This was Azrail's first visit to Balefire, the place he had been born. This visit, however, was not for pleasure. He was here to kill whoever he could find lingering within the woods. As he hid in the shadow's of the cold, dark forest of Gloomwood he began to see motion in a nearby bush. He saw a figure behind the bush but could not tell if it was human or not. Either way he didn't care. He waved his hand casting minor wounds and heard the creature shried in pain. He walked over to see what it was and was stunned by what he saw.

A small dragon almost taller than him was standing behind it. "I can't beat a dragon" He thought at first. He began to slowly back of until it turned towards him. The creature jumped towards him in rage. He was just barely able to jump out of the way but was not sure if he would be able to do so again.

Ael had watched the old man approach. At least, she thought he was a human. Perhaps not, she thought, as the humongous wings passed into view. Ael herself was safely hidden away between two black trees, gnarled as they were. One had split into two branches near waist-height; one branch kept stretching to the forboding sky, the other bent parallel to twist and curve to the ground. She sat on this branch and tree, with the other to conceal her place from passersby. Not like anyone would really come to a drow's plane, she thought.

Ael was a master at moving silently; sitting still in complete silence was no problem for her. The icy wind in the trees whispered louder than she; the harsh dust moved less subtly. The old man strolling along the path before her made a generous amount of noise and shifting, as if he didn't care to make himself known. He had an air about him, as well: one that smelt of death and cruelty. Ael decided to keep her thoughts hidden from her voice, and her motions from her hands. She observed from her blackened grove.

The man noticed the bush's fluctuations, and Ael noticed the scaly wings through the black leaves. She smiled in amusement, knowing that if the man attacked, he would soon be sorry. However, her smile was spoiled when the man waved his hand in a gesture Ael knew quite well: a spell. Not a moment later and the creature in the bush cried out in pain. The shriek pierced Ael's ears, and she silently clasped her ears to shield them from the intensity, but it wasn't a shriek of extreme pain. The dragon rose from its hiding place, certainly enraged about the scratch if had received, and the man backed away. Ael kept her place, knowing the dragon would vanquish her if she dared move. Not to mention the old man, she thought, as he had aggravated the beast in the first place. She was armed with her staff, of course, but the only spell she knew was of finding familiars.

Her roguish smile crept back across her face. I wonder... She whispered a word ever so softly, one beneath which even the wind could not sink. She knew it was a mere chance that her familiar would be a dragon, but she figured it was worth a try. If the old man was indeed as cruel as wounding a dragon for no good reason, Ael preferred to have a strong ally on her side. If the dragon was indeed the type of her familiar, it would obey her words and not harm her. It it wasn't her type, however, it might or might not notice a traget other than the old man. It's a chance I'll take, she thought. And who knows, maybe I can gain an ally either way.

Azrail, to busy to notice the woman in the tree, had barely managed to dodge the creatures first attack. When it struck again he was forced to take flight. He was reluctant to do so knowing the dragon could also fly, and probobly faster than him. The dragon's second attack missed becouse he was able to take flight. He was not sure he would be so lucky the next time. He landed in a nearby group of bushes and slolwy moved away hoping the creature would not here him move. When the dragon got to the bushes Azrail had already moved behind a tree. This streak of luck did not go on for long. The dragon was able to pick up his scent and was on top of him again and again he managed to escape by shear luck. "I'm not going to keep getting so lucky." He thought as he flew into a tree. "I must find a way to distract the creature." Almost as soon as the thought entered his mind he here the voice of a child nearby. "Perfect." He thought. "I'll just kill two birds with one stone." He then began to glide toward the child on the ground with the dragon trailing close behind.

((OOC:Sorry for the short post. I couldn't think of anything else.))

Ael realized her spell hadn't worked and worse: the old man was not as friendly as she was betting on. Oh, well, she thought, turning her cloak to hide herself in the shadowed darkness. The fluid obsidian color masked her appearance, from her bodily curves to her silver hair to her seductive smile. She slipped from her perch in the tree and moved silently over the dead leaves on the forest floor. If there was one thing only master thieves could top her in, it was moving without a single sound. She could move through thorny bramble, and not a creature would hear her clothes tear or her feet crunch the thistles. She could run through a castle with echoing floors, and yet no echo would sound from her footsteps or breaths.

Thus so she sprinted. Her curiosity held her from going very far, as the old man's malice was strange to her. She was certainly of the evil type; perhaps not evil enough to have an unholy aura, but she was surely not the saintly type. Could he not see it? And the dragon as well; from her knowledge, the dragon should leave her alone for the most part, as long as it did not see her. She crouched behind a bush, one across the path from the dragon's former spot and a little further down the road from her woody perch. She hadn't yet gotten the chance to look back at the old man, to see if he was following her or not, but she began to wish she knew another spell. I wonder... An answer dripped into her mind at the thought of Auberon, as she had wondered if she could slip one of her younger brother's old dark spells upon the old man, but the image that came up was of her old familiar form: a black hawk. A thrill ran through her marrow, daring her to try it. She decided it was finally time to test her best skill: a silent spell.

Her lips moved, but no breath leapt forth in the ancient syllables. Tai ambar ve, she cast; friend, come to me.


((Sorry this is a bit on the short side!!))

Azrail cought the glimpse of something moving behind him but was to pre-occupide with the dragon to give it any notice. He swooped down near the child and landed behind him. The little boy, now close enough to see, was a half-breed, half human, half elf. "No wonder he lives in balefire. I was wondering what a human child was doing in a city like this." Almost as soon as he finished thinking this he noticed that the dragon had stopped moving as soon as he had landed behind the boy.

"The creature has stoped." He began to mumble quietly. "This will destroy my entire strategy. I must find another way out quickly." At this moment he realized the city was close behind. "If I can make it there the gaurds will kill the dragon kill the dragon for me, then I can kill them. This may have turned out even better than I had hoped." He waved his hand a second time casting minor wounds again to increase the dragon's anger then spread his wings out wide, taking off and heading towards balefire.

The dragon had stopped, but it was of no effect from Ael's silent spell. Whether it had heard the half-drow creep to her spot or it had tired of chasing an evil old man, she didn't know. However, the scaly beast was enough of a distraction for Ael. The little boy stopped, terrified of the demonic man and dragon pair, but so did the old man once he realized that the dragon wasn't continuing. Ael frowned slightly in dissatisfaction, partly because she wanted the dragon to vanquish itself on the old man; if it could not do that, she would settle for its snack on the little half-human. Ael loathed the race of Men; it was better than they be wiped from existance, one by one, slowly and painfully.

However, the only way Ael would be able to contribute to this solution would be to become her aspiration: a Lich. She was far off from it, knowing only one spell, and a basic one at that. A staff, a cloak, and her thieving fingertips. Damn, I need to learn more spells, she thought. If I could just-- but her thoughts were broken by the dragon's angry shriek. Ael rolled her eyes, knowing the old man had pricked the giant lizard again. The dragon stretched its wings in pain and fury, but something else caught Ael's attention.

How did I not notice that before?! she wondered in her mind. Huge wings of a raven's shade sprung from the old crow's back, flexing out to brush the air aside in powerful strokes. Ael let out a soft involuntary gasp, and quickly clasped her mouth to catch her whispered surprise from reaching beyond the bush. She had never seen his kind; but, she knew exactly what he was: a demon. From her now deceased family--save for Auberon, of course--she knew the kind of half-fiends that roamed the earth. Whether or not this one was natural or transfigured (Ael's brothers had been the latter), she knew not. But she did know one thing: this man was not to be pressed for luck.

Ael waited behind the bush until the man flew from her sight. He was heading towards the city nearby, some evil-natured town Ael felt she would like. Of course, she didn't dare provoke the drgon further; instead waiting until it too had slipped off between the ebon trees. The loathsome child decided to screech like a banshee, squirming in place like all frightened weaklings do. Ael rose from the bush, throwing the child a look of disgust, which sent it bawling into oblivion. She loathed the child, and left him screaming for his mother. She was more interested in this demonic man. Having lived with three evilly transfigured souls herself, she figured she could use her rogue diplomacy to strike a deal with the man--and perhaps gain a wary ally as well. She followed the old man, tracing his steps carefully and quietly as the rogue she was.


[sorry this is so late!!]

As Azrail flew toward the city he noticed that the dragon had stopped following him but to his surprise was not attacking the child. He stopped in mid-flight and turned to face the creature. "It must be of good nature." He thought as he watched it allow the boy to play with it. "This day keeps getting worse and worse." He thought as he continued to watch them. "I hope I can find someone to kill within the city itself. I haven't had much luck in finding an easy target lately."

After watching the dragon and the by play a bit longer he was about to turn around and fly towards the city when an idea entered his head. "The boy is ungaurded. The dragon will move no closer to this city. Its fear seems to prevent it from doing that. I'll kill the boy from here. Then the dragon will most likely not chase me."

With his plan set Azrail cast magic missle and it flew strait towards the boy. Had he been an adult it would not have been enough to kill him. But this time it did. His plan worked almost perfectly. Only the dragon did not play his part as Azrail expected. In an angry roar it shot a fireball into his chest throwing him towards the town. When he stood up he found that the dragon had gone but he was to weak to even fly.

Looking down he saw that the wound was bleeding badly and it was covered in burn marks. He placed his left hand over it casting dark regeneration and was able to stop the bleeding and heal some of the burn wounds. But it was not enough. he realized he would need to see a doctor so he began walking into the town hiding the wound as best he could.


((OOC: Sorry, mines a little late to. I'm going to start a new topic in Balefire city if you want to continue in there. If not then thats ok.))