From: Michael David Turek <mdt02@uow.edu.au>

DL-N: Responsibilities

	Running down the tunnel that led out of the warren, S'ron knew
that he would never catch up to Naomi. Or whatever she was at the
moment. Being slowed down by opponents that had no regard for their own
lives and seemingly felt no pain made it impossible for him to ascertain
which way she had gone, but S'ron had a pretty good idea.

	The forest spread out before him and S'ron knew that further to
the south was where Alpha wing had beaten off the wraith attack. It
would be no surprise if there were more of them in waiting, watching.
But first the threat within Norwall had to be dealt with first.

	He had a duty as wingleader to protect the warren, but the urge
to forget it all and run after the one he loved was strong. He knew that
any chance of getting her back to normal rested on capturing her first,
as well as Galen. Out there·he didn't know what would happen to her.

	The deep, muffled sound of an explosion rumbling down the tunnel
made up his mind. There were people dying behind him and it was his
responsibility. Taking one last look towards the forest, he turned and
dashed back down the tunnel into the warren.

	He could smell the fumes from some distance away and recognised
the type of explosive that had been used. What bugged S'ron was why it
had been used at all. Wraiths had non need for it and Harkkon's men were
already inside, so who set it off? There had to be someone else in this,
someone who had a major grudge against the warren. Hell knows there was
enough of those lying around.

>	Kalena tripped over an overturned barrel as she tried to
convince >K'Tarr to just let Jill take a look at him. Several men in the
uniform of Lord
>Harkkon's guard began to advance towards them. Their armour was covered
in
>gore and the hilt of a dagger was protruding from one's abdomen.

>	"K'Tarr, what· what are they?" Kalena stammered.

>	"I don't know." K'Tarr replied back.

	S'ron stepped up behind the men and quickly dispatched them as
they closed on K'Tarr and Kalena, who were more than relieved when they
saw who it was.

	"S'ron! What the hell's going on around here? I mean·thanks."
K'Tarr's managed a smirk even though voice was weak, obviously suffering
from blood loss. S'ron shook his head.

	"Harkkon's infiltrated the warren with hellspawn," he said
quietly. "They took Naomi and Galen and then let loose on anyone and
everyone." Kalena looked stricken and K'Tar went a little whiter than
what he was. "Kalena, get him up to the Med Centre. I'm going to try and
find Darrkon." Making sure the bodies at his feet were indeed dead,
S'ron left the two behind and ran off into the clearing smoke.

	It appeared that while the warren was littered with bodies from
one end to the other, most of the attackers had been driven off. S'ron
encountered pockets of Harkkon's med wandering through the passages,
which were easily put away, but the bulk of the enemy seemed gone or
dead. "Darrkon must have done a good job organising the riders," he
thought, wiping the gore of another hellspawn from his sword. "He'd
probably be a better wingleader than I could be anyway." There was
another thing S'ron was grateful for. No rider had been killed or taken
yet. He gave a silent prayer to whoever happened to be watching over
them. Norwall couldn't afford any more losses.

<Early morning>

	The sun was just coming over the horizon when S'ron finally
caught up with the other riders. There were few that weren't covered
with blood and all looked exhausted. Darrkon had a pale look on his face
and Aurianna didn't look much better. They looked up when S'ron
approached them.

	"Did you find her?" Darrkon asked, the light rebuke in his voice
evident. S'ron shook his head.

	"No. There were to many of those damn hellspawn in the way." He
sat down heavily, suddenly realising how tired he was. He had been
running and killing all night and his arms felt like lead. 

	"We were lucky," Aurianna commented. "We managed to get both
wings together and drive them out without loosing anyone."

	"I don't think luck has anything to do with it," S'ron said, his
eyes growing distant for a moment. "They had the numbers to take us. All
they needed was another wraith attack here and we were gone. No, there
is something else going on."

	"What?" Aurianna looked puzzled, but Darrkon was catching on to
what the wingleader was thinking.

	"They took Naomi and Galen·"

	"·and who would know the warren's weaknesses better?" S'ron
finished. "This was only the beginning of something major. This time
they want us gone for good." He looked around at the bodies strewn on
the ground. "So many dead, most of them just people defending their
home." He spat on the ground. "This isn't even war, it's butchery." He
sat there for a while in silence, turning over recent events in his
mind. He knew they would come back, but where and when? What would Naomi
have known that could be used against them?

	"They won't leave it to long," Darrkon stated, as if reading
S'ron's thoughts. "If they have Galen·he would know not to let us
regroup and get organized." S'ron looked up.

	"You're right about that." He squinted at the rising sun,
gauging the time. "It's been about five hours since the wraith attack.
They will either hit us very soon, or wait again until nightfall. I
wouldn't want to bet on them waiting that long." The look on the other's
faces told him that they wouldn't either. "Someone go drag K'Tarr out of
the Med Centre, if he can walk. Something tells me we are going to need
all the help we can get."

****

NRPG: Yeah, I know its's short and a little vague, but I didn't want to
stop on anything Les is writing.

Submitted by,

		S'ron and Makron
		Norwall Warren

_______________________________________________________________________________
         _
        / \      _-'
      _/|  \-''- _ /
 __-' { |          \          'Listen to them - the children of the
     /              \	       night. What sweet music they make!'
     /       "o.  |o }            
     |            \ ;				-Dracula-
                   ',
        \_         __\
          ''-_    \.//		Michael Turek
            / '-____'		mdt02@uow.edu.au
           /			ICQ#: 32360480
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