FLASHBACK TO 2602 - (Picking up the pieces after 9 years)

The Canabrium of the Dead has been used by three beings to create a new plane of existence; Kerri Dhwen (Mother of Ceraph), Grey (High Doman of Wan) and Shefanhow (Alondian / Dragon Guardian of the Sun Kings) have all three bound their souls to the fate and existence of this plane in a desperate bid to battle the very Source of the Living Dark and it's Three Black Kings.

Opening Scene - Gray, High Doman of Wan stands beneath a cherry blossom tree in full bloom. The landscape of the newly created plane stretches before him from horizon to horizon, blurring beneath the blazing artificial sun overhead as Shefanhow adds wave after wave of ever increasing detail to the grass, plants, earth and atmosphere.

Gray feels the energy coursing through his connection to the plane - energy provided by the combined states of Esium gathered in combined prayer - a tremendous feat organized by the once Queen, turned Holy Mother - Kitara (bearer of the Demi-God, Aslan). The Gods of Elondil are using Kitara and her unborn child Aslan as a conduit of religious power, in one last ditched attempt to rid the World of the Living Dark forever.

Outside of the plane of the Living Light and its portal to the Hill of Wan is the Keystone of Wan, Kitara, Quiverin and Hollis.
The Hill of Wan has been surrounded by the Mist of Ages (of which Hollis is Lady of and in complete control). The Mist of Ages has effectively hidden the entire Hill of Wan and the entrance to the plane of the Living Light from any detection. To an onlooker, it is as if the entire Hill of Wan has simply vanished.

Inside the Plane of the Living Light, Ceraph is still in her flesh shrouded form. Only minutes have passed since giving birth unnaturally to her daughter Harmony. Ashar, Harmony's spiritual father, has just departed with the child to safety. (Ashar has the Soul Cord of Olahdan...). Shefanhow has blessed the child. Gray has given Harmony the Ring of Weal (The Gray one) - (Alyx has Black One, Kitara the White One). Ceraph has given the Aurial of Ion. (Which was always destined for Harmony anyway.)

Shefanhow is hovering in his astral form - that of a large glowing blue astral falcon.

Gray flames (combusts his aura in soul fire) and shifts entirely astral - to see his companions. He observes pulses of energy travelling from Shefanhow into the landscape, strengthening its reality - as is an Alondian's gift.

Gray then shifts back to talk to his companions about protection.

"What will I see when I am inside the Living Dark?" Gray asks.
"Probably nothing. Just blackness," says Ceraph, a little distracted by the spirit of the freshly created grass beneath her. Crouched down, letting it fall through her fingers she tries to recompose her thoughts. "As we're all connected to the plane and therefore one another, perhaps I can give you some part of my perception. That would allow you to at least make things out inside the Kingdom." (Ceraph's name for The Living Dark Plane).

Gray concentrates and Ceraph does too. Ceraph dissolves her physical positive energy form and lets her real spirit - that of the Living Dark, expand into the surroundings. At first all Gray perceives is a growing black shape devoid of any detail or definition. But then his vision shifts slightly, like putting on a pair of prescription spectacles. He sees beyond the darkness to what lies within it - Ceraph in her Living Dark flesh form.

Taking that as a success, the next thing the Doman suggests is his Soul Fire.
Shefanhow is quick to take up the offer, but Ceraph and Kerri aren't keen. "I don't want that stuff burning around me. Something tells me that my aura and it won't mix very well."
"LET'S DO IT..." booms Shefanhow.
Gray wills it so and suddenly Shefanhow has a white fiery aura just like Gray's.
"This will protect us from Dark Fire and from Drathelmox's power drain," says Gray.
"But surely Ceraph's aura will do that anyway?" states Shefanhow, flexing his wings and admiring the fiery effect he makes.
"Yes, but we can use this Soul Fire to protect us when we're inside the Living Dark."
Shef growls in delight and then nods, sagely, like these are wise words. "I still find Darkfire, a bit beyond me..." admits Shefanhow as they continue to discuss sharing abilities.
"Where's your body gone...?" Ceraph asks Shef, repeating one of Gray's earlier questions.
"I have dissolved it."
"Could Kerri do that too?" asks the Doman, obviously seeing Kerri as their weakest link and most vulnerable target.
"I wouldn't advise it," states Shefanhow.
"It's ok," says Kerri. "If we control this plane, I should be able to will myself anywhere in it." To demonstrate, she reappears a few hundred yards away. Then she shifts again to several miles away, at the bottom of a large waterfall, freshly created by Shef's creative Alondian mind.
When she returns she is a bit wet but ecstatic. "See. I'll be ok."

"If we can share perception, we should be able to share other things as well..." suggests Ceraph.

Kerri seeks clarification from the Doman. The Doman wants to hit the Living Dark plane quickly, grab some priests and then push them out onto the Hill of Wan. As soon as Drath and Laylak enter the plane, the Keystone has to be sealed... The Doman agrees on this.

Over by lake....

Kerri gives Gray and Shefanhow the vision of the living dark....

Kerri and Ceraph then kiss and hug one another, saying a quiet goodbye.
Gray contacts Alyx via aura of the ring...
"Gray, is that you, have you possessed me?"
"Look after yourself, you've always been a true follower of the faith..." says Gray, sadly.
"Good luck Gray.... You've been the best little bald guy I've known... I will get Vengeance. On everyone. And anyone who speaks a bad word against Wan - Will be visited in the night and strung up by their testicles. And if they don't have any, by their tits. I love you Gray."
Gray cannot help but smile at the monster he has for a friend.

Preparing for the bridgehead.
Ceraph brings her hands together and opens up a Dark portal 500 feet away, just above the water at the centre of the lake.
Shef and Gray stand ready, not knowing how quickly their enemy will react.
However, as the seconds pass, Gray turns to Shefanhow, hovering above him in his Falcon form. "Shall we?"
"YES," Shefanhow replies, hammering his conviction home. 

Shef and Gray leave tremendous astral sparks in their wake as they soar into the sky above the landscape of the living dark....
*Note - There is always a chance of a Planal Fire eruption when positive energy causes friction with negative. Planal Fire is also referred to as Dark Fire (Living Dark originated) or Soul Fire (Material Plane originated).*
Gray sends out an astral summons to his priests but is disappointed and deflated when it only travels to the edge of Shefanhow's aura.
"I hate this plane..." Gray thinks to no one in particular.

A moment later and Shefanhow tears his way through the sky of the Kingdom like a blazing comet. Shef roars above the Castle of Dawn and lets his aura expand and soak through the entire structure - walls, ceilings and floors. Once everyone is caught within his giant astral net, Shefanhow decides to put an idea of his into practice. He begins the process of vibrating his aura and effecting everyone inside of it (bar Gray who is protected by his own Soul Fire).
When the vibrations reach their climax, Shefanhow's unique ability to alter alignments kicks in and all the aura's contained within his aura, switch to their opposite alignments. Sure enough his guess pays off ;- By calling on the Power of Ceraph, Kerri and the Doman, Shefanhow's aura converts the polarity of everyone's spirit from negative to positive.

Gray is delighted. Gray - "That's cool..."
The entire inhabitants of the Living Dark castle are suddenly spiritually normal again and the Castle has been erased down to its very foundations.
Shefanhow, able to get a firm and unbreakable grip on the inhabitants now that their spirits have changed, rises up into the air, gathering them about him in a cloud. An instant later, he and Gray are about to re-enter Ceraph's portal and return home. But at the last moment, Gray looks back and sees a giant dark shape wearing a spiky black crown, rising from the remnants of the castle. A pair of burning Green eyes the size of search lights sweep across the forest below them and up towards their portal - Just as they fly in and escape.

Shefanhow also observes something taking off in the Mountains to the East - something large that causes damage to the surrounding peaks with the force of its takeoff.

Once back, Gray and Shef waste no time. They speed towards the portal leading back to Darksea and the Hill of Wan. They then jettison all of the spirits they have liberated through it.

On the outside, Kitara sees and hears the spirits pouring through before her. However, the spirits are in shock and quickly vanish - drawn away to their respective afterlife's.
"Well done High Doman," she whispers.

Shefanhow hurtles towards the bitter and fierce Servant of the Living Dark, claws extended at it's head. At the last moment Gray is released (like a bomb) and sent speeding beneath Ragnahad's wings and directly into it's belly.

Gray releases a Power Strike at the Dragon's stomach, calling upon the energy of the plane to be behind him.

"WAN!!!!!!"

The power strike to Ragnahad's stomach, delivers damage equivalent to 65% of the Dragon's total - in one blow. It is so devastating that the Doman literally punches himself a tunnel into the creature's stomach.

Simultaneously to this, Shefanhow's light burns it's way through Ragnahad's wing and his claws dig deep into the Dragon's skull. Ragnahad screeches with mind staggering pain and implodes.

*Note - All Wraiths / powerful servants of the Living Dark implode upon death. This creates a vacuum of spiritual energy that power drains anyone in the immediate vicinity. On the astral plane this implosion acts as a magnet, drawing things into it to fuel it and make it bigger. Killing a Wraith is a dangerous thing.*

As Ragnahad dies and implodes, Shefanhow pushes himself away. But Gray is not confident on the astral plane and lacks Shef's experience. He makes a futile attempt to anchor himself to something but fails and is sucked into the implosion and right out the otherside.

To his shock he finds himself in Ceraph's portal tunnel - just as Ragnahad's implosion collapses the end behind him. The tunnel begins collapsing behind, propelling the Doman down it towards Laylak, Drathelmox and the 3 Kings of the Living Dark!

With the tunnel's end in sight and something big and black waiting to swallow him, the Doman reaches out to try and re-establish a link with the Plane of Light. He manages to create a side tunnel of positive energy and bounces himself down it. But an instant after he creates it, the friction between the two opposing tunnels causes both to combust in planal fire. Gray finds fire hot on his tail but reaches the safety of his home plane just in the nick of time.

"I'm back!" Gray exclaims.
"So we can hear," replies Shefanhow (sharing a private bit of humour with Ceraph at just how loud someone as small as the Doman can be), gripping the Doman and pulling him across the plane, back to the lake.

Gray quickly explains what he did. "This opens up possibilities. We could create a positive tunnel and attack them through that..."
Shefanhow ignores him, letting him calm down - especially as the only person who can contact the Living Dark plane is Ceraph and she can only create Living Dark portals.

"OPEN THE PORTAL AGAIN..." says Shefanhow to Ceraph.

This time a large sphere of Dark Matter comes bursting through. As it reaches the opening it ruptures like a bubble and releases dozens of smaller but devastating dark spheres. The resulting power drain collapses the entrance and causes thousands of sparks - all of which fail to ignite into planal fire (because of Ceraph and Kerri's unique balance between the light and dark).

Ceraph is quick to reopen another portal.

"WAN!!!" Gray sends his retaliation - another huge power strike right down the tunnel to the Kingdom. Boom.

On the Dark side, Laylak looks up when he hears the distant call.... "It's the Doman..." he says aloud. "He's like a rabid dog that just won't let go. WHY am I plagued by this morose, holier than though, grey little midget? WHY?"

Drathelmox flies up to the opening and sends a message through.

Words - "CEASE THIS FOLLY. CERAPH, RETURN TO YOUR HOME."

"WAN!!!!" Gray yells with his spirit, every ounce of Faith behind his attack. Another power strike explodes near Drathelmox, who becomes increasingly agitated by the lack of any proper response.

Words from Drathelmox - "LET US MEET IN THE TUNNEL. BETWEEN THE PLANES."

Boom - another strike goes through.

More words from Drath, echoing down the tunnel between the planes - "STOP THIS. STOP THIS NOW. OR WE WILL ATTACK AND DESTROY EASTERN DAAS AND DESTROY THE HAIMISH."

All three (Shef, Gray and the will of Kerri) send power strikes through to the Living Dark Plane...

*Note - Kerri lends her will behind the blast but not her aura. Her aura would automatically cancel out chances of a Dark Fire eruption. *

Ceraph then opens yet another portal... But no words come through this time for a few minutes.

In the plane of the Living Dark, things have escalated. The last joint (3 in one) power blast that came through caused an eruption of Dark Fire that triggered a chain reaction in the plane's atmosphere. As Drathelmox and Laylak watch, the sky is slowly consumed by the devastating effects of Dark Planal Fire, leaving nothing in its wake. Laylak shakes his head is horror. "This can't be happening. Can't you stop it?"

"I AM RELATIVELY IMMUNE TO ITS EFFECTS, BUT THIS PLANE IS NOT. IF CERAPH WERE HERE, SHE COULD NEUTRALIZE IT. WE NEED TIME."

Drathelmox sends a message through the next time a portal opens - "LET US DISCUSS TERMS OF SURRENDER.... WHAT IS IT YOU REQUIRE...."

Shef - "They're buying time. No doubt at this very moment they are attempting to locate our link to the material plane or find our friends and allies. We should continue pressing our advantage. Force them to act out of desperation for their own survival."

Gray - "I agree." With that Gray propels another blast of positive energy through Ceraph's portal tunnel and directly down the throat of Drathelmox on the otherside.

Drath has positioned itself over the portal opening to try and protect the Plane of the Living Dark... but it is already too late. The plane of the Living Dark has begun to burn up in Dark Fire. The sky is on fire and being eroded into nothingness while Laylak can only look on in horror.

"That BITCH!" he yells at the great black dragon. "She's betrayed us. Didn't I say she would. I said 'That Bitch is too twinkle twinkle little living star for what we have planned.' We should of consumed her when we had the chance. Damn her. Bitch. If we get her back here I'm going to delight in ripping her soul apart!"

Shefanhow and Gray now send a combined blast of energy down the portal tunnel. This time the tunnel destabilizes and fragments, spewing energy out of several different fissures in the atmosphere. Onlookers in Laylak's castle below see the sky illuminated by multiple explosions - like a giant firework display.

"THIS IS NOT WORKING," states Drathelmox. "WE MUST LOCATE THE SOURCE OF THEIR ENERGY. THERE MUST BE A CONDUIT FOR THIS MUCH POWER ON THE MATERIAL PLANE...." With that, the dragon rips open a Dark portal and ploughs through, leaving Laylak alone.

"Don't leave me you stupid black MAGGOT!" screams Laylak. "What if they come and get me?"

"HIDE."

"Hide! HIDE! Go and flatten the Hill of Wan! Flatten Gost Yaroch. Flatten the whole of ESIUM ! FLATTEN THE WORLD!"

Over the next 15 minutes, Gray sends 10 more immense power strikes through Ceraph's portals. As each one explodes, Laylak rushes through his castle grabbing his favourite belongings. He opens up a Dark Portal and sends a few of them through. One explosion detonates directly above the castle, blowing apart his prized statue, the one depicting him as God Emperor of Eldahar.

"WAN!!!"

"BASTARDS!" Laylak screams, visibly shaking in uncontrolled rage.

Each time a power strike detonates, Laylak hears "WAN!" The noise makes his undead spiritual skin crawl. "Wan... Wan... Wan... fucking Wan. That little bald pious God licking dwarf of a WANker. WAN WAN WAN..." Laylak does a little manic dance and hits a stone bust of one of his Kingly ancestors, obliterating it with his dark sceptre.

Suddenly the sky splits apart and in a swirl of darkness, Drathelmox reappears. "IT'S NO GOOD. I CAN'T LOCATE IT. FAITH IS BEING CHANNELLED BUT THEY HAVE MASKED ITS FOCAL POINT. THE HILL OF WAN HAS VANISHED AND ITS ASTRAL FOOTPRINT IS HIDDEN. FURTHERMORE, THE ELDAR HAVE THE ENTIRE SITE IN THEIR MIND'S EYE. I CANNOT RISK ANOTHER BLAST OF THEIR COLLECTIVE MENTAL ENERGY."

"So, now what?"

"WE HAVE NO CHOICE. WE MUST GO THROUGH AND GET CERAPH. WE MUST FORCE HER TO RETURN. ONCE HERE, I WILL TRAP HER WITHIN MY HEARTSTONE AND BRING HER BACK. SHE WILL THEN STOP THE DARK FIRE."

"I'm not going through there. No warting way," shouts Laylak, leaping onto his hovering black spiritual disk and floating up to eye level with the dragon. "I'll guard here in case another portal opens."

"SO BE IT, YOUR MAJESTY...." Drathelmox rumbles with a gush of contempt. Drath then turns to the 3 Kings of the Living Dark and addresses them. "BESTOW YOUR POWER UPON ME. I WILL BRING HER BACK TO US. WE WILL BE ONE AGAIN."

The Kings nod in unison and Drathelmox feels their power coursing through him. Swelling in size and presence, the exiled self proclaimed Dragon King waits for the next portal to open and spurs himself through. En route he encounters another blast of positive energy but it impacts harmlessly upon aura....

The portal tunnel distorts and warps to accommodate Drath's gargantuan spiritual power.

On the Light side, Ceraph feels her portal bulging and a sense of dread comes over her. She braces herself and allows herself to float for a moment in the calm emanating from her mother. "We have incoming.... This is it..." she astrally shouts.

Gray takes up an offensive astral stance before the portal opening, gazing into the expanding darkness. "Shefanhow..." he thinks....

At the entrance to the Plane of Living Light, Shefanhow watches, standing guard over Kitara, Hollis and Quiverin. He hears Ceraph and Gray behind him and knows it is time. Before turning and leaving, he gazes at Hollis and in a blinding flash of astral energy, hits Hollis' mind and spirit with his own. Quiverin is thrown backwards by the blast and even Kitara has to shield her eyes.

When Quiverin helps Hollis a few seconds later to her feet , Shefanhow has gone - back to float by Gray.

"What happened? Did he attack you?" Quiverin asks.
"I don't think so. He forced something into my mind...."
"What?" Quiverin stares at her in concern. 
"I don't know... My mind is in shock. The only thing I remember is him saying "Sorry" as he did it."
"It sounds like a mind ream of sorts. Those things are utterly illegal."
Hollis has to laugh. "You go tell him that. I don't think he realizes."

"Power up the stone," Quiverin shouts at Kitara. Unhappy with Shef's assault on Hollis, Quiverin feels the need to assert some Mount Eldahar authority.
"No. I haven't received the signal," says Kitara calmly.
"We shouldn't take any risks. Power it up now."
"Battlemaster, this is a War between the Light and the Dark. You are here to observe humanity taking care of its own. I shall do what needs to be done when and only when I am told to do so. Thus, in this matter, I do not answer to you or your kin, but to the Gods of Man."
Quiverin attempts to stare Kitara down but the Holy Mother stands her ground without showing a trace of fear or doubt. Ultimately it is Quiverin who nods, bows and backs away, flashing a private thought to Elluva as he does.
"Do you have a lock?"
"Yes. It took time to fine tune to your frequency but the beacon is now working fine," replies Elluva, distantly.
"Stand by to C.E blast this whole sector on my signal."
"Aphriel is standing by, awaiting your firing solution."
Quiverin steps alongside Hollis and takes her hand. "It's going to be ok."

Drathelmox bursts into the Plane of the Living Light and quickly expands to over 1000 feet across. The plane's newly created sun is blotted out of existence by Drath's expanding aura of darkness and a wave of absolute draconian terror manifests itself as shapes, limbs and tentacles within his darkness. As the aura expands it obliterates the lake below it and bores down over two hundred feet into the plane's earth, instantly disintegrating it.

Ceraph stands defiantly before the onslaught as Drathelmox's attention - and aura - settles directly on her. She knows Drathemox wants her.
"Come and get me then," she spits.

Then Shefanhow's comet like aura slams against that of Drathelmox. Dark tentacles are severed and the two Alondian titans go head to head.
A power struggle ensures that drives Drathelmox and Shefanhow crashes to the side, levelling trees, ploughing up the earth and spinning together in a vortex of crackling apocalyptic energy.

Ceraph calls to Gray. "Go get Laylak. He's not here!"
Sure enough, Gray cannot see the wannabe King of Esium anywhere.

Without hesitation, Gray plunges headlong back into the tunnel between the planes. He navigates the twists and turns to emerge above the landscape of the Kingdom - a Kingdom in flames.

Gray sees the sky burning in planal fire and scenes of devastation from his power strikes in every direction. His aura then fixes on Laylak, floating on a black disk some hundred yards away.

"Come on then Laylak, as it was meant to be..." says the Doman.

Laylak screams in fury and shakes his sceptre defiantly at the Doman. He then turns and speeds off, down towards his castle below.

The Doman realizes he is a Wraith in the plane of the living dark and wills himself towards his target. Normally Gray has had problems moving when astral but this time, with Laylak firmly in his sights, he knows exactly where he wants to go and goes there.

"Get away from me!!!" Laylak screams.

As Laylak frantically opens up a portal to escape, the Doman hurtles in after him and puts a firm, iron like hand around the Wraith King's wrist.
Laylak spits and snarls like a viper, unable to break free of the Doman's painful burning grip.

Gray then opens up a tunnel back to the Living Light, dragging Laylak behind him, ahead of the tunnel's exploding in planal fire.
Laylak appears as flesh within the tunnel but as he arrives at the Living Light, he becomes Wraith-like again - with all the strength, speed and power that comes with that form.

As Gray drags the screaming Laylak back into the Plane of Light, Laylak presses his face up against Gray's and screeches - "So this is how it will end... Embraced together to the death. My soul shall not rest until you are dead!!! Forever !!!"

Gray sends his spiritual signal to Kitara. "Activate the Keystone..." As soon as the Holy Mother of Daas hears the Doman's command, she channels the power of the Gods into Wan's astral prison - The Keystone of Wan - From which nothing can escape. The holy energy activates and empowers all 7 seals of the Astral winds for yet another 800 year cycle, sealing the fate of Gray and his friends with that of the Living Dark.

And into the plane - battle commences.

""Ah well Laylak, Revenge is a dish best served bald...!" shouts Gray, continuing to beat down on the Wraith King with a vicious flurry of precision astral punches.

Gray now has his chance to take out Laylak.... and he knows it. Every fibre of his being, every ounce of his faith, is focused on that purpose. It was the Living Dark that destroyed his priesthood. It was the Living Dark that took away his future and consigned him to limbo between the living and the dead. It is pay back time...

"Suck Bane Ball !" screams Gray - thrusting his secret weapon at Laylak... As he does, the Bane Ball expands and releases a tremendous burst of energy at the Wraith King.

But it isn't enough. Laylak shrieks from the burning light that surrounds him and eats at his dark aura. But ultimately, when the ball fades, Laylak lashes back with even more ferocity and venomous fury. The reservoir of dark energy Laylak can call upon to insure his continued existence is deep and seemingly endless. *Note - In reality, it is rapidly diminishing. As Dark Fire continues to consume the Plane of the Living Dark, it's 3 Kings know their time is running out. They must commit all available resources and energy or risk losing everything.*

As Laylak and Gray continue attacking one anothers aura's, the sky lights up in flashes of black and white energy that have the appearance of a strobe. Down below, Ceraph contacts her mother; "This is way out of hand. I'm going to close the dark portal. It might limit their conduit of energy." Kerri - "Be careful honey."

As Ceraph looks for an opening in the astral turbulence to shut the portal, Laylak finally spots the approaching horizon and realizes what is about to happen. "Thelmox - It's shutting down !!!" Laylak screams, becoming even more desperate to escape back to the Living Dark - despite what awaits him on the otherside.

He tries making a run for it but Gray punches him across the sky before securing a headlock around the Wraith's slippery neck.

"Help me.... HELP ME!!!!" Laylak screeches.

"How does it feel... All this torture Laylak? This is the way it should be, you squirm and squeal, you deserve nothing more...." Gray says calmly, tightening his grip into a choke hold.

Ceraph spots an opening and goes for it. With her aura fully extended she causes the portal to the Living Dark to collapse. Drathelmox and Laylak are now unable to make a last moment dash for the safety of their own plane. *Note - As all 3 "rulers" / living gateways of the Living Dark plane are still in the same place, within the shrinking Keystone of Wan, the entire Living Dark plane is also trapped. *

"Thelmox - Swallow us...." Laylak screams again, hoping that the Dragon will use its tremendous mental powers to literally suck everyone into its imagination and somehow escape.

Gray to Ceraph - "Help Shefanhow. Help stabilize us.... See if you can stop the plane collapsing..."

The ground splits asunder revealing a fiery chasm. Drathelmox and Shefanhow fall into the heat, rolling over and over until Drathelmox suddenly comes out on top. Shaken and weak from Drathelmox's superior mental strength and aura bombardment, Shefanhow floats for a few moments, stunned. Drathelmox uses this time to soar back to where Ceraph is concentrating on neutralizing dark fire eruptions. Ceraph gazes up at the monstrous visage before her and stands, hands on hips in defiance. "Do your worst."

And Drathelmox does. He envelops Ceraph with his mind and like a bottomless well, pulls her inside. She cries out and vanishes from existence, only to appear an instant later, floating within Drathelmox's nightmarish imagination. Trapped, warped and pulled apart by forces beyond her comprehension, Ceraph finds her entire life, memories and will being shredded as an image of her mother stands opposite, frozen in a silent scream.

The plane's horizon is now less than a mile away... Gray notices it and wonders to himself how they will escape - or even if escape is possible.

"Die...." Gray growls. "Just die !"

Then the horizon comes crashing down upon them and Time itself seems to stop.

The plane has collapsed and imprisoned everyone in it or connected to it.

No astral energy flows in or out of the Keystone of Wan.

"It is done," says Kitara. "They are sealed inside. Let us pray this is the end of it. Let us pray that the World will never again experience darkness like it. And let us pray for the Doman, for the Sun Dragon and Kerridhwen, who made this possible."
Hollis nods, but Quiverin is somewhat distracted.

"Elluva - The Keystone is sealed. Kitara thinks its over."
"Only time will tell Battlemaster. This isn't over until we possess that Keystone."
"Shall I take it now?"
"No. Leave it with Kitara for the time being. Let us wait until this all dies down. Then, when he Keystone has left everyone's thoughts, we shall take it, fly it up into high orbit and cast it off into space."
"Will the astral seals survive in the void?" Quiverin asks.
"They will if we put the Keystone in a Sigma shielded containment sphere. Once it is out of our atmosphere, it's someone else problem."
"Why not just destroy it. Destroying it might work."
"And it might not. This whole astral, religion, belief system foolishness is too illogical. We must act on what we understand and can measure. That is my decision. Clear up there and come home. We have other more pressing matters to attend to. These events have not gone unnoticed in the North."
Quiverin's face darkens at the prospect.

The strange immortal creature regards the black clad girl with cold, logical, purpose driven eyes. Something deep within it though compels it to speak, even though it hasn't been asked a direct question. "Our purpose is... Wan."
"You said it. And after I wipe Emonra off the face the map, I'm done. I'm done with it all. Gray made it all worthwhile. He was the best friend a person could ever have. And he will never be forgotten." She glances at the Doman's enormous scroll collection ; the sum of all of his experiences since that fateful day the Living Dark escaped. "But before anyone can learn about him, some poor sod's got to make sense of all that though." Alyx laughs and cries at the same time, hugging the Jixiliah's leg. And the Jixiliah, unsure what to do in these situations, rests one of it's enormous stone hands on top of her head in response.

Ashar turns his head, as if hearing something a long way off. He strains his abilities to sense it and cannot help but smile. "Waste not want not," he mutters to himself cryptically, before turning towards a nearby font of placid water and gazing through it at the World. "And now all eyes turn to you Moorum, precursor of the Blood Dawn."

"The World is wounded young Gray and we are all wounded along with it.
No single soul is broken but all souls, everywhere.
It must all be healed and one day soon, it will be."
ISCHANDI THE WISE to HIGH DOMAN GRAY OF WAN.

The Next Chapter - 15 years later...
T-Minus 13hrs 59 minutes.
Deep in Darksea, after navigating through hundreds of twisting maze like tunnels, lies a room. A simple rough cut chamber of indeterminable age. And in that room there are two smooth black metal obelisks of unknown origin and quite alien appearance, marked on one side by strange symbols. Between these two obelisks hangs a curtain of energy - energy only visible to the gifted few or those that are familiar with such skin crawling sensations.

A vibration begins from somewhere deep beneath the obelisks and slowly rises to fill the chamber. Small stones skitter across the floor and a sub bass hum gains intensity and volume to the point that the very air begins to distort in response. The obelisks start to glow and the curtain between them starts to bend and warp as if buffeted by a high but deathly silent wind.

Then suddenly, without noise or light, a being simply appears between the obelisks and staggers forwards.
The being is over 10 feet tall... it has multiple arms, a 4 sided black and white stone face carved with sharp angles and detailed facets.
It stands there for an instant and then doubles over, making an inhuman sound from deep within its chest.
Images flood its mind - images of a childhood. Of a black haired girl. Of a Good and Holy Queen and a an Evil Unholy King. The images come so fast that they become jumbled and burn into the being's mind in random order. The being makes no sense of them and to make matters worse, it senses more to come. Suddenly the being's mind is split between two identities. The being is Gray, High Doman of Wan. The being is also Wan, Guardian of the Arda and Jixiliah of Orthank.

A mental schism occurs that throws the being's purpose of existence and identity into turmoil. As this happens, the being's outline blurs and it slowly transforms.

A minute later, a bald headed, clean shaven young man in his mid 20's stands naked before the obelisks, staring in confusion at his hands.
"Are these my hands? Shouldn't they be smaller? Shouldn't they be made of stronger material, rather than this soft, pink skin over fragile bone?" A hundred questions and doubts flash through the being's mind until after a few more moments, everything slows down and it finds a centre of balance - a place of calm in the mental storm. There the beings realizes something - The only thing that it can be sure about. It establishes it's identity. It isn't an "It." It is a "He" and he knows his name.

"I am WAN" he says aloud.

And a new chapter begins.

His gaze is drawn to two changes that do not sit in with his memories of this place. The first is a gold casket, 7 feet long and very ornate crafted. The top of the casket shows a bald boy in bas relief while around the outside of it are 22 slots containing identical golden scroll cases. As Wan moves closer he notices only 20 out of the 22 scrolls remain.

Inscription on the Doman's casket - "High Doman Gray of Wan. Gave his life protecting and serving the Country of Daas. Preserving the sanctity of the human soul. Fighting the Darkness that sought to consume the World. May the light of his Soul Fire burn forever in the Hearts and Minds of the Daasin people. 2590 - 2602."

Wan takes hold of the casket's solid gold lid and slides it effortlessly to one side. The casket is eerily empty, but for a single woven locket of black hair.

Next Wan turns his attention to a freshly dug and braced corridor. In an instant he is at the corridor's end, standing before a thick stone door. On this side he sees a large stone wheel with square holes cut into it's rim (for blocks of wood to be inserted for leverage to help turn it). However, Wan has no wood; he grabs the wheel and spins it through his palms. Counterweights move and bolts slide back allowing the tremendous door to open outwards.

Wan steps out into the light, only to see water stretching before him.

The Holy Hill of Wan and its surrounding fields have undergone quite a spectacular change over the last 15 years.
The Hill itself is no longer occupied but is tended to by Priests of Wan every week.
Where once simple buildings housing Wan's followers stood beside low stone walls, now only overgrown foundations remain.
The hill is in colourful bloom surrounded by flooded fields as far as the eye can see (a pleasant side effect of Hethcanter's Elemental attack in 2602.)

Atop the hill is a large 100 foot high stone dome supported by 22 open to the air arches. This is the Memorial of Wan.

Wan strides to the top of the hill and surveys the tranquil landscape. He notices the original stone that led down into Darksea has now been sealed within a larger frame, rendering it immovable by normal means.

In the distance, to the northwest, Wan makes out the sun glinting off of the walls of Gost Yaroch. He decides that is where he should be.

Wan reaches, grabs and dons a simple grey smock hanging over a sellers chests. The man hears the buzzing of a nearby fly but by the time he turns to look, Wan is already inside the city and on his way to the palace gates.

The city seems strange, yet familiar. Memories of the city rise from the depths of his consciousness but quickly and elusively evaporate before he can grasp them.

A large crowd of angry people are gathered outside the Palace gates. Facing them are 9 white masked men of identical heights and builds. Wan moves through the crowd, listening to what people are saying...

"Who do they think they are?"
"What do they want?"
"Where are the Palace guards?"
"Let's rush 'em."

"This City and its surrounding lands are hereby under the jurisdiction of the Death Watch. Go on about your daily lives. We are here for your protection," orders one of the white masked men.

"Protection from what!" someone yells back. One brave man does indeed rush the leader of the identical masked men.
The leader of the Masks fluidly side steps and with a quick flick of his hand, sends the man somersaulting through the air to land unconscious several feet away. A tremor of shock passes through the crowd and a few edge backwards - especially as the masked man never actually touched his attacker.

But these events do not concern Wan. He steps through the seemingly frozen crowd and stands before the Palace gates, contemplating how to bypass them. As he "appears" there, the Death Watch to either side of the gate immediately respond. From their point of view, someone has just materialized next to them.

"Omega - We have a problem... Moving to engage... Prepare reinforcements..." says the Death Watch leader.

Wan watches with curiosity as 8 of the masked men take to the air and converge on him. Weapons seems to materialize out of thin air in their hands, surrounded for a moment by the glow of their auras. Incoming punches and kicks, precisely aimed with devastating power behind them, blur in from every direction... and then begin to slow. Wan watches each man hanging frozen in the air and begins stepping between them. He punches one in the chest, another in the stomach, kicks one up into the jaw and delivers another punch to those remaining. Finishing next to the leader of the Masks, Wan grabs the man by the throat and lifts him up off the ground, while behind him, the Masked men suddenly begin flying in different directions from Wan's hasted attacks. The Death Watch hit walls, slam into the ground and fly up into the air. Moments after being struck, each one disappears in a flash of light either unconscious or dead.

Wan removes the leaders smooth white mask. He recognizes the face underneath but realizes the truth of what he is seeing. "You are not Ashar..."

As the Death Watch begins drawing in his spirit to strike Wan, Wan hits him and watches him vanish in a flash of energy.

The crowd applaud... "Where is the Holy Mother - Kitara... Is she still alive?" Wan asks them.
A man speaks up. "The Holy Mother? She's dead."
Wan feels a wave of sadness come over him. But he knows he has to continue into the Palace. What these people say and know may not be the truth.

"Long live Daas...." he says aloud, but doesn't know why. He then pushes at the Palace gates, breaking their locks and chains before proceeding through the grounds to the main building. Once again Wan speeds passed the Death Watch inside the palace. They hear and sense a noise from the astral realm but before they can track it or even shift vision to see it, it is gone.

However, not all the Death Watch are as slow to perceive things around them. There are other weapons and devices in Ashar's spiritual arsenal.

Wan stops when he reaches the Palace's throne room. It brings back flashes of memory, especially the astral wards placed in each corner. Who put those there and why? At the end of the room, on full display, is a very familiar looking quite simple stone chair. To Wan, this holds far more significance, as he feels sure it is connected with the hill above Darksea.

A Priest, dressed in grey robes and with a shaven head approaches him. In his mid 40's, this man introduces himself as Demarn, a Doman of Wan.
"Do you have a name..." Demarn asks.
"I am Wan..."
Demarn assumes that from the stranger's peasant attire and evident lack of intelligence that somehow in the panic sweeping through the city and recent terrible events at the Temples, an imbecile has slipped through security.

"Where is Prince Aslan ?" Wan asks, relentlessly.
Demarn is about to try and placate the stranger and guide him towards some guards when to his relief he sees one appear at the entrance to the hall. At least, for a moment it looks like a guard. Demarn's demeanour changes to one of fear when he sees the man's white mask.

Wan doesn't wait to exchange words but blurs over and punches the spiritualist into the wall where he vaporizes in a flash of ethereal energy.
Demarn is shocked, unable to move and unable to believe his eyes. Stuttering he attempts to communicate with Wan, but fails.

Wan heads over to the stone chair. He now remembers it for what it is; The Throne of the Gods.
After a slight pause to examine it, he turns and lowers himself into its well worn seat. But nothing happens. "This should have transported me to Elondil," Wan contemplates silently.

Another black sphere appears in the hall, humming with energy. The voice of Ashar crackles out of it.
"Cease your aggression... let us communicate."

"This is the Voice of High Guard One - Identify yourself by order of the Deathwatch."

"Sharendayne. Taramon. They were Deathwatch...." Wan replies, talking to himself and trying to make sense of exactly what is going on.
He leaps up towards it, but as his feet leave the ground, he suddenly feels slow and vulnerable, as if his connection to the ground, to the very earth, is what gives him his speed and physical strength.

Wan decides he has had enough. There is no Aslan. There is no Kitara. He needs guidance, feels lost and seems to be attracting too many buzzing flies.

There are 22 steps leading up to the Vault, like the 22 levels of the Arda towards ultimate enlightenment; the opening before him is like a big gaping black mouth.

As his he takes his first step upwards, his surroundings melt away and he finds himself standing somewhere else.
A clear blue sky overhead with green grass underfoot. He feels different and a quick inspection proves it. He is in a different body.

Glancing around, Wan recognizes the holy hill and its surrounding land, but some details are different. Instead of a shrine at the top or the 3 temples he remembers as the High Doman, he sees one single structure with 7 towers and a main building 150'x300'. Instead of the simple low walls and scattered buildings from Gray's memories, he sees a few dozen more. More surprising than this though is the men dressed in black, gardening or building around the hill and out in the fields. Wan sees many of them performing menial tasks but a few just seem to be sat down, meditating.

"Where am I? When am I?" Something tells Wan that he is in the past. "Am I really here or is this a vision? A memory? And if it is a memory, who am I?"

A priest in his early 40's with a short grey beard, smiles as Wan stands there looking lost. He puts down his hoe. "Good morning... I was hoping for some rain. The lettuce could do with some," the man says.

Wan doesn't know what to say back. Luckily, someone else intercedes. He hears a light and sing song voice calling down towards them and looks up to see a young girl of around thirteen years running down the hill's stone paths. She has long braided black hair and is wearing a short, simple white dress.
This is Lupa - One of the 7 daughters of Altur and Aiah. "Altur... Altur..." she calls. Wan looks around, seeing if he can recognize someone as Altur, but no one looks familiar.

"Good morning Alizar." Lupa greets the man besides Wan with a sweet and vibrant smile. Then turning to Wan, "Come father, you will be late. Your time keeping is atrocious. You really should control yourself more on these long walks," the girl chides him.
"It is a very odd morning...." says Wan / Altur in response.

Wan accompanies the sprightly girl to the top of the hill and into its Temple. He sees a large chamber to the left filled with black robes and another identical chamber to the right containing three chatting women, dressed in white.

Lupa continues talking to him, without expecting a response. "You wouldn't want to be late would you? Mother is not always around so it is down to us to keep you out of trouble." She smiles and leads him into the main part of the building. He barely has time to admire its architecture or the Throne of the Gods (that hasn't changed at all) before she begins leading him down steep stone steps into the cavern beneath.

At the bottom of the steps, an old black robed man with virtually no hair waits impatiently with a torch in his hand and writing tools in the other. "Ah, good. You found him. Good morning Altur. How is your wife today? I hope she is feeling better."

"If you were to ask any man, in any world, how is your wife, he would have no idea...." replies Wan. "Who are you?"
The priest raises an eyebrow, but believe it or not, it's not that uncommon for Altur to ask such things. "I am Sanyel, Altur. Let us go."
"I'll have food waiting for you when you return," says Lupa.

Sanyel begins leading Altur through the corridors and tunnels of Darksea. Wan recognizes many of them but some seem different.
"Work down here continues at a good pace," Sanyel mutters. "We continue to unearth chambers both buried and hidden by the Suraanese Cabal. I seriously doubt we will unlock all of this place's mysteries before I am dead. Perhaps in my reincarnation.... perhaps," Sanyel muses.

Wan pays particular attention to the chamber directly beneath the Temple; during Gray's time this chamber had more entrances. It had three tombs but here and now it has none. Instead, it has seven statues carved in bas relief from the walls and ceilings; each of the statues leans inwards and looks down upon the centre of the cavern. But when Wan looks to see what is there, he sees nothing. *Note - Directly above the centre of the cavern though is the Throne of the Gods.*

Sanyel leads him on a now familiar route. The two men eventually emerge in the exact same chamber that Wan first appeared. To his surprise though, instead of just seeing the twin black obelisks and a veil of darkness between them, he sees them without the veil and standing directly in front, he sees a very inhuman looking being.

Wan (as Altur) gazes directly upon the Jixiliah Wan and feels a slight shiver up his spine.

"Wan - We are here at the appointed time.." says Sanyel, bowing deeply and reverently before his God. "What wisdom can you offer us today?" Sanyel prepares to write it all down.

Wan - "Do you know me...?"
"You are Altur, but you are also others...." the Jixiliah replies.
Wan nods in understanding.

"Do you know what will happen?" Wan asks the Jixiliah.
"You are Wan," the Jixiliah replies as all Jixiliah do - cryptically.

"Here, now, I am Wan."
"What wisdom of the Ages do you have for us today..." Sanyel asks the Jixiliah again, a little put off by Altur's forthright questions.

The Jixiliah's 6 hands come together in 3 fold prayer... "The journey of the soul is Eternal. We each lead multiple lives. For One, these lives are the Arda. For only One can achieve the Arda. Once achieved, this soul is become the Soul of Life."

"Am I connecting to souls through time?" asks Wan. "I have many thoughts and many memories. I am One and I am many. Why did you link your soul to mine... My eternal soul?"

He suddenly feels something small and warm in his hand. When he looks down, he sees the hand of a small pale dark haired girl around 10 years of age. She smiles up at him and helps lead him into the ring of the stones.

Miri and Lupa, two of Altur and Aiah's seven daughters walk alongside their father. In the sky above him, Wan witnesses the great moon Eldahar about to participate in an extremely rare conjunction. Those who possess the secrets of the Heavens, know that Eldahar has 3 moons. Only one is normally visible. The others both orbit differently. The second moon is small and passes in front of the first once every 7 years. It is normally invisible to the naked eye because of its gaseous nature. When it passes in front, it reacts to the first moon's proximity and flares. It is also outlined by the larger moon behind it. The third moon is much larger than the first but also more distant. It is a black moon with peculiar properties that also render it undetectable to the naked eye. Only during such conjunctions can it be seen, eclipsing the first moon from behind.

Wan sees a beautiful raven haired woman approach him and take him gently by the arm. It is Aiah, Altur's (his), wife. "Husband," she smiles. "Tonight we will touch the stars..." Wan / Altur cannot help but see the physical similarity between this alluring creature beside him and Alyx, the High Doman's vengeful companion. A firm believer in reincarnation, the migration of souls through Time and Astral cycles, Wan realizes that Alyx may very well be the reincarnation of Altur's soul mate, Aiah. And if he is in some way the reincarnation of Altur, it opens up a lot possibilities that Wan doesn't currently feel emotionally qualified to handle.

Aiah addresses the assembled priests and priestesses. "Welcome, brothers, sister, husband.... To this most special of eves. Let us gather, let us unite. And for this time and this time alone, let us soar and touch the heavens. Let our souls be freed of our earthly confines and our hearts and minds soar upon the winds. Time, Space, Void - all these things stand before us, but nothing stands behind."

As everyone in the circle holds hands and the three moons overlap, Aiah begins to rise from her body and Wan feels the spirit of Altur rising along with her. Together they pull the spirits of everyone in the circle with them, gently lifting them into the air and onto the Astral realm.

They begin to soar upwards, leaving the mortal coil and their bodies behind, drawn by the rare overlapping waves of energy that exist many miles above them. Soon the whole group is surrounded by crackling energy and bright swirling colours. Each and every person begins to feel waves of power coursing through them accompanied by visions of the past, present and future. For those gathered there, at that moment, it is a deeply religious and spiritual awakening - a moment of true enlightenment and a rite of passage for the soul.

Aiah swirls radiantly around Altur's aura and embraces him, for at that moment in time, the two of them are at one with the World and each other.

Then Wan snaps forward through Time back to reality, back to his silent broken empty vault in Darksea.

"Well that never happened before...." he says aloud.

Wan notes a halo of blackness around this Ashar and the lack of a white mask. It is a tangible, sickly sweet power that permeates the vault chamber like thick astral treacle.

"Why did you not keep your word?" asks Wan. "You have been touched by evil."
"Here you go with these opinions..." Ashar comments. "Like so many, you're quick to judge and see the worst in people. I advise you to not interfere with my servants. They have an important role to fulfil and my patience may wear thin if they continue to be assaulted."

"What happened here? Where is the Jixiliah?" Wan asks, gesturing at the smashed vault behind him.

Ashar decides to answer. What purpose would it serve not to say? "I killed it. It was necessary to remove such things from the World. Now, who are you? I have a lot of things going on at the moment and cannot afford to have an unaffiliated loose cannon causing me trouble. Are you a fallen Immortal of Elondil? No, evidently not. Is it so hard to give me a name? I am being polite. I'm asking nicely. Do not mistake my courtesy for weakness."

Wan - "You know who I am."
Ashar - "I assure you, I don't. I do not recognize you and frankly am losing interest by the second." Ashar appears distracted. Unbeknownst to Wan, Ashar is performing several things at the same time in different locations around Eldahar. Only a small part of him is here in Darksea and this part is still recovering from his defence against Midian and the other Underworld Pantheon Overlord's across Eldahar.

Wan sees him make a gesture and anticipates an attack. With blinding speed, Wan attempts to grab this Ashar in a hold but the moment he makes contact with Ashar's inner aura, he is overcome with nausea and a sickening taint. Forced to let go, Wan retreats back to his vault.

"Who do you think you are?" Ashar asks, surprised that anyone would be foolish enough to try and touch him. But just as quickly as he asks the question, Ashar senses that he needs to go. "It's no matter. I don't care who you are. Do not attack my Deathwatch though." On that note, Ashar sinks into darkness and out of existence, deciding to try another tact.

Wan allows the waves of sickness to pass from his spirit. After a few seconds he feels replenished and pure again. He turns his attention back to the Vault and what might lie inside... But as he once again walks up the steps, he finds himself swept up into yet another interactive vision of the past.

See Timeline entry.

He is Altur again, walking through Darksea with Sanyel and Alizar. All three of them arrive at the Dark portal chamber and stand shocked, for the Jixiliah Wan isn't there and the Obelisks appear activated with a thin veil of darkness hovering between them.

"His body has been sucked into the Pillars... He has gone," says Altur, breaking the stunned silence.
Sanyel drops to his knees in prayer. "Wan, have you forsaken us? Have we done something wrong? What can we do to help? Should we follow you or await your return?"
Alizar joins the older man on the floor. "We are alone, without guidance."

Suddenly Wan is back outside his Vault again. He takes another step and... flash, he is Altur standing in the chamber beneath the Holy Hill. The seven statues have crumbled and a hole has opened up in the centre of the floor. He experiences grief and a deep sadness as he finds himself standing over 3 shrivelled bodies on the floor.... It is Alizar, Sanyel and Ebus, three of the priests of Wan.
They appear drained, as if sucked dry by some terrible evil... Wan has seen victims like this before... victims of the Living Dark.
Sure enough, noises rise up from the hole in the floor and a terrible cold permeates the air, causing Altur's breath to freeze. He hears the cries of his three priests, in spiritual torment, screaming out from the black hole for forgiveness and aid...
"The darkness... the cold... forgive us... Wan, save us...We only wanted to find you, to help you return... so cold... so.... dark...."

In attempting to bring back their God, the three priests performed a forbidden ritual that left them helpless and open to malign infection. Wan sees the remains of the book they used on the floor and things begin to make sense. He suddenly knows that Altur forbade anyone from entering pillars of darkness after Wan until first, all other possibilities had been explored. But Alizar, Sanyel and Ebus could not wait. The evil in Darksea had seeded dark thoughts in their minds. And now that evil had claimed its sacrifices, for these three misled priests of Wan had become the three Kings of the Living Dark.

Aiah enters from nearby and for a moment stands in shock at what she can see and hear. "What evil is this? The damage above... There have been deaths."
Altur replies "It is called the Living Dark."
Aiah joins her husband and gazes into the gaping hole. She too hears the moans of the priests' tormented souls. "This is terrible. It is growing in power and unlike anything I've ever seen. We should call upon Soloman. He will know what to do."
Altur suddenly sees an image in his mind, of a Keystone with seven complex symbols carved into it. "We must make a prison for it. I know how."
Aiah stares at him and nods. "Solomon's creations have no equal. Summon him I shall." 

Flash... and Wan / Altur is ahead in Time again. He stands in the same spot, staring at the hole, listening to the whispering voices inside. This time a priest of Wan stands nearby. "See, it is still growing Altur. What can we do? The whispers reach into our very dreams and still there is no sign of the Wizard. How long must we wait? The others have voted in your absence. They still believe that the best course of action is to enter the portal, seeking Wan. But they want your support."

Wan leaps through Time for the last time. He finds himself floating disembodied in the same chamber. The bodies of the priests have now vanished and been replaced with three familiar mounds of earth.

The same priest as before enters the chamber holding a torch and places it in a wall cresset. Why is Wan now floating without a body? Wan assumes it is because he is now remembering a time when Altur wasn't around. Perhaps his perception of these events is from the Jixiliah soul, cut off and left to float around Darksea; the same half of Eternal soul that bonds with High Doman Gray at his moment of death.

Wan sees Soloman the Wizard enter the chamber from a side door. Resplendent in his white robes and gripping an incandescent white staff, Soloman apologizes for being late - several months late.
The priest, called Thalamar, though slightly older now, appears nervous and vexed by the Wizard's delayed return. "Do you have it? The whispers have driven people from the hill. So many have died already because of this evil. We have lost our greatest lights to its darkness."

Soloman confidently before the darkness and raises a hand for Thalamar to be silent. "By the might of Wizardry and the might of Prayer.... we shall consign this evil to an Eternity of imprisonment. Yes, I have it." Soloman bangs his staff upon the floor three times and conjures from thin air a spinning cube of stone engraved with seven complex sigils. Wan recognizes it as the Keystone of Wan. The whispers begin rises in volume until three distinct and malevolent alien voices can be heard spitting hatred at the Wizard. "I am Soloman. With this stone, I shall imprison you forever!"

*Note - Soloman was always a bit too confident in his abilities. By forever, he actually had a number of years in mind, but secretly hoped that his magic and skill would transcend such limitations. Of course, he wasn't about to tell Thalamar that the Keystone would probably fail after the first Astral cycle of 800 years. Or that he refused to waste time anticipating the effect negative spirit would have on the keystone. If something went wrong, he would just come back and fix it again. As he did with all of his mistakes.*

Wan snaps back to the future again and finds himself, finally, at top of the vault steps.
Inside the vault is empty. Wan feels sadness. "Why did this Ashar do this? Why would he need to destroy a Jixiliah?"

Wan realizes he needs Alyx and attempts to summon her to him. But after a few minutes, she still hasn't come.

"Very busy.." thinks Wan, commenting to himself about the amount of spiritual traffic passing by his Vault these days.

"I am the Spirit Equinox. I was travelling in the vicinity, of a few 1000 miles, when I heard a powerful summons being sent from this place."
"I too am a Spirit, of the House of Equinox. I am the Keeper of the Spirit Road."
"And you are...?" Equinox asks.
"I don't really know. I am working on it."
"The end of the World is nigh...!" exclaims Equinox.
"That is a distinct possibility... someone has opened the Primary Gate of Mount Eldahar..." says Wan.
"There is no Mnt Eldahar, Law and Chaos were wiped from the face of the World..." Equinox reveals.

"Brother Spirit, I am flesh, I am spirit, I exist..." says Wan, still cryptic and unwilling to give his name.

"I have memories of defending the Spirits on the edge of the Dark lake... In that respect, you do not worry me."
"The Spirits of Akilla are no more..." Equinox declares triumphantly, as if that news will bring shock and awe.

A 360 degree spiritual light appears above Wan's head. As it begins turning, like a lock mechanism, Wan decides to move out of its path. He makes it clear a fraction of a second later, just as the light locks down into a powerful spiritual holding cell.

"He's attacked me..." Wan thinks to himself, moving across the dividing space between him and the newcomer. Wan grabs Equinox into an unbreakable neck hold. Equinox tries to evaporate but doesn't go anywhere. "Who are you...?" Equinox squirms and shouts.
But Wan doesn't tell him. Instead, Wan starts interrogating him. Equinox doesn't reveal much. "You cannot just summon spirits and expect to be granted respect and an audience without even announcing your name or purpose. Do you not understand?" Equinox stresses. "I bow to no one I do not recognize or now of."

Wan has had enough. He turns and leaves, speeding through Darksea to the surface. Wan has remembered the golden scroll cases; perhaps they actually contain scrolls and are not mere ornaments upon his tomb.

As Wan vanishes from sight, Equinox stands up straight and dusts his robe down. "So Doman, my old friend, the World plays you as a Bishop against me. The depths that this World will go to preserve its existence is astounding. How on earth it brought you back up I can only guess. You're one annoyance I was definitely not expecting." Equinox clicks his fingers and vanishes in a warp of darkness.
T-Minus 13hrs 24 minutes.
He opens one and takes a delicately rolled sheet of vellum out. "This is the 14th Scroll of the High Doman of Wan..." it reads and Wan breathes a slight sigh of relief. Something about these scrolls seems familiar and he settles down, reading through them all at an incredible speed.

But they are edited, embellished and not the same as he remembers. They fill some holes but leave others wide open. One thing Wan does learn from the scrolls is that he needs help - someone who he can trust and help him make sense of the World... Someone like Alyx of Akilla.

"Oh, I'm really pissed off now..." she says, berating the Merlendy Resistance for several minutes.

"I hope when you get your memory back you don't become some asshole..." she adds.

"Do you think we were destined to be together?"

"At least I'll have a fiend, someone who doesn't judge me and accepts me for what I am..."

Alyx "high five's" the Doman, demonstrating to Wan, through this simple gesture, the seal of their friendship.

Wan stands before a black wooden door with a skull knocker, at the bottom of a fifty foot long earthen tunnel. At the base of the door, Wan sees a door mat saying "Unwelcome".

"Who is it?" a young woman asks from the otherside of the door.
"Someone looking for somebody," Wan replies, unsure how to proceed in such circumstances. After all, how often do you turn up, having come back from the supposed dead as the very being you once worshipped as your God.
Wan hears the woman on the otherside donning armour and unsheathing weapons. The sounds are promising, as the Alyx he remembers would definitely react like that.

The door then opens, revealing a slender but well endowed (she always was) woman in her early twenties, with jet black hair tied back and braided. She is wearing a black suit of chainmail armour of very fine design and links (Dark Fey) and grasping with white knuckles, a slender long sword.
As soon as the young woman sees Wan, she gasps and staggers backwards, her hands shaking.
"Alyx?" says Wan.
But Alyx barely hears him. Instead, she just stares at the apparition before her and panics, sending out a spiritual summons for aid.
"I need your help!" Alyx says aloud, but not to Wan, her heart thumping like a drum in her chest. Can this really be who it appears to be? Can it be Gray? The person standing before her seems real enough, but Alyx can't help pinching her side just in case.
"High five?"

Furry slippers with "Laylak" and "Ross," written on them.

"He's a slippery fish monger..." - Wan's description of Ashar.

Another object in Alyx's strange collection is the severed head / bust of a bald headed Gray, High Doman of Wan - swiped one night from a Daasin Temple so that Alyx could have it in her house. Unfortunately when Wan sees it, Alyx has been using it as a modelling dummy for her ivory hair clips.

*Note - The Dark Spirits of Akilla & Cairis used to number 336. Half were left up North, half down South. Ischandi didn't want to keep all of his "eggs" in one basket as this would increase the risk of rebellion and in-fighting. Out of the 168 Spirits of Akilla in 2602 there are now only 81 houses remaining. Alyx has been frantically trying to reestablish Houses by using Woethorn and the aid of Cantoninus but it takes time. People with the right qualifications don't grow on trees.*

"You can call me Wan..." says Wan, finally admitting to someone who he thinks he is.

"Do you mean Alyx harm...?" Cantoninus asks.
"No. I travelled 1000's of miles to find her. She is my friend. We fought a great war..."
"I have come from the pillars... someone has opened the gate. Ashar has not fulfilled his end of the bargain..." Wan continues.
"I need to prove to Alyx and myself that you are who you say you are. I can do this with my aura but you must allow it to pass through you. Will you allow this?" Cantoninus regards Wan quite seriously and stands protectively by Alyx's side. Alyx is still trembling from shock.

"I will do this, purely for my friendship of you..." Wan says to Alyx.

Cantoninus proceeds and analyses Wan's aura. Wan notices that the Spirit Lord's aura contains thousands of living spiritual organisms that briefly latch onto his own aura and spirit and come away altered by it. To Wan's recollection, he has never seen a being with spirit quite like this. After a minute, the Spirit Lord withdraws and the verdict is in. "He is one of us, He is ANU. He is one of the Great House, a branch of it I have never encountered before and cannot fathom. He can be trusted." But before Cantoninus finishes speaking, Alyx rushes forward and hugs her friend, a few tears running down her face; Tears she hasn't shed for anyone or anything in 15 years.

"You can call me Gray, or you can call me Wan. I am Wan, but Gray's thoughts and memories are mine as well... I have very sketchy memories of what finally happened with Gray, but he must have known that he had to stay... He would have stayed. But it may not be the last time that he you see him. I feel that we may be reunited again. Things are not right."

Wan thinks there may be a major problem somewhere. "Everybody seems to be having illusions of grandeur... Ashar must have managed to manipulate himself to rule over hell... I need to know what has happened over the last 15 years... Why would Ashar be destroying spirits linked to the Eternal flame?"

Wan - "Nice to meet you Cantoninus, I am WAN."
Cantoninus - "A pleasure."
Wan - "I feel I should be here, and that I should have met you. However, I am newborn, and I do not know what problems we face, or what future lies ahead. But I swear by the power of my Faith, I will protect the Arda and the Cycle of Life."

Wan - "At times this strange hand in front of me seems alien, at other times, natural. We are one, but we are also WAN."

"Has another being appeared, like Orthank or Soloman..?"
Cantoninus and Alyx have no answer to this. When Wan asks about Emonra, Alyx looks at the ground and begins mumbling. When Gray disappeared into the Keystone she was left alone. Having promised him that she would remove any obstacles in Daas to Etanya and Aslan's rule, this mainly being Emonra, Alyx began a six month campaign of terror against the God of Light and all of its allies.
"I did some really bad things back then. I'm not proud of what I did but I've accepted that it is me... the Spirit of Vengeance. Those priests and followers of Emonra who survived created a special temple to me. In it is a book called The Book of the Black Sun. I hear they describe the things I did pretty well." Again Alyx looks everywhere but directly at Wan, because she thinks he might judge her. There is no guarantee in her mind that this Wan will be as "grey" as Gray was and overlook such blatantly evil acts.

Cantoninus and Alyx have been busy recreating the Spiritual Houses lost in Esium. The Spirits of Akilla have merged with the Spirits of Cairis after the war against Orin in the South decimated them. Alyx and Cantoninus have a good relationship, but not an intimate one. Alyx speaks of why she and the remaining Spirits of Akilla moved North.
"The main reason we moved was Ashar. After North entered the Eternal Vault and sent Chaos and Law away, he gained possession of the Oras Remus (dark half of the World's heart). One of the first things he did was approach us spirits and declare himself Overlord of the Dark lake. At first we just ignored him but he soon started throwing his weight around. He offered us the chance to travel anywhere in the World. We would all become his "Agents of Darkness" and would play a vital role in the new world he planned on creating. Of course, if we didn't agree to work for him, we'd be in deep shit." Alyx pulls a face. "So, I did what anyone in that situation would do, I used the secret spirit road between Esium and Doom to pay a visit to Ischandi. Once Ischandi knew what Ashar was planning he advised I bring everyone back with me and settle under his protection. After all, we all used to exist up here and he figured it was about time we rejoined." Cantoninus briefly (with Ischandi's help) headed South with Alyx and between them they managed to move all the remaining Spirits of Akilla into Doom.
"But by rejoining," says Cantoninus sombrely, "I sensed from the Father Eternal that this heralded the beginning of something... a chain of events or a prophecy that he knew would come and had to accept."

"It's time to play with the big boys again..." exclaims Alyx excitedly. "Wan is our ticket back into the fight again..." Cantoninus and Alyx both admit to being left out and feeling a little powerless to stop events going on around them. They have been fending off attempts by Arun's Death Watch to secure Doom but that's about it because of their limitations of travel. i.e. They cannot easily pass into the Southern lands or enter the Lands of the Midnight Sun where Arun holds most power.

Cantoninus advises Wan to seek out one of the Crown wielders as they will know what is happening. His first choice is Orin as Orin is an ANU and the Spirit of War. 

Wan decides it is time to go. He offers to take both of them with him. Of course Alyx leaps at the chance and quickly grabs her things.
Cantoninus has to decline. "When I move, I have to uproot certain things. I will move when you need me to, but it should only be when the need is truly great."
"This is Payback...! Vengeance is nigh...." Alyx punches the air and grips Wan's arm.

"This could be a real damp squid..." says Wan, commenting on his lack of confidence and memories about astral travel.

"What about your magic items?" Wan asks her.
"It's different up here in the Northlands. Ischandi controls and limits the magic people can possess. When you do get a nice artefact, which are few and far between I must add, the Wise tend to sniff them out and take them. In the end I said bollocks to it... it's easier to just not have any. I'd like to see anyone try and take my sword," she grins.
Rombhard's ring is still around her neck, snug and safe, but Wan learns that the other objects in the vault were stolen, including the Book of the Arda and White Ring.

Cantoninus offers a parting message for Orin. "If you find Orin, tell him, he is one of many. There is no strength as a single entity... but together, we are immortal."

"Well obviously allow yourself to come with me..." Wan offers as advice.
"Dur..." Alyx pulls yet another face. She might not have travelled astrally many times but she does understand the principles of magic resistance.

Wan launches skyward. As his feet leave the earth he easily transforms into a pure astral entity. Alyx is lifted with him and also transforms, her body and spirit becoming one bright swirl of energy by his side.

"You know how to show someone a good time... This is an instant lay..." Alyx gasps, sending waves of excitement towards her astral tour guide.

But the excitement quickly turns into shock, awe and an overload of sensory information as Wan flies her into the upper astrasphere, right into the heart of turbulent and explosive astral storms, reflecting the turmoil of the World below them.

Alyx starts to get sick and disoriented. Visions pass right through both of them... visions of each of the Crown wielders, visions of Ashar and visions of war. Wan sees at least five hundred white masked Ashar's marching towards a foreign palace while a proud and defiant queen stands behind her troops waiting for them to arrive.

"It's madness..." says Wan.

Both of them then feel unease. They don't see what is causing it but both instantly recognize the source.
"Living Dark ! You're kidding me..." Alyx shouts. "Well, it figures I suppose. You're here and the World is going..." her thoughts trail away.

But Alyx cannot stay in one mood for long - the powerful forces of the astral plane bombard her and despite being protected by Wan's proximity, the experience for her is a roller coaster of emotion.
Wan - "Let us try and find Orin..."
"I'm in your hands..." she says to Wan.

At first Wan doesn't locate Orin because Orin doesn't really want to be found. But he catches a hint, an image and a flow of astral energy to follow. After crossing the Frostspine mountains to the North of Doom and entering the land of the Midnight Sun he finds another astral clue and follows that too. After several such leaps he and Alyx descend into a forest in Northern Icereach.

"That was Ace...." says Alyx, her body reforming as they touch the ground.

Wan and Alyx come across Orin waiting for them in a clearing, his sword sheathed but his countenance deadly.
"I'm Vengeance... This is Wan..." Alyx begins, causing Wan to wince. Alyx just gave away who he was in the space of a few seconds.

"I'm not interested..." says Orin flatly. Wan senses the man's aura building in strength and beginning to exert pressure on everything around them.

Despite Wan and Alyx trying to convince him over the next few minutes, Orin stubbornly and coldly refuses to help. He begins telling them to go away.

"These are Cantoninus's words," says Wan. "Whether you want to listen to them is down to you..."

The pressure from Orin's building aura begins pushing trees over in a radius around him. As Wan continues to try and get through, the aura begins causing storm clouds to swirl and collect overhead.

Orin lets slip that Red used to be (or perhaps still is) one of Ashar's witches. "She has been through so much. She isn't the person she was before. She's pure. She used to be a great warrior but now she is something greater."

"One moment she was there, the next day she was gone. Maybe HE has her. I don't know. I can't find her. But she said to trust no one. And I don't. I trust her and Daycaster. That's it."

"If I can find you, who has a Crown of Power, if she exists, I can find her," Wan offers.

"This conversation is at an end..." Orin declares, turning and striding away at great speed.

"Pity, I thought he wanted to see Red again..."

Wan wants to go and talk to Orin first but Alyx advises against it. But despite Alyx's advice, Wan goes anyway. He moves across the ground at great speed, getting ahead of Orin.

Wan tries a more direct approach. He hopes that by touching Orin, the Crown wielder will recognize him (in some part) as Daycaster.

"She is undetectable, because she is like Ashar... we must find her, otherwise Ashar will win," says Wan.

As Orin continues to throw a wobbly, Wan begins losing patience, even referring to Orin and the other Crown wielders as children.

Alyx catches up with them and calls out. "I'm here." But Wan and Orin ignore her.

"These Crowns are too powerful. Power like that is corrupting. You are like a walking God, at a whim you could destroy a city. That sort of power should not be here. I know that the end of the World may well be nigh but there are powers appearing and I have to deal with them. I never lie. I am Wan. You will not get anywhere on your own. She's going to need you (he means Red) and need me, if there is any chance of us surviving. I haven't seen the full capabilities of Ashar, but he must be incredibly powerful if he is capable of defeating something from the Eternal Source."

"I will not break my promise to Red. I will not work or ally myself with you. I trust no one, but Red and..." Orin doesn't finish the sentence but Wan fills in the blank... "Daycaster? Don't you recognize Daycaster?" Wan says.

Wan's plaintive appeal to Orin's common sense falls on deaf ears. The Anu of War merely growls, overcome with emotion; the recent loss of Red proving too much to bare. Who is this person, this Wan? That he can suddenly appear and find him when others cannot. Orin's mistrust runs deep and mere words will never be enough to reach him. His aura pushes further out from his body and the pressure it exerts is shocking. Trees fall all around him, crashing to the ground, ripped from the earth or bent over backwards and snapped like twigs. As Wan continues talking, the landscape is flattened for several hundred feet in every direction, the sky continues to darken and the ground shake and lurch in the throes of an earthquake.

There is no doubt in Wan's mind that this Crown wearer is extremely powerful - but also a tremendous liability. Alyx is swept up in a wind and forced to dreamshift away to safety.

Orin charges towards Wan, his sword drawing itself from the sheath and flying alongside him. In a split second he grips the hilt as lightning strikes both him and it. Orin swings and Wan is forced to evade, his immortal speed barely moving him out of the way in time.

Ashar, drawn to tremendous magical and astral forces stirring up trouble to the South of the Midnight Wall in the wood of Ornis Hure, arrives a few hundred feet away from where Orin is swinging his lightning charged sword at Wan. When Wan sees him appear, the maelstrom of wooden splinters, bark, branches and broken trunks around Ashar are suddenly frozen in place... there is no mistaking Ashar's dark aura; Wan can see it, smell it and almost taste it in his mouth. Ashar has a curious smile on his face at what he sees and Wan sighs, knowing that Orin's actions may just have lost him any element of surprise against his Foe.

Orin changes target and launches himself at Ashar. Wan guesses the attack will fail and tries to pull Orin clear in case the Warlord gets mired in Ashar's thick syrup like aura. Sure enough Orin is slowed but not stopped. Ashar smiles before vanishing, leaving Orin's sword cutting through empty air. Orin screams in rage. "COME BACK! WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS SHE?"

The entire wood is flattened and blown into smithereens.

Wan pulls Orin back and tries lifting the Crown wielder with him onto the astral plane. But Orin is spiritually too heavy to budge. "Get away from me..." Orin growls, pushing Wan's astral hand from his shoulder.

"GO!" Orin booms, rapidly losing the tiny piece of patience and self control that he has to last the next 13 hours. "GO!"

With that last scream, Orin waves his sword at Wan and something quite devastating takes place. The entire astral plane around Wan is ripped from its current place in space and moved 200 miles away, taking Wan with it. Wan cannot resist as Orin isn't directly effecting him but instead the plane around him. When Wan's piece of the astral plane collides with the plane 200 miles away, he witnesses tremendous astral instability. He arrives above a lake that is partly vaporized by the new astral energy and where one part of the plane collides with the other, sparks and waves of light cause an explosion in the air. Whatever Orin did is a hazard to the environment and a danger to all level of existence.

"Gortte, Spirit of Midnight, it's me Vengeance. This is WAN... We're here to ask you for some help."

Gortte is a black skinned elf. His aura is not normal - by any means. The Spirit doesn't bother getting up.
"Who is your enemy?" Gortte asks, his next actions hinge on this answer.
"At this point, Arun the Witch King..." Wan answers.

*Note - At this point Gortte is already partially on the dream plane, as he is sat directly in the centre of the standing stones. Wan doesn't notice this because it is masked by Gortte's unusual aura. Gortte calls through the Dream plane to Crow, letting him know that potential allies have arrived. Gortte is under standing orders from the Wizard to report anyone or anything unusual.*

"Good answer.." Gortte thinks to himself. "Stormcrow - someone is here to meet with you. A Spirit of Akilla and another Spirit of unknown power."
"I'll be right there..." Crow replies, wrapping himself in an impressive white sheepskin lined robe. "How do I look Mythisin?"
"Like a Wolf in sheep's clothing," the Wolf grins back. "Go give out some bite."

A strange doorway opens in the middle of the air. Wan and Alyx see a figure identical to the images of Ragnek they have recently seen in the upper astrasphere, standing on the otherside. He is dressed in a long flowing white robe with black hair and a black beard. He appears in his early 30's and from first glance, gives the impression of being wise (through clever use of his new shortened Awe ritual).

Alyx recoils as this looks like Ragnek; she and Wan have already heard from Cantoninus that Ragnek has sided with Arun and become the Lord of Hell.

"Hello Alyx, I'm not the man you used to know. You could say I'm only half the man. The better half, Crow." The stranger smiles.
Gray accepts this. "There are a lot of split souls and people... someday our lands will be joined and all souls healed...just as Ischandi said."

"Hello Wan, what brings you to this land, other than the death rattle of this whole civilization...?"
Wan is again a little irritated that this person already knows his name. What he doesn't know is that Crow has only just been told it by Gortte. The Wizard doesn't step through the dream door so Wan cannot see anything of his spirit - like if he has a Crown of Power like Orin...
"There is a power abroad, a negative energy power. Somebody has opened a gate on Mount Eldahar," Wan explains.
"Yes, the Hollow. It has released a plague of creatures called Voidraal. I can't remember who came up with that name. Maybe it was Tomorrow. He's always doing that - naming things..." Crow's voice trails away into an inaudible mumble.

What follows is a quite enlightening conversation. Crow shares vital bits of information with Wan and Alyx which leave both of them wanting more (though Alyx is quickly becoming confused and starts twiddling her hair) Wan however, after hearing about the Hollow and creatures of the Living Dark is hooked. What clinches it is when Crow starts elaborating on events in Elondil and Daig - mentioning how the Arch Angels recently declared Judgement Day after Elondil and Daig came to blows and as a direct result of that conflict spilling out onto the Material Plane, opened the Master Gate on Mount Eldahar and created the Hollow. He also mentions how Adunathel the God Killer has used a Dagger of Extinction to slaughter many of the greatest Gods, including Ortha.

"Normarily, you can't kill a God. A God exists because of the faith of its worshippers. As long as one worshipper remains, the spark of the God remains as well. However, Adunathel used a dagger that literally destroyed each God's source of power and shredded their existence to the corners of the World and beyond. Imagine the horror of waking up with an emptiness inside you, where your faith, your belief, your purpose in life used to be. There are hundreds of thousands of people at this very moment, lost, confused and in despair. Many don't even know why... If you destroy the God of Love, if you remove a source of energy that gives love and happiness, those people touched by it feel its loss like a dagger in their hearts."

Wan is shocked to hear this and deeply saddened. He fought as Gray to defend against such things and protect people like Queen Kitara, but now, because of one of Ashar's witches, Elondil and Daig have come to blows and brought about the return of the ultimate enemy.

Alyx says "It could be a trick..."
At first Wan is reluctant to step off of the Material Plane. But Crow explains that the Dream World is a part of Eldahar in the same way that the Ethereal and Astral Planes are. "When people sleep, some of their creative energy, dreams, imaginations, Animus etc, leaks out and joins with the dreams of others to create this place."

Wan stops and prays to Wan and the Eternal Source... Crow's news about Elondil, its Gods and the effect on people is devastating to Wan... "I hope they all find their way..."

Deathwatch are filling the Void. "I Need to bring enlightenment of the Eternal Source to the World..." says Wan.

Looking North, off of the plateau, Wan sees the lands of the Midnight Sun. Even though it is night and the sky is overcast, Wan can see the lands stretching for hundreds of miles because a strange blood red light illuminates them. The only bit of land that remains in relative darkness is that around Crow's tower, and plateau in a ten mile radius.

"That is the Midnight Sun. It is consuming the World of Dreams and when it completely succeeds, Arun, it's master, will have control over the World," says Crow, quite calmly. "I protect this small ten mile piece of it but it has already spread into the Southern lands. Now it is only a matter of time."
"Gray, we ain't in Esium any more..." says Alyx, in disbelief.
Crow continues - "The Midnight Sun has always been there, burning in Midnight at the Tower of Babel. Imagine the tower as a lighthouse with the Midnight Sun at its summit. Normarily the Blood Sun rests on the horizon but as you can see, it is a third of the way in the sky. It's master, Arun, controls it and uses its light to spread his influence over this plane. It is just one of several ways he gains his power."

Just outside Crow's impressive white tower in the Frostspine mountains, Wan and Alyx meet Juna, Lord of the Wolfen.
Crow explains a little about Juna's hatred for Arun and then leads them inside. A strange menagerie of people await them, but before they can stopped and questions, Crow pushes them into a side room and quickly shuts the door. "Phew, made it," Crow chuckles nervously. "They all want to know what is going on and it's hard giving answers all the time, especially when I don't have any."

**Note - Time on the Dream World is at a 1:1 ratio with the Prime Material Plane. This is due to the effects of the Midnight Sun.**

"So," says Stormcrow, pointing at Wan, "Who is this fellow?"
Aura gazes at Wan for a split second before answering. "He is a mixture of people... He is Wan. An Incarnation of the Eternal Soul. He is also Altur, Mistral, Gray the High Doman and all the High Domans before him. He is also one part of Keohl Savar Daycaster for he possesses some of Daycaster's power... He is a link to the Eternal Source, like me, and because of that, he is Immortal..."

"And what is his mission?" Stormcrow continues. "What does he want?"

"To restore the sanctity of the human spirit and soul and preserve its future. Guard the World from the Living Dark and all those that seek to corrupt and destroy the soul upon its path to enlightenment. He is the Guardian of Humanity's path... He is the Vessel of Daycaster's rebirth."

"And if I were to ask, what are the odds that he will make a good ally for me in these trying times?"
"There is an 86% probability that Wan will be a good ally for you..." Aura replies, causing Wan to squirm. He cannot help but feel slightly uncomfortable, knowing that two of these Crown wearers created the being before him on a whim because they wanted answers, but that now, according to Crow, she has been abandoned. A being like this could have won the whole Esium Campaign!

Wan feels overwhelmed by what he is hearing. The sheer level of powerful beings involved is staggering. How can he, Wan, compete or do anything to resolve these problems? For what reason has he returned? Why has the World brought him back at such a time?

Crow is happy with Aura's description of Wan. He tells the Oracle to respond to Wan's calls for information, in priority order of course, with the Crown wielders at the top.

Crow leaves for a few minutes to attend to something major. He tells Aura to answer any of Wan's or Alyx's questions while he is away. "I think I can trust you," Crow winks, before fading through the wall.

Wan sets straight to work. "Tell me everything..." he begins.
"That is a lot of ground to cover. Perhaps I can help restore the memories you are lacking. That will help you put many of these things into perspective and assist you in understanding."
Wan nods. "You can do that? That would be good."
"Take my hand," Aura asks. Wan complies and suddenly feels a rush through his mind. All the memories a Gray and a few more of Altur, Mistral and Daycaster suddenly reappear, clear as crystal in his mind. There is no pain, no discomfort or side effect. Wan just knows that he now has the memories to call upon if he needs to.

Aura continues talking to Alyx and Wan about current events; She covers Ashar and the more popular Crown wielder's theories on why Ashar is doing the things he is.
Alyx groans. "But he's an evil bad guy. Can't we just leave it at that. It's more simple that way."
"There are those who believe that Ashar is on the right track. After all, he has a plan, a well conceived and brilliantly executed plan where others have none and are simply stumbling, reacting to events as they occur. But despite their belief that he may be right and that there might be truth in his ideas, they all share a common doubt; Can anyone, even a man as spiritually capable and resilient as Ashar, withstand the corrupting influence of the Dark Heart of the World? Surely the Oras Remus has effected him and if it has, will the Power he seeks be twisted to evil ends and consign this World to a dark future?" Aura sure knows how to paint a bleak picture; there is no faulting her delivery.

After more conversation on the matter, Wan senses someone about to arrive. An instant later Crow appears through a door in the wall.
"I'm back. Did you enjoy the tea? You wouldn't believe the disaster that has just been averted. You just wouldn't believe... anyway, would you like to see the Hollow?"

"Yes," says Wan.

The Hollow is in the distance - a 50 foot across, smooth black sphere... 1 mile away.

"What's causing all this..?" Wan asks, gesturing at the chaotic fragments of the astral plane swirling around them.
"It was spreading exponentially... in another few hours it would have consumed Elandia. After that it wouldn't have taken long to consume the whole continent," says Crow. "Soloman did the only thing he could think of. He starved it of energy by creating a void of astral energy. Like a flame, he created an area around it without oxygen, forcing it to retreat into a dormant state. However, the astral plane is already attempting to heal itself, so this solution is a temporary one at best."

"So no one has tried to contain the Hollow...?" Wan asks.
Crow just chuckles to himself. "No one knows how..." he mutters quietly.
Mythisin is growling at the strange atmospheric anomalies and also muttering to himself.

"The Voidraal have withdrawn, back inside of it. There may be thousands in there waiting to come out again though," says Crow.
"Millions of them," announces the black armoured approaching Godark. "There are millions of them. The Hollow is just the beginning." Godark hears the whisper of his sword Krantakyn in his mind... "...The beginning of the Great Consumption, where everything will change..."

"My name is Wan. This is my companion Alyx.."

The black sword on Godark's back whispers into its wielder's mind ;- "Why must we endure the tedium of meeting and greeting such clowns? They are nothing more than performers dressed up in bright lights, dancing to an age old tune." "Because," Godark replies mentally, "If the World is going to end and we want front row seats, we need to be left alone. By playing nice, we get overlooked." "There is no need for stealth. I can destroy all of these beings in an instant. They are no match for my Power." "Yes, well, I'd rather watch and see what happens. I'm fed up being the main attraction." "But I am Destruction Incarnate! Let us declare WAR on this World and everyone in it!" "First things first Cranky. The Hollow... The Impostor. The being that seeks to imitate your Maker and steal all of your satisfaction... Let's not lose focus on him. That's what brought us here and that's the goal." "YES, You're right of course. This World though reeks of bloodshed and violence. I can see why so many powers seek to devour it." "Sure. Now play nice and don't scare the locals ok."

"We are here to find a way to destroy the Hollow," says Wan.
"What are you going to try and do, cure the World of it?" asks Godark, a trace of mockery in his voice, as he sees Wan as a Priest of some sort.
"It has an open gateway inside it? What we have here is something that within a few hours would consume the whole world, but because it has been suffocated, it has been contained, even though it is still volatile." Wan sums up what he has just been told.
"What is your relationship with that sword?" Wan asks, looking at Krantakyn.
"Gohde is mine. He does what I want. But Gohde likes to destroy things. It's what he is best at. He is the sword of the Ordainer, a powerful Titan that fought in the Titan Rift Wars, eons ago, when this World as you know it was nothing more than a dream."

Crow asks "What do you want to do Wan? I can't stay here much longer..."

"We're all fucked..." Alyx declares, tightening her grip on Wan's hand as the proximity of the Hollow is sending shivers up and down her spine.
"The only possible thing I can think of is to have something like Harmony ... that's why we need Harmony," Wan concludes. Only Harmony could neutralize something of this magnitude.

"Am I right in assuming that Eskanu would not want Chaos to consume this World?"
Crow shrugs. "Safe to assume. She has her own agenda and this will stuff her just as much as us."

Crow admits to Wan and Alyx that Dragon aid is "being actively pursued..." Crow knows that some of the Crown Wielders have already made contact with the Conclave of Draconian Ancient's and enlisted support.

Godark shares a little about his goals and where he intends to stand in the events to follow. "I don't want to see this World destroyed, but if it is going to be destroyed, then I want to be there, with Godhe to see it happen." And use Gohde to drain the entire World's energy at the same time! Godark thinks to himself. "I will defend this place and use whatever powers I can muster to prevent this Darkness from spreading..." "Because it is an impostor! Because I, Kranatakyn, am the Master of the Black Sun, no other," Gohde hisses softly in Godark's ear.

Wan nods and retreats from the Hollow, returning with Stormcrow and Alyx back to the Dream Plane and its white tower.
Once there Wan summons Aura again. "Knowing my powers and abilities, where shall I start? What shall I do?" Wan asks the Oracle.
But Aura is little help. Instead she says - "You should begin with yourself and that which you are made up of."

Wan contemplates his connections - To the Spirit of Cairis... To ANU, Daycaster... Kizzik, Eskanu, Matthias, Alyx - everything. There are so many facets to his memories, so many paths to choose, that for a moment he finds himself in turmoil. But Alyx is there (as always) to help and provide focus.

Alyx as ever is quick to choose. "Let's go sort out this ANU mess. With them on our side, we could really kick some arse." But are Alyx's motives entirely as they appear? She is, after all, the Spirit of Vengeance.

Wan doesn't know what Ashar is up to or what his plans are. But after talking to Stormcrow, things no longer seem so simple - so black and white. There seems to be some truth and merit in Ashar's actions, even if they are evil and badly presented. Alyx is right though; until Wan understands his place in the tapestry that is Armageddon, he can only act upon those things that seem personal and important to him - The Spirits, Daycaster, Kitara, Aslan etc.

"How can we contact you?" Wan asks Crow.

Stormcrow makes a rose shaped pendant in his mind and creates it using the Crown of Night. "This should work nicely. Just wear it, grasp it and think about me. It will put your mind into a dream state that will allow me to talk to you."
"Couldn't you just have made something that would teleport us here?" asks Alyx.
Wan has to admit, he isn't too impressed with the pendant either.
"I'm sorry," sniffs Crow, "I haven't made many magical objects before. This is only the third I've made using my mind."
Alyx snatches it up off the table and slips it over her head. "It will have to do then," she grumbles.
"Ungrateful bloody spirit," Stormcrow thinks to himself, all the while smiling through his pearly whites.

Stormcrow suddenly staggers and collapses against the wall of his study. Wan and Alyx both feel as if they been struck; Wan feels as if the World around him is collapsing. The sensation passes after only a few seconds but everyone knows something big has just happened.

"Doors in my head, all being banged on..." mutters Stormcrow, clutching his temples. "It's begun!"
"Gotta go!" says Stormcrow, fading quickly into nothingness.

Wan gathers his thoughts. "We need a plan," he says. "My first thing would be to visit Queen Kitara and gain some sort of insight into her. Then, basically, we want to start getting people together to make a stand. Ultimately we may have to move the collective ANU there to confront Chaos. Maybe a whole lot of powerful people as well."

Wan turns his attention to the ethereal hawk sat on his shoulder. "Hello," he says to it, unsure if it can understand him.
"Hello," says Kizzik in reply, communicating with Wan via emanations of its aura.
Mythisin decides to stay in the tower rather than go to Elondil. Just thinking of the place sends shivers down to his loins.

"Here's a question... If I am part Gray, and Gray is linked to the plane of Living Light.. Laylak was still able to get around prior to the LD being released, even when it was in the plane. So that means he must of had a connection to the Living Dark in some way." Wan continues having ideas about the Plane of the Living Dark - if he could somehow draw upon its power or locate it... but then, if Aura cannot locate it, what chance does he have.

Wan decides to go and see Kitara at the Arda Avatarn.

But first he has to head down with Alyx from the Dream Plane to Holy Hill of Wan. Wan tries going directly from the Dream World to Elondil but it doesn't seem to work. *This is because Wan's ability to travel astrally doesn't work on the Dream Plane the same way and the Dream Plane has less gateways to Elondil.*

"I can't believe this Armageddon thing is ticking - this place is so peaceful," says Alyx, looking around at Wan's tranquil holy hill.

"The Hollow - it is intelligent. The Hollow is the Endgame..." says Wan sagely. "We may have to deal with the likes of Eskanu, Ashar and Chaos first, but ultimately we will have to face the Darkness."

"The way I see it is, you are the Living Dark buster. And the World has called you back, to kick dark butt," declares Alyx. "Someone foresaw this day, when nothing connected to the Eternal Source was around... That's why you got pushed into the portal." Alyx suddenly starts putting so many pieces of the puzzle together. "So for some reason, the World really needs a connection to the Eternal Source right now. It doesn't have Ischandi or any other Jixiliah. It doesn't have North's sword... what else is there? The two pieces of World's Heart and maybe the Crowns. That makes you pretty special Gray..."

T-Minus 11 hours and 47 minutes.

Kitara stands by the Arda Avatarn with the 12 Angels of the Ardivas - The Angels of Sorrow who weep for the Death of Heaven.

Queen Kitara stands nearby with a dozen other entities; 9 female, 3 male. They are Golden skinned with large saucer like eyes and have hair made from beams of light. They kneel, totally naked, their physical forms perfection personified.

The vibrant air surrounding the lake and its waterfall makes Wan feel more alive than ever before. The water is perfectly clear and pure.

200 feet across, waterfall - narrow, Cliff.

"Great, I've been replaced by a bird and a wolf..." grumbles Alyx, as they arrive. "Just remember I was there first."

"Do not take the mother....!!!!" the Ardiva's cry out. "Her light belongs here..."

"Where am I?" asks Kitara. "High Doman?" Something about the way Wan stands and his facial features reminds her of the young boy she used to know.

"You could describe me as Gray  - or you can call me Wan, we are one and the same."

"Nope, I am worse,"

"I am protecting her,"

"As always," says Kitara.

"Let me call you Doman..." says Kitara. "Now that I am free to think and act, I can help you. From this place I can see almost anywhere in the World. I can alert you to what is going on and give you directions. I may be able to see things that you cannot. As long as I am touching the blessed waters, I will be safe from their sorrowful song. As far as other immortals or angels are concerned, they tend to shun this place. It is common knowledge that it is "out of bounds" but in reality I think they fear its purity."

Kitara will direct and send images to Wan. Guiding him towards people that might need him. Wan brings up the topic of the World's Heart. "Who has the Annex Animus now?" Kitara asks.

Alyx grunts back a bitter reply. "Some woman called Red, North's floosy."

"Elondil used you in the past, perhaps it is attempting to use you again," Kitara warns Wan.

"I am different now," states Wan.

"Keep it real Wan, keep it real," says Alyx, patting her friend on the back.

Commenting on Kitara's lack of the white Ring of Weal - "The Gods must have stolen her suitcase..." says Alyx, "y'know, before they kidnapped her up here."

Wan takes Alyx through a portal of light back to Elandia. They arrive just outside of a crumbling barn, 3 miles away from the destructive power of the Hollow. Even at this distance, the environment is storm lashed and the surrounding terrain, drained dead.
The young man called Aslan walks out of the barn with a boot in his hand.
"I seem to be getting a lot of visitors at the minute..." says Aslan, emptying a few pebbles from the boot.

"Good day young Aslan, my name is Wan."
"Wan you say?" Aslan raises an eyebrow. He hasn't heard that name in a while. The person by this "Wan's" side looks impressive though - someone who might mean business in a black armoured and death incarnate sort of way.
"This is my companion Alyx..."
Aslan searches his memories of Esian history... Alyx - A Priestess of Akilla during the Undead Uprising. That would explain her strange shifting aura. But Wan is a God - and from Aslan's knowledge, a dead one.
"Your mother is not dead... I have just released her from a type of imprisonment she has been put under."
"WHAT!" Now just hang on a moment here. Aslan stares at this Wan incredulously. In the last few hours he has met a dragon, three odd Immortals - Death, Nature and a Saintly fellow called Lomax. He has taken up Ortha's very own sword and wielded it in battle against Daig, but the whole thing didn't turn out very well. Now someone is saying his mother is still alive? What a day!

"Wan is Blue... that is the password... only a select few people would have known that information," says Wan, hoping that that will help prove his identity. "We do not have much time. I can take you to your mother now and time will pass more slowly."
"Hold on a moment," says Aslan, raising his hands in surrender. "I believe you. I just need to let someone know where I'm going first."

"The World is coming to an end. Pull it together, do your pants up and get a move on," says Alyx, rapidly losing patience with the young man's inability to grasp the situation.

Aslan just smiles at her. A moment later and Wan senses a powerful presence about to materialize. Sure enough, Sarah... the Immortal of Nature, arrives on the scene. She takes one look at Wan and Alyx and knows things have just got a lot more complicated. "Lomax - There's two strange immortals here trying to take Aslan up to Elondil. What do you advise?"
Lomax - "Who are they? What do they look like?"
Sarah finds out from Aslan and tries stalling their departure. "One calls himself Wan - He is tall, bald and dressed like a peasant. His aura is unfathomable though. I sense his body has not been born... it seems to have no root in nature. Instead it seems to have been created, like a golem. The other is a young woman, dressed in arcane black armour. She reeks of evil and spiritual power. Her name is supposedly Alyx of Akilla."
Lomax - "How curious. I don't have time to come there at the moment. Does Aslan trust them?"
Sarah - "He's intending on going with them."
Lomax - "Don't stand in his way. We have more important matters to attend to at the moment. If they do indeed take him to Elondil, then it will save us the trip. Keep me informed."
Sarah - "How are things up there?"
Lomax - "Grim. Ragnek and the others have finished transporting a lot of souls to Heartland but there are still plenty of souls left in Elondil for Aslan to unite. Koenig is here with me now, helping some of them escape as the Arch Angel's have actually taken possession of all the Listes! What about the Hollow?"
Sarah - "It is dormant. Kand's Hollow seems to have effected it but no one is sure how. The being called Godark is still standing watch over it."
Lomax - "Well, keep me informed. Goodluck."

12.06pm. T-Minus 11 hours 36 minutes.

Aslan was told that Kitara was dead.

Oracle arrives on scene, summoned by Wan.

"Who knows where the Book of the Arda is?"
"Disappeared off the face of the World."

Aslan used to have an immortal watching over him called Antivion - An exiled Immortal of Ortha who actually got his power indirectly from Aslan.
Antivion advised and recognized other immortals; Aslan often turned to him for advice. Unfortunately Antivion has vanished and Aslan thinks the Arch Angels might be deliberately holding him prisoner.

Aslan wants Wan to insure the safety of Sheba and the two sisters ;- Ari and Kethry. "All three are very important to me." Sheba is the woman as King of Daas he is meant to marry. He has known her since childhood and they are betrothed. Kethry is dear to his heart, like a little sister and Ari is a very dear friend, who if it were not for his royal duties, he would declare his love for.

**Note - The Gods slain by Godkiller (in order) include ;- Ortha, Miah, Linda, Dina, Akilla, Lluthe and Emonra.**

Pass phrases.... to Jixiliah.

Shimmering gateway....

"I am always your obedient servant..." says Wan.
Kitara kisses him on the cheek.

Alyx heads off to the ruined Temple of Akilla.

Kitara opens up a gateway to the Hallowed Halls - an impressive concourse in Elondil where Immortals regularly meet to discuss events. Wan and Aslan step through, coming face to face with a large gathering of frightened, panicking Immortals of Heaven.

"Right, what are you lot doing?" Aslan certainly doesn't beat about the bush. He strides over to the crowd with the Sword of Light blazing on his back.
"Who are you?" one of the crowd asks.
"ASLAN... I am here to fight for Heaven."
"We have fought already and lost. Aslan, you are already too late."
"It is hopeless!" shouts one of the Immortals.
Another nods in agreement. "We cannot stop the Arch Angels. There power nullifies ours."
A young weeping woman clothed in a dress made of clouds sobs, "Gods have been slain, torn from this World. It is all over."
"If that was the attitude that mortals took on the World, we would be doomed," states Wan. "Where is your backbone, retake Elondil, unite in power."
"But without our Gods we have no power. We must flee or fade," states a silver skinned entity.
"Why are we still here?" another older Immortal asks.
Wan fixes the man with a penetrating gaze, "I'll tell you why you're still here, because you're still linked to the Eternal source... Just because your Gods have been slain, does not mean that your religion has ended. You continue to exist and have power because it only takes one spark of Faith to sustain you. The embodiment of your God may have been destroyed, but in time, Faith will restore it. You only have to believe, overcome these dark hours and trust in the Faith of your followers."
"But it is the end of the World... and we are powerless to prevent it!" an Immortal of Linda wails.

At that moment, a strange chiming sound fills the air and an immense being suddenly appears, shrouded in a bright golden light. The being stands nearly thirty feet in height compared to all the other immortals present and to Wan's penetrating gaze, has an aura unlike any normal living thing. Instead of bright swirling colours surrounding a central egg like core of energy, the Arch Angel has a multitude of varying sized cogs, turning flows of energy back and forth inside of it; and in the Angel's head, Wan sees a large golden clock of power with 13 numbers upon its face.

The Arch Angel trumpets loudly, bringing fear and panic to every being in the hall - every being bar Aslan, Wan and Alyx. "THIS GATHERING IS PROHIBITED. ALL IMMORTALS WILL SURRENDER THEMSELVES IMMEDIATELY FOR INCARCERATION. ELONDIL IS UNDER ARCH ANGEL JURISDICTION," it announces in a booming, commanding, God-like voice.

"No," says Aslan calmly, walking to the front of the rapidly diminishing crowd (as many have already begun to flee).

"I am Aslan. These immortals are under my protection. I won't allow you to take them so I suggest you leave."

"Gods give me your strength!" Aslan shouts, swinging Ave Avatar at the Arch Angel's midriff. As the sword of light hits, the glowing cogs inside the being shatter and fall apart - the angel itself begins to fragment as light pours forth from inside of it - then in a bright eye searing flash, it vanishes.

The immortals in the area begin creeping back towards Aslan, straightening themselves up and adjusting their robes and armour. A few stare at Aslan in shock while some stare in awe. This is the first time anyone, as far as they know, has stood up against an Arch Liste of Elondil and survived.

Aslan swings the sword and rests on its hilt, point downward. He looks around at the frightened Immortal faces and clears his throat. "It will be back. From what I know about these Arch Angels, they reform. But as fast as they reform, I will break them. The time has come for us to retake what is rightfully ours. These Angels have no right to dictate how we will end our days. They are not even human, but simply mechanisms, machines, extensions of the Armageddon Clock! The end is coming - that is fact and undeniable. But how we choose to face the next twelve hours will decide the shape and future of Eternity. Go forth from these halls and gather your Gods, your Immortal brethren and holy warriors. Join me, back here, for I intend on marching upon the Holy Steps and retaking my Father's Throne. When this World comes to an end, Elondil will face it with all the virtues of the soul - Faith, Devotion and Hope. Go - and spread the word. The Son of Ortha has come for his Throne."

With Aslan telling Wan he is ok, Wan portals himself to the fallen Temple of Akilla. He arrives to find the place utterly decimated and Alyx crouched over the bloodied body of a dark haired woman. Ava - Last of the Shieldmaidens, lies dead.  But her Armour, Helmet, Veil, Shield + Immortal Power have all been transferred over to Alyx. **As Wan is well aware, mortals just aren't allowed into Elondil - that's why when rules get broken by beings like High Doman Grey you get Aslan's in the World.**

"Do you have the Veil of Akilla?" Wan asks the grieving girl softly. Alyx sniffs. "Yep. It's folded up."
"Will you wear it?"
"When the opportunity is right... She told me to put it on only when I needed it."

"Perhaps Alyx will become the next Goddess of Daig..." thinks Wan to himself.

"Are you all right?"
"No," says Alyx, grimacing. "Of course I'm not all right."
"How can I put this without upsetting you. A god, as I understand it is simply a manifestation of a people's faith - a heavenly body is formed. All that has happened is that that faith has been shredded and thrown to the four winds. Now, you still believe in Akilla. It's the people that believe in these gods, if these people still believe in the core values, nothing will ever die, it will reform."
"It still hurts though."

Wan takes hold of Alyx's hand and opens up a tunnel of light. He notices that she now seems a lot heavier than normal - due to her new spiritual powers and immortal items.

"Where are we going?" Alyx asks, a little out of it because of what she has seen.
"To Aran in Daya. I don't think we should mention anything of what we have done to Crow though..." says Wan.

Wan believes that by approaching Aran (who has the blood of Eskanu pumping in his veins), he can persuade Aran to use his blood against Eskanu. Maybe Aran will be able to gain some hidden insight into Eskanu's plans or predict what the Dragon horror is going to do next. Wan also knows that Aran's blood is lethal to things like Wyverns.

**Note - To a skilled Alchemist, or even someone with the power of transmutation or a ritualist, Aran's blood could become a powerful weapon - not just against Eskanu, but against Dragons as a whole.**

Wan and Alyx arrive 100 feet from Aran's hall, in a store room.

Question - Whatever happened to Ezo - Diamond Cat statue?

When Wan and Alyx enter the room, Aran immediately panics and starts searching for a magical ring that Tess gave him a few years ago. "Where is it dammit!" Parri, his wife, helps him look for it. Eventually they uncover it stuck to a foot cushion. But Wan is too quick - Wan blurs across the room, bypassing Aran's leopards and tigers to snatch it out of the Lord's palm.
"Aaargh... what happened?" Aran shouts. "My ring of recall?"
Wan is back at the entrance to the hall with the ring in his hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you disappearing before we had a chance to talk."

Wan and Alyx start explaining to Aran how they need him - how the World needs him. "Of course, there is another person with the blood of Eskanu... Matthius Winterborn," says Wan.

"Matthius is dead - choked eating a steak about 8 months back," says Aran flippantly.

"Then you are the only one we know of..."
Aran doesn't like Wan's ominous tone.

Spend 30 minutes with Aran, discussing Eskanu.

"It's time to step up Aran and do your bit. The World is going to end - do you really want to sit back and do nothing to help?" says Alyx.
"Yep. I'd rather have lots of sex!" says the Dayan Lord, speaking completely honestly.

Aran mentions that he and Parri have Communication bracelets. "Just in case we needed to contact Tess or Heffers."

Aran is about to go into blood ritual with Eskanu. Has fifteen minutes to prepare.

As soon as Wan and Alyx disappear, Parri ceases chiding her husband and tries another tact.

"You know it's the right thing to do," says Parri, looking at her husband adoringly.
"Yeah right," Aran chokes. "Go and stick my soul in a bucket of excrement with less than 12 hours until the end of the World. I'd rather have copious amounts of sex. We could all have sex. Maybe a big orgy."
"If you do this, and come back anything but a mindless vegetable..."
"Gee, thanks for the confidence..."
"...then I promise to give you the best sex you've ever had."
"Really? Promise?" Aran's eyes light up, seeing his wife as she used to be eighteen years ago.
"Promise."
"Even if I come back all Dragon filthed?"
"The dirtier the better..." Parri winks.
"Ah bollocks to it then, let's go visit the old Dragon bitch and give her arse an itch she can't scratch," declares Aran.

Aran starts giving instructions to his people. "Get me a bath, a goat and a chicken sandwich!" he orders. The Dayan's look at him peculiarly but run to do their Lord's bidding. They have heard the Lord of the Landsgaard ask for stranger things.

At the highest point of the Astral plane, is the Arda - a chaotic maelstrom of energies colliding and churning in a bright and spectacular storm. Wan launches himself up and into this storm, coming to a halt, like a fish in the strong eddy's and flows of a river. The intermingling astral energies of Eldahar, connected in part to each and every living thing upon the World, washes over him and around him. There, in that sacred place, Wan experiences flashes of imagery that to anyone else would be dizzying and beyond comprehension - But to Wan, within those images, he finds some measure of truth and the path to what he seeks.

He sees the Midnight Sun and a battle raging between white furred and horned trolls and Armoured Elves with Black skin.
He sees Wyverns swooping down upon a town in Kane, plucking people from the streets and carrying them into Eskanu's hundred thousand strong swarm.
He also sees a massive battlefield with over 100,000 soldiers fighting 250,000 barbarians upon the slopes of a mountain.
Finally he sees Christian of Damorkand, The 1st hour of Armageddon, standing on a cliff's edge... screaming and hold his head in anguish.

After navigating his way through the Arda and making 5 "hops" across the astral plane, Wan eventually finds Arriane, Daughter of Dragons, far up in the North, in the land that was once Mordark, but which has now been transformed into the Land of Ages past.

Wan (holding Alyx's hand) arrives on an impressive 45 degree sloping finger of rock, over 1000 feet long from top to bottom. This "finger" is a landing ramp for Dragon's who are very old and not used to high speeds anymore, as Wan quickly discovers when a 160 foot long Ancient gold dragon called Sol swoops over his head, coming into land.

Wan notices a young woman on the dragon's back, nestled among its curled scales. The young woman has long red hair and seems perfectly at ease upon the giant creature.

"WHO ARE YOU?" the Dragon asks. Even though it is not a demand, Wan senses the strength behind the words as the Gold dragon's aura sweeps out to surround them.

"I AM WAN," he replies, keeping it simple and to the point. Alyx rolls her eyes, thinking to herself - "As if every dragon we meet is gonna know who he is... He's such a character!"

"I AM SOL-IDRUGO." 5 other dragons suddenly appear from the Between and begin descending in a circular flying pattern over Sol and Arri. Once they are several hundred feet from the ground, their aura's swell, intermingle and reach down to form a protective circular shield around the young woman and her mount.

"I am here to see Arriane," Wan calls out.

Arrianne shouts back - "Who are you and how do know my name?"

"Aslan told us to come and find you. He is in Elondil undoing the damage that your mother has done." "Tell it like it is Wan," thinks Alyx, wincing slightly. "You're telling the girl her mother is a psycho God killing Ashar puppet - way to make allies."

"She's not my mother... Beth is my mother," says Arri bitterly. Arriane obviously knows something of her mother and her actions, but not necessarily everything.

"Aslan, where is he again?" she asks.
"He is trying to unite the Faiths in Elondil," says Wan.
"But he's safe...?"
"Yes, as safe as anyone can be," adds Wan. "I see you already have very strong defences here..." Wan cannot help but admire the gleaming dragons circling above him.
"You would think so, but people still pop in unannounced," says Arri, now beginning to smile. "So Aslan sent you all the way here to check on me? Well you can tell him I'm fine. The dragons are looking after me. If he wants to worry about anyone, he could worry about my sister Kethry."

Introductions over, Wan continues talking to the girl and her Dragon protector Sol. He learns how the recently awakened dragons have split into 3 distinctive factions and what each faction is doing to achieve it goals.

"I know. Someone has already been here and explained that to me. I'm hoping that if I am chosen, I can help people that I care about. Maybe I will be able to resolve some of the problems around here too," she gestures at the Dragons, "before my time is up."

Arri continues explaining how Ire is flying on a collision course with Eskanu. "At least the dragons here are thinking, before acting..." says Arri, about the Gold dragons. "There are a lot of variables to consider and no one has any definitive answers. Ire is intent on going head to head against her. Most of the dragons here think it is suicide but Ire may have a secret plan."

Wan learns that Feasul (Soulwind) and Cartanis were brought to the Golds by Shefanhow - before Shefanhow's demise. The notion of Shefanhow still being around intrigues Wan. Shef was imprisoned within the Keystone along with Laylak, Drathelmox, Grey and Ceraph. How could Shefanhow have escaped? Wan assumes it must have been a facet of Shefanhow somehow, not the real dragon.
**Note - What Wan cannot know is this - Shefanhow used his powerful Alignment altering aura to imprint himself upon the thing at Hollis' core; Remember, Hollis herself wasn't real but in actuality an artificially created mind, brought into being by the Lady Mercy and the Enchantress Tess using an ancient crystalline magical artefact left over from the original Pentacle of Magic - The ODE. Shortly after the sealing of the Keystone, Hollis fell into a deep coma and reverted back to her original crystalline form. Try as she might, Danae could not awaken her mother. Knowing from Quiverin that Shefanhow had done something to her, Danae began searching for Dragons and Titans who might have an answer and be able to bring her back... however, after a while Danae's search became more of an obsession with Orion and the ancient history of Baphomet.**

On a completely different note, Wan suddenly considers that the Bird sat on his shoulder, that has been travelling with him since arriving on the Dream Plane could be connected to someone... like a spy. He examines its aura and sure enough, finds a small and inconspicuous astral connection going somewhere. But where?

Wan talks to Kizzik, asking who its master is - "I belong to Daycaster," the bird states, providing no help whatsoever.

It is then that Wan decides to mention Aran - the only left alive with a spiritual connection to Eskanu. As soon as he starts telling Sol-Idrugo, the gold dragon contacts Rhun Urza with the news.

"YOU MUST BRING THIS PERSON HERE," says Sol. "IF HE HAS A DIRECT CONNECTION TO THE MIND OF ESKANU, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO USE HIM AS A CONDUIT, BYPASS HER DEFENCES AND ATTACK HER AS ONLY WE GOLDS CAN - MIND TO MIND."

Wan agrees to give it a go. As soon as Wan and Alyx leave to persuade Aran to come North with them, the Ancient Gold dragons begin rapidly and freely conversing about Wan's revelations.

"Ok, I'm ready as I'll ever be."

Wan takes hold of Aran's hand and opens another portal to the Land of Ages. A few moments later, all three of them emerge before the dragons and Arrianne. Arri is now sat on the ground having some food.

"WELCOME, CHAMPION OF HUMANITY" announces Sol-Idrugo.
Aran stares gob smacked at at least a dozen hovering dragons. The closest he has ever been to a dragon is way back when Eskanu was trying reform herself - if you could call Eskanu a mere Dragon. "Me?" Did that Dragon just call him Champion of Humanity? Or did it mean Wan?
Alyx gestures at him. "Oh, me then. I like the sound of that. I'm a sucker for titles..." thinks Aran to himself.

Run Urza speaks, filling the air with the voice of his spirit. "ARE YOU READY FOR WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO DO?"
"Ur, no. What are you about to do?" asks Aran.
"IN ORDER FOR US TO CHANNEL OUR MINDS THROUGH YOU, WE MUST FIRST CHANGE YOU. AS YOU ARE AT THE MOMENT, YOU WOULD NOT SURVIVE. WE MUST ALTER YOUR MIND, YOUR SPIRIT AND YOUR BODY. YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. I MUST ALSO POINT OUT, THAT THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT EVEN AFTER THESE CHANGES, YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE BEING THE CONDUIT OF OUR ENERGY. YOUR SACRIFICE HOWEVER WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN."
Aran almost chokes and remains silent for several seconds. "Well, I guess I don't have much of a choice do I? Eskanu's had it coming for a while now. I'd like to talk to my father first though - just to clear a few things up."
"OF COURSE," says Sol Idrugo.

Run Urza offers aid to Wan. "IT IS HUMANITY THAT 'HOLDS ALL THE CARDS'" says the beyond Ancient dragon. "WE WILL AID IT IN WHATEVER WAY WE CAN. FOR DELIVERING US THIS INFORMATION, YOU MAY CALL UPON US FOR AID."
"Thank you," says Wan.

Twenty feet away a young dark haired girl appears. The entire astral plane bends and ripples around her as she materializes and Wan's gaze is hypnotically drawn to bright halo of energy around her head - a Dragon Crown?!?

The Dragons are startled but know better than to go on the offensive... after all, what could they do? Run Urza cautions them to remain silent.

Brin, daughter of Mizren, a Priestess of Luna and Foohse, the Lord of Felines, looks around in surprise. It is obvious from her expression that she hasn't a clue where she is. "Sorry," she says. "I don't know how I ended up here."
"Too much power..." Wan says to himself. "Too much..." Wan begins thinking about leaving.
"Aran? Is that you?" Brin notices the Lord of Daya standing in front of the dragons like a fish out of water.
"Ur, yeah. Who are you?"
"I'm Brin, I'm your... half sister I guess. My father is your father... Foohse. He must have sent me here to see you."
"My half sister?" Aran's face suddenly bursts into a broad grin. "Hey, pleased to meet you sis!"
Brin and Aran give each other a hug while everyone else just looks on. The dragons begin a frantic private conversation of their own...

"This is an interesting development. This Champion of Humanity, our only weapon against the unspoken one is directly related somehow to a Crown Bearer. Where does this leave us?" asks Eosantrus the Silver.
Run Urza speaks to his kindred; "We may have to change what we were intending to do with this human. We must be careful how we alter him. If we alienate this Crown Bearer, we will lose a vital ally in the hours to come."
Soma - "Perhaps if we explain the situation we can work with this Crown Bearer for a solution. There may be no need to alter the human."
Run Urza - "If we alter this human and use our knowledge to strengthen him, we will bind ourselves to the Fate of this Crown. Eskanu puts great emphasis on her children and her blood connections. Humans also revere family. I am certain that these events are no coincidence - The Eternal Light of Baphomet is guiding us."

"Ok, let's go," says Wan, turning to Alyx. "Our job is done here. Let's leave them to sort this out."
Arrianne sees that they are about to leave and wishes them goodluck. "If you find her, let her know I'm ok. She'll want to find our mother and father as well. Hethcanter or Tess of Esium may know where they are. They might even be looking for Kethry as well."
"Hethcanter..." Wan smiles. "I wish to thank him for what he has done to my hill."
As Wan prepares to seek out Kethry, he realizes something; Kethry's Uncle was his arch enemy - Laylak. How strange that so many years later he is about to go and rescue her (considering her origins) from worshippers of Emonra, the Sun God, who have fallen so far that they are now worshipping the darkness that they originally hated.

Wan and Alyx have learned from Arrianne just how far the followers of Emonra have fallen in recent years. The die hard core of Emonra's Sun Paladins were devastated in 2602 when after having their numbers severely depleted during the war, Alyx / Vengeance began a 6 month killing spree against them. Referring in their texts to an Angel of Death, the religion of Emonra crumbled and went into hiding. Years later it began to resurface, having made contact with the surviving members of Esium's Black Chapter. However, it did not resurface as a religion of light, but of the Dark. After witnessing the destructive power of the Living Dark and how it had brought Mount Eldahar to its knees, both factions joined to create a new religion - one dedicated to the worship of a Dark Sun. In 2617, upon the appearance of the Hollow, this worship paid off when the astral bound "Guardian Angel" of the Dark Sun established an Astral link with the being beyond the Hollow and began channelling its power. This guardian angel; Carthaze Dark, knew that he needed someone destined to become one of the World's final Hours. The Cult of the Dark Sun found and seized Kethry, taking her to the Haimish lands. Then it would only be a matter of time - as soon as Kethry became an Hour of Armageddon, Carthaze would order her slain. He would then seize her astral cord, connect himself to it and by proxy possess her power! With the power of the Armageddon Clock behind him, he would release the full power of the Dark Sun upon the World and get revenge upon everyone.

Wan and Alyx head up onto the higher realms of the Astral Plane again, this time to locate Kethry, the younger daughter of Beth and Benedict Forfin of the Tower's of High Sorcery. It takes Wan 4 astral hops to attain a fix but eventually he begins descending towards his target. He descends into the Haimish lands, Southwest of Evost Derry and penetrates below ground into a hidden complex of crypts.

As he and Alyx begin to slow and come a rest, Wan notices a series of interlinked astral wards that flare up in response to their passing. Like the fuse on a stick of dynamite, the wards trigger one enough setting off an alarm and powerful astral trap. Wan tightens his grip on Alyx as the two of them set foot on the ground and materialize.

Seven bolts of energy hurtle towards them. With no time to react, Wan braces his aura for impact and feels the bolts impact against him. A moment later he looks around and appears unharmed.

"What the hell?" Alyx mutters spiritually.

They have arrived in a subterranean crypt; ahead of them is an altar and tied down on that altar is a young blonde haired girl of approximately 16 years. Strange stone totem crouch at the edges of the chamber, their crooked, beaked and taloned shapes flickering and dancing against the walls from several spluttering torches and a hundred or so candles.

Around the altar stand several black robed men intent on chanting while beyond the altar, crouched down before a giant black statue, is another man with a far stronger spirit.

Wan pushes his aura out into the room like a weapon. It collides with the chanting figures sending them flying into the air and smashing against the walls and ceiling. Bones break and necks snap; it is then that Wan senses something far more powerful in the area. His vision shifts through stone to see a being hovering within the earth - a being with a very dark aura.

Behind the altar, the crouched hooded man stands up and turns around, grasping a long sacrificial knife. "Leave him to me!" says Alyx, grinning malevolently. "Who are you?" Rezzerin, High Priest of the Dark Sun hisses. "I am the Angel of Retribution. I am the Dusk, the Death of Day. I am your worst nightmare!"

Wan suffers from an instant of indecision - but it is only an instant. The powerful astral entity has already turned and begun soaring away. Wan leaps into the air, changes himself into his astral form and begins pursuit. "HALT!"

Whoever or whatever the being is, it moves fast - faster than even Wan. But Wan is no mere astral traveller; Wan punches open an astral tunnel and flies through it, reappearing much closer to his fleeing quarry.

"Why have you linked yourself to the Living Dark?" Wan calls out with fierce intensity.

Wan's quarry slows, realizing that it cannot escape. "Begone Spirit, You know not who you give chase to..." says the entity.

"I think it is you who does not know who you face..." replies Wan, drawing on Altur's instinctive knowledge of the Astral Plane to manoeuvre.

"I am the Darkness, I am the Heart, I am the Creator of the Black Chapter..." says the Astral entity, swelling in size to become a monstrous darkness. Wan feels like he has been in this situation before; fighting darkness far above the World. He draws a deep astral breath, hardens his aura and soars upwards towards the giant black shape, allowing himself to grow in size to match it.

---

IN
"BATTLE OF THE BULGING AURA'S"

Somewhere, high up on the Astral Plane...

"It's not too late Carthaze, come back to the light, I can reclaim your soul.." shouts Wan.

Wan doesn't want Carthaze's soul to be sucked back into the Hollow... Wan has a dilemma and it's Carthaze's call. Judgement has been served.

But Carthaze merely laughs bitterly in response, hurling his own astral power at Wan's aura. To Wan's surprise, despite appearing as a Wraith, Carthaze's energy is positive, not negative. He considers this for a moment before hurtling forwards to deliver a powerful Power strike with at least 50% of his spirit. (172 dice roll to hit + bonus.) Wan has plenty of hatred for the Black Chapter and with this punch, that clearly shows.

As Wan's power blasts at Carthaze, Wan sees the Astral Master's shimmering black aura ripped away like tatters of cloth, revealing an old glowing man inside. Carthaze suddenly feels exposed and begins to panic. "Such power!" he thinks. "I must retreat. Where did all that energy come from? By the Eye, it already replenishes!"

Sure enough, as Carthaze watches and Wan floats back, weighing up the effect of his attack, Wan's spiritual power almost instantly regenerates. Wan feels a rush of pure POW flowing into him from some unknown source until he feels just as strong as before.

After obliterating Carthaze's defences in a single blow, Wan finds himself staring as the real Carthaze - an old robed man. However, the Astral Master is not directly ahead of him - instead, he seems to be floating within a backdrop of bright stars, just beyond the rim of a black dimensional door. This door seems like a window, with Carthaze projecting his aura through it onto the astral plane. Something about the stars and the darkness seems familiar to Wan, but he cannot quite place it.

Wan's objective is still to pummel and get Carthaze unconscious, hoping to use him in some way. With only 12 hours until the end of the World, Wan wants to make use of him - but needs him unconscious as he is very unlikely to come willingly.

Faced with a being on the otherside of a planal door, Wan considers what to do next. Is Carthaze simply a projection? Wan asks himself. He attempts to extend his aura around him and then stun him some more but finds his aura can only pass through the doorway, not surround it.

Carthaze turns and begins fleeing into the stars. A moment later, Wan propels himself through the black doorway in pursuit.

He finds himself in space. Behind him is a huge, bright, beautiful image of Eldahar from high orbit; a sight that moves Wan in a deeply religious way.

He also observes that Carthaze is flying across the surface of a pitch black spinning rock, more than twenty miles across. *Eldahar's black moon*

"Now, It's my turn..." Carthaze shouts back, whirling to hurl yet another astral attack. This time though Wan notices Carthaze extending his own aura to deliver it, rather than shaping the astral plane. The Astral Master's aura crashing against Wans, who braces himself against the blow. Experiencing a slight, temporary dip in his own energy, Wan continues, unperturbed towards his target.

"Go back to where you belong - abomination!" Carthaze shouts, fleeing again across the moon's surface. "Leave me be!"

But Wan isn't listening.

After following Carthaze for at least a minute, Wan sees the Astral Master's destination - a pitch black building with 6 sides, balanced lop-sidedly on the moon's surface, as if it had actually fallen there.

Wan has gone one step beyond,
beyond the aura of Eldahar and into the cosmic Void,
to where the Black Lodge of Orion lies stranded
on a barren black moon.
There, at the very edge of Orion's influence, he is about
to unknowingly bring about another chain of events...
a chain of events that will open a very special door.

The black moon appears lifeless, barren and bleak; it is only visible in the light of the stars or when placed up against the light of Eldahar or the Sun.
The strange, smooth surfaced structure is utterly black... But Wan makes out an impressive pair of double doors.

Carthaze disappears into these doors moments before Wan arrives. Power strike door... 50%... BOOM... "WAN!" But Wan's punch seems to have no effect.

Bracing his aura against the moon's surface, he begins straining with all his spiritual might in an attempt to push the structure forwards and then upwards, hopefully freeing it from the moon and sending it into space.

He strains so hard that his spiritual energy burns like a rocket, rapidly consuming fuel. However, the fuel is instantly refilled, allowing him to burn more on top of the previous effort's reaction. This begins to have a cumulative effect, with each rush of power allowing Wan to attain new heights. Each burst and replenishment adds to the next, so that bit by bit, Wan's effort to move the Black Lodge becomes greater and greater.

Finally, with a roar, Wan lifts the Black Lodge away from the moon and begins guiding it across the void towards Eldahar's celestial radiance.

As Wan continues pushing (now a lot easier because the lodge is free of the moon's surface), Carthaze makes a second appearance, standing as a glowing white old man astride the building's roof. "Let us parlay... We have something that belongs to you. We're willing to trade it, if you stop the Lodge from its current course."

"I did not want to fight..." says Wan. "But this way now, you are forever damned..." Wan concludes. "You will be forced to share the same fate as the rest of us. You will be unable to hide up here while those below fight and suffer in your stead."

"We have the Keystone of Wan," Carthaze announces, desperation in his voice. "We will trade it if you bring the Lodge to a halt.  If we crash, it may become damaged."

Wan considers. "Very well. I will stop this place. Bring me the Keystone."

"You will stop us first and let us go. Swear it, upon your God."
Wan agrees, moving around to in front of the building and exerting himself.
Of course Wan thinks to himself - as he IS his own God, will a promise made to said God really be binding? Wan doesn't really care. He knows what he has to do and as soon as he gets the Keystone, he will not hesitate.

Carthaze then throws the Keystone of Wan out of the lodge for Wan to pick up.

1. Wan is not in the presence of the ARDA, thus any vow is in his eyes null and void. ( If on Eldahar, then Wan/Gray would never directly tell a lie )

2. Carthaze's Soul is damned, thus any agreement again is open to question.

3. Most importantly, the Black Lodge will think twice about trying to unleash the Hollow or interfering with the Clock if they are now part of Eldahar ( they may have been able to stay in the Lodge and project a window to another world, even if Eldahar is consumed ) now they will stand or fall with the rest of us.

If they will not join Wan , then again they may have to form an alliance to survive.

It could become like a scene out the wizard of OZ???

Why was doorway left open? will it not shut because of link? Or will it stay.

ONE thing, Wan will look at the shiny bright light which is Eldahar and swear by his last breath that he will defend it

Now, Wan is faced with a major issue/problem , what to do with the Keystone (at present still powered, but if he takes back to Eldahar the seals may drop because of the Clock??? either straight away or at a certain time along the Armageddon road, he knows that Drath has consumed the one person he needs against the Hollow or to help find Harmony, will it stay that way or could Ceraph escape his mind?, I feel that he needs the Keystone even in a symbolic way to heal his soul, which may cause problems). Also the
power of the plane could also be used as a focus, again the living dark may drain it?

If the plane becomes active, Wan/Gray can call on powers to engage the hollow via his link which he does not have at present

If Drath/Laylak escape - they may form a link to Hollow ( again a presence, just like the 3 kings - this time even bigger and stronger ).

So many different scenarios could occur with the reoccurrence of the Keystone.

Wan pushes the Lodge towards Eldahar... Inside, Carthaze sadly shakes his head.
"Why?" asks Zak, "Why would he do this?"
"Because some things are inevitable."
"But what will become of us?"
At that moment, Carthaze senses the fierce anger of the Darkness, coiling, ready to burst into their room.
"We will be fine," says Carthaze, reaching up to stroke the young boy's delicate features. With a jerk, like a puppet suddenly losing its strings, Zak falls at the old Master's feet, his life cord painlessly snipped.
"And you will not feel a thing."
The Darkness then roars in around him, full of anger at his failure - and as it once again, but for the last time, burrows into his dry veins, navigating its way to his heart, he imagines he hears the Heart of the Lodge ringing like a bell of doom...

Wan's actions with the Black Lodge trigger the fall of the Grey / Star Lodge and White Lodge as well.
People rush to obtain all three Lodges and bring them to one place, but in actuality, it is the exact centre of their Fallen Triangle that holds the Key - At the centre, a Gateway opens, in the form of a 200 foot high black sword, point downwards over Mount Eldahar and the Hollow. Followers of Orion immediately see it as a sign - a sign of his power and impending resurrection.

Wan rushes back down to the Hill of Wan to protect the Keystone. At first he decides to leave it in the middle of the main chamber beneath the hill. But then he thinks better of it and takes it to the Portal of Night, a decision he later regrets. As he kneels before the dark curtain, he offers up a prayer to the Arda.

He then speeds from Darksea and rushes back up into the astral plane, opening a portal as he goes. But suddenly his astral tunnel is diverted by unknown forces and he finds himself on top of a hill in Kane. It is raining and 12 lith stones stand looming around him the gray mist.

He sees Tomorrow, hovering in the air, an aura of immense power crackling around him and his eyes gleaming like tiny Universes of starlight. Aura is also there, the rain falling near her, but not on her. Her expression is one of great curiosity.

What concerns Wan the most is a Gray robed figure with a long grey beard. He recognizes the face as Stormcrow's, but the eyes are darker and more malevolent. This is Ragnek, Lord of the Underworld and Wielder of the Crown of Night. Wan cannot help but notice the man looks angry, especially as the rain falling around him seems to be boiling to steam before hitting the ground. The last Wan had heard was that Ragnek was collaborating with the enemy!

"You've triggered something big!" accuses Tomorrow, wagging a finger in Wan's direction. "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"The beings inside the Black Lodge were attempting to corrupt the 12 hours and destroy the World. I was unaware of the connection to Orion and the other two lodges..." says Wan.

"I should obliterate you right now!" Ragnek rages, his fists clenched tightly by his sides as if it is an act of supreme will not to lash out. "Do you have any idea what you've done? The Starlodge was our haven! It was our tactical advantage! And you've screwed it up!"

Ragnek loses his cool when Wan accuses him of working with Ashar. The entire hill is suddenly enveloped in the Crown of Night's energy and Tomorrow hurtles protectively over Wan, shielding him with his aura. When the darkness vanishes a few moments later, the entire hill has been erased and all that remains is the glowing point of light marking an entrance to the Ways and the centre of the ring of Lith stones.

Ragnek huffs at Tomorrow, hurls a few choice and angry insults through the Tomorrow Thief's mental door and then vanishes. "Don't take in strays Tomorrow. If it's lame, put it down!" are his parting words.

Tomorrow whistles through his teeth, his diamond like eyes of burning white fire twinkling. "Words of advice Wan - don't piss Ragnek off or he WILL obliterate you. He's just lost his wife to Chaos and now he's lost the one place he felt safe and could plan actions. Where his daughter lived. The Starlodge had a fantastic time to real time ratio. A lot of plans had been made there."

"Everyone should be here... on the World. We are faced with such overwhelming powers ahead of us... yet people don't seem to be blowing their stack against the guy standing by the Hollow. Join the rest of us I say." Wan has no sympathy and firmly shakes his head. "Everybody stands to fight - as one."

"Sounds all well and good," agrees Tomorrow, wanting to slap Wan himself. "But just don't piss any of us off. Ok? Because if you do, you won't know what hit you. We might not be able to completely wipe you out, but we can sure as hell make you miss the next 11 hours. Which something tells me would piss you off a lot more than dying. You might keep popping back up like a bad penny, but Ragnek and the rest of us could just keep flicking you down the drain."

"What will be, will be," says Wan defiantly.

"You just don't get it do you?" says Tomorrow, shaking his head. "Just keep your bloody head down or you'll get shot at by every Brak, Flick and Clansy who happens to be out for a spot of Hunt the Pillock."

But Wan isn't really listening. Wan feels better off forcing the Crown Wielder's hands. "I bet you were sharing it with Ashar. Can you deny that Ashar hasn't been to the Starlodge?"
"Yes I can. He hasn't," says Tomorrow. *Stuff that up your nose you arrogant retard!* Tomorrow thinks to himself.

"I will save Eldahar," says Wan, mustering up some conviction.
"No chance. Eldahar is circling the drain."
"You have no Faith," accuses Wan.
"Nope, I don't," admits Tomorrow.

Tomorrow decides that Wan is a completely loose cannon. *How do you deal with a loose cannon?* Tomorrow muses. *You give the cannon something to point at*

"I need you to go after Skathen... Skathen is a real threat to everything we're trying to do. We can't go after the little bastard ourselves because, well, let's just say, he has unique abilities that could cause an escalation of any conflict. We can't afford to engage him head on, but you could."
"No, I will do what I want to do," says Wan, stubbornly.
"No, you will," Tomorrow stresses, his eyes gleaming dangerously.
"I will not."

"Fine," says Tomorrow. "Have it your own way. You'll find trying to do things without us to support you as allies will prove more than a little troublesome. Cheerio Wan." Tomorrow waves and beams away in a flash of light. 

Wan stares for a moment after the departing Tomorrow and then rips open a portal back to Darksea. But his tunnel through the astral plane is again diverted against his will. He arrives at Evost Derry and is forced to open another portal. This time, when the tunnel is diverted, he blasts open another tunnel inside the first one and continues on his way. But to Wan's frustration, this tunnel too is bent away from Darksea and throws him out at the bottom of a lake.

This time Wan flies up into the astral plane and travels without the aid of a portal directly to the Holy Hill. There, Alyx is waiting expectantly for his return, with Kizzik sat on her shoulder and the young girl Kethry still unconscious at her feet. Wan had wondered where the bird had gone.

"Where the hell have you been?"
"It's a long story," says Wan. "You see, these Crown wielders are like the Merlendy Resistance... they tried to grab me, dictate to me... I'm not welcome anymore..."
"I knew it!" says Alyx. "That doesn't leave many people we can trust though. What about Arrianne and the Big Daddy Dragon?"

"The Dragons cannot be one hundred percent trusted either," says Wan.

"What is that thing?" Alyx asks, pointing up into the sky and the approaching black spot.
"That is the Black Lodge. There are two more falling from the sky as well."
"Why?" Alyx asks, slowly nodding with understanding. "What did you do?"
"Me?" says Wan, looking a little hurt. "Well..." Wan explains as quickly as he can, with his aura to assist, what has just transpired with Carthaze in orbit.

"I could stop them from crashing..." declares Wan, a crazy half cocked plan forming in his mind.
"These Crown people have got the power to stop these things crashing... leave it to them," says Alyx, sitting down on top of the High Doman's brass and stone tomb stone.
"Is the girl all right?" Wan enquires about Kethry.
"Seems fine." Alyx gives a very brief account of killing the High Priest and Spirit shifting Kethry to safety.

By this time, Wan and Alyx notice the black spot burning its way downwards, directly overhead. "It's getting close now. Does it look like it's falling down... directly on top of us? Or is that just me?" asks Alyx.
Wan has to agree. "I have to divert it. I have to save Darksea. Get yourself and the girl to safety. Collect the Keystone too."
Before Alyx can shout 'Goodluck', Wan has launched himself towards the heavens and the falling Lodge.

As Wan flies alongside the falling Black Lodge, he notices at least four other spiritual entities flowing around it. These entities appear as vacuous clouds of spirit, like woven strands of astral silk that move and criss cross in and out of one another. Searching his mind for some clue as to their identity, he remembers something from the High Doman's scrolls... These are the Spirit's of Orion.

"Begone... Begone - The Father is Falling!" the spirits cry out in unison.

"We must save the Father..."

But Wan isn't interested in their wailing and moaning as Daas looms closer and closer with each passing second. He hurtles ahead of the Lodge and positions himself in its path, adjusting his astral velocity until his hands penetrate the raging inferno of burning air at its base and make contact.

As before, on the Dark Moon, Wan summons energy from Eternal Source, valiantly trying to slow the Lodge's descent or force it to one side. Wave after wave of energy pulses through Wan as he struggles; but the Lodge continues on its fatalistic path towards Darksea, like it is being pulled magnetically towards its target. The Spirits of Orion batter and strike at Wan's aura, but their efforts are diminished by the tremendous raging fireball engulfing the falling building.

"The Father is Falling... The Father is falling - The Stars of Heaven... Orion Orion Orion... We the Unrashawan, will witness your second coming..." they scream.

Eventually, Wan moves away and watches in horror as the Lodge plummets like a comet, directly down onto the surface of Darksea and the Lesser Gate. As it hits, the water around Darksea explodes, the earth splits open, a boom tears through the air, shattering windows in Gost Yaroch ten miles away and an immense fireball erupts into the sky.

Dark Sea is no more and the Holy Hill is obscured in the shock wave of the strike.

What is Wan's connection to Orion? Assumption that everything must be brought back... "Ultimately we need the World to be one again."

"We're off to save the World again are we then Gray..." asks Alyx, smiling. "Ok, let's do it."
But the two of them just stare at one another, unsure of where to begin. Ultimately, it is young Kethry's awakening that decides. Kethry thanks them both for her rescue but is concerned about her sister.
"She's fine. She's off with a bunch of dragons," Alyx explains. "Is there anywhere we can take you? Anywhere safe?"
"To my sister?" says Kethry.
"It may not be wise to have the two of you together," states Wan.
"Then to my family, my father and mother... no scratch that, I don't want to endanger them. Am I going to be attacked again?"
"More than likely," says Alyx. "Anyone else?"
"Hethcanter and Tess. They're friends of the family and have a lot of magic."
"They'll do," says Wan, smiling slightly as Kizzik hops over onto his shoulder.

Wan tries summoning Aura but she doesn't arrive. Wan has been banned from calling her - banned by Ragnek and Tomorrow from feeding Wan anymore intel. He is about to take Alyx and Kethry to Hethcanter, when something distracts him. He suddenly feels drawn to ground zero in Darksea - to where the Portal of Night (Lesser Gate) resided and the Dark Lodge struck. When he arrives, he finds a huge smoking crater and unstable open gate. He also sees a tall, hooded black robed figure with skeletal hands and a scythe, wandering around. Atop the crater stands a resplendent, ivory white horse.

This is the Immortal of Death from Purgatory and he is there investigating what has just happened.

"Who the Hell are you?" Death asks in a raspy bone chilling voice from behind a skeletal face.
"I am Wan," says Wan, no longer bothering to keep his identity a secret from such apparitions. After all, what is the point anymore. Wan is rapidly becoming infamous in all the circles that count.
"Oh you're the chump who crashed it," says Death, shaking his Skull in a disapproving fashion.
"It could be put that way," says Wan, indignantly. "And who might you be?"
"I am Death..."
"What are you doing here?"
"Seeing how the World will end..." says the Reaper cryptically.

Now that Wan is there, standing close to the Portal of Night, the feeling he felt ealier disappears. Whatever drew him here now seems elusive and without this reason to remain, he turns away from Death and returns to the girls.

Alyx asks where he vanished to, but Wan is curt with his answer. "I thought I felt something. Let's go and find Hethcanter."

Wan warns Kethry - "This may be disconcerting for you." The young girl gives a strained smile of aknowledgement, without really knowing what Wan intends to do. He takes her by one hand, Alyx by the other and launches into the air.

Kethry is not only transformed into an astral entity by the power of Wan, but lifted high up into the astral plane at tremendous speed. There she experiences flashes of memory and visions of the future and present, blending together like some cosmic watercolour. Her senses and mind are overloaded by the experience, leaving her bewildered and incoherent.

Wan gets a fix on Hethcanter and soars East towards the Yarilian capital of Gost Arnan. When he descends he notices the city has been abandoned; the once cosmopolitan streets of the greatest Esian city port are now empty and filled with discarded belongings. The evacuation of the city appears to have been rushed, with an unknown number of victims scattered dead in the streets.

There is no sign of the Palasdine Empire. Gost Arnan was the first Esian city to fall to their advance over 10 years ago, but now it stands desolate and Wan doesn't know why.

Nearby, stands Hethcanter. Wan sees the Wizard walking carefully over a collapsed wall, his aura lit up like an Erintide tree with over twenty gleaming magical objects; chief among these baubles is the old man's Staff, 2 Orbs of mystical energy and several powerful Protection spells that circle around him like bright ribbons.

"Whoah..." says Kethry, staggering as she materializes on the ground, still seeing colours.
"Cool isn't it," says Alyx, gripping the smaller girl's shoulders to steady her. "It's like dipping your head in a whirlpool and having the water run through one ear and out the other."

When Hethcanter sees Kethry, he is overjoyed. She runs into his arms and he gives her a big hug. With the ice broken, Wan introduces himself. Hethcanter is very surprized that the "Doman" has returned and splutters over his beard. He then sees Alyx, a Spirit with which he has had some dealings with in the past and not just during the events of 2600.
"Hethcanter," says Alyx, giving him a nod.
"Vengeance," Hethcanter replies, respectfully.

Wan fills Hethcanter in on the "possible" demise of Carthaze - something that makes the Wizard smile and chuckle.
"We can't have things killing the Hours of Armageddon..." Wan explains privately to Hethcanter, without Kethry hearing. 
"What has all this to do with Kethry? She isn't anyone special. She has a Gift with the World Song, but..."
"I believe Kethry will be one of them. One of the Hours."
When Hethcanter hears this, he is quite shocked. "I hadn't realized. I mean, I knew they were out there. I guessed Arrianne would be one. But Kethry? Well, it begins to make sense... her parents, her connections... Yes. Now I see it."
"You must protect her," says Wan. "Be careful though, there are beings out there that seek her harm." Wan explains about Skathen.
"I have a few more tricks up my sleeves these days. And," Hethcanter pats the two Orbs he is carrying. "I have the power to spare."
Wan nods.

Wan is contemplating where to go next when suddenly something sends its thoughts their way. Wan senses the thoughts of a woman skimming over his aura; he hears them loud and clear. "Wan - I have received an image of you from another ally. I am going to send an emissary to meet with you. He will be there shortly. Please wait and parlay with him. I am anxious to meet with you personally and understand your part in the Destiny of the 3 Swords."

"We have company coming," announces Wan, telling Hethcanter to take Kethry to safety. The Wizard nods and waves, wishing them both goodluck. "Keep me posted on what's happening," he calls, leading Kethry inside a building.
"Great, let's see who else wants to join the party then," says Alyx sardonically.

The Elf approaches and bows. "I am an Emissary from the plane of Heartland and it's Queen, Tamara, formerly of the Chorus of Sorcerors. I would like to extend an invitation for you to visit Heartland, my name is Abbadon and I am the First Child of Orion."

Alyx raises an eyebrow in Wan's direction at that but Wan isn't easily impressed. "Why here, why now? What is this Heartland you speak of?"

Abbadon's posture is purely businesslike. "We do not have much time. I cannot remain outside of Heartland for long without tremendous risk to myself. We have learned that you were directly, or indirectly, responsible for the falling of the Lodges. This event has long been prophesised by the followers of the Father. By being involved in this event, you are undoubtedly linked in some way to the Father's return. As believers in HIM, we are keen to meet with you, on safer ground... to discuss... options." The giant elf makes a gesture to the doorway behind him. "Heartland is a plane, but unlike any other plane that has been created. It is a growing World in its own right and we believe it holds the key to our salvation and the Father's rebirth. Please, let me show you. In Heartland we will be able to speak more freely of this and other matters. But I know your answer now."

Dreamland - Elondil - Daig - now Heartland. Wan suddenly realizes there are a lot of planes knocking around.

"Shouldn't we contact Crow via the pendant?" Wan asks Alyx privately. "Just to make sure this guy is on the level."
"Maybe," Alyx agrees, suddenly wondering just what she did with Crow's little trinket.
"I know nothing about this place you speak of. I will need more information before I enter another plane of existence," says Wan.
"There is little more I can give, other than my personal assurance you will come to no harm. You have become an Aspect of Manifest Destiny, intrinsically involed in Our Father's return. We only wish to clarify your role and lend you our support, should you need it. We are on the same side Wan, but if you do not trust our intentions, we will understand and merely watch your actions from afar." Abbadon delivers his words like the master orator he is. Wan and Alyx are swayed.

"Very well, but I am not sure how travelling to another plane will effect my powers," says Wan with concern, mainly towards Alyx.
"I'm sure we'll be fine," she reassures him. "The bigger they are, the easier they are to trip up and behead," she says with a mischievous wink.

Abbadon steps through and gestures from the otherside for them to follow. After further, lengthy discussion on the matter, Wan resigns himself to going through and joins Abbadon on one side of a bubbling forest brook in the country of Andor. The mud on either side of the stream is churned up, with a clearly worn path stretching back through the trees behind them. "Not far now," says Abbadon. "Just over this stream. There, can you see it, the door to Heartland; well, one of them."
Alyx looks around. "Do you get a lot of visitors?"
"Oh yes," Abbadon nods, his face coming suddenly alive. "Heartland welcomes those who wish a Sanctuary in these perilous times. Heartland is the world's Hope. It is everyone's chance to live again and be reborn."
"Are you and your followers involved in events out here?" asks Wan, jumping across the stream.
"We are, to a degree. Ultimately though, our concern is with Heartland and the rebirth of my Father, Orion."

Abbadon leads them through a second glowing doorway; this door is larger than the first and as Wan crosses its threshold, he senses a shift in power. The doorway seems to scrape across his skin and spirit, removing any extraneous matter or energy, like a harsh disinfectant.
Alyx shudders as she joins Wan on the otherside. "That was creepy. I guess we're not on our World anymore."
"Welcome to Heartland!" declares Abbadon, with a sweeping gesture.

Wan and Alyx look around to see they have emerged through a large ancient looking stone archway. In front of them stand dozens of black skinned, white armour clad guards. Their armour is decorated and gleams in the light of a large bright white sun that shines high in the sky. In the distance there are rolling tree covered hills against a backdrop of snow topped mountains. The air is crisp and fresh, like that of an early autumn morning while the sounds of the guards yelling to an assembled crowd of people competes with the cries of mountain eagles crying overhead.

"Who are they?" Alyx asks, pointing at a hundred or so people standing in single file and being inspected by the guards. One at a time, the people are cleared and allowed to pass through another stone arch, out of the compound and into the world.
"They are Sanctuary seekers. They are being acclimatised to their new home. This place is the Annex, a corridor between Eldahar and Heartland. Once they pass through that second arch yonder, they will be altered and become truly a part of this Har"
"Altered?" Wan asks.
"All Sanctuary seekers have a choice. Remain as they are, or be reborn and given a different form. They could become younger, stronger, a different race or creed. They could become a man or a woman. To some extent, they can choose, but things do not always come out as they wish. One thing is certain though - once they agree to enter Heartland, they enter for good. They are changed into the energy and substance of this New World and there is no returning to their former selves."
Abbadon leads Wan and Alyx across the compound. Guards bow deeply as he passes - he is after all, immensely tall, inhuman and wearing spectacular ceremonial robes of state. With a gesture, Abbadon creates from thin air a spinning white disk of light that hovers just above the ground. "Come," he holds out his hand to Alyx. "This conveyance will take us to the Queen."

A thousand miles away, in a room of glistenening black white and clear cyrstal shards, jutting from the floor and ceiling like plants, a woman dressed in a silver flowing gown, her black hair held back by a hair net of diamonds, gazes through her mind's eye as Abbadon approaching with his guests. She speaks softly to a shadow that lingers at the edge of her vision, hoping that for once, the shadow will answer her or give her a sign. "He is bringing them. The male is powerful - a unique mind with no known racial signature. His aura is too intense to penetrate without force and his knowledge. The female is also strange, her mind shielded by proximity to the male. They call themselves Wan and Alyx, Spirit of Cairis."
She tries to see a little more of the shadow, but it moves to her peripheral vision, to the safety of anonymity. Did it just nod? Maybe. "Normarily, with events as they are, we would pay such being no heed," the woman contemplates aloud. "But the male is directly responsible it would seem for something we have been unable to achieve. He has given your Unraushawan the chance of rebirth and nearly stolen the Prime's Master Gate from out under their noses. Is this your doing? Is this fate? Are this man and his shadow carrying out your will? Or am I to assume it is all just pure luck..."
No answer. No nod. No sign of understanding.
Queen Tamara of Heartland sighs. "Come hither then Wan, I grant you an audience."

After a few minutes of flying over beautiful fields, hills and meandering clear rivers, Abbadon lowers them into the Imperial Courtyard of the Heart itself - Seat to the Obsidian Order. The buildings around them are reminiscent of the grandest of cities - awesome structures in size and splendor, that a Titan itself would feel comfortable walking among them.

led up pure white stone steps and into a vaulted chamber over five hundred feet in height, Wan and Alyx cannot help feel tiny. There ahead of them, waiting like a marble white statue, is Queen Tamara. Her skin is flawless, like alabaster and her gown flows like mercury around her shapely form. Flanking her stand two tall armoured figures, a man and a woman. At first Wan sees only their human forms, but then his vision flickers and for a moment he sees the man has black barbed limbs, a scaled hide and horned head. The woman also appears momentarily inhuman, her skin translucent and her eyes pure white like those of a fish.

Alyx thinks to Wan - "They could hold a pretty big party in this place."

Abbadon bows before the Queen and introduces everyone. "This is Motherland, Queen Tamara. Behind her are Berlin and Azrianna, heads of the Obsidian Order, my own children and Heartland's personal guard."

"You do realize that if Orion was to return to the Real World, all planes would become one," says Wan, spelling it out to everyone.
"We do," says the Queen. "But we consider the odds of him returning in this way, negligable. Rather than sitting back and hoping things will transpire in our favor, we are shaping our own scenario. We will ensure that Orion returns to aid us. We are not just creating a World here, a Sanctuary to survive the events beyond these borders... we are creating a Template for HIM, a mould if you prefer by which we can take his scattered mind and reforge it."

"Ultimately, whatever is left at the end, is what will count..." says Wan.

"The three swords have converged on the Master Gate's location, formally Mount Eldahar. They appear to be attempting to open a gateway through space and time. We believe that this gateway wants to open here, to Heartland. However, the gateway is incomplete. If the Hollow can be removed, the sword will solidify and anything passing through the new Master Gate will automatically be converted and sent here," Abbadon explains. "This is what we believe. But our problem remains the Hollow. Despite everyone's best efforts to eradicate it, the Crown wielders, Soloman etc, it remains strategically rooted to the spot."

Tamara continues. "We no longer have a Crown wielder here to support us - The Dark Lord has seen fit to remove her. She is Sisterland here and integral to the Destiny of our New Hope; she must be returned! However, until this situation is resolved, we must look for other ways to further our beliefs. Wan - your links to the Living Dark place you in a perfect position to oppose the Hollow. I do not believe it is mere cooincidence that the Three Swords have converged above it. It is a sign, from HIM. He wishes you to remove the Hollow, so that his will might be fulfilled."

Tamara finally adds "We recognize you as an instrument of Orion's Return and would seek to aid you as you move walk your path to fulfilment in this purpose."

"Everybody is picking sides," states Wan.

"In that, you may be correct. But being completely honest with you, I don't know how we're going to approach this alone," says Tamara.

Wan continues being side-tracked onto the topic of Daycaster - while Tamara is briefing the two of them on Danae's disappearance.
Aura stated that Wan was the "Vessel of Daycaster's Rebirth..." What did she know? How did she identify this about Wan? She must have seen something or known something that made her say that. Is Wan carrying the spirit of Daycaster within him? Or is Wan simply the cauldron by which Daycaster will be made? If not, did Aura mean that Wan will somehow through his actions bring about events that will cause Daycaster's return? How can someone, made by magic to know so much, be so cryptic and frustrating?

Tamara pretends to ignore the fact that she can see Alyx and Wan privately conversing. Despite being unable to penetrate Wan's aura with her mind, she "reads" their heart rates, pupil movements and dilations. Everything suggests that her "guests" are deep in contemplation. Of course, Tamara assumes their conversation is about Heartland, not Daycaster.

"Heartland cannot continue upon on its purpose until Danae is returned. The other Crown wielders are attempting to bring her back but there is nothing stopping Ashar from once again threatening this place and everyone in it. He came here, with force and said he would kill everyone here unless Danae went with him.  Faced with ultimatums like that, we must move very carefully," says the Queen.

"We would like to offer you our aid, but will need to know your movements," Tamara continues. "Keep us apprised of any new developments or ways that we may assist you."

Alyx privately to Wan, sums up Tamara's situation - "They've lost their Crown wielder and can't trust the other ones. Now their looking for a new tool."

Alyx then sums up her own mission and Wan's - "We're going to continue doing what we're doing until someone squashes us."

"The Hollow must be gotton rid of," Wan agrees. "I am best suited to this task."
"And if the Hollow is removed," affirms Abbadon, "the Sword of Orion will pierce the Master Gate, setting the next stage of events in motion."

But first and foremost in Wan's thoughts is the problem of Ashar. The situation in Heartland just makes this more evident; at any time, Ashar could attack - if Wan does anything to annoy or upset Ashar's plans, Wan will need a way to keep Ashar bay or risk losing everything. "There are a few too many aces out there holding people back. We need to nullify them a bit. There is a fellow who I will try and find in the future called Rombhard. I believe this place could provide some healing for him. If it can be done, he would be a very good ally. A unique sort of magic that could be very useful."
Tamara nods, but has never heard of Rombhard before.
Wan turns to Abbadon. "I also intend to speak with this Godark... he is very volatile, with tremendous power... and though I do not know anything of beings beyond this World, I will speak with him. He is running on his own agenda. At the present moment, there is only him and you who know about gate magic."
"I will help in whatever way I can," says Abbadon. "I have been journeying for many centuries to reach Eldahar and set matters right. The Idiom is no stranger to my passing. Be careful with Godark though, his sword is extremely egotistical."

Tamara says goodluck and waves them goodbye. Abbadon then flies Wan and Alyx back to the gateway they entered by. Once there Wan shakes Abaddon's hand.

"Goodluck," the black elf wishes. "You know where to find us. This gateway will remain open to you both."
"Thank you," says Wan, turning and walking with Alyx back to the Real World.

At this point, Alyx and Wan decide to split up achieve a few things on their own. Alyx decides to head North and find Cantoninus. "It's about time I gave him an update and asked how things were going."
Wan decides to find Hethcanter again and enquire about some rare Items that used to exist.
"I've been thinking," says Wan, looking towards the ethereal bird on his shoulder. "Kizzik belonged to Daycaster and tried, legends say, to catch the Sun as it fell into the chasm. Maybe he can sense something we cannot. Maybe he can find Red."
"It's a long shot Wan." Alyx shakes her head. "That bird was found by Ragnek and Red when they first entered the chasm."
"Exactly," Wan continues. "It was lingering in proximity to the Annex Animus for all those years. Perhaps something rubbed off on it. I don't believe it being here, with us now, is a coincidence. It's worth pursuing, as a longshot."
Alyx nods. "Ok, I'll take it up with me. There's no point you coming too. It can't be that hard to get a bird to fly." She smiles and gives Wan a sly wink. "I'll be back before you can fry a wraith."

Wan watches her spirit shift away before heading back to Gost Arnan via an astral portal. However, once again, he is shown a detour by Tomorrow.
When Tomorrow materialises near Wan, the astral plane appears to change shape and Wan finds himself standing a newly created chamber, filled with chess pieces. He notices that each of the chess pieces is identical to people in real life - North and Red as the White King and Queen. Ashar and a Red robed figure as the King and Queen of the dark side. Then there are the Crown wielders and other people (Immortals), like Aslan etc... When he looks for himself, he is a little disappointed to find he is "only" a pawn.

"What's happened now?" Tomorrow asks. "What did the Heartbreakers want with you?"
Wan sees no point in hiding the truth. That just wouldn't be Wan. He tells Tomorrow what Tamara and Abbadon told him.
"Those sneaky little buggers!" the Tomorrow thief exclaims. "That's what this is all about. They want to take possession of the Master Gate and channel all of the World's energy directly into Heartland. They don't want to save the Prime Material plane, they want to replace it! Stuff this sanctuary, lifeboat melarky... they're out to eliminate the competition and set themselves up as rulers of a New Animus!" Tomorrow excitedly contacts Ragnek and Brin through the doorways in his mind. "Hey guys, listen to this. It's even bigger than we thought it was!"

After Tomorrow gets a grip on himself again, he thanks Wan for the information. "So they want your help eh? Just be damn careful what you go and do next, ok. For the time being, don't go destroying the Hollow and letting that giant sword of theirs plunge into the World. That would be bad. I knew I couldn't trust them. Damn Orion freaks. Anyhow, what you up to next? I'm just curious. I'm under pressure to keep an eye on you. It's for your own good; Ragnek has an extremely twitchy Anihiliation finger." Tomorrow grins broadly.

Wan tells him he is off to visit Hethcanter in Gost Arnan. This seems sufficient to ease Tomorrow's mind. "Fine, keep your head down." With a twinkle of his eyes, the Lord of Planes dissolves.

Without much else to discuss, Wan bids the wizard farewell and heads back up to the dizzying heights of the astral plane.

Wan believes that some of the people and objects that were around back in the days of the High Doman may yet be of use. After disappointment with Hethcanter in locating some of 2600's more unusual artefacts, Wan decides it is time to unearth someone unique, if a little bonkers. Rombhard was employed for some time by Queen Kitara to research strange alternate forms of magic and energy. During his experiments, Rombhard stumbled across something akin to the power of the Hollow, but it drove him insane; now Wan wants to see if the enchanter is still alive and able to be of any use.

Wan travels high onto the astral plane and allows the aura of the World to wash over him. He witnesses a hurricane hitting the South coast... ships being sunk.. whales being beached. Giant hailstones falling in Khur. An earthquake in Ungmar... resulting in landslides and untold destruction of villages and towns. He also sees Deathwatch in the streets of some foreign city, occupying it and its governmental buildings. This is the war torn city of Eridorn, bridgehead for an Alfar invasion clashing against the forces of the Lion and Ashar's troops. The entire City appears to be on fire!

Eventually Wan catches a wisp of a feeling that leads him down to a grove of twisted elm trees deep in the wilds of Beldorn. Before him is a shimmering portal of deep red flames and standing in front of it, a demon of quite impressive size and ferocity. This is Sarigori - Flame of the Underworld, Lord of SoulFire and he boldly announces himself as such, regarding Wan with utter contempt.

"I seek Rombhard," says Wan, standing his ground and looking the hairy chested demon up and down.
"Begone!" Sarigori spits sparks. "Or I shall consume you in fire and bring upon your soul the suffering of an eternity of boiling flesh."
Wan clenches his fists and takes a step forward. "I intend on going through."
Sarigori laughs and immolates in fire; the fire seems to take on a life of its own, moving to cut Wan off from his surroundings. Wan feels the intense heat of it engulf him, but he takes several more steps forward, defiantly against the demon's heat and suffocating fumes. Drawing on the Source for power, Wan coils his arm and releases a violent jab at Sarigori's chest. There is a flash and crackle of energy and the demon staggers backwards, fanning its flames directly into Wan's eyes. Momentarily blinded, Wan concentrates on the demon's aura and prepares another faith-fueled punch. This one catches the demon by surprise in the face, forcing it to retreat into a ball of fire and hurtle explosively through the flaming gateway behind it to safety.

Obvious to even Wan that Rombhard is in Daig, Wan decides it is too late to reconsider. "He who dares wins..." he thinks to himself.

Taking the plunge, Wan feels a taint immediately cling to his aura as he emerges on the otherside of the gateway. The flames try to penetrate his aura but his purity or strength resists them. Either way, he arrives safely upon a plane of bleached white skulls. Around him he sees hollow eyed naked souls meandering aimlessly, picking their way through the skulls for something elusive while several bloated sweating demonic entities watching from reclining chairs.

Wan is now in Hell. Without wanting to go on a crusade against Daig and everything it stands for, Wan attempts to open a portal directly to Rombhard's location. Correctly figuring that he couldn't portal to Rombhard from the Material Plane, Wan now tries to reach him from the same plane of existence.

The demons briefly glance up and look at one another.
"DID YOU SEE A FIREBALL A MOMENT A GO?"
"NO, I DID SEE A HUMAN THOUGH."
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?"
"IT LOOKED TOO POWERFUL. IT WAS OFF THE SCALE!"
"OH, RIGHT. GOOD CALL. WE DIDN'T SEE IT THEN."
"SEE WHAT?"
"EXACTLY."

Wan's new portal leads him to a dark, evil looking corridor. He hears screams and the rabid insane murmurings of dozens of other incarcerated souls, but it is the cell at the end of the corridor that is what he seeks. He forces open the door to see a bearded man huddled on the floor with long dirty black hair and wild eyes. A memory of Gray's tells Wan this is the man - the great enchanter.

He grabs the unresponsive Rombhard and opens another portal back to the flaming gateway. The demons do not seem to notice him or pay him any heed, but he knows that Ashar will discover his presence soon. He rushes through and then immediately portals to Elondil and the Arda Avatarn. If anyone can help Rombhard and restore his sanity, he guesses it is the Queen and the pure waters of Heaven.

As soon as Wan arrives, Rombhard seems to come to life - but in a crazy mixed up way, screaming "I'm in hell! I'm in hell!" at the top of his lungs.

"Why have you brought him to me?" Kitara asks.

"I was hoping you might be able to help him. Rombhard is the most upset person I know and this place makes people content."

Kitara acquesces to Wan's reasoning, even if it is an open invitation for the priest to bring more strays to her in the future. "I will do what I can forh him. If there is anything left of his mind, I shall try to repair it. However, I cannot say with any certainty that his former abilities will return. He has been in Daig for a very long time. And he was there for a reason Wan."

Wan reassures Kitara that he is still her loyal servant. "As High Doman, there was the Temple of Wan, the Temple to the Queen and the Temple to the Gods," - "I have always had three Temples..." says Wan.
"Thank you my Doman. I could not ask for a more loyal aid."

"We must go after this Skathen. I believe we are rapidly approaching the next hour... when this creature will make his move."

Kitara has discovered something of interest. "After talking with some of the Immortals here, I have uncovered a secret mission. Apparently a group of special servants of Elondil were sent a few months ago into the Northlands to stop Ashar; Where are they now? No one seems to know. In fact, their mission was so secretive, that hardly anyone even in Elondil knew of it. No doubt to prevent Ashar's spies and loyalist immortals from discovering the plan."

Kitara then updates Wan on Aslan's attempt to unite Heaven and overthrow the Arch Angel's. "Aslan has mustered a lot of support from the younger Immortals. He intends on storming the Divine Steps. I will help in whatever way I can but the Arch Angels are a terrifying force. Their power seems almost absolute. I wish a weakness could be found...We know so little about them and their origins."

Wan leaves Rombhard in Kitara's care and continues back to the Real World.

T-Minus 11hrs 20mins.

Sheba appears 5'4" tall with fine straight blonde hair and light freckles.

Wan locates Sheba using the higher levels of the Astral plane. He descends on Gost Yaroch and takes up position opposite the building she is imprisoned in. From there he notices Deathwatch guards on the roof and patrolling the perimeter. He is now faced with a difficult decision; leave Sheba in Ashar's protection or expose her and give her to someone less qualified. If he actually knew where he would send her, it would be a different matter. But he doesn't, so he decides to leave her where she is. *What would Shefanhow have wanted? No doubt Sheba's return, but into who's care?*

Cantoninus gazes around the empty, water logged chasm, looking for some clue or trace of residual power. "There's nothing here anymore," he concludes, after several minutes.
"It looks like the New Sun packed up and left. Red has to have it. She and it are the only two things, other than that goddam cheat Ashar that no one can find." Alyx kicks a few stray pebbles.
"How are you and Wan getting along?" Cantoninus suddenly asks.
"Huh?" Alyx looks up, taking Kizzik down off of her shoulder. "We're fine. He's a bit different than Gray. But then so am I. A lot of time has passed."
"Is he only a bit different?" Cantoninus presses. "Is not the REAL Gray still locked away in the Keystone of Wan?"
"Well, yes, technically. But Wan IS Gray. They share the same bits of souls and Wan has all his marbles, plus a few extras." Alyx tries to ignore the Spirit Lord and focus on Kizzik. "Ok bird. Now's your big chance. Go find the Annex Animus. Go find the big bright shiny sun thing with half of the World's power in it, so that mummy Alyx can beat stupid Red over the head with her big black sword and then rule the Planet after melting that little black goat of fuck into a puddle." She launches the bird into the air and watches it fly off around the chasm. "Why all the questions about Wan all of a sudden anyway?"
Cantoninus smiles. "I have never seen you this, how shall I put it, excited? Your work as Vengeance has always been your passion. Now, there seems something else..."
Alyx laughs. "Shut up you old fool. You might be Lord of the Burning Host, but I'll still knock your teeth out. We're just friends."
"Of course," says Cantoninus, stiffening at Alyx's informality.
"Besides," Alyx turns to face him, amused that she has irked him. "Is today really the best day for anything else? We're professionals Gray and I. We get the job done. We don't have time for anything else. He's all about the mission and I'm all about helping him." Alyx jumps into the air as she sees Kizzik suddenly streak directly up and out of the chasm. "He's got something. Now what?"
"Now I give chase," says Cantoninus. "Until we meet again Vengeance."
"My Lord." Alyx bows.
When Cantoninus dematerialises, Alyx spirit shifts the long haul back to Esium and Wan's holy hill.

Wan hooks back up with Alyx, who fills him in on Kizzik's successful launch. "We've just got to wait a bit now. See where he leads Cantoninus."
Wan tells her briefly about Rombhard and then his plan to locate Makailla. "If she is alive, anywhere, I will find her using the Arda."

Wan carries Alyx up onto the astral plane with him. He gives himself over to the ebb and flow of the World's lifeforce, but after a few minutes without any hint of Makailla's existence, he is about to give up. But then something unseen grips Alyx and she sees a vision of Makailla, maimed and mutilated, bolted inside a giant pulsing machine and surrounded by the glowing masked faces of Deathwatch. Alyx feels the Queen of the Damned reaching out to her somehow across an impossible divide. A moment after the vision appears, it is gone - but Wan and Alyx have proof that Makailla "lives".

"We have to rescue her!" says Alyx angrily. "I can't believe Ashar has her! That bastard. He probably grabbed her the moment we left the Darklake."
"I cannot locate her like this. She must be somewhere hidden," states Wan.
"Well, we have to find a way. Maybe Tomorrow can help us. Didn't Stormcrow mention something about Ashar's stronghold? I'm sure someone did. That means the Crownies know something."
Wan agrees that Tomorrow may be able to help, but cautions Alyx on what she might say. "We do not want Tomorrow or his friends to know why we are seeking Makailla. Otherwise they may use her instead to influence Godark. Godark is essential to our plan. We need him on side to ward off the Crown wielders and Ashar. To buy us time."

Wan calls out for Tomorrow across the astral plane. An instant later the Crown wielder appears beside them. "Shhh. Not so loud. I'm not deaf."
"We need your help," says Alyx. "We need to find Makailla. She seems to be a prisoner in one of Ashar's hidden fortresses."
"Who is Makailla?" Tomorrow asks, already asking Aura exactly the same question in his mind.
"Someone very precious to us," says Wan. "She gave her life to help the Spirits of Akilla. She is a unique individual who will be very useful as an ally."
"Right, so where is she then?"
Alyx shares her vison with Tomorrow who whistles between his pearly whites. "Ok, that looks like Ashar's Sanctuary base. Ragnek and I have been there, but strictly on the hush hush. No one knows where it is, but it's chock full of a Deathwatch army... thousands upon thousands of Ashar clones and other freakish spirit things. He has a spirit, machine, some odd ball device calling itself Highgard One that oversees the whole place. He also keeps prisoners there."
Wan - "If you can get to it, why haven't you attacked it and rescued people?"
Tomorrow shrugs. "Not the right time. We stumbled upon the place by fluke. If Ashar knows that we know about it, he'll put other security measures in place or abandon the place all together and relocate somewhere else. Ashar is the master of alternate plans. If one is compromised, he always has two or three fallbacks. For the time being, we're tactically better off knowing where it is."
"Can you get us in there?" asks Alyx.
"Whoah..." Tomorrow raises his hands. "Didn't you hear what I just said? It's off limits. You wouldn't get five feet in that place without triggering some sort of alarm. It's wired, seriously wired. Going there would be suicidal, not to mention plain stupid. If this Makailla is there, she can stay there."
Wan listens but refuses to give up. "Makailla MUST be important to Ashar in some way. She may know things about him that can help us. If there is any way we can get her out, we must try. Help us find this place. There is no need for you to show yourself."
"I can't." Tomorrow shakes his head. "It's not just up to me. If I send you two in there, Ashar will know it was me or someone like me that got in. The way Ragnek and I got in there in the first place is unique to only a handful of people. Ashar would know who got you in and we would lose our advantage."
"She's a creator of spirits," says Wan, still refusing to listen properly to Tomorrow's refusal.
"She is?" Tomorrow's interest is suddenly piqued.
"Yes. She may be responsible in some way for Ashar's army of Deathwatch. I believe he has been using her. I agree with your logic that we need to keep the Deathwatch in tow. But they are controlling the World and funnelling faith towards Ashar. There will come a point where we may let him get too powerful. We need to start pruning his branches." Wan stands his ground and gives Tomorrow a level stare.
"Well that's just great. But it still doesn't change the fact that if I let you two loose in there, it will blow our cover. If you wait a while, we'll get her out when the time is right."
Alyx appears in deep thought. "I'm not willing to wait. What if you could just get us close enough to talk to her. If we didn't interact with anything and remained under your protection. Could you get us close enough to talk without being discovered or tripping any alarms? If you could, maybe Makailla could tell us something. Something about Ashar - a weakness perhaps? A way to defeat him?"
Tomorrow is silent for a moment, exchanging private words with other Crown wielders in his mind.

Tomorrow - "Bollocks. She's got a point there."
Ragnek - "So what. We have more important things to concern ourselves about. Like the imminent attack of Eskanu's Dragon Lords. We don't have time to babysit Tomorrow. We need you down here, fixing these fucking planal rifts before the whole world disappears down Eskanu's stinking throat!"
Tomorrow - "But what if this Makailla does know something about Ashar. Dammit. The girl has planted a teeny weeny little seed in my head."
Ragnek - "Get back here now or I'll dig out that twisted head of yours with a giant Titan spade."
Tomorrow - "Ok. I'll be there in a minute."
Ragnek - "TOMORROW!"
Sound of a door shutting.

Tomorrow looks at Alyx and purses his lips. "I could get you both in. I could get you really close to her... maybe even achieve contact. But it would be entirely on my terms. You would have to do exactly as I said. And if I did this, I would expect full disclosure."
Alyx looks at Wan who looks back at her. The two of them nod in unison.
"Fine. Ok." Tomorrow explains how it is possible for someone with a Crown to bypass Ashar's very tight security around Highgard One. "Every living thing has a backdoor into their mind. This "backdoor" exists in the deepest recesses of the imagination and to all bar the most powerful of psychics, it remains a mystery. You could say that this "backdoor" is where your astral cord connects you to the World. What I know for sure is that this "backdoor" can lead you anywhere. It allows you to approach the "backdoors" of other beings and enter their minds without their knowledge. Of course, opening someone else's "backdoor" is a feat in itself, but for one such as I, it's just a bit tricky. This way of moving around leads to all manner of possibilities; it was actually Ashar that alerted us to its existence. Apparently he's known about it for some time. Now, the way of getting into the Sanctuary is through my mind, out the back end and then into the mind of a Deathwatch who is already there. Sounds wierd I know, but trust me it works. Once we're inside, we'll leave the Deathwatch's mind and float along in mine until we find Makailla."
Alyx agrees - it does sound wierd. "Ok, lets go then."
Tomorrow grins. "Eager aren't you. Ok. First I'll need you both to enter my mind."
"What do we do?" asks Wan.
"Nothing. Just don't panic when it happens. Ready?" Tomorrow blinks and suddenly the world vanishes around them both. Wan feels something closing in around him and then finds himself standing in a strange landscape.

Wan and Alyx find themselves in a strange flowing landscape where a hangman's tree can be seen in the distance. Despite seeing, smelling and feeling the ground under their feet, both are aware enough to recognise that they are in a construct; albeit, a powerful and highly detailed one. They are inside Tomorrow's mind and things just seem a little... off. *Note - Tomorrow is still suffering from bouts of paranoia and day-terrors caused by his mental battle with Skathe. Somewhere, in the deepest recesses of his imagination, Tomorrow still has the Dragon locked away, trying desperately to escape. Add to this the vast store of planal knowledge bestowed upon Tomorrow by the Doe Law and it is no wonder his mind appears warped.*

"Too many beings are causing the destruction of the Astral plane. Am I only the one who's a band aid..." says Wan, sighing.
"There's no one bigger than Wan," says Alyx smiling.

A pseudoTomorrow appears, telling them to follow him. He begins walking down an imaginary corridor filled with strange paintings and works of abstract art. Some of the art represents complex cosmic equations and interplanal fault lines. Some of it is just colourful splatters of colour.

"Don't mind all this," Tomorrow explains, flinging his arms around. "I need a good lobotomy to flush all this out." He winks and presses on, the lights around them growing gradually dimmer the further they walk.
"Where are we going?" Alyx asks, her voice falling flat in the air around her.
"We're going down a deep dark rabbit hole my dear," Tomorrow thinks to himself. "You're traveling through another dimension... a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Deathwatch Zone!" Tomorrow laughs for no apparent reason but eventually answers... "We're going out the back way."
As they continue to follow him, Wan hears a strange screech in the distance. He looks through the throbbing, slightly translucent walls of the corridor and for a moment, thinks he sees something reptilian slithering through the murkiness. Tomorrow instinctively quickens his pace towards a glowing chamber up ahead of them. The chamber is illuminated by a single lamp post and is empty except for a plain red oaken door.
Alyx looks at the darkness that has crept up upon them and eagerly jumps into the light. "Well, that was easy," she whispers, more than a little spooked. After all, being inside the mind of a Crown wielder puts her and Wan in an extremely vulnerable position. What if Tomorrow decided to unthink the air or drop them both into a make believe volcano?
Tomorrow smiles at her. "Of course it was easy. I pay my Mental Taxes. It keeps the riff raff out."
He opens the door and leads them through it into a pale mist filled light. After another thirty seconds of walking through this he stops and seems to concentrate. The mist parts and they find themselves suddenly walking through a montage of moving memories and frozen images. Colours blur and melt into one another before draining away and reforming like paint into new visions. Sounds seem to flow, rising and falling in volume around them - at first none of it makes any sense, but as Tomorrow continues leading them, stressing that they must follow exactly in his path and stay close, their surroundings begin to stabilise. After another minute they see windows on either side of where they are walking; through these windows they see chambers filled with Deathwatch and Masked Ashars. "We've now left the Deathwatch's mind. We're on our own. I'm floating as a disembodied mind through the Sanctuary," says Tomorrow in an adventurous tone. "This is where I need to concentrate. One false move and I'll alert every last one of them."
Through one of Tomorrow's viewing windows they see several Ashars performing a scientifically calculated spiritual surgery on a frozen patient. In another room they see more masked beings observing a crystalline machine beaming energy like a laser into the aura of another Ashar. The machine seems to cut, slice and dice the Ashar's aura like a gem cutter would shape and perfect a precious stone.
In another room they witness a Sardinese woman pacing a cell. The cell is made from some sort of transparent material far harder than glass. "Oh look who it is..." Tomorrow suddenly speaks. "It's one of the Saardi from Sardium."
"Ashar has her prisoner?" asks Wan. "She must be dangerous to him."
"Probably. The Saardi are immensely powerful summoners."
Wan makes a mental note of what she looks like for future missions.
In yet another chamber, they observe a tall pale skinned elf piecing together a metal sphere. They also see black metal spheres hovering back and forth, with cruel instruments and appendages emerging from inside of them.
"Ashar sure has a lot of toys doesn't he..." says Alyx.
Wan stares again at the tall pale skinned elf. "That's one of the Qual I released from the Forge!" he exclaims. "Ashar has them here too."
"He has all sorts of people working for him," says Tomorrow matter of factly. "It doesn't surprise me he's dug a few Qual up along the way. Where do you think all these machines and things came from? Ashar is a spiritualist, not a mechanical genius. What he has done though is integrate all this stolen knowledge into his spiritual abilities. That's his talent."

After passing dozens of other chambers and crossing glass walkways spanning cavernous trenches ofpulsing light, Tomorrow's mind floats towards the hub of Ashar's Sanctuary. He bypasses several Deathwatch standing guard next to a giant white door and comes to a 30 foot high, seemingly empty chamber. Here Tomorrow scratches his forehead for a moment.
"What?" Alyx peers over his shoulder. "An empty room?"
"Nope. We should be so lucky. Hold on a moment." The window in front of them shimmers and reveals the same room, but filled with millions of fibrous interwoven threads of energy, like to whole room is stuffed to the seams with cotton wool. "Told you. Ashar has so many booby traps in this place. The only way to get through chambers like this is to be an Ashar. If we trip one of these threads, we'll end up in an astral prison, or worse."
"Can't you just go around the room?" asks Wan.
"No, this stuff extends way beyond the walls. Probably goes around this entire section. I just need to make my aura look like one of the Deathwatch. Should be relatively easy." Tomorrow appears to concentrate and then propels his tiny mental point forwards to the other side of the room. "See, am I good or what?"

At that same instant, somewhere deep within Ashar's sanctuary, a pair of eyes blink open. A disembodied head, one of hundreds connected to a great device that hovers in the center of a chamber that seems to phase in and out of existence, begins rapidly mouthing numbers. Information is relayed back and forth at tremendous speeds and Ashar's Central Intelligence Core processes it to a precise conclusion; an extra Deathwatch mind has just been detected within the Sanctuary's perimeter. The voice of High Gard One addresses the assembled plugged in heads - "A discrepancy has been identified. Commence security protocols three to seven. Identify the source of the discrepancy. Report upon completion." As soon as High Gard One speaks, the Ashar clones are systematically spiritually contacted and asked to confirm their identities through a series of memorized mathematical sequences.

Tomorrow, Wan and Alyx notice the masked clones stopping, muttering unintelligible gibberish with their minds. "What's happening now?" Alyx asks.
Tomorrow looks a little concerned. "I think they're being asked to identify themselves. We don't have long."

Tomorrow moves his mind into a central shaft that rises up above them more than a thousand feet. Enormous tubes of glowing metal and glass conduct pulses of light back and forth through the air and upwards, disappearing into sockets within the walls. A group of white clad, black masked Deathwatch busy themselves within the circular chamber at the bottom of the shaft, walking around a strange machine that bares more resemblance to a torture device than anything else. Alyx immediately recognises the thing from her vision and sure enough, buried deep within its tubes, spikes and clamps is what is left of the Undead Queen.

Half of Makailla's body is missing; her entire right hand side seems to have been sawn away leaving her ribs exposed and her arm socket empty. She is little more than half a torso and a head, having lost all of her limbs; to Alyx's horror, the full extent of her injuries becomes apparent when Tomorrow's mind approaches a little closer. Where Makailla's limbs should be, medical instruments have been inserted deep into her flesh; drops of milk-like fluid flow slowly along some transparent tubes to a gathering funnel. From this funnel they are then conducted higher up into the shaft.

"Oh my God," Alyx mutters. "What have they done to her?"
Even Wan feels a bitterness in his mouth as he looks.
"She's being drained in some way," Tomorrow muses to himself.
"Can you get me close to her?" Alyx asks. "I need to talk to her."
"Ok. But we don't have long. If anything wierd happens, I'm pulling out. Don't try anything stupid."

Tomorrow floats a little closer, until his mental point hovers just in front of Makailla's head. Making discreet contact with her subdued and weakened aura, Tomorrow becomes a conduit for Alyx's thoughts.
"Makailla? It's Alyx. Wan is here too."
The undead queen's eyes suddenly open and focus ahead of her. "You've come," Makailla whispers spiritually. Despite Tomorrow dampening the powerful feelings emanating from Makailla's spirit, Alyx recoils in horror at what Makailla has endured. 
Alyx turns to Wan, her voice cracking. "This is terrible."
Wan can only nod and watch.

Tomorrow tries speaking to Makailla, but she ignores him and only answers to Alyx. "I have waited for this moment for so long," Makailla explains. "They have forced me to do terrible things. They have taken my powers and corrupted them to their own ends. Because of me, untold numbers have suffered. There must be a reckoning for this pain. There must... I have listened to them, learned how they think and act. I know their weaknesses. And now you are here, I can do what I have wish for for so long..."

As Alyx is about to ask what Makailla means, the Queen of the Damned's eyes suddenly blaze with light. Tomorrow senses something passing through his aura and attempts to correct his protections against it, but whatever it is, it is already directly flowing into Alyx. A moment later and the flow of energy stops, leaving Tomorrow wondering what in the hell just happened. He doesn't have long to contemplate though as Makailla's torso begins glowing from the inside out; her marble white skin starts to crack and develop fissures of light; her eyes melt into holes of burning white fire. The Deathwatch start to respond, but it is too late. With a blast of light, Makailla disrupts herself into a wave of energy and sweeps out across the chamber.

Tomorrow's mind leaps ahead of the blast as it hits the closest Deathwatch and dissolves them into clouds of energy. One or two of the clones manage to spirit shift away, but the shockwave travels faster than their spirits can escape and catches them mid flight. Tomorrow sees parts of the Optimidian shatter and come crashing down around them as he makes his escape.

"Code Alpha. Emergency in containment..." announces High Gard One.

"Dammit!" yells Tomorrow, moving his mind rapidly out of the area and back tracking along the bridges and corridors. Makailla's strange shockwave continues to spread out from the Optimidian, dissolving clones left right and center. Tomorrow rides the edge of the wave and forces his mind inside the closest Deathwatch he can see, sending the clone reeling from the impact. Images and memories flash by at tremendous speed as Tomorrow conveys Wan and the stunned Alyx through the clone's life time within the Sanctuary (it has never left). As soon as Tomorrow locates the deepest part of the clone's mind, he forces his way through and out the other side. As a last precaution, Tomorrow focus's his powers on the Deathwatch and releases a blast of disruptive energy back into the man's mind. It detonates, vaporizing the mind and extending outwards to encompass the body. A nearby clone witnesses the Deathwatch in front of him suddenly disappear in a bright flash of light. But when the clone reaches out to 'read' the area where the Deathwatch had been standing, all he picks up is emptiness. It appears, on the surface, as if the Deathwatch dissolved like the others, from the strange blast wave - which is just what Tomorrow hopes.

"Containment breach. Unknown spiritual disruption effecting Optimidian chamber... spiritual dissolution in progress. Analysis team to Optimidian Chamber. Astral plane regression required. Regeneration of Optimidian chamber in progress," High Gard One continues announcing.

*Note - Makailla had spent many years enslaved within Ashar's great machines. "Milked" of her blood and having to watch it being used to create new spirits and Deathwatch without her consent, Makailla's days were filled with constant, unrelenting agony at the hands of her Ashar tormentors. They probed her spirit, provoked her mind and treated her like an animal - but an animal that regenerated and provided an unending supply of pure spiritual sustenance and power. However, despite being unable to escape and being kept low on energy, Makailla did gain insight into Ashar's training and spiritual abilities. She learned a few tricks during her imprisonment; it was only a matter of time before someone came and gave her the opportunity to put them to use. By drawing on Alyx's energy, Makailla knew she could escape, but that Ashar would simply capture her again. Her only option was something a bit more drastic...*

Tomorrow returns Wan and a stunned Ayx to the real world, releasing them from his mind. Tomorrow makes an excuse and then quickly leaves; "I need to cover any trail that might lead back to us."
At this point Alyx's condition begins to deteriate. She feels disoriented and dizzy. Wan supports her with an arm around her waist and senses her spiritual power is extremely low. It doesn't take a Magic degree from the old Towers of High Sorcery to see that Makailla drained Alyx to within an inch of extinguishing her life. Wan knows he has to act quickly and rips open an astral potal to Elondil. Alyx is the last surviving empowered servant of the Goddess Akilla - if she can recuperate power, it will be in the Dusk Goddess' temple.

Wan carries the weakened Alyx back to Akilla's black and white temple in Elondil. It is still decimated, from the 'death' of the Goddess at the hand of Adunathel - Godkiller, with piles of rubble and broken pillars scattered left and right.  He lays her gently on Akilla's pure white altar and kneels before it to pray. Alyx turns her head to him and smile but does not appear well.

As Wan watches, the cracked statue of Akilla standing between the Twin Pillars of Extinction, astride the Veil between Life and Death, towers over him, its face baring a strange familiarity. Suddenly, Alyx begins to convulse uncontrollably. Her usually pale skin is completely drained of colour, her limbs shaking and fingers clawing at the altar stone in pain. 

Wan doesn't know what to do, or what is happening. He can only watch, helpless, with mixed emotions, as his only "friend" in this strange existence he finds himself in, undergoes a terrifying transformation. Drawing on the power of Eternal flame, he offers up a passionate plea to Akilla, hoping that some small part of Alyx's Goddess has survived to hear him. "Goddess of Twilight - Bestow your power and wisdom upon your daughter. So that she may reap the vengeance that you require. Give her insight into the troubles we face - let her join with me as my soul partner through Eternity to guide the Living Light of the Arda to its ultimate destination..."

But the statue of Akilla remains silent, her face now uncannily similar to Alyx's own.

Wan intensifies his devotions, giving tremendous spiritual weight to his words. He becomes vaguely aware of the debris around him beginning to float back into place; of the floor tiles reforming and the shattered pillars rising up and repairing themselves by some invisible hand. But none of this is of consequence... Alyx suddenly draws an anguished breath, stiffens and stops breathing.

"NO..." Wan mutters under his breath, unable to believe that it is so. His Aura sight probes Alyx's body, but confirms the worst... her aura has just vanished, snuffed out like a candle flame to leave only an empty, lifeless shell.

Alyx of Akilla, of the 7 Sisters of Sorrow, daughter of Daya, living spirit of Vengeance and Child of the ANU is dead.

Moments pass, long drawn out seconds where Wan feels real emotions threatening to unchain themselves from somewhere deep within him. A Jixiliah cannot experience emotion... it is impossible. A High Doman must not deviate from the path of faith and devotion, must not feel love,  but a man... a man is a different matter.

But then Alyx moves. Wan interrupts his prayer as Alyx's skin changes into a pale, but perfect mask of beauty. Her features, while attractive, yet nothing special, are suddenly sharpened and defined as if by an artists hand. The result is otherworldly and by no means ordinary. It is Alyx, but Alyx enhanced.

Inside of her body, Wan sees an aura bloom again, but it is an aura mixed with other elements of power that run deeper and stronger than before. There is no doubt in Wan's mind as he gazes at her obvious reborn power, that he is in the presence of something divine.

"Hear me fellow Elondian's - Akilla is reborn!" shouts Wan. Somewhere, far away in Heaven, something rumbles ominously as his words carry forth.

Alyx opens her eyes, blinks a few times as she adjusts to the light of the Temple and turns to Wan. "I feel, odd. What happened?"

Wan smiles. "I think Makailla did something to you."

Alyx looks at her hands and then reaches up and touches her face. Everything about her body seems suddenly overpowering. Her mere touch sends shivers down her spine while her eyes seem to capture every nuance, every colour, every shade and depth of light in the room around her. As she reaches out with her mind and spirit, she senses a great conduit of energy flowing through her and is startled by its potential. The statue of Akilla confirms her suspicions as it has now become a perfect likeness of her. "Oh my... Wan, I think that's me. I think, I think this Temple is mine now."
"I think so too," says Wan, helping Alyx off of the altar and onto her newly strengthened legs.
"I can feel it. I can feel the power of this place, like a tap inside of me. I can also feel her (she flashes an image of Makailla to him). I can feel her inside of me too. Oh Wan..." Alyx suddenly sheds several clear diamond like tears. "She suffered so much. He tortured her, made her do things against her will. She was in so much pain, consumed by so much guilt, yet powerless to escape until I came along. She's gone, but has somehow transferred her essence into me. It was the only way she could escape. I think Ashar had some control over her original form, that went beyond that of the machine. She HAD to change and join with another, to stand any chance of freedom. She endured so much..." Alyx is overcome by thoughts, feelings and flashes of memories that are not her own, but Makailla's. She feels feint but Wan steadies her, putting his arm across her shoulders.
Wan gazes seriously at her. "It was meant to be." Once again Wan thinks to himself, I have brought a being to Elondil and triggered the birth of a new divinity.

Alyx attempts to pull herself together and surprises herself by actually managing it. She then girlishly throws herself at Wan and gives him a hug. "Thank you, thank you for praying for me. I heard everything you said." An awkward moment ensues as Alyx's emotions threaten to run wild again.
Wan looks away. "We should leave. I don't know how the other Gods up here are going to take this."
"Yes," Alyx nods. "We should." She dismisses her foolishness and adopts her Vengeance persona. "Let's go. I think I'm ready to face Goruan now. We (she unconsciously includes Makailla in her statement) can sway him to our side."

Wan forces open an astral portal and takes Alyx's hand. With one last glance at HER newly formed temple, Alyx steps after him into the twisting corridor of energy.

However, before they arrive at their destination, something blocks their way. Wan and Alyx see a thirty foot tall entity stride across their path and block the way. It is an Archangel of Elondil, glowing bright and golden. "THIS IS FORBIDDEN.. THE LAWS OF ELONDIL FORBID THIS."

Wan doesn't have time to react as the corridor is propelling him and Alyx at speed towards the Arch Angel. Instead he braces for a possible impact and hardens his aura. There is a moment of clashing powers and then Wan sees that they made it through - right through in fact, the Arch Angel's form. The Elondil policeman obviously wasn't entirely substantial.

Alyx breathes a sigh of relief as the tunnel widens and opens a couple of miles away from the Hollow and its fragmented astral plane. "I thought we were in the shit then," she says, in a very un-goddess-like manner.

Wan nods but hardly hears her. Instead he pays careful attention to how her arrival on the Material Plane seems to send a ripple of spiritual weight across the astral plane. "Once again, I break the rules of Heaven," he thinks to himself. "Once again I bend the rules of the World."

After walking through the decimated terrain around the Master Gate towards the Hollow, Wan and a somewhat distant Alyx see Godark walking out to meet them.

Alyx's feels as if her body has been hijacked and isn't completely in her control. Her mind feels alert, but disjointed, as if it is working in two halves. As she walks towards the Hollow, she feels the crushing weight of the shredded astral plane baring down on her, as if she walking at the bottom of the ocean. Only Wan's reassuring presence and untouchable aura keep her taking steps forward. Without touching her or saying a word, she knows Wan's strength will prevail.

"You here to see the sword...?" Godark asks, glancing nonchalently back at the giant, three hundred foot high black sword poised in the air, point downwards, directly over the Hollow and Eldahar's Master Gate.
"Not exactly. We know who you were..." says Wan. "You were a Spirit of Makailla. The first that she made upon her return 16 years ago."
"You were once the Spirit Darkmoon and your name was Goruan," adds Alyx, trying to hide her trembling hands by planting them firmly on her thighs.
Godark stiffens at these words; the metal of his shiny black helmet flows to one side, revealing a pale skinned gaunt face beneath it. *Note - Goruan was once a well built Esian man - a great and powerful smith who used the Anvil of the Gods to create objects of great power. But many years of traveling in the Fractal realities of the Void have taken their toll upon his health. The armour he now wears has become his skin; he never removes it and hardly ever shows his real face. His body has not eaten or drunk in the normal way now for over five years. The armour and Kranatakyn provide his body with all he sustenance it needs to continue living.*
"Ok, so how do you know this?" he asks.
Alyx steps a little closer and holds out her hand. "Because we have just rescued Makailla from a fate worse than death. Because Makailla is here now, in me. I remember you Goruan... I remember you releasing me, her, from the Tombs of Derry, where I was sealed. I remember."
Godark stares at Alyx, trying to read her face and gauge the truth of her words. As he stares into her eyes, Alyx feels Makailla's memories rise up in her mind. She instinctively lets them flow towards Godark, who recoils as they touch his armour.
Godark sees and feels some of Makailla's pain and in a few brief moments becomes convinced of Alyx's sincerity and identity. All those years of wandering, alone, through forgotton splinters of reality, across fragments of Worlds dreamed into existence by Titans long since faded to dust, fighting and destroying creatures and beings now extinct and erased from history; all those years had left Godark cold and empty inside. Somewhere along the way, his humanity had been drained away by the Gohde. Yet in one single moment, the power of Makailla's blood and her bond to Darkmoon, reawakens his soul.

The effect of all this is quite dramatic; Godark kneels before Alyx and cries into her chest. He feels her love and empathises with her pain at the hands of the Deathwatch. With tired eyes that have seen whole worlds swallowed by the blackest of nights, Godark ignores the angry whispers in his mind from the swor and gazes up at Makailla reborn, re-pledging his allegience. "A part of me had hoped, but been too afraid to find out. Now I know you are still alive and I know what I must do. I will help you in whatever way I can. Tell me to destroy them, your enemies, and it shall be so. I'll kill them all, starting with this Ashar and his Deathwatch, for what they have done to you."

"Right, I think we're ready to play..." says Alyx, turning to smile wickedly at her bald headed friend.

"What exactly can you do?" Wan asks Godark.

"He who controls the Animus, controls the flow of Life - and with that control can spread their influence across the Idiom," announces Godark. "Of all the places I have walked out there," he gestures back towards the Master Gate, "I have never found one so full of energy as Eldahar. Kranatakyn and I have been working our way back here for some time. We both have unresolved issues." Godark then goes on to explain a little about the Gohde and how it came into existence. Kranatakyn being the greatest and more powerful creation of a Warlord Titan called Satule. Satule supposedly led an uprising against other Titans and would have succeeded if it weren't for some of his allies betraying him and removing Kranatakyn from his side. Without the Black Gohde to support his campaign, Satule was defeated and "locked" away.

"The Hollow is an impostor... Kranatakyn wants to consume it and show it who is boss - That Satule is the greater Destroyer." This is what Godark believes and the sword hisses in confirmation.

"What are you going to do if you attack something..." Wan is concerned about the Gohde and its obvious likeness to the Living Dark.

"Kranatakyn gets to eat its fill..." says Godark simply. "The sword needs energy to use its abilities. The more energy, the more powerful its abilities become with the greater abilities being unlocked. Kranatakyn drains this energy from its victims."

Seeing Ashar coming at her, Alyx gulps and tries to retreat, but Wan steps around her to intervene.

"You! You're the one responsible for killing her..." Godark growls. With frightening speed, the armour clad Void Warrior charges towards Ashar, Kranatakyn leaping like a panther into his hand, its pitch black blade humming with the excitement of impending violence.

Alyx lowers the veil of Akilla, cloaking herself in extra magical resistance and fixing her body firmly between the opposing pillars of Life and Death. With the veil down, Alyx hopes that she will be safe, for a moment at least.

Wan begins to pray... he doesn't know what else to do. As yet, how can Wan hope to stand defiantly against someone like Ashar?

Kranatakyn strikes Ashar's protective aura and begins sending out wild crackling bolts of blackness. In retaliation, Ashar's aura pushes back with bolts of its own and for several immortal seconds, the two dark powers strain against one another with neither side moving back or forth. Ashar takes this time to remain quite calm and collective. He decides to talk, in an almost friendly way... "I'm not here to fight, simply to pay my respects to Makailla's next of kin. It appears she suffered an accident - one that I cannot resurrect her from. I find myself truly upset that she has passed and would like to offer my support and the support of my Deathwatch in this time of obvious grief. She was in the time I knew her, a pillar of resolve, essential to my plans and to the new world that I seek to bring about. She will always have a special place in that World - as indeed will you. (stares directly at Alyx) Because, I'm afraid my dear, I have a vacant spot in the hierarchy - and you would appear to be the only one qualified to fill it."
Ashar decides that enough is enough as the Gohde is suddenly proving bothersome. *Note - Kranatakyn drains energy exponentially, so the longer ashar remains in contact or in the vicinity, the more power Ashar effectively loses and gives to a potentially dangerous foe.* With a flippant flick of his left hand, Ashar pushes Godark back and walks around Wan with blinding speed. Wan knows he moves fast, but Ashar almost seems to teleport from one place to the next. Wan tries to harden his aura and create a barrier against the Dark Lord but Ashar just slips through, like a hot knife through butter.

Ashar reaches up and grabs Alyx on her right arm. She feels his fingers close like steel around her slender wrist and send a hellish chill through her veins. For a moment she feels helpless, utterly in Ashar's power and subservient to his will. She sways forwards, every part of her body wanting to fall into the Spiritualist's abyss and never emerge again... but then something surges through her. Instead of blood, she feels something akin to magma burning through her veins and jolting her mind into alertness with a moment of indescribable agony. The pain rushes into the Dark Lord's fingers, taking him by surprize and forcing him instinctively to snatch his hand back. His attempt to teleport her away fails and he isn't sure why.
"You seem to have learned new tricks..." he praises.
"Makailla's spirit learned from the best..." Alyx replies, facing what she feels is imminent death with the cold and malevolent stare that only a Spirit of the Dark Lake can give.
"There is a danger in that..." adds Ashar, moving backwards, ignoring Wan and still shielding himself against Godark's relentless assault. "I will be back to get you..." With those final words, Ashar vanishes, leaving Alyx to gasp and begin shaking all over again.

Alyx feels that her veins are still on fire, like lines of gunpowder burning their way to her heart. Her head begins swimming again but she fights to stay upright and not let Godark and Wan see what she is going through. "Whatever is happening to me, I'm going to make it," she thinks to herself. "You are stronger than you think," says another voice in her mind; yet even though the voice sounds like her own, she cannot remember thinking the thoughts. "Am I going mad. Or is that you Makailla inside of me?" Nothing answers.

Kranatakyn is pleased with how the confrontation turned out. "Ahhh, the tastes of it. Such power. Such energy. I am full to bursting. I can always have more. But I capable now of so much more."

Wan mutters to himself, concerned, but decides that it is best to focus Alyx and Godark on doing something. It is time to find and deal with Skathen. What better way than to test their new companion's powers. Plus, Wan, Alyx and Godark are all just itching for some successful action. It's about time that Wan had a victory against something big. The fact that Ashar just brushed them all aside seriously concerns him.

"Sorry to interrupt your whatever it is you're doing..." says Tomorrow, "but we couldn't help notice Ashar just paid you a visit. Or a part of him anyways. What did the old koot want?"
"He wanted Alyx," states Wan.
"I didn't think she was his type." Tomorrow grins and strokes his chin in contemplation. "The demise of Makailla has obviously effected Ashar's plans. Alyx was able to resist his attack, for now. She appears to have gained some insight into Ashar's aura ability. But this won't keep him at bay for long. I fear only Godark's presence deterred Ashar from further action. He doesn't want to commit too much energy or resources to 'unexpected' events."

"You're like a project..." admits Tomorrow. "That's how I see you in my little World..." The Lord of Planes smiles mischievously. "But you''re beginning to upset the apple cart bigtime. I had no idea removing Makailla would provoke such a direct retaliation. How interesting."

"I want that protection you offered earlier... so that Ashar cannot find us. I cannot work if I am being pursued."
"Sure," says Tomorrow, with a fancy wave of his hand. "Tis done. For what good it will do. If HE wants to get to you, he'll find a way. My deflections will only buy you a little time and force Ashar himself to investigate."

"Don't worry about Chaos - when it turns up I'll come and get you," says Tomorrow. "You won't miss a thing."

Why is Wan unable to create Soul Fire? It is probably no coincidence that Godark appeared at the same time as Wan. They were both summoned, perhaps indirectly by Godark.

Wan contemplates Soul Fire. "I believe I can do something Unique... I just haven't a clue what that is."

"We are both likes Swords of change / Judgement..." Wan is like a walking embodiment of the World's need for a protector - says Marcus.

"Why has no one else attacked Skathen before?"
"Because they're pussies?" suggests Alyx. Wan cannot help but smile at that. "They have all that power, but are afraid to use it, in case they break something and can't put it back together. If I had that sort of power, I'd grow some God balls and kick their arses."

"I need to further analyse why I am unable to do things, like Soul Fire," says Wan.

Wan is concerned about what will happen if Skathen "nukes him" - especially as he doesn't want to lose any Time. But this is a moment that requires action.

Wan transports Alyx to just outside of the hurricane around Christian. inside the hurricane's eye, an area 1 mile across, it is perfectly calm.

Interesting notion... Can Wan tear his aura open like he does the astral plane? He attempts it, but nothing happens. *Note - If Wan could ignite his Aura, as connected to the Eternal Source as he is, this would prove potentially devastating, as there would be a chance of the Source itself igniting at the same time - kind of like the backfire of a car. Fortunately, it is impossible.*

Godark refuses to be dragged through the Astral Plane by Wan, but says that Kranatakyn should be able to keep him up. "Do it then KK, Black Sphere..."
Sure enough, KK creates a black sphere of energy that surrounds Godark and lifts him up, conveying him at tremendous speed through the sky after Wan's blurring astral form.

Wan plunges into the storm and penetrates the Eye of the Hurricane. He sees that they are not alone, but that Christian's 'end' has drawn a few onlookers.

Christian is doubled over on the ground with an unidentified woman by his side who seems to be trying to soothe his pain.
Above them, high in the sky, is a darkness in the shape of a tattered winged dragon.
3 other powerful auras and glowing Xmas lights appear to be standing together, probably about 200 yards away from Christian. Again, Wan does not recognize any of these figures, their true identities and racial origins too hard to identify.

Wan wastes no time - he hurtles straight in towards where Skathen is hiding, a quaint little cottage about fifty yards from Christian's anguished screams. He hurtles astrally from room to room, checking cupboards, nooks and crannies. Meanwhile, Alyx remains just outside the house, staring in awe at the funnel of churning cloud, lightning and debris that twists and rotates around the cottage; the Maelstrom is truly a sight to behold.

Godark arrives safely by Alyx side, the Gohde vibrating and eager in his hands. With a derisive sneer he begins walking towards the three onlookers. When they see him approaching, they begin to move away. "Where are you going?" Alyx calls to him.
"I've seen these guys before... they're not human. They're like vultures."
"But Wan needs us here."
Godark pauses a moment and reconsiders. "Fine..." he grumbles, turning back to face her.

Inside the house, Wan has nearly given up his search when suddenly he senses something untoward behind him. He whirls around and barely avoids an elongated pair of black wisp like talons reaching out for his throat. Skathen is still there, compressed tightly into a tiny wall cupboard; Wan sees the horned demon of Armageddon folded over and over upon himself, one single baleful yellow and red eye, staring piercingly into his very soul.

What happens next, happens in a fraction of a second. Wan unleashes a fist attack full of as much Faith and energy as he can muster in a single blow. As the energy blasts out, the walls and roof of the cottage explode in a blinding almost nuclear like flash. Alyx raises her hands to shield herself but is hit by the concussion and sent spinning through the air. Luckily, Kranatakyn draws most of the energy towards it, preventing Alyx from any real harm.

When his vision clears a moment later, Wan finds himself surrounded by astral devastation; Skathen has uncoiled himself and now stands fully erect in front of Wan, his black demonic visage peeled back in a horrific silent screech of madness. Yet, despite the demon weathering the best that Wan could throw, Wan has never been one to quit.

"My turn..." Skathen growls, lashing out. Wan evades and throws another punch but at the same time, draws his aura around Skathen in an attempt to snare him. The demon's face shifts and changes before Wan's eyes, morphing from one hideous aspect to another.

Wan throws his power again - but again, Skathen seems to deflect the energy away from himself. As Godark and Alyx start draw closer, Skathen realizes he is outnumbered and attracting too much attention; Skathen's mission, to observe the transition of power from Christian to the next in line may have failed but he decides to teach the meddlesome entity before him a lesson; "thou shalt not defy an Aspect," Skathen thinks to himself.

With that, Skathen soars skyward, higher and higher through the centre of the hurricane. Wan bounds into the air after him, keeping up through the eddies and currents of astral turbulence. Flashes of energy explode around the two soaring beings as rise to a position over the storm. Skathen then turns and utters syllables from a long dead and forbidden tongue in multiple overlapping gravel like voices.  Wan draws back his fists and prepares to strike again, but a wave of impenetrable darkness implodes upon him.

Though Wan cannot hear it, Skathen vehemently condemns his enemy, spitting the words like sparks into the atmosphere. "I consign thee to oblivion. I Absolute your Soul... Reside it shall, for Eternity, in the Coldness of the Never."

Back on the ground, Alyx is transfixed. As the 11th hour arrives, a blinding light bursts out from Christian's skin; his eyes become blazing beams of white fire; his body begins to crack and dissolve into the light. Alyx sees the man's face suddenly change. He no longer seems to be suffering, but appears as if a tremendous burden has just been lifted. He turns to the woman who is sobbing next to him and smiles. "Shylara, I love you.."

The three onlookers vanish in twinkling colours; the ominous black dragon overhead beats its wings and phases away into the Between. Godark stands alongside Alyx as Christian dissolves entirely into light and an ominous chime resounds in the minds of every living thing on the planet. Christian's light blasts into the heavens and the hurricane lets out a thunderous sigh before starting to slow and unravel. As for the woman, Shylara, Alyx blinks, but she is no longer anywhere to be seen. Her name was Shylara Graven - daughter of the Damorkand Wizard, Erivar Graven.

"Wan!" Alyx mutters angrily, looking around "You're always running off!" She turns to Godark, arms folded across her chest. "Any idea where he's shot off too? I thought the plan was to keep Skathen in one place so we could have a go at him."
"Indeed, that was the plan. Maybe he just wants to do this all alone - his own way," says Godark, shrugging.
"That stupid, half arsed Jixiliah reject!" Alyx flaps her arms in frustration. "Wait till I see him."
Godark smiles, but isn't really listening... instead, he is having a private conversation with his hissing sword about Christian's demise.

Somewhere, without dimension or atmosphere, Wan finds himself floating in darkness. He tries to move, but is unsure if he is, as there appears to be no up, down, width, height or depth to his predicament. He hurls energy into the darkness, but nothing happens and begins to grow frustrated. What he quickly grasps though is this simple fact - the energy he releases seems to still flow back into him, from what can only be his direct link to Source. If this link still remains, perhaps he can use it find his way back and escape wherever he is.

Sure enough, Wan concentrates on the flow of energy and allows it to wash over him. He feels momentarily disoriented, but the darkness vanishes and he is suddenly falling through the sky in his material body, the wind rushing deafeningly passed him. He rolls over to face the oncoming clouds, dives through them and glimpses the continent of Eldahar looming closer. With a flash of light, he shifts his being back into the astral realm and heads back at speed to Damorkand, back through the disbanding storm to where Alyx and Godark are waiting.

*Note - No one, bar Wan, a Crown wielder, a Jixiliah or Ashar could escape what Skathen did. For all intents and purposes, connections to the World were folded back in upon themselves. Nothing could escape, nothing could get in. Wan was trapped in an infinitesimally small prison - like a tiny neutralized plane of existence. Fortunately, Wan being Wan, he had a way out. Skathen underestimated who he was dealing with... like many before him.*

"Where have you been?" Alyx asks sternly.
Wan pauses to consider. "I'm not sure. He got away though."
"Why did you go flying off like that?" Alyx presses.
"I couldn't allow him to escape. He is very powerful. Perhaps too powerful. Like these crown wielders. They are all entities with too much power. They should not be."
"You didn't miss much," says Godark. "Wonder boy lit up and then exploded. That was that. Then everyone left."