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Richard waited until she out of harm's way, then began to put his spell into effect. Richard usually traveled with several defensive spells enacted on his person, to ward off physical attacks, and several to ward off magical attacks. This was why rain didn't hit him, he was warded against most elements. He planned to use his defensive spells to absorb the charms on the door. It would cancel his out, but it should work anyway. Richard switched his flashlight to his right hand, left reaching out to press flat to the supposed wall. In a rather uncomfortable moment, the spells from the wall flashed red and white as they swarmed to his hand, then canceled out. He grimaced as they did, color draining from his face, but he showed no other sign of discomfort. "Well..." He breathed, hand going to cover his heart, then dropping to his side once he realized it was there. He cleared his throat, then spoke again. "We should be good now...just...hang on a moment." He said, setting his flashlight down so he could push the wall forward. There was a chinking noise, and then the wall slid to the side with a slight grinding noise. Picking up the light again, he smiled shakily, then strengthened it in case she would see it. "Normally, I would say ladies first, but in these circumstances, I would prefer you to allow me to go first Lady Crystal." He said, somewhat cheerfully. He was clearly excited despite anything else, and it was contagious.

Richard sort of looked at her in surprise, then smiled. "Yes...I suppose we will." He murmured, giving her a half hug with one arm, then starting forward, albeit at a slower pace. His spells had been enough to take the brunt of the blow, but he had still been hit with some of it. He surmised, and accurately, that the wall would have killed him if he had not been warded. Strong as he was, he was still just a man. "But as for your illusion talents, perhaps you could disguise ourselves, so we would not look so out of place on their streets. A talented magician would pick up on it, but I'm not planning to go meet any of the head house matrons." He said, already thinking about how he what things he would ask, what to record. ((Trouble ahead...*grins*))

Richard chuckled, being disguised as a rock striking him as funny for some reason. “Of course. I should have thought of that.” He said, aware of her next to him, unlike the usual absent mindedness he had with women. “Well, we will see some drow, so maybe then. It won’t hurt anything to be ourselves at first.” Then he chuckled again. “Unless of course, you wanted to go as rocks.” He noticed that columns were shaped out of the stone, holding the ceiling of the caves up. They were getting somewhere inhabited at least.

Richard smiled to himself. “I was only kidding mi’lady…invisible would draw more attention if caught.” He said softly, stopping when his flashlight went out. He let go of her for a moment, frowned down at the flashlight, and looked up when Crystal’s went out as well. “That’s odd…I had recharged these before I le-!!” His words were cut off by a sudden blast of magic, hitting his still recharging defenses and deflecting back to the caster. His large hand found hers immediately, dropping the useless flashlight in his haste. Thank God that had been aimed at me. Another blast from the same direction, and he guessed that it had bounced off the caster’s defenses as well. He didn’t let go of Crystal’s hand, as long as she was touching him she was defended by the same magic. He had not expected to be attacked without warning, and it shocked him for a few seconds, but he quickly regained composure. “Stay close…” He whispered to her, his mind picturing the cavern as he had seen it before the light had gone out. His concentration was not broken when he sensed a second blast of magic, this one from a different direction. Apparently, there were more than one. He looked at his mental picture, pieces of it missing, and guided Crystal towards a large stone, his free hand out to touch it. Yes, he was in the right spot. Carefully, he crept around it, pulling her after him gently but urgently. He couldn’t cast spells blindly, that would waste them for one, get them killed for another. He heard fast words in Drow, a language he was not fluent in yet, but he recognized spell casting when he heard it. What was he going to do? He couldn’t see…and Crystal was here, he couldn’t cast with reckless abandon as he had in his younger days. Richard hadn’t been in an actual fight for a couple of years. He frowned as he thought of this, disliking himself.

Lady Crystal was about to apologize when their lights went out. Her eyes went from hers to where Richard was, though she couldn't see anything in the dark. She jumped slightly when the first bolt of magic was shot and clung to Richard as he guided her behind the outcropping of rock.Quietly she paniced, everything she knew about defending herself had required her to either be at home where there were ample guards, wards, and so forth, or to be in an area where she could see the terrain just as well as the assailants and illusion her way out of it. But in this darkness where she couldn't see her own hand let alone who was casting at them the only illusions she could make would mearly be tricks of light. She had been working along that line of thought when the unfamiliar voice startled her and her "illusion" was let off early, filling the room with a flash of light bright enough to temporarily blind herself and Richard as well as the Drow.

((Though she believes it is an illusion, it's more along the lines of a Daylight spell made several times brighter, but only lasting a split second.))

Draze looked over at the one that touched his shoulder, and fallowed him. He fallowed them, and was silent for a long time. He wasn't sure what was going on but was a bit relieved to fin someone not trying to kill him, then the moment passed as he wondered why the hadn't.

"Why are they after you?" He managed to ask after awhile in silance.

Once a clear of that blasted room, Richard released the Drow without hesitation, quickly sliding the bag off his shoulder to his now free hand. “It’s alright Crystal…” He murmured absently, stopping to go through his bag. He found what he was looking for in the dark, a small, round, dark blue marble. It was an interesting object, cool to the touch and seemed to glow softly from within. He also produced another flashlight, smaller than the one he had dropped. Clicking it on, he blinked a few times in it’s candle like light. Everything was in too much focus; he couldn’t concentrate on recalling the foreign word. The glasses…I never took them off… He realized after a moment he was still holding Crystal’s hand, and looked at her, then blinked. She was a hell of a lot prettier than he had realized. He had seen her before in with his glasses on, but he had always been busy at those moments. You’re busy now. He colored slightly, offering a soft, “Forgive me…” while letting go of her hand to whip the glasses off in one deft movement, placing them in his breast pocket gracefully. The binding spell would not hold for long, and he knew it. Had he been able to make the proper motions it would have, but he hadn’t had the time. He took a few steps back toward the way they had came, then murmured something in a different, almost musical language that did not seem to fit him and dropped the marble. Backing up quickly, Richard watched the blue marble enlarge until it blocked the cavern entrance, and he repeated the word again to make it stop it’s growth. The tunnel felt very dry now, no longer damp. He marveled at such ingenuity, curious about it as always. Then, he turned around and gave the Drow a friendly smile. Not sure how well he would understand Common, Richard pieced together a few words in ((can’t remember if it was called something else…)) Drow, carefully and deliberately. “…We…not drow. Know…city is? Easy…way?” He said, decent enough accent for one who had learned it a few days ago. He then repeated himself in English, both for Crystal’s benefit and because it might also be understood by the Drow. “I seek a nearby lesser city. Perhaps you could tell us an easier route? I’d rather not run into any more sentries.” As if to punctuate the sentence, the blue ‘wall’ behind him lit up in the center, the Drow on the other side trying to melt it. Richard took this as his cue to press on. “Tell…and walk?” He asked in Drow, then, “We should be moving…I’m not sure how long that will hold for, I didn’t create or design it.” In English. He picked up his bag again, stopping near Crystal, looking down at her. “You are alright my Lady? That light assisted us quite a bit, I am very grateful you could do it.” It seemed he was already calm again, the charming, easy going Richard.

"Well we can't stay down here." He looked up.

He wondered who was a Drow, Human, or another race for that matter.

"We could go into the daylight." He stated.

His eyes still harmed by the bright rays that was thrown to deffend them from the other Drows.