"Erzivia: Part 2/2" by Brian D. Saul

    Her next stop was the armorers shop. The crowd during this time of day was relatively heavy so traveling wasn't all that hard. She walked in, and heard two people talking in the back room, and there was a dwarf sitting behind the counter. "Greetings, what is it you are here for?" He asked her.
    "I was told that my armor and weapon would be ready today."
    The dwarf skimmed through a book. "Ahh, here it is. He's in the back room." As she walked into the back room she saw the armorer and a gnome sitting at a small table. They appeared to be scribbling stuff down on a sheet of paper, and there was a large number of metal plates scattered around the area, with some off markings scribbled on them.
    The gnome glanced up at her. "Who be she?"
    "Huh?" The dwarf looked up. "Ahh! There you are, your late, I was expecting you a few days ago. Your armor is ready...the wing armor isn't going to be done for quite a while. The construction was a bit much for me to figure out on my own." He walked over to a large cabinet, withdrew a suit of armor, and a halberd. "Here they are, you should have no problem getting the armor on." With that he walked back over to the table and sat down.
    She walked over and started putting it on, after a few minutes she realized it was money well spent, it
fit nicely, went on easy, and was surprisingly cool. "So..." She stated as picked up her weapon and walked over to where the two were working. "Who's this? And how goes the designs."
    "Her is this?" The gnome stated, looking her over.
    "Her is this?" She replied, confused tone to her voice.
    "He asked if you were her, the one this armor is for." The dwarf told her, then he looked at the gnome. "Yes, this is the one."
    "Hmm, interesting more in person then descriptions gave you."
    "Does he always talk so unusually?" She asked.
    "Unusually speak not do I." He replied, an almost hurt tone to his voice.
    "This is the way he always speaks, you'll eventually get used to it." The dwarf told her, motioning to her not to mention it again.
    "Wings her must see I. Design armor hard is it without actual thing seeing."
    She barely held back a laugh at his odd way of speaking, but removed her robe without any questions.
    "See, I told you my measurements weren't wrong." He whispered, and nudged the gnome.
    "Ok, so right were you. But measurements yours have wrong been before."
    "What?! I don't make mistakes in my measuring!"
    "Many mistakes made have you....." As the two started bickering, she realized that she really was no longer needed, and slipped on her robe again and left. She did not desire to be caught up in an argument, she'd have to return some time later and hope the two haven't killed one another. She walked into the main room, said good day to the one behind the counter, and left.

    As she approached the Wizards Ward, she noticed that someone seemed to be following her.  She walked down a small side alley; made sure no one was looking; and leapt onto the roof of one of the buildings, watching as the one who was following her turned the corner. He walked about halfway down the alley, and looked about, realizing she had to be hiding somewhere. He grabbed something from his belt, and quickly tossed it towards her, before she could react and the small knife embedded itself into her shoulder, she winced in pain and jumped back from the edge, just in time to see another wiz past her head. "Dammit! I should have been more careful, but nooo, I had to see who it was." She cursed her luck as she ran from roof to roof, keeping her pursuer as far behind as possibly, and trying to attract as little attention as she possibly could, though all things considered, it was a tad too late. She wretched the knife from her shoulder and dropped it on the roof where she stood and leapt down to the street. Completely ignoring the pain she made her way back into the crowd hoping she could lose him. The Wizards Ward and her destination weren't far off, she picked up the pace and pushed through the crowd as fast as she could, she was sure her pursuer wouldn't give up so easily. Not being familiar with the Wizards Ward she had to use the main road through, though someone running through the streets in a black robe was bound to get her noticed, but the sooner she got there, the sooner she could leave the city. As she pulled open the door of the building she was looking for, another knife hit her, this time it pierced her wing, she had had them positioned in such a manner so if anything struck her from behind, her wings would more then likely end up hit instead of its intended target.
    She slammed the door behind her and locked it, hoping that her pursuer wouldn't take the fight into someones house. The tabaxi mage that was sitting at the desk wheeled about, drew her dagger, and was apparently preparing a spell of some sorts. "Wait!" Erzivia screamed, trying to catch her breath, as she pulled the dagger from her wing and dropped it on the floor. "I was told you could assist me...and I am in great need of it at the present moment."
    The wizard didn't let down her guard, she glared at her unwelcome guest. "Who are you?! Tell me now, or I burn the flesh from your bones!"
    "My name is Erzivia, you are Etlaca, are you not?"
    "Yes, now, who told you of me...and why the entrance." She noticed the dagger on the ground. "And who did you anger?"
    She reached into a pocket in the robe and held out a piece of paper. "A dwarven armorer in the Traders ward....though I don't believe he ever told me his name." "Then again, I don't believe I asked" She mumbled.
    There was a loud banging at the door as Etlaca retrieved the piece of parchment. "I'm assuming that'd be the person who wants you dead, huh." She could hear someone yelling outside, but couldn't quite make out what was being said, though it was quite apparent, she didn't really care. She read over the parchment, and stared at Erzivia with surprise. "Oooh, so you're the demoness they've been hunting for the past few weeks! How interesting, never saw a real life demon before. Take off that robe, I want to see what you look like, so many questions to ask."
    Erzivia let out a sigh. "I wonder how many people don't know of me." She mumbled. "Can you just save the questions till later?" She could hear the banging getting louder, it sounded like he was trying to break down the door. "Where are the guards when you need them?" She wondered. "As you can probably hear, I'm in a hurry, I need to get to the mines under Montparsa, and I need to get out of here fast!"
    "Oh ok..." Etlaca lowered her head, visibly disappointed. She handed Erzivia a small stone. "Here, this'll drag you to the mines along with me, twice the teleportation, half the effort." Erzivia grasped the stone, while Etlaca started the spell, a minute later the spell was completed and they were on their way to the mines.

    She landed with a loud thud, mumbling something, she stood to her feet and looked around. "What the!? This isn't a mine!" Instead of the stone walls she expected, around her was a grassy field, a few trees, and the Montparsa mountains were visible in the distance. A ways behind her she noticed what appeared to be a large shimmering, hole. "Wonder why we were dropped out of transport only halfway there." Etlaca stated as she examined the hole.
    "You aren't as easy to locate as I had thought. You realize I wasted three of my best throwing knives on you, don't you?"
    She wheeled about to see an armor clad human staring at her, his sword drawn. "I thought I had gotten rid of you." She growled as she removed her robe and brought her weapon to bear, making it look as though she didn't know how to properly handle it. Etlaca simply stared at her in amazement. Despite that she'd like to see the fight from as close as she could get, but not knowing what either one of them were capable of, she decided to take cover in a nearby tree.
    "Pretty little thing aren't you, to bad I have to ruin you looks," he laughed at her. "Oh this is going to be far too easy." He lunged at her, and swung at her midsection, she clumsily blocked it and the force almost knocked her from her feet. He unleashed a flurry of attacks on her, but had become apparent to her he was not putting everything he had into the fight though. He completely underestimated her, exactly as she hoped he would. She managed to block most of his attacks, but she did it in such a manner as to mask her full weapon skill, but to instead make it look like she was floundering with her weapon. Those few blows that got through her defense were deflected off her armor. His last blow knocked the head of her weapon to the ground. Using the handle of it to block a strike at her head, she brought her foot up, kicking him in the side of the head, her claws leaving deep gashes in the side of it. She then brought the spiked end of her weapon up into his thigh, and jumped backwards, retching it from his leg. He dropped his sword, crumbled to the ground and let out a scream of agony. Weapon raised, she jumped forward and brought it down on him, ignoring the pain he rolled to the side as she buried her weapon in the ground. He picked up his sword and mumbled a few quick phrases, the blade began to glow a bright blue, and with movement faster then should have been possible, he thrust it at her. She winced in pain as it effortlessly punched through her armor, and through her midsection. Without thinking she kicked him in the ribs, releasing his grip on the sword, and knocking him back several feet. She looked at the sword, more surprised then anything, she then glared at the hunter. Enraged, the pain fueling her anger, she advanced towards him, the area around her freezing solid as she advanced. The hunter, out of desperation, reached into his pouch and threw a dozen or so small spheres at the ground around her. They exploded around her, their liquid contents covering the area, a heavy mist surrounded her, and when it cleared there was a solid wall of ice surrounding her. He staggered to his feet, holding his ribs, leg horribly wounded, and limped over to her icy prison. He laughed loudly as looked over it. "Hahaha.... Well image that, never thought I'd see a demon frozen in a block of holy water before! Wait a minute, they weren't supposed to fre...." A hand burst from the wall striking him in the arm, he reeled backwards as pain shot through his body, his arm completely frozen. Using her robe to shield her flesh from the holy ice, she broke through it, he stared in horror as she burst from the ice dome. "H..h...h....how?!" He screamed. She simply shook her head and hit his frozen arm, shattering it. "Not much of a hunter are you? You should have never underestimated me." She stated with a mocking laugh. He collapsed to the ground, trying to back away from her, but whether it was the pain, or the shear terror that had overtaken him, he found he couldn't move. She calmly walked up to him, and placed her hand on his chest. He began gasping for breath as the cold spread through him. His gaze had become locked on her eyes, horror filled his face as he discovered he could no longer breath, his lungs had frozen, his heart beat was beginning to slow, Erzivia smiled wickedly at him. She stood up, and howled in pain as she wretched the sword from where he belly, then her vision went dark. She shook the daze from her head a minute or so later, not quite sure what had just happened, but quite to her surprise, the sword wound was healed, and the hunter lay dead at her feet, the look of horror literally frozen on his face. "Now that's unusual..." She said as she poked at where the sword had been.
    Etlaca ran up to her. "How did you do that?" She enthusiastically asked.
    "Do what?" She suddenly gasped as she remembered the tear that was left when she was pulled from transport, she looked at it and noticed it was slowly closing.
    "No time for talk, the hole appears to be closing!" Erzivia shouted, she quickly forgot about her healed wounds, pulled her weapon from the ground, secured her robe, and jumped through it, Etlaca followed quickly behind. For the second time today, they were on her way into the mines.
    They stood in a small room, a fountain sat in the middle, a small forge of some sort along the one wall, and a few small chests lay against the other. Surprisingly, there were several people in the room, Etlaca standing next to her, looking about the room. "Well this is odd, should only be miners and orcs in here....and there's no way these people are either. Something tells me there's a lot more to this place then I've heard." Erzivia stated to no one in particular. Etlaca started to ask something, but Erzivia promptly interrupted. "Yes, I know, you've probably a lot to ask....but not here, lets try to find somewhere a bit more private."
    "Oh....I see." Etlaca mumbled. As they walked towards the door Erzivia stumbled over something, she looked about the floor but there didn't appear to be anything there. As she was about to continue on her way, she noticed something under the edge of her robe, wasn't very large, but it was there all the same. She bent down and picked up the edge of her robe, there didn't appear to be anything there, but when she reached down her hand hit something. She groped around a bit more, and finally managed to pick it up, whatever 'it' was. Standing up again, she poked at the apparently spherical object in her hand, there was definitely something there, but there was nothing to it, no weight, no apparent substance, no smell, completely clear, and while her finger couldn't go through, she could feel the air on her hand when she blew on it. It was there...but at the same time, wasn't. "Now what the heck is this thing?" She said out loud.  Someone walked up next to her and responded. "Its nothing. " "No, its something, there's definitely something there." Etlaca stated, confused tone to her voice. "No, no, no, I mean, it is Absolutely Nothing. That's what they're called. They showed up a few weeks ago in some of the chests, an extremely unusual gag by one of the Gods seems to be the rumor going around. I don't care who put them here, but they're annoying, people take them, but usually end up just letting them lay around. I've stumbled over the blasted things several times, but can never seem to find em." They looked at him with confusion on they're face, then back at the spherical Nothingness Erzivia now held. "Yes, most definitely a lot more unusual then I've heard." Erzivia placed it in her pack, not knowing what use it may be, and decided to continue deeper into the mines, she came here to train, and she wasn't about to let a few oddities to mess that up....

    Erzivia was sitting in the middle of the room, her robe laying next to her, wings unfolded, paging through one of her masters books. "Are we actually going to do something, or are you just going to sit there all day looking through that book" Etlaca whined.
    "I'm going to sit here looking through this book." Erzivia replied with a slight smile. "You didn't have to follow me here you know.... This is a big place, it shouldn't be to hard to find something to do."
    Etlaca let out a sigh. "We've been here almost a week, and about all you've done was read through those books....just what are they anyways?" She asks, peering over Erzivia’s shoulder.
    "Just some books I got from a rather powerful necromancer.... Rather interesting reading, formulas, spells, maps countless amounts of information he's gathered over the years."
    Her ears perked up as she was about to respond and she looked about the room. "I think I hear someone coming."
    "I know, I hear them too." Erzivia replied, still looking at the book. "You wouldn't believe all that these ears can pick up."
    "Well shouldn't we leave, hide somewhere, or at least prepare incase they're hostile?" Etlaca stated as she jumped to her feet.
    She glanced at her weapon laying next to her. "I'm already prepared. You're too paranoid, even for a feline, its probably just someone wandering the hallways lost."
    "Well aren't you at least going to cover yourself?! You don't exactly blend in."
    "Why? Enough people saw me enter this place without it on, and rumors tend to travel fast. Seeing me will simply confirm that rumor for yet one more person."
    "How can you be so calm about it... You've already had one attempt made on your life because of what you are!"
    Erzivia stared at her a coldly. "I didn't break from my masters grip to simply go into hiding, I spent the first part of my life in servitude, I am NOT about to spend the rest of it in hiding, if someone sees me, then they see me!" Etlaca lowered her head, and wandered out a small passage at the back of the room mumbling to herself.

    Shortly after, a male tabaxi stepped into the doorway, he was of average height with long tan fur, a bushy tail, and wearing relatively simple leather armor. Noticing Erzivia, he walked up to her, she eyed the tabaxi curiously as she looked him over, if he were going to attack her, he was certainly being casual about it. She was the first to say anything, putting away the book she was reading, she stood to her feet and greeted the stranger. "Greetings, I am Erzivia."

    She appeared friendly enough, though as hard as he tried, he couldn't make out quite what she was. Her face looked tabaxi, but the ears were almost batlike, a set of large wings on her back, a lizard like tail tipped with a feather colored as unusually as her hair, smooth gray flesh, and several large scales running down her front.... A demon of some kind came to mind, but he’d never seen one quite like her, and she seemed to be lacking that distinctive demonic quality. Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he made his way towards her. She placed the book in her backpack, rose to her feet, and in a very soothing voice, greeted him.
    "Greetings, I am Erzivia."
    "And I’m Tayron."
    "Only Tayron? Kinda surprising, seems a lot in here have some kind of title, the great, the strong, the evil, the egotistical......you get my point."
    "Oh, I have a title, I just don't see a need to go around flaunting it.” He said, chuckling slightly.
    "I'm curious, everyone else babbles out theirs, may as well tell me yours too."
    "Well..ok. Tayron N'Mier, 2nd Star of the Order, at your service M'lady." He stated with a bow and slight grin.

    That phrase was like a knife through the chest. The Order, the organization she held responsible for the death of her parents, her enslavement with the mage, and she had one of its members....a Star to be exact, standing right in front of her. Etlaca could feel a slight breeze, usually caused when Erzivia quickly cooled an area, not knowing what was happening she ran back towards the room. Tayron too noticed the temperature change, it had suddenly become extremely cold, almost painful. He looked about for some reason for it, then at Erzivia, her once iridescent green eyes had blackened, and the expression on her face was that of pure hatred. Etlaca entered the room and ran up to Erzivia. “Who is he?” Without a word, Erzivia simply swatted her away, knocking her several feet back and onto the floor. Tayron was already running towards the door, knowing he wasn’t powerful enough to fight her. Wheeling about, she dove at the fleeing tabaxi, hitting him in the back and slamming him into the wall.

    Etlaca recovered quickly from the blow, rising to her feet just as Erzivia hit the tabaxi. Quickly she started chanting the most powerful banishment spell she knew....

    She bounced his forehead against the wall once more before spinning him around to face her, she pinned his arms and legs to the wall with several small piece of ice. Her desire to kill him right here and now was overwhelming, but he didn't deserve such a quick death. She glanced back a bit as she heard Etlaca chanting a banishment spell, something she had seen her master do on a number of occasions....she couldn’t help but to laugh, she had almost been worried Etlaca would try something that would work. Turning her attention back to Tayron, she made two quick swipes with her claws, the first swipe shattered his already frozen armor, the next created several deep claw marks in his chest, the extreme cold greatly intensifying the pain. "I should kill you right now." She growled, with a swift punch to the stomach. "But the death of one of the Orders most powerful seven is something I plan on savoring."

    Etlaca stared in confusion, that had been the strongest banishment spell she knew, she had drained
herself completely putting as much power into it as possible....and Erzivia didn’t even flinch! She was at a
loss of what to do, she didn’t have the energy to try another spell, and knew very well in physical combat
she didn’t pose the tiniest threat to her. Hearing someone else approaching fast she decided it best to wait
and see if perhaps it’s a friend of the feline.

    Erzivia formed a small orb in her hand, but quite to her displeasure, before she could make use of it another person burst into the room. She lowered her arm and looked at the newcomer. He was a dark elf, wearing a long robe with some type of armor obviously underneath, a cloak partially covered a longbow strapped to his back. Judging by his stance, he was very well trained, and quite prepared for battle.

    He readied a spell the moment he saw his friend in trouble. He was being held to the wall be a winged creature of some sort, she was obviously enraged, but for what reason he didn't know. As she turned to look at him, her eyes shifted back to their normal green color.
    "Kindly put my friend down and we can forget about this little incident." He calmly stated.
    She growled and he could see a small shimmering ball in her free hand.
    "Such an action wouldn't be very beneficial, don't let anger spoil your judgment."
    She laughed softly. "My judgment couldn't be any clearer. But, since you've asked so nicely." She tossed the orb back towards Etlaca. “Here, catch!” Quite surprised Etlaca dove out of the way of the orb, it missed her by several feet and hit the wall, covering it in a rather thick layer of ice. Laughing to herself Erzivia withdrew the braces around Tayron’s arms and leg, letting him groggily slump to the ground. "He's all yours." Smiling slightly, she stepped off to the side and motioned towards him.

    Slowly he made his way over to where his friend lay, all the while keeping his gaze on his foe, he found it slightly disquieting that she kept her eyes locked with his. It felt as if something was pushing on him as her gaze seemed to bore its way into his mind, all he could concentrate on was her, she suddenly seemed like the most beautiful being he had ever seen, despite the trouble his friend was in, he was completely unable to react. As she approached him his readiness was broken, his spell was left unfinished, and stance was no longer nearly as rigid.
    He held his arms out to the sides. "I am yours to take." A faint monstrous smile of helplessness evaded his corroded thoughts....
    She ran her hand through his hair, almost as if petting him, and chuckled. "Perhaps at a later date little elf... But for now, all I desire of you is my privacy, now, please leave me and your friend in peace, you can return for him later."
    "I only ask for his life, his body intact. I may even aid you in accomplishing your goals......but please, there are other more quick, and pleasant ways...."
    "It will be very pleasant, I can insure you. Now please, leave us be." Without another word, she proceeded back to the dazed tabaxi.

    The elf seemed to hesitate slightly, he glanced down at his friend, but in the end, obeyed her order. Helpless as he left, he lowered his head, and turned his back, his sight was elsewhere, but all his senses were concentrated on the scenery behind him....tears were almost falling down his cheeks as he left the room, he knew very well what she intended to do with his friend, but her grip on his mind overran his sense. Etlaca was both surprised, and horrified at what she just saw, it wasn't an ability of Erzivia’s she had seen before. The charm of a demoness was powerful, she prayed the elves will was strong enough to break it, she ran from the room, hoping to assist the elf break free.....she didn't know how, but if Tayron was to survive, she'd need his help.

    She watched Etlaca run from the room, her intent was quite clear, not knowing just how powerful the suggestion was in the elves mind she decided it best to move further into the mines. She slid her weapon between the straps on her backpack, lifted Tayron off the ground, and walked deeper into the tunnels. He was jarred back to his senses as he hit the floor, Erzivia placed her equipment on the ground, and knelt in front of him.
    "What....are you?" He weakly asked.
    "What am I?" She held her arms out to her side and unfolded her wings. "A being of your own making! It is because of your precious Order that I am what you see before you."
    Tayron chuckled slightly. "Talk about making enemies." He was scared out of his wits, but had no intention of giving her the satisfaction of showing it.
    He yowled as she drove a long ice shard through his leg. "Brave now, aren't we. Now, I've one simple question, your answer will determine wether I decide to keep you alive or not." She honestly wasn’t expecting him to tell her, but figured it was worth a shot anyway. Reaching into her belt pouch she pullout out a map of the continent of Yoor. "Now, where's the Tower?"
    "Nice map, who'd you kill for it?" She intensified the cold in the shard, he yowled as the pain shot through him, the muscles in his leg were cramping up, and he could feel the area around the spike going numb as it froze solid. Grinning slightly, he closed his eyes, and started mumbling. Noticing his amulet glowing brightly, she bared her claws and took a swipe at his throat, before they connected the air around him began to ripple and she was propelled with incredible force across the room. The wall splintered as she slammed into it, and she heard a crack as her shoulder, and wing are broken by the impact.

    Tayron drug himself to his feet and made his way towards the doorway, but his leg was in such pain, movement was hard. She roared as rage overtook her and threw several large freezing spheres at him, he reacted quickly and grabbed hold of his amulet, each of the spheres were reflected harmlessly away from him. Not having actually noticed this, she leapt across the room at him and hit the same barrier her spheres did, it felt soft, as if it wasn’t complete. Tayron was holding the amulet and apparently concentrating quite intently on maintaining the barrier, but to no avail, after a few seconds she could feel her fingers penetrate the barrier. "Interesting trick" She mutters, and as if tearing cloth she started to pull to the sides, and sure enough, the barrier began to tear. Withdrawing her hands she quickly picked up her weapon and swung it upwards with all the force she could muster, splitting it up the front (and chipping some dirt as it hit the stone earth above her), the rest of the barrier collapsed shortly after.
    "Least you've decided to go out fighting...." She said as she brought the handle about and struck him in the head with it. Dropping her weapon afterwards, she pins him against the wall and grabbed the amulet, but a short, powerful jolt of energy forces her to quickly withdrew her hand.
    "It doesn't like being touched." Laughed Tayron, no longer having enough energy to fight back. She growled at him, but casually placed her hand on his chest and slowly began to freeze it. He cringed at the pain, but calmly motioned to her wings, which were now hanging rather limply from her back, he could hear two people racing through the tunnels, and hoped he can stall her until they arrived. "Should get those looked at." His breath was visible as he spoke, and it was obvious he was having trouble breathing, but his face remained calm.
    She glanced back at her wings. "I'll be sure to when I'm finished with you.” Removing her hand from his chest she gripped the shard in his leg and violently tore it out, the flesh was cold enough to intensify the pain many times over, but not enough to numb. “But now, I've fooled around enough with you..." She quickly brought her knee up to Tayron’s chest, there was a satisfying crack as the spike drove its way into his ribs. He stared at her as she lowered her leg and wiped the blood from her knee spike. He grinned slightly, and collapsed.

    "NO!" Someone screamed from the hallway as a powerful lightning bolt lifted her off her feet, and a fireball slammed into her side. Hitting the ground hard (luckily on the undamaged shoulder), she hissed loudly as she saw Etlaca and the elf standing in the doorway preparing another spell. Etlaca let loose another volley of fireballs most of which burst into steam as they hit the cold barrier she had quickly focused in front of her, but despite how hard she tried, several still penetrated, and with more then enough power left in them. In the newly created mist she located her equipment, and fled the room, being struck in the back by one last lightning bolt, she had forgotten a dark elves vision was heat based, and she probably stuck out like a torch in the darkness.

    Leaving Etlaca to deal with Erzivia he ran over to his fallen comrade. He cast a weak healing spell to help slow the bleeding, but it was obvious that a simple potion or heal spell wouldn’t do. Tayron’s fur was stained red, his breathing was shallow, and he appeared to be clinging onto life with every ounce of energy he had left. Hearing the hiss of the fireballs he looked over to where Erzivia was, despite the cold of the room she was colder, he could see a black form fleeing the room. Not knowing how good his aim would be, he let loose one last lightning bolt. Turning his attention to Tayron, he cradles him in his arms. Holding his friend in his arms he screamed for Etlaca to go get help. "We're not far from the entrance, find Kyia!"

    She received unusual looks from people as she limped through the halls and into the 2nd level of the mines, her robe kept her pretty much concealed, but you didn't need to see clearly to realize the damage she had taken, her wings were draped loosely across her back, and the smell of burnt flesh was rather distinctive. A small handful of people offered assistance, but she merely hissed at them and continued on her way. Luckily the map was correct and there was a healing fountain deeper into the 2nd level mines, the one at the entrance was a tad too public for her needs. Dropping her equipment to the ground she started the painful process of removing her armor. She was glad the dwarves work was so superb, the armor had taken the brunt of the assault, and quite unfortunately, was now in need of repair. Though while the armor took a good majority of it, the damage to herself was more then obvious, the impact from the lighting wasn't as much as she expected, the energy appears to have dispersed through the suit, but at the same time, she received burns in many more places due to it. The fire had burned the unprotected flesh, and the heated metal burned that which was. She mumbled various curses as she removed the last of the armor and rubbed some of the water on her wounds. The water felt good over the burns, but it just wasn't enough, lifting herself to her feet she gradually stepped into the fountain and submerged herself in the water. She reached behind her back to where her wings connected to her back, noticing that several of her back spikes had also been broken by the impact. One was just dislocated, with a bit of work she managed to set the bone, though the muscles were still quite damaged. The right one on the other hand was broken, and would take a healer to repair properly. The shoulder wasn't damaged quite as bad, but it was still broken, and her continued use of it only worsened it. It was painfully obvious it would take a lot more then the fountains waters to repair the damage. "Wonderful, simply wonderful.... That wretched little bastards probably still alive, and I get myself nearly killed in the process. Should have killed him right away, it was foolish to think that one of the Orders most powerful seven would give up the location of their tower... Though for one of the stars, he was awfully weak, nowhere near what he should have been.... No matter, I'll worry about that oddity at another time, for now, I need to think what to do about him, after this attack, I doubt allies will be far behind." She muttered to herself with a sigh as she slid further into the water. It was a good thing these fountains were so large, she thought as she dozed off.

    "What is she?" He asked Etlaca, who was pacing about the room mumbling to herself. "Well?" Etlaca continued to meander about, apparently more occupied with something else. Grabbing her by the shoulders he spun her around and rather loudly asked again. "She almost killed a friend of mine, you were with her, I want answers!"
    "She's a demon." She blurted out, not completely surprised by the elves action.
    "Demon? Couldn't you keep her under control, or send her back?!"
    "What? You think that I....No no no, I wasn't the one who summoned her, and I tried a banishment spell, strongest one I know, she is either extremely more powerful then she lets on, or wasn't summoned....which is unlikely since she mentioned something about breaking away from her master...”
    "So just what will work on her? What do you know about her, strengths, weaknesses...why she tried to kill Tay."
    Sitting against the wall she wondered where to start. "Umm...well, all I've seen her use is ice, and that charm she used on you, wouldn't doubt she has much more at her disposal, but that seems to be all she seems to like using. She's also rather well trained in the weapon she carries, but doesn't seem to like using it as much. Only weakness I've been able to tell is the heat, normal air temperature doesn't phase her much as she keeps the area around herself quite cold, things like fire do an incredible amount of damage...but as you may have noticed, actually hitting her with it is the problem, she can focus a cold barrier to disperse most minor fire spells, but at the rate her powers have been growing, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see her disperse all but the most powerful fire magic."
    "Interesting....but why Tay?"
    "I'm still trying to figure that out... I've never seen her attack someone like that....I've seen her kill before, but only in self defense, relatively fast, and as painful as possible. But she seemed to be toying with him for some reason, was certainly more interested in him then either of us."

    Some time later Kyia and several other healers exited the room they had taken Tayron into. Sensiman walked back to Etlaca after talking to Kyia and the others for a bit. "He'll live, it will take a while before he's up and about, but there should be no lasting effects. I'm going in to see how he's fairing, if you want, you can come along."
    "All things considered, that is probably not a good idea. There's a few things in this place I'd like to take a look at before I leave."
    "We’ll have to talk later....But what about...."
    "Don't worry about it, she's not the first demon I've dealt with, I can handle myself." She said with a slight grin. As she made her way down the hall a rather frantic looking goblin ran past her, she glanced back curiously and saw him running towards where Kyia and the others had went, she guessed he had gotten himself in over his head and by the looks of it was in need of help.

    She was awakened from her sleep by the sound of someone coming towards her, she opened an eye partially to see what it was, from down the hall she could make out a small green form, a goblin. Raising a hand out of the water she pointed to three of the four torches hanging in the room, a small ball shot from her finger towards them, putting them out, it was best the goblin not see clearly who he'd be speaking with. "Now, lets see if I can do this again." She muttered as he drew closer. more cautiously and with weapon drawn, he apparently didn't like seeing the room ahead of him suddenly dim drastically. "Fear not, I've no intention of harming you." She said soothingly to him as she leaned forward in the fountain, resting her arms (despite her shoulder) on the rim of the fountain and leaving her wings draped across her back.
    "Who you?" He stammered, staring intently at the form that lay in the fountain.
    "A friend...." She said in the same calm voice, her eyes now locked with his. "...Who is in need of your help."
    The goblin tried looking away, but instead found himself sheathing his sword and drawing closer to her. As he drew closer her gaze seemed to burrow further into his mind, until he was incapable of any independent thought.
    “Wow, that worked better then I figured” She thought to herself. “Now, you should be able to find a good healer, Kyia I believe her name was, near the entrance, please bring her here. Panic, make a lot of noise, whatever it takes to get her here." With that the goblins eyes widened and he went off screaming in the direction of the mine entrance, yelling something about Kyia and a hurt friend. She lay there for a moment staring blankly at him, then rolled onto her back, the water dulling the pain from her wing, laughing hysterically as the frantic goblin fled the room screaming.

    Kyia waits at the fountain for those who may arrive so that she can welcome them and help them adjust to their new surroundings. The mines can be a harsh place and she remembers what it was like when she first arrived how things were so cold and unfriendly. Through the door from level one of the mines rushes in a goblin in a great panic.
    "Kyia.. Kyia!! Ya gotta help her. Hurry.. Come on.. She's hurt bad.." He screams as he grabs at her arm and pulls at her to follow. "Come on.. we hav ta hurry..."
    "Who's hurt? And where are they?" Kyia asks with concern as she allows herself to be led along. Helping others is what she did, always. "I'm right with you, good goblin. We will help your friend. What happened?"
    By this time the goblin is rushing ahead, mumbling things that Kyia can't hear and she hurries after him. His friend must be hurt very badly to have him so upset. They travel through the first level of the mines and arrive at the door to Level two.

    Erzivia chuckled as she heard the frantic goblin returning, this time with company. "Something tells me I went a little overboard.....at least it worked"
    "There! There friend is, help her please!" He yelled as he ran over to the fountain.
    Grabbing him by the shoulder Erzivia looked into his eyes once more. "No need to worry any longer, help is here. Please wait in the next room until we are finished here, then lead Kyia back to the entrance" The goblin calmed down and quietly left the room. Erzivia stood up from the fountain and looked over at a slightly confused elf. "Sorry for the deception, but as you can probably tell I am in need of your services, and don't exactly blend in."

    The creature sends the goblin away and rises from the center fountain as an immense iridescent shadow. Kyia senses pain and anger from this one.
    "It doesn't matter to me what you look like, or what you are. Those in need of healing are those I help." Kyia steps up to the creature and looks up into her tabaxi-like face. "If you could sit back down into the fountain, I can reach your shoulders with more ease." She says with a calm commanding voice. "I can't heal what I cannot touch." The deamon is intimidating but Kyia's faith in the Light steels her spine and allows her to face even one such as this.

    Erzivia lowers herself back in the fountain with a groan as pain shoots through her wing with the movement. "You have suffered great injury if even this Fountain of Healing fails to heal you fully. Let me see what I find." Kyia moves to the deamoness's back and touches both shoulders lightly. There is no reason to cause any pain, for she can sense what has been damaged inside. Any other being could easily slip a knife into the deamoness's back at this point, but of course the thought never enters Kyia's mind. Someone is in pain and needs her healing touch. "The muscles have been torn from your wing on this side." She says with eyes closed, following the vision she sees of the injured area. "And there are burns all along the wing. Bones are damaged too." The shoulder has some damage but not as bad. The weight of the wing pulls on it though and makes it worse.. and hard to heal. Opening her eyes she walks to face Erzivia. "I will do what I can but you will need to trust me and rest after. I cannot heal you completely, I can only start the healing correctly." With little choice Erzivia agrees to Kyia's words.

    Kyia gently takes Erzivias’s wing in her hands and closing her eyes, the two are enveloped by a blue healing light. In her vision, Kyia guides the muscles in the deamoness's shoulders to their proper position to mend. She brings energy to the area to begin the healing. Muscles begin to knit together again. The damaged nerves and burned skin feel the healing touch of the energy Kyia pours throughout the area. Kyia sends her energy deeper to the deamoness's chest where muscles have been pulled with the weight of the injured wing. She sends energy there too, giving more healing energy. The Light surrounding them seems to lighten for a moment. Blue to White.. but maybe not. When all has been returned to it's proper place, the Light fades and Kyia's hands gently lower the wing.

    "It is done. Now you must rest some. It will take another day or two for you to gain full use of your wing.. and even your shoulder. But I do feel you will heal fully without problems. I suggest you find some quiet corner of the mines where you can rest undisturbed for a time. And if you have further problems, please send word to me. I will come." With that, Kyia smiles at Erzivia and turns to return to her station in the Entrance. There will be others arriving soon who will need a friendly smile and a few words of advice.

    Saying a quick thanks to Kyia, and feeling considerably better, she sank back into fountain and into a restful sleep.