Night Falls

[lilyrose]

"Thankyou" said Lily taking a seat next to Melacham and accepting a glass of wine. Sipping slowly she realised that she hadn't thought much further than actually getting into the castle and she was now at a bit of a loss. Feeling Melacham watching her, Lily made a show of taking in her surroundings. Deciding she would play to his ego, a trick that had never failed her with a man yet she said "I'm sorry you must think me rude I haven't properly introduced myself yet , my name is Rose. I'm embarrassed, I feel like I should already know your name. Your quarters are very impressive , you are obviously a very important man."

[Eli]

Eli flew down to meet Cassandra, and shifted to his human form. "I'm not liking the way things are going with Lily and Melacham. But he didn't even realize I was there. I don't even know how Cass is doing, but that's where I am headed next." He shifted and flew away again.

[narym]

Narym tried not to pace. She didn't want to distress Cass any further, but she had a problem. Her strength was ebbing. Training Lily had cost her a lot of energy, but that was most definitely worth it. Protecting herself used more, but she couldn't account for how drained she was feeling. She needed to get moving while she was still capable.
' How's Lily doing?' she asked Fallow.
' Drinking wine,' was the dragons laconic reply. ' And in better shape than you, I think.'
' I don't know what's wrong with me,' Narym admitted. ' I know I'm not a kid anymore, but I shouldn't be feeling this tired. Perhaps there's still some poison in my system, do you think?'
' It's possible,' he replied, ' and you are a day person, so you are not recharging your energy from the sun as you usually do before battle.'
' I need to be fit and strong,' she worried. ' I have Lily to protect and Dyra to watch. Oh and a few baddies to deal with!' She sighed. ' I wish I could touch you Fallow, that always helps.'
' I will come to you,' he replied immediately.
' No my friend. Thank you, no. You must stay in position, we may move at any moment.'
She shut her eyes as she felt Fallow sending his love to her and she sent hers back. ' If it goes ill today.....'
'Do not say it,' Fallow interrupted. ' Rule number 8; positive thought leads to positive action.'
She smiled. ' Ok my friend. It needs not to be said anyway.'
She looked up into the night sky, straining to see the raven.
Hurry, she thought, hurry.

[cassandra]

Cassandra felt troubled at Eli's words. As a shifter he would sense things that others might miss. Turning to Narym she asked, "Tell me exactly what is going on with Lily and Melacham now."

[narym]

" She is being entertained!" Narym replied smiling. " She's having a glass of wine. Lily knows he's suspicious, but his curiosity has obviously won out!" She stopped smiling and looked Cass straight in the eye. " Melacham is sitting with her on a love seat and Fallow thinks Lily is nervous about what might come next! But, on the plus side, the seat is right by the window, so it will look natural when Lily sees a dragon fly by." Narym looked up at the sky again. " I hope Cassiel is doing ok."

[cassandra]

"Wait...did you say they were drinking wine?" Cassandra's voice rose into the squeak it became when she was upset. Getting ahold of herself she looked Narym straight in the eye and in a voice that made the listener know she wasn't kidding said, "Tell Lily not to take a single drink of it and to spot that dragon NOW!"
Kissing Kaden deeply for a long moment she soft said, "This is it my love, and I better see you soon!"

Squaring her shoulders she turned to face the crowd. "This is it people, we can wait no longer! First wave. hit it!" She practically screamed the last words looking straight into Merlin's eyes.

Looking to Krato's she said "Get the 2nd Wave into position to enter on Kaden's go!" Turning to Fiona and Narym she said, "This is it ladies...We need to be ready to enter behind the 2nd wave. Narym, I know I don't have to tell you to run straight to Lily. Get her and head to the 2nd floor. Fiona, you go to the King's quarters and get Cassiel, she'll have the king sleeping like a baby by then, then head to the 2nd floor also. I need you and Cassiel to assist me in retrieving a baby gift of mine! Narym, while they're helping me, you and Lily secure the floor. There are 5 guards there, But you and Lily will only to worry about 2 of them. Cassiel, Fional, and myself will take care of the others. !"

[narym]

'LILY!!' Narym yelled to her friends mind. 'DO NOT DRINK THE WINE!!' She took a deep breath and focused.
'Fallow! Fly!'
'Lily, Fallow will fly by any moment now. I will be coming to get you shortly! We're off! DON'T DRINK!!'

Now it had started, she felt deadly calm. So many years of past training and fighting had led her here, to this battle. Fallow had taken off and was this very moment flying toward the castle. She looked for Dyra and saw her standing alone, as usual. She lifted her hand in acknowledgement and readied herself for the run to the castle.

[lilyrose]

Lily started to panic as she heard Naryms voice in her mind "Dont drink" She placed her glass on the table a bit too quickly and turned to Melacham and smiled, things had begun it wouldnt be long before she could get out of there. Turning her attention to the window she said "It's a beautiful view over the gardens you have from here" Drawing breath quickly she added " Oh my gods is that a dragon?" Lily jumped out of her seat and backed away towards to the door.

[narym]

Fallow flew passed Melachams window and roared. Instead of flames that most dragons issued from their mouths, he fired iced lightening. It fell on the courtyard below and turned everything to ice. He fired ice bolts at the stonework around the window and immediately the mortar turned brittle and stones fell to the ground below. He swept up into the air and readied himself for a second sweep. He roared again in terrible delight. He knew that Melacham had probably put something harmful in little Lilys drink. The sorceror would pay!

[Kaden]

Kissing Cassandra back, he readied himself. Merlin, along with the second wave of attack would be following him. "Ok people, we're looking for the entrance to a mining tunnel. It's not gonna be difficult to find. We get in, and it's a straight path to the security room's entrance. Second wave, stay right behind us because as soon as the floor's iced, you all have to be in there. As soon as we hear the dragon, we go..." The wizard said, immediately followed by the telltale roar and the surge of ice that only he and Merlin would be able to feel. It was as if on cue.

"Alright people, let's go!" He yelled, turning and running down the path toward the castle. The combination of Lily's machinations and the dragon attack should be more than enough to keep Melacham's attention away from his radar duty for as long they needed it to. But they could waste no time. They absolutely needed to get Lily out of there. Cassiel would be able to take care of herself with the king, but if they took too long, Lily would be stuck in there with a dark wizard. Shivering slightly at the thought, he sped up. "There!" He shouted, pointing off to the side of the castle walls.

The top of the entrance was only slightly above ground, but there were dirt steps leading down into the tunnel below. The group moved quickly down into the dark, but Kaden snapped his fingers and an orb of light appeared in the air, illuminating the path ahead. It wasn't long before they made it to the end of the short walkway and he could see how the king's crew had missed this entrance when they were inspecting the area around the castle. It was right above where they stood, almost completely concealed by packed dirt. Knocking most of the dirt off the 'ceiling', the borders of the entrance became slightly visible.

Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands on the door but didn't push just yet. Taking a glance at everyone with him, he looked back up at the door and pushed up very slightly. The entrance was in the back corner of the room. After taking a mental picture of where the guards were placed, he closed the door back. "Okay, Merlin, come on. I'm gonna open it again and we have to make this as quick as we can. And remember, we're trying to take out as many as possible with this."

[cassandra]

Sebastian walked over to Cassandra and jumped up on her shoulder. "You need to get to Lily slightly before the first wave hits. I know another way into the castle that lets you down right outside the wizard's suite." He whispered into her ear.

"Lets you down...? You mean...through the roof? How'm I supposed to do that? I'm a cat, not a bird!" She snapped back at him.

"What about the catsicle maker's dragon? Dragon's do fly, don't they?" Sebastian hissed back.

"Why, yes, I believe they do fly.....however I've never met Syn, and cannot communicate with him psychically the way Kade can, so I have no way to contact him" Cassandra hissed back, just as viciously.

"He's Kaden's familiar. I'm your familiar. I can communicate with him psychically. When they were handing out brains you thought they said train and took the first one out!" He sneered.

"That is so damn lame! And excuse the hell out of me for not having taken basic familiar 101 and not knowing that. Yes, by all means you furball from hell! Call Syn!"

Turning to Narym she said, "Mind taking a ride on a dragon other than Fallow?"

[narym]

Narym was all business now, following tight on everyone else. She sensed the excitement mixed with nerves and anxiety and Fallows anger at the sorceror. All this she expected. But when a cat appeared out of nowhere and landed on Cassandras shoulder, she jumped.
"Where the hell did he come from?" she hissed in a whisper. "No, never mind, save it for later. Yes, I'm happy to ride another dragon, as long as he's ok with it." She watched Kaden and Merlin getting ready to push open the door. " What do you have in mind?"

[lilyrose]

Lily heard Fallows roar and breathed a sigh of relief , help was on the way. Realising it might be a while until it reached her she decided that it was best to carry on playing the innocent. "What on earth was that?" she cried, as stonework started to fall outside the window, the fear in her voice real. It wasn't going to be long before Melacham realised what was going on and that she was part of it. Backing further and further away from Melacham she was tempted to make for the door and run but knew that she had to wait a while longer for the plan to work. Talking silently to Fallow she said "Let me know as soon as it's ok for me to get out of here, i'm starting to feel a bit strange. What the hell was it he gave me to drink?"

[narym]

In the midst of his roaring and devastation, Fallow found time to speak to Narym.
' Little Lily wants to know when it is safe to leave. She is feeling the effects of whatever he put in her drink.'
Angered beyond measure, the dragon bellowed and flew down to rain more damage on the castle.

[cassandra]

Sebastian sent a message to Syn, the dragon, telling him that Kaden needed him. Giving him the cliff's notes version of what was going on as he swiftly flew to Sebastian, the dragon was more than ready to help in anyway he could.

As the dragon appeared and settled on the ground Cassandra gestured to Narym, "Here's our ride lady. We're gonna do a ninja slide and get in the castle through the roof. To Syn she said, "Hi, I'm Cassandra. Yes, I know we've never met, but thank you." She said as she and Sebastian and Narym climbed onto the dragon's back and were flown to the roof.

Hopping off Cassandra's shoulder as they landed Sebastian went running towards a wooden door on the floor of the roof. "Over here! One of you needs to hack the lock off, but once you do these stairs lead to the hallway right outside Melacham's suite!"

Cassandra instructed Syn to wait on the roof in case Kaden needed him, and quickly ran over to where the cat was. Seeing a large lock on the handle she turned to Narym and said, "Can you break this or something? Lock's aren't my thing."