I can't believe we're almost there… Kyira thought as the mountain seemed so near. Her feet were killing her from all the walking, but the hopes of almost reaching their destination sparked up reserves of energy.

As the two approached the towering side of the mountain, they noticed that the rock was cut straight up and down, creating a sheer cliff. From the rock came an elaborate entrance, walls and a few towers.

An impenetrable fortress…Kyira thought as they reached the towering double doors made of solid rock.

A massive rumble started to quake through the ground, causing Kyira's turquoise eyes to dart around, searching for the cause of this ground shaking phenomenon.

With a loud thundering boom the doors had slid open, allowing access into the stone building. A whoosh of cold air blasted against their faces, tossing hair back and around.

The silence that followed thereafter seemed louder than the boom of the doors themselves. Zane's forward going footsteps shattered the quiet world, echoing around the hallway that he had entered, Kyira not far behind.

Kyira had to strain her eyes to see in the dimly lit passageway. Where's the wall? Where's the wall? she thought as she tried to relocate the stone blocks that blended into the shadows.

"Ouch!" she yelped, her nose once again crashing against stone. There's the wall…

The small party continued on, the duel disk on Kyira's left arm felt like a huge burden she had been forced to carry with no relief, the chilled object raising bumps on her arm.

"So you finally came." stated a cold, cruel voice Kyira knew all too well.

"No…" Kyira whispered to herself, heart starting to pound harder. Not him. Not him! her mind screamed.

The two of them reached a room, its high ceiling and dark, stone walls anything but inviting. At the far end, atop a massive throne-like chair, sat the dark figure Kyira had come to know and fear.

Zane just gazed towards him with an unperturbed stance.

He's not afraid. Why would he be? Nothing bothers him and here I am, freaking out. I'll get through this. Everything will be- Kyira's thoughts were interrupted.

"Take the girl away! I'll deal with her later..." the voice commanded in an especially menacing way as several of the things Kyira had thought were statues started to move. She stood in place, frozen by shock and terror as the 'statues' that were really guards came closer.

"No…" Kyira protested quietly at first, unable to believe this was happening. The horrifying words of her sentence continued to ring around her mind, sending icy terror to rip through her veins. "NO!"

Struggle as she might the iron grasps on her arms did not loosen. Towards another doorway she was being taken, the figure at the far end of the room laughing at her wide-eyed fear.

Zane did not move. His cold sapphire eyes watched as Kyira was dragged away. Perhaps it was the frantic screaming that finally urged him to try and do something, despite the fact that he would be hopelessly outnumbered, but when he tried to move he discovered that his feet would not obey commands to move. He remained rooted in place, forced to watch as the girl, reduced to an almost animal-like state, was taken from the room.

Perhaps there some heavy cloud of knowing that told people ahead of time when horrible fates were about to unfold.

When at last the guards had left, Kyira in tow, the dark shape turned to Zane, walking down the steps in front of the throne.

"I believe you already know what rests upon this duel." he cackled, stopping at the base of the steps. Raising his left arm an overly decorated duel disk perched upon it, cards at the ready.

"Bring it," Zane hissed through his teeth, a duel disk somehow materializing upon his arm.

With glares plastered upon their faces the two opponents shouted, "Duel!"

----------------

Shivering, shaking, on the brink of falling back into hysteria, Kyira sat, her legs pulled tight against her miserable self. Lack of sleep, exhaustion, constant fear; these were becoming just another part of her life, so it seemed.

They'd taken her to some room, too small for its own good, and left her there. The thought had occurred to her, What if they didn't even lock the door? but of course she was too much of a wreck to even get up. How long she sat there on the cold, stone floor she didn't know. Time had lost all sense of importance.

Sneezing, Kyira realized her headache had returned to further her misery and suffering. You're being a wimp again; a cry baby; an idiot, weakling, failure-

Kyira continued her self-pitying, coming up with every non-explicit putdown that came to mind. It was only when she had completely run out of ideas, and tears it seemed, that she finally rose to her feet.

I have to try something…she thought, looking for some goal, no matter how small, to work towards. Standing up was the first.

Letting out a deep sigh, Kyira reached for the door knob, hoping against all hope that-

It's…it's unlocked… Kyira discovered in disbelief. Perhaps if she had been more reasonable at the time, she might have wondered just why the door had been so carelessly left open, but her current state banished all logic and reasoning to the shadowed corners of her mind.

Stepping out into the empty hallway, Kyira took a random guess and started off left down the hall. The sound of her echoing footsteps was eerie, and her heart began to thump louder as she wondered if she should have passed some other door or side hallway by now. There was nothing on the walls, no pictures, paintings; nothing.

The light seemed to dim increasingly with every step she took, which became more rapid as panic started to well in her irrational mind once again.

Finally she saw a door up ahead at the 'end' of the hall, her heartbeat and footsteps quickened. Almost there…Almost there…Almost there… she kept telling herself with every inch closer she came to the wooden door.

Arriving, Kyira took the metal handle and started to pull the door open. The hinges groaned as the door started to swing open faster.

Letting go of the door completely, Kyira rushed inside. At the moment her eyes feel upon the scene in front of her the door slammed hard against the stone wall, causing a resounding BOOM! to fill the room.

Her eyes rested upon the single object in the middle of the floor. Her body stood frozen in horror. Her heart raced faster and faster until she thought it would explode.

Silence filled the room once again as Kyira continued to stare in frozen, wide-eyed terror. This was far worse than anything she had faced thus far.

A wordless scream tore from her throat, but no sound came to rid the room of that unbearable silence. She slammed her eyes shut, but the image of what she had seen would not fade from her mind. Her hands started to feel numb and tears tried to force themselves into her eyes from shock.

Lying on the floor, on the cold stone, was a still, unmoving figure. His white blazer was soaked in red that surrounded him in a pool on the floor. His face was pale, frozen like the very same stone he lay upon, but not calm or restful, but pained and full of agony.

He's not dead…no…he's not! Kyira's mind screamed in disbelief. No…no…NO!

Dropping to her knees, Kyira tentatively reached forward; she had to know. Was any of this real? Was there a chance…a hope…that he wasn't…gone.

Her hand touched his cold one that lay motionless on the floor. She instantly drew it back, another soundless cry of horror escaping her lips. The skin had been cold, lifeless. It wasn't natural, it wasn't something her mind wanted to accept, and yet it was something she had to understand, like it or not.

Seeing a sudden streak of pale light fall into the room she looked up to see a very small window high up near the ceiling. The moon was just visible from her angle, and as a few more strands of moonlight seeped into the room she looked once again towards the horrid scene, only to have her worst fear confirmed. The fear she had been trying to doubt and claim there was no proof.

Strand by stand, the moonlight fell across a lock of blue tinged sea green hair, glowing hauntingly in the pale radiance of the moon.