Dauhieh woke on her own. She was totally relaxed from the extra – how long? – two hours of sleep she'd had. She slowly pulled herself up and over to the edge of the bed, where she jumped down to the floor and quickly ran down the nearby stairs. On the way she felt for I'haach in her head. Hello?

Good morning, Dauhieh, I'haach sounded totally awake, yet at the same time very reserved. It's nice to know that you're still actually living.

You too, Dauhieh said to him. Do we know how Sihm's doing?

Jakub said that she's awake, I'haach told her, and complaining about having to rest.

That sounds like somebody I know…

And what's that supposed to mean?

Oh, nothing, Dauhieh said. Did you get your results from Dairine?

Yes. That same bitter annoyance.

And…?

Between her, Spot, and an entire species of computer wizards, nothing. Nita still thinks that she knows what it is, though.

Annoying?

You have absolutely no idea. She felt him fuming on his end, so she decided to change the subject.

Well, how about if you meet Zach and I at the gates, and we'll head over to Ireland to meet Ronan?

She felt him sigh. Alright. I think I'm going to have to keep getting up early so that I can investigate this. I'll see you at the gates.

Hunt's luck.

Thanks. I need some.

With that, they broke off their bond, and Dauhieh got down to the main floor. Chraih was waiting for her.

"Hey, puss," he said. "I know what you want."

He reached into the counter, and pulled out a small slice of some sort of meat. Dauhieh had no idea what it was, but she sure liked the smell of it.

"I just got this in from Munich. So, what do you think? Your friend over there sure liked it."

Dauhieh took the offered piece of meat, and as she took a bite, she actually had to stop for a moment, as the tantalizing salty taste invaded her mouth.

"Oh, oh that's good," she said, purring. "What is that?"

Almost as though he'd heard her thoughts, he laughed heartily, saying, "Yep, that's some nice pork. And I just so happen to be the only butcher supplying it in the city, and even the country!"

"And aren't I glad about it…"

"Glad about what?" Mano asked as he walked up. Seeing her meal, he smirked, saying, "Ah, that. Yes, that is very good reason to be glad."

Dauhieh put her whiskers forward to him, and then asked, while taking another large bite of the pork, "Did you see I'haach this morning?"

"If you can count glancing him from the corner of my eye seeing, yeah, I'd say so." The big cat sighed and shook his head. "I swear that that cat works too much. Even you've never worked as much or as often as him."

"Yeah, he's weird like that," she said, cramming the last piece in her mouth. "Even amongst wizards, he's addicted to his work. Ah well, I should probably be meeting up with him. I'll see you later."

"Alright."

I'haach stepped through the world gate to the smell of a cool and crisp Irish day. It was late September, and there was a slight breeze rushing through the trees on either side of the gate. Gazing around the area, he saw that the gate opened out onto a lane of some sort, a place nowhere near as popular or dense as his own rail station. He also noted that his partners weren't there yet.

You can't blame them, he thought. They needed rest after yesterday…

And didn't I? And don't I every night, every day, every second? I put in twice as much effort as any wizard. Why don't I get breaks?

Because I choose to work like this, and it works for me. If I've got any complaints, I can just take them up with Them on the tenth life.

Assuming I ever get to the tenth life…

I'haach shook his head rigorously. What was that all about? He never felt any unhappiness about his work, in fact, it seemed like the only thing which kept him going day to day, life to life. Maybe that's why I'm bitter about it…

He was interrupted from his considerations by a rip opening up in space next to him. Through it, stepped Zach, quickly followed by Dauhieh.

"Hunt's luck, kitten."

"Hunt's luck, Zach. So, shall we get going?"

"There's no time like the present," Dauhieh said, and they started off towards the home of Ronan.

It didn't take them much time to get there. Jakub had sent directions to them during the night, so they knew exactly where they were going. At first, it was very fast, seeing as there was no traffic and the pavement was of much better quality than the beaten-up stuff of down town Zurich. The town as well was quite easy to get through, and seeing as they didn't even have to go into the heavily traveled area, they never even had to sidle. So it was that an hour later they were in front of a plain old house.

"So, what do we do now?" Zach asked. "Does this guy even know that we're coming?"

"To tell the truth, it never crossed my mind."

"So we're just going to walk in and meet this ehif, and hope he's not only in, but in the mood to talk with us?"

"That's the plan."

"Let's do it, then."

They were about to walk up to the door, when it opened. Surprised, the trio jumped back a step, watching the ehif emerge. He was tall, dark, and (A/N: yeah, I'm going to say it!) mysterious. That was the only way he could be described. As he closed the door and turned around, he only seemed slightly surprised to find three cats standing on his doorstep.

"Uh, hello."

"We are on errantry, and we greet you."

"Good to know," Ronan said. "You are well met on the errand."

There was an awkward silence. At length, Ronan asked. "So, uh, might I ask what you guys are doing here?"

"Oh, sorry," I'haach said. "My name is I'haach, captain of the Zurich gating team. These are my partners Dauhieh, technician, and Zach, power source."

"A pleasure," Ronan said. "I am Ronan, wizard."

"Oh yes, that we already know. We came here seeking some information."

"What kind of information?"

"Well, our area's advisory wizard has told us about a certain expedition you were recently on. It involved some sort of giant insects…"

"Oh, those. Why do you need to know about them?"

"Well," Zach said flatly, "we may have found some, and they don't seem to be taking kindly to us."

"Ah," Ronan said, slightly stunned. "They've got a knack for that. Come on, let's sit down, and I'll tell you what you need to know."

They took a seat under a tree in the wizard's front yard. Once there, Ronan asked, "So what exactly do you need to know?"

"Well," Dauhieh said, "we kind of need to get through a passage more or less filled with them. What did it take you and your partners last time to get through?"

"Well," Ronan said, and seemed to think about it for a moment, "one normal human being with an over-powered blasting weapon, seven wizards, two soon-to-be Powers, the Champion, and one heck of a lot of high powered attack spells."

Silence pursued. "Oh," I'haach said at long last. "Do you know of any way that we could get past them?"

"No," Ronan told them, "unless you've got one of their carcases and a wizard who's very experienced in making disguises. That's how we got past. Invisibility, four different styles of invisibility at that, didn't fool them."

Silence again. Finally, Dauhieh simply asked, "Any suggestions?"

"My suggestion would simply be this: if you can avoid fighting them, at any costs, take it, because the costs of fighting them are much higher."

"Hey, wait a minute," Zach said suddenly, "what did you mean by the Champion? I've heard of your little voyage, and I understand that two species' choices were made, and that the two representatives were with you, but I never heard of the Champion making a specific appearance."

"Oh, yeah, that," Ronan said, rolling his eyes in an annoyed fashion. "I was the Champion."

"The Champion?" Zach asked, stunned.

"Yeah, the Champion."

"That's amazing! I mean, how does it feel, wielding that much power, housing that great spirit, being the—"

"Wait," Dauhieh interrupted. "You said was. You aren't any more?"

"Nope," Ronan said. "I had a nasty run-in with the Spear of Light, and I would have died, if it hadn't been for the fact that my fellows managed to get me back here to a healer fast."

"Whoa," I'haach said, interested now, "I've heard that most hosts don't survive it when the champion leaves them."

"Most don't," Ronan said. "I got lucky. All I've got is a nice scar on my chest. From everything that I've researched, housing that much power takes a serious toll on your body and mind. The mental toll usually manages to doll itself out while the Champion is still with you, but the physical? The Champion ever so nicely holds that off until He's gone." Ronan stood up abruptly. "Well, if there's nothing else that you need, then just ask. If not, I as well am on errantry, and should get going."

"Of course," I'haach said. He bent one knee, dipping into a slight bow. "Thank you for your time and expertise."

"No problem," Ronan said. "It was nice meeting the three of you."

With that, he walked away.

The three of them began making their way slowly back to the gates. They were all silent, each mulling over possibilities and problems in their minds. It wasn't until they were actually at the gates that they spoke.

"Well, while interesting, that didn't help," Zach muttered finally.

"Not in the slightest," Dauhieh said. "So right now, as I see it, we're out of leads, out of possibilities, out of options other than fight through or give up." She turned to I'haach. "I hate giving up."

"Then we won't."

"Well what else are we going to do?" Zach asked, clearly frustrated.

"I came up with a new idea while I was in New York this morning."

"And what would that be?" Dauhieh asked.

"We'll see."

"Oh, don't be a hhhhheh jerk," Zach said. "If you've got a plan, just come out and say it."

"But I have."

"What do you mean by that?" Dauhieh asked as she watched him reweaving the hyperstrings.

"We'll See."