Round robin. WAR OF LORE!

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2009, 1:23 pm

"These were recently reanimated." Elise said as she walked past the piles of wyvern bones.

Conter stopped and asked, "How do you know? The skeletal wyverns have inhabited these caves for years."

"I can feel the evil magical aura, well, it's dissipating now, but I could feel it before. I felt something like it at the Monestary near Edgeville when Momsrascal and I went there." Elise replied.

This made everyone think for a moment as they continued. Everyone there knew of Elise's abilities and none doubted she was telling the truth. And if she is, they knew what that meant also.

There was a Necromancer, a very powerful one, somewhere in these caves.

____________________________

Dark Fortress, Wilderness
____________________________

Everyone wrapped their cloaks around them and pinned them closed with the Star Broaches fastened on the cloaks. As each one did they faded from the sight of those who hadn't yet. As the last person fastened his cloak around him and put up his hood the rest of the members of the party faded back into his vision. Once all the other members had fastened their cloaks Timrak faded also, without wearing a cloak. Unlike everyone else though, he looked more like a shadow now than just a faded version of his normal self.

"Come, this way is a back entrance. Remember, even though you can't be seen you can still be heard and felt. These cloaks do have a slight sound dampening effect which will be sufficient if you move slow, but any quick movements will still make normal sound. You also still leave footprints." Timrak said as he led the group to a back door.

The door opened and a black knight with a chef's hat on over his full helmet came out with a bucket of murky water - probably some messed up stew or pasta water. Timrak motioned for the group to enter. Momsrascal went first, followed by the Star Knights with Karmadin in the rear. The chef tossed the water out and turned around to go back in as the group was about halfway in. Timrak made a sound behind a rock and the chef went to investigate it. Timrak then followed the rest of the group in.

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Asgarnian Tunnels
____________________________

"Why does de boss a'ways send us to chek on he's wy'verns?"

"Dunno, but he says to do it so we does it."

The group heard two black knights coming towards them down a barricadeless hallway. Had it not been so dimly lit they probably would've been spotted by the knights immediately.

"Everyone lean up against the cave wall on either side of the hall." Michael whispered.

Everyone did so and didn't notice that as they did their appearance to the black knights (who were now very close) changed into that of a cave wall right before the knights saw them.

"I bet 'ee jus' felt a spider on he's shoulder when 'ee say'd that 'ee felt someth'n."

"Hah hah! Probabl-eeeeeeeeeeee!" As the second black knight was about to finish the word 'Probably' he fell into a deep pit which hadn't been there a moment before when the first knight walked over that area.

"Eh? *Clang*" The first knight turned around to look at his friend but instead met Michael's (now enlarged and fully stone) hand. The knight flew into the wall opposite Michael and slid down the wall with his full helm dented in a disturbing way.

"Craaacckkkk! Crrrunnchhhh!"

The hole that the second knight fell into began closing. Everyone knew it was closing in solid, not hollow, and that noone would ever see that knight, or his bones, again.

Adbot · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2009, 1:23 pm

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** November 3rd, 2009, 5:08 pm

Momsrascal observed the interior the fortress. The decor seemed as cheerful and as colorful as a zamorakian fortress could be with grandeur drapes hanging from the walls. Not a single speck of dust could be found and the floors seemed to shine like they were polished recently.

"Is it just me or does this decor seem out of place?" Momsrascal whispered. What seemed even more out of place was the cheerful maid who walked down the hall with a bounce in her step, humming some old folk song. Momsrascal concluded that the decor was and cleanliness was more than likely her doing. The group avoided the maid and continued further into the fortress.

"A fair warning to you guys, but we should try to avoid Darkrascal. She may be able to sense us despite our cloaking." She whispered.

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** November 15th, 2009, 7:38 pm

"Well we won't have to worry about that one." One of the Star Knights remarked as he walked over the now solid ground where the second knight had been consumed.

A few Knights laughed quietly. Though this was a serious mission, everyone knew how deadly no humor could be.

They continued on. There were no more barricades in their way. This surprised most of the group but set Michael and Gia on edge. They knew something must be near for the barricades to have stopped.

Within a few minutes they came across a very fast moving, wide, subterranean river. There was a tall wooden door on the opposite side.

"Most likely a dual-purpose drawbridge-door." Michael said, noting the lack of hinges on either side of the door-bridge.

"The river's too strong to swim across, even if we strung a rope to the other side we'd be swept away." One of the Star Knights said after throwing a rock into the river.

Michael stooped to examine the dirt. "Even with my elemental abilities a bridge would be weak. This soil is much weaker than even dust." He formed a sword quickly with the dirt and gave it to Elise to test on the wall of the cave. She swung it at the wall and it shattered into dust.

"With the dirt in Elduvian a sword like that could've stood up to the average Elduvian sword for atleast an hour of hard combat. I think this dirt is cursed." Michael said

As odd as it sounded, none of them doubted it. They had heard of odd things being cursed, so dirt didn't surprise most of them.

"I could probably fashion a one person bridge. I think I could hold it's form even under the curse. Elise can just go under the river but the rest of you will have to walk on my bridge. Agreed?" Michael said.

They didn't have much choice. It was either trust that Michael could sustain the bridge made with cursed dirt, or go back home empty handed. They certainly weren't going home yet.

"Agreed, I'll go first." Conter said. All the Knights nodded in agreement with their Captain.

Michael melted into the ground. About half a minute later a small, one foot wide, bridge began forming from the Heroes' edge of the river towards the opposite bank. It took a minute, sometimes more, for each one foot length of the one foot wide bridge to form. Sometimes it would grow quite rapidly but then two feet of the end would fall off into the water. After about half an hour the bridge finally touched the other side. The bridge began growing thicker until it was 6 inches thick.

"He says this is the best he can do with this dirt. Any thicker or wider and the whole thing might collapse." Elise said. This was the first time most of them had seen here in her Earth Elemental form. She looked pretty much the same except all of her was now the color of the dirt, dark grey. "Leave your shields and backpacks here. I can move them to the other side and it'll be easier for you to balance without them."

The Star Knights took of their shields and backpacks and sheathed their swords. Conter then began walking out on the one foot wide dirt bridge.

Dirt continuously fell off the bridge, even in spots where Conter wasn't walking. He moved slowly along the bridge, taking great care not to lose his balance. The seconds seemed to take forever to go by as everyone watched Conter make it to the middle and then finally to the other side. A cheer of gladness rose from the Heroes on the first shore as the saw Conter step off the bridge and onto solid ground.

"Next." Elise said.

The next one to go was a young Knight of 32. He hesitated a little when he got to the center but continued with the encouragement of his comrades and Captain.

Next was an Elf who nimbly ran across the bridge without a moment's hesitation.

The rest of the Knights crossed without much trouble.

When it came to Gia's turn there was controversy on whether he should walk on the bridge or try jumping across. The river was a good 15 feet wide. Gia knew he wouldn't be able to jump that distance because the ceiling was only about 10 feet high.

The bridge suddenly broke, and Michael appeared on Gia's side of the river.

"You'll have to walk it when I rebuild it, that's the only way." Michael said, "And you'll have to leave your sword on this side. I can bring it over once you're over."

Gia nodded in agreement. They both knew the only way across for Gia was to cross Michael's bridge, without his sword. Even with Gia's strength and endurance it would be impossible for him to swim the length of the river before being pushed too far downstream to catch the other side. The weight of Gia's 2-ton rithlyte sword combined with his natural weight would be too much for Michael's bridge. Had this dirt not been cursed and so unnatural, Gia could've crossed without a problem.

The bridge formed much faster this time, but was still only 1 foot wide. It was, however, 6 inches thicker this time.

"He's ready." Elise said to Gia.

Gia leaned his sword against the wall and started walking towards the bridge.

When he set his right foot on the bridge lots of dust fell from the length of the bridge, but it held. He continued to walk on the bridge, careful to keep balance. As he approached the center of the bridge everyone began hearing cracking noises. They could see chunks of the bridge start falling into the river. Some of the Knights were encouraging Gia to move faster or just run for it but he didn't for he knew that would put more strain on the bridge and could make him lose his balance.

Seven feet away from the opposite shore the bridge started cracking much louder and larger pieces began falling from it. Suddenly it gave way...

...All the Knights had closed their eyes. It was the natural reaction mortals did when they feared certain doom on someone.

"I didn't know this water would move so easily." They heard Michael's voice say.

As they opened their eyes they saw Gia standing on a spout of water coming up from the raging river. The water was shooting up and looked like it was hitting Gia's feet and then splashing back down.

"I should've tested the water before trying the dirt bridge." Michael said as a full bridge of water formed from one side to the other.

Gia walked to the far side and Michael let the bridge fall. He and Elise then formed on the shore with the backpacks and Gia's sword. Elise and the backpacks melted into the ground and then reappeared on the far side with the group. Michael picked up the sword and walked towards the group, changing into a water Elemental when he stepped into the water and then a dirt Elemental when he came back out on the far side. He then gave the sword to Gia and returned to normal human form.

Gia smashed the drawbridge-door and the group continued down the barricadeless hallway.

Edit: Whoops, made a mistake. Fixed.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** November 28th, 2009, 9:46 pm

Lawrence found himself between a rock and a hard place ever since his loss at Lumbridge. The morale of the knights was devastatingly low. His approval ratings were just as low among his troops. He was desperate for some sort of leverage and he feels like he just found his foothold on the situation. He continued to walk deeper under the fortress into a dungeon. He carried no light source as he could see just fine without one. The dungeon had been slightly remodeled into a training ground for the Wildakaatiri demons.

He looked at their leader, who was one of the last of his kind from the first age. The rest were all survivors of the third age.

"Good day! How is training going?" Lawrence asked.

"Training is going wonderfully." the leader reported. "Don't you have business at the bridge being constructed?" the leader asked.

"Yes. I've sent Kate there since she's best suited for the task I need done." Lawrence replied.

Meanwhile...

Kate walked towards the bridge and found the leader of the construction.

"My father wants to know if the gormons can be released yet." Kate said.

"No, but the bridge is almost complete." The demon replied.

"Then I'm sure you won't mind if I borrow one of your workers." Kate said before killing one of the trolls. She then reanimated the skeleton of the massive beast and imbued it with unholy power.

"daddy wanted a leader for the gormons because only half want to listen to him." Kate said bluntly.

Alex 43 · **Posted:** November 30th, 2009, 1:47 pm

Gia wasn't very shaken from the ordeal with the bridge. He learned to think positively when confronting certain danger. Worst case scenario: he would fall, get swept away by the river, get stuck in a waterway too small for him, and eventually drown while trying to get away. Not exactly an ending he was hoping for, but then again, he wasn't that unlucky. Most likely the water, over all these years, would've eroded enough away to launch him back into the ocean, where he would simply swim back up, take a breather, and return to the cave for another try.

That sounded more better. That kind of thinking allowed him to try crossing the bridge without losing his cool.

However, the fact that he did fall, and that fear of getting stuck momentarily coming back to him, he had to take a breather anyways in order to relax himself. He wasn't caught in the underground river, he was now on dry land. He was not going to die yet. To finalize his nerves and regain a loose control over his body, he took satisfaction in eliminating the wood and iron gate with his clenched tri-claws.

All these obstacles. All these doorways. The fact that there wasn't a bridge there and some undisturbed wyverns without purpose ... perhaps the enemy used to use this passageway, but recently stopped. Perhaps it was meant to be used to flank Falador, and now that it was under their control, they no longer had need of the passage, and therefore abandoned it. The bridge was probably destroyed in the process of evacuation.

Not an immediately provable theory, but it was enough to get his mind of this itching curiosity.

Once again, the hallway was so thin that they traveled almost in single file. Gia took point once more, illuminating the way with his glowing eyes and testing the mettle of the cavern with his large frame. The caverns were to the point where they were now unsafe without reinforcement, and the fear that it may collapse at any time during their infiltration would leave them with no escape other than straight through the enemy. Good fun.

"The rock feels ... fresher here." Michael said aloud.

"What does that mean?" asked Elise?

"It means this cavern was more recently dug out." he explained.

"Which doesn't make sense. I figured the enemy dug out the cavern to get to us, not the other way around." Gia noted.

"Exactly." was Michael's reply, "Perhaps we were wrong, and this was a secret project done by the Faladorian militia to take out the Black Knights."

"Either that or we're going the wrong way." Gia hypothesized, "Maybe we're taking a second, emergency tunnel out of the cave and had missed a secret entrance."

There was a pause before Elise spoke.

"That's silly," she said, "Why would they have a drawbridge separating the caverns, then?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Gia said, "But we'll find our answers soon enough, so stay alert."

Nobody needed second telling. They were in enemy territory. It was only eventual that they would encounter a trap of some kind.

And they did.

"BACK!" Gia barked.

The floor unnaturally gave away in front of them, and Gia literally had to force the entire team backwards to prevent himself from taking a plunge into another underground river below. Nobody fell, but it was almost too close.

"Another trap?" asked Michael.

"Unless the water naturally eroded the floor away up until now." Gia speculated.

Elise peered down into the hole. The loud rushing of fast-flowing water was heard echoing up at them.

"Impossible." she said, "That thickness would've held."

"Remember the dirt is cursed." Michael reminded them, "It seems softer and more fragile than usual."

Gia looked. The entirety of the chasm's floor was gone, and the hole stretched nearly four times his height in front of him. All that was left was walls, ceiling, and gushing river.

Not a problem.

Gia hurled his great sword to the other end, where it landed on the ground with a loud clang. The ground held nicely, so Gia confidently jammed his claws into the wall to his left and started traversing the wall sideways by digging all four claws deep into the rock. Like a monkey, he swung himself over a few feet, drove his claws back in, and reared up for another jump. After the fourth jump, the wall suddenly began giving away, but Gia anticipated it. He leapt with what grip he did have over to the other end and gripped the right wall in the same manner.

After several unnerving leaps, he finally landed on all fours upon the ground on the opposite side, where he pulled himself over a good distance before rightening himself on his hind legs. He regained his sword and went ahead, checking around the corner for anything headed their way. Satisfied, he then returned to catch the rope Conter tossed and held it over his head. With nothing else to tie it to, Gia held the rope as everyone swung across, hand over hand, over the hole.

It was a straightforward procedure without incident. The hole was traversed and the group continued their trek.

"Hey, Gia?" Elise asked.

"Hm?"

"Why are White Dragons so good at climbing?" she asked, "I know they usually have wings, so why do they climb?"

"Usually for scaling the walls of the dragonkin to battle." Gia replied, "We were Saradomin's mighty warriors in the past, and there were a good number of us, so as a precaution the dragonkin fortified what territory they did have with great walls and towers to intercept any flying opponents. To bypass this, we took up the art of mountain-climbing to climb the walls and towers themselves to not only avoid detection and take them by surprise, but to give them two different angle in which to focus their attention. This way, their attack priorities were thinned and we had a much easier time."

"But you do it so well!" she exclaimed.

Gia was flattered, "Well, I'd rather climb to explore new heights and help save others than use it as simply another weapon, so it became sort of a ... passive passion for me. I wouldn't train it excessively, but I would always be up for it and learning new techniques regarding the art."

"Kinda wish we could do that." muttered a knight.

Gia wanted to stay modest, but it was difficult. This was a trait he was proud of. Not just as a creature, but as a race. This was an ability that saved their lives multiple times in the past.

"Watch out for traps now," Gia simply said to finish the conversation, "We don't know if that hole was intentionally placed there or not."

_______________________________________________

Jamp had no trouble reuniting the kids with Holu, nor did he have any trouble arguing that he was under orders of the elders. Bowing his leave, he headed back to return to the elders to help keep the exit secure from any other sneaky creatures.

Holu felt like he was on a pilgrimage. He was guiding a group of curious explorers through a mysterious temple that even he didn't know the layout of. For Sartranomin's sake, he's a miner, not a priest. The only reason he was leading the group was because he was the strongest and most adapt to navigating tight spaces safely.

Indeed, he could point out fatally weak areas in the aged structure and avoid them. He definitely could spot landslides and points out potential rooms. Heck, he knew different types of rock and metal just by its smell. Mithril, rithlyte, gold ... all of them had this unique tinge and smell. Covered in dust, he still pulled out various gold, silver, and metal artifacts before even wiping them off.

Naturally, the kids were in a dream of paradise. There they were, running about and checking out statuettes and artifacts after one of the older dragons accepted that there were no traps with them. Strange that this temple, as ancient as it was, didn't house any sort of defence for all these priceless objects.

"Why do you think that is?" asked Semet as they walked through a hall. Holu and the priest were both carefully examining the walls and floor tiles out of caution.

"I am not sure. Perhaps somebody was already here and disengaged them all." Kajm replied.

"Then why are they still there?"

"Perhaps the landslide killed them all, and they hoped putting everything back would have stopped it."

Holu chuckled to himself.

They entered a long, broad hallway that ended off in a split. The hallway itself was constructed out of a rough, disoriented brick, most likely due to it being worn away with age. With every few steps, a set of tall, thin pillars supported the ceiling from either side by a large, wide arc. Several long vines strewn the ceiling, encircling pillars and what looked to once be light fixtures. Like the rest of the temple, this room seemed so dark and grey that it was as though time itself had stopped within it.

"Why do you think there are no traps here so far?" Semet asked.

"Because these things," the stranger stepped in, "Compared to what's farther in the temple, is not as worthwhile to protect."

"I agree." Holu said, "Once we do start encountering traps, that will mean we are approaching the answers to everything about this place."

"But Dad," Chio asked, "What if there isn't?"

"We'll find out soon enough, Chio." Holu replied confidently.

The stranger mumbled to himself, but Holu thought he heard "How true those words are." He was about to turn to question him when-

*CRRRAAAAAAAACK*

The tiled floor suddenly gave away under Kajm. Like a wave, gravity pulled the entirety of the ground downwards and forced the party back. Kajm was only able to save himself by latching onto the wall nearby with his claws, but there was hardly any grip, and he slowly slid down towards a blackened abyss below. Holu and the stranger backed off from the ledge, separated from the others by the hole.

It took nearly 15 seconds before they finally heard the falling floor collide with the ground.

"It would be good if you didn't fall!" Semet called, keeping his distance from the ledge but bending over enough to see his ally.

"Yes, thank you for the warning!" Kajm shouted back, finally getting a grip on a rough ledge nearly a full floor down.

Even the kids knew that, from the look of things, he was never going to be able to climb back up without help.

"Is there another ledge down there?" called Shyll.

"Nothing! This is just a pit!" Kajm called back. His voice had a tone of franticness in it.

Semet gestured to Holu, wordlessly asking for orders.

"Stay here." he said, "We can't risk you going back in case you hit another trap. Try to think of something!"

"Do you have any rope?" asked the stranger.

"No," replied Holu, "We are master climbers. Hardly ever have need for it."

"Very well," was his reply, disappointedly looking down into the hole, "Then we'll have to consider an alternate option."

He was peering around the vine-covered ceiling. The plants have long since died and dried up, but they still seemed to maintain their strength enough to hold themselves up after all these years. Dust coloured them the same as the walls, giving the hallway a strange overgrown texture.

"Give me a boost." the stranger said, pointing at the vines.

Holu lifted the stranger up with one arm and he sliced the vines down with a dagger. The party at the other end watched with curiosity and began to do the same. A loud scraping sound was suddenly heard from the pit, and both teams quickly peered over the edge in horror. Fortunately, Kajm regained his grip at the last moment, having slid down another two storeys.

"Any help would be much appreciated!" Kajm yelled, trying more desperately to remain calm than to keep his grip.

"We will look for a way around," Semet told Holu after throwing their vines across the chasm. Holu wanted to object, reminding Semet of what he had just told him, but he knew Semet was cautious enough to do this especially after experiencing one of these potentially deadly traps. He then took the kids and started searching for another entrance-way.

Holu furiously worked to strand the vines together into a rope strong enough for Kajm, but time was quickly running out. The dragonytes were shouting words of encouragement to Kajm to little effect. He slowly slid, further and further down, trying desperately to get a much more firm grip onto the somewhat fragile wall. Where the constructed brick reinforcements ended just a few feet below him gave way to smooth, well-dug rock. Should he fall below that point, there would be no saving him.

The vines were very well twisted onto themselves, and after a quick test-tug, Holu passed one end for the stranger to tie around a pillar while he held the other end down to Kajm. It was not quite long enough, however.

"It's ready." the stranger called, and Kajm, taking a chance, heaved himself quickly with a wall jump and thrust his arm up to grab the rope. He succeeded, and threw his other arm up to grip it as well, pulling himself up a bit and tying the excess around himself. Holu tensed at the weight, since it nearly broke the pillar behind him, but maintained a proper stance.

"Can you grab a wall or something?" Holu shouted. The tiled floor was breaking off where the rope was pulling down on.

"There are no walls on this side!" Kajm called back, trying desperately to pull himself up. The vine wouldn't hold him by itself.

*CRAAAAAAACK!*

Their worst fears came to reality. The ground cracked, the vine snapped, and without a wall to grip, Kajm plunged into the hole. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

Holu saw it all. The stranger darted past him, jumped up right at the ceiling, leapt off it, and shot down towards the falling dragon. Or rather, the wall. Somehow getting some friction off it, he leapt right off the wall towards the falling dragon, intercepting it, and with a forced mid-air squat, kicked him back up into the air. As a result of this maneuver, he was launched to the wall on the other side a distance down, but once again, he wall-jumped right back up and repeated the process. It took him a good 4 rounds of wall-jumping and kicking to launch Kajm back up over the hole and onto safe ground where Holu pulled him away from the trouble spot. The stranger fiercely leapt off the wall once more, sailed out of the hole, and landed majestically.

Holu stared at the stranger. Kajm did the same.

"It's a strength enchantment." the stranger shrugged, "No big deal."

"Holu!"

Semet and the children emerged from a door to the side a distance down the hall. It seemed they were successful in finding an alternate route.

"Kajm's fine." Holu called to them. Aside from a few bruises, Kajm was otherwise uninjured, and stood up on his own.

"Let us continue." the stranger said, taking point, "And be much more careful this time. There's no telling what other sort of traps will arise."

_______________________________________________

Alex was once again presented with the true powers of Mutual Understanding. Now that Mirral wasn't their enemy, it was as though the battle never happened. Macan was allowed to approach it without it suddenly moving away, and taking this to his advantage, began to study it and its capabilities. Several times he would ask Alex, who was trying to maintain perfect concentration, to decipher a request to Mirral so he may observe the result, and every so often Mirral had a question for him which was painstakingly deciphered by a series of gestures, references, and forced words. Though she was mute, Mirral was capable of speaking in incredibly simple terms, and pairing the words up along with body language and second-guesses eventually got Macan to show her how he created his own pink ice pillars. He was then occupied with the task of constructing her a sculpture of his choice as a memorial, unable to pass the ability onto her.

However, Mirral was not at all pleased with Venos. A number of the mountains around them bore Venos-sized craters here and there, somewhat ruining the fluid, natural view. On attempt to explain this, Venos laughed at Alex and told him to tell Mirral that they're just rocks and ice. This resulted in a loud monotonic roar that vibrated his armour so intensely that he nearly killed the Flora he was harvesting and had to start from scratch. Knowing that the wyvern liked her mountains, Venos got her revenge on her by messing around on it even more. Mirral showed her gratitude to the stone dragon by sticking its claw in her face and flash-freezing her entire head into a large ball of ice. In panic, Venos thrashed around and repeatedly smashed herself into the mountain to free herself, and Alex laughed so hard that he blew it again and had to start over a third time. Upon finally being rid of the ice, Venos shot a harsh look at her laughing brother, turned away, and lay down individualized.

Nevertheless, despite the distractions, Alex managed to succeed in encapsulating a few Floras into a specially enchanted container before sundown. He said his thanks to the wyvern, boarded Macan ("DON'T … just- … don't touch me!"), and taking advantage once more of the clear, windless conditions, they shot high into the sky and away from the icy cold climate. Venos lagged behind, tired and miserable, so her brother eased his flight speed and glided casually.

"Fascinating creature." Macan said, "Is that the only remainder of the species?"

"Sadly, yes." Alex replied, "I spent roughly 5 months researching wyverns and trying to find another habitat so I could direct Mirral over to reunite with her kind again, but it had turned up fruitless. I had explored a number of cold conditions in the midst of the ocean and along the northern coastline, some of them seemingly perfect candidates, but nothing turned up. I couldn't even find a single footprint."

"What had happened to the race?" Macan asked.

"Climate change, territorial conflicts, hunters, you name it." Alex replied, "Gia told me stories of lore that told how wyverns were incredibly rare around the world, and getting one of their heads mounted on the wall was a true sign of status. No doubt they were hunted to extinction rather than preserved, especially in the time of the Dragonkin. Even the early White Dragons found sport in the hunt. Not as severely, but when exploration and expansion teams were threatened by the locals, they would have no choice but to defend themselves. The poor creatures didn't have any allies. Not even in the other dragon races."

"Is sad to hear." Macan agreed, "After mission is complete, I would like to assist her in resurrection of race."

"You and me both." Alex accepted.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** December 3rd, 2009, 4:08 pm

As they continued in, they found what looked like a small office. The room was illuminated by the warm glow of a fireplace and some candles. It seemed eerily cozy. Momsrascal walked over to the large mahogany desk. The desk was unorganized and littered with documents, books, and papers. The others walked over as well.

Momsrascal's eyes were scanning the mess, occasionally moving things around. She spotted several letters written in blood, poetry, various books of subjects ranging from war to romance, some records of black knights... Though two things... No three, caught her eye.

"Hey guys I found some things." Momsrascal said. She found a map, a rather important looking document, and a diary. Timrak picked up the document and looked over it.

"This appears to be a treaty with lord Draken." Timrak said. Momsrascal thought it was common knowledge that he was half vampire though she couldn't imagine him fitting in at the Sanguinesti region. Tenshi picked up the second thing, the diary, and started reading it. He made a facial expression as if he were trying to hold back a giggle upon reading about the writer's personal life.

"This has to be Lawrence's diary." Tenshi said. The third thing of note was the map. The group looked at it.

"These look like possible battle plans." Momsrascal pointed out obviously. After all, the map was titled 'possible troop movements'. There were arrows pointing to Lletya, Yanille, Tree Gnome Stronghold, and an almost humorous emphasis on Entrana, but one area appeared to be circled.

"I hear footsteps coming this way." Momsrascal warned. The group quietly scrambled to put everything back. The door to the room became ajar almost suddenly and entering was that same cheerful maid. The group slowly walked away from the desk. The maid went over to the desk looking dissatisfied.

"Now, how can Lawrence expect to find anything in this clutter?" She sighed. She promptly began organizing the papers. The group quietly crept out the door the maid had left ajar. They group kept walking down a long hall and went through some double doors. This lead them out to the courtyard. Darkrascal, Kate and Lawrence were there. Darkrascal and Lawrence had been running some knights through some drills and there was eight of them. Kate was too busy reading a book so no one saw the door to the courtyard open.

“Come on! Get it together!” Darkrascal yelled. “Clumsy meat puppets…” She grumbled. Her ears suddenly perked up and she became alert. She scowled.

“Darkrascal? Do you sense something?” Lawrence asked.

"yeah... ARGH! You're doing it wrong again!" She puffed in anger. She shot energy at the knight purposely missing him to scare him though it went straight for Timrak and to her surprise the energy deflected! She instantly reabsorbed the energy. The heroes' presence was now known!

Adbot · **Posted:** December 3rd, 2009, 4:08 pm

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** December 3rd, 2009, 8:47 pm

Timrak whispered into his hood, "Karmadin, go steal those items from the room and leave." Karmadin nodded in ackknowledgement but only the group saw it since he hadn't revealed seen yet.

Timrak appeared completely visible now. In his right hand was his sword, Larrilong Lathehaven, and on his left arm was the faint outline of a flickering white kiteshield which looked alot like the shields given to explorers of the Falador area. Three of the Star Knights moved their cloaks back for more mobility and became visible. The other three fitted arrows to their bows and aimed for Darkrascal, Lawrence, and Kate's heads. Doing so made them visible as their cloaks were now behind them instead of around them.

"WHAT?!" Darkrascal said as she blinked to make sure she was awake. Kate looked up and saw the group and almost went back to her book but then her mind noticed the white armor of the Star Knights. She lept up and fired a fire wave at Timrak. It came straight at him but was deflected into one of the closer black knights before it hit him. The knight exploded into flames and fell down into a heap of scorched black armor and burning flesh.

"You really need better security." Timrak said, "My sister could sneak into here unnoticed!"

"Arrr!" One of the black knights started charging Timrak but fell backwards as an arrow from a Star Knight struck him in the center of his visor.

"Now that we're known I'm sure you'll have black knights crawling the place soon." Timrak said. A moment later black knights started coming from the hallway the heroes had come from but were held off by the 3 Star Knights who were fighting shoulder-to-shoulder blocking it.

Momsrascal and Tenshi put their cloaks back and made themselves known.

"Should've known you would come." Darkrascal and Lawrence said almost simultaneously, both looking at their nemesis.

Lawrence made a quick nod at Kate and then charged at Tenshi. Darkrascal charged at Momsrascal at the same time.

"What? Noone wants to fight me?" Timrak said as the door to the outer courtyard opened and black knights came running in. "Now that's more like it!"

Three more of the black knights who had been in the courtyard died by arrows. In a moment the place would be too crowded to continue ranged fire but the archers were able to get one more volley off before forced into melee. They each fired two arrows towards the black knights coming from the outer courtyard. Five arrows killed five black knights and the sixth arrow whizzed past Lawrence's ear and bounced off the shield of a lucky black knight behind him. The Star Knights dropped their bows and each drew two kinton knives.

Lawrence didn't notice a drop of blood drip from his ear onto his shoulder, he was too busy fighting Tenshi. At first the fight was going in Tenshi's favor, but once more black knights started swinging at him he started getting pushed back towards the doorway into the fortress by Lawrence's aggressive attacks.

Darkrascal and Momsrascal were adamantly at each other. One using her dragon two handed sword and the other using her remaining saradomin sword and long sword. Their battle was pretty even until Darkrascal got a lucky break and knocked Momsrascal's sword to the side and kicked her back. Momsrascal lost hold of her longsword but kept a good grip on her saradomin sword. She rolled back and stood up to face her opponent...

____________________________________________

Lumbridge Courtyard
____________________________________________

Momsrascal looked up to face Darkrascal but instead only saw Hans.

"Oh my! Where'd you come from Ma'am?" He asked, genuinely confused.

She looked around and began to accept that she really was in Lumbridge now and not the Dark Fortress.

"Lumbridge it seems." She replied.

____________________________________________

Dark Fortress Courtyard
____________________________________________

"I'll get you soon...I only let you get away because of Lawrence this time..." Darkrascal said when she saw Momsrascal teleport away.

Kate walked up to Darkrascal and said, "That was perfect! Think our knights fighting those Star Knights can do the same?"

"No, just teleport them all." Darkrascal replied.

____________________________________________

Lumbridge Courtyard
____________________________________________

Hans didn't know what to do. There were 6 black knights fighting three Star knights to his left and 4 black knights fighting 3 other Star knights on his right with Momsrascal standing infront of him. he did the only thing he knew to do, run and shout for help!

"Oh please." Momsrascal said as Hans ran off around the castle.

With the black knights not knowing where they were now it was very easy for Momsrascal to kill them. In a few minutes all the back knights were dead or disarmed with only minor wounds to the Star Knights. On of the Star Knight archers had been stabbed in the chest and was soon teleported back to the Tower by one of the other knights.

"What happened?" Regdan, the commander of the Star knight group, asked Momsrascal.

"We were teleported to Lumbridge from the Dark Fortress." She replied.

"We must return at once!" He said.

"No use. We can't get there fast enough without Elise's Co-tel. We should have a meal here and then return to the Tower." She said.

"Yes, Ma'am." Regdan said and went into the castle to speak with the Duke.

____________________________________________

Dark Fortress
____________________________________________

By now Lawrence had successfully forced Tenshi into an inner dining room. The Black knights following them closed and bolted the doors behind them.

Back in the courtyard Darkrascal and Kate got ready to fight Timrak. He had killed most of the black knights who had come in to fight him. Most were staying back at the gate and only 3 were still fighting Timrak.

Timrak spun around and kicked one in the chest and stabbed another in the underarm.

For a moment the last Black knight stood looking into Timrak's black eyes.

"Do you?" He said.

The black knight turned around and ran towards the door way. Timrak tossed his sword up, kicked up one of the fallen knight's swords and three it at the retreating knight and then caught his sword. The handle of the thrown sword hit the black knight in the head and he fell down.

No time to even sigh though, because no sooner had he caught his sword did he have to turn to block a fire wave with his shield from Kate. and Darkrascal was at him aggressively swinging with her heavy two hander.

Back in the dining room Tenshi had started to hold his own. It seemed like Lawrence had told his knights to hold back because none of them were attacking him now, though there was close to twenty in the dining hall.

Meanwhile Karmadin had successfully snuck back to the office. With the knights rushing to the dining room he had little problem getting there. A few times he had to lean against the hall walls to keep from hitting a knight but that wasn't a problem for him.

Marie was one thing if nothing else, a very efficient maid! The office which had been so messy just a bit ago was now perfectly organized. Karmadin didn't mind what the room looked like, all he cared about was getting the map, diary, and the treaty. Unfortunately the desk they were on was now clear aside from a lit lantern.

"Can't make things easy..." He said to himself as he started going through files in cabinets around the room.

He heard foot steps coming down the hall and hid behind the door. Marie peaked in and saw the lamp still burning.

"I thought I left it on." She said and walked over to it and put it out and then closed the door as she walked out. A sound on the other side of the door arose the thought that the door was locked. Did he care? Not until he finds those documents. Only place he hadn't looked yet was the desk drawers.

Ofcourse one of them would be locked, but then he's a rogue. After he had found the locked drawer it was but little work to pick the crude lock. Now that he had the documents he could leave. The office door's lock was just as bad, if not worse, than the desk and was easily picked. He then stole out the back scullery entrance.

Alex 43 · **Posted:** December 7th, 2009, 1:11 pm

You guys may want to read this part again ...

An hour passed, and urgency gave way to boredom. The sun slowly moved down the horizon, threatening the world with a blanket of darkness as it did every night. Since they were already on their way back, Alex figured he might as well bring back some conversation.

"Question." Alex said, but then hesitated. A simple question out of curiosity. No problem here.

"Saradomin is the agent of Sartranomin, right?" Alex casually asked.

"Uh, yes?" Venos said with a hint of "duh".

"So what is Guthix and Zamorak?" Alex asked.

Venos nosed up slightly. Macan took interest in the gesture, swooped in closer, turning himself over and literally flying upside-down over Venos so he could speak without shouting. Alex had to cross his legs around Macan's neck to avoid falling.

"Zamorak: agent to Zamcatristak, the true lord and God of the Aavazhieel, consisting of tribes and creatures like the Ormra, the Rihcellan, and the Mahjarrat."

Alex went wide-eyed. Lord of the Mahjarrat? Weren't they from another world brought in by Itchlarin? Did they even NEED a lord? He thought them to be beings of their own race of Gods, aligning themselves only for the pure benefit of alliance. How could they have a Lord? And what could be possibly be like? And what about Zaros? And who were the "Ormra" and the ... man, that question didn't help at all ...

"And Guthix, formally known as Guthinatox: the soul and keeper of the planet itself."

Now Alex was confused. Wasn't that Sartranomin's job? Or even the Unknowns?

"Clarify please." Alex said.

"Very well. Which one first?" Macan asked.

"I dunno. Guthix, I guess." Alex said.

Macan then did something surprising to both Alex and Venos. He jerked himself downward, dropping Alex onto Venos, flipped over, glided downward, and literally landed on Venos' back, forcing Alex to back up towards the neck to avoid getting crushed between them. Venos let out an oomph in protest, but after bearing witness to a "what's the matter" look from Macan, harrumphed in challenge. Very well, then, I'll show you both what I'm capable of doing, she was obviously thinking. Alex rightened himself onto a more secure position on Venos' back using both shoulder-blades (thank goodness for those!), and put his full attention to Macan. Yes, sitting up like that while on top of Venos, Alex could definitely note how much smaller Macan really was compared to her.

"Just as planets have their moderators, they too have their custodians." Macan said (in a much more complex sequence and variety of words, of course), "Neutral presences that take nobody's side and only do what is asked of them. They do not seek power, nor do they want anything more then what they have. You may say they are, quite literally, a part of the planet itself. It is the custodian's powers that allow nature to prosper and grow so that life may too thrive. Depending on the custodian, different planets support different sorts of life forms. As you might guess, good, active custodians bring their houses species to a very well-off state. Those who neglect their actions and, in Guthix's case, sleep the majority of the time, usually leave the world in decay. Sometimes, though, that is intentional, depending on what the moderator wants the planet to be like."

"Zamcatristak, however, is a God from another world - and a good friend of Sartranomin's. For a while, though, he had gone missing. In fact, we almost expected to have met him or heard from him by Saradomin, but nothing came up."

A good friend? Seriously?!?

"What about Zaros? I thought he had led the majority of the Mahjarrat once."

"Zaros ... The Thief, as we call him ..." Macan said, "No, that wasn't the case. The Mahjarrat who "followed" him were merely spies to Zamcatristak's cause. Either that, or they were corrupted with the false promise of power. But that was only a few. They were dealt with appropriately."

Alex was skeptical, "Really? The majority didn't follow him because they wanted the power Zaros offered?"

"Yes and no." Macan replied, "We took advantage of their greed and desire. They wouldn't want to stay with a weaker, desert God that simply had them as ringleaders over the southern lands. While they did join Zaros from choice alone, the choice itself was subliminally prompted by Zamcatristak, who exists behind the scenes much like Sartranomin. Of course the Mahjarrat don't know about him, nor do the other tribes. Except the Ormra, of course. They are the ones whom are thought to be Gods in that realm, after all."

Macan's eyes thinned slightly. He sensed the emotion in Alex.

"Did it surprise you when I told you Sartranomin and Zamcatristak are good friends now?"

Yes! Yes, it did!

"Not really." Alex shrugged.

"Like mortals, there too are thieves in the Realm of the Gods. Originally, Sartranomin held control over the world. After a long, old-aged period of prosperity and "experimentation", as we call it, Zaros the Thief decided to "take over". He poured in his power for destruction, overcame the races, and transformed the world into a dark, desolate place. Not only that, but after the Unknown regained its power, it quarantined all the Gods into a state of inactivity, where they could only watch over the world rather than interact.

That was to our disadvantage. Disguising himself as a mortal, Zaros evaded the quarantine and therefore had no opposing force left to prevent him from claiming the planet as his own. Sartranomin, unable to get rid of Zaros due to inability, therefore called in the help of his … well, at the time, they were rivals, but he called for Zamcatristak's help, who brought forth the Mahjarrat through another agent's call. At the same time, in secret, we sent down a special tool called the Valgnifra Staff."

Alex tilted his head. Where did that seem familiar?

"Gods are immortal to time, as you're well aware of." Macan said, "The only way to destroy them would be to completely drain them of power. That's what the Valgnifra Staff did."

"The Staff of Armadyl?" Alex speculated.

"If that's what mortals call it. They're common tools in the realm, so they don't need an artifact name. Getting it locked between Zaros and one of the mahjarrat forced a misbalance in power, to which Zaros lost his power to the mortal. Not only that, but it created an anchor of energy that allowed Zamcatristak to lock onto his mortal creature, and it stunned them enough for him to recall it along with Zaros. Because the Unknown was keeping the Gods in a quarantined state, we had to summon him directly to us to destroy him. In his weakened state, we battled him within the Realm and banished him away."

Venos nodded, "You were there too. We were there, the Ormra were there … don't think odd of me saying this, but I will not hesitate to say that it was a glorious battle."

Alex stared off into the distance for a moment. He actually helped banish Zaros back then? Wow!

Macan continued, "In honour of helping perform this deed, the one who brought Zaros was therefore made Zamcatristak's agent."

"General Zamorak ..." Alex said.

"And the battle created a brotherly bond between Sartranomin and Zamcatristak, since we collaborated so well together. Rivalries were shunned aside, and they became the best of friends."

Macan gave Alex a quizzical look, "I do hope I'm not threatening your grasp upon the given reality in which you exist."

Yes! Yes, you are!

"Not really." Alex shrugged.

"No further clarification is required, then." Macan said, bowing his dismissal, "For now, though, I would like you to not concern yourself too much about the past and instead focus on the job at hand. There will be time for history lessons after our business is complete and the Unknown is pacified."

Alex's head hurt. All these facts. They did all seem to make sense, but they completely transcended belief. For example, why would both Sartranomins and Zamcatristak's agents be pitted against each other in a battle of faith when the masters are good friends? ... perhaps they were still more rivals then friends, but even still, something's not right with this whole ordeal. Perhaps he's been misinterpreting the information, since it's Macan who has been giving it to him.

Macan's wings reappeared and he allowed himself to fall off of Venos, instantly recovering in mid-air and realigning himself in their usual side-by-side formation. Alex felt the relieved bumping movement of Venos having finally be rid of all that unnecessary weight, and she proudly shook herself off for a moment as though she had achieved the impossible.

"Speaking of pacification, you never told me what this ... "payment" the Unknown wanted is." Alex said to Venos.

She turned her head towards him slightly, "There's a reason for that, Allezyamos."

Alex was quizzical, "What?"

"Just leave it. Though it's irrelevant whether or not you know it, it's just more convenient for you if you don't. That's all." she simply said.

"A later date, then." Alex said. It would answer a lot of questions, but as Macan said, it wasn't important now.

______________________________________________

Alex wished Venos wouldn't make such heavy landings. He had underground caverns below the rock on the island. Such a harsh vibration would involve the possibility of an inconvenient cave-in.

"Ah, you over-react to everything." Venos responded to his making the note as they walked to the chapel.

"I'm just saying," Alex argued, "It's time I'd rather not have to spend-"

The three of them suddenly stopped in total shock. Once again, the island was already occupied by an unexpected, uninvited visitor. This one, however, was far less violent than any pirate and has not yet damaged anything. Rather, he was more intent on interacting with the owners then their possessions, and for that reason alone had resorted to a relaxed motionless reaction upon entering the premises. Although that aspect wasn't surprising in itself, it was the identity of the visitor that threw them all on their guard.

There, standing almost casually in front of the chapel door like a neighbour, waiting for them to approach, was none other than K, cross-armed, relaxed, and smiling as though he was waiting for them.

"Macanyale, Venosyvan, and Allezyamos." he said, nodding, "A good evening to you all."

Venos and Macan instantly reacted by getting into a battle-pose and Alex whipped out his spear, but K didn't move. Instead, he relaxed a bit more and simply uncrossed one of his arms.

"Stay your ground, I don't mean to fight with you. I just want to speak to Allezyamos." he said with one hand out, attempting to negotiate a peace. He started walking towards them.

Alex obeyed. His allies struck. K had no choice.

He immediately and instantly squatted down into a low battle stance and his hands suddenly exploded into two long, great swords, almost as big as he was. One of them, a thin, scimitar-like slash-blade, shone brighter then the sun itself, and almost blinded Alex by its sudden appearance. The other, a thick but simple stab-blade, was blacker than oily corrupt dragon scales and strangely seemed to glow darkness. Each one of them boasted additional blades on their tips for extra damage and exposure either way - the extra blade on the slash-blade for stabbing, and the two extras on the stab-blade for slashing. Interesting setup, Alex mused. Despite them being total opposites, he couldn't help but think they were almost related to each other.

One thing was for sure, though: these weren't mere knives he was using this time.

Venos completely highlighted herself with a great lightning power and shot right at K at her greatest speed yet. There was contact, a sudden flurry of white and black, an explosion of yellow lightning, and the next thing Alex knew, K was poised on Venos' neck, holding his slash-blade at her neck and the stab-blade on her star while pressing her head down to the ground with his weight. One false movement by any of them, and both would be pierced. Alex doubted Venos would survive such a maneuver.

Macan, once again taking priority over his sister's safety then the desires of a stranger, had begun to call forth a huge series of crystalline pillars from the coastline, sharpened into extremely fine points and jetted out like forks, ready to not only impale, but imprison in between themselves. After seeing the position Venos was now in, however, and that K was threatening his movements with his sister's life, the pillars stopped and held their position just mere feet above him.

"Alex, would you please?" K asked, keeping his eyes on Macan.

Alex nodded, lay down his spear compromisingly, and approached him.

"I compliment her speed, but her mind struggles to keep up." he heard K's voice in his head.

Alex turned to Macan and said, "Get rid of those pillars." They were uncomfortable to stand beneath, especially at the unstable angle they were jutting out at.

"Untrustable opponent." Macan replied, "Precautionary steps a requirement."

"Just leave it." replied K's voice, "And deal with your sister. I have something to give you, and that's not easy to do with my hands full."

Again, some recognizable tone in his voice seemed to give Alex confidence that he was not an enemy. He approached Venos close enough to touch and told her to relax.

"What makes you think he won't be the death of us all?" Venos asked, straining to figure out another way to get K off.

"Why hasn't he been so far?" Alex answered with another question, "I can't think of any reason why he'd want to keep us alive if he was the enemy. I dunno, it's just something tells me we can trust him."

Venos would've shook her head had she the freedom.

"There are hundreds of reasons for everything." she simply mumbled, but Alex did have a point, and she would probably be slain anyways if she didn't. After some show of willpower, she forced herself to discharge and stand down. As a result, K removed his blades, which vanished in a strange dimensional phasing, and he jumped down off of her to meet Alex. Without Venos' life on the immediate line, Macan moved the pillars over and closer, ready to impale should their intruder make any sudden movements.

He reached into a pocket within his somewhat loose black uniform and drew out a strange, pale magenta orb, which he offered to Alex. After a moment's hesitation, Alex accepted the gift.

"Impossible!" Venos shouted, suddenly.

It was that shout that suddenly made Alex understand exactly what he now held in his hand.

"Where did you get this?" Alex demanded.

"You had dropped it during the fight." K replied aloud, "I meant to return it to you the last time we met, but I never got the chance."

"What fight?" Venos asked.

"You'll know in time." K replied, looking at her somewhat disdainfully, "I want my audiences trusting of the words I speak, the actions I do, and the ideals I exercise before I trust them with the information itself. Now, examine it, and prove to your brethren that it's harmless."

K shot Alex a quick, nearly undetectable look, and taking the hint immediately, Alex closed his eyes. He held the orb closer.

"Why did you give this to me?" he thought.

"The Unknown is moving again." his mind replied in the familiar voice, "Your friend told me from within the Tower. Interesting that the both of you already knew each other from the start."

"I have a strange taste in who my friends are." Alex attempted to avoid nodding, but failed. His siblings looked at him suspiciously.

"Each to his own." K replied, "He's proven to be a very valuable ally. Utilizing the Arts derived purely from experimentation and faith in its existence. Incredible creature. The Unknown probably doesn't even know he's mortal."

"I sometimes wonder about that." Alex smirked, then pretended to examine the orb more closely while K kept his eyes on Venos and Macan.

He then flinched, "Wait, the Unknown knows about Dex?"

"Unfortunately, yes." K replied, "It's difficult to hide such a well-projected presence. Dex had an encounter with him, and by what he told me, was only just able to escape unharmed by porting to several different worlds almost simultaneously."

Alex stared. Even Dex was no match for the monstrosity?!?

"He's all right now. He's in hiding, but is still in contact with us. I imagine that the Unknown must have gotten incredibly paranoid of us with that encounter."

He approached Alex, pretending to look at the orb with him.

"All this time, he's been trying to find me." K explained, not making eye contact, "Ever since the fight. He figures that so long as I'm alive, there will be someone to resist him, and should I spread the belief that he can be overcome enough, I would become a greater threat than he can handle. Having a powerful mortal like Dex on his case represents that even the mortals may be staging an uprising as well."

K paced away from Alex, momentarily looking up towards the sky.

"He had started aggressively interviewing other Gods about us. Should he believe they might have been influenced by me, even in the slightest …"

K turned to face him. All the friendliness, happiness, and calmness had left his face and was replaced with the unmistakable look of seriousness. It was difficult to believe he was blind now, because he was just so aware of where everything was.

"... he would, without hesitation, or even letting them realize it …"

He was looking Alex dead in the eyes. A shifting darkness seemed to emerge from the depths of its glowing green oculars.

"… destroy them."

Alex couldn't help but express surprise. Quickly, though, he recovered, shook the orb, and said, "Oh, I thought that was a magic trap."

"When the God of a world is destroyed, so is the planet. It will immediately die off from lack of purpose and life-force. Usually takes a few days, mortal-time."

Alex recalled Venos mentioning that they had expected to see Zamcatristak, but haven't seen him for a while. He dreaded the fact that he was, perhaps, one of the victims. Perhaps it even explained why Sartranomin was ill. The Unknown …

Alex forced himself not to physically express remorse. It was difficult. A creature that destroyed the Gods of planets throughout the universe. From his adventure involving the Seven Worlds tome, he had come to recognize that each world had their own native "custodians", as they were sometimes called. Beings all mighty and powerful, bringing life and thought into existence. To be wiped out, though, on an mere assumption …

"It appears to be all right." Alex announced, holding the orb up. It flickered slightly in his hand. Not as strong as the others' orbs, which glowed with intense, almost blinding light, but apparently that would come the more he held onto it.

"We cannot wait any longer." K continued, "He's becoming increasingly paranoid with each one he kills. I have no doubt he might've gone insane by now. With Dex no longer able to spy on him, we're blinded to his intents. If we don't strike soon, there won't be much of a universe left to save."

There was no fooling his siblings anymore. It was too obvious they were having a behind-the-scenes conversation. K approached him directly and looked him in the eyes. The strange, milky green glow almost seemed to pierced his mind.

"But we need your help." he said, "During the fight, you bore a technique that turned the tide in our favour. One that even your friend doesn't have."

Alex was quizzical, but at the same time, excited, "What technique was that?"

For some reason known to only him, K reached out and lightly squeezed Alex's forearm. It didn't do anything. Apparently it was supposed to, because he looked somewhat disappointed as a result.

"This isn't your real body. You'll need to find it."

Alex was half aware of that. His supposed "siblings" were both great, powerful dragons, each with an affinity over incredible lightning magi's. What was he? Some walking suit of armour that could shoot a few sparks. Plus, they were both convinced he was Allezyamos, yet did not at first realize it. He knew that he was killed by Sartranomin out of insanity, so he would probably know where the remaining body was buried. If there even was a remaining body …

"But your priorities count too." K advised, "Save your lord and seek his audience. Then, when you understand everything, I'll be waiting within this realm for you. Call when you're ready."

He turned and walked towards the coastline. Venos and Macan both prowled around, surrounding him in case he tried a fast one.

"Until then, keep your eyes open." he nodded, and in a split second, he was in the air, shooting up and away from them at incredible speeds. 10 seconds later, he vanished within the clouds.

The dragons stared where he vanished for a full minute, then both turned to look at him. Alex flinched. Venos had her serious-face pasted back onto her visage.

"I would like to know every word that thing said to you." she said, being quite unnecessarily clear about it.

"So would I." Macan added with equal seriousness.

Alex nodded. Enough was enough. There was no way what he was about to reveal can stay concealed any longer. His brethren needed to know the facts if he was ever going to break free of this probation.

He told them.

He told them how K answered his spell-summon against Venos. He told them how K saved him from falling to his doom above the desert. He told them about what K did to him in the Oocon city. He told them what K said as they battled in the skies. He told them all about his encounter with Dex on the tower, and their mission. He told them what K had just told him.

He told them everything. They were obliged to it, after all. Perhaps in return, he'll get some truth back.

Or be put out of this head-pounding misery one way or another.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** December 14th, 2009, 8:16 pm

Momsrascal and the six star knights filed into the castle. In the dining room, the cook had put the finishing touches on a meal for them. Momsrascal took a seat at the table. On her plate was a steak cooked medium rare. Though she wasn't all that hungry, she decided to eat anyway to be polite so that the cook's efforts would not be wasted. She was catching bits of the Duke and Regdan's conversation and decided it wasn't important. Thoughts were reeling through her mind.

"Is Tenshi all right?" She thought. She knows Timrak could fend for himself just fine and Karmadin could return safely but she didn't know how Tenshi would fare. An other question entered her mind.

"Where's my other sword if they don't have it?"

If they had her sword Darkrascal surely would have teased her about it. Not to mention that Darkrascal or Lawrence wouldn't have had the strength nor the will to pick it up. Taking another bite of the steak, she just now started to pay attention to the taste. She admitted it was really good, but it had a long way to go before it could compare to hers.

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** December 16th, 2009, 3:13 pm

Karmadin stole around the outside perimeter of the Dark Fortress towards the main gate. Once there he looked around for a tree.

"Perfect." He said to himself as he spotted a tree which was dead and charred like all the trees in the wilderness. This one had been a stately oak before the wilderness was tainted.

He climbed the tree and had a perfect view of the courtyard. He could see Timrak defending from Darkrascal and Kate, though at times it looked more like Darkrascal was defending from Kate's spells which Timmrak had deflected. Karmadin had a perfect target on Kate and could've disabled her for many months if his shot didn't kill her. "if"? There was no 'if'. Kate wasn't moving aside from what it took to cast her spells and he could put an arrow right through her throat had he been allowed.

Timrak, however, had told him to leave, not stay behind. He wouldn't leave the wilderness until Timrak did, but he wouldn't fire at the fortress either because he's supposed to be gone.

One thing that slightly alarmed him was that Tenshi was nowhere to be seen...

______________________________________________

Inner Dining room, Dark fortress
______________________________________________

Two black knights opened a trap door a few feet behind Tenshi. Tenshi was too busy fighting Lawrence to notice and was slowly being pushed towards it by Lawrence.

"Haha." Lawrence said as he slashed at Tenshi's side.

"What's so funny?" Tenshi said in reply as he stopped the attack with his left sword and swung at Lawrence's legs with his right.

"This!" Lawrence said as he jumped up and kicked Tenshi in his exposed chest knocking him back. Doing so not only dodged Tenshi's attack but also made Tenshi fall into the open trapdoor.

Lawrence looked down into the trap door and saw Tenshi laying at the bottom, unconscious.

"Haha, wimp. The fool can't even watch his surroundings." Lawrence said as he motioned a group of black knights to climb down and tie up Tenshi.

______________________________________________

Outer Courtyard, Dark fortress
______________________________________________

"You know, you should really watch where you fire, Kate" Timrak said after deflecting another Fire surge towards Darkrascal. Darkrascal rolled backwards and away as the spell shot over her and smashed against the wall behind her.

Kate motioned to the group of black knights behind her and told them to charge at Timrak while she repetitively fired many fire surges at Timrak.

Timrak deflected the Fire surges surge after surge right back at the charging black knights, alternating between the right and left ones coming at him. Every knight that was hit exploded in flames and fell down. Kate stopped casting when she saw that none of the black knights were reaching Timrak. One black knight remained that hadn't been taken out by the surges.

"You'll make number 57 today." Timrak said right before the knight reached him. Timrak deflected the knight's attack with his shield and hit the knight's wrist armor with his sword which made the knight drop his. He then used his foot to trip the knight and swung at the knight's visor, denting it slightly and knocking the knight unconscious as well as making it slightly deaf from the resounding clinging sound.

"You know, it's really been lovely but we're getting no where but depleting your precious few remaining black knights. Had Lawrence been fighting me as well instead of Tenshi you might've had a chance." Timrak said.

Darkrascal ran up to Timrak as a Black knight cam up and swung at him from behind.

The remaining scene was Darkrascal standing rather annoyed, angry, and flabbergasted infront of a still standing but headless black knight.

______________________________________________

Outside the dark fortress
______________________________________________

Timrak reappeared at the base of the tree.

"Well you did leave the fortress. I suppose next time I should say 'Leave and return' so you'll return to the Tower." Timrak said with a grin as he looked up at Karmadin.

Karmadin just grinned back down at Timrak as he climbed down.

"Know where the others went off to?" Karmadin asked as he jumped down.

"Teleported away by that young zamorakian mage, Kate." Timrak said.

The two rogues started walking south to Lumbridge.

Alex 43 · **Posted:** December 20th, 2009, 1:32 am

After a few complaints, I've decided to brighten my text a bit.

There was a long pause after Alex told them the last few words K had told him. They both looked very suspicious of this stranger, but at the same time, were at a loss for words. Their own brother was keeping all these secrets from them, and by the sounds of things, they were adding up to the execution of perhaps one of the most stupidest maneuvers of all time.

Macan was mumbling something about how intriguing a mortal discovering the capabilities of a divine being is, but Venos was at a loss. She was gathering her facts together and, Alex guessed, was trying to come up with the best sort of punishment suitable for the situation.

"Going up against the Unknown alone?" Venos finally said, half to herself, "Crazy-talk! The Legion couldn't even slow him down as he rose to become the King of the Universe. Any sort of resistance was immediately and completely eradicated! The only ones he allows to even roam the realm are comparative weaklings to those he locks away and controls! All of them put together attacking at once wouldn't even be able to touch him!"

"As I commend you may have a positive perspective on situation, I'm afraid I must side with Sister Venos." Macan said, "We both witnessed his fury once before during fear-distributing execution. Incomparable power."

"He would be all over you guys the moment you set foot in the realm." Venos half-shouted.

Alex was stunned. Both Venos and Macan were clearly terrified of the creature. Either that or they respected it out of fear.

"Why would he seem so confident about taking him on with my help?" Alex asked, "What was I like with my other body?"

"Similar to us. Slightly stronger." Macan replied truthfully, "More confidence in yourself."

His eyes slightly squinted.

"Not in the least bit afraid to play pranks on us."

Alex nodded smugly. Sounded like him.

"Nevertheless, we all still maintained weaker status then our Lord Sartranomin." he continued, "Similar to agents. Unknown allows passage from the fact that if we try something undesirable though his standards, not only would he know immediately, but would be easily capable of thwarting our intentions on a whim. 99.5% chance of resulting in death."

Venos walked in between where Alex stood and K vanished. She bore her head down onto him until he was almost pressed onto the ground.

"You listen. There's no way for us to correct or undo what has already happened, so I'll say this. No, I'll ORDER this."

Alex was listening. Her visage was pressing down against his helmet.

"Just give up." Venos said, "Don't follow K any more. Let him fight. Let him die. He wants to save the universe, let him turn himself in. It's the only way to stop all this."

"But ..."

She gazed over him; a much more powerful being to be respected. Alex couldn't continue.

"Our duties are to Sartranomin. You wouldn't want to betray him over a suicidal gesture of disrespect, would you? Besides, what could you possibly do to help?"

If they spoke the truth; if he really was only that strong, and the Unknown perhaps a thousand times stronger, he stood no chance. Dex and K were much better off than him at this task. Indeed, what possible sort of influence he could provide was impossible to think of. Besides, even if he did join them, he would be abandoning his true master and possibly risking the Unknown's wrath on all of them.

Venos was being unusually calm about the situation. Originally, if she believed Alex was contacting K, she would have him on the ground and his visor punched in. The fact that she was not only standing her ground, but was also speaking with a tone of concern made him wonder. Why the change? Why now, of all times?

He stood there for a long time, thinking things over. Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to believe that he should be following K, he simply couldn't. Noticing the orb was still in his hand, he momentarily gazed within its strange pulsing light.

"Still confused as to why it originally possessed your key." Macan said, glancing back at where K vanished, as though expecting his return.

"I have no idea either," Alex said, tossing the orb up and catching it casually, "But I'm still not convinced that he's an enemy. He's saved my life two- no, three times. Perhaps more then that in the past. If anything, I owe him."

"Just forget it." Venos replied, "And focus on getting that potion done. That's your priority. NOTHING ELSE!"

Alex nodded, and headed into his exotic sanctity to find the plant he presumed to have died due to his absence.

________________________________________________

Incredibly, a lot more of the Jonna-Grass herb had survived then he thought. Taking full advantage of it, he harvested it all and stored it appropriately, ready to be used in whatever kinds of strange concoctions he was willing to be up. Once that was done, he sat at his table and looked at the three ingredients that sat there, ready to be made into a potion used to revive an immortal being.

White dragon scale, Saphipedal Flora, and Jonna-Grass. Something about that …

Where did he know that combination from again? It sounded familiar.

… familiar?!?

He didn't hesitate to throw the window open and nearly fall right out from leaning over.

"Macan, what's the next ingredient?" he called.

"Seven-Spine Coniferous Cones." he replied, in a much less translatable manner.

He knew it!

"Uh, just on a whim here," Alex casually called, "But does the potion also include (he paused in thought to make them sound much more complex than this just to annoy Venos:) Snapdragon oil, Francfacine, and Mahogany sap?"

For the first time ever, Macan looked surprised. Venos, noticing Macan looked surprised, also looked surprised.

"You know this combination of ingredients already?" he asked.

"Sort of." he truthfully replied.

Indeed, these were the very ingredients he was experimenting with to create his own Cure-All potion. With all these curative herbs and ingredients, he was very surprised that they did not mix well enough for the result to be anything less then poisonous. He tried different combinations, adding more and more until it became solid at one point, and even gradual testing of pairs, trios, and so on.

Excitement welled up inside him. Hearing Macan's acknowledgement that these ingredients definitely ARE part of a cure-all meant he was definitely on the right track. Not just that, but now he had the list of what was guaranteed to be required. At long last, he was going to complete the potion!

"What am I missing?" he called.

"Three items." Macan replied, again in his own choice of words that took Alex a minute to translate, "a good quarter-gallon of Unicorn Stomach Acid, a few leaves of Velvelily …"

He seemed to force off a smile and said the last one without messing around with the wording.

"… and a few drops of Oocon blood. Purified, of course."

Interesting. No wonder he couldn't finish the potion. One of the ingredients eluded him completely for so long. Not just the ingredient, but the possibility that such an ingredient could exist. He bore witness to what Oocon blood can do when directly and voluntarily injected by the intelligent creatures. After all, it gave him back one of his friends after a situation in which he believed there would be hardly any hope left. Not only had he recovered in the course of a few hours, but completely on top of that. Alex wondered if Skee got back to the mainland safely. Of course, with an escort of the fast, sensitive Oocon, he had no doubt that would've avoided all obstacles, and decided to assume he's arrived home safe and sound until proven otherwise.

Unicorn stomach acid. The horn itself had properties that only removed toxins from the body, not regenerating damaged or destroyed internal cells and organs. He could add it to the cure-all no problem, but it would never truly benefit it in the way he wanted. Stomach acid, however ... he had no idea the stuff could contribute to something meant to restore cells. The blood somewhat did that sort of thing, but at the same time it also took away from the health of healthy cells. Perhaps it's the stomach acid that gave the blood this property in the first place. Unicorn were incredibly mysterious, though graceful and inspiring creatures. Saradomin was indeed proud of this creation.

But Velvelily? Alex thought as hard as he could against the idea and tried to reinterpret the words. However, he was unsuccessful, and there was now no doubt that what Macan said really did refer to the dark, smokey-leaved flower. Unicorn stomach acid was one thing, but this flower was an entirely different story. If it wasn't poisonous, it was deadly. They grew in the midst of the northern wilderness, usually around limestone graves. Apparently they thrived off the runoff that they produce through decay, acid rain, and whatever curses whoever died left in their stead. Heck, the flower was probably always used to put them there in the first place. Mixed in wine, it went in clear and odourless, and the deaths, meant to look completely accidental, indeed appeared that way. Randomly, it would either be a heart attack, blood clot, or a seizure, done a few hours later once the fluid was properly absorbed in the blood stream.

Maybe the mixing with some of the ingredients would neutralize the toxins, or focus them to eliminate harmful bacteria somehow, but he had his suspicions. However, it's what Macan said, and this came directly from his Lord, so he didn't question it.

"OK, I have the three I mentioned on the island, but I don't have any of those that you did." Alex said, "I'll harvest these three if you two go get the others."

"Very well, I shall return to my homeland." Macan said.

"Actually, no!" Alex shouted, "Get the Velvelily instead. The Oocon city is a considerable distance away, and yet it's also on the way to the tower. We can get that on the way there and finish the potion on the island where the doors are."

"Understood. Clarify directions." Macan said.

Alex thought hard. How to describe a flower in which he'd rather not touch?

"It's black. Well, a very dark, pale purple, actually. Curved leaves into the stem. Small black orb in the centre. Grows in the darkened, northern or eastern regions of the mainland near anything limestone in blackened or burnt soil. Shouldn't be hard to miss."

A bad memory resurfaced.

"Just look for the big giant hole in the ground and head due north." he said.

"Task accepted." Macan replied. His wings appeared and he was immediately off. Alex turned towards the stone dragon.

"Venos, I take it you know how to get Unicorn Stomach Acid?" Alex asked.

Venos hesitated.

"I know how to get a unicorn …" she said.

Alex sighed. Good enough. He hated seeing the poor creatures killed, but sacrifices had to be made if they had to. It was sad to think that was the case no matter how it worked. To remove the blood, the unicorn had to suffer. To extract the horn, it had to die. Stomach acid, however, he didn't know how else to do it.

"All right, they're usually in every thick forest the mainland has to offer. Shouldn't be hard to find from the air." Alex replied, "Large white horned quadrupeds. You know what they look like, I'm sure."

Venos nodded, satisfied with the information she paid attention to. Following Macan's example, her wings exploded out and she too headed north.

He watched her vanish from sight along with Macan, then headed downstairs. Upon leaving the building, he decided that his first activity was to head to the coastline and splash himself with the cold sea water.

He did just that. He deserved it. He just unloaded the hidden potential of a universal resistance to the two creatures he knew would definitely not have cone with him, and as a result, he too was no longer to be concerned with it. The idea behind going up against the Unknown was a largely anticipated one, seeing as it promised to be his greatest battle to date. Not just that, but he would be fighting alongside a God and his old friend Dex. What could be more exciting?

But he had to agree. It was suicidal. If he helped them, what would happen if they lost? If he lost?

The Unknown would no doubt go after Sartranomin and destroy him, and the planet with all the humans, plants, and beautiful creatures would all perish. He couldn't risk it. Even now, they were on bad terms by the Unknown, and attempting anything else would indeed be the final straw. The best step they could take now would be to revive their Lord Sartranomin, gather up another payment in the course of 2-3 years, and get back on his good side so the world may continue to exist as it used to.

That was his mission now. His priority. Sorry, Dex, but I cannot help you guys, he thought. Nothing responded.

Soaked with the salty water, he stood up and looked towards his damaged forest. Several large patches of burnt plant-life dotted the area, displaying large black spots of charcoal from an overhead view. He prayed the recent pirate attack didn't leave him deprived of his more important ingredients, or the task will become more difficult then necessary.

Then again, who was he kidding? Though pure fluke and coincidence, the task itself had become a lot easier.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** December 21st, 2009, 7:42 pm

The silence of the dungeon broke with the sound of a groan. His eyes were having difficulty adjusting to the dim lighting.

"Where am I?" he thought. Suddenly pain overwhelmed him with a pounding headache. He went to raise his right arm. Pain shot up it and he couldn't help but scream in pain. He attempted to get up but it was painful to get up due to his left ankle being sprained.

The pain had made him more alert and it became very clear to him where he was. He saw a black knight walk past his cell as he leaned against the wall.

"He's awake?" Lawrence asked.

"Yup!" a voice replied. Presumably the black knight. He heard footsteps down the hall coming towards his cell. Lawrence was now at his cell.

"What was your name again? Tenshi?" He asked.

"At least you have a decent memory..." Tenshi replied.

"Hmph... well someone certainly has a smart mouth on them." Lawrence said.

"Better than having a dumb one." Tenshi retorted. Lawrence mused at this.

"It seems you sustained some injuries from your little fall." Lawrence observed. "You might want to think about fixing that up because you just look so pathetic like that!" He said, laughing. As if he really could... Lawrence laughed on his way down the hall. Tenshi heard the door slam shut. Minutes later, he heard footstep coming up the hall. It sounded like shoes with heels on them. The light of a lantern became more visible until that maid Marie was in front of his cell.

She unlocked the cell and came in. She carried a warm bowl of curry and some medicine for his headache. Both were on a tray. She put the tray before him on the floor. She looked over his injuries, noting the sprained ankle and his broken arm. She wished she could do more to help him.

"Try not to walk on it too much." She said. She administered the medicine to him and fed him the curry. When she was finished, she took the bowl and tray with her, and walked out. She locked the door behind her. She didn't want Lawrence finding out about her little act of kindness. She walked away, down the hall. He heard the door shut very softly. Tenshi closed his eyes as the pain quickly subsided and fell asleep.

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** December 28th, 2009, 5:19 pm

They walked past the Goblin Village. It was dark and dead, like most of the wilderness looked.

"Though they were always fighting they never caused any problems." Timrak said as the two rogues climbed down into the desolate village. Timrak investigated the buildings while Karmadin looked around on the ground for tracks.

"Demons and Black Knights." Karmadin said.

"Figures." Timrak said as he entered the charred Longhouse which usually had the sounds of two bickering Generals.

A pile of charred and broken crates and chairs moved slightly.

Timrak had his sword drawn in a flash, "Who goes there, show yourself!"

Upon hearing this Karmadin dashed over to the house and readied two arrows to his string.

"I Grubfoot. I hear Star General 'imrak." A noise from underneath the pile said.

Timrak sheathed his sword and started tossing the charred chairs and crates off.

"*cough cough* Grubfoot not like black powder. It sticks to grubfoot's skin." The little goblin said as he crawled out of the ash pile.

"How did you survive this massacre?" Timrak asked as he helped him out.

"Goblins have special underground," Grubfoot said as he tried to dust himself off, "we's connect it with Dorg-shuun goblins. Theys goblins of peace but I got Wartface and Bentnose to ally with them in case of castrophe. This a castrophe and Generals thank Grubfoot now. All village goblins goes underground when we heard the rumblings and saw the big imps."

Timrak offered Grubfoot some water from his canteen.

"Thank you Star general 'imrak." He said as he drank rapidly.

"Why are you still here, Grubfoot?" Karmadin asked.

"Big rock fall. Generals say I stay here until last goblin goes underground. Last goblin go underground and I wait a moment to look for more and hhear big crash then go underground. Other goblins already ran to tunnels. I hear 'nother big crash and tunnels starts collapsing. Tunnel blocked and door over there blocked. Lucky I smart Grubfoot and had water and food in my backpack before big rumblings because I was to go on hike. I had enough until two days ago when food and water dried up."

"You said the tunnels lead to Dorgesh-Kaan? Does that mean all your goblin friends are going there?" Timrak asked. Karmadin had gone back to investigating the village after Grubfoot's last answer.

"Yes. Dorg-shuun goblins very nice. Like Grubfoot very much. Not like Generals so much but say okies because of grubfoot. Village goblins all go to Dorg-shuun now. They safes there. Now grubfoot must walk to Dorg-shuun by hisself." Grubfoot stood up.

"We're headed to Lumbridge to meet up with some friends. You can come along but you must do exactly as we say." Timrak said.

"Grubfoot do whatever Star Generals say." He replied.

Karmadin met up with them as they reached the entrance of the village and whispered to Timrak," If this map is correct we'll never make it through Falador with him."

"We can't leave him here and I shouldn't warp him to Lumbridge. He's smart for a goblin but can't comprehend that." Timrak said.

"Atleast that soot make him blend in well." Karmadin said.

Indeed, if Grubfoot was to standstill and close his eyes he wouldn't be seen by most in this terrain. He was sooty and black from head to toe, perfect for matching the now burnt terrain of Falador. The once green and vibrant surroundings of Falador were now blackened, burnt, and charred. Lifeless, just like the Wilderness.

The group walked past Doric's Smithy. There was no sign of the dwarf though his shack was in shambles.

"Dork was good neighbor. Didn't hate goblins though didn't like them so much. Grubfoot hope he lives." Grubfoot said as he poked around the rubble. He found a sword that Doric had been working on. It was still a little chipped and now blackened because the house was burnt but he kept it anyways.

They continued down to Falador's northern entrance. The walls had been battered and broken down in some parts. Timrak told Grubfoot to stay behind a wall while they investigated this part of the city.

"Ahh, ghost!" Grubfoot yelled and ran towards Timrak.

"Hush!" Karmadin said and crouched behind a broken part of the General store. Timrak picked up Grubfoot and ran into the broken down shield shop and hid behind a section of the wall.

A revenant came from the eastern side of the city and passed by the park on the road. Karamdin and Timrak could see each other so Karmadin motioned to Timrak where the revenant was. Timrak quietly drew his sword and his arm knife and gave Grubfoot a stern look. He then walked quietly outside the shield shop, crouching behind the wall. Timrak looked to Karmadin, waiting for the queue. Karmadin nodded.

Timrak turned the corner and swung both weapons at the revenant. Despite being a mostly spiritual creature, the revenant rose towards the sky and disappeared. Defeated, this time.

Karmadin came over to the shield shop and sat down inside with Timrak and Grubfoot.

"A revenant, those cannot leave the Wilderness." Timrak said.

"I looked at the map we stole briefly while I waited for you outside the Dark fortress. It said there was a new wilderness area." Karmadin said.

"That can't be good. Let's look at the map." Timrak said.

Karmadin took it out and showed Timrak and Grubfoot.

"'New Wilderness'?" Timrak said, "I don't think it's possible to extend or decrease the boundaries of the wilderness. Skyrate told me they were set by the gods."

"Someone has extended them though. Falador, Burthorpe, Taverly, Catherby, Seer's, and Ardougne have been turned into it." Karmadin said.

"Look! They attacking Lumbridge!" Grubfoot said and pointed towards Lumbridge on the map.

"They already tried that but failed. We defended Lumbridge." Timrak said.

"Oh good." Grubfoot replied with relief.

"We should get to Lumbridge as quickly as possible." Karmadin said and rolled up the map.

They had two more close encounters with revenants, only one resulting in contact. Once they reached Port Sarim they met some Elduvian Knights who were set with guarding the area. They were soon escorted to Lumrbidge castle where they met the Star Knights and Momsrascal who had been teleported away.

"Tenshi isn't with you?" Momsrascal asked with a tone of worry.

"We thought he had been teleported with you." Karmadin said in a slightly disturbed tone.

"No..." Her eyes widened, "He was fighting Lawrence and..." Her voiced trailed off.

"I saw him fighting Lawrence further into the Fortress. He's either dead or captured by now." Timrak said.

"How unfortunate...Though I pray for his safety." She said.

"I'll go back and find him." Timrak said and turned to go but was caught on the arm by Karmadin who said, "No, we should return to the Tower and then think about a rescue mission."

"You're right." Timrak admitted.

The group soon teleported back to The Tower of the Star.

_________________________________________

Asgarnian Caves
_________________________________________

They did find some traps, but none of them were set. Probably disabled because of the black knights who were being sent to investigate the wyverns. Every set of black knights that were sent out was annihilated when it came near the group.

They finally reached a large iron door.

"Elise and I will check the other side." Michael said and melted into the ground, Elise followed.

They looked out the other side of the cave wall and couldn't believe their eyes. They saw a huge cavern of black knights and demons. Not lesser or even great demons though, these were Black demons and Wildakaatiri, the northern demons Skyrate had talked about. The black knights here wore different armor and acted differently. These weren't the clumsy ones usually used by Lawrence, these ones were actually training and doing discipline. Another group of Black knights started coming towards the doors. This time it was two Elite ones.

Elise and Michael returned to the other side.

"Two black knights, more experienced than the rest are coming. Hide." Michael said as he went to the left side of the door, Gia went to the right. Elise hid in one of the walls and the star knights went down the hallway a bit so that they were in the shadows.

The door opened out into the cavern and two Elite black knights walked into the cave hallway and the door shut. Gia swung at the one nearest him with his Rithlyte sword. Michael grabbed the one near him and threw him into a cave wall. The knight got up and turned around to meet Michael's earthen fist.

The result of this quick conflict was one black knight in two pieces and another with a helmet half the size it should be. Both Elite black knights could safely be called 'incapacitated'.

"There's a huge cavern behind this door with a large army of Elite black knights and Wildakaatiri. I don't know how Lawrence got such a large organized group of black knights and I don't know much about Wildakaatiri." Michael said.

"How many do you think?" Conter asked.

"Atleast 5,000 Elite black knights, probably more because the cave went further than I could see. I saw about 100 Wildakaatiri and atleast that many black demons." Michael said.

"Where do you think we are right now?" Conter asked.

"We're right under the Dark Fortress where Momsrascal, Timrak and the others were going. Even with them we don't have enough troops here to fight everything. We need to return to the Tower and talk to the Generals. Elise, have you recorded the coordinates of this area so you can teleport us directly here?" Michael said.

"Yes." She replied.

The group agreed that returning to the Tower for now would be best. Elise tried teleporting but was unable to.

"There's some sort of barrier here. It won't let me tele-other anyone." She said.

"We'll have to go back aways and try occasionally". Michael said.

When the group had reached the river again they were able to teleport back to The Tower of the Star.

Alex 43 · **Posted:** December 29th, 2009, 10:21 pm

He was lucky. The snapdragon herbs were untouched and only half of his beloved mahogany had to endure the flame. Even still, they only burned from the outside, and with the proper technique, once could still extract sap from within the charred remains. This technique, involving a machete, a bucket, and a few pieces of papyrus, only took Alex the most of a half-hour to do, and the small tin bucket was eventually half-filled from a half-dozen of the burnt trees. They will be cleared and chopped up with Gia and him have the time, and they'll then become compost for their next generation. Alex smiled as he headed back to the chapel. Like plants, the creatures of the planet too help their young prosper so they may take over their place on the world. It's only nature, after all.

He envied them. Being a spirit, he not only had the capabilities to create any offspring, but he also didn't have the capability to age in the same manner. Forever will the duties to the planet be in place, and without true rest he will have to abide to them.

Entering his study, he placed the ingredients next to each other in organized piles and started boiling a large pot of water. This was something he was used to already, since he had tried time and time again to create this potion. Through trial and error, distilled, salt-less water itself was the only liquid capable of being a base for this potion due to the fact it didn't contain anything that the majority of the plants and herbs already had. It was just getting the right amount in at the right time.

How interesting it looked when, upon adding the ingredients in proper amounts, that the water itself changed color. Due to the pigments of the plant or item, or the ingredients themselves. Why change color, of all things? It's almost as though nature knew this was going to happen, and so it preset a number of reactions and consequences to each possible combination of natural ingredients. In went the oil. It bubbled more intensely and turned a murky yellow. In went the sap, and it thickened and browned. In went the Saphipedal (quickly and fluidly, of course), and it brightened to a pale purple. Jonna-Grass transformed the potion to a nice shade of sky-blue and left an interesting, if not nauseating scent. Ground white dragon scale didn't change the color, but rather thinned it out and made it seem a lot cleaner. Sprinkle in some pine cone pieces, and a satisfying whoosh dimmed it down to a dark shade of green that actually didn't smell half-bad.

He knew for a fact that the Francfacine remained untouched, because it grew in the undiscovered underground cavern. The large trap doors were still covered in dirt-covered tarp and locked tight, and the only other entrance was by the cellar inside his still-secured house. Although the majority of his tenants were human, he every-so-often would take in some of his more non-human friends looking for sanctuary either for healing, to retreat from natural or unnatural disasters, or to simply get away from it all. A number of these creatures, considerably larger then himself or Gia, would be able to access the underground cavern through this trap door in which they can be served and treated safely in a comparatively comfortable shelter.

The underground cavern itself took Alex and Gia a good two months of mining to hollow out. It was not quite the size in the King Black's lair, but it was large enough to fit a dozen fully-grown dragons as well as him. To the side was a large pool, directly linked to the outside ocean (took Alex a long time to make) so underwater creatures like dagannoth may access (or leave) the cavern directly. However, aside from the pool and the stone-hewn stairs to the side, that was practically everything the room boasted that was in the least bit interesting.

He walked down the darkening stairs, holding his newly acquired orb up as a light source. At least he could take full advantage of K's gift if he can't join him. No, this wasn't a gift. This was a lent item the entire time, simply returned to him. Looking closer, he saw and felt some strange symbols slightly carved within the glass, only slightly visible due to the intense pulsing light from within. They probably didn't mean anything special except to contain whatever sort of energy it has inside that apparently served as a form of recognition for a greater sort of magic. At least now he would be able to go directly to Sartranomin and confront him about the truth once and for all.

He was looking forward to it. Very very much.

Francfacine was a variation of moss that grew in humid, dark environments that involved salt of some kind. Ocean water, natural sodium deposits, whatever. Depending on the source, it was edible, but it tasted very salty. It didn't make a very good spice, and it had hardly any nutrients, so Alex used it primarily in his potions as a sterilizing agent that helped negate any negative side effects an ingredient may give it. It induced fatigue, but it did remove headaches and stomach problems from just about anything that would've originally caused them. Perhaps it was this moss that would work against the Velvelily and create something phenomenal.

He imagined he would've thought of this, but nothing even close of the idea turned up. He decided not to worry about the details until Venos actually returned with the flower and proceeded to scrape the moss with his gauntlet into a small granite pestle.

*PLIP*

Alex looked towards the pond. It rippled slightly from a bit of disturbance. Probably just a rock or something falling from the ceiling or a fish jumping. It happened every so often. Heck, because of its temperature resulting from the air circulation within the cavern, the pond itself was pretty good for fishing. Alex forced himself to focus on scrapping off a good handful of the moss.

He was so jumpy nowadays. What was up with that? Is this one of the negative aftereffects of being a warrior? Or was it perhaps because he's been losing his battles one after the other?

*PLIP*

Heh, another playful jump. Carefree creatures. You don't believe in any sort of God, do you? What's it to you if our Lord dies and takes you all with him? It's just life, isn't it?

*PLIP*

Yes, taunt me. I've got a job to do. What about you? Find your feed, spawn your offspring, and repeat. Where's your responsibility? Where's the responsibility of all the world's creatures?

… dear me, am I losing my patience over a fish? Focus, Alex!

*PLIP*

OK, that's getting annoying now. Sure, he's usually patient, but he was just denied the duty of being able to help save the universe because of facts depicting his own uselessness. Already he was struggling to not blast away a section of the wall in anger, and the last thing he needed was some annoying fish distracting him with its annoying, envying jumping.

He grabbed his spear and strode over to the pond. A sudden rap against the water will scare whatever it is away. No need to die for my sake, just please give me some silence. He peered over the ledge and looked down, holding up the magenta orb to peer within the settling waters to make sure he wouldn't actually hit anything.

*PLOOSH*

He dropped the spear. A thin red tentacle splashed out of the water before immediately withdrawing. Unable to see anything because of the rippling, he lay down on his front and stuck his helmet directly into the water.

There, swimming around in gleeful circles, was without a doubt a friend he feared he wouldn't see again for an eternity. Without any second thoughts, he pushed himself off the ledge and plunged right in. The alcove gradually slopped down in a series of thin plateaus that served as ledges for climbing should an unlucky non-swimmer fall in. He sunk down until he was several feet from the surface of the pool, and sat himself down on one of the larger ledges. He was just able to see the inside of the tunnel below that led to the outer ocean, which stretched out into a dark, murky blue abyss.

Immediately, he was in contact with the Oocon who, obviously pleased to see him again, was giving him one of its famous massages.

"It's been a while." he thought.

"Not really. Only if you are very impatient does anything take a while." replied Koyl, keeping contact with his back in order to send her thoughts over. Or his. Macan confirmed his suspicion that Oocon are genderless, but this one sort of "felt" like a female.

Alex's first question. Sort of a silly one:

"What happened to your tentacle?"

Its tentacle was strangely shriveled up and darkened like a raisin. It was as though it had been boiled in underwater lava. Alex immediately cast away the idea of a stupid question and complimented himself for expressing genuine concern. It was something he would definitely do on instinct.

"I saw you above the water. I was trying to get your attention." Koyl replied, "We can not leave the water, or we will immediately dry up. It will recover in a while, but now you have seen what happens if I am out of the water even for a split second."

Again, the slight movements didn't match the words he heard. His brain was obviously subconsciously translating meaning from words that probably sounded like and meant something entirely different to the creature. Suck a fickle thing, language, that prevents mutual understanding amongst any and all earth's creatures. Ah, but then again, what and how would they eat if that were the case?

Immediately remembering his scabarite friend, Alex didn't hesitate with this next question.

"Did my friend get back all right?" he asked.

"I think so." Koyl replied, "We brought him to the shore in the area you told us. He left the water for a few moments, and then he returned to express gratitude. It wasn't difficult to tell. After, he left the water again, and didn't return, so we figured that he was satisfied with where we brought him. Everybody else returned, but I had decided to stay behind and try to find you since you probably lived somewhere nearby."

"How did you know I was here?" Alex asked, hoping he didn't make it sound like he was hiding from it.

"Scent." Koyl replied, "Scent, and a hunch. I thought I could smell your metal around here a little while ago and I decided to hang around until it showed up again. I found this alcove during my wait. It is a good place to hide from predators."

"Predators?" Alex asked, "What would possibly want to eat you?"

"Very foolish creatures. Hee hee." Koyl replied with a short laugh, spinning around with it.

Alex didn't laugh. Koyl was being serious. Although whatever attempted to eat an Oocon was indeed foolish and would undoubtedly die from the attempt, it still spelt death to the Oocon itself. Foolishness is a double-edged sword, after all. Only when used right can it deal with two problems at once.

"My turn for a question." it said, "Where is the Great One?"

Out gathering ingredients for a potion we're making, Alex thought, then remembered that this was how they actually conversed. He was just saying it aloud to make it more comfortable for himself.

"A "potion"? What is potion?" it asked, moving closer to his face.

"It's … well, it's like your blood." Alex said, "It's a liquid that a creature puts into its body for a certain benefit. Like, if you inject a creature with your blood, it will heal that creature. That's what a potion does, except it can do other things too."

"I am a potion?" Koyl asked with surprise, "Ooh! I like that name better than Oocon. Potion!"

Alex chuckled.

"Ah, but if I called you a Potion, what would I call potions?"

"Call them "Oocons". They can have that silly name." Koyl said without missing a beat.

Alex shook his head, smiling.

"Sorry, but I fear that will be too confusing for all the other creatures that speak my language. Besides, potions had first dibs on that name, anyways."

"Oh. I understand." replied the Oocon, returning behind Alex to feel his shoulder-blades and backplate. It was disappointed, but this wasn't a big deal.

All right, down to business, Alex thought. Then he once again remembered that Koyl could hear his thoughts.

"Business?" it asked. It stopped the massage and moved around to face Alex in front.

"I need your blood for the potion we are making." Alex said, "It is to cure the Great One of the Great One. And mine."

Koyl tilted its cap. It was confused at the request.

"… yes, the Great One has one who is greater than-"

"No no, why do you need my blood for a different potion?" Koyl interrupted, "Why would it not work by itself?"

"Ah. See, potions are made better by mixing weaker potions together in the right order." Alex explained, "What we are making is a potion much better then yours is. One that doesn't need to be injected by you, because it is to be taken out of the water by use of a container."

Now it was even more confused. It tilted the other way.

"How will we do that?" Koyl asked, lifting one tentacle up in front and exposing the sharp, thin barb they used to puncture skin and blood vessel, "If it touches air or water, it will become ruined."

Suddenly it tensed up.

"Wait, you do not want to use ME as your container, do you?" it asked with a frightened tone.

Alex was shocked at the thought and was quick to reply, "No! No, of course not! I'll think of some other way."

But was that really the right answer? Using the Oocon itself as the container would prevent contamination, indeed, but once if left the water, he had no doubt it wouldn't survive. After listening to Macan's strange words regarding his own analysis and realizing that the Oocon were literally 94% water, he learned that they wouldn't survive twenty seconds due to immediate dehydration and their inability to retain the water themselves. It cycled through them, supplying their bodies with the required oxygen and nutrients that allowed them to survive without the need to physically consume anything larger than plankton and other micro-organisms.

However, what little material the Oocon did have that was not comprised directly of water served the purpose of preventing their own blood from being contaminated. With closer inspection, one would be able to see their transparent internal organs, also thin and vulnerable, floating freely in the red murky interior of an Oocon. Becoming deprived of their gravity-free environment would cause the blood itself to crush the organs from the pressure that their outer skin's condensation would inflict, thereby suffocating the poor creatures to death.

That was the assumption.

But he couldn't do that to Koyl! Not after all they had been through already!

"Because …" Koyl said, "If this … is to help your Great One … I'll … I'll do it."

It was only trying to be brave, but the fear within its voice confirmed Alex's suspicion that not only would it work, but it would definitely result in Koyl's death.

"Koyl, I really don't want to have to." he said. It moved closer to him.

"Is the life of one Oocon really worth that of your Great One?" it asked.

Alex was stunned. He didn't know how to answer that question. This was a very moral decision for him. Indeed, if he used Koyl as the container, he could extract the blood directly into the potion from anywhere by squeezing it out. However, if transferring the blood to the inside of a vial without exposing it to oxygen, either outside or inside the vial, wasn't impossible, it was applying it to the potion without exposing it that stumped him. And if the blood safely got into the potion, how did he know that the potion itself could become exposed? It almost seemed like there was no other way.

"But … you're not just an Oocon. You're my friend." Alex finally found a reply that his mind agreed with, "You saved me and Skee."

"And you saved us!" Koyl said, quickly moving around him in excitement, "Ever since the fight, there had been talk all over of exploration of the depths. Our greatest nightmare had been proven mortal, and if that was the case, than anything else would be easily overcome through the right precautions. For once, we as a species are desiring a greater life. One full of discovery and danger!"

"You make it sound like I sent you all to your death." Alex said. He felt uneasy.

"Death?" Koyl asked as though the word was irrelevant, "What death? We hardly had lives to begin with! Even now, as we traveled to your land, we were filled with the discovery of strange, but wonderful creatures. Did you know there is a fish with a very long, pointy nose? Such a silly design!"

Alex couldn't help but smile. His first discovery of a swordfish was also one of comedic disbelief.

"It is such a beautiful world." Koyl continued, "And I want to contribute all I can to help it stay beautiful. We all do. We owe you for that."

There was a long pause.

"When Oocon die, does their blood preserve?" Alex asked, regrettably asking such a thing.

"Not for very long." Koyl replied, "But it should be long enough for you to make it if you hurry."

… well, if there were no other options- no! What was he saying? NO! Entirely out of the question! He will NOT do that to his friend! Not even to save Lord Sartranomin! He just had to think of options. This will be a plan Z, if nothing else works.

Alex closed his eyes and thought, without caring that Koyl could hear him. Perhaps they should just wait until they reach the Oocon city and allow Macan to make the decision for them. Yes, that is what they will do. … ah, but he really wanted to experiment with the ingredient because of his suspicion against a couple. It would be best if he added that one last, since Macan never mentioned a specific order of the mixing. To guarantee success the full one hundred percent, he needed Koyl's blood. But there had to be a way to get it without exposing it to air …

An airtight container, of course. How would he get it in, and how would he get it out … if there was some kind of stretchy material that Koyl could pierce and inject, just like a body, that has nothing inside to begin with. Perhaps into an ingredient itself. That way, it could expose itself into the potion from inside. Ah, but there was only plant and liquid ingredients; no animal hides or anything of the sort. Nevertheless, opening the container while submerged in the potion sounded like a good idea.

… yes. Maybe something like an airtight bladder. But that's the thing; it had to be airtight. It had to be an absolute vacuum. Or if it didn't have the ability to contain air in the first place … what's more, it had to somehow seal itself up as Koyl removed its barb.

"You really do not want anything bad to happen to your friends, do you?" Koyl noted with affection.

"Yeah," Alex said, "I'd almost hate to admit that's a weakness of mine."

"It is not a weakness, it is a purpose." Koyl explained, "This is why you fought the nightmare in the first place. To protect all of us. Your desire to do so gave you purpose. That made you stronger against the danger."

"Is that something the Great One taught you?" Alex asked, somewhat annoyed he couldn't say Macan's name to the Oocon.

"No," Koyl replied, moving around to give Alex another massage. It felt rather pleasant. Almost necessary. Turning to the left, Alex's visor came almost close enough to touch its cap.

"It is something you taught us."

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** December 30th, 2009, 8:16 pm

They returned to the tower meeting up with the group from the cave.

"Where's Tenshi?" Elise asked upon noticing his absence.

"We think he was killed or captured." Momsrascal said sadly.

"Do we have a rescue plan?" Elise asked."If he's still all right?"

"Unfortunately not. Though we did find some things in the dark fortress that might give us some clues as to what Lawrence is planning." She replied. They examined the treaty.

"It seems Lawrence is getting some Vyrewatch from Lord Draken..." Momsrascal said. It wasn't really surprising because Lawrence was half a vampire himself. They then looked at the map. They were surprised at how much land the 'new wilderness' covered. There were also several arrows pointing to many areas of gielinore. Gnomish territories, the elven lands, rellekka, and yanille among other things.

"Wilder Haven??" Momsrascal asked, looking at where Ardougne used to be. The decided to read the diary for clues. Michael skimmed through the pages, until the word 'Ardougne' on one of the pages caught his attention. Michael read the diary entry.

"November 3rd

I've had so little time to write in my journal. Work has really picked up since that warm day in August. It's already fall. Even though there isn't really a change of scenery during the year in Zamorak's wonderful lands, and who needs one? It's already perfect. We've spread much chaos throughout the land with the exception of West Ardougne. Merging both the 'fallen' Ardougne, with West Ardougne, the citizens have come to call it Wilder Haven. While being surrounded by wilderness, the people are kept well protected with strong fortifications. The people have quickly built their little settlement into a bustling community and hold us in high regard for it. Lathas, however, Is such a bad guest at our fortress. He's so irresponsible. All he does is complain about everything. "My pillows aren't soft enough! The revenants are too noisy! Your little runt keeps casting spells on me!"It's amusing when Kate practices her magics on him. In all honesty it's probably the only reason I haven't fed him to a rocnar yet. At least Lord Draken is better company. He's certainly more responsible and useful. Although our men sometimes come back pale and anemic, it's a small price to pay for the benefits we are provided with."

They didn't have long to think about it because an Elduvian knight had approached the group.

"General Timrak! We've intercepted a Zamorakian cargo ship. We found that the crew of the ship were some surviving white knights and the ship has been brought into port." He said. Momsrascal's eyes widened. Excitement welled up within her, and unable to contain it, she jogged ahead of everyone else to the port. She immediately recognized Sir Tiffy Cashien, Sir Amik Varze, and Sir Vyvin along with about 17 other knights to make for a total of 10 temple knights and 10 white knights. Momsrascal stood speechless as the others caught up with her. She then walked behind the others to meet the surviving white knights.