Wielders of Magic, Book 2: The Trinity
The Underdark

We have captured a Drow from the Underdark. He claims to be a rouge, but we do not know for sure. Things like that they can lie about with a thought, and I don't know why he would hide something like that, but they lie about pretty much everything. I do not trust him, and I don't like the fact that he is a rouge.

Well, that is if he even is a rouge. I just don't know anymore.

"Rey, don't you think you were a little hard on him?" Drusilla asked, walking beside him as they entered a rather narrow walkway down the dark tunnel.

"No. You can never be too hard on a Drow. Their kind is worse than how I treated him anyway. That is the only language they know." He replied, feeling the cold, smooth wall with his hand. "They won't respond to anything else."

"How do you know so much about them?" She turned and looked at him, curiosity in her pink eyes.

"I studied them as a project at the school of magic . . . you know, before it was shut down." He looked down, his eyes averting her gaze. "The hunters destroyed my masters, and all I had after that was my knowledge. Did you ever go to a school of magic?"

"No. The only master I had was Jackson." She shrugged, flipping her pink hair behind her shoulders. "And Jaden showed me some things a few weeks ago."

"What . . . kind of things?" He smiled in the dim light, his white teeth showing behind his lips.

"Stop it!" She growled, her eyes darting over to the assassin as he lead the way with a torch, shoving the Drow along. "I told you there is nothing . . . nothing there."

"Oh yes there is. You just won't let it happen. Why is that, Red Witch? Why are you so hesitant?" His smile disappeared to an expression of concern and puzzlement.

"Because, if I go that route, if I start to care about someone like that again . . ." Her voice trailed off as she shut her eyes for a few second. "They could be killed, and I will shatter. I don't feel strong enough to go through things like that."

"Ah, I see." He nodded a little. "The only thing I care about is my sister. We almost lost her, and-" He suddenly stopped talking, leaning against the wall and shaking his head.

"Whats wrong?" Drusilla asked with concern, laying a hand on his shoulder as her eyes searched for a cut or wound.

"Something is . . . ahead." He gasped, sliding down the wall and to the floor of the tunnel. "Something that will kill us."

The KeloRena froze, a grin spreading across his face as he stared ahead. He felt the grip of the assassin on his shirt and only laughed as he was shoved against the wall, watching them shout in surprise and anger.

"You are all fools, never trust a Drow." He growled, disappearing from the fingers of Jaden and out of sight.

"That little bastard!" The assassin screamed, looking down the tunnel as the temperature started to rise. What was at the end of the tunnel?

"RUN!" He cried, grabbing Rey's arm and darted out the way they came as fire billowed after them. Drusilla ran as fast as she could with Rentham, but they weren't going to make it out of the tunnel it time, every movement was a shock of pain for their fallen king.

"DRUSILLA GET OUT OF THERE!" The assassin cried, fear splattered across his face.

"No!" She screamed back, still trying to help Rentham. "I got this!" She turned around, no book in hand, no spell in mind, just pure instinct. Her hands spread out as far as they could in the tunnel, herself lighting on fire as a forcefield shielded Rentham. Jaden's screams were muffled by the sound of rushing fire, bellowing out of the tunnel in a large stream.

Whatever was at the end of the tunnel, it couldn't be good.

After the fire had subsided, the assassin left Rey beside the tunnel and ran in after them, going to see if they were still alive. "Drusilla! Rentham!"

"Its alright. She is alright . . . I think." The fallen king said, gasping, the tunnel around them steaming and the softer metal ore melted around the sides. "Lets get out of here before the fumes kill us."

"Yeah." Jaden said and hoisted the Red Witch into his arms, carrying her out of there as Rentham hobbled behind.

The dark warlock watched as Rentham followed, anger flowing through his veins as he spotted the obviously infected wound on his shoulder. "My king, I think it is time to face facts." Rey said as they came out, obviously recovering from the shock of meeting whatever power lay at the end of the tunnel. "You can not suffer any longer with that wound."

"I said we need all the help we can get, and I will not have any of you healing it-" Suddenly he cried out, Rey punching him right in the wounded spot.

"How does that feel!?" The dark warlock shouted, grabbing Rentham's shirt and looking him in the face. "I am done with this foolery!" He threw the fallen king to the ground and started to cast a greater healing spell, Jaden watching with amazement as the wound on his shoulder stitched its self up.

The assassin set Drusilla down and leaned against the cave wall as the spell was finished, watching Rentham sigh in relief and relax his muscles as Rey started to sway. He ran and caught him, setting him down beside Drusilla as well.

"Damn idiot." The fallen king said, his eyes closed as he lay on his back. "Now we can't use him for . . . a day."

"We will camp here than." Jaden nodded. "Build a fire, take watches, and wait." He shrugged and smiled a little, glad that they could have a rest for a time. "How do you feel?"

"Ohhhhhh great." A silly grin spread across the grey skinned mans face as he sighed again. "There is no more pain. None."

"Yay." Jaden nodded and looked over at Drusilla, a third degree burn on both arms and around her neck. "I hope he can do that again, maybe. Drusilla isn't looking so hot."

"With some ointment she will be fine. I brought some with me from the . . . Place of the Edoheths." He sighed one last time and than his breath steadied, falling into a deep, peaceful sleep.

After rifling through their leader's bag, Jaden had found the ointment of which he spoke about. He had already built a fire and laid out their bed rolls, which he set each one of them in comfortably.

He slowly made his way over to the Red Witch and sat down beside her, moving her hair out of the way so he could put the strange stuff on her burned neck. It was terrible, all red and hot; his hand could litterally feel the heat coming off of it as he hovered above it.

This was no ordinary fire, he had seen it once before. No, not once, many many times.

It was dragon fire.

"I hope this does the trick." He mumbled, spreading it carefully over the burned area. Drusilla's face constricted in pain a little, but eventually was at peace. After he was done there, he moved to her arms, using the utmost care while doing so.

She was his prize, his best friend and comrade, and she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She was like an angel, he thought, a wonderful, abused angel. He would fix her pain, he would help her when she needed it most, and he would never leave her.

She had proven that she could be trusted, and he only hoped he had done the same. Even if they were never real lovers, he would still stay beside her. She deserved as much, he could see.

She probably needed someone like that.

"W-What?" She mumbled her eyes fluttering a little as her head rolled from side to side. Jaden almost jumped at the sound, but eventually settled back down. He was the only one conscious, and he would have to replace a way to defeat anything this Underdark threw at him, alone.

The shadows were starting to scare him even.

"Jaden?" She asked, her eyes now wide open as she sat up a little. Her neck and arms were wrapped with some kind of material, only she couldn't figure out where they had gotten something like that. It reminded her of Jackson, one of his shirts maybe . . .

She didn't carry any so where had it come from?

"Is that . . . Jackson's shirt I gave you to wear long ago?" She asked, a sad smile crossing her lips as she looked down at the green shirt, its sleeves too long for the assassins arms, like before.

"It is." He looked away, down at the cave floor. "Not to lie, it is very comfortable."

She laughed a little and sat up all the way. "What do you think of my fire magic now? Able to withstand a full blast of flame just by igniting myself." She smiled and bumped into him playfully.

"Its amazing." He nodded, looking into the dim fire at the center of their camp. "How are you doing with concentration?"

"I am doing a little better, and practice every now and than, like trapping flames in with a force field spell, or holding a chair or something in the air. I think I am getting better, I can sure feel the power surge through my veins every time I cast something. I feel . . ." She squinted her eyes in puzzlement. "Different. My magic is different, in a good way though. It has changed for me, morfed into something else I don't really know."

"Forinstance now, you are glowing." Jaden said, smiling.

"Wait what?" She looked down at her hands, which were indeed glowing with a soft blue light. Suddenly it faded away, as she gasped. "What was that about?"

"I haven't the slightest clue." He shook his head. "But you need to get some sleep. You need to heal."

"What about you?" She asked, knowing that he was the one who almost always kept watch, either out of volunteering, or everyone else forgetting.

"I will stay up, as I usually do." He nodded his head a little. "I can last without hardly any sleep, you, however, can not."

"Oh yes I can. I'll stay up with you, so you don't get scared." She giggled a little and rested her head against the wall of the cave, her back against it as well.

"I won't get scared anyway."

"Oh you know you would." She smiled a little. "Admit it."

"No."

"You stubborn goat."

"Nagging hag."

"Ugly troll."

"Daughter of a rat."

"Fat glob."

"Aw, now you hurt my feelings." He said softly, trying hard not to grin.

"Oh, I am sorry! You poor baby!" She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight hug. "Better now?"

"Yeah." He smiled than, hoping she couldn't see his blush in the dim light. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." She leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "If you need me, I am right here for you."

"Yeah, I know. Same to you." He sighed and rested his head against the back wall of the cave. "Sleep well Angel . . ."