By D.B. Morrow

   Lito read through a book in front of him, scanning the pages for a minute or so before turning the page and repeating the process. Rialce stared at him dully, both unenthused to read something and just mildly uncommitted to the talk going on to her right. Arliss watched Faith as he began to get something ready; something that, most likely, would be their next assignment. Her brother Bryth talked to her and she commented back despite watching Faith.
            Dafyr watched Faith as well, Leglevant planning something on the other side of the room. Mallorie looked at a small map in the corner as her brother Zephinos yawned. Faith stepped up to the front and the entire room watched him closely. Faith smiled as Leglevant looked over something in the corner.
“Sorry about the wait. You guys are getting good at this on-time thing.”
“I’d rather be asleep,” Rialce mumbled.
“Well, that’s to be expected. I would have thought you’d be worried about this one, Ria.”
“No, no, I don’t whine about things I can’t change.”
“Since when?” Bryth commented.
            Rialce stuck her tongue out at Bryth, who smiled.
“Before we get off topic,” Leglevant interrupted, “we have a mission to attend to.”
“More like an epic,” Faith commented with a smirk.
“Epics mean a lot of work… huh?” Rialce asked.
“That’s what epic implies,” Mallorie commented.
“Uh… guys?” Leglevant attempted.
“Oh, sorry Leg. Old habits, I guess.”
“Today’s mission is three in one. First, we need to find a relic up in the abandoned fortress of Locrala. If you’ve ever heard of the myths regarding that place, it supposedly has some type of guardians to it. Second, once we’ve retrieved the relic we need to deliver it to the forsaken temple of Adoca. Once it’s delivered there, our main objective will be unveiled and we return that back here to Sienseisho.”
            Faith looked over everyone with a smile. Arliss blinked.
“…Wha?”

ø ø ø

            The abandoned fortress of Locrala was surprisingly well described. It was clearly a fortress, clearly abandoned, and was stationed on the outskirts of the city called Locrala in the country of Sienseisho. The full moon’s light shone down upon the broken and crumbled sections of the walls and towers, a select few rays making it to the ground below the trees that also blocked its path.
            Rialce and Arliss walked through a single ray of light with Lito close behind. They stopped in front of the massive drawbridge, some of the wooden planks that once made up its structure floating in the moat below. Rialce and Lito scanned the outlying forest as Arliss bent over the moat to look into its murky waters. She looked up at the gate and stood up straight.
“How exactly do we get in?” she asked.
“What I wanna know is why it’s closed if it’s abandoned,” Rialce commented.
            Lito scanned the drawbridge quickly and formed a green flame on his index finger. He pointed at the top of the gates and the green flame shot towards the top right side. There was a snap and they drawbridge tilted to the right, a horrible creaking sound accompanying it. Arliss jumped, having been interested in the moat once again when the noise had startled her.
“…Just don’t miss.” Rialce said in response to the unfavorable noise.
            Lito smiled and repeated the process, this time purposely slitting off the entire top. The drawbridge cracked once more, again surprising Arliss, and fell forwards into the moat on a gentle slant. Rialce glanced at Lito as he laughed.
“You did that on purpose…”
“Oh come now. Why would I do something like that?”
            Lito hopped down into the moat and landed on the end of the fallen drawbridge. He walked up the slope and stood at the entrance as Rialce hopped down as well. Arliss looked around behind her and then followed after Rialce. The three of them went through the entrance when Arliss reached it and disappeared from view.
            A Human with short brown hair leaned on a tree nearby as he watched the three of them leave. A playful grin lined his mouth, and he stood straight, cracking his neck. Another Mahru walked in front of the human and smiled as well.
“What do you think?” the Human asked.
“Let’s sit back and wait.”

ø ø ø

            Faith looked back at Bryth as he rushed to catch up with him and Mallorie. The inside of the fortress looked no more presentable than the outside, holes and run-down furniture scattered around the rooms and hallways. Faith stopped in one room and the three of them fanned out around it, looking for anything that could lead them to their first objective.
“What exactly is this relic, Faith?” Mallorie asked as she lifted up a golden candelabra and examined the base.
“Well… I’m not sure exactly. I think it was a sword of some type,” he replied.
            Bryth scanned the walls quickly and looked at a large frame that hung upon it. It looked almost like a mosaic and a large triangle sat in the center. One side was red, the next black and the final color was white. At the very tip, the word cruor was set in red letters. The bottom right tip held the word creo in white. The final, bottom left, tip held the word morior in black letters. Inside the triangle sat the word unus in pink text, the familiar shape of a sword piercing through the word vertically.
            Eight circles rimmed the frame. A red circle sat in the top left, a light blue circle in the top center, a green circle in the top right; the center left held a blue circle, the center right held a yellow circle; the bottom left circle was a purple color, the bottom center circle white and the final circle in the bottom right, black. Bryth glanced at the hilt of the sword, now spying the word oraculum written vertically upon it.
“Hey B!” Faith shouted.
Bryth looked at him quickly, a good distance ahead of him.
“What’re you looking at?” he asked.
“I’m not sure what it says…” Mallorie mumbled. “…Yet.”
            Bryth jumped a bit and looked at Mallorie next to him. She pointed at the word cruor as Faith stopped on the other side of Bryth.
“Bloodshed.”
            She traced the white line to the word creo.
“To create.”
            She traced the black line to the word morior.
“To wither away or decay.”
            She traced an invisible line to the word unus.
“Alone or unparalleled.”
            Faith stepped back to take in the entire picture.
“The hilt of the sword says ‘prophecy.’”
“What are all the circles for?’ Faith asked.
“Uh… from the colors they look like all the elements of magic.”
“Why is unus pink?” Bryth asked.
“I’m not sure…”
Faith placed his hands on his hips and smiled. “Think that sword’s real?”

ø ø ø

“It must be real.” Dafyr said, looking at the strange mosaic in front of him. “Why else would there be a mural with a sword on it?”
“It could just be symbolism,” Zephinos pondered. “You know, like it represents something having to destroy whatever is alone and unparalleled.” He glanced at the word imprinted on the hilt of the sword, “And that something is some type of prophecy.”
“Should we tell the others about this?”
           Leglevant shook his head.
“We already knew something was here. It really doesn’t matter what it is.”
            Leglevant began walking further down the hall and both Zephinos and Dafyr followed close behind him, still patrolling the walls with their eyes for any other revealing information. Leglevant stopped at the end of the hall and bent over to stare down a vast shaft, the bottom far below.
“Now where do you suppose that goes?” he asked.
            Dafyr shrugged as Zephinos looked over the edge and into the void. Far across the void Dafyr spotted a large brown door. He looked around the area and walked towards the right wall. He stopped in front of it and traced a small groove with his finger, a small circular indentation in the wall a few feet below it. Another even smaller circle sat inside of it, a tiny green dot in the center. Dafyr created a green flame on his index finger and touched the green dot.
            The ground shook quickly and a slab of stone slid out of the right wall, stopping after a few feet. Another slab of stone slid diagonally from the south end of the pit and turned when it reached the opposite side, repeating the process until the sloped ramp had vanished from view. Dafyr looked back at Leglevant, who was now walking down the ramp into the pit. Dafyr glanced at the door on the opposite side of the slab against the wall. He walked carefully across the slab and stared at the door, decorated with an oddly tribal design. The words Fidei Defensor were inscribed on the door, a faint green glow upon them. He formed a green flame in his right palm and touched the words.
            A large crack formed diagonally through the entire door. It cracked outward from the center and stopped, a faint breathing noise coming from beyond the door. A large paw shot through the center, long claws reaching out in an attempt to seize Dafyr. The paw retracted and a puff of steam shot out of the newly created hole. Faint red eyes glistened in the darkness and Dafyr slowly backed away. He turned quickly and dashed for the pit, the door bursting outwards. It flew past Dafyr and crashed down into the pit. He hopped over the edge and hit the ramp below, bolting down lower and lower.

ø ø ø

            Rialce curved around the corner at full speed, following as close to Arliss as she possibly could. She looked at Lito, far ahead of them both. For a being of such short stature, as such is a Mahru, he sure could run. Lito turned ahead of them and Arliss mirrored the action, Rialce doing the same as the three of them continued down the massive pit they had uncovered.
            A ferocious roar erupted from behind them as a large wolf-like creature bounded down the ramp behind them. Rialce glanced back at it, slamming into the wall as the turn began. Slightly stunned, she pushed off the wall in an attempt to run, her left foot tripping over her right. She caught herself before she fell, the wolf lunging at her. Its teeth sank into her right bicep and she winced, the blood beginning to seep out from under its teeth.
            Rialce pushed on the wolf’s head in an attempt to break its grip as Arliss turned. She slipped a kunai from the pouch on her right leg and tossed it at the wolf. It shook its head fiercely, pulling Rialce to the right as the kunai lodged into its back. It let out a howl and let go of Rialce’s arm. She continued to fall, slipping off the edge of the ramp and plummeting towards the bottom.
           Her right arm hung limply in front of her as she formed a green flame on her left palm. She hit her left hand into her right, transferring the flame onto her right palm. She continued the process until her right palm was forced flat by the flame. She closed the distance between her hands and forced all the energy stored in the flame outwards, propelling a large, green whirlwind outwards and shooting herself backwards.
           She slammed into the wall and rolled down the ramp, hitting into the wall and stopping suddenly. Dazed and lightheaded, she pushed herself into a sitting position and slowly let her equilibrium return. She blinked quickly and formed a white flame on her left hand and hovered it over the gashes in her bicep. After a moment, nothing had happened and she touched the flame onto the gashes nervously. When the gashes failed to heal, and the blood began to flow faster, she dispersed the flame and stood up.
           She walked slowly towards the edge in an attempt to find out how far she had fallen. Her eyes widened and her body grew rigid as a sudden gust of wind followed the plummet of a pitch black body - that of the wolf. She swallowed slowly and watched the body disappear into the darkness, a solid thud sounding a few seconds after it vanished.
“Are you okay, Ria?”
            Rialce jumped quickly as she looked over at Arliss as she caught her breath.
“I was starting to be okay before you sneaked up on me…”
“Sorry,” she said calmly. “Is your arm all right?”
“I dunno… Light magic didn’t fix it…”
            Lito walk calmly down the ramp and pointed at the ground. Rialce squatted down so Lito could inspect her wound. Rialce glanced at the marks for the first time, a strange silver color lining the edges.
“I can’t heal it like this. It has some type of spell deterrent over it.”
            Lito pointed at Rialce and tapped her on the forehead with his pointer finger as he let out a sigh. She closed her eyes as she felt the tap and then looked at Lito innocently.
“I warned you not to touch that door.”
“Will it be okay?”
“Your wound?” he asked. Rialce nodded. “Yeah. You won’t be able to use that arm anytime soon but it’ll heal naturally.”
“Hey guys!” Arliss shouted from the corner opposite them. “I found another door!”
            Lito glanced down at Arliss, one level down and then at the golden door she motioned to. He looked at Rialce as she walked down the second ramp and began inspecting the door.
“Don’t touch that one either!” he shouted as he walked down the first ramp slowly.
“I get the point!” Rialce retaliated.
            Arliss smiled at Rialce and looked at the golden door. It glittered slightly with a red hue. Lito stopped next to Rialce and the three of them looked at the door. Lito smiled.
“Let’s see what’s behind door number two.”

ø ø ø

            The dusty vaulted chamber’s ceiling rose far beyond perception, a small ray of light shining down upon the altar that sat on the octagonal raised platform. A young Felis lay casually across the length of the altar, staring up toward the ceiling. Her dark pink hair and eyes shimmered slightly in the light. Her pink ears twitched every so often, three small white flower petals clipped in front of them, onto her bangs. She wore a pale pink halter top and a very small purple top that only stopped above the top fringe of the halter top. She wore a pink skirt and what seemed to be the bottom half of a yukata, only tied at her waist and draped down behind her legs. She wore pale blue stockings and white shoes.
            A young Mahru sat in front of the altar, clothed in the simple black robes that covered all but his face, hands and steel-gray hair. A young Human wearing a black suit of light armor sat on the side of the altar, only his silver shoulder pads breaking the monotony of color. His brown hair stopped just above his neck and his blue eyes glanced between the three doors that sat at each of the cardinal directions, negating the north.
“So what do you think the contestants want with the sword?” the Mahru asked his Human companion.
“The contestants?” the Felis asked.
“Well, there’s the group with the Mahru, the group with the two Humans and the group with the two Elves,” the Human replied. “I’d say it’s a race between the three.”
“Hey Nido,” the Felis began.
“Yeah?” the Mahru replied.
“Should we have just let them go through the fortress?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be fun otherwise!” the Human replied with a smile.
“Shush, Agar! I’m asking Nido.”
            Agarwaen smiled at the Felis and Nido thought carefully.
“Well, we can’t let them have the sword, Frisky. It has the orbs inside of it.”
            Mai, known to both Nido and Agarwaen as Frisky, sighed and closed her eyes. She opened them again and stared into the light.
“I was talking about those… things that were trapped behind the doors.”
“Oh… I hadn’t thought about those…” Agarwaen admitted.
“Our job as The Shield is guard the orbs…” Nido began.
            The right door opened slowly and Mai sat up quickly as Nido and Agarwaen glanced over at the door. Lito stepped into the room, catching sight of Nido instantly. Arliss came in next and scanned the walls before noticing Mai. Rialce closed the door behind her as Agarwaen turned to face them.
“Hello there,” he began.
            The left door opened quickly and Leglevant, Zephinos and Dafyr dashed inside, slamming the door behind them. They caught their breath quickly as the last door opened slowly, Mallorie, Faith and Bryth entering.
“Wow… that was a close race…” Nido commented.
“What was that thing?” Dafyr asked himself loudly.
“It said right on the door,” Agarwaen commented, drawing their attention.
“…Who are you three?” Lito asked carefully.
“No one you need to be concerned with.”
            Dafyr looked at Bryth and then Arliss.
“Did you guys see that black bear thing? It chased us all the way here.”
“Ours was a wolf,” Arliss answered.
“Let’s just say it’s a good thing B can’t use magic. We didn’t open the door.”
            Nido blinked at the group and looked up at Mai. She looked at each speaker as they spoke with a curious expression. Agarwaen scratched the side of his face.
“Are you all… together?” he asked.
“We’re looking for a sword,” Faith answered.
“For what?”
“It’s a mission.”
“For who?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Agar… I highly doubt we can take nine people.” Mai whispered. “Maybe we should stop snooping and getting on their bad side.”
“That defeats the purpose of why we’re here,” Agarwaen replied.
“We’re from Sienseisho,” Rialce answered Agarwaen’s previous question. “We’re supposed to deliver it to Adoca and get something in exchange.”
            Mai looked surprised, as did Agarwaen, but Nido smiled.
“Oh yeah? Then answer me one question.”
“Okay?”
“What’s your name?”
“Uh… Rialce.”
“Well Rialce, the sword’s yours.”
“Really?” she asked in surprise.
            Nido nodded and Mai hopped off the altar. She formed a black flame in her right palm and touched the top of the altar. It cracked and dissipated, revealing a small hollow area in which a large sword resided. Agarwaen turned and removed the sword as Mai retained the black flame in the same position. When Agarwaen’s arm was clear she dispersed the flame and the altar top reformed. Agarwaen walked over to Rialce and handed her the sword. Due to the lack of the ability to use her right arm, Arliss took the sword in Rialce’s stead, the slightest bit of pink in her cheeks.
“You’d better see this through,” he warned Rialce.
            She nodded quickly. Bryth blinked.
“Wow… Ria actually got something accomplished?”

ø ø ø

            Phase Two, the forsaken temple of Adoca, was slightly more vague in its descriptive qualities. It clearly was a temple but the forsaken part wasn’t so easy to pick out. But, once again, it was located in what was still considered the city of Adoca’s territory. Rialce had regained some movement in her right arm but there was a terrible burning sensation whenever she did move it. The gashes could almost be considered a sliver but the silver color filled in that entire sliver. According to Lito, “it should be fully healed and fully mobile in roughly one more week.”
            Rialce looked at Arliss as she walked behind Lito who led them through a densely forested area on their way to the temple. She yawned lightly; the trip from Locrala to Sienseisho had worn her out and, having to leave for Adoca two hours later, she was barely awake. She rubbed her right eye as her ears drooped. Arliss looked back at Rialce, an unnatural alertness in her eyes.
“Remind me again, why did we have to leave while the others guarded the sword?” Rialce mumbled to Arliss. “I’m exhausted.”
“Well, it’s better for you to fall asleep out here than if someone comes for the sword right?”
“Not when my sleep is deprived.”
            Arliss laughed with a warm smile.
“Silly Ria. Don’t you want to spend time with me and Lito?”
“Shush.” Lito snapped quietly.
            Arliss and Rialce looked at Lito in confusion as he looked at the moss strewn ziggurat. A large stone door sat near the ground and, after following the terraced pyramid shape, another much smaller door sat at the very top. Rialce continued to stare at it as Arliss and Lito began walking towards the bottom door.
“Ria, let’s go!” Lito shouted.
            She looked at him quickly and rushed to close the distance between them. The very structure of the ziggurat was crumbled and in relatively bad condition, chunks of the stone had fallen down off the building and were now scattered on the forest floor. Lito examined the door which had tribal etchings, similar to those on the doors in the fortress in Locrala.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be a temple?” Arliss asked curiously.
“Ziggurats are temples.”
            Lito looked at Rialce in amazement, Arliss doing the same.
“…What?”
            When their stares weren’t abated, she grunted.
“What? I had to learn something in school. Let’s just go.”
            Rialce walked towards the door and ran her palm over it. A massive amount of pain shot into her right arm and she withdrew her hand, a vast amount of blood slipping down her arm. She clasped her arm as Lito stepped back. Arliss’s eyes widened and she jumped back from the door.
“What is it?” she asked quickly.
            Lito scanned over the door and looked at a small groove near the top.
“Arli… touch that slit at the top.” Lito ordered.
“Wha? But won’t I get hurt too?”
“One way to find out…”
            Arliss gulped as Rialce stared at her arm painfully, the droplets slipping from her middle finger. Arliss walked forward and reached slowly for the groove on the top. She skimmed her fingers over the groove. The door crack and Arliss jumped back in a panic as the door slid open slowly.
“Just as I thought, magic resistant.” Lito commented as Rialce began cleaning the blood off her arm. “Hopefully it’s not like that inside.”
            Rialce created a white flame on her left palm and held it over the bleeding gashes in her right arm. A faint white light began to glow and she smiled in relief. Her fingers twitched a moment and she began moving her right arm again.
“I think that door got rid of the silver… stuff...”
            Lito stood far inside of the door, Arliss right behind him.
“You jerks! This is the second time you did that!”
            Rialce dashed inside as Arliss looked back at her with a smile.

ø ø ø

            The rapid increase of light from the previously dark room affected Mai almost instantaneously. She began breathing and, holding her left index finger under her nose, sneezed softly. She walked a few paces and sneezed again, Agarwaen stepping into the sunlight. He looked at Mai and smiled.
“Bless you.”
“Thanks…”
            She smiled and sneezed again, her ears twitching as well.
“Keep you.”
“Thanks again… It’s the sun.”
            Agarwaen smiled again as Mai rubbed her nose.
“So why did Nido want us out here?”
            A faint purple smoke appeared behind Mai and Agarwaen shrugged, pointing at the smoke afterwards. Mai turned around and watched as Nido stepped out of the purple and black tunnel.
“We’re here because we’re still The Shield and it’s our job to make sure the orbs are distributed. Did they bring the sword?”
“Not that I saw.” Agarwaen mumbled. “But then again they could just warp it over here using Rialce or the Mahru.”
“But then it’d…” Mai began worriedly.
“That’s a myth. We’ve been in there how many times?”
“But we’re The Shield! It doesn’t need to protect anything from us and without the sword, it’ll kill them!”
“Come on Frisky. That’s a little out there.”
“Agar! How can you be so mean?”
“I’m not mean. I’m just rational.”
“Before the conversation gets less and less in your favor, Agar,” Nido began “we’re gonna head inside just in case Frisky’s right.”
“Thanks Nido.”
            Nido smiled and Agarwaen shrugged.
“Hey, I’m game.”

ø ø ø

            Rialce yawned as she walked, the boring veneer of the temple’s rooms lacking that interest the fortress had encompassed. After the rooms and hallways passed, a final room appeared, seeming to be a larger form of the altar room at the abandoned fortress. Arliss hurried to the altar and looked it over, as well as the area around it. She traced a cross shape etched into it and looked up through the stream of light that entered through the ceiling. She glanced back down at the cross and blinked.
“The light from above is blocked out in parts.” she stated as Lito and Rialce looked around the room. “It says… incuria – poena.”
“Carelessness – penalty.” Lito translated. “Maybe there’s a trap around her somewhere.”
            Arliss jumped back quickly and glanced around the room. Rialce grinned as her tail swayed back and forth. Lito crossed his arms and mumbled the words back to him. He glanced up at the balcony above and cocked and eyebrow at the figure that was Nido.
“You guys again?” he asked loudly so as to draw Rialce and Arliss’s attention. “Why give us the sword if you planned to follow us anyway?”
“We can’t take it outside and we can’t warp it inside here.  What else would we do?”
“At least tell us what the sword is.” Rialce asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“I see your arm’s healed. That’s good to see.”
“Uh… thanks…”
            Agarwaen leaned on the balcony behind Arliss with his characteristic smile on his lips. He cleared his throat, drawing only Arliss and Rialce’s attention, Lito still fixated on Nido. Arliss waved at Agarwaen shyly and Rialce watched her in surprise. She rolled her eyes and Mai sneezed again.
“Dammit… if it’s not the sun, it’s dust in general.”
            Rialce looked at Mai as she mumbled “This is why I hate this place.” As time slowly ticked on with no break in the silence, Rialce glanced at Arliss, who was still watching Agarwaen. There was a faint crack and Arliss turned around quickly to stare at the altar. The top erupted off, flinging debris at Arliss, as Agarwaen hopped from the balcony. He pulled Arliss to the side as a massive white claw shot out from the inside of the altar and dug into the ground a few feet behind Lito.
            Another identical paw shot out, soon followed by the head of a very large animal. It had red lines crossing random parts of its forehead, one eye a dull silver, the other a sleek red. Its body lurched out of the altar and catapulted over Rialce, landing in front of the door. Its long tail flicked quickly, long bards straightening out and knocking loose the unoccupied balcony as it turned. Long horns jutted from under its neck, from the side of its mouth and in even intervals down its spine. Its mouth opened slowly, barring its yellowish teeth. Rialce stepped back as Lito looked stunned.
“I’m going out on a limb here… That’s bad?”

ø ø ø

            Rialce dashed up the steps, a large paw shooting into through the doorway, tearing up the stairs as it went. She turned the corner quickly as the paw stopped, the claws shredding through the wall. She stopped next to Mai, trying to catch her breath.
“What… the hell… is that thing?” she panted.
“It’s a behemoth…”
“How could it fit in that tiny casket?!”
“Advanced containment and warping bends spaces to fit any mass.”
“Perfect.”
            There was an earth shattering roar and Mai hurried back onto the balcony with Rialce right behind. Arliss and Agarwaen stood in the corner, Agarwaen holding his sword in a defensive position. The behemoth stepped forward and Arliss tried to move next to Agarwaen but was blocked quickly by his right arm.
“If we stay here, we’re going to get trapped.” she mumbled to Agarwaen.
“And if we leave, we’re mincemeat.”
            The behemoth snorted quickly and Arliss shot down along the wall, drawing the behemoth’s attention. Its left paw shot towards her and she froze, the massive claws jamming into the wall. She ducked under the claw in front of her, leaving the place of safety she had luckily received. She withdrew one of her wakizashis and rammed it into the underside of the behemoth’s paw.  The behemoth went unscathed and its head lowered to a foot in front of Arliss’s body. The accomplished grin that once lined her flips slipped into one of growing fear.
            Agarwaen dashed in and plowed Arliss to the ground as the behemoth’s teeth snapped through the wall, connecting the new hole to the one created by its paw. Agarwaen propped himself up and looked at the behemoth as it turned towards him. Arliss sat up shakily, rubbing her head. Agarwaen hopped to his feet and helped Arliss to hers, guiding her to the other side of the room. The behemoth’s attention followed and Mai elbowed Rialce.
“Come on, we need to get out of here.”
            She ran back into the hall and towards the destroyed steps. Rialce followed behind her as Mai carefully slid down the crumbled staircase and ducked outside. The behemoth turned and lunged at them, the wall barely holding. Rialce hopped over the ledge, joining Mai out of sight.
“And we’re supposed to get a sword in there?” Rialce asked.
“If you would have had the sword already, it wouldn’t have woken up.”
“We were going to warp it here.”
“There’s a problem with that plan.” Lito said, appearing next to Rialce.
            He opened his hand in the normal fashion but nothing appeared.
“The entire temple is magic restrictive. The only exceptions are the roof and surrounding area.” Mai replied.
            A shrill scream rocketed through the air and Rialce’s ears twitched as she turned her head. She stood up quickly and pulled herself up onto the ledge. She hurried through the shattered wall and skidded to a stop in front of Arliss, holding her arms out. Arliss’s eyes widened as the behemoth’s mouth stopped a few inches in front of Rialce. The minor shock slowly fading, the behemoth grunted and roared loudly at the two of them. Rialce and Arliss closed their eyes simultaneously as the behemoth opened its mouth widely.
            There was a slashing of flesh and a splash of liquid and Rialce opened her eyes slowly. The behemoth staggered backwards as it howled in pain, a large gash in the side of its neck. An arm swept around Rialce’s waist as well as Arliss’s and dragged them outside. When they stopped, Rialce looked at the messy orange hair that was Bryth’s. In his right hand was held the sword they had acquired from the abandoned fortress of Locrala.
“…Hey Bry.” Arliss said slowly.
            Bryth’s eyes focused on the behemoth until Arliss’s words reached his ears. He looked at his sister and smiled.
“Came just in time, didn’t I?”
“Don’t get too egotistical, Bryth.” Rialce commented, glancing at Mai as she peeked over the ledge. “Anyone else come?”
“Nope.”
            With one last, ear-splitting roar, the behemoth smashed through the wall and slipped to the ground, the blood continuing to seep forth.
“You killed it?” Lito asked.
“There you are Lito.” Bryth said with a smile. “It wasn’t hard… this thing cuts pretty well.”
“Well lucky you.” Rialce commented, taking the sword from Bryth’s hands.
            Agarwaen trudged out of the hole as Rialce passed with the sword in hand. Mai pulled herself over the ledge and hurried over to Agarwaen’s side, glancing at the scrapes on his right arm. Arliss hurried in behind Rialce as she looked at the newly reformed casket in which the behemoth exited. She held the sword over the casket and a blue glow encompassed the blade. She lowered it slowly as Nido walked next to Mai.
            The sword cracked into three pieces and formed into three circles. The first was a deep red, the second a pure white and the final a jet black. Rialce touched black one as Arliss picked up the red one. Rialce picked up the white one as well and gave it to Lito.
“I’m guessing this was what we needed.” he said, looking into the white orb.
            Arliss looked at her brother as he grinned.
“Yay for me being helpful!”

ø ø ø

            Lito starred into the white orb even more intensely as it sat on the table, looking for some type secret of what its purpose was. Dafyr was looking at the black orb that Zephinos looked over, a small frown of Dafyr’s face. Rialce and Arliss sat on the table in the corner, watching Mallorie as she perused the red sphere. Bryth and Leglevant watched Faith as he talked to a tall Feles and her shorter Human counterpart.
“Guys, can I have the orbs?” he asked and the three orb-holders handed them over.
“Very good work, Captain.” the Human said with a nod. “You and your brigade may take the next few days to themselves.”
“Thank you sir.”
            The Human and Feles bowed and then departed, Faith heaving a large sigh as they disappeared from view.
“I hate when they show up…”
“How come?” Bryth asked.
“I have to act all formal.”
“So what’s this about off-time?” Rialce asked, hopefully.
“Yup, three days.”
“Sweet! Time for me to… do… something. Now what will that something be…?”
“She talks to herself a lot.” Lito commented.
            There was a silent brushing on the door and Mai stepped back to look over her handiwork. A long pink line ran vertically down the doorway and half a black line ran horizontally into the pink one. Nido stepped forward and etched in the other half of the line in white. He stepped back and looked at Agarwaen as he looked through the window at Arliss as she laughed noiselessly.
“Ready Mai?” Nido asked.
“Um… Nido, do…” she began.
“Do we have to go through with this?” Agarwaen broke in.
“It’s the final part: With memories lost, the future begins.” he replied.
“…Fine. Just do it.” Agarwaen said, slightly angry.
            He walked past Nido in a hurry and began walking towards the city’s main entrance. Mai watched him go sadly.
“Maybe we can see them later?” she asked.
“I doubt it. I’ll miss them too but this is our job. We need to go to Ko after this anyhow…”
            Mai sighed and created a pink flame on her right palm and walked towards the door. She touched the intersecting point of the three lines and a vortex of the three colors was created. It slowly spread out and encompassed the building. Nido turned casually and Mai hurried to his side. She looked back at the building as the vortex shrunk and vanished, erasing the memories of the previous days from the resident’s minds.
“Let’s just hope the future is a good one."