To the Victor Goes the Spoils...

Characters: Arik, Cassa Tallant, Danae Wrede, Gideon Shaw, Gabrielle Sommers
When: After Wax On, Wax Off and before Chapter 002;
Where: Outskirts of Napa Valley, CA,
Summary: Arik has been ordered by the Ancients to do a Search and Rescue type of mission, to find a new Arcanist named Cassa Tallant who has been kidnapped, and being held against her will, by some sort of sinister creatures. It is up to Arik and a few of his most promising students to find and help the new Arcanist Cassa.




"Please be ready." He said sternly as he tugged his top down a little. The sun was high in the sky over the small gathering of trees they stood under. A chinook brushed over his skin, and it felt nice and almost refreshing. With the gentle breeze came a fruity aroma. The vineyard behind them was full of beautiful ripe purple grapes, begging to be picked. It was truly a shame they were not here for a sight seeing trip. Perhaps if things went well, he would take his students out for a dinner at a restaurant. He had a feeling that after this, they would definitely deserve it.

The white leather sleeveless shirt he wore, breathed much better than it would have appeared to. White leather shirt, tight boot cut blue jeans, and white leather boots, to most, would not seem like the proper battle attire, but for Arik it didn't seem to matter what was practical and what wasn't. It did not seem to keep him from doing what needed to be done though.

He allowed his companions to make sure they were ready while his mind replayed what had happened to put them all in this situation.

"Yes, I understand that she is of importance." He said to one of the Ancients as he shifted his weight to one leg and rested his hands on his hips. "I understand that she must be rescued, but what I don't understand is why you want me to put my students in jeopardy. This may be a game to you, but it isn't and these Arcanists can die! They can not just be summoned at your whim. I can do this job alone without endangering them and I would no doubt get it done faster without having to worry about their safety." He raised his voice in defiance and watched as the Ancients seemed to tremble with rage.


A female Ancient stepped forward to talk to him softly. "Arikstrasza, you are a good teacher, and a friend when you need to be, but do you not think that it would serve a purpose to provide an inspiration to your students. Demonstrate to them the responsibility of controlling their given power, and show them that you are not only full of magical theory and fluff? Arik, we are giving you an opportunity here, and I wish you would see the benefit of this." She said as he stepped back in line with the other Ancients.

"I think it would serve a more important purpose to keep my students out of the line of fire as long as possible. I don't think you really know what is best for my students, and until you spend time with them and learn who they are, you..." He said before he was interrupted by a particularly mean looking Ancient.

"You forget your place Silver Dragon Arikstrasza!" One of them bellowed at him as they came together and looked at him with their old eyes. "We have made up our mind and we will be obeyed. We did not make you an Essentian so that you could argue with us. You will pick those who go with you, but they will come with you, and we will not hear any more of this nonsense Arikstrasza. You are here to serve the will of the Ancients, or you shall be stripped of your powers and be cast upon the Earth as a human. Now begone Arik, you have work to do, and time is of the essence. When you have recovered the girl we will wish to speak to you once more." With that, Arik nodded his head in reluctant agreement as he evaporated into the air, and back into his keep. He threw a vase against the wall in anger and did not even bother to pick it up.

It took him longer than he wanted to get ahold of his Arcanists, because he had to be careful of who to bring with him. Not all of his students would be ready for this, and to be truthful, he might not be ready to lead a team of students into this situation. Once he figured out who would be going on this mission, he picked up his cell phone and sent out a mass text message to the chosen individuals instructing them to be ready in an hour, no excuses, no rebuttals. They did not have a choice in the matter. He hoped an hour would be enough he thought as he skulked off to get dressed. Precisely one hour later they stood in front of the cave in Nappa Valley, ready to venture into the unknown.


Arik stepped forward to the cave entrance. It was covered with medium boulders, a little smaller than a compact car. Arik made sure everyone was standing back and snapped his fingers. The noise from his fingers seemed to shoot forward and hit the rocks with a cracking noise. The rocks shifted in place for a moment before they crumbled into small pieces and fell to the ground. "Now we enter. Please be on your guard. I will lead, unless anyone has any objections to that of course." If someone wanted to lead, now was the chance to say something. "You all now should be able to see in the cave as well." He said as he made the motion of releasing something from his hand.

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Gabrielle was going through the apartment that her latest job afforded her. The tips were good and the pay was decent enough that she could take off work to deal with the other side of her. The other person that seemed to always come out when she didn’t want her to and leave without warning. Today was no different she had gotten to sleep maybe four hours prior to this when her phone rang telling her that there was a text message and that it was a new one.

That was it she was going to kill her boss if he kept this up was the last thought she had before she grabbed the phone and saw who the text was. That women inside of her woke up without warning and flipped the text open reading through it she came to life and then next thing that she knew she was in the car heading to the Keep once more dressed in what was now quickly becoming her ‘battle attire’ which was a pair of black pants, black t-shirt and jean jacket that hugged close to her.

It was at the keep she met her mentor and several others there wasn’t much time and so he spoke quickly giving them only an hour to arm themselves and prepare for a dangerous mission. She nodded to him knowing that words didn’t need to be passed right now as he went off obviously not too happy about the whole thing. There were only a few things that darkened his otherwise sunny mood so she could only guess what they were going to face together.

The hour passed quickly but when they met again it was at the entrance of a cave she had with her all the things that she could think of carrying on her without weighting herself down. They were to protect herself and the others of the team on this mission. She watched and listened as Ark seamed to command the rocks to come apart and then he spoke that he would lead. She looked at him and nodded, “I think that would be wise as you are more familiar with the cave then at least I am.” With that her vision changed as she looked into the cave it was dark but she could see as though she were born down there. That took her a moment to adjust before she waited to follow his lead.

He flinched at her gun. Even with magic, bullets were very dangerous but he was grateful that the Kreelocks did not seem to use guns, yet. " Well in actuality, I know these caves no better than you do." He said solemnly, which is why he did not want them here. His job was to train them to defend themselves, but when it came down to it, he did not want to see them do it. He did not want to see them come to any harm or danger. Yes, they were his students, but at times they felt more like the family he missed. More like the family he was pretty much forced to have left behind. He often thought about his sister. He missed her the most. Every night before he went to bed, he thought of her and prayed to the maker that he would be able to see her once more, even if for just ten minutes.

The cave itself did not seem like much of a cave at first glance, but its 'construction' was that of a magical makeup. It was not natural in origin and that worried him a little. Caves were not commonplace in the Napa Valley, not like that he was familiar with any valley really. He had always wanted to come out here, but not really under this set of circumstances.

"Let us proceed with caution." He said as he walked into the small cave. The smell was almost overwhelmingly musty and at the same time it smelled like rust and eggs. It was not a smell that he liked and definitely a smell that told him to be on his guard. He touched the walls of the cave gently to see what the composition was. "Be careful the walls are crystal it seems, and they are sharp. He did not like this one bit. "Perhaps after this I will bring you all to the Bahamas." He said with a laugh. "I should probably warn you now, that what you are smelling is blood and what smells to be sulfur. It is not a mixture that good things are done with." He said as he remembered older magic, magic that he did not dare teach anyone. He stepped on a small bone, and it crunched easily under his foot. He heard faint rumblings ahead of them, but they were too far to see what was going on. He quietly walked forward and around a corner into a large opening atrium.

The smell was the first thing he noticed. Rotting flesh was hanging from crystal formations. There was a small hint of light above them about eighty feet up, and from the looks of it, it was a smoke hole. The small fire in the corner had about a half-dozen emaciated looking humans sitting around it, and upon Arik's entrance to the room, they turned and fixed their eyes on all of them. "Dopplegangers, be ready." He said as he watched them drop the pieces of flesh from their mouths.

He looked up at a large crystal hanging from the ceiling. "This should help." He said with a smile, and the room became visually brighter. Bright enough to do combat in. "I'll take the first one then!" He said as his hands appeared to catch on fire, a black fire. "Blackfire Engulf!" He commanded as a solid stream of black fire channeled out of his hands. It burned and consumed the first Doppleganger with ease. The crackling energy fatigued the ones around the deceased Doppleganger. "That will make them easier to hit, now attack them!" He bellowed as he readied another spell.

Finally a day off. It was like experiencing freedom for the first time again. Gideon rested on his back, his eyes pointed up to the ceiling as he woke up from what seemed to be his first good night sleep in weeks. With the amount of extra hours he was pulling in the hospital, they were becoming legally obligated to give him a few days off to actually rest and avoid lawsuits. His day would be filled with nothingness, just the way he liked it. There was no studying a case file or rereading the same medical journal to memorize every last detail. He’d be free to relax and do normal things around the apartment. That is if he even wanted to get out of bed, which was becoming increasingly more difficult with every passing minute.

In fact the desire to remain in bed was so strong, Gideon thought he’d take another hour to rest his eyes and plan out his day off. Sweet dreams were swiftly interrupted by the familiar beeping of his cell phone. Crystal blue eyes shot open and a small look of frustration crept upon his face. “I’m not even on call today. What’s the problem?” He said rolling over to grab the cell phone from his bedside table. Looking at the main screen he saw the message from Arik, he still was surprised that an ancient dragon was capable of understanding modern technology when his own mother struggled with the time setting on her blue ray player. He couldn’t turn down his other job. He may have been on his day off, but at least now he’d get some good exercise. Rolling over, he moved to get ready for his day.

Gideon joined the small party dressed in normal clothing for a change. The day off had allowed him to better prepare himself for the rocky terrain and mess they’d be walking into. Timberland boots transversed the dirt roads below a simple pair of blue jeans, white T-shirt, and his own black leather jacket that was a good thick second layer for his upper body.

He moved behind the others aware that they were most likely walking into some sort of trap or prison like last time. He only hoped that his powers would be enough to see him through the cave ahead. He remained quiet as the quartet moved through the caves. He listened to the banter and the orders that were being exchanged looking ahead knowing that the smell of rotten flesh and brimstone wasn’t exactly a natural geological phenomenon. The smell wasn’t the awful part. He had since gotten over the horrible smells of decaying corpses, but he was still disturbed by the sight of human like creatures devouring human tissue. He snarled for a moment as Arik called out the name of the foul creatures, doppelgangers. It wouldn’t belong before they shape shifted into the party and they had to move quickly. As Arik called out whom he’d attack Gideon moved to the next one.

The doppelganger lived up to its name as it took off after Gideon, assuming his form right down to his clothing just before the two met. Unlike a true transmuter, this doppelganger couldn’t shift much more of its body. Gideon prepared his first punch summoning a basic power to his side. His fists no longer were flesh and blood, but rock and stone turned into tools of war, which were quickly brought down across the duplicate Gideon’s face knocking his fragile form around. The fight had begun.

The smell was different but the cavern reminded her of where they were thrown into but now she was willingly following Ark. His manners always seemed to dazzle her how calm he could be when in danger or how strong he could turn without warning when it was time to do so. There was a grace about him that always told her that he was more, at one time, then the man who was walking with them today. Not saying a word she stopted when he did and saw what he was looking at her eyes narrowed as he called out what they were. The things that looked so much like them but weren’t. Balling her fists beside her she realized that she had a knife in her boot so she took it out putting it in one hand and preparing herself for a fight.

The room light up as the first one came in their direction Ark took care of it with easy and without much thought. The mana inside of her bubbled up and without even thinking her plan of attack changed as one came at her shifting form to reflect her image in an attempt to throw her off. That only made her angrier and she yelled at it, “Go to hell!” With that her hand came out that had the knife in it and trusted it into the belly of the beast and she threw it off with a bit of a struggle.

Heaving the knife from hand to hand she crouched down like a tigress with her pray right in front of her and without warning she lunged at it again this time jabbing the knife in its neck which revered it back to its state it was before but this time it wasn’t moving and she didn’t notice or seem to care as she stabbed it a half a dozen times before stopping and trying to get a grasp on where she was again and with whom. Yeah this was magically created and yes it was dark but she was able to see but none of that mattered she was on survival mode now and that aggressive side of her was back out in full force the women she didn’t know was now in control.

Breathing hard she spoke, “Everyone ok?” Muttering more to herself than anyone else she added, “Damn fine pieces of work these creatures are…got me good too.” She held her hand over a scrape on her arm that was bleeding trying to make it stop while trying to get out of the jacket so to try and put pressure on the wound. This was turning out to be one hell of a vacation from work.

Danae watched him flinch and shrugged. " old habits. "She stated quietly as she rolled her shoulders and gave the others a polite nod. As they entered the cave, the woman eyed it and gave a nod to Arik's explanation. Not normal construction, was a mild understatement. As he continued to talk of the "Old Magicks" she had been a nosy git and whispered softly. " Blood paths. " she echoed as she glanced to him. " I Google. "She offered a swift grin but the crunching of the bones beneath their feet, had her crouch down a moment to look at what it was they stepped on.

The wrinkle of her nose was offered as she let it fall back to the floor and the creatures acrossed the way spied. She watched as Arik cooked the first and the other weakened by the spell. Gideon and Gabrielle well in the thick of things as she rose up. She could use her gun here..but with the cave made of Crystal that was probably not a wise idea. Fracture the crystal.. and well " they all fall down" sang in her head. Gabrielle's fierce fight with the knife and Gideon's splattering of another weren't missed as Danae tugged the strand of energy from within and cast out the hand as if she were tossing beads from her palm. The hushed hissing came to her as the sudden flare of light ignited as one of the Doppleganger rose up then began to jerk backward as the incindary bursts struck into the core of its body.

However she was already moving forward to greet the next head on, the mana was rebuilding.. which was fine, yet there was nothing wrong with good ol' fashion kick their ass.


( -1 spell point
incindary cloud)

It was not his intention to let his students see him fight, but he really had no choice. It was what the ancients wanted. He closed his eyes and black featureless orb appeared in front of him. His eyes opened slowly and the orb began to move slowly. At first it barely appeared to move, but it began to pick up speed and an almost purple glow began to emanate from it as he guided it towards one of the Dopplegangers, there were only seven left it would seem.

The sphere passed through the first Doppleganger and seemed to do nothing until the creature started to scream in agony as its body began to disappear only leaving a pool of blood in its wake. Arik frowned as he guided the ball around the room and caught a few more. Their agonizing screams of torturous death filled the room and made the hairs on his neck stand up. It was not a pretty sight, but they had little time to wait. They did not have time to dilly dally while the life of an Arcanist was at risk. Especially now that they had stumbled across a Doppleganger den. "I'm sorry. I did not wish for you to see that." He said as the last doppleganger in the room disappeared with a bloodcurdling scream. The black ball fell to the floor, and disappeared leaving a pile of bones in its wake. "Those can not be the only ones we find in here, and we may find more than dopplegangers, but I suspect we won't find anything other than the dopplegangers." He said as he rambled. He really felt bad about showing them that. He liked them possibly thinking that he was just a teacher and not a tool of possible destruction.

Arik tugged on his shirt a little. The two points at the bottom barely touched his jeans. It was more like a leather vest than anything. Not a drop of blood, which he was grateful for. Blood had a certain staining quality that he did not care for in the least bit. He looked at everyone to make sure they were ok. "You are bleeding Gabrielle." He said plainly. "Would you allow me to take care of that for you?" He asked as he held a hand out. If she touched his hand she would be filled with healing energy, enough to stop the bleeding, but if she chose to do it herself, that would be fine with him too.

Arik's head turned suddenly as he heard a scream down the hallway ahead of them. "Damnit." He muttered.

Gabrielle stopped her struggle with her jacket and then looked at Ark as he held his hand out to her. Nodding she touched his hand feeling the manna between them connecting and the fibers of her muscle began to knit together and then the rest started to and she let go of his hand only to find the wound completely healed. Amazed and somewhat stunned by it all she spoke softly to him, “Thank you for your kindness it will not be forgotten.”

Still holding her arm and rubbing it some she saw Ark’s attention turn from her to the scream down the hall her head jerked around too to see what was the matter and who was in treble. When he muttered damn her eyes got big and she muttered something herself, “This is bull crap.” Sighing she crossed her arms across her chest and gave the hall the I’m not happy look as she looked down it knowing full well that she wasn’t going to like where they were going next or what they were going to find for that matter.

She put her knife back in her boot knowing it was going to be needed later so she didn’t clean it or feel the need to clean it. Keeping her hands free now at her side she was still ticked off that they got her that time the next time that she would meet up with the likes of them she wasn’t going to let them get a hold of her like that again. The wound still ached even though it was sealed and cleaned it was a lesson she learned about the supernatural world around her it was very real, very real indeed.

Gideon’s breath finally slowed as he paused over the body of his bludgeoned doppleganger. His fist was still balled up in a heap of stone as he looked over his own corpse twisted and mangled by his own raw power. It was an odd sight looking at your own lifeless body, but he knew the truth. The farce was that this being on the ground was nothing close to human and had nothing in common with him. Gid finally was able to release one deep breath to take him down from his aggression. His fist returned to flesh and bone and quickly receded into his jacket pocket as he crossed the cave to rejoin the others.

Arik’s magical display did not go unnoticed. That much raw power that dwarfed the abilities of the arcanists could never go unseen. “I was under the impression you weren’t able to directly aid us in battle? After all that’s why we’re being trained even though you’re the one with all the power.” He questioned with a raised brow looking over the others as Gabrielle begun her healing and Danae decided to help herself to the leftovers of the doppelgangers. He had long given up attempting to make scientific sense of the supernatural. These things defied logic and science by going beyond the imagination.

Moving himself back within the group he prepared for Arik to take point again as they moved deeper into the caves. Then the scream came reverberating off the crystal walls of the cave. Gideon’s eyes widened as he realized how close they were to their target, and how close they were to being to late. Their haste would quicken soon and Gideon would be right on Arik’s tail as they moved deeper into the caves.

Arik knew it. He knew that there was a reason he was forced to come here. Other than the fact that there were dopplegangers to destroy, he was glad there would be someone alive to bring out of here. He sensed the magic in the air, the magic that someone was using defensively. "Come on. We have to hurry. I can hear someone alive." He said urgently as he started walking briskly down the crystal hallway. It still worried him about the cave system itself. Crystal caves were not indigenous to any part of the Valley. In the makeshift hallway there were pieces of cloth that covered holes in the crystal. They were doors, and what was behind him he was not interested in them at the moment. All he was interested in was finding the Arcanist and getting out.

He briskly walked down the corridor with increasing speed. He followed the faint trace of magic in the air as he passed a few more clothed doorways. The stench of rotting flesh became worse with each step. The smell of salty blood lingered in his nostrils. "I can tell we are close." He whispered as he put a hand on the cloth door he was near and ripped it down from the wall. He summoned a ball of light that lit up the small room and saw the doppleganger on the ground that she had kicked. He did not mutter a word, but his fists suddenly became stone. Arik's stone fingers grabbed the doppleganger's neck and crushed it effortlessly. "You are safe now. We've been sent to get you. Someone please get her out of these chains. I will watch the door. Be quick. We have a few more to save, I can sense them." He said as he walked to the opening of the room and kept watch.

Gideon was hot on Arik’s tail along with the others. The group was nearing their goal and it seemed they were not too late yet. The girl was still alive, but perhaps not for long. Those screams of terror only quickened the pace for all of them. There was no telling how many of the other doppelgangers still lurked with the cave, but that would be dealt with if it required.

Once they burst into the room where Cassa was being kept Gideon watched as Arik effortlessly broke the neck of the nearby doppelganger. “Impressive transmutation.” He quickly brought up before hearing the essentian’s orders to release the girl. He called up his strength again, the spells he had learned over the past few months swirled into his head until he selected the proper one and moved to call forth the mana in his veins. He moved swiftly to Cassa’s side grabbing hold of the metal chains that bound her wrists. He focused on their atomic structure in his mind, felt the minor impurities within the metal and the oxidation that slowly began to consume the metal, but not nearly fast enough. He’d have to accelerate the process.

Slowly beneath his hands, the metal chains began to grow dull and fracture into dust particles breaking apart under their own weight and apparent age. Gideon stepped back releasing the metal and let the last bits fall off Cassa into a small dirt pile near her feet. He watched as Danae then moved to tend to the girl’s wounds before he turned back to Arik. “I thought she was our only objective? You’re telling us that there are more than her locked here? We may be running out of steam if we keep running into more packs of doppelgangers.” He voiced his concern. He had been burning through his mana a bit thinking they were so close to the end, now it seemed the trip became just a little bit longer.

Gabrielle moved with the others quietly and quickly like Arik instructed. Something about his voice always seemed to call to the women that she was just getting to know. The women that was controlling her movements right now as she felt as though she were just observing all of this. Still this world that they were experiencing one full of magic and creatures she never dreamed of before was a bit too much for her to handle so this was how she coped. She was quite and listening intently by Ark off to one side of the door her brown eyes looking through the crystal structure as there was no cloth door to obstruct her view.

The other…Gideon was making quick work of the chains and the women in charge of most of her mind and body right now could feel him waning manna wise and she spoke gentle words of encouragement to him hoping to lift his spirit to continue to fight on and not grow weary because his manna was being used. “That’s why there is more than one of us here Gideon so if one is tried the other can take over in a since or we can work together to accomplish something. All you got to do is ask and I’ll be more than happy to lean a manna hand to you.”

Her eyes lit up a bright blue despite the darkness of the cave around them; the manna inside of her fully stirred just being the presence of everyone else and the magic in the air her transmutation fully alive and well. She spoke to Arik or at least the women that was out and about now, “I hear your displeasure teacher but soon this task will be all over and you’ll be able to go back to your home. One student richer and many lives saved. You’re colleagues wouldn’t have sent you here if they thought you unable to complete the task with that which you have around you.” The brilliant blue in her eyes calmed to a gentle green which was uncharacteristic of the brown that her eyes normally were. Taking a deep breath in she noticed that she was touching his shoulder and she almost jumped as if coming out of a dream and spoke just as softly as she had been, “Forgive me if I was too blunt or have taken anything from you for I do not know where all that came from.” She hesitantly took her hand from his arm hoping that he wasn’t offended nor distracted for danger was all around them in this unnatural and magical setting.

Arik really was not in the mood to be touched at the moment. He was concerned about his students and concerned that that they had seen too much. He turned to the arcanist touching his arm. "We'll talk about it later." He said with a gentle smile. He honestly had been listening for dopplegangers and focusing so much on that, that he had not heard a word she had said. "I am going to teleport this one back." He said as he pointed at Cassa. "If any of you want to go, now is the time. If you feel like you might not make it to the end, then please take the portal back to the Keep and recuperate there." He said gently as he released the silver clasps on his leather vest-shirt that he was wearing. His tan chest was slightly exposed. The gentle cave breeze felt good on his skin.

He heard shuffling noises coming down the hallway. He did not wait for them to get ready. He jumped out into the hallyway, but was pleasantly surprised to see five humans. Hopefully they were Arcanists, but he did not have the time to find out. They were covered in blood, and one of them had bite marks on the places where her skin should have been. She was being carried by one of the others. They looked relieved and Arik ushered them into the room. The strangers started talking rapidly about something they really could not describe. Something that was there, but was not there at the same time.

"We have to leave. Now!" He said as he placed a hand on the crystal wall and closed his eyes. Very slowly the hole in the crystal wall started to close. It closed slowly at first but built in speed exponentially. Within a minute the door had been sealed. "Its time to go students." He said as the room lit up. He Grabbed a rather large chunk of crystal and took it with him as he opened the portal for everyone to pass through. "The door will hold and the portal will be open for no more than a minute." He said as he waited for them to pass through.

[-0 spell point;Teleport + Anyone in the Room ]

Her eyes cooled down to the color that they were before and nodded, “Yes, of course.” Just like that he was moving on as if the incident never happened. She decided it would be best if she did the same. Looking out the hall she listened to him talk and point to people who he was going to transport back to the keep for safety reasons. His request to leave if feeling weak she almost took him up on but didn’t. Staying she decided it would be best that she continue on and not run away like some child anymore. After all she was on her own and had nothing to go back to so if she lost the game here there would be really nothing she would be losing.

The movement outside was enough for her to snap out of her own little world and just be in the moment. The people were moving towards them and from what she could tell they were human covered in blood. This was enough for her she wanted to get their objective cleared and out of there at that moment, but like a good student she waited for his lead. It was not the time for her to run off on one of her hair brain ideas and end up just getting into it worse. When the silence was pierced with his voice she just knew it was a bad idea to have stayed.

It wasn’t long and the portal was open after the area was securely shut up. She didn’t want to leave his side so she stayed next to him to make sure that he was going to make it through. He was all the family that she had and she wasn’t too sure if that made any sense, so she didn’t dwell on the thought just helped the others through that they had acquired through being here. There was no time to test whether or not they were able to handle everything or not. When she was sure that everyone was through she went through herself knowing that Arik would stay behind until everyone was cleared. It was his way always to be like that.