The Blue Crystal Staff - found and lost

(Posted for Armageddon)

Anyone within 3 or 4 miles of Diesel's keep would have heard the screams of rage, the crashes as various items of great value were smashed against the cold stone walls.
" AAAHHHGGGGGGG, Where the hells has it gone.. I swear whoever has taken it will die a thousand skin flailing deaths "
Diesel searched the rooms, the courtyard, the outdoor market area, He had 12 people who he didnt like the look of beaten and then burnt at the stake as he tried to find out if there was a thief in the keep. There was nothing he could do, No mater how many he killed or tortured, no matter where he looked, the answer was unavoidable...
The Blue Crystal Staff had vanished.

Alone that night in his private chambers he pondered the possible outcomes, probably death, almost certainly massive amounts of pain. inevitable scarring to ensure he never forgot his failure. Most of all he felt shame at letting her down.

The room darkened and it felt to Diesel that the very air was being drawn from the room, the stone blocks of the south wall began to fall away and the mighty 5 headed dragon stood before him, magnificent in her awful terror and clearly not in a good mood.
Her voice entered diesels head, no other would hear her words. " You said you had it safe, you said it was your gift to me, to prove your loyalty. What am i to think when you offer me NOTHING. " the final word becoming a roar that almost drove him insane, such was its venom.
Diesel fell to his knees and offered the only thing he could. " My Queen. I have failed you, and failed myself. My honour is lost. I offer my life, as sacrifice for my failings. "
This was probably the only thing that saved his life.

" No Lord Diesel, you shall not die, at least not today. I have invested much in you and still have duties you can carry out. Stay here in the keep until I call for you. Be ready for when i call as the war is about to spread across the land. "
The image of the 5 headed dragon began to fade but a final whisper from Takhisis crept in to his head " I won't accept any more failings " with the whisper receeding from his head a strange purple glow appeared around Diesel, growing in brightness untill he looked like a human gemstone caught in bright light. Then the pain hit him. Searing, agonising, flesh burning pain. He fell to the floor for what felt like several minutes but was in fact no more than 5 or 6 seconds, and when the pain stopped it left him unconcious on the floor, his skin horribly burnt, his face scarred beyond recognition.

But alive . . . . .

*The scene pans back, up higher and higher, overlooking the landscape until it becomes a reflection in a large crystal ball.  Two Magi, one in red robes and the other in white finishing observing the scene.*

"So that was the last person to possess the Staff as far as you know Adana?" asked the woman in red.

"Yes," nods the woman in white, "the images from the ghosts, from that bard, Isteria, the tribeswoman Ember and Cateria, were very specific about this fortress and this High Lord.  He did have the Staff, Faylin."

"Not any longer it seems," laughs Faylin.