A different complexion on things.....

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 18260

The vision faded and Slith staggered into his long time friend and commander, Kang....

"Frozh...Fred....."Slith whispers quietly, and then the world fades away for the Sivaak.

Seconds later he finds a LOT of people gathered around him. From the feel of himself, he knows that his special Sivaak nature (somewhat altered from events of episode 16434) had automatically kicked in when he fainted from that Goddess given vision. Along with the ability to assume the form of a Silver dragon (all draconians of his corp gained that ability....assuming the form of the dragons who'd they'd descended from).

He'd been walking along with Kang, quietly discussing how he'd overheard complaints on the difficulty of replicating and manufacturing M16s (if not ammo) due to the still rather feeble manufacturing capabilities of Nantucket. Slith had noted earlier that the AK-47 was rather prevalent here (like back home now with the Draconians), and wondered why the Nantucket folks didn't just try to "replicate" them. The AK-47 was a wonderful weapon, and much less complex in constructing than the M-16! Well, anyway, while the starship Voyager was more than capable of supplying those (and other) materials with their matter replicators (and the "Star Fleeters" where of the good sort from what Slith had overheard, so were trusted), there was a real question on how long it would be before those wonderful machines surrendered to entropy. Right now the Voyager was in the process of "gearing down" to make their material last, creating less advanced (but still futuristic by 20th century stands) equivalent machinery, but it would be a race for a lot of things the Voyager had. See, the starship came down rather hard and such. Slith had also overheard that it was in large part due to that that the Voyager hadn't remained hidden and isolated from those of Nantucket, but more probing was needed.....

Slith was always curious by nature and loved a secret. Was a challenge to crack 'em.

Well, the vision had hit and now his body had morphed from humanoid dragon into that one elfin warrior woman he'd killed so long ago. The one who'd been trying to sneak in behind his army's lines to cause untold damage. The one who's form he'd taken upon her death and the one form he'd used to dance about once back with the boys to lift flagging moral. Yep, the one that had fooled that one Aurak general and gotten him.....er....interested in Slith, not knowing the true nature of the elfin woman before him. The one that had dragged for personal interrogation by that general before Slith could revert to his true form to straighten out the misunderstanding...... Yep, the one which had gotten him thrown into the stockade by that embarrassed general.....

Remorseful for the acts he'd committed in the name of his former goddess, he found it a fitting punishment to have a default form like this. Kept him straight and all that, he guessed, but.....

"Well, it beats reverting to dragon form," he whispers softly, turning back into his male Draconian form, "Could have killed a lot of people that way by crushing them beneath me, but....."

"It's embarrassing, you elfin cutie you!" Kang chuckled, causing Slith to blush a green tinge.

Slith groan, then blinked when he saw somebody he knew....but had never met before in the flesh. Oh, Queen Astra had mentioned him in passing when last they'd met (months before the wedding invitations had mysteriously appeared out of thin air....along with that blue box), but the Sivaak recognized Jarlath all the same. See, his special gift from his new Goddess (the one that Queen Astra had converted him and the other Draconians over to) was in play.

By now he'd gotten somewhat used to it....

It hadn't been nearly as insane as meeting that one reformed Green Dragon, Verden Leafglow......

That was a tale and a half, but to business.....

"Jarlath!" he gasps, "You're going to be facing more than a measly witch on this new quest of yours!"

Slith then proceeded to tell all, with impressions of the Dragon and of Frozh.

"While I sense no real evil in her," Slith added, "I know she's.....a child......"

Much like we were when we first hatched, Slith added sourly to himself, remembering the hateful things he'd been taught to believe.

He figured he'd been what you'd called "evil" back then, but.....damnit!.....he hadn't known better!

"This changes the complexion of what we're facing," sighs the Fred who haled from the world the adventurers were going.

The most he'd had to worry about, he'd figured, was learning enough (and forcing himself to like) all this stuff about Doctor Who to impress "his" Astra enough so her heart would be his. Turned out it hadn't been such a chore in forcing himself to like the Doctor (wonderful, brave man....and great show), and those fans of his named Betty and Ragan had been a goldmine of information. With Jarlath and the other magic users with him, he'd stomp all over the Witch of the White House and rescue Sir JH.

Now?

Now they faced a powerful, mysterious magic using dragon who was going to be guarded by powerful reptilian guards with the training of Dragonslayers.....and a possible Fred spirit still hanging about inside, prisoners within their former bodies.

Quiet a challenge, morally and strategically....

Add a factor that the draconian told about that one Fred being still resident, but not in control. According to one of the Synizns it appeared from Slith's description that there was a time limit on how long they'd have on trying to rescue the prisoner within that reptilian

"Put this on," Slith then said to him and the others, handing out some odd magical medallions, "Something I made up as a....er...hobby that I was going to show to the Nantucket Council in the trade talks after the wedding.

"It'll shield you from all magical detections," the draconian explained, "Otherwise....."

"Otherwise the dragon could perhaps home in on you and sweep you away," a female voice says from the side, "Next thing you know the draconian soldier you'll be facing could be a person you know?"

That was only if they were non-Champion, of course. The nature of the transformation looked to go all the way down to the Matrix according to Slith....

"Correct," Slith says, looking down at the mysterious Elder Champion known as Morgana, curious.

He'd only heard a small bit about this High Elf, including one rumor that she hid her face with a cloak so as to not stun everyone around her with her magically enhance beauty (the more magic the more beauty she had.....on Rifts Earth, he'd heard, she was....heartstopping!). He been invited for the same reason as she had, he'd heard. Inquirer (an avid role-player) was curious about meeting actual "AD&D" folks in the flesh.

That and she hoped to utilize the elfin woman's skills at tracking and such. There was this one woman named Betty Ragan she'd met who'd she'd like at her wedding.....

Beyond that, Slith knew little about this elfin woman.... At least she wasn't haughty and hostile to him like the elves of his world..

"Okay," Morgana nodded, sighing, "Well, I figure that we have a grand total of a day before it's too late for that one spirit. I have the magic that can help before that, but after.....?"

"You're talking about a wish spell?" Jarlath says from the side, remembering the last time he'd encountered it.

Hadn't worked out as Morgana had hoped the last time..... That kind of magic was....dangerous.

"Do we have a choice?" Morgana quipped, "Even if the Crystallic was still about, can't see you figuring out how to use it quickly enough to save the guy. Nodding to necessity (and wishing that could have talked a beleaguered Janeway into sparing a phasor or three), the adventurers soon arrive on their destination. They are armed as best they can be, with draconian magical medallions and a hope for the best.

Fred can't quiet squelch a feeling of satisfaction that that fake dragonslayer (his rival) had packed up and gone away after days of Fred and Astra being gone (apparently dead or worse due to magic).

  1. Bad enough that he'd only be a second husband to "his" Astra. He didn't want to have to share Astra with that former mutt as well!

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1/14/2002 1:59:44 PM

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