Hey look ma More Fae'th

The group road for a half an hour before Shaden slowed the horses to a trot. There were now signs of them re-entering civilization. The road turned from dirt to brick and it widened to the point where four wagons could easily drive past each other with little concern of bumping into one another. Along both sides of the road were various shaped shops made mostly of stone and wood. Between each building was an oil street lamp and occasionally a bench for the passer-bys to sit. There were all kinds of brightly dressed people popping in and out of the shops. The front of most shops had a large glass picture window that displayed the featured wares for the day. Julie’s nose was made happy as it filled with the smell of apple pie. It was the best smell she had experienced since they had been there.

The road they were on soon split to the left and right, bordering a large grassy square. In the exact middle of the square was a Draconis statue twice as large as the last statue Julie had seen. As the wagon drove past it, the group saw a word the was painted in red across the statue's wings. Julie could not understand the word but the rest of the group must have because they all snickered, including the Doctor.

“Doctor what’s that word say?” She asked, a bit annoyed to be the only one not to get the joke.

“I would rather not say. Its offensive and it involves an unnatural act between a man and a four legged animal.” The Doctor answered.

“Umm sorry I asked.” Julie replied.

Behind the square was a large stone white building with three white pillars in front of it and a large stone stair case leading from its huge ornate wooden doors to the stone walk at ground level. Midway between the top of the doors and the top of the building was a large circular window made of blue glass. In the center of the window was a red crystal that gave the window the look of an eye staring out of the building.

“These people sure have a thing for stone stairs.” The Doctor commented quietly to Julie. She snickered to herself.

“Well look at what we have here.”

Shaden’s comment drew everyone’s attention to the large crowd that had gathered at the foot of the stairs. The wagon stopped at the edge of the large crowd.

“Excellent timing. Looks as though a wizards duel is about to begin. There is one outside of this library almost everyday.” Bernard had a gleam in his eye as he informed the Doctor and Julie of what was occurring. Shaden and Donna-Lé also had the gleam.

“You two know what to do.” Shaden stated. The elf and the troll nodded at each other and the slid out of the wagon and into the crowd.

“You aren’t doing what I think your doing are you?” Julie asked.

“Not me, them and yes they are doing what you think they are doing. What do you expect sweetheart, we’re thieves. Ooo looks like its getting good.” Shaden answered never taking his eyes off the crowd. Julie gave Shaden a dirty look as she and the Doctor stood up to get a better view of what was going on.

The crowd had made the familiar fight watching circle around two men who were circling each other with their wands pointed high at each others heads. One was dress in bright yellow robes while the other man was shorter and dressed in a rainbow colored set of robes. They continued to move around each other as the crowd yelled words of incitement towards them.

“Not much of a duel is it.” The Doctor commented. Shaden just put his hand up and replied.

“Wait for it.”

“Its three ginseng, two blood moss, and two garlic, everyone knows that!!” The yellow wizard yelled.

“You imbecile, according to Aesop’s Potions, third edition, its two blood moss, two garlic and two ginseng!!” The rainbow wizard retorted.

“It’s a potion and not a soup recipe you WARTHOG!!!” The yellow wizard shouted. He pointed his wand at his opponent as he spoke the last word. A bolt of yellow energy shot from his wand.

“Shield!” The rainbow wizard commanded and a blue field of energy appeared in front of him just before the yellow bolt connected. The bolt bounced off the blue shield and hit the closest bystander. It turned the person into a warthog. Half the crowd cheered while the other half booed.

“Lightening Strike, Earth Shake!!” The rainbow wizard yelled as he shook his wand toward the yellow wizard. Electricity shot from the tip of the wand and a large crack appeared in front of the rainbow wizard. The ground shook as the crack appeared to follow the stream of electricity towards the intended target.

“Armed Blockade!” The yellow wizard shook his wand and a red shield of energy appeared in front of him. This shield also had three arrows pointed out the front of it. When the bolt of electricity hit the shield it dissipated in a shower of sparks and caused the three arrows to launch back towards the rainbow wizard. The shield apparently did not block the ground attack and the yellow wizard was knocked back into the crowd. The rainbow wizard turned the arrows into water before they connected.

Julie shivered but it wasn’t with excitement it was instead cold. She looked at the Doctor and could see his breath. Shaden looked up into the sky as if he knew exactly what was happening.

“Ah hell, time to cash in our chips, the party is over. Smoke if you got’em” Shaden sighed. The Doctor and Julie looked up to see a large black cloud that looked similar to the ones they had seen hovering over the palace. She was about to ask what they were but a scream from the crowd told her immediately what the cloud was.

“E-wraiths.!!”

Julie continued to watch the cloud and noticed it was starting to take shape, in fact many shapes. About two dozen winged creatures formed out of the cloud and dove at the wagon. The Doctor and Julie instinctively ducked into the wagon as the crowd scattered. Shaden pulled out a small cigar and lit it as the e-wraiths neared. The thief took his seat as the flock of e-wraiths flew around the wagon and then out into the crowd. They resembled the lamprey eels Julie would occasionally see in Lake Michigan but these ones were black with wings and a single eagle like talon. The scariest part about the beasts is the fact they made no noise, not from their wings or from their mouths. They were like a mass of nothing.

Shaden just sat and smoked as the e-wraiths broke off into two groups. One group flew at the warthog who tried in vein to escape. Two wraiths caught up to their prey and grabbed the pig in their talons. Then their leech like mouths attached to the warthog’s head. The pig turned back into a man and was lifted into the air by the other e-wraiths. A loud scream drew Julie’s attention to the yellow wizard’s direction. She looked in time to see three e-wraiths attach themselves to the wizard’s head as their fellow e-wraiths circled them. The Doctor leaned over to Shaden.

“How is it they spared the rainbow dressed wizard.”

“Well Chief I imagine he paid his taxes to Drago this month and old yeller there didn’t. See the pendant the Rainbow one has dangling around his neck. That is charged with a spell set to run out every thirty days. If you pay your dues it gets recharged and you can use your magic with out fear of being wraith’d. Now if you don’t pay every month, well then you get that.”

Julie diverted her eyes as a fourth e-wraith attached itself to the yellow wizard’s head. There was blood leaking from where the mouths were attached.

“They are eating his brains!!”

“Actually blue eyes they suck the smart right out of you. You still have a brain but end up stumbling around, mumbling to yourself and eventually get a craving for human flesh. That’s why they are taking him away so he is not a danger to anyone else.” Shaden informed as he watched the two group of wraiths carry off their victims into the sky.

“Wait let me guess. If they bite you its contagious and you become like them?” The Doctor inquired, he had heard this song before.

“Check out the big brain on Doc. You are one smart man. I take it you are familiar with the condition?” Shaden asked.

“Something like that.” The Doctor replied.