"Griffin," I say, looking over the boulder behind which I was stationed
during the fight with the giant. "Why are you hacking at the giant? He's dead 
already" My eyes scan over to were Damon is helping Shayla step through the 
rubble of a collapsed section of the outer wall of the castle. Shayla's 
traveling cloak stirs around her on the lazy breeze drifting through the 
courtyard.
	Griffin looks up from his position at the giant's calf and stops the
cutting of his two-handed sword for a moment, the giant's blood already soaking 
into his chainmail. "Hasashki, his tendons will make great bow strings. You can 
use them for lots of other things too."
	"Such as??" Derek says, stepping out from behind the southern section
of the outer wall. A cut bowstring dangles from the runed longbow in his hand.
The King's Symbol shines in gold highlights upon his chainmail and the clasp of
his cloak. A broadsword hangs awkwardly at his hip. He pulls the rest of the 
bowstring from his bow and returns the longbow to his back.
	"Well, lots of things... bow strings... fishing line... uh...." comments
Griffin, his attention focused on disecting the animal-fur clad giant.
	"Ok, Griffin. Whatever. Your the one carrying them then." I say, 
replacing the arrows I had arranged in sets of five around me, back in the 
quiver at my hip.
	"Skirtboy!" Darshu pipes in from atop the wall, cloak thrown back
dramatically over his shoulder; his elven ears uncovered by the breeze wafting
his long white hair around. His breast-plate gleams in the late afternoon sun. 
"Always knew you were only fit to be a butcher."
	Griffin's eyes resume the blank annoyed look he's been showing more and 
more often recently. I see him mouth what are probably pretty choice words and
rip out a section of tendon. 
	It's been getting harder and harder for him to 
ignore the insults and slurs from Darshu. As one of the few non-magical people 
amongst us, Griffin receives most of Darshu's venom. Darshu will have to start 
calming down or someone will put him in his place. I used to get his venom 
until I started exploring my heritage. After much learning and practice, Darshu
almost accepts me as an equal. Odd, considering I have nowhere near the magical 
power level that any of the others have. Even Shayla has more raw power than I 
do, and she's a hedge wizard with no real training. 
	She's an attractive hedge wizard, though, I think looking over at her 
talking with Damon and Derek near the sloping walls of the castle proper. Bit 
tall but not bad. Nice long brown hair. And her earthy gown nicely sets off a 
modest figure. Somehow, she always seems to be the cleanest fo the group. Even 
after several weeks of accumulating trail dust, she's in presentable condition. 
Her and Damon seem a bit friendly. They snap at each other, and take pot shots 
but there is an undercurrent. Poor bastards, it's gonna be a while before they 
catch on to each other. Then they'll be trapped, Kinda like Arshes with Darshu. 
	Poor girl, stuck with that... oddity as a father figure. She's a 
beautiful dark elven girl. Lovely dark eyes, like pools of midnight. Bright
smile and sparkeling laughter counterpoint mulato skin framed by long dark 
hair. Slender pointed ears hiding behind her hair at the slightest breeze. I 
see her looking around a corner of the wall at the corpse, ignoring the group 
gathering near the castle proper. My eyes glide over her body and focus on her 
face. They breathe in the heady sight and lightly carress her cheek. She 
catches my eye and smiles at me before stealing off.
	She's going to get me in trouble someday. Sneaking into my room like 
she did and giving me a kiss good night. Not that i minded, but that took quick 
talking to get me out of it. She's about as old as I am, maybe younger. 
Definitely a couple years older than those girls we found.
	"DUST AND ASH!" I snap out of my reverie and look around. Everybody is 
standing in a group near the castle talking about how cool we are for downing 
a giant. Darshu is claiming responsibility for the arrow trick which felled the
giant. Griffin and Derek turn to look my way at the sound of my curse.
	"The women. We forgot about the women." I rush for the open gate into
the castle. The rest of the group hesitates for a moment and then follows after
me.
	I slide into the Great Hall of the castle, the inlaided marble floor
slick against my leather boots. A granite grand stair, directly opposite me, 
leads up to the library and bedchambers above, where the stair is flanked by 
two suits of platemail. A large oaken door to the left blocks the exit to the 
inner castle's parapets and catwalks between the two sections of the castle. 
It's iron bound timbers lend a feeling of solidity to the air of the room, 
albeit the broken condition of the door through which we just entered detracts 
from the feeling of safety. To the right, another smaller door leads to the 
kitchen and from there down to the catacombs. 
	"Damon, you and Griffin check downstairs for your master. The rest 
follow me," I yell as the rest of my companions jog into the main chamber. Damon
and Griffon break off from the rest of the group and head across the in-lay
to the kitchens and catacombs.
	"Don't trouble yourselves, I'm fine." interupts the DemonHunter stepping
out from behind one of the suits of platemail atop the sleeping quarters stair. 
Damien is a taller man, his frame rife with muscle. His furs hang in a shredded
disarray from his body, covering the black leathers underneath. A sword belt 
winds it's way around his waist, from which used to hang the sword currently
at Damon's side. A gift and curse given from Master to Apprentice. "And are you
back cause you've killed the giant or because he's out hunting something else?"
	"No, the giant is dead. We killed it. Although, it assisted somewhat in
it own destruction." I say as I walk up the stairs, Griffin walking up after 
me. "The girls we found down in the catacombs, where are they?"
	"They are doing fine. They're probably still asleep. They are still in
the beds upstairs. The giant can't fit up the stairs and into the rooms, so
we didn't have that much to worry about. Other than a potential for starvation.
I hope you've been refreshing your supplies while you were out. We have been on
short rations for a couple days now, and I believe the ladies could use some 
food. They should be able to keep it down now."
	"Right. Derek, you've got some food with you, go with Shayla and take 
care of the girls. Then meet back here with us when they are taken care of."
	Derek heads outside for a moment and returns with his backpack. He 
throws it over one shoulder, offers Shayla his hand and walks upstairs with her.
Damon, Griffin and Darshu follow after the two of them.
	"Or... we'll just follow you and talk upstairs in the bedchambers." I
mumble under my breath.
	Damien turns from watching the rest walk up the stairs and looks at me.
"What do you mean the giant 'assisted' in it's own destruction?"
	"Well, you know the idea about things that are supposedly impossible to
kill. Hell, you hunt deamons for a living. We killed a giant. Together. It 
assisted in it's own destruction by tearing into itself. We had... Well, 
actually, Derek fired an arrow dipped in that nausiating substance we got from 
the alchemist up the giant's nose. The stench of that stuff and the pain of the 
arrow enraged the giant. It went berserk and tried to dig the arrow out of it's 
skull. Too bad the arrow was lodged deep in it's nose. It tore off most of it's 
face before we could finish killing it."
	Damien pauses, thinks about it for a moment, nods and begins to walk
upstairs his furs trailing on the stairs.
	"Sometimes, I wish he talked more." I says then walk upstairs following
Damien.  
	The company feeds and takes care of the ladies, who have recovered a
little bit in the few days of our absence. Shayla does most of the work. She
may be a hedge wizard but she knows healing pretty well. I trust her opinion on
most of the stuff she deals with. Their color is better and they at least have
started to take more than just the water they were on for the first few days.
Shayla putters around with the two girls and soon after they both fall back to 
sleep. After they have fallen asleep, we gather in the ante-chamber between the
kitchen and the main hall, a broken door to one side leading down into darkness.
Damien elected to stay behind and watch the young girls.
	Damon standing in the middle of the room, starts off the whole thing. 
"First, we need to look over the giant's lair and see if there is any cool 
stuff around. Shouldn't be any trouble.  We already cleared that wing of the 
castle."
	From over the near the broken oak door that the giant burst through,
I turn to Damon and say "Unless something else has taken up residence."
	"Oh, now isn't that a cheary thought," says Darshu sarcastically. "I
feel good about exploring the rest of those catacombs after that pronoucement."
	"But we had already seen the end of the passages in the giant's lair.
I doubt anything could have taken up residence by now. Not to mention giant's
normally have really cool stuff in their troves."
	"Anybody got any problems with Damon's logic?" Nobody volunteers any
desention.
	"Then it's settled, we'll check the giants lair and move on from there."
	Griffin and myself lead the group as we step down the stairs to the 
catacombs. Griffin has fallen back to a shorter blade than his normal 
two-handed blade, one more suited to the slightly cramped quarters. I've got 
four arrows nocked on the bow Damien gave me when we first met.
	Shayla hangs back for a couple moments and passes her hand along the
granite blocks surrounding us. "These still amaze me. How did they get them so
flush with each other?"
	The entire group stops moving forward for a moment. Griffin and I
are left standing alone in the four way intersection. To the right is the prison
area which had gotten taken over by the parasitic slime we rescued the young
women from. To the left is the passageway that we are supposed to finish 
exploring, but we seem to have taken a small architectural break.
	Derek steps back beside Shayla and runs his hand along the nearly 
non-existant seam between two of the large stones. "No idea. Potentially, 
Elermian. But what they would have been doing this far north, I don't know.
Doubt it's dwarven. Never heard of the dwarves building anything for a human."
	"Well, the walls are all magical also. They have enormous protective
magics on them. I'll figure out the spell pretty soon." Says Darshu, looking 
smug. Behind Darshu's back, Damon sticks his tongue out at him.
	"Can we go please, people?" I say, a little exacerbated by the sudden
tangent.
	Everyone forms back into place behind Griffin and I, and we continue
down the left-hand passageway to the giant's lair. The passage turns right,
keeps going for a couple yards then ends in the empty door-frame we originally
saw the giant through. This time there is nothing sitting in the room for us to
foolishly anger by an illconsidered attack from the rear. Derek ended up with
a tent pole through the stomach for that insanity. He healed well.
	The giant's lair is a study in disorder. Skeletons and loose bones lie 
scattered about the room like forgotten toys. Book shelves spotted with books
in bad states of disrepair line the walls, their musty, rotting smell adding to
the stench of the place. A pile of mixed skins lies along the length of one 
wall, a few bones interspersed amongst the soiled furs. Against the far wall 
rests a pile of bones with the remains and equipment of our predecessors mixed 
in amongst the bones.
	Darshu's and my eyes are drawn to the ruins of what appears to have 
been a sizable amount of books; a good portion of which have fallen to the 
floor near the bookshelves, their pages ripped and scattered.
	"Ok, everyone, a quick search of the place and then back upstairs.
Damon and Shayla, search the bones. Griffin and Derek, check the floor and 
furs. Darshu and I will check the books for anything usefull. Be careful with 
anything that looks magic, you especially Damon. We know your attitude with 
'cool stuff'. Step lively, we've got to get finished here and get on to the 
dwarves."
	I step over to the bookshelves, Darshu having already been drawn there 
during my speach, and carefully begin to pick up the fragile records of a time
long past.
"CON"
	I give the books some of them fall to dust in my handsAfter a couple minutes of reading over the books, a few interesting 
titles amongst them, my eyes lift from the spines of the written to glance at
what the others are doing. Griffin has found a large axe in the bone pile and
is trying to get the hang of it in the middle of the room, threatening the 
safety of us all. Damon, while rooting through the pile has found two rings and 
a scroll case. Shayla and Derek have been collecting the jewels and coins that 
have fallen into our possesion. Arshes slows down long enough for me to notice 
that she's found a couple jewels herself.
	"Darshu, what's magic in here?" I ask.
	"I was wondering how long it would be before you came to me. The axe,
the scroll and the rings are magical. Everything else is normal."
	"Ok, everybody. Ok.. let's grab the.. stuff," said with a nod to Damon,
"get upstairs and try to figure out what it is. The jewels and the money, too. 
The longer we are here, the longer before the dwarves."
	Damon pipes up with, "What about the books?"
	"The books we leave behind," my heart screams at the idea of leaving 
knowledge behind, "but we can't carry them all. We'll take care of them later."
	Taking the items that we feel are important enough to keep, we climb 
back up through the castle to the library on the upper floor to rest and recoup.

[Breathe]
	We put the magic items on the large oak table in the library, and
Darshu and I sit down at opposite ends of the table to figure them out. Darshu
"DETAIL" describe the library.
picks up the axe first.
	"Watch out Darshu, the head is made of Forging Stone." I remarked. "Be
very careful with what you do with it."
	"I know, Scribe. You read and write, I live and breath magic. I can
handle myself." 
	He starts staring into the axe and the attention of the group drifts
while he is tranced.
	Griffin taps me on the shoulder and asks "Hasashki, what is forging 
stone and why should he," pointing at Darshu "watch himself?"
	"Forging Stone... Forging Stone is interesting stuff. Nobody really
knows what it is. But then nobody really knows what iron is or where it came
from. But Forging Stone is a little more mysterious than simple iron. It can
be found all over, but mainly in the deep mountains. The Dwarves used it 
extensively. Well, at least, that is what one of the history books I read at 
the kings castle said. Forging Stone itself is a excellent substance for magical
enchantment. However if you don't do it right, the stone screws up the item 
causing it to go astray. I'm not sure what astray means, so i like to be 
careful when dealing with the stuff. However, if done properly, you can have
some of the most powerful artifacts in existance. And if that is one of those artifacts, who knows what it might do? Hell, if handled wrong it might just 
explode; killing us all." I joke, a smile on my face.
	PANG! Darshu drops the axe back onto the table and looks up at the 
group, most of whom were startled by the sound and are looking displeased.
	"Nothing, well, nothing really interesting. It's a sharp axe. Got a 
little something else but I'm not sure what yet. Here you try." He slides the 
axe down to me as he picks up the rings.
	Griffin leans close to my ear and whispers "Remind me to kill him for 
that sometime."
	I smile, pick up the axe and begin to concentrate, focusing my senses 
on the axe. My eyes close and open onto a different view. The axe is made of 
swirling images and light, hard emotions and hidden deaths, soft steel and the 
foundation of the world. I look closer and begin to separate the images and 
patterns. Yes, definitely a sharp edge and something more. Something hiding.
Many of the images swirl around dwarves and their kin and duties entailed. I 
can't make any sense out of those images. I return the axe to the table.
	"You're right, sharp but something else. I believe the axe likes 
dwarves." 
	"That confirms it then." Says Griffin. "I thought the axe seemed 
familiar. It's the axe of a dwarven Slayer. They were a nasty little group of 
dwarves who attempted to clear out a couple orc infested holdings in the 
dwarven ranges. Many died and took many scores of orcs with them. How one of the
axes got here I don't know."
	"How do you know that?" Darshu asks, incredulity on his face.
	"Weapon Smithing. My father taught me more than just how to use a 
forge. I'm not all brawn no brain, Darshu. The dwarves made excellent weapons,
and we sought to learn from them. So we learn a lot about their weapons. Weird
that I actually found it useful other than as research."
	"Thanks for the information Griffin. You seem to like it, so you keep it
for now. We'll examine it later when we have more time. What are the rings
Darshu?"
	"Not sure. This one is some sort of sight ring" He says holding up the
ruby gold band, "and this one is really weird," holding up the black stone 
ring.
	"Throw them both down here and let's take a look." I catch the two rings
Darshu throws to me and extend my perceptions into them. The ruby ring speaks of
visions and images but I don't understand the imagery. The other ring pulls at 
me, feels much like my manipulation of the magic, seems to pull the magic into
and through it.
	"I want to try something. Griffin, catch." I throw the sight ring to
Griffin. "You've had experience with sight rings before. Go look around see if 
you can tell what it does.  Don't worry, it should be safe." I slip the dark 
ring onto my finger. "Darshu, I'm going to try something. It shouldn't hurt 
anything. Don't flinch."
	Darshu looks at me confused, "Why?"
	"You'll find out." I open myself to the flow around me. I steady myself
against the strong current of the magic rushing towards the center of the 
castle. I reach into the stream and pull a flow away from the river and channel
it through the ring on my finger towards Darshu trying to increase the magic
in his area.
	A translucent black ball of shimmering energy flashes into existance 
around Darshu and his chair. Darshu, startled, waves his hands and shouts a 
single word and a field of bright power blazes around him. The field flashes 
once blotting out our sight of Darshu. Darshu screams and falls silent. I blink
the flash from my eyes and look down the table at Darshu. Darshu looks down the 
table at me with a strange confused look on his face, a small glint of pain in
his eye. His field is glowing at a steady brightness. It's definitely grown
in strength. I release the stream back into the current and the ball fades 
leaving a confused looking Darshu. He releases his spell too.
	"What did you do?" He asks. "I feel different."
	I rise from my seat, stride over to him and place my hand on his head.
My mind slides down into concentration again. His aura has been changed. A
section has been widened, made more powerful, burned clean.
	"My protective abilities have been raised." Darshu says after a few 
moments. "My dome of power spell has been enhanced. What did you do?"
	"I channeled a stream of power through the ring at you. Guess that's
what supplimented your field."
	"Strange, let's fool around with that later. Can you read this." Darshu
says holding up the scroll from the scroll case.
	I carefully take the scroll from him and read it. Well, try to read it.
The characters look familiar but I can't place them. The parchment is still in
good shape from the protective magics placed upon it. But I can't read a thing.
	"Nope, nothing. No clue. The characters are familiar but that isn't 
helpful. Let me make a copy of it for future study." I pull out my writing tools
and quickly sketch out a copy of the scroll. I set it aside to dry and weight 
the edges against potential breezes.
	I start up the conversation by gathering everyone around. "Ok, we've got
one last wing of the catacombs to explore. Everybody seems ok, so we'll head 
down and check it out in a couple of minutes. Last minute checks, everyone. Make
sure your weapons are fine..."
	Griffin interupts me. "Yes, we know it all, Hasashki. Calm down."
	"Yea, sorry. I just want to get away from the demon across the castle.
Two friends died over there and their bodies still rest with him."
	Minutes pass and the group prepares. We assemble down at the crossed
passages. Griffin is hefting his new axe and seems eager to use it.
	Starting off down the last, wide passageway, I tell everybody, "Keep 
your eyes open, and report anything strange."
	The passageway is dark and smells of something strange. The creak of 
leather and subtle shiftings of metal ring loud in overly alert ears. The walls
are of the same large brick as the rest of the castle. 3 foot by 6 foot blocks
of grey granite rest staggered upon their brothers down to the foundation of the
castle. The steady light of Shayla's staff guides our way down the corridor, and
only at the very edge of the light can we see the turning of the passageway. 
	Closer to the turn, we notice the passage turns left and halves itself 
in volume. Two by two we proceed into the smaller passage, Griffin and I
leading the way. Shayla, someway back in the group, maintains her beacon of
light for the others. 
	Some few yards into the smaller passage we notice the path turns both
left and right forming a T-intersection. The air grows colder the closer we
approach the T.
	At the T-intersection I ask, "So which way?" Looking down the left path
can be seen another T a mere few yards away, yet down the right path nothing
but distance and darkness can be seen.
	"I don't kno..." starts Griffin before he reaches down to brush 
something from his leg. "Something just brushed my leg. Felt cold as death. I
don't think I want to be here anymore."
	"Chill out, Skirtboy. You can run home to Momma la..." Darshu says 
before a chill runs down his back and he swats something away from his ankle.
	A feather light touch brushes my leg and ice washes up my nerves. "There
is something here, guys." I say as the first wave of cold passes and I feel my
courage falter.
	"We can't see them." Griffin remarks while nervously shifting his grip 
on the axe.
	I grab a stream of power and shift my eyes towards heat. Suddenly, 
three cold blobs push themselves out of the background coldness of the walls.
My campanions stand out against the background as bright orange and red blobs.
	"Three of them, one on Darshu, Griffin and me. They show up as cold
spots." Griffin and Darshu jump from their positions as I look around trying to 
find more. "Two more down towards the other T.  None behind us down the long 
hall." I draw my sword and hold it ready. The cold steel of the pommel, as it 
glides into my hand, feels re-assuring to my stressed senses.
	The two blobs on Darshu and Griffin switch positions and glide toward
their respective targets. The blob on me reaches a psuedo-pod up to touch my
leg but misses as I move out of reach.
	"I'm checking the T to see if anybody or thing is controlling them." 
Pointing out the positions of the 5 known blobs i run to the corner of the T
and look around the corners. Two doors, one down each direction. Several blobs,
couple down each direction. Two at the corners brush an arm and a leg, I grit
my teeth, shake them off and feel a numbness spread from were I was touched.
Behind me I hear Derek fire an arrow into one of the granite blocks.
	"Two doors, one each direction. Lots of the cold ones." I turn around
and notice that the blob that Derek fired at is still intact. I get back to the
intersection to find that Griffin seems to be fighting something inside his
own head while continuing to shift his grip on the axe. Two more blobs have
appeared down the corridor to safety.
	"What is up with him?" I ask Darshu after I point out the positions of 
our enemies and we begin to back away down the long hall. 
	"No idea. He's been trying to hit the targets you mentioned. He put a
nice nick in the walls but other than that he got hit once or twice by the 
creatures."
	We continue to back down the long empty hall and I see the passage we
have to pass to get back out getting more and more covered with cold spots.
	"We can't do this." I remark. "This hallway might not go anywhere. They
can't get us before we get by them and out of this wing. I say we dodge past 
them."
	Derek begins, "This hallway isn't looking like any better of an option 
than that. Lets go." and ends as he shoulders his bow and runs vanguard
for the rest of us. A few of the cold ones get a shot in before we get past 
them, but no permanant damage is done. We get back upstairs to rest our cold
bones.
	"What the hell were those things?" Damon asks between breaths. "I mean, 
that was weird."
	"Don't know." Darshu pipes in "Maybe some kind of undead."
	"Anybody got any ideas?" I inquire as I look around the group. Nobody
raises their hands. "Well, at least we got some info on them. I can see them
because of how cold they are. That gives us an advantage next time we go down
there. We should try to fight only one of them at a time. At least until we
can figure out how to hurt them. I can highlight them magically when they try to
attack. Give the rest of you a chance to hit them."
	"Yea, but who is going to be the guinea pig?" asks Shayla.
	"I'll do it," says Griffin. "I might as well. I haven't killed anything
with this axe yet. Bout time I get it bloodied. Besides they didn't do much to
me last time." He says, a large smile on his face.
	"Ok, but I'd like to ask the DemonHunter about it." I say looking
around for Damon's Master. I spot him over in the far corner of the main hall
whiteling on a bow and get up to approach him.
	"Hello, sir" I begin "I'd like your opinion on something."
	"Well, out with it." He says gruffly.
	I tell him about our encounter down in the last wing of the catacombs
and what we plan on doing.
	"Good to see that you've gathered info on your enemies and will go
a little better prepared next time. But I'm interested in these blobs. Take me 
down there. And while you're with me, follow my directions."
	I take him down to the crossed passages and show him the wide passage
we had taken. The DemonHunter reaches into his belt and frees a small pouch.
He opens it and begins to walk down the passageway sprinkeling a glittery
dust behind him. I follow closely behind, observing his ritual with the dust.
	"What is that dust?" I ask.
	"It allows me to tell when something crosses it. Kind of like a ward
but less discriminating."
	"Oh, sounds interesting. How is it made?" I ask again, my mind curious.
	"Now is not the time to be asking me for my secrets. The task at hand
is more important."
	"True." I close my mouth around the last word and remain quiet.
	Close to the left turn, the DemonHunter turns around and looks puzzled.
	"Something has changed. I felt nothing cross my dust but something has
changed and is behind us."
	I switch over to viewing heat and check. One blob behind us and crossing
his dust. "Yes, one behind us."
	"They aren't tangible, or maybe they don't exist with us in air. I don't
know, now go! I'm safer here than you. I'll be back up soon."
	I follow his intructions and dodge around the cold spot on the floor and
head up the stairs. A few minutes later he follows.
	"They are a kind of undead." he anounces to the group. "Non-demonic and
very odd. They seem to exist in the very walls."
	"So that would mean they pop out to attack us." says Shayla.
	"Yea, that would follow. So we can hit them when they pop out. Good
to know we can hurt them." says Damon.
	"Since we only met one before we made the turn. We fight it there first.
If, later, we think we can handle more then we turn the corner and go again." I
say to the group.
	A general nod of assent signals that we are ready to descend again. We
assemble at the intersection of the stairs and the catacombs. Griffin, his axe 
out, leads about 4 yards ahead of us. Shayla centers her light on him for 
better vision and telekinetically lifts him off the ground. With Griffin as 
bait we start down the hall. When Griffin reaches a few yards from the turn, a
cold spot comes into vision at the end of the hall way.
	"Ok, one is heading for Griffin." I light up the blob with an area of
blue light. "When I say, hit the light with everything we've got." The blob 
moved closer to Griffin until it was finally underneath him. It reaches up with 
an icy hand and reaches for Griffin.
	"Hit it!" I scream as Griffin shivers from its touch. Lances of light
and fire burst from behind me and strike the blob's psuedo-pod. Griffin's eyes
glaze and he shakes his head as if trying to clear something. He fails. The
blob's cold shatters under the onslaught and it dies. Griffin screams in rage
and bursts from the telekinetic fetters that had held him. The axe glows with a
golden aura as it falls and strikes the spot the blob had previously been. 
Sparks fly from the edge of the axe as it sinks an inch deep in the hardest 
stone we've ever seen. Griffin stands and turns to us, his eyes wild, the still 
glowing axe in his hand.
	"Mother Silene." Darshu mumbles.
	Griffin's eyes focus on us as he readies his axe and throws. The axe
becomes a glowing arc of gold as if hurtles across the intervening space to
sink itself into Darshu's chest. Blood spews from the wound as the axe retracts
itself and flys back to Griffin's hand. Darshu clutches his hand to his chest,
but doesn't fall.
	"Dermon's Blood!" I scream. "Shayla, get that axe out of his hand. 
NOW!" I turn my head to look at her and notice another cold spot forming on the 
wall beside Derek. "We've got company." I say as I form another blue light on 
the wall at Derek's shoulder. Derek's eyes grow wide at the light growing at 
his shoulder.
	Shayla raises both her hands, as Griffin prepares to throw, and makes
a grabbing motion with her hands while whispering her words of power through
taunt lips. Griffin's eyes open wide as he feels a tug on his axe. He pulls back
against Shayla's power, thankfully distracted from the rest of us. Sweat breaks
out on Shayla's forehead as she pulls with all her might, and the sweat on
Griffin's fingers causes the axe to slip. That slip is all she needs to take the
axe from him. The axe hurtles across the corridor to suspend itself several
feet away from Shayla.
	"Quick. Get out of here with that thing." I yell to Shayla. She and 
Damon turn to head away.
	Griffin looks down the hall at us with a view of hell in his eyes. He
screams as he raises his hands to shelter his head from an unseen attack. He
falls.
	"Dermon's Blood. Derek, at your shoulder! Hit it."
	Our minds come back together to the task at hand, killing the cold ones.
Derek and Darshu turn to fry the blue light tagged cold one as it tries to
touch Derek. Derek's arrow and Darshu's bolt of fire destroy the cold one before
it can do any harm.
	Our breath rings loud in our ears as we try to calm down from the fight.
"Derek, run and get Griffin. We can't leave him down here. We'll have to come
back later. We are in no condition to fight now."
	With Griffin in tow, we retreat up to the main hall and find Damon there
looking hesitantly at Griffin.
	"Don't worry. I think he's ok, now that the axe is gone. Where is it,
anyway?" I ask Damon.
	"Shayla took off with it. I told her to take it outside in case Griffin
came after it."
	"Good idea, but go get her and tell her that Darshu will need her 
assistance. Try to keep the axe away from Griffin awhile. At least until we
figure out more about it." I turn to Derek. "Derek, set him down here. Let's
see what's wrong with him."
	Damon quickly returns with Shayla and the axe. I signal for the axe
and Shayla hands it to me before she goes over to tend to Darshu and Griffin.
I sink my vision into the realms of magic and begin to examine the axe a little
more carefully this time. A few minutes later, Darshu is healed and Shayla
reports that Griffin is asleep. "The axe looks like it took alot out of him."
	"Ok, everybody take a break. We've got a week till the Villagers get 
here and we can go back down in the morning. It will give Darshu and me some 
time to examine the axe and Griffin time to recover."
	Darshu and I end up sitting in a corner most of the night examining the
axe. Derek and Damien, the DemonHunter, head off into the forest while Shayla
and Damon take over looking after the girls we found. Halfway through the night
Griffin awakens. He indicates that apparently the axe took him over, and 
everything became his enemy. Didn't happen until we actually got into combat.
Very strange axe. We continue our examination of the axe. About midnight,
Darshu and I look up to find everyone else already asleep. We excuse ourselves
and join them. I perform a last minute check of the castle before I lay my head
down. The door is secure, the girls are all asleep, the time caged bed is still
there, and everyone is safe. I come back down from the upper floor and nearly
stumble over Darshu and Arshes, their bedrolls a little ways away from the rest.
	Looking down at Darshu, I repress an urge to tie his bedroll closed and
stiffle the snicker that accompanied the thought. For a moment as I head to my 
own bedroll, my eyes drift over Arshes' face. A single lock of hair that has 
fallen over her face floats loose on her breath, threatening to get sucked into 
her mouth. The lock falls across her nose and she rubs it away in her sleep. 
Quietly, I step over to her and move the lock out of her face, and tuck it 
behind one of her long ears. A smile crosses her face as the lock stops 
tickling her nose and she cuddles up tighter around herself. Masking a sign, I
return to my bedroll and fall asleep.
	On the morning, we assemble bright and chipper and Griffin without his
axe. We descend into the abyss of the remaining catacombs and peroidically 
emerge only to return when we have rested. As night approaches we emerge from 
the darkness and begin a dinner. The kitchen of the old castle is easily adopted
to our needs.
	"Dust and Ash." Darshu begin over a bowl of stew. "How many of them are 
there?"
	"I don't know." Griffin says, his eyes showing his fatigue. "How many
did we kill today?"
	"Thirty, I think. Maybe more." I say over a yawn. "We'll see how many
more are left tommorrow."
	Each of us spends the next several hours persuing their own interests.
Derek and Damien once again venture into the forest. I hear Derek asking for
a clarification on a point made the other night on Bow Runes.  I end up 
huddled in a corner of the upstairs library reading a book under my own light. 
The library is amazing. There are books about most anything I can think of. 
Books about lizards. Books about philosophy. Books about magic. Books about 
a race long exstinct. Books about most everything. Tonight, I end up curled 
around a book about northern cosmology and astrology. It's amazing how much 
research the northern kingdoms have done into the movements of the heavens.  I 
had never known that the eight stars that make up the Orionis cluster were 
really merely 7 stars and an unformed ball of...
	"Ahh, there you are," comes a familiar voice.
	My response is poetic and elegant. "Huh.." I look up and blind myself
with my own light ball. "Ow. Ow. Ow" I say continuing my spate of elequence.
As my eyes calm down I discover that the person laughing behind her hands at
my predicament is Arshes. "Can I help you?" I say standing up fast to offer her 
a seat against the wall. The book that had been in my lap falls to the floor 
coming down squarely on my toes. "Ow. Ow. Ow." I say repeating my words of 
poetry as I bend over carefully to pick up the book. I right myself fully again 
to discover Arshes has sat down against the wall and is convulsing in laughter. 
I look down at her beautiful face and see the tears coming to her eyes, and 
begin to snicker. Soon I am laughing with her trying to support myself with a
hand on the wall, the other clutching the book. I sit back down were I was and 
try to regain my sanity. After a few minutes, we both calm down enough to 
speak. We don't dare look at each other or else we'd fall back into the gales 
of laughter.
	"What did you want before you startled me?" I ask careful to avoid 
looking her in the eye.
	"Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to see watcha doin?" she says, a smile
beaming on her face.
	"I'm looking over the library. Seeing what is here."
	"Really? Anything as interesting as you trying to stand up with a book
in your lap?" She say stiffling a giggle.
	"Probably not, but I found something you might like. Hold on, I'll go
get it." I get up and race back to the spot I had put the book of Elermian
Poetry. I reclaim the book and return to my seat beside Arshes.
	"Can you read?" I ask.
	"No. Darshu hasn't taught me yet. I'm tempted to just go around him and
have you teach me." she says with a hopeful sound in her voice.
	"Well, then I'll just have to read them to you." I say, total missing
what she said about teaching her to read.
	I start reading a couple of the poems from the book trying to find what
she likes. Mainly poems of Heroes and Heroines and quests to save the world, of
course. But she doesn't mind the more down-to-earth poems. I continue to read 
long into the night, long after everybody else has gone to bed. It's hard to 
notice the darkness of the sky when you are reading by your own light. While 
reading a rousing rendition of Medarien's Wolf Hunt saga, I feel a pressure on 
my shoulder. I look over and stare into the beautiful face of the elf who's 
come to rest on my shoulder. I spend several minutes staring at her face so 
close to mine, and savor the feeling of her leaning against me.
	"You are beautiful." I say to her sleeping form. "But I can't have
your father finding you like this. Time to go to bed." I start to move out from
underneath her head and her arms close around my arm. She nuzzles into my 
shoulder a bit and mumbles something about "Keep reading." I settle back into 
my reading position and continue from were I left off. I finish the Wolf Hunt 
saga and look down at her resting against my shoulder, my arm in hers, and 
smile. I lean my head back against the stone wall and think to myself. 'I like 
this.' I close my eyes to rest them from reading and drift off to sleep.
	I awaken to find myself being shaken by Darshu.
	"Wake up. We've got to kill the rest of the cold ones today."
	"Huh..." I mumble repeating my words of last night, remembering as I say
it what had happened.
	"Come on. We've got to go, Scribe."
	I begin to stand up, knowing very quickly that I didn't get enough 
sleep, and that my body will ache for the entire day today. But I wonder where
Arshes went. She probably got out of the library before dawn.
	"Ok, let's go." I say, trying to stop a yawn "but I warn you I didn't 
get much sleep."
	We go down into the catacombs and kill many more cold ones. We return
at night to a victor's welcome.
	"Dust and Ash." Darshu begins over a hunk of cheese. "How many of them 
are there?"
	"I don't know." Damon says, his eyes showing his fatigue. "How many
did we kill today?"
	"Fifty, I think. Maybe more." I say over a yawn. "We'll see how many
more are left tommarrow."
	That night Derek and Damien leave early to get out to the forest before
night falls. Derek seems to be happy about an arrow he is twirling around his
hand. I see nothing of Arshes the entire night while I'm exploring the magic 
items we have amassed over our travels. I find that I'm getting much better at 
reading the magic of items, places and people. I don't have to concentrate as
much. It's getting to be near second nature. By exerting myself and using the
small amount of magic I've grown to control, I can examine distant areas of the
castle. I gain a small knowledge about the various items we have and what they 
do. Out of reflex, I spend many a moment staring across the void of the castle 
at the demon underground, trying to find a possible way to send it back.
	On the marrow we go down into the catacombs and kill many more cold 
ones. We return at night to a victor's welcome.
	"Dust and Ash." Darshu begins over a bowl of leftover stew. "How many 
of them are there?"
	"I don't know." Griffin says, his eyes showing his fatigue. "How many
did we kill today?"
	"Forty, I think. Maybe more." I say over a yawn. "We'll see how many
more are left tommarrow."
	That night I discover a new aspect of my magic ability. The ability
to create ranged attacks. I can throw small fireballs and other minorly
destructive things. I hit Griffin with a hard snowball, clocked him pretty
well. He wasn't hurt much. My research into wards finally paid off. I finally
figured out how to trigger an effect. I'll start warding my sleep from now on.
	Derek returns late from his session with the demonhunter.
	On the marrow we go down into the catacombs and kill many more cold 
ones. We return at night to a victor's welcome.
	"Dust and Ash." Darshu begins over a bowl of soup. "How many of them 
are there?"
	"I don't know." Griffin says, his eyes showing his fatigue. "How many
did we kill today?"
	"Forty, i think. Maybe more." I say over a yawn. "We'll see how many
more are left tommarrow. I hope this doesn't go on much longer." The wry humor
of the situation was wearing thin.
	That night I end up getting sucked into a conversation about runes with 
Derek, Darshu and Damien. Damien has been teaching Derek Bow runes and Arrow
runes. Darshu is interested in learning the runes also. But of course, Darshu
can't merely ask to be taught. We spend several hours talking about the various
runes for items and how do you know the runes are real. Late, we are stopped
in our arguing by Arshes opening the door to the library and poking her head in.
	"It's late." She says. "Everybody go to sleep."
	Everyone realizes how good an idea that is when I start a yawn that
travels the table and returns to me. We all stand, say good night and head
to our respective sleeping quarters.
	I say goodnight to Arshes and Darshu in the upper corridor and open the
door to the room I've claimed as my own. I feel comfortable in the room with
the time-caged bed. Something familiar about it. Arshes stops me with a hand on
my arm. I turn towards her to ask about something... and she kisses me on the
cheek. In front of her father.
	"GoodNight." She tells me as she waves at me. Then she heads into her 
room.
	I wave back at her hesitantly, staring all the while at a very 
disgruntled father figure.
	Darshu gives me a dirty look and says "She is not for you, Scribe.
Leave her out of your dreams." He glares at me for a while and follows Arshes 
into their room.
	On the marrow we go down into the catacombs and kill many more cold 
ones. We kill the last one right as Arshes comes running around the corner.
	"They are here. The villagers are finally here."
	"Very convenient timing." I say, smiling.

(the villagers arrive)

	I switch my eyes back to normal vision and head upstairs to speak with 
the envoys of the town. I step outside the main gate to see Balthazar, a few
merchants I recognize and their guards ride around the giant's body. Their 
guards eye the body of the giant warily.
	"Balthazar," I yell to get his attention away from the dead body. He
turns and looks out way with awe in his eye.
	"You killed this thing?" He asks incredulous.
	"Well, we killed it." I say, indicating the rest of the group.
	"Amazing."
	"It was guarding this castle, so we had to clean it out. Had we not,
you would not have a home."
	"Thank you. What else was in the castle?"
	"Not too much," I say, trying to act non-chalant. "A group of body 
controlling parasitic slimes, two helpless woman, a DemonSlayer, a Demon
that's been trapped here for around six hunderd years and about 200 undead soul
draining blobs."
	"Very impressive."
	"Ok, we better show you around. The place is still dangerous, but
nowhere near as bad as it was. There are a couple spots that you will need to
guard and a couple places you definately need to close. Let's start the tour."
	Balthazar turns to one of his companions and says "Gilder, head back 
and tell the people that the castle is clear and to get ready to move in. We 
are currently investigating now. We'll be out as soon as we can." He turns back 
to face me, "Show me what you want to."
	"The rest of you guys get ready to leave. We've got to get to the
dwarves fast. Assemble supplies, arrows and everything were going to need. If
we need horses, buy them from the townfolk."
	"We have a couple herders that weren't willing to leave their horses 
behind. I'm sure they'd be willing to sell them too you."
	"Thank you. Griffin, you check out the horse flesh."
	I turn around and start up the stone stairs of the front gate. I head 
straight for the room i had used as a bedroom. The time-cage is still there 
lending an erie tone to the room.
	"This bed holds what we believe to be the owner of this castle. He is
currently either dead and in stasis or oddly alive and in stasis. Either way the
cage can only be opened from the outside."
	"Well, why is this dangerous then?" asks one of the extra merchants.
"Unless the owner of the castle gets out and tryies to kill us all."
	I pick up a burned out torch from the wall and throw it into the cage.
Instantly it rots to dust.
	"Imagine what that would do to a person."
	"Dermon's Blood..." mutters another merchant. Balthazar seems to be 
taking all of this pretty well.
	"So you will have to isolate this room unless you want alot of dead
or maimed people."
	Next I took them downstairs into the catacombs.
	"These areas aren't too dangerous. Somebody might catch cold or 
something. But you need to know about the other things down here."
	I show them the cells with the few remains of prisoners still in them.
	"We found the two girls i spoke of in here. They were infected with
the parasites that i told you about. But they are much better now. You will
probably want to burn the entire area for safety sake. Next..."
	I took them down the opposite wing of the catacombs to the giant's lair.
	"Balthazar, now there are a couple libraries in this castle. I trust
you to keep the books in good shape and to save them for when we return. You
would want to fix the books in this room and take care of the rest. Read them 
if you wish but keep them safe. You'll want to clean out this room also. Next
on our list of places to go..."
 	Next stop was the area we had just finished clearing a few moments ago.
The passage sub-divided into three areas. First I took them by the long hall.
	"This passage leads to a portcullis several miles away and in the woods.
I'm quite sure ideas will come into your head as to uses for this hall. Come
this way. Next the forge."
	We turn the corner and open the left hand door into the forge.
	"It hasn't been used in quite sometime but it's still in very good
condition. Very useful in a siege. Now something even more useful in a siege."
	We head straight across the hall to the next room. A tranquil well
is dug inside the room.
	"Fresh water. You don't need to worry about your water being poisoned,
or much else. Just food. On that topic I'd advise stripping the close lands 
and storing it for later."
	We leave the catacombs and head out across the windy parapet to the 
other tower. I first take them up to the top of the tower. The blue fire still 
burns bright atop it, fueled by the spells below.
	"This is how we found you. We saw the light last night and followed
it here." says Balthazar.
	"Well, this will make an excellent look out post. Keep it guarded also. 
We originally got into the castle from here. The fire is constant and sustained 
by spells from below. I'll show you in a moment."
	We retrace out steps down the long stairs and go down a couple levels.
I take them up by the dragon banner and .... stop by the banner.
	"Whoa, i had never noticed that before. That's cool." I say stepping up 
to the banner. "Why didn't i notice this before? Well, cause you were a little
pre-occupied last time you were her. Oh, this is very interesting. Where does
this lead?" I mutter, tracing the magic pattern with my finger. 
	"Excuse me." Balthazar says.
	"Ah, this is different. Why did he put that little twist there? Oh, i
see. It does hook up... back over in this area."
	"Excuse me!" Balthazar touches me on my shoulder.
	"What?? Oh. Oh! Sorry, got carried away. I'll write that rune down
later when i have time. Nice tapestry, isn't it. Let's continue." I proceed
up the continued stairs into the church proper.
	"Nice place of worship don't you think. Balthazar, go stand on the 
altar."
	"Why??" He looks at me with distrust in his eye.
	"It's a demonstration."
	"I've seen your previous demonstrations. What will happen?"
	"Nothing bad. You'll be fine."
	"Ok. John you heard the man. Get in there."
	"What?!?!?!" says a non-descript man in the back of the merchants
train. "No."
	"You owe me. Shall i ask about debts?"
	A look of horror passes over John's face. "Nononono! You don't need to 
worry about that. I'll go." John rushes off to stand at the middle of the altar.
	"You guys," pointing to the guards trailing us. "please extinguish the
lights. And mind the body on the ground." As the guards are heading for the 
candles, I point to the body that one of the guards is steping around. "Your 
going to have to remove that body also, It's the remains of a Demon that 
Griffin killed. Who knows what would happen if a kid got ahold of that body." 
	"Griffin, he's the guy with the bow. Right?"
	"Not quite. Griffin is the one with the big sword and axe."
	The guard steping around the body, says "What should we do about the
sword?"
	"What sword?" I reply.
	"This one." He says bending over and picking up something from the other
side of the corpse. It's a black runed blade that screams power and evil to
my new found senses.
	"Mother Silene! Drop that thing, NOW!" The malevolent power streaming
up the hilt of the sword into the unaware guard is enormous.
	"No." comes the guards slurred voice as his expression changes from
neutral to a cruel snarl.
	"Drop it you fool."
	The guard raises the black runed blade to on-guarde and advances toward
us. The ring of steel resounds as the group of guards and myself draw blades. 
	"Put it down, Gelrid." says one of the guards as he steps before me.
	Gelrid rushes infront of the guard and drops low to strike. The guard
positions his blade to block the strike and spills his guts upon the floor when
Gelrid flicks the tip of the rune blade past the guards defences. Someone 
behind me lets out a gasp as the guard intestines squelch to the floor. I step 
forward and lighten the weight of the blade in my hand as the downed guard 
starts screaming and desparatly trying to shove his guts back inside his 
stomach. Gelrid tries to lunge at me. I dodge his lunge letting it pass by me.
I can feel it's ice cold anger as the blade glides by my ribs. Before Gelrid
can retract his blade to him, I pivot and strike downward at his wrist. Bones
crack and flesh severs under the keen edge of my blade. The dark blade falls to
the ground, Gelrid's severed hand still tightly clutched around it.
	The guards sheath their swords and quickly cluster around the two
screaming men. 
	"Move aside." I yell. "I can try to save him. Get me some clean cloth.
Staunch the bleeding on Gelrid. I'll get to him later."
	I kneel down in front of the writhing guard and carefully extend  my
power into him. I pinch flows to inhibit pain and his moans subside. I knit his
intestines as i replace them in his stomach. The stomach had been nearly cut in
two. That was tricky to mend. The guard returns with clean cloth and i use
the cloth to patch the hole in the guard on the ground. I carefully knit the
skin of the guard back together slowly over a couple minutes. When i look up
from fixing his stomach the guard is asleep and sweat is pouring from my
forehead.
	"He'll be ok. Just keep him quite. He'll be ok. lots of liquid. He
might not recover from the drain of the blade, but he will survive."
	I stand up and move over to Gelrid's side. He's lying on the floor,
blood-stained cloth covering his stump of a hand. I grab his arm a few inches
above the cut and start to heal the cut and sever useless nerves.
	"You cut off my hand." Gelrid says through quivering lips.
	"You would have killed more people had i not." I say continueing my 
healing.
	"I thought I was going to be killed by my friends. Thank you."
	I peel the blood-clotted cloth from his stump and find whole flesh
below it.
	"Sorry, I can't regrow your hand yet. Next time i come through this
area I should be better at my magic. Stop by and ask me to fix this."
	"I Will." He says.
	I stand up and talk to another guard close by, "Take them somewhere
comfortable and feed them. They will be hungry."
	Two of the guards each pick up a friend and take them down the stairs
and out of sight.
	"What is that thing?" Asks Balthazar.
	"I don't know." I say looking at the blade. "I'll ask the demon-hunter
the next time i see him." Everybody else in the room is staring at the sword as
if hell itself had opened up. The blade lay there with Gelrid's stolen hand 
clenching ineffectually around the hilt.
	"Don't touch the blade. I'll get it later. I'm glad i'm taking this 
tour with you guys. My senses have gotten better since we cleared this room. 
Now that the excitement is over. Please, extinguish the flames."
	The light dies and the altar erupts in blue fire. Somebody yells 
"John!" The altar light dims to a steady bright blue light forming a 
cylindrical field at the end of the circular altar.
	"You nut, what have you done to John?" says a un-named merchant.
	"John, are you ok?" I ask.
	"I think so..." Comes the tentative reply.
	"See... Nothing wrong. John, would you please join us."
	"No problem. Be there in a se.." A fzzzt sounds loud in the cathedral
like room. "OW!"
	"That is our problem John, and why i brought everybody here. You can't
get out. That altar was apparently used to summon demons, or at least hold them.
But do not worry, cause i know your worrying, there hasn't been a demon in there
for quite sometime. And don't feel bad. I was the first one trapped in there.
Anyway," I form a large ball of light in my hand and toss it into the blue
field. The blue field dims and vanishes in the light. John quickly jumps off
the altar.
	"That was the problem here, gentlemen. If it's dark and someone steps
on the altar they will be trapped until a large enough amount of light is
brought close to the altar. It was originally used to hold demons for rituals.
So since demons only exist in darkness, the spell is more powerful in darkness.
A very neato spell, but something that need not concern any of you. Just 
periodically patrol this room with light and everything will be cool. Next 
room on our list."
	I take them down the tower several flights of steps. And open a door 
upon a charred hallway.
	"In this hallway was an attack slime. We burned it out but there may
still be bits of it hiding in this hallway."
	Next I show them the Mage's study.
	"This altar is part of the connection between floors. It draws power
from the high magic zone beneath us and feeds either the flame a top the roof,
or the demon containment spell if it's in effect. The books here are not to
be touched."
	We step out of the mages study and return to the bottom floor of the
shorter tower. I step over to ontop of a trapdoor in the floor.
	"Below where I am standing is Hell. There are two corpses of friends
down this trapdoor. They died because they believed they could take on a
demon that has been amasing power here over the last six hundred years. N..."
	"Demon? What the hell are we doing here then?" Interupts Balthazar.
	"If i can continue... Now this demon below us is trapped. He's damn
pissed off but trapped. He's trapped by the same spell that trapped John 
upstairs. Understand... Trapped. He can't get out. Believe me he's been trying
for the last six hundred years. Beautiful paradox don't you think."
	"What paradox?" Asks Balthazar.
	"Oh, the demon could probably get out by creating a ball of light.
However the amount of light nessasary to free him from the spell would probably
kill him. I find it quite ironic." I say with a smile.
	"Oh.. quite right." agree Balthazar.
	"Well, that is basically it. There is another library in the other
tower. The same book rules apply as everywere else. I've put in a petition to
the king for assignment of this castle, and all the items in it, to my name. So 
be nice to it."
	After telling Balthazar all the dangerous places of the castle the 
militia quickly moved in. They checked all the areas of the castle under
guideance from Balthazar to find the best plan to get the townspeople into
the castle. The townspeople during this time are all outside the castle looking
up at the erie blue fire on top of the castle and wondering if this really was 
a good choice. The Dragon Rider had already taken control of the Military 
before they got to the castle. I waved at him as he passed me on his way into
the castle talking strategy with Derek. Griffin, Darshu and Damon had already
assembled our horses and supplies for the run for the border. So we are ready 
to go. I go and grab an extra horseblanket from our pack animals. I see Griffin
on the way back.
	"Hey Griffin, well done. Nice horse train."
	"Thank you. I found the best animals i could. The guy was quite willing
to sell them for some money rather than leave them for the 'Baron'."
	"Who did the supplies?"
	"Darshu and Arshes to be surprised. And he didn't do a bad job. We've
got more cheese than we need, but he kept saying 'It was a bargain. It was a 
bargain.' Oh well, we'll be fine." 
	"Where is Shayla?"
	"Oh, she is off with the townsfolk healing woounds and helping the 
sick. She looked like hell the last time i saw her. She looked very ragged
and worn out. Trying to heal hundreds of people in the short time she has,
can't be any fun. She's getting lots of experience with healing and bandages."
	"I'm not sure if she'd look at it that way, Griffin. Griffin, remember 
that demon you killed in the cathedral?"
	"Yeah, still not sure how i did that. I must have hidden powers. Or
I just don't remember things right."
	"Whatever. It had a sword."
	"A sword?"
	"That is what i said. One of the guards that followed us on the tour
found it and got taken over. I had to chop his hand off or he might have killed 
some of us. He had already injured another guard before i could stop him. I'm 
going back to pick it up.  Do we have an extra scabbard for a broadsword?"
	"Yea, I can find one. Hold on a moment." Griffin turns and walks back to
our pack animals.
	I wave at the townsfolk as they walk in a line into the bowels of the
castle. It's cold stone skin a welcome protection. A murmur runs through them
as they see me. Some are reluctant to wave back and others exultant. Soon, 
a large mobile discussion is stable at the point were the townsfolk come into
my line of sight. New members flow in and join the conversation as old members
walk on.
	Griffin interupts my thoughts with a weighty 'whap' on my shoulder.
"Here is your scabbard." He follows were my eyes are pointed. "Why are they
so interesting."
	"I wonder what they are talking about? I seem to have put them in a 
tissy."
	"Don't worry about it. Some of them just hate you."
	"WHAT?"
	"I know a couple of them think that you have brought them to this hell's
castle to feed them to your pet demon, who lives below the stones and is waiting
to eat them. That is only a few of them."
	"How do you know this. Don't they dislike you also."
	"Nope, you were mister flamboyant at the 'Barons' castle. They remember 
you. Some of the stories they tell are truly worth while to hear. My favorite
is how you single handedly killed the 'Baron' and all his demonic servants.
Although, the one about you being demon-spawn is rather humorous."
	"But, I'm trying to save them. Why are the creating such horrible
rumors."
	"Most aren't that bad. The most recent is how nice you were to spare
the guards life when you could have killed him. If you weren't so plain you
might have a couple women swooning over you."
	"Swooning over me. Why?"
	"You keep asking that. I sometimes wonder if you know the answer to 
anything human. They are swooning over you because you are a heroic figure."
	"But, I'm just trying to keep them alive so we can continue on to the
dwarves with a clear conscience."
	"They don't know that. Anyway, if they did. It's a magnificent thing
that you took several weeks out of your time, fought a giant and won, saved
a group of there men from a evil sword and saved the village from being horribly
killed by 10,000 orcs. Sounds pretty heroic to me. We've done well eh?"
	"Don't you want women swooning over you?"
	"Well, hell yea. But that also means that I'd get the shit that you
do. I catch it on the side. You get it straight on. That's something I'd much
rather let you take."
	"Thanks.. I appreciate it. Keep me informed of any new rumors about
what I've done will you." I say as i begin to walk off towards the castle.
	"No probelm, Hasashki. I'll make sure and direct your admirers to the
right place." yells Griffin from behind me.
	Several people from the crowd at the door turn to look my direction
after hearing Griffin's remark. A couple of them are women, with odd looks in
their eyes.
	I shiver at the look as I pass them by and step into the Castle. I 
lower my head and start mumbling about something. I even throw in a bit of my
magic to reenforce the iritable image.
	"Hero?? I'm not a hero. I'm just a kid on the run." I mumble under my
breath as i pass several people in the ante-chamber, who step out of my way.
	"I'm running from my past in a desparate attempt to find a future. I'm
not doing anything worthy of the term Hero. They are always larger than life 
people who have there lives firmly in hand." I open the door to the catwalk 
seprating the keep from the tower and begin to step accross. 
	"The only thing I have firmly in hand is the fact that the entire 
underworld seems to be after my head. Not that I'm any threat to them, but they 
have chosen to make me there scapegoat of the century." I open the door to the
tower and start up the stairs close by.
	"Oh, I've supposedly got the 'blood of heroes' flowing through my 
veins. What has it gotten me. Several friends dead and a group of people 
following me around waiting to die!"
	"I'm not waiting to die." says a voice beside me.
	"What?" I say looking up from my view of the stairs. And there stands
Arshes. 'Great,' I think to myself 'Another aspect of my life that's confusing.'
	"I'm not waiting around to die. I plan on being around for a very long
time." She says with a beautiful smile on her face. "I'm destined for greatness 
you know."
	"Sometimes, I don't think greatness is what the stories tell us."
	"Well, when we get done, we will have to write the story ourselves."
	I start up the stairs again, and Arshes follows with her smile lighting 
the way.
	Mid-way between floors, i start talking again and continue walking 
upwards. "Why do some people think I'm a hero?"
	"Why do fish swim?" She asks, trying to lift my spirits.
	Even though its an obvious attempt, I can't help but smile at it. 
"Oh, no. We aren't going to get into that discussion. Griffin tells me that
there are women swooning over me in the town. Actually, his total words were
'if you weren't so plain, women would be swooning over you.' Is it true that
women swoon over me? If so how do I talk to them?"
	"Well, you just be yourself."
	"But I'm boring. I've done nothing interesting. I mean i just can't talk
to women. You're the only person I can really talk to."
	Arshes' face clouds over at my statement.
	I notice and realize what I said. "Not, that you're not a woman. You
are a woman." I look down at the floor, which is suddenly very interesting. "A 
very attractive women...woman. But, you're different than the rest. You don't 
fluster me. Well, usually."
	When I look back at Arshes, she's smiling again and snickering at me.
	"See..." I say pointing at her. "Hero's always know how to handle 
women." I turn my attention back to walking up the stairs. "How can I be a Hero,
I don't even know how to talk to women!" I say throwing my hands in the air.
	"I think your a Hero." says Arshes' laughing voice behind me.
	I turn to look at her and ask her why, and i find open air.
	"Damn, I hate that sometimes. Now, I'm not going to find her for at
least a day. And by then, I will have forgotten to ask her about it. Oh, i hate 
this. She's probably off somewhere laughing at the bumbling fool. Well, I'm
going to get her good someday. I'll say something just as enigmatic and then
I'LL disappear."
	Without anymore delays, I quickly get up the stairs and turn into the
church. The lights are bright and more candles have been brought in. The
black blade lies brooding on the floor.
	I walk up to the blade ignoring it's mental pull to touch it, and try 
to fit the scabbard onto the blade with no hands. A few inches of the blade 
fit and then the blade catches on something. 'I would fit, only if you used 
your hands' comes the feeling from the blade.
	"Dermon's Blood, it won't fit. I'll have to go find another scabbard."
	I head back down stairs, bitching at myself for not thinking of this
possibilty beforehand and bringing more sheaths. Quickly, I cover the ground
between the tower and the keep and burst into the keep. Cursing, I step across
the floor of the room heading for the outside stair.
	"Hasashki." I hear coming from the crowd of townsfolk near the door.
	A man covered in large furs pulls himself from the crowd and walks up
towards me.
	"Greetings Damien, How may I help you?" I say hoping he'll catch
the tone of voice and realize I'm in a hurry.
	"You found a soul-stealer. Where?" The urgency in his voice causes me 
to pause in my walking.
	"What?"
	"The blade you found... It took control of the guard... It opened
huge wounds on the victim of the blade. And I've seen the victims state of 
mind. So where is it???"
	"In the church. Why?"
	Damien turns around and heads for the church while speaking over his 
shoulders. "Because we must get rid of it. It's an evil blade. The guardsman's
hand is still clenched around it correct."
	I quickly hurry to catch up to his long legs. "Yeah???"
	"Ahhh, you don't under stand how nasty these blades are. The sword 
heals it's wielder and also transforms him into a Dathiki. Any wielder will do.
The hand still qualifies as a wielder!"
	"Even though it's dead?" I query.
	"Even though it's a dis-embodied hand."
	"How do we stop it then?" 
	"My advice would be to bury it several hundred feet down in the biggest
desert you could find. But first we have to get rid of the wielder." The
demonhunter falls back into mumbling, "We could scrape it off but that would
possibly leave bits of flesh still on it. And would expose us to the possiblity
of touching the blade." The demonhunter opens the keep door and steps out onto 
the catwalk, I follow.
	"Couldn't we burn the flesh off. The bones will fall. But, why drop it
in a desert? Can't we destroy it?"
	"No, we can't. It takes alot to make one and it's takes more to
destroy one. We don't have that kind of power."
	"How do we transport it to a desert if we can't touch it? Shayla can
grab it but can't hold on that long with her TK. Can anything really contain
it?"
	"Not that I can think of. At least not that we have."
	A light flashes on in Hasashki's eyes. "Would the time-cage destroy
it? Or even if it doesn't, it will destroy the hand and make a very effective
container for the sword."
	"If it ages items like it looks then, no. Most powerful items, like
that, are made to withstand the effects of time. However, you're right. That
would make for an excellent containment field."
	I stop at the door to the tower and address one of the guards standing
duty. "Find my companions, Especially the woman known as Shayla. She is very 
important. Tell them all to meet me in the Church."
	"But I'm on guard duty..." says the guard looking down at the sixteen
year-old boy giving orders in front of him.
	"And I'm trying to save the lives of everyone in this castle. Do you
want the deaths of thousands to rest on your head? I couldn't get to sleep at
night if I had failed all my friends and family mearly because I couldn't
follow orders. Could you get to sleep?"
	"ah.... No sir..." he stamers out.
	"Then get moving. Or must I smack you on your ass like a know nothing
youngling."
	"No, sir!" The guard quickly huries off towards the large keep.
	I turn back to Damien, "Oh! That felt good. I could get to like this."
	I open the outer door to the tower and head up the stairs to the church.
Damien and I wait for a few minutes before Darshu shows up.
	"What is up? Some guard just told me that a matter of life and death 
needed my attention in the church. If you don't like the cheese, well you can 
starve."
	"No, Darshu. The cheese was fine. I'll tell you when everyone arrives."
	Several minutes pass, during which Derek, The DragonRider, Damon, 
Shayla and Griffin show up.
	"Ok, Hasashki, What did you get us all here for? Weren't we supposed to 
get out of here already?" Darshu asks.
	"I need you and the others to run interference for Shayla when she 
moves that." I say pointing over at the black blade brooding on the cold stone
floor. "I found a way that should either destroy it, or make it unattainable
to most people."
	"How we gonna do that? And why? I like the concept of a soul-stealer.
Sounds like really cool stuff." remarks Damon.
	Damien interupts what I was going to say "Picture this then, apprentice.
Imagine picking up that sword over there. The instant you touched the blade
it would take complete control of your mind. And given time would erase your 
mind and soul. Not only that, but the evil of the blade would corrupt your 
body, slowly transforming it into that of a dathiki. A dathiki who's only 
thought is to serve the sword, and cause misery and death to everything the
wielder once held dear. You would instantly turn upon us and try to kill us.
The mearest slice of the blade causes huge wounds in it's victims and pulls
the soul from there bodies. Then the soulless bodies are puppeted around by
the sword to further it's goals. Now apprentice, do you truly want to use
that sword?"
	"uhhhh. Not really. Thank you. I've seen the light." Damon backs away 
from the sword a little bit.
	"Anyway, those are the reasons the sword need to be either destroyed
or removed from action. If we throw it into the time-cage then we serve two 
purposes. We find out if it gets destroyed, which ends our involvement. Or it
issolates the sword from anyone that can't take it, which ends our involvement.
Either way we are remove and can proceed on our way. I need everybody to make 
sure nobody bumps into the blade when we transport it. If anybody bumps into it 
we are in deep trouble. Derek, Griffin and Darshu, you guys are out front. You
can be very intimidating if you so choose. People that don't get out of the 
way, remove them. Damon and I shall cover the sides and Damien would you mind 
taking up the rear?"
	"No, not all all. Anything to remove the sword."
	"Shayla, obviously, you're carrying the sword by TK. You're in the
middle. Any questions?" I look around the room, Nobody speaks out or raises 
their hands. "Ok,  lets go."
	Shayla mumbles a couple words under her breath and the sword rises
from the ground. You can almost hear a snarl in the air when the sword is 
lifted by a non-corporeal hand.. Everyone forms up around Shayla in their 
correct positions, and we march.
	Griffin and the vanguard clear the way down the stairs of the tower
and the catwalk between the tower and keep are empty of people. Darshu opens 
the door to the keep and steps inside. The rest of us quickly follow him.
The crowded open room is full of townpeople milling around and is loud from 
their conversations. Darshu and Derek are making head way through the crowd 
when one voice rises above the rest.
	"oh, my god! Not again. The soul-stealer has come for the rest of me
too." I scan the crowd and find the sliced guard has recovered and then
realize the stampede that just started in a closed area. 
	"Ahhhh!"
	"Mother Silene, we are gonna die!"
	"I shall not fall to the blade!"
	"Men, form up. Protect yourselves. Shayla and the blade are out of 
here." I step up to Shayla, wrap an arm around her and fly into the air. Damon
and the rest form into a circle with their backs to each other. Looks like
they are all going to be slightly bruised by the masses rushing out of the room 
in both directions. I fly Shayla up to the second floor and rush her into the 
room with the time-cage.
	"Quickly, get rid of the damn thing." I shout, trying to be heard over
the din.
	Shayla throws the blade at the time-cage with a flick of her mind. The
sword flies into the time-cage. Instantly, as the hand passes the edge of the 
time-cage it ages into dust. The blade falls silently to the floor near the
bed, it's hilt aged clean of flesh. The blade look slightly darker now.
	I turn around and rush out of the room and back to the head of the 
stairs. I raise my voice with the help of a little magic and address the 
rioting mob below.
	"People, the danger of the blade is no longer!" My enhanced voice fills
the open room. The sound of my voice stuns several people and most pause in
their panic. "There is nothing more to worry about. We have placed the 
soul-stealer in a place from which it can not harm you." The townsfolk have
stopped killing each other in getting to the door.
	"Where did you put it then?" Somewise ass down on the floor asks.
	"It is trapped beyond this time. It is now beyond the barrier in the
room upstairs. As you all should know by now, from the rumors that fly in a 
town like this, the barrier consumes all things that touch it. The blade can
not escape and another cannot reach the blade without suffering the ravages of 
time. You are safe." A sign of relief escape the crowd at my feet.
	"Can we trust you? You put the blade there, can't you get it out?" says
the same voice.
	I'm going to have to find out who that smart ass is. "No, we could
only send the sword there and not retrieve it. Please everyone tend to those
you have injured and return to what you were doing."
	With much grumbling the townsfolk pull themselves back into a
semblance of order and begin to tend to those who fell in the panic.
	The rest of the group, bruises on most of them, walk up the stairs and
stand beside me and Shayla.
	Darshu, who has a large black-eye asks, "Can we go to the dwarves yet?
It seems safer."
	"Yes, my friends, we can."
[Week Two]
	We quickly saddle our horses and bid farewell to Damien, who has decided
to remain with the townsfolk and to try to find a way to kill the demon. As we 
ride out of the castle, we receive a fan-fare from the townspeople. Arshes rides
towards the back of the group with Shayla. She notices me looking at her and
smiles at me and waves. Sometimes, I really hate that smile. Makes my brain 
stop working just by looking at her beautiful face and seeing how the light 
reflects in her eyes, the way her smile shows on her whole face and the way
her hairs frames her face. The way.... Damn! That's what I'm talking about. I
don't have time to reflect on how pretty she is.
	"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" I scream into the air.
	"Hasashki, Do you have a problem?" Says Derek riding beside me.
	"Sorry, tension, had to relieve some of it."
	"Ok, just make sure you stay quiet in the field."
	"That's obvious....."
(Griffin)
	Griffin lets the others and their conversation go on ahead a little bit,
and begins to think about the things that have occured.
	I remember Hasashki saying that it is going to take us about 5 weeks to 
get to the Dwarven country, so I have that long to remember everything my 
father taught me about dwarves.  I know that they are excellent craftsmen, but 
what could they possess that would help us defeat the orcish army and the 
demons that have been after us.  Well, it is mainly Hasashki that they are 
after.  
	The thoughts of my father put me in a gloomy mood.  The painful memory 
of his death, the one memory that I was so hard trying to suppress, was the 
only thing on my mind.   Finally, I suppressed the horrid images, the painful 
memories and tried to concentrate on something else.  That something else ended 
up to be my new ax.  
	I remembered the tales about the Dwarven Slayers and  how fearless they
were in battle.  Now, I understood why.  Their weapons were just like this 
ax, magical.  The axes had controled them, just like the ax had controlled
me.  I have not used the ax in battle since that first time in the dungeon 
where I turned on my friends.  I have practiced with it only twice through 
out the whole week that we fought the cold ones.  Now I had it in my 
hands again.  Thinking back to the stories about the Dwarven Slayers, I 
started to realize something.  The ax takes over the owners mind only if the 
owner of the ax is in an attack situation.  If wielder were to be attacked or 
were attacking, the ax would try to take over the wielders mind and body.
This would make the wielder of the ax a perfect killing machine that would 
not feel fatigue, pain, heat or cold.  He would fight and kill until there was 
no one left or until he dies.  These  thoughts  made me shudder.  
	"I am going to have to learn how to use the ax to its fullest, without
succumbing to its control", I though. 
	 Suddenly, I felt something on my shoulder.  I quickly turned my head 
but all I saw was my little pet squirrel, Fuzzy.  I quickly look around and make
sure that Arshes would not see him.  If she did, I would be out of a pet.  I 
pet Fuzzy, give him some food to chew on and carefully put him in my 
pouch with just his head sticking out.  Finally, I decide to catch up to my 
friends; who all this time were riding about five yards in front of me.  
Making sure that I do not get too close to Darshu, who is really starting to get
on my nerves with his snotty remarks,  I ride up to next to Derek and start a 
conversation.

(Hasashki)	
	The clearing near the castle had long since turned into a lightly wooded
area. Green leaves and bark had become our companions on our slow ride towards
the dwarven mountains. 
	"Derek , what do you know about these woods?" pipes up Shayla.
	"Not much usefull. I think this section of the road is called The 
Devil's Way..."
	Griffin leans over and nudges Hasashki. "That explains why you're 
traveling it."
	Derek looks over at Griffin and waits til Griffin has settled. "Last
time the orcs came down through here they were stopped by a single man. He had
his home in the area and didn't take to orcs destroying it. He specialized in
summoning magic. The orc's remains were never found." Derek paused for dramatic
response.
	"For a couple decades after the attack odd things happened in this 
forest. The king hasn't heard any reports of anything odd for a couple 
centuries. The farmers love this area based on the tax reports I've seen."
	"That means the guy's place might still be around here. Just think of 
the cool stuff he'd have. Oh, we gotta look around." says Damon excitedly.
	"No. Do you realize what summoning magic would be like with him 
around." Shayla says pointing at me. 
	"Oh, that's true. Well, If we find anything... We use it far from him."
	We ride a little further through the light wood and Griffin gets a smile
on his face.
	"Hey, Darshu, what was that Shayla said about using summoning around
Hasashki?"
	"Shut-up, Griffin."
	"I seem to remember one slightly burned pentagram drawn in flour. Sound
familiar, Darshu."
	Darshu raises his hand to point at Griffin and power crackles from his 
finger-tips, "Shut-up, Skirtboy."
	Smiling, Griffin returned his attention to the road ahead of him.
	A few hours of riding bring us out of the woods to the edge of a 
clearing at the center of which is a collection of farm houses surrounded by 
fields. Several men are out amongst the rows tending the fields. An older boy
is close to a house choping wood. Children run along the dirt by-ways of the
village, their laughter barely audible from here.
	One of the men in the fields notices us riding down the road towards 
the village and raises a shout.
	"They come!" he yells as he gathers his tools and runs toward the
village. THe other men in the fields take up the cry and return to the shoddy
barricade around the village, grasping their field tool as weapons.
	Halfway out, Damon turns to Shayla, "Scared little guys, aren't they."
	"Derek, show them who you are." I say, once we get a little closer to 
the hasty barricade.
	Derek rides forward ten feet from us to within 20 yards of the entrance
and throws back his cloak to reveal the King's emblem emblazoned on his 
chainmail.
	"Oh, and your also point this time, Derek." I say.
	Derek turns and scowls at me, then rides closer to the village. We
follow at a respectful distance. Derek rides close to the barricade and pulls
his horse to a stop.
	"Hail," he says, "We seek information about the area and passage 
through your town."
	An older man pushes his way through the younger men to stand before 
Derek. His bent stature and grey hair speak of age beyond what most see. He
pulls himself straight and speaks to Derek.
	"Mylord, 'as been some time 'ince one o your kin bin 'ere. Most o the
others don rember the goblins. Ah, but i do. And your plenty welcome with me."
The old man turns to the rest of the village and shouts "They be from the king.
The lord above our lord."
	A murmer goes through the crowd at the barricade. People step out of 
the way and remove the wooden gate from our path. Most of the men return to the 
fields and life seems to return some-what to normal.
	THe children watch us we ride into the center of the village where the 
animals are kept. They seem very interested in Derek. I start looking around
and notice alot of people are interested in Derek. With his cloak back and the
golden emblem on his chest, he looks the part of a knight in shining armor.
A couple of the younger women are starring at Derek and Griffin. Well, staring
at all of us, but Derek and Griffin get the most attention.
	Derek's attention is focused on the old man and misses all of the 
looks he is receiving. The old man and him seem to be having a rather involved 
discussion about something. Griffin, however, notices the attention and 
responds to it. He straightens a little and smiles at the ladies.
	I nudge Blade up beside Griffin's horse and lean over to him. "How can 
you act like that? Some of these people look at you like your a ham or 
something?"
	"Hasashki, look at your clothes. To them you look like a lord. I 
probably look like an exotic lord, and Derek is a knight in shining armor.
Everyone of us is different than them. We stand out. They will look at us,
because we stand out. Also, I'm kinda cute too."
	"I dunno, You look pretty plain to me. And that big scar on your hand.
Musta been from when you were too clumsy at your father's forge." I say with a
smile on my face as i dance Blade away from Griffin. Griffin's swing catches me
before I can get my horse far enough away.
	"And you even hit like a girl. That explains it. They want you in their
quilting circle."
	"Ok, that's it. You're going down." Griffin advances his horse towards
me. I spur my horse into action and race down the dirt trail, watching out for
peasents. Griffin chases after me, laughing the entire time.

(Derek)
	'Sometimes, I forget that he's just a sixteen year-old kid.' I think, as
I watch Hasashki galloping down the street of this town and Griffin close 
behind.
	Shayla has her head in her hand, and Darshu is just shaking his head.
	"Anyway, old man.."
	"Just call me Thrend. 'Old man' reminds me how old I am. Me body does 
nough o that as is. And no, there ain't to worry about in this area o the 
forest. It's really kinda quiet. maybe, a couple o bandits, but little else."
	"The quickest path west then?"
	"That would be the way your friends been a traveling. o course, if you
keep to their speed, you'll be there in nea time. I got a favor to be asking o
you."
	"Yes, what is it? We'll be to the end of your town soon, so make it 
fast."
	"Well, I've got this grand-daughter that could do quite well by latching
onto an Archer, and I was..."
	"No, Thrend, I'm not attached and I'm staying single. Thanks for the 
offer though."
	"Keep it in mind, then. Keep it in mind. She's a beauty."
	"Thank you for the information. We'll be going now."
	I nudge the horse to a trot and we quickly pass through the rest of the 
small town.
	I begin looking for Hasashki and Griffin once we reach the outskirts of
the town. The townsfolk drag the ramshackle gate back into place behind us, and 
return to their dreary lives.
	As we approach the edge of the clearing, Hasashki's rider-less horse
comes trotting in from the brush clogged path.
	"What happened now?" says Damon.
	"If it's another demon, I say we leave him." responds Darshu.
	"Shayla, catch his horse," I command, "and lets see if he's still 
alive."
	Shayla mumbles the words to her spell, makes a pulling motion with her 
hand and the horse's reigns rise from the saddle and pull him to a stop. 
	Damon rides over to the slightly confused horse, takes the reigns from 
the air and rides back to us with the horse in tow.
	We ride a little further into the forest and multiple sounds begin to 
filter to our ears. A babbling brook intermixes it's peaceful melodies in with
a cacophony of laughter, voices and squeals.
	At the sound of the squeals, Darshu's ears perk-up. "That sounds like 
my daughter," his brows furrow and he kicks his horse forward.
	Damon and I look at each other, "Hell.." and spur our horses to catch 
up to Darshu before he did something we wouldn't want.
	We catch up to Darshu before he got too far, his riding having slowed
down the horse. I ride beside him and Damon rides on his other. We ride but a
few yards more and emerge into an opening under the canopy and behold a most
interesting picture.
	Griffin, Hasashki and Arshes, each coated from head to foot in mud and
each with a handfull of the same, continue to wrestle on the muddy banks of the
stream, taking no notice of us. Griffin and Arshes' horses graze around the
opening, undisturbed by the racous noises of the three wrestling in the mud.
Arshes and Griffin land a beautiful combination mud to the face and trip to 
the ground attack upon easily defeated Hasashki. Hasashki, laughing 
histerically, retailiates by pulling Arshes' foot out from beneath her, and 
she tumbles into the mud with a squeal. Griffin bends over and starts to roll 
the smiling Arshes in the mud. 
	Shayla's laugh interupts Hasashki in an attempt to pour a double 
handful of mud down Griffin's shirt.
	The three of them look up from their play, eyes round and large, like 
guilty children caught with their hands in the cookie-jar.
	"All of the hordes of the underworld are after him and he's rolling
around in the mud." says Damon, shaking his head.
	Hasashki helps Arshes up while Griffin tries to sling mud off of 
himself.
	I look over at Darshu and notice the glow in his eyes. I follow them 
and find them resting on Hasashki. Hasashki, whose hand and arm is still being
held by Arshes from when he helped her up, seems to be concentrating on finding
something to hide under.
	"What happened?" I ask of Griffin.
	Griffin steps up to my horse, slings some mud from his hands and 
begins, "Hasashki insulted me and took off into the forest. I chased after and
pulled his horse to a stop so that we might have a calm discussion..."
	Hasashki tries to step forward to dispute this claim and finds his hand
caught by Arshes, who is looking at her father with a little concern in her eye.
He removes his hand and steps forward as Griffin finishes his statement. When
Hasashki removes his hand from Arshes, Darshu's eyes calm down and return to 
normal.
	"You jumped me on my horse when you caught up."
	"You were unwilling to stop your horse, so i had to stop you some how?"
	"By bouncing me on the ground???" Hasashki says pointing to the center
of the road.
	"And you used magic."
	"Only after you threw me in the mud."
	"Well, you're the one who pulled Arshes in."
	"That's cause she was laughing at me." Hasashki points back to were
Arshes had been.
	"Well, if you hadn't been losing so badly." Griffin says with a 
smile.
	"You put mud down my pants. That's a little distracting."
	I interupt the two, "Either way, we must move on. Go douse yourselves
in the stream and get clean. Then we ride. And find Arshes and tell her the 
same."
	Hasashki and Griffin, each a smile on their face, walk back to a less
torn up section of the shore and wade into the stream.

(Hasashki)
	I wade downstream a little further looking for a deeper section of
water. Not too much further down is an area that would suit my desire for a 
bath.
	Checking to make sure that nobody is watching, I strip off my clothes
and set them under a rock on the stream bed so that they don't drift away. A
steady current of dirt colored water begins to stream from my clothes as I
begin to splash water up onto myself to remove the ingrained mud.
	'That was too much fun' I think to myself, with a smile 'It's been a 
while since I've been able to just do something fun. Let alone a mud fight.'
	I dunk my head underwater, and rinse the mud from my longish brown 
hair. 'It's been quite some time since the last time I cut my hair.' I stand
up and look down into the stream at the reflection of my shoulder length brown 
hair. 'It doesn't look to bad' i think gazing at my reflection. "I wonder what 
everybody else thinks."
	"The view from here is pretty nice." Comes a melodious voice from 
behind me.
	I spin around to find the still mud-coated Arshes looking at me with an 
appraising eye. An eyebrow raises when the rest of me comes into view.
	I cover myself with my hands and drop into the water. My knees come to 
rest on the bottom of the stream with only my head still above water.
	"Didn't you ever learn common decency?" I ask from my hiding spot in 
the water.
	"No, Darshu never taught me that." she says stepping down the high 
shore line towards the water. "And Dark elves never learn it anyway." She steps
into the water at the edge of the stream. "It kind of goes against our nature."
She stops in the water about a yard away from me and smiles that smile at me. 
The one that turns my brain to soup. "Although... it does allow me to pick on
my victims when they can't fight back," and she launches a furious water 
assault on me, accompanied by her melodious laughter.
	The first wave takes me by surprise full in the face. I cough, sputter 
and start to stand. I start to retaliate with a long sweep of my arm in the 
water, then realize what I've uncovered by standing. I drop back into a crouch
and receive another wave of water straight to the face. Arshes continues 
laughing and splashing at my undignified attempt at a defense. I try for a few 
minutes to splash back, but am severely limited by my inability to stand.
	"And now for the kill." She says, smiling. She lunges forward, aiming 
to push my head underwater.
	Her hands come to rest on the sides of my head as I calm and clear my
mind. I begin to concentrate on grabbing the water and using that to bolster
my position in the waterwar. Before I can finish, She pulls me forward and 
kisses me full on the lips. My eyes open wide and my concentration shatters. 
She breaks away from the kiss, looks me in the eye with her crooked smile and 
dunks me underwater.
	I sputter, cough and sit up in the water.
	"I win." she says beaming from ear to ear. She sticks her tongue out at
me and starts walking towards the shore. She turns and says "Oh, thanks for 
helping me wash off," and i notice that she is no longer covered in mud. She 
walks to the edge of the stream, steps out and walks away.
	I sit there stunned for a couple more minutes and then lie back in the
water and think how simple it must be to be a fish.

(Griffin)
	We have been riding all day and by now everyone is pretty tired.  We 
have covered a good amount of distance, but we still had a very long way to go.
Behind the next hill we found a place were we could camp over night.  We 
had enough food to last us about two weeks, just as long as no one got hurt.  
We started a fire and decided who is going to take the first watch.  It was 
usually Derek.  Hasashki's, Darshu's and my watch were usually when it 
got too dark for anyone else to see.  My watch was usually the darkest.  So 
without losing much time I went to sleep telling Hasashki to wake me up when it
is time.

(Hasashki)
	"Bored.... Bored...." I wait, sitting by the fire, my bleary eyes 
trained on the surrounding forest. The rest of the group arrayed around me,
each of them asleep in there own fashion.
	"I hate watch. It's so boring. There is nothing for you to do but
sit around and hope we don't get attacked. Or..." Hasashki begins with a smile
"One could practice his magic without Darshu looking over his shoulder and 
wondering."
	"What was that, Scribe?" says Darshu from his sitting position.
	"Nothing, Darshu. Just mumbling." 'Damn it. I hate when he decides to
not sleep. It's bad enough he can do it, let alone when he does it without
telling us.' I look over at Darshu, reading his book, and scowl at him. 'Well,
at least he is distracted.' I stand from the position i had been sitting in,
move around the campfire to the boulder opposite Darshu and sit down upon it.
"CON" Continue from here.
	Everybody sleeps. Hasaski, bored, starts examining his surroundings 
with his new found senses. He notices the similatrities between Derek and 
himself, Derek is skeptical when hasashki informs him that they are relatives. 
Hasashki Shows him what Sense magic is like and shows him the way to find it.

(Derek finds power)
  Derek turned inward, looking toward the center of his being; looking into his
soul and trying to find the source of his power. His conciousness slid past his 
flesh and dove deep into his soul, searching for a specific part.  He felt the 
heavy weight of the axe in his hands as the sensations of flesh fled from him. 
He remembered what Hasashki had told him to do.  Now it was just a matter of 
doing it.  Diving deeper into his very soul, he came upon a very strange green 
light.  He went up to the light and entered it. His surroundings changed and
he saw a river flowing through a peaceful glade.  Here anything he imagined...
happened.  One moment he saw many women, the next he was by himself once again. 
He tried to walk to the river but something blocked his path.
  He looked around and saw nothing until the vision of the river waivered and a 
woodchuck stood before him.  It stood there and said to him, "You are not ready 
to take in the river. You must start small. Some day you may be able to dip 
your hands in the river and drink of it."  Derek confused by this asked, "How 
can I become ready to drink if I never sip?"
  "You must find a way to gain access to the river without using your hands.  
Remember, in your mind, you are the creator of anything you want. Just be sure 
that you don't drink too much."
  Derek paused and pondered the woodchuck's words. An idea came to mind. 
Derek imagined a spoon in his hands and it formed.  As he approached the river 
his concentration waivered and the spoon disappeared.  He imagined the spoon 
again, being sure to concentrate on it this time, and started to dip it in the 
river.  Unfortunately, the spoon melted when it touched the running water.  
  Confused by the result, he imagined a cup and tried to fill it. Again the 
item melted away when it touched the water.
  After sitting beside the river for a while longer, he opened his eyes and 
concentrated on the water, the swirls and the flow of the river. He saw the 
water churn and splash.  As he was concentrating, a drop of water splashed up 
from the surface of the river and landed on the tip of his tongue.  He felt 
power and sereneity wash through him.  He saw color gleam before his eyes and 
then he could sense the presence of the axe in his hands.  He could feel his 
inner being reaching out and touch the axe.  He knew it was there now.  From 
the glade, he could feel it through another sense, a sense other than the basic 
five.  He knew he had succeeded.  The woodchuck nodded and vanished back into 
Derek's sub-concious.

(Hasashki)
	Well done derek. you've done it on your own. It's a useful thing to 
build from. "We've all come very far from when the left our various homes."
YOu can also regen and seein the dark. Here is a recipe to use our blood as a 
healing potion. Goodnight we've got to ride in the morning.

(Griffin)
	This was the best night sleep I have had in the last week.  Battling 
undead creatures all day kind of gets on your nerves.  When Hasashki finally 
woke me up, felt refreshed.  I told him to go to sleep and took my watch.  It
was kind of boring so I decide to talk to Fuzzy.  I asked him if he has ever 
seen a dwarf, but the squirrel was to young to remember when the dwarves were 
here.  He did say that he heard about dwarves coming to this part of the 
country long, long time ago.  I asked him if he had head anything about the 
orcish army, but he had not been out that far to find anything out.  
	So, 
bored out of my mind I decided to actually spend the time and really learn 
all the stuff that Hasashki taught me.  About a month ago I asked 
Hasashki, the party's scribe, to teach me how to read.  Now it was time to 
really learn and apply it.  I sneaked  by Hasashki, got to his bag and took 
out the thinnest book that was there.  Hopping that it might be magical, I 
started to read.  I got lucky, the book was in the common language, so I 
could kind of  read it.  I  read about 3 pages in about two hours.  I 
understood maybe half of what I read.  It was talking about the stars and  
what they are.  "I am going to have to get together with Hasashki and get 
him to teach me some more", I thought.  
	I had about two hours of my 
watch left so I decided to do a little training.  I have not used my fighting 
skill for about a week now, and I should really start practicing again.  I did 
a few strength exercises, a few forms ( at  least that's what my step father 
called them).  Then I sat down to meditate.  I cleared my mind, tried to 
relax and focus on point somewhere in the distance.  I sat like that for 
about half hour.  Then it was time wake up Darshu, one part of the watch I 
was not looking forward to.  I woke up Darshu, told him it was his turn, 
and quickly went to sleep to avoid any unnecessary conversation.

(Darshu)
	Darshu plays with Fuzzy's mind. Starts with mental illusions.

[NEW DAY]

(Hasashki)
	More light forest with farms and. Shayla practices with a sword using 
her TK. Spars with me during the mid-day stop. Lunch was at a way inn. Derek
cutting out saplings to wrestle with. (for a bow) About Dark standard watches 
began. Damon first, Me, Griffin, Darshu, Derek.
	During Damon's watch, i couldn't get to sleep. I lay there in my bedroll
with Arshes, The dwarves and the demons running through my head. What to do 
about the cute elf who's been sucking my will to think? How to get to the 
dwarves? The demons seem to have become an assured thing. They will hunt me 
until I can destroy them or until I can survive on my own. But even then they 
will still hunt me. But by then I will do the hunting. I still have plans on 
collecting my friend's bodies from the demon in hte castle. It's far easier to 
establish defenses that to attack.
	The Dwarves are going to be a pain. We don't even know where they 
really are. Let alone how to get them to listen to use and not just kill us.
But to study under the tutilege of the people to first use external magic, 
that would be wonderful. Not to mention getting into their enchanting rooms.
Of course, that also assumes that they will trust us. Hopefully, the artifact
will give us some trust and get the co-operation that the king wants. But we 
will cross that road when we get to it.
	But Arshes, She kept my mind running for a while until I kicked her,
the dwarves and the demons out of the little party they had set up in my head
and got back to concentrating on the watch duties i had. I got up and wandered 
around the campsite for a while to get some circulation going again. 
	"Can't sleep???" says Derek from his bedroll.
	"No, Not really. But I'm on watch, so it's a good thing i can't sleep."
I say trying to produce a smile.
	"Well, I can't get back to sleep with you pacing like that. You said
that we use a different type of magic than everyone else. You warned me not to
let anyone else teach me anything about magic. Why is that?"
	"Because, it would cripple your abilities. You know the king's physician
right? He is like us. A little less hunted. But like us none the less. At an
early age, it was found that he was very skilled in healing. It was an inborn
talent. Magicians from around the world came to marvel at him and train him.
They taught him their magic, and told him that the way he worked his magic 
wouldn't work. They showed him the true way" i say with a sneer "to perform
magic. He can't do anything but what he was born with now.  Nothing else makes 
sense to him."
	"I've never seen him talk that much, how did you find out about all 
that?"
	"Pieces here, pieces there. The arch-mage Garius told me some of it. 
The rest I pieced together from my own experiences. But, the point is learning
to much of their magic can cripple you."
	"Well, why don't you teach me something about OUR magic??"
	"Ok, I'll try to teach what little I've learned and how it differs from
the norm."
	For the amount of time till Griffin's watch I taught Derek what little 
of the theory behind the magic we wield that I've figured out. Derek stops the 
lesson around the fifth concept and tells me to put it to bed. We'll take it 
up again later. I go wake Griffin up and fall onto my bedroll. Griffin
gets up from his meditation and assumes watch.

(Griffin)
	Before going to sleep I decided to do something I have not done in a 
long time.  I closed my eyes and try to see through my mind.  It worked.  I 
could see interesting shapes around me.  Six of them looked human and one look 
like a squirrel.  They were my friends and my pet.  In my mind I got up 
and started looking around.  Very far away I saw a glimpse of another 
shape that looked human, but I did not know exactly who it was.  The 
shape appeared in the direction from which we came.  I started slowly 
looking around more carefully, but I did not see anyone else.  We were 
completely alone.  Carefully I started closing my mind and the shapes 
disappeared.  I opened my eyes and everyone was still here and Hasashki  
was on watch.   The rest of the night went by very quietly.   During my 
watch I tried reading Hasashki's book again, but did not get that far.  I 
started from the beginning again and I understood a little bit more this 
time, but there were still a lot that I did not comprehend.  I put the book 
back and decided to teach my squirrel some tricks.  Tonight I taught him 
how to find what I ask for and bring it to me.   He got the hang of it pretty 
quickly  and could bring be light objects like one of Hasashki's arrows.  He 
also brought me a small sack from my horse that contained a couple of nuts 
in it which I gave to him.  By the end of my watch Fuzzy had learned the trick 
pretty good.  Darshu relieved me and I went to sleep again.
(Darshu)
uhhhhhh.
[NEW DAY]
(Hasashki)

	The routine of the next day was the same.  We continued our 
journey to the Dwarven kingdom and we had 4 more days to go.  Again 
late afternoon we stopped to let our horses rest.  I had a chance to bug 
Hasashki to teach me some more how to read and also asked him the 
questions I had about that book that I've been borrowing at night.  

(Griffin)
	I went 
to sleep that night I used my mind to scan the area we were resting in.  I 
found a couple of birds with whom I had a quick conversation concerning 
the orcish army and its advances.  I have also asked them if they have been 
where the Dwarves lived and how were things there.  Were the Dwarves 
expecting us and what were they doing about the evil that has come to this 
continent.  During my watch  I was teaching Fuzzy the art of scouting.  As 
you may expect the squirrels are dumb creatures and the only thing they 
have on their mind is food.  Fuzzy did not want to do anything, but when I 
promised him that I will get him some more of those nuts that he had last 
night, he agreed to listen to me and I started telling him what to look for.  
The things I told him were:  how many solders (man with swords), are 
there any orcs (he actually new what they looked like), are there any 
demons (described the slimes), and finally described the big nasty with the 
flaming sword.  The last two scared him very much and he said the 
scouting sounds dangerous and he is not going to do it.

(Hasashki)
[NEW DAYS]
	They other 3 and a half days of travel passed.  During that time 
the group has covered almost all the way to the Dwarven kingdom.  During 
the time that we were not traveling or sleeping we were practicing our 
skills.  In the battle with the giant we found out the working as a team and 
timing our attacks worked really well against a bigger and more powerful 
opponent.  We were getting better and better at it.  I was still practicing 
with my ax from time to time.  I made sure that when I was practicing with 
the ax, I was not in combat with anyone.  I really do not want to die, or kill 
any of my friends.  One of the things that I was trying to master was to 
throw the ax, have it hit the target and come back to me.  I was told that I 
can do that when the ax took me over.  I also talked to all the animals I 
could find.  Even tried to get some of them to follow me.  I still did not 
have enough control over them, but I could feel that my power has been 
growing every time I used it.  I have also been hassling Hasashki to teach 
me more about his books and explain to me what I've been reading.  So we 
are now almost at the end of our journey.  We have about a day worth of 
riding to do.  Then we will reach our final destination. 

Notes:
Shayla - lose concentrat on healing  			check
Shayla - forcefield bigger
Shayla - practice sword with tk.
Shayla - practice with shift ring

Derek - learn detect magic
Derek - learn ac magic theory
Derek - Make a good bow
	
Damon -
Darshu - Mental Illusions

Damon scared of lightning
big bar fight: Insult king.
		insult shayla.
		everybody surly from damon being scared
orcen patrol:
bonding experience: wolves attack camp

CopyRight 1995 Matthew M Allen, all rights reserved