Auther's Notes: Thanks to those who reviewed.

Robert and John had a pretty good idea where Morganist was now with the four captured X-men. Rogue and Kurt followed as the boys lead the way. They could soon hear strange chanting flowing through the hall.

Flesh and blood, flesh and blood

pledge devotion to our lord.

Flesh and blood, flesh and blood

feed him human's empty souls.

Flesh and blood, flesh and blood

Kill them all to pleasure him.

Flesh and blood, flesh and blood

death to all who despise him.

Flesh and blood, flesh and blood

This sound continued while the four marched. The chant sent a shiver through Rogue's spine. They soon came upon a window that revealed the room where Morganist performed his ceremonies. They looked down and saw all of Morganist's remaining men standing in a huge circle. They chanted those horrible words again and again.

They all watched through the window. Rogue saw the four imprisoned X-men near the inside of the circle and next to them was Morganist. Kurt whispered to Robert, "what's going on?"

Robert said uneasily, "It's a Shadow Lords ceremony. They're giving praise to the dark one that has no name."

They all watched. Morganist stepped into the middle of the circle. He held up his hands and all his men stopped chanting. Morganist held up a small book that was attached to a chain around his neck.

Rogue asked, "what's that book?"

John said, "that's his most prized possession. It's a magic book given to him by the hands of Amoonie himself. Amoonie taught him every spell in that book. It's full of dark magic."

Morganist looked at the four imprisoned X-men and said, "you will now witness what you all will suffer when your time comes."

Then the sound of a man screaming was heard. Clase and Borak dragged in a middle-aged man. He was unknown to all the X-men. Morganist had Clase and Borak tie the man to a long pole.

Morganist began speaking in his ancient tongue. "What is he saying?" Rogue asked as she hung on every word. This language was so strange. Nothing had ever sounded more alien to her in her life.

"Your asking the wrong guy," said Robert. "Phil is the one who learned their language. I wish I knew what he was saying."

Robert had seen one of these ceremonies before. He didn't think that Rogue and Kurt were ready to see this. But he didn't think to tell them to turn away.

Morganist finished speaking. Then he walked up to the unknown man and placed both of his scaly hands on the smooth flesh. He spoke as he slid his hands across the man's face. "Lord, we give you this man. A man of flesh and blood, as are all mere mortals. But unlike others his blood will not be spilt in vain. His blood shall go to you oh master of all. May you drink it in pleasure."

The man began to beg the dark mutant to let him go. Morganist paid no heed to his cries. He stood upon a platform and placed the book of Amoonie on a stand. He then began to read from it. "Bolieg jo hotto. Bolieg jo hotto. Bolieg jo hotto."

Rogue and Kurt watched from the window. Rogue noticed that Robert had a guilty look on his face. It was as if he wanted to help the man, but he knew he couldn't. Rogue looked back down at the ceremony. She could hear all of Morganist's men chanting the same words.

Then, as if he was hit in the back by a hot knife, the middle-aged man began to scream in agony. Rogue watched in horror as the mans flesh began to melt. All the skin on his body became liquid. The Goths skin ran cold. She began to breathe in heavy gasps. She could hear Kurt doing the same right next to her. She couldn't even imagine all the pain that poor man was going through.

All of his skin had melted off, but strangely the man was still alive. Rogue could see the mans insides. She could even see his heart still beating. The next thing she knew she saw the man burst into flames. She turned away from the ghastly sight. Never in her life had she seen something so horrible. Her heart pounded in her chest.

Robert turned to Rogue. He felt so guilty in having her watch this. He walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

Rogue looked to him. She knew watching that horrible thing must have been hard for all of them. And what about her captured friends. How did they react to this. She quickly looked down at the four imprisoned X-men and could easily see the fear on their faces.

Rogue then heard Ororo speak from her tube. "You terrible man. What gives you the right to take an innocent mans life."

Morganist looked to her. He walked up as calm as anyone could be. "Please," he said, "do not call me a man again. It is an insult to compare me to a mere man. Men live but a short time, where as I am everlasting."

He stepped away and picked up a handful of the dead mans ashes. He raised it above his head and called out, "damn all humans, damn their fathers, and their fathers before them."

Rogue became very angry at these words. It was true that humans feared mutants, but that didn't mean they should all be killed off. Rogue turned to Robert and said, "I can't wait for you to nail this creep."

Kurt, who was also enraged by this whole thing nodded in agreement. Robert looked over to his brother and nodded. The two humans held up their guns and began to walk away.

Kurt called after them, "what are you going to do?"

John just called back, "what ever pops into our heads first."

Kurt looked over to Rogue with a look of pure shock. "Who are these guys?"

Rogue gave an uneasy smile and said, "I'm still trying to figure that out myself."

Morganist stood in the middle of the ceremonial floor. All of his men still surrounded him. Logan began to bang his fists against his tube. He yelled out, "YOU MURDERING BASTARD. YOU JUST BETTER HOPE I DON'T GET OUT OF HERE!"

Morganist said back, "spare me your bickering. It is both pointless and irritating."

Logan yelled again, "BICKERING, YOU LET ME OUT OF HERE AND I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU KILL SOMEONE FOR NO REASON!"

Morganist ran up to Logan. He growled low and said, "if you believe you can defeat me you are more senseless then I thought. Only the four worriers doused in blood have ever defeated me in combat. That battle was four on one, and they still suffered severe wounds before they overcame me. I ashore you that will never happen again."

Just as he said those words the sound of a gun clicking was heard right behind his head. There standing behind him was Robert with his gun ready to blow the dark mutants brains out. Morganist looked to the right of him and saw John, Rogue, and Kurt watching the whole thing.

The four imprisoned X-men smiled as they saw their hope quickly come back. They watched as Morganist spoke to Robert. "I guess you feel pretty good right now Robert. You seem very brave when you are pointing a gun in someone's back."

"Well Morganist I'm just like you, I take every opportunity I can get. Now we're going to do things my way now. Either you let those mutants go right now, or I'll see to it that your face is all over the ground."

Morganist didn't seemed alarmed in any way. Kurt said to the wicked mutant, "it looks like you lose Morganist." But that was not so. Morganist always had a few tricks up his sleeve.

With out warning he quickly spun around, knocking the gun out of Robert's hand. The move was so quick Robert didn't even have time to defend himself from the next attack. He was immediately thrown into the middle of the ceremonial floor. All of Morganist's men surrounded him.

Rogue stepped forward in a fighting position only to get thrown into the center herself by one of Morganist's men. She stood up next to Robert.

John and Kurt prepared to help, sadly ten of Morganist's foot soldier encircled them. They to were forced into the center of the ceremonial floor.

Morganist gave an unholy smile. He looked to Robert and said, "I feel confident that you will not get out of this situation. And now I will kill you with no mercy."

And he would have to if it wasn't for one of his men pulling a secret lever on one of the walls. It caused the ceremonial floor to open up wide. The two brothers and the two mutants fell into a large area covered in sand.

Morganist looked to the soldier who pulled the lever. "What do you think you are doing?'

The soldier said, "you wanted them to die a painful death, this way you will get your wish."

Morganist grabbed the soldier by the neck and said, "I did not wish for the mutants to be killed this way. They were to be saved for sacrifice." And with those words he throw the soldier down to the sandy pit with the two mutants and brothers.

Rogue stood up and brushed some of the sand off of her. She looked up and saw all of Morganist's men staring down at her. She saw Kurt lying on the ground and helped him to his feet. Robert and John stood up and looked to get their surroundings.

The place they had fallen in seemed to be a large arena full of sand. There were four large statues of strange worm creatures standing tall over them.

Rogue turned to Robert. "What is this place?"

Robert then looked very worried. All he said was, "we are in serious trouble."

Morganist called down to the soldier that was thrown down there. "You will suffer the same fait for your betrayal to Amoonie."

The foot soldier screamed out, "no master, please forgive me! I did not mean to anger you!"

Then the sand seemed to rise up next to him. Soon afterward a huge worm creature rose up from the sand. It had a wide gaping mouth full of sharp jagged teeth. It let out a loud high pitched roar.

Rogue yelled in fear, "what is that?"

Robert yelled back, "that's an Ontlor. A nightmare come true."

The foot soldier screamed and tried to escape his death. The Ontlor crashed down on him and swallowed him in an instant.

Robert and Rogue ran away from the worm. Kurt and John did the same. The creature did not pay them any attention at the time for he was enjoying his first meal.

Robert and Rogue hid behind one of the large statues. They hoped the creature wouldn't find them there.

Rogue could here Morganist men cheering above her. She turned to Robert. "All right, what is this Ontlor thing?"

Robert listened for the creature while he spoke. "It's a giant worm as you can see. It is said that they were around when the earth was young. I don't know much about them, but they're not good. Morganist used to feed his greatest enemies to this thing."

"So this thing's gonna eat us?" Rogue said nervously.

"That would be a painless death compared to what this thing does. All I know about it is it swallows you alive. In its stomach some kind of strange liquid comes out and begins digesting you. It seems to leave the organs for last and manages to keep you alive until you're fully digested. How I don't know. And it's not a very quick process; it takes five years for these things to digest fully. "

Those words made Rogue sick to her stomach. The thought of being digested over five years was not a very pleasant one. "What are we gonna do?"

Robert did not really have a plan at this time. If this creature was smaller he might have been able to kill it with his switchblade. It was hard for him to think because the thought of being eaten alive was stuck in his mind as well.

The Ontlor soon began to wave it's tongue in the air. In ancient times all Ontlors had a sensory gland on their tongues, used to smell the air around them, and this Ontlor was no different. In no time he got the sent of Robert and Rogue. He slithered near the statue they hid behind.

John and Kurt watched from a hidden corner of the arena. They knew they had to think of something to save their friends.

Kurt looked around and saw a metal door on the far side of the arena. He tapped John on the shoulder, "John look, a way out."

"Great," John said, "now all we need to worry about is that Ontlor."

"How do we get to it with that out that thing killing us?" Kurt asked.

"We'll need to get it away from Robert and Rogue first, then we'll worry about the door," said John. "It probably can only open with a pass card, but don't worry I can probably hot wire the damn thing."

They watched the worm carefully now, waiting for any opportunity for their companions to escape. Unfortunately the Ontlor had their sent. The creature slithered his tail to the back of the statue and knocked Robert and Rogue out of their hiding place.

They instantly stood back up and ran for their lives. John and Kurt viewed this situation without hope. What could they do to stop this thing?

Rogue looked up at the Ontlor as she ran. The thing was massive, about as big as a Mac Truck. All she could think about was those teeth in that colossal mouth. She was so amazed and frightened by this worm that she didn't pay attention to where she was running. The Goth lost her footing and fell to the ground.

She saw Robert stop running and look back to see what happened. Rogue looked back up and saw the Ontlor's face only three feet away from her. She was so afraid right now she couldn't even move. She could hear Morganist's men cheer for her to be eaten, and she began to think that their was no escape from her being swallowed alive.

She looked up at the detained X-Men as if saying good bye, but the Ontlor did not attack her. It just acted as if it were confused. Rogue still remained motionless, to afraid to even blink.

John and Kurt surveyed this situation. John then called to Rogue, "stay still Rogue I don't think it can see you."

Rogue called back hardly moving her lips as she did. "Oh yeah like I'm gonna move."

"I think it's vision is based on movement," John called back, "as long as you stay still it wont see you."

She didn't need to be told that, she was paralyzed with fear. She stared at those huge teeth as they began to open up.

The Ontlor's long tongue slipped out of it's mouth and began sensing the air for Rogue's sent. It would take it no time to soon know where she was.

John and Kurt still watched. John then tapped the blue mutant's shoulder. "Kurt I got an idea."

Then he ran out of his hiding place. Kurt followed him. "What are you doing John, are you insane?"

John didn't listen to him he just yelled at the Ontlor. "HEY YOU, COME AND GET ME!"

Kurt knew that the boy had lost his mind. John yelled again, "COME AND GET ME MOTHER F#$%ER!"

The Ontlor turned to them. It was at this point that Kurt realized that John was just trying to get the Ontlor away from Rogue. Kurt began to yell with John, "YEAH, COME AND GET US! WE'RE RIGHT HERE!"

With a loud roar the Ontlor slithered quickly at them. The two of them began to run away. As they ran Kurt asked urgently, "is there a second part to this plan?"

"Run like hell!," was John's only answer, it was not like they could do much of anything else. Kurt's power was still rendered helpless by that liquid that was injected into him.

Robert ran over to Rogue and helped her up. "You alright?"

"I could have been eaten just then, how would you feel?," Rogue said as she felt her heart beat. She watched John and Kurt running from the Ontlor. "What do we do now?"

Robert didn't have an answer. He just started walking back and forth trying to think of something. "If only we had a big enough weapon to kill that thing," he said.

Rogue then looked around to see if there was anything they could use. She then remembered those four large statues of the Ontlor that surrounded the arena. She tapped Robert's shoulder, "what about those statues. It doesn't look like they're very stable, is there some way we can knock one of them down?"

Robert looked at the statues. "That's a perfect idea." He ran towards one of the statues and looked back at Rogue. "Come on Rogue, this is your idea, you need to be a part of it."

The Goth ran over next to Robert. They began to climb to the top of the statue. It was a difficult climb because the statue's side was so smooth.

Above the arena Morganist could see the two of them climbing the statue. He yelled out to his men, "shoot the boy and wound the girl!"

In no time ten of his men had guns in hand. They began firing at Robert and Rogue. One bullet shot clean through the air and hit Robert in his left arm. Of course because of his insanity, he didn't feel the pain, but he knew he was hit. He had Rogue and himself move quickly to the back of the statue. The bullets wouldn't be able to hit them there.

When they got to the top of the statue Robert said to Rogue, "ok now lean to your right." She did as she was told and Robert followed her. The statue began to sway to the right.

"Now to the left," Robert said. And they both did that. They continued this and the statue kept swaying right to left.

Back down on the floor of the arena Kurt and John still ran from the Ontlor. They were both getting very tired. John stopped, "that's it man, I can't run any more. I feel like I'm gonna pass out."

"We can't stop, that thing'll get us," Kurt yelled as he tried to pull John along.

Then two bullets from up above whizzed by Kurt's ear. The two of them were so distracted by the Ontlor that they didn't notice all of Morganist's men shooting at them.

They tried to get out of the open area, but every direction they ran they were blocked by a barrage of bullets nearly hitting them.

They looked up at the Ontlor. It raised it's head up and prepared to strike. Kurt's life flashed before his eyes. Every thing, from when he lived in Germany to when he joined the X-men, was shown to him.

He thought this was the end, but just then both Kurt and John could hear the sound of the Ontlor statue collapsing. They looked up and saw Robert and Rogue trying to maintain their balance as the statue fell.

Robert yelled, "jump!" to Rogue and she quickly did as she was told.

Both Rogue and Robert jumped from the top of the statue. It crashed down onto the Ontlor. The creature gave out a long hideous scream and fell to the ground.

Rogue land on her feet swiftly. Robert was not so graceful. He landed hard on the ground. His body rolled on the ground causing his bullet wound to rip open more. As usual he ignored it.

Rogue quickly helped him to his feet. All of Morganist's men looked down at what had just occurred in total shock.

Kurt looked to Robert and said, "that was awesome."

Robert said, "that was Rogue's idea," he said as he pointed to her.

John looked up and said, "uh guy's, Morganist looks pretty pissed."

They heard the dark mutant scream out, "KILL THEM ALL, THE MUTANTS TO!"

He was so enraged by this act that he wanted them all dead. He didn't care if Kurt and Rogue were killed now. They had killed his favorite way of execution.

Down in the arena John ran towards the door in the far corner. He wasted no time in hot wiring it.

In the middle of the arena Rogue, Kurt, and Robert were dodging bullets left and right. It didn't take John long to open the door. He called to the others, "come on lets move!"

They quickly ran to the open door. All of Morganist's men shot at them now, but they were not successful. The four of them disappeared through the door as fast as they could.

Morganist stood in anger staring at the dead Ontlor. He called to his most loyal men, "Clase, Borak, Ganshy, come with me. We must think of a way to capture them now. They will all pay for this outrage."