FeyMoon

   FeyMoon readied herself to pounce yet again, when she was hit from behind by spells sent from several Soulless coming from the throne room to aid their fellows. She was struck and landed prone on the cold floor. The injured warrior turned and fled as the reinforcements raced to press their advantage.
   Subtleties be damned, she thought. She had wanted to leave the castle intact and just destroy the man behind the evil, but she had been hurt, though slightly, and was now at a disadvantage with so many Soulless and Green Wall's loyal Tower Magi advancing upon her. She had lost patience with fighting her way through the defenders and sought to find her target. She gathered her feet beneath her and returned to the form of a golden dragon crushing the bodies of the Soulless that lay around her against the forcefully expanding walls. A great avalanche of stone shook the halls and took several of the charging and casting throng from their feet. She heard a muffled cry above the gasps she recognized as coming from Lord Hirpats, who she had seen at many of the Tower gatherings. Smiling, she engulfed the entire mass of attackers in a gout of broiling, golden flame. Their screams were quickly silenced as the flames and the men died.
   Outside the inner hold, FeyMoon could hear her mate battling the fortess, making mince meat of the castle garrison. Finally inside the throne room, she slowly entered the chamber, gazing left and right surveying the wreckage and searching for any remaining defenses. No one seemed to remain to defend the wily and conniving Lord Hirpats. He still sat upon his ash wood throne carved to resemble the ivy covered walls of his castle. He was whimpering like a small scared child as the great bulk of FeyMoon forced the doorway wider to fit her true form through the frame. He was a powerful Magus himself, a warrior-wizard, but knew he was no match for the mature dragon's abilities and spells. He had obviously never expected her to get this far. He could do little but await his fate, all his protections were in place, however he was well aware they could do little to keep her from exacting her vengence.
   FeyMoon felt privileged to be the one to reach him first. She hadn't cared whether she or TowerFriend had been the first to catch Lord Hirpats, but to be the one to stand before him was to decide his punishment for his treachery against the most honorable mortal she had ever known. Only her lifespan gave her the vantage to truly choose the proper penance for such a heinous act.
   "Death is too good a fate for one such as you. You have soiled the blood of the elves and the good of the Elderwood. Your lands are poisoned and your line has ended. By the deaths of the royal family, you have sealed the fate of you and your people forever. You will rue this day for all time as you sit upon that very throne and wish to undo your vile acts. I curse you to undeath. I curse all that serve you to serve you for all time. May the very trees, plants and animals of your lands turn against the living and despair. May the sea flood your fields and salt your lands. May every maid sing to remind you of your acts, may you and every warrior loyal to you remain in your land defending its twisted trees forever, never seeing the warming sun. Your true name, Lord Green Wall, will be forgotten. Your claim to anything noble is gone. All you have left is misery," intoned FeyMoon. At the last word the sun was obscured by clouds and the thunderous battle outside the walls abruptly ended. Instead, short pained cries rang out from myriad directions and cut off sharply. Lord Hirpats himself lost all color in front of her and slowly seemed to loose all animation, becoming as cold as the stone of the castle.
   FeyMoon calmly walked the abandoned halls out into the darkened courtyard where a puzzled Saranti stood in elven form watching the ivy of the walls wither and turn black. All around dead and comatose defenders, warriors and Magi lay spread all over the compound. Many wore the pained expressions of gas victims, others mirrored their lord's blank look. She could tell her curse had been effective and knew they would all suffer the treachery of their lord. Her expression told Saranti she would explain later as she also shifted into her elven body. They stood next to each other looking at the devastation they had caused, clasped hands without looking at one another, then blinked out of existence.

   They reappeared in FeyMoon's glade, but found the glade nearly empty. Arakin and FeyFriend were gone. Only a single sprite remained. She told the dragons what they quickly surmised from the smoke on the horizon. After they had disappeared, the TreeHeart had come under attack. Queen Arakin had awaited their return as long as she could, but had eventually convinced FeyFriend to take her to the battle. A host of sprites and other fey had joined them and marched or flown to enter the fray. The delay to the attack had not been planned. The two assaults were to have been simultaneous, but a miscommunication and the quick response of the Moonguard had split the timing. That allowed the dragons to believe the assassination was an isolated incident and caught Lord Green Wall without proper defenses.
   The gathered host FeyMoon and TowerFriend had believed to be spread out to defend the castle were in fact secreted in the forest. They had been hiding in key positions to converge on the town and march for the Tower. TreeHeart Tower held some of the most power Magi in the kingdom of Tell'Nath, but the forethought and creativity of Arogikur's enemies was not to be underestimated. They had trained several creatures who "sniffed" magic and whose armor deflected any spell and had hired a few bands of mage hunting mercenaries whose only purpose was to remain with the common soldiery and destroy any wizards who might begin decimating large numbers of the footsoldiers. Even dragonslayers had been imported from the west to kill FeyMoon and TowerFriend when they inevitably joined the battle.
   By the time the dragons had returned the combined host of several Lords had nearly reached TreeHeart Tower. The Moonguard and Queen Arakin were coordinating a defensive that was holding it's ground, but left much of the city in the hands of the invading force. The Tree of Life was also in friendly held territory but many defenders lay dead against it's trunk. The fey fought alongside the elves and died with them, FeyFriend had made several passes over the attackers spraying gouts of flame, but had been hit by poison tipped arrows from the dragonslayers and now clung to life near the Tree, tended by several of the royal healers, Tract Magus of the highest order.
   FeyMoon and TowerFriend quickly collected several items they had found or created to amplify their own power and nullify certain harmful attacks. Knowing the Tree and Tower would be the most heavily defended, they transported themselves there instantly. At the sight of her weakening son, FeyMoon raced to his side. Her own words of power joined the gathered healers to stop the poison's deadly effects. TowerFriend, no less concerned for his son, but less capable of helping the healers, turned to the hastily construsted defenses and the weary defenders. He reached out with his magic to several of the Tower Magi still alive and battling and sapped a tiny portion of their remaining strength. Added to his own, the power allowed him to cast one of the spells he and his mate had developed. A magical barrier that allowed nothing through it's solid side and only gas and energy through the opposite side. They had named it the one-sided wall. He caused it to engulf the entire friendly occupied territory centered on the Tree. Since the area inside the barrier was a perfect circle, some of the attackers were caught within the magic hemisphere and were quickly overcome by a renewed and hopeful pixie and elven host. They were dreadfully outnumbered and without proper equiptment. They had no way to hold out for reinforcements, who had been contacted, but needed time to arm and travel.
   FeyFriend slowly recovered. He would never see the true strength he had been destined to possess, but he would live and be a powerful dragon in his own right. He was able to rise upon all four feet and stumble a few steps away from the Tree. The elf and fey army looked to FeyMoon to save them. Even Queen Arakin stood before the dragoness and awaited the command to attack or surrender. Admittedly she had the most experience of the gathered group, but if not for the final secret of the Tree she would be at a total loss.
   Since the spirit of the Tree of Life had visited her in a dream centuries before, FeyMoon had wondered why she needed to know the secret words of power and the origin of her lair. Now she knew.