Autumn 1372

"Soooo..... Temporary then! That's good to know." He swiped an ethereal finger across her nose.

His mind raced at the possibilities. What should he do? This was certainly a new experience, and it would be a shame to waste it. He'd already given Ashara a few involuntary chills...That was fun... If he tried walking through the horses, he suspected they'd have a heart attack. That.. would be less fun.

Take a little vengeance on the lorespirits? No... Too many dangers there. He had no interest in getting possessed again. It was foolish to pick a fight when they knew this form better than he did... he also didn't have a clue what would happen if he was injured in this form... too many variables for pointless vengeance against crimes he barely remembered. Perhaps if it'd taken over Ashara he'd feel differently.

In the end, he hopped to his feet and passed his hands through a few of the statues. It was a weird tingly sensation. Not entirely unpleasant, but nothing he'd want permanent either. It was no wonder the ghost wanted to keep him for a while...

Soon enough the spell faded and a hand slammed quite solidly into a statue of a stone dwarf... So many potential jokes there... Shaking his head he sat back down and grinned.

"That was interesting... hopefully that's as bad as the mythal gets..."

"Hopefully, yes," she smiled, though she doubted they'd be that lucky. Even if the occasional Color Spray and Wraithform was the worst of it, when it came to a battle, if they needed healing and somehow couldn't get it in time... Well, a poorly timed Color Spray could kill them both! If they could just get through the rest of these spells tonight without much incident, she'd feel better about the situation.

When Elric was ready the priestess began the process again. The next two heals, were cast successfully, and the final one of those two seemed to have been empowered somehow. Ashara felt that more divine magic had been channeled through her than what she was used to from that spell, and she was pleased to see the gouges on his chest heal rapidly.

They were still only minor spells though. The warrior had taken enough injuries to warrant a few more healing attempts. Plus later when she would try to cast some of the Regenerative healing spells, he'd have to be in good enough shape not to activate them instantly!

Only one incident occurred in the rest of the casting upon Elric. The light in the room flickered once, and the light of his holy symbol winked out. A Darkness spell... Those were easy enough to recognize considering their past adventures!

After finishing with her husband, Ashara tried two of the more powerful healing spells on herself, which amazingly went without incident. Both of them still had a few scratches and bruises...maybe a little weakness yet from earlier blood loss, but nothing that couldn't be treated with a few herbs and bandages before they decided to camp for the evening.

"Whew!" Grinning, she sat down next to Elric. "That didn't go too badly... Let's pray that the Sanctum will work tonight! I think we could both use a good night sleep once this day is over! Shame the building doesn't have a nice hot bath," she joked, looking down at her ichor and blood stained...everything... "Dwarf or no, I'd be jumping in for sure!"

Ashara grinned and pulled out their map of Myth Drannor. "Looks like we have a couple of hours of daylight left. Do you want to head south a bit further and check out another building, or do you think we've had enough for the evening?"

Elric stood up and stretched a kink out of his neck. That was the choice. Keep going, or stop for the night. She was right... They'd both been through a lot since they'd left Sune's Grove this morning. Still... 'he' didn't want to be the one to call it quits.

He strolled over to the large doors and looked outside. The clouds were pretty dark and a wet mist was rolling through the elven city.

"We'll... it's a bit early to set up the Sanctum, or for any ill advised concerts. " He pointed down the street to one of the few buildings left on the street. "I'd say we could probably check out that building over there."

He shrugged his shoulder noncommittally. "Or we could just relax for the night. I'm really good with either choice. I'm a bit hungry, and you did say something about Detecting our new treasure for Evil..."

A mischievous grin lit up his face. "Or we could dance in the rain of the lost Elven City... Really, It all works for me!"

"I think I'll have to go with option two..." Ashara smiled and just shook her head, chuckling as she began pulling out their gear to set up camp. There was a large patch of blue moss that the horses had left alone for the most part and already it had begun glowing a bit in the dimming light. She was very grateful for a soft place to sleep again tonight and some shelter to protect from the dismal weather.

Truthfully, she was glad Elric hadn't insisted on exploring another building this evening. Aside from just the physical battles, which were exhausting enough, there'd been mental and emotional battles fought here that caught them both by surprise. She wondered what Myth Drannor would have in store for them on their second day!

"Option three does actually have quite a bit of appeal..." She grinned at Elric who was still peeking out the doors watching the thick fog that blanketed the ancient streets. "Might I remind you though, Melamin, that it's late fall and you're not even wearing a shirt! PLUS, there are likely hordes of demons out there just waiting for a meal. On top of that, if I go out there and if Sanctum doesn't work tonight, that means I'm sleeping in wet armor for the evening. Sure, it's been done before, but if I had the choice!?"

Ashara blinked twice and sighed. Jerking on a braid, she shoved practicality to the side and jumped to her feet with eyes sparkling. "Oh, a couple of turns can't hurt," she laughed, taking Elric's hand and pulling him out into the damp air. "Who knows if we'll ever get this chance again!"

And dance they did!

Spinning, twirling and leaping in the cool misty air, neither of them paid any attention to the cold. Whether from luck or a god's protection, the sacred guardian never activated.

As they danced the sun dipped low in the horizon and the already late autumn temperature began to drop even more. A single snowflake landed on the tip of Ashara's nose, and Elric quickly brushed it away and looked up in wonder. The mythal seemed to keep the rain at bay and simply fed the plant life with a thick mist, but snow seemed to be a different story. Gentle flakes started to fill the sky as various roofs, towers and stones started to light up with the witch-fire they had seen from Sune's Glade last night. It was a sight Elric knew would last a lifetime.

Having stopped the dancing to admire the scenery the half-elf realized that he could truly feel the chill now. Brushing the wet hair from his face he grinned at Ashara. Plate mail wasn't known for keeping one warm either.

"Perhaps it's about time to head back in, Melamin... It's one thing to dance half naked in the rain... but snow may be pushing our luck...."

"A wise thought," she responded, mirroring Elric's grin, as the pair turned to head back to Uvaeren's Legacy. "I'm so glad we'll have a roof over our heads tonight, and if we're lucky and the Mythal doesn't get grabby with the magic, Sanctum would allow us to have a campfire too, without bringing all the demons in the city down upon us!"

The gently falling snowflakes only added to the ethereal beauty of the city with its eerie lights and the eerie silence. As expected, the thick mist had soaked them both to the bone, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it. Ashara's heart was full. Too full to express with words. What a gift it would be to be able to paint your emotions onto a canvas...for someone to be able to fully know how you feel at a given moment simply by touching your painting! Their Midwinter Memory Read had been like that in a way. The couple had been able to experience the other's emotions during the memories, but for Elric it would be the last time. He would be able to relive his own, but never again would he have the chance to freely roam her memories. It had been a gift. A one time deal. From here on out, their annual Reads would be pulled from his mind only, and while he'd never expressed displeasure at the idea, it nagged at Ashara's conscience. He would literally be opening his mind completely to her, but she couldn't share the same with him. It seemed so unfair...

Back in the Library, a nervous priestess paced out the perimeter of the Inner Sanctum, praying desperately that it would take because her shivering was nearly rattling her platemail to pieces! Elric was wrapped in a blanket and setting up camp, also shivering, ensuring the horses would stay warm for the evening as well. Poor beasts had been through, and will likely be going through enough on this trip! May as well make them comfortable when they can be!

"YES!!" Ashara's gleeful shout would've reverberated around the stone room, but the sound never made it past the invisible walls of the Ward. As much as the Mythal wanted that spell, tonight it didn't get its wish and they should be in for a decent night's sleep! In no time at all, she was bundled up in her warm, dry robes, and campfire crackled awary merrily in the center of the room. A small bronze tea kettle was perched above the flames, heating some water while the Everdawns huddled around the warmth chewing on their iron rations.

After plopping a few packets of gauze filled with dried linden flowers into the water for the tea, the priestess began pulling out all the items they'd found that day. The Harper pins, bracelet and harp from the home of Baelemoan Windriver, then the crossbow, scroll, spellbook and robe from the unfortunate wizard found in the 'Scent Room' of the library. With no wizard available to Identify the things, there was no way of knowing exactly what the items did, but the least she could do was to make sure they weren't cursed... Fingers crossed, figuratively not literally, Ashara managed to successfully cast Detect Evil and scan the items.

"It seems these things are safe for our perusal, my dear," she smiled, "and with the Ward up, you know what that means!" She chuckled as she inched the beautiful harp toward her husband teasingly. "After your fingers have thawed out of course!"

Elric grimaced at the harp. He had promised her a concert... He reached for the magical harp as if it was a coiled serpent. He looked at his eager wife with pleading eyes. "You... do realize that I don't know how to play this right?!?" Her smile didn't flinch.

"Well... I hope you realize, you asked for it." He ran his fingers over the strings searching for the 'C'. Easy enough to a trained ear... Sighing he started plucking away at various strings listening to the scales. The harp held remarkable tune.

"Soooo... what should I play..." he pondered aloud. "I thought perhaps 'Ashara's Song' would sound lovely on a harp... but until I get a little practice I won't try THAT one..." He winked and grinned. "Odds are, I'd butcher it so badly you wouldn't let me play it anymore..."

He ran over some of the tunes he knew in his head. With the strings he'd identified, what might actually work... 'Ashara's song' was a fairly simplistic piece... intentionally. He always found it hard to concentrate by the second verse. 'Throatpunching a Dragon' was actually too complicated right now... There were a lot of change ups on that song that the half-elf was quite proud of...

Maybe not even one of his... something simple... He pushed his mind back to when he was first learning music as an art form and smiled as an easy song came into mind. He hadn't played it in years... but after all the weeks and months slaving over the simple piece of music it was burned quite solidly in his mind.

"Ok... Let's try 'The Bold Knight and the Terrible Wyrm'!' he plucked a few more strings in rapid succession. He knew it was magical, maybe he'd get lucky and this was an instrument 'anyone' could play as if they were a master.

It wasn't.

When the first few notes rang through their ears a startling thing occurred. A vibratory echo was coming from the pile of Ashara's armor. Elric winced as the distraction caused him to mispluck and a jarring note ended that attempt.

A quick check showed the armor to be fine, so with a sigh of frustration he picked up the instrument again. Three more times, he had to restart, but by the last he started to feel he was getting the hang of it. With a gleam in his eye he started to sing.

"The dragon was old and its scales were gray.
It snored and ached, and was heard to say,
Where.s my might, that now is gone?
What's the point in carrying on?.

"The knight was young, his blade so bright
But at first dragonroar he shook in fright
And screamed, .So large! I never knew!
Hide me, spare me! My challenge I rue!.

"The dragon yawned and said, Down blade!
Toss away daggers and sit in the shade.
Did you bring cold and foaming beer?
Haven't had a good chat in many a year.

"The knight's mouth fell open, and down went
he Gabbling, .As it happens, I've a keg with me!.
So the sun went down behind the hill
And if they.re not snoring, they're talking still...

As the amateur musician played, the metal around him rang and resonated along with the music. It was both eerie and attention grabbing, and more than once caused him to lose his place. But it didn't seem to have any harm, and as far as magical effects that the harp could have had... this seemed rather benign.

As the last note rang, he set the harp back to the ground in admiration. It really was a beautiful instrument. Perhaps 'someday' he may do justice to it's music...

"There you go... Music on the new harp. I hope I didn't do too much damage to your ears melamin!" He chuckled as he looked toward the familiar mandolin strapped to the Himbar. "Perhaps something a little more familiar..."

"Thank you for indulging me," Ashara beamed after a round of laughter and applause. "And my ears are just fine! You simply don't give yourself enough credit as curulindalear <a skilled musician>... It's one of your many gifts, and it comes quite early on 'the list' if you recall!" Grinning, she leaned in for a kiss before hopping up to retrieve his mandolin. If he was willing to continue the performance, she didn't need to be asked twice!

Elric plucked at the strings and Ashara was filling a couple mugs with the tea when her eyes were drawn again to the untested magical items. Most of the things wouldn't be of particular use to them, but maybe the silver bracelet...

She handed the warm tea to the warrior-bard and took a sip of her own before gently placing the delicate trinket into her palm. "Maybe you could try on the robe," the priestess teased when she saw him watching her. "You'd look quite...hmm...academic! Probably wouldn't lend itself well to your fighting style, but maybe it would hold up better to demon claws..."

With a wink to her husband, Ashara slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, curious to see if she could determine its function.

"Hmmm... Y'know, If I wore it too well you may still think I'm a librarian... I think the robe can stay right were it is!"

Through great willpower he kept his smile firmly fixed, though no amount of will could keep the muscles in his neck and back from tensing as she tried on the bracelet. The item wasn't evil... His ring said she wasn't in danger... Still, it took a few moments of nothing happening for him to let a sigh of relief.

"It looks lovely on you dear..." he said honestly. He really... really hoped she wouldn't accidently say a command word or something and kill them both... really...

He strummed out a few notes to a new song he'd been working on. Suddenly his eye lit up with a mischevious glee. After all.. why should she have all the fun! Gently he started inching the harp back towards her.

"Y'know... I could easily turn some of these into duets..."

"A duet!?" Ashara's eyes widened incredulously, just a moment before she burst into nervous laughter. "Elric, it's not as if the harp is simply a different instrument than I'm used to... I've never played an instrument! Not ever! I hadn't even seen sheet music until that elvish stuff you found in Dagadar..."

She shook her head and chuckled. Hoping that was the end of it, and that she'd be spared the embarrassment that would surely follow if she were to try, the priestess carefully removed the silver bracelet and started placing the magical items back into the Haversack. When she looked back up, her husband was staring at her with those huge, green puppy eyes that she never could resist even when they were kids. And the harp was a few inches closer to her...

She'd already lost and she knew it, but like a caught fish flopping around on the bottom of a fishing boat, she continued the fruitless struggle. "I...I just don't think I have the coordination... How can you have both hands doing separate and intricate things at the same time?! Besides, I'm in the business of healing pain, not causing it," she smirked. Elric's confident smile never changed and he never said a word.

With a deep sigh, Ashara arched an eyebrow at him. "Now you're just using your half elven wiles against me! Fine," she caved, trying to stifle a grin, "I'll give it a try..."

Awkwardly the young woman pulled the harp onto her lap, and rested it against her shoulder as she'd seen Elric do before carefully plucking a string. A single clear note rang out from the magical instrument startling Ashara who thought for sure that she'd either break it or send the horses running out into the ruined city.

A bright smile spread over her face and there was more than a little excitement in her eyes when she looked up at her husband. "Well, there are a lot of strings here," she laughed, "and I've no idea where to put my fingers! If you could maybe show me a few chords and tell me when to play them, we could try this ill-fated duet!"

Elric started slow, working on a simple chorus that required the fewest number of notes. Then set her loose! The smile never budged from his face but his left eye twitched violently at every missed note or wrong tempo.

But the smile never left his face.

Honestly, he was surprised she even tried! Ashara had never shown any interest at all in getting on stage or being the center of attention. That she even picked up the harp at all must have said a lot about these 'wiles' she credited him with.

"HUZZAH!!!" He exclaimed of when she finished. "We'll make a bard of you yet!" Seeing the doubting look on her face he just laughed.

"I'm serious!" he defended his critique. "For a first attempt with a teacher who doesn't know what he's doing... QUITE impressive! This doesn't come overnight... You did MUCH better than I think Eddick or Gwilly would do, and they're legitimate 'Harpers!' If we get back home before Bradwen starts his journeys again... I think we should wrangle him into giving us both a few lessons!"

"Ooooh no!" Ashara laughed, shaking her head adamantly to the negative. "This is your gift, not mine... I'm sure Bradwen would love to work with you, but not everyone has your kind of patience for the musically impaired!"

Carefully she set the harp and mandolin off to the side and then scooted over to Elric. "Thank you for the lesson, Melamin," she smiled sincerely after first showing her appreciation with a soft kiss, "but I think its time I remind you where my skills lie..." Her eyes danced with mischief as she teasingly traced her fingers over the muscles of his chest before coming to rest on the bandage she'd applied earlier.

The wound still hadn't fully healed, though it looked better than the one at her side that she feared would need a bit of stitching up tonight... These minor injuries needed to be addressed before attempting to cast the regenerations, or all the spells would do would be to heal up these minor wounds and be done. She pulled out a new bandage and made a poultice with a few herbs that should quickly heal that still-raw skin where the abishai raked its claws through her husband's flesh.

Sadly, she was right about the wounds at her side. A little stitching was necessary, but she would rather do that than risk a casting that may or may not do what was expected, and after heating the curved needle in the fire, the job was done quickly and without much fuss.

Though it seemed like a miraculous occurrence, both regenerative spells made it through the gauntlet of the grabby Mythal and would effectively help protect them the next day. Who knew what adventures Myth Drannor would have in store for them at Dawn!

"Would you like me to try mending that winter coat of yours? If its snowing right now, you may be needing it tomorrow..."

He bit his lip as he debated the pros and cons. Finally he just shook his head. "I don't know... What do you think? We've had the last five spells go off just fine... Have you mastered the mythal? Or do you think we'd just be pushing our luck..."

He grinned and added, "I would hate to see a fireball dropped on our heads, or even worst... the Ward get dispelled, all for a lousy coat...."

"I wouldn't call it a lousy coat," she teased, eyeing Elric with dubious glare. Ashara picked up the coat and held it close to her as if protecting the torn garment from its owner. "I mean...it's served you faithfully for a long while now, in spite of all the abuse it's seen under your care!" She sighed dramatically before dropping the act with a chuckle.

"You're right. Might be best to wait until morning! I think the Mythal is just trying to lull us into a false sense of security, and I'd rather not risk the chance at a good night sleep right now..."

The excitement and brutality of their first day in Myth Drannor was quickly catching up with them, and the tea meant to warm and relax stressed muscles was doing its job well. With a warm fire burning and the security of Inner Sanctum surrounding them, it wasn't long before the Everdawns were curled up on the soft blue moss sleeping peacefully.

24th of Uktar, 1372

For a change, Elric was the first to open his eyes to predawn darkness. Actually it wasn't nearly as dark as usual. The fairie fire that lit the statues and paintings around them still burned. That seemed odd to him. In their years traveling together, he'd seen many a dawn-hued flame but it was always temporary. Come to think of it, there were 'temporary' lights going at Sune's shrine too. Apparently the mythal was having an effect on light spells... either made them last much longer... or maybe even permanent. He wondered if that was what the elves had designed, or if it was another result of the Mythal breaking down...

He awoke feeling great! That night despite the healing he had still been a bit sore, physically and emotionally. Today however he felt like he could fly. All aches, and pains were vague memories. Carefully he tried to get up without waking Ashara. Something caught his eye though.

The stitching that she had done last night. He still shuddered at the thought. Somethings he could sit through perfectly fine... some bothered him... a lot. Seeing a heated needle sewing up a wound in his wife... that bothered him.

Still he forced himself to watch. To learn... He kept reminding himself, that someday he might need to stitch her up, and he'd best know how! Still even that knowledge didn't stop the blood from draining from his face whenever she pulled out the needles.

Left on it's own, this wound was expected to heal up in a couple days. Less if she cast more magic. When they'd finally gone to sleep she had commented that it would be fine as is... but somehow.. it was healed! There wasn't even a scar... the threads themselves were present, but cut loose. as if the healing had severed the thread and forced the foreign object from her body.

"Ashara..." he whispered as her eyes flickered open anyway. He was no better at getting up quietly than she was... "Did that bother you last night... Did you need to cast some more healing?"

"Mmmm...what's that? Did what bother me?" Ashara blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. In the dim light, her untrained eyes shifted back and forth from normal vision to infravision making the usual morning confusion even more so. Grinning, she waggled her fingers in front of her face a few times before forcing her eyes back to the normal spectrum. "My infravision is still working!"

She turned a delighted smile to her husband who was looking down at her side in confusion, and his expression pulled his half-heard question back to mind. "Oh, the stitches... No, I can't even fe--" Ashara stopped in surprise as she was carefully running her fingers over the area where the wound had been. The abishai last night managed to sneak one of its claws in between the plates of her armor, puncturing her lower left side rather deeply, just beneath the rib cage. Bewildered, the priestess propped herself up to get a look at the area. The skin was smooth and unblemished. Not at all how she left it last night!

The threads from the stitching were brushed away as she poked about the skin there. No tenderness either. Perhaps the wound was worse than she'd realized and her Regenerative Heal had taken care of it. A definite possibility, until she saw something much more surprising...

During CoRD's journey to Raven's Isle...what seemed like a lifetime ago, when in reality was only just over two years...the Summer Breeze was attacked by sahuagin pirates. Ashara had taken a spear to her left hip in that brief battle, which normally wouldn't be cause for much concern, but at the time she wasn't...herself... Magic healing was no longer an option, and though she'd treated the nasty wound herself with needle and herb and bandages, the long healing process left her with a memorable scar there.

As she looked down searching for the new wound that had miraculously disappeared, she saw that the old scar that should still have been marring the skin at her hip, was just...gone... Ashara's eyes widened. She sat bolt upright, ignoring the chill temperature out from underneath the blankets, and turning to the half elf, carefully removed the bandage from his chest. With her treatment of the wound last night it would have been much better today, but the skin beneath the bandage looked as if it had never been damaged!

"Elric... I... I don't understand... I didn't cast any additional healing spells, and the regenerations shouldn't have done this. Even if they had, they wouldn't be able to heal old scars..."

The young woman sucked in a sharp breath as she considered the implications. She swallowed once and slowly turned her back to him, pulling her long hair to one side so it wouldn't obstruct his view of the skin between her shoulder blades.

"Are they gone," she asked Elric, as she peered hopefully over her right shoulder to watch his expression.

He knew immediately what they were. The twin scars from the Shadow Assassin. He shuddered at the memory. He could still see the twin daggers plunging through the mithril armor. Her back lurching and the cry of pain. Mere days before the wedding and he'd come so close to losing her...

Gently he ran his hand over her smooth back until his fingers brushed the raised edges of the white scars. "No Melamin... They're still here."

They'd set out to learn the mysteries of the lost elven city, but Myth Drannor was giving them more riddles than they were solving. When the healer didn't know where their wounds went, then something was definitely wrong... Or at least odd!

He looked to his own hands and noticed there were fewer scars then he remembered. Magical healing was a beautiful thing, it rarely if ever left scars... But healing wasn't always available. Being on the front lines of every battle, sometimes he thought his body was a roadmap of their trials. They weren't all gone... Honestly considering the trials he'd put his body through, he wouldn't recognize his body without the trophies of battle. But he may get the chance... Even some of the deeper ones were faded today.

"It's happening to me too..." he said showing off his hands. "What do you think? Did the elves hate imperfection so much, they didn't allow scars in their city??" He could believe that of them, but it seemed rather petty to be put in a city wide Mythal.... Still elves could be petty.

He gently kissed the scars that remained. He wasn't surprised. She had cast many of her most powerful Healing spells on those dagger wounds and the scars remained. Whatever was slowly repairing their bodies didn't seem strong enough to effect the wounds of the Shadow weave.

"I don't think they'll be going anywhere..."

Ashara smiled softly at the tender gesture that he'd repeated so many times over the last months since the wedding. In spite of the scars' appearance at that time, Elric's reaction to them then was the same as it was today... One of complete acceptance and unconditional love. It was a reminder that this man had seen the worst of her. He'd lived the horrors she'd committed with her own hands, if not with her own mind, and somehow none of those things had changed how he felt. When that wall came down, the sense of freedom his acceptance provided her was indescribable. It allowed her to love him boundlessly. Every time he touched those scars was a reminder of this, but it was a curse as much as a blessing.

Elric still had nightmares about that near-deadly attack and Ashara worried that the sight of them merely perpetuated the dreams. That's why they bothered her... That's why she tried nearly everything to get rid of them. Time and magical healing had done little except fade the angry purple coloration to white, but still they persisted as pronounced as they ever had been. He was right. It was most likely that they wouldn't be going anywhere, and she prayed to Lathander that the nightmares would disappear where the scars would not.

Turning to face him, the priestess took his slightly-less-scarred hand in hers to examine it. None of this made any sense... "How sad if the elves would consider these to be imperfections," Ashara smiled tracing her fingers along the scars on his knuckles and the one at his neck and shoulder that she affectionately referred to as the 'ghoul's love bite'. "They tell a remarkable story of a remarkable man!" Ashara grinned as she pulled him closer for a good morning kiss.

"I'm not sure if it could be that the Mythal itself is healing us," she said, peeking down at her side once more. "If that were true, then that minor scratch you wore on your cheek from morning until evening would certainly have healed in that time, wouldn't it have?" All she could do was shake her head in wonder. "I just don't know... And I was expecting to hardly be able to move this morning after the day we had yesterday, but I feel...really good!"

A little sigh accompanied her as she left the cozy warmth of a husband and blankets to check and see if her padded armor had been properly dried lying near the fire all evening. Thankfully it had! Would have made for a pretty miserable day in damp clothes...

As she pulled on the first layer of armor, her eyes were drawn to Elric's torn coat. It was still quite dark out, from what she could see through the blown out hole in the wall of the library, so she wasn't sure if any of the snow stuck to the ground, but it was a pretty good bet it wasn't going to be warm today! Deciding now was as good a time as any, Ashara walked over and spread it out on the ground before whispering a few divine words so quickly that perhaps even the Mythal wasn't prepared for it. Luckily no Fireball incident this time!

"Good as new," she beamed, holding up the magically mended coat for him to see. "Unfortunately I can't make any promises that we'll be so lucky the next time, so hopefully this might last a few days longer than your shirts!"

"Ahh.... thank you very much!" he said as he slipped the coat on. Snug and warm... perfect. He chuckled as he thought about it's chances for survival. "Somehow, I doubt it'll last too long dear... Monsters seem to hate my shirts... and they've got to go through the coat to get to it..."

He took another look at the coat. He chuckled and winked at her. "Besides... this is the blue one! I think the blue one's been mended more than it's been washed!"

The darkness was getting lighter by minute, and they both knew if they wanted to see the dawn in the hall of Crystals, they'd best get moving. Thankfully they had vanquished any monsters in this building, and nothing new seemed to have crawled past them last night.

Based on the excitement they had yesterday and how relaxed he felt this morning he made an unusual decision as they climbed the stairs with barely contained excitement.

"Y'know... I have a remarkable 'lack of muscle tension to work out today... and I have little doubt we'll get a workout today... I think, on our first morning in the city itself... I'll skip my training, and celebrate the Dawnmeet today..." He grinned as he pushed open the door to the crystal covered meditation chamber. "Besides... this is no time to wear a blindfold!"

There were a few Dawns that stood out in particular in Ashara's mind. Times when either the magnificent beauty or the surrounding events crystallized a moment that would last for years in memory. Fewer were the times when both beauty and circumstance came together to form not just a memorable moment, but an experience so powerful that it could move a person...change a perspective... This Dawnmeet was one of those times.

After the ceremony of the dawn-touched water, the Everdawns knelt in meditation and prayer as the sun's rays danced in a million different patterns and colors about the room. From time to time, images seemed to take shape within the spinning lights. A trick of the light or perhaps of overactive imagination, Ashara would never be sure. Elves standing in the room with their faces turned to the sun. Small children, some with finely pointed ears and some with rounded, were running about, laughing and chasing the whirling colors that flitted about the floor. Peace. Harmony.

It was just the pair of them in the room that morning, but she felt as if they were surrounded by life. Perhaps it was a vision of what this place once was... Maybe of what it could be again. It was an experience that affirmed in the priestess' mind, why Lathander had sent his followers here to build the Dawnspire. Not because of what it was or what it is, but what it may become again. Hope. Ashara had come to believe it a running theme in her own life, and in her mind it was a necessity for all life... Something to cling to in the darkness and to celebrate in the light.

She spent a solid hour in silent prayer that morning and it wasn't until they'd gone back down to the first floor to collect their horses, that she was able to find her voice.

"Thanks for joining me this morning, Melamin..." Ashara smiled brightly up at him before unrolling their map of the old city. A gentle tinkling noise from that magical silver charm bracelet that she'd decided to wear this morning, could be heard as she smoothed the parchment out along one of the walls.

"Oh! I forgot to mention with all the body snatching hub-bub, that the Lorekeeper told me where the Hawksong estate used to stand." She pointed to the western edge of the city where the spirit had indicated. "Should be here... You know...completely on the other side of the city! I guess we'll simply HAVE to go visit the area now after all," she sighed as a tiny grin turned up one corner of her mouth.

"Should we be keeping a lookout today for a horse-stashing place, or is that something we should worry about tomorrow if we don't find the tower? I do so hope we find the tower..."

A sharp laugh escaped the half-elf as he saw the irony in the map. "Yeah... We're about as far as possible from there..." Light danced in his eyes as he looked over the map. Even the realization that they'd have to travel so far through so much danger didn't dampen his mood any. Normally he felt a bit guilty for abandoning his training, for any reason. But every once in a while he did share the dawnmeet with his wife anyway. After the glory he'd seen today... there was no guilt at all!

"Well... I don't think we'll be getting all the way over there today... Much as I'd like too, we'd skip by too much. We'll just have to work our way over there. Still it's good to know something good came from the body switching..." The way his eyebrows bunched together in a scowl gave the distinct impression that the payment wasn't quite high enough.

He sighed and looked over toward the horses. "I'm not sure what we're going to find out there... but if we 'do' find a decent stable, I think we should take advantage of it." He pointed to the massive rows of forest stabbing into the city on the map. "If we don't have them, we could cut through here when needed... maybe lose a monster or two." He frowned a bit and admitted. "Honestly, I think we're safer without them. The sooner we don't have to worry about them giving us away, or bolting when a monster comes, the better I think we'll be...

"If we can stable them and even some of our heavier gear somewhere safe... worst case scenario we can always Windwalk back to get it all.."

Ashara sighed deeply as her eyes shifted between the two horses. Simply wishing the animals wouldn't be an issue, did not make it so, and as much as she hated the idea of just leaving them on their own in Myth Drannor, it was undoubtedly the safest option. Himbar swiveled his large head towards them, peering at her with those big dark eyes as if to say, 'WE would've been safer without YOU!'. She couldn't deny the truth of that either...

"I agree... We'll keep an eye out then for a good place for them. I prayed for the Sacred Guardian spell today, so if I can get one of them to 'kiss' the rose petal without eating it, I'll at least see if they're in danger..." She just grinned and shook her head at the visual. "I can also put up a minor ward around them that will last...well...until I'm not conscious... So hopefully until evening, but in this place I suppose that wouldn't necessarily be true! I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

"Oh, speaking of spells!" Ashara fished Elric's holy symbol out from beneath his coat and shirt. After the miscast of one of the healing spells the previous night, it had been cancelled by magical darkness. She was about to just do her casting there with the item still around his neck, but realizing that might not be the best of ideas, she pulled it off him and set it down on the ground before beginning a brief chant and passing her hand over the rose quartz disc a few times. Again the Mythal tugged, but was either overpowered or didn't want it badly enough... The symbol once again began emanating a brilliant light.

"Much better," she smiled handing the holy symbol back to her husband. "To the south then! I believe there is one last building waiting to be explored yet on this street..."

At that the pair led their horses from library and back out into the ruins.

"Now let me tell you about Uvaeren..." After clearing her throat for effect, as they exited, Ashara put on her most obnoxious, snooty elvish librarian voice. "Uvaeren was not a 'who' but a 'what..."

The world that greeted them in the early dawn light stunned the half-elf into silence. The storm last night had left a thin blanket of snow covering the city around them. That was the only sign of the dark weather from yesterday. Today, the sky was perfectly clear and the morning sun shown brightly. Silence that had been eerie the night before seemed peaceful and serene now.

Elric knew it was an illusion. The dangers and monsters that had plagued them all the day before hadn't simply vanished, but it was still difficult to do anything but grin at the beauty around them.

The elves loved all the seasons it was obvious. Still Winter wasn't the first thing one thought of with the green and nature loving race. Still the signs were there. In the courtyard of the library an unexpected sight greeted them. Two Unicorns frolicing with both elven and human children. He blinked twice, certain he was imagining it, but no. Frozen as if one of Ashara's portraits were the sculptures that had not been there the night before.

"What in the world...." Elric muttered as they got closer. Tense, ready for a trap or warning he approached the white horse. Life size it was an amazing replica and instantly brought to mind the unicorn family they'd watched in the woods. The children too looked as if they'd been frozen solid like Kaber and Eddick had been by the medusa... The fact that his mind immediately went THERE meant he may have been adventeruring too long...

Tentatively he looked at Ashara and reached out to touch the tail of the magnificent snow sculpture. His touch caused the snow to brush off... nothing. There was no foundation to the unicorn. No... Solid snow base like the Snowmen they had made when they were little. Nothing about their crude carvings held anything in common with this... This was a work of art. And it wasn't alone.

Littered through the streets, on the roofline, even hovering in mid-air where a roof tops should be they saw various snow sculptures. Birds, children, cats. exotic symbols... So much magic used simply for the sake of amusing children and adults alike.

"This...is amazing, " Ashara breathed as she squinted through the glare of the reflecting sunlight. "So much beauty here... I just can't fathom what this place must have been like at its height!"

She turned to Elric and grinned. "The main city must be even more breathtaking! If I didn't know the likelihood that demons are observing our every movement right now, I'd suggest we build a summer home here! But," she sighed, "as it stands..."

It was strange... Everything was covered in a light blanket of snow, but the roads and paths looked completely untouched. Very distinctly standing out amidst the rest of the ruins. Probably by design... With the skies clear and the sun out, there was no way that the snow would stay around much longer, and it would take with it the beautiful sculptures. This was only day two though, and the season just kept getting later. There was bound to be more snow at some point! For all her love of Spring, Ashara had some very fond memories of wintertime...

A playful smile slowly spread across her face as they walked along. "Do you think...," she began tentatively, chewing on her bottom lip, "yeah... I've really no choice... Has to be done!"

The priestess laughed and handed Elric her horse's reigns before stepping just off the path and flopping down into the snow. A few quick swishes of armored arms and legs and she got up to rejoin the half elf.

"Snow Deva," she explained with a wide smile, brushing the cold, wet flakes from her braids. "How many people can say they did THAT in Myth Drannor!"

The half-elf's laugh broke the silence as he gazed at his snow covered wife in amazement. "Only you can Melamin... Only you!" Shaking his head and chuckling he returned Kalpa's reigns and together they started southward.

It was obvious that this was the edge of Dlabradath. The buildings were most low single or double story buildings despite the abundance of trees around them. The homes and business were much more spread out than he'd expected. They passed a few small buildings and after a cursory inspection moved on.

Despite the serene surroundings Elric still kept a tense lookout in the sky, the trees, the shadows... anywhere danger could be lurking. Amazingly he saw or heard nothing... Which with this many trees around, to not even hear a morning bird-song... very disquieting...

The next promising building they came to was on the east side of the street. A two story dwelling, Dwarf make.

"Dwarves..." Elric said pointing to the Dethek sign. Underneath was in Common 'The Clanstones Fistcarat'. Obviously a business of some sort he pushed the door open. "Maybe find a shield, or something to patch your armor up..."

Unfortunately these dwarves seemed to be in a crystal business and not the typical arms and armor... Scattered about were gems the length of a man's hand. Clear, Faceted, oval... the likes Elric had never seen before.

Most were dark and faded, but as he was scattering some debris around he saw one with a radiance issuing from it. Upon closer inspection he found two more just like it.

"Look at these..." he held up the treasure for Ashara to see. "What do you think these do?"