Impresk - Alturiak, 1377

The wizard watched as his friend was hauled onto a horse and the horse took off at a quick pace for the south. His true seeing peirced the magical darkness covering the pair as they rode off as well as seeing the true forms of the shapeshifters superimposed ontop of the figure of Ashara. His thoughts racing furiousily as he stared at the scene before him. He too could see Elric running at full speed for the area and if he didn't know that was the fake Ashara he would be in serious trouble. However the second figure was riding quickly away with his friend the true Ashara. Would he have time to help both...if he turned to help Elric would he be able to catch up with the horse, if he followed the horse would he lose Elric to a suprise attack from the imposter? By Mystra he was not expecting combat and his choice of spells for combat was very limited. Still he had his Contingency if it was needed.

He wanted to scream in frustration but thankfully he was aware that the imposters didn't seem to notice him. If he screamed it would surely ruin that once chance at suprise....but if he delayed he would lose the one carrying Ashara. If he had the Tenser's right now he had no doubt he would use it and smash physically the creature in front of him out of pure frustration. He finally decided to let the frustration out and thrusting his closed fist in the fake Ashara's direction screaming loudly as he activated a ram like force powerfull enough to make a giant fall directly at 'her'. Growling under his breath he hoped Elric would understand why Ashara was suddenly flying sideways as he activated another magical effect in his staff, more then doubling his movement, and he took off to the south chasing after the one who had Ashara.

Something wasn't right.

Elric was out of breath from his breakneck pace as he'd raced through the night. It wasn't the physical effort, but the terror of what he'd expected to find. Ashara lying on the ground, life blood pouring from the vicious wound. His wife and child dying, or more likely already dead.

What he had NOT expected was seeing her walking towards him with a smile as if nothing had happened! Indeed by all appearances nothing HAD happened. Ashara was out walking, looking just as she had when he'd seen her minutes ago. Marstine standing next to her, looking concerned. He could hear a horse galloping in the night, but they didn't seem concerned.

For a moment he wondered if he may have gone mad, or the ring had malfunctioned. He was starting to get a familiar feeling, like at the temple the other day. The feeling that he MAY have made a fool of himself again.

Suddenly Ashara flew to the ground as if struck. Elric slid to the ground next to his stunned wife and scanned the surrounding. He heard... what he guessed were two or three people running toward where he heard the horse. The attackers seemed to have fled.

"What happened!" He screamed at Marstine as he turned Ashara over. Thankfully she must have had the regeneration still active. Something was wrong though... As he pulled the light out to better see her, he noticed her throat. By the time he had reached her the wound could have closed, Possibly even scabbed over. Best case scenario there would have been a scar slowly healing... The skin on her soft throat was unblemished. It was completly smooth to his touch. There wasn't even a scratch!

"What..." he said in confusion.

Drykkal had been standing only a few feet from Phaldran when the assassin had been quite unexpectedly blasted off her feet! 'Marstine' spun around just in time to see the screaming master mage activate something and run off at impossible speeds after the horse.

None of this was going to plan! Why did Elric come running after them!? How did Therogeon know they were here!!?? Worse yet, it seemed that Therogeon recognized Phaldran for what she was, and not the form she'd taken...

He nearly launched a few daggers at the sprinting mage while Elric was down with his unconscious wife, but thought better of it. Better to create some distance between the two...

"What happened!"

Drykkal's borrowed, pale blue eyes, flicked back over to Elric as he questioned him, and he fell immediately into his part. Rushing over to the false Ashara, Marstine laid her head on the woman's chest and put a hand on her abdomen.

"I... I ain't fer knowin' m'lord! Someone attacked 'er and ran off when you came over! You got 'ere jest in time!" Marstine breathed a shallow sigh of relief and looked up at the man thankfully, but after a moment fright widened her eyes as she moved her hand about Phaldran's belly.

"She's alive sir, but I ain't feelin' the baby movin' at all! We gotta take 'er to Kendra's place... The Dawnlord's there, he'll know what t' do t' save the child! I can't carry 'er meself..." She turned pleading, innocent eyes toward the powerful warrior.

Phaldran groaned painfully as she began coming back to her senses after that staggering blow.

***

Nakgha heard the scream from behind her as they galloped off into the night. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw the bright light that Phaldran had been wearing go flying. Presumably with Phaldran attached...

Had Elric detected the ruse so quickly? Regardless, this portion of the mission had to be salvaged, and there was a good chance that Phaldran and Drykkal could bring down the half-elf if at least ONE of them could catch him unawares. From what Phaldran had communicated to them earlier, that was not the easiest thing to accomplish... Her orders had been to bring the priestess to the contact in Caradoon with all haste, and in spite of her desire to aid her companions, she would do exactly what she had been instructed to do.

She was not expecting to hear the rapid footfalls coming up behind her. Turning to look again, she could just barely make out the form of someone gaining on the galloping horse!

Nakgha urged the animal into still greater speeds as she pulled one of her arms from around the paralyzed woman in front of her and reached for a large pouch at her waist. Discreetly, she upended the entire bag of caltrops onto the ground behind the horse. Anything to slow this would-be-rescuer down...

Ashara flopped like a rag doll on the back of the galloping horse. The only thing steadying her was a rider whose face she hadn't seen. Confusion swirled in her mind. She'd seen Marstine just standing there as the false priestess cut her throat, and she had done nothing. Hadn't even looked surprised! Was this a plan all along? Had Marstine, the sweet and kind, soft-spoken girl that she'd known for years been some sort of spy? Had someone magically disguised himself as her, and if so, for what reason?! It didn't make sense! Or did it... The Champions of the Red Dawn had made many enemies over the years. Was this an attempt to strike at them as a group for what they'd accomplished together?

She had no idea where this captor was taking her, but she was assured that it wouldn't be good! They could have killed her so easily! For some reason they wanted her alive, and that made her very nervous indeed...

An angry scream from some distance behind startled her. Therogeon! He must have sensed the Sacred Guardian spell going off and charged in to help! What of Elric? Was he in danger now too? Ashara hadn't cast Sacred Guardian on her husband in some time... When they were on the road travelling they were together nearly every moment, and when they were in town, well... Impresk was safe! So she had thought... The priestess realized now how badly she'd erred. How completely she'd let her guard down.

While she tried forcing life back into her limbs, she prayed to Lathander that her friends and family would make it through this unscathed, and that she would get a chance to rectify her oversights in the future.

At the end of the prayer, her thumb obeyed her command and twitched ever so slightly...

"She's alive sir, but I ain't feelin' the baby movin' at all!"

The words pulled Elric's attention to the young woman. He stared at her for a moment as his mind tried to process what she'd just said. Logically the words all made sense, but when arranged in that order... he was struck senseless.

What had happened with the ring? It should have shown him when Ashara was in danger? He'd SEEN her get her throat cut! But now it appeared that never happened... She HAD been attacked by SOMETHING, but not till he'd gotten there? That's not how the ring worked. What of the baby? Had something natural happened to the child and the ring sent him a confused signal?

She had seemed fine when he'd arrived...

Marstine's words finally snapped into place. With panic in his eyes, he brushed the young girls hands away and replaced them with his own. He felt a wave of nausea and a cold then went to his core as he realized she was right.

He didn't feel any movement...

"no.... no no no..." the half-dragon whispered in despair. Deep inside he knew something was wrong here. Things he that weren't right. A small voice was shouting a warning to trust the magic that he knew... but that voice was drowned by fear for his child. With strength borne of desperation he scooped the fallen Ashara up and looked at Marstine.

"C'mon, Lets GO!" and started to move.

Drykkal couldn't help but grin as he easily paced behind Elric who was running remarkably quickly for carrying another person in his arms. How easy it was to manipulate a person blinded by love!

If they could get to Kendra's house, it would be a safer place to attack. Inside, away from prying eyes or mages that might come looking for them... Plus it would give Phaldran a chance to shake off that blow! They hadn't gotten the chance to dispose of Kendra's body yet, but she was stuffed safely into a cabinet and probably wouldn't be noticed by the half-elf immediately. He was quite sure that it wouldn't be difficult to catch Elric unawares at this point. Not when one of the attackers was his own wife!

When Phaldran finally came to, she cried out in pain as she was being jostled in Elric's arms. It felt as if a couple ribs had been fractured from...whatever it was that had hit her...and for every heavy step the man took, her chest exploded in agony.

"Wh... What happened!?" The assassin asked honestly, gritting her teeth against the pain. "Where's Marstine?!"

"I'm here Sunrise Lord!" The young girl sped up so the Phaldran could see her off to Elric's left side.

Ashara's eyes met the acolyte's, and her head twitched to the side slightly as she scanned her companion's mind.

Therogeon...

She could only hope now that Nakgha could out run him or kill him. The latter would be preferred, but not at the risk of the mission. The two of them here had their own problems to deal with.

The corner of her mouth turned up for a split second after reading the deception Drykkal had lured Elric away with. The mission had gone completely awry, but perhaps it was salvageable yet! On top of that...this could actually be quite enjoyable...

Phaldran failed to completely stifle a scream that was only partially exaggerated, and clutched her abdomen.

"Elric," she cried with tears of pain and confusion in her eyes, "something's wrong with the baby..."

Elric slowed his pace as he heard his wife's scream. From the beginning he'd been afraid of moving her, but without any other options and a dawnlord down the street, he'd made a snap decision. He hoped it wasn't the wrong one.

"I'm here, Ashara... I'm taking you to Davion..." That had been the plan at least. When she was unconscious. Davion was a good man and made a fine Dawnlord, but there was little Elric believed he could do that Ashara couldn't. And as gentle as he was trying to be, it was obvious the journey was doing more harm than good.

Questions just started pouring out. "What should I do my love... Should we keep going? Should I bring him to you? Did you see who did this? I saw a knife... Can you heal the baby yourself..." Suddenly and idea popped into his mind. A long shot naturally, but he quickly stopped where he was and laid her gently on the ground.

"Marstine! Keep going, Tell Davion what happened!" He took out the precious healing potion that he had nearly forgotten about. Now that she was conscious perhaps she could drink it. After all, she was drinking for two!

"Here..." He uncorked the bottle, "Drink..."

Slowly, she began feeling some strength return to each of her limbs. Ashara was afraid to make any movements yet... When she did, it would have to count for something, so she bided her time until she was strong enough.

Meanwhile she practiced moving her lips and tongue. Though she didn't have the dexterity in her hands to cast spells yet, she knew she had to get warning to Elric somehow. Ashara had no way of knowing whether Elric or Therogeon knew she was being carried away on horseback, nor did she know if they were embroiled in their own fight with Marstine and the false priestess! What if they believed that this impersonator was actually her!?

She was concerned that her captor might hear and do something unpleasant, but she had to get word to him. To warn him of the danger if he hadn't already perceived it!

Taking a deep breath, she breathed a single word in a Whisper to her husband. She hadn't the strength yet for anything more.

"Wethrinarea..."

Her utterance caused her captor to swear aloud, and Ashara felt hands grab two handfuls of hair, one on each side of her face, and wrap it crosswise through her mouth before tying the locks tightly behind her head, gagging her with her own hair.

Phaldran made quick eye contact with Drykkal while she greedily swallowed the entire contents of the flask.

With a curt nod of understanding, 'Marstine' ran off in the direction of Kendra's house, only to loop around behind Elric while he was kneeling at his wife's side, attending to her. Apparently this was to be the place. They hadn't reached the road yet, and were still far enough away from the homes to avoid alarming anyone, unless things got out of hand of course. If they could do this correctly, there would be no sound at all...

While still hopefully out of his earshot, Marstine carefully removed the over sized brown cloak and fitted her hands into the two, double-bladed punching daggers that had been concealed at her side. Drykkal was no amateur to combat. He had been chosen to replace Elric for a reason, and though he could hardly match the way the half-elf moved, with surprise and sheer brutality of force, he intended on putting this man in the ground before the sun rose.

The false priestess felt the warmth of the healing potion flow through her body, quickly knitting her ribs back together.

"I don't know what I'd do without you..." she said, smiling up at him briefly while inhaling and exhaling pain free. After a slight gasp, a relieved grin stretched across her face. "I think it worked, Elric! Can you feel the child moving?" Phaldran took his hands and placed them gently on her abdomen, trying to keep eye contact with him, just as Drykkal leaped at the warrior's back...

"My love Trouble!"

The sending jolted the young half elf awake. It obviously came from Therogeon but he was right beside her....no he wasn't. Quickly she rose from the bed and approached the mirror in their chamber. Placing a palm on the rune on the side she said, "Therogeon."

The scene in the mirror shifted to the field somewhere in Impresk. Therogeon was much better identifying the landscape than she was but she was pretty sure it was near the Everdawn's place. The Therogeon in the mirror seemed to scream and punch the air and she shifted the view slightly to see....to see Ashara go flying by Therogeon's attack!

Something was horribly wrong here she thought even as Therogeon suddenly sped off at incredible speeds to the....south?

She frowned and grabbed a robe, quickly slipping it over her shoulders before sounding the general alarm in the tower. Shortly a trilling bell like sound echoed throughout the chambers and students came flying to the general meeting room in the front foyer. Most were a little frazzled as if they had just woken up but a couple, especially the one on door guard, looked fresh. While everyone was gathering she sent a quick thought to her master and love, "My love?" After receiving his response her face looked grim. All the students in the chamber looked up at her expectantly.

"Friends have been attacked. Therogeon is off confronting them now but he will need help. Dhara, Mekara, Gymle, go with all haste to the Temple of Lathander, tell them that Ashara has been captured by shapeshifters and their help will be needed to heal and discover the identity of the culprits. Dekala and Mhearik go as well to the school. Elric is in trouble and will need the help." Here she sighed, for what she wanted to do was far different than what she was told to do. Therogeon was the light of her life but she knew that when he acted as head of the school his instructions had to be followed. "Dhala and Tarpin, grab a wand from the armory and come with me to assist Elric now. One wand each and only use it to defend yourself. The rest of you, stand watch here. No one is to leave or enter until either I or Therogeon return."

"My love, " she thought but did not send, "I hope you know what you are doing."

Therogeon had been slowly gaining on the horse and it's two riders. Grunting he lowered his head and put on even more speed. Just in front of him he noticed a small gleam on the ground. His thoughts, already racing as fast as his feet, had just enough time to wonder what they were when he hit the first caltrop. The sudden suprising pain in his foot sent him tumbeling head over heals as he missed a step, the result getting more caltrops in his legs and back and the horse getting further away.

The wizard scream again in frustration when an inquisitive sending broke into his thoughts,

"My love?"

Quickly he placed his hand in his pocket, slipping off the ring of the ram and grasping the parent ring, "Almara....shapeshifters have attacked Ashara, one wearing her shape and one wearing the shape of her young student Marstine are with Elric near their house. Quickly, gather the students, and send some of them to the temple and to the martial arts school and gather aid. Take two of the elder students and arm them as you see fit and go help Elric. Do not use Ona en'rilma. I will probably have use for it soon. Trust no one until their identity is verified. I am chasing a third shapeshifter who has the real Ashara. Help me not. We are moving too fast and I am worried about her child. Go now my love!" With that he broke the sending and continued his run after the horse.

Again his thoughts turned to how to slow or stop the horse without hurting Ashara or her child yet unborn. He was almost positive she would survive if he blasted the horse with lightening but he did not want to harm the fetus. By Mystra he hoped Elric was alright. He was awake and alert though and he couldn't say the same for Ashara. Elric was smart he would figure out what was going on.

Suddenly an idea sprang into his mind. Putting on all speed he could he got as close to the horse as possible. Thankfully he could hear the horse gallaping for all it was worth. Once he got to within sixty feet he activated his Contingency by speaking the trigger words "Ona en'rilma now!"

Most wizards used the Contingency spells for saftey or protection. They would activate and teleport the wizard to a safehouse or activate a powerfull protection spell once the wizard had taken a certain amount of damage. Some used them as a sudden burst of offence again once a certain event had been triggered. Therogeon used his a little differently. His Contingency activated another spell of his, one that allowed him to channel the effects of a magical item held in his hands at the time of the casting. In this case, that item turned out to be an ancient and powerfull elven staff of power, the Ona en'rilma, or the Gift of Glittering Light. So while the staff lay safely in his tower the powers held inside it are now available to Therogeon.

As he was getting ready he felt, from Ashara in front of him, the effect of her Whispering. A positive sign as she was awake and alert enough to use that. This was going to require nearly split second timing. Grimly he activated an effect of the staff and speaking the command words, "hest poldora", cast a beam of light at the horse. This beam struck the horse and suddenly the poor beast was as weak as a newborn foal. The horse collapsed almost instantly and Therogeon raced ahead to catch or at least cushion his friends fall.

Elric watched hopefully as she drank the potion. As the healing liquid was being consumed and the color started coming back to Ashara, Elric stiffened in confusion. A familiar voice over the wind whispered "Wethrinarea"

Deceivers...

With her attention on the bottle apparently Ashara didn't hear it. Which was odd since she was the voice he'd heard! His mind started spinning. The missing knife wound... the mysterious 'other' attack... Even being called away in the middle of the night like this... So many questions... things that didn't make sense.

"I think it worked, Elric! Can you feel the child moving?"

Nothing. He felt no movement at all. Despite her hopeful tone, his heart sank. Suddenly an image filled his vision. A horse and rider. Two riders! The horse was collapsing and throwing it's riders off. One he couldn't recognize, but the other he'd recognize anywhere!

Two Asharas? How was that possible?

"No.... No I don't." He stated with a noticeable edge in his voice. Long honed senses told him that he was in trouble and he'd been ignoring them. That ended now. Suddenly he rolled to the left swinging 'Ashara' with him.

As they moved a sharp pain ran across his face as the most wicked looking punch dagger that Elric had ever seen sliced open his cheek. He counted himself lucky. Before the roll, that was right where his spine had been.

Marstine was standing there with an eager look of anticipation on her face. Elric looked down at the Ashara he had just pulled from harm's way, and with steel in his voice ordered her to "Stay down!" To anyone who heard it they realized this was NOT a request. If he hadn't pulled her out of the way of Marstine, he wouldn't have gotten touched at all. Odds were, that she was a part of this... whatever 'this' was. But he couldn't even consider keeping her in harms way.

Warrior instincts and Husband instincts were at war right now. He knew danger was all around him but he didn't know if he would be able to do anything about it. Marstine was a different matter.

Rising nimbly to his feet Elric watched her for a moment. He'd never 'fought' a women before. He'd sparred with Danica, and there were a few women in the tournaments... but he rarely considered those more than glorified sparring. This girl was trying to kill him. Not just any girl either... One that he'd trusted enough to watch his children.

"Marstine... What is this about?"

Therogeon hurt all over. He was not a natural athlete by any stretch of the imagination and while he was in very good physical shape, running for all he was worth and trying to make a diving catch of a person was a little beyond him. He managed to get beneath Ashara but he was not able to activate his staff's feather fall ability in time. Thus her entire weight landed ontop of him, forcing him onto his back hard, where unfortunitly, a caltrop that had been stuck in his clothing was pressed deeply into his back.

He felt bad about the horse, the poor thing had broken almost all of it's legs and probably it's back in the fall. Therogeon could hear it's pitifull whinnying. The creature carrying Ashara however, definitely had skill. Once the horse went down it managed to jump clear, tucking it's shoulders into a comfortable and impressive roll and was even now coming to it's feet.

Therogeon carefully set Ashara down and quickly undid the hair binding her mouth. He whispered as he stood to face the shapeshifter, "Stay down my sister. I do not know what has happened but I swear by Mystra, no further harm will come to you or your child!"

The cloak worn by the stranger was imbued with powerfull magic. If it wasn't for the magical vision Therogeon had given himself he doubted he would be able to find the assassin. With a quick flourish of the cape, perfect darkness surrounded the three of them. Again, Therogeon counted himself lucky that he had the spell active, even though he could feel the effects of the haste leaving him. The True Sight spell allowed him to see through the darkness perfectly but he did not let the assassin know. The figure was wearing the form of Kendra but he could still see the superimposed image of the creature's natural shape. He gasped as if he had suddenly gone blind and stood looking slightly off of where the assassin was standing.

With only a slight tremble in his voice he said, "Who are you? Why have you attacked us?"

She had grabbed the staff of thunder and lightening while Dhala had taken a wand of lightening and Tarpin grabbed the wand of frost. So armed the three mages exited the tower only a few seconds after the runners had left for their respective errends. Almara did not know excatly where Elric and the two shapeshifters were, only that they were near the Everdawn's house. So she started the search towards the house and a little to the south, since that was the direction Therogeon had taken off.

To their credit, the two students, who had never really been in a dangerous situation before, were handeling themselves well. Their skin was a little pale and sweaty from the excitment and exercise, but their faces were calm and determined. Almara was proud of them. Both held their wands pointed infront of them and off to the side so an accidental trigger wouldn't hit Almara. She was leading since her half-elven heritage gave her the gift of infravision that the two human students lacked.

They had run for quite a few minutes, or at least it seemed that way, when she spied a light in the distance that had nothing to do with her infravision. Holding her hand up for quiet and to slow them down, she carefully led them towards the light, hoping it was Elric. The light seemed magical in nature and when she gazed upon it, it reminded her of a sunrise. Carefully the three approached.

By the time the shadowy assassin jumped up from her roll, she had cloaked the area in thick, comforting blackness. She couldn't see the mage. She didn't need to. Carefully developed senses strained to hear and feel everything around her. The elf was breathing heavily from his incredible exertion and his heart was thrumming against his chest. Nakgha would not underestimate this one. Already his accomplishments his short life were the stuff of legend, and indeed he could prove to be a most formidable foe!

"Who are you? Why have you attacked us?"

An unnatural laughter rasped from the doppelganger's throat at the question.

"We do what we are paid to do. As for who I am..."

Nakgha let the question hang in the air for the briefest of moments before she activated her ring and blinked, appearing ten feet to Therogeon's left.

"I will be the last voice you ever hear!"

With incredible speed, the assassin flung three daggers in quick succession towards the mage. One to the throat, one to his right wrist, and her most potent dagger at his heart...

It was a strange sensation to be atop a horse one moment and airborne the next... Ashara saw the ground coming up quickly, but she still didn't have the strength to even tuck in her limbs as she fell. Miraculously, a Champion that she had not anticipated, appeared beneath her just in time to catch her, cushioning her fall against the frozen ground.

Mostly cushioning it... The priestess heard a sickening pop from her shoulder and a wave of pain spread through her lifeless arm as she hit the dirt, but she was otherwise uninjured, and more importantly, the mage had protected the child from harm.

"Stay down my sister. I do not know what has happened but I swear by Mystra, no further harm will come to you or your child!"

"Therog... Where..." Before she could formulate the question, they were suddenly swallowed in blackness. She no other choice but to stay down. Ashara couldn't even roll over on her side at this point! She had no spell components on her, not even her holy symbol! More manual dexterity than she possessed at the moment, would be required to banish the darkness, so she began one of the few things she could do in this situation.

In a low voice, with ever strengthening words laden with divine power, the priestess began a chant that would aid her brother and hinder any that would seek to threaten him.

The girl was only mildly disappointed that her first strike didn't connect, though she strongly desired to feel his spine slide between the double blades of her katar. She shuddered once at the thought as she leaped back to ready herself for another assault.

"Marstine... What is this about?"

She stood facing the warrior with her weapons held out at each side, openly challenging him to face her. Her head was lowered slightly and she peered up at him through wispy blond eyelashes.

"Why, m'lord... This needn't have been 'bout you quite yet," she grinned wickedly, "but if yer wantin' t' play..."

Marstine snapped her head up as the smile spread across her face, and she dropped the heavy accent of the Impresk natives.

"Then let us play!"

She rapped the right heel sharply on the solid ground and a small blade poked a few inches out of the toe of the boot. She launched herself at Elric then, and as she closed the distance between them, Marstine flipped backwards once, and kicked at his chin with the short blade in her boot. The kick was meant only as a distraction though, and after completing the flip, she slashed viciously at his midsection with the two daggers.

"I will be the last voice you ever hear!"

When the assassin blinked, Therogeon instantly realized what it was and excately where her location would be when she returned. Still, he forced himself to wait till he heard the voice, so full of spite and venom, before he turned towards it. That was almost his downfall. The three daggers were coming in impossably fast. The wizard hoped this looked natural and like he was still blind. He had only a moment to anticipate the pain before he slightly moved his wrist letting the dagger fly over, turned his head and ducked slightly so the dagger coming for his throat only scratched his cheek and the dagger coming for his chest....By Mystra that one hurt. That dagger sunk in deep, though thankfully with his slight turning not fatally. Still, he used the impact to spin himself around and fall on the ground, crying out in not quite faked pain.

On the ground he got the feeling from Ashara that she was casting a spell and he recognized it. He grimaced as he lay there, coughing up blood from the dagger to the chest. He was hurt, but again he had been hurt worse before and survived. In truth he didn't fear this strange creature. Something it had said however created another question in his mind. These creatures had been paid. That meant someone or someones had hired them to attack Ashara and probably others of the Champions as well. His frown had almost nothing to do with the blood of his now staining the ground.

Quietly he whispered the words to a spell he found usefull when dealing with students, and if the creature didn't notice or resist, he would be able to read it's surface thoughts.

Thank Mystra the spell took hold.

Coughing up a little more blood the elven wizard struggled to his feet, asking the darkness around him while pretending to not know where the assassin was, "Who.....*cough*....who paid you....to hurt her..*cough*."

The false priestess lay on the ground, momentarily stunned by Elric's harsh and unyielding command. He knew it now, or at very least suspected that she wasn't the woman she was portraying. Even so he had still pulled her out of the way of potential harm!

She didn't get up, but instead, carefully unsheathed the dagger that was now freshly coated with the paralytic poison.

Let Drykkal have his fun. She knew that if she interrupted him at his play, she was just as likely to be stabbed as the half elf was. He had been anticipating this fight for months...

Keeping one eye on the fight between the warriors, Phaldran scanned the area to make sure they weren't joined by any other 'heroes'.

The three wizards were making slow but steady progress. With shapeshifters about Almara didn't want to over react and she knew that once something happened, well it was hard to make it unhappen.

Still, they were getting closer. The light had moved quickly and only a short distance and was now holding steady. She -thought- it was Ashara's holy symbol, but until she got closer and switched back to normal vision, she couldn't tell.

Once more her thoughts turned to Therogeon. Where was he? Was he alright? What had happened? She knew, but did not know how she knew, he was hurting but she couldn't tell if it was emotional pain or physical. Was he hurt? Did he fail and Ashara had been taken or....no, she would not think that last one. The young half-elf liked the priestess and she knew how close the three Champions were.

Soon, they would be close enough to the light to see what was there, what was happening. With extreme concentration she focused on the task at hand and steadily led the other students forward.

The warrior recognized the feint for what it was, and leapt straight backward. He heard the tearing of cloth as the blades cut through his shirt, but fortunately that's all that was cut. He looked at the waif of a girl with a new appreciation. That was an excellent attack. He'd already mastered the flip kick himself years ago, but the follow through was ingenious.

Who was this girl?

Since opening the school he'd prided himself on indentifying young talent. She was nimble, graceful, and deadly... and he'd NEVER noticed! She was no amateur at battle either. That much was obvious. Now that he actually saw her... the real her, he was concerned. It had been a while since he'd fought a 'real' challenge. Let alone one without his magical protections, weapons, wraps, boots, or any other of the crutches he was used to relying on...

This could be serious trouble.

One thought kept going through his mind though... This needn't have been 'bout you quite yet' This wasn't about him... She was here for Ashara. The way she was always around made that fairly obvious. Helping at the temple... Alone with the children... Offering to be a midwife! The thought of this person around his family at their most vulnerable caused him to be very, very angry. Anger turned to Focus and focus turned to determination. If she wanted to play, they could play...

"C'mon then..." he goaded her. "Let's see what you've got!"

In a quiet voice he simply said "Kil'ral" and prepared for the next attack.

The muttered words of that troublesome priestess rolled unnervingly over her mind, causing the flight of those daggers to be slightly off their mark. Or at least that's what she told herself... There's no way that mage could have dodged them. Was there?

"Who.....*cough*....who paid you....to hurt her..*cough*."

Truth be told, none of the assassins knew who it was that hired them. Their only contact had been a cowled figure about the height and build of a man, that they met in Caradoon. No names, no faces. Those were the expectations their employers demanded.

"If we wanted her dead, mage, she would be dead! As for you though, we've been given much different instructions regarding your welfare!"

Nakgha withdrew another handful of daggers from her bandoleer and began running off to the side, flinging two of them at Therogeon's back as he lay on the ground, hoping to pierce his lungs. She was about to throw the third when she heard a word spoken from the woman some distance to her right, and the darkness surrounding them all, dissipated.

Cursing again, she launched her third dagger at the priestess before turning her attention back to the mage who had her favored dagger still stuck in his chest...

The sound of Threogeon coughing up blood alarmed Ashara. She had no idea what was going on in all this blackness, but if he needed her help, he would need to be able to see her to come for healing!

Forcing her fingers to obey, the priestess spoke a single divine word (WHOOSHA!), banishing the darkness. She had just enough time to look around and see Therogeon lying on the ground when a dagger came out of nowhere piercing her flesh through the center of her upraised palm.

Fortunately she didn't need either holy symbol or components to heal, but with a dagger in one palm and a dislocated shoulder immobilizing the other arm, she was in trouble. Unless she could learn to cast with her toes this could be a problem...

Growling away the pain, she took the dagger's pommel between her teeth and pulled it slowly from her hand.

The wizard sighed, no names and no faces. A cowled figure that could be anyone, and the only usefull information was Caradoon. Quickly Therogeon dropped flat on the ground, his chest wound burning but the two new daggers coming in at him missed completely. The darkness around them vanished and it was probably for the best. His True Sight spell was almost up. Still, it seemed the need for fooling the figure was over. It/she had no information that would prove usefull.

With quiet resolve and much easier than he was letting on, the mage stood and faced the running assassin. He saw the dagger meant for Ashara and his anger grew. He may not have any combat spells, but that certainly did not mean he was helpless. He whispered another spell and tossed a bit of turtle shell behind him. He normally used this spell in the younger classes to prevent spitwads and quills from the more unruly (and not long for the school) children. It's actual purpose however was to prevent any and all nonmagical weapons hurled or fired at him to fail. Thus armored the master wizard glared at the shapeshifter.

"You attack my family....in -MY- town! You endanger those whom I hold dear, and you have the audacity to threaten our lives....without even magical support. for yes...you need the support to defeat me. Behold now the full fury of an awakened mage!" The words, full of rightious anger were another ruse. Oh, he was angry, but it was more to intimidate the assassin, to distract her further away from Ashara to prevent any more daggers being hurled at his sister.

The mage pointed a finger at the shapeshifter and activated another power of the elven artifact, "SIREN'UIAL". As he shouted the command word four large magical missles erupted from his finger, three flying directly toward the assassin and one heading toward the horse. Therogeon could stand it's suffering no longer and it was with a heavy heart he directed the one at it. These missles, similar to the ones known as 'magic missles' would fly and strike the target, no matter how much they moved or dodged. Only once these hit they would explode causing more damage.

The doppleganger continued to run as the missles turned to follow. The last one struck the horse and with a large clap, burst, killing the suffering animal instantly.

Elric's challenge was about to be answered...

A feral snarl escaped the young girl's lips, and her eyes lit with excited fire and she ran at the martial master. Her arms were wrapped about her body. One katar over her left shoulder and the other tucked at her right side, readying themeselves for their deadly work.

Just as she got within arm's reach of the man, she dropped suddenly to the ground, sweeping clockwise at his feet with her heel, then releasing her arms like a coiled spring, slashing upwards to where she thought he would be leaping to avoid the sweep.