Tarendil and Zesstra were blocked by a wall of force, while the swordsman also vanished.

"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!" Zarathan snapped his fingers, "Arathorn, you will have to do better than that!"

Tarendil's long time childhood friend suddenly found himself polymorphed against his will into a bird, however, he was able to counter and break the prince's spell on the queen. With a high pitched shrill cry, Arathorn slashed the prince across the face.

With a quick nod to the paladin, the queen rushed her brother with utmost speed and a flurry of blows.

Zesstra followed up with her sword and did the same nailing Zarathan in a well coordinated attack with that of her mate.

***THWACK! THWACK! THWUDDD!!!***

Most hit until he through up a shield to deflect the last of them.

Zarathan merely brought up his hand and flicked his sister across the forehead in a mocking gesture sending her flailing backwards but her monk like reflexes kicked in preventing a total wipeout. "You, dear sister are a pain and your pathetic excuse for a consort is deplorable!"

"Try this for deplorable!" Zesstra cast Darkness on Zarathan effectively blinding him in a shroud of darkness, "You cannot fight what you cannot see!"

Tarendil balled her fists tightly before she parkoured up and over the table and the wall with ease.

When Tarendil was about to descend upon Zarathan, Zesstra dismissed Darkness so Zarathan could see all too late the attack that was coming his way.

The prince threw up another shield to counter when the chirping and fluttering wings of a tiny bird distracted him. "GAH!"

Tarendil dropped low and swept his legs out from under him and followed with another kick to the groin.

Putting her Drow High Magic lessons to good use, Zesstra levitated herself up and over the balcony landing with cat-like grace. Drawing her sword high over her head, the Paladin had the full intention of delivering a killing blow to the fallen Zarathan.

Zarathan immediately held up his free hand and surrendered between groans. Tarendil snapped her fingers and a pair of royal guards entered and seized the traitorous prince. They dragged him out through the doors of the chamber deliberately making him hit the hard stone steps.

Zesstra lowered her sword once Zarathan surrendered but kept her eyes on her opponent until he was dragged away.

The queen glanced at the paladin, "We need to find out if anyone else was affected by his foul magic, Zesstra."

Zesstra nodded in agreement, "Can I torture him for the information, my love? We Drow have ways of making people talk."

"No. Zesstra. That is not how we do things here." Tarendil said a matter of factly. "We are an honor bound society and ruthless violence against the offending party is dealt with through negotiation and trial by combat when the verdict has been given out."

"Oh-kay!" The Drowling returned her scimitar to its scabbard, "I'll play nice for now. But where do you think we should start looking for any of his accomplices? Mayhaps one of them was in the party of adventurers who arrived earlier today?"

Tarendil crossed her arms in frustration, "First, we have to find a way to bring that barrier down, two turn Arathorn back to himself, and three find out if there's anyone else in with my brother's schemes."

"Oh-kay! Oh-Kay!" Zesstra held up her hands, "I get it! First things first. While we cannot torture Zarathan, we should interrogate him. He is the only one who knows a clear way to bring down the barrier and the names of any co-conspirators that he might have. As for turn Arathorn back to himself goes, leave that to me."

Zesstra turned towards Arathorn, concentrated for a second and then spoke the words, "Dispel Magic!" Then she waited to see if her spell would have any effect.

******

During the game the sounds of magical explosions immediately caused both groups to stop and look to see what was going on. Flashes of light and the colossal form an oriental dragon wove its way up and around the aerie.

Caliaphy gasped, "Look at the size of that dragon!"

"WOW! It's bigger than Lazheros and Tiamat combined!" Serna cried out, "I didn't know they could get THAT big!"

"LADY!!!" Quake was standing up on her hind legs roaring loudly.

Serverus and the others looked at each other nervously.

"Quake!" Serna turned to the Elemental Dragon, "What's going on?"

The elemental dragon roared again, "LADY!!!....I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!"

Caliaphy flutter over to Quake and then back to Serna, "Magic happened. Bad magic. We need to get to the palace and help the queen!"

"Consider it done!" Serna looked around for her shield before she said to the others, "Game over, guys, we've got some hero work to do."

Serverus looked at his friends, "We'll spread out and get help from the neighboring towns. The great dragon appearing is both a boon and an omen. If the palace is laced with magic then we should find out why. I don't know if we will be able to enter it anyway. Serna, what do you think?"

The Shield Maiden replied, "Do what you can, Serverus, get as much help as you can as fast as you can and meet us at the palace." Serna turned towards the others, "Caliaphy, Quake, have either of you seen my shield? Before we storm the palace and protect the queen, I need my shield if we are going to do this right."

Quake turned to Serna and Caliaphy, "We need to get to the palace, asap!"

Caliaphy stood once more, her wings flowing the breeze like Supergirl, "You're right! We must go!"

"There it is!" Serna recovered her shield and turned towards Quake, "Since you move faster than I do, can I catch a ride?"

Quake dipped her head down and picked up Serna carefully in her jaws to place her on her back. "I know I'm really smooth and hard to grip but maybe Caliaphy can help with that, eh."

The kurori wrinkled her nose as she fluttered up to the girl on the dragon's back. Pointing at the two of them, Serna felt herself become 'magnetized' to Quake's back. "There. You should be able to stick, I mean stay on her without falling off."

"Thanks, Caliaphy!" Serna nodded in agreement before she spoke to the Elemental, "Okay, Quake, let's go!"

In a short and very fast run to the palace, the three of them hit an invisible barrier. Quake barely had enough time to brace herself to keep from rolling over and crushing Serna.

The kurori placed both hands on the barrier, "Oh man. This is old magic. It's pretty powerful. I didn't know the avariel were capable of casting old magic. Even I can't through this. Ideas, anyone?"

"Why try and go through the barrier when we can go under it." Serna chimed in, "Quake, you're an Earth Elemental, right? Tunnel us under it so we can get to the palace."

Quake focused on the ground using her innate earthen ability and found a weak spot. "Well, I got some good news. I found a weak point. The bad news is that its where the bottom of the floating island meets the open air."

"If that's the case, then all you have to do is be mindful of how you dig," Serna replied, "If you dig a hole then come out on the other side, you can plant your feet on the ceiling--I mean the earth above you--and walk upside down until you can dig another hole that will take us upward beyond the barrier. What do you say?"

Quake's jaw dropped lower and lower at Serna's request. If she was in human form, she would of have felt sick to her stomach. So she swallowed, "Umm, you want me to do what now?"

"I want you to make like a worm and burrow your way through the earth and past the magical barrier by crossing beneath it." Serna repeated herself in plain English, "If you can magnetize yourself to the earth beneath you, then walking upside down on a turf of earth should be a piece of cake for you. Right?"