Garthag now seemed frankly amused and chuckled quietly as he turned his back to them, he took few steps away and crossed his hands behind his back as he gazed at the frozen roof of the cave.

"World domination? Enslaving you? No... I have no such ambitions, you have misunderstood me ladies. All I want is to have a small corner of the world to myself, which I almost have actually and I want to see the rest of the world perish. If two crystals can be used against the gods then why not one against all races of the world except for those that are gathered here?

All tough here is where world domination sort of steps in... by sending all my servants, mostly humans to inhabbit world that was left then I shall frankly rule over the world by letting others to do the job for me...

I seek to recreate this world into my own liking or to be correct we... but what comes to you... I would allow you to pick a corner of the world where to live and you could go there, live in wealth and peace as long as you won`t cause any problems."

Garthag said nodding towards Kalma.

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Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

"And I would be left to do what i wanted with the umans left there?" asked Semri standing up.
"Semri!!!"
"I'm sorry Evlyn but i don't care a damn about your cause aginst the gods, i don't care about the Renagades trying to save the gods, i'm here for me and for any power thats offered, if the Gods are destoyed who knows what might happen, and i would still follow orders."

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Made by Lembas

(bumpity bump hehehe)

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Made by Lembas

Kendath found himself fervently thanking the gods or whoever had the misfortune to be up there that this Meiltha hideout was a ramification, not the base stronghold. On a regular basis, no more than ten Meiltha would be present at a time. Many times he and Evlyn were the only ones.

Once inside the vast central cavern with its filament veins of magma coursing along its walls, he passed two or three other Meiltha on the way and paused only to offer them the customary salute. It was a simple affair to tell them Demon was out hunting, as were Evlyn and Jemx. The other Meiltha knew him to be antisocial, so they left him alone.

He breathed easier once he was successfully inside the chamber housing the Star Crystal. Thus far, he was still blissfully alive.

As always, optimism served him at the least opportune moments.

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"She is not spying. She is waiting."

Captain Kale leaned against the flank of his crimson dragon and furrowed his brow. "Waiting for other Renegades?"

The messenger, a young rider whose dragon was dwarfed by Kale's magnificent monstrosity, shook his head. "No Renegades are forthcoming, or our spies would have known. Not that any Renegades know the location of this most secret of our hideouts."

Kale's fist pounded on the table. His eyes, steel with impassivity after many years of seasoned killing, glittered with malignant light. "We have been betrayed."

It just so happened that at that very moment, Kendath passed by their door with a lump under his cloak.

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"Tell me that all these years of faithful service have not gone to oblivion."

Kendath froze, his hand going for his falchion. Blocking the exit from the mountain stood no less than three armed Meiltha and their dragons. "Commander Kale," he acknowledged his former officer with a small bow.

"Why would you betray us?" Kale mused, as much to himself as for the benefit of the rest. "You aided in the theft of the Star Crystal from the gods. You procured for us the useful document." His voice hardened. "You and Evlyn were sent to find the Cloud Crystal. Where is it?"

"Evlyn has it," Kendath returned evenly, his face impassive.

"And where is Evlyn?"

"Out hunting with Demon and Jemx."

"Do not lie, worm," hissed another of the Meiltha, a mage with a sleek emerald dragon. "Reveal your folly!" Muttering the words of a spell, he stabbed a tapering finger at the lump in Kendath's cloak. To Kendath's horror, a telltale glow began emanating from his cloak. It began smoldering, waxing burning to the touch, until he dropped it with a curse.

The Star Crystal, its many facets glinting in the torchlight, contacted the stone floor with a clarion ring.

Commander Kale's face twisted in fury. "Seize him."

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Merrin, meanwhile, was growing increasingly edgy. Following her direction, Wyvern had crouched low among the trees, backing into the thick underbrush until he was almost completely concealed from any dragon flying above and certainly not readily visible from anyone exiting the hidden tunnels.

"Where is he?" she hissed from her perch in her dragon's saddle, eyes anxiously scanning the flat area of cliff face.

Merrin...

"I do not want to hear it, Wyvern," Merrin cut him off, speaking aloud to make her point all the more clear. "He has not betrayed us. He hasn't. Do you really think we'd still be sitting her if he had? I'd be languishing in some dungeon in the depths of that mountain, and you either be doing likewise, or be dead. We wait here." Her tone made it quite certain that she was decided on the matter, and Wyvern subsided into silence. Both pairs of eyes kept vigilant watch, Merrin's stonily determined, and those of her dragon skeptical.

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"You seem so certain that your companion remains loyal, Renegade," came a disembodied voice.

The next instant the mage revealed himself. And he was not alone. He was accompanied by two others placed in strategic positions around Merrin and Wyvern.

The mage took a step forward, his dragon crouching behind him. "Surrender and keep your life."

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Wyvern's sudden roar of rage echoed in Merrin's mind and he lunged forward with a snarl, as if to attempt flight. He's betrayed us!

He can't have! He can't... Merrin caught at her silver dragon frantically and he crouched underneath her, every muscle tensed. She swiveled to take in the three, dismayed.

"Where is he? What have you done with him?" she demanded of the mage, hands gripping Wyvern's saddle convulsively.

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"The gods are not our concern, they are not to be touched because we can make them suffer simply by taking away all those that praise their name. They all will be forgotten, left into the shadows of history that the new generations will never learn... and what comes to humans and other races... they must grow, generations must pass before they can become play things..

And believe me, time is not a problem for me even, if I am a human"

Garthag continued calmly clearly pointing out that he would outlast them all except the dragons in age.

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Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Semri took the crystal out of her pocket whele Evlyn looked at her in horror. "Rano?"
A low chuckle eminated acrosee the room Well mistress you know i was never adverese to you're plan of going south to create our own lands and slaves...why should this be diffrent?
Semri smiled darkly and turned the crystal so that it cought the light. "Apsolute power Garthag..."she mused "Power of life a death over people, power to destroy them any second, power to take them and use them and then cast them back down to the dephs.....it is a great thing is it not?"

Evlyn lurched foreward to snach the crystal out of her hand, when she felt her chest open and looked up screaming to see Garthag. (sorry but i enjoy my charries being tourcherd.)

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Made by Lembas

"Hmh perhaps yet do you consider it fun to torture others? I don`t or at least not in the normal ways... the mind is far more powerful than the body in many cases yet it can be broken and for now I am tired of this endless chit chat... give me the crystal, if you are finnished already otherwise I must use force in order to get it..."

Garthag said with a cold voice as he was no longer willing to be stalled with his plans.

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Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Semri smiled as her sisters screams filled her ears. "I have compleate power over my people Garthag, i won't ask for equal power withyou, but i won't be you're servent....agreed?" She asked firmly holding the Crystal next to him.

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Made by Lembas

The mage didn't deign to reply. Instead, he murmured a spell and lightning crackled from his hands, lancing straight for Merrin's chest. Meanwhile, the other two Meiltha were closing in from the sides.

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"Folly?" Kendath said quietly, holding up a hand to stall his attackers. He made no threatening moves, only let his gaze sweep over them all. "You underestimate me, Commander. Betrayal is not below me, but why should I betray you?"

Kale sneered, but Kendath's tone had piqued his curiousity. "You are full of tricks. Explain yourself."

He slowly began pacing. "I have brought you a Renegade. Half a dozen more should be on their way, thinking to invade our stronghold. What they don't know is one variable." He ceased his pacing and let an infinitesimal smirk creep over his features. "Me."

The Meiltha were chuckling and nudging each other, but Commander Kale hadn't ascended to his rank by naivete. He nodded at the Star Crystal. "What of that?"

"This?" Kendath bent to pick the artifact up - at the same time surreptitiously judging the distance to the exit. As he raised it, its many facets caught the torchlight.

The light the artifact reflected was not bright nor august. It was pure, unalloyed darkness. And darkness could be just as blinding as light.

The dragons roared as the artifact lashed out and perpetual shadows mantled the corridor. Still holding the Star Crystal aloft, Kendath broke into a dash for the mouth of the tunnel.

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Merrin recoiled, there was a blinding flash, and the lightning dissipated leaving her none the worse for wear. She looked as surprised as any of them by this - but Wyvern had been in enough threatening situations to know that when an opportunity like that presented itself, you took it without asking questions.

Leaping like a coiled spring into the air, in his haste the silver dragon nearly dislodged his rider. Circle, Wyvern! she had to shriek into his mind as they speedily gained altitude. We can't leave Kendath there!

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The Meiltha leaped up in kind, shooting up after the fleeing Merrin and her dragon. They surrounded her with strategic efficiency as the mage shot a fireball in her direction.

----------

Navigating in the darkness, Kendath slapped aside stabs and dragon talons. Feeling something warm in his face, he blindly dove under one dragon's belly and came up circumventing the second that lunged to intercept him. He glimpsed a light ahead - his salvation.

He exploded out of the tunnel with no less than than three former allies on his heels. Once out of the darkness, the Meiltha dragons scented opportunity and flared. Kendath dove to the side as the conflagration swept towards him. Recovering, he glanced about wildly for Merrin and Wyvern.

They were nowhere in sight.

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Wyvern banked so sharply to avoid the sphere of flame hurtling toward him that Merrin slipped sideways, only her death grip on his saddle saving her from plummeting earthwards. As she hauled herself into position again, she tried to penetrate his mind - they must get Kendath - but found nothing except a steely resolution to keep them both alive.

Expression grim, Merrin flung out a hand behind her and briefly white lightning lanced through the air in the general direction of their pursuers.

What are you doing? came Wyvern's astonished voice in her head.

I don't know! We can't leave without Kendath, Wyvern, circle, by all the gods!

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Cursing, Kendath spun around to deflect another blow as the two Meiltha swordsmen circled him. His eyes darted to the forested mountainside, where he could make good his escape -

A tendril of flame licked his ear, courtesy of that damned mage. Meanwhile, the enemy dragons were moving into place. Kendath saw their perspicuous plan - it was an old Meiltha battle tactic. Let the warriors engage the foe, then leap unexpectedly aside to let the dragons flare.

Fighting defensively, he backed up onto a steep bluff. Just as the Meiltha swordsmen leaped predictably aside, he vaulted over the edge of the bluff and sheltered on the bottom as the flames roared over his head.

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