Whew! Sorry its been a while.

evelyn: I'm sorry my story disappointed you. but if you did read the front, you'd have noticed my note about other countries. and i'm still shaking LOTR fandom. But if you'd stuck the chapter out, you'd have noticed that so far the Kiwis are the only team i havent made us win against.

Here it is!

Chapter Eleven: The West Indian Five

Time stands still for no-one, not even the world's greatest team. After returning home from New Zealand, the boys had all of a week and a half off before they would take off to the West Indies. For Justin, this was considerably longer, as the West Indies tour was merely a triangular one-day international tournament, so he wasn't going.

Lirael came to visit and told Brett and Shane that they must decide which one would keep their powers. Shane really only wanted to concentrate on recovering fully and fighting his way back into the Test team, so the decision was easy. Brett Lee would become a permanent Son of the Clayr.

In what seemed like no time the players were at Sydney Airport, farewelling their families and Justin, who had flown over from Perth to say goodbye and goodluck. He hugged them all so tightly and said farewell so reluctantly that it made Adam and Ricky uneasy. It was as though Justin was worried that he might never see them again.

The tournament was a tri-series against the West Indies and Pakistan. Their first game was going to be against the West Indies themselves, and the Sons spent many a team meeting formulating plans.

The selectors rested Rick for this match after they discovered that he had a strain in his calf muscle, so for that first match Adam would be skipper. This played right into the Sons' hands.

As he and Brian Lara, the Windies captain, were walking back from the toss – which Adam had lost, but no matter because the Windies had asked them to bat – he said conversationally, 'I've learnt to play music pipes, would you like to hear?'

'All right then,' agreed Lara, unknowing. Adam drew his panpipes, hiding the Charter Marks, chose Saraneth and blew. Lara's eyes widened in fear. The pipe whispered to Adam, 'Laraen…'

'Laraen!' Adam's voice cried strongly, weaving with the tune of the pipe, 'Your time is over! Go now, and walk this earth no more!' Then he switched to Kibeth and let the notes wrap around Lara. He groaned and fell to his knees. The dark spirit rose, and looked menacingly over at Adam, but it could not resist Kibeth and vanished.

One down, four to go. Adam and Matt came out to face Tino Best, the young Windies quick who idolised Brett. They looked discretely around at the other players, but could not tell if any was a Five. This was compounded when Adam fell for just 15, looking for the boundary. Matt fell in the next over, but when Damien's favourite loft shot landed safely in the hands of the third man, it meant Australia were 3-31 and in a whole lot of trouble. It also meant that the two players at the crease – Mike Hussey and Pup Clarke – were non-Clayr! Anything might happen.

Adam began to pace – something he never usually did. Matt couldn't look – but he couldn't not look. His book just wasn't engaging enough. Brad, who was the batsman after next, was stroking his bat, eyes closed, humming nervously. Brett was trying to strum his guitar to distract, but he was very restless and couldn't sit still. Damien was trying to distract himself by combing his hair 100 times on each side. But nothing could dispel their fear that the Five would kill the two batsmen.

Sure enough, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Wavell Hinds ran up to the batsmen. After a brief struggle, they managed to pin the two Australians down using long chains of Charter Marks. Mike and Pup looked at each other and swallowed. 'Mate, this is it. The boys'll never make it in time. Pup, we gotta do something ourselves.'

'Okay Huss. What should we do?'

The Dead had left their legs unchained. So as Hinds approached, sword held high, Mike reared up onto his shoulders – just like at training everyday, he reminded himself – and kicked out, hard. Hinds gave a cry of pain as his sword went spinning through the air and Chanderpaul lost concentration. The Marks dissolved and the pair sprang swiftly to their feet. Grabbing their bats – although unsure of what they might actually do with them – they backed away, ready to fight if need be. Then Ranna's sweet voice floated down from above them. Pup and Mike both felt an overwhelming urge to sleep, but managed to fight it off, seeing in amazement Hinds and Chanderpaul curling up sleepily on the ground.

Brad laughed as he finished playing Ranna. Then, in midair beside him, Matt let the Binder sound. The slow, enchanting music wrapped around the two West Indians. 'Hael! Chael! You must not remain in Life! Go now, walk deep into Death!' At this, Adam and Brett let Kibeth sing. The two Dead spirits, enthralled by the tunes being played, rose as one and disappeared without objection.

Damien soared down on his flying board and asked, 'Are you two all right?' The pair laughed and replied that they were. The Sons swooped back to the dressing-rooms. They only just beat the rain, which ended the match.

Three days later, they played Pakistan. The match became somewhat of a non-event. Rain fell the entire time. The cards and board games got a good workout. Adam and Brad tasted the rain on their tongues and called the others out for a second opinion. Brett said, 'There's something in the rain…it makes my tongue tingle as though I've touched it to a car battery.'

Brad nodded. 'You feel Charter Magic. This rain has been summoned. The Windies Five are trying to thwart us…I don't see what the rain has to do with anything, though.'

Damien frowned at the clouds. 'It could be…no, surely not…'

Matt scowled. 'You better believe it, Marto! They're trying to stop us from making the finals, so they don't have to deal with us then!'

Adam's frown deepened. 'They're trying to rush us, to make us hurry in the hope of inciting a mistake.' His frown would have deepened further if possible. 'They mean to kill us, not enslave us.'

Another day later, the Australians took the field for their warm-ups before their clash with the Windies. They noticed Denesh Ramdin watching them, almost casually. But there was an evil glint in his eye that no-one thought good. Matt watched Ramdin running his hand over his keeping gloves, and became convinced they were spelled.

Matt sauntered over, as though he was just wandering randomly. 'G'day Denesh. How're you today?'

'Quite well, Matt. And you?'

'Oh, I was all right until I worked out that you were gunna try and kill me.'

Ramdin blinked. Then he laughed very softly. 'You think so? No need for the past tense, Matthew.'

The spelled gloves flashed out. Matt was ready and raised his shield. He drew his sword and lashed out at Ramdin. His soft laugh grew louder as he threw his gloves, the cable between them wrapping tightly around Matt's arms. He struggled, but all that did was make the cable cut into him. Blood oozed out, soaking the sleeves of his shirt. He quickly evaluated his options. His sword wouldn't reach the cable. If he yelled, Ramdin would kill him quickly. He didn't have enough time to stare until his sheer force of will made the others notice. He whistled some Charter Marks, and his board sprang up and flew away. Ramdin looked suspiciously at Matt, then readied himself for the fatal sword thrust.

Suddenly a familiar battle cry rang out. 'By the Charter! Walk no more on this earth!' The white-cloaked Clayr was running at them. But Brad and Brett's arrows beat Adam there. To his great surprise, Ramdin found himself pinned to the wall behind him. Then from under the white hood came Saraneth's trill. Kibeth then followed. And Rael Walked.

One more. Just one more…

The game reached lunch without incident. Some of the Windies were invited to share lunch with the Australians. Tino Best had been identified by Brad as a Five, and so he was one of those invited. He was asked to sit next to Brett, and was completely overwhelmed by this offer. Which was, of course, the whole idea.

Best had been hanging on to every word that Brett said, so much so that he nodded rapidly without thinking when Brett asked him if he'd like to hear his pipe-music – despite the warning bells being sent out by Bael. Bael tried hard to bring Best under control, but that idolisation of Brett was near-unconquerable. By the time Bael gained control, Saraneth was singing. Bael tried to resist, but when Kibeth rang out he had no choice. He attempted to take Best with him, but the command of Saraneth forbade it.

Without the rain to hamper them, the Australians easily won the finals. They had a few weeks off to prepare for their Ashes tour of England. Little did they know that not only would this be one of the greatest series ever, but that it would change the Sons irrevocably.

Okay! Yay! getting closer to the end...

Next Chapter: what surprises are in store in england?

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