Scales & Spells (me and quet314)

[ShadowFighter88]

Marcus sat against the wall of the cage wagon, his arms chained above his head. Even in the dead of night, what little light there was reflected off his silvery scales and the only sound in the cage was the rustle as he moved his large, leathery wings in a vain attempt at getting comfortable.

Unlike the normal image one gets at the mention of a half-dragon, Marcus was mostly humanoid, the only differences being his wings, tail, scales, claws, teeth, eyes (which were slit-pupiled and pale silver) and lack of ears (which were merely small holes on the sides of his head). Strangely - for a scaled creature at least - he had hair; long and white, reaching down to his waist. When he'd been captured by the drow, his gear had been confiscated - possibly to be sold to merchants in the Underdark or recycled by duergar smiths - though they'd been 'gracious' enough to leave him with a pair of rough pants that would've itched like crazy if he'd had skin rather than scales (though he'd had to tear the tail-hole himself).

He'd been after the bounty on the drow woman leading the raid; a woman he now knew to be a rather powerful cleric of Lolth. It was actually because of her that he was now stuck in an adamantine cage; she'd used her magic to weaken him enough for her men to subdue him. He hadn't given up on the bounty though, not by a long shot. Since half-dragons aren't as reliant on sleep as most other beings, Marcus was making the most of the time by going over what he knew about his captors.

Two guys out the front of cage, one of them has the key. There's four drow around that fireplace and another eight patrolling the perimeter in pairs. Now what about the cage? Can't force the door open; nothing short of a golem can break adamantine with their bare hands. These shackles are adamantine too, but are the chains? Nope; regular iron there. Guess even the Underdark's got its share of cheapskate smiths. They put my gear in the Raid Matron's wagon, probably because she's the only one who can examine the enchantments and get a proper idea of their value. Why I haven't sold all that stuff and retired, I don't know. Wait, yes I do; I'm only twenty and I've got another several centuries of life to do something with. Talk about schizo aging; I grew up at the same rate as a human til a couple of years ago and now I've slowed down so much I might outlive most elves. Damnit; gotta focus. How am I going to get out of this one?

 

[quet314]

Nimue's bright golden eyes peered intently out from beneath her hood as she watched the men. This situation was useless to her. She frowned, in order to get out of this she would need to do something reckless. Fourteen people all together not including those captured and the leader. She have to take out those who were guarding the dragon hybrid, then those by the fire, and if she was lucky she would be able to slip past those keeping watch around the camp without any other disturbance. That wasn't likely though. She didn't think she could bare to leave the rest of the prisoners they had taken captive. Women and children that were soon to be slaves. Most likely she would need to dispose of all the guards.

She glanced over the others surrounding her and paused for a moment on the dragon's cage that sat in nearly directly in front of her. Her view was blocked by his wings but his mostly humanoid body was clear to her. Nimue also wouldn't be able to leave without freeing him. Though they didn't know one another they were kin in some strange way and she couldn't simply let him be sold and rot in that cage.

Though her hands were bound with only rope she still kept her act as she struggled to her feet. The other slaves staring up at her in fear as she stumbled out from behind the cage. What came next was expected; a smack that sent her face first into the dirt. She made no noise as she fell, nor at the scraps now on her hands and cheek. She didn't even make noise when one of the guards pulled her up by her hood, half choking her in the process.

"Wha' in da hell do ya think you're doin' missy?!" Spat the voice of the guard. She made no reply and he growled, "Answer me you dumb brood!"

"Oy, that's the mute one, let her be. She's probably daft too. Just put her back with the others." The second guard interrupted and Nimue kept her expression blank as she was thrown back to the ground. She struggled slightly, lifting herself only a little and her bright golden eyes making contact with the dragon's silver ones for moment before she began her spell.

"Who in da hell is gonna want to buy a mute?!" The first one snapped.

"Someone who likes pretty women, 'sides, if she can't talk they don't have to be careful about what she sees. She can't sell anyone ou-"

The first interrupted, "So dat's why we let 'er keep 'er nice clothes," this time a fist full of her soft gold hued hair was his target as he yanked her up. "You'll fetch a be'er price with fancy clothes on, eh?" Nimue was pretty, spun from gold with different tones of blonde twisted in her loose curls and wide honey eyes, her skin was pale, her features delicate with long thick lashes and pale pink lips, and her body frame was petite. She wore a simple deep red gown with gold embroidery along the neck and a dark green cloak that seemed to swallow her small figure Looking at her even then, with her expression blank it was hard to imagine some great power rumbling beneath the surface.

Her lips moved, but no sound came out and the man laughed at her, pulling her hair harder, "Got somethin' to say? Gotta speak up, I can't hear ya!" The magic inside of her snapped as her lips formed the silent spell and he dropped her almost instantly. He drew his weapon with out a word.

"Oi! What are you do-" The second guard didn't finish his sentence as the first turned and cut him down without so much as blinking, before dropping his weapon and taking his keys from his belt.

Nimue didn't bother to watch him unlock the cage as she got to her feet and turned to face the fire and the men that were her next target.

 

[ShadowFighter88]

((Sorry for the slow reply - busy day))

Markus was surprised to hear the sounds of violence coming from another cage and a glance over his shoulder let him see one guard dead on the ground and the other opening the cage. The guard at his own cage was about to move and the half-dragon took his chance.

Regardless of their non-draconic half, a half-dragon was considerably strong - a human/dragon hybrid like Markus was typically almost twice as strong as most humans and humanoids. So naturally when one has had a life of adventuring as hectic as his, working as a mercenary swordsman, one develops a great deal more strength. With a sharp jerk of his arms, the cheap steel that had been used for the chain of his shackles snapped and the last thing the guard saw was Markus' arm reaching between the bars and his razor-sharp claws tearing out his throat.

Before the guard hit the ground, Markus had swiped his key ring and quickly opened the door. Two more guards ran at him, swords drawn only to be caught in a wave of super-cooled air courtesy of Markus' silver dragon heritage (who breathed cold wind that made the deepest Arctic blizzard feel like a nice place for a holiday) and collapsed, bodies wracked with frostbite. Moving around the side of his cage, he grabbed the first guard's sword. It didn't shape up to his old blade, but Markus had always been taught that technique mattered more than the quality of one's tools.

Now armed; he headed for the fire, where he saw the blond, red-clad woman. From her expression and the way she was standing, Markus was pretty sure she was the one who'd messed with that other guard's head. Either that or someone else had done that and she had something else up her sleeve.

 

[quet314]

Nimue heard the break of the iron behind her and the gurgling rip of throat being torn. She waited for the click of the cage to unlock and glanced over at the dragon as he approached. The men around the fire had at this point had turned towards them and they were shouting to the ones on watch around the camp. She turned to look at the other men approaching and then turned back to the half-dragon. With her wrists still bound she lifted both arms and pointed to the men coming from the direction of the camp fire. She looked back at the half-dragon's weapon and then back to his face.

Her voice was soft, her gold eyes making direct contact with his inhuman silver ones, "I can take care of them. You take care of the others." She tucked a stray golden curl behind her ear and held her hands out to the men before her, silently mouthing her spell and splaying out her fingers. Two of the men stopped instantly, their weapons instantly turned back upon their companions.

Three bodies dropped within moments and the man that was left slit his own throat. Nimue watched with a blank expression, lingering only a moment on the blood on the ground before turning to check on the half-dragon's progress. Her progress check was interrupted by an overwhelming feeling of magic closing in on her. She saw the fire flare and spark with magic as the cleric from Lolth stepped forward.

 

[ShadowFighter88]

Trusting the mage for now, Markus turned to the guards approaching him. The first led with a stab towards his stomach that was easily parried before the half-dragon used the same motion to sever the arteries in his neck with the claws of his other hand. Moving forward, partly to avoid the spray of blood but also to cut the enemy charge short, his first slash caught one guard across the stomach. The next drow was hoisted off the ground by the ankle courtesy of Markus' tail and sent flying into his companion, who then got a taste of his breath again. The last one was something of an oddity for a dark elf - about as tall as Markus and built like the proverbial brick shithouse. Although part of that could've been the heavy plate armour he was wearing. While he could have tried to stab through a weak point, he felt that there wasn't the time.

Instead, he waited for the drow to wind up and swing with the massive great axe he wielded, bringing it down towards Markus' head in a blow that would have killed him where he stood. What heavy warriors like that tend not to realise, though, is that speed and positioning is as important as the damage you can cause on impact. So his surprise would be understandable when Markus dropped his stolen sword, caught the axe's half and bringing it down under his arms, shifted forward to grab the axeman's forearms and wrench them up, locking them in place. The headbutt that followed was equally surprising - who headbutts a man in full plate armour? But it was enough to loosen the soldier's grip on his axe, which Markus pulled from his grasp before immediately swinging it in from the side, decapitating the soldier in a single clean blow.

With those guards dealt with and now armed with a rather more formidable weapon, he was about to search for more when he felt the faint tingle at the back of his neck that he always got when magic was being used nearby and he turned to see the raid's leader stepping into the fray.

 

[quet314]

Nimue's eyes kept on the women despite the uncontrollable roar of the fire.

"You're causing a good bit of trouble young woman..." The raid leader cooed innocently, a deadly smirk playing on her lips. Nimue said nothing. She knew the women wouldn't listen to her even if she spoke so trying to make a deal or even indulging in a conversation would be meaningless.

"Nothing to say?" The women stood short, plump and comforting in appearance, with wild red hair that matched the raging fire that she had her magic infused in. Meeting her in a village market you might assume she was a friendly mother, buying spices and bread for that evening's meal and not seeing that she was scoping out who she could kidnap and sell for the best price. "Still playing mute I see," the cleric said with a slight sigh. "Well no matter." Her eyes snapped to the half-dragon, "I will take care of you both." She said pointedly.

Nimue simply held her hands out once more, unaffected by the rope that bound them together still, and as she soundlessly moved her lips the women laughed. She did not laugh for long. Nimue's magic took a more physical turn this time and wrapped itself around the cleric's neck.

She choked, coughed, her hands flying up to her throat, and an attempted strangled spell fell from her mouth. Nimue said nothing but let her magic wash over the woman's mind. Combined with the physical attack and lack of oxygen the cleric's mind was much less difficult to over power. Nimue's magic just gave a gentle shove before it washed over the other woman's mind. Her resistance ceased and her hands dropped from her throat heavily. Nimue kept the magic tight for a moment longer, just to be safe, before she let the woman go. Her body falling limply to the ground. She was not dead but she was nearly there.

The raging fire slowly came back to a gentle flicker of flames and Nimue gave a soft sigh. Magic was tiring. She couldn't remember the last time she ate and thanks to this excursion of being kidnapped she had no idea where she was. How stupid. Her hands dropped and she looked down at them, remembering that they were bound and grimaced slightly. She finally turned to the dragon for the first time since the fight began and held out her wrists.

Nimue again didn't hesitate at all to make eye contact with the half-dragon. He was kin in her mind and she didn't need to fear him despite his intimidating form.

"Please," she said simply while moving her wrists slightly beneath the thick rope of her bindings. Her gold eyes flickered from him to his weapon in indication of what she desired in case he didn't understand. Freeing the others would be much easier if she was able to use her hands more efficiently.

 

[ShadowFighter88]

(Ugh, really sorry for the delay again - kept getting side-tracked with other stuff)

Bending down to grab a knife off one of the fallen guards (the large axe being a bit too unwieldy for cutting ropes and his claws not being as suited to it as a knife), Markus walked over to the sorceress and cut her bonds. "Impressive work there," he said as he helped untangle the rope from her wrists, "haven't seen mind control magic that powerful in a long time." With the mage free, Markus quickly checked on the raid leader. Finding her still alive, he used the rope he'd just cut to hog-die her before dumping her into the cage that had held him, putting a gag on her in-case she woke up and decided to try a little spell-slinging.

"How are the other prisoners?" he asked as he came back, using the keys from a dead guard to unlock the broken manacles still around his wrists.