Author's Note: Hmm. No reviews? That's okay. I see that some people have read the chapter so I'm okay with that. But PLEASE review my story! Thank you, thank you!

CHAPTER SEVEN

Tala sat on the workbench quietly eating her sandwich and chips. Due to the abrupt time change with shifting locations, the nine year old had slept until noon. This had been okay with Sekhmet because he had spent the morning training with Dais while Anubis and Cale had been away on an attack on the ronins. When they had finished training, Sekhmet had made himself a large sandwich in two parts and chips.

Dais hadn't even noticed that the two parts were made differently and he had two drinks with him. Sekhmet had already eaten his half of the sandwich and was meditating in a corner of his room. Tala stared curiously at him as she took another small bite of her sandwich. To her, it looked as though he were taking a nap while sitting up.

She finished eating her lunch and climbed carefully down from the workbench. Tala slowly approached Sekhmet. She didn't want to disturb him if he really had fallen asleep sitting up. Slowly bringing herself down, Tala sat cross-legged in front of him where their knees were almost touching. She studied his posture and where his arms were. She tried to copy him as best as she could.

Then Tala closed her eyes with a smile and let her mind drift. She thought about how happy she was to be with her brother; despite having to be confined to only this area. She thought about the soft stuffed animals which Rose had obviously hand-picked out for her. She thought about Herbert who was curled up asleep in her loose jeans pocket. She thought about all the wonderful foster families who had allowed her to stay with them.

"What are you doing?"

While tilting her head to the side, Tala peeked an eye open to see Sekhmet's eyes still closed but a small smile on his face. The whisper had been so quiet she almost thought she had imagined him saying something.

"Am I bothering you?" she asked rather than answer the question.

Without opening his eyes, he simply answered, "No."

"Good."

Tala closed her eyes and relaxed her body with a sigh. Hearing the sigh, Sekhmet opened his eyes to take another look at Tala. The little girl looked cute sitting cross-legged with her back straight and eyes closed. He reached his hand up to pat her gently on top of her head. Keeping her eyes closed, Tala's smile grew and she giggled.

They spent the next hour with Sekhmet meditating and Tala just thinking. Tala reached her hands up to rub at her eyes. It was mid-afternoon which was a tad late for a nap, but she was getting very tired. Sekhmet nearly jumped out of his skin when a small weight suddenly plopped down onto his lap. When he opened his eyes, he looked down to see Tala settling down into his lap in a curled up position with her cheek pressed up against him.

Sekhmet wrapped an arm around her and stood up. The little girl had just sat down but she was already fast asleep. He walked into the bathroom and around the corner where the bathtub was. He held her in his arms with one arm and used the other to rearrange the pillows. Then he laid her down, pulled the blanket over her, and leaned to kiss her gently on the forehead.

A sudden familiar ringing in his head made him groan. Talpa didn't sound happy.

Which means Cale and Anubis probably blew the mission, Sekhmet thought.

Taking a final look down at his young charge, Sekhmet shifted through the dynasty to the throne room.

/…/

The next day, Tala sat up in her makeshift bed with her iPad open on her lap. Her teacher had given her all the information for her online schooling and presented her with the iPad as a gift. Tala didn't know what Sekhmet had been so worried about. There was a strong internet connection on her iPad and she was able to access the virtual school without any difficulty[1].

She finished her reading assignment and used her small pen stylus to tap the Submit button after she circled the final answer. The page zipped upwards into the right corner and the Mathematics page opened. Despite the closed bathroom door and thick walls around her, Tala had headphones on her head so no outsiders would even have the chance of hearing the teacher's voice.

The Mathematics portion was a new lesson. It appeared to be on perimeter. Tala watched the screen as a "pen" on the screen followed the drawing of a shape while the teacher talked. Tala turned the screen sideways and tapped the bottom of the screen so the on-screen keyboard would pop up. She tapped out a question and pressed the enter key.

She waited a moment for a written response to pop up on her screen.

Yes. You will need to measure the length of all the sides and add together to solve for perimeter.

Tala quietly bobbed her head up and down. She felt like she understood it better now. As she listened to the lesson, she felt Herbert slither up her arm to her shoulder. Since Tala was feeling a tad cold, she was wearing a dark green hoodie with a pouch. Herbert slithered down into the hood where he curled up into a circle and fell asleep.

Tala placed the iPad flat on her lap and reached her hands back to gather her long hair to pull it over one shoulder. This way, her hair wouldn't hang down into her hood and bother her little friend. She was halfway through her math lesson when a letter suddenly appeared in front of her on top of the iPad.

She picked it up and unfolded it. She just barely recognized the handwriting.

I had to go out. I will be gone for a few hours. You can leave the room to make lunch, but be back in the room before 1:00.

Tala looked at her watch. Sekhmet had reset her watch so it reflected the time where she currently was from within the dynasty. She decided to take a break from homeschooling in favor of an early lunch. She saved her progress, closed up the iPad, placed it on the side of the tub, and climbed out.

It felt weird when she stepped out of Sekhmet's room. Sekhmet had told her he had three "roommates" he lived with, but she never heard them wandering around. She just assumed they were really really quiet. She walked down a long, wide hallway to pass through the living room and around the counter corner to the kitchen.

Tala explored what all was in the kitchen before deciding on making a small turkey sandwich. She cut it in the shape of a small rectangle and threw the crust into the garbage. She walked around eating it as she explored the living room. The living room was a large, spacious room with a few pieces of furniture such as a long couch and armchairs. In the corner there was a large spider's web with tiny spiders trailing up the strings.

She could hear Herbert hissing from over her shoulder as she neared the web so she stepped away. Tala noticed the furniture was facing a large, plain wall with nothing hanging on it. She thought it a little odd, but then again wasn't everything about her life odd? She was just thankful today was a good day.

Finished with eating, Tala walked around for a little more before disappearing back into her and her brother's room. She sat down with her iPad and returned to her math lesson. She couldn't wait to tell Sekhmet later all she had learned with virtual school for the day.

/…/

Sekhmet's eyes darted from one tree to the next. The ronins had fled into the forest to better hide themselves and provide protection to the two mortals.

Those whelps are fools for allowing those weak mortals to be put in such danger, Sekhmet thought.

Then he shook his head to clear it. He didn't care what happened to the woman and child. He didn't. The only mortal he allowed himself to show any concern for was safely ensconced back in his room in the dynasty.

[Do you see any of them?]

Sekhmet answered in the negative to Anubis' query. The other three warlords stood high on tree branches, trying in vain to spot one of the mortals.

[Smoke 'em out.]

Throwing thoughts of Tala away for the moment, Sekhmet drew his katanas and struck.

"Snake Fang Strike!"

The lightning bolts of venom ripped across the grass, thus creating large dark green and purple flames. From near a large tree closest to the flames, he saw a flash of red movement and a scream.

"Ryo!"

He saw Wildfire and his tiger rush out of his hiding place to where the two mortals had apparently been hiding. Cale swooped in after him, only to be blocked by his Light rival. Their blades clashed loudly as if actual lightning had struck the earth.

He watched silently as the other two warlords joined the fray. The other ronins jumped from their hiding places to give Wildfire the opening to get the mortals away from the battle. With the others too busy to notice him, Sekhmet followed in quick pursuit after Wildfire. Sensing his approach, Ryo of Wildfire sent the mortals off with the large feline before turning around in a defensive stance.

Rather than taunt the ronin, Sekhmet drove straight into battle with the younger warrior. They met blade for blade, blow for blow. He hated to admit to himself that he held back. His surekill could easily bring down the young mortal, but something was holding him back. He just couldn't decipher what that something was.

Ryo jumped backwards, connecting his two blades together by the hilt.

"FLARE UP NOW!"

A great line of fire came towards him, but he dodged away from it and let loose his own power. The poisonous barbs struck across Ryo's left arm, causing him to drop one of his katanas. It was over in seconds.

He had the ronin pinned to a tree with a blade burning close at his throat. Ryo's other katana had joined its twin on the ground. One of his arms was up in front of Sekhmet's arm which was holding the katana to his throat; it was keeping the blade from actually touching his skin. His other arm lay useless and bleeding by his side, but Sekhmet still had his other armored hand on it with light pressure.

"Ryoooo!"

Sekhmet ignored the small boy's yell for his favored ronin. His complete focus was on the pain-filled gaze of his captive. He knew very well the pain the ronin was going through. The long scar on his arm was thin as a paper cut, but the venom was very potent.

Ryo's hand tightened into a fist, then released. His eyes closed with the tightening of his jaw and a grimace on his face. He had to give the mortal some credit. Most of his captives would be pleading for him to stop the pain or would be crying out at the immense pain by now. It would only take about three more minutes for Wildfire to succumb to the venom.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted. He was being called back? In the middle of a fight?! Surely this was a joke. The voice got louder and he knew ignoring it would seal his own fate. He let out a growl before releasing the ronin and shifting back to the dynasty. The last thing he saw was the two mortals running to Wildfire's side and yelling for Halo's help.

/…/

Sekhmet closed his door firmly and locked it behind him. He sat down on the end of his bed with a loud sigh. None of them could fathom why the evil overlord had recalled them back to the dynasty and he hadn't offered them an answer, either. However, none of them were about to question for fear of an enraged response.

He was brought out of his thoughts when a little body knocked into his stomach. He looked down to see a familiar nest of dark hair. Tala stood in front of him with her arms wound around his stomach. She gave him an extra squeeze before stepping back with a big smile on her face.

"Hi, big brother. Did you have a good day?" Tala asked.

"Hmm. It was fine. I'm tired, little one. It's been a long day. How are you?" he said, choosing to answer her truthfully.

Tala quietly clapped her hands together in front of her.

"I'm great! I learned a lot on virtual school today and the teacher really liked my story about the silly zebra with green stripes."

Sekhmet listened in mild interest as the little girl weaved a tale about her day. Finally, she finished talking and looked up from her place on the floor where she had sat down cross-legged.

"What did you do today?" Tala asked innocently.

/Oh, nothing much. I sparred with my best friend to which he lost and I dislocated his shoulder. Then I almost killed one of the five mortals that oppose my dark master. And then I came home./

Despite the honesty of his thoughts, he was not about to admit all of it to the little girl. So the only answer he gave her was "Work." Tala seemed to accept this with a nod of her head. If only she knew.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN

Okay, people! I'm having to start back to work now (while sick yet again) so I need some reviews to feed the heart and soul. Many thanks!