"These are not drows!" Prism snapped.
      "Do you think Eric got caught like this?" Emeryl asked.
      "Probably."
      Prism, Emeryl and Blake dropped off the wall in unison before someone caught them. A huge stone wall surrounded the fort. One bonfire smoked from inside the city. Instead of crude shacks they had stone and wood houses built up against gigantic boulders for firmness.
      From what they saw the people inside the city, which were all female, wore tough brigandine armor. Many of them had much lighter hair then drows and hobbits, some even had blond hair. Quite a few had long hair combed into ponytails, a few others let it hang down.
      "Since when do we have amazons?" Blake nestled his hair behind his ears.
      "Maybe they fell from above too. I know of some amazon tribes, but they usually live in forests." Prism suggested.
      "Did you see Eric?" Bentora asked.
      "No, just amazons." Prism shook his head.
      "Well, maybe Bentora can go in and ask?" Emeryl suggested in a questionable tone.
      "They might not be friendly." Prism replied.
      "I can go in!" Leiko announced as both Prism and Blake slapped their hands over her mouth.
      "Sh!" Prism held his finger over his mouth.
      "We can always wait until they go to sleep and check." Prism offered.
      "That's not one of your better plans." Blake unstrapped a bottle from his belt. Shamelessly he downed half of it before hooking it back.
      "Do you have better?" Prism challenged him.
      "No." he shrugged.
      "Good, then let's..." the group turned around to find themselves facing a pack of swords and spears.
      "Halt! You're trespassing on the territory of Thessalonica!" one of them ordered. Her brows furrowed over her two bright blue eyes.
      "Ne, we come in peace!" Emeryl announced.
      "Shut up." She ordered unimpressed, "Of course you come in peace when you're outnumbered and obviously armed poorly."
      "But I'm a priest from Fara Fara! I don't carry weapons!" Emeryl replied.
      "Quiet!" she retorted again, "Put your hands where we can see them and get in line!"
      "We need a better negotiator..." Blake mumbled.
      "I'm not a negotiator!" Emeryl whined.
      "Then who is?" Blake looked around.
      "We don't have one!" Prism hushed them.
      "Quiet!" she demanded, shoving her face next to Prism's, "When I give an order you listen, understand?"
      She lined them up, Prism first, then Blake, Bentora, Emeryl and Leiko using her sword to keep them in line. The troop made a V formation around them, marching them away in a much more professional fashion than the hobbits.
      They escorted them across the sidewall to the front wall.
      "Drop the bridge!" the blond leader screamed.
      Slowly the large wooden bridge creaked as it lowered to the ground. A cloud of dust burst into the air as it bounced off the dirt.
      They were shoved into the fort.
      "Where'd they get all this material to build?" Blake asked.
      "This was our castle before the ground fell." One of the guards answered.
      "Sounds like your doing." Prism said to Blake.
      "Keep moving!" the leader shoved him on the shoulder.
      Several of the hunters traveling around town looked and shook their heads at them. The leader with the wavy blond hair stepped in front.
      "Take them to the jail cell." She pointed to a stony building.
      As they passed by she stopped them again.
      "Not him." She separated Emeryl.
      "Wha? What?" Emeryl frantically glanced to Prism for answers. Shrugging, Prism got shoved away.
      "Go get the priestess." She ordered one of the guards. The guard bowed and dashed off.
      "Excuse me?" Emeryl felt alone as all his friends were taken to the cell. Leiko tried to break through the guard's formation but they carried her away.
      "I don't believe you. You don't have any Holy Text, and where's your talisman?" she studied Emeryl.
      "The Holy Texts fell out of my bag when I dropped down here. And this staff is my talisman." He held the staff to her, pulling it out of his rope belt. His spider crawled across his arm to the top of the rod.
      "Eei!" the girl screamed, whacking the rod out of his hand with the blunt of her sword.
      "Huh? Spidey!" Emeryl dropped to his knees and scooped up the spider.
      "Lady?"
      They looked to another younger woman bathed in white robes and a huge, rectangular hat that rounded at the top. Her short blue hair was combed neatly behind her ears. She had a hushed voice with bright blue eyes and a pretty pink smile.
      "Ah, Ariana, come here, I think he's faking that he's a priest." She waved the girl over, "This is Ariana, the priestess of our town. She'll be the judge of whether you're lying or not."
      Emeryl nodded lightly. She had the Holy Texts under her arm, hiding in the wrinkles of her flowing robes.
      "May I read that? I lost mine." Emeryl asked politely.
      "What passage do you want to read?" she inquired softly.
      "I'm not sure, I'm a little, nervous right now. I think I want to read about David." He said quietly.
      "Do you think you can figure it out?" the blond warrior asked her.
      "Of course, Lady." She nodded.
      "Call if you need anything." The warrior twirled and disappeared in the dirt roads. The village silently went about its normal business, ignoring the priest and priestess in the middle of the road. She handed him the thick white book. Half-heartedly he opened it and flipped close to the middle, glancing over the words.
      "To tell the truth..." he sighed, closing the book again.
      "You can't read?" she asked.
      "No, I can read. I'm more interested in healing and herbalism though... I guess I'm a bad priest. I really prefer reading about poisons and cures." He set the book down in his lap.
      "Hmm... So you're a healer?" she queried curiously.
      "Oh! Yes, yes. I'm a little new, but I can heal." He nodded.
      "Prove it." She snatched a sharp rock off the ground and sliced across her white hand. A line of blood dribbled as she held her hand in front of him.
      Afraid that for some reason his abilities might fail him, Emeryl hesitantly took her hand in his and chanted with his rod leaning across his shoulder.
      He chanted softly to himself in hopes it would work correctly. His hands became soft like petals on her skin, and when he removed them she was healed perfectly.
      "So, you must be a healer." She played with her hand skeptically.
      "I am." He nodded.
      "What's your name?" she inquired.
      "Emeryl." He answered.
      "Well, Emeryl, you had better follow me." She stood up. Emeryl stood next to her, waiting to be led. Standing side by side he was clearly a few inches taller than she.
      "This way." She drifted away. He found himself jogging to keep up with her. Each step she took was one foot directly in front of the other at an extremely fast pace that made her appear like she was floating.
      They went that way to an especially large building. It was about forty feet high, pressed into a boulder. The walls were sturdy enough that Emeryl was comfortable going inside. Though the wooden doors appeared to be barred by metal it swung open easily under the weight of her hand. One spiral staircase rounded up the side to someplace Emeryl couldn't see. Here the ground was dirt, with a few small rocks. Some well-sanded chairs sat around a large, mahogany rectangular table in the middle. They were the only ones in the clearly empty room.
      "Wait here." She told him, drifting lightly up the stairs. Emeryl sat on the ground, wondering where the others were, if Eric was hurt, and what happened to the drow village that was suppose to be here.
      The priestess returned, gliding down the steps with the young blond warrior following her every step.
      Standing again at their presence, Emeryl bowed respectfully.
      "His name is Emeryl, he's a healer." She quietly whispered to her as they approached.
      "So..." she stepped heavily off the last step, with Ariana behind her left shoulder, "You were telling the truth."
      As he nodded lightly, Ariana softly told him, "Lady Syiera is our leader, be respectful."
      "What were you doing here?" the young blond interrogated him.
      "We came looking for a friend. He was checking for drow elves and never came back." Emeryl explained.
      "Purple hair?" she raised a brow.
      "Yes! That's Eric! Is he ok?" Emeryl jumped.
      "He's fine. We caught him peeking over the wall," she replied, "He's in the cell with your other friends."
      "Well, what about the drow elves? They were suppose to have a village here or something." Emeryl asked.
      "They do. Complete savages, they live about half a mile across the east wall. Sometimes they attack, which is why we've built our walls so high." She nodded.
      "And my friends?" Emeryl looked hopefully to her.
      "We can set you free... I wouldn't travel with drow elves if I were you..." she warned him.
      "They're ok. They're just trying to leave, too." Emeryl smiled.
      "Leave?" Ariana echoed.
      "Oh, we're going back up. Blake says there's a big hole we can get out of." He explained.
      "Oh, there is. Except no one can climb out that. I'd bet he has a trap laid for you." she sneered.
      "Well... I'd rather not believe that. Can I get my friends?" Emeryl switched to the last subject.
      "Of course." She nodded.
      "This way." Ariana lined up behind Syiera as they left. Emeryl followed her and they left the stony building to the streets.
      "Aaa!"
      Not far a body fell from the balconies of the wall. She rolled over with a low growl, holding a bloody arrow implanted in her shoulder.
      "It must be drows!" the blond drew her sword.
      "Syiera, be careful. I'll take care of her." Ariana shouted as she dashed back to the building with the stairway.
      "Wait, Ariana! My friends can help!" Emeryl grabbed her arm as she started toward the wounded amazon.
      "I..." she glanced around.
      "Please, just real quick!" Emeryl begged.
      "Fine, quickly!" she led him away. They rushed over to one of the stone buildings, which Emeryl couldn't decipher from any of the others. She turned the handle one way, then the other and entered.
      Inside the group, including Eric, sat in a sloppy circle. Blake and Leiko peered up from a book, while the others were apparently chatting.
      "Hurry! The fort is under attack by drows!" Emeryl announced to them.
      "Huh?" Eric blinked.
      "Come on! We have to move!" Emeryl hopped up and down.
      "I think we need an explanation." Prism clarified.
      "Not now, later! Move!" Emeryl shouted. Ariana stepped toward the other direction to go back for her patient.
      "Hurry up!" he cried again, rushing after her.
      Shrugging, the group got to their feet.
      "Emeryl, hey, wait!" Prism glanced out the door.
      "What's going on?" Eric stepped out.
      "Looks like Emeryl and that girl are helping that person on the ground." Prism answered.
      Blake and Leiko stepped out after them, peering around.
      "Yeah, it looks like drows attacking." Blake stated as arrows shot a few more girls.
      "Emeryl is helping them." Bentora pointed out.
      "He must have found out something we don't know," Prism thought, turning the Blake, "Blake, do you know shield?"
      "I know of it." He answered.
      "Ah..." Prism nodded, pondering, "If I can get you up there, can you fend off the drows?"
      "I can try." Blake snapped a bottle out of his belt and drained it.
      "Stop drinking, it makes me nervous." Prism pulled out his baby blue book, flipping through the pages.
      "I'm fine." He insisted, tossing the bottle over his shoulder, "You guys should find something to do."
      "What exactly are you going to do?" Eric asked.
      Prism closed his eyes and began chanting. The words drifted out of his mouth naturally into the air. Under Blake's feet the dirt stirred, forming a small vortex. It wrapped around him in a small, dirty bubble and melted into a glassy shrine.
      Slowly it floated a foot off the ground, carrying Blake with it. He firmly planted himself in the middle of the bubble with his feet separated for additional support. They watched him levitate higher in the air, over twenty feet.
      "Don't look down!" Leiko yelled at him.
      As he rose he saw the wall. The amazons threw what was left of the spears they had over the walls. A little bit higher and he saw the drows on the other side of the wall. Some ropes had been launched and hooked and a few drows were climbing up. Archers lined the wall from about a thirty-foot distance, shooting up at the amazons. They retrieved the spears from the ground and launched them back but only a few actually made it over the wall.
      The bows and arrows ceased and the spears stopped as two armies noticed Blake floating in the air. With his gray complexion and dark suit with two large ears and devil eyes he could have been mistaken for an evil incarnate. Amazons and drows alike wondered who the stranger in the flying ball was. From here he saw the blond warrior cutting one of the ropes with her sword.
      Crossing his arms over his face small murmurs whisked out of his lips. A chill breeze past by him, flapping his little cape and swirling his hair.
      Slowly he chanted the words, raising his black gloves in the air. His eyes flickered like a fire, then went out. A dead glaze covered him as he froze stiffly in place. The end of the chant seeped out of his mouth. Below, beyond the walls, the drow elves scrambled as the ground moved. Wafts of dust exploded into the air as they circled the new threat with their weapons in hand.
      Out of three holes bony hands sprung out. From the graves of drows long past the empty eyes with protruding ears crawled out. Two of them had some torn cape pieces draped over their rotten corpses.
      "Monsters! Monsters!" the drow elves screamed. The dirty claws came down on one of the drows, snapping off half his ear.
      With a smirk Blake fainted in the bubble. His body slid to the bottom in a slump.
      "Blake?" Bentora blinked, glaring at Prism, "Is that suppose to happen?"
      "No... no! Blake? Blake! Get up!" Prism yelled. He lost control of his concentration and the bubble fell out of the sky.
      "Augh! Catch him!" Bentora shoved Prism.
      "A... a... zo!" Prism frantically shouted, raising his arms. The bubble slowed to a safe speed. As Blake reached the ground the bubble dissipated around him, changing back to dirt.
      "Blake!" Leiko dropped next to him.
      "What's wrong? What happened?" Eric rushed his wrist across Blake's frozen forehead. Blake's face had paled dangerously with hardly any gray left. Both eyes were closed softly, but he didn't have any visible wounds. He had the look of silent death.
      "I don't know... Emeryl? Emeryl!" Prism called.
      "I'll get him!" Leiko bolted away.
      "What's wrong with him?" Bentora knelt. She and Eric knew close to nothing about magic and couldn't understand how words could effect a person.
      "I... wait, he used to have an artifact that boosted his powers, for ten years. He must have cast a spell he isn't powerful enough to cast anymore." Prism felt his wrist for a pulse, "He's still there."
      "Halt! Don't move!"
      A small squad of amazons surrounded them with spears, led by the young blond warrior.
      "Huh? I thought we were on the same side!" Prism stayed by Blake defensively.
      "That drow summoned monsters!" she spat.
      "He did what he did to help you! You're not under attack anymore, are you?" Prism retorted, "I may not agree with his methods, but he tried."
      "I got him!"
      Leiko ran towards them holding Emeryl's hand.
      "Syiera! Is he ok?" Emeryl let loose Leiko's hand and rushed over to them, "What happened?"
      "He summoned demons." Syiera kept half a dozen guards around them.
      "No, I'm sure he was just helping. Let me get a look at him." Emeryl fell to his knees. Prism handed Blake's wrist over.
      "He's exhausted... Wow, he's hardly there, what did he do?" Emeryl brushed his hand across Blake's cheek.
      "I think he cast a spell that's too powerful for him." Prism replied.
      "Ow... Ne, here, get him somewhere where he can rest, I have to go help Ariana." Emeryl got up and darted away again, with Leiko on his heels. Nervously, Prism glanced back at Syiera.
      She paused, hesitant and thoughtful, then sheathed her sword, "I know nothing of wizardry, we'll judge him when we have such sources."
      "Oh, thank you." Prism nodded, "Eric, Bentora, get him up."
      Going around Eric hefted Blake by the shoulders while Bentora lifted his feet.
      "Where to?" Eric asked.
      "Uh..." Prism looked to Syiera.
      Grunting, she answered, "Follow me. Back to the balconies!"
      Her troops scattered away. Warily, she kept her eye on them as she led the mutant, the colorfully robed wizard, the purple swordsman and the unconscious drow elf away to their infirmary.