The Story

awww. have a safe flight

Not a happy night for the team, they don't seem to catch a break. Great James, an interesting dilemma I've been trying not to think about - How ARE we gonna gather all these books?

Once again, sorry for the long delay - August turned into a busy month! Here is my contribution to our story...

Snapped awake by the shuddering earth around her, Raisa sat up sharply and tried to make sense of her surroundings. A few seconds ago, she had been asleep, dreaming of Sastre – she had dreamed it was burning again, her palace engulfed in flames and now, her eyes had opened onto this terrifying scene. Scores of disks were flying down towards her and seemed to be blasting the ground with shattering force.

“Quick, pixie! Move! Now!” Before she had chance to form a reply, Dulin had grasped Raisa around the arm and was dragging her back towards the mouth of the cave that now offered only minimal protection.

“What’s happening? What are they? Why are they attacking?” said Raisa, words tumbling on top of one another.

“That, for once, is a very good question,” Dulin replied, still unable to pass up the chance to lash out with a jibe. “Stay here. Leave this one to Stacius and me.” Now fully awake, Raisa felt the sting of annoyance at being relegated to the role of spectator. She felt her skin heat and knew it was changing hue to match her darkening mood.

“I will NOT wai –“ but Raisa’s words were stopped in her mouth by the sight of Stacius running full pelt towards her, armour clanking.

“Backlighters!” he puffed, “Recognised them straight away when they got closer…nearly took my arm off…but not before I took two of them out with my axe.” Raisa shot a look over his shoulder and saw the still steaming corpses of two humanoid creatures cleaved to the ground. “We have to get out of here…too many to fight. Raisa! Where’s the book of Grud?”

Raisa looked about her wildly but couldn’t see the tome anywhere. A loud explosion shook the ground right in front of the cave, knocking both Dulin and Stacius off their feet.

“Quickly!” snapped Dulin, dusting herself off.

“I don’t know!” said Raisa, who remembered nothing of the book since Grud’s disappearance last night. “It might be still…” The ground shattered inches from where they sheltered. There was silence, followed by an ominous splintering sound. Dulin looked up sharply.

“The cave!” she shouted. “It’s about to collapse. Move!” Scrambling out of the cave the rock below which they had been standing only moments ago, fell to the ground, showering them in dust and rubble. “Well, it doesn’t look like we’ll be going in there again, not that we ever intended to in the first place!” Dulin shot Raisa a piercing look. She still hadn’t forgiven her for making them trail after her when she had accidentally lost her way in there. The vision of Primavero; it had been so real!

The three of them stood together on the open land as the ground continued to shatter around them. The disks were moving in thick and fast, each carrying two Backlighters. Many of them were now on the ground, closing in on them. All were armed.

“We can’t stand here,” said Stacius, “Raisa. You were the last one with the book of Grud, the one he entrusted with it. Think! Where did you put it down before you went to sleep?” Raisa looked over to where they had camped at the edge of the forest. Then she remembered.

“I think I put it in the hollow of that tree – just over there where we set up camp,” said Raisa, pointing across what had now become a battlefield of enormous potholes and fallen rocks.

“We have to get it back! It’s the only way out of this.”

“How are we supposed to do that, exactly?” said Dulin, crouching to avoid another blast from a flying disk.

“Maybe like this?” said a disembodied but now familiar voice. The ground around them began to shimmer like a passing heat wave. Raisa looked around and saw to her amazement that Dulin and Stacius were dissolving before her eyes. She put out her arm in front of her and saw that it too had disappeared. All three were now invisible!

“Grud?” said Raisa.

“Never mind how, let’s go now. Who knows how long this might last,” said the voice of Stacius. Raisa heard the clunk of armour move away from her and running straight into the battlefield, followed the sound. She could feel the terrifying blasts of energy erupting inches from her, as they shot from the disks. ‘What do they want with us and how did they find us?’ thought Raisa as she ran. Even though she was invisible, the chances of being hit were still very high. She ran past a small group of Backlighters. Each had a short sword. One of them turned as she ran past and looked straight at her. Raisa felt her blood freeze in her veins. He looked as if he had heard something or maybe felt the breeze of her movement, but made no further reaction. Raisa felt the adrenalin surge and picked up speed. Breathless, she arrived at their camp, unsure if the others had arrived with her or if she had got there first. The noise of the enemy’s fire had subsumed the clank of Stacius’ armour.

“Well? Find it!” Despite the demanding tone, Raisa was for once, glad to hear Dulin’s voice. Raisa bent down to the tree she remembered and was relieved to see the edge of the dark volume sticking out of the hollow.

“Here!” Raisa stood up, the tome held firmly in her hands.

“Open it! Call for the map!” demanded Stacius from just behind her, his voice making her jump.

“Map!” tried Raisa, unsure what else to say. She snapped her fingers. The open pages began to shimmer. Words and pictures rearranged themselves, reformed and merged again. When the movement stopped, Raisa saw in acute detail the image of a desert and highlighted by large red circles were all the books that had scattered there. “Amazing!” she said. Even on Sastre, there was nothing to match this. Ahura was one very clever computer. Raisa tried moving her hand away from the page and the page responded by zooming out to a wider view. The view now showed their exact location to the east of the desert area. It would be a long journey, but by the evidence of the number of books there, this was clearly where the map wanted them to go and at least it was away from here, away from the Backlighters.

“Look!” Raisa held out the book for Dulin and Stacius, wherever they were. She felt the pressure on the edge of the open page. One of them at least was touching it. “I think we need to cross to the west – into that desert there. Look how many books there are scattered across the dunes!” Raisa heard Stacius’ familiar sigh.

“A long journey,” he said, “but our invisibility will at least give us cover for now. Quite incredible. He might be annoying, but at least he’s always there when we need him to get us out of a fix.”

“Keep your voice down!” shushed Dulin. “The Backlighters are everywhere. We are not safe here. Even though they can’t see us, they can hear us!”

“Why are they trying to kill us this time?” said Raisa.

“The same reason as the last time. They want the books or at least, the knowledge the books will give them,” said Stacius.

“And from knowledge comes power,” said Dulin. Her voice sounded resigned. Raisa thought about the books. She knew that they were important but she had underestimated just how important. No wonder Tegraine was so keen to get them back.

The ground shook again. Raisa fell against the tree.

“Best get moving!” said Stacius. “Which way, Raisa?” Raisa turned to see the items of their camp appearing to move by themselves onto the transport disk. Dulin was, as always, practical. Distracted by the moving items, Raisa’s moment of illusory fascination was broken by the sight of two Backlighters running towards them. They must have seen the transport disk and were approaching fast. Raisa glanced quickly at the book and oriented the page to the west.

“This way!” she whispered. “Quickly! Run!”

Still unable to see her companions, Raisa took off at pace, the sounds of war ringing in her ears, hoping that Dulin and Stacius were with her. She had no idea for how long they would be invisible. Just as she was forming the question in her mind, she was distracted by another sound, one that could easily be lost in the furor around them. It was the tinkling of bells.

‘Thank you, Grud,’ she mouthed silently to the air.

‘You’re welcome.’ The voice dissolved in the wind. Slowly, as if rising out of a fog, the image of running armour, now spattered with mud started to materialize just in front of her.

Sorry guys, was not my intention to take this long to get back here. (Trying to plan a wedding, useless at it - any tips?)

OMG that was a fantastic piece fruitbat - i was glued to the screen. Now lets see - moving west into the desert area... I WILL write a piece tonight Just try and stop me life. look for my reply tomorrow afternoon (i will hit the library internet to upload when my man goes back home in the afternoon) Let me think now...

Yeah, my wedding, thanks fruitbat. Spending ages with mother making flowers and invites, talking to the large amount of brothers and sisters that i would be inheriting as family and getting there ideas - so yeah, fancy paper ribbon and stuff i'm pretty much neck deep in.

Sorry, did write piece that night - got stalled by my man (he wanted me to meet his older brother who had come down for the weekend) finally got to the internet. Here's the piece. Note there's a lot more to it. Here's the plan. Dulin has indeed taken off she's going to find these books get into an altercation with one of the books - they've landed near a shamans tree and a practicaly harmless but devilish little creature makes the return journey somewhat troublesome - will rejoin with you two -if you're still together - and will use Grud and tegraine to put this little guy back in book and Grud will take the books back to tegraine. That's dulins next part after this part but i can't say what happens back at camp. I was thinking you two write your next pieces based on whatevers happening your end i have my next bit and head back and we'll take it from there - if you two have had trouble and had to abandon camp that would ultimately change dulins actions when she gets back (which is fine) if you two are there and its still dark, that would work, if its daylight and im late that would work too - just thought i'd let you know what i was getting up to - did write the whole thing but it was way too long for a single piece so i cut it at an appropriate moment. (haven't written the actual arriving back at camp)

so, now you've heard me rambling, here's the piece.

Camp was a silent affair as each companion settled in watching their surrondings for any sin of the pursuing backlighters. Stacius, still geared for battle volunteered for first watch as Raisa prepared some of the unusually fruity food for an easy breakfast for morning something, she insisted, should be done every night to ration food and keep them organized in a sensible manner. Dulin laid outside the tent looking up at the unfamiliar sky. A dark brooding mood had overcome her with the days events and the thoughts of the work before them seemed to be an impossible insurmountable task.

The world grew dark as sleep came upon her and the walls of her old home grew around her, torches of purple light threw shadows at the marble floor, the high ceilings were hidden in shrouds of smoke this room was the one Dulin hated most of all yet she willingly entered it whenever her master was displeased. This is where her mind would be trained never to fail. Her master stood over her watching as Justucal inflicted his pain upon her. Hate bubbled inside of her and Dulin opened her eyes once more her body burning with the memories of failure. She sat up and took stock of her surroundings, sleep had not taken her for long, though Raisa had now made herself comfortable with the book of Grud laid besides her.

"Can you not sleep, Dulin?" Staicus' shadow loomed nearby.

"We're on the edge of the dessert that we need to search, there's a great many books to collect if we wish to get home."

"We all need rest."

"I neither need it nor desire it." Dulin got to her feet forcing Staicus to raise his head to continue the conversation.

"We cannot travel at night, too easily we can miss the items we are looking for or fall into one of the old traps."

"You cannot travel at night. I am a nigt elf, I work well in the dark."

"As an assasin, not a hunter of inanimate object that could have landed anywhere."

"We have the map," picking up the book as she spoke she snapped her fingers with the word the way Raisa had done then she looked at the drawf when nothing happened.

Staicus shook his head and taking the tomme of her repeated the motion in a clear voice, instantly the map sprung to life. He then pulled his hand back enlarging the area, they had travelled far in their invisible state, the dessert could now be reached within an easy distance, the map showed many books scattered in a line through it but it also showed a collection of three slighltly to the North of the dessert boundry.

"I can retrieve these before dawns first light." Dulin gestured to them.

"We need to stick together," Staicus frowned.

"Do you want to get home or not?!" Dulin snapped back. " I can fly there and back in no time, the pixie need never know until the morning and by then it will be done, we'll have three more checked off the list and we can continue with the others. It's pointless for us all to go off track when we need to be heading west."

"If you don't come back?"

"Do you doubt my abilities?" they glared at each other then Dulin looked away. "We both need to get home, the pixie needs more time to recover, you fight well master drawf she wil be safe with you nearby and I will hvae no need to take Grud with me. I have been examing the night sky while we have been here, the moon never changes it's posistion, i can use that to find my way back."

"I still think you're gonna find trouble but if my reason does not warn you then go. I only hope you are not digging a big cave with no support. Raisa is a strong, fiesty being and i would hate her to be my enemy for not stopping you."

Crouching on the floor Dulin began the spell that enabled the transformation, then with a final glance at Staicus took off North Keeping the trees edge underneath her and scouting the area for any danger that could destroy the camp in her absence.

I like Staicus thoughtfulness attacked by the plant life - who'd have thought! what a splendid idea James.

Seeing as though it's just Stacius and Raisa here, I wondered if it was time for another adventure underground?? Hope this fits or can be adapted to any other ideas you may have!


Raisa woke with a start. In her bleary state, it took her a few seconds to locate the direction of Stacius’ voice. She rose to her feet but what she saw nearly knocked her back down again. Stacius was standing a few feet away from the camp, his left foot caught in a vine, against which he was furiously pulling. His face, creased in an angry snarl, was outlined in a fine yellow powder, as if he had fallen into a large pot of mustard. Strangest of all, his axe was also caught up and appeared to be suspended between his hands and his front foot. If Raisa couldn’t see how serious the situation was, it would have been amusing.

Seeing her stand up, Stacius started bellowing.

“Well don’t just stand there. Help me!” Raisa ran over and began to pull at the vines around Stacius’ foot but every time she tugged, the vines tightened their grip. “Come on, come on! What are you doing back there?” he spat.

“I’m trying! The vines keep getting tighter,” she spat back. If anything, her efforts had only made things worse.

“My head,” groaned Stacius, “I feel as if I’m losing…” but that was all he managed. There was a loud crash as Raisa shifted her position just as Stacius fell backwards, missing her by inches. The vines began to twine across his chest.

“No!” Raisa shouted. “Stop!” But the vines ignored her and continued to wind their way around his torso and legs, binding him fast. Raisa saw the axe, still held by the vines. She grabbed at it, hoping against hope that it wasn’t held as fast as Stacius now appeared to be but no sooner had she taken hold of the wooden handle, the vines pulled back. Alarmed and curious, Raisa bent closer to examine the strange plant that seemed to have its own force. Before her eyes, beautiful purple flowers began to open. Raisa was transfixed by their vivid colours, each flower a slightly different shade. She sneezed violently as yellow dust rained down upon her. She began to feel dizzy, the ground looked the wrong way up. She felt something grab her around the wrist, something that slithered up her arms and around her shoulders. She was unable to move. She turned her head and saw Stacius, or rather, parts of him; the rest was turning green as the thick vines continued to bind him. Raisa stared at what she thought was the sky but when she blinked away the dust particles, she saw that she was facing the other way and not only that, the other way was opening up beneath her.

A loud crack shook the ground and the split widened. Raisa thought of the mountain where she had fought off the strange creature before it had sheared away beneath her feet. At least then she had been the right way up and also in panther form, with sharp claws and teeth. Now, a depleted pixie again, she was unable to defend herself or Stacius. She felt her stomach lurch as the vines creaked, suspending her by the wrists over an ever-deepening ravine. The pain in her shoulder reasserted itself.

“Hhurmphnmrrk!” The muffled sound beside her was Stacius, his mouth now covered in the vice-like vines. They were now the only things suspending them above a large hole that seemed to be deepening with every passing moment. Raisa hoped that the vines were strong enough to support them. The vines began to give. Her stomach gave another sickening lurch as they lowered them further into the cavern.

“Stacius!” she cried out, even though she knew that in his current condition, he would not be able to reply or help her.

Another creak and clumps of earth and dirt rained down upon them. Raisa looked up to see a ball of vines about Stacius’ size start to gather speed and fall towards her. Before she could cry out, she felt his entwined form hit her between the shoulders and together down they fell, the vines untangling like a many balls of string as they descended into the darkness.

Whump! Raisa felt the cool earth beneath her body. Although the fall had winded her, the vines had slowed her progress.

WHUMP!! She knew that this could only be Stacius, whose heavier weight had made a greater impact. She hoped the vines had helped to cushion the blow. When she heard a familiar groan, she felt a surge of relief. At least the fall hadn’t killed him. There was a chopping sound. Suddenly, the vines seemed to lose their power to hold them and began to weaken their grip. In the middle of a pile of twine and leaves, Stacius stood, axe in hand, his face creased in anger.

Raisa was about to speak but a strange vision stopped her words before they left her mouth. Several lights appeared to be moving towards them, getting brighter by the second, revealing that they were standing in some kind of burrow.

Dressed in a hooded cloak that matched the colour of their earthy surroundings, the figure reached out with a suspended glowing orb and held it above Raisa’s head.

“What are you?” it said.