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[NatalieEGH]

As the group moved, Talia maintained her vigil from the sky. Within the hill lands, she was able to send warnings of several ambushes, but these all proved to of the more common form of thieves, not the Shadowlord's forces.

Few travelers were seen on the roads. At villages and farms passed, Rebtex would cast his illusions and take brief sojourns. During these Talia would mount even higher into the sky and using what thermals there may be present, lazily circle until she again saw the party on the move. Each night as dusk arrived, she would make one final circle before rejoining the party.

[rebtex]

As the group moved, Talia maintained her vigil from the sky. Within the hill lands, she was able to send warnings of several ambushes, but these all proved to of the more common form of thieves, not the Shadowlord's forces.

Few travelers were seen on the roads. At villages and farms passed, Rebtex would cast his illusions and take brief sojourns. During these Talia would mount even higher into the sky and using what thermals there may be present, lazily circle until she again saw the party on the move. Each night as dusk arrived, she would make one final circle before rejoining the party.

???? Where did this come from. My last post left us off in the forest surrounded by orcs. Sorry but I might have to use my reserved rights to ignore posts because it doesn't make sense to jump from that to this.

[rebtex]

Ishkar stared at Rebtex with caution. Rebtex stared back unflinchingly. The orc thought long and hard as he circled him. Maybe this fellow and his troupe could finally be the one to free him from his illusionary reign of solitude. They might just be able to take on the buffoons he called his henchmen. As hes circled them he yelled a command at Lereng, the toughest and stupidest of his gang. He was known to kill innocents for fun before he joined. Ishkar could kill him but he knew that he had more followers in the gang than he did, he was ever wary that Lereng would suddenly decide to dispose of him and have his following take him out leaving Lereng as the leader. As Lereng stepped forward with a twisted grin of delight on his face apparently from seeing one of his own comrades murdered. Ishkar said to him in a most audible tone "Test the one on the horse's strength." "We shall see who is the tougher one." Lereng, apparently in the belief this would be another simple killing walked up and tried to rip Rebtex off of his horse. He was met with a blast of energy so strong he hit two of the orcs in the ring and only by landing on them prevent from being killed by a sharp rock dangerously close to his head. He drew his broad sword and walked forward with a newfound fear he had never felt before.

[rebtex]

Rebtex dismounted Abo and strode over to the orc with an intimidating lack of fear. He used his psionic powers to draw his knives in an intimidating way. He waited for the orc to respond but he seemed frozen in place like a statue. Rebtex catcalled him and antagonized until the orc had no choice but to fight or lose his hard won reputation. As soon as the orc started launching himself at Rebtex Rebtex gave him a wide gash in his chest as he diverolled to avoid the wild swings. He then used an old favorite the hilt to the temple. As the orc stumbled on the ground he grabbed a sharp stone and drove into Rebtex's side. As Rebtex yelled in pain he shove his knife brutally into Lereng's eye and watched him fall to the ground dead. Ishkar, seeing this knew these were the ones who could and would free him. He yelled attack and the orcs immediately started moving towards the gang.

[rebtex]

Rebtex tried healing his wound but remembered that he only had his psionic powers. He moved the skin with his hands and pressed his lightening enchanted blade to the skin to cauterize the wound. He took down his shield and launched himself into the battle. He quickly dispatched 2 orcs by throwing blades into their heads. He took the blades from their skull and when he looked up saw the orc leader firing a bow. He instinctively started to psionically attack him but realized he wasn't firing at him, Link, or Toshkir. He was firing at members of his own gang. He didn't know what to think of the situation but quickly returned to fighting when an orc narrowly missed his neck with a swing of his broad sword.

[NatalieEGH]

Moments after the battle began, Talia was above the battle, firing her bow. 20 arrows left her bow, 5 orcs fell and 3 others were wounded. Out of arrows, Talia landed and picked up a large rock, took to the air and then diving dropped it on one of the orcs as she was about to repeat this...

[rebtex]

The orc archers spotted Talia and started firing. She dodged most of them but a few hit her spread out wings and forced her to the ground. Rebtex shot back the 2 orcs he was fighting and noticed one of them die as he fell on a arrow sticking out of the ground the other layed on the ground dazed. He immediately went to where the Windchild had fallen and killed an orc only a few feet away by thrwoing a knife into his chest. He studied the Windchilds wounds. She was unconscious from the fall but Rebtex could sense her mind to tell she was not dead. He used the same force and singe technique on her wings as he had done on his side. He then studied the area for more orcs. He spotted a few about 20 feet away and put a shield around Talia. He than took off after them.

[rebtex]

After zeroing in on the 3 orcs that Rebtex had seen earlier he was surprised to see that he was suddenly surrounded by 10 of them. He had been tricked into following. He immediately handed his blades and put up a shield. He used psionic powers to pick up several of the many sharp stones in the area and flung them at the orcs. To his utter astonishment he saw the rocks bounce off harmlessly. The orcs were being magically protected. He immediately thought of Toshkir. He was still suspicious about him. He somehow knew where to find him and was following him on his journey for reasons he had not told. His suspicion grew more and more as he convinced himself it was him. It was only when he sensed the wizard responsible he thought differently. When his mind touched the consciousness he was dumbfounded and at a complete loss of words. His first thought was fear, than anger, and than complete wonder.

[rebtex]

Ishkar was giddy with excitement. He watched from his perch on a tree where he would be remained hidden while he took out members of his gang. He saw the worksmanship of the band that were killing his minions and smiled. They would win out. He was sure of it. He than noticed a shadow standing on a hill about a mile away. He seemed to be waving his hands at the battle and doing some sort of satanic magic. He stared thoughtfully for awhile till he noticed the elf lad he had forced to fight earlier fighting ten of his henchmen. He saw stones bounce off the orcs and attacks slide off their skin and then he realized. The shadow on the hill was protecting his orcs. He knew that this could be trouble and stealthily sneaked his way up the hill. He would have to take out this shadow some way. But he had no idea how.

[NatalieEGH]

Awakening Talia at first wonders why everything is so quiet and she hurts so much. Then opening her eyes she sees a translucent bubble around her and can just barely make out the battle is continuing outside.

He first thought is she was captured and imprisoned then she notices she still has here dagger. Not of much use in a battle but proof enough it was one of the party that must have cast the bubble and it is to protect her.

Looking around she sees a dead orc with a quiver she tries to burst the bubble it does not. Then seeing Rebtex surrounded she pushes against the bubble, it moved!!! Pushing harder she moves it to were it is suddenly over half above the ground and carefully crawls out from under.

Grabbing the quiver she takes to the air again, much less in control than normal but he flies up high and starts firing. The arrows just bounced off the orcs???? Looking around she sees orc (Toshkir??, must be) moving towards a hill. Looking ahead she sees a "dark shadow" standing on the hill. Realizing what Toshkir must be doing, she circles to the other side of the shadow from Link and start firing at it. The first arrow might have hit it, but the next 2 bounced off just as they did from the orcs. But she has the shadows attention. As it turned to face her, she dived down seeking the protection of the rocks. She just succeeded when she saw what looked like a ball of black fire go through where she had been less than a second earlier.

Peeking over the edge she does not see the shadow for a moment, then she sees it. And it looks like it is turning around back toward where the fighting is and where Toshkir is coming up. She leaps into the air, spinning wildly and erratically more from pain and damage than intent but it works again. The shadow is about to unleash another spell in her direction....

[rebtex]

As Rebtex jumps from the middle of the crowd of orcs he grasps a tree branch and flies over two of them. He quickly sprints up the hill to warn his party. Specter was not a normal creature. A simple arrow to the head would anger, not kill, him. As he got almost up the hill he noticed the shadow growing and seeping among the ground. It reminded him of that day in Elrad when the clouds twisted and churned. It wasn't until he saw creatures appearing he realized what it was. Specter had just summoned some of the Shadowlord's minions. Their little battle, had just become a war.

[Godblade75]

Tokshir gasped in dismay at the incoming troops. Frustration rendered his spells useless as he struggled with his staff. "Forgathen!" (Retreat) he cried. But Rebtex refused to budge and Link stubbornly began to draw new arrows. The Shadowlord's minions began to cackle, approaching the party getting closer and closer. Suddenly Tokshir realized something. Where had Talia gone? Trembling, he cast a final spell which drained all of his spiritual energy, a summoning spell. "Talia gora minua!" (Talia, come forth!)

[NatalieEGH]

Shocked that the shadow thing was killed by the arrow when hers had all bounced off she stopped and just hovered. Thinking maybe it was some sort of invisible wall but only in one direction at a time, maybe she could hit the orcs or at least some of them. She was about to turn and start firing at the orcs again, when the shadow reformed and a lot more things suddenly appeared. She had just fired an arrow when suddenly she was next to in front of an orc that was definitely Toshkir.

How did she get here? What happened? Turning and looking for what or how, she was obviously in a panic. Calming for a moment, that could be considered later, right now... She shouted, "MORE THINGS ARE COMING. LOTS OF THINGS. WE NEED TO RETREAT TO WHERE WE CAN DEFEND."

Grabbing another quiver she flew up and tried laying down covering fire. The arrows were again bouncing off. She watched hoping for either help or the others to start retreating.

[rebtex]

Rebtex felt a surge. When Specter had disappeared in a cloud of smoke Rebtex's elemental powers had come back to him. Apparently he was unable to handle too many types of magic at once and as soon as he had started summoning he lost control of Rebtex's elemental powers. Rebtex immediately got to the top of the hill where Specter had previously stood. He put up a psionic bubble shield around the mountain top and started a whirlwind around it of rocks, wood, and small shards of metal. Any creature that got close was instantly ripped apart by the high speeds of the material. As he stood watching he was shocked to see monsters appearing out of thin air. He knew that there was no way to stop the tide of monsters. This would just be a fight until they died. He gazed around the forest until he landed on a spot of pure darkness sitting on a stone with his feet crossed and his head slumped back like this was just another day. Rebtex started his descent down the hill in a sprint sending creatures flying as they were deflected by his shield. He shot out fire balls and caught them in the vortex around his shield. As he closed in on Specter's location he formed a ball of pure light in his hands he created a shield around Specter to keep him from disappearing. When he got within 10 feet the ball was the same size as him. He shot the ball into the shield around specter and watched him scream in anguish. He scratched and clawed at the shield with a fury. His form flickered a few times before it finally disappeared. Rebtex let down the shield that was around him. After a moment or two Rebtex sighed but just than a dark chuckle emanated throughout the forest. Something told Rebtex Specter would be back. Rebtex stared at the field still full of creatures. He was delighted to find the orcs no longer had protection around them. He decided he would ditch the battle and find his companions, hopefully salvage what little daylight was left to find a good place to camp.

[NatalieEGH]

Talia gave thanks when Rebtex ran from the orcs, but then saw he was headed towards the wrong hill. His retreat was taking him toward the shadow thing. She tried shouting at him but he apparently did not hear and then suddenly a whirlwind appeared and she was buffeted and thrown several hundred meters.

Between her earlier injuries and the abuse she had just taken, Talia was all but forced to the ground. She landed in some of the higher branches of the trees and with short flights managed to move between them back to where the others had been.

When she arrived she saw many creatures bleeding apparently from things thrown by the wind but also more with arrows. Deciding to test, she fired another arrow. This one hit. She then fired at one of the dark things and it hit it also, though if it harmed it, she could not tell. It continued to slowly move even with the arrow piercing its knee?? Deciding to get as much advantage, she fired the last 3 arrows of the quiver at orcs. Two elicited screams and the last the orc simply fell over with the arrow piercing its neck.

After a few more minutes she saw Rebtex waving from the hill. Delighted he was signaling to come she struggled and flew over to him. Landing/crashing started to beg for them to escape, when she heard him say, "This is a lost cause, we need to find the others and escape while they are disorganized." She pointed to where she had last seen Link and Toshkir.

[rebtex]

As the group started to set up camp Rebtex sat on an upturned log. He was drained. His extreme uses of magic had left his mind numb and his hands shaky with fatigue. He didn't notice the orc until right before he jumped from the shadows.

Character Switch

Ishkar watched patiently on the outskirts of the camp. He knew he couldn't stay in the forest alone. It was crawling with foul and evil creatures. He knew that any orc that survived would tell of his betrayal. So he only had one option left, to join the troupe that had started the chaos. He wasn't sure of how to make his approach, he couldn't just walk in or he would be met with an arrow to the head, he would have to have leverage to explain his position before they could act on killing him, so he watched the troupe set up, he decided on who he was going to hold captive, and then he pounced on.........