[Zade]

Zade stood outside of her house and scowled at the locked door in front of her. She didn't have a key. Her only one had been in her clothes, and her clothes were gone. She had no idea where they were. Perhaps Chain had kept them as a sick souvenir. Or maybe some homeless person was walking around in one of her best suits of leather armor. Either way, even if she DID have a key... the alternate method of entry was much more suited to her current mood.

WHAM!

One spinning back-kick and the door flew open. She dropped the rags she was using to hide her nakedness and stepped inside. It was dark, but nothing sounded or smelled out of place. She walked into the bedroom... which in fact was the house's *only* room... and threw open the closet door. Seven suits of leather 'armor' stared back at her. There were all similar, but not identical. Some were more revealing than others, and one actually had enough padded leather in it to actually be used as armor. Zade snatched that one out of the closet and got dressed. She knew that she should clean up herself first, but that would take precious time. She wanted to catch Chain when she was GOOD and mad. And the horrid, dirty feeling of what he had done to her would just make her revenge all the more sweet.

Zade pulled on a pair of metal-tipped boots, and tied her spare weapons belt around her waist. The belt had notches and hooks which Zade filled with daggers and throwing stars from her arsenal at the bottom of the closet. There was an extra whip in the corner. Zade took it, wrapped it up in a series of tight loops, and hung it from her belt. Then rummaged through the closet until her fingers found something hard and cold. She grabbed the object and pulled it free.

It was a short-handled, double bladed battle axe. She felt the weight of it as she held it before her. The hard, black metal gleamed in the small amount of moonlight that filtered through the window. The edges were razor sharp. The wooden handle was smooth and solid, and the entire weapon was perfectly balanced.

Zade spun and threw the ax at the wall...

THUNK!

The blade sank deep into the wood. All that was missing was Chain's bloody, fractured face peering out from beneath the ax.

But Zade would remedy that soon enough.

Growling under her breath, Zade left the house, pausing only to retrieve the weapon from the wall. She was determined to find Chain tonight, no matter what it took. Then there would be hell to pay.

---

[The Chain Gang]

"You sure he's not in here?" said Belladrox. He, Chain, Bradley, and Drinder... one of Chain's mercenaries... were standing outside December's front door. All the windows in the house were dark except for one... an upstairs bedroom on the left side. They saw it as they approached, and Belladrox balked immediately.

"So what if he is?" said Chain. The metal links around his waist clinked as if in agreement. "Open the door."

"These wards are different from the ones at the store. Let's see..."

Belladrox placed the small gray stone against his forehead and consulted Lovvorn's recent memories.

"You know...," he said. "...that fat mage really is a disgusting piece of-"

"Open the door."

"Yeah. Sure. Hmmm.... only December knows how to unlock the wards, but Lovvorn created them, so he should have a clue how to bypass.... ahhh.... there we are... I can free the door, but the windows and walls will still be sealed."

"Good enough," said Chain.

Belladrox pocketed the stone and made a few passes over the door with his hand. The air crackled, and the everyone's hair stood on end.

"Are you doing this right?" said Bradley

"Hush! Of COURSE I'M-"

KZZZZ-ZAP!

A bolt of emerald energy leapt from the door to Belladrox, and blasting the mage completely off of the doorstep. He landed on his back several yards away... in the middle of the street.

"Is he dead?" said Bradley.

"unnnnnhhhgh..." Belladrox sat up. His leather chest-plate had absorbed most of the blast, but now there was a huge smoking hole in it. There wasn't a single hair left on his chest.

"Can you do this or not?" said Chain.

"Do it? It's done... door's open."

Drinder pushed the door open, revealing the dark interior of December's house.

"We need light," said Chain. "First we find out who's home... then we search from top to bottom."

"Search for what?" said Belladrox and Bradley.

Chain ignored them and led the way inside. Belladrox cast another of Lovvorn's spells, which caused a large globe of white light to float up to the ceiling and follow them as they climbed the stairs to the second level. He and Bradley both had their crossbows cocked and ready. Drinder brought up the rear.

"I hope those men stay away from my loot," mumbled Belladrox.

"You're richer than you've ever been before and you're still greedy," replied Chain. "Amazing."

"What's mine is mine... I would've preferred to carry it back to the hideout myself than trust it to-"

"Hey guys," interrupted Bradley. "Did you hear something...."

"-a bunch of thieves."

"No time for that. I need you here... your 'loot' will be safe with the others."

"Ummm, Chain? Drinder? Do you hear something moving? Besides us?"

"Well it BETTER be... If one of my diamonds is mis-"

"Shhhh...." Chain raised his fist and halted them near the top of the stairs. "The archer's right... I did hear something."

"Well go up there and kill it, then." said Belladrox.

At that instant, something large jumped out of the shadows. It sailed right past Chain, heading straight for Belladrox.

"AAAAHHHH!"

Belladrox fired his crossbow, which missed the beast entirely but nearly took off Bradley's ear. He followed with a blast of fiery magic from his fingertips. The flames slammed into the beast and sent it flying back into the shadows. The thing hit the wall about halfway up, then slid back down to the floor.

"Never mind," said the battle-mage. "I got it."

"What is it?"

The creature was shaped like a man, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Its pale skin was broken by patches of light fur and translucent scales. The head was large and bulbous, and the thing's tail was almost as long as it was tall. The whole thing was smoking from Belladrox's blast.

"Sure is ugly," said Belladrox. "Or rather... it WAS ugly."

"Hey," said Bradley. "Are you sure it's d-"

"J'HASP PROTECT!"

J'Hasp sprang into motion, throwing himself at the group of men. He crashed into Bradley and Belladrox, and both of them went tumbling down the stairs. J'Hasp followed, but not before wrapping his tale around Drinder's neck and dragging him down as well.

"HEEEYYY!" Belladrox leap to his feet and let out another blast of power. It caught J'Hasp in the shoulder and blasted him halfway back up the stairs.

"GOTCHA!"

Belladrox pinned the beast to the stairs with a continuous stream of crackling green flames.

"STOP BLASTING!" yelled Chain. "YOU'LL SET THE WHOLE DAMN HOUSE ON FIRE!"

Belladrox complied, but as soon as the fire died, J'Hasp leapt straight up to the ceiling. A bolt from Belladrox sank into the wooden step where the creature was a second ago.

"Where'd he go?"

"UP!

"ARRRRGGHHH!!!"

J'Hasp dropped down on Drinder's back and began ripping huge holes in the man's armor. Drinder spun and threw himself backward into the wall, hoping to crush the beast between himself and the sturdy wood. A second before impact, J'Hasp leapt off of Drinder's back, leap-frogged over the man's head and landed in front of him. Drinder's bare back slammed into the wall.

"UNNGH!"

In one swift motion, J'Hasp sank his claws into Drinder's leather chestplate yanked it completely off of his body.

"aaAAAAHHHH that HURT!"

Drinder rolled to one side and drew his sword...

CLANG!

One swipe from J'Hasp's claws sliced the thick blade in two. Drinder tossed the ruined sword aside and ducked under a similar slash aimed for his face. When he came up, he had a dagger in his hand. He spun and slashed at the creature's wrist. The blade sank deep into the dense flesh.

"EEEEEEE!!!!" J'hasp screeched and snatched his arm away. Drinder spun and moved to sink the dagger into the distracted creature's bony chest. Hissing furiously, J'Hasp grabbed the man by the neck and the belt. He lifted him and tossed him across the room, where he collided with Bradley.

"OOOOF!"

"OOOW!"

"GOTCHA!"

Belladrox slammed into the beast from the side and bore it down to the floor. He raised his spiked mace in one hand, but before he could pulverized the thing's head, the squirming beast planted both feet in Belladrox's chest and shoved him away.

Belladrox flew upward and back. He collided with ceiling and dropped like a stone.

"UUUUGH!"

J'Hasp ran for the stairs, where Chain had been silently watching. As the creature passed Drinder, the mercenary reached out, grasped his tail and pulled him back. Drinder leapt to his feet, threw his arm around J'hasp's neck, and sank his dagger hilt-deep into the thing's back.

Screeching in pain, J'Hasp crouched down and leapt straight up to the ceiling. He hung there by his claws with Drinder still swinging from his back. Drinder started twisting the dagger in J'hasp's flesh, and J'Hasp reacted by letting go of the ceiling...

Drinder hit the ground first, landing flat on his back. J'Hasp landed on Drinder's chest, but immediately leapt for Belladrox, who had risen to one knee and was nervously reloading his crossbow.

"AIIIIIIGGGH!... what?"

J'Hasp flew past Belladrox, but as he passed, he looped his prehensile tail around the mage's waist.

"HEEEEEEY!!"

Once again, Belladrox was airborne. He saw the room spinning around him... then the tail went slack and he saw the wall coming towards him.

WHAM!!

Belladrox bounced off the wall and slid across the floor... coming to rest right beside Drinder.

"Okay... I've seen enough," announced Chain, who was still at the top of the stairs.

J'Hasp looked up at him and hissed. The wound on his wrist had healed, but Drinder's blade still protruded from his back.

Two chains streaked away from Chain's waist and shot towards J'Hasp like twin serpents.

CLINK-CLANK!

J'Hasp's claws drew sparks as he swatted them away. The chains came at him again, this time attempting to encircle his chest and feet


CLANK!

Again, the creature knocked them away.

Faster and faster they came, but J'Hasp matched Chain's unusual weapons stroke for stroke. The creature's reflexes were amazing. He twisted. He twirled. He leapt and ducked. On the few occasions that the beast seemed cornered, J'Hasp used the unnaturally strong claws on his hand and feet to simply deflect the living chains that sought to entangle him.

As the situation rapidly settled into a stalemate, the expression on Chain's face slowly changed from mild interest... to worry.

"What the HELL is this thing!" he shouted. "Drinder! Bradley! Belladrox! Get off your asses!"

"I got it!" Drinder got to his feet and dove into the nest of flying chains and claws. He attempted to tackle the beast, but hit the floor empty-handed as J'Hasp danced away from him AND the chains. He got up again, but then Bradley shouted:

"Drinder Get Down!" The archer tightened the tension on his mechanically augmented crossbow and fired a single bolt.

"DON'T!" shouted Belladrox. But it was too late. J'Hasp dodged the impossibly fast missile. The bolt struck the wall... and then passed THROUGH it. When pierced the exterior wall, the bolt activated the remaining wards. Crackling arcs of energy began streaking along the walls on the outside AND inside of the house. Drinder Bradley, and Chain hit the floor an instant before the deadly blasts of green lightning began criss-crossing the room.

"DROX GET DOWN!" yelled Drinder.

"I GOT IT!" Belladrox thrust his hand into the air and cast a spell. The bolts of energy converged on his fist, where he held them like a handful of angry snakes. Every hair on his head was standing on end. "Now where's that beastie... AH-HA!"

J'Hasp leapt off of the ceiling straight for Belladrox's head. The mage thrust out his hand and released the power he had absorbed. At the same time, he shouted an quick incantation...

The sizzling blast struck J'Hasp square in the chest, knocking him back into the wall.

"EEEEEEEE!"

Yielding to Belladrox's incantation, the sizzling streaks of energy warped and twisted around the struggling creature... forming a net that bound him tightly in place. J'Hasp screeched as the 'net' seared his skin where it touched him. Tufts of fur caught fire and vanished into thin wisps of smoke. J'Hasp tried to twist his way free, but the net of pain was too tight... he couldn't even move.

"Like I said... I got it." said Belladrox with a smirk.

Everyone slowly got up off of the floor and gathered around the captured creature.

"Will that net hold?" said Chain.

"Long enough to fry this thing to a crisp."

"What IS it?" said Drinder

"Looks like a man," replied Bradley.

"With scales and fur?"

"Hey... you live in Montfort long enough you get to see all KINDS of things..."

"I saw pieces of it in Lovvorn's memory," said Belladrox. "He doesn't know what it is either... but it wasn't supposed to be here. It's December's bodyguard... so if IT'S here, then HE'S here, too."

"No," said Drinder. "I saw December leave alone."

"And if December were here he'd have shown himself by now," said Chain. "The creature was left here to protect something. Let's go see what that could be."

Leaving J'Hasp to the torture of Belladrox's net, the quartet of mercenaries started up the stairs.

---

[Theesa]

Theesa had just given up on the window when the noise stopped. She didn't know who those men where or how they got in, but all the fighting downstairs certainly wasn't making her feel any better. The windows were still sealed so she couldn't get out of the house by any route other than the front door... which would mean walking right past the intruders.

That wasn't going to happen.

When the fighting first started, Theesa strained nearly every muscle in her arms while moving December's cabinet in front of the bedroom door. It was heavy, and she HOPED it would keep them out. But now that everything had gone quiet, she wondered if barricading herself in was such a good idea.

Theesa heard several sets of footsteps coming down the hall. They stopped in front of the bedroom door.

"This is where the light was coming from," said one of the intruders. Almost instantly, the men began pushing on the door, trying to get in.

"GO AWAY!" Theesa screamed.

"Hey, was that a woman?" said another voice.

"She's pushed something in front of the door."

"We don't have time for this. Stand back."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Theesa backed all the way to the window, as if the man had been talking to her. Then, two *things* burst through the door. At first, Theesa thought they were snakes... but as they wrapped around the cabinet she saw that they were actually two thick metal chains. The chains tightened around the cabinet and pulled it... and the door it was blocking... out into the hallway with a single yank.

Theesa screamed as four armed men rushed into the room.

"Hey! I remember her!" yelled one man who was armed with a crossbow. Theesa remembered him too... it was one of the men who attacked her on her first night in Montfort. Was that what this was about? Had they come back for revenge?

"Grab the girl," said another man. He was bald and had a chain wrapped around his waist.

"Gladly."

Screaming, Theesa tried to punch and kick her attackers, but they quickly grabbed her arms and forced her back against the bedroom wall. The man with the chains grabbed her by the throat and squeezed her neck until she stopped screaming. Then he loosened his grip so that she could breathe... barely.

"And who might you be?" he asked.

Theesa spat in his face.

"She's a feisty one, ain't she?" said a man with a crossbow for a hand. "What are we going to do with her?"

"Find something to tie her up... we'll take her with us."

"Ohh, YEAAHHH!"

"She's not for YOU, Belladrox. But I may have a use for her."

The man released her neck and started looking around the room...

"HEEELLLLPPPP!" screamed Theesa.

"Oh, SHUT UP!"

The man with the chains punched Theesa in the face... and everything went dark.

---

[Chain]

"She's out," said Chain. "Search the place thoroughly.... and I want to know everything you find. I'll start here."

As the other three men split up to search the house, Chain began ripping December's bedroom apart. He smashed every piece of furniture and sifted through the debris in search of anything interesting. He found nothing.

"Hmmm..."

"Hey CHAIN!"

It was Bradley, yelling from one of the other upstairs rooms. Chain made sure the girl was still unconscious and then stepped across the hall. The room was packed with books. There were shelves on every wall, and huge piles of books stacked up in each corner. The only other furnishings were an antique chair and a single table, both of which held more stacks of books.

"It appears we've found Jerimiah Trisk's infamous library," said Chain.

"What do you want me to do?" said Bradley.

Chain ignored him. He picked up one of the books from the table, and found it was an encyclopedia of rare magical artifacts. In fact, ALL of the books on the chair and table were encyclopedias. They were written by different authors in different time periods... but they all dealt with either enchanted items in general, or specifically with enchanted *weapons*

"Looks like he was researching something," said Chain.

"Maybe he was trying to find out what that thing downstairs is."

"I doubt it."

"So what do we do?"

"Find something to pack up these books here... the ones December was using. My guess is, the rest are useless."

Chain started to leave, but he turned back to add:

"But search the bookshelves... there might be secret compartments. I'm going downstairs with the others; check on the girl every few minutes."

"Yes sir."

With that, Chain headed downstairs. December's pet creature was still wrapped up in Belladrox's net, which was burning huge gouges into its skin. The thing hissed and spat at Chain when he entered the room.

"Find anything?" he asked Drinder. The mercenary had demolished December's desk and was examining the papers it contained.

"Nothing unusual, sir. Business correspondence. Shipping receipts. Account books."

"What about THIS?"

Belladrox held up a red cloth with runes printed on one side.

"What is it?"

"It's a map. It's how December keeps track of his people."

"Can we use it?"

"No... we need a special coin or something."

"We'll take it with us anyway. Anything else?"

"Not yet."

"Keep looking..."

"Ya mind tellin' us what we're LOOKING for?" asked Belladrox.

"Yes, I do mind. Just tell me whatever you find..."

For the next few minutes, Chain over-saw the demolition of every piece of furniture in December's house. Every desk, every chair, every table, cabinet, chest, mirror... everything was smashed open and searched. Finding nothing, he and his men set upon the house itself... tearing small holes in the walls and floor, and searching every corner that might potentially hold a secret hiding place.

The results were as Chain suspected all along... nothing. The walls held a series of crawlspaces too small for a man to use, but beyond that there was nothing hidden within them. The library held only books, and the kitchen, only food... most of which was fruit. A small storage closet did yield a small length of rope that Drinder used to tie up the girl. But beyond the girl, the creature, and the peculiar cloth that Belladrox had found, the house was perfectly normal.

"He's to smart to keep anything in the house anyway," said Chain.

"Wish you would have told us that BEFORE we busted our butts tearing the place apart!" said Belladrox.

"Never can be too sure of men like December," replied Chain. "Looks like we're going to have to draw him out. Get the books and the girl and let's go."

Bradley found an empty shipping crate that he used to box up the twenty or so books that December had been studying in the library. He carried them, while Drinder threw Theesa's unconscious body over his left shoulder.

"What about THAT thing..." Belladrox nodded at J'Hasp. The creature had settled down considerably now that most of its skin had been seared away. The net had burnt its way into its muscles, and was now filling the room with the stench of burnt flesh. The creature was still alive, however. "Lemme kill it..." Belladrox pointed his crossbow at the thing's head and J'Hasp instantly resumed his struggles to free himself.

"Wait..." said Chain. He kneeled down to get a good look at the beast. "You can understand me, can't you?"

J'Hasp hissed.

"Yeah... yeah, you might be just some animal, but you're a SMART one, aren't you?"

J'Hasp jerked within the confines of the net, sending more pain into his body..

"Well listen to me... you tell December that Chain has his girlie. If he wants her, he'll have to come and get her. There's an abandoned building on the corner of Wilkenshire and Devonsmith. She'll be there... but only tonight. Come dawn, they'll be turning up pieces of her all over the city."

Chain stood.

"Let's go."

The men gathered their 'goods' and left the house. Chain intentionally left the front door ajar.

"Wilkenshire and Devonsmith?" said Belladrox.

"That's where were going," said Chain. "That's where we're going to wait on December."

"But that's not where my LOOT is! When are we going to go back and get my loot!?"

"Time for that later... I've got a special job for you."

"Oh yeah? Who you want killed?"

"You're going to get good and acquainted with Lovvorn's memories and those books Bradley's carrying."

"Books" mumbled Belladrox. "I hate books..."

"Somehow, I knew that," said Chain.

---

[Blaymore]

Invisible and motionless, Blaymore stood across the street and watched as the men left December's house. He'd been there when they arrived, and now, as they disappeared down the street, the stealthy assassin could only watch and wonder.

The fact that they had gained entry to December's house marked them as more than ordinary thieves. The fact that all four of them left alive... with stolen goods in tow... marked them as MUCH more. He knew their leader was Chain, a mercenary. But why was he here in Montfort, and what was his business with December? Blaymore also recognized some the others... the woman and the man with fancy crossbow. A few nights ago he had rescued a woman from that man and his friends. The friends were dead, but Blaymore had let the lone archer live. Now, that same woman was being carried away like a sack corn meal. Blaymore had no intention of rescuing her a second time... she had cast her lot with December, so she was on her own.

Very interesting, he thought. I'll need to follow them... find out what's going on. But first, I have to check on Zade...

With little more than a thought, Blaymore was gone.

---

[Zade]

"What the hell happened to YOU!" said Zade. She had just walked unannounced into the Night's Bloom headquarters, where she found Rivus lying unconscious on a table and Hars and Lovvorn sitting nearby arguing about something. There was blood everywhere, and everyone looked like they had had the living daylights beaten out of them.

She was surprised to see Lovvorn conscious at all. Someone had done a fair job of patching him up, but he still seemed to be in a lot of pain. Under different circumstance Zade might have felt sorry for him.

But not tonight.

Hars looked up at her.

"How'd you get in," he said. "What happened to the guard?"

"He was in my WAY!" Zade hissed through clenched teeth.

"I'm so very happy to see you alive, Zade," said Lovvorn in a weary voice. "Perhaps we should celebrate your return with... oh, forget it." Lovvorn lowered his head and stared at the floor. Zade realized that this was perhaps the first time she had seen him completely sober. He was different... but it wasn't much of an improvement.

"What happened?"

"Chain happened.," replied Hars. "To all of us. Even N'Doki's missing. We thought you were dead, but-"

"Obviously, I'm not. Where is Chain?"

"You didn't happen to see Eric Hood wandering around out there, did you?" Lovvorn mumbled.

"What? He's not dead?"

"If he is, he doesn't know it yet," said Hars. "Clussh fixed 'im up as best she could, but even she couldn't tell if he would live through the night. We left the room to talk to December, and when we came back in, he was gone."

"December was here?"

"Yes."

"Or someone who LOOKED like December," said Lovvorn. "You know what he said? You know what he said to me? He said 'good-bye.' Now what's that supposed to mean, eh? 'Good-bye.'"

"Did he know about his store?"

"What? What about the-"

"I tracked Chain there and all I found was a bunch of broken glass. The store's been ransacked. Almost completely cleaned out."

"That's IMPOSSIBLE!" said Lovvorn. "I put my BEST wards on that store! NO ONE can get in without knowing the... the... oh. Oh, dear gods..." Lovvorn's eyes got as wide as dinner plates as a horrible realization dawned on him. "...oh no..."

"What is it?"

"The stone! Belladrox and that damned stone! HE STOLE MY MEMORIES!!!!"

"What?"

"Is that possible?"

"Yes! He was INSIDE MY HEAD! He STOLE my memories!"

"How far back?"

"I don't know! Days... weeks... years... Maybe ALL of them! He knows my best spells! He knows how to bypass all my wards!"

"December has wards on his house," said Zade. "Can Chain get past them?"

"YES!"

Without a word, Zade turned and started out of the room.

"Where are you going!"

"December's walking into a trap... and CHAIN will be there. So will I."

"Wait for me, lass," said Hars. He stood, his injuries making him wince. Lovvorn tried to get out of his chair, but the sharp pain in his leg quickly changed his mind.

"Keep up if you can... but you'd be better off going to get Lovvorn some ale."

"eh?"

"He's no use to us like that."

"No, lass.... we're coming with ya. We want a piece of Chain just as badly as you do."

Zade turned and glared at Hars.

"You think so? Do you REALLY think so?"

Hars looked at Zade's face and decided not to continue that line of conversation.

"We'll catch up when Lovvorn's back to himself again. And after we've found Eric Hood."

With a nod and a frown, Zade disappeared down the hallway leading back up to the street.

[To Be Continued]