Final stages....

[Alaric McCree]

::the voice of Blazer rings out to his dry cracked ears:: 

"I have something for you M'Lord!"

::instantly he drops what he is doing and moves to the heart chamber::

Bring it to me!   ::his mind sends his thoughts out to all who are attuned to him::

::again Blazer's voice reaches his mind::

"We are on our way M'Lord"

::waiting he watches the wall, where the crack had opened up a few weeks prior but had finally fallen open to reveal a long dark passageway. It is not long before he can hear their voices and the sounds of movement. A slow smile spreads across his lips. He watches them bow, hears their greetings, but his attention is focused on the little hordling daemon acting as Najaal's slave. He can sense the thing he has feared would be found for so long by those who would use it against him. He gladly accepts the blackened heart, that once beat in his own chest before he cut it out to finalize his passage into immortality through undeath, as Blazer hands it to him. He almost caresses it before placing it back upon it's pedestal and quickly enchants the pedestal to make the heart immobilized, hopefully for good this time.::

::he looks over the ones who completed this grand task::

You have all done well. You have earned my favor.  Take these robes and this gold as your reward. And know this, for what you accomplished here tonight you will continue to serve me in your present forms.

::turning to Najaal he summons more gold:: Use this to supply the faithful who will fight to aid in the war tomorrow.

::he then studies them all, giving each one more praise individually as well as the promise of more rewards to come::

Now, go and rest. Prepare for tomorrow. I will raise more undead to aid in this battle.

::with that he turns and heads off to start creating more undead::

[Blazer]

Alone on his island fortress Blazer thinks over the happenings of that day and smiles to himself. 'soon' he thinks to himself. 'soon i will achieve my goal. ultimate power....' he thinks back to the promise made by Abraxius ' so that is what is waiting for me at the end of my service...' his thoughts go back to shadowstone. Althought shadow wasnt a close friend, he was a faithful comrade in arms and his power was practically unrivaled by any, and yet with just a few ancient words Abraxius was able to completely destroy shadowstone unbreakable spirit. that was what he sought, not enternal servitude as an unthinking monster but immense power to command as his own...
  It had taken him weeks to crack the secrets of druidry, months to refine his own powers of chivalry to work in hamony with his new dark aura and faith to the dark lords. And many defeats at the hands of those better than him before he was able to raise to a level beyond them all. Now the only one who could lift him higher demanded the greatest price of all... more so than his soul, more so than even his life... the price for such power was his freedom. Sure, he had to stay loyal to Abraxius all the same. But he still had his own feelings, his own free will, he choose to follow abraxius, he was forced to do it. But if he wanted to have such power... it would cost him all of that and more...  could he do it? could he throw away the only thing important to him for his goal? He doubted he could win another battle of wills like he did when he merged with the demon lord to become what his is today...  he knew that if he were to do battle mentally with Abraxius... he would lose... and suffer for such a treacherous act... 
  Blazer scowled at his weakness. His weakness of mind, of body, and of spirit... he could defeat the forces of good a thousand times over and there would always be someone like abraxius who would easily dwarf him in terms of power...  the only thing he could do is try and prove his worth some how...  to make abraxius see him more than just a pawn and as someone he could teach his knowledge too...  he had to catch Abraxiius's eye somehow... this war would be a good way to prove his might... but how could he prove his worth even more so... there must be some way to be seen as an acceptable student of the dark arts...  true enough he did not know the workings of necromancy and that was a mark against him, but his dark chivalry was just as potent in controlling or banishing the undead who were weak enough, and his progress in corrupting the druid magic was going slow but he was making small successes in that as well... and if he could find a way to combine the two to call up dark spirits from the earth... that would be a feat worthy of reconization indeed...  Blazer smiled to himself... yes he would do it yet... he already had the rare imortality that the most powerful of daemon possessed...  and although he could still die by the sword or by other means.. he doubted that would happen as the magic in this world was always strong enough to allow himself to return to the living... so with no fear of aging and no fear of permenant death... he would have all the time in the world to learn the darker arts... yes..  the power would be his...  no longer would those around him look down at him...  this war was the turning point...  this war would decide all...  if he did well enough he would be one step closer to his dreams...  yet if he failed...  it would be all over for him with no chance of redemption...  victory must be his tonight... he would win and eventually become abraxius's student and get from that the powers to be stronger than any other...  and then... then he would finally be complete...
it was with these thoughts that Blazer put down the equipment he was working on for the night.. and sat down to meditate and prepare mentally for the comming challanges ahead.

[Fangedwolf]

For weeks now he had been working, near tirelessly towards the goal his Master had set him.  But even he had been feeling the strain of the recient times, so much to do, and there were few that could help.  Few knew of his task after all, and for good reason.  It was too easy for things to happen, for conversations to be overheard, even with good warding and spells one could never been entirely certain, and so it was that he had to work it alone.

The task had been long standing, before even the battle at Trinsic he had been working on it, wracking his brains for an answer that would lead him to his quarry.  Lord Abraxius to had been working on it, but it was perhaps better for Najaal to consider since he had a unique perspective of being able to think in more earthly terms than his Master, whose power could blind him to more normal answers.

Such it had turned out to be, that it had been no superior and cunning enemy that had stolen that which he had sought.  No, those cracks over time that had surfaced in the walls of Lord Abraxius's temple had come not from some decay or outside force, as he had told Najaal once, but from his own experiments that tended to get feisty once in a while. 

Over time the cracks had opened a little more, allowing rodents to get in.  Of course rodents were so pathetic, and not worthy of his Master's attention that the protection spells on the place had not activated and the rats had roamed free inside the place.  It had taken Najaal a long time to work this out, for there were so many other things he had to check out, had to look into, but it had been one time he was standing in the meadow, and he had seen a woman with a pet rat walking around.  He had watched them for a while and the notion had come to him.  Could it be that simple?  The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

So the search was on for where the rats lair had been, both Najaal and ShadowStone had been on the case, as well as Lord Abraxius sending out his minions to search.  It was a long search, and one that was pressed between the fighting against those of the Sosarian Empire and the many setbacks along the way.  Finally however Azzoloth had brought vital information, as to its whereabouts, and Lord Abraxius sent out his newest creation to find it.  Find the heart that Abaxius had ripped from his own chest to ensure his immortality.

So it was that Najaal had spoken to someone in the shadows of a darkened and relatively unknown tavern one evening and a deal was struck.  The thief had gone out in search of the hearts location, and had travelled far and distant through dungeons and cellars, with much personal danger.  Indeed, a mistep had brought him death, losing all that he had carried with him only to be granted life once more at a shrine, but the news he brought was worth it, for he was greatly rewarded, far exceeding the agreed terms.

So it was that the High Priest went to scope out the area and succumbed to the beings down there, and he waited, his spirit patient as he called Blazer throught he ethor to his side.  Soon he stood once again, having drawn a body from the very substance of the air, and ressurected himself.

Just then his Master's voice seeded into his thoughts, commanding the destruction of his newest creation for it had recovered the heart yet malfunctioned.  So it was that together, and later with Mal'ynrae they battled through the mobs to take down the mighty creation.

They could not have known how long it would take, for a full three hours of constant battling it took to fell the creature, Lord Kevetsa having to retire towards the end, leaving Blazer to take on the brunt of the work.

But finally it was done, and the prize, the one thing that could have made the war turn against them, was once more in their possession.  It was a gleaming black crystalised heart of a weight that none of them could carry.  Najaal summoned a minion from the ethor, for only they were strong enough to carry such a thing. 

"Bring it to me" was the command from their Lord, and they moved carefully through the caves to reach him.  It was a harrowing experience, for should they be discovered now it could end in disaster.  But nothing of the sort happened and through the enlarged crack in the wall they came out into the basement of his Master's workroom where he waited.

It was over.  He had completed his task.. he had done it.  The relief washed over him in swathes, so much so that he barely heard the words his Master spoke of to the other two, watching as that crystaline heart was secured with the proper spells upon the pedastol where it should be.  They had got it.. they really had.

It was with a brigher outlook that he considered the war now, a brighter outlook since the one major flaw, the one thing that might have harmed his Master by its theft was now back in their possession.  Lord Abraxius would be at full strength for the battle, something that now, without Damira in their midst, the army.. such as it was, of the Sosarian Empire could ill afford.

Sitting back in his armchair in his tower, the soft material of the new robe adorning his figure, he smiled.