Kianne's Journal - Archive

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[10/11/2003]

I was surprised today when Shamino said he would join us in our trip to the Terathan lair. Also, he'd managed to get a hold of one of the cogs, which I was excited to see. It is made out of a brownish metal called germanium. Apparently, each cog is made of a different material.

"I will try not be a burden," Shamino told us as we prepared to leave for the lair.

"Never. I'd love to have you with us," I smiled at him.

"Just remember," he teased, "I am an old man."

"Iolo got along just fine," I winked at him.

Sygil came in right around then. "Sorry I'm late! I was fetching some arrows," he explained.

"You take longer then an old man and three ladies," Shamino chuckled. We all laughed.

"Ho boy," I teased. "You can't put two rangers into the same room together."

"Rangers prefer to be outside," Sygil grinned.

"Two? I see three," Andrella joked.

"I don't count," I responded as we all walked outside. "I get lost."

We laughed again.

Outside the Keep, we readied our weapons and I pulled out the Orb.

"Now, if I accidentally shoot any of you in the back," Shamino chuckled, "forgive me."

I eyed him. "You don't have a triple crossbow, right?" I teased. I'd gotten a few bolts in my back from those...¹

I made a moongate to Soth's rune. We came out right near the Terathan's gates, as he'd promised. There was nothing in the immediate surroundings that suggested the location of the cogs, so we merely moved through the gates and into their lair. Fighting Terathans the entire way, of course. And a few Ophidians as well. It seems they are still teamed together...

The main threat we faced was inside the main entry hall, when the Terathans managed to paralyze two or three members of our group at once, effectively reducing our number sufficiently to nearly take all of us down. Shamino was the only one who escaped, and somehow he managed to avoid the spiders and circle around with a wand of Resurrection to get the rest of us back on our feet.

I don't think he can say he is a burden anymore...

We worked our way from there up some stairs and outside onto a walkway around the castle. The group had spread out a little bit, with most of the others still down below. I was glancing around quickly, on the lookout for anything obvious. Then I looked across the battlements to the rooftop of the room we had been in, and I spotted it.

The chest was encrusted with amethysts, giving it a purple color in appearance. It looked highly treasured and valuable. Not to mention there was a Terathan Avenger and two Terathan drones standing guard just in front of the chest. Their insect eyes seemed to follow our location but the spiders did not move, refusing to abandon their post.

I would lay good money that the cogs were in that chest, but how to get over there? I looked around but didn't spot any obvious routes from where I standing.

The Terathan guards watched us silently.

"Rel Por," I chanted, not at all expecting a result. The spell of Teleport has a lot of restrictions to its use, probably built into the spell on purpose to prevent hapless mages from teleporting themselves straight into the inside of a wall or something similar. Just because you can see a location doesn't necessarily mean you can Teleport there, one of the limitations of the spell.

I was, therefore, taken completely by surprise when the magic lifted me up and deposited me at the location upon which I had been focusing. As I hadn't expected success, I hadn't taken the time to carefully plan my landing point. Therefore, I found myself standing not more than two paces from three very startled Terathan guards.

"Ki!!" I heard Andrella yell in panic behind me. I'd probably nearly given her a heart attack. I suppose that makes us even. But at any rate, I didn't have time to respond. The drones were little threat, but the Avenger would rip me from limb to limb if I gave him a chance. I scrambled away from their blows, finally distancing myself enough to quickly hide myself. I remained still so as not to break the illusion and make myself visible. The Terathans stumbled around in confusion, unable to find me.

"Sorry!" I apologized sheepishly over the telepathy. "I didn't expect it to actually work!"

I heard Andrella teleport over behind me. As soon as she did, I revealed myself and joined her in the resulting battle as she engaged the spiders.

"This way!" Shamino called to the others. Like the ranger that he is, he'd found the stairs that form the conventional method of reaching this point. The way normal people would go. Those who aren't impulsive and reckless, like I happen to be.

Andrella dispatched the Avenger with a little help from me, and began to pick off the drones. Once the danger was past I moved quickly to the chest and lifted the lid, briefly surveying its contents.

"Bulls eye," I breathed.

Two cogs gleamed up at me from the other assorted items packed into the chest, both silver-colored but only one was actually made out of silver. The other was another metal that had a similar tone, but was duller and grayer.

I quickly gathered up the cogs and tucked them away for safekeeping. Then I glanced up. Andrella had the guards taken care of, and the others were on their way up the stairs heading toward us. I looked back down at the chest. What the heck, I decided, and rapidly emptied its entire contents into my backpack.

"I have the cogs," I told the others as I rejoined them, hauling a much heavier and very stuffed pack. "One silver, and another something similar."

"Indium," Shamino nodded with a smile.

More Terathans were showing up, rather indignant I'm sure. I pulled out the Orb. "Let's get out of here," Andrella said, as if reading my thoughts, and I made a gate.

We returned to the Keep to split the treasure we'd gotten from the Terathans, including all the stuff I'd grabbed out of the chest. Shamino didn't join us for this part, as he was tired and wanted to go to sleep. I'm glad he was able to go with us at all. It was good to adventure with him again...

---

[10/12/2003]

Andrella met me with amazing news. Our "associates" had obtained the final cog! It was gold, as we'd been told earlier. Oakley had apparently confiscated it for taxes, as he is Blackthorn's tax collector, at least for the merchants.

Of course, I was excited and anxious the moment I was holding all four cogs. "Do you think we can get the cogs to them now?" I asked with a grin.

She grinned back, but before we left, she also handed me another glass sword.

"Another one!" I gasped.

"There were two but I'm going to keep one if that's okay," she teased.

I nodded. "I would have given you one anyway. I'm going to give this one to Shamino. I like to spread them around the party," I smiled.

We left for Moonglow. I would have made a moongate to the telescope, but we'd neglected to mark a rune, so we didn't have the coordinates. So we used the teleporters in the little hedge maze in Moonglow and walked to the telescope.

Shamino was standing there speaking with a sage wearing a deep blue robe.

"Ahh, speaking of the Avatar..." Shamino smiled as we approached. He introduced us to Gorjez, the Star Sage.

"We have all the cogs!" I informed them, glowing with excitement. I quickly handed them over to Gorjez.

"Already?" Shamino asked in surprise.

"Excellent!" Gorjez smiled. "I will put these together at once!" And he immediately went to work.

We chatted with Shamino while the sage was busy. "Oh, Shamino," I remembered. "You ought to carry this. Just in case." I grinned and handed him the glass sword.

"Oh my," he breathed, handling it delicately. "What a work of art."

I nodded in agreement. "They make nice panic buttons too," I teased.

"I will hold it until you need it." Shamino carefully tucked it away.

I shrugged. "Use it if you need to. I have one, and Andrella has one."

"So this is meant for me to keep?" he asked in surprise.

"Aye!" I nodded. "You got us out of a scrape last night. You might need it." I winked.

He chuckled. "I don't know if my running in a panic was helpful." We laughed. "But I am glad something good came from it."

"It is complete!" Gorjez announced then, and we joined him at the telescope. He was already eagerly peering through.

"Oh my..." he breathed. "It has been so long since I have seen this..."

We blinked. "What is it?" we asked in concern.

"The moons together," he responded. "Trammel and Felucca are shadowing each other. That has not happened in fifty years..."

I grew wary. "Not an astral alignment...?"²

Shamino seemed to understand my worry. "What does that mean?" he asked Gorjez.

The sage turned to us. "Well...nothing, really," he shrugged, and I nearly fell over. "It is just a really rare occurrence."

"You had us worried for nothing?" Andrella laughed.

"Come and see," he invited, and gave each of us a turn at looking through the lens. The stars and moons really make little sense to me aside from knowing which way to walk when one is lost. But Michael could calculate coordinates, and if he can learn to do it, so can I...

"Does it take long to figure out coordinates?" I asked.

"Only minutes. It depends on how accurate you need them," Gorjez smiled.

I nodded. Shamino contributed, "Gorjez will be posted here for some time I am sure."

Gorjez agreed. "I have a bedroll," he grinned.

I gazed at the telescope anxiously. "Can I start now?"

Gorjez smiled. "Certainly, Avatar! You may ask for any coordinates you need."

I started with what I thought could help us the most right now. "Can you get to Dawn?"

"You mean the fabled elven city?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Well, with the moons shadowing each other," Gorjez mused thoughtfully, "neither will ever be full until one passes the other."

I blinked. "Is that why the gate isn't working...?"

He nodded. "The gate to Dawn is said to open when both moons are full, on the dawn of the morning."

"So this happens every so often?" Shamino asked, and Gorjez nodded again. "That is kind of relieving to know it is not magic," the ranger commented.

I agreed. "I was thinking with coordinates to the city we could just go straight there," I spoke up.

"The city is hidden by magic," Gorjez told me. "Not even the stars shine through the secret city. But I can give you the coordinates to where the gate opens. The moons will pass each other in less then a month."

I nodded eagerly. "That would be helpful!"

He turned to the telescope and spun the circles. I pulled out my parchment and got my pen ready. After a few moments, he gave me the coordinates to the gate, and I added them to my growing list of locations.

"The gate opens at dawn for five days a month," Gorjez reminded us. "But with the moons shadowing like this, it won't open this month."

We nodded and thanked him. "Anything else?" he asked with a grin. He looked as eager as I was.

I glanced at the others. "At the moment, I don't think so. We'll need Felucca eventually, but..."

"Felucca, the facet of?" Gorjez asked, and I nodded. The sage looked thoughtful. "That is a dangerous place."

We nodded in agreement. "But we don't know yet specifically where, so..." I shrugged and smiled.

"Then I will just practice!" Gorjez turned back to the telescope and went back to it, soon producing the coordinates to the Moonglow Zoo. I wrote them down for the heck of it.

And then it dawned on me. (No pun intended.) "I have an idea for practice..." I spoke up with a sly grin. "How about the coordinates to the southeast-most cell on the upper floor of the Yew Jail?"

Gorjez tapped his finger for a moment on the telescope. "You know, I really need to write a disclaimer for this. 'Gorjez is not responsible for anything you do with this information.'"

Andrella and I laughed and assured him that we would take full responsibility for whatever we did with the coordinates. Shamino spoke up quietly, "Kianne, can I ask you something?"

He walked a short distance away, into a grove of trees. I left Gorjez spinning gears on the telescope and joined him.

"You mean to free Navien Trailwind?" Shamino asked me. When I nodded, he frowned. "Are you certain he is not allied with Soth?"

I sighed a little. "He likes Soth, but he's still been loyal to us."

"It could prove a great boon to the dread lord to have an assistant." Shamino shrugged a little. "I do not mean to pry. I was just curious."

I nodded reluctantly. "I don't know, Shamino... You're right, of course..."

"The last time we had a conversation with Navien, it didn't sound as though his loyalties were strong," Andrella pointed out.

"At least Gorjez is loyal to British," Shamino informed us. "He is working here in secret."

"Actually, I wanted to bring that up too," I said, reminded. "Is he going to be in any danger? I mean, if Blackthorn finds out..."

"The only way he could is if he suspected something." Shamino glanced at me. "If you create a gate into the jail cell in front of his guards, he may suspect the telescope is working."

It was a good point.

"Just be careful," he finished. "I just have a biased opinion about Soth, and anyone working with him."

I nodded slowly. "But as you say: even if Navien isn't a problem, the guards may see the gate."

"We just have to distract the guards." And he gave me a sly grin. I realized abruptly he was offering to help in the endeavor. When he saw my look of surprise, he added, "I will accept your judgment."

I smiled at him. "We will make sure before we use the coordinates. It worries me also."

"Hello!" Gorjez called from the telescope. We walked back over to him and he announced the coordinates for cell block one. I added them after the Moonglow Zoo, thinking idly that I needed to organize my notes better.

"Did I already thank you?" Gorjez asked suddenly. "My sincere thanks to all of you. This is all I have ever wanted to do." He smiled.

I beamed back. "Thank you! This has been so helpful to us!"

"It is a pleasure to serve the Avatar and her companions."

We smiled, and I glanced at the others. "Can either of you think of any other places?"

They shook their head. Gorjez pointed out, "I should be around if you ever come up with any."

"Lost Lands maybe?" I grinned. "We could ask for dragon isle."³

"Sounds like trouble," Shamino chuckled.

I nodded. "It is. I'd boot someone I didn't like there." We laughed.

We bid Gorjez farewell. "Remember!" he called to us as we were leaving. "Gorjez is not responsible!"

I was eager to put our accomplishment to use, so I opened us a gate to the location of Dawn that Gorjez had calculated for us. We came out in a clearing in the jungles near Trinsic.

"No wonder I could never find it!" I laughed at myself. "I was too far north."

We chatted for a short while, then Shamino said he would need to be heading to sleep. "Old people need a lot of rest," he teased me. "Kianne, you'll get old one day." He grinned.

"Actually..." I started, but hesitated. It pained me to try to tell him that I was immortal and would not age, when he'd grown old practically overnight. Yet I couldn't just keep the truth from him...

"Don't fight it," he advised me with a smile. "You'll surely lose."

I shook my head and plunged in, the words flowing freely from the heart to my mouth. "Shamino, I died a long time ago. I haven't aged since."

He went still, giving me a puzzled look. "Are you serious?" he asked slowly.

"Connor calls us immortals," I finished. "He's thousands of years old."

"Thousands?" Shamino gasped.

"So he claims." I couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm very young as immortals go."

"And yet you look younger then even Michael did here." Shamino looked thoughtful.

"I'm not yet used to... people growing old on me...." I shook my head, trying to keep my voice from breaking from emotion.

"That must be difficult," he nodded. "I cannot begin to understand."

"Connor and others have tried to warn me." I shook my head.

"How did you become this way?" Shamino asked me.

"I'm not sure. Connor says we are born this way. But I aged until I died the first time..."

"Perhaps we can save Michael," he suggested. "If he becomes immortal too."

I couldn't say. "I don't know. I would like it if we could. But I don't know enough about it. Connor might know." I decided immediately to ask him the next time he was able to project himself here.

Shamino mused thoughtfully, "Iolo and Dupré... They had the same adventures with you as I had with Michael. And they are, well--how can I say it--old."

I looked at him. "Did Michael seem to age?"

"He seemed to always mature," Shamino responded. "Every time he came he was more mature, and more grown up."

I nodded. Even immortals mature in that way. "It seemed to me that time flowed differently on Earth," I pointed out. "I came back once after a few years on Earth to find that two hundred years passed on Britannia."

"Michael always said the same thing," Shamino agreed. "Here, he could equip swords and fight dragons. On Earth, he said he could not even lift a real sword." He shrugged. "I cannot believe that Michael would not have fallen to Minax."

"She didn't give him a chance," I pointed out darkly. "She cheated."

Shamino shook his head a little. "Michael is still trying to come. And one day, just like Kianne did, he will run into me again." He smiled at me. "You found your old companions. One day he will find me."

"Let's hope then, that he too is immortal," Andrella agreed.

"If he is immortal then he has forever." Shamino smiled. "Iolo can hang on this long. So can I."

We chuckled and said our farewells.

And I hope he is right...

---

[10/17/2003]

Today I arrived at the Keep to find Navien sitting at the table inside, chatting with Andrella and Sygil.

"Navien! How did you get free?" I asked in surprise before thinking. It wasn't the best of greetings, but...

"A bad deal... I think," he responded.

"A bad deal?" we repeated.

"It was my release for the golden rock."

We stared at him in horrified silence. "You gave your rock to Blackthorn?" I managed finally, in practically a whisper.

He shook his head. "No." And then I realized the truth would be even more frightening.

"You gave Soth your golden rock!?"

"His dragon," Navien said. "Shev."

The three of us nearly exploded, speaking all at once. "Soth's our main problem! He's going to get the Gem of Immortality if we don't stop him!"

Navien could only point out, "I have not been around. I hear no news of the outside."

"Why would you give him the golden rock?" Sygil wanted to know.

"Because we turned to him to free me last time...yes?"

I sighed. "Yes, but we didn't give him a piece of the gem for that..."

"What can he do with one golden rock?" Navien asked us.

"He has two!" Andrella protested.

I wasn't sure what he could do with them, but I wasn't liking the possibilities. "Look at how powerful he has gotten already. We don't really know if it's because of the rock, but the timing is very coincidental...."

Navien sighed. "I did not know..."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Navien... We should have told you earlier." But we were only just finding out things for ourselves...

We had a long discussion after that; I think for a while Navien wanted to just go off on his own to try to correct the error, but finally we convinced him it would be better to work with us. I don't know if he realizes yet how terrible Soth is, but at any rate he wanted to help us.

"Let's begin," he said. "I'm itching to use some magic."

We nodded. "Everyone should prepare for Felucca." I stole a glance at Andrella. We had been planning something for the past couple of days, working an idea into fruitation. Where we were about to go, we couldn't bring Navien, because he would simply be jailed again. And we couldn't bring Sygil since Blackthorn would probably jail him as well.

Navien and Sygil nodded and left to get their belongings in order. Andrella and I took a moment to have a last minute discussion on our plan.

We'd decided that there is one person who knows the location of the black void golem. So we were going to have to just force him to tell us.

So the main trick was to figure out how. We had a basic idea, but still needed to hammer down the details. We wanted to confront Blackthorn in his secret chambers, where he could not call the guards and would be much less likely to be able to do anything nasty. But unless we got lucky and he just happened to be there right now, how could we get him there?

"I've got it," Andrella spoke up suddenly, and left briefly. When she returned she grinned. "I just told Lita you were trapped in Lord Blackthorn's secret chamber. She's running to go tell him..."

That didn't give us much time. I'd already taken off all of my metal armor so that I would be able to cast Dispel if Blackthorn had a daemon guard. I'd also given one of my rings of invisibility to Andrella.

"Let's go!" she urged.

I opened a moongate onto Blackthorn's balcony using the Orb of Moons. No one was there as we emerged. If I'd had a little more time, I would have liked to have checked out his bedroom, but he would probably be arriving at any moment. I showed Andrella the tile to the secret chambers, and we both went through.

Andrella hid herself using the ring, and I wandered over to the table with the books. We were going to have to play this by ear...

Blackthorn entered not more than a few seconds later, sounding a little breathless. He spotted me instantly and laughed with evil glee.

I turned to face him. "Hello, Blackthorn."

"Hail to thee," he snickered, then burst out laughing at his own joke. "Fell into my little trap, did you?"

I glanced around. "Interesting place you have here."

"There is no escape from here," Blackthorn grinned.

I nodded. "I noticed that you forgot the door."

He gestured behind him. "See that cheese? I was wondering when you would eat it. Been waiting long?" Blackthorn laughed again...then broke off with a yelp of surprise.

Andrella had walked up to him while invisible, and at that moment she revealed herself to grab him. Blackthorn struggled but it was already far too late. She was much stronger than he, and held his arms in an inescapable grip.

I smiled grimly. "No more games, Blackthorn."

"Wait! Let me go!" he began, but Andrella stuffed an apple into his mouth.

"We want the location of the black void golem," I told him. "And we're not leaving until we get it."

"Mmmffmfmmf!" Blackthorn protested.

"Nod if you agree," Andrella commanded. He shook his head wildly. Andrella tied him up for good measure, then finally removed the apple.

"The golem?" I asked.

Blackthorn took a deep breath. "Don't be stupid!" he spoke rapidly. "There is no escape from here. Only I can free you! If you value your life..."

"Shut up!" Andrella interrupted, slapping him. He yelped and grumbled.

"Blackthorn," I told him logically, "it won't kill you to give us the location."

"But I'll kill you if you don't," Andrella grinned.

"I don't know," he gasped out. "Listen to me. I don't know."

I looked at him skeptically. "You don't know where the golem is?"

Andrella threw him to the ground. "Guards!" he yelled, but of course nobody came.

"No guards here, are there?" I smirked.

Andrella pulled out her sword and pointed its tip at his throat. "Tell her...now!"

We were being rather rough with him, but we were playing it by ear as I mentioned. He deserved it, as Andrella pointed out later. But besides that, if there is one thing I have learned being the Avatar, it's that you cannot let evil walk all over you in the name of upholding a Virtue. For example, Compassion is all well and good, but there are seven other Virtues that must be taken as a whole...

"Why would you do this to me?" Blackthorn pouted.

"Because you're being stubborn," I responded.

Blackthorn practically whined, "We can talk about this. We really can."

"We sure can." I gave him a grin. "So talk."

Andrella poked him with the point of her sword. "Answer her. Where is the golem?"

"It won't do you any good," Blackthorn let out finally. "Minax knows Kianne is coming for it. She locked it away behind a blackrock gate. If I told you where it was you could nothing about it!"

"We'll see about that," I replied. "Where is it?"

"In her throne room," he said sulkily. "Right beside her." He looked up at us. "Now tell me you want to face Minax! But I can help," he pleaded with us. "I can help!"

"Like you've been so helpful now?" Andrella snorted, tapping him with the flat of the blade.

"I can!" Blackthorn was shaking now. "I know where the keys are! The keys to unlock the blackrock gate! I swear. I swear!"

"Where are the keys?" we asked, but he was whimpering too much to hear us.

"I can help, just let me live!" Blackthorn begged. "Please, let me up..."

Andrella and I glared at him. He turned his head to look at her. "Your blade is the last thing I have to worry about if I tell you about the keys. Minax is going to kill me..." He shook his head. "But I don't care anymore. Die by her or die here... Let me up. I will tell you anything. Please."

I raised my eyebrow at Andrella. "Go ahead and let him stand," I decided finally. "He's still tied up..."

Andrella was already sheathing her sword. She took a step back. "Get up then, you pompous windbag."

Blackthorn trembled as he pushed himself awkwardly to his feet, his hands still bound behind his back.

"You see?" he began with a weak smile. "We can be friends. We can work together."

Andrella looked like she wanted to be sick.

But Blackthorn was on a roll, going on before either of us could formulate a reply, "It was all Minax's fault! Everything. You think I wanted to return from banishment?"

"Yeah," Andrella responded flippantly.

Blackthorn shook his head. "The evil Minax found me. She forced me to come here, and play these stupid games..."

"What, are you saying you are working for Minax?" I asked. Of course, we already knew that, but it was rather surprising to me that he was sort of admitting it.

"Yes! I had no choice." Blackthorn looked from Andrella to me. "She was going to kill British if I didn't! I swear!"

Privately, Andrella and I exchanged one of those he's making everything up again glances. "She has British?" I asked, trying to follow his current version of the story. It's not easy, sometimes...

"No, but she wants me to free him so she can kill him," Blackthorn explained.

I frowned. "So you were dragging your feet to prevent that?"

Blackthorn practically beamed. "Yes!"

"I'm playing along for a reason," I sent privately to Andrella.

"I know," she chuckled.

Blackthorn was lying through his teeth, and we both knew it, but I wanted to see how much information I could drag out of him anyway.

"I was hoping deep down inside that you would rescue him," Blackthorn went on. "I was so happy to see you become the Avatar! That's why I had you for dinner."

I was just barely able to keep myself from breaking out into laughter.

"But we still need to defeat the golem," I reminded him.

He nodded. "Yes, the golem. Minax knows you are after him. She knew it after you had the skull."

I'd really hoped they didn't know that we know how to take care of the golem...

"She ordered me to kill you!" Blackthorn revealed. "But I did not obey! I only want the best for you. You have to understand..."

"Nevertheless," I mused, "we still have to press forward, or Lord British will never be freed."

He dipped his head. "Yes. I can help you. I will tell you how to get to the golem, and you swear not to tell Minax I did it."

We nodded, but Blackthorn gave us looks of uncertainty. "My word, Blackthorn," I told him finally. "We won't tell her."

My word is not something I give lightly, but I was fairly certain in this case that it would be one we would be able to uphold.

Blackthorn hesitated, then seemed to acquiesce. "Minax locked the golem away, as I was saying. She broke the key into three parts to ensure you could never get him out."

"Ugh, never easy!" Andrella groaned privately. I think the expression on my face was mirroring her sentiments.

"But did she want to hold a part of the key? Oh, no." Blackthorn shook his head. "She knew you would hunt her down like mad animals." He glared at Andrella. She thumped him on the forehead.

Blackthorn sighed. "So she gave me a key... And Gratagmalem. And Shevilia."

Shevilia? "Oh great," I muttered. "She's allied with Soth now?"

"No, the bone dragon," Blackthorn said.

That's what I meant. "Yes, but... Oh, never mind," I sighed. "Where's your part?"

Blackthorn replied, "I hold the key and stall until she finishes--I mean--until she is ready." We eyed him. He finished rapidly, "That's all. I don't know her plans."

Uh huh. "Or we'll take it from you, and she won't be the wiser," I grinned.

"Of course. She wouldn't even notice. I failed her a million times," Blackthorn sighed.

"Why am I not surprised...?" Andrella broke in.

Blackthorn turned to her. "I failed her on purpose! To fool her into thinking I was on her side!"

Right. "Where is her throne? And this blackrock gate?" I asked him, trying to prod him back on course.

"Her throne room is the mirror image of mine," he explained. "On the Felucca facet."

I should have known. "You mean Lord British's throne?" I queried pointedly.

"Of course!" he responded instantly, and smiled sweetly. I snickered.

"Okay," I told him, "give us your part of the key and we'll take care of things."

"But what will you do?" he wanted to know.

I considered my response briefly before I spoke. It was so obvious I didn't think it would hurt to voice it. "Get the other two, what else?"

"There is no way you can get the key from Shevilia!" he protested.

"Let us worry about that," I said dryly. "Where is your key?"

"Am I free to go?" he whimpered instead of replying.

I scratched my head and made a show of considering it. "I don't know, that might be too obvious," I smirked. "If we left you tied up here, Minax wouldn't think you helped us willingly."

"She will notice I am gone!" he whined. "I would rather claim failure than be tied up forever!"

"Oh, you'll get free eventually." I waved my hand dismissively. He stared at me in shocked horror.

"What!?" he sputtered. Andrella snickered.

"They're just ropes," I pointed out. "Hit yourself with a Flamestrike. They'll burn right off."

Andrella laughed. Blackthorn gave a fake chuckle. "Oh, I would," he said sarcastically, "but you see, it requires my hands."

I pretended to be surprised. "Oh yeah. You have a point there."

"Where's the key?" Andrella asked him.

"I can't get it while I'm tied up," Blackthorn pouted. "Why don't you get the other two first? That way Minax won't suspect me."

"I'd rather get yours first," I told him. I was through with being told a "later" that never comes.

"I can help you!" he protested. "I swear!"

"Help us right into cell block C?" Andrella smirked.

"No." Blackthorn shook his head. "I will help you. You get the other two. When Minax asks me what is going on I tell her I have it under control and then I give you my key."

I shook my head again. "So pretend you still have yours, or that you put it somewhere to trap us."

"I can tell you where Gratagmalem's key is," Blackthorn offered. "So you can go get his first."

"We're getting yours first," I responded flatly.

Blackthorn grumbled. "If you insist, but believe me you will regret it." He glared at Andrella. "Untie me and I will give it to you."

I eyed him suspiciously, but Andrella pulled out her sword and cut the ropes. Before he could hardly move she'd grabbed him by the front of his robe. "You mess up and I will make you pay."

He glared at her, but reached with one hand into a pocket on his robe and threw a small object to the floor. She shoved him away and picked it up. It was indeed a third of a three-part key, similar to the one I had used during the Quest of the Avatar.

"Now you will probably tell us Minax can see our every move with this?" I chuckled.

"No," Blackthorn grumbled hatefully, smoothing out his robes. "But now I have no leverage with her. So she can slay me." He shrugged.

"We'll handle her," I assured him.

"Oh no, you won't," he returned. "She knows all about the Avatar. She already killed one."

"You underestimate the elusive Kianne," Andrella grinned.

"Fine," he spat. "I'll go sit in the throne until Exodus kills me. We're all dead now. I was the only person who talked Minax from releasing Exodus here on Trammel. But hey, who cares?"

While I'm sure Exodus is a very real threat, I doubt Blackthorn was the only thing keeping it from being used. In fact, Mondain said specifically that he wouldn't unleash Exodus until he had his Gem, because it might be destroyed otherwise. So Blackthorn was clearly making things up again.

"We'll take care of her," I assured him. "Really."

Blackthorn looked sarcastic. "Oh, sure. You can go grab her by the collar, Andrella!"

Andrella snickered. "I just might. Depends on how much of a fool she is."

"Exodus is already here," Blackthorn bemoaned. "And now as soon as Minax founds out I lost her key, she'll let her go."

"Her?" Andrella echoed. I wasn't all that surprised. When the Gargoyles created a statue of Exodus, it had looked very much like a woman. I still consider it to be an "it" however, since Exodus is a creation, like a machine.

"She won't find out then, hmm?" I asked pointedly.

"Can't you make a fake copy of the key?" Andrella asked. "Temporarily of course."

"If it were that easy," Blackthorn sighed. "I can't lie very well. I have an honest face. Or so I have been told." He paused to give me a look, because I was madly fighting the urge to laugh. That was the funniest thing I'd heard all day!

"So maybe," I managed to get out between snickers, "it would be best if we tied you up and left you here for a while. So she doesn't find you." I grinned.

"No, she'll find out sooner that way," Blackthorn returned. "At least this way I can say good-bye to all the good people..."

I didn't feel like listening to him go on another pity party, so I quickly broke in, "So that key was the only thing keeping her from releasing Exodus?"

"Well, it was my leverage." He shrugged.

"So why'd she give it to you in the first place?" I wanted to know.

"Because it was my idea to lock the golem up," Blackthorn said, then quickly corrected, "I mean, to split the key." We eyed him. He gave us a smile. "She likes my ideas."

"So she'd release Exodus just because you don't have it?" I asked skeptically.

"When she thinks all hope is gone, yes, she will." Blackthorn shrugged again. "That's why Shevilia is watching us. Minax can see everything through her."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. Did Soth know this?

Blackthorn nodded. "And when she sees that you know her plans..."

"Relax," I sighed. "We won't say anything in the presence of the dragon. She won't know why we are killing it."

"Once you kill it, she'll know," he returned. "Why else would you kill it?"

"Maybe for the loot." I gave him a grin. It's what Soth keeps saying, after all. "Or because it's Soth's." We needed to take care of the dragon anyway, to get Soth's golden rocks, but I wasn't about to tell Blackthorn that.

"Two stones with one... erm, I mean..." I chuckled to Andrella.

"Three stones with one dragon," she returned with a grin.

"And anyway, we do need to take care of Soth," I finished out loud musingly.

"That's your problem," Blackthorn grumbled.

"So, see?" I said with a bit of sarcasm. "She won't have to suspect anything."

"Don't think she is stupid," Blackthorn retorted. "She is brilliant when it comes to this stuff."

"Blackthorn," Andrella sighed. "For the ten thousandth time, we'll take care of it. Quit your whining."

"Whining!" he repeated. "It is concern! For all of the people! For all of the world!"

"And we are telling you it will be taken care of," she finished pointedly.

"Fine," Blackthorn grumbled. "Go on then." He turned away from us. "So much for me helping you..."

Or pretending he was trying to. I pulled out the Orb, since he already knew we had it, and made a gate right there in the middle of the chambers. "Nice talking with you," I said sarcastically, and walked through the gate.

Andrella followed.

We'd forgotten to get the location of Gratagmalem, the Gargoyle king. Since we didn't want to have to go back to Blackthorn, we decided to try visiting the Yew Crypts. After all, the Gargoyles had issued the challenge to Andrella, so mayhap they would tell her where to find the king.

It didn't work out that way, though. None of the Gargoyles would speak to us, and Soth showed up after only a few minutes.

"Oh, good, a change of plans," he smiled. "Are you ready to fight the Gargoyles now?"

"Yes," we told him.

He nodded. "Then meet at my hideout, and we can go."

"We?" Andrella echoed.

"Why?" I asked flatly. "Just tell us where the king is."

"Because I want to see this," Soth responded. "I have some unfinished business with the king. Or I should say, with his corpse." He grinned.

"I will not contribute to that," Andrella returned, and I nodded. But Soth had already left. We called to him a couple of times, but he didn't reappear.

"Are we meeting at Soth's then?" Navien asked.

"No," I responded instantly. For one thing, if there is any truth to what Blackthorn said about Shevilia, I don't want Minax to suspect anything for as long as possible. Besides, as Andrella said, I don't want him to get the king's corpse either, if we do end up having to kill him, which is sadly seeming likely.

"We aren't doing this his way," Andrella agreed.

Navien asked, "What shall we do then?"

I considered that. "I'm not sure yet. We could try Hythloth, but I don't recall an exit at the bottom in this world." I shrugged. "Alternately, Shamino may know."

Andrella nodded at that thought. "We should go find him!"

So we left the Crypts and headed to Moonglow. This time we found him in his room at the inn; he answered his door when we knocked. The space was tight with everyone in our party, so we headed outside to talk.

After the greetings and such, I asked him if he knew where Terfin was located. Thankfully, he nodded.

"I assume the Gargoyle king is there?" I asked.

"Gratagmalem, if that's who you refer to," Shamino said, and I nodded. "Though he is not the true king."

"They claim he is," I pointed out.

"Gratagmalem commanded them to do so," Shamino replied.

I sighed. "Well, we do need to find him."

Shamino glanced at Andrella. "You are going to fight him? Terfin was sealed away by Gratagmalem. I can get the coordinates for you if you like."

We nodded. "That would be grand."

"But it is dangerous," he added. "The Gargoyles really dislike humans right now. Especially Andrella I am sure."

We knew, of course. "Once Gratagmalem is dealt with, perhaps they will listen to the true king again?" Sygil suggested.

"Do you know where Draxinusom is, just out of curiosity?" I asked Shamino.

"He is at the forest village," Shamino responded. "Gratagmalem moved the Gargoyles to the dungeon town, and those who stayed with Draxinusom, stayed in the forest village."

I frowned. "Where is the forest village? Is it the island?"

But Shamino shook his head. "It's a small forest underground. I am not sure of its exact location. There are two clans now," he explained. "Draxinusom lost the battle for leadership to Gratagmalem."

"Well, perhaps I can win it back for him," Andrella smiled.

Shamino glanced at her. "Andrella, I must tell you: You have not met the likes of a skilled swordsgarg like Gratagmalem. I know you are confident..."

"Wasn't he second to Lash?" I asked.

"Was," Shamino pointed out.

"Well, she defeated Lash by herself." I grinned. "And we will be with her this time."

"Gratagmalem has one of those blades now," Shamino commented, glancing at Andrella. "And as you will see, a Gargoyle can wield it better then a human. Though you are impressive I must add." He smiled. "To see a human use a gargish blade..."

"Together we can win," I reminded him.

Shamino nodded. "I hope so, but I urge caution."

"I have more caution than Kianne if that's your concern," Andrella grinned. We laughed.

"Just remember if you cannot win," Shamino teased, "you can always run."

We chuckled. "Sygil is too heavy to run," Ayla piped up, and we laughed again.

"So I will get the coordinates for the dungeon village," Shamino nodded. "If Gorjez can fit it in," he added jokingly. "He has not left the telescope at all."

"Say," I spoke up suddenly as a thought came to me. "Can you get coordinates to the Twisted Tunnels as well? Behind Soth's irritating locked gate?"

Shamino shuddered. "Yes, I would imagine so."

I rubbed my hands together. "That would be helpful."

Then I looked over and noticed Andrella was rubbing her hands as well. Our eyes met and we snickered.

"And then," I ticked off on my fingers, "We'll need Lord British's throne room. In Felucca."

"Uh oh," Shamino chuckled. "I need a paper for this. I might forget all of this."

We laughed. "Having a senior moment?" I teased.

"You could argue with me and tell me I'm not that old," Shamino winked.

"You're not that old," we said immediately, and laughed.

Shamino grew serious. "Okay. Throne room Felucca, and Terfin the dungeon city."

"And the Twisted Tunnels," I reminded him.

"Twisted Tunnels," he repeated. "Almost forgot."

"You wanted to forget that one though," Andrella snickered. "It wasn't mental block."

We thanked Shamino and asked him to thank Gorjez.

"He's been a world of help," I added, then scratched my head. "Er, no pun intended."

"Thanks for sending you to your grave, you mean?" Shamino chuckled.

"No," we laughed. "We all know the disclaimer."

"I will hear it about twenty more times," Shamino smiled.

"Tell him it's fine!" I assured him. "And that we appreciate it."

"It doesn't stop him from saying it," Shamino laughed, and waved to us as we left.

---

[11/1/2003]

Today we left with a group of about six of us to the Gargoyle dungeon town of Terfin. We warned everyone before we left that it would likely be extremely dangerous since Gargoyles are efficient fighters and they have a bone to chew with us as humans in general, and particularly Andrella in particular.

Andrella mentioned, "Though the Gargoyles are our enemies, or we are theirs...whichever," she chuckled, "we must act with honor."

I nodded. "Don't attack them unless they attack first."

I took out my book of notes to get the coordinates. Shamino had delivered them to us earlier today, but he'd refused to join us when Navien had shown up. I feel sorry for both of them. But I didn't want to press the issue. I didn't know what to say, since this is new for me to have such a friction in my party. I'm still not sure what to do about it...

At any rate, I made a gate using the Orb and we arrived in an underground town of white marble. We were greeting immediately by some banshees and skeletons.

"Undead?" I murmured as we fought them off.

"What are the undead doing here?" Andrella asked as we felled the first group. But there were more...

"Take a wild guess," Navien said dryly.

"The Gargoyles are dead!" I gasped, running ahead. As we rounded a corner we could see that there were bodies of Gargoyles strewn everywhere. In fact, the only things still standing appeared to be the undead.

I stood there staring in horror for a moment. It felt like a flash of déjà vu. It was all happening all over again...

Then I spotted a dracolich. For a moment I thought it was Shevilia, but it wasn't. It was moving away from us, heading for the end of a marble street. We followed it and came across the most bizarre scene.

"Undead Gargoyle?" Navien gasped.

A powerful Gargoyle with a distinguished air and a circlet on his head was battling what could only be described as a Gargoyle zombie. The undead Gargoyle had milky white skin, unseeing eyes, and fought with the ferocity of an unliving thing, no longer able to feel pain or regret.

The dracolich joined the battle, and it was two on one, the two undead against the last living Gargoyle in sight.

"What is going on!?" Andrella gasped.

We had no answers, but it wasn't a very difficult choice to make. The group of us immediately joined the battle without waiting for an invitation, attacking the undead. I fired at the dracolich, and I think some of the others were going after the undead Gargoyle as well, but it was rather chaotic and I'm not sure. The dragon went down first, leaving us to battle the Gargoyle, until finally it was taken out as well.

I replaced my bow across my back once the battle was over and studied the living Gargoyle. His deep red skin was only oozing cuts in a few places, even after all of that. He was certainly a good warrior. From the crown and his bearing, I was fairly certain we were looking at Gratagmalem.

He didn't look at all happy to see us, even though we had helped him in his battle. He swiped his blade at Andrella, the blade that is a twin of hers, and she danced out of the way. "Hey! Stop!" she protested. Acting impulsively, she pulled off her helmet.

The Gargoyle's eyes narrowed. "To be the Andrella..." he growled.

"Aye," she nodded.

"Then the company of the Avatar is here," Gratagmalem went on slowly.

Again she nodded.

"I will fight to the end!" he shouted suddenly, and went after Andrella again.

Their swords clashed in a furious dance of battle. I put my hand on my bow but hesitated. It was clear Andrella had the upper hand. Perhaps Gratagmalem had been more worn out from the previous battle than it had appeared, or maybe her skills were really just that much better than his.

Finally he collapsed against the cavern wall for a moment before shoving himself up, staring at his bleeding wounds in disbelief.

Andrella did not pursue him, rather standing her ground a few steps away. "What is the matter with you? Can you not have a civil discussion?"

"Civil," he spat out, regaining his feet once again. "To know that you are the aggressor."

"You are the one attacking me," Andrella pointed out.

"You brought them here, the undead to kill us," Gratagmalem growled. "Kill me now. I cannot fight any longer."

"No," Andrella broke in.

I chimed in, "That wasn't our doing!"

"I will not kill you," Andrella told him. "You are the Gargoyle king."

He grated out, "To prefer death than a world conquered by the Avatar."

I frowned at him. Don't tell me, I thought, we're going through the whole false prophet thing once more...⁴

Andrella protested, "Kianne is trying to save this world! We all are!"

Gratagmalem scowled, an truly hideous expression on his face. "To know your lies before you say them. Lord Blackthorn told us of your true intentions."

Surprise, surprise...

"What did Blackthorn tell you?" Andrella asked cooly.

"He told us of your secrets. The RBW lies and cheats. They desert even their own friends. To know of their dishonor."

Andrella demanded, "What proof do you have?"

"We have seen proof of when they pillage treasures of this world," he returned. "Just like the king beast's minions."

We sighed. "There are two sides to every story, Gratagmalem," Andrella pointed out. "If you would just take the time to listen, to question, you could see that. If you could give us a chance, the same chance you gave Minax and Blackthorn..."

Gratagmalem looked at her curiously. "Then what is the second side to the releasing the dread lord of Soth?"

"Blackthorn did that," I said crossly.

"We didn't release him," Andrella agreed.

Gratagmalem growled. "Lies. Lord Blackthorn had froze him to with magics. To have seen the books the Navien signed."

Navien sighed. Andrella made a shrug. "He made a mistake. Navien made a bad choice but it was his own choice--just like it was your choice to follow Minax."

"I am correcting a wrong...any way I can," Navien added.

"I am facing the reaction of my choice," Gratagmalem pointed out. "My death at your hands to be that."

"He will suffer for his choice but it will be at the hands of Lord British--the king we serve," Andrella told him.

"To not believe. Just as I am gargish king, you do not like that."

I'm still trying to figure out why the Gargoyles think we don't respect their own rulers. I never understood it.

"If I wanted to kill you and return kingship to Draxinusom I would," Andrella pointed out, showing that we were not there for the purpose of unseating his rule. She went on to explain, "We came for your part of the blackrock key."

Gratagmalem glared at her. "And what is the second side? To release the black void!?"

"To destroy it," Andrella and I returned simultaneously.

"To destroy the world of us?" Gratagmalem growled, and I let out a sigh of frustration that we were unable to get through to him.

But Andrella explained patiently, "If we wanted to destroy the world we would have. Kianne holds the skull of Mondain--and if the powers of that were invoked the land would know the true meaning of Armageddon." She paused for a moment to let those words sink in. "We are using it to destroy the void and protect the land."

Gratagmalem gave her another of those curious looks. I stood in silence, marveling at the progress she was making.

"But my people are dead here," Gratagmalem stated finally. "And the dread lord of Soth is why."

For a moment I glanced around the streets littered with corpses and sighed. Twice we had been too late to help another race against Soth. Twice now.

Gratagmalem was still eyeing Andrella. "He is not your ally?"

"Absolutely not," Andrella said firmly.

"The Blackthorn said you would deny it," Gratagmalem shrugged finally.

"He's the one to question," Ayla murmured from behind me, and I agreed wholeheartedly.

"What is proof he is not your ally?" Gratagmalem asked. "To see none of it."

"You're still alive," Andrella pointed out. "We helped you in your fight against the undead. That is not a lie."

"Your help was too late," Gratagmalem spat.

Andrella informed him, "If we would have known we would have been here sooner."

I sighed a little. "I'm sorry..."

Gratagmalem turned his head to look at me. "If you are truly the Avatar, why did you wait to save us?" he asked almost mockingly. "To wonder why you waited so long."

I looked at him sadly. "We did not know you were in danger just now..."

But Gratagmalem shook his head. "Not now. For this long ever. The serpent wars brought us to our knees. We waited and called. No Avatar came."

I stared at him, not sure what to say. The Gargoyles had fought with the humans against the Ophidians? And now, both sides had been brought down by one lone Soth and his army of undead...

Andrella took the discussion back up for me. "The previous Avatar had fallen," she explained.

"Impossible," Gratagmalem protested. "To know you lie."

I shook my head. "Not impossible with Minax around..."

"Draxinusom promised us all that the Avatar would come," Gratagmalem stated. "He lied. For more than seventeen human years we waited..."

"The Avatar would have come if he could," Andrella assured him. "Michael loved this land."

Gratagmalem frowned. "Who is the Michael? The Avatar?"

She nodded.

"You speak in two sides!" he let out. "There is only one the Avatar!"

I couldn't help but chuckle without humor. "So we all thought..."

Andrella nodded. "And when he was destroyed, Kianne was called to save the land."

Gratagmalem's eyes narrowed. "Then Draxinusom is wrong still to make us wait for the Avatar, not to fight. It was I who split the clan to stand against the serpents. Is it not right to say the Avatar did not save us?"

Andrella gave a little sigh. "Yes, the Avatar failed you and the land for some time. It was not his intention. We have come trying to restore the land."

"To know no proof," the Gargoyle grumbled.

"Kianne, show him the stones," Andrella suggested to me, and I nodded. I already had my bag of holding out. I reached into my bank box, wishing absently that I could carry the stones with me, and pulled forth the pouch.

"To have seen nothing of your work," Gratagmalem was going on.

"Not even these?" I murmured, spilling the glowing Stones of Virtue into my palms.

Gratagmalem went utterly still, his eyes appearing to almost glaze over as he stared at the stones in amazement.

"Avatar..." he breathed finally, his head bowed.

"I am sorry I am so late." There were no excuses I could offer. Only my apologies.

"Draxinusom..." he murmured. "My brethren..."

"We will help you if you would allow it," I told him quietly.

Gratagmalem suddenly lifted his head. "Then why did the undead of them fight us?"

I shook my head. "I don't know what Soth's up to..."

"Perhaps someone is wanting your part of the key?" Andrella suggested. "'Someone' meaning Soth of course... Or Shevilia..."

Gratagmalem blinked as he turned back toward her. "Shevilia. You know of her?"

We nodded. "Soth thinks she is his pet," she chuckled.

"What I wonder is if Soth knows of her," I agreed.

Gratagmalem was staring at us in disbelief. "Shevilia dragon is walking with the dread lord of Soth?"

We nodded again. "Afraid so."

Gratagmalem shook his head, then suddenly let out an angry growl. "Minax is lied!!"

We blinked at him, startled. Suddenly he faced me. "Avatar," he directed abruptly. "To stop Shevilia. To help us now."

We all nodded. "We will."

"Draxinusom promised us..." Gratagmalem gave another shake of his head. "Shevilia is the killer of the Terfin island."

I blinked. "The entire island?" I had been wondering where Terfin had gone.

He nodded. "Her heart beats with the heart of Exodus."

We stared at him in stunned surprise.

"She was to be dead," Gratagmalem went on since we had all been rendered speechless. "Minax killed her in my eyes to help us. Now to lie."

Minax... I frowned as a thought occurred to me. Could it be that Minax had killed her own dragon as a way of gaining Gratagmalem's trust...only to have Soth wander in and raise the dragon as undead? Whether Minax had planned for it to happen or not, she had clearly used it to her advantage. But what is this about the heart of Exodus?

"She is the ally with the dread lord of Soth," Gratagmalem concluded. "Not you, holder of the Stones."

We smiled. It seems we are coming to an understanding after all.

"My choice was wrong," Gratagmalem acknowledged. "I must pay for my bad actions. I will go to see Draxinusom now. For he was right for many of these years. The Avatar has returned."

Late, but returned.

"I would die now, but my time is not yet," Gratagmalem finished. "I must work to right the wrongs I have done. The gargoyles will fight no longer with Minax."

He dropped a key on the ground for us, tossing it down as if surrendering a weapon. I picked it up. It was the second piece of the three part key.

"Thank you," I told him from my heart.

"To stop Shevilia before the Exodus of legend returns," he urged. "To defeat the golem of the void that threatens us."

We nodded. "Aye, we must."

Gratagmalem turned suddenly. "Andrella."

She looked at him inquiringly.

"You were to fight me to death. To know I have a price much higher to pay. You wield the gargish blade with immense skill and I ask to be the one who restores honor to the twin blades of Lash."

We smiled as he handed her the second blade. Andrella took it into her free hand, testing its balance experimentally. "Thank you, Gratagmalem. It will be a great honor to fight with these blades."

"'Tis an honor to be again allied with the Gargoyles," Sygil agreed, and I nodded.

Gratagmalem turned back to the rest of us. "Navien of them. Look at me of the Gargoyles. A dishonored and despicable being who now must pay for my bad choice. To hope you do the same one day."

Navien gave a little sigh. "I am going to correct my wrong... Then I will do what you ask of me."

"I ask of you nothing."

"Then I will do it for my own."

"Avatar," Gratagmalem said to me. "The king Draxinusom will speak to you one day soon. Let me go to him to tell him."

We nodded.

"Farewell, Gratagmalem, and good luck to you," Andrella spoke.

"To wish I had trusted my king." He shook his head.

"We will make everything right again," I assured him.

"Thank to you Avatar. I am happy to have seen you." He bowed before me.

I returned the bow. "And thank you as well."

"Hold high the blades that were once an honor from the gargish master," Gratagmalem requested Andrella as he turned to leave. "Fare to well."

We watched him walk away, then turned back to each other with smiles on our faces.

I made a gate back to the Keep and we went inside to discuss matters. The next thing on our agenda was to destroy Shevilia. The day was still young, so we decided to give it a try. We knew this would not be an easy battle.

And what did Gratagmalem mean about Shevilia being Exodus? Navien suggested we simply ask Soth, but we shook out heads.

"We can't talk to Soth about it until Shevilia is dead," Andrella pointed out. "The only option I see is that we just go in there and start attacking Shevilia. It's the only way."

We all nodded. Soth was certainly going to be very upset, but in his ethereal state there was little he could do to us directly.

"Unless we want to hunt down cards," I chuckled.⁵

"Cards?" Andrella echoed.

I laughed. "Never mind. I doubt the same methods would work on Exodus this time."

"I understood you, Ki," Sygil smiled.

I winked at him. "Of course you did." Sygil had been there, just as I once had.

We discussed the Exodus puzzle briefly. "Erethian mentioned something about an interface," I pointed out. "And a psyche." I shrugged. "Not to mention the core, which might still be somewhere."

We mused that over but had no answers. "So then, we are all in agreement?" Andrella asked finally.

"That this will be a tough battle?" I chuckled.

The others nodded. "We'll have to settle Soth down afterwards," Andrella decided, then grinned. "I'm not sure which will be more difficult."

We went outside, where I formed a moongate to the Twisted Tunnels using the Orb. Gorjez and Shamino had come through for us, providing us with all of the coordinates we'd asked for, as well as the forest town of Terfin, which I figured we would use later.

We went through the moongate and appeared just behind the fence that Soth had used to block off the doorway. Soth himself was there, as was his dragon. As we had agreed, our entire group immediately assaulted his dragon without offering even a word to anyone.

"What is this!?" Soth let out in surprise.

Personally, I couldn't have answered him if I'd wanted to, for Shevilia brought me down at that moment. She was felling us like flies. This didn't bode well.

While I was a ghost, I heard Soth laughing at us. Navien was staying out of the battle, standing back and raising us. Each of us grabbed up our weapons as soon as we were returned to life, jumping back into the battle without hesitation.

"What is the meaning of this?" Soth asked at us while we did so. "I demand to know now!"

"You'll see," I muttered.

"All together now!" Andrella called. "Go!"

We launched ourselves forward. Chaos ensued. The room was a mad flurry of battle and death. I lasted a few more seconds this time. When I went down and then was raised again, I was shocked to see that Soth had somehow died. I didn't have time to fully examine the situation, but that's how it appeared. Soth's ethereal body was crumpled unmoving on the ground. Now I was confused. What was going on here?

We all went down again, and this time even Navien was attacked and killed. Soon we were all standing as ghosts.

This was going even worse than I had anticipated. "I'll go get raised," I told the others. "I can get back with the Orb."

I ran off, my ghostly form passing right through the bars of Soth's gate. Using the moongates, I returned to the Shadow Keep and ran into the forest that surrounds it. After a few minutes I found a wandering healer, who raised me. Throwing a "thanks" over my shoulder, I ran to the keep and quickly accessed my bank box, pulling out some spare armor.

I spent some time searching for my other staff of Resurrection, only to remember finally that it was out of charges. With a grumble I pulled out my wand instead, then added my other ring of invisibility. My thought was to go in while invisible, then use that window of opportunity to avoid Shevilia long enough to raise the others.

I had just opened a moongate with the Orb when Andrella spoke through telepathy, "Kianne, Soth has raised us."

"What?" I gasped. I was so surprised that I forgot to put on the ring of invisibility before I ran through the moongate. Oops.

Shevilia was still there and killed me the instant I was through the gate.

"Well, look who decided to come back," I heard Soth comment dryly.

Someone raised me, I don't know who. The hall was still full of mayhem. Some of our group were back on their feet, but Shevilia was still killing everyone right and left. She was apparently completely out of Soth's control.

I found myself standing right next to Andrella, who was pulling herself back into shape to make another go at it.

"I have my glass sword," I told her quietly. "But I'm not sure I can get close enough to Shevilia to use it before she kills me."

"I'll use mine," she replied. Delicately, she unsheathed the glittering blue weapon. Once it was securely in her hand, she charged forward with a speed and grace that belied all of the armor she was wearing.

Shevilia was occupied battling the others, but as Andrella approached, the dragon turned, as if sensing her impending demise. Rows of razor-sharp teeth snapped at Andrella like lightning, but Andrella sidestepped smoothly, her sword held high. A moment later she brought the glass sword down across Shevilia's flank.

The hall was instantly filled with a tremendous shattering sound, a cacophony of ringing as the cascade of shards fell downward, twinkling like a shower of chiming stars.

Shevilia let out a horrible wail. A moment later she fell over, dead.

Andrella straightened up, dusting off her now-empty hands. "There. It is done."

The others gathered around the corpse, and I found myself looking for Soth, expecting him to try to prevent us from taking the golden rocks, or to simply complain at us, or anything. But when my searching eyes found him, I went still and stared in shock.

Soth was standing motionless, gazing down at his own hands as if in disbelief. He was no longer ethereal. I blinked, shaking my head and looking again. It wasn't an illusion. He was solid again, in the flesh (such as it is), shrouded in a rust-colored robe. He looked exactly as he had when he had taken my body.

I was too stunned to say or do anything. Soth seemed to be as well, at first. But finally he lifted his head and noticed the others standing by Shevilia's corpse.

"What are you doing?" he snapped in irritation. "You complete fools..."

Andrella turned to him with a sigh. "Soth, you are the fool. Where did Shevilia come from?"

"Where?" he echoed with a growl. "I am not about to explain myself. You have to do that yourself. Now what is the meaning of this?" He glanced down at his hands again. "And how did I get this flesh?"

I couldn't resist. "You're looking like your old self."

Soth stared at us. "What have you done?"

"Shevilia was not who you thought," Andrella told him. "Now, where did you get her?"

"What does that mean?" he asked in response to her first statement instead of replying to the second.

Andrella sighed. "She was working for Minax, Soth. Where did you get her?"

Soth went still, his shrouded face frowning. "What do you mean she works for Minax, Andrella?" If gazes could do harm, his would be piercing her at that moment.

"She was working for Minax, a spy." Andrella couldn't put it any more simply than that.

Soth was silent for a moment. "And how long did you know this...?"

"We just recently found out." Andrella shrugged. "We couldn't tell you in front of her."

Soth trembled in fury. It was clear he believed us. He turned to face Shevilia, stalking over to the lifeless form. For a second he regarded it silently with a seething anger.

"So, it was Shevilia who kept the ethereal curse on me this entire time..." he realized quietly.

The next instant he seemed to erupt, tearing the dragon's body to pieces in a frenzied rage and scattering the bits in all directions. We winced but stayed well out of the way.

"Shevilia!!" he shouted to the air finally, going still. He stood in the middle of the mess, gazing blankly at the floor. "Traitor..."

We let out sighs. Even we might have felt sorry for Soth just then.

His frustration spent, Soth turned to us. "All of you," he grated out. "This entire world. I am sickened of it. All the lies. All the games. All the tricks."

"Well, you have your flesh back," I pointed out juristically. "Tell us how to get you to Krynn."

"Oh, I'll tell you," he agreed, reminding me of another time when he had said something similar. "I have to gather some things. Meet me at your cursed keep."

I tried to protest, but he was already gone.

Andrella spoke up, "I hate to say it, but I almost felt bad for him."

"'Almost' being the operative word," I chuckled.

We nodded, and Andrella brushed off her hands. "Oh well, I'm over that," she grinned. "Let's go."

We returned to the keep, standing just outside and waiting. While we did so, Andrella handed me the third part of the key which she had gotten off Shevilia. I quickly stashed it away into my bank box.

Soth came a few minutes later. "Just as I thought," he growled. "Shevilia took everything. All my work." He shook his head and clenched his fists in frustration. "She gave everything to Minax."

"The golden rocks too I suppose?" Andrella asked dryly. They hadn't been on Shevilia's body.

"Of course." Soth glared at us. "Shut up, all of you. Get me out of here. Gate us to Yew Crypt."

He didn't demand it of any one of us in particular, but as I had a rune in my book for that already, I made us a gate. I wasn't sure what the Crypts had to do with anything, but I decided to wait to find out.

When we reached the Crypts, Soth looked around and noticed the absence of the Gargoyles immediately. "You went to Gratagmalem didn't you?" he asked rhetorically. "If you would have just helped me before, we would have known about this a long time ago."

"Minax would have known sooner," Andrella pointed out. "Don't blame this on us."

"Fools," Soth grated out, and stalked into the Crypts. He glanced at the empty halls as he went. "No wonder Shevilia refused to attack Gargoyles..."

We worked our way to that fateful circle of blood where the Black Gate had once been opened. Soth complained the entire way that we had played around too much and allowed all of this to happen.

"Can we get on with this?" I sighed finally, interrupting his tirade.

Soth stopped next to the pentagram and turned to face me. "Kianne, you should worry. Shevilia took all the blood that I had taken from you."

I let out a sigh.

"Your troubles are not even close to over," he assured me. "I hope you suffer greatly. All of you."

He turned back to the circle. "Ayla, out of the way. Kianne, go stand in the center."

I didn't move. "Just what are we doing here?"

"I am about to teach you how to use that orb that you are supposed to know everything about," Soth told me in a sarcastic tone.

I gave him a grim smile. "This doesn't involve any unpleasant side effects, does it?"

It wasn't actually what I meant. My intent was to ask if there would be any nasty surprises. Unpleasant side effects I would put up with if necessary as long as I knew what I was getting into.

But Soth found the question irritating nevertheless. "I do not play games!!" he shouted.

"Sure, then what was that about taking my body!?" I returned hotly.

Soth glared at us. "Do we have to go through this again? I beat you all! Your pathetic guild. Look at it now!"

"At least we didn't have a traitor for a pet," Andrella snickered.

Sygil made a show of yawning. Navien asked pointedly, "Done yet?"

Soth scowled. "RBW has lost, and I am done here. I am ready to go."

"Good," we agreed. "It's about time."

Soth turned. "Get in the circle, Kianne."

"Why?" Andrella asked. "Why would she stand where the Black Gate was risen?"

"Don't you know who was buried here?" Soth returned as a way of replying.

I blinked.

"Why do you think the Crypts were always so important?" he asked, then waved his hand toward the pentagram. "This circle. Blackthorn's little gate to worlds. He used the spirits of Nicodemus, and Rudyom I believe it was."

I was a little sad to hear that Nicodemus was dead. I'd made good use of his shop in another Britannia, once I'd drawn myself a map so that I could find it again. Rudyom, on the other hand, had always been a little insane. Not in an evil way, but just a weird way. Much worse than Nystul. Then again, after that episode where the Guardian had disturbed the magical ether and driven all of the mages mad, I don't think Nystul has ever been the same since.

"He used...their spirits?" I frowned, trying to catch on.

"That's how he went everywhere," Soth affirmed. "How do you think Blackthorn got your bow? And your armor, Andrella? And me?"

I nodded slowly, my gaze on the circle. "All right. How do we use this?"

Soth gestured toward the pentagram. "Get in there, and hold the Orb steady."

I hesitated for a moment more, then sighed and stepped forward, the Orb of the Moons held firmly in one hand. I hated walking into that place, standing in the middle of the circle, but I forced myself to stay calm.

"Now," Soth breathed as I stood facing him. "You remember Krynn. I'm sure you do."

I nodded.

"Concentrate on it," he instructed. "But don't try to think about a particular place. Just think of it in general."

I took a slow breath to steady my nerves and closed my eyes. Don't think of a particular place? Now that was difficult. My first impulse was to focus on something specific, the various memories skittering through my mind at random. Shoving them away, I struggled to think of Krynn in the abstract.

Nicodemus, I thought. Rudyom. If you are really here, help me.

I felt myself begin to drift, as when I meditate at a shrine. For some reason my mind conjured up the image of a void dotted with stars, like outer space. In my imagination I floated through it aimlessly. To one side, a rift opened, streaming light from the tear. I glanced at it, but it had a feeling of wrongness. The rift closed and I moved on.

Distantly, I thought I could hear Soth speak. "It's all up to her now." But the voice sounded like it came from far away, and was muted. The stars were moving past me faster now, and I felt pulled in a certain direction. All the while I was trying to keep my thoughts focused on Krynn.

Krynn. Krynn. Krynn...

Another rift opened, like the tear in the fabric of reality that Mondain had created. This one was directly in front of me, bright and vibrant, drawing my attention. I was hit with a sudden recognition that my journey was complete.

Immediately I raised the Orb in my hands and activated its magic, my mind aiming it directly to the place on which I had focused.

A red moongate opened before me.

I opened my eyes and instantly I was back in the present, the imagery and detached sensations gone. My legs felt weak, and my limbs were trembling as if they had just gone through great exertion.

I took a step away from the gate. Soth was eyeing it.

"Now, this is no trick?" he asked carefully.

I shook my head wearily. "I did what you said."

He nodded slowly. "Well, then. Curse you all."

And he stepped through.

The gate shimmered with his passing, then a moment later it closed behind him. The air was silent and still. I waited tensely, but Soth did not return.

"Good riddance," I murmured.

"Let's go inside," I suggested when we returned to the keep. "I need to sit down."

Inside, Andrella handed me something. "Sygil picked this up from Shevilia."

The object was heavy, as if mechanical, although hard to say one way or another. It was shaped something like the heart of a giant beast. And it was emanating a particular sensation of evil that I had only ever experienced from one other entity.

"The... core..." I breathed, staring at it. The core of Exodus.

"I did not want to leave it," Sygil explained. "Or Soth to grab it."

I nodded slowly. Of course he would have been the first to recognize Exodus for what it really was...

"How do we destroy this?" I found myself asking, the words hitting my ears before I'd realized I'd spoken them.

Andrella shook her head slowly. "I'm not sure. Unless we drop it at the black void?" she snickered.

I was deep in thought. "But...if part of Exodus is here... Does this mean Mondain and Minax can't activate it?"

They shrugged. "Does that mean they can hear us?" Andrella chuckled.

I hadn't thought of that. Quickly I summoned up my bank box and buried the core within. As soon as I had closed the lid on the chest and it had vanished again, the dreadful pall of Exodus's evil lifted. I found myself able to breathe more easily.

"But will that be good enough?" I mused. "I wonder if they could hear from the box somehow..."

"It would have to be in our presence," Andrella guessed. "If you put it in the bank, they would just hear people screaming at the bankers."

"And they would only hear something from nine to five," Sygil joked.

"With an hour break for lunch," I chimed in.

We laughed.

"But now they have two shards of the Gem," I sighed, and shook my head. Idly, I took out the three part keys and tried to fit them together into a single whole.

Navien stepped up to me at that moment and handed me a wand and a bag. I frowned in confusion. I think they were things he'd taken from Shevilia. The wand was a wand of summoning, like what Soth and Blackthorn had been using. The bag was full of Necromancy ingredients. I went still as my eyes fell on the vials of blood.

I murmured mostly to myself, "Soth said she took the blood he'd gathered, but..." I shook my head and tucked away the vials. "I think I'll destroy these anyway."

Abruptly I lifted my head. "Navien, don't you want the rest of this?"

He shook his head. "You should link the wand to someone though. It is very useful."

I nodded absently. "I can't believe Soth is gone..." Then I realized, "We should tell Shamino."

"Aye, we should," Andrella agreed.

"Of course," I sighed, "Soth might find a way back. If he even wants to..."

Andrella snickered. "I don't think he'll choose to come back any time soon."

Andrella gave her shield to Ayla since she wouldn't be needing it while she was duel-wielding the twin swords. Then we headed for Moonglow. To be honest, I was hoping that this might help clear the relationship between Navien and Shamino as well, since Soth is no longer a dark cloud above us.

We discovered Shamino at the edge of the woods near the inn, practicing sword swings. "Shamino!" we called as we hurried over. I didn't bother waiting for customary greetings to be exchanged. "Soth is gone!"

Shamino looked at us in surprise. "Is it true?"

"Hopefully," I said with a little sigh. "I don't know if he can come back, but..."

He smiled. "You don't know what kind of a burden that lifts from my shoulders."

I nodded my head, understanding. "Aye, you needed to know."

"So he was defeated?" Shamino asked us as we gathered around the fence that borders Moonglow.

"We sent him away," I tried to explain. "It was the best we could do."

He nodded. "I am sure it was. I am sorry I could be of no help. But I have seen the other side of his evil. It reminds me of my time with Michael," he chuckled. "Iolo used to say 'I would not do that, Avatar.'"

I laughed. Sounds like Iolo.

"And he used to be so stubborn and there were times when he would leave the party." He shook his head, and I blinked with surprise. Michael must have been even more impulsive than I was, because I'd never had Iolo refuse to join us. This was reminding me a little of what was happening between Shamino and Navien...

Shamino went on, "I used to think, what a foolish old man." He chuckled again. "And now look at me." Shamino shook his head. "I am sorry, Avatar."

I wasn't sure what to say. Andrella came to my rescue by changing the subject.

"You might also be interested to know that I have the Gargish Twin Blades," she spoke up, pulling out the two swords.

Shamino looked at them in surprise. "That's right," I realized. "We have lots of news."

"You must tell me all," Shamino smiled.

"Gratagmalem gave these to me," Andrella explained.

"Do you know how much pride they bestowed on their swordsgargs?" Shamino asked.

Andrella nodded. "He has seen the error of his ways and has gone to apologize to his king."

"I think we've made right with the Gargoyles," I chimed in, nodding.

"'Tis a grand day for the Avatar," Shamino beamed. "Is it so, then the gargish crown has returned to Draxinusom?" When we nodded, he added, "We must travel to the forest city soon and meet with him. You don't know how long Draxinusom has waited to see you."

"I would like to meet him," I agreed. Then I remembered, "But there's more." I looked at Shamino. "Would you believe I have Exodus in my bank box?" I gave him a sheepish smile.

He stared at us. "No!"

We explained briefly about Shevilia, Soth, and Minax. "So our focus turns to Minax at last," Shamino murmured when we were finished.

I nodded. "Aye. The tome is next." I started to tell him about the keys, but finally decided to keep that to myself, just in case Minax could overhear somehow.

"She is a powerful enchantress," Shamino commented. "Bringing the inanimate objects to life. I have seen her work--she used some against Shalilissta."

I frowned. "What does she animate?"

"Weapons mostly, but she can do more. Shalilissta believed she would send the enchanted Sin army against her. Their armor moved without bodies. But Shalilissta never feared them," he chuckled.

"Just like that old Animate spell," I nodded. "Not that I never had a little fun with it myself..." I giggled. "But, at any rate..."

"Blackthorn sure is being nice lately," Shamino commented.

I blinked. "He is?" I stole a glance at Andrella. She gave me an innocent look in return.

"He cut his tax programs and has been donating a lot of money to charities. I am sure it is a ruse for something more underlying."

"That does sound suspicious," Andrella agreed.

Shamino chuckled. "But none the less, the people are taking advantage of his leniency."

I snickered. "I don't think Minax is too pleased with him."

"I am sure it is too late," Shamino assured us. "He seems almost desperate now, as though he too feels how close you are to freeing Lord British."

I'm sure he knows how close we are, given the encounter Andrella and I had with him.

"We should all be on guard," I agreed. "I fear not Blackthorn, but Minax might well get desperate too."

Shamino agreed. "The rumors are stirring wildly of the Avatar freeing the royal court."

Andrella grinned. "Even the citizens can feel it!"

"And now that Soth is gone," Shamino nodded, "I imagine the weight of the world just got lighter for everyone."

"It sure did for us," I chuckled. "It won't be long now. But first, I guess we need to sleep." I giggled.

Everyone nodded and we said our farewells.

"What a relief that Soth is gone," Shamino smiled.

I agreed wholeheartedly.

---

¹ In Ultima 7, combat has been reduced to standing there watching everyone run around whacking things. Your own party members can and will hit each other (and you) by accident. Giving them triple crossbows only increases the odds of this happening...

² In Ultima 7 an astronomical alignment foreboded the Guardian's return, because only during the alignment could the Black Gate his followers were building be operational.

³ Kianne and Sygil came across an island covered with dragons in the Lost Lands while searching for Exodus and the Black Sword. She quickly dubbed it "dragon isle" and they steered quite clear of it.

⁴ In Ultima 6 the Gargoyles consider the Avatar to be a threat to them because the rising of the Codex had nearly destroyed their underground homeland. The Gargoyles become convinced that only through the destruction of this "false prophet" can their race be saved.

⁵ In Ultima 3 Exodus is destroyed by four special cards, which of course must be collected throughout the world.

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