Emmy: Ok, I'd like you to remember I don't own Tamora Pierce's books or her characters. Razz is mine though, so no touching!

Raven: Feel free to check out any of our other stories.

Chapter 4: The Encounter

Tobe awoke in the middle of the night. At first he couldn't remember a thing but then it all came flooding back to him.

He had been writing words when the window flew open. Two men had crawled through it. One was tall and had a strange eye with no pupil. The other was fat and bald. Both looked greasy, needed shaves, and had lots of missing teeth. They couldn't see him from where he sat, but he didn't have anywhere to run. They had him cornered. He was quiet as he slipped under his desk. Tobe had wondered where all the birds were, they could have helped him, but he figured they were with Lady Kel.

Tobe breathed quietly, the men were talking. "Look for the stuff the boss said to," a rough voice whispered. Tobe heard drawers being sorted through. "Don't make a mess!" one whispered loudly. "We don't want her to know yet!" "What were they looking for?" Tobe thought. "Here's the stuff the boss was talking about," the other man said. "Take only the first things on the list, just like the boss said." There was some more shuffling. "Don't break anything! The boss wants the goods in good condition," the husky voice said, he seemed to be the leader. "Wouldn't it hurt her more if they were destroyed?" the other one asked. "Just do as I say!" the husky voices man almost shouted.

Then footsteps came over to thee desk where Tobe hid. Tobe didn't dare breath or move. "What are you looking for?" husky asked. "She might have something valuable-," "Only steal what the boss wants us too!" The man with the husky voice was now standing by the desk. It was silent for a moment then a head bent down and looked Tobe straight in the eye. "Look what we have here," it whispered.

Tobe was dragged out from under the desk. Two arms went under his armpits to hold him still. He shouted once before one of the hands attached to the arms slapped over his mouth. The fat man looked him over. "Tell your mistress this message," he said coldly. "We are going to take everything she ever cared about away. Got it?" Tobe glared at the man. He would have spit in the man's face if he hadn't been gagged. "I said got it!" The man's face was about an inch away from Tobe's. He could smell the man's awful breath. Tobe managed a nod before he was hit on the head with something hard. As the world went black he heard "We'll be coming back for you later."

"Lady! Lady, wake up!" Tobe shook Kel vigorously.

"What is it!" Kel shot up and looked around the room.

"Lady, they came in through the window! They took something from your drawers, and they talked about taking everything you care about and they saw me! I couldn't run, I hid but they found me and they told me and-!"

"Tobe!" Kel said loudly. "Calm down and tell me what's wrong," she said, sitting on the bed and pulling him after her. Tobe was acting hysterical, and seemed to be shaking.

"One was fat and bald and the other was tall and had one eye with no middle," Tobe began. "They came through the window like I said, and took something. They said they were gonna take everything-!"

"-but Tobe my room is more then 30 feet above the ground and there's a blizzard out there. They couldn't have gotten in." Kel said.

"They did! I'm telling you they did! I'm not lying!"

"I never said you were lying Tobe. You were probably dreaming," Kel said soothingly.

"I wasn't-!" "Tobe, there is no way 2 men could have climbed all the way up here in a blizzard. You were either dreaming or hallucinating from your illness. Don't deny it, I can tell you're sick. You must be sicker then I thought you were to start hallucinating."

"But-,"

"Tobe," Kel said in a soft but firm voice. Tobe was quiet. "You're pale, you have a cough…" Kel put her hand on Tobe's forehead. "…and you also have a fever. Go back to bed. In the morning I'll take you to a healer." Tobe opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and crept back to his pallet. He was sick. He felt worse then he had ever felt before.

"Night Lady," he mumbled.

Tobe didn't think he had been hallucinating. He knew it hadn't been a dream. Still, Lady Kel was usually right.

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Kel looked around. She was alone in a forest. Where was everybody? Just a minute ago she could have sworn she was with the others. Then she heard a noise behind her. She looked back and saw a spidarian; its ugly red eyes looked hungry. Kel screamed and began to run, but she couldn't run fast enough. The monster was too quick. "Help!" she screamed. Kel felt totally helpless. "Don't worry Kel, we'll protect you!" a voice called from behind her. Kel turned to see Dom, Neal, Tobe, Razz, Owen, Merric, the sparrows, her dog Jump, and Peachblossom. While her head was turned the spidarian launched a sticky rope at her. Kel was stuck to a tree. "Don't worry Kel!" Owen called. Her friends all charged at the spidarian.

Neal was the first to get hit. The spidarian had turned into a giant killing machine. The creature was made of giant bones that had been coated with metal. They had knives for fingers, toenails, and teeth. It threw hundreds of knives at her friends. She heard Neal scream in pain. She wanted to help him but she couldn't. Razz was next. Owen and Tobe were on the back of Peachblossom. They charged at the monster but as they neared it they were swallowed up by its sharp teeth.

Kel heard the screams of all her friends dieing, she felt sprays of blood on her face. When they were all dead the monster turned to her. It was going to swallow her up now. "No!" she cried. Darkness hung over her.

Suddenly Kel was in a pond. It was warm and the water was a glassy green color. She looked around but saw nothing beyond forest. The pond was a peaceful place. Kel looked around and saw Dom. Kel was about to call to him but remembering she looked and saw that she was naked once more.

"Kel?" he called to her looking worried.

"I'm over here!" she called back. "But I'm not decent!" Dom looked around like he hadn't heard her.

"Kel, where are you?" he called again.

"Dom, I'm fine," Kel said louder. Suddenly Kel saw bubbles appear where Dom was. "Dom look out, there's something under you!" Kel cried, but it was too late. Dom was already under. A wave washed over Kel.

Now Kel was back in her room but it wasn't the same. It was bare of everything. There were no cloths, no armor, no books, no bed, nothing. She searched everywhere but nothing was found. Another thing was that everything was white or gray. No bright colors existed. She went out into the hallway. Nobody was around. Kel ran down corridors, looking in the rooms of her friends but nobody was around. She looked in the classrooms but there were no teachers. She looked in the infirmary but there were no healers. All the rooms were empty and white. Even the stones were white.

"Dom? Tobe? Neal? Anybody? Where are you?" Kel called.

"They're gone," a voice said. Kel looked around but found nobody.

"Who's there?" Kel demanded.

"Nobody but you and me," the voice replied. Kel could tell the voice was a woman's.

"Where is everybody?" Kel asked, still looking for the speaker.

"Gone," it replied.

"Where did they go?" Kel demanded.

"They left you Keldeiry. They went away forever and you'll never see them again."

"What have you done with them?" Kel shouted.

"All your belongings, all your friends are with me. I'll never let you have them back," the evil voice replied.

"No!" Kel shouted. "No! Give them back or I'll take them back!"

"You don't even know where I've hidden them," the voice replied, Kel could tell it loved seeing Kel so distressed.

Kel ran away from the voice. "Lies! It's all lies!" she screamed at it.

"No Keldeiry, I'm not lying." The voice mocked. "I'm going to turn your horse into dog meat, then feed it to my creatures and I'll have them kill Neal and Dom, and all of your other friends," the voice said. The words felt like cuts in Kel's chest.

"Shut up! Shut up!" she screamed.

"I'll use Tobe as a servant and beat him till he dies. I'll break all of your sparrow's necks." "Be quiet! Stop lying!" Kel screamed.

Kel's eyes flew open. She sat up, fear thumping through her heart. She wasn't in her room anymore. She was some where else. The room she was in smelled of herbs and strong median. Had she escaped the evil world with the horrible voice.

"Calm down Kel!" Neal said, rushing to her with a cup in his hands.

"Neal you're alive!" she cried, swinging her arms around his neck.

"Kel get a grip! Calm down, you were dreaming," Neal said pulling away from her embrace and handing her the cup.

"What's going on?" Kel asked wearily.

"You're sick Kel. Almost everyone in the castle is. You've been sleeping for about three days."

"Three days!" Kel exclaimed.

"Shh! People are trying to sleep. You should be too. Drink this tea, it will give you back your strength, you haven't eaten anything since dinner 2 nights ago," Neal instructed her. Kel gulped the whole thing down quickly, knowing it would smell awful. It tasted bitter and gritty. She made a face. Neal smiled. "I have to go tend to everybody else now, ok? Try to get some more sleep. Later I'll bring some more tea and some food for you."

"Thank you Neal. Thank Mithros you're a healer," Kel replied.

As Neal walked away Kel lay down in the pillows but was afraid to sleep. Kel never wanted to go back to those awful places she had visited. Finally tiredness won and she drifted back to sleep.

This time Kel was walking in a maze. The walls were over 10 feet high and were made of smooth stone. She didn't know where she was going but it seemed that every turn she made led to a dead end. Kel ran right, down a long hall, then went left and came to a dead end. She turned back around only to face another dead end. She was boxed in a stone cage. She was trying to figure out how she was going to get out when the walls began to close in. She looked all around for something she could use to help her but found nothing. She was carrying no sword or shield. The walls got closer and closer until she couldn't breath.

Kel awoke again but this time her heart wasn't racing. She sat up slowly and looked around.

"Hello m' lady," a voice called to her. Razz ran to Kel's bed. "I'm glad to see you're awake."

"Hello Razz, why aren't you sick?" Kel asked.

"I was, now I'm healed. They call this sickness Illusion Fever. Everyone has been hallucinating and calling out in their sleep. My dreams were frightening too," Razz said, handing Kel a mug of tea she had been carrying. Kel nodded in thanks. "Would you like some food m' lady?" Razz asked, eager to serve her friend.

"Yes, thank you. By the way, how long have I been asleep since I woke up?" "About 8 hours, its 4:00 in the morning right now," Razz answered as she skipped across the room.

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Emmy: Hoped you liked the chapter. R&R please.