***WARNING***If you haven't already checked my revised first chapter, read it or you'll have no idea what's going on.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I finally have a good plot figured out with my new version of chapter 1. I can now continue without writing the same chapter over again until I get it right. Of course, my stories might still need work, so I would prefer it if you would review it for me and point out my mistakes. Once again, I don't own anything from the story (except maybe Zain). So I don't want to be caught for copyrighting.

And now, the next chapter:

ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING

CHAPTER 02:

THE RETURN OF THE KILLING DOLL

Deep in the ruins of Alanhatan, a familiar terror plots its revenge.

"HE approaches" a distorted voice said to itself. "SO IT WILL NOW begin!" the rocky face gave an empty smile.

***

Lai finally recovered from his state of shock and is now running through the Halls of Fang, yelling.

"The Elders have been killed! The Elders have been killed!" shouted Lai, all the students and Masters on the floor could hear Lai's cries. So of course Hartia heard.

"Lai, what is the matter?" Hartia asked while shaking the crazed seer.

"The Elders.the Elders were bested by the sorcerer Zain" replied Lai.

"What!? But he was banished 10 years ago, why has he returned" asked Hartia, almost losing his balance by the surprise.

"Yes, but he has returned, and he was able to beat the Elders with a single spell" replied Lai.

Lai could see the fear in Hartia's eyes, it worried him. But all the Master said was,"Gather all the Masters in the Room of Gathering, we'll talk about this matter there", and Hartia left, leaving Lai to his new duty.

***

Orphen and his group have finally made to Stephanie's hometown of Alanhatan, where they will find a disturbing image.

"Almost there!" said Orphen cheerfully. "Just over this hill and we'll be in Alanhatan."

"Finally, we can find out the little mystery Stephanie wants to tell us!" said Cleao with an impatient tone in her voice.

"Oh my God!" whispered Majic. "Look!"

The city of Alanhatan was completely destroyed. There was nothing but rubble left from the once great buildings. Fires still burned from the recent destruction. Black smoke climbed above the city in great plumes. It was utter and complete chaos.

"Who the hell could have done this?" said Orphen in a ghastly voice.

When they drove into the city, it was no better. Bodies littered the streets. Parents cried over lost children, children cried over lost parents. But through it all, one voice rang through the group's ears.

"Where is Stephanie!? Has anyone seen my wife Stephanie!?" the voice shouted.

"Hey, Tim, overhear" yelled Orphen. Tim, remembering Stephanie's friends, ran over to them.

"Have you seen Stephanie? I've looked everywhere, but I can't find her, please tell me you know where she is!" he said on his knees.

Orphen, steadying Tim by his shoulders, said calmly, "Calm down, we just got here, we haven't seen Stephanie yet, what happened here".

"Oh, no! Where could she be? All right, there's a shelter a block away from here, I'll tell you everything there", Tim said, finally on his feet after escaping Orphen's tight grasp.

Later, at the shelter, Orphen found out all he needed to know.

"WHAT! The stone gargoyles are the ones that attacked you!?" exclaimed Majic.

"That's right; they took us by complete surprise. I never saw Stephanie during any of the attack, wait a minute, do you think they could of taken her with them!?" said Tim, now worrying over all the things that could have happened to his wife.

"Well I guess that settles it then" Orphen said, very seriously.

"What do you mean, Master?" Majic asked.

"Who do you think has the power to raise those stone statues?" Orphen asked as if the answer was obvious.

"You don't mean." Cleao gasped out.

"That's right, the Killing Doll has returned" Orphen said almost at a whisper, clenching his fist.

***

In the forests near Alenhaten, two trolls are recovering from a certain blue wolf.

"Oh, when I get my hands on that mutt, he's gonna wish he never heard the name Volkan", moaned Volkan, struggling to balance on a stick he found.

"And just what do you think you can do against a wolf with supernatural powers, you can't even handle Cleao" stated Dortin, trying to drag behind Volkan, not having a stick of his own to balance on.

"By the way, it's my turn to use the stick and you know it!" Dortin complained, pointing accusingly to his brother.

"Really, well I'm the one who found it so I should get extra time with it" said Volkan, pointing his nose up in the air.

"What!? That's not fair!" screeched Dortin

"Of course it is, and that's final!" Volkan said. He hit the ground with his stick, as if reinforcing his decision. Unfortunately, the ground collapsed beneath him, swallowing him up before Dortin's eyes.

"Ah! Volkan" yelled Dortin, running as fast as he could to try and save his big brother.

But Volkan had been saved by the stick sticking between the gap in the hole, barely holding Volkan, and Volkan barely holding it.

"Boy, that's lucky!" exclaimed Dortin.

"What are you doing just standing there, help me up!" screamed Volkan.

The stick was starting to break, when Dortin reached his hand out to help. Just when Dortin had a hold of Volkan, the stick broke, and Volkan and Dortin fell down the deep hole.

When the trolls woke up, they found themselves deep within the ruins of Alanhatan.

"Where the hell are we?" Volkan groaned, trying to get to his feet.

"THE ONES WHO betrayed ME, IT seems I MAY HAVE A use FOR YOU" a mysterious voice said.

They both looked behind them where the voice had come from, starting to recognize the creepy voice. Volkan and Dortin took one look at the green aura around the creature and knew exactly who it was.

***

Lai had called the reluctant Masters from there rooms before the sun had even risen, and Hartia has called the meeting to order.

"Silence! I ask for silence!" yelled out Hartia, slamming his fist down on the podium his was standing behind. The ivory walls of the room reverberated from the force of his fist against the stone.

The Masters who had been chatting about what the meeting could be about what was going on suddenly stopped. Knowing that it must be something very important if Hartia could be so angry as to slam his fist.

"I know that you are wondering why I have called this meeting so early in the morning, and some of you may already know" Hartia said very seriously. All the Masters grumbled there agreement.

"The truth is that the Elders of Fang have been killed" said Hartia, hating having to say the sentence. His fist were snow white, he was clenching his fist so tight.

All the Masters who were unaware of what had happened gasped in surprise. Those who knew remained silent, solemnly shaking there heads.

"Please, I know that this is sad news, but we must remain calm if we are to avenge their deaths" Hartia replied calmly.

"And just how do you propose to do that" a voice said coldly from the back of the room.

"Who said that?" Hartia said frighteningly, having a pretty good idea who it was, but wanting so much to be wrong.

But Lai didn't have to think, he knew exactly who it was. "It's Zain, the one who killed the Elders" said Lai, pointing his finger straight at the evil sorcerer. His face was of pure fear.

"Bravo, what gave me away?" Zain said, clapping his hands mockingly, "Oh, and don't point, it's very rude." He was slowly walking up the aisle toward Hartia.

He was now clothed differently. He wore a black tunic of fine silk, with matching black pants. Leather boots lined with brilliant jewels were at his feet. And at his side, a golden rapier was sheathed in a silver buckle belt.

"You know? The Tower of Fang treasure room is one of the best I've ever seen" Zain said, admiring his new clothing" You couldn't find better antiques in a noble's closet".

"How did you get in there? There are guards posted all around it!" asked Hartia, scared of the things Zain might have done.

"Oh, really? I wouldn't have noticed!" replied Zain, throwing his head up and laughing menacingly.

"You! Check the treasure room and tell me what happened" Hartia yelled to a nearby Master, who was just happy to get away from the presence of the powerful Zain.

"Now, why are you here Zain" asked Hartia, switching back to his serious look, but shacking with a hidden fear.

"Do you really have to ask, revenge of course, for being banished" said Zain obviously, shrugging his shoulders.

"You have already gotten your revenge on the Elders, you must be here for another reason" said Hartia. He knew Zain wouldn't still be here if he had just come back for a change of clothes he would already have left.

Zain raised a hand and pointed to the hallway outside the room. Everyone behind him cowered down, afraid that he might cast a spell that would destroy him. "Isn't that what you sent your messenger for?" Zain said coldly.

Zain turned on his heels and walked toward the door, while the Master who had been sent to the treasure room returned, walking along the walls to avoid Zain.

Zain all of a sudden stopped and leaned against the doorway. "Head Master, the Sword of Baltanders and the Bracelet of Nomafrozis have been stolen!" screamed the Master. "Is that what those little treasures are called?" said Zain, walking back into the hallway.

"What! Lai assemble all the guards and have them go after him, he can't get away!" exclaimed Hartia.

Lai was shocked back to reality by Hartia's scream. "Yes sir" he hurried to complete his job.

Hartia now knew what it felt like to know true fear.

***

Orphen and the rest of the group were at the coliseum where the Killing Doll was originally destroyed.

"What are we doing here, Master?" questioned Majic, looking through the pile of rubble that was now what was left of the coliseum.

"Looking for anything that might give us a clue where the Killing Doll might be" replied Orphen, also searching through the old wreck of the building.

Cleao was looking among the pillars when she noticed green symbols on one of the pillars. She was staring closely at them when she noticed that they were sorcerer runes. "Orphen, you might want to take a look at this!" yelled Cleao.

Orphen and Majic hurried over to the place Cleao indicated. He read the runes closely, deciphering what the Killing Doll's was.

"The Killing Doll's tomb! That's where we'll find him." Orphen yelled out, already hurrying to get there as fast as he could.

They arrived to the ruins of the Heavenly Ones to find nothing but rubble.

"Ah! Where is he?" Orphen yelled, getting very annoyed by the Killing Doll's tricks. Orphen looked over to the chamber where the Killing Doll was risen from. 'This is the place' he thought 'so where is the Killing Doll, where else could he-'

Orphen's thoughts were cut short by the ground opening up, swallowing him, Majic, and Cleao.

They ended up in some underground ruins, and standing right in the middle was, the Killing Doll, sitting on a throne of stone.

"YOU HAVE finally ARRIVED" the Killing Doll said in its usual eerie voice.

"How could you have survived? I know I destroyed you!" exclaimed Orphen, fist clenched.

"YES, YOU DID destroy MY body" explained the Killing Doll," BUT, MY creators ALSO LEFT A backup IN CASE I HAD BEEN destroyed" the Killing Doll smiled. "BUT, THIS body IS MUCH weaker THAN MY last" he continued," so I WAS forced TO GET MY power FROM another source" the Killing Doll lowered Stephanie, Volkan, and Dortin from the ceiling with some sort of tentacles. The Killing Doll rose from his throne to show the many tubes stuck to his back, pumping a green liquid supplying him with power. "BUT MY revenge COULD NOT BE complete UNTIL I COULD destroy YOU, SO I faked A LETTER TO YOU TO lure YOU here" again he smiled. "I USED the STONE gargoyles TO GET YOU TO come" he showed no emotion even after explaining his vile deed. "AND NOW THAT I have YOU, I WILL obliterate YOU!" The many runes that are written throughout the body of the Killing Doll began to glow green.

"You bastard!" yelled Orphen "Cleao, Majic get away from here!" The two blondes ran behind a giant pile of stones to hide. "Now it's just you and me, Sword of Light, Whom I do Release!" Orphen chanted.

The purple ball of light fired toward the Killing Doll. But the Killing Doll activated a rune and created a shield spell to block the attack.

'Damn! This might be harder than I thought' thought Orphen.

***

Zain walked carelessly out to the courtyard, where dozens of nervous sorcerers were waiting for him.

Zain looked all around him, he was completely surrounded, but he was not scared. "So, you wish to stop me" he said," Well, give it your best shot!"

Just then, hundreds of fire spells shot forth, creating an blinding inferno. But when the smoke cleared, Zain remained unscathed, having used a powerful shield spell at the last minute.

"Is this the best the Tower of Fang has to offer?" he asked the shocked sorcerers. "Pathetic" he said. He raised his hand, creating a ball of black magic that pulsed in his palm.

The sorcerers gulped in fear, wondering what spell he was going to use.

"Freeze!" Zain said, and a giant black dome of magic covered the courtyard, freezing anything in its path. When the spell was finished, the frozen statues of the guards and some trees were all that was left.

Hartia and Lai could only watch in horror at what had happened, at how easy Zain had beaten some of the best students of the Tower.

Zain left through the frozen gates and vanished without a word. The sun rose, and the statues slowly began to melt.

"Lai, do you know where Krylancelo is?" asked Hartia, knowing the true depth of Zain's power.

"Yes, I have sensed his presence in the city of Alanhatan" replied Lai. Hartia stood in thought for a moment.

"Try to free the guards before they die, there is only one choice now" said Hartia, and left Lai without even a good-bye.

Hartia was now on the mystical transporter, wearing an old costume, and holding a familiar weapon. He waved his hand across the relic and said," Alanhatan" and was gone in a flash.

***

Orphen continues his struggle with the Killing Doll, now hiding to try and take him by surprise.

"YOU KNOW THAT YOU CANNOT hide FROM me FOREVER orphen" the Killing Doll said maliciously, looking around the dank and old chamber to find Orphen.

Orphen was hiding behind the throne the Killing Doll was sitting on before and decided how to attack. "Blade of the Descending Demon, that I do Carry!" Orphen cried out, running from behind the throne. His target was the tubes behind the Killing Doll that supplied the Killing Doll with his power. But the Killing Doll had seen him coming, and was ready. He touched a rune on his right arm and fired a massive spell at Orphen that sent him sprawling against a wall.

"REVENGE WILL finally BE mine" said the Killing Doll. Orphen was still reeling from the counter-attack, holding his head to stop his head from pounding. So he couldn't notice the same rock tentacles that had already caught Stephanie and the troll brothers, and now Orphen.

The Killing Doll used the tentacles to bring Orphen right in front of him. "WELL orphen, IT SEEMS I HAVE beaten YOU." the Killing Doll said "BUT I suppose I COULDN'T EXPECT MUCH OF A challenge FROM A SORCERER." Orphen looked at the Killing Doll with malice, but he knew he couldn't do anything to help himself.

"NOW YOUR power SHALL NOW BE mine!" the Killing Doll exclaimed. The tentacles gave off a sudden flash and began to steal Orphen's power, while Orphen himself could only scream in pain.

"Master!" yelled Majic"Don't worry Master I'm coming!" Majic had run from behind the rock pile and charged the Killing Doll after Cleao's futile attempts to stop him. Orphen winced as he struggled to say something to his apprentice.

"Majic, you idiot! Get away you're no match for him!" yelled Orphen, struggling with the tentacles tough grip.

"I suppose I SHOULD also TAKE CARE OF your FRIENDS" the Killing Doll said. He launched more of his tentacles toward Majic, forcing Majic run back to the rocks. But then he stopped right at the place where he had hid before, turned around and stretched his hands out.

"Sword of Light, Whom I do Release" Majic yelled, and to Cleao's surprise, the spell actually destroyed all the tentacles. "Well, what'd you think I was doing at the Tower of Fang?" he said" Now let's go!" Unfortunately, the Killing Doll had summoned more of the tentacles while Majic had his back turned, and Majic ended up as a victim just like Orphen.

"Majic, no!" screamed Cleao, trying to grab Majic back as he was quickly pulled toward the evil golem.

"I WAS GOING TO LET YOU live, BUT I SUPPOSE I'LL HAVE TO kill YOU AS well" the Killing Doll smiled evilly. Orphen and Majic writhed in pain, losing their powers slowly, screaming in agony, until a scythe emerged from out of nowhere, cutting the tubes in the Killing Doll and freeing all of his captives and causing the Killing Doll to fall to the ground with a choking sound.

Cleao looked up to the masked figure that, for once, she was happy to see. "I am the assassin of the night! I live in the dark, hiding my face by day! I am the embodiment of fear and evil! I am-" the shadowy figure was cut short.

"Hey Shrimp-Man!" yelled Cleao, cupping her hand over her mouth.

The Black Tiger fell from his perch on the rocky shelf in embarrassment. When he got back up he said "I thought I told you it's Black Tiger!"

Cleao put her hands on her hips and regained her bossy attitude. "Whatever, cut the lame lines and help me with Orphen and the others!" she said.

The Black Tiger winced from Cleao's screechy voice. "Oh, all right, but don't call me Shrimp-Man anymore" he cried.

"Fine, 'Shrimpy'" Cleao said sarcastically.

He groaned in aggravation.

Stephanie, Volkan, and Dortin were sitting next to a wall, after coming to, but were still very weak. Orohen and Majic had regained most of their strength, so they could stand up. They all caught each other up with the going on in their lives.

"So, Zain's come back has he?" said Orphen, after Hartia had told him the whole tale.

"Yes, he came and killed the Elders and used some strange spell to make himself younger" replied Hartia, with his mask off.

"But he should only be 28 by know, shouldn't he?" Orphen asked him, slightly puzzled.

"That's something we haven't found out about yet" Hartia answered.

"I don't know about the age thing" said Stephanie, still very weak," But the spell he used sounds like it comes from an old style of magic called The Sands of Time, magic that controls the very dimension of time itself." She started to try and get back up, but to no avail.

"Yeah, I've heard about that, but wasn't that kind of magic banned?" asked Orphen.

"Yes, it was found that the spells were too dangerous, with these kinds of powers, and his own awesome power, he can be a very dangerous foe" Stephanie explained. "But what I can't understand is why he would need the Sword of Baltanders and the Bracelet of Nomafrozis?"

"Hold that thought, Volkan! Cut that out!" Volkan had gotten up and was now mocking the dead body of the Killing Doll. "Not so tough now, are you? Thought you could take on the mighty Volkan, huh, you stupid hunk of rock!" he continued.

"God! Can't he just stop being annoying for a few minutes? Anyways, what's up with the getup, Hartia, I thought you were over that stupid superhero thing" asked Orphen.

"I had to do something to hide my identity from any enemies that might think that with me gone they could take over the Tower of Fang" he said simply.

"Come on, you know you just wanted to find an excuse to put that costume on" Orphen said jokingly, pointing at Hartia accusingly.

Hartia blushed in embarrassment and everybody laughed. But just then the Killing Doll's eyes began to open, while Volkan still continued to taunt him. The Killing Doll slowly came to and grabbed Volkan by the neck, hurling him against a wall, knocking him out.

"THIS IS GETTING to be VERY aggravating!" said the Killing Doll, sounding even more distorted because of his weakness. It began to raise its hands up to cast a spell. "BUT now I WILL TAKE you all OUT WITH ONE-" the Killing Doll was then split right in half by a spell from some foreign source. The two pieces of the Killing Doll fell down with a slam, and that was the end of the Killing Doll.

"I got tired of the way he talked" said Zain, sitting behind where the Killing Doll was, lying horizontally in the throne.

"Zain, how did you find us here?" asked Hartia on guard for anything that might happen.

"Simple, I'm the one who woke the Killing Doll up" he jumped out of the throne and walked toward the group, stopping right in front of them. "But why?" Orphen angrily asked.

"Another simple question, I needed a way to bring all of the players in my game together" he said coldly, one hand on his new rapier and another hanging carelessly on his side.

"What are you talking about? What game?" Majic said, puzzled about what was now going on.

"My own version of chess, if you will, and know that all the pawns are together, I think I'll go after the Queen" Zain replied, menace obviously present in his voice.

"Who are you talking about" Orphen asked. But he was fairly sure who he was talking about.

"Oh, I think you know exactly who I'm talking about" Zain said, letting out another one of his menacing laughs.

But as Zain laughed, Orphen noticed something, a tear rolled down Zain's face. But not from his own laughter, it was a sorrowful tear, as if something deep down inside had broken free for a little while to express his true emotion. Orphen didn't have time to wonder about it though; Zain had again disappeared without warning.

"Orphen, do you have any idea what he was talking about? Orphen?" asked Cleao, also puzzled from Zain's appearance.

Orphen broke free from his thoughts to answer Majic. "Yeah, I think I do looks like it's time for us to pay an old friend a visit" he answered. And they set out to find Azalie, wherever she was.

END CHAPTER 02

FOOTNOTE: Geez! I finally finished this chapter after all these weeks (achoo!). Sorry it's taken so long to finish this chapter, but I've been very busy lately with homework, chores, the works (cough, cough!). Besides that, I had to go to my nephews house, which didn't leave me with much time to finish this (blows nose). But apparently, one of my nephews had a cold I didn't know about (coughs again). Now I have it (sniffle) I feel terrible. Least it got me a day off from school to finish this^_^. I promise I'll try to finish the other chapters faster (sorry Mlaine). (achoo!) If you'll excuse me, I think I'll take a nap now. Oh, and please, no flames. I don't think my stomach can take roasted marshmallows right now. ~_~