[ADMIN - The character of Clussh, the medical demoness, was created and written by Greg Dewey (dewey1gr@mail.cmich.edu)]

[Hars]

There is a place just outside the city, where the forest first gives way to farmland. It was there that Hars stopped to rest. The Night's Bloom headquarters was just a few minutes away... assuming he could maintain the frantic pace that had brought him and Rivus this far. But he couldn't. Rivus, unconscious and limp, was weighing him down, and his own injuries were starting to drain him. There was the distinct possibility that one of them wasn't going to live through the night.

He was desperate. As much as he hated to admit it, it was time to call for help.

Hars reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver coin. It was not a coin of the royal mint... it was a signaling device. All of December's men had one for use in dire emergencies. When they got theirs, Rivus made him swear that they would never use them... but then Rivus wasn't in any condition to protest. Hars held the coin palm of his hand and pressed the elaborate rune that was carved in the center. The coin started to hum. Help was on the way... Lovvorn and Eric Hood most likely. Knowing that the mage could track him, Hars moved on instead of waiting.

Spurred on by the thought that rescue was imminent, Hars carried Rivus into the city and through the maze of streets. He approached an abandoned building, and two cross-bow wielding guards stepped into his path.

"We need help, lads," he said to his men. "YOU...Stop galking and help me get Rivus inside. YOU... run and get a healer."

"But what happened? Where's everybody else?"

"Dead. It was a trap."

"What?"

"RUN, boy! PanDemonica... get Clussh... "

"Clussh!? But she's a MONSTER!"

"Best healer in town... and the only one we can trust. We're gonna need her if Rivus is going ta live."

The boy tossed his crossbow aside and ran off toward the other side of town. The remaining guard helped Rivus and Hars into the building and down into the catacombs. They navigated the dark maze of torch-lit stone hallways until they reached an open chamber that served as their eating room. There were three tables in the center... stolen at sword-point from one of the better woodsmiths in town. With a sweep of his arm, Hars knocked the assorted dishes, food and silverware (also stolen), onto the floor. Then he carefully placed Rivus onto the 'cleaned' surface.

"Is he going to make it?" asked the guard.

"Probably not," said Hars.

"What about you... you're hurt. Who did this?"

Hars just shook his head... which made him very dizzy.

"Sir?"

Hars staggered backwards, and nearly tripped over the two bodies that had suddenly appeared on the floor behind him.

Help had finally arrived.

Lovvorn and Eric Hood were both covered with blood. The mage's colorful robe was now a uniform shade of dark red. Eric Hood had two bolts sticking out of him... on in the leg and one in the chest. He looked dead... and if he wasn't then he would be before long. Lovvorn had a similar bolt sticking out of his shoulder. That wound by itself wasn't fatal... but then there was his leg. Lovvorn's right leg had been crushed at the knee. Sharp splinters of bone jutted out through the skin, and the lower part of the limb lay off at an impossible angle. The leg was ruined; it was obvious that the mage would never walk on it again... if the loss of blood didn't kill him.

Lovvorn's eyes were open, though at first they were focused on something far away. He looked over at Hars and started to mumble...

Hars managed to get down on the floor without passing out, then leaned over the mage.

"What happened, lad?"

"Trap... warn...warn you...Chain...trap..."

"Gods, you too!"

"... help... Eric..."

"He's a goner, lad. But you might make it if you'll just hold on."

"Eric...danger... N'Doki... get N'Doki... help... help Zade..."

"You just calm down lad..."

"...inn... center of town... Zade... Zade..."

Lovvorn's eyes fluttered closed.

"Clear those tables and get these two up!" ordered Hars. However, his men had to first help pull him up off the floor. "Watch that man's leg! We don't want to damage it any more than it already is... if that's even possible. We need blankets! I don't know if these coins work without Lovvorn, so you... go to the cemetery and find that damned necromancer. YOU... See if you can find that inn he's talkin' about. Zade might be in trouble."

Two men left, and a third went to assume guard post that had been abandoned when Hars arrived.

"What's going on, sir? said one young man. "What... what is all this?"

"I think it's the end, lad... I think it's the end..."

---

[Blaymore]

In the blink of an eye, Blaymore was several blocks away from the scene of Zade's slaughter. He appeared near where he thought the murderous beast was howling. He saw nothing, but he didn't dismiss possibility that he could be in the wrong place. Tracking by sound... or by any OTHER means... was never his specialty. As an assassin, and more recently a 'hero,' Blaymore always depended less on tracking and more on his own stealth and the fact that he was too fast to out-run.

Of course, with his speed he could search every square inch of the city in just under two minutes.

He stood still for the slightest instant as he ran his eyes over the surroundings again.

"Where are you?" he hissed.

As if in response, the beast howled again... It's voice was the cry of some huge, lone wolf. But Blaymore knew better. No mere wolf could take Zade. Not as quickly and completely as THIS one had. It was probably some creature left over from Sinterbourne's games... December had had the beasts released to facilitate the destruction of his rival. Supposedly all of the animals had been captured, but one must have avoided the hunting parties. It must have kept itself hidden, coming out only to feed. Just as it had done tonight, when it fed on Zade.

"You can hide no longer, beast..."

Blaymore ran in the direction of the howl. It was far away, MUCH further than he thought it had been earlier. That told him that the beast was on the move.

[Zade-wolf]

Hungry and enraged, she-wolf stalked the lingering scents of small prey through the Montfort streets. There was none of Zade left in the beast. Nothing except a lingering rage that, so far, lacked a target to spend itself against.

She made her way to commercial district near the Montfort docks. There was a scent there... food... meat. Fresh meat. Unable to resist, the wolf followed the scent to a single door in a long row of shops. She sniffed...

Food.

The door to the butcher's shop was locked and bolted, but of course Zade had no way of understanding that. She pawed the barrier that stood between her and her meal. Her claws carved furrows in the thick wood.

Food.

Giving in to instinct, Zade let out a long howl and then began attacking the door... scratching it with her paws, and even trying to bite it with her powerful teeth...

[Blaymore]

Despite the distance, he found the beast before the echo of the last howl had faded. It was a wolf... but it was larger than any such lupine that Blaymore had ever encountered. The beast was the size of a lion, and was standing outside of a meat-market that had closed for the day. The lingering scent of fresh, raw meat must have attracted it.

"Not had your fill yet, demon!" spat Blaymore. He stood in the center of the street about twenty yards away. His face was hidden in the confines of his hood, but his eyes glowed fiercely with a light of their own. His blue cloak fell off of his shoulders like a cape, and his black pants and boots seemed to fade into the night... making him a not a man, but a dark spirit of vengeance.

[Zade-wolf]

A new scent appeared... so sudden and familiar that the wolf instantly forgot about her meal. She turned, and as the wolf's eyes saw the cloaked man, the remainder of Zade's hatred sprung forth.

Anger.

The bad man.

KillKillKILLKILL!

[Blaymore]

His appearance must have startled the beast. When the wolf turned towards him, it paused for an instant and then growled. The growling grew louder, and Blaymore could tell that the wolf preparing to attack.

Blaymore drew his scimitar.

The wolf ran straight for him; showing him its sharp white teeth as it came. It was moved fast for an animal... but to Blaymore it may as well have been standing still. He readied his sword and prepared to strike. One swing would cut the beast in two... a death far too quick for the thing that had killed Zade.

"Come beast... I shall wrap your entrails around this city like a bow..."

---

[Kirk]

Kirk arrived at the PanDemonica out of breath and exhausted. He had run as fast as he could from the Nights Bloom headquarters, which was nearly on the other side of town. He wanted to collapse, but he knew that an equally exhausting return trip awaited him.

He ran up the stairs and pounded on the huge metal door. They swung open, revealing the smoky red interior of the Club. Leonardo, the PanDemonica's greater and head of security, nodded gracefully at him. Beside him, the short red-skinned Imp snorted and giggled at some private joke. Kirk didn't even notice his weapons vibrating softly in their hiding places as they were scanned.

"Clussh!" he huffed. "She here?"

"Indeed she is. I believe the healer is at the bar-"

Kirk ran down the stairs and across the floor to the main bar.

"CLUSSH!" he yelled, "CLUSSH, THERE'S TROUBLE... WE NEED HELP!"

[Clussh]

The medicine demoness smirked toothily as she looked up from propositioning one of the PanDemonica's most notorious harassers of beautiful women. It was payback time, and Clussh was giving him just what he deserved. Not that she would not have followed through on her tongue-in-cheek flirtations, but few men had a taste for seven hundred pound demonesses who looked more like a velociraptor than a human.

"Medical emergency?" Clussh asked

[Kirk]

"YeahyeahCOME ON! Follow me!"

[Clussh]

"Gottago, _catch_ you later babe, Chchchchch," The scaly demoness laughed like a cross between a rattlesnake and a very large cicada. Her long sinuous tail slid across the man's leg as she turned back to the winded man who had just arrived and said, "I'll follow you." The medicine demoness easily kept pace with

the man and talked as he ran. "How bad is the problem? If it's real bad, maybe I'll let you grab my tail," Clussh winked; "You look winded. If I have to dodge swords or arrows on the scene, that's extra."

[Kirk]

Kirk was too winded to make a coherent reply. He just ran. He left the club and wove his way through the maze of dark streets that was Montfort.. He led the reptilian medic to the Night's Bloom's headquarters.

As he approached the door, a young man wielding a crossbow stepped into his path.

Kirk stopped and made a quick series of hand motions. The guard stepped aside and Kirk entered. Inside the musty shell of a building was a staircase leading down into the stone catacombs below. He lead the demoness through the twists and turns until he emerged in the dining hall. In truth it was just an unusually large vault lit with torches and oil lamps.

"Oh," gasped Kirk. Two more bodies had arrived since he had left to fetch the healer. He recognized them immediately.

Rivus and Eric Hood lay motionless on two tables that had been brought in from other rooms. Beside them, Lovvorn slipped in and out of consciousness, mumbling incoherent warnings whenever he managed to force himself awake. Between the three of them, enough blood covered the tables and floor to make the entire room seem like a slaughterhouse.

Off in one corner, Hars was leaning against the wall tending to his own injuries. He looked up at Clussh and waved her over to the tables where the injured lay.

[Clussh]

Clussh looked at the three men on the table, her rust colored eyes homing in on Eric Hood as having the most life-threatening injuries. The medicine demoness' membranous ear flickered. With a bolt through his lung, Hood should have drowned in his own blood by now, but she could hear his heart still beating.

"Are any of these men are being kept alive by magic? If so you'd better tell me. Magic and I haven't been getting along well lately, and it would be unprofessional to kill a patient by inadvertently canceling the effects of a spell or item."

[Hars]

"Rivus... Rivus is clean," he managed to say. "Your guess is as good as mine on the others... but gods only know what's keeping Hood alive..."

[Clussh]

Clussh assessed the men's wounds. The fat sorcerer, Lovvorn she recognized from the Inebridee drinking contest. His knee had been shattered, probably with a heavy blunt weapon. The joint would have to be reconstructed or the leg would have to be amputated and regrown, a time-consuming process. He also had a crossbow bolt in his shoulder. The second man on the table had two serious sword wounds, one to the shoulder and one to the hip. He'd also been moved and no doubt had bled the whole time. Other than the bolt in his chest that should already have killed him, Hood - the third man, would have been okay with just the second bolt through his thigh.

Clussh licked her fingers with antiseptic saliva and opened the case of claws she kept on her equipment belt. The blood needed to be drained from Hood's lung. Once her surgical claws were in place, she made an incision in Hood's chest into which she inserted a tube. She sucked to make sure the flow started and then secured a sample for analysis in the micro-reservoirs above her palate. Blood siphoned from the lung as the demoness folded down a set of her needle fangs and injected a coagulant into the area next to the bolt. Next she injected several pints of synthetic plasma into his arm.

"That ought to help stabilize him."

The demoness pulled out a listening tube. She inserted one end in her ear and put the other end on the far side of Hood's chest. She pursed her lips and screamed silently against the other side of his chest in several locations. The ultrasound gave the demoness a good feel for where the barbs of the bolt were in comparison with the man's heart. The doctor grinned toothily. "Wouldn't want to push that one through." The demoness widened the bolt's entry wound with a claw and slipped her glue-secreting tongue into Eric Hood's chest cavity.

After building up some quick-curing glue around the bolt's barbs and injecting coagulant to Hood's chest wound, she shifted her attention to Rivus. She gave him a couple pints of synthetic plasma and a shot of coagulant with anti-shock drugs at the sites of each of his major wounds, and did the same for Lovvorn. Since Lovvorn was semi-conscious, the demoness also added a nerve-specific pain medication to deaden the pain near Lovvorn's shattered joint and skewered shoulder. "Nice tattoo work, too bad someone bashed the canvass."

Once the drugs had been administered to the others, the medicine demoness extracted the arrow from Hood's chest. The glue she had shaped and built up around the bolt's barbs had cured, so the doctor simply gave a quick jerk and the bolt came right out. Clussh returned her surgical glue-secreting tongue into the

breech and used it to meticulously repair the wound. She backed her tongue out and closed up as she went, eventually joining the outer skin of the wound in Hood's chest.

Next the demoness put a combat hand guard on her right hand. She lifted and braced Hood's leg, and gave the bolt in his thigh a sharp rap, driving the tip out the other side. The demoness pushed the leg up and let a single drop of vitriol drip from one of her vitriol fangs. The tip of the iron bolt just behind the barbs smoked for a second then dropped to the floor with a "clink". The demoness squirted a jet of neutralizer on the end of the bolt then deftly extracted the projectile. Her tongue was already at work repairing and sealing the wound the moment the bolt was out. The extraction had been done with practiced ease and had taken only seconds. The subsequent repair took the demoness a few minutes before she moved to Rivus and began to clean out and close up his sword wounds, the coagulant having slowed the bleeding down to a mere oozing of blood.

Finally, she turned to the mage.

"Can you think Lovvorn?"

[Lovvorn]

"eh? Maybe..."

[Clussh]

"You need to make a decision about this leg. Either I surgically reconstruct the joint in the very near future, or we amputate and regrow the leg. The cost will be about the same for either. It usually takes the better part of a year to regrow a limb in humans, and you'll have to come to my office for frequent treatments or it won't regrow at all. During that time, you won't have a usable leg, but the joint will be perfect when it's all done. If I reconstruct the joint, the leg will work, but when you shatter a joint and then rebuild it, it's never quite as good as new. On the other hand, you'll have the leg back a whole lot sooner, within two or three weeks."

While she gave Lovvorn time to think, the demoness held Lovvorn's shoulder with her left hand and gave the bolt a precise blow with her right hand that sent the barbed tip out through the back of his shoulder. Clussh slit the fabric of the man's robe with a claw then removed the tip and jerked out the bolt as she had done before, all within the space of a few seconds. The medicine demoness began cleaning and repairing the shoulder wound.

"This bolt wound should be fine, but you're going to have to make a decision about that leg."

[Lovvorn]

"My leg..."

Lovvorn tried to push the fuzziness out of his mind long enough to think, but the effort got more difficult with every second that passed. What had she said about his leg? Was she going to cut it off?

Cut it off?

"AAAYYY!!! You can't cut my leg off, are you out of your MIND!!!"

---

[Blaymore]

Blaymore focused his attention on the beast as it came toward him. It was airborne now... having made a fantastic leap that carried it across the distance between them in the blink of an eye.

In the blink of an *ordinary* eye.

To Blaymore, the huge wolf was frozen in mid air. He had loosened the tight hold he kept on his senses and reflexes, allowing the world to slow down around him. Seconds were like hours to him... which gave the assassin plenty of time to study the beast before he sliced it cleanly in two.

What was this thing? A normal wolf would never be this big... so was this beast the result of some wizard's conjuring? Perhaps he should let it live so he could follow it back to it's master...

No. This beast had killed Zade... eaten her like a... like a...

Blaymore scowled.

Yes... this thing had to die.

He slowed his senses down , and the wolf now floated toward him like a feather through the air. Smooth and fluid... its lips curled back in a predator's smile, baring its white teeth...

...white teeth...

...lips...

Why was there no blood on this animal's mouth?

Blaymore's mind raced through what he had seen: Zade's clothes ripped to shreds. No, not ripped... it was as if the seems had BURST open from the inside. The blood on the leather... was it fresh? There was no way to tell. But there had been no blood on the ground... no telltale chunks of flesh. No bones.

Just the clothes.

Hadn't Zade been acting strangely before he left? Hadn't she tried to bite him? What did that mean?

What was this thing coming toward him?

"NO! ZADE!"

Blaymore sheathed his scimitar and took a few hundred steps back just as the beast touched ground. He looked into its eyes as it ran toward him. All he saw was hunger and savagery... but could there have been something else? Just for an instant?

Could this be Zade?

"Zade! What has that frozen bastard done to you!"

Blaymore sped around behind the beast, and then back to the front. The wolf snapped at him, but it may as well have been trying to catch the wind in its teeth. Meanwhile, Blaymore was thinking. A hundred ideas flew through his mind with every step. He discarded them all.

Either this was Zade or it wasn't... but that didn't change the fact that he had to do something.

"Zade, can you understand me?"

Blaymore had to stand still and talk excruciatingly slow in order for his words to even be heard. The wolf's only response was to try and bite his arm off. He snatched his hand away just in time to keep from loosing it.

I have to contain this beast ...Zade... until I can figure out what to do. I'm sorry to have to do this, Zade-

Blaymore came up from the rear and punched the beast in the back of the head. Forty-five times.

Now, Blaymore's hand hurt and the wolf was even more intent to kill him than before. It spun around and attacked with such sudden ferocity that it managed to rip off a piece of the surprised assassin's blue robe.

Yep... this is Zade. Only HER head could be that hard. But now what?

Zade snapped at him again, but this time Blaymore easily avoided it. He had to retrain her, but from the look of things, a rope wouldn't do it. Perhaps Zade's whip... he could run back and get it before the wolf took three steps. No, it wasn't long OR strong enough. What he needed was a cage of some kind.

Or a chain.

In the blink of an eye, Blaymore was at the Montfort docks. The waterfront was deserted, with the exception of a few drunken sailors too far gone to even make it onto their boats. Blaymore rushed past them like a stiff wind. He ran out onto the row of docks where the ships were loaded and unloaded... the dockworkers manipulated the heavy cargo using a network of ropes and pulleys. Occasionally the ropes weren't enough, and particularly large crates would be secured and moved with thick heavy chains.

Blaymore searched the docks for nearly two whole seconds before he found a suitable chain. The links were thick, but not too heavy to carry. It took several more precious seconds for Blaymore to free it from its pulley. Then, dragging the twelve-foot length of chain behind him, Blaymore took to the streets. The metal chain threw up a wall of sparks as the speeding assassin ran back to where he had left Zade.

She was still there. Blaymore had been gone for less than twenty seconds... not nearly long enough for the wolf to lose interest in him. As soon as he appeared, the wolf lunged for him.

Blaymore made his move.

Moving faster than the wolf could react, he looped the chain around the beast's neck and then across its open mouth. As expected, the wolf bit down on the metal links, but its jaws were nowhere near strong enough to snap the heavy naval chain. Even while the wolf growled and tried to twist free, Blaymore trapped its legs within the metal coils and then made a loop around its chest. He pulled the chain tight with all of his strength.

[Zade - wolf]

She was trapped. She chipped her teeth on the chain in a futile attempt to gain freedom. Had she been able to summon her human intellect and dexterity, Zade could have easily untangled herself. But now, all she could do was howl as the speeding blue thing tightened the bonds and began dragging her down the street.

[Blaymore]

Grunting under the strain, Blaymore hauled the captured wolf away. His original intent was to take it... her... back to her house where she could be hidden. But the weight of the huge wolf was too much. It had slowed him to a snail's crawl, and even though she was tied up, Zade's struggles made her increasingly harder to manage. Then there was the fact that he knew nothing of the sorcery that had caused this transformation. What if it became permanent over time? He was wasting precious seconds here while the man responsible was out committing even more atrocities.

"I'm sorry, Zade," said Blaymore. "I'll need to stash you... but just for a few minutes."

Blaymore changed direction and headed toward a dark alley. He stashed Zade in the shadows and then cast an illusion over the area, making her vanish from sight. He could still hear her growls and snarls, but fortunately the chain across her jaws muffled the sounds somewhat.

"By the time someone figures out you're here, I'll be back with a cure. I don't know how or why December has done this... but rest assured, he shall pay. By the gods, he shall pay DEARLY!"

With that, Blaymore was gone.

---

[December]

"...and that is how my mother chose the name 'December'."

"Very interesting," replied Theesa.

December was standing in front of the bedroom window, where he had been for most of the night. Theesa was behind him, sitting in December's favorite chair.. He had felt her eyes on him ever since she sat down, but he could not bring himself to turn around and face her. He wanted to... he yearned to look into her eyes, the eyes of his wife that had died so long ago. He wanted to take her in his cold arms...

But he was afraid.

If he allowed himself this one indulgence - this one moment of happiness - where would it lead? Was this the beginning of something greater... or was it the end of everything he had worked so hard to build? What if it were both... would that be such a bad thing? Everything that fate had taken from him was now being returned . First was the girl... the daughter that N'Doki had promised him. Then Theesa... who's uncanny resemblance to Jessica couldn't possibly be coincidence. Could his humanity be far behind? And what OF his humanity? Would he accept it if it were given to him? Just days ago the answer would have been no. But now... now, for the first time in decades, he had something within him that wanted to be human again... if only to feel the warmth of another just for a little while.

While his mind wrestled with his heart most of the night, December had entertained Theesa with stories of his childhood. Most were innocent memories... his father's lessons with the spear and staff, his mother's stories of their people. Then there were the other memories... the painful ones. Like how the Horde had destroyed his village, leaving him alone to fend for himself in the frozen wasteland. He shared so many things with her... except for the one thing that he knew they both wanted.

"December?" said Theesa.

December gathered his courage and turned to look at the beautiful woman behind him.

"Yes?"

Theesa rose and walked towards him. December got the sudden urge to back away... and he would have done so if he weren't already standing with his back to the window. Another step back and he would find himself on the street below.

Theesa approached and stood less than a foot away from him. Her tiny form was dwarfed by his own muscular bulk. She reached up and ran her hand along his down his arm. Her face turned up expectantly towards his own.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are quite a gentleman?"

"I do try," replied December. He looked down into her eyes, and he felt himself leaning forward and bringing his face down closer to hers.

"Gentleman can be so frustrating at times."

Theesa rose up onto her toes and pressed her lips against his. His arms circled her and drew her close. deep inside him, December felt something that he hadn't experienced in a long time. A brief flicker... like a candle in a dark room. It had no warmth... but it made him remember what warmth was... what it felt like. It made him yearn for it more than he ever had in the past. Then it was gone.

Theesa broke the kiss and stepped back. As December searched for something to say, Theesa frowned and began rubbing the feeling back into her lips.

"I am sorry," said December. "There are... complications."

"No... it'll just take some getting used to."

They looked silently into each other's eyes.

"December... I think I'm falling in love with you."

"You do not know me, Theesa. How do you know that I am even capable of love?"

"I know."

"But I do not."

December turned away and faced the window once more. Theesa stood beside him and rubbed his back.

"Talk to me," she said.

"You do not know..." said December. "You don't know what has happened to me. You don't know what I have done..."

"Are you talking about your wife?"

"That... and much more. If you knew what kind of a monster I really am."

"I don't care."

"You say that now... but you will."

"Then tell me. What happened to your wife, December? You've told me many things, but you still haven't told me that."

"No."

"Did... did you hurt her? If you did I'm SURE it was an accident!"

"NO!"

December broke away from her. He turned and took a few steps before he realized that he had nowhere to go. What he was feeling was within himself... and he could not run from it. But he could be rid of it... he could tell her. He could SHOW her what he was. Then she would leave... and everything would be as it was. Or she might stay. Which was better?

"There..." December pointed to an old cabinet against the bedroom wall.

"What?"

"Look in there. The third drawer."

He watched as Theesa opened the cabinet. She reached in, and opened the third drawer. When she turned around, she was holding a simple gold ring.

A wedding ring.

"The answers you seek are on that ring. If you still love me after that... only then you will be ready to learn the whole truth."

Theesa held the ring between her fingers as if it were going to burn her.

"I... I don't want to," she said.

"You are afraid."

"Yes."

"This is a truth that cannot be ignored. You will either know it... or I cannot allow this... us... to continue."

Theesa looked at the ring.

December waited... and then there was a vibration in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out a single coin, that was humming fiercely even as he held it in his palm.

"What is that?" asked Theesa.

"An emergency. I must go." December started towards the bedroom door.

"NOO!"

"I must."

"No! Not NOW!"

"Learn the truth, Theesa."

"I can't!"

"Do it. And when I return..." December's words trailed off... he really didn't know WHAT was going to happen when he returned.

"I'll wait right here," said Theesa.

December nodded and left the room. He closed the door behind him and walked down the stairs. As he did, he could feel his mind slipping back into its old, familiar tracks. What was going on? What was the emergency? Was it something that required his presence, or could the others handle it on their own. He felt a twinge of guilt for abandoning Theesa, but by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs that emotion was all but forgotten. There would be time for that later... but now there was work to be done.

He walked over to his desk and opened the second drawer. Inside were numerous letters and papers, all meticulously stacked and arranged. He reached past them and tapped his fingers on a hidden panel at the rear of the drawer. It slid open, revealing a small section that had been hidden from view. In it was a single piece of red cloth that had been rolled into a scroll.

After closing the secret compartment and the drawer, he spread the cloth out on top of the desk. It was a six-inch square that bore arcane runes symbols in various places. In the very center was a small circle. December placed his coin in the circle and touched the remaining runes in a specific order. Suddenly all of the runes vanished, and were replaced with a detailed map of Montfort, drawn in glowing blue lines. The map was centered around December's coin, which represented his current position. December studied the map, searching for the tiny glowing lights that represented the others.

He found Rivus and Hars on the very edge of town. They were together, and moving in the general direction of the Night's Bloom headquarters. From the color of the dots, December could see that it was Hars' coin that had raised the alarm. That was a surprise. Judging from what he knew of the Night's Bloom, they would be the LAST people he expected to use the coins to summon help. Except possibly Zade.

Zade was missing, of course. The headstrong woman refused to carry her coin... though she thought that December didn't know. He made a mental note to have a talk with her... times such as these made knowing everyone's location absolutely essential.

Lovvorn and Eric Hood were also together... but they weren't moving. This was also odd. The alarm had sounded several minutes ago, yet neither one of them had responded. That was believable for Lovvorn... but Eric?

Something was wrong.

Rather than rush off into something unknown, December stood still and watched for a few minutes more. Eric and Lovvorn didn't move during that time, but Rivus and Hars entered their underground headquarters without any interruption. A few seconds later, Both Eric and Lovvorn vanished from the map and reappeared in catacombs with the Night's Bloom. Lovvorn had teleported them. That meant he was still alive, and that December could expect a report from him or Eric in the next few minutes.

Only no report came.

Everyone stayed in the same room... no one left, and in fact it appeared that only Hars had moved at all.

The more the situation developed, the less December liked it.

"J'Hasp!"

"Masster?" J'Hasp's head peeped around the corner, where he was presumably sleeping.

"Stay here. Guard the woman..."

"J'Hasp guard masster! J'Hasp protect!"

"I am perfectly capable of protecting myself."

J'Hasp sniffed and vanished around the corner.

December left the house quietly, taking care to lock the door and activate the protective wards. He paused on the doorstep and wondered what Theesa was doing. Learning the truth? Or perhaps merely waiting for him to return?

And what would happen when he returned?

December pushed the thought away from his mind and started down the dark street.

---

[Lovvorn]

Hars literally had to lean on Lovvorn's neck in order to calm the mage down. And even then, the mage's hysterics threatened to do even more damage to his leg and freshly-repaired shoulder.

Finally, the screaming, yelling, and obscenities stopped long enough for the medic to get explain the situation.

[Clussh]

"All right, if you prefer, I'll rebuild the joint. If you want a top-notch job, you'll need to get to the Clinic of the Coliseum. If you don't think that's a wise idea, I can do a less good job right here after I return to the clinic to pick up a few things. The choice is yours. If you or a friend can teleport you to the street next to the clinic, or the sewer below the street, I can get you into the building quickly. Obviously, the clinic itself is within the Coliseum wards. The reconstruction should be done as soon as possible before the joint begins to heal wrong.

[Hars]

"The excitement's isn't quite over yet," said Hars "Whatever you can do will need to be done quickly."

[Clussh]

"I've stopped the bleeding. For now just keep the leg splinted and use crutches. Come see me soon and I'll rebuild it," Clussh smiled toothily.

The demoness looked over at Hars and drooled a bit. "Give me a minute to fix those wounds and I can take a couple of weeks off your healing time. It could be important if you need to be ready for action," Clussh winked.

[Hars]

"Aye," he grunted as Clussh did what little she could for Lovvorn's leg. "But like the clown said... we need ta be going about this quickly."

[Clussh]

"Chsssss, I've done as much as I can right now. Lovvorn's leg needs to be put in a splint if you have the materials, and he needs to be brought to the clinic soon so I can rebuild his knee joint. If you come by with him, I can mend your wounds while you're there." Clussh meticulously licked her surgical claws clean and replaced them in the case as she spoke.

[Hars]

He signaled to one of the men, who left the room and returned a short time later with a pouch of gold. He gave it to Hars.

"I'll be fine," said Hars. He handed the gold to Clussh. "But what about the others? Rivus and Hood? Will they live?"

[Clussh]

"Rivus should be fine. Hood ought to have drowned in his own blood well before I got here. If he lived with a punctured lung for that long, he is in no danger now unless the charm on his existence runs out, chchchch. As for Lovvorn, he's too cute to die, cssssss, Clussh winked and lightly squeezed Lovvorn's

belly. "He should be okay for now, but his leg's still a wreck and needs to be immobilized. Get him over for his knee work as soon as you can."

[Hars]

Hars signaled, and the man who had brought the gold vanished again. He returned with a few boards and some thin rope, which he used to make a crude splint for Lovvorn.

[Lovvorn]

"HEY! Watch that!" shouted the mage. "OWWW!"

[Clussh]

"Make sure all the wounded drink plenty of fluids and avoid anything even close to strenuous for a few days once they come to. They've lost blood and are going to be weak. You should not see any sign of infection because the surgical glue I secrete has antibiotic properties, but if you do, get them over to the clinic. If one of them doesn't wake up within about 16 hours, or looks to be slipping, you might want to bring him over too, or come get me." Clussh hefted the bag of gold to make sure it paid the fee, and nodded with satisfaction. "That should cover the work. Lovvorn can pay any overage on the knee work when the time comes."

[Hars]

Hars had Clussh escorted out of the room, then hobbled over to Rivus. The leader of the Night's Bloom was still asleep, but his wounds had been treated and his chances of living through the night were significantly better.

"I wonder if we need ta send someone after December... not that we've got anyone left ta SEND..."

"You activated the alarm," said Lovvorn. "He'll be on his way here." The mage sat up and winced. "My head hurts."

"It's a wonder that's not ALL that hurts, lad."

"No... it REALLY hurts."

"What? Ya get a knock on the head, too?"

"I don't know... it feels fuzzy..."

"Probably one a those damn chemicals she pumped inta ya. Clussh does good work, though... it'll pass."

"I wonder," said Lovvorn, still trying to clear his head. "I wonder..."

---

[The Chain Gang]

"Are you sure?"

"Got it right here..." Belladrox held up the small gray stone so that Chain could see it. The two of them, along with Bradley and three others, were perched atop a building in the affluent store-front district of Montfort.

"Give it to me." Chain reached out for the stone, but Belladrox snatched it away. Two of Chain's men turned towards the battle mage. He frowned back at them, then looked to Chain.

"Nope," said Belladrox. "The little clown's memories are all mine. I'm the one that fetched 'em, after all."

"I need to know if you did it right."

"I figured out your little rock just fine. I even took a peek... I got fat-boy's memories going back two or three years at least. All the best spells. Remember the teleport I used to get us outta the inn? That was one of his."

"I don't care about the spells. I need to know what HE knew."

"'Knows'," corrected Belladrox. "You let him and Hood get away, remember?"

"Even if they survived their injuries... which is doubtful... their usefulness to December has eliminated. They are out of the picture."

"Speaking of injuries..." said Belladrox. "Seems like the woman whipped you pretty good. Then you let HER get away, too. Looks to me like you're getting a little sof-"

Belladrox's words were cut off as something hard an unyielding wrapped around his legs and hauled him up into the air. A metal chain suspended him upside down over the street. Belladrox didn't need to follow the chain to know its origin...

"Okay! Okay!" he said. "Put me down! I was just kidding!"

"The stone." said Chain. He held out his hand expectantly.

Belladrox tossed the stone to Chain, and then the chain slung Belladrox through the air and then returned him to the roof with a hard *thud.*

"Good choice," said Chain. The soldier placed the stone against his own forehead, which still bore the bruises from his earlier encounter with Zade. He took a long, slow breath... and then inhaled sharply as the stone's power flooded his mind with stolen memories. Chain skimmed them lightly, as a man would scan the pages of a book for a familiar passage. Chain's stern frown deepened into a scowl of displeasure. Disgusted, he lowered the stone and tossed it back to Belladrox.

"What? I didn't do it right?"

"Perfect," said Chain. "But for someone so high in December's organization, the mage knows surprisingly little. Perhaps we should have gotten Hood's memories as well."

"What are you talking about? I got at least twenty spells-"

"I said I am not INTERESTED in his spells!"

"Then what are you interested it... If I might ask?"

Chain looked at Belladrox, then turned his gaze on the others. They all waited silently for him to either reply... or to kill the one-handed battle mage. He didn't oblige them on either count.

"The mage know how to bypass December's security wards... that is enough," said Chain. "By now, December knows that his men... his elite... have been challenged and defeated. He's never had to deal with that before. I've got my mercenaries watching his house from a distance... they'll report his every move. Meanwhile, we will be moving on to phase two."

"What's phase two?"

Chain pointed down at the building across the street. It was a jewelry store, and the golden plaque beside the door read: "House of December".

"Phase two," said Chain. "Search and Destroy..."

[To Be Continued]