Well here it is -- finally! The second part of my Series 4 trilogy.

Due to some personal problems I haven't done much work on it for the last eight months or so. To be honest I haven't done much writing at all during that time. But now things are pretty much back to normal and my writing seems to be going a lot easier now than before. A break from evrything was just what I needed.

So expect fairly regular updates here and (hopefully) on the Tribeworld board as well as some new stories that I have been toying around with.

So please read and tell me what you think (Praise, flames, I take it all.) Enjoy.

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Mandatory disclaimers: The characters from the Tribe are the property of Cloud 9. No infringement on anyone's rights is intended. Characters you've never heard of are my own creation and belong to me. Direct comments, praise, flames etc. to xoemac@earthlink.net.

THE TRIBE: CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Alternate Series 4, Part II

by Xoemac

PART 1

Darkness, endless and cold, the swirling blackness threatened to engulf his very soul and then suddenly he was here. Wherever here is.

"Where am I?" The question echoed through the deserted building. "Where am I?"

"Where do you think you are?" The voice answering him seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

The young man looked around him before answering. "It looks like a shopping mall."

"Then that's where you are."

"But I can't be... not after... after..."

"After?"

"I can't remember." He put his hands to his head. "I CAN'T REMEMBER!!!"

"Calm yourself my young friend. You're tired that's all. Why don't you rest a bit." The young man moved to a stone bench nearby and lay down. "I'm sure everything will be much clearer and it will all come back to you once you wake up." He closed his eyes and was soon asleep. As he slept, a human-sized shape appeared over him. "Whether you want it to or not."

*~*

"Look at them." Amber said as she stood over the crib holding the two sleeping forms of her children. "They look so beautiful."

"Almost as beautiful as their mother." A voice from behind said.

Amber felt two strong arms wrap themselves around her waist. She sighed contentedly as she settled back into his chest and felt the warmth of his body flow into her.

"Come to bed." He said. "We have a big day tomorrow."

She took his hand and allowed herself to be lead back to their large bed. He pulled her into a kiss and gently laid her down beneath him. She whispered his name. "Bray…"

He stopped kissing her and pulled away. Amber opened her eyes. "Bray?" She was staring into the eyes of someone she had never seen before. He was young, handsome with short spikey blond hair and he was looking at her strangely. "Who are you?" She asked him and he didn't answer. "Who are you? What have you done with Bray?"

She lept from the bed and suddenly found herself standing alone near the staircase in the mall. "Bray!" She shouted. "Bray where are you?" She started running through the deserted market stalls. "BRAY!"

Amber bolted upright in bed. She was breathing hard and sweat had soaked her nightshirt. She felt a hand touch her and she jumped involuntarily.

"Hey it's okay. Its me." He said to her in a soothing voice.

She turned to him. "Oh Bray." She threw her arms around him and held him tightly. "I thought I'd lost you."

He held her close to him and rocked her gently. "I'm still here."

She was sobbing. "I didn't know where you were. You were just gone. I looked all over, but I couldn't find you."

"It's all right. It was just a bad dream that's all. I'm here and I'm never going to leave you."

She sniffed. "Promise?"

"I promise." He said. As they lay back down Bray leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Try to get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow."

Amber closed her eyes but she couldn't back to sleep. She couldn't quite the thoughts in her head; she couldn't rid herself of the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

*~*

Several miles from the city.

The wind had picked up and was blowing steadily in from the east picking up leaves from the ground and swirling them around the lone figure standing in the clearing. He had his left hand out palm up, a glowing hexagonal crystal in the center of his hand. He stared at it intensely and it glowed brighter.

His mind was so occupied that he failed to notice a hooded figure moving behind him. "Phoenix." He did not respond. "Phoenix." The figure said again, a bit more forcefully this time.

The crystal's glow had faded and he clasped his fingers around it and returned it to the small leather bag attached to his belt. Phoenix adjusted his hood and turned to face the other man.

"Yes?"

"The Circle requests your... presence."

Phoenix followed the other into the woods. They walked through the undergrowth for several minutes before emerging into another clearing. The area was large and open to the sky.

He stood in the center of the clearing, peered up at the stars above, and remembered when he first arrived among them how he would spend hours on his back merely looking at the night sky.

The one he had followed had gone, but he could sense clearly that he was not alone. Suddenly, a torch staked into the ground behind burst into flame. From there another came to life, then another, until five brightly burning torches were illuminating the entire area.

As his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he noticed shapes were moving around him. Six figures dressed in long trenchcoats and hoods, not unlike his own, were moving out of the darkness and gathering around him.

One of them stepped forward. He was holding an ornately carved walking stick, crowned with a clear crystal. He tapped it twice on the ground and it started to glow, while with his free hand he removed his hood.

He was about eighteen or nineteen with a head of bright white hair pulled back tightly into a ponytail. He nodded to the others before speaking. "We have considered your words carefully and the Circle has made its decision."

"And what is your decision Quinn?" Phoenix asked.

"Although the information you bring is troubling, it does not offer sufficient reason for us to commit ourselves at this time."

"Sufficient reason? The battle is coming, the Bringers of Chaos have risen, what more reason do you need?"

"More than you can offer us now. The world is changing Martin, the old ways are returning and we are the chosen guardians of order in the new world. Are we to abandon those we have sworn to protect based solely on the evidence of this one incident? Ours is a responsibility we cannot shirk for the sake of one city, despite its importance."

"The Healer left for less than what I offer."

"Tai-San had to follow her own path. She knew from the beginning that her destiny was not with us."

"So you're going to do nothing?"

"We will wait and watch until the time is right."

"And if the city falls in the meantime?" Phoenix waited for Quinn's answer, which didn't come. "Fine. Stay here in your precious circle of light waiting for just the right time. Just be careful you don't wait too long."

Phoenix disappeared into the darkness and after he had gone the others approached Quinn, took his hand, and then walked into woods themselves until he was standing alone.

He stood there, deep in thought, his chin resting on the top of his walking stick when the sound of a broken twig startled him. "You heard?"

"I heard." A young man with dark skin and brown hair walked into the clearing.

"I thought coming to see me like this was against the rules?" He asked smiling.

"It is, but the others agreed to look the other way for awhile so I'm not actually breaking the rules, just bending them slightly." He moved to stand beside him. "I needed to warn you. The others are preparing to move."

"Any idea when?"

"I don't know, but it's going to be soon." Quinn sat down on a fallen tree nearby. The other came toward him. "I heard what you said to Phoenix. You made the right call. I know standing on the sidelines is the last thing you and the others want to do, but what's going to happen next has to be done by them."

"I know. I remember what you said; we have one chance to free us all from this insanity. And like it or not it's not going to be us who fights this battle."

"You still have important work to do when this is over. There will still be a need for order and justice in the new world however this fight turns out." The young man sudden looked up at the sky. "She's calling me, I have to go." Quinn rose and the two young men clasped hands then the other turned to leave. He walked toward the edge of the tree line, stopped, and turned around. "I'll try to see you again, before…"

Quinn nodded his understanding. "Dal?" He called out before the other disappeared into the trees. "What are their chances, really?" Dal said nothing, but turned and walked away. "Yeah," Quinn whispered to himself. "That's what I thought."