The chase

~ This is a closed thread, but I hope you enjoy none the less. ~

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Raven wasn't like the others of her kind. She was a pure bred, yet some how her skin was more of a light purplish color instead of the deep dark blue. Hair was the deepest black anyone as ever seen of her breed, which is how the name Raven was given. Ravens' eyes were like looking into crystal, so pure and full of life.

Her race were dark elves, midnight blue skin, white hair. Most had solid onyx colored eyes and no one knew how Raven became the way she is. Some say she was a half breed, but what the other half would be is anyones guess.
Raven was very skilled in being the hunter that took most of her years to perfect. At one point she did have a black tiger as her companion, hunting partner and friend that she grew up with. His life ended when she came across a race she has never seen before. Raven herself took all cautions to not be seen and thought the tiger had done the same.
He was well hidden till a pack of hounds found his scent and started howling, barking as if to tell this strange breed of men that they found something.

Soon many men on horses and bows came tearing up the path chasing her one and only true friend. He would have been fine if it was just the hounds, his massive size could kill any animal. It was the men and their bows that killed him. Raven only got caught because she ran after them, killiing some of the hounds and two of the strange men with her own bow. One of them snuck up behind her with a net, trying to catch her. Talking and laughing of how much they could gain from such a female. Or how they would take her and tame her then sell her. In the very least find out if she was a virgin or not, if she was the price for her would be far more worthy.

He would have succeeded if she didn't stab him in the leg with her dagger, the net on other the hand prevented her from running and soon another one of the humans grabbed the rope and started to drag her behind the horse. Raven was to strong willed to let them take her like this, never once screamed out or cried from the dragging pain of dirt and rocks.
Instead, she cut through the ropes with her last dagger, rolled out the net and started running. Behind her she heard the sounds of the few hounds left and the shouts of men chasing her. Wanted to look back, yet knew she couldn't. Looking back would only slow her down.

Tears silently fell as she ran to a castle she knew of deep in the woods. Despite the fact that she was being chased like some creature, all she could think of was the death of her long time friend.
Raven only knew of this castle through stories. It was deep in the thick part of the woods. Some stories claimed it was haunted, who ever entered it never came out. A few times she came to find it but, never fully entered it. The tiger never allowed her to. Raven figured if her own stories claimed the castle to be haunted, perhaps the same stories ran through this strange race that was following her.

Only one way to find out...

Thought to her self as she pushed open the gates. It was strange, this castle hasn't seen life in years and yet it was still in good shape. The outside wasn't so inviting, but the walls and structure of it all seemed to be well kept. Raven stood on the inside of the gate just looking at this place with amazment and new found curiousity.

"She went this way!! FIND HER NOW!!"

Shouts were gaining closer and startled Raven back into reality. Looked back just in time to see the hounds and the men.

"THERE SHE IS..."
"We can't go there! What does she think shes doing?"

They stopped at the gates, the hounds and horses seemed scared of the place just like her tiger would. They were trying to coach her to come back and not go in. Instead, Raven backed up a few more feet just staring at the men before she turned and ran inside the castle. It didn't even phase her that the heavy door was opened slightly as she vanished into the darkness behind it.

Stood in the dark door way, knowing the men couldn't see her anymore and smiled to herself as they rode off in anger. At first she was going to leave then, until her curiosity snuck in. Being a night elf it didn't take her sight long to adjust to the darkness. For a moment she thought she saw a candle shining in the darkness and soon she was moving towards it to find out what it really was.


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OOC
This is roughly what she looks like.
http://www.blizzard.com/wow/wallpaper/wallpaper13.shtml

Eldar is from a race of the highest standings, being able to live longer then any other race. He is a High Elf of the most superb breeding. Hair and skin of milk white, but appeared to be no more then 35 years of age by human standards. Even though he had forgotten how old he was. He is known to be the most excellent Enchanter or his time. After all, he had created this castle out of pure magic and illusion. Yet to anyone who comes here, they can touch and see the castle as if it were real. Not that anyone comes here and leaves alive. Humans make very good test subjects if nothing else.

Eldar had been practicing some magic and prefered not to be bothered while doing this. Perfecting magic was hard enough without some mangy Human wandering by and disturbing him. He was about to start the hardest part of his Dragon illusion spell when his parameter alarm went off. He had set an invisable barrier to alert him of anyone coming near his castle. He waved his arms at the wall and it suddenly came to life.

There she is again. He had watched her several times in the past come near his castle, but she had never entered. It is a shame really, because he needed a new toy and this dark skinned female intrigued him. Her skin was a blueish, purple and she looked very beautiful in her own way. Long black hair and eyes of crystal. How could he possibly find her so attactive? He did not know, but he wanted to find out. She had the most magnificent cat with her before, but Eldar didn't see him with her now.

Suddenly a band of the most mangy Humans he had seen in a long time came out of the woods behind her. She ran toward the castle door as fast as she could and entered. Once she was past the doors she wouldn't be able to leave even if she wanted to and he knew the Humans wouldn't enter out of pure fear. To them this female was not worth death or worse.

As she entered he slams the doors shut behind her with a wave of his hand. Eldar's laugh echos through the whole castle as he watches her jump in fear.

Sudden sound of slamming doors behind her startled her as Raven turned quickly and ran to them, trying to open them. Things didn't normally scare her, but the laughter rang deep within the rooms, the doors closing on their own and seemed locked some how. At this point she wanted out.

Struggled with the doors for more moments before she finally gave up, realizing that she wouldn't be getting out the way she came. Raven really didn't want to through this place, not after hearing that laugh but, she did need to find a way out.

Looked around with caution, making sure nothing would come out and attack her as she moved through the main floor, looking for another way out. Heart was pounding hard and fast as she kept focus on what she had to do, keeping herself ready for anything to attack making her way towards the kitchen in hopes to finding a back way out.

Eldar slowly walked out of his camber toward the stairs leading to the main room of the castle. He grabbed his staff as he left. As he got to the main room, he saw a dark figure slowly creaping toward the kitchen area. He did not see well in the Darkness, so with a few words the crystal on his staff lit up brightly toward the main room.

There she was, stunned for a few seconds as she looked at a bright light coming toward her. Just enough time for Eldar to cast his Mezmerize spell on her. As Eldar chanted some words the dark beauty in front of him stopped and could not move. This spell is Eldar's favorite for catching his prey. The prey can hear and see all that is going on, but cannot so much as move a muscle.

Eldar pointed at several candles on the walls of the room and they lit up as he pointed to them. Once they were all lit he leaned his staff up in a corner and the light from the crystal went out. Then he walked up to this dark female and looked into her crystal clear eyes. There he saw the most hate he had seen in a long time. There was some fear there, but it was getting replaced with hate quite rapidly.

"I understand that you are frightened dark one", said Eldar, "but you need not be afraid for I will not harm you." Then he saw suprise in her eyes. "Unless of course you give me reason to". Eldar then started searching her for weapons and he may have lingered a little to long in a few places. He was very impressed on how tight and toned her muscles were and how soft she was in just the right spots. He found a dagger hidden in her boot when he finally got that far. "You won't be needing this for now my dear".

Eldar said, "I am going to release you from my spell". "You will stay in that spot when this happens". "If you move from that spot I will not only put you under my spell again, but then I will tie you up in my dungeon and punish you". With that said he released her from his spell.

Ravens' heart was racing as she saw the light coming closer, with her eyes adjusted to the darkness it was blinding for a few seconds. There was a tall figure behind the moving light and just as she was about move back away from it. Instead, she heard a few words in the distant and she couldn't move. No matter how much she willed herself to move, there was nothing.

Watched as he lit the room and came towards her, despite how much fear she felt, anger and hatred was rising as he began to touch her. Feeling and searching for weapons. His hands roamed and lingered over places that obviously didn't hide any weapons, this caused the anger to grow. Deep down, she had to admitt to herself that the touch was soothing, causing her no harm but, instead it made her feel something else. A feeling she has never felt before.

Once he took the spell off her, Raven took a few steps away from him. Knew what he said, knew he told her to stay put. But it was more instinct to put some distance between them.

"I can not stay.... I can not let them get his..."

Raven tried to speak and sound strong at the same time, it failed. Choked back the tears as she thought of her cat and what those humans would do his body.

"I don't know who you are. And if you don't wish to bring harm to me as you say, you'll let me go...."

"I am sorry for trespassing, I did not know anyone lived in here. I mean you no harm...... Just let me go and I never trouble you again."

Took another step back without thinking about it, her feet taking control of what her mind couldn't right now. It was strange how she couldn't take her eyes off him, his own beauty was amazing to her. It was rare that she has seen his kind. In fact Raven coudn't think of the last time she had seen the High elves.

None the less, she had to get away from this one. Not knowing his intentions, not knowing what he capable of doing. Raven didn't like to be touched and the way he touched her made her fear him all the more. Wasn't blind to that sort of thing, but she wasn't and still isn't ready to giver herself to any man like that.

"I need to go.... I only came here to hide from those.... those.. humans... And I need to get back before they... they.."

It seemed right then Raven truly realized she had lost the cat and there was no way of getting back to him by the time the humans have gone back to retrieve it. It was like a blow to the stomache as she fell to her knees, tears staining her eyes as scene replayed over again. At this moment she didn't care about her current situation, Raven feared for herself of course. Since he showed no harm and claimed to not harm her, that only left her with thoughts of the cat...

"I was just trying to get away from them, I swear... I did not mean to trouble you... I did not know this place had life in it..."

hid her face in her hands, harder she tried to not cry, the harder and faster the tears came.

Watching her step back, Eldar started to get angry. He had specifically told her not to move. Hearing her babble on about those damn pesky humans and something else she couldn't quite get out only upset him more. He was about to mez her again when she dropped to her knees and started crying. Eldar, not trusting her yet, kept his distance from her while she was not mezzed. He wanted to comfort her and he felt some empathy for her, but still she could be quite dangerous. After all she had disobeyed him and that was not tolerated. There was only one thing to do until he could trust her.

Chanting a few words, Eldar mezzed the dark beauty once again. He knelt down and picked her up. She was a lot lighter then she looked, so he flipped her over his shoulder. He walked over to the corner where his staff was and picked it up with his free hand. He said a few words and the crystal once again came to life. With a wave of his hand all the candle went out in the main room.

"I have to do this for my own safty dark one", said Eldar, "I told you I would put you under my spell if you moved". "Now I must bind you in my dungeon". "I am also going to punish you as I see fit".

Eldar carried her toward some stairs leading down. Once he was at the bottom he pointed to a few torches on the walls and soon the room was very bright with light. He put his staff in the nearest corner. There were several torture devices along the walls of the dungeon, all of which he ignored for now. Then he carried her to the center of the room. There hanging from the ceiling was a chain with two cuffs at the end. The chain was ajustable for height. Eldar put her down and ajusted the chain so he could easily put the cuffs around her wrists. Then he raised the chain so she was standing on the tips of her toes only.

Eldar was going to give this dark beauty a chance before he punished her though. He was going to ask her some questions and if she answered him truthfully he would go easy on her punishment. If she lied to him things would get much worse for her. Eldar then released her from his spell once again.

Struggling with the chains, trying to get out of the cuffs when she was able to move again.

"LET ME GO!..."

Fear came back twice as strong, the reality of her own position was sinking in fast. This man and that spell of his was making her hate him even more.

Raven was growing angry at the fact that she was stuck here, secondly she was helpless to defend herself in any way, especially when he casted that spell on her. And last, all she can see is those humans slaughtering the body of her cat and she was helpless to do anything about that as well. Raven kept struggling with the cuffs, twisting her wrist in them. It was only hurting worse due to her own weight pulling on her wrist.

Tears of mixed emotions coursed down her cheeks as she kept fighting with the cuffs. Raven has never been punished before, never been bound. Mixed with the helpless feeling wasn't helping her way of thinking either.
Began to try and calm herself, closed her eyes not wanting to look at him right now, her hatred for him was also clouding the control she normally kept of her emotions.


"You do not trust me, I do not trust you..."
"I do not like to be touched.. I did not want you touching me again."

"I gave you no reason to harm me. You said you would not harm me. Punishment means harming me.... I did not attack or harm you..."
"No, instead I stepped away from you in fear of you."
"You can not possibly punish me for being scared and not trusting you?"

She was speaking with more control, breathing was becoming a little more steady and with less stuggling against the cuffs. Kept her eyes closed as the tears remained, only not as bad as they were moments ago.
Slowly pushing everything she was feeling right now away, locking the uncontroled emotions up, in need to be focused and ready for what ever he may do. Raven wasn't one to beg or scream from pain and she was not about to start now.

Eldar went and picked up a chair that was against the wall and placed it about five feet from her and sat down in it. He listened to her yell at him and waited until she was done. She slowly stopped stuggling against the cuffs and went still and silent.

"First of all dark one, you are the one that come into my castle uninvited". "You also moved when I told you not to". "If you had not moved you would not be in the position that you are now". "I did warn you did I not"? "Do not speak yet, I am not finished". "You can speak when I tell you that you can". "I would really hate to put that spell on you again". "It makes for a rather dull and one sided conversation".

"First of all I would like to know what to call you", Eldar said, "calling you dark one all the time is getting rather boring". "Second, I would like to know why those damn humans were chasing you". "And Third, I saw you with the most magnificent cat that I had ever seen when you came close to my castle before, but he is not with you now". "I would like to know what happened to him". "If you answer these questions to my satifaction I will think about letting you loose". "And just so you know, you can not leave this castle without me allowing you to". "Unless you are better at magic then I".

Eldar looked into her crystal clear eyes and saw that she was calm now. "You can speak now and I suggest you be nice". "You are not exactly in the postion to be mouthy or demanding at this time".

Raven listened to him, reluctantly, but she did listen. At the mention of her poor Luathas, it was like another blow to her heart. When she spoke, there was a hint of anger, but not towards him. It was more thought of what those humans would, could have done if they did succeed in her capture.

"Humans... Just look at me. Why else would they chase me? I bring value into their pockets. I may be a different breed from what they are normally used to, in the end, I am just another female. And because of my race, I am more value from the females they are used to."
"Which in return brings them some sick and twisted prize to show off."

Raven may have never actually seen a human before, again, she was not clueless to their ways of life. She was not that young and naive about the world. Just chose to stay away from such race. Most races for that matter, most of the time it was just her and Luathas.

Closed her eyes, fighting to hold back the pain, not wishing to think about what they are possibly doing to his body right now.

"Luathas..." she choked back a sob while speaking his name.

"The hounds found him first.... While he was fighting off the hounds, the men came to see what the hounds were howling about..... And... and.. they killed him with arrows. He had no chance to even fight for his life."

"They are most likely slaughtering his fur to sell or trade... Using his head as a prize on some tavern wall... I tried to save him... and now I can not even protect his body and soul..."

Lowered her head, tasting the salt of fresh tears. She may have been a dark elf, but her love for the forest life was stronger than most her kind. Most of all she loved and respected Luathas and this was not the way she wanted to see him end his life.

keeping her head lowered as she spoke softly now

"I do not like being called Dark one all time either. My name is Raven."

Looked up at this point, looking around room and struggled a little more against the cuffs, wrapping her fingers around the chain that held her, trying to relieve some of the weight that was pulling on her wrist.

"As for magic... I only know little magic. I am what some people would call a ranger type.
"I wouldn't know the kind of magic needed to get out of here. If I did, I would be gone already taking my revenge on those humans and saving Luathas' body."

Eldar watched her while she was telling him her story. He suddenly felt sorry for her. He knew that his race and her race were related in the far past. He had heard stories of how the Elves had seperated into 3 races. High Elves, Wood Elves, and Dark Elves. High Elves went toward the caster arts, while Wood Elves and Dark Elves went toward the priest arts. Raven got done with her story. Eldar stood up, picked the chair up, and set it behind Raven.

"I am going to let you go", said Eldar, "The same rules apply as to the last time I set you free". "You must not move from that spot, though you may sit down if you wish". "I want to talk to you about a few things before I decide whether to set you free or not". "We are both Elves after all, maybe not of the same race, but we are ancestors of a distant past". "I have a proposition for you". "If you help me, maybe I will be able to help you". "By the way, my name is Eldar".

Eldar reached above Raven's head and loosened the chain which took the weight off her wrists. He unlocked the cuffs and allowed her to sit down. She rubbed her wrists to get the blood flowing in her hands again. Eldar started pacing back and forth in front of her while thinking for a minute, then he stopped and looked at Raven.

"Not to long ago there was something stolen from me". "I know that it is located somewhere in the human village". "The same humans that attacked you". "I would like you to find it for me". "In return I can have a Cleric friend of mine resurrect your cat for you, but you must bring the body of the cat back here". "I will give you a few things to help you on your journey if you so choose to do this". "I will give you a few minutes to decide."

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Raven shivers when he gets close to her again, somewhat afraid of him touching her like he had before. Despite what he said about freeing her, he still had the upper hand. Though, he did as he said he would do, lowered her from the chain. At first she was caught off balance and sat in the chair provided, hadn't been tied up long, but it was something she was far from being used to.

Watched him pace the room a few times with caution, unsure if he was thinking about what to do with her next, or if something else troubled him. Then he spoke, telling her how something got stolen. This intrigued Raven. How on earth did humans... Those humans.. steal from him?

Course she would go at night where she wouldn't be seen, but to carry such a massive creature through town would make it easier for her to get caught.

"What garuntees will I have if I get caught? Walking freely in a human town, even at night, with a massive cat on my shoulders adding what your item is. And being a dark elf, isn't very promising."

Raven thought about this, she would do anything to get his body back, if nothing else to get away from those filthy human hands. But this item of his... She was no theif, had no doubt she could do it, just had no idea what she was looking for or how protected it would be.

"If you promise me some safety, some garuntee that you will protect me if I get in some sort of trouble. For I am no theif... But for Luathas, I will do this."

Stared into his eyes a little on the cold side, something wasn't right about this. If the item was of value to him, some mangy humans would not have stolen so easily.

"Just what is this item and if I may ask, how did it get stolen from on such as yourself?"

"Actually, Raven, it is not my item at all". "You know that Cleric friend of mine I was talking about"? "I owe him many favors and this would make payment in full to him". "The item that I speak of is a golden mace". "It shines brightly and has a blue aura around it". "That is all you really need to know about the item in question". "There is only one of it's kind and you should be able to find it easily". "I'm sure it will be well guarded".

"I promised you a few things to help you in your quest", Eldar said, "please follow me to my study room".

Eldar picked up his staff as they left the dungeon. They went up though the main room and up to the third level. He took the first right into his study room. Eldar walked over to a closet and opened it up. He reached in and took out a cloak.

"This is a cloak of invisability". "When you cover yourself in it, you vanish compleatly". "You still must use caution though, you can still be felt".

Eldar went back into the closet and brought out a bag.

"This is a bag of weightlessness". "It may look small, but you can put things of any size into it, and once the thing is in, it adds no weight to your person, other then the weight of the bag itself".

Eldar went back into the closet and brought out a dagger in a sheath.

"This dagger will help you in dark times". "All you have to do is hold it above your head and say LIGHT". "It will have such a bright light coming from it that it will blind all that are looking in it's direction". "They will only stay blind for a couple of minutes, so you must make haste in your retreat". "Oh, I would suggest you close your eyes when you say LIGHT and the dagger is unsheathed".

"All three of these items you can keep when and if you are successful in your quest". "You must make haste now, Raven, there is a limited amount of time before something can not be resurrected". "I figure at this point you have a full day left".

With that said he gave the three items to Raven and with a wave of his hand the outter doors to his castle swung open.

"There is one other item that I will give you on your return", said Eldar, "It will be worth more to you then the three items I already gave you". "I will be watching you from a distance and I will help were I can, but it is mostly up to you". "Now go and good luck to you".

It took Raven a few moments to take in everything he was saying and giving to her. It seemed to happen all to fast and far from what she was expecting. She was glad that Eldar didn't do anything more that she feared.

The bag he gave her was small and she wondered just how to get things into it like he said. Raven just shrugged it off, figuring that she'll find out when the time comes. Had a small idea of what she was going do with Luathas' body if she couldn't get it into this bag. Humans were foolish that it made the thought tempting just to get a reaction out them. Raven may not know the magic that Eldar does, but she does have a few things up her sleeves.

Glared at Eldar as he opened to doors for her, having this wicked smile cross her lips and a sparkle deep in her eyes. Raven was gone in the next moment. Just before she hit the gates here feet were off the ground with a wave of her arm and she seemed to be running faster than normal. Following the tracks of horses and dogs, pulling the cloak around her form as she ran.

The tracks lead her to where they killed Luthas, his blood stained the ground and once more her heart ached for him. All she could do now was pray that they had not destroyed the body. It took her a moment to find the direction that the tracks came from originally, in this spot the tracks were all over the place and soon she found the direction she was looking for.

It surprised her at how close the town actually was, about 10 mins from where they found her. Raven stopped for a moment, judging the town and the gates, guards. There wasn't many out seeing how it was late in the night now, there was enough to catch her if they found her.
Raven knelt down, placing her hand just above the tracks she had been following, under her breath she spoke a few elvish words and the tracks of both dogs and horses began to glow a deep blue.

"Luathas first... then that mace..."

Took in a deep breath and soon ran into the walls of town, following the glowing tracks in hopes they lead her to Luathas.

Once Raven had left his castle, Eldar cast as see invisable spell on himself. His eyes glowed for a second as the spell took effect. He was not going to leave anything to chance as far as his own safty went. He knew that she may still try to betray him if she could. After all, she is a Dark Elf.

Eldar walked up a spiral stair that led to a tower room in his castle. There he found his eagle, Squock. Eldar gave Squock a large strip of meat and watched him eat it. Then he wrapped a note around Squock's ankle that said

"Make haste to my castle my friend, the item is in sight"

Eldar told the mighty bird as he strocked his head, "find Luclin and give him this message my friend". Squock jumped out the window and took flight toward the north.

Eldar walked back down to his study room and waved his had at the wall and it came to life once again. There she was close to the town with her cloak wrapped around her. He smiled to himself knowing that she had no idea that he could see her. Even though he told her that he would be watching her.

Eldar said to himself, "I guess we'll see if she is set to betray me". "If she does, I will have no mercy on her".

It felt like everyone could see her, she wasn't used to having such an item. Had her own spell, but it was so unpredictable that it would fade totally at the wrong time. Which gave her another reason to stay away from such towns.
This cloak seemed to be holding up well though, she was able to get by unseen. The tracks glowed to her eyes only as she followed them deeper into the town.
The horse tracks ended at some stable so she had to recast the spell on the human tracks that looked like the one she was after. They were more heavy setted, as if he was carrying somethng heavy. Shortly after the other tracks faded out and the humans were left glowing.

Looked around cautiously making sure no one had heard her whispers and soon she was off again. The human tracks lead to some house, possibly his own. Though, the tracks didn't lead into the house, they went out back first into some little hut behind the house. Stopped short in her tracks at the sound of familiar hounds, but they faded out into the house and she continued towards the hut.

Once inside, Raven saw one of the massive paws peeking out from the blanket. At first she was afraid to lift the blanket up, noticing the tools that covered the walls in this hut. It was a chance she had to take, seeing how there wasn't skin or anything hanging up, she figured he was still one peice. Raven had to fight the tears and get this over with once she pulled the blanket up, relieved at what she saw.

Took the bag out from her belt, looking at it. She's seen and heard of such bags, but herself never really needed them. For a moment she wondered how it worked, taking a shot in the dark she began to open it and held the opening at Luathas head. Shortly after the bag seemed to have adjusted itself to the size of the cat, allowing her to ease the body inside. Then the bag shrunk down to it's normal size. This spooked her some, also it amazed her to no end. Curious now as to how much it can contain.

Just as Raven was about to leave, she heard foot steps approaching the hut and she quickly covered herself in the cloak and hid in the corner under the table. Luckily she didn't leave any tracks of her own, the spirit of eagle spell lasted a long time and kept her feet from touching the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL? It was right here I swear!?!?"

Raven recongnized that voice, it was one she wanted kill and most likely would have if she didn't hear the voice of another.

"You must be seeing things. We all know there is not such thing a black tiger. Specially one of size that you talk about."

"I know what I saw, I know what I had, I sure as hell know what I killed. You can ask any of the men that was with me, or even the stable boy."

The two men sat there arguing for a what seemed like a long a time.

Eldar watched her as she entered the town. He saw that she was floating just above the ground and she left no tracks to be seen. Eldar smiled to himself. "She does seem to have some very useful skills", he thought. He watched her go to what seemed like a stable, then she changed directions and went to a hut. She went inside and found the body of her cat. Eldar was in releif that the cat was still in one piece.

Then he saw two humans coming toward the hut and they went inside. He saw Raven hiding under the table, not able to move from her spot. Eldar thought to himself, "she needs a diversion". "I have just the thing", Eldar said as he belted out a laugh. "I really do amuse myself".

Eldar remembered the dragon illusion spell he had been practicing the day before. He started to chant some words and he waved his hands in the air. Soon the image of a huge dragon started appearing. It was purple and green in color. It had very large sharp teeth. The wings of the dragon had claws at the end as well as huge claws on its back feet. He knew this would cause the humans to scatter in panic all over the place trying to get away from this huge image. This dragon could also throw fire from his mouth

Finally the Dragon was complete. "Go dragon and destroy that village". "Do not harm the building the mace is in", Eldar pointed to the building where it was hidden so the dragon could see. "And please do try not to harm the dark elf".

The dragon turned around and flew into the living image on the wall and appeared above the town with a loud screech.

It was getting rather boring just sitting here listening to these two agure about a tiger that is real or not. Raven was about to give up and just stab the one guy in the foot and take off running. If nothing else for her own amusment and the joy of paying the guy back for killing Luathas.

Just when she was about to do just that, sudden screaming filled the air. And the roaring of a dragon made her almost laugh. Knowing tha the dragons don't come to these parts of the land it had to be something else. Whether it was Eldar or not, she did not know, nor seriously care. This was her chance to get to that mace while the guards are all out chasing that dragon.

Raven pushed past the two men, shoving the one hard to the ground and kicking him just before she took off running. They were both stunned, unsure of what just happened. Not seeing her anywhere in sight, but the pain of her kick was strong between the guys legs and she was laughing inside as he cussed up a storm.

"Now, where the hell do I find this mace?"

Closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think of something that will help her out. Elvish words escaped quietly through her lips and her eyes began to glow for a second. Now she was able to see much further, having an eagles sight as she ran, looking into widows and open doors seeking out this mace.

After some time of not having much luck just looking into windows and doors, Raven started watching the dragon more closly. There seemed to be something about him, in the way he was burning down buidlings, even the ones she looked in. Took a moment to look around the town, to see if there was something she was missing. In the distance, she noticed a building that the dragon wasn't touching. Raven began to run towards it, keeping herself away from what the dragon was doing.

Looked at this building seeking out any guards that may be left standing there. Protect it no matter what type of order. None were outside so she slipped inside, there was one guard there. It seemed as if he had fallen asleep. Opened the second door cautiously slipping into the room that had the mace.

Eldar was watching Raven closely. He could see that she was going about this search all wrong at first. It seemed like she was running around the streets blindly. Then she stopped and looked at the dragon, then looked around the whole town. Eldar smiled to himself when she finally figured it out. Good girl, she was smarter then he gave her credit for. Eldar watched her run to the only building in the town that was still not on fire and slip inside the door.

There was one guard sleeping just inside the door. Eldar could not figure out why this one guard was sleeping with all that racket going on. Suddenly the dragon flew over the building with a really loud roar. The guard jerked awake and jumped to his feet. "What the hell is going on", the guard shouted. Then he ran out the door to figure it out.

Eldar knew that Raven had to be more cautious then ever. Anyone who could steal Luclin's mace was bound to have some power of his own. He might even know of Eldar's watching eye. He may even know that the dragon is just an illusion. He may even know the see invisable spell. In fact, Eldar didn't like the feeling he was having about the room Raven was in at all.

Quickly Eldar looked through the whole room. The mace was in a glass case in the center. Apparently whoever stole the mace was showing it off as a trophy. Eldar soon came to realize that the case could be trapped. He didn't like that idea one bit and hoped Raven knew something about traps. "She is a smart girl", thought Eldar, "I know she can do it"

This seemed to easy, this place was big enough to hold a few guards and to find this place practically empty with one guard a sleep, something didn't feel right. Course there was a dragon loose outside, but if this item was all that, those guards would not have left it like that. Now to find it in some case, like it has been on display for all to see it. Any other theif, one far more skilled than she was, could easily take this.

Raven jumped a little at the sounds of the guard as he woke and took off running. Returning her attention to the glass case, something really felt odd here, something she couldn't really explain. It made her want to leave this place, get out of this human town and just run back to the forest. Faught that feeling with everything she had, closing her eyes and concentrated on another spell. Waving her hand over the glass in front her, just as she thought, the case was trapped.

Looked at the object and began to cast another spell. This one took more focus than first one, these were simple spells for her, just rarely used. All this one did was disarm the trap, took more to not trip the trap while disarming it.
Once the spell was completed, Raven made sure that it was disarmed before removing the glass case and setting lightly on the ground. Reached for the mace and stuck it into the small bag carefully.

Eldar knew he had found the right one to get that mace for him. He watched as Raven cast her simple spells to detect and disarm the trap. She then removed the glass case and put the mace inside the bag he had given her.

Suddenly there was a dark shadow in the corner of his eye. It moved slowly toward Raven, which means whoever it was saw her. A human steps out into the light and appeared to be looking directly at Raven. Eldar could tell that this man had some power. It looked as if this human is a priest of some kind. That means he has the ability to see invisable.

The human yelled for the guards to come quickly. Four guards burst in to the building. Raven must do something fast in order to escape. For now the Priest was the only one that could see her, but if allowed more time the priest could cast see invisable on the guards.

If Raven didn't do something right away he would have to send the dragon in to torch that building and leave no one alive. Eldar did not want any of those items to fall into the human's hands. It was bad enough that they had the Mace of Greater Resurrection, but if they get the cloak, bag, and dagger......well that is just to much.

A movement caught Ravens attention. Some shadow in the corner, somehow she had missed it. It did not matter, she was expecting something, anything to happen. Things couldn't be this easy.

Raven remained hidden inside the cloak, as she turned, it was obvious this person can see her, he was staring right at her. But when the guards came, they looked dumbfounded, not seeing anything cept for a missing mace. At this point Raven was starting to get a little freaked out, the fear was showing in her eyes like a trapped animal. There were just to many humans around her at once, it was starting to overwhelm her every thought.

It was more on instinct than a thought, but she pulled out the dagger and held it above her head, closing her eyes, while quickly shouting

"LIGHT"

as fast as she could. She stood for a few seconds, wondering and hoping that it worked, opened her eyes to see them all rubbing at their own eyes. It didn't take her long to push past the two guards blocking the door, shoving them to the ground.

It was more out of fear that she ran, recasting her spirit of eagle spell and lifting off the ground, running faster. Never once looked back as she ran straight for the castle.

As Eldar watched Raven leave the human village, he comanded his dragon to torch the last remaining building. The humans would think twice about pissing him off or any of his friends for that matter ever again. He knew that Raven would be here shortly.

Suddenly his parameter alarm went off. Eldar brought the focus of his eye back to his castle. Eldar smiled to see his old friend Luclin riding his pony up to his gates. Without delay Eldar opened the outer gates with a wave of his hand to allow his short friend access to his castle. Then refreshed his see invisable on himself and walked down to the main room. Eldar lit the candles and a fire in the fire place.

"ELDAR"

He heard a burly voice behind him shout. Eldar smiled to himself and turned around.

"Luclin my old and dear friend, welcome to my home". "I have very good news for you indeed". "But first let me cast see invisable on you before anything else".

Eldar said a few elvish words and Luclin's eyes glow for a second.

"Why the see invisable spell Eldar, should I be worried about something"?

"HA HA, no my dear friend, not now that you have see invisable". "Just be careful around my next guest, she will soon be here.

"She"? "Eldar you old dog". "You had a woman do our dirty work did you"?

"HA HA, just wait and see, I'm sure the suprise will be all yours". "Just promise me you won't do anything rash when you see her".

Luclin stands about four feet tall, very stout and burly. He has a very long beard that he tucks into his belt. This short man is not to be messed with though. For his size he had more then enough power to defend himself against most anyone. Not that anyone had to worry about his power. Luclin is a cleric and prefers to use his power for good and healing. Luclin is of the Dwarf race, from the mountain region to the North.

The alarm went off once again and Eldar knew it had to be Raven.

"She is here"

Being in that human town and being trapped basically twice killed the last control she had over her emotions. Raven was a loner, a wanderer of the forest grounds. People of any race made her uncomfortable, especially when in situations such as that, it was more than she could handle. One or two here and there was fine, but groups of people always got to her nerves the wrong way.

The past few hours played over and over in her thoughts as she ran. Didn't dare looking back to see if she was being followed, nor did she care if she was. All her nerves were shot, tears streamed down her face as she ran into the castle. Raven didn't even notice Eldar and his friend sitting by the fire, all she could do was run up the stairs and hide in the first room she found.
Finding the peace and safety within the darknees as she sat, knees curled up to her chest on the bed.

Raven didn't know if Eldar had seen her or not, she was hoping he didn't. Deep down, had a feeling he did. If nothing else, the opening of the doors would have told him she was there. Right now, all she knew was the last few hours had been to much and she needed this time to calm down from all that has happened.

The doors to the castle open and Eldar sees Raven run past and up the stairs into his bedroom.

"Stay here my friend and stay warm by the fire". "I just saw her run up the stairs". "I'm going to go up and see if there is anything wrong".

Eldar went up the stairs and into his bedroom. There on the bed he watches Raven's breathing get slower and slower into an even rythum of sleep.

"She has to be worn out from that experiance", Eldar thought, "I will let her sleep for now".

He walked over to her and carefully took the bag from her. He walked over to the linen closet and pulled out a few very large blankets and walked back down stairs.

"She is asleep, and I think she needs it". "I must ask you to do something for her Luclin".

Eldar spread the blankets on the floor and opened the bag up. He pulls the glowing mace out first and hands it to Luclin. Then he carefully dumps the huge cat out of the bag onto the blankets.

Luclin walks over to the cat and wispers some words and the cat glows for a second

"I suppose you wish me to ressurrect the cat", said Luclin, "well it is just about to late, but there is still enough time".

Holding the mace in his hands, Luclin starts to chant and the mace begins to glow brighter and brighter. Suddenly the mace shoots out a beam of light that surrounds the cat. Luclin starts to sweat from the amount of energy and power he was expelling to do the resserrection. Suddenly the cat takes a breath and chokes, then another breath. Soon the cat is breathing on his own, but laying very still.

Luclin falls to one knee and all but colapses.

Eldar reaches down and helps the Dwarf to a chair and brings him a small glass of brandy.

"Drink that old friend", said Eldar, "and relax for awhile".

Luclin whispers to Eldar, "The cat will be very weak and sick for about 10 days and must not be moved". "Make sure you feed him a little at a time until he gets his strengh back".

Luclin drinks down the brandy and lets out a sigh.

"I am sorry Eldar but I must go" "The king is sick and he trusts no one but me to tend him". "Thank you for getting my mace back for me". "All debts that you had with me are fully payed".

"It saddens me that you leave so soon Luclin". "I will make a trip to the moutains to visit as soon as I am able".

Luclin stands up and they both bow to eachother and shake hands.

"well met friend"

Luclin walks out the door and jumps up on his pony and starts riding up the north path.