Victor leads Valris to one side and broaches a difficult subject - the possibility of him vanishing into the past again. Clinging to the hope that Valris will still exist after he is sucked into the vortex, Victor decides the only way to settle his turbulent emotions is to secure some future for his love. If she can't travel in the vortex with him, he sure as hell will help her here and now.

Victor reveals to Valris where the Victor of this current time lies buried. "Go there and unearth me," he says. "At least one Victor will be happy."
Valris, ever the practical, understands Victor's wish and respects it. Though it pains her to leave him, she knows that another Victor lies awaiting her life-giving kiss. They hold one another for a moment, then Kit teleports Valris away.

Trashing Gruber's place.
The race is on to reach Mordred before he does any more damage to time. As it seems likely the Cyber warrior will head to the largest concentration of Chaos in the area, Minnow, Han, Kit and Victor decide to camp out near Gruber's Castle of Chaos.

Kit mentally shifts them to a nearby barn, exhausting herself in the process as during the day her powers are still limited. When the boys get up, unstrap and draw their blades, Kit sits down on a hay bale. "I'm gonna stay here and watch from a distance," she says, stifling a yawn.
"You do that sweet cake," Minnow winks.
Glowering at the mop haired rogue, Kit gets comfy.

Half an hour later Han, Minnow and Victor stand a mile away from Gruber's ominous castle. A towering dark cloud squats overhead, forming a circular mile wide perimeter with its shadow. "Consecrated to Chaos," comments Minnow, standing at the edge and sniffing the air. "He'll know if we step across. Best wait here."
As Han and Minnow head out into the middle of a field and lie down to catch some rays, Victor retires into the shade of some trees, still dazzled by the Sword of Dawn and its ability to protect him from the lethal sun.

Han and Minnow share some private thoughts, aware that Victor is eavesdropping with his Vampiric hearing. At one point Minnow even calls out "Sour pus and grumpy face," to his melancholy companion, but Victor still remains distant and aloof.

"Do you fancy her?" Minnow asks Han.
"Who?"
"Valris."
"She is stunning. Almost otherworldly in her beauty. Not my type though."
"Do you fancy Kit then?" Minnow presses, delighting in Han's discomfort.
"I haven't had time to think about it."
"I'd say you've had a few decades," Minnow winks, yanking out several tufts of grass.

A few hours later, an explosion rocks the ground, the sound of its blast like a clap of thunder. Glancing up towards Gruber's castle, the three warriors see one of the building's misshapen horn like towers, crashing to the ground to shatter like a wave against the shore.
"I'd say the Mordred has landed!" Minnow yells, springing to his feet. "Let's go!"
Victor quickly outruns his two friends, crossing the Chaos threshold at a preposterous speed, only to leap the Castle's wall less than 30 seconds later. Encountering no resistance inside the bailey he throws the gates wide open and beckons to his still distant friends.
Suddenly realizing he still has his brother's sword in one hand and Sinsifel in the other, Victor tests if he can survive under Gruber's magical cloud on his own. He puts Dawn down, feels ok and gestures towards Han. "Your sword's here!"
Somewhere deep within the castle Victor can hear sounds of fighting, the hum of Mordred's energy sword, the discharge of weapon's fire and the scream of inhuman creatures being dismembered or blasted to bits.
Wasting no more time he climbs the castle's wall (as only as Vampire can), leaping across to the gaping hole left by the collapsed tower. Entering and crawling upside down he positions himself overlooking the chamber inside, remaining perfectly quiet and still.

Mordred stands in a throne room of somewhat suspect decor, surrounded by orange furred Chaos orangutans, gibbering and hollering insanely. From his vantage point, Victor sees Mordred's cleansing flame flashing back and forth with incredible efficiency.

Inside the Farmegian Armor, Mordred continues to receive complex data on his surroundings. His helmets H.U.D display highlights every anomalous creature in the area by using a combination of specially calibrated heat and movement sensors. Unfortunately Victor doesn't give out heat and remains perfectly still, rendering him almost invisible to the suit's targeting software.

Obliterating all the demons in the vicinity, Mordred selects a portion of adjacent wall, activates his portable concussion cannon and blasts his way through into a demon infested corridor. Then moments later another, louder, deeper, more ominous rumble causes the entire castle to shudder. The Farmegian armor intones "Warning - Scale 15 anomalous vortex detected. Sub Mission safety parameters have been compromised. Initiating Procedure Tau Ori 9 Beta. Transmitting coordinates for interspacial matter transport."

Victor drops down and follows Mordred at a safe distance, marveling at the number of high tech gadgets the Cyber Knight can call upon. Amongst other things he overhears the Farmegian armor's robotic voice saying "Anomalous device charged to 40% and rising."
Now able to sense Victor following him, Mordred tosses a remotely detonated mine into some rubble. When Victor draws close enough the Knight transmits the signal to explode but doesn't take into account Victor's extrasensory hearing which detects the mine's electronic whine, warning him to jump at the last moment. By escaping the blast, Victor finds himself even closer to Mordred, facing off against the Cyber Knight in an explosion scarred room. Mordred stands on a bridge of stone joining two halves of the castle's keep, high above the bailey, beckoning for Victor to join him. "So, again we meet," says Mordred.
As the Knights speaks Victor hears the suit speaking in the background, counting gradually upwards... "Anomalous device charged to 76% and rising." He also notices a familiar white fog rising up around the room and beginning to encompass Mordred's bridge - the tell tale call sign of the Lady of Silence herself.
Mordred fires off a round from his ion cannon but Victor runs around the walls and he misses. The two warriors then engage one another in earnest, sword vs sword. After the initial blows are out of the way Victor soon falls foul of Mordred's superior targetting skills; Note - the Farmegian armor is actually mapping Victor's movements, projecting where Victor will be and adjusting the aim of Mordred's blows accordingly. It is also building up a combat profile of Victor's abilities by weighing up factors such as risk assessment, speed, skill, special abilities and items.
As a consequence Victor takes three brutal blows from Mordred's energy sword - the wounds aggravated like fire against Victor's Vampiric blood.
"Anomalous device charged to 91% and rising."
As Victor staggers back badly injured, a small vortex opens in the air nearby, depositing a peculiar looking spherical metallic device into the air near Mordred's head. At that same moment the fog outside begins moving like a living thing, in through the arrowslits and open doorway, to reach out for Mordred's limbs.
"Anomalous device charged to 97% and rising. Proximity warning - Scale 15 anomaly. Safety protocols engaged. Brace for Time Displacement."
Victor turns, jumps, ricochets himself off of several walls and clambers for the way out.

Down below Han and Minnow arrive at the Castle's front door only to find it magically locked. Just as Minnow is about to use the power of the Eternal Key upon it, Victor drops like a rock, slamming with a sickening thud into the bailey's stone slabs. Han uncontrollably vomits after seeing his brother spray blood in every direction but Minnow just laughs and rushes over. By the time Minnow arrives and yanks Victor to his feet (broken bones et all), the young Vampire is already rapidly regenerating. "Run!" Victor screams. "He's got a b..."

Let's do the Time Warp again.
A blinding flash and Gruber's castle explodes.
As Victor stumbles and falls, he catches a glimpse of rocks and debris hurtling towards him and his companions. But before all three of them can be smeared across the countryside, the rocks seem to bounce away, encountering an invisible barrier.

Nevertheless, a minute later, Minnow, Han and Victor are still a little shocked to be alive. Behind them lies a smoking crater and through its plume of oily black smoke, as certain as time itself, comes the time vortex. Seconds later all three warriors are swept up into its silent winds and hurled back in Time again, back to the year 3329.

As they are getting their bearings, two villagers open the barn doors to see what made the strange noises. They get an eyeful.
"Excuse us," says Minnow, strutting over and slamming the doors back shut. "Some people!"
"Where are we now?" Han asks wearily.
"How did we survive that back there?" Minnow ponders aloud. "Hey, Victor, what happened?"
Victor tells them, describing the bomb and seeing the rocks bounce away before hitting them.
"Well that explains it," says Minnow. "It must've been Kit. Plus, if we're here, whereever here is, then she and Mordred must be here too. Let's go find them. I've had enough of this. I'm gonna throttle that Cyberfuck!"
Throwing the barn doors wide open, Minnow steps out to face a gathering of several dozen villagers. The women and children are even more shocked when Han and Victor emerge too (Victor again grasping Han's sword for protection from the sun).
"What?" Minnow demands of the gathering. "Never seen anyone naked before?"
"Who are you?" of the local men, waving a spear in Minnow's direction.
Without thinking, acting purely on Vampiric instinct, Victor grabs the man, knocks him to his knees and stands teeth bared over him, trying desperately to resist draining the man's blood.
"We are animal lovers!" shouts Minnow, making the crowd recoil. "I shagged one of your cows. He (gesturing to Victor) shagged your chickens and we both shagged him (pointing to Han).
Not surprisingly the villager's flee back to their homes leaving the three strangers alone.
Eventually Victor's new oaths win through and he manages to turn away (with a snarl) - the chaos infused blood pumping through his veins like a leaden weight upon his heart.
The 3 heroes then take stock of their situation. "We've got to find Kit, she should be the same distance away geographically despite our timeshift which makes her that way," Minnow points.
"Let's go then," says Han, picking up a saddle to hold over his manhood.

They find Kit, passed out, in the middle of a field of corn. An hour later Victor scrounges up some clothes from nearby farms and all four take a rest in a small nearby wood. Once settled, a weary Kit explains what happened from her point view. "When the castle exploded I placed my mind around you as a shield. I guess the blast knocked my mind for six. After that I don't remember much."
"We've traveled back in Time again," says Minnow, leaning against a tree. "That means either Mordred failed to kill Gruber or he did kill Gruber but still has another target."
Valris's name remains unspoken in the air. "I'll check on her, just as soon as I'm a bit stronger," says Kit, glancing at Victor before lying down.
As the others rest, Victor moves into the trees to be alone. Angry and grief ridden at the loss of Valris - yet again, he struggles to come to terms with a future without her and fails. Despite Valris existing in this new timeline she is only sixteen years old and hence still has a father and has never met Victor. All their history together having been erased by Mordred's technology.

After half an hour Kit announces she has located Mordred, only a mile away. The Cyber Knight is sat with his helmet off, nursing various injuries and damaged subsystems. As Kit spies on him and relays what she hears, Victor, Minnow and Han contemplate going on the offensive.
The Farmegian suit continues to weigh up hundreds of complex probabilities, taking into account all the information it has accumulated about Victor and his friends. It also reveals that it's Time jump system is damaged (because of a degraded Pseudonomite bond) and that the only recourse of action left is something called "Procedure Tao."
"We should strike him now, while he's incapacitated," says Minnow.
"Too late," says Kit. "He's up and flying."
"Where?"
"This way."

Minnow reaches his "Nad Point"
With hardly any time to prepare, Victor and his friends suddenly find themselves being "bombed" by Mordred, who hovers over the wood dropping grenades upon their heat signatures.
Victor manages to knock a couple back up into the air before they explode, but misses Mordred, who moves into another position and switches to his suit's built in accelerator cannon.
The trees are suddenly shredded by hundreds of slithers of metal. Kit manages to shift herself away and then Han. But before she grabs Victor (her mind still very much fatigued), Minnow goes mad and starts yelling skyward.
"I've had it. I'm not leaving. If he wants a fight then he's gonna have one! I've reached my Nad point and I'm not going any further!"
Mordred's projectiles shred Minnow's shirt but rebound harmlessly from the skin underneath because of his immunity to normal weapons. Knocked onto his back he continues yelling abuse until Mordred finally descends, drawing his blade of pulsing energy.

Tasting Cyber Death
A battle ensues with Minnow refusing to let Kit teleport him out. From Minnow's point of view, he has had enough of running and being dumped naked backwards through history. It's kill or be killed, leaving Victor no choice but to stand by him.

Kit strains her mind but doesn't manage to shift Han back to help. Instead a furious exchange of blocks and strikes leaves Minnow down, struggling to rise and Victor badly injured, crawling on the floor.

Mordred towers over both men experiencing faults within the Cybersuit's mission parameters. But as he begins to doubt his actions and attempts withdraw, the suit takes control, trapping his mind within its ruthless logic.

As Victor's blood reaches an all time low and the thirst begins driving all sense from his mind, Minnow makes one last effort to bring Mordred down by leaping onto the Knight's back and using the Eternal Key to unlock Farmegian's sealed and pressurized helmet.

But instead, Minnow's power causes the suit to activate its self destruct procedure - suddenly faced with the very real possibility of a thermonuclear device going off near his head, Minnow struggles to come up with a plan, whilst trying desperately to avoid the blood crazed Victor nibbling at his toes.

Then to make matters worse Mordred comes back to life; with sparks flying from his suit and energy crackling around his joints, the Cyber Knight brings his energy weapon to bare on Victor and deals a lethal blow to the Blood star's head...

The Sword - Life Bane
Victor finds himself wandering alone in the mountains. It seems strange to be alive, with a beating heart and warm flesh but he shrugs it off and heads towards the darkly mysterious castle looming in the distance.
Once inside he walks its seemingly abandoned halls, the sound of his footsteps echoing hollowly beneath him. Eventually he comes to an overgrown garden of dark shaded plants and there in their midst, he sees the most beautiful and yet tragic creature he could ever imagine. Dressed in black she is kneeling before a clean tombstone, her eyes and cheeks enflamed with passionate tears.
For several long moments he stands, transfixed by her exquisiteness. But the moment is broken when she moves, sees him and gasps.
At first she is frightened but he explains he is lost and means her no harm.
"Come with me," she says, leading him through the decaying castle.
"Who died?"
"My father," she whispers, activating her Ring of Death.
Victor feels a twinge around his heart but innocently shrugs it off, wondering at the girl's vexed appearance. He attempts to get close to the strange girl, feeling drawn by some long forgotten memory of a previous life. However Valris remains distant, drawing away from him with calculating eyes. After trying her ring on him a couple more times she eventually leads him to a room deep in the castle and unwraps a bundle of cloth. Inside she reveals a black bladed sword of incredible craftsmanship.
"This is my father's sword. If I give it to you, will you leave?"
Victor is lost for words as this isn't the first time this girl has asked him to leave.
"Please, leave, go," she stresses again.
"I won't leave you," Victor eventually replies, confused by the strength of his feelings.
"Take this sword. If you cut yourself with it, you can stay, as it will protect you from the magic's here. Otherwise you must go."
Not exactly mistrusting of the girl, but wary (as if he has seen the sword in a dream), Victor takes the black sword and runs its edge across his palm.
The instant he does, he feels his veins turn to ice water as every drop of his life force is ripped from him. For a moment he feels the cold, clammy hand of death but he teeters on his knees, face contorted in pain, as Valris' unemotional face floats before him.
Victor, Son of Rune, of the most ancient heritage imaginable, refuses to die.
"Why won't you die?" Valris gasps, beginning to find Victor's struggle to live disturbing.
Then Victor staggers to his feet, feeling strangely numb. "I don't want to die!"
"It's impossible," Valris says, her eyes wide with wonder. "The sword kills everything."
"What!" Victor exclaims, noticing just how pale his arms and hands have become. "What have you done to me?" But Valris runs off.
As Victor drops the sword and gives chase, he hears a clattering behind him. He glances back to see Lifebane sliding along the floor towards him of its own accord. Then as he arrives at Valris' room and goes in, the sword leaps into his hand. "Ewk!"
He immediately drops it and tries stepping towards her but nearly stumbles.
It's then that he notices the sword piercing and pinning his foot to the stone floor. But as he pulls the sword out he cries out again in shock as no blood comes from the wound. "My foot! My foot! What's happened to my foot?"
Running from him, Valris calls back, "You're the opposite of living. Life Bane has you."

The Prince of Blood
Victor twice glimpses another reality. In this one he emerges from one of Kutal's pools of blood, slick, red and perfect - as if new born. A behooved Kutal awaits him on the shore with welcoming arms and a cloak of blackest sable. "Ah, my son," the Chaos Lord mutters proudly. "My glorious Prince of Blood, I have a task for you."
A while later, (after returning to his own Reality for a brief spell), Victor finds himself as the Prince of Blood again - this time sat in Kutal's Throne room upon a fleshy chair. As the walls run with blood, a familiar ritualist bows before him.
"Von Gruber at my Prince's service," the tall, thin man whines. "I have located a being suitable enough for first contact. A being consumed by desire for revenge. Just your type my Prince."

In a blur, Victor emerges near the decayed castle but this time he is infused with the blood of Chaos and wearing Kutal's extraordinary "Living Armor." Like a Demi-God he walks confidently into the castle, smelling a single living being somewhere nearby. He finds her in an overgrown garden and finds her aroma and appearance exhilerating. In fact her beauty is to mesmerising that he wants to preserve it, forever. And as the only way to do that is to share immortality with her, he steps forward.
She gasps, but he gains her side in the blink of an eye.
"Who are you?" she gasps, as his teeth sink into her soft neck.

Burnt Earth E.T.A.
Not long after Dusk;
Victor sits bolt upright, suddenly confused. The castle has gone, replaced by trees and instead of Valris he sees Minnow, Han and Kit nearby. Kit scurries over, concerned. "Hey, you feeling ok?"
"Uh, I don't know? What happened?"
"A fair bit," Minnow comments, tinkering with a pile of fried circuitry. "Mordred's here. I stopped him from exploding and managed to unlock his mind from the suit's Cerebral restraints to boot. Shame about the suit's A.I. though - it frazzled itself. I'm just trying to hardwire it's data core to see if I can extract some data that may have escaped erasure."
Victor nods, slowly, unable to understand more than half of Minnow's babble. He does notice Mordred, helm off, sat on the otherside of a fire.
Mordred nods, but Victor lies back down trying to clear his head. "I thought I was dead."
"I thought we were all dead," says Kit. "But Minnow managed to do save the day."
"I always do," Minnow quips. "That's why I'm so fantastic."
Victor checks himself for wounds. "I thought I got hit on the head?"
"Just a slap with the flat the blade," Minnow answers.
More confused than ever, Victor gets up and goes hunting to clear his mind.
When he gets back, Kit comes through the trees to meet him. Strangely apprehensive, she finally musters up the courage to speak. "Valris, the Valris of the future, was worried she might not be able to jump back in Time with us. So she asked me to do something and I agreed."
"What?"
"She gave me a whole bundle of her memories and feelings - feelings for you and memories of the two of you together. She didn't want them ceasing to exist and saw this as the only way of preserving them."
Victor's eyes well up with blood.
Kit goes on. "I can't keep them in my mind for much longer as they are starting to degrade. It's putting a strain on me even now to keep them intact. I guess you've got three choices - I can let them fade, I can give them to you or I can give them to someone else."
"You mean the Valris of this Time?" Victor states.
"Perhaps," Kit remains cryptic.
"Let me think about it."
"I can last another day, tops," says Kit, making a quiet exit.

When Victor returns to the camp he finds Minnow and Mordred wearing very serious expressions. "We've got a problem," Minnow begins. "Just before we popped Farmegian's seals the suit beamed out a signal. As near as I can gather, this Procedure Tao translates as "Burn't Earth."
"And that means destruction on a global scale," Mordred adds. "It would appear that because my mission parameters have been interrupted, the suit has ordered the Monks to destroy everything."
"No shit," Minnow adds. "There's one hell of a lot of data in this transmission but its so compressed and degraded that I can't figure anymore out. Given a little time I may be able to rig a tranceiver from the componants though. Might give us some help..."
"So," says Kit. "Let me get this straight. These Monks are going to burn the World? How is that possible."
"I think they are capable of anything," Mordred says, solemnly.
"We should warn someone," suggests Han. "It's not just us now but everyone who will be effected."
"Who would you warn?" Kit asks.
"Well, I'd tell Lante. He's one of the most ancient beings this World has known. He may be able to help us."
Minutes later the group agrees to let Han go and see Lante. Han asks Kit to transport him to Hiemir so that he can knock on the Circle of Light's Tower and ask for an audience. "I've got a lot of inside information on their order. I think they'll let me in," Han winks.
"Be careful," says Kit, bringing a smile to Han's face.

Some time later Kit approaches Victor again concerning Valris' memories. After some anguish, Victor tells Kit to lose them (i.e. let them go to waste.) Kit shows she is against the idea and tries persuading Victor to change his mind; "She wanted them to be preserved."
"She's gone," says Victor, shaking.
"Are you sure Victor?" Kit asks one last time, after several more minutes of trying to sway him.
"I'm sure."
Kit pauses, concentrates and then lies. "They're gone." Leaving Victor alone with his woes, Kit retires back to the camp and to bed.
A few minutes later Victor sits down nearby and notices her tears.
"She wasn't my Valris," Victor says, trying to understand Kit's sadness.
"She loved you though. She gave me that love and all of its memories so that her feelings wouldn't die."
Victor just shakes his head and leaves Kit to continue crying softly to herself. But as he walks away, she knows the memories have not gone and never will as rather than let them go to waste, she has allowed them to seep into her own mind, becoming as much a part of her as any other memory in her life.
She falls asleep and dreams of fond times in Hiemir.

Meanwhile Han has talked his way into an audience with Lante. However the Seraphim, despite its ancient wisdom still finds Han's story hard to swallow. With Han's consent the being probes his mind and learns the truth.
"The Circle will not believe this possible," Lante intones. "Even if I say it is."
"Can you help us?" Han asks.
"I may. But first let me ask you about this Necromancer."
"Necromancer?" Han shifts uncomfortably. "He's not important - the impending fire to end all friggin fire's is just around the corner!"
"I beg to differ," Lante says softly. "He represents a threat to the primal force of life."
"And the Monk's don't?"
"This Necromancer must be stopped before we deal with these Monks."
"You're kidding. I thought you were Wise but you're just plain nuts."
"You are free to go. I shall provide some aid in your mission to Angst Shahpah after settling this small matter first."
"What are you going to do?"
"Prevent any future mistakes," says Lante, ominously.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," says Han, throwing his arms up in the air. "But the Giant picked it right out of my brain."
"What?" Victor asks.
"They're going after Valris' father. The whole damn lot of them. The Circle of Light and all their cronies. They never knew what he was up to but they found out from my mind. I'm sorry Victor."
Victor squirms and begins pacing. The idea of going to meet the teenage Valris of this Time has been floating around for several hours now but he has found it too painful to contemplate. Now if he doesn't go, Valris and her father will be attacked and killed by the Circle of Light and it will all be his fault.
"We've changed history - so what?" says Minnow, speaking for the pure hell of it. "Surely it doesn't matter one way or another. I'll tell you one thing Vic, we're all here because your love for Valris. Kit's here, I'm here, Han's here. Just go and do what you've friggin got to do coz I'm getting sick and tired of it. If she's meant to be with us, go get her!"
Kit sees Victor's pain and understands more than he and the others can know. "Valris's father won't be ready for the Circle. He won't stand a chance. What's more, we're probably stuck in this Time now. If Junis and Valris die now, they'll never exist in the future."
"Obviously," Minnow bites, pulling a childish face. "What I meant was..."
"I'll go and warn them," says Victor. "Kit can you drop me there?"
"Sure," says Kit, sneaking an "I told you so," glance back at Minnow.

After Victor has gone, Mordred speaks up. "This is of no consequence. Our goal should be traveling to the Monks and asking them why?"
"I'm glad you waited for him to go before saying that. Vic might have bitten your head off and pissed down your throat. The kids in love Mordy - You ever been in love?" Minnow asks.
"Once, a long time ago."
"Unlike Minnow then who loves himself," Kit adds, sniggering.
"He's there, safe and sound," she smiles.
"We're all stupid," says Minnow, kicking himself. "I should have thought about it more before letting Han go to Lante."
"Don't blame yourself," comforts Kit. "Victor was looking for an excuse to go and see Valris anyway."
"I suppose I'd better get kitted up," sighs Minnow, pulling on his boots.
"I shall not be going," states Mordred.
"Fine, just sit here then and play with the bloody squirrels," Minnow growls. "Victor attracts more trouble than the God of Trouble. Without me there, he'll be dead five times over before daybreak."

Teen Valris
8pm.
Victor wanders into the now very familiar Castle, finding it hardly decayed at all. It isn't long before he isolates two living beings; one working in a smithy and the other up in an aviary. He discerns which one is Valris by scent and stealthily moves to meet her.
Before closing in he hears her approach the other being and knock on a door. "Father, I have your dinner," she says, her voice slightly different, slightly younger than the one Victor is used to.
"Leave it outside," her father calls back, continuing to beat metal against metal.
Victor then follows her footsteps back upstairs until he stands in a doorway and coughs  to draw her attention. She freezes and screams, terrified at the sight of him - a pale skinned demi-god of supernatural beauty.
"I don't mean you any harm," Victor tries to explain, but her father, responding to her terror comes bounding up the stairs.
"Get away from her!" he yells, shielding her with his body. "Back creature or I shall disintegrate you into thousands of pieces."
The unfamiliar sight of Valris actually cowering behind someone holds Victor silent for several moments. He then speaks again, still quite calm and quiet. "The Circle of Light are coming here. They intend to kill you."
"What!" Junis exclaims. "Who are you? You who come stealing your way unannounced into my castle to sneak up on my daughter! What are you?"
Victor, uncomfortable under Valris' searching eyes and Junis' barrage of demands, takes a step back. "I am from the future. In the future I love your daughter."
"Get out!" Junis barks. "I'll not hear such in my Castle or around my daughter. Leave or suffer my wrath!"
Victor smiles sadly and in a zephyr of air, vanishes back down the stairs.
Valris gasps as he leaves. "Father, what was he?"
"I don't know. Some sort of spirit perhaps."
"But he was a creature of flesh."
"Shh Valris, let me think. Stay here while I get my staff."

Victor heads for the main gate, but as he does, he catches movement out of the corner of his eye. It is the young Valris, sneaking along the upper wall trying to spy on him.
"Hello," he calls up, watching in amusement as she tries to duck and hide.
"Did you mean all that up there?" she asks.
"Yes."
Valris doesn't reply, letting Victor walk out of the castle.
Stopping nearby Victor's vampiric hearing indentifies a few dozen horses thundering their way up the valley. Noticing Valris is still there he quickly warns her that he can hear horse's coming, watching her run back into the Castle.  But istead of joining her, he decides to take cover in the nearby rocks.
A minute later, all six members of the Circle of Light arrive on the scene, riding the herd of sacred Palamaya. Accompanying the Wizards are ten hasted Knights in full armor and regalia, each man glowing from various protection spells.
Thaydamas, Head of the Circle, rides up to the castle's gate, just as Valris closes it. "Junis, we have learned of your plans and cannot allow them to go ahead. Cease your evil and we will part in peace otherwise you will pay the ultimate price for your folly!"
Victor then sees Junis proudly astride his castle wall, staff in hand and face afire with anger. "Leave Thaydamas. You and your kin are not welcome here! I have no secrets but even if I did, I wouldn't share them with you!"
"Very well Junis, you leave us no choice. May your essence find its way back to the source."
As Thaydamas says this, the remaining two dozen riderless Palamaya begin galloping in a circle around the castle, their hooves striking the air and leaving a magical trail. As they blaze in their circle a barrier of energy begins to rise with them and around them until they are running through the air at extraordinary speed.
Victor attempts to move closer, sensing Valris' danger, but is suddenly spotted by one of the Knights and engaged in combat. The Knight proves too swift and armored for any quick solution so Victor uses his own speed and jumping ability to give his enemy the run around. 

Victor attempts to run through the Palamaya's magical barrier but finds himself frozen in its light. After several seconds he manages to pull himself free and jumps back, noticing the barrier is now too high for him to jump.

As he contemplates what to do next, one of the Circle of Light points him out and fires a few arrows into his vicinity. Then out of the blue, Kit teleports Minnow in to distract some of the Knights from Victor. Yelling abuse, the Servant of the Balance runs straight at several of the enemy, blades clashing and armor crunching.

Instead of searching for some other way in, Victor runs around the front of the castle to engage more of the Knights and maybe reach Thaydamas. The Knights prove too prepared and well trained for even Victor's vampiric prowess, slashing him open in several places until he collapses from blood loss.

With Minnow buried beneath half a dozen Knights and Kit too weak to help, Victor is smashed to the ground and left for dead.

The Ballad of Junis Rylek
Victor feels himself being irresistably drawn into the earth by an invisable force until after a minute of sliding through dirt and stone he emerges in the courtyard of the castle. Having traveled beneath the magical barrier, he gazes around and sees Junis standing nearby, wielding a crooked staff.
"Speak creature. You said you loved my daughter in the future. The notion, despite being unbelievable, now has a certain appeal."
Victor gurgles a reply, fighting back his blood's urge to begin frenzied feeding. "I need blood."
"What do you mean? I can heal normal wounds but your flesh is unnatural."
"I drink blood. It heals me and makes me strong."
"Can you help my daughter?"
"Yes," Victor chokes.
"Very well, take my blood. Heal yourself, and then come with me to Valris."
Victor takes Junis' neck, bites deep and begins drinking from a glorious font of lifeforce. It takes a lot to heal him but after he drains Junis, his body feels more vibrant and alive than it has in all his years as a Bloodstar.
Without flinching or complaining, Junis leans heavily upon his staff and takes Victor's offer of support. "Come, we don't have much time. Thaydamas and the Circle intend on dissolving everything within this barrier into raw essence, which will then be released back into the World. But like all of the Circle's magic, the ritual only effects living things. As you are neither alive or dead, the magic will not effect you."
Victor nods, contemplating a new offensive against the Circle. "I'm fit again," he thinks aloud, "they won't stand a chance now."
"Don't be a fool. If I am to entrust my daughter to you I expect you to show some commonsense!"
Victor chews his lip and makes a suggestion. "I can make her like me."
The two men meet Valris, sheltering near Junis' vault. 
"Father, you're ill. We must surrender," says Valris, with fear in her eyes.
"Valris, I am not going to make it out of here alive. But you are."
"No, I won't go." She begins crying.
"You will," Junis says, firmly but compassionately. "I believe this man has been sent for a purpose. You have to live to carry on my work and remember. Do this for me, there is no time for debate and my mind is made up." Junis turns to Victor. "You will protect her," he says with immense certainty. "Now, do what you have to do to save her."
As Valris clings on to Junis' arm, the Mage slips his Black ring upon one of her delicate fingers and whispers, "Life and Death as one."
"I have things to do and much to say," Junis suddenly booms. "I shall make my words heard upon every echo in every valley, chasm or gorge across the World. For this day, a terrible injustice takes place. And I have never been silenced!" With one last kiss of Valris' brow, Junis turns and heaves himself back up and out into the courtyard to face his accusers.
Victor gazes into Valris' tear filled eyes. "Don't be afraid," he whispers, drawing her into his arms and into a superhuman vice. He closes his eyes, bites and drinks deep, feeling her tremble beneath him.

Sharing the Beans of Life
Minutes later, Victor stands emotionally over Valris' "dying" flesh. Then as the galloping Palamaya reach the top of the Castle, white light explodes around him turning everything to dust. Victor quickly picks up her shaking body and sprints down into the castle's celler as everything gradually disintegrates.

Victor holds the unconscious Valris in his arms, surrounded by earth and dust. For a while he hears the Circle overhead, exploring the castle's remains. Then after a couple of hours he hears the horses thundering back along the valley.

Kit materialises out of thin air next to Victor. "Are you alright? I couldn't penetrate the barrier."
"I'm ok," Victor mumbles.
"They've got Minnow, he's strung over the back of one of those flying horses. I could get him out, but he's in an odd mood and wants to stay. Keeps saying, "At least you can track them with me here.""
Victor quickly fills Kit in, who then goes down to comfort Valris. "Let me speak with her," Kit suggests. "I think she needs a shoulder to cry on."

Just call me "Dad"
Standing at the top of the crator (that was once Junis' castle), Victor suddenly hears a familiar sound behind him. He isn't surprized to see Kutal, dressed fashionably in blood red armor, sporting impressive sideburns and goatee.
"Victor!" the Chaos Lord grins, baring a mouth full of razor sharp fangs. "So good to see you. How's things? Quest for the Stones going well is it?"
Victor just says a depressed "Hi," in reply.
"What can I do to make things better?" Kutal asks, mimicing genuine concern. "I see Valris is back in the family."
Kutal and Victor continue talking, perhaps more honestly than ever before until Kutal begins talking about family. "I know you're a son of Rune but how much do you know about him? I can tell you he swung precariously between Law and Chaos. His deeds weren't minor, infact they were often so huge and dreadful that whole World's feared his very name. On one occasion he even slaughtered an entire race to end a war.
"I know family is important to you Victor but you aren't just Rune's son now, but mine. You have my blood pulsing through your veins, you have my strength, speed and stamina. Because of me you have Valris and she has immortality. I've watched over you and protected you - where has the Balance been?
This Servant who travels with you, Minnow, hasn't exactly shown his loyalty. He had a one off chance to make someone a member of the Balance - a chance so rare it occurs once in a Multiversal Cycle. This "honor" was meant for Valris, so that she could be with you forever. But Minnow chose Kit instead, leaving Valris behind. Why would he do that? Because Valris might lead you astray? Because as a Son of Rune you aren't allowed happiness?
I have given you happiness. I have given you power. So who am I to you if Rune has forsaken you. All I ask is that you call me itfor if I am not, no one truly is."
Victor considers for a moment. "Ok, "it"".
Kutal stares in disbelief. "No you idiot! Call me the head of the family, the number one, the main man. The goddam "f" word by Chaos' bubble!"
"Oh," Victor says, finally grasping Kutal's angle. "How about Uncle?"
Kutal sighs, ready to accept this as a small step forward for the time being, but Victor hasn't finished.
"Then I could have an Uncle of Law too," says Victor enthusiastically, hammering in the stake.
Kutal gurgles, huffs and turns around, showing Victor his back. "I am not your bloody Uncle!"
Victor attempts to reconcile with the Chaos Lord but Kutal "acts" hurt and insulted by Victor's comment. "How are you doing with those stones?" Kutal asks, gruffly.
Victor explains some of the difficulties involved, including the Monks and their plan to "Burn the Earth."
"Bah," Kutal grunts. "Don't worry about them, they're not of this World anyway. However, I suppose given enough Time they could reproduce this Time vortex you've been caught up in, change History and erase everything you've done on the this World." The Chaos Lord begins regaining his humor and grins.
"Can the Runestaff help?" Victor asks.
"They can be banished - as they represent Law in one of its purest forms."
After further discussion - Victor asking inane questions and Kutal casting them off with growls and roars of laughter, Kutal shouts, "I'm a Chaos Lord, not a bloody mind reader! Just concentrate on that gaping hole between your ears and stop trying to gain a degree in the Time Continuum! Ever seen blood come out of a stone... it's a secret. Turn around and I'll show you."
Victor turns, then turns again to see that Kutal has vanished, the nearby boulder trickling with several drops of blood.

When Victor arrives back at the crator he sees Kit with her arm around the grieving Valris. After a few minutes, Kit walks slowly up to meet him, her eyes refusing to meet his. "Victor, I have something to confess. I'm not proud of what I've done, but I felt it was the right thing to do at the time. I'm just sorry I went against your wishes."
Victor remains stoically silent.
"I kept Valris' memories. I didn't destroy them as you asked. Now, I've also given them to Valris, this Valris. I was in two minds whether to wait or not but I decided that the love she felt for you might ease her grief. She's confused, bewildered by what I've told her and trying to hold back a terrible rage at what's happened. I think she'll need time, maybe a lot of time."
Then Valris stands up, her new Vampire hearing working perfectly. Moving to stand before Victor, her face stained from tears of blood, she takes a long, hard look into his eyes. "I have these memories of you, of us, inside my head. I'm trying to make sense of them but at the moment it's all a mess. Having memories is one thing but feeling them in the heart is another. Just leave me alone, I'm too confused."

Major example;  Valris as a teen, after Xenon & Valris woke up in earth, when Valris was grieving for her dad and Xenon was standing on the crater edge bitching about how he shouldn't have tried rescuing Val, he didn't really mean it at all, he was trying to clear his head a bit.  Plus Xenon had decided that Val was partly blaming him for her father's death, which hurt badly, to know that he had caused her such pain. If he had actually thought about what Han was going to do and how the circumstances were different than last time...  if he had taken the responsibility to lead instead of trying to run from it and let someone else decide for him, then he probably never would of have let Han go to Lante in the first place.

The other thing is guilt, the guilt of thinking that with Val's father re-integrated into the land, it will make some things between Valris & Victor easier (that it wasn't such a bad thing to happen).  For one thing there's no longer the chance that Xenon might have had to help or hinder Junis in his plan.  Xen does not find the idea of undead controlling the whole land appealing. Xen wouldn't have liked to go against him or for that matter Valris; something which I don't think Xen could ever really do. Maybe hinder her plans slightly, here and there but not if it would hurt her. I think he has done that more than enough already!!!

At the end of the day Xen is a bit messed up to say the least at the moment.  It's not every day you watch the women you have not that long ago realized is your true love, die in front of your eyes and find out that your actions helped it happen!  Then meet an earlier version.  And there's all this time shit, the thought that the original Valris's from his past might cease to exist scares him to death and he doesn't want to believe that it could happened.  He had finally set his sights on something he really wanted - To solve Tharizden problem, then just be with Val (his Val, the Val that might no longer exist!)."

Thanks Justin.