Chapter 12.

  They crossed the wooden wharf making sure that their
steps were no more than a light thud. The city was
surrounded by a high wall, with an average height of
about three story’s. It was undivided inside, with poor
and rich homes mixed together. The homes were made mostly
of wood, whilst the big buildings were made of clay. The
streets were wet and muddy from the previous season of
rain.
  Without having to worry about the captain and his
sailors, Enigma and his group were free to spend the
night in the city if they chose. 
  They found such a room in an inn called the Sleepy
Doberman. The inn keeper, a large nosed man with a thin
build and glossy black hair, directed them to three
vacant rooms upstairs for a price none to likeable. But
with the money Jalaf and the captain gave them, it was no
object. 
  The rooms were warm and moist with just enough space to
accompany two per room. Enigma bunked with Sly as usual,
Power was with Ice, and Ksid was with Iikin and Terrol,
no matter how crowded it was going to be. 
  ‘I was just thinking.’ Enigma told Ksid. ‘How come
Iikin and Terrol didn’t act the same way on that boat
when the Death Warrior was there, as they did back in
that ghost town?’
  ‘The thing has to be there.’ Ksid tried to explain. ‘In 
that ghost town, the Death Warrior’s being was actually 
there. On the boat, it was only his presence. There’s 
some difference between presence and being.’ 
  ‘So something has to be there to trigger us off.’
Terrol asked.
  ‘Technically, yes. It should be wearing off a little
more each time that your with me. The more I tell you
about the real Thanatos, the more you lose respect for
him, and the more you gain from Lord Serenity. If you
look now, your marks should have disappeared a little.’
  Iikin and Terrol pulled their gloves off their hands.
As Ksid predicted, the marks were still there, but a
small fraction of it was gone. Dumbfounded, they replaced
their second hands. 
  ‘I might go out and see how things are.’ Iikin
suggested.
  ‘Good idea, but be careful.’ Ksid told him.
  ‘I’ll go with him.’ Enigma offered. ‘I need a bit of
fresh air after two day’s out at sea.’
  ‘If your ever in danger, use your knife or tomahawk.’
Ksid cautioned. ‘We don’t want to give away your powers
to the enemy yet.’
  Enigma nodded, ‘But my powers have already been
revealed to the Death Warrior. Doesn’t he - or they, work
for them?’
  ‘Yes. But lets not take any chances.’ 
  Although it was mid night, lights in windows shone 
bright, and the people in the taverns were still rowdy. 
  They entered a tavern called the Blind Labrador. 
  ‘What is it with dogs in this town?’ Iikin asked Enigma 
as they walked in. 
  The tavern was made out of logged wood, with a low roof
- only a single storey. Two fireplacess burned at opposite
sides, and a long bar stretched from one end to the
other. Circular tables dotted the room.
  A man had drunken himself unconscious. A table in one
of the corners near the door was freed as he was lifted
from his seat and thrown outside by some bulky men. 
  Enigma and Iikin both sat facing the wall.
Suspiciously, the people at the table behind them were
all navy caped and hooded.
  ‘What’s the trouble, Velyaha?’ One hooded man said in a
barely audible whisper. 
  Enigma froze.
  ‘I said not to use my real name, Butcher.’ the hooded
Velyaha replied. ‘It seems that our counter countered
plan has been countered - again, just as we anticipated.’ 
  ‘What happened?’ a hooded man sitting on the left of
Butcher, said.
  ‘You remember me telling you that we were going to
strike at the festival of Buysell?’
  Everyone at the table nodded.
  ‘Our plan was countered by that stupid old man and the
boy. No matter, our back up plan should do the job.’
  ‘How did they counter our plan?’ a hooded lady sitting
to the right of Velyaha asked.
  ‘They had the festival earlier. It was earlier 
everywhere on the Korutianian continent. We weren’t given 
the chance to prepare ourselves. This happened a few 
nights ago.’
  ‘What can we do now?’ the one sitting on the right of
Butcher questioned.
  ‘We continue weaving our next scheme. There are some
minor details that we have to iron out...’
  Enigma and Iikin were interrupted by a waiter. 
  ‘Can I take your order?’ he asked. 
  ‘We don’t want anything.’ Iikin said in haste, whilst
trying to listening into the conversation behind them.
  ‘I’m afraid you have to order something, or else you’ll
be thrown out.’ he said.
  ‘Just bring us anything.’ Enigma told him with
frustration. 
  ‘I’m afraid I can’t bring you ale.’ the clean shaven
waiter explained to Enigma. ‘Your under age.’ 
  ‘Food then.’
  ‘And you sir?’ he calmly asked Iikin.
  ‘Ale.’ Iikin said back to him in an icy voice.
  ‘As you wish, sir.’ The waiter turned and headed back
to the bar. 
  ‘...Just one final check.’ Velyaha said as Enigma and 
Iikin picked up the conversation again. ‘Butcher, you 
know what to do with your goons, Assassin and Viper?’
  Butcher nodded.
  ‘And Funnel - Web, you know where to go?’
  Funnel - Web agreed.
  ‘And me and Vulture know what to do. If we fail the 
priestess in favour, she’ll have our heads. Let’s get to 
it.’ Velyaha left a hand full of money on the counter, 
then the group split up, leaving the tavern all at one 
time.
  Iikin cursed as soon as they left. ‘I’ll kill that
waiter.’ he promised. 
  ‘Iikin, we don’t want to make a scene.’ Enigma warned
him. 
  The waiter came walking back with a tray of food and a
mug of ale. 
  ‘You idiot!’ Iikin yelled at him. He lifted the tray
from his hands, spilling the food and drink all over the
floor, and then rapped his hands around the waiters neck.
He then lent he back over the now vacant table that the
enemy had been sitting at, and proceeded to choke him.
  ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’ Enigma informed as he
watched the two bouncers make their way through the sea
of chairs towards them. 
  Iikin let the man go, and bolted out the door. 
  The bouncers were quick to follow. They pounding out
the door with cudgel’s. 
  Iikin and Enigma came to a cross road. ‘Let’s split up
and meet back here in about fifteen minutes.’ Iikin said
as he took off one direction. With not much choice left,
Enigma took of in the other direction. 
  The road that Enigma took was straight with houses on 
either side, but lead straight into the city wall with no 
other options. He was being pursued by a beefy man 
dressed in black with his black hair slicked back. He was 
tall and intimidating. Iikin on the other hand, was being 
chased by a bulky man with long blonde hair, dressed the 
same way and equally as large.
  With no other way to go, Enigma ran down a narrow side
ally, surrounded by two large buildings. Garbage littered
the street’s everywhere. Like the main road that he was
previously in, this ally ended with a wall. He was
trapped with his only exit blocked by one man who wanted
his blood. 
*  *  *
  Iikin was having a much easier time. He used his wits
to outsmart his aggressor. He had a pretty good lead over
his opponent, and took the time to go down an ally,
similar to the one Enigma was trapped in. In this case,
he found a well hidden place amongst the shadows.
  His blonde enemy soon came down the dead - end street,
halting in his tracks not far from the mouth.
  ‘Two words for you my friend’ Iikin said, ‘ - lose 
weight.’ His words bounced off the enclosed area, making 
it impossible to predict his location.
  With a snarl, the blonde man cautiously made his way
towards the dead end. He dug with his solid weapon
through the piles of garbage in search of his nemesis.
  A bottle and a piece of metal lay at Iikin’s feet.
Picking them up, he came out from his hiding place, and
snuck up behind his attacker. With a big swing, the
bottle was smashed over the blonde man’s head. 
  The man turned around with fire in his eye’s.
  ‘Sorry.’ Iikin apologised. Then he wrapped the piece of 
metal he had picked up, around the man’s skull, knocking 
him senselessly to the ground. 
  Dusting off his hands, he headed back to the cross 
roads. 
*  *  *
  Ksid’s words echoed in his mind. Enigma would only use
his new found powers as a last resort. With cackles of
laughter, the black haired killer approached him, swing
his club through the air, whistling with every stroke. 
  In defence, Enigma pulled out his dagger. With it over
head, he charged, but was knocked back as he ran head on
into the rounded end of the bouncers weapon. 
  The two full moons overhead were hidden behind the
attackers skull, outlining the shape of his face, leaving
the rest of it in shadows.
  The black suited man raised his cudgel with both hands,
preparing to strike his younger foe down for good.
  ‘Excuse me.’ A deep voice said from behind the enraged
offender. He slowly turned to come face to face with a
man of a greater size. The second man wound up, then
struck the bouncers face with his fist. Stiffly, Enigma’s
opponent landed in a pile of rubbish. 
  The second figure then approached the fallen boy, his
hands outstretched. Grabbing Enigma by the jacket, he
hoisted him back to his feet. 
  ‘I thought you might of needed a bit of help.’ the man
said. He manoeuvred his face towards the moonlight. It
was Power.
  ‘Great, great timing.’ Enigma sighed with relief. He
replaced his dagger in his belt. 
  ‘I ought to give you a few tips in close contact 
fighting.’ Power offered. ‘Come on. The rest are 
waiting.’
  They met Iikin back at the cross roads. He was
crouching in the middle of the road. 
  ‘What’s the matter?’ Power asked. ‘Are you hurt?’
  ‘No, no.’ Iikin laughed. ‘I’m just resting.’ He
returned to his feet. ‘Let’s get going.’ He started
walking toward the general direction of the inn.
  ‘Where not at the inn any more.’ Power informed him.
‘Something came up.’
  Iikin looked at him with wide eyes. ‘I’m gone only a
little while, and something goes wrong.’
  Instead, Power lead them towards the northern gate. 
  ‘How come where not at the inn any more?’ Enigma asked. 
  ‘We were conferring in Ksid’s room what we were going
to do next. When all the matter’s had been discussed, I
decided to go to bed, but I headed down to the bar for a
quick drink. The rest of them continued talking. I was
almost at the bottom of the stair case when I overheard a
man asking someone at a table closest to the stair well
if he’d seen a group of people consisting of two females
and five males. He couldn’t see me because, as you know,
the stair case is parallel to the wall, and the man was
just around the corner. 
  ‘Making a long story short, I told the rest of the 
group, and we gathered our things and left via a window. 
When I got outside, I was sent to come and look for you 
two, and I was able to get a quick glimpse of the man in 
question from a few blocks down, walking out of the 
joint.’
  ‘How did you know that it was him?’ Iikin questioned.
  ‘I remember his voice, and as he came out, he said
“thank - you” to them as a group. 
  ‘Then, by pure luck, I stumbled across you.’ he told
Enigma. ‘And so, here we are.’
  Enigma pondered the story for a little. ‘Where do we
find the rest of the group?’
  ‘I was told to follow the forest road that lead from
the northern gate. Terrol is supposed to meet up with us
a few miles from the city.’
  They quickened their pace a little, insuring they got
out of the city before the gates closed. The gate was
open, but guarded, and they were allowed to pass
unquestioned. As they exited, the entryway was slammed
shut.
  They met up with Terrol about twenty five minuets
later, who sat beside the winding track. By now, the city
walls were out of sight. 
  ‘Nice night for a stroll in the dark.’ Terrol noted as
they approached. 
  ‘The moonlight doesn’t help either.’ Enigma added. 
  Terrol then lead them through the trees.
  Eventually, the small flame of the camp came up in
front of them. 
  ‘How did it go?’ Ksid asked as they advanced.
  ‘The enemy group are in town.’ Iikin informed. ‘We were 
able to listen into one of their conversations in a local 
tavern, but we missed out on the vital information 
because of an almost dead waiter.’
  ‘What he did almost got us killed as well.’ Enigma
added, sitting himself beside the flame.
  ‘But then I saved them.’ Power triumphantly said.
‘Enigma anyway.’
  Sly and Ice were sleeping in the newly erected tents, 
and as soon as they were awoken, Enigma and Iikin were 
able to fill in the details. 
  ‘I’d like to kill that waiter myself.’ Ksid said as  
Iikin finished retelling what happened. ‘Pity you didn’t
get the job done.’
  Iikin scratched his head. ‘So, what do we do now? I
understand that you discussed that while we were gone.’
  ‘The plans haven’t changed much.’ Ksid enlightened. ‘We
were originally going to sleep the night out in the inn,
and then wait in the forest close to the coast for our
horses. But now were going to sleep the night here, then
wait in the forest close to the coast for our horses.’
  ‘Simple enough.’ Enigma observed. ‘When do we start.’
  Ksid just laughed and sent everyone off to bed.
  The group had recently invested in some extra tents
sometime ago. Enigma couldn’t remember when it had
happened, but he felt it was nice to sleep on his own for
a change. 
  Ksid entered his tent just before he dozed off. ‘I’ll 
be gone just for a little while.’ he said to Enigma. ‘I’m 
going underground, just to get some extra supplies. I’ve 
told everyone else, so they know as well. I should be 
back by morning. Oh, and I’ve put Power on guard first. 
You’ll be woken up sometime during the night when it’s 
your turn.’
  Enigma simply mumbled his understanding, then went to
sleep. 
  His sleep was fitful, but it was invaded. It wasn’t
anything serious, just a dream that got his attention. 
He found himself sitting in a room of pure white light.
There didn’t seem to be any definite ground beneath him,
but he just seemed to hover in the one place. He saw a
very muscly character with glossy hazel hair that was cut
short. His face was shaven, but not totally. He still had
stubble protruding from his cheeks. The man wore an open
black leather vest that revealed his muscular chest and
loose fitting trousers that reached just past his knee to
stop at the top of a pair of leather boots. A black strap
ran across the front of his chest, from shoulder to
waist, that held knives in their place. It was Power, and
he looked at Enigma with a stone face, not a face of
anger, just his normal face of intimidation.
  Power disappeared and someone else took his place. The 
lady had a laced up, brown, leather vest with matching 
coloured silk pants. Her nicely sculptured round face 
bore wide set, blue eyes and a cute nose. She had brown - 
blonde hair that, Enigma thought, seemed to go with a 
loving smile. Gauntlets coated both hands with spear like 
points on the end for some real damage. She wore light 
brown sandals. Enigma recognised her as Ice. She smiled 
at him briefly, then disappear to be replaced by yet 
another person.
  This next person was small in height with hazel hair 
and a scared face. His shoulder’s and arms were bare, and 
the rest of his body was covered up by a kind of 
sleeveless, woollen shirt that crossed over in the 
middle. His trousers fell short of the top of his knees, 
and he wore a pair of plain shoes. His face was young, 
but worn, and he wore a single glove on his left hand. 
Enigma realised as he looked upon this person that he
hasn’t really had the chance to have a proper
conversation with Terrol, which was the person that was
appearing to him at that moment. He also realised how
much he hadn’t really spoken with Iikin, who was the next
person to follow as soon as Terrol disappeared.
  Enigma saw a chubby man with beady eye’s, with cloth’s
nicely matched made out of a material that he had never
seen before. His hat sat to one side of his head and he
had a white glove sitting on his left hand like Terrol
did. His arms were very hairy. He gave an intricate
little bow, then vanished like the others. 
  And then Ksid was there with his serious face. He was
clean shaven, but covered with wrinkles, and his long
white hair was slicked back form his face. He wore a
white robe that reached all the way down to his ankles.
With his hands behind his back, he gave Enigma a wink,
then vanished.
  Now it was his turn. He saw himself standing there, 
with loosely fitting, cream coloured trousers with the 
ends tucked neatly inside his mid-shin high boots. His 
upper body was covered with a very light blue shirt that 
crossed over in the front, with a brown leather belt 
holding it all into position. His arms and legs were
large, much larger than the average boy of his age. Then,
his mirror image was gone.
  Finally, he looked upon someone that he had never seen
before. He saw all the details like cloths and shoes, but
on the other hand, he couldn’t make those features out.
He also saw her face, but there was no way that he could
describe her. She held something in her hand as well.
Enigma knew her from somewhere, but he just couldn’t
figure it out. 
  Instead of disappearing, the rest of the group just
reappeared around this new girl. Ksid was very large at
the back of the group, towering, with his hands
outstretched. With a flicker, the group, including Enigma
and the new girl, oozed into totally different people,
each dressed differently. Again, Enigma saw these new
things, but at the same time, it didn’t register in his
brain. 
  He was brought back to the world of the living as
Terrol came to wake him up for his shift as look out. 
  ‘What happened to your clothes?’ Terrol asked.
  Enigma now wore much more cleaner clothes. He had a 
pair of dark green boots that stretched up to the bottom 
of his knee caps, with new brown trousers cut just above 
that. He had a belt wrapped around his waist and he wore 
a light leather vest that was open in the front the same 
way Power’s was. His arms were left uncovered. He then 
looked up at Terrol. ‘What are you talking about me for? 
Look at your self. ‘
  Terrol was now wearing a chain - mail like shirt that
had mail on the out side, and fur skin on the inside.
Again, his arms were bare like before. His trousers were
more wider, and the black boots he wore came up to the
middle of his shins. Instead of glove made out of sewn
together material, he instead wore a silver metal
gauntlet that had long, sharp points at the end of his
finger tips. ‘This is like the clothing I wore in my
dream.’
  ‘What dream?’ Enigma said with suspicion.
  ‘While I was on duty, I think I dosed off a little.
Anyway I had this dream where I was in this pure white
room and everyone was there including someone I’ve never
seen before. And then...’
  ‘They changed into totally different people with
different clothing.’ Enigma finished his story.
  ‘You had the same dream too?’
  The boy nodded. ‘Was Sly in your dream?’
  ‘I didn’t notice her, no.’
  ‘Neither did I. I wonder why she wasn’t there?’ Enigma
placed his weapons in his belt, got up, and walked
outside.
  The air had change whilst Enigma was asleep. Instead of
a lingering chill that he felt earlier, it was now moist
and warm. Spring was finally setting in.
  ‘Why don’t you get some rest?’ Enigma suggested as
Terrol followed him outside the tent.
  ‘I’m not really tired. Also, I don’t think I’ll be able 
to get to sleep without knowing how I got these new 
cloths. I wonder if Ksid’s disappearance has anything to 
do with all this.’
  ‘It’s possible. We can alway’s ask him when he gets
back.’ The former slave threw a couple of sticks on the
dieing fire to give a bit of light, then climbed a fallen
log not far from it to pear through the surroundings.
  ‘Do you think that we should go and see what the
other’s look like?’ Terrol had a hint of anxiety in his
voice.
  ‘I’m just as eager to see what they look like as you
are.’ he admitted. ‘I’ve got the last shift and there’s
only a few more hours till dawn. We’ll see them when we
see them. But if you really want to have a look, go
ahead.’
  ‘I suppose I can wait.’ Terrol fought with his
temptation. 
  ‘So what’s it like in the future?’ Enigma asked, trying
to create a conversation. 
  ‘It’s different, I’ll give you that.’ Terrol chortled
as he was idle plying with his mail shirt. ‘The 
Revolution have more control over Neekkent than they do 
now.’
  ‘How did that happen.’
  ‘Over the generations, the northern rulers became 
corrupt and foolish. It didn’t take much persuasion from 
Thanatos’s men to convert them. Their methods are more 
extreme.’
  ‘Like how.’
  ‘I wouldn’t dare repeat them. Just the thought makes me
sick.’
  ‘Don’t think about it.’ Enigma cautioned. ‘We wouldn’t
want a repeat of what happened back in that ghost town.’
  ‘Not at all.’ Terrol agreed.
  Enigma pondered something for a little while. ‘Do you
know what I just realised?’
  The soldier shock his head.
  ‘If you think about it, your future is now in the
past.’ He jumped down off the log he was standing on,
adding a few more sticks to the fire. 
  ‘In a way, I have two futures.’ Terrol noted.
  ‘If you look at it one way, you do. But if you deeply
think about it, everything that you do while your hear
changes what your going to do in the future. Actually, I
think you only have one future. Take now for example. We
know that we’re going to do something in the future, but
we don’t know what it is. Then it happens, then it’s in
the past. In your case, it’s just a little more
complicated. Your future originally was, to come back
into the past. And where you used to live, is now your
own personal past. What your going to do tomorrow is your
future. You can never go back to the place that you
originally were because it’s now in the past. Tomorrow is
your only future.’
  ‘I think I understand now.’ Terrol informed him. ‘Your 
standing some place one day, and your future is to go 
back in time. Then it happens, and where you originally 
where is now in the past, because it’s already happened.’
  ‘Exactly. I think you were getting confused with what’s 
going to happen tomorrow, and the point in time that you
originally lived in.’
  Terrol gave a reflective sigh. ‘Extraordinary.’
  For the rest of the shift, the pair exchanged their
past histories with each other, and what they’d hoped to
do. They both really opened up, as Enigma had hoped. They
hadn’t spoken much over the time they’d been together,
but now they had a real chance to get to know one
another.
  The morning twilight signalled the beginning of another
morning, as Ksid came walking back from amongst the
trees.
  ‘Put your weapons away.’ he mumble to them, as they had
braced themselves for the oncoming traveller. ‘Oh, I see
that you’ve got your knew uniforms.’
  ‘Where’d they come from?’ Enigma was the first to ask.
  ‘I’ll explain it all to you when everyone’s awake.
It’ll save me doing to six or so different times.’
  Terrol pulled off his mail - like shirt to get a better
look. ‘So where exactly did you go last night, Ksid?’
  ‘Enigma knows the place. I just went to visit some 
friends, that’s all. I’ll show the rest of you when the 
time’s right. For now, you just have to hear about.’
  Terrol found a couple of latches on the inside of his 
new outfit. ‘Hey look. It comes apart.’ The fur inside 
separated form the mail on the outside. ‘I guess that 
it’s suitable for winter and summer.’ He put the two back 
together again. 
  Power came out from his slumber as the sun began 
creeping over the eastern horizon. ‘What a dream.’ Power
said, rubbing his eyes.
  Enigma and Terrol looked at each other, than looked at
Power. 
  ‘Hey, why the change of cloths?’ Power then questioned.
  Terrol simply pointed at him.
  Power looked down at himself. He wore the usual leather
vest that was open in the front with mail sewn in the
middle, like his other vest. It was much wider at the
shoulders - instead of just stopping, it came out over
the top a little, like shoulder pads. His casual leather
boots were replaced by a shaggy, knee high pair, made out
of a bear skin. His trousers were now a dark brown and
the bottoms of it were tucked into the top of his new
foot wear. Power’s forearms were bound with metal guards
that had sharp spikes protruding from it. The leather
strap that was his carrier for his weapons were still the
same, but the handles of his knives which used to be a
dull silvery colour, were now a blood red, and the blade
which, in some cases, were rusty, were now as sharp and
as shiny as ever. ‘This is like...’
  ‘The cloths you wore in the dream.’ Enigma and Terrol
finished off the sentence in unison. 
  ‘Did you guy’s have the dream as well?’
  They nodded. 
  Power then looked confused at Ksid. ‘What’s this all
mean?’
  ‘I’ll explain it to all of you in a group.’ He replied. 
  Not long after this, Iikin and Ice woke up. Iikin was 
wearing shoes that only came up to his ankles and his 
beefy legs were covered by creamy trousers with rolled up 
ends. A light, golden coloured breast plate covered his 
chest, and his neck was surrounded by a green cape made 
out of very thin material. Unlike before, his arms were 
left uncovered. As Enigma found out, Iikin had a rather 
muscular upper body despite his abdominal area which 
didn’t do him any justice. His white glove was replaced
by a metal gauntlet, much like Terrol’s but this time,
the long point’s weren’t there. The top of the gauntlet
reached back up to his elbow, with an intricate pattern
all the way up.
  Ksid came over and showed Iikin a hidden latch that 
blended in with the pattern. ‘There’s a blade in your 
gauntlet. You’ll have to be careful with it though. It’s 
kept in the forearm part of that gauntlet. You have to 
keep you wrist straight when accessing it. There’s that 
much power in the spring that if you try to retract it
while your wrist is not straight, it’d probably brake it
- your wrist, that is.’ He double checcked that Iikin’s
wrist was straight, than he pressed the button. A long,
sharp blade sprang out from his knuckle area. ‘To put it
back in, just press the button again.’ It locked into
place with a click.
  ‘How does it do that?’
  ‘It’s complicated and it involves a lot of spring’s.’
  Ice’s clothing had gone from covered up to not so 
covered up. She wore a thin black leather - like dress,  
cut short about mid - thigh. Underneath it, she wore a 
white, short sleeved shirt. Her old stainless steel 
gloves were now a shining gold, with the spear points on 
the ends deathly sharp. 
  Finally, Sly awoke. She came out of the tent with a
yawn. ‘Did I miss something here?’ she asked as she
looked upon her transformed friends.
  Terrol looked at her with sympathetically. ‘Didn’t you
have the dream?’
  ‘Dream? What dream?’
  ‘We all had the dream.’ Iikin informed her. ‘Then we
woke up with these new cloths.’
  ‘How come I didn’t have the dream?’ she sulked. ‘Where
are my new clothes?’
  Ksid gave her a commiserating look.
  ‘Was I in the dream?’ she interrogated.
  ‘Afraid not.’ Iikin informed. ‘You were replaced by
some other girl that we can’t recall.’
  Sly’s face sagged. ‘What’s this mean?’
  ‘I once told Enigma that during this following
journey,’ Ksid explained, ‘sometimes he would meet up
with people who were only there to help. The ones that
journey with him have been specially chosen. Last night
was the beginning of the Biplatenium. It’s not as
spectacular as the Platinium. As far as I know, it gave
the chosen people a gift each. And it looks like that you
Sly, are only a helper of these people.’
  Her eye’s dropped to the ground as she forced her way 
back into the tent. 
  ‘Leave her be.’ Ksid told Enigma as he started towards 
her.
  Power scratched his head. ‘What exactly did you mean
about that chosen people thing?’
  ‘I knew I’d get this question, so I came prepared.’
Ksid pulled out a piece of paper. ‘I just copied it out
of a book. Enigma’s heard this before.’
  Enigma knew what he was about to read out.
  ‘“The boy chosen since the Creation shall be joined by 
six Uncommon’s plus the Instructor; they each have 
special talents that will not be revealed until special
times.’”
  Enigma looked on amused, at his friends concentration 
and interest.
  ‘“These talents may be used many times through out the
journey.’” Ksid continued on. ‘“When the final battle
begins in the endless galaxy, these talents may be used
but once. Destiny will not choose these certain times.
The owner is given two choices, one of which will lead to
certain doom. These events shall begin after the
Abscond.” I’ve already surmised that Enigma is the chosen
boy, and that I’m the teacher. A special messenger has
already confirmed this. I’m not positive yet, but I get
the impression that you are the Uncommon’s.’
  Iikin withdrew his little mouse from it’s pouch. 
Enigma hadn’t seen Kolga for a while. ‘So Sly’s just one
of our helpers?’
  ‘Unfortunately yes. There’s still two more Uncommon’s 
to go.’
  Iikin let Kolga go, and it immediately scurried to
Enigma. ‘Power,’ Enigma said, picking up Kolga with his
mind on a different matter. ‘what did that guy you saw
coming out of the inn look like?’ 
*  *  *