The slow, rolling undulation of the ship and the thick stench of unwashed bodies was enough to send a weak stomach into spasms. But the slaves being transported to Ellis island for morning delivery were not weak... of stomach or anything else. This was a particularly healthy bunch, even by Ellis standards... which were quite a bit higher than those of any other slave-owner. This shipment was all women, adult females for breeding and household chores, and whatever other light duties Ellis assigned.

Normas figured that most of them wouldn't make it past the breeding pens, unless they were headed for Ellis' bedchamber. Not that he actually KNEW anything about what Ellis did on his island when the work was done... but still, there were stories. Ellis was always very particular about the slaves he purchased. Only the best of the best. The healthiest, strongest, fastest... and it was quite obvious to Normas what superior traits Ellis had selected THESE slaves for.

"Look at the thighs on this one, eh?" Normas pointed at one of the fifteen slaves in the pen. His stubby finger, short one knuckle due to an accident years ago... wiggled in the general direction of the slave's nether regions.

"I'd keep my eyes moving if I was you," said Calloway, one of the two other men in the cargo bay. Calloway sat on a chair beside the stairs, with a loaded crossbow resting in his lap. "Unless you wanted to be reported."

"Go ahead," said Normas. "I married the captain's daughter... YOU can make all the reports you want. I'll be running this ship long after you've been tossed overboard."

"Not if you don't keep your eyes on those slaves, you won't."

"Gladly," Normas chuckled, turning back to the smorgasbord of caged female flesh. Calloway was in charge of the squad of guards that had accompanied the raw slaves. There were five guards... two in this hold and three in the other. This sixth guard couldn't make it. Not all slaves had such security, but after the recent troubles, the captain didn't want to take any chances. Like all the other guards, Calloway was a passenger... a high-ranking and heavily armed passenger, but a passenger nonetheless. Normas was the ship's first mate. He didn't like passengers that weren't slaves... and he liked it even less when the captain sent him to the cargo hold to fill in for the missing guard... placing him temporarily under Calloway's command.

Still, with this much lovely female flesh to oogle, Normas was quite
willing... and eager... to set aside his animosity and follow orders:

Keep his eyes on the slaves.

Yep. That was exactly what he said... keep his eyes on those lovely-

"The idea," Calloway barked. "Is for you to watch ALL of them, not stand there and stare at ONE."

"I'm not staring," Normas spat as he kept walking... pacing back and forth before the cage like a patron at a zoo. "I'm just being.... attentive. Yeah, that's it."

"Hmph." Calloway grunted and went back to his duty. His iron gaze swept
slowly back and forth over the pen, seeing every movement but not lingering on any one slave unless they were doing something suspicious. Not that they COULD... women or not, the captain had ordered the cargo's hands and feet bound in chains thick enough to hold a rampaging gorilla. The chains clinked noisily with every movement they made, and were heavy enough that Ellis would no doubt complain about the chaffed wrists and bruised ankles. But that was between Ellis and the captain. Normas wanted no part of that, but he did see several things he DID want a part of...

"Now this one," he said, pointing out another slave. She was tall and muscular, wearing rags that were barely enough to conceal the ampleness of her bosoms. "THIS one I ought to keep for myself. I wonder how much Ellis wants for her?"

"Buy a slave off of Ellis?" said Pincher, the other guard. "You can't afford it... captain's son-in-law or not. Hell, I've seen Ellis pay-"

"Enough chatter," Calloway barked. Pincher shut up so quickly it was as if Calloway had direct control over his vocal cords.

"Ehhh, you're probably right." said Normas. "But I can dream..."

And dream he did. His imagination filled with such lusty debauchery... featuring slaves and white women alike... that he was literally drooling before he realized that he'd been staring at the same slave for a solid minute. Undaunted and unembarrassed, Normas wiped his face with the back of his hand, glanced quickly at the other slaves, and then went right back to staring at the beauty in the back of the cell... the tall one with the ill-fitting rags and the oh-so-lovely shape.

The slave must have sensed his lust.... but she could do nothing about it. With chained hands, she couldn't even adjust her rags. All she could do was look away and move a half-step the right to hide behind another slave.

"Yeah, I can dream," Normas mumbled.

So could Zade.

Right now, she was dreaming about rushing the front of the cage, snatching that drooling bastard by the arm and yanking him face-first into the bars hard enough to crack his skull, but NOT enough to break his neck. No, a broken neck would be far to easy.

She could do it, too.

Normas was too close to the cage. He thought he was safe, but he wasn't.... he was juuuuuust close enough to reach...

Of course, there were the chains and the men with the crossbows to contend with, but they weren't nearly the deterrent that they THOUGHT they were. The chains weren't a problem. The guards were even less so. All she had to do...

But making her move now would jeopardize the plan.

It wasn't much of a plan, but it would get her a lot further than the
alternative: a long swim, followed by a long climb, followed by a long fight.

...Well, the FIGHT was going to happen anyway...

Zade had come across the lone horseman not far from the slaver's camp. The guard was late reporting for escort duty... he was going to oversee a shipment of fresh slaves for Ellis. Zade found out the essential details, killed him.... not TOO quickly....and hurried for the docks. The ship was easy to find, and the security was light. The guards were still waiting for the one Zade had killed, and they arrived a half-hour late... AFTER Zade has stashed her equipment, snuck on board the ship, and slipped into a cell with the slaves. The slave who's place she took was probably dead... Zade didn't stick around to see if the woman could swim. When the guards arrived, they conducted a routine search of the ship and a visual inspection of the cargo. Zade passed that inspection. Her height and musculature drew some attention, but apparently the guards and slavers had seen such women before. She got only a few more seconds of attention than the other women.

Then came the chains.

Zade remained calm as they asked each slave to move forward and accept the manacles that would bind them for the remainder of the trip. That was a test of willpower for her. It wasn't the chains that bothered her, it was the fact that the slavers would have to TOUCH her to put them on. They would have to put their hands on her, and she would have to stand there with her head down while their filthy skin rubbed against hers. She did it. She didn't make a sound or a motion as they chained her up like a slave... or even when the pig named Normas had reached around to grab a handful of her buttocks.

That had almost given her away.

But it didn't, and she entered the cage confident that her disguise would hold long enough to reach Ellis' island.

After that... when the disguise was no longer necessary...

Zade smiled at the thought of what would happen then.

"See!" Normas said, pointing at her. "She smiled at me! She knows what I want, eh..." Normas grabbed his own crotch and hefted it as if lifting a heavy load. "She knows what's good for her!"

The irony of it almost made Zade laugh out loud. She actually WAS thinking about Normas's crotch.... but not quite in the way he figured.

"Shut up, Normas," said Calloway. "And step away from that cage; you're too close."

"Yeah, yeah," Normas stepped back. "Not close enough is more like it..."

"ISLE HO!" came a gruff shout from above-deck. "ALL HANDS TO STATIONS!"

"That's me," said Normas. He trotted for the stairs. "Pleasure chattin' with you fellas."

Calloway growled as Normas vanished up the stairs. Zade was sorry to see him go. She looked down at the floor, and waited... feeling the ship change directions as it sailed toward port.

---

Master Sergeant Batt Sief watched the bursts of light flash off the dark skin of the guardsman's forehead from the frosted glass at the center of the heliograph just above the guardsman's head. The rear end of the heliograph automatically sent a strengthened version of the flashes on to central dispatch at the isle's center. "What's the news from the mainland?" He asked as the receiver jotted down word after word. "Add ten more to the body count from the rain of bone, and still no sign of the warrior slave woman, a voice at his side said before the reader could speak. The sunlight that glinted off sergeant Zachorion Nightrider's silver collar into his eyes made Master Sergeant Sief growl even louder than he might have as he snapped his head to the side to glare at his trainee, "I was asking the guardsman, Starry Knight."

Master sergeant Sief hated young hotshots, especially young hotshots who technically outranked him. A silver collar at age twenty? It wasn't even fair. Sief had worked long and hard just for the bronze collar he was wearing. It had not been so long ago that he had been the young hotshot and now he could already see the young bucks outdoing every attainment he and his generation had ever achieved. At twenty-four Sief was still young, but lately he had started to feel so damned old. Sief grimaced, maybe he was still smarting from the "friendly" bout he had challenged sergeant and soon to be lieutenant Nightrider to a few days ago. He had four years of training on the boy. He should have dusted him like he was furniture. Instead, Nightrider had mopped the floor with him. The boy was stronger, faster, better looking and one hell of a lot smarter than Sief had ever been, but concerning Nightrider, Seif was in deep and steadfast denial.

The veiled insult he was about to hurl at Nightrider died on his lips as a guardsman on watch duty sounded his horn heralding the arrival of a boat. "That'll be the shipment of females we are expecting," Sief
growled. Seif strode to the tripod set between the crenellations of the
stout stone guard tower atop of which he and the others stood. He peered into the spyglass and looked out over the water from where the tower stood on the edge of the cliff. One thing was certain, Master Ellis knew his instrument makers. Seif could pick out a pimple on Captain Rhinestail's face. The shipment had arrived apparently without any mishap. Between the tests Ellis sent to confirm Nightrider's readiness for promotion and the macabre happenings reported by the guardsmen and investigators based at the estate house on the mainland, Sief was a bit uneasy of late.

He watched the guardsmen at the base of the cliff far below help the ship's crew moor the boat against the floating dock and platform, and then the cargo started coming over. The boxes of supplies, accompanied by the ship's captain, a couple of mates, and a small contigent of the captain's guards... mercenaries was more like it... crowded onto the elevator. As soon as the dock sergeant blew the code on his horn the elevator rose.

The slaves were then brought on deck, herded onto the dock, ordered to strip naked, and then ordered to wash thoroughly with Alchemist Jallan's herbal delousing soap. The dock guards helped any who were not thorough enough using long handled brushes soaked with soap. The green slaves were hosed down with fresh water from a tank on the docks and then loaded into the room-sized cage of bars that was the elevator. They would drip dry in the sea breeze on the way up.

---

"I hate this thing," Normas groaned, grabbing the edge of the barrel
beside him. When the caged platform... 'elevator' is what it was called... started moving, Normas's stomach churned noisily, even though the contraption's motion was more smooth than that of the ship he'd just gotten off of. The ship wasn't rising a hundred feet in the air, though, which, to Normas, made all the difference in the world. Normas didn't like heights...

...and he didn't really care for slaves with weapons either. He eyed the Ellis guards with unveiled suspicion. They were all slaves. Ellis may be one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom, but as far as Normas was concerned he was a damned fool who had built up a mountain of trouble just waiting to fall over and bury him. Slaves for guards!? And not just guards, but ARMED guards. What was this man THINKING? Normas didn't know much (nothing at all, really) about magic, alchemy, or whatever training methods Ellis used here, but he doubted that any of it was enough to keep HIM on this island any longer than absolutely necessary. The thought of actually living here made Normas shudder, and he knew that the captain felt the same way.

"Steady, lad," Captain Rhinestail growled softly. The captain, Normas' father-in-law, was both younger and harder than he looked. Life on the big slave routes had added a few years and a few pounds of muscle to the old sailor's slim frame. Not to mention scars, of which Rhinestail had quite a few. The captain had only three fingers on his left hand, and didn't have a right hand at all. An iron hook jutted dangerously from the stump of his right wrist. He waved that hook in front of Normas' face.

"Don't embarrass me like you did the last time," he warned.

The 'last time,' Normas had suffered a fit of explosive nausea that had launched his lunch all over the platform... and Captain Rhinestail... and a few of the Ellis guards as well. He'd made such a mess that nearly everyone had to hose down like slaves once they'd reached the top. For a man who had lived almost his entire life on a ship... Captain Rhinestail didn't really like water all that much.

"Now you can't go blamin' me for that," Normas whined. "It was that damned food they served at the-"

The captain's hook pressed lightly against Normas's lips, holding them shut

"-mph?"

"Swallow it," said Rhinestail.

"mYeth thir," Normas mumbled past the hook.

---

With the surreptitious application of nudges, pushes and elbows, Zade had made her way to the exact center of the group of slaves. From there, she could watch was going on without being too suspicious. There was a lot to see.

The ship had docked on a large floating platform at the base of the island. Calloway had removed the ankle-chains and his guards ushered the slaves out onto the platform, where they were counted twice and sprayed with water. One of the guards tossed a few pieces of course, foul smelling soap into the crowd of slaves. Actually, the soap did not smell foul... but it did smell familiar, and that familiarity made it reek. It took her all the way back to her childhood. The soap was the special concoction that the overseers used on them... forcibly... whenever there was an outbreak of lice, ringworm, or other parasites. It's presence here meant that Jallan was still working for the Ellis clan. She hoped he was here on the island; she would enjoy killing him.

Under Normas's lustily watchful gaze, Zade stripped off her rags and washed vigorously with the soap. The women who didn't do a good enough job cleaning themselves were being scrubbed with brushes. Zade couldn't afford that kind of attention, so she made a big show of lathering and rinsing off in the water.

While the slaves bathed, the ship's crew had loaded the ship's other cargo... barrels of meal, wheat, spices, and other dry goods into another cage... this one secured to a scaffolding that ran up the vertical face of a cliff.

"Quit Dawlin!" the captain shouted at Normas. Normas joined the captain and a few Ellis guards in the cage. One of the guards blew a horn, and the platform rose up to the top of the cliff. It returned a few minutes later with only the Ellis guards inside.

Zade was surprised to see that Ellis's guards were slaves. Their ancestry and the color of their skin made no difference to her, but it was still odd. She considered for a moment that perhaps they weren't slaves at all... maybe something else? More mercenaries? Soldiers? They certainly had the manner and equipment. They carried a variety of weapons... some ranged, some for close-quarters fighting. They wore light-weight well constructed armor that made sense for the warm climate... not the ridiculous full-body plate that she'd encountered earlier. All were taller and more muscular than an average man... though none were hulking or huge. They looked like fighters, except that there wasn't a single ugly face among them. Not one.

The guards carried on their duties with maximum efficiency. They counted and secured the slaves, and checked the ropes on the platform without a single wasted word or motion. They had done this before. Many times before. But, unlike ordinary civilians, these men still retained the importance of their tasks. Their work hadn't devolved into a mindless routine... they were playing rapt attention to everyone and everything around them at all times.

Soldiers.

But, no.... The strange collars they wore were not a functional part of their armor. The variations in color from one collar to another may have been some kind of rank insignia, but the fact that they were COLLARS and not ribbons or patches marked the men wearing them as property. Property of Nathaniel Ellis.

Well... some of Ellis's property was about to get broken.

When all was ready, the horn sounded again.

Packed with slaves, guards, and mercenaries, the cage started up. It began with a sudden jerk that rattled the manacles on the slaves, but the motion quickly settled into a long, slow, smooth ascent.

Zade's perspective of her surroundings changed as she rose. Behind her was the sheer rock of the island. In front, the sea stretched outward to the dim strip of land barely visible in the distance. There was some kind of tower on the shore, and every few seconds a light flashed. Magic? Lighthouse? No... there was a pattern to the flashing; it was a signal lamp of some kind.

Zade's opinion of Ellis' security crept upward.

They were nearing the top now. Almost time. Zade glanced at the elevator's construction, looking suitably awed while she fingered the fresh scar running down the side of her hand.

She stopped the smile before it reached her lips, and instead maintained the indifference... and slight fear... displayed by the women around her. Some of the women were looking at the guards as well, but Zade assumed it was more in awe at the armed slaves than any attempt to plan an escape.

The platform slowed and stopped. Zade looked out at the collection of guards awaiting them at the top.

The isle was actually a small mountain with another, smaller mountain ridge rising from its center. A wide path lead from the cliff toward the center of the isle. In the distance, Zade saw what might be a town stretched out in front of the central mountain peak.

She'd try there first.


---


Seif motioned to Nightrider, "Inspection time." The two men went down through the guard tower, picking up a small crate of steel slave collars as they did so. The heavy door out was opened for them and then closed behind them with a crackling sound as the wards kicked in. The two men went down the stairs and out to the stone deck that cantilevered over the cliff. Momentarily the metal cage that was the elevator would be appearing through the square aperture following the hawser to the hoist. The barrels of supplies had already arrived and had been moved aside. Captain Rhinestail flanked by two burly guards from the ship, was waiting with the cargo manifest wearing his usual false smile.

Sief grinned at Nightrider and whispered in his ear as they approached, "Rhinestail hates dealing with slaves in charge, especially when he compromises the cargo and we have to lower his prices for him. Judging from the weight of those chains they are wearing, I'd say we might have cause for a little discount for wrist damage." Nightrider nodded, smiling that the master sergeant, in spite of their differences, treated Nightrider as a House Ellis brother in the face of an outsider.

Rhinestail, smiled at the two black officers. "Idiot Ellis," he thought to himself; "how can he give weapons to slaves, let alone armor?" The armor always gave him pause. The Ellis guardsmen wore form-fitting steel breastplates that covered the upper halves of their muscular chests. Down the center of the breastplate between the muscles of the breast there was a narrow raised area from top to bottom to allow ventilation under the plate. Straddling the raised area, and color-etched right across the whole center of the breastplate was the simple but prominently displayed crest of house Ellis. The rest of the armor was mostly chain mail, and there was no doubt it was worth plenty.

The three Ellis guardsmen on duty at the elevator stood at attention as the sergeants arrived to inspect the cargo. "Welcome to Isle Ellis Captain Rhinestail," sergeant Seif smiled.

"Thank you sergeant," Rhinestail said civilly.

"Let us get started. Sergeant Nightrider will check your listing of the supplies against our purchase order. Captain Rhinestail handed the paperwork to the Nightrider, never looking him in the eye. Nightrider glanced through the lists. It looks like you got everything."

"Yes it should all be there."

"Here comes the elevator," Seif observed.

"Sergeant Nightrider, hand me the lists for the slaves."

Nightrider looked at the slave list as he strode over to Seif and handed it and the appropriate purchase order over to him. Seif took the list and rumbled, "Take Braddok and pop open those barrels to make sure the supplies are all there."

"Yes sir," Nightrider replied.

The elevator full of slaves rose through the fenced square aperture. A guardsman opened the gate and then unlocked and raised the elevator door. Sergeant Seif opened the crate of steel collars he had under his arm and handed eight to one of the guardsmen and seven to the other before setting the box down to look at the paperwork. Seif cleared his throat and spoke to the slaves.

"Welcome to Isle Ellis, ladies. No slave comes here, even for a visit, unless she has superior qualities. You do, and can all be proud of that. The security here and most everything else is handled by Ellis slaves. You will see very few whites on the Island. If you need to address a guardsman like myself, you should call him 'guardsman, officer or Sir.'"

"We do not normally chain slaves on Isle Ellis. There is really nowhere to run here. A dive from the island's cliffs is always deadly. The guardsmen will ask your name and put an Ellis collar on you while I inspect, and Captain Rhinestail's men will be removing your chains once you are properly collared. Collars serve as identification and as a mark of rank on Isle Ellis. Farm laborers wear iron collars and the ranks go up from there to steel, copper, bronze, brass, silver, electrum and gold. Master Ellis himself wears a golden collar.

As each name was given, Sergeant Seif, checked his paperwork and looked at the slave to insure she possessed the characteristics noted on the purchase order and cargo manifest.

---

The elevator cage emptied out onto a stone deck overhanging the cliff. The slaves got out and, under Calloway's directions, formed a line, standing almost shoulder to shoulder with hands clasped behind them. One of Calloway's mercenaries stood at either end of the line. One had a sword, the other had a loaded crossbow. The captain and three of Ellis's guards had joined them while the ship's mercenaries and the rest of the Ellis guards fanned out in front of the deck.

The supplies that come up earlier had already been moved out of the way. The barrels sat in a cluster to the right, just outside the semicircle of guards. Normas was lording over them, as if protecting them.... when what he was REALLY doing was getting the best view of the still-naked slaves. Zade was eyeing the barrels, judging the distance between her and them, when one of the Ellis guards gave the 'welcome to slavery' speech.

"Greta!" the guard called the first name suddenly, almost taking Zade by surprise. She wasn't ready yet... and she had no idea of name of the slave who's place she'd taken. She didn't think she'd need to know it, as usually, slave masters took only a cursory interest in the names of their property. Fortunately, the woman she'd thrown overboard was named something other than 'Greta.'

A woman near the middle of the line stepped out, and another guard inspected her.

Zade took another look at the guards. None of them were looking directly at her, and even if they were, they wouldn't see what she was doing. Her hands were clasped behind her, and there was nothing back there except the deck's stone railing. No one saw when she dug the fingernails of one hand into the meat of the other, and tore open the wound she'd made before getting on the ship. No one shouted when she calmly slid the lock picks out of her flesh and slid them with equal calm into the lock on the manacles-

"Hatha!" the inspection was done, and the guard in charge called the next name. There was a pause, during which Zade's heart pounded. Was HER name 'Hatha'?

"HATHA!" the guard repeated.

Uh-oh.

Zade twirled the pick in the lock... searching for the mechanism...

"Yes, sir," a slave stepped forward with head bowed in supplication. She was trembling.

"Awww, she's scared!" Normas mocked, earning him a foul look from captain Rhinestail.

The inspection began as Zade's manacle resisted her efforts to pick it. The inner workings were unusually complex... and she was wasting time. She hadn't planned on standing here naked for ten minutes trying to pick a damned lock-

"Chera..."

A third slave stepped forward immediately.

"Oooo-WEE!" Normas squealed. "Look at the-"

"HUSH!" Calloway snapped.

The mercenary's shout masked the soft, but audible 'click' of the manacle on Zade's left wrist. Zade caught the heavy cuff before it fell. One end of it was still clamped to her other wrist, but she didn't want to remove it just yet. Now for a quick look at the guards...

The closest guard to her was two slaves over, at the end of the line. He had a crossbow loaded and waiting, and he was watching the slave being inspected. Not oogling... just watching. The guard at the other end had his sword in its scabbard with his hand resting on the pommel. He was watching the other slaves. Calloway and the other two mercenaries were watching the Ellis guards. Apparently, the idea of slaves with weapons didn't sit well with them. The guards were either watching the women or watching the mercenaries.... apparently the idea of armed mercenaries on the island didn't sit well with them. At any given moment, each slave was in direct line of sight of at least two guards, and well within the everyone's peripheral vision at all times. The element of surprise would be expended very, very quickly-

"Fen!" the next name was called. Zade waited. Now ALL eyes were on the slaves... Zade hoped her name wasn't 'Fen'-

"Yes," a tall... taller than Zade, but much thinner... woman stepped forward. The attention of the guards shifted to her for an instant-

Without making a sound, Zade stepped out of line and swung the heavy manacle at the closest guard. The hunk of metal struck the side of his head with a satisfying -crunch-. Before the cry/grunt of pain was fully out of the man's throat, Zade had snatched his loaded crossbow. She didn't turn and fire... she RAN while firing, two motions at once.

Between her and the supply barrels were two of Ellis's guards, Captain Rhinestail, and the idiot Normas.

Zade's bolt pierced the chain mail of one of the slave-guards. He had a crossbow as well, and he had managed to get off a shot by the time her shot ruptured his stomach. His bolt caught Zade in the upper shoulder, missing her neck by two inches.

Zade ignored it and kept running, tossing the now-useless crossbow aside-

"HEY! Where do you think YOU'RE going!" the captain spat as he leapt into her path... just as she had planned. With him this close to her, the other archers would have to take more care in aiming... if they even dared fire at all. It would buy her the fraction of a second she needed-

What followed was like a carefully choreographed dance... which is exactly what it was.

When the Captain grabbed for her, she ducked out of his reach and swung at him with a wild, angry punch. The captain may have been old, but he had a sailor's reflexes. He easily avoided her swing while bringing his deadly hook around toward the back of her head-

Zade caught the cuff of the hook with one hand and drove the heel of her other hand into his elbow, snapping the joint with gleeful ease.

CRACK!

"AAAAARRRGG!"

Then she snatched the hook off of the captain's arm and kept right on running for the barrels, leaving the screaming, cursing captain behind. Now armed with a shackle AND a hook, she bore down on the next obstacle-

Braddok cursed his luck. The sergeant's orders to use venom meant he was not to kill the slave. He would have to use his sword for defense
only. His leg darted out in an effort to sweep the woman off her feet.

As he blew the horn he held in his left hand, Nightrider drew a dart with the other. He realized the slave woman was counting on her proximity to the Captain to dissuade missile attacks, but only a man who thought there was a possibility that he would miss would pause. At this range Nightrider never missed. He loosed the dart at the woman's thigh and immediately drew another. A glance told him archers on the tower were already searching for a clear shot but there were too many people too close together. Braddok, the only other Ellis guardsman near the barrels had taken a bolt to the belly, and was drawing steel to confront the enemy.

Zade didn't have time to fight. With so many armed men closing in on her, stopping to clash with just one of them would end her mission before it had even begun. Seeing the guard attempt a leg sweep, Zade drew back with her hook and prepared to rip open the guard's sword arm. At the first sign of the guard's reaction-

-she tripped. The guard's foot caught her across the ankle, and she went down... just as she had planned to do all along. Quickly shifting her balance, Zade turned the fall into a forward roll-

-and felt a sharp pain in her upper thigh as some sort of missile tore into her flesh. It was too small to be a bolt or an arrow. They were using darts! Probably poisoned...

Having no choice but to ignore it, Zade shot past the guard and leapt to her feet behind him... already sprinting away.

Braddok spun, jumped and swung the flat of his blade at the side of the fleeing slave's head from behind. By the way she had gone down, Braddock had realized his sweep was not going to slow her even for a
second. Obviously she had training. He was much too competent a guardsman to attempt to run her through from the back after the order had been given to use venom, instead he had gone for a non-lethal stunning blow to the head.

DAMMIT! Zade swore as the blade caught her across the back of her head. The guard was faster than she'd expected... these guys were GOOD. Zade pitched forward a half-step, then righted herself and kept going, hissing off the fading pain from the blow. He'd opened up a cut along her scalp, and blood was oozing its way down toward her neck. He was going to pay for that...

Zade was eight steps away from the supplies when another dart hit her in the left shoulder.... and then something larger hit right next to it. One of those damned mercenaries had hit her with an arrow! The impact launched Zade forward. She stumbled two steps, then suddenly spun to her right. Another dart zipped past her ear. An ominous numbness was already beginning to radiate from the first dart-wound in her leg; she didn't want to test the limits of how much poison her lycanthropy could counteract.

Ahead, Normas was tugging on his pants while looking at her with wild,
panic-stricken eyes.

"I'm CAUGHT!" Normas squealed. His pants had snagged on a nail in one of the barrels. She closed on him in three steps. The sailor reached for the knife hanging from his belt. He yanked it from its sheath and promptly dropped it. Before it even hit the ground, Zade was roaring past him.

"YAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Normas screamed... knowing in his heart that he was a dead man. When Zade didn't plow into him or snap his neck with a punch, the sailor's scream faded into a sigh of relief-

-that lasted not quite half a second. That was when the sharp point of Captain Rhinestail's HOOK caught him in the groin, slicing painfully into-... someplace....-and proceeding to tear him open from that place to some OTHER place before finally yanking free of his flesh, carrying a few choice bits along with it.

If it were possible for human eyes to pop out of their sockets from shear pain, then Normas's would have done so at that moment.

Screaming so loudly that he could not even hear himself, Normas dropped to his knees and executed a long... slow... dramatic collapse to the ground.

Meanwhile, Zade was reaching for the barrels that Normas had been 'guarding.' Her eyes scanned them for the one with the rusty nail
protruding from the side... the same one that Normas had been stuck too. She swung her fist in a downward arc. Her fist hit the barrel... the circular top flipped upward. Zade grabbed it in one hand and raised it in front of her chest-

-thwock-

An arrow struck dead-center, a perfect bullseye. With a snap of the wrist, Zade flung the wooden disk at the nearest archer as a distraction while her other hand plunged into the wheat grain that the barrel contained. Her fingers quickly found the unmistakable touch of metal hidden among the grain. She yanked her bracers out and dove behind the barrels, placing them between her and about half of the guards.

Zade's hands danced across the symbols embossed in the hard metal-

POP!

A large bundle wrapped in black leather suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The bundle was her pack. The leather was her clothing.

Wrong bracer.

Braddok was just about to club the woman again when Normas fell into his path, and hit the bolt in Braddok's belly with his elbow. Aiiii! Braddock roared. The urge to resist doubling over completely was almost
overpowering. He knew he had just lost himself a few precious
seconds. The woman had been able to dig something out of the idiot
sailor's barrel and dive behind the cover on the opposite side of the group of barrels while he had been fighting the pain. He gave Normas a kick and jumped up on the barrels. One more jump and he would be on her. His muscular legs flexed and Braddok flew towards the slave woman.

Zade touched the other bracer-

POP!

Zade's augmented crossbow blinked into existence. It was already loaded. She dropped her pack and caught the bow. Still kneeling behind the barrels, she pivoted toward the guard coming up behind her while letting her pack and clothing fall to the ground.

-when her pack hit the dirt, it rolled free of the leather wrap and
promptly fell open. A small wooden object rolled out... at first it
seemed to have merely been jostled loose, but when it kept rolling... and rolling... it became obvious that it was moving under its own power. Zade saw none of this-

CHOOM!

Her crossbow... an esoteric mix of rare metals, magic, and engineering... launched a solid metal bolt at Braddock, catching him in mid-leap. The bow would have thrown the titanium bolt through a brick wall with ease. The impact transferred some of the bolt's awesome momentum to Braddock... who's body was simply not built to withstand the resulting shockwave. The guard came apart in the air; his limbs and weapons scattered to various points of the compass while his torso transformed into a thick red splatter flying back into the eyes of the other archers.

Meanwhile, the object from Zade's pack came to an abrupt halt directly
between Zade and the remaining guards. Finally motionless, it now became recognizable as the wooden totem doll that N'Doki had given her. But it didn't remain motionless for long.

With the thunderous crackle of a thousand trees falling at once, the totem exploded... not in a burst of force or heat... but of ITSELF. The tiny object unfolded , doubling its size... doubling again... and again... until it stood as a monstrous wooden beast over nine feet tall. It was shaped like some gross caricature of a man carved out of a hard, dark wood that glistened with a sinister greenish sheen. It was a warrior, complete with wooden loincloth and spear. As its arms and chest continued to swell, the totem stretched out its oversized, gorilla-like arms and released the most horrible roar ever produced:

Absolute Silence.

Its mouth... a shallow empty hole devoid of teeth or tongue... stretched wide as its nearly featureless face contorted into a howl of rage. But no sound emerged save for the groaning and crackling of the wood.

Then, with no further warning, the totem raised its spear and thrust it at the closest human... Calloway. The mercenary sidestepped the spear but failed to see the thing's offhand coming down from above him. He stepped right into the blow-Splop! The man's helmet, and his head within it was crushed like a pumpkin.

Zade gasped at the sight... and then ran. She snatched up her pack and,
still naked, streaked across the grass toward the nearest grove of trees. The creature was the necromancer N'Doki's doing, and she didn't want to see how Ellis's guards fared against dark slave magic. Instead, she would put however many moments of distraction it bought her to good use...

It wasn't easy to blow a horn call and sprint at the same time, but as the golem grew Nightrider did it. His first reaction would have been to sprint after the warrior woman, but the golem was major magic and sergeant Nightrider knew his procedures. Master sergeant Sief had already started giving orders to the guardsmen around him by the time the Golem was the size of a man. He had pointed Nightrider to the slaves and the tower.

"Slave women to cover, come!" Nightrider snapped as he took one of the
collared, unchained women by the hand and grabbed the upper arm of the
first slave in the line of the as yet still chained slaves. "Ready with
the door!" Nightrider yelled to the men on the guard tower. It was
surprising how fast the women followed him once they had realized the golem was growing huge and only a few barrels of supplies and guardsmen separated it from them.

"Hey wait a minute, I'm wounded, and you're not going anywhere with those slaves 'till ye pay for 'em," Captain Rhinestail's bellowed.

Nightrider did not even slow down, "With all due respect Captain, we've
already lost a man and we won't be paying you a single copper for any slave that's killed by the menace you brought. Come into tower if you like, we've got a medic that can see to that arm."

"All right, Simms, with me. The rest of you fell that hunk o' timber."

"Wolf pack strategy, men" Seif roared. "Let's draw it north clear of the supplies, then surround and isolate! Sailors, join in if you're man enough or flee to the South side of the tower if you're not. Lets see what this thing is made of." Seif and the three remaining Ellis guards sprinted around the barrels of supplies and drew the monster to the north, careful to stay a few steps out of its reach. Their manhood questioned, most of the ship's mercenaries joined the fray as well. That left Seif with three Ellis guardsmen, and three mercenaries who might or might not follow his orders.

Once the monster was clear of the supplies by about twenty yards, and the slaves were safely in the tower, Seif ordered the attack, "This thing looks to be dense, oiled wood. Dismembering it won't be easy."

The golem thrust its spear at one of the mercenaries who parried, but the creature was so strong that the blow was not knocked aside. Splinters rained off the spear where the mercenary's sword carved it. One stuck in the man's nose. The flesh around it began to darken. The golem's spear opened a gash in the mercenary's leather armor It was only a flesh wound, but the man screamed as if he had been hit by a fire brand. "I'm poisoned!" The guard screamed. A gangrenous stench rose from the mercenary as sweat poured off of him and his skin turned green.

"Our prime target will be the spear and the fingers and wrist of the weapon hand, secondary targets will be the offhand and the feet." Sief completed his orders just as pustules sprouted across the wounded mercenary's now entirely green face. A second later one of the pustules exploded spewing pus in all directions.

"Yuck!" guardsman Rend wiped a string of puss off his face with the back of his mailed hand. What kind of poison is that? Like most of the Ellis guardsmen, he had never been sick a day in his life. That was about to change.

"It's not poison, it's a plague!" one of the mercenaries warned.

"Oh Gawd! I can't fight, I'm burning up!" the wounded mercenary screamed and stumbled away running. The golem did not follow. Instead it turned on guardsman Tate. Perhaps it already counted the mercenary as dead.

Master Sergeant Seif drew his short bow as he bellowed, "Keep that disease away from the tower, soldier." Of course the man didn't listen. Seif's horn and sinew bow was small enough to be usable from horseback. Compared to a longbow it looked like a toy, but Master Ellis had gone to considerable expense to find out where the world's finest horn and sinew bows were made, and to have a couple of his guardsmen trained as bowyers by the best of the best. By Ellis standards the 225 pound pull weight on Seif's bow was light, but most men on the mainland would not even have been able to bend it. Seif drew back an arrow as he gave the mercenary a final warning, "Stop where you are or you're a dead man!"

Another of the white mercenaries jumped in front of Seif, unwilling to let a black man kill his compatriot, no matter how sick he was. Seif saw guardsman Tate run past him. A back-flip carried him just far enough not to be the second man the golem's spear-thrust impaled. The golem raised his spear and tossed the impaled and very dead mercenary over his shoulder as if he weighed nothing. Seif would have drawn his arrow back on the sick mercenary but saw the man had stopped. An arrow through his boot pinned his foot to the ground. Nightrider waved from the top of the tower.

"Sergeant, I'm a dead man!" Rend snapped. Still running from the golem,
Seif glanced over at Rend. The area of his face where he had wiped off
the pus was tinged with green in spite of his dark skin. Seif danced aside and yelled towards the tower, "The golem carries contagious plague in every splinter of its body!"

"Throw me your axe, Tate! I'm dead; 've got nothing to loose," Rend coughed. Tate tossed his axe to his brother guardsman, and drew his backup shortsword.

"Give Rend some room to work, men. Bows at the ready!"

Rend caught the axe, and surged forward. Mmmbah! He bellowed as he came
from behind the creature and swung hard at the golem's left ankle. Splinters flew everywhere. The creature turned and thrust, but Rend jumped aside and swung hard. Ahggg! He screamed as the axe bit into the golem's ankle on the opposite side of its left leg. The guardsman dove forward and rolled as the golem's off hand came to crush him. Sweat was
pouring from his body and he could feel as each pustule exploded. He was dead and he knew it, but he had chosen the only target he could get to from nearly any angle and he was using his superior agility to keep the monster turning and twisting in an attempt to reach him. He struck again, and again. He paid for the third blow in blood as the golem nearly crushed his right hip and sent him sprawling. He forced himself up and as the creature turned on him for the fourth time he jumped under it's arm and swung from behind it with everything he had. Oblivious to the damage, the golem turned on its bad ankle in an effort to impale the nimble guardsman. Rend heard the splintering of wood as the golem twisted off it's own ankle-

THOOM!

The severed foot exploded sending pieces of Rend's diseased body and a
shower of splinters in every direction. "Nooo! the remaining mercenary
screamed as numerous splinters stuck into his skin. Seif cursed as he
pulled several splinters that had managed to squeeze through the chain
links of his armor. Tate carried a large shield made in the tradition of the homeland of slaves. It had just saved his life. "Tate, you're going to be the last man standing. You draw it along the cliffs North. Seif waved his arms at the tower and mouthed the words, "Fire, we need fire."

Nightrider glanced at the mercenary who had accompanied the captain into the tower. Why don't you go see how the Captain's doing with the
medic. The mercenary looked as though he might be about to argue, but
Nightrider gave him the eye and he decided better of it. "Lock it down," Nightrider mouthed to a guardsman once the mercenary had disappeared down the hatch. Nightrider took the key from his pocket and opened the box next to the ballista.

Seif advanced on the golem. He could already feel the disease taking hold of him. He called to the last mercenary, "We're dead men, but if we can hold it in one spot, then the men in the tower can use the ballistae on it." The warrior nodded and both men advanced on the golem who was hobbling their way on one short leg and one long leg. The two men danced around it dodging and circling. It didn't take long.

Nightrider placed the oversized bolt on the slider. It was already cranked back. All he had to do was score a hit. He judged the distance and stepped up the rear sight, then stepped it up another half notch for the weight of the bolt. He needed a hit. He adjusted his shot just slightly to the right for windage and smiled. Seif had held the golem in the same general location. One last slight adjustment and Nightrider jerked back the trigger.

Seif heard the bolt rather than saw it. He dove and rolled. SSZZZZZTHOCK! SSTHOOM! Even through his armor he could feel the heat. The shot had hit the golem square in the back. Seif could see the head of the bolt sticking out from the creature's chest. The shot was just a little low, and a little left of center, but still a shot that made him proud of Nightrider. The incendiary reagents Alchemist Jallan packed into his special bolts had the golem burning like an oversized torch, and the core of the bolt was glowing so brightly Seif dared not even look at it.

The cloud of oily black smoke that erupted from the golem when the ballista bolt hit came as a complete surprise, but by the time Tate realized that the mercenary had collapsed on the ground twenty yards in front of him, it was too late. He had taken a breath of the smoke, and that's when the convulsions started.

"*bleep*!" Seif snarled. Smoke! Why hadn't he thought of smoke? Tate had
been closer to the cliffs about twenty yards East of the monster. Now Tate had fallen and the burning golem was advancing Westward towards Seif.

Behind the creature, a cloud of greenish haze caught the wind and floated out over the cliffs. For a moment... for just the slightest instant... the cloud contracted into the form of a grinning, shriveled, and ultimately evil face. The terrible visage gave a silent cackle, and then floated away.

A pustule exploded on Seif's face. He dragged himself to his feet and
hobbled to the Northwest along the cliffs, opening a belt pouch as he
went. He had a healing potion, not for diseases but for wounds. He took a swig and kept going. He had to keep going. As long as he stayed far
enough north of the golem the smoke would blow out over the cliffs to
sea. Seif thanked the disembodied spirit of Rend for shortening the
golem's left leg. He had to keep moving, but he was in no condition for a full-tilt run. He did keep moving, but there was not much left of
him. His potion exhausted, eventually he fell, and began to crawl. That
was when he heard a ballista bolt.

SSSZZZAT! - KATHOOOM!

A wedge-tipped bolt split the monster in half. Both halves exploded into dizzying showers of plague-ridden splinters. Bits of the deadly wood rained down on Sief's armor as he crawled into the woods.
---

The first group of trees she came to were poor cover. She could still hear the chaos breaking loose behind her, and it sounded much, much too close. She stopped long enough to load another bolt into her crossbow and pick out her next hiding place. She didn't plan on hiding for long, but she needed a few seconds of relative safety to get dressed. She slipped her bracers onto her forearms, slung her pack over her shoulder, and darted away. The shouts and sounds of combat faded. She thought she heard some kind of explosion behind her. The guards must have been trying to blow N'Doki's plaything to pieces. Zade doubted it would work... and, knowing the necromancer, if it DID work it would only succeed in making things worse.

On the heals of the explosion came more shouts... and drums. Neither of
them were coming from behind her. The drums stopped suddenly, but the
shouts kept going for a second or two before fading into the distant
clopa-clop of hoof-beats... heading straight towards her. More guards. And they knew where she was.

Zade thought back to the tower she had seen by the cliff. It was a watchtower. Someone probably had her in their sights right now, watching her in a spyglass. Zade changed course and headed deeper into the woods. Trees closed in around her, and their canopy broke the morning sunlight into random shafts of light filtering down from overhead. She stopped and quickly donned her boots and leather armor. The manacle was still hanging from her wrist. She picked the lock... much faster this time... and removed it. She had better weapons now.

She kept the captain's hook. It made a nice, unexpected weapon, and she intended to use it again, possibly on Ellis himself.

Oh, yesss....

Zade smiled.

The drums came again... a different pattern, probably signaling her last known location to the guards on horseback. Zade changed direction again and started to zigzag through the trees. The changes in the drum-pattern kept time with almost every move she made, turning fleeting glimpses of her into directions to the cavalry. They certainly had an advantage... but she was not without her own ace. The ears of a wolf could hear the guards coming at two or three times the distance that the guards were expecting. They knew where she was, but she knew where they were, too. They had a plan. Three teams of guards were trying to box her in. Zade let them think they were succeeding... heading into obvious traps only to veer away at the last moment, letting one group chase her toward the other two, yet slipping away just before they could surround her. And all the while, she was winding her way further and further inland-

-a sound came to Zade's ears, and it froze her in her tracks. Standing motionless under an old apple tree, she tilted her head to the side and listened. Did she hear...

-sniff-

Hmmmmm

-sniff- -sniff-

"Dogs," Zade growled. She smelled dogs. She HEARD dogs. The bastards had set the hounds on her. The trigger of the crossbow creaked as she pulled back on it involuntarily, almost firing it. Her left hand tightened on the awkward stump of the captain's hook.

"Dogs," she repeated. This time her growl was a real growl. Her jaws
clenched and her teeth ground together as her throat vibrated in a deep, angry snarl.

Dogs.

She. Hated. Dogs.

And dogs didn't particularly care for her either, thanks to her lycanthropy. Very well... if they wanted to do this the bloody way and loose a few animals in the process, then she was more than happy to oblige.

Zade realized that she'd been standing in one place for almost ten seconds... an eternity in pursuit-time, especially when hounds were
involved. She got her bearings and started running. More drums sounded in the distance. She ignored them, and focused her attention on the sounds of the men in the woods around her. Using scent and sound, she located her pursuers... distance... direction... number of men and animals... with as much ease as their hounds were no doubt locating her. She could hear them now. Barking, snarling beasts. These weren't hunting hounds. Canines, yes... but something larger. Meaner.

There were three groups of them. Two behind, one ahead. They were at
different distances, but were trying to pace themselves to all converge on her at once. Zade snatched that plan out of their grasp with a powerful burst of anger-fueled speed. She tore through the woods, snarling deeper with every stride that brought her closer to the first group of dogs. She wasn't avoiding them now... she was hunting them.

The first patrol... two dogs and one man... were directly in front of her. The beasts were going crazy, howling and snarling at the approach of the unnatural thing that was Zade.

---

With the drum-broadcast warnings about not going to the elevator and the nearby West cliffs and updates about two different intruders, guardsman Mwaro was sure this was either one of the more elaborate drills he had seen or the real thing. Two real intruders in one week would be highly unusual, but it was good practice and a sure opportunity for promotion. Mwaro steered his galloping black gelding with his legs while keeping his composite short-bow at the ready. He would draw back the paralysis poison dart-spiked wide blunt-tipped arrow he had knocked at any sign of the intruder. The orders were to capture the intruder alive if possible but at the same time the intruder was reportedly dangerous and armed with a crossbow and hand weapons. By his estimation of what the isle's drum was saying, he was on an intercept course with the enemy. Mwaro was glad he was not alone; he worked with the two large wolfhounds running beside his horse everyday. Rumple and Thrash were his partners. With his brains and their senses, they were a team that was tough to beat.

The wind gusted around a blew towards them for a moment, bringing with it a strong blast of the intruder's scent. Mwaro could not sense it... his own indication came with the sudden and furious snarls of the hounds. Rumple responded with a long howl that quickly devolved into a slavering growl... the kind of sound a dog made just before tearing some unfortunate target to chunks. Thrash's lips curled back in a carnivorous non-smile, and a deep rumble emerged from the beast's tremendous chest. The hounds had the scent. And they didn't like it. They didn't like it at ALL. Mwaro had never seen a reaction this strong. Before the words 'something was not right' could even form properly in the guardsman's mind, Rumple took off running, vanishing
with a powerful leap through the trees lining the path. Thrash, the older and more experienced hound, looked expectantly back at Mwaro.

"SEEK!" Mwaro shouted. Thrash dove through the trees. Even alone, Rumple could bring down almost any slave or intruder. TWO hounds changed 'almost' to a certainty... but the hounds would not be alone.

"YAAA!" The guardsman dug his heels into his mount's sides, and the steed galloped after the second hound.

---

The howl of dogs and a galloping thunder of horse's hooves slapped Zade in the face as she ran. She saw a large shape weaving through the trees up ahead- Zade stopped in her tracks and dropped to one knee while swinging her loaded crossbow around. The instant the first hound cleared the trees, she fired. The bow jerked in her grasp, almost knocking her off balance with its powerful recoil. The metal shaft whistled out of the mechanism-

-and sailed past the animal's flank as it leapt out into the open. The hound had veered at the last moment, and the bolt obliterated the massive apple tree behind it.

With no time to reload, Zade dropped the weapon and folded her arm in front of her... bracing herself. The hound slammed into her, its powerful jaws clamping down on her metal bracer. The animal's momentum drove her backward. Her back hit the ground as her right arm brought Captain Rhinestail's hook around, slashing it across the beast's throat. The hook slid off of the animal's fur, which had been hardened somehow to the consistency of thick leather or even soft wood. At the same time, Zade felt two separate lines of pain rip down her chest-

The beast had bracers too... its forelegs were armored with metal bands
bearing small, sharp spikes that had torn through Zade's leather armor. The hound released her bracer; the beast's shaggy head thrust up under her arm, trying to force its way to her throat. Zade slashed again with the hook, this time aiming it into the dog's mouth. She snagged the hound's jaws like a fish and yanked its head to one side an instant before the jaws would have closed around her neck. With a powerful shove, she moved the beast off of her just enough to scoot backward and grab a spare bolt from the frame of her crossbow. With the hook in one hand and the barbed bolt in the other, she let the animal come for her throat once more... She pulled hard on the hook.... it came free of the animal's flesh, ripping a bloody gash along its jaw and adding another inch or two to its already massive mouth. Zade expected the pain to dissuade the animal from any further efforts... but she didn't wait to see if she was right. Just as the hook came free, she drove the bolt into the dog's left eye.

This time, her aim was true...

SKLUTCH!

The animal twitched powerfully, and continued to convulse as, Zade rolled to one side and snatched up her bow. She dropped another bolt into the spescial quick-loading mechanism just as another hound roared into the clearing... ...with an armed horseman two steps behind it.

As soon as he could see the enemy, Mwaro bellowed, "SIGHT!" for any fellow guardsmen in the area and, "Thrash, pin!" indicating his dog should not kill the target. Then his training in mounted archery kicked in. He drew his bow as he leaned off his horse using it for cover as he squeezed the mechanical trigger mechanism he held in his palm. He loosed a shaft that streaked past the base of his horse's neck towards the enemy's thigh, ahead and to the other side of his horse. The enemy's legs were a good area to aim for. Except for the envenomed armor-piercing spike that jutted out from its center, the arrow was tipped with a wide blunt. Nevertheless, a hit to the head even with a smooth blunt tip could very easily be fatal given the 230-pound pull weight of his bow. A hit to the thigh, on the other hand, would more likely produce a nasty bruise, or at worst a broken leg. Zade slid a bolt into her crossbow, but had no time to take aim. The horseman's arrow whizzed past the charging animal and struck Zade in the upper thigh-

"UNGH!"

The pain of a shattered bone distracted her just long enough for the dog to leap.

CHOMP!

Its sharp teeth bit down on her left shoulder. Again, she was thrown to the ground. The serrated blades on the hound's forepaws chewed through her leather armor as the beast started shaking its head sharply back and forth, trying to separate her shoulder joint from its proper socket. The pain in her leg vanished. But it was not a GOOD kind of vanishing. A fresh wave of numbness began to radiate from the wound. Her muscles started to flutter and cramp from the missile's venom.

The horseman galloped past her, then turned around for another pass.
Instead of dropping the bow and trying to free her self from the hound,
Zade's right arm swept out beside her, squeezing the crossbow's trigger
when its sights were between her and the horseman. It was a quick and dirty aim, but-

CHOOOM!

The metal bolt howled from its housing...

...the angle was far too low to hit the horseman, who was already leaning to avoid the missile. But the bolt wasn't meant for him. The guard's horse separated into three large pieces: Head, right foreleg, and the remainder of the body.

Leaned into a tight turn as Mwaro was when his horse disintegrated he was relatively close to the ground, unfortunately he was also riding the largest piece of his horse's body and since it was now just nine hundred pounds of flying meat it fell on his right leg and twisted it out of its socket.

With the few seconds she had bought for herself, Zade sank the index and middle fingers of her right hand into the attacking hound's eyes while her left hand, pinned to her side, tried to angle Captain Rhinestail's hook up into the dog's abdomen.

The pain from his broken and dislocated leg was excruciating. Mwarro
gritted his teeth and used his good leg to lever the horse's body off of his bad leg. That hurt as much as the fall had in the first place He was going to be useless for combat with only one leg. Once free he rolled behind the cover of a large apple tree and lifted the recently bent horn he wore slung around his neck and blew the, "guardsman down" call punctuating it with two extra accents that meant his dogs were out of action well.

Mwaro could hear the snarls and hoof beats of approaching dogs and horses. They were nearly on top of him. It was two small units like his own by the sounds of things. He hoped they would do better than he had. At least he had successfully delivered venom to the target. In the meantime he drew his map and then a dart with his right hand. He held the horn in his left hand and started blowing the call that would give his exact coordinates to the guard tower. With luck it would be picked up and rebroadcast from the island's main drum.

Even blinded, the tenacious hound kept trying to rip her arm off. Zade
abandoned the hook and grabbed the knife strapped to her thigh. She stabbed upward, ripping through the hardened fur and puncturing the hound's abdomen. She sawed the blade in and out rapidly, slicing the beast's belly open while forcing her fingers into the animal's skull- After four or five stabs, the dog's grip loosened considerably. She grabbed its head in her hands and snapped its neck with a sharp twist. Zade got to her feet. One leg was completely numb... although the shattered bone was almost healed. Her shoulder would require a few precious seconds to make itself whole, but it didn't look like the guards were going to give her those seconds. The guard was calling for reinforcements, and the other dog-teams were close enough to hear and smell even without a wolf's senses.

Zade wished she had time to deal with the guard, but she needed to get out of here. She lunged for her bow just as two pairs of dogs rushed her from opposite directions.

"DAMMIT!"

Her weapon was just out of reach. Zade spun away from it and ran for the nearest tree. But her leg would not cooperate... its numbness masking the fact that it was still mostly unusable. Her run became a half-hearted stumble. Zade twisted on her good leg and jerked backward just as one leaping hounds sailed past her, jaws snapping closed around the empty air where her arm had been. Zade delivered a deep slash along the animal's flank, but the hound's hardened fur absorbed most of the damage. The second hound's teeth bit down on her left ankle. Its teeth failed to penetrate the reinforced leather of her boot, but the force of the hound's jaws was almost enough to crack the ankle without the teeth ever touching her flesh.

The beast started yanking her backward, trying to pull her off balance.
Zade's blade plunged down into the dog's shoulder, sinking in deep. The
serrated edge did more damage on the way out than it did going in, but the furious hound held on to her ankle with hardly a flinch. The third and fourth hound both converged on the other leg, snarling and gnawing at her flesh. Zade stabbed again, but with a sudden yank... the hounds pulled her off balance. Zade's weight came down on her numb leg, which the third and fourth hounds promptly snatched out from under her.

Zade went down again just as two more horsemen thundered into the clearing. The first released his arrow immediately. The spiked and most likely envenomed missile zipped past Zade's shoulder as she fell. When she hit the ground, the first hound... still bleeding from her slash... came for its revenge. The beast's shaggy head appeared out of nowhere, its slavering jaws darting for Zade's throat. Zade gave it a taste of her arm instead. She swung her forearm into is open mouth, shattering its canine teeth with her bracer. The beast bit down on it and yanked backward. Zade buried her blade in the beast's neck... tore the weapon free... then jammed it in again. Then again.

The third stab was an unfortunate mistake.

The serrated blade snagged on the beast's collar, and when the fatally
wounded hound darted away, it took her blade with it!

Then the second archer took his shot.

The arrow impaled Zade through the shoulder, pinning her to the ground. The other hounds swarmed around her, one clamping down her leg (which Zade didn't even feel) while the others attacked her upper body. Zade threw her free hand across her throat to protect it while trying to snatch her shoulder free of the ground. A snarling hound landed on top of her and started tearing the flesh from her hand in an attempt to get to her throat, while the blades on its forelimbs tore more slashes into her chest.

Pain flowed through Zade's veins like ice water. The hounds's snarls were like the roaring demons bellowing in her ears. Suddenly she was a child again... an escaped slave running through the woods with the master's hounds at her heals. They were going to catch her. They were going to catch her, and then they were going to EAT her just like they had done to-

-Tenna?

Who was that?

Another piece of Zade's buried past broke free and floated... no, SWAM to the surface like some submerged Leviathan awakened from its slumber. It was the memory of Tenna's execution, and it exploded across Zade's mind in full, agonizing color. They had strung her up by the hands and whipped her. Ten lashes to the LEGS so that the blood would fall freely. Then they had unleashed the hounds. With the savage inbred beasts nipping at her feet, lapping her blood from the ground, Ellis and the overseers slowly lowered the girl into the hounds' reach. Slowly. They tore her apart... starting at the feet... then the calves... then the thighs...

They ATE her.

When they were done, the torn, bloody mess could just as easily have been a calf or a goat... and not a twelve year old girl.

And Zade had forgotten it all. Until now.

Those bastards.

Those ELLIS bastards! ELLIS... and his overseers... and his damned DOGS!

Zade didn't hear herself screaming. The pounding of her own heartbeat
drowned out the sound, and even if it hadn't, she would never have
recognized the beastial roar emerging from her throat. Her body was on
fire... not with pain and venom but with churning, explosive RAGE. The fire intensified in her wounds, forcing her flesh closed even as the dogs continued to tear it open. The angry flames formed a perimeter around the numbness spreading from the guards' venom... and slowly the fire began to fight it back, burning it away with increasing metabolic fury. All through Zade's body, the change began. Her hair thickened... her teeth lengthened... her muscles trembled, contracting with supernatural power as the bones began to twist painfully in their sockets.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!" Zade bellowed into the face of the beast at her throat. The dog had her by the forearm, and was busily shredding her chest with its bracers. With a sudden jerk, Zade twisted to one side and snatched her pinned shoulder free of the ground. She grabbed the beast's collar and dragged its head closer to her face-

Her teeth bit down on its ear, ripping the flap of flesh off with a single jerk of her neck. Warm blood splashed into her mouth. Zade bit down again, coming away with a mouth full of the beast's hardened fur... and continued to attack the beast with her teeth, ripping the flesh from its face while her hand clenched tightly on its throat, attempting to strangle the beast and keep it from her throat with one hand. The other dogs had attached themselves to her right leg and left arm. Both hounds had been merely trying to hold her down, with the third beast the only one going for the kill. But her renewed burst resistance send the hounds into spasm of fury. They began tearing at her limbs, snatching their heads back and forth trying to break her bones in their jaws. Zade bent her right leg and drove the heel of her boot into the second dog's face with enough force to tear the beast's jaws... and a chunk of her boot... away from her leg for a second. The instant its jaws came away, Zade sank her teeth into the first dog's eye. Yelping in pain, the hound backed away just enough-

Zade's hand left the dog's throat and reached for her boot, grabbing for the knife strapped to her calf. The second dog's mouth snapped for her hand just as she slid the weapon free, but she was faster. When the bloody hound... now with half its face scraped off and in tatters... came for her throat again, she jammed the blade into the side of its skull, killing it instantly.

Something hit the ground beside her. Zade didn't know what it was until the second impact came... a dart to the leg. Poison began to eat its way up her leg toward her hip... where a third dart had already landed.

The second hound tried again for her weapon-hand, and this time it snagged her wrist. Zade felt the the joint and several of the small bones of her hand snap in the hounds' viscous grasp. Meanwhile, the third hound abandoned her left arm and came for her throat. Zade sat up and lunged at the animal... throwing her shoulder into its mouth while HER teeth bit down on its flank. Snarling, she grabbed the beast's forelimb in her left hand and pulled-

-SNAP!-

She broke the dog's leg cleanly, but the beast kept attacking. So Zade
added her teeth to her efforts, pulling at the limb with one hand while
biting down, grinding her now-bulging jaws into its flesh around the broken bone. The hound suddenly abandoned its quest for her throat, but with a furious snarl Zade snatched the hound's leg away from its body and immediately swung it at the second hound's face. The serrated edge of the severed limb slashed the hound across the eyes. Yelping, the dog loosened is grip.

Zade got her legs underneath her and tried to stand-

THWIP!

Another dart slammed into her torso, the tip piercing her leather and her skin. Concentric circles of pain and eerie numbness spread out across her chest like a bullseye. Zade staggared backward, struggling to regain control of both her body AND mind before she either transformed completely... or collapsed.

Guardsman Jack Seer, motioned Aaron Siter, his fellow guardsman around the enemy so that they would both be upwind of her. He had already dismounted and advanced on foot to take the low angles with his envenomed darts while Siter shot from horseback. The dogs would not hold much longer. Mwaro was doing well filling in the tower on the progress of the battle via trumpet calls, but the progress was negative. It was time to use some help from Alchemist Jallan. While his fellow guardsman continued to toss paralysis envenomed darts at the enemy, Seer removed a canister from his belt, twisted the recessed thumbscrew slightly for a two second delay, and then tossed the canister to the ground next to the slathering slave whose appearance seemed to be growing strangely inhuman.

Rumor had it that quirky alchemist Jallan in one of his notorious madcap episodes had combed the globe for the world's hottest hot pepper for his fire breather's chili. He had found it in a rain forest in a distant land. It had proven too potent for chili so the alchemist had adapted it to a different use. Within the canister Seer had just tossed was the concentrated juice of that pepper, a solvent to make it stick and sink into the top layers of the skin better and just the slightest touch of explosive to provide the pop that would atomize and spread the noxious payload. Even upwind in a breeze, Seer held his breath against the moment the canister exploded.

ShhPOP!

Zade caught the guard's motion. She saw him reach for something on his
belt... saw him do something with the object he retrieved... and saw him toss it in her direction.

She saw these things, and could do nothing about them except watch. Fearing some kind of magic... against which her lycanthropy would offer zero defense.... Zade tried to jump or dodge or throw herself out of canister's path. She managed an odd, shuffling stumble. The canister hit the ground at her feet and exploded in a thick mist that immediately rose to engulf her.

Her skin began to tingle at the first touch. When the tingling became a
deep, stinging burn, Zade was already inhaling her first whiff. Everything from her nostrils to the top of her lungs erupted into a fluttering spasms of pain.

"AAAAAAGGGH!" Zade barked, emptying her lungs and quickly discovering
that she could not fill them again. Her throat and nasal passages were
clenched tight against the stinging cloud, allowing her only meager sips of tainted air that only worsened the assault. Her eyes clamped shut too late to stop the mist from seeping into her tissues and tear ducts, where it burned like acid. Snarling, snorting and choking, Zade tried to stagger clear of the cloud. Were her limbs not already half-paralyzed from the darts, she may have been able to do so.... but she could barely move. The same lycanthropy that was fighting off the poison was being pushed back by her own efforts to regain control. The more she fought, the more the guard's poison took hold.

"NNRRRRRRGH!" Zade groaned, grabbing at her throat as if to peel the
chocking mist away from her, but even her FINGERS were burning from
whatever was in that canister! And now it had gotten into her
WOUNDS! The muscles that weren't paralyzed began to spasm out of
control. And she couldn't BREATHE!

Zade dropped to her knees. A slight breeze began to carry some of the
smoke away from her, but the lingering effects of the mist only grew worse.

Before she knew it, Zade was on her hands and knees... struggling to get just a SINGLE full breath into her lungs while still holding back the wolf-mind that was snarling behind her thoughts. Should she let it go? Should she let the wolf take over? It could heal itself faster... maybe make an escape-

Zade's left arm went numb, and her shoulder hit the ground. Her entire
body under went a series of spasms. A tiny hiss of air... still
tainted... still burning... squeaked into her lungs, immediately making the situation just that much worse.

No, she couldn't let the wolf take control. Never... never, as long as
she had a choice. If it meant being captured here, then...

...aaaHA!

Zade's body gave one tremendous spasm... followed by several small ones
that finally faded into an ominous stillness.

Seer slowly took a set of shackles from his belt. He wanted to make sure the breeze had carried the pepper cloud away before he went in. He circled and after the requisite number of seconds, advanced towards the enemy's back on the balls of his feet. He was quite wary of the unusual
intruder. She had defeated too many opponents for him to trust her even
under the influence of Jallan's pepper. He needed to lock one wrist down and then get the other locked up behind her in a flash, before she could cause more trouble. After that he needed to get her ankles in another set of shackles, but first things first.

With eyes glued nearly shut and a nose full of burning mist, the only sense Zade had left was hearing. The guard crept stealthily behind her, making surprisingly little sound for someone in armor and carrying weapons. As she lay motionless, Zade followed the man's motions with her ears. He walked completely around her once, then paused... probably considering if she were alive or dead. There was no sound for a few seconds, and then came the unmistakable clink of metal. The guard made another semi-circle, and stopped on her right side, just within reach.

One of Zade's arms was by her side, and the other was stretched out in
front of her. He would either have to straddle her or crouch down beside her in order to reach them both... assuming he didn't just put an arrow in the back of her head right there. But if the metallic clink she's heard a second ago was what she thought it was, then she had a good chance. Zade tried to picture where he was standing and what he was doing.... and, most importantly, where his weapons were.

The guard was fast. He had slapped one end of the manacle onto her right wrist before she even realized he was moving. The cuff fit poorly over her bracer, and they would no doubt have to be removed later. But there wasn't going to be a later. At the instant he touched her, Zade twisted away... yanking on the manacle while bringing her outstretched arm around, throwing a thick clod of dirt at where the guard's face was most likely located. Zade couldn't see the guard's reaction... the partial vision she had yielded only a vague man-shaped blur beside her. But she felt the guard pull back. Zade's free hand had already grabbed one of the many darts protruding from her armor. When the guard moved back, she sprang for his lower body, catching him around the waist with one arm and driving the dart into the first patch of bare skin she could find.

The guard made a twisting hip-throw that tossed Zade away from him...

...along with one of the gas-canisters that she had grabbed from his belt. She'd caught a glimpse of how the first guard had used it, and she quickly followed her memory even as her uneasy legs gave way beneath her. Her finger found the recessed area, and twisted the small thumb-screw inside. She threw the canister at a spot between all of the man-shaped blurs, hoping to catch most or all of them in a cloud of their own mist.

"FRAG!!" Seer hollered as he dove over the intruder's head in the opposite direction as she had tossed the canister.

"*bleep*!" Guardsman Siter snapped as he leaned off the far side of his horse.

But instead of a slight hiss and a loud 'pop'... the canister erupted in a thunderous BOOOOOM! that shook the ground and clogged Zade's ears with the deafening roar of an explosion.

Guardsman Seer knew he was a dead man. There just had not been enough time for him to get to cover. About the only cover he did have was the intruder herself but he was not quite on the other side of her when the grenade exploded. It caught him mid-dive in the air above her and only his head was low enough to be shielded by her back so as not to take a full load of shrapnel. Seer landed in a heap on the other side of her. His armor had stopped some of the lesser fragments, but he still had well over a dozen inside him, more than enough to guarantee he would be dead in a short minute. He did not try to get up. His only consolation was that he knew the intruder herself was wearing only leather armor. She must have taken even more metal than he had.

Siter heard his horse scream as a legion of metal fragments from the
grenade ripped into its side. His gelding would be dead before it hit the ground. Siter took a metal fragment in the foot clean through the sole of his right boot and another right through his lower right calf. Both where in the lower right leg where the horse's body had not shielded him. Nevertheless, he pushed off from his falling horse and did a mid-air flip, landing and rolling towards the large apple tree guardsman Mwaro had taken cover behind to send trumpet calls to the tower.

Those calls had now changed, indicating two additional guardsmen down from an explosive assault. Siter knocked an arrow and looked into the trees and smoke in the direction of the intruder. He could not imagine she could still be alive after the blast but anyone who could make any kind of coherent attack after getting peppered deserved to be treated with utmost caution. The smoke would be gone soon enough, and if he saw so much as a twitch out of her he had half a mind to unload his entire quiver into her chest.

Zade, expecting nothing more than a puff of irritating smoke, was taken
completely by surprise. The fact that she was already falling kept her from being torn apart by shrapnel, but she still took more than enough to turn a normal human into a bloody and unpleasant-looking corpse. Tiny bits of metal whistled through her leather armor as if it wasn't there... peppering her left side with white-hot pain. The shockwave slammed into her and carried her along like a doll. When the fall that had begun before the explosion was finally complete, Zade was three yards back from where she had been originally. She landed on something hard, and felt whatever it was twist under her weight with a series of 'twangs' and an ominous 'snap'. Something sharp jabbed into her abdomen and remained there as she rolled onto her right side.

She had landed on her crossbow, and had not only broken it, but had managed to impale herself on one of her own bolts.

Zade had no choice but to push the pain out of her mind, lest it either shut her down or push her further along a transformation that was already nearing the point of no return. The dogs had almost done it.... almost pushed her over the edge. Then the poison mist... and now this. Too much...

Zade's will clamped down around her thoughts... forcing... focusing...
She thought of her training... the people she had fought... the places she had been and the things she had done....not because any of it was
particularly useful now, but because she had been HUMAN when she had done them. She fixed her human self in her mind and put as much willpower behind the image as she could. Pain faded as the semi-meditative state took hold...

...then returned when Zade removed the bolt from her abdomen and stood up. Her short trip to the brink of transformation had partially healed her wounds, and had even cleared a bit of the stinging poison from her eyes. Her nose and throat were still on fire, but now she could see. One guard was laying not far away, bleeding severely from the last wounds he would ever receive. The other had holed up behind a large tree with the wounded guardsman from the first battle. Just as he had done during the most recent battle, this first guardsman kept up a continuous stream of trumpet calls. The sound of the trumpet was muffled in Zade's ears, which were still ringing from the explosion. The two living guards were obscured by the cloud of dust kicked up by the exploding canister.

One of the guard's horses was whinnying nervously at the edge of the clearing. Zade ran for it. The animal was already on the verge of panic, and at the lycanthrope's approach, it broke free of its training... the only thing keeping it in place to begin with... and started to run. Zade's fingers brushed the saddle, barely catching hold. With a painful jerk, Zade swung herself up, flattened herself onto the horse's back, and rode.

---

Zade knew the guards were still after her. She could hear the drums only occasionally now, but that was due more to the after-effects of the explosion than to any abatement in the efforts of her pursuers. Nor could she smell them with nasal tissues that were still burning from the guards' chemicals. But they were there... behind her... ahead of her... all around her... and they would eventually catch her.

Of COURSE they would catch her. This was their island. They knew the land, they had better weapons... especially now that her crossbow was smashed... and they had superior numbers. She had vastly underestimated Ellis's defenses. She had come alone, armed with a whip, a crossbow, N'Doki's magic and her own lycanthropy. It was clear now that that assortment of weapons would not be enough...

...but it was never INTENDED to be. Zade had neither plans for nor intentions of avoiding the guards indefinitely. Or for escaping the island. The guards WOULD catch her, but not until she had personally ensured that everyone who needed killing was good and dead. That list currently contained three names: Nathaniel Ellis, Grady the Overseer, and Jallan the alchemist. If Blaymore had managed to precede her here, then any number of those men could already be dead. But if he hadn't, then her last actions in life would be a glorious orgy of vengeance that these slaves would whisper to their children for generations.

...and THAT was the sum and total of all Zade's plans. Getting off the island and making her escape weren't even minor considerations. But she did have to last long enough to find Ellis. The guards and their dogs had put a hurting on her, heaping on more injuries than she had planned on taking this early in the mission. Her 'curse' was taking care of her wounds, but the healing was not instantaneous, nor was it without considerable pain. Her effectiveness in any future action would be compromised. But worse than the wounds, the guards had slowed her down. She was trying to make up for lost time with the horse, pushing the animal as fast as she could while struggling to control it, but that meant less time for her wounds to heal.

Zade stuck to the orchard for as long as she could. The cover it provided was minimal, and it got even sparser as she got closer to the center of the island. She passed a few groups of slaves picking fruit... all identified as slaves by the metal collars that they wore. Their presence told Zade that, at the very least, she was ahead of the guards' ability to clear people out of her way. Either that, or they didn't care enough about the slaves to get them away from a rampaging wild-woman.

Zade caught sight of something through the trees... a glimpse of stonework. She headed for it. She was intending to head for the 'city' or whatever it was at the base of the mountain, but the guards had driven her off to one side. She was approaching the mountain again, but she didn't know exactly where she was in relationship to the town. If her senses had been back to normal she would have been able to locate it easily... but...

Zade slowed her mount as more of the structure came into view. She had made it to the town after all... but this is not what she'd expected. It was a huge stone amphitheater at the northern extremity of town, dwarfing all of the town's other buildings. Yet the arena was itself dwarfed by the ridge of rock that formed the backbone of the isle just north of it. A low stone railing was all that separated the top stands of the arena from the roads and sidewalks of the town that surrounded it to the South, East and West. The entire structure of the arena was sunken into the ground below street level. North of the arena the facades of buildings were cut into the ridge and seemed to continue the town right into the living rock. The arena was notable for the shear size of its field. The two tiers of stone seating surrounding it looked abbreviated compared the field that looked as if it ought to have been part of the coliseum of a major city. From the rail in front of the lowest tier of seats it was a fifteen-foot drop to the sandy floor of the arena below.

Zade paused at the edge of the trees, knowing that she was in plain view from several different angles. She studied the arena cautiously. There were no guards at the perimeter, but the muffled (at least to HER ears) sound of voices and weapons rose from the pit. The arena was in use.




Zade's mind went back to her first encounter at the town. Someone... she forgot who... had mentioned gladiators. They had mistaken her for one of Ellis's gladiators. Now that mistake was starting to make sense. When she was a child, the masters sometimes pitted male slaves against each other in fights. Her father supposedly died in such a bout...

...and THAT was a memory that she didn't know she had until just now. Just like Tenna and the dogs...

"Gladiators, eh?" Zade hissed as she slid from her mount. "Lets see if Ellis is in attendance today..."

Zade darted across the distance to the arena, and looked over the uppermost railing. Rows of empty seats stretched below her... and at their bottom was the arena's yard.

Currently the yard was set up in two basic formations. The perimeter was a jogging track and obstacle course featuring stands of hurdles or walls of varying heights over which to jump or climb. The central area of the arena yard was set up to look like a ruined druid circle or spiral. Massive monolithic granite blocks stood both alone and in formations, but the formations became more elaborate post and lintel constructions, as one got closer to the center.

A single gladiator was running around the perimeter of the yard jumping hurdles. He had just passed an open door at the limit of the north side of the yard that appeared to go into the mountain or at least the bowels of the arena. Farther south, a pair of black men spared with short swords amongst the monolithic stones. Nearer the center of the constructions to the west a yellow-skinned man with straight brown hair wearing a silken robe was demonstrating moves to two black men clad only in loincloths. He demonstrated how to move around the massive stones to use them to block and counter the strikes of an opponent.

Watching the moves and standing slightly closer to the center of the field amongst the massive stones were two guards dressed in the now familiar chain and plate armor of house Ellis. They stood protectively near a sandy-blonde-haired white gentleman dressed in black silk breeches and a deep purple tunic. With the exception of the yellow-skinned man, all present wore collars. They varied in color from copper to the golden circlet around the white man's neck.

Zade's eyes fixed on the blonde male. She squinted, unsure... yet WANTING to be sure of who she was seeing.

Ellis.

The features were unmistakably of the Ellis clan. It had been many years since she had seen Nathaniel Ellis, so she couldn't be certain if this was him or not. But even if he wasn't Nathaniel, he was AN Ellis... and that was more than enough.

Zade took her eyes off of him long enough to look around for a route down to the bottom. She cursed herself for having ruined her crossbow. Maybe it could be fixed, but it was no use to her NOW, when she most needed it. But then, killing an Ellis from a distance seemed somehow... anti-climactic. She needed to get down there and kill him with her bare hands. The guards would be a problem. Ellis would undoubtedly make a quick and cowardly escape while she dealt with them.

The roving eyes of one of Ellis' guards lit on her. Abruptly he pushed his fair-skinned charge behind one of the monolithic stones before drawing a signal trumpet and taking cover himself. Zade hauled herself over the railing and dropped into the arena stands. With no ranged weapons, Zade couldn't stop the guard from summoning reinforcements... but stopping him wasn't her intention. She would either fight her way past whatever guards showed up, or they would manage to take her down, but she swore an internal oath that Ellis would already be dead by they time they arrived! Zade sprinted down the stone stairs that ran like spokes through the stands. Below her, the arena yard was erupting into activity. The slaves were rushing for the closest exits. Ellis and his guards were taking cover behind the stone monoliths. Suddenly, one of the guards leaned out... spotted her... and leaned back.

Zade veered into the stands. She vaulted over the rows of benches as the guard reappeared and quickly fired an arrow in her direction. Zade had reached the lower railing and, without stopping... without slowing down... she vaulted over it. The guard's arrow zipped past her... he'd been aiming at the spot where she would have paused to consider the 15ft drop. Zade didn't care about the drop. 15 feet or 50... it was between her and Ellis, and it wasn't going to slow her down.

The air flickered around her as she threw herself into it. Zade landed into a low crouch... joints screaming as they absorbed the force of the fall... which then became a forward roll and ended with her leaping to her feet in a full sprint. Ahead, the guard with the trumpet was pulling Ellis toward the north door. They were using the monoliths for cover, quickly racing from stone to stone in order to minimize their exposure to Zade's eyes. The second guard lagged a few stones behind them, searching for a clear shot. Zade zoomed through the stones, bearing down on the small group like a rampaging beast. They were not going to get away...

....NOT going to get away!

"ELLLISSSSSS!" Zade roared, feeling the rage build within her. The second guard abandoned his efforts with the bow... the monoliths were too close together, and Zade was weaving in and out of them too quickly.

The guard raced after Ellis, who was still closing in on the north door. Zade saw them clearly... saw their backs...their necks... exposed flesh waiting to be rended assunder. Zade was a slave... a slave being tortured by Grady's whip. She was Tenna being torn apart by Ellis's dogs. She was Michael, screaming under Jallan's care. She was her mother... whipped to death before her children's eyes. She was HERSELF, silently enduring the drunken attentions of the overseers' rape gang.

She was her sister...

The last few vestiges of sanity... the few threads that remained since she'd left Montfort... blew away like smoke. Rage exploded through her muscles, sparking a simultaneous explosion of speed and power that brought her prey... prey... PREY!... to within her grasp!

"ELLIS!" Zade screamed... unaware that her voice sounded only half human. Just after she caught a glimpse of his back, Ellis and his bodygaurds went around a slab of stone north of the center of the stone formations. They disappeared from Zade's vision. That is when she heard it, thump...thump-thump thricka-thrika-thrika-thrika--Fffthup! It sounded like three men landing after jumping, and then a platform rising and socking into place complete with the overtones of sand grinding against the edges of the platform as it came even with the arena floor. As the final sound was heard, the door at the north of the arena closed. It had all been a trap. Ellis could never have made it to the north door in time to avoid her, but he did not have to make it.

Suddenly the clear brassy tones of an eloquent trumpet fanfare pierced the air. A door into the mountain just north of the arena had opened disgorging a marching band of uniformed copper-collared slaves who headed for the orchestra section of the stands playing rousing music as they marched thither. The sonorous voice of a master of ceremonies seemed to come from the air itself all around the arena.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Isle Ellis Grand Arena. Please take your seats and enjoy the show. This afternoon we have a rare challenge, an exhibition bout between two world class gladiators."

"What-" The sudden blast of sound stopped Zade in her tracks. Her boiling rage froze, subsiding to a dull simmer as ice-cold realization flashed through her mind. Everything was clearly not as it had seemed-

In spite of the hour of the day, a spot mage-light suddenly illuminated the gladiator jumping the hurdles in a deep purple radiance. All of the other gladiators had cleared out, but this one remained. His continued presence during Zade's charge was an ominous warning which she had missed entirely... until now. He was about her height and weight and dressed in leather armor painted with loud greenish yellow accents that matched the color of his metal collar. He did not appear to be armed.

"From House Ellis standing six feet tall and weighing in at one hundred sixty-eight pounds Raptamantis!"

Suddenly, doors in the town and the buildings within the mountain were unlocked and throngs of people, most of them slaves dressed in business or medical garb began to hurry to the stands of the arena as the announcer talked about the gladiators. They applauded as they heard the name of the Ellis champion.

"...Born with a silver sword in his hand, Raptamantis has trained as a gladiator since boyhood under the peerless trainers of House Ellis. His speed and skill are legendary despite his being only twenty years old. His favorite decathlon event is the discus throw..."

"What...the... hell...!?" Zade looked around at the throngs of people now crowding into the passageways of the arena. Then she sprinted for the pillar that had hidden Ellis's disappearance. Whatever was about to happen here, neither she nor her wolven sub-mind wanted anything to do with it. And if Ellis had gone down some hole, then she was going after him. She dropped to one knee and began clawing at the sand... fingers searching frantically for a seam... a handle... a trip-wire... ANYTHING...

Meanwhile, the announcer droned on about the Ellis gladiator, obviously waiting for the audience to arrive and get seated. Raptamantis continued to run the obstacle course around the perimeter of the yard.

Nathaniel Ellis, accompanied by Asheika, Alchemist Jallan, Overseer Grady, and nine Ellis guards took ringside seats on the northern end of the arena. Along with them was a cloaked figure resting in a wheeled chair being pushed by Jallan. The man in the chair was slumped to one side as if asleep... some barely-surviving elder member of the Ellis clan, no doubt.

The instant Zade spotted Ellis, a second mage-light beamed down on her from nowhere, illuminating Zade and the ground around her in a blood red halo of light.

"Opposing Raptamantis, formerly from house Ellis, standing approximately six feet tall and weighing in at approximately 170 pounds, Bethsaida!" The crowd applauded respectfully.

Spouting a long stream of profanities from her suddenly dry throat, Zade abandoned the trap-door and ran for the door in the northern wall of the arena. The spot-light followed her. A few members of the crowd 'Oooo'ed at her sudden burst of speed. A few more laughed out loud at her futile efforts to open the locked lattice that had clamped down over her escape route. Zade pulled with all her strength... and she couldn't even rattle the mechanism in its frame. Zade looked through the lattice for any levers or latches... and spotted a few dark shapes milling around in the hallway beyond. Guards.

Zade sprang away and sprinted for the next closest doorway The announcer continued. Zade couldn't believe what she was hearing...

"Bethsaida was born on the Ellis farm, and as a child served as a medical assistant, a seamstress and a field hand before leaving in her early teens. She was trained in the arts of war by numerous exotic foreign trainers. She is highly proficient with whips, small blades, throwing stars and the crossbow, but she is also trained to use swords and other weapons."

Zade found the next door just as immovable as the first. The stands were beginning to fill up with spectators. Some of them were about to get hurt-

"She is more fierce and ruthless than a jungle cat and every bit as beautiful," continued the announcer. "Her infamous record for serial slaughter began with the murder of Percival Ellis and a cabin full of his drunken cohorts. They paid dearly for their violation of her, the violation and senseless slaughter of her younger sister and an earlier inhumane experiment that left her mother tortured to death. Now she has returned to our kingdom for further revenge against House Ellis and the citizens of the Kingdom of Jorjal. Her most recent victims include most of the citizens of the town of Hawklinsville. She is a truly formidable opponent, a fighting machine blessed with magical recuperative powers coupled with ferocious rage. Please welcome Bethsaida!"

Zade snatched the whip from her belt and quickly attached a weighted blade to the weapon's tip. With a snap of her wrist, the length of leather lashed out for the railing above her.

KAAAZZZZZZZ!!

The whip was an inch away from the railing when it hit some kind of barrier. A flash of light exploded around the metal blade and skipped down the whip to Zade's arm.

"AAGHN!"

It felt like she'd been hit with a flaming arrow. The miniature lightning bolt had traveled down the reinforcing metal cord in her whip, and now her right arm was sizzling.

The crowd applauded generously. A section on the east side of the arena began chanting,

"-Saida!-Saida!-Saida!-Saida!-"

Zade picked up her whip and scanned the arena for more exits.

Doors... locked.

Stands.... warded.

She was caught. She had walked.... no, not walked... she'd CHARGED headlong into a trap.

"Our bout today will be a free-style free-for-all. Weapons have been hidden in various locations throughout the arena. Non-thrown missile weapons and offensive magic will carry a stiff penalty. The battle is to the death or until the expiration of the clock, whichever comes first." Nathaniel Ellis nodded from his ringside seat for the master of ceremonies to start the bout.

"Let the games begin!"

The crowd cheered.

Not only had Ellis trapped her, but now he was turning the entire thing into some kind of amusement for his other slaves! She was the evening's entertainment!

Rapta had been running the obstacle course for perhaps twenty minutes since the new gladiator had arrived. During that time he had spotted a pair of short-swords and two bucklers stashed under a couple of different obstacles. He slowed and picked up the bucklers, strapping one on his left arm as he ran. Next he scooped up the two short-swords and closed on the other gladiator, enjoying the feel of the sands against his sandaled feet as wove through the maze of monoliths.

Master Ellis was interested in whether or not the prospect was good enough to compete in the prime time games. Rapta had fought many competent gladiators in weekend bouts in Atlanna. He knew how strong, how fast and how skilled those who made the cut and survived were. He would emulate one of them with fidelity.

"Like hell!" Zade swore as she ran back to where she'd been searching for the trap door. Again, her hands searched the sand. Again, she found nothing.

As he approached her Rapta stuck one of the swords in his belt and tossed a short-sword and a buckler at her at the same time. The more obviously dangerous sword he tossed to her gingerly so that if she were even half way decent she could catch it without trouble, but he aimed for her belly with the shield and threw it forcefully with the power and accuracy of an experienced discus thrower.

"Lets dance," Rapta smiled.

Zade twisted to one side, letting the shield fly past her while reaching for the sword. She caught the blade in her left hand while unleashing the whip with her right, sending the slightly-melted metal tip cracking at the gladiator's feet-

whh-KAK!

The gladiator leapt gingerly over the strike, and came down with shield raised to block Zade's sword-strike. She'd intended to catch him in the split-second he was off balance from the leap... but that period of vulnerability came and went so quickly that it may as well not have happened at all. The fighter's block came simultaneously with a sword-slash at Zade's abdomen.

Dodging left was too obvious, so she feinted right... and went left anyway, sliding away from the sword and dancing backward as the gladiator rushed her.

Zade blocked his sword with her own... but the gladiator's blade vanished as he leaned back and thrust both sword and shield at her. Zade blocked the blade again, but the shield collided with the side of her head, knocking her back. Rapta struck again, taking advantage of her imbalance. His sword came from one direction while his foot swept in the opposite one-

The fighter's foot caught Zade's leg and yanked her off balance. Zade twisted, looping her whip around the gladiator's swinging sword-arm and pulling him toward her thrusting sword as she recovered her own balance. The gladiator's shield suddenly came around in an upward arc... the edge of the buckler caught Zade just above the wrist-

KLANK!

-and would have shattered her arm if it weren't for her metal bracer. But the blow did knock her sword aside so that the gladiator collided with HER instead of her weapon. The man hit like a battering ram. The impact drove Zade backward, which was the direction she wanted to go anyway. The whip connecting her right hand with his drew tight. The gladiator tossed his sword to his left and slashed at the flimsy leather weapon, intending to deprive Zade of her whip. But the whip was not leather... the titanium cord running down its core did not break, and instead, Zade looped the weapon around the sword.

"Nice whip" Rapta grinned.

The gladiator didn't wait for her to pull the sword out of his grasp; he lunged immediately. Zade dove to one side while attempting to entangle her opponent's feet with the whip. Rapta freed his hands from her makeshift rope and slashed-

The blade sliced across Zade's back, carving a shallow, but bloody groove from one shoulder to the other.

"First blood, goes to Rapta of House Ellis," The announcer quipped to the applause of the crowd.

Hissing, Zade spun-

WHAM!

The gladiator's shield pummeled her face and chest yet again. Her own thrust at Rapta's midsection missed, as the gladiator had jerked sideways at the last minute in anticipation of her strike. Rapta's sword came down in an arc-

KLANK!

-and rebounded off of Zade's right bracer as Zade threw herself into Rapta, trying to angle her blade up under the gladiator's shield. The blade met some resistance, and Rapta growled... not in pain, but surprise that she had actually drawn blood, even if it was only an insignificant cut along the left flank.

"A blood strike by Bethsaida!" The announcer called. The crowd cheered.

Rapta was even more surprised when Zade broke contact and skipped around behind him... letting her only real weapon fall at Rapta's feet.

Then the whip tightened around his neck.

She had had one end of it in her right hand when she blocked, and the other was looped around her left wrist. When he'd reacted to the sword-strike, Zade had slid around behind him and gotten him in a powerful strangle-hold.

"Show's OVER!" Zade growled into Rapta's ear.

"Already?" Rapta asked as his head snapped backward suddenly, colliding with Zade's face in a blow that Zade ignored completely-

But suddenly, Rapta thrust his sword backward, nearly impaling her. Zade stepped to one side, and Rapta twisted-

"Wha-huh!?"

That particular hip-throw was nothing Zade had seen before. Zade was falling.... she yanked hard on the whip as she went down, trying her damndest to snap the gladiator's neck. Rapta grunted and lurched forward, falling along with her-

-yet STILL managing to attack as he went down. Zade rolled to her feet just as Rapta's sword sank into the ground where she had been an instant before.

WHOOSH!

Rapta swung his shield out to one side, missing her... yet buying himself just enough time to remove her whip from his throat. He reached for his sword, but Zade kicked it off of the ground and sent it flying end over end... clattering against a nearby monolith just as Rapta exploded into motion.

"A successful disarm by Bethsaida!" the master of ceremonies observed as the crowd applauded.

Zade had expected him to go for her discarded sword, but instead he came at her in a swift, powerful charge. Even if Zade had been expecting it, the charge was too fast for her to avoid completely. Rapta's shield swept past her face... Zade jerked her head back just in time to avoid a skull fracture; Rapta caught her around the midsection with one arm and tried to fling her to the ground. Zade's balance held... barely. The two fighters grappled for several seconds, with Rapta using his shield as an occasional bludgeon. Zade's fingers found their way into the hollows just under Rapta's jaw, and her thumb pressed hard and fast into his windpipe.

"AAAAGH!" Rapta thrust her away, but as he did he twisted and swung-

KRA-KANG!

The shield caught Zade across the side of her face in a hard blow that spun her around-

"Ooooo," the crowd applauded as they saw Bethsaida spin.

-and Zade turned the movement into a spinning side kick, driving the heel of her boot into Rapta's solar plexus before he could get his shield back around. As Zade's jaw knitted itself back together, she grabbed the outer edges of Rapta's shield used it was leverage to twist the man's arm around behind him. Rapta thrust his feet in between hers and started to throw her again. Zade yanked on the shield, expecting the welcome snap of the gladiator's shoulder joint-

"Excellent move," Rapta growled.

But the gladiator applied force with his supposedly 'pinned' arm... something he could only do if he were double-jointed or a trained contortionist... and managed to slip free, leaving his shield behind, but also leaving Zade off-balance and surprised.

"Bethsaida has scored a second impressive disarm, leaving her opponent weaponless!" The announcer crooned.

The crowd cheered heartily.

His spinning hook kick would have dislocated her jaw again, but Zade ducked under it. She tossed the gladiator's shield behind her, sneering as she and the gladiator circled each other like prowling panthers. Rapta's attention was wholly focused on her, but Zade's eyes furtively studied the arena for a way out. She did not come here to fight gladiators, and by now the arena must be surrounded by guards. There was no incentive for her to win or to even continue this fight, she would undoubtedly be dead three seconds after the gladiator's body hit the ground...

TALKING her way out of it didn't seem likely... or even desirable. If Ellis wanted to keep throwing slaves at her so she could kill them, then she would happily oblige him until she thought of a way to get her fingers around HIS throat.

"The crowd waits..." Rapta said suddenly. His words were crisp and quick. "Will you not please them with a strike?"

"I'm not here for them," Zade hissed. "Or for you. Tell me how to get to Ellis and I'll let you live. Possibly."

"HA!" Rapta barked. His laughter sounded more like a war-cry than a chuckle. "There is no escape from here, woman-"

"I didn't say I wanted to escape..." While she talked, Zade studied Rapta's movements... searching for some precursor of an attack, or some weakness in his style. She found the first in every move he made, but the second seemed to be nonexistent. "...I said I wanted Ellis. I kill him, and you can be free."

"Perhaps I hit you harder than I intended," said Rapta. "Clearly your thoughts are scattered. Maybe this will bring you focus-"

The gladiator charged, springing at Zade with a speed and power that was almost supernatural. Zade's own reflexes flared into a cascade of actions, spinning her out of the charging gladiator's path while jetting her arm out in a ridge-hand strike aimed at Rapta's throat. Rapta's muscular form flowed around the strike. He grabbed her arm with one hand and delivered a short punch at the base of Zade's jaw with the other. Zade jerked away from the speeding fist-

-a bit too slow.

KRAK!

Pain lanced up and down the side of Zade's face. Zade's newly-repaired jaw shifted in place. Ignoring it, Zade pulled her hand out of Rapta's grasp...

...or she tried to. The gladiator was strong. He not only retained control of her arm, but he yanked her toward him, overpowering her own balance and sending her face-first into the gladiator's fist.

KRAK!

Zade had seen it coming, but wasn't quick enough to avoid it. She took the pain while delivering a rabbit-punch to Rapta's upper abdomen. Her fist bounced harmlessly off of the thick ribbon of muscle, leaving nothing more than a bruise that he would not feel until tomorrow.

KRACK!

Rapta snapped his elbow across Zade's face. This time, Zade could have ducked... but she let the blow land to cover her own attack. She snagged one of the tiny whip-blades from her belt and jabbed it upward into the gladiator's abdomen-

-Rapta suddenly spun Zade around... arms and legs moving in a combination that Zade had never seen before. His own strength overpowered her own, bending her arm backward and twisting it around until her own blade sank into the side of her exposed neck, missing her jugular vein by a hair's width.

"URRRNNK!" Zade growled as Rapta shoved her backward while sweeping one leg behind her, trying to trip her. Zade leapt over the leg and then brought her own boot down hard... missing the gladiator's ankle, yet distracting herself just long enough for Rapta to throw a quick hook kick to the head. Zade ducked under it... simultaneously yanking the blade from her neck. She lunged at Rapta, then suddenly veered to one side. Rapta didn't follow her apparently-obvious trap, and the pair ended up circling one another again. The gush of blood that had sprung from Zade's neck had now slowed to a leaking trickle that was snaking its way down into her tattered armor.

"You fight well, for a mercenary," said Rapta. The gladiator's eyes never stopped moving... yet they never seemed to leave Zade's face. "You would not last long in the games, but you might still put on a mildly entertaining bout..."

"I've GOT your entertainment, right here," Zade sneered, searching for an opportunity...

"With training, you may meet the standards of another house. Perhaps even defeat some of their supposed fighters... but you have no chance here. The standards of House Ellis are far beyond you..."

"Sorry to disappoint you," said Zade. If this man was trying to taunt her, then his technique needed a little work.

"The crowd sleeps," Rapta chuckles. "I will entertain them and educate you at the same time, like SO-"

Even forwarned, Zade was surprised by the speed of Rapta's charge. He was standing right in front of her, yet he seemed to come from nowhere, delivering a simple and hard SLAP across her face which brought a bolt of riotous laughter from the crowd. Zade recoiled from the blow, barely snatching herself out of the path of the fist that followed. However, both slap and punch were but distractions meant to set her up for something else. Rapta slammed into her, grabbing her by the waste and throwing her to the ground before the force of the impact had even registered. Zade landed on her back, with Rapta above her... one of his knees planted firmly on her right bicep and the other on her throat. Zade was still holding the small knife in her hand. She tried to slash at Rapta's side, but his leg had her pinned tight.

Zade reached for Rapta with her free hand. Rapta caught it... and again, the gladiator was in motion.

His weight vanished from Zade's chest as he flipped her over and twisted her arm behind her. His foot connected with the back of her head and drove her face into the dirt. He pulled and twisted her arm, applying painful pressure to the shoulder and elbow.

"Scream first, to please the crowd," Rapta said softly. "Then yield."

Zade growled and started to get up. Rapta's boot shoved her face back down to the ground as he jerked on her straight and struck the elbow with his fist.

KRACK!

The pain from her broken nose vanished in the sudden agony of her shattered elbow. Other than a hiss of rage, Zade didn't make a sound.

"Do it by choice, or I shall force it out of you."

"Force THIS!"

Zade twisted her lower body, trying to throw Rapta off of her. Rapta responded by grinding the broken bones of her arm together. Pain stabbed into the center of Zade's mind, awakening the wolf that slept there. Rapta expected the pain to take the fight out of her, but instead it spurred a burst of animal fury. Zade got one leg underneath her and, forcing her own face harder into the dirt for leverage, twisted free. Rapta leapt clear... but not far.

When Zade exploded to her feet, he was right there... driving into her once again. Zade got her uninjured arm up, and the gladiator's forearm collided with her bracer. But Rapta had the advantages of both strength AND momentum. He drove her back, away from her center of balance. Zade let gravity take her, bringing her legs up at the last moment and planting them in Rapta's abdomen, flipping him over her as she hit the ground.

Rapta flipped in the air and landed on his feet. It took Zade a split second longer to roll to her feet, and she paid for it with a sudden blast of agony as Rapta shattered her knee with a kick. Zade dropped down to her one good knee... fell forward onto her one good arm.

...and then started to get up.

Rapta came at her from behind, encircling her in a bear hug that pinned both arms to her sides. He exerted a sudden, crushing force that forced the air from her lungs. He leaned backward slightly, lifting her from her feet and exerted even more pressure. Zade felt her ribs begin to protest with sharp stabs of breathless pain. Zade tried to force her arms apart, but all the strength she could muster was woefully inadequate.

"Raw strength," Rapta hissed into her ear. "Not the most important trait of a gladiator... but certainly one that you lack!"

Rapta turned to one side and started running toward one of the stone pylons... carrying Zade along in front of him like a doll.

"Realize that your skull is about to be crushed," Rapta said. "Prevent it!"

With a block of solid stone rushing toward her and her muscles rapidly running out of air, Zade raised her legs before her. With her left knee still not completely healed, she could only exert any significant force with her right. It was enough. Both feet hit the block of stone. Zade shoved back against Rapta's charge while jerking her head backward into his face. Her head collided with his cheek as her legs 'walked' up the stone-

And she was free. Even if the crowd didn't catch it, Zade knew that her opponent had released her on purpose. Zade dropped to a crouching position. Rapta's foot shot past her face, but in the process of twisting out of the way, Zade put her weight onto her broken knee...

...which promptly re-broke and sent her sprawling backward.

When her back hit the ground, Zade's eye caught a glint of metal behind the stone. She snatched up both of the daggers while rolling behind the stone to avoid yet another kick from Rapta. Putting all of her weight onto her uninjured leg, Zade rose and slashed at where Rapta would have been if he'd still been attacking...

...but he was several steps back, smiling patiently at her. He looked pleased.

"Armed combat always makes for a better bout," he said quietly. That was why he had let her go. He knew she'd find the blades. This whole fight was just some kind of show to him. "The crowd thinks you have the advantage now... since you are armed and I am not. But you are injured-"

Not as injured as Rapta thought. Zade's arm was whole, and her leg was only a few seconds away from full strength.

"-and I am still clearly the better fighter."

"Why do you do this?" said Zade... continuing to favor her uninjured leg in her stance, even though it wasn't necessary.

"Because this is what I do. Enough talk; I hear murmurs of distraction from the crowd-"

Rapta boldly charged her. Zade dodged to one side and lashed out at him... slashing with one blade and stabbing with the other. The gladiator's hands caught her wrists, but Zade twisted both arms free before he could get a grip on either. The light caught the blades as she slashed at his throat and abdomen. Rapta made a twisting dodge... an burst of motion that SHOULD have carried him right into Zade's secondary attacks.. but the gladiator was clear before even Zade's reflexes could bring the blades to his flesh.

Rapta was backing away from her now, taunting her with a loose, open, and utterly defenseless stance.

"Come, come," he said. "You have the blades... are you going to use them or not?"

A dark suspicion began to creep into Zade's thoughts. The way this man moved... his strength...

"What are you?" she said slowly.

"A gladiator," Rapta returned. "And clearly a better one than you!"

"You're not human."

"I am most certainly human," he said as they began to circle. "Can you say the same? Your wounds have healed, while mine... as insignificant as they are... still bleed. But whatever magic you carry will not be enough!"

Zade thought he was going to attack-

-so she charged him instead. She would put HIM on the defensive for a change.

"oHOO!!" Rapta shouted as he sprang upward, flipped in mid-air and landed a few feet back... next to another pillar. He reached for the ground and came away with a long, curved sword... A scimitar.

One side of the blade was polished to a mirror-like finish.

The other was coal black.

A large chunk of ice slid uneasily down Zade's spine when she saw her reflection staring back at her from her brother's battered weapon.

Blaymore had been here. He HAD gotten here ahead of her after all...

...but if he'd gotten here first, there was no way that Ellis would still be alive...

...and no way that Blaymore's BLADE would be in the hands a gladiator/slave...

But it was... and HE was...

What did that mean? What did it MEAN!?!

"...Michael..." Zade whispered. "What happened to Michael?"

Zade missed Rapta's charging footsteps until they were almost too close. When she realized that she had spent almost two precious seconds in a startled daze, Zade had no other option than to meet the charge with one of her own. Rapta brought the scimitar down in an arc. Zade threw her strengh into a solid block... the gladiator's weapon drew sparks from her metal bracers. But Rapta was already swinging the OTHER scimitar-

-for there had been TWO weapons beside the pillar. Zade had merely stopped looking when she saw the first-

Zade was forced to block IT as well, lest she loose her head. When the other blade hit her right bracer, Rapta's foot came off the ground in a lightning-strike kick that shattered two of her ribs.

"UNRGH!" Zade stepped back, pushing the pain... and the sudden lupine growl... out of her mind.

"Keep your mind on your OPPONENT!" Rapta snarled... chastising her as if he were her teacher. But he wasn't. He was a slave. He was a slave standing between her and Ellis. And he had her brother's scimitar in his hand.

Rapta was already attacking. Zade waded into the blades taking one strike with her left bracer and letting the other... her brother's blade... bite deep into her upper arm while she thrust her dagger at Rapta's throat. Rapta leaned away. Zade attempted a leg-sweep and a slash with her other blade. Both attacks failed, but Rapta's third slash took a chunk out of her right side, just below her shoulder.

Zade was aware of the injuries. Somewhere... on some level... she felt the pain, and may have even been concerned about the wounds' effect on her combat.

But the old rage was beginning to return. Blind hatred poured into her mind. It left no room for pain, concern or any conscious thought beyond killing this FOOL and moving on to Ellis himself.

"WHERE IS MY BROTHER!" Zade growled. Rapta slashed at her neck.

K-TANG!

She blocked, knowing... and not caring... that the attack was a feint. The other scimitar came for her midsection. Zade jerked to one side and took the blade through the kidney instead of the intestines.

SLASH!

Her own blade shot out... Rapta ducked in time to avoid having his mouth widened by several bloody inches. He struck again, thrusting both blades toward Zade's upper abdomen. But Zade wasn't that far gone yet. Blood sprayed from her still-healing wounds as she spun to the right and brought her knife down across Rapta's arm. She carved a bloody groove across his forearm, but her subsequent stab at his exposed side found nothing but empty air. Rapta had twisted away and was now bringing both scimitars around in a double slash-

"NRRRRAAAAGH!"

Zade's arm swept out to intercept the blades.

KANK!

One weapon deflected off of her bracer. The other shattered the bone in her upper arm, coming very close to severing the limb entirely.

Zade snarled as she threw herself at Rapta, blood gushing from her now-useless arm. In her mind, Zade saw Ellis... not Nathaniel Ellis, but that raping bastard Percy Ellis, whom she killed years ago... yet who was right now standing behind Rapta laughing at her. And somewhere behind HIM were the vague, indistinct forms of Hurk and Chase and a half-dozen others... all taunting her... daring her to come and give them what they deserved.

Oh, yes, she would do just that!

But first-

Zade's throat constricted, and her jaws clenched. Her tongue slashed furiously back and forth in her mouth... eager and HUNGRY to taste the meat of Rapta's throat.

Rapta was on the verge of an attack, but he paused instead and let Zade come for him. She was faster now, and the look in her eyes... a dangerous combination of murder and something not human.

The crowd loved it.

Rapta delayed his attack and danced to the side instead. Instead of continuing her charge, Zade crouched and LEAPT at him like an attack dog. Rapta spun away, letting Zade's head and shoulders hit the stone pylon behind him.

NOW he attacked, bringing both scimitars down across her chest in a slash while she was still stunned, then letting the momentum carry his arms down and around... muscles flexing... turning the blades and bringing the back across Zade's midsection. Zade sprang backward, barely avoiding the second attack. Something in Zade's mind twitched... and she realized that:

1) If she fought like an animal, she would get cut to ribbons, and
2) She was still holding the daggers.

The realization came too late to stop Zade from charging again, but it came just in time for her to turn, block one of Rapta's scimitars and spin away to the right before the second could finish severing her arm. Rapta twisted toward her... his blades whistling in the air as he rotated them in an impressive display of speed and dexterity. Zade threw herself into a forward roll that took her past him. Rapta's blades missed her back... and her dagger missed his lower leg. Instead of rolling to her feet and rising right into whatever attack Rapta was already making, Zade came out of the roll into a low crouch, twisting and suddenly springing back at Rapta with both daggers pointed at his abdomen.

The gladiator had his blades prepared to cut Zade's legs out from under her the instant she rose. Her leap surprised him...

...but her execution of it was nowhere near fast enough. For another gladitor, perhaps... but not for HIM.

Rapta's sudden back-flip carried him out of reach and back toward the pylon behind him. While in mid-air, he twisted and kicked out. His foot struck the stone, and he pushed off... propelling himself forward and to the side. He flipped again and landed beside and slightly behind Zade.

The crowd was already cheering. Some, because of the impressive acrobatics... others because they knew what was coming. This was one of Rapta's crowd-pleasing finishing moves-

The gladiator's blades started their arc before the man wielding them had even touched the ground.

-SLASH!-

A two-bladed strike across the back ended the fight. With her spine severed in two places, Zade dropped to the ground like a stone. One of her daggers flew from her hand, but she held onto the other one and tried to slash with it-

Rapta dropped his swords and caught her arm in his iron grasp and twisted the limb sharply in a direction that it was not intended to go. Something snapped, and Rapta calmly removed the dagger from her limp hand.

The fiery tingle of pain returned to Zade's legs as her spine repaired itself. She-

-click-

What was that noise!? Metallic sound-

CLICK!

With the ostentatious flair of a traveling bard, Rapta had removed the collar from his own neck and snapped it around Zade's while she lay immobile on the sand.

"Now YOU are a slave!" Rapta pronounced. He then pounced on top of her... one knee thrusting directly onto the uppermost spinal wound-

-AGONY!-

"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGH!!"

"Aaaaah, that's what they want to hear! Do it again!"

Rapta's knee twisted in her back. Bolts of pain shot through her body like shard of broken glass in her flesh-

Zade clenched her teeth shut and made not a single sound beyond a low hiss... a hiss that became a growl deep in her chest.

"Ah well," said Rapta. "Once was enough, I think. Listen!"

The crowd was cheering. Zade couldn't hear it before because of the rush of blood and rage in her own ears. But she heard it now.

"Look!"

Rapta grabbed Zade's hair and yanked her head up... putting even more strain on her back.

Every muscle in Zade's body... even the ones that should have been paralyzed... clenched tight.

"Open your eyes and SEE!"

Zade saw the crowd. And there... nestled in the stands directly in front of her... was Nathaniel Ellis.

"SEE them cheer for me!" Rapta gloated.

Nathaniel Ellis. Surrounded by faces that Zade didn't know... and some that she did. Jallan. And Grady-

Graaadddyyy....

Murder. Murder. Murder Murder....

The contraction of Zade's muscles began a storm of powerful spasms as the transformation began. Zade could slow it down... maybe even hold it back entirely if she tried. But she didn't...

"See the pleasure in your new master's face," Rapta crooned.

They were looking down at her. Grady, the murderer. Ellis. Jallan.

The slumped figure in the wheeled chair was in front of Ellis. Ellis reached out...

"We both have fought well," said Rapta. "Despite your loss, you should be proud. After all, you could never have defeated me. A good show is the best you could have accomplished... and that, you have done!"

Ellis touched the hooded man's cloak and, with a simple jerk, snatched the hood away.

Micheal's face beamed down at her with bloodshot, half-open eyes. Pain and drugged weakness contorted his features... yet Michael still managed a look of outright HORROR as he beheld his sister.

Zade's spine and broken arm snapped back together like pieces of a child's puzzle.

"NNGRRAAAAAA!"

Zade leapt from the ground, throwing Rapta off of her with an explosion of fury-

"ELLISSSS!"

The collar around Zade's neck blazed to life, transfixing her with a single bolt of pure agony as it violently overrode her nervous system. Then the slave collar's magic reached into her mind and extinguished her thoughts. Zade didn't even register the dozens of impacts from the poisoned darts now riddling her body. Guards stormed into the arena.... stepping out of the shadowy entrances and pausing to fire another round of darts before they closed in on her.

Zade returned to the ground... not even realizing that she was again paralyzed. As her eyes sought Michael, one last thought flickered through her mind:

"Welcome Home, Bethsaida. Welcome Home."


[To Be Continued]