After Miss de Pontu laid her shawl upon him, Payden was unable to maintain his somber expression nor act the part of a dying man no longer. Through the flutterings of thick dark lashes he spied upon the hazy forms of Gertrude and the sorcerer Count, who quite quickly took note of his fakery, when smile tugged at the edge of his mouth.

Payden sprang up to a sitting position, although hardly as smoothly as planned, his hand quickly shooting to his side as he winced in pain. Then thrusting open an eye he peered at Curt and smiled as he waved an accusing finger in a playful manner towards him.

"May the gods forbid you be' put out' over my account, good sir." Teased the ragged swordsman, and by his recount of Curt's earlier words, both the Count and Gertrude were curious just how long the roguish gentleman had been conscious.

"I had my suspicions." continued Payden, still shaking his finger before him, then he twirled it about like a conductor ending a musical piece. His head bobbled about as if drunk, and it was apparent that even if he had been lucid for most of the time he indeed truly lacked the strength to carry his own body. Curt, nonetheless, appeared displeased over the ruse and thought to question the young rogue to learn just how much he recalled about recent events, but Payden plucked the words from his lips and carried on in a rather lackadaisical fashion.

"Forgive my... what's the word, ah yes, deception, but sometimes the world can appear much differently through half closed eyes. Is that not correct, Curt? Oh, and by the way, my thanks for the..", lost for words, Payden merely gestured to his side where the Count had performed his healing magic. "I've endured worse, but I've never recovered quite so quickly."

Payden attempted to stand then and found himself falling right back to his seat. He was surprised that his body was so weak and yet his wound was nearly healed. "Perhaps not that quickly then.", he commented.

He then went on to explain to his companions that he had indeed been aware of his surroundings since he lost his footing on the skip. Loss of blood had robbed him of his mobility but his senses remained alert and so he was aware of what had transpired on the Sylph, although he would not comment any further about it. Payden then made mention of Curt's apparent lack of any knowledge concerning firearms, when in fact his unsavory countrymen were quite adept at their use. "Why is that, Curt?", Payden inquired, furrowing his brow. It was a sound question, he thought, for he had always been under the impression that firearms became increasingly more uncommon in the far western lands. What was a ship of pistol toting pirates doing in these waters?

Colleen felt the biting cold of the water take her breath away when she jumped into it. As soon as she surface she gulped in large amounts of air only to be thrust below the surface again. Over and over this took place. Trying as hard as she could she made her way to the children to try and help them but they were so spread out, she simply couldn’t reach them all.

The Ta’kun screeched when they jumped into the rushing water, but none of them attempted to pursue the humans. It wasn’t worth it. Not when they had adult males to unleash their fury upon. As they watched Colleen and the children until they were out of sight, they turned back around and joined their sisters and brothers in disposing of he soldiers once and for all.

It was all Colleen could do to keep her head above the rushing water. Over and over she was dunked below the surface and each time she would resurface sputtering and coughing. It seemed like they traveled the tunnel of water forever before that dim light began to grow brighter and brighter. When they reached the end of the tunneling system, all of them were unceremoniously dumped into the waiting sea.

As each of them plummeted into the salty water they screamed and yelled. Even Colleen let out a scream when she felt the bottom give out beneath her and sent her crashing down into the water. Quickly getting to the surface once more, she realized they had been dumped into the sea with all the other refuse water.

Quickly looking around, she began swimming to gather up the children as best as she could. Cricket had finally passed out and Sam was still trying hard to keep the boy above the water. Frankie was dog paddling as best as he could with Daisey still clinging to his neck. Shinner and Elija were doing all they could to help Sam and Frankie. Thankfully they weren’t that far from shore, but with all the years of water being dumped into the sea, it was rather deep directly under the discharge of water from Fort Glory.

“Keep swimming….towards the shore….that’s it. You’re doing good. You’ll be able to get your feet on the bottom soon…..that’s it Sam….”

Sam was the first one to reach the place where feet could touch bottom and he quickly began to drag Cricket out of the water. Thankfully the waves weren’t that big right now and it seemed as if the tide wasn’t moving. Soon after Sam touched bottom, the others began to use the bottom to make their way to shore. Colleen quickly caught up with the children and helped them get to shore.

All of them were dripping wet and cold but the fear they all had kept them from feeling it. Cricket was badly injured and the blood kept coming form his wound. Colleen quickly took off the coat she had managed to keep on through all of that and haphazardly folded it so she could apply pressure to the wound.

“Hang in there Cricket. We’ll get you patched up.”

The boys face was extremely pale telling Colleen he’d already lost a lot of blood. As she pressed down on his shoulder, she let her gaze quickly drift around to the children. They were shivering and huddled together for warmth and protection. Quickly looking around some more, she saw a place where they could get further away from the water and less out in the wide open.

“Come on…we need to get ourselves out of sight.”

Scooping Cricket up in her arms, Colleen winced as the added weight strained the stitches she had in her leg, but she couldn’t stop. She had to get the kids safe. Rushing over to where a rock wall had been constructed to the east of the train yard, she gently laid Cricket down. Looking up at Shinner, she took a hold of his hand and placed it on the coat over the wound, pressing it down.

“Hold this pressure in place, Shinner. Don’t let up.”

Shinner, as frightened as he was, merely nodded and kept his hand right where Colleen told him to put it. Getting to her feet, she quickly assessed the children. All of them were winded and shivering, but they appeared to be unharmed save for the scrapes, small cuts and no doubt bruises yet to be seen from the rough ride in the water. Still, she took the time to assess each one of them, leaving Elija for last. Kneeling down, she let her gaze search his face. She could see the fear in his gaze and she drew him into a tight embrace. As she held him close to her, she felt utter despair well up within her and she began to cry. As she felt Elija’s arms wrap around her, she allowed herself a moment of weakness. Forcing herself to stop crying, she sniffed, slowly pulled herself back and caressed Elija’s cheek with her trembling hand.

“We should be safe here. At least…until we can get moving again. We need to follow Captain Mandek’s orders and travel up the coast.”

Colleen turned her attention to the rest of the children then.

“Remove any piece of clothing you don’t need to wear right now. It’s important to get dry as quickly as possible to keep from getting sick. Remove your coats and your shoes. You can put them all back on later. You boys should even remove your shirts. Daisey, if you can take your dress off and just wear your petty coat right now, you should.”

The sounds of the raging battle within the walls of Fort Glory could still be heard. While they weren’t as loud as if they were still in the walls, it was enough to remind them they still were in danger out here. Hopefully the Ta’kun were too occupied with what was happening inside the walled city to worry about a woman and some street urchin children by the wall along the shore.

Colleen removed her own shirt, leaving just her chemise in place. Next she removed her boots and set them aside. Once all the children had removed all the clothes they could, she told them to sit near the rocks and huddle close together for warmth. Relieving Shinner of his duty to Cricket, she once more pressed down on the coat over Cricket’s wound. She was no nurse and she had absolutely nothing to help her close the wound. The harsh truth was cutting her like a knife and she tried not to let the children see for themselves. Still, she swallowed down the lump that formed in her throat and gazed out at the sea hoping for some miracle that she knew would never come.

Elija stood shivering, wet and staring out at the surf as it cashed over the rock shelves of the beach



as it rolled in. His eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of something red floating in the surf. He screamed "Basha! I see Basha!" as he ran into the surf. When Elija came closer to the red object his heart sank, there floating in the surf, caught on a rock shelf was the torn, tatterd and bloodstained red jacket, with the remnants of a leather strap and the white sash, Basha had worn. He frantically search the surf and water, but to no avail. Elija bent down, picked up the jacket and clutched it to his chest, as he turned, stoned faced and walked back to the others. He sat sullenly on the sand holding the jacket. Slowly Elija spead the jacket out on a rock to dry and searched the pockets. Inside one of the inside pockets, he found a few coins, a letter whose ink had run to an unreadable smear and an old faded photograph of a woman holding a boy in her arms. The boy held up a wooden sword.

In another pocket Elija found a sewing kit, with needles and various small spools of thread. In the last outside pocket, Elija found some bullets and a folding multi bladed knife. He carefully laid the articles out to dry on a rock, weighing the papers down with a small stone. Elija just stared blankly at the Captain's Tunic silently.

When Payden struggled to rise, showing astonishment that he had not greater strength despite his worst wound being almost fully mended, Curt smirked and said, “Yes, despite my ministrations you will find yourself rather weak, Payden my friend. It will take you a while, yet, to recover.”

Then he and Gertrude—who had been startled nearly out of her skin by Payden’s sudden arising—listened as Payden explained that he had remained at least semi-conscious throughout the proceedings aboard the Sylph. When he then questioned Curt about his unfamiliarity with firearms, the sorcerer barked a laugh. “Ha! Those pirates, while unsavory indeed, are no countrymen of mine. No, I should say not,” he scoffed, pacing back and forth across the narrow courtyard. “My people and I, we have no use of such things. Why should we bother to learn about them?” He waved a hand as if tossing a scrap of paper into the dustbin. “Firearms will soon be obsolete, anyway.” Curt ceased his pacing and regarded Gertrude and Payden, arms crossed to give his speculation a forceful quality.

Gertrude thought he was acting a little odd, even for Curt. There was a hard edge to every move he made, to his glib comments, that she hadn’t ever noticed before. When he smiled at her and Payden, she had the impression of being pressed under a gleaming lens, scrutinized by a cold and clinical eye.



It must have been the eerie castle that made her feel this way, for Curt had never been anything but kind and attentive, if a little outlandish. In an effort to alleviate this strange mix of feelings, she took the opportunity to speak up when he paused. “Curt,” she said in the most reasonable voice she could muster, “why did you deceive us about your magic? It’s really very wonderful,” she added, hoping to assuage any sensitive points she might be probing.

“Ah,” Curt’s grin broadened and his eyes gleamed with mischief. “My magic.” He sighed like someone who had just taken a satisfying quaff of liquor and resumed his pacing. “I suppose it is time for me to give my speech—my little exegesis, hm? My grand oration! Ha, ha. I knew this time would come eventually, but I had hoped to put it off a bit longer, since we’ve been having such fun. And—oh!—I had more fun planned, you know. Such plans!” He gave the sky a wistful look and sighed. “But never mind. In many ways, the fun is just beginning. You’re here now, after all, and that is the main thing. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am you’re on my island!”

His glee was apparent in the glinting of his teeth and eyes. He steepled his fingers like an avaricious banker appraising the vaults, and went on, “Oh yes, did I mention that this is an island? It currently has a population of three. Hm, hm! So it’s a good thing we brought all of those extra supplies, isn’t it? I would use them wisely, if I were you, for it might be a while before anything else is forthcoming.”

Curt’s cheerfully dispensed news trailed down Gertrude’s spine like cold seaweed. She reached out to a stone to steady herself. "Curt—Sir—what are you saying?”

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking not the least bit sorry, “have I not been clear enough? Straightforwardness has never really been my style.”

Though Gertrude still did not see the scope of Curt’s design, she felt his deception smother something small and winged in her heart. “Oh, my God,” she choked and brought her hands to her mouth. He had never cared so much as a jot for her. She expected herself to weep, but she was so stunned her eyes remained dry and blind as stone. “I’ve been such a fool,” she whispered, mortified and half-deaf to what Curt said next.

The sorcerer’s gaze flicked to Payden. “Oh, don’t fret,” he said dismissively. “I didn’t drag you all the way out here, suffering near-unimaginable indignities and hardships, just to murder you or something passé like that. You are here because you want to learn about your magic. And so you shall.” He turned his back to the two and walked up the center of the courtyard. “And the first lesson you must learn is that you live by the grace of the almighty Moi.”

He spun back around to flash them another of his cunning smiles. “It’s not so hard a concept to grasp. This place might not be much to look at, but that can change, if I so will it.” His smile hardened and a shade seemed to fade over the castle around them, as if Payden’s and Gertrude’s eyes were adjusting after looking at a bright light. The weeds in the stony floor shrunk away and the cracked stones repaired themselves, gleaming clean and white. Pillars grew up from the broken stones and the roof knit itself overhead, flowering with a mural of clouds and birds and twining vines. Shimmering drapes unfurled themselves from the windows and fragrant trees blossomed in the garden. They stood in a palace of unearthly elegance, as if they’d stepped into a fairytale.

Curt leaned against a throne wrought of ivory and pearls. “Basically, my children, I am God here. Luckily for you, I want you to serve me. Serve me faithfully, and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams—with treasure more precious than mere gold or jewels. However, if you annoy me, I shall cast you into a hell more desolate and terminal than anything your religion has ever whispered of. So don't even think about it. Capisce?

"Oh, and please. Call me Cursha," he said amiably. "It's more appropriate now."

Yassun wasn’t known for diplomacy when it came to dealing with her. Still, she wasn’t expecting him to get quite so physical with her, but Kylea was good at hiding things and when she came to a sudden halt with the counters help, she took a second to gather her composure and whirled around to face Yassun. The fins on her arms and the back of her legs had risen slightly and became as hard as any steel blade. If looks could have killed, Yassun would have been dead 10 times over.

Yassun was always the less conventional mermadon and sought only his personal gain in anything he did. But it was who ever he was working FOR That intrigued Kylea. And if he were so hell bent on slaughtering this many Ta’kun, he had to have been promised a great reward. Or he had made a promise that required nothing but sure victory. Of course she knew death was inevitable in war, but surely the Ta’kun weren;t so stupid they couldn’t see the sacrifice they were making on Yassun’s behalf? Could they?

Letting her mermadon brother have his speech, Kylea let all of these thoughts circulate through her mind. Waiting until he was heading out the door before she called after him.

“Victory is always the end result we all want, Yassun, but, as you have stated so many times, victory achieved without deception is impossible. I pity you when the deceiver is discovered.”

When his form no longer filled the doorway, she cast her gaze at the Red Fists that were now her keepers. With a decidedly devious smile, she merely turned and checked out her surroundings. When she turned back to see the Red Fists, she smiled beautifully and made eye contact with each of them.

“Ah…..my lizard kin brothers. It’s so good to have your company. Good friends are difficult to find. Good friends who protect you from harm are even more difficult to find. I’m so glad I have found you. I feel so much safer now. You are all my heroes. Now I know you won’t let anything happen to me, will you?”

In response to her question, the Red Fists merely nodded their heads and they hissed, clinked and grunted softly.

Sandy Graves sprinted northward through the dark sewers, seeing by the silvery shafts of moonlight that filtered down through the sewer grates above. In the distance he could hear the Ta'kun lifting the cage that blocked the passage way and he knew they were not far behind the echoes of their eerie screams.

The deaths of Clubber and the Captain flashed over and over again through his mind as he fumbled through the tunnels straining his eyes in the low light. He knew he couldn't stop and attempt to hide, the Ta'kun would sniff him out in no time, so he continued to run risking a stumble or even fall into some deep drainage shaft.

He could make out a junction ahead and turned east, hoping to find Sergeant Lasekura. His foot struck something and he fell hard on the stone pathway, sliding along the slick stones for a few feet. He lie still for a moment and listened for the Ta'kun, and was relieved to hear only the sounds of trickling water, but then he heard them at the junction and the young man sprang to his feet. Sandy sprinted as fast as he could, no longer worried about running into anything, praying that the dark passage stayed straight else he wouldn't see a corner coming.

Sandy could tell the Ta'kun were gaining and as the tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, the young soldier decided to stop and make his stand. In the poor light conditions, he knew the fight would be short but at least he would die in combat before his foes and not dying from some anonymous shot on the battlefield. He notched his bow as he slowly moved backgrounds then before he could react two powerful arms grabbed hold of his shoulders and pulled him into a side tunnel. Sandy tried to scream but a third hand clamped over his mouth and suppressed the sound.

A low lit lantern was thrust before Sandy's eyes allowing him to make out the dark features of the man who held him as Sergeant Lasekura. His eyes swiveled about and he recognized Jack Rabbit, Michael and Chance who was closing a small iron door behind him, sealing off the passage.



"Bolt it shut." Commanded Lasekura in his calm reassuring voice, then turning his eyes back to Sandy prompted him to spill his words with a nod.

"The Captain's dead, and Clubber to." He informed the group with urgent panic yet in his voice.

It was worse than Lasekura had feared, still holding onto the boy's shoulders he hung his head low in a momentary expression of grief for the loss of a man he had only just found.

"He took a bunch of those bastards with him though." Added Sandy, and the men found some comfort in the words.

"How many followed you?" Asked Lasekura, who had obviously heard their screeches thought the tunnels and even as they spoke there was a rapping on the door as a Ta'kun tested it's integrity.

The soldiers and urchins fell silent and awaited as while they repeatedly tested the door before giving up and moving on down the tunnel. The men were not worried of them breaking in the door, they knew it was far too strong for even a Greater Ta'kun to bash through but they didn't want them to know their location. When they were sure that they had cleared off, Sandy let them know that there might be twenty of them and that assuredly made up Lasekura's mind concerning their next move.

He scanned the room they were in before speaking his mind, searching the walls one more time in the hopes that some passageway would magically appear where there was none before but the only way out was a ladder that led back up to the surface. They had two choices, head back into the sewers and risk a fight with snakes in a hole or head back up to the town streets and return to the keep and assist in the defense of the castle. Sandy was the only one to question his judgement when he relayed the options to the group.

"We should stick to Captain Mandek's plan!" Protested Sandy, staying loyal to their fallen commander.

The powerfully muscled Sergeant approached Sandy and looked upon his with understanding in his eyes. "The Captain would be proud of you Mr. Graves, but even he would realize that this mission has been compromised. Somehow, the enemy is aware of our plans and should we stay to our present course we will all die down here."

"I don't care about dying. I want to get the leader of these bastards in my sights and take his head off!" Growled Sandy.

Lasekura calmly nodded. "We all want to end this, Sandy, but I am afraid we have no other options."

Sandy heard what the Sergeant was saying and agreed. "The others should go back, but you and I sir, we can get him!"

Lasekura stepped back and leaned against the wall considering the boy's rash plan.

"You're not considering it are ya, sir?" Questioned Michael Mason who obviously was ready to return to the safety of the keep.

With Captain Mandek gone the Sergeant was now in sole command and had to consider everyone, but as far as knew the castle could already be in the midst of falling and all their efforts would then best be put toward their own survival. The time had come, he believed for everyone to make their own decisions and do what they felt was in their own best interests.

"Mr. Mason," Lasekura began, "I am entrusting you with the safety of the children, you will accompany them back to their base and after that you are free to do as you wish.", he then looked to Jack Rabbit and Chance, "I am going with Sandy to the surface and we are going to find the leader. I am no longer your commanding officer, you both are free to follow your own agendas."

Chance looked at Jack Rabbit who was carefully considering what to do, but in the end the sprinter threw his hat in, knowing all too well that he was the next best shot after Sandy and two shots were better than one.

"I'm in." Jack Rabbit gravely agreed.

The swordsman, Chance nodded as well. "Someone has to watch your back, mate.", he said as he jostled Jack Rabbit.

Sergeant Lasekura then looked to the children, sensing that they wanted to be part of what they perceived as being heroic, but Lasekura assured them otherwise. "My thanks little ones for taking us this far but now we have to part ways." He told them, "but we cannot afford to be concerned about you where we are going. I cannot stop you from fighting to protect your home so the decision is yours to make. Mr. Mason, will help you get out of the town but otherwise he will go his own way."

The men then prepared themselves to climb the ladder and enter what they knew would be hostile territory.

"Sir, what about Ram and his men?" Asked Chance as the Sergeant grabbed hold of a rung.

"We have no way of knowing what has become of them and so we must assume the worst." Replied Lasekura, then he climbed up the metal ladder, back to the surface and uncertain dangers.

Galley looked at the rest of the gang, then stepped forward and extended his hand. "Yuz ain't gots ta worry 'bout us Sergeant Lasekura. Weeze follows yur orders an goes with Mr. Mason. Yuz guys watch yur asses and weeze sees ya again. Ya gets lost bash on them pipes likes I showed ya. We comes and fetches ya." he then turned to the Shoddy End Gang members an said "Come on you lot, lets go find Elija and Sam." With that Galley, Ferret



and Weasel



followed Mr. Mason, back the way they had come until they reached a small side tunnel, there they guided Mr. Mason through a lambrynth of small tunnels towards the digs.

The bleak black hand of night crept over the beach as the children shuddered in their skinnies, waiting for a dank sea wind to dry their clothes. Sam kept vigil over the fainted Cricket, fixed and determined as a stone angel.

“I kind o’ wish that witch were ‘ere,” he told the other urchins.

“I ‘eard about that witch as sent the spell after yer, Sam,” Daisy said, wide-eyed. “Yer wouldn’t really wish ‘er ‘ere, would yer?” The little girl shivered.

“’Course I would. Don’t yer know witches can ‘eal the gravest injuries what normal meddy-sin can’t?” Sam said, warming to his subject. “I bet she could wave ‘er magic wand, an’ ol’ Cricket ‘ere would pop up like one o’ them Jacks in ‘is box. ‘Course,” he added ominously, “she’d ‘ave ‘er price. Somethin’ like yer firstborn child. That’s usually what witches ask fer. But maybe she’d ask fer yer soul, or yer voice.”

“Yer voice?” Shinner asked. “What would she do with yer voice?”

“’Ow should I know what witches do with all them voices they gets? Maybe they just likes ter have lots o’ different conversations. But the fact is, you’d never get ta speak another word so long as yer lived, no matter ‘ow ‘ard yer tried. But anyway, I wouldn’t think twice about it, if in return she made Cricket get better.”

“I wouldn’t, neither,” said Daisy.

“Me neither,” added the other members of the Shoddy End Gang.

“Don’ worry. ‘E’ll get better,” Sam lied to the younger children. “It just won’t be as fast, that’s all, an’ I don’t fancy sittin’ ‘ere like clams all night, see?” He looked to the gloomy, dully thundering mass of the nighttime fort above them. “Boy,” he said, “Scrounger’s gonna be hot as a coal when ‘e finds out about all this.” He rubbed his nose on his naked arm. “Don’t see ‘ow we can get in there now, though.”

“What’re we gonna do, Sam?” Daisy asked.

“Don’ worry,” Sam replied, “I’ll take care o’ yer.” Sam didn’t have any idea about how he would fulfill that promise, but that didn’t matter right now. He had to keep the little ones from being scared, that was all.

Sam shifted his gaze to his old pal, L, who was holding silent vigil over the red coat of Basha Manduck. He felt angry, though he wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone why, or even at what his anger was directed. “What are yer and yer Eagle Guardian gonna do, L?” He demanded. “We can’t sit ‘ere all night like shite in a gazunder, so pull yerself together, mate.”

He looked past L to L’s mum. Willing her to say something, defying her to say anything. His skin was pale gooseflesh in the bitter night.

Elija seemed to jump slightly at Sam's words. He then looked over his shoulder and waked over to his still damp clothes. Without a word he started getting dressed. After he was dressed, Elija back over to the rock, folded the letter, picked up the phoyograph and put them in the inside pocket of the jacket. He then stuffed the folding knife and coins in his trouser pocket, picked up the red tunbic and slipped it on over his own jacket. Elija then turned towards Sam and with a set jaw and solem face he said ...

"Ize tells ya whot Ize not gonna do, is sit here freezin' me arse off. Basha said we shud gets up the coast. So lets us do that, weeze ducks an dives, finds us some tracks an finds us a Mary Baine an 'ops a freight car ta south. Weeze gitin aways frum the scalies we is." Elija then started picking up the sewing kit and handed it Colleen. He said to her "Yaz gots ta put the mend on Cricket and gets tha rest of tha gang on the prod. Me an Sam weeze sees if weeze can finds some eats an water." He then turned to Sam "Come on mate get off yur arse, weeze gots works ta do."

When Sam and Elija were out of hearing of the others he whispered "Ize goin backs ta the digs an gets me tirment an sees if Ize can finds tha rest tha rest of tha gang. Ize needs ya ta look afta mum and the rest. Ize sneaks in through tha cinder grate by tha Mary Baine yard meets ya by the south tracks by the grave yard tanight."

Sam listened carefully to everything L said, and replied. “Alright, mate. Since they’s yer ‘tirement and digs, an’ all, I suppose yer got to go. Don’ worry, I’ll keep yer mum out o’ yer ‘air an’ we’ll meet yer by the graveyard. But see ‘ere, them Marys ain’t runnin’ no more, so we’re gonna ‘ave to hoof it, least to the next town, as far as I can reckon. So don’t dawdle, yer ‘ear?”

He gave L’s back a solid pat to send him on his way.

Colleen sat for a long time trying to figure out what to do and where to go. Again, Basha’s words kept coming back to her “Go up the coast…” Well, she was at the coast, now which way should she take the children? Based on the direction the sun set, she should head to her left….at least, if she could remember the nearby geography correctly. That should bring them to Meirathal.

As she heard the children talking among themselves about a witch and what not, Colleen looked down at Cricket. Even in the moonlight she could see the boy was even more pale then before and the closer she looked at him, the more she realized why he looked so pale. Carefully moving the blood soaked coat from the boys shoulder, she saw the gaping hole of a wound had stopped bleeding….and Cricket had stopped breathing. The boy was in a much better place now and while Colleen was devastated by the boys loss, she took SOME comfort knowing he wasn’t suffering anymore. That didn’t keep her from shedding tears. Slowly draping her coat over the boys body, she covered him up like she was keeping him warm.

Regaining her composure, she wiped her eyes with her arm and sniffed softly. Just as she calmed down, she heard Sam’s words: “What are yer and yer Eagle Guardian gonna do, L? We can’t sit ‘ere all night like shite in a gazunder, so pull yerself together, mate.”

Looking over at the boy, Colleen could see the glare he was giving her. Blinking, she looked over at Elija and watched as he set aside Basha’s coat and went to put his clothes back on. Colleen blinked again and realized Sam was right. 100%. She needed to do SOMETHING. Slowly getting to her feet, she forced herself to move and found her own shirt. Putting it on, she was still buttoning it when she turned around and saw Elija walking away from the group after Sam slapped him on the back.

“Stop right there, Elija!”

The boy was so startled by the sound of Colleen’s voice that he did just as she had ordered him to. Walking quickly over to stand between Sam and Elija, she looked at the other children.

“All of you get your clothes back on.”

Looking from Elija to Sam and back again, she placed her hands on her hips.

“I told you not to do something like that again, Elija. I thought I had lost you once, I’m not going to lose you again.”

Turning her dark blue gaze to Sam, she furrowed her brows.

“I’ll tell you what we’re doing, Sam. We’re leaving. Just as Captain Mandeck ordered us to. Now, get your things together. All of you. We leave in a few minutes. Sam…Elija…with me please.”

The children all looked around at each other then slowly began to do as Colleen instructed. As the other kids began to get dressed and gather up their things, what little they had, ELija and Same walked over to Colleen. Sam gave her a defiant look while Elija looked like a scared puppy. The look on her face changed to one of sheer anguish as she had the daunting task of telling the boys about Cricket.

“I’m so sorry to tell you both this, but Cricket has died. I need your help in burying him. We can’t just leave him out here like this. We’ll use my coat as a marker of where he is and when we come back, we’ll make sure he’s given a proper burial.”

The look on both faces made Colleen’s heart constrict in her chest and she felt the physical pain she knew the boys were feeling. Disbelief Anger. Back to disbelief. Finally, she nodded towards Cricket’s body and the boys slowly turned to look at the boy as he lay on the sand. With one foot in front of the other, they walked over to where their friend laid. Colleen gave them privacy so they could say good bye and soon, all the other children joined them. Daisey cried softly while most of the boys shed their tears in silence. Taking a deep breath Colleen slowly made her way over to where the children knelt over Cricket’s body. Kneeling down with them, she spoke in a soft, almost whisper.

“It’s time. We’ll say our good byes one last time to Cricket then be on our way. We need to travel as much tonight as we can.”

With Elija and Sams help, they dug a shallow grave for Cricket then slowly, with great care, laid his body to rest in the cool sands of the shore of Fort Glory. Colleen couldn’t help but see the small child whose life was ended far too soon look like a tiny angel fast asleep. Another lump formed in her throat and as they slowly began to cover Cricket over with the sand, she felt tears ease down her face. Once they had Cricket covered, Daisey brought a large piece of drift wood over to place at the head of Cricket’s grave. Colleen pushed the wood down into the soft sand then hung her coat on the stick, pushing down hard enough to put a hole in the collar to hold the coat on the stick.

After saying some words over the grave, Colleen gathered up the children and quickly ushered them away from Fort Glory. With one last glance over her shoulder, Colleen felt a pang of anguish was over her. She hoped and prayed those still in the city were safe, especially those brave men who were trying their hardest to keep the city from falling completely to the Ta’kun.

Turning her attention, Colleen had the kids walk as close to the water lines as possible to help them move faster and wash away any evidence of the direction they traveled in. She was terrified the Ta’kun would see they had escaped and follow.

As the world around them transformed, Payden leapt from the raised block upon which he sat as it changed from weathered stone to gleaming marble.

"Aullyndor's ghost." Exclaimed Payden under his breath, as he looked around, marveling at the transfiguration while struggling to maintain his balance on shaky legs. He had suspected that Curt or Cursha, what ever he called himself, had concealed his knowledge of magic but never dreamed his powers to be so extensive. It was an incredible sight to behold, but the rogue remained rational and immediately recalled Cursha's near failed casting of the red flame toward the pirate ship. As he ran his hand along the polished finish of the stone dais, which indeed felt as real as it appeared, the scene played over and over in his mind as he tried to make sense of it. Had Gertrude been successful in her conjuration of the fire? Or had Cursha stolen her magic? He knew too little of the arts to make sense of it all but that in time would change. Payden cast his dark gaze upon the man who was Curt of Ursha and did not recognize the imposing form that stood in his place, but he did not fear him. All he had seen thus far of the man were illusions, but perhaps that's all that magic really was for he yet had much to learn, and all he knew was that this 'pretender-god' had promised to pass his knowledge to he and Gertrude. He cared nothing of isolation or servitude, they were mere inconveniences — a penance for the power that was to be gained. Payden swore he would master it or die trying, then they would see who is the lord of the dance.

Payden dispensed of any defiance in his stare else he alarm their new lord and master and bowed his head respectfully to Cursha, expressing that he understood what was expected of him. Then taking notice of the humiliation that Gertrude bit back with a tightened jaw, he moved to her side, forcing his body to move fluidly despite the weakness in his limbs. His head throbbing, Payden endured the pain to maintain his illusion of strength before Cursha, and offered his arm to Gertrude.

"If you would do me the honour, Miss de Pontu and accompany me to the heights of the castle." Payden humbly invited.

More so than ever now, Payden felt a kinship with the young girl, for now not only did they share the gift of magic, but they had only each other to depend on. He could feel her emptiness and it pained him that she should believe that she was in this alone, for he would not allow any harm to come to her while breath remained in him.

"Lord Cursha. It has been a long journey, if you we be so kind as to direct us to our rooms." Requested Payden, and he almost added that he would return for their luggage, that is if he didn't have a spell that could conjure a personal concierge, but felt that such mockery wouldn't improve their situation.

Elija and Sam knelt at Crickets grave and gave a silent prayer "Weeze comes backs and makes 'em pay weeze will Cricket. Ize promises eyez does." he said as he laid his hand on the freshly piled sand and laid one of Basha's bullets on the grave. Elija, still wearing Basha's tunic, then stood up, he and Sam



then turned to follow his mother and the other Shoddy End kids down the beach.

Colleen always thought walking the beach in the moonlight would be a romantic evening spent with someone special, but now, as she moved with the children along the shoreline, all she could think was that the moon was so bright, they were going to be spotted. The only thing that they had in their favor was the fact all of their clothes were on the dark side. Even if they weren’t true dark, they weren’t as bright as they once had been after their trip in the sewers and subsequent dump on the beach.

She the children moved up the shore, Colleen stayed in the back and constantly checked over her shoulder to see if anyone – or anything – was coming. As she moved along with the slump shoulders children, she wondered how it had all come to this. Had Fort Glory grown too lax in their efforts to create a safe haven or did they underestimate the minds of the Ta’kun? Either way it left a sick feeling within her.

After they walked about two hours, Colleen began to see the twinkling lights of Meitharal and she felt a small wave of relief wash over her. Cautioning herself to be cautious, after all, what if the Ta’kun had attacked this place as well, she tried not to hurry the children any more than their exhausted, emotionally spent bodies could move them. Still, she was anxious to get the children off the beach and into safe shelter for the rest of the night not to mention some warm food in their bellies.

Before long, the children began to notice the lights peeking over the old stone wall and began to pick up their pace. By the time they made it to the marina and managed to climb their way onto the wooden planks of the docks, They were all but running up the road that would take them to the closed gates. By the time they reached the gates, Colleen began pounding with her fists as hard as she could on the heavy, wooden doors and yelling for who ever would hear her.

“HELP! PLEASE! Let us in!”

From the other side of the gate a voice called back, muffled but not so much Colleen couldn’t hear it.

“Who’s there? Why are you here so late?”

“Co-Colleen Smith. I’ve come from Fort Glory with children. We were…..we were attacked….by the Ta’kun. The city’s been over run by them…..”

Colleen heard some more muffled talking from the other side of the door that she couldn’t hear and soon after she heard the sound of what appeared to be someone running away. At almost the same time she heard the sound of the gate being unlocked and a few moments later the gate was being opened up enough for Colleen and the children to get inside.

Colleen quickly ushered the children into the city before she slipped past the gate as well. As soon as she hit the other side, the guard that had been talking to her furrowed his brow.

“Are there any more of you out there?”

Colleen shook her head.

“No.”

The guard nodded, looked Colleen and the children over with his lantern held high so he cold make them all out. When he spotted the crimson jacket Elija wore, he furrowed his brow again.

“A soldier’s jacket?”

Colleen nodded.

“Yes….it belonged to Captain Basha Mandek. My son found it….floating in the sea after we escaped.”

The guard didn’t have a chance to say anything else as a rather burly looking man quickly approached. He was armed and for a moment Colleen swore he was going to rip some one’s head off for awakening him at such a late hour. Like the guard, he studied the woman and children as he spoke in a raspy voice.

“Ma’am….my name is Marshall William Kallend….my men tell me you’ve come from Fort Glory. I take it the city has fallen then?”

Colleen looked at the faces of the wide eyes children looking to her now and she slowly let her dark blue gaze ease up to the Marshall’s face.

“I….I don’t know, sir. All I know is that the soldiers are fighting to save the city. The children and I….we were attacked by a group of spear toting Ta’kun….we used the sewer system to escape….but not before some of the soldiers trying to protect us perished as well.”

Colleen squeezed Elija’s shoulders as she explained what happened to the Marshall.

“Captain Mandek told us to head up the coast…..we were following his orders.”

Marshall Kallend nodded.

“Folks from Fort Glory have been trickling in all day. We’ve beefed up our patrols just in case those pesky lizards got the bright idea of attacking us. Come….we’ll get you and the kids settled for the night and we’ll talk more in the morning. I’ve told the owner of the Brackish Bed to keep someone on staff all night in case something like this happened. We may need to put you all in one room due to the fact we’ve got quite a few folks staying here, but we’ll make sure we get you all set up. He even has someone tending to the kitchen as well and from the looks of it, you all could use something to eat.”

Colleen felt another wave of relief wash over her. They were safe. For now. She could at least get the children some food, a hot bath, hopefully some fresh clothes and get them all tucked into bed before the sun came up.

“Thank you, Marshall. These kids have been through quite a bit. Something to eat and a hot bath would be good for them.”

Marshall Kallend quirked a brow at Colleen as he watched her limp along with the kids.

“Looks like you’ve been through quite a bit yourself, Ma’am.”

“Colleen…Colleen Smith. Please…call me Colleen.”

”Well…Colleen it is.”

Marshall Kelland looked over to the guard that came to get him and gave him some orders.

“Run ahead and let Forbes know we need two rooms if he has it available and to get things ready for the kids and Ms. Sm…Colleen.”

The young guard nodded.

“Yes sir….”

Turning on his heel he took off running as fast as his feet could carry him to let the owner of the Brackish Bed know he had some late night guests on the way.