Dragonstone

[Meldawen]

Jada followed silently, the only perceptible movement she made in the shifting if her dark eyes. Very strange, she thought, that their 'rescuer' (in her mind she refused to take it out of quotation marks - she could have escaped herself) should come from within the fortress itself. Actually, they were all strange in one way or another.

Her newfound dagger glinted in the moonlight and Jada shifted it to avoid the reflection. These were strange companions, indeed. Were they all some sort of mercenary except her? Well, perhaps not the mage.

[Ember]

"Ah yes for one who planned to escape this place I wasn`t aware of it... unless I had a plan to get these people out of here. I do not know what your purpose with them is, but you can stick along if you wish to as you do not seem like a guard. Now get moving we do not have a second to waste, the guards are soon to be at full alert..."

Malcar hissed with an angry voice and pushed his way past the new `ally`, things were getting out of hand and now that the necromancer seemed to be going solo. The necromancer was the main reason he was here, his powers could feed Zhalbenaz well so that he might become powerful enough to leave. Malcar saw the necromancer watching at them and with fast phased steps reached him.

"I don`t think you should go wandering off alone like that anymore, not even you have unlimited supply of power necromancer"

[RaistlinMajere]

Was that all these mages were adept at? Bickering? Knyn shot them both withering glares over his shoulder before descending the winding stairway. Fresh air wafted from ahead, carrying with it the scent of wood smoke and stables. A courtyard. He paused on the third step, straining his ears. Nothing. No soldiers training, no clatter of hooves on flagstones, no officers shouting commands. Utter silence.

Alarm bells set off in his head as he eased deliberately back up the stairs. His hand had reflexively moved over his shoulder to the greatsword strapped on his back. He considered his options. Had they been discovered? Were Len Flarkan's guards cunningly baiting them outside? He didn't believe in coincidences.

Neither was he taking any chances. He steadily met the others' gazes when he reached the top of the stairs. "Ambush," he muttered by way of explanation, stalking past them at a rapid pace. The wooden doors lining the corridor hinted at servants' quarters, which meant the kitchen should also be on the same level. But he saw no servants scurrying about. The corridors were forbiddingly and ominously empty.

He stopped before turning a corner and rounded on the dark-skinned woman. "Kitchens," he hissed. "Where are they?"

[Meldawen]

Jada was silent for a moment, as though calculating inwardly, and peered ahead of them. "This way, your first right, down stairs," she summarized concisely, and proceeded to silently move down the corridor and prove that the kitchens were precisely where she said they were.

It was an instinct of Jada's to know exactly where she was in relation to her surroundings at any time. All children in desert nomadic tribes were taught this simple magic very young - in the midst of a sea of sand, where every patch of brown grass looked the same and the word 'landmark' did not exist, it was essential. Jada, being adept at magic in general, had taken this a few steps further and so had an unerring sense of direction and placement.

She gestured to Knyn, indicating the stairs leading down to the curiously dark, cool kitchens.

[RaistlinMajere]

From what Knyn had gleaned from the premature expedition down the courtyard stairway, it was nearly nightfall. The kitchens should have been bustling with activity - serving wenches scurrying about with stacks of dirty dishes, a petulant chef barking out orders...

But the kitchen was utterly and ominously quiet.

Knyn was certain of it now. They'd been set up. But even so, there was nothing they could do but proceed onwards. Apprehension waxing with every measured step, he moved across the tiles to stand before the back door. Thinking better of it, he moved instead to examine the window. Easing back the shutters very slightly, he came face to face with a brick wall. Closer inspection revealed a sliver of space between the bricks - barracks, it looked like - and the fortress wall. He swung the shutters out even more and cautiously climbed out, dropping onto the flagstones to press himself against the barracks. He peered around the corner and discerned that they were in the main courtyard. The portcullis was shut, and sentries stalked the battlements above them.

[Ember]

Malcar sneaked behind Knyn and gazed at the courtyard with a smile, he had passed trough here in his disguise before. All tough it wouldn`t work anymore then there was something he had left behind. Malcar looked at the rest of them wondering whether the newest stranger had a plan to get out of the courtyard, but Malcar wasn`t going to wonder about that if he was to get them out of there.

"If anyone has any thoughts or plans before I proceed with mine then it would be nice to know"

[Meldawen]

There was a faint thud behind them as Jada's boots hit the cobblestones. She inched up to peer about the still courtyard, dark clothing helping her meld seamlessly with the shadows - as did her skin, burnt dark through many generation of desert-dwellers, and her thick ebony waves of hair. "Your plans so far have not instilled me with extreme confidence, mage," she hissed in barely a whisper, softening her s sounds so as not to be heard.

[Ember]

"Ah yes, what would you have had me do? Cast us from here in the blink of an eye, not really within my power missy and even if it was then we could be easily followed by mages. Otherwise I haven`t had an actual grand plan because some meddling fools run about this prison with the same goals, but the different methods.

Yet I have at least prepared a way to get out of that gate"

He said with an ironic tone and felt a great urge to hit the female square in the face.

[RaistlinMajere]

In the midst of his own tactical survey, Knyn mentally ticked off their options. The only method he discerned was to keep close to the wall and hope against hope the sentries didn't notice. What they needed was a diversion that would open the portcullis and some miracle to get them safely beyond arrow range of Len Flarkan's battlements - no mere feat, as barren desolation surrounded the fortress. All they'd accomplish would be to grant the sentries some recreational target practice.

Then Malcar spoke up, and Knyn found himself relieved and scowling at the same time. He trusted mages for about as far as he could throw them, which, considering that he'd be smote by a fireball before he even tried, wasn't very far. But what other choice did they have? "Your aid is long overdue, magic-user," he replied in dry tones.

[KitiaraBrightblade]

OOC: Wow, I'm sorry, I've fallen so far behind, I've been so crazy busy...just throw a mention of my character once in a while, and I'll jump back in as soon as I can.

[Ember]

"And I suppose you would prefer to be rotting away in that prison cell?"

Malcar asked Knyn before stepping to the corner and whistling, some of the guards turned to gaze towards the corner and at that same moment imps appeared from thin air around them. The battle that followed between the imps and guards could have been described as rather vicious, but also comical as the guards tried to catch the small demons.

Yet Malcar cared not for the fight as he dashed trough the courtyard with no cover and like a perfect goal for archers. Malcar whistled again and this time from the cover of the courtyard bushes appeared a new lesser demon. This one seemed to be more like a gorilla and made out of muscle, Malcar issued it to open the gateway all tough there was a short moment to angry gazing from both of them towards each others. Malcar wasn`t the most popular with his demonic brethren as he was a half human after all, but at least these lesser beings bowed to his will. Malcar gazed at the battle and at the one`s he rescued, they were probably questioning him even more now due to the infernal pets yet who were they going to trust, if not him to help them out? The gate screeched and began to open as the demon began displaying it`s brute strength.

[RaistlinMajere]

Knyn conceded Malcar's point with a shrug. True, he owed the mage that much - but it was hardly worth it if they couldn't make it past the front gates. But all suspicions were relegated an instant later when the imps appeared... and two fully fledged lesser demons. At that he nearly tripped in his haste to snap an incredulous stare at the surprising Malcar. Even puissant wizards needed pentagrams in summoning. Was Malcar powerful enough to summon two lesser demons upon a whim? Or was he demonspawn himself...?

Reflexively he ducked as two hastily fired arrows whistled over his head. They had been discovered. He dove to the right, his shortsword deflecting two more arrows. Fire seared from the demons' palms. The iron portcullis groaned and bent upwards. Beyond the portcullis stretched a barren desolation, forbidding under the pale moonlight.

Target practice. Knyn only hoped Malcar had some plan for dealing with the volleys of arrows certain to pursue.

[Ember]

Malcar stared quietly at the one`s he had just `liberated` as they certain had the utmost interest about how he had succeeded in all of this. Yet now there was no time to worry about that because it was his own utmost priority to protect their escape from the archers. The imps couldn`t possibly handle all of them thus Malcar had decided that their sacrifice wouldn`t hurt. Besides they would only find themselves from their own familiar hellish plane in the end and they would be soon called back to serve.

"Under the gate now!"

He commanded the others as he ran first outside and gazed at the wall, at the imps. With few quick words of a demonic language he cast a spell that would effectively take care of their problems. Suddenly the imps stopped moving and exploded into a great cloak of smoke, covering the whole wall and effectively buying them the precious time they needed to get out of range. Malcar hurried the rest of them to freedom and lead the group into the barren wasteland.

[Meldawen]

Jada leapt reflexively sideways as an arrow hissed into the dust by her feet, shot blindly but still dangerous. None of them could see very far in the enveloping smoke, and it was not until the unlikely group had managed to make some foray into the barren wasteland before them that Jada blinked, eyes watering, and took stock of their surroundings.

The surrounding plains were eerily familiar and yet different, a cold expanse of unforgiving sand and dirt with the occasional feeble attempt at a plant. It was too similar to her native desert for Jada's liking. The desert itself bore her no ill will - but the memories that came with were not ones the young woman desired to remember. And most annoyingly, it looked as though she was stuck with this motley band. To wander off into the desert alone was not the course of action taken by someone in their right mind, as Jada knew all too well, and this was like enough to that barren expanse of sand that the same rules likely applied.

[RaistlinMajere]

Knyn took off at a sprint, ducking and letting his cloak swirl out behind him. He felt the thick cloth jerk every time it snagged an arrow. He followed Malcar's lead into the desolation, where wan moonlight bathed a flat land punctuated only by jagged cliffs and a looming mountain range to the west.

They broke their run in the shadowy mountain foothills. In the distance, Len Flarkan's forbidding walls jutted upwards, a black eyesore in an unforgiving land. Knyn allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. The cool weight of the silver chain - indicator of his none too amiable relations with the Empire - still hung around his neck. He reached into his pocket to feel Horsh's map. His personal quest had instigated the capture of an entire tavern's worth of innocents. Glancing at his unlikely companions, he wondered... did they know? And if they didn't, should he tell them? Not a prudent choice, considering how half his companions appeared less than forgiving.