*The bioroids closed in further, laughing and cackling evilly as they closed on the tight ring of heros.*
Shawn: I think we're in for it this time. These things almost remind me of something from back home...
Lina: Back home? You lived around creatures like these?
Shawn: Oh, uh, nevermind.
Bioroid: Stop your senseless talking and surrender. This is your last chance.
Sakana: First, tell us who sent you.
Bioroid: Bazaal.
Sakana: Just as I expected.
Bioroid: SURRENDER!
Avenger: I shall never surrender to an evil fiend like you!
*Avenger jumps at the Bioroid*
Reyunan: Avenger, no!
*The bioroid grabs Avenger by the neck and tosses him toward the wall like a rag doll*
Bioroid: *Chuckles* Anyone else want to try anything?
Ji'Tory: You bet we will! I'm never going to surrender to an evil bastard like Bazaal!
Bioroid: I beg to differ. ATTACK!
*The bioroids charge forward*

(Let me finish this after school is over. And, for those who don't know, this is Space Orca under a new name)

So you're Nature man now, eh Orca? Does that mean your character's name is the same as your screen name too? Be quite confusing if it was. And I think Shawn Templer wanted to do the Citadel fight, so talk with him first.

Drat, I had something planned....

Shawn quickly ducked into a side hallway, observing the Bio-roids. "Bazaal is getting desperate. He's afraid to lose to us and now he has brought these things here to finish us off."

Lina charged in and brought both of her blades down, the Bio-roid with lightning fast reflexes brings it's arm up and blocks the oncoming attack. Lina, stunned, is sent sprawling backwards into the wall. Sakana stands before on of the Bio-roids and holds his hands in front of him, he speaks a few words and lightning leaps from his hands and strikes the Bio-roid infront of him.

The Bio-roid stares at Sakana with it's cold red eyes, and brings it's arm up level with Sakana. A peice of the Bio-roid's for arm slides back, a low hum could be heard. Sakana stood their, enticed by the sound. The hum stopped and a red beam shot from the Bio-roid's arm, before it could reach Sakana, Shawn pushed him out of the way and took the laser in the arm.

All three Bio-roids look at Shawn, their eyes changing from a red to a green glow. Advance towards him, disregarding the others. Shawn looked up and was surrounded. //If we fight in here their is bound to be a lot of damage. If we fight out side, the I'll have room to manuver, but so will they.// Shawn looked around and saw the Bio-roid to his right was infront of the main balcany. Shawn grinned and ran at the Bio-roid, "I'LL TAKE MY CHANCES!!!" he screamed as he tackled the Bio-roid and they both fell off the balcany.


[NSP I'll write the rest later, I just got back from the Sick and Twisted Tour so i'm pretty beat, see ya.]

------------------
"I can become enraged like Vegeta, if i smile, run...................very fast."

"Semper Fi"

*The seven warriors, having just fought an insane wizard, seem to have enountered a local of the shadow dimension. The new stranger, who goes by the name Antestarr, raised more than the fair share of confusion and superstition in the warriors. Though Antestarr obviously is skilled in the dark arts of magic, he came before them in peace. They figured the least they could do was introduce themselves.*

"Well, this may sound odd to you," Ping said, "but we're actually from another dimension. We were going to our, uh, base, so to speak, when Bazaal, who is a powerful dark wizard that has devistated our world, transported us into this dimension. We're trying to find our way to a place we think we'll be able to go back into our dimension."

*Antestarr nodded his head in response. Ping went on.*

"Well, I'm Ping_Me. And over here is Scout, bug, and Pristine. The man you just relieved of his sickness is JK_Meteor. Now where's Kogi?"

*Kogi steps into the scene, his face trying to keep a barely hidden fire of anger from surfacing towards the newcomer. He was about to speak when Ping cut him off.*

"Ah, there he is. That person is Kogi and-Kogi? Where's Gebohq?"

"He's over there," Kogi replied quickly. "But I have something to say about-"

"Looks like Gebohq is conscious now," Ping interrupted.

*Gebohq was sitting upright, rubbing his forehead with one hand, and holding his back up with the other.*

"Where am I?" Gebohq said in a low voice. "And who's the new guy?"

"This is Antestarr," Ping said. "And Antestarr, this is Gebohq. Our leader."

*Antestarr walked over him and started to circle him, as if inspecting his worth. Finally, he stopped in front of Gebohq and spoke.*

"Not much of a leader, but I trust you all have good reason for choosing such a man."

"Ha!" bug replied. "bug!" Ping yelled at him. "Sorry," bug said.

"Well, we all better be going. Think you can walk Gebohq?" Ping said.

"Yeah, I think so," Gebohq replied.

*The eight now headed for Bazaal's fortress, Antestarr and Gebohq now heading the group, Pristine, Ping, JK, Scout, and bug in a big clump behind them, and Kogi, shuffling behind them, much like Gebohq had done when he fought in the Third War.*

------------------
"...life got complicated. Well I can't wait to see this through."
(Third Eye Blind)

->Gebohq<-

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited April 17, 2000).]

(I have been working on this post for a bit of time. Farely warned be thee, mortal.)


I hung a couple paces away from the main group. My feet ached with a dull pain from walking too far and carrying too much. I do not like this Antestarr, he is too shady for my liking. This Antestarr had joined the group a couple of hours previous, with his arrogant ways and silvery hair. I was distrusting all of them at that point. I felt isolated, alone. It's not a strange feeling to me by any means, but I felt I had found a kindred spirit in Gebohq, I really did. I finally felt less alone, then that party came and ruined it all. I was punted to the wayside, i had become second class to the rest of the party.

After being bombarded by new memory, and beginning to tell it to Gebohq, then being insanely pressured by the rest of the group to tell it, a little flame began in the back of my mind. I could hear whispers coming from it- They've cast you aside, Kogi. Go off on your own. You Do Not Need Them. The more I tried to put it out by thinking and meditating, the more it was fanned. The whispers became louder- They Are Just Using You. You Are Their Pawn. You Are Just KNOWLEDGE- to be thrown away once they've gotten what they want.

I formed the Patterns with the Sword- Crane Flight, Mount Fuji, Sunrise on The Marsh, trying again to dispell this fire, channeling it into the sword, to be dispersed at the strike. The hot red ball, that used the small flame, was being wound tighter and tighter. To be honest, I hate menial jobs. Where I come from, I am a warrior. Warriors fight, and guard, and do honorable things. There is a strict code of honor where I come from. Doing jobs meant for captured servants is very dishonorable. When I was told to get wood for the fire, I was infuriated. Yes, they did not understand my ways, but I will not ever do a captured servant's task. Ever.
That hot red ball pulsed and grew, and kept growing. We were flung into this new dimension. The ball grew. This Antestarr made a fool of me. The ball grew an angry, hot red. My anger will soon burst, I fear. I carried this unconscious weight, this friend of mine, Gebohq. He's a nice guy, sure, but I did not intend to carry him forever. Just then, Gebohq looked over his shoulder.

"Hey Kogi! Do you wanna get us some more firewood?" Gebohq shouted over his shoulder.
I could hear the restrained giggles and then raucous laughter from the rest of the group. The red, pulsing, and malignant ball burst. I started to growl, a guttural growl of an animal who has been provoked once too many times. My growl rose to a yell, the yell to a crescendo. I could no longer contain the anger. I thought I heard an "Oh my God" or a "Hey, Kogi, can't you take a joke?" but I was blinded. Not physically blinded, but emotionally. I cast the hyakurai, or the hundred thunderclap. The feeling came from deep inside me, from the deep recesses of my heart, and my zenrei. My anger was my entire being, my power. Hyakurai is rarely cast voluntarily. In my culture, it is shown as an example of what happens to a man when he loses control. I have seen paintings of areas where men have cast hyakurai. It looks quite similar to an area where a large stone that falls from the sky hits the ground. Trees are blown down, stripped bare. I have heard stories from those who visited areas that have been affected with hyakurai- they say there is no sound, like the earth itself recoiled in shock. I realized too late that I had lost control. I realized too late that I had been smoldering a lot longer than when the flame had first shown up. I cast hyakurai. I felt it more than I saw it. I felt the ground crack and split in eight directions from me. The power started at my feet and went throught my body and up to my head. There was a lull in activity. One...two...then i felt myself sink down about a foot and this huge wave of air and dirt fly from me in all directions. My legs gave out from under me and my white, liquid light world turned black.

(BTW, Kogi should be first to come out of consciousness. If any of you choose to post. I still have plans of my own for this sequence of events. I should post in a bit of time.)

[This message has been edited by Arbiter (edited April 17, 2000).]

*Consciousness slowly returns to Kogi. He looks around, seeing the depression in the ground that surrounded him; seeing the others still unconscious. It took a while for Kogi to remember what had just happened, and when he did remember it, he didn't all together regret it.*

*Kogi, above all, felt tired. All of the physical strain he had put himself through when he involuntarily casted the Hyakurai, and all the mental strain from having attempted to bury his anger, only to have it burst just moments ago. Kogi was tired of being angry, and, after much decision, decided that it would be better for everyone, including himself, if he just left on his own.*

*As Kogi was gathering his strentgh and will to get up and go for good, Gebohq was beginning to wake up. He also could not remember what had happened for a few moments.*

//I remember now,// Gebohq thought. //We were going to stop for the night, and after asking bug if it would be possible to make a fire in this dimension, asked Kogi to get some firewood for our makeshift camp. The others snickered at what I had said, and puzzled, asked what they were laughing at. "Don't you remember?" they said. "Ping had asked that before and Kogi got all upset about it. It was funny that you asked again, after you had gotten so upset about it yourself." The memory of the event then came back to me, and I thought then how inconsiderate it had been for me to do that. The others took notice of Kogi appearing to be getting real mad, and I had started running towards him. Something came out of his entire body, and not five feet away, I fell there. If only I had thought about what I said before saying it.//

//Good thing the rest were able to preotect themselves. They might be dead otherwise. I must of survived by only being so close. Looks like everyone else is still unconscious--wait. There's Kogi. And he's getting up. Where is the going? Why is he--//

*As Kogi was walking away, he heard Gebohq calling to him, saying "Kogi?"*

"What?" Kogi said, fustrated that he had to stop. "Where are you going?" Gebohq said.

"Away," Kogi said with a tired voice. "Far away. I don't want to be with the rest of you if I'm not wanted for who I am."

"Wh...why would you say such a thing?" Gebohq inquired.

"Did you not see how the others act around me? To them, I'm just extra weight, only useful when they need something to throw at the evil ones."

*Gebohq looked at Kogi, but now saw someone else. Someone he had not seen in a long time. It was time that Gebohq healed his former self.*

"Kogi," Gebohq said. "Please, sit down. Listen to what I have to say."

*The proposal was obviously hard to choose for Kogi, having made up his mind just to do the opposite moments before. Kogi decided to do as Gebohq asked and took a seat next to him.*

"Did I ever tell you what I did in the Third War?" Gebohq asked.

"Not really. I've only heard of the great deeds Merlin and the people in his party had done. And I knew you were one of them. You were my reason for deciding to come to this place and fight. It had been said that even in the midst of battle, you took your time to comfort the common people in the town you were in, even if it was at your own stake. It was said that you were unstoppable in a fight. I know some of these things are not true; I have seen it for myself. Often more than not, though, legends are part truth. Why do you ask?"

"Because throughout our jouney to Bazaal's fortress then, I felt exactly like you did. That I wasn't wanted, that nobody would miss me if I wasn't there. Yet I was proven wrong. When I ran away to the mountains, they came for me. I realized then that everyone in the group was an essential part of the cause for good. That by continuing to try, good would prevail over evil."

*Several moments of silence hung in the air between them. Kogi looked up at Gebohq and spoke.*

"You know, you really hurt me when you asked me to get the firewood. You know how much it gets to me, and there was absolutely no reason to ask this time."

"You're right. And I'm sorry for not having been more considerate...Heh. I remember during hte Third War, when we use to stop for camp, like we had just done now." *Gebohq began to talk, as if reminising of better times.* "He would sit down, and we would all form a circle around him. He would tell us stories of things that happened where he had lived. He would often talk about a man who lived long ago, a man whom a lot of people, including himself, saw as the son of God. It was so funny watching Orca get all mad when Merlin would bring him up. Now what was my point..."

*Kogi showed fustration at Gebohq having talked without a point, but then Gebohq started to talk again.* "Oh yeah, his story. This man managed to influence so many people, yet he exherted no power over their oppressing goverment or tried to become a worldly leader. He simply healed people of their sicknesses and told parables. At his last supper, the night before he was put to death by the same people who praised him a week ago, he went up to his followers and washed their feet. It was the lowest thing you could do for someone! Yet he did this for all of them, and he was making a point. That even the greatest should be bound to servitude. And Merlin had told of another story, one about Satan, and how he rejected God because, being an angel, he was too proud to serve humans. Well, anyway, my point here was that I never want to degrade you, and I will make sure I don't ask you to do anything that would say otherwise, but...well, just think over what I have told you."

*Kogi looked at him with a questioning face.* "I'm not quite sure if I picked up everything you've said, but I'm pretty sure what your point was. I still don't see why I should stay though."

"Kogi," Gebohq said. "Please stay and help. For me. Let me repay you for all that you've done for me."

*Just then, the others were waking up, and a few of them looked at Gebohq and Kogi. They were all starting to remember what had happened.*

"Hey Kogi," bug yelled. "What was all that for anyway?"
"Shut up bug!" Gebohq said.
"Oh..getting all defensive now, are we Geb? Ow! Damn spell..."
"Listen, all of you..." Gebohq began saying to them. He began to walk towards them, talking about who they were: heroes of the common people. That as heroes, they should uphold all good principles. And that, because of these things, no one should neglect another in the group. Each of them was needed in some way planned by God. Gebohq looked at Kogi, waiting for his decision on whether he was staying or not.

"I will stay Gebohq," Kogi said. "If not to help for the greater good, then for myself. For how else can I be remembered for what I have done?"

*The eight reunited, bonded stronger together then they had ever been.*

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited April 18, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited April 19, 2000).]

*The events of that evening would not be soon forgotten. Not only did the group as a whole grow closer together, but Kogi and Gebohq began to understand each other much better. They both knew now that they had a place to go when they needed a sympathetic ear. As the excitement began to die down a bit, it was the unanimous decision of the party to clear out a small area for a campsite. Ping stood up to go gather firewood.*

"Ping, don't bother." Antestarr interjected. "Remember, a fire would only cast more darkness. Let me handle the light situation."

"Oh, right." Ping replied.

*Antestarr moved to the center of the clearing and, holding his palm towards the ground, muttered the words SHICA NEXU TRAXES. A wave of energy passed through Antestarr's arm and created a small cloudy light source.*

"How'd you do that?" Ping asked, intrigued.

"I merely cast a darkness spell over a small area. Due to its size, it should last about 7 hours," was Antestarr's response.

"So, Antestarr, now that you've been introduced to us, how about letting us in on a bit about yourself?" inquired Gebohq.

"Yes, I'm sure we'd all like to hear about you," added Kogi, staring intently at Antestarr, as if sizing him up.

*Other "yeah"s and "come on"s were muttered among the other 4.*

"Well, let me think back... I cannot say for how long I have existed, but my purpose has been made clear. I was created to be the perfect user of the black magics. My creators were not without their safeguards, though. They created another being, equally as powerful as me, a twin if you will (although not an identical twin), to be my polar opposite: the perfect user of the whitest magics.

"Our creators were pleased with us until they realized our greatest fault. Being created as pure magic users with unlimited potential, we were linked through a sort of "magical continuum". (The last theory I heard was that all magic users have some opposite, whether or not they are in the same dimension.) Anyway, the link between us was so strong that it actually affects our psyches. Not only was my conterpart, Jaccik's, magical alignment my opposite, but so was his mental alignment. It was as if we were meant to be at a balance at all times. Our creators saw this as only a slight problem, they figured that they could teach us both to be completely neutral until they found some way to break the link. They did not put our personalities into account.

"Jaccik was always the emotional one. He would always try hard to be close to those around him to be easily swayed by even the smallest amount of pressure. Due to this, I suffered from constant mood swings as Jaccik moved from one behavior to another, no matter how much I tried to control the both of us by limiting myself. Our creators, fed up with our unpredictability, chose to usher us back to neutrality and then seal us. They chose this dimension as our area of storage thinking that nobody would care to explore such a bleak place. Here we would sleep until they returned with a new plan for controlling us."

"Well, that's a nice story, but why are you walking around now? And why are you helping us? We haven't come across any being that we could imagine creating a being such as yourself lately." Kogi said, crossing his arms.

"Honestly, I don't know why I have been roused. Since I do not see my creators anywhere and I sense something is wrong, I can only conjecture that Jaccik has been moved from this dimension, leaving the balance in this area way off. Now, as to why I am helping you. I am feeling compelled to work for good, which can only mean that Jaccik is somehow under the influence of an evil force."

"Bazaal..." Gebohq muttered under his breath.

"Perhaps.... So that sums up my story. Since you merely put your wizard friend to sleep in your last battle, I would recoommend taking up a watch while we camp. I'll be on the first watch, since I have slept for years." Antestarr suggested.

*The party, after some deliberation concurred. Kogi, still somewhat suspicious, chose to stay on the first watch with Antestarr. The rest settled down, preparing their bodies for the journey ahead.*

[This message has been edited by Antestarr (edited April 19, 2000).]

(NSP) OK, I'm back, but I don't have enough time to post a story post right now, I'll try to post one next time I'm online though.

Thanks

Ignore this

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited April 23, 2000).]

*Six of the party members were fast asleep by the fire, the dark sky above them. Well, some of them were asleep...*

"Hey Scout," Gebohq wispered.

"What?" Scout said with a tired voice.

"I was just thinking..."
"You think too much and don't sleep enough. Now get some sleep."

*Several minutes of silence follow, when Gebohq speaks again.*

"Scout."
"What?" Scout wispered loudly, more annoyed this time.
"I wanted to know about the wizard who imprisioned you. What was his name again?"
"Strage. Why?"
"What did he look like?"
"Well, I suppose he was gaunt looking..er..black hair, black boots that almost came up to his knees."
"Sounds a lot like Bazaal to me."
"Why does that matter? Gebohq?"

*Gebohq had fallen asleep though, and left Scout now wide awake. He sure did ask odd questions Scout thought. She made her way to talk to Antestarr and Kogi when she started to feel sharp pains within herself.*
--------------------------------------------
*Meanwhile, a bit farther from camp, Antestarr and Kogi sit ontop of a small hill, the highest point around the group of sleeping members. Kogi then turned to Antestarr.

"Could you clarify for me what exactly brought your interest in us?" Kogi said.

"I'm not quite sure. Your group was the closest surge of magic at the time of my awakening and I felt compelled to draw closer to it."

"Uh-huh...you know, Gebohq told me about the party encountering a similar person during hte Third War. They found out later he was a dark wizard." *Kogi let Antestarr ponder for himself what he was implying, which was not too hard to guess.

"So do you suggest that I leave the group?" Antestarr incurred.

*The thought of this newcomer leaving pleased Kogi, but he knew that the party would not be too happy when they found out. So instead, he simply said "I would only like you to be able to prove otherwise."*

"Well," Antestarr began, "I suppose I don't appear to be a good person in any way. My magic consists of only the darkest aspects of it, and I have yet to prove that I mean well. Even when I cured JK_Meteor, I did not really do so. I only hide it within himself, and some could say that is quite an evil thing to do. Yet I have told you that it did so, and..well...I suppose you just have to rely on trust."

"Trust? That's a pretty weak foundation to start on." Kogi said.

"We all have to trust at some point."

"Yes, we do," broke in a foreign voice. The two looked at the source of the voice: a black and unkept rat.

"Dirtbag!" Kogi said.
"Dirtbag?" Antestarr inquired.
"Do I hear an echo in here?" the rat said.
"I've heard about you," Kogi stated. "You've tried many times to hinder the party's progress. Well, I'm not going to let you do that." Kogi was about to yell to wake the others when Dirtbag interrupted.
"Shut up you ****ing idiot. You'll wake up the shadow dwellers."
"Shadow dwellers?" Antestarr asked.
"Do you ever not repeat what I say?" Dirtbag commented. "Shadow dwellers. They live in the shadows of the light world, but mainly like to hang out in this dimension. Nasty bunch they are: fast, smart, and powerful in large numbers. Confronting them is to confront your own fear-"
"Oh please," Kogi injected. "That has to be nothing mroe than a fairy tale."
"Well, you can find out for yourselves...*he added with a devious smile*if you need me though, just whistle."

*And with that, Dirtbag scuttled off into the darkness, leaving the two alone again. Their surroundings were beginning to grow brighter, and the party would be waking soon.*

(I had a lot more to add, but it is getting much too late, so I will just make a seperate post later.)

*Since the fall of Merlin nine years ago, Bazaal's power has made its mark on all the races of the land. As Merlin feared long ago, the world has transformed into the twisted desires of the great Dark Wizard. The waterside by his grand citadel is now pouring lava, daylight is never seen around it as the great shadow covers the skies above it, and the living citadel itself molds itself to reflect the evil mind of Bazaal. And all the races of the world feel his wrath.*
---------------------------------------------
*In the Misty Mountains, the Goblins and Dwarves together have sealed themselves in, and for the past nine years have only had to deal with isolation from the outside world. Yet now, Bazaal's magic penetrates their defenses...*

"Dwin!" the goblin named Yorg said. "You must come quick! A council is being called about the new threat."

"What threat?" Dwin the dwarf said.

"Stone giants threaten to break down the seal from outside and the return of the rock-spiders infest from within. We haven't much time to deal with the situation."

*The two made their way to the meeting hall.*
---------------------------------------------
*In Ten'shuan, where some of the evles still meet, Captain K'jar gossips with Major Alimsa.*

"Have you heard about the new dark wizards?" Alimsa asks rhetorically. "They work from within: recruiting young people of the other races to become like them. Even some of our own kind have been turned!"

"That's utter nonsense," K'jar replied. "Elves like us would never "turn". They are inherently good or evil."

"Well, I'm just telling you what I hear. I think we should have a stop by the Fairy race in these Northern woods and see what they think about it."

"I don't know, they haven't been too friendly to anybody, even us. I'll have to think about it. See you around later, Major."

*The two salute as they make for their seperate ways.*
---------------------------------------------
*The Merfolk, since their waters have been polutted with molten rock, have had to relocate to a sea far away in the East through the rivers. Live for them has not been easy either...*

"Queen Water-swimmer, what are we going to do about your people?" Afrassa said. "They demand that we take action and support the great Orca in defeating Bazaal and restoring our original home to us."

"I wonder if Orca's new-found powers would not make him worse than Bazaal himself if Orca were to overthrow him. He has been our ally in the past though, and we can not hide in these waters for long before we are noticed. We may have to take action of our own."
---------------------------------------------
*The monastary was the first place to be attacked, leaving no survivors of the church order. The humans, even before the collapse of the only source of order they had, were living in chaos, squabbling over themselves who had what rights. It had started when Johnathan had died, but since the outcome of the Third War had yet to be decided, the humans had held their hopes that Merlin would be able to come back after winning and help rebuild their order. Yet because of the party's lose, the humans were among the other races to feel its impact.*

*Even though the biggest problem for the humans were themselves, a new problem had arisen lately. The monostary being their first target, swarms of fist-size flying insects had invaded their lands. These creatures resembled bees, but were mostly black and brown. Their four wings were sharp, their legs were long and knife-like, as a spider's is, and their stinger was flexible, as a scorpion's is. Nobody knew where they had come from, but it didn't help that nobody would organize a search party for their nesting place. They all assumed that it was hte work of Bazaal.*
---------------------------------------------
*Surrounding Bazaal's dark citadel, several Stygian fortresses had been erected. After the Third War, all hopes of insurrection had been crushed, and all but the strongest were brainwashed. The ones that were not directly under Bazaal's control were old and few in between.*

*Ever since his victory in the Third War, Bazaal had starting experimenting combinations of his undead warriors with the Stygians to form beings such as Daemon lords. If there was any difference between the two groups before the war, none could be seen now. It seems as if their only hope would be for the Stygians to be wiped out from their forced slavery.*
---------------------------------------------
(Feel free to continue any of these in your own direction)

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Can you smeeeeeeeell...what Gebohq is cookin'?

--Gebohq--

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited April 28, 2000).]

A man walks through the Shadow Realm. He has on a white cape, and a sword hangs at his waist. Behind him floats a yellow vapor and a black bird. In front of them, seemingly unaware of their presence, is a group of warriors.

Antestarr: I sense something near us. We must be vigilant.

Bug: What's that over there? It looks like a man.

Gebohq: Antestarr, can you tell me if it has magical powers?

Antestarr: It is not a man, and it does have some powerful magic.

The man walks toward the small group of heroes.

Gebohq: Let me handle this. Ho there! Who are you, and what do you want with us?

Creature: I am an envoy from the ruler of this land and all others.

Gebohq: If you come from Bazaal, you are not welcome here. We know what your master wants with us.

Creature: I do not come from Bazaal. I come alone from the Warlord of Mir to observe your progress in defeating Bazaal. I am authorized to provide assistance to you in your mission, provided you will swear fealty to my Master.

Gebohq: We know nothing of your master. We will not swear loyalty to him or to any other warlord.

Creature: Very well. In any case I will join your party as an observer.

Bug: Yeah? Says who?

Gebohq: What do the rest of you think? Should we risk battle with this stranger, or let him join us for now?

Bug: You are the leader, It's your decision.

********************************
Which two wizards did you mean? The two wizards in the forest are dead.

hmmm... thought this here story was almost finished.

*Ping stared at the ground for a moment in thought.*

"So you follow us and you're nothing but a neutral observer?"

*The being in the white cape nodded silently.*

"Then I have no problem with you following us just so long as you're not in our way when a dangerous situation arises." Ping looked at Pristine who nodded.

*Surrounding Bazaal's living citadel are many signs of his destructive power: the Stygian encampments, the pools of lava, the shadow that covers teh land and had once killed Merlin's one love, Anna. One thing, a sign of Bazaal's power it is, didn't quite fit with the rest of them. By his dark fortress, a small town resided. It was inhabited by members of any race known, but these people were too poor of everything a person needed to move from where they were. Despite his evil, these people needed what he had to offer.*

*The town itself resembled nothing more than a ghetto, more like a work camp. Furnaces were emitting their fumes, the dirt and ash around them seemed to be a part of the place itself. Among these people, Jason Argos, Mason Grey, Siren Vulimind, and Rynard Eroseon mingled with the crowd. On their few moments of free time, the group had decided to walk into the town, and to talk about whatever popped up in their heads.*

"Jason," Mason had said with his almost sad eyes. Mason had brown hair, which was parted and flowed to his neck. He gave the appearance of a mock Jesus. "Have you ever thought about why we live?"

"All the time," Jason replied with obvious double meaning.

"I meant why people try to define what is right and wrong." Mason continued. "Nothing else on this planet does, and they seem to live in more co-existance and peace than people do."

"We're not animals though," Jason said.

"Ah, how true that is." Mason said with a superior tone to his voice. "Hey, watch this Jason."

*Jason watches as Mason strolls up to a rather built human. Jason couldn't hear what Mason was saying to the man, but, as do most of these people, the man was very cautious. After a few minutes however, the man smiled and shook his hand with Mason's. Mason was not letting go of his grip, however, and the man fell down in pain, holding his hand. Mason walked back to them, leaving the man to his own problems.*

"What was that for?" Jason asked almost madly.

"What? Do you feel as if he deserved any less? These people have to know who's in charge every once in a while, you know. Otherwise, they might start getting ideas."

"He's right you know," Rynard spoke up. Rynard was also human, like Mason, but had dark skin. His head was bald, and he was built, like the man Mason had tricked moments ago. Rynard stood with purpose, as if nothing he did was pointless. "Logic dictates that the superior rule over the inferior, and that if the inferior are not continually domnated, they will rise and become superior themselves."

"What makes one superior though?" Jason said with a hint of fustration. "Is it power? Freedom?"

"It is knowledge," Siren said. She, unlike the other three, was Elven. Her blond hair went to the small of her back. She was garbed like many of her kind. She spoke to Jason. "Knowing more than what the other does. That is why they are inferior, because they can never know what we have is better than good."

"You all...nevermind. I will see you all later."

*The three gave him strage looks as Jason paced back to Bazaal's Fortress.*
---------------------------------------------
*In the Shadow Dimension, the nine continued to scale the equivilant of the Misty Mountains. In constrast to the events happening in the dimension Bazaal was in, the only problems the group encountered was hte deafening silence. Every so often, someone would try to spark up some conversation, but it usually never got past teh first sentence. After much traveling, the group was finally in view of Bazaal's Fortress, or at least the equivilant in this dimension. The area seemed lighter than what they had seen before.*

*The group could feel the new uneasiness as they ventured closer and closer to the dark citadel.*

"Something is watching us," Pristine said.

"Will you shut up?" bug said.

"She's right though," Ping said. "We should be ready to defend ourselves."

"Hear that guys?" Gebohq said. "Everyone be ready. I want you to help out too, newcomer."

"But," the emissary of Warlord said. "Ping told me to stay out of the way."

"Yeah, well I don't care what he says." Gebohq replied more violently than he had intended.

"Um, Gebohq. I don't think that's a wise thing to do." Ping said.

"Listen to Ping," JK pleaded. "He knows what he's talking about."

Gebohq stopped rubbing his temples and looked at JK. "If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it." Gebohq said in the same tone of voice as before, but now meaning it.

"Gebohq, maybe I should take over," Ping offered.

"Look here Ping, Scout is missing, and Antestarr and Kogi said Dirtbag made a visit, and we're this close to getting out of this damn Shadow Dimension. So my little physical problems are a bit inconsequential to my leadership. I'm going to get us out of this place."

*As Gebohq was talking, the others were trying to get Gebohq's attention.*

"What?" Gebohq said.

"I think Dirtbag wasn't lying when he talked about those dwellers," Kogi said.

*Gebohq pushed the others aside and moved foreward. It seemed as if teh darkness around them was closing in on Gebohq. The group could barely make out imp-like figures that made up the darkness, their eyes and snap-jaw mouths darker still. Gebohq drew out his sword and slashed at the dwellers. The beings moved with an unanticipated speed to avoid his attach, only one fell. The others circled around Gebohq. The others stood there, waiting for Gebohq to call for the attack. But Gebohq simply stood there, stupified. The last thing he said was "No...no...I can't...I CAN'T DO IT!"

*The other eight prepared to attack as they saw Gebohq paralyzed, horror-strickened, where he was standing his ground.*

------------------
"Always copping my truths, I kind of get the feeling that I'm being used. And now I realize you never heard one goddamn word I ever said." -"Loosing a Whole Year" Third Eye Blind

=Gebohq=


[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited April 28, 2000).]

*Gebohq stood stiff as a board. A terror had welled up within himself, not just from his adversary, but from his innermost psyche. //What am I doing?! I... I... I can't fight these creatures! Why did they make me the leader?! What qualifications do I have? What am I going to do? What am I becoming? AAARGH!// With these thoughts, Gebohq's mind shut down, leaving him open to attack.*

*Antestarr, reacting quickly, raised his arm in an arc and concentrated on the radius of the area between the party and the shadow dwellers. Just as he had finished the motion, one of the creatures lunged at the group, only to be reflected by an invisible physical barrier.*

"This barrier won't last long." Antestarr said. "I have an idea, but it's a one shot deal. These creatures are fast... a little too fast. I can try to drain them of their agility and transfer it to you, but it will be risky. You will be responsible for your own reaction time and for controlling any other traits that may be drawn from them. Is anyone oppposed to the plan."

*With no other apparent alternatives, the group quickly concurred. The creatures numbered as many as there were warriors, minus the one Geb had struck down. As the barrier dispersed, Antestarr cupped his hands, and an eerie light emanated from his palms and formed a ball. The runes of his cloak began to glow a subtle red as the ball raised into the air and fired a beam into each shadow dweller, then beams into the party members. He sensed the transferrence of energy from one group to the other, and in ending the spell, watched the ball flicker to nothing.*

*The party watched somewhat in awe, and somewhat cautious of the shadow dwellers. As the beams struck, the group felt the energy flow into them as if a sudden rush of adrenalin had hit. All but Geb and the watcher took to battle. With the new energy, they could easily match the moves of the shadow dwellers. The sight of battle was there, but the sounds were not. It was like fighting deaf. This disadvantaged those participating in the fight very little, as they were matching the creatures blow for blow.*

*Ping and Pristine, back to back, managed to fend off two dwellers skillfully. With a swift blow, Ping took off his opponent's head while Pristine made a lunge and impaled it. JK, careful not to get too shaken in the fight, brought an elbow to his opponent's neck, breaking it.*

*Kogi stood, facing off, spirit weapon at hand. Paying complete attention to his target, he failed to notice that one had not gone for Antestarr, but rather to attack him from behind. Antestarr, watching from a fair distance, raised his arm and pointed is outstreched hand at the crafty shadow being. Without a second thought, he uttered a magic word and his cloak flared with a red light. The light traveled through his arm and flame burst from his hand, taking the form of a ball and flying at the creature. Kogi brought his weapon up and across the chest of his opponent, whirling around just in time to see the other shadow being engulfed in flame and thrown back 7 feet.*

*One by one, the shadow beings fell. Surprisingly, the only injuries done to the party were a few scrapes and bruises, excepting the mental damage done to Geb. Antestarr approached Kogi.*

"Kogi, I'm sorry if I singed you..." Antestarr began.

"Don't worry about it." Kogi replied quickly.

"Well, do you trust me yet?" Antestarr inquired.

"Maybe a little more than before, but watch yourself," Was Kogi's response.

*Antestarr then moved to Geb.*

"Gebohq, are you O...." Before Antestarr could finish his sentence, he collapsed on the ground, unconcious.

------------
*Within Bazaal's Citadel in the light dimension, a small shrine to a magical stone had just been completed. Bazaal personally entered it and began what he thought would be a mere addition to his own personal power.*

*Bazaal stood directly in front of the stone and ordered all of his followers to leave him and shut the door securely. He raised his arms and let the aura of magic emanating from the stone to enter his body. As he felt this pure source of magic flow into him, he saw the stone begin to undulate somewhat, as if now made from liquid. This new liquid stone flowed off of the altar to reveal a man. The man was somewhat short, with eyes shut and somewhat shaggy brown hair atop his head.*

*Jaccik collapsed to the ground, no longer having stone to support him and still not fully conscious due to his recent energy drain. Bazaal, surprised to see a living being as the immense source of magic he had had brought to his personal headquarters, called in his followers and ordered them to take the man to a bedroom and allow him to recover, being sure to be kind and courteous. He would see to it that this being be given every opportunity to work for him...*

*Bazaal walked with the minions that carried Jaccik's body to his chambers. This man would indeed be of great use to him Bazaal thought. Especially with all the other things to think about: the new wizards, control over the races...it seemed so little by itself, especially with his power, but all of them together and the fact that he was ageing was putting a damper on his mood.*

*He had taken care of the races though, they would flee from their problems, and then make them do as he wished. He already lured the poor into serving him: it would be a matter of time before he made them all poor. His new wizards were young and inexperienced: nothing like the peers he worked with before. But he had an advantage he didn't have with the others: potential powerful magic. And with them not having direction or control over their magic, it would be that much easier to control their power himself. But there was one problem that always eluded him, Merlin and his party.*

*He had managed to send the seven heading for Merlin's Citadel into the shadow dimension: a place his fellow wizards could not cope with and that he barely escaped himself. They would surely not escape...not in time to hold their sanity at any rate. He had sent the Bio-roids to eliminate the rest at Merlin's Citadel . If anything, they would at least be a distraction while he prepared to tighten his grip on the world. But the one that always angered him the most, Merlin, had been reported seen, heading for Bueto City.*

*He was not quite ready to take on Merlin again, especially if he had broken the laws of reality and was ressurected from the dead on his own power. He would have to capture Dirtbag first and obtain all the powers of hell before he could confront Merlin and not fear him, the fear only he knew. He had a better idea: he would send out his four elite wizards as a trial and see how well they fought against Merlin: Bazaal figured that they will all perish or do the smart thing and retreat. He would have to make sure they wouldn't turn to Merlin's side though before he sent them off.*

*Bazaal smiled with glee as he thought of his new plans. He watched as they placed Jaccik onto the bed in Jaccik's chambers. He thought about Jaccik's potential, and then thought about his former wizards, especially Raivus and Volsang.*
---------------------------------------------
*The group of warriors in the shadow dimension looked at Gebohq and Antestarr, who were both unable to move on their own power.*

"Am I getting deja vu?" bug said. "Two guys, incapacitated, once again, and low and behold! One of them is Gebohq! AGAIN! What a fantastic leader he's turned out to--ahhhh GOD! That was one major headache."

"I'll get Gebohq," Kogi said. "You mind grabbing Antestarr, Ping?"

"Not at all," Ping replied. "Let's get moving, and hope these two reach consciousness soon."

*The group made their way to the Gate in Bazaal's castle, wary of more shadow dwellers waiting to ambush them. What they did not know is that Raivus had awoken some time earlier and stalked the group, hoping to follow them out of the Shadow Dimension.*

-------------
"Will you meet me in the middle? Will you meet me in the air? Will you love me just a little, just enough to show you care?"--"Sister Golden Hair" America

_-Gebohq-_

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited April 30, 2000).]

(This is simply a post to bring out the level of insanity the group gets from being in the shadow dimension. if it conflicts with your future post Ping, just say so.)

*The warriors draw closer to Bazaal's Fortress, their surroundings becoming ever so darker as the day rose in the light dimension. Things like that threw the warriors' sanity around like a ball in a "monkey in the middle" game. Everyone, except Ping and Pristine, seemed to be affected by the lack of sound and the negative-colored background. Ping and Pristine would soon feel the effects as well, since as a certain black rat once said, input is a computer's best friend.*

*As the group were reaching the outskirts of the ghetto, Gebohq suddenly became conscious. He darted his eyes madly at the group members: his mind obviously on the brink of insanity.*

"How are you feeling?" Kogi asked Gebohq.

"Don't get near me!" Gebohq nearly screamed. "None of you! Ahh! The blinding light! What are we here for? Why are we what we are? What does God do? What does..why...what..."

"It's ok boss-" Kogi said, when Gebohq interrupted him by ssaying with wild eyes, "DON'T CALL ME BOSS! Or sir! Or any title! You got that?"

"Ping," Kogi said. "I think Gebohq has been affected the most by being in this dimension. "

"Brilliant observation," bug interjected. "You know, none of us will make it out in time to hold our sanity."

"Won't you shut up?" JK said.

"We've already lost Scout," bug went on, "and Gebohq is now gone off his rocker, *with a much different, more important note* and those damn shadow dwellers keep staring at me..."

"Will you stop being so paranoid?" Kogi said. "We're almost at the Evil one's fortress."

"Will we make it in time though?" Gebohq said. "In time, in time, time-time-time...time-dee-do. Time and space. One and the same. Yadda-ya-dee-da..."

*The warriors make their way towards the Dark Citadel, with Raivus madly stalking them, expertly hidden with his magic and insanity.*

(NSP: Er...I've been informed that the tower we're going to is NOT at Bazaal's Fortress. So just ignore everything I said about going to his fortress--we're going to the Tower, which is elsewhere.)

"YA-Zal-kahfaskf-el-faik-hlfblerbslls..." Gebohq muttered, as he had been doing for quite some time.

"Gebohq," Kogi warned, "If you don't stop doing that, I'll shut your mouth for you."

"Well, BLAH!" Gebohq blurted, followed by laughter. Kogi sighed, and looked towards Ping and Antestarr. In slight surprise, Ping and Kogi saw Antestarr lift his head slowly.

"Where am I?" Antestarr asked.

"You went unconscious after we fought the shadow dwellers" Ping said. "We were hoping you could tell us why."

"It must be something that happened to Jaccik," Antestarr asnwered, "and that affected me in turn. He has most likely recovered from his long time in hibernation."

"The Evil One has done so, I would think." Kogi said.

"Antestarr," Ping began. "Something during this whole time you've been with us has been puzzling me. You seem to be a very capable user of magic, and wish to know why you simply can't open a portal to the light dimension."

"Thanks you for your vote of confidense Ping," Antestarr said, "but I assure you, teleportation of any sort, including portals, is a difficult spell to learn, much less execute."

"Indeed" Kogi agreed.

"Even if I could easily open one, I woul dnot wish to do so. Because when Jaccik increases his magic power, so does mine, and visa versa. I wish to limit my power for myself and for the people around Jaccik."

"Interesting," Ping replied. "Could you tell me more about-"

"Shh.." JK interrupted from behind them. "Someone is in front of us."

*The group looked on ahead in the darkness, and from it, Scout stumbled towards them.*

"Scout!" JK exclaimed.
"Scout," Gebohq said blankly.
"You know Scout," bug started, "It's not generally wise to go off wandering."
"Where have you been?" Ping asked.
"Honestly, I don't know," Scout said.
"It's good that you are back," Ping said, "for it would have been difficult to-"
"Men," Kogi interrupted, "we have unwanted company."

*The members stared into the darkness surrounding them as they saw the dark eyes locked on them.*

"Sorry," Antestarr said almost immediately, "but I can't risk using such great magic again."

*Gebohq then suddenly pulled himself away from Kogi as the rest had stood there pondering their next move. Kogi reflexively brought his arm out.*

"Gebohq! Wait!" Kogi pleaded.

*Sword in hand, Gebohq moved quickly towards the front, where they surround him as they had before. This time, however, as one tried to strike him, Gebohq jumped unpredictably and slashed at the foe. He moved with a chaotic thought process as he killed the others. The group looked at Gebohq with amazement at what he had just done.*

"Must be becuase he is going insane himself that he can think so much like the shadow dwellers," Kogi stated, "who live in an insane place themselves. He does not fear whatever unknowns they have to frighten him with, because he only fears the known."

"Wierd," bug off-handedly commented. The group were reaching the Tower, while Gebohq swatted at gnats that were only in his imagination."
------------
"And the world darkens around me. Strange friends all surround me. New ideas in my head start to burn."--Darkness Third Eye Blind

({|Gebohq|})

Ping stared at the ground. It was an effort to concentrate. His condition was like the condition of a computer monitor left on too long without any action on it. The way a monitor works is that there's a tiny light emitter in the monitor that draws a picture on the screen every 1/64th of a second. However, if left running without any action onscreen, it can fall into a pattern and get locked there. When action begins on screen again, a ghost image is left of what the monitor had to continually draw for so long. This is known as "screen burn".

What he felt now was something akin to that. There was so much he expected to happen around him that he began to see and hear "ghosts" of what was before. He just wasn't getting the imput from the world around him, and hadn't for quite some time. He tried hard to see past everything, trying to keep some semblance of what was going on. Much to his surprise and relief, Pristine walked over and sat down beside him. She took his hands in hers and rested her head on his shoulder. He supposed she was expirienceing the same problems. He wondered if she came to him for comfort. He marveled at how the contrary was true, he really needed her comfort.

So things were beginning to come down. As he looked around where they had set down to camp, he also looked around at the ruined remains of the company. Most had resorted to nervous habits to try and cope with the maddening nothing about them. Some huddled on the ground trying desparatly to find the elusive being known as sleep. Kogi eternally ran his thumb along the blade of his katanna. Gebohq kneeled on the ground off to one side. He periodically shook his head, tears streaming from his face. By stark contrast The Watcher and Antestarr seemed the sanest of all. Antestarr, Ping figured, was able to retain his composure due to his short consious time in the shadow dimension. How the Watcher was able to remain sane was a 'no brainer'. He was obviously an inhabitant on this land and used to it's nature. Ping wondered, if his previous thought was incorrect, that maybe the Watcher was already insane and his cool exterior was simply a maifestation of his mental instability.

bug suddenly appeared almost from out of nowhere, "I've seen it! the Tower! It's just a few hills over that way!" He pointed in a direction. Everyone, with renewed enthusiasm began to collect thier belongings.

"Liar." The word came completely unexpected. Everyone turned around and looked at it's origion. Kogi. He ran his thumb along his sword feircely, at this point, spots of blood could be seen on the edge. He stared at them all. "He's just as mad as the rest of us. He's snapped. He's in league with those shadow dwellers. He's just telling us the tower's over there so we'll all rush over and be delivered into thier hands."

"That's not true." bug said simply with a touch of hurt. It was funny not hearing a sarcastic comment from him.

"That's what you'd like all of us to believe isn't it?" Kogi said as he stood and addressed the party. "You used to be part of the Evil One's followers! Why should we believe you in this matter?"

Ping folded his arms and looked levelly at Kogi. "Why shouldn't we believe him? You know bug gets headaches whenever something evil crosses his mind."

"How do you know that the insanity hasn't effected his mind to a degree that the spell cannot still function? Perhaps he has degenerated to a degree that whatever evil he's thinking he truly believes is right and just?"

"Kogi, we have no reason to believe that bug would decieve us." Scout said.

"Just look around us, at each other. We've all been affected by our surroundings. How can we know that any of us hasn't snapped? I've been thinking long on this and since bug has had the most experience with evil I have reason to believe that bug will lead us astray."

bug stood in stock still silence, as well as everyone else. Kogi and bug both stared at each other. Ping finally said, "Kogi we cannot survive in this place without belief in each other's strength. None of us want anykind of maddness to overcome us, therefore we're all fighting to keep our own sanity. We have to believe in each other."

"You are an idealistic fool, Ping." Kogi stated.

"Ideals are all we have in this place at this moment. In order to survive we must get to that Tower and escape this realm." Ping stood foreward. "I'm goin with bug to the tower." It was like a call to chose sides. The area fell silent after that. Everyone looked at each other as if waiting for the others to make a move. Pristine stood foreward with Ping. Gebohq, in a moment of lucidity, came foreward too.

"I can't believe you are going to follow this liar to your death! What's the matter with you all!? Why can't you see this as plainly as I!?" Still more gravitated toward bug until Kogi stood alone, save for the Watcher who looked on from the side with interest. Kogi looked at them all with rage, "FINE!! I'll look for the REAL tower myself! I wish you all well." he said, his tone turning from rage to sollemness.

They all watched Kogi dissapear into the mist. They all exhaled as one in relief that a fight had not broken out. They all turned and faced bug, who looked at the ground. "I want to thank you all," He began, "For believing in me."

"What about Kogi? We can't just leave him here in this place." Scout said.

Ping sighed in frustration. "I don't think there's anything we can do. I think he's starting to crack. He's become paranoid that someone will betray him, which happens in documented cases of insanity. In more advanced cases, the victim will actually attack the person whom he or she believes will attack first."

"That's terrible." Scout said.

"There's nothing we can do."

"So you're just going to leave him here then?" JK said with a touch of outrage.

"There's no telling when one of us might snap." Ping said matter-of-factly. "Our hope is to open that portal as fast as we can and get out of here. Something may happen or one of us may get hurt trying to convince Kogi to come with us. If we try to force him, it may destroy the delicate balance in his mind and he could snap completely. Besides..." he said ponderingly, "There may still be hope for him. He didn't attack us, which mean he may still believe in us and treasure the freindship we all share."

They didn't like it all one bit, but they supposed he was right. Sollemnly they followed bug in the direction he walked.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Kogi stood by himself, drew his sword and swung. And swung, and swung, and swung. He cut through the air leaving the customary sound a sword slicing through air makes. He made the patterns he was taught as a child. In his mind he floated in a world of emptyness, as was the custom of the warriors he trained with, as was the teaching of his mentors. It quieted the mind and helped to focus on the sword and his enemy. However something slid across the boundary of the emptiness he floated in, like an itch he couldn't reach.

"Those idiots. Why can't they see it?" he swung again and again. "They're going to be hurt. Why do they believe in such an error?" They sword made huge arcs in the air. "Why aren't I following them?" He danced around the area he was in. Sweat dripped from his forehead. "They betrayed my word and my trust. Why should I help them?" His breathing became hard. Faster and faster he raged around cutting through the air at nothing. He knew we was fighting nothing, he just needed an outlet for his rage. Soon the void he floated in broke apart and he went berserk. The faces of all his freinds went through his head and he remembered everything he knew about them. He lost all the discipline of the forms of swordplay and went into a mad rage swinging randomly, he tried hard to calm his mind. Now he knew he wasn't just swinging at nothing, but he was fighting something. His sword wasn't his weapon, but it was his outlet for all his actions in the fight. He spun around and around waving his sword in a desparate manner now. Finally with a loud cry he thrust the sword into the air and brought it down into the ground. He stood still, he panted from the heavy exertion. He stared into nothing as he leaned on the hilt of his sword.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

JK and Ping heaved a rusty postern door open at the base of the tower. It creaked as it went, the creak echoing in the dank and empty recesses of the tower. One by one they all filed into the tower save for the Watcher. Ping was the last to enter. He paused and turned toward him. "Is this where we part company Watcher?"

"Unless you want to join my master."

"That's not likely."

"Then this is where we part company." He said and walked away. Ping stared after him for a while and the figure he watched vanished into thin air.

"Stranger things have happened, especially in this line of work." he mumbled, then turned to enter the tower-

-when something else caught his eye. Numerous shapes appeared at the edge of his vision, he knew those shapes pretty well. Quickly he slammed shut the door and ran to where the party was acending and old stone staircase. It was musty inside the old building, the only light that shone was from a small window high up so it couldn't be reached. He reached the bottom of the steps and shouted up to them, "We've got freinds!" They all looked at each other and quickly ran up the rest of the stairs. Ping reached the halfway point when he looked down below him. The rusty door exploded and the Shadpw Dwellers swarmed into the tower. Looking up the saw Ping looking down at them, and thay quickly began they're climb after him.

When Ping reached the top, he found a blacony which lead to an outside area. Everyone had already set down thier things and drawn thier weapons. bug stood in the middle of the tower top, the open sky above him, and an open spell book in his hands. He chanted something acane which made the air around him resonate. Ping heard the footsteps of the creatues behind him coming up the stairs. He quickly ran out into the open and his energy sword flashed into his hands. This time there was no wait to thier attack, the creatures fell on them without hesitation.

Scout was the first one to meet the charge. Her sword sliced the clawed hand off one of them as it reached for her. Pristine followed up with her white energy sword, sliceing a gash across the beasts chest, it fell quickly. Ping had his hands full fending off one that was too fast for him. It's claws raked him before he could summon a shield. He grunted and didn't allow the beast another shot. JK was taking on one of his own as well. Antestarr stood with bug with a shield in place so bug couldn't be disturbed while reciting the spell.

Gebohq meanwhile bounced around the tower top, saying, "Butterfly, butterfly! What a pretty butterfly! I want to be a butterfly too!" He proceeded to put his hands in thier respective armpits. He then flapped his elbows in the manner of wings and continued to bounce around. Wandering too close to the battle, he managed to knock one of the Shadow Dwellers off the tower top to it's death below. Gebohq stared down and said, "I guess he wanted to be butterfly too." and continued on his way.

They battled onward, however they found themselves being pressed backward. More swarmed from the stairwell door and forced them back like a wall. Antestarr was forced to drop his barrier so as to avoid hurting his comrades. Ping felt releieved to see a glow from out of the corner of his eye, that meant that bug was finished and the portal was opened. They continued to be forced back almost to where Antestarr was standing. bug quickly jumped through and stood on the other side still chanting the spell so he could hold it open. The portal reached it's maximum size and began to slowly close in on itself. bug found he didn't have the power now to sufficently hold open the gate, for he was now disconnected from the tower in the shadow realm. Still holding off attackers, Antestarr, Scout and JK stepped through. The portal now was about twice the size of a man.

"Pristine, go!" Ping yelled as he was just barely holding off three attackers at once. Pristine grabbed the overly joyous Gebohq by his flapping arms and hurled him through the gate. She too stepped through, now having to duck as she went. She yelled after Ping when she reached the other side.

The gate was rapidly closing. Ping now used two swords to hold off his attackers. They were pressing him hard. Eventually Ping faltered and deeply regretted his mistake. He was hit and thrown to the ground. The beings loomed over him as he struggled to get up. A shadow leaped from behind them, high into the air. It landed just in front of Ping and brought it's sword down through the nearest Shadow Dweller, slicing it from shoulder to hip. "Kogi!" Ping said in surprise. Kogi spared no time in his attack on the shadow creatures. He fought like Ping had never seen him before, moving quickly from stance to stance, the sword making huge arcs through his enemies.

"Go Ping!" he shouted. Ping wasted no time in getting to his feet and stepping through the portal. Quickly Kogi finished off many of the remaining creatures. The few that were left standing tooked to each other and fled. Bodies were left strewn across the tower top in chaotic disorder. Kogi, realizing the portal was growing smaller, sheathed his sword and began to step through - when he heard a shuffling noise behind him. Looking up to the ceiling of the stairwell he percieved a figure standing atop it. "Ravius!" Kogi said in surprise, for it was the wizard they had fought before. With only a snarl of mad rage, Ravius practically flew through the air and collided with Kogi hurling them both through the portal.

They clattered to the ground in a heap, Ravius pinning Kogi down. Startled companions leaped back giving the pair room to move. bug's concentration finally collapsed and the portal snap shut, healing the rent in space he had created. Ravius leered at Kogi with a look in his eyes that would send sane men scambling into the trees. "So..." Ravius said. "We meet again."

Suddenly Meteor shouted, "It water!! It water!! It sided come on the go!! You go!! You----" then he fell down unconcious.

[This message has been edited by JK [Meteor] (edited May 07, 2000).]

(I'm back. I have only admiration and praise for Gebohq's and Ping_me's work for continuing this story in my long absense. First of all I see there are lots and LOTS of new characters! But I see that Antestarr and Kogi have worked themselves well into the story, but the other 3 dark wizards that are with Jason Argos should be kept as minor characters. I'm glad Gebohq caught Jason isn't evil like Bazaal rather he is like a young man who now having commited what he feels is an unforgivable act feels he is condemned to evil having no hope of redemption. While I don't know if you remeber, but Merlin has spoken of his place in the coming battles. While there will be some fighting, Merlin being empowered by God rarely if ever intervenes in the fights (not because he doesn't care, but because he knows the party is up to the challenge, and God in His infinite ways only allows Merlin to use that power as God deems fit when it is nessecary. But the battles Merlin is in directly are not of sword and magic, but of redemption of the heart, like Jason Argos. Now back to the tale).

Dragonfly stood in the newly rebuilt tower of the Beuto capital city. He was suprised the dark armies had not attacked his people yet. Wild rumors had reached him that Merlin still lived. He had set them aside as just that, rumors. To strange to believe.

Dragonfly turned from the window only to turn and see a cloaked figure dressed in grey.

"Who are you!" Dragonfly demanded quickly fearing he was one of Bazaal's agents.

"You know who I am" the man began.

Dragonfly's eyes grew wide and he drew his sword beleiving it might be Bazaal or one of his dark wizards.

"No. I am not him" the man in gray said.

With that the man in grey pulled back his hood and Dragonfly's eyes grew even wider and he dropped his sword to the floor.

"Merlin." Dragonfly have choked out a whisper.

"Yes, Dragonfly it is I." Merlin said with a loving softness in his voice, showing no anger and pain anywhere.

"But . . . .your. . . your. . .dead!" Dragonfly said.

Merlin chuckled. "Yes. I am dead, and more alive than you have yet to know. I came because we need your help."

Dragonfly regained his composure in some measure, "I can't. I have to defend my people."

"Dragonfly, you've used that excuse since I went out of this world nine years ago. Now you've finished rebuilding this city. Now it is time for you to come to our aid again." Merlin said softly.

"But. . .but how do I know my people will be safe?" Dragonfly said.

"They will be." Merlin said with such finality, that while Dragonfly knew not what powers backed Merlin he knew from his tone that nothing would be able to harm the Beuto city in his absence.

"Come." Merlin said softly.

Dragonfly drew closer and Merlin folded both of them in his cloak.

*********************************************

When the cloak was drawn back they now stood in a cave high in the mountians.

"Balthazar!" Merlin cried out in a loud voice.

"Who is it?" echoed a voice from the back of the cave.

"It is I, Merlin." Merlin answered back.

"You lie. Merlin is dead." the voice answered.

"Come out the shadows Balthazar and see the truth. I know you too well for I have not decived you. I remeber how pleased you where when I told Melichor to let you lead the battle." Merlin said with wise cunning.

The dragon stepped foward out of the shadows and now looked more clearly at Merlin.

"Only one man could know of that." Balthazar said softly. The dragon lowered its head closer to Merlin. And Merlin reached out an softly caressed the side of the dragon's face.

"Yes. . . my dear old friend. . . I am here." Merlin said softly.

"Thank the Maker of the Dragons!" Balthazar shouted with telepathic joy.

"Yes!" Merlin said chuckling too.

"Come we need you now as in days of old. Fly me and Dragonfly back to my former citadel. It will be like old times again! We need to help out Ji'tory, Shawn, Lina, Sakana, and Reyuan fight some creatures brought from Shawns home realm." Merlin said.

So the climbed aboard Balthazar's back, and the dragon lept into heavens with a majesty as he had not used his wings with such will in years. Balthazar circled a few times and then headed out over the misty forests toward the rising sun, toward Merlin's citadel!

[This message has been edited by Merlin (edited May 10, 2000).]

*Thousands of thoughts flew and fleeted through Gebohq's head. So much was happening so quickly, especially after the long hours of nothingness, followed by the chaos that ensued from the shadow dwellers, and then finding that Raivus jumped with them through the portal.*

*Raivus, foutunately for them, was in shock of the color and sound that surrounded him, though that would not last for long. Gebohq thought, should he get the group and run before Raivus could follow, or try and defeat him now, here? What-*

*Gebohq turned as he heard JK utter his last words before passing out. The sickness within him must of caught up with him and overwhelmed his systems. One less person now to help fight. Antestarr and bug were in no position to help: they just drained most of their energy opening the portal. The party was now in a very pressuring situation, and time was not on their side.*
---------------------------------------------
*The four dark wizards watched as Merlin and Dragonfly flew away on Bathazar's back to Merlin's citadel. They emerged from their shadows and faced each other.*

"How can we put up a fight?" Jason questioned with fustration to teh others. "You heard him yourself; he's back from the dead! Bazaal never told us this!"

"It does not matter whether he told us or not," Rynard stated. "We have orders to follow."

"Besides," Mason jumped in, "He can't be that bad. He seems like a lame pacifist to me."

"Yet even Bazaal could not keep him down," Jason said. "Do you really think we have a chance against him?"

"Maybe we can find a way that Bazaal couldn't. Perhaps lure him into a trap rather than fighting him would do it."

*The four wizards bickered for quite some time, then made their way to Merlin's Citadel.*

Shawn drew his sword ready to duel with the Bio-roid that had fallen with him to the ground beneath Merlin's old citadel. Suddenly from out of the cloud covering over head the Bio-roids censors picked up an anomolous reading.

Bio-roid Tracking Intiated. . .
Tracking. . .
Reptilian Like Lifeform. . .
Genera . . . Unknown
Species. . . Unknown
Futher recording notes. . . Anomolous Reading within lifeforms abdomen. . . reading tempatures in excess of 2000 degrees Farenheit. . . Summary. . . Logically incompatable. . . Conclusion . . .Sensor Illusion. . .

Target rankning. . . .Due to illusionary state. . .

Target Ranking: Non threatening.

Further readings. . . . . .

Lifeform appears to be expelling plasma energy from mouth . . .

Conclusion . . . .Illusionary Plasma.

Resuming focus on Target : Shawn Templar. . .

WARNING! WARNING! Regerstering exoskeletal armor temperature rapidly increasing!

WARNING! WARNING! Approaching Critcal Temperature!

Calculating source of Temperature increase. . . . Illusionary Plasma like Energy from Reptilian Illusionary Life form . . .Does not compute! DOES NOT COMPUTE!!!!

WARNING EXOSKELTON BREEEEECHHHHHH ><&*^(>U)*^ >*U*_/ 001010100101010 . . . . . SYYYYSSSSTTTTEEEEEMMMMM FAAAAALLLUUURRRIIIEEE. . . .

The Bio-roid now lay as a molten pile of burning metal slag on the scorched earth. Shawn Templar stood nearby unscathed.

LOL

Sorry that I havn't posted in awhile but I'll post tommorrow when I get a new keyboard. I've had to type most of this using ascii. Please don't post anything about the fight at the citidel I'll finish it up tommorrow thanks.

------------------
"I can become enraged like Vegeta, if i smile, run...................very fast."

"Semper Fi"

(NSP: First off, Merlin, Ping, Warlord, bug, and Scout: check your e-mail. Second, I've just found out that the Dragonlance book was inspired by a game of D&D they had. Now is it just me, or does that give inspiration to see this in publication? I mean, IMHO, I think this is way better and more in depth *with its fair share of fighting* than the book I'm reading. And last, Does anyone want to go on with a sub-plot of any of the races? I had set up the situations for all the races in an earlier post...but if nobody is interested, I suppose I could take them up *I hope I don't have to do all of them though * Thanks, and hope to hear from the ones who haven't been posting lately.*
-----------------------------------
"Do you ask yourself sometimes what you need to be forgiven?" High Life--Counting Crows

/\Gebohq/\

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited May 17, 2000).]

Everyone breathed the air of freedom. No longer was thier world dark, it was vibrant with color. A blue sky smiled down on them. A stong wind blew across the tower top. The wounds of the darkness were healed by the light. They had only moments, however, to revel in what they had lost so long ago.

Kogi used all his remaining strength to hurl Ravius from on top of him. Ravius flew acrobatically through the air and landed gracefully on his feet, his tattered rags that he had worn so long in the darkness fluttered along with him. Kogi stood and joined the others in close watch on Ravius. Ravius laughed out loud, he himself reveling in his new freedom.

"That's right heroes. I've been tailing you since I met you. Like the cowards you are you ran from our last fight. Today you will not be so lucky." Again he laughed. But he was halted because no one was looking at him any longer. They were actually staring at a space behind and above him, with weapons drawn to boot. A little confused he spun around and came to the realization that they were not alone.

He towered over all on the parapet, his height reaching well over seven feet. He was built strong but age was beginning to wear on him. His shoulders were broad and accentuated by the huge cloak he was wearing. His hair raven black, his brow heavy, his eyes narrow, his grin twisted. Bazaal dominated the tower top.

"You!!" Ravius nearly shouted in surprise.

"You." Bazaal returned, using Ravius's own words in mockery against him.

Ravius's face twisted up into a look of pure rage and hatred. It swelled inside him like a dammed river waiting to burst. "You left me for dead." His voice trembled like a volcano prime for eruption, though his tone was the opposite.

"For good reason." Bazaal countered with maniacal placidness. He treated it as if it were nothing. This infuriated Ravius even more, if such a thing were possible.

Ravius drew back in calm collectiveness, deciding to play Bazaal's own game agianst him. He examined his fingernails casually, "You were envious of my power. So you decided to seal me away."

"Bah!" Bazaal said. "You suffer from delusions. You were a whelp. Of no concern. Your own weakness sealed your fate."

Ravius laughed again and turned toward the group who had not yet let thier gaurd down. "Don't listen to this madman. Why else would he put me away? Becuase my power rivalled his own." Everyone looked at each other and wondered if Ravius was still raving mad.

Bazaal strolled up to Ravius who had his back to him. Bazaal placed one huge hand on Ravius's skull and lifted him into the air. The party looked on in surprise, for Ravius was still calm and collected. Bazaal spun Ravius to face him. "I'll ignore this little indescression for now. I'm going to give you a choice. You are either going to join me, or you are going to die."

"You *are* stark raving mad." Ravius said despite his compromising position. "You actually think I'm going to join you after what you did to me?" Ravius laughed, much to Bazaal's annoyance understandably.

In half fury Bazaal swept out a single hand and a huge set of door swung shut in front of Ping, Gebohq and company, who, siezing the moment, decided to make a stealthy run for it. Try as they might they could not budge the doors. Bazaal's hand fell slowly toward his side. With his other hand, which still contained Ravius, he brought the lesser wizard closer to his face. "Listen well you ants," Bazaal said without taking his eyes off Ravius, "You will only live long enough to see this whelp face the ultimate end."

Again Ravius laughed, "I will face you after I deal with this oversized coward," he too said without taking his eyes off Bazaal's. Bazaal's cool finally broke and he snarled in rage. Laughing in triumph, Ravius added injury to insult by placing one foot on Bazaal's chest and kicking upward with the other one. Bazaal was hit with a beam of light, and Ravius flipped in the air, his foot leaving a white arc in it's path. Bazaal stepped backward and faced Ravius, a good distance separated the two men. With lightning precision both began to weave magical enchantments around themselves, for both defense and offense. Once again the air was still. Neither man moved.

Ping stupidly ventured a statement. "Ravius we both hold Bazaal as a common enemy. Perhaps we could for a temporary alli-"

"SILENCE!!!!!!" Both men boomed from magically enhanced voices.

"Chill." Ping said simply.

"Beautiful. Popcorn anybody?" bug joked.

"I got 50 GP's on Bazaal." Scout said joining bug's dry humor.

"Are you guys crazy? What are we going to do???" JK said.

"In such a situation where you are the underdog and your two rivals are at war with each other, the rules of war state that the underdog should play one off the other. In short you wait for one to knock out the other and then you deal with the winner."

It was then that the battle erupted. Huge beams of magic energy flew across the open tower top, only narrowly missing thier targets. Most magical attacks were obscured by the fierce light from the last. Great rainbows of colors mixed and collided with violent fire bursts. The air froze, the tower floor liquified, space folded, time slowed and quickened. Ping's shield could only be kept up by using Pristine as an amplifier and Antestarr as a power source. The shield flexed and flickered in the tempest around them, it barely held off the worst side effects from the explosions Bazaal and Ravius threw at each other.

"But Bazaal is too much of a match for us, even if he is weakened." Ping said, concentrating on his shield.

"Perhaps there's another alternative?" said a foreign voice. They spun around to see a goblin looing at them through the crack in the door. He opened the door slightly and ushered them through. Bazaal and Ravius continued to battle each other completely oblivious to the fact that thier prize had left. When everyone was inside the goblin slid the door shut and an orange field shimmered across the face of the door.

"Thank you." Ping said. The goblin said nothing but lead them down a winding set of stairs. Ping was purturbed by the goblin's silence.

"Who-?" He began.

"No time for that." The goblin said.

"How-?"

"No time for that either." Quickly they reached the bottom of the stairs and stood before a shimmering "gate". The goblin stood beside it and motioned them through.

"Wait a second." Kogi said. "You want us to go through this? How do we know it's safe? Why should we trust you?"

"Becuase Ji'tory knows me," Again he motioned them through. Dawning comprehension showed up on many faces save for Kogi and Antestarr.

"Who the heck-" Kogi began but was interuppted by Gebohq shoving him through the gate. With haste they all filed through. bug was the last. "So it wasn't Apa-" but was shoved through by Frag.

On the other side Frag motioned them to follow him. They did, down all kinds of winding corridors and barely lit passageways. But all in all they found themselves slowly descending into the lower levels of some strange place they didn't know. Finally they ended up in a very small room, so small thay they all couldn't fit into it. In the center of the floor was a single grate, rushing water could be heard from below.

"This passageway will take you to a narrow shoreline. Follow it until you reach a small town. You will know where to go from there." Frag said. Ping stepped foreward and opened the grate. One by one they all slipped into the storm drain below. Ping jumped down last while Frag held the grate for him. Ping looked up at Frag. "Thank you." He said. Frag nodded, set the grate back down and disappeared.

------------------

(In Keanneu Reeves voice) Woah. Like that was one cool post. Better than I could of done anywhos. So forget about the e-mail I sent to you all, OK?)

*Following the goblin's orders, the party moved down the passageway cautiously. Conversations were held to held to make the time pass quickly, but Antestarr remained silent through all of it. He was lost in thought over something he felt. //Bazaal... I feel as if I know his aura... Yet I am sure I have never met him in person. I feel compelled to stand against him, which can only mean that Jaccik has joined his side. I am positive that by staying with these people I will meet up with Jaccik. Until then, I must keep my level of power down, no matter how much I feel it trying to rise.// The companions continued down the storm drain, unaware of Antestarr's thoughts.*

-----------------------------------

*Jaccik had recovered quickly from his initian power drain. He felt that Antestarr had been going through much over the past couple of days, but that was inconsequential to him. His new friend, Bazaal, had asked him to do a favor. Bazaal gave him a large meeting hall, furnished with oaken desks, in which he ushered in 25 individuals, inexperienced in magic, yet promising in those arts. He was to train a new crew of dark clerics, in order to assist Bazaal's forces. With a short discussion, and a pouch of platinum coins, Jaccik agreed to it. He would begin with the basic curative magics, then work up through the augmentation spells, teach the spell of death (a spell usually used for euthanasia, but that can be used in battle when within armlength), and finally teach them the pinnacle of white magic: concentrating holy energy into a beam. It would take them a long time to master such things, especially the perversion of holy energy as is necessary to use the holy beam for evil, but they had potential. Jaccik walked into the room and took his place behind the podeum.*

-----------------------------------

*Bazaal's journal lay hidden within his personal chambers. Within were accounts of all that had occurred since his discovery of the black arts. Most recently, entries have focussed on Jaccik. He knew about Antestarr, and about how the two were linked. Were Antestarr to enter his path, he had a plan, but it would require Jaccik. The final entry was as follows.*

"After running theories through my mind, I have finished with my plan. Antestarr should not be in my way if I am correct. I only hope that Jaccik finishes bringing my dark clerics to their full power before Antestarr becomes a problem. We shall see what happens when the time comes."

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~Antestarr
Time for my turn at a shameless plug. Go to ecamp. It's fun, and you can get prizes.

Ecamp Signup

Good Luck!

The other Bio-roids continued to close in on the others with in the citadel. They had paused abrubtly finding that their sensors showed the destruction of the other Bio-roid. But their orders where clear and fear was an emotion they had not been programed with.

Suddenly a man clothed in grey levitated over the lip of the entrance ledge and continued into the cavern. Then he slowly descended to the floor. The two Bio-roids laser tracking and sensors where immediately focused on him.

Merlin simply smiled. Then he stretched out his hand and simply said softly, "Go back."

Immediately the remaining bio-roids vanished in a flash of light.

"You destroied them." Sakana remarked with suprise.

"No. I sent them "back" or more specifically I sent them back to their home reality." replied Merlin with a broad smile. By now both Dragonfly, Balthazar the Dragon, Shawn Templar had reached the ledge as well.

"Come let us rest, while we wait for the others to arrive." Merlin said.

"How soon will Ping_me and others be back?" Ji'tory asked.

"Not for a little while, but still others will arrive before them." Merlin said quietly and with out further explanation.

(NSP: Hope Shawn didn't mind Merlin posting his situation. I mean, Shawn did leave it alone for like a week after his latest post, and almost a month since he started it, so I suppose it's only fair, but still. ANYWAYS! On with da story.)

*The dazed companions trudged on through the storm drains. The drains themselves were large enough to be called passages, but hardly felt more than an inner tube slide. The drains reeked such a stench they could touch it, the walls of the drains were covered in slime and other unmentionables, and polluted water flowed in the center, more forceful in some areas than others. But what really disturbed the group the most is that, like the rest of Bazaal's fortress, their surroundings felt alive, and that the place would make sure they wouldn't find their way out.*

"I think we've passed this place before," bug noted.

"No," Gebohq replied, "see the spot there? We didn't passed that thing before." But Gebohq wasn't sure if they had passed it.

*The group made their way through, and they passed several intersections where the pipes met, but the adjacent pipe was always uphill, so they knew which way to go. Ping started to jump ahead of the others.*

"We're almost out of here," Ping said quickly. "Keep up!"

"Hey, Greenie," bug said. "Not to undermind my own abilities, but you might want to slow down."

*But the memories were rising up from his memory banks for unknown reasons, and Ping wanted to get out as quick as possible.*

"You can do it! We're almost to the exit.."

*Everything was moving too quick as everyone was joining in the rush. Nobody else was especially optomistic to stay, so nobody argued. But Pristine, in the chaos that ensued from moving too fast, got pushed behind. She was starting to loose them.*

"Ping! Wait up!"

*But it was too late. As Ping stopped and turned around, Pristine was not in sight. They waited. And waited. But they never say Pristine. The group couldn't go back up, for it was too slippery, and they didn't remember passing any openings, but it was so quick, they couldn't of said for sure. It was as if the fortress swallowed her.*

"Come on, Ping," JK interjected. "We'll find her, don't worry."

*The group was shoving Ping down the drainpipe. It was a steep downhill that lead into light--light from the outside world. Ping turn his head as he was sliding down and screamed "PRISTINE!"
-------------------------------------------
*Pristine was in another storm drain, sliding too quickly to stop. She had lost which was up and which was down. In what seemed as if a matter of seconds, Pristine flew out the storn drain she was in, the exit she had come out being out of sight from the one the other members had exited. This one was not low to the ground with a shallow stream from the drain, but high above one of the Dark Lakes. Pristine felt as if time slowed down for her, as she saw the jagged rock below her, sitting in the water. Without control, she could do nothing but wait for when she hit. The rock sped close to her sight until -WHAM!-*

*Prisitine floated unconscious, drifting throught the Dark Lakes.*

(remember Ping, you don't know Pristine is in the water. You think she's lost somewhere now within Bazaal's fortress. Whether you stumble across her soon or come back later is your decision, but leave some thought into how Ping reacts, how willing he is to help the group now, and so forth.)

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited May 16, 2000).]

*Meanwhile, at Merlin's Citadel, the six waited for Merlin's explination on his last statement. Yet, out of the blue, the group heard sceraming. They all turned their heads as they saw two elven soldiers in armor ran past them and continued on completely oblivious to Merlin and company. They smelled as if they done something unspeakable in their armor as a result of being frightened. All, save Merlin, scratched their heads in bewilderment. Merlin simply laughed, as if getting the punchline to an inside joke.*

Merlin shook his head slowly.

"Poor Elves." he said softly. . .

Now a young Elven man of 200 or so years of age (200 or so is young for an Elf they can live to be 1,200 years old!) entered the cave entrance of Merlin's citadel. He had the clothes of what looked like a woodsman and a bow and a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back.

"Hello? Is anybdoy here. I was seperated from my company and looking for shelter." They young Elven man said.

"We are here, Balthazar." Merlin replied.

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours." Balthazar the Elf said.

"My name is Merlin." he replied.

Balthazar's eyes grew wide.

"I thought you were dead!" Balthazar said.

"I am." Merlin replied.

"Does this mean I'm dead and don't know it?" Balthazar asked with a great measure of uncomfortableness at the idea.

"No! No!" Merlin replied with a chuckle. "Your quite alive. I've been sent back to help. And I've been waiting for you." Merlin said.

"What is so important about me?" Balthazar asked, "I'm not anyone important."

"But you will be." Merlin replied, "I've been waiting because I want to give you something."

"What?" Baltahzar asked.

"This." said Merlin making a grand gesture refering to this entire library.

Balthazar stood for a few minutes making a complete 360 turn to see all of the books.

"But I'm just a woodsman. I'm no sage or wizard." Balthazar said.

"But you will be. You will be among one of the most powerful wizards in history." Merlin said.

"But why?" Balthazar asked.

"Because it is your destiny to do what is right." Merlin said.

Balthazar stood their in awe of the works that wear now given to him and the idea of him becoming powerful wizard pleased him very much.

"Go now, I want you to go a small village about a few miles from here. There you will meet a band of people, my friends, tell them I am waiting here for them. Then stay in that town until you recieve word of Bazaal's fall, then return here, take these books and gather about you as many scribes as you can to record the events that have happened as you will know them in your mind." Merlin said.

And with that Balthazar's eyes grew wide and he found he knew all the events that have come to pass in this story as it is written here in every detail, even down to the end of this tale which is yet to be written.

"I charge you not to tell any one of what you know untill after it has come to pass. Then gather the Elven scribes to record this tale. Then with them and this library set sail to the east. There you will find a land which seems to be a vast grassland, in the northern part of this land you will find a forest. Settle there with the scribes and found a village, and call it Elvenwood. Now go." Merlin finished.

Now Balthazar nodded quickly, turned and left with all due haste.

"Why did you do that?" Sakana asked.

"To set in motion some event that yet even you with your long life still ahead of you will not live to see." Merlin replied mystically.

*Bathazar the elf made his way to the village Merlin had told him to go. It didn't seem to dawn on him that he had come to the Citadel for shelter, and then left just moments later. He was filled with a purpose now, a purpose surely brought by God, he thought.*

*He could feel his future claer before him. He should of known he was a man of desitny. After all, his parents had named him after the great dragon of the same name. That dragon had saved their lives, and had directly seved under Merlin, whom the elf got to meet just moments ago! In person, even though Merlin was suppose to be dead! That had to mean something. He continued on his way, still daydreaming about being a great mage, and being able to carry on the legacy bound to come about.*

*Bathazar only hoped now that Merlin would come through this time, but history had a habit of repeating itself; he knew that logically. He kept faith though, and continued hiking through the forest.*
--------------------------------------
"You're far too keen on when and how, but not so hot on why!" Jesus to God--Jesus Christ Superstar

|:Gebohq:

[This message has been edited by Gebohq (edited May 17, 2000).]

(ns: Man, this story's LONG! It took me three days of almost solid reading to finish it! I would be honoured if I could be in it... I could do the thing with the other races, as no one else seems to be. How bout it?)

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Famous Last Words:®
...What's that noise?
...If you put your head to the train tracks, you can hear the train coming...
...I tell you, it's not live!
...It's perfectly safe! See?

Maranatha,
KRIG THE VIKING

Ping was slipping and sliding along completely against his will as the rest of the group was trying to restrain him. "Let go of me!"

"Will you calm down?!" Gebohq said. Ping eventually broke free of thier grasp and ran blindly down a passageway.

"Ping wait!" He called after him as he dissapeared into the darkness. "What's gotten into him?"

"He's lost his love. How would you react?" Antestarr said. Gebohq thought about Tessa and started to feel a little sympathy toward Ping.

"That's beside the point. He's an idiot wandering off like that! He should have stayed with us! We need to stick together!" Gebohq said.

"Don't be too quick to judge him. He loves her like no one does. There must be something very special between them both for him to take off like that. Ping normally has a very level head, but now..."

"C'mon," Gebohq said, annoyed. "Now we have to look for both of them."

Now they didn't notice the smell of the drains. They were too intent on looking for thier lost friends. Often they heard Ping's voice echoing like a ghost around them. It must have been some trick of the architechture. Sometimes it was like he was passing right by them, though they could not see him. It gnawed on thier minds that he could be in the next passage over or in the one above or below. Often they heard his footfalls and splashed of water. They grew worried for they heard nothing from Pristine.

"What's that?" Gebohq said as he stopped walking. All the others nearly plowed into him, as was his abruptness.

"What's what?" bug said.

"Listen!" Gebohq said again. They all nearly stopped breathing and closed thier eyes, concentrating on thier hearing. It wasn't long before they heard a faint rythmic clinking noise. "What is that?" he said, almost spooked.

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It came to Pristine's attention that she was in water. How she got into the water was a distant thought. Getting out of the water was immeadiate. Calling what strength she had she swam in a direction, hopeing beyond hope that it was the right one. She couldn't tell. All around her was pitch black. She dared not fathom what made water this black. Soon enough she surfaced. Normally a person would be gasping for air at this point, but seeing as how Pristine wasn't a normal person, air was not a top priority for her. Getting out of the water was. Quickly.

She paddled toward a shore, every second draining more and more of her energy. She was almost boiling the water around her, steam rose from her. When she finally reached the muddy shore, steam rose from her entire body. //Electricity and water don't mix// she thought. She looked up and saw that the sky was ashen and depressing. Looking behind her confirmed her worst fears. She had been to this place before, and hoped she would never have to come back. Looming in the sky was Bazaal's Palace. That was where they had come out of the gate at.

She gathered her knees up close to her and rested her head on them. She feared for her friends now. She lost them in the labryinth underneath that awful place of darkness. What's more was that they were worrying about her. Ping most of all. Ping. Her heart soared at the thought of him. She remembered him charging ahead when she lost him.

//He must be feeling so guilty now. For not being there with me.// She thought humorously. //I forgive him. I wonder if he can forgive himself?//

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The sounds grew worryingly louder as they trudged onward, looking up and down every passage they came to. Ping's sounds had stopped a long time ago as the clinking grew louder. All of a sudden the clinking grew into a maddening creshendo.

And stopped, creating a maddening silence. Minutes seemed like hours in the darkness and silence. No one dared to move and inch for fear of something happening once the silence was broken. Sweat beaded on the brow of each in the still and stifling air. They could now smell the stech of the sewers, powerful and overwhelming. They thought they would go mad again like back in the shadow realm. The air was heavy, the silence was all.

They practically jumped out of thier shirts, shorts, shoes, socks, tunics, cloaks, underwear, belts and thier skin when they all heard a cry go up. A cry like a thousand banshees riding to war. It rang thier ears so feircely that they all fell to thier knees and held thier ears. It reverberated off the walls of the sewer and shook the very stone floor they stood on. After the cry ended there was another. Loud but not piercing, strong but not overwhelming. They knew it as the voice they had been following for some time now. Ping roared at the top of his lungs. They all stood stock still staring at nothing, trying to hear what was going on. All they heard was clashes and screams. Some of the clashes were like steel to steel only with that energy twist that only a lightsaber or Ping's or Pristine's energy blade could make. The screams were horrid. Even more so for the fact that some of them were Ping's.

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Pristine shouted out loud and doubled over in pain. She felt like she was being hit from all sides. She writhed in the muddy shore of the Dark Lake. Every so often a new burst of pain would assault her, like it was from claw wounds, deep ones. She registered no loss of her own energy, just simply pain. She crawled to her knees and focused her eyes on Bazaal's palace. She could almost point to where it was all coming from. She felt him there, Ping. Another pain in her abdomen sent her face down in the mud. Ping was pressing onward, she could feel.

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The fight had ended and another heavy silence covered them. They felt a little hopful, the last scream had been one of those horrible high pitched ones. Gebohq's curiosity finally got the best of him.

"Ping...?" He said into the darkness, getting his own echo in reply. They heared a splash in a far away place like someone turing around in starlement.

"Gebohq, get everyone out now." Came the reply.

"Ping, what happened?" Gebohq said to nothing.

"Bazaal must have won the fight. He's sent something unspeakable after us. You must get out now."

"Ping were going to come look for you. Stay there."

"NO! It's too late! Get out while there's still time." All of a sudden they heard that same clinking noise again. This was suddenly accompanied by a curse from Ping and the relighting of his energy blade. "Get back to the Citadel!"

"No! Were coimg to help you!"

"GET AWAY YOU FOOLS! I ORDER YOU BY MERLIN'S AUTHORITY TO GET OUT!!!!!" The battle erupted again. This time they heard more of Ping's shouts than they were comfortable hearing. They suddenly heard the clinking noise in front of them. From out of the darkness a pair of red eyes stared directly at all of them. They burned with an intensity they had never seen. The shadow before them came to life and pounced at them. It was indescribeable. It was nothing but a shadow. As it flew through the air it emitted that same sound that they had heard before. It was like all the nightmares they'd every had all mixed into one real life being. As it stalked them it's claws clinked on the ground. They could still hear Ping's battle echoing around them. As the thing came into closer view they saw scars riddling its exterior, the results of sword wounds. It finally landed, rocking them back an forth, losening the stones in the walls around them. Quickly they drew thier weapons and prepared for battle.

Antestarr fearing the use of his powers, drew a daggar out from one of his boots. He drew upon old fighting skills and with one smooth motion he let it fly, spinning through the air. Gebohq being in the front in a narrow place obviously made the first attack. With drawn sword he lunged at the nightmare but found himself repelled by some force beofre he could make his attack. He wasn't sure if it was an attack from the nightmare or a field around it. He landed, his sword clattered to the ground. Antestarr's daggar impacted on the surface of the beast, and promptly melted into a pile of slag. It began walking toward them like a predator confident of it's prey's last moments.

"If Ping wasn't able to do anything to this thing how can we hope to beat it?" Antestarr said.

"I think Ping's advise is best taken NOW!" bug said breaking into a sprint in the opposite direction. The others weren't too long in following. They splashed through the sewer as fast as they could go, but taking care not to lose anybody. They had already made that mistake once this day. Behind them the clinking sound increased it's frequency meaning the beast started to pick up it's pace. The thought began to wiegh on the back of thier minds that the beast was gaining on them, a thought which spurred them on faster. Thier legs began burning with fatigue as they dashed down the dark passages. Finally like a light of salvation they saw the light brown of sand, indicating the end of the tunnel. The sight was blinding to them, who had been walking around in utter darkness for more then half a day. It seemed like more than a half of a day to them.

JK was the first one out, he leapt the last few feet and flew through the air, his feet sinking deep into the dull brown sand of the shore. Realizing that others were following he quickly scrambled out of the way. Scout nearly landed on top of him, after her followed Antestarr, bug and Kogi. Gebohq was running blindly at this point. He hardly even noticed that he was now stepping out onto thin air. Comically he tumbled head over heels, face-first into the sand. He registered a little pain, more humiliation, but did not forget thier present situation. They studied thier position and saw the sea at thier backs. To thier left and right and almost endless stretch of beach, in front of them, a sheer cliff. Gebohq sprang to his feet via a handspring, finishing with his sword in his hands. The others were arrayed likewise, all facing the pipe they had just emerged from. From deep within they heard the rapid tapping of the beast that followed them, however the dark interior of the pipe stayed menacingly still.

"What do we do?" Gebohq said almost breathlessly, his lungs still burning from his jog.

"There's nowhere to run, It'll chase us no matter where we run!" Scout said.

"Maybe if we all run in different directions it'll only chase one person?" bug suggested.

"NO! We can't abandon each other like that. We'll stay and fight it, it's our only chance!" Gebohq said decisively. Everyone seemed to agree on the notion. For a long time they stood there on the shore, thier knuckles white on thier weapons. Thier muscles started to ache from NOT running. They stood at ready, listening to the maddening clinking noise coming from within. Sweat beaded on thier brows. At last the shadow in the drain morphed and twisted to admit the beast that followed. It's image defied decription. It charged even faster now that it had it's quarry in sight. Gebohq and company braced for the charge ready to fight tooth and nail. Thier minds raced as they stood still. Sweat poured from them now. The world stood still as it lunged at them, emitting that same horrifying scream. It flew through the air, ready to bring them all down in blood.

But the blow never came. As it reached the pipe's end it hit something, hard. It collapsed at the pipe entrace. Gebohq fell over face first into the sand once again, due to overstrain. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Scout bravely marched up to the entrance. When she stopped, that beast inside got up and instantly leapt at her. But once again it met some strange invisible barrier. It could not understand what was going on. Repeatedly it threw itself at the barrier trying to break it, but to no avail.

"Well that little problem took care of itself." bug said in his usual manner.

"It can only stay inside the sewer?" Scout said examining the entrance, though careful not to get too close.

"I suppose so. I can't supply you with any info on him. He's new. Probably one of Bazaal's newer creations."

"So we were inside Bazaal's Palace?" Scout asked.

"You're quick." bug said.

"What are we going to do? Ping and Pristine are still somewhere in there!!" Gebohq said finally getting to his feet.

"We don't know where Pristine is. We lost her somwehere in the beginning. We can't know if Ping is alive or not, and we can't go back in." Antestarr said. He gestured to the nightmare as if presenting evidence in a court case. In the pipe the beast had ceased it's struggling and now simply stared at them with those same burning eyes.

"So what can we do?" Gebohq asked.

"We can only wait here in case Ping finds his way out. And when he has to fight his way past that thing, we can only hope to create some sort of diversion for him."

"Wonderful. Let's get a fire started." Gebohq said looking up at the gray, ashen sky. "It may be dark soon." They fanned out and looked for driftwood.

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If holograms could cry, she was doing it. Pristine lay, curled in a ball in the reeds she managed to drag herself to. Her heart ached now. She was worried about Ping's condition. He wasn't concious. That was for sure. She could tell due to the connection they shared through her projection unit. She hoisted herself up on her arms and looked toward the palace. He was moving, or was being moved. The latter was probably true, for he was moving upward into the palace from the sewer.

She stood now in the reeds that were swaying in the breeze, a sharp odorous breeze trademark to this region. She looked to Bazaal's palace and the surrounding slums with hatred. Now she thought about what she knew. She could feel Ping inside the stronghold. All her senses told her to go there and find out what happened to him.

Then she thought about her other freinds. It was possible that they could make it out. She knew where the pipe came out becuase she had been a resident of this area for a short time, but long enough to know the ins and outs. It came out on a sandy beach not far to her north, which was where Frag had told them to go, and would be the most likely place they could come out at.

//As long as I still feel him I know he's safe, but for how long?// she thought. //What do I do? I love him. I want to be with him. Should I forsake the others to go look for him? Or do what Ping would want, leave him and continue with the others?// The choice burned in her mind like a fire that could not be quenched. For love or for duty? Love, or duty? She nearly knelt back down in the reeds and cried.

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The night wind swept across the desolate beach. Desolate save for a small band of warriors huddled around a weak fire. They huddled around both to keep themselves warm and to keep the wind from blowing the fire out. Periodically they would steal a look back at the pipe, only to find those same red burning eyes staring back at them from inside. The beast, evidently thinking of them as red raw meat, purred.

"It's been too long." JK said.

"It doesn't matter. We'll wait here till he comes." Gebohq said.

"What if he doesn't come?" JK asked. The question had been on everyone's mind, it certainly was a reality now. They had been waiting for hours since they lost Ping and Pristine, and still no sign of either. For a long time they sat in silence.

"What's that?" Scout said.

"Not more sounds?" bug asked.

"No, look." She pointed down the beach. In the darkness of the night there was a single white luminous speck. It grew larger, for it was coming toward them. Annoyed at the prospect of fighting again, they drew thier weapons. As the speck came closer to thier veiw it took a humanoid form. It was running down the beach toward them.

"Pristine!" Scout shouted. As they strained thier eyesight they could now see that it was in fact Pristine. As she approached Scout nearly ran out to hug her, but knew better then to touch the energy being. Pristine drew close hoping that maybe she was wrong, maybe all her senses were wrong and maybe Ping would be with them. For a second she thought maybe she saw him, but was wrong.

"Have you seen Ping?" Gebohq said.

She shook her head and gave them the bad news. "Bazaal has him."

"WHAT!!!" Gebohq said. "How do you know? What happened to you?"

She proceeded to tell all that happened to her and to Ping, they all checked thier facts against each other's retelling what events had happened. Pristine told how she knew Ping was now in Bazaal's hands.

"I'm going after him." She said finally.

"Were coming with you." Gebohq said.

"No. You have to get back to the Citadel. Especially you Gebohq. You're why we came on this madcap adventure in the first place. Tell them all that's happened and tell them to go ahead with any plans they have, without Ping and myself."

"What are you going to do?" Kogi said.

She paused. "Think of a plan." She paused again. "Even if it means giving myself up to Bazaal." They were taken aback by the sorrow in her voice.

"You would give up everything, even your freedom to save him?"

She looked at all of them with a determination that would put the most desperate warrior to shame. "Yes." She paused. "But first we'll see if there isn't another way." she said and smiled. "Continue as Frag said. Don't go up the way I came, but continue down the beach untill you reach the town he mentioned."

When it was light they went thier separate ways.

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"I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star,
in somebody else's sky, but why, why, why can't it be, can't it be mine...."
- Pearl Jam - "Black"

(NSP: Krig, I wouldn't mind you joining, but I wanted to ask if you planned on making yourself a character, or just wanted to be like a background writer, like what Warlord, and now Merlin *since his character is dead *. Either way, I'll send you an e-mail with a bunch of info. And Ping--*shiver* the creep you made up sounds like a shadow being and a viscious beast combined. Gives me the willies, heehee. I'll post soon enough, and Krig, you might want to wait on Merlin and/or Ping's approval before posting. Off I go.)

(N.S. I was kinda planning to introduce a character, but I don't have to. If I did, I'd work him in with the dwarf/goblin etc. storyline, and keep him rather minor... Does anyone have a map, or even a description of this place? I've got a mental picture, I just don't know if it's right...)