Chapter 17 - The Dark before the Dawn

[Simey]

"Not in such a hurry anymore?"

The three of them have spent some time - oddly, Simey can't seem remotely to conceive of how long - looking through the debris inside the summer house and finding little of use and nothing of value. They are all now sitting on the low seats that seem to have been fashioned from tree stumps. Wise Fox is sat away towards the other side of the little building, but Simey and Armadalus are sitting almost opposite each other near the stove, Armadalus looking a little shocked about something; Simey wonders if his suggestion that the Sommlending is only driving them on further into this nightmare city due to his continuing feeling of personal failure at having been unsuccessful in his hunt for the beast creature those several weeks ago is perhaps playing on the the man's mind. He hopes so; it would be better for all of them were Armadalus to abandon his quest to find the root of Eshnar's corruption and instead focus on escaping from the city.

Armadalus remains silent.

Mildly irritated at having his provocative question ignored, Simey leans forward on his own stump-hewn stool, intent on getting some sort of reaction from his companion. He slips clumsily off the seat, however, and onto his knees next to the stove, leaning on it for balance and crying out in both pain and shock as he burns his hand. There is a bright fire blazing in the stove, although he doesn't recall any of them having lit it.

Feeling suddenly dizzy and slightly sick, and as though the summer house has lurched around him, Simey glances at Armadalus; the Sommlending still looks shocked, perhaps moreso than before, but has not moved to help him at all.

Simey tries to refocus on undermining Armadalus' purpose, but is distracted once again, this time by the realisation that having removed his hand from the stove, it no longer hurts at all. In fact, he feels strangely detached even from the recollection of the pain that he experienced only moments ago.

"What was that?" Armadalus has abruptly looked up and is glaring past Simey towards the front wall of the summer house.

"Wha....?" starts Simey, looking confusedly at his companion; Armadalus' eyes are narrowed, apparently examining the area around building's door, though Simey feels that he actually seeks to see beyond the door and wall, outside the building.

"What was what?" he completes his question, consciously disregarding his puzzlement about his hand, aware that Wise Fox is now also turning his attention to the threshold of the summer house, giving vent to a low hiss as he does so.

"Something outside," says Armadalus quietly, his body taut.

Simey turns to look over his shoulder at the the door and the grimy windows. He can't hear anything and there certainly doesn't seem to be anything trying to break in. "One of those....creatures?" he suggests, shifting his gaze back to Armadalus and matching his companion's low voice.

"No," says Armadalus intensely. "Something listening." The Sommlending's right hand reaches slowly to the floor beside him and clasps the haft of the woodaxe that is one of the few items of any possible use that they have found in the building. Simey wonders why Armadalus doesn't arm himself with his sword, but a quick glance at his companion's hip where the weapon would normally reside reveals that he must have removed his sword-belt at some point.

Holding the palm of his left hand up towards first Simey and then Wise Fox, gesturing that they should stay put, Armadalus moves carefully forward past Simey, making his way to the door. The axe passes only inches from Simey's face, still kneeling by the stove as he is, and part of his mind unsuccessfully prompts him to unsheath his own sword and give it to Armadalus; instead, he merely stands up and moves unsteadily to the side of the door.

Armadalus reaches for the door handle and takes hold of it, turning his head to glance between Simey and Wise Fox on either side of him, checking they are prepared. Simey tries to straighten up and focus on the doorway; he sees Wise Fox's expression harden in readiness too, though what exactly they are getting ready for, Simey has no idea.

He's not at all sure that he wants to find out.

[Black Cat]

Onboard the Crystal Forge

Inside the cabin on the Crystal Forge, Black Cat was thinking. He was thinking about the dangers that were lying ahead, of the secret that he was trying to hide and that the Helghast seemed to know, of Aldius that concluded a pact with the Darklands to take him out of the way for the said Helghast in exchange for something, of Wild Horse and his generous offer to lend him Illuminatus...

"Sir, Woodland is right under us..." said the captain who suddenly entered the cabin.

Black Cat snapped out of his thoughts and exited the room. The Crystal Forge was gently floatting over the small village of Woodland. The sunset was coloring the sky with gold and silver as the Grand Master of the Order set foot on the square in the middle of the small village. All the houses of this small settlement were built around that square, and its inhabitants were wondering who was that guy arriving on a skyship.

Woodland was a few kilometers to the South of the Monastery. Black Cat specifically asked the captain to drop him there, although he didn't told him that he wanted to avoid warning the Helghast of his arrival nor did he wanted to to show to the rest of the crew that he was the Grand Master of the Kai Order. For the men of the Crystal Forge, he was simply a noble from the King's Court visiting Woodland because of important matters, just like the people of Woodland thought.

The chief of the village welcomed Black Cat while the Crystal Forge was disappearing in the darkened sky. Black Cat invented some kind of story about him being sent to investigated if the rumours about some smugglers in the region were true, and left the village with a guide that the chief insisted for him bring along.

After an hour of walk, Black Cat stopped and used his Kai Blast to hypnotize his guide and make him believe that the investigation was over and that Black Cat left for a place were he was supposedly meeting with the Crystal Forge again. The guide went back to Woodland where he would repeat this story. All these measures were important to the Supreme Master to avoid any potential agents of the Darklands to warn the Helghast in disguise. "They know about my secret, so I must be very careful", was what Black Cat kept repeating his head. Paranoia wasn't far.

After a few more hours of walk into the forest, as the moon was rising, Black cat arrived at the clearing that he knew too well. The rock with the shape of a hand carved on its surface was there, and soon after, the Grand Master of the Order was walking in the long corridor leading to the Vault of Sun where he arrived shortly after, but not before making a stop somewhere in the long passageway for reasons that only him knew.

Climbing the stairs leading to the Monastery's courtyard, Black Cat met with a young Kai Lord, who didn't recognized him immediatly because of the clothes he was wearing.

"Lord Black Cat!", said the young Kai as he made the traditionnal Kai salute once he saw who was this intruder.

"Well met, my young friend. Tell me, when was the last time you saw me?"

The young Kai was a little bit surprised by this question. "Well, that was two hours ago".

"Hmm, and where was I heading?"

If the first question was surprising, the second one was totally unexpected. "Ha... errr... You were going to your bedroom, I guess".

Black Cat thanked the Kai and left him wondering if these questions were a test or if the Grand Master of the Order was sick in his head.

[Black Cat]

Kai Monastery

Black Cat was walking slowly towards the door of his private chambers. He didn't want to warn the Helghast of his approach if he was really inside the place. Arriving near the door, the Supreme Master unsheated Illuminatus from its scabbard.

Opening slightly the great oak door, Black Cat cautiously peered inside the antechamber of his bedroom. All was quiet and there didn't seem to be anybody in. The Kai Weapon still raised, Black Cat walked in. There was no sign of his enemy.

Taking time to precautiously look around to see if his private appartments were really empty, Black Cat feared that the Helghast might have already found what he was trying to hide. Panic stroke him suddenly, and he rushed outside the antechamber into the long corridor. Running around what seemed to be an empty Monastery (most of the Kai were asleep at this time of the night), the Grand Master of the Order was seeing the Helghast everywhere in the shadows that the light of the half-moon was projecting on the floors and walls, but everytime it was just an illusion that only him was seeing.

Finally, Black Cat met again the young Kai that he had seen earlier. "Did you see me in the last fifteen minutes?", he asked.

This time, however, the young Kai knew that something was wrong as he had seen the leader of the Kai Order barely seconds earlier, near the stairs leading to the Vault of the Sun.

Upon hearing his answer, Black Cat sprinted to the place pointed by the Kai Lord without thanking him. There! Near the stairs, the false Black Cat was talking to Ghost Bear about something that wasn't really important for the real Black Cat as all he wanted was to kill his mortal enemy.

"My eyes are playing tricks on me!" said a surprised Ghost Bear when he saw another Black Cat jumping in his sight, a sword raised, ready to hit the first Black Cat.

The Helghast in disguise gasped of surprise when he saw the real Black Cat attacking him. But it didn't took long before he unsheated Ikarna to pary the deadly blow directed towards him.

A sword duel took place in front of Ghost Bear, wondering what was happening: two Black Cats were fighting each other, both with holy weapons. The Kai Lieutenant noticed however that one of the swords was Illuminatus, the Kai Weapon that normally belonged to Wild Horse.

The two fighters moved quickly around the Monastery, with Ghost Bear following them, his own Kai Weapon Arkadian ready. Suddenly, one of the Black Cats made the weapon to jump from the hand of the other one. When the armed one then tried to impaled his opponent, he was surprised when the other Black Cat rushed at him and tackled him, making him to lose his weapon too. Both combatants crashed through the door of the bedroom occupied by Grand Master Dusk Fox, who woke up in surprise.

Ghost Bear entered the room too, and seeing that both fighters had lost their weapons, he decided to intervene. "Both of you, stop immediatly!" he yelled, raising Arkadian in a menacing gesture.

One Black Cat punched the other one, making him to crash on the opposite wall. Each one were now at one extremity of the room, looking at each other while glancing at the Kai Lieutenant. The poor Dusk Fox, still in his bed between the two Grand Master of the Order, was wondering if he was still dreaming or if its was reality.

"What are you waiting? Kill him!" said the Black Cat on the right side of the room to Ghost Bear.

"No, wait, not me! He's the false Black Cat! You have to believe me!" replied the other one.

While Ghost Bear was hearing this, two voices talked in his head at the same time: "Kill him! - He's the false one! - I'm the real Black Cat! - You have to believe me!" Both Black Cats were using their psychic powers to talk in the head of the Kai Lieutenant, hoping that he would strike the other one.

The false Black Cat was hoping that Ghost Bear would kill the other one because otherwise, his real identity would be revealed. On the other hand, the real Black Cat was also hoping that Ghost Bear would kill the other one because otherwise, his secret might be revealed.

Ghost Bear looked at the Black Cats standing on his left and on his right, wondering what to do. Kill one of them? Which one then? Was there another solution?

[Beowuuf]

A tent at Camp Seventeen, somewhere outside Eshnar

"Back!" screamed the captain, but it was to the soldiers moving forward and not to Beowuuf.

"It is the beast," hissed one of the soldiers, one of the accused. However the accused, the accusers and the faithful soldiers were all the same now. If only the captain had at least shared his plans with the faithful it might be different. Sadly this hissing soldier was giving voice to the gestalt tension and reactions directed to the furry lurker, the wolf who had resolved from the shadows to stand before them all.

"Stand down, that is an order," said the captain, "the 'beast' is to help us determine the real murderer of our comrades."

Beowuuf eyes flickered twice towards the hissing soldier. The first time was because, for a brief moment, Beowuuf thought he recognised the man. The second eye flick was to try and tell the flavour of hatred being spat. Neither glance gave Beowuuf any form of answer nor comfort to an unformed question.

"Hah! We know who killed Herik!" While the hisser took a step forward, it was the surprising voice of Bron - present in one capacity or another - who was the voice of the mob this time.

"Stand. Down." said the captain again. He was spinning slowly with the bluesteel blade he had drawn. Originally the captain had drawn it when the wolf had emerged to give it to the creature. Now Captain Angerd was brandishing it as an unspoken but clear threat.

However, though the hissing soldier chafed, and where he would clearly not stand down to this superior officer, he would apparently stand down for the man. By the flitting of expression, the captain was trading on a mix of how the men liked him, and obviously the slight fear of his prowess.

Beowuuf knew it was a risky move and a sad one. What Beowuuf surmised of the captain was true - the men did not respect the rank of their commander. When a captain tells you to move back, you needed to move back. Still, one by one the men stood down, and once the common bond was loosened they shattered back into their previous roles. Beowuuf guessed the captain in times passed had stood shoulder to shoulder with his men fighting with ferocity. That loyalty would buy consideration. The fear of his prowess might buy time. Neither of those, in the end, were a powerful position for a commander to be in. The men should stand down to a superior officer, not just to the man. A superior officer Knew Things, whereas a man was sadly fallible. A fact Beowuuf knew all too well.

"Stand down, Philm", said the captain again, slowly lowering his blade only when the hissing man then visible took a step back, also away from the two men who had accused the soldier. The tension eased only a fraction as all parties remembered themselves, and remembered those who were maligned by or whom they had maligned. All of them became islands again, defending from all sides.

Simey was not, apparently, much relieved. The knight had not come forward previously during the tensions. For possibly many reasons, he did not look relieved at the reappearance of the wolf, which stung Beowuuf though he did not know why. Still, Simey could surely recognise the mob that had formed and could form again. Captain Angerd had made a bold but potentially catastrophic decision by not bending to the logic of slowly guiding those under his command into unpleasant knowledge. Beowuuf, and apparently Simey, recognised that this situation was very quickly able to get out of control again.

The captain took the opportunity to stand back and now offer the sword to the wolf, all eyes taking a moment from sizing up the others to follow this exchange. The captain had managed to gain the trust of the Commander of the camp, and had been allowed to conduct the affair without endangering the commanding officer himself in this safely removed little tent. However a disturbance and lack of confidence could see the plan fall apart ,and the Helghast able to flee. Beowuuf therefore very gingerly took the sword, and very obviously pointed it downwards.

"This is my blade," said Beowuuf, and the timber in his voice left no doubt of this fact, nor any doubt that the solitary day he had been deprived of it as it rested with Armadalus, then Captain Angerd, had seemed an eternity. "I will spare you the details of why I possess a Vakeros blade. However, with it - especially in my hands ofrthose of a Vakeros where its inherent magic is strongest - we can test for the Helghast I and my companions have tried to track this last day."

"Why should we believe you," said a strained voice - it was Bron. The man clearly still felt emotions from the death of his friend earlier. Infact, the death of two friends, since one of the group that had captured Beowuuf was now also known to be dead by the hands of a Helghast. Did Bron still believe that it was the wolf creature, not a fantastical creature of the Darklands, who was to blame?

"A good question - and hopefully, with my signal before you came here, one who can provide those answers will be arriving."

Beowuuf had meant to find Armadalus after leaving the captain. What had actually happened was that Armadalus had found Beowuuf. To be more specific, Armadalus had found the wolf half conscious and delirious as Beowuuf's struggle to keeping his wolfish body upright had proved impossible after the confrontation with Angerd.

Luckily, Armadlus had indeed been wasting time. Or rather, wasting the time of the hunt to more usefully spend it in convincing the lieutenant to engage in another course of action. Therefore the helpless wolf creature had not been instantly recaptured, and Armadalus had been allowed to tend Beowuuf's wounds with Laumspur the lieutenant had possessed. Why Armadalus himself, with the hinted reputation as a hunter of beast creatures, had not taken advantage of the situation was something Beowuuf did not know.

Armadalus had a plan similar in line with Beowuuf's plan for Armadalus. Beowuuf had merely needed to tell Armadalus the best way to do it quickly.

"What answers?" said Phelm, the hissing soldier bringing Beowuuf back from his recollection.

"Answers that will get you to trust me - that part is very crucial for the test. We should not have to wait long." Beowuuf hoped it was true, there was too much suspicion, too much tension, and hopefully also a trapped Helghast for this not to be a very dangerous situation.

All the men, Simey included, did not have long to wait to find out what the Captain and Beowuuf had managed to secure Armadalus to do. The group turned with shock as Armadalus and Lieutenant Tyler strode into the tent. Those two nodded to the wolf and Lieutenant Tyler nodded warily to his captain.

The men already in the tent did not have much time to focus on the two new arrivals before they realised two more followed. A Durenese Knight-Captain from a far camp that trailed at the back was barely noticed, for a man of Dessi - a magician by his garb - was the more striking figure.

This figure looked towards Beowuuf, nodding in reply to the wolf's nods. "It is as you said, Sir Armadalus," said the mage, his accent making the words register a second slower to all ears except Beowuuf's. The mage nodded again. "I scarcely believed you, I am afraid to say, but I am glad that you are true.

Beowuuf twitched at the odd phrase a second before the other's caught it, and by then the mage was speaking in a firmer, clear voice. "Well, whatever this creature has told you," said the mage, his fingers pointing accusingly at Beowuuf, "is a complete fabrication!"

[Ghost Bear]

Ghost Bear's head was whirling as the two combatants fought. As he followed the fight through the Monastery, he had been probing at the mental defences of the two opponents in an attempt to find out which was which. This had been to no avail however, as both had erected powerful mindshields to protect them during the battle, and Ghost Bear was unable to penetrate either. At least without using sufficient force to risk seriously harming the real Black Cat - or himself.

So he had held back. One warrior was wielding Ikarna, that was obvious. He quickly noticed that one wielded the blade of Grand Master Wild Horse too. Focusing his mind, he sent out a telepathic message in an attempt to reach the Grand Master, but this was also fruitless. Was the Grand Master out of range? Or was he dead?

As the two Grand Masters were hurled apart, and stood at either side of the room, eyes filled with loathing, he considered his options. He couldn't risk simply killing one of them. Odds of fifty-fifty were unacceptable. But maybe, just maybe there was a way...

"Dusk Fox," Ghost Bear spoke to the Grand Master who's room had been ruined by the fight and was now swiftly donning his clothes.
"Summon the Grand Masters who remain at the Monastery to the Grand Masters' Hall. Hopefully the wisdom of the Kai will aid us once again. Once you have done this, fetch the Lorestone of Luomi from the Vault of the Sun, and bring it to the Hall."

At that moment, Grand Master Wise Owl entered the room, responding to a mental summons from the Kai Lieutenant sent some minutes earlier.
"As you can see Grand Master - we have a quandry. One of these people is our real Grand Master. The other is not. I believe that the Lorestones may be able to tell them apart. I need your assistance in escorting these two to the Grand Masters' Hall.

Wise Owl nodded once, and drew Spawnsmite from its place at his back. Ghost Bear turned to the two figures of Black Cat.
"Come."

With that, he motioned for the assembled group to leave the room.

[silversurfer]

Unknown location

“…”

“where am I…”

Awaking from his trance, the mysterious character scans his surroundings. It is night and the sky is being lit by a full moon. The forest echoed with the sounds night creatures and tiny fireflies lit the small hill top where he stood currently. Picking himself from the ground and dusting off the dirt from his tunic, he notices the grass which is around him are burnt black and little fires still burned.

“What happened here? Why can’t I remember” Silver Surfer exclaimed as he held his head in his cold clammy hands.

Looking around, there wasn’t a soul in sight and the leaves of tall trees which lined the path swayed peacefully in the gentle wind.

“It is no use staying here. I best get back to the monastery and perhaps I will find some answers there”.

Threading along the forest path he wonder where and how he arrived where he was and what exactly happened before he arrived at his current situation.

“The last thing I remember was being in the monastery, and everyone was gathering for the Fehmarn festival, and that’s all I can remember???”

Unsure of himself, he prodded along till he came to a crossroad marked with a old creaky signpost

“Sommerlund… at the very least, I know where I am. All I have to do it follow this road onto the Monastery. Hopefully I should be able to get some answers.”

Continuing along the long dusty road, he came across many unfamiliar houses and landmarks which he has not seen before wince he last passed this way. Putting his uneasy feeling behind him, and determined to get to the Kai Monastery so as to get some answers, he ignored these and hurriedly continued along.

As he ventured through the small town and villages, the high towers of the Kai Monastery can be seen standing proudly against the midnight sky. Feeling relieved that he is not going crazy, he proceeded onwards. The gates of the monastery was guarded by five sentries all whose rank cannot be determined as they look different from how Silver Surfer remembered them to be.

“Why is their uniform changed?? Was there a new uniformed issued recently?” Silver Surfer wondered.

The sentries noticed him approaching and one of them approached him.

“Good evening sir, how may I be of service to you?” asked the sentry as he gazed curiously at Silver Surfer

“I am unsure myself, but if you would allow me to speak to my mentor Skyefal, I would be most obliged.”, Silver Surfer replied not knowing why the rest of the sentry are looking at him in the most peculiar manner.

“I’m very sorry but I do not know of a grand master by that name. Perhaps I could summon someone who is able to help you” the sentry replied

At a lost of what to do, Silver Surfer agreed.

“Wait here while I go seek assistance” the young Kai sentry ordered his other comrades as he turned to go.

All four Kai lords looked at Silver Surfer with the most curious of expressions whilst their leader departed from them.

“Haven’t you seen a Kai Grand Master before?”, Silver Surfer remarked

“My apologies sir, your tunic is ancient and we have not seen a Grand Master in that kind of tunic in these days.”, came the reply.

“What…” thought Silver Surfer.

Feeling more confused than ever, he tried to call out telepathically to his mentor. But to no avail, there was no reply… Not that there is no reply... But his abilities are lost!

“How can this be? What has happened to me?”

Panic set in as he discovered that something strange has happened and he has to find some answers.

“I have to see the Supreme Master! Bring me to him! He will be able to vouch for me” he exclaimed as he stormed towards the gates.

“HALT! you are not allowed to enter. Do no come any further or we have to restrain you Sir”

Ignoring the young Kai’s warning, he continued towards the gates

“Sir, You have been warned!” “To arms to arms, we have an intruder!!!”

All four Kai lords drew their weapons and stood ready to repel Silver Surfer as he approached the gates. Not wanting to hurt them, he tried to draw upon his Kai discipline Mind Blast to overcome them. But to his dismay, that failed as well. Having no choice but to engage them in melee combat, he reached into belt pouch and grabbed a handful of fireseeds.

“I need to get in before more of them arrive”, he though as he got ready to advance.

The two Kai sentries came forward, charging with their swords drawn whilst the other 2 guarded the entrance to the gate. Swinging their blades with deadly accuracy, Silver Surfer was barely able to dodge. After dodging a series of attacks, he took the fireseeds between his fingers and whilst bracing for another attack, flicked it towards the two young Kai lords. An explosion soon ensured and through the dust, Silver Surfer was able to deliver a stunning attack on the remainder two bewildered Kai lords.

Hurriedly, not wanting to draw further attention and not wanting to risk injuring more people, he opened the gates and entered into the courtyard. As expected, the commotion has drawn the attention of other Kai innates who are up for sentry duty that night. Knowing that it would be a matter of time before he is discovered and the sooner he locates his mentors or the Supreme Grand Master, the better.

Staying closely to the wall and hiding in the shadows of the pillars of the Kai monastery cast by the bright moon, Silver Surfer managed to sneak up into an adjourning building. Peeking precariously to get his bearing, he noticed that the layout of the Kai monastery is different from how he remembered it to be. And there are further differences in the Kai emblems and ensigns which he had come across since he entered the monastery. Hoping to get a clear situation, he decided to try and get to the Tower of the Sun where the elders are and they should be able to shed some light on his situation.

Sneaking and dodging from cover to cover, he managed to come to the Grand Master Hall. Memories came back when he first became a Grand Master and how he first became a Kai lord. His thoughts were cut short when he heard heavy footsteps approaching. Not wanting all his efforts to go to waste and not wanting to get caught whilst he was so close to uncovering his mysterious circumstances. He hurriedly hid behind one of the many curtains lining the walls in the hall.

What he saw puzzled him… three Grand Masters (2 Black Cats and Ghost Bear) entered whilst one of them seems to be holding a weapon and the other two seem to be the same person? Getting more and more confused Silver Surfer decided to stay and observe for the time being as more Kai Lords entered the hall…

[Beowuuf]

A tent at Camp Seventeen, somewhere outside Eshnar

Beowuuf checked his first reaction - it might have become hysterical. This left his second reaction to come out full force.

"I...HAVE HAD...ENOUGH!" he yelled.

The captain was caught between two forces. The rest of the tents occupants were frozen at the declaration. Only the Dessi mage, showing his youth, made a rash gesture of power against Beowuuf to follow up his verbal assault.

"No!" said Beowuuf, a calm dreadful tone brooking no disobedience. The mage was frozen in his actions - the fact a power word had been uttered first and focused through the raised bluesteel blade had more to do with this fact than belief. However, by capturing the mage, the rest the tent were put onto a defensive foot, slowly moving around unified and terrified in equal measure. Beowuuf did not appear to notice as he turned to address them.

"Thousands of years ago the Elder Magi all but gave up their lives in the fight against Naar. Did Kai really hand the fight to this land in repayment? Is the struggle and memory of those Magi really for nothing? Since I have stepped foot in this blasted land I have found nothing but corruption and confusion and incompetence! Even now one of your greatest champions lies dead, slain by a deadly foe. And I will wager everything I hold dear that he lies there still, rotting, while his kinsmen do nothing but try to detain and murder the innocent who were doing their task for them, and then allowed more lives to be taken by this abomination!"

Beowuuf's eyes glowed, and he stood to his impressive height, shaking for a number of reasons.

"Do not harm the magician," came the low, reasonable tones of Captain Angerd, finally deciding to turn his back to his men as Beowuuf represented the greatest apparent danger.

Beowuuf outburst had been the explosion, and the ignition and flame of his passion had burn swiftly and cleanly. It had left nothing in its wake, or certainly nothing hot. Perhaps a small, smouldering core of condensed cold fury was left.

"Stand you men down, Captain," said Beowuuf, a new low snap in his tone. It was a word of command, handed down from a field commander to a field captain, and Angerd flinched at it.

Beowuuf's eyes already darted back to the held mage. Beowuuf's eyes burrowed into the man. His tone still had that condescending, commanding tone. Oddly formal and dismissive, the younger mage seemed to both chaff at it yet be compelled by it.

"Do you, Magus, at least honour the Magi whose blood I assume dwells in your veins? Have you, perhaps, studied enough of the mystical arts to recognise a Vakeros battle magic when it is cast upon you?"

The mage's face contorted, and he forced the phrase "yes" from between clenched teeth. As the spell did not bind the man's tongue, it was obviously an emotional not magical effect that made the word such an effort.

"Good. And so, magus, please be so good as to inform the men here of the effect of the holding spell I have bound you with. Or to be more precise, the lack of effect of the holding spell." The mage glared, and Beowuuf prompted him further. "Would you say, magus, that the spell of holding cannot, for example, inflict any injury?"

Again through clenched teeth, "Yes," was heard. Those who understood the words, such as the captain, stood down marginally. The risk of the Dessi mage being crushed with a gesture had apparently been real in their minds.

"Would you also say, magus," continued Beowuuf haughtily, "that the spell requires a high level of training in the old kingdom and Vakeros battle magics?"

"Yes."

"In point of fact, would you further conjecture, magus, that a non-Vakeros - for example a gifted Kai Grandmaster or a fellow Dessi practitioner of yours - would not be able to produce the effect as swiftly as a trained Vakeros. Not unless they had devoted a large period of time in study of battle-magics themselves under expert guidance of an Elder Magi or high level Vakeros?"

There was silence, but as Beowuuf had lowered his sword and the effect had been removed, the mage was able to slowly nod.

"Would you agree, magus, that the Elder Magi we serve are powerful and know much. Would you further agree it is always a good lesson in humility to remember this when one considers one's own lower level of power and knowledge in comparison. However, would one also feel the reciprocal pressure of recognising the power and knowledge that comes from the Magi is still a precious and special gift. For example, might it may make one - even one of a lowly station - question the power and consequence of using one's supposed knowledge without thought?"

The mage glared at Beowuuf with fury, but was prickled enough to respond, though not speaking to Beowuuf directly. "I may have been hasty in my words. I have not heard of such a creature as this, but his abilities and training are...apparently...of Dessi."

Beowuuf almost felt sorry for the mage. Armadalus had surely done what Beowuuf would have done, which was to have found not the first, nor even the second, nor probably the third authority in the local Dessi camp at magic. Armadalus had ensured that a Helghast could not have been picked by securing a lower ranked mage to confirm Beowuuf's identity. And yet, as odd as Beowuuf was, sadly Beowuuf was apparently not that widely known. The thought sobered Beowuuf from his commander mind set and arrogance. Whatever authority Beowuuf used to have, he had abandoned it to another life, and certainly did not have that authority here. He barely commanded civil behaviour inside this body. Recent experiences reminded him of his fears that previous bouts of luck had apparently erased.

Beowuuf too was physically vulnerable, one wrong movement away from collapse. He was standing upright only because his body had shut off sensation. It was oddly intoxicating yet very dangerous, it was for example difficult to gauge if he was going to fall over without monitoring that small sensation of balance. And certainly he could injury himself badly without noticing. This was not a good thing - Beowuuf was one word of the Captain's away from re-arrest, and possible execution, although hopefully Angerd had been cowed by guilt over that earlier haste. Hopefully.

"If that is quite finished, Captain, secure your men as before." said Beowuuf, again using the tone of command that he now did not feel.

Captain Angerd shifted again, flinching as if caught between blind obedience and caution. The previous tensions and plans seem to re-assert themselves in Angerd's mind though, especially when Angerd caught sight of Lieutenant Tyler. He could not show weakness of command.

"Stand down men," said Angerd once more.

The hissing soldier, perhaps voicing the previous feelings and the new that Beowuuf's lashing words had stirred in the assembly, said simple. "Hang that! And hang the wolf!"

[Beowuuf]

Command tent deep in Camp Seventeen, close to Eshnar

Beowuuf observed the actions from the sidelines, gratefully leaning hard against a chair back around one of the command tables at the rear of the tent. Well, Beowuuf assumed he was leaning hard against the chair. There was an absence of sensation touching real objects, and he felt like an outsider, a ghost. Drifting far from the chaos untouched and unconnected. Although, of course, he was very connected to the current yelling.

In a way Beowuuf had helped greatly with his dismissive comments on Sommerlund. The reason for being in the tent had been accepted now, as the more important anger of national pride and personal tragedies were vented. Of course, even Beowuuf could not actually say he really helped for too long as the anger became greater and greater.

Captain Angerd commanded more respect without threats of violence this time, as Armadalus and Lieutenant Tyler stood shoulder to shoulder with the man.

"You heard the captain," Beowuuf heard once again, said by Lieutenant Tyler. Whether the man believed the current situation or not was unclear, but Tyler clearly realised the power of agreeing with his superior to get the men to buckle down.

In the end it was Simey, with what Beowuuf considered uncharacteristic diplomatic smoothness, that played up the need to end the Helghast threat and played down the means by which this was to be done. The sides were seven to seven, and once again the odd splits in the accused and accusers began to manifest and the room settled down - at least, settle down to original tensions at the reason for being there.

By then, at least Beowuuf had managed to see the accused and accusers in action, uncensored. The hissing soldier known as Phelm was the most boisterous and angry. A man called Bif seemed to know him well and the two were very vocal. Bif was more reasoned and persistent, always taking the lead and bringing concerns back to a point that Phelm's aggressive emotions then hammered home. It had taken a lot of attrition to wear away each point of Bif's. Could Bif be the Helghast, trying to deflect for so long? He was not a suspect though, he was accusing another man. Meanwile Phelm seemed to be fueled by dismissive rage - he did not, apparently, believe a Helghast existed at all. And so his anger was at the insult to his own honour and his country's. Was this an over-simplification of the Sommlending psyche and a distraction by the Helghast? for some reason, not one but two men felt so.

Those two, Gorch and Talin, were night and day soldiers. Not from different shifts, but two extremes in personality and body. Gorch was tall and thin, Talin short and as stout as an active soldier could be. Gorch was obviously physical, Talin some form of intelligence or administration. Gorch was active and and determine, and earnest, while Talin was passive and whiny and seemed to need to trick his fellow with his own words. Neither suspected the other, but both to Beowuuf's sharp ears had become lost in a vigourous debate on why the other's evidence against Phelm was wrong and would allow a Helghast to walk.

"Herik died, I found him!" said Bron, cutting in to Beowuuf's conscious. The words were not in defense, they were the final nails to seal away the anger Beowuuf had sparked. Bron had been consistent in trying to drive the conversation back to the reason at hand. However, he apparently had no faith in the Captain's plan to bring true justice to this situation. Helghast or wolf creature Bron seemed to be undecided, however he was also vocal about the culprit being brought to an end. And equally angry time was wasted on his accusal.

However, the fact that Bron was all for finding the culprit and passionate about the murders did not seem to reassure his accurser, a one eyed soldier with an otherwise smooth face. Beowuuf did not know the man's name as the man did not speak much. Vocally at least, each one of his looks to Bron spoke volumes of malice and suspicion. The one-eyed soldier had quite quickly capitulated with his Captain, apparently only joining in the anti-meeting movement when Bron was so vocal in support of it.

Captain Angerd, thanking Simey and the Duranese Knight-Captain who had spoken up briefly in confirmation of Simey's identity, used Bron's final words to take the floor again. Angerd detailed again the mechanism to test the accusers and accused, although Beowuuf could not miss that Tyler, thinking himself out of the spotlight, had visible concern on his face. Beowuuf could not blame the man - Beowuuf was not sure this would work either. Then again, that was not exactly the point. If the Helghast could be made to believe it would work, then the Helghast - if he were indeed here - would be forced to make a move to avoid the test.

Sadly, Bif caught some small part of the flaws in the plan. Too focused on those, Beowuuf cursed that the man did not let his brain dwell on the logical reason to not bring up the flaws, or why they were superfluous. Of course, one of the flaws was that if this were to work, Beowuuf alone could weild the blade. Beowuuf had decided that to be believed he had to be as honest as possible, but in retrospect this weakness of the plan should not have been broadcast. Better to have fully played the bluff, with Beowuuf in the background ready to leap in to action unregarded as the Captain had used the blade.

Instead, it had given Phelm the opportunity to again piggy-back on Bif's arguments and claim the invalidity of the meeting. Sadly, Phelm's points were back to the attack on his personal honour and the foolishness of the whole endeavour. Phelm's diatribe obviously annoyed the others on trial as it marginalised their importance. It also annoyed Bif this time, as Phelm was overriding the original point. Bif was further made uncomfortable and lost his point when the man he was accusing, apparently called Konnyn, came to Bif's rescue. Konnyn was very vocal in pointing out Phelm's short sightedness in both arguments, but the foolishness of the test.

Konnyn was average in appearance but very sharply spoken denoting a sharp brain. He had a staccato delivery, narrowing small eyes as he addressed Captain Angerd in polite but final intonations of the folly of the testing. He also effectively punctuated all of Phelm's pomp by pointing out Konnyn's own soon to be promotion to sergeant, and the greater dishonour there. And the fact that Phelm's two accusers, who were back to debating with each other, seemed to be fighting over Phelm's desertion of post.

Bif was forced to defend Captain Angerd's plan and create a fortress of logic around it in order to keep his suspect Konnyn from walking. Thus defending his Captain and also shutting down indirectly the already deflated Phelm, this led perfectly for the opportunity Beowuuf had looked for.

"You men - say what you just said again."

Everyone looked around at the low growl of words from the wolf. Beowuuf did not stop looking at Gorch and Talin. He stood up, and cursed that he had to hide a stumble. It was as if Beowuuf had stood up with a leg that had gone to sleep, with the wrinkle that he had no idea if the leg were asleep or not and would take his weight or not. Beowuuf was still looking at the two soldiers and not the floor very intimately, and so the wolf assumed his legs were still functioning.

"I did not say anything!" said Talin, and now he realised everyone was listening to the hissing debate he backed away physically a step.

"Coward," bellowed Gorch, but when Phelm said the same in his carrying hiss, Gorch shrank away very uncomfortable. Phelm seemed to notice it, and for once it shut him up. Phelm seemed genuinely hurt instead of angry. Beowuuf then realised Phelm and Gorch must be friends also - and more, Phelm must have assumed Gorch was also here as an accused of Talin's, instead of a fellow accusee of Phelm's.

"Say...what you said...again," said Beowuuf walking forward on Talin. The tent shifted, with the three guarding soldiers and Armadalus moving to flank the whole group, while Angerd and Tyler moved forward aswell towards Talin.

"I did not say anything of note!" repeated Talin again, taking another step backwards.

"Liar!" said Gorch, "tell then what you said about the rosters - bring your backhand slanders out in to the open to be dashed!"

"I did not lie!" said Talin, uncharacteristically poked to an active response by the attack on his administration, "the roster was not followed - again - and Phelm was not where he was supposed to be!"

Gorch waved the comment away with an angry hand, "you and your self-important rosters be hanged, no one follows those. You have no idea of real soldiering, the officers assign the best men, you impune a man's honour-"

"These latest rosters were from the Captain!" said Talin, then backed away another step looking nervously around to the people viewing, the man he accused and the Captain whose orders he was using to back up his facts.

"Men can still swap you pompous ass," said Groch with rage, although Beowuuf noticed Phelm had blanched. "You construct webs of lies and regulations to disguise your own cowardice!"

"I am not a coward," said Talin, almost as whimper of pleading to the others for confirmation. "There is no one to swap with! The Captain has been keeping people occupied and busy, there was no one! The man has either been a coward this last week shirking his duties or a creature of the Darklands!"

"Small minded-"

"Why do you defend him so?" asked Beowuuf ahead of Gorch's two officers move to curb the discussion and Gorch's words.

Gorch blinked in mid rant. "Torad Phelm is a man of honour, a man of courage, and I will not have his reputation torn apart by this small excuse of a man!" said Gorch with passion. Talin wilted in the heat of it. Phelm seemed to be speechless by such an outpouring of sentiment from his apparent friend.

"Sibb, my ...my thanks-" started Phelm, for once since Beowuuf had been in the man's prescence Phelm's tone of voice was placatory and warm.

"Torad Phelm," continued Gorch over the top of this, "was a true ally in battle, brave to a fault and filled with the bravado many of us had in capturing whatever evil has fallen here. I did not think something as dark as a Helghast with us, but I knew one thing," and now Gorch looked to his friend, pointing an accusatory finger at Phelm, "that man is not Phelm!"

"Sibb, what?" asked Phelm, taking a step backwards, "why would you say that?"

"Last night!" said Gorch with heat, "I saw you last night coming out of camp, and the fear in your eyes when I surprised you!"

"The creature....that creature!" said Phelm bewildered, pointing to Beowuuf, "we were all worked up knowing it could-"

"NO!" said Gorch with feeling, entreating the tent, "Torad Phelm would have drawn a weapon on me before he worked out who had seen him! Torad Phelm would have been glad, as we all, of the chance to take vengeance on whatever foul creature stalks and kills us!"

"I knew it was you, there was no reason to draw-"

"You did not know it was me! The fear on your eyes for that first moment was obvious!"

"I told you, the coward was deserting his post as he has done all week," said Talin, pipping up on the tails of Gorch's rage.

"YOU SHUT YOUR TREACHEROUS MOUTH!" said Gorch, and soldiers moved forward due to the heat in the tall soldier's words. "If that man was Phelm yesterday, he would have been going about his real business as a real soldier as he had the rest of the week, as have we all, worm," said Gorch, "You will not dishonouir or muddy that."

Gorch then turned and moved swiftly at Beowuuf and made for Beowuuf's weapon. Beowuuf reflexively gripped the blade but had no wherewithal to do much else. If Gorch was a Helghast grabbing for its bane or an enraged soldier looking to grab a weapon to attack the fiend that replaced his friend, Gorch would have been successful.

Instead, Gorch apparently let his rage drive him to grab the bluesteel blade and open his hand on it's edge. Blood flowed freely, and Gorch flicked it violently to the ground with his words.

"By my blood, by my word, I am Sibb Gorch, my speech is true, that man is a liar," he said pointing to Talin, "and that man is a lie!" he said pointing to Phelm.

"Sibb - what can I do to convince you you have just imagined this?"

"Swear on the blade you have done no wrong and are who you say you are! Show your blood!"

"I am myself, I will swear it!" said Phelm now angry.

"And that you have done no wrong! That no sorcery is upon you then!" said Gorch dismissively, still not believing the man before him was his friend.

"Of course no sorcery is upon me!"

"And you have done no wrong!" said Gorch, now pleading himself as Talin had done earlier.

And Phelm was silenced. And Groch shook with rage. "Liar! You are not Torad Phelm!" said Gorch with finality. Phelm looked around, to both Gorch and Bif and and his Captain Angerd. All looked to the man they knew oddly, as the man refused to say something so simple.

The three faithful soldier guards and Armadalus started moving in a contracted ring to move in on Phelm. The others moved back a moment.

"Phelm, stand down," said Angerd again with sorrow, as Phelm started crouching defensively.

"Captain," said Beowuuf suddenly.

"we have this in hand," said Angerd over his shoulder.

"Captain!" said Beowuuf in a shout, and Angerd turned swiftly as did the rest. For Beowuuf had spotted Talin looking oddly and with fear at the bluesteel blade and Gorch. Beowuuf's eyes moved to Gorch, fearing some sign of the blood turning.

Talin had already turned as Beowuuf's eyes returned back confused at the lack of anything concerning, and Talin was moving to the entrance as Beowuuf's second shout alerted the others.

[Black Cat]

Grand Masters' Hall

All the Grand Masters had gathered in the vast hall in a few minutes even at this late hour of the night. Both Black Cat's were standing in front of each other, a table between them. They were looking at each other but did not exchange any words or mental messages. Both feared that by communicating with the other, they would revealed the secret they were each carrying.

Ghost Bear felt that both of them were nervous. He didn't know though that the false Black Cat was fearing that his mission was compromised while the real one feared that his secret was in danger to be revealed.

"Here's the Lorestone", said Wise Owl as he respectfully place the small crystal orb into the waiting hands of the Kai Lieutenant. Ghost Bear then placed it on the table. "The sacred stone will revealed who the real Grand Master of the Order is. Its powers are too strong for any one of you, so I recommend that you avoid using any spells to hide your true identity as it might harm you and even kill you".

Immediatly, the Kai Lieutenant felt that the Black Cat standing on his right was relaxing a little bit and that the other one was as tense as a spring ready to bounce.

Something in the head of the Helghast clicked. He was about to be discovered and surely slained. His mission was a failure. But there, in front of him, on that table, a fabled Lorestone of Nyxator was resting peacefully. He could snatch it and hope to escape this place, this room filled with experienced Kai Grand Masters. He could at least try, and even if he fails, the end result wouldn't be that different from the faith that was waiting for him if he decided to not do anything.

Ghost Bear was about to speak once again when the false Black Cat, the one standing on his left, acted quickly and tried to grab the Lorestone. However, upon touching the sacred stone, bright light started irridiating from its core just as smoke raised from the creature's hand.

The Helghast was screaming in pain, his disguise falling apaprt, revealing his true self to the crowd. Not only did his physical identity was now exposed, but his psychic was too as waves after waves of memories were flowing out of the monster's brain. The most experienced Grand Master in the room were able to see these memories, the day that Helghast was created in Helgedad, his first kill (a Nadziran standing near him just as life was infused into his body), some missions he did back in the Darklands and even in the Stornlands (some murders that had been considered as cold cases are said to have found their solutions after that experience in the Grand Masters' Hall), and then the most recent days passed in the Kai Monastery.

However, it is one of these memories that he felt that made Black Cat to shiver. He saw that the Helghast had met a few weeks ago with... something that looked vaguely human, but mutilated and with dark skin, as if it was burnt. The Grand Master of the Order was able to catch parts of the conversations contained in the memories of the Helghast, and one such part was words exchanged between the monster and the dark skinned creature: "He holds her in the Kai Monastery. Find her!"

Suddenly, the flow of psychic waves stopped. The Helghast was now turned into a small mount of ashes on the floor of the Hall and the Lorestone wasn't emiting any light anymore. Some Grand Masters commented the things they had seen to those that weren't able to sense the psychic waves of the monster while others were wondering how the powers in Helgedad had thought of this daring plan to replace the Grand Master of the Order by one of their agents.

Ghost Bear looked at Black Cat, the real one. He too had felt the psychic waves of the creature, but one thing he had saw deserved an explanation that only the Grand Master of the Order could answered.

Black Cat saw the quiet interrogation into the Kai Lieutenant's eyes, but he decided to elude the questionning. "Good. Now the Helghast is gone. But I now need to be in Holmgard as soon as possible. This impersonnification thing is part of a much bigger plot and I need to put an end to this", he simply said.

"I'll be in my appartments. Clean these ashes and don't forget to bring back the Lorestone to the vault", he added as he made his way out of the Grand Masters' Hall as all eyes were turned on him.

[Beowuuf]

Command tent deep in Camp Seventeen, close to Eshnar

Armadalus easily demonstrated he was still in his prime - or that he had precognative abilities. Before Talin was a few steps away Armadalus was aware of it and moving. The short administrative officer had spent too many years behind desks compared to the Sommlending Knight's years walking the wildernesses for it to be a fair contest.

Assuming Talin was who he seemed. The fear and running spoke otherwise.

"Help me!" yelled the knight calling to the wolf, captain, and lieutenant who were moving with varying degrees of success towards the now captured Talin. Beowuuf wondered why the concern when Armadalus had the officer's arms pinned behind the man's back holding Talin well. Beowuuf then cursed the apparent fogginess of his own mind. A Heghast could break free quite easily of course. A few extra hands and Beowuuf's blade were swiftly needed.

"No! Keep away! Stop - please!" pleaded Talin, his legs giving out from under him. Despite the man's portly appearance he did not weigh enough to give Armadalus trouble, and the Sommlending was keeping the man semi-upright. Talin kept eying the bluesteel blade Beowuuf advanced with, showing disproportional fear. Still, there was something odd in the look that niggled at the wolf.

Beowuuf looked again to the figure of Gorch. That man was not paying attention to the diorama playing out, but had again turned round to his once friend to hiss more words. The Durenese Knight-Captain, Simey and the Dessi mage had moved to flank the two men. The other soldiers moved to ensure the last pair of men were not forgotten in the excitement.

"Beowuuf, now!" yelled Armadalus, bringing the Vakeros back to the task at hand. Beowuuf concentrated on the fragile task of moving forward with no sensations to guide him, raising mental shields incase of onslaught from a Helghast's mindforce.

"Please! No!" quivered Talin, trying to scramble through Armadalus, and squirming left and right. Beowuuf advanced, raising the blade. Talin's head was flicking everywhere but again there was the sensation that the focus was off - Talin seemed to be looking at the drips from the blade. Beowuuf resisted the urge to look around at Gorch again.

"Beowuuf! Now!" barked Armadalus, losing patience with Beowuuf's lack of focus. Captain Angerd's glare conveyed the same message, though the glare took on a favour of concern when one of Talin's limb's broke free and Talin began twisting out of Armadalus's grasp.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Talin as Beowuuf slipped forward and sliced an upraised hand. The scream took on an inhuman tone and Beowuuf took a step back wishing he'd enough arm strength to have gripped the flapping arm.

Talin broken free of Armadalus, and Armadalus was pushed back violently. Beowuuf raised his blade for battle...and faced down a man who had slumped unconscious on the floor. Beowuuf blinked, looking to the two Sommlending officers who had moved forward, and the Sommlending knight who had painfully scrambled back to his feet.

"Is this some trick?" demanded Angerd, looking to Beowuuf and Armadalus with aggression. Beowuuf blinked again, feeling it the only sane response. Luckily, there was one member of the group who actually knew the sane response.

"Haemophobia," said Lieutenant Tyler with realisation in his voice. "I had heard in certain circles Talin was considered a coward, it had never occurred to me to believe the rumours - or that they might have a physical justification."

Angerd looked annoyed at this information being late in coming forth, but Tyler shrugged as politely as he could to his commanding officer. With great economy of motion it communicated regret while at the same time communicating an attitude of understandable ignorance at which of many facts may well be needed by a less informed superior.

Beowuuf, for his part, was relived that one mystery was over but knew it simply stoped distracting from the greater one. "Talin may well be cleared," said Beowuuf gruffly, looking at the dripping blood not deforming in any supernatural way, "but he was never the one accusation had fallen upon."

Armadalus nodded, already shooting a look to the arguing soldiers across with Simey - even though Armadalus concerned himself more with tending to the fainted Talin and the man's sliced hand. Beowuuf had no such split feelings and moved swiftly with Angerd and Tyler in tow.

"Stop saying that Sibb!" said Phelm, all pomp and arrogance, shaking with anger.

"Stop using my name, fake!" said Sibb Gorch still pointing accusing fingers metaphorically and literally to his once friend. The tall thin soldier was almost being restrained by the Durenese Knight-Captain, who was aware of the tentative legality of restraining another country's soldier yet also aware of the harm in allowing one man to harm another.

"Private Phelm," said the Durenese Knight-Captain, "we Knights of the White Mountain fully believe in the power of a man's word and I will up hold your honour. Yet living by our words we are aware of when a man twists his own to keep truth and honesty separate."

Beowuuf was in time to note Simey's sudden shift of expression at the Captain's words, a strange hooded look. Beowuuf was also in time to see Phelm's expression go from relieved to angry as the Knight Captain's words sunk in.

"I will not be called a liar by any of you!" snarled Phelm, his hissing voice long gone. "Not Knights whose honour is unproven who have no business here!" Phelm looked at more than just the Durenese in his disdain. "Not those whose lives I have saved on the field countless times and once called friend!" Phelm not only threw the viciously toned curse at Gorch but surprisingly at Angerd too. "And I certainly will not have my honour questioned nor tested by that murderous bastard!"

Phelm pointed violently at Beowuuf, and suddenly there was a crowded moment that obviously surprised Phelm as much as Beowuuf, Angerd and Tyler. Gorch had lurched with hostile intent towards Phelm, the motive unclear as to whether he was defending Beowuuf or attacking the 'imposter'. The Durenese Knight-Captain had moved to block and restrain Gorch, while the three faithful soldiers acting as guard had moved swiftly to flank Phelm. Captain Angerd came to his senses quick enough and motioned the soldiers back again even. Lieutenant Tyler moved to the side of Gorch, thanking the Knight-Captain and taking over with a quick nod.

"Phelm," said Captain Angerd in dead tones over the incoherent snarls of Gorch, "you will answer the word of your superior officer, who does know the value and worth of your honour both on the field, and off of it."

The last part of the phrase had an odd flavour to it. Beowuuf and one or two others spotted the slight glitch in Angerd's voice - though none could work out the meaning except for Phelm whose face fell. Gorch looked oddly to Angerd instead, and Tyler subtly moved incase Gorch made for his Captain.

"I will not be tested!" said Phelm with renewed vigour, "I will not have my honour questioned so!"

"Then swear upon your honour you have done no wrong," said the Duranese Knight-Captain again, pushing the weakness he had spotted.

"I am Torad Phelm! I swear that-"

"Torad Phelm did not come out of the Commander's compound last night!" yelled Gorch, "that thing is a liar!"

"Oh," said Lieutenant Tyler, his eyes widening for a moment. His exclaimation had been spoken softly to himself, but had carried in an unfortunate drop in the noise at that moment. Angerd flicked his eyes briefly to meet his Lieutenant's. Phelm shrank again, taking a step backwards. His voice fell into itself.

"Upon my honour-" started Phelm.

"I had heard the rumour," started Tyler to Angerd, "I assumed it a spiteful attack on the Commander, or if true then his wife would have possessed better-"

"Tyler, hold your words," said Angerd in a whip-like exclaimation of his own and glare before pinning Phelm again with his eyes. Beowuuf noted with amusement the confusion in some of the outsiders in the group, and the dawning realisation in the Sommlending soldiers. Gorch suddenly stopped. He appeared both relieved and disgusted in equal measure.

"I will not speak of any matters, my honour-" started Phelm in a smaller voice, but an indrawn breath from his commander cut Phelm off and the solder wilted further still. Beowuuf looked at the expressions of the people around. He assumed the Commander of this camp was a well-respected leader, making time for those under his command and Sommerlund at the expense of his home life. Beowuuf felt an odd certainty, one he hated as he had no idea where the intuitions came from, that Angerd perhaps even tried to base his own command on that commander. Angerd's loyalties had been split between his commander and one of his men in this matter, and the guilt and rage he must feel in turn would see Phelm nailed if the man made a wrong move now.

Apparently, Phelm recognised this and his eyes were cast down. He could not look around, not to Gorch nor to his commander. "I am not a Helghast," said the man sadly.

"I believe the tent knows exactly who you are now," said Angerd quietly, "pray that balances to mean nothing will leave this tent." Phelm quickly looked up shaking.

"Do I not remember that particular offence counting as treason in times of war?" asked Beowuuf inspite of himself, unable to stop the jib despite the looks this generated from many including Angerd.

"Knight-Commander...Tamas-" started Angerd, saying Beowuuf's full name as revealed as if to remind himself to be civil.

"Beowuuf is fine," snapped Beowuuf sharply, surprising himself and Angerd. Beowuuf took the cue and walked forward. Phelm flinched and glared daggers at Beowuuf, but was still pinned by the looks from all around. He stared with deadly intent at Beowuuf instead, and Beowuuf met those eyes with his own red ones neutrally as the wolf sliced the man's hand with the bluesteel blade. Phelm winced, and glanced at his own hand but otherwise there was no reaction - the blood flowed freely, dripping then spotting the ground without change.

Phelm did not make a move to tend to his hand, nor did the Sommlending around him. The Dessi mage looked around the room in shock. Beowuuf, when he caught the man's eye, smply shrugged. The mage moved forward, pulling a small part of his sleeve free and bound Phelm's hand. Phelm allowed himself to be guided backwards, and with deliberate movements the three guarding soldiers allowed him to pass then stood back into positon with their backs to him.

"Now that unpleasantness is over," said Bif at large from the side of the group, pointing at Konnyn, "can we now get to the business of securing this Helghast!"

[eviltb]

Eshnar

“So what do we do with this key, scribe?”

The NAK eviltb paced impatiently back and forth as the scribe Remoire cleaned the black gunk from the newly-recovered teleport key.

“I am unsure as yet”, replied Remoire, turning the key over in his hands. “The Elder Magi gave me some instruction on these keys, however my original was lost in the accursed place. This key is similar and should serve us well, we simply need to activate it…”

Remoires' voice trailed off as he spoke. He had not expected this, not expected to take what Barraka had said so literally. He turned the key over and over in his hands. Indeed it was a teleport key, but it was twisted and tarnished from its time inside the Generals heart. He knew how to activate his key, but the method taught to him by the Elder Magi was simply failing him. Could the key have been corrupted, perhaps? In that case, maybe it could not be activated by one such as him.

Remoire stood and faced eviltb. Clutching the key in one hand he stepped forward and spoke.

“This key cannot be used in the way it was supposed to be. Something has happened to it that prevents me from using it.” The scribe held out the key, offering it to the man in front of him. “You may be no Helghast, but you are also no servant of Good, that I can be sure. We have not the time for me to question you about your origin, so please….take the key.”

With that Remoire released his hold on the key. It barely fell an inch as eviltb whipped out his hand and grabbed it. The key was sticky still from the Generals heart, yet it weighed no more than a dagger. The NAK turned it over in his hands, but to him it appeared to be a normal key.

“Very well, how do I start the activa-“

eviltb was cut short by a crackling around the key. The object leapt suddenly out of the Hunters hand and slammed into the ground. Both men stood staring at the key, as it twisted itself in the ground, as if it was turning an invisible lock. Remoire looked at eviltb, and suddenly found he couldn’t move. The Dark Hunter too, seemed to be rooted to the spot. Their eyes firmly fixed on the key, the object turned once more then shattered into a thousands tiny fragments of light. Both men jerked as they were pulled through the ground into darkness.

It took a while for either man to come to. As each became accustomed to their surroundings, they could see that had indeed been physically taken somewhere. The power-shield that surrounded Eshnar still cast its dim glow overhead, however it was lesser here then other parts of the city. Before them stood the reason; a massive archway stretched up into sky before them, extending almost as high as the power-shield itself. The archway itself was completely black inside. Remoire stood aghast as he realized what lay in the archway.

“A Shadow Gate….”

The scribe had, of course, heard of Shadow Gates, but had yet to hear of them reaching this size and magnitude. eviltb was himself taken aback by the sheer size of the portal in front of him. So, he thought, this is the heart of Eshnar. He could not help but to finger the trinket Xog has empowered before he left. It was cool to the touch, which indicated that for the moment he was in no immediate danger.

“The gate is still”. Remoire spoke, breaking the eerie silence. “We should continue on and find what controls this Gate.”

Surrounding the Shadow Gate where dozens of giak corpses, their faces twisted in agony. Remoire and eviltb stepped carefully through the bodies. The scribe stopped to examine one.

“It looks like they were literally scared to death! I did not believe such a thing could do this to a giak….”

eviltb looked at the corpses and sneered. “Giaks are nothing more than drones, mass produced to serve a purpose. Whatever that purpose was involves this arch. Obviously they failed and so will we if we do not give it some proper attention!”

Remoire cast a glance at the Hunter. Clearly he cared not that these giaks were dead, more he was interested in the means of their demise. If such a thing could scare a giak to death, thought the scribe, then it is not something either of us would want to discover. Still, he had found what he was looking for, what the Magi had sent him to deal with. He reached around to his back and pulled out a leather satchel. Undoing the straps, Remoire pulled out what to eviltb looked like a large crystal.

“What is that?” asked the Hunter, warily. Remoire was quick to catch his companions’ unease.

“Hopefully”, he replied, “this device will see to it that this Gate is never used again. It will take some time to properly place and activate though.”

“Then what do we do? I hope you have a plan of escape?”

Remoire grinned, almost apologetically. “It looks like our key was one-way, as is the nature of such devices. Our only hopes of escape now are the very legs that support us. Once I set this charge, Dark One, we shall need to run.”

eviltb looked with scorn at the scribe, but there was nothing he could do. The power-shield was too far away for him to make an escape via the way he had entered. At this point, he cared not for reporting back to Xog. Surely this could not have been the reason I was sent here by My Dark God, thought the Hunter. He started to pace around the archway, looking for more clues and reasons.

Remoire removed one of the longer shards from the crystal and set it on the floor. Both he and the Hunter were right next to the Shadow Gate now, its total blackness inking out any light that dared approach it. The scribe had tried to think how such a thing had been constructed in this place. There had been no previous record of a Shadow Gate appearing in Eshnar. Indeed, as far as he recollected, the only natural Gate in Sommerlund was in Toran. An artificial Gate such of this size could not have been built either easily or by natural resources.

Holding the crystal in one hand, Remoire looked for the best spot to place it. Ideally, he would scale the arch and place it on the keystone right at the top. However, the arch itself was made of stone so smooth that scaling it would be practically impossible without the aid of magic. He decided then to place the crystal as close as possible to one of the ground-level keystones. Here, given enough force from the crystal and a little luck, the arch – and the Gate it held - would collapse.

Having made his decision, Remoire tucked the crystal under the keystone as far as he could. He picked up the removed shard, twisted it round in his hand, and started to re-insert it. It had almost clicked into place, when he heard a cry from behind the Gate. Leaving the shard, he stood and hurried round. There, crouched down was eviltb, holding in his arms what appeared to be the body of a human girl. Her long, black hair ran down over her face, which was twisted into the same visage as the giaks. Her cold eyes stared straight out in recognition, as if she had almost recognised her killer.

“That poor girl. It’s as if she almost knew what was coming for her. Best leave her here, Dark One. She was a menace while alive, that which killed her may have very well saved us all.” The scribe turned and breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected her to appear once he had reached the heart, and was more than a little glad to find his job already done for him. Remoire also neglected to add that whatever had killed may have also replaced her, and could potentially be more dangerous than the girl.

As the scribe walked back to his crystal, eviltb stayed with the girl. There was something about her, something which made the Hunter feel at ease. Maybe I was sent to find you, he thought, letting his mind drift.

…chaos…[/size]

The whisper was brief, but it was there. eviltb stopped and looked around at the sound of the voice in his head.

…chaos…[/size]

Again it was there. He placed the girls’ body on the ground and jumped to his feet.

…chaos…[/size]

Again! He drew his blade and put us his psychic defence.

…chaos…[/size]

eviltb tracked around the arch, but no-one other than the scribe could be seen. He stepped back as he looked around and his eyes landed on the girls’ corpse.

…chaos…[/size]

Is it you?, he said, reaching out with his mind. He sheathed his blade and crouched down next to the girl again.

…chaos…[/size]

He cradled her once more, lifting her head up, turning it so he could see her eyes. This was surprisingly easy to do, as one would have expected rigor mortis to set in by now.

…chaos…[/size]

eviltb looked at the girls’ eyes, blinked and looked again. Was she crying?

…chaos…[/size]

The whisper was there now, it was her. She was trying to speak, something in her mind was trying to break out.

…chaos…[/size]

Tell me,the hunter asked,tell me what you see.

“Chaos.”

This final word was spoken from the girls’ mouth. Visions slammed against eviltbs mind. He saw the girl, standing amongst an army of giaks. The Gate was open. It swirled and thundered in its archway. The girl was laughing. The giaks were howling. The Gate continued it malevolent vortex. The vision changed. The girl was no longer laughing. The giaks lay all around, faces twisted. The girl tried to run. She couldn’t. She stared out in front of her. Staring at the Gate. The Gate twisted, boomed and crackled. She had lost it, lost control. She couldn’t run. Couldn’t fight. It was here. It was free.

eviltb screamed as he pulled away. The girls’ body slumped on the floor, lifeless and still. All was quiet again. The NAK picked himself up and made his way back to Remoire, who had just finished clicking the crystal shard in place.

“There, it is done,” he said, “we must go.”

Remoire started to hurry off, but stopped when he saw the hunter was not following him.

“Dark One,” placing a hand on eviltbs shoulder, “we must go now, if we are to have a chance of saving ourselves.”

eviltb took the hand and twisted it round, spinning the surprised scribe onto the floor. Brandishing a knife, he pressed it against Remoires’ throat.

“Who was she!!” spat the NAK through gritted teeth. Remoire swallowed as he tried to move away from the blade.

“Now is not the time, child of Darkness. If you want answers, we must leave now. I will reveal all to you later, but right now we must go!!”

eviltb paused for a split-second then relinquished his grip. Remoire stood to his feet and dusted himself down.

“This way”, he said, pointing towards the distance.

The two ran, trying to put as much distance between them and the arch as possible. Suddenly there was a loud clunk and Remoire pulled on eviltbs sleeve.

“In here! Get down!!” Remoire dragged the Dark Hunter into a nearby building and crouched down with his arms over his head. eviltb was still racked from his mental experience, but managed to cover himself to seconds before the crystal went off.

A massive explosion ripped through Eshnar, as if the entire city was being ripped from its foundations. The keystone of the archway cracked and started to bend in on itself. As it slowly began to weave, the Gate itself started to flicker. But before the vortex could gather enough speed, the keystone cracked completely and broke. The Gate started flickering wildly as the arch fell, which crashed to the city floor, spewing dust and giak parts everywhere. With all the energy contained in the Gate, it had to go somewhere. The only place it could go was back on itself. The Gate imploded with such a force that it began sucking other things in with it. Bricks, mortar, giak bodies, nothing could escape the grip of the implosion.

In the makeshift cover, Remoire and eviltb clung to whatever they could to avoid getting sucked into the vortex. But it was too much. Both men were scooped up by the sheer force off the wind, as the entire heart of Eshnar was swallowed up by the vortex.


****************************************************************************


From his lookout on the edge of the Maaken range, Xog stood as he witnessed the spectacle below. The power-shield surrounding Eshnar had gone, its power destroyed. He grinned maniacally at himself and turned to face his legion of gourgaz.

“MY FOLLOWERS!!!”

Xogs voice boomed across the range. The gourgaz before him howled and screamed in response.

“The time is now!! We must take back what is rightfully ours!! The world of Men has taken far too much from this world! Today, we pay them back in their own blood!!!”

Xog raised his arms to the sky and sent pillars of crimson flame spewing into the sky. The Doomstone crackled with power at its Masters touch. The gourgaz below raised their banners and started beating their drums. Their time was now. Xog would lead them to victory. The time of the Darklords reign of Magnamund was at hand.

Xog would be victorious.

[Beowuuf]

Command tent deep in Camp Seventeen, close to Eshnar

Beouwuf remembered the good times, a mere minute or two ago, with Phelm and his protestations of honour. They were at least more passionate, more flawed, and were actually being attacked by his accuser.

"I do not recognise this meeting with any legal validity," said Konnyn with perfect diction, "Unlike Phelm, I have nothing to hide but I see no value to this sham, except to cast mud on me before I have even taken on my new posting."

"I concur," said Bif unhelpfully, and Beowuuf did not know whether to laugh and roll his eyes, or snarl in frustration. Captain Angerd had no such inability in decision.

"This is a direct order from your superior," pointed out Captain Angerd in a voice that should have brooked no disobedience. However, Beowuuf had felt the Captain tried too hard to be commanding while maintaining his old ties, and it obviously weakened him to many eyes.

"My posting is to the Commander's office itself," pointed out Konnyn, "so I think you are on shaky grounds to give me orders for a good - many - reasons." Konnyn's pointed delivery hit each word driving several points home.

"I am not without influence in the office," said Lieutenant Tyler, showing unaccustomed loyalty to his Captain and a note of anger. Perhaps it was merely at Konnyn himself, a junior non-commissioned officer about to gain more prestige.

"If that were true then you would not have been assigned where you were assigned, nursemaid to the Captain here," said Konnyn with disdain to the pair of them. "Your folly has not been forgotten by the Commander, Tyler."

Even Bif bristled at this. "You speak well for one who cannot prove his business last night," said Bif, turning on the soon to be Sergeant. "You also forget yourself speaking to a ranked officer - a flaw a Darklands agent could well make."

Konnyn turned with a crisp spin of the heel to round on his accuser. "These officers seem to have abandoned their oath and conspired to keep secrets from their commanding officer - from small details of the exact validity of the goings on in this tent to a larger matter of personal interest to the Commander himself and indeed those higher in the chain."

"That is true, but beside the point," said Bif, meeting the pointed thrusts with a single-minded focus, "You were not at the posting Captain Angerd himself asked me to find you at."

"And as has already been pointed out," said Konnyn gesturing to Talin, "soldiers move their positions many times. Especially ones with higher orders from higher authorities." Konnyn's sharp little inflections and dancing eyes gave the very real feeling of fencing with the slow methodical parries and thrusts of logic of Bif.

"Captain Angerd seemed to think it very important that you were at the position he asked you to be, made sure I checked on you specifically." Bif raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting that the Captain should set me up for suspicion so easily and specifically for a sham trial he was just the very next day to hold. You agree it is an odd coincidence?"

Bif paused for a moment. The rest of the tent seemed intent on the play of words between the two, though not all looks were interested - some were glares of building anger and frustration.

"I concur, logically it is a strange train of events to be coincidence." Bif flicked his eyes briefly to Angerd, but the Captain seemed unwilling to be baited by Konnyn. Lieutenant Tyler did flick his eyes to both Bif and Angerd though, shocked at the implications and lack of response. Beowuuf caught it all, but kept his main gaze fixed on Konnyn. Konnyn kept his gaze on Bif.

"And - you - agree," said Konnyn, three little beats of perfect annunciation, "the method for testing here is flawed, unproven, and inconclusive."

"That I have to agree with," said Bif again falling back a step metaphorically.

"In - point - of - fact," said Konnyn, his speech patterns his own but his method of arguing aping Bif's own debate style from earlier, "if I - or any other here - were truly suspected we would be detained with armed guard, under the Commander's own auspices, until a Brother of the Crystal Star could be found to verify the charge." Konnyn seemed to be firing the words directly at Bif's carefully crafted fortress of logic, knocking it down from the shaky foundation of trusting his captain's motives. Konnyn carried on with growing confidence and rhetoric. "This sham seems designed to obfuscate only, throwing out those already known to the Captain, revealing them as needed, a distraction to any real investigation. Does - this - not - seem - the - case?"

This time Konnyn's words were not parried, and there was no answering thrust. "It is unusual," said Bif, turning to face his Captain. Konnyn's eyes were still on Bif in triumph, and Beowuuf's eyes were still on Konnyn's.

Bif was almost bowled over as he turned to find his Captain closer than expected, and then before Bif could recover from the shock Angerd was passed Bif. The crack, though dull in the tent, still echoed around the enclosed space. Konnyn fell backwards on his rear in surprise, without much dignity and with his nose running with blood.

"I know all the men under my command, that is true!" bellowed Angerd, bending down into the face of the felled Sergeant. "Who do you think put forth your name to the commander, Konnyn? Who do you think covered your shame you poorly hide and positioned you away from any harm you could be to yourself and your fellow soldier?"

"Captain!" said a voice, but it was Bron coming forward, clearly shocked by his Captain's actions as Konnyn's blood flowed freely surely marking him as genuine. Lieutenant Tyler took a step forward aswell. Despite the shock on Tyler's face, he held a restraining arm on Bron's shoulder. All were shocked, as Angerd's usually stiff and calm demeanour had cracked under the pressure of the events with Phelm and now Konnyn.

"This soldier," spat Angerd, turning to Bron, "was assigned as look-out. I had hoped to be proved wrong, proved there was some spark of decency in this man that has dared to stand shoulder to shoulder with fine men. That protecting his fellows against the ugly death that had already visited four of the men under my command would be greater than his own self worth." Bron seemed to take a step back and be silent when reminded of the fallen.

Angerd withdrew his weapon quickly, point leveled suddenly under Konnyn's neck. "At least Talin had, as it seems, a reason for his cowardice. You never have, and all that remains is to discover if you revealed yourself once again last night as false, or if you are instead the murderer of brave men who finally picked a deserving target!"

"Captain!" said Armadalus this time, and Angerd seemed to snap out of himself as the Knight gave him a look. Captain Angerd looked to the drawn blade then around to the shocked room. Angerd even had a look to Konnyn himself, although the man was in no fit state to receive it. The sergeant filled with disdain had become like a small child, shaking at the violence and words, tears misting his eyes.

Captain Angerd took a step back, the sword falling to his side. All in the tent breathed easier, as Armadalus bent down to help Konnyn to his feet. The soldier seemed grateful, almost recovering some of his earlier smug countenance despite the situation.

That lasted only a moment, for as soon as the man was upright, Armadalus had the man's arms pinned brutally behind his back. Beowuuf was already moving forward with the bluesteel blade, for Armadalus had already shot the wolf a meaningful look.

"What, unhand me!" said Konnyn with one last demand. Captain Angerd looked away but made no move to help. The rest looked on prepared incase something should happen. Simey remembered to to keep Bif in view.

Beowuuf focused his whole attention on moving safely in his odd gliding gait, and took some small pleasure in the terrified look Konnyn give him as the point of the bluesteel weapon pressed below his nose. Blood still trickled, and ran down the blade. There was no reaction from blood nor man beyond that expected. Beowuuf flicked the blade clean and ensured the splashes remained blood-like afterwards on the ground.

"You can release him - perhaps even allow him to clean himself up, in whatever manner he needs," said Beowuuf.

"All this proves is our barbarism when confronted with an unknown evil," said Bif to the group. However, Bif perhaps realised that he was now the center of attention and suspicion. He crossed his arms, and made to speak as he obviously felt he had to point out the invalidity of the test again.

"Wait," said Beowuuf, turning and walking awkwardly forward quickly, "you argue there is no point to the test?"

Bif seemed surprised at the attempt at reason given the less than mental solution to the problem of Konnyn. However, he nodded.

"You argue," continued Beowuuf quickly, "that there is no logical reason for it to work - that even if the person tested were false, it would still show nothing?"

Bif paused a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Then," said Beowuuf letting his breathe out as he came to the final stretch, "is there any logical argument against undertaking the test, given that by your reasoning you cannot incriminate yourself if you are innocent?"

Bif had to pause. He seemed to consider the comment for a moment, and looked almost hesitantly around the room. At length though, he had to concede the point. "No," he said, the word drawn out still thoughtfully, "logically, the point is that the test is harmful if used as proof of anything, not that the test is harmful itself."

"Then," asked Beowuuf, "unless you believe I am a Helghast, in which case I would reveal myself by trying any tricks here, is there any reason not to humour me and be tested? At least, until you can work out a logical way for us to find the Helghast?"

Bif paused again, looking again to the room. Beowuuf held out the edge of the bluesteel blade, stetching over to Bif. Bif shrugged, and reaching out for the blade in return...

[Beowuuf]

Command tent deep in Camp Seventeen, close to Eshnar

The sword was yanked out of Beowuuf's hand. Bif's inhuman scream of pain became malicious glee as a blast of mindforce knocked Beowuuf bakcwards. The Helghast threw the sword away and kicked Beowuuf's leg from under him so the wolf collapsed painfully.

Beowuuf grabbed out on instinct, managing to catch the neck of the spawn. The wolf pulled himself back upright, in time to see the creature alter its form to...

"I know you," said Beowuuf puzzled, looking at the face of a Giak as the creature squirmed to free itself. Beowuuf squeezed tighter with his pink-skinned hand and the Giak's flesh began to blister under the infernal grip. "Riddle, something like that?" asked Beowuuf, trying to remember through the fog.

"The Night Descends," said the Giak, its head nodding happily at being recognised even as its body detached and dropped off from underneath. "The Broken Pledge Endures," it explained as Beowuuf tilted his head. "The Shell Breaks - flee the Burning Ship."

* * * *

"I fell!" said Beowuuf, coming to his senses and finding it disturbingly easy to shake the sickening vision. His body still did not register pain with his mind, so the blow to his head only produced a sick taste in his mouth and blurred vision.

"What happened?" asked Armadalus, moving forward to help while the rest of the crowd were stunned - including Bif who almost lost a hand during the slip. However, the answer was obvious as Beowuuf slipped again, his leg twisting at an unfortunate angle.

"Your leg!" said Bif, and Beowuuf shot him a neutral look.

"Well spotted," said Beowuuf to Bif. To Armadalus, Beowuuf said, "if you can keep me upright and brace against me, I can probably get it back well enough for now-"

"Someone should look at that!" said the Dessi mage coming forward.

"All in good time, we still have a minor matter to deal with," said Beowuuf. The wolf felt bad he took such amusement in the expression of the mage, at first bewildered at the comment then very obviously sickened as Beowuuf without care slammed his leg against the ground to push the joint back into position.

"Does it not hurt?" asked Armadalus quietly.

"Possibly, my body has shut off all sensation - we need to end this quickly," hissed Beowuuf in equally quiet reply. Armadalus took a step backwards. Beowuuf was glad to find that he remained upright without the support. Bif took his cue, hesitantly, to come forward. Unlike the Bif in the odd vision, this Bif simply winced. The blood dripped cleanly around the blade's profile and dropped to the tent's floor without incident.

"This proves nothing," said Bif with a shrug.

"Captain - what do we do now?" asked Bron, still hovering close to his Captain. Captain Angerd had returned to his senses, although he had obviously been distracted by all the previous events and had not fully thought out the consequences of having only one pair of suspects. However, both Bron and his silent accuser came to the same thought at the same time. Bron's accuser, one who had faded into the background during the various contentions, now found his voice a moment before Bron remembered the situation himself.

"That man is the Helghast!" said the quivering voice of the quiet soldier, almost cracking.

"Him, he is the Helghast! Take him!" said Bron overlapping words with his accuser. The two stood facing off. Angerd and Tyler were close to Bron, but otherwise the rest were still spread out enough to form a semi-circle easily.

"Fern, is it not?" asked Angerd in alarm. The captain tried to bias himself looking towards the two, but Beouwuf couldn't help but notice he was closer to Bron and facing off more against Fern.

"Yes, Captain!" said Fern, the young soldier drawing himself to attention at being recognised, but that just made his worry and anger manifest more. "Move away sir!" Fern warned.

"Bron, stand down," said Tyler, realising the danger. Bron had made a move forward, as he obviously felt the slayer of his friend Henrik was now infront of him trying to weasel an escape. If, of course, Bron was not the slayer himself.

"Fern," said Angerd, speaking quickly realising the danger himself and apparently cursing he had not anticipated Bron's potential reaction, "why do you accuse Bron?"

"Because!" said Fern passionately, drawing himself to his full if small height, and managing to find his voice with difficulty, "Bron found Henrik first! I saw him!" Fern looked around the room, and seemed put out by the blank looks.

"Private Fern," said Captain Angerd in a reasonable tone of voice, "we already know Bron found Henrik."

"Indeed," chimed in Tyler, "it was his shift change, I myself ordered the man to find his friend."

Fern seemed to shrink slightly, but rallied with his voice cracking more in nerves and uncertainty. "But...the Helghast has been killing the group that tracked him! It obviously studied each of the group and has been going through their identities one by one! Bron was in the group from the start! And he killed Holst!"

Captain Angerd seemed to wince, as if realising that Fern, too, had reason to hate the Helghast that would colour his own thought processes.

"If this is the 'evidence', why are we wasting time...Captain," said Bron suddenly remembering himself. It was obvious Bron wished this young sldier proved innocent so the hunt could continue anew, or the young 'soldier' torn apart.

"Stand easy, Bron," said Angerd with an odd tone, standing between the two with less bias.

"Captain!" said Fern, "The Helghast has been making his way through the group, using Bron's identity each time and others when needed!"

"Captain!" said Bron, not annunciating the remaining sentiment, shaking with emotion.

"Stand easy men," said Angerd, with a note of finality. He slowly looked between one man and another. All in the tent had biased that way too. Although it was possible they had missed the Helghast, it was also very, very probably one man was false. The sudden, real logicstics of capturing and defeating such a powerful foe seemed to dawm on them all, Angerd more so. "Beowuuf," he called, though he still looked to the two men. One he had served with and may well have had great sympathy for that he had needed to mask behind his shined breastplate and Captain's badge. And the other man, if true, was a young soldier who apparently looked up to his captain, looked for his captain to support him as the young soldier fought with his own loss.

"Fern," said Tyler, still biased to Bron through coming forward to support his Captain as was proper, "I was with Bron during much of the hunts and afterwards...I assure you the man feels as you feel..." Tyler had an odd tone now. Was he testing Fern and Fern's emotion to see some small reaction that would prove the man false?

"Captain," said Beowuuf quickly before Angerd could break his commander's stance to take his Lieutenant to task, "what do you need?"

Angerd looked slowly left and right, but seemed to make some form of decision. His final gaze briefly flicked to Fern then quickly moved off, not fast enough for Beowuuf not to spot it. However, Angerd looked to Bron and deliberately faced that man. "Beowuuf, give me your sword, if you please."

Beowuuf paused, looking with surprise at the sideways outstretched hand of the Captain. The man still did not look at Beowuuf, fixing on Bron and apparently also deliberately not looking at Fern either. "Of course," said Beowuuf at large, lifting his own arm to hand the sword over.

As Angerd half turned to take hold of the blade, Beowuuf sliced it upwards opening the man's palm. His shriek and reaction of intense pain was too great to be mere surprise nor proportional to the wound. The Vakeros had already taken a step backwards, not thinking of the danger of his weak leg but luck was with him. The leg stayed true and Beowuuf was adjusted, blade lifted high for the killing blow.

"Beowuuf, no!" said Lieutenant Tyler, darting forward and grabbing the wolf's wrist. Angerd fell backwards clutching his head. Beowuuf turned with shock at Tyler's action, snarling and trying to free himself.

The Dessi mage was already falling to the ground, a vicious crushing blow to the temple felling him. 'Bron' had moved fast, and his red-glowing eyes swept the room with malevolence. Ths allowed Angerd to recover, though he needed the aid of Tyler to stand, and he still shook from the psychic shock.

"Captain, stand your men down or I will shred the mind of the first who comes close to me!" said the Helghast, and the shaking Captain's eyes widened at the threat.

"Stand...down, men," said Angerd weakly to the mocking leer of Bron.

"Oh, I would make you pay," said the Helghast to Fern, baring his teeth, "for your stupidity revealing my latest guise by accident! But there is no need...no need at all." The Helghast moved cautiously but did not seem very worried about the room's occupants, not even Beowuuf who his eyes kept sweeping, now the mage was lying on the floor.

The Helghast pointed to Simey. "The Doom, your Doom, in your mind's eye!" he mocked. "One who used to wear many faces now wears one!" Simey took a step back as if being accused of something, but the Helghast carried on, in a gutteral crowing tone. "One who used to be on the outskirts now holds in his hand one of the Flaming Jewels of Agarash!"

"A Doomstone," said Tyler revealing his learning, and the Helghast cackled in evil joy.

"A recovered dark stone for a recovered Dark Lord," said the Helghast, looking to the room, "Xog returns, mortals, and the Darklands will know power again while your lands will know the sword and flame!"

Beowuuf felt a small growl build in his throat.

"Captain Angerd, hold your men and guests back. Especially your men. Remember, I will flay the mind of the first to make a move towards me!"

Captain Angerd looked around the room, to Phelm, Talin and Konnyn perhaps feeling their shame. To Fern and Tyler perhaps feeling their looks. The Captain nodded.

None really realised what had happened until the Captain screamed. He had began running without warning, withdrawing his weapon but not finishing the move. The Helghast was shocked but reacted swiftly, using the full force of his mind against the presented foe.

Beowuuf started to move forward, fending off reluctance in his muscles, but there was no need. The Dessi mage had apparently managed to cling to consciousness, and at the moment of distraction he raised his staff and called forth an elemental of fire to enclose the Helghast.

Angerd's scream stopped as the Helghast's scream began, a tormented inhuman howl that shook all those in the tent. Angerd fell to the ground in a foetal shape. The Captain was sobbing, and Beowuuf realised the man's mind was possible gone forever. His foe fell to its knees instead. The form of Bron shifted, thankfully, and the skeletal form of the Helghast remained wreathed in fire.

The Helghast itself sobbed in agony, but none seemed to care nor feel sympathy. This might have had much to do with the felled Captain. The Dessi mage did not dismiss the magical flames, even though the Helghast was obviously in the throws of death. Certainly none but Beowuuf walked forward to stand by the Helghast, the wolf apparently heedless of the flames. Beowuuf just stood watching, with his bluesteel sword held by his side.

Finally, the gathered men shifted uncomfortably. It was up to Armadalus, who had been distasteful of the spectacle from the start, to give the group's feelings a voice. "End it, Beowuuf!"

The wolf creature remained standing over the burning shape, the blackened shape lifting its arms weakly as it to claw at the furred figure regarding it.

"Beowuuf!" snapped Armadalus again, coming forward.

The wolf almost shrugged, the blade slicing cleanly through the Helghast's disintergrating neck. The flames burned to nothing quickly as the Helghast's body and head dissolved. Any further recriminations Armadalus may have made at the wolf's reticence would have died on his lips as the cause was revealed. The wolf's body followed through with the slice and fell to the ground heavily. Beowuuf's mouth was bloody from where he had been biting his lip deeply, and his unconscious body was still spasming and shaking as sensation had apparently returned. Armadalus and Simey moved towards the wolf, and after a hesitation the Dessi mage and the Durenese Knight-Captain followed suit.

With no further hesitation, and to a man, those who had once been under the Captain Angerd's command flocked to the side of the still whimpering man.

[Beowuuf]

Overlooking Camp Seventeen, close to Eshnar, a short while later

"A sad end to a noble man."

"What will they do with...with him."

"There are orders of priests that may look after him when he is conveyed back to Sommerlund."

"We could have offered to take him with us to Holmgard, if that is where you are bound on going to."

"I am welcomely surprised by you, Simey! I did not suspect such a humanitarian streak within you. However, I think some of his men will wish to do that themselves."

"Do you think Lieutenant...I mean Acting-Captain Tyler will make a suitable replacement?"

"I think we should ensure our...guest...is secured to his horse. For obvious reasons his mount is skittish, and he is in no position to correct himself. Perhaps his condition is for the best, I would still prefer to confirm his tales of himself. Certainly, discover more of the 'Magnamund Knights' Council' of which you and the Durese Knight-Captain - Clover was it not? - spoke of. Certainly, I think Holmgard is our best destination for many reasons."

"He seems secu-ARGGH!"

"I can secure myself," said Beowuuf fully coming too and finding himself stretched out on what, by the odd swaying, he would have assumed a boat but realised by the smell was a horse.

Sir Simey's shocked face was amusing, but Beowuuf felt instantly guilty and lifted himself up to explain and apologise. "Fast bod-ARGH!" Colours swam and Beowuuf came too later still, realising he was more firmly anchored on his horse. The swaying had stopped. The smell, to his delicate nose, had not.

"What time is it?" asked Beowuuf at length trying to shut his nose down, and also tryng to invoke the previous state of not feeling his body's demands he had enjoyed earlier. Neither worked.

"Oh, you join us again, I would not advise movement this time," said the voice of Armadalus.

"It is almost dawn," said Simey, shifting his mount a step back not forward, "we thought it best to get an early start. We will be moving off soon."

Beowuuf rolled his head to the side to look back over the camps. The three knights were obviosuly still near Camp Seventeen, for its now familiar flag was visible flapping in the orange light of the rising sun.

"I can smell something," said Beowuuf. He tried to raise himself and then snarled in pain and fell back down.

"Sorry, the umm...rump was...well, the rump was the better place to rest your head," explained Simey inspite of himself, not sure what he was justifying. However, Armadalus shifted too.

"The light is not correct," said Armadalus to Simey. The orange light was slowly crawling across the horion in the wrong way, it was not getting brighter at any point with the rising of the new sun, just moving sideays equally bright.

"Fire," said Beowuuf. He was not looking, he was still arched uncomfortably in pain. However, words in a recent vision and mocking words from the Helghast resolved themselves in his brain easily.

"I do not see-" started Simey, but Armadalus cut him short when the Sommlending knight started moving his horse.

"We must get back to the camp and warn them," said Armadalus.

"No!" said Beowuuf, lifting himself up as much as he could in spite of the pain. "We need to get to Holmgard as soon as possible!"

Armadalus did not have a chance to ask Beowuuf what he meant as the wolf fell back down grunting. However, with only a quick glance to Simey, Armadalus apparently realised something and changed the orientation of his mount. It was left to Simey, trying to catch up on the thought process, to take a hold of Beowuuf's horse.

"Sommerlund is invaded. Xog is moving," muttered Beowuuf as he lost consciousness again, apparently reading Armadalus's mind. Even though it was not happening yet, Beowuuf could already see the flag of Camp Seventeen - the coat of arms of Holmgard behind a three masted ship - burning in his mind's eye as he drifted off.

[Beowuuf]

Guildhall of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, Toran

Duman walked the halls with strange apprehension. It was disquietening for his mother had been a mage in these halls, and usually they provided comfort when he returned.

Duman had wrestled long with his conscience, but as captain of the New Day he owed it to his crew to take them only where he felt was in their interests. Each of the core crew had pledged themselves to the cause of the Brotherhood. Duman's second in command, his brother Dyvan, felt that deeper than even Duman - even though Dyvan had been happily working elsewhere away from the sea until his brother had called in favours from their younger days.

Perhaps Duman simply felt disquiet because he had none of his crew with him, not even his brother. Duman did not have the ties to the Brotherhood otherwise, the knowledge of friends and family close. Duman and Dyvan's mother was long dead, and Duman had no real contacts in the Brotherhood.

Kollosco - the previous captain of what Duman now felt was his ship - had proved himself a false friend of the Brotherhood and betrayed crew and cause. Kollosco had been the one with ties here. Master Andras, Kollosco's friend whom Duman had pledged himself and his crew to, was not a known quantity to Duman. Duman's mother had taught Andras allegedly. Many could probably make that claim in both directions.

Sadly, Duman was beginning to have doubts about many of the words of Andras. Duman had been forced to keep the true details of his mission quiet from his crew, and report directly to Andras alone. Duman did not think himself the deepest or quickest thinker, but he prided himself on his ability to remain true to himself and his comrades.

The actions he had undertaken recently left him uneasy, and he knew he needed to confront Andras, seek assurance or....no, he just needed to seek assurance. There was a reason for everything, a good reason.

Duman wished he had allowd himself to take his brother with him. Duman wished more mages had come to meet him other than just Brother Bulanis. The mage had spoken no more than pleasantries, swiftly guiding Duman through empty corridors to Andras's personal study.

"Duman!" said Master Andras upon the man's entrance to the room. The mage stood up, with a brittle smile on his face. However, was it Duman's over-active imagination that the smile did not come to his eyes?

"Master Andras," said Duman with the due respect his mother had taught him in his childhood.

Andras waved away the formalities with a small hand gesture. "Please, call me Marca, with all that has happened and all that you have pledged, we should not stand on ceremony." Andras then looked over Duman's shoulder. "Thank you, Bulanis," he said, and Duman heard the door behind him close.

"Master Andras, I would prefer to-" started Duman, but then registered a small sound after the door had been shut - the sound of a key in a lock. Turning around, Duman realised that the thanks Andras gave Bulanis was because Bulanis had apparently ushered Brother Childers in to the room before leaving it himself. Duman then realised he had not infact stopped talking at the sight of Childers, and that both Duman's own voice and the shuffling of Childers forwards had been cut off with unnatural silence.

Duman turned to Andras to utter a silent, angry question. Master Andras's face now matched his eyes, neither were smiling. Andras instead gestured in to the air...

Meanwhile, Bulanis stood with his head bowed troubled. Bulanis then shook himself from it, realising he did not wish to look suspicious standing at the door. The ache from the Silence spell faded making it easier to adopt a neutral, open expression.

The door moved without accompanying sound, and Bulanis took a half step to mask the sight of the moving doorknob. The door shuddered at Bulanis's back silently, and then was stilled. Bulanis stood, looking left and right with feinted non-chalance. Sudden;y his eyes widened and he jumped as he heard a smash of a window. Andras's private room was greater than thirty feet wide - apparently somone or something had managed to smash the furthest window.

Bulanis stood torn, but heard the words of the Net spell he had started muttering in practise said in quick, low tones. There was a scraping noise that suddenly ended, and Bulanis, his heart still pounding, looking left and right again then slowly settled back against the door. He was too pre-occupied to stop the scowl on his face from showing, but luckily no one came by.

Much time passed. Eventually the Silence spell dissipated, but there was no loud noises audible. As Bulanis's ears adjusted, he could hear low talk - Andras's voice speaking or reciting words. Bulanis was prepared to renew the Silence spell, but there was no utterances from Duman or anyth-

No, anyone else.

There was eventually a scrapng noise as if chairs moving back, and steps were heard comign to the door. Bulanis unlocked the door and stepped backwards, again the Net spell in his mind and ready to spring to his lips.

Duman became visible in the doorway, perhaps paler than before, and with a look a thousand times darker than before, but otherwise apparently the same man. Only his hesitation before he moved as if he were in battle with himself, his hooded look, and his reluctance to look at Bulanis as he passed spoke of a difference in the man.

Duman walked quickly down the hall away.

"Should I go after him?" asked Bulanis quietly to Master Andras as the man, too, appreared at the door. Master Andras said nothing, his look equally as dark. Too, he displayed the unusual trait of hesitation in his movement. However, he shook his head to the question, and with a tilt of the head indicated for Bulanis to enter the room.

"I heard the breaking of glass earlier?" asked Bulanis, feeling a deeper chill if that were possible upon seeing Childers with a pale face, sitting down and looking concerned.

"Thank you for reminding me," said Andras, walking to the window. Luckily, the window was on the far side and was not likely to visible. Still, a noise was a noise. Andras pulled out shards of the pane, shivering at the cool air, so that to a casual eye the frame alone would not draw attention and still seemed to hosue an intact window.

The window also looked across to the gate. Andras could therefore observe Duman leaving. Andras tensed as the fugure of Duman hesistated, and upon some odd instinct looked up in the direction of Andras. However, then the figure of Duman kept walking.

"Something is wrong?" asked Bulanis, seeing Childers still unsettled and observing Andras's apparently relief in mundane action yet tense stance.

"Something has...changed. And not through the questioning of Duman, although the timing is fortuitous, in its way," said Andras, turning away from the window and absent-mindedly sucking a cut on his finger. "It appears, my dear Bulanis, that the wolf creature Beowuuf still lives. And it appears his actions have introduced...a complication."

Bulanis felt an even deeper chill at the inflection Master Andras put to the word. Bulanis would not find any comfort in the explaination that followed.