title: The Crimson Star

author: A fan

text:
   Never heard of it? Me either till I found it on
www.bn.com
.  I took a
chance and actually liked it. Tons of action, it reads fast,  and a
seemingly unstoppable 'hero' that actually has killed babies to steal
their power -_-.  Man, does he ever change tho, all the characters do
toward the end.  Speaking of the ending, well, lets just say it left me
wanting more. :\  intentionally I guess.  There are only a few chapters
on the site, they don't seem to do it justice, so here's more.  Hope you
enjoy as much as I did. Blah, it sucked typing this up. Oh yeah, you can
grab it for like $5 cheaper at this site linked from here.
http://crimsonstar.flights-of-fancy.net/
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                                            CHAPTER 1
                                             Adarm
     The pale, blue moon cast little light without her sister's support,
but it would have to be enough. He glanced nervously at his companion.
He looked like a flowing shadow. He was called Adarm the wicked, Adarm
the damned, Adarm the soulless and more colorful names by many others.
     "What does your magic sense, Malek?" His voice rattled the bones,
so cold. Inhuman almost.
     "Just a few guards . . . " Malek cringed as the shadow leapt
towards him.
     "Calm yourself. Would I have spared you, then bought your services,
only to kill you here?" Adarm's strange azure eyes glittered. The single
moon seemed to offer him plenty of light.
     "Sorry . . . it's just . . . " Malek shivered as he pictured
Adarm's attack on his home village a moon cycle ago.
                                              ***
      Malek had heard the screams and instantly grabbed his bow, before
climbing up onto his roof for a better view. He was not the best shot,
but it was his only weapon. One glance told him who was attacking, not
an enemy nation, nor a horde of slobbering gruggs, just this one man.
                                              ***
     " . . . there?" Adarm looked at him, one silver eyebrow raised.
     "P-Pardon?" Malek's mind snapped back into the here and now.
     "I asked if you could get in there?" He motioned towards the sentry
tower.
     "Yes."
     "Good. Get in and kill the guards."
     "What!? I could easily . . . "
     "Kill them!!! I cannot risk one of them recovering and raising the
alarm now can I?" He reached over his shoulders and drew forth his
swords. It only took a glance to show the swords to be unnatural.
It was hard to say why exactly, but they seemed filled with some strange
life of their own. Not to mention, as soon as they were drawn they began
to glow a soft blue. Malek stared into their bluish steel, visions of
the previous attack flowed back into his mind.
                                               ***
     Malek stood on his roof, bow in hand, jaw hanging slack as he
stared at the massacre taking place. Adarm walked straight down the main
road, his silver fire hair whipping about him, his body covered in
clothes that were darker than the darkest night. At first Malek had
wondered where the blood and meat was coming from. Adarm appeared to
have no arms! But then, as he came closer, Malek saw the truth.
     Adarm's arms were a blur! Moving in and out, darting this way and
that, moving so quickly they were nearly invisible. Men came running
from all directions, weapons in hand, war cries pouring forth, only to
be sliced into a hundred pieces as they came within reach of those
swords.
     Finally, Malek gained control of himself, drew his bow to his ear,
anchored, aimed and let fly. The arrow flew true! Only to be hacked into
splinters before it could reach Adarm. The burning eyes glanced up at
him, seemed to dare him. More men came forth, Malek waited till they
were close then let loose again. The men died, his arrow fared no
better.
     Malek strung another arrow, drew it back, and whispered a few Words
of Fire. When the arrow began to smoke, he released it.
     " . . . now?" That voice.
                                                 ***
     "W-What?"
     "Wake up little man!! Get your mind on your job, go now." He seemed
to flow to his feet, without a sound he moved off down the slight hill
towards the farthest of the two sentry towers. Even Malek's trained ears
heard nothing. With a slight grunt, he gained his feet and hurried
towards the sentry tower closest to him.
     A few Words of Hiding, a few Words of Quiet, and he was nearly
invisible and soundless. He reached the sentry tower, climbed the steps,
and stood face to face with a guard.
     "Coulda sworn I heard somethin'. Humm." With a shrug, the man
turned and went back to his partner. Malek breathed out a sigh of
relief. That was close!
     "Told ya you were hearin' things! I shou-" Malek ignored the rest
as he raked his brain for a few Words to work these two without killing
them. The Words of Sleep. What were they? Think think think!
     "Ah yes!" He blurted, then hurriedly covered his mouth. Stupid!!
     "Now that wa-" The guard trailed off mid-sentence as Malek hit them
with the Words. Both men fell flat to the floor. He walked to one of the
windows and gazed out at the other sentry tower.
     Blue fire seemed to be spilling out of the uppermost window. He
shook his head sadly, those men were not so lucky as these two had been.
Climbing back down the steps, he could picture that first meeting with
Adarm so clearly.
                                               ***
     The magiced arrow flew true again, as it came within reach it was
splintered by Adarm, just as Malek had hoped. A loud percussion filled
the night as the arrow exploded, covering Adarm with a sheet of liquid
flame. A man size pillar of fire brought light to the darkened streets.
Malek nodded, smiling. The pillar of flame moved. Moved towards him!
Malek just stared . . . all his Words forgotten as the fire began to
dim, revealing the man trapped in it. He was untouched! His glittering
eyes full of laughter.
     "That was impressive!" He had shouted. Malek shivered, his bow fell
useless from numb fingers. He could see that whatever power possessed
those swords, his Words would have no effect.
     The fire he had created was fading even now as it danced from one
of Adarm's swords to the other. Dancing around the man, but never
touching him. Actually, it seemed to be drawing INTO those swords.
     "You are the man I need." His arms suddenly appeared, hanging
motionless at his sides as he stood beneath Malek. "You are the Word
Mage I came here for." Malek watched the last sparks of his flame magic
vanish into the swords. Adarm calmly sheathed them, nodding.
     "I need your help to kill a creature so evil, so vile . . . what's
wrong?" Malek had grunted at the words. A creature more evil than this?
He looked pointedly at the slaughtered men, women and even children!
     "Those?" Adarm snorted, motioning towards the dead. "They would
have willingly given their energy to me if they had known my quest but I
find that most do not part willingly with their energy . . . foolish."
His cold gaze moved about the survivors. Many stood numb, as if in
shock. Some held weapons, brooms, whatever was at hand. None made a move
towards him. "The rest will be spared if you come with me. Will you come
down or must I come up?" Malek climbed quickly down.
     "Why do . . . what is . . . you murderer!!" Malek lashed out at the
man.
     "Now, now." Adarm caught his fists, holding them easily. "You will
come to understand as we travel." His gaze had turned stony, his grip
tightened. "Or you can join these others, and help me feed these cursed
swords." Then, as now, Malek had seen no other choice . . . well, none
that left him alive anyway.
     He tripped, falling hard onto the ground . . .
                                              ***
     At least it brought him back into the present. Quickly gaining his
feet, he shot a nervous glance at the approaching shadow before hurrying
towards the Palace gate. The shadow came closer, revealing Adarm and
those cursed swords. He moved silent as death beside the smaller man.
     Malek spared not a glance for his silent employer, choosing instead
to study the Palace before them. It was a fantastic place! Beautiful,
golden towers, with wide sweeping windows that were bordered by what
looked like gems and jewels of every size and shape. They glowed ever so
softly in the moonlight.
     The closer the Palace loomed, the more beautiful it became. Such
intricate golden etchings along its walls. Such amazingly detailed
engravings in the stones themselves, depicting beautiful and exotic men,
women, and animals. He was awed.
     "Don't let its outer beauty lull you into a false sense of
peacefulness, little man." Malek glared. Adarm smiled. "It's true.
Inside there is one of the most vile creatures you will ever meet." One
of his swords snaked upward, seemed to caress his cheek. Malek could see
the man shiver. "Yes, you damned twisted things, you will be well fed
tonight."
     Malek frowned as he watched the sword. It seemed to glow slightly
in response to those words. He looked back to the Palace, but already
his mind began to wander back to their journey. Who knew, maybe he
himself was still in some kind of shock, even after these few moons
worth of traveling.
                                             ***
     "They are a necessary evil." Adarm told him, as the man calmly
trailed one of the swords through some innocents' blood. "I'm after a
vile wraith, a demon if you will. What is the best way to defeat a demon
little man?"
     "With pray and good will?" Malek had retorted, disgusted by this
latest killing. These people had simply been in the wrong place, at the
wrong time.
     "Oh? HAHA!!!" The swords slid home, hiding in their sheaths,
seemingly glaring over Adarm's shoulders. Chuckling at Malek's words, he
began to move on. "No, a good thought, and a fine dream . . . but alas .
. . no." He frowned, a look of cold hatred filled him. "To kill the
beast, you must BECOME the beast. I will kill this abomination, and with
that act, my soul shall be redeemed and all these deaths will be
forgiven . . . "
     He cast a look of such hatred over his shoulder, that Malek spun in
that direction, a few Words of Defense on his lips. Nothing was there.
Then he realized Adarm had sent that glare at his own swords.
     "These damned blades are all that will kill the true Beast, but
wielding them comes at a price . . . a blood price." He looked up at the
stars. "Once this is over, and they have killed the Beast, then my soul
shall be redeemed and they shall vanish down the deepest, darkest pit I
can find." His eyes met Malek's confused stare. Malek quickly looked
elsewhere, unable to meet those cold, bottomless pits of shimmering
azure.
     "It was by-" A sharp pain in his gut.
                                          ***
     "Stay focused! I think that statue there is magiced."
Malek rubbed his stomach, frowned at the much bigger man, before looking
at the statue. It looked normal to him. He whispered a Word of Magic
Sight and took a stumbling step back. The statue was magiced all right.
Magic so black, so vile, so inhumanly evil radiated around it like some
dark cloud. He felt sick just seeing it the little that he did. Swirling
about its head . . . snaking along its stone arms.
     "As I thought." Adarm charged straight at it. As he came within ten
feet the statue burst into life. A strange, inhuman cry issued forth
from that stone mouth. It took a step forward, into the range of those
swords. There was a loud, sickening metal on stone noise, and then
shards of rock began flying about. A cloud of dust enveloped Adarm and
the statue. Malek stood transfixed, still reeling from the horror of
that magic.
     Soon, the noise of metal scraping stone ceased, and all that
remained was a cloud of dust. Adarm came walking through it, a disgusted
frown on his lips. He was mumbling to himself, Malek could hear only a
little of it
     " . . . damned swords . . . even that you feasted on . . . that
putrid . . . " He glanced at Malek. "You see what kind of creature we
face my little Word Mage? Does that Palace look so beautiful to you
now?"
     Malek glanced at the shimmering Palace. He was much closer now. He
frowned suddenly as the engravings and golden etchings became more
visible. He felt his stomach lurch threateningly as he finally saw
exactly what those drawings detailed, murder of the vilest sort and
couplings that were . . . beyond grotesque.
     "Does the . . . the Beast . . . here?" He managed.
     "Ha! Hardly . . . the true Beast I hunt is far more evil than this
creature."
     "Then why-"
     "This creature's energy! It will add far more power than a hundred
innocents!" Malek shivered as the swords' glow brightened, a sickish
corpse blue. "My little man, there are two types of blood that empower
these swords with greater strength than you could ever imagine. The
blood of the absolute innocent and the blood of a High demon." Malek
shivered at those words. The blood of the absolute innocent? The blood
of a baby!?
     "I see you understand."
     "You . . . you've killed newborns? Babies!?!"
     "The swords require strength to kill the Beast. The greater good
requires sacrifice. The dead understand that." We walked steadily
towards the drawbridge. "Bring it down."
     Wiping his mouth, Malek walked weak legged towards the bridge. A
few simple Words of Opening and they were in. Walking through the empty,
echoing halls, Malek kept his eyes glued on the strong back of Adarm. He
had glanced once at a picture lining the wall, and its horrific image
would be forever ingrained into his mind.
     "The swords sense no one here. No mortal anyway. Is that true?
Sometimes . . . " he reached over his shoulder to touch one of those
swords. "Sometimes the swords deceive." Malek frowned at that.
     "Can't be." Malek whispered the Words of Detection. "It is. There
are no humans in this Palace. I feel humans in the sentry towers to the
rear and sides, but none within the Palace itself. I wonder . . . " His
words trailed off as the giant, black wood doors swung open before them.
     He walked stiffly into the throne room, trying not to shake as a
chill, inhuman magic washed over him. Tasting him, touching him. He
noticed Adarm shivered slightly as well. They continued on into the
darkened chamber.
     Light suddenly flared up all around them, pale green light. Yellow
wisps fluttering around within it. An eerie, cloying mist began to rise
up from the very floor.
     "So you have come after all, sweet Adarm?" That voice! It was so
angelic Malek nearly wept. A woman came through the mist towards them.
She was the most perfect creature Malek had ever seen. She wore a
transparent green gown that covered her from neck to toe, but at the
same time hid nothing. Green hair framed a perfect, pale face. Her eyes
were large and soft, so innocent looking. Her lips, oh so full. To her
sides, creatures of purest nightmare stalked along with her.
     At one time they may have been hounds of some sort, but now they
were covered in black hair, spike tipped tentacles protruding out of
their backs, whipping at the air. Their jaws hung open to an amazing
degree, showing off the mighty fangs and lolling tongues. Their paws
looked like disfigured human hands with seven talon tipped fingers.
     "I have come for you wretch!!!" Adarm's voice was soft as he
stepped forward determinedly. "Your evil ends here . . . and with it,
your Master will lose a bit more of a foothold."
     "Shame on you." She tsk-tsked him. "My little Adarm is so grown up
now . . . and so handsome." She came towards them. Adarm brought his
swords into view, setting himself into a fighting stance. She turned a
pouty look on Malek . . . he nearly ran to her . . . wanting to hold her
. . . comfort her . . . kiss her.
     "How rude. He comes into MY home, unannounced, and then threatens
me with his little toys." She suddenly smiled. Her emerald eyes blazed
into Malek's. He could feel her rummaging through his mind.
     "Malek the Word Mage eh? I've been meaning to visit that little
village of yours for a few decades now . . . " Her hands traveled across
her body. Malek's eyes followed their course, unable to focus on
anything but those hands and the body under them. "Come over here
Malek." She purred. "I could share such . . . interesting . . . things
with you."
     Malek felt himself move toward her, unable to control his limbs.
     "I think not." Adarm stepped forward, clubbing the smaller man to
the ground. Malek moaned once, then all was darkness for him.
     "Fool!" She hissed, snake like fangs ripped out of her gums in a
small spray of blood.. "Even your little swords won't defeat me! Shaw,
Neaw! Get the Word Mage!" The demon hounds bounded toward the motionless
figure. She launched a ball of tumbling green flame so quickly, Adarm
barely managed to bring the swords forward to block the attack.
     Even while defending against it, the power was so great that he was
knocked off his feet, spun in the air to land face first on the hard
floor. Quick as lightning, she was on him. Teeth biting into his back,
what had once been fingers changed suddenly into claws digging into his
sides. He rolled and flipped and elbowed and head butted, all to no
avail. She would not be dislodged but he managed to stand.
     "Damn you beast!!! I'll kill you yet!" He felt her teeth trying to
gnaw through his night dark clothes, her claws trying to find an
opening.
     "Hisss!!" She stopped biting. "What type of foul clothing is this!"
Growling, she began to dig even harder with those talons. "You will BE
mine boy!" Adarm growled himself. If he died now, if he died without
killing the Beast . . . all that innocent blood would be on his hands .
. . he'd be damned in truth!
     Dropping the swords he reached over his back, grabbed that green
mane and pulled with all his might. She was lifted up over his head,
hissing and spitting out curses. He tried to fling her away, but with
supernatural speed and agility, she turned in the air, smashing her
elbow into his face. He reeled backward, falling to his knees, blood
spilling from his nose.
     Trying to blink away the bright spots of pain, he saw his swords!
He crawled quickly towards them . . . only to find his way blocked! He
stared at the perfect, shapely legs, his eyes traveled slowly upward
while his brain spun out plan after plan. Already he could feel his
strength waning. Gods . . . she really was beautiful.
     "Ah, now my little Adarm, what shall I do with you?" She tapped her
lip playfully, smirking down at him. "The Master will want you for
certain, He desperately wants your knowledge of the Crimson Star's
location. With what you know, and what I know . . . He must surely find
it."
     He lunged for the swords. Casually she kicked them behind her. Just
as casually punching him in the face twice, then as he fell she dropped
a knee onto his head. With a laugh she kicked him into the air. He spun
twice before landing on his back.
     His eyes stared at the ceiling, glazed but fighting for focus.
Stepping across him, she dropped suddenly, sitting on his chest. Her
long, taloned fingers caressed his face. She purred softly to him, until
those unfocused eyes began to focus on her.
     "What are you going to . . . ?" His words trailed off. The swords!
The damn cursed swords! He must have them! He NEEDED them. He could feel
them screaming out to him. He could feel their need! Their need, his
need, it was too much to bear.
     "Well, what I do with most men. I skin them alive, coat them in
some special oil that I have. The real fun begins after that." She
smiled. The chill from that smile nearly froze him. "You'll not enjoy
that I'm afraid." She leaned down, slowly licking the blood from his
upper lip. To his horror, it actually felt . . . good. She pulled back,
smiling.
     "No. The Master wants you. That is all He seeks. I will take you to
Him." Her hand reached down, began stroking him . . . everywhere. "You
will be my husband in this World. The Master wishes it, so shall it be
done. He will not let you go. You HAVE to know that. As you have hunted
Him out all these centuries, so too have YOU been hunted."
     Her softly glowing emerald eyes bore into his. He knew she spoke
the truth. Part of him wanted to accept. She was a beauty like no other.
Her soft caresses were not helping the matter, bringing sensations and
thoughts he had never experienced before. Adarm closed his eyes,
allowing the licks and touches to lull him.
     Malek came to his senses just in time to dodge under one of the
creature's paws while striking the other with a weak wall of flame. To
his amazement, it vaporized the strange dog into thin air. He turned
just as the other leapt at him. With a Word, the hound jumped through a
ring of liquid flame. It fell to the ground moaning and whining, its
strangely human eyes looking at him. Pleading for the end. He ended its
suffering with a quick fire bolt to its brain.
     Breathing deeply, struggling to stay on his knees, he turned to see
Adarm's predicament. His eyes widen at what he saw. Did he have enough
power to help? Should he? He laughed bitterly at that. He had no choice
BUT to help. Only Adam could defeat that demon. What had he called it? A
High demon? Well, whatever that was, Malek knew he could not defeat her.
So he would have to try and help as best he could. He glanced around at
the few lit candles and hoped their flames would be enough.
     She came to her feet slowly, a content smile on her face as she saw
Adarm accepting her attention. This would indeed be easy. Easier than
she had thought. She bent down again to run her hands over his rock hard
chest. He would be hers, just as the Master promised. Suddenly she
leaped to her feet, snarling as she felt the magic. She turned to face
the Word Mage. "What!?"
     Between her legs, Adarm saw Malek up on one knee behind her, a
spear of liquid fire shooting from his fingers. Adarm felt the legs
tense as the demon made ready to leap clear. For a split second he
debated on letting her, then his head cleared enough to allow him to
act. He grabbed those legs and held them with all his strength, even
though he knew he was weaker than she at the moment.
     She shot him a glare, her eyes living emerald fire. She was able to
kick free, but not quick enough!! As she jumped, the fire spear caught
her through the right hip, sending her spiraling across the room,
slamming heavily into some pillar.
      Gaining his feet on weakened legs, Adarm raced for his swords. He
could see the creature rolling on the floor, hissing and growling in
anger. Not pain . . . anger! He saw the swords and moved for them. Out
of the corner of his eye he saw her come to her feet, the fire consuming
her right half still, eating through her dress and meat as if it were
paper.
     He reached for the swords. A ball of green lightening shot towards
him. He grabbed the swords and spun to face the oncoming magic, just as
he saw her get rolled under by a large wall of red flame from the Word
Mage!
     He braced himself as the power flooded back into him. Not only from
the swords, but also from that deadly green bolt. For a moment all he
could see was that evil magic, pushing against the swords, trying to
beat him down, then what didn't get absorbed into him, passed by. He was
shivering slightly from the wave of new energy that filled him. With
renewed vigor, he moved towards the creature as it came to its feet. Her
clothes were gone now, her flesh smoking, there was nothing but hatred
and rage in those eyes. And power. Still plenty of power.
     "You'll be mine!! Then, the Word Mage will suffer!" She screamed in
rage as she charged him, her arms blurring in motion, long spears of
green power flickering from her fingers. He met her head on, his swords
cutting her shoulder, then her chest. He grunted in pain and surprise as
she struck him a hard blow to the stomach. They stood toe to toe, a blur
of motion surrounding them was a haze of green sparks and red blood.
     Malek tried to steady himself, tried to see her clearly. But his
vision was still fuzzy and his head still hurt. Finally he just sat down
and closed his eyes, willing his vision to clear. Whispering Words of
Regeneration and Healing. He could hear them fighting, the grunts, the
hisses, the constant whooshing sound of their limbs as they cut through
the air. It seemed to last for hours, and then there was a roar . . . a
gurgling roar. His eyes popped open in time to see the girl falling
back, blood spraying from her neck. A look of surprise in her eyes.
     "Now, creature . . . you die!" Adarm stepped forward. The girl
vanished in a red mist that sent chunks of her flying towards Malek. As
suddenly as that it was over. Adarm calmly sheathed his swords as he
came towards the sitting man.
     "Did you . . . get . . . "
     "Yes, all that she knew, all of her energy." He was bleeding from
numerous cuts on his face and hands, but his eyes blazed with new
knowledge and power. As Malek watched, the cuts were already healing.
"The Crimson Star is slowly revealing itself to me, soon, I will kill
the Beast, and it shall be mine, and these shall be gone." He looked
about at what was left of the High demon. He seemed almost . . . sad?
     "She was old, that one. Maybe the first High demon." He inspected
Malek, his eyes running over the smaller man. If he sees a bite or what
looks like a demon infected wound, he'll kill me. Malek did not know
where that thought came from, but he knew it was true. Finally, Adarm
nodded. Malek let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding
in.
     Turning on his heel Adarm walked back towards the doors. The light
was still in the room, but fading. The eerie aura like mist had vanished
with the demon's death.
     "Where is the payment I was promised?" Malek whispered. Adarm
stopped at the door, glancing over his shoulder.
     "Look around you. A king's gem in the wall over there. A greedy
baron's gold in that chest. An entire nation's wealth in emerald in that
small statue alone. It's all yours now." Before leaving the room he
plucked a large, black stone from the wall beside the door.
     "All except this. Even I need money occasionally." He left the
room, vanishing into the darkened hallway. His clothes making it
impossible to see which way he went. "But I'd be fast in gathering it if
I were you." His voice echoed strangely in the dark. "For one, there is
no telling when those remaining human guards will come here to see what
the noise was, if they come at all that is. More importantly, I'd be
more worried about one of His other servants coming. Her death was felt
and will not go unnoticed. He might have some demons on their way here
as we speak. Grab what you can and run. Fare well, little man."
                                      ***
     Malek waited on his knees for what seemed like an eternity,
listening. Only silence. Adarm was gone. He couldn't believe he had
lived through this! He spared a moment to study the bloody pile that had
once been a living creature. A demon he had heard of before. Tales of
her had been told in his village ever since he had moved there, he had
always assumed they were just that. Tales to frighten the young. Now he
began to wonder what OTHER stories were true.
     Gathering his remaining strength for the laborious task ahead of
him, he shook his head at the sights. There was a lot of wealth here,
and his village was in desperate need of wealth. No need for it to go to
waste. He whispered the Words of Strength, Hiding and Quiet, and then
went to work. Bagging all that he could.
     Even a small portion was more than he had ever dreamed to earn! But
he needed to think of his village. Taking off his dirty, bloody shirt,
he used it to gather everything he could. When he could absolutely carry
no more, he hurried from the damned place. In the back of his mind he
had a nagging worry of what this was all leading to.
     He felt like something of huge consequence had been set into
motion. The thoughts left as quickly as they came, buried at the joy of
his burden, and the thought of the look on his people's faces. So happy
was he and in such a rush, he did not even notice a single dark figure
watching him leave.
                                         CHAPTER 2
                       Cizdan
     He moved swiftly through the night, tendrils of green mist whipping
about him, striking out at any nearby mortal creature. Owls, wolves,
humans, a trail of dead bodies lay in his wake. He lifted higher into
the air, moving fast. A red eyed grugg looked up from its feast as he
shot towards it. With a startled hiss the grugg vanished back down into
its hole, by sheer luck moving just as a green tentacle of mist slapped
towards it.
     Normally the man, or more exactly what USED to be a man, would have
come back and slain the wretched creature, but not now. Now he moved
towards the Palace. He had to confirm for the Master what he already
knew. Sisbaen was dead.
     Green tears escaped from his flaming emerald eyes. Tears for
Sisbaen. His sister. His beloved sister.
     "Sissssbaennnn!!!!!" His roar sent a thunderclap throughout the
night. An unfortunate man who was out hunting night sloths heard the
roar and fell over dead. He lowered his flight path, crashing into the
forest. His sorrowful, rage filled howling echoed though the night.
Giant trees flew like twigs from his path . . . then he saw the Palace.
His sister's Palace. He froze.
     Around him the trees continued to break apart, shattering from the
smallest touch of that green mist. The green mist itself continued to
rage about him, smashing at the ground, striking upward at the sky, and
whipping about in mindless rage. It was his aura of power and at the
moment, he had no desire to try and control it.
     'Cizdan.' Her voice!! The mist fell instantly around him, his
flaming emerald eyes darted about, trying to find her.
     "Sisbaen? Is . . . Is it . . . ?"
     'Oh Cizdan. You little rat! Come here. Come see what I have found.'
The man turned, and to his shock, found himself looking at his sister as
she had been as a child. A perfect, beautiful little girl. Her green
hair spilling down her back, tangled from a days worth of rough housing,
her emerald eyes sparkled playfully as they looked into his.
     'Come on, it'll be gone soon!!' She reached for him. Numbly, tears
blurring his vision, Cizdan moved his hand toward hers.
                                              ***
     "What's wrong with you? Hurry up!" She grabbed his hand. Her little
hand totally engulfing his as he suddenly shrank down, meeting her
playful gaze straight on. Actually having to look up a little to see
those sparkling emerald eyes.
     "This way!" She took off running, pulling him along behind her. He
ran in silence, staring around him. This had been his home . . . their
home. Giant, gem encrusted trees lined their path. Diamonds, rubies,
cat's eye, all growing from the bark of the fabulous trees their
father's new friend had magiced for them. He looked about him dumbly as
he tried to gather his thoughts.
     "Just up there . . . past that cranky old tree." She let out a
giggle as she ran. He looked ahead, wondering what was there. "You'll
love this thing. Father's friend brought it!" She tugged him up to the
big old tree, then came to a sudden stop. He stumbled into her.
"Be quiet."
     She grabbed him around the shoulder, hugging him close. Slowly they
stepped around the tree, peeking out into the large clearing. In the
center of that clearing was a strange reddish lake, they had been warned
numerous times to stay away. A warning they ignored often. And now, in
the center of that lake . . .
     "What is it?" He whispered, his mouth agape.
     "Father's friend called it a sea gapper. I heard Father call it
some type of demon." She shrugged. "Isn't it beautiful though?" He
glanced up at her, frowning. She winked at him. "Look at it." Her little
hand tilted his head slightly, making him stare at the beast. "Just look
at it. It's so beautiful. You'll see."
     He slapped at her hand, but continued to look at the beast. It was
solid green, a strange, glittering green. Its scales seemed almost
transparent. It had fins, three tentacles where its tail should have
been and a large gaping mouth. It seemed like a big, dumb, ugly fish.
Its head was weird shaped, kind of like a fishes head, yet . . . not.
     It almost looked like any old fish. He flinched when he saw its
eyes. The fish beast was looking at him. Its eyes danced through the
colors of the rainbow, then into colors he had never seen before. The
colors danced and swirled and pulsed. He stepped out from behind the
tree to get a better view.
     "Beautiful isn't it?" Sisbaen walked past him, tugging at his green
hair gently. "Come on." She bravely walked right to the edge of that
small lake. He hesitated. She looked back at him, smiling.  "Scared?"
     "No!" He stalked towards her. He wasn't scared! They stood near the
water, gazing at the strange beast. Its eyes seemed to blaze even
brighter. The colors swirled, twisted, pulsed . . . beckoned him on. He
felt himself take a step forward. Its eyes pulsed faster, blinking
through colors faster than thought. He saw Sisbaen step past him into
knee deep water.
     Its eyes. They were so sad. He moved another step. It wanted help.
It needed them. It needed-
     "GET OUT OF THERE!" Cizdan jumped at the shout, spinning towards
the shore. Father's friend was there, his eyes flashing red.
     "Sisbaen, I think-" A splash. He looked at the creature. He saw the
tentacle just as it wrapped around his head, pulling him into the water.
     "CIZDAN!!" He heard his sister shout, then he was underwater. He
felt strong little hands grab his arm, trying to pull him free. He
pounded at the tentacle that held him. Together they fought at that
grasping limb, finally his head came out of the water. He could see the
beasts mouth gaping open, he could hear their Father's friend laughing
from the shoreline, he looked into Sisbaen's terrified eyes.
     It hit him suddenly. They were both going to die. No, he wouldn't
allow that.
     "Let me go." He stopped fighting the beast and grabbed her hands
instead. "Go. Save yourself." He tore her hands free and was jerked
towards the beast. Away from her. "I love you."
     "Cizdan!!!! Noooo-" Her words were cut off suddenly as the mouth
closed shut over him, he felt thousands of teeth begin to dig into his
flesh . . . he could see only the dark . . . the darkness and the
digging pain.
                                            ***
     "Arggghh!!!" He jumped away from the thorny tree he had been
touching. Wide, flaming emerald eyes flashed to the right and left. He
crouched down onto the ravaged ground, shaking violently. The green mist
surged up around him, surrounding him. He inhaled it, shivering slightly
as it caressed his naked body. "Memories." He whispered. His voice
sounded like wind through the leaves . . . soft . . . hissing. "Oh
Sisbaen. My poor beloved."
     He lifted himself slowly into the air, gently moving towards the
dark, deserted Palace. As he neared he could see the detailed work he
and Sisbaen had done. The beautiful etchings in gold. The smallest
detail that only her delicate hands had been able to carve. Near the
open gate was what remained of his golem. He lowered himself to the
ground, frowning.
     His burning eyes darted from one stone fragment to another. They
appeared to be sword cut. Impossible. What sword could-?
     "There was two of 'em." He jerked to his feet, green mist lashing
out. "Ack!! E-Easy now lord Cizdan . . . tis only Mor. Just little
servant Mor." He turned to face the cowering man. The man had been one
of Sisbaen's trusted servants. Short, fat, dirty blonde hair. Cizdan
snorted in disgust. Humans!
     "Who were they?" Cizdan floated nearer the whimpering man.
     "O-one I know. He is a famous Word Mage."
     "Did he kill her!?" Green tendrils moved threateningly towards Mor.
The man fell onto his face, shaking violently.
     "I . . . I don't know my Lord Cizdan . . . I came in just as he was
leaving."
     "And you did nothing to stop him?" His voice was menacing. "You let
him escape?"
     "I tried to stop him, but when he saw me he said something and
vanished. I tried Lord Cizdan . . . I tr-ACKKK!" A pale, cold hand
wrapped around Mor's throat, lifting him into the air. The man beat at
the hand holding him, kicked at Cizdan. It was like hitting stone.
     "Where did this Word Mage come from?" Mor's eyes bulged when he
looked at the ground falling beneath him.
     "Where!?" Cizdan shook him.
     "Gawk!!" Mor spit blood. Cizdan loosened his grip.
     "Where is he from Mor. Tell me and I'll release you."
     "He . . . " Mor coughed blood. " . . . he comes from Waterkeep."
     "Waterkeep eh?" Cizdan looked towards the east. From this height,
he could vaguely make out the village. "Waterkeep." He turned his
burning gaze back to the terrified man. "You served Sisbaen well, Mor.
As I promised. You are released." He opened his hand.
     "Thank . . . what!?!" The man stared at him stupidly as he fell.
Cizdan met his gaze all the way down. With a laugh, he lowered quickly
to the ground. What was left of Mor was spread out into an irregular
circle. Cizdan let the green mist roll around in it for a while before
walking into the empty Palace.
     He moved slowly through the hall, admiring his sister's detailed
paintings. The green tears began to spill again as he remembered her
painting him. Actually tying him up, and painting his face and arms. She
had laughed. He had raged at her.
     "Sisbaen." He whispered. The doors to her chamber were closed. The
mist pushed them open before him. He was in total darkness. Darkness and
pain!
                                           ***
     The pain was so intense. He could feel them biting into him. Those
teeth. Those hollow teeth. He could feel them sucking at him. Sucking
him dry.
     "Cizdan!" Her voice. So distant. "No!!" He felt something tugging
at his feet. A tongue? The air was so thick he could hardly breath!
Finally, a different kind of darkness came as he lost consciousness. The
pain went away. Strangely, darkness began to brighten. He was above the
strange beast. He was looking down at Sisbaen. She had found a stick
somewhere and was beating at the fish beast. He smiled down at her. She
was so beautiful.
     "Help me!!" She wailed. Father's friend laughed.
     "No!" He shouted back. Then those red eyes met Cizdan's. "He'll be
fine girl. Leave the Gapper its final meal. I'm sure Cizdan would
approve." He sneered at the boy. Cizdan shivered as he looked at that
man. A strange red haze seemed to hang about him. He looked down at his
sister. A beautiful green cloud hung about her. It was shimmering, as
innocent and good as Sisbaen herself.
     "NO!!" She cried desperately. Her stick beat at the gapper's head
continuously. "Don't leave me Cizdan! I can't live without you!!!"
     "Let me die! Run away!" He shouted. Sisbaen never even glanced up
at him. Their Father's friend did however. Glanced up at him and
laughed.
     "Do you truly wish to free him, girl?" The man stepped towards her.
The water bubbled and hissed around his legs. Cizdan tried to shout
another warning, but that red haze suddenly surrounded him. He struggled
against it as it pulled him back down towards the gapper.
     "More than anything!! Help me save him you big troll jerk!"
     "Anything?" He sneered up at Cizdan. Cizdan fought the haze, tried
to warn his sister, but then he was back in that darkness. Darkness and
pain. He shrieked out helplessly.
     "CIZDAN!!! Yes . . . YES!! Anything to save him! Just help me!"
     "So be it." The man laughed. The world turned red. The darkness,
the pain, all turned red. Then green. Green paintings. No . . .
paintings turned green by the mist. Turned green by his power.
                                                 ***
     Paintings in his sister's throne room. He stumbled over a large
crack in the floor. The mist caught him before he could hit the ground.
He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to focus.
     "Memories. So vivid here. I can feel her so-SISBAEN!!" He lurched
towards the bloody pile. "Nooo!" He began wailing, falling to his knees.
His inhuman cries shaking the walls around him. He dropped face first
into the bloody slop, clutching at it, trying to scoop it back into one
shape.
     His beautiful sister. So beautiful. Reduced to this mangled pile of
slush. He snagged a clump of long green hair. Holding the clump
delicately to his lips, his snake like tongue licked at the blood
gently. "Help me find him Sisbaen. Show me your murderer."
     'Cizdan.' Her ghostly voice echoed through the darkness. 'We will
be together forever now Cizdan . . . forever.' He cried out as what was
left of her flooded into him. Their shared memories. Memories of that
man killing them both along with the gapper in that reddish, forbidden
lake. Memories of that man laughing as he reformed their souls, reformed
their flesh, linking them with the gapper's escaping powers as well as
each other. Linking them to himself! They were no longer human. No
longer young.
                                                 ***
     "I am the Master now. You will both serve me well." He had laughed.
Memories of them wrapped in each other's arms, crying for days. Memories
of returning home, only to find their house destroyed, their parents
slaughtered. Their new Master hovering above it all, laughing like the
Devil thing He was. Telling them of the Crimson Star. Telling them how
He had found more of the knowledge He needed by slowly disemboweling
their parents and eating their bones. Cizdan and Sisbaen had fled, but
they were never free again.
     They clung to each other desperately every night, whispering words
of comfort, strength and love. Only to awaken every morning to find that
everyone in the village they had stayed in was dead. Slowly they came to
understand their new powers. They came to know what they were. For half
a century they had stayed away from their Master, then He came calling.
     "You have learned what you are. You have mastered your new powers.
Now it is time to serve me." They had fought Him savagely, believing in
themselves and their powers. But in the end, He stood over their broken
bodies. Laughing that insane, hollow laugh of His. "I AM the Master. Now
you will do as I say . . . or you will die."
     Two and a half centuries of servitude followed. They searched for
any knowledge of the Crimson Star. Anything at all. He was at the
Master's Keep when he had felt her die.
     "What?" The Master glared at him. "Was that Sisbaen?"
Even as fast as he traveled, Cizdan knew she was gone. Knew it. Felt it.
Now he was seeing it.
                                                 ***
     Seeing it, but more importantly, seeing WHO caused it. The man came
into view slowly. His strange black clothing. His silver fire hair. That
inhuman, azure stare. Those swords.
     "Adarm!" Cizdan hissed his hatred. "Adarm . . . " His voice seethed
with loathing.
     'Those swords . . . ' Sisbaen's gasping, ghostly whisper. ' . . .
they took . . . me . . .' Her voice faded away. Cizdan opened himself to
her gentle nudging. He felt her crawl into his being, crawl deep into
him. Into his mind, into his soul. 'I need the . . . rest . . . I need .
. . think . . . ' Her voice trailed off. He felt what little of her
spirit remained curl up inside of him, trembling slightly. There she lay
quiet as a mouse.
     "Don't worry Sisbaen. We'll get him." He floated to his feet, the
green mist filling the room, lashing at the walls angrily. His blazing
emerald eyes opened in surprise as he studied the mist, his aura. There
were small yellow wisps fluttering about in it! Those were traits of
Sisbaen's power, not his. "We truly are one now my beloved sister." His
eyes narrowed, green sparks of power jumped from his mouth as he
laughed. "We'll get him . . . oh yes . . . and when we do . . . "
     His laugh filled the night. Their combined power lapped hungrily at
the walls, straining outward, pushing at the old stone structure.
                                                  ***
     The remaining residents of Waterkeep had cleaned up as best they
could since that terrible night, however, here and there was evidence of
the slaughter. A burnt down shop. Gravel spots that tried to cover
certain large, dark stains on the ground. A large number of homeless
children running about the Church.
     The town's innocence was gone. Now there were dozens of armed men
and mercenaries prowling the streets, there were guard towers at the
north, east, and south ends of town. The western tower was under
construction.
     This is the scene Malek stumbled into. He seemed to appear
suddenly, falling flat on his face in front of the Mayor's town house. A
surprised alarm was raised, men swarmed towards him, brandishing swords
and crossbows.
     "Tis only the Word Mage." The word spread, the guards dispersed.
Malek rolled onto his back, panting. He had used every Word of Stealth,
Speed and Stamina he knew to reach home tonight and now he was
exhausted.
     "Where have you been?" The portly, balding Mayor looked down on
him. "It's been over a full moon cycle now! Where did that beast take
you?" He helped the smaller man to his feet.
     "Why . . . ?" He trailed off as he got a better look into Malek's
eyes. "Come. Rest. Have some of Mariam's sloth apple stew." Malek nodded
wordlessly, stumbling after the plump Mayor.
     After three helpings of Stew, Malek said a few Words and pulled a
bag out of thin air. It landed heavily on the table, which creaked
dangerously under the weight.
     "Here. I couldn't help that night . . . this should help now." He
spilled the contents of the bag. The Mayor's eyes bugged, his jaw
dropped open. Gems, gold, riches beyond his imagining were piled around
the table. A few gold coins clinked to the floor, where his children
caught them up and took off running. Normally he would have chased them
down, or ordered a guard to chase them down anyway. Now he ignored those
few coins as his eyes drank in the wealth.
     "This . . . this will be . . . " He was lost for words.
     "Will it help?" Malek smiled. He knew what lay on the table was
more than the entire village populace would make in a lifetime. "There
was more. I only had time to grab this though." Plus a little wealth for
myself, he thought.
     "This . . . This is . . . " The Mayor clapped Malek roughly on the
shoulder, lost for words. "So much good this will do." For the first
time in weeks, the Mayor smiled. Two days passed peacefully. Malek
helped the townspeople with his Words. The Mayor divided some of the new
found wealth among the citizens, kept a large chuck for himself, and
handed the rest to his city managers. After each pocketed what he
thought was his fair share, they began to plan for the future.
     The word for more mercenaries was sent. The call for more people.
Free housing to any family that came to stay. Free stores for any
business that was willing to move in. Waterkeep would be bigger than
ever.
     On the third day, as Malek stood on his roof watching the
townspeople below him, it struck. It started as a low rumble, then grew
into a loud crackling thunder. The few townspeople who were out that
late paused, looking nervously into the night. When nothing else was
heard, they went back about their business.
     From his roof top, Malek looked towards the West . . . towards the
Palace. The horizon glowed an eerie green. He whispered a Word of Magic
Sight.
     "By the Gods!!!" He nearly fell from his roof at what he saw. So
much raw power, yet at its center . . . something. Something that was
coming towards Waterkeep. With a curse, he leaped from the roof. Words
of Haste and Speed and he was off, running towards the oncoming thing.
Waterkeep was rebuilding, he would do what he could to spare it another
tragedy.
     He found a clearing a few miles from town, it was perfect. As the
alien power surged ever closer, he began whispering. Words of
Resistance, Strength, Stamina, Protection. He uttered nearly every
defensive Word he could think of. By the time he was through, the ground
around him seethed with power. Power radiated around him, purple hues
that filled the night. He tried not to think of his powers failure
against Adarm. Tried not to think of the raw wall of power coming
towards him. A wall of green.
     The first bit of that power rocketed into the clearing, swiping at
him with deadly intent. His Word magic flared up from the ground,
catching that deadly tentacle. The green power continued to move towards
him. Malek whispered another Word. The green thread was halted in its
forward movement. It pushed angrily at the purple barrier before
withdrawing. That single green tendril was soon joined by others, they
encircled him, poking at his purple barrier, pushing at it, testing him.
     Malek shuddered violently. Sweat rolled off of him in waves. He
could feel his strength weakening at each touch of that strange mist. He
dropped to his knees, straining to keep the barrier whole. Then they
were gone. As suddenly as that. Malek exhaled loudly.
     "Impressive . . . for a human." That voice. It was hauntingly
familiar. Dreading what he would see, Malek slowly raised his eyes up to
the creature before him. He gasped in shock. The man was nearly
identical to the woman Adarm had slain. He was slightly taller than she,
but his body was as slim and fragile looking as hers had been.
     His green hair wasn't nearly as long but even so, it hung well down
his back. His eyes burned such a bright emerald that Malek was seeing
their afterimage every time he blinked. The man's face, like the
woman's, radiated with a strange, unnatural beauty. His mouth was
twisted in a devilish looking sneer.
     "You see the resemblance? We were twins, my sister and I. Made even
more so by our Master's shaping hands." Malek stared at a yellow wisp.
It came through his purple barrier easily. As it hovered in front of his
eyes he could see its little face. Its eyes mocked him. The creature
stuck out a little tongue before darting away.
     "Drop that barrier Word Mage."
     "No."
     "Make me break through it and I'll kill you."
     "Ha! You'll probably k-kill me anyway." Laughing, the demon moved
towards him. The magic barrier brightened. Its purple coloring clashing
with the green shades rolling from that beast's power.
     "I . . . I don't think you can break through." Malek gained his
feet. "Else you would have." He froze as he felt something like ice
touch his calf. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he
looked down. A tiny, hair thin line of green was wrapping about his leg.
"Damn-" Was all he had time to whisper before his purple barrier
shattered around him. He was suddenly face to face with that demon.
     "Where is Adarm?" A delicate hand caressed Malek's cheek. When he
remained silent, the hand turned into a claw. The talons cut across his
forehead. Malek gasped in pain. Blood splattered onto that smiling
demon's face.
     "I don't know!! He never told me where he was going."
     "A pity for you." Talons cut into his cheek, moving slowly towards
his eye. Malek screamed.
     "I don't know!!! He was going after some demon!!! Something about a
Star . . . " He watched the ground drop below him. He knew he was being
lifted high into the night sky.
     "The Crimson Star?" The demon looked around, frowning. "You think
so, Sisbaen?" Malek glanced at him. He seemed to be having a
conversation with someone. "Yes . . . let's do that." His flaming
emerald eyes looked at Malek, his grin could have frozen fire. "This is
Sisbaen's good-bye kiss." He grabbed Malek by the ears and kissed him
deeply.
     The taste of centuries old dirt and rotten meat filled Malek's
mouth. He struggled, kicked, punched, then was falling. He fought for
the Words. Tried to think of them. His arms began to glow green. Green
flames erupted from his very pores. His flesh was on fire! He closed
himself to the pain and began to concentrate on the Words.
     From above, Cizdan watched the burning man fall into the trees. He
frowned slightly as he waited. No sounds of death? No large green
explosion of flame? He nodded. "Most impressive." He cocked his head,
listening to Sisbaen. "Yes . . . we'll get him later if we wish it.
First we need to warn the Master of Adarm's goal. After that, we SHALL
avenge you!"
     The demon shot upwards, higher and higher until all that could be
seen from the ground was a green dot. Soon it was gone. Malek lay in a
slightly indented pit, the grass and trees around him burning with an
eerie green flame. His eyes remained open long enough to watch the green
spark vanish. With that creature gone, he closed his eyes. His hair and
clothes and most of his flesh had burned away. Was still burning from
the sounds of it.
     He was wrapped in a purple cocoon. Whispering Words . . .
whispering Words into the darkness. Soon, the whispering stopped and the
darkness engulfed him. Painful, agonizing darkness. As he lay unmoving,
it felt like thousands of needle sharp teeth were chewing him up. Little
sparks of power danced along his skin. He could hear flame all around
him. In the darkness behind his closed eyelids, red points of light
seemed to be mocking him. Hollow laughter followed him down into the
blissful, unfeeling darkness. Unconsciousness claimed him at last.
                                          CHAPTER 3
                                            Mira
     Berfost. A large, sprawling city near the base of Craigmire's Peak.
Populated by nearly every friendly and some not so friendly, species
around. It was not uncommon to see sea ogres exchange greetings with
sand dulps. Wyverns squawking at passing air nimps. Air elementals
arguing with fire walkers. Even the rare fire elemental moving slowly
down the road. For all its cultural differences, its temperamental
populace remained peaceful. Disputes were settled in the Auditorium,
crowds of cheering citizens filling the grand, golden building to
overflowing.
     There had been a few fights to the death, but many were settled as
a clear winner stood over his beaten foe. It was a beautiful city. Its
streets were lined with flower trees. Red, purple, yellow . . . colors
beyond description. One in particular was sort of reddish, with radiant
hues of strange alien yellows. All the flower trees were in full bloom
all year round.
     Even in the dead of winter, with the soft cold white flakes
covering the ground, drifts in parts of the city actually covering the
trees, they still remained in full bloom. Their sweet, but not
overpowering scents filling the air. That was as it should be,
considering the high price the populous paid to Warik the Mage.
     He had become Berfost's City Mage. Keeping the flower trees in
bloom, the grass purple or green depending on which part of the city you
were in, the farm animals healthy, the wells full and clean. He kept
Berfost as near perfect as anyone could wish for. So, over the years,
Berfost had become what it was today . . . a peaceful, nearly perfect
city. Creatures mingled, partied, traded. Maybe it was perfect? Everyone
was happy. Almost everyone.
     In a darkened alley, directly across from The Elf Swan inn, a small
figure crouched behind a rather pungent barrel of slop. Her night vision
eyes focused on the inn door . . . waiting. There! The door banged open,
a large flabby man was pushed roughly out into the near empty street.
     "Hey . . . hic! . . . now . . . " He stumbled towards the large men
who now blocked the door. "I's more money in my . . . hic!! . . . pocket
. . . than you's . . . gonna . . . " His drunken voice trailed off as he
tried to steady himself. He weaved side to side in front of the smiling
men. "Now I's could . . . hic! . . . buy this . . . whole . . . "
     "Go home Mayor!" One of the men laughed. "Yer drunker than Ol' Biff
when he went off ta fight that mist dragon."
     "Yeah." The other man laughed. "And ye know what happened ta him!
Hawhawha!!" The two large men closed the door in the Mayor's face.
     "Now . . . hic! . . . I's know what . . . " The Mayor continued to
argue with the door for a full half hour before realizing the men were
gone. "Well!" He huffed. "I'll never dr- hic!-ink here again!! Humph!!!"
He spun on his heel, nearly falling on his face but somehow managed to
wobble off down the road. The shadow in the alley moved. She ran along
under the shops balconies until she was in front of the Mayor, where she
veered out into the road, glanced about quickly, then ran headlong
towards the weaving Mayor.
     " . . . so I told 'em . . . you can-OUghH!!!" He exhaled loudly
when she collided into him. He stumbled back, then frowned down at her.
     "Watch wer . . . " He squinted down at her. "Mira?" His face
brightened into a large grin. "Mira . . . let me help you . . . hic! . .
. up!" He grunted as he bent down to help the girl to her feet. "There
we go . . . let me get a look at you . . . " He stepped back, appraising
her.
     It was hard to tell how old she was. Late teens? Twenties? The
Mayor was not very tall, she was shorter still. She looked thin,
delicate . . . but any fool who assaulted her would find that looks are
deceiving. She had deep, red hair that usually tumbled loosely down her
back, tonight it was all pulled into a tight ponytail. Her face . . .
even dead drunk, the Mayor was shocked by her beauty. Her large,
brownish almost red eyes sparkled with a strange combination of mirth,
innocence, joy, knowledge. Stunning.
     For one of the very few times in the Mayor's life he wished he were
younger and still single. She seemed to read this in his eyes. She
smiled sweetly, lowering her gaze.
     "Ahh . . . if only . . . hic! . . . "
     "I think you should go home Mayor. I'm sure Eliza is a little
miffed at you by now." She reached up, tugging at his beard
meaningfully. "Weren't you supposed to be having that shaved tonight?"
She grinned at him.
     "Ah . . . wellllll . . . you s-hic!-ee . . . " He scratched at his
beard as he remembered his promise to his wife. "Hmmm . . . I gotta go!"
He tried to run off down the road.
     Mira giggled at the sight. He made it nearly to the end of the
block before crashing into a large shadow rwath. The creature stared
down at the man, its tiny orange eyes flared. Laughter filled the night.
Reaching down a large, stone like hand it helped the Mayor to his feet.
     "I'll lead you, Mayor." Its voice was surprisingly clear.
     "Why thank you . . . hic! . . . kind sir." They turned down the
next street, lost to Mira's vision. When they were gone, she pulled a
small leather pouch out from under her shirt. Using a small knife, she
cut away the knot to peer inside. Her eyes widened at the sight of all
that gold.
     "Silly Mayor . . . shouldn't have been walking around with all this
gold on you." She laughed as she tucked it back into a pouch under her
shirt. She could picture his face in the morning, trying to figure out
where his pouch had gone. Now that she had what she was after she was
off.
     Her red ponytail bounced as she jogged towards the Southern Gate.
Her gate to freedom! There were few humans or other daylight creatures
out this late, those that she passed watched her curiously. Some nodded
a familiar greeting, some grunted at her sourly, a few watched her with
lust filled eyes. Lust filled eyes only . . . no one would dare try for
her.
     If they tried to get her and failed, worse than death awaited.
There were few creatures she feared in Berfost, most of them resided in
the Northern sector of town. Only once in her life had she been
assaulted. He had been a nimp named LiteLoaf. In full daylight he had
trapped her in an alley, his hungry eyes devouring every inch of her
body left little doubt as to what he wanted. She had fought him bare
fisted for awhile, always faster and more powerful than he had been,
then he had pulled a knife. His remains were still buried under a marker
that read 'Thought too much with his short sword. Not enough with his
head.'
     The other nimps found that to be quite entertaining and visited the
grave often for a chuckle and drink.
     Mira glanced up at the stars as she jogged. There were still five
or six hours of darkness left. Perfect. She smiled. That'll give me
enough time to get far away from this place before father even realizes
I'm gone! She rounded a corner . . . there it was! The Southern Gate.
     Her pace slowed as she approached the large, ten foot thick gate.
At ten feet thick, the two city gates were the weakest points along the
entire wall. Berfost was surrounded by a fifty foot tall, thirty feet
thick stone wall. Over the course of centuries it had been attacked
dozens of times. No attack had ever penetrated into the city.
     "Mira!" One of the guards waved at her as she approached. "Trying
again mm?" He lifted his helmet visor, smiling at her. She grinned back
at him.
     "You know it, Deay." His grin widened, reveling his yellow, pointed
teeth. Deay was a half?breed. Human and something else. She couldn't
remember.
     "You know I have to turn ya away, Mira." His grin fell a little.
"At night there are only two things that open these gates, emergency,"
his eyes shifted about. "and gold."
     "I know." She pulled out the pouch, rattling it. "I have gold this
time Deay." She opened it. "How much?"
     "By law it's two hundred gold coins." His smile was gone. "Where
did you get that?"
     "It was a gift." She counted out the gold pieces. Deay frowned at
them, sighed, walked over to the guard house. Mira sifted through the
bag. Three hundred gold coins left, a few silvers. She tied it tightly
shut before hiding it under her shirt again. Mayor, what were you doing
carrying all that on you? She shook her head, laughing sadly. Eliza is
going to kill you!
     "Sure won't be the same here without you, Mira." Deay was walking
back to her. She could see a guard inside the guard house working the
gate levers. Soon, she heard a loud grinding sound coming from above.
The entire gate lurched out of the ground, slowly moving upward.
Deay lowered his visor as more guards joined him in front of the gate.
They drew their weapons and waited.
     By law, nothing was to be allowed in at night. A few times in the
past there had been creatures waiting just outside the gate, waiting for
victims. A few times these same creatures tried to rush into the city.
Despite herself, Mira shivered slightly. And I'm going out into this!?
Am I insane? No. No, I have to get out of here. He'll never let me go.
He'll never allow me to leave. I have to escape!!
     The gate creaked up just enough to let her pass. Again, at night,
those were the rules. Once in the past the gate had been nearly half way
open when the guards realized a black mist dragon was standing on the
other side, waiting for a little more space to storm into the city. That
had been close.
     "Well, hurry on Mira." She grinned at him.
     "Don't worry, I'll-"
     "INTRUDER!!!" The shout came from their right. They looked at the
gate as a tall, black cloaked figure slipped into the city. The guards
surged forward. Mira took a step back, drawing her dagger. The figure
reached up calmly, pulling down his hood. Pure white eyes stared out at
them. Strange, glowing tattoos covered his bare scalp. He opened his
cloak, revealing swords, knives, small crossbows. The man was a walking
armory. The guards came to a stop as one.
     "Damn!" Deay shouted at the man. "You almost gave me a heart
attack, Bulgrim!!" A small smile curved the lips of the large man. He
moved into the city . . . the guards seemed to forget the rules where
this man was involved. "Well Mira-" Deay looked behind him. "Mira!?!"
She was off and running.
     "Excuse me, gents." With a nod to the soldiers, Bulgrim was after
her. He shot by the men so quickly some didn't even see him move. Deay
stood scratching at his helmet for a moment, then shrugged.
     "Close the gates. She's not going anywhere tonight."
Mira was running hard. Weaving in and out of alleys. Dodging through
small walkways. Glancing over her shoulder frequently. Curse him!! How
did he-? She slammed into a solid wall, sending her tumbling to the
ground. She lay there dazed for a moment, then her blurred vision began
to clear. Two white eyes looked down on her. It was no wall she had run
into.
     "Grrraghh!!" She leapt to her feet, striking at the man. Fist,
fist, elbow a leg kick. He blocked or dodged them all. Smiling gently at
her as he did so. That smile infuriated her even more. Screaming her
rage she lashed out with everything she had. Knees, elbows, fists, feet.
Few connected, most were blocked or dodged completely.
     "Oh Mira, what have I told you-" he caught her fist "-about
fighting-" twisted at the hip, tossing her up and over his head "-with
thoughtless-" she slammed into a large garbage heap "-anger?" He
finished. She lay upside down in the garbage, glaring daggers at him. He
tilted his head slightly to meet her eyes.
     "Well?"
     "Not to." She growled. She flipped down onto her hands and knees.
Mira stood slowly, trying to wipe the rotten filth off of her.
     "How did you find me?" She grumbled, wiping furiously at the filth.
It just wouldn't come off!
     "Are you serious, child?" He towered over her, but his hand was
gentle as it picked clinging bits of trash from her hair. "Your father
knows where you are at all times." She swatted at his hand as she
stalked away. He followed beside her. "As soon as he knew where you were
going, he woke me. I waited outside to give you the benefit of the doubt
. . . I see I was mistaken."
     "Good old Bulgrim." She grumbled, glaring at him. "Faithful slave
keeper to the last!"
     "HA!! Slave keeper!" He grinned into her glare. "Teacher.
Philosopher. Body guard. Self Defense mentor. These things I proudly
call myself. But slave keeper?" He picked a large orange peel from her
shoulder. "You know better than that, child."
     "Stop calling me that!" She punched his arm. "I'm not a child
anymore Bulgrim!! Why won't he let me go?" He grabbed her suddenly. With
stunning ease he lifted her up onto his shoulders, carrying her like he
had when she was younger. She struggled on his shoulder for a moment,
then grinned. The view from up here!
     "Dear Mira. You are his daughter. He is your father. You will
always be a child to him. And to me I'm afraid." He tickled at her side.
A giggle escaped despite herself.
     "But I know you are a woman now, child. And I know you want to see
the world on your own." He sighed. "But what you just tried to do . . .
and all the other times you've tried to escape, tells your father that
you are still too young to go out there alone. Act like the woman you
are and he'll treat you that way. But you will always be his child. Now
hang on . . . I'm going to run."
     Mira held on for all she was worth, laughing as the wind whipped at
her hair. When Bulgrim ran . . . he RAN!
                                                   ***
     The sun was well into the sky when she finally came strolling down
the large, spiraling stairs. After getting home she had jumped into a
bath, then fell fast asleep in her soft, feather bed. Now, she came
slowly down the steps, again amazed at the beauty of her prison. Her
father had designed the windows ingeniously to capture and reflect the
sun light in dazzling colors that spread across the walls. They seemed
to be constantly shifting.
     She tugged at her dress nervously. Not only had she tried to run
away again, but these dresses made her very nervous. She was used to
riding trousers, or even leather armor pants . . . .dresses were not her
style. She could hear voices coming from inside the library, swiftly she
headed in the opposite direction.
     "Going somewhere, child?"
     "Bulgrim." She turned back to the library, walking slowly towards
the large man. "Who's in there with him?" She walked to the door,
leaning against it, listening intently. "Is that . . . OohFFF!!" The
door suddenly swung open, sending her sprawling into the library.
     "Ha! Well, that'll teach ya not ta listen in at the doors, eh
Mira?" The Mayor helped her to her feet. He looked terrible. His eyes
were swollen and red, and his beard was totally shaved. "Looks bad don't
it?" His hand scrapped across his newly bald chin. "Ah well . . . the
misses was a wee upset with me last night, so . . . " he shrugged.
     "Good day to ya, Mira." He moved out into the large dinning hall.
"Keep what I said secret, Warik. I'll find the thief without yer help,
and I certainly don't want the misses to find out. Deal?" Mira ducked
her head, hands fidgeting nervously behind her. Bulgrim frowned at her,
but remained silent.
     "Deal." Warik the Mage's voice echoed his scorn. The Mayor nodded,
smiled at Mira, and was off. To any that knew Warik, they knew also that
this was his normal tone of voice. He had always talked with a slight
smirk on his face, mocking in his voice. It was his way. He looked down
on no one, treated everyone equal, and was always there to lend a
helping hand. Yet he always seemed to be secretly laughing at, or
scorning everything around him. It still bothered Mira every time those
mocking brown eyes gazed at her, as they did now.
     "Almost made it that time."
     "Almost." She flopped down onto the nearest chair, hanging her leg
over the arm.
     "Mira." Her father scolded, walking towards the window. "Is that
anyway for a lady to sit?"
     "Ah, no . . . ahm." She mumbled, shrugging. Behind her, Bulgrim
grinned.
     "In a dress even." He sighed, shaking his head sadly.
     "What? Nothing's showing."
     "Mira, Mira." He shook his head. "What am I to do with you?"
     "Give me a horse and some money and let me go!!" She moved out of
the chair, hurrying to his side. "I want to see the world outside of
these walls. I want to experience adventure." She swooshed her arm
around, pretending it held a sword. "I want to meet a hero! See a
dragon! Fight against impossible odds! I want-"
     "Foolishness!" He grabbed her around the shoulders, pushing her
closer to the window. "Look at this! Look at the paradise I have made
for you. You want to see a living dragon? Fine." He walked towards a
large chest. "I'll cast a taming spell on one and bring it into the city
park for you and the other children."
     "Gra!!!" Mira flung her hands into the air. "I'm not a child! I
don't want to see one of your tame dragons! I want to see a living,
flesh hungering beast! I want to stand before it, taunt it, fight it!!"
She again began swishing her pretend sword in the air.
     "Fight a dragon, eh Mira? Then . . . CATCH!!!" He spun towards her,
a blue ball shooting at her from his fingers.
     "Eighh!!" Mira covered her head, trying to dodge. The ball hit her
squarely in the chest, dousing her with liquid. Cold liquid. She held
her arms, shivering slightly.
     "HA!! Fight a dragon indeed. Humph!" He clasped his hands behind
his back, stalking towards her. "You WILL learn what I have to teach you
before you leave Berfost. It might take a century or two . . . but you
WILL LEARN!" He stood before her, peering down into her sad face.
     "But-"
     "But nothing! You are all that I have, daughter. Without you . . .
none of this would matter anymore." He motioned out the window. "I've
done all of this so you could have a safe place to grow and mature. To
learn how to control your Mageborn powers." He pulled her into him,
hugging her hard. "I love you more than anything! You can go someday,
with my blessing, my love and my wealth." He held her at arms length,
studying her eyes. "But not yet. You are still a child, with much
learning to do. Do you understand?"
     She nodded, however, she was unable to mask the doubt in her eyes.
     "Now run along, I'll be expecting you later tonight to begin your
second lessons." With a quick nod she was off, running past Bulgrim,
through the door, then up the steps. He sighed sadly as he listened to
her thumping up the stairs.
     "Think she'll try again?" He asked, turning back to look out the
window.
     "You know it." Bulgrim replied, walking towards his old friend.
"She is full of innocent longings. She wants nothing more to do with
this city. Her heart urges her on, her head tries to keep her here."
     "In the end . . . the heart usually wins." Warik laughed. "What am
I to do, Bulgrim? She must learn all that she can, my time here grows
shorter by the day."
     "Are you ill?" He hurried over to the old Mage, studying him
closely.
     "I am fine." Warik walked over to a large, iron wrought chest.
After unwrapping the trap spells, undoing the secret locks, the chest
popped open.
     "This is what limits my time here." Warik reached into the chest,
drawing out a small, red book. "They are coming for it. I don't know
when, or how," he sighed. "just that they are." He handed it to the
bigger man.
     "What . . . ?" Bulgrim seemed to feel the weight of the world in
that book. He nearly tossed it out the window. Turning it in his hands,
he saw the thin golden wire that spelled out the book title. 'Crimson
Star: Ar'Abba's search'
     "I thought this was lost. Or legend." Bulgrim whispered. The book
was highly sought after by nearly every treasure hunter, merchant, king,
librarian . . . everyone who knew of the Crimson Star. There were
millions of gold coins offered in reward for this one book. Kingdoms!
Immortal queens would become a slave to the man that owned this! This
book he held in his trembling hand. It supposedly-
     "No 'supposedly' about it my friend." Warik caught part of
Bulgrim's thoughts. "It is THE book. Supposedly telling Ar'Abba's tale.
His search for that damned Star. Where he had searched. What he had
discovered on the searches. Ideas on what it was. How to use it. In the
end, where he finally believed it to be. Unlike nearly every other book
on the Crimson Star . . . this one is fact."
     "Wh-"
     "Don't ask me what it says." Warik smiled. "I have never been able
to read it. It's some kind of . . . spell?" The old Mage shrugged.
"Something protects its words. Until now, no one alive knew that I had
it."
     "Until now?" Bulgrim repeated, still staring at the book.
"Now Something knows. It has been searching for me for the last few
years. I felt that I was always on the cusp of Its awareness, but It
never focused totally on me for some reason. I could never fathom it.
Was I good at hiding? Did my spells block Its sight? Well, none of that
matters now. Now my time is limited. I'm sure It now knows where I am."
     "Who . . . ? How . . . ?" Bulgrim shuddered, handing the book back
to Warik.
     "No." He stepped back, shaking his head. "Keep it well hidden on
you, it will be safer. Who found me? Not a who my friend, a WHAT. A
demon. Not just any demon, but THE demon. I know not His true name, or
His origin but He is powerful. The entire Spectrum of Magic quaked when
He came into this world centuries ago. He has only grown stronger
since."
     "How did He discover I possessed this book? I have a suspicion His
lackeys are everywhere among the living and the dead." He looked out the
window again. His shoulders sagged. "Or maybe He knew all along, despite
my efforts. I can not describe to you what this Thing feels like to me.
Vast. So vast."
     "He knows who I am. What I am. Where I live. Soon, He will come for
me. Could be tonight, could be tomorrow . . . maybe even a century from
now. But He WILL come. When He does, I want Mira to be as well learned
as she can. She needs what I know. She must have full control of her
power in the outside world. I shudder to think of what would happen if
she didn't."
     "I'll go to her shortly." Bulgrim whispered, hiding the book among
his weapons. "It's nearly time for her daily arms lesson. Until then . .
. " he pulled a large bottle of Drakish Wine from under his robe. " . .
. let's think of the days gone by. The good old days."
                                               ***
     "How's this?" Mira asked, holding the spinning blade towards
Bulgrim. It was a strange, difficult dagger technique he was trying to
teach her. Surprisingly, to herself anyway, Mira was learning it. It had
been nearly three moon cycles since her last escape attempt. Or months
as her father insisted. 'Months, not moon cycles!' Since then, Bulgrim
had been teaching her weaponry and fighting during the daylight hours.
While at night she was learning how to use her Mageborn talents with her
father.
     This had been her entire life, so she was used to it. Though,
lately, her father was pushing her even harder at night. 'Won't be here
forever.' He said often. Her thoughts were interrupted by a clanking
sound. Startled, she realized the dagger had flown from her hand.
     "Lost your concentration, eh child?" Bulgrim stared at the dropped
dagger. "Well, we'll just-" He froze as a terrible scream ripped through
the night.
     "Father!" Mira shot out into the hall, racing towards Warik's
chamber. A blur sped past her. Bulgrim. Warik's door burst open as
Bulgrim charged through it. Mira was just a few moments behind. When she
entered the room, she slid to a stop. A small scream escaped her lips as
she looked at her father.
     Warik was surrounded by his power, its rainbow colors nearly
blinding her. His night shirt was torn to shreds, his left arm hung
limply. Not limply like it was broken either . . . it seemed like there
were no bones in it at all! To her horror, the arm flapped gently from a
strong gust of wind, exposing a large tear in the flesh from his
shoulder to his wrist. She was right, the bones were gone. Blood flowed
everywhere.
     "Be gone!!" She heard Bulgrim growl. "I'll kill you if you touch
him again." She suddenly became aware of the others in the room. A thin,
fragile man stood, totally naked, smiling at them. His emerald eyes
burned so brightly she had to look away. A strange green mist seemed to
slither around his body, pulsing silently. An aura? Now and then she
swore there was some type of yellow things darting about in that mist,
but she couldn't be sure. A step behind him, she felt her heart skip a
beat as she looked at the other . . . man?
     He was tall . . . bigger even than Bulgrim. Jet black hair flowed
from his scalp, nearly touching the ground behind him. Like the strange,
emerald eyed man, he was totally naked. But so different. His body was
hairless, and disturbingly featureless. The emerald eyed man was a MAN.
You could see his underlining muscle tone. Down below . . . well . . .
he was a man. But this other stranger. His body was featureless.
     No muscle, no genitals, no nipples, no hair but that on his head.
It looked like human skin stretched over a metal, human shaped barrel.
She let out a cry as she saw what he was holding in his hands. The
perfectly intact bones of an arm. A left arm. Smiling, he lifted it to
his mouth. A sickening crunching sound filled the silence as he bit
down.
     "Ahhh . . . " He swallowed. Smiled. "Welcome little one." His
crimson eyes burned into her. His voice chilled her. His voice was
strange, hollow sounding, or echo like, something very inhuman. He
swallowed the skeleton arm. "When I'm done with you, your father here
will be more than happy to tell me-"
     "NO!!" Warik lurched towards the inhuman creature. A bolt of solid
blue knocked the thing off its feet. The emerald eyed man hissed,
spinning towards Warik. That mist leaped towards her father. Bulgrim
moved. He was on the man in a flash. Knives, swords, small axes. Bulgrim
cut, hacked, stabbed the man a hundred times before the other could
react. Laughing, the naked man leapt away from Bulgrim, splattering
blood across the room.
     "Clumsy attack." He hissed, landing cat like on his feet. Mira
tossed her dagger. He swatted it away with a hand that became a claw in
an instant. Never once did his eyes leave Bulgrim. "You missed every
vital!" A growl rumbled deep in his throat. "I won't!" The green mist
gathered about him as he prepared to attack.
     "Here!" Bulgrim shoved a small pouch into Mira's hand. "This is
what they want!" He shoved her out the door as the emerald eyed man
pounced. "RUN!!!!!"
     "The book!!" She heard the other creature roar. "Ignore that human
and get the book!" Hissing, the man glanced at her. Bulgrim pounded him
with his elbow while shoving a dagger into his gut. Mira was lost. Book?
What book??
     "RUN DAMMIT!!" Mira ran. She took the steps five at a time. Behind
her, she could hear all hell breaking loose. Screams and roars, bolts of
power. The entire house was shaking to its foundation. As she reached
the door she heard her father.
     "Run Mira!! Don't look back!" She ran harder, tears streaming down
her cheeks. As the fighting continued behind her she ran. Out into the
street she went, pushing passed a few gawkers. She ran till she couldn't
hear the battle any longer and tried not to look back.
                                             ***
     After a long, heated battle, the combatants paused, eyeing each
other from across the destroyed room. Warik was on his knees, bloodied,
battered, but still powerful. Bulgrim stood beside him, bleeding from
numerous cuts. He held an axe in his left had, a light crossbow in the
right. Cizdan dripped blood, but his wounds were already healing. The
red-eyed man stood unscathed. He laughed deeply.
     "You are more powerful than I thought." His red eyes narrowed. "But
you cannot win. Join me. Call her back, give me the book, and I'll spare
all of your lives. Can't you feel my power? You know you do not stand a
chance."
     "Right." Warik stayed on his knees, smirking. "What kind of life
would we live then, eh?"
     "Why, you'd live forever . . . as my servants of course, but tell
me if my slave Cizdan here regrets his choice?"
     As one, Bulgrim and Warik looked at Cizdan. His emerald eyes
blazed, a strange smile curved his lips, a giggle escaped him. He seemed
to be listening to someone they could not see.
     "Poor creature." Warik whispered. "He is insane!" Sharing a knowing
look with Bulgrim, who nodded stiffly, Warik came to his feet. "No. Our
fight ends here, Demon."
     "So be it." The Demon shook Its head. "Now you will both die. If
only-" He lashed out at them suddenly. His sickly red magic surrounding
them. "Get the book now!" Cizdan lifted off his feet, laughing as he
slammed face first through the nearest wall.
      "NO!" Warik slashed at the red surrounding them with his own
power, opening a large hole. "Protect Mira!!" Bulgrim was through the
closing hole and out the window before the Demon could react.
     "Now YOU die, Demon." Warik began gathering his power. Every scrape
he could find. His eyes blazed with swirling colors. All his magical
possessions began to glow as he absorbed their power.
     "One of us will die." The Demon laughed. "Alas, I fear, it will not
be Me." That sickly red power erupted around him, turning everything to
red. The Demon's mouth opened wide as It began to laugh. The very earth
around them shook at the Demon's hollow, mocking laughter.
     "DIE!!!" Warik released all his Mageborn power with a single blast
. . .
                                                   ***
     Mira was still running. She was near the gate now. So close. She
could hear a rumbling from behind her. She sobbed with worry. Her father
was powerful, but that creature . . . that crimson eyed demon was like
nothing she had ever seen or read about. She rounded a corner. There was
that other creature again! Impossible!! Before she could react, he
landed on top of her. She lay on the ground struggling.
     "Get off me!!" She tried to grab for one of her daggers. No good.
She tried to draw on that power her father had shown her. Nothing. In
her panic and fear, it was like trying to grab air.
     "Give me the book." One taloned hand began to search her. She
grunted when he scratched at her stomach. "Give me the-" He lifted off
her, frowning. "But the Master said-" His emerald eyes narrowed. He
nodded his head. "Yes that's true . . . but . . . " He nodded again.
Shrugged. "If you think so." He floated higher into the air. "Right . .
. right. What would I do without you?" His emerald eyes met Mira's. "We
have decided to let you go. We think the-" His eyes widened. "MASTER!!"
The sky suddenly filled with light! Mira jumped to her feet, straining
to see. The entire sky was blinding white. Over the roofs of the tallest
buildings, a dull blue ball was rising slowly into the sky. What was . .
. ?
     The sound of a massive explosion forced her to cover her ears. A
searing hot wind slammed her to the ground. Cizdan surrounded himself
with his power as he rocketed headfirst into the searing heat, towards
that dull blue orb. Mira curled into a protective ball to try to hide
from that hot wind . . . then it was over her, moving outward. She got
to her knees, staring in shock at the strange swirling colors that
followed the blue orb into the sky.
     "Come on!" She was pulled roughly to her feet. "Run child . . . we
must escape this place!" Bulgrim scooped her up over his head and ran.
Screaming, panic filled people and creatures rushed out into the
streets. Mira watched it all though a haze of confusion. She had this
feeling of dread. Her father. Somehow this was his doing.
     She paid little attention to the people now. Even as the gate was
opened allowing her the first moment into the outside world . . . she
was lost to it all. Watching that still rising cloud of colors, she knew
her father had been involved. She knew it was him. She prayed he had
survived. It was too much to think of . . . if . . . if he had died . .
. if he was . . . she let all thoughts leave her and pulled at the power
her father had shown her. She needed to sleep. She needed to dream. She
needed to gather her thoughts. She needed . . . Mira was out. The power
had come to her at last, putting her into a deep, healing sleep.
     Running out into the strangely bright night, Bulgrim felt a single
tear fall from his eye. He hoped what was rising behind him was not what
he thought it was. But as he ran, he started to see flower petals from
the trees lining the road. The flowers were wilting, beginning to fall
from the trees as he ran passed. That could mean only one thing . . .
Warik the Mage was gone.
     Without him, Berfost would no longer be the same, no longer be the
paradise it once was, cows would sicken, the water would turn bad, but
worst of all, and the greatest loss of all in Bulgrim's eyes, was the
unconscious weight he now carried over his shoulder. Her peaceful,
sheltered, loving childhood was over. Mira would now have to become the
adventurer she had dreamed about.
     Bulgrim shed another tear for that loss of innocence as he ran.
Soon, Berfost was just a dot on the horizon behind them. A thing of the
past.
                                             CHAPTER 4
                                              Shota
     She stalked slowly towards the stench. Her grugg sense of smell
having picked it up from miles away. Smelt like tasty, roasted meat. Her
stomach growled hungrily. It had been days since her last meal and she
was VERY hungry. She padded to a stop. Sniff. Sniff. That's human meat
roasting. A growl escaped her as she turned to leave. She had tried
Human meat once, it did not taste very good.
     "Oooo . . . mmmm . . . ?" She froze.
     "H-hel . . . hello?" It was a man. "Som . . . someone there?"
Her grugg half was screaming for retreat . . . but her human half was
curious. There was a moment of indecision . . . grunting she turned back
towards the smell and voice of the burning man. A dirty, clawed hand
moved aside some brush, allowing her to peek into the smoldering
clearing. There was a burnt, steaming pile laying in the sun.
     "Help . . . me . . . " The voice came from it. "Who . . . you . .
."
     "Shota." She jumped at the sound of her own voice, it had been long
since she last spoke human. Her voice was much deeper than she
remembered.
     "Malek . . . my name is . . . Mal . . . ek . . . " He was still.
     "You dead?" She whispered. No answer. Poking her head out a little
farther, she peered around the clearing. It was no natural clearing of
course, it was a freshly burned clearing. She looked at the man again.
It was burned because of him. She was sure. She sniffed the air. A few
animals were about, but none that she feared.
     Malek. He had called himself Malek. Shota moved cautiously towards
him. He was breathing, but not moving otherwise. Casting about for any
signs of danger, eyes and nose working furiously, she knelt beside him.
The smell was awful, he was a mass of burned flesh. Shota poked him with
a claw. His skin burst open easily, spilling steaming blood onto her
hand. She licked it off curiously. Magic. This was a Magic Man.
Growling, she backed away.
     "W . . . wait." He was awake again. Shota stopped moving. It was
not a good idea to displease a Magic Man. No matter what shape he was
in. "Please . . . please help . . . "
     "Grrrr . . . " What to do? She moved to his side again, eyeing the
Magic Man. He was burned badly. In some places his flesh was gone nearly
to the bone . . . yet . . . he WAS a Magic Man. She had been told even
at their weakest they could call down death.
     "I need to be . . . in . . . water . . . " His right eye cracked
open. It was brunt red . . . with a pale green pupil. "Sahrra? Is . . .
is that you Sahrra?? I . . . I . . . " He was quiet again.
     Shota scratched at her head. Pesky bugs. Picking one out she
crushed it before flicking it away. What was she to do? He wanted water.
She sniffed at the air. The only water she knew of for sure was the
stream she had crossed earlier.
     Eyeing the burnt man . . . she grabbed him around the waist and
hoisted him to her shoulder. He was no heavier than some of the deer she
had carried around, but his flesh peeled away under her fingers. This
would be a tricky run. Glancing about the clearing one final time, she
started running for the creek. The Magic Man began to moan, as if
dreaming. Or, she hoped, dying.
                                                  ***
     "Are you alright?"
     "Hmmm? What was that?"
     "Oh Malek." Sahrra giggled. "Lost in your books again huh?"
     "Yeah." A small grin. "Sorry." He closed the large book. "What did
you need?"
     "Nothing. I was just wondering if my dashingly handsome husband was
still alive." She exaggerated a heavy, lonely sigh. "Or if I had to seek
out another." Sahrra walked into his den. She was the most ravishing
woman in Dower as far as Malek was concerned. Long, midnight dark hair.
Not bone thin like the young ones were trying to be, but not portly like
the Mayor's wife either. She was perfect. Bright hazel eyes that
sparkled with part intelligence, part mischief. She smiled under his
wandering eyes.
     "And what are you thinking about now, Mr. 'I Wanna be a Word
Mage'?"
     "Ha . . . just how lucky I am. You know . . . " He looked around
his Den.
     "What's wrong?" Sahrra frowned at his expression.
     "Why is the ground . . . why is the ground shaking?"
                                               ***
     "Sahrra . . . shaking . . . " The burnt Magic Man was mumbling.
Shota reached around and slapped at his face.
     "Water. Soon." She growled when he didn't reply. Then she growled
at the sky. Curse the Devil that sent her this way. If only she had
traveled towards the setting sun! But no . . . she had to come this way.
If only . . .
     "Grrr??" She froze. What was that smell? She dropped the Magic Man
to the ground as she sprinted ahead. From this angle she could see down
near the creek. A small pack of gruggs were down there. She bared her
teeth at them. Males. All of them. A pack of male gruggs was bad . . .
but as long as they didn't smell her.
     The gruggs were grunting among themselves. One, the biggest,
sniffed at the air glancing her way. Shota remained motionless. She
could barely smell them. Hopefully, she was out of their range with them
being so close to the stream. Male gruggs were the worst. She could
vividly remember their savage attack on her adopted mother. They had
ravaged her. When she did not give in to their wishes . . . she was
mounted repeatedly before being torn to shreds.
     She growled at that memory. If only she had been bigger. Then she
could have helped instead of hid. She remained motionless . . . watching
the males. One relieved himself in the stream . . . another defecated on
the stream bed. The big one . . . he just itched at himself, grunting
commands as he used his foot to claw at what remained of some prey they
had taken.
     It was nearly full dark before they left. The wind had shifted,
bringing the scent of a newborn fawn. The males trotted off, slobber
beginning to string out from their mouths. Even Shota felt the urge to
hunt.
     Shaking herself, Shota moved back towards the Magic Man.
     "Wa . . . water"
     "Shut up. Shota get you to water. Stupid Magic Man." Growling at
his continued mumbling, she once again hoisted him up onto her shoulder.
She avoided the exact spot the males had occupied but their foul stench
still reached her.
     "Water . . . I need . . . "
     "Here water." She spun around, releasing him as she did so. SPLASH!
Malek sank to the bottom.
     "There. Happy?" She glared down at him. He remained motionless
under the water. Motionless? No! Shota scrambled backwards . . .
hissing. Purple light was coloring the water around him, it withered
around him. She could see his burnt lips moving . . . he was saying
something.
     She crouched down, unsure what to do. 'Run RUN' screamed her grugg
half 'stay and try to help him' argued her human half. In the end, she
remained where she was, watching the purple stream boil. Ribbons of
light burst from the stream . . . mostly purple. But some shimmered, a
strange green.
     "Ohhh . . . " Shota relaxed down onto her elbows. The sound of the
water bubbling and hissing, the flickering colors . . . she was
fascinated watching it. All her fear was forgotten as she became
entranced by the dancing light, the soothing sounds. Her eyes became
heavy . . . heavy . . . she fell asleep.
                                               ***
     "Stop it!!! GraGH!!!" She lashed out at the smirking female.
     "HiSSS!!!!" The fight was on. The full-blooded female grugg was
bigger, but Shota was faster and smarter. A group of young males
gathered around . . . cheering for blood and gnashing their teeth. The
bigger female rumbled towards her. Shota easily sidestepped, while also
planting a fist to the gruggs jaw.
     "Grraa . . . stupid halfling!!!" Rubbing at her jaw she crouched
down, preparing to pounce. Shota moved in quickly, kicking that ugly,
hairy face. The grugg flipped over, landing on her back. Shota quickly
straddled her, with her knees on the grugg's shoulders. The bigger
female was trapped.
     "Now you will pay!" True to her word, Shota made the grugg suffer.
Elbow after elbow bloodied that flat, mean face. The grugg struggled
feebly, but she could not escape. Soon, her struggling stopped. Shota
continued to pound that hated face. Elbow. Elbow. Elbow. Loops of blood
spiraling about. All the young males cheered her on.
     "Stop Shota." At the sound of that voice, she was off in an
instant. "What happened?"
     "Well . . . " Shota scratched at her head . . . red eyes downcast.
     "Never mind. Come with me." Shota looked at the large, clawed hand
for a moment . . . then slowly grasped it with her pale, hairless hand.
As she was walking away, she glanced back at the fallen female. The
young males were circled around her, already one was moving to mount
her. Shota looked away quickly.
     "Oh Shota. I'm proud of what you did. If only you were my true
daughter." Shota looked up into those blazing red eyes. The mouth curved
into a smile, revealing those sharp, dagger like teeth. Self
consciously, Shota ran her tongue over her rather flat, useless teeth.
"But I am not. Look." Her adopted mother stood her before a broken
mirror they had found. She studied her grugg mother. Big, heavy muscled
frame. Deep, blazing red eyes. Every inch of her body, except for her
nipples and stomach, covered in rich, black fur.
     Then Shota's eyes moved reluctantly to herself. Far smaller than
any grugg. She had the same deep red eyes and while her body was well
muscled it was generally hairless. Shota sighed.
     "I will never fit in."
     "No. Not with us. Soon . . . soon you will have to leave." The big,
hairy arm wrapped around her comfortingly. "I cannot protect you much
longer. I'm old. You know well the fate of your birth mother, as well as
that girl you just beat. Bo'la is already beginning to look at you too
much. He will be leader when I am gone."
     "Sometimes I wish you had never saved me."
     "Don't say that. The great Beast in the sky showed you to me for a
reason. There is a purpose to everything and everyone. You are special .
. . a rare creature. No human, grugg half?bred has ever lived. Something
special awaits you. Come. Let us enjoy life together while we can."
     Two years later it came to an end. Her mother had rushed in . . .
bleeding and battered. She had lost the fight for pack dominance to
Bo'la. He and the other males were on their way. Shota had hid. When her
mother would not tell them where Shota was they took out their
frustrations on her. Shota could still hear the screams . . . the roars.
She could still smell that foul odor. That odor that seemed to cling to
the males . . . it filled her nose . . . it . . . Shota sneezed.
                                              ***
     And sat upright panting. It had only been a dream. Just a . . .
dream? The rank odor of the male gruggs filled her nose still. What-?
     "Female!" The growling bark of a male. Shota jumped to her feet.
There, in the gloom, dozens of burning red eyes glared at her.
     "Grr . . . She has grugg eyes?"
     "HisSSS! Stay away from me!!!" She barked back at them.
     "Ohhh? A human that speaks grugg?" The big male sniffed at her.
     "Rrrr . . . she's a half breed! Well well . . . I thought I smelled
something earlier. See? Aren't you glad we came back?" The small group
began to circle her. Shota backed towards the stream.
     "Be warned stink nuts . . . I have a Magic Man with me!!" She
crouched down slightly, preparing to fight. There was nowhere to run.
     "Hahah!! Him?" One of the males peered into the stream. Malek
floated near the bottom, engulfed in a cocoon of earth and swirling
color.
     "Haha . . . he's dead I think"
     "Grrr . . . don't be fooled! He is a very-"
     "GET HER!!!" As one they attacked. The biggest male reached her
first. Shota dropped under his clutching claws. She lunged forward,
smashing her face into his genitals. Opening her mouth wide, she clamped
down as hard as she could. Something burst, blood filled her mouth. The
male howled in anguish, and pounded her with his fist. Shota was knocked
to the ground. She came to her feet quickly, spitting out the bloody,
hairy meat that used to be his maleness. The howling male fell into the
stream. He did not resurface.
     She turned to face the others, only to be run down by a charging
male. She struggled under him, but soon the other males had her pinned
down. She kicked and roared and bit and hissed, but they had her. Two
held her trapped to the ground as another moved into position to mount
her.
     "Grr . . . never had me a half breed before." He moved forward,
only to be tackled from the side by another male. Then a fight broke
out. With the biggest male and the pack leader gone, the others were
fighting to see who would go first. Cursing her fate, Shota glared back
at the stream. She let out a gasp at what she saw. There, rising into
the air from the boiling water was the Magic Man! The strange earth
cocoon was falling from him, plopping back down into the water. His
ragged, burnt clothes fell of with the mud. His flesh was healed
completely. An unruly mop of black hair matted his head. His eyes were a
strange, deep glowing blue.
     "Grag . . . urgg . . . " She grunted. Then cursed herself for
speaking grugg.
     "Magic Man!" She repeated in human. "Help Shota!!" She hissed as
his deep blue eyes stared through her. He was there . . . but not there.
He looked like he was asleep with his eyes open. She felt a paw grip at
her leg . . . she glared at the male moving down onto her.
     "I . . . " he panted "I am leader now. You are mine!!!"
Shota's eyes turned back to the Magic Man. Malek he called himself.
     "Malek!!! Help!" He blinked.
                                                ***
     "Malek!!! Help!"
     "Sahrra!!!!" He struggled against the smirking barbarian.
     "No!!! Get off me . . . no . . . NOOOOOOO . . . " Sahrra screamed.
     "SAHRRA!!!!" No matter how hard he fought, he could not break the
barbarians grip. He was forced to lay there, watching the men in his
house rape his wife. "NOOOOAAHH!!!" His scream was more a sob than
anything. A sob of bitter hatred. A soul tearing sound of utter,
helpless frustration.
     "Haha . . . look at them go. Your wife can really squeal." That
smirk again.
     "No no NO!! I want you . . . all of you . . . DEAD!!!!" Without
thinking, he said the Words of Power. And for the first time . . . they
actually worked.
     "Wha-" The barbarian vanished in a puff of smoke. Malek rocketed to
his feet. He could see a group of men . . . somewhere in the bottom he
could hear Sahrra's grunts as she was being raped.
     "You filthy bastards!!!" His vision was blurred . . . a red haze
covered everything. "I want you all to DIE. Die, die, DIIIIIIE!!!" The
house exploded in a thundering boom.
     "MALEK HEL-" Sahrra's scream vanished in the roar of the explosion.
His scream of horror was muted by that same explosion. A hot, rushing
wind picked him up, carrying him away. He seemed to float, almost like
he was held gently in a giant's hand.
     It was like some terrible dream as he watched Dower vanish in the
ever growing fire wall he had unleashed. He watched his house . . . his
wife . . . his friends and family . . . he watched it all vanish. He
watched Jober, his beloved dog, running from the flame. No good. It
caught the dog and Jober was gone. Everything. Everything . . . everyone
. . . was gone.
     I did this. Because I was bull headed. Because I could not control
the power. I challenged those men in some way. I must have. I did this.
If only I could change what- That was his last thought before he had
crashed into a tree. Malek blinked . . . everything hurt. If only . . .
                                               ***
     "Malek! Help!!"
     "Whaa . . . ?" Malek blinked again. Everything still hurt. Had he
just fallen? What . . . no. That was long ago. He tried to focus his
eyes. Pain. Blinding pain. But he saw . . . he saw . . .
     "Sahrra?" No . . . it couldn't be. It wasn't . . . she . . . this
girl is not. Yes. Yes it was Sahrra!! He had been given a chance to do
it again. The Gods had finally given him a chance to redeem himself.
"This time . . . this time I will save you!!!" His deep blue eyes began
to glow even more. First an even darker blue, then small veins of
pulsing green webbed across them.
     "DIE!!" He flung his power towards the barbarians. "Only you . . .
only you!!!" In his confused mind, he did not see the gruggs. He did not
see Shota. He was home and this was Sahrra. He had been given a chance
to undo what he had done. This time he had full control over his power.
     Spears of fire flung from his fingers, turning the gruggs to ash.
"Only you!" A few gruggs tried to run, but they were speared down
quickly from behind. "Only you." He whispered. Not the town. Not his
friends and family. Only the barbarians. Only them. This time he had
done it right. This time he had saved them all! Sahrra was safe. He
turned his pulsing, glowing eyes to the cowering woman.
     "You . . . " Liquid fire dripped from his fingers as he floated
towards her.
     Shota came slowly to her feet . . . shivering. She glanced at the
piles of ash around her, wondering if maybe that fate would have been
better that whatever this crazed Magic Man had in store for her.
     "You . . . " Her eyes were drawn to his.
     "Remember Shota . . . Shota saved you!"
     "YOU!!!" He floated closer, raising his hand toward her.
     "Curse the Devil that brought me here." Shota whispered in grugg,
closing her eyes. She waited. Waited. She let out a yelp as a finger
brushed her cheek. She opened her right eye a hair, then both eyes
popped open. His eyes . . . they were a deep blue again. A normal blue.
No glowing. Not only that but . . . was that a tear? His smell. It was
confused. Confusing. A mixture of loss, regret and . . . something
strange. Almost like a mother's love? No, not exactly . . . but close.
     "Please forgive me . . . please." He sobbed. "Sahrra. My love. My
only love. Can you ever forgive me?"
     "Shota not-"
     "I love you." He moved suddenly towards her. Shota tried to back
away, but he was surprisingly strong. Before she could speak again, his
lips were on hers. She fought against him at first . . . having seen
this disgusting behavior many times. This . . . was not as repulsive as
she had first thought it would be. She relaxed slightly. He touched his
lips to hers for what seemed like an eternity before beginning to sway.
He pulled away at last but continued to hold her face close to his.
     "I'm so sorry . . . I-" He slumped to the ground. Shota raised a
hand to her lips as she stared down at him. His deep, even breathing was
that of a sleeping man. She brushed her lips gently with her fingers,
still staring at the man. Now she was the confused one.
     The best idea now would be to run. Run far, run fast, and pray to
never see this Magic Man again . . . yet . . . she couldn't. Something
inside of her . . . something deep within her would not allow that.
Sighing, she crouched down and grabbed him. He was heavier now than
before, naked and wet, but she managed to wrestle him onto her
shoulders. Now, where was a good place to rest for the night?
     "Ahhh . . . " She spotted a cave across the stream. "There." She
struggled across the water, stealing glances at the face of the sleeping
Magic Man. More than once she caught herself looking at his lips,
remembering how they felt. All her life, gruggs had told her how wrong
what he had just done was. How vile lip touching was. Yet . . . it had
sent shivers through her body she had never felt before. Not vile
feelings either.
     She shook her head and growled. Once in the cave she dropped him in
a corner while she went to lay by the entrance. She looked out into the
night. With the smell of death and magic so powerful and fresh, she
doubted any night predator would dare come near.
     She looked up at the night sky. The sky lights were bright tonight.
There, she could see the shape of Ol'Drg, greatest grugg leader of all.
She watched the sky lights as they moved across the sky. Sometimes she
wondered what humans called them. She glanced at the bare Magic Man. He
looked more natural this way. She had never understood why humans
covered themselves in other animal hides. A show of pride? Narrowing her
eyes, she knew she would have to decide what to do.
     "In the morning . . . " she growled in grugg. " . . . when he is
awake. Then I will leave." Just before she drifted off into sleep, she
again felt her lips and remembered what his lips had felt like on hers.
As sleep took her, she dreamed.
     Not of running wild through the jungle, filled with the power of
her latest kill. Not of her cleverness over avoiding a pack of hunters.
No. She dreamed of deep blue eyes. Dreamed of how they had looked at her
. . . something in them . . . some emotion she had never seen. Dreamed
of his smell at that moment his lips had touched hers. It made her feel
. . . made her feel . . . Shota growled out loud. What had she gotten
herself into now?
                                        CHAPTER 5
                                         Azaria
     Crickets and night jumers sang their night time melodies. The deep
green moon was up for the first, and only time this year. The smaller
moons were nowhere to be seen. The night was colored with a strange
greenish hue. A chill wind blew in from the south, causing the wipper
willows to sway together in a strange, whistling cotillion.
     Nighttime. Time for the hunter. A swooping owl snared an
unsuspecting tree dryad. Off in the distance a pack of mist dragons
fought over some unfortunate beast. A large shadow moved silently
through the underbrush. His silver fire hair glowing strangely in the
green night. The night time to him shown as brightly as any day. His
clothing even darker than the surrounding shadows. His azure eyes
remained locked on his goal to the east.
     A short snort came from his right, followed by a crashing through
the brush. A large, drooling troll came charging at him. Its yellow eyes
filled with hunger and triumph. Adarm glanced at the beast.
     "I would not do that, if I were you." He whispered, locking stone
cold eyes with that of the beast. He reached over his shoulder . . .
grasping the hilt of one of his swords. The troll slid to a stop, a look
of confusion in its eyes. It growled before slinking off into the night.
     'Kill it, kill it!' Came that familiar, dual yet single voice.
     "Ha. Even the dumb brute could feel your evil power, damned
swords." He released the sword.
     'Kill it kill it!' The voice echoed through his brain . . . always
taunting . . . always hungering. If only he could rid himself of them .
. . If only-
     "Eh?" He froze . . . straining to hear the sound again.
     " . . . shoo . . . " There it was. It was a woman's voice.
     "RraPP . . . rrrrGRAP!!" That was a night rwath in hot pursuit.
After a moment of hesitation, he continued on his eastern route. As he
walked, the sounds came closer. For every silent step he took . . . they
closed in.
     "Alright!! You asked for it!" The girl again.
     "Whahah!" The rwath . . . rwaths? Yes. There were a couple.
Following the rwath's laugh . . . battle broke out. One girl against an
unknown number of night rwaths . . . it would not last long. As he
walked, the battle continued. And continued. Frowning, he finally came
to a stop. The girl should have been food by now. He continued looking
eastward, almost against his will, his eyes looked south. Still . . .
the fighting continued.
     "Arrrr . . . OOOO-" A night rwath's death howl. Now, with his
interest peaked, Adarm changed his course. His lengthy stride brought
him to the battle ground rather quickly. He stood under a tree near the
clearing that had recently become this night's arena.
     His azure eyes studied the scene. There on the ground was a dead
night rwath but three remained on their feet, circling a small figure.
Huge, black beasts with tiny orange eyes. Adarm's frown deepened at the
site of the girl.
     He couldn't tell her age, but she was small. Her long red hair
seemed to float around her as she dodged this way and that. Her eyes
were large . . . too large for her face and they glowed a strange blue.
Her skin was brown . . . almost tree like in color. She was dressed in
some type of black battle armor but it didn't look that sturdy to him.
In each hand she gripped a strange three bladed dagger. He could not
place her species so she was no doubt a half breed of some type.
     "Half breeds." Adarm snorted. All combatants looked his way. He
flowed into the open, darker than night, towering over the girl . . .
nearly as tall as the rwaths.
     "hhhh . . . ?" she was breathing heavily. "Thank you stranger.
Thank you!!"
     "For what?"
     "You came to my aid did you not?"
     "I did not. Please night creatures . . . continue your attack." And
they did.
     "Wha-" Was all she could say before the night rwaths attacked. She
dodged under one, slashing his leg. Leapt onto the back of another,
stabbing into his side and with a nimble bound, she was up into a tree.
Adarm nodded . . . admiring her skill. But she had let one of her
weapons slip out of her hand, it was still buried in the beast's flank.
     "What kind of man are you!?" She growled at him . . . glaring
daggers. The night rwaths circled the tree . . . mewling in hunger.
Adarm watched the rwaths. They were scratched and bloody . . . one had a
missing claw. He looked into the tree at the glaring girl. That armor
was stronger than it looked apparently.
     "Coward! To stand there and not help a lady in distress!! Coward!
Weakling!!" Adarm smiled at her. "What are you grinning at sea slug!?"
     "You girl. Instead of fighting . . . you hide up there. Rwaths can
climb." And sure enough . . . one was testing a branch. The girl peered
down at it, returned her glare to Adarm.
     "Are you going to help me or not!?"
     "Why should I?"
     "Wh . . . why . . . " She sputtered for a bit . . . then spit at
him. "Weak fool!! You should help because it's the right thing to do!"
     "Is it? Hmmm . . . " One of the rwaths left the tree, slowly
stalking towards Adarm. He turned his gaze to the beast. "Step one hair
closer my friend and you are dead." Adarm moved his hand towards one of
his swords. For the first time the beast seemed to notice those almost
glowing sword hilts over Adarm's shoulders. With a slight shiver it
turned and moved quickly back to the tree. The girl had not missed this.
     "Are those magic swords? They can scare even a night rwath?" The
tree shook, she looked down. One of the rwaths was climbing. It was
moving slowly but it was coming. There was a hint of panic in her
glowing blue eyes.
     "What do you want? Please . . . please help me!! I'm so very tired
. . . I can't beat the entire pack!!" Adarm could see the pain in her
eyes. The pain of asking for help! Ha . . . she might be a very worthy
one for what he had in mind. He looked at the remaining rwaths. If it
had been a pack and after seeing her skill he had little doubt she would
be exaggerating, she had killed at least a dozen of them. Impressive.
     "Maybe I could find a use for you girl." He studied her figure. He
nodded. "Yes . . . you might fit."
     "Might? Might what?" She leaned forward to get a better look at the
climbing rwath. Hissing to herself, she climbed lower to meet it. Before
the rwath could react, she had come to its level and kicked it solidly
in the face.
     "Ooo?" It growled as it plummeted to the ground. The other two
jumped out of the way as it smashed down feet first. Adarm could hear
bones break. The night rwath rolled onto its back, one of its legs hung
at a strange angle. Growling, it came to its feet again. It limped
around the tree seemingly ignorant of the protruding bone and spurting
blood.
     Adarm nodded. Very impressive. If her strength held out, she could
very well beat these creatures. He looked up at her . . . catching her
blue eyes staring at him. He could almost feel the weakness radiating
from her. No. She was too tired to win. Her strength was gone. As if she
could read his mind, she spit at him again.
     "You will watch them eat me . . . won't you?"
     "Yes."
     "Motherless pig!!!! Low life scum!!" A blue tear slipped from her
eye as she glanced at the rwaths. "What . . . what do you want of me?"
Reluctantly, she asked. It seemed to tear a part of her away to ask
that.
     "I want your blood oath. I want you to pledge yourself to me body
and soul . . . till I have no further need of you." She wiped away
another tear, her glare even more severe. She looked at the beasts, then
Adarm, then her single weapon. She met the azure stare with an icy blue
one.
     "No." She dropped out of the tree. Adarm's glower deepened. Stupid
girl. She would never win now. He moved closer, ready to take out his
swords in an instant. To her credit . . . she was good. He could only
admire her skill and strength. She attacked the crippled one first. With
its broken leg, it went down rather fast. Then, she was left facing only
two. She was breathing hard. They were bleeding from many minor wounds.
     The rwath with her weapon in its side stayed back as the other
charged. The girl tried to move aside but she was tiring quickly. The
beast caught her square in the chest, sending her flying towards a tree.
     Just before hitting the tree she flipped, hit the tree with her
feet, and came shooting back towards the beast. The rwath would have
died there and then but for a lucky blow on its part. As the girl came
in, she jabbed with her weapon at the same time the beast happened to be
raising its fist.
     The rwath's hand was destroyed upon impact but so was her weapon.
The beast fell to the side, holding its useless limb, the girl flipped
in the air and landed in a crouched position. Her blue eyes stared at
the handle she held. The blades were gone. She seemed shocked it had
broken.
     "Ogre piss." She whispered. She came to her feet slowly, a
determined look on her face. She watched the night rwaths as they slowly
approached her. She met Adarm's eyes. He lifted an eyebrow
questioningly. Would she allow herself to be killed? Or submit to him.
He really could not tell.
     "Foul scum!" He had no doubt she was referring to him. "I cannot
die yet. I have no choice but to accept your . . . " her teeth bared in
a snarl. " . . . accept your offer." With that, he grabbed the swords
and pulled them free. A strange light burst out of them, coloring the
night.
     'Yessss. Kill them. Kill them.' The voice filled his mind. Silently
. . . he rushed the beasts from behind. They turned to meet him, but it
was no contest. The swords moved . . . the night rwaths vanished in a
bloody mist.
     'Ohhhh . . . ' The voice was filled with ecstasy. HE was filled
with ecstasy. 'Now herHER!' Adarm barely stopped the sword in his right
hand from killing the girl. She stared at the flickering point, wide
eyed. Staring at the tip of the sword mere hairs away from her face. It
was struggling towards her, trying to get her. Slowly . . . ever so
slowly . . . Adarm pulled the sword back. He sheathed them both as
quickly as he could.
     "What . . . wha . . . " The girl shivered as she saw the hilts of
those blades over Adarm's shoulders . . . they seemed to be glaring at
her, hungering for her. She focused on his face.
     "You gave your oath. Now come on. We have a long journey ahead of
us." With that, he was off. His movements were quick and silent. Like a
dark shadow he faded into the trees. "Come on girl." His voice echoed
softly back to her. "Retrieve your weapon and move." Already his voice
was growing distant.
     "My name is Azaria!" She called after him. Frowning when he didn't
reply, she moved to where the night rwath had stood. There, sticking up
from the ground was her bloody Tu'Ra dagger. She picked it up, studying
it. Not a scratch on it. She looked down at the few bits of meat and
bone that were all that was left of the beast. How did he manage to not
even nick her dagger?
     "Hurry girl." His voice was a ways off now. "You go back on your
oath and you will regret it."
     "Yes master dung licker . . . I'm coming." She growled under her
breath. Would it do any good to tell this monster her legs felt like
lead? Would it do any good to tell him she had been running all day? She
snorted. No. He didn't and wouldn't care. Forcing her leaden legs to
move, she ran to catch up. She moved beside him, glaring up at his face.
He didn't even spare a quick look down at her. She growled mentally at
him.
     "Where are we . . . " She had to take three steps for his every
stride. "Where are we headed oh mighty one?" She bared her teeth at him.
Still . . . he didn't bother to even glance down at her. At least look
at me you lowly dog! She wanted to scream.
     "East." He moved ahead of her, quickening his pace.
     "Ooo . . . you low life, dung eating, motherless-" She smashed face
first into his back. "Ow!!" Faster than a blink he had her by the face,
lifting her up so he could glare into her eyes without having to look
down.
     "If I were you girl . . . I'd save my breath for the walk! We have
a long way to go tonight. I do not want to hear your voice when I need
to be listening for danger. So shut up and keep up." With that he
dropped her. Azaria landed on her butt, grunting. He held her eyes for a
moment longer before turning and moving again. Azaria came to her feet
slowly, not sure where to rub, her throbbing face or sore butt. With a
sigh, she rushed to catch up to him.
     She moved in behind him, stared daggers into his back wishing they
would kill. She studied the sword sheaths. They ran under his strange
shirt. How did they attach themselves? She couldn't see any straps. She
raised her eyes to find the sword hilts. They seemed to be glaring at
her in turn. She glanced quickly downward. The eyes of the night rwaths
had been one thing but those swords . . . they weren't natural. She
shivered.
     "At least tell me your name oh mighty master" She sneered. To think
. . . Azaria the mighty . . . in debt to this lowly, motherless dog. The
shame of it.
     "Didn't I already tell you?"
     "Err . . . " Did he? She couldn't recall.
     "Well then, didn't you figure it out yet?" He glanced at her. A
look of surprise passed quickly through those strange azure eye. "My
name is Adarm." She felt him glance at her again. She looked up to meet
his eye, but he had already turned his gaze eastward again. "Do you . .
. know me?" He didn't look at her again, so Azaria studied the green
hued woods they moved through.
     "Never heard of you. Why? You some kind of prince? Or . . . " she
grunted sourly. " . . . hero?" What a joke that would be.
     "HAH!" His snort of laughter startled her. And a few night dryads
by the sound of it. "No. I am no prince . . . no hero." He studied her
from the corner of his eye. "However, my name is well known."
     "All in good terms and praise, I'm sure. Prince Adarm, hero to all.
King of the kind." She shook her head, studying the surrounding trees.
     "Hardly." He looked skyward. The green moon was past its zenith.
Damn . . . he'd never reach his goal by morning. He glared at the small,
struggling figure. She was slowing him severely. Maybe it would be best
to get rid of her now. He reached for one of his swords. She must have
sensed his movement for her eyes suddenly locked onto his. She looked at
his hand . . . the sword it was reaching for . . . returned her gaze to
his. Her strange blue eyes were filled with resolve.
     He could see the knowing look in her eyes. She clutched at her
strange weapon. She would try to fight, but they both knew she had no
chance. He continued to study her. His eyes moved downward . . .
studying her body.
     Measuring . . . calculating. No . . . he would need her. Despite
slowing him down . . . he needed her. The perfect size. The right
strength. It was to his good fortune that he had stumbled across her.
Maybe the Gods were finally beginning to forgive him. With a last
glower, he moved his hand back to his side and began to move faster
eastward.
     Azaria shivered slightly. He was going to do it!! He had almost
killed her there and then! She had seen it in his eyes. She had felt the
danger emanating from him. Even fully recovered she wondered how long
she could fight him. But now? In her weakened condition she wouldn't
have stood a chance. And the way he had looked at her body . . . Azaria
shivered again.
     Was that what he wanted her for? Was she to become his sex slave?
Or worse?? She glanced at the skin tight black armor she wore. The Tu'Ra
war armor of a champion. Normally she was proud to flaunt that armor . .
. now she almost regretted it.
     If only she had something less revealing! Or something to cover
herself with at least. To her mind it was obvious this beast only had
one thing he wanted from her. Sighing to herself, she moved faster to
keep up with him. She would worry what to do about that later.
                                               ***
     The night seemed endless. Azaria held her own for the most part but
soon she began to falter. Tripping on branches and stones at first . . .
then tripping over her own feet. She would drag herself upright and
continue on. Adarm grew more impressed by the struggle.
Yes . . . she was exactly what he needed. As the moon vanished . . .
leaving only the brilliant stars to light their path . . . she finally
went down for the last time. Adarm paused . . . waiting for her to
struggle to her feet. She did not move.
     "Are you coming girl . . . or must I kill you now?" Nothing. She
remained motionless. Adarm walked back to her, pushing her with his toe.
Nothing. He used his foot to flip her onto her back. She was gone.
Passed out from exhaustion. Adarm nodded.
     Yes, she was exactly what he wanted. He had pushed hard . . . yet
she had kept up. Mostly. Right till the end. He looked around . . . red
eyes glittered here . . . yellow eyes moved there. The beasts that had
been stalking them the entire night were moving in . . . no doubt
expecting him to rest here. They would never attack him while he was
awake, but when he was asleep?
     "Haha!! Sorry my friends." He laughed at the beasts. "But I will
not be resting here in your fine forest." Bending down, he lifted Azaria
into his arms. She seemed light as a feather to him. Holding her close
to his chest, he began to run. Some of the beasts ran after him, staying
a safe distance away. As the eastern sky began to lighten and the forest
began to dwindle they finally gave up the chase. They had to eat after
all and the time for the hunt was nearly over.
                                              ***
     Her dreams were filled with horror. Sometimes the beasts attacking
her were night rwaths . . . sometimes it was a silver fire monster . . .
with glowing, inhuman azure eyes. Once . . . just as a night rwath sank
its terribly teeth into her throat . . . Azaria woke with a start. She
looked around her, trying to gain her bearings. She was . . . sideways?
No . . . not exactly. She was being carried. She glanced upward to find
Adarm's cold gaze locked on the horizon.
     The sun was rising . . . the forest was thinning and they were
moving very fast. She kept her eyes nearly closed . . . open just enough
to study him and the surroundings without being noticed. Why oh why had
she come here? To find the old hag that knew the cure. Ha! What a lie
that had been. Now . . . looking back on it . . . she knew why they had
sent her here. They had sent her here to die.
     Azaria's mind filled with bitterness as she thought of the men
sneering at her. Taunting her . . . always trying to beat her down. The
Tu'Ra never expected her to live . . . much less gain the prestigious
Tu'Ra war armor! They called it luck, but when she later gained the
Tu'Ra daggers, disdain and jealousy turned to hatred and anger. Her
father had fallen ill. Being a respected warrior, the clan was worried.
The only known cure lay in the hands of the forest Hag . . . or so they
said. And, by coincidence she just happened to reside in the human
world.
     So, through the gate she had went. It closed quickly behind her.
Azaria had searched for many months, only to find danger after danger.
Soon . . . she came to realize what had happened. The men had conspired
against her . . . they had sent her to the one place she apparently
could not return from.
     She had tried to return home. Tried to enter through the Holy
Gates, but she could not. Without someone willing to open it from the
other side, she could not enter. Which lead her to believe her father
was dead. Or been told she was dead. Either way . . . she was trapped
here now. And now . . . Azaria the Tu'Ra champion . . . was stuck in an
oath to this monster. The shame. Somewhere in her reminiscing, Azaria
fell into a deep sleep.
      For his part . . . Adarm just continued to run. His mind on one
thing . . . Zupah's castle. That girl . . . Sisbaen . . . her mind had
shown him even more of the Master's highest ranked demons. High demons
He called them. Each and every one, powerful and evil. Filled with
knowledge.
     He had to continue killing them. He had to . . . he glanced down at
the girl as she snuggled unknowingly against his chest. Deeply asleep
now. He studied her face, so human yet . . . not. It bothered him that
he could not place her species.
     Was she a halfling like he had at first thought, or was she some
other race entirely? And if so . . . would he have to kill her after
all? Kill her to find out what she was . . . what she knew?
     'Yes! Kill her now! Kill her slow. Kill them ALL!!!! Killkill . . .
KILL THEM ALL!!' That voice again. That single, yet strangely dual
voice. Sometimes it seemed like his own. How many centuries had passed?
Two? Three? How long could he fight them? How long could he keep those
voices from merging with his own? 'Not long. Not long! We are one. We
are one!! You are me. I am you.'
     "No. Not yet." He looked eastward. The sky was brighter now. The
landscape had seemed to change. Where the night creatures had been . . .
hunting, living, singing . . . it was now passed their time. The night
dryads hurried back into their holes. The night jumers moved back
underground. A few early birds began to sing. At first just one,
somewhere in the distance . . . then another . . . before long, the air
filled with their song. A new born tree dragon watched him run by. A
curious expression in its sleepy black eyes. Up ahead, Adarm could see a
blue shimmer. It was a river. His destination for now.
                                                 ***
     Azaria opened her eyes slowly. The soft sound of a near by jay
singing his love song. A gentle wind tickling her nose. The constant
gurgle of a near by stream. SPLASH!!! Azaria jumped to her feet, dagger
in hand. There was nothing around her . . . no sign of a grass bed
besides hers . . . no left over camp fire . . . nothing. So this had not
been a campsite really. Had Adarm run all this time?
     She crept in the direction she had heard the splash. She was sure
Adarm would not have left her alone. But there had been no sign of a
make shift bed . . . no sign of flattened grass where he bedded down
like she had. She moved closer to the gurgling water. The ground began
to soften under her, she had to be close to the water. Getting below the
tall grass . . . she silently moved forward till she could see blue.
Then she peeked out.
     There . . . with his back to her, was Adarm. He was thigh deep in
the water. His silver fire hair pulled back, wet and shining in the
morning sun. His muscles rippled at the slightest movement . . . his
pale body seemed oddly glowing. A trick of the water and sun no doubt.
Still . . . still he had those damn swords. Azaria frowned. She could
not see anything that held the sheaths to him . . . until he turned. A
thin strap came over each shoulder meeting in a strange round symbol
just between his chest muscles. But . . . but it was all UNDER his skin!
She blinked . . . blinked again.
     Yes. The harness was somehow under his skin. And that was not all.
As he turned yet again, she could see the actual blades from those
swords ran under his skin as well, crossing at his back, almost meeting
tip to tip near his belly button. She shivered slightly. No sign of
scarring. This was some kind of magic indeed. Her gaze traveled below
his belly button . . . she realized he was totally naked! Blushing
furiously, she looked away.
     "Are you going to clean yourself girl? If so . . . be quick about
it." She heard the water swishing as he moved towards her. So, she had
not been as sneaky as she had hoped.
     "I . . . I . . . " She stood up quickly but kept her eyes to the
ground. He came to the shore and stepped right up to her. Now instead of
the ground she could see his . . . she looked quickly into his eyes. His
azure eyes were emotionless as they studied her.
     "Well?"
     "I . . . I'm not . . . " She shook herself. "I know what you want
to see beast!! I'd rather die than take my clothes off in front of you!"
She stood as tall as she could, trying to give him a cold, haughty look.
If it had any affect . . . he didn't show it. Instead, he laughed!!
"What is so funny!?" She held her dagger threateningly towards him.
"What-"
     "You think I want to see YOU naked?" He shook his head. "No girl."
His eyes traveled down her armored front. "You have nothing I wish to
see." He turned and was moving along the river bank before she could
reply. He walked to his darker than night clothes and began to pull them
on. Azaria stood where she was . . . her mouth open . . . her face red .
. . she was shaking with anger.
     "Why you . . . you . . . ARGHHHH!!" She charged. He pulled on his
shirt as she jabbed at him with her dagger. Almost casually he caught
her hand. Quickly she snatched the dagger with her free hand and drove
it towards his chest. From out of nowhere . . . his other hand caught
hers. She blinked . . . she hadn't even seen it move!
     "You need to wash." He lifted her easily into the air tossing her
out into the river. She splashed down flat on her back and went under.
After a moment, Azaria came to the surface sputtering and coughing.
"Since you're in there . . . wash yourself." He turned, walking back
towards camp. "You need it. Frankly girl . . . you stink."
     "ArgHH!!!" She splashed water at his back as he walked away.
     Adarm walked back to where she had slept and stood against a large
tree. He crossed his arms, swept his eyes over the shrubs, the tall
grass, scanning for any danger or curiosity. It took nearly an hour but
she came grumping back. She stared hard at him . . . her hand tightening
on the strange dagger at her side but she walked past him and sat down.
     He frowned at her in turn. What was she? Her red hair was
absolutely brilliant in the sunlight. Her overly large blue eyes were
strange in more ways than one. No white at all . . . no pupil or iris .
. . just solid blue. He studied her as she fiddled with her hair.
Running a make shift comb through it. Looked like an impossible chore to
him.
     "Cut it off."
     "Whaa . . . " she paused in her combing to frown at him. "Cut my
hair off?"
     "Yes. It would be simpler."
     "No." She glared at him. "What of yours? It's longer than mine."
     "Hmm . . . " Adarm ran a hand over his silver fire hair. Now that
he thought about it, the last brush he had run through it had been
centuries ago. Yet it felt silky smooth. Not a tangle. He frowned.
     It was funny how such little human gestures like combing your hair
could be forgotten over the course of time. What else had he been
forgetting to do or not do? He focused on the girl again. She was still
combing her hair. He continued to watch her. What was so off about her?
Her movements were . . . not quite right. Her strength far greater than
it should be. He doubted many men could match her.
     "What are you?"
     "Me?" She looked at him, a sour expression in those strange eyes.
Surprisingly, her hair was tangle free now. "You ask what I am?" She
snorted, tossing aside the make shift brush. "What are you!? You look
human . . . smell human . . . but you're not like any human I've seen."
She stood slowly, stretching her arms high above her head in a sudden
yawn. "Tell me your story and I'll tell you mine."
     "Bah!" He moved suddenly from the tree. Azaria moved away from him
just as quickly. "I asked what you are! Not who you are. I could care
less to hear of your hopes. Your dreams. Your past. Tell me what you
are. Where do you come from? I thought I had seen every species, every
half-breed there could be. What are you?"
     "I'm Tu'Ra." She lifted her head high, smirking. This brute would
not know her race, he did not look that well learned at all.
     "Tu'Ra? Ah yes . . . that explains it." He nodded to himself. "The
so called holy race. Exiled themselves to some holy land centuries ago.
Vowed to never step foot in this hell again. Foolish race." He nodded to
himself, knowingly.
     "What!? Foolish . . . WHAT!?" She put her hands on her hips,
glaring for all she was worth.
     "Yes. A petty, foolish race. They could have accomplished much
here, instead they tucked their tail between their legs and ran off.
Cowering in some magical land for all time . . . a weak people."
     "You low-"
     "Yes, yes. Now come on. We should reach his castle before night
fall if you keep up." He turned on his heel and moved towards the river.
     Growling to herself, Azaria ran to catch up to him. She looked at
him pointedly . . . glaring at him, but he refused to take his eyes from
the land. Sighing, she moved back a pace. No point in trying to talk to
him. What a monster! He led her to the river then turned north to follow
it. It was less than a mile when they came to a ford . . . once across,
he continued east. Azaria watched the landscape around her. More than
once she caught sight of some wild looking beast, but none attacked. She
frowned.
     "They avoid me." She jumped slightly at his voice. Looking up
quickly, she found his eyes again studying her. "This is a dangerous
part of the land. No people anywhere near here. Any of these beasts
would have attacked you by now." He continued to stare as if expecting a
response. So she shrugged.
     "One dumb brute knows another I guess."
     "Yes. Something like that." He met her eyes a moment longer, then
lifted them to study the eastern horizon. It was Azaria's turn to
glower. Why didn't he react? He never changed. What was wrong with him?
     "So . . . " she began. "I didn't see a place where you bedded down
for the night. Am I to take it you slept safely in a tree or something?"
She studied him carefully.
     "Sleep?" He snorted. "I don't sleep."
     "Haha . . . yeah. You don-" Her mouth snapped shut as he looked at
her, the look in his eyes puzzled her. Haunted. Torn. So very sad . . .
but so very cold. There was much more here than she had first suspected.
     "To sleep is to dream. To dream is to remember. I have no reason to
do that."
     "What . . . ? No sleep?" Her forehead wrinkled as she thought about
it. "But how can you not sleep? Do you eat?" As if in response to that,
her own stomach rumbled.
     "Here." He pulled a black pouch from somewhere and tossed it to
her. "I gathered these as you slept. I have no time to waste waiting for
you to stumble around to find food." Azaria gave him a dirty look before
inspecting the pouch. It was a roughly made thing . . . by him she was
sure . . . and it was filled with nuts and berries.
"What's this?" She plucked out a strange, reddish yellow . . . thing. It
was as long as her finger, but wider around.
     "A dragon maggot."
     "A . . . a what!?" She tossed it to the ground. "What are you
try-?"
     "It's a fruit." He cut her off. "Very tasty and filling from what
I've heard. Legend says that long ago a man found a dead dragon . . . it
was covered in those. So he called them dragon maggots." He slowed, eyes
sweeping the horizon. "Maybe not the best choice, I know. But, he named
them that and planted them far and wide, and so shall they always be
known." He shrugged.
     "Oh." Azaria spoke through a mouthful of berries. She had no idea
when she had last eaten. She watched him before squinting her eyes to
peer into the distance. "What are you looking for?" He frowned but
continued to sweep his eyes back and forth.
     "I'm looking . . . " he nodded. "There it is." He moved off,
heading more south easterly now. Azaria followed behind, trying to hold
the pouch against her chest with her forearm so both hands could dig out
its bounty and fill her mouth quicker. She was VERY hungry. They
continued on silently. Her chomping and chewing the only sound to be
heard. After a mile or two . . . she had finished the food. She handed
the pouch to him. Adarm took it and hid it away without even looking at
her.
     Azaria slowed her pace somewhat. She looked around her. Nothing.
Grass taller than her in most spots . . . a tree here or there . . . no
sign of a road, or any people. Nothing. It was a large, deserted
grassland. Sighing . . . she eyed those cursed swords. They in turn
seemed to be eyeing her . . . hungering for her. Shivering . . . she
looked out over the grass fields. A large brown head ducked behind a
tree. She drew her dagger.
     "What was that?"
     "It was a grass diver. They have the body of a fish but the head
and limbs of a man. Very strange. Very dangerous. A few dozen have been
following us all morning." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"There is one not even ten paces from you at all times. They are waiting
for you to fall behind . . . " he smiled. " . . . or to stray from my
side."
     Azaria glanced around her. Where were they? She couldn't see them.
But . . . ah ha!! She could! The grass moving against the wind there . .
. that flicker of brown over there . . . yes. Now she could see them.
She moved closer to Adarm. She looked up at him again . . . his eyes
were locked on the horizon as usual.
     "These . . . this is why no human lives nearby?" She asked. He
nodded in reply.
     "We tried. When I was . . . " He glanced at her, then quickly away.
"When I was younger." She wondered what he had been about to say. "We
tried to live here. Thousands of us. But the grass divers would not
allow it. We tried to negotiate. Unlike some trolls or imps these things
are very smart. We tried for peace. But it didn't last . . . they found
us too . . . "
     "Destructive?" She quipped.
     " . . . delicious." His voice was cold. He glared at her. Azaria
looked away from that cold azure stare. "We fought hard but were doomed
in the end. We had to flee."
     "Yet they avoid you now?" She lifted an eyebrow. "Or do they avoid
those cursed swords?"
     "Yes." He continued to meet her curious frown for a few strides
before looking back to the horizon. She followed his gaze. There in the
distance stood a towering black . . . something. It seemed far away. How
big was it? How far away? "At this pace we'll be there before nightfall
. . . if nothing slows me down." He looked at her pointedly. She lifted
her head high . . . snorting.
     "I can keep up with you." She waited for a response. Nothing. She
opened her mouth to say something . . . to disgrace him . . . then
closed it without a word. What good would it do? So instead, she looked
around her, pondering her future. She had been sure he only wanted her
for one thing. His many looks at her body could only mean one thing.
Yet last night when she was unconscious . . . he had done nothing. With
her intricately clasped armor she would have known had he messed with
it. And this morning in the river she had washed quickly, always
glancing over her shoulder. But he had never appeared. Not even to try
to sneak a peak. She began to wonder what his reasons were for oath
binding her. If he wanted her sexually . . . he would have her.  She
would fight, but even this morning when she was renewed he had handled
her as easily as she herself would have handled a baby. Thinking of
that, her face blushed slightly. To think . . . Azaria the champion,
handled as easily as a newborn . . . by a human! The shame of it. Shame
upon shame!
                                                   ***
     Morning turned to noon . . . still they strode forward. He never
spoke . . . never looked at her . . . just walked. Azaria began to feel
an uncomfortable pain in her bladder. Great. She fought it as long as
she could, then finally had to stop.
     "Wait." He paused, glancing down at her. "I have to . . . I need .
. . Grr . . . " How embarrassing! "I'm going over to that tree!" She
took a step towards it, undoing a few of the lower clasps.
     "STOP!!!!" Too late . . . she stepped into the tall grass.
Instantly she was pulled under.
     With a growl, Adarm drew his swords and dove in. The grass swayed
this way and that . . . a grass diver burst out towards him. It was cut
away almost instantly. Growling again, he bent down to reach into the
swaying grass. He pulled up a struggling Azaria. With a slash the grass
diver that clung to her was gone. He lifted her up to his shoulder so
both hands were free. Like a walking windmill, he moved back to the path
he knew, the one Azaria had obviously not been aware of.
     Only two more divers dared attack him. They barely burst forth,
screeching their hunting chant before the swords struck them down. Adarm
sighed at each death, as the blades cut through the flesh and bone he
could feel the life energy flood into him. He wanted to howl from the
joy of it. The sheer exhilaration of it! This was life! Why even sheath
the swords? Why bother? Just kill . . . KILL!
     'Yes . . . yesSSS!' The swords hissed in his mind. 'More . . .
MORE!' Was that the swords' voice . . . or his own? He looked around
curiously, other divers circled but none dared attack. 'Get them. Get
them!!' He almost waded back in. Almost. Shaking his head to clear the
fog, he dropped the girl and quickly sheathed the swords.
     Much to their disappointment. And his own. For her part, Azaria was
shaking visibly, her dagger covered in greenish blood. Adarm was
impressed yet again when he saw that. She had managed to draw her weapon
and deal some damage. But what had she been trying to do? She came
quickly to her feet, her eyes filled with gratitude . . . till he caught
her by the throat.
     "Ackk . . . I . . . " She punched at his hand.
     "What were you doing? I don't have time for you to-" He saw a few
latches and buckles hanging from the lower part of her armor. He let go
. . . backing away. "I see." She coughed, glaring at him. "Relieve
yourself here . . . do NOT leave me." He stood staring at her. She
remained motionless, glaring at him, then finally reached for the
buckles.
     "Are you going to watch?!?" She undid a few more, her face turned a
shade of red. His eyes widened slightly . . . in surprise? He turned his
back to her.
     "Do not move from there. And hurry." He took a few paces towards
the . . . thing . . . on the horizon. Quickly now, she undid the lower
half of her armor and did her business. She kept a steady eye on him,
but not even once did he appear to even TRY to look at her. That was
good. Right? Grumbling to herself, she re-clasped the armor and moved
towards him. He began walking . . . still not looking at her.
     She frowned at his back. It wasn't that she REALLY wanted him to
see . . . or try to see . . . her naked. But it was so unusual. Being
the only female Tu'Ra in her clan, she had grown used to, and in fact
EXPECTED men to look at her. It puzzled her. She had always heard how
human males were even more lustful than Tu'Ra males. And some of the
Tu'Ra had went to outrageous lengths to see her nude. From hiding in
trees . . . to trying to dig under her house, to come up through the
floor. Yet here . . . twice he could have seen her.
     She was sure he was human . . . mostly. Despite the fact she had
yet to see him eat or drink . . . or even relieve himself. Her face
flushed slightly as she remembered seeing him in the water. She knew he
was a man, that was a fact. Did he find her ugly? Or maybe he liked
other men? It was not uncommon in her clan for Tu'Ra men to love each
other. In some clans it was expected even. A passage to manhood they
called it.
     Her wide, blue eyes turned to the swords. Or were they the
culprits? She had seen their magic. Twice now she had watched them cut
down his enemies. And both times he seemed to be . . . possessed? Well,
not exactly possessed but changed surely. He even seemed to have trouble
controlling them sometimes. Were they alive? Or what passed for life in
their strange magical way. She brushed a hand through her wavy red hair.
Her eyes studied the grass around them. The creatures still had them
surrounded but none attacked. She shook her head, again looking at the
strange thing on the horizon. So many questions.
                                              ***
     The day continued. Adarm and Azaria remained silent . . . each lost
in their own thoughts. Well passed noon, the grass divers finally broke
off, leaving in search of other prey. As they walked on . . . the object
on the horizon continued to grow. Soon, its features became visible. It
was tall . . . impossibly tall. A dark brown, or maybe black in color.
It was covered with small, dark openings. Dark shapes flew in and out of
it. It almost looked like some kind of giant beehive.
     Azaria had to stop one more time to relieve herself. Again . . .
Adarm did not even try to look. She drank from a jug he had hidden on
himself but still, she didn't see him drink or eat. She became more
convinced that it was by the swords power. Somehow . . . some kind of
symbiotic magic was at work here. Or maybe parasite like?
     "Here they come." His voice broke through her thoughts. He freed
the swords from their sheaths . . . the strange glow she had seen
earlier flowed up the blade. They seemed to come to life as the air hit
them. "Be ready in case any come for you." Azaria drew her Tu'Ra dagger.
     The creatures buzzed by them. On closer inspection . . . she saw
they were bee like. At least in color . . . and with a stinger. But
otherwise, they were totally alien to her. They had a human like chest
with four arms. Each arm was equipped with a fierce looking crab like
claw. Their heads were covered with eyes and a long, tube like mouth.
Their lower half was a bulbous sack, covered with sharp, dagger like
hair. The stinger, surely poisonous, sat on a whip like tail that
extended from the bulbous sack. Deadly looking. A dozen buzzed around
them. Azaria crouched near the ground . . . holding her dagger at the
ready.
     "They are called bee-thine." He laughed at that. "First they will
fly around to see if we are a threat or an easy meal. They will soon
attack, thinking we are easy meat. When I show them otherwise . . . then
we run!" Just as he finished speaking, the strange bee-thine attacked.
As one they dove for Adarm.
     He stood steady . . . a strange smile on his face. The wave struck
him, stingers whipping at him from all directions. Not one even came
close. His arms a blur of motion, Adarm removed every stinger that came
his way. One bee-thine flew in to try to grapple with him. The strange
flying creature was sliced in half. Stranger still . . . the top half
was still alive!
     It flopped to the ground, righting itself, trying to crawl towards
her now. With a look of disgust she stabbed it in the face and kicked it
away. Suddenly she was knocked to the ground. Something was stabbing at
her back. Without even having to look, she knew what it was.
     One of the bee-thine was on her trying to sting through her armor.
She flipped over onto her back quickly, which brought her face to face
with one of the monsters. Its eyes never seemed to lock directly onto
hers but the stinger continued to pound at her. With a hiss, she jabbed
her dagger into its throat. Making a strange buzzing growl the creature
lifted off her and floundered down into the grass.
     She came quickly back into a crouched position but the strange
bee-thine were gone. She looked at Adarm. His swords were sheathed but
the ground around him was covered in blood and hairy bits and twitching
meat. Surprisingly, he had no blood on himself. He caught her eye, a
strange smile playing across his face.
     "Now we run!" Catching her by the hand, he ran. Azaria prided
herself on her speed and strength but this man . . . he ran like the
wind. Finally, with a disgusted grunt, he lifted her into his arms and
ran even faster. "They will bring out the warrior bugs now." He didn't
even pant hard as he ran. It was unreal. "They are huge and far more
deadly than these little workers." He reached the structure in no time.
From somewhere high above she could hear an ominous rumbling. "And now .
. . we come to your part. The reason I brought you here. You need to let
me in."
     "Whaa . . . " She began.
     "Look. This used to be some type of human structure . . . see here,
where the door is?" He pointed to a rusted over roundish thing.  "From
the outside, it cannot be opened. A very good design to keep out
intruders. And from what I've learned, nothing short of a master Mage
could force it open. Thus, I needed to get in through these."
     He indicated the smaller holes surrounding the door. "Well . . . I
am much too large to fit through. I was going to kidnap a small child
and push them through to open it but I doubt they would have
accomplished my goal. Some could be traps. Holes that are nothing but a
shaft that could be hundreds of feet deep. Or there could be a swarm of
workers on the other side. A child would never have stood a chance." He
studied her figure again. "You on the other hand, are perfect."
     "A . . . A child!? What kind of mon-" She was cut off as he lifted
her higher off the ground. Before she could utter another word, she was
pushed through one of the holes. "HEY!!!" Down the slimy shaft she went.
She desperately tried to slow herself. With a loud thud, she fell butt
first onto the floor. It was not that far of a drop at all.
     "Are you alive?" His voice echoed down to her. "As I said, some of
these openings are trapped. I was never sure how deep that shaft went.
Some lead to deep, spike filled pits. Others go to a lake of acid. I
didn't know for sure which was the true one. But from what I have
learned, this one seemed to be true. Are you alive? Was I right?"
     "You . . . you . . . " Shaking with rage, she could barely contain
her words. He had tossed her in . . . it could have been a hundred foot
drop off! And a child? Was he serious?
     "I was right." He sounded almost proud. "Better open the door
quickly Tu'Ra. It won't take long for the swarm to be in there with
you." Indeed, she could already hear the skittering claws coming down
the long, strangely curved stairway. Moving quickly now, she began to
search the door. All the while she could hear the skittering coming
closer . . . now a low humming type of growl seemed to reverberate
around her. Scanning over the door again, she swore.
     "Where is the door knob!!?"
     "What?" His voice was puzzled.
     "How do I open this cursed door!" She glanced warily behind her.
Not long now.
     "A panel."
     "What?"
     "There should be a hand-sized panel . . . to the right of the
door."
     "I see no panel!!" She glanced back as a shrill cry came from the
stairs. A single worker came charging at her. It ran on two of those . .
. appendages. Leaving two that it used as hands and the strange stinger
curled up over its head like a scorpion's tail! "Ogre piss!!!" Ducking
the first swipe of its stinger, Azaria drove her dagger into its head.
Her arm sank up to her elbow, there was no bone in there at all.
     Removing her arm with a grimace, she went back to work. A small
panel. A panel on the right side of the door. Her eyes darted across the
strange, engraved images. Where . . . where? There! She reached out and
pushed. Deep inside the walls she could hear some ancient machinery kick
into gear.
     Cranking and creaking . . . the door began to move slowly to the
side revealing a set of stairs that no doubt lead up to ground level
where Adarm waited. Azaria turned as a large thud came from behind her.
She gasped at the ugliness of the creature. It could only be a warrior.
This one had no wings. Its body . . . it was like a walking, breathing
weapon! Sharp spikes of bone stuck out everywhere. Its head was that of
a man but with huge, gnawing pincers instead of a more normal human
mouth. It walked on four, thick legs while it slashed the air with two
whip like limbs that were covered with spikes and suckers. They reminded
her of a squid's tentacle.
     And in the middle of its chest, between the tentacle like arms was
another mouth. This one looked like a leech's mouth attached to another
dangling tentacle.
     No sooner did she raise her weapon, then that mouth shot towards
her. Azaria ducked under its sucking lips . . . slashing upward into it.
She closed her eyes as a strange clear liquid spilled down onto her.
Making a strange hissing buzzing noise, the warrior came forward. Its
massive size and weight a threat in itself. Azaria backed up . . . into
Adarm! Pushing her roughly to the ground, he stepped forward. His swords
darting . . . his eyes glowing . . . that strange smile on his lips.
     "Your oath is served." The warrior lost one tentacle . . . then the
other . . . then its head. "I have no further use for you." He looked
down at her. The swords moved hungrily towards her. She remained
motionless, bee-thine warrior juices dripping off her. The swords
struggled to reach her but Adarm did not move. "No . . . they will not
feast on you this day." Then the swarm arrived.
     Hundreds of workers, dozens of warriors, they all came charging
down the strange stair case or dropping to the ground. They moved
towards the motionless Adarm. His eyes remained locked on hers. The
swords moved towards the on rushing beasts now.
     "Your work is done. Leave me now. This is not going to be pretty."
He continued to stare at her as his arms vanished. Gone in that blurring
motion of his swords attack. Slowly . . . he tore his eyes from hers. A
strange emotion seemed to play across his face, however, it was soon
lost as his gaze hardened and the swords went to work.
     With a roar louder than the beasts he moved straight into them.
Gaining her feet, she moved quickly up the steps and out the doors
before any of the bloody mess could hit her. As she climbed the short
flight of steps, she watched him plow through them. The bee men were
like grass to his blades. Workers . . . warriors . . . they all fell.
Nothing touched him. Azaria watched as he made his way to, and up the
stairs.
     The bee-thine seemed to come at him from all directions with
countless numbers. She watched as he made his way up out of her sight.
She could still hear them though. The whirring of his blades . . . his
occasional laugh . . . the constant humming roar of the bee men.
She stood in the door till she could hear nothing of the battle. The
only sound she could hear now was the rain of blood and now and then a
stinger pelting the floor from high above. She took a step forward,
which brought her further outside the Hive, and looked around her.
     Empty. Unpopulated. This entire land in fact, very inhospitable to
her. She had no friends. She had no allies. She looked again at the
empty grasslands around her. Those grass divers. How would she get by
them? The only human she knew was Adarm and he wasn't even that!!
No. He was some possessed killing machine. As indifferent as her own
kind but more savage and less interested in her than any other male. She
was trapped here and the only thing she knew . . . was him.
     With a disgusted sigh, she walked back into the Hive and headed for
the stairway. Better an evil you knew than one you did not her father
had always said.
     High above, Adarm walked through the slaughter in a daze. The
incoming power . . . the creatures thoughts, their strength, everything
they were flooded into him. For centuries they had labored here. Totally
in thrall to Zupah.
     These creatures seemed to share a single mind and its only thought
was to stop him from reaching Zupah. The higher he climbed, the more
bee-thine attacked. Soon, however, it became clear they could not stop
him, could not slow him.
     "Stop." Zupah's buzzing voice rumbled through the hive. At once,
the bee-thine were still. "Let them pass." Adarm lifted an eyebrow.
Them? From behind and below he could hear muffled cursing. A foot
sliding from a step, followed by more cursing. Damn the girl!
Sheathing his raging, insatiable swords, he walked back down to meet
her. She was moving in a strange, walking crawl. The steps slicked by
the bee-thine blood. The strange blue glow radiating from her eyes
again.
     Her red hair shown brilliantly in this dimly lit place. He debated
killing her and again decided against it. Which in turn, made him frown
more. He had killed babies . . . why would he hesitate on this strange
girl?
     'Yes. Kill her. She must die. Kill her.' He reached up to draw his
swords before realizing that THEY were wishing her dead. That was not
his thought. 'Not true. Not true! We are one! One. We are one!'
     "No. Not yet. Not ever!" But he wondered. She finally noticed he
stood there. Meeting his eye, a tentative smile began to form on her
lips. He glowered severely. She lowered her eyes.
     "What are you doing?"
     "I have no where else to go." She stood tall. A challenging look In
those glowing blue eyes as she again met his stare. "Better an evil I
know . . . "
     " . . . than one you do not." He finished. He was taller than her,
but with the added height of the stairs he seemed to tower over her even
more so. "Why?"
     "I told you. I have NO WHERE to go. I know no one in this land."
She held his eyes with her own.
     "And?"
     "And . . . " she sighed, glancing down at the stairs again. "those
divers out there . . . I . . . " She felt her face reddening, but she
made herself meet his cold stare.
     "I see." He continued to stare at her . . . judging her value. He
was at a loss. For the first time in a very long time, he was unsure. To
let her follow him . . . to let someone into his company for too long .
. . that was something he had never allowed. But there was something
about her . . . something in those glowing eyes. Something seemed
important here.
     He couldn't put his finger on it but he felt he needed her. Needed
her if he were to find the Crimson Star. For the Crimson Star . . . or
for something more? He couldn't decide. Finally . . . he nodded. "As you
wish." He looked away from her suddenly smiling face. Without a word, he
began to climb the steps again.
     Azaria did her best to keep up. She couldn't believe it had been
that easy!! She had been prepared to tag along no matter what he said .
. . fight him if it came to it. But he had agreed! Her smile faltered as
a new thought hit her. Maybe he really did want her as a man wants a
woman. Could that be possible? She glanced at his back as he forged
ahead. Those swords . . . as long as he had them he appeared to be
invincible. But if he were to lose them? What then? Her mind ran over
plan after plan as she followed him ever higher into the bee-thine hive.
     'She is thinking of separating us! Kill her. KILL HER!!!' Adarm
glanced back at her. She did indeed look like she was planning
something. 'I saw her eyes' The strange dual voice of his swords hissed
in his mind. 'She is trying to kill us!!!'
     'Bah . . . so what?' Adarm growled at them in his mind. 'If she
tries any such thing . . . I will kill her myself, without your urging.'
The swords seemed to giggle contentedly. 'I still need your power.'
     'OUR power!!' The swords corrected him. 'Without you we are nothing
. . . without us you are nothing. We are one.' Glowering at the
gathering bee-thine, Adarm did not bother replying.
     "Why aren't they attacking?" Azaria must have just noticed their
little escort.
     "Zupah wishes to meet with us. He thinks he can talk me out of
killing him. The fool." They reached the top of the stairs without
incident and that is where the mostly human like structure changed to
something alien and strange. Azaria was in awe by the sheer size of the
place. The ceiling was so high she could not even see it! The strange
honey combed walls were literally swarming with bee-thine.
     Workers like she had seen outside, plus numerous others. She could
see many pure white bee-thine, wingless but nearly as big as the
warriors. No stingers on these white ones . . . but six arms. Here and
there she caught sight of baby bee-thine, mostly in the care of the pure
white ones. More surprising still, she saw dozens of humans!! She moved
closer to Adarm as they walked further into the room..
     "They are enslaved." He answered her unspoken question. "To tend
the eggs until the babies hatch, then to become food for those
newborns."
     "But . . . where do they come from?"
     "These beasts have a long range. Growing longer every year. These
people are tribute. An offering of sorts."
     "So there are villages at peace with these . . . bee-thine?" She
glanced around her. The bee-thine were suddenly very still . . . all
facing the same direction.
     "Ha!! If you call giving half your populace to these things as
nannies and food peace . . . then yes, some are at peace. Zupah comes."
Azaria tried to stand on her toes to peer over the surrounding bee men
but it was no good. Grumbling to herself, she crossed her arms and
waited. As it turned out, she did not have long to wait.
     "Adarm! Adarm, my old friend." The buzzing, human like voice sent
shivers down her spine.
     "No friend of yours, Zupah!" He drew those cursed, evil blades.
Azaria moved a pace away as one licked out towards her.
     "Come now. We old monsters have no need for such hostile acts
between us." His voice had moved more to the south. He was moving around
them.
     "You and yours are the only true monsters here, Zupah."
    "Oh? Haha! And how many newborns have those swords killed? How many
innocents have you taken? Being older than I, I would wager you have
take far more innocents than I have."
     "Newborns? Innocents?" Azaria looked at Adarm in shocked disgust.
If that were true, who was the real monster here . . . Adarm . . . or
the bee-thine!
     "Oh yes, my pretty little thing." Zupah's buzzing voice was filled
with mocking cheer. "Your big friend here has taken far more human life
with those swords than I have! He is quite the monster. I remember
seeing him once centuries ago . . . stacking babies on those swords like
you wouldn't believe! Hahahaa!!"
     "Is . . . is it true?" She backed further away from him . . .
moving into the bee-thine ranks.
     "Yes. Yes it's true. And I have no doubt it will happen again." His
eyes locked onto hers. Despite the disgust she felt, she suddenly
couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It was his damned eyes. In his
eyes, she could suddenly see things she had missed. Cold and terribly
hard on the outside but she could see passed that. Inside . . . was pain
. . . torment like she had never seen. Confusion, loss. No wonder he did
not sleep.
      "Why?" She moved a step closer. Those eyes . . . so sad . . . so
haunted. What kind of life had this man lead to have such a look buried
in those azure depths? He narrowed his eyes, looking away. Before he
could answer, Zupah laughed.
     "For power! Trying to gain the power needed to defeat my Master!!!
But you never will! You will never defeat Him!! Hahahah! You will die
with all that innocent blood on your hands. What irony." Zupah's
buzzing, cackling laughter was from behind them now. "Poor little Adarm.
Cursed the world with his bare hands. Opened the door for my Master to
enter and now damns himself further by every life he steals! You, old
monster . . . are far more a beast than I!" Now the voice was getting
closer, he was coming towards them through the ranks of bee-thine.
     Adarm stood frozen, his face contorted in a strange mixture of
hatred and grief. Yet . . . was there a gleeful look In there somewhere?
Soon, it was gone. He was glowering as before. Azaria fingered her
dagger . . . a fight was unavoidable it seemed.
     "You know why I'm here, Zupah. I will do to you what I did to
Sisbaen."
     "Ahhh . . . so that is how you found me. The Master was correct
then? You are after the Crimson Star as well."
     "Yes. Now stop hiding . . . rise up and show yourself."
     "Yes . . . " Zupah lifted into the air. Azaria bumped into Adarm as
she jumped backwards. Zupah towered high above their heads. His body was
slug like, white in color and gleaming with some type of slime. She had
thought the warriors to be walking weapons . . . Zupah WAS a weapon.
     Daggers of bone covered his entire back, while his underside was a
mass of swishing tentacles and sucking mouths. The tentacles were much
like the warriors but most were tipped with a stinger! And his head was
the most disturbing of all.
     On top of this nightmarish body sat a perfect, rather handsome
human head. His golden hair glittered in the dusky light. His smiling,
blue eyes looked almost gentle. Azaria shivered. What type of
hell-spawned demon was this? His soft, smiling eyes locked onto her.
     "Ah yes . . . you are the pretty one." His whole body began to sway
in a snake like fashion. The motion needed to keep him upright she
suspected. "Don't worry . . . we will not kill you. We have plenty of
uses for a female here." He sneered. "First my warriors will sate their
need for some coupling . . . after that you will be given to the human
males. Yes, many uses for you." He laughed.
     "Tell me what I want to know." Adarm stepped between Azaria and
Zupah. "And I might let you live."
     "HA!!" The gentle look was gone. Those blue eyes filled with hatred
as they glared at Adarm. "The Master's offer still stands. Join us. Help
us. Bond with him and become one of us! The Master wants you . . . wants
what you know . . . will do anything to have you! Sisbaen was to be your
bride, but there are far greater beauties than she. You are more demon
now than man. Take that final step . . . just give in. I certainly
wouldn't want you among OUR ranks. You, a high demon? Hah!! But the
Master still wishes it." His eyes were now filled with promise.
     "The Master wants to thank you for letting him into this world. He
has told us all you are the key. We all would be rewarded if you but
joined with us! Think of the worlds we could have. Each our own world in
fact! The Master can give you these things!"
     "Once he possesses the Crimson Star of course." Adarm snorted.
     "Of course! What did you-"
     "Then why do I need him? I can find the Star on my own . . . and
then have everything he would deny me. I would be the master then! And
you demons . . . would be gone!!" Adarm moved menacingly towards Zupah.
The huge, slug like creature continued to sway in place . . . looking
down on them from high above.
     "Fool!" Zupah hissed at last. "You are still mostly human. What
makes you think you can control the Crimson Star even if you do find it
first?"
     "Tell me what I want to know now . . . or die." The swords began
weaving this way and that. They reminded Azaria of pets on a leash.
Struggling to be free.
     "Then we must fight, old monster. Attack!!" From all sides, the
bee-thine rolled in. Azaria slashed and jabbed . . . punched and kicked
. . . but she was buried under their sheer number. Still . . . she
fought on. "Keep them alive!!" She heard Zupah's buzzing commands.
No stingers came her way . . . but she was soon motionless. Dozens of
bee-thine literally piled onto her. Buried, she was totally helpless and
cursing her fate. What a Hells spawned few last days these had turned
into!
     Adarm stood in a halo of blood. He stood there for what seemed like
an eternity untouched. But the sheer number meant some did get through .
. . yet nothing seemed able to cut through his simple looking clothing.
More than one severed claw was still clamped onto his legs or arms. The
more that came . . . the more he killed, and the stronger he became. He
was laughing loudly, taunting Zupah.
     "Fool!" Zupah buzzed. "I'll stop you myself!!" Dropping to the
ground, crushing dozens of his own bee-thine, Zupah surged forward. This
is exactly what Adarm had been hoping for! With a mighty leap, he landed
on Zupah's back, grimacing only slightly as he landed on the bone
daggers. His swords began hacking at the bone armor. Each strike sapping
some of the high demon's life force. The bone armor came away with each
swipe of his swords, but Zupah was no dumb animal.
     With a growl, the huge beast rolled . . . sending Adarm flying into
the air. He landed on his feet and was instantly charging back towards
Zupah. The slug lifted into the air, lashing out with hundreds of
stingers. Adarm was able to slice all but one. That one took him hard in
the neck, above his shirt. He jumped back, cursing.
     "HA!! Got you!" The slug flowed forward, lashing out with its
tentacles, some with stingers still attached. Adarm struggled to keep
the stingers at bay, but in so doing took more than a few blows from the
stingerless tentacles.
     Each blow felt like a hammer! And worse yet, he could feel the
poison in him. Could feel it slowing him down. Even the swords were
slowed by it. Suddenly he was caught from behind by a bee-thine, which
slowed him just enough for Zupah to sting him again. This time in the
back of the head. Adarm flopped down onto his back, crushing the
bee-thine, and rolled away just as a dozen tentacles slapped down onto
the ground where he had been.
     He rolled until he hit the wall. Coming quickly to his feet, he ran
his eyes over the honey combed structure. It looked like it would hold.
It had better! Sheathing his swords, he grabbed onto the wall and
started climbing. He was out of Zupah's reach in a heart beat.
     "Ha!! Think you're safe up there?" Adarm glanced down as the slug
like demon latched onto the wall. Would Zupah be dumb enough to follow
him? Sure enough . . . Zupah began to slide up the wall towards him. He
continued to climb.
     Stopping occasionally to strike down an attacking worker, but he
was more concerned over the poison he felt burning within. It would not
kill him but it would be enough to knock him out. If that happened, then
he might as well be dead!
     "Where do you think you are going? Hahah! Already my venom has to
be affecting you. What were you thinking climbing up here?" Adarm looked
down as he climbed. Zupah was gaining on him rapidly. Those blue eyes
were filled with confidence. Adarm looked past the slug to the floor far
below.
     Was he high enough? Well . . . not that it mattered now. His arms
were indeed giving out. If he didn't attack soon . . . he never would.
Still, he couldn't help but laugh.
     What a fool. If the demon had stayed on the ground . . . he might
have won! But up here, Zupah was using all of his limbs to cling to the
honey comb structure. Fool! That would give Adarm one good blow and
Zupah could do nothing. Not without letting go of the wall at least.
Stopping now, Adarm drew his swords, and dropped towards Zupah's exposed
face.
     "What!!?" Sudden understanding shown in those wide blue eyes. "NO!
You fool . . . no NOOO!!!"
     "DIEEEEE!!!" Adarm drove the swords through Zupah's eyes as he
landed. The big slug's life force roared into Adarm. Such a power in
fact that everything turned white. He didn't feel the stingers jabbing
at his sides. He didn't notice they were falling. He never felt the
ground when they hit.
                                               ***
     Azaria blinked slowly. Was she still alive? Everything hurt. So
that must mean she still lived. Or was in some Hell or Heaven. Groaning
. . . she tried to remember what had happened. She had been trapped
under hundreds of bee-thine parts and dozens of living bee-thine.
Then she heard a buzzing scream coming from above followed by a mighty
wet thud and that was all. Sitting up slowly . . . she looked around
her. All the bee-thine were dead. A few were curled into shivering balls
but they died as she watched. Her nose and forehead wrinkled in disgust.
She could see parts of Zupah. He was everywhere! And the smell . . . she
nearly vomited.
     "You're alive?" She started at the voice. A woman's voice! The
woman was dirty and naked, she could only have been one of the enslaved
people. Reaching down with dirty hands, she helped Azaria to her feet.
     "We are free! Free because of you two!!"
     "What . . . what happened?" Azaria looked up. The ceiling was even
farther away now. She looked around her again . . . sure enough, parts
of the second floor were scattered amongst Zupah's remain.
     "The man . . . he killed the demon!! They climbed high . . . then
came falling down!" She held one hand flat, smacking it with her other
to show the impact. "The floor gave way . . . it crashed down too! The
demon . . . he died. And all his children with him. Some magic held them
together. When he died, they died." She looked around at the carnage.
     "Adarm? Where is he?"
     "Who? Oh . . . your man." She pointed towards the biggest chunk of
Zupah. It was his head. "He's over there."
     "Come on! Hurry . . . hurry!!" A naked, dirty man ran up to them.
"Come on!!" Grabbing the woman, he ran off after a group of struggling
men and women. The woman waved at Azaria.
     "Thank you! We can live free now! Thank you!!" And they were gone .
. . out into the grass.
     "NO . . . Wait!!!" But they were too far out. Azaria watched them
sadly. She looked away as the first man disappeared down into that
grass. There was nothing she could do. Sighing . . . she moved towards
Zupah's head. Was Adarm still alive? She paused for a moment as a
shimmer caught her eye.
     Her Tu'Ra dagger! Picking it up, she was amazed that it was still
whole. Lucky for her. Stepping around the golden hair, she saw a black
clad knee sticking out. As she moved around further, he came into view.
Adarm. Sitting cross-legged and staring blankly at the ground. A large,
bleeding hole in his neck. Even as she watched, it was slowly closing.
     "So you are alive." His voice was soft. He studied her feet . . .
letting his gaze travel slowly up her body till he met her eyes. A small
smile appeared on his lips. Azaria was shocked. "I knew you were tough."
The smile vanished. "Do you still wish to travel with me?" She stood
over him uncertainly . . . looking from Zupah's head to Adarm and back
again. Finally, she sighed.
     "Until we are free of these grasslands . . . I have no choice."
     "Good . . . good." He nodded absently. "Then tomorrow we leave. I
have to head North. Here." He handed her his water jug. Without another
word, he toppled onto his side. Azaria watched him for awhile before
finally sitting next to him.
     She uncorked the water and sipped at it. It was still surprisingly
cold and tasted great. Re-corking it, she studied the man passed out
next to her. Even those damned swords seemed lifeless . . . which gave
her an idea.
     Reaching over, she tried to remove one from its sheath. She felt
instant revulsion at touching the thing. It seemed warm. Wet even.
However, it didn't budge. Well, there goes one idea. Sighing . . . she
rested her hands in her lap and leaned back against the lifeless mound
of flesh. It would be a long night.