Kianne's Journal - Archive

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[12/5/2003]

I still can't believe that Minax is gone...

We gathered at the Keep to plan for the visit to the Star Chamber. Shamino and Andrella were there when I arrived. Shamino brought interesting news. He told us that apparently Blackthorn may have another reason to wish Andrella to take the throne.

Evidently, the new serpent king, whom I'd thought wanted nothing to do with us, has decided that the Ophidians should be the ones to punish Blackthorn for summoning Soth here, given all of the evil that Soth laid upon the Ophidians. The serpent king feels that we humans would not punish Blackthorn strictly enough. The Ophidians have decreed that we have thirty days to deliver Blackthorn to them. Blackthorn, of course, is looking for a way out of this. He cannot flee while he is the "king" (Caton is "guarding" him to make sure he does not go anywhere), but evidently he hopes that if Andrella becomes regent, he will be able to fade into the background and escape.

Of course, we aren't about to let that happen. But by the same token, I am concerned for the Ophidians' sake if they do try to punish Blackthorn. With Mondain and the Guardian as his allies, I worry what would become of the Ophidians.

Navien arrived during this discussion. I excused myself from the others and took Navien aside.

"I wanted to apologize," I told him quietly. "I should have answered your question." He watched me without speaking, as if almost afraid of what I might say.

I considered my words for a moment. "Blackthorn had it all wrong," I began. "The question is not whether necromancy is evil, but whether its user is."

He nodded, and I could see the relief in his eyes. I smiled in return. "If I thought you were evil I would not have let you be around," I assured him. He nodded again in understanding.

I hesitated, then asked, "But tell me something. Was Blackthorn right about the souls? When you raise a skeleton, do you retrieve its soul as well?"

Navien shook his head. "Nay. Only the physical form."

I smiled in relief. "I didn't think so. But I was only guessing based on what I could see."

"If I were to ever bring a human back using necromancy," he explained, "that person would act like a zombie, but have the same physical traits and powers from their previous life."

I nodded my head. "Like Soth's."

"Aye," he agreed.

I thanked him, and he said he was glad to have everything cleared up. I was as well.

We returned to the Keep, where Andrella informed us that Shamino had already left. He'd told her he was going for a walk, but she suspected he was really going to lay down and rest a bit. I was sad to learn that Shamino evidently is still not fully recovered despite his stay in Dawn.

We discussed at some length about how to go about the trip to the Star Chamber. The only idea I could come up with was to wear the cloak of invisibility and see if I could discover the item that would react to the Tome. Mondain cannot detect the invisibility, so that was the best way I could see to be able to scope out the place. Of course, even if I could find the item, I wouldn't be able to pick it up while wearing the cloak, which presented another problem to solve.

Since we now have two cloaks, Andrella insisted on coming along. I figured at least that way, one of us could hit the other to remove the invisibility. But I didn't like the idea of someone accompanying me. We didn't even know if the Orb would get us back, and at any rate, if something went wrong, Mondain could easily kill us...

Navien and Ayla wanted to help too, but we had no other cloaks for them, and I didn't want to risk any more lives than necessary. However, they were resolute and declared they would remain near to the gate, where they could come to us if they were needed.

I prepared for the trip by taking along every sword I own which might be useful. I think Andrella got a bit of a laugh out of my collection of scabbards. I am also wearing my new armor. For a little while I pondered whether to wear the amethyst armor at all. It is very beautiful, but that is the problem--it is so elegant that I am afraid of irreparably damaging it. Still, I examined it fully when I had a chance, and it appears to provide even more durable protection than even my silver armor. Something in the way the chain links are carefully molded together allows it to cover me more sufficiently. No armor is perfect of course, but I did notice it seems to be an improvement over the silver. So I finally decided to continue to wear it, even in dangerous places. I will simply make sure to keep it in good condition using the magical item repair deeds.

When we were ready, we gathered together and set out. As a precaution, we traveled to a remote location for the opening of the gate--I let Navien choose, and he took us to the Isle of the Avatar.

"Andrella," I spoke up after we arrived. One more time I tried to talk her out of it. "I could go to check things out first..."

"I don't want you to go alone, invisible or not," she responded stubbornly.

I hesitated, because it was a topic I hated to bring up. It was like rubbing salt into a wound. "But I am still immortal, for the time being," I pointed out finally, reluctantly. "The risk may be less for me."

"I don't care if you are immortal forever," Andrella told me with a small smile. "I still won't let you do this alone."

"What if you die?" I asked bluntly.

She shrugged. "I will know that I did what was right."

I let out a sigh, but couldn't help but chuckle. "You are as stubborn as I am."

Andrella grinned. "You know it."

"Well, if I can't talk you out of it..." I handed her one of the cloaks.

Navien and Ayla hid themselves while Andrella and I put on our cloaks (I wore the tuity-fruity one; I thought it only fitting). Invisible, I used the Orb to create a moongate to the Star Chamber. I'm rather lucky that the invisibility did not interfere with the Orb, because I had forgotten to check beforehand.

As soon as the moongate opened I jumped through.

"Dispel the gate! Quickly!"

Mondain's voice was the first thing I heard when I emerged on the other side.

I was standing in a circular room, with a fountain in the middle. The room was made of stone and the lighting was dim. Though there were windows of sorts, nothing could be seen beyond them except for a starry void.

And, just our luck, both Minax and Mondain were present.

"Get in, hurry!" Andrella urged me through telepathy. She must have heard Mondain as well, and since I was invisible, she couldn't tell that I was already through.

"I'm here," I assured her, and it suddenly occurred to me that my idea to remove the invisibility wasn't even going to work. For the invisibility cloaks make one almost incorporeal, not just invisible. I have discovered that when wearing the cloaks, I can walk totally silently, and even if someone bumps into me, they do not feel my presence. It's almost as if the cloak makes me insubstantial...which is also why I cannot pick up objects while wearing it. Hitting things is still possible--although doing so dispels the invisibility--but I realized that being hit was probably out of the question. Which meant that even if Andrella and I knew each other's location, we would not be able to hit each other to remove our invisibility.

Stupid me.

All of this was going through my mind in but an instant. Minax was, at that very moment, in the process of moving toward the Orb's red moongate. She was carrying a magical staff, I noticed immediately. It appeared to be made out of the very void itself. The staff was basically black, but it was dotted with stars that seemed to shift with every bit of movement.

The Staff of Time...

Minax raised her free hand. "An Ort!" she chanted, and the moongate vanished. I goggled in surprise, because when I had tried Dispel on one of the Orb's gates, nothing had happened. Her spells were clearly more powerful than mine own...

For a moment Minax glared at the place where the moongate had been. Then she spun toward Mondain. "How did she find us?"

Mondain was seated on a throne on one side of the room. "It does not matter."

"Do you think they would be so brazen to come?" Minax demanded.

"Yes," Mondain sighed. "Kianne is that stubborn. She's as troublesome, if not more, than even Michael."

I wondered if I should take that as a compliment.

I circled the room while they talked, listening with part of my mind while I focused the rest on examining the room. It was relatively empty, with only one section containing anything of interest.

"Golden rock pieces!" Andrella gasped into my mental ears.

An anvil rested beside a small forge. On the anvil was a clearly magical hammer. And scattered on the floor were chucks of various sizes, all of them the same color gold as the golden rocks.

Have Minax and Mondain shattered their two golden rocks?

"But she'll never find the true secrets to the tome," Minax was grumbling as if reassuring herself. "She thinks it's just a tool for coordinates."

"But Kilmas knows the secrets," Mondain pointed out with his perpetual calm. "When he finds Andrella..."

Minax turned. "I thought you eradicated him with the rest of the Valence Kingdom?"

I blinked. "Kilmas?" I repeated to Andrella. "Do you know him?"

"No..." she responded, the confusion clear in her mental voice.

Mondain sighed. "The time mage protected him, just as he does Kianne and her company. His reach is far longer than I anticipated."

I stared at Mondain in surprise. The Time Lord...? This implied that his involvement in all of this was greater than I had even imagined. I felt a surge of silent appreciation for the Time Lord's assistance. He's always been a mysterious figure, for I have never fully understood him or his place in things, but nevertheless I have always been thankful for his presence.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Minax asked in despair.

"I have to face him."

She nodded. "Of course, once your gem is intact..."

"No." Mondain shook his head. "I have to face him now."

Minax looked shocked. "But that would be too dangerous."

"We don't have time to put the gem together," he pointed out. "I have to take that chance. Prepare a gate to the time mage."

Minax sighed and gave in. "Very well."

I stared at Mondain. My first thought was that we had to do what we could to come to the aid of the Time Lord. "I'm jumping through!" I warned Andrella quickly, tensing as I watched Minax take a few steps from Mondain and begin her incantations.

"I'm coming too," she agreed.

We watched and waited for several minutes while Minax worked her casting. "Minax," Mondain spoke up suddenly. "Make the gate weak, so as only I can go through it."

She paused. "Are you certain?"

"Yes. If Kianne and the others come now, I would hate for them to follow."

I felt a little cold. What were we going to do now? "Maybe if one of us manages to go through before Mondain does..?" I suggested to Andrella.

Minax nodded and turned to continue her spell. But Mondain gestured to her.

"Take these," he said, handing her two golden shards.

Shards of the Gem of Immortality?

"But..." she sputtered. "You will return."

Mondain replied calmly, "Perhaps not."

Minax hesitated for a moment, then once again acquiesced. She returned to her casting, but after a minute she lowered her arms. "I think the time mage is blocking me."

"No," Mondain breathed. "It can't be..." He took a deep breath, as if composing himself. "Send me there directly then."

Minax nodded.

I watched helplessly, full of worry, wishing I could warn the Time Lord. Minax stood before Mondain, casting another spell. But nothing happened.

"His magic is too powerful," she sighed finally. I wanted to cheer.

Mondain growled. "We can't wait. Kianne already knows where we are. That cursed tome..." As if coming to a decision, he suddenly got to his feet.

Minax seemed to realize instantly what he was doing. "Mondain, no!" she gasped.

"I have no other choice," he responded, pushing her away.

Minax watched with true horror on her face. "You'll die!" she protested.

I was frowning in confusion, wondering what in the world Mondain was planning, when suddenly he tore another of those holes in the fabric of reality and vanished.

"Oh!" I gasped to Andrella. "He's using that again!"

Minax stomped her foot, glaring at the place where Mondain had once been standing. "Curse you then! Old fool. I have the shards now. If Kianne wants to play that game, I'll go to her."

Uh oh, I thought.

Minax pulled out a rune book and began flipping through its pages. "Let's show ourselves!" Andrella suggested.

"We'd have to hit her to reveal ourselves," I pointed out.

"Then let's hit her!"

I nodded my head, which of course was a useless act since no one could see me. Quickly I moved so that I was standing directly beside Minax. I was rather hoping that Andrella and I would surround her, one on each side, but I had no idea where Andrella was. "I'm in position," I told Andrella. "Ready?"

Minax vanished.

"Oops..."

Now what? I took the opportunity to check the hammer, because it was the only magical item in the room. I held the Tome near it, similar to what Sami had done with my Orb, but nothing happened that I could see. And I couldn't pick up the hammer to try holding it over the book...

"Let's get out of here," Andrella sent.

I opened a moongate to Serpent's Hold. I chose that location basically at random, since I didn't want to open a gate to my house or the Keep or anywhere obvious like that, and I wanted to avoid a city--the last thing we needed was for some curious townsperson to wander by and decide to see what's on the other side of that moongate.

Andrella and I removed our cloaks and met back up where we had gated in. I told her that I hadn't been able to fully test the hammer, so she suggested we go back while Mondain and Minax were gone.

I formed another moongate to the Star Chamber and we quickly ran through while visible. I went immediately to the anvil and picked up the magic hammer, holding it over the Tome. No result. I sighed and started to put the hammer back. Then I remembered that Mondain and Minax are pure evil, so why be kind and leave them their hammer?

"It doesn't seem to have an effect," I told Andrella, stuffing the hammer into my backpack. I took one more look around the chamber to make sure we hadn't missed anything. We hadn't. It was quite empty.

I used the Orb and opened a gate to the Keep this time, silently thinking that it's a good thing the Orb was working here, or else we would have been trapped in the chamber.

Time Lord, be safe...

When we exited the moongate, we were greeted by a daemon, a balron, and a hell spawn. Oh fun. Andrella called to the others over the global telepathy, and the two of us jumped into the battle. The daemon didn't present much of a problem, but the balron was another story. I tried to stay out of its reach and I wasn't very successful. Andrella and I got separated and it wasn't long before the balron had brought me down.

Navien and Ayla were there by this point. Navien was trying to get close enough to cast Resurrection, but the balron kept getting in the way. Navien ran off with the balron tailing him, and I was sure he would only return as a ghost. But somehow he managed to deal with the monster and make his way back toward me.

Andrella found us at that moment. "Minax is here," she announced. "She wants to talk to you, Kianne."

Navien raised me a moment later, and I grumbled a little as I returned to my body. I was just pulling out my Fire sword and my shield when Minax walked into view.

"I'm through with games," she told me. "Give me the tome, or suffer."

"I don't think so," I chuckled grimly.

Minax paused for a moment to look me over. "You don't seem near as powerful as Michael was."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Did I ever claim to be?"

"So your choices are simple." Minax shrugged. "Tome, or suffering?" She raised her hands and chanted off a spell, and another daemon or two appeared.

Andrella lunged forward, but her target was Minax, not the monsters. Taken by surprise, Minax stumbled backward.

I dropped my sword and raised by bow. "I choose suffering. For you."

The grounds in front of the Keep became instant mayhem. I leaped onto my ethereal mount and circled around the monsters, aiming my arrows at Minax whenever I had an opening. Navien and Ayla were keeping the daemons distracted, and Andrella was charging straight into the fray, more or less ignoring the monsters as she doggedly pursued Minax.

The sorceress ran into the Keep, and as the doors slammed shut behind her, they suddenly began to glow a neon yellow.

Andrella and I attempted to go through, but the doors were magically locked somehow. Navien tried the spell Magic Unlock but it had no effect.

"What is this?" I demanded to Minax as she came out onto the ramparts of the Keep.

She smirked at us, but there was no humor in her eyes. "Now, for the last time, give me the tome." And she cast a few more summoning spells.

I had to circle around to avoid being pasted by the monsters, and by the time I returned to the Keep, the doors were back to normal. Immediately I plunged inside, racing through the halls, but there was no sign of Minax.

"Are you through playing yet!?" I yelled, but there was no response.

Finally we gathered back outside. "I guess she left..."

"I'll bet she's at the Star Chamber," Andrella spoke up. "Let's go get her!"

Everyone else voiced their agreement. I considered it for a brief moment. Without Mondain there, the odds were much more in our favor. This might be the best opportunity we would have.

Finally I nodded. "All right, then."

I formed a moongate and we all piled through, weapons drawn and ready. Minax was indeed in residence, standing on the fountain in the center. "Curse you!" she growled as we appeared. She could not cast Dispel fast enough to prevent our entrance, so she used more summoning spells instead.

I was a little worried that the lack of space would hinder us, but we were able to work together and dispatch the daemons that appeared without taking a loss ourselves.

"How dare you come here!" Minax screeched.

"How dare you try to take the Keep," Andrella returned, her twin blades flashing as they sliced through air and monster alike.

Minax cursed some more, and she chanted her summoning spell at least six more times, but only one or two more daemons appeared.

"It doesn't look as though any more daemons are coming," Andrella chuckled grimly as we finished off the last of her minions.

I aimed my bow at Minax and fired. I don't think I hit, but she stumbled off the fountain, which at least put her into our reach.

Andrella immediately charged her, with Ayla close behind. I fired at the sorceress whenever I could get a clear shot, then dropped the bow and pulled out my ancient katana. Having exhausted her summoning spells, Minax tried forming an energy vortex to come to her aid, but Navien simply dispelled it. Before long Minax was throwing spells around frantically, resorting to paralysis and poisoning, while at the same time she tried to run away from us, probably attempting to distance herself from us enough to Recall and escape. While the others chased her, I ran around the circle in the opposite direction, so that I cut her off coming the other way, trapping her between us.

Minax skidded to a halt, and at that moment I think she saw her own demise in our faces as we quickly surrounded her.

I don't know who landed the final blow. When Minax went down, I remained on alert, my hand gripping my katana snugly, prepared for anything.

Andrella checked to see what Minax had been carrying. I didn't envy her for the gruesome task. As soon as she was finished, she straightened up. "Let's get out of here before Mondain returns."

We all agreed wholeheartedly. I formed a moongate and we wasted no time in piling through.

We left the body of Minax behind as our parting gift.

I thought my legs would give out on me once we were safely back inside the keep. "I can't believe we managed to do that." Minax, the apprentice of Mondain, the master of time, the Second Age of Darkness...

"Did she have the shards of the gem?" I asked Andrella, who was sorting through the bag that she had taken from Minax.

She nodded her head. "I believe so..." But her voice trailed off as her eyes settled upon something in the bag. "Kianne..."

"What?" I asked.

She handed me a small stone. It was an Orb of the Moons, but it had a greenish hue, as if it was corrupted somehow.

I stared at it as I realized what I was holding. Michael's Orb of the Moons!

The Tome of the Stars reacted immediately, the cover glowing softly. I scrambled to pull it from my satchel. "His Orb!" I gasped. "This is it!" Anxiously I held it over the book.

The others watched and waited with excitement. I flipped through pages in the tome quickly, watching words slowly fade into view...

Pagan...

Immediately I fumbled for my parchment and quill. The coordinates to Pagan! I scribbled them frantically as the numbers began to vanish as quickly as they had appeared.

"There!"

My pen stilled finally. On the paper I had written a single group of numbers. The key that we had waited for, for so long...

"We have it!" I exploded. "We have Pagan!!" Excited beyond words, I waved the paper in the air and jumped up and down.

Everyone cheered, and Navien even levitated himself into the air in lieu of jumping.

"We can free Lord British!" I glowed, so thrilled that I was almost crying.

No one could hear anything in the keep for several minutes because everyone talking at once. Our excitement could not be contained.

Finally, we began to settle down.

"But, we need to take a bit of time to prepare," I said at last, letting out a breath.

Andrella went back to shifting through the bag. "Hey, does this look interesting?"

She handed me a magical hourglass. "The hourglass!" I gasped, and immediately held it out, trying to summon the Time Lord as I had before. There was no response, which disappointed me more so now than ever before, because I was scared for his wellbeing.

The others looked confused as to why I found an hourglass to be so significant, so I explained it to them.¹ Andrella and I also mentioned to the others about how Mondain had gone to fight the Time Lord. There was nothing we could do now but hope that Mondain comes out of that encounter on the losing end...

"You should hold these," Andrella spoke up, passing me the two golden shards.

My hands trembled as I took them. I almost expected them to burn me or something, but they settled quietly into my palms as if they were ordinary chunks of rock.

Shards of the Gem of Immortality...

"I also have a few more things," Andrella chuckled, pulling out the ebony staff.

"Her staff!" I gasped. Briefly I touched its smooth surface. "We have to keep this safe."

We divvied out the rest of the items that we had gotten off the daemons and such. I was still stunned at how much we had managed to get off Minax. What a blow to Mondain this will be!

"I'm worried about the Time Lord..." I admitted, turning the hourglass over in my fingers.

"How can we get to him?" Andrella asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know. I don't know where he is. Part of me says not to worry, because I know he is powerful, but he was trapped by the Guardian once, so..." I let out a small sigh. The hourglass would probably be the key, but how to put it to use..?

If only we could contact him!

I stared at the hourglass for a few more moments, then asked Andrella suddenly, "So you don't know who this Kilmas is?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't."

My gaze was on the hourglass. "We need to find him."

Andrella shifted. "But that's odd that they wanted to eradicate Valence Kingdom."

"I'm sorry, Andrella."

She just shrugged. "It was destroyed long ago really. In my eyes anyway."

"I guess this Kilmas was part of the kingdom?"

"But who is he?" Andrella shrugged again. "I can't even fathom that."

"If the Time Lord protected him," I suggested, "maybe he is from Britannia. And maybe Sami would know."

"That's a thought," Andrella agreed.

We checked the Lycaeum, but Sami evidently was already in bed. Before leaving the keep I had stashed Michael's Orb away in my bank box. I don't like its coloring; I believe there is something wrong with it. So I continue to use Lord British's Orb, which hasn't failed us yet.

I paused to glance up at the dark and starry sky. It was definitely too late to go to Pagan now, and at any rate, the trip definitely wasn't something we should be jumping hastily into. "We should all prepare diligently."

Everyone nodded, and we said good night to each other.

One last night to sleep...

One last day to live...

We will free Lord British. No matter what else happens.

As a postscript, when I retired to my house to drop into bed, I noticed in my bag the magical hammer that I had taken from the Star Chamber. And upon seeing that hammer, abruptly it occurred to me that we have everything we need to destroy the Gem of Immortality. We have our three golden rocks, and the two shards from the remaining two rocks. We even have the hammer that Mondain and Minax had, assumably, used to shatter the golden rocks. All we need to do is extract the cores of the other three...

Mondain has no chance. We could put him effectively out of action here and now. His days are numbered.

One last day to live...

I decided it would be wise to go to Pagan first. For one thing, there may be side effects to the breaking open of the golden rocks, particularly if done incorrectly, so it would be best to consult Nystul and Lord British before proceeding.

For another thing, anything might happen on Pagan, and we can use any advantage we can get.

Mayhap my immortality will come in handy for me, one last time...

---

[12/12/2003]

Today found me in my house preparing for the upcoming trip to Pagan. I'd left the Tome of Stars sitting on my kitchen table, with Michael's Orb of the Moons resting on top. The secrets of the Tome, Minax had said. What were those secrets?

I gathered my swords, repaired my armor, and collected whatever magical artifacts may prove useful. Opening my chest, I took out every bit of dried meat that I had stored. Okay, so it's not the best of meals, but the fact that the meat is dried and salted means it practically never spoils and lasts through almost anything, even being caught in a downpour. There was no telling how long we would be in Pagan searching--it all depended on where these coordinates happened to place us--and I decided the amount of meat I had should last me about a week.

I straightened up and glanced at the Tome of Stars. I'm not sure what led me to it, but I was drawn to pick it up and flip through its pages. And I blinked in surprise.

There were no coordinates, but I could see the word "Valence" written there.

Valence? What did Michael have to do with Andrella's kingdom?

A little later, Sygil and Andrella found me sitting on my porch, turning the hourglass over in my hands and wishing I knew how to contact the Time Lord. "Andrella," I said immediately, getting to my feet and leading the way into my house. "Look at this."

I handed her the Tome and asked if she could see the new word written within. When she scratched her head and queried what she was looking for, I knew she wasn't seeing it. I took the Tome back and looked for it myself and frowned in surprise.

"Argh, it's gone again!" I sighed.

"What did you see?" Andrella asked me.

"Valence! I swear I saw Valence!"

"Valence!?" she repeated in surprise.

I nodded. "But now it's gone again..." I shook my head a little. "I don't know why it was there. Did Michael know of Valence?"

Andrella didn't know, of course.

"We need to find Kilmas," I stated again. Then I put the Tome away and stashed Michael's Orb back in my bank box. "But first..."

It was time for Pagan. They nodded in agreement, and we traveled to the Keep.

Ayla was waiting for us there. No one could find Navien, which I suppose was a good sign--it means he's keeping away from Blackthorn's guards, at least. We couldn't spend forever searching for him, so we decided we would just have to go with the group that was gathered. I passed out the elven wine that Iolo had given us, and we all drank our fill. May as well go in with full stomachs.

Finally, we were ready. I looked from face to face, and each was set and determined. "Let's be off!" Andrella stated.

"Indeed," Sygil agreed. "For the king!"

I opened a gate, and we all piled through.

We ended up below the surface, on a small island in the middle of an underground lake. There was a strange ball of glowing energy on a pedestal, but we couldn't figure out what it was. I pulled out my Fire sword to brighten the gloom and examine it. Maybe it was the beginnings of a moongate, perhaps not, but there was no way to say for sure.

Finally we split up to examine the rest of the island. Were we going to have to swim to shore? If there were strong undercurrents, I'd hate for someone to be dragged under. I stopped on the edge of the island and peered into the gloom, sheathing my sword so that I could see better in the dark. A small ship floated upon the waters, with a man standing aboard. And now that I got a closer look, I realized suddenly that the man was wearing armor of the same distinctive style as Andrella's!

"Hey!" I called to the others. "Is that a Valencian knight?"

They gathered next to me. But my cry had alerted the man as well, and he propelled his ship over to the island. I had been hoping perhaps we had found Kilmas, but this man didn't look at all friendly. What was going on here?

"Halt," the knight ordered. "Who comes to Pagan Underworld?"

Andrella eyed him. I'm sure she noticed the armor as well. "I am Andrella Valence."

For a moment the man considered her, as if measuring up her words. "Is that so?" he asked, and laughed. "A mage, in armor?"

"Mage?" we repeated in surprise. Since when is Andrella a mage?

The knight smirked. "This ought to be good."

And suddenly he jumped ashore, attacking Andrella immediately.

We jumped to her defense, but the knight was surprisingly durable. I'm amazed at how long he lasted, considering we were teamed up against him four to one. When he finally went down, I straightened up and glanced at the water.

"We needed his boat," I chuckled grimly.

Andrella found the boat key on the body and we boarded the craft. Just like winning ships from pirates...

We easily made to the far shore, but there were more Valencian knights over there, as well as dark wisps.

"Prepare to fight, I suppose," Andrella murmured, and we leaped off the boat and into the fray.

The battle was fierce. The knights were just as deadly as the one who had been on the boat, and the wisps didn't help matters. I fired from a distance with my bow, but even my magical arrows didn't seem to be making much of a dent in the knights' armor. Andrella, Sygil, and Ayla went head-to-head, fighting melee. As such, they were taking the brunt of the attacks.

When Ayla and Sygil went down, I knew it was bad. I tried to circle around to help them. But I couldn't get away from the knights. There were just too many of them. One managed to land a particularly vicious blow to the back of my neck, which I knew mostly because of the flash of pain and I saw a sudden wash of red...and then, nothing.

When I finally came around, I could see that Andrella was the only one standing, and the knights had her surrounded. But the men held off on attacking at the sound of a commanding voice nearby.

They all turned to look. A man in golden Valencian armor and a flowing golden cape was walking toward the group. He stopped just inside the circle as Andrella watched warily, her swords still held to bear.

I remained silent, listening and waiting for a good opportunity.

The newcomer glanced at those of us who had fallen and nodded his approval. "Good job, knights." Then he turned to Andrella. His smile faded as he frowned at her. "It can't be..."

I blinked in surprise. The knight paced a little, gazing at Andrella. "Well, what do we have here? Andrella Valence. I thought you long ago dead." He chuckled darkly.

Andrella's eyes narrowed. "And who might you be?"

He reached up and pulled off his helmet. "And to think, you came all the way here. For what? To find me?"

Andrella gasped in surprise when she saw his face. I was watching in confusion, thinking I really should have found out more about Andrella's past.

"Jarred..." she breathed as if the name itself was evil. "I had wondered what happened to you."

He shrugged. "I was not the one who ran away."

"Ran away?" she repeated. "I had no choice! You murdered my father!"

"And I would have murdered you too," he chuckled. "But I think I have better plans now." He made a tsking noise. "Look at you now, with gargish blades. You still think you are a swordswoman!"

He laughed, while I was still baffled. Why did everyone think she was a mage?

"You have destroyed the Knights of Valence," Andrella growled.

"Destroyed?" he repeated. "Do you not see how powerful they are?"

"They are evil, blood thirsty villains!" Andrella let out.

Jarred grinned. "Exactly. Just as Xavier wanted. We serve the Guardian now."

I started in surprise. Andrella threw her hands into the air in disgust.

"He and Mondain helped us purge the kingdom of you Valence mages," Jarred spat. "But I guess one got away."

"Valence Mages? What are you talking about?" Andrella finally asked.

"What am I talking about? Your father was the one who told you were a swordswoman, trying to hide his mage blood." Jarred looked disgusted. "He wasn't worthy of being a knight."

"He's the one that taught me to wield a sword," she protested.

"And by the looks of it, you got yourself in over your head," Jarred smirked. "Now you have to face real swords. The swords of Valence."

"Swords of Valence?" Andrella repeated.

"Me." Jarred pulled out a Fire katana. "And the knights. The true knights. Pure blood. Not like you and your parents."

Andrella pointed out, "You can't be pure blood if you weren't born a Valence."

But Jarred just laughed. "You have been gone far too long. You have no idea what you missed."

"Where is Xavier?" Andrella demanded.

Jarred shook his head. "You think you can make it to him? You would have to pass me first, and you can't even do that."

Andrella made a determined sound and drew her swords into an offensive stance, ready to lunge. Jarred blinked in surprise. "You dare?"

"You will pay for killing my father!" she countered.

And she leaped forward.

He had just enough time to raise his weapon before he had to meet her charge. Swords clashed in a blinding dance. All I could do was silently cheer her on. The other knights were still surrounding us, watching the combat rather than joining in.

Finally Jarred managed to separate himself from the battle, backing away. "Gah," he muttered, and I couldn't help but grin. "You do wield a sword well." Two of them, in fact. "I suppose we'll let the knights deal with you after all."

He turned then and ran.

The remaining knights were left to their own devices in the wake of the confusion, abandoned by their own leader. Andrella took the opportunity to help the rest of us recover, and we surged to our feet to join the combat. Luckily, this time the battle went better than the last. We ganged up on one knight at a time, teaming up to take them down one by one. I used my bow sometimes, and sometimes moved in with my Fire sword to do better damage.

We made progress, battling our way through the forces around the lake, looking for an exit to the giant cavern in which we found ourselves. Eventually I was supplementing my archery with Greater Heal spells, not even taking the time to drop my bow before casting. It made me wish I'd brought more reagents.

Finally we came to a tent. A short distance beyond was a magical force field blocking off the path to what appeared to be a half-formed moongate.

Since we couldn't get through the barrier, I turned and entered the tent. Standing right in the center was a square block of blackrock. It reminded me immediately of the Guardian's Cube, but this one was much smaller than the giant Cube, and much larger than the tiny cube I had obtained from within the larger one. We examined it, but I couldn't figure out what purpose it served.

Behind the cube we found a lever. I pulled on it, but it wouldn't budge. I asked Andrella to try, as she is stronger than I am, but then we realized it was latched in place with five clamps, each clamp securely locked.

I sighed a little, but wasn't terribly unused to such situations. "Well, let's look for the keys."

We trooped back out and headed down the only other hallway that we had not yet been. There was nothing there except for a wailing beast chained to a post stuck into the ground. The creature eyed us, but because it was tied down, it could not attack us. A couple of corpses on the ground showed us exactly the extent of the beast's reach.

Earlier, Andrella had discovered a gem of entrapment that one of the knights had been carrying. This, in turn, reminded me of the wailing beast that Blackthorn had once had trapped in a gem in his castle. I suggested it to her, so she pulled out the gem and activated its magic. The swirling energy sucked up the beast, leaving the chains and the pole behind.

We went past the post, sure that it was guarding something important, but there was nothing there. Just a dead-end passage.

Turning back, we retraced our steps and began searching for keys on the bodies of the knights we had slain.

But it was Andrella who spotted it. She called us over to a small switch set into the wall. It was so tiny I would have overlooked it. With a flair, she flipped the little lever. A rumbling could be heard in the distance. We glanced at each other.

"That must be it," I suggested. "Let's look for four more."

We did so, running afoul of more knights and wisps as we went, and a shadow dragon that gave us a good bit of trouble.

Finally, we had found and flipped all of the switches. "Back the other way," I urged, eager now.

We retraced our steps and went immediately into the tent, where we could see that the locks on the lever had indeed been loosened. I shoved at the lever with all my might, and with a groaning sound it gave way. There was another sound in the distance as the lever was moved.

After casting another curious glance at the blackrock cube, I led the way out of the tent, heading for the blocked off passage. I was sure that the lever controlled the force field that barred our way. But to my surprise, the field of energy was still there, glowing silently.

"Not it?" I scratched my head.

Andrella turned back, moving down the tunnel that the howling beast had once guarded. "There!" she called, and as I caught up to her I saw what she meant. A doorway had opened in one of the walls of the dead-end hallway.

Andrella led the way into the room beyond. I was right behind her, and as soon as I was through the door I saw a small, narrow room, containing three more of the chain posts. And bound to the pole on the far end was a very battered-looking Dupré.

"Dupré!!" Andrella and I called at once. I scrambled past her in my hurry to reach him, then skidded abruptly to a halt.

What I hadn't seen while behind her was Lord British and Nystul chained to the other two posts. Both were crumpled on the floor, motionless and as good as dead.

"Andrella! Kianne!" Dupré called in relief as we piled into the room. "You have come at last!"

I barely heard him or the cries of dismay coming from my friends. In stunned horror I dropped to my knees worriedly next to Lord British, not liking the pallor in his still face. Was he dead? Were we too late?

"Quickly," Dupré urged us. "Can you unbind my chains?"

I lifted my head and could have smacked myself. Where had my mind gone? As I was closest, I scrambled to my feet and hurried to Dupré's side. I seized the chains and tugged on them blindly, struggling to tear them loose. Then I dug out a sword and hacked at them. Dupré pulled with what little strength he had left, and finally the bonds gave away, allowing him to stumble forward.

"Dupré!" I cried, throwing my arms around him.

"Thank the virtues," Dupré murmured, hugging me weakly. I was trembling from head to toe. He lifted his head and glanced over my shoulder. "Nystul, British..."

The others were kneeling by Lord British and Nystul. They had undone their chains and were trying to revive them, but having no luck.

"We have to get to them to Jaana," Dupré urged, and we all nodded. I released Dupré and hurried back to the others.

"Andrella, take Nystul," Dupré requested, while he himself reached down and very gently lifted Lord British into his arms.

Andrella picked up Nystul as if it was no effort, shifting him in her arms so that she could walk without tangling her legs in his tattered robes. His stick-thin limbs dangled limply. He looked like he weighed nothing at all.

I was watching with a sort of stunned horror that left me numb. Dragging myself out of it, I reached into my pouch. "Let's get out of here."

Dupré looked at us. "Do you have a way out?"

They nodded; instead of answering, I merely pulled out the Orb of Moons and held it forth to summon up a gate that would take us to the Shadow Keep.

The Orb gave only a feeble pulse of light, and nothing happened.

Still filled with shock over the condition of Lord British and Nystul, my mind didn't want to comprehend this new development. The Orb had worked faithfully all this time. I had stopped worrying over whether it would be able to take us where we needed to go, and get us back again. It couldn't fail us now!

I tried again, but had the same results. The Orb's glow was faint. Something must have been blocking it.

The others gave me a questioning look.

Stressed beyond the ability to think, I shook the Orb as if it was some mechanical thing that I could rattle into place. "Come on, you darn thing!" I growled at it in desperation. Closing my eyes, I clasped both hands around it and poured all of my strength into willing its magic into being. It had to work! It had to!

As if in response to my summons, the glow grew stronger, gathering for a moment before a red moongate swirled into being.

I let out my breath, nearly weak in relief.

Everyone hurried through, and I don't think I've ever been more happy to see the Keep than I was in that moment. I turned, counting carefully to make sure everyone was with us, checking to be sure that we had left no one behind.

"Where can we find Lady Jaana?" Sygil asked.

"Cove," Dupré answered immediately.

I'm glad he knew, because I wouldn't have known where to start looking. Quickly I pulled out my book of notes. "Cove... Cove..." I murmured anxiously as I flipped pages. I knew I had copied the coordinates off the rune that we had used for the trip with Sami, because after I had received the Orb, I'd written down the coordinates to every rune I could find. Coming across I was searching for, I held forth the Orb again. It responded instantly this time, the moongate appearing without hesitation.

The town of Cove was quiet and still. No one noticed us as we walked to a building with a healer's sign out front near the corner of the village. I can say this with certainty, because I'm sure if anyone had seen us, they would have raised quite a stir. I mean, it's not every day you see a member of the royal court walking through town carrying the missing king in his arms.

I had never, in all of my years, imagined I would ever be bringing Lord British to the healer's...

I shoved the door open, holding it for Dupré and Andrella so that they could get through with the burdens in their arms. Simultaneously, I looked anxiously into the room. "Jaana!" I called in relief, glad to see that my old companion was indeed there.

She came to her feet with a start. "Praise be to the virtues! You have returned!"

Andrella and Dupré gently laid their charges on the nearest two beds. I watched with a worried look.

Jaana bent over them immediately. The rest of us hovered nearby, anxiously. I could only stare, feeling numb again. "Please be okay," I murmured like a prayer, my hands clasped together, near tears.

Sygil put a hand on my shoulder. "Trust in the virtues."

"They have been starved near death." Jaana shook her head. "Dupré, you should sit down too." He didn't bother to argue, sinking into a nearby chair with a small sigh.

Her words immediately brought my mind back into the present. "Here!" I gasped, digging out all of the meat rations I had on me and thrusting them into Dupré's hands. He looked as though he hadn't eaten in days. "I'm so sorry it took us so long!"

He chewed weakly. "Tis as soon as you could I know! How are they, Jaana?"

"They will need to be monitored closely. I won't know for a few days." Jaana looked grim as she placed warm cloths on her patients' heads.

"We can bring food, whatever you need," I offered. "Supplies, anything."

Jaana worked in silence then, administering tender care. Dupré washed up as best he could, then sat back and shook his head as if at memories. "The Guardian..." he murmured.

I looked at him. "He kept saying you were suffering," I mentioned, my voice hardly above a whisper. "I'm so sorry..."

"You saved us," he reminded me. "Thank the virtues you came when you did. The Guardian had left the knights in charge. They did not feed us. The golden knight was the worst... He beat British, even while chained."

Andrella growled between clenched teeth.

I turned to her, reminded. "Andrella. Were they from your kingdom?"

"Aye. Jarred is the one who killed my father, and took the Knights of Valence for himself."

"Your father, he was their leader?" I asked, remembering that she had once said something like that.

She nodded. "Alexander Valence, Commander of the Knights of Valence."

I considered that. "It's almost strange to see them here."

Andrella agreed. "Dupré, do you know why they were helping the Guardian?"

He shook his head slightly. "The reason I am not sure, but I know the gold knight was in charge when the Guardian left to conquer Krynn."

We blinked in surprise. "Krynn!?" I gasped in disbelief.

"He claimed that with Soth here, he had little competition," Dupré explained.

I was stunned. "So that's why Soth was so mad!" I shook my head at just the thought of Soth ending up with the same troubles he'd left behind. The Guardian being gone might also explain why his voice had been silent in my head for weeks now. "The Guardian succeeded?"

"He never returned that I know of," Dupré replied.

"Perhaps he met up with Soth?" Sygil suggested.

Dupré looked a little confused. "Soth is not here?"

We shook our heads. "No, we sent him back. To Krynn."

To my surprise, Dupré didn't look relieved at this news. "Then we are in dire danger still."

This took me completely by surprise. Was he implying we needed Soth's help to fight the Guardian? "Why is that?" I asked.

Dupré took a breath. "The daemon, Erethian. He was mining the magical blackrock to make a permanent gate to Pagan."

"Erethian?" I repeated. "A daemon? I thought he was just an old man!"

"He was," Dupré agreed, "until Soth laid a curse upon him."

I let out a sound of irritation that everything always seems to come back to Soth somehow.

"You have to find Erethian," Dupré urged us. "He is the reason for the curse on the land."

"So that's it," I murmured.

"Then there was a power struggle between him and Minax," Dupré mused. "If Soth is not here, then Minax controls Erethian."

"Minax is gone," I informed him. "We took her down not long ago. I don't know if Mondain has a way to bring her back, but..."

Dupré looked surprised. "Then Erethian has no one to control him?" He shook his head. "Nystul said that Erethian had to be controlled. If he was not, he could not be stopped."

Great, so now it's a problem that we defeated Minax? Why do we always find out these things after it's already too late? "We'll find a way to stop him," I assured him grimly.

"You'll have to stop him before he realizes that Minax is gone."

"Do you know where he is?" I asked.

Dupré thought about it. "Nystul knows. Something about the Trinsic mountains... Path to Delucia?" He shook his head. "I am not sure."

"Path to Delucia? I know where that is," I realized. "Andrella and I stumbled over it."We had been just exploring for the fun of it once, a while ago, and we'd found a passage in the mountains near Trinsic and then ended up in the Lost Lands. It had taken me a little by surprise because I had never gone that way before then.

"He said there was a flowing pit of lava," Dupré mentioned. "Where the daemon digs to the abyss itself."

"Lava." I couldn't remember having seen any lava. But at least we knew where to begin looking.

"So you know where it is?" Dupré asked.

"I'm not sure about the lava. We can explore, though."

The others nodded and we fell into a few seconds of silence. There was so much to tell him, and I wasn't sure where to start.

"Dupré," Sygil spoke up. "You should know, and relay to Lord British, that Shamino is safe and walks again." He smiled.

"That's right," I agreed. "And we found Iolo, too."

Dupré gave a weak smile. "Now that I did not know."

"Say," I realized, "maybe all of you should rest in Dawn."

"I was going to mention that next," Sygil grinned.

"They should stay here," Jaana spoke up. I hadn't realized she'd even been listening.

"Then I stay here," I returned with determination. "We need to keep them guarded."

"And Order guards should patrol this area," Sygil suggested.

"No," Dupré protested. "Do not tell the guards. Then Blackthorn will find out." He looked at the beds. "There was a cube near us, which the Guardian spoke to Blackthorn through."

"So that's what it was for," I murmured. It made me wish we'd had Rudyom's wand.

"He would taunt us with the knowledge of Blackthorn on British's throne." Dupré shook his head.

"Oh, we can tell you much of Blackthorn's behavior," Andrella snickered.

"The Guardian will find out you guys are gone soon enough," I pointed out to Dupré. "With or without Blackthorn warning him."

"That is why you must stop Erethian as soon as possible," Dupré agreed. "He cannot make the gate or the Guardian will come."

We nodded. "We will," I vowed, thinking privately that we are right back to where we started: preventing the opening of the Black Gate.

"Should we find disguises for you?" Sygil suggested, looking from Dupré to the occupied beds.

"They will be fine," Jaana answered for them.

"But if anyone finds out they are here..." I began.

"I don't think disguises are necessary if they lay low," Andrella pointed out.

"No one will intrude on my house," Jaana agreed. "Blackthorn knows my disgust for him."

I hesitated. "Are you sure we shouldn't wait here until they are better?"

Jaana shrugged. "That is your choice."

"But you must stop Erethian," Dupré urged.

I let out a little sigh. "Well, let's go look for that path from Trinsic. We can come back to check on them." I managed a faint smile.

We started for the door. Dupré got to his feet as if to follow. "Dupré," Jaana admonished. "Sit down. You are staying here."

His weak legs forced him to sit, and he let out a sigh.

"Rest well," Andrella urged him. "There will be time for ale later." She grinned.

I slapped my forehead. "Oh! I forgot the ale!"

"No ale," Jaana commanded with a stern look. "You are dehydrated, Dupré."

Dupré grumbled.

"We will be back soon," I assured him with a smile. "As soon as we discover something." We thanked Jaana and walked outside.

We stood in the yard in front of the building for a few minutes discussing the passage that we were seeking. I took out my map and scoured it, trying to remember where it was that Andrella and I had been. It was near Trinsic, that was all I knew. Finally I settled on a mountain range that looked promising, a tiny memory sparked. "Here," I decided, putting a finger on the spot.

A movement to the side drew our attention. I turned my head and saw that Dupré had come outside. "Dupré!" I protested, then immediately hushed my voice so that none of the townspeople would hear. Running over to him, I added in a hiss, "Get in bed! You're supposed to be resting!"

"I have been sitting around for too long," he replied. "I want to walk."

Andrella grinned. "Care to go to Kianne's for a bottle of ale?"

As if drawn by those words, the door opened at that moment and Jaana looked out with a frown. "Dupré. Come inside."

"I need to stretch," he repeated to her. "I'll be back in a while."

I couldn't bring myself to argue against him, because I wanted to be with him as well. He had been gone far too long, and even if all we did was walk and talk, it was enough for me.

As if reading my thoughts, Andrella assured Jaana, "We'll take care of him."

Jaana looked at all of our faces and gave in. "Make sure he drinks no ale. Understand?"

I just grinned. It wasn't difficult for me. I always made our party members leave the ale behind anyway.

"And bring him back within the hour," Jaana finished. She looked at Dupré with concern in her eyes, but also a bit of amusement, I think. "We don't need you sick."

We agreed, and I made a moongate to my house with the Orb. Inside, I pulled out a stool for the fifth member of our little group, and we all sat around my table.

"Freedom," Dupré smiled. "I am so glad to be out of that hole."

We belatedly introduced him to Ayla, whom he had not met before today. Then Dupré turned to me. "Kianne, how did you get your Orb?"

"It's not mine, actually," I explained. "It's Lord British's. Shamino had it." I couldn't help but tack on, "And lucky thing he did."

Dupré chuckled.

"No, not luck," I corrected myself. "Wisdom." On the part of Lord British. Shamino had possessed the Orb because of Lord British's incredible foresight.

"British did not talk much," Dupré commented, understanding. "It was quite a surprise to see you there. But I knew you would come."

We smiled at him. Then Andrella spoke up, "Dupré... What do you know of the leader of those knights? Did they ever mention the name 'Kilmas'?"

"That's right," I agreed, remembering.

"Kilmas..." Dupré repeated. "Nystul mentioned him."

I was startled. Andrella apparently was as well. "Nystul did?"

Dupré nodded. "I think so. He was a star mage?"

We blinked. "Like Gorjez?" Andrella gasped.

Dupré smiled. "No, Gorjez is a Star Sage."

"Oh." Andrella looked confused. "What is a star mage then?"

"I thought you would know," Dupré responded. "They came from the Valance kingdom from what I heard."

"This is strange," I mused. "They kept calling you a mage, Andrella..."

"I know." She gave a puzzled shake of her head. "What's up with that?"

"Something about your blood line?" I shrugged. Could it be that Andrella has inherited magic somehow, and didn't even know it?

"They never mentioned you, though, Andrella," Dupré mentioned. "I thought about asking, but they were so cruel that I thought better of it."

"Well, apparently they thought I was dead," Andrella chuckled grimly. "Or so a few of them said before I began to cut them all down."

We snickered.

"And, yes, I meant to ask," Dupré remembered. "Where in the world did you get twin gargish blades?"

Andrella gave a proud grin. "I earned them."

Dupré mused, "We had heard that Minax was upset when the Gargoyles broke the alliance. But I had never imagined to see Andrella with their blades."

"Gratagmalem gave them to me," Andrella told him.

"Well, one of them," I winked at her.

"Gratagmalem!?" Dupré repeated in surprise.

"Aye, one," Andrella was nodding. "The other one I won from Lash."

"Lash!" Dupré had become an echo chamber at this point.

I nodded at him. "We made peace with the Gargoyles. Got Gratagmalem to understand who is the true evil here."

Dupré shook his head in wonder. "You never cease to amaze me. How long were we captive?"

I grimaced.

"A lot longer than we ever anticipated, Dupré," Andrella sighed.

"I don't even want to count," I chimed in.

"I stopped counting, as did we all," Dupré agreed.

"I wish it had been sooner," I sighed heavily.

Dupré leaned his elbows on the table and reminisced, "British was calm the entire time. I was impressed with the way he carried himself. He never lost his pride even when the knights spat on him."

Andrella banged her fists on the table in anger. "Jarred will pay for his disrespect! For my father and for Lord British!"

"Jarred." Dupré repeated the name musingly. "The knights were never allowed to speak his name. They always called him the gold knight. He was strict, and perhaps the most cruel of them all."

"Bah." I waved a hand. "Andrella chased him off."

Dupré looked at her. "You beat him?"

She shook her head with a grumble. "No, I didn't kill him. He ran."

"He was supposed to be the best of all the knights, I heard," Dupré pointed out.

"For a traitor, maybe," Andrella growled. "But he isn't a true Valence."

None of us had any problems agreeing there.

"And I heard some things about Kianne and Sygil as well," Dupré went on. "Things I did not know about you, Kianne..."

I was startled. "From the Guardian?" I asked warily, and when he nodded, I immediately wondered if what he had heard was true.

"Like what?" Andrella asked.

Dupré laced his fingers together. "There are four elemental lords on Pagan," he began. "And Kianne is the elementalist they have tasked the Guardian with slaying."

Now this wasn't at all what I was expecting to hear. I stared at him in surprise. The others were doing likewise.

"They have promised him kingdoms to slay you," Dupré noted to me into the resulting silence, as we had all been rendered near speechless.

Andrella found her tongue. "They will have to get through me first!"

I found myself laughing. "Oh, well, do I have swords for them!" Andrella grinned, understanding. I have one of each now of the four elemental swords: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth.

Dupré was still looking at me. "I did not know you were an elementalist."

"That came after," I tried to explain. "After the explosion of the Black Gate. And here, I never mentioned it because, well, I can't summon the magic here." I shrugged. "I can elsewhere, but not here."

"And that is just where they want you," Dupré said gravely.

"Unable to use the magic?" I frowned.

"I would guess so," he said, "because the Guardian did not want you leaving. He tasked Mondain to seal this land off to help him get the gem. Or was it the other way around?" He shook his head. "I get confused. Nystul and British know this much better than I."

"We have the gem," Andrella pointed out. "Or could have it easily."

"That's right," I remembered. "And we know how to destroy it, more or less."

Dupré looked confused. "Nystul said the rocks were tied to this land, I thought."

We told him that two had already been shattered by Mondain and Minax. "There is a way to do it," I finished. "We think it has to do with this."

I pulled out the magic hammer and placed it on the table. Dupré examined it with an impressed look. "That's what I need to ask Nystul," I finished.

"I tried to keep them awake," Dupré sighed.

I looked at him. "I'm sorry, Dupré..."

He shook his head. "No, they will be fine. And where is Shamino through all of this? Hiding in the woods?" He chuckled.

That reminded me. "Oh! We should go fetch him! And Iolo too."

"Aye, we should," Andrella agreed. "Perhaps another time though? We promised Jaana that Dupré would return within the hour."

Dupré chuckled a little. "Iolo," he repeated.

"Aye, we finally reached Dawn," I smiled.

"Is he still there?" Dupré asked. When I nodded, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Jaana does not like that place. She was offended to know Iolo went there."

"Could it be the elven women?" Andrella teased.

"Elven women..." Sygil repeated.

Dupré nodded his head. "I approve of elven women."

I fell forward onto the table. Everyone laughed.

"But I found out," Dupré said musingly, "that you don't open doors for elven women."

That brought a laugh out of me. "Did Iolo tell you?" I asked him.

"He should have," Dupré laughed. "He knew but he told me to do it!"

We laughed harder. "That sounds just like Iolo!" I couldn't help but snicker. We had a good laugh.

"Ahhh... It's so good to have you back," I smiled at Dupré.

"It is such a relief to be back," he agreed.

"Oh, if only I had a skiff..." I teased. "We could'a used it in Pagan..."

"Nope, I had the Burrow," Andrella winked, pulling out the key to the ship that we had 'borrowed' from the Valencian knight. As she did so, she spotted the gem of entrapment. "Oh, this is interesting," she added, placing it on the table where we could all look inside and see the trapped wailing beast.

Dupré poked the gem. "Not so tough now, are you?"

We snickered. "Was he your guard, Dupré?"

He nodded. "They tried to threaten me with him, but no one would get close enough to unchain him." And we snickered some more.

I contemplated the gem and shook my head, my mind elsewhere. "Elementals, huh?"

Dupré nodded. "Pyro, Hydros... I don't remember their names."

I gave him a grin. "Beating elementals is fun." Despite the circumstances, this latest bit of news didn't scare me in the least. In fact, I was intrigued by it. Of course, absently I did wonder why the elementals had needed to make a deal with the Guardian at all. I mean, after what happened following the destruction of the first Black Gate, I was sure he wanted to kill me already, if nothing else for that reason alone. It didn't seem to me like he would need any encouragement to wish my demise.

Dupré looked curious. "I guess you have some kind of power over elementals."

I shrugged. "It's all in knowing their weaknesses, and having the means to exploit them."

"Nystul asked me if it was true," Dupré chuckled. "I was as surprised as they were. Then I remembered that fire that glows unnaturally in your eyes when you are around elements..."

I gave him a startled look.

He grinned at me. "And I just thought you were a little strange," he finished in a stage whisper, and I suddenly realized he was teasing. I laughed.

We gave Dupré more food, since he had already devoured the week's worth of meat that I had given him before. "Do you mind if I sneak some of this back with me?" he asked. "Jaana won't give British this stuff. He has to eat carrots and lettuce."

We laughed. "Go ahead," I offered.

Sygil handed him a magic weapon, just in case. It was a good thing, because I didn't have any bashing weapons for him. I only keep bladed ones, myself. "I have other arms and armor if you need," Sygil offered.

"I doubt that anyone would mess with Jaana," Dupré smiled.

"We didn't think anyone would mess with Lord British either," Sygil pointed out gravely.

"Well, at least if you mess with British, you can get a kingdom." Dupré shrugged. "Who wants a rundown old shack with bloody water?"

We chuckled a little at that logic.

I shook my head. "I never thought I'd see Lord British injured..."

Dupré looked resolved. "I myself am not going to speak of it. He fought to the end. I had to tell him it was okay to go to sleep. He didn't want to. The bread we did get, he always let Nystul eat half of his share."

I shook my head sadly. "I'm sorry, it was my fault from the beginning..."

"No, Kianne," Dupré began, but I cut him off.

"Yes. It's my fault the Guardian came."

Dupré looked at me. "How could you have known so many evils were conspiring against you?" And I had to admit he had a point. He offered me a small smile. "I have a hard time when my hair won't go straight."

That got a giggle out of me.

"It is hard to believe," I agreed finally. "Mondain and Minax, and the Guardian, and Blackthorn..."

"And the elementals," Dupré pointed out.

I shrugged. "The elementals are such a distant problem at this point."

"And Erethian." Dupré finished the enumeration with a shake of his head. "He is who must be stopped as soon as possible, before even British can take his throne back."

"Before then?" I asked, since I'd been hoping he'd take the throne as soon as he was well again.

"Well," Dupré said logically, "I would suppose that the Guardian will know where he is then. At least in Cove, no one knows where he is."

"He'll know he's free," I pointed out.

"But where will he look?" Dupré finished. "I doubt Cove is on the top of his list."

I chuckled weakly. "I hope you are right."

"Dupré," Sygil spoke up. "You said the Guardian spoke of me? Anything I should watch out for?"

Dupré nodded. "The Black Sword must be the blade to deal the final blow to Erethian. But he said the blade would consume you before that." We nodded slowly. "Minax was not happy when she found out you had been in control," Dupré added. "She demanded the blade be given to someone like Balinor. But it was too late."

I was a little surprised. "So it wasn't Arcadion who chose?" I murmured rhetorically.

"Balinor would have been chosen because he is easily swayed?" Andrella guessed.

Dupré nodded slightly. "The Guardian said Sygil was the weakest will."

I laughed out loud. "Sygil!?"

Dupré nodded again. "That's what he said."

"Bah!" I snickered. "Shows what he knows!"

Sygil chuckled wryly. "Nice to know where I stand."

All of this brought a question to the forefront of my mind. "So, Dupré, who is calling the shots here? Mondain, or the Guardian?"

"If I had to say," Dupré guessed, "it would be the Guardian. But Mondain has ulterior motives."

I was shaking my head a little in disbelief. "And here I thought Mondain was the main problem."

"And which blade is to deal the Guardian's death?" Sygil smirked.

"How about this one?" I pulled out my glass sword and held it in front of me, the pommel resting against the table's surface.

The others snickered. "Ki's got the idea," Andrella grinned.

Of course, I was only teasing. Glass swords couldn't defeat even the Shadowlords, so I doubted they would work on the Guardian.

"I love these things," I grinned, carefully tucking the glass sword away.

"Aye, I have been on the wrong end of one before," Sygil chuckled.

I laughed. "Yeah, Sygil, the pointy end goes that way!" I teased. He snickered in return. Replacing my sword, I pulled out the Tome of Stars and laid it on the table, idly flipping pages as it reminded me of where we had been.

"We need to find this Kilmas. He knows the secrets of this tome."

The others nodded. Dupré watched the pages turn. "The tome seems to be a focus point for Mondain and the knights."

"A focus for what?" I mused.

"I don't know," Dupré replied, "but Mondain wants it badly."

Well, he's not getting it. I shook my head again and finally closed the book.

"The Valence knights have their own agenda as well," Dupré commented. "I think they are working more for Mondain than the Guardian." He shook his head. "It is sad to say the Guardian kept us fed, but Jarred could not care if we died."

Andrella angrily muttered a stream of syllables I couldn't even begin to repeat here. Dupré gave her a nervous glance and visibly gulped. He had one of those remind me to never make her mad looks on his face.

"If the Guardian kept you fed, he wanted you alive for something," I pointed out reasonably. "That almost scares me more."

"He wanted us alive just to torture us," Dupré decided. "So British could see his land crumble."

"But he had to know it was a risk," I argued. "As long as you were still alive, you might escape."

"True, come to think of it," Dupré admitted.

I shook my head. "What a creep..."

"Devious," Dupré agreed.

"Evil."

"Mad," Sygil chimed in.

"Manipulative," Andrella contributed. We went on like this for a few moments.

"Bad."

"Cruel."

"Rotten."

Dupré almost chuckled. "And then to say the Guardian kept us fed..."

"For devious, cruel, evil reasons I'm sure," I grumbled.

"Well," Dupré shrugged. "I would trust that we are safe with Jaana until Erethian is gone."

"Oh, speaking of Jaana," Andrella spoke up, "we should be getting you back."

We all stood up and I formed another moongate back to Cove. While we were there I marked a rune to use to get coordinates so that I could gate closer to Jaana's house in the future.

We left Dupré with Jaana, promising to bring Shamino and Iolo soon. Not tonight, as it was already too late and Dupré needed sleep in any event.

Of course, I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight at all...

---

[12/19/2003]

Lord British and Nystul have finally regained consciousness. We visited them at Jaana's place today. I've been trying to keep an eye on the area, but it is difficult to do discreetly. So far, so good, however.

We entered the humble building and found Lord British seated in one of the chairs. Nystul stood nearby, and Dupré was busy devouring all of the food in sight.

"Lord British." I crossed the room and dropped to one knee before him. He is still our king, even if he is not yet on his throne.

He greeted us warmly, but said he was not yet fully recovered. So we did not get through everything. We discussed only the most pressing issues.

The main one being, of course, Erethian. Lord British asked Nystul to tell us about the daemon, but Nystul was being his usual self and wandered around on different threads of the conversation making very little sense. I was too happy to see him back to be frustrated by his typical manner, and some of the things he says are pretty funny.

But we did finally get the details we needed, mostly from Lord British, who told us what he knew. Erethian, he said, wears armor that makes him impervious to most attacks. He is, however, vulnerable to weapons made of mytheril. Which is quite a coincidence, because I received a mytheril long sword for Christmas last year. But that is neither here nor there.

We learned that Erethian can be killed by the Black Sword, but doing so would destroy the Black Sword as well. Around this point Nystul became very confusing because he was shouting, "Do not kill him!" We'd thought the whole point was to kill Erethian. It was finally clarified that Erethian will come back to life if he is killed normally, and his power level will increase as well. Apparently, Soth or someone killed him a few times already, thus why Erethian is so powerful now.

So, Nystul explained, we would need to trap Erethian in a gem. After a bit of back and forth, we finally understood that we would use a gem of entrapment to temporarily imprison Erethian. Then Sygil would need to shatter the gem using the Black Sword. If all goes well, this will destroy the gem, the sword, and both daemons.

"But what if Arcadion is freed?" I asked Nystul, since he had implied that was a possibility.

"Then we resort to the final plan," he answered with a nod of his head.

"Which is?" Andrella asked.

"Die in agony."

It was spoken in such a deadpan way that we couldn't help but laugh. "Nystul, that's not an option!" Andrella chuckled.

"Can we trap Arcadion somehow?" I tried. "In another gem perhaps?"

Nystul shook his head. "No way to trap Arcadion. He will be destroyed with the sword--unless the person holding the sword has glowing red eyes. Then the daemon will live on."

We stared at him. We've already seen Sygil's eyes flash red when he equips the sword. "Um... What exactly do the glowing red eyes mean?"

"It's a sign that usually indicates possession." Nystul shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"But Sygil isn't possessed," I protested. Surely that was something we would be able to tell!

"You see, the way it works," Nystul clarified. "If the eyes flash, it means an attempt at possession. If they glow it's bad."

"Whew." We let out sighs of relief. Sygil's eyes only flash, they don't glow. This makes more sense now. It means Sygil is fighting off more than he knows...

We mentioned Gratagmalem briefly, then swerved into the topic of the Time Lord. I also showed Nystul the Tome of Stars. I asked him if he needed Michael's Orb, but he shook his head. "It won't do me any good," he explained. "The Tome is written in the language of time."

"Time!" I gasped.

Nystul nodded. "Michael figured it all out himself. But though he knew the exact components and systematic properties of it all, he still couldn't do it. Because the spells of time were too complex for any of us." Nystul looked up consideringly. "But Mondain found out who could cast the spells. The Valence Star Mages."

"Andrella!?" I let out in surprise.

Nystul looked confused. Andrella was shaking her head. Lord British commented, "She is the daughter of Alexander Valence."

Nystul's eyes lit up with understanding. "Ohh! Here!" And he thrust the Tome into her hands. "What do you see?" he asked her excitedly.

She opened the book and shrugged. "Blank pages."

"Look again!" he urged, but the answer was the same. At first I was expecting a result, because of Nystul's reaction, but then I remembered when I had given her the book to look for the word Valence. Apparently there is more to it than just being able to see the pages.

"Does this have something to do with Kilmas?" we asked.

"Ohh," Nystul remembered. "Kilmas was a star mage. Only those of the Valence bloodline can cast the time spells." He scratched his head. "Kilmas, son of Xavier?"

Andrella blinked. "Who's Xavier?" I asked.

"My uncle," she responded.

"Xavier made a deal with Mondain," Lord British explained. "He was to be the last star mage. Xavier and Mondain destroyed the kingdom..." He shook his head.

"I was never taught anything of this," Andrella mused, gazing down at the Tome of Stars. "Perhaps Kilmas can teach me?"

"Perhaps, if he lives," Nystul agreed. "But there is a catch. Anyone who casts time spells is instantly aged twenty years."

Yikes.

"So you would be dead after casting a few of them." Nystul shrugged.

"Unless you were immortal," Lord British pointed out. "The Gem of Immortality."

I stared at him. "I thought that was to be destroyed..."

"It should be," he agreed. "But how can it be destroyed?"

We told him then about the Codex, and what it had said of the gem. We also mentioned that Mondain and Minax had managed to destroy two of the golden rocks. Nystul was sure that would have resulted in chunks of Britannia, people and all, to vanish. But we haven't noticed any disappearances that have occurred with the proper timing. Northwind vanished because of Mondain, and the rumors of villagers vanishing from Britain were far too early, before Mondain and Minax possessed either of the two golden rocks.

"Maybe the legend did not speak of this land," Lord British suggested. "The Guardian spoke of other Britannias."

I stared at him. "It could have affected those?"

"The Time Lord would know," Lord British decided finally. And that discussion on the topic was shelved until we can contact the Time Lord.

Nystul gave us good news here. He can re-enchant the hourglass if we can supply him the items necessary to do it. He'll need about 500 of each reagent, and about 3 wands of each circle. I'm hoping that if we pool our resources, it won't take long to gather this. Perhaps we can even contact the Time Lord before going after Erethian....

Finally, I gave Lord British his Orb back. It has served me well, but it never really belonged to me. I knew I would miss having it, but it's not like I haven't survived without it before.

Before we left, we asked Nystul about the gem we would need to use on Erethian. He said he needed a gem of entrapment that was already holding a powerful creature. Andrella's with the wailing beast seemed a perfect candidate. But Nystul was talking about releasing the beast so that he could prepare the gem for our use. Apparently, the gem's power is increased after it has entrapped a powerful creature, although its durability is reduced from being already used. This is why Erethian cannot be trapped for long.

Since only a mage of Nystul's power could release the creature from the gem, we had to take him with us. After discussing what to do with the wailing beast after we released it, we finally decided to re-trap it using the gem that I have stored in my house.

As we were leaving, I paused in front of Lord British, who was remaining behind with Dupré. "Lord British..." I began, not sure how to say what was on my mind. "There is much I need to tell you."

He nodded with a smile. "And I need to hear it. Let us meet soon."

I considered saying more, but shelved it and simply nodded, bowing again before leaving the room.

Outside, the others had already gathered for a gate to the Keep. Reflexively I reached into the pouch where I kept the Orb, only to remember I didn't have it anymore.

Andrella winked at me with a grin. "This one's on me," she said, and gated from her rune book.

We went to the Shadow Keep, and then I Recalled to my house to grab my gem. On my way back, I realized I no longer had my Shadow Keep rune. I had marked over it when I'd been in need of a rune, since with the Orb I'd never needed the Shadow Keep marked.

I admitted this rather sheepishly to Andrella over telepathy, expecting her to form a moongate for me to use. But she replied, "Use Michael's Orb!"

I was startled. I had avoided using that Orb because its coloring is strange, and I don't know if Mondain had tampered with it. "I'm not sure it will work," I replied slowly.

"I'm sure it will," she responded in her cheerful manner. "Try it!"

I hesitated, then pulled it out of my bank box and held it forth. I half expected it to explode or something, but a moongate appeared with no conflict. Michael's Orb seems to have the same locations preset as the one from Lord British. How curious.

I returned to the Keep, and we prepared for Nystul to release the wailing beast. There were several false starts, as he would tell us to get ready, then nothing would happen. I was holding my shield in one hand--just in case--and the Gem of Entrapment in the other.

When the beast finally appeared, it did so behind Nystul, rather than inside our circle of ready warriors. I almost panicked, but I was able to activate the gem in time, and nothing untoward happened.

I gave the gem to Andrella, since she wanted the wailing beast as a souvenir. Nystul prepared the used gem that he had emptied and gave it to us. It was glowing an almost neon green.

"Remember," Nystul admonished us after all was said and done. "One shot, and the daemon must be near death."

We nodded. We would weaken Erethian using mytheril weapons, then trap him using the gem.

"Do not use the Black Sword if the beast is at full health!" Nystul warned. "Erethian would surely win over the blade then."

We nodded again.

"The Black Sword has to smash against the gem," Nystul added. "It will break the sword and the gem. And if Arcadion is freed, we go to plan B."

"What is plan B?" Ayla asked, as she had missed that part during the previous discussion.

"We all die," I teased to her.

"Oh." She frowned. We laughed.

"Oh, and one more thing," Nystul finished. "If Sygil's eyes glow red... Kill him."

We blinked. "Kill him?" Andrella repeated.

"Whatever." Nystul shrugged. "Just be sure the Arcadion daemon is not released." He waved a finger. "You have about two minutes to kill Sygil if his eyes glow. Or go to plan B."

"I don't like plan B," Ayla said. We laughed again.

"Okay." Nystul dusted off his hands. "Now which way to the castle?"

Before we could parse those words, he was pulling out a rune book. "Oh, here it is."

And he Recalled.

For several blank seconds we stared into the empty space where Nystul once occupied. Then Andrella was yanking out her own rune book.

She made us a gate and we rushed through, racing to Lord British's castle, our only thought that if anyone saw Nystul, the gig would be up.

We discovered him in an empty hallway not far from the library. Apparently no one had noticed him so far, but there were guards at the end of the hallway. Quickly I threw myself in front of Nystul, blocking him from the view of the guards, while Andrella prodded the mage back around the corner.

"You have to get out of here," she urged him in a hushed whisper while he protested in confusion. Once we were safely hidden around the corner I dug out the Orb. No thoughts crossed my mind on its strange coloring now. Quickly I fired off a gate back to the Shadow Keep.

"Hurry!" I hissed.

Nystul looked around. "Is it time for plan B?"

Andrella gave him a shove, toppling him straight into the moongate. He vanished before he'd even been able to yell.

We piled through behind him to prevent him from turning around and going back. As it was, we found him lying in the grass in front of the Keep.

"You just pushed an old man to the floor," Nystul complained as we helped him up.

"You almost messed up British's plan!" Andrella retorted. "Blackthorn can't know you're back yet!"

Nystul blinked. "Egad! What were you guys thinking? It is dangerous to go the castle!"

We shook our heads and simply formed a moongate back to Cove, taking him through. We had to practically tug him all the way back to Jaana's place. He seemed confused again, as if he wasn't sure where we were taking him or why we were trying to get him there without anyone seeing him.

"Plan B?" he asked.

"No!" we shouted in unison.

We nearly shoved him through the door, where Andrella commented dryly, "Dupré, next time send us with a leash!"

We laughed.

"Is everything okay?" Lord British asked.

Andrella explained, "He Recalled to the castle!"

"Someone should take away his rune book," I chuckled.

Dupré walked over to nudge Nystul toward a chair. "Sit down, Nystul," he offered, taking the mage's rune book as he did so. We laughed again.

"I am tired," Nystul agreed without noticing. "She pushed me."

"I had to get him in the gate!" Andrella laughed. "A guard was coming!"

At least he hasn't mentioned me hitting him...

We said good night then; Dupré mentioned that as soon as he is able, he will meet us at the Keep, and accompany us. That will be good to see.

Back at the Keep, Andrella reached into her pack. "Oh, this is yours," she said, handing me the Tome of Stars.

I refused to take it. "No, it's not," I smiled.

"You should carry it," she explained. "You are the Avatar."

"And you are a star mage." I winked at her, then grew serious. "Maybe if you carry it for a while, something will become clear to you. Who knows."

She finally gave in, just to avoid arguing with me, I think. But I am pretty sure that only she can use it anyway, so there is no reason for me to hold it.

Before we parted for the night, I also showed her the new tapestries in the Avatar museum. There are two, one of portraits, and one which depicts a scene. Rather interestingly, the artist portrayed Andrella and I fighting a dragon. I am not sure where he got his inspiration, but I enjoyed watching Andrella's reaction.

The tiles are still colored, and the ankhs are still golden, and the Stones are yet glowing...so far so good.

---

¹ A magical hourglass is used in Ultima 7 to contact the Time Lord.

---

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