Chapter 36, in which the Adventurers fly around and fight some dragons

Tranquillity
Tranquillity had snuck around back of the house. She was expecting a message soon and thought it wouldn't do to have the others hear it.

She whispered a few last words to the small bird held nestled in her hands and then with a slight upwards motion sent the bird off to deliver her response. She stood there for a while lost in thought as she watched as the bird flew away. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind and she snapped back into reality.

Instantly she was sprinting back around to the front of the house, arriving just in time to see Red Un and the others fly off on Melrod’s carpet. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Red Un's note gently waving in the wind. She scanned it quickly then let out a derisive snort. "'Find your own means of transportation.' How am I supposed to do that in this goddess forbidden place."

She sat brooding on her position for a while before finally deciding that she only had one option. She got up and headed to the centre of town and the small cove where whichever ships arrived docked at.


Red Un
Captain Aiyare looked around. It had been quite a while now since he arrived to Senja. He wondered where that half-dwarf and his companions had gone to as he looked out over the seas from the pier he stood on. Things truly were more exciting when they were around...

Meanwhile, Red Un peered into the distance.

"The storm's comin' up. Melrod, don't forget to fly over it, or we'll all get flung to who-knows-where. And I don't think I will enjoy who-knows-where. I usually don't."

"Don't, I say, don't worry. I'll have you over and beyond that storm quicker than a Venorian seagull. Fast, that is."

Tujex
Tujex sat on the carpet, looking around. "Tranquillity didn't make it on the carpet in time." He sighed and rubbed his head. "Aww man I was hoping..." he started as he envisioned them fighting through the storm and Tranquillity squeezing him tight. He had a big smile on his face as he stared off into nowhere, "Yeah...I'll protect you" he muttered, his smile growing even bigger.

Red Un
Red Un turned around to his party.

"Okay people, we've got a big nasty storm comin' up, so I suggest ya hold on to...well, I guess there's something ya wanna hold on to. I'm gonna hold on to the carpet edge."

Artios
Artios laid down his book once more, and looked out over the storm. "The carpet is pretty big, I guess it's enough if I sit in the middle. And in case anything would happen, I'll just grab onto something... Like... Ah well, I'll sit in the middle however." he said as he moved further into the middle of the carpet.

Sarra Zoldan
"Nothing quite like a good piece of carpet edge, is there?" Kish muttered to herself.

Still, she leaned forward and grabbed the edge of the carpet at her side, her knuckles turning white as her grip tightened around the edge. Her other hand she placed on the carpet surface, palm down, fingers spread wide.

Red Un
Melrod turned to his passengers.

"Okay, I'm going to take the carpet upwards now. Hold on!"

The carpet started to lean in the air as it gained height.

Meanwhile, the dragon-riders, still obscured by the storm, approached.

Narudin
"Oh dear..." was all that Narudin said as the carpet started to ascend at a pace the half elf did not much like. Flying had never been high in his list of "Fun Things". It was not that he much feared heights as such. After all, it was the ground that killed You.

Clutching tightly at the edge of the carpet, he looked over the edge for a moment...

"Oh dear..." he quickly took his head back, convincing himself that he was never afraid of heights. "True", conceded a small voice in his head. "It's large heights in stormy weather when all that is between You and a thousand feet drop is very thin carpet.”

Lima Beanie
Then a huge thunder filled the air, then Narudin sensed something in the back of the carpet. He said "watch out!" and pointed to a huge pile of pelts that were near one corner of the carpet.

Then a figure appeared. And Melrod exclaimed "There you are! I thought you fell that trip I made to the hills. You owe me some gold Lima."

Then the sleepy druid said "Not now Melrod, first of all... where are we going?"

"We are going Vega, but there is a storm in the way."

"Oh, hi everybody, my name is Lima Beanie."


Mategerold
Elwyn clung to the carpet tightly as the mounting storm blew strong winds against the already speeding vessel. It was an amazing feeling, the skin on your face pulled back by the gale, and one could almost convince oneself that they were flying by looking out into the mounting horizon. Elwyn sat for a while smiling gleefully on his way to Vega. He looked down at his spell book, remembering his childhood.
Why the hell not? he finally decided. He whipped open his spell book as his smile spread to a broad grin. If dad could do it, why can't I?
Chanting softly and tracing pages in his book (which he had to hold straight out for him and face backwards so the pages wouldn't flap around), no one noticed him. He finished his spell, and it seemed his skin grew dimmer, as if it were not really his skin. Then, all at once (and a lot of people noticed this), he jumped down, or rather fell up, which one most people could not tell.

"What’re you…” Red Un began, but was caught short by Elwyn's whoop of delight. He floated upwards, circling around the carpet and riding on air that seemed to be flowing in the wrong direction.
"Fine day for flying," he yelled, just as the sizzle of lightning struck him in the chest. Down he fell, not even moving to do something that might slow his fall, until he was too obscured by the clouds to see.

Red Un and Melrod, along with everyone else on the carpet, tried to figure out what just happened. They came to the conclusion that he was dead, though why he had jumped off the carpet into a lighting storm no one could guess. The carpet continued on its way to Vega, although everyone was slightly depressed.

The air around Narudin's neck sizzled with a small bolt of static electricity as the man whirled around to see who had shocked him. "Fooled ya," laughed the mage as a spark jumped from his ear to his nose. "It'll all dissipate eventually."

Red Un
"Stop messin' around like that!"

Red Un turned back to the horizon.

He blinked.

He looked again.

He shook his head.

He looked again.

"Oh no..."

He turned to rest of the party.

"Dragons straight ahead!"

Lima Beanie
Lima, still amazed of what Elwyn has done, suddenly realized what Red Un said...
"D-d-Dragons? Holy cow. Good I brought some Explosion runes, oh and also some Heavy Magic Missile runes. Hope they help."

Then Lima started making a strange face because of the rash that formed on the cheek.

"Damn it hurts... I think the potion I brought will work."

She opened a blue potion that if it wasn't for wind it would have knocked everyone out. Then she took a bit on her finger and spread it on her cheek. A kind of buzzing came from the ooze on the cheek as it started bubbling.

"Damn it stinks, but it’s good for all kinds of allergies."

Suddenly the blue ooze vanished and a perfect cheek replaced it.

"So we aren't going Vega to find the abominable snowman right?"

Tranquillity
"Captain Aiyare I presume?"

The man whipped around and found Tranquillity leaning on the mast near him. He nodded.

"I would like to talk to you about possible transport. I need to go to Vega."

The Captain spit out whatever it was that was in his mouth then turned back to her. "Ah, missy, I don't think I can be helping you there. There is a storm surrounding that island that Bluetooth himself couldn't have sailed through. I think you best wait a few days before you go there."

Tranquillity bit her lip. "I don't have that much time." She looked around her at the ship as if measuring it up. "I'm willing to buy this ship from you though you won't be able to collect without going to Ab'Dendriel." The captain looked like he wanted to protest but Tranquillity carried on talking anyway. "I will pay you handsomely for its use for two weeks. If I do not return then the council of Ab'Dendriel will pay you for your losses. All damage to the ship will be repaid by them. You may keep this as insurance and a way of verifying your story to the council." She slipped a ring off her finger and placed it in the captains hand.

The captain stared at her in shock for a second and then recovered himself. He examined the ring and then examined Tranquillity. "The council eh?"

"Yes, I am on a job for them at the moment."

The captain nodded and slipped the ring into his pocket. "Well then, all that remains to be settled is the price."

After a few intense minutes the price was set and Tranquillity was staring at the captain’s retreating back. "I expect that ring returned to the council when they pay you. If anything is awry when I return to them there will be hell between us."

The captain didn't turn around and continued on without a word as Tranquillity finished getting ready to pilot the ship through the storm. Finally she threw of the lines holding the ship and was quickly off, hoping to Umar that piloting a ship was one of those things which you never forget how to do.

Red Un
Red Un looked at the newcomer.

"I dunno where ya came from, but if you're good at bustin' up dragons..."

He looked at the approaching beasts. Yes, they were red, it seemed.

"...Dragon Lords to be specific, you're welcome to the team. Just remember that I've got the first pick on any books we find. Now..."

He looked down.

"...see ya later!"

He jumped.

And came flying upwards again.

"WEE! We're right above the storm!"

He swirled around in the strong wind that pushed him upwards and tried to steer towards the dragons.

Narudin
The crazy half-dwarf had jumped! He jumped off of the carpet! Narudin looked over the edge of the carpet, prepared to see a short form falling away from them. Much to his surprise, Red Un came flying right up, supported somehow by the powerful air currents.

"WEE! We're right above the storm!" yelled the insane half-dwarf, and then started manoeuvring towards the dragons. Narudin's eyes could also discern the familiar red pattern on the beasts’ scales, indicating they were of the higher dragon family - The Dragon Lords.

The shadowdancer paused to consider his situation. He was on a carpet, thousands of feet above the ground, with a host of Dragon Lords chasing him - the half elf looked closer and corrected himself, noting the figures on their backs - a host of Brotherhood members of the higher echelon, riding on the top of Dragon Lords. Red Un, who was technically the leader of their carpet team, had already jumped and was somehow closing in on the airborne beasts and their riders. Narudin was equipped with his standard two swords, inadequate for the size of the dragons, with a few magical runes he could wield. Ow, and a lot of throwing knives.

Narudin took his blades out and examined them. They looked sharp, which they were. They had been Narudin's swords for a long time now, of the finest, dwarf-mined steel, crafted by the elves. He always wondered where the Brotherhood had gotten them and why his old master, Ardus, had given them to him. He had indeed obtained far better swords later, Narudin recalled, blades of magic. He wondered why his Master hadn't wielded them in the fight with him... He must had had to give them to some higher standing cultist...

Narudin was silent for a moment, thinking. Finally, he shook his head and whispered:

"Bloody hellfire, I must be as crazy as the half-dwarf..."

Then he jumped.

Lima Beanie
Lima gazed whit amazement.

"Those two guys jumped to fight with some red dragons!" he spoke to himself.

"By experience I know that dragons are deadly. But I don’t know Dragon Lords, they are red, red is fire, fire is death."

"Whate-VEEEEEEEER!!!!" he screamed as he jumped from the carpet with a Missile rune in hand.

"This may be tricky." He pointed at the Dragon Lord and SWEEEENG. The rune fired. A roar filled the air.


Artios
"Oh dear. Fighting in air, that'll be a new experience. Hmm. Call me a coward, but I think I'd rather stay here... for the moment being, as I will most likely be useless out there." Artios searched through his pockets on the inside of his cloak beginning on the lower right side and ended on the upper left side. "Hmm, an Sudden Death rune. I need more of them. I'll only use it in case Sir Redwick does not succeed slaying those dragons." Artios sighed and shook his head. "Ah. Well, once one of those dragons die.... I shall get us some... More friends."
Artios picked up a Mana Fluid from his belt, and drank the somewhat purple potion. "Ahh, I ought to be able to... Use that spell by now.” Artios rose up and yelled; "SIR REDWICK! SIR NARUDIN! AS SOON AS YOU HAVE KILLED THAT DRAGON, STAY AWAY FROM IT!!" The winds were too strong, and Artios fell back down on his back, luckily.

Mategerold
Red dragons, the masters of volcanic lairs and the fiery storms they yielded rarely ventured this far north, so Elwyn assumed that whoever rode these awesome beasts must be powerful indeed to convince one so far from its horde of treasure. Red dragons, even more so than most dragons, had an un-natural desire for treasure. It was by lucky coincidence that Elwyn had memorized mostly cold-energy spells.
The mage went into a deep chant, recalling a spell much more powerful than the simple wind manipulation he had used before. A glimmering orb of white light materialized and grew in front of him, and in a matter of seconds, it buried itself into Elwyn's chest. He rose up weightlessly from the carpet, and despite the wind's howl around him, not a single hair moved on his head. Quickly he started casting another spell and a translucent blue shield encompassed him. Just before he started casting for a third time, one of the dragon lords dove for the unprotected carpet. Annoyed, Elwyn warned the others aboard to get ready.
Suddenly, the diving dragon turned around awkwardly and tried to flap back to the rest of the pack. Only Elwyn understood, as his illusion took effect. The dragon saw gold raining from the clouds showering his team-mates. The rider tried frantically to control it but to no avail. Elwyn went back to his original task.
Chanting quietly while suspended in air, he held his palms open and outward. A thin mist began to rotate around them, seeming to gather from the clouds around him. Faster and faster it spun as it grew colder. The mist froze and condensed into ice, and then sunk into his hands. A blue glow emanated from both of his palms, promising a freezing blast to any that came too near. Thinking the treasure-confused dragon that had tried to attack the carpet a good target, Elwyn sped away in his direction. Apparently, the dragon was over its fantasy as a wave of searing fire stopped just a few feet from Elwyns face and ate away at his shield. Surprised, the dragon flew in close to slash the pesky human to pieces. Unfortunately for it, Elwyn was far faster and more agile. The claws flew harmlessly wide, and the half-elf took the opportunity to get in close. Another fiery breath encompassed his shield, and for a moment, all Elwyn could see was the bright red flames. When they cleared, however, he found a direct path to its chest. Here he knew the dragon's heart lied, and that few physical weapons could penetrate. Elwyn sped onward, now within reaching distance of the dragon's huge plated scales. The dragon tried feverishly to knock Elwyn off course, but he was too close and the dragon couldn't get a good hit. Elwyn outstretched both hands shoved them against the dragon's chest. His arms jolted, and the cold contained inside them disappeared. Quickly he flew off in the other direction as the dragon attempted to flap its wings a few times before it plummeted to the ground.

Red Un
Red Un suddenly felt that there was no wind under him anymore, and looking down, he saw that he was on the other side of the storm.

And falling.

Then, suddenly, a Dragon Lord grabbed him in his feet with its claws and held it up to its rider.

"Finally... Now you will die, half-dwarf!"

But Red Un decided that he didn't want to die just yet. He drew his sword and cut off the head of the Grand Leader controlling the creature.

"Hmph. I guess this one was the weakest one..."

The dragon, now without someone controlling it, realised that it was far away from its volcanic home, and dropped the half-dwarf back into the storm in its confusion. Then it started to fly around, spewing flames everywhere in its rage.

Artios
As the magician had "killed" the Dragon Lord, even though it still was living, it was weak enough for Artios to re-animate. Into a skeleton. Once the Dragon Lord started to fall down to the earth, Artios started to chant on a spell. Mere moments later, the dragon stopped falling, and it floated in the air. Artios began on a new spell. His hands started to glow in a slightly green colour. The blood underneath the dragon’s skin started to boil, and small openings in its skin started to open to let the blood out. Slowly, it's eyes fell out, and blood came out from every hole there was on a Dragon Lord. Slowly, the skin and the flesh started to fall off the dragon, leaving naught the skeleton of the dragon left.
Artios hands began illuminating even more green light. And soon, even the skeleton began shining in a green light. The Dragon Lord was alive. Once more. It moved freely, even thought it was under Artios control, it could yet handle on its own. And making its own decisions, but Artios could always take full control over it. Artios continued chanting, as he was going to enchant his minion with lightning, ice, fire and earth magics. Artios aimed at the dragon with his right palm, and lightning energy flowed out from it and struck the dragon. The Dragon did not get hurt by this. Oh no. It consumed the energy. Artios aimed at the Dragon with his left palm, and cold energy, ice energy or whatever you might want to call it, flowed out from his hand and struck the dragon, who gained even more strength. The energies changed, lightning to earth, ice to fire. And the dragon consumed all of it. The dragon stretched out its wings, and began flying by itself. "This dragon will serve us until it's turned to dust, or until I die. In whatever order that'll be" Artios said. And laughed quietly by himself.

Narudin
Narudin felt the force of the wind considerably slow his descent. "I'm a thousands of bloody feet above the ground" raced from his head, but the half elf discarded it quickly, concentrating on the task at hand. He looked to see Elwyn slay one of the beasts with his magic. The creature started falling.

"That was quick" Narudin muttered to himself. He had thought that wounding a powerful creature like a Dragon Lord would take more than sending an ice missile at its chest. Narudin shrugged - he was not learned in Dragon Lore. What caught his attention was that the beast suddenly stopped falling down - and started falling apart! Pieces of flesh tore off, leaving nothing but an animated skeleton a minute later. Narudin wondered whether it was on their side, as he hadn't noticed who had cast the animation spell.

"That was gross" the shadowdancer muttered once again, now considerably closer to the rest of the dragon. He noticed Red Un on one of them - the half dwarf had already reached the group and chopped one of the Grand Master's head off as Narudin watched.

"That was easy" Narudin shook his head a third time. The Dragon beneath Red Un suddenly went wild and started flying around, spitting fire at random. Narudin was quite close now and caught a gust of wind as the Dragon flew past him with Red Un hanging on. The beast’s powerful wing sent the wind at Narudin, who was propelled backwards. The half elf hit something solid. Something with scales. Something which seemed to snort in surprise.

Narudin slowly turned around, looking at the two, big, bewildered dragon eyes which were squinting at the figure who was sitting on its snout.

The shadowdancer was the first to react. He propelled himself upwards, just as the dragon threw up its head in order to discharge the half elf from its snout and catch him in its jaws. Narudin's jump took him high, behind the dragon’s head, where he caught hold of an ear. The creature snorted again in annoyance and shook its head. Narudin held on to the ear, knowing that falling from here would not give him much of a chance to get back on the carpet. He looked down and saw another unpleasant surprise. It was a Grand Master, strapped to a special saddle, grinning at him and holding his hands in front of him. Narudin blanched at the face as it winked at him evilly, and then suddenly focused as the necromancer proceeded in weaving a spell.

Narudin's mind was racing - the necromancer was Ghelphor!

It was he who had first found Narudin in Ab'Dendriel and initiated him into the Brotherhood. It was he who taught him the basics of magic. It was he, or at least by his advice, that he was tutored by Master Ardus.

It was he who had put the geas of obedience upon him.

Red Un
Red Un looked around as he fell. All ten Grand Masters were riding a dragon each, tough they were now only eight, since Red Un had "taken care" of one of them, and Elwyn had killed another one’s dragon, sending its rider falling into the dark seas below.

Then the half-dwarf realised that there were more important things than counting enemies. For instance, to stop falling.

Fortunately, that was when the dead dragon decided to be not-quite-dead and as it flew past, Red Un grabbed on to its bony tail.

"Necromancy, eh?"

Sarra Zoldan
After Redwick and Narudin had jumped off the edge of the carpet, Kish slowly edged her way closer to the side currently closest to the dragons.
As Elwyn dispatched one of the dragons, she began chanting on her own. A sphere of sizzling energy, slightly pinkish to the hue, built up between her palms, facing each other some two feet apart and another two feet from her face.

The force in the sphere built up, the sizzling noise growing louder and louder as the sphere grew in size. Her chanting reaching a crescendo, a burst of energy spiralled away from the sphere, the actual origin of the burst losing half its mass. Again it started growing, and again Kish, chanting, released a burst.

The first burst took a dragon lord in the side of its chest. The furious red dragon roared in pain, its wings clapping in the air frantically as it spun slightly out of control.
Another burst took the dragon in the neck, the dragon once again roaring and spewing flames into the empty air. This time, the dragon did not regain composure until after a few moments, the rider frantically trying to hang on.

The third burst almost took the rider with it, but the Brotherhood member leaned back at the last moment, the energetic discharge dissipating harmlessly some fifty yards beyond him.

As both the dragon and the rider regained complete composure, the rider looked to the left flank of the dragon, from the direction the first burst had hit. However, the sky was empty, save the spiralling strands of cloud placed even up here. Turning to gaze over the neck of his mount, the rider let out a startled cry as a fourth burst hit the dragon right between the eyes.

The dragon screamed, not so much annoyed anymore, as injured. Both its eyes singed by the discharge, the dragon flapped its wings in random patterns and in an unset pace. Slowly, the dragon plummeted into the stormy clouds below.

Kish released the sphere between her hands with a final word, and watched as the dragon fell into the dense bank of clouds below them.

"What a waste of dragonkin..." she muttered to herself.

Noticing how Narudin and Redwick were combating the dragons and their riders, with mixed success, Kish conceded that her recent success had only been the result of dumb luck and not any real effective combat method. Shaking her head in numb disbelief, she spoke, mostly to herself.

"I must be mad..."

Placing herself on the edge of the carpet, her back towards the empty space behind her, she stretched out her arms and let herself be pushed over the edge by the wind, rapidly falling towards the vast battle below.

Red Un
Three down, seven to go, thought Red Un as he managed to get up on the back of the formerly-living dragon.

He realised that something had to be done about the wild, formerly-ridden dragon that was flying around in confusion and anger, spewing flames everywhere. Sooner or later, it was bound to hit something. The half-dwarf grabbed hold of the bony neck of his mount and tried to steer it in some way, though he didn't know how. Dragon-riding wasn't his speciality.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity was far beyond the point where she was guiding the ship with any real purpose beyond survival. This storm was greater than anything that she could have imagined. It was all she could do to hold on to the wheel and hope to come out of the storm alive.

Suddenly all around her the swirling winds and flying ice ceased. She looked around at the unnatural calm and the swirling storm which seemed to encircle the entire world but for the small space which she and the boat were in. She glanced at the compass only to see that it had been broken by flying ice.

She took one deep breath and then the wall of the storm was before her and all around and blowing with such force that it tore her grip from the wheel. Tranquillity flung out her arms in a desperate search for anything to stop he from being flung from the ship but in vain.

Instantly she was airborn. Instead of being tossed into the frigid ocean however Tranquillity felt herself being spiralled relentlessly upwards at speeds she would never have thought possible. Moments later she reached the top of the storm and was flung upwards. For a brief moment she felt completely weightless and saw what seemed like the entire world spread out before her. She wished that moment could last forever however it was not to be and she was soon plummeting back into the storm, only to be thrown out again, though with less force.

This time she was able to get a better look at her surroundings before beginning her descent again. Just as she was beginning to pick up speed Melrod shot out underneath her, cutting her fall short.

She lay still for a long moment trying to regain the breath that had just been knocked out of her and tried to assess the situation. "I'm alive, that’s good. I've been caught by Melrod and his carpet, that's probably good too. Red Un and the other's aren't on it, that's safer. I'll have to go search for them, that's bad." She rolled over onto her back with a groan. Just as she was about to ask Melrod where the others were she saw something bright red whiz by below them. "Dragons?" she asked quizzically.

She leaned over the carpet for a better look and saw one of the oddest sights in her life. The others were floating above the storm, fighting an airborne battle against what appeared to be Dragon Lords. "I hope this is worth it" she muttered as she pulled herself up towards the edge of the carpet. In one quick motion she stood straight up, spread her arms, and let the force of the wind push her off the back of the carpet, sending her to join the companions below.

Red Un
"Ah, Tranquillity! Glad ya could join the party!"

Red Un managed in some way to steer the less-than-living dragon towards the wild, out of control dragon. He made a jump, came just short and managed to grab the raging beast’s red tail.

"This seems awfully familiar..."

Narudin
Narudin didn't take notice of what was going around him. Time slowed as Ghelphor wove his hands in the oily patterns of death magic. Narudin pushed all irrelevant thoughts from his mind and concentrated on those pale hands, trying to discern their final objective - it was what he had been taught in the lessons of the Necromancy Order in his days in the Brotherhood, to recognise the basic gestures of necromantic spells, the common denominator in the patterns which identified the spells school and general effect.

The shadowdancer held onto the dragons neck, staring. This was not good - mind control spells never were.

The half-elf feverishly thought of any tactic which could get him out of this, and the situation was grim indeed. He was hanging on a dragon’s neck, letting go and moving would probably mean falling off. About 15 feet from him, strapped to a special dragon saddle sat one of his oldest Masters from the Brotherhood, in the midst of spellcasting. Narudin considered his options. There was only one logical thing to do, really.

Ghelphor was finishing the spell when he was unpleasantly surprised by a throwing knife skidding across his shoulder. The necromancer held his concentration, and quickened his spell, finally releasing the magic with the final word of command.

Narudin cursed - Throwing backwards from a very uncomfortable position when You were flying through the air on the back of a dragon, with great wind velocities raging around was definitely not an ideal environment for the art of weapon throwing, even from 15 feet. Narudin knew that Ghelphor had nearly finished. But the half-elf had one more ace up his sleeve. Quite literally, in fact.

The ex-assassin flailed one of his hands backwards, a poison-tipped throwing star dislodging itself from the sleeve. It seemed as if it was about to miss its mark, when suddenly a gust of wind turned it, the star digging straight into Ghelphor’s out-stretched hand. The necromancer shrieked, clutching at his hand as the spell fired off, heading towards Narudin.

The half-elf saw stars for a moment and felt the mental barrage of the powerful spell. For a moment he thought in panic "He hit me?!" but then the sensation gradually went away, to make place for another sensation - one which people have when they are falling.

Narudin was still clutching the dragon neck, he was certain of that. At the same time, the clouds were somehow moving upwards with disturbing speed. Or was it them falling...?

The truth dawned - Ghelphor had hit the back of the dragon’s head, the clash of the powerful spell and the dragon’s resistant mind sending a psychic shockwave. The half-elf twisted around to see Ghelphor slowly coming around, but the dragon seemed out cold. Despite the wind howling past him and trying to send his words back into his throat, Narudin said through his clenched teeth:

"This... may... be... troublesome."

Red Un
Red Un turned his head momentarily to see Narudin, his opponent and the dragon they were sitting on descending into the storm.

"Ah, he can take o' himself..."

He turned back to the more pressing matter, that of not getting himself killed. The raging dragon had noticed the annoying little creature holding on to its tail, and started to lash it around. Red Un let go when it lashed upwards and made a sweeping arc through the air, landing on the dragons back. He drew his sword and place it on the dragons neck in one swift movement.

"Lis'n, I know all this might be a li'll confusin', but if ya just stop thrashing about and fly southwards, you'll probably find your way home sooner or later. Got it?"

The dragon nodded.

"Good."

Red Un let go. The dragon suddenly threw him of and then beat its wings, heading southwards, ignoring the battle going on around it.

Red Un fell downwards (where else?) and wondered if this was his last mistake, when Melrod came speeding and caught the half-dwarf on his carpet.

"Do, I say, do you need a hand?"

"Sure, just get me towards th'rest of the dragons..."

Biali
Beanie watched how everybody used damn good spells and he used sucky missiles.

"Now pesky Lords, you asked for it."

He started pronouncing some words, and a red-blue glow started to flow from his hands.

"Energy won’t make you much damage, but you won’t SURVIVE THIS!!"

Then the biggest thunder everybody had ever seen in their entire lives hit the Dragon Lord right in the head. The eyes exploded and skin fell off. He didn't die, but he would die later. The rider couldn't survive it. The brass legs and armour he had made it fatal to him also.

"Now that’s a spell. Druids are masters of life," he spoke to himself. "They give it they take it, you understand?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. This needs to be made when it is in agony."

He caught with a spell the dead Dragon and the unfortunate necromancer.
Then Lima muttered something and the skin of the dragon disappeared, then the muscles and bones. Everything transformed into a glowing matter that Lima absorbed whit his hands.

"Nothing as pure energy."

Then he felt some kinda tingling in his back.

"Holy..."

A fire column almost roasted him, but he used at last second a spell to make a shield that absorbed all damage, but left Lima very exhausted.

Some energy still was left in the air so Lima finished absorbing it.

Then the surprised rider ordered the dragon to destroy Lima. He moved just in time to avoid the mouth of dragon, but he grabbed a back leg.

He climbed and cast a spell that instantly killed everything in his way.

"EXORI MORT!"

The rider fell dead, but the dragon was uncontrollable. Lima climbed to his neck and drew a poison dagger that he knew would someday come in handy.

"You may not get poisoned.... but it will hurt as hell to you."

He stuck the dagger in one eye and the point slashed trough the other eye. The dagger began to melt and set on fire. The dragon started to roar and Lima realized that he poked his brain whit a poison dagger.

"Now before it’s too late."

He absorbed the last nerve of the non-poisoned body of the dragon. Only the neck and head was left.

"If I absorbed poisoned energy it would be worse than drinking troll urine."

Red Un
"How, I say, how many are there left now?"

"Hmmh, four I guess..."

Red Un decided that the whole jumping-between-dragons-business was a little too dangerous, so instead he took out his crossbow and tried to aim at one of the remaining Grand Masters.

Narudin
The dragon, shadowdancer and necromancer plummeted down, accelerating as the water came up to meet them at a frightful pace. Narudin knew it was not much better falling into the water than onto the ground - You could still get crushed, or at least suffer severe internal damage. The half elf tried to clear his mind and focus on surviving - a hard task when You are falling towards Your death. Suddenly, through the jumble of his thoughts, he felt something.

A presence.

Narudin nearly panicked. Had Ghelphor got him after all? He glanced at the necromancer, who was coming around, very slowly though, as the star Narudin had thrown had been coated with sleeping poison. Necromancers were naturally resistant and well trained to overcome such effects, but it took time, not to mention that Narudin used only the finest materials to make his most potent poisons. One thing was sure, it wasn't Ghelphor’s mind in his head, sleep poison strongly suppressed the mental clarity which was so needed in mind controlling. It was something else. The half elf shivered and concentrated harder. Something... draconic?

"Oh my..."

Whether it was the mental blast, the spell backfiring or his former ties to the Brotherhood, it was Narudin who had been linked with the dragon, not Ghelphor. The shadowdancer was now worried. It took a lot of mental power to overcome such a powerful creature as a Dragon Lord for a beginner mage, for an apprentice like Narudin any attempt would most probably leave him vulnerable to a counteratta…

A powerful surge of mental energy hit him, nearly sending the half elf off the dragon. Another assault soon followed, scrambling his thoughts and sending them flying in all directions. Barely coherent, he could feel the dragon’s sharp and focused mind probing for the final attack. Not that there was much to probe for - The shadowdancer was not skilled much in mental combat.

Then it came. And then there was blackness.

Narudin found himself in a sea of darkness. All around him strange echoes resounded, eerily playing across his mind. "Is this death?" he thought. He shook his head. No, this was some kind of mental prison, a place where the mind was locked away when defeated in a battle of wills. He recalled the necromancers putting him into such a state ones, to show him the power that they wielded, no doubt. He remembered the void. The emptiness. It was said to be virtually impossible to break out.

The shadowdancers analytical mind started to grasp around for possibilities. Even though he was not yet in the state of death, it was still a valid option. His body had probably lost its hold and was falling alone, the Dragon Lord free and flying now. The mind was a complex thing, Narudin suspected time flew slower here. He had some time.

Anger. That was the only thing he could come up with. He remembered reading in the ancient books of the dwarves describing an interesting phenomenon concerning mind magic. The rune script told of dwarven battleragers who were strongly immune to the elves’ dream and illusion magic, swatting away charms with ease, charms which would have felled many powerful geomancers. It was theorised that the sheer fury of the battlerager was enough to counter the enchantment's subtle probing. The conclusion was a traditional dwarven blunt summary - If You don't have the head to keep Your cool, get wild.

Narudin concentrated, recalling thoughts long buried, too painful to think of everyday. The meeting with Ghelphor. The Brotherhood’s crimes. The geas. The betrayal. The half elf could feel that it was not enough, anger was filling him, but not overflowing. He closed his eyes, the image of his step parents' broken bodies lying on the floor of the Brotherhood training hall coming to him from afar, the sound of the other's jeers around him...

Narudin
The dragon blinked.

It had broken the weak-minded half-elf’s will with ease and had thrown him off its back a second ago, the lifeless body now falling down the last few hundred feet to the water. The Dragon Lord was now regaining its balance in the air, the powerful wings steadying its flight. It was at the same time encountering the strangest feeling it had ever felt. The half elf's mind was breaking out?

The Dragon Lord spent a moment too long contemplating this strange occurrence, hesitating whether its feeling were correct. When it finally decided to cast a spell of mental protection, it was too late.

Narudin's thoughts broke free and flooded the great beasts mind, piercing through the dragon's hastily erected mental defences and filling the brain like a wave of molten fire. The dragon screamed with rage once, but the cry was lost as a fury hotter than the sun took over its body and forced it into a brutal dive. It caught the falling form of the half elf no more than a dozen feet before the water level.

Then the dragon shot up skywards, quickly returning to the place of the air battle, the amount of opponents considerably fewer. Narudin stared forward for a while and then turned to the now conscious, though hazy Ghelphor. The necromancer's mind has dulled, but he was bright enough to notice the message in Narudin's sapphire-blue eyes, which now were alit with blue flames. It was the promise of death.

Tujex
Tujex jumped from the carpet and was amazed how powerful the storm was. Turning so his back was towards a dragon, he held on hand out before him. He began to chant under his breath, a swirling green ball appearing his palm. "Force Blast!" he screamed out as a massive burst of wind shot him forward like a rocket. The elf began spinning in mid-air, spiralling towards one of the massive dragons who was more concerned with one of the others in the air. Tujex snatched his Noish's Promise free and slammed it into the dragon with amazing force, submerging basically his whole arm in the dragon's flesh. It let out an amazingly loud roar as it began trying desperately to get Tujex off of it and the sword out of it. The rider on his back had his sword lifted above his head, ready to strike the death-dealing blow on the constricted half-elf. "OH crap!" he screamed as he whirled to the side, snatching his arm free just as the blade connected with the dragon.

The dragon swatted the rider off with his tail, sending him flying off into the clouds. Tujex sighed and looked at the dragon, that unlike one before didn't fly off to its volcanic home. "Oh, you’re still angry about that?" he asked, a hint of fear in his voice. The dragon opened its mouth and sent out a wave of fire that nearly scorched the elf. Tujex was breathing heavily as he looked up at the dragon who was preparing to blast him once again. Tujex flew forward to try and stop the dragon, but received a powerful blow to the head by its rider who somehow managed to make his way back into the clouds. "You can't get rid of me that easily!" he screamed, driving his sword into Tujex's stomach and elbowing him in the back of the head. The half-elf's vision went blurry as he began falling into the clouds.

The Dark Star rider smiled and flew back onto his dragon, seizing complete control over it once again. He turned to where Tujex had fallen, seeing a bright ball of energy flying back at him. "This can't be!" he exclaimed only seconds before the ball engulfed him and his dragon. The attack caused an explosion that completely destroyed the dragon and left the Dark Star rider dumbfounded. He hovered in mid-air, staring into the dark green eyes of what used to be a half-elf. Tujex snatched the sword from his stomach, the blood that stained the blade now giving off a bright light. His stomach wound closed rapidly, and soon looked as if nothing had ever happened. Tujex lunged at the rider, sending the sword into his stomach and muttering something in an ancient demon tongue. A sick smile spread onto his face as the Dark Star rider exploded, the remains of his robe being blown off in the winds.

Red Un
Red Un saw that Narudin, the Grand Leader he was fighting and the dragon they were both sitting on had returned.

"Here goes nothin'..."

He aimed his rarely-used crossbow and let of a bolt that would've probably ended up somewhere entirely different if it hadn't been for a strong wind that blew it on course and sent it straight through the head of the robed man. The Grand Leader, not Narudin, that is.

The dead man fell off the dragon, his face still painted with the mix of that terrifying stare of the shadowdancer and the surprise of suddenly having a bolt going through ones head.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity was still feeling a bit queasy from her near brush with death and the sky-diving that followed it, consequently she was nearly caught completely off guard when a dragon and its rider swooped down on her from behind. She was able to barely move out of the way as the dragon plummeted past her spewing flames in her direction.

Quickly the dragon swooped around and up, gaining altitude on her. Then just as suddenly as the first time it was rocketing towards her, this time however she was ready. She fired off an explosion rune which exploded off the dragon’s scaled head and blinded its rider. Quickly she manoeuvred out of the way and fired another at the dragon’s head. Just as the dragon emerged from the fire she drew out a dagger and buried it in the riders neck as he passed mere feet from her, the force of the blow knocking him off his mount which quickly began winging away to its homeland in the south.

Tranquillity turned back around to survey the battle but saw that there wasn't much that she could do at the moment, none-the-less she headed back to the centre of the conflict just in case some opportunity arose.

Narudin
Narudin didn't even blink when a bolt went through Ghelphor’s head, and looked dispassionately as the body slid from the dragon's back and tumbled down into the sea beneath. He thought he caught a glimpse of a purple flash as it hit the water, but dismissed it. There were more important things.

The shadowdancer couldn't help but smile slightly when he looked to the side and saw Red Un standing on the carpet. Shaking his head, he yelled:

"Sir Redwick, give a half-elf a chance for revenge sometimes, will You?! I broke out of a mental limbo, took control over a Dragon Lord, mustered my most withering glare, and You kill my enemy with a bloody bolt?! Most unsporting!"

Narudin settled back, looking towards the remaining Brotherhood mounts, and their riders. His outburst of rage had let him dominate the dragon under him through the link established between them accidentally by Ghelphor. Now he retained control by reserves of cold fury hidden under his calm visage. He still had a bit of that left, though he knew they would deplete - Narudin had long ago threw away anger as a mean of getting to anything, though he understood the merits of fury tactics. Control was the key in most parts, backed by a purpose and passion. Not mad rage.

The remaining two cultists saw that they were in a clear disadvantage and reacted logically - they started synchronizing their movements, supporting each other. Narudin was the first to get to the two dragons and engage them in combat.

The enemies came from different levels and opposite sides, one attacking from the upper-right, and the other coming up from the lower lefthand side. They both fired jets of flames at the dragon which Narudin flew, which the half elf avoided by veering down towards the right. The lower dragon immediately flew behind him, and the shadowdancer glanced back to see the dragons head dip low, and its rider pulling his hands up - in a gesture of a spell.

Narudin pulled up immediately, his mind forcing the dragon into a violent climb. A blast of pure energy chipped his mount's tail, but did little else. The half-elf flexed his arm and a small orb made of leather with a string attached fell into the palm of his hand. He eyed it thoughtfully for a moment, the wind rushing past him as his dragon kept climbing. He looked upwards - the second Grand Master was waiting for him a few hundred metres above. Narudin whispered softly the words of a minor pyrokinetic cantrip which set fire to the fuse. Then he dropped the orb, letting it fall towards the dragon chasing him.

The potent pyrotechnical mixture ignited fifty feet from the dragon’s eyes, the brilliant light more than enough to blind it. The dragon screamed and veered off course, not defeated, but certainly not a danger to Narudin for the moment. He looked up and saw the dragon above preparing to lunge in whatever direction Narudin changed course to. The half elf grinned widely.

Narudin kept coming and, surprising the Grand Master, accelerated the last few dozen feet.

The impact was terrible.

The two dragons locked themselves in their deadly grips, even more dangerous because it considerably affected their flying ability. The pair started descending slowly, though gathering speed. The opponents dragon put its jaws around Narudin's mount's neck and started squeezing. The other one returned the favour by tearing the opponents wings with his powerful claws. The situation continued thus for a few moments, and then a Fireball blossomed on the back of the Narudin-dominated dragon, making it shriek despite it's natural fire resistance.

The Grand Master chuckled and prepared another spell - this one meaning to send a barrage of searing energy missiles into the head and corpus of the traitor dragon, perhaps even taking out its rider? The cultist started chanting the words of the spell, though something kept nagging him. He was well engrossed in spell casting when illumination came in the form of half a foot of steel piercing his heart from behind - the shadowdancer hadn't been present on the dragon...

Narudin, still on the enemy dragon, made his own tear away from the lock, though its opponent took quite a bit of its flesh with him and left a long gash on its side. Then Narudin jumped down as his mount swooped under him and landed safely, if a bit roughly on its back. Without glancing at the other dragon, spiralling down with its useless wings desperately flapping to prevent loss of altitude, Narudin turned his mount towards the last enemy...

Red Un
Red Un tried to take aim at the last remaining rider, but when he fired his bolt it was pushed backwards and came flying in the opposite direction. Red Un barely dodged it in time as it scraped his armour but caused no permanent damage.

Sarra Zoldan
Having caught altitude in a short updraft created by a flux of the storm meeting the ocean below, Kish came soaring down towards the battlefield.

Only one left? Impressive...

Thinking of half a dozen courses of action to take towards the last of the Brotherhood dragon riders, none seemed potent enough to guarantee success. Seeing how the dragon had just attempted to pick Redwick like an apple, now coming around for another attack, Kish smiled to herself; a cruel smile.

The Brotherhood rider brought his dragon lord around to make another pass towards the man who had just escaped its claws. Leaning over to compensate for the dragon putting itself into a angled position towards the ocean below, he heard a sizzling sound.

"What the...?"

Looking up, his eyes froze in terror as he realized what was about to happen.
In the middle of turning, the rider was knocked out of the 'saddle' by Kish, taking him into the side with the full impact of a two hundred feet drop.
Plummeting down towards the ocean at an alarming pace, Kish's dragon's eyes glowed with an unholy light.

"Point and game."

Her voice pierced every cell in the rider's being, his very core shivering with fear. The last thing he saw was a cruel smile of the fearsome woman’s... creatures... lips before he saw her face become splattered with blood. His blood.
Then everything went black.

Red Un
Red Un looked around.

"Um... that was the last of them, methinks."

He drew in breath and tried to sound over the storm.

"EVERYONE BACK TO THE CARPET!"

Narudin
Narudin shook his head as Kish took care of the last enemy. Firstly, he took a sample of blood from a gash on his dragon's side and inserted it in one of the vials which Kish had given to him. It did not react. With a small sigh, the shadowdancer turned the vial around and let the red liquid spill out, falling down to the ocean. Then he turned the dragon back towards the carpet and forced it to hover in front of it and then calmly walked down the length of the tail and lightly boarded Melrod Airlines. The half elf turned towards the dragon and looked it straight in the eyes.

"Be gone."

The Dragon Lord blinked, shook his head and turned southwards, flying away to its homeland. The shadowdancer sat down crosslegged and took a deep breath. And then another. And a third. And then he fell quiet, staring unblinking into the distance.

Truth to tell, he was tired, very tired indeed - he was not accustomed to fighting dragons in lethal air battles, jumping from very high places with no means of support, breaking the will of the most powerful minds in Tibia and confronting his old masters two times in the span of a few days. If it was up to him, he would sag immediately and fall asleep.

As it was, Narudin gave no outward sign of fatigue, though he relaxed slightly after a moment and even managed to smile slightly.

"Bah, dragons. Mortal as we all are, though considerably tougher to kill. Strange that we managed to take out ten of the beasts... It makes one start thinking whether there is something as Fate…"

Narudin thought about this for a moment and then waved his hand dismissively.

"Nah..."

Tujex
Tujex landed on the carpet, slowly reverting back to his elven form. He groaned slightly as the spikes, horns, and wings sucked completely into his skin. He fell backwards landing on his rear end and looking to the others with a smile. "Man that takes a lot out of me," he said with a tired laugh as he lay back on the carpet. He rubbed his eyes which now lost their green shine and sat up to acknowledge the others.

Red Un
"Don't think it's over yet, I'm certain that the Brotherhood's got some other ace up their sleeve. I suggest ya get as much rest as ya can."

Meanwhile...

The last remaining man at the table stared into the orb, disbelief painting his face. He had long since realised that the half-dwarf and his various companions were more than a match, but this...

"The ends always justifies the means."

He stood up, and began a dreadful spell.