The sun beat down on the sand which magnified the heat as Alkar started the last day of his journey towards the small citadel. He was starting to get irratated by the heat and yet he'd been travelling for days unnerved. He had thought that it would be fun to go to this desrt oasis where scholars of light trained as battlemages or librarian mages. But the journey was excruciatingly long. He had spent 3 days in Lomedor trying to hitch a ride but everyong thought that the place was much to dangerous for anyone to travel to. Never the less Alkar would not be swayed and so here he was just as evening was settling upon the desert at the gates of the fortress.

He smiled, he had done it walked through the desert and reached this place of scholarism at long last. He whistled up to the top of the wall and twelve archers appeared out of nowhere their bows were expertly trained on him and one of them called down to him "What brings you to the fortress of solitude traveler?"

Alkar stared up at the young man he was barely in his teens and yet he was gaurding this city fortress. He didn't need to lie for once in a long time to get into a city "I am here to visit and to relax for I have been out on the road wandering for to long a time."The gaurd stared him down obviously contemplating not letting him in but in the end he nodded to his men who unknocked their bows and walked off into hiding. The great stone door started to move back a great grinding noise sounded deep and loud it was horrid even the gaurd to whom he had spoken twitched a little at the noise. The rumbling seized and Alkar walked into the city looking around at the various sun shades that were hanging everywhere. He was glad to have at long last reached his destination and was looking forward to tommorow when he would get to see the city in all its glory.

After a few minutes of wandering he noticed a small inn off to the side he went in and walked up to the barkeep."Barkeep I need a room for the night do you have any?" The barmen looked like a gruff man and he was now sizing him up making sure he could throw him out if he had to. Alkar smiled a barkeep was a barkeep wherever you went."Ya I got a room for ya. And I'll take that there money of yours if you'll follow me sir." He took some money Alkar had taken out of his pocket and directed him to his room. After unpacking he lay down in the bed and fell asleep.

He woke up to the sounds of screams there was darkness everywhere he sat up fast and started to feel his way towards the door. He pulled it open to see the men who worked in the bar pulling on some armour and then marching out the front door. Alkar ran after them and pried the door open. Outside there were arrows in the sky going both ways and then as if out of nowhere he felt himself get wrenched up off the ground and sent flying. He hit the ground with a giant thud. What the heck had just hit him. Alkar got up and there sitting a few feet from where he had just been standing was a flaming boulder. They were being attacked. Then he felt someone wrench him up off the ground he turned to face them and asked "Who are you?"

Az had already been in the fortress for a couple of days, doing a little bit of training and getting used to his newfound strength. He had a hard time getting in, since his eyes were black, and were a bit suspicious. But he promised them if anything was a little suspicious with him that they could kick him out into the cruel desert. As soon as he got in and went to the in and got something to drink, and rested up slightly. He looked at the people, all of them seeming they were good intentioned people, and was glad that no one was out for a fight now.

He finished his drink and went out into the training areas. He knew that they specialized in some sort of magic, but he was here just to get used to his strength. Better here, since there wouldn't be any deadly damage done anywhere or too anyone. He found an aread with weapons all hung up on the walls and such, and picked up a huge two handed bastard sword. Surprisingly he weilded it with ease, and could manuever it well with even one hand. He worked with it for a while, getting used to his power, and quit after trying a few more weapons and such.

After he was somewhat used to it all, he then retired back to the hotel and had a filling dinner at the bar. He paid and left, snagging a room. He crashed onto the bed, as it was already night, and fell sound asleep.

Az was rudely awoken by a tremendous boom, and was also knocked to the ground. He stood up quickly, hearing something also thump in the room next to his. He ripped out of the door, knocking off its hinges, and ran into the other room, this time opening the door. He saw the big flaming boulder, and knew this place was going to get trashed no matter what the outcome. He saw someone lying there, and picked him up and held him in front of him. "Who are you?" He said, seeing the man was conscious. He let the man balance on his own and looked to the window, seeing what damage had happened. "Listen, forget about that. We gotta get outta here and help the soldiers trying to defend the place." He headed for the door and urged, "Come on!"

Raven had been in the fortress for three days, regaining her strength for the remaining journey across the desert. Two years ago, she would have shifted form and flown against the desert, but at that time Raven hadn’t had a familiar to look after. Aegis couldn’t fly, and Raven had to make allowances for him.

The shapeshifter was awakened out of a comfortable sleep by the sound of screams. Raven opened her eyes, quickly getting out of bed. She threw her cloak on, sliding her feet into her Boots of Elvenkind. The shapeshifter snatched up her bow and quiver from a corner of the room, slinging the quiver over her shoulder.

The screams and the sounds of her movements roused Aegis, who had been sleeping comfortably on a mat in the room. He got up, running over to her. Raven drew an arrow from her quiver, fitting it to her bow as she ran through the halls of the inn.

One door had been ripped off its hinges, probably by the room’s occupant. Suddenly, a loud boom shook the inn, making her lose her balance. She tripped, falling onto the ground.

Raven picked herself up, looking around cautiously. What was that? She continued to run towards another room, knowing that she wasn’t going to get any answers staying where she was.

A flaming boulder had crashed through the ceiling, nearly crushing an elf. As she watched, a half-demon had picked the elf up, and was now urging the elf towards the door of the inn.

"Listen, forget about that. We gotta get outta here and help the soldiers trying to defend the place,” said the half-demon.

Raven ran over to the two of them as they reached the door.

“If you are going, then I would like to come along,” she said, “I also wish to help defend this place.”

Alkar stared at the two people before him were they actually saying that they would brave the enemies and help to defend the fortress. He smiled he had heard that this place was full of men and women who would fight to the death for this place. He didn't question their resolve he had just wondered where they had learned to fight but that was a question for another time he would just have to be careful around them. He turned towards the wall and saw men in armour varying from chain link to leather to plate mail on their bodies. Alkar gulped he had no such armour on his body he had only a travellers cloak. He left himself a mental note that if he survived this battle he was going to go out a buy himself a set of armour. "Alright people if we're going to help this place we're going to have to be able to get there quickly so we are going to run. If you fall behind or are injured I will most likely leave you behind to your own fate. It may sound harsh but its reality. Lets go!"

He turned not even waiting for their response and started the run towards the wall. He watched the sky as arrows poured down amongst hundreds of fireballs that were ripping apart the city. He rounded a corner and in the middle of the street there was rubble and it was in a monstrous uproar of fire. Alkar gulped he had not expected to see this building on fire for that was a very bad thing for the people following him. In front of him sat the ruins to the supply store which would have been selling oil for lamps and such. The oils were apparently high quality for they burned very strongly. He yelled back "Good luck." and then he ran through the fire and out onto the other side. Two squads of gaurds stood there facing away from him towards a door to be precise the gate that led to the city this was the squad preparing for its destruction. He ran past them and up the stairs just seconds before the squad at the door was obliterated by a catapult. He stared out at the army of orcs and his jaw dropped. There out in front of him stood about three thousand orcs and Uruk Hai just waitin to tear them limb from limb. Way in the distance he saw what they were bringing. At the pace they were going in two hours a battering ram of the likes which he had never seen would reach the city and breach the gate.

Az nodded at Alkar's proposition, but Az wouldn't leave anyone behind. He didn't have the heart to. He watched Alkar dash off, and dashed along with just after he went. He grinned, just itchin' to have a little fun. Az always thought about these things as fun, since it took away the serious part and made things easier.

Az reached the wall of flame and just kept going, knowing that it would be at least 4 seconds before fire would actually start burning him, He came out unscatched and followed Alkar right up to the top of the wall. He turned around and looked at the squad of guards, awaiting the battle nervously. Then he turned and looked out, and was amazed at all the orcs. He stood by Alkar, and looked to both Raven and Alkar. "We have two hours. Ready?" He asked them, clutching the hilt of his dagger, and getting his demon side flared up. He knew there was catapult fire coming, but that wasn't half the problem. He just let that pass by as if it was raining lightly.

"Alright people if we're going to help this place we're going to have to be able to get there quickly so we are going to run. If you fall behind or are injured I will most likely leave you behind to your own fate. It may sound harsh but its reality. Lets go!" said the elf.

Raven frowned slightly at the elf’s words, wondering if he was thinking that she would drag them down. Most people she had come across in her travels thought that way, at first. Raven’s rather…unique…abilities usually helped in changing that perception.

She rushed out into the street after him, transforming into eagle form as she ran. Raven took to the skies, dodging arrows and flaming balls of fire as they rained down upon the city. Aegis stayed at the door of the inn. He would fight where he was. Both Raven and her familiar knew that Aegis would be no help on the wall, and that the best place for him to remain was on the ground.

Raven spiraled out of the way of an arrow, enjoying the freedom of flight. She always loved to fly, enjoying the exhilarating thrill of soaring through the air. The shapeshifter kept an eye on the elf and the half-demon below her. She felt the heat of the flames as she passed over the shop, heading for the wall.

As the wall loomed in front of her, Raven flapped her wings, soaring straight upward and getting ahead of the two who were forced to opt for the stairs. The shapeshifter landed on the stones of the wall, transforming back to human form. She got up, grinning slightly as the elf and the half-demon made their way up the stairs, both covered in soot from the burning building they had passed through.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, “Did I leave you behind?”

She looked over the wall, taking in the might of the enemy forces. Raven had never been present during a siege, mostly used to fighting small groups of attackers at a time. This was nothing like that. As she watched, several Orcs and Uruk-Hai began marching forward, a battering ram in their hands.

“That thing’s made of wood, right?” she asked, a plan forming in her mind, “And wood burns…”

She extended her hand towards the battering ram, visualizing it in her mind in the same way she visualized a target before firing an arrow at it. Raven traced symbols in the air, muttering magical words under her breath as she cast the Flame Strike spell.

A vertical column of fire spiraled down from above the battering ram, striking it and the forces that carried it. She watched as several of the Orcs cried out, nursing burns and dropping the battering ram. Small fires were sprouting up around the battering ram itself.

“That should buy us some time, don’t you think?” asked Raven, drawing an arrow from her quiver and fitting it to her bow.

(OCC: Hi everyone Alkar said I could post here.)

Zaltar had been travelling through the desert for weeks now. He had been flying for the last few hours through the cold dark night sky of the desert. He spotted a bright light a few miles away. He hope that he could rest and stock up on supplies there, but his hope was misplaced.

An orc stared at the moon hoping that he would survive the seige of the desert city. To his amazement a shadow appeared in front of the moon. Not knowing what it was he asked his commanding officer. "Sir, I believe we may have some thing thing watching us." The commanding officer was old and battle hardened and his gaze upon the orc scared him to death. "Get back to your post that is only a vulture you idiot!" The orc bowed and replied "Excuse my ignorence sir and please forgive me."

Zaltar flew over a main road that lead to the city but what he saw unsettled him. He saw an army of orcs with at least 1,000 strong. He knew that they were going to seige the city. He had seen it happen before. He was filled with rage, orcs like this had taken his home town and killed his family. He flew towards the city wanting to shed the blood of orcs.

As Zaltar reached the city he saw that the lights he had seen had been flaming boulders. He landed inside the city walls and transfigured himself back into his human form. He heard an explosion 100 yards away then a flame a mile high. He knew they had hit the towns supply of lamp oil. "Those orcs will pay for the lives they have taken today!" Zaltar muttered to himself. He sprinted toward the fire and drew his long sword. As he reached the fire he saw an elf and another being. Then in the corner of his eye he saw another blouder heading right for them. He gathered his energy and transfigured into a metal golem and he ran towards them screaming "RUN!" Zaltar knew that they couldn't escape the blast radius. He jumped in front of them and braced himself to absorb the impact. The boulder hit him and luckly he absorb the energy. Zaltar was blown back and having been weakened he changed back into his human form. He looked up and saw the elf. Darkness was filling his view, he knew he would black out soon. "Elf, you must escape this city the orcs have you surrounded they are at least 1,000 strong." Zaltar slipped into the embrace of a coma and he hoped the elf could help him and wake him before the battle was over.

Az heard someone yell run as he was watching out at the army of orcs approach. He turned out and saw the huge flaming rock coming at them, and someone step in the way, turn to metal, and totally block it. And Az just stood there, totally dumbfounded how the guy just did that. He raised his eyebrows and said to himself, "That's handy..."

He listened to Zaltar talk to Raven, and said to her, "She's fine. She wanted to help, so she can. Plus we'll need all the help we can get. Welcome to the party." He said with a grin, and turned back to watch the orcs come.

((Lets get some action going now...))

Zaltar opened his eyes slowly, letting the light rush into his view. Once he had full view of his surroundings, he began to stand. When he got to his feet he felt a searing pain in his chest and a splitting headache. He know the headache was due to the impact of the boulder, but this searing pain was new to him. He went to pick up his long sword with his left hand but he dropped it instantly. He decided it would be best to use his right hand. He dusted the remains of the blouder off of himself and he stared toward the horizon. he would need every once of strength he had left to fight these orcs.

He stared toward the beings he had saved and said "If you wish to fight these orc then I suggest that you prepare a trap at the main door. If there is any lamp oil left in this city then you should gather it and place it in front of the main gate and light it when the orcs break through the gate. While you do that, I will run through the opening in the wall about 30 meters away, once the orcs find it then they will enter through there. Make sure that no orc lives. May your swords stay sharp." Zaltar pulled his cloak over his head and sheathed his sword. He took off towards the hole in the wall leaving the other's in his wake. When he reached the opening he saw a scout group of 20 orcs 50 meters away. He knew that he would be at a great disadvantage with his injuiries so he tried to use his light heal spell on his chest injuiry but it was too serious. He knew at that point that he had a broken rib. He tried to use the spell on his head but it only brought him slight releif which lasted only 20 seconds. He would have to wait for a doctor.

The scout group of orcs spotted the hole in the wall and didn't hesitate to pass through it. Behind them the orcs heard a scream and then the thud of their comrade's body falling to the ground. Zaltar and peirced the orcs heart with his blade. The orcs drew their weapons. Some had clubs and other had swords, one orc even had a ball and chain. The orcs surrounded him and began to close in. Zaltar decided to break their formation. He ran at a pair of orcs with his sword drawn. He jumped and kicked one orc in the neck, and slashed the other orc's thoat. The orcs squeled with pain and they fell to the ground. An orc with a longsword ran at Zaltar and slashed with all his might, Zaltar tried to dodge it but it was too late the orc slashed his left arm. Zaltar lept into the air and transfigured into a metal golem his favourite form. He knew in his weakened state that he could only remain in this form for a few minutes. The Earth shoke under his feet as he landed. An orc tried to slash him with a sword but it broke into three pieces, two of which flew through the heads of his comrades. Zaltar grabbed the orc by the neck and snapped with little effort. Grabbing the orc by the ankles he used the orc's body as a club. One of the orcs was hit so hard that he flew throught the air and impacted the wall 20 meters off the ground. Throwing the dead orc with all his might he was able to kill two of the orcs by striking their head with the orc's corpse breaking their necks. He looked around and saw a flaming blouder or part of one. He lifted the blouder and threw it towards the 12 orcs that remained. Only 2 orcs managed to survive the impact. Zaltar crushed the skull of one with his shear weight. the other began to run away but his effort was futile Zaltar grabbed the orcs head and crushed it between his hands. He looked and saw that the blouder hadn't broken. He moved it in front of the hole to block the orcs from entering or at least to slow them down.

Zaltar returned to his human form and pulled his cloak over his head. He examined the wound to his arm. The gash wasn't that deep but it was long. The orc had cut his entire upper left arm from the soulder to his elbow. He used his minor heal spell and it healed most of the wound. The rest was still bleeding, it must've been deeper then he thought. He saw an orc at his feet, Zaltar tore a length off the orc's clothes. Using this piece of cloth he created a sort of field bandage to slow the bleeding. The pain in his chest had gotten worse, it felt like there were daggers in his chest.

Zaltar looked toward the main road and he saw a battering ram moving into place. He hope the people who were in the city had set a trap. Zaltar knew he was in for a fight but nothing could prepare him for what he saw next. He saw some if the orcs pulling a cart into the city. It was filled with humans! They had brought hostages to this fight. They had probably been captured by the orcs and kept for food. He knew he had to save them but how?