A/N: To make up for my slowness last time (although it was my computer's fault...), I wrote up the next chapter extra fast!

***Tom's View***

As they thundered over the grassy hills to the ominous castle that was just beyond the next rise, Tom couldn't help but have a bad feeling as they grew closer. The knights seemed to be tense too and everyone was silent as they approached the stone building.

Raoul and Alanna drew their weapons and the other knights followed their lead. The pages were in back of the older Tortallians but somehow seemed just as ready for the attack. When they were about a hundred feet away from the gate of the fortress it creaked open and about a dozen Scanran riders came pouring out.

Kel, Merric, Owen, and Esmond charged forward with the rest of the war veterans and clashed swords with the warriors. The blows ran out as metal clanged against metal and Peachblossom, who Kel was riding, reared up several times and took two riders out that way. A huge cloud of dust billowed up around the fighting and Tom couldn't see two feet in front of him. He tried to turn his horse around and led it out of the dust, but a rider cut off his escape route. The teen had just enough time to unsheathe his sword and hold it in front of his face before the rider's blows came raining down on him.

Devic heard Tom cry out and raced over to help him. The page rode up from behind the Scanran and while the warrior was busy trying to knock down Tom's defenses, slashed him in the side with his sword. The man cried out and grabbed his side with one hand, but continued to fight with the other. Devic swore and quickly cut the man's sword arm. The man howled in pain, dropped his weapon and pulled his horse back. The two watched as he rode back to the fortress gate and shut the iron bars closed, then turned and watched as the dust settled behind them.

Alanna came out first, covered in dirt and her sword in blood. She took off her helmet and wiped her forehead with a gloved hand, looking worriedly back to see who made it through the fight. Next came Raoul, Dom, and the members of the Own, all tired looking, followed closely by Kel, Merric, Esmond, and Owen.

The Lioness sighed in relief as she did a head count and found that everyone was still alive. Of course, some were wounded, but Duke Baird was already beginning to tend to their wounds and scratches.

Tom turned to Devic, "Thanks a lot..."

The boy grinned wearily, "No problem, but I am starting to think that you should have come down with Phi and Alex to train with us..."

"If I had known that I would have to fight, I probably would've!"

After a short rest about five minutes that felt like five hours, Raoul called for the group to saddle up again and led the party up to the gate of their enemy.

When they got there, Alanna jumped off her horse and walked straight up to the gate, examining it and trying to find a way past. Raoul dismounted and went to stand next to her. He shook the iron bars to test their strength but they didn't even creak, "So...how do we get in?"

Alanna tapped the bars with her fingers then walked over to the stone wall. She stared up at the top of it, kicked the stones to see if they would move, then walked back over to Raoul who was waiting impatiently for a reply, "I don't know..."

The knight sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand, "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

***Phi and Alex's View***

After about an hour of sitting in their cells, Phi and Alex both heard a strange sound from outside the building, coming from another part of the fortress, like from the front gate. They looked at each other and Phi grinned, "I'll bet you fifty bucks that that is Tom."

"You're probably right, no one else would make that much noise."

They strained their ears to try and catch anymore unusual sounds, but it seemed that they had faded away for now. Their guard looked extremely tense and began to get upset at the slightest movement from his prisoners and jumped nearly three feet in the air when the back door closest to Phi and Alex's cells was slammed open and a man limped through. He was bleeding all over the place and the two just stared as he shuffled by and stopped a foot away from the guard, "The Tortallians have already defeated our defenses, everyone except myself as slain on the battle field."

"Impossible!" thundered the guard, "How could one boy defeat us so easily?!"

"It wasn't just one boy sir...it was about a dozen veteran knights and two dozen pages plus the boy."

"WHAT?!"

Phi piped up, "Isn't that what Dausael said earlier this morning?..."

The guard rounded on her, "Shut up! I know very well what the commander told me! Keep quiet or I shall cut your throat right now!"

She paled about a shade lighter then glared at the man's back after he turned around to talk to the wounded rider, "Go tell Dausael what happened and I'll think of something to do..."

"What? Why do I have to tell him? He'll...he'll kill me!"

"And I'll be killing you if you don't so get going!"

The rider gave the guard a deathly glare and rage flared up in his eyes, but he saluted and stumbled out of the dungeons. Meanwhile, the guard was still panicking, "You two!" he pointed at Phi and Alex, "stand up! You're coming to the front cells so I can be keeping an eye on you!"

He threw open their bar doors and hauled them into the front cell, throwing them both in and double locking the door, "There, that is better." He sat down in his chair, picked up a crossbow and stared at the opposite door that led to the outside of the building, just waiting for some unfortunate to come through so he could shoot their head off.

Alex walked over to Phi, glad that he could sit right next to her instead of sitting five feet away, "What do you think is going on out there?"

She shrugged and watched the guard as he drummed his fingers nervously on his cross bow and shivered, "I just hope that Tom isn't the first one in here."

Alex frowned and put his arms around her comfortingly, "I'm sure he won't...He better not be..."

***Meanwhilist...***

The rider who Devic had carved up was nervously pacing in front of Dausael's chamber. How was he to tell their lord that they had all failed without getting his head chopped off like the previous leader of the warriors? A thought hit him and he cautiously entered the room, "Sir?...um...I...I have some...some news to report..."

The commander was sitting in his chair with his chin resting on his hands, as if he were in deep thought, "You have failed?"

"No! Well, the Tortallians, they surprised us and..." Oh no...he was forgetting what he was going to say. His heartbeat began to pulse faster as he continued to stammer, "They...are better figh-fighters th-then we anticipated...sir..."

"I'll tell you what...I will give you one more chance to prove yourself..." The rider almost fainted with relief but kept himself up by using his sword as a cane, "All you have to do is get rid of our other two prisoners..."

"What?! Why?...um...sir..."

"It is not your place to ask why, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything to tell you...because they are no use to me, that is why. They know nothing about the weapons from their time. I could see it in their eyes. Kill them however you want, I do not care. It is the third one that I need to get now..."

The rider bowed and limped back out of the throne room, ecstatic that he was still able to do so, but turned around as Dausael called out just as the wooden doors began to close, "But fail me again, and you know what fate awaits you..." The man gulped and saluted again before walking as fast as he could manage away from his chief afraid that he would kill him while his back was turned...you could never be too careful.

As he walked back through the courtyard to the dungeons, he began to ponder just how he was going to kill the two teens by himself. He could ask that guard for help but then he would have to share his glory...No, he would do this alone. His imagination raced over all the possibilities: poison, death by sword, hanging, starvation...it needed to be fast though, something that would leave no remains behind. He needed to do his job perfectly with no slip-ups...hmm...his eyes fell on three barrels of oil for the lamps and a grin played on his face.

Being burned to death...that could work nicely. And Dausael had said that he could do whatever he wanted as long as he got the job done. This way, he might be able to take out that guard who had insulted him too. He laughed to himself, lifted the three barrels up, and carried them to the outside of the dungeon.

He walked to the far side of the building where he knew the guard and the two travelers weren't and began to dump the oil into the little holes in the wall that served as windows in the cells.

***Tom's View***

After all the knights had taken a swing at the bars with their swords and Tom had tried to use his unruly magic to open the bars (which ended in him being blown back about ten feet and landing on his back) some of the knights were about ready to give up. Kel threw her helmet down in frustration and sat down hard next to Esmond, Merric, and Owen. Merric was cradling his foot because he had lost his temper and had kicked the bars...it didn't work too well. Kel watched as Dom talked to Raoul about something or another then came to sit by them too, "Well this is exciting, isn't it?"

She glared at him and watched as Tom approached the gate again, followed by Devic who wanted to make sure that his older friend didn't kill himself trying to open the gate.

Tom looked at the bars in disgust, then at Devic. The boy looked up at him and shrugged, not knowing how to open the gate either. Tom's expression grew thoughtful as he looked back at the gate, then back at Devic, then back at the gate again. He turned back to his friend, "Hey Devic, can you fit through the gate?"

"What? Oh, I don't know...do you think I'm...skinny enough?"

Tom grinned, "Well I think you might be the smallest one here anyway..."

Devic stared at him strangely, not sure if he had just be insulted or complimented, shrugged his shoulders and put his foot through the gate.

Kel sat up straight and poked Dom and Owen in the side who in turn poked Esmond and Merric and five watched as Devic put his knee through the iron bars, then his waist, his chest, and finally his head. The page grinned at Tom as he finished pulling his entire body on the other side of the gate who gave him a thumbs up. The boy jogged over to the side of the wall and cranked up the wheel that controlled the bars. Alanna and Raoul watched in amazement along with the rest of the group as it slowly groaned and grinded upwards and they all rushed through into the compound.

***Phi and Alex's View***

Phi raised her head from Alex's shoulder and listened. He looked at her, "What's the matter?"

"I thought I heard something..."

"Something like what..."

"Like...running water..."

The guard who was eavesdropping on their conversation, strained his ears to try and hear something and the three remained silent for a good ten minutes. Some smell began to bother Alex and he covered his nose with his shirt, "What is that smell?"

Phi sniffed the air, "Smells kinda like...a gas station..."

They looked at each other, and Alex looked curiously at Phi, "Oil?"

She nodded and the guard stood up to investigate. He followed the sound and walked slowly down the corridor to see what was going on.

***Meanwhile...***

The wounded warrior laughed manically to himself as the last bit of the lamp oil was drained into the dungeons. He set the third barrel down and wiped the dripping sweat from his forehead. He took out some flint and tinder, making a tiny spark, "Good-bye..." He threw it in the window and dived down as a burst of flame erupted from the opening and engulfed the cell in burning fire.

A/N: Wahahahaha!! Evil cliffhanger!!! I think I will not write for a few days... or maybe I will...yes, it depends on how many reviews I get! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!