Lumos Invictus: Sands of Ages

by BladedDragon

They defeated Andariel, but what will happen to Chyemme and Piricus as they venture forth against the prime evils into the sands of ages?

20. Chapter 20

AN: Thank you so much everyone for over 100 reviews, all your emails and notes of support! I'm so touched and truly thankful that you like this story this much. So here it is, without further ado, I present to you, the final chapter of Sands of Ages. Enjoy!

Unexpected

Piricus

I watched silently as the rest of the sad group of beings that had managed to survive the wrath of Duriel entered into the musty old chamber where the legendary Tal Rasha had once been imprisoned and now, just like my Trag 'Oul forsaken luck, the place he had been freed. Confound it all and may the soul of the moron that did this rot in the lowest circles of reincarnation to be born again as a roach I would smash beneath my heels. Stupidity. Stupidity is the only reason this could have happened. But the thought still lingered in my mind, how did this happen?

I looked to the amazon, whom was starting through the portal to the jewel city absently. I had a feeling that she knew the answer. I heard the being that called itself Tyreal say something about her discovering what happened. It definitely wasn't something the rest of us saw or heard; it had to be that odd gift of hers that allowed her to see something in here we didn't. Perhaps I would ask her later.

I shook my head vigorously at the thought, shaking it out of my mind by physical action. What the hell was that? Since when did I ask someone else for information that really didn't pertain to me? Never, that's when. But a creeping thought just wouldn't rest. It cycled in and out of my conscious thoughts at an alarming speed. What if this did pertain to me? The being claiming to be Tyreal had said that Diablo and Baal where heading to Kurast to unite with Mephisto. . . if what it said was true, then that would indeed pertain to me and be a major problem and pain in the ass. The problem being that I've sworn vengeance against that demon maggot Mephisto for making me go through the forsaken mess that I've spent the last almost seven months of my life living, destroying my ship, wasting the order's gold when the ship sank, and most importantly having to deal with imbeciles like the paladin, whom the irritating assassin was now carrying on her back into the room.

Mephisto would be unlike any demon I've ever faced. I knew that with no doubt. It would be a tough fight, but believe me when I say you don't cross a necromancer like that and live to tell the tale, I don't care who you are. But that fight would be damn near impossible if there were three prime evils present. I am only one human being, and if my eyes hadn't deceived me, Tyreal had only been one angel.

I scoffed at the thought and snickered sarcastically under my breath. How sad. The grand and invincible archangel Tyreal had been trapped in a tomb by just two of the three prime evils working together in human bodies. Well, the human body part was truly just a guess of mine at this point, seeing as how this room was devoid of human corpses. But either way, the demons had trapped him in here and for some unknown reason, this all-powerful deity of the paladin's heaven couldn't get the hell out of here by himself. No, for some reason the glitter-clad, esteemed tin can had to wait on human hands to get him out of this bind. Talk about pathetic. No wonder the Zakarum were going downhill. I thought vaguely to myself about what the angel had said about the Zakarum temple. If the paladins were still there, the two might have a slight hindrance, but not much of one. Maybe if they wiped the entire order of paladins out it would take them a whole day, but I didn't figure them into the equation much more than that. Useless I tell you. All of them. Especially ours. Having a woman carry your unconscious half-frozen ass off a battle field is pathetic and I would die from the shame if I were him.

Well, maybe he wasn't entirely useless. It was true that just like I expected, he had chosen to sacrifice himself to stop Duriel. He was useful as a gallant idiot, truth be told it was highly likely that none of the others besides him and myself could have gotten that close to the demon without freezing solid, and I was certainly not going to die for anyone. Speaking of dying, how in the name of Trag 'Oul was the paladin still alive and in one piece? That demon's ice magic would have frozen a stone to brittle dust, or maybe contained lava without melting. Everything and everyone else that monster had touched was now a mutilated ice sculpture, even with the paladin's aura. How is it that his body was still completely unharmed? I saw the assassin give him a thawing potion, but that shouldn't have mattered. The chilling magic of the Prince of Pain was second to none, and the stuff we had been thawed with externally contained an acid salt. It wasn't fit to be administered internally; it would rot a man's innards if they tried to drink it. That man . . . he was either immortal or just plain lucky, which I thought might account for more anyway. But luck had to run out some time. It had to. And with the rate the paladin kept narrowly dodging death, I'd say he's used it all already.

"Is it true that you saw an angel in here like Nira said?" the druid asked quietly as he was the last to come through the space, carrying the carcass of his dead black mutt.

"It is. But we need to get out of here as soon as possible. I'll tell you the story later," the amazon promised with a distant tone in her voice.

"Yes. He needs to see Fara immediately," the assassin said in reference to the paladin. Without another word or concern for anyone, she walked through the portal with the paladin's limp form over her back.

"Wha' r' we gonna der 'bout tha frasa?" the barbarian asked skeptically, eyeing the large grouping of half-felines.

"Kitty cat," I said addressing my minion, whom turned to me obediently. "Tell your male he's held up his end of the paladin's deal and done a hell of a lot better than the rest of this sorry lot. You're free to go back to wherever you're from, and explain unless he'd like all of you skinned and your hides to adorn the taverns of Lut Gholeign, none of you had better come back with us," I said simply, getting a harsh glare from the amazon.

The she-cat eyed me oddly, a clear sign she wasn't sure about something. "Master, what about me?" she asked politely.

"Go back to your box, kitten. I don't need you. My business out here is done," I assured. As useful as having a minion like her was out here, when I hit the Kurast docks I was going home and I wasn't taking anyone but Darius with me.

"I see. What about master paladin?" she furthered.

"Unless that imbecile gets to a healer, his business will also be done. I've no clue what he will want with you. My guess is the same, seeing if he lives, he'll likely be leaving this damned desert as well. Farewell, kitty-cat," I said shortly and walked toward the portal.

In my place, the amazon offered the she-cat a more considerate departure. "I will speak for all of us when I say thank you for all the aid you have given us. Tell Ketan it has been an honor to fight alongside him and we will celebrate for your departed along with our own. I have a feeling the quickest way back to your oasis will be through the entranceway you came in back through Duriel's chamber," she supplied.

The she-cat shook her furry head. "Do not worry about our return, lioness. Your human magess, Adria gave my master a stone which will take us home together," she assured.

"Goodbye Nira. May the goddess watch over you and your pride," the amazon added politely.

"Tell master paladin should he have need of me, to send for me, for he has not yet formally released me from his service. Let him know that by Frasa custom I am still bound to him until he does, but for now I will return to my own home with my pride. Fair earth and great prey, lioness Chyemme, and the same to the rest of your pride," she said affably and as if on cue, all the half-human saber-cats roared loudly in a cohesive farewell. Their roar resounded in my ears as I stepped through the portal impatiently. Goodbyes were not in order for anyone else; I had too much to do, not that I would say them even if I were bored witless and had nothing else to do inside of a hundred years.

My feet hit the sand of Lut Gholeign as the harsh desert sunlight bounced into my face. I blinked to adjust my eyes to the illumination change, and then started back for my room at the inn. To my pleasure, I didn't see the assassin or the paladin. If I was fortunate, then I would be able to avoid them altogether and never have to look upon their sorry forms again. I had a feeling that since Diablo had left this damn desert that the imbecile emperor would reopen the ports soon when he got the news.

First on my agenda was to find Darius. I needed to know if all the items on Lord Rathma's list for my trade voyage had been acquired yet and if not, I needed to make it happen immediately so both of us could return to the order the second the first ship out of here sailed. Second on my agenda would be to inquire about the status of the Viz-Jaq'Taar's "findings" on the two of us. I wanted to know what they knew. Having this information would be crucial in securing passage on a trade ship undetected so that none of their insolent fools gave us any trouble on the way back to the order, attacked us, or try to follow us into our temple home.

Third on my list of things to do would be packing all our goods carefully and in secret, and last but not least, get the hell gone. I walked into the dingy old inn and the elderly innkeeper eyed me oddly when I walked through the front door.

"What are you looking at?" I snapped irritably, as I waved my room key dismissively. This old fool was going senile, he had already asked to see my reservations twice this week when I walked in and had apparently forgotten I was rooming here to begin with. It was a convenient thing to forget, but also extremely irritating when he demanded an additional rooming fee when I'd already paid it. I swear if I cursed his mind, he might actually get smarter. The idea had crossed my own mind, but with this many assassins mulling around, cursing a fool because he annoyed me would be more costly than it was worth.

The old man blinked casually. "M' looking at you, of course. You look a real mess there, fellow. What with all that blood n' gunk you got all over you folks might think you've been up to no good," he said stupidly, albeit earnestly. The fact of the matter was I did have blood and demon goo all over myself, but that ranked last on my list of important matters.

"If I were you, I'd look at something else and forget you saw me come in," I said icily, attempting to have my voice and expression convey the threat I wished to make.

The old man was clueless. He actually starting laughing.

"What now, imbecile?" I growled.

"Aww, I remember you, it'd be hard to forget. You're the one with the lovely priestess for his lady. Tall gal, kinda muscular. Beautiful, long blonde hair and big baby blues. Wears red armor most of the time and carries ya up to yur room when you ain't feelin' well. Come on now, fellow. With a girl like that on yur arm you might make an emperor jealous," he said with a mirthful chuckle.

I snarled at him audibly, and I was swiftly losing reservations with the thought of cursing him. "That girl isn't ANYTHING to me," I hissed, angered he'd have even made such a comment. "Wipe that smile off your face old man or I will do it for you," I said, voicing my threat.

This man was a moron. He didn't know when to quit. "Yeah, yeah sonny and I'm a rainbow macaw with a golden beak and truesilver talons. I see how it is, I've been round that block a few times m'self. Now, now, don't be givin' me that look. M' just sayin' that if ya wanna retain that gorgeous goldilocks ya gotta take yourself a bath, n' clean up. Them girls, especially the good ones, they don't like no scruffy ruffians. Of course, your lady, she got one hell of an arm . . ." he blathered.

The curse to decay his tongue was on my fingertips when I eyed Darius standing secretively in the stairwell to my left. He also had an amused look on his face, and between the two of them, I was going to kick somebody's ass. I abandoned the innkeeper's babble and hastily made my way to Darius, trying to ignore the irritation burning in my cursing fingers. The brief contact of the necromantic energy with my hand had given light to my family tattoo and it was burning black with my anger upon my pale skin.

Darius looked me over and the smile faded when he noticed the mark. "Calm down, prince. It's just an old fart and likely he won't remember what he said thirty seconds from now, much less in an hour," he whispered.

I scowled openly. "Don't call me that out here, fool. You're supposed to be acting like me and that would be ruined if the assassins heard you say that just now," I snapped venomously in a hushed voice.

Darius shook his head plainly as we reached the door to my inn room and I unlocked the bolt and carefully deactivated the curse I had placed upon it as well. Once we were safely inside, he spoke freely, though still in a quiet tone.

"Trust me when I say that you're perfectly safe, Prince Darkblade. All the assassins are tied up in some sort of communal gathering. I saw that elite one you're traveling with run through some portal with an injured paladin. She took him to the paladin Fara, then left suddenly. I have no idea where she went in particular; she used a cloak of shadows spell and vanished. I think she might have known I was nearby, but I know she didn't know I was watching. Anyway, point being, I managed to tail a lesser one and then I followed another going the same place not half the hour past. They're all having a meeting, and I can say that the import is great. They've left one rookie that doesn't have the talent of a fish playing lacrosse on land to watch you and I combined and I gave him the slip over an hour ago and haven't seen any trace of him since," Darius relayed.

I wasn't convinced. "Sounds like an assassin trap to me. You should have been more careful regardless of whom you knew was watching. There are other ways to spy on someone that don't involve the physical sense," I said with a growl, thinking instinctively of the assassin bitch's immense mental abilities. "It's not who you see," I added dangerously, "it's who you don't."

"No offense, Prince Darkblade, but I'm pretty confident that this meeting is legit," he insisted.

I felt an angry sigh escape my lips, but now was not the time to deal with Darius' hunches. I needed to cut straight to the point. I waved my hand dismissively when he tried to further his argument. "That doesn't matter right now. Is Lord Rathma's list complete?" I asked swiftly, becoming direct as I turned to Darius expectantly.

"Some of the items were not easy to come by," he began.

"I've no time for your shopping escapades, Darius. You either have them or you don't," I said irritably.

"Yes, prince. They're all accounted for. Including the case of Adder's Vice. Though how we are going to get that past port embargo I have no idea," he added dubiously.

"Darius, you're forgetting who I am. I have my ways," I said briskly, though I had to admit the news that the trade errands were done did improve my mood slightly. I moved on to my next question. "Back to the assassins. What information on us have they gathered? Anything distinct that you know of?" I asked.

My fellow necromancer looked out the window vaguely and his dull brown eyes scrutinized the sandy wall of the next row of buildings beyond. "On you they know quite little. I gather they only know enough of your abilities from what the assassin you've been in direct contact knows. They haven't really said anything about you other than that you are 'suspicious', but you know them. All mages are suspect in some way or another. Now I, on the other hand, have quite a fair amount of gossip going through their ranks. They saw our meeting out in the alley like we planned last week, and since then, they have been watching me like a vulture until just now. I have been very careful in whom I acquired our items from and those people I have had contact with in my stay here. I have used spells only a novice would as not to give anything away," he explained, though there was a small grin on his lips.

"How does that do anything to set in their opinion that you're the emerald prince?" I asked snappishly. "All that would tell any average idiot is that you're being sneaky."

Darius laughed. "Yeah, I kind of needed something distinct to convince them, didn't I?" he said sarcastically.

"Well?" I growled impatiently.

"Well, I got it. It just so happened when I mistook your amazon friend for an assassin spy and attacked her that a real assassin saw the fight. The assassin saw the Adder's Vice on my dagger, but luckily it was one of the younger novices and I'm almost completely certain they had no idea that it was a poison and thought it was a—" he started.

"Powerful poison spell, something characteristic of me," I finished for him. "But there's only one problem. Did that assassin snot-nose see me get involved?" I asked, a headache beginning to form on my temple.

Darius shook his head. "No, Prince. She ran back to rally with another one that was on a street over from us out of sight. I know this for a fact; I overheard that meeting when I was on my way back to my own quarters. I spotted them," he said with that same grin.

I couldn't deny that it definitely was good news Darius was bringing me so far. My mood had now improved markedly, though I was by no means joyful. The assassins had circumstantial evidence and it leaned heavily toward framing Darius as the Emerald prince. I knew that illusion, if that really was the correct perception the assassins had right now was very fragile, but I didn't care. I just needed it to last two more days at most and then I'd put this whole scenario out of my mind permanently.

Darius must have noticed my facial expression change, he was actually smiling. "Have to say, so far so good, eh? Even you have to admit things are working out better than we planned so far. Though that last bit brings me to another question. What are you going to do about that amazon, Prince? She did interrupt something crucial and she knows too much," he said suggestively. "I'm truly surprised you stopped me from killing her."

I turned to him snappishly. "If she'd have been killed so would both of us," I said simply. "We're in the belly of the Viz-Jaq'Taar. Anything that they perceived as murder would have brought all of them down on us, fool. I'm very powerful, but I can't take on their entire order, much less you. And that brings me to this: what I do to that woman is none of your concern. I'm your superior, I give the orders, and you just obey. That's the way this works and asking me questions about things that don't concern you aren't included in that," I said flatly.

Darius raised a brown eyebrow. "Actually Prince, if I may be so bold, it does concern me. The assassin recruit saw me attack her, and they obviously know she survived. They'll likely be questioning why. They will wonder what the connection between the two of us is," he replied, though slightly more cautious in his tone.

I felt my scowl return. "An irritation, but I doubt the assassin filth will be able to draw anything useful from that association," I stated in return.

"What if they associate her with us, Prince Darkblade? They know she was spared and the assassins might interrogate her for information thinking she's connected to us. What's to keep her from ratting us out?" he asked and I could hear the unease in his voice.

"Darius, enough of your speculations. The amazon is not much of a concern; otherwise I would have dealt with her by now. Let those imbeciles wonder. Like I said, they won't draw much from her, even if they do interrogate her. She doesn't really know anything other than you bought Adder's vice. For all she knows, you could be the real Emerald Prince, and that does nothing but further our own ends," I growled.

I waited for his inevitable rebuttal; Darius had always been the kind to question. I was pleased when he fell silent and merely shrugged. "If you say so. After all, you'd know better than I," he added submissively. "In all honesty, I'll just be glad when we leave here and return home," he finished.

I nodded curtly with a sarcastic snort. "Truly. That we agree on." A knock sounded on my room's door, causing me and Darius to look up immediately. I waved my hand in a silent command, giving him the order to retreat silently out of sight. I felt a familiar irk in my spine. What idiot could be coming to call? I had a guess, because no one else would have that much nerve but her. I had strictly ordered that senile old fool I was not to be disturbed even for his "inn-keeping" and tidying and had purchased that privacy with a very real amount of gold.

I thought about ignoring the knock and pretending I wasn't here. After all, what the hell else could she want now? I was done with them. All of them. I glowered at the door for a moment, then a voice came I wasn't expecting.

"Open in the name of the emperor, I bring you important tidings, Lord Piricus," came some masculine voice I didn't recognize.

"I doubt it," I growled irritably, but decided upon opening the door. The young fool that was the ruler of this place didn't hold any respect with me, but he did control the port system. Perhaps this messenger was here to give me my pass out of here, but I highly doubted it. This could also possibly be an assassin spy or worse. I conjured a subtle bone spire in my palm, not quite a knife, but it was a fragment that I was sure would slice cleanly through any metal and into the heart of my opponent should this turn to a battle.

Darius nodded to me quietly from his concealment behind my wardrobe. Not that I needed his support in the slightest to deal with one assassin dog, but at least he was acknowledging the potential situation.

I opened the door a slight crack and stared into the eyes of some half-sober looking herald dressed in imperial colors. He had an imperial crest over his right breast pocket, from which a paper was protruding.

"Out with your message, moron. Don't waste my time," I said plainly.

The man cleared his throat. "Umm, right. I apologize for the disturbance, but I bring you this invitation from his majesty, himself. The emperor commands all heroes that were present at the vanquishing of the monster Duriel attend this event before the reopening of the city's gateways and ports tomorrow. This is all," he said cutting to business and he slipped the paper in his pocket through my doorway before I had a chance to refuse and walked away.

I watched the paper carefully as it fluttered to the floor of my room, expecting for it to explode or contain some type of magical trap that might activate any second, but true to any parchment, it crinkled slightly when it hit the ground. Moments passed and nothing happened. All was still. I closed the door to my room carefully, not taking my eyes of the parchment. It was a horrid sort of purple, a color I would have expected a color-blind old hag to choose. There were venous-looking patterns of dye rippled along the edges of the folds, suggesting that this paper was hand-dipped in an expensive violet stain, a frivolous show of status when coupled with the waxy seal that had been embellished in pure golden dust. I scanned the piece over with my spiritual senses, and oddly enough, I found no trace of magical enhancement.

Darius lingered hidden for a few more moments, then stepped back into the open when we were both sure the messenger had gone. "I'd say it's safe. I don't sense anything on it and doubtfully, neither do you," he stated obviously.

"What now?" I growled, bending over and picking the feminine-looking object up nonchalantly. A flowery smell wafted into my nose as I unfolded the message, this paper had also been scented in what appeared to be jasmine.

"It's probably some royal order to a battle debriefing. I honestly didn't think the emperor would have let you go without one of those," Darius said truthfully.

My eyes scanned the first few lines of silvered lettering contained within. I felt all my good spirits die away instantly. Annoyance replaced any trace of relief I might have held. I crumbled the paper in my hand and tossed it hard into the wall in front of me. This was the most irritating thing that could have possibly happened. I'd just as soon fought Duriel all over again.

Darius watched my reaction and I could see the curiosity in his eyes. He retrieved the paper and read the contents for himself. I guess he couldn't suppress it, he burst out in a mirthful laughter.

"SILENCE!" I snarled loudly, no longer caring who heard me.

"Yeah, I also didn't think he'd let your group out of here without one of those either," Darius choked between laughs.

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?" I hissed dangerously, feeling my temper rise.

Darius must have seen the emerald flash in my eyes, because I saw the reflection of the light in my room's mirror. He stopped laughing, but still retained an amused smirk. "In all due respect Prince Darkblade, I believe you've faced worse. A grand ball is no big deal. Just stand in some dark corner silently until it's over," he suggested. "Then when it is, you'll have appeased the emperor and we are guaranteed passage home."

"What a pain in the ass," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm not some pompous peacock that parades around in a useless garment and I definitely don't attend parties. What a waste of my existence," I continued angrily.

"You're right about that. They may be useless, but this strictly says you're not to attend in anything but formal attire. I don't think I need to tell you it'd be wise to blend in at this scene and not cause a commotion when we're this close to leaving here undetected," Darius reminded.

"I've no time for shopping and this moron, emperor or not, will not command me how to dress when it was me that saved his sorry ass to begin with!" I demanded.

"I knew you'd say that. I picked this up for you on the emperor's tab," Darius said plainly and opened the door to my rented wardrobe that had been empty before. I eyed the garment within with malice, willing it, and the pompous brat that ordered this idiotic revelry to burn in the deepest circles of the nether.

Darius rolled his eyes. "Trust me; this was one of the better options. And also trust me when I say that you reek right now. I'm a necromancer, but the stench of whatever demon you've got on you would attract a flock of maggots from the deepest recesses of reincarnation. No offense, Prince," he said sarcastically.

I wrinkled my nose when I had finally regained enough calm to reply. The smell of jasmine mixed with Duriel's icy blood and all the human and saber-cat body bits plastered onto my armor and underlying robes was rank, even to myself. I closed my eyes and let out a long and frustrated sigh.

"And you have a suggestion for this as well, I take it? I'm not going to a common bathhouse on a day like today," I said irritably.

"Use this," Darius said, tossing me some sort of old, half-rusted key attached to a wooden clothespin. "The old man said this place has a private bath chamber on the lowest level, down the last hall on the left. I checked it out earlier; it's pretty vacant seeing as you have to pay a considerable fee for fresh water in this place to start with. I'd go now while it's still fairly early," Darius suggested.

I scowled, but said nothing. I took the key and hastily left my rented room following Darius' directions. True enough, I didn't encounter anyone else on my way to this place which was seemingly no more that a wooden storage door off the left. I turned the key in the lock and opened the door into a small, dim space about ten feet by twelve. There was an indent in the floor with steaming water coming from within, though true enough, I couldn't smell any salt to it. The whole place looked like a spring; I could see jets of water bubbling gently under the surface. There was a divide in the middle made of a folding wooden curtain, though it was opaque and I couldn't see beyond it. I didn't sense any movement, so I knew I was alone.

I locked the rickety latch on the door, securing it and undressed quickly. I tossed my armor and robes unceremoniously onto the floor in a heap and made to step into the water when I noticed something odd. There was a pile of rags in the corner of the room, on top of a barrel, along with what appeared to be assorted silver and gold fragments hidden under the lid that was partially open, but it was the glint that caught my eye. I stared at the oddity, puzzled for a moment with what ratty cloth would be doing with gems and precious metals. I blinked as I realized that the cloth was actually the remnants of a tapestry, judging by the frilled ends. But odds and ends rarely ever catch my attention; it was the depiction on the cloth. A jumbled picture was presented in inky, black fragments. A style similar to the one I had encountered on the clay pot in the Valley of the Magi.

I walked over and removed it carefully. I'm not one for curiosity, but somehow, I felt drawn to this piece. I unfurled it on the ground, not sure what I was expecting to find. When the piece was laid out before me, I discovered it was a square, but missing two large pieces. The top, left portion was completely missing, and so was the diagonal right lower corner. The image was held together by literally two or three threads; this tapestry had sustained a massive amount of what looked like fire damage, but I couldn't tell. The image was startling to me, whom had not really been expecting it.

The upper right portion of this remnant depicted the head and bust of a female warrior that looked very much like the amazon. Same armor design, same musculature, same hair style, length, and even her face. This warrior woman held a flaming spear aloft, poised to strike some creature, whose depiction was missing on her opposing side. The lower left corner of this piece made no sense to me. There were probably about six sets of what appeared to be furry, spindly legs with spikes on the tips. This reminded me vaguely of an arachnid, but I couldn't be sure. This creature's legs, if that's even what it was, were cast in black too. There was no color to this picture save the background of the tapestry. I blinked and stood motionless for several moments. I had the oddest sense that somehow these pictures were connected, but why and how I didn't know. I scoffed after a minute and tossed the ruined silk finery back onto the rag pile. Maybe where she was from, all the amazon warriors looked like her. Maybe it was a cultural style. I had no idea. I slid into the warm water, casting the matter solidly aside. Well, almost entirely. I thought of the amazon that had been accompanying this Trag 'Oul forsaken band of morons and wondered vaguely what she was doing right now, but then decided that it didn't matter and took to scrubbing the demon stink off my body vigorously.

Chyemme

I eyed the small, narrow house in the wall that belonged to Ryelass as we walked toward it slowly. So much had happened in just the last hour alone, not to mention that we still hadn't caught up to Diablo and now Baal was free too. I cringed as I looked around myself, finding that it was a sentiment that everyone seemed to share. This included Scorpious, whom had miraculously rejoined us just after a mere two hours in Fara's care. He assured us he was well enough to travel with us and had eagerly pleaded for a full account of what transpired after he blacked out. He was of course, astonished to learn that I and a few of the others had seen the archangel Tyreal himself and was, true to his holy nature, very disappointed he hadn't gotten to see the angel himself. I could tell that he was full of questions on every detail of that matter, but as it were we had more pressing things to speak on. I had told the rest of the group that was assembled at the time about Ahmad's last request, though this didn't include Maria or Piricus, both of which had seemingly disappeared directly after returning to Lut Gholeign.

True to his nature as well, Cloudyous had requested to see the amulet, but as keen as I was for his opinion on it earlier, that curiosity had faded into a slight apprehension and an odd protectiveness over the necklace that had been grimly left in my charge. I would let him examine it later, I decided. And then I would speak with Scorpious alone in regards to what I had seen in my vision. He would know what steps we needed to take in order to follow out Tyreal's orders. After all, we were headed into the heart of the Zakarum temple, to Scorpious' order. On that same note, Ryelass was the other reason for my silence. He couldn't know what I saw. It would destroy him. I had to leave him, at least for now, with the hope that Marcus was still within reach of salvation. That was another matter I would seek Scorpious' counsel on, and perhaps Deckard Cain's as well.

Ryelass looked up at his mother's home ruefully for a moment, and then replaced the forlorn look with a more mild one of relief. I knew what he was thinking. If nothing else, we had spared Lut Gholeign from the wrath of Duriel and that included his mother. He walked up to the door and entered with the rest of us in tow.

Yvette was all smiles and laughter as we walked back through the door to Ryelass' house. "You did it! You did! The news is everywhere!" she squealed in delight and nearly knocked her son over as she jumped on him, hugging him fiercely.

"Mom, I can't breathe," Ryelass wheezed.

"Sorry!" she apologized lightly and withdrew slightly. "I knew you could do it!" she added happily and hugged him again.

"I wasn't alone," Ryelass said modestly, and moved aside so that Yvette could see the rest of us.

I thought Yvette couldn't be any more excited. I was wrong, and touched as her face lit up like a firecracker seeing the rest of us, which she hugged in turn.

I cringed as Scorpious stumbled a bit when she hugged him. Something was wrong that he wasn't telling us, but I guessed it couldn't be too serious. If it was, I doubt Fara would have let him leave her care.

"Oh mercy! Are you alright Scorpious?" Yvette asked seriously, seeing the way he wobbled on his feet.

"Fine, my lady I assure you. Just exhausted," he said sincerely.

"It was crazy the way you saved everyone!" Laurella said in admiration.

"You saved them?" Yvette asked fondly.

"He jumped on top of Duriel and struck the final blow," Cloudyous admitted.

"Incredible!" Yvette said brightly and she kissed Scorpious' cheek. "Thank you so much!"

"Don't worry about it," Scorpious said modestly.

"Are you going to be well enough to go to Lord Jerhyn's ball?" Yvette asked eagerly.

"Ball?" I asked curiously.

"Didn't you hear? Lord Jerhyn is throwing a ball for all of you before the ports open in a few days! The whole city is humming about it!" Yvette said energetically.

"I think we missed tha' part, Yvie," Alminus said truthfully. "We're dog tired," he added with his massive shoulders seeming to sag.

I snorted in amusement. Both of Cloudyous' wolves panted at the same time Alminus spoke and laid down on the floor.

"You too?" Laurella asked them sympathetically.

Belthem whined as Sky nudged the stump of his tail. I felt a small pang in my heart as I eyed the injury I has created, but there truly had been no other way to save him. Bibo gave a rueful squawk as her bird's eyes fixed on his amputation. It seemed like she felt sorry for him too.

"Don't be so dramatic," Cloudyous said to him lightly, "It could have been your life." Cloudyous' face dropped for a moment, a sorrowful flicker of emotion flaring behind his eyes. The absence of Midnight seemed to be something tangible to them. Cloudyous sighed and shook his head softly, allowing his former high spirits to return. Belthem groaned and put his head down on his paws.

"The same could have gone for all of you," Yvette said softly.

"Not all of us made it out of this," Ryelass said ruefully and his mother's face dropped for a moment.

"Was it one of your friends?" she asked sympathetically.

"I guess you could say so, he was one of Griez's mercenaries, so he's been with us almost as long as we have been here," he answered.

"I'm sorry," Yvette said sympathetically. "Did he have a family? Is there anything I can do to show my condolences?"

"He does have a cousin somewhere; he said her name is Xialah. But she's not here in Lut Gholeign, I know that much. He said last he saw her, she was somewhere near Kurast. Other than that, he said nothing of family that I know of before he died," Ryelass answered.

"I see," Yvette said sadly. "So what will you do now? Did you find what you where after out there in the desert? Have you . . ." Yvette began, choking on the words in her throat, "Avenge him?"

Ryelass looked away painfully. "Mom, I don't know how else to say this, but the monster got away. We dealt him a serious blow by killing a major Lieutenant of his, but my job's not done yet. Not until that monster is dead," he said, barely managing to speak the words himself.

I expected Yvette to cry, seeing as how Ryelass himself was on the verge of his own emotional meltdown, but she surprised me. She sighed very softly, and hugged him once more before holding him at arm's length with her hands on his shoulders. She looked into his eyes softly.

"Sweetheart, you and your friends have already been through so much, and revenge—well, it wouldn't be worth anything if I lost you too. Darling, I'm sure Marcus is already so proud of you and I know he'd agree with me when I say that all of you look like you could use a rest. Why don't you all stay here in Lut Gholeign with me for a while?" she offered kindly.

"Sorry mom, I can't. You know me; I'm my father's son. I have to see this through to the end, whatever that might be, and as tempting as that offer is for all of us, I'm sure, we just can't right now. But, I promise you mom, when all of this is over, I'll come back here and settle down," he replied as gently as he was able.

Yvette looked crestfallen. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm going to Kurast with the others in a few days, at the very least, I feel honor bound to find Ahmad's cousin. He made a request to us before he died that we return a keepsake to her," Ryelass explained with the exclusive truth.

I understood all too well what Ryelass was going through right now, but the fact of the matter was he was right. We didn't have time to waste and we would be leaving here very shortly. I was glad Ryelass chose to be as vague as possible with the occurrences of the demonic- he hadn't said anything about a battle with Duriel or mentioned Diablo in the entire time he was here. I knew it hurt him to lie to his mother about Marcus' fate, but it would probably serve Yvette more kindly to be oblivious until everything was completely over. When all was said and done and Marcus had been avenged, perhaps it would be safe to tell her then.

"Well," Yvette said, sighing at last, "I suppose that is the proper thing to do, to honor the last request of a friend."

"Well, on the brighter side of things," Laurella began, "Apparently we have some sort of party to attend. That should be fun," she added, trying to lighten the mood.

"Definitely a relaxing change of pace," Cloudyous agreed.

"I'll say," Alminus admitted.

Yvette smiled. "That is true, you've all worked terribly hard and sacrificed a lot for us. I should think some type of reward is in order."

"The only reward I require is in knowing that our deeds here have made lives easier for others," Scorpious said nobly. Belthem looked at him and whined from where he lay on the floor.

"Well," Scorpious added, a slight grin coming to his face, "a warm bath and a nice meal wouldn't go unappreciated."

All of us actually laughed, including Scorpious himself. "I'm sorry, did that sound selfish?" he asked with an apologetic grin.

"Not in the slightest," I assured him.

"Ya, I think 'is place owes ya at least tha' much," Alminus agreed and gave him a pat on the back. I cringed as he stumbled forward and almost fell. Something was very wrong, I could see it in Scorpious' eyes for a fraction of a second, but then it was gone.

He regained himself quickly and laughed it off. "You've gotten stronger Alminus," he laughed, "Or I'm dead tired, which I think is probably the case."

"Sorry, I didn' think it wers tha' hard," my barbarian friend apologized.

"Almy dear, gentle for you usually should entail barely touching someone," Yvette laughed. "Your father has told me about plenty of furniture you've broken by just touching it and he also said that you've knocked him over plenty of times on accident," she giggled good-naturedly.

"Yeah, yur righ' 'bout that," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"So, the bathhouse is just up the street," Yvette said gently, and I'll have dinner ready for you once you get back no worries," Yvette promised.

"Thank you," Scorpious added gratefully, "but please don't rush yourself on my account."

"Hey Yvette, is the bathhouse fixed? I mean an elephant kind of tore the place down the last time we went," I added with a grin, recalling the night Cloudyous saved us from Gaia and the other wolves.

"Yes, they actually managed the repairs quickly, surprisingly enough," she answered with a smile.

"I think we should all go," Laurella said, eyeing her own armor splattered in demon goo, "this is gross."

I felt a familiar presence in the doorway. "Do you think it's safe this time?" Vendra said sarcastically as she and Sovellis walked into Ryelass' house. "I mean, Cloudyous, you haven't found any more wild animals that might be able to run amok," she laughed.

"No I haven't, but I can't make any promises. Nature is well, nature and is unpredictable," Cloudyous said playfully.

"Yeah, well, now that I can again, I'm going to blast any bears or wolves that try to eat me," she retorted lightly.

Sky and Belthem looked at her and groaned.

I Laughed. "I don't think they'll give us any trouble at all. Say Cloudyous, where are Gaia and Bibo?" I asked curiously.

"Bibo is actually with Lord Cain at the moment. It appears that she knows him somehow and he has promised to tell me the story later. Gaia is outside in the alley between this house and the neighbor's, she's too big to fit in here," he said simply, "that, and I didn't want her to frighten Yvette or eat her out of house and home. Bears have a nearly insatiable appetite," he said politely.

"If you go to bathhouse, it best she stay where is," Sovellis said in amusement.

"That's an obvious truth," Ryelass laughed. "Mom," Ryelass said politely, "This is Vendra and this is Sovellis. They're mages that have come to train with Drognan on the last part of their trials," he announced politely, introducing each of them that bowed politely in turn.

"Well, we have good news," Vendra said with a genuine smile.

"We no apprentice anymore. We graduate," Sovellis said with his own beaming grin.

"Oh, well congratulations! I'm going to prepare double the food! We'll celebrate your achievements as well tonight. Any friend of my son's is a friend of mine," Yvette said brightly.

"Hey, did you guys hear? Lord Jerhyn is throwing a ball for us," Laurella informed.

"Yeah, we heard. Thrilling," Vendra said with a snort. I think she had been through so much lately that something as tame a social party seemed pretty insignificant.

Sovellis nudged her playfully with his elbow. "It be fun. Something no dangerous for once."

"I don't know about that," she teased. "You getting drunk is dangerous. I don't want to spend my evening counteracting stray spells."

"You sound like you're irritated," Laurella observed.

Vendra actually laughed heartily. "Nope. I'm actually in such a good mood I don't even think jackass could ruin it."

"Wow. That's a big admission," Ryelass laughed.

"I'm going to go on ahead," Scorpious said, though politely. "Yvette, if it is alright with you, may I leave my armor in here?"

"Of course!" she assured and he armored down leaving only his pants and shirt. He neatly placed his armor in a pile against the wall and left, though with a nod at us.

I grimaced as he stumbled on the last step leading to the door, and had to catch himself on the wall. He didn't acknowledge that anyone was watching, but instead left like he intended without another word. I looked around myself, seeing if anyone else had noticed this worrisome occurrence, and it seemed like Laurella had. She walked to my side and gave me a dubious look.

"What's wrong with him?" she half-whispered in my ear. "He hasn't been himself since he got back from Fara's," she continued.

"I don't know," I answered in concern. "Maybe we should go walk with him since we're all headed that way anyway," I suggested.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Ryelass said from behind us as he looked at the doorway from between our shoulders. "He sustained a serious injury, and it's probably just going to take a while to heal. Scorpious knows how to look after himself and he wouldn't have left Fara's if he was in critical need," he comforted.

Laurella looked at him and shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right."

I was far less optimistic, and I'm sure the only reason Laurella agreed with Ryelass just now was to try and ease her own mind. She felt it and so did I—there was something off in Scorpious' energy pattern and only a practitioner of inner sight would be able to tell. It was subtle, but then again that's usually how most serious problems begin.

"I think we all need to clean up," Vendra said distastefully as Sovellis accidentally brushed her elbow with a demon-oozed sleeve. She wrinkled her nose, and then snorted. "And I mean all of us," she emphasized, nudging Sovellis.

He laughed and nodded himself. "Yes. This true. My nose ache. I no pity Belthem and Sky. Their smell sense greater than ours," he laughed lightly as Belthem wrinkled his nose as well and groaned.

"Well, that settles it then," Yvette said with a laugh of her own. "Everyone should go clean up and when you get back, I'll take you ladies through the bazaar to pick out your evening wear for the ball. The emperor's invitation states that he'll expect no less, and he's graciously provided quite a generous amount for you to fulfill this request," she informed, holding up a violet piece of gold and silver-embellished parchement.

Vendra raised an eyebrow as she looked at it. "Did everyone get one of those? I mean, even jackass?" she asked aloud with an amused smile on her face.

"It says everyone that was with you, so I assume so, I don't know this person you're talking about," Yvette said politely.

"Be grateful tha' ya don', Yvie," Alminus said with a chuckle.

"I doubt he'll even come. I just can't see him doing something like that," I stated truthfully with a small guilt in my own heart. He'd left so quickly—I knew I shouldn't have expected anything less, but I hadn't even had time to breathe a word to him. I was desperately hoping I would see him tonight, and if not I resolved I would find him in the morning, no matter what.

"Actually Chyemme, he might not have a choice. If he wants to stay in Lord Jerhyn's good graces he will HAVE to attend. Knowing him and how badly he wanted out of here to begin with, I'd say it's a safe bet that he won't offend the emperor if he's smart," Cloudyous said simply.

Alminus cleared his throat. "Uh, Yvie, wha' 'bout us? We gotta dress up too?" he asked with an uncertain look on his face.

Yvette smiled. "Of course. Lord Jerhyn's invitation said everyone, and he's provided an equally royal budget for you too. Don't worry, Almy dear, I've got it covered. Elder Cain has agreed to accompany you young gentlemen while I'm with your lovely young ladies," she informed. "You'd think growing up with only brothers and then having only sons to my line I'd know how to formally dress young men, but," she continued with an amused grin, "but all my men have always preferred armor to robes," she finished, eyeing Ryelass' chainmail breastplate. "I had hoped to see a certain someone in ceremonial—" Yvette started playfully, as she adjusted the straps on Ryelass' bracers that had come loose absently in a motherly reflex.

Ryelass coughed and cringed, making Alminus and all the rest of us laugh in good humor.

Alminus grabbed Ryelass' left shoulder and gave Yvette a mischievous wink as he pulled him away from her motherly fussing. "Don' worry Yvie, we'll go get cleaned up n' maybe yur wish'll come true tonight," he said humorously as we all started toward the bathhouse.

Once outside, Ryelass sighed heavily. "Thanks for that, buddy. That was slightly embarrassing," he said saracastically.

Laurella giggled. "I think it was kind of adorable," she insisted.

"I think," Ryelass continued with a mock gag, "that adorable fades for men when you pass the age of five."

"Be grateful that your mother is still around, even when she does irritate you," Vendra said somewhat seriously.

"You lost yours?" Laurella asked sadly.

"We both did when we were little," Vendra said softly, looking to Sovellis. "But let's not talk about that now," she insisted.

"I agree. We're supposed to be celebrating tonight, even if we don't really believe we should," Cloudyous said simply as he eyed the wolves walking beside him. I noted with amusement that people on the street were looking at our bunch oddly, and giving us a wide girth as they fixed their gazes on the large wolves with us.

"Cloudyous, are they going to the bathhouse with you?" I asked in amusement, eyeing Sky and Belthem.

Cloudyous looked down and laughed as if he just remembered something long forgotten. "No. I think that would be a bit too disconcerting for the locals. We're just always together, they usually go where I go and sometimes I honestly forget they're not human," he said in amusement.

"How you forget?" Sovellis asked good-naturedly.

"I talk to them in a language that's as familiar to me as common tongue is between us. I see them as I would any other intelligent being and that includes people. But for the time being, I'm going to request they go stay with Gaia in the alleyway out of sight and wait for Deckard Cain to keep them company when he comes back from his meeting with Adria," he informed and in the time it took for one to blink, both wolves calmly left our side and passed into a nearby alley.

"Where are they going?" Laurella asked curiously, "Ryelass' house is directly back the way we came behind us."

"They'll use the alleys to get there. They understand the importance of staying out of sight. These people are obviously afraid of them after what happened a few weeks ago and likely haven't forgotten. I didn't want anyone to attack them," Cloudyous said logically as the bathhouse came into view when we walked around a heavily populated street corner.

Much to my surprise, this corner was populated so heavily because of the bathhouse. There were actually lines going into both sides.

"Wow, this place is busy. What, did they remodel the interior in sapphires?" Vendra asked sarcastically as she watched two mercenaries on either side allow two more people inside.

"They're all here for the ball," Laurella replied as she watched two young ladies in the line ahead of us gesture over certain parts of their bodies and talk about dress fabric.

"I thought this affair was only going to be for us and the nobility," I asked in surprise. "Isn't that usually how things like this work?" I finished, truly not understanding this whole ordeal. I had briefly studied other cultures in the time of my preliminary lessons in preparation to be a priestess at home, but I hadn't had an in-depth study of foreign customs like this one. True enough that we had feasts and festivals back home on Skovas, but they were something only certain people usually attended, depending on the celebration. Here, it seemed like the entire city was going to be in attendance.

"This is a celebration to honor those that died fighting for the city as well. You have to remember the friends and family of all the mercenaries and guards killed, not to mention those that survived will probably be there as well. The invitation Yvette had said everyone, that included the mercenaries and guards," Cloudyous reminded.

"I'm not thrilled about this being a formal affair," Vendra said truthfully, "It's an extreme waste of money and effort to make us buy something we'll never wear a second time," she added.

"Yea, kinda pointless," Alminus affirmed, "but wha'ever. We gotta do as tha emperor says while we're here," he added.

"This where we part," Sovellis said with a gentle smile, not just at Vendra but to all of us. "Our line shorter," he added with a full laugh.

"Lucky you," Vendra snorted as the men left us to join the line to their side of the bathhouse, which was actually quite a bit shorter.

"Well, this is entertaining," I said, eyeing the scenes around me. You'd have thought it was Yule with the way people were running around everywhere carrying large parcels.

"How long do you think it'll take us before it's our turn?" Laurella asked as our line seemingly inched along.

"Who knows," Vendra said with a shrug. "I think this should be on a most needed basis," she snorted and rolled the sleeve of her teal Zhan-Esu robes up over her elbows to mask an obvious blood stain.

"Guys, why is it that most women have to do these things in groups?" Laurella asked as she watched a cluster of three go in.

"Because it's a popular idea, we get stuck in a line, and we get bored while we wait," Vendra said sarcastically.

"Isn't there anywhere else we can go?" I asked, starting to feel impatient with this process for some reason.

"Not that I know of," Vendra answered, "This is the first time I've ever been here."

"Me too. I think Maria might know, but she's not here. I wonder where she went?" Laurella asked aloud.

"With her, I'm not sure I want to know," Vendra said with an odd mixture of emotions in her voice. I could tell there was still not very much trust between the two, but her voice wasn't filled with animosity at the moment. It seemed to me she was a blend of suspicious and grateful. I didn't have to ask to know that she remembered who it was that stopped her and Sovellis from sacrificing themselves against Duriel.

"And I doubt, knowing her, she'd use a public bathhouse," I added truthfully, thinking of my friend's cryptic nature.

We must have waited in the same line for the better part of an hour until it was finally our turn. I let Vendra and Laurella go in front of me and I made to follow after them, but the guard stopped me.

"I'm sorry miss, but you'll have to wait," he said simply.

"She's with us," Vendra said as she turned around, but the guard merely shrugged.

"Too much going on today. You can thank your emperor for interrupting your teatime, move along, move along," he said blandly.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," I assured, though not without frustration. I watched Vendra and Laurella disappear into the hall behind the guard. I tapped my foot impatiently and waited for my turn. My inner sight gave me a warning that something was flying my way. I reached out with my arm just in time to grab the wrist of some drunken idiot that was flying towards me. I twisted and threw him sideways, keeping myself from harm, but the man landed directly on top of the guard to the bathhouse.

The guard shouted in confusion as he squirmed beneath this enormous man's weight, trying to throw him off. A second man, just as large and inebriated as the first, sauntered towards us from the direction of Atma's tavern, flanked by four other men wielding clubs. The second drunken man said something about the first's mother. Surprisingly, even with as intoxicated as the first one was, the insults seemed to be registering and he was on his feet in an amazing display of drunken reflex. He grabbed for the guard's spear, but ending up grabbing the guard himself in a senseless display of alcoholic overindulgence and before I knew what was happening, chaos ensued. The guard from the male side of the bathhouse came over to assist the first, but was caught in the fray of four men behind the second drunk one.

It seemed to only take a split second for a brawl to break out here on the street between the two intoxicated men and seemingly several of the men waiting in line with the guards caught in the middle. Fists and weapons started flying all around and I ducked a stray punch from some ill-aimed riot member. Most of the women around me that had been waiting in line screamed as the absurdity broke out around them and hastily scattered.

A smaller man tried to smash a taller one's knees with a board he'd picked up from somewhere and I hastily had to jump aside to avoid being hit in the madness. I turned at the waist and blocked someone's kick with my forearm, before grabbing his foot in that same hand and twisting hard. I threw him to the ground and attempted to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of horses as Griez and a few other mercenaries arrived to reinforce the pitifully outnumbered guards.

To hell with this. A bath was simply not worth this stupidity. I would just go down to the beach if I was able. I turned around and was quickly pulled out of the way of a falling brick, apparently a part of a wall that had been broken off in the fighting. I turned to see Atma, the tavern keeper. She released my arm and we quickly walked away from the insanity taking place in the streets.

"Thanks for that," I said sincerely.

The older woman sighed, though it wasn't as pained as it was before when I met her. "Sad isn't it? What a little too much liquor will do?"

"What do you mean?" I asked uncertainly. "Atma, why are you out here?"

"Geglash got a little too drunk, as I'm sure you've noticed and was getting a little too personal with me. One of my other regulars also had a little too much to drink and apparently mistook me for his mother. That's what started this whole mess and before I knew it, Hector's friends had stepped in and the fight spilled onto the street. I was trying to find Griez, and stop it before it got too out of hand, but well, I obviously failed," she explained.

"He can't hold you responsible for this," I said, seeing the dismayed look on her face.

"No, he can't, but the sad part is I think he does resent me a little for this. This is the third time this week something like this has happened. It never used to be a problem, Jon and Nathan usually kicked them out before they got to this point, but well—" she said painfully.

"It's alright," I assured her. "You're only one woman and those were some very large men," I comforted.

Atma sighed again, before straightening herself up. "I won't have you feeling sorry for me; I know they wouldn't want me too. I've been around for a while my dear and I know how to handle myself around drunken ruffians. I think the simple fact of the matter is I will end up having to hire my own security. It will be a costly matter, but despite everything that's happened, business is actually booming right now," she said simply.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that part. Hey, Atma, do you know of another bathhouse or the like nearby?" I asked, recalling my original mission out here to begin with. "I was next in line but obviously, that's not going to happen now," I growled irritably at the people fighting, looking back onto the chaotic streets.

Atma nodded. "Yes, I do actually. Elzix, the innkeeper has a hot spring under his inn. It's private and not really well known because it costs a good amount of gold, but that's because it's actual fresh water. You must be going to Lord Jerhyn's ball tonight," she added.

"Yes," I said simply. "I think I remember the way to the inn, thanks Atma," I said earnestly.

"Wait, Chyemme—that was your name wasn't it?" Atma continued.

"Yes," I affirmed simply.

"Take this with you as my apology. If it wasn't for me, this probably wouldn't have happened. It should be more than enough of a fee for Elzix," she said apologetically eyeing my disgusting armor.

"It's fine really. You don't have to do this, it wasn't your fault," I assured.

"No really, I want you to take it. I was never able to thank you properly for the role you played in avenging my son and husband. It was no small matter and I will not treat it as such. Take it please, it will offend me if you refused twice," Atma said sternly in a tone not unlike my mother would have used with me.

I nodded reluctantly. I hated the idea of taking gold from a woman that had already had so much taken from her, but she was right. I didn't want to offend her and I desperately needed to clean up.

"I appreciate this. Take care Atma," I answered in gratitude with a nod.

"I'll probably see you later tonight, I will be attending as well," Atma assured as I left for the inn.

I was amazed that I remembered this particular path through the streets, having walked it only twice before. I came here with Maria to obtain truesilver and my mind registered where I had heard the name Elzix before. He must have been the perverted innkeeper I dealt with last time. Hopefully he wouldn't give me any grief this time. The second time had been to take Piricus to his room after our fight with Radament. My footsteps hastened when the thought occurred to me that Piricus might be there now. I could finally speak with him outside of a dire situation and hopefully catch him alone before he left. But, a bath was definitely coming first.

I walked in the door to the inn and looked for Elzix. He was behind the desk, and seemed for some reason, to recognize me. A sly smile crept onto his face.

"Good day miss. Back for more? M' sorry I ain't got no more truesilver," he said with a grin.

"Actually, I'm here to use the hot spring. We had a little fiasco down at the bathhouse," I said simply gesturing to my blood-stained armor.

"I'll say," he said with a snort, eyeing the mess all over me.

"Not that kind of disaster," I said with a sigh.

Elzix laughed. "Yeah, I know. M' just messin' with ya. Your snow-headed fella came in here a real mess too," he finished.

"Is he here? Piricus, I mean?" I asked, surprised by the eagerness in my own voice when I asked.

Elzix's grin broadened. "Maybe 'e is, maybe 'e ain't. I can't be givin' out that type of information missy," he answered simply.

"Right," I said awkwardly, stunned that I had even asked. "Is the hot spring available?" I asked again.

Elzix looked me over for a moment and his eyes fixed on my breastplate. "It is, if ya have tha right sort of money," he added. "And trust me gal, no matter how good-lookin' ya are, ya ain't gonna gamble that fare free," he said with a laugh.

"That's fine. I've come with money this time. What's the fee?" I asked, growing irritable with his continued gaze on my feminine anatomy.

"Ten standards," he said simply, making me almost choke. But then again, Atma had said it was outrageously expensive. I opened the bag she had given me and there was more than enough, in fact, I'd have three pieces left over. I thought about returning them to her discreetly when she was unaware, but right now that would have to wait.

"Yikes. I guess water really is like gold here," I mumbled and handed him the money. He reached behind the desk and gave me an old, worn iron key attached to what looked like the top half of a clothespin.

"Second door to the left down that there hall to the right, miss. Enjoy your bath," he said with a toothy grin that made me uncomfortable.

I followed his directions and came to a small door that looked like it belonged to a storage closet with a heavy iron lock on it. I used the key and let myself into the small space, no more than twelve by twelve feet. There was a rocky outcrop in the floor, and contained within the earthy basin was steaming hot water. There was a folding, wooden panel in the center of the room dividing the springs, but I couldn't see anything beyond it. I checked the area over for a moment, then locked the door behind me. I heard something stir on the other side of the barrier, in the water. I thought it might have just been the current of the water, and after listening I didn't hear anything else. I quickly undressed and armored down, slipping into the wonderfully temperate water. There was a bar of scented soap on the far side of the spring so I moved through the water and retrieved it.

I started scrubbing myself, determined to remove the Duriel and death stink from my body. When I was clean I would wash my armor. It was remarkable to me just how much the warm water was relaxing to my sore muscles and after a moment I realized how truly exhausted I was. I finished scrubbing and I could have sworn I heard another movement in the chamber next door. I was going to leave immediately, but decided that Atma had paid enough gold for me to enjoy this small comfort for a little while longer.

I leaned back and let the water wash over my entire body, enjoying the rinsing sensation as the clean water washed over my bruised thigh where Horazon's demon had impaled through my armor. I cupped my hands and then poured water over my tense shoulders, then down over my breasts. I felt so relaxed that I actually started humming a gentle melody from my homeland. The moment I started singing, I definitely heard a distinguishable movement past the divide next to me. There was no doubt there was someone else there in the spring, and I hastily stopped my absent melody and apologized.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," I said simply. I expected some sort of acknowledgement, but there was no reply. I wasn't offended when I moments later I still hadn't received an answer; perhaps this person was like me and valued their privacy. I stood up in the water which came up to my waist and walked over to grab my towel. I heard the sound of breaking water and realized that the person next to me must have been getting out of the spring.

I heard a subdued guffawing from somewhere nearby and I realized with extreme irritation that I was being spied upon. I used my inner sight, seeking the most immediate people around. I felt the person next to me, which felt extremely familiar somehow and then someone over by the left wall. I scanned the area carefully and realized there was a small thumbhole in the left wall that someone was peering through. I grabbed a small rock nonchalantly that was on the floor around the far edge of the spring, pretending to be stretching so as not to alert this person I knew they were watching. I took aim carefully, still pretending to stretch, then released the rock at the peephole in one swift motion.

This person must have been expecting something like this; a wooden board closed across the hole from the other side at the exact second the rock hit. It turns out I had thrown the rock with such force that it hit the board and rebounded on me violently. I hurried to dodge the rock, which being up to my waist in water didn't happen very quickly. The rock crashed into the wooden divide and in my attempt to dodge it, I slipped on a patch of soapsuds on the bottom of the spring and I fell through it too.

I landed on top of something rather soft with a loud splash. I realized with horror that that thing was the other person as we both landed in a heap in the water completely naked. I could feel the energy coming from their skin.

I looked down and my heart froze for a moment. The person I had landed on was Piricus. I looked down briefly in confusion, feeling an instant blush come to my face despite the shock of what was happening. I got a pretty decent look at his body underneath mine in the split second we were touching.

His skin was as pale as moonshine underneath the water compared to mine and that paleness within the water seemed to make him glow in the dim space. He was actually very attractive despite the paleness of his skin. His body was well-conditioned but nothing overt like Alminus. And though he was slightly thinner than an average man the lines his muscles drew on his body made him appear as a work of art in my eyes. My eyes abruptly registered to a spot that was a stark contrast to his skin. He had a long, deforming gash across the lower stretches of his abdomen, seemingly starting from the inner portion of his right thigh and ending by his left hip. The wound was horrid looking when it was magnified by the water, I could see every jagged detail as what appeared to be a saw-like blade had lacerated his skin several layers deep. The wound was old, I knew that, but the underlying tissue was still a scarlet red as if it might bleed again at any second. I wondered what happened; this wound was in a very intimate area which definitely would be why I'd never seen it before.

I looked up into Piricus' icy green eyes, which were burning with fury. I braced myself for him to curse me, but instead he just settled for shoving me roughly off of him, back into the water. He pulled a towel off the ground next to him and hastily covered up as he exited the springs.

"Piricus—I have no idea how to apologize for this—" I said in all earnestly. This is definitely not how I wanted to speak with him. "I truly sorry, I had no idea—" I began in horror.

He looked at me dangerously for a moment, and I had no idea what to expect. I didn't expect the reaction I got. "How in the name of Trag 'Oul is it always you?" he hissed venomously. Although his voice was harsh, he made no move to attack me.

I opened my mouth to try and think of something to say to that, but he turned his back to me. His dripping white hair clung to his pale shoulder blades as he hastily collected his armor and made to leave.

"Don't ever speak of this to me or anyone else. If you do, I promise I will curse you mute and blind for the rest of your life," he said simply, but with a deadly sincerity so that this time, I knew the threat was completely real. I had no doubt in my mind he really would if I said anything.

I tried to ask him something else, if he was going to the ball, but he had swiftly disappeared out into the hallway and was gone. I thought about going after him, but I thought better of it for now. At least I knew he was still here in Lut Gholeign. For moments afterwards, I just lingered in the destroyed bathing room stunned. I shook my head and hastily made my own way out of the water, wrapping a towel around my own exposed body. I didn't really bother to scrub my armor as much as I did dunk all of it in the water and just wipe away the grime. A thorough cleaning could wait. I redressed and didn't even bother returning the key to Elzix. I left it on a box, knowing full and well he was the one that had been spying on me. I knew I'd have punched him if I saw him, even though he was an old man.

I walked back out onto the street, much cleaner and I definitely didn't smell anymore. I knew I needed to go back to Ryelass' house to rally with the others, but I didn't know my way back from where I was. I just picked a street that seemed vaguely familiar and began walking. It didn't take me long to find my way back onto the public main, I just followed the sound of mass commotion.

A man came running through the streets at top speed, he looked like he'd been in a fight recently, and he was bruised all over his face. Three mercenaries were chasing him, yelling random threats. I recognized him as one of the men that had taken a swing at me in the brawl. He reached me and made to shove me and three others aside and I decided I was just too irked to ignore it this time. I balled my fist, pulled back, and punched the fugitive directly in the face, knocking him out cold along with three of his teeth. The mercenaries reached me and eyed me uneasily.

"You wanted help catching him," I said irritably. "There he is," I said plainly and walked away, though hitting something had relieved some of the stress and I couldn't deny there was a smile coming back to my face.

I started seeing familiar sights the further along this road I walked. I eventually found my way back to the main square and there I saw an even more familiar sight. Scorpious was there, talking with Fara, Lysander, and Deckard Cain. Bibo was perched peacefully on elder Cain's left shoulder, intently listening as though she could understand what was being said. I decided that Scorpious probably knew the way back to Ryealss' so I walked towards them.

The closer to them I got, the more concerned their voices sounded and the more grave their faces looked. Something was terribly wrong. I wanted to rush over, but thought better of it. I walked calmly and when I was five feet from them, I could hear everything they said. They still hadn't noticed me, they all seemed extremely caught up in the conversation they were having.

"Brother, I cannot stress enough how serious your condition is," Fara said in an eerily quiet voice.

"Lady Strongfist," Scorpious began respectfully, "I understand the gravity of the situation, but I must press on. The mission we're on is of the utmost importance," he continued stubbornly.

"Yes, the elder has told me what you're planning to do, and I remain firm that you will not be able to accomplish it in your current condition," she reprimanded sternly.

"With all due respect my lady, I think the Lord will be the judge of that," he answered pressingly.

Fara closed her eyes in apparent sadness. "I don't know how else to tell you this, but you are on borrowed time, my brother. It is not your skill or your strength of heart, faith, or arm that makes me doubt that you will succeed; it is the fact of the demon prince's foul magic. I have done everything I can with the knowledge of the elder and even the assistance of the witch, Adria and it still wasn't enough. Brother, in sacrificing your body as a vessel to stop the Prince of Pain, you absorbed more tainted ice than we could purge," she insisted. "Brother, surely you didn't think that you alone could take such an intense energy into yourself and not pay the price?" Fara said with a pained voice. "Even with a spiritual power as strong as yours dear brother, the aura of one paladin was by no means enough."

"Lady Strongfist," Scorpious began again, "I'm aware that this will be a chronic condition that I must deal with. I knew the risk when I followed through on my actions. In all fairness, I expected that I was going to die then. There was no other choice, and I alone with our Lord's protection from ice, stood enough chance to deal the strike," he said powerfully.

"He took wrath of Duriel into himself in order to save the others. Good lady, there were over thirty souls there that were saved by his actions as I'm told by the rest of the heroes that rescued me and by a few of the guards that returned," Elder Cain said gently.

Fara nodded in reverence. "I will say this, my brother. I wish it were that I had been more like you when I was active in the crusades years ago. I have never seen anyone with a heart as selfless as yours," she admitted. "You truly have the spirit of Zakarum the way it was meant to be from the start," she added emotionally. I saw a tear actually run down Fara's face as she turned to Scorpious once more.

"Brother this condition will not be as chronic as you think. In fact, I estimate with the rate the ice is spreading inside your body, you have little over half a cycle of seasons and that is if you are compliant without fail in taking the potions Elder Cain and Lysander will have to devise for you. I will not lie in this either, dear heart, this condition will be very painful and it is not a pleasant end you will have when it catches up to you completely," she breathed heavily with emotion.

I couldn't move and I almost couldn't breathe. I thought I couldn't have been any more shocked or surprised by anything that happened, but I was wrong. It just couldn't be true that Scorpious was dying. It just couldn't be.

Scorpious himself took the knowledge like any other he had ever received-with grace and a certain sense of dignity. "I see," he said gently. The look on his face was unreadable for a moment. "You are right Lady Strongfist in the conclusion that really isn't a long time to hunt these abominations down, but nevertheless, I feel in my heart as if God himself is telling me, that I must try anyway. Lady, please do what you can, and then leave the rest in my hands, and more importantly, in his. Everything will happen as the Lord wills it, Lady Strongfist, including the fact that we will all die at some time or another for whatever reason. I will take comfort in the time I have left knowing that I have done the things I have for the cause of light and for the preservation of others. Who knows, perhaps, even in these last months, I still have a part to play yet for the good of our Lord," he finished humbly.

"You really are insane," Lysander said dubiously looking at him as if he were a mirage. "You just got told you're going to die within the year, that it will be painful and slow, and there is no cure in existence. Even a Horadrim sage and an esteemed sorceress can't fix you and you're as cool as a cucumber that's been placed on snow."
"He's correct that we all die somehow," Fara said quietly. "Lysander, I'm asking you to work closely with the elder on this matter, you have only one night to devise this potion and it must work to the fullest extent possible. Do this for me, please, and I will see that you receive proper compensation," she said evenly.

Lysander nodded. "You keep your word always. Come, sage. Let's you and I work on this solution together," he added, though respectfully to Deckard Cain, whom nodded grimly and followed him across the square.

The world just seemed to have stopped for a minute; I truly couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was stunned to find a tear fall down my own cheek. I wiped it away quickly with the back of my hand, trying to put on a strong face. I'm an amazon, and we don't cry. Not like this.

"It will be okay, Chyemme," Scorpious said, looking directly at me. I guessed maybe they did know I was there, or maybe he'd just noticed. I didn't know or care. He walked to my side calmly like nothing had ever happened and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, let's go back to Ryelass' house. I don't know why you're out here, but you look lost. We have a party to attend tonight and the emperor has requested we all look our best. Deckard Cain was going to assist us men in our attire, but I'll do my best in his stead," Scorpious said with a small laugh.

I looked at him painfully. "You're laughing? How can you still be laughing after news like that?" I asked sadly.

"The way I see it, pain or no, I'm going to do everything I can to live like I normally would and take comfort in the small things. Chyemme, I need to ask you to do me a favor," he started as we began walking back to Ryelass'.

"What is it?" I asked ruefully. "I've already got one person's last wish on my shoulders," I said grimly as I bit my lip to keep from saying anything else.

Scorpious sighed. "I realize that omission of the truth is just as much a sin as lying, but in my opinion if you never say anything at all about the matter, that doesn't really count," he said with that same laugh.

"You don't want anyone else to know," I concluded quickly.

He nodded. "I can of course, only request this of you as my friend," he continued simply. "I've no right to order anyone else around and I will not retaliate at you if you do choose to speak with someone else about it."

"What about Maria?" I asked suddenly, just blurting the thought on my injured heart aloud. Scorpious was a dear friend to me, even though I hadn't really known him that long. He was my friend, but I knew that Maria loved him as so much more. I don't know if he knew, but I couldn't help it.

Scorpious' shoulders seemed to sag for a moment, but other than that, he gave me no sign of any emotion connected to her.

"I'm not oblivious, Chyemme," he said at last after a few moments, "I realize that she is very attached to me, even though she tries for everything she's worth not to let anyone see it. This news would hurt her more than all the rest combined I'm sure, so for this reason I'm asking you not to speak with anyone on the matter, especially not her," he pleaded in sincerity.

I nodded solemnly. "I understand. You have my word I won't say anything unless you do," I vowed as we arrived at Ryelass' house and walked in together.

Yvette was dressed in her outing wear and gathered at the atrium to her house along with everyone else when we walked in.

"Where have you been?" she asked in a motherly huff.

"She's been banned from the bathhouse," Vendra laughed. "Everytime she goes there, a disaster happens. You look all clean," she added with a grin.

"Yeah, um, let's just get this over with," I said apathetically. My entire good mood was completely gone.

"Whoa, ya sound li' Piricus," Alminus observed strangely.

"What happened?" Ryelass asked in concern.

"I've had a stressful afternoon," I said vaguely, not willing to give anyone any hint in the slightest what was going on.

"Where's elder Cain?" Cloudyous asked curiously.

"The elder's been delayed out in town, he's asked me to head up this group for the essential task in his stead," Scorpious said lightly.

"Then it best we go. Night approaching," Sovellis said simply and we all headed out in our respective groups.

Shopping with Yvette would have been an enjoyable experience if I didn't have so much on my mind. It was a sentiment that the others seemed to share to a minor extent. Vendra seemed like her mind was somewhere else all afternoon as well, and Laurella seemed keenly interested at first in the dresses she was presented with, but quickly seemed to become distracted. Seeing as this event was so short notice, we were limited in what dresses had already been premade, though with this being the trade capital of the world, we were far from limited. Especially with the budget the emperor had given us.

Dress after dress we tried on and I was beginning to become frustrated with this process. Yvette would look us over and give us her opinion and it seemed like nothing was ever quite right. It took nearly three hours out around the town for us to make selections that pleased Yvette and that we were satisfied with ourselves.

We went back to Ryelass' with our selections and with Yvette's help began dressing in one of the upstairs rooms. I was absolutely appalled with how long the entire process to get into my dress took; it had so many elaborate folds and ties in places I couldn't reach. Armor was so much simpler, and didn't take nearly as long. I wondered how courtiers and the like did this every day like nothing. When we were finished dressing, I looked around myself.

Vendra had chosen a lilac gown with golden accents which also had long sleeves. Her dress hugged her hips graciously and the fabric became narrow towards the bottom. Vendra had taken very little extra measures with her hair, it still retained the same slight wave throughout, though she had scattered purple flowers through it. She had on four golden bracelets around one wrist and a banded golden necklace up high on her neck.

Laurella was wearing an evergreen dress with much shorter sleeves; hers only came slightly past her shoulders. Below the sleeves she had wrapped her arms in an intricate pattern with silky green ribbon, as if the ribbon had actually been part of the attire to begin with. Her gown had more volume starting around her waist and it fanned out the further towards her feet it went. Her dress was adorned with swirls of silver glitter in a strategic pattern and she had rolled her blood-red hair up into a bun with the aid of a swirling silver decoration.

I looked into a standing mirror in front of myself as Yvette led me to it. My gown had been sleeveless, a request of my own making, seeing as most of the things I tried on had been slightly tight around my upper arms owing to the fact that I'm slightly more muscular than most women. I didn't want anything that would restrict my movement in case a fight was to occur for some reason. My dress's sleeves just covered the tops of my shoulders, and Yvette had insisted that I wear matching gloves because I didn't want to show too much skin. So, just below my elbow I was now wearing evening gloves. My dress had a corset-like aspect to the front and a v-lined neck. The skirt portion was much like Laurella's and fanned out around me. The whole ensemble was a velvety midnight blue, but over the top of my skirt and over the bodice portion of the dress had been lined with a transparent fabric that held sparkling white stars of glitter, seemingly making this dress reflect the night sky. Yvette had been fussing with me over my hair, saying that it was so long I could do anything I wanted with it, but in the end, I imitated Vendra and chose to just let my hair hang down without a tie. I didn't want anything in the way of jewelry, but Yvette had managed to talk me into a small silver circlet that passed under my bangs and stayed across my forehead.

I looked so different as I eyed my reflection. Me, who was used to wearing armor all the days of my life and keeping my hair pinned back, was now wearing a dress and jewelry. I wondered what my own mother would say to me if she were here right now. Yvette had simply told all of us with pride that we looked beautiful.

We surfaced into the living area where the others were waiting for us. There was a sincere smile on Ryelass' face as he watched us come down the stairs, and Alminus was also wearing a goofy grin. Sovellis, as I expected had his eyes solely on Vendra and the cocoa goddess she had become in his eyes. The guys were dressed somewhat conservatively, an aspect that reflected Scorpious' nature in every way. Scorpious himself was probably the most simply dressed of the bunch. He had on a plain dark blue dress tunic and black dress pants. There was a golden cross on a simple brown cord hanging over his shirt, but other than that, he had no décor on the entire of his body. Alminus and Ryelass looked slightly more regal, they had added styled brown and gold over-jackets to their white dress shirts and both had on men's dress boots which came to the knee over their fine leather brown ceremonial pants.

Cloudyous surprised me the most, he wasn't wearing any type of fur on his body tonight and his simple linen shirt had been replaced by one that was a vibrant shade of orange, same as his hair and the long sleeves to his shirt held actual gemmed buttons on the cuffs. His shirt was slightly open at the neck, revealing his rune pendant on its simple cord. My guess was that emperor or no, you couldn't pay him enough to take that special object off. His pants were a complimenting auburn and made of silk, not leather. His boots were lined with soft dyed linen for accents.

Sovellis was probably the most vibrantly colored of the men; he had a full ceremonial robe on that was a sunflower yellow and had golden trim on all the edges. He had a swatch of translucent yellow-tinged cloth over his left shoulder around his chest like a banner with the same subdued golden pattern and the same fabric was wrapped at the ends of the robe near his feet.

"All of you look wonderful," Yvette said beaming with pride as she looked us over.

"Indeed," Scorpious said politely, though truthfully.

"Where's Maria? Has anyone even seen her all day?" Ryelass asked, looking around.

"Do ya think she even got 'er invite?" Alminus asked skeptically.

"Got it and am present," she said simply as she surfaced in the doorway of Ryelass' house before anyone had even registered it opened. Maria was truly a sight to behold. She was wearing a tube-topped ruby red dress that sparkled in the light. Her dress was slit up the sides, revealing a good amount of her skin due to the fact that she was wearing some type of heeled shoe that was open and attached with tied straps on the back of her ankle. Her dress stopped several inches short of being vulgar, and I thought I could see a hint of metal in the side. It made sense. She had hidden some type of weapon or the like in the slits so she had quick access to them should something happen. Maria's only other adornment was a solid black strip of velvet across her throat accenting her dress. Her hair was as it usually was, cropped short, though it had been washed recently.

"Okay and do I even dare to ask about jackass?" Vendra said with a slight scowl.

"He's already there," Maria said simply. "Let's go now, we've apparently gotten an armored escort," she said in amusement as we left the house. True enough, about a dozen palace guards were waiting outside and they escorted us through the streets to the grand palace.

Many people bowed as we passed through the palace hallway, a place I'd never been before. Everything was incredibly clean and well detailed, a fact that the others assured me hadn't changed from when they were here before.

Before I knew it, we were all ushered before Lord Jerhyn on his throne, and beside Piricus, whom had already been present. Cloudyous had looked unusual, Maria had looked stunning, but Piricus was the most shocking of all. I never thought I'd see him like he was now. He had on a long white overcoat that was short-sleeved and the length went to the floor, but had a grand golden trim and accents over the entire of the fabric. Underneath the dress coat sleeves was a simple, silken white dress shirt that fittingly covered the rest of his arm down to the wrist, and was adorned with the same golden pattern. His overcoat was buttoned fully, down to the waist, where the fabric branched off to the sides, revealing white dress pants of the same material as his undershirt. I noted with some amusement that his boots hadn't changed; they were still the same black leather. He had to have something of his usual black ensemble or it wouldn't have truly been him in my mind's eye. His hair was like mine, and no longer tied back into a ponytail, his ivory locks were hanging idly over his shoulders and part way down his back.

I saw Rasheed and the guards that had accompanied us as well as the mercenary Tron and his three survivors among the group amassed in front of Jerhyn's throne. Some of them were wearing armor and I was extremely jealous.

Jerhyn cleared his throat and then the room fell silent. He rose, and then helped a young lady dressed in grand teal clothing out of her seat beside him.

"Welcome, one and all! Tonight, we honor those who have given so much to protect our beloved city and our people! We hail you as the heroes you are and as one voice ,we of Lut Gholeign offer these fineries as a gift of our eternal gratitude and memento of your times here. So come, everyone, let's eat, drink, and enjoy ourselves to the fullest. Tonight a celebration for those that you see before you," he called loudly and bowed before our line gathered in front of him, "and for those that have sacrificed their lives and we see no longer. Our city is finally safe and we will rejoice!" Lord Jerhyn said jovially as he cued some band of musicians that had gathered in a niche to our right.

A bouncy melody began to play and as if rehearsed, multitudes of people began to take the floor, dancing energetically. Our group seemed to break apart as well, and I quickly made my way to the wall with a very peculiar problem. I didn't know how to dance.

Luckily, I really didn't need to at first. As expected, Laurella had eagerly grabbed Ryelass' arm and pleaded for a dance, to which he obliged without any delay. Sovellis and Vendra seemed to be off in their own universe as they danced a spicy sort of tango with a natural rhythm. Vendra actually kicked out a few times during the dance and Sovellis was laughing as he spun her around his dark arms.

I watched with a small twinge in my heart as Scorpious took the liberty of approaching Maria. He bowed before her, a sign of chivalry, and then asked her to dance. I wondered if she was going to decline, seeing as a party didn't seem to be her forte either. To my surprise, she accepted fairly quickly and only managed one furtive sweep of the scene with her eyes. They moved in a perfect a precision and I saw that Scorpious was smiling. I knew why. He had said it himself that he was going to enjoy the little things as much as possible.

I heard giggling and I realized that two harem girls were fawning over Alminus' massive muscles over by the food table. He of course, was living up the attention and flexing his arms for them. In an amusing display he lifted both of them up onto his shoulders, one on his left, one on his right, without any effort at all. He wrapped a massive arm around their delicate-looking legs, securing them in place, then twirled around in a circle making them shriek with amusement.

Cloudyous and I looked at each other from where we stood by the wall. "Where's the rest of your crew?" I asked with a reference to the wolves, raven, and bear.

Cloudyous smiled softly. "You think the bathhouse would have been bad, try seeing them in this place. It would have been an uproar. They're still out in the alley, but I know they're fine. Everybody except Bibo. She was trying to tell me something earlier, but I don't understand," he began.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

"She heard something while she was with Deckard Cain, she said the elder was very sad about something, but she doesn't understand human language and doesn't know what it was," he admitted.

"He'd tell us if there was cause to worry," I lied, knowing full and well what it was Bibo had witnessed.

Cloudyous nodded. "I think you're right. Would you care to dance with me, seeing as we're getting extremely close to Alminus' merry-making," he laughed as he sidestepped a flailing foot from a giggling harem girl.

I stared at the ground. "I don't know how," I admitted.

Cloudyous chuckled. "Me either in all reality, at least, not like they do here," he said watching Vendra's wild salsa with Sovellis.

"Those two are in a league of their own," I said with an attempt at humor as the first song ended. A second one began and before I knew what had happened, someone grabbed my arm gently.

"Aren't you going to ask such a lovely lady to dance, Cloudyous?" Ryelass said with a grin. "If not, I'll have to," he said with a smile.

"He did," I replied gently. "We were just discussing that neither of us really kn—" I began, but never finished. Before I could protest, Ryelass had tugged me by the wrist onto the floor. I thought vaguely about making up some lame excuse, after all, he hadn't even obtained my consent for this and I was sure I was going to make a fool out of myself, but he didn't leave me much of an option for retreat. He took my hand in his and placed one arm around my waist.

"Ryelass, I don't know how to—" I began insistently as he began to move with the music, more yanking me awkwardly along.

"It's easy," he said with a laugh in my ear. "I show you," he promised. "Watch my feet when I do this," he advised. I looked down in a desperate attempt to salvage my pride, but as I did, the music suddenly shifted and someone else grabbed my arm. I turned to protest and was face to face with some stranger I'd never met. I tried to say something and break away, but he twisted with the beat and I was in the arms of someone else. I realized with dismay everyone was changing dance partners, willingly or not was anyone's guess. I accidently stepped down hard on one man's toes, and I hastily apologized, using dizziness as an excuse to remove myself from this chaos.

I walked to a wall and looked around for Piricus. I really wanted to talk to him, and this might be the ideal time. To my frustration, I couldn't see him anywhere. I thought I caught a glimpse of a white coat around a corner to my left and I hastily made my way after it, slipping with difficulty through the mass of people. I turned the corner and didn't see Piricus, or anyone else for that matter, but I did hear the sound of hushed voices around the next corner.

It sounded like some sort of disagreement, and I wanted to make sure everything was alright so I inched closer. The voices started to take on a familiar tone. They belonged to Scorpious and Maria. I edged carefully around the corner, fully expecting Maria to notice me immediately and tell me to leave, but she didn't. When I could see, Scorpious was seated on a marble bench with Maria standing by a window next to him, looking out into the night sky.

"Don't lie to me," Maria said curtly, there was edginess to her tone.

"Maria," Scorpious began gently, "Really I'm—"

"No. No you're not and we both know it. You're not fine. And even if you hadn't almost tripped over me out there, the look on Fara's face when I handed you to her said mountains," she persisted sharply.

"It's true. I'm pretty banged up," Scorpious admitted, "but then again, I should say that's to be expected given the circumstances," he reminded gently.

"You moved your foot as if it were made of lead," Maria continued icily, turning to stare at his right boot.

"I never really was one for dancing to begin with," Scorpious continued softly. "I'm really quite clumsy when it comes down to it."

Maria growled audibly. "You aren't telling me something. I can feel it," she said as she glared back out the window. "Do you not trust me?" she said briskly after a moment.

"You know I do," Scorpious said soothingly. "I'd trust you with my life, and I have before," he promised.

"Your life is something you'd entrust to anyone, apparently," Maria started angrily. It was the first true tinge of emotion that I'd really heard from her in a while. "Did you honestly expect Piricus to not try and kill you? I know what happened out there," she hissed.

"A scuffle," Scorpious admitted without delay. "He and I had some issues that needed to be worked out," he said mildly. "I think that now that it's out of his system somewhat things have actually improved," he said with a small chuckle.

"This isn't funny," Maria hissed irritably.

Scorpious gave her turned back a forlorn look. He pressed on one of his knees, raising himself with great difficulty up about a foot so that he could move the fringes of her short ebony hair to see the ends of four long gouge marks that were still healing along Maria's back.

"Why is it that you care so much?" Scorpious asked her suddenly, with his voice going completely soft. He ran his bare hands over the edge of her injuries and Maria hastily pulled away like she was being bitten by a venomous snake.

"What are you talking about?" she snapped.

"About me," Scorpious began, being as direct as anything I'd ever heard. "What is it Maria that you're hoping I can do for you? Why are you so attached to me? When we first met I felt something in you, something that was crying out for healing. What is it that you want me to fix for you? What scars pain you still?" he asked deductively, looking at her tensed shoulders.

She didn't speak for moment afterwards. I thought she was going to jump out the window and disappear, but slowly and surely, I could see the walls of her reservations breaking down.

"I want to believe that if you could change the way you have, that I can too," she said at last with a tremble in her voice. "You killed many people on the inquisition, you said it yourself, a fact I verified with your records," she started again with an emotionally questionable voice. "You were a killer, same as me, but somehow, I don't know how, you have managed to find an inner peace with yourself over it. You act as if you were going to go directly to heaven without any doubt when you die. How can you be so sure? How can you be at peace? How did you forgive yourself?" Maria asked quietly.

"I realized that my ways were wrong and I changed them. It was a costly recognization, and the path to where I am now has not been easy at all. The people I killed, they were innocent. It's slightly different from what you do as a Viz-Jaq'Taar," Scorpious began. "Maria, I've watched what you do. You know I don't condone judging someone, but the people you've killed, like that false summoner, they were unmistakably evil and were going to harm more people. You do what you do ultimately to preserve life, it's not the same. You don't go around killing people because they don't believe the way you do, you have, if there is ever such a thing, just cause," Scorpious said gently. "You're not a rampaging, murderous monster. I'm not an expert or saint on redemption by any means, but I do believe that there is forgiveness for what you do," he added softly.

"I'm exactly like you used to be," Maria spat bitterly.

Scorpious' face dawned a soft realization. "You killed an innocent person, didn't you? That's what all of this is about," he finished gingerly.

Maria had an icy tone in the dry laugh that followed. "Yes. I did," she confessed bluntly.

"What happened?" Scorpious furthered soothingly. "Confession is the first step to forgiveness," he began.

To my surprise, Maria's entire body began to shake with emotion. "I killed a child," she choked out at last.

Scorpious' face was still kind as he waited for her to finish. "Go on," he encouraged.

I almost fell over from shock when I realized that the reason Maria was shaking was because she was crying. "My own. I killed my own child," she finished at last. "It was probably about six years ago now. I was young, and very stupid. There was a time when I believed like you do now, that people deserved a second chance. I spared the life of a mage I was sent to kill when I saw him perform an act of kindness for someone else. I spent three days watching him, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong. When it came time to deal the final blow, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. To be blunt I fell in love with him. I would see him in secret of course, because it isn't allowed. I faked an accident to look like his death you see," she cried.

"And?" Scorpious asked, willing her gently to finish.

"It was all a lie. Everything. Right from the beginning. He faked every kind thing he'd ever done, because he knew I was watching him and as it turned out, he was a real monster sent from a demonic mage clan to infiltrate our organization, and then to kill us all. He used me by pretending that he loved me, and like a moron I believed him so easily. He learned enough from me that four of their agents actually managed to get into our headquarters and kill ten of us before we realized they were even there. It was my fault they died. I was there when he came in himself and wreaked havoc on ten more people, including five children and one elder before he tried to kill me himself. The bastard set a pit lord on a five year-old," she choked. "Of course I killed him and by that point, I really didn't have a choice. Luckily for me, if you could call it that, no one had any proof of the connection between the two of us other than a botched mission on my part. It wasn't long after that I found out I was pregnant with his child," she said in anguish.

"You tried to kill yourself," Scorpious finished for her in quiet shock.

Maria completely lost her composure and was sobbing uncontrollably. "I did," she managed at last. "I was so ashamed of what I had done and cursed my existence every second of every hour for being so stupid. Twenty people died that day including one of my mentors and a good friend. It was entirely on my shoulders. And to top it off, I was completely heartbroken. The betrayal—you can't even begin to understand how I felt. And then to find out I was having this sick bastard's child, it pained me like you wouldn't believe. I hated the child and I hated myself more. There was no reason to live anymore and even if I could, I couldn't disguise being pregnant. The rest of the Viz-Jaq'Taar would have figured it out. So I drank Adder's Vice. It's the strongest poison in existence," she sobbed.

"But you're still here," Scorpious said patiently.

"I don't know how long I was out for, or even why God sought to spare my wretched life! The baby . . ." she hiccupped, "the baby absorbed all of the poison and left me completely unharmed. I had a miscarriage, but no one knew. I killed my own child and somehow I'm still alive!" she hissed in misery.

I thought Scorpious looked like he was going to cry himself. Now I understood what Maria said about her mental gift. That must have been how this mage knew she was watching him in the first place. It was an unguarded weakness.

Maria turned to face him with puffy, red eyes. "For years I didn't think there was any way to redeem myself. For years I was hopeless and in despair. And then, when I didn't think anything could help me, I met you. You who have done and seen so many of the things I have. You have killed more people in a month than I have in my life, and yet, you are at peace. You're at peace and somehow after the first crusade of Zakarum betrayed you, you can still trust in others. You give them a second chance at life and offer them redemption. How? Tell me how can you do this? Most people go insane!" she demanded desperately.

Scorpious looked her in the eyes lovingly. "The first part of being at peace with such terrible things is in forgiving yourself. I found that no matter how others forgave me or how I knew God forgave me, it didn't matter a wink if I didn't forgive myself first. Otherwise, I'd just keep blaming myself and reliving the same hell over repeatedly," he said with tenderness.

"How can I possibly?" Maria sobbed.

"You can try in knowing that it is never wrong to hope for and look for the best in others. Take Chyemme for example. Piricus has got to be one of the most misguided, hopeless people I have ever met, and yet she of all of us insists there's something there and I think she's right. And I also have an odd feeling that in the end, because she believed the best in him, it's actually going to bring it out. Maria, love is never wrong either when it's true. You had no reason to doubt him; he never gave you any indication or warning. And I know you. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met, you'd have picked up on it instantly, whether you believe that or not. And I've learned this from my experience as well: If you were not the one to plunge the blade into them, then it is not you who has committed the murder. He killed these people, Maria, not you. It is true that he may have used you indirectly to accomplish this, but the fact of the matter is he is the true killer," Scorpious said powerfully.

" And with your child, did you ever think that maybe God wanted you to live, and that's why only the child died? Did you think that he wanted you to live so you could make up for what you have done? And even if you don't believe a word of that, did you ever think that the child believed you'd done nothing wrong and was trying to protect you? Maybe that's why the child was sent to you to begin with. It may have seemed like a curse at the time, but in reality, maybe he sent the baby there to protect you and stop you from committing a murder on another innocent. Yourself," he reasoned. "And here's this as well, maybe that child was your redemption. Maybe in order to change or start to, you had to see the difference between innocent and evil," he resolved. "I know it was that way for me."

By this time, Maria had regained enough of herself to dry her eyes. "That never occurred to me," she said silently. "But now that you've said it, I think you may be right," she said softly. "You asked me why I cared," she said, drawing back on Scorpious' earlier question.

"I did," he said gently still.

"I care because to me, you are my salvation. You alone were able to help me past this. The way I see it, it was you who saved me. You saved me from myself, at first, just because you're you. It's in the way you act, and it's part of who you are. You protect other people with what you've been given. With your second chance. I want to be just like you," Maria said tenderly.

Scorpious sighed. "I think a repeat of me might be a bad idea," he said with a small smile.

"It's for this reason," Maria said hesitantly, "For this and everything else, that I love you beyond compare and I will do whatever I can to protect you," she finished at last with the unmistakable emotion of a woman in love. I'd heard that tone before.

Scorpious seemed to have done well with this up until that last part. His eyes swelled with pain, and went she tried to kiss him, he gently moved away so that he was hugging her instead.

Maria looked up in misery. "Why?" she asked meekly, a strange thing for her. "Don't you love me too?"

I don't think I've ever heard a more obvious lie in my life and it surprised me because it was coming from Scorpious' mouth of all people. He steeled himself physically, then gently pushed her away from him. "Maria, I am a paladin," he said trying to be kind, "I love you as much as I can love anyone. I will help you in whatever way I can, but for what you want in this, I can't," he said as tenderly as possible.

I expected her to lose composure, I'm sure I would have if someone I loved like that just rejected me, but Maria seemed to be full of surprises. She steeled herself as well, and nodded sharply. "You're right, as always," she said with a dead voice and in a split second, she disappeared on the spot in a swirl of mist.

Leave now or I will kill you. Don't ever mention this to anyone, or I will kill you for that also, I heard Maria's angry and anguished voice in my mind demand.

"Right," I whispered aloud almost silently and awkwardly made my way back to the main floor of the party. Things had keyed down a few notches, and the music seemed to be slower. I was so engrossed with everything that I didn't even notice when Ryelass came up to my side.

"Chyemme," he began.

I turned to him apologetically, "I'm sorry, Ryelass, but I need to find Piricus," I said without hesitation, "Do you know where he is?" I asked.

Ryelass scoffed. "I'm not his keeper. I haven't seen him for almost an hour," he said slightly sourly.

"He went that way," Vendra said to me simply, "probably outside," she added as she and Sovellis slowly danced by us. "Didn't he just look angelic?" she added sarcastically.

"Thanks," I said to her with a nod. "Please excuse me," I said to Ryelass and quickly made my way across the room and out the door. I focused my inner sight, trying to find him, and to my surprise, I locked onto his energy pattern quickly and followed it through a maze of halls and doors.

I finally emerged into the warm night air after the last door and found that I was in some type of garden, though it didn't really have any greenery. The scenery here was made completely from rock formations. I passed under a stacked stone archway and past a small trickling waterfall on the right, dripping into a rocky basin below. The pathway I was on was entirely cobblestone, a strange thing to see out here and the further I followed this path, the more I noticed the odd rock shapes and columns. Some were arranged to look like flowers and still others had been chiseled into stone figurines. The only live thing I passed in the rock garden was a solitary cluster of three cacti, blooming with one pink desert bloom at the top.

The walkway ended and I realized I was standing on a raised stone platform with several markings around the circular edges. A bronze, crescent moon adorned half the circle, interlocked with a half rising-sun on the other side. Between the two of them, they had a face painted on it and the two halves, sun and moon made a whole cohesive face. I noticed that the markings where related to time and that in fact, this decorated platform must have been an enormous sundial for Jerhyn's palace.

A shadow fell across the midnight mark, and I turned to see Piricus, clad in white behind me. "What is it that you want now, amazon?" he said plainly.

"I came to see you," I announced boldly, with more courage than I felt.

"And why is that?" he continued, still not amused.

"I . . ." I began as a soft melody drifted down from the throne room window above us. "I know this sounds odd, but would you like to dance with me?" I asked awkwardly. Perhaps if hell froze over he might, and then I would tell him afterwards.

He raised one white eyebrow as he looked at me skeptically. "Are you serious?" he began irritably.

"Yes, I am," I started, feeling more defiant. "Lord Jerhyn told me to make sure you did at least once, or he'd think you weren't enjoying yourself," I lied plainly.

To my surprise, he bought it. "What an imbecile," he growled. To my fortune, it was at that moment the emperor leaned across a balcony above us and waved with a small smile before heading back inside. Perfect timing.

Piricus scowled, returning to his signature expression. "Well, I don't really have a choice, seeing as how he's holding my departure over my head," he added. "Come here, amazon. Let's get this over with," he demanded.

"Piricus," I started embarrassedly. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but I have absolutely no clue how to dance," I confessed.

Piricus snorted."Hmm. Well that explains loads, seeing as the warrior was really making you look like a total imbecile out there on the floor earlier. Well, lucky for you, amazon, I know how. And if it will get that moron royal brat off my back about this, I will teach you myself," he said snidely.

I blinked. "You just said you'd teach me. You're offering to—" I repeated, trying to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"Come here," he insisted harshly, cutting me off.

"Right," I apologized and moved up to him. "Give me your hand and do not touch me other than what I tell you, got it?" he threatened.

"Yes," I assured.

"Now, this is the correct way this is done," he said sarcastically as step by step, touch by touch, Piricus showed me the proper placements for my hands and the correct movements. I focused intently as I tried to absorb as much of this odd dance as I could, until at last we were moving freely across the surface of the sundial. When I was starting to get more comfortable, I started to listen more to the music.

The more I listened, the more I decided that the song was perfect, just like the place and the night itself. Either I was naturally a fast learner or Piricus was a naturally good teacher. We were moving in perfect sync. Good, I laughed to myself. Yes, for all his talk he was one of the good guys, of that I am sure. In fact, Vendra had been right. All dressed in white and with his ivory hair, he looked angelic even. And I couldn't exactly deny the rest of him was attractive too . . . I snorted inwardly and put the thought of that awkwardness earlier out of my mind.

I had begun this dance by carefully watching my toes and feet, I definitely hadn't wanted to step on Piricus' toes or anything like that and let my clumsiness ruin the moment. That, and I still wasn't entire surely this was not a dream. If I fell in my dream, I might wake up.

Though, I was finding that as I grew more and more use to the movements Piricus was making, I was growing more in confidence steadily to a point that I had chosen to trust my own feet and look at him instead. He watched my every move carefully and I sighed. Did he still not trust me? Did he think I was going to plunge a dagger in his back the second he turned the other way or looked at something else? What could I do to get through to him? Then again, this was a huge breakthrough as it was. I decided that maybe if I made myself more vulnerable, it would put him at ease a little more. This was either going to work well, or backfire on me, seeing how tense he was and with that as angelic as he looked, his personality was far from divine.

You gain nothing if you risk nothing, I guess. I moved a slight bit into him and put my head on his shoulder as we danced. I could feel him stiffen and I sighed.

"I have nothing on my person that could hurt you right now," I said gently.

"I'm past the point of worrying about you, amazon," he answered with an odd tone. "If I wasn't I wouldn't be here at all," he pointed out, slightly more harsh. "And I hardly believe you are that much of an idiot, though you come pretty close sometimes."

"What are you so worried about then?" I asked, surprised by my own boldness. He usually got pretty nasty when you asked him personal questions, and I cursed myself inwardly. My damn curiosity was going to ruin the moment. I expected him to snap at me, but the response I got surprised me.

"Pray to your goddess amazon that you are not around if it happens," he said bluntly. "I myself hope I'm not around if it happens come to think of it," he said sarcastically, though that was all the response I got.

"I probably won't be if you're leaving when we hit the Kurast docks," I said, slightly sad. I knew that the day would come when he did go his separate way. As far as the others were concerned, they couldn't have been more excited, but me, I would miss him. Why I had fallen for him in the first place I would never know. Opposites attract, I guess. I wondered if it really was worth mentioning my feelings now, when I knew for certain he was going to leave. I sighed inwardly. Maybe some things were better left unsaid and my mind instantly turned to Maria and the scene I had just witnessed. I fought with myself inwardly, but at last shot the notion down.

"I will miss you," I said suddenly, for some reason I hadn't been able to stop that much from escaping my mouth.

He snorted. "Trust me, no you won't. I'm not a good person to hang around. Me, myself, and I will be all the company I ever need."

"Somehow I don't think so," I said strangely.

"Now would be a good point to stop with your sentimental mush, amazon, before I rot out your tongue," he snapped.

"Sorry," I said with a sarcastic grin of my own coming to my lips. "Omission of the truth is just as much of a sin as a lie, according to Scorpious."

He scoffed. "Amazon, that man is a moron and will be one even when he's dead, which, I might point out could happen any time now as a result of his own stupidity," he said cruelly, giving my heart a slight pain. Scorpious hadn't wanted the others to know, so I had no idea how Piricus found out. "Don't waste your life following him."

"I follow my own path, he merely walks it with me, like the others," I retorted.

"Ah, now there's a thought," he said sarcastically.

The music finally stopped, and I found myself staring into Piricus' emerald eyes. He was dangerously close to my face, we were only about an inch apart and the wind blew a stray wisp of his white hair across my cheek. My stomach began to knot, I didn't know what to expect. He had a grin on his face as he moved ever so slightly closer, though it was not cruel or sarcastic, something I never would have imagined possible for him. I leaned up closer as well.

His lips were almost touching mine when he spoke.

"Don't even think about it," he breathed, and then laughed as he pulled away from me. It was a strange sound, because it was without rudeness in the slightest. And without another word he turned and walked away with his white overcoat billowing in the desert breeze behind him.

He reached the edge of the stone archway, and without turning around he called out to me, "I wouldn't sleep too late or get too drunk. You'll miss the boat. Goodnight, Chyemme," before disappearing out of sight behind the sculpted rock.

I couldn't have been more surprised. He just used my name again, and it wasn't in a dire situation. Maybe I was growing on him. I blinked as a shooting star appeared on the horizon. I made a silent wish, and then turned to leave. Tonight was definitely a strange night for everyone and Zerae only knew what lie ahead of us.

It was well past midnight and I knew we would be returning to Yvette's house shortly. I walked back towards the main chamber, determined not to be stopped and asked to dance again. I had the best memory by far with Piricus and I was determined as a farewell gift it was going to stay that way. I was almost to the ballroom when by my misfortune I ran into another private situation. Laurella and Ryelass were standing about a foot apart having a discussion about something, Ryelass went to reply, but she didn't let him finish.

Ryelass' eyes went wide with shock as his sentence was muffled by a fierce kiss from Laurella. I was shocked too. The quiet, shy girl that I knew would never make such a bold move. Well, I was mistaken. She obviously just had.

She closed her eyes and looped her arms around his shoulders in an attempt to pull him closer. However, it seemed to me that Ryelass didn't want to get any closer than he already was. As I said before, he looked startled, and definitely uncomfortable. He didn't kiss her back and she noticed, because she opened her eyes questioningly to look at him.

His gaze was gentle when he looked at her and I could tell he cared for her greatly, but I could also tell that he didn't feel the same romantic passion for her as she did for him. I didn't need inner sight to tell me that this wasn't going to end well. Somebody was about to receive a broken heart, and no matter how gentle Ryelass would be in letting her down, Laurella was about to be in pain.

I didn't want to see that happen to her and I thought about stepping in casually and acting like I had just wandered by without any knowledge of what was going on, but I decided against it. Whether now or later, this conversation would likely have been taking place anyway. And as much as I felt for Laurella, I couldn't change the way Ryelass felt about her. This whole mess was not my place, but it was like a train wreck. For some demented reason, I couldn't look away.

Ryelass gently pushed her away, with a rueful glance.

"What's wrong?" Laurella asked emotionally, reaching for his arm.

He stepped back, maintaining the distance between them. "Laurella I . . ." he began, obviously unsure of what to say.

"Please?" she asked pitifully with her silver eyes glistening in the moonlight. "Please kiss me back," she whispered. "I promise not to be so rough, I didn't mean to startle you," she furthered.

"No," he said softly, "Laurella, I can't," he replied genuinely.

"What?" she breathed quietly in disbelief. "Why not?"

"Because it's not right. You're like a sister to me," he admitted. "I can't kiss my sister," he replied delicately. That didn't go over well at all.

"Is that what I am to you! Your sister!" she choked and raised her voice, probably without meaning to. "But—how can you possibly—you made it seem like you—" she stuttered, with tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Like I what?" he asked tactfully, fully willing to indulge her.

"Well, like—like you loved me!" she cried.

"But I do love you, Laurella, just not in the way that you think. I'd do just about anything for you and I'd protect you with my life," he soothed.

"Anything for me?" she mumbled bitterly. "Anything but kiss me. Anything but what I want!" she said choking on her own words and laboring to say them. "I love you Ryelass! I've loved you since the day we met! Ever since you helped me to get over the death of my sister! There's not a person alive right now that I love more than you! We're so alike you and I and after all we've been through together, how can you not love me!" she yelped, exasperated.

Ryelass looked like he was in pain too. To hurt her was hurting him. "It's true, we have been through a lot and you do mean a lot to me. But you shouldn't idolize me like you do. I'm no hero," he said softly.

"But you are! You helped kill Andariel and Duriel too! You've killed hundreds of monsters and saved many lives! You helped restore my sisters to our home! You've given Lord Jerhyn back his city and Atma back her peace! You know what happened to Marcus and you still have the courage to set things right! You are willing to fight Diablo himself to get him back, how are you not a hero?" she screamed.

"Laurella, I may have done a lot of good, but I've destroyed a lot of lives too. I've killed other people before," he admitted.

"I don't care! You must have had a good reason, you're not a killer. You don't enjoy hurting people. Helping others is what you live for," she protested, starting to hiccup, the first stage of sobbing.

"I'm not a good person to fall in love with," he said gingerly, but earnestly. "With the type of lifestyle I lead I can't promise you that I'll be alive in the next five minutes, much less that I'll live long enough to settle down with someone. And I can only imagine how much you worry about me now, even as your friend. I don't like doing that to people. I don't want anyone losing sleep over my wellbeing, or crying for me if I die," he explained.

"We could all die at any time, not just you. We're all in this together save maybe Piricus! That's why every moment is precious! That's why you should live in the now while you still can!" she stammered, a lump forming in her throat. "And I can't do what you want me to! I can't just will away my feelings for you! Please, please, I'd give anything for you to tell me that you love me too, tell me if you care, even if it's only once," she begged.

Ryelass sighed. "I just told you I did. You are a part of me, a part of my family. You're as dear to me as Alminus is and he's my best friend," he repeated.

"This isn't happening," she said as she started to tremble. "All this time and I've finally worked up the courage to tell you . . . and you—you just—is it that you find me unattractive? Is that it? Do you think I'm not beautiful?" she said as a tear slid down her cheek.

"No, no. It's not like that at all. I think you're gorgeous, but that's not the point," he coaxed gently.

"Then what is?" she asked intently as another tear fell.

"For one thing, I'm a little too old for you. There's a considerable age distance between us," he began truthfully.

"So now I'm your sister AND a little girl? Eight years isn't so bad! And I'm just as grown up as Vendra, Chyemme, or Maria! I can hold my own just as well as they can!" she rasped with a voice full of tragic emotions.

Ryelass closed his eyes and breathed slowly. "I never said that you couldn't. You're misunderstanding me. I respect you like all the rest when it comes to that stuff."

"Then what is it? There has to be something else that—no—not something—someone," she gasped as the thought seemed to occur to her. "You already have feelings for someone else," she sobbed with tears flowing freely now. "Is that it?" she yelled in misery.

For moments, Ryelass didn't say anything at all and he looked at the floor. I could tell she had been spot on with that assumption.

"Is that it? Is it? DAMN IT RYELASS LOOK AT ME!" she demanded furiously.

His olive eyes didn't waver from the floor.

"Who?" she shouted, with her fury building.

"Laurella. . ." he said quietly, clearly uncomfortable with being asked that question.

"Never mind," Laurella snapped dangerously and before he could say another word she locked eyes with him and I felt her inner sight activate. I almost coughed in surprise and disapproval, but that would have given me away. To do that, to do disrespect someone's privacy that way and use their emotional turmoil to gain access to that kind of information, was not acceptable in the least. I thought that this whole situation couldn't possible get any more awkward or any worse, but I was blatantly wrong.

"CHYEMME! YOU HAVE FEELINGS FOR CHYEMME? WHAT CAN SHE POSSIBLY HAVE THAT I DON'T?" she thundered in a mixture of hurt and rage.

This time I really did choke on my own breath and cough out loud. Both of them immediately whirled to face me.

"You," Laurella squeaked, clearly in anguish. "You were the one he was waiting for?"

I was clearly startled and I'm sure it showed in my voice. "I have no idea what you're talking about," I said quickly and truthfully. I honestly had no idea what they had been doing before I walked by or that Ryelass had been waiting for someone.

"How long have you been there and what did you hear?" Ryelass asked in dismay.

"Just that last bit," I lied. I was laughing ironically to myself in my mind. What else was going to happen before this night was over?

Laurella didn't look convinced. "You . . . the two of you . . ." she said sobbing as she looked back and forth between me and Ryelass.

"No," Ryelass said swiftly. "Laurella, please listen to me," he pleaded softly as he reached for her arm.

She pulled away sharply as if she were dodging an arrow. "Don't touch me," she hissed. "Don't you ever touch me again," she wailed and took off running with an abundance of tears in the opposite direction, trailing her dress behind her.

"Hey buddy, wha' was it ya wanted ter talk 'bout?" Alminus asked as he surfaced into view. It turned out he was the one Ryelass had been waiting for.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" Ryelass cursed loudly as he watched the distraught rogue run away. He kicked a wall next to himself and ended up stubbing his toe.

"Wha' tha hell jus' happened?" Alminus asked in confusion, eyeing the scene before him.

"That was not the damn way I wanted that to go! Now she hates me, and contrary to what she thinks that is going to hurt me a lot!" he shouted in his own misery.

"Who hates ya? Laurella? Why n' sanctuary would she hate ya, she likes ya," Alminus pointed out.

"Not anymore," Ryelass said bitterly. "I've changed my mind. Alminus, I'm just going to go home. I don't want to talk about anything tonight," he said sourly. He turned to me and softened up incredibly.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. Now she'll probably hate you too and you've done nothing wrong. I had wanted to tell you in some other way," he said shamefully. "Chyemme, I . . ." he started.

Alminus blinked. "Oh," he said simply as he immediately came to the proper conclusion. "I think I'll excuse m'self," he stated awkwardly and hastily took his leave, putting me and Ryelass alone.

"Chyemme," he began again.

"I think I should go," I said quietly. What a disaster. Now I would undoubtedly have to bear Laurella's bitterness as well. Why me? Why is it always me? I should have walked away when I saw this start to happen. Maybe if I hurried, I could catch up to Laurella and try to smooth things over. Maybe if she was rational, she'd realize I really had nothing to do with this. Maybe if I told her that I knew I loved Piricus it would help her some, but I doubted it.

"I understand. Though I'd normally enjoy your company, I'd rather be alone right now," he admitted.

"I'm sure we'll talk later," I said politely. "I'm going to see if I can't help Laurella with this misunderstanding," I replied in earnest.

"Thank you," Ryelass said appreciatively and quietly turned and walked away.

I hastened after Laurella without delay, but she had quite a head start on me. A few people called after me on my swift exit from the palace, but I didn't have time for this now. My heart skipped a beat and dropped into my chest when I heard a shrill scream from ahead of me. What in the name of the goddess was wrong now? I grabbed a handful of my dress, pulling it away from my feet and kicked off my expensive shoes. I dashed through the desert streets as fast as I was able and when I arrived at the scene, I nearly collided with a barrier of townsfolk. There was a mass commotion in the area and I could smell the blood.

"Out of the way! MOVE!" I shouted vehemently and roughly started throwing spectators aside. I almost plowed into the back of Laurella once I got to the front edge of the crowd. She was still crying, but now because of an even more unsettling event. Maria was standing over the body of the necromancer Darius, and her red dress was covered in his blood. In front of me was Piricus, snarling like an enraged dragon. I had no idea what in the name of Zerae had just happened, but it was obvious that it wasn't over. My heart dropped from my stomach to my knees as I looked around at this scene. There were assassins everywhere in addition to the stunned crowd that had amassed at the scene of this unfolding fiasco. I looked at Piricus, desperately wanting to believe that this wasn't happening and tonight had been a bad dream.

Piricus looked around the packed square venomously like a cobra that was deciding what to strike at first. He was giving off a deadly emotional radiance that even the townsfolk noticed and they instantly began backing away from him.

I was astonished by just how many assassins there were. There had to be at least thirty that I saw, and I was sure more of them were on standby somewhere that I didn't. More unsettling is that this was obviously planned, and no one, not even me and my innersight, had known they were there until they had already positioned themselves intro strategic locations and revealed themselves ready to strike.

Piricus' emotional aura suddenly became tangible. His arcane energy washed over him in a blink, sending unearthly and frightening waves of distortion around his body. I could clearly see the reflections of what seemed to be skulls shimmering within his aura. I was awestruck in the regard that he seemed to be opening up some sort of rift into another dimension. Perhaps he was going to use the souls in there. . . I prayed to Zerae that he didn't, the retaliation from these assassins would be swift and terrible.

I stepped back as I felt the very air start to corrode as poisonous rings of energy burst to life rippling across his hands. His eyes were actually glowing a stark, demonic emerald color. Every single assassin eye was watching him fiercely.

"Piricus," I said quickly, looking around at all of them. "Don't . . . " I said, feeling intimidated for him.

"Stand down necromancer or we shall cut you down. We have done what we came for, Prince Darkblade is dead," a female voice from an assassin on a roof to our right shouted.

"No," Maria said icily, silencing all other noise. "He's not. This pathetic fool was a decoy for the real one," she snarled. "Something set to distract us."

A hush fell over the crowd and through the ranks of the scattered assassins. "So we-?" I heard one ask from somewhere.

"KILLED THE WRONG PERSON!" Piricus snarled. "THAT WASN'T HIM!" he shouted, enraged. The aura around him was beginning to encroach on me and everyone else standing even remotely around him and I had a feeling that being touched by that aura would be fatal.

Maria glared Piricus down with an icy, emotionless stare. Then she spoke coldly, leveling her blood-stained katars at him.

"I know you know the true identity of Prince Darkblade, Piricus. So this," she said, giving Darius' corpse a savage and disrespectful kick, "is a message that my boss wants you to take to him. Tell him that he had better show himself soon, or we," she snarled viciously and gestured all around herself to the rest of the assassins present, "Will start hunting you necromancers down and killing every one of you we find."

Piricus was enraged beyond words, and for some reason his power seemed to be getting stronger with every passing moment, even when I thought he had reached his max much earlier. The look on Piricus' face was feral. He was obviously oblivious to everything and everyone except Maria, so I don't think he saw the reaction he was getting from the other assassins. I could sense most of them shifting about restlessly. Something was very wrong and it had nothing do with the cold-blooded murder of this necromancer that had just happened. Was this a test of some sort for Piricus? Were they baiting him? The thought did seem highly probable and I wondered for a second if they were going to attack him too.

"Piricus," I said quickly, trying desperately to recapture his attention even for a moment.

"She's right. I'd stop it if I were you," Maria said heartlessly, though she too seemed to be very interested in the power he was beginning to display. "Or we will kill you right here and add you to the list of people your bastard Prince cared nothing about. There is no way you can take on all of us and win."

He snarled savagely, and I tried desperately one last time. "PIRICUS!" I cried his name in dismay.

If he didn't stop, they really were going to attack him. I went to touch his shoulder, but instantly thought better of the idea as the tip of one of my fingernails dissolved instantly as it hit the edge of his magical aura.

"He'll kill you," Maria said to me apathetically, as if she had never seen me before a day in her life and I was some stranger on the street. It hurt to be honest; I had always considered her to be my friend. Just what had gone so wrong? Didn't she and Scorpious just have a talk about redemption and forgiveness? She had been ashamed that she had taken an innocent life earlier, now it was like she had flipped a switch to an entirely different Maria. She had just killed this innocent man for pretty much no reason at all. And to think, they would start hunting down more people that hadn't done anything. Just how bad was Prince Darkblade? How dangerous was he that these assassins were willing to sacrifice their beliefs and codes of honor? No, something was extremely wrong and things were still getting worse.

Piricus seemed to have taken notice of me at last, he looked around himself and I guess logic started to win out over fury. Maria was right, there were simply too many of them to take on at once. His magical aura lingered for a moment before fading, though hellfury was still burning in his eyes.

Piricus took one last calculating look around, staring ruthlessly into the faces of the assassins before settling his demonic gaze on Maria and her blood-tainted katars. He didn't yell and he didn't curse them. His voice was powerful and eerie when he spoke and it sent chills up my spine.

"You will all pay dearly for this, I swear it," he vowed with an even voice in deadly sincerity. "Every last one of you," he added dangerously and in a blink, he melded back into the stunned crowd and out of sight before any of them had time to react.

I could only stare at the scene in shock. I saw a face I recognized across from me at the edge of the crowd on the other side of the square. Scorpious had been watching this calamity as well. He looked to me like someone had just run him through, the utter shock and disbelief still lingered on his face like puddles after a storm. The shocked expression soon gave way to a sorrowful one, the likes of which I had only seen from him once before.

Maria seemed to have noticed his presence at the same time I did, we both were looking at him. He shook his head painfully after meeting her gaze and swiftly turned away, disappearing through the crowd in the other direction. Maria turned her head sharply away and let out a "Tsh," sounding hiss. Did she know that he was dying? My heart was aching for Scorpious, whom I was so sure loved her in return. But Maria had to have known that such a thing could not happen, just by the very nature of their work. He was of the church, and sworn never to marry, and she was an assassin, they were also forbidden to get romantically involved with anyone.

What had she been hoping for? Somehow, I think that part of the reason this whole event had happened was the pain she felt in his rejection. Was this her revenge? To strike an innocent person to get back at him? It was a very real and very human possibility, but then again, I didn't think one person's vengeance would have been enough to draw out all the rest of the Viz-Jaq'Taar. And Maria herself said that her "boss" ordered this. What the hell was going on?

In a blink, I noticed the assassins start to move. Shadows cloaked the areas they had been only moments ago and when they cleared, the mage-slayers were gone.

"Maria! Where are you going?" Laurella called out, clearly hysterically upset. If she hadn't been traumatized already, she definitely was now.

"Don't worry," she said emotionlessly, lingering a moment longer to look at the stunned two of us. "You will see me again, of that I can assure you," she vowed and in a swirl of black shadows, she was gone as well. In the moonlight I saw a refraction of light, like a diamond, fall to the earth where Maria had been only a split second ago. It took me a minute to realize it as I watched the diamond fall to the earth, but the gem-like object was a tear. The one, insignificant drop of moisture quickly faded into the ground, becoming lost forever in the sands of ages.

To be continued . . . .!