*Author's Note: Chapter two had a ton of typos. I'm sorry -.-. I read this one over this time and fixed it.

Might and Magic

By Sammie Spitz

Chapter 3: Getting The Story

"Looks like he found us." Rainer muttered.

In the midst of the confusion, Tobias handed the communication lens to Babylon. and said, "I'll keep him busy. You just get a good distance away."

Babylon realized what he was up to when he produced his staff with a puff of smoke and mounted on Sun Wind. He said, "You can't be serious! Alpha is a raving luniatic! You won't stand a chance! He'll rip you apart!"

"Just get going!" Was Tobias's only reply. He dissapeared with a flash and there was a commotion outside.

"You heard him." Rainer sighed, "There's a secret way out of the house. Follow me." He pushed a small stone dragon on a shelf and a door opened on the back of the house. They all slipped out, Juno carrying Vela. Rainer quickly lead them down a path that was near the passage. Then, he went off the path, with the group behind him.

After running for about half an hour, they reached a clearing and Rainer was convinced they'd ran far enough. Everyone just about collapsed, except for Vela, who was abruptly dropped by her worn-out brother.

"I think we lost him." Rainer panted.

"But what about Tobias?" Vela asked, "And Sun Wind?"

"We can only hope for the best." Babylon said.

"So, now that we've got a spare minute," Juno said, "why were we brought here anyway?"

"And turned into characters out of Greek myths?" Vela added. Lupus gave an agreeing bark.

"It's a long story, but I'll try." Rainer answered, "You see, Malenton was a peaceful place until recently. You see, it started with this stranger who called himself Crozen. One day, he and his minions came and took over. That's why we brought you here."

"But, couldn't you have gotten some knights to do it." Juno asked.

"We tried that. Most of them were slain. What little were left sided with Crozen. Most of those were turned into monsters."

"OK," Vela said, "But, did we have to be turned into-"

"I'm afraid so." Rainer finished, "You see, humans weren't meant to be here. So, the magic of our realm transformed you. It's for the best, though. It helps you blend in better, so no one will suspect anything." Then, he sighed, "I know you were brought here against your will. If you don't want to help, you don't have to."

"Of course we'll help." Juno said, "Won't we?"

"Sure," Vela nodded, "We can't just desert you now." Lupus barked.

"Really?" Babylon asked, "You'll help?"

"Of course." Juno told them.

"So, it begins." A voice said from behind a tree. They all looked towards it. From behind it appeared a tall, human-like, Borzoi. She stood upright and was built like a human. She was white with an orange-brown patch mark over one side of her face. She wore a white tunic and tight purple pants that went halfway up her lower leg. She had a guitar strapped to her back.

"Hello there." Juno said, nervously.

"Greetings." She replied, "I see my prophecy came true after all."

"Prophecy?" Vela asked, "You mean we're part of a prophecy?"

"Indeed you are."

"Who are you anyway?"

The Borzoi bowed gracefully and said, "My name is Rickeena. In my prophecy, the voices above spoke of three warriors coming from another world to aid us in our battle."

"Really?" Juno said, in amazment. He'd never seen an actual prophet before. He'd always assumed seeing into the future was just a hoax, "So, you're a real prophet?"

Rickeena looked down and replied, "Yes, but not an extaordinary one, I'm afraid. I do have some phycic abilities, but I'm more of a musician. I can only receive a message one peice at a time."

"By the sounds of it, we'll need any help we can get." Vela said, "So, anything else?"

"I did get one more piece of this puzzle." She replied, "It told me of titanous, stone grey demons who live on clouds on the earth. You must follow the path of glass to find them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way. Crozen is very displeased with my family and me, so I must always be on the move. We shall meet again." She brought her guitar in front of her and walked into the woods, strumming on it and singing a forgine song to herself.

"That poor Rickeena," Vela sighed, "She doesn't have a lot of confidence in herself, it sounds like."

"She's a very humble girl." Rainer said, "Her phycic abilities are actually very strong. She's just to modest too admit how powerful she really is."

"Well, we'd better try and untangle the clue. 'The path of glass?'" Juno said. They sat there, trying to find the message in the clue they were given.

After a while, Babylon suggested, "I wonder if she was refering to the Krystalgi River. It's name roughly translates into 'glass'."

"Seems reasonable enough." Vela suggested, "Where is that?"

"Not far at all." Babylon answered, "About a ten minute walk. But what about those demons she was telling us of? And the clouds?"

"I suppose that's something we'll need to find out along the way." Rainer said.

"Not so fast!" A voice hollared. They al turned and met Alpha again. He was snorting and seemed to have a few bruises and scratches.

"What the hell did you do to-?!" Juno started.

"The bastard got away!" Alpha finished, "Just hand over the sheperd dog and I'll leave you damned forginers alone."

He took a step towards Rainer, but Juno shot up and pawed the ground a little, telling him, "If you want him so bad, your gonna have to get past me."

"Real funny, now get out of the way." Alpha tried to go around him, but Juno just stepped in the way again.

"Stop being a little bastard and get lost!"

Juno just gave him a dirty look.

"Look, if you don't stop acting like a damned idiot, I'm gonna make sure you regret it!"

Suddenly, he reared up and missed Juno by only a few inches. Juno did his best to defend himself. It didn't help that he knew next to nothing about centaur combat. Finally, he got an idea. As Alpha was rearing up, he reared up in front of him and tried to push him over. They struggled with each other on their hind legs for a while, pushing and grunting in exauhstion. Finally, Alpha's hind legs, not ment to hold up all that weight, gave out on him and he fell over. As he lay there on his side, Juno looked down at him.

"You might want to watch who you threaten and swear at." He muttered to him. He was about to turn around. Suddenly, Alpha gave him a sharp kick to the legs. He just started flailing his legs and effectivly nailed Juno. He tripped over. Alpha staggered over to him. During the earlier fight, Juno gave him a sharp kick to a front leg, giving him a noticable limp.

"Stupid kid." He mumbled, standing over him and keeping his hurt leg off the ground, "You have way too much nerve for me to let you get away."

He started bracing himself to rear up. Realizing what was coming next, Juno closed his eyes. Suddenly, There was a rustling sound. As Alpha was in the middle of rearing, a white flash came out of a nearby tree and hit Alpha, stunning him and making him fall back. It was Rickeena.

"You!" Alpha hollared, recovering from his stun, "You're that little bitch I've been chasing after for weeks!"

"And you're the heartless savage that murdered my grandfather before my very eyes." She growled back, "But, now is the time to settle this vendeta."

Enraged by her attitude, Alpha reared up to strike. But, she was too fast for him. She gave a sudden kick, knocking him over once more. His weakened hind legs couldn't hold up and he tumbled over. Luck wasn't with him, unfortunetly. He fell against a rock and then lay on it, limp and supposedly lifeless. Everyone stood in shock.

"Oh dear." Rickeena finally muttered. She slowly approached the body. As she did, it suddenly began to glow. He began to slowly change shape. It was hard to tell, since he glowed so brightly. Smoke filled the area. No one could see anything. Suddenly, Rickeena let out a frightened shreik.

To Be Continued...