((I don't mind at all ))

"Not so far," shot back Merrin. "Like I said - you're both going to have to try harder." She seemed to be about to continue, but suddenly felt the urge to yawn - her limbs felt heavy and she wondered vaguely why she was abruptly so tired.

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"All the aerobatics have jaded me," Demon said by way of excuse. The dragon's yawn shook the trees. But Kendath didn't hear, for he had already succumbled to the magical sleep.

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Merrin murmured something drowsily, and then collapsed against Demon. The rain continued to pelt down, soaking her, but she was unaware of it and remained still and quiet, half-lying against the great black dragon.

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"Aww is the likkil ikkl Renagade tierd?" she laghed before feeling her knees give way beneath her. "Jemx what did you do to me earlier?" she hissed and she collapesed beneath his sheltering wing."
S'not me..He replied stuggeleing to stay awake before his eyes closed and he collapsed, his wing knowing her down so that she lay there. Her eyes grew heveir and heveier, then snaped open, only to repeat the process.
"Then what the hell is it?" she cursed before limpness pavaded her body and she breathed evenly.

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Made by Lembas

Blackness. A period of light, then blackness again. Kendath groaned and rolled over. His blood ran sluggishly, and he was cold from his cheek pressing against a smooth stone floor -

Smooth stone floor?

He leaped to his feet, falchion in hand. He stood in a small torchlit chamber with bare stone walls. No doors, no windows. Evlyn and Merrin lay unconscious before him, but there was no sign of their dragons.

He knelt next to Evlyn and shook her awake.

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It seemed as if she was swimming up from a great depth, finally Kendreths face swam into focus, and she smiled, thinking herself still in her dream. Then her eyes flitted to the ceiling....wait that wasn't the ceiling above either his or her bed....she sat bolt upright, suddenly rembering what had happened and her eyes became shuttered once more. "What the *&$£*@~?" she asked sleepily as a headach hit her.

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Made by Lembas

"Good question," Kendath agreed dryly. He went to prod Merrin awake as well. "Magical forest?"

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Merrin stirred and blinked groggily, raising herself into a half-sitting position with one hand. Squinting against the torchlight - which seemed very bright and made her aching head hurt more - Kendath swam into focus. "What on earth...?" she queried, confused, and took in the stone chamber. "What happened?"

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"We took a nap," Kendath replied. He glanced at them both. "No injuries?" He paused, then added, "Curse it, I can't feel my dragon. He's either warded or too far from here."

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Merrin looked quite unamused. She sat up carefully, as if checking herself over. "Then you know what it feels like, don't you?"
This was delivered evenly, without any touch of resentment, but it was clear that she had been acutely experiencing the loss of her dragon for quite some time. "Blast, where are we? I can't recall there being a fortress near where we were at all."

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As Kendreth spoke she suddenly relised Jemx was nowhere to be felt. "Damn" she said standing up, her head throbbing though her face was impassive. Jemx...? She felt out through the walls but felt only rock. "Damn" she walked over to Merrin and Kendreth. "Any idias as to why, or who or where?"

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Made by Lembas

In response, a shimmering portal materialized in the wall. In walked a decrepit old man hooded and robed in forest green. His gnarled staff thudded against the stone floor as his slow but sure steps took him across the room to stand before them.

He turned to Evlyn with what passed for mild amusement. "Why? Because you have intruded upon our forest. Who? Our organization is occult, known only as the Druids. You may call me Sage. Where? Deep within the forest, a destination known only by a select few."

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"We meant you no harm," Merrin said from where she sat, but she looked at the other two uncertainly.

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Sage may have been senile and benign by all outward appearances, but an eldritch aura radiated from him that bespoke an ancient unnamed power. "You I trust. Your heart is pure," he said, pointing at Merrin. "They I do not." He glanced over at Kendath and Evlyn.

At that, Kendath could hardly contain his incredulous chuckle.

"Because you keep this company," Sage continued, facing Merrin yet holding an air that encompassed them all, "you shall all be detained until our questions are answered."

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"You're kidding me?" she laughed. "You died out years ago, in fact you didn't even die out, you were just a myth to scare children." depight the feelings of unease, the absance of her dragon and the facts seen by her own eyes, she still hoped that this was some weird Neutral trick being played.

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Made by Lembas

"We did not die out," Sage admonished with a stern glance over his shoulder. He executed a few mystical passes, and a portion of the wall shifted to reveal a torch-lit corridor.

"What do you know of the Druids?" Kendath asked Evlyn in low tones as Sage beckoned for them to follow.

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