Hello everyone,

Here is the long awaited (I WISH) next chapter of Sword and Sorcery.
As always, C&C appreciated.

This chapter is rough and was a little hard to write.  But enjoy
anyway.

D.Fire



What has happened before:  Ranma and his friends have been living in a
magical world for the last ten years, having been de-aged to
six-year-old initially.  The entire crew have grown up living with the
curses and Ranma (now known as Raeni) is a well-adjusted, powerful
teenager.  He/she search for his friends to gather them for a future
confrontation.

Last time, Raeni and Uerris (once known as Ukyou) encountered a part
of the force that had captured Uerris' father.  The enemy were
defeated soundly.  With the enemy leader apparently injured and on the
defensive, the two now hope to get some solid answers.

Sword and Sorcery
Chapter 14

by D.Fire
phongb9@idt.net

	Although both the sorceress and the ranger hurried to the
place of the voice, neither took for granted the fact that Raeni had
managed to hit something, or someone.  For all either knew, the
mysterious ringleader could be faking it, just to lull the two into
lowering their guard.

	As Raeni moved farther away from the fire, the only source of
light in the clearing, she slowed her pace accordingly, caution in the
forefront of her mind.  She had only read of the Order of Night in
shadowed legends when she had perused the magnificent library of her
dead mentor.  From what little she knew (the tomes only obliquely
hinted at the existence of the Order), she surmised that the
Assassin-Mage guild imposed a hellish training on the poor children
that they snatched off the street.  A stealthy killer trained from
early childhood.  Raeni shuddered to think of what manner of beast
such an upbringing would create.  In fact, in the darkness before her,
most probably one awaited her.

	Uerris trailed Raeni more slowly, keeping an increasing
distance between her and the mage.  This circumstance was planned for,
when she and the sorceress had made impromptu strategies when they had
been back at the house.  The idea was simple.  When both were fairly
sure that they faced the assassin, one would take point.  Since Raeni
charged off into the darkness first, Uerris assumed that the mage
would be point.  The secondary, herself, would follow more slowly but
would keep a reasonable distance, just in case the killer planned an
attack that could take both of them out at once.  Neither she nor
Raeni knew of assassins' tricks, so this plan seemed safest.

	Uerris hoped that it was enough.  If both she and mage failed,
she hoped that her mother would be able to avenge her death with the
mob that she guessed was forming back at the village right at this
moment.  Uerris realized that the tiniest mistake would result in her
death or the death of the one who was fast becoming dear to her heart,
a heart that leapt to her throat upon seeing the mage suddenly come to
stop.  Raeni looked like she was ... hitting herself on the forehead?

	Raeni braked to a sudden standstill and slapped a hand to her
brow.  She turned and gave a sheepish look to Uerris.  'Baka!  Baka!
What am I thinking?'  she muttered silently to herself.  She peered
into darkness before her.  'Darkness is my enemy and his friend.
Well, assassin, say good-bye to your ally!'  With a whispered warning
to the girl following her, Raeni held up one hand before her and
concentrated.  She incanted in a low voice, "Light, bind thyself to my
command, Aveni Mirus Benali."

 	For a few seconds, nothing happened.  Then, slowly at first,
light began spreading, starting centered from her hand.

	Uerris didn't catch the mage's whispered warning.  The sound
of her heart quickly beating had drowned out any other sound that
might have entered her ears.  She regained her composure and her loud
thumping slowed when she saw Raeni acting ... normally, as if normal
could be a word easily applied to the young red-head.  

	Uerris missed the invocation but wonderingly observed its
result.  She watched as the volume of the light pushed outward from
the sorceress' upheld hand.  

	Initially a small sphere, the light forced the darkness away,
ballooning unevenly, with short tendrils of light leading the way.
When the light approached her own position, Uerris almost winced at
its life-like movements, but the edge rushed upon and by her before
she could react and spread out behind her like wildfire unchained.
The ranger whirled around and caught sight of the light, a curtain
separating darkness from light proceeding off into the distance.  She
watched enthralled until she could no longer distinguish the
magic-made day from the night.

	Uerris abruptly spun back, the deadly business at hand forcing
itself back into the fore of her mind.  Fortunately for her, nothing
untoward had happened in the span of her enraptured state.  Raeni had
lowered her hand and steadily stared in the direction in which she was
stalking.

 	The ranger followed the sorceress' gaze, stepping back when
she tracked its target.  Located several trees behind the perimeter of
the clearing, a perfect sphere of gray flickered in and out of
existence.  Between flickers, Uerris could see the mage's shaft of
conjured flame piercing through the chest of a cloaked figure, which
she assumed was the mysterious assassin.

	The drow, or dark elf, shook uncontrollably, pinned to the
tree like a bug in a entomologist's grotesque collection.  Little
wisps of white hair escaped from under his hood to dance macabrely
with the rhythm of his shaking.  The sphere of gray winked out of
existence for one last time, and the elf stilled.

 	For a long moment, both girls thought that Raeni's magical
javelin had finished him off.  What happened next was startling.
Reality suddenly blurred around the drow as he sank backwards into the
tree.  He did not leap off the branch or move in any physically
possible way.  The assassin simply shifted backwards as though the
solid body of the tree had not held him there mere moments before.

 	Once far enough away from the twisted tree, the elf floated
slowly to the ground.  One hand was held to his chest, covering the
expected wound, but when the hand dropped, the girls could see that
the wound had stopped bleeding, although blood darkened his already
black overcloak.

	The figure gasped, "Very good, mage."  His voice barely
reached the two girls.  Mellifluous overtones flowed throughout his
speech, and he spoke with an almost hypnotizing tongue.  "I did not
think anybody could catch me off guard like that.  My name is Daved,
ladies."

 	The elf bowed with courtly manners, seemingly according them
with honors.  He continued, "It has been hundreds of years since I
have met someone of your caliber.  Of course, I killed them."  He
flashed into motion in a blink of an eye.  Daved flowed through the
woods, not even seeming to touch the ground.  As he retreated from the
stunned pair, the elf taunted over his shoulder, "Follow me, if you
dare!"

	The spear of fire remained in its position, its flame quietly
crackling into the silent woods.  Raeni and Uerris quickly followed
the elf into the forest.

	***

	The chase had continued for several minutes when the pursuers
noticed a change in their quarry.  Daved no longer sped in a straight
line in leading the hunters.  They had managed to pull within twenty
paces of the elf when he started bobbing and weaving through the
trees.

 	Raeni was perplexed.  She watched as the elf jumped down to
the ground at several points, to only hop back to the treetops soon
after.

	The mage was so distracted by the elf's movements, that she
almost missed the thin line of black hanging before her.  Not knowing
what it was, she desperately dodged.  Because she was vaulting through
the air at the time, she had no choice but to try to shift her weight
and hope it would be enough.  With delicate timing, she
forward-flipped over the black string, landing gracelessly on the
floor of the forest.

	Uerris rushed to Raeni's side, asking, "What's wrong, Raeni?
Why'd you stop like that?"

	Raeni shook her head.  "I'm not too sure, Uerris.  I thought I
saw something blocking my way."  She peered upward and pointed.  "See
that?"

	Only by squinting, did Uerris distinguish the unnatural black
string from the rest of the forest.  Where the string merged with the
dark night, she could not find it at all.  Uerris searched on the
ground and found a rock.  She threw it with pin-point accuracy at what
she supposed was their obstacle and watched shocked as the rock was
cleanly split in two on contact with the wire.  "Um.  You almost hit
THAT?"  She turned to Raeni.

	Raeni clutched her middle in sympathetic pain and nodded.
"Man, we gotta avoid his little trapped area.  That stuff's sharp!"
The elf, by this time, was almost out of sight.  Raeni quickly
decided., "I'll follow his path from the treetops.  Uerris, you try to
get around this area from the ground.  I should be all right if I
follow his path exactly."

	"Wait, Raeni!" shouted Uerris as she caught onto Raeni's arm.
Taking out a dagger, she tossed it, following the trajectory of the
rock before.  This time, the string was the one cleanly cut from its
encounter, and it fell slowly to the ground.  "It's just like string.
Use a dagger to cut it."

	Raeni nodded in agreement and hopped once more to the tree
tops.  She tried to recall the various jumps and ascensions the dark
master had performed but quickly gave up that tactic as a lost cause.
She would never be able to follow him exactly.  Her best hope would be
to carry a weapon in front of her and cut through any dangerous wires
in her way.

 	Pulling together her determination, Raeni retrieved her
two-handed blade from its normal resting place in a sub-dimension.  It
would be more cumbersome to jump while carrying the thing, but it
seemed like a necessary sacrifice.  She looked ahead and saw Daved's
quickly retreating back.  'Damn!  I can barely see that morbid cloak
of his!'  Not wasting any more time, she followed him directly,
trusting to her own keen sight and lightning reflexes to keep herself
safe.

	Uerris, meanwhile, copied the movements of the mage perched
above her.  She pulled her long sword from the scabbard at her side
and proceeded to follow the hooded assassin from the ground.

 	Her mind had been churning over the past several minutes while
she wondered where her father was.  If what she had examined back in
the clearing wasn't her father, then the young healer had no idea
where he could be.  There was no doubt, however, that the assassin had
somehow waylaid the old ranger.  What she had examined had duplicated
her father down to the flecks of white in his beard.

 	Uerris reasoned that in order for that to happen, the assassin
must have had intimate knowledge of her missing parent.  Uerris
gritted her teeth as she gathered her resolve to catch the miscreant
and pound any information about her father out of him.

	***

	Daved had simply disappeared.  Raeni knew he was around here
somewhere, but he had managed to elude her senses.  She and Uerris had
followed him to this section of the woods and had cut the distance
between them when the elf had vanished.

 	Both she and the ranger had immediately ground to a halt, her
stopping at the next available perch while Uerris skidded to a stop.
Although neither spoke, both realized the implication.  The assassin
was setting up an ambush.  

 	Raeni pulled out some daggers and waved a hand over them,
muttering, "Seek thy prey, Latus Iridem."  The daggers floated up from
her hand and stayed there, waiting for her mental call.  Although she
hated to put another in danger, she had a better view from up here, so
she reluctantly waved Uerris forward while she commanded the floating
arsenal to follow the girl from above.

	Uerris had no objections to being the bait, since her stake in
finding and subduing the killer outweighed the mage's.  The elf held
her father somewhere, and unless they caught him, the old ranger was
as good as dead.  

 	'But what if Father is already dead?' her fear spoke from the
back of her mind.  Uerris ruthlessly pushed the thought away.  'He
can't be!' she screamed back internally.  Her strong father couldn't
be dead!  

 	Images flashed through the ranger's mind as she recalled the
details of her happy childhood, with Father's presence firmly in her
memories.  Again, Uerris gritted her teeth, forcing away the tears
that threatened to spill down her face.  'I can't break down now!  Not
with the death-merchant hidden Palamus knows where!'

 	Uerris squashed her impending grief and focused on the
present, slowly prowling through the forest.  She tried her best to
watch from all directions for any possible attack.

	Uerris faced the direction in which she had seen the deadly
elf before he had mysteriously disappeared.  Her eyes scanned the
forest, searching for any discrepancies.  Had the elf used
invisibility, or was he lurking around the next tree, waiting to
pounce on her?

 	Although she knew Raeni watched from above, she did not take
her guardian for granted.  The assassin that faced them could be the
single-most deadly being she had ever met in her life.

 	The healer's heart pounded loudly in her ears and threatened
to overwhelm her other senses while an uncomfortable dryness settled
in her mouth.  Not a single sound reached her ears, not from the
killer, nor from the forest.  'The fauna of the woods must be terribly
disturbed.'  The realization suddenly hit her.  'The night creatures
blinded and fearful of the unnatural day, while the day creatures are
probably scared of the lighted night.'

	Uerris passed a large oak tree but, seeing no danger, moved
on.  With her back facing the tree, she did not notice the largish
shadow creeping from a hole near the trunk of the tree.  It slid out
silently and approached the girl on the ground.  

 	A pace away from the unsuspecting Uerris, the inky blackness
suddenly reared back, a dagger-like shape forming from its mass.
Before it could strike, however, a dagger from above slammed into the
seething darkness.  Immediately following that, three other daggers
zoomed in from above and plunged themselves into the black spot.

 	The noise from Raeni's attack alerted Uerris and she spun
around in time to see the shadow coalesce into a solid shape.

	Using battle reactions a decade old, Uerris reached across her
front, her hand seeking a spatula from the bandolier normally strapped
across her chest but the hand came up empty.  'Spatula?!' she wondered
frantically.  'Why am I reaching for a kitchen utensil?'  

 	Any further questions would have to wait as the shape surged
from the ground, forming roughly into a biped humanoid.  Uerris jumped
up and backwards, away from her malformed assailant, and managed to
land safely on a perch on a tree ten paces above the ground.  The
ranger-in-training quickly pulled the bow from her back, notched an
arrow, and let it fly.

	The shape below moved before the arrow could embed itself in
its flesh.  The assassin, as the firm shape finally revealed, jumped
almost directly up in avoiding the projectile, but was smashed into a
tree as Raeni's flying jumpkick nailed him on the chest.  Raeni
rebounded from her attack and landed firmly on her feet while the
assassin managed a controlled tumble to the ground.

 	The cowled elf hissed, "So you see through another of my
tricks!"  After getting to his feet, Daved pulled several daggers from
his body.  He sneered, "If these had been my daggers, you would have
killed me.  Let me return the favor!"  In quick succession, he
launched the bloodied blades back at their owner

	The red-head would have none of it.  "Why, thank you," Raeni
bantered while she swatted the flying blades down, "but you're too
kind.  You needn't be so enthusiastic on my account!"  The girl closed
in for close-combat with her sword in one hand.

	The hooded elf stood his ground and retrieved his own daggers
from the folds of his cloak, and calmly waited for the mage's attack.
He almost laughed at the ludicrous sight before him, but he was well
warned of the girl's fighting prowess from the previous encounter with
the mercenaries he had hired.

 	Uerris, meanwhile, waited for a clear shot at the assassin.
She cursed silently as she saw her friend close in on the elf.  'With
Raeni this close to him, any shot I make might hit her!'

	At first, it did not seem like an even battle.  Raeni seemed
to barely block the deadly dance of daggers targeting her, but the way
she manipulated the sword in her hand amazed Uerris.

 	Again and again, the young sorceress seemed to move the
impromptu shield barely in time to meet the deadly movement of the
opposing daggers.  Raeni wielded the sword with the grace of a fencer,
and the movement of the sword mirrored the actions of a rapier, not a
weapon that outmassed such a delicate blade by tenfold.

 	The heavy blade held in Raeni's left hand was not being used
for offense, and so far, she had only been blocking her enemy's
attacks.  After several seconds of clashing steel, Raeni finally
brought her right hand into play.

	The mage smiled viciously at her opponent as she realized that
although the elf was skilled, she was better.  In no time, seemingly,
Raeni landed several solid blows on her enemy, striking randomly at
the chest, forearms, and legs.

 	As each blow hit, Daved's concentration was systematically
broken.  Soon enough, it became evident that it was all the elf could
do to ward off most of Raeni's punches and jabs.

	They came together a final time as Raeni managed to snag both
of her opponent's daggers on the blade of her sword.  With a flick of
her wrist, her enemy's weapons were pulled from his hands, but before
he could pull away, she pulled back her right hand and slammed it into
his gut, causing him to vomit some blood onto her shirt.

	Raeni pulled back and watched him carefully.  She demanded,
"Where is Uerris' father?" as she narrowed her eyes menacingly.

	The elf staggered backwards and leaned against a tree for
support.  He coughed several times before answering, "Ha!  That old
fool?  He's with whatever pitiful god he worshipped!"

	Raeni's hand tightened on her blade while Uerris almost
released an arrow at the elf in reaction.

	"You'll never find his body.  No one but I knows where he is!"
the elf taunted the girls with an evil grin.  "And you'll never catch
me!"  He started fading away, and Raeni, fearing an imminent teleport,
leapt at the cloaked form intending to knock Daved out.

 	At the last instant, the elf solidified and threw the cloak
before him in defense.  The blackness silently swallowed Raeni before
she could make a yell.

	"NOOOO!" screamed Uerris from where she crouched on a high
branch.  Furious, she rapidly filled the air with arrows, aiming each
one at the elf before her.  But Daved reacted quicker than she
anticipated, moving immediately behind the tree he had leaned against.

 	Uerris continued firing arrows down at her target, regardless
of the fact that because of the tree in the way, she had virtually no
chance of hitting him.  Anger and grief overwhelmed her common sense.
Eventually, she ran out of arrows.

	Quelling the sobs that threatened to erupt, Uerris jumped down
from her perch and rushed at the tree behind which the elf hid.  She
neared the trunk with long sword in hand and thoughts of death in her
mind.  She wanted his death, Daved's death, and nothing would stay her
hand.  

 	Again, a small voice whispered in the back of her mind, 'What
if he can bring back Raeni?'  She ignored it.  This ... this ...
monster had killed her father.  She didn't care that it was an
assassin only whispered of in legend.  She didn't care that the thing
just swallowed up one of the most formidable fighters she had ever
met.  It must die!

	***

	A cool cloth rested on Raeni's forehead as she roused to
half-wakefulness.  'What?  Where?' was the first thought that came to
mind.  Shortly following that came a frantic, 'The assassin!'  The
last thing she remembered was jumping at the elf and then ... falling.
No impact, though, as far as she could recall.

The cloak!  It had somehow pulled her in when her foot touched it!
But that meant ...  Her eyes popped open.  "Ucchan!" she blurted out.
Her childhood friend was battling the killer alone!

	At first, she couldn't see anything at all, but she soon
realized that she was actually seeing something.  She was in almost
total darkness.  Above her, the sky seemed ... strange.  One moment,
it had the consistency of a cave wall.  The next, it gave the
impression of endless space, a blackness without limit.  She blinked
several times as she tried to understand what her senses told her.

	"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," came a man's voice from
off to her side.  "I've stared at the sky for several days, now, and I
don't understand it any more than I did before I started."

	Fully alert, Raeni turned toward the voice, but in the
darkness of ... wherever she was ... she couldn't make out any
features.  Her eyes slowly began adjusting to the dim, ambient light.


 	The level of light that reached her eyes measured only to the
brightness of the day after a new moon, but when she looked up, no
moon hung in pulsating, gray sky.  The mage bent down low to feel the
ground, since her eyes weren't being much of a help at the moment.  At
the very least, she wanted to find out on what kind of terrain she
stood.  'Odd.  It felt mostly like broken concrete.'

	The man misinterpreted her movement and asked, "Looking for
your sword, miss?  I assume it's yours since you came in with it.
Although, it's hard to believe.  You don't even look like you can lift
it."  The shadow shifted slightly and a shape detached itself from the
shadow and flew at Raeni's feet.

	From her crouched position, Raeni jumped back, ready in case
the offer was a ruse, but nothing untoward happened.  She heard a
metal thunk as the weapon landed near her previous position.  Walking
slowly back and bending low, she cautiously put out a hand and felt
the handle.  Without a doubt, it was her weapon.  She picked it up
without further preamble.

	The man hissed in surprise.  "Whoa!  I can't believe it!  Do
you know the trouble I had when I first picked it up?"  He moved
slowly toward Raeni.  "Please don't be alarmed.  I just want to come
closer so you can see me."

	Raeni whipped the sword in front of her, warning the man away.
She finally spoke, her voice a low and deadly, "Identify yourself."
The man stopped at her request and because her sword's length blocked
any further advance.  "Stay there!  Don't come any closer."  She
raised her free hand and chanted, "Mirus!"  A dim ball of light
hovered before her palm, just enough to allow her to see him clearly.

	"No!  Put that light out!"  The man seemed frantic in his
demand.  "If you value our lives, put it out!"

	Startled, she allowed the light to flicker and die, but Raeni
managed to catch glimpses of the man.  The stranger had pale green
eyes under thick eyebrows and seemed to be about middle-age.  His
clothing was ragged, and bandages covered his chest and stomach.  The
urgency of his voice seemed genuine, but she still didn't quite trust
him.  "Okay, the light's gone.  What's so important about the
darkness?"

	The man explained, "There are creatures in here with us.  And
they seem to feed off of whoever gets trapped in here.  I've been able
to fight off the last few attacks, but they seem to be attracted to
light."

	Raeni still didn't lower her sword.  "And how do I know you
aren't one of these ... creatures?" she asked suspiciously.  "And you
haven't told me your name ... sir."  The last was added most
reluctantly.  A part of her wanted terribly to insult the man, but she
reigned her mouth in before it could do damage.  For now, the stranger
was still a possible ally.

	In the darkness, Raeni could barely make out a movement that
seemed like a shaking of his head.  With regret lacing his voice, the
man replied, "I can't give you that assurance, but at the very least I
can give you my name.  I am Aarun."

	Silence answered him.  Seconds ticked by while Raeni stood
there stunned.  She finally demanded, "I don't believe you.  Prove
it!"

	From his shift in posture, Aarun was clearly taken aback.
"Umm, how could I prove it to you?  I clearly don't know you.  I would
have remembered if a pretty girl such as you came into town --"

	Raeni whipped her sword around menacingly.  "Don't!"

	The man paused, puzzled.  "Don't what?"

	Curbing an old reaction, Raeni shook her head and growled out,
"Never mind.  Name your family --  No, that isn't any good.  Anybody
can get information like that."  Frustrated, she tapped her foot
impatiently as she tried to figure out a way to verify his statement.

	Suddenly, it came to her, and Raeni snapped her fingers in
reaction.  "I know.  Tell me what happened ten years ago."

	"Ten years ago?  Why ... nothing happened."  The man clearly
had more to say but was unwilling to divulge a personal secret.

	The hesitancy in the man's answer gave Raeni all the proof she
needed.  "Okay, I believe you.  You are Aarun, Uerris' and Errin's
father."

	"What?  H-how did you know?"

	Raeni bowed in response.  She grinned, although he couldn't
see it.  "Family secrets.  My specialty," she joked.  The mage took
the sword and aimed it into the pouch at her side.  She pushed it
quickly into the pouch, expecting it to disappear into its resting
place, but the sword tore through the pouch and remained solidly in
her hand.  Because the sword had stubbornly stayed in this plane of
existence, Raeni managed to cut into her thigh.  She hissed in pain,
dropping the sword.

	Aarun, seeing something wrong, rushed to her side.  He helped
as Raeni slowly sank to the ground.  "Why did you do that?  That
seemed utterly ..." the older man chidingly said.

	"Ouch!  That seemed what?  Idiotic?  Stupid?  You're right.
You don't need to spare my feelings."  Raeni reached up to her shirt
sleeve and ripped it off.  Taking the piece of cloth, she made a
makeshift bandage for her thigh.  "Don't worry about the wound.  It's
nothing."

	"Hmmf.  That nothing, you call it, seems pretty deep to me.
Here, give me that."  Aarun took the bandage from Raeni's hand and
gently wrapped her thigh.  "Just like a child.  You look about the
same age as my daughter.  What were you doing playing with your sword
like that?"

	Raeni snapped indignantly, "I wasn't playing with it!"  Her
voice dropped to a mutter.  "Iwsnt sposed tdtht."

	"What was that?  I didn't hear you clearly."

	"It ... Wasn't ... Supposed ... To ... Do ... That!"  Raeni
ground out each word.  More calmly she continued, "I was putting it
away.  But it didn't work."

	Aarun reached to Raeni's side and pulled the pouch away from
her belt.  "Where were you putting it?  This pouch has seen better
days.  Don't you have a scabbard across your back for the sword?"

	"I usually store it in my pouch for holding."

	"Ah.  Oh," came the man's stunned reply.  "Well, I don't think
this pouch will be holding anything anymore."  He poked his hand into
the pouch.  It emerged through a hole in the bottom.  "What a shame.
I've never seen a bag of holding this small before."

	"Actually ..."  'Damn, what's the use?  For some reason, I
can't reach into any dimensional pockets at the moment.'  "Nevermind."
It was no use showing off if you couldn't actually show off.

	With Aarun close at hand, Raeni took a moment to examine him.
He seemed okay physically at least.  The bandages across his body
didn't seem to be hiding any massive wounds.  In fact, from his
unencumbered movement, she deduced that Aarun wasn't very injured at
all.  She said, "The assassin claimed that he had killed you.  But you
seem all right to me."

	Embarrassment crept into the ranger's voice as he replied.
"No.  He came pretty close.  That elf trapped me some time ago."
Aarun rose from location at Raeni's side and looked of into the
distance, seeing a memory from his past.  He explained, "He caught me
unawares.  Before I knew it the elf had me tied up and in his
encampment.  He questioned me, but I wouldn't tell him.  So he ...
tried other methods."

	Raeni stood up and limped over to the man, laying a consoling
hand on his shoulder, startling him from the terrible memories.  "It's
all right," she soothed him.  "I take it you know what he is.  Your
wife told me and your daughter about the meaning of his tattoos."  She
felt wetness dripping onto her hand.

	Silent tears coursed down the old ranger's face, and he
answered her.  "By Palamus," he sobbed, "I tried not give him any
information."  His body shuddered with uncontrollable reaction.  His
voice lowered to a whisper.  "But in the end, he got all the
information he asked for."

	"That's all right," Raeni consoled the troubled man.  "Such a
... professional," she added with distaste evident in her voice, "Not
many can stand up to such horrible persuasion."  Although she hadn't
had any personal experience in torture, she knew from history that it
happened.  Dredging up an old history lesson, she continued, "Great
men in history have done no more than you.  Even the hero, Porimicus,
broke in the face of adversity."  She gently squeezed his shoulder to
reassure him.

	She suddenly jerked her hand from its position on Aarun's
shoulder and lightly shuddered.  'What am I doing?'  It creeped her
out to be so ... touchy-feelie.  One side of her mind yammered about
it while the other half seemed strangely quiet.  Shaking off the
unease, she added jokingly, "At least you heal quickly.  These wounds
look about a week old."

	It was undignified for a man to be sniffling like he currently
was, but for some reason, Raeni thought nothing of it.  "That's
because they are about a week old."

	She stood there stunned as the import of his words impacted on
her consciousness.  She spun him around to face her and demanded,
"What?  You've been here a week already?  But Keili said you were only
missing for three or four days!"

	The unexpected news drove the bad memories to the back of
Aarun's mind.  "But ... that assassin captured me three days after I
left home.  That means ..."

	Raeni did the simple math.  "You've only been in here one day,
real time," she concluded.  "No wonder this place is so odd.  We're
inside a dimensional space!"  'Amazing!  I didn't think anyone could
live in a sub-dimension.  Such possibilities!  But there's time enough
for that later,' she thought.  Aloud, she asked, "Can you show me
where I came in?  And what do you for food?  I don't think anything
edible will grow in here."

	"Well, the others have some supplies and they took care of me
when I was first thrown in here.  And I don't know where you came in.
I saw a beam of light in the sky that disappeared, so I came this way
and found you."

	"Others?  Why didn't you tell me there were others here?"
Raeni imperiously demanded.  Pulling on Aarun's arm, she commanded,
"Take me to them.  Maybe we can work together to get out of here."

	At once, reluctance entered Aarun's expression.  "I'm .. not
sure how you'll react to them."

	"Oh, come on.  What could they be?  Some sort of monster?"

	"Well ... just promise me you won't do anything to hurt them.
They've been really helpful to me, and I would have died if they
hadn't taken care of me."

	"Okay," Raeni agreed brightly.  "I promise."  She paused as
the implications sunk in.  "Wait.  They ARE monsters?"

	"Not exactly.  But they aren't human."

	"Okay, but they're sushi if they attack me!"

	Aarun didn't know what 'sushi' was, but he answered anyway,
"Uh.  Right.  I don't think they would attack you anyway."

	The pair traveled a short distance into the blackness after
Raeni gathered up her oversized butcher's knife.  Aarun led the way,
while Raeni trusted him to guide her safely.  A short time later, they
arrived at what appeared to be a hole in the ground.

	"We're encamped in there."  Aarun pointed to the hole.
"Ladies first."  He lowered his arm in expectation of her using it as
a hand hold.

	Raeni pointedly ignored the proffered arm.  "I'm certainly no
lady.  Just tell me how deep the drop is.  I'll manage," she gruffly
stated.

	Clearly puzzled at the young mage's behavior, Aarun answered,
"About the height of one and a half men.  Please, let me help you
down.  You're wounded."

	Raeni gave him a pointed glare.  "So are you.  Although you've
had a week to heal, there's no telling what you had broken before.  So
perhaps I should help YOU down."

	"Absolutely not!  You're more recently wounded than I am."

	"Oh you mean this?"  Raeni pointed at the bandage on her
thigh.  "I told you it's nothing."  She began untying the knot holding
the bandage together.

	"What are you doing?!  If you uncover that ..."  Aarun's voice
faded away as he gapingly took in the sight of her wound, or in this
case, nearly lack of a wound.  Where there was once a deep gash, only
an angry line remained.  "That's ... That's impossible!"

	"It's nothing.  I already told you several times.  Now do I
help you down or what?"

	Still stunned, the old ranger stood there open-mouthed.

	Sighing and shaking her head, Raeni took a hold of the man's
hand and grasped firmly.  Without warning, she yanked him so that he
lost his footing and held him gently over the hole.

	"Hey!  Why did you do that?" Aarun protested.

	"Because, at the moment you seemed to be wantin' more to gape
than to climb down a hole," she answered him.  "Now tell me when you
hit the bottom."  She lowered him slowly and extended her reach by
crouching near the edge of the hole in the ground.  Soon enough, she
heard Aarun confirm that he had reached the bottom.  

 	"Okay then.  I'm handing down my sword, so watch it.  I don't
feel like skewering you."  The sword smoothly made the transition to
the underworld.  "Now stand back so I can get down."  After another
confirmation came from below, Raeni lightly hopped down the hole,
landing gently on both feet.

	The sorceress lightly clapped away the dust on her hands and
regained possession of her sword.  "Lead on, sirrah.  Thy monsters
await," she quipped to the still slightly bedazzled man.