Theo looked up and screamed. Her face was inches away from a man's, ands it had startled her. The man himself was scary, with deeply tanned skin, and black paint lining all around his almond shaped eyes, that were so dark that they could be black. Her whore an expression of confusion mixed with anger. She didn't like that look.

She quickly stopped screaming when the scary man moved towards her. She backed up on her hands and bottom, knocking promptly into Justin behind her. He didn't say anything, and that was when Theo noticed that men that looked the same as the first scary man surrounded them. They were all wearing the same outfit, strange looking loose fitting pants, which looked to be made out of some sort of brown wool. They also had on dirty tan looking shirts that billowed around the arms. The entire outfit looked to Theo like what she had seen in old movies about the Middle Ages.

"How.where. what." she began, but didn't continue. She was so confused that she was not in the school stadium, but in this strange place with people surrounding her that looked like they wanted to kill her that she didn't know where to begin.

"I have no idea." Justin whispered to her, already knowing her question. She nodded mutely. All of the men surrounding them stared as if the two teenagers were a catch of fish brought in from sea, and they did not like what they had caught. The ring of silent men around them broke in front, and a man stepped into the circle. This man looked different from the others. Instead of worn out looking pants and shirts, this man had on expensive looking clothes that didn't look the least bit dirty. The other men backed slightly away from this man, as if he were someone to fear. The other reason that he looked different from the others was that he was glowing. He had all around him an aura of red fire. Theo gasped when she saw him, and she felt Justin next to her tremble slightly. The man looked at them as if they had two heads or were terribly disfigured.

The glowing man leaned close to the teens and said something on a tongue that neither of them even remotely understood. He repeated himself, sounding annoyed that they weren't answering.

"What!?" asked Justin quietly. "We don't understand you."

The man continued to ramble on a completely different language, and he acted as if they were defying him in some way by not understanding. He finally gave up on them, and began to talk quietly to one of his companions. Justin and Theo continued to stare, not quiet sure what was going on. Men from behind grabbed them both, and as Theo turned to see what they were doing, she saw a flash of light, and her world went dark.



In Carthak, during Emperor Mage

"Numair, I felt it also," Alanna, the Lioness, and the King's Champion said to the mage Numair Salamin. "It felt as if space itself was altered for a moment."

"That was indeed what it felt like Alanna," Numair answered her. "I also felt something fall through that altered space. Most likely they are form another world. My question is, what world, and what purpose do they serve the emperor, if any at all?"

"Numair?" asked a smaller voice.

"What is it Daine?" Numair looked at the young girl sitting on the couch next to the lioness. She had blue-gray eyes, and was wearing a light blue dress, that was quite fitting, Numair thought.

"Numair," she started, "how did you know that people fell through?" she asked him, looking slightly confused.

"I am not sure," he told her. "I just felt it, and I just knew. I believe it was two young people, but I can't be sure."

Daine looked at him, puzzled for a moment, and then shrugged. She knew that he knew things that she didn't, and that his powers were plenty, so she didn't question his judgment. "So, what are we going to do about this," she paused, unsure of what to call Numair's hunch. "This thing," she supplied.

"We can't do anything while we're here," Alanna put in. "It's too risky with the Emperor watching our every move."

"I agree," Numair said to them both. "I would have liked to conducted further testing, but the timing is not good. We shall just have to wait for a more opportune time." With that he flicked his fingers toward the walls, and all of the black fire that covered them sprang back to his hands. He nodded to the ladies, and strode out of the room, leaving the two 'ladies' thinking hard in his wake.



Theo awoke slowly, taking in the white walls of her surroundings. She sat up, confused for a moment, because she wasn't in her own home, but in a small room, with white plastered walls with no decorations at all. There was a door, but it had no apparent handles and no way to get out. Theo suddenly remembered then what had taken place the night before. She once again fell into despair.

"Oh good, your up." She heard a voice behind her and whirled around. It was only Justin. She sighed. "You were asleep for a while after I woke up. I was worried" he gave her a shaky smile.

She tried to smile at him, knowing it was in vain. She felt lost, and had no idea what had even happened to her and Justin. "What happened? Where are we?" And who are those guys and what do they want?!" She got more rushed with each question, and was starting to loose all hope of surviving through this.

"Hey, Theo!" Justin said, surprised at her outburst. "It'll be alright," he told her, although there was no conviction in his voice. Theo knew that he had no idea if things would 'be all right' as he said, but he was trying to make her feel better. She appreciated it all the same.

"Thanks," she told him, wiping a tear away. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," he looked down. "I guess we're just going to have to wait for those." he paused, "guys, to do something." The thought immediately chilled Theodora to the bone. She shuddered, involuntarily. Justin felt her shudder, and put an arm around Theo to comfort her. She leaned into him, and put her head on his shoulder, feeling safe for a moment. Justin sighed, feeling tired and worn. Theo looked up, to ask him what was wrong, and caught his eye. Their gazes held for a moment and the two leaned forward for what they had both wanted to do for a long time.

Just as the two touched lips, a sudden sound came from the door. The teens looked at the door with apprehension, waiting to see if their death was upon them, opening the cage door.