Fantasy ~The Lords of the Magistone~

[Cookie]

Forcing calm breaths, Ari told herself to get a hold of the situation. Now was her chance to formulate an escape, or at the very least buy some time. But what could she do if her magic was mostly negated? She kept an eye on the grate above her, partially to check for sunlight but also in a vain hope that somebody would pass by above. Although that was highly unlikely, Ari couldn't help feeling the slightest bit desperate.


No, she told herself, you can handle this. You're fine. There had to be a way out, there always was. She just had to find it...


Ari listened intently for footsteps or any other sound of life. Nothing. Not a sound. She worried briefly for Lapis, but Ari figured she had better attend to her own problems here.


"See, you wouldn't be in this situation if you ran away from the others when you had the chance." Ari whispered to herself, still looking for a way out. She could feel herself almost fully recovered in the way of magic. A lot of good it did her in this situation.


She glanced back up at the grate. No signs of life. But maybe, just maybe the others were close at hand. Maybe they'd found...wherever this place was. She need to let them know she was there. Or, at the very least, distract Pashan from his plan. Emergency plan B seemed to be eminent at the time, but she needed him to be there for it to work. It seemed like she only had one option for that to happen. Hopefully he was still somewhere close enough to hear.


"HEY!!!" Ari shouted as loud as she possibly could. And who knew, maybe someone else would hear her too. "COME BACK HERE, I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!" She waited, listening for erratic footsteps in the hopes that Pashan had heard her and would return.

 

[SkyGinge]

Pashan, who was only just out of sight in a room just around the corner, heard her shouts, clutching his ears as they echoed painfully through the corridors. I have the power, I ask the questions and hold my power, nyes! Pashan told himself, with an angry glance back down the tunnel. But nevertheless, she was quite the speciman. It wouldn't harm to return to her, especially with his power as absoulte as it was.


So Pashan swiftly scurried back down the corridor, arriving in front of her once more. "Nyes? Go on, tell me!" Bizarrely, he was so caught up in his own world that he hadn't an inkling that she might have been trying to stall and trick him.


////////////////////


Skyre's group hadn't travelled far when suddenly Skyre stopped, halting the party with an outstretched palm. His head jolted to the left, one of the many houses lining the street. "I heard something, something odd," he said, quietly. It had been distant, almost inaudible, but hearing through the wind, his sense had picked it up. Extending his senses, he closed his eyes and tried to feel through the wind. His hearing was full of intermissions; the sounds of the others walking on the gravel surface and amplified birdsong echoing around his skull. But foussing, listening for something deep, he heard another sound, a little like rustling paper. Unfortunately, this stretching out of senses was quite a powerful act as he had tried to listen for something extremelty quiet, and so he briefly dropped to one knee in a grimasce as his only drops of magic left him. That's one step closer to my other potion.


His smiled having abandoned him, he began to walk towards the house in question, calling "In here," over his shoulder. The wooden door had been splintered in two, but still lay somewhat attached to its hinges, hanging awkardly in the doorway. Tentatively, Skyre moved it out of the way and entered the building. Like many of the rural homes, it was small and comely, containing only a small eating room and living room in the downstairs, and a short, ragge set of stairs to the upper layers.


Walking into the living room, Skyre sighed in disgust at the sight that greeted him. What little furnature the house had contained before lay smashed and destroyed; shards of glass and pottery painted the floor, a round table split in two around them. This was so unneccessary. Not only are the occupants dead, but their possessions have been taken to the grave with them. He remained there for a moment, deep in mournful thought.

 

[Cookie]

Ari appeared thoroughly distressed, as though all the panic of the moment had caught up with her at last. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her grey eyes were full of concern and worry. She spoke rapidly without breath. "My friend, the other one you took. Where is she? It is absolutely imperative that I know how she is doing."

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan followed behind Desiree and Skyre, trying not to stumble and keep the wisp's vision. Color and shapes where forming for his eyes but his sight was not coming back fast enough for him as his heart raced in this town of ghostly silence. Skyre had paused and with one knee had fallen attempting to listen for something. Ethan strained his ears to try and catch what he had but unable to break any audible sound from the occasional bird or creaking wood. As they entered one of the buildings Ethan could feel the crushed pottery and glass below his feet. The wisp gave enough of a glow to see the destruction and it left an ominous aura of death and disorder.


Not sure what Skyre had heard but not about to take any chances Ethan sent the wisp to search while he held to the wall to keep his balance. Its light circled around the simple rooms spreading its light through the dark damp cracks and shattered furniture. A painful concern of urgency was rising in Ethan and it took all he had not to break from the systematic search. Worried how soon the warriors would appear or the finding the two injured or worse. His thoughts where rushing him but keeping himself calm and calculative he followed and did what he could. Hoping the other groups where safe he continued to press on with Desiree and Skyre seeking for any sign of the missing girls.

 

[SkyGinge]

"Your friend is in the other room, nyes, and she'll have the same treatment indeedy as you when you're done," Pashan remarked with raised eyebrows nestling out from behind his spectacles. "But as always, I am most systematic, oh my; using the best first, nyes!" He grinned for a second, and then his expression of confusion returned. "Was that it? Because, pardon my critique, nyes, that was a question rather than an exclaimation, ahah!"


////////////////


Sensing Ethan's restlessness, Skyre turned to him. "I know, the others," he said quietly, "but I heard something unnatural. It might seem petty, but I've spent a good month in the wilderness; I know what sounds are normal and which are not." There was a tone of urgency and tension in Skyre's voice, like the impact of the room had broken past his joviality. But there was clearly nothing downstairs that matched what he was looking for. At a brisk pace, Skyre climbed the creaking stairs to the compact second floor, but the situation was identical; a complete wreckage.


Skyre stared blankly at the wall at the top of the stairs, frowning. Had he really imagined the noise? Had the pressure of leading a successful rescue effort finally caught up with him? He turned to leave and lead the other back down the street when suddenly he came to a startling realisation, his arms spasming in a brief moment of excitement as he found his idea. "I have it! Come, come!" Allowing the others to follow him, he dashed down the stairs and walked them into the living room.


"Now, at a glance this house would be just what you'd expect, a completely destroyed mess," he began to explain, powerful voice encapsulating in its excited explanation, "but look at the ceilings and layout." He span around with outstretched arms indicating. "And then coming upstairs," he dashed back upstairs, "there's about half the space that there is downstairs. Which means, if my hunch is correct..." Skyre trailed off, staring straight at the wall at the top of the stairs. Without any warning, he suddenly bent down and began to feel along the surface, pressing hard against each bare brick as he investigated. Then, as he grinned, he foudn a brick which could be dislodged and, working rapidly, removed part of the wall, the rest of it collapsing in a small cloud of dust.


Sat in the secret room on the other side were two figures. An older man, perhaps in his sixties, who had a drooping face and not a single hair on his head, and a rather incredulous looking youngster clad in snow white robes. Both were simply sat at a candlelit table, reading. In the corner of the room sat a pile of large books, all with bland titles such as 'Historic Fells of Valia'. As the cloud dissipated, the youngster looked up from his book, peturbed.


"How dare you!" he spat in snobbish tones. "We were enjoying the pleasures of our intellectual texts, Gregor and I, when you ruffians teared down our wall, our defence! Absolutely ghastly chaps!" Skyre was frozen with a slightly awkward looking expression. This wasn't quite the 'thanks for saving us' he had had in mind.

 

[Cookie]

"Oh dear God, please tell me she is still sleeping!" Ari shook her head urgently and spoke in an according way. "You see, she gets terrible panic attacks. My God, how selfish was I not to think of her at a time like this! You don't understand, no, if she wakes up restrained like I am now, she might just give herself a heart attack!" Ari's eyes widened to a pleading fear and concern. "Please, I'm charged with taking care of her ever since I rescued her from a river." Ari looked around in a panicked frenzy. "My clothes -- where did you put them? There's a special medicine that I'm supposed to give her in times like this!" She looked back towards Pashan, apparently very earnest in her speech. "Please, I...you don't want her to die like that." She begged again.


It had been a long while since Ari had lied so blatantly. It was partially true in at least one way; she felt somewhat responsible for Lapis' wellbeing after the river incident. She simply tapped into the urgency of the situation and the feelings that she'd suppressed. Ari had put forth her very best effort in this elaborate lie in hopes that the rat would buy into it. Everything about the way she'd spoken, her body language, her facial expressions all pointed towards truthfulness. Trustworthiness. But even then, it might not be enough to convince Pashan. She only had to hope that he would take no chances of petrifying a dead Lapis.

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan continued to search the building having the wisp go up and down the rooms. For the most part it was just another abandoned building unable to see the details or what draw Skyre to the degraded place. Just as they where about to leave Skyre had turned back with an almost earnest appearance, he started to talk about the outlay of the room and looking to the walls. Ethan unable to fully see the depth of the room via the wisp felt confused till Skyre removed a few bricks resulting in a whole wall collapsing. As the dust cleared an elder and young man where sitting in the corner. The boy's white cloak caused Ethan to have to refocus as it flashed in his eyes as a white patch before the wisp's vision took over. The young man was not shocked but instead seemed displeased in our discovery of them giving off a scoffing remark to the search.


Ethan took a moment to review the situation, it was great to find more survivors but it was not Ari or Lapis and this only made his patience thin. This caused Ethan to speak out to the young man "Walls can be rebuilt, pleasantries aside we don't have time or the luxury of introductions. Tell us if you have seen two girls, one dark short haired and the other long blonde?". The wisp stayed close to his shoulder as Ethan stood tall looking to the young man and elder with a stern face. He didn't have time to contemplate them as friend or foes and this constant pull of worry meant time was not to be wasted. If these two could not provide answers he would leave them to Skyre and continue the search alone if need be, and if they where going to try and stop them he wouldn't waste time collapsing the room above them.

 

[SkyGinge]

Pashan's eyebrows rose a little, but he didn't seem particularly perplexed. For a while he stood there and paused, deep in thought, his mouth breaking in and out of a manic grin and a concerned frown - with sight of his eyes his intentions would have been crystal clear, but the darkened glasses perfectly masked any notion of his thoughts. In fact, the only thing that shone through was just how much the twisted rat enjoyed watching Ari in distress.


"This is a major concern to me, nyes, but what if I didn't do as you say, hmm? What if I let her hang there, nyes, in all her beauty, knowing very well that she might kill herself, oh my! Surely, in this wondrous situation, nyes, it is you, not me, nyes, who wouldn't want her to die like that. What would you do, ahah, indeedy, what would you do to ensure her safety, hmm?" He leant forward with a menacing grin, suddenly thinking a little bit out of his normal oddness, although he still hasn't the perception to notice that she was playing with him.


/////////////


"What an absurd enquiry!" the white haired youth stuttered, his companion still not rising from his book. "How can we see anything from a room that's fully encased in bricks, nincompoop! We can't, that's what, we can't see anything bar bricks, let alone two stupid girls." Calming himself down a little, the man seated himself once more. "Now, if your quite done with your rude interruptions, please make haste to tootle-pip out of my sight, thank you very much!"


Skyre meanwhile remained rooted to the spot. Of all the situations...

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan took the boys attitude as pompous and reminded him of Lapis but more pampered then her ego. His only thought was another noble who found it more important to care for their comfortable status then others. Ethan's eyes glowed blue for a moment as his anger rose, his vision cleared temporarily as he walked to the boy and tossing him to the ground, the wisp exploding as he lost control to sustain it. Staring at the boy he simply looked down on him with stern eyes. "I don't care if you wish to cower here but don't speak like another life is none of your concern." as he walked towards the door of the building. With the wisp gone his forced vision was fading fast he turned his face to the elder who reminded him of his teacher then back to the boy "Open your eyes to the world around you child maybe then you'll see how you can help it, rather then hiding behind bricks and bindings of books." as he stepped out. His eyes slowly went back to a blueish grey and his vision returned to being shapes and random colors.


Taking a moment to catch his breath and compose himself Ethan needed to focus in order to regain his wisp and continue his search. He cared not to deal with an immature stranger and left Desiree and Skyre to the task. Closing his eyes he could only think of where the two girls had gone and hoped time was on their side. His hand gripped his satchel's strap as he felt this search was going nowhere. "Focus Ethan...no buildings, a wall, no signs of soldiers...why build defenses without operation..." he was slowly calculating, attempting to figure how or where they would have gone. For a moment Desiree's idea of going under the wall echoed as he continued to grasp at straws.

 

[SkyGinge]

The snobbish youth clattered the the floor, eyes wide with rage and a comically indignant rage painted across his features. "How absolutely dare you!" he roared, his voice cracking as Skyre tried to resist a snigger. "I needn't look at a world that is doomed and I shan't take advice from a ruffian like you!"


Noticing his attempt to leave, Skyre turned to Ethan before he could go to far and said: "That might not have been too wise. This isn't an ordinary person; this is Cyril, son of King Lyram, and the royal butler Gregor!"


Cyril turned rapidly to Skyre, climbing to his feet and brushing off his robes. "Ah, so you are accustomed to our wonderful family?" Skyre nodded.


"I used to live in one of the student quarters of the lower castle, so I saw a lot of your father," Skyre said, "In fact, he was the one who saved me from the fall. He told me to run on that fateful night, and so I did." He was just as frustrated by the prince's words as the others, but decided that being angry and rebuking Cyril would only make matters worse: it was better to show him the manners that he clearly felt he deserved and ensuring collaboration. Cyril's eyes widened again, but he quickly narrowed them, carefully looking at the remaining two survivors. Behind him, Gregor was still to look up from his book.

 

[Cookie]

It was a good thing that Ari was quick minded, for she hadn't prepared for such a response. She should have known that this man lacked empathy; he was more selfish than even her. Therefore, she would have to play up his desires. Or rather, against them.


Ari pulled the corners of her mouth down into an unattractive frown. She scrunched up her nose and eyebrows to appear even more unsightly. "Well, in that case, I refuse to look pretty in any way until you help me. And if you don't hurry, I'll freeze this way and all your effort will be wasted." Ari tilted up her face pretentiously, making an extra effort to frown deeply. She would have loved to see Pashan's reaction, but Ari didn't dare break character for fear that he might suspect her ruse.

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan heard Skyre's words but felt no need to acknowledge them. Prince or not the fallen king and royal family government was gone. Even so he owed no allegiance to a spoiled son. Raised in simple means Ethan was not a fan to the nobles who seemed to look down upon simple folk. At the very least they where not an immediate threat but a delay in the search.


Regaining his composure Ethan cupped his hands before slowly bringing back the wisp. As the room's view came back into focus Ethan scoffed at the boy and simply stood near the door to scan the area for any signs. Crossing his hands over his chest he kept to himself but becoming impatient. His vision slightly improved now able to trace out the images he could see, with the aid of the wisp mimicking his sight it was slowly improving.


The surrounding buildings where decrepit and silent, still the entire town was surrounded by this wall and outside of it everything else was rubble. He bit his lower lip thinking attempting to conclude any possible options. "No sign of fires or smoke so being on a second floor or camped can be ruled out...most the buildings had broken windows and collapsing roofs so using the current residence would be a give away, so where are you hiding bastard." his mind continued to race on the possibilities while he left the prince to Skyre. His only thought was they needed to move quickly and this act of nobility was only delaying them.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Helia idly wondered if it would have been better to stay and help with the retrieval of the two missing group members. As much as she wanted to find out why the leapers came after her specifically it seemed selfish to leave them to their captivity and not help in the rescue attempt.


Still, the truth of the matter was that leapers were targeting her in particular, and that was trouble. To make matters worse, what if leapers came after her in the midst of the rescue attempt? They had already interrupted one fight, which could have been catastrophic, so Helia would not allow her problems to threaten the greater good.


As the woman continued her movements, she was so lost in thought she didn't notice the dark, shaggy shapes moving through the trees behind her.

 

[Shura]

Rusar tried to remain as a look out in case any nasty surprises popped up. She wasn't much help in close range anyway, so she followed along the the croup carefully trying to maintain her perch on the remains of the houses. She saw Skyre go into one of the houses looked around. No sign of any life in this city. With so many soldiers in the canyon... how come none were paroling? She knew the ratish man had them when he raided the camp but there was no sign that anyone had been here since its initial fall. The whole city didn't sit well with Rusar making her that much more alert to any sounds or odd sights she could see in the surrounding area. She heard some noise coming from inside the house but it sounded more like voices than sounds of fighting. "Odd..."

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree blew strands of hair from her eyes in frustration. This was getting them nowhere. She placed a gentle hand on Ethan's arm and spoke to them all. "Gentlemen, please." She smiled at the boy, Cyril, as she took stock of him. His arrogance and mannerism certainly did his father's reputation no good. Still, the white-haired kid had managed to remain concealed from the Shadow King's blight and that had to account for something.


"Ethan," Desiree said, "This is another survivor like the rest of us." Then, she paused as she looked back at Cyril and smiled knowingly with a slight nod. "Well, maybe not exactly like the rest of us, with his lineage, but another survivor nonetheless. We should do all that we can to keep him safe, just like everyone else."


"Sweetie," Desiree said as she regarded the youth with her bright, blue eyes, "I can appreciate your position, and I apologize for our interruption, but there are other survivors who were abducted and are imprisoned around here somewhere. We would very much appreciate whatever help you can give us in our search for them."

 

[SkyGinge]

Pashan's mouth opened wide in surprise, lips trembling. It was such a stupid idea for resistance, yet he knew it would work; how foolish, nyes, of his to allow such an oversight. He had been in the perfect position of power, and now he had been thrown off; had he been thinking clearly he would have realised that he could have just sent her to sleep and been done with the whole business.


"Erm, nononono!" he spluttered, "Don't do that please, nyes, I'll sort her out, so I will indeedy! I'll use my mighty mystics, nyes, to keep her knocked out so that and mistakes are averted, indeedy! In fact, I'll do it now, oh my!" And before she could say anything, he had scampered away down the corridor to pull off his task. 
Cyril regarded them with a perturbed expression, a quaint smile creeping onto his features. He was clearly thinking about something rather deeply, though shows no indications of revealing his thoughts. "Yes," he said wistfully, "I think we will join you on your escapade. Sticking together as a group and all that bravado." Something didn't quite ring true with his words though, and it sounded like he were trying to cover up some greater reasoning.


"However, I should very much like my books. Gregor, please fetch them!"


"Very good sir..." Gregor finally spoke, his voice a perminant awkward mumble, and he rose, beginning to collect up the piles of books from the corner of the room. Skyre however was getting impatient.


"With all respect, your majesty, we don't have time to sort out collecting up your books," he said, "Time is running out and we need to find..."


"Oh nonsense!" Cyril exclaimed, "It is absolutely imperative that I have my texts." He seemed incredulous, but maybe some force would make him sense, Skyre thought, turning to Desiree for help as he was still a little overwhelmed by the sudden change in situation.

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree grinned at Cyril and with twinkling blue eyes she extended her hand toward him so that she might be properly escorted by him. "Then, if it pleases your highness, shall we go?"


"I would sooo love to hear about how things go at court and how you and your servant came to be here," she gushed. "I am but a simple student of elemental art and have never been fortunate enough to visit the capital."

 

[SkyGinge]

Despire her charm, Cyril regarded her hand with a pair of raised eyebrows. "Are you... trying to flatter me?" he asked slowly. "As nice as your hand is, I don't know where its been. Please withdraw it, thank you." Behind him, Gregor was still loading up the piles of books into his massive arms, and Skyre wondered how they had managed to escape with them all in tow. Skyre gave the prince another weary look.


"Again with due respect," Skyre began tentatively, "we need to go faster and your books will just end up as a burden."


"And again I tell you nonsense, boy!" Cyril spluttered, despite being younger than Skyre. It appeared that the prince was intent on takign his leasurely time.

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree giggled lightly at Cyril. "Flatter you, your highness?" she asked with undisguised mockery in her tone. "It would seem that you do that well enough on your own. No, I merely was offering you the opportunity to show your father's civility that I thought you might have learned at his side."


She turned to help the older man collect the tomes. As she did so, she glanced at the titles on the spines to get a general idea of what they were. She winked at Gregor and softly tossed over her shoulder, "I'm sure that Lyram would have been so proud of his son."

 

[SkyGinge]

Cyril wasn't the only one now to have had his cheeks painted red by Desiree, though this time it was not in embarressment or through affection. He was fuming, and if the world were a cartoon then a steady flow of steam would have been eminated from his ears. "It appears that you know very little of the the appropriate respect for the upper classes. But then again, it wouldn't surprise me if you never had. Probably one of those petulant peasants who never achieved much, weren't you? Pity you just through away your chance to impress a prince. Now do try to behave." Gregor remained silent, though he may have attempted to mumble something at some point. At his words, Skyre found himself growing frustrated, especially at his insulting of Desiree. His hands clenched at his sides, but he remained still.


At the far side of the town, sunlight was just beginning to reach the trees near the walls...

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan's impatience with this flattery had finally been pushed to the limit as Desiree and Skyre attempted to wait on his majesty's books. Time was not a luxury for some and so with a scoff Ethan turned to the boy "Enough with this pampering of a orphaned prince his life is not threatened right now...I refuse to wait on a spoiled child to gather his books." as his thoughts fell to Ari and Lapis "...wait if you want for his royal arse but this child doesn't deserve any respect from me nor has he earned any I dont fear a boy who does not know a decent days work..." as his eyes where slowly turning blue again "...you are an insult to your father's name and the people he ruled." as Ethan straighten his hat. The recovery was increasing and soon Ethan could make out fuzzy details of the people around him. His wisp kept close to his shoulder as it kept tabs and mimicking his vision to help.


Ethan tightened his strap then left the room turning to the alley space between the houses. Using the wisp he was barely able to cut it into two halves sending it to search the remaining buildings for signs of anything. His mind continued to contemplate where they are hiding. His only clue the wall and the distance of the forces. With no sign of camp and a constructed wall the only assumption left however unlikely was a cave system. Where though would an entrance for such a thing be and how large or inclosed would this system stretch. Keeping out of sight from the main road Ethan sat on the ground focusing on the two small wisps for anything that would look to be an entrance. His anger for this would be prince was to a breaking point he was never a fan of nobles and this one especially was not one he favored. His disgust for the boy and the way Skyre and Desiree had to please his attitude only proved Ethan's point of noble self-centered look to society. As the sun was rising Ethan kept hearing the soft voice of his dreams "hurry..." his heart was uneasy as the wisps pushed on.

 

[Kharmin]

With mirth in her tone, Desiree replied, "Oh, insults your highness. The last bastion and best hope of the immature and the petulant." She looked at Gregor and shrugged her shoulders, "At least, that's what my mom used to say to me. I can now die happy knowing that I incurred the wrath of a royal prince!"


As she stood and re-appraised the young man. Her bright blue eyes turned cold and penetrating as she stared into his and added, "She also said that if you couldn't say something nice, then you shouldn't say anything at all."


She turned and her bountiful blonde hair flipped and followed in her wake as she accompanied Ethan while carrying whatever few books that she was able to grab in her effort to assist the prince's royal butler.

 

[Shura]

Rusar spotted Ethan exit the house and send his wisps out to search the houses. She wanted to go off and search the city as well but wasn't sure it would be safe to run off alone in an unknown area. She saw the sky starting to lighten and sighed heavily they were wasting time. She She moved along the roof she was perched on to see as much of the town as possible to catch any signs of light or movement in any of the other buildings. There had to be some sign that there were others in the walled city... unless they were being played for fools and the people they were looking for were some where else.

 

[SkyGinge]

Cyril's cheeks turned even redder and his mouth opened in pompous shock. How dare the pair of them treat him with so little respect! After all, with his father dead he was clearly the most important person left alive. Surely they could see that he didn't need or want any of their snide, and downright rude remarks? He wanted to shout them down with insults, but as the admittedly smart woman had just stated, they were the 'bastion of the immature'. He wished he'd come up with that, and now found himself floundering on how to respond.


And so before Skyre could do anything, Cyril stormed past him with glaring eyes, charging down the stairs after the first two, who had been too cowardly to even stay for his responce. Stepping out into the dim morning, he frantically searched for something. His eyes fell upon a jagged brick lying by the side of the house. His eyes narrowed, and before Skyre could reach him the prince let go of his newfound weapon and let it fly through the air towards Ethan's head. Thinking fast, Skyre managed to use his little returning wind magic to divert it just slightly; the brick flew past the alchemist's hat and landed instead in one of the only intact windows of the village, filling the air with an ear-splitting screech. Skyre's heart sank. Surely, if there are any Shadow Warriors around, they would have heard that.

 

[Kharmin]

As the brick sailed, Desiree sensed a shift in the air current as Skyre re-directed the crude missile. Inside, she tut-tutted Skyre's lack of control, remembering the many lessons at her expense that Professor Hagen tried to drill into her. Still, Skyre had managed to keep the brick from striking Ethan.


Desiree spun on her heel and dropped the tomes. Wild, blazing blue eyes flared and she summoned some wind to whirl her hair about her head. With a quick, purposeful stride she brought herself directly in front of Cyril.


"A prince you may be," she intoned with controlled fury, "and that may give you the right to throw as many insults as you like; however, if you throw another item at any one of my friends, I will pick you up and hurl you toward the first shadow warrior I see and thus end Lyram's line. Do I make myself ... perfectly ... clear?"