Authors Notes: Now de-clunked and broken into palatable bite-sized pieces. Purely cosmetic changes otherwise.

There are more extensive author's notes at the end but let me apologise in advance if the story seems a little (a lot) rough around the edges. It was written in under two days and is overlong and I can't justify spending any more time on it when I should have better things to do. Sorry all.

With thanks to Helix on Old Magic Forum for duties as editor.

Chapter 1

The Message

Matt rubbed his temples and heaved a long sigh. His head felt as if Lord Penbarin had been sitting on it and his back was in so many knots he had to keep looking over his shoulder just to convince himself he hadn't grown wren wings. He was very, very tired.

It had been nine days since the battle of Angel Falls. The nine days since the deaths of the immortals were turning out to be the longest days of his life. And that included the days when Dartemis had decided it would be good for his focus if he spent a week standing naked on top of a glacier.

To Matt's mixed horror and relief his father had returned from exile and was preoccupied organising his new Tribunal. The rest of them had spent the last nine days hunting down the wren, demons and other monstrosities that had infiltrated the world during the last battle. But it seemed that for every creature they stopped three more sprung up to take its place and it had soon become apparent that the demon hunting battalion would not be enough. They would need to establish a whole new Guard, one dedicated to controlling and reversing all the decay that had occurred and stabilizing Earth before it too slipped into darkness and that could take years, even longer. He could see the future stretching out ahead of him and it all seemed very, very complicated.

Taking another calming breath he opened the gate and walked up the path to the door. Before he could even knock the front door opened for him. Laura Roberts gave him a grateful smile but said nothing. He guessed she must almost be as tired as he was by now. Matt, Isabel, Dillon and Arkarian had been taking it in shifts to stay with Ethan. But he knew that Shawn and Laura had barely slept, as they stood vigil over their son. Laura's understanding of what had happened was still rather vague, but she knew they had lost Rochelle and that it had ripped her son's heart in two.

Shawn sat on a chair outside the door to Ethan's room. He gave him a curt nod. He's finally asleep. He flicked the thought to him.

Matt nodded with some relief. Since watching Marduke die Ethan had been a zombie. He couldn't speak. He'd barely slept. Every drop of water and morsel of food had to be cajoled and bullied into him.

Everyone was terrified he might even consider following Rochelle into the next world. That's why they were holding this constant vigil.

He turned the handle and went inside. Ethan lay on his bed curled under a thin blanket. Isabel sat beside him. She too was dozing fitfully.

Matt put a hand on her shoulder to wake her. But the instant his hand touched her he drew it back sharply with a wince. Power was coursing through his sister and had jumped into his hand like an electric current. He stared at her but she showed no other characteristic signs of having a vision. He tried to look into her mind but her walls were up.

A second later she began to tremble. Her eyes twitched under her lids. She shivered. Before he even realised what was he was doing he was moving.

Isabel awoke with a jerk and found her scream stifled by a hand clasped around her mouth. "Quiet." Matt's voice whispered in her ear. "Don't wake him."

She nodded and he let her go, indicating that she should follow him out into the corridor. They came out and without a word Shawn went into the bedroom to watch over his son.

They went down the hall and into the guest bedroom. Matt shut the door behind them. "What is it?" He asked her. "What did you see?"

It took her about ten seconds to answer. "Nothing."

"Isabel…"
"It was nothing Matt, really. A dream, or a nightmare."

"I felt the power in you. It was a vision. Please tell me what you saw. Was it the future?"

"No."

"Isabel, what's wrong? It was something bad, wasn't it? Did you see someone die? Did you? Who was it? Ethan? Arkarian?"

"No. No! Nobody died. It wasn't a vision. It was a message. And I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not? Who was it from?"

"Someone who doesn't deserve an answer. Someone I won't, will never – That's all I have to say about it."

He caught her by both arms and look directly into her eyes. "Isabel you're my sister and I love you."

She looked back at him, a little perplexed. "I know."

"That's why I never want to have to pull rank on you. Will you please tell me what you saw voluntarily?"

She broke away from him and sat down on the bed, staring at her toes. She looked as if she were about to cry. "It was a cry for help." She said.

"Who from?" And as he said it he thought, Oh Light and Life, I know who from.
She looked straight up into his eyes. "Carter." She breathed.

"Leave him there." Was Dillon's immediate response. "He's a lying, cowardly traitor and he deserves everything the demons do to him."

"Dillon!" said Neriah, shocked. But looking around the room Matt knew that many of them were thinking the same thing.

Six of them had gathered in the chambers in the mountain. Ethan was still at home still asleep while Arkarian was in Athens where by unanimous agreement he would soon take up his position as a member of the new Tribunal.

Matt had called them all together and explained the situation to them. That somewhere, deep in the underworld Marcus Carter might still be alive. "Do we leave him there or do we risk reopening the rift and going into the underworld to search for him? This is a decision that's going to affect all of us so I'm not going to make this call. We'll put it too a vote. "

That's what led to Dillon's angry outburst. "I'm sorry but it's true. I don't see why we should risk our necks, let alone risk the stability of the universe to go look for him." It took him a few seconds then he said, "So I vote no."

"I…I agree." Said Isabel, and everyone knew how much it cost her. "Carter brought himself to that world. He condemned himself to that pit. Whatever happened to him is of his own making. If it hadn't been for him R-Rochelle might still be alive. I don't want to help him."

"Jimmy, Shawn," said Matt, "Apart from Arkarian you knew Carter for the longest. What do you say?"

Shawn took a long time to answer. Then he replied. "We shouldn't risk the stability of the worlds."

"Is that all you've got to say?" Everyone started. No one had ever heard Jimmy speak so sharply. "After twenty-five years that's all you've got to say?"

Shawn turned on him. "For twenty-five years I thought he was my friend. For twenty-five years I thought he was loyal to the Guard. But now I realise my mistake. Marcus Carter sided with the murderer of my child. He helped him in his revenge thirteen years ago. That makes him as responsible for Sera's death as Marduke himself. More so, because he knew Sera, he claimed he had wanted to protect her. He attended her funeral! And now he has his hand in destroying my son too. I say let him rot!" He sat down and buried his head in his hands.

In the aftermath of his outburst there was silence. Matt swallowed. "That's three against. Jimmy?"
Jimmy gave a small, ironic smile. "After Shawn left, Marcus and I were the only two active Guards protecting Veridian. We worked together for so long and I put my trust in him so many times that his betrayal hurts as much as Arkarian's would have. He was one of my best friends. I don't think I can ever forgive him for what he did, but I can't leave him to those creatures either. I say we rescue him."

"I agree." Said a voice. Everyone turned. Ethan stood in the doorway. He looked a shell of his former self. "What? Having a meeting without me?" He tried to joke. "I'm hurt."

"You want him rescued?" Shawn sounded shocked and the emotion was mirrored on Isabel and Dillon's faces.

"I told Marduke that revenge was too good for him. Well martyrdom is too good for Carter. Whatever the risk of invasion he needs to be brought back and made to stand trial before the Tribunal and account for his actions. For Rochelle's sake I want to see justice done. I don't want him to die alone in the dark. I want him to have a fair trial and his execution to take place in the light. So he can know how much he's hurt all of us."

"Neriah?"

"Rescue." She said simply. "I don't think I could live with myself if I let my uncle die like that."
There was a strange silence. Jimmy and Shawn exchanged a glance. Even Ethan looked puzzled. Finally Shawn said, "Aneliese isn't – "

"Not Aneliese, my father. He was my father's brother."

Another strange glance passed between the two older Guards. "Who gave you that idea?" asked Jimmy.

"Carter told Rochelle himself. He told him that Marduke was his brother and that's why he helped him."

"It's true." Said Isabel. "I heard it myself. It's partly how Rochelle knew he was the traitor in the first place."

Shawn gave a disgusted growl. "More lies! Don't believe a word of it Neriah. You don't share a drop of blood with that treacherous dog!"

She blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

It was Jimmy who explained. "Marcus was the only son of a well respected Guard named Diana Rice and her ungifted husband Robert Carter. I met them on more than one occasion. Robert was killed in an industrial accident. Diana died of Pancreatic cancer. Neither of them celebrated their seventieth birthday, let alone their seven hundredth."

"That's right." Said Ethan. "M…Marduke was ageless. He was even older than Arkarian."

"Born in Scotland 1173." Said Jimmy. "Unlike Marcus who was born in Sydney in 1963."

"He's telling the truth." Said Shawn. "Ask Arkarian. Or Sir Syford. Diana served under his house. So you don't trouble yourself by believing you owe any loyalty to him on that account." Said Shawn.

"But why would he lie about something like that?" asked Neriah.

"To evoke loyalty, pity maybe. Or perhaps he just wanted to make you doubt yourself, or to suffer guilt on his behalf. Who can understand how that rat's mind works."

Neriah shook her head. "I still say we rescue him." She said. "No one deserves to die in that terrible place."

"That's three to three." Said Jimmy. "Looks like it's up to you after all Matt."

He looked around the ring of faces, recoiling as he felt the conflicting thoughts of six different people suddenly open and bombarding him, silently trying to convince him.

He shut his eyes and blocked them out. "We go." He said.