A/N: Hehehe Mickey, guess who Dyami's character is based on, lol. I'm never spending that much time in an enclosed space again…Wow, I managed to get this up sooner than I thought I would. This was up later then I intended though, so sorry. For some reason I couldn't upload the document. Anyway, I finally finished all my exams and am on holidays! XD. Hopefully I should get another chapter up a bit quicker than usual…hopefully.

Disclaimer: The world and characters you recognise all belong to Tamora Pierce…damn! -cries-

Chapter 7: Old Enemies Die Hard

The eyes bored into Aly, glowing blood red in the dark void as the flames flickered. The words found their way through her subconscious mind, echoing and weaving their way through the very fabric of her nightmare.

"…Ma?…" Echoed the ghostly words.

She looked down on a room seemingly created and defined by shadows and light. Aly's perspective changed and she looked around in surprise. Everything seemed huge and the chains that bound her were so heavy…Her hands tightened convulsively on the material she held …material? Chains? Looking up she nearly cried out in shock on seeing a giant Nawat towering above her. Peering around him she caught sight of a surprisingly tall…Aleda? If that was Aleda then where was Dyami? Aly nearly jumped at a faint sense of laughter. Another familiar presence joined with her mind.

"Ma?"

Incredulous she replied,

"Dyami is that you?" The silence was answer enough. "Dyami! What have you done? What am I seeing? Where are you? Are you alright? What's all this light?" With an effort she cut off the stream of questions. "Ignore all that. What's going on?"

Again there was a faint sense of laughter.

"Don't yew like it Ma? Seeing what I see. Hearing what I hear? Aleda did. She thought it was funny."

"Aleda knew about this-this-what ever it is you've done?...Never mind I'll have ages to think this over after I've found you."

This time the presence was worried, then with all the pride a two-year-old could muster said,

"Da, 'leda and me aren't making it easy for M-Mon-a-ash…" the two year old struggled with the name even in his thoughts.

"Monashi?"

She watched as Dyami turned so he faced the eyes in the fire and the dark figure who sat before the flames.

"M-Monashi." He repeated. "Didn't think we could get away. If he hadn't come in we would've!"

She watched as Monashi turned his face scornful. He gestured with his hand and she felt Dyami/herself pulled forward with Nawat and Aleda. The conversation was now clear and what she heard made her heart freeze.

"Ah, you have done well Monashi. For once. I take it the Spymaster is on her way?"

"Yes...Your Grace." He shrank back as the eyes glowed more brightly.

"Good, very good."

"Dark- Er-Your Grace? May I ask a question?"

"You may Monashi," it replied mockingly.

"Why are you so interested in the Spymaster?"

"That is my business alone Monashi but it involves revenge. In future don't ask stupid questions. Clear?"

"Yes m'lord Duke of Conté."

'Conté' the word echoed like a call through her mind setting alarms ringing. As though he heard the thought the former duke's' attention snapped to Dyami closing like a trap and reeling him in as the image in he flames wavered, and Dyami cried out in pain and fear.

"Dyami! Let the spell go now! Let me leave!" Aly cried desperately. "Dyami!"

The strange half light half shadow images disappeared and Aly sat up gasping in the chair she had fallen asleep in. The word had burst from her mouth before she remembered where she was. Smothering the sound her eyes scanned the room. Heishi was standing in a fighting stance, the twin katana's he carried unsheathed in his hands.

"Gods you scared me!" He hissed. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later. We've got to be far from here soon. There might be less time and more to lose than I thought, but we need to make a detour before I find my family and you find your former master."

Accepting Aly's cryptic comment he beckoned her over as power grew and gathered in the room, then, in another flash they were once again, gone.

…………………………

Nawat cried out in alarm as Dyami was dragged towards the fire. The boy struggled frantically as the magic drew him closer to the void…and the eyes. The former duke's met the boy's for a brief moment and the void flickered as an inhuman howl of pain filled the air.

"Get it away! Get it away!" Roger screamed at Monashi. Before he could act Nawat had darted forward, grabbing the boy while backing away from the flames dragging Aleda with them. The void flickered, and once again the eyes looked in Dyami's general direction. Though, Monashi noticed smugly, not directly into his eyes.

"You, child…Whoever you are, whatever you are. Be warned.

"I wasn't ready for that attack, infact I had no idea your magic existed, the opposite of my new magic. You caught me off guard, but that won't happen again, I suggest you don't try next time. I will be ready and be assured I will destroy you."

The void flickered once more then vanished as the flames spluttered and died in the hearth. Monashi advanced on them his gift billowing around him like a strange cloak. The trio shrank back against the wall as it lashed out like a whip. Cringing and waiting for it to hit Nawat and Aleda looked up to see their bodies surrounded by a soft glow that emanated from Dyami. Monashi screamed in rage and pain as his magic slammed into the barrier then stormed from the room the door slamming behind him. Nawat looked down at Dyami,

"So you do have the gift after all."

"I wouldn't exactly call it the gift," Kyprioth's form flickered into existence before them, barely a black silhouette against the flames from the hearth behind.

"Kyprioth," was the snarled reply.

"Hmph. Why is everyone suddenly against me? All I did was…well ok, you have a point."

Dyami gave a joyful little cry and ran forward virtually crashing into the god in his eagerness to greet him.

Flinching and preparing to grab Dyami and drag him away from a furious being, Nawat stopped stunned as the god laughed. Crouching so he didn't tower over the small boy he laughed again ruffling his hair with a wry grin on his face.

"Well at least someone's still glad to see me."

Dyami who had been grinning up at the god, frowned and said,

"'Course I'm glad to see yew," his eyes filled with tears. "Down't yew like me anymore? Aren't yew my friend?"

The god grinned again. "Of course you're still my friend little one, of course you are."

Nawat was too shocked to do anything but stare at the small boy and the god.

"Dyami how do you know Kyprioth?" He asked regaining some composure.

The boy grinned as Kyprioth took it upon himself to answer.

"It's a very long story-"

"Quit stalling Kyprioth."

"Very well," muttered the god, disgruntled. "If you must know he saw me when I was trying to check up on the dear Spymaster."

Nawat snorted. "Sure you were. Since when can a child have an effect on a god's plans?"

"Glad you trust me so much though, seeing as I'm the trickster god I'm not sure that's entirely wise. Besides this child is hardly just a child." He noticed Nawat's raised eyebrow and sighed. "Pick that up from Aly did you? Never mind.

"He was chosen by my brothers and sisters to control a new type of magic, one that deals with light and shadows. This inturn gives him some control in the dream world. Unfortunately this magic has an opposite, and that is really the only reason this power exists at all, to counteract the creation of the other."

"And why would the creation of a new power concern your siblings enough to create its opposite and give that new power to one of my kids?"

"It's not so much the power we're worried about. We're worried about the being that now controls it, the former Duke of Conté. The power he can harness is…well it's enough to worry my siblings and I. He has too much power. He threatens our very existence in this world; he has the power to invade the Dark god's domain, to change history or time, to reach beyond the grave…when he has full control of it.

"The implications of this for the entire world are beyond imagining. And I mean the entire world, even the realms of the god's. If we're not safe, if our power can't match his, all hope is lost, all life could end for all we know. All we can be sure of is that it will result in the destruction of life as we now know it.

"For us to have even a chance there must be something to oppose his power. It's opposite. We have created it, and it is carried by your child.

"Thankfully the former duke has not gained complete control over this power, yet. We will guide the opposite power's growth in Dyami. Anything that happens will happen for that reason alone. So eventually when it comes to a particular crossroad in time he will be Roger's equal in power and knowledge. Then fate must decide which side will win, and as much as we hate it, the future of this world."

Nawat was once again reduced to staring at the god as he tried to process all the information he had just been given.

"And why my child. Why not someone else?"

"Because of you and your dear Aly. Her knowledge and your knowledge and skills coupled together in your children. Dyami doesn't posses all of your abilities, though Aleda does. In the end it will probably take both of them to have any chance of winning-"

"Or dying."

For a moment Nawat was convinced there was a flash of sadness in the god's expression at the mention of the possibility of the twins dying, though if there was it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "Or dying, that could be the case as well. Either way, their fate is set. They will come to this crossroad in time…and they will face Roger. Nothing anyone or anything can do will prevent that."

The cold certainty and detachment in the god's voice as he told of his own possible destruction was like being dunked in icy water. As much as Nawat wished to deny it with the words followed a cold certainty that what Kyprioth said was true and before he could ask anything else the god disappeared.

…………………………

There was nothing but wind and utter blackness, the kind of absolute darkness that could only be found underground, but it wasn't underground…at least Roger didn't think it was. Eerie light lit up a small space around him, visible for kilometres in every direction. It was only a soft glow cast by his eyes, but to the inhabitants of this dark place it was like being burnt just to look at it. He growled in frustration peering into the gloom. Curse this place he was trapped in. Curse the darkness that shrouded it. Not that, he knew, there was much to look at. There was a massive lake but apart from that it was a monotonous flat landscape of nothing but shadows, darkness and bitter winds. He paused for a moment and then continued forward, as the wind rushed over the plain drawing heat and moisture from every surface, leaving a cold and barren land behind.

Roger stopped. He could sense movement around him that had nothing to do with the howling wind. It hardly mattered. The cold no longer bothered him. Neither did the need to drink, eat or breathe. He let the glow from his eyes sweep the area around him, and then it happened. The shadows surged forward trying to smother him. Mentally he commanded them to move. They wavered then froze as though they hoped he would forget they existed. He watched the shadows carefully again, mentally commanding them to move. This time they did so writhing and twisting as he wanted to form a black pool at his feet. He smiled grimly. He would control this power, though how he had obtained it he still didn't fully understand. Roger leaned forward trying to see the image that formed in the shadows depths. It seemed to draw him in slowly until he realised it was one of his own memories. Slightly put off but still curious he watched what the shadows wanted to show him.

The shadows called to him as he now called to the blade, his blade, held by the "knight". He watched for some reason amused as that...female released the blade. He didn't feel pain as it buried itself in his chest, instead he laughed as a feeling of euphoria filled him so profound it was indescribable. The shadows rose around him as he reflexively grabbed the blade...

Then suddenly he was above his body watching as his last breath gurgled through his lips and his body collapsed to be consumed by flames. He tried to attack the exhausted lady knight to no avail. For a moment she seemed to notice the flickering of the shadows as they tried to do his will. Then she swayed and sat down hard virtually fainting. Taunting him with his helplessness to do anything but watch the person he loathed most on this world.

Time passed and then Buri entered with some members of the King's Own and took the barely conscious knight from the catacombs. He tried frantically to reach his enemy, to finish what he had started but he could not.

He made a promise then; if it took him the equivalent of a mortal lifetime he would have revenge and peace of mind. He would finish this, and if not the lady knight herself then it would be someone she would miss dearly. He looked at the shadows around him, he would puzzle out what had just happened and when he had he would return, truly return. He wasn't in any hurry. After all, he had lost his mortality along with his body...

Roger jumped as a voice spoke tentatively. He realised it was the shadows who spoke their voices were combined and like whispers but loud enough to hear clearly.

"Master we are here to serve."

"Master? Serve?"

"Yes serve. You are the Master, you control the power. We are that powers legacy; we are part of the power."

"The power?"

"You know what we speak of. You created the power/us."

"I created you/a new magic?"

"Yes. Created."

"So what was the purpose of showing me one of my own memories?"

"To show you it was more than what you remember."

"Explain."

"It was not only the day you lost your mortality and vowed revenge. No master, it was the day we/the power was created. The day you set in stone a path you must now follow. And the day you created, the being who will be the only one to stand against you. The only being that would have a hope of winning if they stood against you."

"That child! But his power is still growing! As I said, he is a child."

"But so are you. You may have lived longer, seen, learned many more things than he, but in terms of your mastery of us/the power you are a child."

"But if I strike now, and destroy him, there will be nothing to stop me."

"Do as you wish Master. We can advise, but we cannot stop you. However, remember that for now he is your equal in power."

"For now! He is a child!"

"One that juts by looking caused you pain."

"That was lucky. I will be prepared for that this time."

"But what of the things he can do that you're not prepared for?"

"What can he do? He's about 2 years old!"

The shadows seemed about to reply so he interrupted them. "No. I will finish this quickly, I will destroy the child and the power he controls."

"As you wish, but you show your weakness. You are over confident because you face a child. You forget that you are also a child-,"The shadows screeched in pain as Roger glared at it and the glow from his eyes resting on an outer edge of the pool.

"I created you. I control you. You serve me and no one else. I will destroy that child soon but I will not listen to your babblings. Clear?"

"Yes-Master…please…the light…"

Roger held the light in place for a second longer then turned the glow away. "I wonder what would happen to you in direct sunlight..."

…………………………

A/N: God that chapter gave me a lot of trouble. It just didn't want to be written. (Personally I don't like it very much. Oh well.) So how was it? Good, bad or whatever? Please Review!