Autumn 1372

In dazed wonder, Ashara moved farther into the room. Light streamed in from the glass ceiling, where mirrors bounced it around the enormous room where it struck the spinning crystals, to then be shattered into the spectrum of colors and separately sent whirling out into their own orbits. The priestess turned around slowly, taking it all in, and laughed as she watched the light dance across Elric's face.

"Gwilly would love this place," she smiled, thinking of their joyful little friend. The pixie had gone off gallivanting with Eddick after their stay at the Spine of the World with Kaber's clan. The pair could be literally anywhere in the world right now the way the druid could travel!

She grinned and skipped back over to the half elf, and taking his hands in hers, spun the both of them around a few times in a brief dance. "I'd really love to see the Dawn in this room, Elric... Do you think we could come back to this building to camp?" Ashara restrained her wide smile by chewing gently on her bottom lip. "The ground floor had a couple of large patches of that moss...provided the horses didn't eat it all already," she grimaced, "but it would be a good deal more comfortable to sleep on that than the stone floor!"

"I agree... The dawn in here? It'll be glorious!" He looked out and considered the weather and the time of day. "We may have a 'few' more hours of daylight left for exploring. Depending of course on the trees. In the woods it'd already be getting harder to see."

He was a little disappointed at their progress, at least based on the map. They had only seen a fraction of the city. Granted at each place they'd spent hours searching and learning... but he'd hoped they'd have made better progress on the first day. Actually considering how long they may need to leave the sword at the Dawnspire... he'd really hoped they would find the temple on the first day. Ahhh well. From what he'd seen so far, it would be foolish to dismiss such a defensible structure...

Especially one that would look so amazing at sunrise...

"We've got one more floor in this building... Let's clear that out of any baddies we can find. Maybe we can check out some nearby buildings after... but I don't think we should travel too much farther. Not if we want to come back here anyway."

He looked back to stairs leading to the horses and his shoulders slumped a bit. "Y'know... IF we don't find the Dawnspire by tomorrow... I think we may want to stash the horses... and maybe even some of our extra gear somewhere. Someplace safe... or the closest we can find anyway." He didn't like the idea of leaving the animals behind in a city like this... and odds are they'd never survive. He also didn't care for broaching the subject to Ashara. Not with her well known love for helpless animals...

The idea of the loud and skittish animals getting them killed though... THAT he liked even less.

"Considering what we've seen so far... I can't help but think we may be faster on foot. And I'll confess, at least having the option of ducking behind rubble and hiding from some monster has a certain appeal for me. "

As quickly as the colorful show had begun, the sun ducked behind the billowing clouds, plunging the room into shadow once more. Between the dismal weather and the practical concerns weighing on the warrior's shoulders, Ashara's mirthful expression was leeched away to unveil a more contemplative one.

"You're right, of course, having the horses here seems to be as much a hindrance as a help, and the safest place for them to be housed for the time being would be the Dawnspire. We should probably just press on with whatever remaining hours we have left to us to try to find the temple," she said, leaving Elric's side to retrieve the Haversack she'd left by the doorway.

"When we find the Dawnspire, then we can use it as a base and strike out to explore the city from there. Perhaps it would be best to focus our energies and time on finding that first, after all, this building isn't going anywhere, and there's always another dawn," she smiled softly. "Also, Inner Sanctum worked in the glade, and if it works again tonight then it doesn't really matter if we have a building to camp in. If not, then I'm sure we can find something structurally sound to hide out in for the evening. I have every confidence that we can make something work!

"Would you like to finish checking this building out, or should we move out and continue to the south with what daylight we have left to us?"

"Oh... " He said a bit more glum. "Well... I think.... that I haven't completely abandoned the idea of staying here yet. Between the moss and the Hall of Crystals, it could be the most ideal place..." He pulled out the map and studied it again. "If the Dawnspire is not over on the east side... Which things aren't looking encouraging. It could really be anywhere!"

He sighed softly as he looked over the unexplored section of the city. "Honestly... I think if there's something we want to see, we should do it as they come." He grinned with a sparkle in his eye. "Backtracking could be pretty time consuming... and once we get over here..." pointing to ward the oldest and most built up section of 'Old Cormanthyr'."I think we'll be finding glorious sights everywhere we look!

"On that note... I think I'd recommend, securing this place for a camp... checking out the rest of this street... and hoping the weather holds till we get back.

"Opinions?"

"I would have to concur with your recommendation, my lord," she grinned, dipping into a curtsy, which looked slightly ridiculous in plate mail. "Rushing through this place would be far too difficult a strain on my self control and I'd inevitably snap and sprint into a dangerous building somewhere just to sate curiosity!"

Ashara hadn't been particularly enamoured with the idea of trotting past buildings that could contain so much of interest, so the 'scenic' method of their journey to the Dawnspire was quite preferable in her opinion. She was in no rush to get to their specific destination, though things might be easier once they arrived. A safe place to sleep. A safe place for the horses. Hopefully until then, the horses wouldn't prove too troublesome. Hopefully the beasts would LIVE to see the Dawnpsire...

"I'm honestly looking forward to the evening here! I think some of these rooms will have wonderful acoustics to enhance the harpist's performance..." She winked at Elric and chuckled as they turned to leave the room and head toward the stairs, where the fourth and final floor awaited them.

The stairway led upwards to a small dusty hallway and a solitary double door. "Lorekeepers.... something.. " Elric tried to make out the faded sign. "This sounds encouraging!"

Unlike many of the others, this room had only a single small window and a large desk with a chair. Old candles littered the room and yellowed paper stained with ink were scattered. There were actually books here, but they were few. Mostly journals of some sort, many of which were blank.

Elric suppressed a cold shudder as he walked across the room. He saw no danger in Infravision, and when he released the light of his holy symbol he still saw nothing. However he couldn't shake the instinct that they weren't alone.

Ashara felt the guardian go off suddenly. the vision she received however made little sense. Elric twitching suddenly with no enemy in sight. He could hear a pixie's wings flapping, invisibility rarely was a threat. Before she determined the source of the danger, Elric convulsed suddenly and stumbled against the desk.

The half-elf flexed his hands and stared at them for a moment. Callused hands traced a strange symbol in the dust on the top of the desk. As confused emerald eyes stared in wonder at the dust clinging to his fingers his mouth split into a wide grin.

He quickly regained his composure and turned to Ashara. "Sooo... What lore would you like to know?"

She could only blink up at him in confusion. Not seeing any external threat, the priestess wondered if it was some internal malady. Ingesting poison, contracting disease, choking, heart problems... Any such things could set off the Sacred Guardian spell, and sometimes the answer wasn't obvious to the caster.

"Um... I guess I was hoping to find something in this library about who this Uvaeren was," she answered with arched eyebrow, while watching him carefully for any signs of illness or trauma. Could there be some kind of after effect to what happened to him in the Memory Chamber? "Other than that, I think any kind of lore we found in this place would be a treasure.

"Are you feeling okay, Melamin? Are you sick? Did you cut yourself on anything recently?" She looked on his cheek at the line of blood where the arrow had grazed him and suddenly wondered if it had been poisoned! Though that would be some onset time... Or maybe the blood-sucking thing in the room with all the bottles had some sort of effect on the half elf. Concerned, she gently laid a hand on his forehead to check for fever. "We've had quite a day, and that mist creature took a lot out of both of us. Maybe you should sit down for a moment while I leaf through these papers..."

"Uvaeren was not a 'who' but a 'what!" the half-elf explained with eyebrows raised in surprise. "Uvaeren was one of the later elvish settlements in this vicinity. It was founded about 8200 years before the Dales started recognizing time.

"6900 years pre-dalereckoning, the fourth Rysar started with the blind scholar Eltaor taking the reigns as Coronal. This time period marks when Uvaeren returned as a center of great knowledge." The half-elf's voice had taken a familiar droning tone familiar to anyone who'd spoken to Vailiis, or any other learned scholar explaining the very basics of his impressive knowledge.

"By -5660, tales of Intevar's Librarium was known near and far as the container of the collected Elven knowledge.

"In -5000 The Twelve Nights of Fire destroyed the Uvaeren. A star fell from the heavens cutting a 100 mile long, 30 mile wide swath through the Cormanthyr treeline. The trees burned for twelve nights and less than a quarter of the elves of the Lorelands escaped with their lives."

Elric was quiet for a moment lost in thought over the loss of life and how quickly the end came for the elven kingdom. Finally he spoke again.

"This library is not Uvaeren. It is called Uvaeren's Legacy. What was saved, was saved. What couldn't be was recreated as best as possible. It is perhaps the largest congregation of elven history... but it is still not what once was."

The priestess' eyes widened in shock. "If you knew all that, why didn't you mention it bef---" Slowly she pulled her hand from Elric's forehead which was cold and clammy with perspiration.

Suddenly it all made too much sense. The chill in the room. The unseen danger that shook the warrior's body. His strange behavior and sudden knowledge of obscure elvish history... Even his tone had changed!

Ashara took two steps back and pulled her holy symbol out from beneath her cloak, to let it rest in full view upon the golden breastplate. Two deep breaths to keep her composure. One prayer to Lathander to keep Elric safe from harm.

"I assume you are the Lorekeeper," she finally stated through grinding teeth and shaking hands. "If I might ask, WHAT are you, and WHY have you forced yourself into my husband's body?"

The normally jovial half-elf's face twisted into an ugly sneer.

"You entered my home young lady... a little respect wouldn't be out of the question!"

He ran his hand over the desk and righted a spilled ink vial and sighed. "The Lorespirits are here for one purpose. to help those brave or impatient enough to navigate the library. Back in the glory days few dared enter this room...

"Now... nobody does. It's been... So long since I've felt... Well.. felt!" Though the half-elf's laugh was a familiar thing, knowing it wasn't really 'him' making it... was a chilling thought.

"Do you have any more questions you seek answers to?"

Rage flashed in her hazel eyes. This entity would dare to ask for respect after forcibly taking control of Elric's body! It must be an elf...or had been... Her mind began listing methods of expelling the spirit from the host. Holy water wouldn't work. Dawnspeaker could disrupt the intruding spirit, but would do harm to Elric in the process. Certain spells and one of the scrolls she carried might be useful, but under the Mythal, they might just make things worse! Depending on the type of undead, she had a good chance of simply Turning it. But was it undead or some kind of magically created creature?

It was fear for Elric's safety that she chose to proceed with caution. Meanwhile, she dug bloody gouges into the palm of her hands with her fingernails to keep herself distracted from her anger.

"Forgive us our intrusion then, Lorespirit. You may have noticed that the city has fallen to evil-infested ruin around you, and few know that this place is still inhabited."

Ashara felt nauseous speaking to this thing she knew nothing of while looking into the face she knew better than her own. As much as an opportunity as this was to learn forgotten histories of the elvish people, there was no way she could stand by and listen when she knew that her husband was struggling to regain control of his body! She had to get the spirit out of there, but unfortunately it looked like it was enjoying being corporeal again...

"I do have some questions," she began sweetly. "I would like to know more about yourself. You used the plural when revealing what you are. There are more Lorespirits in this place? Were you created for this purpose, or were you originally of flesh and blood? Have you been enslaved to this life or did you choose it of your own accord?"

The priestess bit back any further inquiries for the moment, to give the spirit time to respond.

The half-elf widened his eyes in surprise. "You come to the Lorespirits to ask about the Lorespirits? That's... unusual." It had been a long time since he'd thought about his own past. Over the centuries it had become a half-remembered dream.

"I was once an Elf. A teacher and scholar of the highest order. For some elves, they can choose their afterlife. If I had valued crypts and treasure, I could have become a Baelnorn... " he explained with a smug tone that was reminiscent of Evereska. "However, I felt that Arvandor would be a waste of my own personal brilliance... So I stayed here..."

He looked around and squinted at the ceiling as if looking for something. "There are others. Some nearly as brilliant as myself. When the library has beaten someone, and they absolutely need the knowledge... We help. It's what we exist for."

Ashara shuddered visibly.

Baelnorn...

Elric had spoken to her of the elvish liches that willingly chose undeath to protect their clan and its holdings through the centuries. That one would seek to become such a perversion of life, and worse yet! That the Seldarine would allow it!! Made her twitchy just thinking about it and even now this abomination inhabiting her husband's body was stomping squarely on her last nerve with that sterotypical elvish arrogance! She wondered if the ghost had been this endearing in life, or if ages of disembodiment were responsible for his winning personality.

Still...they weren't evil, and if their creation had been allowed by the Seldarine, then even if these were undead, then this was not her fight... Yet...

"I thank you for your time then, Lorekeeper," she stated flatly, loosening her fist after feeling the line of blood crawling its way down her wounded hand. "It seems that we will be in the area for a while yet. Now that we know you all are here, if my husband and I think of something we are in particular need of knowing, then we know precisely to whom to turn. Until then, I ask that you kindly release him to me so that we might be on our way."

The priestess bowed in the most obsequious manner she was able, and rose again holding her hand out to Elric, ready to catch him if he stumbled after being freed. She wanted no trouble from these spirits for fear that this one if particularly annoyed, might simply walk the warrior up to that window and have him jump out to plummet four stories to the ground.

The lorespirits all might find their "afterlives" brought to an abrupt end if that were to occur...

A hurt expression crossed the half-elf's face as the spirit realized his time in the flesh was coming to a close. Soon he would would be back where they found him. formless... lifeless... hoping for another visitor.

It had been so long....

He nodded once and bowed his head curtly. Gently he took the outstretched hand and kissed it. He didn't know when he'd feel the warmth of another person again... if ever. His emerald eyes widened as he felt his heart beat faster. He'd forgotten it could do that...

"Are you... certain? There is nothing else I can be of assistance with?" He asked almost pleading.

Her heart melted when she saw the imploring look on Elric's face. If it hadn't been his face...if it hadn't been his voice that tugged at her spirit, then perhaps she could have just denied the request. This was not playing fair...

"Well...I guess there's something else you might be able to answer right now..." Her voice quivered as a tumult of emotions played visibly over her features. "Just one last thing though and we really should be going."

With slight hesitation, Ashara pulled her hand from his and took their unlabeled map of Old Myth Drannor from the scroll case, laying it out gently on the ancient desk. "Our immediate destination is the Dawnspire," she stated, looking up into those familiar green eyes. "A temple to Lathander that has been built only within the last century. I know this was long after the fall, but if you've heard of its whereabouts, it would be most helpful if you could point out where it may be.

"Also," she continued, "we have a dear friend, a son of House Hawksong that lives in Evereska, and we hoped to return to him something found within the ruins that rightfully belongs to his family. Do you know where in the city the Hawksong estate once stood?"

Elric's face twisted into a grimace as she mentioned the temple to Lathander. "I've... heard there was a new temple... Humans seeking to restore the city to greatness..." He waved his hands towards the window and the ruined city beyond. "Their results speak for themselves."

He sighed deeply in disappointment. "You are not the first priest to ask me for the location of this temple... and I'll tell you what I told them. I have no knowledge of where... or if this temple exists. It is much past my time. However, I would appreciate it, if you find it... If you would return to me with the knowledge. So far, either the others didn't find it... or they didn't make it back here..."

His eyes lit up as he pointed a finger to the north-west part of the city. "However the Hawksong estate, that I am familiar with! There's is the five story estate located on Sunblade street, near the Towerstroll Skyway." A look of concern crossed his face. "I don't know if the Skyway still exists or not... "

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

Elsewhere a very confused half-elf felt like he was floating. He didn't know where he was, or how he got there. It was so very dark... yet he couldn't sense anything. It was as if he was lost in a sea of darkness. Cold and alone...

Desperately, he tried to keep the panic he felt from taking over. It felt as if he'd been there for days. he tried to wave his arms, but didn't feel them move. Didn't feel anything...

In the distance he thought he could hear something. A voice... Two voices. He tried to call out but there was no sign anyone could hear him. ONE was ASHARA! The other... Was the other his??

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

Back in the Lorekeepers room, the spirit was making a decision. The young woman in front of him was obviously a priest. The weapon at her side was either Dawnspeaker, the weapon of the human god himself... or an amazing replica. She wanted him out of this body. Back to the ether where he probably belonged... but could she 'make him' leave?? There were of course ways mortals could fight his kind... and the chance that he'd be utterly destroyed was still there... But would she risk damage to the body she held in such high esteem?

Didn't matter. This was one of the risks of dealing with Lorespirits. Occassionaly they enjoy the flesh enough that they don't want to return it. He himself had never done such a thing... but it had been so long since he'd felt the sun on his face or the wind in his hair... even borrowed hair... Perhaps she could be reasoned with... She seemed the reasonable sort....

"Now... if you like, I could take you to the Hawksong estate... I'd be glad too... but I'm truly afraid... I won't be giving back the body quite yet... Now... don't get angry... I'll take perfectly good care of him... but I just... I... I can't...." he whispered disappointment evident in his voice.

"I'm sure you can... WHAT?!?!" He shook the borrowed head in confusion. A vision clouded his vision as he stumbled back against the table and looked up to see a red skinned shape hurtling through the open window toward them.

"ABISHAI" The lorespirit screamed as he quickly identified the threat. Gargoyle like, but with red leathery body the demons were dangerous. Every scholar knew that... Though as his new heart started to beat faster he realized that this was the first time they had ever been a threat to him!

The screeching demon dove toward the half-elf. The scholar swung wildly with the enchanted blade and tried to defend himself. The sword cut only air.

While the body it inhabited was a mighty warrior, strong, fast... the spirit inside was no Salk-sirra master! The demon easily tore two deep gashes down the chest of the screaming half-elf while it's tail dripping some of the deadliest poison known, bounced harmlessly off the priestess' mithril armor.

"GET BACK!"

Ashara shouted angrily at the spirit inhabiting Elric's body. The body which now bore bloody, wicked looking gashes down his now shirtless torso. One shirt a day was optimistic...

Angry enough to launch into a string of the elvish curses that Vailis had secretly taught her during their time in Evereska, she decided instead to vent her rage on the devil first...and the spirit next.

The priestess threw herself at the abashai without thought. She had no shield this time. Pieces of her armor were damaged from those sword creatures, but she had to get between that monstrosity and her husband! The sickly sweet smell of the poison oozing from its tail, filled her nostrils. THAT she'd have to stay away from!

Dawnspeaker led the way, crashing through the bones in one of its wings with the first strike. "Holy water! His right belt pouch," she yelled back to the spirit, between blows. If he could manage just standing back and throwing at this thing, then maybe Elric could avoid further harm... This is what happens when a librarian tries to play warrior for a day! But it was not HIS body to play with in the first place!!

Twice more the holy mace struck true, spattering black ichor all over a wild-eyed Ashara and the the floor around them as she maneuvered herself directly in front of the beast, ready to try and block any attempts at getting past her to the half elf beyond.

Pain.

Deep. Searing. It jolted the drifting consciousness of the displaced half-elf. With it came the memories. The voices were louder now. Screaming. Ashara...

On some level he instinctively realized what was happening. The voice... with the elven accent. was speaking with his mouth. He was a prisoner in his own body... The pain he could feel told him the usurper wasn't taking very good care of it.

He could hear the sounds of battle now. Claws against Metal. Ashara! He was needed out there! Fury had him screaming in retaliation. If he could only Get out! Ashara needed him, HE needed him!

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

The lorespirit was lost in panic! PAIN!! So much pain. He had forgotten about pain! Blood poured down his chest and for the first time he realized he could die. What did that mean? Would he return to the form he had been these centuries... Would he just be gone?? Forever??

He could feel the half-elf fighting for control and he didn't know what to do. Perhaps death would be preferable to the eternal loneliness... Perhaps not... He fumbled with the belt pouch that the woman said held holy water.. but his fingers were shaking so badly he couldn't get the pouch open.

The devil was more than a little perturbed. It was obvious that it had been expecting an easy victory here. Abishai could heal themselves, usually. Wounds left by Dawnspeaker were a little harder to heal. Dawnspeaker had a personal dislike for creatures from the lower planes...

Turning it's main fury towards the armored woman Two blows found their way around the armor and came back dripping red. A sadistic grin crossed it's face as a forked tongue snaked out to lick it's fingers.

The lorespirit had nearly freed the water when the devil looked his way. Panic again. His fingers slipped and the vial feel to the ground and rolled away. The Abishai gave one more dismissive look as it shot it's poison laced tail at the warriors body.

The Lorespirit saw death come and made his choice.

Calloused hands shot up and swatted the tail to the left, as the body spun to the right and dove into a roll bringing it to the monsters opposite side. Sword in his hand before he even regained his feet. Surprise caused the Abishai to turn to it's squirmy plaything. Gaining it's attention Elric yelled to his wife. "ASHARA! NOW!"

Blood pounded loudly in her ears as she saw the devil's tail flick like a red lightning bolt over her shoulder towards the spirit wearing Elric. Too quick for her to block... Unfortunately there was no time to glance behind with this wall of muscle and claws bearing down on her.

She had the spells...she could stop the poison in time. Hopefully... If it didn't kill him instantly... If the Mythal didn't twist her spell into a Cone of Cold or something insane!

Ashara didn't need to worry for long. Devil and woman both turned in surprise as the suddenly very agile half elf rolled over and popped up in an offensive stance she recognized immediately. No librarian moved like that...

The warrior's shout woke her from the momentary shock, and she saw that the devil, distracted by this new threat had turned its attention (and its back) to her. With no time to waste, she drove the mace hard into its spine, shattering it in two with its divine power. Powerful legs went limp and it flopped to the floor. A few vengeful and futile twitches of its claws, a final scream of fury, and the abishai breathed his last.

On this plane at least.

Wiping the ichor from her face with the inside of her cloak, Ashara turned up a lopsided smile. "Missed you," she winked. "Let's get out of here before they try to pull that again!"

She quickly collected their map and shot a hateful look at the unseen spirits likely floating about the ceiling before the pair exited the room and let the double doors close loudly behind them.

"Are you okay?" Ashara turned to him with wide eyes. "I didn't expect...that..." The demon she actually expected... The possession? Not so much.

Looking Elric over, she saw that he was bleeding profusely from his chest, but thankfully the wounds didn't look as deep as she'd feared and better yet...it didn't seem as if he'd been struck by that poisonous stinger. She pulled some bandages from the Haversack, and began patching up the wounds just to stop the bleeding. He was hurt badly enough...well...they both were, to warrant some magical healing very soon.

Elric tried to grin, but he was still disorientated. The dark place he'd spent the last few minutes had faded like a dream. The shock and pain from the new wounds were still too fresh.

"I... I'm not really sure what happened in there. One minute, I was walking in with you... Mmmm..." he grunted as she applied the bandage. "The next.. I was bleeding, you were bleeding... and the demon was right on top of us... " He looked questioningly at Ashara.

"What happened?!?"

Ashara just shook her head. "The Lorekeeper," she began, tilting her head over to the inscription above the door, "or at least one of them... Seems there are a few... He...possessed you. Like a ghost might, though I'm not sure they are simply ghosts. Sorry about this..."

Carefully she laid her hand over the worst of the bandaged wounds and began applying pressure to it, wincing as he gritted his teeth against the pain.

"You...he... called himself a lorespirit. Said they'd chosen undeath so they might aid those seeking knowledge...those who don't have the patience or desire to learn what they need through the other rooms in here.

"Seems like they get bored and lonely after awhile though." Ashara looked up at Elric and sighed. "He was enjoying being in the flesh again. I don't think he was going to ever let you go! I hesitate to say it, but I think it might be a good thing that demon or devil or whatever it was burst in when it did... I'm not sure what he would have done to keep you, and I'm not sure what would have happened if I had to destroy it.

"Speaking of which...how did you manage to regain control? That's an amazing feat of willpower!" Her face suddenly went white. "It...it is you right?"

"I'm not sure how much credit I can take for it... " he muttered as she told him what he'd missed. "I knew we were in trouble... Felt pain... fear... then I was back in control. Whether I took it back from the ghost or it got scared off, I don't know..."

He looked back at the door and sighed. "Y'know... after that story, I feel kind of bad for it. To dedicate forever to a task, that time and war have made pointless. Horrible..." He shook his head sadly then stopped suddenly and turned to her with a mischievous glint in his eye.


"Wait a minute... What do you mean am I me??" He chuckled right before he pulled her chin in close for a fierce kiss. "What do you think? Am I me?"

Ashara's heart was fluttering wildly in her chest by the time he released her, and she felt quite confident that she had her answer. Irlon could learn a thing or two from him...

"Hmmm... Yes, you are most definitely you," she purred as she slowly opened her eyes and grinned up at him. "Welcome back, Melamin... I was worried about you!"

The priestess felt a wetness on her hand, and she pulled it back from the bandage she'd been pressing on and found it already saturated with blood. "Still am actually..." She sighed, her eyebrows drawn together in concern. "I'm going to need to fix this magically. The claws on that thing were pretty devastating, and frankly I think we've both lost enough blood to this library for one day!" As she spoke, she could feel her own blood soaking through the padding where the devil managed to punch through the chain mail.

"Let's go and see if the horses are still alive and I can patch us up down there, then we can see about checking the other buildings down the street if you're still up to it." She smiled as she reached up to gently brush his cheek. "Just between the chair and the Lorekeeper, you've been through a lot today!"

"The chair, the Lorespirit, the picture, the blood cloud thing... the demon!" Elric wearily rattled off the list of trouble they'd found since entering the library. "This place seems intent on using my mind and body as it's own personal playground..."

Carefully they returned to the stairs back down to the main room. Elric couldn't help glaring at the stairs, as if daring them to rise up and try to eat him. They were however, only stairs and of no threat whatsoever. Within moments they were back in the statue filled room. Himbar had freed himself from his elven hitching post and the echo of his clomping hooves echoed loudly down the halls. Elric smiled as he saw them both. Nervous, but safe. As it should be.

As she promised, as soon as they were back with the horses and the rest of their gear, Ashara began the healing. He could see she was nervous and he gave her the most reassuring smile he could. He had complete faith in Lathander's magic, and more importantly her. He felt a familiar tingle as she cast one of her least powerful spells. In hindsight he realized if he could tell the power of the spell simply by the sensation it left behind... he may be getting hurt too much...

He was glad she was going this route. She claimed the only spells that caused her to 'feel' his injuries were the major spells. He winced at the sight of the bloody gashes slowly closing. Despite the end result, healing did not always 'feel' good. Fresh wounds knitting themselves... It didn't matter if it was a healers hands or the power of magic moving the wound... it was still moving! He'd rather deal with the extra pain than share it.

He smiled up at her as she started into the next casting. As she finished he closed his eyes and waited for the power to go through him. And it did... Kind of.

Instead of the burning sensation he normally associated with healing, this was different. A cold chill ran down his spine as his eyes snapped open. The look on his wife's face said she knew 'something' had gone wrong with that one... He simply shrugged and reached out to her. "Oh well... Let's keep going...." A look of alarm crossed his face as his hand passed right through her armor, and her body!

"Ummm... Darling?!"

She'd hoped that by using the most minor spells first, there would be less risk. That was the plan anyway... Save the safest spells for him and cast the higher ones on herself. Ashara figured he'd been through enough in this place! Unfortunately it seemed he wasn't off the hook yet, as she felt the Mythal wrest control of the second spell away from her.

Panic lit her eyes, but she didn't notice anything off until Elric reached through her! "Gah!" Ashara jumped back as the frigid presence raised gooseflesh from head to toe. The hollowness of his voice and his sudden transformation into something...insubstantial clued her in to what spell her husband must have been hit with.

"Sorry about that," she apologized with a small grin, "cold hands..." The look on Elric's face told her that he'd appreciate further explanation. Basically whether he should panic or not.

"It's a spell called Wraithform. Wizard spell of course, maybe all the twisted spells end up that way. Oh and before you ask, yes... I feel dirty!" Ashara laughed and playfully swirled a finger through his face. "I've read about the spell, I can't remember ever seeing it cast, but it should wear off in a few minutes. You can pass through small spaces, underneath doors and the like... ALSO you can fight Ethereal creatures on their own terms!"

Her eyes narrowed thinking of the Lorekeeper's room. "Those spirits up there for instance. You'd be able to see them! Even fight them if you chose!"

Ashara sighed, wishing that the spell had been place on her. She would have loved to go up there and give that lorespirit a piece of her mind, he'd certainly earned at least that much! There was nothing more violating than usurping a person's MIND, being in complete control of their body while they're subjugated to the blackness until the spirit is through with them...or kills them with their ineptitude. Whichever came first... Yeah, she was still a little hot about that particular incident.

"Well, perhaps since we don't know exactly how long you have in this form, it would be best to stay away from them... If you happened to become solid while you were in there, I've no doubt they'd try to take over your body again, and I don't think either of us want that!

"I guess I'll just wait until this spell wears off before making another healing attempt. It would be good if those wounds were closed a bit more..."