Tomb of the Elementalist

Darkest put the pen down and sighed, rubbing his throbbing temples and looking out the window next to him, at the Spine. It was gloomy and rainy out there, with fog obscuring much of the enormous mountain range, creating deep pockets of mist and shadow. It usually was, before something bad happened, and at this moment his instincts were screaming at him that disaster was imminent. He had been having dreams, filled with monsters and death, of a world coming unbound at the hands of a band of evil men. The death of the elements, and the world, was always prominent in those dreams. Hesitating, he put down the pen and looked out the window over the land. Unsure of what was calling him to protect the "elements". Then, he shook his head, and took off looking for Sam. If there was even a small chance that Fire might die, he had to do everything in his power to preserve it.

G'reth was lying on the huge balcony outside of Sam's room. He yawned, his huge jaws opening to display his sharp teeth. The rain was making him sleepy and it was a poor day to fly. The opened an eye and glanced into the room. His rider was lying on her bed, taking a short nap. A stack of papers sat neatly on her desk in her completed pile, while only a few remained unanswered. It was funny how terrible weather could make one so instantly productive. Sam rolled over onto her side, facing towards him and G'reth felt a surge of affection for his rider. He looked back out towards the training grounds and the sky with longing and then closed his eyes.

Dark stopped outside Sams door, and listened to the rain falling outside. It was a calm, perfectly droll day, and an excellent one to just lie in bed...He shook his head. No, some things had to be done. He knocked on the door loudly, his knuckles smarting from the viscous blows he gave it.

"Sam? Can we talk? This may be important."

G'reth opened one eye and looked at the door. He knew that voice. Sam, meanwhile, rolled over, turning away from the door. "Five more minutes...." she muttered under her breathe, so quietly that only her dragon heard.
Get up sleepyhead
I had a productive enough day thank you very much... G'reth chuckled, steam rising from his nostrils. He blew a jet of flame towards the fireplace, lighting up the room. His rider pulled the blankets over her head.
Sam....
Fine.... The elf finally relented and got out of bed. She smoothed down the front of her blouse and tousled her hair to make it look decent.

Sam opened the door and saw Darkest. She stifled a yawn behind her hand. "What is it?"

"I..." He hesitated, then touched the wards around her mind, ready to show her. he shifted uneasily, feeling like a kid again.

She looked at his with a slight bit of confusion. It was odd that Darkest was acting this way. Sam gave G'reth a worried glance and let him in the room, closing and locking the door for some privacy. Then she went and sat on the edge of her bed and opened her mind to Darkest.

Images of the world unraveling filled her mind, Waves crashing up and swallowing bits of the coast, earthquakes and volcanoes erupting everywhere then dying down, tornadoes striking and leaving as fast as they touched down, then, nothing. the air was stagnant, not even a breeze, no fire came when called, water too, began to recede, leaving lakes and streams dry within a week. The land was broken, no new minerals to be found. It was all gone. Dead and dying.

"I-I don't know why, but I think that this may come to pass. Something is...guiding me, tugging at me, telling me to run over to the spine and stop it before it's too late..."

Sam shivered from the barrage of images. G'reth growled under his breathe. The elf paused taking it all in but the dragon spoke to Darkest first.
Are you sure this isn't just a dream? Or are these ... visions repetitive? Sam nodded in agreement with her dragon's thoughts.
"And the Spine? Are you sure it's not some sort of enchantment, trap or something?" She didn't mean to doubt him but the clarity and order of the images had spooked her slightly...

"I don't doubt that it's a trap, of sorts, and they have been repetitive....Someone or something is screwing with the elements. and I think they would have a way to protect themselves, the lements, that is.."

"Who would try to mess with the elements? Wouldn't that almost be a death wish if you messed something up and lost control? Controlling the elements with the ancient language can be difficult enough," Sam got up off her bed and began her regular pacing that she did when thinking. She was quiet for a moment.

"In what manner do you think the elements can protect themselves? Is it enough to prevent whoever is cocky enough to try to destroy them?"

"I doubt it. Magic itself is just a channel, without us 'living beings' as a conduit, it's doomed to the base nature of the element....no originality there, you know, just fire burn, water drown, earth crumble, wind crush.....I read a manuscript in the library, that the elements are sentient, and can reach out to those with great connection to them. It's an instant conduit to magic, Sorcery in it's purest form, the four elements. Darkness and light...those are elements created by humanity." darkest mused to himself, citing the book.

"In the Spine, there is supposed to be a sacred temple to the elements, one created by the four elements themselves, back when the worked in harmony, through the four original 'Elementalists'. If there was going to be any place you could reach out and grab the elements, i'd bet good gold on that place. I'd also bet that the original architects would have placed traps and tricks aplenty, maybe some monsters for good measure." Darkest shrugged.

"Anybody with a will could work their way through the gauntlet at their leisure, and with a lot of time, could unlock whatever power they were looking for...What person wouldn't want the raw power of nature Sam? We have a hell of a time with our own power struggles here, with our morality, just imagine what would happen if we were to give every recruit the power to move mountains, empty oceans, level cities and crush empires as they saw fit."

Sam pursed her lips. "So you think that the sentient elements are reaching out to you for aid?" She looked at him somewhat skeptically and sat down on her bed once more. "But you are right. Anyone without the training we have gone through would want powers. Especially if it made them more powerful than Galbatorix, the elves... us..." The elf sighed and tucked her bangs behind her pointed ears. G'reth growled and looked at Darkest.

Where is it? He asked Darkest. Sam looked at him incredulously.
"You believe all of this?" A surge of disapproval enveloped her conscious and her dragon looked at her with his large amber eyes.
I just have this feeling that he is right... I do not know why. Call it a dragon's intuition... G'reth said to both of them. The rider stared hard at her dragon, trying to understand his change from his usual stubborn self. She shrugged her shoulders in defeat.

"This supposed temple is in the Spine then? Do you have any inclination to where it may be? The Spine is not a small mountain range..."

"I think I can lead us there." Darkest said

Think? Sam thought with mild exasperation.
Have some faith her dragon scolded her. The elements are a complicated matter so why would finding their temple be an easy task... The elf sighed, agreeing with her dragon.

"Well we will be flying there at any rate. North or south end to start?" she asked. G'reth growled softly and Sam felt his affirmation in her question. She smiled at him and the red dragon winked at her in return.

Darkest shrugged and pointed.

"That way. wherever the hell that is. I'll go wake up graendl...Sam. Prepare yourself well."

He let himself out and sighed, a frown appearing on his face. He was going to need a lot more knives for this. He straightened up and walked down the cold halls to the grounds, where Graendl would be waiting.

Sam just stared at him as he walked out of her room. "Are you kidding me?" She exclaimed, turning towards her dragon. "That way? A hatchling could have given me better directions!" She grumbled and went up to a wall and muttered a rhyme under her breathe in irritation. The stone melted away leaving a door in it's wake. The rider opened the door and walked into the hidden room. Five minutes later she emerged with her light armor on and a travelling cloak slung over one shoulder.

G'reth opened one eye to watch her. She still look unsatisfied.

Give him a chance... You saw the look on his face and the way he was talking. Something is going on to say the least.

"If I am going to be doing something dangerous I prefer to be better prepared." Sam retorted. "Prepare yourself well? How can I do that when I don't know what I am going to be facing?" The red dragon shook his head, not knowing either.

At least we will be there together. And it is something to do... The dragon snarled at the crappy weather outside and rested his massive head on his forelegs. Sam stared at him incredulously.

"Wow... I'm surrounded by crazies..." G'reth growled in irritation.

'you didn't tell her everything.' Graendl accused. Darkest sighed and smiled.

"Would YOU have believed me if I said the very weapons of creation and destruction were just lying in a dusty room in the center of a labyrinth waiting for someone lucky enough to come along and snatch them?" For once the great Red just stared at him, speechless.

"Yeah. I thought so. Let's just hope the people trying to break in haven't found them yet. The Hammer, The Javelin, The Staff, and The Gauntlets... I hope we get there before they do. Wards against the Elements are pretty much all we can do...If the worse comes about, you know what to do?"

'Re-route the magma from the goblin infested caverns through to the Tomb, bury any entrance, and run for help.' She repeated with a tone that said she didn't like that plan at all.

'Dragons do not run from their fights, we charge with fang and claw!

Darkest patted her head. "Really, I would expect that from G'reth...Don't feel too bad. You may have to do just that."

Sam looked at G'reth's amber eyes. "I'm sorry. You know I don't like to be unprepared..."

I know. But sometimes, as a rider, you have to hope for the best. And Darkest and I will be there. You won't be alone. Perhaps it'll be easy? Since you are my rider, maybe the elements will react positively?

"You are going out on a limb now..." The dragon chuckled and a small jet of flame shot out of his nostrils. Sam closed her eyes against the instantly warm air. She waited till it cooled again.

Oops... Sam just laughed and grabbed G'reth's large saddle from the side of the room. With a little help from her dragon, the elf got the saddle on comfortably. Then she went through her mental check list.

Wards...check, scimitars... check, bow and full quiver... check, daggers... check... Do you want any armor on? Sam asked G'reth.

No I fight better without it Sam shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't about to fight a dragon to dress him. I would like to see you try, the dragon said quickly sending Sam a mental image of her hanging from his jaws by the neck of her blouse and G'reth with a rather victorious look on his face. Both rider and dragon laughed. Sam jumped up onto G'reth's back and her hands slid down to the hilts of her scimitars. She could feel the energy coming from the emerald and sapphire embedded in them.

Let's go... she said, sending a quick wave of magic to lock her room as well as the secret room. G'reth crouched low and with one beat of his wings, he was off, soaring around the castle to wait for Darkest and Graendl.

Darkest took a short run to his room, reset the wards, and grabbed a large backpack chock full of adventuring (and thieving) Supplies. He started out, then stopped, turned around, and went into his secret room. He threw a few more blades into the pack, and strapped on two extra braces of throwing knives, as well as pocketing more than a few all over his person. When he returned, Sam and G'reth were already waiting.

"You ready?" He asked, climbing onto Graendl.

"Ready as I'll ever be...." Sam replied. She felt G'reth's muscles tense underneath her, ready to take off. She smiled at his excitement.

(( Sorry about the short post... I feel soo sick... ))

ooc/Are ya un-sick yet? been waitin forever, hoping for a reply of some sort. ^_^'

(( Haha, what kind of reply are you looking for? lol ))

G'reth crouched and launched himself into the sky with a playful roar. He climbed in altitude and then trimmed his wings, shooting off towards the Spine. He shot out a small fireball for the hell of it. A cloud of steam erupted around the fireball as the rain it.

See if you can keep up! the dragon roared to Graendl.

Sam sat on his back, grinning at his youthfulness, but still... there was apprehension biting away at her. It didn't help that it was raining. She put a spell over her clothes to make them repel the water, but it was still chilly.

ooc/ lol, any reply on any topic. ^_^''

Darkest sighed.

"Are we really gonna do this?" He asked just second before Graendl roared in answer and took off after G'reth. Darkest sputtered and flinched alternatively until he got a ward to repel the water. Shivering and glaring, he ignored Graendl's apologetic wave of emotion. The red went up, and darkest showed her the path he had taken in his dreams. She smiled, and dived towards G'reth, attempting to use the momentum to at least catch up. Darkest's stomach turned a loop as they rapidly accelerated.

G'reth glanced over his shoulder at the incoming Graendl. He pumped his wings harder and surged forward. The rain splashed harmlessly off his shimmering scales. The dragon concentrated on his speed as well as keeping himself out of the rainclouds for the sake of his rider. He nudged her conscious and felt her moderate delight for flying. He didn't enjoy the rain much but at least the winds were not too bad.

Where to first? Sam asked Darkest through a mental link. It was no use yelling over the rain and the dragon's wingbeats.

Darkest sent her the image in his mind. 'It'll be somewhere ahead of us, at a lower altitude..." He said, unsure of himself. What if they were right, and this was just a big mistake? He knew that his judgment wasn't usually faulty but....Who knew? The rain beat at him as he sat, in an almost painful silence. Who knew what they would find if it was true? From anything he had found in the library, it said that the resting place of the tools was dangerous, to mortal and spirit alike...His frown deepened. This could prove to be more than they could handle.