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Date Posted: 10:09:15 01/28/02 Mon
Author: Ravin and Marz
Subject: Mass destruction

Ravin fidgeted while listening to Saras answer his question. The wound beneath the bandage on his chest itched, and his skin felt sticky from the blood that had covered it earlier. The heat from the late morning sun made him sweat, adding to his discomfort. "I don't mean to be rude, Saras," he said, when the genie quieted down, "but we'll have to continue our conversation at another time. Right now, I'm in desperate need of a bath."

When he got to his feet, Jeremy moved closer to the genie, looking very anxious to talk with him. Ravin heard the boy whisper something about Tristan being a jerk as he turned toward the pond of water. After taking four steps, he hesitated when he sensed intense desire and greed coming from someone nearby. His eyes scanned the trees that were close to the campfire, yet he saw nothing.

With a look of puzzlement on his face, he continued on his way, arriving at the pond a minute later. He grinned when he saw Rowan, Tia, and Isobel frolicking in the water and Argus bathing in the distance. Ravin moved off to a more private area where he disrobed behind some trees. Carefully, he removed the bandage wrapped around his chest, retrieving a cake of soap from his pack before stepping into the water.

Ravin was in the process of lathering up his hair when he heard a twig snap above and to the north of him. Glancing up, he noticed that a thin branch on one of the trees had cracked, and that a number of the leaves moved, although there was no wind at all. A chill ran down his spine when he got the feeling that someone was staring down at him from the tall tree.

Swiftly, he dunked below the water; rinsing his hair while picking up the good-sized rock he had stubbed his toe on earlier. Perhaps he was foolish for what he was about to do next, but the thief learned long ago that foolishness sometimes paid off. As soon as he came up from his dunking, he lined the rock at the area of the cracked branch.

A yelp of pain sounded from a masculine voice an instant before something hit the ground with a thud. Ravin scrambled out of the water, grabbing two of his daggers before rushing forward to investigate. His eyes widened in alarm when he came upon a bearded man wearing a turban, who was trying to get to his feet. Blood poured down the man's temple where the rock had hit him. The injury, combined with the fall had obvious left him a bit stunned.

Ravin dove at the man, with every intention of knocking him out with the hilt of his dagger. The quick move saved him from a dart that had been flying toward his neck. As he tackled the man, he heard the projectile whiz over his head before embedding itself in a nearby tree.

After knocking the man unconscious, Ravin turned in time to see another man in a tree pulling a blowpipe to his lips. Reacting quickly, he pulled the unconscious man in front of him, his body making an excellent shield. When the dart hit the man in the throat, Ravin wasted no time in launching a dagger. "ASSASSINS!!" he shouted out at the same time, hoping his voice carried to Rowan and the others. Obviously, the Slayers had been invisible, but any attack seemed to negate the invisibility spell.

Ravin's dagger flew true, hitting his target right between his eyes. As he toppled from the tree, more darts came at him, revealing three more assassins sitting in the branches of the tall trees. Once again Ravin used the Slayer's body as a shield and avoided getting hit by any of the tiny missiles.

Naked, and with only one dagger in his hand, the thief hurriedly searched his human shield for anything he could use against the other Slayers, who were now reloading darts into their blowguns. Hopefully, some of his companions had heard his shout and were on their way to offer him a little help!

*******


The dark eyed youth's power was too tempting to ignore for long. Now that he had tasted it, Jihar wanted more, and had silently followed the boy to his present location. With the youth's immense energy, he could easily destroy the foreigners, Jann, and the centaurs then reclaim Alakbar and be on his way. Along with the prince, he would keep the youth alive so that he would always have access to his wild energy, once he turned him into a mindless slave of course!

Quietly, he watched the group gathered around the campfire, smiling at the dark eyed youth's obvious fatigue. Drawing from him might be a lot easer in his present lethargic state because he probably wouldn't be able to fight off the mage's control very well. His eyes shifted briefly to Ravin, went he walked away from the campfire. Jihar knew all of their names now since he heard them bandied about while he spied on them.

Once the thief was out of sight, he turned his attention back to Marz, who could barely keep his eyes open. The smile on his face widened when the youth lay down on the ground and began to doze. Carefully, he began to draw on the boy's power, hoping to test it with a small spell once again.

When he heard someone shout out the word, ASSASSINS he knew he had no choice but to strike now before he was discovered. Jihar called the youth's energy to him, but it came too swiftly, like water pouring out from behind a dam that had burst open. It was beautiful and horrible at the same time, making him feel invincible while threatening to burn his brain out if he tried to contain it.

Marz cried out as the energy that sustained him was ripped away by the mage. Suddenly, a bolt of lightening came out of the clear blue sky, hitting the ground near Jeremy and tossing him back a couple of feet. A number of small branches cracked and rained down upon the ground as another bolt slammed into one of the trees. "LOOK OUT!" Jeremy yelled when he saw the entire tree start to topple toward Saras.

The mage assassin was visible now. A look of utter madness was displayed upon his face, as he stood rigid to the spot, unable to stop or control the massive amount of energy that flowed into him and was dispersed haphazardly. A fierce wind came out of nowhere, causing small whirlwinds of sand and dirt. The pond water heaved, trees burst into flames, bolts of lightening ravaged the area, and the ground began to quake. Two centaurs that were trotting toward the campfire simply exploded, flesh and bones flying everywhere.

The wind carried the cry of painful agony that sounded from Marz as his body began to convulse wildly upon the ground. Over and over again, Sistino hit him. His stepfather was going to kill him this time, and he was too damn helpless to try to stop him.

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