All three of them were wandering through the underground world. The Rangers not even sure if Buck was sane enough to go the right way. They had about three hours of daylight left, so they needed to get to shelter soon.

"So Soto... He's.. Dead I presume?"

"Yes, if he didn't die by my hands he definitely didn't survive the fall. At least I'm pretty sure he didn't."

"I see. And what of the herd?"

"I'm not sure."

They kept walking in silence until they reached a cave. They could have made a camp site but figured it was too dangerous. Difur and Halmir began gathering some firewood while Buck scouted the area. The two were in a patch of forest not too far from where the cave was located, so bringing the firewood back should be easy. Difur walked with a couple sticks and bark to start it, while Halmir got the wood. He was about to walk out of the cave when he heard a voice coming from inside of it.

"Difur..."

He looked behind him, trying to find where the voice was coming from. After a while if not hearing anything he started to make his way to the back of the cave, careful not to trip on any rocks.

"You.. Are lost... Broken. A remnant of what was before."

"Who's there?" He drew his sword, ready for anything to come out of the darkness. He slowly walked to the back until he saw everything illuminate in red. He looked at the walls, they smelled of blood.

"Such a shame. Condemned to walk with a wound in your soul. I can help you. I can save you."

"WHO ARE YOU!? SHOW YOURSELF!" At the end of the tunnel appeared a figure, it had red eyes and was as tall as him. As he studied it he figured it was a weasel. "Who are you?" The being moved faster than any normal animal or human. One moment it was at the back of the cave, the next it was right in front of him.

It bellowed out it's next words with a distorted deep voice.

"YOU FOOL! I AM YOU!"

"This is a dream... I'm chasing wild dreams... "

"THESE ARE NOT! MERE! DREAMS!" A sword appeared out of nowhere, bearing a strange resemblance to the one that one of the wraiths used to stab him in the cave back on the surface. The thing tried to stab him in the head, but he grabbed a hold of the blade and resisted. He struggled to get it away, mere inches from his face. As he struggled the being grabbed his neck, choking him and bringing him down to the ground.

He was losing the battle, in a ditch attempt to stay alive Difur moved his head and released the blade, driving it into the ground.

"Fear me!"

The being pulled it out and tried again, only to have Difur grab it again. They struggled until Difur heard someone call him. "DIFUR WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" The instant he heard that the being disappeared, and he was left with a horrifying sight... He was struggling against himself, his own blade turning against him. He exhaled and dropped it to the ground, backing up against the wall of the cave. Everything was back to normal, except for Halmir and Buck who were standing there baffled at the scene before them.

"The cave... I was stabbed by one of the wraiths blades..."he grabbed the wound, it never healed.

"Malmar blades... Corrupted, they slowly feed off of your fear, the more fear you show, the faster the poison reaches your heart... Turning you into one of them. We may not have as much time as originally thought." Halmir dropped the wood in his hand.

The herd arrived at the tribes village. They felt weird because of all the weasels watching them enter. Obviously they didn't like outsiders. The herd was led to a big hut, decorated with banners and torches. "Wait here." Dariel walked into the hut.

"They're here, sire. They had the amulet."

"Well let's not keep them waiting, Dariel. What say we go out and greet them?"

"Of course sir."

Both weasels excited the hut. The elder stood at the top of the steps, his hands slowly outstretched like wings. "Friends, we welcome you to this, our home. Your journey was quant was it not? Come, we've much to talk about. You may release them."

The guards left to go about their business. The herd was left baffled, impressed at the beauty of the place. Around them were trees of all kinds, the top of the huts were made out of the ends of the tree branches, around them was hide and leaves. Torches guard the entrances.

They followed the elder and Dariel down a hill, leading to a temple. At the front of the temple were four amulets, and flowers that lined them. "You carry something of great evil with you. The Amulet is a trinket of a terrible curse, those who bear it driven mad by its power given to them. They have the ability to see things that are, that were. And some things that have not yet come to pass."

"This amulet... I'm guessing it has a history with the tribes?" Diego was curious, how could something so small be so horrible?

"Yes. Long ago it corrupted the nine witch doctors, turning them against their kings. They murdered them and claimed control of all of the tribes. Unable to decide what to do with the amulet, they fought over it, waging wars that were unnecessary and destroying the line of kings. The lands fell into darkness, and for many generations the tribes began to falter, on the brink of passing into legend. Then came the Rangers, a group of freedom fighters who no longer wished to live under such dark rulers. They cast out the witch doctors, freeing the tribes one by one. This angered them. They eventually died and, so corrupted by greed, were banished from death and forced to roam these lands corrupting the hearts of others. You've already run into them before it seems."

The elder looked at Eddie, "You, possum. You possess the curse, I see it in your eyes. Dariel, please take him to your hut, and provide him the medicine he needs. Worry not young one, you will be fine."

Dariel left, directing Eddie on where to go.

"This amulet must remain at the temple, otherwise the wraiths will return, and try to take the village."

Silence.

Diego stepped forward, "What name do you do by?"

"I go by many. But you may call me 'Eomir.'"

"Eomir. We too, come with grave news. Other animals have been reporting massive amounts of predators entering Hyrax. They come by boats along the shores."

"Who told you this?"

"Halmir. He came to us, said he was searching for Difur."

"Difurs alive?"

"No... He fell off of a cliff. He was taken by an enemy known to me. A saber by the name of Soto. I don't think Soto survived the fall either."

Eomir stumbled a bit. " So its true... "

"What do you mean 'it's true'?" Shira said.

"If what you say is true... Then we have a problem far greater than you can imagine. There's a secret that not even you know. The root of all evil... Lies deeper in the veins of this Earth."

"What secret?" Said Diego.

Eomir looked at Diego, locking his eyes on him. "You remember what came before. But what you don't know... Is what Soto was, what he is, and what he forever shall be."

HA! CLIFFHANGER! Don't worry I won't keep you hanging for long. I'll upload the next chapter as soon as I can. I'm actually getting quite excited to reveal what I have in store. In the meantime I created something else, a single scene from this story that popped up in my mind. I didn't want to add it into the chapter though because I thought it would be too long... Even for me :p. If you want to read it go ahead, or not, doesn't matter to me. IN CONCLUSION! Reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated.