MysidiaDrakkenbane

Mysidia, James, and Austforbeer remained in Blackburrow for most of the day. They had gained a few trinkets to sell on the market and Mysidia got some of the training experience she needed to help advance to Thundering Stepps. She was more determined now, than ever, to find her husband.

James was an unusual character. He was full of wit and sarcasm, but his tiny purring voice was a constant reminder of the human he was not. Still, he was good at his job and he seemed to take particular enjoyment in blowing things up. A little TOO much, Mysidia noticed.

She couldn't help but take some amusement in watching his nose twitch with anticipation and glee as he cast his spells on the gnolls they had crossed. Mysidia knew she was in good hands and she didn't have to work as hard killing those that opposed them. They knew their jobs and could do it well.

They had come to a large waterfall and Mysidia looked over the rickety crudely made wooden bridge into the depths of the collecting natural pool below. Spray from the waterfall dampened her face and began to curl her blond hair.

"That's a long drop.", Mysidia said looking down.

"Yep, sure is.", James said and stood on the rope of the bridge. He took a flying leap off of it and laughed going all the way down. Mysidia raised an eyebrow at Aust who looked at her.

"And you call me crazy?", Mysidia said and followed suit. She plunged feet first into the water and felt exhilarated as the cold water crashed against her skin. She shot up and gasped for breath, looking around for her new Ratonga friend. She swirled around in the water to look for him and found him backed up against the wall, out of the water.

She noticed the wary look on his face and she turned around to see a HUGE spider staring right at her with round black eyes.

She blinked at the rather large insect and sighed knowing what was about to come. The spider lifted his legs and snapped in to bite her. Using her legs, she shot herself back under water. She unsheathed her sword and swam back towards where James was.

"That…", she said breathing heavy, "..is a very large bug."

"Actually, spiders aren't bugs at all…", James began to say. The huge splash that Aust made caused them both to stop the conversation and look into the water. James leaned over to Mysidia and placed a hand on the side of his mouth.

"Two silver pieces says that Aust gets bit. He's a magnet for poisonous animals.", he said and watched the water. Mysidia chuckled.

"I don't think so.", Mysidia said and pointed to the edge of the water where two paw prints indented themselves into the dirt. Aust, knowing what was down here, used his stealth to keep the spiders at bay. It didn't stop the one from keeping his eye on Mysidia, though.

James noticed the angry spider and said, "You just spread joy everywhere you go, don't you?'

"You want to end up as fodder, rat?', Mysidia looked down at him annoyed. "I'm sure we can find a snake or two to appease."

James quickly bit his tongue as Aust made his way towards them. Aust motioned for them to use their invisibility abilities. Mysidia got the totem out of her pack and looked at it. The swirls of magic weren't on the totem anymore and she frowned looking at it.

James, curious as to why Mysidia had no idea about the item, took it from her hands and shook it. Sparkles of energy swirled around it as if it were charged up again. Mysidia's eyes widened a bit as she noticed the magic.

"Ooo…", she said hypnotized by the magic ribbons.

"She's addicted to sparklies. You really make it easy for me, Sid.", James said and laughed before shimmering away. She refrained from turning the rat into a turnip and simply used the totem to hide her form.

All three of them made it through the caverns with little effort. Mysidia grew curious as to why Aust wasn't collecting pelts anymore. Her curiosity was quickly quelled when they dove into the water and came up behind a rock into another cavern.

"Ok, all I need is that jug, over there, on the hook.", James whispered. Mysidia peered over the rock and saw the jug, but also saw the massive group of gnolls and a rather large one standing in the middle of them. She watched them all mill around, unaware of the three of them. She sat back down and shook her head.

"Oh sure, I'll just snap my fingers and summon the jug to me.", Mysidia said sarcastically.

James looked over at her with his dark liquid eyes wide. "Wow, you can do that? Really?"

Mysidia looked at James with an odd look. Was he serious? Hearing the tone of his voice, he was. Mysidia shook her head and gave a soft chuckle.

"And they call your class the enlightened ones…", she said as she turned around peering over the rock again.

She eyed the jug hanging on the hook and pursed her lips together trying to come up with a plan. She noticed some of the ceiling above the gnoll group, was loose, towards the back. She nodded slowly and turned around, her back to the rock.

"All right, we have shot at this. Aust, do you see those loose rocks above them?", Mysidia said and nodded back behind her. Aust carefully looked and nodded.

"Good. Do you think you can hit them with one of your arrows?", she asked. Aust nodded again. "I need you to knock them down but quietly. Your arrow can't make a single sound coming out of that bow. Can you do it?"

Aust looked down at her, the dark lines of his tiger pattern giving him that predator look, even more so than usual. "I'm a ranger. It's what I do."

"Good. When Aust does that, James, I'm going to need to you to root the big guy to the ground. The three of us can take out his minions, leaving him. When that happens, I want the two of you to jump into the water while I slip in the back and grab the jug. Don't worry, you won't drown. I'll place a spell on both of you to allow you to breathe under water.", Mysidia said and began to quietly chant her spell.

"What makes you think the gnoll will follow us in?", James whispered.

"Gnolls anger easily and don't think about the consequences of their actions. They just kill first and ask questions later. You both will need to swim as fast as you can and as far as you can. By the time the gnoll realizes what he's done, he'll be too far in to do anything about it and drown.", Mysidia said and closed her eyes finishing her spell.

A trickle of white light surrounded the three of them and Aust took in a deep breath feeling strange. He could breathe, but there was something more to it. The water breathing spell was doing its work.

"Ready?", Mysidia whispered to Aust. He gave one nod and knocked his arrow into his bow. Mysidia closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to Tunare. She could already feel the adrenaline thumping through her veins.

"Now.", Mysidia said and Aust released his arrow. Just as she planned, she heard the larger rocks fall to the ground and a few gnolls yelped from having the ceiling cave in. Just as she had hoped, all of the gnolls turned to see the commotion and Mysidia and James jumped from behind the rock.

"James, now!", Mysidia yelled and James quickly waved his small paw hands to release ghost like chains from the pillar of energy around him. The larger gnoll looked around frantic as he felt himself freeze into position.

The gnolls, frantic and scattered from the surprised attack, all flashed around and prepared themselves by unsheathing their blades and yapping at the two of them. Aust climbed up on a smaller rock and took position with his bow and arrow.

"Aust, release them!", Mysidia yelled up to him and the Kerran ranger's nimble fingers quickly sprayed the arrow rain down on the group of gnolls. Several of them, Aust got a direct hit and they quickly fell over dead. There were a few stragglers and they charged Mysidia with the ferocity of a cornered animal.

Mysidia swung her sword and readied her shield. With a quick movement, however, she moved her hand off to the side and a large lightening bolt came shooting through the rocks and singeing the one gnoll's fur. He yelped like a wounded dog and fell to his knees. Aust quickly ended his life with an arrow shot through his neck.

James fell behind Mysidia and began to form a ball of light in his furry small hands. He rolled the ball back and forth a few times before quickly releasing it as ribbons of powerful energy roped off of him and seriously wounding the second gnoll. Mysidia followed through by slashing through the gnoll, hearing his rib cage give way to the saber Mysidia brandished. That gnoll made no sound as he fell to the ground.

The third gnoll charged without thinking and pounced on Mysidia, knocking her to the ground. Mysidia panicked as she felt the breath get knocked out of her. She struggled to get the fighting gnoll off her while trying to fill her lungs with air. She coughed and sputtered, rolling her body from side to side.

A fireball came shooting through the air and crashed into the gnolls back, the gnoll was thrown from Mysidia and fell a few feet ahead of her. Mysidia rolled over to the side and stayed on her hands and knees, trying to breathe. James helped her up to her feet and she turned around seeing the large gnoll growling and snarling at them.

"Come, she elf, feel the power of Bucky. Free me and your death will be swift and painless.", the gnoll growled and spat at her.

"Bucky, Fippy, what's with you gnolls? You want to strike fear into the hearts of men? Start with your names. I refuse to fear anything called… Bucky.", Mysidia said and staggered off to the side.

She walked around the large bolder and took out the totem. She shook it, reactivating the magic held within and used it to hide herself from plain sight. She picked up a large rock and threw it as hard as she could, into the large pool of water. She turned to them both and nodded her head.

While although it was difficult to see Mysidia in her invisible state, you could make out her shadow against the rock when she nodded. James and Aust looked at one another and jumped into the water, just as Mysidia stated earlier. James released the spell on Bucky and just as Mysidia predicted, the gnoll charged after them in the water.

Mysidia carefully snuck around the back of the boulder and grabbed the jug of gnoll brew from its hook. She placed it carefully in her pack before making her way into the water.

James and Aust quickly swam towards the larger chamber of water ahead of them. Bucky was hot on their tails… literally. But just as Mysidia had said, Bucky stopped short realizing what had happened. He quickly turned around and made a beeline back towards his camp.

His efforts were an exercise in futility. The faster he swam, the faster his body used up the oxygen in his lungs. Paws furiously clawed at the unforgiving water in front of him. Bucky struggled in the water around him, his arms flailed in terror. He held a paw up to his muzzle as he struggled to get up on land. But it was too late. He needed 30 seconds of more oxygen than his lungs could give.

Mysidia swam over to James and Aust as they all watched Bucky struggle with the inevitable. Quickly, the frantic movings of the gnoll stopped and only a small series of twitches remained of the drowning animal. Mysidia released the invisibility spell on her and she shimmered into view. Aust and James both looked at her with an intense unbelievable look. Her plan had worked.

James looked at her in slight horror as Mysidia regarded the dead gnoll with a numbing indifference. She handed over the tightly closed jug to James as she turned around and made her way towards land.

And Nature, doing what She does best, quickly cleaned up by sending Her piranhas to dispose of the water flushed corpse. Mysidia could vaguely hear the sound of flesh tearing from bone as the three of them left Blackburrow.

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