The Slaver

[wolfenchantress]

While all of this went on, Vedsica had been underground, practicing the magic he'd so recently learned.

Allright. So I have to get better, He mutered to himself.

Of course you do. I can help. Vedscia spun around towards the ladder. "Asa.?" He said uncertainly.
No, you dolt.
Vedsica relaxed. Asa had said magic spoke to you.
"My magic?" He asked.
Bingo. Geez, I thought you'd never figure out I existed. You have Asa to thank, you know.
"Shut it," He growled. Great. Magic with an attitude. How did that work? "And help me learn how to use you."

For the next hour, he practiced with small things before getting bored with it. Staying still, he took time gathering as much energy as he could, pooling the magic into his hands, which he held parallel to each other, horizontal to the ground. ( = )
"Allright, magic. I can't hold any more of you in my hands," He said softly, thinking about how odd it was to be talking to something inside of him.

With a savage scream, he flung both his hands in a chopping motion at the opposite wall. The top hand threw a deadly blade of ice, the other of fire. It his the wall with a tremendous explosion, throwing brick and rubble everywhere. Suddenly unable to stand, he slumped against the wall and slid to a seated position, a fierce smile on his lips.

Fool! His magic snarled. You musn't go to far, I could kill you like that!

"Well, I'm alive, arent I?" He turned towrds the ladder in time to see Asa emerging. And he was followed by someone.
"Hey," He said, struggling to his feet. He brushed dust off of his arm and wiped a small trail of blood away from a cut caused by a shard of brick. He was pleased when he figured it wouldn't scar.
"Who's the new kid?"

[Asa]

"This is Ymira. My magic told me that she was powerful, and that we would need her. You see, my magic came alive out of here, and it told me that hordes of demons will pour through if we don't act fast!" Asa explained, "Listen, magic, what do we have to do?"
"Trolg is opening a tunnel between the demon world and ours. We have to stop him by getting to the opening and stopping it from opening. We'll have to face Trolg, but we probably won't kill him. It'll be hard, but the human race is at stake, plus all the other races this world has come to know," The magic explained. Asa told everyone else what it had said.
"Come on, let's move out and go deeper than we ever have before!"

Asa had traveled up to the room that they had fought the Defender of Trolg, and continued through, deeper and deeper. He was going through a winding corridor. It seemed to be trap-free, but he was still cautious. Soon he came to a medium-sized room. In the middle was the demon they had previously fought, except it had regrown it's severed limbs. Asa pulled back and spoke to the others. "It's the defender, and he's grown his limbs back. I'll attack first, followed by Vedisca, and Ymira, you can watch, or get into the fighting. I don't know how much fighting experience you have. Here we go..." Asa finished and he ran into the room, energy trailing from his hands.

With a roar he blasted a beam at the monster, knocking it into the wall. He pounced on top of it, and began electrocuting it. It's red eyeballs started to bulge, then bleed. Asa thought it was finished, but he was wrong. It screeched something unintelligible and clawed at his arms. Asa was forced to let go and jump back. His arms were in bad shape, his left arm no more than a lump of shredded flesh.

[wolfenchantress]

Vedsica greetet the newcomer with a bit of suspicion, before following Asa down the winding hallway. It was long, and he was rather surprised to discover no traps.

Vedsica waited until Asa had attacked before jumping in, using a slightly weaker version of the attack that he'd just used. He staggered a bit at the sudden loss of strength, but ran and jumped on the demon's back. He placed both hands on either side of it's head and, with a wicked laugh, two ice spears shot from his palms through it's head and out the other side.

He thought that would kill it, but he was wrong. It threw him off with some effore and turned to him, then to Asa.

It's going to go for Ymira, his magic said.
"And just how do you know this?" He asked it.
Look at its stance. An idiot could figure it out. Vedsica growled at the insult and charged towards the figure waiting by the entrance just as the demon shot out his tentacle for her. He leapt in front of it and it pierced through his outstretched arm and into his shoulder.

"If you can fight, some help would definentally be nice," He gasped. "If not, I suggest you run, or go find somewhere safer." He said to Ymira.

((just for a heads up I'm leaving today, coming back sunday night/ early monday morning))

[Jotun]

Ymira was dazzled by the pure speed the events took place in front of her eyes. Just a few moments ago she was being dragged away by the slavers and right now she landed in the middle of a figh against demons and magic. Ymira remembered to hear something about magic but it was all a myth.

Then suddenly her beast within spoke to her. "Don't let your thoughts dwindle, Ymira. Questions can be asked later. Right now the most important matter at hand is that demon you must fight against. Defend the two young men." Ymira nodded.

Slowly she fel into a trance. Outsiders could see her muscles tens up and eventually enlarge to a proportion where even the veins could be seen clearly. Patches of fur started to grow on her lower arm and in her neck. Sharp fangs grew out of her mouth and her nails changed into deadly claws. Her grey eyes turned bloodred and were surrounded by a same-coloured haze.

With a great roar the frenzied Ymira charged forwards towards the demon. She jumped upwards, landed her opened claw against the forehead of the demon which made the beast crash into the ground. Quickly Ymira grabbed the leg of the demon with her left arm and smashed it into the wall with great ease, just like a ragdoll.Then, while still holding the leg, she pulled it back up and inflicted a powerfull punch right in it's stomach, sending it flying away for a couple of feet. Under the heavy blow on the stomach Ymira felt one of the ribs of the demon breaking. Still it refused to go down and stood up, with a bit more difficulties then before. "Damn!" Ymira said. "He doesn't go down easy."

[Asa]

Asa watched in shock as the pretty young Ymira turned into a wild beast, claws and all. He saw her power into it, using brute strength to knock it to the ground. Asa tried to wipe the sweat off his brow, only to leave a smear of blood. Damn he thought as he looked down at his shredded arms. His magic inside him had stopped the pain and flow of blood. He brought his arms up and pointed them towards the demon. He let blood shoot out from his stumps at the creature, then turn the blood into acid before it hit. The defender screamed wildly as it's skin started to bubble and melt away. Soon, all that was left was a pile of bones and a pool of a gooey melted liquid.

Asa sighed and sat down. It was finally dead. As he sat, he used magic to fix his arms, creating him a new pair good as new. Then, out of the corridor that they would be going through next, came a dark, black, wispy shadow, coming out like dust blowing in the wind. It came to settle near the defenders bones and formed a shadow-body. It started to lift the bones with magic, then started to piece them together and animate them, bringing it back to life as a skeleton. Next, the gooey skin lifted up and attached itself to the bones, roughly remaking the shape of the defender. The shadow shot away through the ceiling, leaving them with an undead defender.

"Shit," Asa cursed under his breath, "What the hell was that?" He turned his attention to the skeleton and shot a small, concentrated blast of magic at it's arm. It shattered, sending pieces flying away. The undead monster continued to advance as shadow-like tendrils shot out from the end of the broken arm and re-attached all the tiny shattered bones, reforming the arm. "Jesus, what could kill this thing?" Asa yelled. When he looked closer, he could see that the demons eyes were black and shadowy too. "Magic?" he asked.
"Unleash me!" it screamed, "Let me take full control!"
"Okay," Asa answered uncertainly, and let ot overrun him completely.

He had started to glow yellowy-white, and was now as burning with light. His eyes were two golden balls, and he stared into the monster, seeking out it's weakness. When he spotted it, he blasted a beam at it's stomach, severing it in half. It's legs collapsed and it's torso flew up in the air. Asa flew out to catch it and he smashed it into the ground, shattering a few bones, before tearing off it's skull and reaching into it's eye-sockets, letting magic flow into it's corrupted shadow brain. The bones fell apart and the skin turned back into a liquid. To finish it, Asa let out and explosion, tearing the skeleton into tiny shards. With the monster finally dead, he let the magic crawl back into the pit of his stomach and let it rest. "Let's...let's move on," Asa sighed and he stood up, thinking about the shadow and it's powers. Could it be Trolg?

[wolfenchantress]

Vedsica watched with even more apprehension as Ymira...changed. The pretty girl had become some kind of half-animal, and looked brutally powerful.

And, judging by the way she tossed around the Defender, he was right. Slowly, not as fast as Asa's, since he wasn't as good, his magic healed the hole in his arm and left him almost fully healed.

He began to start forewords when the thing was re-animated. Just as he was about to go at it again, Asa began to glow with a weird light. In another few moments, the thing was dead. Again. He felt his magic inside of him stir, as though it was itching to do something, hating being dormant.

"Patience," He muttered. "Soon we'll face the real demon here."

"Yes," He agreed. "Let's." He faced the girl...beast...and regarded her with a fierce distrust he reserved for, well, basically everybody. "Ymira, that was pretty impressive," He said reluctantly. "But we still have one more to go." He glanced down the tunnel with a growing sense of anticipation, of excitement that he suspected was his magic toying with his emotions. Normally, he would've been fairly terrified.

"Well, as long as none of us are injured... Shall we?" He said, taking a step to the tunnel.

[Asa]

"Yes, let's go," Asa said and he set off down the tunnel. It got dark, so he used magic to produce a glowing ball of light. It went on for about 50 metres until it opened out into a huge man (demon?) made cavern. It was dimly lit by blue-fire torches, and at the end was a huge throne made of stone and was highly decorated. On the throne sat a huge shadow, it's enormous arms resting on the arms of the chair. It's head was similar to a sheep skull, just with less detail, and had a pair of glowing blue eyes. Horns protruded from the skull, curling inwards. On the wall to the left was a small red glowing hole, expanding ever so slowly. A few feet in front of it was a stone with red glowing runes scratched all over it. Asa retreated a little, and said in a whisper to them, "I think it's Trolg. Magic, what's that red hole?"
"That's the tunnel. If we don't act quickly, it will grow the size of the entire wall and demons will swarm out. Asa, you need to get to the stone. But watch out, that's Trolg on the throne, and he'll crush you if you don't use me to deflect his blows. Now go. Quick!" The magic said to him.

After explaining the situation to the rest, he ran out, heading straight for the stone. Trolg noticed him and sent a shadowy fist in his direction. Asa's magic shot magic in the shape of a large blade at it, slicing it in half. Asa continued onwards. Shadow-spikes shot at him like a machine-gun. Asa erected a shield around him, blocking them. However, Trolg was powerful and the spikes soon penetrated, and a few stuck into his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. "Vedisca! Ymira! Hurry!" He yelled as he stood up and continued on.

[Jotun]

Slowly the berserking Ymira changed back into her normal form, the claws and fangs had completely disappeared. With a look that indicated shock she looked at the dead guardian. "What was that thing?" She asked. Never before had she seen such a thing. "A creature from a time long forgotten." The bear spoke to her. "You know this thing?" Ymira asked him out loud to her inner beast. "I do not remember i entirely but I am sure my memory of it will return soon."

Ymira looked at Vedsica and thanked him for the compliment though he seemed a bit suspicious towards her. "Thank you to for jumping in front of that attack." Ymira said with a friendly smile. While standing in front of the tunnel something inside her made her nervous and some sweat drops formed on her forehead. Wiping it off Ymira wondered what was going on.

Asa went on ahead and Ymira quickly followed. "I think it would've been better if we went down together." She just arrived on time to see Asa getting hit by the relentless barrage of magic from the demon lord. Ymira saw the stone tablet with the runes on it.

Quickly she called for her magic essence inside and ivy with torns shot out of her arms which embedded themselves in the stone tablet. As Ymira attempted to draw the stone to her, a large shadow blast was heading towards her. Quickly she drew her magic back and rolled aside, dodging the attack narrowly. "Someone needs to distract so we can get to that stone!."

[Asa]

Asa stood up and used magic to heal his arm and continued running. A huge shadow axe swung horizontally towards him, so he swiftly shot himself up in the air, only to be hit by and arrow through his stomach. He dropped to the ground and healed it over again.
"You must work quickly! Get to the stone!" His magic yelled at him. Asa sped up to amazing speeds, but was tripped up by a dark tendril. He spun through the air and landed into the stone, cracking his head. Blood flowed out and he began to feel drowsy.
"Magic..." He whispered, "What do...I do to stop...the tunnel,"
"Now, the hard part," The magic said with a sigh, "Someone of magic must be sacrificed to the stone. You are in worst shape, so it only makes sense that you should be killed. Ymira would be ideal for distracting the beast, leaving Vedisca to sacrifice you,"
"What!" Asa gasped, "You're saying...that I'm going...to die? No matter...what?"
"Basically, yes,"
"O...okay," Asa sighed. Tears trickled down his cheek. At least he would die nobly, saving the world, "Vedisca! Get over here quick! Ymira you distract Trolg! Vedisca, I'm going to need to ask something big from you when you get here..."

[wolfenchantress]

Vedsica followed down the tunnel and was almost immediately slammed against the stone walls by the demon at the end of it. Growling, he got up, releasing a blast of magic at the thing. It hardly noticed, so he drew his sword and ran up right behind it and drove the blade into Trolg's back, then sending a wave of electric current down it. With a scream, the Trolg bucked, sending him flying. He landed on his back and quickly rose.

"What is it?" He called to Asa, struggling to get over to him, who bled profusely from a head wound. He ducked as a tentacle shot out from Trolg and it rammed into the wall, cracking it and sending dust drifting down.

"Ya need some help over here?" He asked, slicing at something that was shot their way with his dagger.

[Jotun]

When Ymira heard she should distract Trolg she nodded. Again she went back into the berserking rage, transforming partly into an animal. With a great she jumped towards the demon, hitting him on the head a couple of times, punching the skull through the throne and into the wall.

Trolg retaliated by fixating his attention on Ymira, attack with his enormous fists. Ymira manged to block the attack of partly but still received a hit. The young woman grabbed hold of the enormous arm before it could pull away, made a swing movement and threw Trolg himself across the entire room making him crash into the wall. "Hurry up! I don't know if I can hold this up for long!." With a fierce roar she leaped on Trolg, continuing the titan battle between the two.

[Asa]

"Vedisca!" Asa yelled in desperation, "Get here now! Never mind Trolg, we can't kill him, but we can stop the demons from destroying the world! Now listen, I'm going to need you to do something. I...I need you to sacrifice me! It's the only way to stop the demons killling me, you and everyone else! Do it quick and painless, a slit to the throat. Please, for my sake. I will be better off dead than being tormented by demons. Hurry," He lay on his back on the stone, waiting for his death. The tunnel was expanding quicker, they were running out of time...

[wolfenchantress]

For what seemed like eternity, he stood frozen to the spot before slowly nodding.
"If you're sure it's the only way..." He was almost positive he'd hate himself for this, and probably, after the demons were killed and stopped, do away with himself too. He raised his dagger.

"Asa..."He said, tears forming in his eyes. "I'msorry." With that, he brought the blade down-

-Only to have it stop an inch form Asa's chest. He opened his eyes, startled.
You dolt. You were really going to kill him! His magic.
"Yes I Was-The demons will escape if I don't..." He said, fighting the hold his magic had over his body.
"Look. He doesn't have to die," Said the magic, speaking through his mouth, probably so Asa could hear. It sounded deeper, more authoritive.
"What?" He said, bewildered. "Hurry this up, will you?"
"Asa is weakened greatly. He is in poor health. His magic has already been used a number of times, so he will die if he were to try this. But you are in good health as of now, and I am at my peak." It halted and Vedsica cleared his throat. It was odd having his mouth used, but not be speaking.
"It needs a soul. If you die, I can keep your body. That way, your sould can re-enter it. So while I am animating your body for you, and providing the magic needed for the stone, you can do whatever it is you need to. When you are done, you simply need to re-enter your body." Vedsica listened with interest, knowing in his heart it would be much more difficult than this.
"And I won't have to stay dead?" He asked.
Not if everything goes right."

Vedsica lowered his arms.
"Asa, you don't have to die," He said quickly. "This is a better way None of us need to die." He glanced over at Ymira, who was still holding off Trolg.

"What do you think of it?"

[Asa]

Asa coughed up some blood, "So...I don't have...to die?" He asked feebly, "But...I'm going...to die...anyway," His breaths were becoming jagged, blood still bleeding out from his head. His magic was finished, tired and unable to be used, "I'll...die...soon. If...you don't...sacrifice...me...now, I'll die without...a...sacrifice, and the...world...will...end..." Asa coughed. His vision was starting to blur, "Do something quickly!"

[wolfenchantress]

"You..You won't die.." He growled.
I can help him, His magic said. But first, I must have complete control of your body. You must do it. Now!

Vedsica stood and nodded in resoloution.
"Ymira!" He called. "Thank you for holding it off...if you can hold for another two minutes, I will help!"
I will help, His magic corrected him. He rolled his eyes and didn't change his statement.

He raised his arms and hesitated. But, before he could have second thoughts, plunged the dagger into his own heart.

The pain was excruciating. He coughed, blood dripping from his lips, and fell to his knees, watching his own blood stain the ground.
Then there was nothing...No heat, no cold, no pain. And he was looking at himself. He looked down and saw that he was a flickering shadow only, one that no one else could see.
"This must be my soul," He said. He glowed with a pale blue light-the magic keeping him from perishing, the only connection to his body. If it died, he died.
As he watched, his physical body stopped its fall with one hand. It rose and, grinning, drew the blade out of his chest. He saw his eyes-they glowed completely green, and his skin crackled with a fierce light.

Turning to Asa, his body knelt down. It...He...took the dagger and made the smallest of cuts over Asa's heart and leaned in. Placing his mouth over the wound, his body exhaled magic into the bleeding wound, enough to heal Asa almost completely. Vedsica felt his soul grow a fraction weaker and jumped before remembering-the more his magic was depleted, the weaker the magic connecting him to his body got. He turned to the stone tablet as his body stood again, facing Trolg. In only a blink, he was in it, moving with speed so fast he couldn't have done it if he was human. Nor could he have helped Asa. He just hoped his magic didn't get too overboard with his body. AS he thought this, he again felt his magic grow a bit weaker as his body healed over a wound, then tore out Trolg's eyes.

Vedsica closed his eyes and placed his hands on the stone tablet. It began to glow and shake, and it filled his soul with a firey heat. He pressed harder, willing the tunnel to close, to keep the demons back. He just hoped desperately it would work.

[Asa]

Asa gasped as his wounds healed slightly. He rolled over off the stone table and onto the floor. In his head, he heard whispers, fast, urgent. Then, he saw what the whispers were warning him of. Although the tunnel was closing, a demon was coming through. It had a scaly, lizard-like body that was green on top and with a yellow underside. It's head resembled that of a warthog, brown and furry with big tusks. It had a pair of human arms for legs and large, red scaly arms with six fingers on the end of each hand that had large claws. It snorted and continued to crawl through, until it eventually squeezed out of the gap, rolled on the floor and squealed like, well, like a pig. As it stood up, hordes of others crowded around the hole, sticking their arms through, but they were too late. Only this one demon got through, and it looked mad as hell. To Asa's surprise, it used magic and sent a bolt of electricity towards him, shocking him and sending him to the ground. It jumped on top of him and bared it's tusks. So, I'm going to die anyway Asa thought.

[Jotun]

Two thorned vines shot in the demons shoulders. Ymira pulled the vines that came out of her lower arm and dragged the demon away from Asa. Her clawed fist made contact with the demon's face and knocked him down. The demon retaliated by clawing at Ymira, giving her a deep fleshwound on her chest.

The wound and the blood seemed to have an frenzieng effect on Ymira, she started to breathe heavier and move more uncontrollable. With a fast lunge she jumped at the demon and started clawing, slicing and hacking away. The demon tried to defense but to no avail. The berserking Ymira beat the the poor demon to a bloody pulp. When the demon moved no more the young woman changed back to her human self, completely calm.

Quickly she rushed at Asa that was bleeding heavily. "Just hang on!" She said to him. Her hands were placed on Asa's chest and slowly the both of them were healed by nature's grace, the magic of Ymira. She helped Asa standig up. "Are you alright?"

[wolfenchantress]

Vedsica kept his hands on the stone as it grew hotter and hotter, though not hot enough to burn. If he had a body, he suspected that he might feel some exertion, some weariness. But he felt nothing. It felt like he wasn't even existent, like he was only a conscious mind. He wasn't aware of his body's actions, nor those of his companions, only focused on the stone.

Finally, the tunnel sealed, only one demon being released to his knowledge. He removed his hands, and found that said demon dead, and Ymira helping Asa to his feet. His body still was going after Trolg, a grin plastered across his face. He slowly approached his body, unsure how to act.

"Umm..."He started, and at the sound of his voice his body, still controlled by his magic, froze and turned to him. He looked over at Asa. It didn't seem like they could her him.
"How do I go about doing this?" He asked. His body offered a hand, and Vedisca took it. Almost instantly, he was in his own body again.

Going from feeling nothing to feeling everything and then some was like getting hit with a sack of bricks. All of the wounds he'd gotten (most of them healed) and the stamina required by his body to keep up with his magic left him exhausted. He fell to his knees with a gasp.

Are you all right? His magic asked. The return trip can kill someone of shock.
"I'm fine," He said, standing with effort. "You really did a number on me, though."
Well, I must admit, being in control of a body, no other souls interfering, is quite fun. I might have to do it again some day.
"You will do no such thing," He retaliated, and approached Asa and Ymira quickly, dodging a claw swung at him from behind.

"Are you all okay?" He asked. "Asa? Ymira?" Asa looked the worst of them, but he looked alive at least. Behind them, the Trolg roared it's hatred and began coming at them across the room.

[Asa]

Asa stared in horror as the demon charged at him, grunting menacingly. "Asa!" His magic yelled, "Join with Ymira and Vedisca, try to join your magic! I don't know if it will work, but you three may be the connection..." Asa nodded, then grabbed both their hands. He channeled magic from them into him, helping to replenish his diminished magic and use theirs for power. Asa grew more powerful, and was soon sweating from the effort. Trolg started to get closer and closer until...BANG! Asa let out a huge explosion that created a blinding light, a mix of white-yellow, green and red. Pain racked his body and he felt himself being thrown to the ground. The world went black.

Asa awoke to find himself in water...except he felt light, and seemed to flow easily, swirling gracefully around. Then, it dawned on him. He was dead, his soul thrown into the dark abyss of the lake of souls. He was going to be left to be tormented by boredom and soon, he thought, he would go insane. He soon gained control over his body...soul...and swam up too the top...only to find himself to simply turn and swim back down. Then, he tried reaching out of the lake...with his mind. He managed to look out, travel down the tunnels and he came out in Trolg's cavern. Inside were two bodies, unconscious. There was no sign of his body, except a blood-splattered spot on the floor and some giblets scattered across the floor. On the floor in front of them was a shadow body, slowly disintegrating. Yes! He had killed Trolg! Near Asa's blown-up corpse was a dagger, and it was glowing! Of course! The one that he had found and said it would serve whoever killed Trolg, so since it was a group effort any of them could use it. Then, power drained away and he was sucked back away, into the black pool of despair. He wondered if they could save him...fish him out, perhaps?

[wolfenchantress]

Vedsica opened his eyes painfully. The first thing he saw was the dead Trolg , and he grinned. Then he froze and sat bolt upright as he saw what else lay next to it.

Asa's body. And judging by it's looks, his very dead body. He scrambled over, feeling tears threaten to spill over- the one person he'd ever known as a friend, and he was dead.

"Ymira," He said. "Wake up. Trolg is dead." He stood, anger threatening to drive him insane-the thing killed Asa.

Come now, you don't bother looking for him? His magic asked, using itself to calm him down a bit.
"Look for him?!" He snarled. "He'd right there! Dea-"
I never said his body.
Vedsica thought a moment. Of course!! The lake of souls!!

With a backward glance at Ymira, who thankfully didn't look fatally wounded, he tore out of the room and into the soul lake room.

"Asa!" He shouted, looking into it's depths, searching for the soul of him. After a moment, he found it. It seemed as though he was just swimming around, though...He seemed...different. Aside from the fact that he was dead, of course.

Touch the water, His magic ordered. Without thinking, he obeyed. Instantly, he heard the wails of the souls, the screams and crys of the lost. He jerked it back, but touched it again.
"Asa?" He asked. "Can you hear me?"

"Ymira!" He called after that. She had magic too. Maybe they could speak to him somehow.

[Asa]

Asa swirled round, wondering why his magic wasn't talking to him. He hoped that Vedisca and Ymira would find him. Suddenly, he heard his name, being called out to him from outside the water. He tried to shout back, but his voice couldn't work, or so he thought. No sound traveled in the lake, so he couldn't hear himself, or the others around him. He screamed to get himself out of here. Even though he knew it wouldn't make any difference, he did it anyway. The first sign of insanity.

[wolfenchantress]

"Ymira!!" He shouted again, but he didn't wait for her. Instead, he stripped of everything but his shorts and dove into the lake.

Almost immediately, he was surrounded by people...Spirits. They swarmed around him without touching him, screaming and moaning and crying. He exhaled, then looked for the surface-

-only to find that he couldn't find it. In reality, he was only just below it, anyone above could see him. But to Vedsica, everywhere he looked was down. He panicked, and coughed, but nothing happened. He found that he didn't need to breathe.

It is the water, His magic explained. It houses the dead. Therefore, once you are in the water, your body becomes one with the dead. You need no air, no water, no food. Just remember to get out soon, or you really will become one of the dead.

Nodding, Vedsica looked around for Asa's soul, prepared to take him with out of the water. He waved a hand at the spirits around him and they backed off. There!! Asa floated just beyond him. Outstretching a hand, he released a spark of magic that shot out and wrapped around Asa's arm. In this strange pool, it as weak, but he didn't' need strong.

Asa, can you hear me? He called, sending the words down the line of magic instead of speaking them.

[Asa]

"Vedisca!" Asa shouted, and to his astonishment, he could hear himself speak. It must have been the magic connecting them, "Vedisca, what happened? Are you dead? You're different to the others but...no, you're not dead. Help me out of here now, please! It's horrible, and I'm scared of insanity, scared that it will steal me away. Can you carry me out?" He asked.

((Sorry for the short post, there wasn't much to put))

[Jotun]

After the large blast when the three magics combined together Ymira was knocked out cold. How long she was laying there but she did know that she had a huge headache when she stood up. When looking around she noticed that there was no one else there. Suddenly she heard her name and Ymira ran off towards the direction of voice.

The young woman arrived to see Vedsica dive into the spirit water. "No! Wait!" She managed to say but it was to late. With a sigh Ymira dropped to her knees and went with her arm inside the water though she quickly pulled it back as the souls of the damned tried to grab it. "I need to get them out!" Ymira started to think back to the shamans in her tribe. They had a way to connect with the spirits of the dead.

Ymira crossed her legs and started to clear her thoughts. Slowly she let go of her consciousness and soon found herself out of her own body. Her soul went inside the pool. But instead of the same gray and mournfull souls, Ymira appeared as a radiant phantom, all the souls fled away from it. Soon she found the the souls of the two young men. "Come." She said with a comforting voice. Slowly Ymira reached out her hands and started to float back to the surface while every soul fled away from the light. "I'll show you to way."

[wolfenchantress]

No, He said. I'm not dead. You are, but I'm going to get you out of this dammned place. He tried to not think about seeing his brother's sould in the water only shortly ago.

Then there was a radiant light. He turned to it- It was Ymira.
You know the way out? How.. He stopped his question. It could be asked later. Instead, he took her hand, then Asa's.

Asa, you're going to get out of here. Just hold on. He used magic, weak as it was, to keep his hold on the two

He nodded when he was ready, looking up as spirit Ymira.

[Jotun]

The radiant Ymira grabbed Vedisca by the hand and slowly started to float back upwards. The lost souls tried to cling on to her but her soft eyes, now filled with a look that resembeld divine fury, drove them away filled with fear. The surface of the pool slowly came closer and closer. Then at last the spirit Ymira came out of the water and looked around, still holding the two young men. It took a while as, as she was disorientated but Ymira found her body back. Softly she let Asa and Vedisca land on the ground and the soul disappeared into the body.

With a loud gasp, the material Ymira opened her eyes and for a short while she couldn't breathe. Eventually she fell over on her hands, coughing loud. Her long brown tail was hanging over her shoulders and it swing from side to side with every cough. Ymira was completely covered in sweat and seemed exhausted. The young girl tried to stand up but fell through her knees, unable to stand. A smirk appeared. "I don't I'll be able to walk for a short while. It appears I placed to much strain on my body." Again a loud cough echoed through the caves.

[Asa]

Asa gasped as he landed on the floor. Solid floor! He grabbed around at his body before realizing he was completely naked! He blushed and covered his private parts with his hands. "Ahem, well, I'll be back in just a second," He rushed off back to where his old body lay. He looked around the cave. It all felt very...different. Something was missing...dismissing it he took the clothes off his corpse and put them on himself. It was weird, looking at yourself lying there lifeless, dead. He shuddered and ran off.

"Well," He said to Vedisca and Jotun, "I think it's time to...celebrate!" He thrust his hands in the air, making confetti flow from his hands. Except it didn't. Nothing came out. He squinted and tried again. Nothing. "Damn, what's going on?!" He exclaimed, "Where's my magic?" He tried several other things before hearing a voice in his head; You died, I left you're body. Amazing that you're back, but, well, I'm not coming back say goodbye to your magic...

"My magic! It's gone, left me, deserted me! Oh, I can't believe it. Well, I'm going to leave this godforsaken place and go back into my good old house. Come on, let's be off," And with that, Asa walked off to leave the dungeon forever.

[wolfenchantress]

DAmien was set on the solid ground once again, and he nearly choked remembering how to breathe. Once he did, however, he sat up as Asa ran off to fetch his clothes, still a spirit. How was that possible? Could they bring his body back??

He stood, listening to..nothing, really. No eerie voices, no dead souls. It was...nice. He turned to Ymira.

"I thank you for saving us both," He said with a deep bow, "And I apologize for not trusting you. It's just..I've had a rather...difficult upbringing. A lot of people I've met are not out to be my friend." He watched Asa try to produce confetti and fail. His own magic was weak, and he hoped it would recover. It wasn't even speaking to him-he doubted he could even prodice light, the simplest of spells.

"Seeing as how you can't walk, If you'll let me I can bring you to Asa's house, where we can get some rest," He offered.

[Jotun]

With a sigh of relief Ymira saw Asa had returned back to the living world. But quickly she covered her eyes as it appeared the man was unclothed. With a crimson red coolour on her cheeks she turned her head away. From behind her back she heard Asa's disappointment about his magic. "Perhaps you just have to give your magic some time to return." The girl said with a shy voice, still her head turned.

Only when Asa exited the caves she dared to turn her head. Then Vedsica spoke to her. "Don't worry about it." She assured the young man with a smile. "Strangers can be hardly trusted this day and age." But when he suggested that he should carry her Ymira was a bit suprised. "No..no" She hastly said. "That's not necesary." A nervous smile appeared on her face. Then Ymira tried to stand up but her legs quickly collapsed again. With a sigh she reached out her arms. "Yes, that would be nice." Ymira admitted.

[wolfenchantress]

Vedsica nodded and easily lifted Ymira, then followed Asa out of the cave, the place that he never wanted to go back to. Trolg was a hell of a demon-he'd run back to his father's house before having to do that all over again.

Once they were in Asa's house, Vedsica took Ymira to what had been his room and lay her on the bed.
"I prefer the roof," He explained. "If you need anything, let me know," He told her with warm smile-one that rarely crossed his face- before disappearing out the window.

It was beginning to get dark again, and he wondered how long they were in the cave. It could have been days. It may have been hours. He had no idea. He stopped thinking about it and lay back, staring at the stars, looking at the same constellations he had as a kid and thinking about the eventa of the past few days. Could they get Asa's body back? He couldn't live like that forever...could he? And Ymira...What kind of magic did dhe have?