‘I never really got a good look at him.’ Power
admitted. ‘He was wearing a dark navy cape though, and
the thing I noticed the most was his teeth. I could see
them clearly, They were like lamps. Apart from that, he
was rather small, and I think he had dark coloured hair.
Remind you of anyone?’
  ‘Not that I know of - I think.’ Enigma put Kolga down,
then let him go back to her owner. ‘There is something
though.’
  Ice cooked up a hot breakfast. Sly refused to eat
though, and stayed withdraw from the rest of them. 
  After breakfast, Sly reluctantly came out from her
seclusion to help pack up the tents. She neither spoke
nor looked at any one of her accomplices.
  ‘Which way to the beach?’ Ice questioned as she put the
fire out.
  ‘I know how to get there.’ Terrol murmured while
concentrating on one of the tents knots. 
  Not long after this, they travelled east through the
warm forest with Terrol in the lead. Sly walked at a
distance at the back of the group. 
  Worriedly, Enigma accompanied her. ‘You know you should
worry this much about a dream.’
  She didn’t reply. 
  ‘A dream hardly means anything. So what if we all had 
the one dream and we all got these new cloths. It doesn’t 
mean that your not special. The thing that matters is 
that your needed and that we’re working together, despite
what anybody says. You shouldn’t feel left out.’
  Sly continued to look at the ground.
  ‘I’d rather be in your position than to be chosen. That 
means that there’s going to be a lot of pressure on us in 
the future, and a lot of people depending on us. If we 
fail, I really don’t want to be one of the causes for the 
destruction of mankind. Your not chosen, yet your helping 
us for a good cause. If you look at these knew cloths 
that we’ve got, you’ll notice that they are all for 
weaponry reasons. Mine and Power’s new outfit are for
intimidation purposes, Iikin and Terrol have new gloves,
and Ice has her spear shaped gauntlets. You don’t need
these things because no man would ever want to fight you
because your so charming and good looking.’
  She gave a wry little smile.
  ‘Think about this for a little while. Where all here
for you, and we need you just about as much as we need
each other. Your always welcome to come and join the
group.’ Enigma concluded with a little smile, then walked
forward to rejoin his other friends. 
  It took them about fifteen minutes to reach the coast.
The smell of salt water was intense as they walked into
the sea breeze. The sand was golden with not a foot print
anywhere. 
  ‘There it is.’ Enigma pointed to a tiny spot near the 
horizon. They had made good timing, and instead of 
waiting all day for the ship, they would only have to 
wait about another few minutes whilst it sailed in. 
  ‘I hope the coast guards haven’t seen them.’ Ksid
hoped. 
  The ship came closer and closer, until Enigma could
actually see the men rummaging around on deck, pulling
different ropes and shouting orders. 
  When they had gotten as close to the shore as they
dared, they dropped down a man made raft to ferry the
horses to shore. They also had to make a temporary crane
to lower them down onto it. 
  Enigma’s and Sly’s horses were the first to come
across. They were wild eyed about the whole ordeal, but
they seemed to calm down as they stepped back onto land.
Enigma grabbed Hcrib’s reins. Sly took hold of her horse
and cuddled into it’s neck.
  ‘Lord Ksid?’ one of the workers that came over with the
raft, asked.
  ‘That’s me.’ Ksid stepped forward. He was handed a note
with the royal seal on it. 
  The man bowed, then he and his men went back to get the
other animals.
  Enigma ascended his mount. ‘What’s it say?’
  The aged man opened it, and another parchment fell out. 
  ‘“Friend’s,”’ Ksid read aloud the note. ‘“I wish to 
inform you that the festival went according to plan. If 
not for you and your accomplices, our jails would have 
been shoulder deep with criminals. I have also enclosed 
on a separate sheet, the royal seal from the king of
Vinmac and signature in case you have any problems with
king in northern Neekkent. Good luck.”  
  ‘I’m glad everything went according to plan.’ Power
truthfully said. 
  The other five horses were rafted across, then the ship 
turned around and began sailing back towards the horizon.
  Enigma shuffled around in his saddle, finding a
comfortable position. Shall we start the road going
towards Ono, or should we wait a little?’
  ‘I don’t see there to be any reason for us to wait.’
Ksid pointed out. 
  They cut across the dense forest until they met the
highway that led north - west towards Ono.
  ‘There are three things associated with close contact
fighting.’ Power was explaining to Enigma.
  Enigma thought about it for a while. ‘What three
things?’
  ‘It’s close,’ he replied, ‘there’s contact, and - ’
  ‘There’s fighting?’ Enigma suggested.
  ‘Your better at this than I thought.’ Power noted.
  The sky was dotted with a few clouds here and there,
and the sun shone it’s beams through the canopy that
sheltered the road. The air was calm and collected, and
the temperature was just right. 
  Sly rode beside Enigma as he learnt the fundament’s of
close contact fighting and what best to do and not to do.
She still remained quiet, but Enigma’s previous words to 
her really hit home. Jealousy was her actual problem. She 
knew that, but found it hard to accept.
  Terrol was leading the way in front with Iikin beside 
him playing with his new weapon. Ksid was watching him
from behind with a little smirk. Kolga wasn’t to
impressed as she talked mindlessly into his ear while
sitting in his shoulder. 
  ‘This is absolutely brilliant.’ Iikin was complimenting
the metal glove. 
  Terrol edged his horse slightly away from the deadly
blade. ‘Why’s that?’
  ‘When the blade is active, part of it remains over the
joint between your hand and the rest of your arm, keeping
your wrist straight. We all know that if you don’t punch
someone with a reasonably straight wrist, it can damage
your hand, and this thing teaches your wrist how it
should be position.’
  ‘Fascinating.’ Terrol wasn’t really listening. Instead
he was concentrating on his own weapon. Caution was
extremely necessary. The finely sharpened points were
meant for damage, and he could do himself great injury if
he weren’t careful.
  Suddenly, Terrol felt a burning sensation on the back
of his hand. It was only a sharp and didn’t last for
long. Eventually, the pain eased away. Not taking any
further notice, he went on concentrating on what he was
doing.
  Ksid saw the whole thing. 
  Sly’s eyes moved from the surrounding scenery to Ice. 
She was reading something as she went along. Sly 
manoeuvred her giant horse in beside Ice’s horse to get a 
better look.
  She peered down at the text. ‘What’s that, Ice?’
  ‘It’s a book.’ Ice replied without lifting her eyes
from what she was reading. 
  ‘Obviously. What’s it about.’
  ‘It’s an account of what happened when Lord Serenity
disappeared.’
  ‘Where did you pick that book up?’
  ‘I found it sitting underneath the bed in the inn we
were at before.’
  Sly looked at her with astonishment. ‘You actually
check underneath the bed?’
  ‘You can’t be too careful.’ she replied in her
quivering voice. 
  She gave her a sly look, then persisted with her
questions. ‘What part are you up to now?’
  Ice cleared her voice and began to read. ‘“Then
Serenity and his accomplice feasted the festival of the
Platinium, a phenomenal event that is seen by only few. 
The initial suggestion rang in the God’s mind, and he was
eager to try it. 
  ‘“When the feast had ended, Serenity along with his
partner, summoned one hundred people to bear witness.
Then with over confidence, he cast his spell, opening a
path way to his doom. 
  ‘“A giant face appeared in the sky. It gave an 
overwhelming laugh, then it sucked the one hundred 
witnesses into it’s mouth, as well as the all powerful 
God and his accomplice.
  ‘“No one has ever seen or heard from those people, nor 
will they ever. The only thing that remains is the
memories of what is now just waisted lives.”’
  Ice finished reading, and realised that everyone else
in the group had been listening. They continued to look
at her silently, pondering the text that had just been
read out.
  ‘Rubbish.’ Ksid objected. He wrest the book from Ice’s
hands, then let it go up in flames. ‘It’s text like that,
that can lead you in the wrong direction. Sure, some of
it may be true, but most of it is very, very wrong.’ 
  ‘Then what really happened?’ Enigma asked.
  ‘It took him many season’s to decide weather he was
going to do it or not. Actually, I think he was rather
reluctant. Eventually, on the night of the Platinium, he
made his decision. We proceeded to a peak of a flat
topped mountain where we wouldn’t harm anybody. 
  ‘I was told to step back a little out of harms way, so 
I was sent to the mountains slope, with the protection of 
the bushes, whilst Lord Serenity was out in the open. He 
cast the spell, then all of a sudden, the space above him
began to swirl a bright white, unifying the colours.
  ‘“Foolish brother.” I remember a voice said. Then, Lord
Serenity disappeared - sucked from this world. I only
just held onto my surroundings. 
  ‘I noticed a hooded person looking on, only a few 
meters from where I was standing. He was witness to the 
spell’s cast - that is, he was witness to the words of 
the spell. If the information had reached him, it could 
have jeopardised mankind. I grabbed the man, his hood 
falling backwards off his face. I found that the person
was a descendent of the individual in charge of the
palace. His spy was a young woman.
  ‘With my strength and all my rage, I grabbed the girl,
and threw her into the sheet along with any knowledge of
the dangerous spell. 
  ‘When the sheet disappeared, the earth was enraged. It
took no exceptions and left many for dead. My immortality
was the only thing that saved me. The universe went into
deep mourning, as the human race became more and more
corrupt.’
  ‘Why were the descendants following you?’ Enigma asked.
  ‘At first, they were trusted,’ Ksid explained, ‘but
eventually over time, they became more devious. After one
of my frequent check ups, I found that the person in
charge kept the heir close to him, but sent the youngest
one to spy on us. 
  ‘You obviously had a suspicion you were being watched?’
  Ksid nodded, ‘But we were to involved with the work to
take any notice. So, what ever we discovered, they knew
about it. 
  ‘They continued this same practice over the years.’ he 
continued. ‘It became like a tradition. The youngest 
person was always sent to spy on us. They weren’t 
supposed to be able to here or understand anything we 
were doing because of Lord Serenity’s precaution spell, 
that enabled all information that we were able to extract 
from our studies, to be kept within our ears and eye’s 
only. The spies overcame the spell with a little help 
from Thanatos. We weren’t really expecting that.
  ‘False rumours infiltrated the public minds. I only
found out about this news as I came from seclusion after
the disappearance of my master. The person I threw into
the mystical sheet was a descendant, a woman in this
case. She’s the only known human to have ever crossed the
line of our world into the other. 
  ‘Because of the memories, I have never returned to the
palace since. Also I have never been there because of the
domination of the God, Thanatos. The palace was turned
into his main temple, the place where everything is run.’
  ‘Where about’s is this temple?’ Iikin questioned.
  ‘Some day I might show you, but for know, you do not 
need to know.’
  It was Terrol’s turn. ‘What was the name of the person 
that you killed?’ 
  ‘You remember on the road from Anitram to Etib? We were
riding and those men came journeying the other way. He
pronounced a name and the earth opened up on him.’
  Terrol thought back, then remembered what had happened. 
  ‘I’m not going to pronounce her name because it could 
put our mission in danger. She can hear her name being 
pronounced anywhere in the world, and I don’t want them 
to know where we are because they’re the enemy.’
  ‘Perfectly understood.’ Power said. ‘What’s her rank
amongst the enemy?’
  ‘She’s the senior high priestess - the lady in favour. 
The next in line is Velyaha, then I guess it’s this 
Vulture character. Velyaha and Vulture can only live on 
earth because they have no other way to get to the other 
side. They have followers also, but Velyaha and Vulture 
rule the cult down here, then answer to the lady in 
favour in the other world.’
  There was a garbled laugh from somewhere in front of
them. It wasn’t the Death Warrior, though. 
  A man appeared in front of them. He was caped and
hooded. The strange thing was, when they tried to look at
him directly, he wasn’t there. They had to look at an
area away from where he was standing to see him.
  ‘Your well versed in our way’s.’ the hooded man said
after his laughter had died down. ‘I trust that you
Enigma, and you Sly, have been well.’
  ‘How do you know of us?’ Enigma demanded, reeling in
his horse.
  ‘Use your brains boy. Soon you’ll realise who I am. But
for now, you can call me Funnel - Web. 
  ‘Your the guy in that inn the other day.’ Power
recognise Funnel - Web’s voice. 
  ‘And it’s a pity I never caught you. I had a surprise 
waiting for you, but it looks like I’m just going to have 
to give it to you today.’ He gave another outburst of 
laughter, then composed himself. ‘I trust that our Death 
Warrior’s have treated you well. They used to have so 
much fun, but I’ve explained to them that they now have 
to be dead serious about their work. Usually after they’d 
finished playing with you, they’d come home dieing with 
laughed and enthusiasm. They’d have such a killer of a 
time. But enough with the jokes. I’d now like you to meet 
two of my friends and their followers.’
  The huffing and puffing of the Death Warrior was now
present once again. Two objects appeared just above
Funnel - Web’s body. Two set’s of dots - the Death
Warrior’s eye’s - appeared in the midst of two, giant,
transparent faces. 
  A chill crawled up Enigma’s back. Usually, he’d felt 
the evil of one Death Warrior to be strong, but the evil 
of two Death Warrior’s was mind blowing. 
  Terrol and Iikin weren’t having a very good time. 
They’d fallen off their horses, and were rolling around 
on the ground, growling like wolves and ripping at the
air with their fingers extended like claws. 
  Enigma’s hand’s turned a light green. His powers 
reached out to the fallen men from his horse, like a 
stream of light. They were then surrounded by the same 
aura, becoming quiet and still. They were able to return 
to their feet.
  He then looked off to one side. Funnel - Web motioned
with one hand. Only one of the two Death Warrior’s
floated forward, whilst the other remained in reserve. 
  The two red dots brightened, then expanded. The
atmosphere around the group wavered. 
  Enigma had seen this in the ghost town, and knew what 
this meant. About half a dozen figures appeared, although 
they weren’t the same as the one that he had battled 
before. These monstrosities had a single curved claw for 
a hand that reached out at least half a metre. They had 
long white hair that dangled all the way back to their 
lower backs, and they walked around with a vicious slump. 
Muscles rippled everywhere. Their only clothing was rags 
that acted as short trousers. 
  No matter which way they turned, their faces couldn’t
be seen. A pitch black shadow was continually cast over
their facial features, and, like the Death Warrior, it’s
eye’s were the only distinguishable, solid object. 
  Enigma withdrew his dagger, and the battle began. He
first went to Sly’s side. She wasn’t designed for battle,
and was defenceless. He dived off his giant mount onto an
approaching creature with a lunge of his dagger. It
successfully dug into the creatures leather chest. As
Enigma hit the ground, he spun around with his tomahawk
and flicked it into the head of another approaching
creature, driving it into the ground. It disappeared
leaving the tomahawk protruding in the track. He turned
back around to the first creature he had wounded to find
the dagger hadn’t done the job. He immediately went back
to work.
  Power and Ice had discarded their horses, and were
standing back to back, fending off two more predators.
Ice was blocking shots with her gauntlets, then
countering at any chance she got. She got several good
shots in, but the creature just wouldn’t die. 
  Power was using his knuckles to attack, and the spiked 
metal on his forearms to defend. The monster almost got a 
successful shot in, but Power side stepped it and off 
loaded a fury of fists. To end his opponent, he took one 
of his throwing knives from his leather strap, and drove 
it into it’s shadowy face. The light of it’s eye’s 
dimmed, as it fell to the ground and disappeared. 
  At the same time, Ice got in a good shot, driving her 
spear pointed gauntlets into it’s chest. After she had 
punctured it many, Ice let it fall backwards to slowly 
die a painful death. 
  Iikin and Terrol were able to get their first real 
trial of their new weapons. Iikin started with the blade 
hidden. As his opponent approached, Iikin threw a punch,
pressing the button on impact, allowing the springs of
the gauntlet plunge the blade deep into the creatures
stomach. 
  Terrol’s weapon wasn’t as vicious as Iikins, and could 
only be used with quickness and agility. He dipped and 
ducked out of harms way, then slashed at the attackers 
body with lightning speed. The creature too, got a blow
in. Terrol’s new chain mail was the only thing that saved
him. With one sharp finger outstretched, he drove the
point into the aggressor’s face, forcing it to disappear
like the others.
  Iikin used his blade like a sword, deflecting attempted
blows from his fighting partner. He ducked under one
attempt at his head, then twisted underneath him, slicing
one of his legs right off. It fell to the ground. He put
the creature out of his misery.
  Ksid was having a great time with his rival. They 
fought with power, both exchanging attacks, countering 
each other, then firing again as the next one came in. 
The antagonist was no match for the veteran though. Ksid  
threw a ball of white hot matter at him. The creature 
froze, and as the raging power hit him, he was vanquished 
instantly.
  Sly backed off a little, keeping out of harms way. 
  Enigma crowding his fighter. He wouldn’t let it get an
attack in. With his dagger hidden, he jabbed the creature
over and over again. Then with a big swing, he rammed it
into its throat.
  He looked up at the Death Warrior that had summoned
these creatures. Using his dagger again, he found a loose
grip, then eased it through the air like a javelin. It
penetrated the first Death Warrior’s face like a
thunderbolt then landed somewhere up the path. With
anger, the Death Warrior rose higher and higher towards
the canopy. Then it’s substance stretched into
nothingness. 
  The group breathed heavy as they stood motionless,
awaiting their next opponents. 
  ‘Congratulations.’ Funnel - Web complimented. ‘Your
much better than I thought you were.’ He motioned with
one hand, and the second Death Warrior disappeared. ‘I
kind of lied about the whole serious thing.’ the hooded
man explained. ‘This has been most fun. But I’m afraid I
must go. I hope you don’t mind me leaving on such short
notice. I know you don’t mind because your going to give
me a farewell present. Actually, I’m going to take one,
but it’s all the same to me.’
  From behind the rest of the group, a piercing scream 
filled the air. Sly was being levitated off her horse. 
The second Death Warrior had reappeared in the sky, 
lifting her higher, and higher. 
  Before anyone could do anything, the Death Warrior 
along with Sly and Funnel - Web, disappeared. Enigma
yelled his anguish as Sly’s cry for help sustained, then
ended.