Nilarek waved his hand with one finger elongated as if saying "No" to a child. "Uh uh uh. There'll be none of that."

When Mesaraih touched his mind and asked him the question, he answered to him and the others as he was sure they had never seen this shade. This is Nilarek, a ghost of my past. He may be a shade but he holds powers that rival Galbatorix's. At least for the moment. If he succeeds in possessing me, he will gain powers beyond comprehension.
It was then a dreadful thought entered Keralin's mind. "Where's Aelir?"

"He's safe, for now at least." Nilarek snapped his fingers and brought a squirming dragon encased with shadows into full view. "I couldn't enter his mind which was surprising for me, but his shadow did tell me an interesting fact. Like if I just so happened to slip and cut his throat then you would be in sweet agony."

Keralin snapped at that moment, first he enslaved his people and now he was threatening Aelir. Keralin's rage took over and he charged at Nilarek. Keralin drew both swords and infused both the swords and himself with magic to make him faster and stronger. He also used a spell that he thought he would never use again, one from shadow.
"Infuse my being with the strength of these lives." Keralin took energy from the trees and animals around him, as well from their spirits which held immense power, and made sure he didn't take it from his friends or the other elves. Keralin went into a frenzy, his blades moving faster than the air could part.
Nilarek dodged and drew his sword meeting every blow Keralin could produce. Yet the effort took all of his concentration and he had to release certain spells, mainly the shadows holding Aelir.
Aelir flapped away as fast as he could, nothing but fear in his eyes. He stood behind the rest, wanting to run but not wanting to leave his rider. He was shaking from his own fear.

Paito watched as the battle unfolded. Indeed, compared to this shade, the other one they had faced previously was a pitiful joke. He was amazed at Keralin's skill in battle, but before he could watch for too long, one of the posessed elved leaped from the trees at him. Paito ducked and rolled on the ground, but as he rolled, the motion wrenched his sword from his grasp. The elf lunged at him with a long dagger in hand. Paito used magic to summon whatever was nearby that he could use to block the attack. His rugged, wooden bow flew to his hand and Paito used it to shield himself from the attack. Unfortunately, the dager, made of igh quality metal, and extremely sharp, sliced through the bow and reduced it to splinters. The possesed elf lunged at Paito again but he caught it in the stomach with his right boot, sending the elf to the ground. As the elf got to his feet, Seroc wrapped one of his front feeet around the elf and snatched him off his feet. Then the dragon hurdled the elf across the forest floor.
"Be careful, Seroc! Don't kill any of them!" Paito warned.
The dragon answered, "I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. But I'll hold back this time."

He looked over at Keralin and Eriel who were fighting the Shade. He seemed to be losing his focus and control over the elves now. Paito wanted to do something but his bow was trashed and besides, he got the feeling that he should stay out of the way now.
Seroc stood over Paito and kept watch for any other threats. At the moment, it looked alright.

OOC: sorry I haven't posting in a while, but I've had a bit of a writers block.

"Thats close enough!" Nilarek gathered up a ball of air between himself and the two riders. He pushed them away with a large enough force to throw them back to the original group. "I have others at my disposal." Nilarek raised his hands as if pulling something from the ground, which wasn't too far from what he was really doing. Beasts of shadow, shades of humans, and corpses moving with no life. "I'll make sure you never leave this forest alive! Excluding you Keralin, I still need you." The shades moved into the corpses making their eyes glow unnaturally and the beast of shadow seemed to radiate evil energy. Nilarek seemed to be concentrating extremely hard, his eyes half closed.

"The spirits themselves cannot hurt you unless you believe they can, and do not let Nilarek anywhere near your mind for he will try to corrupt it." Keralin shouted at the others before charging at the one thing he could attack, the corpses moving under Nilarek's control.

Aelir kept shuddering and explained to Emrhyst. I couldn't move, I couldn't roar, I was barely even able to think. I felt the darkness.... It felt terrifying and unbelieveably good at the same time. I.. I almost gave in to his control... Aelir shed a few tears before controlling himself again. I nearly betrayed my rider to him.

Paito was getting angry now. This Shade's attitude was getting on his nerves. But then, the shade corpses began to advance toward him.
Paito mad a mad dash for his sword and grabbed it just as the possessed corpsed reached him. He turned and slashed three of them across the chest but a forth one flung a dagger at him. Paito ducked and the crooked dagger flew past and stuck in a tree. The corps then drew another dagger and rushed him. Paito blocked a series of attacks from the corps and finally cut off one of it's arms. The possessed corps made a rasping sound and lunged at paito. He tried to dodge it but the corps knocked him to the ground. The dagger cut into the rider's side but didn't go in deep before Seroc ripped the corps off of him and bit it in half. Paito sat up, clutching his side, and said, "Thanks, Seroc."
He healed the wound, leaving a small scar, and turned to face another demonic corps. Just then, one of the shadow beasts charged at him.
Seroc leaped in the way and roared in rage. The dragon and the beast grabbed one another and began to wrestle on the ground. The shadow beast flipped Seroc over on his back and prepared to attack. Seroc clamped his jaws down on the beast's throat, but the beast's sharp claws tore into his soft wings. Seroc bellowed in pain and blew a jet of orange flame into the beast's face. It shrieked and released him long enough for Paito to plunge his sword into it's heart.
"Thankyou, Paito." Seroc sighed as he stood up, his left wind membrane in shreds.
Paito nodded and replied, 'I'll heal that later."

When the barrier of eatrh sprang up around him, {aito shouted, "What the..."
He surveyed the barrier and said, "I can't get us out of here"
Seroc replied, "Hold on. I'll see what I can do."
The dragon glanced around and found a weak point. He began to pound on the barrier until one side crumbled, allowing both him and Paito to emerge. They came out right as Eriel and Keralin were battling the copies of the Shade.
"The shade grows desperate." Seroc observed.
"Yes, but that is when people like him are the most dangerous and unpredictable." Paito replied. "Perhaps we should stay out of the way unless they need us."
Seroc nodded and said, "He may have lost control over the Elves. Perhaps we can try to find some of them to fight with us.
Paito asked Keralin, "Should we try to find help? Maybe he has lost control of the elves.""

Paito watched as the shade copies were cut down one by one and how he was finally decapitated.
With a sigh of relief, Paito said, "Hopefully, if we met him again, I'll be of more use."
Seroc nudged Paito on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, rider. We did what we could today and that is all that matters."
Paito then asked the others, "So what do we do now?"
Now that the trouble was over, he wanted to have a look around, but that seemed to be out of the question for noe. He guessed that he would meet their leader or something.

Eriel smiled at Keralin absentmindedly and shot up a nearby tree, resting in its boughs. Emrhyst smiled at her rider and lay down at the bottom of the tree.

OOC: -Pass

Paito turned to Seroc and said, "It looks like we have some time to look around. Maybe we can speak with the queen later or something."
Seroc answered, "Sure. We'd better be back here in time to meet with our trainer though."
"Yeah." Paito said. "I don't know if he will train us today or not. To tell you the truth, I'd like to get settled in before we get into training."
Seroc nodded, "Yes. I hope we just meet with him today. I'm tired and need to rest."
"And I need a bath and to get cleaned up a bit." Paito said.
Paito looked around at the city. There was debris everywhere from the battle and the elves were currently cleaning up.
"What a mess that Shade made." Seroc said.

OOC: Not much to say...

IC: After resting for awhile, Eriel leaped off the tree and helped the elves, smiling as they thanked her.

OCC: Pass turn. I have writer's block at the moment and don't want to hold you up any longer. I'll post next time around.

After an hour of looking around, Paito returned to the others to meet his master.
Seroc said, "Let's hurry back. We wouldn't want to be late."
Paito nodded and climbed onto his dragon's back. Seroc ran between the trees that made up the buildings of Ellesmera and headed back to the center of town, where the others were waiting.
When they arrived, Paito climbed down from Seroc and asked, "We aren't late are we? We kinda lost track of time while we were looking around."

OCC: Uh, guys? What's going on?

OOC: Red's gone for a few weeks... so... anyone wants to take over his charry?

(OCC: Not me. I've never been good with taking over other people's characters. Plus his character seems to hae a complex personality. It would be too hard to stay in character.)

OOC: Okay.... since we're in a town now... Let's just focus on Paito training and not make any major events till he returns?

OOC: Who Eriel?? Oo She's a full fledged dr Oo Sorta xD kk, a little supplementary lessons in beating the crap outa your teacher wouldn't hurt right? ^^

JK

Sure. Eriel would be more than happy to brush up a little.

OOC: Okay then... Err...


IC: Eriel grinned "I'm gonna change out of this... My poor robe's ruined." She laughed and ran towards her tree house, quickly getting something more comfortable.
She appeared behind them in a green tunic and a matching skirt and quickly caught up with them, walking closely behind Keralin and, glancing back once in awhile to make sure that Paito and Mesariah were keeping up.
She looked around as they entered the all too familiar clearing. "Smells the same as ever..." She yawned and greeted the ancient rider then leaned against an emergent, letting it's trunk support her and it's leaves shade her.

(OCC: I had an idea I was going to use later into this RP but it could try it now. Thing is, it wouldn't make much sense to do it now. I'll explain it if you want me to but I don't think it would work. Maybe we could wait for Red to come back.)

(OCC: Well, I recently edited Paito's profile to where instead of his father being dea, he mysteriously vanished on a hunting trip. I was planning for Paito to discover that his father was kidnapped by slave traders and try to rescue him. However, I was planning for this to be later, after he has had some more training.

Also, at the moment, the characters have just arrived in Ellesmera. It doesn't seem like they would begine training as soon as they arrive. Instead, maybe they should take some time to rest and find out where they will be staying. Also, Paito needs a new bow because his old one was broken during the battle with the shade. Maybe we could address these issues for now.)

OOC: And Eriel would be more than happy to sing some houses out for you two.

Paito said, "Wait, there are a couple of things I need first. First, where will we be staying? I mean, we will need a place to stay whie we're here. Also, I need a new bow. My old one was broken during that fight with the Shade."
Paito would miss his old bow. Even though it was weak, it had served him well and it held some memories.
(Short post)

Eriel nodded her head. "I know." She added softly then turned towards the tree she was leaning on and started to sing.

When it was over she was looking at quite a house with enough room for two dragons and a set of stairs leading to up it. Eriel smiled. "Enjoy."

Mesariah grinned and walked up the stairs then lay on the bed provided and started to rest.

OOC: There now that he's out of the way...

"Nice." Paito said as he admired the house.
That night, Paito was asleep in bed when he began to have visions. He saw his father being flogged by a man who Paito had met before. It was a man they had met the day his father disappeared. This man had asked the two if they were interested in jobs. He became bitter when Paito and his father refused, and they had to fend off a couple of his thugs. Paito had always suspected this man had something to do with his father;s disappearance.
"Grimm, how many times do we have to go through this?" the man asked sarcastically. "Frankly, I never tire of it, but you're becoming a thorn in my side. The next time you try to instigate a riot among the slaves, it will be your head."
With that, the man lashed out with the whip again leaving bloody marks on Bennet Grimm's back."
Paito sat up in bed. Had it been a bad dream or was it real? The Rider hated it either way. Not knowing the fate of his father had haunted him for three years.
"What's wrong, young one?" Seroc asked, his green eyes blinking tiredly.
"It's my father. I think he is being held as a slave. Paito replied. He pushed the sheets aside and stood up. Seroc nodded and rested his head on his front legs.
"How can you be sure?
Paito answered, "I've had the dream again.
Seroc paused, then said, "I thought you had stopped haing that dream."
"Apparently not.
Paito walked outside and looked up at the sky.
"Where are you, father?"
He couldn't stand it. If he ever found out where his father was, he would rescue him as soon as possibly. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

Eriel moaned softly and turned in her sleep, she was again locked in combat with her alter-ego in her mind.

Eriel let out a groan as Alcioraell appeared before her again, smirking.
"What do we have here?" She laughed
Eriel shot a glare at her. "Leave me alone." She said softly.
"And what happens of I don't?"
"You'll get a blade in your side, just like the last time." Eriel smirked.
Alcioraell shot her host a blank stare and caught her in an illusion.
Eriel let out several screams of pain as Alcioraell thrust her blade through her body, staining her garments crimson. You never could beat me Eriel. You just got lucky last time.
Eriel grit her teeth and forced Alcioraell back with magic with a word of power, dispelling the illusion.
You don't deserve Keralin Eriel. You're too weak for him.
Eriel clenched her fists, eyes turning black.
Alcioraell laughed. Good good. You're admitting it.
Shut... up... Eriel said softly, her emotions rising.
And what happens of I don't princess?
Eriel looked at her, releasing a powerful wave of energy that healed her wounds. Do you really want to find out? She taunted.
Alcioraell flicked her hair and drew Ragell from it's sheath, transferring the rapier to her right hand with a flick of her wrist.
Eriel sank into a stance and created two blades of water containing a yellow core of light, the very power it emanated causing her hair to fly.

Paito yawned tiredly and looked at the sunlight pouring in through the window. He got up and put his shirt back on, covering the wolf tatoo on his shoulder. He walked outside and found Seroc already awake and waiting for him.
"Bout time you were awake. I believe Keralin has a surprise for you."
"I thought he was gone." replied the Rider.
"Apparently he returned some time during the night. I saw his dragon this morning so I assume he is back.
Paito went out in search for Keralin. He wished to ask him about something.
When Paito found him, he said, "Uh, sory to bother you right now. THere was something I was wanting to ask you."
Paito paused for a moment, thinking of what to say, then continued, "I had a dream last night. I saw my father being held as a slave. I don't know if it was real or just a dream. There was another man in the dream who I recognized. He met us the day before my father disappeared and asked us if we wanted jobs. We refused and he sent his thugs after us. We defeated them but when we went hunting in the woods, I never met up with my father again. I know something happened because I saw signs of a struggle. What I was going to ask you was if you could teach me to scry. The instructions about it in my spell book are ruined. They must have gotten wet because the ink is smeared. I want to know of my father is alive or not. I can't stand not knowing. Also, if he is alive, is it possible to find out where he is being held?"

(OCC: Sorry guys. I haven't forgotten this RP. I have just been so busy with with school and my job (valedictorian speech, sending out invitations, finals, college prep, etc). I will try to post later on tonight if possible.)

Paito took the bow and examined it carefully. It was a very nice weapon, weighing just right. Paito took an noched an arrow and took a few practice shots at targets on the the side of trees. The bow was surprisingly powerul and Paito was really impressed. Turning to Keralin, he said, "Thanks. This is much nicer than the one I had before. If you don't mind, I want to try it out at the range where it is sfer to test it properly."

Seroc said to him, "I sense that you are still troubled by your father.
Paito replied, "Yes. I just can't get the image out of my head. I have to find out where he is, if he is even alive. Perhaps I'll try scrying him. Even if I don't know where he is, it will answer the question of wether he is alive or not."

Seroc nodded as he and Paito made their way to the shooting range. The bow took some getting used to but after a couple of hours, Paito had almost mastered it.

Seroc suggested, "We should go see Master Oromis. He was going to help you finish hat new saddle we started on yesterday."

The rider nodded and added, "I need to make some modifications to it anyway before it will be ready to use."
So the two set out to see Master Oromis. Paito thought that this may also be a good chance to perhaps talk to his master about the dreams he was having about his father.

(OCC: I am so sorry for taking so long to respond. It is the end of the school year and I have been bogged down studying for exams and such.)

Paito made his way over to Oromis's house to complete the saddle he had been working on. the main part of the saddle was complete but Paito added braces and a folding sides to form a wall on either side of the saddle. This was so someone could lay in the saddle if necessary without falling off. Paito also added a place to strap his sword to the saddle.

Hold still, Seroc. Let me try this on you.
The rider placed the saddle on the dragon's back and strapped it on. It fit nicely and Paito admired his work.
"It fits well. I ned to go. GLaedr wanted me to meet him today so we could begine our training."
Seroc flew off to meet GLaedr for training and Paito went to find Oromis.

He found the old elf and asked, "Master, there is something I'd like to ask you before we begin training, if it is alright with you. Otherwise this thing will bug me the whole time."

"Well, at least I won't be needing a shower anymore." Keralin joked.

OOC: Short, not much going on.

OOC: Your turn F-14.

(OCC: Is anyone doing Oromis? I need to know because my character needs to talk to him. Anyway, I have a case of writer's block at the moment so I'll just pass my turn for now.)

OOC: Well, since you introduced him you get to control him. Try to keep his character as close to what he would say as depicted in Eldest. I'll warn you if you stretch his character too far.

IC:"And I you." Keralin said looking into Eriel's eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly.

Eriel let a smile creep onto her face, savoring his lips and embracing him both physically and mentally.

OOC: -short un.

OOC: Still with us F-14?

[Writer's block again. Sorry for the long wait]

"Yes? What is on your mind, Paito?" Oromis said as he inspected Seroc's new saddle.

Paito explained everything and Oromis nodded.
Paito finished by saying, "If I find out where he is, I must rescue him. I can't let my father suffer like that."

Oromis paused for a moment, clearly thinking, and said, "Yes. This is difficult. I would rather you not go but I know from experience that saying no would do no good. Young people just don't seem to listen any more. However, I would like to train you before you go running off. Besides, you don't even know if this is real or not. Even if you do find your father, it will be difficult to convince Queen Islanzadi to allow him to stay here. He would probably not be allowed to leave."

Paito said, "Being held here would be better thanbeing a slave."
"True." Oromis nodded. "I will look through my scrolls and books to see if there is any spell that may help you. If there is, you may need help with it because I'm sure it would very powerful. If and when you find your father, I want you to take someone with you incase you need help."

Paito changed the subject, 'So... is the saddle alright?"

Oromis nodded and said, "It will do. Go get cleaned up and we will begine your training."

Paito nodded and walked down to the river to wash up.

OCC: I'm ready to continue now. I got sidetracked earlier and haven't paid much attention to **** site lately. Sorry.

OOC: Alrighty then... It's my go. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to do much so I'll pass.

Keralin enjoyed the time he spent with Eriel, wondering all the while how he managed to end up with someone that made him feel complete.

OOC: Not much for me either. I'll pass.

Paito splashed water in his face and rubbed away the dirt from the long journey. The water in the stream was cool and refreshing and felt good on the skin. Paito took a few sips of the water and stood up. He rejoined Oromis and the old Elf announced, "Today we will just be covering the basics. I need to know how proficiant you are in combat and magic. Seroc, accompany Glaedr is you will. He will be testing your skills today."

Oromis examined Paito's bow and said, "I see Keralin has made you a new bow. Have you tried it yet?"

Paito nodded and replied, "Only a little. I'm still getting use to how it fires."

The old elf master nodded and said, "We'll start with your sword skills. Do you know the spell to blunt your sword?"

Paito shook his head and Oromis quickly told him the spell and said, "Get ready to defend yourself."

After the two blunted their swords, Oromis raised Naegling and swung downward. Paito raised his longsword and blocked the first attack but Oromis then swung Naeglingdownward in an arcing motion and stuck Paito in the side.

THe force of the blow knocked Paito to the ground and but Oromis helped him to his feet and said, "That is to be expected. A human with little experience could never defeat an Elf in combat. Are you ready to try again?"

Paito nodded and the two dueled for about twenty minutes. Paito panted tiredly and had a few new bruises and it seemed he would need a lot of sword training.

Next, Oromis tested Paito's skill with a bow and magic.
"Use your magic to guide your arrow to these three targets." Oromis explained and Paito fired one arrow.

The tagets had weak wards protecting them and Paito had to use his magic to remove it before the arrow reached it. The arrow suddenly changed direction and struck a tree. Paito tried a second time and once again, he was unable to remove the ward in time.

After several more embarrassing attempts, Oromis finally stopped him and said, "You have good aim but unless you can remove an enemy's wards, your arrows are virtually useless. That is all we will covr for today. Meet me again tomorrow morning and I will begine instructing you on swordsmanship and magic use. I think I will have you practice with Mesaraih. He has a bit mroe experience than you. You are free to spend the rest of today as you please."

Paito nodded and replied, "Thank you, Master Oromis."

Paito set off to find Mesaraih. It took him a while to track Mesariah and Fenirexes down and when he finally found them, Paito asked, "Excuse me, sir. Um, Master Oromis wants us to practice together tomorrow, if that's alright with you."