See Part One for Disclaimers

Too late to defend himself, a demon popped into existence right in front of him.  Lashing out with vicious claws, it slashed down his chest and across the quickly upraised arm, tearing through material to the flesh below, leaving three blood-filled gashes that burned with poisonous fire.

Sharree gasped in horror, and then her blast tore the brute from him even as he staggered under its onslaught.

With his head spinning, he only just heard Dureena's triumphant message.  She had access to the flyer and had sent Galen's virus into its systems.  Give her a few minutes and she would close down the flyer totally.  Renn now had to rely on his own strength and wits to defeat Galen.

He sent a quick reply, acknowledging her message, and told her to retain his staff at all costs.

Sharree's arm was under his, holding him upright.

"Let me heal that," she began.

"No time.  Dureena is in, we have free access."  Galen shook off her hand and pulled himself upright.  "Let's go."

He had only taken two steps when the poison took control of his motor functions and he fell heavily to the floor.

"We'll take time."  Sharree bent over him, ignoring his protests.  She laid a hand on the injured arm, her brow furrowing with concentration.  "I've never seen anything like this," she murmured.  "It seems alive somehow."

And then there was fire, by turns hot and cold, racing through his veins, purging his system of the tiny nanites that had constituted the poison.  Galen was stunned, not just from the after effects, but the fact that magic had actually defeated techno-magic!  Maybe this wasn't going to be such a one-man operation as he had supposed.

Getting slowly to his feet, Galen moved with what speed he could manage to the door.  Now that Renn knew of his arrival, there was no need to avoid using his technomancy and he sent ahead a small observation disc.  No one stood in the large entranceway; no sign of a trap was in evidence.

Galen didn't like it at all; holo demons aside, it was too easy.

***

Dureena watched the shield glow brightly then fade out of existence.  Falling flat to the ground, she forced herself under the metal that guarded the sluice gate.  Sharp points dug into her back, scraping her skin even through the tough leather of her jerkin.  Galen's staff slithered against the mud at her side, its warmth seeping into her chilled body where water soaked through her clothing.

"You're getting soft," she thought to herself, as her flesh seemed to pull back from the uncomfortable sensations.

The light quickly died behind her as she delved deeper into the sewer, and she stopped for a few minutes to let her eyes adapt to the darkness.  Around her she could hear the soft skitter of tiny feet.  Why did every sewer, on every world she had ever visited, have to be home to rats, or that city's version thereof?  At least she could now get up from all fours into a backbreaking crouch.

Edging forward, careful now to make no sound, Dureena gradually made her way into the depths of the fortress.  After a few more minutes she espied a slight lightening of the gloom ahead, and picked up speed.  A shaft led up towards daylight, its height no more than twenty feet, its base within easy reach of her fingers.  Using the poor brickwork to aid her ascent, and gripping tightly to the staff, Dureena braced feet and back firmly against the walls and inched her way to the world above.

Holding her position, she let her senses drift out.  As a thief she had honed her senses to the point that she could almost hear a man breathe a room away.  She may not be in the trade any longer, but her senses had not lost their edge.  Silence assaulted her; only the soft sigh of her own breath disturbed the quiet.  Poking her head up above the rim of the shaft, her eyes scanned the area around her and she grinned to herself, amused.  Where else would this have come up but in the privy?  Though this shaft was much too large for human disposal, more likely to take the waste from the kitchens -- she hoped.

The staff landed softly on the earthen floor as Dureena slid herself over the rim.  Retrieving it she headed to the door which stood ajar.  Outside all was still.  A corridor ran past her with four more doors opening off it.  The layout of the building was clear in her mind, to reach the central courtyard, and Renn's flyer, she had to get to the end of this corridor and exit the third door on the right.

It was going too well.  The door had opened with no difficulty, Renn's flyer stood out in the open.  No guard, not a hint of technomancy attended it.  Why, even in this location, would a Mage allow his only means of transport, the seat of his power, to be vulnerable?  Dureena didn't care, if the man was that foolish then he deserved what Galen was about to bring to him.

The staff glowed briefly as it deposited it deadly virus into the flyer's systems, and Dureena watched anxiously as blue and green waves suddenly washed over the jet-black hull.  Expecting to be apprehended at any moment, she crouched under the wing, taking what shelter she could whilst avoiding the technicolour display above her.

The amulet round her neck suddenly burned against her skin.  Its heat flashed into existence then just as quickly, was gone.  Galen was having problems of his own then.  As the shields finally died, she touched the staff to the door and commanded it to open.  The interior was almost pitch black.  Just the echo of the wan sun outside and the glow of the controls lit the cabin, enabling Dureena to search out the relevant sections.

Her hands moved swiftly across the control panel even as the last crackles of power faded from its surface.  It was almost like old times, this feeling her way around locks and wards.  She had been one of the best many years ago -- there was not a lock that she could not circumvent.  Even Galen's box had proven less of a challenge than he had hoped.  So many years ago, yet the memory was as fresh now as the day it happened.

"Stop!  Take your hands away from the panel.  Now, Dureena!"

The hoarse command came from behind her, the voice familiar and unexpected.  Making sure she made no hasty move, Dureena slowly turned to face Merrin.

"Change of heart, Merrin?"

"Give me the staff, Dureena," Merrin ordered, ignoring her question.

"I don't think so."  Dureena's hand tightened on the warm metal.  "You would be foolish to try and take it from me."

A frown appeared on Merrin's face as he concentrated his will.  Dureena felt the attack, the push of his mind against hers.  The hand that held the staff was suddenly not under her control.  She could feel her fingers begin to lose their grip as though Merrin were physically prising them away one by one.  Her free hand sped to the amulet, not to warn Galen but to send a command to the staff.  One of the first things she had been taught was how to ward and keep safe the technomagical devices Galen held most precious.  She could hold the staff with impunity but Merrin was about to be in for a shock.

"Don't do this, Merrin!" Dureena warned.  "You are playing with forces you don't understand."

"And so are you," he whispered between pressed lips.

The staff suddenly flew from her grip, speeding across the space to Merrin's waiting hand.  Even as his attention moved from Dureena to the rapidly approaching object, Dureena grabbed her knife from its sheath at her side.

Merrin's hand wrapped around the staff in a solid grip, and then he screamed as blue tendrils of power spurted from its surface.  The ribbons of electricity clawed at the flesh of his hand then crawled around his arm heading for his body.  He tried desperately to release the staff, but his fingers were locked tightly against its deadly surface.

Dureena's knife flashed across the flyer, catching Merrin high in the shoulder.  The impact sent him flying backward into the console behind him, bringing him to his knees.  Shock, pain, disbelief, warred for prominence on his plain features.  His will was totally subjugated by the combined pain of Dureena's well-aimed blade and Galen's deadly staff.  Merrin collapsed to the floor screaming.

Making her way to his side, Dureena took a moment to watch Merrin's pain, her anger only partly assuaged by his distress.  Then she bent down and wrapped one hand around her amulet, the other around the staff, and the blue emanations died.  Pulling her knife from his shoulder, she crouched over him.  "I suggest you put a pad on that or you'll bleed to death."

"You could have killed me!"

"Did you expect anything less?  What did you think you could accomplish Merrin?  Galen and I are doing our best to help you, but it seems you have switched allegiances!"

"You don't understand!"

"I don't have time for this, Merrin."  Dureena's knife now took its place under Merrin's chin, its point pressing lightly into the soft flesh.  "What the hell did you think you were doing?"

"Renn needed Galen parted from his staff.  I had to do it."  There was desperation in his voice, a hint of panic that she understood too well.

"What could Renn possibly offer you to put Galen and myself in such danger?  And not just us, Merrin; all your people!"

Tortured green eyes held hers.  "My daughter," he whispered.  "You could never understand what I would do for her.  I would die rather than see her harmed!" Pain etched across his face, and he pressed his hand tighter against the wound as blood seeped through his fingers.  His eyes closed, missing the revealing aura now surrounding his captor.

Dureena stood slowly, sheathing her knife.  "You're wrong," she murmured, her voice barely heard.  Ignoring Merrin's groans, she returned to the panel to finish what she had started.  Galen would be relying on her to neutralise Renn's power, to even the playing field.  Without his staff, Galen had only his wits and the Circle's limited abilities to aid him.

It didn't take long.  Renn's codes were considerably less sophisticated than Galen's, and proved little opposition for her unique talents.  Power drained from every system and she watched with satisfaction as the light within the cabin disappeared.

She sent a message to Galen telling him she had completed her task and was now going to find the children.  There was no reply.  Dureena sent the message again, and again there was no response.  Torn between rescuing the children and going to Galen's aid, her fingers slid up and down the staff's warm shaft.  Feral eyes landed on Merrin's pain filled features and her decision was made.

"On your feet!" she commanded.  One surprisingly strong hand hefted him upright.

"I can't," Merrin staggered as though the floor were rocking under his feet.

Her eyes were hard as they met Merrin's.  "You brought Galen and I here for Renn's purpose, but your children are still his hostages.  We are committed to releasing them and freeing your people, and we will do it, with or without your help.  You have a choice to make Merrin.  Aid us now, or I'll put you out of the game for good."  Slim fingers caressed the hilt of her knife suggestively.

"You don't know how powerful he is.  I..."

"He's a lot less powerful right now," she snorted.  "Renn, Galen, myself, we don't have the same kind of magic that you and the Circle have.  We can do this -- Galen can do this.  Are you going to help?"

Merrin's eyes seemed to be studying her intently, as though trying to ascertain the veracity of her statement.  Then he nodded.  "Tell me what to do."

Dureena stripped one sleeve from her shirt, tearing it down its length and wadding one piece into a flat pad.  "Hold this," she ordered, putting the pad under his fingers, pressing it tightly to his shoulder.  Binding the wound with the other strip, she stood back to admire her handiwork.

***

The hall echoed with the sound of Galen and Sharree's entrance.  Their footfalls ringing against the tiled floor.  Without his staff Galen's sensory perceptions were limited, and yet he could feel the shadowy remains of technomancy all around him.  His arm throbbed with pain; the gashes still open and bleeding.  He did not have the time to spare to let Sharree do more than bind a tourniquet around his wound, nor the energy available to waste on controlling the pain.  He flexed his fingers gently, trying to ease some of the discomfort.

Dureena's message reached him as the door behind them swung shut with a hollow thud.  All his concentration was now focussed on possible attack; he could not spare the time to reply, to let his guard down for even that brief moment.  It was enough to know that she was safe, that the seat of Renn's power was denied him.  She knew what had to be done; he had no fears for her now.

Sharree was close at his side; her eyes wide as her empathic abilities searched the building.

"What can you sense?" he asked softly.

"Pain."  Her dark eyes seemed to reflect what she sensed.

"The children?"

"I don't know.  Merrin was right, their thoughts are like the wind."

It was time to put an end to this charade, Galen thought.  Taking a step forward, issuing a challenge with his very stance, he called out.  "Renn!  Show yourself.  You want me so badly, then let's get this over with!"

"So hasty."

Galen's head snapped around as the tall dark mage slipped from the shadows.  Dark hooded eyes peered intently from beneath a black cowl.  With a start Galen realised that he could still feel the emanation of technomagic flowing from Renn.  The tall staff held in his large hand, glowed with power.

"I have to thank you for coming, Galen.  I have watched you for many years now.  Elric taught you well.  And now you are mine."

Renn's grip tightened on the staff and Galen felt the build up of power as its destructive tip was aimed at his unprotected form.

And then there was a sudden flurry of movement to his right as Dureena burst from the corridor into the hall.  Renn's attention focused onto her rapidly moving form.  Galen saw Renn's staff glow and shouted a warning.  Dureena had seen the sudden emanation too; she threw Galen his staff even as she dove for the floor, avoiding the spurt of power sent her way.



Climbing quickly to her feet Dureena held her breath, feeling her heart beating hard against her ribs as the two mages faced one another.

Renn seemed unperturbed by the events, apparently unaware that his support line had been severed by Dureena's assault on his flyer.  His attention returned to Galen and he smiled tightly.

"You think your staff will help you?  This is my domain; you are nothing here.  But I do want a tribute -- for permitting your underling to live.  I want your gift, Galen.  It will be put to good use I assure you."

"Gift?" Galen eased the staff into his good hand as the fingers of his injured arm began to lose their grip.  Numbness was spreading up his arm, and he feared the loss of control.

The dark mage moved a little closer, and Galen was aware of Dureena's stiffening at his side, of the subtle movement of her hand toward the knife sheathed on her hip.  The slight glitter around Renn advertised the fact that he was shielded; something Galen did not have the strength to do at that moment.  Drained by the fight with the holo demons, his inner reserves, although boosted by his returned staff, were not enough to maintain a shield and make use of the staff's weaponry.

"The darkness, Galen.  I was at the convocation when you were raised to Technomage.  You did not see me, none of the brethren did, but I saw you.  I saw what you could do."  There was a hungry tone to his voice.  "Your potential was enormous, and yet the Council was afraid, afraid of you Galen.  Of what you held within you.  I am not afraid."

Galen felt the tightness in his chest as the mage's seductive voice warred with his own defences.  Breathing became difficult for a moment, and then he was free.  The staff warmed under his touch, as though yearning to be released.  He had to spare a fraction of his strength on a message to Dureena, one he could not speak freely.

"Are the nanites all deployed?"

Dureena glanced at him and gave the tiniest shake of her head.  His relief did not show on his impassive face, but his blood quickened, knowing that the destructive virus lay at his fingertips.

"You know, Renn, that I can not give you what you crave?"

"Then I will take it, Galen.  You can not stop me -- no one can stop me!  Once my technology has rendered you incapable it will be a simple matter to chart your brain, to extract the knowledge I require."

Sharree, quiet until that moment, darted forward, heedless of the warning both Dureena and Galen gave.  Her fingers blazed with power as she sent her will against the mage, but he was quicker.  Moving sideways to avoid the bolt, he sent a devastating surge of his own against the unprotected sorceress.  Galen watched helpless, as she slumped to the floor.

"Now, back to business."  And then Renn's eyes suddenly went blank for a moment, "No!" The mage turned and ran down the corridor toward where, according to the blueprints they had studied, the children were being held.  Galen felt his shoulders slump with fatigue as he and Dureena shared a look of surprise at Renn's sudden defection.

Galen knelt beside Sharree, his fingers pressing lightly against her throat, searching for a pulse.  He felt the regular, yet faint, flutter of blood through artery under his touch and sighed with relief.

"She's alive, some of his energy must be effected already."  He put his hand down to the floor, pushing upright, using his staff for leverage.  Blood dripped from his fingers, splashing the pale tiles with its red petals.  He cursed as pain seared through his arm, his breath catching with the intensity.  He could not function like this.

"What the hell happened?  Galen?" Dureena was staring at him, concern darkening her tawny eyes.  She reached for him, but he pulled away, his flesh too sensitive to accept her touch.  With a quick, precise thought he severed all feeling to that limb.  He would have to rely on his good hand and Dureena's support to get through this.

"Holo demons got a little too close for comfort.  I'll live.  Let's see what has Renn in such a panic."  Galen set off after his adversary, every nerve straining to keep his blossoming anger and the power within him leashed and controlled.  That one formula, discovered by accident, could destroy them all.  He had thought only a handful of his brothers knew about it.  The ruling Council, a couple of mages outside that select few.  Others had died with the knowledge of his discovery.  Who could have foretold that Renn would be privy to it?  And he had taken such pains to hold that discovery within himself.  Never forgotten, but never to be used.  He had hidden it behind barriers of his mind so that no casual thought could bring it forth.  And now it almost swamped him, as it had done so many years before.

As they strode swiftly down the corridors Dureena filled him in on Merrin's treachery, the conflict between them, and the fact that she had sent him to release the children.  His eyes grew flinty as the true duplicity of the man sunk in.

The door to the laboratory stood open.  Renn loomed over Merrin's still body, power still flickering around him.  On the row of tables behind him lay strapped six children aged from maybe two years old to eight or nine.  Each one was attached to machinery, the like of which Galen had never seen before, and could only guess the function of.  Their tiny bodies, motionless, almost corpse-like, seemed to trip a switch within him, and Galen felt his mind begin to play the fatal formula across his sensors.

Dureena, her fury bursting forth, ignored Galen to hurl herself at the gloating Renn whose back was still turned to them in arrogant denial of their arrival.  As though suddenly aware of her physical attack, Renn turned and aimed his still flickering energy straight at her.  She skidded underneath the blast of blue Renn sent her way, taking his feet out from under him, sending him crashing back into the nearest table.  Renn, child and machine went flying to the floor.

There was a screaming in Galen's head.  The sharp stab of Dureena's anger and pain flooded his senses, fracturing his concentration, and he felt the darkness fall away from him.  Dureena lay on the floor, inches from the fallen Renn, who even now aimed his power at her unprotected form.  His dark features twisting into a mask of insane fury.

"Get back, Dureena!"

Calling on every last ounce of his fading strength, Galen hurled his staff at the fallen mage, releasing the remains of the deadly virus.  For a moment his perceptions of the world vanished in darkness as his body, held upright by his will alone, finally gave in to the wounds he suffered and the total draining of his inner reserves.

***

"Galen!  Gods, no!  Galen!" He could sense her frantic fingers feeling for a pulse, her breath warm on his face where she leant over him.  But he had no way to answer her.  A tiny drop of water landed on his cheek -- tears?  Everything within him strained to answer her call, to assure her that he was alive, and yet he could not even raise a finger to indicate his survival.  His breath was shallow and slow, and he could not feel the floor beneath him.  Dureena's voice faded away like an echo on the breeze, and all was darkness again.

***

Galen dreamed.  His mind floating through scenes past and present.  He was dying then, he thought dispassionately, as memories surfaced and replayed in his mind.  Didn't they say that your life flashed before you in that instant of death?  But this was no rapid vision of his life, more a slow replay of the highlights.  So many moments to review, so many things to treasure and to regret.  And then there were the events of that day, the fight with the holo demons, the anger he had felt on seeing the children helpless at Renn's instruction.  Dureena, throwing him his staff.  His mind lingered over that image, her clothes, ripped and torn, stiff with mud, her lovely face spattered with dirt.  The years rolled back to the moment he realised she was something special to him.  Med lab, Dr. Chambers working on his wound, her wound, he reminded himself, and felt a chuckle rumble in his chest.  She had been covered in muck then too, and just as lovely.

"I think he's coming around."

Sensations began to filter back into his consciousness, the soft feel of cotton sheets against his naked form, the warmth of sunlight on his face; the smell of food cooking somewhere in the distance.  And the familiar scent of Dureena -- her touch on his face.

Light blinded his retinas as he finally opened his eyes.  Groaning, he closed them again not wanting to cope with the pain it sent pounding through his head.

He heard the swish of curtains being pulled together, and sensed the darkness that now enclosed him.  "Galen?"

Forcing his eyes open once more, he tried to respond to Dureena's call.  His left hand would not move, strange, he thought, and tried the right one.  Inching his fingers up his body, he tried to free them from the sheet's embrace.

"Don't try to move."

Her face was directly over his, her glorious eyes swimming with unshed tears.  He wanted to reach out, hold her close; soothe the pain that he saw in her face.  His body would not co-operate.  Instead he felt the warm tendrils of sleep wrapping themselves around his body and mind, taking him away from her.  Briefly he struggled in its sensuous grip, then he was lost again.

***

When next he woke night had fallen.  The house was hushed and still.  Galen lay for a moment, just luxuriating in the fact that he was alive.  His body still felt heavy with exhaustion, his head muzzy from his extended sleep; but he was alive!  He had not felt this depleted since he had destroyed the Apocalypse box.

Closing his eyes, he let his internal sensors do a sweep of his processors, the delicate links between his implants and his higher functions.  Each connection was checked with infinite care, testing, probing until he had gone over every single one.  With a sigh he opened his eyes again -- all was well.  Turning his attention to his physical condition, the Mage found his body to be in a worse state.  His left arm still felt like a dead weight at his side and he flexed his fingers gently, testing out his motor functions.  It was difficult, but he could feel the movement of muscle and sinew as he concentrated on making a fist.  Not a very strong one he had to admit, but he could remember, in vivid clarity, the torn and bloody mess his arm had been after the holo demon's attack.

Breathing deeply, he tried to raise himself further up the bed, not enjoying the helpless feeling lying like one dead gave him.  Then there was a noise at the door; the handle turned with quiet stealth, as a light preceded the intruder into the room.  Sharree's anxious face was lit by a candle's glow, as she entered the room on soft feet.

"Galen?" The soft voiced question hung in the air between them.

"I'm awake," he replied, annoyed to find his own voice would not raise much above a dry whisper.

Sharree moved to his side, setting the candle down on the table and poured him a glass of water.

"Here, you must be thirsty."  She helped him to sit up further, no easy task as he was a solidly built man, and proffered the glass to his lips.

Galen was frustrated at his lack of energy, unable even to perform that small task for himself.

"Do you remember what happened?"

Lines of pain etched themselves into Galen's forehead.  Partly from the pain that now surged into his wrecked arm, partly at the memory of the children bound helpless to one of Renn's diabolical experiments.

"I do," he muttered harshly.  Then another memory hit -- Dureena, hurling herself at Renn, the mage inches away and with murder in his eyes, the staff flying through the air.  "Dureena?"

Sharree did not miss the anxiety in his voice, and laid a soothing hand on his shoulder.  "Asleep.  She's been by your side for two days now, Once we knew you were going to pull through I finally managed to persuade her to get some proper rest."

Galen moved uncomfortably in the bed.  "Merrin?"

Sharree's eyes dropped, hiding the despair that washed through her.  A tiny shake of her head was all the answer he received.

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