Chapter 15.

  Ice volunteered to be the first fighter against
Sentinel. With some discussion, the fighters were listed
in order of ability. There were six battles all up and
the rules were simple. Kill or be killed. Mercy was
allowed, but didn’t have to be accepted. 
  Ice had a full day to prepare herself mentally and
physically. She talked constantly to Power in the next
cell, receiving tips and pointers. A strategy was in the
process of being mapped out.
  Ksid spent most of the time worrying. There were six
battles, one a day, and if they were to get to the final
battle, they’d have to work fast, as it would be the last
day of the split Bi - Platinium. Half a day, he thought,
would only just get them out of the temple and past the
invisible field before it closes. 
  Enigma was tired and needed sleep, but after previous
nights, he was afraid to shut his eyes. He succumbed to
fatigue nonetheless.
  His dreams brought him back to the begin. For the third
time, his families massacre was what his mind served him.
Unlike previous nights, his dreams didn’t stop in the
same spot. His time as a slave bound child made his
nightmares seem like heaven on earth. All the torture and
pain he suffered in the hands of different merchants and
slave drivers - all the while, flashes of the Master
pounded his thoughts. 
  His childhood love, Atrebor, invaded the scene. His 
good times and bad times with her was emphasised. Then 
Sly replaced Atrebor. The first time he had layed his 
eyes on her was neatly recapped, and the time he burnt 
the Sanctuary down. Finally, Sly’s capture by the enemy
overwhelmed him. The images of what his enemy might have
done to her sickened him. After the images had passed all
that was left was the cackling laughter of the heads of
Velyaha and the Master, surrounded by a ring of fire. The
laughter got louder and louder, piercing at his ears.
  ‘Enigma!’ Ice yelled from the cell next to him. He was
shaking violently as he awoke. His face had turned red,
and was suffering a cold sweat.
  ‘You knew I was having bad dreams.’ Enigma accused,
sitting up. ‘How come no one woke me?’
  ‘I had to let you go for your benefit.’ Ice explained.
  ‘For my benefit?’ His voice rose.
  ‘Calm down. I had to let you go so I could thoroughly
examine your subconsciousness. You do want your dreams to
stop don’t you?’
  He glared at her, then lay back, his face buried in his
hands.
  ‘Your subconscious is frustrated. There’s a mystery
it’s trying to figure out, but it can’t. It’s almost got
it, but it can’t get your mind to recognise it.’
  ‘What mystery?’
  ‘I can’t give you the answer. You have to fill in the 
missing spaces on your own. I can give you the facts 
though.’
  The rest of the group were listening in intently.
  ‘You may not know this, but the deepest parts of your 
mind has recognised the remaining hooded character in our 
main opposition. It’s familiar with him, but it can’t 
figure out were you’ve seen him before. Your sub - 
conscious relates this person back to your day’s as a
slave. It keeps on searching you mind in this region.
It’s been doing this for the past months, even if you
didn’t realise it. Searching your total memory bank for
the matching person. It’s only in recent day’s that it’s
come close to a match. Because your mind won’t put two
and two together, it’s become frustrated, and drilling
your thoughts more and more.’
  ‘And I still don’t -’ Enigma sat up quickly, as
something clicked in his mind. ‘I think I’ve got it! The
Master! It’s the Master, he’s the one!’
  ‘The slave lord?’ Ksid questioned. ‘Ruler of the slave
ring and it’s soldiers.’
  Enigma nodded eagerly.
  ‘So the Enemy is part of the enemy.’ Arem murmured.
  ‘I knew I’d heard that voice somewhere.’ Enigma laughed
wickedly. ‘Now I know exactly who to kill for kidnapping
Sly, when I see him.’
  ‘This can’t be good.’ Ksid noted. ‘Now we have double,
maybe even triple the forces against us. The Enemy have
their own soldiers and slaves at their disposal. With
them, aligned with the Revolution and the Sharks, that
makes them one of the most powerful forces in the world.’
  ‘So now we’ve fully exposed our opposition leaders;’ 
Enigma said, ‘Velyaha and Vulture are the leaders of the 
Cult, the Master, is the leader of the Enemy, and Eucros 
is the leader of the Sharks, with his two goons, Wen and 
Rorrim.’
  They congratulated Enigma’s accomplishment. He could
now rest in peace. His dreams were invaded with horrific
scenes of his past no longer. 
  Day and night was irritatingly indistinguishable
underground. More often than not, Enigma awoke. With no
light to signal day and no darkness to signal night, he
just kept on sleeping.
  ‘It is nearly time.’ Guardians wicked voice woke them.
‘Who is to be the first combatant?’
  Ice wiped her eye’s. ‘Me. You got a problem with that?’
  Guardian laughed. ‘I’m sure Sentinel will enjoy you.’
  ‘No, I don’t think he’ll have to much fun.’
  The winged creature paused, then laughed again, flying
off, closing the door behind him.
  ‘You want to go through with this?’ Ksid asked.
  ‘I’ll be fine.’ she said confidently. 
  ‘I can’t believe this.’ Arem said with distant eyes.
‘And I thought fighting was for the men.’
  ‘I don’t really have choice.’ Ice smiled. ‘We’re one 
man short. I don’t suppose you want to do this?’
  ‘I would if I knew how.’ Arem replied. ‘I think it’d be
better fighting than watching.’
  With gauntlet’s on, she began warming up. Her strategy
was simply. At any chance she could, she was to try take
out her opponents wings. That way, it’d be much easier
for her to go straight for the kill. 
  Guardian soon came back, and by that time, Ice was well 
prepared. The rest of the group were flown to the ledge 
they were first on, where they could watch but not cause 
any trouble.
  Ice had been taken a different route and was kept out
the back until the left tunnel in the dome opened. She
walked out confidently to the centre of the arena, where
she awaited her opponent.
  ‘If they do anything to her,’ Power murmured, ‘you
people won’t have to worry about your confrontations at
all.’
  Sentinel flew out of the right tunnel to meet her. He
was dressed in a fighting uniform with clothing covering
his lower body, and a piece of rope acting as a belt.
Sentinel strutted through the air with cockiness.
  The red creature shoved Ice to the floor, signalling
the start of the duel. He was quick in the air, and as
Ice returned to her feet, he swooped with blinding speed,
taking her by the shoulders, and slamming her into one of
the columns.
  On hands and knees, she fought to clear her mind. As
her opponent came in to swoop again, this time she was
able to step to one side with her hand only just clipping
his body. The piece of rope came loose and fell to the
floor. 
  The spectators cringed. 
  Again, Sentinel swooped in from above. Taking the rope
in two hands, as it flew in, Ice wrapped it around the
beasts neck and was taken for a little ride.
  Sentinel struggled furiously to loosen the rope as he 
flew through the air, Ice on his back, but the 
underestimated girl pulled tighter and tighter about it’s 
neck with one hand, and stabbed at it’s shoulder blades 
where his wing’s met, with the other. 
  She kept at it until they both fell heavily to the
ground. Now evenly match, Ice was quick to the kill. In
the heat of battle, mercy was all but forgotten. She
plunged her spiked fist deep into his chest.
  An echoed silence congratulated her efforts. As she
withdrew her hands, the fourth door opened, and she was
escorted back to her cell.
  The group were stunned. Most couldn’t believe her
viciousness. Power, however was proud. His eye’s watered,
knowing that he had done his little bit to help in what
he believed, to be a great battle.
  The victor received rowdy compliments as the rest of 
her companions were thrown back in their cages with her.
  ‘I just wish I didn’t have to kill him.’ she said
sympathetically. 
  ‘Oh, you haven’t killed him yet.’ Guardian reassured as
he locked the last cell. ‘The fight was stopped because
your last strike was counted as a mortal wound. We’re
immortal, and once you’ve given mortal wounds to each of
us, then shall we all die.’ 
  The rest of the day was spent analysing the fight. They
all had a new respect for her, a kind of fear towards
her. They dare not speak a foul word about her. 
  The strategy, Ksid concluded, worked well. It wasn’t 
pulled off with the best of execution, but it still won 
Ice the success. 
  Iikin was next on the list. His strategy was basically
the same as Ice’s, only with little variations. If the
next combatant was anything like the first, then Iikin
was to charge and aim for the wings when it flew in. 
  Enigma sat up against the wall, listening in on all the
different conversations. As Power, Ice and Iikin planned
out their attack methods, Arem, Reenoco and Orpten
gossiped, whilst Ksid gave Terrol a history lesson. 
  He pulled out his special book from the inside pocket
of his vest underneath all the extra clothing, as he felt
its usual call. A new message he found. “Your
confrontation with the great beast should not be taken
lightly.” it read. “With ability much more brawny than
initially conceived, your unknown powers shall determine
your outcome. A decision shall face you in your battle’s.
A greater vocation may also come of your initial
combatants to help against your true enemies.” With a
quick reflection, he put it away and fell asleep.
  The following week was hectic. A battle a day was
difficult for the spectators, but more so when one has
many day’s to prepare for a possible life ending
situation. 
  Iikin’s battle was a little tougher. Aegis, second to 
Guardian, was what he was up against. This red beast had 
a strategy Iikin wasn’t prepared for. Pure confusion. 
With lighting aerobatics, Aegis could dart in and out of 
sight, turning up in a different place as the last was 
realised.
  ‘He has to outsmart him.’ Terrol mumbled, watching on 
eagerly.
  Iikin saved his blades till last. It took a while, but
the big man soon caught on to Aegis’s tactics. It would
fly round and round, getting in his blind spot when ever
he could, darting in with little jabs, then disappearing
out of sight once it’s opponent realised what had
happened. 
  Frustrated with twisting and turning, trying to keep up 
with him, he grunted, standing still. Then, spinning
around quickly, he caught Aegis in another jab attempt, 
and punched him with great force, releasing the sharp 
metal implement on impact. It powered straight through 
the monsters chest, sliding squeamishly off it once he 
turned limp. 
  Terrol had to face off with Guardian the next day. The
two were evenly matched. Terrol was a former high ranking
officer who had experienced his fair share of fights.
Guardian, according to Ksid, was too, an ancient battler.
With the many years of experience and finesse, he was to
be a formidable opponent.
  Terrol’s contest was a scuffle more than a fight. They
exchanged blows most of the time, using brawn instead of
brain. 
  ‘That’s the way I would have done it.’ Power chuckled. 
  Guardian never used his wings to his advantage. In 
fact, they weren’t used at all. Out of mutual respect, 
the red leader remained grounded, whilst Terrol threw his 
gauntlet to the side. 
  Terrol soon gained the upper hand. He struck harder and 
harder, and simply dodged the groggy attempts of a
counter. Eventually, with exhausted knuckles, he struck
the final blow in the temple, knocking him unconscious.
  To the group’s surprise, it was Sentinel and Aegis who
escorted them back to their prison.
  ‘I didn’t know a mortal could be killed by a strike to
the temple.’ Reenoco admitted.
  ‘You learn something everyday.’ Arem replied.
  A few hours later, Guardian stumbled into the dungeon.
  ‘I must congratulate you on a good fight.’ he said. ‘I
haven’t had a challenge in eons.’
  ‘You pack a hard punch.’ Terrol acknowledged, nursing
his bruises. 
  ‘You have all done well in the first three tests.’
Guardian went on. ‘But now, you face the Barbarians. This
is where you are really tested. The first Barbarian to
combat will be Lord Savage. This fight shall commence at
first light tomorrow.’ Then he left.
  ‘Who are, or who were, the Barbarians?’ Arem asked
Ksid.
  ‘You remember me telling you about the story of the
three explorer’s that discovered the Phoenix?’
  She nodded.
  ‘Well, the barbarians are them, sort of.’
  ‘What happened to them?’
  ‘It’s been a long time since I last saw them. I 
remember them in their original state before they became 
what they are now. I nursed them back to full health 
after the earth’s grievance. Then they went off exploring 
the world. I’m not sure exactly what deformed them. I 
guess after all these years in the same space, their 
bodies changed so it could adapt to it’s new 
surroundings. They have to look after each new Phoenix, 
so they must have been given some powers. They could have 
used them on themselves to strengthen their ability to 
protect.’
  ‘How do they get their eyes to glow?’ Enigma asked.
  ‘I’m not sure. I think that’s just the way it turned
out after a while. Pretty neat party trick though.’
  Power had the honours of going against Lord Savage, the
black knight, first of the Barbarians. Their comparison
in build was equal to that of Power to an infant.
Savage’s arms were literally as big, or even bigger than
tree trunks. 
  Lord Savage charged slow, but rapidly, swinging his
nine foot long sword dangerously from side to side. Power
found him self running for the better part of the fight.
Savage attempted a quick kill, but missed. Power ducked
in and delivered a crunching blow to the chest. The
breastplate remained intact, though Power’s hand was
damaged severely. 
  With quick thinking, he decided to first take out the
giant’s sword arm. He began working away at it, flicking
his knives into Savage’s gloves. Like splinters, he
simply brushed them away.
  Power was soon backed up against a column. With luck, 
he soon achieved what he set out to do. The fearsome man 
swung his sword, however, missing his target. The sword 
clashed with the column, sending off tremendous sparks. 
It vibrated wildly, from the tip, all the way up his arm. 
With a bellow he dropped the overgrown knife, clutching
his arm, trying to regain some feeling.
  Taking full advantage of the man’s distraction, he
ascended Savage and delivered a shocking wallop to the
face, knocking him on his back with a great boom.
  He was now helpless. Power could do what he wanted with
him. Finishing the job was his next objective. Taking the
sword by the hilt, he struggled to raise it over his
head. Once in position, he stumbled back several times,
before making the final advance, letting it’s own weight
drive through the owner’s massive body. The battle ended.
Power was able to live another day.
  ‘For those of you who are fighting those things, don’t
even bother about the breastplate.’ Power said, clutching
his battered hand.
  ‘Are they tougher than they look?’ Enigma asked.
  ‘You wouldn’t have a clue.’
  ‘You know you may have to use your powers.’ Enigma said
to Ksid. ‘There really isn’t a way you can steer clear of
it. Remember, the book said we’re going loose what ever
it is we’re after, in the end anyway.’
  Ksid didn’t answer.
  ‘What is this thing we’re putting our lives on the line
for?’ Terrol asked.
  ‘I guess it’s about time I told you.’ Ksid replied. 
‘Well. If you’ll recall, I told you all that to stop 
Thanatos from escaping his prison, he needs to replace 
himself with equal amount of people. So he intends to get 
the infinite people from the past, present and future.
But to do that, he needs the minds of these people to 
manipulate them.’
  ‘Yes. You’ve said all this before.’ Terrol interrupted.
  ‘Some of us haven’t yet.’ Ksid looked at Arem. ‘Anyway, 
he needs to captivate minds. Those minds that are already
bewitch - so to speak - are widely known as the
Revolution. They are focusing their forces on slaves -
known as the Enemy. We have to eliminate these two forces
- along with the Sharks. I still don’t ffully understand
how they fit into all this. What better way to do this
than eliminating what runs them. 
  ‘Once we’re done here, we have to do the same job, or
close to it, in the past. Like I said, Thanatos can
manipulate the minds of an infinite number of people.’
  ‘I don’t see how the world can carry an infinite number
of people.’ Reenoco admitted.
  ‘Well, we’re alway’s living in the present. After we’ve
lived part of time, it becomes past. If you had the power
to go back into time and stop it when ever you please,
you’d find out that there are an infinite number of
places you could pause it. It may be hard to imagine, but
Thanatos can manipulate, with a bit of timing, all the
minds in this infinite space. 
  ‘For us to total rid something from the earth, we need 
to do three things. Wipe out the forces in the present, 
then clear the forces in the past, then remove the memory 
of them in the future.’
  ‘How come we need to get rid of the people in the
present?’ Orpten questioned.
  ‘Well, we can get rid of the people in the past, so
they don’t exist in the future. We can do that by going
back to their very beginning. But, over time, the same
forces can still develop into what they are now. That’s
why we need to abolish them now. After we do this, we can
go to the future and get rid of the memory. But we have a
problem.’
  ‘I can’t see any problem.’ Power confessed. ‘Killing
sounds good enough for me.’
  ‘I’m sure you’ll have fun playing with the people in
the past and future. But, how are you going to get there
in the first place?’
  ‘Ah. Now I see the problem.’
  ‘We need an object that’ll help us with this task. Lord
Serenity once had the power to go backwards and forwards
in time as he pleased. There are two way’s that we can do
the same thing. By swapping, as I mentioned to you once
before, or by a great amount of energy.’
  ‘Hang on a minute.’ Enigma intermitted. ‘Velyaha was
sent off in time twice. How come she keeps coming back.’
  ‘She used the great amount of energy theory.’ Ksid
answered. ‘She has access to Thanatos’s power - with a
little bit of grovelling. With his help, she can be sent
back.’
  ‘Explain this object now.’ Arem urged.
  ‘I won’t give too much more information away. I want 
to save some for later. The object we’re after is called 
the “Platinium stone.” The stone was created by Lord 
Serenity with an ample amount of energy in it to send us 
back in time. This is all you need to know for now.’
  There was groan of disappointment.
  ‘What you don’t know can’t harm you.’ he defended.
  Ksid made his decision long before the fight, that he’d
have no option but to use his powers. He was sure that
Velyaha already knew where they were, and the fact that
they were going to loose the stone anyway added to his
decision. 
  ‘There have been some changes.’ Guardian said the
following morning before Ksid’s confrontation. ‘The rest
of the fights shall go ahead as planned, but another
contender has entered the ranks.’
  ‘Another contender.’ Enigma said in out rage.
  ‘It is Lord Phoenix, master of this domain. He has
requested this battle, which shall take place if you
defeat the rest of the Barbarians. Also, you can each
only fight once, so further planning must be made. For
this, we shall give you several more hours to figure out
your plans.’
  ‘This is absolutely abominable.’ Enigma said.
  ‘If you truly desire the prize you so seek, then Lord
Phoenix’s wishes shall be granted. You do not hold the
power here. I shall leave you to your discussion’s.’
  ‘I can’t believe this.’ Ksid said. ‘A seventh
contender.’
  ‘What can we do?’ Power asked. ‘The only people left, 
capable of fighting is you and Enigma. Now that we can 
only have one fight each, it looks like you Arem, or one 
of your servants will have to do the honours.
  ‘Me?’ Arem couldn’t believe her ears.
  ‘Look’s like it.’ Ksid said regretfully.
  ‘I’m not cut out for battle.’ She began to frown,
worriedly. ‘Power had a hard enough time as it is - and
he’s trained for this sort of stuff.’
  ‘You know, you do have some advantages.’ Enigma tried
to explain.
  ‘Oh. Like what?’
  ‘Well you don’t exactly look like one of those
Barbarian’s do you.’
  There was a quick vote between the three girls. Arem
was chosen, to her disliking, to fight. She was given a
thorough run down of what she was to do and how she was
to do it. 
  For protection, Enigma gave her his dagger. It twinkled
with sharpness as it was handed over. 
  ‘Are you ready?’ Guardian demanded.
  ‘No.’ Arem replied. ‘But I bet I don’t have a choice.’
  As the spectators were seated, Arem walked out in front
of them, down below. She sat down with her back against
one of the pillars.
  Cannibal, the red plated monster of the Barbarians, 
then followed. He was quick to get things under way.
  As he approached, he raised his sword.
  ‘Excuse me.’ Arem said, waving a finger, ‘Do you really 
think that’s the way to treat a lady?’
  Cannibal grunted, scratching his head.
  ‘Yeah, I’m talking to you.’ she continued. ‘You may 
have seen my friend fight early. Ice. You remember her?
She was the first to go play in this silly game.’
  He slowly lowered his sword to the ground, leaning on
its tip. 
  ‘Do I look like her? I mean, do you really think me, of
all people, could be powerful enough to kill a strong,
handsome man such as yourself?’
  Cannibal rubbed his neck, thinking.
  ‘I should think not. Your to big and muscular. Nothing
that I could throw at would could ever take your
admirable body down.’
  He gave an impish chuckle, as if he were embarrassed.
  ‘Now come on.’ Arem said, getting to her feet. ‘Come
down here and give me a hug. Lets end this foolish war.’
  The sword fell to the ground with a loud clang. He bent
down with his arms outstretched.
  With his arms around her, she pulled out Enigma’s
dagger from a hidden spot and implacably drove it between
his shoulder blades. The mysterious dagger easily
penetrated the tough metal. 
 Cannibal wailed in agony, more of a broken heart than of
a sore back. He stumbled to the ground.
  The small woman sighed and walked off back to the
dungeon.
  ‘That was cruel.’ Enigma said, as they entered the 
dungeon once more. ‘Absolutely cruel. One of the most 
vicious attacks I have ever seen.’
  ‘Thank - you.’ Arem replied, handing him back his 
dagger. ‘I didn’t really feel good about it at the time, 
but it needed to be done.’ She was smiling greatly with
her success.
  ‘I admit, it was a brilliant piece of manipulation.’
Ice declared.
  ‘We can change you yet.’ Power added.
  ‘I still say that was really mean.’ Enigma complained.
  ‘Don’t celebrate to soon.’ Ksid told them. ‘We haven’t
got the stone yet. We’ve still got two more creatures to
deal with. 
*  *  *  
  The next day, it was Ksid’s turn in the spot light. He
fought Lord Animal, the blue leader of the Barbarians.
  ‘Hello friend.’ Ksid said as they stared each other
down in the centre of the dome. ‘You don’t remember me,
do you.’
  He gave no answer. Instead, he raised his free hand and
sent a shock wave into the ancient man’s chest. This was
evidence of the powers he contained.
  Ksid kicked out of his flight and landed back on his 
feet. ‘Should I take that as a “no”?’ In reply to 
Animal’s burst of energy, Ksid sent a shock wave of his 
own right back at him, knocking him to the ground. 
  The blue leader sat up. His eye’s glowed intensely. He
mumbled a few short words, then disappeared.
  Suddenly, Ksid began to levitate off the ground. He 
lifted his hands as he began to spin in circles with 
blinding speed. Soon, he too had disappeared.
  ‘Animal’s power’s should be no match for Ksid’s.’ 
Enigma said quietly.
  The giant man unexpected reappeared, falling out of the
sky this time, followed by the out ranking sorcerer with
a more smoother descent. 
  ‘You still want to fight.’ Ksid asked him, standing
just over his face.
  Animal grunted once more, this time, grabbing Ksid by
the throat with his gigantic hands. Surprisingly, he had
used very little of his mutilated sword. He returned to
his feet with Ksid at his mercy, squeezing tighter and
tighter. Realising he couldn’t crush him completely, he
threw him heavily into one of the columns, the impact
loosening some of the stones from the above.
  Ksid laughed slightly, ‘Enough games, old friend.’ He
returned to his feet with both fists clenched. Animal
clutched the sides of his head, as his opponent began
squeezing with his heart.
  ‘I’m not going to kill you friend.’ Ksid promised. ‘But
you will submit. Do you give up.’ 
  Animal fell to his knees with a strong will.
  Lord Serenity’s servant squeezed harder. ‘Do you give
up?’ he pressured.
  There was another pause, which seemed everlasting. Then
the words finally came. ‘I give up.’ It hoarsely said in
Ksid’s language. 
  ‘I’m sorry, my friend.’ he said, releasing his mental
grip. He then left him agonise on his own. 
*  *  *
  Guardian walked into the dungeon. 
  ‘Old man.’ he insulted Ksid, ‘Why do you show mercy to
those who seek to kill you?’
  ‘Not now.’ Ksid replied.
  ‘It is long over due.’ Guardian’s tone went up a few
notches. ‘You show compassion to that which endeavour to
destroy you, yet you show no mercy for those who you have
no business with.’
  He didn’t answer.
  ‘Why do you not explain yourself.’
  ‘Because I have nothing to explain.’
  He growled with rage. ‘One day old man, you’ll get what
you deserve. And he stormed out.
  ‘What was that all about?’ Power asked.
  ‘Nothing.’ Ksid replied remorsefully. ‘Just let it go.’
  ‘No.’ Enigma replied. ‘If you can’t tell us, than how
are we supposed to fully trust you?’
  He took a deep breath and gave an annoying stare. ‘All 
right. If you must know. Guardian, in actual fact, is
ruler of an ancient race called “gargoyles”.
  ‘Gargoyles.’ Terrol repeated. ‘You mean they actually
exist?’
  ‘How do you know of them?’
  ‘I read about them in the future.’ he said. ‘I mean in 
the past. Well, you know what I mean. I read that they 
had an average height of nine feet tall. It was from a 
history book I found. Absolutely outrageous. It said, 
that their was a great battle and that an ancient man 
cast a spell and turned them all to stone.’ He paused, 
then his face went white. ‘It was you. You were the 
ancient man.’
  ‘How very perceptive of you.’ He then went on to recite
the story, with out the over exaggerations.
  ‘How come you turned them to stone?’ Orpten questioned.
  ‘When they were accused of the things they didn’t do,
they were greatly enraged.’ Ksid explained. ‘Their
leader, Guardian, under their god, Cludge, sought for the
destruction of man. This was how they dealt with things
back then. Their minds were severely warped and this was
the only thing they knew how to do. 
  ‘A peace was quick to be rejected. Their forces were on
a mission for total destruction, and nothing was going to
stop them. Since they wouldn’t listen, there was nothing
else I could do but to confine them. I did that by
turning them into stone.
  ‘I didn’t enjoy doing this, and nightmares followed me
for many sleeps. So I hunted down an ultimatum - a branch
of an ultimatum more like it.
  ‘The gargoyles needed to be taught a lesson on how to
live with people. So I quickly found the stone leader and
turned him back to his original shape. He was given the
chance to redeem himself, and he took it.’
  ‘What was his task.’ Enigma interrupted.
  ‘He was sent with two others to be servants to the
Barbarians and Phoenix for eternity.’
  ‘How’s that teaching them how to live with people?’
  ‘It taught them how to serve, instead of ruling all the 
time. Dominance is what held them back.’
  ‘But for eternity?’ Ice tried to reason with him.
  ‘It’s needed. Over the years, he should have learnt the 
human way’s. I linked his mind to his stone comrades. As 
he learnt something knew, so did the others, so they’re
not being left behind. I figured that eternity would be
long enough to break his vice. Once he’s learnt how to
serve, then he’s ready to live with people. The only way
he can brake the petrified spell, is with a great deed
that includes humans.’
  ‘It sounds like he’s getting frustrated with eternity.’
Iikin noted.
  ‘He’ll work it out soon.’
*  *  *
  Not much was known about the Phoenix’s powers. It had 
the ability to create fire, they knew that. But that was 
it.
  Enigma didn’t know how to prepare himself. He had never
seen a Phoenix before and didn’t know how to handle one.
His memory kept on going over the fact that it was legend
that the Phoenix is over one hundred and twenty feet
taller than the explorers were. Ksid reassured him that
it was a vast exaggeration. 
  He was thinking of Guardian and the gargoyles when
something occurred to him. ‘Ksid. You remember how we had
a confrontation outside the fire barrier when we got to
the top of the mountain, with Guardian?’
  He had been resting, and didn’t bother to open an eye.
‘What about it?’
  ‘Well that was outside the fire barrier. How did he get 
back in here. I still have the jewel.’ Enigma pulled it 
out from the inside of his cloths.
*  *  *