Kinari crouched next to a small stream and examined her reflection.  A long cut reached from above her eye brow around and down her face to her jaw line, and a large gash along her hair line that was still bleeding. She swiped at the oozing blood before it dripped in her eye and frowned at her appearance. Ghastly. She could almost picture her husband looking at her with concern, trying to examine it, but Ishtar's face had long ago become a blur with a smile.

She starred into the water trying to picture his face when a sound to her right caught her attention. Immediately, she knew who was coming and sighed, "Why can't they leave well enough alone?"

Roxton lead the explorers out of the jungle to find a very badly beaten Kinari patiently waiting for them. "Children," she greeted with a raised eyebrow. "May I ask what brings you here?"

Challenger stepped forward. "We have come to help you."

"Help me what?"

"We know what you are protecting, and we don't the Lizardmen to get their scaly claws on it anymore than you do," Malone interjected.

Kinari rubbed a grimy hand across a tired brow and sighed, "And what do you think I'm protecting?"

"The Garden of Eden." Veronica held up her father's Bible. "Like it says in this."

"What is that?" Kinari reached for the book, not denying the revelation. Veronica handed it to her and she began flipping through the pages, scanning them with fascination. She turned and began walking toward her hut while reading. "You may stay," she called to them, almost as an afterthought, and they quickly fell in behind her.

***

The sun was beginning to set by the time they reached the hut, and everyone was tired. Kinari was well into Leviticus before she set the book down. "The Sons of Cain will not attack again today, they down not fight well in the chill of night. In the mean time,one of you explain this new weapon they use. It smells of hell fire and destroys everything in its path." She held up a scrap of cloth and Roxton took it from her.

A whiff told him everything he needed to know, "Looks like their using gunpowder."

Challenger snatched the cloth from him and sniffed it as well, "Do you think Tribune?"

"Who is Tribune?" Kinari asked.

"An old friend, sort of, he is the Emperor of the Lizard people. We've tangled with his kind before. He is rarely up to anything good."

"I can say with certainty that he is not the one attacking. It would appear that one of his rivals is trying to overthrow him, and becoming invulnerable is a good way to do that."

"Sounds like a Lizardman tactic," Roxton said.

"It is not a Lizardman tactic, it is a human tactic, this place has been attacked over the years by every creed, it is not reserved to the Sons of Cain alone," Kinari attacked.

"She's right," Veronica stated. "The temptation of power is stronger than any other. We can all vouch for that. By the way, how do you know that Tribune isn't the one attacking?"

"Sparrows are very nosey little creatures, I simply ask them what they have heard recently."

"In other words, a little bird told her," Marguerite whispered, and Veronica giggled.

Roxton glared at them and both sobered quickly, but Kinari didn't appear to notice.

"We have gunpowder as well," Ned tried to sound encouraging.

Kinari studied the packs they carried skeptically, "Not as much as they have. Come with me, we must find you protective coverings, what you have won't do."

She led them to a nearby shack that matched her hut, and opened the rickety door. The explorers filed in and stood in aw at what they saw.

"Look at this stuff!" Ned exclaimed. Ancient armor and weapons lay stacked against walls and strewn across the floor in piles covered in dust. Challenger recognized pieces from almost every era and dynasty imaginable from Egyptians and Romans to the Persians and East Indians to the Chinese. There were even Viking and Celtic artifacts, and shields from knights of the Crusades were leaned against a corner; all were stamped with coats of arms.

Marguerite reached for an aging leather breastplate, but it crumpled when she touched it. "Someone is a packrat."

"Where did all this come form?" Challenger queried as he examined a sword with precious stone inlays.

Kinari shrugged, "Various people, tribes, and armies we have defeated over the centuries. After they have been dispatched, we have no use for most of what they leave behind, so I collect it and place it in here."

Roxton picked up a Roman helmet and placed it on his head, "How do I look?"

Marguerite eyed him critically, trying to hide the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, "You're not seriously considering wearing that, are you? You look like an out of place Caesar."

"And you're my Queen of the Nile."

***

A thick fog had rolled in by the time the explorers had finished in the shack, and Kinari sure footedly led the way back to the hut. She quietly served them a meal of stew that contained no meat, the recipe for which Veronica requested. After the meal, pallets were pulled from a trunk and everyone readied for bed, but no one was tired, anxious as to what the new day would bring.

Roxton sat at the table watching Marguerite read a scroll that, much to his chagrin, held all of her attention, and he was constantly asking her what it said. He finally distracted her when he presented her with a bejeweled dagger with a solid gold sheath he had found in the shack. Veronica had found several slingshots that were still in working order, and was teaching Ned how to use one, in case he ran out of ammunition, and Challenger was studying and Egyptian papyrus from one of the chests in the hut.

Kinari sat watching them, seeing people she once knew in them. It had been a long time since she had allowed herself the pleasure of company.

Abruptly, she stood and walked out, stopping only to snatch her flute, then she disappeared into the mist.

"I wonder where she is going?" Roxton asked no one and everyone.

They sat silently, waiting for her return, but instead, were greeted with the soft sounds of airy music. The music was foreign to them, but each felt it tug at a part of their soul, and could not help but listen.

Marguerite was the first to fall asleep. Roxton barely caught her before her head hit the table. He laid her on a pallet and covered her before stretching out on the one next to her and placing his now holey hat over his face. Ned and Veronica soon followed, each curling up on pallets near the hearth.

But sleep evaded Challenger as he sat listening to the light tones wafting passed him. He stood with resolve and quietly followed the music through the fog, careful not to step on any unsuspecting animals.