9: Hell Breaks Loose

“No…”

The word escaped form Rayann’s mouth like a whisper lost on the wind. Her brother, the one she had been a part of while they shared the same womb, the one who had been a part of her as they grew up was now destroying the one thing she cherished more than life itself, her family.

As Kali took off running for the roof, Rayann tried to blinked out of where she was but before she could fully cast the spell she felt a nauseating sensation so strong her mid section pained her worse than she could ever remember. Doubling over as the pain grew so strong she could barely breathe, she heard the unmistakable sound of the Tower’s roof exploding and she was certain several of the floors with it.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Clutching at the air with one hand while the other pressed into her midsection, she screamed as the thought of Shaeraer being crushed beneath the rubble of the destroyed upper levels of the tower tore through her. Forcing herself to concentrate, she finally blinked away form where she was and to where she felt Kali’s presence. When she arrived, the pain in her midsection multiplied greatly and she felt as though she were going to wretch but again she steeled herself to concentrate on what she needed to do.

Forcing herself to stand, she clenched her jaw tight and began to conjure a spell, using Kali as the target for right now, her daughter needed her more than ever. Rorie may be untouchable in his anti-magic shell, but outside of it, she could use her own against him. Casting her Dispel Magic spell, she aimed to release Kali from the bindings that held the girl trapped and drained her of her life force.

Casting her gaze heavenward, she asked Lunitari to give her strength for the next spells she needed to cast, hoping it would work against Rorie’s anti-magic shield. Reaching her hand skyward, she used herself as a rod to draw in as much of the divine magic she could that still existed around the area much as a lightning rod attracts lightning. It wasn’t easy as Rorie’s use of the ambient was shredding the divine all around her but she prayed she could find just enough for what she needed.

Knowing Myth was moving, she made sure her spell was targeted directly at Rorie in such a way that when it struck, Myth would be able to easily roll out of harms way. The last thing she wanted to do was harm her beloved and the father of her children. With more concentration than she'd ever used before, Rayann began weaving her spells.

As she began whispering the words of magic, she drew her hand slowly down to the front of her body. Between her hands there was nothing and as Rorie looked on, amused by her inability to cast because of the way he was perverting the magic around him, he would soon realize that was not the case.

As Rorie stood on the roof of the Castle, he would begin to hear a rumbling sound from deep within the earth. Even as he tried to figure out what was happening, he simply couldn’t figure it out. Until directly beneath him a large stone like spike erupted aiming to send him sailing through the air.

Kali coughed as the spell released and then vomited all over the place. The poison from the vines was still in her system but the ability to breathe again was a welcome thing. She looked up at her mother, the dark circles under her eyes made her face look almost like a skull as she gently reached to try and get up. She watched as Rayann began casting and grit her teeth, feeling the spell as Rayann channeled what magic she could. Her voice entered her mother’s mind, “Do it mother… kill… him….. it’s the only way to stop him…” she collapsed and moved her eyes to watch Rorie as the spell rumbled the whole castle.


The spell from Rayann truly caught Rorie off-guard, he hadn’t even an inkling that it would come from below. The stone pillar threw him into the air and he was tossed like a cork on rough seas. He grit his teeth as he tried to reorient himself with where he was in relation to the castle roof and he thrust out his arms, casting a steady spell to slow himself down and then blinked to a massive chunk of debris that had gone flying from the roof thanks to Rayann’s spell. He hissed as the anti-magic sphere reappeared and then steadied the massive chunk of roof with power channeled through his staff. He began to laugh like a lunatic as he stood on a hovering section of the castle. Rayann would feel that he was mad with the power flowing through him and that the divine magic in the area was all but destroyed. He looked at Rayann, his face dark with hatred. “So sister, it comes down to this. Pathetic that you had to do what you did and cause all this, but such is the way of the world, what goes around comes around. You caused me more pain than I have ever felt, and now I will watch as you witness the death of your other child.” He looked at Kali and then back to Rayann, “Good-bye Rayann…” He thrust his arms forward and was preparing to cast when the access roof opened and Rorie knew something was wrong. Instinctually he dodged left only to feel the sting of the blade as it impacted his chest and three of his ribs cracked in half. The impact never reached his vital organs but the pain was so intense he screamed as he dropped to his knees.

His staff came up with the momentum of his falling body as the hilt of Myth’s sword followed through on the second half of his swing. Had it not been for the angle of his falling the hilt would have caught him in the head, but due to the shift in his body it impacted his arm just above the elbow and the staff came loose as the bone in his arm snapped and fell off the hovering rock to the roof. The lack of energy channeling into the massive chunk of roof caused it to freefall and with him on top of it crashed into and through the roof, disappearing into the castle below. The hole in the roof was 30 meters across and from first look seemed to go down about 4 floors. From within the horrific sounds of the building being shredded could be heard and the plume of dust came shooting out like a Dwarven canon.

The sound settled and the silence of the dust brought an eerie sensation to the minds of all looking into the crater. After several seconds Rorie’s voice echoed from within, “RAYANN!!!! RAYANN!!! I AM NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!!”

Suddenly there was a sensation of magic, pure magic of the white moon. A distinctly feminine Elven voice boomed from within the castle, traveling up through the hole and into the air as if magnified by some strange device, “RESHAKA BRES GRENTALA MORLASHEK!” The divine energy that filled the air caused the hair on the back of everyone’s necks to stand up and an explosion of white hot light erupted from the hole in a split second flash. There wasn’t even a scream, just the sensation of magic returning to the area, and deathly quiet from within.

Myth felt the ribs crack and was almost looking forward to hearing the sound of Rorie's neck crack. The mage shifted and Myth followed through anyways letting his blade strike where it would. When the hilt cracked Rorie's arm Myth put everything he could into leaping away from Rorie. He was every thankful as he landed at the edge of the newly created hole. He watched the whole in silence as Rorie vanished into the depths. Upon hearing the voice Myth was about to dive in after the bastard till he heard the voice of Cerdiwyn and light erupted from the hole. His hand came up shielding his eyes and when it was over he listened to the silence.


With a sigh thoughts of his family returned to the forefront of his mind and he raced for the door leading to the castle depths.

For the first time in her life, Rayann wanted to actually kill another living soul. When she saw what Rorie was doing, she wanted to rip his head off. Especially after what he did to her daughter and quite possibly what he did to her infant son. But as the hole swallowed her brother up and she heard him scream at her, she felt a rage within her and was about to cast a spell when she felt the sudden surge of pure magic and heard the feminine voice.

As the magic rushed back into the area, Rayann gasped and felt as if her head was spinning. She felt her knees grow weak as the sudden pain in her midsection was suddenly lifted as the magic once more filled the void that had been created with Rorie’s perverse use. The instant she could breathe again, she rushed to Kali’s side as tears stung her eyes.

“Kali……by the Gods…..we need to get you some help.”

Looking around frantically, she looked for the crimson hair that was Myth’s as she searched for his form.

”Myth…..Shaeraer…..our son…..is he….?’

Rayann couldn’t bring herself to complete the question. While she didn’t feel the void of her son, she couldn’t actually feel him as she had before this horrid battle began and she was afraid something HAD happened to him.

It was deathly quiet as the dust was settling from the gaping hole in the roof of Glen Durel. As Kali looked up at her mother she began to cough and whispered a thanks to Lunitari as the feeling of magic returned to the area. Whatever Rorie had been doing wasn’t happening, and she didn’t care how, just that it was over… for now. She looked up at her mother and cough again, blood came up and sprinkled on her pale skin as she forced a timid smile, “I don’t know if I am going to make it Mom, whatever that spell was, I can still feel it in my body…” She coughed violently and grabbed her mothers robes as she lay on the floor, her head was spinning and her stomach was aching like she had never felt before.


The access door opened and Ceridwyn emerged from the castle, her eyes met Myth’s as she stepped onto the rooftop and smiled as she bowed her head to Myth, “Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo Myth’alas” (A star shines on the hour of our meeting Myth’alas). She looked up and smiled and as she stood back to her full height Myth would notice the massive piece of snow white cloth wrapped around her shoulder, his son laying inside, safe, warm and asleep. She touched his face gently and then looked to Rayann. Walking over she gently removed the sling and cradled the child a brief second before handing him to Rayann, “A blessing is more than a moment, but a lifetime.” She smiled and her eyes welled as she handed the boy to Rayann and then turned her face to Kali. She smiled warmly and knelt at Kali’s side, removing a small leather pouch from within her robes, “You will be fine Kali, worry not.” Kali smiled, feeling reassured as Ceridwyn placed a mixture of reagents in the girl’s mouth. Kali closed her eyes and her face reflected the bitter flavor of what was just fed to her but she swallowed and inhaled deeply as Ceridwyn stood to her feet.


She looked at the family and smiled a brief moment before speaking, “Now, if you will excuse me, there is a rather perturbed silver dragon down there who is in need of a dispel magic spell.” She winked playfully to Kali and evaporated in a thin line of white smoke, leaving the family alone on the rooftop.

As Rayann saw Ceridwyn she felt more tears well up in her eyes. When she handed the sleeping infant to her Rayann let out a small cry of joy and relief seeing her son sleeping so soundly. Cradling the child close to her, she lifted him to her mouth and placed a trembling kiss to his forehead. Watching Ceri with Kali, she whispered a soft thank you to the Elf mage.

As she stood and announced Nol was in need of her help, Rayann raised her eyes to Ceri’s and nodded. Leaning down to place a kiss to Kali’s forehead as she had Shaeraer’s, Rayann smiled through her tears.

”Your time is not over with yet, Kali os Padraig Thel’Radin. You have to teach your brother how to run through the emerald fields of Glen Durel.”

Rayann lifted her gaze to Myth then as he joined his family and she reached out her hand to him and smiled.

~We live to fight another day, mel’amin. All of us.~

Myth could only look at the elven woman in silence when he saw Shae tucked safely away. The battle had been taxing though frighteningly short in the over all outlook of things. Myth was happy to have this business behind his family though. When he walked up to Rayann he took the hand offered to him and nodded in agreement. He smiled genuinely for the first time in days. However he could no take his mind off a myriad of other things.

His voice was soft when he spoke. "I hate to say it but I am hopeful that is the last we see of Rorie. I assume whatever Cerdiwyn did obliterated his physical form. He could very well find his way back into the world once more. Though I would wager that shall be many years down the road. His spirit should count it's blessings that it is now under the eye of the lord of the dead and Tahkesis will not be able to convince said lord to relinquish the soul to her. Hence to avoid her wrath it will be many years before his soul could even think of sneaking back into the physical world."

He shook his head "Yes I should be happy for this moment yet I look at the darker side of things....to many years in the dark court I would say."

Ceridwyn looked over at Myth as he spoke and nodded gently, sending a missive to his mind, ~ “Indeed, the battle was short, but it’s effects will linger for a long time. Healing comes slow, but the strength of the house of Thel’Radin will prevail in the end. Purge your mind of the darkness Myth’Alas, focus on the peace and serenity that awaits you for now, let tomorrow worry about itself for today you have a family that needs you and loves you…, She paused a moment as his gaze met hers and with a little sparkle in her eye the right side of her mouth curled up into her normal, mischievous smile, “…always remember prince, it’s the small pleasures in life we must enjoy.” ~


A few moments later Nol appeared on the rooftop. His armor was scuffed and dented but he was smiling and he approached Myth extending a hand, “Sorry I couldn’t have done more, I thought I had his head when I struck through the wall, apparently I only hit him in the chin.” He smiled and turned to Kali, kneeling at her side and placing one hand under her head and the other on her abdomen as he gently laid her in his lap. He spoke, his voice was oddly altered for the briefest of moments as he spoke in Draconic catching Myth and Rayann off guard, they had no knowledge that she could speak the language, “Sia itov, coi ui bensvelk ekess ocuir wux algbo. Si mi bivai batobot si ti itrewic tenpiswo, hesi irral nouhai jahus wer drot lae yth tepohada nadota.” Kali smiled warmly and reached up touching his face gently before slipping her hand around his back and pulling herself into him as tightly as she could. He looked up at Rayann and Shaeraer, reaching out he brushed the boys cheek with the back of his finger and smiled, “And he slept through the whole thing.” He laughed and turned to Myth, “The boy already has your spirit of calm in the heat of the battle my friend.”

Rayann brought Myth’s hand to her forehead and closed her eyes when he took her offered hand. Never in all her life was she so glad to feel his touch as she was right now. To see the smile that slipped across his handsome face was one she hadn’t seen in days. In fact, the last time she remembered that smile was the day Shaeraer was born. But even as the smile appeared she could tell his mind was already thinking ahead to the future. It was just his nature. But she did have to agree with him. She too hoped they had seen the last of her brother.

~I have a feeling Ceri made sure he won’t be returning at all.~

As Nol appeared, Rayann smiled seeing the Silver Dragon. She wondered what happened between him and Rorie and now that he showed up here, she was glad to see he made it through relatively unscathed. Watching his interactions with Kali and hearing him speak the Draconic language to her, Rayann blinked. She’d never heard he language spoken like that before. In fact, what few times she HAD heard it, it wasn’t in a good situation.

As Nol reached over and gently touched Shae’s face, the baby smiled slightly before sighing softly and settling in for some more sleep. Rayann chuckled as Nol made the correlation between Shae’s sleep and Myth’s battle calmness. She glanced up at the Silver Dragon and smiled, nodding her head.

”It appears as if this apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”