 
VIOLET SKY

W Bradley

Copyright 2012 by W Bradley

Published at Smashwords
CHAPTER 1

Freya's Life

Freya was a woman with an extraordinary power of will; she had persevered through her 47 years of life despite feeling trapped in an uroburos of frustration.

Her husband had "anterograde amnesia" which was, Freya suspected, the most difficult form of amnesia for a wife to deal with. Put simply, her husband did not have the capability of remembering something which had happened only minutes earlier. This meant he needed constant care and recently the painful amount of care had been exceeding Freya's ability to cope.

She felt tired of merely waiting for the inevitably sad end to his life and almost angry at the lack of help she could provide for him.

Although she had such willpower, Freya did not seem to direct any of it at keeping herself in shape. Her natural look, although still radiating in a certain beauty, had once been indescribably stunning. She had had a divine figure, long, shining, dark brown hair and perfect, astonishingly bright, blue eyes.

Perhaps it was because she no longer cared about appearance or her own health or maybe it was due to the lack of time she had to do anything about it. Whatever the reasons, she no longer wore any kind of make-up and completely refused to dress in anything fashionable. Currently, Freya wore a tight fitting, plain white t-shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans; she had not yet put socks on, so she stood barefoot on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor.

As with any other day she heard the post hit the welcome mat from the place in the kitchen where she was currently managing her husband's medication. She bit into the dry piece of toast which she held in her hand as she slowly moved her way into the hall, passing post-it notes carefully arranged on every cupboard door, each describing its contents. Every morning her husband would enquire as to when this idea had been formulated and who had come up with it, to which she would give no response; a constantly used sign telling him to be quiet. She rarely spoke with him recently, there was little point. He would usually reply but with a distinct lack of enthusiasm for any topic Freya decided upon. She had long ago learned that it was easier to simply keep quiet. Freya sighed as she bent over to pick up the mail, sighing more loudly with more painful tones as she rose. 'Another day in paradise' she thought sarcastically. Her sarcasm seemed to be the only thing keeping her sane recently.

As Freya made her return to the kitchen, she flung her hand out, grabbing a fly from the air. She felt a slight pang of guilt as she opened her hand to see she had extinguished its small, defenceless life. She muttered an apology to the insignificantly small carcass while she wiped her hand softly across her hip.

During the past week Freya had been feeling lower and more depressed than she ever had before, but something told her to keep going, to continue doing as she was. Eventually, something would have to change, but change was usually a negative issue in Freya's life; she had always hated it with a certain passion. From her experience nothing good was ever born from change and not just within her own life; the whole world continually seemed to be altering in very much a negative way.

Freya, although she did not deny the possibility, did not herself believe in any religion, but she did get the feeling she and the whole planet's population of human beings were being tested by somebody. Perhaps there really was some all powerful being watching over, making or allowing her life to transpire into her own personal hell.

'Why did I let them force me on leave?' She questioned herself as she took a second large bite from the dry piece of toast and began chewing slowly. It was already the second time that day she had probed herself for an answer to this continually unanswered question.

Just before the accident leading to her husband's condition, Freya had for a few years worked in her dream job, helping with conservation work, travelling to a range of exotic countries. Now what was her purpose? To look after a man who only had an idea of how long ago he ate by how hungry he was at the time? There was nothing she could do about it now though, if she ever could. This was her fate. A fate she accepted long ago, but acceptance did not make it even slightly easier.

Lifting the cold toast to her lips again, Freya considered her options. She could stay doing as she was, not an appealing option, or maybe she could run away; spend the rest of her life waiting for her death on a beautiful island somewhere. 'Who am I trying to deceive? I couldn't make such an awful decision.' She argued with herself. However, the fantasy of her perfect unending vacation still flooded through her mind.

After some time being a little too involved in her own imagination, Freya turned to the bin and threw in the remaining piece of crust from the delicacy she had been struggling with all morning. She then proceeded to open the first of her letters; a gas bill. Then the second; a phone bill. Surely her luck could not get much worse. Freya could have sworn that her bills should not have come for another month at least. Apparently not.

Before she could recover from the shock even a little, there was a loud rasping knock on the door. She walked back to the porch, placing the bills on the kitchen work surface as she turned. The wonder of who the guest could be crossed her mind very briefly, quickly suppressed by almost everything within her realizing she could not care less. As she turned the handle everything became very still. An eerie silence followed. This feeling always overcame Freya prior to something dire happening. Almost like her own natural warning signal, to prepare her for whatever would ensue. The door seemed heavy as she pulled it towards herself. Finally, the door was wide enough for her to see the pavement outside her semi-detached house. Only the pavement. Nobody excluded the view. Her bad feeling was wrong.

Eventually, Freya decided to give up staring blankly at the road outside her house, instead she walked, confused, back to the cold floored kitchen. She found herself feeling tentative as it quickly dawned on her that she should have been more concerned with the reason nobody had been at the door when she answered the knock. Maybe there had been no knock at all. Maybe she was finally going insane.

Suddenly the phone burst into life causing Freya to react equally as suddenly, jerking her entire body, "God damn it!" She shouted in anger and embarrassment, despite the fact no one could hear except her husband who would have forgotten within a few minutes anyway.

"Hello?" She questioned as the receiver collided with her ear. She felt skeptical. Few people called besides her husband's doctor and he had phoned the previous night to check on his condition.

"Yes, hi. This will be hard to explain and harder to comprehend," Spoke a man on the other end. Freya could not help but notice the obvious sound of tension and fear which wavered in the man's voice. The accent she could not pinpoint, only that it was not of English origin. "Listen carefully; I don't have time to repeat myself. I need your help. I'll explain more when-" Without warning, his voice was silenced by an ear-piercingly loud, high frequency noise screaming down the earpiece into Freya's ear. Understandably, she shouted out in pain and held the phone far from her face. The side of her head throbbed from the sudden noise but her curiosity flared up inside her. What had just happened? Her violently pounding brain told her it was far too loud to have been a malfunction of the receiver; it must have been something more.

Building up the courage to listen again, she slowly moved the receiver closer to her head where a line of blood had seeped from her ear. Dead silence. No dial tone. No voice.

CHAPTER 2

Freya's Escape

She knew she should have been feeling afraid or confused, but Freya had, for the first time in years, allowed excitement to course through her blood vessels; she desperately wanted to return the unexpected call from the man on the other end of the line. The kitchen phone no longer functioned; Freya assumed it was due to the horrific noise which had caused her eardrum to perforate, crushing her desire only briefly.

She remembered the bedroom phone and threw herself into a full sprint up the stairs to her room. Her husband still slept, allowing her to grab the phone and exit the room again without any hassling questions. As she reached the landing, she began to punch a number into the receiver: 1471. 'Please work...' But nothing appeared to be happening. Still no dial tone. 'That screech affected more than just the phone itself?'

She took three small steps, descending the staircase, her mind still racing for an explanation. Then, as suddenly as the phone had rung, Freya's eyes stopped seeing colour; the colours surrounding her had adapted to greyscale. Freya gasped, violently rubbing at her eyes. Opening them again revealed no change; her world had become black and white. Terrific rips formed in the air before her as if in the fabric of space itself, and a heavenly white light burst through the seams. Her eyes squinted and she held a hand to each side of her head, applying slight pressure to each temple. 'What... the...' "I've gone insane." She spoke to herself with a surprising calmness in her voice. 'Maybe I'm dying,' she thought, her utter confusion somehow repressing any panic from rising inside her. Freya's mind unexpectedly burst into speech: 'Walk...'

"What?" She replied, now more bewildered than ever. The depths of her mind seemed to have just spoken to her. "Who," she hesitated, "Said...?" Her head began aching intensely, "Who the hell said that?" she shouted.

'I'm sorry to have to do it this way, I really am.' Her mind spoke again, 'Please just listen carefully. You are not going insane. In fact, you're far from it. But what I'm about to put you through will test everything you have. Just keep one thought in mind: You must escape. I cannot stress this enough. You must. Everything depends on your escape. Concentrate. Keep your mind focused. Don't allow the others to trick you. They're far more intelligent than the best of us first estimated. Please, escape.'

"Escape?" She asked, wondering why was she humouring herself with a question, "Escape from what?" By now, Freya was feeling more than just distraught; she was having a conversation with someone's thoughts which appeared to actually be her own. At least they were echoing around within her skull. 'You will see.' The voice said, 'Just keep conscious.' At this point her head flared up with an intense fiery pain. The black and white staircase started to fade more black than white. Her eyelids became unbelievably heavy and began to gradually close. 'Don't faint...' This time she had her own thoughts back. 'The stairs...' She struggled with the infinitely appealing temptation to allow her eyes to shut. The voice in her head had warned her to stay conscious but the more immediate threat, even if she believed the voice was not some figment of her own cracking mind, was the staircase of which she would find herself lying, broken at the bottom if she were to pass out from her position three steps from the top.

She could feel the darkness quickly washing over her as if she sank into a warm, relaxing bath. She wanted to allow it to take her more than anything, but her natural instinct to live continued the fight against her drooping eyelids.

Freya's right hand reached out for the banister as her weakening legs slowly gave up the battle to keep her body upright. She clenched her hand on nothingness. The shock temporarily gave her a boost of consciousness allowing her to focus her remaining energy to push herself backwards, hopefully just enough to stop herself falling to a painful fate at the bottom of the staircase. It was a long shot but there was little choice at this point.

The warm blanket of unconsciousness felt increasingly more appealing to Freya's fading mind. Her body fell, spine first towards the landing. The part of her mind still remotely alert braced itself for the pain of her back slamming against the wooden landing floor and the breathlessness proceeding.

It happened in slow motion, taking forever for Freya's body to reach the landing or what she believed would be the landing. By now her vision was black but she thought she could feel her t-shirt compressing against her vertebrae. Still, the collision still did not ensue. Another second seemed to drag by.

Still nothing.

Then, in a sudden, unexpected flash, a blinding brightness filled her eyes. Then a colour; a brilliant violet fading to a deeper purple at the edges of her periphery. Following this beautiful shower of colour came the incredible agony of her body cracking against what felt like concrete. She heard her spine fracture with a horrific, sickening crack. Red hot pain tore up her spinal cord and stopped at her neck, causing her to scream out. The pain continued to throb violently across her entire back. She cried out again. Tears began to gather between her eyelids. Her legs felt a contradictory, aching numbness and her feet already completely lacked all feeling. Each of the cries which escaped her lips sent another searing flow of agony. Agony which was intensifying with every passing second. She prayed for death or at least a silence to this unthinkable pain.

She dared not move even slightly, lest her injuries and the agony worsened further. Concentrating all her thoughts on staying motionless, Freya tightened her lips, closed her eyes and tried to relax even slightly. Despite her best efforts, her muscles were continually spasming in her broken back. Her legs were totally numb now. Her waist was gradually losing feeling as well.

She began to give up on keeping her body motionless. The warmth of unconsciousness had now wholly disappeared, leaving her without a choice of life or death. There was no choice but to lie in this cold, harsh reality.

CHAPTER 3

The Screech

Freya lay for what felt like hours, painfully conscious. Then, suddenly, her damaged body became deadened with senselessness and her mind emptied for a single blissful second; the agony had unanimously emptied from her broken posterior. 'I've died.'

Fear began to surge from deep within her but she could still feel. She knew she still existed. She could feel the cold floor pleasantly cooling the skin on the back of her arms and heels. She could feel the slight breeze lightly touching the left side of her body, slipping under her t-shirt. Taking in some of the air, she immediately noticed its incomparable freshness for the first time. She dared to separate her eyelids. The beauty, crispness and clarity of colour above her poured through her pupils. 'The sky?' Another breath of the perfect air caused her to quietly gasp, but this time with pleasure.

On further inspection of the space above her head, she spied three tiny golden spheres. Not quite a gold Freya was used to; this gold had white and silver mixed into its making. Slightly smaller than three small marbles, the spheres were spinning around one another in tiny complex orbits.

Before she could study them further, she suddenly remembered her back; it was broken. 'Was' being the operative word. 'What's happening?' She half-heatedly questioned, not really caring about what the answer could be at this moment.

Freya decided her back was no longer broken, or perhaps the lack of pain was tricking her into sealing her fate. Either way she sat upright. No distress this far. 'I... healed?'

For the first time in her life she felt normal. Like she was all there, body spirit and mind. Like everything was real. She had not realized it before now but she had never felt this inexplicably existent. It was something Freya could not possibly, as yet, come to terms with. For the first time in her memory all the pieces of her very existence were as one. For the first time in her full 47 years of living she was actually feeling alive, as if her life the whole time this far had been moving beside her or nearby, rather than within her. 'My soul...?'

An uncontrollable smirk appeared on her face. 'There is a heaven?' In truth the landscape Freya now took in as quickly as she could muster was not the afterlife as she knew it. Besides the concrete-like material she sat on, a red-sanded desert stretched out in all directions. The horizon, as she was used to, did not curve away out of sight with the curvature of the planet. It curved upwards filling her vision until a kind of fog disallowed her from viewing further. Strangely, as far as she could tell, she now found herself within a bowl shaped... planet? Maybe it was an entire sphere? The fog ensured it was impossible to tell. Still, she stared, transfixed at the bizarre view surrounding her.

Freya sat there enchanted for quite some time. Eventually a thought crept to the front of her mind. 'He said escape.' The man on the phone had asked, almost begged her to break away from something. Perhaps this was what he meant and she had succeeded? She had escaped from... 'From what exactly have I escaped?' She pondered this for a while. 'Is this heaven?' She returned to her previous question. 'No, Freya.' She chastised herself, 'You lived your whole life a scientist. This is not heaven, there must be another explanation.'

If this was in fact heaven, there were very few bright colours, only the sky directly above her had a distinctive lightness about it. There was an absence of angels and the welcome from God himself was severely lacking.

She began to wonder why it was that nobody seemed to be within view in any direction she looked. Freya estimated it was at least a hundred miles before her vision was obscured by the fog.

The desert was stereotypical. There were sand dunes, an absence of life and water and a shimmer of heat radiating from the tops of the dunes. The only exception was the colour of the sand; deepest of reds. Freya leaned to the right taking a handful of the sand and allowing it to run through her fingers. Immediately she noticed the lack of heat against her skin. It was cold, almost ice cold. The sand was absorbing an extraordinary amount of heat energy from her hand and apparently reflecting very little. This led her to think about the heat source of the planet. 'Same as the light source?' She looked up at the violet sky. 'And where is the light source?' She felt warm enough; the cool breeze seemed exactly accurate to keep her body temperature feeling perfect. But she did not feel her face warming as she would have from the rays of the sun she was used to; if, of course, there was a sun. Right now it seemed unlikely. The heat bizarrely gave the impression it was somehow being generated in the air itself and yet the fresh breeze told her otherwise.

'OK.' Freya had finally given up avoiding the question further. 'Where is this?' "Where am I?" She spoke aloud as if somebody nearby would answer. Nobody did. The only sound was the wind whistling and that was only scarcely audible.

A fleeting glimmer of light snapped Freya's attention to her left. She could just make out a tiny object in the distance. There was no way of telling at this point what it was or even its shape, but Freya was quickly losing the blissful feeling of before and replacing it with an uneasy sensation, as the object was coming closer. Still not knowing whether it was friend or foe, she maneuvered her rebuilt body into a flat, chest-down position on the cool sand, concealing herself as much as possible. Her head lay on her right cheek, enabling her to see the object as it moved closer.

A few minutes passed and she could make out the thing's shape. It was not dissimilar to the spheres orbiting several meters above her head. As it came closer still however, she observed it was much larger than any of the three tiny spheres; it was at least twice the size of a football. Hovering less than two meters from the ground, its pristine surface shone, reflecting the violet light of the sky magnificently.

Freya lay motionless. She strained her eyes, attempting to view any details of the sphere. The surface appeared at first to be flawlessly smooth, but as the thing came within a few meters of Freya, she could make out explicit incisions; curved lines bending in innumerable directions, but never crossing one another and never straight.

The globe was upon her, directly above her neck. It strafed to the left filling more of Freya's view, allowing her to finally get a detailed look at the mysterious incisions on its glistening surface. The strange design somehow reminded her of something in her past, what it was or where she had seen it she could not remember.

Suddenly and swiftly the design shifted into a new combination. The sphere separated into two halves, still connected however by one central, cylindrical beam extending into the interior. Apart from the cylinder connecting the two halves, the sphere seemed void of everything.

Before Freya had time to notice the incisions within the globe, a tiny convex circle fell from the central beam to the sand beside Freya, less than a centimetre in diameter. She forced herself not to flinch as its collision with the sand sent a tiny spray of the grains into her eyes. The first circular disk was followed by a second. Then the two halves of the sphere combined into their original form and began a prompt return to wherever it had come from. Freya pondered for a second where this was and for the first time since her arrival, had at least a little hope that others dwelled on this planet.

Then, prior to her smiling at the thought of speaking with another soul, the convex disks began to move. They pushed through the sand to one another, leaving tiny imprinted trails until they were together. The two then oriented themselves until they created a full sphere; a miniature version of their parent in every aspect.

The thing lay peacefully, dormant for a second, then it changed. It became as red as the sand and, causing Freya to let out a brief shriek of horror, it began to screech abysmally. She instantly recognized the sound as that which had burst her eardrum earlier. She slammed her palms against her ears. The noise was awful, unlike anything she had heard. It was terrifyingly high-pitched and painfully loud, even through her hands.

Not wanting to touch the horrific thing, she levered herself up using her elbows, her right hand left her ear for a second as she did, causing her to cry in agony. If she stayed here she was sure, if it were possible, that she would die from this torture.

Her legs burst into life, albeit weakly, and she launched her fleeing attempt. It was to no avail, as every step she ran caused the sphere to smoothly move in closer to her thigh where it now hovered. She pushed her palms harder into her skull, so much so the pain from her crushing hands alone was immense. The previously deposited salt on her eyelashes was re-dissolved in a fresh set of tears.

She decided to touch the thing, to see if she could simply throw it to a safe distance. Common sense told her there would almost definitely be a failsafe mechanism enabled to stop such a crude defense, but anything was worth a try at this point, as blood spread slowly down each of her cheeks.

Her hand came away from her right ear and she cried out with fresh pain from the ear-splitting noise. But she strenuously continued her plan, reaching tentatively for the tiny horror. Her hand came close, within three centimetres, and the sphere screamed even more ear-piercingly every millimetre closer that her fingers approached, as if the volume and the frequency were working together to make the most efficient agony possible.

Suddenly, her right ear could hear nothing; she was now deaf on one side. Not wanting to risk further damage she moved her hand away from the sphere; the noise lessened, but only enough to stop her becoming deaf in her remaining ear. The agony was unwilling to end.

Freya fell to her now frail knees, prepared to give up the battle, but she unexpectedly had an absurd idea.

With renewed energy she rose to her bare feet and sprinted back in the direction of the concrete-like slab from where she came. She launched herself towards the only thing she knew of within her surroundings with which she could use as a weapon. Although it was still a massive long-shot, Freya had no other option but to try something using the three tiny spheres which remained in their orbits above the slab. Her fingers closed around one of the cold metallic objects. She felt the force generated, perhaps by the orbits, and then the link of force between the one in her hand and the others broke violently, throwing Freya back towards the sand. The remaining two spheres followed shortly after landing in the sand beside her.

The terrifying screech still continued. Under different circumstances, Freya would be intrigued as to how this piece of machinery worked, and what powered the thing. Now, with her ears bleeding and her head throbbing with the continuous torment, the thought had not occurred to her.

She held the tiny glistening sphere in her right hand, gathered the remaining two from the sand with her left, wincing at the harsh pain in her left ear as her hand moved away, and threw one full force at the screaming sphere, one meter from her feet. Surprisingly, it hit, but the sphere retaliated, sending a high voltage electric shock up Freya's leg. She convulsed violently, screamed at the pain and her left hand released her remaining ammunition.

Then the pain stopped.

The sound stopped.

It was now eerily silent.

She fell forwards to her knees, feeling the sand take the heat from her skin through a hole in her now frayed jeans.

CHAPTER 4

Dosus Yin and Dia Thorpe

Several long minutes passed as Freya knelt, perplexed, on the cold sand. The blood on either side of her face had already begun to dry due to the heat of the strange air. Her deaf ear was now ringing. Somehow, her hearing was coming back, perhaps thanks to whatever had healed her fractured spine. 'Who... is doing this?' She questioned weakly, wondering if she would in fact get a reply.

At this point, Freya looked like a victim of a horrific car crash; blood coated her face, her neck, her shoulders, and stained her white t-shirt with deep red patches. The expression painted across her face was one of complete bewilderment.

'Why did it stop?' Thousands of why, who, and what questions were tearing through her weary head. Then another voice spoke in her mind. 'You're still alive. Good.'

'What the hell...?' Was all Freya could manage as a thought-reply, she noticed the man's voice was still distinguishable despite the fact it was interwoven with her own cognition. The man laughed deeply with a strange quality which resonated around her head, 'It is not an enjoyable experience is it? Sorry... That is inconsiderate. How are you feeling?' Freya took a few seconds before she managed a weak response, 'I've been better. What's going on?'

'Yes, an explanation. OK, I have to be brief, you don't have long before you get the headache, not to mention the little time we have before they'll be after me again. So, like I said before, I require your help. The three golden balls orbiting one another? They brought you to this place from Earth. I'll explain more when you're here. The-'

'Hold on a second. Where am I? And where are you?'

'Well I don't know much of your other life on Earth but from what I understand, they have a place called Heaven, which is good. And very much the opposite is another place called Hell, which is bad, yes?'

'Some people believe that, yes...'

'Well this place is somewhere in between the two...'

'Purgatory?' Her mind remained silent for a few moments so she elaborated, 'Purgatory, it's effectively the waiting room between Heaven and Hell.'

'That's a suitable description. You are in Purgatory. Except there is no God. Just Lord Kae. In a way, he is a God. Not in the sense of the word you understand though.' Freya was feeling more confused each second. She decided to just accept what was happening, put her racing thoughts on standby and sceptically believe what the voice was telling her. Gradually she was learning to ignore her mind's bewilderment, 'So who are you?' Came her next question.

'I am Dosus Yin.'

'Dosus Yin?'

'I chose the name myself, thought I could have a fresh start.'

'A fresh start?'

'Oh and on the subject of names, yours is not Freya.'

'What?'

'It's Dia. Dia Thorpe.'

'Dia Thorpe?' The name felt instantly correct to her assaulted psyche. Of all the information Dosus had forced upon her in the past moments, her name was the only piece which felt correct. As if she had been somehow lying to herself her whole life without realising it. She was Dia Thorpe and she always had been. The name Freya was tossed aside.

'I'm sorry. I haven't got the time to explain much right now. I will tell you everything I can when you arrive.' Having said this, Dosus went silent for a few moments. Dia wondered if whatever connection he had with her mind had been broken, but a second later he burst back into mind-speech, 'Took too long. He must be getting faster...' Dosus seemed almost terrified, as he had on the phone earlier, but although afraid, he gave off the impression he was completely in control. Then he spoke more hastily, 'Quickly! You need to get moving, as do I. There is a building, North of where you know stand. Only the one. You cannot miss it. Don't head West.' His voice then stopped. 'Which way is North?' Dia asked but sensed he no longer occupied her skull. She waited several minutes in silence to be sure.

She began to experience a powerful awareness that she was completely alone but she banished the feeling and stared in every direction. 'Which way is North?' There were no trees, rocks or any landmarks within sight which Dia could use as a means to knowing which compass bearing she was facing. The violet of the sky directly ahead of her seemed slightly darker than the sky to her sides and behind, though it could have been her subconscious playing tricks. She made a decision and set off in the direction of the deeper violet, her legs trembling a little at first as if she did not know how to command them as well as she once was able.

Dia Thorpe had been alone with her own contemplations for more than an hour. Dosus Yin was staying out from the depths of her consciousness for the time being.

She had noticed changes to her body as she advanced in the barren yet strangely pleasant environment surrounding her. On Earth, her entire physique had become much less than perfect, which, among various other things, she had blamed on her husband's condition. Now Dia noted slow transformations in her figure; it was slowly becoming more athletic yet it kept a certain delicate beauty. Her legs were always long, but now they tapered more gracefully down to her ankles. Her waist was thinning and her stomach flattened.

Dia's face had become what it once was: High, perfectly formed cheek bones; huge, bright blue eyes; and celestial, fair skin. Flowing, dark brown hair softly caressed her face as it reached down to, and just beyond, her shoulders. The violet light reflected off Dia's hair brilliantly. Overall, she now looked physically younger than a 25 year old.

The barren, red desert was appealing to her now a little more than it had earlier and a strange feeling of comfort was creeping over her, bringing with it a warm, pleasant sensation which soothed Dia's new body. This could not have been due to her change in appearance; that alone would not bring such a change in her outlook of the situation. She knew something was happening to her but somehow, it felt acceptable. Even pleasurable.

After several hours of walking, Dia had gained full control of her legs. They felt more powerful now, stronger than they had ever been for as long as she could remember and her body felt lighter. It seemed as if a huge non-metaphorical weight had been lifted.

She had decided hours ago that trying to make sense of this new world was not productive and, therefore, the many burning questions searing through her mind were left unanswered for the time being. Instead she inspected herself and the positive alterations occurring in her body. Along with the new found strength in her legs, she had discovered an increase in force her hands and arms could now deliver; clenching her fists had caused a nail on her left hand to dig into her palm, drawing blood. The pain from the accident was minimal, possibly another symptom of this adjustment: an increase in her pain threshold.

Rocks the size of fists began to appear around Dia, few at first, then after another hour of walking she was surrounded by an abundance of the deep red, similarly sized stones. She scooped one up and, using all the strength she could summon, she launched the object at a 45 degree angle ahead of her. She did not see or hear it land. It had collided with the sand over the other side of a dune 90 metres away. She attempted to stifle a grin which easily overpowered her and spread across her face. Everything about this situation was extraordinary and in a bizarre way, she liked it; her body had changed in many ways and every metamorphosis she underwent had been a positive one. Never did it cross her mind that it could be a dream. It was not a dream; nothing had ever felt so close to reality.

Soon Dia decided to test her stamina. She began a swift jog into the violet light. Straight away she noticed how delicate the wind whistled past her ears and stroked her hair back. Although she jogged into the soft breeze, there was much less resistance than she would have predicted. It was a bizarre feeling. The small amount of friction in the air caused her to wonder why she had not noticed this sooner, when she threw the rock for example. She lost herself in thought as she jogged onwards, finding it easy to keep up a fast pace without tiring.

A huge shape began to appear in the distance. Dia strained her eyes to attempt to identify it but, frustratingly, it was too faded in the violet. She could, however, judge its colossal size. It was possible she had guessed the correct direction and had in fact headed North, to the castle.

She began to sprint towards the massive object, hope building up inside her with every step she progressed. Still it was unrecognisable, but she decided due to the size and the apparent uniformity, it must be a building.

It loomed more menacingly the more she reduced the distance between her and the dark structure. Then it was clear enough to make out. It was obvious. She slowed to a jog, before returning to walking pace. It was a castle of sorts, but no castle Dia knew of looked like this. There was nothing she knew with which to compare such a structure.

The monstrosity rose above Dia in a grotesque manner. The sheer size of the thing took her breath away; it was at least twice the height of the Eiffel Tower on Earth, and easily more than a quarter of a mile across. The exterior was ungainly; there were strips of some kind of black material sagging down the walls which Dia could not recognize and there were no windows or doors apparent on the side she could see. Only one side could be seen from her viewpoint, therefore the shape of the foul building would, for a time, remain a mystery.

As she approached further, more of the details came into view. The first thing she had noticed was its colour; black. Now, getting ever closer to it, she noted it held more of a deep maroon colouration, a colour she irrationally despised as though it had done her a great wrong in the past. The walls appeared as if manufactured from thin, cylindrical strands of dark maroon coloured material which Dia estimated to be just less than a meter in diameter. The material, in an unattractive, sporadic fashion, weaved its way around the other material which made up the vertical wall in front of her.

Spotting what looked like a darker patch in the weaving, she headed toward it, hoping for some kind of entry. Although no shadow was cast over her by the enormous construction, Dia felt cold and a shiver travelled up her back. Pacing slowly closer, she was suddenly taken aback by the retched aroma which hit her like a sudden gust of thick air. She coughed strongly to clear her lungs but the stench lingered, causing her to involuntarily cough more violently and repeatedly, each breath stimulating further choking and gasping for air. The only comparison from Earth was the reek of rotting flesh, but Dia knew without a doubt this was far more intense. She vomited.

After several minutes, Dia had taken full control of her breathing and although the smell was thick and all about her, she suppressed the urge to wretch; throwing up had left her with little energy but she felt compelled to find an entrance to the dark fortress ahead of her.

Dia arrived at the wall. It was a terrifying position to be in; the structure completely filled her view. She hesitated, and then reached out her slender hand to touch the terrible wall. It was rough, slightly moist and it did not feel completely solid. Slowly, she jabbed her fingers further into the thing, causing a compression on the surface of the intertwined material. Suddenly, she felt something. A movement. A convulsion. Then she felt it again and a few seconds later, a third time. It was a powerful outward force pushing against her fingers. The realisation swiftly hit Dia, 'No...?' She knew now what she was feeling, 'It's a pulse. A heartbeat.' It was living. The monstrous architecture before her was alive.

Snapping her hand away, she took a step back. Panic began to form inside her and the control of her breathing was beginning to deteriorate. 'It's not possible...' Dia knew a hundred reasons why an organism could not naturally occur on land at this scale. She was shocked back into reality; the situation she had been hurled into, even with the return of her beauty, was grim.

Besides the immediate horror, the Dia knew she still had only one option. She would find the entrance to this organic-building, if it was in fact a building, and if of course it had an entrance. So she tightly closed her mouth, clenched her fists and forced herself to press on, keeping a wary 5 metre gap between herself and the pulsating wall; if it did wish harm on Dia it would more than likely have attacked her already. That is, if it had the capability and if it was able to aggress, it more than likely could strike her down in a single blow from well beyond 5 metres away. Regardless, she kept the distance, as the small space between her and it helped the feeling of vulnerability dim a little.

Ten minutes or so passed and Dia was beginning to feel more comfortable with the structure filling the left half of her vision. Ahead she could make out what she hoped to be an entrance, though at this point, she did not know whether or not entering such a terror exuding place would be the intelligent course of action.

There was no door, only an elliptical hole between two of the foul-looking strands of what seemed to be blood vessels. Her senses were on edge as she warily peered through the hole. Inside, there were no blood red rocks or sand.

It was a huge room she could make out. The floor involved polished, black and white checked tiles, each one seamlessly joined to its neighbour. The walls were the brightest white colour and they were not rigid; they seemed to wave leisurely from top to bottom, almost unnoticeably. Dia assumed the ceiling, if there was one, was high because she could not see it from where she stood outside the thing.

Deciding there was little other choice, she tentatively stretched her head through the entrance and looked upwards. There was a ceiling, it was magnificently high and there were thousands of prongs pointing downwards in the shape of upside-down "V's." They glimmered with a silver light which flowed around the huge interior space in slow moving ripples and waves, adding quite pleasantly to the undulating walls. As far as Dia could tell, there was no furniture or objects of any kind in the huge open space.

Again realizing there were few more reasonable options, she stepped through the opening into the expansive room.

The second her bare foot touched the floor a warm embrace took over her leg, then her other foot followed, receiving the same welcome as the first. Dia's whole body: bone, flesh and skin, was held tightly within the perfect comfort of the heated blanket. It overwhelmed her completely. Her mind was at ease. Nothing mattered in this state of bliss. Her mind found it impossible to conjure any negative thoughts. She did not want to think at all. The one thing worth anything and therefore everything to Dia was the euphoria clinging to every part of her.

She was completely trapped in the paradise prison, but she was remembering things. Remembering certain aspects of the world she was now in. The memories came as feelings at first, but soon they appeared in her mind as fact. She had been there before. She had been there many times before, the most recent of which she was in a kind of danger. The thought swam through the neurons in her brain, in a circuit, over and over, until she remembered; Dia had been planning an escape the last time she was on this planet; an escape from something terrible. A man? It felt like something more than just a man. Then an image flashed in front of her; another man. He was difficult to see, as if her memory had been tampered with slightly. She knew, however, that this second man was not something terrible, nor was he more than just a man. She felt somehow attached to him or, at the very least, the idea of his existence. He had helped her, Dia was sure of it, perhaps with her escape, but definitely more than once in her past.

The feeling in her forehead returned first, followed by her face, then neck. She desperately tried to stop her return to normality, clinging desperately to the bliss with her thoughts. A final bright flash blazed ahead of her and, as if really before her eyes, a younger, more beautiful vision of herself shimmered. While Dia gasped slightly at the bizarre phenomenon, the past version of herself spoke in a voice comparable to no human-made sound. It was perfect and unbroken as though carried through the air on softest silk. "You left this for yourself, Dia." She began softly, "I can only hope my words will not be needed. You once ruled here, within these walls." The young Dia spread her arms, her expression neutral as she explained, "The beauty of this palace was unmatched anywhere across the universes. I will tell you only the essentials; no doubt you felt negative feelings towards the man in the vision. You must fear him. You must respect his power. He is known as Ssus and is a creature of twisted morals and logic," her voice quivered very slightly on the name, "His mix of morality and logic create a being who is dangerous to everything living anywhere in all of existence. Ssus has no human emotion as such but can show the opposite flawlessly. His knowledge and intelligence are unmatched and his level of skill in any combat style is absolute. He has very rarely made errors in all the time he's existed; the scale of such an amount of time is inexplicable.

"Ssus has one curious characteristic, hopefully one we can use to our advantage; an unfair act is impossible for him to commit without sufficient reason. He cannot slit an unknowing man's throat or murder a child, although the most combat-ready species is as much of a fair fight against Ssus as a new born baby. That is, he cannot commit such atrocities unless his mind believes them to have valid cause.

"He has a purpose; to erase suffering from all of space and time. The only way this is possible would be to destroy every living species which has a conscious mind, and therefore the ability to intentionally cause any level of suffering to another.

"He sees things in black and white as a machine uses ones and zeros. Ssus sees evil in all creatures, including himself, in the form of past sins. When he has taken every other life, he will take his own.

"Although Ssus is the ultimate threat, he bred a "sinless" army of perfect, 'soul-less' soldiers, how many is unfathomable. Each quarter of the unquestioning warriors is led by his lords and dames, dedicated to serving Ssus' cause. Two are known well and feared by most. The remaining two I have no knowledge of.

"Lord Kae purges this universe and will be close to impossible to stop. Dame Helis controls the inescapable "prison" universe used by Ssus to contain those who are impossible to kill. Of course, in helping Ssus take lives, the lords, dames and soldiers become sinful themselves and will be ended by the ultimate sinner: Ssus himself-" The beautiful, youthful appearance of the other Dia's face fell into darkness as her head stared at the floor for a moment then, tears welling in her shining eyes, looked back in the direction of the real Dia. Her voice faded as she spoke her final words in a whisper,

"-He will make a martyr of us all."

CHAPTER 5

Kant and Daniel

There was an eerie stillness as Dia stood, able but unwilling to move, too deep in thought. She was remembering more than what the vision had told her. "Ssus-" she barely managed to speak, staring at a fixed point in the distance, the memory of her capture came to her like a bolt of lightning; she remembered creating the vision for herself, Lord Kae, Dame Helis, the soldiers. Then the memories swirled back to Ssus, "Ssus is... A God-" the realisation hit her, stopping her thoughts for a moment. She forced herself to refocus. 'He took me from this place... from my palace... and he removed my memories. I was left to die in the prison universe. Earth... Why was I imprisoned and not killed? That universe was for those who cannot die. I can't have escaped from the prison universe, it's impossible; only a Lord, Dame or Ssus himself can remove a person from that place. Then one of the three must have.' Dia was slowly collecting her thoughts and piecing parts of her past together, relaxing very slightly as she did.

Eventually, she came to the conclusion that Lord Kae was most likely to have released her from the prison universe; she was now in Kae's universe and from what she remembered of him, he was an incredibly powerful and sadistic man. He was not created, but 'edited' by Ssus, who added and removed emotions and aspects of his personality until Kae would strike absolute fear into the souls of his enemies with his disgraceful nature. 'Terrific' was a word in Dia's mind which only began to describe the horrific acts Lord Kae had committed with no reason but to terrorise; to satisfy the nature of his being.

Realising her surroundings again, Dia slowly returned from her thoughts.

The palace around her had all the feelings of home now. "Haene," she spoke the place's name for the first time in centuries, "What happened to you?" Her voice did not echo through the great hall in which she stood, instead it seemed unexpectedly clear and precise.

Taking a few strides to her right, Dia remembered 'Haene' and the memories relating. There was a room through a door-less wall on the far side of the expansive hall, she knew, and there were weapons and armour within. She had no plan yet, but knew that steeling herself was vital for her survival and so, with a little caution, she stepped through the empty wall section into the armoury.

First, she garbed herself in a glimmering dark red shirt which her memory told her was crafted from various rare metals including an element found in the red sands outside. It was a close to indestructible compound which was normally soft as satin, but became rigid when force was suddenly applied. This tucked under a golden-silver coloured skirt, made from the same material. Golden-silver pumps were slipped onto her feet and she strolled to the gun container on the far wall, punching in a code pattern in an empty space of wall beside it, amazing herself slightly that she knew it instinctively before she remembered a method she had thought up which allowed her to withhold information during torture; she simply did not know such important information as passwords in her conscious mind, instead codes and secret locations were as part of her instincts.

The front of the gun container slid upwards and de-materialised through the ceiling above, revealing several hand-held pistols. Dia knew each had its good and bad properties and decided to take one capable of using whatever particles were in the space around it to create a projectile of sorts and in the process, the energy to fire.

On her right there was an empty space of wall through which Dia pushed her hand, grasping the hilt of what she knew to be her father's sword, 'Silvaera'. She withdrew it inspecting the beautifully intricate designs worked into the matte-white hilt. The thin blade, not unlike that of a sabre, shimmered magnificently as she twisted it in front of her, noticing how little weight it had as she did.

"Miss?" Came a voice from the door, causing Dia to snap around, pointing Silvaera at the possible adversary, "wh-" she began before she recognised the familiar features of her most loyal companion, but even still, stood looking confused for a short time before she found her voice which trembled slightly, "Kant?" the name came back to her along with a flood of uncountable fond memories. She looked deep in thought for another short time, attempting to find words to do justice to the occasion, but "Where have you been hiding?" Was the best she could come up with. She crossed the room, almost in a daze, lowering the sword and smiling as Kant looked up at her, "Oh, here and there," replied Kant with joy in his seamless voice, "To be honest, miss, I thought you would never return when Ssus took you. I don't like Ssus. I don't understand him. Maybe you could explain him to me?"

Kant was Dia's android. He clearly behaved and spoke differently than humans might, but Dia liked to think of him as a different species and never as an object; his programming had allowed him to become self-aware so, as far as she was concerned, Kant was an equal.

He hovered, perfectly still a foot above the ground as if pinned to that position in space. His arms and hands, although relatively human-like in shape, were a silver-grey colour. His face, currently hosting a kind expression with a smile on his delicate lips, was held further forward than that of a human being, a single complex joint in his neck allowing full movement on all axes. While hovering, the top of his head only reached as high as Dia's waist.

The smile broadened across his face as Dia knelt in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders, feeling the artificial warmth of his body, "I've missed you, Kant. I've missed you a lot. I'm so glad you're safe."

"I'm glad you remember me. I was sure you would forget. Will you tell me about Ssus?"

"Of course I remember you!" She chuckled, "But you don't need or want to know about Ssus... Maybe I'll tell you some other time."

"I'd like that. It feels good to talk to you again." With that, Kant closed his eyes and bowed his head, a smile still showing in the corners of his mouth.

Some time passed as Dia looked at Kant fondly. Then a sudden thought occurred to her, snapping her back to the reality of her situation. "Kant, do you know of a man named Dosus Yin?"

"I'm afraid I do not. Is he a friend of yours?"

"I don't know. I still don't recognise the name, even after my memory recall."

"That's what you were doing before Ssus took you? I wish he had never come."

"Yes. I set the trap and left myself a message including the most important details, but it was cut off. Although I got most of my memories back I can't recall the name 'Dosus Yin.'"

"But you remembered me," Kant said with a smile tinged with bashfulness. Dia chuckled again, "Yes and I suppose that counts for something at least. OK, I will worry about Dosus later. How is Haene? And what the hell is that disgusting thing covering her?" She remembered what she now realised was a creature of some kind spread over the outer walls of her once beautiful palace, "How long has it been there?"

"I have looked after our home, at least, as best I am able. That thing outside though was a problem. I don't know how to kill it. I think it nothing more than a parasite living off Haene's self-sustaining energies. It is really vast... It's been there for the past three hundred and twenty two days. It started out as a kind of moss which I could not remove by any means known to me. Now I cannot go out there without being attacked."

"Attacked? I was able to enter without that thing showing any aggression at all."

"I think it holds a grudge from when I scrubbed at it when it was in its moss form," Sarcasm appeared on one side of Kant's mouth. Then his expression became suddenly serious with a hint of fear in his eyes, "You don't think it really is holding a grudge do you?" Dia chuckled at his naivety.

"Honestly, Kant, I really don't know. My biggest concern right now is not that creature, whatever it is." Dia stopped for a moment to think her situation through as she selected a scabbard and secured it around her waist. Then she turned back to Kant, "My biggest concern right now is how I escaped Earth. I must have been released, probably by Lord Kae, but for what reason? I assume I was sent there by Ssus because of my invincibility, which raises more questions. How did I develop these healing properties? I don't have any memory of it and I don't understand the technology behind it."

"The technology is of Ssus' creation," Kant quickly answered as if reciting information from a text book, "He only allows his generals use of it. You do not recall anything of Ssus' ubilis machine? It records the information of every molecule in your body on a second to second basis for later use when reconstruction is required. The correct elements are required in the air surrounding the injury for such healing to occur. If a person's body with a connection to the ubilis machine is completely destroyed or damaged severely, the machine resurrects the whole body and mind in the closest of Ssus' resurrection labs... You have a connection to ubilis?"

"I do not remember such a connection, but it seems most likely."

"How do you know you can-"

"Because my body was broken when I was released from Earth."

"I see."

"If I do have this connection, and my body is destroyed when I die, I will be reborn in one of Ssus' labs?"

"Yes."

"Would it be possible for me to have had access to an ubilis machine?"

"No. Unless you were made one of Ssus' generals, it would be impossible to get close to the devices. They are guarded heavily with soldiers and a massive range of automated security systems."

"So..." Dia hesitated, "...The best explanation for me being invincible is that I have become one of Ssus' generals? A Dame...?" She stared at her hands and turned them over as if expecting to discover some tell-tale sign which proved she had become the general of a god.

She stood in silence for some time, her beautiful features portraying an expression of bewilderment and fear, "I don't like this," She eventually muttered, "I need to find out what in hell is going on." Kant nodded slowly and placed a warm hand on Dia's arm, "Then let us begin enlightening ourselves. Follow me."

"Where are we headed? I do know my way around you know."

"Maybe. I very much doubt you know of my little additions though."

"Additions? Really?"

"Do I lie?"

"You've been known..." Dia trailed off as she spoke, she felt more fondness towards the android every moment she spoke with him. Kant laughed a quiet, robotic laugh, "OK, granted. Not now however. I tell you the truth. I have added a room or two... This way!"

Dia followed Kant for some time through beautiful halls she recognised well; some with stunning chandelier-like light sources, others with hidden sources of illumination. There were walls gleaming with the same colour as the sand outside with tiny intricate patterns weaving about in silver. Brilliant statues of great historical beauty neatly littered some of the corridors behind invisible shields. Rounding a corner, Dia recognised her weapon deactivation system, disguised as a silvery marble floor and remembered a time when her palace had been attacked with all manner of weaponry held by many different peoples and species led by a single foolhardy man. Power cells of their energy weapons were drained; gun powder within their rifles was disintegrated along with the arrows of a tribe known only for their excellent archery skills. Dia and her allies remained completely uninjured. Luckily for her the remaining opposing forces had fled, for her weapon de-activator had almost entirely depleted all of her own power reserves.

Dia recognised an empty section of wall and pushed her hand through it, causing the device to power down, saving her father's sword and handgun from destruction. She turned in time to see Kant's back dematerialising through another empty wall section. Dia crouched as she followed, remembering the android's affinity to making thoughtless mistakes; creating a secret room with an entrance the exact size of himself for example. "Here we are!" He spoke the phrase in a German accent for no apparently reason, causing Dia to laugh. Then she looked around, "Kant... I don't see anything."

"Oh of course. I'm sorry," He said genuinely, then he pointed to the floor, "Touch it with your bare skin." Dia complied. At the exact moment her fingers made contact with the seamless tiles, masses of crude circuit boards, wires, optic cables and microscopically thin screens popped into existence all around her. "Wow..." Was all she could muster.

The system created by Kant was not a pretty one. Not a single wire or cable ran from one place to another without intermingling with hundreds of others. Only Kant, being a machine, could possibly know which wire lead to what location. Dia asked Kant politely what it was she was looking at. He looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not mechanical, Kant. This is..." Dia trailed off not knowing what word could describe her thoughts, "This is... Are those circuit boards?"

"I felt like going back to basics." Kant said. Dia looked at him, then back to the mess of equipment around her, "What does it do?" She asked.

"Most things." Was his reply, "Most things and everything I need it to." Dia stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "It is my control room. I can control and monitor everything I need to from here." He pointed to a particularly untidy corner where all the cables seemed to meet in a huge bundle. They looked as though they had been discarded there as off-cuts and were not in fact connected to anything.

Kant moved to the place he had indicated and turned clockwise until he faced one of the huge screens and closed his black eyes. All the other screens instantly lit up with a colourful, blurred image which changed to something else before Dia could make out what it was. Then it quickly changed again. Then again. Eventually stopping on a moving image of a man waving a small piece of paper at the much smaller figure of Kant. "There," Kant piped up suddenly, "Watch this."

Dia watched the largest of the screens as the picture became a video. The man from the image was walking towards Kant with the note in hand. He had short dark hair, dark eyes and wore strange white clothing which loosely covered from his neck downwards. His face was host to a serious expression. "Where is she?" He spoke authoritatively but without much volume. Dia thought she recognised the voice, "Please. You must be Kant? Where is she?"

"She has been taken by Ssus, sir. Who are you?"

"Where?"

"Earth I think. Who are you?"

"But... That means..." The man's face contorted strangely as he said this, then his face became expressionless. "How long ago was this?"

"Three years and eighty eight days. Who ar-"

"My name is Daniel. Has anyone been here since she was taken?"

"Nobody except you, Daniel. Did you know Dia?"

"I did." With that the man took Kant's hand, placed the piece of paper within it and strode towards the door through which he had come. Before he reached it, he turned back to Kant. Dia thought he looked as though he was struggling against something, as if he did not want to say the words to follow. There was a hint of sadness behind his eyes as he spoke a final time,

"We next meet in darkness."

The video stopped and the screens went black. Kant drifted towards Dia, his hand outstretched holding with the scrap of paper from the video. She took it silently and studied it. It was a note, written in a hurry by the look of it but Dia could still recognise the handwriting. "I recognise the man in the video," She said aloud, "But he looks different, I didn't know it was him at first. This is definitely his handwriting though." Dia then read the note,

'Meet me in Avalon. I'll wait there. He can be stopped, I know how.'

CHAPTER 6

Avalon

Kant looked at Dia for several minutes before eagerly saying, "Are we going to meet him?" Dia was silent. Her mind was lost in pieces of memories of Daniel, none of them complete. She could only be sure of one thing; her strong affection for him. "We are." She said, "Is there enough power for 'The Room'?"

"For transporting the two of us?"

"Yes. To Avalon."

"There is enough for one journey, I think."

"One should be all we need." Dia then led the way out of Kant's control room, down several corridors, past at least fifty rooms until they came to 'The Room' which Dia had never named. They entered and Kant immediately began making preparations for their travel.

Created by Dia's father, 'The Room' was one of the first portals in existence. It was a gateway to almost any location across the universe Dia was currently in, but she desired travel to only one place: Avalon. It was a place which was considered by most as a myth, a myth depicted in the legends written by Geoffrey of Monmouth on Earth. Dia, however, knew it well. She had loose memories of Avalon connecting her more closely with Daniel, but though she tried, piecing bits of such memories together was frustratingly difficult, leaving her with only the ghosts of feelings and emotions. She had to see him. To speak to him. Dia somehow knew that when she did, it would all become crystal clear as it had once been.

"It's ready." Said Kant, who had been busying himself behind a panel in the far corner. "Are you ready?" Dia hadn't even considered this. The importance of seeing Daniel again was paramount. She looked down at her sword in its sheath and her almost impenetrable outfit, then across to the gun which was now hanging from a loop on her skirt. "I am ready." She finally replied, her voice calm but serious.

Kant wordlessly shifted closer to Dia and clasped her hand. A moment later the room and everything in existence had simply gone, including Dia herself. She could neither feel nor sense.

Then Kant was there, she could feel him. Then she could see green light. It was overwhelming at first, but after a few seconds, Dia's eyes adjusted to the brightness and the green focused into individual objects. There were great trees, vines, bushes and long grasses in all directions but one; to Dia's side there was a path cutting its way through the jungle. She knew where this led. She remembered it now. It was a path created by herself and Daniel long ago, before peace had become war. Before Ssus. She felt comforted somewhat by the sights before her and the familiar smells of foliage. Beckoning Kant to follow, she began to follow the path through the undergrowth.

They walked onwards for some time. It wasn't a difficult walk as the path somehow prevented itself from becoming overgrown. When they came to rivers or great chasms, there were bridges which seemed far too sophisticated for the area. Once, the path took them directly through a mountain, the underground passageway lit by white-flamed torches which apparently never burned out.

The time gave Dia a good opportunity to find out more of her past from Kant. She re-discovered memories of time spent within her own palace walls with him, as well as the times and adventures she had later told him about. He told her of the great wars she'd had a part in and of the friends she had once had. She remembered four such friends in particular: Daniel, Jarrad, Uma and Heinrich. She had been close to these four. They had been like family, spending most of their time attempting to stop the rise of Ssus before he began killing for the 'greater good', for they had predicted the terrible decisions he would be making long before he began to make them. They had failed, of course and in the many attempts, Jarrad had been killed and Uma went missing, presumed dead. These losses were a great blow to the group and when Dia herself had vanished, Daniel and Heinrich had decided to lay low, no longer meeting to discuss possible plans and tactics.

Rounding a long corner atop a large hill, Dia could suddenly see it: The magnificent city of Avalon. It twinkled with golden light from the low sun, gloriously contrasted against the green of the vegetation. The light reflected from the roofs and walls of magnificent towers and bathed the great wall, which circled the entire city, in a warm glow.

She could not wait another moment to be within its incredible palisade walls so she grabbed Kant's hand and set off at a run towards the place she remembered as an entrance. 'Daniel is waiting' she kept repeating in her head, 'Everything will become clear.'

Reaching the enormous gates which shimmered with a pearly tinge, Dia pushed. They glided open. She stepped into the comforting familiarity of Avalon's walls and Kant followed as she set off through the wide streets, heading as straight as possible to the largest building in Avalon which dominated the centre of the city.

Shadows lengthened as the sun lowered, creating an unusually beautiful effect on the windows which somehow glowed pale blue in the shade. Strangely however, there was nobody about to appreciate the beauty but Dia and Kant. No people walked the glowing streets and none of the windows shone with light from within. In fact, the whole city seemed cold and eerie where it had once been warm and bustling with activity. Dia shivered slightly but pressed on, trying to remember how the place was while considering the present as little as possible.

She rounded another corner and as she did, something soft and smooth brushed her leg. She snapped around, eyes wide and darting in all directions but there was nothing there, at least, nothing visible. Her ears were ready to react at the tiniest sound. None came. She quietly told Kant to stay put and crossed the street to the only place she could see where someone or something could hide, but before she moved more than a few steps, there was a muffled sound from where she had left Kant.

A white, long-fingered, paw-like hand was closed over Kant's mouth and another held a gun to his side. Dia moved slowly closer with her hands automatically up in a sign of peace and she got a better view of its strange face.

It had pointed ears sticking out the sides of its head and its eyes did not appear to have an iris, they were simply bright gold and shimmered bizarrely. Its sleek, humanoid body was naked apart from millions of tiny black hairs covering its torso and upper arms. Dia decided, if its species had sexes, this one was a male.

"We don't want to harm you." She heard herself say calmly, "Who and what are you?"

The weird creature stared at Dia then spoke in a voice which struck fear into her. It was quiet but travelled well and had a grating, distorted quality to it.

"I am Caruul. I am of the Ghan. I come for you, Dia Thorpe. You will come."

It took Dia a moment to steady her fear following the thing's voice, but eventually mustered a reply. "I am Dia. But I will not come with you. Leave my friend out of this. Do your people have no honour? If you wish to take me I am not going to make it easy." With her final word, she drew her father's sword, Silvaera, which glistened brilliantly in the light of Avalon. She hoped with every fibre of her being that the creature would release Kant. It did. But, with a loud bang issuing from the beast's gun, Kant's hand was ripped from his wrist. This unsteadied Dia momentarily and Caruul was upon her. She barely had time to parry the first of his advances; from somewhere, Caruul had drawn some sort of a spear with a barbed tip. He came at Dia again, but this time she had gathered her wits. She chopped the spear powerfully to one side and in the same motion brought Silvaera in a perfect slice towards the creature's throat. Caruul managed to slip under this and scooped the feet from under Dia with the butt of his spear. She hit the ground hard but span quickly on the floor to aim another slice at the creature's ankle. It made contact and deep red blood splattered on the street. Caruul dropped to the floor, but readied the spear for the next attack even as he fell. Dia was already upon him, thrusting her sword sharply downwards. Caruul had no chance of avoiding the assault and Silvaera pierced deep into his chest. Something that sounded like "No harm" issued from his lips, then the spear fell from his limp hand, the gun from the other.

Dia kicked the creature back, pulling her sword from his chest as he fell backwards and turned to Kant speaking hurriedly, "How bad is it?" But Kant was not listening. He was staring at a point to Dia's left. Following his gaze, she understood why. There was a large mass of white moving towards them up one of the wide streets. The army of Ghan were a few hundred metres away but Dia could not hear a sound of their advance. The silent army she suddenly remembered from something she once read and immediately knew how serious the situation was. "We can't outrun them." She said to Kant as they sped up the street, "We can only hope to make it to the Spire tower." Kant still said nothing. He looked afraid. Petrified even. Despite the situation, something about his look flooded Dia's heart with waves of guilt and, for the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt panic rise from somewhere in her chest. She was responsible for this. It was her fault alone.

They hurried onwards hurtling through a gateway to the courtyard of the tower before two of the fastest Ghan were close enough to throw their barbed spears. Their aim was deadly accurate but Dia launched herself at Kant, knocking him out of the path of one and avoiding the path of another in doing so. Then they were climbing granite steps to the huge, thick double doors of the tower. Dia knew the tower would open for her when she came close enough and it did. They rushed over the threshold and the doors slammed themselves.

Dia turned to Kant, guilt plastered her beautiful face which distorted it quite horribly. Kant did not make eye contact, he only stared at what was once his hand, still looking terrified but the fear was slowly turning to anguish.

Several long, painful moments passed and nothing was said. Dia desperately sought out words to express her regret, or words to comfort Kant but nothing came. She knew he had never been broken like this before and until now had assumed he would react in an "oh well" kind of manner.

She did not know what she was going to say but had opened her mouth, unable to bear the silence any longer when Kant spoke. His voice was barely audible and the sound shook as it left his artificial lips,

"I don't blame you."

Dia had not expected this. She remained in silence, considering his wound.

The peril of the Ghan's advance was completely forgotten now she knew they were safe behind the solid, force field enchanted doors. Kant was still staring at the space where his hand once was but there was a look on his face which seemed much less sorrowful now. "It didn't hurt." He said, "Just..."

"Don't worry. It's normal to feel like this." Dia said, hoping her voice sounded calm. Kant looked up at her. If it had been possible, Dia was sure there would be tears welling up in his shining eyes.

CHAPTER 7

The Spire and the Lord

"We should go further in." Dia announced after a while, hoping to take Kant's mind off his hand, while she took in the familiar atmosphere of the tower. They were in a huge hall with long benches lining either side. It resembled an Earth church besides the aisle which was wider and seemed to be made from pure silver that flowed like a shining molten river from where they stood.

Kant, still a little dazed, followed Dia up the aisle. It lead to an enormous silver spire, at least 30 metres high, which didn't at first glance appear to have a purpose other than decoration. But Dia knew what it was and, more importantly, what it did.

She reached out to it when they were close enough and touched the cold surface. A warm energy pulsed through her arm, up her neck and into her head. She allowed the warmth to take hold of her mind, her thoughts, her very existence and then, with a small smile, she felt the presence of Daniel. Not in the room with her and Kant, but in her mind as Dosus Yin had been. 'Daniel?' She asked with thought.

'Dia?' Came the deep yet soft reply almost immediately. There was a hint of something unfamiliar about his voice but Dia dismissed it as an effect of the Spire. 'You... made it to Avalon?' Said Daniel. Dia's smile spread and she allowed joy to bubble up inside her. 'I did. Where are you? Can you summon Kant and I?'

'I don't understand... You were on Earth. How did you... Oh yes. Ok I'll bring you here now.' Dia closed her eyes, knowing that the experience of travelling in this manner was not a pleasant one. 'Ready?' Daniel's voice sounded distant in her mind now, as if muffled through a thin wall. 'Yes.' She replied, simply. Then she turned to Kant, "Touch the Spire and do not let go for anything. It will become incredibly uncomfortable but you must not let go. Ok?" Kant merely nodded, then reached out what would have been his hand a few minutes earlier. Dia visibly winced at his mistake, but Kant switched hands and touched the Spire without a word or change of expression.

Dia closed her eyes again and waited. A minute passed with no changes. The anticipation was almost unbearable but she told herself to be patient. Another couple of minutes dragged by. Still nothing. 'What's happen-' She began to ask, but then it happened. The Spire became less opaque then faded until it was gone. Then the far wall, the rest of the massive room and everything outside vanished from existence leaving Dia and Kant standing side by side in blackness.

More time passed than Dia expected and she felt panic setting hold. Something was definitely wrong. 'Daniel!' She heard her thoughts cry out desperately. 'We are stuck in 'The Middle'...'

No response came. She looked down at Kant without taking her hand from where she knew the silver Spire to be, though she could not see it. "This should not be happening." she muttered, her voice quivering slightly, "We should have appeared wherever Daniel is much sooner."

"I didn't think it should take this long." Came Kant's reply, but he seemed absent minded somehow.

"What's wrong?"

"Look." And as he spoke he pointed with his wrist. Dia followed it but could see nothing but darkness. "Keep looking." He said, noting her confusion. "It's coming closer." She continued to stare, until suddenly she saw a pin prick of white, set against the black. The pin prick grew and Dia could soon see the shape of a man, all in white, drifting quickly towards her. When he came close enough, she made out his face and knew it to be one she did not desire. This man was detestable. He was a twisted individual, Dia knew, yet in appearance he was classically handsome; a look which sent icy chills up Dia's spine. "Lord Kae..." She murmured under her breath, loathing the name as well as everything associated with it. "It is I." Boomed the reply of Lord Kae, his voice was sharp and precise. He had a pleased look about him which made Dia nauseous.

Dia felt weaker as Kae came closer still but she drew her father's sword swiftly with her spare hand and pointed it at the Lord's chest. He continued his drifting advance until he stood with the tip of her sword touching him.

They stood like this for several seconds before Lord Kae spoke. "I released you from Earth." He said, smirking, his eyes staring straight into Dia's which widened at his words. "I released you from Earth because I need you Dia Thorpe. I need you to help me which will in turn help all of us." Dia stared at him, unblinking. Her mind was working overtime to comprehend what he was saying. Kae continued, "I can stop Ssus If we act now. He is currently unprotected. I may even be able to kill him, but you are the only one able to get me to where he is."

Dia, her mind still on the information that Kae had released her from Earth, began to understand something: The phone call on Earth. Was that Lord Kae? Her mind raced faster, pieces of a puzzle rapidly finding their correct places. "You were the voice on the phone...? Dosus Yin?" Her voice was distant as she spoke. Kae laughed a cold, hollow laugh. Then Dia's sword wavered slightly as she realised, "You were acting as Daniel...? Asking me to come here?"

"Of course." Kae snapped, "But not 'acting' as Daniel. No. It was Daniel's voice you heard and it was his body you saw in the footage which was cleverly captured by your android friend here. He is my puppet, call it 'insurance' if you will. You will help me and I will release him to you." Dia had gone white and was trembling, half with anger, half with fear. She did not, however, turn her gaze from Lord Kae's eyes. There seemed to be no options.

"You are betraying Ssus?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Enough questions." Kae's voice had malice in it now, "Help or Daniel remains mine." Dia steadied herself.

"Prove you have him." She demanded as boldly as possible. The Lord chuckled and a thin smile appeared on his face. Then he spoke in a voice mimicking Daniel's, "We next meet in darkness." Dia remembered instantly. Daniel had said those exact words in the footage Kant had shown her. She then thought of how he had seemed to be fighting against speaking in the video and how his voice just now had seemed strange. The realisation hit her. "You possessed him!" She spat, unable to contain the anger any longer, "You sick-"

"Not past tense, Dia. I possess him. I own him. He is my puppet. Now, do we have a deal?" Dia clenched her teeth and tightened her grip on the hilt of Silvaera. She knew she was no match for the Lord in a sword fight but she had him at a disadvantage. Dia could only assume he allowed her this advantage because he needed to buy her trust. No matter the reason she had to try something. So she lunged forwards, sword point first, as quickly and powerfully as her body would allow. The sword pierced Kae's chest right through to the hilt. But Kae chuckled and pushed her back. "You cannot harm me here." He hissed in a whisper by Dia's ear. Dia stared at him blankly. What manner of science was this? She could not fight against apparent impossibilities.

She steadied herself again after a moment and, in the realisation she literally had no choice, she conceded to Kae.

"What... Would you have me do?" She asked.

"It is very simple. You have to die."

"That's not-" Dia began but Kae interrupted,

"When you die you will be resurrected in one of Ssus' ubilis machines. Only he knows which one; I am sure he will have arranged for one machine to be programmed with your signature since he discovered you had escaped Earth. You will be reanimated in that machine and I can track which one." Kae spread his arms, indicating the expanse of black about them. "As you see, I have mastered a certain control over the Spire. It will take me to the exact location where you are resurrected. Then I wait for Ssus."

Silence followed for several moments allowing Dia to collect her thoughts. Although her forthcoming death should have been her first priority, her mind was still reeling from Kae's extravagant manipulation. He was the voice on the phone on Earth. He was the voice in her head masquerading as Dosus Yin. He had controlled Daniel, ensuring she arrived in Avalon as quickly as possible. Daniel really was Kae's puppet, he was in danger and if Dia could help, she would. Even if Kae did not keep his word as Dia suspected he would not, perhaps an opportunity to kill him would arise after she was resurrected.

Eventually, ensuring she had thought through all possible scenarios, she spoke, "What about Kant? Can you return him to my palace?"

"I can." He said and immediately turned to the android, grabbing him on each shoulder. There was no sound. No drama. Kant simply vanished.

Then the Lord looked back at Dia. "I have to destroy your entire body as you may have already realised. It will be excruciating." Dia still stared at him. "Take your hand from the Spire." Kae demanded. Dia obeyed. The instant her skin left the feeling of the Spire, she fell. She knew she was falling because she felt it in the pit of her stomach but there was no wind and Kae seemed to be stood as still as he had been right beside her. He leaned forwards and grabbed her throat. Dia tried to scream but the sound was trapped in her chest. She felt flames igniting, white hot, in every molecule within her. The pain was incredible and somehow worsened with every second. Eventually, blissfully the agony stopped and her thoughts ceased. Her body was gone.

CHAPTER 8

A God's Mistake?

There was a flash of blinding blue light, an intense agony which lasted a split second and then Dia felt her body relax from her neck to her feet. It was an unnatural feeling as though every muscle had simply shut down except those in her face.

Dia became aware of a presence to her right. It was Lord Kae. She suddenly realised she was completely naked and felt a vulnerability unlike anything she had felt before but could not force her body into any sort of movement. Even moving a finger was completely impossible.

Unable to fight the paralysis, Dia took in her surroundings. She assumed she was lying flat on her back due to the angle at which Kae stood beside her, thus, she was able to make out the pale blue walls, ceiling and sphere of blue light which shone like a tiny sun directly above her. Kae faced a door over to Dia's left, standing perfectly straight and still. He held a curved sword in one hand, his other behind his back in a fist.

Peering around the room to ensure she had not missed any vital detail, Dia noticed a shimmering, not unlike a heat haze, in a space a metre or so in front of the door. She at first thought it was a side effect caused by her rebirth, then she understood why Kae had been staring in that direction.

The shimmering became more obvious and she caught a glimpse of colours not belonging to the wall behind. Then a grey humanoid figure appeared. Looking like neither man nor woman in sex, it was hairless and its expression was completely featureless; devoid of feeling. Dia found herself unable to gasp. It was Ssus.

Kae stepped around where Dia was lying and advanced until he was less than a couple of metres away from Ssus. The latter did not move. Kae brought his sword to Ssus' throat but he remained entirely motionless. Dia knew Ssus could destroy Kae with ease and would do for such treachery but he still did not move. He did not even appear to be drawing breath from what Dia could see. Then she noticed that the shimmering was still present and Ssus was not entirely opaque. She could make out swirls of moving colour through his dull, grey torso.

Lord Kae spoke quietly. "I know you will destroy me when we are done with your plans. I choose to prevent this. You may be aware you are currently not completely in this dimension." With this he slid his sword through the semi-transparent stomach of Ssus. "That probably hurts. I don't know... As far as I know this has not been done before. Of course, if I killed you, your body would reform in one of your machines. Or perhaps not. What if I had assigned your signature to one machine? What if that machine were set to disintegrate in that split second of resurrection? I think that may finish you off." He then moved his face closer to Ssus' and grabbed his throat as he had Dia's. Dia caught the edge of a smirk on Kae's face. "This is going to be enjoyable." He whispered. Then he pulled Ssus forwards, out of the shimmer which vanished immediately. Red sparks of flame issued from all over Ssus' body. Dia knew the agony he would be in, yet his face remained emotionless. Suddenly there was a flash of silver and Kae recoiled slightly in shock, his side gushing blood, but he did not release his grip and soon Ssus was gone. Dissolved into nothing as Dia had been.

Dia was stunned. Ssus could not have been killed so easily. She herself had tried on numerous occasions to no avail; he was too close to perfect. Kae must have developed some knowledge currently unknown to anyone else. Something well beyond the realms of understood science. Something even Ssus himself had no insight into.

As she came around from her confusion, Dia was watching Kae tend to his wound when she realised her arms and legs could move once again. They felt warmer now as if her blood had just begun circulating her body properly.

She knew she needed to act quickly while the Lord was occupied. She saw the silver dagger which had fallen from Ssus' disintegrating hand and moved towards it, her bare feet on the floor allowing her to move silently. Scooping it from the floor, she swiftly moved to a position behind Kae and, without hesitation, stabbed at his neck. She felt only the very tip of the blade touch his skin before he faded and vanished. Dia cursed. How had he known? Surely it was not possible that he could have reacted in the split second the dagger-point touched him? 'No time to contemplate this now." She thought, not sure whether Kae would appear again at any second. Dia quickly dressed herself in her clothes which had reformed themselves at the end of where she had lain. Her father's sword and her gun, however, were not there. Something she would have to worry about later. Now she needed to get out.

She crossed to the door and into the corridor beyond. There were tiny suns lining the walls like the one above the ubilis machine and there was a strange odour in the air which Dia did not recognise. She jogged up this first corridor with no resistance but as she rounded a corner a tall woman came from one of the side rooms. Dia was too quick for her and the woman was pinned to the floor with the dagger at her throat in moments. "Where's the exit?" She demanded. The woman remained silent. Dia pressed the dagger harder into her throat. The woman coughed then pointed into the room from which she had just come. "Show me." Said Dia quickly. They both stood and walked through the door, led by the woman with the dagger now pressed against her back.

Several doors and corridors later without another person appearing had Dia feeling anxious. She could only hope the lack of resistance had been something Kae had arranged.

Eventually, they came into to a large hall. "Go through that wall." The woman said pointing at a space which shimmered with colours. "You first." Said Dia, suspicious of a trap. The woman obeyed and Dia followed.

It was instantaneous. Dia left the hall and appeared on a path which winded away into the distance. It appeared to be night here but there were no stars and no moons visible. Looking around she found it was too dark to see anything. The ground was soft and colourless due to the lack of light and the air was fresh and cooling against Dia's soft skin. The woman she had sent through first was nowhere to be seen but this did not concern Dia, she would be easy to overpower if any attack was attempted.

Dia felt exhausted. It had been a long while since she had had a proper rest but she did not feel safe here and she did not want to allow herself time to comprehend everything that had just happened. She would do this after sleep. Her only option was to travel the path.

It felt like she had walked for at least thirty or forty miles when Dia noticed a large shape off to the side of the path. Cautiously moving towards it, she saw that it was a small building of some kind. Nobody appeared to be in it, not awake at least as there was no light coming through the windows. She moved closer until she could see inside. There was no one within. Moving through the door she could clearly see it had been unoccupied for a long time. Thick layers of dust had built up over everything and yet there was warmth in the air as if the place's heat generator still functioned. There was an Earth-style bed against one wall which was more than Dia could have hoped for but before she could sleep easy, her instincts told her to set traps to stop any unwanted intruders.

Having circled the perimeter of the small hut-like building, Dia had gathered together a few materials to make a rudimentary trigger mechanism for a simple trap; when triggered, rocks fell from the roof onto the invader. She set it just outside the only door to the hut and retreated into the warmth.

Happy she was safe enough, she walked straight to the bed, collapsed upon it and fell instantly asleep.

Dia had no idea how long she had been sleeping. It was still dark outside but seemed slightly lighter than it had been. Having not been awoken to the sound of falling rocks and screams, she assumed there had been no visitors.

She pulled herself to the edge of the bed, feeling well rested, but there were still thoughts to confront. She shuddered as she considered the events from when she awoke under the violet sky. Although she would like to think there was another explanation, everything Kae had said fitted. She had been played from the start.

'What now?' She thought after some time. Lord Kae had probably already taken over Ssus' masses of armies assuming his plan had worked and he would no doubt be planning the destruction of the other Lords and Dames who would not join his cause, whatever that may be. She had no way of knowing whether Daniel was now safe; Lord Kae was not well known for keeping his word. Kant was hopefully back at Dia's palace, but even that was not a certainty.

She decided after a time that too much was speculation to warrant further thought so her plan turned to focus more on the near future, namely, how to get from this place, back to her palace.

Preferably without dying again.
CHAPTER 9

Surviving through Madness

Dia spent the next few days living in the hut. She quickly discovered it was a relatively easy place to survive in. The hut provided warmth and shelter from the weather, which had so far been mild and dry. There was a river running not too far from her temporary dwelling which supplied clean drinking water and for food she had learned that once a day, every day, a herd of strange animals would pass behind the hut. They looked something like the buffalo of Earth, but even the largest amongst them was less than half Dia's height and their feet were not hoofed like most ungulates. Instead, where a hoof would have been, fur covered a soft fleshy mound. This allowed the herd to move surprisingly quietly.

The main inconvenience of surviving here was the day length. A night lasted twice the time of a day. This played havoc with Dia's sleeping patterns because of the many years she had spent acclimatising to the length of Earth days.

Dia had hoped for somebody to pass by along the path in front of her newly claimed hut. Someone she could question about this place. But there had been no luck so far to that end so the next plan was to travel the path herself.

She prepared for a long journey, tying chunks of meat to a rope she had made by weaving together some of the stronger grasses found near the river. She also tied two animal bladders full of water to loops in her skirt and gathered materials she could use to start a fire.

Having triple-checked her preparations, Dia began to travel the dark path, taking a final look back at her temporary home before it vanished from view.

The path took her through ravines decorated with patches of tiny white flowers growing on the grey rocks and over hilltops sprouting spiny-looking shrubs and trees. There were rivers snaking beside the path, often developing into small waterfalls which somehow gave off a powerful heat as the water was churned up in the plunge pools.

Dia travelled for many hours before the terrain started to become rougher and rockier. She knew there was little daylight left, so started a fire off to one side of the path and cooked some meat, keeping the path just in view but blocking the light of the fire's flames with a make-shift wall of foliage; she was less concerned about her safety from attack now, but it didn't hurt to be a little cautious.

She awoke in the darkness, put out the glowing embers of her fire and set off again her eyes adjusting quickly to the lack of light.

Travelling swiftly for the rest of the night, Dia eventually came to something she had not expected. She had assumed the path would lead somewhere, it was almost definitely made by a sentient being due to its uniform width and the way it followed the line of least resistance through undergrowth and between rocky outcrops. She had not imagined that it ended, as it did, at the bank of an enormous river. Neither had she imagined there would be a small tug boat moored there.

Considering the strange turn of events, Dia found herself climbing aboard the boat. The sun was just rising, casting deep red beams of light which reflected up the river and over the bow of the tug.

A deep groan came from below the deck, startling Dia somewhat and a few moments later there was the sound of footsteps on wooden stairs coming closer. Dia called out what she hoped to be a friendly hello, but her hand strayed to her silver dagger.

He was a gruff looking man who emerged, about the same height as Dia but much wider, wearing dirty clothes and an even dirtier beard. "Who might you be then? Wanderin' onter me boat like yer owns it? Built this meself! It's mine!" He cried out quite hysterically at Dia who tried to look as innocent as possible. "I swear," She said, "I have no intention of taking your boat. I just followed the path here and-"

"Yer followed the path did yer? How'd that go for yer? Soft int it?"

"...Yes." Replied Dia uncertainly.

"Ah yes! Soft. Hope yer dint fall though. That's how I got this." As he said this he flashed his knee to Dia revealing a small "U" shaped scar. "Yep it hurt alright. Don't need yer sympathy though. I'll live I reckon. So what brings yer here?" Dia stood staring at his beaming face, momentarily unable to form words. The poor man had clearly lost his sense more than just a little. "I was looking for someone to help me understand where I am. I don't suppose-"

"Indeed I do! Indeed I do. On Clive's boat aren't yer! Here yer are. On me boat. Bobbin' on River Geir which does flow from Mount Carnil. All good. All good." Dia looked at him, hoping he would say something less specific. Instead he wheeled around and bellowed, "Onwards!" Then he rushed off into the depths of the vessel. Dia stared, bemused, after him and before she could find her voice, the small tug boat was speeding through the water to the opposite riverbank.

Clive appeared again, this time holding something in his large, hairy hands. "I gots yer bird 'ere." He muttered, mainly to himself, then his hands opened revealing a black swallow. Dia looked at it briefly then into Clive's face. "That isn't my bird I'm afraid." She said softly, but Clive shook his head. "I might be as mad as a parrot. Yes indeed. But this 'ere black swalla be yours." The swallow had been pecking at his hand, but at that moment it took off, soaring ahead of them to the opposite bank; the red morning light reflecting off its glossy, jet-black feathers. Dia found herself saddened to see the bird disappear into the trees.

Clive had a smile plastered across his broad face when she looked back to him. "There 'e goes! And 'ere we are!" Dia had been watching treeline so intently she had not noticed their arrival at the far bank. "Why have you taken me across?" She asked, peering deeper into the forest which grew right up to the river's edge. "To meet yer friend o' course!" Clive replied loudly, "Built 'im a cabin I did. Yes. It's warm and got a bed. Yer'll need another bed if yer gonna stay? Quite welcome! More the merrier! I'll sort it out. Leave it to Clive." And he sped away into the forest.

Dia tracked the crazed man to a wooden cabin not far from the shore. She made her way towards it with no clue about whom or what Clive might have considered a friend of hers, but then, framed in the cabin's open doorway, she saw him.

"Daniel!" She cried out and before she knew what she was doing, she had pulled him into a powerful embrace. He was taller than her and wore all white which contrasted superbly against his dishevelled black hair.

After several minutes, Daniel was the first to speak. "Where have you been?" He asked in a cracking voice, "Kae had me under-"

"I know. He explained it to me. It seems his plan has worked."

"He's killed Ssus? Impossible..."

"He has some sort of control over the Spire. It seems he can use its effects at will, without the need to touch or even be close to it."

"How is that...? How did he destroy Ssus?"

Dia explained everything to Daniel of her restoration under the violet sky, Lord Kae acting as Dosus Yin, the footage of Daniel in her palace, Kant's destroyed hand, the Ghan in Avalon and the events surrounding the death of Ssus.

"So... How did you escape Ssus' lab? And how did you find me?" Daniel asked following a moment's silence, but Dia was feeling uneasy. She had just begun to comprehend the sheer scale of the coincidence in which she found Daniel here; the chances were incredibly small that she would simply stumble across the very person she sought within a few days of learning her enemy used him as a puppet. All traces of joy ebbed away. It had to be a trap. The adrenaline levels rose inside her and she quickly shoved Daniel into the cabin.

"Who is Clive?" She asked nervously.

"...What's going on, Dia?"

"Answer me. Who is Clive? The man with a beard who brought me across the river to you."

"I don't know of anyone else residing-" He glazed over momentarily, the magnitude of the situation suddenly realised, but before they could go into it further, the sound of a man whistling drifted in through an open window of the log cabin. They both jerked around and Dia drew her silver dagger but as she did the whistling stopped and Clive's voice bellowed loudly at an unseen adversary, "Not you again! Get gone! They're my prize now aren't they? Yes, of course. Mine! I ain't sharin'!" There was a loud thud which shook the cabin and Clive screamed horribly causing a terrible echo which reverberated through the forest outside. Then there was silence.

Dia and Daniel remained motionless for several minutes before slowly emerging from the cabin. Clive's adversary appeared to have left but the bearded form of the crazed mad man sat up against the outer wall, dead. His eyes remained open and staring, the fear of whatever had happened to him lingered within them. The two looked over Clive's body meticulously, but neither fresh wound nor any kind of bruising was visible. Dia checked for any tracks but the area was saturated with such, probably due to Daniel having lived there for several days.

"I've never seen him before." Daniel said eventually. Dia had to commend how calm he sounded, given the situation. "You say he ferried you across the river?"

"Yes. He seemed harmless enough... Just mad. What do we do now? We need to get off this planet before Kae springs his trap. Any ideas?" Daniel looked slightly unsure. "I overheard Kae speak with Dame Helis about a portal a little way to the south." He said. Then, noting Dia's questioning expression continued, "Yes I think he has her on his side too but I'll explain my theories on that later.

I tried to reach said portal but there was some sort of energy field surrounding the whole area. He may have intended for me to overhear anyway, that could very well be the trap. I know every time Helis passes through she arrives from the East not the South. I'm quite sure this planet is her making. Perhaps she has a Spire."

"So we head East?"

"I think it's our best choice."

So they moved East with haste, passing trees similar to Earth's fir trees but much darker. These changed as they walked on, becoming paler and brighter until most were brilliant white. The smaller plants and shrubs changed too, adopting the same dazzling colour. This gave the place an unnatural feel; it was almost clinical.

"Stop." Whispered Daniel suddenly, holding up his hand. Dia obeyed and looked ahead to where he was now pointing. "It's definitely Helis'." She whispered back, taking in the view of a glossy white fortress ahead of them, "I've been in that palace before, I remember it now."

"Well protected? Does she have a Spire?"

"Yes on both counts, but I do remember enough of its layout to give us some of an advantage. We may be able to get to the Spire if we move quickly."

"It's worth a shot. Back entrance?"

"There is one but I would have no idea how to get to her Spire room from there. I think we would have a better chance going straight at this one." Something in Dia was stirring. Having Daniel once again at her side was fuelling her cravings for battle.

They moved their way as close to the front of the place as possible. From their new position, Dia could make out one man standing guard in ceremonial uniform. It was handsome garb, but would not withstand a dagger blow by Dia's reckoning. She felt the dagger's balance in her hand. 'Good for throwing.' She thought, then turned to Daniel, "You ready?" But he was nodding before the first syllable.

Dia was the first to move. She stepped into the clearing and threw the knife. It found the guard's chest with the precision of uncountable years of practice. They both sprinted to his fallen body and Dia took back her dagger along with the guard's bow and quiver of arrows. Daniel took his short sword and they hurried under an arch into a courtyard.

The last time Dia was here she had been a suspect in a murder trial, before Helis had been under Ssus' rule. She had been dragged through the hallways to a courtroom of sorts. Of course, she had been found guilty. Few were innocent in the courts of Helis.

They took a right at the far side of the courtyard, then a left up a flight of stairs, Dia leading the way. Rounding another corner they sped into a large room with six soldiers, side by side, blocking a door in the far wall. Unlike the guard outside, these wore white chain mail armour along with greaves, boots and gauntlets. 'They will be slow.' Dia thought and she notched an arrow to her newly acquired bow. Even as she released it, Daniel was upon his first target, stabbing him in the throat while dodging his weak thrust. Dia's arrow found the throat of another and her second glanced off a third's shoulder. Her next shot found its mark but as Daniel wore down a more skilful swordsman, the two remaining approached too close for the bow. Dia drew both daggers and dodged the attack of one man. The other lunged but Dia easily parried the attack, span to the man's side and stabbed one of the daggers into the top of his unprotected spine. As Daniel dispatched the man he had been fighting, she threw her other dagger, but the final soldier cut it from the air. As he did, there was a glimmering which Dia had not noticed before in the man's sword; it shone more brightly than normal metal, twinkling beautifully in the light. It was the sword of Dia's father. It was Silvaera.

Dia's stomach fell.

This was the trap. Kae had predicted their escape plan. Why else would her father's sword find its way back to her at this moment, so soon after losing it? The Lord would be upon them in moments. He had set up this spirit-crushing situation; a perfect example of his sadism.

Half dazed, fear rising inside her, she struck the remaining soldier in the face with the hilt of her blade as Daniel pushed his sword into the man's side. Dia took Silvaera from his dying hand. "Where did you get this?" She demanded. The man just smiled and blood spilled through his teeth. Then he fell forwards and was dead. Dia stared at him as if still awaiting an answer. Daniel touched her shoulder softly. "What happened?" He asked soothingly but Dia didn't answer. His grip tightened. She angled her head towards him and said, "It's my father's sword. I lost it in 'The Middle' when-" But Daniel's grip was getting tighter still, painfully so. Dia attempted to peel his fingers off, looking up at him as she did. His expression had glazed over, his eyes were staring and wild and his sword arm was shaking violently. She suddenly understood. Lord Kae controlled him again.

Dia wrenched Daniel's hand from her shoulder and turned, pointing her father's sword at his chest. "You won't fight your Daniel." He said, but the sound was a horrible conglomeration of Kae's and Daniel's voices. "I will defend myself if I must." She replied as confidently as she could. "Daniel, if you can hear me-"

"Oh he can hear you, Dia. He can see you. He will watch you die."

"I gave you what you wanted!" She shouted, "Why kill me now?"

"A poor question. If I let you live, you would attempt to kill me would you not? No need to answer." With that, he came at her, Daniel's sword hand still shaking. Every second step he made seemed difficult at first, as though one leg forced its way through treacle. By the time he had forced Dia to back up to the far wall, however, his movement seemed unimpeded and the shaking gave way to a steady hand. Dia raised her weapon. Daniel attacked. She parried and evaded his advances but it was difficult and took all her concentration to avoid his blade's rapid movements. Both Daniel and Kae were notoriously good swordsmen and it showed in the range and speed of Kae's attacks. Eventually, inevitably, she left a small opening which was instantly exploited. Her arm was sliced deeply but she continued her defence, knowing she could not win. Even if she could strike Daniel down mentally, she was physically unable; although he was not in a defensive stance, he had not yet left a single opening for her blade to find its aim.

But a peculiar thing happened then. Daniel stumbled slightly. Then again. Then his sword arm began to shake more violently than it had done previously and his attacks stopped. There was a glimmer of Daniel behind his eyes and the shadow of a smile formed on his lips. The sword fell from his hand but as the metal clanged on the floor there was a sudden flash of anger on his features and he violently reached for Dia's throat. But even as she backed away, Daniel had returned and regained enough control to force his arms to his sides and his legs to bend into a sitting position.

He remained cross-legged, eyes closed and fists clenched for a time. Then he rose steadily, tore a strip from his bloody shirt and began to tie it around Dia's wounded arm. She allowed him to tend her wound but with caution. "Are you... yourself?" She asked tentatively, though she felt she knew the answer. Daniel laughed his own laugh and looked into Dia's bright blue eyes. "I am me." He said, "But Kae could still resurface. I can only hold him off. Be wary. It will however be some time before he will have the strength to take me again." He smiled then and they embraced for a long while. Regardless of the situation, Dia felt safe with Daniel close.

"We should get to the Spire." Dia proclaimed eventually, but Daniel beamed at her, the hint of a smirk appeared at the edge of his smile and he said, "I may be able to master the control over the Spire as Kae has. I've been contemplating the idea for some time now but thought it impossible. Kae proved me wrong and just now I caught a glimpse of his mind, the very glimpse I had hoped for. The Spire is within him; in and around his consciousness. He is both the master of it and slave to it.

"It will be dangerous but we have to try and tame the Spire as he has if we are to have any hope of stopping him now. For I also caught sight of a terrible thing in the Lord's mind. There is something he seeks. What the object is I do not know, only that it will act as a lens for his powers, focusing them to devastating effect. Kae wants that object more than anything. We cannot let him find it."

Dia was taking in the information as quickly as she was able. She knew she would follow him to hell and back and had done in the past, but this seemed different. The extraordinary power would help their cause, there was no doubt about that, but she had never sought after such. In truth, she did not want it. On the other hand, she could not fight Lord Kae and be victorious, powerless as she was to the feats of which he was capable.

It was as simple as Daniel had said, they had to try.
CHAPTER 10

Falling

Dia lead Daniel to the Spire. Her wound gave her some grief but she was determined not to show it as they climbed a final staircase which opened out into a huge, cathedral-like space. The Spire twinkled at the far end. "You ready?" Daniel asked with excitement in his voice. "I doubt there will be any going back once we begin the process."

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied, but Daniel noticed the look on her face.

"You don't want the power?"

"I want a chance to defeat Kae... But I have never sought after power. You know that. Regardless, I am prepared. I will do whatever is necessary." She looked back at Daniel with fiery determination in her eyes and he returned the gaze with soothing confidence.

They both approached the Spire side by side, passing smooth white objects on small plinths. Dia had no idea of their purpose, but the air surrounding them was icy cold so she moved closer to Daniel, appreciating his warmth.

Daniel walked ahead and approached the Spire first, touching it the moment he was close enough. Dia followed suit and felt the familiar feeling of heat flowing through her body, but she also felt Daniel's heat too as if already he had an affinity with the Spire. He looked at her, smiling. Then, without warning, the Fortress, everything in it, everything outside it; the entire world faded into darkness. They were in 'The Middle'.

"That was step one." Said Daniel then, still grinning but staring beyond Dia into the black. "We will have to fall for the following steps. I have only an idea of how to tame it... Reach out to it with your mind. Concentrate on its energy not its physical image while keeping hold of its physical and metaphorical presence in your psyche. Allow it to have parts of your consciousness but take the Spire into the space left behind.

"If we succeed we should be able to transport to a location of our choosing. Shall we say your palace?"

Dia looked concerned. Everything she had been taught lead her to believe that if she was to let go of the Spire, she would fall forever into nothingness. The idea terrified her and the fear showed on her beautiful face. Daniel placed his hand on her back. "I know we can do this." He said calmly. "I'm certain it's possible."

"OK." Came Dia's answer finally. "We will meet at my palace. If I don't succeed, will you care for Kant?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

Daniel fell away from her and in less than a couple of seconds he had been engulfed by the blackness. Dia had to fight her urges to keep hold of the Spire but, after a short mental battle, she overcame them and she too plummeted into the dark.

It took what felt like several minutes before she felt as accustomed as she could be to the feeling of free fall at terminal velocity. So she reached out to the Spire with her mind. It surprised her to feel its presence almost immediately, but she continued with Daniel's instructions, allowing it to take parts her consciousness and feeling for the energy of the thing with every fibre of her being. It was a strange sensation but, for the time being, it was an easy trial.

A few minutes of the bizarre mental process and Dia felt the Spire 'within' her as Daniel had described and knew she had some control over it. But there was more to gain. She could feel it. She allowed the Spire to take more of her being and had a little more in return but something was different this time. It seemed to take something from Dia without her allowing it. Then it took more. She tried to close off her consciousness to it but even more was taken. She felt herself begin to panic but forced herself not to. The Spire took more still. Summoning all of the mental strength she had, Dia reached out, sought the place within the Spire where it held pieces of her and pulled some back. Her morale lifted with the small victory and she was able to take more and more until her consciousness, her very being felt whole again. Then the link was severed.

Dia became aware she was still falling but knew it did not matter. She now knew that she simply need not fall in this place. How had she not realised that before? Why fall? She placed her hands in front of her, feeling an invisible floor. Her knees found the same solid ground and she stood. It was a little disturbing that the floor was invisible so she made it opaque, as a floor should be. The darkness brightened, the view of infinity was blocked by shimmering, undulating walls and a ceiling of 'V' shapes. Finally, familiar warmth filled the air and Dia had arrived in her palace.

She felt instantly different. She knew the Spire was still within her but where the feeling had been a pleasurable one only seconds ago, it had now made way to something much less desirable. Something corrupt. Running her fingers through her hair she contemplated the power she now possessed. She still did not want it. It made her feel somehow tainted but there was no point in regret now; she needed to find Daniel, and Kant too if he was here.

She began calling out for them, but after some time wandering the halls of Haene, she found only a note from Kant describing the Ghan within the palace walls. They had not harmed him but he had fled all the same, using The Room to transport himself to somewhere he could fix his hand. He did not write a location.

What of Daniel? 'Did he fail...?' She thought fearfully, but she decided that if she had managed to tame the Spire, Daniel would have.

Dia was waiting in the great entrance hall of her palace when Daniel shimmered into existence ahead of her. There was a terrible look of panic on his face which Dia had never before seen. He was very pale and wild-eyed, his mouth slowly opening and closing as if gasping for air. Dia stepped towards him but he held up a shaking hand. She stopped and Daniel spoke in a rasping voice, "Kae... To... Earth..." He choked, made a gargling sound then vanished.

Dia stared, horror-struck at the space for some time before shaking herself into action. She dazedly replenished her supplies, taking a new gun from the cabinet and quickly stuffing some food into a bag which she threw over her shoulder. Finally, she drank from one of her fountains but allowed herself no rest; she was now a match for Lord Kae and wanted nothing more than to see his existence ended.

Closing her eyes, Dia focused hard on individual details of her house. It was much more difficult to alter her surroundings than it had been while in 'The Middle'. Dia presumed this was due to the distance between her and the Spire. Eventually, concentrating on the Spire's power flowing through her, she created her front door. Soon after, the brickwork appeared. Then, her windows and unkempt front garden. She had the gist of it now and the rest of her house, her street and the blue sky faded into existence.

Dia stood at the end of her garden path, staring at her house with strange feelings. She had not thought of her husband or his health. She had forgotten him. He had no longer existed to her, but the harsh reality of the situation forced her to confront her memories.

Saddened by her guilt, she took a deep breath and walked up the path, deciding the most familiar place on Earth to her was as good a place as any to begin her search for Daniel and Kae.

There was a small, coded key-safe around one side of the house from which Dia extracted a key and unlocked the back door. The moment the key had clicked into position she heard movement inside. Her husband? She could not be sure so she proceeded with caution, drawing Silvaera.

The door swung wide, giving Dia a view of her utility room. There was nobody within it. She moved her way into the kitchen where the phone still hung off the hook. She felt a fondness towards her husband as she passed the cupboards' post-it notes but remained alert and continued into the hall and up the staircase.

The familiar smell of congealed blood and rotting flesh met her nostrils. She began to fear the worst as she entered her bedroom but the scene which came into view was even more terrible than her thoughts had imagined.

Her husband's body lay in two halves on the bed. The remains of his face were twisted into a look of fear. The white sheets were heavily stained with his blood and his entrails spilled from his midriff. Judging by the stench, he had been left like this some time ago.

Dia regarded the view with horror, but did not allow herself to mourn his death yet. This was a time for action. Kae would die for this.

A flash of black caught the edge of her vision and she turned to the window in time to catch a bird vanish beyond the edge of the frame. Then she could feel something. Something like the Spire but different somehow. It was a human presence with the Spire within them. 'Kae or Daniel...' She thought and before any suspense could build, a shimmering occurred in the air beside the window. Colours swirled in the space there and, slowly, Lord Kae materialised before her. He was smiling.

"Daniel is dead." He said sharply but Dia knew that Daniel was living; she could feel his connection with the Spire, weak though it was.

"Daniel is not dead." She replied without feeling. "And that was a poor effort for distraction. You know I have the same strength you do. You know I can feel Daniel's life." Dia looked at her husband's mangled remains and turned back to Kae with a fire burning in the pit of her stomach. He would pay for his sick games. She would make him.

She shot at him, Silvaera at her side, the blade's shine, contrasting the bleakness of the scene. Kae would not predict her moves easily. Her mind was focused on the tip of her sword; knowing she would not be able to take Kae down with just a single strike, she prepared herself for quicker movements, to slowly wear him down.

They met. Dia's sword was pushed to the side by Kae's bare hand. This was expected. Dia followed the movement of his body, twisting Silvaera to face backwards and forced it rapidly towards Kae's hip, changing direction slightly before the sword tip touched his flesh. Kae's attempted parry failed and the one inch deep cut caused him to falter very slightly, giving Dia a split second to react. She missed her chance and her next attack was cut down. Then, before she had time to adjust her position, a force hit her square in the face. She felt her nose break, her back hit the window, then she was falling to the garden below.

Winded on the grass, Dia lay, unable to move, watching as Kae dropped down from the upstairs window. She managed to raise her sword arm, Silvaera in hand and focused her waning concentration on blocking any following advances. Kae's boot came down on her knee, shattering it. She cried out with the pain, but used the shock to boost her awareness, allowing her to shift sideways and avoid damage to her other knee cap as Kae brought his foot down again. Dia grabbed at the gun in her skirt loop but Kae kicked at her hand, sending the gun spinning across the garden. She used Kae's swinging leg to unbalance him and just managed to jab her sword between his ribs as he fell. Disregarding her shattered knee, Dia grabbed him and thought of 'The Middle'. She concentrated hard on bringing 'The Middle' to them, surrounding them both in the infinite darkness.

Her mind emptied of the pain in her broken nose and knee. She needed to concentrate hard. What she was about to do would be difficult, if it was possible.

She pictured a room. A room which needed only one feature: To block out Ssus' Ubilis machines. She knew of an element which could stop the passage of all known information, so constructed the place with such. The she felt Kae attempting to probe her mind by use of the Spire but she put up defences and kept him out. He must not figure out what she was doing. Then the Lord slashed Dia's side before she could react and she began to fall, but managed to control herself then turn standing on her uninjured leg and face Kae. She advanced, not attempting to wound him but to drive him into her creation. Their swords met again and again, Dia with the advantage as Kae weakened under his chest wound and soon she had cut into his arm and thigh while sustaining no further injuries herself. She made one final push, slashing Kae's calf with the help of a feinting manoeuvre then, kicking him hard in the stomach she forced him backwards into the room. She followed him in.

The instant Dia stepped into the place, a fear of dying rose inside her and she knew her plan would work. The Ubilis machines would not detect a death in here and therefore the body could not be regenerated. She needed to act quickly.

Although Kae was already greatly weakened, Dia put all her efforts into her next thrust, sending Kae's sword to one side as her own slid to his throat. Silvaera found its aim. The Lord choked and gargled on his own blood but remained standing. Dia withdrew her blade. Kae still stood, looking back at her. Something of understanding flashed in his eyes. He smiled a bloody smile then a sound like a laugh bubbled through his throat. Dia kicked his knee and he fell.

Lord Kae was dead.
CHAPTER 11

Accident and Emergency

Dia had stared for several minutes at the corpse of the Lord before feeling satisfied that he was indeed deceased. A bizarre mix of emotions came over her; relief blended with disbelief. She had ended the life of a terrible man: The general of a God and the cause of so much personal strife. It would be a long time before Dia could truly appreciate that Kae was gone.

She removed herself from her creation and returned to her Earth house where she collected her thoughts, washed the blood from her face and wrapped her damaged knee in tight bandages. She had to find Daniel. He was still weak, she could feel it. She also felt him on Earth, reasonably close if she was not mistaken. 'Daniel?' She attempted to contact his mind. No reply came. She tried a few more times, still without receiving a reply.

It was early morning, the sun was yet to rise over the rooftops across the street and nobody was awake besides Dia it seemed.

She found herself heading towards the end of her street where there was more chance of seeing someone who may have noticed Daniel and Kae when they first arrived. Only a couple of cars passed by. There were no pedestrians.

Dia then turned her efforts towards any place Kae may have considered a good hiding place. He would have wanted somewhere close from which Daniel could not escape. He would have wanted to ensure Daniel remained weak, but alive; he may have needed him as a bargaining chip.

But then again, perhaps Kae had attempted to kill Daniel and failed. Perhaps he was merely incapacitated and could therefore not reply to Dia's thoughts. Perhaps she had arrived on Earth before the Lord had had a chance to finish him off. 'The hospital.' She thought and set off sprinting along the roads leading to the town centre.

She arrived, minutes later, at the main entrance to the A&E wing. Entering the reception she approached the closest official-looking person. It was a nurse, wearing a confused expression as she looked Dia up and down. "Fancy dress." Dia made up, quickly. "Did a black-haired man come here in the last few hours? Wearing white...? His name is Daniel."

"Yes that sounds like the man in ward two. Came in at the start of my shift. Down the hall, through the double doors, take a right and it's the third door on the left."

"Thanks." Dia muttered as she had already begun to walk away. She followed the nurse's instructions and, when she came to the third door on the left pushed it open tentatively, hoping she had not raised her own hopes falsely.

She had not.

Daniel looked peaceful under the white hospital sheets. His face had been cleaned, but several butterfly-stitched wounds covered his face. Some of the cuts were still bleeding slightly, leaving tiny trails of red down his cheeks and neck.

Dia grabbed the chart from the end of his bed and flicked through it. He did not seem to have sustained any life-threatening injuries. She slid into the chair by the bed and delicately took his hand in hers, feeling herself both physically and mentally relax. Daniel was OK. Waves of relief washed over her and soon the adrenaline from moments ago had given way to melatonin, making the desire for sleep irresistible.

When Dia awoke it was to the sound of a voice. It was a nurse asking her to leave the room while she tended to Daniel's various wounds. Dia complied sleepily and returned later with two cups of coffee in case Daniel was awake.

Her eyes met his as she entered the room. He smiled broadly. "About time you showed up." He laughed, wincing slightly at the pain it caused, "So... You managed to tame it then?"

"Yes... Here I got you a coffee." Dia placed the cup on the side table. "But you first. What happened?"

Daniel shrugged. "Kae was there, waiting. He wanted you, but I saw him first. I managed to take half of the Spire's power before I saw him falling towards you in the distance. I cut off the connection and fell after him... Or maybe I flew. I'm not quite sure.

"Eventually, I caught up with him and we fought for what felt like hours until I began to tire. He got me in the back with a dagger then brought me here, to Earth. That's when I attempted to contact you but as I made a connection, Kae seemed to realise what I was doing and used some kind of torture technique on me. It was quite unpleasant and I was forced to break the connection.

"We fought some more but by this time I was losing a lot of blood and I was exhausted. He did not seem to weaken; he just kept coming at me relentlessly. Then suddenly he was distracted by something. Something I felt too. It was you. You were nearby. I tried to keep his attentions for as long as possible but eventually he caught me with a sharp blow to the neck, I blacked out, then awoke here with a familiar hand in mine." He grinned again. Dia beamed back.

"Well my story is much of the same..." Dia went on to explain her final battle with Kae, realising the relief she was now enjoying with every word she spoke. She was happy, almost ecstatic as her emotions whirled about inside her, contrasting against the terrible feelings from before she found Daniel here, in this hospital bed. He was safe. And she was safe too, by his side.

At least for the time being.
CHAPTER 12

A Prelude to War

A green tinged sun lowered in the yellow evening sky on a planet with no name. A herd of grazing, goat-like animals steadily moved their way across a huge open plain of grasses, occasionally stopping to eat or nip at other members of the herd in a playful manner.

Behind the grassland was a forest of golden trees whose leaves sparkled as they danced in the wind.

In stark contrast, towering above the treeline was a sharp-edged, ominously dark mountain. It was an ugly thing; looming monstrously over the scene below.

Near to the highest of the terrific peaks was something like a man; he was unlike any standard for a human being. He stood with legs which bent outwards at his thighs then inwards again at his heels. His head was set upon an unusually long neck and his shoulders were low down by his sides. His face, though relatively normal in general appearance, hosted no expression or emotion upon it.

The man's eyes closed and the world suddenly altered around him. Opening his eyes again he stood amidst thousands of humanoid creatures. All of which had long brown hair growing all over their bodies; some had plaited this in various places creating a weird, bedraggled effect. The man looked over them and spoke in a voice which boomed deeply over the enormous crowd.

"Standing before you is Ssus. I am Deus. I am God. Follow me or forfeit your life. Follow me to war."

There was a terrifying, growling cheer from the creatures which shook the earth. Ssus looked over them without even a flicker of feeling crossing his face. Then his eyes closed and he was gone.

