‘Are you sure you want to do this,’ asked Thomas, who up until now had remained silent. Fisher violently backhanded him, knocking him to the ground. ‘You dare question me,’ he shrieked. At the sudden unexpected outburst Max, stepped back nearly falling over Tallon who was standing right behind her. ‘Do not be afraid little one,’ he whispered, ‘I will protect you.’ She turned, ‘I’m not afraid, it was just the suddenness of it, it caught me off guard.’ ‘Forgive me,’ said Fisher turning to face them, his demeanour completely changed since his outburst, ‘I forgot to say, please leave your weapons here, they will be returned to you when you leave.’ ‘I will not go unarmed,’ said Tallon stubbornly. ‘Of course, you always have the option to stay here if you wish,’ said Fisher. ‘We need to stay together,’ said Max, ‘please leave your bow and come with us.’ Tallon looked at Max intently, ‘I promised to follow you to death’s door and beyond, I will not break that vow, I will leave my bow.’ They gave their weapons to Thomas, who was now sporting a black eye and a cut lip. ‘I can heal that for you if you’d like,’ said Max looking at Thomas’ lip. Haven smiled, there was his old Max. ‘A healer as well as a leader,’ said Fisher, ‘well, my, my, this just gets better and better. You will not heal him,’ he added, ‘he needs to learn his place and a few cuts and bruises might just teach him some manners,’ he finished dismissively. Max ignored Fisher and put her hand on Thomas’s lip. It took quite awhile before she felt the energy begin to flow, it felt sluggish and thick, not light and airy like it usually did. Fisher took a menacing step towards her, his temper rising again. ‘Did I not just say . . .,’ he began threateningly. Tallon and Haven blocked his path. ‘Let her finish,’ said Tallon menacingly. ‘She’s very good at what she does,’ added a smiling Haven. Faced with two giants in his path, Fisher backed down, but he wasn’t happy about the turn of events and it showed in his eyes. A few minutes passed and Max moved her hand to look at Thomas’ lip, she frowned. ‘It’s not as good as I usually do,’ she said speaking to Thomas, ‘but I hope it doesn’t hurt as much now.’ ‘It feels much better, thank you,’ said Thomas gratefully. ‘Come on, come on, let’s get moving,’ said Fisher impatiently. You can leave Dorn behind, he is of no importance. It wouldn’t have mattered if you’d killed him.’ ‘It would have mattered to me,’ muttered Dorn. ‘Tell Benitoff I found them,’ he yelled out to Fisher’s fast receding back, ‘if there’s a reward you know where to find me.’ Thomas stayed behind to guard the track, but a few of the archers tailed along behind the others. ‘Hurry now,’ said Fisher, ‘we want to be there before dark or the trail will be too hard to find.’ They followed along behind for what seemed ages, nobody talking, all lost in their own thoughts. When they finally reached their destination it was not at all what they had expected. They had thought perhaps a cave or some derelict building, maybe even a few crude huts in the woods but no, when the trees thinned what stood before them was totally unexpected. It was a huge stone keep surrounded by high stone walls and a moat; there were battlements and archer’s slits for firing on the enemy below, it had been built to keep the enemy out. What little damage it had sustained had been repaired; they could see the colour difference of the new stone work. ‘The person who lives here must have a lot of influence . . . or money,’ thought Max. She was beginning to worry about the decision she had made, ‘I hope this doesn’t turn out to be an “out of the frying pan into the fire” scenario,’ she thought worriedly. Fisher led them onto the stone bridge which spanned the moat, yelling as he went. ‘Open the gate, we’re coming in.’ The giant wooden portcullis was slowly raised, creaking and groaning in protest. They walked under its deadly spikes hanging high above their heads. Tallon looked up, ‘I do not like this,’ he thought, ‘I do not like it at all.’ They found themselves in a large, grim courtyard paved with dirty, grey flagstones; ahead was the keep, its stone walls looked impregnable in the fading light. A few ragged people were standing around braziers watching the newcomers with suspicious eyes. Max looked up and saw armed men patrolling the battlements, they carried bows, swords and some even had rifles slung over the shoulders, she shivered. ‘Wait here,’ said Fisher dismissively. ‘You,’ he said pointing to the bowmen who had followed them, ‘you can return to the forest, tell Thomas he is to return to the keep with the . . . ,’ he hunted for a word, ‘‘guests” weapons.’ He then disappeared through the gigantic wooden door of the keep. The bowmen turned to leave, exiting under the portcullis, which began to close behind them. ‘Well,’ said Gilster sounding amused, ‘I think we’ve arrived.’ Max looked worried, ‘I think I may have made a big mistake,’ she said, still watching the guards on the battlements high overhead. Elkeira was wandering around the courtyard looking up at the keep. ‘This place is huge,’ she said in awe, ‘we could not take this building with a thousand warriors could we Tallon?’ Tallon didn’t answer, he was busy counting armed men. ‘What do you think Haven, have I made a big mistake?’ thought Max. CLANG!! The portcullis closed shut, making everyone jump. ‘Too late to worry about it now,’ he replied ominously. Twenty minutes passed with no sign of Fisher returning. ‘I think if they were going to kill us they would have already done it by now,’ said Gilster. ‘I have counted at least fifty armed men,’ whispered Tallon, ‘some have weapons I have never seen before, they look like metal tubes.’ ‘They’re guns,’ said Max, ‘they are very dangerous, they can kill in the blink of an eye.’ ‘I can vouch for how dangerous they are,’ said Gilster grimly, rubbing his shoulder. ‘I think I would like to have one of these . . . guns,’ said Tallon. ‘He’s back,’ shouted Elkeira running towards the group. They turned as one, to see Fisher striding across the courtyard towards them. ‘Come, quickly,’ said Fisher beckoning to them, ‘Benitoff is anxious to meet you and he’s not the sort of person who likes to be kept waiting.’ They hurried across the courtyard and followed after him into the keep. It was dark and forbidding inside, a few flickering candles in sconces gave off what little light was available and they were spaced so far apart great pools of darkness swam between each one. ‘Stay together,’ whispered Max, ‘we don’t want to lose anyone in here, we’d never find them again.’ ‘I for one, am sticking very close,’ said Gilster. ‘Quickly,’ said Fisher sounding unusually flustered, ‘we mustn’t be late.’ If Fisher was sounding this agitated thought Max, she was not looking forward to meeting Benitoff. They climbed the spiral staircase up, up. ‘How much further,’ moaned Elkeira, her legs beginning to ache from the climb. ‘Quiet,’ hissed Fisher, ‘we are almost there.’ They reached the top of the stairs and Fisher led them down a narrow corridor with many doors. They had not seen another person since entering the keep. There were no adornments anywhere, no paintings or tapestries hanging on the walls, no statues standing silent, nothing, it was like the place was deserted. Reaching the end of the corridor, they came upon a large wooden door with huge, ornate, metal hinges; in front of the door stood an armed guard, a giant of a man, with a long black beard reaching down his chest. ‘This must be the place,’ said Haven keeping his eyes on the guard. The guard moved aside and Fisher opened the door. Light and warmth spilled from the room. ‘This is more like it,’ said Tallon, entering behind Fisher. The room was cavernous and contained all the trappings of someone with great wealth. Candles glowed brightly from every nook and cranny, banishing the darkness. Fires blazed merrily from every grate, giving the room even more light. Elegant tapestries, colourful portraits and animal heads adorned the walls. Pelts from a number of different animals lay scattered over the floor. Max saw one of a giant black bear and winced hoping Tallon hadn’t seen it. At the end of the room they saw a man casually sitting atop a large throne, one leg dangling over the arm, a glass of something in his hand. He ignored their entrance. They walked slowly forwards, following Fisher who bowed low and long. ‘Sire, these are the people I told you about, they have come through the portals and the Chosen are among them. They are looking for a friend who was taken by Anubis.’ At the mention of Anubis’s name he turned to face them. Black wavy curls fell about his face. He appeared to be in his early thirties, although Max knew looks could be deceiving. He had fine, almost feminine features. His blue eyes were set in a flawless, porcelain face, nostrils flared on his patrician nose, over thin pale lips. He stood to greet them, standing about five foot seven, he was much shorter than the three men facing him. He had on a three quarter length brown sleeveless coat with pearl buttons over a white lace shirt, his pants were brown leather with shin high shiny boots, a sword hung at his side and a pistol poked out from his waist band. ‘You will leave us now Fisher, I will call you if I need you.’ Fisher looked slightly taken aback at being dismissed so quickly. ‘Are you sure sire?’ Piercing blues eyes turned on him. ‘Are you questioning me,’ said Benitoff with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘NNNo sire, never,’ he bowed again, ‘I will be directly outside the door if you need me.’ Fisher hurried from the room. Dismissing Fisher entirely from his thoughts, Benitoff turned to greet his guests. ‘I am very pleased to meet you all,’ a smile lit his face. ‘Now, tell me your names and where you are from.’ When no one else spoke, Max stepped forward. ‘We are very pleased to meet you too . . . sire,’ she said. ‘My name is Max and I am from Earth.’ Haven butted into her thoughts, ‘don’t trust him Max, he’s no friend to us.’ Max thought back, ‘I’ve gathered that already, but I think its best we keep on his good side for now.’ ‘All right, just be careful.’ Benitoff was waiting for her to continue with the introductions, but before she could Elkeira stepped forward. ‘Sire,’ she said bowing clumsily, ‘I am Elkeira and this is my brother Tallon, we are from Naturine.’ He smiled at her, ‘thank you Elkeira. And you two?’ he said looking up at Gilster and Haven. ‘We are from Elaxier sire,’ said Gilster. Benitoff looked from one to the other and nodded in acknowledgement. ‘I already know from Fisher that Haven is a telepath, Max is a healer and Naturines are known for their shape shifting, his gaze settled on Gilster, and what would be your . . . gift,’ he asked casually. Not liking the turn this had taken and hoping not to give away all their secrets, Haven spoke. ‘Before we continue . . . sire, would it be possible to find out where our friend is and how she is fairing, we are extremely worried about her?’ ‘Of course, of course, tell me her name, there are a lot of prisoners held by Anubis, I will send my rats to search for her.’ ‘Rats, ew,’ said Elkeira, her nose wrinkling in distaste. Benitoff laughed. ‘They are not literal rats,’ he said, ‘although in some cases I’m not so sure, they are people who spy for me on the outside, I need to keep up to date on what is happening, I very rarely leave my keep, it is too dangerous for me. The rats will be able to find your friend and report back to me. Now, I ask again, what is her name?’ ‘Daria,’ said Haven, ‘her name is Daria.’ Benitoff clapped his hands sharply; the door opened immediately and Fisher entered. ‘Yes Sire?’ ‘I want you to send out some rats for me, they are to find out anything they can about a prisoner called Daria, Anubis is holding her.’ ‘Yes Sire, I will see to it immediately,’ he bowed and closed the door. ‘We probably won’t find out anything until the morning, so in the meantime I’d like you to stay as my guests.’ Before they could answer, he continued, ‘you must be starving, the hour is quite late, let us share a meal together, I have the finest of everything and it will be my pleasure.’ The smile on his face seemed almost genuine. Not wanting to upset him by declining his invitation and needing to find out as much information as they could Max graciously accepted for all of them. Expecting to hear a whoop of delight from the ever hungry Haven, she looked around for him, he was standing back from the rest of the group, his eyes closed, rubbing his temple. Max became concerned. ‘Are you in pain Haven?’ ‘I have a slight headache is all, nothing to be concerned about,’ he answered. ‘Yes, I’m sorry about that,’ said Benitoff who had overheard the exchange, ‘you can blame Anubis and his barrier. Wait here while I see if everything is ready for us.’ He disappeared through a large, ornately carved door behind the throne. Immediately the door closed the five huddled close together. ‘We don’t have much time,’ whispered Max, ‘I don’t trust him one little bit, we must be very careful what we tell him. Elkeira, please don’t blurt anything out without first looking to one of us for confirmation and even then think very carefully about what you say.’