William Drown stood in the shadows of the a large ash tree. The wind was blowing his red cloak and hair behind him, but his body stood still like a statue. Word had spread across the evil guilds that Will was planning to capture and kidnap the elven princess of Yomenïampa. Will came up with the plan a week ago while he was sitting in his conference room of his guild The Dread Legion. Will told his members of the guild and they agreed that it was a bold and dangerous plan, therefore only one member of Will’s guild said she would come along. Will was shocked, he had expected Dark Wraith or another War Lord, but it was a half vampire named Shayia who would put her life on the line, to help her guild master in yet, another one of his plans. He knew that if she made it out alive he would reward her.

Will looked up into the ash tree’s branches and noticed three small bats hanging up side down. Well that’s a good sign… He thought, not really caring to be honest. Will had also received word from a man named Vaul. Vaul wasn’t a member of The Dread Legion, but Will had known him before he made his guild and even though Vaul didn’t join, he said he would back the guild up in any trouble and he was proving that tonight.

Will looked around the forest and smirked slightly. He was still five miles away from the City Of The Elves. Will thought if he got too close too soon their elvish magic may detect him and then the whole plan would be ruined. He heard a wolf howl somewhere far in the distance. Will saw a huge full moon through the canopy of leaves above. Will felt strong tonight. It was late and the moon was bright, he felt confident that his team would succeed.

Will heard rumour that another being would be joining the group. He went only by the name Death… This automatically made Will think, only a most evil, dangerous, even deadly creature would be able to claim a name like that. What’s more… He is said to be the leader of the only other evil guild in Arda… The Armies of the Abyss. Will paused as he thought about the word Abyss. A never ending hole… In other words hell… He thought chewing his tongue slightly. Will was slightly nervous about meeting Death, Meeting Death! Ha not something one wishes to do more then once! Will thought with a silent laugh. Maybe he is coming to figure me out, see what type of guild leader I am… Maybe he wants to form an alliance between our guilds… Will wondered, to be honest he didn’t know, all he knew was that Death would be extremely useful.

Will froze as he heard a twig snap on the other side of his tree. His hearing automatically heightened and Will found himself crouched and balancing on the balls of his feet. He moved silently without making a single sound and edged gently around the trunk of his tree, Will smiled cruelly as he looked at the Elf. An Elf, was crouched down on the ground with his hand on his sword hilt, he was wearing dark green clothes and his blonde hair flowed all the way down his back. It seemed as if the Elf were examining Will’s foot prints on the ground. Will raised his hand and coughed.

The Elf jumped up and put a hand to it’s sword hilt. Will laughed, “you are a fool to track one such as me!” Will said coldly. The Elf’s eyes seemed to widen as it saw Will’s long white fangs when he spoke. Will didn’t need anymore time to toy with the Elf, usually he would of… That’s where he found the fun in his life, in making others lives hell. From Will’s raised hand a net of magic fired out and engulfed the elf tangling him. The Elf started to rip at the net, trying to pull it off him. But Will fired another spell, this one a round of sharp long bones which stuck into the Elf’s chest. The beautiful Elf’s eyes widened for the last time as he whispered “why?”

Will shrugged his shoulders “seemed amusing…” He said with a sharp laugh and turned around to stand under his tree once more. Will had to admit, if he hadn’t killed the Elf, word would of gotten back to the City that there was an intruder in the forest… A mistake Will couldn’t afford to make. He also knew that getting into the City would be the hardest part of the mission. There were enough archers standing guard in the trees for a small army. Will lent back up against the tree and waited for his team to arrive. He left the dead Elf laying on the floor with bones sticking out of his chest, entangled in a net, the last look of terror in his shining, now glazed blue eyes.

(Revenge has arrived)

Revanche had been enlisted by a Guild Master by the name of William Drown to aid in the capture of an Elvish Princess. He chuckled at the thought and said," Oh Iam gona have fun tonight". Oh he would have fun fr their would be alot of Death tonight mostly by his hands Deaths hands he was The Bringer of Death the ultimate of Evil Angels he would do what his life prupose was Death. He saw someone up ahead neary the city and noticed at how quickly he took care of an Elven guard and he thought," HE must be the Guild Master". HE flew down and appraoched from a side angel his hand on his sword. He stood a far enough distance away so he would not be attacked without him first drawing his sword. He quietly said to the man," Guild Master Drown Iam Revanche de Scion the Angel you enlisted to help you in this most delicous venture".

Shayia prowled through the forest, she felt the darkness from the shadows wrapping around her body almost pulling her back from her destination. The heels of her black knee high boots made the dust form the path she was following rise high into the air although there was a thick enough mist around her legs she could still see them, with vision like hers it was hard to miss anything. The dust seemed to settle on the bottom of her long black pants and turned them a slightly dark gray colour. Shayia knew word was getting around about the Dread legion, it almost made her happy to be known and perhaps in time feared by others.

She was definitely one of the more refined people of the Dread legion, she always stayed so very silent, but when she did speak she usually had something beneficial to say. No one really knew that much about her she was never one for reveal anything about herself and she grew up like that, well as far as she could remember, learning to keep any emotion she ever had hidden from the rest of the world. It was perhaps a hard childhood, but it was one she knew almost nothing about. You see, It had all started around two or three years ago.

Shayia was not sure whether or not she was part vampire then or if she was still human, all she knew was she was far from her town. She woke up and appeared to be lying on a wooden hospital table. She shot up from where she was lying and looked around the room, it was full of surgical equipment. ‘What…what am I doing here?’ she thought, she felt so helpless until she heard someone coming, she immediately lay back down on the table and shut her eyes. She heard two people enter the room.

“What are we doing with this one?” one of them asked from the tone of voice it was a male. “Another experiment, why would anyone kill someone a pretty as her” he asked rhetorically. ‘Experiment?’ thought Shayia as she lay there on the cold wooden table. “Hey! try not to think about it, will ya your sending me on a guilt trip here, we’ll be bringing her back anyway, did you give her the first vile?” he asked trying to change the subject, “Yeah I give it to her I’ll give her the lycan vile in a few hours”. He said and left the room. The other stayed for a few moments longer to wash his hands. Shayia opened her eyes and saw his back was turned to her. A great sense of hunger came upon the girl she didn’t know what for straight away but tried to shake off the feeling.

Shayia rose up from the table quietly and stood behind the man washing his hands. The minute he turned around Shayia grabbed his neck violently with one hand pushed him back against the wall, then lifted him about 3 inches off the ground and watched as he began to choke. “Tell me about the experiments!” she demanded her voice was full of anger. “How are you even awake?” he asked, Shayia watched as his eyes widened he was generally surprised that she was wake. “I said tell me about the damm experiments” she hissed and grabbed a tighter hold of his neck. To be honest she was quite surprised that she was able to lift him like she did.

“Alright!, Alright!, Over the past few years we have been doing experiments” he said hoarsely as he tried to draw his breath. “We have been researching and trying to create the ultimate being, a being constructed of half vampire and half lycan we like to call it a Hybrid” he said his face turning a darker shade of purple. Shayia released her grip on him and watched him draw his breath. “Hybrid?, and how do I know your not lying to me?” she asked, the man simply looked at her and with a giant boyish grin said “Would I lie to you”, Shayia started at him coldly “Not if you wanted to live” she said as she made her exit through a nearby window.

Those were the type of memories that still haunted this girl. Whatever else they had done to her had also made her lose whatever memories she had of her friends and family. Shayia had come to some sort of a wider path while she was thinking back. ‘I must be getting close’ she thought. She walked for about another twenty minutes and saw William Drown the leader of the Dread legion, she had made it her duty to protect him on this mission, for what is a guild without a leader. As she approached she gave a slight nod of respect to Drown, and then turned her attention to the other man she saw speaking with him.

A group of young elves scrambled atop a high balcony, peering over its edge at one of the lower platforms connected to the treetops. One of them, a young boy with a green tunic and dulled dagger held tightly in his left hand, turned to the others after looking over. “There he is! The man who slew Ter'acklen, the forest devil!” He whispered in elvish, turning again to gaze at the man. The rest lifted their heads higher to examine him. The man was fairly tall, with a black cape draped over his shoulders and a large, wide-brimmed hat on his head, with dark brown hair cascading down the back of his hat. There was a crimson scarf wrapped around his neck, and over most of his face. The pupils of his multicolored eyes were bright, surrounded by dark rings and an almost bruised darkness. Whatever else he wore was hidden by the cloak wrapped around him.

The man, Sartana, had glimpsed the figures from the corner of his eye, and heard them speak, though he couldn't make out much of what they were saying. He couldn't speak elven, as he had never really had need of the language. He did recognize the word 'Ter'acklen', though, and figured they were talking of his slaying of the creature. It had been a difficult task. The creature had set traps around its layer, deadly poison dart springs and pitfalls. Not to mention the trolls it had brought along. In the end, the demonhunter had slain Ter'acklen, though, through the use of his left hand's magic. Sartana lifted his left hand, gloved in a silky black material. He could disintegrate demons and undead creatures by merely touching them with his hand. It was a useful ability indeed.

He remembered the elven children, and turned his head to them. He waved. The kids, startled that he had found their hiding place, turned and ran, disappearing from behind the balcony. Sartana smirked, and turned, his left hand on the dark sword at his side. A patrol of armed elves climbed the stairs at his side and approached him. Sartana turned to fully face them, and watched as they got closer. They stopped a few meters from him, and a taller, light-haired elf stepped forward and gave a light bow, lifting his head and looking at the demonhunter.

“We have what you asked for.” He said, turning and taking a box from another elf that stood behind him. He opened it, showing a dark purple flower that seemed to glow a faint white. “An obsidian moss blossom, as per our agreement.” he said, placing the box in Sartana's outstretched hand. The demonhunter nodded, and placed the small box in a pouch on his belt. “You're late.” He said with a smirk, turning to look out into the forests depths. “I wanted to depart from your city before nightfall, but it looks like I'll be spending the night instead.” The elf waved the rest of his guards away, who stalked off, heading towards the west.

The elf walked to Sartana's side and turned, looking into the forest. “You've done us a great favor in slaying the devil. You're welcome to stay in the guests quarters of the royal palace.” He said with a sigh, turning and preparing to leave. “I really do hate patrolling. Who would attack our city?” He shook his head and proceeded to walk away. “See you soon, V'ariel.” Came a deep voice from behind the elf. Sartana was alone again.

He sighed, and cracked his neck, staring into the dark forest's depths. Royal guest's quarters? Does that mean they're going to feed me, too? He thought to himself, unblinking, hands folded under his dark cape. “I wonder what tonight holds...” He whispered.

Merenwen had traveled home for a visit, though she didn't think she would be staying long. She needed an escape from the evils that were working throughout Arda and couldn't think of a better place to go then home. As she walked through the forest towards home she could still feel some evil surrounding her and hoped that it wasn't coming into her home. She thought it was possible that it was just a lingering sense of how much evil she had seen since leaving home and decided that she would not worry about it for now. She was still wearing her armor but had let her hair down as she was hoping that she wouldn't have to fight for a short time.

When she reached the city it was growing late and though some sun still shone through the trees it was getting steadily darker. She looked up and spotted one of the archers looking down on her. He had already relaxed his arrow as they knew each other well; they had been best friends as kids. She smiled up at him and ran on up so that they could speak. When she reached the level he was on she ran up and gave him a quick hug. She then stepped back and said, "So, how have you been doing Fëanáro?" She gave him a broad smile and glanced around the city.

He replied, "I have been well, I plan to marry Nessa in the spring of next year. How have you been?" She was glad to hear that he was going to marry Nessa; she knew that he had wanted her even when they were much younger. The two would make an amazing couple and she thought they would be very happy together.

In response to his question she said, "I have been well, though I have found that the world outside our home is being covered in evil. I will probably be leaving again before too long but I will do my best to make it back for your wedding. I do wonder though, I can feel a sense of evil even here now, has anything happened that I should know about?"

"Things have been good until just recently. An evil creature entered our woods recently and we fear that this might be leading to something much worse. We were able to find a demonhunter who has dealt with the creature but I still fear that some great evil may be coming," he replied.

This bothered Merenwen, she had thought that coming home would bring her back to a place untainted but it seemed that was no longer so. She did wonder about the demonhunter though. She had become friends with one during her travels and wondered if there was any chance that this was the same man. She decided she would go and find out, if it was then she would be able to worry a little less, though she would still worry about what kind of evil was heading their way. She turned to Fëanáro and said, "This demonhunter, is he still here?"

Fëanáro replied, "I'm not sure but I don't believe he has left yet. It took longer for us to procure the plant he asked for in payment then was expected and I would expect that he may be staying here tonight. You may be able to wait for him by the palace guest rooms or you could ask Orophin where to find him." Merenwen didn't want to risk missing the man and so she decided to go and find Orophin.

"I will speak with you again later Fëanáro," she replied as she headed off. When she found Orophin she asked him where she could find the man and he pointed to one of the lower platforms where a man stood. She went down to the correct platform and was happy to find that it was Sartana, the demonhunter who she had worked with a number of times during her travels.

She walked up to him and said, "Hello Sartana, it is nice to see you again. I have been told that you will be staying in one of the guest rooms in the royal palace tonight. I'm glad that you are the demonhunter they are talking about, it will be nice to share some of my home with you." She smiled and waited to see what he would say. She was prepared to show him to his quarters and show him a little more about the lives of elves.

Death walked in the forest of Yomenïampa. For the moment, he was unclear about what he was going to do that night. Rumor had reached his hear that a man named William Drown was planning on kidnapping an elven princess that night. While the kidnapping itself held little interest to him, this man Drown, he was intriguing. His sources said that the man was gathering together an evil following, the only other one besides the Armies. That by itself would be enough to interest Death. Stopping, Death stood silent in the shadows of the trees. The moon high in the sky created more than enough shadows for an experienced stalker to hide in; however, the shadows could not hide the shapes of three people from the eyes of Death. They were gathered around the body of a dead elf, meaning that one of these men must be Drown. For a moment, Death simply stared at the small group, watching them. Then, he turned away and silently began making his way through the trees.

At the moment, he would not give the man direct aid. There was nothing in it for him. However, he would help slightly, just enough so that Drown would proceed with his plan, and Death could see what the man was made of. As he stalked, his hound came up beside him. Sleek and powerful, the hound was an excellent aid on nights like this. The beast's black coat would help it to blend in as well as his master could, and it would kill silently and mercilessly when needed. At the time, the beast simply followed his master, awaiting a command that would cause him to spring into action. Unless it was needed, Death planned on keeping the hound with him. It would not do to have some lucky elf get off a shot that killed the beast, then Death would have to go through the trouble of aquiring another one. It would be a hassle that he didn't want to deal with.

Slowly, Death reached into his cloaked and selected a long, jagged dagger. The dagger blade had been coated with soot so that it would not give him away by reflecting the moon's light. With great care, Death eased up to the base of the tree where the first elven sentry sat in his perch. Holding the blade lightly in his right hand, Death raised his left hand and whispered a word. A rope of darkness snaked out and wrapped around the elf's chest. Acting swiftly, Death pulled hard, causing the elf to fall out of the tree. Landing heavily, the wind was knocked out of the elf, and the dagger swiftly put an end to the elf's life. One down, several more to go. That elf had been at ease, not really paying attention, the others would be more difficult. Wiping the blade on the elf's coat, Death sheathed it once more. The blood had washed away some of the soot, meaning that unless it came to open fighting, he could not be using that blade again. At the moment, Death was unsure what he would do if it did come to open fighting. The last time he had engaged in a battle just to kill had been some time ago. Famine had convinced Death to go to the docks of Lomedor with him. That had been several years ago.

Standing there for a moment, Death motioned for his hound to remain in that area. Without a sound, the hound melted into the shadows. It would remain hidden from anyone who tried to find it. The beast wasn't foolish enough to remain in that exact location, but it would stay in the general area. Suddenly, Death realized an easy way that he would be able to aid this Drown. Smiling wickedly inside the cowl of his cloak, Death thought of another spell that would bring the elven defenders out into the forest, leaving their homes abandoned. Raising both hands, Death uttered another word, and a beam of red fire shot from his hands into the trees. Instantly, the forest caught fire, swiftly growing in size. A forest fire would bring out the elves to try and fight it off, meaning that most of the able-bodied men would be over her, away from the direction that Drown and his associates where coming from. Letting out a small laugh, Death began running silently back the way he had come, already planning his next act.

An Angel flew down into the clearing, the first member of Will's team."Guild Master Drown, I am Revanche de Scion the Angel you enlisted to help you in this most delicous venture." Revanche said with a hand on his sword hilt. Will looked at him and raised an eyebrow, an angel?...

Will stood up straight and put his own hand on his sword hilt, "I am not too fond of Angels, Revanche... I hope your heart is black and evil, for if it is not... My blade will move faster then yours and stab your pathectic angel heart!" Will said coldly. He glanced at the angel again, "delicous is it? I never knew angels drank blood..." Will said with a smirk. He hated holy angels for his own reasons, he wished them all dead.

Will noticed another shadow moving through the trees, he watched it as it walked closer. Will stroked his chin waiting calmly and then he noticed it was Shayia. Will smiled openly, she nodded her head in respect. "Shayia, I'm glad you came. You will be famous in the guild if this works, its our first mission." Will said, he knew Shayia was clever and quite skilled with her work.

Will then turned back to Revanche. "Angel! You follow MY orders exactly! Don't question what I say ever! If you have a problem with this then go home. For this mission I need to be able to trust my team mates, if I can't we will fail. I hope you understand me Revanche! If you fly in and start stabbing people, everything will be ruined." Will finished. He looked into the shadows of the trees and couldn't see anyone else coming. "We will wait a few minutes for a man named Death." Will said quitely and lent back up against his tree.

Nearly an hour passed and there was no sign of him. Will sniffed the air and his eyes widened in excitement. "I smell fire!" He said quickly, "we can longer wait for Death! This is our chance to move, follow me and move quickly!" Will said and dashed between the trees, smoke filled Will's vision, he knew that the fire was now huge perfect! He thought with a grin. Will noticed a figure infront of him, dressed in green... Will jumped forwards and landed on the figure, taking him to the ground. Will then grabbed the elf's head before he could do anything and twisted it sharply breaking the neck. Will then jumped back up to make sure that Shayia and Revanch where still following him. Three more miles. Will ran and knew that the elven archers in the trees couldn't see him because of the smoke, he felt like laughing.

The elven city of Yomenïampa was perfectly lit up by the shine of the moon, the moonlight casting itself over the trees and making the water within the city glimmer with a beautiful glaze. Of course this was not a normal night, on this very night the Elven Princess was staying within the great city and so the palace guards had hired someone to help with her protection. Details of the man they hired where kept secret, all those within the city knew was that someone new would be staying for a few nights. This new guard however had been hired a little while after they had gotten a Demon Hunter to slay something in the woods around the city.

This Demon Hunter went by the name of Sartana and had proved himself to be very skilled at his job indeed. Sartana had not long returned to the city stating he had slain his target and was going to stay the night when an elven woman was soon near him talking to him. It seemed that once again all was at peace in Yomenïampa. Slowly the wind was picking up in both speed and of course power as it swiftly moved through the trees.

Sartana was told he could stay at the palace and that is where this part of the story truly beings. For you see it was at the main entrance of the palace that this newly hired guard stood. Nobody in the city had heard his voice, or even seen his face of anything under his cloak for that matter. He was stood at the large doors with a full white cloak wrapped around his entire body, even with a large hood fully covering his face and hiding it in darkness. The people of the city knew not much about this being other than he was a protector who would do anything needed to protect his target. On this night that target being the elven Princess.

It would be rather interesting when both Sartana and the one known as Merenwen headed for the palace, as unknown to the others in the city this guard knew them both rather well having met them a few times before in Arda. Who was this guard you ask? He went by the name of Zenith Meria, the Arch Angel of Life. Most beings in Arda still thought of Zenith as dead so the reactions of others would be interesting when Zenith finally showed himself as alive.

Not to long ago Zenith had been able to regain his power by being in the Temple of Life, his training with Lothlómendil not fully complete. His power however had not reached the level that it was when Zenith first had it, it had actually increased further beyond that point and the Angel was eager to find the darkness within Arda. It was his job as a Divine Protector to help those that needed it, as well as battle against the ever-growing power of Darkness in this world. The Arch Angel of Life needed to strengthen the light of this world so that the ever-growing entity of chaos and darkness would be able to be defeat by the light within the hearts of the innocent.

It was as Zenith stood there that he began to see a fire appear in the distance of the woods. The others in the city had seen this to and the main body of guards had set out to try and maintain the beast of nature known as fire. Although Zenith did not move, still he stood perfectly still remaining at his post near the palace entrance. His job was to protect the Princess and as much as the angel wanted to help out with controlling the fire he had to stay where he was. Slowly parting his lips under his hood Zenith let out a small sigh then quietly said, “I need to stay, my job is the protection of the Princess, and for some reason I do not feel that fire just happened. It would be too strange, someone is out there. I know it!” Once saying this Zenith slightly looked to the sky but still the fold in his cloak did not move.

If there were anyone nearing the city and they did infact see Zenith then just by the way his cloak was set they would not be able to tell who he was, or even what was under the cloak for that matter. When the right time came Zenith would reveal himself and show the followers of light in Arda that hope is still with them, that the darkness will never be able to destroy a true follower of Lothlómendil!

"Shayia, I'm glad you came. You will be famous in the guild if this works, its our first mission." She heard Will say.

Truth be told Shayia did not care much for fame, she knew all too well it would not bring her happiness. Shayia merely glanced over at Drown as he said this, she then turned her attention over to the stranger he was obviously on their side if Drown had not killed him yet. "Angel! You follow MY orders exactly! Don't question what I say ever! If you have a problem with this then go home. For this mission I need to be able to trust my team mates, if I can't we will fail. I hope you understand me Revanche! If you fly in and start stabbing people, everything will be ruined." Shayia heard him warn the angel.

"We will wait a few minutes for a man named Death." she heard Drown say as he leaned back against his tree. Shayia kept her wits about her in this forest anything was likely to happen at any moment. The half vampire looked to the sky and saw that the sun had practically set. It would turn out to be a nice, cold night. Shayia waited patiently, for either this man Death to arrive or for Drown to tell them to move out. Shayia reached into her pocket and brought out a small gold pocket watch, it had an ’S’ engraved onto the back of it. About an hour had passed, if they wanted to do this today now would have been a great time to get going.

Shayia caught the smell of burning, ‘Fire!’ Shayia thought and looked over at Will who had also caught the smell too. "I smell fire!, we can longer wait for Death! This is our chance to move, follow me and move quickly!" Shayia nodded and followed Will through the trees, she kept her distance but never let him out of her sight, she knew if anything happened to him she would have failed her job as his guardian. Shayia also knew that William Drown was completely capable of protecting himself, it made her wonder as to why he needed her and the rest of his guardians.

Not once in Shayia’s life did she think for one minute she would end up guarding a man, especially one like William Drown, A man who would use women for food, of course all vampires used mortals for food, but a man who would seduce woman to piss off their husbands and cause trouble, Shayia laughed at the idea. Shayia thought of Drown as a man who thought he could have any woman, brake her heart, and yet she would still want him and with the type of women around the place, she couldn‘t blame him for thinking like that. Those type of women reminded Shayia so much of herself back when she was young, mortal, and foolish.

Shayia ran through the smoke ridden forest without a sound. The smoke was thick but the elves used their magic and began to use the wind to blow away the smoke. As a safety precaution the elves fired arrows aimlessly at the path. Just incase anyone might have used the smoke to their advantage and snuck past the first of the elven defenses. Shayia dodged the arrows with ease and dashed out of the smoke, once again she saw Drown and slowly ran to catch up with him.

It had been months since the disbandment of the Brotherhood of Darkness and the former general, named Vaul, had lost much of the malice and fury that had dominated his heart for the majority of his life. Though the sins that defined most of his history made him an enemy to the elves, Vaul had approached them in good will and with no mal intent.

Vaul had been wandering Arda these past few months in search of answers to his continued existence. There had been countless times when he should have been killed or died of other causes, yet despite everything, Vaul not only remained alive... but now lived an almost eternal, never aging existence due to a spell gone wrong.

He had travelled to the temples... with questions of divine intervention but had received no answer. His mind had then turned to the only companions that had been with him since the beginning. The celestial bodies; The sun, moon and stars. But Vaul was fairly ignorant to all but the basics about these great denizens of the sky.

So it was that Vaul had travelled to the great city of Yomenïampa; to study in their libraries; to gain some knowledge on the possibilities that the stars had played some part in Vaul's destiny.

Reluctant at first, the elves had accepted his plea; but refused Vaul permit to sleep within the city boundaries; allowing him access only during sunlight hours. It had been one of these nights within his camp that he had been approached by an envoy of a vampire named Drown.

The man was known to Vaul; he had been an underling of his during Vaul's time on the Council of Corruption. Despite wandering alone for the past few months, Vaul had kept himself informed on the dealings of the other ex-members.

This man, Drown, had impressed Vaul. Capitalising on the fall of the Brotherhood; he had grown quickly in influence and power amongst others of evil intent. He had sent an offer to Vaul, a plea for aid in a strike against the elves. After much deliberation, Vaul had accepted on the terms that he would aid William in getting into the city but he had no interest in the princess herself.

It was now time. Like he had done for weeks, Vaul had entered the city at dawn and spent his day within the city library. Now at dusk he was escorted back towards the main gates.

He had hoped that today the elves would show leniency as they had done on many days; and allow him to walk back alone. But no such luck. As Vaul approached the stairs that led up onto the east wall, Vaul turned suddenly on his heel and drove his other foot into the voice box of the escorting guide. The elf would not die, but he would be incapacitated and silent for a few hours at least.

Checking for guards, Vaul climbed the stairs, dispatching another sentry silently as he patrolled the wall, and began lowering ropes over the high walls as he had agreed to do in his message to William.

It would prove to be an interesting night... but Vaul had not yet decided what role he would eventually play in it.

The demonhunter leaned on the smooth wooden railing and held the small flower between his fingers, delicately rubbing his thumb over it. He looked at the purple flower. Obsidian Moss Blossom... Laraxle's kiss, here in Arda. To think that the plant spans across planes. If only I had my study; there are so many observations I could take down. He thought to himself, unmoving on the balcony's edge. Something tugged his cloak, and he turned his head a bit, pretending to have just noticed. In truth, he had heard them coming long before. It was the young elves.

“Hello.” He said in elvish, one of few words he could speak in the language. The tallest elf, who was about to the demonhunter's waist in size, gawked at him, and jumped up and down. The others soon followed. “You speak our language?” He asked the demonhunter, apparently astonished. Sartana understood what he said, though just barely. He nodded. The kid gleamed, and then turned around suddenly, taking something from another young elf. He faced the demonhunter again and held out his hands, a box now resting in them. Sartana took the curious box, and watched as the youngsters ran off. He blinked, and opened the box. There was some elvish chocolate inside. He pulled down his scarf and popped some in his mouth. “It's nice to be a good guy.” He mumbled to himself through bites of the tasty candy.

For the third time that night Sartana heard footsteps from behind him, and turned his head, curious as to who would want his attention. He was surprised at who he saw. "Hello Sartana, it is nice to see you again.” Came a familiar voice. It was Merenwen, a young elf that the demonhunter had befriended in his adventures through Arda. “I have been told that you will be staying in one of the guest rooms in the royal palace tonight. I'm glad that you are the demonhunter they are talking about, it will be nice to share some of my home with you.” He gave a warm smile, putting away his box of sweets and standing up straight to greet her.

“Merenwen, I'm glad to see you again.” He said, watching her with his multicolored eyes. Truly, he wondered how it was that they kept bumping into each other. But, isn't this her birthplace? He thought to himself just then, remembering that she had said something of this place on one of their meetings together. That would certainly explain why she's here.

“It is a beautiful city. I've only seen a small portion of it so far.” He said in his deep, dark voice. This was true. He had arrived yesterday, arranged his deal with the elves, spent that night hunting and slept in the woods. It was late morning today that he killed the demon, and returned to the elven settlement. Honestly, he didn't even know where the palace was.

He looked over her, which was easy to do because of his height, and searched through the treetops for the palace to no avail. He wondered where it was. “Merenwen.” He said, looking at her now. “I expect you know where the guest quarters of the palace are? Or where the palace is, for that matter? I know little of the city's layout.” He said, looking at her, hoping she wouldn't mind showing him where it was. He was eager for a meal.

Revanche listned to Drown and said," I will strike as you say strike Master Drown, I do not drink blood I spill it for unlike most ANgels Iam a Detah Bringer by Profession". HE then heard him say fire and he said," Dance with me Death Iam ready, let us take this princess and may the gods have mercy on those that stand in our way for I sure won't". HE laughed maniacally and ran after them his hand on his sword.

The smoke was extreamly thick and it was hard to see even a few meters infront of you, not to mention hard to breath. But Will kept low as he moved through the forest, therefore seeing a little bit clearer and not coughing with the smoke. Will heard the shouts of elves as they tried their hardest to put out the flames. They must have a back up for forest fires... I mean they live in bloody trees! This fire isn't going to be burning much longer... Will thought jumping over a tree trunk. When ever he heard the shouting he moved around it, he seemed to move like a shadow, like a ghost that an elf might notice out of the corner of it's eye but then think nothing more of it... Will ran, his hair and red cloak flying behind him, his red eyes flashing with the evil madness which his heart was so full of.

Will nearly ran head on into a wall... This must be the city... Will thought and pressed his back against the wall. He noticed a few ropes had been thrown down. Vaul... He played his part, it's a shame he isn't in the legion... Will thought, he looked at the ropes with a smile on his face. With the fire and the ropes and no problems so far, everything seemed to be running perfectly. Will waited a moment and heard the soft footsteps of his team mates, then seeing their faces come through the smoke, Will smiled again. "Well done, we have made it to the City Walls undetected... These ropes," Will said motioning towards the ropes, "are our way into the City." Will said and paused, he looked into their faces. "I want no magic used until I use magic, the elves could notice it if we used it, majorly if it is dark magic which we use." He warned.

He turned and grabbed hold of the rope. "I will go first, just to check if there are traps or guards on the wall, next Shayia you climb up. Revanche, death angel or whatever you call yourself, watch our backs. When Shayia reachs the top, you can fly up... But keep close to the wall and don't go too high." Will said. He was finding himself slightly nervous as this was the moment when they had to enter the City. Will smiled at both of them and pulled himself up the rope with speed.

He reached the top of the wall and looked across walkway, the wall was clear and there were no guards in sight. Will leaned over the wall and motioned for Shayia to start her climb. He then shrunk into the shadows and watched the wall, if an elf were to suddenly appear... It would find itself dead.

Merenwen's smile broadened as she listened to Sartana speak, she was glad he had liked what he had seen of the city so far. It really was a beautiful city and she would love to show him more of it. She was very glad that he was the demon hunter who had come to help them, though she thought it was odd that they had met up again and that for all time for him to have visited this forest it was when she had decided to visit home.

When he asked about the location of the palace she smiled again, she had learned in times spent with him that he tended to be hungry after a fight and thought that he was probably ready for a feast. She chuckled to herself slightly and said, "I would love to show you more of the city later but yes, I know where the palace is and I told Orophin that I would be happy with the task of showing you to your lodgings for the night. If you would follow me..." just as she was speaking she noticed a flare of light and smoke rising into the sky. She could see the flames of a fire but something beyond this didn't feel right, she didn't think that fire was natural.

Her eyes flared open and suddenly she became frantic for the safety of the royals. She turned to Sartana and said, "The archers will be heading to the forest to deal with the fire and leave the city with very little protection. We need to get to the palace now. I fear something bad is about to happen." With this she turned and ran in the direction of the palace. She hoped Sartana would follow but couldn't worry about that just now. It would take a little time to get to the palace but she knew that she would have to push herself to her limit.

She sped upwards and over towards the palace. As she neared the doors she saw that someone was standing guard and at first she wasn't sure if he was there to guard the royals or guard the attack against them. As she got closer she realized that the man was her friend Zenith and knew that he would not be helping evil. It ran through her head that is was odd how all three of them had ended up here but that thought was quickly pushed aside by her worries about what was happening.

She skidded to a halt in front of Zenith and said, "I'm glad to find you here as I feel something bad is about to happen. With your help we should be able to stop anyone who tries to cause any damage, though there is always a chance things could go badly." She still hadn't checked to see if Sartana had followed but right now she had other things on her mind. The smoke was growing thicker around the castle and she was beginning to worry about their ability to see.

Revanche smiled at the man and said," Gladly Master Drown". HE stood by the wall awaiting the girl to go up and he smiled thinking of the blood to be spilled tonight. He heard something move in the woods and his hand went to his Scimitar. A wolf came out looked at him and walked back in tail between its legs. He said to himself," Scion don't be so jump, but be watchful".

Zenith stayed where he was, the fire was ripping its way through the forest but he had to stay watch on the job that he was hired to do! His eyes were closed and soon the angel had cast a very simple but effective spell. Two shimmering silver globes appeared behind the form of Zenith Meria with the Hindsight spell cast, these globes were infact magical eyes that would let the angel see anything that was behind him. It did not take a lot of mana to use and was very effective when you were not sure what was infact going on around you. The white cloak was still fully wrapped around Zeniths form but after he seen some of the elven archers run by the palace entrance he removed his cloak.

With the white cloak removed Zenith Resplendent Armour was shown in clear view, the golden armour lighting perfectly in the light from the moon above. His helm of the armour was held under his left arm ready to just be placed swiftly onto his head when needed. The weapon the angel had with him? He had infact only brought three of his tools with him, one was the Katar strapped onto his right leg in its sheath, a second was a Vine Whip placed near the right side of his waist while the third was his main weapon, the powerful blade known only as Salvations Judgement.

Even the golden Resplendent cloak flowed softly down the back of Zenith, but you see this was not all the angel had, no he also had a strange looking silver bangle on each of his arms that increased his combat power and under his gauntlets lay three magical rings that all had held a different effect on Zenith. Slowly his eyes scanned the city and as Zenith did this he felt the effects of his Detect Evil spell take effect warning him that something or someone evil was near by, although the spell was helpful Zenith knew that it might have even been triggered by an animal yet still he would keep his guard up.

It was not long after having this feeling that Zenith heard the voice of someone he knew rather well by now, a woman known as Merenwen as she said, "I'm glad to find you here as I feel something bad is about to happen. With your help we should be able to stop anyone who tries to cause any damage, though there is always a chance things could go badly." Hearing her say this the angel turned to face Merenwen before he said in reply, “I am glad to see someone I know Merenwen, and was that Sartana I seen down there with you before? Either way the help shall be nice, for you see I can feel some kind of evil in this place. It may just be a passing animal but I am not to sure, either way I was hired to protect the Princess and I shall make sure she stays safe!” Once saying this the angel curled his hand around the hilt of Salvations Judgement before slipping the blade out of its holster.

The golden blade glimmered just like Zeniths armour and infact looked as though it might burst into flames at any moment, but this was just the design of the blade itself. It had been made by combining the Holy Blade and Resplendent Countering Longsword that Zenith once had, now with both blades merged together it had become the main weapon used by Zenith Meria to vanquish evil in the world of Arda. Once the blade was fully out and held tight in the hand on Zenith he looked towards Merenwen once more awaiting on a reply of some kind.

Shayia watched as William started climbing up, she glanced around and watched as the smoke started clearing. They would have needed to get over the wall fast if they intended continuing on unseen. Shayia looked up as Will motioned for her to start climbing, walking over to the rope Shayia gave it a tug just incase anything might had loosened. Shayia gripped the rope firmly with her right hand, as she put her right foot against the side of the wall. She pulled herself up quickly and had gotten half way up when she heard a weapon being drawn.

She looked back down to see the man William had called Revanche, ‘He must have heard something in the bushes’ thought Shayia as she began climbing faster, if it had been an elf she knew they start attacking; with bows or arrows or whatever they used. Even thought the climb had been only a few minutes, to Shayia’s arms it had felt like hours, she was never all that good at climbing, the only advantage she had, was she had no fear of heights.

Form when she started climbing she heard a tearing noise coming from the top of the wall. Her thoughts led her to believe it was the rope, she didn’t know if she was imaging it or if the rope really was tearing. Either way she knew she had to get to the top and fast. She stretched her hand up and caught the top of the wall, she pulled herself up with ease, Shayia then looked down at Revanche from the top of the wall, and motioned for him to fly or climb, although she didn’t think the rope would hold for much longer.

Shayia relaxed as she leaned back against the wall, she was still focused on the task at hand, she was just taking a quick breather. She turned her head to Will ,“So what next?” she questioned Turing back to look out at the city, Shayia was never one for formalities, calling people ’Mister’, ’Sir’, or even ‘Master’ didn’t appeal to her. Though she wasn’t disrespectful in fact far from that, she showed respect in her own way by agreeing to come along on this mission. She thought of herself as her own master, even though sometimes that didn’t seem that way.

Revanche sheathed his sword and noticed the Vampiress signaling for him. He spread his wings and flew up but close to the wall and when he reached the top he grapped on to the wall folded his wings and pulled himself up. HE heard the girl say something and he said," Now we dance with Death and go get our target and he gave a evil snicker.

Merenwen's smile confirmed that she was happy to see him, and he was glad. Skills and equipment were important, but friends; truly, they were invaluable. It would be through the help of his allies that Sartana would defeat the evil in this world, and ultimately return to his own plane. How much I wish to go home... He thought to himself with a glimmer of sadness in his eyes. Without his help, how would Victoria fair? Was she in another world as well? The demonhunter turned to the woods and pushed his thoughts aside. There was no sense in worrying about it.

Merenwen told him that she would be more than happy to show him around the city, and to the royal palace, where he'd be staying tonight. He had turned to her then, and looked at her curiously, wondering how she knew he was going to sleep there. He figured she must have heard it from one of her elven friends that resided here. Just then, a low sound that had been slinking through the still air grew louder, and the demonhunter immediately recognized it as the sound of fire, complimented by crackles and a rising glow from far in the forest's depths. Merenwen noticed, too, and determination lit up her eyes. She spun to face the demonhunter.

"The archers will be heading to the forest to deal with the fire and leave the city with very little protection. We need to get to the palace now. I fear something bad is about to happen." With that, she broke into a sprint, taking off through the maze of buildings and disappearing around a corner. Sartana reacted quickly, and took off trying to keep up with the girl. Unfortunately, rounding the side of a building he found himself alone again, the elf having left him in the dust. He stopped, and sighed, walking to the edge of a balcony and looking over it. I should have bought a map of the city. This place is gigantic. He thought to himself, looking at the sky. It was lit up with the glare of fire in the distance. He wondered if Merenwen was correct.

He stood up and walked to the nearest house, wrapping on the door lightly with the back of his right hand and waiting for an answer. The door opened, and a green-haired elven woman answered. She was taken back by the sight of the demonhunter, and gawked a bit, wondering what to do. Sartana tipped his hat in respect, and spoke up, trying to sound friendly. “I'm sorry for bothering you, but could you direct me to the palace? I've lost my escort.” He said, smiling. The woman brightened considerably at his manners, and looked at him for a moment, tilting her head. Sartana wondered if she spoke common.

“You look familiar... Ah, I know! You're V'ariel's friend, aren't you? The devil slayer?” She asked, looking up at him with her bright green eyes. Sartana nodded, and laughed, now recognizing her. “You're Var's wife- Terra'lyn. It's nice to see you again. I had forgotten you two lived here.” He said, talking to her as she reached for something on a shelf next to the door. He wondered what she was doing, but realized what it was when she produced a scroll from a small box on the shelf, holding it out for him.

Terra'lyn put her hand on the door, smiling, after the demonhunter took the scroll. “A map of our fine city. I hope you'll consider stopping by for a meal while you're here? We'd love to have you.” Sartana held the map in his left hand, and tipped his hat to her, turning to leave. “Yes, I'd like that. Thank you for your help- I must be going.” With that, Sartana turned and began walking down the street, map opened in front of him.

Death ran swiftly through the shadows, avoiding the elven parties that were on their way to fight the fire that he had started. Little did they know that it would take them quite a bit of work to get the fire under control. Any fire started by that spell would twice as hard as a normal fire, and take twice the amount of water to douse it. The fire should keep the pitiful elves occupied for quite some time. The first seed of chaos was sown, now it was time to add a second. As he sprinted from tree to tree, Death let his left hand fall down to his side, slowly gripping the hilt of the dark blade that hung there. The blade was his second most powerful weapon, and it contained many tricks that made it practically invaluable. Reaching for the inate magic of the sword, Death stopped for a second before letting the magic take effect. With a slight ripping sound, two large, black, draconic wings erupted from his back. It had been an unusual experience the first time he had used the wings, but subsequent tries had made him qite proficient at flying. Folding his wings carefully, Death continued running, eyes looking for any sight of the walls of the city.

After a few more minutes of running, he finally spotted the walls. Swiftly, Death leapt into the air, unfurling his wings and taking flight. In a matter of seconds he was over the wall, so he swiftly dropped back down. Flying would make him a prime target for anyone with good night vision, and elves could see very well, even at night. With another thought, the wings melted into his back, the magic of the blade ending for the moment. If he needed to use the weapon again, then it would be ready. In a few quick steps Death stood in the shadow of a large house. Taking a few moments, he let his eyes wander over the area, wondering how Drown and his friends were doing. If they expected Death to pull their bacon out of the fire, they would be in for quite a surprise. Unless he could think of a good reason, Drown and his friends could go to the lowest circle of hell for all he cared. Time and events would decide how he acted.

Carefully, Death walked along the edge of the house, staying in the shadows. Now that he was in the elven city, he needed a good place to observe what was going on, so that he could elect to intervene or not if needed. That would require a place of height, and one that would allow him to see the main streets. While he doubted that Drown would be using the main roads, that was most likely where any elven defenders would start out. Peering down the street that ran in front of the house, Death pulled back slightly as a party of elves ran by, probably intent on getting to the fire. It would be an annoying delay if he were forced to kill a party of elves because he hadn't been paying attention to what was going on around him. Turning, Death walked deeper into the alley, making another turn so that he was headed for a different street. When he was about 10 feet from the mouth of the alley, an elf appeared in front of him. For an instant, the elf froze, surprised at seeing a figure like Death in the city. That instant cost him.

With a hastily muttered word, Death brought both his hands up and released a magical spell. Black bolts fired from his hands to strike the elf squarely in the chest. To his dismay, the elf was flung back several feet into the middle of the road. He hadn't meant to use so much power in the spell, and now there was a dead elf where anyone could see it. If there had been other elves in the street, they would have seen the elf get knocked backwards, they possibly even saw the bolts that struck the elf first. With a slight curse, Death turned his gaze upward and teleported, landing lightly on the roof of the house. Ducking down so that he wouldn't stand out against the sky, Death glanced down at the street, waiting to see what this minor mistake would bring to him.

Merenwen listened to what Zenith was saying with one ear while trying to catch the sound of anyone coming with the other. She listened to what he said and was a little surprised that someone had been hired to protect the princess. In the past there had been very little fear of an attack against the royals but to hear that now they felt a need for a guard made her wonder what had happened while she was away. They must have gotten word on some plot to take such serious action and this made her even surer that some evil was heading their way.

When he asked if it had been Sartana that he had seen speaking with her before she glanced behind her back. If he was asking this question then Sartana must not be behind her, and sure enough when she turned around he wasn't there. She wondered where he had gotten but figured that she must have accidentally lost him as she had raced for the castle. She hoped he would somehow find his way here as he would be a great help if and when something happened.

She turned back to Zenith and said, "It really is nice to see you again and maybe later we can take some time to talk and share our travel stories from the time since we last met, but that will have to wait for now. It was Sartana who I was talking to and I thought that he was following right behind me as I ran here. With all the turns in the city I must have lost him, I can only hope that he will find his way here soon." After saying this she followed Zenith's lead by pulling out her sword and making sure she was ready if someone attacked.

She was suddenly very glad that she still had her armor on but became aware of how much of a hindrance her hair could be. She managed to pull it up with one hand while holding her weapon in the other and though it was very messy it would do the trick of keeping it out of her eyes. She could hear many noises about her and was trying to differentiate between on and the next. The crackling of the fire still seemed fairly loud and she though that it must be a magical fire as if it was natural it would be completely out by this time.

She could also hear people running about down below her. She caught a thump and wondered what it could have been. To try and find out she moved over to the ledge on this level of the city and carefully looked below. She could see the body of one of her kin lying in the middle of the street a ways below her. Though she had no way of knowing what had happened to the elf she didn't think it would be anything good. She saw more of her kinsman running down the street towards the body and hoped that whatever fate had befallen him would not befall them as well.

She didn't want to risk being heard if she tried to speak to Zenith from her current position so she moved swiftly and quietly back towards him. When she was at his side again she said, "It seems likely that something or someone is in the city as one of my kind is lying dead on the ground two levels below us. I could only see him because the smoke has not gotten to that part of the city as much yet. I was unable to see who or what took him down but I wanted to warn you. I am going to watch and hopefully I will be able to figure out what happened before any one else falls." With that said she crept back towards the ledge. She pulled out her bow and prepared to use it if that became necessary.

Vaul sprinted across the large outer wall, keeping low and to the shadows to avoid detection. He had watched from the darkness as William had been first to mount the wall, then taken his leave.
He would not actively try and hinder William in his plans, but the vampire would not be able to count on his aid anymore. Vaul's part of the barging had been fulfilled.

Looking down over the inner edge of the wall as he ran, Vaul watched as elven sentries filed towards the walls. The forest fire had put the city on alert. The archers would be too late to catch William and his crew on the walls, but if Vaul didn't hurry, he would soon find himself cut off by dozens of highly skilled elven warriors. And that was a thought Vaul did not relish.

Stopping quickly, Vaul looked around, weighing up his options. Then, taking a slightly rash course of action, set off towards the edge of the wall. Judging the distance quickly, Vaul powered forward then leapt into the air. It would have been an odd sight to any elf who happened to be looking up at that specific moment, to see a large cloaked figure leap from the high wall towards almost certain doom.

Vaul however, had seen his hope. As he soared through the air, Vaul extended a hand and grabbed the overhang of a balcony. Pain ripped through his arm as the force of his fall pulled at his shoulder joint. With strength of will more than strength of arm, Vaul pulled himself quietly up onto the balcony and entered the dark building.

Quickly scanning the room for occupants, Vaul entered silently. Making his way through the house towards the stairs, he suddenly heard the sounds of raised voices down below. Thinking fast, Vaul decided to make his way to the roof. Running up the stairs to the sundeck of the elven villa, Vaul could hear the voices clearer now. Peering over the edge of the building, Vaul saw the reason for the commotion. The contorted figure of a dead elf lay crumpled in the square of the connecting streets. This would cause problems. But it surprised Vaul that one of William's party could make it this far so quickly... unless there was another factor in this equation.

Turning away, wincing slightly at the pain in his shoulder, Vaul continued along the roof of the villa and then across onto the adjoining roofs heading towards the palace.

Will kept down low, now that everyone was on the wall, it was time to enter the city. He looked at both of his team and smiled slightly, Will had a rather strange feeling... I am missing something, this seems too easy... He thought wishing he had brought his warlords with him. They knew about his mission and if all went totally wrong, he might have to call them somehow. Will muttered a quite spell and his body seemed to be engulfed in a cloak made of darkness, even to those close to him, they would have to look hard to see him.

“So what next?” Shayia asked turning to look at him. Will looked turned to look over the wall at City. "We enter Hell..." He said quitely. Will turned back to face his team. "This is a run in, run out mission. No heroic deeds, no fire balls! Nothing! Unless we get attacked!" He said. Will stood up, still cloaked in total darkness, he looked across the city, the houses where all high and off the ground, seeming to be in trees, he knew that they had to stay up high or they would be seen. The palace wasn't too far away. Will's lips smirked, he was confident that he could do it.

Will spoke quitely and coldly, "Follow me, keep up and don't get seen!" He said and in a flash of his cloak, he leapt over the wall, as Will was soaring towards the ground, he pulled his whip off of his belt and flicked it at a branch of a tree, he then swung through the trees covered in darkness and flipped himself up to land gently on someones roof.

Will froze as he heard voices below him, "Glenwing, what an earth was that?" The voice of a woman said. She sounded a little shocked and from her voice, Will could tell she was an elderly elf. He layed himself flat on the roof incase they thought they should come out and have a look. "I thought I saw something fly past the window and then I heard a thud on the roof..." She said franticly.

Then the voice of a male coughed. "Arya, please be quite and go back to sleep! It was most likely an owl or a big bird, we live in a forest if you haven't realised!" The voice of an old elf, who Will guessed was Glenwing said roughly. Will smiled, that is good, two less to kill tonight. He thought casually. Will knew that if had not brought Shayia and Revanche he would of been able to fly to the palace in his bat form and grab the princess... The problem was getting her out!

He waited for the others, the palace was only another few buildings into the city and they would be there... His eyes flashed under his cloak, madness... He would be famous among the evil in Arda, if he could pull this off! He prayed to Raku... Tonight was his first test.

Once more his eyes closed and thoughts of all that happened in his past ran through the mind of the angel. It was not very long until Zenith heard the voice of Merenwen speak to him with the words, "It really is nice to see you again and maybe later we can take some time to talk and share our travel stories from the time since we last met, but that will have to wait for now. It was Sartana who I was talking to and I thought that he was following right behind me as I ran here. With all the turns in the city I must have lost him, I can only hope that he will find his way here soon." Zenith kept his eyes closed but also nodded to Merenwen before saying, “Yes once this night is over we shall talk Merenwen, as for Sartana well I am sure he is fine!” The angel only had his eyes closed for now as he was using his power to detect magic and scan for near by spells that are in effect on people.

It was as he did this that Zenith Meria could feel the energy of magic running around him. Letting out a small sigh Zenith then thought to himself, “There must have been a reason they asked for me to come here by name! What could the true plan for me being here be?” It was after this that Zenith opened up his eyes again and looked up towards the stars that were creeping through the dark sky above. The Arch Angel of Life knew for sure now that something strange was going on within this city, what exactly it was however was unknown to him for now.

Zenith looked down to his left arm, in which the Helm of his armour was still placed. Carefully, while keeping his right hand curled around the hilt of Salvations Judgement, the angel managed to place the helm onto his head and move his hair so it would sit neatly within the Helm. It was then that the magic placed onto the armour took effect. Each and ever part of the armour merged into one leaving no gaps in it what so ever, yet at the same time this did not impair the movements of Zenith. While wearing the full set of armour Zenith would be healed it an offensive Holy spell was cast onto him. Also in this set of magical armour the angels’ body temperature would stay at a steady and comfortable level.

Although these effects were in place so were the effects given by each individual part of the armour set. It was as Zenith turned round a little that he seen Merenwen walking towards him once more saying, "It seems likely that something or someone is in the city as one of my kind is lying dead on the ground two levels below us. I could only see him because the smoke has not gotten to that part of the city as much yet. I was unable to see who or what took him down but I wanted to warn you. I am going to watch and hopefully I will be able to figure out what happened before any one else falls." Once hearing this Zenith quickly, yet silently, moved over towards where Merenwen had seen the fallen elf. Looking over the edge he seen the crippled looking body and narrowed his eyes from below his helm. Only after this did Zenith turn right round to face Merenwen and say, “We better go into the palace. I fear the Princess is at risk on this night. Will you aid me in her protection Merenwen? With luck Sartana will arrive in a few moments so we can have more help.” The voice of Zenith had turned into a rather serious tone now as he waited for Merenwen to reply to what he had said.

The map proved to be fairly easy to read, even though the words were written in elvish, and Sartana walked nonchalantly through the middle of the street, glancing to his side every moment or so in hopes of seeing another person. Unfortunately, it seemed that most of the elves had left to put out the forest fire. That, and it was late, so most of the elf city dwellers were asleep. He was glad that he hadn't woken Terra'lyn up with his intrusion. Too bad my world lacks elves. Their fairness exceeds even that of angels. He thought to himself, rounding a corner onto another street. He stopped.

“What's this..?” He asked himself, lowering his map. There was something a little ways up the road- a pile of refuse, maybe? Sartana folded his map and placed it in his shirt as he walked towards the object on the ground. Before he could discern what it was, something hit his nose, and he frowned grimly, pulling his crimson scarf up over most of his face. It was the smell of burnt flesh. He stopped a meter from the figure, and found it to be not trash, but a dead elf.

The demonhunter knelt beside the body and looked it over. It was a middle-aged elven warrior, probably of some obscure rank in their army. A large portion of his chest had been burnt away and cauterized, leaving a cavity between his rib cage, the white bones surrounding the wound burnt and cracked like the rest of the injury. Because of the potency in the spell (Sartana had figured only a spell could do this), the elf had suffered a quick, near-painless death. The demonhunter stood, his black cape drawing up around his sides as he did.

It looks like someone took advantage of the confusion this forest fire has wrought. Why, though, would they kill him so conspicuously? With the lack of witnesses, surely the killer wasn't stressed for time, or ran the risk of being spotted. He could have easily hid the body. He thought to himself, a grin stretching across his mouth at the end of his thoughts. “Of course,” He said quietly, “this man was killed only moments earlier.”

There were times when fighting was necessary, and others where it could be avoided. Sartana enjoyed fighting; he relished sinking his blade into an evil creature's skull. Whatever it was that killed this man wanted to keep its presence hidden, and had likely killed this elf because it absolutely had to. And then it sunk back into the shadows, hoping to remain unnoticed. The killer was dealing with a slayer of demons, however, who was trained to detect evil auras, even when he couldn't see the creature itself.

The demonhunter could sense an evil presence to his right, above him, probably on the rooftop. He didn't move from his spot. What to do. Walk away and find Merenwen? Stay and fight? He thought to himself calmly, unmoving from his position beside the elf. Hidden from view his left hand worked furiously, calling upon Sartana's well of magical energy. He would let the enemy act first. They could escape, or fight here. Either way, the demonhunter would be prepared.

She was standing looking down on the elf below and hoping that it wasn't one of her friends. She would cry for him later, whoever he was, because he was her kind but she didn't think she could stand it if he was a close friend of hers. She thought about the time she had spent talking to Fëanáro before meeting up with Sartana and knew that if it was him she would never forgive herself. Though he was very capable with a bow he didn't know of everything that was out in the world beyond the city walls. She should have warned him what to watch for, and even if it wasn't him she still should have given a warning.

She could feel when Zenith came up beside her and again wondered why he had been asked to come. What was it that the others knew? Had they expected an attack and if so had they still fallen into a trap on this night? She had a hard time believing in the idea that an attack would just happen to take place when she visited. She didn't have much belief in coincidence and wondered what it was that had made it so that she would be here when it seemed she would be most needed. She heard Zenith begin to speak and glanced over at him.

She listened as he said, “We better go into the palace. I fear the Princess is at risk on this night. Will you aid me in her protection Merenwen? With luck Sartana will arrive in a few moments so we can have more help.” She thought about this and knew that she should do as he said. He was very powerful and would be able to sense things that were beyond her. He was also one of those in the small group of people that she had learned to trust outside her home.

She responded, "I am fully prepared to help you and you are probably right in that we should head inside. I also hope Sartana will show soon as I would feel even better with his blade as well as yours by my side." After saying this she glanced back down to where her kin lay and what she saw shocked her. She could see Sartana standing right next to the body of the dead elf. She thought about calling down to him but knew that it would be a very bad idea as any evil that was about would be sure to hear.

She was a little frantic about the fact that he was down there where he could be attacked at anytime with no backup but she also knew that he was very capable of taking care of himself. She also contemplated heading down to him but knew that her first priority had to be protecting the princess. She turned to Zenith and said, "I can see Sartana below now and he seems to be trying to determine what happened to my fallen kin. I don't think it would be good to call down to him as any evil in the area would hear and I also don't feel that either of us should leave from guarding the princess. I wish there was a way I could do both but he is much more capable of protecting himself then she is." She hoped she didn't sound like she didn't care about Sartana as a part of her continued to pull her and say to go to him. This was something she had to do and she trusted Sartana to take care of himself.

Pain lanced through the injured shoulder of Vaul as he continued his climb up the shadow covered wall of the elven palace. He had no idea what possessed him to enter the palace except the overwhelming knowledge that something was about to happen and that he was to play a vital part in it.

Since turning his back on the world of darkness, Vaul had discovered a whole new side to himself. Before he had been fuelled by wrath and rage; relying purely on his power and strength to get him through any situation he found himself in. But now; now he was free of that. His mind was clear; but with this new clarity came the voices. As a child Vaul had heard distant voices when he had practiced his meditation. His father had beaten him for, as he had said, 'being wicked'. And as a result Vaul had learned to block them out. He had put all of his concentration into mastering his combat techniques, closing off his mind to all outside influences. As the long years had passed, Vaul had all but forgotten them, thinking them the product fanciful imagination of a bored child.

Now the voices were back, but different than they had been when he was a child. Now they were clear and they were direct. It was the voices that had told him to come to the elven city. It was them that had told him to meet with Drown's messenger and it was them that now told him that he had to enter the palace... fast.

Pulling himself up over the final ledge Vaul stood up and looked down upon a small balcony courtyard. Within it stood two figures looking down upon the area of houses that Vaul had crossed himself not long ago. The two were busy conversing between themselves. One wore armour of the most brilliant gold. He radiated an aura of supreme power; enough to even unsettle Vaul slightly. But there was something strangely familiar about him. The other individual was a strikingly beautiful elven woman. The two suddenly finished speaking and started towards the doors to the palace. He'd come all this way... he may as well introduce himself.

Stupidity took over and logic disappeared as Vaul decided his next course of action. Without drawing a weapon, Vaul stepped off the overhang and landed a few feet in front of the two individuals. But the lack of weapon did not last long... As Vaul landed he looked up at the face of the golden armoured male.

The blood drained from Vaul's face and his mind clouded with quiet rage as he stared into the face of his past. In an instant, Vaul had drawn Enyo and raised it towards the male.

It couldn't be. Everything he knew told him it couldn't. But sure enough; stood right in front of his eyes was a man almost identical to that of his hated foe.

"ALBA!!!" Vaul bellowed.

A fervent curse was the only sound Death uttered when he saw a man walking up the street. Interestingly, the man was peering down at what looked to be a map, although Death couldn't be certain from that distance. Sure enough, so the man spotted the dead elf, and he hurried to it's side. From his vantage point, Death was able to watch the man as he examined the dead elf. When the man didn't get up and head off to alert the cities guards, Death became suspicious. The choice couldn't be that hard. There was a dead elf in the street, so someone had killed him. An intruder in the city was supposed to be reported to the guards. The only reason for hesitating would be if the man suspected that the killer was still around. But Death had made it to the rooftop long before the man had seen the body, so the man couldn't have actually seen Death. Suddenly, Death knew the answer. The man somehow knew that Death was on the rooftop. Either through a spell or some other ability, the man knew that there was someone on the roof, and he was deciding what to do.

With another softer curse, Death let his eyes wander for a moment as he thought of what he was going to do. Getting involved in a fight in the middle of a street would be a good way to get shot at. He could simply teleport away, but without knowing the full extent of the man's abilities, he didn't want to try anything at the moment. It was as his gaze was wandering that he saw an interesting sight. Further way, a man and a woman were standing together talking. The man was an interesting figure. Even from the distance, Death could make out the wings that marked the man as an angel. Also, the man's armor shone brightly, even in the moonlight, covering the man completely. So, there was a goodly angel in the city, another being who would create trouble if he knew that Death was there. Then, another man came into sight. A man suddenly dropped down close to the two individuals. Though he couldn't make out the face of the latest addition to the group, he knew that there was trouble. The shout that the man sent out was loud enough even for Death to hear.

With that, Death decided on his course of action. The angel would be temporarily distracted while he tried to fend off the man who was attacking him. Perhaps it would be enough time for Death to deal with this fool who was in the street. Turning his eyes to the street, Death once again teleported, appearing about 15 feet away from the man. For a moment, Death simply stood there, eyes staring at the man in front of him. Without reaching for any weapons yet, Death called out to the man, wondering how he would react. "So, it seems that my handiwork has been discovered. I was a bit overzealous in my casting." Personally, Death didn't really care about what this man thought of him. Unless this man was another one of Drown's friend, the two of them were going to fight. And undoubtedly this man would die. How could the man hope to win? Death and the other Riders had defied the combined might of every good race in Arda. This man was outmatched, he just didn't know it yet. Shifting slightly, Death felt each of his weapons. The dark blade at his left his, the long, curved dagger opposite it, and his jagged dagger where each in their place, ready to be used at a moment's notice. And if it came to it, he could always bring forth his most powerful weapon, his scythe. Yes, the man was going to die, it was only a matter of time.

As the demonhunter stood in the dark street, lit only by faint magical lanterns at it's corners, he saw a figure far in the distance in front of him. It was on a higher balcony running beside another main road. He squinted in the dark, and through keen sight saw it to be Merenwen. He shook his head lightly, still keeping his guard up for the creature he knew was nearby. It looks like she was right; someone is indeed taking advantage of the forest fire. Perhaps they were the one's who started it. Tonight is surely going to get interesting.

A shimmer of darkness blurred his view of Merenwen, and tendrils of black magic shot from the ground, enveloping a mass a few meters from Sartana. He watched, without moving from his spot, as a being appeared in front of him. As the spell withdrew, allowing for a better view of the being, the demonhunter still had difficulty making out what it looked like. The darkness seemed to draw around its form and blur its figure, as if it were part of the night itself, some ancient fetid creature of the darker regions of the abyss. The being immediately spoke up. “So, it seems that my handiwork has been discovered. I was a bit overzealous in my casting.” It said mildly.

Sartana said nothing for a moment. He merely stood and watched the creature's form with his multicolored eyes, noting anything interesting about his figure, weapons that were visible, and anomalies in his demeanor, hinting to illusionary magic. He cursed quietly in his head, wondering how it was that each time he regained a portion of his lost power, another creature would step forward, more powerful than the last. He could only see it as the work of some spiteful God, or as his prescribed dosage of bad luck from the fates. Either way, it looked like he was going to have to fight, and he was glad he had regained some of his defensive magic and swordsmanship in the last month. It was going to be useful now.

“You were. A smaller dosage of your dark magic would have killed the elf fine.” He said in his deep, raspy voice, without hinting to any emotion whatsoever. Streams of magic worked their way through Sartana's left hand, and he held it to his side as he watched the being, ready to unleash its power the moment his newfound adversary made a move. He wondered what such a powerful creature would be doing in the elven city, and in such a seemingly random place, stalking the alleyways for elven stragglers detached from their regiments. Something larger is going on here. A fire that pulls the city guard from their posts... The spotting of such a strong evil being. There must be other creatures aiding this one, too, as he wouldn't dawdle here if there weren't. He's likely just playing with me. At this Sartana let out a small, hushed laugh, unable to control himself.

The demonhunter cracked his neck, closing his eyes and feeling his tense muscles relieve themselves. He opened his colorful eyes again, staring at the creature from under his wide-brimmed hat. “We're both busy men; let's skip the talk and fight already.” He said with a grin, his right hand on the pommel of his falchion.

"We enter Hell..." She heard him say softly.

Shayia turned back to will her eyes widen slightly when she saw he looked to be no more than a shadow. ‘What a quaint trick’ she thought as a ghostly smile crossed her lips. "This is a run in, run out mission. No heroic deeds, no fire balls! Nothing! Unless we get attacked!" She heard will say. Shayia thought about what he had said was this really going to work, surely they must have had some way of detecting even a stray cat on their land, Whether they stuck to the trees or not Shayia did doubt Will’s plan but decided to say nothing. She knew this wasn’t the time for questioning him , he was under enough pressure already.

Shayia put her thoughts of questioning Will behind her, it wasn’t her job to reinsure his plans were going to work but even so she knew in time when they got to the Palace, this Scheme of his was going to cause war. "Follow me, keep up and don't get seen!" Said Will, Shayia nodded and followed on she stopped at the side of the wall and watched Will jump over. ‘What the Hell is he doing?, that fall will kill him’ She thought . Shayia watched on nervously, but was glad when he finally landed on the roof of a house. Shayia let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes, her heart which had been beating a mile a minute had slowed down to an almost stop her heart didn‘t beat as fast as an average human but didn‘t beat as slow as a vampires‘ that is what confused most about her race.

The half-Vampire walked to the side of the wall And sat with her legs over the edge. It was a big drop, but that’s not what was bothering Shayia, it was getting this right she couldn’t have used magic incase they elves sensed something, and it was proving most difficult to find a grip on the wall. ‘Your not going to be able to do this, you know you won’t make it, you’ll let them all down’ she heard one part of her mind say, Shayia ignored this and concentrated on what she was doing, or more what she was trying to do.

Placing her hands at her side, Shayia looked up before doing anything, Taking in a deep breath of the cold night air she was finally ready. Shayia turned herself around on the wall, holding herself up with her hands, she gripped the inside of the wall and let her body thud against the side of the cold stone wall. She then used her boots and pulled herself up slightly. She pushed herself back from the wall with all her strength and felt herself soaring through the air. Shayia landed incredibly gracefully on the roof of a barn. She heard the feet of livestock move underneath her. Standing about three houses across from William (or what seemed to be William), she looked over and smiled, relived that she had made it unhurt.

Revanche listned and said to the Guild Master," As you wish, but i espect to see alot of blood tonight even if we do not fight anyone I can smell it in the air already". He then followed after the two people listining carefully to his surroundings. He then followed up after the vampire girl keeping a look out on the way up and when he climbed in he nodded to the guild master and said," Let us dance with death".

William Drown felt a bead of sweat drip slowly down the side of his face. He laid flat against the roof of the house. He appeared to be nothing more then a shadow, barely noticeable. If someone was looking for him it would be extremely hard to see him, if they weren’t looking for him, it was almost impossible to see him. William Drown was like a ghost, he intended to act like one as well tonight, in and out… No one would know he had been until she was back in Castle Dread. Will smiled slightly, he guessed Glenwing and his wife who lived in the house below had gone back to sleep. Good, that is two less people to kill tonight, two less who could give me away… He thought and slid his body gently across the roof so that he could peer over the edge of the building.

Will looked down and raised an eyebrow, a man stood down in the street looking up. Will smirked slightly, he knew the man wasn’t looking at him, Will was blended into the shadows far too well to be seen from that far away. It was then that another figure appeared a few feet away from the man, they seemed to talk for a moment. Will looked at the figure who had teleported next to the man, who Will could now see wore a wide brimmed hat. The man with the brimmed hat, seemed to move in an intention to draw his weapon, the other figure seemed almost demonic… Like a story William’s mother had told him when he was mortal child, the story of a man in a long black hooded cloak, he was said to wield a Scythe and that he was the collector of souls… The story said you only met the Grim Reaper… Or Death once. Will chuckled slightly. Maybe it is Death, he said he would come… Anyway I can use this distraction to my advantage once more… He thought, he then remembered his team mates. Right, it is going to be too hard to get me and them in the palace at the same time… I will enter and come back out to meet them… I can be out and back in within seconds. He thought and rubbed his hands together like a greedy child, about to steal a sweet from the cookie jar. "Vampire Form." He whispered. POOF Will became a small vampire bat.

He darted off of the roof and flew towards the lights of the palace, it was only a short distance away. Will darted around the palace once in his bat form and then stopped to perch on the edge of a tree, he looked at a group of three people. A rather attractive woman, an Angel, and another man who seemed to be screaming at the Angel. Suddenly the thought of an Angel clicked in Williams mind, pure rage built up within him and he could bet that if he was in his vampire form, he would be red in the face and his blue eyes would also be burning like red coals. He was in his bat form, but could see and think like a vampire. He also knew that if anyone could detect evil, they would see nothing more then a bat… After all, animals could be evil. There was no reason to kill a bat. Will looked closer at the group of people. The Angel reminded him of someone, he had golden armour on and golden hair, but other then that he was…ALBA! Will thought franticly he must be Zenith! The Angel Of Life! Blood and bloody ashes! What the hell is he doing here! He must no know I’m here! Sod it! I’m going in now! Will thought about to take off, when he noticed the other person as well… Hang on… That’s Vaul… What’s he doing! Argh, this night is truly messed up! But its another distraction I guess… Will thought and launched his little form off of the tree’s branch. There must be a way in around the other side… He darted over the courtyard and knew they wouldn’t notice him, because their attention would be on Vaul.

The small bat of William Drown, darted over the palace roofs. He noticed a large window with a light shining in it down below him. Will went into a dive and flew through it, found himself in a long hallway lit by little hanging lanterns, the walls were covered in leaves and paintings, the indoors almost seemed like the outdoors… An Elf guard stood by a large Oak Door. He had a bow over his shoulder and was resting a long spear at his side. His green clothes seemed to blend in with the walls of the hallway. He looked like a typical elf, long blond hair, blue eyes, a high brow and pointed ears. The Elf watched the small bat with a strange sort of way.

Will flew towards the guard, the guard raised his hand to try and knock what he thought was a small bat away from him. POOF Will turned back into his vampire form. His fist zoomed forwards and hit the Elf squarely in the nose, blood gushed out of the Elf’s nose and screamed out in pain and shock. Will put a hand over the Elf’s mouth and shut him up instantly, he then dug his fangs deep into the Elf’s neck. The Elf struggled for a few moments and then became limp, Will let the blood gush into his mouth and slide smoothly down his throat. Then wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he dragged the body of the Elf over to the window and threw him out. Will looked down and watched as the body landed in a tree and stayed there. Will smiled slightly now refreshed and feeling stronger then before.

He turned around and put a hand on the Oak Door, it opened with a load creek. Will stepped into a room which was lit by a large log fire, there was a massive rug on the floor, patterned with leaves. Two arm chairs and a table sat in the corner. Directly opposite Will was another door, this time much bigger with a royal sign on the door. Two guards dressed in armour this time stood like statues by the sides of the door. Will waved at them and smiled wickedly. They moved with speed and drew their swords like professionals. “Who are you!?” One said in a strong Elf accent. “What are you doing in the princess’s chambers!?” The other said, both aggressively and Will could tell they were trained and dangerous. He laughed evilly. “I am William Drown, Leader Of The Dread Legion. Seducer Of Fair Maidens, Destroyer Of Hope, and I am here to steal your Princess!” Will said coldly and yet his voice sounded so dangerous that the Guards hesitated before attacking. “For The Princess!” They shouted as one and charged.

Will raised an eyebrow “Amusing…” He muttered drawing Dread from over his shoulder. He could most likely kill them with magic… But he thought their Honour showed they deserved to die by the sword. “As Revanche would say… Lets dance with death…” Will said quietly as the guards ran towards him with surprising speed. He raised his sword above his head in a defensive sword stance “Flame Blade!” He shouted and his sword became engulfed in red flames. “Ghastly Armour.” Will said quietly. His whole body became engulfed in what appeared to be glowing armour. Will knew that he looked extremely lethal standing there, with his sword above his head, his armour glowing ghost like, his long white hair and icy blue eyes. He was everything a Vampire should be… He was the leader of the Dread Legion… The guard’s eyes widened slightly and their faces became slightly white with fear, but still they charged.

Will entered the void within his mind. He focused on a flame, becoming utterly clam. I am one with the sword, the sword is one with me, I am the sword. He thought… The guard came closer… Then suddenly Will jumped forwards spinning and ducking at the same time, he brought Dread down with power Moon Arks Over The Lake on the Elf on his right. Blood spurted out of the side of the Elf and he fell to the ground in a heap. Will managed to dodge the other Elf’s sword, but only just. This left him one on one with the Elf which was left. “I will die before I let you touch the princess you monster!” The Elf said standing with his sword held in front of him.

Will shrugged his shoulders. “I guess that can be a arranged…” He said coldly and darted forwards stabbing his sword, then spinning to the left and slashing it horizontally. The Elf dodged the stabbed and ducked under the slash. The Elf jumped up into the air and brought it’s own sword down, aiming for Will’s head. Will saw the attack coming and rolled to the side. When the Elf’s attack missed, it landed awkwardly loosing balance. Will stood up straight and brought his sword down swiftly on the Elf, taking it’s head off. The Elf’s head rolled along the floor like a ball. Will laughed mercilessly and turned towards the door into the princess’s bedchambers.

He smiled at what he saw, for standing in the door way in a dressing gown, stood the princess. Her long blond hair nearly flowing to the ground. She had to be one of the most beautiful creatures Will had ever seen in his entire life. Her face was drained of colour and she stood staring at the dead guards. “Salintha? Equimba?” She said the names of the dead Elves but no reply came from them. She then turned to look at Will. She looked at him in pure horror, then she did something which even surprised Will. She pulled a dagger out from behind her back and ran at Will.

Will watched the beautiful woman, running towards him, her blond hair flowing behind her, tears falling freely from her eyes. He felt almost sorry for her. Will raised his hand “Magical Net…” He whispered. A net shot fourth out of Will’s hand and totally trapped her, her eyes widened as she became tangled and fell to the ground, dropping the dagger and sending it out of reach. Will laughed and walked towards her… “You my darling… Are going to help me start a war!”

((OOC: Yay 1761 words... Awesome))

Looking up towards the many windows of the palace Zenith soon heard the voice of Merenwen say, "I can see Sartana below now and he seems to be trying to determine what happened to my fallen kin. I don't think it would be good to call down to him as any evil in the area would hear and I also don't feel that either of us should leave from guarding the princess. I wish there was a way I could do both but he is much more capable of protecting himself then she is." Hearing this the angel nodded looking back to her before he said in reply, “Yes, something is not right at all. We need to hurry Merenwen!” With this said Zenith quickly took a few steps forward only to be stopped in his tracks by a man leaping down in front of both Zenith and Merenwen.

The angel fixed his eyes onto this other being before the man yelled out one word Zenith would rather have not heard, that word being the name of his brother Alba Meria. Narrowing his eyes Zenith then said, “I do not know who you are, but get out of my way. I am NOT Alba, and I shall not be called Alba by anyone. Whoever you are I do not have time to do this, I do not have time to waste on you.” Luckily the expression of anger upon the face of Zenith was hidden behind his helm so that neither this man, nor Merenwen for that matter, would be able to see the anger that had suddenly rushed through the body of Zenith just by hearing the name of his older brother once more.

Zenith curled his hand around the hilt of Salvations Judgement tighter so that he held a powerful grip around his blade. The angel then took a few steps closer towards this new man, who Zenith had not heard of before or even met for that matter. Only then did the angel feel something within him rip, it was his heart! Zenith could feel that guards within the palace were being slain yet the angel could nothing about it. If he was to Teleport in order to help the guards then that would have left Merenwen on her own with this new stranger which was something that Zenith was not prepared to do so.

Gritting his teeth slightly Zenith turned slightly to face Merenwen and said, “Something bad it happening in the palace as we speak, someone had near the Princess I can feel it! You go and help her please Meren, I will deal with this fool in front of us if he needs to battle!” Once saying this Zenith stood right in front of Vaul and slowly raised his blade. As he did so the blade burst into golden flames as Zenith cast his flame blade spell around it. If Vaul wanted to battle then Zenith would just have to make sure the battle was quick so that he could aid Merenwen in saving the Princess. The true test of this night was about to begin and Zenith just hoped that everyone was fully prepared!

Merenwen turned to head into the palace when someone dropped down in front of her and Zenith. She had never seen the person before in her life but when he yelled out the name Alba she knew that something wasn't right. Zenith had told her some about his brother once and she knew that bringing up the name would not be easy on him. The man who had shouted the name looked very angry about something and it made her wonder what had happened between the two. If he worked with the men attacking tonight then she wondered if he did it for pay or with allegiance to them. If for pay then they may be able to turn him to their side but if allegiance then she wondered where his anger at Alba stemmed from and how he could work with evil when he had that much anger against one of the strongest of all evil beings.

Either way, she didn't have the time to stand talking to this man; she needed to get to the princess immediately. As if to emphasize this point she heard yelling coming from the halls where the princess’s room was and it sounded as if a battle was going on there. She then realized that with everything that was going through her head she had missed part of the conversation between Zenith and this other man. She tuned back in to realize that Zenith must have heard what was going on inside as well as he was telling her to go inside to help the princess. When he said he could handle the man in front of them she believed him and darted around to run inside. She called back over her shoulder, "Please hurry, I fear what is inside will be much worse then him."

With that she sprinted down the halls in the direction of the princesses chambers. They were not a problem to find as she had been there before as a child, being a friend to the princess. As she rounded the last corner she could hear the princess yelling and she saw the first body. On the man she thought she saw fang marks and this gave her a heads up at least in part on what she was to face. She pulled out her Wolf's Bane sword of ice and moved swiftly through the next set of doors to find two more dead guards and a man standing over the princess who had been captured in a net. Raising her blade she shot out a few ice arrows. She didn't have great expectations on them hitting as she had not taken good aim but at least it would pull the man away from the princess.

As the arrows flew she glanced at the princess to see that thus far she was not hurt and it was Merenwen's plan to keep it that way. She then looked back to the man and though she didn't know his power level she was at least calmed by the fact that he was alone. She was relieved that she would have only one man to fight at this time for more then that would have made things much more difficult. She then steadied herself for a fight and cast her geyser spell. She aimed it under the man, though somewhat in the direction of herself rather then directly under as she couldn't risk it hurting the princess. She expected a fight as she didn't believe that anyone who was weak enough to be beaten that easily would try and come after the princess, to do so would be a suicide mission. She was as prepared for the fight as she was likely to get and now she would wait to see what he would do in response to her attack.

The painful thoughts and memories of his past crimes flooded through Vaul. The chaos and disorder he wrought under the leadership of Alba Meria. The betrayal as he was cast away from the guild.

Vaul stood stock still, trying to make some sense of what was transpiring in front of him. The man had the aura of Alba... but his voice... and his presence was different. Confusion wracked his mind.

The man was speaking but no words entered Vaul's ears. The beating of his heart succeeded in drowning out all other sounds.

Suddenly one word punctuated the incessant thudding... 'Princess'. Vaul's mind thundered again; but this was not confusion, no, it was guilt and panic. He had allowed himself to be sidetracked by the thoughts of personal vengeance. Whoever this man in front of him was, he was not Alba and that meant he was not the man Vaul sought. Vaul had failed to reach the palace in time and now the princess was in danger. If she was kidnapped... it would mean open war across Arda. The elves would stop at nothing to retrieve her... and it would be his fault. He had allowed Drown access to the city but Vaul would not be responsible for deaths of so many again.

Ignoring the words and the flaming blade of the man, Vaul began to turn away from him quickly, "Warrior! If you seek to stop war; your princess needs you now! The Dread Legion is here.... And we must stop them!" Vaul shouted over his shoulder as he began to set off towards the palace entrance.

As Vaul ran, he began to wonder who was under the command of Drown. Which members had followed him from the ruins of the Brotherhood? Who had he recruited since he had risen to power. Who had been seduced by Drown's lure of darkness?

When Master Drown dissapeared into the form of a bat Revanche had no idea what to do he could ruin this mission just by going off and killing but then he had an idea he could distract people from goign to the princesses aid and decided on that. He jumped up to a high roof and opened his Angelic wings and said to himself," TIme to dance with death". He flew from roof to roof till he found a perfect spot and looked down and saw a few elvish guards 4 or 5 at most heading in the direction that he saw Master Drowns bat go he knew they knew nothign of what was going on but it could mean no end to trouble. He smiled and then flew down in the darkness and grabbed one of the gaurds and flew up with him high into the sky as the elf struggled Revanche lifted him higher and then dropped him and the elf screamed as he fell to the ground the guards looked up at him and said," Guardsmen ready your bows". Revanche just smiled and said," Hit me if you can but tonight Death haunts these streets". He flew awya before the Elves had time to fie and he watched as Elves everywhere readied bows to come afetr him and he laughed maniaclly as his distraction worked.

Paying only a small amount of attention to the man in front of him, Death stood silent, observing the other events that were occuring above that very street. The archangel and the man who was confronting him weren't fighting, and the man who was Drown's associate seemed confused, although Death couldn't see much from that distance. For a second, he strained to hear what they were saying, hoping that his eyes were deceiving him. Few people seemed to realize just how far sound could carry given the right conditions, and Death just barely heard part of what was said. The man was turning on Drown, intending to aid the defenders of the city. With a slight grimace, Death turned his full attention once more on the man standing in front of him. At the moment, the man's left hand was hidden from view, and that was all the confirmation that Death needed. The man was either reaching for another weapon, or he had a spell he was getting ready to let off. Either way, Death was going to end this.

It was something of a surprise when the man so openly and so carelessly challanged him to a fight. It wasn't often that Death was challanged by anyone, although it was a possibility that the man didn't know what he was getting in to. After all, there were plenty of lesser demons who wore black cloaks to hide their appearance. Death had run across several other demons who resembled him, although none of them could have matched him in power. With a slight smile hidden by the cowl of his cloak, Death held his arms out wide, staring at the man in front of him. His eyes shone unblinking out of the darkness, completely focused on every moment the man in front of him made. "It isn't often that anyone is so brazon as to challange me, perhaps you will be able to back up that boast." Reaching across his body with his right hand, Death closed his hand on the hilt of his dark blade, feeling the comfortable grip, as though the blade had been made for his hand. Lifting the blade up, Death's eyes flicked towards it for a second before jumping back to stare at Sartana.

For a few seconds, Death simply stood there, thinking over a choice. With a slight nod of his head, Death whispered a few words, selecting one of his lesser spells to use. From his left hand, several dark spikes erupted, sharp points glistening slightly in the light. Bunching his hand up into a fist, the spikes seemed to form a morningstar. It would be an unexpected weapon that might give him a slight edge if used correctly. Finally, Death crouched down slightly, a hunter ready for the kill. "A busy night awaits, made more so by the actions that have just occured. If you still want to take part in this contest, then remain. If you wish to leave, then I will allow you, but you will not get this offer twice." Death realized that he had more important things to do that night than take care of one man. The archangel and the traitor would be on their way to stop Drown, and this was becoming more interesting than Death had thought. It would be pleasing if Drown succeeded, and Death was intent on seeing that happen. He wasn't about to let some fool traitor turn success into defeat just because he couldn't stomach what he was forced to do. Turning his thoughts back to the here and now, Death watched the man in front of him, waiting for an answer to his ultimatum.

Merenwen had disappeared from the balcony, breaking into a sprint, and Sartana wondered what was wrong. He was now sure that some sort of conspiracy was taking place tonight, starting with the fire, Mere's ominous predictions, and now the death of a lone elf and the appearance of this wizard, who carried a powerfully evil aura with him. It was sickly cold, devoid of all life, and seemed to pull at the demonhunter's very essence, dragging his soul into a void of blackness. But Sartana had fought creatures like him before, albeit demonic ones, and none were immortal. He grinned. Was this being immortal?

The monster's words brought thoughtfulness to Sartana's features, and he wondered if the being was indeed as strong as his aura made him out to be, and his cocky attitude boasted. There was only one way to find out. What he offered the demonhunter next- a chance to get away safely, without conflict- made him smile from beneath his crimson scarf, and unsheath his mighty Blade of Destruction from under his black cape. He tossed the weapon onto his shoulder, where he rested it, regarding the creature from under his wide-brimmed hat.

“I'd offer you the same chance to get away unscathed, but you've taken the life of an innocent elf, and you're not about to run away now. I take it you're part of whatever evil intent is working tonight? Your accomplices- if you have any- will have to wait. We're going to have some fun.” He said, his voice dark and raspy. Anyone who didn't know him would think he was a creature of darkness much like the monster that stood in front of him. Yet, Sartana fought for righteousness, and was prepared to avenge the death of an unnamed elf. But he wouldn't attack the creature without a plan of action.

He's an accomplished mage, it seems, judging by the potency of the spell that killed the elf. I need not worry about such a bolt of energy. It's likely that he's got a larger repertoire of spells than myself, but they're probably offensive. This is an advantage for myself. Energy coursed through the veins in Sartana's left arm, and he felt this spell would be his ace. That's a powerful blade, equaling the strength of my own. Can he wield it properly? I suppose I should find out. Melee dash, counter, learn a bit about what's he's got up his sleeve- then for my own magic. But not yet.

Even without magical enhancements, the demonhunter was unnaturally quick; he broke into a sprint towards the evil creature, nearly soundless as he brought his sword low to his side and left hand close to his chest. His boots increased his speed as he ran, and with incredible dexterity he was soon next to the monster, bringing his sword up low and clasping it with his left hand when it reached his waist, driving through with a powerful upwards slash that only a veteran sword master could achieve with such precision, while still holding on to much of his defensive footing. The slash careened towards the beast's form.

Zeniths eyes were locked onto this man before him awaiting for him to speak. The angel tightened his grip around his flaming blade as he waited, he knew the Princess was in danger at that moment in time but he could not leave to save her knowing that the fools before him may soon join to help whoever was trying to get the Princess. Slowly the angel took a few steps towards the man, his armour continually gleaming in the light of the moon. Soon the angel heard the words this being spoke to him, so it was the Dread Legion that was in the city was it? Sure Zenith had heard of them, and from what he knew the only member that would cause him any trouble would have been Xoco, the Guardian of Shadows. But somehow the angel doubted a Guardian would waist there time in an attack such as this, meaning it was most likely William Drown that was leading the attack on this night.

His lips curled into a smirk at this point, as Zenith knew William Drown was no match at all for the Arch Angel of Life. The angel looked back to see that Vaul was setting out towards the palace entrance, lucky for Zenith he had a quick way to get to the Princess and stop the pathetic Drown from playing out his plan fully. Looking up towards the Palace Zenith locked onto the energy of the Princess, which was when he raised his free hand towards his forehead and said, “Time to stop you Drown, you will not win tonight!” With this said the angel vanished from where he stood. Yes Zenith Meria had used his Teleport spell to appear right in front of Drown and block his escape from the Palace.

With Drown now right in front of him Zenith raised Salvations Judgement up towards the Vampires form and said, “William Drown, I am afraid this is one night in which you shall not escape, your foul plan ends here right now!” Right after saying this Zenith cast yet another spell, a spell that he had not used much but on this day the spell would actually be helpful! Yes the Entrapment spell had been cast upon Will and the Princess; Zeniths plan was taking effect slowly but surely. With this spell cast Will would be trapped in a transparent cube of magic in which all but the victim would be free to walk in and out of, this meaning that even though William Drown would trapped within the cube Zenith and others would be able to go in and Teleport the Princess out.

It would be interesting to see how the foolish Drown would handle this spells effects, because as far as Zenith Meria knew Drown did not have the power to Teleport out of the magic cube. Was this battle over before it could even begin?

Suddenly William Drown heard the thudding of footsteps coming towards the Princess’s Chambers. “They are coming for you…” He said bluntly. He wasn’t really that bothered, he thought he could deal with anything, the Arch Angel was too far away and too busy to come rushing here just yet. He smiled at the Princess showing his long white fangs.

The Princess looked up at him and whispered. “They will kill you…” She whispered harshly. Her eyes flashing fiercely. Will had to admit, she was a brave little thing… He was half tempted to feed on her… She was beautiful beyond imagining. He laughed slightly when she said that.

Will looked down at her on the floor, entangled in his net… “My darling… I am not as easy to kill as you may think…” He said sly smile. Which was quite right… He wasn’t easy to kill… But he could be killed, but to be honest he would end up escaping some how. He always did, Will was famous for being sly, cunning and stealthy. He was an assassin before he became the Dread Legion Leader.

Suddenly a lone figure appeared in the door way, Will smiled when he saw that it was a women. But then his smile slid off of his face as she raised her sword. Three ice arrows came shooting through the air towards Will. Will only had to time to remember that she was the golden haired, attractive woman who had been standing with Zenith a few minutes ago.

Will crouched down slightly, he brought his sword up and smashed one away. That was lucky… He thought grimly, he then bent down and put one hand on the floor as his other held his sword, he flipped to the left as another shot past his ear. Lucky again!. Then the last ice arrow slid along his leg, leaving a long gash down his lower leg. Luckily it hadn’t stabbed itself through his leg, it had simply left a big slice mark on the side. Will winced and landed back on his feet from the tumble move he had just performed. He looked down and growled “Looks like I still bleed!”

Suddenly a massive burst of steam burst forth from just in front of Will. He stepped back and covered his face, the steam burnt the outsides of his arms slightly, but not enough to leave any immense damage. Will pulled his arms down and laughed. “Lovely… I can tell you like to play rough!” He said with a smirk. “I like that in a women! More kinky… If you get were I’m coming from. I’m one of those guys that likes to bite a little bit…” Will said with a wink and a grin showing his long white fangs.

He tilted his head to the side and looked at her, he walked slowly back to the Princess and knelt down beside her. He touched her cheek gently and then grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to her feet. Will slid behind her and wrapped a hand around her neck. He pressed the tip of his sword against her back and kept his teeth right next to her neck. She was still entangled in the net, so there wasn’t much she could do. Will looked across at Merenwen and smiled. “What are YOU going to do now!?” He said with an evil laugh. “Attack me, or take another step forwards and I will sink my fangs into her neck. If she lives she will become a vampire… If not… Then she is well… DEAD!” He said laughing madly.

Suddenly Zenith appeared out of nowhere right in front of William Drown. Will pulled the Princess back a few steps. Then he felt his back hit a solid wall. Will smiled… He knew he was smiling at death. But he found it amusing never the less. “Angel… I will say the same thing to you. Attack me… Or take a step forwards and I will kill her or make her a vampire… And trust me Angel Scum… I am not bluffing!” He said and pressed his teeth against the Princess’s soft neck, but not hard enough to make his fangs go through it. “Because… If I let you have her, you will kill me… If I have her in my arms… Anyway for you t