Night Falls

[cassandra]

Melacham went outside and surveyed 'his' kingdom. Everything was falling into place....almost...Cassandra was proving more of a challenge than he'd bargained for. How the little brat had figured out as much as she had was beyond even his reckoning. Something about her joining up with Kaden. He'd not liked it from the start, and had tried every distraction known to keep those two apart...with no success. Ahhhh...but it was almost over in any event. Night World would be his...to fuel his magic...followed shortly thereafter by Castle Obsidian and all its wealth! As he stood there lost in his visions of wealth and power beyond all imagining his attention was suddenly drawn by the sound of softly falling footsteps.

[lilyrose]

Lily took a deep breath and steadied herself, ruffling her hair and clothes she added a little rip in her top. 'Ok , it's now or never' she thought to herself and broke into a run towards the castle. "Hello is anyone there" she called "Someone please help me "
Spotting Melacham walking in the gardens she ran towards him "Please help me" she called forcing out a tear " They took all my money " she added and collapsed on the floor.
'I hope he buys this ' she thought as Melacham walked towards her, remembering the exercise Narym had taught her about locking away her thoughts she lowered her head and closed her eyes concentrating on locking them behind doors. Praying it had worked she looked up at Melacham throught tear stained eyes and held her breath.

[narym]

Narym paced. And fretted. She was waiting for Fallow to link with Lily and it seemed like forever since her friend had left to play her part with Melacham.
And Dyra. What was going on with her? It was like she had a dual personality. It seemed she really didn't know what she had done in the cafe.
Narym had decided just to go along with Dyra and keep a watchful eye on the young woman. Trouble was, she didn't know what, if any, warning signs to look out for. Well she'd just have to be extra vigilant, wouldn't she? She looked over to where Cass was sitting with Kaden and sighed. Such a long time it had been since she had had someone to be with before a battle.

Gods! She was getting maudlin. Get a grip woman, she told herself. No time to think about old times or fret about things you can't change.

She sat down, forcing herself to to calm down and find her quiet place. And waited.

[Eli]

Eli watched Lily from a nearby tree. He didn't make a more, nor did he make a sound. The worst thing he could do right now is distract anybody from the mission at hand. But he stayed aware, for the moment he needed to act was approaching.

[narym]

Narym jerked awake. She couldn't believe that she had fallen asleep!
'Narym!' Fallows voice was urgent in her mind.
'Yes, sorry, sorry.'
'Lily has made contact with the sorceror.'
'Ok, I'll tell the others. Thanks.'

She stood and walked over quickly to Cass and Kaden. " Lily has made contact with Melacham," she said in a low voice. " It's started."

[Kaden]

Kaden nodded, and took a deep sigh. "Here we go." The wizard said, getting himself mentally ready. "It's almost time for my part." He added, looking around for Merlin.

[narym]

Narym spent a few moments searching out Dyra with tired eyes. She plaited her long hair quickly, tied it and flicked it behind her back. She checked her weapons for the umpteenth time and walked over to the woman she was committed to helping and watching.
" Ready?" she asked and with a small smile tried to convey friendship and confidence.
'Fallow?' she sent privately. 'I need you to help me watch this one.'
'I am with you, as always,' came his gentle reply. ' But do not watch her so closely that you forget to watch yourself.'
' Warning noted, my friend,' she said. 'The gods protect you Fallow. You will be a target once you take to the air. Take care.'
The unsaid words of love and friendship were there between them, not needing to be spoken.
She felt his love washing over her and making her feel humble that this wonderful creature loved her as much as she loved him.
She turned her attention back to the people around her, making their final preparations and began her mantra.

[Alledyra]

Standing silent beneath the bows of a large tree, Dyra waited and watched as the tension slowly mounted, and felt her own breath quicken slightly in response. When Narym approached her, she smiled easily in return, nodded once tightly, and responded, "Not really, but that doesn't change anything."

Settling back, she reviewed everything that had brought her to this place, at this time, and almost smiled as she waited for the word to attack.

[Kratos Cage]

Kratos stood silently in the shadows. Praying for the safety of all and praying for the success of the mission. He took one last look over himself to make sure everything he needed was there. He tightened the strap on his sword sheath. Clenching his fists tightly, he was hopeful nothing would go wrong.

[Cassiel]

Meanwhile, Cassiel was having trouble finding a way into the east edge of the grounds. It was surrounded by a ten foot tall stone wall. She could see why the king came over here to get away, there was no way an average person could get to him here. Lucky for Cassiel, she wasn't the average person.

She walked along the wall until she found a tree that was about five feet away. She almost shifted, but then realized that would give them away because of Melacham's talent. She naturally had good balance, so she would have to do this the hard way. Cassiel reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of black jeans and a tight black tank top. She put them over her dress and pulled her hair into a bun. Then Cassiel climbed up the tree and climbed until she was a little bit above the wall and then out along a branch. When she was about three feet away from the wall, the branch started to bend so Cassiel jumped off it onto the top of the wall. As she looked down into the garden, Cassiel noticed there were no guards around. That was a good sign because Cass had told her that the king liked to be alone for his nightly walks. Cassiel stayed low and crawled across the wall until she found a tree that was almost against the wall. They weren't trying to keep people in, only out.She climbed down and climbed down quickly, staying in the shadows.

She she got to the ground, she pulled the jeans and tank top off, noting that the dress didn't get wrinkled. She pulled her hair down and brushed it. Then she putt everything back in the back pack and threw it over the wall. With any luck she would be able to get it back by morning. Then she walked half way into the light and waited for the king to arrive.

[melacham]

Melacham studied the girl on the ground for a long moment. What is this one trying to pull on me?"He wondered to himself. "She's not magic...nor human either...but she want's something...something badly...and someone has taught her well...she's impossible to for even me to read...this should be very...very...interesting.." And with that thought in his head, Melacham leaned down and offered the beautiful girl his hand. "Won't you come inside with me? I'm sure we can find a way to fix whatever ill has befallen you."And I'm most anxious to see how far you will go to achieve whatever it is you've come after, my pretty." He thought to himself with glee.

[narym]

Narym was sharpening her knife for the last time when she got the word. Lily was in!
She turned to Dyra." We're on,".
She waved at Cass to catch her eye and hurried over to her.
" Lily is in," she stated. What she didn't say was that Fallow had reported her increased heartrate. Damn but she wished it was someone, anyone, other than Lily.
She tilted her head, listening to Fallow. " And Fallow is in place." She smiled grimly. " Just say the word Cass."

[Cecil]

There was a moderately-sized lake near that end of the grounds. A long time ago, it was Cecil's favorite part of these walks. Lately though, the clear water did nothing but show his own reflection; a reflection he never wished to see again if possible. He'd done some horrible things in his life in the name of being king. Though he regretted none of it, he recognized himself as being nowhere near a good person. The face that looked back up at him from the lake almost disgusted him, but for whatever morbid reason, he couldn't stop looking.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed something disturb the calming light. As he spun around, startled at first, he saw the woman standing there on his grounds. His first instinct was to call security but he quickly quelled that one. Something beckoned him to her. Was she lost? No, that's impossible. There would have been no way for her to get over that wall, and there's even less way for her to have come in through the castle entrance. His interest was piqued.

Strolling calmly over to the beautiful intruder, he stopped a few feet away from her. "You don't seem lost." Cecil stated matter-of-factly. "Is there something I can help you with?"

[lilyrose]

Lily took Melacham's hand and felt a chill travel down her spine, this was going to be far from easy she reaslised and doubt started to cross her mind. He was suspisious of her, she could tell but she was in far too deep now and her friends were relying on her. "Thankyou , your really kind" Lily said smiling weakly through her tears and followed Melacham into the castle hoping and praying that it wouldn't take the others long to get inside the castle so she could get the hell out there.

[melacham]

She realizes I'm not buying her little act,Melacham thought to himself. Her fear slipped past her thoughtblock...good...fear can be as good as fine wine...or kisses...So thinking the sorcerer continuted to lead Lily into his private quarters at the castle. Wanting to give her time to sit and stew and wonder what he was going to do next, he motioned for her to take a seat on the window seat as he crossed the room and began to idly flip through some papers on his desk, hoping that she would see how busy, and how important, his position actually was here.