A mind Game
"Holy mother of god!" Meeks gasped quietly and slapped her hand over her mouth as Dran, Sindel and two other clerics stalked by the small room that she and her team were hidden in. After Nightshade had so craftily unlocked everybody from their shackles, the crew had darted out of the room and had taken refuge in a small chamber just around the corner. Luck abiding, it happened to be the chamber where all their belongings had been taken.
When the small band of clerics had passed, the team could breathe again. "Why didn't we just run instead of hiding in here like sitting ducks?" Pryzma asked, keeping her voice down so that the clerics next door wouldn't hear any commotion coming from outside. Elyxya looked around the room and began gathering her belongings, "Sure Pryzma, and run right into Dran and the others!" She said sarcastically, picking up her scimitar and clutching it tightly; Pryzma pursed her lips and nodded, "You have a point there." She decided and got to her own retrieval of goods. As quietly as possible, the entire gang scooped up their things and got ready to go. "Where's my packsack?" Nightshade asked with a pout; she scanned the room once more and the others mimicked her. The bag was gone; "Those jerks probably took it cause it was full of goodies." She said with a deep frown. Nightshades definition of goodies' was; good lock pics, stone-to-flesh dust bags, knickknacks she had stolen along the way, and other items that might have come in handy during her adventure. Unfortunately for her, now was not the time to mourn; the team had to get moving as quickly as possible.
The clerics' voices in the other room began to grow loud and angry, it was time for the group of warriors to get going! "Let's go!" Will urged, creeping out of the small room and into the hallway. The team followed him around the corner just ahead and the they found themselves back within the hallway of cleric bed chambers, where they had all been paralyzed and captured a few moments earlier. Wordlessly, the crew hurried through the corridor, unassailed this time. "Why didn't those mean clerics attack us again?" Meeks asked, catching her breath and leaning up against a wall once the crew had reached the place where lay the bodies of the two dead mages. Masoj shook his head and looked fearfully down at the bodies, "They probably thought we were Dran and the other priests; I honestly don't think they would have jumped their leader." He said softly; his eyes searched the area nervously, Masoj was not a fan of the feeling of being tracked down.
"Maybe we should go the opposite way we came from on teleporting here." Elyxya suggested warily, tugging on Meeks' wrist. Nightshade nodded quickly, her visage was somewhat pained, "Good idea. I really don't like being so close to where Dran and the others are; we better move fast, I don't know if they'll be coming back this way." She said and began marching down the staircase just ahead. The group followed in her footsteps and found themselves in the large room with two windows; outside, dusk was settling. The little team tore down the hallway they had previously appeared in at top speed. They stopped short, falling over each other, when the hallway branched off to a room filled with shifting walls. The golden-hued walls moved back and forth, appearing and disappearing as they pleased; it was impossible to tell was beyond them. "Somebody care to explain what's going on here?" Elyxya asked back at her squad, holding her arms out at her sides in a protective manner to hold her team back. Behind her, three groans sounded -- those of the team's mages; "Dran doesn't play nice." Pryzma commented, her voice filled with stress. San-Raal came up to stand beside Elyxya, and the two looked out at the constantly shifting room, "It's an illusionary maze! You all realize, of course, that we might be here for a while." He said grimly; Elyxya gave the mage a discouraged look and San-Raal patted her hand in response. At their side, Meeks was examining the strange maze with a twinkle in her eyes, "I'll go first if you guys don't mind." She opted happily and started forward. At that moment, Masoj's hands grasped her shoulders and roughly pulled her back, "I don't think so, love. For one thing, we don't know what could be lurking in there. It would be rather sad to lose a fighter at this point in our quest...and not to mention painful for some of us." He said with a hint of kindness in his usually cold voice.
"Wait a minute, friends!" Will gasped from beside Nightshade and Pryzma; he was fumbling about his robes for something. The team looked at him for a moment, and then Pryzma got bored, "What are you looking for?" She asked the cleric dully. Will pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his robes, the edges of the thing were burned off, "This! It's from way back when we had just started our adventure. You all remember the secret passage that Nightshade had found right after we had freed that little chained halfling? Well, I found a map there and kept it -- maybe it's what we're looking for." He said optimistically, his dreary mood receding now that he had made himself useful. Masoj was not impressed, "A map?" He asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at Will, "Will, the walls shift constantly!" He added. The team's cleric shook his head at the lithe drow, "Oh for god's sake, wizard! Think a little; perhaps there's a pattern to follow!" He retorted smugly, proud of himself for having thwarted Masoj's intellect; beside Masoj, Meeks felt the mage's muscles tighten -- she giggled, Masoj was so cute when he was mad!
Non-chalantly, Will smiled at Masoj and took a look at his map, "There's no indication as to what this map pertains to, but I'm sure it's worth a try!" He said and showed the paper to his teammates. The map was a blur of barely distinguishable directions and the party seemed doubtful; there was no sense running into something like the illusionary maze and getting trapped there like a bunch of fools. It was silent as the crew examined the map and then Masoj, still frustrated, objected once more, "Oh please! It's crazy to think that this is the right map; do you think Dran Draggore keeps an illusionary maze around here all the time?" He cried impatiently, "Of course not! The only reason why it's here is because we're here; it's common sense!" He argued, glaring at Will. Will's bottom lip quivered and he fumbled to find a response to Masoj's stinging words, "Well..." He trailed off, gesturing with his hand uselessly, "...I suppose you're right." He breathed almost inaudibly, lowering his gaze.
"Ha!" Masoj cried, smiling proudly at the crew; they didn't smile back. Masoj understood what he had done; he had ruined the team's hope for an easy way out, and all that in an effort to show his worth. The wizard's smile faded and he hung his head, "Sorry." He said meekly and looked over at Meeks; the warrior was smiling, "You're smart!" She whispered to him, even though the whole team heard it. Masoj exhaled loudly. "I'm sure he meant well, people." San-Raal said from beside Elyxya, "He may have saved us from making a pretty stupid move." He smirked at his fellow mage and, to the side, Will rolled his eyes.
They all stared at the illusionary maze for a while before daring to speak again. "I really think we should get in there now." Nightshade urged, her voice still tense; she kept looking back at the hallway they had emerged from, "Like, now." She restated. The words took their effect and the team ventured forward cautiously. Before them, the walls moved from side to side and disappeared at intervals. "What if one of them hits us?" San-Raal asked, eyeing the shifting structures suspiciously; he sidestepped into Meeks who had decided to go the opposite way as he. Pryzma jumped up at his side, "I don't know! I wouldn't be surprised if it hurt, though." She said with an audible gulp. The more the team moved forward, the more they came to realize that the room was enormous -- and that the walls did indeed follow a pattern, making the group's passage a little easier. Will's voice sounded far off when he spoke, for a wall had appeared directly between him and the rest of the team, "I told you there would be a pattern!" He cheered; the wall that blocked him disappeared and he could join the team again. Masoj muttered something.
"This isn't too bad! We can do this!" Elyxya called happily, dragging San-Raal by the hand along with her. And then, the inevitable happened; three figures appeared along with the walls. "I knew we wouldn't be alone!" Masoj whined, trying to pick a spot where the walls never appeared or moved to, a place where he could fight without worrying about the maze's incessant shifting. The rest of the team looked for a similar spot; all except Will, Meeks and Elyxya who continued to move around. As the figures came into view, approaching stealthily and swiftly, they could be identified as mages -- all three of them. Will, Elyxya and Meeks tried to keep a safe enough distance from them to then ambush them when the opportunity came. The mages separated and went to the left, right and center; so did the team's mages.
Pryzma blinked when a green robed wizard came right for her and shot a fireball at her. The drowess yelped and jumped to the side, giving away her safe' position and puting herself in jeopardy amongst the shifting walls. "Innuend, Phias!" She yelled back at the mage who came after her; she launched a fireball of her own. The wizard snapped his fingers and disappeared, to then reappear directly in front of Pryzma; the woman's eyes widened and she gasped, drawing her sword out from its scabbard in fumbling haste. The wizard drew a slender dagger from his robes and jumped Pryzma; the two hit the floor in a heap, and Pryzma thought it odd that a wizard would so deliberately engage in physical combat. Coming up slowly behind the two, was Will; struggling with the shifting walls.
The wizard launched a volley of magical missiles at San-Raal, the drow snapped his hands out and created a wall of force; the magical missiles dissipated into the wall and gave San-Raal a small amount of time to counteract the other mage's spell. He waved his hands in an intricate pattern and focused his attention on his red-robed opponent; when he would cast his spell, his wall would disappear and he would be once again exposed. Unfortunately for San-Raal, his opponent was no fool, he knew what spell the drow was preparing; he spat sharp words and pointed at San-Raal's magical wall, a disintegrate spell! The wall crumbled to dust and San-Raal fought to keep his attention on the mage; why did he pick such a long spell?! The other wizard was coming on extremely fast!
The third of Darkmoon's wizards was not so lucky. When he headed for the center, where Masoj waited, he was greeted by two extra opponents. He hurried to cast an icestorm spell that would affect all three of his nemesis, but the others were quicker. Meeks and Nightshade appeared from behind a shifting wall and tackled the wizard to the ground, disrupting his incantation; sword and halberd bit into the mage's flesh. Masoj clapped proudly as the mage's lifeless body slumped to the ground.
Pryzma grabbed a handful of her opponent's green robes and pulled him off of her, grunting with the effort. She drew up her sword and plunged it down, hoping for a quick kill; the other mage's dagger came up and block the swipe, deflecting Pryzma's sword out wide. The deflection gave the other mage a chance to get to his feet, which he did...but not for long. Pryzma curled herself up into a ball and held up her sword in defense as she waited for the mage to cast another spell at her, but instead, she heard a gurgling sound and the mage collapsed atop her. "Ugh!" She groaned as she pushed the body off of her and looked up to see Will's smiling visage. "You're most welcome, Pryzma." Will said evenly.
"Elyxya!" San-Raal cried, catching a fleeting glimpse of the warrior's flaming hair somewhere amongst the nearest shifting wall; his spell was coming to an end! The other wizard turned, in a slip of mind, just as Elyxya appeared behind him. San-Raal thanked the gods for having given him this chance; he completed his spell and directed its energy towards his inattentive opponent. The mage noticed his mistake too late and began to suffer his rather dramatic death; Elyxya and San-Raal both watched, one in awe and the other in pride, as the mage's flesh burned from his bones and crumbled to the ground along with the bones themselves a short time after. Elyxya stalked over to San-Raal and hugged him tightly, "Effective, but, too much show." She commented and nuzzled the mage's ear.
The team gathered amongst the predictable walls and made sure everyone was alright. They forced themselves to hurry along the maze, hoping that no other impediments would come up and they would finally find a safe place to rest for the night. The mages needed to study and the warriors wanted their rest. When the group reached the other end of the enormous illusionary maze, the whole thing disappeared at their backs, "It's all gone!" Meeks cried almost disappointedly, noticing that even the three mages' bodies were gone. The group looked back from where they had come and beheld the large empty room that now loomed there, "Oh... now that's frustrating." Will gasped. He turned, as did the rest of the group, and faced a staircase going up. "Notice we run into a lot of staircases?" Elyxya commented, a bit annoyed at the thought. No one bothered to answer and the group ascended the carpeted stairs.
At the top was another mage, but Elyxya and Meeks disposed of him rather quickly. Beyond, there was another series of ten clerical chambers; the team knew better not to strut through the hall again. "We can't just return downstairs, we've done all we can down there." Elyxya stated quietly, seeing the problem. Meeks frowned, "But if we walk through there, they'll jump us like last time." She whined back. "How about we fight them one way or the other?" Nightshade said finally; the group looked back at her in curiosity, "Well, if we have to fight them, then why not sooner than later?" She said matter-of-factly. The group, with difficulty, accepted the thief's logic and Will cleared his throat to call attention, "Let's just go. Pick a room and just go." He said apocalyptically. Every team member drifted off to a room and knocked on the door, except Meeks who just barged in; there were no answers. "There's no one in here!" Meeks declared, coming out of the empty bed chamber. The others opened the doors and stood ready for a surprise attack, but no such thing occurred.
"Maybe they're guest chambers!" San-Raal suggested, somewhat perplexed. Pryzma came up beside him and yawned, "That's just as well. I'm tired and I want some rest; if we keep the doors shut, I think we'll be alright for the night." She declared to everyone. The group agreed and picked chambers. "I don't feel right sleeping up here; I'm so paranoid that clerics will come and deliver us to Dran and Sindel." Elyxya said quietly to San-Raal as the two stepped into the chamber just across from Nightshade's. San-Raal closed the door behind them and faced Elyxya, "We'll be fine." He said with a reassuring smile. Elyxya looked around the quaint little room, "Privacy, at last!" She said triumphantly and looked up at San-Raal; she rested a hand on the mage's slender chest and drew closer to him, "Did you really want to sleep?" She asked him with a childish pout. San-Raal's pupils dilated and his heart raced, "N-not if you didn't intend on doing so." He said stiffly. Elyxya smiled and took San-Raal's spellbook from his slender hands to then deposit it on a small chair off to the side, "Good." She cooed.
***
To the entire team, sleeping or not, came a telepathic message. An innocent, familiar female voice pleaded loud and clear in the group's mind:
"You've all come back!" She gasped, "I am being held prisoner and I need your help, follow my directions and you will find me!" The message said.
Will, awake with a guilty conscience, recognized the voice all too clearly, "Izzy!" He cried. Something had to be done!