Nova peered over her hands, folded in front of her, at Midnight as she readied ehrself to leave the boat. There was no chance in hell that she'd be able to handle Yokai by herself, powerful though she may be. But it would be almost pointless for Nova to even offer to accompany her. It was HARDLY worth her time... "More important things than YOUR time and YOUR needs exist, Nova, and the sooner you learn that the happier you'll be," she heard Abyss's voice echo in her head. The Nether Dragyn emitted a low growl and shook her head, erasing his image from her mind's eye. He had been right then... With a heavy sigh she stood on the stern of the boat and stretched, her own wings becoming fully visible as she cracked her neck and strode toward Midnight.

"You don't stand a chance by yourself. Even we Nether Dragyns have a problem with him." Another sigh escaped her as she turned her gaze to the ground and almost reluctantly uttered, "I'll come with you, but don't get any ideas. I'm only doing this because Vampy's crucial to my very small role in this whole mess."

_________________
"And these children that you spit upon
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultation
They're quite aware of what they're going through"
--- David Bowie

Enigma turned as they said this and her eyes got big " what do you mean where is he??? HE was right there about 5 minutes ago." Enigma looked around with tears in her eyes as she turned to chalgrish and burried her head in his chest making his shirt drenched with tear water.

Nick passed out from loss of air and when he woke up found that he had been chained to a crystal cross and couldn't move for it not only had a spell on it that burried him into the crystal everytime he moved but it also had spikes that attacked him. NIck looked around and saw his father standing in front of him " What the hell? where in hell am I?." NIck looked at him. Irillion smiled with greed " You are in your friend aryns castle which I took over and and I need you to get your little friends here." I am going to need your help though. With that he took a blood red jewel from a bag and floated up to nick. nick wringled around violantly which only made him sink into the crystal so that only his head stuck out. Irillion smiled at this " Nick are you scared of what you really are in your heartless soul?" Irillion saw a tear go down his face as he laughed at this emotion that NIck was emitting.

Irillion took the Jewel and placed it in the middle of nicks forhead. Nick scream with pain as the jewel glowed in his forhead. THe jewel dissappeared and nick looked up with an evil look all over his face. " go and make sure they come here." Nick broke free of the crystal cross and his eyes went back to normal as he walked out the door " NO one can resiste the ancient bloodheart jem, not even you nick or any of your little friends." Nick appeared back on the lower deck of the boat and walked up to the deck.

_________________
I"M DANCIN LIKE A MONKEY!!!!
~G.I.R

Yahto turned back around and saw that Nick had reappeared on the deck. There he is! He’s back, Yahto said loud enough so that everyone could hear him but he didn’t move towards Nick. Yahto's eyes grew cold as he stood staring at Nick while the others asked what happened. Something felt out of place and wrong, but Yahto for all of his power, could not pinpoint the source.

Chalgrish stared at Nick with a renewed malice. He scanned up and down the vampire's body, from his boots to his pale forehead. It was then that Chalgrish noticed a weak pulse behind the skin in Nick's forehead. It was barely a hair's movement of skin, but it happened again. Chalgrish frowned visibly as Enigma walked toward Nick.
Chalgrish quietly walked over to Yahto and grabbed him by the shoulder, dragging him to the other side of the boat. He hissed in his ear and mumbled, then pointed to Nick and the water. Chalgrish lowered himself into the water, barely making a ripple in the surface next to the stoic boat. He sank under without a sound, moving under the boat.

Enigma went to reach out and touch Nick,but was fightened form it when Midnight let out a sudden screech,flapping her wings madly.

"Don't touch 'em! His body is veiled in evil. Some one has cursed him."

Midnight cocked her head to one side.

"And who ever did it,knows a bit about old sorrcery."

Yahto followed Chalgrish over the side into the water very quietly. As Yahto became fully submerged he decided that he would go ahead and transform, just to be prepared. Yahto swam down under the boat a little ways before he began his transformation, but he made sure he had room to first.

Yahto's arms and legs lengthened and his clothes and daggers melded into his body, which was now covered in blue scales. His neck lengthened and grew gills, his face grew out into a snout, and he grew wings and a tail. The whole transformation took less than a second in all. Where the human Yahto had been there was now a large, graceful blue dragon.

Yahto and Chalgrish continued to make their way under the boat through the crystal clear water to the other side.

Chalgrish had already become a dragon, his golden scales causing the light to dance on the riverbed. He did not possess gills, and his feral mind was getting the better of him. He clawed his way against the current, whilst Yahto glided gracefully to the stern of the boat. Chalgrish was an excellent flyer, but not much use in water, so it took him a moment to claw his way up the pebble-dotted riverbed.
His single-minded intent to rip Nick to shreds was suppressed by the even greater urge to find out what was happening to the subtle peace of his forest.
Chalgrish angled his sleek head out of the calm water, allowing the water to gently run down his scales before moving another inch, eventually catching sight of Nick. He uttered a low growl, undetectable by any except himself.

Nick looked at Enigma and laughed " there is nothing wrong with me." Enigma saw chalgrish and Yatho sink into the water and turn into dragons. She didn't want to have to hurt him. Enigma could sense an evil presence in nick and she could also see that nick was trying to break free "PLease nick break out of there. Surpass the seal and break through." Enigma's eyes filled with tears. Nick laughed out loud as a red spot showed on his forhead and he spoke in a voice that was his but sounded more like a anicent deamon. " Foolish people you cannot and define my power now." NIck looked up and his were filled with evil and malic." I may be asleep but this is the real NIckodemus Dastevsky and nothing can change me now."

Enigma looked at him as though she was a frightend child being taken over by a darkforce. Enigma looked at him with tears in her eyes" NIck come back please. I need you here not in some place where I can't reach you." Nick laughed at this and smiled at her " I don't need anyone, I don't need friendship and love. I am a creature of the night not some pony in the rainbow feilds like my former self. Enigma looked at him as she looked up her eyes turned white " then I guess we have no choice." Enigma said as she shot a ball of engergy from her hands." If I must fight you then I will but I want you to go back to normal." Enigma shot another blast as Nick disappeared and appeared behind her " You can only try."

_________________
I"M DANCIN LIKE A MONKEY!!!!
~G.I.R

Like lightening a clawed hand flew through the air and smacked Nick acrossed the face,almost knocking him out of the boat. Taking the blasts of magic herself,wiching as each on hit.

Nick faced back toward Enigma and blinked his eyes tring to brush off the smighting pain in his now red cheeck. "Talk to him,tell him how you feel before it has ahold of him again. Give him a reason to fight it or we'll lose 'em." Midnight yelled,the sting of Enima's magic still fresh in her skin.

Yahto was waiting for Chalgrish when he finally surfaced. Yahto glided to the side of the boat that was behind Nick with his head just barely sticking out above the water.

Yahto reached the side of the boat and stuck both of his front feet over the side of the boat so that he could silently pull himself up. Yahto had just finished pulling himself up when he heard Midnight yell, Talk to him, tell him how you feel before it has ahold of him again. Give him a reason to fight it or we'll lose 'em, and saw her take Enigma’s blasts that were meant for Nick.

Yahto crouched down ready to pounce but waited for Chalgrish to join him and to see what would happen between Enigma, Midnight, and Nick.

Chalgrish stuck his forked tongue out into the crisp forest air, tasting the air. His eyes narrowed and he pulled himself silently up on the deck. He opened his tremendous maw and snuck behind Nick, making no sound on the boards of the boat.
He darted his sleek,angular head forward and grabbed Nick with his large teeth. They cut him, but not deeply. He slammed Nick down onto the deck of the boat, picked him up again, and tossed Nick's unconcious body to Yahto.
Chalgrish roared, his teeth streaked with blackening blood. He dived into the river, under the boat, and grabbed a huge catfish, the slimy thing thrashing in his powerful jaws. He bit it in half and tossed somed onto the deck, the watery blood sieving off into the river.

Nicks limp body laid in yahto mouth. Enigma's eyes changed back to their sky blue look. Enigma fell to the ground crying into her hands. " I don't want to hurt him." Aryn walked over to Yahto and motioned for Nick to be put in his arms. Yahto nodded and put nick into Aryns arms. Aryn grabbed nick and set him down on the deck. Nicks forhead was glowing blood red in one place. Aryn said something under his breathe and the red glow started to get stronger. Nick let out a roar of pain as a crystal shard came forth from his forhead.

Aryn looked at it " you little bugger. Guys look at this." Everyone came over and looked at the red crystal that was in his hand " this my friends is known as the bloodheart crystal. It can control even the strongest of minds even yours chalgrish and Yahto." Aryn looked at them and smiled. " thanks to me I got it out before it could actally take hold of his mind."NIck body laid limp as he opened his eyes and saw everyone around him. " what the hell???" Nick sat up and shook his head.

_________________
I"M DANCIN LIKE A MONKEY!!!!
~G.I.R

"That's MY line, I believe," Nova calmly stated from her position on the stern of the boat. She had re-perched herself, though in lieu of all that had transpired had allowed her wings, claws, and tail to become visible. The spikes on the end of her tail glittered wickedly as she twicthed it, almost cat-like, from side to side. Indeed, "cat-like" was probably the right word, for as they looked at her, they realized that she sat much like a feline, her claws dug into the wood of the stern to keep her steady on the rocking boat.

The Nether Dragyn didn't seem to notice anything unusual about her actions, however, as usual, and simply motioned to Aryn to toss her the crystal. He seemed to hesitate for a moment (having gotten to know her a little bit better had been a rather disturbing experience for him) before obliging and throwing teh crystal in her sirection. Nova deftly caught it in her right hand and brought it to eye-level, inspecting like a jeweler would a precious gem. Somehow she seemed unconvinced that it could really be a bloodheart crystal, and anyone who guessed such would have been right. Nova knew herself that there were only three of these in known existence (she had watched the Master lock the three of them away), so how had that fledgling come to be possessed by one, and more importantly, how had it come into the hands of his captors?

The Nether Dragyn whipped her tail thoughtfully from side to side before holding it out and saying a single word. "Necros," she said, loud enough dfor the group to hear. Instantly, the crystal's tip turned black, revealing that it was, indeed, a real bloodheart crystal. She turned her amber and ruby eyes on the group, and specifically Nick. "Alright, Vampy, you WERE possessed by a bloodheart crystal. And for teh rest of you Kiddies," she said, addressing the rest of the group now, "We need to find the buggers who had this, because it could mean they have a major advantage we're not factoring in here."

_________________
"And these children that you spit upon
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultation
They're quite aware of what they're going through"
--- David Bowie

'Hmm"

Midnight absent mindedly took the shard from Nova's hand and examined it.

"Ya,know Aryn,ya could have killed him by doing that! Why do you think I went to all that trouble of trying to get Enima to talk it out of him? ,and not take it out myself ehh? Anywho,this is only a shard of a bigger piece. They must have found a way of chiping it from the main root located deep under ground,but how could they have known about it? The tunnles that led down to it were burried econs ago. And the remaing pieces were locked away by the leaders of the realm concile."

She staired at it questioningly and the passed it back over to Nova. Then she walked over to Nick and used her power to heal Nicks wounds.

"Oh,and Chalgrish,would you please restrain yurself for wounding any more members of our little group here?"

Chalgrish was hunched over his catch, tearing off large chunks, when Midnight called his name. He looked up casually and returned to his meal. When he was done, he pushed the carcass of the fish off the boat and laid down, his sleek head on his talons. His tail twitched like a cat's as he closed his eyes. His thoughts once agin drifted to the altar. His current mind disregarded it as a hunting ground, nothing more....

Enigma looked at them "well ummm I am going to go in for a little while." at this everyone noticed that her arm was behind her back. She got up and ran to the other side of the boat. " NOT NOW!!! she whispered to herself. " I hate how I can't control them." Enigma said as her arms elongated and transformed into a pure silvery white color as her back got thin whisp of silver hair on it and as her shirt tore in many places. Her body was responding to the anger she felt and as she stood there her eyes changed into a silvery white color and got more elegent as finally her whole body was encompasted in light.

Enigma looked around and saw in her mind some sort of alter thing that she never seen before and she was sitting in front of it. It was as if she was in her own dream and could react to thing. She walked over and threw something in and muttered words that she knew since she was a child.As she finished she looked up as the silvery smoke turned into HER!!!!She jumped back as she looked at this." what the hell is happening to me." Enigma looked and next thing she saw was chalgrish standing there with the dragon who transformed down into her human form Enigma came back to reality and looked around and noticed Chalgrish and Midnight were standing there looking at her. Enigma looked at them. As she sifted back down she said " well now you know that I can't control my dragon side and you can't tell anyone this otherwise that will be a very bad thing."

_________________
I"M DANCIN LIKE A MONKEY!!!!
~G.I.R

Midnight's eyes quickly darted away from her.

"Uh,yeah, Well, anyways,we won't be able to tell how much damage Aryn has done to Nick until he wakes up. Lets just hope he's not messed up too bad."

Midnight told them,her mind wondering on to something else as she talked. Which made her appear to be staring at a spot in the water.

_________________
~Once I knew who I was, until I met someone who knew me even better.~
http://dragcave.net/incubators/incubator_Mirravin.png

After Aryn had removed the shard of the Bloodheart crystal Yahto had reverted to human form. He then remained leaning up against the side of the boat while the others were talking to each other. He listened without seeming to pay attention and his eyes never rested in one place for long. They constantly searched for any hidden threat; there would be no surprises now. All of this action had made him unusually wary; it was evident in the set of his shoulders and the way his hands never strayed far from his dagger hilts.

Yahto watched Chalgrish eat his fish with a little bit of disdain. If he can’t completely control himself when in dragon form then who knows what could happen if he accidentally loses control during a fight. He might end up being more of a liability than an asset, thought Yahto. I think I could probably stop him if I had to…but I hope it never comes to that.

As he saw Enigma begin to change he thought, Look what we have here, another dragon that can’t control herself. I’m not sure if she can control herself while in dragon form, but at least now I know she can’t control the change. I wish I could judge her strength, but I can’t, not yet at least.

Yahto continued thinking but never stopped looking for any hidden troubles. Determined he thought to himself, Nothing will catch us off guard. Nothing will ever catch me off guard again, he thought bitterly as a memory he had tried desperately to forget came unbidden to his mind. If any of the others had looked at him then they would have seen no sign of the happy fellow who first greeted them at the door of Chalgrish’s hut.

Nova noticed the change in the formerly friendly, cheerful dragon (sickeningly so, in her opinion) and couldn't help but grin behind her folded hands. If even HE was beginning to see the kind of yutzes they were dealing with, then she wasn't just being too harsh. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," she said to herself as she watched the group go about their business respectively. Aryn and Midnight weren't of much interest to her at present, though. The other dragons caught her eye and held her attention with the greatest ease.

Yahto just intrigued her with his mysterious other side, seemingly, and Enigma with her lack of control. Apparently Miss Prophetss wasn't so perfect after all... It interested her that one as in-control as Enigma could have such a simple problem as controling her other side.

Of course, she wasn't the only one... Chalgrish seemed to be practically bipolar in his changing. True, the dragon side of his psyche still had his bite, but none of his wit, in the Nether Dragyn's opinion. And that was what was so intriguing about him. Never before had Nova met someone who could even BEGIN to rival her in power, skill, or tongue, but here was someone who at least stood some sort of chance. It interested the Dragyn and presented a challange at the same time.

And she had to squash any challenge she came up against, and so... "Hey, Chalgrish," she said, spreading her claws and twitching her tail, as she knelt beside his, grinning at the cat-like twitching of it. She stretched her arm out and pointed to the shore where a series of small black imps appeared out of puffs of smoke. "I have to say, I really like this forest. I may just have to move in. But of course, I'll need my friends' help in adjusting things for me, though..." The imps cackled wildly and munched on some vines hanging from a nearby tree.

_________________
"And these children that you spit upon
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultation
They're quite aware of what they're going through"
--- David Bowie

Chalgrish opened one eye and looked at Nova with his piercing stare. He looked at the shore where the imps were destroying his forest. He closed his eye casually and twitched his head toward the imps. The vines twisted around the midnight creatures and they exploded, disappearing in puffs of acrid black smoke.
Chalgrish yawned slightly and snapped his tail at the boards underneath Nova, causing them to spring up. He turned around and walked lightly to the front of the boat, facing the sun as it set.
The canopy of trees overhead thinned out, and ceased to exist altogether as the group left the forest.

Nova narrowed her eyes and glared at the dragon as she hovered a few feet away from him, her feet barely touching the deck of the boat. With a "hmph!" of indignance she brushed her hair from her eyes and re-adjusted her sunglasses before landing and perching herself on the stern again. "I was just playing, Idiot," she muttered under her breath, turning her gaze hurriedly to the shore. Why was she justifying herself? She didn't really care what any of them thought. In the long-run, they were tools, nothing more, nothing less. They were no different from her warriors back home.

The sunshine that broke through the thinning canopy as they came out of the wood made her squint and pull her sunglasses up al the way to cover her eyes fully. A slight hiss escaped her as she rested her chin on her knees. "Ok, so we're out, what now?" she demanded.

_________________
"And these children that you spit upon
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultation
They're quite aware of what they're going through"
--- David Bowie

We go look for Kejota. said Chalgrish in a throaty rumble. He walked to the back of the boat, not paying heed to the incredulous stares he was getting.
As he reached Nick, he grabbed the vampire with his tail and dunked him in the water. As he was pulled up, waterlogged, Chalgrish dried him off with a blast of steam from his snout. He laid Nick down, on the creaking deck of the boat.
Chalgrish hissed and the boat halted, sending Nova flying into the river. He chuckled and helped her out of the water.

_________________
Idaho State Motto: We're more than just potatoes...Ok, but the potatoes sure are good!

For a split second they all saw the Nether Dragyn panic, but that impression was dispelled as soon as Chalgrish helped her out of the water. In one fluid motion she stretched her claws, backhanded him into the bow of the boat, and left four long, deep rake marks in his face.

As the initial shock wore off, however, they saw that she wasn't finished. The water that was dripping off her obtained a lurid purple glow and black fog erupted beneath her feet as the spikes on the end of her tail grew in length so that they gleamed in the sunlight. It was obvious that she was pissed, though whether it was a sincere anger at being tossed in the water or embarassment at being caught in a moment of weakness and FEAR of all things was indetectable. At the moment all that mattered was that they had an angry Nether Dragyn on the boat, and as she lunged at Chalgrish, the group saw why the stories advised against crossing them. Her eyes glittered with pur hatred and malice and she allowed necro-energy to web between her claws, pointed straight for Chalgrish's vital points.

_________________
"And these children that you spit upon
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultation
They're quite aware of what they're going through"
--- David Bowie

Chalgrish leaned back on his tail and caught Nova with his hind legs, launching her into the forest behind him. As the branches snapped, several dozen roots lashed out to snatch her from the air. Chalgrish sat and watched as the roots started to tighten. With a twitch of his neck, Nova went flying into the white-foamed river. Chalgrish watched as Nova was swept downstream into a nearby lake. Within minutes, the boat had reach her.

_________________
Idaho State Motto: We're more than just potatoes...Ok, but the potatoes sure are good!

Her foot had become caught in a web of lake-weed just beneath the surface of the water, causing the Dragyn, who was already in a frenzy of osrts about being in the lake at all to become all the more panicked. Before they even reached her they could see her thrashing about in the water, her tail writihing and smashing into the bed of lake weeds, causing her to thrash all the more. Her slim human form was caught in the vegetation to such a point that she could barely move.

With a quick moment of consideration she made a decision, and they saw the girl's form disappear in a flash of black fog and light. A split second later a slim, black and crimson dragyn with long spikes lining the back and a stegasaurus-like tail emerged from the water, viciously attacking the weeds around her with fangs and claws the size of kitchen-knives. Unfortunately, her wing were NOT made for the water and acted to weigh her down a bit as she struggled on the surface of the lake.

_________________
"And these children that you spit upon
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultation
They're quite aware of what they're going through"
--- David Bowie