I would like to begin this Author's Note by exending public congratulations to roach26 for correctly guessing that 216 B.C was the year in which Hannibal Barca of Carthage killed over 50,000 Romans in one day at the Battle of Cannae. Tad bit of history for you all. Anyways, as promised, here is the next chapter, so any of you who may have been fondly considering suing me must rest disappointed. Sorry. Well here it is. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 10: In Which We Burn a Fort

I fell to the ground, writhing in pain as an unseen fire burned my flesh and bone. The only thing I could feel through the pain was the tight clench of the Algea's fingers on my temples. The flames spread through me from the fingers, and I remembered what the boy had said as he fled from us.

"The hands spread the fire." I managed to think as the pain burned me. The fingers tightened, and another wave of fire swept through me. I arched my back, and screamed in pain and anguish. I tried to reach my hands up to my head, but the pain intensified. There was nothing I could do. I thrashed madly about, throwing my head around and trying to force the spirit to release its grip, but to no avail. My body ached, and felt like it was on the verge of simply disintegrating. I prayed to my mother, to every god I had ever heard of, begging for it to end, but nothing happened. It felt like every one of my limbs was slowly being torn off, like my head was slowly being split by the fingers that clenched it.

Then, suddenly, it did end. The pain disappeared, the grip of the fingers vanished, and I was rocketed back into the world. I opened my eyes slowly, my head still throbbing and ringing. I saw Croesus holding off one of the spirit-women with his sword, the tip leveled at her face, the weapon long enough to keep her at bay. Lydia was trying to ward off another, both knives unsheathed and slashing wildly, barely dodging the hands of the Algea. I knew she couldn't hold out forever, and I struggled to force myself to my feet.

That was when I saw the Roman, grappling with the Algea who had been attacking me, his hands fixed around her throat. Her hair was a stringy dark grey, dead-looking, and her skin was wrinkled and scarred, hanging loosely on her frame. She had a vice-like grip on his shoulders, and as I watched he threw his head back and screamed in pain. But the boy's fingers didn't relax their grip for a second. The Algea started thrashing, as its oxygen was cut off.

"Can you strangle an immortal?" I thought for a second, before realizing that I couldn't afford to wait and find out. Ignoring the stabbing pain in my legs, I jumped to my feet and slapped my bracelet, running over and picking up my spear before joining battle. I went for the one who had attacked me first. Personal reasons. Winding up, I launched my spear at the creature, watching as the tip and a good portion of the shaft punched through the creature's side. Golden ichor bled from the wound, as the Roman kid released his hold on the Algea's neck, kicked her in the face and sent her staggering back a couple paces and into the wall of a decrepit building. The slight imbalance was enough to bring the whole thing crashing down on top of her.

"They may be immortal," I muttered to myself as i sprinted over to help out Lydia, "but that's got to hurt. As I ran over to my friends, the Roman stopped. "Fire!" he yelled at me, "Unquenchable fire!" As he finished he turned, ran into the main keep building.

"Where are you going?" I roared after him, turning as if to follow.

"Sander!" Lydia yelled, and I spun around, getting a glimpse of her lying on the ground, having tripped. The Algea stood triumphantly over her, and reached down with its hands.

"I don't think so." I muttered, drawing my sword and launching it end over end at the creature.

Fortunately, I hit the thing. Unfortunately, it his hilt first, so all the strike did was make the thing angry, and leave me weaponless. I guess it distracted it from Lydia too, which was good.

But now it was after my blood. I raised my shield, prepared to defend myself, as the Algea struck. Its fingers grated off my shield, producing a horrible sound. I kicked the creature in the knee, and it stumbled a bit, giving me enough time to smack it in the face with my shield. The rim cut into its face, leaving a small wound from which ichor bled down into its eyes.

"Foolissh half-blood." The Algea hissed. "We re immortal. We cannot die, as you can."

"That may be true," I said, trying to shield-bash the creature again, "But you can still feel pain!"

The Algea cackled. "Pain? You imbecile! I am Lupe, the Algea! I am pain!"

With that, she leaped at me, claw-like hands outstretched. I tried to block with my shield, but her right hand made it through and made contact with my shoulder. Burning filled me again, my mind reeling. But I wouldn't give in. I lashed out, and felt my fist make contact with flesh. There was a crack, Lupe shrieked, and the pain vanished. My vision cleared, and I found myself without my shield. It was lying a few feet to my left, utterly out of reach.

Lupe cackled again in delight, and stretched out her hands. I backed slowly away, but she snarled and jumped at me again. I braced myself for the pain, and prepared to strike back again. But before she even reached me, a small packet struck her in the shoulder, and burst into flame. I looked at her dumb founded, but she sneered at something over my shoulder.

Lupe screamed in pain. "You dare defy us?" she shrieked, "You dare attack me?"

I turned and saw the Roman, more of the strange packets in his arms. I stared at him, realizing that this was what he had gone into the keep for. By now Lupe was almost entirely engulfed in flames. The fire seemed to burn off of nothing, catching on her skin, and sparks flying through the air.

"Unquenchable fire." the kid said, satisfied. "Water, water, but still it burns. Your time here is over, spirit. No more pain, no more suffering, and no more heads!"

He turned and launched three packets at the Algea who was still struggling to get past Croesus's sword. They stuck to the creature and instantly burst into flames. The Algea screeched in shock and pain as it was completely consumed by the fire. Thrashing wildly about, the creature ran madly away from us, and crashed into one of the old wooden structures. The building collapsed on top of her, and immediately went up in flames. Sparks flew, and within seconds the entire complex was on fire.

"Crap." I said, watching as first the buildings, and then the decaying remains of the dead men turned into a flaming mess. I turned back to see Lupe, still flaming, glaring at me.

"You will never find Erik. The Grave of Numa has been lost for thousands of years, and only the daemons can find it."

She drew breath to go on, but there was a flash of bronze and an arrow appeared in her throat. Lupe gasped, and then fell to the ground, and dissolved, leaving the four of us alone in a burning Roman camp. I glanced over my shoulder to see Croesus, bow drawn with another arrow already knocked.

The Roman kid started laughing hysterically, dancing around as flames lapped at the buildings surrounding him. "No more pain!" he laughed, hopping up and down. "No more pain! No more heads!"

Croesus walked quickly up to him and slung the kid, still laughing, over his shoulder. "Let's get going." he said to me and Lydia. "If we stay here any longer we'll end up like the Algea."

I nodded, and scooping up my shield, sword and spear, followed Croesus and Lydia out of the fort at a fast run.

Hope you liked it! Please review. I can't promise you a chapter tomorrow because my lawyer is on vacation, but I'll do my best.