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Story Hour
Bitterness Overcome: (Now A Completed Story!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 2916852" data-attributes="member: 35788"><p>Ischarus sat alone on his end of the tunnel. He had been sitting in silence for nearly an hour while listening for any word from either Charis or Rhema. Just when he began to relax he heard a subtle song begin in the draconic tongue.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Red">“Come to me, my child.”</span> The song began. It was obvious from the words and the voice that the singer was Charis’ father dragon. Ischarus quickly tuned his ears to listen for any sign of movement from Charis’ position. They had come so far is rescuing her and she herself had come a long ways toward breaking free from the evil draconic influence that bound her past life that Ischarus vowed internally to not let her get by him without a fight.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Red">“The time has come to do my bidding.</span></p><p><span style="color: Red">The time has come to win my favor.</span></p><p><span style="color: Red">Come to me, my child, the time has come.”</span></p><p><span style="color: Red"></span></p><p><span style="color: Red">“Come to me, my child.</span></p><p><span style="color: Red">You are the one that I have chosen.</span></p><p><span style="color: Red">The task at hand is within your grasp.</span></p><p><span style="color: Red">Come to me, my child, the time has come.”</span></p><p></p><p>At the understanding of the words, Ischarus slowly crept back to where Charis kept a silent watch over Semeion. Charis lifted her eyes up off of the wounded mage and looked toward Ischarus as he approached. Once he had gotten within a few paces he spoke to Charis. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Is that song meant for you?”</span> Ischarus asked with a wrinkle of questioning in his eyebrows. His sight told him that Charis was rather unaffected by the dragon’s song.</p><p></p><p>Charis shook her head slowly from side to side. <span style="color: Orange">“Not for me. If it was, then any magic within it was poorly sung. I haven’t felt the least bit moved by the song in any way.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus frowned as Charis spoke. <span style="color: LightBlue">“I’d expect you to notice the subtle magic contained within the songs of your father dragon. If you didn’t notice any, then there must be something else going on. I don’t like this position. We are truly bottlenecked here.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis answered with a bit of venom in her words. <span style="color: Orange">“Your friend could not have been moved. We are here because his life needed to be saved.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus knew instantly that she had misinterpreted his meaning. <span style="color: LightBlue">“No, that is not what I mean at all. We are here now and your reasons are legitimate. But the fact remains that luck has trapped us in a precarious position. Not only that, but we know that something is going to happen and we have no clue as to what.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis eased as Ischarus reinterpreted his meaning for her. <span style="color: Orange">“My father dragon is driven by greed above all else. His sphere of influence is wider than I can possibly imagine and he will do nearly anything in his capability to get something his heart truly desires. To guess what he has planned is simply next to the impossible.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus stood and prepared to go back to his position, convinced that Charis was not under the dragon’s spell. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Whatever happens, keep a good watch over Semeion. In his condition it would not take too much to push him over the edge of life and into death.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis smiled, for the first time seemingly able to look past Ischarus’ dominance and filled with the ability to ignore the clash of leadership she found so easy between them. <span style="color: Orange">“That would make our sacrifice here pointless. Nothing of harm shall come to him.”</span></p><p></p><p>The dragon song repeated itself two more times and then died down. However, from his position in the tunnel Ischarus could hear that the dragon had not left. The wyrm had merely stopped singing. Its great inhalations caused every nook in the tunnel to echo and make it sound as though even the cave itself was sighing at the tension that was mounting within Ischarus to not doubt his associates.</p><p></p><p>Rhema was unaware that Ischarus had descended the short bit of the passageway to approach Charis. When she heard the dragon song, she immediately recognized it as charm magic, but felt herself pass through the compulsion unaffected. As she focused on the song, she could feel the current of magic welling past her as though she stood in the path of a rushing stream that originated from the dragon’s mouth and ran deeper into the cave. With every note she steeled herself until the song became silent. As the cavern heaved with each draconic breath once the song was over, she felt herself relax.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, the dragon’s breathing sound was gone. Quickly she noticed that the dragon’s breathing was not the only change. Every noise had vanished, including the noise that her feet should have made as she rose from her crouched position. As she turned to look down the passageway she found that she stared into the eyes of a coming opponent. The beast had yellow eyes which contained the simple lizard-like slit for a pupil. The opponent was only a few feet tall and covered in scaly skin that was not unlike that of dragons. The short creature approached cautiously. Charis could tell by its body language that it had just cast a spell and appeared to prepare to cast another.</p><p></p><p>Charis attempted a quick warning to Ischarus, but her voice produced no sound at all. Though she tried to yell with all her might she could do nothing to warn those further up the tunnel. Giving up quickly on warning her friends and choosing to stand her ground, Rhema silently focused her thoughts into an offensive affront. She lifted the hilt of her dagger up to her right temple and focused on the creature’s yellow eyes.</p><p></p><p>The reptilian creature let out a small yelp of pain as the power of Rhema’s mind affected him. He had been caught off guard, assuming that his first spell would immobilize her ability to harm him through non-physical means. As his mind recovered from the pain, he brought to his fingers a bright blue ball of energy. The energy crackled from finger tip to fingertip as he lined up his shot and flung it towards Rhema. Although she ducked and jumped to avoid the strike, the energy ball turned mid-flight and struck Rhema in the back. As quickly as he had released the first jolt of energy another one formed and he flung it towards Rhema. This blast found its target as well. As the second energy ball struck her Rhema collapsed to the ground and made no further effort to rise.</p><p></p><p>Further up the tunnel, Charis noticed that as the energy ball sliced through the air and impacted against Rhema it illuminated her figure. Although she had been unable to hear any sound of the battle due to the reptilian creature’s spell, Charis was able to see the effects of the battle as it raged further down into the tunnel. Charis called for Ischarus as she saw Rhema strike the ground hard. <span style="color: Orange">“Ischarus, your friend is under attack and looks overpowered at the other end of the tunnel!”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus leapt to his feet and abandoned his end of the passageway. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Stay where you are and protect Semeion. You’ll have to watch this side of the tunnel now.”</span></p><p></p><p>The sound of drawing steel from a scabbard could be heard as Ischarus charged past Charis. He wasn’t sure where the threat had come from. He wasn’t even sure where Rhema lay upon the ground. As he charged down the tunnel, he saw a spark of blue energy light up. Before he could react the energy leapt into motion and slammed into Ischarus’ chest as he ran. Another blue energy ball shot forth and struck him from the same source. While the damage was hard to accept the blue light was enough to clue him in onto where the enemy was located. His torso had been significantly wounded, but he still drew the blade of his sword back in a mighty swing. Ischarus lashed out with a hefty swing as he closed in on the reptilian aggressor. The blade of the sword sliced through the air more precisely than he had imagined. </p><p></p><p>The short reptilian figure realized that its arcane spells had not been enough to take down the charging opponent. It knew that the miscalculation would cost dearly. The creature managed to do the only thing that in could as self-defense. It raised its hands and braced for the impact. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus’ blade struck the smaller creature’s hands with great force and severed the creature’s right hand cleanly. The creature shrieked in pain at the blow. It cursed Ischarus profusely and fell to the floor. Above the shriek of the wounded arcane caster came another yell. This yell was followed by another, then a third, and even a fourth. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus lowered his blade to waist height as four more of these short reptilian aggressors approached. Ischarus could tell that these four were not spell casters by the spears and daggers that they held in each hand. Although they didn’t wield magic, these weapons were no less dangerous. The reptilian creatures snarled fiercely as Ischarus held them at bay with a sweeping wide arc of his sword tip. On one such swing, Ischarus felt a presence coming towards him from behind.</p><p></p><p>[Sblock=Color Free Speech Section]</p><p>Ischarus sat alone on his end of the tunnel. He had been sitting in silence for nearly an hour while listening for any word from either Charis or Rhema. Just when he began to relax he heard a subtle song begin in the draconic tongue.</p><p></p><p>“Come to me, my child.” The song began. It was obvious from the words and the voice that the singer was Charis’ father dragon. Ischarus quickly tuned his ears to listen for any sign of movement from Charis’ position. They had come so far is rescuing her and she herself had come a long ways toward breaking free from the evil draconic influence that bound her past life that Ischarus vowed internally to not let her get by him without a fight.</p><p></p><p>“The time has come to do my bidding.</p><p>The time has come to win my favor.</p><p>Come to me, my child, the time has come.”</p><p></p><p>“Come to me, my child.</p><p>You are the one that I have chosen.</p><p>The task at hand is within your grasp.</p><p>Come to me, my child, the time has come.”</p><p></p><p>At the understanding of the words, Ischarus slowly crept back to where Charis kept a silent watch over Semeion. Charis lifted her eyes up off of the wounded mage and looked toward Ischarus as he approached. Once he had gotten within a few paces he spoke to Charis. “Is that song meant for you?” Ischarus asked with a wrinkle of questioning in his eyebrows. His sight told him that Charis was rather unaffected by the dragon’s song.</p><p></p><p>Charis shook her head slowly from side to side. “Not for me. If it was, then any magic within it was poorly sung. I haven’t felt the least bit moved by the song in any way.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus frowned as Charis spoke. “I’d expect you to notice the subtle magic contained within the songs of your father dragon. If you didn’t notice any, then there must be something else going on. I don’t like this position. We are truly bottlenecked here.”</p><p></p><p>Charis answered with a bit of venom in her words. “Your friend could not have been moved. We are here because his life needed to be saved.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus knew instantly that she had misinterpreted his meaning. “No, that is not what I mean at all. We are here now and your reasons are legitimate. But the fact remains that luck has trapped us in a precarious position. Not only that, but we know that something is going to happen and we have no clue as to what.”</p><p></p><p>Charis eased as Ischarus reinterpreted his meaning for her. “My father dragon is driven by greed above all else. His sphere of influence is wider than I can possibly imagine and he will do nearly anything in his capability to get something his heart truly desires. To guess what he has planned is simply next to the impossible.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus stood and prepared to go back to his position, convinced that Charis was not under the dragon’s spell. “Whatever happens, keep a good watch over Semeion. In his condition it would not take too much to push him over the edge of life and into death.”</p><p></p><p>Charis smiled, for the first time seemingly able to look past Ischarus’ dominance and filled with the ability to ignore the clash of leadership she found so easy between them. “That would make our sacrifice here pointless. Nothing of harm shall come to him.”</p><p></p><p>The dragon song repeated itself two more times and then died down. However, from his position in the tunnel Ischarus could hear that the dragon had not left. The wyrm had merely stopped singing. Its great inhalations caused every nook in the tunnel to echo and make it sound as though even the cave itself was sighing at the tension that was mounting within Ischarus to not doubt his associates.</p><p></p><p>Rhema was unaware that Ischarus had descended the short bit of the passageway to approach Charis. When she heard the dragon song, she immediately recognized it as charm magic, but felt herself pass through the compulsion unaffected. As she focused on the song, she could feel the current of magic welling past her as though she stood in the path of a rushing stream that originated from the dragon’s mouth and ran deeper into the cave. With every note she steeled herself until the song became silent. As the cavern heaved with each draconic breath once the song was over, she felt herself relax.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, the dragon’s breathing sound was gone. Quickly she noticed that the dragon’s breathing was not the only change. Every noise had vanished, including the noise that her feet should have made as she rose from her crouched position. As she turned to look down the passageway she found that she stared into the eyes of a coming opponent. The beast had yellow eyes which contained the simple lizard-like slit for a pupil. The opponent was only a few feet tall and covered in scaly skin that was not unlike that of dragons. The short creature approached cautiously. Charis could tell by its body language that it had just cast a spell and appeared to prepare to cast another.</p><p></p><p>Charis attempted a quick warning to Ischarus, but her voice produced no sound at all. Though she tried to yell with all her might she could do nothing to warn those further up the tunnel. Giving up quickly on warning her friends and choosing to stand her ground, Rhema silently focused her thoughts into an offensive affront. She lifted the hilt of her dagger up to her right temple and focused on the creature’s yellow eyes.</p><p></p><p>The reptilian creature let out a small yelp of pain as the power of Rhema’s mind affected him. He had been caught off guard, assuming that his first spell would immobilize her ability to harm him through non-physical means. As his mind recovered from the pain, he brought to his fingers a bright blue ball of energy. The energy crackled from finger tip to fingertip as he lined up his shot and flung it towards Rhema. Although she ducked and jumped to avoid the strike, the energy ball turned mid-flight and struck Rhema in the back. As quickly as he had released the first jolt of energy another one formed and he flung it towards Rhema. This blast found its target as well. As the second energy ball struck her Rhema collapsed to the ground and made no further effort to rise.</p><p></p><p>Further up the tunnel, Charis noticed that as the energy ball sliced through the air and impacted against Rhema it illuminated her figure. Although she had been unable to hear any sound of the battle due to the reptilian creature’s spell, Charis was able to see the effects of the battle as it raged further down into the tunnel. Charis called for Ischarus as she saw Rhema strike the ground hard. “Ischarus, your friend is under attack and looks overpowered at the other end of the tunnel!”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus leapt to his feet and abandoned his end of the passageway. “Stay where you are and protect Semeion. You’ll have to watch this side of the tunnel now.”</p><p></p><p>The sound of drawing steel from a scabbard could be heard as Ischarus charged past Charis. He wasn’t sure where the threat had come from. He wasn’t even sure where Rhema lay upon the ground. As he charged down the tunnel, he saw a spark of blue energy light up. Before he could react the energy leapt into motion and slammed into Ischarus’ chest as he ran. Another blue energy ball shot forth and struck him from the same source. While the damage was hard to accept the blue light was enough to clue him in onto where the enemy was located. His torso had been significantly wounded, but he still drew the blade of his sword back in a mighty swing. Ischarus lashed out with a hefty swing as he closed in on the reptilian aggressor. The blade of the sword sliced through the air more precisely than he had imagined. </p><p></p><p>The short reptilian figure realized that its arcane spells had not been enough to take down the charging opponent. It knew that the miscalculation would cost dearly. The creature managed to do the only thing that in could as self-defense. It raised its hands and braced for the impact. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus’ blade struck the smaller creature’s hands with great force and severed the creature’s right hand cleanly. The creature shrieked in pain at the blow. It cursed Ischarus profusely and fell to the floor. Above the shriek of the wounded arcane caster came another yell. This yell was followed by another, then a third, and even a fourth. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus lowered his blade to waist height as four more of these short reptilian aggressors approached. Ischarus could tell that these four were not spell casters by the spears and daggers that they held in each hand. Although they didn’t wield magic, these weapons were no less dangerous. The reptilian creatures snarled fiercely as Ischarus held them at bay with a sweeping wide arc of his sword tip. On one such swing, Ischarus felt a presence coming towards him from behind.</p><p>[/Sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nonlethal Force, post: 2916852, member: 35788"] Ischarus sat alone on his end of the tunnel. He had been sitting in silence for nearly an hour while listening for any word from either Charis or Rhema. Just when he began to relax he heard a subtle song begin in the draconic tongue. [Color=Red]“Come to me, my child.”[/Color] The song began. It was obvious from the words and the voice that the singer was Charis’ father dragon. Ischarus quickly tuned his ears to listen for any sign of movement from Charis’ position. They had come so far is rescuing her and she herself had come a long ways toward breaking free from the evil draconic influence that bound her past life that Ischarus vowed internally to not let her get by him without a fight. [Color=Red]“The time has come to do my bidding. The time has come to win my favor. Come to me, my child, the time has come.” “Come to me, my child. You are the one that I have chosen. The task at hand is within your grasp. Come to me, my child, the time has come.”[/Color] At the understanding of the words, Ischarus slowly crept back to where Charis kept a silent watch over Semeion. Charis lifted her eyes up off of the wounded mage and looked toward Ischarus as he approached. Once he had gotten within a few paces he spoke to Charis. [Color=LightBlue]“Is that song meant for you?”[/Color] Ischarus asked with a wrinkle of questioning in his eyebrows. His sight told him that Charis was rather unaffected by the dragon’s song. Charis shook her head slowly from side to side. [Color=Orange]“Not for me. If it was, then any magic within it was poorly sung. I haven’t felt the least bit moved by the song in any way.”[/Color] Ischarus frowned as Charis spoke. [Color=LightBlue]“I’d expect you to notice the subtle magic contained within the songs of your father dragon. If you didn’t notice any, then there must be something else going on. I don’t like this position. We are truly bottlenecked here.”[/Color] Charis answered with a bit of venom in her words. [Color=Orange]“Your friend could not have been moved. We are here because his life needed to be saved.”[/Color] Ischarus knew instantly that she had misinterpreted his meaning. [Color=LightBlue]“No, that is not what I mean at all. We are here now and your reasons are legitimate. But the fact remains that luck has trapped us in a precarious position. Not only that, but we know that something is going to happen and we have no clue as to what.”[/Color] Charis eased as Ischarus reinterpreted his meaning for her. [Color=Orange]“My father dragon is driven by greed above all else. His sphere of influence is wider than I can possibly imagine and he will do nearly anything in his capability to get something his heart truly desires. To guess what he has planned is simply next to the impossible.”[/Color] Ischarus stood and prepared to go back to his position, convinced that Charis was not under the dragon’s spell. [Color=LightBlue]“Whatever happens, keep a good watch over Semeion. In his condition it would not take too much to push him over the edge of life and into death.”[/Color] Charis smiled, for the first time seemingly able to look past Ischarus’ dominance and filled with the ability to ignore the clash of leadership she found so easy between them. [Color=Orange]“That would make our sacrifice here pointless. Nothing of harm shall come to him.”[/Color] The dragon song repeated itself two more times and then died down. However, from his position in the tunnel Ischarus could hear that the dragon had not left. The wyrm had merely stopped singing. Its great inhalations caused every nook in the tunnel to echo and make it sound as though even the cave itself was sighing at the tension that was mounting within Ischarus to not doubt his associates. Rhema was unaware that Ischarus had descended the short bit of the passageway to approach Charis. When she heard the dragon song, she immediately recognized it as charm magic, but felt herself pass through the compulsion unaffected. As she focused on the song, she could feel the current of magic welling past her as though she stood in the path of a rushing stream that originated from the dragon’s mouth and ran deeper into the cave. With every note she steeled herself until the song became silent. As the cavern heaved with each draconic breath once the song was over, she felt herself relax. Suddenly, the dragon’s breathing sound was gone. Quickly she noticed that the dragon’s breathing was not the only change. Every noise had vanished, including the noise that her feet should have made as she rose from her crouched position. As she turned to look down the passageway she found that she stared into the eyes of a coming opponent. The beast had yellow eyes which contained the simple lizard-like slit for a pupil. The opponent was only a few feet tall and covered in scaly skin that was not unlike that of dragons. The short creature approached cautiously. Charis could tell by its body language that it had just cast a spell and appeared to prepare to cast another. Charis attempted a quick warning to Ischarus, but her voice produced no sound at all. Though she tried to yell with all her might she could do nothing to warn those further up the tunnel. Giving up quickly on warning her friends and choosing to stand her ground, Rhema silently focused her thoughts into an offensive affront. She lifted the hilt of her dagger up to her right temple and focused on the creature’s yellow eyes. The reptilian creature let out a small yelp of pain as the power of Rhema’s mind affected him. He had been caught off guard, assuming that his first spell would immobilize her ability to harm him through non-physical means. As his mind recovered from the pain, he brought to his fingers a bright blue ball of energy. The energy crackled from finger tip to fingertip as he lined up his shot and flung it towards Rhema. Although she ducked and jumped to avoid the strike, the energy ball turned mid-flight and struck Rhema in the back. As quickly as he had released the first jolt of energy another one formed and he flung it towards Rhema. This blast found its target as well. As the second energy ball struck her Rhema collapsed to the ground and made no further effort to rise. Further up the tunnel, Charis noticed that as the energy ball sliced through the air and impacted against Rhema it illuminated her figure. Although she had been unable to hear any sound of the battle due to the reptilian creature’s spell, Charis was able to see the effects of the battle as it raged further down into the tunnel. Charis called for Ischarus as she saw Rhema strike the ground hard. [Color=Orange]“Ischarus, your friend is under attack and looks overpowered at the other end of the tunnel!”[/Color] Ischarus leapt to his feet and abandoned his end of the passageway. [Color=LightBlue]“Stay where you are and protect Semeion. You’ll have to watch this side of the tunnel now.”[/Color] The sound of drawing steel from a scabbard could be heard as Ischarus charged past Charis. He wasn’t sure where the threat had come from. He wasn’t even sure where Rhema lay upon the ground. As he charged down the tunnel, he saw a spark of blue energy light up. Before he could react the energy leapt into motion and slammed into Ischarus’ chest as he ran. Another blue energy ball shot forth and struck him from the same source. While the damage was hard to accept the blue light was enough to clue him in onto where the enemy was located. His torso had been significantly wounded, but he still drew the blade of his sword back in a mighty swing. Ischarus lashed out with a hefty swing as he closed in on the reptilian aggressor. The blade of the sword sliced through the air more precisely than he had imagined. The short reptilian figure realized that its arcane spells had not been enough to take down the charging opponent. It knew that the miscalculation would cost dearly. The creature managed to do the only thing that in could as self-defense. It raised its hands and braced for the impact. Ischarus’ blade struck the smaller creature’s hands with great force and severed the creature’s right hand cleanly. The creature shrieked in pain at the blow. It cursed Ischarus profusely and fell to the floor. Above the shriek of the wounded arcane caster came another yell. This yell was followed by another, then a third, and even a fourth. Ischarus lowered his blade to waist height as four more of these short reptilian aggressors approached. Ischarus could tell that these four were not spell casters by the spears and daggers that they held in each hand. Although they didn’t wield magic, these weapons were no less dangerous. The reptilian creatures snarled fiercely as Ischarus held them at bay with a sweeping wide arc of his sword tip. On one such swing, Ischarus felt a presence coming towards him from behind. [Sblock=Color Free Speech Section] Ischarus sat alone on his end of the tunnel. He had been sitting in silence for nearly an hour while listening for any word from either Charis or Rhema. Just when he began to relax he heard a subtle song begin in the draconic tongue. “Come to me, my child.” The song began. It was obvious from the words and the voice that the singer was Charis’ father dragon. Ischarus quickly tuned his ears to listen for any sign of movement from Charis’ position. They had come so far is rescuing her and she herself had come a long ways toward breaking free from the evil draconic influence that bound her past life that Ischarus vowed internally to not let her get by him without a fight. “The time has come to do my bidding. The time has come to win my favor. Come to me, my child, the time has come.” “Come to me, my child. You are the one that I have chosen. The task at hand is within your grasp. Come to me, my child, the time has come.” At the understanding of the words, Ischarus slowly crept back to where Charis kept a silent watch over Semeion. Charis lifted her eyes up off of the wounded mage and looked toward Ischarus as he approached. Once he had gotten within a few paces he spoke to Charis. “Is that song meant for you?” Ischarus asked with a wrinkle of questioning in his eyebrows. His sight told him that Charis was rather unaffected by the dragon’s song. Charis shook her head slowly from side to side. “Not for me. If it was, then any magic within it was poorly sung. I haven’t felt the least bit moved by the song in any way.” Ischarus frowned as Charis spoke. “I’d expect you to notice the subtle magic contained within the songs of your father dragon. If you didn’t notice any, then there must be something else going on. I don’t like this position. We are truly bottlenecked here.” Charis answered with a bit of venom in her words. “Your friend could not have been moved. We are here because his life needed to be saved.” Ischarus knew instantly that she had misinterpreted his meaning. “No, that is not what I mean at all. We are here now and your reasons are legitimate. But the fact remains that luck has trapped us in a precarious position. Not only that, but we know that something is going to happen and we have no clue as to what.” Charis eased as Ischarus reinterpreted his meaning for her. “My father dragon is driven by greed above all else. His sphere of influence is wider than I can possibly imagine and he will do nearly anything in his capability to get something his heart truly desires. To guess what he has planned is simply next to the impossible.” Ischarus stood and prepared to go back to his position, convinced that Charis was not under the dragon’s spell. “Whatever happens, keep a good watch over Semeion. In his condition it would not take too much to push him over the edge of life and into death.” Charis smiled, for the first time seemingly able to look past Ischarus’ dominance and filled with the ability to ignore the clash of leadership she found so easy between them. “That would make our sacrifice here pointless. Nothing of harm shall come to him.” The dragon song repeated itself two more times and then died down. However, from his position in the tunnel Ischarus could hear that the dragon had not left. The wyrm had merely stopped singing. Its great inhalations caused every nook in the tunnel to echo and make it sound as though even the cave itself was sighing at the tension that was mounting within Ischarus to not doubt his associates. Rhema was unaware that Ischarus had descended the short bit of the passageway to approach Charis. When she heard the dragon song, she immediately recognized it as charm magic, but felt herself pass through the compulsion unaffected. As she focused on the song, she could feel the current of magic welling past her as though she stood in the path of a rushing stream that originated from the dragon’s mouth and ran deeper into the cave. With every note she steeled herself until the song became silent. As the cavern heaved with each draconic breath once the song was over, she felt herself relax. Suddenly, the dragon’s breathing sound was gone. Quickly she noticed that the dragon’s breathing was not the only change. Every noise had vanished, including the noise that her feet should have made as she rose from her crouched position. As she turned to look down the passageway she found that she stared into the eyes of a coming opponent. The beast had yellow eyes which contained the simple lizard-like slit for a pupil. The opponent was only a few feet tall and covered in scaly skin that was not unlike that of dragons. The short creature approached cautiously. Charis could tell by its body language that it had just cast a spell and appeared to prepare to cast another. Charis attempted a quick warning to Ischarus, but her voice produced no sound at all. Though she tried to yell with all her might she could do nothing to warn those further up the tunnel. Giving up quickly on warning her friends and choosing to stand her ground, Rhema silently focused her thoughts into an offensive affront. She lifted the hilt of her dagger up to her right temple and focused on the creature’s yellow eyes. The reptilian creature let out a small yelp of pain as the power of Rhema’s mind affected him. He had been caught off guard, assuming that his first spell would immobilize her ability to harm him through non-physical means. As his mind recovered from the pain, he brought to his fingers a bright blue ball of energy. The energy crackled from finger tip to fingertip as he lined up his shot and flung it towards Rhema. Although she ducked and jumped to avoid the strike, the energy ball turned mid-flight and struck Rhema in the back. As quickly as he had released the first jolt of energy another one formed and he flung it towards Rhema. This blast found its target as well. As the second energy ball struck her Rhema collapsed to the ground and made no further effort to rise. Further up the tunnel, Charis noticed that as the energy ball sliced through the air and impacted against Rhema it illuminated her figure. Although she had been unable to hear any sound of the battle due to the reptilian creature’s spell, Charis was able to see the effects of the battle as it raged further down into the tunnel. Charis called for Ischarus as she saw Rhema strike the ground hard. “Ischarus, your friend is under attack and looks overpowered at the other end of the tunnel!” Ischarus leapt to his feet and abandoned his end of the passageway. “Stay where you are and protect Semeion. You’ll have to watch this side of the tunnel now.” The sound of drawing steel from a scabbard could be heard as Ischarus charged past Charis. He wasn’t sure where the threat had come from. He wasn’t even sure where Rhema lay upon the ground. As he charged down the tunnel, he saw a spark of blue energy light up. Before he could react the energy leapt into motion and slammed into Ischarus’ chest as he ran. Another blue energy ball shot forth and struck him from the same source. While the damage was hard to accept the blue light was enough to clue him in onto where the enemy was located. His torso had been significantly wounded, but he still drew the blade of his sword back in a mighty swing. Ischarus lashed out with a hefty swing as he closed in on the reptilian aggressor. The blade of the sword sliced through the air more precisely than he had imagined. The short reptilian figure realized that its arcane spells had not been enough to take down the charging opponent. It knew that the miscalculation would cost dearly. The creature managed to do the only thing that in could as self-defense. It raised its hands and braced for the impact. Ischarus’ blade struck the smaller creature’s hands with great force and severed the creature’s right hand cleanly. The creature shrieked in pain at the blow. It cursed Ischarus profusely and fell to the floor. Above the shriek of the wounded arcane caster came another yell. This yell was followed by another, then a third, and even a fourth. Ischarus lowered his blade to waist height as four more of these short reptilian aggressors approached. Ischarus could tell that these four were not spell casters by the spears and daggers that they held in each hand. Although they didn’t wield magic, these weapons were no less dangerous. The reptilian creatures snarled fiercely as Ischarus held them at bay with a sweeping wide arc of his sword tip. On one such swing, Ischarus felt a presence coming towards him from behind. [/Sblock] [/QUOTE]
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