Ryu's POV:

We were trudging up the path to Infinity Mountain's summit when Tharos decided to speak up.

"You…do know where you're going, right?"

"Why do you ask?" I asked. Glancing down at the display on my wrist, it showed us almost on top of the dot representing the final site. "According to this, we're almost there."

"Almost there?" He replied incredulously. "You're kidding right? Unless you plan to dig through the mountain, you're going the wrong way!"

"You know something about what we're after?" Aidan asked.

"You mean the two of you don't even know what you were collecting!?" He said, sounding rather shocked.

"You do?" I asked. "All I was told was that they were pieces to some relic."

"Hmm…I suppose that that's a decent way of explaining it." He said thoughtfully. "And I have a hunch that I know who gave you the info."

"Well thanks Tharos." Aidan replied sarcastically. "We know absolutely nothing more than we did when we started."

"Sarcasm gets you nowhere." Tharos replied calmly. "Anyway, the three orbs that you collected serve as…well, is suppose 'keys' would be the best term to use. These 'keys' are used to code specific destinations on the warp matrix. A terminal of said matrix is located below us, under Infinity Mountain. If you like, I could lead you to it."

"Sure. Go ahead." I said.

"Tharos, why didn't you mention something sooner?" Aidan asked.

"I was under the impression that you knew what you were doing. Guess I was wrong."

"This is incredible!" I gasped as we stepped into the terminal.

There was a huge domed ceiling, and glowing runes were carved in columns running from the floors to the top of the ceiling. The thing that I found most interesting, however was a large circular platform in the center of the area. There wasn't too much about the platform itself, but there were seven statues-just like the ones I had gotten the spheres from-around the perimeter.

"Hey, Ryu! Get over here!" Tharos called.

Tearing my eyes from the machine, I turned toward Tharos, and saw him seated on front of a large computer.

"What is it?" I asked, walking over.

"I need those spheres. If you were sent after them, then it's only reasonable that they code for your destination."

"Oh. Okay." The spheres materialized one by one in my armored hand, and I passed the trio to Tharos, who slipped them into the machine.

"Okay. Give the system a minute to power up then go through. You go through separately."

"What? Why?" Aidan was instantly at my side. "Why can't I go with him!?"

"Three spheres, three trips. Trust me. I think I know where you're going, and you have to go alone."

"If anything happens to him…"

"Don't worry about it Aidan."

A sudden crackle caught my attention, and I looked up just in time to see the dragons rotate slowly outward, and fire a single beam into the walls.

The seven beams each hit a different rune, then scattered across the room, hitting several more before converging on the center of the platform.

"Okay. One of you go through. It doesn't really matter which one."

"Okay. See ya, Aidan." I turned and walked toward the platform.

"Just stand in the center and wait. There is a ten second delay in case someone changes their mind or something."

"Gotcha." I stepped into the center of the platform, and felt a tingling sensation-something like pins and needles-all over my body.

Ten seconds later, the world flashed white, and I felt myself falling.

Tharos' POV:

"Where'd he go!?" Aidan demanded.

"Calm down." I sighed. "Like I said. It's a WARP MATRIX. It moves people from one place to another. Anyway, you're next." I activated the second key and the same thing happened, the statues rotated out, fired, and activated the specific code for the location. And it's exactly where I thought it would be.

"He had better be alright, Tharos." He said, then walked off to the pad.

I sighed. "Like I said. Don't worry."

When he was gone, I activated the last sphere and headed for the pad.

"I hate this part…."

The world flashed white.

Drake: Short, yes. But don't worry, I've already written the next chapter. I just have to get it from my notebook to my computer, which shouldn't take too long.

Ryu: I hope not!

Drake: That does it…throws Ryu into the pit of bugs

Ryu: AHHHHHHH!!!!!! things start exploding

Drake: While he's "enjoying" himself down there, leave me a review. And I don't consider three words a review.