Temple Arrival

Shade watched Kraven his eyes alight at the power but it wasn't the information he thirsted for just now. "Kraven please this is important I know but as long as I am kept in the dark about what happened to me I can't focus. Who was that who used me so easily who at a single word sent nature away I need to know or I can never concentrate like I should. The power in his mind, the safety of his presence I felt Uthza himself was watching over us at the very moment but this being was so different from the old man he was familiar yet so terrifyingly powerful."

His mind focused for a moment drawing in the familiar of fire something that had always been inside him from his dragon form and felt the molecules in the air shift and move speeding faster and faster as fire wrapped around him in a shield then turned into a funnel ten feet high that sent a shockwave outward. Shade's eyes burned silver for a moment before he dropped to his knees gasping for breath at the sudden release of power.

He looked over at Tatsoo the sudden spike of her anger breaking his focus and moving like a lumbering shadow he stepped up and wrapped his arms around his beloved. "My love he is frustrated please don't be upset come you can watch me train."

The mighty warrior turned from his instructions of his apprentice to the bickering of Dartmoor and Tatsoo. Without a second thought he went to them both and placed a hand, one on each of their shoulders, "We are all tired and worried about what is to come. But, we must not fight amongst ourselves, that is just what Draconis wants. The more we fight with each other, the less power we will have over ourselves, and the more power the dragon god will have over us. Just take a step back and let us all rest before we head out again. You will just have to try and coordinate your powers in the field of battle when it comes down to the need for them"

He gave them both a warming smile before we whirled around and based his conflicted apprentice, " We will all have our on trials ahead of us Shade, but this is not the time discuss them, especially when you are so ill prepared in the coming battles. You will just have to push what you saw to the back of your mind and try to focus on your training, you have no other choice."

He took a step forward, crossing his arms in front of him, "Do not ask me again. Now, keep practicing, then you must rest before we head out again."


With a whirl of his cloak, he strolled over to where Takara practiced with her staff, "You are getting the hang of it child. If you can, hold the staff in one hand and have the other hand held out in front of you. Then, aim with the space between your thumb and index finger, like so."

He gripped his staff, planting it firmly on the ground; then with his other hand held out in front of him, he took careful aim between his thumb and index finger, and let a few bolts of magical energy fly.

"Everyone eventually develops their own way of using their magical focus; that is all your staff really is. The more powerful mages do not even need their focus anymore when casting their spells. However, they will still use one as it adds power to their already powerful magics. So, keep practicing, soon you will be a master at it." He gave her a reassuring wink as he took a step to the side, indicating she should continue.

"Stop! Why fight? Fight like tired pups. Pups need nap. Come. Rest. Calm. What wrong?"

Kassina had effectively calmed Dartmoor by moving him around and to a spot to rest. He let his head hang as he now felt shame for losing his temper and put his palms against his forehead, "She was being bossy as if she knew everything. I'm sorry, Kassina. I'm acting like a baby, you're right."

"We are all tired and worried about what is to come. But, we must not fight amongst ourselves, that is just what Draconis wants. The more we fight with each other, the less power we will have over ourselves, and the more power the dragon god will have over us. Just take a step back and let us all rest before we head out again. You will just have to try and coordinate your powers in the field of battle when it comes down to the need for them"

"I'm sorry Kraven. I don't know what came over me."

Takara was aware of the tension and the fight going on close by, but was too absorbed in her practice to pay it much attention. She knew there was no threat to her and that was all she needed to know. She was too used to being surrounded by fights to pay them much mind.

As she practiced her ice bolts became stronger and aquired more range. She only stopped and looked up from her practice when Kraven approached. She stood and watched quietly as Kraven gave her further instruction. "O... okay." she said with a nervous smile and then attempted to copy his actions. After a few tries she managed to aim the magic one handed and she grinned at the elf.

"Th... this is amazing." she commented with a grin. "N.. no wonder I was n.. never taught this before. I m... ight have escaped." Then her grin faded as she looked over at the others. "Are th.. they all right?" she asked with a note of concern in her voice.

"My love he is frustrated please don't be upset come you can watch me train."

Tatsoo took a deep breath and went with Shade. She listened to Kraven as she sat down and put her head on Shade's shoulder. This was all so much to go through in one day and she knew that she was frustrated and didn't like Dartmoor's attitude either but she had to admit that they did have to work together. Kraven was right and the attention Shade gave her made her feel much better.

"Ah am willin ta give it anotha shot if Darmoor is. It be a maddar of thinkin of de work an not de other." She looked at Dartmoor and the young man nodded agreement, "If ah ken rest fer a bit ah will be ready to try again. Maybe we just need ta cool off an get it tagetha."

Kassina gave Dartmoor a hug and a kiss on the cheek before continuing her massage. "All sad. All tired. But no fight us other. Each other? Save fight for bad."

Suddenly Kassina jumped up and grabbed Dartmoor's hands. "Come, practice me. Kassina bird drop rocks. Dartmoor hit fire." The blond elf gave him a quick kiss on the lips then stepped away and a large eagle took her place.

The eagle dug at the ground and picked up several rocks in her talons before taking flight. She circled into the sky and did several circles to survey the area and give Dartmoor time to get ready.

"Standard slavers have neither the means nor the ability to keep a properly trained mage held captive for very long, if at all. So, no, there are many reasons why you were never properly trained."

He clenched his staff tightly in one had as he sent off a powerful burst of energy. The air crackled as the bolt of magic slammed into the cliff side.

"If I had my way, all slavers would be hunted down and shown the justice they were missing. But, for now, we have more pressing matters to deal with. However, afterwards there is nothing stopping either of us from teaching slavers a lesson or two, eh Takara?" Kraven grinned evilly at the lady mage, the glow of his eyes brightened with anger.

"Don't worry about those two, they are just frustrated, and are probably feeling the pressure they are really under. I am sure once we have spilled some blood, and spent some much needed pent up energy, that we will all be the better for it." he looked over at Takara and smiled.

As Takara continued to practice shooting ice a thought came to her. "C... Could Tatsoo and I do s... something similar?" She asked slowly. "If I th... threw a spell or an ice b... bolt could Tatsoo use her weapons to ch... change the spell? And c... could I create wind to h... help Dartmoor's f... fire?"

Kraven looked at Takara and smiled, "There is so much more that you can do with your magic, but yes, you will be able to amplify and empower their spells."

"The ice spells would not work so could, but what do you get when you add water to fire? Steam. This could be a good cover when we need to escape from pursuing foes."

"You must remember though, with the magic I am to teach you, it works differently than human magic. You do not connect to the fade as you do with their magic, you touch it, just too draw enough power out to enhance elements already around you."

"Here, let me show you." Kraven held out his hand, and slowly a ball of water began to form; floating just inches above his palm. As soon as the water was formed, the air became slightly dry, not too much, because the ball of water was not a large size, but just enough to notice it.

"Did you feel that? How the air became dry? That is a side effect of what I just did. I drew moisture from the air around us, gathering it here."

Kraven pointed to her staff, "You however have a unique advantage. That staff controls water, and once you are able to focus enough, you will not need to draw upon the water around you, but draw upon the power of the staff to create water for your spells."

The ball of water slowly disappeared as Kraven let it back into the air.

He placed his hand on the young mage's shoulder, "Because of your strong connection to water, the power of fire will elude you. But you have nothing to worry about, you will have more than enough spells at your disposal to fight back if need be. In due time, you will be able to use the water that resides in all creatures against them. They can't breath if their lungs are full of water, right?"

When Kassina started tossing rocks down at Dartmoor, Tatsoo chuckled as he rushed to get out of the way of the first ones as he was not ready but he soon got into the swing of things even if he did get hit a few times.

After Tatsoo rested she gave Shade a kiss then went to train with Dartmoor and Kassina. At first they were still quite timid about working together and gave each other glances now and again that said that they did not fully trust each other. Slowly they started out working on their strengths and weaknesses up making sure not to use fire at the wall any more.

And it took some time for them to get their powers in sync as they were fighting their own reactions to each other but they began getting a form of understanding towards each other and how to work together. It seemed a bit strained but they were working things out and starting to actually loosen up.

Once they were right into their work it was hard to get out of it because they were truly enjoying what they were doing. Each one would come up with a new idea that helped greatly to increase their abilities and that made it much easier for a friendship to begin.

It all workked out mostly due to Kassina though, and the helpful calls of assurance from Shade and Takara.

Before they knew it darkness closing in a night time was descending.

Takara continued to work on her own for awhile, so absorbed in her practice that she was barely aware of the others. Eventually she grew tired and found a nice rock to sit on and watch the antics. A large bird that she assumed was Kassina was flying around throwing rocks and sticks at Dartmoor and Tatsoo. The pair seemed to be working together much better now and she was glad. They would have to depend on each other heavily in the days to come and they had to trust one another.



Kassina was having a great time. She would dive to the ground, fill her talons with rocks, grab a few sticks in her beak and rise into the sky once more. She took her time aiming, trying differnt things to throw those below her off balance. The wind through her feathers felt wonderful, but before she knew it darkness was coming.

Reluctantly she flew to the ground and changed back to her elf form. "Fun!" she said and grinned at the others. "Hungry now. Work hard." She walked over to her pack and began digging around to find something to eat.