He rose and offered his hand. She took it and let him pull her up. He
pointed at Shadow-spawn with a 'wait there' gesture as he led her to the
center of the room. He left her standing with a little reassuring pat on
the back of her hand then continued past her, heading towards an ornate
chair.

	She caught sight of a blood and dirt covered woman with wild short
black hair clad in nothing more than a tattered top that barely covered
the lower curve of her breasts and panties out of the corner of her eye.
She startled and turned towards it. It took her a few seconds to realize
it was her reflection caught in a mirror. She stared at herself in
shock, her right hand moving with unconscious habit to comb her fingers
through her hair in a vain attempt to straighten it.

	"Aurora," Menders voice brought her focus back to him.

	He sat, his posture relaxed back into the chair. "Dance for me."

	The emerald colored rectangular crystal he held between the thumb and
forefinger of his left hand began to glow slightly and a slow yet wild
music filled the air. She closed her eyes.

	*Just get it over and done with,* she told herself.

	She relaxed and kept her eyes closed and let the music flow over her.
Her first movements where controlled as she improvised to the soaring
melody, then became more wild and sensuous as she began to get lost in
the haunting theme. Mender's smile was cold yet appreciative. He did so
love beautiful things and this Daughter of Man that danced before him
was a rare specimen indeed. In a matter of minutes, he would have her
dancing forever and in taking her, if his suspicions were correct, he
would gain control over a High Youma as well. The crystal grew brighter,
then rose from his hand to hover above her like a green star.

	Shadow-spawn whickered in distress, then screamed in fury as it's light
shot down to envelop her. Suddenly Mender was on his back, Shadow-spawns
big hooves just missing his ears. The horse shaped youma lowered his
head, his hot breath burning the skin of his face, opened his mouth and
spoke a single word in Mender's own voice.

	"Remember."

	Mender's body went stiff as his mind wrenched and struggled to bring
forth the knowledge he had so carefully hidden away. "Althea?!"

	Aurora continued to dance under the emerald star, unaware of
Shadow-spawns attack, beyond her body's screams of protest, almost one
with the music. Almost... Her form started to fade as the music began to
take her.

	"Althea?!" Mender hissed as he turned his head so he could see the
flickering form of the woman who danced.

	She was almost gone!

	"Butterfly, move!" He slapped at the youma's leg and rolled out from
under his body as Shadow-spawn lifted his foot.

	He got his feet under him in a crouch then launched himself into the
air, snatching the crystal as he flipped and soared over her in an arc.
He threw it against the floor as he landed. The music stopped in a
discordant shriek as the crystal shattered into tiny fragments. Aurora
froze as the music vanished, her body shaped into a gravity defying
posture and looking for a moment like some graceful clear crystal statue
of a forgotten goddess reaching up for the stars. Then her body took
back it's solidity and she slumped to the floor, deathly still. He
rushed to her side, afraid he'd killed her. He gave a great sigh of
relief when his power showed that she was alive, but exhausted and
wounded in both body and spirit. He gathered her up into his arms and
rocked her gently back and forth a few times. He pressed his cheek into
her hair and wished for the tears he could no longer shed.

	Mender wrapped her in a chammy soft fur from one of the great beasts
that once roamed the jungles of Venus after he had gotten her washed and
seen to her injuries. Shadow-spawn hovered close as he worked, still
angry and growling steam, and watched his every move with suspicion. He
took her back to Nephlyte's chamber and was absolutely astounded when he
pushed open the door and saw the High Youma half in and out of the
healing pool. He laid Althea gently on the floor, Shadow-spawn lowering
and arranging himself to form a warm cradle around her with his body and
legs as Mender went to tend the High Youma.

	He rolled the limp form onto his back and lifted his head and
shoulders, preparing to slide him back under the water. Nephlyte's eyes
opened slightly, their blue fire locking onto Mender's face as he
growled. His body went heavy as he resisted.

	"She's all right, Nephlyte. Look," Mender moved so that the High Youma
could see the woman who had once been his niece. "I give you my oath
that Shadow-spawn and I shall both protect her with our very souls until
you are able to do so."

	Nephlyte kept his eyes on Aurora as long as possible as he relaxed and
let Mender push him back into the pool.


				***************


	Aurora lay on her stomach up at the edge of the pool, naked from the
waist up. Her head was pillowed in the crook of her right arm and the
left sunk up to middle of her bicep in the water, the fingers of that
submerged hand wrapped around Nephlyte's own. Finally she couldn't stand
the pain any more and rolled to her back, drawing her arm from the pool.
She kept that arm and it's angry red welts and blisters held up and away
from her body as she waited for the little tingle that meant the coming
of the rose. It sparkled into existence, the ash gray blossom fitting
itself into the cup of her palm as it's stem and leaves lengthened and
grew. It wound itself down and around her arm. She sighed in relief as
the pain and the rose vanished and left the skin smooth and unblemished.
She let her left hand drop against her chest and closed her eyes as she
waited for the little light-headed sensation to pass.

	The first time she had done this, three weeks ago, she had nearly
passed out as soon as she had plunged her arm into the water.
Shadow-spawn had dragged her out and away from it by the back of her
pants with his teeth, growling with distress. She had stared at the
damaged flesh of her arm as she bite down on her lower lip to stifle her
cry of pain. Then her whole body had tingled and the rose had appeared
and taken all the traces of injury and pain with it. She had proceed
cautiously from then, worked on submerging a little more of her arm each
day. And each day the rose would appear to mend her flesh and her
tolerance for the magic of the pool increased. At the end of the first
week she could hold his hand in her own for a few seconds. Now she was
past five minutes.

	She had started out just with the intent to touch him, to reassure
herself that he was really in there and not some ghost image thrown by
the pool. Yet he seemed to take comfort in her touch. His body would
relax a little as his fingers closed around her own with firm pressure
and these last few days he had opened his eyes a little and focused on
her for a few seconds. The pool had wiped all the traces of his battle
away by the end of the first week. All except for that chest wound which
was taking forever to close. It had maybe another inch before it would
be healed.

	Mender had smiled at her impatient worry and explained that it was not
so much the wound itself that was taking so long to mend, but the huge
amount of life-force that he had lost when he'd taken it. He assured her
that Nephlyte was healing and when it was done, the High Youma would
know and remove himself from the waters. She wished he would hurry. She
wanted to go home and do nothing but bake in the hot summer sun for a
day or two. She had asked Mender about that over one of their evening
games of Go, not certain of how exactly she had gotten here and wanting
to know how could she get back.

	Mender had proceed to explained about the Gates, how there where the
very old ones from The Time Before Memory that were scattered throughout
all the known worlds, and the unknown ones, he supposed. These were
locked in one location showing the few places where all dimensions
touched. But the youma didn't like using them. They where hard to
control. Then there where the Gates that the youma used to move about in
a dimension easily. They where basically rips in time and space. He
called them tesseracts. He had smiled at her blank look and plucked out
a piece of his coarse dark gray hair and held the ends between his
thumbs and forefingers and stretched it taunt.

	"What is the shortest distance between two points, Althea?" He had
asked.

	"A straight line, of course, Mender."

	He had shook his head 'no'.

	"If you limit yourself to three dimensions, yes. But if you are willing
to look beyond then you can go from one point to the other..." he
brought his fingers together so that the ends of the hair touched, the
length of the strand hanging in a loose arc below it, "...like so. A
tesseract." 

	Then he had continued to explain how only powerful youma could summon
them at will. To open one across dimensions took a huge amount of energy
and concentration. She had asked him if he could do it and he had looked
at her strangely and his focus had faded far away. He had said once, a
long time ago, he had been able to call the Gates. But no longer and
would say nothing more about it.

	Shadow-spawn came and nudged at her shoulder. He was hungry and wanted
to hunt. That was one of the other things that had happened as the days
passed. She had become very sensitive to this youma's wants and needs.
She sighed and got to her feet and put her shirt, vest and jacket back
on. She smiled as she tightened the straps and buckles. When Mender had
come and presented this outfit to her she had almost laughed. She still
thought she looked like some extra out of a Mad Max/Hellraiser
crossover.

	But it kept her almost warm enough and was an essential part of her
disguise. With youma constantly coming and going from Mender's house,
the possibility of her being seen and detected was high. The other part
was the topaz crystal that Mender had fastened around her neck on a
short slender chain. He said that it would make her 'read' as a youma to
any who bothered to look past the clothes. She closed the door behind
them and headed for Mender's dragon hoard as she called it, much to his
amusement. He was there, rearranging statues to make space for a new
one, clucking with delight like a mother hen with new chicks.

	"Ah, Althea, come here! Look at this! Isn't it beautiful!" He waved her
over.

	She really wished he would stop calling her that. He had done so ever
since she'd awakened, wrapped in the fur blanket and against
Shadow-spawns warm side. She'd asked him why and he had said she
reminded him so much of someone else he'd known a long time ago. He
carefully not told her that she was the reincarnation of his niece, his
power having shown him that the injury to her spirit, the reason why she
was always so cold and unaware of her own power was somehow bound up in
that knowledge. For a while she had corrected him and he would call her
Aurora, but after a few minutes slip back to Althea. She had finally
given up and filed it under, 'incurable, endurable'. 

	"Yes it is," she answered as she studied the blue/green translucent
statue of dolphin's riding in and on a cresting wave. It was a piece
that an artist could create once in a life-time.

	"So, what do you think? Here? Or here?" He grinned maniacally and
almost danced from this side of the room to the other to show her the
two places he wished to put it.

	"There," she choose the site closer to the hearth thinking that the
light from it would catch beautifully in the translucence.

	"I agree! So, you are off to hunt?" He asked as he set his new treasure
into place.

	"Yes."

	She waited for him to cast the ward on her that would make her hard to
see and resisted the urge to scratch everywhere as it settled over her.
This was the only way he would let her go out and Shadow-spawn would not
let her out of his sight or range of senses. Mender had brought food for
him, but he would only pick at it. He wanted to hunt, wanted his blood
and meat hot and full of fear.

	"Now, you both know the rules. Shadow-spawn, you stay out of sight as
much as possible until you reach the hunting grounds, Althea, you stay
hidden while he makes his kill. No exploring, no side trips.
Understand?"

	"Yes, Mender," she answered for both of them.

	"Then off you go. Good hunting!"

	Aurora and Shadow-spawn left him standing in front of his new treasure
and hurried to the big door. As soon as they where through it, he went
to one knee to let her mount, then they were off. She laughed into the
wind as Shadow-spawn's joy in just running communicated itself to her.
It took around thirty minutes for them to reach the forested gorge that
was the pass they took down into the open grass land which held many of
the herds of the prey creatures that the higher youma ate.

	Shadow-spawn slowed to a trot as he followed the sluggish oily stream
that had carved the gorge down. He stopped at the mouth of the valley by
a stand of maroon leafed trees and waited as Aurora slid off his back
and collected the long heavy stick that she had hidden in the lower
branches, just in case. He nosed at her chest to make her go farther
into the shadows. When he was sure that even he had a hard time seeing
her form, he turned and with an exuberant snort, entered the hunting
grounds.


				***************


	Beryl listened to Malachite's venom filled report in silence, only the
whitening of her knuckles on her staff showing any sign of her distress.

	"You are sure he interfered purposely to save the Sailor Senshi?" She
asked in a soft voice when he had finished.

	"Yes my Queen. It is beyond doubt. Perhaps your hold on him is not as
complete as you believe," Malachite knew it was not and that Endymion
was putting all of their plans in jeopardy.

	She frowned, then nodded. "You have done well in bringing this to my
attention. I will deal with it."

	She dismissed him with the flick of one finger. He bowed low then moved
himself to another part of the castle and other duties. As soon as he
was gone, a little of the fear she felt showed in her eyes for a moment,
then was gone. She would deal with it. She summoned Endymion. He went to
one knee in the posture of submission as the Gate left him at her feet.
She offered her hand and let him kiss it, then captured his chin in that
hand and forced his face up to her.

	"Malachite has just brought me the most distressing news. Did you
interfere in his last attempt to kill the Sailor Senshi?"

	He closed his eyes, whispered, "Yes."

	"Why?" She kept her voice calm and reasonable.

	"I don't know!" His answer was full of frustrated anger.

	When he went against them he was sure in his intent. Yet when it came
down to hurting any of them, something happened. He didn't know what,
just that he was unable to do so.

	"I would see this," she paused and let him know her favor by giving him
the ability to grant her permission and not just stepping into his mind
and soul as she would have done with any of the other youma under her
command.

	Endymion set himself, ready to endure what was to come. "I am yours to
do with as you please, Great Queen."

	She nodded, pleased and relieved. If he had truly regained any of his
memories then he would have refused her. But still, something in him
resisted her command to turn against the Senshi. Endymion let out a gasp
of pain and stiffened as she reached into his mind, hunting. She sifted
through his memories and emotions, focused on his encounters with the
Senshi. All she discovered was what he had told her. He did not know why
he could not bring himself to harm them and the distress that inability
caused him. She reinforced the block on his memory and the imprint she
had left on his soul that whispered to him that the Sailor Senshi were
his enemies, then released him.

	She steadied him as he sagged against her knees. She let him rest his
head on her lap and ran her fingers lightly through his hair while he
recovered. He was still hers. But she would have Malachite keep an eye
on him, just to be sure.


					***


	Endymion stalked the warren of caverns that made up The Dark Fortress,
his mood as dark as the shadows that he passed through. His Lady's study
of his mind and spirit had proved to both of them that he was as he had
always been, a High Youma. And the pain had been worth the pleasure
filled night for his patient endurance. But a High Youma with the
inability to carry out his Queen's greatest wish. He swore to himself
that the next time he ran into any of the Senshi, this weakness would
not re-occur. His steps turned toward the soft babble of voices coming
from the dining hall. He paused in the shadows of the entrance and was
about to turn away again when one phrase caught his attention.

	"Shadow-spawn has left his territory, I tell you!"

	Endymion focused his hearing and attention on that group.

	"Don't be stupid. Shadow-spawn is bound there. You know that as well as
any of us," the second one growled.

	"No. He has left," a third answered. "He has been seen on the Northern
Plains, hunting. And they say he has a rider!"

	"Naw!" the second one scoffed. "I don't believe you. You've been
snorting too much Dragon-clover again."

	"It's the truth. Hycon saw it! Hey, Hycon, come here!" The first one
yelled across the cavern.

	A hawk headed and winged youma came to them.

	"Tell him! Tell him about Shadow-spawn and what you saw!" The first one
demanded.

	Hycon tipped his head and regarded the three with his huge golden eyes.
"I was flying an errand for Lord Malachite when I saw Shadow-spawn
running free on the plateau above the Northern Plains. And he had a
rider. A beautiful youma with hair as black as his hide and skin as
white as his eyes."

	Endymion's eyes narrowed in cold fury. He had hunted down all the
information he could on Shadow-spawn as soon as he could move after his
encounter with the horse youma and had uncovered what Malachite had
neglected to tell him. Shadow-spawn was un-rideable. Very few had
managed to mount him and the farthest anyone had stayed on his back was
fifty yards. That someone should succeed where he had failed infuriated
him.

	He moved himself to his chambers and summoned a shadow from where the
horse-youma was now. He watched as Shadow-spawn thundered into the midst
of a herd and scattered it, then gave playful chase to one, then another
of the panic stricken creatures. His frown of anger changed into a
malicious grin as a plan formed in his mind. This time he would catch
and ride this youma. He had the skills and knowledge now. He spun the
net between his hands as Shadow-spawn finally selected his prey and
chased it back towards one of the gorges that lead to the plateau of the
Upper Plains. He waited until the youma had made his kill, close to a
groove of trees but thankfully not under their branches, and lowered his
head to eat.

	He summoned the Gate and had it leave him in the air ten feet over the
youma's head. He cast the net as he started to fall and twisted himself
through the air to land a few feet away from the roaring fury of the
youma. He straightened as the net embedded it's edges into the ground
and began to contract. He put his hands on his hips and watched with a
pleased smile as the net forced the youma to his knees and slowly toward
the ground. He was so focused on Shadow-spawn that he didn't feel Aurora
come up behind him, hidden as she was with the cloaking ward and
couldn't hear her running steps over the Shadow-spawn's screams of
anger.