CHAPTER XXI
			    CONFRONTATIONS

	"What are you doing here?" I snarled at my mirror image, "I told you 
not to bother me!" 
	"You still won't admit you need me?  Look around you, fool!  Your 
playing hero is going to get everyone killed!"
	"That's not true!"
	"Isn't it?  Ever notice how you take charge without asking, and no 
one  questions it? That's your royal blood at work.  I told you to kill them 
all and be done with it."  He gave that mirthless, savage show of teeth 
again, "I'm glad to see you've taken my advice."
	"I didn't want them to die!" I said, then realized that it sounded 
like I was admitting that they were dead.  As if he'd read my thoughts, my 
alter-ego responded.
	"Oh, they're dead all right.  You left the elf with that lunatic 
wizard, Marse has been dead since you left the tower, also sacrificed to the 
wizard, and the rest are dying even as we speak.  You didn't really think a 
prophesy would save them, did you?"
	"I don't believe in prophesy!"
	"Good, because it certainly isn't doing you any good.  That scream a 
little while ago, what would you bet that was Vereek?  Sounds like he fell 
into the lake.  Or, more likely, he saw something that made him jump."
	"Isn't that what you're trying to do?  Trick me into killing myself?  
Isn't that what all of these hallucinations are supposed to do?"
	"Some of them, yes, but I'm here for a different reason."  He held 
out his hand.  "You can save some of them still.  You can even defeat 
Kiaphas, but it will take all of your power to do it.  To reach that power, 
you need me.  With me, you can stop holding yourself back.  Do not wait for 
the power to come to you, seize it!  It is yours by right."
	"And why should you care whether I save them or not?"
	"I don't, you fool.  But if we are to survive, we must survive 
together.  You know that you need me, much as you may deny it."  
	"You're right on one count.  I can still save them.  But first..."  
I lunged forward and grabbed two fistfuls of his fur, then brought him up 
and over my head.  "...I need to stop wasting time with you."  I flung him 
head-first into the lake.  There was no scream, no splash, and I didn't fool 
myself with the hope that he'd died.  I hurried off up the shore, looking 
for my missing companions.
	Diana, the closest to me, was facing a different sort of nightmare.
"You aren't real!" She whispered over and over to herself, trying to break 
the Mist-induced hallucination.  "You aren't real, this isn't happening, you 
aren't real!"  
	A deamonic thing towered over her, a massive shadowy outline of 
goat's legs and round jiggling flesh.  She continued to chant her denial 
like a litany, closing her eyes to block out the sight of the menacing 
siloughette.  She could still feel it's presence, however, and her fear 
ran her words together, until they were a jumble of meaningless syllables.  
The deamon laughed, mocking her as it stepped closer.  When it spoke, the 
sound of its familiar and hated voice brought her eyes open in panic, and 
her voice faltered, her mumbled chant trailing off.
	"Well, well, bitch.  Here we are again."  The deamon stepped forward 
again, close enough to be seen even in the dim light of the Mists.  "What, 
you didn't miss me?"  Diana struggled to fight back a scream as Shaloc's 
face leered at her from atop the deamon's body.  
	"This isn't real, this isn't happening, this isn't real..." Diana 
began again, but the deamon silenced her with a heavy slap across her face.  
Diana took a step backward, away from the Shaloc-deamon, a thin trail of 
blood running slowly down her cheek. 
	"It's real enough, bitch.  I've been waiting a long time for this.  
I sold my soul to find you, and you know how I like to get my money's worth."  
He stepped forward again, and Diana took another step back.  "Looks like 
you've forgotten everything I taught you.  Let's see if I can refresh your 
memory."  His huge, beefy fist knocked her sideways as it slammed into her 
ribs.  "First, you don't stand while I'm around."  Diana looked at him and 
spat in his face, her spittle red with blood.  Shaloc ignored that, but 
struck her again, this time succeeding in knocking her to the ground.  
"Second, you don't look me in the eyes."  He kicked her with his goat's 
leg, hard enough to bring her off the ground and roll her over.
	"Not.. real." Diana managed to say between agonizing breaths. 
	"That brings us to the third rule.  Do not speak until I ask you 
to."  He made to kick at her again, but she dragged herself back out of 
reach.  He laughed and ran forward to kick her, putting even more force into 
his kick than before.  Diana curled up in pain, wrapping her arms around her 
aching ribs.  "Now, the last and most important.  What is my name?"
	"Mas.." Diana began before she could stop herself.  She pushed 
herself to her feet, glaring defiance at the Shaloc-deamon.  "You are Shaloc.  
Nothing more."  The deamon loomed even larger than before, seeming to tower 
over her menacingly.  He swung at her, but again she dodged quickly back out 
of reach.  He came forward, slowly, confidently, and she maintained the 
distance between them.  
	"Diana!"  I called, still out of sight.  "Diana, it isn't real!  
It's a trap!"  Even as this reached her, she was taking another step back, 
her paw settling not on the ground but in the deadly-hot water of the lake.  
She jerked back her scalded paw with a cry of pain, and realized she'd have 
to face Shaloc, for there was nowhere left to retreat to.
	"This isn't real." She began again, "You can't hurt me."  As she 
spoke, the pain in her ribs began to fade.
	"I thought I cured you of that, bitch.  Listen when I'm talking to 
you!"  He slapped her again, knocking her to the ground once more.  She 
quickly regained her feet, and drew herself up straight and proud.
	"You aren't real.  You cannot hurt me unless I let you.  I've been 
afraid of you long enough."  The deamon kicked her, but he made no impact, 
his hoofed foot passing completely through her.  Diana laughed, all the pain 
he'd inflicted suddenly gone.  "Is this what you wanted to do?" She asked, 
and laid into him like a rabid badger.  He vanished a moment later, dripping 
with blood, just as I finally arrived on the scene.
	"Diana, what happened?"  She looked around and gave me one of her 
small, secretive smiles. 
	"Nothing important."  She walked to me, and I noticed her limping 
slightly.  "Oh, I scalded my paw a little bit.  It'll be fine, don't worry."
	"Good." I paused for a moment, "I hate to tell you this, but you're 
just not that good at lying.  We will talk about this later, you do know 
that?"  She nodded, though she obviously wished I hadn't caught her lie.
	"Of course.  Later.  For now, let's go help the others."
	"My thoughts exactly."

	We continued up the shoreline until we found Agnon, his dagger drawn 
and slashing at the air.  
	"Get back!" He screamed at the air in front of him, "Fursina take 
you, it's mine!  I'll kill you before I give it up!"  He dodged his unseen 
assailant and lunged forward, stabbing.  He stood there for a moment, the 
pulled his dagger back as though it were lodged in something.  Then he moved 
as though pulling at something, and his face seemed to sag with anguish.  
"No.  Oh please, not you.  I didn't know... Nieka, I thought..."  His voice 
broke, "Why?"  He picked up his dagger from where it lay in the dust.  He 
stood there a moment, contemplating it.        
	"Agnon!" Diana and I both shouted as he brought the dagger up to his 
throat, "Stop!  It's not real!"  He seemed not to hear us.  We ran forward to 
stop him, and I reached him first, Diana being slowed by her injured paw.  I 
pulled the dagger away from his throat even as it began cutting into his 
flesh.  He looked at me with distant eyes, a lost look on his face and tears 
on his cheek.
	"I didn't mean to," He said, "I didn't know it was her."
	"I'm sure you didn't." I told him soothingly, not having the 
slightest clue what he meant, "It wasn't real, Agnon.  It was a hal-
lucination, brought on by the Mists."  He turned and stared at me for a few 
moments before finally recognizing me.
	"Firemane?  Wha... What are you doing here?"
	"Trying to keep you from killing yourself." Diana answered from 
beside him.  
	"Kill myself?"  His voice said that the idea was ridiculous.  "Me?" 
	"You had the dagger in your hand and it was at your throat.  If you 
don't believe me, feel your neck.  You have a nasty cut there."  He felt his 
throat and looked shocked as his hand came away wet with blood.   
	"But... I don't understand."
	"At the moment, neither do we.  We can sort things out later.  Right 
now, we need to find Felin and Marse."  He nodded, pausing to rip a strip of 
his shirt to staunch the flow of blood from his neck before running with us 
farther up the shore.    
	When we caught up with Felin she was a few feet from the edge of the 
lake, with Marse lying still unconscious behind her.  Now that I had a chance 
to look her over, I could see that whatever Jolan did to her had taken its 
toll.  Her dark skin had an unhealthy gray cast to it and she looked several 
pounds lighter, making her skin seem to hang on her as though it were a size 
too large.  It took a few minutes, but we finally convinced her to stop 
fighting the quartet of Skull Knights the Mists had conjured to terrify her.  
I had to give her credit for bravery, though.  Most people would have been 
scared witless by one Skull Knight, and even thinking that she faced four 
she'd been holding her ground well.  However, she confirmed my earlier 
suspicion.  The scream I'd heard had been Vereek's, as he leapt into the 
lake to avoid his hallucination.  Whatever it had been must have been truly 
terrifying, because Felin said that instead of leaving the boiling water, 
he'd actually been trying to swim farther out.  

	Meanwhile, back in the city, dawn was still approaching.
	"I told you to leave!" Jolan yelled at Palas, launching a bolt of 
pure magic in her direction, which she easily deflected.  The arch-mage 
looked very different from the Jolan we knew.  He looked not much more than 
twenty, his body strong and fit.  His hair held not a touch of it's familiar 
white, or even of gray, but was a full, rich brown.  His long flowing white 
beard had vanished, leaving him bare-faced.  His body seemed to pulse with 
power, both magical and physical.
	"Jolan, I know you're angry.  Whatever you saw while you were alone, 
it wasn't real.  Remember that we're in the Mists."  Jolan threw his head 
back and laughed.
	"You think I'm doing this because of a hallucination?  Hardly.  
Ensorceling that zombie, seizing control of the Skull Knights, reminded me 
how much I truly enjoy the Dark Magic."  He gestured behind him at the 
legions of the undead awaiting his command.  As his hand swept out, nearby 
zombies crumbled to dust, and specters and ghosts were swept out of 
existence, casually sacrificed to feed his newly rediscovered appetites.  
"I've been wasting my time mastering other magics.  Necromancy is my true 
talent.  But that's quite all right, because thanks to the power the undead 
are giving me as I throw them into oblivion, I can reclaim the years I've 
wasted.  Look at me!  I'm young again!  I'm alive!"  
	"Jolan, you gave up necromancy for good reason.  You're telling me 
to look at you, well, look at yourself for a moment!  You've tormented these 
lost souls and threatened to kill your friends.  The power of necromancy is 
too dangerous, Jolan.  Think about why you gave it up in the first place."
	"You have no idea why I gave it up." Jolan said, his voice issuing 
from between clenched teeth,  "I didn't choose to give up necromancy at all!"  
	"Then why did you?"
	"Because that Hellspawned island tricked me!  I was steps away from 
having limitless power, and the Blasted fairy magic tricked me into leaving!"
	"You mean you went to Ver to try to manipulate the island's magic 
for your own use?" Palas asked, incredulous, "That's insane!  Do you know 
how many people died trying that?"
	"I know the three who came with me did.  They were too weak to 
survive.  But I survived.  I was the strongest."
	"You were stupid and very, very lucky."
	"Lucky?" Jolan yelled, outraged, "You call that lucky?  I gave up 
the secrets of unlimited power when it was at my fingertips, gave up my 
strongest powers, and wasted thirty years chasing after 'safer' magic.  And 
what did I come up with?  Little magic tricks based on emotion, tricks any 
half-rate sorcerer could do just as well!  Do you realize how powerful I 
could have been by now?  The souls I could control?  This mere army of 
undead at my command?  I could have whole nations bowing before me!  With 
the power I have now, I could fight Deathlords!  Tell me, how much more do 
you think I'll need before I am on equal footing with the gods themselves?"
	"Now that's the dumbest thing I've heard you say yet!  So, suddenly 
you want immortality and godhead?  Why?"
	"So long as there is anyone more powerful than me, I am at risk.  I 
will not be controlled!"
	"You can't make yourself safe from the control of others if you can't even 
control yourself!  Besides, nobody wants to control you, Jolan."
	"Yes they do!  They all do!  They fear me, so they want me where I 
can be ordered about.  But I'll show them."  Insane laughter bubbled up out 
of Jolan, "I'll show them all!"  
	"But Jolan, we have to get out of the city!"
	"And why should I leave?  All the power I need is right here!"
	"Because as soon as the sun comes up, every living thing in this 
city dies and rises as an undead.  Are you really so fond of necromancy that 
you want to experience it first hand?"
	"Why should you care?" Jolan snarled, "I haven't noticed you showing 
any concern for me before!"
	"Of course I care." Palas said calmly, "Why do you think I stayed 
with you, when I could just as easily have left with the others?"  A look of 
doubt clouded Jolan's face.  The massive flow of dark power rushing through 
him slowed to a trickle, and the light of sanity returned to his eyes.
	"Palas, I...  I didn't want things to be like this.  It's just..."  
His face clenched, as if in pain, and when he looked at her again, the flow 
of power resumed at it's former pace.  "No!" He shouted, "I see what you're 
doing!  You're trying to trick me, so you can steal my power for yourself!  
And I almost trusted you.  For that, you will die."  He lashed out again 
with a bolt of pure dark magic, which Palas easily shielded against.
	"Look at you, Jolan!  You talk about having so much deamon-blasted 
power, but what good is it?  I mean, you can't even focus it enough to make 
it into an effective weapon.  The power you hold makes you strong, yes, but 
it also makes you careless and sloppy.  It makes you weak."  That was 
definitely the wrong line of reasoning to use.  Jolan practically howled 
with rage as he leveled both hands in her direction and sent a deadly blast 
of power lancing toward her.  
	"Not an effective weapon?" He mocked, as the blast smashed through 
her shielding and hurled her backward.  "What do you think of that, then?"  

	There came no answer.

	We, on the other hand, were trying to find our way to the safe path 
to the lake's interior, where we still hoped to find the Stone and Kiaphas.  
Felin produced a rope from her pack, and we tethered ourselves together, to 
keep us from getting separated again.  While Felin was tying the rope around 
Marse's waist, he finally began to stir.
	"Look out!" He yelled, sitting up suddenly and scaring the Hells out 
of everyone, "Jolan's gone mad!"  Just as suddenly he folded over, clutching 
his hands to his head.  I imagine he had quite a headache.  I waited until 
he seemed to have recovered a bit before questioning him.
	"Marse, what happened back there?"
	"Well," He began, still rubbing his head, "I was resting near the 
stairs, and Jolan was holding the Skull Knights at bay.  After a while, 
though, it seemed like he was taking less effort to do it.  One of those 
flashes of insight came to me, and I remembered that Jolan was struggling 
not with the Skull Knights, but with himself.  When I realized that he was 
binding them to him instead of just holding them in place, I tried to call 
out and warn you, but he used a LeechLife spell on me, which, in my already 
weakened state, forced me to lose consciousness.  After that, all I remember 
is getting bounced around a lot, and then waking up here."
	"You knew something of this earlier, didn't you?" I demanded.  
	"Yes," He answered, quiet and sad, "But I was hoping it would turn 
out differently."
	"You seem to be saying that quite a bit, Marse."  I growled.  
	"I know," He sighed, "but I have to choose between respecting 
everyone's privacy and warning you about every possible thing that could 
happen.  If I told you everything that came to me, you'd never trust anyone 
again.  The things I see are things that could happen, and many things that 
are unlikely are entirely possible."  He lowered his voice a bit.  "For 
example, would you like me to tell everyone exactly what I see as possible 
in your future?  Would you like me to tell them that, had you given in to 
your most recent vision, you'd have killed them all, then gone after 
Kiaphas, and then Jolan?"  I could see his point.  
	"You're right, I suppose.  Everyone has the right to wrestle with 
their inner deamons privately."
	"But it still makes you angry, right?"  
	"Yes!" I said, a touch more emphatically than was necessary.  We 
continued on our way without further comment, though Agnon muttered to 
himself quite a bit, rubbing the cut on his neck.  
	I heard a wailing scream from my right, and I turned to find a band 
of specters heading straight for us.  I yelled a warning to everyone else.  
However, at the same time I was warning them about the specters, they were 
calling out warnings themselves.  Marse saw a Deathlord, Felin an entire 
company of goblins, and Diana saw a swarm of deamons.  When we realized that 
we were once again the victims of illusion, the attacking creatures vanished.
	"These Mists are really starting to get on my nerves."  I commented, 
which occasioned wholehearted agreement from my companions.  I noticed that 
for once, the visions had occurred while we were together.  I presumed that 
our nearness to the Source was the cause of that.  In similar fashion we 
dealt with three more hallucinatory intrusions, until finally we found 
ourselves faced with a narrow bridge of black rock jutting out into the lake.  
There was just room enough for two to walk abreast without worrying about 
falling into the lake, and we proceeded in pairs, Agnon "volunteering" to 
bring up the rear.  
	At the end of the rock path we found a small island, in the center of 
the lake.  On this island we found an altar, formed of the same black rock, 
and embedded in the center of the altar was a glowing ruby-like gem, the 
Stone of Fire.  Agnon pushed forward and produced a few small tools to pry 
the Stone out.  
	"You just leave this to me." He said.  He had hardly begun, however, 
when there was a tremendous splash, and a gigantic reptilian head shot 
up out of the lake, spattering everyone with the scalding water.  The serpent 
opened it's maw and roared, sending gouts of flame into the air above us.  
	'LEAVE USSSSS'  It hissed, though it didn't seem to be speaking.  
'LEAVE USSSSS NOW'  Apparently we weren't complying quickly enough to suit 
it, for it snapped forward like the snake it resembled, smashing into the 
ground near the altar, sending fragments of black rock flying in all 
directions.  As it drew it's head back to strike again, I got a good look 
at the amulet around it's neck.  
	"Sweet Shani," I exclaimed, even as Diana was making a similar 
statement, "That thing is Kiaphas!"
	"Kiaphas!"  Marse shouted, "Kiaphas, it's us!  We're your friends!"
	'NO FRIENDSSSS' The serpent responded, its huge ophidian eyes 
glittering red, 'FRIENDSSS DEAD NOW'
	"We're not dead!" Felin yelled back, "We're alive!  We're here now!"
	'FRIENDSSS DEAD NOW' it repeated, then elaborated slightly, 'I 
KILLED.'  Then it lunged forward again, right in the middle of us, sending 
us all sprawling.  I was the first to regain my footing, and I leapt onto 
the serpent's back.  It was a wild ride as I tried to hold on while the 
serpent whipped its head back and forth, trying to fling me off.  Somehow I 
managed not only to hold on, but to reach the amulet dangling just above me.  
I reasoned that if I could get rid of the amulet, the transformation would 
reverse, and Kiaphas would begin to return to his natural shape. 
	Unfortunately, I was forced to let go of the amulet and hang on for 
dear life as Kiaphas, enraged, began coiling madly, flinging his head back 
and forth with such force that I had no time to think of anything but holding 
on.  Then, with a shriek I felt reverberate through my bones, the serpent dove 
back into the boiling lake, taking me with him!
	For a moment I felt the unbearably hot water closing in around me, 
searing my skin, but my powers once again came to my rescue, throwing up a 
protective field around me.  I found myself wishing that I had enough control 
over my powers to give the serpent a good hard blast, but I had to make do 
with other means.  My claws slowly began to work their way between the 
overlapping scales of the serpent's neck, though certainly not enough to 
cause more than mild discomfort.  I considered trying to bite, but I decided 
that I'd rather not lose any teeth against those iron-hard scales.  Finally, 
just as my lungs were becoming unbearably painful and darkness was beginning 
to creep in around my vision, Kiaphas resurfaced.  I took a deep breath, 
leapt from my position and grabbed the amulet, swinging on it momentarily 
before it snapped off at last.  I managed to land in a pile next to the 
altar.  I was scraped, bruised, battered and severely weakened, but I held 
up my prize triumphantly.  The serpent hissed and snarled, and for a moment 
seemed to ripple inside it's skin.  A moment later, it stopped rippling, 
completely unchanged.  It shrieked, and lunged toward us once again.  

	"Palas?" Jolan called, "Stop fooling around!  Get back here!"  More 
worriedly this time, "Palas?"  Ignoring the walking dead swarming around him, 
he picked his way through the debris until he found what he was looking for.  
"Oh gods, no!"
	Palas lay sprawled across a block of stone, her eyes wide and 
unseeing.  She was twisted into a very unnatural position and blood bubbled 
slowly from her lips.  Even as he watched, her shallow breaths slowed.  
	"NO!" Jolan seized the power he'd gathered, drawing it in and hastily 
weaving it into a Life Transferal.  Palas's breath regained some of its 
regularity and depth, but it did nothing for her injuries.  Jolan tried 
drawing on his vast knowledge of necromantic spells, but soon realized that 
there were no spells to heal another's wounds.  He had spells to draw the 
life from someone, spells to infuse vitality and strength, and several 
spells to draw upon another's health to speed his own recovery, but not one, 
not ONE, to heal her wounds.  Furious, Jolan reached out, slaughtering the 
undead around him in the hundreds, channeling their released energy into the 
Life Transferal.  Palas's grip on life was strengthened a thousandfold, and 
many of her more minor wounds began to close.  Color returned to her cheeks, 
and her eyes slowly slid shut.  However, Jolan still knew that this was 
merely a temporary solution.  Her back was still twisted and shattered, and 
her ribs still crushed.  Jolan knew that it was only a matter of time before 
she died.  Jolan looked down at his hands.  His skin was unblemished, 
unwrinkled, and they were steady and strong.  He felt the strength and vigor 
that even yet surged through him.  "But what use is it?"  He finally asked 
himself, "What use is youth and strength, if she dies?  What does it matter 
if I'm finally as young as she looks, if she's not here for me to share it 
with her?"  The feverish glistening in his eyes slowly disappeared, and he 
slumped as he released his hold on the flow of energy from the undead.  He 
looked around, seeing at last the destruction he'd wrought, and began to 
weep.  "Gods, what have I done?"  He didn't stop until he heard a small gasp 
from Palas, followed by a thick, sickly sounding wheeze.
	Looking down at his healthy, youthful hands once last time, he made 
his decision.  He placed his hands on her head and midsection, and slowly, 
carefully began to weave a new magic.  As he worked, drawing deeply from his 
own powers, her ribs slowly worked their way back into their natural 
positions, and fragments of her shattered spine began moving back to each 
other.  Her body was so broken and damaged that he was barely half finished 
when he felt his strength begin to fail.  Squaring his shoulders determinedly, 
he began to pull energy from a different reservoir, drawing from his own life 
force to complete the spell.  The miraculous changes he'd worked on himself 
began reversing, his limbs losing their firmity, his hair slowly losing 
color, his skin slowly losing its youthful appearance.  When he finished, 
Palas's body was fully healed, as though it had never been damaged, but his 
own body was much depleted.  He still looked many years younger than he had 
when we arrived on the island, with a slight touch of color to his hair 
still, but I doubt if that was much consolation.  However, he forgot all 
about his lost youth when Palas opened her eyes at last.  
	"Jolan."  She said, her voice still slightly faint.  "What happened?"  
She looked around,  "Where are we?"
	"You don't remember what happened?" Jolan asked, incredulous.
	"I 'member... tower that glowed inside... and after that... don't 
know.  Where are we?" She asked again.
	"Somewhere we don't need to be." Jolan answered, deciding that his 
apology and explanations could wait for the moment.  He bent down and picked 
her up.  To his surprise she giggled and snuggled against his chest, curling 
up and closing her eyes.  A moment later, her felt her breathing slow, as 
she fell deeply asleep.  Slightly puzzled at her behavior, though not 
unpleasantly so, he smiled down at her and carried her through the gates, 
leaving the city as the Mist began to lighten.  Dawn had come, and it had 
been a long night.  
	Once outside, he turned back to the city and the horde of damned 
souls he still held command of.  Slowly, one by one, the undead dropped to 
the ground, as Jolan untied the spells binding them to their tortured 
existence.  Jolan drew one last time on the power of the Dark Magic, drawing 
the spell's released energy away from the city in a slow trickle, restoring 
some of his depleted reserves as he sent the undead to their long-awaited 
rest.  Jolan felt an ache, a sort of emptiness, as part of him cried out for 
the flood of power he'd unleashed before.  Then Palas shifted slightly in 
his arms, and somehow, the ache vanished, dispelled by a soft warmth 
spreading from his chest.  He shifted the flow of power, dividing it so that 
Palas, too, received a measure of restoration.  
	When the sun came up and the undead began to fade into the Mists, the 
city was over half-emptied, and Jolan began to feel something like his old 
self again.  The flow of power faded out with the undead, and Jolan lowered 
Palas gently to the ground, where, a few moments later, she reached out in 
her sleep.  Not finding anything there, she made a frustrated sound and her 
eyes fluttered open.  She stared at Jolan with slightly unfocused eyes for a 
moment, a small smile on her face, until she shook a little and she finally 
seemed to fully recognize him.  She quickly jumped up and backed away from 
him, looking considerably upset.  Jolan completely misunderstood her 
concern, which was probably just as well.
	"Palas, I'm sorry.  I lost control back there, and I nearly killed 
you.  I.. I don't expect you to forgive me, but..."  Palas laughed, nearly 
giggling again.
	"Of course I forgive you, silly.  Thank you so much."  Now Jolan was 
really confused.
	"For what?  I came two breaths away from killing you when you were 
trying to help me!  I blasted the Hells out of you, just for spite!"  
	"You did?" Palas asked, clearly very surprised at this news.  "Why 
did you do that?"
	"You honestly don't remember?" Jolan asked, mystified, "I gave in to 
the Seduction, and took control of every undead on the island."
	"Well, that was silly."  Palas said, sounding completely serious, 
"Don't do that again."  
	"Oooo...kay," Jolan finally managed, "I'll keep that in mind."
	"Good," Palas said, with a very satisfied note in her voice, "Now, 
let's go help the others.  They should be trying to get the Stone by now, 
and I think our talents might be needed."  Palas slowly danced her way 
through the Flight spell, and rose into the air.
	"Well, it's official," Jolan said, as he cast the spell himself, "As 
of now, I'm completely lost."  He rose into the air to join her.
	"That's okay," Palas said, and this time she did giggle, "You get 
used to it."  With that, they sped off toward the lake.  

	My fur was singed by a blast of the serpent's flame, which I just 
barely managed to dodge.  So far, our attempts to stop him could be cons-
idered laughable.  The serpent struck too quickly for Diana or I to seriously 
consider attacking it with our claws, and Marse's skills as a cleric were 
fairly well useless here.  Besides this, he was still too exhausted to do 
much anyway, and though Felin kept trying to land a good hit with her ax, 
the serpent seemed to be deliberately avoiding her.  Agnon was the only one 
to do any serious damage, managing mostly through luck to lodge his dagger 
between its scales to open a small cut.
	That was not, of course, to imply that the serpent hadn't hurt us 
instead.  We'd all been cut by flying fragments of rock, and I wasn't the 
only one who was slightly crispy around the edges.  Agnon was bleeding rather 
profusely both from a nasty gash across his arm, inflicted when he managed to 
plant his dagger in the serpent's flesh, and from the cut on his neck, which 
reopened during the course of the battle.
	I was beginning to think that our quest would end here, with Kiaphas 
and Jolan killing the rest of us.  However, at that moment Palas and Jolan 
flew into view.  Kiaphas suddenly seemed to forget about us as he recognized 
Jolan.  He hissed a challenge to the Archmage.
	'WISSSARD! YOU I WILL KILL'  Jolan just barely managed to dodge a 
huge jet of flame as Kiaphas began attacking.  Instead of fighting back 
immediately, Jolan landed in front of the altar, Palas landing just a little 
bit after him.  Jolan stretched his hand out over the altar, and the altar 
cracked open, freeing the Stone, which flew up into Jolan's palm.  Kiaphas 
sent another blast of dragon-fire at Jolan.  The Archmage was engulfed, 
vanishing under a torrent of flame that swallowed both him and the altar 
and pushed the rest of us slowly back.  Kiaphas poured it on, keeping the 
rush of fire steady for several minutes.  When the smoke cleared, the altar 
was a molten slab at Jolan's feet.    
	The Archmage, however, seemed untouched by the flame.  Jolan raised 
his hand, and I could see the power flowing from the Stone to surround him.  
He was outlined in a bright amber nimbus, which seemed to drink in the flame 
that Kiaphas sent to destroy him, growing brighter by the second.  
	"Either you don't listen very well, Kiaphas, or you've lost your 
mind completely."  The wizard taunted, "Have you forgotten that Fire is my 
element?"  The serpent hissed again, and responded by lunging forward to 
smash the ground at Jolan's feet, sending the Archmage flying backwards.  
Jolan got back on his feet in an instant, and sent a golden bolt of magic 
crashing into the serpent's head, knocking it back with a loud smash.  The 
serpent seemed dazed for a moment, shaking its head back and forth.  Then 
its burning red eyes focused on the Archmage again.
	"Uh, Jolan?" Agnon ventured, "I think you pissed him off."  It jerked 
its head forward, screaming, as though to smash into the ground again, but 
suddenly checked it's motion and instead brought its tail into play, lashing 
it out of the water to knock Jolan flailing into the boiling lake.  Jolan 
screamed, but only for a moment.  The serpent screeched triumphantly, and 
leapt over the island, in a huge arching coil that seemed to go on endlessly, 
giving us an impression of just how much Kiaphas had changed.  He truly was a 
serpent now, with no limbs, just an impossibly long body and reptilian head.  
	The water where Jolan fell began to churn, and several times we 
saw Kiaphas's head raise above the water just to suddenly strike back down 
again.  Occasional we'd see a streak of golden light, giving us hope that 
Jolan would survive.  Minutes later, however, the creature raised its tail, 
tightly coiled around a tiny-looking figure, which desperately tried to break 
free.  The serpent struggled to tighten its hold around Jolan, to crush him, 
and Jolan struggled to force them back with his golden shield of magic, all 
the while fending off the jaws hanging nearby, waiting for a moment of 
weakness to strike.  
	Then the serpent made a mistake.  Growing impatient with the struggle, 
and infuriated by Jolan's occasional bolts of magic, he loosed another volley 
of dragon-fire.  The fire slid harmlessly off his impervious hide, but the 
attack was just the boost Jolan needed.  His golden glow expanded, forcing 
the serpent's coils slowly back.  When the coils released Jolan, he plunged 
down for a moment before catching himself and gliding back to the island.
	"It's too much," He panted, "I don't know that I can keep this up.  
He's just too blasted big!"
	"Not if you have the right help," Palas said with a grin, "After all, 
your element may be Fire, but mine is Earth."  She held up the Stone in her 
hand so that all could see it. 
	"But.. how did you... when..?"  Jolan sputtered, reaching for the 
belt-pouch that had held the Stone.
	"When you weren't paying attention, I snuck it off of your belt."  
Palas said, making Agnon burst out laughing.
	"So the little magess is a pickpocket!"  He chortled, "Oh, this is 
too good!"
	"Agnon, Shut.." Jolan began, but was interrupted as the serpent 
caught up with him, smashing into the island in what seemed to be its 
favorite tactic.  
	Jolan brought his hand up and rose into the air.  Palas joined him a 
second later, her body bathed in a silver light.  Jolan held out his free 
hand, and Palas took it in hers.  There was a flash like sheet lightning, 
followed by an ground-shaking crash, as the serpent's head dipped and rammed 
forward to attack, meeting with their overlapping shields.  When it drew 
back, there was a large blackened patch on its forehead. 
	It shrieked in pain and outrage, and instinctively poured forth 
dragon-fire, which merely served to further replenish Jolan's strength.  As 
one the pair reached out and between their outstretched arms formed a spider-
web pattern of gold and silver threads, which they sent spinning down to 
tangle around the serpent.  The webbing didn't even begin to cover that 
massive body, but they began weaving larger patterns, sending them down in 
rapid succession, covering the head first to bind those deadly jaws shut.  
They sent the metallic-colored weaves down in such numbers and force that 
within moments they covered the transformed draconian from head to tail.  
Then, still working as one, they drew the weaves together, forming a single 
gigantic net, which they drew slowly in.  This draw the serpent into a coiled 
mass, which they then began to slowly lift out of the water.  
	I cannot imagine the amount of power it must have taken to lift that 
huge creature from the lake, but even as they lifted it, Palas diverted some 
of her attention to bringing Marse up to join them.  As she did this, the 
silver threads of the weave began to fade, and she quickly returned her 
attention to holding the serpent bound.  Marse floated there behind them, 
and when the dragon-snake was completely clear of the water, he placed his 
hands over theirs, allowing them to draw upon his healing skills.  Their net 
of silver and gold was overlapped with purest white, and moments later the 
entire weave flared and vanished, sinking into the massive creature's flesh.  
They lowered it slowly back down into the water, where it began to ripple as 
it had when I tore the amulet from around its neck.  This time, however, the 
rippling didn't stop.  As we watched, the creature began to diminish, and as 
it grew smaller, it also grew wings and limbs, and its body widened in 
proportion to its neck and tail.  Within minutes, the serpent was completely 
transformed into a slightly humanesque wyvern.
	"He'll revert to his normal draconian shape soon," Marse informed us 
as the trio landed, "But his body needs to rest after making such a huge 
transformation."
"That was amazing!" Felin said, and suddenly switched subjects, "Can we go 
home now?"  Everyone stared down at her for a moment, and she seemed to 
become very uncomfortable in the following silence.  Then Jolan began to 
chuckle.  That started everyone else off, and soon we all gave in and joined 
in the laughter.  
	"Yes, Felin," Jolan said when we'd all more or less finished 
laughing, "We can go home now."
	"Not so fast, Jolan," Marse said, "There's still another matter to 
take care of."
	"What?  We've got Kiaphas, our lives, and the Stone we came here for.  
What else do we need?"
	"It isn't something we need, Jolan.  Don't you remember what Lord 
Artirax told us?"
	"We didn't find any gold or silver!  The prophesy was just nonsense."  
Marse just looked at him for a moment.
"       Right.  You didn't see yourselves up there, but I'll tell you what I 
saw.  I saw Palas's silver aura and your golden aura shining quite brightly 
as you battled Kiaphas."
	"So?  Our auras almost always become visible when we handle a lot of 
magic."
	"That's not the point!  Gold and Silver, don't you get it?  The 
prophesy was referring to the two of you!"  Palas and Jolan looked at each 
other, and shrugged. "But that's not what I meant in the first place.  The 
people of Kanda will go mad and die when the Mist disappears.  We can't let 
that happen."  
	"Oh.  Well, I don't see what we can do about it," Jolan said, "With 
the Stone gone and the Altar destroyed, the Mist will vanish.  Unless..."  
Jolan thought for a few minutes, "It's possible we could make a spell to hold 
the Mist in place and allow it to diminish so gradually that the people will 
have time to acclimate to living without it.  It'll take a lot of power, 
though.  I'll need some help."  Palas volunteered her help, and so did I.  
Marse joined us and we stood in a circle around the melted altar.  Using the 
Stone, Palas had no trouble drawing upon the element of Earth to restore the 
altar, and Jolan began working his magic.  I felt a sharp tug on my mind, and 
I allowed Jolan to draw from my latent powers.  Marse, naturally, had little 
left to give, but he contributed what he could.  When Jolan finished his 
spell, binding the Mists back to the altar, we all nearly collapsed from the 
strain.  I got the feeling that none of us would be doing anything magical 
for a long while.  "Okay, now we can go home." Jolan said "As soon as Kiaphas 
reverts, anyway."
	"Good!" Felin exclaimed, "I hope I never have to spend another night 
on this island!"  
	I noticed Palas seemed a little... odd.  I motioned to Diana and we 
went together to talk to her.
	"Palas, are you all right?"  Diana asked.
	"Hmm?" Palas responded, looking up, "Oh, yeah, I'm okay.  I'm just a 
little tired."
	"Well, that's certainly understandable." I said, "Would you like to 
tell us what the Hells happened back in the city after we left, or do you 
not feel like talking about it?"
	"Oh, I don't mind talking about it.  I just can't... quite seem to 
remember it."
	"You can't remember it?" I repeated, shocked.
	"The past several hours are hard to recall.  I remember arriving on 
the island, and being attacked, and... something about a tower.  After that, 
I remember waking up with Jolan standing over me, and having the warmest 
feeling inside."  She closed her eyes as she thought back on it.  "I'm going 
to have to see if I can find out what happened from Jolan."
	"Really?"
	"Yeah.  I almost hope he knows about me now."
	"Why?" I asked.
	"Because... if he knows about me, then maybe... maybe he can..." 
She sat down and motioned for us to join her on the ground.  "I don't know.  
I'm just a little bit tired of hiding it from him, and it would feel nice to 
not have to worry about it anymore."
	"Then why don't you tell him?"  Diana suggested.  Palas looked 
seriously thoughtful over that.
	"You know, maybe I will.  I don't know."  We left it at that.  
	Less than an hour later, Kiaphas rippled again and returned to his 
normal form.  We thought about binding him again with magic, but we realized 
that between us we didn't have enough power to light a candle, much less bind 
him.  We took the rope we'd used earlier and tied him up with that, hoping 
that he'd be sufficiently weak when he woke that the rope could hold him, if 
need be.  Agnon and Marse picked him up, one at each arm, and Felin held his 
feet from dragging on the ground, and thus we began our trip back to the 
ship.  All things considered, we made very good time getting back.  We were 
forced to stop and rest several times, but even so we made it back to the 
ship just as night was beginning to darken the Mists.  Diana surprised me 
once again by pausing along the way to gather some of the sparse plants we 
passed, though she was secretive about what they were for.  The captain 
welcomed us back aboard, though the Nyad's Call sniffed and warned us that 
we'd have to bathe if we wanted to stay on board.  We agreed, but only on 
the condition that she allow us time to sleep first.  Something along the 
lines of a week sounded good right about then.  
	We staggered back to our cabins and collapsed wherever we could find 
a spot.  All of us except for Palas, that is.  She went over to where Jolan 
lay, and sat down next to him.  Even as tired as he was, this brought Jolan 
very much awake.  Palas looked at him with purple eyes that suddenly seemed 
large, innocent and vulnerable.
	"Do you mind if I sleep here?"  She asked, a strange tone in her 
voice that I'd never heard there before.  Whatever it was, it worked well on 
Jolan, who moved over to let Palas lay next to him.  With a contented sigh, 
she snuggled in close to him, and pulled his arm around her shoulder.  In 
seconds, she was deeply asleep.  I got the distinct feeling that, whatever 
else may have happened between them, Jolan still didn't know her secret, 
because he looked extremely confused.  That didn't stop him from putting his 
other arm around her before closing his own eyes and falling asleep. 
	"She's going to have to do something about him soon."  Diana whis-
pered from beside me, "I don't think she can go on like this much longer."  
	"I agree, but until she decides to tell him, there isn't much we 
can do.  Now, what do you saw we get to sleep ourselves?"  Diana agreed that 
that sounded good, and we were both soon dozing peacefully.
	I had several dreams, most of them very, very bizarre, though I 
suppose that, after the events of the night before, that was to be expected.  
Many were unpleasant, dreams of large scaly things and swimming in a stewpot, 
dreams of the undead and of my evil side, but several were just plain odd.  
Some of them involved Jolan and Palas, and there was one where I watched 
Diana playing with a human child.  The odd thing was, I was sure the child 
was ours.  As I said, bizarre.
	The next day, we waited our turns at bathing, to please both the ship 
and the crew.  Afterward, most of us went back to sleep.  Palas started to 
head for where Jolan was sleeping again, but Diana intercepted her.  They 
talked for a few minutes in low whispers that I couldn't quite make out, and 
headed off together.  I asked Diana where they were going, and they both 
turned and fluttered their eyelashes and looked so innocent that I knew 
something was going on.
	"Oh, just a little girl talk." Diana said, "Nothing you'd be inter-
ested in."  They turned and walked off to gods knew where, leaving me alone 
to find sleep by myself.  I was sure I'd find out about it sooner or later, 
one way or the other.  After all, I usually did, though frequently not in a 
pleasant way.  I went back to sleep.
	Shortly after I woke, Diana came back in, and laid down beside me.  I 
asked her what had happened, and she told me she'd tell me after she got some 
sleep.  She surprised me by asking me to hold her while she slept.  I agreed 
and left it at that, though I was slightly confused and wanted to ask her 
why.  I decided that I could ask her when she woke.  
	I woke again when she sat up, though I hadn't intended to go back to 
sleep.  My left arm was numb from her laying on it, and the pins-and-needles 
feeling as blood flowed back into it was most unpleasant.
	"Well?" I said, "Do you want to tell me what that was about?"  I 
hesitated a moment before adding, "If you don't, that's okay, but I would 
rather know."
	"If you're worried that I have a problem like Palas's,  don't be."  
The thought had crossed my mind, to tell the truth, and I was somewhat 
relieved to hear her say that.  "I just wanted to be held."  She looked at me 
as though considering something, and what she said next took me completely by 
surprise.  "Firemane, have you ever thought about children?"
	"...Any children in particular, or just children in general?" I 
asked after a long pause.
	"I mean have you ever thought about us having children?"  
	"I've thought about it occasionally, but never too seriously.  After 
all, I don't know if the two of us are even capable of having children."
	"But if we are... would you mind having a child?"
	"No, I wouldn't mind.  If I may ask, what brought this on?  Don't 
tell me this just spontaneously came to you."
	"Well, just looking down at Palas while she slept, seeing how 
contented and innocent she seemed, I guess it just got to my female 
instincts."  She looked at me for a moment, then said, "I do still have 
those, you know."
	"I never said you didn't!" I protested, because it seemed very much 
like she was accusing me of saying exactly that.  "Trust me, I've never 
forgotten for a moment that you are very, very female."  I brushed my face 
across hers.  "In fact, I think being female is one of your nicest 
qualities."
	She drew herself up, as though indignant.  "Oh, so you think I'm 
just some sort of empty-headed, obedient girl who'll jump at your every 
command and be over-awed by your macho animal attraction?"
	"Now, I didn't say that!"  She laughed and licked my muzzle, 
confusing me even further.
	"Good, because I'm not." She paused while looking me over ap-
praisingly.  "Though on second thought, what's wrong with macho animal at-
traction?"  She grinned at me.
	"Okay... I lost track somewhere.  Are you angry at me, or not?"  She 
widened her eyes in false innocence.
	"Now why would I be angry with you?"  I decided not to answer, which 
was probably for the best.  Everytime I said something, I only seemed to get 
more confused.  For the life of me, I simply couldn't understand the conver-
sation, no matter how I looked at it.  
	"All right, then, may I ask what you and Palas did?"  She shrugged.
	"Sure.  She and I went down to the forward hold, and she curled up 
and took a nice long nap beside me."
	"Then I can see where my presence might be somewhat... unappreciated."
	"Oh, I don't know about that.  I don't think she would have minded 
much, especially not once she relapsed.  To tell the truth, I just wasn't 
sure how you'd react to it."
	"React to what?"
	"Well, you know about her relapses, but it's a bit different when you 
actually see her in one.  I didn't know if you'd still treat her the same 
afterward.  I would have talked to you about it before-hand, but I could see 
that she was in a bad way.  I mean, she told me afterward that she was 
getting to the point where if Jolan had made the wrong gesture, he might 
have found out about her in a most... abrupt... fashion."
	"I understand.  Palas is lucky to have a friend like you to look out 
for her."  Diana brushed her face across mine.
	"And I'm lucky to have someone like you.  I hope it won't happen 
again, but if it does, I'll let you know, all right?"  I decided that I could 
be content with that.
	I was soon drawn from my contemplation, however, as Kiaphas chose 
that moment to wake up, which, naturally, proved to be something of a 
distraction.