Dezaryn found himself right back where he started. It was as if he had never left at all. In fact, no one noticed the brief second that he flashed in and out of existence. Rain poured down out of the sky and the group was warily watching the steady approach of Amazons. Momentarily disoriented and wondering if it was just a dream, Dez too prepared for the coming battle.
The fight was a disaster. The women warriors were far more deadly a foe than the group ever imagined. Dion was trapped with silver chains; even Dezaryn was felled by a stake in his chest. Only the tiny Flip, too small to be noticed, got away. The whole lot of them was thrown into cages and left there. Paralyzed, Dez couldn’t even move his head to see what they might want with them. It was obvious that they were after Catlin, but for now they had the child left in the cage with Chander. Dezaryn pondered his recent trip to Tokar and decided to take a chance. Calling on the name of his demonic ‘father’ Kalten Tedacc Alderac, Dez asked for aide. In a rising black mist under his cage, the powerful Succubus, Calesta reappeared in her true form. Freeing, Dez from the stake that bound him, she did as was bid and went on a vicious rampage against the Amazons; leaving only one alive for questioning.
This new ability to summon demons didn’t sit well at all with the rest of the group and Dez bided Calesta to take on a more pleasing form to ease them; which she did gracefully. Questioning the Amazons did no good, as they were horridly stubborn. Eventually Calesta dragged them off and killed them. Dez rejuvenated himself by drinking of Calesta’s blood, then back to the group to discuss where to go now. He was a bit unnerved by the fact that the whole incident at Tokar wasn’t a dream and he really could call demons that would serve him (Calesta insisted on referring to him as Lord Tenma). They started reviewing everything around this bizarre mission and Dion told them about the Bard’s tale he heard. Dez started questioning again the odd statement that Catlin made about him feeling like her trapped friend. Something about that was triggering a clouded sense about Dez and he grew very quiet and reserved. Dion gave him the boot for being all depressed and dark, claiming that he still trusted him even with the ominous prophecy over his head.
Birendra assured the group that the best route to Far Reach is to stay in the major cities. So next stop was Haven. For the first time in weeks the group was able to unwind completely. Dezaryn however was still in a state of doom and gloom. He found himself being pulled by an attraction to Birendra, but a black cloud from his past was preventing that. Eventually he sought out Chander and the two went to the temple of Evern where the Dampyre was ultimately blessed by a vision from the Goddess. She allowed him to speak with the soul of his dead wife, which finally broke his mood. Greatly cheered, Dez invited the warrioress out for a dance.
Dion and Catlin went to the main chapter house of the Knights of the Unicorn to inquire about Lordan. He discovered that the knight was still alive and working far to the west. After that he took the child out shopping and to listen to the stories of bards. Flip went off to do as was in his nature… getting into trouble. Dez and Briendra awed the upper class of society with their effortless grace of movement and everyone returned to their rooms in high spirits.
That night Chander had a weird dream. He felt compelled to leave the comfort of his bed and wander out into the night. Going to the great fountain in the center of the city, he found that a stairway had opened up in the side. Following a ball of light before him, Chander found a room beneath the fountain and a box similar to the one that Birendra had discovered before. In it was another medallion just like the one she was wearing, but it bore the symbol of Calladan on it. As soon as he touched it, the medallion was around his neck and could not be removed. Then he blacked out.
Chander awoke the next day with the medallion still around his neck. He mentioned the whole ordeal to the rest of the group and now more than ever the connection between Catlin’s key and the medallions seemed important. But as of now there was nothing they could do to gain more information. Later on that day they met up with a huge centaur named Larkid Deerhorn who had been looking for Chander for a long time. The centaur agreed to guide them to Olorian’s cottage, as he knew where it was and with that they left Haven.
Days later they reached Far Reach, stopping for the night in a coastal village because Larkid claimed it was extremely dangerous to be roaming around at night. The centaur graced them with songs from his lute before they fell asleep. Dezaryn, restless as ever, roamed around the tiny village for a few hours but found nothing in particular out there. Bored, he went to sleep.
The next day Larkid took the group to Olorian’s cottage, displaying an amazing water elemental ability and innate nature to freeze the liquid into ice before manipulating it. Olorian was overjoyed at seeing Catlin alive, though greatly troubled by the news of her ordeals because of the key. He explained that Catlin was The Keyholder, one of the very few remaining of the line of Elbaryl. He then told them of the Seven Medallions of Miro (two of which the group had) and why the Keyholder was doomed to protect the master key. The group came to understand that they had been caught up in a very complex web in which old legends and tales they thought to be myths were proving true. Catlin expressed her concern over her trapped friend, Rizzen and Olorian became grave to hear about the strange youth. He seemed especially interested in Dezaryn… enough so that the Dampyre came to speak to him after the others where gone to bed or other things.
Olorian was rather cryptic about his words. But Dezaryn started to understand that he wasn’t what he thought he was. His dampyre nature was a grave mistake that should have never occurred. Olorian even hinted that he knew his mother that she still lived even if very sad, and now spent her days in the form of a weeping willow tree. Confused, Dezaryn went to the tree and as soon as he touched the oddly warm bark, the lock on his memories was destroyed.
He wasn’t a Dampyre at all. He was an Avariel, one of the ancient beings who ruled over the continent of Avalon for uncounted centuries. He had been kidnapped at a very young age and his blood tainted by the demon Kalten. The only person who had any knowledge of what had occurred was his twin brother… Rizzen. Shaken to the core, Dezaryn’s soul was awakened and his Avarien blood surged. He felt himself change again, growing much stronger than before. The knowledge that he had a brother (a twin no less!) held in his heart. Now he too had Catlin’s determination to free Rizzen… ten times over.
Page created by: avarien@core.com
Changes last made on: August 13, 2000