[Rosekitten]

Great it was the damned woman again. He still needed to figure a damned weakness for this race but he wasn't getting anywhere by simply thinking about where to strike. Though the kick hardly startled him, it wasn't like he was asleep with them talking anyway. He slept lightly on purpose, it was either do that or die where he was from.

After he got Judith to get up, not like she had a choice the kick had startled her awake causing her to almost jump up, he walked towards the cell door with a smirk on his face. "so what oh so pleasantries do I get out of you today, going to insult my parents again or did you think up new material?" He was doing this on purpose, maybe if he pissed the woman off enough she'd leave Judith alone, she wasn't in any condition to fight against anything they wanted to do to her.

Though it as probably easy to tell his mocking tone was getting to the woman. He hardly cared he was still in good condition as far as he was concerned. Not only that but the more pissed she got the better odds he could get some form of a cheap shot in on her. Though the one with her looked to be a issue.. even if all she did was drag him around.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Queen would gladly help the king or at least aid him in going to the dragonkin's lands. Though she knew very well the dangers that lay there and that the dragonkin and elves had been neck and neck with one another for years. During the elven war few were seen, they didn't wish to be dragged into the cross fire of the elven kind when they hated both sides equally.

[gremlin]

"You got quite the attitude, don't you?" she asked mockingly, she was amused that Rhyldrin had come straight to her only bars separating them. "How did you sleep, sweetie?" she asked then tilted her eyes. Anna's eyes remained on Rhyldrin, she had no need to look at the Light Elf. Though she was going to taunt him about what she had just seen. "Is that your little girlfriend over there?" she asked with a wicked smile. "I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't find one of you dead, I'll have to get my hands dirty." she sighed, Anna crossed her arms over her chest and leaned forward. "Though I would have gotten my hands dirty anyways, from touching a Dark Elf." she hissed.

Marcus' eyes wandered down to Judith who had brought herself to one of the farthest corners from the entrance of the cell. She sat with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. This was one of the reasons why he had not wanted to come to see the prisoners with Anna. It had to admit that it was rather interesting to see a Dark Elf and to especially see the way that he had been holding her. He had to hold himself back from asking questions, one day his damn curiosity would get the best of him. It also seemed as if Anna had not really thought too much about what she had just seen, she probably just assumed that the Dark Elf had been doing things to the Light Elf. It was better that way, if she thought that something was up between them then he was put them in separate cells. She would probably do horrible things to the Dark Elf to get information from the Light Elf, even if it was obvious that the poor woman knew nothing. If she didn't do that then she would probably torture the woman and make the Dark Elf watch. Why was his sister so cruel?

He really didn't want to stay for too long, he couldn't stop Anna from doing what she wanted to do and if he did anything rash then it would make him suspicious. He didn't feel like being branded as a traitor because he wanted to save a couple of Elves that he didn't know. A sudden question popped into his head and before he could think it over it spilled from his mouth. "Who sent you?" he brought his eyes to the Dark Elf. He really didn't expect to get an answer from him. "No Dark Elf would come here alone, it's too much of a risk. You're asking to get yourself killed if you do that."

-----

Despite the current circumstances Bryon had taken his time as he travelled to the Dark Elf Capital. It would do him no good to make himself exhausted and the last thing he needed was to become ill. Once he reached the Capital he asked to see the Queen, he was brought to her almost immediately. Bryon told her of what had happened, he was absolutely terrified that she would not come along. Though he was relieved that she wanted to come with him.

He spent a few days at the Dark Elf Capital allowing her and some of her men to prepare before they left for the Light Elf Capital. When they reached the Light Elf Capital Bryon's men waited for him, they had been prepared to leave when Bryon returned from the Dark Elf Capital. "Let's go!" he told him men, they didn't hesitate to leave. It would take a week to reach the Dragonkin Capital he wondered if he would be too late.

[Rosekitten]

"tsk oh fucking fantastic, rather nice to not be in a forest for a change" he said in a slightly agitated tone though it still was to be seen he was mocking her in the same breath. Hr smirked a little when she was trying to get that information out of Rhyldrin. "tsk hardly, figured if I was going to be stuck here I'd enjoy myself" His words probably had a bit of a sting to them, but it was for Judith's own good, if they did know the true relationship between then then it'd probably be impossible to keep her out of harms away. At least away from this female, he didn't get the same vibe from the male that seemed to stand back.

He laughed a little at the question and being told no dark elf would come here alone. "Hell if I told you then I doubt you'd believe me" He kept his smug smirk on his face before going on. "What if I was looking to get myself killed? What better way to die then in battle against a foe far stronger then i?" He was mocking them and feeding the females ego at the same time, it was almost artwork at the way he spoke, this was hardly his first time being captured.

He expected the woman to try and pry out of him who sent him, though even telling her the light elf King he doubted she'd believe him, she'd say he was lying and truth was.. it sounded like a lie no matter how you said it in your head.

~~~~~~~~~~

She gladly agreed to helping, the idea that two of their own were captured wasn't something that settled well with her. One being as close to a adopted family member as you could get. His parents had worked for her and she had kept a eye on him from his early childhood. But even Rhyldrin had limits the thoughts that he agreed to go alone to the very Dragonkin capital was a little off the wall even for him.

She had gathered her best, one being Maedas of course. Though she never told him who had been captured just that there was two elves being held and it was a matter of time pretty much. Though as far as they knew Rhyldrin was dead, he wasn't needed as a barging chip.

[gremlin]

Anna had brought the two other men with her this time instead of Marcus. One being Alec who she had told Rhyldrin wielded magic. The other's name was Talc, he didn't have a weapon either though he wasn't a magic wielder. He fought with his bare hands and used anything in his surroundings to his advantage. They were both rather odd looking men and eerily quiet. They were almost zombies, listening to Anna's demands and following all of her orders without hesitation. It was probably a reason why she had brought them instead of Marcus.

"Alec take the girl," she hissed at him with a wicked smile. "Talc you can come with me, we're going to have some fun with the Dark Elf. I wonder what we shall do today?" she asked then brought her eyes to Rhyldrin. "I wonder how much you can take before you finally break?" she laughed then waved her hand at Talc to make him come stand beside her. "Restrain him then meet me in the usually room." she purred to him. When she left the two men Talc opened the cell's door then took hold of Rhyldrin, though of course they struggled for a moment. Alec then went to Judith, he forced her to her feet and made her walk with him. He was taking her elsewhere to interrogate her once again.

Talc brought Rhyldrin to a small room, there was much in it other than a long table that he was forced to lay down on. Talc strapped him down to it, his wrists, ankles, across his chest and neck. "As you wished for, Anna." Talc said then bowed slightly. He took a step away from the table and watched the woman as she circled around Rhyldrin. "I'm running out of ideas," she said then breathed out a sigh. "Though I don't want to get rid of you yet, you're too fun." she laughed. There were a few shelves in the room, on them were tools used to torture prisoners. Anna wasn't quite sure what she would use on Rhyldrin.

Judith was brought to another small room and thrown on to the ground hard. "Are you finally going to tell me something useful?" Alec asked her, he slammed the door behind him and watched her for a moment. "Or are you just going to keep lying?" he hissed out the question. Alec leaned down and grabbed Judith by the back of her head, taking her hair in his hand. "I don't know anything, you bastard!" she cried, Judith had become so tired of this. Alec dragged her over to a large bucket of water, he turned her making her face the bucket. "Well, if you aren't going to say anything then I might ask well do something while I wait for Anna to finish up." he threw his shoulders back into a shrug then slammed Judith's face forcefully into the freezing water. He held her head under water for some time then lifted it. "Going to say anything now?" he barked, when she remained silent he slammed her head back into the water.

[Rosekitten]

His ears went back as she spoke, this was a different group then the one she normally had with her. He feared a little for Judith, she was hardly in any condition to take much abuse, even if Rhyldrin could easily tell the other man that Anna normally had with her hardly did anything, he seemed to do enough to leave a mark but that was it. Really he had been thankful for that fact though it seemed the luck they had was running out.

Though he comment of how much he could take made him smirk a bit. "I'll die before that happens" he hissed out at her, it was the truth. Rhyldrin had been trained to withstand almost any means of torture, so this was hardly something he wasn't use to. Though his words were going to bite him one day and he knew it, this woman seemed to have no remorse at all let alone she seemed to enjoy whatever pain she caused.

He was hardly pleased with being restrained, hell to be honest he wasn't sure how much he could really take if she was going to get serious with this. There were too many ways to preform a torture without killing the victim. He was starting to list them off in his head from the glace he had gotten when he entered the room as far as what tools were in here. None of them were a pretty sight in the end.

though he wasn't about to let her know she was getting to him. "tsk running out of ideas? damn what a shame. Here I was just starting to enjoy the daily trips" He probably wasn't making things any easier on himself by taunting her, but he couldn't help it.

The dragon hatchling had stayed with Judith, keeping well out of sight and when he got chances he kept hidden in her clothing to stay near her. It felt like it was powerless though, he was listening to what Rhyldrin had told him to stay with Judith, but what was he suppose to do. Yet at the same time this place.. felt familiar somehow like something about it he felt as if he were home. But that's not possible he remembered very well that Rhyldrin was one of the first people he saw upon hatching. Even through the ups and downs he was glad he had known both Rhyldrin and Judith.. but he wanted to do something. Anything to protect her, she was his friend and she had been caring for him.

[gremlin]

Alec pulled Judith's head back up from the cold water, violent shivers ran through her body. She breathed in heavily though she didn't get much in before her head was slammed back into the water. If Alec didn't stop soon she was afraid that her lungs would fill with water and she would drown. He didn't seem to be really paying attention to her, each time he held her head under water a little bit longer than the last. Though she told herself that he wouldn't let her drown. He wouldn't let her die, not yet anyways. Anna would probably kill him if she found out that Judith had been killed. Judith remembered her warning the two men about such a thing, she didn't want Judith to be killed. She still wanted to see if she could get any useful information out of her. Though all she knew was that Judith knew the King and it seemed that he had a thing for her. They had been cutting off locks of Judith's hair and sending it to Bryon as a reminder that they still had her. Judith feared that soon they would move on to something else. Anna had threatened to cut off her 'pretty ears' the other day.

She breathed in heavily as her face was lifted from the water once again. If she didn't drown then she would certainly get sick from this. They had done this before, she would be kept like this for some time as they asked questions. Then once they became tired of her they would throw her back into the cell still wet and cold. Judith was surprised that she wasn't terribly ill yet. Though she did feel a little odd and had began to cough. She began to have horrible coughing fits as well, it felt as if they would never end sometimes.

"Are you going to speak now?" Alec asked, he kept her head from the water allowing her to breath steadily. Though she doubted that this kindness would last very long. If he didn't continue this then he would find some other way to harm her. Judith feared that Alec would rape her really, it had only crossed her mind a few times. She tried not to think of that, she wouldn't know what to do if he tried anything. She really couldn't do anything anyways. The way he looked at her was odd, his face had no expression on it a majority of the time and it was hard to tell what he was thinking. "I don't know anything," she breathed out heavily and prepared to hold her breath. "I really don't, you ask kept me here for so long. You have the same damn things every day and I answer every question with the same response." she flinched as she felt him pull her head back forcing her to look up at him. "I don't know!" she yelled, Judith kept her eyes on him. She looked into his own though it seemed as if he was nothing but a shell of a man.

The silence in the room was eery, Judith was wondering why Alec was now choosing to keep his mouth shut. It was worse than when he spoke to her, she wanted him to speak. "If you really know anything then you should just tell me," he hissed at her then pulled on her hair. "I know that any living creature couldn't stand this shit for as long as you have. You're going to reach your breaking point eventually and then guess what happens after that?" he spat the question, Judith flinched she didn't say anything. "You die, they put you down like your a damn animal but not quickly." he tilted his head as if he was observing her. "They take their time with you because for some reason they get a real kick out of causing pain." he threw Judith to the ground hard. "They will probably cut you up real good then let you bleed out, they hate showing mercy." he smiled weakly then leaned down looking down at her. "Now, tell me do you have anything that is useful?" he asked. Judith looked up at him, she knew she was going to regret saying this. "No!" she spat.

------

Anna was in the midst of torturing Rhyldrin, she had already used quite a few tools on him. Though she wasn't satisfied by any of his reactions, she was disappointed in herself for not trying hard enough. She turned around though as she heard the door to the room swing open. Anna's eyes landed on Alec who seemed a bit on edge. What the hell was he doing here? Then she suddenly realised, was something wrong? The woman was no longer with him and anger quickly consumed her.

"Did she escape?" she asked, her voice was higher than it had been before and her hands shook. Talc had brought himself to one of the walls in the room and was leaning against it as if he were at home. Alec took a step into the room, his eyes wandered over to Rhyldrin for a moment then he brought them back to Anna as he began to speak. "No," he laughed though it was a nervous laugh. Despite being taller and much bigger than Anna due to his gender it didn't mean that she couldn't do some harm to him.

"Then where the hell is she?" she asked then took another step towards him. Alec stood still with his shoulders back, his hands behind his bad. He appeared to be very formal. "Did you fucking kill her?" the tool that she had been using dropped from her hand, her body trembled with anger. Alec's expression remained the same, he smiled at her warmly. "Of course not," Anna breathed out heavily relieved by his answer. "Then what made you come here?" she asked then raised an eyebrow. "I think that I broke her or she's at least close to breaking. I think I pushed her too far." he flinched as Anna slammed her fist against on of the walls. Talc jumped a little as well, he lifted his head then looked over at the two.

"I told you not to go too far with her! She's important!" she hissed, it took a lot to stop herself from hitting Alec. "Put her back in her cell!" she barked at him. Alec hesitated to leave though he slowly nodded then left the room quickly. He didn't want to remain any longer seeing as Anna was furious. When the door slammed shut behind him she turned back to Rhyldrin with a wicked smile on her face. "I just got a wonderful idea," she laughed then looked up at Talc. "Bring me a few things, on the shelf besides you."

[Rosekitten]

The table they had Rhyldrin bound to was called a torture rack, it's main purpose was to break it's victims that were bound to it. Though it starts off at first looking like a normal table, this is a poor disguise of what true function this machine hides.

Anna had already run through the workings of the device and what it could do before doing each one of them, though Rhyldrin was proving to be more stubborn then she thought. He hardly gave her any reaction at all from most of her work. She didn't want to break him just yet.. but maybe bringing him to the brink of doing so would be a sweet reward to the dissatisfaction he had been giving her today.

The first one she started with was stretching, this sounds harmless enough but it's more forced then anything, at first she left it to a setting that was a mere inconvenience for the one before her. She'd get back to that later. Though this also opens up the middle sections of the table under the one bound to it, in this level of the torture rack there are rows of spikes that are on boards that can be raised and lowered depending on what setting you put it onto. She moved on to this just to further his slight pain that his body was in. She was taking it slow today she wanted to get something out of him, information anything he had to have a reason as to why the hell he was here.

The whole time she preformed these acts she would mock him and see what coy answer she would receive from him, though as she started to increase the settings for both the 1st ad 2nd levels of the device his answers were either delayed or he had none, probably trying to focus on ignoring the fact his body felt like it was being ripped apart. He knew very well this was hardly the max settings of this contraption.. the final settings were meant to kill hell the settings long before the final would kill.

When the other man came into the room causing Anna to stop and talk with him a moment, Rhyldrin had no choice but to listen to the conversation. Though he didn't want to hear the words. He knew all too well what it was to break someone, that's why most of his kind if they were put into battle were trained in withstanding or how to take methods to prevent breaking.. though it was't always that easy.

Though he didn't have time to ponder on what they did to Judith, though he feared the worse. She was stronger then she looked that was certain. But even she couldn't take but so much, this was working on the third week and he knew she was getting worse by the day. He had done everything he could to keep her strong. But he couldn't really do anything aside from encourage her that they'd get through this.

Anna turned to him once the male left and smiled as she started to walk back towards the controls of the table and started drumming her fingers against it. "I just got a wonderful idea" She seemed to laugh after the fact before she went on to ask the other male that remained to bring her a few things. He couldn't really turn his head to see what the hell she was planning but whatever it was wouldn't be pretty.

After he walked towards her she adjusted the lever a little causing the table to further stretch his body, though this time around a few sicken pops and cracks were heard she hadn't pushed it gradually this time, she skipped a full level for it's process. Rhyldrin clenched his teeth together as pain was written across his face, Not that he could avoid expressing that his very insides were being forced apart it felt like let alone his bones were being forced out of joint.

She seemed more pleased with his reactions this time around. "Well well it seems he can feel pain" she laughed as she looked over the objects Talc had brought to her. She picked one and told him to set the others on a table near where Rhyldrin was and to take the iron he had brought and to get her a small fire pit.

He hardly liked the sound of a fire pit let alone the look of what she was holding. "If you just tell me who sent you then this will all end.. for today anyway" She smiled at him though he was hardly going to tell her that the light elf king sent him, hell that's unbelievable on it's own and it had the risk of putting Judith in further danger. "tsk... pry the words from my corpse" he hissed out at her.

She was hardly amused by this as she took the blade in her hand and brought it to his neck. "maybe I will.. but not yet, I'll keep you alive a bit longer" She laughed again before letting the blades edge drop and she moved it slowly across his chest, the blade seemed to easily cut the flesh and fabric that it came in contract with. Though such a shallow wound wasn't causing more then a mere dull of a pain.

She quickly redeemed herself as Talc returned after a while and set down what looked to be a small portable fire pit. "good.. we'll need that after I finish with this.." She smirked evilly before forcing the blade into the same spot she started from before though she ensured it went deeper this time still dragging it at the same slow pace. She'd repeat this process another 4 or 5 times on the same wound, though she was hardly done with just the one deep gash.

She gladly took her sweet time giving him plenty of chances to answer her questions, though he never did. Each time he forced out a smart ass answer or some form of a mock. He was bleeding all over from each of the gashes she had played with, though things were about to get far worse for him.

she moved the blade again this time sliding it slowly across a uncut part of his skin though didn't break it this time. "so stubborn.. are all dark elves like you?"She chuckled a little before pressing the blade into his flesh and moving it in a direction causing the blade to cut away the top few layers of skin, just enough to cause it to bleed. She smirked a little when Rhyldrin didn't answer her, maybe she was finally winning this little game.

She walked towards the rack's controls and forced it half a level forward, between the pain he was already in and the wounds he half cried out but bit his tongue mid whine. He was loosing blood and she was far from finished it would seem. He couldn't even really feel his arms at this point, though he thought that might be due to the blood loss. Anna went back around and choose a few more spots to cut the flesh away from before she seemed happy with the bloodied mess before her.

"now for the real fun.." she said as she smiled and her eyes seemed to look over him taking in the view before she took the metal rod and held it over the open flame. Rhyldrin knew what was coming.. he was hardly going to enjoy this, hell he'd be lucky if he didn't black out. There was no amount of training to withstand hot metal being placed upon your flesh.

She pulled it from the flame and let it sit in the air a second before pressing it against one of the open wounds. He managed for now to keep his mouth shut, though he wanted to cry out. His body wanted for it all to just end but he couldn't afford to die here.

She continued this process for each spot that was open, seeing as she made them long on purpose each wound took multiply searing touches to close them, though the burn process causes some of them to bleed more. After a while of this it seemed it would never end, he couldn't even force himself to bite his tongue to stay silent.

His screams of agony and pain was what she had been after this whole time.. the minor torturing from the start was just simply enjoyment, but this was what she had been working on for this whole week. She mocked him all the more, though she could tell he wasn't going to stay conscious much longer. She still continued closing the wounds, they needed to be closed either way if she wanted to keep him alive.

Once she was finished Rhyldrin wasn't sure if he was blacked out of still awake, he couldn't think everything felt numb though truth be told his body was in so much pain he couldn't process it. she released the lever on the rack and told Talc to take him back to the cell she was done with him for the day, though it was easily 4 or 5 hours after Judith had been returned to the cell.

He did as he was told forcing Rhyldrin to walk, though he hardly was in the condition to do so or had the energy. Lucky for Talc it was a short walk, upon reaching the cell he opened it and removed the binds before forcing Rhyldrin inside. Normally he tried to fight or get the better of whatever guard to try and escape but today he didn't. Not that it was hard to tell why he as covered in his own blood and there were burns to trace each wound he had gotten today and even the burns were bleeding a little still. Nothing in his body felt like it wanted to move or rather that it could even as he fell to the ground upon being shoved forward, he half looked like he should be left for dead.

(im sorry i got carried away!)

[gremlin]

Judith had been thrown into the cell and had remained against the cold floor where she had fallen. It felt as if every bone in her body was broken, the pain was unbearable and her head pounded. If she breathed too quickly a sharp pain filled her chest, she breathed heavily as if she had been running. If she stayed here any longer then she doubted she would be alive for more than another day or two. Judith rolled over on to her other side, she looked around the cell and listened carefully.

It had been hours since she had been returned to the cell. Where was Rhyldrin? Awful thoughts clouded her mind. They didn't need him. They didn't know why he was here and they didn't know the relationship between them. What if they had decided to kill him? Judith came back to reality of the cell door swung open, she closed her eyes and cringed as she heard Rhyldrin fall to the floor. She waited until the cell's door was closed before dragging herself to lay beside Rhyldrin. Judith reluctantly reached out her hand and brought it to his own. She didn't know what to say.

------

It had taken Bryon a very long time to reach the Dragonkin Capital and by now he feared the worst for Judith and Rhyldrin. If he learned of their passing then he would still go forward to try and bring peace between the Dragonkin and Elves. The odd group of Light and Dark Elves were stopped outside of the Dragonkin Capital. Bryon told the guard that he wished to have audience with the King. He went off to speak to the King immediately. When the guard returned to them they were told to get off of their horses and to travel on feet to the castle. Bryon was relieved that the King was allowing him to speak to him, though that didn't calm his nerves.

The group received quite a few odd looks as they walked to the castle, it didn't make Bryon feel any better. He avoided looking at the Dragonkin who whispered and stopped to watch the group. He was afraid of giving them any reason to do any harm to them. When the reached the entrance of the castle Bryon was stopped from entering. "There's too many of you," he hissed, his eyes wandered over Bryon then over the other's that surrounded him. "Only four of you may enter, the rest can wait outside." he smiled weakly at Bryon. Bryon let out a heavy sigh then called a man over to him, it was Kane. "You will come with me," he told him, Kane nodded. Bryon told the Queen to come with him and allowed her to bring one of her men.

Though they were stopped again as they tried to enter. "No weapons," the guard hissed. Bryon nodded a little though he hesitated for a moment to hand over his weapons. He gave them to the guard, then Kane did as well though he didn't need much to defend himself if things spiralled out of control. The guard finally let them enter once they were all unarmed. Two guards greeted them inside and escorted them to the King's chambers.

[Rosekitten]

To admit it, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to keep his promise to Judith. The one about them both getting out of here. He knew he could hardly move everything hurt, or rather anything he could feel still. He wasn't sure if it was just too much pan for his body to process at one time or if the nerve endings were damaged to the point that they didn't register pain. Either way he was a little thankful that he couldn't feel half of it.

He didn't move at first when Judith went over to him and brought her hand to his, in truth the thought of moving almost hurt. But after a few moments he moved enough to squeeze her hand so at least she knew he was alive. He needed to recover, who knew when they'd come back for another round. When he finally mustered enough strength to look at Judith she hardly looked any better, a little less bloody but still.

"hey.. " He finally managed to force himself to speak though it was a bit weak sounding and he sounded horse on top of it, probably due to the screams of pain from earlier. "We're still going to get out of here.. I still swear it.." He wasn't sure why he was telling her that, he looked like hell. Escaping was the last thing he would be able to do, let alone if he had to carry her. But he needed to say it, if not for her sake then to reassure himself that he needed to get them both out of here. Though he had no real idea how he was going to manage that.

~~~~~~~~~~

She smiled sweetly at Bryon as he told her to pick one of her own, of course she took Madaes with her. She knew they'd take any weapons they had on them, so why not take a mage. She could tell that Bryon had taken one of his mages with him as well. Though unknown to most she herself was a blood mage, the dagger she carried at all times was for mere show.

As they were escorted towards the King's chambers she looked at Madaes who seemed concerned. 'whats bothering you..' she whispered to him, though this was a little un-nerving that was certain.

'It'll be a blessing if the girl's alive... let alone if Rhyl's alive as well, you know it as well as i do.' He spoke just as softly to her as they walked, if he was alive he'd for sure be in no real condition to brag about. The girl may still be alive as a trade source, but Rhyldrin.. he wouldn't tell any information no matter what. That's how he was trained, it was take any knowledge to the grave.

Once they were to the King's chamber they were told to bow before the ruler of the dragonkin. Both sides did so and remained there until they were told to stand. He quickly snapped at both of them asking what they wanted and why they had come, unless it was to return that which was stolen.

Bryon went on to explain he had the amulet, but he wanted to see the captive. The dark elf queen added in her voice as well saying she was sure they had two elven captives, and that they expected both of them.

The dragonkin king seemed amused enough by the request/demand as he sent Anna and Marcus to get the two and bring them here. Once the two left the room closing the doors behind them the room grew deathly silent. Both groups watching the other.

~~~~~~~~~~

Anna voiced her complaints to Marcus as they walked towards the holding cells. Saying that she was about to lose her pet. She could care less if they took the girl, but they should leave the other, he was as good as dead now anyway. Or that's what she thought anyway knowing what hell she had put him through earlier that very day.

[gremlin]

Judith quickly took her hand away from Rhyldrin's as the cell's door opened suddenly. She breathed out heavily, she could hear her heart beating in her ears. Judith flinched as she felt someone's hand upon her, though the touch was not rough. It was gentle, Marcus stood over her. "Don't struggle with me," he hissed at her, though he doubted that Judith could do anything. He took hold of Judith's arms in his hands then lifted her to her feet. Judith's knees felt weak and she fell against him. Marcus frowned a little before lifting her into his arms, he held her bridal style. Judith trembled in her arms, she didn't even want to think about what was going to happen to them.

Rhyldrin was not as lucky as Judith. Anna gave Marcus an odd look, she didn't know why he was being so kind to the Light Elf. He should have forced her to walk, instead he was showing mercy by carrying her. She breathed out a sigh as she leaned down, she took hold of on of Rhyldrin's arms. "Get up," she hissed at him with a wicked smile. "Or else I'll drag you!" she added them pulled him to his feet. Anna forced Rhyldrin to walk with her, Marcus followed behind carrying Judith in his arms. He looked down at the girl for a moment, her eyes opened and she looked up at him. "What is happening?" she asked him, her throat burned as she spoke. Marcus looked away from her, he looked ahead of them. "A very good thing hopefully." he mumbled quietly.

They came two doors, two guards who stood by them opened them and held them open for Anna and Marcus. Judith was suddenly in a room that she had not been in before. Her eyes were all over the place, she found it impossible to keep them in one place. Then her eyes fell on four familiar faces, her heart throbbed in her chest. Bryon looked at her though it was only for a brief moment, his eyes went back to the king. Anna brought her lips close to Rhyldrin's ear and laughed quietly. "Be a good little boy in the presence of the king." she hissed, she pushed him to make him walk faster.

[Rosekitten]

He didn't care about the male that was with Anna this time, it was the one before that seemed a little kinder then the rest of these dragons. Though he smirked a little at the sudden comment from being dragged. "tsk give me a minute.. you'd enjoy dragging me too damn much" he hissed out at her before forcing himself to stand. He really admitted to himself that once he started to feel pain again he was going to be in rough shape.

'good thing.. what the hell do they call a good thing' he kept his thoughts to himself as they walked, though truth be told he wanted to do nothing but sleep at the current moment. The blood loss was really getting to him and his normally rather calm disposition was not there..

Needless to say despite who the hell was there Anna's last comment towards being a good boy and shoving him really was the damned last straw. About the same time she went to push him forward he grabbed her arm and seemed to effortlessly throw the dragonkin to the ground. In nearly the same fluid movement he had managed to disarm her as well holding her blade. whatever he was thinking had snapped finally, having dealt wit this damned woman for the past week if not longer he didn't remember.

"hows that for being a damn good boy! For fucks sake I dealt with your damn mouth all this time. When we first crossed blades I warned you that it wasn't over.." He hissed at he his ears back and the blade as steady as ever. The way he was breath it was easy to tell he wasn't going to last long in a fight but he hardly seemed to care.

Anna lay there in shock for a few moments at the fact he managed to move her let alone disarm her of her blade. Though she quickly recovered herself grabbed Marcus's blade and seeming to accept whatever challenge the two of them had going on.

Madaes looked at the Queen before speaking "well... he seems alive at least... though not sure how this bodes for the negotiations.. heh" She nodded a little watching the two for a moment before looking towards Judith, the poor girl looked in poor condition and she could tel by his stance that Rhyldrin was just as bad off. But whatever had happened between him and that female dragonkin must have finally worked on his last nerve.

[gremlin]

Marcus flinched at the sudden commotion, he was more impressed than anything else really. It surprised him that the Dark Elf had so much energy still in him and even the will to live. He knew that Anna had been doing horrible things to him since he became captured. He hissed under his breath as he felt Anna take the sword that rested on his side. "Stop it!" he hissed, he was telling both of them to stop. "Put down the damn weapons! You're in the presence of the king!" he barked. He hesitated to pry the weapons from the Dark Elves hand or his sister's. He still held Judith in his arms, he backed away from the two looking for a place to set the woman down.

Bryon jumped a little as he suddenly felt something burning against his chest. his hand dove into his shirt and he brought out the emulate that he had been wearing. Bryon quickly lifted the chain over his head, taking it off. He held it in his hand then closed his fingers over it. The emulate was glowing brightly, it had never done this before. The little dragon climbed out from the bottom of Judith's shirt, he fell on to the ground with a quiet thud. The little dragon chirped as he went over to Bryon, he felt an overwhelming urge to go to the emulate. He brought himself to sit in front of Bryon then let out a loud, high-pitch whine. Bryon watched the little dragon for a moment then his eyes went to the emulate that he held in his hand. It felt hot as it glowed as if it was calling to it's right owner. He hesitated at first, what the hell was he doing? He brought himself to his knees and reached out his hand that held the emulate. Bryon opened his hand, the little dragon sniffed at it then snorted. It pawed at the emulate and chirped happily.

[Rosekitten]

Normally Rhyldrin would never do such a stunt in front of any of the noble bloods. But then again he was hardly thinking, his body was in pretty much the fight or flight mode and flight wasn't the option he had chosen. Anna stood there before she went to charge forward about the same time that Rhyldrin had bothered to move. Both seemed to care less about who was there.

Marcus had placed Judith down safely before he moved to try and prevent the two from killing one another, probably the worse idea seeing as it was like getting n the middle of a dag fight. All the while this few seconds that seemed to last for eternity the medallion glowed brighter and flashed as the dragonling touched it with his paw once more.

All of a sudden the dragons little body seemed to change form as it grew in size and took the shape of a smaller version of the dragonkins in the room, standing about Judith's height. He quickly turned and extended both hands towards the fight before both sides seemed to stop dead in their tracks.

Anna growled suddenly as she tried to move her arm to finish her strike, though they had been stopped at the last moment possible, both blades would have delivered fatal blows. as to where they were aimed, and Macus would have been caught in the middle of this all. Rhyldrin never said a word though Madaes seemed to know what was going on with that.

The young dragonkin breathed out heavily before slowly lowering his hands looking a little tense as he stood there. Anna a few moments later dropped her weapon as she looked over at the young one of her kin her ears dropping as she started to walk over to him. "it's... is it?" She seemed to question.

Madaes had requested permission to move from the Queen though she seemed a little confused on why, he said he'd explain it later as he went to Rhyldrin's side. Mere seconds later the blade dropped from a lifeless looking hand as he fell to his knees and Madaes caught him before he hit the floor. "Gah! Damn your heavier then you look." He complained a little as he tried to steady himself again. He moved a hand to check his pulse before laughing weakly. "geese.. your hardly even with us are you.."

[gremlin]

Judith sat watching in complete shock, she was too tired to even try to understand what was happening. Judith stood from where she had been placed, she forced herself to walk despite the pain. Marcus looked up, he went to her catching her as she stumbled. "You're an idiot, look at you. You're in no shape to rest!" he hissed at him, Judith pulled away from his touch, Marcus allowed her to go though he followed closely to make sure that she didn't collapse. Judith brought herself to Madaes, she looked at him then at Rhyldrin. "You shouldn't push yourself so much," she whispered to Rhyldrin though she doubted that he would be able to respond. "Idiot, what would I do if I lost you?" she didn't care if Madaes heard what she had said. Kane kept to himself, his eyes rested on Judith. He easily noticed that she was in horrible shape.

Marcus paused, his eyes went to the young boy who had stopped everything from going horrible wrong. He turned his head, he looked over at his father who slowly stood from his seat. The king walked slowly to the boy then brought one hand to the boy's shoulder. "My son," he said aloud a smile crept on to his face. "You have returned!" Bryon stood for a moment and bit his tongue, he wanted to speak to the king about bringing peace between the Elves and Dragonkin. He stood slowly unsure if he could even bring himself to interrupt a moment like this. He watched the king, waiting for the right moment to finally speak. The king looked up from his son and brought his eyes to the Light Elf King. "You may have your friends back," the Dragonkin King took a step towards Bryon then stopped in front of him. "Though I know that that is not the only thing that you want. You have other desires." the king looked over at the Dark Elf Queen and smiled warmly. "Come, we will discuss things together." he turned and began to walk, he was leading them to a room.

[Rosekitten]

The king and Queen followed the Dragonkin Lord into the other room, none of the guards followed so there was no need for Madaes to try and catch up to the queen as he tried to get a response out of Rhyldrin. Though Judith seemed to make her way over to them he started to protest her moving but there was the other dragonkin that seemed to at least be ensuring she didn't fall over. "heh.. I think your both nuts if you ask me" Madaes finally spoke before laying Rhyldrin down and frowning a bit after he noticed the real damage that had been done.

Vrine walked over to the small group, close in toe was Anne not letting her brother out of her sight, she seemed to be a different person. Madaes had heard what Judith had said, but he didn't seemed too shocked by it, he could tell the feelings had to be mutual, there was no way that he could take this much of a beating and live without some good damn reason. He sighed a little before speaking. "you know.. your a damned lucky woman is all I got to say" Madaes looked at Judith after he spoke. "If this had happened to anyone else I think they'd be as good as dead, but he still has a strong enough pulse that he'll probably recover in a week at longest.. and thats if we get him to stay still that long." He laughed weakly knowing it was the truth.

"Though.. I don't think you should worry too much, he's been pretty much out of it before he even entered this room." He started to explain himself a little "it's a bit of a rare gift and a curse so to say.. it's a sort of enraged state that normally only happens when the person is already dead, normally the end result is they do something idiotic and end up destroying themselves." He shrugged a little.

This little chat seemed to interest at least Marcas, Judith was probably too out of it to really grasp what he was saying. "so long story short somehow he managed to enter that state and pull back out of it, though im sure when he comes back to he'll remember the meaning of the word pain."

The young boy stood there between Marcus and Anna, though he was a good few feet shorter then both of them and seemed to be a child. He squeaked out a response after Madaes was done trying to explain pretty much that Rhyldrin's body had already given it's self up for dead, but apparently the will to live can be stronger. "I... I can heal both of them.. " He said in a rather soft voice, it had a similar tone to his chirps and cries when he was a dragon.

Madaes looked at him questioning this idea a little, dragon magic was hardly something to sneeze at. "it's your choice... but I wouldn't over do it for either of them... heh i might be better leaving this one unconscious for a while." Unless they really wanted to know what Rhyldrin thought about when he woke up.. "you can worry about helping him later, I promise he'll live. He's oddly seen worse then this" Really he was lying about the last part of him seeing Rhyldrin in a worse condition, but he didn't need to tell them that.

Vrine nodded a little understanding what he meant. "It won't recover your energy.. but you should be able to walk ok after.. im sorry I... don't have much practice yet" Vrine flicked his tail a little before asking for one of Judith's hands, after she gave it to him he said a small chat as a soft yellow light seemed to flow over top of her hand where he was holding it.

After a few moments he released her hand and stepped back as his ears dropped a little. "did .. that help?" He seemed to question her he was trying to help, really it hurt him to see them both in such a state they had helped him all this time. Hell Rhyldrin had been there from when he was a egg, a doomed egg. He wasn't suppose to hatch without that medallion.

[gremlin]

Judith tried to understand, she really did though she was starting to feel light headed again. For a few minutes it felt as if she was about to fall asleep, she stumbled a little then brought herself to her knees. Marcus flinched as he watched her nearly lose her balance again, he was ready to rush to her to prevent her from slamming her head against the floor. Her eyes rested on Rhyldrin, it had been dark in the cell so she had not seen how badly he was. When they had been walking she had only seen him for a moment but now she was able to see how much damage was relly done to him.

She jumped a little when the dragon approached her then spoke. Judith's ears fell a little and she didn't hesitate to give him her hand. "What is your name?" she asked, she was a bit surprised that she could even bring herself to speak at the moment. She fell silent as he began to chant, she listened to his words though she couldn't understand any of them. She looked up at him when he had finished. "I feel a little better, thank you." she whispered to him. Her eyes ran over the child who stood in front of her, Judith was still a little shocked from everything that had happened.

------

Bryon's stomach was twisted up in pain from being so damn nervous. He had not expected the Dragonkin King to allow them to enter the castle and now the Dark Elf Queen and himself were being brought to a room to discuss peace. Bryon wasn't even quite sure what to think of this evening, his mind kept going back to Judith. He was terribly worried about her though he trusted Kane and the other man who the Queen had brought to watch over her and Rhyldrin. He had only looked at her once when she had been brought into the room with Rhyldrin, he couldn't bring himself to see her in such terrible shape. It was his fault, he should have pushed himself to get her sooner.

The room that they entered was what seemed to be a large library, it was a study room more than anything. They did not have seats, though the Dragonkin King sat in one facing them. "I don't expect much guests like I have right now," his eyes shifted from the Light Elf King to the Dark Elf Queen. "I apologize for not having any seating arrangements for you, I will be better prepared in the future." he paused for a moment, trying to think of how to bring light to the subject of peace. "Now, don't be afraid to speak to me. I don't bite." he laughed weakly. "You brought me the medallion, I gave you your friends but you also brought me something that I owe you quite a bit for, my son. Perhaps we could work something out." he smiled.

-----

A few days passed and the group remained at the Dragonkin Capital, the Dragonkin King insisted that they stay and rest. They had travelled so far and needed energy to travel back. The castle is where they stayed, the King wanted them to feel at home and wanted them to be closely watched by his guards. He knew that their presence in the Dragonkin Capital was unwelcomed by most of his people. Though they would have to get use to the presence of Dark and Light Elves with the new alliance that had been formed. It would take a very long time for his people to accept the alliance but the Dragonkin King looked forward to the future despite the challenges that waited for him.

Marcus had insisted on being assigned to Judith's room, he wanted to keep a close eye on her. He knew that Anna wasn't too pleased with the new alliance, though he hoped that she wasn't as reckless as she seemed to be. Hopefully she would keep to herself and not try to break the new alliance by doing something incredibly foolish. Judith had slept a majority of the time in the room that she was given, only a few people were allowed into the room. One being Marcus, his brother Vrine, Bryon of course and the medic who checked her wounds daily.

Judith was awake rather early, she had been given clothes by a servant since what she had worn earlier was ruined. Her body was still sore and not fully healed. She quickly dressed and reluctantly ate the odd breakfast that was brought to her. The others were prepared to leave shortly, when she opened the door Marcus stood by it. He smiled weakly at her though she spoke before him. "Where is Rhyldrin's room?" she asked, Marcus let out a quiet sigh then shook his head. "You will see him shortly, leave him alone, he needs to rest as much as he can before you all leave." he brought a hand to Judith's shoulder and began to walk with her. "If you have everything then you can wait with the others." Judith crossed her arms over her chest, she smiled weakly then nodded. She was worried about Rhyldrin, the last time she saw him he was in horrible shape. Marcus led her downstairs and to the main entrance of the castle where the other's stood. Though some were missing and Rhyldrin was not there yet.