One by one, they all staggered weakly to their feet. And one by one, they saw it.

They had traveled so far underground that the very concept of a 'horizon' was an absurdity... yet there it was. The place they had landed after their narrow escape couldn't possibly be called a 'chamber,' 'cave' or 'cavern'... it was something so large that even the most educated among them had no name for it. The fact that it even existed underground went against everything they'd ever seen or known. Open space stretched before them for further than their eyes could see. The ground was uncannily flat, and featureless, but it was littered with small white stones that looked dangerously sharp. Above them was a high ceiling... black stone criss-crossed with veins of a strange glowing mineral that filled the area with an eerie, deep blue light. Not far behind them was a range of jagged mountains that rose into the air, where it eventually merged with the ceiling and extended out overhead as a series of tooth-like, downward-pointing ridges.

And before them was the City.

It sat on the horizon like a blue and black jewel... huge and magnificent... and so utterly alien that some in the party felt certain that they had died and gone to a different place... a place where the laws of art and physics were merely whispered rumors or vague suggestions. Enormous spires stretched so high that some almost touched the stony 'sky.' Huge, twisted shapes rested atop spindly columns that changed geometry several times along their length. No two structures looked alike, yet they all seemed to be variations of the same themes. Smooth surfaces, odd angles, and sharp edges both captured and assaulted the eye. All of the buildings were of the same dark stone that composed the ceiling and mountains, and some even incorporated the glowing mineral into their structure, yielding buildings with glowing blue stripes and shimmering crowns of light.

It was hard to gauge the City's size from such a distance, but it was quite apparent that it was larger than anything that any of the party had ever seen. They stared at it in silence... taking in as much of its wonder as their minds could hold, then looking away before they were overwhelmed by it all.

"...great gods..." Sutton gasped. The very sound of his voice was a blasphemy in the sight of such an awe-inspiring place.

"We've found it," Princeton Park said weakly... his voice was barely a whisper. "We... found it..." Princeton took one step toward the City, then fell to his knees and began to weep. He wiped his face with one hand while the other stretched out toward the distant horizon. "...we've found it..." he repeated, his eyes glazed over with wonder and joy. "...we found it..."

"Yeah, but what the hell have we found?" said Zackery.

"Gold," Slick murmured.

"...and the secrets of power unimaginable," Krycek added.

"So the mage reveals his true intentions at last."

"My intentions were no secret, Dokan" Krycek replied. "I seek power; I would have told that to anyone who asked... which you did not."

"...gold..." Slick repeated.

"Well we ain't gettin no closer to it just standin here gawkin'," said Red. "Let's get moving."

"Not quite yet," said Dokan. "We have some people unaccounted for. The missionary? Thonia?"

"Dead and gone," Rath replied.

"What?"

"No!"

"No, that can't be right," said Sutton. "You're just kiddin', right?"

"We all stayed behind to buy you some time, only the Amazon had other plans. She ran off in the middle of the fight. We could have held 'em if it weren't for that. But the creatures got around us, and the missionary sacrificed himself to keep the rest of us alive. That explosion was him. I don't know how-"

"That's what he came here to do," said Dokan. "Make sure none of those creatures made it back to the surface to threaten anyone else. I think he's done an adequate job, don't you?"

"But what do we do without the missionary if we get hurt?" said Sutton.

"Don't get hurt," Rath replied.

"Thonia wouldn't just run off..." said Lara.

"She would and she did."

"That means she's still out there somewhere. Up there..." Dokan pointed to the cracked mountain from which they'd all descended. The face of it had been blasted wide open, the rock melted and cracked by some tremendous explosion... creating a giant mouth in the side of the mountain... a mouth who's interior still glowed and pulsed with heat and otherworldy energy. Streams of smoke floated out of the hole and snaked across the ceiling.

"Depends on how fast she ran," said Rath. "But if I ever see her again, she'll wish she'd died in the explosion."

"Uhhhh..." said Lara. "Before that happens, you might want to... you know..." she jerked her head at Rath, who had lost every scrap of his clothing during his lycanthropic transformation and subsequent battle. The man was totally naked, all his clothing, weapons and equipment were gone. Rath didn't seem too concerned.

"Thurg is almost your size," said Dokan.

"Yeah, but Thurg's WEARING his clothes," said Slick.

"He has an extra cloak in his pack," said Dokan.

"And how would you be knowing THAT, old man?" Red sneered.

"Because I looked. Is he going to hand it over or not?"

"Here," Slick rummaged through Thurg's pack and pulled out a spare cloak, which he tossed to Rath. "Cover yourself, man, you're making the rest of us feel inadequate."

"Speak for yourself," said Red.

"Indeed," Krycek added.

Rath donned the cloak, and Zackery threw him a large knife to use as a weapon.

"Thanks," said Rath.

"...finally found it..." Park muttered. "...its beautiful..."

"Come along, Princeton," Krycek grabbed Park by the shoulder and hauled him to his feet. "We're within sight of our goal. Lets not waste any further time dawdling."

The group set off across the wide expanse of rock, heading toward the massive city on the horizon. They walked mostly without talking, all in silent awe of what they had come so far to find. The only sound was the crunching of their boots on the rocks. The party was only a fragment what it was when they started; they'd lost some good men, and some not-so-good ones. Flesh eating worms. Carnivorous fungi. Giant lizards. Dokan wondered if it were all worth it. He was here more so for curiosity than anything else... was that a good enough reason to endanger so many lives? Was greed a good enough reason? What WAS a good reason? Dokan couldn't come up with one, but he certainly knew that he had no business bringing Lara along. As gifted as she was, the child was simply too young. But then, Dokan hadn't expected the trip to be quite this hazardous.

"A simple trip through some abandoned caves," he said with a chuckle. "What was I thinking?" Dokan glanced at the city, and then around at the rest of the party. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts.

"Hey, old man," said Slick. The oily con-man increased his sluggish pace to walk next to Dokan. "I see ya looking around."

"Is that a problem?"

"Nooo... see, I been watchin you, and I think I got you figured out."

"Really?"

"You're one of those intectuals-"

"Intellectual."

"Yah, one of those guys that thinks all the time. That's a good thing, seeing as how you saved our butts a couple of times so far. So I see ya looking, and I'm trying to figure out what's going though that grey head of yours right now."

"And?"

"Heh... check this out," said Slick. "You see that ceiling up there, and these mountains? All black right? Black with that funky blue light, right? So... get this... if all the rock is black, then where did these little WHITE rocks come from that we're walking on, right? Is that it? Am I right?"

"No," said Dokan. "And the reason they're white is because they aren't rocks-" Dokan stooped to pick up one of the white objects and hold it up. "They're bones."

Slick reacted as if struck. He eyed the small, oblong shard of bone that Dokan held.

"Uhhh... b-uhhh... did you say 'bones'?"

"Fragments, actually."

"And, uhhh... when were you gonna clue the rest of us in on that little gem, eh?"

"Oh, I thought it was fairly obvious what they were," said Dokan.

"Yeah," said Slick. "Yeah... uh-huh..." Slick began walking very carefully, so as not to step on any 'rocks'... which, of course, was unavoidable given their sheer number. "Hey, MAGE! How about you LEVITATE us all to the city!"

Krycek turned around and gave Slick a "Don't be absurd" look.

"What?" said Slick. "It was just a suggest-"

"QUIET!" Rath barked suddenly.

"huh-"

"Shhhh... I heard something."

"Ohhh, here we go again," said Sutton. Everyone looked around and listened for any further sounds of what Rath had heard.

"Nothing," said Krycek. "What did you hear?"

"I heard a-"

-thip-

"OUCH!" Borris yelped. The mercenary raised his left leg and grabbed his foot. "OUCH! Something bit me!" He yanked off his boot and clamped his hand over his ankle.

"What? Where?"

"Everyone on your guard!"

"ARRGH! IT HURTS!"

"Calm down, let's have a look at it," said Dokan. Borris slowly peeled his fingers away from his ankle. There was a tiny hole in the flesh just behind the bone. The wound was red and swollen, but there was almost no blood.

"What was it?" said Krycek. "Perhaps you stepped on a sharp splinter-"

"Wasn't no damned splinter! Something BIT me!"

"There's something out there," said Rath. "Or there WAS. No sign of anything now."

"A dart perhaps?"

"Another mushroom?"

"He'd be dead by now if he were," said Dokan. "And there's no sign of any projectile lodged in the wound. How badly does it hurt?"

"Felt like something stuck me, now my whole foot feels like its on fire."

"Look at this-" Krycek grabbed Borris's discarded boot. It was thick leather, but it had a clean, crisp hole in it at the ankle. "Something got him."

"He may be poisoned," said Dokan. The old man grabbed a few scraps of cloth from his pack and began tying them around Borris's calf, cutting off the circulation.

"Doesn't feel so bad now," said Borris. "Hurt real bad for a second, but now its going away."

"Are you sure?" said Dokan.

"I know what hurts and what doesn't, doc." Dokan took another look at the man's ankle. The wound was completely closed now, leaving only a small red dimple in the skin. The area around it was still red and swollen, but there was no sign of the tiny whole that had caused so much pain.

"Hmmm... interesting. Can you walk?"

"Sure."

"Medical practice dictates that we should re-open the wound and suck out any poison that may be-"

"No, thanks," said Borris. "I don't need anything sucked."

"Did anyone see anything when it happened?" Krycek asked. Shrugs and confused glances affirmed that no one had seen anything. "Dokan?"

"I was looking the other way. Whatever it was, it was very fast."

"And hurt like hell," said Borris. So far, the mercenary was showing no ill or lasting effects from the 'whatever.'

"Let's move on," said Princeton. "We're burning daylight."

"There IS no daylight," said Red. "We're underground!"

"Figure of speech, you ninny. By my reckoning, the city is a day's march away. We're very close; I'm not about to slow down now."

"After what we've just been through," said Sutton. "We're all-"

"Tired?" said Rath. "That mean you wanna set camp in the middle of this graveyard? That'd be fine by me, but I figured the rest of you might value your lives a bit more than that."

"Are you saying we're in danger?" said Slick.

"We've been in danger since the second we left Montfort," Dokan replied.

"And we still don't what it was that attacked us," Sutton added. "Maybe we need to find that out before we go marching off into the gates of hell over yonder."

"Attacked?" Princeton said doubtfully. "The man stepped on a bone."

"Wasn't no damned BONE! Something BIT-"

"Whatever it was," said Rath. "I heard it before 'it' happened. That means that if you all keep your damned mouths shut, I can give you warning if it comes back. Are we ready to move are we ready to move or are we gonna stand here and look stupid all day?"

Rath didn't wait for an answer. He turned and started walking.

"Everyone stay together," said Dokan. "Keep quiet and walk carefully."

"Weapons ready," Zackery added.

They kept on toward the city, moving at a slow, deliberate pace. Borris began the trip with a slight limp, but the limp vanished and he was walking normally within the hour. Dokan spent half of the next few hours watching him, and the other half watching the surrounding land. No mysterious threats presented themselves... everything was uncannily quiet. The general consensus among the group was that perhaps Borris HAD stepped on something, and that whatever Rath heard was just a figment of his inhuman imagination. A few, however, weren't quite satisfied with that explanation. Rath, Krycek, Lara and Dokan only grew more cautious as the city loomed larger and closer.

It appeared that Princeton was right, and that they were mere hours away from their destination. Were there such a thing as day or night, then they would have been on target to reach the city by the end of the day. Park grew more excited with every step, and after another hour the man was practically vibrating with giddiness. Several times he walked ahead of the group, as if determined to leave the others behind. Each time, a sharp rebuke from Rath brought Park back in line, although Dr. Park was clearly unhappy with their slow progress.

"I think he's trying to get there ahead of the rest of us," Slick whispered to Dokan.

"Really," said Dokan. "What gave you that impression?"

"Doc Park said there was treasure in there," Slick continued in obvious ignorance of Dokan's sarcasm. "Problem is... with a place that big, how do we know where it is, eh? I mean... it ain't likely to be just layin around in the street, we'd have to go and hunt for it. Unless Park already knows where it is and is trying to beat us to it. What do ya think, eh?"

"Princeton Park doesn't know nearly as much as he claims. And he's not particularly adept at keeping what little he DOES know a secret... he's too much of a pompous ass for that. As for his attempts to reach the city before us... never confuse stupidity with bravery or intelligence."

"Yah, that's a good one. I figured you'd have somethin' to say... that's why I asked. One thief to another..."

Dokan glanced at Slick and raised one grey eyebrow.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken," he said.

"Oh, you had us going for a while there," said Slick. "Old man, walking with that can with that little sword hidden in the shaft. But, like I said, I been watchin'. You ain't as old and harmless as you seem..."

"I've made no conscious attempt to deceive you, if that's what you're getting at."

"Ohhh, you're good. You're so good that I can't even tell if you're lying or not. That's pretty damn good, considering my line of work and all."

"It's been my experience that thieves and con-men were among the easiest to mislead."

"Well, that might be true, I guess... but you're changing the subject."

"Actually, you were the one who brought up your line of 'work.'"

"Uh-huh. So, what are ya?"

"A man, just like any other," said Dokan.

"That's not what I meant. What guild are you from? Where do you operate? What kinda stuff are you into?"

"I operate in Montfort, where I have bought and sold real estate for probably more years than you can count. And as for my 'guild'... the very concept of a 'thieves guild' only confirms the notion that thieves and crooks are as stupid as they are greedy."

"Sometimes ya gotta stick together."

"Lara and I work alone."

"She an apprentice?"

"In the real estate business, yes."

"Ya know, Red and I are gonna get our share of whatever treasure we come across in there... maybe a little MORE than our share, if you know what I'm saying. I was just trying to cut you in on it, seeing as how we're in the same business."

"I didn't know you sold real estate."

"Just trying to be courteous to an elder. But since you're gonna be that way..." Slick glanced back at Red, then backed away from Dokan. Dokan stopped him with a firm grasp on the man's shoulder.

"Hold for a moment," said Dokan as his fingers dug into the nerves in Slick's upper arm.

"Ouch-"

"You are more than welcome to whatever you find," said Dokan... his voice now a low, menacing whisper. "But if you or your few remaining friends endanger this party in anyway... especially the girl... you will all wish that you'd been eaten alive by the worms. Do we understand each other?"

"Y-Yes-"

"What was that?"

"Y-Yes, sir..."

"Good."

Dokan gave Slick's shoulder a sudden squeeze... a squeeze that deadened the entire limb from neck to fingertip. Then he pushed the small, annoying man away. Slick stumbled, but caught his balance and quickly got as far away from Dokan as possible. Dokan saw Rath cast an approving glance in his direction... Rath's ears had no doubt picked up the entire conversation.

They continued for a short while longer before a scuffling noise and a sudden thud brought them to a halt. Dokan turned to see what had happened. Borris had collapsed. The mercenary was on his hands and knees, looking up at the rest of the party.

"What?" he said weakly. "I just tripped, that's all..."

Borris seemed oblivious to the thick streams of bloody mucous pouring out of his nostrils and ears.

"Back away from him!" Rath ordered. He approached the man, then scowled. "His scent has changed... something's not right."

"Nooo, ya think?" said Sutton.

"No," Rath said as he backed away from Borris. "I mean, something's REALLY not right."

"Borris," said Dokan. "How do you feel."

"S-strange," said Borris. His voice was accompanied by a deep gurgling sound. "But...I'll... I'll be okay."

Borris tried to stand, but he collapsed. He lay motionless on the rocky ground, blood still pouring out of nearly every orifice of his body.

"Is he dead?" said Zackery.

"...uhhhhhnnmmm..." Borris moaned.

"Dammit, somebody DO something," said Drayn. "The man's in pain!"

"Leave him," said Rath.

"WHAT!"

"He's more than sick...or poisoned... there's something else wrong with him. I can smell it. We should leave-"

"The HELL you say!" Drayn knelt beside his comrade and rolled the man over onto his back. Borris gurgled... and then coughed up a mouthful of blood that splattered all over Drayn's shirt. "He's choking-"

"I got it," Sutton joined him at Borris's side. He used a knife to slice away Borris' shirt- "OH, GODS!" he gasped as he scrambled away from the injured man.

Borris chest was criss-crossed with swollen, purple veins that pulsated independently of each other... as if each kept time with a separate, distinct heartbeat. The man's chest didn't rise and fall rhythmically, instead, different parts of it swelled and contracted in sudden, chaotic motions... motions that grew more intense with every second that passed. Borris looked down at his own chest. His eyes widened in terror. He opened his mouth to speak or cry out... but nothing emerged... no breath, no sound... nothing.

"What the hell HAPPENED!" Drayn shouted. He stood up, but wouldn't back away even after Rath ordered him to. At his feet, Borris began flopping around like a grounded fish. His convulsions threw spatters of blood in all directions. His chest and abdomen were now a sea of motion... the flesh bulged outward in some twisted violation of the human form. His mouth hung open, frozen in a silent scream. The convulsions grew stronger, and the trunk of Borris' body continued to swell and contort itself... growing larger and larger and larger as his limbs thrashed helplessly...

...and then it ended.

A bolt from Rester's crossbow pierced Borris' skull cleanly through the forehead. Borris's entire body jerked once, and then went still. He was dead.

Everyone turned to look at Rester, who was loading another bolt into his weapon.

"There's no way I could let that go on," he said. "And I hope you'd do the same for me."

"What was happening to him?" said Drayn. He started to kneel down beside the grotesquely swollen corpse.

"DON'T!" Rath commanded. He bolted across the distance separating him from Drayn. "He's not-"

At the instant that Rath collided with Drayn, Borris' distended torso heaved outward... and exploded!

SPLUTCH!

A huge cavity ripped open down the length of his chest, spraying blood and gore over everything nearby. And then..

eeEEEE!!

Four long, twisted shapes wiggled out of the gaping hole. They were covered in Borris' blood, and at first they appeared to be organs that had been loosened by the eruption. But it quickly became apparent that they were something else... something alien that had no business inside of a man. They had long tube-like bodies lined with rows of wiggling spines instead of legs. The bodies were the color of bloody intestines, and they ended in a segmented scorpion-like tail topped with a long, sharp barb. Not counting the tail, each creature was slightly shorter than a man's arm, but was fully three times as thick. Triple rows of sharp teeth surrounded their drooling, circular mouths. The four things wiggled out of Borris' corpse and flopped onto the ground. Their leg-spines found purchase in the soil, and they quickly scurried away in four different directions.

Three of them vanished into nearby piles of bones, making clattering noises as they dug into the rock with their teeth. The fourth creature headed straight for the party.

"KILL IT!" Sutton shouted.

The thing immediately swiveled toward him. It's rear section curled upward and it pointed its barbed tail at him.

"GET DOWN, SUTTON!" Dokan yelled. Sutton threw himself to one side as the barb from the creature's tail shot forward, barely missing him. The barb was attached to a thin cord of sinew, and when it missed its target, it simply retracted back into the tail like an organic version of Lara's spinning disk. The creature swiveled around to choose another target. The tail curled upward again-

THWOCK!

Rester's bolt impaled the creature right through the center. The thing squealed and aborted its attack. With Rester's bolt still protruding from its back, it scurried away-

zzzZZZTH!

Lara's spinning disk sliced it open, striking with enough force to roll the creature over. Its innards spilled out through the wound, and after a few seconds, it stopped moving.

"Whoa..." said Sutton. "Did that really happen, or did I go insane sometime in the past two minutes?

"It happened," Krycek replied.

"Next time I say move... you move." Rath yanked Drayn to his feet, after having knocked the man out of the way an instant before the bloody explosion.

"You saw that coming, did you?" said Zackery.

"I saw SOMETHING coming. Wasn't expecting that."

"I don't think anyone was," said Dokan.

"Least of all, Borris," Red chuckled. "Didja see the look on his face right before his chest exploded! HA! Golden! Somebody shoulda painted a picture of that one!" Slick stood silently beside him... every ounce of color had drained out of the thief's face, and he looked about two seconds away from loosing every scrap of food he'd consumed on the entire trip.

Dokan approached the dead thing. He prodded it with his cane, waited a few seconds, prodded it again, then knelt down beside it to get a closer look. He ran the tip of his lightly cane over its length.

"It appears... to be made of human flesh," he announced to no-one in particular. "Muscle, internal organs and bones. These things formed inside Borris, using his body for raw materials."

This time, Slick DID loose every scrap of food he'd consumed on the entire trip. Red looked down at him and laughed.

"This is how they got in..." Dokan pointed to the nasty-looking barb on the thing's tail. He was careful not to touch it, however...not even with his cane. "The barb injects some kind of reproductive fluid into the target. Or perhaps even microscopic embryos-"

"That thing almost got me!" said Sutton.

"Almost?" Krycek replied. "I wouldn't feel too safe yet. There were four that came out of him. We only killed one. Where did the others go?"

"No sign of 'em," said Rath. He scanned the area with a steely gaze, eyes flickering lightly. "All these bones... plenty of places to hide. They're around here somewhere."

"We should go," Park suggested. "Now. Right now."

"I agree," said Dokan.

There was no sign of the creatures for the next hour. The group made slow, but steady progress toward the massive city. And as they did, more of its strange features came into view. A huge dome dominated the city's core. It sat lower than the other buildings, as if sunken into the ground. Long, twisted spires reached out from its surface, pointing at odd angles and sometimes merging with the surrounding buildings to form elevated walkways. It was by far the largest single structure in the impressive city.

"That's where we'll start," said Princeton. He pointed at the dome and spoke in hushed, awed tones. "The heart of the city."

"All the Cthrain secrets will be laid bare," Krycek added. "Somewhere inside that dome."

"Oh, the things we will learn-"

Suddenly Rath grabbed Princeton's shoulder and slung him to the ground. Then the mercenary dodged to one side as-

-tttthwip-

A barbed prong whizzed past Rath's head. The deadly missile was on the end of a thin, fleshy string-like tube that vanished into as small pile of bones just ahead of them. Before the barb could retract, Rath grabbed the tube and sliced the barbed end of it free. The severed appendage spewed a white fluid over the ground as it retracted.

"THERE!" Rath pointed-

FWOOOM!!!

Krycek let loose with a wide fireball that bathed the area around the hidden creature with angry flames.

EEEEEeee-

The creature wiggled out of its hiding place and tried to scurry away. It was fast, but Krycek already had his second spell ready. This time it was a narrow bolt of fire as long and thin as an arrow. It pierced the thing, pinning it to the ground with a shaft of pure fire.

EEEEEEEE-PAFT!

The burning creature's cry ended when its body exploded from the heat. Sizzling chunks flew in several directions, leaving nothing even remotely identifiable.

"Turnabout is fair play," Krycek said with a nod.

"It attacked when you weren't looking, Park," Dokan mused out loud. "The rest of us had our eyes open and alert... but YOUR eyes were fixed on that city."

"Element of surprise," said Rath. "They're soft and easy to kill... but they only attack when they've got the element of surprise. They know when you're not watching for them."

"Well, EXCUSE me!" Park protested. "The REST of you can look around for bugs and worms; I'M planning the final and most important phase of this expedit-"

-tttthwip!-

Once again, Rath shoved Park aside, saving him from the sharp barb that would have taken him in the throat. Rath wasn't quite fast enough to grab the appendage before it retracted, but he did see where it went.

"KRYCEK, NOW!" he yelled as he pointed.

Krycek blasted the area, but this time the quarry knew it had been spotted. It wiggled away an instant before the fire hit.

"GOTCHA!" Rester fired a bolt from his crossbow... and missed the creature by less than half an inch. "DAMN!"

The thing flipped around and reversed direction, causing Lara's spinning disk to draw sparks from the rocky ground instead of drawing blood from its flank. The creature was incredibly fast... its leg-spines worked frantically to carry it away before Krycek could blast it again. A wide, continuous swath of fire from the mage's hands caught it nonetheless. The singed creature paused and, with its flesh bubbling from the heat, fired its barb directly at Krycek. The mage spun away, aborting his flame spell and allowing the smouldering creature to scurry away yet again.

Dokan watched the thing as it dodged several more attempts to destroy it... then he watched the others watching it... and then-

"ITS A DISTRACTION!"

-tttthwip!-

"Wha-" Slick turned to look at Dokan... and the barb from a second creature missed his ear by such a narrow margin that he felt the wind from its passing. "AAEEEEEEE!!!" he screamed.

The barb retracted, then fired again-

-tttthwip!-
K-TINK!

-bouncing off of the blade of Red's axe.

"HEY!" Red grunted.

"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"

Slick looked for the creature that had almost got him. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was there... hiding... so he did the only reasonable thing he could think of. He panicked. He bolted away from the rest of the group, flying past Dokan, Lara and the others. Meanwhile, the first creature's last attack knocked the crossbow from Rester's hands even as Lara's disk sliced it in half, right down the middle.

"SOMEONE GET SLICK!"

The thief was moving like a champion sprinter... at least until he tripped and fell. He quickly scrambled to his feet and took off again, but not before-

-tttthwip!-

"AAAA!!!!!"

A barb from the last creature caught him on his left buttock. Slick ran a few steps, then stumbled and fell, grabbing his buttocks with both hands.

"AAA! AAA! AAA!!!"

"I ain't sucking the poison outta THAT, that's for damned sure," said Sutton.

The creature that had tagged Slick burst from its hiding place and made tried to make a getaway, zigzagging across the desolate landscape like a startled cockroach.

Krycek fried it with three flaming-arrow spells.... turning the thing into a fine spray of boiling blood.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGH!!" Slick howled. He tried to get up, but couldn't. "IT HURRRRTS!!"

"Hold on!" said Dokan. He and the others ran toward the injured thief. "Hold on, it might not be to late!"

"It's gonna happen to me!" Slick cried. "I'm gonna die! Those things are inside me! GET AWAY!!!"

Slick tried to move away from the others as they approached. He couldn't. His legs hurt too much to move.

"I'm gonna EXPLODE!" he said with tears of terror streaming down his face. "They're gonna burst outta me like BORRIS! NO!"

Slick spotted something on the ground and reached out for it. He grabbed the sharp, pointed shard of bone and put it to his neck. If the others had been a second faster... if they'd started running an instant sooner... they could have stopped him. But they couldn't. Looking right into Dokan's eyes, Slick slit his own throat, ripping it open with the crude, jagged weapon. A red fountain cascaded down his shirt. The terror slowly drained from his eyes as he died.

"No!" said Dokan. "No! You didn't have to DO that!" But it was too late.

"He's dead," said Sutton.

"Yeah, I'll say!" Red said with a grin. "Lookit that wound... heh, heh... damn near cut himself another mouth-"

WHAM!

Dokan hit Red so hard and so fast that the rogue never saw it coming. Red's nose ruptured like an over-ripe tomato.

"AAGH!" Red instinctively raised his axe, but Dokan swept his legs from under him, causing him to fall... only he didn't fall. Dokan had him by the throat... holding him by two fingers, each jabbing into nerve clusters near the jaw. He squeezed. Hard.

The axe fell from Red's hand.

"I've heard about enough from you," Dokan said calmly. Red reached for his knife. By the time his fingers touched it, Dokan had released him. Red hit the ground with a thud. Dokan kicked the knife from his hand; the blade landed just out of Red's reach. Dokan's boot came down on Red's throat-

"ACK!"

Red grabbed Dokan's leg, but Dokan pressed down. Red's eyes bulged out and his face began to change colors.

"I trust you will behave yourself and keep your bloody mouth shut when I release you, yes?"

Red nodded... or at least he tried.

Dokan released him and took one small away.

"At least that's all of 'em," said Sutton. "All four of 'em. There ain't no more we gotta worry about."

"Actually," said Dokan. "There's still the one that infected Borris-"

"DOKAN!"

Dokan heard Red scrambling for his knife, and he assumed that was what Rath was warning him about. He didn't see the final creature until-

-tttthwip!-

"AAGH!"

The barb was already buried deep into the meat of his shoulder. Dokan felt it pumping liquid fire into his veins, fire the spread rapidly with every beat of his heart.

"GAAGH!" Knife in hand, Red threw himself at the final creature and buried its weapon in the thing's back before it could attack again. He stabbed it twice more for good measure, then stood up, grabbed his axe, and chopped it in half.

Meanwhile, Dokan was swooning... trying to stay on his feet as the pain assaulted him. With practiced concentration, he shoved the agony out of his awareness. He blinked, cleared his throat, and sighed.

"Heh," said Red. He he extended his hand to Dokan... he was still holding his knife. "Guess you'll be needing my blade now, eh?"

Dokan knocked the blade out of Red's hand.

"No. Thank you." Dokan felt Lara grab his arm.

"Dokan! Did it get you!"

"Don't be ridiculous, girl. Of course it got me. But there's a good lesson in that, Lara... You can't dodge them all."

Dokan took a few deep breaths, still fighting back the pain. Everyone gathered around him, but no one said anything. No one knew what to say. Dokan looked down at Lara's face and wiped a drop of moisture from her cheek.

"I guess we should get going then," he said.

"Now, waaaaaaiiit a minute," said Red. "You've got those things inside you! You'd better let me kill you before-"

"I have no intention of letting you or anyone else take my life."

"You're a danger to the party," said Princeton. "Those things could come out of you and get us all!"

"Would you like to try and kill me then, Park?" Dokan sneered... and then winced. "I may be old and infested, but I'll still have you screaming for your mother like a frightened schoolgirl."

"That won't take much," Sutton murmured.

Dokan felt Rath's cold, rough hand on his shoulder. The mercenary leaned down and spoke to him.

"I can't let you come with us; you know that. The most we can do is leave you here by yourself. Or I could do it quick and painless..."

"I'll stay with him," said Lara. "I'm not afraid. I'll stay."

"No, Lara-"

"I'm NOT going to leave you here to die!"

"Who said anything about dying?"

"If you know something the rest of us don't," said Rath, "Then you'd better spill it now."

"These creatures... they're here for a reason. My guess is that they were put here to guard the city. If the Cthrain were as advanced as they Park's book says-"

"You read my book?"

"-they there's obviously a cure somewhere in that city. All we have to do... is get there and find it. The creatures took a little over three hours to develop inside Borris-"

"Hell, it'll take us longer than that to reach the city," said Rath. "And once we're there, we still have to find your cure... IF It exists."

"It exists."

"Maybe. But those things will have hatched long before we find it."

"No... they won't." Dokan moved Lara away from him and sat down on the ground. The pain was beginning to fade, but he was still weak. "They're already using my metabolism against me," he continued. "I can feel them. Heartbeat... adrenalin... hormone levels... things are already beginning to change..." Dokan lay back and folded his arms over his chest. "But... these creatures have no idea whose body they're toying with. I am the master of this vessel... and I won't let it be taken without... a fight..."

Dokan closed his eyes. He inhaled deeply... then exhaled... and then never took another breath. His eyes fluttered briefly beneath their lids, then went still.

"He's dead?"

"No heartbeat," said Rath. "His body temperature's dropping. He's gone."

"Good riddance!" Red said with a smile.

"He's NOT dead," said Lara. She knelt beside him and took his hand in hers.

"C'mon, kid," said Rath. "We'd better get out of here before-"

"It's a catatonic trance," Lara replied. "He's still alive."

"Maybe you didn't hear my friend there," said Princeton. "The. Man. Is. Dead."

"With a few months of practice any one of you can learn how to control your own heartbeat. A few months. Dokan had been doing this for more years than most of you have been alive."

"Doing what, exactly?"

"He's doing what he said... fighting those things inside him... fighting whatever it is they're trying to change inside of him."

"Oh, HOGWASH!"

Rath got down on his knees and pressed his ear to Dokan's chest. He waited. He waited a long time.

"I heard a heartbeat," he announced. "Weak and very slow, but there. He's still alive... but how long can he hold those things back?"

"I don't know. But standing here staring at him isn't going to get him any closer to a cure. Will you carry him, or should I?"

"I got him," said Rath. He scooped Dokan up and threw him over his shoulder.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" said Princeton. "You're going to carry a CORPSE all the way-"

One glowing red-eyed glance from Rath and Park was as silent as a tomb. He turned to give the others the same look.

"Anybody got a problem with this?"

No one said a word, although Red looked extremely unhappy.

"Good," said Rath. "Then let's get this man to his cure."

[To Be Continued]