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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1485588" data-attributes="member: 15043">The Countess of Holstean“Ngh...” Tess groaned.  As her eyes fluttered open,,, her head pounded its displeasure at her for falling down wrong when she blacked out.  Hmm... I can see, her mind murmured as her blurred vision began to focus.  And I can feel... I’m still alive...  An attempt to move her arms revealed something else;  she was bound.  Though she couldn’t see it, she could feel a single chain holding her hands behind her body, along the coolness of the stone wall.  Her vision cleared, and she found herself staring across the room, at the party’s weapons, neatly stacked 30 feet away on the opposite wall... save Kelir, who she could not see.  As she looked about, and realized the rest of the party was bound and chained along the wall as well......save Luke.Lucius sat on the far end from Tess, and she could see him moving his hands about slowly as he too recovered from the sleeping poison.  His head still lolled a bit to the side, as Siabrey’s voice came through the air.“Luke!  Quick!  Untie my bonds!” Siabrey was scooting and proffing her trussed arms to her husband.  Luke started to reach for them, when Tess’ eyes were blinded by a brilliant white flash of light from the center of the room.  Her eyes were drawn towards it, even as her instincts told her to look away.  Momentarily, the light dimmed, and Tess’ eyes vision could now see a figure that she and the others dreaded.A woman, tall like Tess, wearing white, shimmering robes.  Her skin was light blue, and seemed to be transluscent with some kind of inner glow, or inner flame.  Her face was beautiful and terrible at the same time, the skin the same blue as her body, her lips white as ice, her eyes a deep, forest green.  Her hair floating around her face in a seeming magical wind, crackling with orange flames, and her mouth called out... quietly... softly...“Lucius,” a sickening mixture of a woman’s beautiful soprano and the voices of a thousand tenors and basses combined called.  “Your mother has come for you.”“Luke!” Tess heard Siabrey scream, as the apparition seemed to half walk, half float towards the young man.  Tess could see Luke’s eyes bulging out of his head, fear and fright dancing bright in them, as he backed against the wall of stone. “Luke, no!”“Do not run from your mother, Luke,” the voice said, still soft.  “Do not hide from your most trusted friend... the one that will teach you how to rule...”“Luke!” Siabrey screamed again, “Don’t listen to her!  Don’t!”  The Countess’ eyes seemed to burn yellow with some unseen flame, and her voice changed, as the thousands of lower, demonic sounds took over.“Luke!  Come with me!” it commanded, and to Tess’ awestruck horror, Luke’s eyes seemed to glaze over, before suddenly taking on the same glow they had seen in the Temple of Hextor... seemingly white-hot, his skin changing to a flushed red.“No!” Siabrey screamed again, shaking her bonds.  Seeing she couldn’t get herself free, she leaned over, and bit into his arm, desperately trying to keep him from going.  Luke did not stir from his position, and did not seem to even notice his wife’s teeth now on his shoulder.The Countess stopped walking towards the party, and surveyed the group.  A smile spread to her lips.  When her teeth bared themselves, the party could see they were slick and midnight black.“Fools,” the deep, rumbling laughter of a thousand demons cascaded from her lips.  “Do you think you can stop me?  Stop a union that fate itself intends to occur?  Did you think a paltry blade could keep my son from his birthright?”Siabrey let go of her husbands shoulder, a look of defiance in her eyes.  I will never let you have him... let you change him into what he loathes!  I would rather die first!  She leaned over, and in a fluid motion, bit the cord of the necklace she was wearing... the necklace of fireballs she had found so long ago.   In a continuation of the motion, she brought it up, and snapped her head forward, flinging it at the Countess...Only to see it seem to slam into some kind of invisible wall two feet from the Dark Woman, crackle with power, and then fall harmlessly to the ground.  (globe of invulnerability)  The demon lord chuckled again, and resumed her advance...Anias shuddered, his tiny form getting rid of the last of the poison just as Luke himself had begun to rouse.  Before his eyes could even focus, he had felt the overwhelming blast of evil coming at him, as something utterly horrid teleported into the room.  As the Countess’ words rolled through his tiny, insectile hearing, he clambered up to the top of Lucius’ hair, and took alight.In the air, he saw Siabrey fling something at the woman... the woman whose appearance and evil let him know exactly what he was facing; a lord, a master of demons.  A threat to his mission.Before Siabrey could react to her failed attack, another, much smaller flash happened, as the tiny, unnoticed fly grew taloned legs, arms, and large, fiery wings.  Within a second, hovering in front of Luke’s mind-controlled form, stood the form of an angry guardian angel, determined to protect him to the very end.At this moment the great stone door to the room opened, and a young man walked to the edge.  He let out a chuckle at seeing the angle, and leaned against the stone wall, watching from the doorway.  In the gloomy light, the party could make out his features; young, handsome, with longer blonde hair... and a face that Tess abhorred.Shivalas! Tess’ mind jumped, But wasn’t he being held... oh god...  As she realized the implications this held, a terrible fury arose over Tess.  She noticed he was paying attention to the Countess, who was entirely focused on the new threat in front of her.  Very quietly, Tess leaned back, and grabbed a bit of flaked off stone.  A very soft tune, barely above a whisper, came from her lips...This is not good... This is not good! Shaun kept repeating to himself.  I have to do something!  She’ll take Luke away otherwise, and then where will we be?  Tied up, alone... The Emperor dead, his heir kidnapped...  Think!  Shaun screamed mentally, as he started struggling against his bonds.  If I can just get free, and crawl over towards the weapons, I might be able to sneak up on her...Anias, true to his word, first thought about Luke, and cast a protection spell over him to try and defend his mind from the Countess’ probing (magic circle against evil).  However, the Countess had already had nearly twenty precious seconds to poison her son’s mind... and Luke continued to blindly stare ahead.The Countess, seeing Anias’ speaking and recognizing the magic he used, merely raised a finger towards him, and uttered a vicious, sharp word... a word so filled with hate, malice and venom that the very abyss seemed to rise up and claw for Anias’ soul.  The angel was beyond their reach, and fought away the beasts in his mind and heart that tried to crush him (finger of death... Anias passed his fort save).Anias took one look at the Countess, and realized that Nightblade would be no use against her... too much magical power streamed from her body, too many protections and wards.  Anias then, in a last defiant act, reached for his belt even as the demon’s clawed at his very essence, and drew out a trumpet, covered his angelic wings and runes of flames.  He lifted it his lips, and a single, basso blast thundered through the room.  Shivalas in the doorway became noticeably frightened, and started edging away.The Countess merely blinked.  (He tried to use a Trumpet of Doom, but the Countess wasn’t fazed)As his long, low blast continued, she raised her other hand, and uttered more words, not nearly as vile or harsh, but still filled with command.  Anias felt his body slowly being tugged in ways he wasn’t used to... as if someone was trying to pull him not up, down, left or right, but in a fourth direction.  The world began to spin for the angel, shaking and shuddering.  With a brilliant flash, his form vanished from the Material Plane, and appeared back in Celestia (dismissal).While the Countess was distracted, Siabrey used these few precious seconds to re-grab Luke’s shoulder, tugging with all of her might, trying to pull him closer to her even as her arms strained against the bonds that held them.  If I can just get him a little closer, I can hook his legs with mine, and keep him from standing up! “Luke!  Fight with me, honey! Fight!  Don’t let her take you!”Tess meanwhile had kept humming, and now felt her skin become greasy and slick,  As Anias’ flash of dismissal lashed out across the room, she shifted her shoulders, and slid out of the manacles that held her.  In a single, fluid moment, she rose to her feet, and began to dash across the room., her mind set on one goal.Ik Mataar.The Countess too noticed the swift movement out of the corner of her eyes, and spun, raising her arm up towards the bard who just wouldn’t quit.Tess slid into the pile of weapons, and grabbed the massive bastard sword, hefting it upwards.  As she turned, hoping to be able to dash behind the Countess to either get the weapon to Luke or attack her by herself, she found herself facing the bright yellow eyes of Lucilda Caladron... and her body seemed to freeze in place, as if she was made of stone (hold person).Shaun finally managed to slip his bonds as well.  He was just starting to rise in a crouch when the Countess turned back towards the party, and seemingly from the floor and ceiling glowing bars came crashing together.  The lower bars hit Siabrey in the jaw, knocking her back inside, her teeth to tightly gripped on Luke’s shoulder that she almost tore out a piece of the flesh.  Shaun grabbed the bars to his front, and shook... but they didn’t move.  Instead, the only crackled with magical energy.From the doorway, Shivalas’ form could be seen gingerly stepping back into the room, now that the frightening noise of the trumpet had ended.  Behind him strode in someone else... far more confident in her abilities.  The party did not need to see the battleaxe at her hip, her long blonde hair, or the eyepatch that spoiled her face to know that Ilia as well had joined in.“Mithras,” the Countess’ voice said, as she drew up next to Luke, “after I leave, you may do with them as you wish... feel free to... play,” the multi-voiced abberation sneered.  “They need not remain alive.”  Ilia gave a nod, and Shaun noticed a particularly gruesome smile was directed his way from her face.“My son,” the Countess rumbled, “It is time for you to come home.”  As Siabrey screamed, the Countess’ white hand slowly stretched out.  Her movement continued even as Elenya, in desperation, launched three magic missiles at her (Elenya doesn’t need components or verbal for magic missile).  The Countess’ protection was too great, and the demon lord merely ignored them as she finally touched her son.As she gripped Lucius’ shoulder, pulling him to his feet, the crimson on his skin seemed to somehow delve a shade deeper, his eyes burn ten times brighter, and slowly, terribly, she pulled him towards the center of the room.“NO!” Siabrey screamed, thrashing in her bonds and slamming against the magical forcecage that held the party in check, “LUKE!  FIGHT IT!  FIGHT IT!  HIERONEOUS PLEASE, FIGHT IT!” she slammed her head against the cage again, desperately trying to break out.The Countess looked at the woman, desperately trying to claw and fight her way out of the magical trap.  No sneer, no grin crossed her face.  Her eyes only flitted a momentary look of confidence, before returning to her prized son.  Sickeningly, she wrapped her arms around him, as if giving him a hug of greeting.  From this embrace of death, of black magic, came another flash of light.  When the party could see again, the Countess... and Luke... were both gone (teleport without error...).As the light in the room returned to his gloomy normal, Siabrey’s calls of “No!...” could be heard breaking into sobs.  As Shaun looked over at Shivalas and Ilia, his heart beating hatred, the young man walked up to the cage directly in front of where Shaun was held.“You there,” Shivalas smiled, displaying his perfect teeth, “Shaun Dice, isn’t it?  My mother would like to play with you before she starts to kill your friends... starting with... her,” his finger pointed towards Elenya...</blockquote>

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