Chapter 9.

  Sly was once again, able to ride. Bad back and neck
pains accompanied a slight head ache, due to her riding
position whilst she was out. It couldn’t be helped.
  They continued along with the company of the old man.
Whether they liked it or not, he was coming along. 
  ‘Why do you insist to ride with us?’ Ice asked him.
  ‘I have my reasons.’ Ksid replied.
  A hush had fallen over them, in the presence of this
humble man. He was a main part of their religion that was
taught as children. Each had heard their share of stories
of Ksid defeating dragons and saving the world. Often, he
was portrayed as a strict man with a mean streak about
him. 
  ‘Enigma,’ Ksid was the first to break the silence.
‘What’s the latest message in the book that was given to
you?’
  Enigma peered helplessly at the others.
  ‘It’s okay.’ Ksid assured, ‘You can speak of it around
them. I give you my permission.’
  Enigma thought back a little. ‘“Past. Seek the White
Dragon of the Sword”, or something like that.’ he
answered.
  ‘That’s a very vivid passage.’ Ksid admitted. ‘I wonder
what it means.’
  ‘You mean that you don’t know everything?’ Power
sounded shocked.
  ‘You don’t seriously expect me to know everything there
is to know, do you?’
  Power stared at him astonished.
  Enigma then realised something, ‘Your the preceptor 
the book spoke of, aren’t you?’
  Ksid nodded.
  ‘Then what am I supposed to do with this?’ he pulled
out the tomahawk, sitting in his belt beside his dagger.
  ‘Just hold on to it. I’m not sure really what your
supposed to do with it.’
  ‘But it said that you’d advise me of it’s use.’
  ‘It’ll come to me in time.’
  He put it away. ‘Do you have Atrebor with you?’ 
  ‘She’ll be with you soon.’ 
  Ice shock her head of the water in her hair. ‘How long
until we get to Anitram?’ 
  ‘A while.’ Power replied.
  ‘We have to stop off at the Cathedral before we can do
anything else.’ Ksid said.
  ‘Why’s that?’
  ‘Two important things are going to take place there.’
he promised.
  ‘How do you know that?’
  ‘I’m not sure. It just came to me - like a hunch.’
  ‘Did you say “lunch”?’ Power rubbed his stomach.
  ‘I said “hunch”.’
  ‘Great. It’s about time we had lunch, anyway.’
  Ksid grinned. ‘Has he always had selective hearing?’ 
  ‘I think he must be coming down with something.’ Ice 
returned a smile. 
  After a quick bite of cold food, they were on the move 
once more. 
  ‘Tell us a story.’ Sly said, child like. 
  ‘What about.’ Ksid asked.
  ‘About the cult.’ Enigma suggested. ‘Or the cult
leaders. They seem to be the centre of things lately.’
  ‘Okay. The cult leaders.’ Ksid thought about it for a
while, eventually coming up with something. ‘The cult
leaders are ranked from Lord - being the lowest, to High
Priest or Priestess. These ranks derived from ages ago in
the midst of the endless struggle between the Revolution
and the rest of the world. The Revolution formed as Lord
Serenity and I, separated from the rest of the world
seeking much needed study. I assume everybody knows what
happened during the night of experimentation - when Lord
Serenity disappeared.’
  They all nodded.
  ‘So anyway, as we knew we going to be gone from home
for quite a while, we put someone in charge of the
castle. He was a good and faithful man, but he changed
for some reason. I wish I knew what happened to him.
  ‘We spent generations caught up in our examinations,
ignoring the rest of the world around us. We foolishly
gave no time to the development of the earth and it’s
cultures and races, and eventually, it back fired. 
  ‘The descendants of the caretaker continued what their
forefathers had begun - corruption of the minds of
civilisation with falsities regarding Lord Serenity. 
  ‘When our studies took a fall, the universe mourned 
with rage; tidal waves, meteorites, earthquakes, and
every other natural disaster known to man.
  ‘But long before this, Thanatos had already began his
corruption of man. His mind was the essence of the
disruption of a once perfect world. Everybody lived in
harmony with each other at one stage. Then they turned
against each other. Lands became divided into what is
called “countries”, and the people separated to form what
is called “race”. 
  ‘With the universe settling down, I went out and
rounded up the few still living. In secret, a few corrupt
minds continued on. It wasn’t until I let them all go,
that things began to grow.
  ‘Lord Serenity was blamed for the Earths destruction,
but only a majority believed it. This majority formed a
little group, seeking punishment to all of Lord
Serenity’s followers. Thanatos gave them a little hand,
until finally, they became half a nation of pests that we
know of today.
  ‘The fond memories of Serenity discontinued to be 
passed down orally. So then it was up to me to keep his 
name alive. I think I did a rather good job. Every human, 
except for those who are now corrupt, worships Serenity -
or a form of him. 
  ‘As many of the cult are taught, the God Thanatos is
with them in mind, not in body. His plans are implanted
into the minds of mortals. But not one mortal, there has
to be several of them. That’s where the ranks come in to 
play. The cult leaders are ranked depending on how much 
of Thanatos’s mind they can bare. If Thanatos were to off
load his thoughts into one person alone, that person
would surely be obliterated.’
  ‘Then he can kill someone by introducing that person to
his thoughts.’ Power interrupted.
  ‘Not so, friend.’ Ksid went on. ‘For anyone to be able
to distribute their mind, they have to have undivided
worship from that person. These followers become
deranged, because Thanatos too is deranged. Say if
someone with straight thinking were able to distribute
their mind, the people he choses would have straight
thinking.   
  ‘Because a God has an unlimited mind, he has to have a
lot of people to distribute each and every thought, and
even every living thing in the universe isn’t enough for
a God.’
  ‘But humans have unlimited minds to.’ Ice protested.
  ‘Maybe so. Every mind knows everything there is to know
about the world and the universe, even before they are
born. But you need certain things to access that
information. That’s called learning. A God already posses
that information. That is what is meant by an unlimited
mind - unlimited information and understanding. 
  ‘What do you think would happen if you all of a sudden
knew every single little detail about the universe around
you? It would certainly kill you. Thanatos has proved
that in the past. It’s like stepping on nails: If you
stand on one nail, it goes through your foot, but if you
stand on many nails, it can support you.
  ‘Can’t Lord Serenity just reverse what Thanatos’s is
doing?’
  ‘A perfect mind can be countered, an unworkable mind
can’t. The only way to return a person to normal with an
unworkable mind is to kill them, and even then, will they
not be the same as when they began. That’s Serenity’
weakness. He has a perfect mind. Because he created
existence, every living thing is born with his knowledge
until it is reversed by a God, or by human belief. 
  ‘It is this that Thanatos plans to try to escape from
his eternal capture. He plans to unload his mind into
many, until all of his knowledge is dispersed. Until this
is so, shall He not be able to move from his confinement.
With all this memory distributed, Thanatos and the living
shall swap places - with a little help; Thanatos being in
this world and the living within his confinement. 
  ‘Also, He knows that once a mortal sets foot within his 
confinement, they are erased from all memory, and the
distribution of the mind returns to it’s owner - Thanatos
is the owner in this case, if he’s successful. Once every
mortal sets foot within his confinement, and once they
are obliterated, the distributes of his mind shall return
to him and eventually, his mind shall be one again with
the endless universe as his playground.
  ‘But fear not. As I said before, their is not enough
living for Thanatos to be able to distribute his whole
mind. His confinement is eternal, and he shall live their
to the ends of days.’ Ksid closed his eyes in reflection.
  ‘Hey wait a minute.’ Power protested. ‘I thought that
you were going to tell us about the cult leaders.’
  ‘You weren’t listening boy. I said that the cult
leaders are ranked in accordance to how much their mind
can take. I said many other things about them as well,
but if you missed it, that’s just your bad luck.’
  The Cathedral soon came into view. It was a fair
distance away, but yet it’s enormity even then was
conceived. They continued towards it as the sun fell
beyond the horizons shoulders. 
  It was gigantic, made of an ugly black stone, with a
tiled roof, and many different sized towers reaching high
into the sky. It held three arched entry way’s, the
largest in the middle. Above this, was an intricate disk
of patterns and shapes, carved deep into the stone. 
  Enigma raised his head at the stupendous sight. At the
very top, looking down at them, were monstrous stone
figures, bulky in size. Their faces were forever irate 
and their claws were out stretched. Other’s like this sat
a bit lower to the ground on the smaller towers. ‘What
are they?’ he pointed at them.
  ‘Gargoyles.’ Ksid spat. For an unknown reason, he
looked up at them with distaste.
  The interior was as spectacular as the outside. There
were countless rows of seats to each side of the door.
The back of the ambulatory, was lead - lighted, all the
way around, providing spectacular colours. More and more
arches dotted the room in symmetry. The ceiling was well
above them, ending in a very steep arch. Long banners
were used as decoration. 
  ‘This looks rather familiar.’ Power murmured.
  ‘The church in Orem is almost an exact replica of the
Cathedral we’re standing in today.’
  ‘That must be it.’
  It was totally void of the public - not a single soul.
A choir before the apse sang in great harmony, practising
their usual hymns.
  ‘What’s supposed to happen here?’ Enigma asked Ksid in
a subdued voice.
  ‘It’s already happening.’ Ksid pointed to Ice. She had
moved a little forward from the rest of the group. The
hymn the choir sung was not unknown to her. It seemed 
ancient, sung in perfect formation from the deepest base 
to the highest soprano.  
  At first quietly, Ice began to sing along with it. Her
voice was crackled, and well out of tune. Her voice
slightly raised. As it did, a part of the crackling in
her voice disappeared. She noticed that too. Her self
confidence sore to a greater height. She continued to
raise her voice with the song, and as she did, her tone
fell into place with the choir’s, providing newer,
unheard notes. At the peak of the song, her voice soared,
and was crystal clear. Then eventually, the hymn died
away, signalling it’s end.
  With wide eye’s, she turned to face her companions. ‘I
don’t believe it.’ she said in a new voice. Her pitch was
much higher now. She talked with an accent, without a
trace of roughness.
  ‘That’s one of the things completed, that we came here
to do.’ Ksid said with some satisfaction. ‘We’re going to
need your voice in the future I feel.’
  She smiled.
  ‘Let’s head up to the bell tower. I think something’s
supposed to happen there.’ 
  They walked down through one of the hallways just off
the left isle, blazing torches and lamps, sitting in the
wall. Ksid led them up a flight of spiral stairs behind a
closed door. It seemed endless. Another door at the top
of the stairs was shut, but they walked right on in
without knocking. It was a large circular room with
arched windows all the way around. They were at a great
hight. A pair of crows had built their nest just inside
one of the openings, flying off as they were interrupted.
A large rope reached up into the roof and beyond to a set
of large brass bells. 
  A bizarre object sat on a table to one side of the bell
tower. The object was spherical, pulsating many different
colours, changing each time around. 
  ‘She has to be around here somewhere.’ Ksid mumbled,
straining his eyes above.
  ‘Who has to be around here somewhere?’ Enigma inquired.
  Ksid ignored the question. Instead, he took up a hand
full of rope, then tugged at it, vibrating the tower with
a rumble. The huge bells continued ringing loudly. Then a
penetrating screech accompanied it. A person, caped and
hooded in a dark, glossy navy, fell feline - like, at
Ksid’s feet. 
  Curses filled their ears as the individual lunged,
throwing her body threw the air, at the unknown object on
the table. With a few more curses, he flickered, and
disappeared. 
  ‘Who was that?’ Ice asked.
  Before Ksid could answer, he was once again,
interrupted. Two new figures flickered, then appeared as
the mysterious other, dispersed. One was rather small
with hazel coloured hair. His shoulder’s and arm’s were 
bare, and he wore a single glove on his left hand. His 
partner was a plump man with beady eyes. His cloths were 
nicely matched - a type of material that Enigma hadn’t 
seen before. A loped sided hat sat to one side of his
head. He too, wore a single glove on his left hand. 
  ‘How did you - ?’ the slightly overweight man started,
drawing a dagger from his belt.
  ‘Hey, it’s you.’ the small man said to Ksid.
  ‘We’ve met before?’ Ksid questioned him. 
  ‘Of coarse.’ he relaxed a little. ‘Don’t you remember?
You fixed my ribs.’
  ‘I’m sorry, I haven’t any recollection of this.’ Ksid
admitted.
  He hesitated. ‘But, how could this be.’
  ‘We’ll attempt to figure this out later.’ the old man
promised. ‘For now, who are you?’
  The chubby man looked at his partner, hesitantly. ‘I’m
Terrol,’ the small man introduced, ‘this is Iikin.’
  Ksid returned the gesture. 
  ‘You’re Ksid?’ Terrol couldn’t believe it. ‘The Ksid?’
  ‘Hard to believe, isn’t it.’ he smiled. ‘So what are
you doing this far up in the Cathedral?’
  ‘We were chased here by thousands of Charms.’
  ‘Thousands of what?’ Enigma frowned.
  ‘Charms.’ Terrol replied. ‘You have not heard of them?
They are the Revolutions latest weapon. Last thing I
remember, they were about to break through that door.’ He
pointed to the door to the tower. ‘I wonder what
happened.’
  ‘What happened after this.’ Ksid interrogated.
  ‘We went from window to window,’ Terrol continued,
‘looking for another way out. We accidentally touched
that thing sitting on the table over there,’ he pointed
to the throbbing globe, ‘then all of you appeared.’
  ‘I see.’ Ksid took up the round ball of light, tossing
it out the window, letting it smash on the pavement
below. ‘Men. I know you’re not going to believe this,
but, welcome to the past.’
  They stared at him astonished.
  ‘How come you threw that thing out the window?’ Sly
asked. ‘It was so pretty.’
  ‘It’s so that hooded person can’t return - into this
room anyway. That’s why she disappeared. These men here
are of the future - which explains why I don’t have any
recollection of Terrol here - and are now in the past, or
as we see it, in the present. I’ve done a little research
on this. In order for this to happen, everything has to
be the same. The sphere was in the same place in the
present and in the future, it’s the same time, the same
day, and the same season. When these men put their hands
on the sphere, at exactly the same time, so did the
hooded person. That causes the two objects to swap.
That’s why that caped person disappeared, and two new
people appeared. The same thing happened with Ice and 
Power.’ 
  ‘Is this the same way Thanatos plans to do it?’ Enigma
questioned.
  ‘No. What Thanatos plans to do is a little different.
What we just witnessed was a switch within two points of
time. What Thanatos want’s to do is switch within the
same point of time.’
  ‘So, you were saying that everything had to be exactly
the same during what we just saw?’
  Ksid nodded. 
  ‘So the Ksid I met was the future Ksid.’ Terrol said,
trying desperately hard to follow.
  ‘Apparently.’ the aged man replied. ‘Or else I would
have been able to remember.’
  ‘No.’ Iikin refused. ‘No. This to weird. It just
doesn’t make sense. We’re from the future?’
  ‘I know its hard to believe friend.’ Power tried to
explain, ‘Same thing happened to me and Ice, except were
from the past. You just have to trust us.’
  Taking their word for it - reluctantly - they headed
back down stairs. It took a little to coax the new
travellers to follow, their hearts still persisting to
believe the Charms were out there somewhere.  
  ‘So, am I as hansom in the future as I am now?’ Ksid
asked Terrol as they spiralled downward.
  ‘To be quite honest, the two of you look exactly the
same.’ Terrol answered.
  Ice absent mindedly hummed along with the new hymn, as
they returned to the choir filled room.
  ‘What happened to all those people?’ Iikin asked
himself.
  ‘Just believe me.’ Ksid sighed. ‘I have a rather short
temper and if you keep asking these sorts of questions, I
shall be come very angry. Just trust me. Your in the
past. Everything except yourselves have changed.
Nothing’s going to be the same.’
  ‘But it’s impossible!’ Iikin yelled. ‘It just can’t
happen. It doesn’t make sense.’
  ‘Well you’d better get used to it.’ Ksid ignored
Iikin’s flaring temper. ‘You’re journeys here will be
filled with tons of impossible phenomena.’
  ‘Believe him.’ Terrol tried to calm him. ‘I can trust
him, and what he say’s seems to explain the differences.’
  ‘I’ll understand it,’ Iikin huffed, ‘but I’m not going
to like it.’
  ‘We don’t have to like it. There’s nothing we can do
about it.’
  The irate merchant gave his business partner a short,
cold, stare, then walked on out of the echoing hall. 
*  *  *
  Enigma and Sly doubled up on Hcrib, as did Power and
Ice on Aroht, to leave two horses spare for Terrol and
Iikin. With Terrol ready to move out, Iikin was unsure
and hesitant. Nonetheless, he followed.
  Ksid had taken charge of the group, to Enigma’s
comfort, wrested right out of his hands. He didn’t mind
though. Decision making was not in his strength. 
  They settled in taking the highway, north to Rehsarht,
then the road to Essej, and finally to Anitram. 
*  *  *  
  Only two weeks at walking pace, and they had crossed
over into Anitram. Not long after this, did they reached
the town of Rehsarht. 
  It was an un - populated city. The streets where
infested with rats, scurrying back and forth in masses.
The houses and shops that lined the streets were all run
down, and looked very pale. There wasn’t a soul in sight.
Not one single house was occupied. To add to the
emptiness, a thick cloud of rain had settled over head.
  ‘I don’t like the look of that.’ Power said watching
the sun’s rays fade before him.
  ‘It’s just a rain cloud.’ Ksid said with a mock tone.     
  ‘If you say so.’ 
  Sly tightened her grip around Enigma’s waist. ‘Why is
this town so gloomy?’ she breathed heavily in his ear.
  ‘It’s a ghost town.’ Ksid responded. ‘We’ll be staying
here for the night.’
  ‘Your kidding, right?’ Enigma choked.
  ‘No.’
  ‘Is it really necessary?’ Iikin spoke.
  ‘We’ve been sleeping out in the open for some time
now.’ Ksid explained. ‘I’d rather take my chances with
the ghost, than to spend another night on the ground.   
  Enigma swallowed hard. ‘Is something supposed to happen
here?’
  ‘Not that I know of.’
  ‘Don’t worry, something’ll happen.’ Power said
evasively, ‘Just you wait.’
  They found suitable living space in the top level of
deserted, two storey house. It was uninhabited by
cobwebs, with it’s roof still intact. Two bedrooms joined
one another. The two women, along with Enigma as a
precaution, occupied one room, whilst the rest cramped up
the other. 
  The horses were left to roam free in the lower half of
the building.
  Enigma’s room was small, with only a little dust. They
polished the single window clean, allowing the little
light that was left in the sky, in. 
  There were still a few pieces of wood untouched in a 
fireplace at the head of the room. A bigger stack of wood
had been piled neatly beside it. Lighting it was their
first priority. The more light they had, the better they
all felt. 
  As there were only two beds, Enigma took to the floor.
‘May as well have just slept out side.’ he said quietly
to himself.
  Cooking utensils were found in the kitchen across the 
hall. A meal of roasted lamb with boiled potatoes filled 
their grumbling stomachs.
  Each room, now, was very well lit. There was not a
shadow left to hide amongst. Extra candles had been found
in a storage room inside the kitchen. 
  They chatted quietly for a while after supper, then
individually found their way to their beds.
  Enigma was the first to retire. He curled up in front
of the raging fire with a blanket warding off a slight
chill.
*  *  *
  It was about midnight. The candles in the room had been
left burning. Two of the three moons shone brightly, just
below the cloud cover. Enigma had been awoken suddenly by
the familiar sound of heavy breathing. The usual feeling
of intense hatred fell upon him. He shifted his head
slightly. Ice and Sly were also awake, frozen with fear,
mouths agape. 
  The breathing continued. Suddenly, the air wavered
right beside Sly’s bed, like the horizon on a really hot
day. Something was forming. Then, standing before them
was a hideously deformed creature. 
  Sly squealed in horror. The creature had blue scaly
skin. It had a seven foot tall frame of pure rippling
muscle with four arms, two to a side. It’s facial
features were buried amongst a head of shaggy, white
hair. 
  Enigma acted immediately, ripping the sheets from over
him, drawing his dagger. It seemed to throb in his hands. 
  With a sickening growl, the creature lunged, seizing
Sly into the air. To her aid, Enigma leaped onto it’s
back forcing the monsters grasp on her to cease. It began
to spin on the spot with confusion. 
  He felt a sudden pressure on his chest. The demon fell
to the ground, with Enigma beneath him. Tough chunks of
bone pierced his body with a ghastly crunch, in his upper
rib cage. 
  The boy gave a cry of agony. He had been struck.
Forcing his dagger hand free, he was able to plunge the
knife with what little energy he had left, into the
demons heaving heart. The hilt tuned an eye shattering
white, then with an explosion, the monster disintegrated
into infinite pieces. 
  He moaned excruciatingly, as his wound was freed. Blood
slowly oozed onto the carpet. 
  Then again, another of the same creature appeared, this
time, before Ice. She kept herself calm as the demon
stared her in the face. With the dagger on the other side
of the room as a result of the explosion, he reached for
his tomahawk, sitting in his belt. With a loose grip and
a flick of his wrist, he set it twirling through the air,
to be left protruding from the monsters shoulder blades.   
  The tomahawk had a similar effect as the dagger. The 
wound began to glow a bright golden light, then with 
another explosion, turned the demon into a million 
pieces. 
  Enigma relaxed, but it wasn’t over yet. The heavy
breathing quickened. The ceiling above him began to
superimpose as two red spots appeared, accompanied, this
time, by a transparent face of sorts. The face had no
distinct features. It did have the basic shape though -
the ears, and the jaw, mainly. 
  The red spots brightened. 
  It opened it’s mouth. The ceiling behind it began to
swirl and distort, whilst the candles dimmed, dancing all
over the place. A strong gust of air filled the room,
disturbing the curtains, shattering the windows.
  With a great burst, the door way that intersected the
two rooms, splintered inward. Ksid, arms outstretched,
walked slowly in, his face in deep concentration. The
palms of his hand’s were glowing intensely. 
  ‘Back demon!’ he shouted. Several balls of light were
released from his paws. Instead of directing his aim at
the head in the ceiling, he shot the heads of his
followers, instead. A direct hit each time, with a splash
of sparks showering over their eyes. Power, Iikin and
Terrol received the same treatment.
  The figure shrieked back in pain. 
  He faded slightly, as the bolts of energy continued
their offence, persisting until finally, it shrieked with
rage, and vanished.
  All sense of it’s presence was gone. Enigma felt numb
all over, having much trouble breathing. He gasped inward
loudly with each breathe. 
  Enigma’s eyes gazed lifelessly. He was propped up into
a sitting position. 
  Ksid began to mutter something under his breathe, once
everything had been set up. With his heart in his eyes,
he released a spell out of his hands. The injured boy’s 
body began to lift up off the ground, twirling slowly as
he was levitated. ‘What did he use to kill the monster
that injured him?’ he asked the girls.
  ‘It was the dagger, I think.’ Ice told him.
  ‘Go get it.’ Ksid commanded. Once retrieved, the
ancient man left one hand in the air, with the other,
baring the knife. The knife was blood soaked to the hilt. 
He looked at it intently, then squeezed the handle with
white knuckles. Reaching back, he threw the knife into
Enigma’s body like a javelin. 
  The healer was of no use any more. The dagger held
Enigma’s body, still, in the air as it reversed the dying
process. His breathing returned to normal, as the wound
slowly healed up, and disappeared. All that was left was
his blood soaked cloths. 
  The body began to descend back to the ground.
Eventually he stood before Ksid, un - aided with eyes
still closed shut. Sharply, Ksid wrest the dagger from
his back, causing Enigma’s head to pop up, forcing his 
conscience awake. He fell on to Sly’s bed with shock.
  Once Enigma was in the clear, Ksid lay the dagger on
the table beside him, then quickly rushed into the next
room. Power held Iikin and Terrol of the ground in his
arms. Cuts dug into his face showed signs of a scuffle.
Terrol and Iikin struggled in his arms, but couldn’t
break free. 
  Ksid layed his hands on the struggling pair - a hand a
head. Their eye’s quickly shut, and their bodies fell
limp.
  ‘Lay them on their beds.’ Ksid instructed. 
  Power did as he was told. ‘Are they going to be all
right?’
  ‘They’re just asleep. They should be okay.’ Ksid gave a
great sigh of relief. ‘How come nobody told me about that
thing earlier?’ 
  ‘You wouldn’t listen.’
  ‘I would have listened. It’s just that nobody told me.’
  ‘It’s been around before. Usually when their’s a rain
cloud or a storm.’
  Sly and Ice walked into the room. ‘He’s sleeping.’ Ice
said. 
  Sly nursed a bruised arm from the attack. ‘Are those
two going to be all right?’
  ‘Iikin and Terrol? They’re just napping at the moment.’
Ksid re - assured. ‘They’ll be fine.’
  ‘Why did they act like that?’ Power questioned. 
  ‘It’s because of these.’ Ksid pulled the glove of
Iikin’s hand, revealing the black mark of the Revolution. 
‘They just went absolutely nuts - like rabid dogs.’
  ‘What does that mean.’
  ‘It’s like an identification mark. It means that they
have undergone half of the transformation. Their minds
aren’t totally corrupt, but they do have a slight
devotion and knowledge of Thanatos.’
  ‘Was that head, Thanatos?’
  ‘No. It was one of his creatures. Thanatos can’t appear
like that. Only in mind. That was one of his most deadly
creations. I haven’t seen that in centuries.’
  ‘What’s that got to do with those marks?’
  ‘Nothing. You asked me if the head was Thanatos. I
answered. As far as I can tell, and by what I have been
told, some time in the future, any body with this mark
can be tracked down by some sort of creature. But that’s
only in the future.’
  ‘How do you know that?’
  ‘Iikin explained it to me.’
  ‘And what creatures do you speak of?’ Ice asked quietly
  ‘The Charms. Do you remember them saying back in that
bell tower, that they had been chased up the stairs by
Charms?’
  ‘I was wondering what they were talking about.’
  ‘Well, those are the things that I’m talking about. I
don’t know anything about them so you’ll have to ask
Iikin or Terrol when either one of them wake up.’
  ‘But how does those marks force them to act like that?’
Sly questioned.
  ‘It was because of their slight devotion to Thanatos.
They saw and felt something that closely associating him.
Something clicked in their heads and the next thing we
knew, they were frothing at the mouth.
  ‘I think I’m going to need something for this.’ Power
said, delicately touching his blood smeared face.
  ‘Get the girls to fix you up.’
  ‘Come with me.’ Ice motioned. She and Power went into
the other room. 
  ‘How many times has this happened?’ Ksid interrogated
Sly.
  ‘Including that one,’ Sly counted, ‘that would be about
the second time for us - the head, not those monsters.
It’s happened a few more time to Ice and Power. Why do
you need to know this?’
  ‘So I can identify the thing.’
  ‘I got the impression that you already knew what it
was.’
  ‘I said I haven’t seen it in centuries. That doesn’t
necessarily mean I know now, what it is.’ 
  After a little thinking, he was able to determine
exactly what it was. ‘That head is one of Thanatos’s
ancient creatures called the Death Warrior.’ he told
everyone - excluding Enigma.
  ‘What it’s specialty?’ Sly asked, already knowing the
answer.
  ‘Death. You knew that one didn’t you.’ Ksid accused. 
*  *  *