At least I didn't make you wait very long for the next chapter. Aren't I nice like that? Here's the short-awaited chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avalon, Rachel Roberts does. I only own my personal characters, and you should be able to pick those out rather easily.

Chapter 8: A Deadly Reunion

Back on Mahou. The little party had entered into a system of canyons. Kaji was as alert as she could possibly be. Her eyes traveled warily around the ledges. She jumped at every little sound.

"Kaji, are you okay?" asked Emily. Her voice sounded too loud even though she was whispering.

"I feel as though we are being watched," she answered softly.

"Good observation, wolf. Too bad it's a little late!"

The troop whipped around to see five, enormous, red-eyed black cats. Kaji leapt at the largest as Emily grabbed a large stick and swung it at the nearest cat, knocking it into the canyon wall. The force of the blow caused a small rock fall that knocked the cat out cold. Adriane landed well-aimed, strong kicks at the smaller cat that had pounced at Kara. She grabbed a large rock and hit the cat over the head, and it slid to the ground, unconscious.

Kaji had been pinned by the other three cats. Just as the largest was about to deal the fatal blow, a powerful jet of water knocked all three aside. A blue-silver wolf landed next to Kaji as she got to her paws.

"What took you so long?"

"Well, I've been busy too."

Simultaneously, the wolves launched themselves at the cats. With a blast of fire, Kaji fairly roasted one of the smaller one's, and Kaiyou slashed at another. As those two turned tail and ran, the largest one sprang at the girls. With a snarl, Kaji landed heavily on it's back and bit deep into it's throat. The cat fell to the ground and coughed.

"Alright, alright. You win."

Kaji thought for a moment and let the cat up. It streaked off, but as soon as her back was turned, it leapt for her. Fortunately, Kaiyou launched himself at the cat, and grabbed it's throat. It fell again and didn't get up.

"Let's get out of here!" Kaji said, and all of them ran as fast as they could away from the battle site.

As they neared the end of the canyon, they realized that it became a Y. Slowing their pace, Adriane seemed to decide it was time for some more explanations. "Thanks for your help, but just who are you?" she demanded, her tone coming out angrier than she expected it to.

The blue-silver wolf didn't seem at all affected by it, and replied calmly and in a regal voice, "I am Kaiyou, the brother of Kaji."

"Kaiyou, you don't have to act like a king in front of them. I mean, they're just some friends of mine, not subjects of any sort", Kaji said good-naturedly. Turning to the others, she added, "Kaiyou wants to be a king in every aspect, but I'm happy with just being a guardian of sorts."

"But, I have to let them know that I am the rightful king, just as you are the rightful queen…"

"You don't have to," Kaji replied, emphasizing every word. "They're not from around here. In fact, they helped me to escape from Akuma's grasp."

"They did? Er, I mean, em, thank you, kind friends. Your help is appreciated," Kaiyou said, still trying to be as much of a king as he possibly could.

Kaji just rolled her eyes. "Kaiyou really is normal. He just takes his role a little too seriously. Get to know him, I'm sure you'll like him."

"Kaji, I was going to rescue you. At the time I was gathering an army to help out-"

"And a group of teenage girls beat you to it. At least now I know why you're acting so weird, you're trying to save face in front of them!" Kaji began laughing out loud. Kaiyou growled playfully and leapt on his sister and nipped at her ear. She batted him away and they just smiled at each other before embracing.

As Kara watched, her thoughts turned to her own brother. Why can't we be like that?

"Hello? Earth to Kara?" The blonde girl was brought out of her thoughts by Adriane's voice.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. My thoughts were-"

She was cut off mid sentence by a shout. "Geez, does he ever run out of Kakera?!" Kaji yelped. "We have to get out of here!"

"Which way?" her brother asked, looking at the two forks of the Y.

"You and the others go right. I'll go left and act as a decoy to lead them away."

"Are you sure?" Emily asked, worried about her friend. "What if they capture you again?"

"They won't. Now go!" Kaji nearly shouted at them. Turning to her brother, she shot a small blast of fire at him, barely more then what you see when you light a candle. "Just in case," she said quietly.

Kaiyou nodded at his younger sister. "Let's go!" he barked. Kaji let them go off down the right-hand path then sealed it up with fire. Leaping down onto the left-hand one, she waited for the Kakera.

"This way!" a voice shouted. Soon a small troop of them came into view. "Where did they go?" "Down the path of fire, most likely." "I'm not going that way!" "Not me either!"

Kaji gave a sharp bark, getting their attention. "Look! There's the fire wolf! Get her!" Kaji took off down the trail, leading the troop away from her brother and her friends. She raced through a small thicket of trees and bushes, with the Kakera right behind her. As they emerged from the other side, they looked around, extremely confused. "Where is she?" "She had to have come this way, right?" With a roar, Kaji sprang out of a thorn bush at the troop, the startled Kakera stood there dumbly for a moment, giving her enough time to take out two of the creatures. A blast of fire finished off three more, and with that she started to run again. Kaji came up a small rise. When the ground leveled out, the terrain had become much more dangerous. On her right was a steep hillside, and on her left was a drop-off.

Meanwhile, Kaiyou and the girls had made it out of the canyon. Together they ran up the side of a hill. When they reached the top, they could see Kaji and her pursuers. They saw several Kakera take aim at her with bows. Three arrows buried themselves deep into her shoulder. With a cry, Kaji fell over the drop-off.

"No!" howled Kaiyou. "Please be alright, please!" he pleaded desperately. As though some angel had heard his pleas, Kaji came into view, still running in spite of the arrows. Apparently, this angel then decided it had better things to do. To the horror of the watchers, Akuma, riding an evil-looking black horse, came into view after her. They watched helplessly as the warlock caught up to her and drew his sword. With one quick slash, they heard Kaji cry out, then fall in a crumpled heap on the ground. Akuma rode away, leaving the still she-wolf on the ground.

Really scary ending. I won't tell you if she's all right or not, but reread chapter 6 for a clue.