*Galen*
*Day 15 - Evening*

The bite in the breeze announced the end of the day, and the sun was already 
on its downward path that would bring it into the belly of the earth again.  
Galen watched as it began its fall and ran a hand through his hair.  Cat had 
found something that pointed in the direction of the foul play.  At least 
they knew the "how" now.  But there was still "who" and although there were 
some good guesses at this point, it remained fairly uncertain.  And after 
that came the even grander question of "where" and that was the darkest one 
of all. It stood hiding behind all the others, but he could still hear its 
mocking laughter in his head.  How were they going to find Link in a town 
full of petrified people?  No one was going to risk their neck to save a 
dragon rider.

"Ah well, a good start, but I suppose we should call it a day.  We've got 
something to report and maybe someone can put together some pieces we're 
missing.  We won't turn up anything more here today anyway."

"The longer we wait though, the colder the trail gets." Said Cat, who 
evidently had sunk herself quite thoroughly into this role.

"I know Cat, but we've already tipped the people off what it is that we're 
looking for.  They're just going to hide the rest of the night. We'll have 
to come along tomorrow and see if something new will turn up."

"But..."

"I said I know Cat.  I don't want to be here when the sun sets.  We're not 
immune to people trying to get rid of us to save themselves from answering 
questions."

"You think so?"

Wrong thing for him to say.  Cat was even more interested now that the 
possibility of danger had been raised.  Glancing over to Alex, Galen saw two 
eyes that gathered in everything around them.  She was a giant shadow of 
possibilities, and Galen suddenly couldn't wait to bring her and Dargis 
together.  Two sets of unobtrusive eyes.  That could be deadly.

He started marshalling his arguments against Cat.  It was going to be hard 
in the face of the girl's mounting enthusiasm, and then her face suddenly 
went blank.  Alex was just as blank and he wondered briefly what the dragons 
could be relaying.  They came out of it at the same time but it was Alex who 
uttered, "The Warren is under attack."  Her voice held something tough 
underneath it, a kind of determination that Galen recognized immediately.

"Time to go then." Galen said softly.  With that he led the run back to the 
dragons, although the girls needed no encouragement from him to keep up the 
pace.  He leapt up behind Cat and the three of them were off the ground in 
seconds.  They all knew that attack would come sooner or later, but the fact 
that they had been gone during it all was a little shocking.  Even with all 
of this weighing on them all, Galen took the time to remind Cat and Alex 
both to have the telport location firmly in their minds.  Memories of an 
earlier battle and another young dragon rider flashed before his mind's 
eyes.  The weight of that added something to his words and both the girls 
nodded without asking questions.

Galen realized once they appeared over Norwall that he had been holding his 
breath.  It all came out in a rush, as he looked down upon the scene that 
now teemed in front of his eyes.  The air was filled with the screams and 
flaps for aerial combat, dragons soaring, swooping and flaming and death 
reigning on all sides.  Below, the sounds of metal and the familiar sounds 
of death's call could be dimly heard.  What to do next weighed heavily on 
Galen's mind and although the thought of sending the girls into the mass of 
dragons seemed initially like a good idea, Galen could not shake the view of 
Talesin and his youth drawn to such a quick end.  It decided him more than 
anything else could.

The three descended to a relatively empty spot of the green.  Galen's lack 
of surety about what to do with the two young dragonriders was decided by 
the hand of fate, who must have laughed at him for worrying so.  Cat 
immediately saw Mentorn and Kaymann fighting in the distance and asked to 
join them as she ran to do just that.  Not that Galen would have stopped 
her.  She would have been sullen with him and besides, Kaymann would watch 
her closely.  As strange as it sounded, she was safer with him in the midst 
of combat than she would have been with Galen.

As he and Alex started their run across the green, they were nearly bowled 
over by Jeneve's rather large mutt, whose leash was held rather tentatively 
by Jack.  Galen couldn't help the edge that now appeared in his voice.

"What the hell are you doing out here with this dog?" He barked.

"Trying to find my sister, so get out of the way would ya."

The words cut through the surrounding noise of battle.  "What did you say?" 
He breathed out.

Jack must have seen his sudden fear, because he answered in a softer tone of 
voice.  "You must not know.  Jeneve was kidnapped during the course of the 
battle.  I'm using the dog to find her."

"You think he can do it?"

"If anyone can."

He looked around quickly at the familiar din of battle.  This was him more 
so than most things.  He lived for these kinds of tests.  Strength, wit, 
speed all were put to the test in these situations and Galen loved that more 
than all else.  The fact that death was usually the side result took away 
from the enjoyment of the skill, but it was still something that lived in 
his blood.

But what was there to a higher degree than his thirst to put his skills to 
the test was his sense of loyalty.  Hadn't he lost Zera because of that?  
Wasn't that what he had convinced himself of?  Now he knew that the 
Warrenlady had been kidnapped and he was in a position to aid her recovery.  
But he hesitated, seeing the people he knew and worked with fighting for 
their lives.  He hesitated, knowing that time was precious, that where he 
should be was now a matter of perspective and he could readily justify 
either choice.  He hesitated, seeing Selena shouting commands to the 
Homeguard, his Homeguard and knowing to that Breezy was out there too ... 
somewhere.  He hesitated...

*T'rell*

The harsh voices brought him back to consciousness.  They had screamed 
themselves out and were now whispering, quite calmly in fact, for a simple 
end to it all.  They had gone through the first run of need and had gone 
past the animal urges.  Now they used a more deft and cunning set of 
arguments.  The goal, however, was still the same, a grail floating in front 
of T'rell's eyes.  A grail filled with wine, and it was the wine that now 
sparkled and caused T'rell's mouth to water.

He slowly and painfully got out of bed, weak from the exertions of his 
needs.  He rose, feeling the white blur seep into his vision and slowly fade 
again.  He shambled rather than walked towards the door, his legs gaining 
some measure of strength with each step.  He creaked the door open and 
peeked out, his voices quite insistent that he not be caught.  Being caught 
now, they told him, would end it all, so he proceeded carefully.  Down the 
hall and an eye around the corner to see who was at the front door.

What he saw was quite unexpected, shocking enough, in fact, to drive the 
voices to silence as a new need arose swiftly and unexpectedly.

Lilliana stood huddled next to another woman as a man in unfamiliar armor 
sneered at both of them.

"No! It can't be!" Cassandra said, her voice near hysterics.

"We've come for the old woman and the former Warrenlady." the rogue stated. 
Then with a smile he added, "I suggest you hand them over."

T'rell was running back to his room before anything in his brain had a 
chance to react.  His instinct had been ingrained in a time before the drink 
took over, before it instilled a need of it's own.  He grabbed the sword 
that lay propped in the corner, his sword, and the feel of it's handle in 
his hand did more to recover his strength than any sort of rest would have.  
He flung the scabbard away as he raced back down the hall and the rogue, who 
had heard him fly down the hall appeared around the corner as now flew up it 
again.

He reacted quickly to T'rell's appearance, but not faster than T'rell 
reacted to his.  A swift slash cut the sword-bearing wrist of the man who 
gasped and jumped back.  But his guard was down now and it only took two 
more strokes to break down his defense and rid him of his life.  T'rell 
quickly barked out, "Get behind me before any more of them appear."

The women moved, but another did appear and T'rell had to jump in front of 
the fleeing woman quickly so they didn't get skewered.  He felt the sting of 
his opponent's sword as it licked his chest, but that only increased his 
anger and his energy and the man could not stand the buffet of T'rell's 
assault.  Soon the trainer was pulling the sword out of the man's stomach, 
but not before hearing the sounds of at least three more men as they 
approached.

"Damn me, I'm not a god.  Bring them in one at a time would ya!" He screamed 
at the ceiling.

"Need some help?" A voice asked.

T'rell spun and saw M'lent, looking slightly pale, with a sword in his hand. 
  The Searcher had been on of many riders struck ill, but his symptoms were 
still relatively light.  So when Lilliana and Cassandra had appeared with 
word of the attack on their lips, he had grabbed his sword and ran down the 
hall.

"Hope you can wield that well enough.  I can't make any promises to save 
you."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Then their opponents were there, three large men all with B's blazoned on 
their chest, all of them looking ready to tear someone apart with their bare 
hands.

"Out of the way old timers!"

"Cross us first ya damned cowards!" T'rell shouted and the three men 
attacked.

*Cyrus*

Time came and went, fading as he faded, into the dreams where he leapt off 
the shoulder of his captor and killed both of the assassins and saved 
Jeneve, who took the time to profess her undying love to him.  Each moment 
back in time came as a shock, a rather unpleasant one, filled with the smell 
of old potatoes and a sense of hopelessness.  Knowing he could never live up 
to the dreams in his head wasn't something Cyrus wanted to dwell on, so he 
took the time to try to reach Azhdeen, but the dragon seemed somehow 
unresponsive and it wasn't long before Cyrus realized his dragon was sick.  
What he didn't know was that if he had spent any time recently around his 
dragon he too would have been ill and only his current moodiness had 
prevented him from that.

With Azhdeen lost to him, he could only live inside his mind and the schemes 
it provided him for escape and heroism.  But truth kept intervening and 
dashing those ideas on the ground.  He just could not take both women on his 
own.  Maybe if one of them left and he surprised first one and then the 
other.  Could he do that?  Could he really step into the situation enough to 
force himself into action?

He would usually fall out of time before he could answer those questions and 
come back starting the whole process over again.  Then he awoke again and 
realized he was on the ground and not a shoulder.  Now he knew the time was 
fast approaching for him to try something.  But as long as he was bound so 
tightly and he could still hear both women near, he knew he would have to 
stay put.  But in the meantime his ears were open to the voices outside, to 
what they said and to the opportunities they might present ... opportunities 
to finally win Jeneve's love and respect.

*T'rell*

The two men stood, breathing heavily and bleeding in front of a room full of 
bodies.  Had the two been healthy, they might have laughed now and 
barricaded the door.  But both were lost for a moment in their pain, T'rell 
trying hard to keep himself upright and M'lent in forcing air into his 
lungs.

The Searcher recovered first, and gasped out, "We have to block to door.  
More of them will come and we can't keep this up all night."

T'rell merely nodded, as he was in the process of fighting the white blur 
that was again stretching across his vision.  He fought it back, but not 
without the accompanying wave of nausea hitting him.  He staggered to the 
door to help M'lent, but even after they got the door closed, he knew he 
wouldn't be able to help little with any sort of barricading.

They both heard the footsteps and when Clainn rounded the corner, with 
several other riders, all of whom looked ill, the two men gave him a goofy 
grin.

"Good timing son.  We got the filth, but this door will need more than our 
two sorry bones holding it.  Start grabbing some furniture and let's make 
sure no one else gets in." M'lent said.  He and T'rell watched more than 
helped and Lilliana appeared to treat their wounds as best she could.  
T'rell even managed a joke about getting wounded in the right place.

Once the door was blockaded, M'lrent, T'rell, Clainn and a few others 
stayed, on the off chance that these rogues burst through their blockade.  
As they sat and watched, T'rell began to feel the strength seep out of him.  
He whispered to M'lent to wake him if they came again and then he was fast 
asleep, a small satisfied smile on his lips.

*Galen*

"Dammit!" Galen cursed.  His moment of hesitation was gone and he knew what 
he was going to do, but he was left feeling somehow unhappy about it.

"Jack, you can't go on your own.  If you find her, she's going to be 
surrounded by a bunch of nasty people.  I'm coming with you, so at least 
they can face one sword.  Alex," he said turning to the girl, "you can come 
if you want.  It would be nice to have someone to contact the other riders 
and let them know if we find her.  But it will be dangerous, so I won't 
force you into coming.  It's up to you."

<Tag Dianne ... want to join the fun?>

He glanced briefly at the Homeguard.  Selena, surprisingly, saw him and 
raised her sword in salute.  He returned the salute, regretting again that 
he could not fight next to the woman.  She would handle the Homeguard and 
they would respect her after this, but he couldn't help his desire to be 
there.  He wished briefly he could catch a similar sight of Breezy, but he 
had no idea where the woman was.  Well, he would catch up with her after it 
was all over ^� after it was all over^�

"Okay Jack, let's move."

<tag Carina ... lead on!>

*Sabian*
*Day 16 - Early Morning*

From where the Dove and the Angel perched, they could see the entire 
exchange between the two women. Their unexpected burden of the unconscious 
Cyrus had slowed their progress and they hadn't planned for the fact that 
they had two of the most dangerous and notorious killers in the dragonlands 
on their tail.

They followed the kidnappers to the face of the mountain ridges. Silk moved 
along the face of the rock, her hands gliding gently over the surface. Then, 
she disappeared.

"Ingenious. I almost didn't see it. Whoever crafted that entrance was a true 
master." Sabian volunteered quietly. "I'll expect that the cave is filled 
with an intricate set of passages. The area was once abundant with ancient 
tribes, you know."

The Dove turned and sneered at him. "If you're finished, we'd better catch 
up before we lose them."

"Touchy, touchy, my revenge-ridden friend.  Give them a chance to get in a 
bit before we go plunging after them.  I'd rather keep surprise on our 
side."

Antwin breathed heavily through his nose, waited a minute, then they both 
rose and started in.  It was quite enjoyable if one took the time to admire 
the skill employed by both men.  It brought back the memory, briefly, of 
himself, and S'ron fighting off those Hellspawn, when he had first been 
trapped by this place.  Now a different sort of skill was being used, and he 
did take the second needed to admire the sight.

Two shadows crept along the inner tunnels of the cave.  Two shadows moved 
towards a destination that would prompt another test of skill.  A 
destination that offered the shadow of another kind, the shadow of death.  
But death no longer hovered in the back of Sabian's mind as it once had.  
After his father had died at the hands of the Assassin's guild, death had 
taken residence in his mind as a fear.  It had prompted him to a course he 
felt was safest.  Be the best killer and no one could force death upon you.  
But that had faded with time, and now he was here facing the prospect that 
he was looking forward to the chance that the old fear might be realized.

It was funny if you thought about it.  There was a kind of satisfaction, 
though, in the way this would all fall out.  He was with Dove, a man whom he 
had to respect, a man who had escaped his own grip in a time before, and 
facing two women who were rising stars in the world he lived in.  No matter 
what happened, it would be a satisfactory outcome and that thought cheered 
Sabian in a way nothing had in quite a while.

Two shadows crept to the edge of a larger cavern, where the women and their 
captives were.

"Time to play the game again." Sabian whispered to both Dove and himself.  
The bard looked at him and he smiled, quite happily.  Time to play the game 
again.  Astonishing as it was, the thought left him without fear of any 
kind, only a residual kind of glow at the expectation of it all.

<Tag Wil ... didn't know how you wanted to play this one out>

____________________________________
NRPG: Took a while to churn this one out.  :)

Submitted by Ben Tate

For

Galen,
Cyrus and Azhdeen,
T'rell,
and Sabian


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~>
Get great low international calling rates
from Net2Phone! Click Here!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/xnHDCB/kJXCAA/4ihDAA/w3MVlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/