last comment. "You had best learn to hold your toungue when Father is present!" she hissed. Shae looked around and turned to Father Rahl. "Father Rahl," she bowed, "where is the girl?"

Anessa, in response to Shae's comment, gave a distinctly high-pitched shriek. It was a very derogatory comment in hawk, particularly as most of the hawk language is conducted physically. She assumed that Shae did not speak hawk, and if she asked, she'd tell her, oh, that she was feeling claustrophobic and needed an outlet. It was cramped in here... Anessa ruffled her wings.
~*~
Parr accessed his tags on Anessa, Angel, and Rachel. He frowned. They were somewhere very protected; the tags were very faint, and only Anessa's was remotely accessible. He made a point of doing what little he could, hoping she'd notice and contact him. If and when she did... well, this time he wouldn't delay.
~*~
Shae glared at Anessa. She didn't say anything in response to the shriek, but she simply glared. Stupid thing! Probably needs to stretch those wretched wings of hers or something. she thought bitterly.

Darken Rahl raised his eyebrows at Shae. "Shae, did you meet any one on the way here?" He could sense something tapping into some of the magic around here.

~Yes?~ Anessa asked as privately as she could.

~Oh, hello, Anessa. Sorry to be so abrupt, but there's someone - Creature of Magic, born to serve Magic, I conjure thee as a Wielder of Magic to serve as thou were born to serve.~

~What?~ Anessa asked, rather confuddled, as she felt a something slip over her. But Parr was gone.

Darken Rahl cut the bonds between the two. He asked Anessa, "What did he say?"

Shae looked at Father Rahl inquiringly. "What, Father?"

~Who, what, where, when, why, how?~ Anessa asked, troubled. ~Huge bottles.~ She added coherently. ~And a lot of noise.~

"Stay out of this, woman!" Darken Rahl snapped back at Shae. He turned back to the dragon. "What did he say? What did that little voice in your head say?"

~Well, it didn't actually say anything.~ Anessa replied. Voices in her head being her usual method of communication, she didn't consider them voices in her head, so she assumed he meant the pictures. ~More of pictures. Memories, really; I guess it was me in my head. 'Course, I'm always in my head, so that must not really count. You're really confused, aren't you? Do you want to know what they said? 'Cause it was kinda a life-flashed-before-eyes deal, so it would take a bit to verbalize. But if you really wanted to...~

Rahl nodded. "I really want to know." He indicated the prison room. "Unless, you would rather..."

~Oooh, what's in there?~ Anessa asked before returning to the question at hand. ~Hmm. Well, it started in absolute nothing.~ She smiled happily. ~I think that was the best part. Not being a part of anything, still a part of everything. Teeny, tiny little bits. You couldn't imagine. And then being part of magic, too... that was really, really nice. And then the bits start collecting, and you're really curious, so you come too, in a sort of focused-bits way. Lots of you come. And it sort of swirls together, and then... your awareness is really, really down. That's disappointing, it really is. Sad. And there are these huge, looming things all over, and the noise...! Just when you're getting used to it, enough to concentrate, there's another big noise, and a lot of flame... and then, you're gone.~ Anessa stopped to contemplate what she had just said. She hadn't verbalized it before, and the speech helped. She really hadn't gotten that first bit before. It needed consideration. That was Birth, obviously, but was it a regular Birth? No, not really. Combined with what Parr had said, it was probably unique to... well, to mini-dragons, or at least summoned familiars.

Angel looked at Annesa with raised eyebrows. He hadn't a clue what she was talking about, especially about "not being part of anything but also a part of everything." It was a ...what do you call it...Oxymoron. Strange things, those.

Anessa continued to pause, contemplating the noise. ~I think it was a door opening. Rather violently.~ She mused. ~In any case, next thing I knew, I was in this huge, green place, and then BANG! there was this huge pain in my head, like a hole being dug through it, and the next time I woke up, it was night.~

Darken Rahl screwed up his face in confusion. "Exactly what is it that you are talking about?" he asked. He then put his hands above his head in desperation and said, "You know what, never you mind. I have better things to do with my precious time than to stand here talking nonsense with a half-dragonling. Good day!" With that, he turned, his cloak swirling about him, and walked briskly away with Shae close at his heels. Then, a green swirl headed toward them and knocked the three of them into the dungeon cell (the door was open). As soon as they hit the hay-covered, dirty ground, the door swung shut on highly greased hinges. They were locked in tight.

~I am not a half dragonling!~ Anessa shouted after him, and turned to look at the other two.

Angel breathed out and sighed. "sheesh. I thought they wouldn't ever leave." He said, making a joke of it. "Does anyone know about this prophesy more that me? I can practically guess most of it. "A new species will be born..." he said, Indicating himself, "An old one resurrected..." Pointing at Annesa, "A death of old friends will emerge, and A great evil dissected." Indicating Rachel, as she was the only girl around here and the prophesy somewhere says that a girl will defeat Darken Rahl. "Wow, that came from nowhere! That's pretty cool."

~You know more than me.~ Anessa commented. ~Although I don't see how I'm supposed to resurrect my species all by myself.~ She shrugged. ~Um, by the way, Ken had a point.~ She added as quietly as she could. ~Communication-wise. I don't want to say here, as he's probably listening, but... um... it was a mutual acquaintance of ours, whose name does not begin with the same letter as mine. He sai - ~ She found herself unable to say anything more.

~*~

Parr breathed a sigh of relief as he let the communication line with Anessa drop. He wiped sweat from his brow and glanced to see if Aurelia was properly set up in the cage. She was. Shakily, he stood, tired and a bit scared; talking to her would be a good excuse to stick around for a moment and recollect himself.

"You needn't try to escape." He informed her, to get the formalities past. "I've been working on this cage since I was fourteen. It's housed thieves, warriors, and mages, and if you do manage to get past it, my men will catch you, and it will be harder to escape next time. That said, let's talk about Darken Rahl. He has your friends, and I can help you get them back. However, I am in need of information if I am to do so."

Aurelia scowled and sat on the ground. "Very well. The ball is in your court, and I expect you to use it and not dawdle. Do tell me what information I may give to you in order to win my companions back."

Parr sighed. "Would that the information you need me to have and that I need from you coincided. Ah, well, another time. I'm sure we'll have plenty of it later. Tell me about Darken Rahl; I know plenty about the 'Forces of Light', but my education on other 'Forces of Darkness' is woefully lacking."

Aurelia sniffed and stuck her nose up in the air. "I know nothing."

"So you intend for me to fo and face this man - presumably a man, anyway - with only the knowledge that he has powerful servants and is either a very good mage or has a good mage with him?"

---

This whole thing was getting stranger by the second, thought Angel. It was giving him a headache. He pulled his wings around him and started preening them as there was nothing else to do.

Shae half-trotted down the long corridor in order to keep up with Father Rahl's long strides. "Father? Father, what are you planning to do with them?" she asked him.
~*~
Father Rahl glanced at her and then looked directly ahead. "I intend to squeeze out every last bit of information that they might have. First by means of spells and incantations of sorts, and then by simple, but easy, torture," he said briskly, as if he were listing ingredients on a grocery list.
~*~
Anessa watched Angel preen and wondered for what felt like the ten thousandth time what it must be like to have feathers on your wings. She shook her own wings out to free them of dust and continued wondering.

~What is it like?~ She asked after a moment, realizing that for once she was watching a creature with wings whose mind and vocabulary worked like hers. ~To have feathers on your wings?~
~*~
Aurelia met Parr's eyes. "You...you are against him?" she asked in disbelief.

"No, that is not accurate." Parr informed her. "You must do better than that. I am not with him, certainly, and though our objectives do not as yet oppose each other, they do not merit cooperation either." He grinned at her. "Besides, Shae annoys me."

"Ah, I see," Aurelia said, letting her shoulders droop. Then, hearing his last words, she half smiled. "Annoy? I rather thought you fancied her!"

"What!" Parr squawked, surprised. "Me? Fancy Shae? Hardly." He considered this, not having thought of it before. Nope, not the slightest affection for Shae, except perhaps as a dueling partner. "So, are you going to tell me anything of Darken Rahl?" He asked, getting the conversation back to where it should be.

"I know nothing! I have told you all I know!" Aurelia shot back. "The only other thing would be that he has shadow slaves, but I am sure you know that, do you not?!"

---

Angel stopped and looked at Annesa. "I dunno exactly what it feels like because I've had these most of my life, if that makes sense. It's like asking you what it feels like to have scales. Same difference, really. Mind you, these wings do help me keep warm."

~Wings are good that way, feathers or no.~ Anessa agreed, contemplating the difference between skin and scales. She rather thought she preferred having scales. Skin was so... soft, and squishy, and... weird. Rather gross, perhaps.

She turned her attention elsewhere. Hmm... it really wasn't a very nice place. A dungeon, she believed. Oddly, she knew about dungeons; it had been a long time ago, when Ken-Ere-Birth was still entering her, but the mage had had dungeons. Rather useless things, actually, that he put outdated magical equipment in. ~How shall we get out?~ She inquired.

---

Parr settled to his heels, contemplating this information. "No, I did not know that. Our conflicts tend to be in a different matter than the ones you seem to have with him. Shadow slaves had not come up. I'll have to look into them. Would you like a spellbook to keep you occupied while I read?"

"I need nothing from you but my freedom!" Aurelia scoffed.

"Ah, but that you're not going to get. I'm offering to let you improve your magical knowledge rather than sit bored. If you decline the offer, I am a member of the Dark Side, and therefore I will feel no regrets leaning against your cage and reading."

Aurelia scowled, but, nonetheless, requested the book.

Parr disappeared into a tent for a while and returned with two books. One had a title in another language; the other was apparently about various ways to make assorted creatures extinct. Parr handed the book in another language to Aurelia, and scowled at it. It hurriedly switched to the right tongue.

"Magic leakage does have its ups." Parr commented. "Small-scale but useless spells, like opening locks and washing dishes. None of them will work on your cage, unfortunately; it could use an anti-rust scrub."

Aurelia murmured her twisted thanks and went to reading. Most of it she new already, but some of it was very useful. She commited most of the spells to memory.

Parr browsed his book, murmuring things occasionally and apparently without realizing he was doing it. After a moment, he quit flipping pages and settled down to read about the shadows. Happily, his book - really a very handy one - did not fail him. It never had; it had a lengthy section on the shadows, although a great deal of it was about those irksome people who just run away and scream whenever they see a mouse. This was the author's way of saying not much was really known about such a creature.

---

"I'm not entirely sure how to get out." Said Angel. "I've picked a couple of locks in my time, but I'm sure this one is guarded by magic." He rapped the bars with his sword, happy that no-one had the ability to pry it from him.

When Father Rahl had told her to stay there, Shae hadn't expected to stay there for over an hour. She tapped her foot impatiently. Finally, she saw Father Rahl come around the corner. "Father! I just thought of something, Father!" she called out to him.

"Yes? Spit it out, woman!" Darken Rahl snapped.

"We've forgotten about the angel's sword!" Shae said back to him.

~How sharp is your sword? You could try cutting the bars. Or prying them apart. Just a bit and - ~ Anessa had an idea. Her face lit up, and she thought desperately to find a way to tell them without letting Darken overhear.

After a bit, she scratched in the dirt. Not being literate, it consisted of stick people. The basic message seemed to be to let Anessa out and put an illusion in her place, for now. Then she could find a way to get the others out. Being small, she could fit through the bars most easily.

Angel gave Annesa the thumbs-up to go ahead with it.

Anessa shoved her head through the bars - not difficult - and began work on her shoulders, which was decidedly more so. All the same, they came very well. The difficult part came momnets later, when she got to her wings. ~Ow.~ She commented, wriggling. But if she could just get past them, the tail would be easy...

Shae came up to the cell, seeing all of them still there, sitting patiently like school children. Except, the little girl was hanging limp on the floor. Shae pointed the girl called Rachel and asked, "What is wrong with her?" Then she backed away, fright in her eyes. "She....she hasn't gotten the un-animated disease, has she?" Seeing that she had, indeed, gotten the disease, Shae quickly reported to Father Rahl that she must get her hair cut and striped with strange colors. (Yes, I know I took that idea from the other rpg, but oh well)

---

Parr closed his book with a snap. "If you're quite sure you know nothing else of Darken Rahl's forces, I suppose I am ready to continue. Numbers would be nice, but," he sighed, "if they're not to be had, they're not to be had." He lingered for a moment to be sure Aurelia had nothing more to say before he left to augment his mens' arrows.

---

As Shae dragged the comatose Rachel away, Anessa dared wriggle a bit further out of the bars. And... her wings were past! Anessa whirled around to face the cell, free, winked once at the prisoners, and set off to explore and find the keys.

Father Rahl gave Shae the task of the girl, Rachel. Shae started by cuttin off almost all of her hair. Then she put as much gel in it as she could. Then, she spiked and went in search of some die. Having found only neon green, purple and sparkly black, she went to work. First, she tried striping the colors, but it became too blurry, so she simply poured the die all over the girl's head. Out of Shae's pocket came a sharpie. Shae lifted Rachel's head and drew a gruesome mustache and beard. Very good,she complimented herself. She then went to check on the prisoners.

Anessa had al...most... got the keys... of that stupid, fat, chattering guard when... footsteps. Alert, clicking, efficient - had to be Shae. Especially when the guard spun around, his foot landing on the tip of Anessa's tail. Anessa automatically yelped and spun and pounced, clamping down on his boot with her back claws and his upper shin with her front, her neck snaking up so she could dig her teeth into his thigh.

"YEOW!" The guard bellowed, not the impression he wanted to make with Shae.

---

Parr finished enchanting arrows sufficiently. Tiring. He'd had to bring along his silver-inlaid helmet to make up for it, to draw energy he'd stored in the protective head covering that he'd put in earlier. He paused striding by Aurelia's cage. She was a prisoner, but she would be usfeul, and he could use all the help he could get...

"Girl. You want to come?" He asked brusquely.

Anywhere is better than here, Aurelia thought hurriedly. "Fine," she said as she stood up, waiting to be let out.

Parr nodded and settled a spell over Aurelia. "If you get further than fifty yards from me... well, just don't do that." He opened her cage and gestured to his men, four of which were engaged in muttering, as the mass-transport spell they used was rather longwinded.

Aurelia put her hands on her hips. "Well? Where are we to go? And what are they muttering? A spell? It is all rather stupid. The mages of my people didn't have to resort to muttering! The magic just came to them!" Aurelia hated seeing wannabe mages among the humans. It made her sick. But, having said her rant, Aurelia fell silent.

"I know. It takes forever. But if you or I transported us, we'd end up worn out; leaving a group of them to do it takes more time, but everyone is still perfectly able to do battle. Which is currently something of a necessity, hmm?" Parr replied.

---

Anessa let go of the guard. Her head turned ever so slowly and Fido-ishly towards the footsteps. Bad, bad Anessa. Bad.

Angel heard a shout and a small thud. Anessa had been out only 2 minutes and still managed to get herself in trouble. he thought.

~Well, you had to have expected some sort of escape attempt. Wouldn't have made sense if we hadn't tried.~ Anessa commented in her defense, realizing there was no possible way she could escape unseen. She was just too big and brightly colored to sink into the shadows and pretend she was a rat.

As long as she was out and about and making herself known, she might as well get her wings stretched. Anessa launched herself into the air and hovered at about waist height. She made a few gagging noises, wondering whether, having cast a spell, she could now breathe fire. She couldn't.

"Are you going to get the key or just throw up whatever you ate for dinner?" said Angel, slightly irritated.

~It'd be rather difficult considering those footsteps sounded inexcusably like Shae's. Besides, there is a magical binding on me that is currently preventing me from moving in that direction, and - ~ Anessa lied, hacking a few more times. Then she grimaced as though the hacking had been brought on by trying to speak of something she shouldn't have.

Shae walked briskly toward the cells when she heard some grunts and scuffs. What have the two down now?? she thought, annoyed.

Shae, Shae, Shae was coming, and couldn't move. Anessa wriggled slightly. Stuck in the air, that was it, with Shae coming. Shae would see her any minute now, and then - ow. Anessa's memories of Shae involved pain. Shae had become a predator, a fox, something along those lines. A new kind of predator, one that had to be staked out, followed, tested until one found its limits. And then one could tease it, mercilessly.

It had taken almost thirty years to figure out how to deal with normal predators. Anessa could wait.

Shae walked down the long stairway to the dungeon. Finally, she walked down the damp hall to where the two where being held. "What in the name of...." Shae cried when she saw the dragon in midair.

~Don't be unreasonable.~ Anessa warned. ~It would be extraordinarily odd if we didn't try to escape. This way, we set your mind at rest. Rather neatly. Almost like I was on your side. How odd.~

Shae rolled her eyes uneasily. "Put my mind at rest?!" she whined. When she composed herself, she said quietly, "Ah yes, of course." She then walked quickly out of the room to find Father Rahl.

~What, that's it? You're just gonna leave?~ Anessa asked. ~Oh, well, I'll let my friends out then.~ Abandoning all pretexts of being held by a spell, she snapped her tail forward, bringing the keys she'd been inching along fully out, and darted to the cell to pass them to those inside.

Angel took the keys and curled his arm around so he could open the lock. he heard a click and walked out of the cell. "Riiiiiiiight." He said. "Why didn't Shae try to stop you? Hey, wait a minute, I thought you had a spell put on you so you couldn't go here?"

~To your first question: I have no idea. And to the second: I was faking it. Let's go kick that Dimmed Ball person.~ Anessa suggested. ~Climbing out of there pinched.~

"Darken Rahl? I dunno how now that Rachel's gone, how are we supposed to defeat him?" Said Angel.

~I didn't say defeat him, I said kick him.~ Anessa eyed Angel's feet. ~You need some nice wooden shoes. That hurts more.~ Anessa knew this from past experience. It was worth it, though; the Incident of the Frying Pan was deliciously fun.

Suddenly, Aurelia popped into exsistence in the cell which Anessa and Angel had just left. "Whoa! Where am I? Where's Parr? Ah, never mind.." she said to herself, unaware her companions where near.

The three of the stopped everything. They were breathing, thank goodness, but their whole body stopped. Darken Rahl walked into the room. "Why, hello! Tried to escape, did you?" he laughed. Shae was close behind him, looking nervous. He moved them into three different cells, and left the room. Once the two where outside of the door, he said to Shae, "Shae, do not forget I am leaving tomorrow morning to speak with the Queen of Belcham(pronounced: Beelcham(like a hacking sound on the "ch")). I leave them in your care. Something happens to them, you get the blame, understand?" Shae nodded, eyeing the door. Rahl left hurriedly.

~That was interesting. Where's Parr?~ Anessa asked, physical boundaries being a small boundary to her more specialized communication skills. She lifted a foot and pointed the bottom of it at Shae, a gesture she'd learned from badgers. ~And who was that person Rolly mentioned? And - ~

Parr really ought to have waited until the next morning to finish his teleporting, as that would have gotten Darken Rahl out of the way, but he did not know this, and was half way through the teleportation in any case. He appeared in the dungeons.

"You're not a very good focus point, Anessa." He commented scathingly as he got his bearings. "Oh, hello, Shae. Is this a - the - your - entry hall?" He guessed.

Aurelia shushed Parr and Anessa, though Anessa's communication was telepathic, Aurelia shushed her anyway. "Did you hear that?" she whispered after Shae had left in a huff, Parr following her. "Darken Rahl is gone tomorrow! That is our time to escape!"

~Why? What's so special about Twilight Banister-Sliding? I mean, Darkening Rail.~ Anessa asked. ~Parr can handle him.~ She added confidently.

"Oh, I don't think so. Anyway, I am very tired, and I absolutely must go to sleep now! Good night, and we shall escape in the morning!" Aurelia sniffed, rolled over, and went straight to sleep.

Anessa sniffed also. She liked Parr. Of course, she was obliged to like him, as he was rather her reason to live, but she had absolute faith in him. And hardly knew Darken. Now, Shae might be some sort of resistance, but then, Parr had sounded like he and Shae had been meeting for some time. And Parr had been drawling and Shae had been getting angry, so obviously Parr was more powerful than she was. Both of them together, though, might cause some problem. He'd definitely need her help with that.

Parr needed her, Anessa thought blissfully, and went to sleep.
~*~
Parr was not sleeping well. Negotiations with Shae had been undecisive at best. He'd ended up transporting back to the forest to sleep. Morning would bring results, he was sure. Especially since his men were infiltrating the castle...

What a happy thought to go to sleep on.

"Nice to see you back, Aurelia." Said Angel. "even if it is in a dark and smelly dungeon."
~*~
**Morning**
Shae yawned as she got her shoes on. She was getting ready for her meeting with Parr. She opened the door to find that he was already waiting for her. Shae sat down next to him, smiling. "Parr, I have decided to help you in your quest to conquer Fath- uh, Darken Rahl." She winked.

Parr nodded with complete disbelief. "Turned to the Light Side? I knew you'd see reason sooner or later. Didn't think it'd be that easy, though - a few moments with Good prisoners, and the great Shae's discovered she has a moral code."

Shae scooted closer to him, flaunting her curves. "Oh, please don't be sarcastic with me!" she pouted. She hoped she would get a reward for this. This was absolute torture. Necessary, but toture nonetheless.

Parr pouted. "Don't be sarcastic? My dear girl, sarcasm is what I do. That and drawl. So - what brings you to accept the Holy Scriptures of the Light Temples - or whatever they're called - as truth?"

Shae poked him and giggled like a young schoolgirl. "Hmmm....Don't you know?" Inside, Shae was punching Parr in the face again and again and again....
~*~
Rachel woke up in a tower with a priest standing over her. She kept her eyes closed and slowed her breathing so it looked like she was still unconcious. As she ckecked her surroundings through her eyelashes, she noticed that the whole room was royal purple.-Someone's full of themselves,- she thought, -to put such a high-ranking color in such a rat-infested, dirty, slimy...-. Her mental rant was interrupted by the priest coming over and picking her up. He placed rachel on an alter that also held a twisted-blade knife, a hickory wand, candles, and someones spell-book.-Uh-oh, this can't be good. Rachel quickly scanned the room for an exit. She saw one in the far wall.
Rachel jumped fromthe altar with her knives in hand. She put a knife to the priests throat and said quietly in his ear,"Tell me where to find my..." she hesitated at the word she should next use, but then decided it fit, "friends. If you don't I'll slit your throat. And don't think I won't do it because I will." T^he priest amazingly enough was quite calm as he answered, "Very well, your, er, friends are located in dungeon 6 in the lower levels.." here he paused, "the very lower levels." "But how do I get there?" Rachel growled drawing her knife down his throat ever so slightly. "You go down the stairs to the very bottom and follow the green corridor to number 6, that's all." "It had better be,"Rachel hit the man over the head with the handle of her knife, and ran to the door.

Angel heard a noise coming from up the stairs. He held the hilt of his sword just in case.

Aurelia, having perfect hearing, woke up when she heard the noise. "Angel," she whispered. "What do you think it is?"

~It's a fully sized dragon come to eat us all!~ Anessa decided, waking up to Aurelia's voice and listening. She sounded hopeful. ~And then it'll teach me to breathe fire, which is blasted hard, though possibly easier inside of a dragon.~

Rachel,  hearing Anessa's  last comment,  stifled a  giggle."Sorry to dissappoint, but it's just me."Rachel  stepped around thewall,  her eyes searching for the slighhtest  movement of a guard or sentry.

~It's okay. Anessa assured her, sounding slightly disappointed that it wasn't a dragon. ~Parr and Shae are off, um, bargaining or summat, and this shift of guard is terrified that I'm just a condensed version of a dragon. I've told him that I have to be careful breathing or I'll sneeze and the entire castle or whatever this is will go up in flames.~ At this point, she sounded rather smug. ~You guys sleep too long.~ She added.

"I don't sleep, I just rest my eyes." Said Angel, grinning, glad to see Rachel again.

"Oh, Rachel! What happened to you?? You just went suddenly limp!" Aurelia came closer to the bars to get a closer look at Rachel. "What's wrong with your hair?" she asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"My hair?" Rachel asked, her hand immediatley going to her head. She found that it was short and sticky. Rachel's hand came away alien colors. "Oh Goddess!" Rachel started to panic, what had they done to her?

Aurelia burst out laughing. She couldn't help it.

"This is not funny!!" Rachel glared at Aurelia. "My hair has been destroyed! This is not a laughing matter!" Rachel started to work herself up into a tantrum when a noise caught her attention. "Shhhh! I hear something!"

~The funny part,~ Anessa declared, wanting to get her word in before whatever happened - they were in the darkest dungeon of a dark lord's castle, after all - did so, ~Is not so much the hair as the face.~ She cocked her head, reflecting on this. ~I don't believe I've ever seen red-eyed demon bats in such close proximity to glittery unicorns.~

Aurelia rolled on the floor of the dungeon, laughing harder than ever.

"Seriously guys, shut up I'm positive I hear something, and in any case shouldn't we be grateful to me? I mean I kinda could've just left you here and have been on my merry way. Instead I come all the way down here to save your sorry a**es instead of mine. But no I don't get any appreciation and.." Rachel whipped around and slammed her dagger hilt into the man's nose. He dropped to the floor writhing in pain. Just to make sure he wouldn't bother them, Rachel found the pressure point at the back of his neck and knocked him unconcious. "How was that for tactics?"

"Are you going to get us out of here or what?" Asked Angel.

Aurelia sat up, wiping the tears off of her face.

Anessa poked her head out of the bars and shoved her shoulders forward, wondering about Rachel's tactics. ~I dunno.~ She replied to the girl's question. ~I watched a human one time, through the window for, oh, three months when I wasn't hunting. She read mysteries. And she kept storming around and throwing things because that didn't work. She said they always tried it, and it always worked in books, even though it wasn't physically possible. Whacking 'em upside the head worked perfectly well. I think tickling would be the most incapacitating, personally.~

((ooc: Please go to WF RP 4 to continue roleplaying ^_^))