Kianne's Journal - Archive

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[6/18/2004]

After some discussion, Andrella and I decided the best course of action to take with the ring was to simply speak with Oakley's "former friend" in his shop and see if we could convince him that Oakley's not crazy. That would solve Oakley's main problem; we would return his ring after we were sure that it was not needed for anything further.

We had learned long ago (or at least, it feels like a long time ago), that Oakley's house was across from his shop, The Oak Throne. It's a carpentry shop, and it wasn't very difficult for us to find.

"Guess this is the place," I mused as we stood outside, gazing at the sign.

We shoved open the heavy wooden door and walked inside. Several carpenters were busy sawing wood or sanding a satin finish. I walked up to the nearest one, a large man who was planing a board. "Excuse me. Can we speak with Bantham?"

The man straightened up and dusted off his hands with a towel, then wiped his brow. "That's me."

I gave a nod of my head with a pleasant smile. "Greetings, then."

I was about to say more, but Bantham suddenly did a double-take, blinking at us. "Avatar...? Andrella?"

We nodded. "Aye."

"It would be a pleasure to serve you." He bowed. "What can I do for you?"

Andrella was looking casually around the large room. "This is a nice shop. How long have you had it?"

Bantham looked a little taken aback. "The shop? I've run it for years. Is there anything I can make for you?"

Andrella thought about it. I passed her a glance. "We could use more benches," I reminded her with a small smile. "Fine quality for the meeting room."

"Benches!" Bantham repeated. "A specialty. We make the best oak benches this side of Britannia!"

Andrella and I both smiled. "How many, do you think?" I asked her.

"Six," Andrella suggested.

Bantham immediately began writing down the order while Andrella took out her pouch of gold. I also reached for some money, not wanting her to have to pay it all.

"How much?" Andrella asked.

"For you, it would be my pleasure," the carpenter assured us. "Free."

I gave him a look of surprise. We hadn't come here to hurt his business. "We'd pay a fair price for them." Good barterer, I'm not.

"Nonsense! The saviours of the land will pay no gold for my service!"

"That's really nice of you," Andrella told him.

I agreed. "Thank you for your generousity."

"We should have them done in a few hours." Bantham immediately dispatched his workers, giving them orders for gathering the wood and other materials.

"There's one more matter of discussion, if you have the time," Andrella spoke up when he was done.

"Certainly," he agreed, walking back over to us.

"Didn't this used to be Barney Oakley's place?"

Bantham nodded without hesitation. "Aye."

"Is he no longer here?" I asked.

"He never worked here. He only funded it."

Funded it. Funny, I wouldn't have thought of him as one to simply give money away without anything in return.

Bantham frowned. "Did he claim credit on some of our work? Again?"

"No no, nothing like that," Andrella assured him. "But why doesn't he fund it anymore? Did something happen?"

Bantham shrugged. "Well, he seems to have gone a bit loony... Not that it's my business."

Andrella commented, "I've known Oakley to be many things...but loony?"

He explained, "I gave him money to give to pay the taxes and fees to the merchants' guild, as I always do. Yet, he swears that daemons came and took it from him." Bantham gave another shrug. "He claims these 'daemons' took everything. So I paid the fees and taxes to the merchants' guild myself. I was lucky. They gave me a break." He sighed. "I could hardly afford to pay it twice."

"If you don't mind me asking, how much were these taxes?"

I knew exactly where Andrella was going. "I'll pay half," I insisted to her privately with a wry smile.

"Around seven thousand for the year."

We nodded in sympathy. "So now it is no longer Oakley's shop?" I finally asked.

"Well, it was never really 'his' shop. He liked our work and offered to support us through some hard times."

"So he took the credit for the employees, basically," Andrella smirked.

"Well, he was easy to deal with." Bantham shrugged.

Andrella took another tact. "Did Oakley happen to mention a green elven ring?"

But Bantham shook his head. "I don't recall." Oh well, so much for that.

Andrella straightened up. "Well, I can assure you that Oakley isn't a loon. He may have had a bit too much to drink and was clobbered by some bandits...though he would never admit to such a thing. So he had to say something, right?"

Not exactly the truth, but as Andrella had pointed out, maybe it wouldn't be good for us to go around telling all of the townspeople that there were daemons in their midst...

Bantham gave a rueful smile. "Well, he could have told me. Instead he made up a some elaborate tale about daemons and elves."

"Well, Oakley's a proud man," Andrella pointed out. "And tends to drink more than he should." We chuckled.

"Here's what I'll do," Andrella proposed. "We'll pay you back for the money you lost if you let Oakley help fund your shop again."

Bantham gave us a look of surprise. "You want me to let Oakley run the finances again?"

"You said he did a good job, right?" she made sure.

"He did...before he scared some of my workers."

"Scared them with the story?"

Bantham nodded. "He came in screaming."

"Well," Andrella smiled, "I can assure you and your workers that the Avatar and I are protecting this land from any harm."

Or we are trying to, at any rate...

"That is assuring," he agreed.

"Oakley had a bad day." Andrella gave a shrug. "Don't we all, really?"

Bantham seemed to be considering it. "Well... You're saying that Oakley is a good guy? And he's not crazy...?"

"He isn't crazy," I agreed. "That much I can say."

"He's a good merchant guildleader," Andrella agreed, and she would know that better than I, having been regent. "His personally could always use a boost, but he's not crazy." She smirked.

"Then would you vouch for him?" Bantham asked us. "I can't afford to lose more money."

It's difficult to vouch for someone like Oakley. But Andrella answered, "Let's put it this way... If he messes with you, come straight to me. I will guarantee that he will be out of the business for good if it comes to that." She grinned confidently.

"We're just asking for you to give him a second chance," I agreed. "We don't want your shop losing money because of it. So if our judgment is misplaced, we will reimburse you."

"I would gladly give all my gold for Oakley's sanity," Bantham declared, almost sadly. "But if you insist that Oakley is indeed a good man, then at your request, I'll invite him back on the board."

We smiled. "Thank you."

Andrella counted gold out into her hand. "And as promised, here is what was already lost."

"Why, thank you!" he beamed. "I better get back to work. I'll have those benches ready in no time!"

Our next stop was Dawn. Keeping our promise not to reveal to others the location of Dawn, we found a secluded place to make a gate.

Iolo and Gwenno were there at their tent, but what surprised us is that Erimani was also. Iolo and the elven lord were holding fine red-wood elven bows and were standing in front of the archery butte. "We were just practicing our Kianne impressions," Iolo grinned after we had gotten through the greetings.

I laughed. "Those are very nice bows. Not that I would expect any less," I smiled.

"Why, thank you," Iolo beamed.

"Kianne impressions," Gwenno spoke up in her quiet voice. "You mean Kianne misses the target that much?"

Andrella roared with laughter.

Iolo took it in stride. "Back in my day..." he began with an over-exaggerated flair.

"If you will excuse me..." Erimani broke in.

I turned at the sound of his voice. "We need a word with you when you have a moment, please." Then I laughed at myself. "Well, it may be a few words..."

"Of course," the king agreed readily.

I dove in without wasting any time. "We just wanted to ask for a bit of clarification. It is true we need to invoke the Virtues to defeat the daemons?"

Erimani gave a look of surprise and took a breath. "I think so," he responded hesitantly.

"Is it to defeat the Daemon Seal?" I pressed. "Or will we need it for Abraham?"

Finally Erimani shook his head. "My apologies. I don't feel it would be my place to direct you any further."

As I stared at him in shock, he quietly excused himself and walked away.

The rest of us stood in silence for several minutes. Finally, Andrella spoke up for both of us, "I hope we didn't offend him."

Gwenno frowned, but Iolo put on a more confident face. "Bah. Don't worry so much about him.Come on, have a seat."

We gathered on the grass, but I moved slowly, still worrying over what we had done wrong. Andrella apparently was uncertain as well. "I would like to speak to him, but I don't want to bother him..."

"He's been real moody ever since you took the moonblades." Iolo shrugged.

I sighed. "I keep getting the impression from everybody that I'm supposed to already know what to do." So why couldn't I see it?

"He's confused, himself," Iolo stated.

Andrella commented, "Our only point is, do the blades break the seal, or only loosen it until we touch it with the blades?"

I nodded. "Or do they not even affect the seal at all until we get there in person to smash it down?" I sighed. "And do we need to invoke the Virtues before we take on Abraham?"

"Right, that's our only confusion really," Andrella agreed.

"I think the blades open the secret door leading to the daemon seal," Iolo suggested. "The daemon seal is a chamber of its own. To open the daemon seal...I'm not sure about that. But Erimani isn't sure if you have what it takes..."

I gazed at him in surprise. Why had Erimani given us the moonblades, then? Is he having second thoughts? What had we done to lose his faith in us?

Gwenno apparently noticed the shattered expression on my face. "It's not that he doubts them," she reminded Iolo gently. "All the elves have been asking questions about the moonblades. They think the daemon curse is about to be broken. But Erimani isn't sure what to tell them."

"Then we need to put some faith into the elves," Andrella grinned grimly.

"That's just it," Iolo said. "Erimani thought that the immortal Avatar...would be an elf."

I stared at him again. First I failed them by not being a swordsman, and now I failed them by not being an elf?

Iolo explained, "He said, for the Virtues to be invoked, it would take hundreds of years. And no human has the life to do that."

"Well, that is where he is missing some information," Andrella pointed out. "I have the ability to invoke them all without it taking that long."

"You do!?" Gwenno gasped. Iolo echoed her a split second later.

Andrella nodded. "It appears there are some things in my past that I never really knew."

"She's a time mage," I clarified. "So she can do it."

"Aye, we have Compassion invoked already."

Iolo shook his head in wonder. "Astounding."

I frowned suddenly. "Actually, come to think of it... I won't be able to do this very much longer..."

I got to my feet and pulled out the Stone of Compassion with my right hand and my bow with my left. Touching them together, I invoked the stone and filled the bow with the power of Compassion.

Iolo and Gwenno watched in awe. Andrella, having seen it before, was able to focus more on my words. "Why do you say that?" she asked me.

I looked at my yellow bow thoughtfully. "Nystul said it actually takes years...in an instant." I shrugged. "Being immortal, it doesn't faze me, but..."

Iolo had jumped up to examine my bow with excitement. I held it out for him to see. "And the invoked Virtues are contained in your magic bow!"

I nodded. "Aye, the bow can contain their energy. Shall I try it?" I gave Andrella a wink.

"Go ahead, Ki!" she grinned.

I fired a bolt of healing energy at her. "Oh, my goodness," Iolo breathed. "That is...truly magnificent."

"It has come in handy," I chuckled.

"Then you will have the power to defeat the daemons!" he beamed.

"I just wish Erimani would have given us a chance to explain," Andrella sighed, then brightened. "Maybe if we tell him this, he can help us?"

Everyone agreed, so we trooped over to Erimani's cabin. I felt a little sheepish returning to him after the exit that he had made, but luckily he did not look angry to see us.

"We have some news that may ease your worries," Andrella commented after we had greeted him again, and I nodded and held up my yellow bow for him to see.

"We have already invoked one of the Virtues," I explained.

Erimani stared. "You... have..."

I nodded and held out the Stone of Compassion in the palm of my other hand, so he could see how it was shifted.

"And the others can be done easily as well," Andrella was saying as I did so.

Erimani got to his feet. "May I?" he asked, and I passed him the stone. His wife gasped as he showed it to her, and murmured in their elven tongue.

Finally, he turned back to us. "How did you do this?" he asked as he returned the stone.

"Andrella." I nodded my head in her direction.

"Andrella," he repeated in surprise.

"I can shift the stones," she explained.

"And then I can invoke them into my bow," I agreed.

Erimani stared at her. "To infuse hundreds of years of the Avatar's powers into the stone... This is astounding."

"She is capable of using magic of time." I didn't see any point in hiding it. "Though we are just learning this ourselves."

"I never thought I'd be casting spells," she chuckled.

Erimani cast a glance to Anniosha. The two looked much more hopeful. "Then perhaps the curse can be lifted after all," he declared finally, turning back to look at us, in particular Andrella. "Your spells, combined with the Avatar's Virtues..."

"We will do everything we can," I assured him.

Andrella chimed in, "We are in your debt, Lord Erimani, and will do everything in our power to stop these daemons."

Slowly he inclined his head. "The Virtues have long been the only force able to defeat the daemons. However, the Avatar Michael was unable to invoke their power, for his life was too short."

"And he studied time magic so much..." I murmured. So that was why.

"It wasn't in his blood," Andrella pointed out.

I nodded. "Aye, I cannot do it either. But with Andrella..."

Erimani looked at us. "Once the Virtues have been invoked, you will gain great powers. Power to defeat to the daemonic lords, and even Abraham."

"So we do need them for that?" I asked. "Then it is good we haven't confronted him just yet."

Erimani nodded. "The moonblades alone are not enough."

A sudden thought struck me. Would I be able to use the stones once Andrella shifted them? It was something I hadn't thought of. After all, once I was no longer immortal, wouldn't invoking them begin to take hundreds of years off my life?

I looked at my bow, wondering what the other invoked Virtues would do. We could always guess, but we'd never know for sure until we tried them...

Erimani followed my gaze. "That bow..."

He reached out to touch it, and I handed it to him readily. "I found it in a Rainbow Cavern. Well, earned it, really."

I'd had to be an Elementalist to pass the tests, but I decided not to mention that part.

Again, Erimani showed the bow to his wife, and the two had a whispered exchange. She closed her eyes for a moment, running her fingers along it as if she could sense something that she could not see, and murmured a few more words.

"It seems to channel energy," I contributed helpfully.

"She doesn't even need arrows for it," Andrella chimed in.

Erimani finally turned back to us. "It will protect you from the consuming powers of the raw energy the Virtues hold."

I blinked in surprise. "You mean, when I invoke them?"

He nodded. "It seems to control the massive power rather well. Without it, Compassion's light would blind any who looked upon it."

I looked down at my bow again as he handed it back.

"The invoked Virtues were to be absorbed into a being," Erimani explained, "who would gain angelic powers."

I stared at him. "To face daemons..." Of course.

"It makes sense," Andrella agreed.

"But now," he finished, "the energy can be controlled."

"So even after we shift all eight, we will be able to use the power to fight the daemons." I was feeling much more confident about all of this.

Erimani nodded. "I never expected to see such a powerful artifact. We never knew one such as that existed."

"I did get it from another world," I pointed out.

"It will save you," Erimani assured us.

"I knew I liked that bow," Andrella grinned.

Erimani explained to us again what we must do. "To invoke the Virtues, open the secret chamber to the seal...but then Abraham will come to stop you from breaking the seal, as he protects it. You must destroy his inverted form first."

We nodded. "Then we must face Maharba first," Andrella murmured.

Erimani continued, "Then perhaps the powers of the Virtues will unlock the final door to the Niltab. But the daemons will protect their stones fiercely," he reminded us. "The daemons of the underworld use Elemental powers. You will need to understand their weakness before you can face them. I will aid you with knowledge should you need it."

I decided it couldn't hurt to take him up on the offer, even if it turned out to be knowledge I already knew. "Do you know which are of what types?"

"There are several types; most will be recognizable with the knowledge and understanding of Elements. Blue daemons are of water, red of fire, and so on."

I nodded. Good, they were going to be recognizable. Not all creatures are, but usually, it's not too difficult to pick out who is what.

I was going to ask more, but Erimani was continuing. "Inside the daemon's lair, you will find the soul stones. And the Niltab can be defeated at last."

"What steps must we take when we reach that point?" I asked.

"That is uncertain. But," Erimani reminded us, "the daemons will no doubt have the greatest defense on the Niltab's soul stone."

We nodded slowly.

"Of course, your first challenge will be Abraham."

"And destroying the soul stones will defeat the others?" I asked, and he nodded.

"We've found Abraham's inverted side," Andrella spoke up.

"You know his inverted form?" Erimani asked in surprise.

We nodded. "We were going to confront him as soon as possible," I said. "But will we need to complete the shrines before we can defeat Abraham's human side?"

"Not if you have the Virtues invoked," Erimani responded. "You can face him when you feel you are ready."

So it all comes down to this...

"Though his powers, even inverted, can be so powerful," the elven lord warned us. "His mere gaze can turn you to stone..."

Yikes. Like a medusa. I hate dealing with medusas.

Andrella thought to ask Erimani of the comet, but his response wasn't very helpful. "What is a comet?"

We decided that elves living in a twilight world such as this knew little of astronomy and dropped the subject.

"A small note of measure," Erimani spoke up as we were about to leave. "When you decide to face Abraham's inverted form, remember: the possessed forms of his daemon friends will try to protect him. And in this world, the daemons are the invincible ones. The Niltab cannot be killed in his inverted form. No daemon can be killed through his possessed body. Except Abraham."

We nodded to show our understanding. "We will need to isolate Abraham then."

"He will no doubt be in the company of his daemon companions," Erimani agreed.

"He spends a lot of time with Vevilia," we pointed out, "but we're not sure who she is."

Erimani frowned. "I am not familiar with that name."

That reminded me of the theory that had been forming in my mind. "Do daemons require time to become accustomed to a possessed body?"

But Erimani shook his head. "The daemons take control of their bodies instantly."

"Then that's not it..." I murmured.

"Unless..." Erimani finished slowly, "their body is powered with faith."

I gave him a look of surprise. "Faith?"

"Belief in the Virtues. The daemons despise the Virtues," Erimani explained.

"So..." I mused thoughtfully, "if she was one of great Virtue, and she was possessed...?"

"Perhaps, but one strong of Virtue would not go unnoticed for long," Erimani pointed out. "Such as the priests of Virtue. But still, even if one had strong faith, their body would need to be powerful for the daemons to wish to posses it. Why would they seek priests?"

"Same reason as the masses," Andrella suggested. "To destroy the Virtues."

"Perhaps," he concurred.

"Can we save her before it is too late?" I asked.

"I want to try," Andrella agreed.

"I have never seen anyone resist possession for longer then a few days. I would not know how to save someone." Erimani shrugged. "It would require driving the daemon out."

"Driving the daemon out..." I was determined to find a way.

"Faith in the Virtues usually scares them away."

"Nothing says 'faith in Virtues' like seeing the Avatar," Andrella stated with a grin.

Erimani just commented, "They usually take the souls of people who are already strayed far from the paths of Virtue. It is easier for them."

"That's true," I spoke up as a new thought hit. "I wonder if we should take out Abraham before we stop the masses?"

"I think it would be a wise decision," Andrella agreed.

"I would still rather stop the masses sooner than later, but..."

"But we don't want him to get suspicious," she reminded me.

I nodded. "There is that. If we can take him by surprise..."

"The more people they make forget about the Virtues, the more souls they can possess easily." Erimani looked grim. "Their masses are probably intended to weaken the souls of people."

We nodded in agreement. "We will definitely stop the masses one way or another."

Erimani looked thoughtful. "If the soul stones are destroyed, those possessed should revert to themselves."

I looked at him in surprise. "They will be saved?"

He gave a small shrug. "I have destroyed many soul stones, but I have only saved elves. The human spirit is much weaker. I could not assure you of what to expect."

"But there is a chance they will not die." I had to focus on that. "That is better than none."

We all agreed.

Andrella and I thanked Erimani for all of his aid. "You have brought us hope that the Virtues will be restored at last. The immortal Avatar, the star mage, and the invoked Virtues..." Erimani smiled. "At last."

All of the pieces are in place. Now to just make it happen.

We decided to inform Lord British of our progress. We found him on his throne for once, with Nystul standing nearby.

"Open chambers will be closed in a few minutes," the mage informed us.

"So maybe this should be done in closed chambers?" I winked.

Lord British nodded in understanding, but Nystul was already speaking. "Closed chambers are by appointment only."

I laughed. Andrella said, "Then we'd like an appointment."

Nystul pulled out a scroll and a quill. "Names?"

"Ennaik and Allerdna," Andrella responded without missing a beat. Lord British chuckled quietly. It took me a moment to figure out what she had done.

"The one you wanted to date," I suggested helpfully, wearing a grin.

"What?" Nystul asked in confusion. We snickered.

"Well, I don't think anyone else is coming," Lord British spoke up at last. "Let us go to the meeting chamber, shall we?"

"They didn't set up the appointment!" Nystul protested.

The king smiled with never-ending patience. "It's okay, Nystul."

The three of us walked to an empty room off the side of the throne room. Nystul teleported himself there with magic. I was sort of hoping he'd remain behind.

"Excuse all of the joking back there," I chuckled.

Lord British just smiled, his eyes twinkling. "It's good to see you with your ankh again."

"It's good to be wearing it again," I agreed.

We described what we had learned, and confirmed that we would need to use the Gem of Immortality to shift all of the stones, so we could invoke the Virtues. I mentioned my idea that we should find a chamber somewhere that is difficult to access. That way we would hopefully avoid any untimely interruptions. "Also," I added, "we have learned that Mondain likely won't be able to come here... But Jarred and his knights probably will." And, I thought, Andrella could station her knights not only around the chamber, but around the land too, because we couldn't be sure where the barrier might weaken and our enemies might thus appear.

"No, they can't," Nystul interrupted. "I have a barrier set up."

"But the barrier will be interrupted briefly," I explained.

"Not unless you plan on breaking the golden rocks." Nystul shrugged.

"That's exactly it," I said. "We are going to put the core together."

"Wh... what!"

"To invoke the Virtues," Lord British reminded him. "I told you about this, Nystul."

"I thought you were kidding!" the mage gasped.

I shrugged. "It turns out to be our best option. I am glad Mondain won't be able to take advantage of it, but..."

Nystul was near a panic. "Do you know that if the golden rocks are destroyed, this land can be erased by Mondain!?"

Andrella sighed at his overreaction. "Mondain can't come here. Breaks in the barrier will only come in short bursts. Which unfortunately is still enough time to allow Jarred and his knights in." She shrugged. "If the gem is destroyed, the barrier will stay intact, won't it?

"After the gem is destroyed..." Nystul repeated. "I don't know, that is a very powerful negation. It could wipe out magic for months."

"Destroying the gem could?" we gasped.

"Immortality destroying the magic of an immortal gem...that is two very powerful magics attacking each other." Nystul gave a shrug.

"So you are saying that the ramifications of negating them out will cause magic to cease?" Andrella asked.

Nystul bobbed his head. "It will probably be worldwide."

I sighed. "So here was another piece we didn't know. I wasn't intending to destroy all magic..."

Lord British spoke up, "I think he is just saying the barrier will fall around our world. But we have not always been protected."

"But what about other magic?" I wanted to be sure. "What of the mages who live here?"

"It's unpredictable, I'm sure," he agreed. "But the risk of interfering with magic is acceptable, I think."

I wasn't so sure about that. "Worldwide? Forever?"

"Yes!" Nystul cried.

"No," Lord British broke in.

"Maybe," Nystul conceded.

I fell over.

"It's never been done," Lord British reminded us. "I'm sure there may be some consequences. But we can deal with them."

"But what of all the innocent people affected?" I shook my head.

"I am sure many would choose life over magic," the king assured us. "I would."

"Not me," Nystul protested. "Kill me now."

"Nystul..." I began.

"Nystul," Lord British said at the exact same moment.

"Nystul," Andrella sighed simultaneously. It sounded almost like a chorus, with the word spoken three times among the three of us.

Finally I got back on track. "What of Mondain? Would he destroy this place if his gem was gone?"

"Not if we stopped him first," Andrella snickered.

"Mondain would no doubt seek vengeance against you," Lord British began.

"But if he erases this world..."

"He won't have the power to do that," Nystul broke in, "once he loses his immortality."

I blinked. "Right... He is still immortal..." I had nearly forgotten.

"And besides!" Nystul grinned. "His magic will be disrupted too!"

I had to laugh at the irony of that.

"What of magic items?" I asked after a moment. "Wands, and such?"

"Those will still work," Nystul nodded. "The magic was already cast in those. They won't be affected. Unless you wanted to recharge them. Then you can't."

That was a start, at least. "Of course, we wouldn't be able to enchant the hourglass anymore, I'm assuming," I commented.

"You won't need to enchant the hourglass," Nystul responded. "You can go visit the Time Lord yourself!"

I stared at him. "Say what?"

"You have the Orb of Moons, don't you? Why not just open a gate to his place?"

"You mean you know where he is?"

"Me?" Nystul gave us an innocent look. "No idea."

I fell over again. "Never mind," I murmured into the wooden boards of the table. "I'm sure he will understand."

"Michael did note the location long ago," Lord British pointed out.

I lifted my head off the table enough to give a rueful chuckle. "That'd involve asking Kilmas."

Andrella snickered. "That's always a treat. But, he might be excited to see Hawkwind. So I bet he'd tell us."

"Well," I shrugged, "Either way, we can enchant the hourglass one more time before we begin."

I gathered reagents together to give to Nystul along with the hourglass. While I was doing this, Lord British asked, "So you have Michael's hammer. Do you have a blacksmith able to carefully chisel the rocks?"

"Sophie may be able to do it," Andrella responded.

"The crafter of your knights' arms?" the king asked, and when she nodded, he agreed. "I'll bet she would do a good job."

"You have to be careful!" Nystul warned while he looked into the bag I had handed him. "One wrong chip... and... Death! Destruction! Horror!! Ahhh!!"

"Nystul, relax!" Andrella protested.

Lord British apparently was used to his outbursts. "Once you have the shards, they should mold themselves together. The gem should be crafted to a necklace."

And I can't be touching it at that point...

I asked if he knew of a good chamber to use. Andrella suggested, "What about Blackthorn's secret chamber at Chaos Castle?"

"My only concern there would be if Mondain knows about it," I pointed out.

"Did you say Mondain could not come?" Lord British asked.

"The Time Lord suggested that he could not." I shrugged a little. "But once the barrier falls completely..." Then again, I realized, Mondain had been walking Britannia for quite a while as the cloaked man, and he had not been able to do anything too terrible, so I suppose it isn't the end of the world should he make it here again...

"Then Blackthorn's chambers could be suitable," the king nodded.

I had to agree. "The chamber blocks Recall and Gate fairly well."

"Perfect!" Andrella grinned.

We stood to leave, and Lord British assured us in a closing remark, "I am sure you plans will catch the enemies off guard. They could not have foreseen this, or the Guardian would have gloated about it."

I gave a grim smile. Good.

"Have you the cube safe in the box?" Lord British asked me. I nodded. "And has the Guardian spoken to you since?"

"No," I realized. "He hasn't spoken to me in a while, actually."

"Then he is hopefully blinded to this."

I hope so. Now if we can just catch Abraham off guard...

---

[6/25/2004]

This morning Andrella and I were preparing to gather the rocks and have Sophie chisel them when Kilmas wandered upstairs. "Andrella? I need some help, please."

I was at first impressed that he'd not only asked--instead of demanded--but he'd even asked politely. However, that didn't last long.

"Carry my bookcase to the Lycaeum, please."

"The whole thing?!" Andrella gasped.

"Yeah. Now."

I rolled my eyes. "'Now'?"

"I meant it in a good way," he replied. Uh huh. "I am trying to show Sami some of the books I modified."

"Modified?" we repeated.

"Yeah, the books you got me from the Lycaeum last time," he said to Andrella. "I wrote in them."

"You wrote in them?" I gasped.

"Notes and such." Kilmas shrugged like it was no big deal. "But I found out that apparently some of the books you got me were borrowed, and the sages at the Lycaeum do not like the books to be written in."

"Well, yeah, I wouldn't either," I broke in.

"So Sami is going to help me fix it," Kilmas finished. "So I don't get arrested."

Andrella and I gave simultaneous sighs. "Next time, try parchment," I groaned.

"Yeah, about your Keeka books..." Kilmas looked at me, then turned away. "Never mind..."

"Did you write in her books too??" Andrella demanded.

He gave her an innocent look.

She practically growled at him. "You don't write in other people's books!"

"I know that," Kilmas sighed, then mumbled under his breath, "now..."

"Then I don't want to see any writings in her books when you return them," Andrella commanded him. "Which will be soon, by the way."

"Soon?" he protested. "There are like ten books there!"

"How is that going?" I decided to ask. "Is the orcish language hard?"

He shrugged. "It's actually a lot of gibberish. Quite easy to do though. Listen."

I watched him in surprise as he rattled off something in the guttural sounds of an orc.

"What does that mean, though?" I asked finally.

"It means: Sorry for writing in your book. Don't hit me."

I nearly laughed out loud.

"Well, let's go now," Kilmas urged. "Please. Kianne can make a gate for us."

"Kilmas, don't be rude," Andrella sighed as she worked on lifting the bookcase and its contents so that she could carry it.

"Outside," I said, and led the way down the stairs to the main entry hall.

But as soon as I opened the front doors, I saw that there were two crates sitting just outside the keep. "Oh ho," I blinked in surprise.

Andrella put down the bookcase, and we gathered around the crates. Well, Andrella and I did; Kilmas stood a short distance away.

"Kianne, just for note..." he started. I listened to him with only half an ear. The crates were marked with the Oak Throne logo. Andrella and I quickly popped the tops and looked inside. They were filled to the brim with benches.

"Yes?" I asked Kilmas while examining the benches with a delighted smile. They were the finest I had ever seen.

"You could open the door for royalty and let them step through first," Kilmas said. "It's polite."

I barely looked up from the crates, pausing only to give him a brief warning gaze. "Don't start."

"I was just suggesting. That's all." He shrugged.

Andrella straightened up with a sigh, voicing my thoughts before I could translate them to words. "Kilmas, are we going to go through this again? What happened at the Shrine of Humility? And any others you wanted to speak with?"

Kilmas stared at her. Apparently he'd forgotten. He dropped his head. "I...was just in a rush..."

"No, you were not virtuous," Andrella stated. "And your behavior now is not virtuous. So straighten up if you want to go to any more shrines."

"I will. I'm just anxious to get back to the Lycaeum with those books."

He looked at least superficially sorry, so I decided to help by changing the subject. "Shall we carry these inside first?"

Andrella looked down at the crates. "I suppose we should take them in before we leave."

Kilmas groaned at the idea of having to stop to carry a bunch of items inside. I leaned down to pick up one of the crates, leaving the other to Andrella. "Want to get the door for us, Kilmas?" There, that saved him from having to do any heavy lifting.

He sighed. "Sure..."

We carried the benches inside while he held the door. "Thanks, Kilmas," I smiled at him as I went by. He just plopped down to sit on the front steps.

Andrella and I temporarily set the benches down rather haphazardly in the meeting hall, planning to arrange them later. "Hey, didn't we ask for six?" I spoke up suddenly, counting benches. "He made double that."

Andrella laughed. "Aye, he did."

We walked back outside, where Andrella hefted the bookcase while I pulled out the Orb. Without further discussion, I opened a moongate and we piled through to the Lycaeum.

Kilmas led us to one of the classrooms and directed Andrella to set the bookcase down against a wall near one of the tables. "Sami will be working on them at this desk."

"Wait. Sami will be?" Andrella repeated.

I smirked. "Is Sami aware of this yet?" I asked dryly.

"She offered," Kilmas insisted.

"We'll see about that."

Andrella and I left Kilmas there while we wandered the Lycaeum looking for Sami. As luck would have it, she managed to make her way to Kilmas without our noticing, because when we returned after a fruitless search, she was there with him.

We greeted her warmly. "Any troubles so far?" I asked, then added with a chuckle, "Not counting Kilmas."

She leaned closer to us and whispered, "He wrote in the Lycaeum's books! The ones Andrella borrowed! I don't want her to get in trouble...!"

Andrella glared at Kilmas. "You wrote in the books 'I' borrowed!?"

I gave Sami a wry look. "Can we pay for them? I mean, can Kilmas pay for them?"

"Don't worry!" she assured me. "I can fix them!"

In the background, I could hear Andrella growling at Kilmas, who was trying to play innocent.

"I can't get in trouble again!" Kilmas was whining.

"You're already in trouble, Kilmas," I reminded him. "With Andrella."

"Besides," he protested, "if I get marked for doing this, I'll never have a chance to get under there!" He pointed at the floor, and I knew what he meant. He wants to go down below, to the lower libraries.

Andrella turned with a sigh. "Sami, how much would it cost to pay for all of these books?"

"Oh, really!" she insisted in her cheerful manner. "Let me fix them!"

"Then it's only fair I do something for you in return," Andrella responded. "Actually...what can Kilmas do for you?"

"Nothing! It's fine!"

"Sami, that's very nice of you, thanks, but Kilmas needs to take responsibility," I reminded her.

"Well," she conceded, "he could help me..."

"Then he will," Andrella declared.

"What?" Kilmas yelped, but Andrella was already turning toward him.

"Kilmas, open your mouth again and so help me..."

"I'll show you how to scribe," Sami told him brightly. "You love books, don't you? And you already write in them!"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm not a scribe!" Kilmas protested.

"You will help Sami," Andrella glared at him. "That's an order!"

He gulped.

"Do what she says, Kilmas, and you'll be all right," I assured him.

Sami giggled and clapped her hands. "This will be fun!"

She never lacks enthusiasm. "Thanks, Sami," I smiled at her. "We appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure to help!" Sami grinned. "Well, we better get to work! Pick a book, and I'll get the ink," she told Kilmas.

Andrella glared at Kilmas unwaveringly, and he practically cowered under her gaze. Meekly he walked to the bookcase she had brought and picked up one of the books off the shelf. "How about this book? I'll start with this one."

Sami took one look at it and giggled. "That didn't belong to the Lycaeum!"

He was holding one of the books that went with the action figures he'd brought from Earth. "You wrote in that too?" I sighed.

"These books are so cool!" Sami beamed.

I blinked. "You know of them?"

"He showed me some," Sami explained, nodding her head at Kilmas. "He got them from your home land!" That fact alone seemed to awe her.

I crossed my arms and shot a glare in Kilmas's direction. "And he won't tell us how he got there."

He ignored me. "Okay, how about this book?" Kilmas asked, plucking another one from the shelf.

"Yeah, that's better. I'll get the paper and ink."

Sami hurried off before we could say farewell to her, so Andrella and I stuck around just long enough for her to return before we left. In the meantime, Andrella warned Kilmas, "Not one more mess up. Not one more."

"Please, get me out of this!" Kilmas begged.

"No," she said.

"This is a lot of work!" he whined.

"This is what happens when you aren't responsible. Now you are going to start. So quit your whining, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to work...hard. This will be your only assignment until I see some improvement."

"But what about the shrines!?" Kilmas demanded. "Hawkwind said--"

But she interrupted him. "I guess you'll have to miss those."

"No! Please!" Kilmas looked almost desperate...which gave me hope that he really does want to learn the Virtues. I knew Andrella was leading him along to see what sort of reaction he would give. "Please, I'll fix these as fast as I can!" he pleaded.

"How about this?" I suggested finally. "We'll check in on you, and if you're doing well, you can take a break to do a shrine? Andrella?"

She nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."

"So work diligently," I smiled at Kilmas.

"Okay, I will. I really will," he assured us.

Sami came back then, loaded down with parchment, ink bottles, and quills. "We will be back later to check on things," Andrella said for both Sami's benefit and Kilmas's. "Let us know if he gives you any problems," she added to the scribe.

"Okay! We'll have fun!" Sami grinned.

"Thanks again," I smiled at her before we said goodbye and headed out.

Outside, I formed a moongate back to the Keep. I stepped through its red light without really thinking about it, but on the other side I immediately skidded to a halt.

Batlin and another druid were standing in front of the doors to the keep, facing them, as if they'd knocked and were now waiting for someone to respond.

Andrella stopped beside me. I was ever so briefly tempted to just turn around and jump right back through the moongate, but it was already too late. The druids must have heard us, because they turned to face us. Even worse, I realized then. The other druid was huge and built like a tank. He had to be Maharba.

And our moonblades were in the bank...

I eyed them warily, particularly the larger one of the two. "Well... Hello."

Batlin, for his part, gave us his best sunny smile. "Avatar! Andrella. Greetings!" His beady eyes immediately shifted to the ankh around my neck.

I pretended I didn't notice the direction of his gaze. "What brings you all the way out here?" I tried to keep my voice pleasant, since it was becoming rather apparent they weren't planning to attack us right away, at any rate.

"Well, we were just paying a visit," Batlin responded brightly. "You haven't been to any of the Masses. I was worried."

This wasn't the way I had hoped the break the news, but too late now. "For that I apologize," I began politely. "It wasn't exactly within my control..." I wasn't about to explain why. After all, I figure it's common knowledge by now that I was in a coma for over a week, and even in the rare event that Batlin didn't yet know, I didn't feel like telling him about it.

As it was, it didn't really matter very much either way. "What's this?" Batlin broke in, pointing at the ankh.

I looked down at the necklace, then back up at him. "I've been doing a bit of...soul searching, should we say." Privately, I hoped Andrella wouldn't mind if I borrowed her words.

"Oh?"

I phrased my words carefully. I didn't want to tip them off early. "I want to thank you for all of the instruction you gave." Or lack thereof, but I didn't mention that part. "I very much appreciate it. But..." Mentally, I quickly reorganized words. Best to phrase it in a meek manner. "...I really think I'm not up to it."

Batlin smiled warmly. "I understand."

"I was going to come and tell you, but you beat me to it." I gave a small chuckle.

"And Andrella?" He turned to her. "How have you been doing with your showing of emotions?"

I almost smirked. Oh, she shows certain emotions just fine. Like irritation. And glee.

She gave a small smirk, as if following my thoughts exactly. "It's not going so well..."

Batlin shook his head with a kind smile. "That's too bad. Really, it is. But you know, the Elements are very forgiving."

Yeah, I'll bet they are.

"I know your path may lead you to the low road," he continued, "but know that I will always accept you in the Following with open arms."

"That is very kind of you." I was successful at not gagging. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was able to make my voice sound completely sincere.

"Just remember," Batlin warned pleasantly, "the high road is not always easy."

And just which is the high road?

He turned to his companion then, who had spent the entire encounter just standing there glaring at us. "Well, let us leave them, Maharba." That confirms that. Batlin turned back to smile at us. "Maybe we will see you at a Mass if you change your mind..."

"Is that a subtle warning?" Andrella commented to me.

I managed a smile for Batlin. "We shall see. Thank you."

The two druids walked to the moongate that leads off the island, never looking back, and whispering to each other the entire way.

Andrella and I watched them until they had entered the gate and were gone. "Ho boy," I exhaled, letting my tense muscles relax.

"That was...interesting," Andrella agreed.

"When the time comes, I hope we can separate Maharba from Batlin," I sighed.

"Yeah, no kidding." Andrella shook her head, then clapped her hands together. "We better get a move on. We have some serious things to get done. I'll get Sophie; let's gather the rocks together."

I nodded in agreement and sprinted off to my house.

Inside, as I stood before the chest in which I had buried the golden rock, I couldn't help but gaze down at it for a few moments. "Hard to believe the moment has come..."

I hefted it across my back and made the return trip to the Keep. I'd almost forgotten how heavy these rocks are, and I was breathing heavily by the time I made it up to the third floor where Sophie was waiting.

I gave Sophie the magic hammer, and also showed her one of the shards so that she would know what she was looking for. "This'll take awhile," she smiled when I was done. "To chisel out such a delicate material..."

"I'll stay out of your way then," I chuckled, and turned to leave the room.

"Avatar," she spoke behind me. I paused to look back at her. "Though us working class rarely get the chance to take this opportunity, I would like to thank you, for everything."

I gave her a smile. "Thank you, for helping us. We couldn't do it without allies like you."

"My pleasure," she grinned. "Rocks are my thing."

I laughed and watched for a moment as she began delicately chipping away at one of the golden rocks.

Then I turned and left her alone to do her work.

"I was thinking," I commented to Andrella. "Since we can't do anything at the moment, did you want to try enchanting a sword with one of those Materia things? Just to see how it works?" I glanced into my bag. "We have two Fire and two Lightning, we could try one of those..."

"Sure," she agreed readily.

"Go get a sword we can use. Unless you want to try enchanting one of your gargs blades?" I grinned.

"Um..." Andrella glanced at her swords, teasingly implying that she didn't trust me with them.

I laughed. "It's just, I doubt the moonblades will take an enchantment," I explained. "And who knows if my bow would. So I thought we could just try it on a normal sword, if you want..."

Andrella drew one of her Gargoyle blades. "Nah, this thing will be massive with some fire damage."

I grinned at just the thought. "Let's go outside," I suggested. Just in case anything weird happens.

Out on the lawn, Andrella held out one of her swords to me. She didn't even ask who should try to use the Materia; she simply handed the sword to me, thereby silently offering to let me try it. Of course, as soon as I took the sword I nearly dropped it, and the blade dipped down and hit the ground. The sword was practically longer than I was tall. "Ugh, it's heavy," I chuckled. "How do you swing this thing?"

"It is awkward at first," she agreed.

"At first?" I repeated with a laugh. "You came out of the gate swinging it like a pro." I finally gave up and just sat down right there in the grass, holding the sword in my lap. "Okay, let's see how this works..."

I took out one of the Fire-based Materia. I could tell it had Fire energy trapped in it, but it seemed dull, almost sealed away. Erimani had said that we'd "free" it by using it on a weapon. I touched the stone to Andrella's blade and focused on it similar to how I did with the Stone of Compassion.

The Materia responded, but not quite how I expected. It flared with light for a moment, shifting color from a dull shade to an almost vibrant orange-red. I blinked in surprise. Now the sense of Fire was practically radiating from it.

Andrella was watching a couple of steps from me. I looked up at her, then down at the sword. The blade hadn't changed, and the Materia was still in my hand--albeit now in a much more vibrant form--so I apparently hadn't accomplished what I'd intended to do. "I don't think that did anything yet," I chuckled.

"No, but it's glowing!" Andrella responded.

I finally got to my feet. "Here, this might be easier." I stuck the sword point-first in the ground, so that it was propped upright in front of me. That left me with both hands free to cup around the Materia. The energy was pulsing so strongly from the stone, I felt almost as if I could cast off it. Focusing on that thought, I tried to summon up the magic and direct the energy into the sword blade before me.

Fiery light burst from the stone, and suddenly I was engulfed in a pillar of flames. I gave a gasp of surprise, but I wasn't alarmed, because the fire wasn't harming me. I felt a rush of heat and magic, reminding me vividly of times past when I had command of the magic at my fingertips...

Andrella's cry of surprise brought me back to the present. I blinked and looked down at my hands. They were still flaming, although the fire was even now dying away, fading into nothing, until all that was left was the warmth throughout my entire body.

"Wha... Are you...burnt?" Andrella asked hesitantly. She must have realized that the fire wasn't harming me, but she was still wary.

Slowly I shook my head. I was still stunned, and couldn't begin to comprehend what had happened.

Andrella noticed that the Materia had disappeared. "Where did it go?" she asked. "What happened?"

"I feel..." I tried to put it into words. "I feel as if my magic is back..."

Abruptly I turned away from her, toward the empty sea, and impulsively tried to summon up the magic and cast fire out over the water. Nothing happened, but I still felt warm, as if attuned to Fire. "Yet... Nothing." I frowned, then sighed. "What did I do wrong? Did I destroy it?"

Andrella took a step closer. "You have... flames...in your eyes!"

I gave her a startled look.

"Don't look at me like that," she protested. "I'm serious." Andrella paused, then leaned closer for a better view. "I see little flames dancing in your eyes. That's messed up!"

I couldn't help but be surprised. "But I'm not casting anything." My eyes normally only glow when I'm actively using the powers...

"Does it burn?" she wanted to know.

I shook my head. "No, it's just...warm."

Hesitantly, she reached out a hand toward me, but paused, as if unsure. I lifted one of my own hands to meet her halfway. "I don't think I'll burn you..."

Andrella touched my hand with her fingertips. Nothing unusual resulted. "Hmm, it doesn't feel hot. That's weird."

"I feel attuned to Fire," I explained. "But I'm not a Fire Elementalist. This is strange..."

Suddenly I turned. "Let me try something." I formed a moongate for outside of Wrong, where we had encountered some mountain trolls the last time we'd come through there. Sure enough, when we emerged from the moongate, there was a troll nearby. I pulled out my bow and fired at it. The arrows were the same size and shape, but they were glowing orange-red instead of their usual blue-white, and they seemed to spark with flame for an instant when they struck.

Andrella had retrieved her sword and followed me, and she stood and watched, recognizing that she didn't need to help me fell the troll. "Wow, impressive."

I looked at the hand holding my bow. "It's as if I...channeled the Fire energy into me, instead of your sword." I gave a sheepish laugh. "But it's not what I meant to do."

As a test, Andrella swung her sword around a bit. As far as we could tell, nothing had changed about it. "So it did work, but not as expected." She snickered. "Why am I not surprised?"

I chuckled. "You know, I'm not sure how to get rid of this Fire now." I laughed. "Not that I want to. It almost feels like my powers are back. But only one of them...and it's not really back yet, I guess." I gave a shrug. "It feels good though." That gave me a thought, and I looked down at my pouch. "I wonder if I could use them all at once?"

I pulled out one of the Lightning Materia before Andrella could protest, and like before, when I focused on it, the stone shifted from a dull color to a bright white, as if the magic had just needed to be unlocked before it could flare brightly once more.

At that point Andrella stopped me. "Kianne, I don't want to see you explode."

She winked, and I laughed. She did have a point. "If it were my magic, it wouldn't be a problem. This is different though..."

"It's all new to me," Andrella admitted. "So I have to go by what you tell me."

I held out the glowing Lightning Materia to her. "Did you want to try one?"

She shook her head nervously. "Magic isn't my thing...remember?"

I chuckled. "Hey, it just makes you feel warm," I winked teasingly, but I put the Materia away.

"I can do that just fine swinging my gargish blades," Andrella assured me with a grin.

I shrugged slightly. "Still, if we can figure out how to get it on your blades..." I let the sentence trail off and dusted off my hands. "Well. Shall we head back?"

She nodded. "I would want to try my sword later, I think," she mentioned, as if as an afterthought. "After I see how you handle it. You are the expert." Andrella grinned.

"Maybe if you do it, you'll do a better job than I did," I laughed.

"I'll wait until it's a necessity, though," she finished.

"All right," I concurred. "It's probably better that way anyway. We should wait and see what types of daemons we end up against."

Andrella nodded in agreement, and I formed a gate back to the Keep.

One last thing. Since Sophie was still working, I told Andrella of a thought I'd had. Now that Batlin knows that I have left the Following, perhaps we could just go to towns and talk to the people about the Virtues, and try to pull them away from the Following discreetly. Actually, I think it was Andrella's idea, but now would be a good time to do it. For that matter, I am still considering "crashing" the next mass, in a polite way of course...

But the first person we wanted to talk to was Caton. I'd felt awful ever since Lord British had mentioned he'd joined the Following.

We found him at the Crossroads, standing on the roof of one of the buildings where he could see for miles. We greeted him and engaged in the usual small talk at first; then I brought up the Following.

"Yes," Caton nodded readily. "Batlin has showed me the true meaning of life. So that when I pass, I may see my love Sally once again."

I was a little startled, but I shouldn't have been; Batlin will apparently make up whatever he needs to in order to take advantage of any weak point in a person's life. And we all have them...

"If you believe you will see Sally again, you will," Andrella assured him.

"Indeed, and thanks to Batlin I have realized it," Caton agreed. "She is always with me. Now I can feel her in the warmth of the sunset. Hear her whispering in the wind..."

"No, it's not thanks to Batlin," Andrella commented.

Caton looked surprised. "Did you not join the Following yourself?"

We nodded. "I joined the Following for a time," I said. "But I'm not so sure I like where it leads."

He looked confused. Andrella explained, "It appears, Caton, that the Following is not what it seems."

"It's like a cover, for something else," I agreed.

"We knew Batlin was up to no good," Andrella muttered. "He's trying to sway the land from the Virtues."

Caton argued, "It is only for the hearts who cannot grasp the strict laws of Virtue."

"Batlin wanted me to join," I pointed out. "Do you think my heart cannot grasp the Virtues?"

He looked taken aback by the question. Finally, he responded by saying, "I for one, cannot grasp the Virtue of Justice." He sighed. "The things I have seen of Blackthorn's rule... Well, I feel Blackthorn should have been hung publicly."

I crossed my arms with a slight smile. "I doubt very much he likes where he is."

"It was his doing that brought years of suffering to this land... He brought us Soth, and the death of my wife at the hands of that beast..."

"It was," I agreed, "but consider this. The same magical fields that save us all also benefit him. Should we have killed him, he'd have walked away a ghost."

Andrella agreed. "He is imprisoned in seclusion."

Caton looked surprised. "Is that so?"

We nodded. "For eternity," I tacked on. Or at least, we hope so. "It was the only way to keep him from ever harming anyone again. He deserved death for the deaths he caused, but death would have been a release, I think."

Caton considered that thoughtfully. "I didn't see it that way. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." I smiled. "It's difficult without knowing the full story."

Caton looked out over the plains. "All I know is Batlin gave me the peace my heart yearned for."

I sighed sadly. "Please, beware of him, Caton. He's dangerous."

The guard turned back to us. "How so, though? The guards will not stand by idly while our land is overcome with evil again!"

Andrella spoke before I could. "The Avatar is here Caton." She smiled.

I opened my mouth, but I was still too slow. "And the Avatar saved the land; there is a great deal of gratitude I hold for that," Caton agreed. "But my own soul was in need of saving. Was I wrong to believe in Batlin's words?"

"It's not so much that," I began.

"What he said had some value to it," Andrella agreed. "However, he uses his...kindness...to thwart your thoughts on things other than your soul."

I nodded. "Please, don't let down your guard."

Caton looked at us seriously. "I want to aid in any way I can."

"Then keep doing the job you do best," I told him. "We can't deal with Batlin yet, so we are quietly preparing."

"What shall I do, then?" he wanted to know. "What of the whispers I heard in the wind?"

"Whispers?" we asked.

"Sally... I heard her sweet laugh... Her soft voice... She reminded me to be strong..."

I had a feeling it wasn't Sally he heard. But, there is still the possibility that it was, that his memory had brought forth her voice for him to help comfort him. Without knowing for sure, I couldn't say it was definitely a trick.

And what can one say to someone that has lost his love? "She lives on with you in your memories," I said quietly. "She lives in the memories of all who knew her."

"But the earth is what holds her, waiting for me," Caton protested. "When the fire of our souls meet again..."

"It merely holds her body," Andrella countered. "Her spirit is with you."

He looked from her to me and back. "Even without the elements, you believe this?"

We nodded. "Caton," I told him sadly, "the Elements, like the Virtues, do not affect the afterlife. Elemental magics are powers to be used for good or evil. They cannot create life...nor restore it to those who have departed."

He was silent for a moment. "I will consider what you have said." Then he added more strongly, "If Batlin is indeed covering something, I will aid thee in any way."

I smiled faintly. "Thank you, Caton."

The guard blinked as a thought came to him. "Now that you mention it, the white druid did raise my suspicion."

Vevilia. "Did she do anything in particular?"

"Her eyes...her haunting eyes," he responded. "It brought a fear to me."

Andrella and I glanced at each other. I gave a small sigh. "I had hoped the Following was benign.But it seems to be a way to get others to drop their guards. Among other things," I added in a grumble.

"Well, I shall keep my ears and eyes open," Caton agreed.

"That's why we wanted to warn you. I wish it were otherwise, but..."

Caton hesitated in thought for a moment, then abruptly reached into his surcoat and pulled out a Materia. I raised a brow when I realized it was of the Air Element.

"Batlin gave me this..." Caton explained slowly. Batlin seems to give them to everyone. "To hear the whispers of Sally... The wind..." He looked up. "You do not think I need this?"

I gazed at him seriously. "I have to be honest here. If the wind is the one whispering, it isn't Sally."

Caton glanced at the Materia in his hand. "I trust your words more than any other."

"Thank you, Caton. That means a lot," Andrella responded.

"Your Virtue, Kianne, and your strength, Andrella, have proven time and again that your hearts are true to this land." The guard sighed. "Even though I wish Batlin's words were true..."

"To some extent they are," Andrella suggested. "You just have to find your heart."

He nodded, then suddenly took a deep breath and hurled the Materia from the top of the tower. I saw its dull surface glint briefly as it landed in the grass.

Caton turned back and smiled at us. We returned the smile. "Take care, Caton."

"Walk with the Virtues."

It was probably the best send-off he could have given us.

As a side note, when we left the tower, Andrella wandered out into the field and hunted around until she found the Materia that Caton had tossed. On the roof, Caton was standing there gazing into the sky, and he didn't even notice her pick it up.

"He didn't want it," she winked as I grinned at this new addition to our inventory. On our way back to the Keep, I took the Materia briefly and held it in my hands. Just a bit of a thought, focusing on the power locked within, and the Materia flared with light, shifting to a light blue glow.

"I wonder what it means..." I murmured, then tucked the Materia away.

When we reached the Keep, we spent a bit of time arranging the benches in the meeting hall. Then we went upstairs, intending to just go to sleep ("Sophie will probably be up all night," as Andrella said). But to our surprise, the room in which Sophie had been working was empty, and scattered on the floor were pieces of the golden rocks. Sophie had left the three shards of the Gem of Immortality laying in a neat row.

I stopped dead as soon as I saw them, standing just across the threshold of the room, leaning my back on the door. Andrella walked over to carefully pick them up.

"She's done already," I commented in surprise. "I guess she went to bed early?"

Andrella nodded. "Looks like it." She hesitated. "Should I put the shards in my bank, or...?"

"Aye, let's wait until tomorrow," I agreed. I was assuming, at any rate, that as long as the five shards were not together, the gem would not form...and I still have two of them, myself.

"I was thinking..." Andrella spoke up as she tucked the shards safely away. "What if the gem would be more useful if we hold onto it? Not forever of course, but just for a time."

I gave her a look of surprise. "I don't think we can do that. Wouldn't Mondain come for it? And its effects on you..."

"Aye," she said thoughtfully, "but wouldn't it feel more like an accomplishment if I learned what being mortal truly meant?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it just seems to me that people take their lives for granted. And maybe if I had the gem for just a little while, I could begin to understand how things have been for you since you became immortal." She turned to smile at me. "And then we can become mortal again together."

I gaped at her, feeling much like a fish out of water. I kept opening my mouth to say something, but no words would form.

"Besides," she went on when I was unable to find a response, "if Mondain comes after the gem with us both being immortal..." She grinned and winked at me.

I couldn't help but laugh weakly. "It'd be a three-way immortal fight. I've heard stories of immortal fights." Mostly from Connor. "They are messy."

"Well, I just feel it could also be used for the greater good..." Andrella trailed off and shrugged.

"I wish..." I started, but cut myself off. "Well, never mind."

"No, what?" she naturally asked, making me wish I'd not said anything.

"It's selfish," I explained.

"You can still say it," Andrella grinned.

I passed her a look, then turned away from her, my gaze on the floor. "I wish the gem weren't evil, so you could be immortal forever." Once released, the words tumbled from my mouth. "There."

Andrella giggled. "You're so cute!"

Now I was embarrassed. "Let's go to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day."

"Aye," she agreed, accepting the change of topic smoothly. "It has been a long journey." It certainly has. It's hard to believe how much has happened since I came here. "I have to say, though," she added after a moment. "The best part of this whole thing...was becoming friends with you."

I turned back to her. "Well, certainly, being friends with you has made a difference in everything."

"So, let's not change that part, okay?" she grinned.

"Never," I agreed.

---

[7/8/2004]

Today was mostly consumed with planning for putting together the Gem of Immortality. Andrella and I poured over a map and discussed where to station her knights. She had 34 of them trained and available, which took me a little by surprise--I hadn't realized there were already so many.

Even so, that left only a few for each town, but each knight had a runebook full of town runes, Andrella assured me, so if an outbreak occurred somewhere, they could quickly Recall there.

Since our plan was to shift the stones and then immediately confront Maharba--before the daemons had a chance to realize what we were up to--we also gave a bit of discussion on how to lure Maharba to a place where we could fight him alone, without any of the other daemons (in particular Batlin) interfering. We would have simply taken them all on at once if we'd had to, but only Maharba can be defeated in his human form, so it would be suicide to directly confront the rest.

Unfortunately we weren't able to come up with a definite plan, realizing that we would have to basically play it by ear. We did make arrangements to send Lita and Starfire to keep an eye on Maharba and notify him of his location. Shamino also took it upon himself to keep Batlin and Maharba under close watch.

Andrella also brought up the subject of Kilmas. "I've been thinking about this for a while. I feel bad for not helping him more. And for shutting him out."

I opened my mouth to speak, but she was already going on. "I've just decided to take a more active role with him. I know he gets frustrating to deal with. But he has to know so much. About the Tome, the staff. The stars and magic."

I agreed with her, and felt bad for my part of it, as unwitting as it was. So both of us vowed to devote more of our time with him.

---

[7/9/2004]

Today was the big day. Andrella and I made sure we had all of our supplies, then we traveled to Lord British's castle to alert him.

When we entered the throne room, everyone was assembled. Two of Andrella's best knights were already on duty, having been stationed in the castle to guard Lord British. In fact, all of the other knights were now in their places as well.

We saluted the knights, bowed to Lord British, and greeted the others.

"Kianne," Dupré spoke first, but his tone was somewhat quiet, as if he didn't want his voice to carry. "Are you...okay?"

I blinked. It wasn't quite the greeting I was expecting. "Huh?"

"Your eyes..." he pointed out.

I laughed when I realized what he was referring to. "Oh, I'm fine." I grinned and waved a hand dismissively. "We had a little mishap with Materia. I mean--I meant to do it!"

Andrella and Dupré laughed, knowing that I was just joking. "The first part was right," the former teased with a grin.

But Nystul, of course, took me seriously. "Mishaps? Are you sure you want to test the golden rocks!? With mishaps!"

"Don't worry," I winked. "It'll be Andrella doing it."

Lord British chuckled with an anxious sort of smile. Andrella got back on subject. "Though our duty this evening is a grim one, we must still find some humor."

"You know you don't have to do this!" Nystul pleaded with us.

"Yes, we do," we assured him patiently.

"Did I tell you? The barrier might collapse and Mondain could come!"

"The barrier, all magic gone...aye, you told us," Andrella interrupted. But at least the magic being gone was after the gem was destroyed, and we were planning to leave it intact for at least a little while, pending how badly it affected Andrella.

"We are prepared. Andrella's knights are stationed," I assured Nystul.

"Can I have one?" he asked.

"Nystul, we have two," Lord British pointed out. I grinned at the mage and pointed behind me.

Without waiting for a response from Nystul, Lord British turned back to us. "Kianne, Andrella. We have faith in you. But before you go, could you give me the coordinates to the chamber? I want to prepare my moon orb."

"Good thought," I realized. "But you know, I don't think I ever wrote them down. Mark doesn't work there, you see..."

I dug through my notes anyway, but as I'd expected, the coordinates were nowhere to be found. I gave him coordinates to Blackthorn's bedroom instead, the location that we would be using to enter the chambers. "We might be able to calculate for the actual chamber, if Gorjez can find it..."

"If there is a desperate need, we will contact Gorjez," Lord British assured us. Then he added, "I don't mean to worry you..."

"It's all right," I nodded. "I like backup plans."

"You do?" Dupré quipped.

"Hush," I teased. Everyone snickered. Except for Nystul.

What's the backup plan for destroying the world!?" the mage demanded.

"Nystul, that is more than enough," Lord British sighed. "Forgive him," he added to us. "He has been without sleep, worried of the consequences."

I grimaced a little. "I'm sorry for that. But I hope the consequences will be few."

"Do not think we all mirror his attitude," Lord British went on.

"Your faith is most appreciated," Andrella assured him.

"I believe things will work out. We trust you both very much."

His trust meant a lot to me. "We have prepared for everything we could," I pointed out. It was the best we could do.

We thanked Lord British and the others and started to leave, when a thought occurred to me. "Oh, one more thing. We'll be confronting a certain someone in Yew after this--at least we assume he'll be in Yew..." I grimaced. "Can you tell the guards not to get too close? I don't want anyone hurt."

Lord British nodded. "Caton will not interfere."

"That about does it then," I agreed.

"Good luck, and may the Virtues guide you."

We started down the hallway, and Dupré hurried to join us. "I will accompany you the castle I have to do something!"

I smiled at him and decided that since I was only opening a moongate to Blackthorn's castle--which was no longer locked or a place of fear--it wouldn't hurt to open the gate indoors.

We ended up out on the balcony after a brief false start. Andrella checked on the knight that was keeping watch on the entry tile, then we said farewell to Dupré, picked up our escort (two Knights of Valence), and entered Blackthorn's secret chamber.

The cavernous room was large and silent, and even now still felt rather dreadful. We lit some candelabra near a stone bench, and Andrella posted the two knights near us. Then she seated herself on the bench, while I took a breath and knelt down. "I'll lay the shards here," I said, even though I didn't really need to explain myself to her. "I don't want to get anywhere close to the completed gem."

She nodded in understanding and waited until I had stepped back before she picked up the shards and joined them with the ones she was already holding.

We all waited tensely as she held the shards together in her hands. It wasn't more than a second or two before the shards began to glow softly, melting and molding into a gem in Andrella's palms.

"Andrella?" I asked through a tight throat.

"I'm...okay," she responded, getting to her feet nervously.

I watched carefully. "Did that...do it?" Was she immortal?

She didn't have a chance to respond. A sudden earthquake rocked the room, and I nearly lost my footing. Quickly I dropped to my hands and knees lest I fall over. Andrella was clutching the bench, and the guards were bracing themselves as well. We could barely hear each other over the noise.

I cast a worried look at the walls and ceiling, wondering if they would cave in on us. Cracks appeared in some of the bricks, but overall the room appeared to be holding. Once, a brick fell from the ceiling and nearly hit me on the head; as it was, it grazed my face and crashed into my elbow, leaving my arm almost numb. I winced and brushed my hand over my cheek and felt blood.

"Is this from the gem!?" I gasped out, but I'm not sure anyone could hear me.

It felt like forever, but the quake probably only lasted about three minutes. When the tremors abruptly stopped as quickly as they'd begun, we all remained still and looked about us warily, as if waiting for the aftershock to hit.

"I wasn't expecting something like that..."Andrella murmured finally.

We waited tensely, but the room remained still once more. Finally, Andrella looked down at the gem in her hands. She produced a thin rope, almost like a piece of twine, and wrapped it securely around the gem. Then she hung it around her neck like a necklace.

"I wonder if the earthquakes are worldwide?" I murmured, shifting to stand.

"Are you okay?" Andrella asked, walking over to wipe away the blood.

Reflexively I flinched away. "I can't touch that," I reminded her, eyeing the gem.

"I'll be careful," she assured me.

When she was done, Andrella stepped back and commented, "We have to invoke the stones."

"Can you concentrate?" I asked her, still faintly worried.

Andrella sat back down on the bench. "Let's try."

"I sure hope this worked," I breathed, looking significantly at the gem.

"What does being immortal feel like anyway?" she spoke up. "I don't feel any different at all."

I sighed. "That's the thing. I have no idea. It's the way I've always been. To me, this is 'normal.'"

"Do you think Connor would notice that I'm immortal now?" she giggled slightly. "I wonder if we'll ever see him again..."

"I'm sure we will," I responded instantly. Then I dug into my pouch. "Let's do one first, and see."

She agreed, and I held out the glowing red stone. "Valor, your strongest."

Andrella smiled and took the stone. At least I could still touch her, even if I couldn't touch the gem around her neck.

She cupped the stone into her hands and waited. After a moment, the stone's glow shifted. I continued to watch tensely, wondering if Andrella was really immortal now or not.

"How do you feel?" I asked her.

"I don't feel anything." She shrugged and gave me a smile of encouragement.

I let out a breath of relief.

Andrella did the rest of the stones while I watched with a mix of emotions. She was immortal for now, but for how long would we be able to make that last?

When she finished, she handed me all of the shifted stones. "It will be interesting to see what they do."

I agreed. "That's the thing. Do we have time to test them?"

"Sure," she grinned. "We have all the time in the world."

I groaned at the joke. "Not exactly. I'm sure others have noticed that quake."

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Andrella chuckled.

I couldn't help but smirk. "Well, I don't want to try these on you. Some might have negative effects."

"So?" Andrella smiled.

I laughed. "So, if I end up using Death power on you..."

"I won't hold a grudge," she interjected with an innocent grin. I laughed harder.

"We'll be testing your immortality early," I snickered. Finally I grew more serious. "You really want me to shoot you?"

"Of course!"

"You're a masochist, you know that?" I smirked.

"I'll just have to get you back in the Duel Pits some day," she winked.

I took out my bow, then selected one of the stones and held it in the palm of my hand. "Valor. Power. Let's try it."

She nodded.

I touched the red stone to my bow and focused to bring forth its energy as I do with the Stone of Compassion. The stone glowed faintly...but nothing happened.

I frowned. "That's strange..."

"Something wrong?" Andrella asked.

I scratched my head. "It's...not doing anything." On a sudden impulse, I replaced Valor and pulled out Compassion. The motion by now was feeling engrained. I'd invoked Compassion quite a number of times. But yet, this time nothing happened with it either.

"You think maybe it's the anti-magic barrier here?" I asked finally. "Maybe we really should go to the Duel Pits..."

"Okay, let's go try it out," Andrella agreed readily.

I put everything away and pulled out the Orb of the Moons. I didn't have coordinates for the Pits, but I could simply make a gate to one of the towns, and we could enter from the moongates stationed there.

I held forth the Orb--another motion that's become so practiced that it feels like second-nature to me--and focused on Skara Brae's location. The Orb responded with a feeble pulse of light...but nothing happened.

"Don't do this to me," I grumbled, shaking the Orb like I had in Pagan. "Work, darn you!!"

Andrella blinked in surprise. "What? The Orb doesn't work!?"

"It did before!" I protested, gritting my teeth a little and holding out the Orb cupped in both hands. I struggled to focus all of my concentration on it, as I had done at Pagan. "Come on, come on, come on..."

This time, fate refused to smile on me. "It's just not working..." I sighed.

Andrella stood motionless, like a statue. "Are we...stuck here?"

I refused to give up. "No wait, there's gotta be a way..." I began pacing, digging out my runebook as I did so. "Soth said that runes work in the books..." But try as I might, I couldn't get either Recall or Gate Travel to work. And for some reason, I wanted to blame Soth for that, even though it wasn't his fault.

"This is what Nystul was talking about," Andrella murmured numbly. "He's been saying since Guthnor had the rock not to break them..."

"Now nobody panic," I persisted. "I'm sure we'll think of something. If nothing else," I grimaced, "maybe Lord British will send someone to come look for us..."

As it turned out, that's exactly what happened. We tried everything we could think of, but in the end we were trapped for almost two hours, and by the end of that, we were all almost at wit's end. Then out of nowhere, a red moongate opened in the middle of the chambers. Of course we had no idea where it would lead, but I don't think I was alone in thinking that anywhere was better than where we were. I leaped through immediately, and the others were right behind me.

We emerged at the telescope, surrounded by Lord British, Nystul, and Dupré (Gorjez was back at his telescope, doing his usual thing).

"Thank you!" I gasped, thrilled to be freed.

"Kianne!" Dupré said. "Andrella!" I think we all gave simultaneous sighs of relief.

"Are you okay?" Lord British asked us.

We nodded. "Aye, but we couldn't get out," I explained. "The Orb wasn't working... Neither was anything else, for that matter..."

"She has the core!" Nystul broke in, focused on Andrella. "I told you! I told you this would happen!"

Andrella tucked the gem under her tunic. "I probably shouldn't wave it around," she chuckled.

"That magic destroyed my magic!" Nystul went on. "I had to work for nearly five minutes to get it back!"

"Were there any breaches?" I asked Lord British rather than Nystul.

"One," he nodded. "We have some sad news. The Lyceum was attacked, and your friend Kilmas and Sami were taken..."

I stared at him, not able to comprehend the words. "But... We had knights there...and guards...and it's magically protected...!" I knew I was babbling, but I couldn't seem to stop myself.

Lord British handed me a scroll. "We found this."

I unwrapped it and read the scant few lines in moments.

"Jarred!" I let out. I tossed the scroll to Andrella in disgust. She read the lines, then began tearing the paper into tiny little pieces, as if that's what she was wishing to be doing to Jarred right at that moment. I was suddenly a bit scared of her level of fury.

"Kilmas! Sami!" she wailed into the air.

Dupré looked sympathetic. "Two of your knights died trying to save them."

"While we were trapped down there..." I growled. And nobody could Recall...

"Caton reported that there were at least twenty knights," Dupré explained. "They poured through the gate like madmen. And they kept coming..."

"Until I stopped it!" Nystul broke in, stretching out the word 'I' into a long, drawn-out drawl. "I told you--!"

Andrella wasn't even listening to him. She threw her hat to the ground and stomped on it. "This is outrageous! How dare he do this!!"

"Wait, wait!" I let out. "Everyone calm down!" I said 'everyone' but I was looking at Andrella. We needed to keep our heads or we wouldn't be worth anything. And Andrella looked for a moment like she was going to storm off and break anything Jarred-shaped with her bare hands.

"We'll save them," I stated with no room for argument, "but we need a plan first..."

"I'll rip Jarred's head off!! That's my plan!" Andrella growled. "And stuff it down his throat! And slash him to pieces!"

"But he must have a plan," I tried to point out logically. "He must know he can't defeat you fairly."

Andrella's face was flush with anger, and I really thought for a moment she was going to explode. Then, suddenly, it was as if all of it rushed out of her, and she deflated. "Kilmas..." she murmured sadly. "I was supposed to protect him... And Sami..."

I tossed a helpless look at Dupré. "I know. We'll save them."

"The guards are no match against those knights," Dupré contributed.

Andrella looked shattered. It was almost even more scary than seeing her furious. "Kianne... How did we let this happen...?"

"They knew exactly where to find your friends," Lord British pointed out.

"I thought the breaches would be random," I sighed.

"This must have all been planned," Lord British said. "They were just waiting..."

"Why didn't I have a plan?" Andrella murmured.

"You did," Lord British responded instantly.

"Well, I have a plan!" Nystul broke in. "Next time listen to me!"

We sighed. "This is no one's fault, Nystul," Lord British said patiently.

"Besides, we needed those stones," I agreed. "So we best make the most of it. Maybe we should go ahead and take out Maharba as planned. Before midnight." I grimaced.

Andrella looked like she couldn't put her heart into it. "We don't even know what the situation is with Maharba. Is he alone? Is he home?"

"Shamino must be waiting for us," Lord British said. "Meet us at the castle."

I nodded in agreement and took out my Orb, thinking it would work now that we were out of that chamber. I was wrong. "What is wrong with this Orb?" I asked in distress.

"The Orb isn't working?" Lord British asked me.

"No... And I'm not wearing mytheril!" I couldn't believe it. "What if the stones don't work anymore either?"

Without waiting for a response, I dug into my pouch and pulled out the Stone of Compassion, touching it to my bow. Nothing happened. "See??"

Now I felt as if all of my wind had dropped out of my sails. "Andrella went through all that trouble too!" I practically wailed, and fell to my knees in despair.

Andrella put a hand on my shoulder.

"That's what happens," Nystul said knowingly. "It's just temporary...this time. But if you touch that core, Kianne..."

"Temp..orary?" I repeated brokenly. "But we need them now! And just how long is temporary?"

Nystul shrugged. "Days. Weeks. Months. Years! Decades! Centuries!!"

I sighed. Lord British shook his head. "So in other words, you don't know," Dupré stated.

"No idea," Nystul agreed.

I probably would have fallen over if I hadn't already been on the ground. Lord British turned. "Come," he said, and opened a moongate using his Orb. It was kind of strange for me to see someone else using an Orb...

We went through to his castle, where Lord British led the way up to his private chambers. Dupré excused himself to go check on the Lycaeum, and Nystul muttered to himself as he wandered off to his own room to test some things.

"I don't know what to say," I sighed once we were alone. "I'm sorry."

"No, this is not the fault of anyone," Lord British assured us. Then he added, "We will wait for Shamino."

We nodded, and Lord British offered us seats. None of us was in the mood for small talk. I propped my chin into my hands and looked gloomily at the table in front of me. "I hadn't anticipated nothing working..."

"It must have been your close proximity to the core when it melded," Lord British mused. "My Orb works fine."

"Good thing, too," I muttered.

"But it did lose its glow for a few minutes during the quake."

"I thought all of that would be after the core was destroyed," I muttered.

"It is actually fortunate you did not destroy it yet," Lord British said. "No telling how long you would have been trapped down there."

Note for future reference--choose a more accessible location for things like these. Sure, we were able to stay out of the reach of our enemies, but we also trapped ourselves in the process.

"I should have recruited more," Andrella sighed. "I didn't have enough knights to protect them..."

"Blame no one," Lord British told us. "Let us work to resolve this."

"Yes, and what first?" I asked. "Can we take down Maharba now? And what if we can't?" I sighed again. "We could try to go to where Jarred is early... Sneak in with the cloaks, or something..."

My babbling came to a halt when I felt more than heard someone behind me. I turned to see that Shamino had entered the room. "Shamino!" I let out, jumping to my feet. I was too antsy to sit.

The ranger's face was grim. "I heard what happened at the Lycaeum."

"And where is Maharba?" I asked him anxiously.

He gave me an unreadable look. "Maharba is gone."

I blinked. "Gone?"

"He led Vevilia to Batlin, then entered a dark portal," Shamino explained.

This was completely different from anything I had been expecting. "A..portal?"

Shamino relayed to us what he had witnessed. I was amazed that he was able to memorize everything almost perfectly. Despite his physical appearance, his mind is sound.

The story went something like this...

---

The earthquake sent Lita and Starfire scrambling for cover. They raced into the trees on either side of the building and quickly hid themselves, clutching the branches like lifelines.

Maharba and Batlin emerged from the house as the quake was beginning to die down. "What was that?" the larger druid asked.

"A terrible earthquake..." Batlin murmured thoughtfully, as if his words had some significance beyond their simple meaning. Then he lifted his gaze to the sky for a moment. "D'raj is here."

---

"D'raj!?" Andrella interrupted. "That's Jarred backwards, isn't it!? He meant Jarred!"

Shamino nodded gravely. "It would seem so."

Andrella and I exchanged glances. Does this mean Jarred is a daemon? It's true that I know little about him, mostly just what Andrella has told me, but I'd never suspected he had any part to play with the daemons...

"Continue your tale," Lord British requested of Shamino, leaving us to our own thoughts.

---

Maharba looked at Batlin sharply. "Both of him?"

"No, just one," the other druid responded. ("Just how many Jarreds are there?" I interjected, but no one could give my question a response.) "Nystul's barrier went down...but now it is back."

"But why would they send a D'raj?" Maharba persisted.

"Our lord must not be pleased..." Batlin gave a small shrug, as if of indifference. "Still. A D'raj is not worthy of seeing me."

"I will handle it," Maharba assured him.

"I know you will. I must go to the Abbey. After that quake, many people will need my guidance." Batlin gave a grin that was not very pleasant.

"Aye," Maharba agreed. "Guide them well, and walk carefully."

Batlin nodded and made his leave.

---

"He's not the one who was going to have to walk carefully," Andrella grumbled.

"Yeah, this stinks. Maharba was all alone and we missed the opportunity because we were trapped in that chamber," I chimed in.

"Oh, it gets better," Shamino warned us, and we could tell from his tone that he didn't mean better as in good.

---

After Batlin left, Maharba stood and stared into the woods for a long while, deep in thought. He didn't come close to noticing the three eavesdroppers that were spying on him.

Finally, a knight in gold armor on a black Nightmare horse rode up to the building. Maharba eyed him. "Jarred?"

The knight nodded as he dismounted and took off his helmet. "Maharba..." he sneered with a superior air.

Maharba refused to be intimidated. He folded his arms across his broad chest and gave Jarred a stern look.

"VayViktus is not pleased with the Niltab's work here," Jarred announced without preamble. "And with no way to contact you, he sent me..."

"It's Nystul's barrier," Maharba complained crossly. "And the Avatar destroyed all the blackrock."

"I don't need to hear excuses," Jarred snapped. "I came with instructions for an alternate plan."

He smirked. Maharba glared at him.

"Set the generator to full power," Jarred instructed simply.

"Are you insane?" Maharba let out. "It would be better if we could speed the core..."

"No, that's impossible. And we know why now."

"Why?"

"Andrella Valance has been here for a while now..."

"I know that," Maharba broke in, as if he felt that Jarred was taking him for a fool.

"She's a star mage, did you know that?" Jarred gave him a sly grin. "Her presence has been disrupting the haste all this time."

"I thought you took care of the star mages," Maharba protested.

"I thought so too. But even so. You'll need to power the generator to its full power."

Maharba gritted his teeth. For whatever reason, he clearly didn't like the idea. "What about the star mage then?" he suggested instead. "Finish her and we can speed the core instead."

"Listen, Andrella isn't the only star mage here. But don't worry. I'll handle her, and Kilmas."

"Kilmas!?" Maharba repeated in disbelief.

Jarred looked smug. "I have him captured. And let's just say...Andrella will do anything for the boy..."

---

I passed a glance at Andrella again. She looked like she was simmering. But she made no outburst for the time being.

Shamino continued...

---

"How did you find him?" Maharba wanted to know.

"Xavier traced him," Jarred responded. "Seems Hawkwind has been playing us fools this whole time..."

Maharba growled and punched his fist into his hand in frustration. "We had no way of knowing..."

"Of course. That's why I am here." Jarred's voice was almost too sickly-sweet. He turned on his heel, facing his mount. "Speed the generator. Got it?"

Maharba gave him another glare. "You know the blue mage will feel it..."

Jarred shrugged dismissively. "It doesn't matter. She'll be dead soon anyway. And we need that comet here before she escapes..."

---

"Whoa, wait a minute," I broke in. "'Blue mage' is the title they used for me there. Nobody should know it here!"

"That's right," Lord British mused thoughtfully. "Dupré told us about that."

"Where?" Andrella asked me.

"Where I learned the Elements," I explained to her. "The sage dubbed me a blue mage at first, on a path to learning to be a blue wizard. They name them all by colors there, you see. White mage, red mage, black mage, that sort of thing."

"The Guardian knew a lot about you, Kianne," Lord British pointed out.

"Jarred had this planned ever since the court returned from Pagan," Shamino agreed.

I looked up. "That reminds me. Who is this 'lord' they were talking about? The Guardian? Or that VayViktus guy?" I paused to write the name down backwards. "It doesn't spell anything too definite... But it kind of looks a little bit like Sutek..."

"Perhaps we should hear the entire story first, and get all of the information together," Lord British suggested.

We agreed, so we shelved further discussion until Shamino could complete the tale.

---

Maharba agreed to Jarred's demands reluctantly. "It's just a shame all these souls will be wasted."

Jarred laughed darkly. "Like you have anything to worry about. Did you finish Vevilia?"

"No, but soon."

"Well then, you'll have all the souls you ever wanted."

Maharba grinned evilly at that. "So true."

Jarred mounted up. "Then you are clear on what you must do?" When Maharba nodded, he finished, "Well, I have to go make a meeting with the girls..."

"If you need assistance, Batlin and I could help," the druid offered.

"Don't trouble the lord with such trivial matters. I'll handle them."

"Andrella has a legion of knights," Maharba warned.

Jarred laughed mockingly. "I'll handle her and her knights. Her suffering will be as legendary as her father's."

(I think Andrella was simmering again...)

"Her father?" Maharba prompted.

"Alex... Alexander Valence."

Maharba must have recognized that name, because he laughed richly. "Oh, the irony!"

"Well then... Farewell."

Maharba watched as the knight rode off into the distance. Finally, he leaned down and whispered a message of sorts to a bird, and the bird flew off as if to deliver it. Absently, I wondered if Hook was on the other end of those messages. Starfire and Lita had once mentioned to us that Hook had been waiting for a message from a bird or something or other...

Finally, he went back inside the building and emerged with Vevilia. He led her to Empath Abbey, passed through the dark portal, and vanished.

---

And we were left to shift around and ponder all of this new but puzzling information.

"I knew that comet had a part to play in all this," I muttered, pacing a little next to my chair. "And what's with this generator? What is it?" That, I think, was the most critical question. "Is it like the ones the Guardian was using?"

Lord British shook his head slowly.

"And what's this about us escaping? If they want to kill us, why are they worried about us escaping?" It didn't make sense in my mind. I knew I was babbling, but that's what tends to happen when I acquire a lot of information all at once. Andrella, on the other hand, appears to brood silently when she learns lots of new things. Or maybe she was still simmering.

I was going to say more, but I was hit then with a sudden sharp pain and a wash of weakness that struck me like a tidal wave. With a startled gasp I fell to my knees next to my chair, clutching at the table for support.

"Kianne!" Andrella cried. "What happened!?"

Lord British came around the table and put his arms around me, helping me to stand. "What is it?"

I tried to collect my thoughts. The pain had been momentary, but the weakness persisted. "I..I don't know... Just felt weak..."

"Are you okay?" Andrella asked.

"We can get through this," Lord British added.

"The generator, the core," Shamino murmured cryptically.

I winced as another quick flash of pain lanced through me. "The...core? Am I too close to the core?"

Instantly Andrella ran across the floor so that she was standing as far away from me as she could without actually leaving the room. But it didn't seem to help.

"Is there anything I can do?" Lord British asked when that was beginning to become apparent.

I gritted my teeth in determination. "Let me try to stand," I requested, moving out of his grip. I was a little unsteady, but my legs held me.

"We will do all we can to ready the guards," Lord British was saying. I was having a bit of a tough time concentrating with the random spikes of pain. "So the meeting at midnight? What is your plan?"

I leaned against the table for support. "I don't know. Go in invisible? We can't just walk in there at midnight..."

"Kianne," Andrella spoke up worriedly. "Will you be able to do this?"

I gave her a grim smile. "I have to. Really don't have a choice in the matter."

"Perhaps the Virtues will help you," Lord British suggested. "Can you use the Orb yet?"

I had forgotten about it. I took it out of my pouch and focused briefly. This time the Orb glowed with its usual luster. "Ah, there, it's glowing again. Maybe the stones..."

The others watched as I dug out the Stone of Compassion. I waited out another stab of pain, then invoked the Virtue of Compassion into my bow. It worked as always. "Finally..." I breathed.

"The invoked Virtues," Lord British commented. "Even Nystul was mesmerized by the findings."

"Aye... We have all eight stones. But we haven't had a chance to see what they all do yet." I took a steadying breath. "I guess that's first. Find out what advantages we have."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Do not worry another moment of the cities," Lord British assured us. "Focus on the Virtues, and rescue Kilmas and Sami."

"I will not let Jarred do this to me again," Andrella vowed. "He will not hurt people I care about anymore."

"You'll beat him," I smiled to her. "Like you did the last time."

"I...I have to..." she agreed sadly. "If I'd beaten him last time, this wouldn't have happened..."

"You won, but he ran," I pointed out. She nodded.

"He wields a flaming katana," Shamino warned.

"Flaming katana, huh?" Andrella grinned grimly. "Well then, I suppose I should use an enchanted weapon myself." She gave me wink.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"8 p.m.," Shamino responded.

"Argh, not a lot of time." I ran through our options, struggling to keep my thoughts focused. "All right, we need some plan going in there... Reconnaissance, something. We need to know what we will be up against."

"Do all you can to learn the powers of the invoked Virtues in the next few hours," Lord British instructed us.

We both nodded. "That is our main goal. We need to test those out," Andrella said.

"Aye, and not here," I chuckled weakly.

"Aye, we should probably head back to the Keep," Andrella agreed.

"I will be here," Lord British told us. "We will not sleep until your friends are safe."

We smiled. "Thank you," I began, then winced at another flash of pain. "There's something wrong," I sighed, raising a hand to my head. "I don't think it's the core. I was in that room next to it for over an hour and nothing..."

"This must be the daemons' doing," Shamino agreed.

"Maybe you should go lay down for a few minutes," Andrella suggested.

"There's no time," I protested.

"Five minutes won't hurt would it?"

Instead of answering, I shoved myself off from the table. "Well, let's see how I can draw a bow." I gave her a grim smile.

Before we left, Lord British gave us the enchanted hourglass that we had left with Nystul. Absently I wondered how many more times we would be able to get it enchanted.

After passing around the good lucks and farewells, we made our leave and returned to the Keep.

Andrella and I paused to sit at the table and eat, more by her insistence than mine. Then we went outside to test the stones.

As it turned out, nearly all of the stones produced positive effects. And for those, the benefit would affect me upon invoking the Virtue, then, while the Virtue was invoked, I could also bestow the same effect on anyone whom I shot with my bow. For anyone who may have need of this information in the future, here is the list of what stone does what:

As it turned out, many of the effects were long-lasting enough that we really did essentially have most all of the Virtues invoked at once, even though my bow would only hold the power of one at a time. By the time we finished, Andrella and I both still maintained the strength, magic, and dexterity boosts, not to mention the spell that was lighting up our surroundings, and the magic reflection shield that would last for one spell. After a while, we did notice that the boosts seemed to be wearing off gradually, but I knew I could just easily reapply them when needed.

"Wow, this is amazing," I breathed when we had tested all of the stones. "I feel like I could take on an army!"

Andrella chuckled, but agreed. It was now quite clear why Erimani had told us that the invoked Virtues would help us greatly against our trials ahead.

One other thing that we did was Andrella decided to try using one of the Materia. I suggested she use the Ice to counter Jarred's Fire. Of course, just because he's using a Fire katana doesn't automatically make him weak against Ice, but it couldn't hurt.

The only Ice Materia we possessed had already been shifted by me into a glowing ice-blue stone. When Andrella used it, she absorbed the Ice energy the same as I had done with Fire. We finally decided that the unshifted Materia could be applied to weapons, but using a shifted one would apply to the person directly. So far, it appeared as though absorbing the energy directly did not wear off, whereas Erimani had warned us that using a Materia on a weapon would wear off after a short time.

Of course, it makes one wonder how the daemons trap the Elemental powers to begin with, but that puzzle was best left for another day.

Andrella looked down at her hand. "This is going to be something Jarred couldn't have foreseen."

"I hope so," I said. It kind of disturbed me though how much they already know...

"Kilmas..." Andrella murmured. "I was just telling you how I wanted to talk to him more. All that time we had with him and I just kept shoving him aside..."

I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "No sudden movements, or I'll touch that gem," I chuckled, winning a weak smile from her. But I could see tears in her eyes.

"Andrella," I said to her seriously. "You wouldn't let me feel guilty about the Guardian getting here. So I'm not going to let you feel guilty over this."

She nodded in agreement, wiping at her eyes. "I'm fine. I just...shouldn't feel so bad..."

"Kilmas is probably driving them all insane anyway," I told her cheerfully. Andrella laughed softly at the thought. "And Sami knows we'll be there for them. Because we will."

Andrella nodded again.

"Maybe we should just go as we are," I suggested. "Take the moonblades if we can get them there by midnight. Go and face them head on. I don't know how wise it is, but we could try."

She agreed. "I.. I want to check out the Lycaeum first though..."

I blinked. "You sure?"

"I need to see it."

I acquiesced and formed a moongate. Andrella went immediately to the room where Kilmas and Sami had been working. The place had been cleaned up by Dupré and others, so there wasn't anything to see beyond books scattered on the desk and floor.

Andrella sank into the chair that Kilmas had been sitting in and sighed heavily.

I gave her a few minutes, then finally spoke up. "Andrella. We have to go. There isn't much time left."

She agreed without argument. "Aye, let's go. We both have a lot to overcome here..."

"But we'll do it together," I smiled, and opened a moongate.

---

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