** CAP: Ce'Nedra awakens to find that she has been spirited away by the vulgar lizardmen to the Underworld. Just when all seems hopeless, her friend Daren shows up. Aparrently he had returned from town with the things he needed just in time to watch the evil mage capture Ce'Nedra with the serpentine soldiers. Luckily he somehow managed to link his own magic to the gate the mage used to transport himself and his captive. Once they are reunited in the underworld, however, Ce' and Daren find themselves in quite a fix, as just when they escape the evil mage, a daemon detect the use of living magic and begin attacking them. In the thick of it all, Daren has managed to cast a keyed gate back to the safety of the LOK keep and is now ordering our halfblood heroine to retreat. NOTE: I wrote a bit from Daren's point of view to complete the story. I have changed names and situations, improving it as I went along and changing it to my present style (as I first wrote this two years ago)**
The Underworld
"...as a full member of the guild I order you to go now! DO IT!!"
Around them, chaos ensued. Ce'Nedra yelped and grabbed Daren, narrowly avoiding a roaring fireball. She took a moment to look back and groaned. Despite his torn wings, the deamon was gaining on them fast.
"Now listen here, Daren," She growled, grabbing the front of his tunic. "don't you dare go pulling rank on me because you know it wont work. I won't leave here alone, you idiot!"
A shadow of uncertainty passed over his young features only to be replaced by determination.
Ce'Nedra groaned inwardly. It wasn't going to work.
His blue eyes flashed. Ce'Nedra imagined they would have matched her's a moment ago. Despite the deadly calm in his voice, she knew he meant it this time. "Don't argue with me Ce'Nedra. Like it or not, I am pulling rank." Daren placed a hand atop her head and pulled her down again as another fireball sped past. "Now take the gate and get out."
Ce'Nedra hesitated, staring helplessly at her friend. Until that moment
she had been able to deny leaving Daren behind, but with nearly every spell exausted they needed to get out.
She nodded grimly, her violet eyes meeting blue. "I'll go. Bout don't expect me to forgive you for making me do this."
Despite everything, Daren smiled, nodding his thanks. "Over there. Behind that quarry the magical flow is strongest. The energies down here are completely different than what this spell is built for but it's worth a try."
Ce'Nedra nodded, not trusting herself to words as she turned. Daren grabbed her arm, his piercing hawklike gaze was intense. "Ce'Nedra. If the spell works you'll have all of five seconds, if you're lucky, to get through. Clerical magic can't hold it's own in a place like this but you're training for the red robes - your energies are different. Don't hesitate Ce'. Get out." He sighed and looked out at the deamon. "You'll have to pass him to get to the quarry. I'll distract him, and then use my spell to get out.
He left unsaid the fact that he may not get out at all.
Ce'Nedra knew Daren well enough to know he was speaking as a friend now, despite his firm tone.
She nodded once more, offering a smile of encouragement. "I willexpect you to keep your word.
With that she turned and ran.
If there was one thing she did well it was running. Growing up in Qualinost she had loved to run for the sheer joy of it. The sun on her face, the wind in her hair. The intoxicating rush of evergreen smells and the grass as it flew by under her feet.
Only this time she wasn't enjoying it. "I can't disobey a direct order...the guild would never accept it!" She thought.
Twenty feet to the quarry.
The mind link she'd set with Daren flared with urgency, Ce'Nedra stopped and rolled, just in time to avoid a steak of white lightning. Ce'Nedra found it hard to pity the deamon as it let out an agonized roar.
Seems today is full of narrow misses. A wry voice said.
Ce'Nedra was on her feet and running in a second. The link flared again, only the danger wasnt hers. This time she spun to face deamon that was bearing down of Daren and sent a whirlwind of ice and water at him.
Easy for you to say, Daren. She thought back. Do you have any idea how hard it is to cast ice in this inferno?
A mental grunt was all the answer she got. Panic flared. 'Dear Gods, please give him strength.' She prayed.
Ten feet.
Suddenly a plan sprung out of her desperate thoughts and she stopped dead in her tracks.
The mind link flared again. He's coming after you again. I think he knows whats going on - Daren's thoughs suddenly became colored with panic. Ce'! What in the nine hells are you doing!? Go! He's coming after you!
Daren, you're my friend.
Ce' I- Ce'Nedra closed the link as she turned to face the deamon.
All at once, her ears were assaulted by tunderous sounds. Daren was unleashing nearly every spell on the deamon's back as it approached her attempting to slow it, somehow it appeared to have assimilated the style of attacks. She realized that Daren's attacks were no longer effective. All the more reason to do this.
Ce'Nedra fingered the leather archer band on her left wrist. She could hear Daren yelling out as he began to run towards them, but she knew he was too far away and so did he. Apparently the deamon did too and had no plans of giving up his quarry now. She knew he wouldn't kill her, only the gods knew why, but Daren was unimportant.
'E'li come to my aid this day.' She prayed.
The deamon was no more than five strides away. Now.
Ce'Nedra ignited her spell. Instantly, a shield of glittering violet snapped up, encasing the deamon and her together. She knew there wasn't enough of her strength left to cast this from the outside. One wrong move could bring the entire cavern down on them.
Realizing the threat, the deamon reared up, his undirected magic attacks struck the shield at all points, rattling Ce'Nedra to the bone as she struggled to maintain the spell.
Her face set in grim resolve, Ce'Nedra consentrated all of the power she could pull in. Her legs weakened and threatened to buckled under her but she stubbornly called upon the aincent words of magic. Tendrils of violet magic reached out, entwining its fingers around the deamon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ce'! NO!" Daren yelled. Dismay and fear of losing her gripped his chest, yet he was powerless to stop it. The distance was too great between them, yet he still ran. He had been a student of magic long enough to know the tolls a spell of this size could take on a human. Even from this far away he could feel the eerie tingle of magical energies emenating from Ce'Nedra. The deamon thrashed wildly against her containment spell but to no avail. He resigned himself to what would happen. She would hear nothing, see nothing, but the magic she wove. Her entire being was committed to the fufillment of the spell.
Despite the fact that he had dedicated his entire life to magic, that was the one thing that repulsed him about it. The almost human awareness that magic took on once past the break point of the spell. The point where the caster was completely pulled into the spell with no hope of escaping the magic except to complete it. Daren knew that at this point the magic would be pushing itself, pulling energies from the caster relentlessly without care for her well being, tapping into the caster's very life energy if needed.
Daren staggered at that thought. 'Dear Gods' The realization struck him like lightning.
Without further thought, Daren closed his eyes and reached out with his magic for the mental link Ce' had initiated and then shut down just moments earlier. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally found a faint trace of it and grabbed it, sending his own energy reserve along to her.
"Please don't let me be too late."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of a sudden, Ce'Nedra felt faint. She desperately reached out for more power, panic rising as she realized that the spell was now turning to her life energy for sustinence to complete itself.
Suddenly, she felt the mind link to Daren flare into being again, surprise followed an abrupt influx of energy. Ce'Nedra smiled to herself. Now, with enough energy, and the young mage spoke her command. Her ringing voice obediently followed by a soundless explosion as the pent up forces released in a violent torrent of fire in a soundless explosion.
Daren looked up just in time to see Ce'Nedra's violet dome glow with a moment of blinding intensity as the ground shook violently. He tentatively touched the lines of the spell with his magic and was astounded to discover its deliberate intricacy. With the spell ended, the traces began to fade into obscurity but he didn't care.
The sparkling dome faded into nothingness, flickering irritatedly at not being dismissed in the proper fasion. Daren had to remind himself to breathe as he rushed forward.
All traces of the deamon was gone. Ce'Nedra's fire had completely incinerated it.
A faint flicker of light caught his eye. Not five feet away, a gate opened like a whirlpool standing upright. Daren recognized the familiar violet tinge to its energies and lying nearby was Ce'Nedra.
Daren nearly leapt for joy but the impending danger of their present location kept him quiet, lest they be heard. Rushing over to Ce' he gathered her limp form up and, with what little energy he had, took up the strand that linked her to the gate so it couldn't drain her anymore.
The gate flickered, somehow trying to rebel against the exchange of power sources when it brightened to a deep blue. Daren could feel someone on the other side lending their own spell to stabilize it.
He looked down at the half-elf in his arms, amazed. After being the center of a firestorm like that, there wasn't a singed fiber on her. Her breathing was shallow, but it was there.
"Hang on Ce'." He mumbled, adding his gift to keep her lifeline stable. "You'll be alright. You still have a big lecture coming on following orders."
Her eyelids fluttered open. She regarded him for a moment with those glorious violet eyes that seemed to have the stars themselves in them despite the haze that was in them. "I'll hold you to that." She mumbled groggily.
Unable to hide it, Daren smiled. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."
She coughed out a laugh and returned the smile, before her eyes slid shut again.
Daren wished she would open her eyes again; just to know she was really alright. He smiled to himself, even half dead she could captivate him in that timeless gaze.
Feverently he hoped he was right as, checking the gate one last time, he stepped through to emerge within the safety of the guild Keep and it's healers on the other side.
The Underworld
"...as a full member of the guild I order you to go now! DO IT!!"
Around them, chaos ensued. Ce'Nedra yelped and grabbed Daren, narrowly avoiding a roaring fireball. She took a moment to look back and groaned. Despite his torn wings, the deamon was gaining on them fast.
"Now listen here, Daren," She growled, grabbing the front of his tunic. "don't you dare go pulling rank on me because you know it wont work. I won't leave here alone, you idiot!"
A shadow of uncertainty passed over his young features only to be replaced by determination.
Ce'Nedra groaned inwardly. It wasn't going to work.
His blue eyes flashed. Ce'Nedra imagined they would have matched her's a moment ago. Despite the deadly calm in his voice, she knew he meant it this time. "Don't argue with me Ce'Nedra. Like it or not, I am pulling rank." Daren placed a hand atop her head and pulled her down again as another fireball sped past. "Now take the gate and get out."
Ce'Nedra hesitated, staring helplessly at her friend. Until that moment
she had been able to deny leaving Daren behind, but with nearly every spell exausted they needed to get out.
She nodded grimly, her violet eyes meeting blue. "I'll go. Bout don't expect me to forgive you for making me do this."
Despite everything, Daren smiled, nodding his thanks. "Over there. Behind that quarry the magical flow is strongest. The energies down here are completely different than what this spell is built for but it's worth a try."
Ce'Nedra nodded, not trusting herself to words as she turned. Daren grabbed her arm, his piercing hawklike gaze was intense. "Ce'Nedra. If the spell works you'll have all of five seconds, if you're lucky, to get through. Clerical magic can't hold it's own in a place like this but you're training for the red robes - your energies are different. Don't hesitate Ce'. Get out." He sighed and looked out at the deamon. "You'll have to pass him to get to the quarry. I'll distract him, and then use my spell to get out.
He left unsaid the fact that he may not get out at all.
Ce'Nedra knew Daren well enough to know he was speaking as a friend now, despite his firm tone.
She nodded once more, offering a smile of encouragement. "I willexpect you to keep your word.
With that she turned and ran.
If there was one thing she did well it was running. Growing up in Qualinost she had loved to run for the sheer joy of it. The sun on her face, the wind in her hair. The intoxicating rush of evergreen smells and the grass as it flew by under her feet.
Only this time she wasn't enjoying it. "I can't disobey a direct order...the guild would never accept it!" She thought.
Twenty feet to the quarry.
The mind link she'd set with Daren flared with urgency, Ce'Nedra stopped and rolled, just in time to avoid a steak of white lightning. Ce'Nedra found it hard to pity the deamon as it let out an agonized roar.
Seems today is full of narrow misses. A wry voice said.
Ce'Nedra was on her feet and running in a second. The link flared again, only the danger wasnt hers. This time she spun to face deamon that was bearing down of Daren and sent a whirlwind of ice and water at him.
Easy for you to say, Daren. She thought back. Do you have any idea how hard it is to cast ice in this inferno?
A mental grunt was all the answer she got. Panic flared. 'Dear Gods, please give him strength.' She prayed.
Ten feet.
Suddenly a plan sprung out of her desperate thoughts and she stopped dead in her tracks.
The mind link flared again. He's coming after you again. I think he knows whats going on - Daren's thoughs suddenly became colored with panic. Ce'! What in the nine hells are you doing!? Go! He's coming after you!
Daren, you're my friend.
Ce' I- Ce'Nedra closed the link as she turned to face the deamon.
All at once, her ears were assaulted by tunderous sounds. Daren was unleashing nearly every spell on the deamon's back as it approached her attempting to slow it, somehow it appeared to have assimilated the style of attacks. She realized that Daren's attacks were no longer effective. All the more reason to do this.
Ce'Nedra fingered the leather archer band on her left wrist. She could hear Daren yelling out as he began to run towards them, but she knew he was too far away and so did he. Apparently the deamon did too and had no plans of giving up his quarry now. She knew he wouldn't kill her, only the gods knew why, but Daren was unimportant.
'E'li come to my aid this day.' She prayed.
The deamon was no more than five strides away. Now.
Ce'Nedra ignited her spell. Instantly, a shield of glittering violet snapped up, encasing the deamon and her together. She knew there wasn't enough of her strength left to cast this from the outside. One wrong move could bring the entire cavern down on them.
Realizing the threat, the deamon reared up, his undirected magic attacks struck the shield at all points, rattling Ce'Nedra to the bone as she struggled to maintain the spell.
Her face set in grim resolve, Ce'Nedra consentrated all of the power she could pull in. Her legs weakened and threatened to buckled under her but she stubbornly called upon the aincent words of magic. Tendrils of violet magic reached out, entwining its fingers around the deamon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ce'! NO!" Daren yelled. Dismay and fear of losing her gripped his chest, yet he was powerless to stop it. The distance was too great between them, yet he still ran. He had been a student of magic long enough to know the tolls a spell of this size could take on a human. Even from this far away he could feel the eerie tingle of magical energies emenating from Ce'Nedra. The deamon thrashed wildly against her containment spell but to no avail. He resigned himself to what would happen. She would hear nothing, see nothing, but the magic she wove. Her entire being was committed to the fufillment of the spell.
Despite the fact that he had dedicated his entire life to magic, that was the one thing that repulsed him about it. The almost human awareness that magic took on once past the break point of the spell. The point where the caster was completely pulled into the spell with no hope of escaping the magic except to complete it. Daren knew that at this point the magic would be pushing itself, pulling energies from the caster relentlessly without care for her well being, tapping into the caster's very life energy if needed.
Daren staggered at that thought. 'Dear Gods' The realization struck him like lightning.
Without further thought, Daren closed his eyes and reached out with his magic for the mental link Ce' had initiated and then shut down just moments earlier. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally found a faint trace of it and grabbed it, sending his own energy reserve along to her.
"Please don't let me be too late."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of a sudden, Ce'Nedra felt faint. She desperately reached out for more power, panic rising as she realized that the spell was now turning to her life energy for sustinence to complete itself.
Suddenly, she felt the mind link to Daren flare into being again, surprise followed an abrupt influx of energy. Ce'Nedra smiled to herself. Now, with enough energy, and the young mage spoke her command. Her ringing voice obediently followed by a soundless explosion as the pent up forces released in a violent torrent of fire in a soundless explosion.
Daren looked up just in time to see Ce'Nedra's violet dome glow with a moment of blinding intensity as the ground shook violently. He tentatively touched the lines of the spell with his magic and was astounded to discover its deliberate intricacy. With the spell ended, the traces began to fade into obscurity but he didn't care.
The sparkling dome faded into nothingness, flickering irritatedly at not being dismissed in the proper fasion. Daren had to remind himself to breathe as he rushed forward.
All traces of the deamon was gone. Ce'Nedra's fire had completely incinerated it.
A faint flicker of light caught his eye. Not five feet away, a gate opened like a whirlpool standing upright. Daren recognized the familiar violet tinge to its energies and lying nearby was Ce'Nedra.
Daren nearly leapt for joy but the impending danger of their present location kept him quiet, lest they be heard. Rushing over to Ce' he gathered her limp form up and, with what little energy he had, took up the strand that linked her to the gate so it couldn't drain her anymore.
The gate flickered, somehow trying to rebel against the exchange of power sources when it brightened to a deep blue. Daren could feel someone on the other side lending their own spell to stabilize it.
He looked down at the half-elf in his arms, amazed. After being the center of a firestorm like that, there wasn't a singed fiber on her. Her breathing was shallow, but it was there.
"Hang on Ce'." He mumbled, adding his gift to keep her lifeline stable. "You'll be alright. You still have a big lecture coming on following orders."
Her eyelids fluttered open. She regarded him for a moment with those glorious violet eyes that seemed to have the stars themselves in them despite the haze that was in them. "I'll hold you to that." She mumbled groggily.
Unable to hide it, Daren smiled. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."
She coughed out a laugh and returned the smile, before her eyes slid shut again.
Daren wished she would open her eyes again; just to know she was really alright. He smiled to himself, even half dead she could captivate him in that timeless gaze.
Feverently he hoped he was right as, checking the gate one last time, he stepped through to emerge within the safety of the guild Keep and it's healers on the other side.