Sorry Tristor, I tried to use symbols, but for some reason they don't show up when I update. Thanks for the info, Silverbane…
Chapter 6--The Unknowing Prey
Altos chanted softly, watching his scrying mirror carefully to see if it was working. Slowly images formed in the mirror.
"That is them, my husband, can we go after them? I want to kill them painfully," Glenna said.
"Patience, my sweet. Two paladins, a mage and a skilled warrior are not easy prey. We must plan our attack carefully," Altos said. "If we capture one then the others will come to us."
"Who will we take as bait?" Glenna asked eagerly.
"I believe the female Drow or paladin would be the best choice," Altos said thoughtfully.
"Why not the male Drow or paladin?" Glenna asked suspiciously.
"Jealous, my sweet?" Altos asked. Suddenly his eyes flared an evil red. "Remember who is the master here. Remember that I made you and I can destroy you just as easily."
Glenna shrank back. "Yes, master. I'm sorry, master," she said.
"That's better. We will need a distraction, so the one of the women can be seized," Altos muttered. He leaned closer to the mirror to examine the small parties' surroundings. He smiled suddenly. "I have it. They just have to ride a little bit further."
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Drizzt was startled when they exited the forest and were on the edge of an open sunny meadow.
"This was part of the forest too once, but there was a great battle here between two lords and their armies. It lasted nearly a year with no clear winner. Finally they agreed to a truce and they buried their fallen here. That was over a thousand years ago," Shandra said.
They entered the meadow and started across at a lazy walk. They were halfway across when Drizzt's horse stopped dead and shied. "Easy, what's the matter?" Drizzt asked, trying to sooth the beast.
Suddenly the horse stumbled and fell headlong, tossing Drizzt from it's back. Luckily Drizzt was able to roll and come back to his feet. He saw what had happened then and for an instant was too shocked to move.
Skeletal hands clutched at the horse's legs as it whinnied in distress and tried to get lose. More hands seized it, pulling and twisting. The horse let out a horrible cry and went limp.
"Drizzt! Behind you!" Kylia screamed.
Drizzt whirled, scimitars leaping into his hands just in time to lop of one skeleton's hand before it seized him. He chopped the second skeleton's leg off at the knee and it collapsed.
The ground itself seemed to be boiling as more undead began pulling themselves out of the ground and attacking.
Kylia was forced to leap of her terrified mounts back and it fled back the way they'd come. The minute her feet were on the ground she began to chant.
Using their paladin abilities Shandra and Tarion managed to turn some of the skeletons, but there was a lot of enemies.
Kylia was just about done with the spell when she felt a surge of magic from behind her then a strong, deathly cold hand clamped over her mouth. She was yanked backwards into a glowing portal she realized was a gate then it closed.
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Altos was very pleased by the ease of the capture. The army of skeletons had been a perfect distraction and the female was his. Keeping one hand over her mouth, he turned her to face him. "Ah, you are lovely, welcome to your new home, pretty one," he hissed.
Kylia saw the fangs and her eyes widened in dread. She tried to free herself, but the vampire was horribly strong.
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Suddenly the skeletons were just gone as if they never existed. Puzzled Drizzt, Shandra and Tarion looked around.
"Kylia's gone!" Drizzt exclaimed then he noticed a parchment on the ground where Kylia had been. He went over and picked it up. Opening it, he began to read.
"What's happened?" Shandra asked, seeing dread fill the Drow's eyes.
"Nothing good, believe me," Drizzt said grimly….
I'm back to cliffhangers again! R/R please!
