From The Chronicles

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A flamboyantly dressed man is walking through the garden of a fantastic mansion. From his vantage he could see the guards stationed on the outside walls. They were there to keep people out not watch people on the grounds and Percy was using that to his advantage. He kept to the shadows as he moved over to a trellis that went up to a balcony. He made a quick look around then started up to the balcony. Once on the balcony he skillfully moved into the shadows. Then slowly moving to the doors he looked into the room. ‘Dam,‘ he thought, because there on the bed was the party’s host and with a young lady that Percy knew. The young lady was married to a good man. The lady was a good woman who had a lonely life as her older husband was away on business a lot. The host of the party on the other hand was a low life scumbag who would use such a situation. That is why Percy had chosen to relieve him of some of his valuables.

The lady chooses that moment to come to her senses. She said,

"No! I can not do this to my husband. He is a good man and treats me well. I will be faithful." 

"You are not changing your mind now. We have to finish this."

"No I can not, please let me up." The man then started to force his attentions on the woman. 

Percy flipped his cape so it was a soft grey and put a grey mask of cloth over his head. He then pulled up his hood to hide his features. Without making a sound he made his way into the room. The man was occupied and did not hear Percy's approach. The woman looked up and a plea for help crossed her eyes. Percy nodded to her and took out his dagger. He quickly hit the man on the side of the head and knocked him out cold. The girl looked up and said in a whimper,

"Who are you?" 

"You might know me as the Grayman." She gasped and said,

"Please do not hurt me." He smiled and said,

"If I meant to harm you, I would not have helped you. Now you can help me. Where is the safe?" She did not say a word but her eyes flashed at a clock on a pedestal. Percy said,

"Thank you," and walked to the clock.

He looked it over and everything seemed normal. He tried to move the clock but it would not move. He then opened the face of the clock. It started to rise up from the pedestal. When it stopped rising Percy saw there was a door but no keyhole. He then heard a sound from the bed and turned to see. The lady had regained her composure and was rising from the bed. Percy said,

"What are you doing?"

"I thought I would leave?"

"I am sorry my lady but you can not leave until I get what I came for. If you would like to help me, that would speed things up." She looked at him, then down at the young man who had tried to have his way with her. 

"Alright the key hole is in the clock face." Percy looked at it and thought how ingenious. He then pulled out a lock pick and went to work on it. It was open in a matter of seconds. Percy found a large bag of gold and platinum that he tucked in his shirt. He turned to the lady and said,

"Could you please write a note for me."

She looked at him as if he were mad. 

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Well you are the only one who saw me and will most likely be blamed for this crime. I was going to have you write a note so you would not be blamed." A look of fear crossed her face as what he said sunk in. 

"Oh yes, please help me I do not want to go to prison." Percy then dictated a note so she would not get blamed. He then said,

"Good night my lady and enjoy the party." He then left the way he had entered. In the garden he switched back to his party outfit and rejoined the party. He enjoyed himself the rest of the evening and even had a dance with his accomplice from the bedroom. 

MISSING PERSON 

The Saucy Goose had the usual fantastic aromas coming from its kitchen. That was because the food at the Saucy Goose was some of the best in Shadizar. Even with that in its favor it was not very crowded for dinnertime. Jack the owner and bartender was at his usual post behind the bar, cleaning glasses and talking to a couple of gentlemen seated at the bar. The Saucy Goose was a nice quite wine shop that was popular with people from every level of society. It was bright and clean with a lot of plants hanging in and around the windows. The tables are covered with bright table clothes and flowers. At the present time only four tables were in use; the first has a group of three merchants who are quietly discussing a business deal. The second and third each have a couple sitting having dinner. The fourth table has a unique looking man, tall with an athletic build. His hair is blond and he has a moustache that sits on a pleasant but common face that is always smiling. The thing that makes him stand out is his outlandish clothes. From the bottom, up he has knee length magenta boots with royal blue silk pants tucked into them. His silk shirt was a bright magenta with a wide collar cut with a V-neck. On the seat next to him are a royal blue cape and a royal blue wide brim hat with a large magenta feather. His belt is made of delicate silver links and, tucked into it, is a silver scabbard dagger with a large ruby in the handle. 

This rather foppish looking gentleman is Percy De Aablo formerly of Aquin. In Aquin he was the third son of a nobleman. This lead to his leaving. His oldest brother had inherited all his fathers’ lands, as was the custom in Aquin. Percy had never got along with his older brother, because he felt that his brother was unnecessarily cruel to people of lower classes. This included Percy, as he did not have a title of his own. The ironic thing was that Percy's brother had never done one thing that merited him getting the titles and the lands, but that was the custom in Aquin. Percy decided to go out into the world and make his own fame and fortune. He came to Shadizar with some money and letters of introduction, but he knew he could not live long in his accustomed life style without a cash flow of some sort. As luck would have it he caught a thief breaking into his apartment one night. He struck a deal with the thief that if he would teach him, Percy would not turn him over to the city watch. This was how the Grayman, Shadizar's most notorious thief, was born. Percy has used his foppish socialite persona to get the information for his thefts and so far it had worked to his advantage. He has never even been seen on a job, well almost never. This has lead to the rumors of mystic abilities and the infamous reputation of the Grayman. 

As Percy was sitting having dinner he noticed that his serving wench, Anico, was not her usual self. She had made two mistakes on his table and he had overheard a comment at the next table, that she had not been her usual efficient self. After dinner, Percy went to the bar to have an after dinner drink and talk to Jack the owner. While talking to Jack about the events of the day Percy asked what was wrong with Anico.

Jack got serious and said, 

"I was going to talk to you about Anico. It seems her brother is missing. She was going to ask you if, with all your connections, you could look into it." Percy thought for a moment and said, 

"I'll be happy to look into it." 

Later that night, he asked Anico to come and sit with him and tell him about her brother's disappearance. Anico is an attractive girl with blond hair cut short. She has a full figure and is very nice to talk with. She always makes you feel comfortable whether you see her on the street or at the Saucy Goose. When she sat down, she asked, 

"How do you know about my brother's disappearance" Percy replied, 

"Jack told me. He thought I might be able to help."

"Jack is a sweet man, he looks after us girls so well." She then looked at Percy and said, 

"How can you help me?" Percy smiled and said, 

"I have many influential friends in Shadizar. They may know something of your brother and his disappearance. Now tell me what you know." Anico nodded, 

"Well, it was four days ago that we were suppose to have dinner together. He didn't show up. The next day I went to his house and found it all closed up. When I got home that day there was a note from him. The note said that he was going to look for the valley of the sun."

Percy looked perplexed, as he had never heard of the valley of the sun. He asked, 

"Have you ever heard of this valley of the sun?" She said no and looked a little disheartened that he had asked. Percy noticed her reaction and quickly asked, 

“Where did your brother work and hang out.” She said, 

"He was a security guard at Deco the Merchants warehouse. He would stop for a pint on the way home at the Golden Goblet. I went there to see if he had stopped in. The serving wench told me he had not been in since he had been drinking with a shabby character about five nights ago. My brother was a friendly individual and loved to talk to all sorts of people." At this Percy decided to walk Anico home. On the way he told her not to worry, he would tell her as soon as he heard anything.

CHAPTER 2 

PERCY GOES LOOKING 

The next day Percy woke and found it was hot and very bright. This beautiful weather influenced his choose of clothing for the day. He was dressed in a yellow and black silk outfit with a red sash. Also carrying a black walking stick, he was in a good mood and walked with a bounce to his step. Percy knew it was too early to go to the Golden Goblet, so he went down to the temple district. He went to the temple of Gold-mare the God of knowledge. Once there he walked in and went to the library reception desk. The librarian came over and gave him a dubious once over with his eyes. Percy smiled and asked, 

"Can you help me?" The librarian gave him a curt nod and Percy said,

"I am looking for information on a place called the valley of the sun." The librarian said,

"I have never heard of it, but geography is not my speciality." He led Percy to the geography section and let him look through it. He told Percy if he needed help there would be monks in that area to help him. He picked up an index and started to look for any references to the valley of the sun. He was in the library all morning going through books and scrolls on geography but had little success. He did find one reference though. It was to a mystical valley in the northern part of Shadizar's district. The problem was it did not say where the valley was located or what kind of a place it was. 

Percy left the library for lunch; he went to the Saucy Goose. He needed to find out more about Anico's brother. At the Saucy Goose, Percy took a table and waited for Anico. The smells from the kitchen were as tantalising as always. When she came over to take his order he asked her if Kraft, her brother, was the type to go off after fortune and glory. She said,

“He was never an adventurer, but he had been a little depressed of late.” Percy told her that he had looked into the Valley of the Sun. He had found a small reference to a mystical place in the northern territory of Shadizar. Anico got all excited but Percy said,

"I still did not know where it is or what is there. Don’t worry though by the time I am finished I will know all there is to know about this Valley of the Sun." She smiled and Percy went on with his lunch. He finished his lunch in quiet thought. 

Percy headed back to the library. This time he went to the section of magical and religious mysteries. There he found more information; the valley was hidden in the mountains north of Shadizar. It was reported to be a magical place of peace and tranquillity. The information also told that the riches of the world were there for the taking and people lived in peace there. It was also said to be under the protection of an ancient sun god from the evils of the outside world. The god was worshiped by a race of creatures in the past. Now it only had the valley and the people in it that worshipped it. In another scroll it said that people never grew old in the valley and that they live complete and happy lives. With this information, Percy went to the head librarian of the section on magical and religious mysteries. He asked if there was any more information on the Valley of the Sun. The librarian told him that he had heard some stories. The place is shrouded in mystery and none of the stories he had heard could be confirmed or denied. It was rumoured to be a place of wonders a green valley in the middle of snow and rocks. The main thing that all the people who said they had been there talked about, was a large pyramid temple with a golden sun on top. The sun was said to have four spurs of flame on each side. The librarian told Percy that was a most unusual representation of the sun. He went on and said, most cultures that worship the sun give it a much stronger representation. Though the fact that everyone dressed in white robes, that was typical of sun worshipers. They were said to be friendly but a little nervous. The librarian told Percy there where no maps of the valley or of how to get there that he knew of. At this Percy thanked him and left the library. He headed for the Golden Goblet. Not realised how long he had been in the library; it was early evening already. He walked into the Golden Goblet and got a table. The serving wench took his order for a glass of good wine. As he waited he looked around, this was a working mans tavern. There were a lot of men in their dirty work clothes who were giving him a good looking over. Percy did not mind this, however, for the crowd, he looked a little worried. When the girl came back he asked,

"Do you know Kraft, Anico's brother?"  She nodded yes and said, 

"I served him the last time he was in drinking. He was with some stranger. I don’t mind telling you that guy was very strange."

"I am a friend of his sister. I am looking for him. Did anything unusual happen that night? Did you know who the stranger was with him?" When the girl said, 

"I had not seen him before." Percy noted a slight hint of fear in her voice.

"What were they talking about?" Percy asked. She leaned down and said, 

"I didn't hear all of the conversation but from what I did hear, the stranger was trying to sell Kraft a map to a place of wealth." Percy then asked the girl, 

"Did you like the man with Kraft?" She looked around again, lowered her voice even more, and gave him a definite no. Percy then inquired, 

"Did you hear the other mans name?" She leaned closer and lowered her voice again, and said, 

"Yes, it was Ali-krac." Percy thanked her, and gave her a silver coin for the drink that was worth a couple of coppers. She thanked him and walked away. 

Percy sat sipping his wine and thought over all he had learned. Why would Kraft all of a sudden go off on this adventure? Percy had more wine and mulled over the situation. When he left it was quite late, and as he walked home through the less than crowded streets, it was very quiet. He went down an alley and two men jumped out at him. Percy saw the daggers in their hands. They did not ask for his money, they just came at him. Percy side stepped the first attacker and swung his walking stick to the back of the man's head. The man went down like a sack of potatoes. The second man seeing this hesitated; Percy took advantage of that and went on the offensive. He went at him using his walking stick like a sword. The man was trying to protect himself but Percy could see the fear in his eyes. Percy was toying with him, slapping him here and there but he soon got tired of it. He stepped back and pushed a hidden button on the walking stick. Then he pulled a long stiletto like dagger out of the top of the walking stick. When the second thug saw it, he turned and ran down the alley. Percy did not follow. He went to the first man who was out cold. The man had ten silvers and some coppers in his purse, which Percy took. The interesting thing was the dagger. It was engraved with a spider on the blade just under the hilt.

Percy took the dagger and then tied up his assailant. He slapped his attacker’s face to wake him up. When the man woke up, Percy said in his most calm voice,

“I am only going to ask you once, then after that, I will get inventive with this knife.” The man looked up at Percy and there was a look that pleaded for mercy in his eyes. “Having people try to kill me makes me mad. Now, I want to know who hired you?" The thug replied, 

"I don't know. A man in the Golden Goblet gave us ten silvers each to follow and kill you." Percy looked at the man on the ground and noticed that he had very wet pants in between his legs. Percy believed him, but who was this mystery man who wanted him dead. Percy could get no more information from the thug so he left him tied up and walked home. The rest of his walk home was uneventful.

Chapter 3

MONKS WARNING

Percy woke to a warm, cloudy day. He had a breakfast of fresh fruit and honey bread. He then got dressed. Percy was famous for his outrageous dress and this day was no different, in a hot pink shirt, baby blue silk pants and silver boots and belt. Percy loved to dress the foppish part. It gave him an edge when it came to dealing with people. For some reason they always thought him a little dense in his outlandish clothes. That had not been so at the inn the night before, someone had thought enough to send two men out to kill him. He was puzzled as to who in the Golden Goblet last night had want him dead. Percy was concerned that maybe someone found out that he was the Grayman. Until he got more information, he would just have to look over his shoulder more often.

Leaving home he went to the government offices. He needed to see a friend of his. He got into his friend’s office right away; the clothes again opened doors. Percy's friend was in charge of keeping track of the comings and goings of people in Shadizar. Percy asked,

"What do you know of Ali-krac?" Percy's friend, Bracus looked through his papers for about ten minutes. Then he said, 

"Ah yes, he came here about six months ago and bought a small house in the merchants quarter. He said he was a trader and I have not received any complaints against him." Percy asked,

"Where is he from?" The answer did not surprise him. Ali-krac was from the Kezan Mountains in the north. Percy thanked his friend and suggested that they must have dinner sometime. Percy also left five gold pieces on the edge of the desk. Percy knew that was the way to get things done in the government of Shadizar. He thought what a corrupt town as he walked home.

At home, Percy changed into a beggar’s disguise and then crept out into the back alley. He worked his way down to the merchants quarter, were he started begging. Percy listened to the street talk and to the other beggars. Through these conversations he eventually found out where Ali-krac lived, and went to find a good place from which to watch his house. He watched for most of the day and saw traders coming and going. Late that night he found that Ali-krac had some unusual visitors. There were numerous men going in, but Percy did not see any of them leave. It seemed strange to Percy because they were all dressed like workmen or beggars. Percy thought through the night, ‘why would a group of twenty working men go into a trading house that late at night.’ The next day they came out, but not until about midday. It had been a long night so Percy went home. After cleaning up he got some sleep. 

That evening he went to the Saucy Goose for dinner. He called Jack over and asked what he knew of Ali-krac. Jack said, 

"Yes, he is not a very good trader, he has overpaid for many of the items that he has bought. He did not seem to care and he seems to have an unlimited amount of gold." Percy then told Jack what he had found out about the connection between Ali-krac and Kraft. He also said he was going to pay Ali-krac a visit that night. After some drinks, Percy went home and had a sleep. He woke up about midnight and got dressed. Putting on soft, knee length, grey boots with grey silk pants. He added a grey silk shirt and a grey cloak. Then he belted on a black belt with a grey scabbard rapier. Donning a grey scarf with two holes cut in it for his eyes he was ready. Thus, Percy De Aablo became the notorious thief called the Grayman. He left through the back door and slipped quietly into the alley. Making his way into the merchants quarter once again, Percy found a good spot to watch Ali-krac's house. The house was quiet and dark, but there was a feeling of activity about it. Grayman approached the house with great stealth and care. He got to the back wall, threw a padded grapple onto the roof and pulled on it until it caught on something. He then climbed up the wall to a second story window and carefully checked out the room that he was looking into. It was a sleeping chamber and it was empty at the moment. Climbing into the room he looked around. It was a plain room with no decorations, just a small chest, a cot and a table with a wash basin on it. The Grayman went to the small chest and checked it out. There was a small lock that took him a couple of seconds to open. He went through the chest and found nothing but clothes and personal effects. 

The Grayman then moved to the door and listened for any sounds from the hall. It was quiet, so he opened the door a crack and looked out and listened again. There was a slight moaning sound from deep in the ground. He looked up and down the hall and saw stairs to his left. Slowly and silently he worked his way to the stairs and followed them down. The moaning was getting louder, but it still came from below the floor. He made a quick investigation of the main floor and found nothing out of the ordinary. It looked like a trader’s office and that was about all. Grayman then found a passage that had stairs leading down. The moaning was now more like a chant and it still came from below. Grayman hugged the wall of the stairs as he headed down. The chant was an eerie and uncomfortable sound to his ears and maybe even his soul. At the bottom of the stairs, Grayman looked around carefully to see if anyone was about. At first he did not see anyone, then a slight movement in the shadows alerted him. Thinking for a moment, he then took a coin from his purse. Flipping it past the shadow he heard it hit the ground. The figure in the shadows turned and moved towards the noise. When the figure had its back towards Grayman, he struck with lighting speed and without making a sound. Grayman hit what he now knew was a man and knocked him senseless. Then he pulled him into the shadows and tied him up. Looking around he saw a door and moved up to it. The chanting was coming from behind the door. He looked at the door and saw it was covered with carvings of spiders, all kinds of spiders, large ones, and small ones, which were so intricate that they appeared to be real. He tried the door and found it was unlocked. Opening it a crack to hear what was going on, he heard a gong sound. Looking through the door he saw that all the people inside were turned to look in his direction. In the background was a large idol. It was a golden spider with large ruby eyes. That was all he had time to see. Everyone in the room was now coming towards the door and he didn't think they wanted to give him a friendly welcome. He turned and ran up the stairs and out the front door. In the street he heard the group coming up behind him. Looking down the street he saw that it was empty. 

He looked around and saw a woman down the alley waving to him. She was tall with a solid build. Her shoulder length blond hair and spectacles made her look old and frail. Grayman ran towards the door where she stood and ducked in just as his pursuers came out the front of Ali-krac's house. The woman walked out and yelled at them to keep quiet. She then came back in and signalled Percy to be quiet and follow her. They walked through a quaint little house to the kitchen, where she put on some water to boil. When she spoke her voice was commanding, yet jovial. She said,

"My name is Nancial and I am a monk. Why were you spying on Ali-krac?"

"I was not spying." She looked at him and smiled. Nancial said,

"I saw you yesterday and, although your disguise was good to me you stood out like a sore thumb." Now it was Grayman's turn to smile. She got up to make the tea and Grayman told her the story of Kraft and how it had led him to Ali-krac. Nancial told him that he had been very lucky. Ali-krac is a very dangerous priest from the Valley of the Sun. He has been sent here to recruit people to go there. She had come to Shadizar to keep an eye on Ali-krac and if she could help the people he enchants into going there, all the better. Grayman asked,

"Do you know if Kraft has gone to the Valley of the Sun yet." She said,

"I don’t know. Did you go into the basement?" He said,

"I did that was when I was discovered by the people who were chasing me." She then asked,

"What did you see?"

"There was a chamber like a temple with a huge golden spider idol." She made a symbol of protection and said, 

"That is the demon Queen Neo-ocktin. What is Ali-krac doing with a temple in his cellar dedicated to that evil spawn." Grayman then took out the dagger he had taken from the two assassins. He handed it to the monk and went back to his tea. After a sip he said,

“I took this off one of two men who tried to kill me. It was right after I started looking into Kraft’s disappearance.” Nancial looked it over, and said,

"It looks like a ceremonial dagger of Neo-ocktin. They use them anytime they have to kill an enemy to there cult. If they attacked you with this, you are in bigger trouble then I thought. They will keep coming after you until you are dead." Grayman looked a little concerned then asked,

"Have you ever been to the Valley of the Sun?"

"No, but I have a map which shows how to get there. You can make a copy if you wished." 

Percy thanked her and took the map. Then made his way home. When he got there he sat up and studied the map just in case it got misplaced. This took a couple of hours, and he was exhausted when he was finished, so he went to bed. 

Chapter 4 

STARTING THE JOURNEY

Percy awoke the next day to the sun shining in through the window. He got up and dressed. People were trying to kill him so he thought better dress down a bit, instead of the black silk pants with a yellow silk shirt and silver belt he had planed to ware. He dressed in a plain brown leather tunic and brown pants with a rapier in a brown scabbard. Percy felt that he should keep a sword at his side until he figured out what was going on. Finishing out the outfit Percy put on a dusty forest green cape and hat with a broken yellow feather. Percy’s mood was good but he was very thoughtful after all that had happened. He was also concerned for Anico's brother. He was probably getting into something a lot bigger than he could know. In order to help Kraft, Percy was certain that he would have to find him quickly.

He had the map that Nancial had given him. He headed for a good cartographer that he knew. Once there, Percy asked how long it would take to get a copy of the map made. He told Percy he was not busy and could have it for him that afternoon. Percy left and went to the stables were he kept his horse. He asked that it be delivered to his house the following morning. Have it loaded with everything that is needed for two weeks in the wilderness. The stable hand told him that he would need a packhorse to tote all that he would need. Percy asked,

“Do you have any pack horses for sale?” The stable hand nodded yes. Percy said,

“OK, how much?”

“Well I could give it to you for ten gold pieces, only because you are a good customer.”

“I will give you five, take it or leave it.” The stable hand looked at the five gold pieces and nodded yes. Percy gave him five gold pieces. Then said,

“I want all that delivered to my house early the following morning.” The stable hand said,

“Everything will be at your home at sunrise.”

Percy then headed to the Saucy Goose for lunch where Anico served him. She asked,

"Have you found my brother yet?" Percy told her, as he sat down,

"I think I know were Kraft is. It would take me about a week to find the place. Then I don't know if your brother will leave." He poured some wine and said,

"I may not have news for you for maybe as long as a month, perhaps even two." NICO did not take this news well. She looked down at him with a serious look in her eyes. She said,

"I'm coming with you." Percy was shocked. He could not take this woman into the dangers of the wilds around Shadizar. It would be dangerous enough out there for him. He started to tell her, but the look in her eye stopped him. He called over to Jack and asked,

"Can Anico have two months off to help me look for her brother." Jack looked at Anico and decided he may as well, because she would go anyway. He told her she could go but his voice said good-bye. Jack didn't think he would see Anico again.

The next day Anico met Percy at his house. She had an old horse with a saddle that was falling apart. She had food and clothing that were satisfactory for the trip but Percy thought they had to do something about that horse and saddle. She was in good spirits and said,

“I am ready to go.”

“We have to go someplace first.” Then they went to the stables and get her a new saddle. After that they stopped at the weapons smiths and picked up two daggers. The first one was in a boot sheath, which she put into her boot. While the second was to go on her belt, she put on at once. They then headed for the north gate, had breakfast at a small wine shop and were on their way. They left Shadizar by the north gate and kept riding north. They rode until the early afternoon when Percy called a halt. Setting up camp in a small clearing Percy sat down and said,

"For the next week we are going to travel only half days." She burst out, 

"That will slow us down to a snail’s pace." Percy told her,

"That can't be helped because during the other half of the day I will be teaching you to survive the trip." She was about to protest when Percy raised his hand and said,

"This is not open for debate. You will do it that way or you can go back. Do you understand?" She nodded her agreement. Percy told her, 

"The first thing that we are going to work on is, how to hide." She gave him a look of disbelief. Percy told her,

"If you can hide well enough you will never get hurt, and you will never have to fight." She thought about that and saw the wisdom in it. Percy asked, 

"What is the secret to hiding." Anico thought for a moment and said, 

"To be out of your searchers line of sight." Percy smiled and said, 

"No. The most important thing is to keep perfectly still and blend into the background. When someone is looking for something, they look for things out of the ordinary. They will look for colours, light reflecting off of metal and, of course, movement." She thought about that for a few moments and then said,

"Yes I see what you mean." They did some exercises to practice staying still. At first Anico found it hard to keep still but with practice and Percy's guidance she became quite good. 

Percy then sat Anico down and talked to her about blending in. He said,

"The best colours are black, brown and grey. Now go and change into something that will help you to blend in." He then took her into the woods and told her to practice. 

"You will know if you have been seen, if you do not hear any noise from the animals. Go out into the woods, practice and then come back in two hours." She asked Percy,

"How she would know when the two hours were up." Percy told her,

"That is the second part of the exercise." Anico walked out into the woods and sat down to think about what Percy had said. She realised after about half an hour that she was keeping perfectly still and the birds and small animals were moving all around her. As she looked at her surroundings she could see, and hear, what he had been talking about. She then tried moving and found it to be a lot harder. With practice she started to get it. When she headed back towards the camp, after what she felt was two hours. She tried to move quietly without being seen. As she moved to within sight of the camp, she saw that Percy was lying down with his hat over his eyes. She smiled, and thought she would try to sneak up on him. She moved as quietly as she could into the clearing. Getting to within ten feet; Percy lifted his hat and said, 

"You are ten minutes late." Then he smiled and said, "I see you now understand what I was saying." She looked at him with a little pout for spoiling her surprise. Then she smiled and said, 

"Yes it was fantastic." The more Anico tried the things that Percy had been talking about, the easier it became. Percy had already made dinner, so they sat and ate. While they were eating they talked more about little tricks for moving quietly and keeping hidden.

This routine went on for two weeks, as they were riding north. Anico learned how to move with grace through the woods and rocks. Percy taught her how to use her daggers, and also how to fight without weapons. She learned quickly and rarely made the same mistake twice. One evening she asked Percy,

"How do you know all of this?” He explained to her about his alter ego, the Grayman. She was amazed because she had always known him to be this foppish little man, maybe a scholar, but not the most well known thief in all of Shadizar. The city of thieves or so it was known. She asked if Jack knew about his alter ego. Percy said,

"That was why Jack had asked me to help you." Percy then said,

“You have to keep this secret to herself as the Grayman had many enemies who would kill him without thinking twice.” She looked at him with a new respect, and maybe something else. Percy thought about that because over the last two weeks, Anico had become thinner with more curves in all the right places.

WANDERING THE MOUNTAINS

Percy and Anico entered a small trading post to the south of the Kezan Mountains. Percy warned Anico that it was a rough place and that she should stay close to him. They went directly to the outfitter to get supplies and information. They started to talk to the clerk behind the counter. He was taking stock and was not sure if Kraft had been there. They ordered the supplies that they would need and asked him about the landmarks on the map. He said,

"Yah, I know that area. Why are you going up that way." Percy told him,

"We are going to visit a friend at his trappers cabin." He saw that there were other men in the trading post listening to the conversation, and he tried to memorise as many faces as possible in case he should see them again.

Percy and Anico left the trading post and found a room for the night. After they had settled in, they went down to the common room for dinner. The innkeeper came over and they ordered a bottle of fine wine and two platters of food. The two of them sat, ate and drank. After dinner, the innkeeper asked,

"Will you be staying for the entertainment." Anico looked at Percy with pleading in her eyes. Percy told the innkeeper that they would stay. They sat and listened to a young man playing a mandolin. He was pretty good. After about five songs he asked if anyone wanted to play or sing with him. Anico looked at Percy, and asked if he had his flute with him. She had heard Percy play many times in the Saucy Goose and he was very good. 

"It's in the room."

She got up and went to get it. While she was gone, Percy went up to talk to the young man to see what they could play together. They came up with about five songs they both knew. When Anico came back, she brought the flute up to Percy on the stage. She then went back to her seat and the two musicians started into a sad song of love. The crowd was silent while the two played. It sounded like the gods themselves were playing. It was the most beautiful music that the inn had ever heard. When they finished the first song, the crowd was mesmerised into silence. A few moments later they started to applaud and call for more. The two then started into an up-tempo dance song and people started to move tables in order to dance. A pleasant looking young farm boy asked Anico to dance and they were soon up there spinning and twirling with the best of them. This continued for three more songs. Then Percy and the mandolin player played a stirring song of a boy off to war. 

When they were done, Percy thanked the young man, and bowed to the crowd. He then returned to his seat to drink his wine. A good-looking man had joined Anico at their table. Percy filled his glass with wine and excused himself and went to the bar. He joined the locals in conversation at the bar. Through all of this, he keeps his eye on Anico. The young man was becoming more and more forward. Percy could see that Anico was getting a little nervous from all the attention. Percy thought of helping her, then decided to see how she would handle the situation. The young man became more and more persistent and finally Anico had, had enough and so she told him she was leaving tomorrow. The young man then said, 

"Well then, we only have tonight," and he grabbed her arm in an attempt to take her out. Percy looked under the table and saw that Anico's free hand now held a dagger that was dangerously close to the young man's crotch. The young man also noticed this and let go of her arm. He then slowly got up and walked out of the inn. Percy then walked back to the table and poured more wine for both himself and Anico. He had a sheepish little grin on his face.

"You handled that quite well, discrete yet effective." She was shocked, 

"You saw what was going on and didn't help me." He looked at her and said, 

"I needed to know, if you could handle that." He kept looking her right in the eyes and continued, "If you couldn't, I was going to leave you behind." Anico looked at him and laughed a deep and hardy laugh, and Percy joined in. 

They finished their wine and went up to the room. They slept through the night and got up early. Percy had obtained directions to the first land mark on the map. The clerk had told him that it was about two or three days ride, at this time of year. It was mid fall now and in the mountains that could mean snow at any time. They rode for two days and found the first landmark. When they made camp that night Percy told Anico,

"We have to go through a high pass to the north and it looks like snow has already fallen." The next day's ride brought them to the base of the pass. It looked rough but not impassable even for the horses. That night the horses were a little skittish but eventually calmed down. The following morning was bright and clear as they stared up through the pass. The climb was tough and they had to walk the horses, however, they still made good time. At noon, they were half way to the top, so they stopped for lunch. They noticed that while they were eating, a bank of clouds was moving in. Percy told Anico that they would have to hurry if they were going to beat the storm. They increased their pace up the pass; but, as the time went on, they could see that they were going to get caught in the storm. When they reached the top of the pass, the storm hit. The snow was falling so thick that they could not see ten feet in front of them. Percy was in the lead looking for some place to get cover from the storm; when, all of a sudden, there was a cave off to his right.

He gave his reins to Anico and went to check out the cave. He walked in and lit a torch. It was perfect the wall curved to give protection from the wind and the entrance was big enough for a horse to walk in. He walked in; it opened up into a large cavern. There was debris all over the floor and an old fire pit in the corner. Travellers in the past had obviously used it. Percy went out to get Anico and the horses, and brought them into the shelter. The horses were nervous and had to be lead in with blindfolds on. They set up camp and the longer they were in the cave, the more settled the horses became. They cooked dinner and listen to the storm howling outside the cave. They sat and talked after dinner then they went to sleep. 

Percy was awakened about two in the morning by sound of the horses snorting and prancing. He looked around and saw nothing, but his senses told him something was out of sorts. He put some wood on the fire to build it up. Percy then strapped on his sword and looked out the cave opening. Looking out into the dark he scanned the surroundings and noticed a small movement. He looked at the area more closely and noticed a large humanoid shape. It looked to be about nine feet tall and about twice as wide as a normal person. The figure was just standing there so Percy went back to wake up Anico. He described what he had seen outside and that she should hide until he called her. She put on her black cloak and moved to the back of the cave. 

Percy headed back to the mouth of the cave and saw the shape moving towards him. The storm was now a blizzard and Percy could only see a few feet in front of the cave mouth. He moved back into the cave to prepare an ambush near the opening of the cavern. Standing there he listened for any sound of the monster coming in. Percy stood perfectly still and waited. He then heard a noise in the entrance corridor. He held his breath and waited to see the back of the monster. He drew his sword as it came around the corner. Percy could not see the monster's front only its back. He went to hit the monster across its back when he heard Anico say, 

"No! Don't."

The monster started to turn around; he backed up and prepared his sword for a quick thrust. He then saw what Anico had seen. The monster was not a monster at all but someone in a large fur coat and pants. They started to take off the furs, and Percy discovered that it was a girl. Not just any girl, she was one of the most beautiful girls that Percy had ever seen. When she got the furs off, she sat down by the fire and asked if they had any food. Percy put away his sword, and got some food. Anico sat down and asked the girl,

"What are you doing out there?" She said,

"I am heading for Shadizar to find someone who can help her village. I got lost in the storm and fell down a hill and lost my pack." Percy had some food ready by then and offered her some. He then asked her,

"What is the problem at your village?"

"The young men of my village have been disappearing. They are disappearing from all around the village without a trace." Anico looked at Percy and he could tell what she was thinking. Could this have something to do with her brother's disappearance? Percy and Anico then introduced themselves and asked the girl her name. She told them that her name was Tynne. Tynne was about thirty with a very slim but curvy build. She had long auburn hair that went down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were the colour of light jade and her skin was a deep tanned brown with freckles. After she had eaten, Percy showed her their map and asked her where her village was. It was about half a day off their trail. They decided to go and look into the problem. 

They all then went to sleep. The next day would not be easy with all the snow even with the downhill climb. In the morning the storm had not let up, so they decided to stay in the cave until it was over. It lasted all that day and into the night. The following day the storm had broken and it was sunny and warm. The problem was, two days of snow had left quite a huge accumulation of the white stuff on the ground. Travelling was slow and very tiring but they kept moving and the distance was slowly gobbled up. By the second day they were down in a lovely valley. Tynne said,

"This will lead to my village in about three days travel." The three days passed without any problems and they made it to the village.

NEW FRIENDS NEW DANGERS

They came over a rise and looked down into the valley. It was a long narrow valley with a stream running through it. They could see people in the hills tending to flocks of sheep. In the centre of the valley was a village of stone buildings with sod roofs. It was a small village with many family dwellings and a large central lodge. In the lower part of the valley there were fields that looked as if they were ready to be harvested. They rode down to the village with Tynne on the back of Percy's horse. Tynne told them to make for the central lodge. By the time they reached it, a group had collected near the door. They dismounted and Tynne ran to a man in his late fifties and hugged him. She then pulled him to the other two and introduced him to Percy and Anico. His name was Grad-ham, and he was the head elder of the village. He had brown hair and was balding in the middle. He had a beard that had flecks of grey in it and he wore a leather jerkin and pants. He had a large amulet in the shape of a lamb, which had an assortment of animal teeth all along the leather thong that held it around his neck. He also had a walking stick that was decorated with feathers and bits of bone. He had that happy and intelligent look about him which instils confidence in others. 

He walked up to Percy and Anico and welcomed them to Frost.

"I hope you have come to help us with our problem." Percy said, 

"We are on a mission of our own but the circumstances seem similar, so we may be able to help each other." Grad-ham invited them into the main lodge, where they were directed to the main table. They sat near the fire to warm up while food was being prepared. They talked with Grad-ham about the missing people. He told them that they had all disappeared at night and that his best hunters could find no tracks or signs of a fight. The missing people were all armed as they were protecting their flocks at the time. Percy asked if there was anything in common about the disappearances, anything at all, maybe time of the month, location or physical geography in the area. Grad-ham thought for a moment and then told him, not really; however, a few of them have things in common but not all of them. Most of them were in the west but not all. A great deal of them, were at the base of cliffs or near cliffs. The one thing they do have, at least we think, is that they all disappeared at night. Those who disappeared were alone. 

At this point the food started to arrive. They sat and had dinner with quiet conversation. After dinner they were escorted to a building and told they could use it until they left. They went in and found their gear had been brought to the house. They unpacked and then went for a walk through the village. It was a nice quiet agricultural village. The land seemed fertile and everyone seemed well feed and happy, although there was an underlying fear in the people they met. They then returned to the house and went to sleep. The next morning Tynne, banging on the door awakened them. They got up and let her in. She said,

"One of the herders is missing." Percy told Anico to stay put and he went with Tynne. They went out into the fields to where the shepherd was last seen. He looked around and saw the shepherd's tracks, which he followed to a cave. He went into the cave and looked around. He then came out and got a torch and went back inside to look around again. The cave was narrow and winding. As he turned a corner, he almost fell into a large sinkhole. He called out to have a rope brought to him. Three men came in with a rope and they set up to lower him down the hole. When he got about half way down, he saw the shepherd at the bottom of the hole. At the bottom, he found that the shepherd was alive but badly hurt. He tied the rope around him and had him pulled up. The men up top untied the shepherd and took him to the village. The rope was then lowered and Percy climbed up with the assistance of the villagers. The man said that the shepherd was in bad shape, but the elders would be able to tell Percy more. Then they all headed back to the village, but on the way Percy looked around the area where the shepherd had been watching his flock. He looked around and saw something on the ground that he couldn't understand. There were tracks in the area that looked like something a giant spider would make. It was unbelievable; the spider would have to be about five or six feet across. He thought about what Nancial the monk had said about Neo-oktin the demon queen. 

When he got back to the village he asked Grad-ham if they had a cleric in Frost. Grad-ham said,

"Religion is part of the elders responsibilities." Percy asked,

"Can we talk in private?" Grad-ham led them into a small room where they sat down at a small table. Percy asked,

"What do you know about Noe-oktin the queen of hell?" Grad-ham looked frightened and made a sign of protection. He asked,

"Why would you wont to know?" Percy told him about the two assassins with the daggers, which had the sign of Noe-oktin on them. Then he said,

"I saw some tracks at the site where the shepherd had disappeared. They locked like a giant spider about five or six feet across." Grad-ham made another sign of protection. 

"I do not know much about demons. They are almost indestructible and that they have to be summoned by a powerful wizard or a priest that can buy the demon with souls and blood." Then Grad-ham's face went pale. "Could some one be stealing people to bring Neo-oktin to this plane?" Percy nodded to Grad-ham and asked,

"What else would they need besides the people to sacrifice?" Grad-ham said,

"I am not sure but I think that they would need a temple dedicated to the demon queen for a number of years. Because of the power of the demon, the temple must have been dedicated for at least a hundred years, however it could be for as long as five hundred years." Percy then thought about the valley of the sun and it's temple. Percy asked,

"Grad-ham, do you know about the legendary valley where everything is perfect. That was where we were heading when we run into Tynne. We think that Anico's brother might be heading there." Grad-ham said,

"We have heard stories about the valley and they go back for generations."

"Do you think it could go far enough back in time to be the temple we are talking about?"

"Oh my god. Yes we have stories that date it back at lest five hundred years." Percy said,

"I do to. I found ancient fables when I was researching the valley in Shadizar and it looked as if it has been around for at lest five hundred years." Percy paused then said, 

"I think it would be best if Anico and I continue on our journey to the valley." He then went back to their house and told Anico that they would be leaving in the morning. The rest of the afternoon was spent in preparation. That night Percy went to bed early and then got up about midnight.

He put on grey pants and shirt with a grey cloak. He strapped on his sword and dagger then put a dagger in each boot. He then headed out to the area where the shepherd had fallen down the hole. He moved silently out to the area and found a good location for a look out. He sat and looked for any movement and then it came. He noticed a large black shape moving down the cliff face behind where a shepherd was watching his flock. Percy moved quickly, without making a sound, until he was near the base of the cliff where the thing should come down. He positioned himself in between the thing and the shepherd. The thing got to the base of the cliff and Percy could see what it was. 

He could hardly believe his eyes! It was a spider with a body about five feet long. It was black with course black hair sticking up in tufts. The part that shocked Percy the most was that where its head should be there was a man's body from the waist up. It had black hair that was cut short and had very sharp facial features. Its ears were pointed and they had large red spider earrings dangling from them. Covering his body was a black breastplate with a large red spider painted on it. In his hands was a unique pole-arm and it had a crossbow across its back with a quarrel of bolts at its waist. 

Percy stayed were he was and waited for the thing to pass him. When he moved out to attack he stepped on a dry twig. The snap was deafening to someone who was trying to move silently. The thing spun around with a speed Percy would not have expected. Percy had his sword out and moved in. He went on the attack but had to dodge the blade from the creature's pole-arm that came out of no where. He then moved in closer to make it more difficult for the thing to attack him. He did two quick thrusts, which only gave the thing a couple of superficial cuts. Then ducking under a swing from the thing, Percy saw that the liquid coming from those cuts was, black ooze. The pole-arm was coming down and Percy side stepped it and thrust again at the abomination in front of him. The thing shifted and he missed. Percy then stepped in and took a full swing at the creature's chest. This time Percy's sword sliced deep into the thing's chest. The thing let out a great bellow and tried to move away. Percy now pressed his attack, he missed with two attacks, but on the third he took off one of the monsters legs. There was another bellow of pain. Percy moved in to force his attack again and this time took the creature’s head off. 

Percy moved away and sat down. He could see several torches coming from the village, but he was too tired to move. As the villages got to him, some screamed and others fainted at the sight of the monster that Percy had just killed. They helped him back to the village and to the house where he and Anico where staying. Grad-ham was there when he returned and he offered his thanks for saving the shepherd. He also looked Percy over to see if he was hurt. Percy nodded that he was all right and said, 

"Now I know we have to leave." Grad-ham nodded and said, 

"Yes all will be ready for you tomorrow."

Chapter 7

THE VALLEY OF THE SUN

Percy and Anico left the following morning to head for the Valley of the Sun. Grad-ham came out to say good-bye and also to tell them that the monster from last night was gone. The people of Fost were out to see them off. Percy was now the hero of the village. They followed the trail that had brought them into Fost, back to the point where it joined with Percy's map to the valley of the sun. They headed off towards the valley, and travelled for six days until they come to the base of the pass into the valley. They stopped and camped there for the night. After dinner Anico asked Percy what he expected in the valley. Percy looked at her and shook his head. He hesitated and then said, 

"We could find anything from paradise to hell on earth." They went to sleep that night with an uneasy feeling and woke as if they had not slept a wink. Packing up they started their climb to the pass that leads into the valley. They rode for a short way and then they had to walk the horses. When they were about half way up the pass, they found an old path. Percy looked and saw signs of recent passage up the trail; however, there was no sign of people coming down the trail. They followed the path for the rest of the day and almost made it to the pass. They camped for the night but sleep did not come easily. They sat up and Anico talked about her brother and how he had tried to take care of her when they were younger. She said,

"He had grown into a good man and she did not understand why he had gone off on this hunt for treasure at this time in his life." She asked Percy if he thought that this Ali-krac could have used some black magic on him. Percy thought and said,

"It was very likely that Kraft was under some sort of enchantment. He left too quickly and did things out of character which is a strong indicator of enchantment." Anico was quiet after that but finally fell asleep.

They got up early the next morning, broke camp, and started into the pass. It was a cold morning and there was frost in the air. They could not ride as the path was to steep so they walked up and through the pass. As they walked out of the pass into the valley they stopped. The view was amazing. There were field upon field of crops and small farm huts all over the place. They could see larger herds of sheep and goats higher up in the hills. What caught their attention most was the town. It was about half the size of Shadizar. Although this was a shock in itself, the most amazing thing was the central building, which was the shape of a large pyramid. The pyramid had a large golden idol on top. It looked like a large circle with eight jointed lines radiating from it. Percy thought, looking at it, that it could represent the sun; or considering all the things that have happened, it could also represent a spider. 

They started down into the valley and towards a path to the town. When they got onto the path, people started to approach them and everyone welcomed them. The people all appeared friendly and happy, but there was also an emptiness about them that Percy noticed. They made their way to the town and entered. They asked where they might find an inn or a boarding house. The people of the town directed them to an inn near the temple. A groom came out to get their horses, and they asked him if he had seen a man fitting Kraft's description. He thought for a moment and told them that he had not but that there where other inns in town. They went into the inn and to a large common room that had wonderful, aromas of things cooking. A large happy looking man came over and welcomed them to his inn. He said his name was Bengar and asked them if he could do anything for them. Percy said,

"We would like a room with two beds and a bath for myself and the lady."

Bengar nodded and called for a boy to take their bags up to the room. He told them the bath would be ready in about ten minutes and someone would come and get them. They went up to the room and started to unpack. When they were done, there was a knock at the door and a boy came in and said their baths were ready. Percy asked, 

"Is there a clothes washing service in the inn." The boy answered, 

"Yes it's down in the bathes." 

Taking down their travelling clothes with them. They went down the back stairs to the baths which where in a cavern under the inn. They had a hot bath and went back to the room. 

It was about time for dinner, so they went down to the common room. The food at the inn was marvellous and the server very pleasant, however Percy was surprised at how little information he got out of her. She seemed to talk without saying anything. He did find out that there is a registrar’s office in the temple where they could go and see the priests who keep a record of all the people who come to the village. After dinner they had a couple of drinks and talked to some of the locals and found out that most of the people had just moved to the valley. The person, who had lived there for the longest time, had lived in the valley for only five years. The locals said that they had all heard about this place from a priest in their hometowns. All the stories were about the same, 'Come to paradise and live the good life. Lots of food and all the things that you have ever wanted.' The people here had lots of money to spend and there had never been a theft. There is no city guard or militia; there has never been a war or a raid in the valley. This is truly paradise. After they had gone through this with a number of people, they left the common room and went up to their room. Anico went to sleep and Percy sat up and thought for awhile. This whole place did not make sense! 

Chapter 8

WHERE OH WHERE IS KRAFT

The next day they started looking for Kraft. They tried all the inns and boarding houses in town. At all of them they got the same response, no one had seen or heard of Kraft, though all the people they talked to were very evasive however they were all very willing to talk. Most told Percy and Anico that they should go to the temple and ask the registrar if he knew of Kraft. The temple was a large pyramid with the huge golden symbol on top. The problem was to find the door. It took them about twenty minutes to get half way around the temple to a set of large golden doors. Posted outside the doors were two ceremonial guards. Percy looked them over closely and saw that their swords were not ceremonial but very real and well maintained. The armour was the same, though it was of an unusual style. A guard opened the door for them and directed them to a reception area. 

The inside of the temple was all marble, floor, walls and ceiling. The furniture was all made of a dark red highly polished wood. The fixtures were all made of gold and they all shined in the lamplight. The place was very beautiful and yet not to the point of being gaudy. They went in and headed for the reception area, but before they got there a group of priests came walking down a large flight of stairs. They were all dressed in white robes with raised hoods, and golden symbol on their chests, except for one priest, who was female and was dressed in a white silk dress down to her ankle with a long slit up to her thigh. The dress was cut in the front down to her navel and it had no sleeves. She had a petit curvy body with a very athletic build, and hair like spun gold hanging down just below her shoulders. She had a look of determination that said 'I get what I want'. Percy and Anico watched as the group went down the stairs and through a set of ornate wooden doors. They then went up to the reception desk. 

Percy asked the attendant with out thinking, 

"Who was that beautiful woman with the priests?" The attendant behind the desk said, 

"That is the revered high priestess Dalia. She is the high priestess of the god who protects the valley of the sun." The name of Dalia caused an unpleasant feeling in Percy but he shook off these feelings. Anico could not wait so she asked the priest if they had any record of Kraft coming to the valley. He looked up at her and asked her when he would have come to the valley. She looked at Percy and then said,

"I would guess about two or three weeks ago. He would have been coming from Shadizar." The priest looked up with sadness in his eyes then he said,

"Let me check my records. It will take me about one hour, so if you would like to come back, I will have what news I can at that time." They left and Percy suggested that they walk around the temple. As they walked, Anico was in deep thought and said nothing. Percy on the other hand, was taking in every detail of the temple building. He was looking for doors, windows any way he could get into the temple unseen. It took them a little over an hour to get back to the entrance door. The guards opened the doors for them and they went in. The priest was near his desk and he looked up as they walked towards his desk.

He smiled and, as they reached his desk, said, 

"I have news but it is not conclusive. A merchant who comes to our valley to trade found this on a body that had been caught in a land slide in the pass." He pulled out a short sword in a plain brown leather scabbard. Anico looked at it and started to cry. The priest said, 

"I am sorry. I did not know if it was your brother's sword, but I can see by your reaction it is. The merchant said that he buried the body in the pass and then brought the sword to us thinking it might belong to one of our people. We asked around but no one claimed it so we kept it. You may have it to remember him by." At that the priest went back to his work. 

Percy led Anico back to the inn and ordered a bottle of brandy sent up to their room. He took her up to the room and made her sit down and when the brandy arrived he poured her a large one and made her drink it down. He asked if he could look at the sword. She handed it over and Percy inspected it from top to bottom and then gave it back to her and poured her another brandy. He then sat and pondered for a while.

Percy did not like the looks of Kraft's sword. If he had been caught in an avalanche there should be dents in the scabbard, but there was nothing. The leather was soft, supple and well maintained. It didn't make sense at all. He did not tell Anico of his suspicions because it would give her false hopes. Percy did not know if Kraft was alive, but he was almost positive he had not die in that avalanche. He also reasoned that the best way to find out more was to go and look around in the temple. 

After Anico had calmed down, Percy put her to bed and then lay down to sleep himself. He set his mental clock to wake up about midnight, as he wished to go and take a look inside the temple. He got up and put on a grey silk shirt and pants with a grey silk scarf over his head. He then put on soft black boots with a dagger in each and another down his back. Then he strapped on his sword. He wrote a quick note for Anico, in case he was late or, she woke up. He did not say where he was going only that he would be back later. Then he slipped down the back stairs and out the back door. He stayed in the shadows all the way to the temple. He did not see or hear anyone on his way there. When he got to the temple he saw a light near the top. 

Percy looked around and checked out the shadows carefully. He stopped when he noticed a movement in a shadow on the wall of the temple. He watched the spot closely and saw a figure all dressed in black. Percy watched and saw it was a guard of some sort. Though this guard was more like a thief looking for another thief, once Percy knew who was looking for him, he could always get around them. He moved away from the guard and moved towards the temple. When he got against the wall he looked up and saw the light from a window. He than started to climb up to where the light was coming from. The climb was not hard as the temple was old and weathered and the angle of the pyramid was not steep. Percy had to climb about seventy-five feet up to get to the source of light. When he got there he found a small window that lead into a scribes room. The scribe was at his desk working away. Percy tied himself off with some climbing gear that he always carried, and waited. He didn't wait long because another priest came in. Percy could not see who it was, but from the voice he thought it was a woman and, by the way the scribe acted, Percy thought that she was very important. She asked the scribe for a count of the population of humans in the valley and he told her that the count was around fifteen thousand. She said, 

"That's perfect. The next full moon is in two days and we can perform the right for my ascension." Then she told the priest to come with her. When they had both left the room, Percy untied himself and went in through the window. 

He looked around and quickly determined that he was in the registers records room. He found that the records went back about five years and they were listed by weeks. He then went looking for the weeks that Kraft should have arrived at the valley. He found the first week on one of the shelves and looked through it but didn't find any mention of Kraft. The next week was not on the shelf so he looked on the desk and there it was under some papers. He looked through it and there it was. Kraft had come to the valley and the registrar had known. There was a bit of personal information, including the name, age, and physical description and where he was from. There was also a small hieroglyph beside it; Percy didn't understand what it meant. Although it looked like an arcane warrior symbol, it could have been anything. Percy looked through the rest of the room but didn't find anything of interest and, as he was about to leave, he heard someone at the door. He moved away from the door and hid behind a bookshelf. Two priests came in and were talking. The first priest said, 

"We need two more warriors for crowd control during the ceremony. Do we have any more warriors in the valley." The second priest said, 

"Yes we have a couple of warriors who retired here. I think they would do just fine." 

"Good, I’ll have them collected and perform the soul control ceremony right away. We'll have to see if there are any crystals set up for the souls."

"Check them carefully. I wouldn't want another incident like we had when that last crystal broke and the man got his soul back. It's a shame I would have liked to talked to him about the experience, but with his knowledge of our plans, it would have been too dangerous."

"Yes. Killing him was a waste." The two priests continued to talk as they walked out. Percy listened as they walked away then he headed for the window. 

He climbed out and back down the wall, at the bottom he looked around to see if the guard had moved. The guard was still at his post, so Percy moved off into the shadows. He went back to the inn and made his way to his room. Anico was still asleep so he had a brandy and then went to bed.

Chapter 9

FINDING A FRIEND

The next morning they woke to a beautiful summer like day even though it was fall. The temperature was hot and the sun was bright. Anico was still asleep so Percy had breakfast sent up to the room. She had taken the news of her brother very badly, so Percy just let her sleep for awhile. He ate his breakfast and sat thinking about what he had heard last night. What were these priests up to? It didn't seem good, whatever it was. Could they really be thinking of bringing the Queen of Hell to this world? Percy tried to think of another answer, but nothing else made any sense. He came to the conclusion that he had to go back to the temple and find out what was going on. Anico woke up and said she was going to have a bath. Percy told her that he was going to talk to the innkeeper about the temple. Then he left their rooms and went down stairs into the common room. The innkeeper was there so Percy ordered a bottle of his best wine and asked the innkeeper to join him. The man brought the bottle of wine and two glasses. As he sat down, Percy introduced himself, and told him he came from Shadizar. The innkeeper said his name was Bengar and that he was at Percy's service. Percy asked if there was a town council or any other sort of local government. Bengar said no, and that the most important title, beside priest, is that of magistrate and his duties are to settle disputes between individuals. He has no power to make laws. He just interprets them. Percy asked Bengar, 

"Who is it that makes the laws?" Bengar answered, 

"They have been handed down from the sun god who protects the valley. Thought there are very few laws in the valley, I read them once and as I remember there was only three pages, or should I said tablets, as they are carved in stone."

"What of the temple. Who built it and when?"

"I don't know who built it but it was constructed about five hundred years ago. The valley used to be a secret retreat for the priests of this order. Though, about ten years ago, they opened it up for people to come and settle here. People have been coming here ever since to enjoy the peace of the valley."

"What of the priests and their guards? How do they interact with the population? "

"The guards don't do much except escort caravans out of the valley. The priests are very rarely seen except on holy days. All the people in the valley must attend. On those holy days, we must all go to the temple to give our thanks to the sun god. These ceremonies last anywhere from twelve to twenty four hours and I really don't remember much about what goes on". Percy was getting a bad feeling and asked, 

"When is the next holy day?" 

"It is not a day. It is a night and the next one is two nights from now." Percy thanked him and Bengar excused himself saying,

"I've got to go. I've got a lot of work to do. Thanks for the wine."

Percy nodded and poured himself some more wine. He sat for awhile in thought and then noticed that Anico had come down and sat with him. He told her she looked better and asked if she would like to go for a walk. She agreed and they left the inn. As they walked along the street, the town looked normal. Percy asked a man if he knew were they could find a smith, who worked on weapons. They were directed to a smith up in the hills. The man said, 

"People said there was no need for weapons and the smith was an unpleasant man, so the high priest asked him to move to the site in the hills." Percy and Anico went to the inn to get their horses. As it was a nice day, they asked at the inn for a picnic lunch to take with them. They rode out into the valley to a path leading up into the hills. They tethered the horses and walked up to a big cave. They walked in and found a well-stocked supply of armour and weapons. A large man with a big smile walked towards them. He introduced himself as Gorg and told them that this was his place and asked them what he could do for them. Percy said,

"I am looking for two things; first, a bracer of throwing knives for myself, and second, an outfit for the young lady for a dangerous journey. Percy told Gorg that the lady would need two boot daggers; weighted for both fighting and throwing, and a fighting dagger for her belt. She will also need a set of light black leather armour and boots." Gorg looked at Percy as if he were mad. Percy said, 

"Is there a problem?" Then Gorg answered, 

"No no! I'm just a little surprised at the request but I'm sure I can help you." Gorg nodded and he said, 

"If you will follow me." They headed towards the back of the cave where they noticed a large wooden door. They went through the door and Percy stopped up short, for inside on racks and shelves, there was enough armour and weapons to outfit an army. Gorg showed Percy the rack with all the daggers and knives.

"Look until you find what you like, if need there is a target off to the right where you can try them." Percy said, 

"You have an amazingly large inventory here." Gorg shook his head and said, 

"No, not really, most of this has been commissioned by the high priestess Dalia, but I suppose I can sell you what you need and replace it later." Percy noted that there was enough weaponry to outfit everyone in the valley. Gorg answered as if reading Percy's mind, 

"I do sell to the citizenry of the valley and this is what I have been told to keep in inventory in case of attack."

Percy started to look through the daggers and found three sets that he liked; all were nondescript with a dull metal finish. He took them over to the target and tried them out. When he had thrown them a few times he decided on one set and put the other two back on the rack. He called out to Anico and she answered from farther back in the cave. Percy headed towards her voice. He found Gorg and asked him where Anico was. Gorg pointed to a curtained alcove. Percy asked Anico to come out so he could see her in her armour. When the curtain opened he was not prepared for what he saw. She had on a set of skin tight, black, padded leather armour. It hugged her body at ever curve. The armour had been expertly made for a woman; it had a deep V-neck that caused Percy to stare. He had always thought Anico a nice girl, but in truth she was a mature sexy woman. As he got over his shock he noticed Anico had her brother's sword attached to a large black belt that hugged her hips. She also had a fighting dagger and a purse full of throwing stars hanging from belt. Percy thought she looked dangerous in more ways than one. He smiled at her and asked her how she felt in her new outfit. She said, 

"I've never worn anything that fit me so well." She started into one of the fighting stances, that Percy had taught her, to show him that her new outfit didn't restrict her movements. As she went through the form, Percy thought he had never seen anything so graceful or more deadly. He looked at Gorg and found that he was mesmerised by the whole scene.

Percy nudged Gorg to bring him back to reality and said, 

"How much do I owe you for everything." 

"Two gold pieces for what you have but the ladies harness is a gift." Percy looked at him, and Gorg continued, 

"I'll add it to the bill for Dalia at the temple." Anico had finished the fighting exercise and asked them what they thought. Percy and Gorg were both speechless. 

She put on a pout and said, 

"You didn't like it." They both spoke at once, 

"It was wonderful and I'm speechless." She told them not to exaggerate but thanked them for being so nice. Percy told Anico that Gorg had given the outfit to her. On hearing this, Anico ran over and threw her arms around Gorg and gave him a big kiss. The smithy was, at first, taken aback by the affectionate onslaught, but he soon returned the hug and smiled at her. 

Then Anico did something very strange; she asked Gorg how he came to be here. He told them he had been born in the mountains. Anico asked, 

"Well, who were your parents?" Gorg looked surprised, and said, 

"My mother was a human but my father was of a race called the mountain dwellers. They are a short race, almost as wide as they are tall. They are experts at metalworking, especially weapons and armour. My father was a master at both. He taught me when I was old enough." Gorg went on to tell them that the mountains were his home until he reached manhood, at which time he left his home in the mountains to go down and explore the world of the humans. When he came back to his home, he found it had been deserted. He ended up here were he could practice his trade and still be in the mountains to be here when his parents came back. Anico looked at Gorg and asked him how old he was. From his physical appearance, Percy would have thought Gorg would be about thirty five to forty five. Gorg looked at them and said, 

"I'm three hundred and forty two." They both looked shocked and somewhat disbelieving, so he quickly explained that his father's race had a very long life span and that he inherited that trait. Anico was the first to recover and told Gorg that it was very interesting. 

She then said to Percy, 

"Why don't we have our lunch here with Gorg?" Percy had now recovered and nodded yes, and agreed that would be an excellent idea. Maybe he would tell us about the valley and it's inhabitants. They all sat and drank wine while Gorg told them of his life, from living with the hill dwellers, to his travels around the world. He told them that he thought his people were run off by something. The only things he could guess that would have scared off the hill dwellers were the monsters called neo-ock. They are hideous creatures that are half man and half spider. They are about seven to ten feet tall and about six to eight feet long. Their human half is flesh and they wear armour in battle. Their spider half is black with coarse strands of hair in tufts. It is also covered with a hard shell that is as good as the best armour. Their weapon of choice is a long spear with a serrated edge on one side of its blade. Percy asked,

"Have you ever seen one of these creatures?"

"No and I hope I never will." Percy said, 

"I had a run in with one of these creatures in a valley not far from here, and I killed it by chopping off it head." Gorg said, 

"That would not kill it." Percy answered, 

"You may be right. The creature's body was not there the next day. How do you kill them? " 

"You have to free their souls first or they will regenerate until they are whole again." 

Percy and Anico had been at the cave of Gorg most of the afternoon and decided it was time to go. They said their good-byes. Gorg said he would see them tomorrow night at the ceremony in the temple, as all that are in the valley are required to be there. At that Percy and Anico left for town. They got back to the inn in time for dinner. They ate and Percy told Anico that he was going to explore the temple tomorrow, and if she wanted to go; she could, but it would be dangerous. She looked at him as if to say, 'why would you do that?' He explained his suspicions to her about the temple and everything involved with it. He did not voice his suspicions about her brother. She could not believe her ears, but it all made any sense. Something terrible was going to happen at the temple tomorrow night and they had to stop it.

Chapter 10

THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE

The morning was dark and overcast. The dullness of it created an ominous feeling over the valley. Percy and Anico went down for breakfast and ate without talking. They then went back up to their room and got ready to visit the temple. Anico put on her leather armour and belted on her weapons. She then put on a long grey hooded cloak. Percy put on his grey pants and silk shirt. He had on his new brace of throwing daggers across his chest, and his trusted dagger and rapier hooked to his belt. His hooded cloak was long and grey. They then left the inn and started off towards the temple. The weather had everyone in cloaks so Percy and Anico didn't stand out in the crowd. They worked their way to the temple and found a good vantage point from which to watch. Staying there until noon they saw only two people enter. The two guards were at their post by the front door and they were not letting anyone in the temple. Percy couldn't come up with any ideas for getting into the temple. 

He talked to Anico about the problem and she asked him.

"What's the name of the high priestesses?" Percy thought for a second and remembered it was Dalia or something like that. 

"Dalia is a women with power." Anico said, 

"I would imagine she does not let her orders be questioned. We could use that to our advantage. We could walk up and say she requested are presents." Percy said,

"That just might work, but lets do it when there is no one around." The crowd thinned out and soon there was no one in sight so they made their move. They approached the guards and Percy said that the high priestess Dalia has sent for them. Without thinking, Percy opened his cloak and the guard looked him over and his eyes stopped on the dagger, which Percy had taken from the assassin in Shadizar. The guard's eyes showed first recognition, then fear. Both guards moved to the side to let them pass. 

Percy and Anico walked into the empty reception area and quickly moved into a shadowy alcove. This gave them a place from which they could study the area further. They looked around and saw nothing so, Percy decided to go through the double doors at the other end of the reception area. They moved along the wall until they were at the door. They both listened, Percy at the door, Anico for any movement in the temple. Anico heard someone walking towards them on the upper floor. She tapped Percy on the back and pointed up the stairs. Percy nodded and opened the double doors. He walked in like he owned the place, with Anico at his heels. They both quickly looked around and saw that they were in a large room with pews and a podium at the front for preaching. The room could easily hold thousands of people. There were a couple of priests running around setting up the podium. Percy and Anico saw that there were two other doors out of this room, one on either side of the podium. They walked towards the podium like they knew what they were doing. They went to the door on the right of the podium and found it locked. Percy pulled out a lock pick and went to work on the door. He made it look like he was using a key and he had the door open in less time than it would take most people with a key. 

They walked through the door and were shocked; the room that they were in was long and narrow with shelves all over the place. On the shelves were an uncountable number of identical multisided crystals, and in front of each one was a small golden bowl full of curious objects. Some bowls had hair and nail clippings in them and some bowls looked as if they had blood stains on them. As they walked through they noticed that a few of the crystals had a pulsing light in them. They also found a door at the back of the chamber, which was made of black wood, and had a golden sun or spider symbol engraved on it. Percy looked at the door and then felt it with his fingertips. He shook his head and turned to look at Anico. He didn't know why but he didn't like this door, it felt wrong somehow. He told Anico to go back behind the shelves while he opened the door. She did as she was told and he opened it. 

Percy saw a glowing symbol in the air and then it disappeared. He was all of a sudden filled with intolerable fear, and he couldn't move, he couldn't even speak. The fear that had enveloped Percy was all encompassing and he was afraid to move and yet afraid to stay were he was. He had never felt anything like this in his life; he just stood there shaking. Anico could see Percy, from where she stood, and he looked like he was frozen. She looked all around but couldn't see anything wrong so she called out to Percy to find out if it was all clear but he didn't answer her. She moved up beside him to see what had happened. His eyes were open but there did not seem to be any life in them. She asked him what was wrong, but all he did was crouch into a self-protective ball. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. He looked up at her and said, 

"Please don't hurt me." She was so shocked that he would say that, and then she thought she knew what had happened. He had said there was something wrong with the door. Could it have a spell on it? 

Now, what to do. She knew nothing of wizards or magic. Anico thought, if this spell projected an emotion, then maybe another emotion could break it. She leaned down and grabbed Percy by the shoulders. She tilted his head back and told Percy that she loved him, but, what she was going to do was for his own good. Then she quickly and repeatedly slapped him across the face. She had to hold on to him, so that he didn't get away as she just kept slapping him. She felt like she had been at it for an hour, when all of a sudden, Percy's hand flew up and caught her by the wrist. She looked shocked but quickly noticed the sparkle had returned to his eyes, as well as tears from her hitting him. He looked deep into her eyes and said, 

"Thank-you." He didn't know what had happened but he thought that the door had had a spell on it. He had been filled with a fear that had frozen him. Percy asked, 

"How did you bring me around?" Anico told him she tried to install a stronger feeling to push the fear out. He looked up at her, 

"Brains as well as beauty." She blushed, 

"Don't you think we should get on with checking this place out."

Percy got up off the floor and put his hand to his face. It was very sore. He looked through the open door way, and he noticed that it didn't have the same feel as it had before. The opening behind the door, lead to a set of stairs going down, there were torches in the wall and so they could see that the stairs went down a long way. They went through the door and closed it behind them. They stayed close to the wall as they went down the stairs, but they neither heard a noise nor saw anything, so they continued on. They eventually saw a door on a landing and took great care as they approached it. This door did not have the same feeling as the last one so Percy went up to it and listened. At first he didn't hear anything then a small clicking sound came to him. He opened the door just a crack to see if he could see anything. There it was down the hall, it was an abomination of nature. It was a creature with a spider's body and a man's body from the waist up, where its head should be. Percy couldn't believe his eyes. This was the same creature that Gorg had described to them. Percy had also seen these creatures in Tynne's valley. This one had a small shield with a golden spider on it and a sword, as will as the standard pole-arm. 

Percy quickly closed the door and took Anico back up the stairway. He told her what he had seen and then said, 

"We're going to have to fight it." They went back down to the door and walked through it. Heading right at the monster Percy grabbed Anico’s arm and forced her ahead of him. Percy looked at it and he noticed that the human part was very lanky and had long dirty blond hair that was very curly and framed a very aquiline face. Its arms were covered with bazaar tattoos that looked like they were moving under it's skin. It moved with the grace of a trained warrior as it lowered his pole-arm at Percy and Anico. He spoke to them in a high squeaky language, which they didn't understand. Percy looked at him and said, 

"The female does not understand; and, out of respect, you will use the common tongue. Now, for her benefit, repeat what you said." The creature looked at him with hatred in its eyes, but he slowly looked at Anico and said in common tongue. 

"What are you doing here?" Percy said, 

"Now that's better, but if I thought I had to answer to you, I would" Percy stared to walk past the monster. When he was about half way past the monster, he turned and, in the same motion, he pulled his sword. He attacked with all his strength aiming for the base of the creature’s neck. When he connected with his target, he found it was armoured and all he had accomplished was to stun it. That was enough, because Anico had figured out what Percy was doing and she had drawn her sword and stabbed up under the creatures breastplate and into its chest were its heart should have been. The creature fell over and in the process it yanked her sword out of her hand. She jumped back not knowing if the monster was dead or not. 

Percy moved over beside her and put his arm around her. He looked at her and told her that she had done well. He went and pulled out her sword that had gone so deep it took both of his hands and all his strength to pull it out. When the sword came out, there was a melon size spider on it. It was jet black and looked like a stone. As he tried to knock it off, it came to life. The spider started to walk up the sword towards Percy. He threw the sword down and the spider came towards him. Percy pulled out his own sword and tried to stab it, but his sword bounced off as if the spider was really made of stone. Percy and Anico both moved away as the spider came towards them. They kept backing up until eventually they were up against the wall. Percy was stabbing at the rock spider with all this might. Anico looked around trying to find something to attack it with. They were getting desperate because nothing seemed to harm it. She picked up a large rock and threw it on top of spider. The rock slammed into the spider and shattered it into little pieces. The pieces then turned to dust before their eyes. 

They retrieved Anico's sword and found that the creature had mutated into a human form. Percy went to the door and listen to find out if anyone had heard the noise. Anico picked up her sword and went to check out the man lying on the floor. She called to Percy and told him that the man on the floor was alive. Percy came over and looked, sure enough he was alive. Anico tried to wake him up but Percy said,

"Maybe we should just leave him?" Anico looked up at Percy and said, 

"We should help him." Percy lifted the man's head and put some water to his mouth. The man on the floor coughed and sputtered. He opened his eyes and looked around. Anico smiled at him and asked him his name. The man on the floor got an intense look in his eyes, but did not answer. She then asked him if he was in any pain. He looked up at her and his eyes softened and he then told her that he couldn't remember his true name. The only thing he could remember was the name that the witch had given him when she transformed him into that creature. She had named him Arak-nodisc. What kind of a person would steal your life memories like that? He said he wanted to kill her. He had a look about him that made Anico feel sorry for him so she bent over and hugged him.

He looked at her and said in a soft voice that did not agree with his words, 

"We must get out of here because someone will be along soon." Then he said, in a more assertive voice, 

"I know where we can hide." Percy looked questionably at Anico and said, 

"We have to stop Dalia." Their new acquaintance looked at Percy and said, 

"Stop her from doing what?" Percy said, 

"Take us to this hiding place of yours and we will explain." They headed down the corridor away from the door, which their new acquaintance had been guarding.

Anico asked, 

"What should we call him?" Percy replied, 

"By the look of all those tattoos he was a sailor.  Why don't we just call him Captain? "Anico looked at him to see if he liked his new name and he smiled. She said, 

"Captain it is." 

As Captain lead them down the corridor they came to an Y branch. He looked at them and said,

"We always take the right branch but there are two guards posted along it. The left branch has it's own hazards but nobody uses it. The two corridors come out near a place of safety. If we trip an alarm we couldn't hide. I think we should take the left path." Anico and Percy nodded their agreement and off they went. Captain was in the lead through the corridor, but was going very slow, looking for strings across the corridor or stones in the floor that move. The pace was very slow but he said it was necessary. He had already found two step triggers and one trip wire. All of a sudden they heard a click. They all froze. Anico and Percy were a couple of steps behind Captain. The quiet was deafening, and nothing happened until Anico turned to look at Percy. The floor was shifting under their feet in a teeter totter fashion. When the floor was in its open position, Percy saw that bellow was a deep pit with spikes in the floor. He also saw that there was a skull skewered on one of the spikes. 

Percy knew that he could step back off the trap, but if he did, Anico would fall in. Anico on the other hand would need to take two or three steps to get off the trap. He took his coil of rope and threw it to Captain. He told him to throw the end to Anico and have her tie it around her waist, then tie the other end around you making sure there is no slack. When all that was done, Percy told Captain and Anico his plan. Anico was to run towards Captain while he pulled on the rope, and at the same time Percy would step off the other end. Anico looked at Percy and said that won’t work because you'll fall in the pit. Percy smiled and shook his head. He explained he was right near the edge while Anico was three or four steps from it. Because of this, the trap door lowers on Anico's end and raises on Percy's. 

When everyone was ready Captain said,

"I'll count to three; on three, we are all going to do what we have to do according to Percy's plan." They both nodded and Captain counted one, two, and three! Anico ran as Captain pulled and Percy jumped. There was a flurry of activity. Anico flew across the open floor from the effort of her jumping and of Captain pulling, while Percy jumped up and over the raising floor. He came down hard and was winded. He had his back to all the action so he didn't see what had happened but, when he turned around, he saw Anico and Captain lying on the floor in a tangle of rope. They were laughing their heads off.

Percy heard a click as the floor moved back into place. He hoped it was locked and he tried it with a little weight at first but it seemed to hold, so he moved across to where Anico and Captain were getting untangled. He helped them and then said that they should all get going. The rest of the journey was slow but uneventful, and they got to Captain's hiding spot. It turned out to be an old deserted supply room. They settled in and Percy started to explain to Captain what they had figured out about Dalia and the fact that she was going to open the gate tomorrow night. While he had been talking, Anico had prepared food and after they ate, Percy asked Captain if he knew where she would open the portal. He said that it could only happen in the main temple and that he knew a secret way to get there.

A NIGHT TO FORGET

Percy volunteered to keep watch for the first part of the night. Anico and Captain talked quietly off in the corner until they fell asleep. Percy was sitting in the dark on an old musty barrel near the door when the noises started. He tried to blank the noises out but they kept directing his thoughts. Percy had been in some bad spots in his life but noting seemed to be as bad as being deep in the bowels of a temple that was dedicated to the purpose of bringing the Queen of Hell to this world. He tried to think of anything else, but he kept picturing the Queen of Hell destroying everything and everyone he loved. Although he was still awake, he started to drift in and out of dreaming. In his mind he was walking through a field near his home in Aquin. It was a beautiful spring day, the birds were singing and the grass had the smell of morning dew. It was one of those days that make's you feel happy to be alive. Then he saw Anico up on a rise overlooking his old house. She waved him off urging him to stay where he was as she came walking towards him. He heard a large crash on the other side of the hill. He started to run to the top of the hill. Anico was now within shouting distance. She tried to stop him, all the time, saying it was not his fault. He ran past her and looked down on his ancestral home. There had been a battle and his family was all on their knees and the high priestess Dalia was standing over them. She was glowing in the sun with a strange black radiance. This aura gave her a beauty and an evil unknown to man. Percy's father was in front of her and he dropped face first into the dirt at her feet. He was pleading with her to let him become one of the chosen. Dalia laughed a low and wicked laugh and told him if he killed his youngest daughter, he could be chosen. Percy's father got up, walked over to his youngest daughter and put his hands around her throat. Percy watched, with tears in his eyes, as his father strangled the life out of his baby sister. Dalia just stood there and laughed, but to Percy's eyes she had changed, instead of being beautiful she was now a hideous giant spider. 

Percy could not take it any more and he ran down the hill with his sword in hand. Anico was at his side and she also had her sword out. Dalia looked at them and then told Percy's family to kill them. Percy's family rose to their feet and all of a sudden they were neo-ocks and they rushed towards Percy and Anico. When the two groups met, at first Percy could only defend himself while he tried to talk to his family to get them to come to their senses. He came to the relaxation that his family was gone and all he could do to help them was to kill them. He went on the attack and quickly killed his older brother. Anico had not had a problem; she had already killed Percy's mother and his other sister. The battle continued for some time with blows being exchanged and Percy's family being cut down slowly but the survivors would not give up. Finally Anico had been knocked out, or so Percy thought and he was facing his father in a battle to the death. Percy had tears in his eyes as he put his sword through his father’s neck. He then fell to his knees and cried, but something cut through his grief. It was Dalia, and she was laughing at him. He got to his feet and walked to her and looked her in the eyes and said, 

"You took my family now I take your life." He swung his sword and it went right through her. She laughed and said, 

"You puny human. You can't hurt me. I am the Queen of Hell." 

Percy was suddenly awake and shaking. He looked around and saw that everything was the same, including the low chanting. He checked to see how Anico was doing and noticed she also was shaking and then he saw Captain who he was quietly sleeping. He went back to his seat by the door and thought about his family and the things he had done in his life. He had never been the ideal son, but he felt he had grown into a good man and he wished his father had lived long enough to see that all his lectures and whippings had done what he had intended. He sat thinking about his childhood until it was time to change the watch. He went over to wake Anico and found that she was still shaking. He woke her up and asked if she was ok! She looked at him like she had just looked through a door and into the depths of hell itself. Percy asked again if she was ok! She shook herself and then in a detached voice said,

"Yes I think so." Percy asked, 

"What happened?" She looked at him and told him that she had had a dream and it was so very real.

"Yes", Percy said, "I know. I had one too. In mine I had to kill my whole family. What was your dream about?"

She looked at him and said, 

"It started in the Saucy Goose. You, Jack and I were at the bar having a drink. Then all of sudden the door was broken in by six neo-ocks. Jack jumped behind the bar and came up with a big bastard sword in his hands. He then came over the bar and started towards the neo-ocks. He was yelling for them to get out of his wine shop and never show there stinking carcasses in there again. Three of them jumped to attack him. Jack defended himself well until we got there to help him and then he slipped on something that I had spilled earlier and a neo-ok got under his guard and cut him open from his crotch to his neck. Jack looked at her and told her not to give up and then he fell into a heap of mush on the floor. I fought until I was ready to fall down from exhaustion. Then I heard this hideous laughter coming from the open door. The neo-ocks backed away from me, but they made sure I could not get away .Dalia looked down at me and told me to submit to the will of Neo-oktin so that this battle can cease. I was so tired that I was on my knees and when I heard this ultimatum I got up and looked at you. You were crying and submitting to Dalia; but, as she was putting the rock spider up to your chest, I took out a throwing star and aimed it for Dalia and threw it. The star caught her hand and she dropped the spider. It broke. She turned on me and told you that if you wanted to be saved you would have to kill me. You turned to do it, but when you were half a step away from Dalia, you attacked her with lighting speed. You went straight for her head in an attempt to cut it off, but the sword went right through her. She pulled a dagger from her robes and drove it deep into your heart. Dalia just laughed and said; 'Now you go to feed the legions in hell.' Then she came over to me and said, 'What is your choice? Do you join us in this plane or do you go with your friend to hell as a plaything for the legion. In order to help you decide I will give you a peak into his situation.'

A cloud of bright smoke appeared in front of Dalia and it contained every colour in the rainbow. The smoke swirled in a clock wise motion all the while it kept going faster and faster, until it was a solid shade of black, but slowly, shadows started to form within it. The shadows eventually became silhouettes and then figures. Most of the figures were very distorted and quiet hideous with multiple arms and legs as well as many heads. It was so hideous that I could barely look at it. All of the creatures had weapons of one kind or another and they were using them to strike at a mass of flesh. I looked at the mass of flesh and realised that it was you. You were on your hands and knees and I could see that you were both crying and screaming at the same time. I looked at Dalia and said, 'If I join, will you stop that.' Dalia looked at me and laughed, 'No I won't, but it doesn't have to happen to you, or maybe you think it's better to suffer with someone you care about. How long do you think you would love him, knowing it is because of him that your soul is slowly being torn out thread by thread? It would be interesting to see how much it would take to turn that love to hate.' It was at that point that you woke me up and I'll be grateful for that till my dying day."

Percy looked at Anico with deep affection in his eyes and asked her if she wanted him to sit up with her for awhile. She nodded yes and they both sat down near the door, and eventually, he fell asleep with his head in her lap. 

Chapter 12

A DAY OF CELEBRATION

Percy woke up to a kick on his legs. His head was still in Anico's lap and she was telling Captain that it was not necessary to kick Percy. Percy got up and asked Captain, 

"What time is it? "

"It's about six o'clock in the morning."

"Good lets get out of here. Captain do you know a quick and easy way out of here. "

"Yes to both. One way is quick and the other is easy but there's no way that's both quick and easy." Percy thought for a second and then said, 

"Let’s take the easy way. We can always make up time later." Captain went to the door and listened for any sounds and eventually said that the way was clear and that it was safe to go. Percy went to the door and opened it just a crack and looked out. The way appeared to be clear so he opened the door all the way and looked both ways down the corridor. The way was clear so he waved Captain forward and asked him which way should they go. Captain pointed left which was not the passage they had come down. 

Percy and Anico were just about to walk out when Captain closed the door partially on them, and before they could say anything, they heard him talking to someone. Whoever it was asked Captain what he was doing down here at this time of the day. Captain replied that he had special orders to patrol the lower areas because of the celebration today. Captain continued, 

"You know those peasants. They like to look were they shouldn't." Percy and Anico heard Captain laugh and the other voice said, 

"Don't I know it." Then Captain was asked again what he was doing down here and he told them he was checking out the storage rooms. They wished him all the best and said that they had to be on their way, but hopefully he would make it back upstairs in time for the real celebration at midnight. Captain stood by the door waiting for the guards to leave. 

When the guards were gone, Captain opened the door and flagged Percy and Anico out and the three of them hurried down the passageway. They kept as close to the walls as they could. They were moving down a very old tunnel that looked like it had been dug by hand. The workmanship was not very good and some of the sconces were rusted and falling out but were still able to hold lit torches. They followed the tunnel and eventually there were no more torches but they could see light up ahead. Captain stopped them and he whispered that there might be a guard ahead. Percy signalled them to stay put and he moved down the tunnel. He couldn't see anything until he was almost at the opening. The opening was covered and hidden by some bushes and there was a guard seated there looking out towards the valley.

He had his back to Percy, who moved silently up to him until he was almost within striking distance. Then he moved in and attacked the guard. Percy had his sword out and he moved towards the guard with lighting speed. He sword sliced into the guard just below his chin and took his head off. The guard's head went flying and his body toppled off his chair. Percy signalled for Anico and Captain to come on. He pulled the guard's body out of sight and then he looked for the head but he couldn't find it. He figured it rolled down the hill. Anico and Captain came out to where Percy was looking around trying to get his bearings. They were about a mile from town and about a mile and a half from Gorg's cave. Percy decided that it would be best to go to Gorg's cave, because, if Gorg knew about the Neo-ocks, he would surly want to help them. 

They started off and Captain asked, 

"Where are we going?" Percy didn't say anything, so Anico told him that they were going to see a friend of theirs named Gorg. Anico noticed a strange look cross Captain’s face, but he recovered quickly; she couldn't be sure what the change in his expression had meant. The tired threesome started to walk towards Gorg's cave. It took them about an hour to get there. Anico ran the last little way up to Gorg's cave and gave him a big hug as he came out to greet them. Gorg had a big smile on his face, which had been brought about by Anico's hug. He looked down at Percy and Captain and told them to hurry and come in. He could see they were pretty well beat. They all went into Gorg's cave and this time Gorg lead them into his chambers were they could all sit down and rest. Gorg got out a flagon of wine and four glasses that he proceeded to fill and hand out.

When they all had a glass of wine and were seated Percy introduced Captain to Gorg and then started to tell him what had happened to them in the last day. Gorg sat quietly until Percy got to the point about Captain being a neo-ok. Gorg said, 

"Are you sure about that?" Percy looked at Captain, 

"Yes, I know what I saw and what has happened why?" Gorg got up from his seat and looked at Captain like he was something that should be wiped off the face of the world. Percy got in front of Gorg and told him to listen to the rest of the story before he did anything. Gorg sat down and heard how Captain had saved Anico and later had prevented both of them from being captured. Percy then went on to tell Gorg what they had figured out about Dalia. They thought she was going to try to bring Neo-oktin, the Queen of Hell, through an opening and into this world.

Gorg's mouth hung open and he said, 

"That would be mad, because the results would be, everyone on this plane would die." Percy said, 

"She either doesn't care or has some way to do it so that she can get control of this world." Gorg replied, 

"You know that the whole valley's population has to go to the temple tonight for a ceremony of great importance." Percy asked Captain if he knew anything about what Dalia was up to. Captain looked at Percy and said, 

"I'm sorry but I'm only a lowly guard and guards are not told very much. I barely got guard duty in the upper part of the temple, and was not supposed to know anything about the lower part of the temple." Captain looked around as if he was afraid of being over heard. Then he told everyone, 

"That's where the quarters for all the neo-ocks are, as well as, there alter to Neo-oktin. That was the door I was guarding when we met. There is also a large underground grotto that he had to go to once and once was enough for me. The grotto was full of these small spiders that looked as if they were made of stone. I went in with a priest who surrounded us with some sort of magical light. The light seemed to keep the spiders at least five feet away." Percy asked Captain,

“How many of these spiders did he think were in this grotto?” Captain said, 

"I don't know, but I would guess thousands." Percy looked disturbed and glanced over at Anico. She was visibly shaken by this knowledge and put her arms around herself to give herself a reassuring hug. 

Gorg then said, in a forced but cheery voice, 

"How about we have something to eat before we plan our attack on the temple." He then stood up and asked Anico to give him a hand with the food. She went into the kitchen with him and they got some meat, cheese and a loaf of black bread for their lunch. She brought it out on platters that she put it on the table so they could all sit down. They all ate in silence until everything was gone. Then Anico got up from the table and started to clean up. Gorg told her that it was not necessary and that he would do the cleaning later, but she told him that her old habits die-hard. Gorg then asked Percy,

“Will you help me with something in the other room?” Percy said,

“Sure,” and they both walked out into the workroom and then down to the storage room. When they were in the storage room they walked over to the target on the wall and Gorg pushed one target off to the side to reveal a small doorway. They got down on their hands and knees and crawled through the door into a small room. When Percy got up he saw a lot of cubicles cut into the wall. They were all lined with silk and had all sorts of strange objects in them. Gorg went over to a cubical and reached in. He pulled out a small rock on a silver chain. He put it around his neck and then reached in for another one. He gave that one to Percy and told him that the amulet was very special to his father's people. This amulet will help you to see the truth in certain situations. Gorg said,

“The reason I am giving you this amulet is because I don't believe what Captain is telling us. I do not know a lot about neo-ocks, but some of the stories I have heard were that a neo-ock can hide his true identity from people through some magic spell. The stories also told that noe-ocks can not be killed with normal weapons, and that they have a crystal where they keep their soul and that the crystal has to be destroyed before they can be affected by normal weapons.” Percy told Gorg about the room they had found in the temple, which was full of these weird crystals. Gorg went back to the wall and took out a large two-handed hammer. He said, 

"This should help us with that. If this hammer is hit on the floor in the middle of the room ten times, it should destroy all the crystals and send the souls back to whomever they belong, and then normal weapons can kill them. That brings us to another point. This friend of yours, you did not destroy his crystal so I don't know if he has changed or not. He could still be a neo-ok but in the guise of a human." 

Percy looked at Gorg shook his head. The things that he had told to Percy were all in stories that were handed down through generations. He didn't think anyone alive could tell for sure one way or the other. The amulets on the chains may help, but they are not always active. The best way to make them work is to hold them in your hand while you look at, or talk to the person you are testing. If he is still a neo-ok, he may know you have an amulet and will attack you and try to get away. Gorg suggested that he and Percy should alternate checking with the amulets. With this plan in mind, they headed back to Gorg's living quarters. When they got there they found Anico sitting on a chair drinking her wine. Percy asked her if she knew where Captain was. She told Percy that she thought he had been with him and Gorg. Percy and Gorg both ran for the cave entrance and looked around. About half a mile away they could see Captain running with all his might towards the village and the temple. They ran back into Gorg's apartment and told Anico to get ready to move quickly. Captain was a spy and now he has gone to tell his bosses everything about our plans and us. Gorg said, 

"We must leave. I have a hiding place in the village which is near the temple, actually it is part of the temple and we can hide there." They gathered up some candles, torches and some food and put it in a bag and headed towards the village by a roundabout route. The roads and paths were busy because today was a day of celebration in the valley. No one was at work and all were expected to feast and party all day and then that night everyone had to go to the temple to give thanks to the god of the sun. Gorg explained all this as they walked along. 

Gorg was leading them through the rather jubilant crowd in the direction of the temple. As they got closer Percy noticed that they were heading off to the right of the temple to a large building with no windows. When they got up to the door Gorg swore as he grabbed the lock. 

"The lock's new," Gorg said, 

"I don't know how to open it." Percy smiled and said, 

"Let me have a look at that". He studied the lock carefully and asked, 

"What's in here?" 

"It's the armoury of the temple guard and they don't want anyone to get in there." 

“This was one of the most complicated locks I have ever seen, and when it came to locks, I know what I am doing.” Gorg and Anico made a wall with their bodies to keep prying eyes away from Percy while he worked on the lock. They heard a click and looked down to see that the lock and the door were both open and Percy was nowhere to be seen. 

They went inside and closed the door behind them. There was no light in the building. Then all of a sudden a torch was lit before them. The light at first blinded them but then they could see it was Percy. He looked at Gorg and said, 

"Now where is this secret door into the temple?" 

Gorg went to the back of the armoury, which was too large to be for the few guards he had seen. As they walked through the big room, Percy noticed enough pole-arms' and armour for at least two thousand soldiers. They got to the back wall and Gorg started to study the wall. After a few minutes he nodded to indicate that he had found the door. He manipulated some parts of the wall and the door opened. Percy moved through the door with the torch held high. He looked around and saw stairs leading down into the dark. With Gorg in the lead and Anico second, their torches held high, they headed down the stairs. The stairs were wet and slimy and so they took their time and moved cautiously to avoid falling as well as avoiding any noise. When they got half way down they saw a light at the bottom of the stairs. Putting out their torches they kept going in the dim light. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Anico recognised the corridor as the one with the pit trap in it.

She told Percy and he said, 

"Yes the pit should be down to the left, which means the stairs up to the crystal room are off to the right." They turned off to the right and headed up the corridor with Percy again in the lead. He was being very cautious because he was looking for any possible traps. By the time they got to the first intersection, he had found two traps and directed Anico and Gorg around them. They then moved down towards the stairs that lead up to the crystal room. Just before they got there Percy stopped them and signalled for them to be quiet. He turned to them and told them that he had heard something. Then he remembered that when he and Anico had attacked Captain, he had said that he was guarding the altar to neo-oktin. 

There will probably be another guard where Captain had been and he will be more prepared than Captain was. Percy shared his thoughts with Gorg and Anico and asked them if they had any ideas. They both agreed with Percy. He told them to stay and he moved down towards the door. He wanted to get a look at the guards to see if he could guess what might be their priorities. When Percy got a good look, he saw that the neo-ocks had their back to the temple door and where positioned facing down the corridor looking towards them. The Neo-ocks would have ample time to put out an alarm and still attack them before they could get to the stairs. Percy moved back and explained the situation to Anico and Gorg. 

Percy said he had an idea, and explained it to Anico and Gorg. He would tie Anico up to make it appear that he was taking her to the temple. When the guards stopped them he would distract them and allow Gorg to sneak to the stairs and run up and break the crystals. They all knew the dangers of the plan but no one could think of anything better. Percy took some rope and rapped it around Anico's wrists but didn't tie it. He put his sword behind her and walked her down the hall. They rounded the corner and Percy yelled, 

"You there, open that door for me so I can take this wench in for a surprise." Then he laughed, and Anico looked frightened and fought to get away from him. Percy pulled her down the corridor and to the side of the neo-ok guard, who was now looking at them, and so, Gorg made a run for the stairs. 

He got to the stairs and turned up them, when, all of a sudden the guard said, 

"Stop! You can't go in there." Gorg froze in mid step and turned towards the neo-ock that was looking at Percy and Anico. He lowered his pole-arm to block their path. Once Gorg realised the neo-ok had not seen him, he ran up the stairs two at a time. When he got to the door at the top of the stairs he stopped and pressed his ear to it and listened for any sounds of activity. He didn't hear anything so he opened the door and looked around inside. There was no one in the room so he quickly moved to the other door and grabbed a rack of crystals and moved it to block the door. He then moved to the middle of the room and took out the large two-handed hammer that he had brought from his secret room in his cave. He swung the hammer with two hands up over his head and hit the floor. There was a loud crack and the whole building shock. He pulled the hammer up over his head again and swung with all his might, hit the floor another smashing blow. The sound was deafening as the hammer hit the floor again and again and shelves started to fall over and crystals were rolling all over the floor. At the fourth pounding on the floor he heard people trying to get into the room, but the rack he had moved in front of it had fallen and wedged the door closed. On the seventh pounding he heard some of the crystals crack and on the eighth and ninth he heard some of the crystals shatter. Almost all of crystals had cracked by now. On the tenth swing, he put every bit of strength he had left into it. When the hammer hit the floor Gorg was dazed by the amount of noise it made. The remaining crystals shattered all at once and the pounding had also cracked the floor of the temple from one end to the other.

He was on his knees looking at the surrounding room and the damage that he had done. He was happy because he hadn't been sure the hammer would work, but now that it had, Percy and Anico had a chance to stop Dalia. He was so exhausted he couldn't move. Percy and Anico had both seen Gorg go up the stairs and so they tried to think of a way out of their situation. Percy told the guard that he had orders from the high priestess to bring the girl here to be prepared for tonight but the guard stood his ground and said he had no orders about anyone going into the temple. Percy said, 

"Does the high priestess tell you everything she does?" All of a sudden, the guard didn't look so sure of himself. 

At this point, the first shock wave went through the temple and knocked everyone to the ground. Percy was the first to recover and knocked the guard's pole-arm out of his hand and kicked it down the hall. At the same time, Anico was undoing her wrists and drawing her sword. The neo-ok recovered more slowly because it was unaccustomed to being knocked off balance. When it did get up, it was facing two armed individuals and it quickly pulled its sword, as its pole-arm had rolled away when it had dropped it in the quake. 

They could not fight as they were being bounced around by the tremors. When everything finally stopped and everyone got back on his or her feet, the neo-ok did not look the same. Percy and Anico had taken up position on either side of it and were getting ready to attack. They both moved in at the same time and the neo-ok was on the defensive. The neo-ok did very well; it defended itself and still managed to give Percy and Anico a few superficial cuts. Percy and Anico both backed up and then they both moved in to attack with increased vigour. As Anico drew the neo-ock's attention, Percy attacked under its guard. His rapier sliced through it's skin and opened up it's stomach. When it shifted to protect itself from Percy, it opened its head to an attack from Anico. She took full advantage of the opportunity and took off the creature’s head in one quick stroke. When they were sure it was dead they headed up the stairs to see how Gorg was doing. They ran up the stairs at top speed and got to the crystal room in record time. What a mess, there was a crack in the floor from one end of the room to the other. The shelves had all fallen down and all the crystals were broken. In the middle of all this mess was Gorg, he was lying on the floor not moving. They ran over to him and checked him over. He was alive but unconscious. 

They helped him up and took him back down the stairs. Then slowly they took him back to the stairs leading up to the armoury. They didn't see anything or anyone on their way out. Eventually they got Gorg up into the armoury and found a place for him to rest. He woke up long enough to say he was ok and he hadn't realised that breaking the crystals would take so much out of him. 

CHAPTER 13

BACK INTO THE GATE OF HELL

Percy and Anico sat with Gorg for a couple of hours and finally realised that he was not going to recover fast enough to help. They made sure he was safe and comfortable and then they headed back into the temple to find out what was going on. Going down the stairs their idea was to go into the temple of Neo-oktin. It seemed pretty dumb but that was all they could think to do. As they were moving down the stairs, they heard voices from below, but they couldn't make out what the voices were saying. It was evident that there was a great deal of activity and confusion in the temple. When they reached the bottom of the stairs they waited for a moment to see if they could hear what was going on, but they saw and heard nothing. Percy said, 

"Let's move down towards the temple door. Be very quiet there might be another guard posted." They crept slowly along the corridor until they were just around the corner from the door leading into the temple. Percy then moved forward to take a look, but there wasn't anything or anybody there. Percy got a little nervous because there should be a guard there. He signalled Anico to come forward and the two of them moved up to the door. The same creepy door was there and it was still very disturbing. The door was made of a black wood and was completely covered with carvings of spiders. There were spiders of all sizes and they appeared to be moving. Percy drew his sword and used it to push the door open, as he didn't want to touch it. The door swung opened easily and they could see that this was a room that was dedicated to the Queen of Hell. 

The room was hard to look at because of the intensely evil imagery on the walls, floors and ceiling. Anico let out a low gasp of horror at seeing the room and she said,

"I don't want to go in." In the centre of the room was an alter with blood stains all over it, but that was not the worst thing. On a closer look, Percy could see that the altar was made of human skulls. He was starting to get used to all the horrors of the room and started to look around the room more closely. There was a small door leading off to one side of the temple. Percy said to Anico,

"I am going to check it out." She didn't stay there, as he had intended, but followed in his footsteps. The door opened on to some stairs leading up. The two of them slowly made there way up the stairs, all the time keeping alert for signs of trouble. When they got to the top of the stairs there was just a landing. There didn't seem to be a door or any other reason for the landing. Percy examined the wall at the top of the landing for a long time. 

He noticed a small rock about head high. It looked like it could move. He told Anico to move back. Then he started playing with the rock. He didn't know what to do or what would happen so he tried pushing on it. Nothing happened, so he tried pushing it from side to side but still nothing happened. Then he tried shifting it up and down, and that was when he heard a loud click and the part of the wall down by his feet swung out. The section of wall was very small, about three feet high and three feet wide. The small door was along the ground. Percy got down on his hands and knees to peak out. He pulled the door towards him and looked out but all he could see was the back of a tapestry. Crawling out he found there was enough room behind the tapestry to move without touching it. He moved to the end of the tapestry and slowly looked around the edge. He discovered that they were immediately behind the altar in the main chapel. There were only a couple of priests in the room and they were painting hieroglyphs on a large wall off to the right of the altar. Percy noticed that the hieroglyphs were vanishing as soon as the priests finished them. Anico had now crawled through the door and was standing behind Percy looking out. She asked him, 

"What are they doing? "

"I think they're preparing that wall to be the gate, but that's only a guess." 

Percy figured they should wait on the landing until the ceremony started. He told Anico and they went back to the door. They crawled through and pushed it closed behind them. Sitting down they made themselves as comfortable as possible. Anico eventually fell asleep with her head in Percy's lap. He looked at her and thought that it was amazing what people could do when they put their mind to it. He let her sleep while he tried to come up with a plan to stop Dalia. He had a few ideas but they all depended on what was happening at the time of incantation. Also, how many people were on the raised podium when they made their move. He moved Anico's head off his lap and went out through the door again. The two priests had just finished and they were putting away their paints and brushes. They moved towards a door in the back just next to the tapestry where Percy was hiding. 

Percy pulled out his sword and rushed out as the priests were at the door. He used the flat of his blade and knocked the first one out before he knew what was happening. As the second priest turned to face him he put his sword through his throat, he died without making a sound. Percy very quickly pulled the dead priest behind the tapestry and then went back for the other one. When he got the priest who was out cold, he took off his robe and tied him up. He pushed him through the door and heard Anico scream. He told her to be quiet, then crawled through and pulled the dead priest through behind him. He told Anico to put on the first priest's robe and he took the one from the dead priest. When they both had on the robes, Percy slapped the priest who was tied up and woke him up. He pulled out a dagger and put the tip up under one of his fingernails and gave a slight push. The priest reacted at once to the pain. Percy then told the priest that he was going to tell them everything they wanted to know. He then pushed on the dagger again and the priest gave an enthusiastic nod. Percy said, 

"Now we want to know when Dalia is going to open the gate and what is expected to happen." The priest looked at him and mumbled so Percy took the gag out of his mouth and said, 

"Be careful what you say." The priest nodded and Percy looked at him and said,

"Now tell us all about the ceremony that is about to take place."

The priest didn't know much. He told them that the first part of the ceremony was a mass hypnosis so that the people in the valley would not know what was actually going on. The second part of the ceremony was when Dalia called forth the Queen and gives her souls in a trade for what she does in the valley and also for the power she gives Dalia. Percy asked, 

"The wall you were working on is that the portal?" 

"Yes it'll come to life and all the ruins will become visible. Then it turns into a swirling cloud and that's what she'll talk through." Percy looked at the priest and shook his head and said, 

"If you only knew." Percy put the gag back in his mouth.

CHAPTER 14

THE QUEEN IS COMING

Percy and Anico sat waiting for the ceremony to start. They were listening through the secret door. It enabled them to determine what was going on. They heard the noise made by all the people coming into the chapel and milling around until a priest told them to take their seats. Percy put on the priest robes and went out through the secret door. He moved to the end of the tapestry in order to see what was going on. He saw Dalia, she was beautiful and her appearance was that of someone who was an innocent. Percy knew that in front of him stood one of the most evil creatures he had ever seen. This woman was willing to sacrifice the whole world in her conquest for power. She stood at the main podium and was addressing the assembled people. 

Then Percy noticed a guard right near the portal and was amazed to see that it was Captain, the neo-ok that they had befriended. He had run away and betrayed them. Percy then carefully moved to the other end of the tapestry and looked out. There was another guard at the other end of the platform. He took a quick look out and saw that the chapel was very crowded, so much so that all the people couldn't be seated. The crowd looked normal so Percy figured that Dalia had not hypnotised them yet. All of a sudden Percy started to get very sleepy and thought Dalia must be starting to cast her hypnotic spell. Percy quickly went back through the secret door and closed it. He told Anico to cover her ears and keep her mind active, to think about anything and just keep it up until he told her to stop. Dalia and the priests kept up the chanting for about thirty minutes by Percy's accounting of time. 

When the performance stopped, Percy told Anico that they were going out through the secret door. He pulled the door open and heard Dalia chanting but it didn't seem to effect him or Anico any more. They crawled through the door and out behind the tapestry. Percy told Anico that he would take care of the guard off to the left and then go for the other guard. When he had the second guard engaged, Anico was to come out and attempt to stop Dalia. Percy said, 

"Be careful because we don't know when the portal will open or what will happen when it does." Anico looked at him and smiled then she pulled him close to her and kissed him with what he felt was all the passion in the world. He looked down into her eyes and said, 

"We'll continue this when we have more time and are in more pleasant surroundings". She gave him an impish little smile and nodded, and she turned to go to the other end of the tapestry. Percy watched her get into position and wondered, why the kiss? It could be for luck, but no, he didn't think so, maybe she didn't think they would survive. Maybe she wanted to let him know how she felt about him. He hoped that was the reason because it had been a long time since he had felt for anyone the way he did about her. 

He then brought his mind back to his surroundings and to the job he had to do. The first guard had the unusual old style armour that Percy had seen on the ceremonial guards at the front door of the temple. He figured his best chance for a quick kill was to hamstring the guard and then attack at any opening that might arise. Percy moved out from behind the tapestry and in two steps he was attacking the guard. His first swing accomplished just what he wanted. He hamstrung the guard and he went down. When he was down he tried to pull out his sword and defend himself. Percy was to quick, and knocked his sword out of his hand. Then on his next swing, he took off the guard's head. This all happened in a matter of seconds and Captain didn't have time to react until after Percy had killed the first guard. Captain was now moving towards Percy with his pole-arm out in a defensive position. As Captain walked towards Percy he said, 

"I had hoped we would meet again. This time I have orders to kill you, as there is no need to play along with your little plan. You've got a lot farther than anyone expected, but you'll be the first soul that my queen will taste on her arrival in this plane." Percy looked at him and said, 

"You could have had freedom. Why do you follow this evil?"

"It's not evil, it's power and I will have all the power I could possibly handle. With that power I plan to take your little woman to be my pleasure toy, that is, until I tire of her. Then I'll give her to the queen so that her soul can join with yours in all the tortures that hell can provide." 

With this Captain lunged in to attack with his pole-arm. Percy dodged and moved in to swipe at Captain's hands holding the pole-arm. Percy missed the hand but cut a large slice out of Captains pole-arm. Captain missed with a quick back handed swing to Percy's legs. Percy had to jump to get out of the way of the long blade but while he was in the air he swung at Captain's head. Captain had anticipated the attack and so had moved off to the right. The two combatants broke apart and glared at each other. They both tried to determine their next move. Percy took time for a quick look around but he couldn't see Anico. Though he did see that the portal was now open. There was a swirling in the wall but nothing was yet visible. Percy got an idea as to how to deal with Captain. Then the two started to dance around one another. When Percy had his back to the portal, he attacked. His attacks were slowly and deliberate. Captain had no problem with Percy's attacks and so he moved in to press what he thought was his advantage. Percy defended himself, as if he was hard pressed. Captain started to laugh; thinking Percy was at his mercy. Captain told Percy to prepare himself for his final destiny and attacked with a wild flurry of thrusts and swipes. This was what Percy had been waiting for and he made his move. With surprise on his side he moved inside and grappled with Captain, flipped him over his back and through the portal. Captain let out the most bone-chilling scream. 

Anico had watched while Percy despatched the first guard. Then she moved out behind him. As he was fighting with Captain she moved to attack Dalia. Anico had her brother's sword in her hand and she was waiting for Dalia to make a move. Dalia turns to face Anico as she has finished with the portal. She glared at Anico with a look that seemed to hold all the evil in the world. She hissed a warning that Anico would be lucky to die. She then cast a spell and Anico found herself floating, or maybe flying, but she had no control. She flew straight up to the ceiling and slammed into it, then she was spinning around the room and gaining speed as she went. She felt that she was going to fly apart. The direction then changed and she headed down to the floor and slammed into it. Anico was in tremendous pain. Thinking, she didn't know if there was any way that she could stop Dalia. After hitting the floor, she found herself spinning up at the ceiling again. All the time this display was going on, the people of the valley were just sitting there staring up at the altar. They didn't seem to know what was going on around them and to prove the point Dalia brought her crashing to the floor up near the altar. Anico was winded and she was one big bruise from head to foot. Dalia looked down at Anico and said, 

"Now you go to meet the future ruler of the world." With that Anico was up in the air again and spinning around. The speed of the spin was building up when all of a sudden she stopped in mid-air, which wasn't that great because she was about twenty feet in the air. Whatever had been holding her up let go, and down she went. This time it was different, she was not slammed into the floor just merely dropped. 

She hit the floor and was winded again, but at least Dalia was not playing with her like a child playing with a puppet. When she got up she could see Dalia had a sword sticking out of her chest. The person holding the sword was dressed in the armour of the ceremonial guard. Anico could see his eyes through the visor in the helmet and she was sure she recognised them. She run over and grabbed the sword from the guard's hand and then pushed Dalia to the portal and told her to say,

“Hi to her Queen for her.”Dalia laughed and said to Anico,

"You think you have won but you're wrong." Anico looked up to see this indescribably hideous spider. It was the size of a mountain and it was moving towards the portal. At that moment, Anico saw Captain go through the portal and land at the feet of his Queen. When he looked up, Anico could see that his eyes had lost all of their life. He polymorph into a neo-ok and bowed to his queen. Dalia looked at Anico and screamed as she was pushed through the portal and into the spider Queen's realm. 

Dalia also polymorph when she ended up at the Queens feet. Dalia kept her human body but her head and arms become those of a spider. The spider queen went over and looked down at both of them. They had been her devoted subjects in the world of man but there in hell they were puny and weak. The queen reached for the two of them with two of her large clawed legs. When she touched them, the looks of complete horror that appeared on their faces were beyond comprehension. Percy and Anico watched both Captain and Dalia sank into the ground up to their waists. Then the queen let out a bellow that shook the whole temple. Percy heard a low rumble in the chamber under the temple. It kept getting louder and louder and sounded like millions of small legs marching. Percy, Anico and the guard ran for the crystal room and then to the door down to the catacombs under the temple. When they got there the door was burst open by the force of thousands of stone spiders pushing on it. When it broke they came flooding out. Percy and Anico turned around and ran for it, however, the guard with them tripped and fell. Percy said,

“Run I will get him.” He turned and saw something very unusual; the spiders were walking right over the guard. They didn't seem to be taking any notice of him. They headed for the chapel and right into the portal to hell. The spiders ran through the portal and swarmed the Queen. The Queen made another noise and moved towards Dalia and Captain. The spiders attacked them and started to rip there skin off. The weird thing was that as they ripped it off, it was replaced. From the looks on their faces, the pain was real. Percy looked at the queen and saw that he had made a powerful enemy. While he was looking at her the portal closed and the wall was back to normal.

CHAPTER 15

REUNION

With the closing of the portal Dalia could no longer affect the people of the valley with her hypnosis. The people started to come around and they soon realised that they had no idea what had happened. Percy noticed that except for the guard that had saved Anico's life, all the guards were gone. Anico had gone back into the crystal room to help the guard. She was coming out supporting him with her arm around his waist. She led him to a pew and sat him down. Taking off his helmet she screamed, 

"Your Alive! I thought you were dead." Then she gave him a big hug and he groaned in pain from all his bruises. She then said, 

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm just so happy to see you alive." He smiled at her and said,

"What are you doing here?" Anico answered,

"Why? We're looking for you, you big dope. You've lead us on a merry chase, but along the way I've learned a few things." Percy called down to her and said,

"We should go get Gorg and get our buts back to the inn." 

They all went to the armoury. Gorg was in much better shape but he still needed help to walk. 

When they all got back to the inn, the common room was crowded with the people from the valley. Everyone was looking for answers. Percy found a table and ordered wine. The wine came and he told Ben-gar that if he could quiet everyone down, he would tell the people what had happened. He then poured out wine for all those at the table. By the time he had finished his first glass, Ben-gar had the people quiet so he poured another and told the people about their adventure. During different parts of the story, the crowd looked at the Percy's companions for confirmation of what he was saying. When Percy had finished, he told that there was a priest still behind the secret wall in the chapel and that with a little gentle prodding he would confirm most of what Percy had said tonight. Percy then ordered another bottle of wine and took it up to his room. By the time he had drank half of it he saw that the sun was coming up over the mountains so he decided to go to sleep. He slept though the day and the next night. When he woke the following morning he went down to the common room. The inn keeper came over and said, 

"Ah, my good man, what can I get for you now that you have risen from the dead". Percy said, 

"I'll have a platter of eggs and meats with a loaf of bread". When the food arrived, Percy asked the innkeeper if the priest had talked and confirmed what he had said in the common room the other night. The innkeeper smiled and said that the priest had a few memory lapses but Gorg had a little talk with him and all of a sudden he remembered everything. He told the people of the valley how they had been used by Dalia and what she had planned to do to them. 

Percy said, 

"Well good, by the way, where's the young lady who came with me." The innkeeper replied, 

"Oh she's been spending time with her brother but she will probably be down for breakfast soon." Percy sat for a while and eventually Anico and Kraft came down and sat with him. He was happy to see that they were back to normal and he asked them how long they wanted to stay in the valley. Anico said, 

"I can’t wait to get back to the Saucy Goose and tell Jack about all our adventures." Percy said, 

"He's the only person you can tell, or I'll get in trouble, remember." She nodded and said, 

"We can leave the day after tomorrow. The people of the valley have asked use to stay until then. They want to have a big banquet in our honour." 

Percy didn't do much during the next day or so. The one thing he did do was to go and visit Gorg. Percy asked him, 

"Why don't you come back to Shadizar with us? With your skill and that inventory that is already paid for, you could make a fortune." Gorg answered, 

"I'm not sure, because you see, without the neo-ocks in the mountains, maybe my father's people will come back. I'll think about coming to visit you though." At the big banquet Percy, Anico and Gorg were give seats at the head table. All the people there praised them. They asked Percy to stay and take charge of the local government. Percy felt flattered but he didn't know how to run a government. He told the people that he thought Ben-gar would make a good mayor for the town. The banquet lasted well into the night and everyone had a good time. When it was all over, Percy went back to the inn and went to sleep. 

The next morning he got up and talked to Ben-gar about getting supplies for the trip home. Ben-gar said, 

"I can have it all ready and on your pack horse by this afternoon." Percy replied, 

"By tomorrow morning would be soon enough." He talked to Anico and told her that they would be leaving the next morning. She looked very sad, as if she would rather say anything than what she had to say. She said, 

"I'm not going with you when you leave. I'm going to stay here. Kraft has been made mayor of the town and I have been given command of the local militia. I made Gorg my second in command.” Percy said,

“I am very happy for you and I hope you enjoy your new life. That only gives us today and tonight. Let’s get a nice picnic and go for a ride, after that we can have a nice dinner and dance, and sing the night away." 

She looked at him and gave him a sly little smile. He smiled back and called out for Ben-gar. When the man showed up Percy said, 

"The lady and I are going for a ride. Could you please pack us a lunch with a couple of your best bottles of wine." With the lunch packed they rode out of town and through the valley and into the hills. They found a nice little clearing up in the hills with a small stream running through it. They sat and talked about all they had been through and how it had changed them. When the conversation lulled Percy looked into her eyes and leaned over to kiss her. It was a long kiss that expressed all of his reluctance at having to leave her. They spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying each other. They knew they would probably never see one another again. When evening approached they packed up and headed back to the inn. They got there only to find Kraft and Gorg sitting in the common room, and so they joined them. The night flew by in a blur of wine, song and dance. The next morning Percy got up early and went down to see Ben-gar who was behind the bar looking all the worse for lack of sleep and too much wine. Percy said good-bye and walked out. He got onto his horse and rode out of the valley.

The End

 

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Chronicles of Percy De' Aablo