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Civil Magic {KayLove & Eyesoffire}

Athena's last words were answered by a low rumbling which was actually the Thane grunting in thought. He reached up and stroked his mighty beard, letting his fingers run all the way down. "Hmmm..." He said again, looking down to the ground, before his eyes rose to look into Athena's.
He stood up and walked down the four steps that were before his seat. "You come to us at a dire time, young woman." The Thane's voice was deep and seemed to crack like rock. "Had you come to us months ago we would have discussed this over a table, lit in a room with blazing hearths and eating some of the finest meat I'm sure you've ever tasted." Some of the surrounding dwarves nodded in agreement.
"But I'm afraid that will not do. As Thane I am faced with the task of protecting my people. I must look to them first, and currently my people are under threat by a menace that creeps about within this very mountain!" His tone was rising, clearly he was getting angry. "Those vile and vicious vermin!" Grunts of approval followed his every word. "Those plague-carrying parasites! They came without warning, scores upon scores, hundreds, chittering, snarling, biting, ripping and salivating!" Thane Kreegan almost reached for the axe within his belt. His face was red. Crispin noted that he was frustrated by the actions of his enemy.

"Ratmen..." Kreegan said, his voice dripping disgust. Dwarves all around them muttered curses under their breath. "They came some several months ago." Kreegan continued. "Pouring into the Undercity, taking everything they could for themselves, killing and maiming any innocent life that got in their way. And if that wasn't enough..." Here his voice broke a little, the glint in his eyes changed from anger to worry. "... they brought with them disease. Plagues. There were so many..." He trailed off, staring at the floor, his eyes obstructed by his bushy brows. He looked down for what seemed to be quite a while.

When Kreegan looked up again his old, stern and stoic gaze had returned. "Aye, we will help your cause, human. If you can do something for us."
 
Athena nodded along and kept quiet as he spoke, her thoughts already racing with worries and complications but as soon as the word rat men came out of his mouth her mind froze as she started to picture such a horror but forced herself to stop as she knew that she would soon find out what exactly these creatures are sooner rather than later. Unfortunately.

"I would expect nothing less of you, as Thane you hold your people dearly to your heart, that is something that I could never ask of you to put second." she glanced back at her own mismatched group, "We will do any and everything that you ask of us, if that means that you come to trust us and align yourself with our cause then we will do everything that we can to help you and your people." she stood straighter and a stubbornness was set upon her brow, a face that she had seen her father use many times, she would get this done, and they would be allies. She knew it.

"We will begin to help as soon as my group is rested, in any way you see fit. We would, well I would, also need to know more about these ratmen to help, if that is what you require."
 
"Hold on one moment." Crispin called out. He turned to Athena and pulled her aside.

"What in all the heavens do you think you're doing?!" He said in an exasperated whisper. "We can't just go out there and fight their battle for them." Crispin couldn't believe that Athena was agreeing to this. "Tell me you have some other idea, you're going to send Sterling back with a note to your father, asking him to bring some reinforcements, correct?" He dearly hoped that this was the case.

Worry crossed his face as he looked at her. "We're too few, what difference can we make here? Maybe we can do one or two things, but honestly, Athena, we shouldn't help them. We need to stay back and out of this conflict."
 
She looked up at Crispin and frowned up at him, "No! I have an idea!" she hissed, "These, these rat men, they are here, right? Rats, rats hate sunshine, right? They hate light, they also hate mint but that isn't the point." she shook her head, "Rats like, well I don't know what rats like," she was stuttering now with all of her plans in her head, " We can do this Crispin! You and me, look they hate fire right? You have the power to make fire, I have air, me, I could help your fire burn brighter. We lure the men into an area with with something and they, hopefully fall for that. And we light oils all along their exits making them so bright that they try and get out in a pre determined place, block their escape except for one way and drive them out into sunlight, funnel them, right into their army. They wouldn't stand a chance under direct sunlight making them half blind, Crispin don't you see?..." she stuttered off as she realized she had been talking for a while and looked up at him with large blue eyes, as if willing him to trust her.
 
"Athena, I can't let you do that!" Crispin seemed insistent. "Look, I promised to look after you. That is my job, I can't do that adequately if we're the ones to go into ratmen-infested tunnels and try to root them out." He wasn't sure why she was trying to be so brave. It was a good look on her, but they had other things to prioritize. "Athena, please. If this plan fails, if you get hurt and can't continue on, the rebellion won't be able to last against the Empire. There has to be some other way. We can coordinate an attack, we can help them with troop formations or something like that, but we shouldn't be marching in on the front lines to set up a trap."

"Athena, I can't have you running off into enemy territoy, it's far too dangerous. You have to understand."
 
"My job is to do what ever it takes to make this alliance happen. What else can we do? They don't need more fighters Crispin, they need someone who can do something. We won't be alone, you know that, the dwarves wouldn't let is do this alone, they'd help us. Make sure we could drive them out. Together." there was a set to her jaw as she spoke up to him, "My life is no better than any of theirs, and I will not understand. I understand perfectly fine that you think your soul mission is to keep me alive and you've done a good job so far but that does not mean you get to keep me away from something that might actually affect these people, make their lives better, and more so it will make them in dept to us, to our cause." her heart was pounding now and her cheeks flushed but she didn't care she wasn't baking down.
 
"Wonderful, you go down there with your plan, you try it out and then you die. I have to write to your father and the rest of the rebellion is crestfallen... thank you, Athena." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fine, fine. You want to go out there then that's fine. I'll protect you as best I can." Crispin said, he figured that there was no point in drawing all of this out. "You're right on one thing, rats hate light, so I'm assuming these ratmen do too. However, we can't guarantee that every single ratman will be there at the time." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm assuming their army would have to be large if they're strong enough to push the dwarves out from their Undercity, and we don't know if we'll have the time to go lighting oil lamps all around the tunnels down there, I'm also assuming that place is crawling with them." He shrugged, "but look Athena, it's a good plan and I don't know much about these creatures, we'll have to talk to the Thane first, see what he needs us to do."

Crispin reluctantly stepped back. "Tell him we'll talk... but if things go bad, I'm certainly going to say 'I told you so.'"
 
Athena couldn't help a small smile escape from her lips as she had won, but she quickly suppressed it back and nodded to Crispin, "Alright, fine." she said in a stern voice, realizing what he said was true. She was putting herself on the front lines. For what? A whole civilization that needed their help, yes, she was willing to do that. For them and for the cause.

"Thane, my Captain, and I would like to talk more to you about what to do." she said, as she turned away and took a couple steps forward, "And how to help, we've come up with our own plan but I would like to hear more about your thoughts and of your enemy. If that is alright with you..." she said trailing off as she had every eye upon her, looks of non-belief that some stranger would talk in and simply help them, while others gained a small, very very small, spark of hope in the recesses of their mind eye.
 
Thane Kreegan stood still for a moment, scanning the travellers before him. He took a deep breath and then stepped towards them. "Very well." His voice had its commanding presence back. "Very well..." He repeated. "Come, to the council room." He turned to walk away, entering a small set of double doors that were attached to the larger hall. The council room was well lit, with a large oak table before them, carved into it was the mountain at its centre, with details showing the layout of the city and then spreading out to the surrounding lands. Small tokens were on the table, clearly symbolic of dwarven and ratmen forces. It became clear that the ratmen dominated the Undercity, with a few small pockets that were left blank.

"Here we are." Kreegan said. The table was low for the others, being made for the size of a dwarf. Crispin and Volka had to bend over, while Balgruff was quite fine as he was.
"What can I tell you about the enemy. Well the Undercity is lost to us, they're crawling all over that place. We've barred many doors down to the lower levels. However our mines are there, and whether the ratmen know it or not... they're starving us economically."
Crispin peered at the man. Blagruff merely picked up a dwarven piece, gave a little sign of acknowledgement after inspecting it and placed it back.
Kreegan stroked his beard. "The ratmen are... seldom seen. Indeed no other race truly comes in contact with them except us dwarves. They are foul beasts, always seeking chances to torture, inflict pain, kill and eat. However there is some foul magic about them, I do not think they know how to wield this magic, but somehow large, monstrous creatures are with them, as if the largest ratmen are sewn together to create one huge beast." Kreegan tapped the table in thought. "They are armed, though their weapons are rusted, and bent. They bite too."

Crispin pointed at the blank spaces in the Undercity. "What's going on here?"
Kreegan stared at one space for a moment. "These places... we lost contact with them. We know that large numbers of dwarven soldiers were located there when the invasion happened. We can only hope that some survivors remain. We need to get them back, it will bolster morale and the number of troops. But most of all, I want my people back."
The old dwarf turned away for a moment, hiding his face from the others. He looked back, his cheeks a little red. "So... what was it you said about a plan?"
 
Athena nodded along with the Thane and quickly followed him into the council room, but she had to slow her pace as to not beat the dwarf into the room, she figured that would be highly rude to do so. She felt eyes upon her and couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine, she was really here and truly doing this... Who would have thought she could? She sure didn't.

Sterling swooped in just as the wooden doors began to close, he was never far from her side when they were together, plus he always seemed to have a knack for getting by at just the right moment. The bird landed on the edge of the oak table and began to peck at one of the ratmen token, Athena couldn't help but smile and think "Even he know's they aren't good..."

Athena listened quietly and simply studying the map, a hand constantly pushing her hair to one side or the other, something that she only did while thinking as well as when she was oblivious to the world but she heard everything that the others said.

"A plan, not a developed one, keep in mind, but a plan none the less..." she said without taking her eyes from the map and went to the other side to get a different angel. Her blue eyes were determined and completely serious, she wanted this to work, wanted it to help in even a remotely good way.

"If you say that you want your people out then damaging the tunnels shouldn't be an issue...." she said more to herself but knew the others were listening, "This..." she pointed to the side of the mountain that held a large pocket with two exit tunnels one on each side, that was the closets to the edge, she assumed that only a thin-ish layer of rock was between the open air and the tunnel within. "There are a lot of rat men here and around this area..." she said noting all the tokens in and around the tunnels, "Are there any air ventilation?" she asked, "Perhaps above the room, not large enough for a ratman to get into but enough room to drop something down into?"

"My plan would be some way to get something into that area, to draw them there, and keep them occupied for a time, while all escaping roots would be covered in igniting oils..." she said as she traced the escape roots, they all seemed to lead to the larger pocket, "Then light them, drive them there, while, during broad daylight we, or most likely the dwarves smash down this exterior wall to expose the light and either they fall to their deaths or we charge in and force them out.
 
Kreegan nodded sagely as she spoke. "A trap?" He asked, looking at the woman. "That could be useful. Daylight would certainly help us overcome their forces. So if we're able to coat the surrounding tunnels in oils then we'll have a chance to light them, keeping whatever ratmen taken the bait within the large room. We can block their entrance and force them towards one exit, directly out into the daylight and an army of dwarves waiting to greet them." Vengeance shone in Kreegan's eyes. "Indeed, indeed it will work, provided we can gather a sizeable amount of ratmen there. We will need to kill a lot, otherwise we won't put a dent in their numbers."

Crispin spoke up. "We'll need a small team to go about and cover the escape routes in oils. The smaller the better. I can go, I'm able to light a fire anywhere, so I will be of help." He looked at Athena. "I know I was opposed to this before... but I am here to help, and I will do my part."
His eyes fell back to the carving on the table. "Just one thing..." He said slowly. "What do we use as bait? What could draw out an army of ratmen into one massive room?"
 
"Thane with this plan I hope we gather many of them so that you can have your land back. You'll most likely have to take care of the stragglers, I'm sure there will be some unfortunately. But it will give your people a better chance of defeating them." she said noting the dwarfs eyes shine for the first time with renewed hope. She had such high hopes for this,

Athena felt a tug at the corner of her lips as she heard Crispin support her idea but she kept focused on the task at hand, "Its not a good trap unless the bait is able to keep them occupied, and keep themselves safe..." she didn't look up as she said what she had in mind next, "Me, I'll be the bait." and before anyone could protest she continued on, "I'm the only one who can keep the fire going that deep in the tunnel, these rat men aren't accustomed to seeing humans let alone women, they would think that I'm weak. I would be in some sort of protective cage, and as soon as the wall was broken you'd get me out."
 
"Athena, please." Crispin was on the verge of pleading. "There's no way I can allow you to do something like that." He pursed his lips and almost punched the table in frustration. "Fine. Fine. I know I agreed to carrying out your plan. I know it sounded like I was going back on my word and I'm not. I just don't know how the hell I'm supposed to protect you while you're alone with ratmen and I'm waiting to ignite the tunnels!"

he sounded exasperated and tired, they hadn't had a good night's rest in quite some time, so he was sure that some of that was weighing on him. "Thane Kreegan." Crispin said, looking at the dwarf. "We haven't rested and eaten like a normal person for quite a few days now. I suggest that we take some time to recuperate, freshen up and then come back to this plan with clear heads."

Kreegan nodded but looked to Athena as we. "Perhaps your partner is correct. You do look weary, young girl."
 
Athena refused to listen as Crispin protested shaking her head, but she couldn't deny the facts, her body wasn't used to such non stop travel, so much taxing on her body. "He's not my partner, he's my protector..." she said before she could rethink the words that slipped out, "I-I'm sorry... You are right, both of you, I'm not..." she couldn't think of an excuse for why she was so desperate to do this. Maybe she wanted to prove herself, make sure that she could do this, be this diplomatic hero that her father thought she was.

"I need some air... We can continue this planning tomorrow Thane Kreegan, if you don't mind." and before she was even done talking she hurried from the room without being excused, Sterling following behind her as the door opened.
 
Crispin nodded to Kreegan, the dwarf simply nodded back. "Home-Anvil Inn is where you''ll want to go." Kreegan said to Crispin as he watched the man walk out. "Best beds in this entire mountain, ask for a room at the top, she'll get some fresh air, she looks like she could use a deep sleep." Crispin nodded in thanks and walked out, picking up his pace so that he could catch up with Athena. He held her shoulders, pulling her close to him. "Hold on there." He said softly. They were leaving the Thane's Hall now and entering back onto the bustling streets of the dwarven city.

"Why the sudden departure?" He asked her. He stayed by her side as they walked through, signs pointing to various buildings all along the roadside. He finally caught one that indicated the location of the Home-Anvil Inn. The paths turned upwards, going higher and higher up within the interior of the mountain. The inn was situated at the end of a road, it seemed tall, as if it had some spires to it. "Kreegan suggested this place." Crispin said and went inside. "Your highest room please." Crispin said. The innkeeper gave them a wicked stare. "Can ye pay?" He asked Crispin, clearly this placed seemed like a pricey establishment. "I've got some coin." Crispin responded.
"Not now, at the end of ye visit. Ye pay at the end." He threw Crispin a key. "Up the spiral stair, all the way."

Crispin took Athena's hand and tugged it slightly. "Come on, we're going to get you an actual bed."
 
The dark haired noblewoman couldn't help but be relieved to feel Crispin hold on to her shoulders and slow her hurried pace, she truly hadn't known where she was going. Knowing her luck she had ended up wandering off into rat territory, she shivered at the thought. "I just... well, I don't know why.." she lied poorly, she had never been very good at hiding her feelings, especially when they were written so plainly on her pale features.

"You know I have money right? A lot of it actually..." she said in a soft voice so that only Crispin could hear, "Or I can just give it to you so that you can chauffeur me around like a chaperon." she was being childish and she knew it but she kept her hand in his, not truly wanting to let go, even holding on tighter to him. "That't not a horrible thought though." she said as they continued up the stairs that seemed to continue to circle and curl no matter how high they went.
 
"So you admit it, then. You just want to spend more time with me." Crispin said, smiling as he looked at Athena over his shoulder. The stairs did ascend quite a distance, but they finally came to a door, ornately carved from dark wood. Crispin slipped the key inside and turned, a locked clicked and he pushed the door open.

The room was large and oval shaped. There were six windows all along the wall, facing different directions. However the firelight from the dwarven braziers didn't shine through, but rather the blue moon light as the light curtains danced as a gentle breeze blew through. Crispin stepped in and lit a fire on the nearest torch. It illuminated a neat room, with two tables, a large bed, several dressers and a few well-done paintings.

"Not bad." Crispin said as he stepped aside to let Athena enter.
 
"Figures the only thing you'd get out of that, no not the money, not the babysitting, but the part about spending time with you." she said with a roll of her blue eyes before she glanced up to catch him looking at her over his shoulder, a smile slid onto her lips when she saw his.

She slipped in behind him and looked around, lightly running her fingertips down the frame of one of the paintings of a mountain landscape as she heard the familiar sound of wings landing on one of the windowsills. She unlatched her black cloak from her shoulders as she walked across to the windows, boots clicking on the wood floors, laying the long cloak on the bed before she drew back the sheer curtains to look outside. She was wearing the same as she had before, a bark brown leather corset, and dark green skirts.

"It't beautiful." she said, as she took out a delicate hair clip from the top of her tresses to let it all hang around her face in loose waves, and she took a deep breath for the first time in what seemed like ages, "It's strange being able to control the air sometimes... You can take it away from people, even give it to them, but it always seems like I'm out of breath no matter how hard I try to catch it." she said softly as she looked over her shoulder to see what Crispin was doing.
 
Crispin was leaning against the door he'd closed, his arms loosely crossed over his chest as he looked at Athena. He gave a knowing look. "My fire works in a somewhat similar way, though I really only feel the effects after I use them. The heat goes out and suddenly I'm desperately trying to warm up."

Crispin joined her at the window, he leaned down, his forearms resting on the stone windowsill as he looked out over the mountainside. It seemed like the dwarves had chosen the best spot to place this room. The mountainside was large, sprawling across this face were woods, tall trees. However the rush of a nearby waterfall could be heard, and as the blue moonlight bathed the mountainside in its pale glow the water seemed to shimmer like silver as it rushed down.

A gentle breeze blew into the room and cooled Crispin's face. His eyes scanned the surroundings. "Looking out there, you wouldn't believe that this mountain is filled with ongoing conflict. The world is sometimes like a person. Seems calm and collected on the surface... but inside it's quite different."
 
She watched him over her shoulder, feeling a chill cover her bare arms in goose bumps, as her lips pursed. "You always seem very warm to me." she said with a small smile as she looked back at the world before them. She tucked her arm under his, hoping to get rid of the slight chill, and it did. Her hand rested on his forearm, and her cheek against his shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment listening to the water rushing and the steady breathing beside her.

"Yes," she said with a small nod, "Very different.." she said and she gave his arm a small squeeze before turning around and placing her hands behind her on the ledge and hoisting herself up and onto the stone windowsill, she knew that you truly weren't supposed to do this but she couldn't help herself it was such a good night out and she never usually broke the rules but here she was, in a dawrven city, on a mission. Athena hiked up her skirts to her knees began to unlace her high boots, "Seems all of this travel has left my poor feet quite sore, but I guess I'll get used to that before long." she sighed as she unlaced the other and they slid off of her feet with ease clanking on the floor below, her skirts still above her knee, although it wasn't very lady like she didn't rightly care at the moment.
 
Crispin chuckled as he watched Athena's shoots drop. "You'll get used to it quickly. But enjoy this as much as you can right now." He couldn't help but let his eyes wander up her legs, even if they revealed next to nothing of her thigh. The shapeliness of her feet and calves betrayed what the rest of her legs would look like. She was taller than him as she sat on the ledge and so Crispin had to look up at Athena as he spoke to her.

"Of all the people I've had to lead around, I have to say, you are probably one of the easiest." Crispin's tone sounded quite sincere. "You don't freeze under pressure, you've been open to doing a lot of things and, I have to admit, you're quite easy to be around as well." He gave her a small grin. "For many reasons. You're lucky too." He said, looking back out the window and staring at a the stars that were revealed by a passing cloud.

"I mean look at this place. You get rooms like this." He smiled as he moved off the windowsill and turned towards the door. "There's probably a lot more for you to enjoy in here." he hand reached for the doorknob. "So I'll leave you to it. Rest well, tomorrow we're going to have to talk about your plan."
 
Athena smiled down at him and widely as he spoke kindly of her, "Well, I am certainly glad that you think so, Captain, and here I was worried that I was acting like a spoiled noblewoman, staying in these rooms like this." she simply studied his face as he looked out the window past her, watching as his blue eyes scanned the surrounding clouds, she deeply wanted to feel the rough stubble that was on his cheek or run her fingertip over his lips... But her thoughts were interrupted as moved away and started towards the door.

"Crispin, no, wait I-" she said as she jumped off of the windowsill, tugging her skirts up as she landed to catch him at the door, and laying her hand flat against the heavy door and closing it tightly, "I don't..." she sighed and looked up at him with wide eyes, "Couldn't you just.." she was at a loss for words, how was she supposed to ask him to stay with her? By the gods she didn't know, no, well, she did she just couldn't seem to get it out.
 
"The last time we were in a room together you were surprised I was staying." Crispin said slyly. "Of course that was all for your own protection." His hand had left the doorknob. "And so I had to stay because some noblewoman enjoyed starting bar fights." There was a playfulness to his voice. "And now, here you are, quite safe with the dwarves." His hands found her hips very quickly. "With a beautiful view and a lovely night sky." Crispin lifted her up and carried her back to the windowsill. He placed her down, his own body between her legs. "And you want me to keep you company?" An eyebrow on Crispin's face rose to give him a quizzical look as he gazed up at Athena's face.

A devilish grin played out upon Crispin's lips as he let a quiet moment go by, he looked over Athena's face, silhouetted against the moonlight that streamed in from outside. His eyes trailed down locks of her hair. "So what side of the bed do you want me to take tonight?" Crispin asked quietly, his right hand upon her thigh, sliding upwards, slowly pulling the hem of her skirt higher inch by inch.
 
Athena rolled her eyes at the memory and a small smile spread on her lips, she had been surprised that he had stayed with her that night but she didn't want him to leave now even if it was safe for her up here. "Well I just-" she started but her words of justification were stolen with a small gasp as she felt strong hands slide onto her hips and she was being lifted, her hands instinctively went to his shoulders and she held on tightly her heart drumming in her chest as she finally felt a seat below her.

She noticed how his body fit between her legs, surprisingly enough she liked him there, looking down at him with a small smile playing on the edge of her lips. She let her fingertips slide up the side of his neck and she brushed the back of her fingers agains his cheek, finally knowing what it felt like.

As the quiet was broken she let her hand move back to his shoulder, "Hm? Sides? Oh, well, I usually sleep in the middle of the bed at home. More room to roll around." She noted the smile on his face and couldn't help but laugh softly, "But, you can have whichever you'd like Captain." She told him.

Athena shivered slightly from her exposed legs as she felt his hand moving up her thighs ever so slowly, not exactly used to anyone touching her like that but her body didn't seem to know that as thighs tensed slightly around him pulling him closer against her. "I wouldn't be much of a host if I didn't let you pick the side now would I?"
 
"No, you wouldn't." Crispin said, his hand kept moving up until her skirt revealed most of the bare skin of her thigh. "But then again, I wouldn't mind. I could forgive a beautiful host." He whispered, his eyes never left Athena's face as his left hand slid up her back.

A part of him wished they were outside, if only to see Athena's skin in the moonlight. His hand moved up her back to her neck, where he began to slowly massage her. There was no doubt that she'd had a long day and Crispin was here to ensure her protect, of course he wouldn't mind going to extra mile in making sure that Athena was comfortable. His fingers pressed against her skin, moving up and down. She felt soft, smooth. For a moment he wondered if he lips were the same way. Their bodies were so close, the heat within him began to increase, his touch getting warmer as his let hand massaged her neck and his right moved down, over her bunched skirt, past the hem and gently landed upon her skin.

"You keep calling me Captain..." Crispin said with a smile. "I like the way you say it." He whispered to her, his eyes, once again, dropping to her lips. "The way that word just rolls out of your mouth." His blue orbs moved up her face to meet her own, lighter eyes. "The shape you lips make, especially at the 'p' sound."
 
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