Hey, all! Sorry for the wait, but a lot has been going on lately. I turned eighteen this Wednesday! I am now the age of majority, but I still have a year to wait out before I can drink legally! Happy reading! –Lady PhoenixDagger *//.^*

ALARYAN'S KEEP

PART II

"HUMANITY STOLEN"

"Please, do take some more."

The fat man groaned and sat back in his chair. "I really shouldn't," he said, nevertheless eyeing the last shred of roast lamb swimming in its own gravy.

Walker smiled sweetly at him and picked up the serving fork. "Really. I insist."

Fatty grinned. "Well, if you insist." He accepted the meat and immediately tore into it. "Y'know," he said between mouthfuls, "for a freak, you certainly know how to set out a kickass spread."

The sweet smile grew ironic for a moment as Walker surveyed the hanging potbelly and sweat-stained armpits of the man sitting at the other end of the table. "Indeed. For a freak." Around the table, the four wizards' faces were frozen into emotionless masks.

Walker sighed inwardly. It was already March, more than three months since Misty and the boys were abducted and the search for them was growing more and more desperate as the days went on. Black Hood was obviously the abductors, but with such a wide network, there was no way of looking for them without arousing suspicion and perhaps even endangering their lives. To make matters worse, other people –Bhaarliads, humans and others alike- in the Keep and even in town were also missing, with the lists growing more and more every week and still there was no proof to implicate Black Hood and get an investigation underway.

That would be where the man at the table came in.

"So, Douglas-"

"Just Doug."

"Right. Forgive me." Walker sat back. Doug mirrored him. "So, Doug, you probably know why you've been invited here to Alaryan's Keep, right?"

The fat man picked knowingly at his red Federation for Human Purity armband and cast a quick glance at the private Keep dining room in a poor show of indifference. "Yeah. Because I might know where all those missing people are. And all those freaks that you guys are missing, too. And I might know exactly where your little sister and the ancient Jew's boys are."

To his credit, Gil said nothing.

"Correct." Rearranging his woollen maroon robes, Walker crossed his legs. He wet his lips with the goblet by his elbow and continued. "You say you're an employee of Black Hood?"

"Yeah." Doug barely held back a belch and wiped his nose in the fine linen napkin balled up next to his plate. "I'm a security guard."

"Ah." Nat nodded, obviously surprised this man was in charge of safety.

"Yes." Walker picked up the goblet again and began running his fingers over the raised design on it. "Have you seen my sister or any other of the prisoners?" Please, God. Let him know something. Mom and Dad can't take the strain anymore. He thought of his mother, who barely wanted to get out of bed and of his father, who ate little and said even less. And of Ria and Tama, whom he heard consoling each other over and over every night in a flood of tears. Anything! Please!

A sly look stole over the wide face. "Maybe."

Shit. "Maybe?"

"Maybe if I can find the…incentive?" The security guard cracked his knuckles suggestively against the table.

So that's the kind of game you want to play. Walker leaned in on his elbows, cradling his chin in his hands. "What type of incentive? Money, perhaps? We have plenty of that."

Doug leaned in as well, mirroring him again. It struck Walker suddenly that this was a man who probably couldn't find his own individuality if it slapped him in the ass. The candlelight sent a thin gleam into the corners of Doug's mouth where he had missed with the napkin. "Who needs money? You said yourself that you have plenty, but people are still disappearing, aren't they? Did it keep your people safe? No. Black Hood has your brats and now other people are missing, too." He grinned in serpentine manner. "No, gentlemen. I want something that will place me in the good graces of the Federation for Human Purity until the very day I die."

"Oh?" Walker asked warily.

"Yeah. I want a fully-grown freak. Dead or alive, it doesn't matter to me. Preferably a female one. And tame. I don't want no live wires." The fat jowls were pushed aside to make way for another grin as he fondled his armband. "The Federation could use a new mascot. I think a dead freak'd do just fine, don't you?"

"Absolutely not!!"

"It seems to me, Lord Walker," the words were accompanied by a wad of spit aimed at the floor, "that you don't have much choice in this matter. Now either I walk out of here with the promise of a tame freak and you get your info or I just walk out of here and you get diddly-shit." He sat back. "I leave the decision up to you."

"What about all those regular people Black Hood is taking?" Talon broke in. He was gripping his dinner knife so hard his knuckles had turned white. "Surely the Federation doesn't condone the abandonment of other normals, does it?"

Doug made an expansive "so what" gesture with his hands. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, gentlemen. The Federation's just in the middle. Who are we to mess around with that?"

"A Federation member quoting from the Good Book? How very ironic."

Six male head swivelled to stare at the female figure standing against the doorframe. Mira was leaning in the doorway dressed in a revealing costume of tight satin and gauzy silks. She quirked an eyebrow and strode into the room, coquettishly calm and dangerously feminine. "Hello, Douglas," she purred, draping an arm over his chair. "Remember me?"

Doug's face was already dead white. "L-L-Lady Morpheus!"

"In the flesh, fat boy." She stood less than a foot away from him, her translucent wraps still swirling like liquid around her. Leaning over, Mira began to stroke a slender finger slowly up and down the bend of his neck. From his face it was clear that Doug wanted to recoil in horror, but was too terrified to do so. Fascinated, Walker and the wizards did nothing.

"Now." The lovely face suddenly turned hard and her tone grew icy. "Where are Quatre and the others?"

Doug managed a whimper.

"Answer me!" The words seemed to carry murder in their very harmonics.

"The Seattle base!" Doug squeaked. "All of them are there! Black Hood wants to challenge you to a tournament. Winner gets the prisoners!"

"And?" Walker strode forward, his façade of the perfect host dissolving with each step to make way for the visage of the warrior lord. He suddenly seemed huge, standing next to Mira. "What if I decide to attack now?"

"All of the prisoners are fitted with suicide collars!" The security guard's voice was harsh. "As soon as it looks like you've launched an attack, the collars will be detonated and you'll have nothing but corpses to fight for."

"Dammit!" Walker lashed out and punched the wall, leaving a deep pit in the solid stone wall above Doug's head. Pale stone dust sifted onto the fat man's shoulders. "How long?"

"Five weeks. They plan on challenging you soon and the tournament will be in five weeks."

"Five weeks," Mira repeated. Behind her the wizards began to advance like ominous shades in woollen robes. "Black Hood dares to make us wait five weeks?"

"Would you rather attack now and be the cause of their deaths?"

Talon stepped forward. "So if we win, we get the children and the other hostages back, correct?"

"Y-yeah."

"What if we lose?"

"I don't know. My security clearance doesn't stretch that far." Doug bit his lip and sat up straighter. "Not that it's any problem of mine. Either they live or they die. I don't care either way."

Walker snarled and from behind, the wizards could see the back of his robes bulge as his wings threatened to flare out in his anger. He backed off, pulling Mira with him. "Get out of my sight." The Lord of Alaryan's Keep shouted over his shoulder for a guard to escort the Federation member out. He pulled a small lump of gold from his pocket and flung it at the terrified man. "This never happened. You never came here. We never spoke about anything. Now take this and get the hell out of my Keep."

Ryu appeared at the door then, bloody eyes blazing. Doug fairly sprinted to him and allowed himself to be led out, what little dignity he might have still had dissolving now into nothing.

Mira spat, heedless of the priceless carpet below her feet. "Bastard." She breathed deeply, easing the tension from her shoulders. "Gil, could I have your outer robe, please? I'm freezing in this damn thing." She gestured to her tiny costume.

He handed it to her. "What the hell happened?"

The telekinetic gave him a sad smile. "It's not only fighters who get into the Ring. Mental adepts were another favourite pass time. I was one of their best. They called me Lady Morpheus." A fat tear trailed down her chin followed by another, but her voice kept steadily on. "It's amazing what happens to a man when you can make his blood boil. I was thirteen when I figured that out and it became my signature move." She bit her lip. And my God, how the crowd loved it."

"Oh, child…." Gil sighed sadly and held her close as she suddenly burst into tears.

Zach ventured forward, tentatively laying a hand on Walker's shoulder. "Walker? You all right?"

The Lord of Alaryan's Keep looked tiredly over his shoulder at his maternal grandfather. "We have very little time to lose. Make it known that a challenge is soon to be issued. Find Kari and Darien and send them to my office immediately." He nodded to Ryu, whose bloody red eyes glinted in tightly controlled rage, for he had heard everything. "The tournament will be soon. We must begin our training."

*****

At last, the plot thickens! The next chapter's a long one, too!!

Ja ne!

--LPD *//.^*