"Well?"

She stared at the blade in front of them.

        "It...it is exactly like the other."

        "And not even lava melted it!" he tapped the steel with his metal tail.  "If it's the same material as the blade from that undead beast-"

        "And you say it's just basic steel?" she looked to him.

        "Iron, specifically, some elements of steel but nothing that should resist heat at such intensity."

In the small den beneath the tree where she made her home, Riptor gazed upon the dull blade that somehow caught the light from an unseen source.  Slinking her tail round to stretch in front of her face, the twin sister of it shone equally bright and dull on its sharp and flat sides simultaneous.  Her eye glinted within its reflection as she looked towards the brother of the blade.

        "You want that one too?" Sulphide snorted.

        "However did you guess?" she snickered.

        "I mean, if it's such an incredible material why would the humans want it disposed that's the part that worries me."

        "Probably they made something better, humans are wasteful like that."

        "Hmmm...that is true," he tapped his chin with a sigh, "alright then, if you want its twin reunited who am I to argue?"

        "Be gentle."

She straightened her tail and lifted with a grin as he stammered looking slightly away, her laugh resonating through the den at his expression before he shook his head and grabbed the discarded blade in his teeth.  Lining up his head with the tip of her tail, his claws gripped her firm as he clicked it in carefully to hook into her slats before breathing a dark acidic mixture that acted like a sealing liquid, hardening from exposure until the two blades stood firmly transfixed within her cold embrace.  Smiling upon them she swished her tail back and forth, watching the blades almost move and cut against each other in the twisting snap of her steel links.

        "Incredible," she gasped, "they really do fit."

        "I have to admit," Sulphide stepped back, "you do look far more fearsome with them."

        "Oh I know," Riptor grinned scraping the blades against the wall, "they even move well with me."

        "You do not mind that we are taking human refuse for ours?"

        "Like you were?"  She turned to him with a fading smile.  "That is the point is it not, that what humans considered not good enough for their pathetic standards, we proved ourselves to be better than them."

        "You are right, sorry," he looked down to his feet, "I just worry, you know me-"

        "I do."  She stepped over to lick his scalp and rub her head against his.  "You are my greatest success, remember that Sulphide.  You are the only one I would trust to lead without me."

        "I know," he sighed nuzzling her chest, "but I want you to be here always, I do not want to-"

        "I meant as a precaution," Riptor purred into his ear, "but you are sweet to be so considerate, especially after all that's happened."

        "So everything is alright?"  He stared into the screwbolt of her chest.  "No voices again?"

        "Not for the past year no.  Dreams still invade me but that's nothing new, that's always been around."

        "That's good then."  The pale-yellow raptor turned to make his leave.  "I'll just make my patrol, would you like me to get some food?"

        "Ooooh if you could bring me some fish," she grinned with fiendish eyes, "that would be lovely Sulphide."

        "Alright, see you soon Riptor!"

Taking his walk through the forests of the southwestern reach, the jaundiced subordinate stared over the wide plains that circled the mountain at the centre of Scar Island, the call of raptors both his and native crooning to each other as nests had grown and their children within.  None of the new generation had the stones of silver that the ultraraptors had, gleaming blue parts with splended frills of cool silver that turned a hot gold in the sun, the sounds of the ocean eternal to the wind as he sighed with a resounding peace.  Taking a long trek through the woods he scouted his way to the mountain where the local raptors still lived, now adorning themselves in precious stones of striking blue that they preened and dazzled the others with.

        "Alright, pick a cloud!" shouted a silver raptor.

        "Mmmmmmm, OH, THAT ONE!" a child shrieked.

        "Heheh, give me a challenge next time."

Stretching out his limbs Tesla stood before the small gaggle of raptors both grey and black that watched him in awe as he whipped his tail into the air like a sword with spinning hum, stretching it above like a lightning conductor as flickering spots of white came shivering through the steel links.  He pointed the tip of his tail slightly to the northwest, closing one eye as he summoned an electrical charge through his body and shrieked with a force of piercing light that shot from his tail and burst through the cloud above their heads, scattering like dust on the wind as the raptors gasped in shrieks.

        "WOOOOOOW!"

        "SKYFIRE, SKYFIRE!"

        "Thaaank you thank you," Tesla bowed to his audience, "for my next trick I'll need a volunteer."

        "I'll take that challenge."  Sulphide stepped forwards with a grin.  "Practicing your arcs?"

        "Can't let my skills get too rusty," the silver raptor turned to the yellow beast, "alright, stand there and don't move."

Stiffening his posture, Sulphide stood and waited for Tesla to make his move as the electro-raptor cracked his tail like a whip.  The children watched with a few adults at the rear peering forwards curious at the ultraraptor's armaments as he braced his legs and thrust his tail past his head like a scorpion's sting straight towards Sulphide's face.  Thunder loomed on the plains behind him, Tesla's tail stretched past his cheek with a shotgun crack of lightning, veins of white flashing briefly as the natives gasped falling back with a screech at the sound that boomed over the breeze whilst Sulphide stood umnoving with a smile.

        "W-WHA, WHAAAAAAT?!"

        "WOOOOOW THAT WAS AMAZING!"

        "Hhhahahaha, hey, give credit to Sulphide here," Tesla retracted his tail and bumped snouts with him, "he's got no fear in his body!"

        "That was THE BEST!" a child jumped at his foot and rubbed against him.  "How'd you DO that father?!"

        "Just how I was born," he shrugged licking his child's head, "but hey you got skills too, you got the fastest claws on the island!"

        "I do, n-no I don't!"

        "Oh and that tallheaded thing just died from a leaf cutting its throat, naw come on I know when it's you!"

        "Heeheehee!"

        "Alright you all I'm outta juice, time to rest."

        "Awwwwww!" the crowd protested.

        "Hey I'll do it tomorrow if you want, just lemme get my juices back up, promise."

They all parted to their separate nests except for a few children who squabbled and nipped at his belly with cries of excitement as he licked their heads, a motley mixture of dappled grey and black in splotches whilst his mate in fullest ebony came slinking to his side, wearing a necklace of blue gems.

        "Enjoying yourself?" she purred.

        "Not as much as you," he booped her neck, "told you you'd look pretty, I saw the others kept staring at you."

        "I do feel...special somehow," she nuzzled his face.

        "You're special to me," Tesla puffed with a little lick.

        "OHO stop you cannot tell me that, you can make skyfire!"

        "Yeah but, that's not as good as how you make me feel."

He snuffled along her neck as she gasped and shuddered whilst their children kept jumping and biting them.

        "Father h-how do you make the sky do stuff?!"

        "I don't!" he replied.  "I can just make fire, anyone can!"

        "Really?!  How?!"

        "I'll show you after, I just need some rocks and wood."

        "You certainly know how to please," Sulphide leaned in, "but what would I expect from our best scout?"

        "Oh please we know you're the best," Tesla rolled his eyes, "you doing alright?"

        "Oh yes quite good, I just hate being away from everyone so it's nice to be back."

        "Yeah where did you go anyway?"

        "Ahaaahh that's a secret," he winked with a toothy grin, "anyways I won't waste your time I'm just doing my patrol."

        "No worries, thanks for the demonstration."

Taking a long path near the base of the mountain, Sulphide headed east before cutting down through the plains south and went towards the shoreline where the slavefish were kept, circling around in their pen within the semi-shallow reef as they nipped and chattered to each other, the rafts kept bunkered on the sand as guards moved back and forth to jab the water with their tails and spear the smaller fish for their supplies

        "Good fish today?" he asked.

        "Ehhhh no worse than usual," said a nuclear-green raptor, "everything good with you?"

        "Ohhh same as always, how are your families?"

        "Great!  My sons' managed to kill a threehorn all by themselves, it was awesome!"

        "That's wonderful, congratulations Radium you must be so proud!" he chirped and walked over to the box of fish by the shore.  "Hope you don't mind I take two for Riptor."

        "Go ahead," Radium smirked before cricking his neck, "hey, Sulphide?"

        "Yes?"  He snatched one fish in each of his dexterous claws.

        "I wasn't sure on asking but since you're close to her and all," he slinked forwards with a bowed head, "is she...ever going to take a mate sometime, we all were wonderin-"

        "That is not for me to say," he turned with a stiff tail, "ask her yourself, don't slink around with second-hand rumours."

        "S-sorry...you're right, actually we thought she'd be with Sunscreech by now after all that a few years back."

        "Hahaha, you know I thought so too.  But Riptor is an enigma unto herself, she will know who is right for her...speaking of, who is Sunscreech?"

        "Fine," Radium shrugged, "his kids are doing really well, one of his daughters Earthfang I think she's called, she's been helping him out a lot with well, being a single father.  I try to help too but I have a family as well, sometimes I bring mine over to play with them."

        "That is good," Sulphide nodded, "I would check on him myself but every time I do he always acts rather abrasive to me.  Now normally I wouldn't tolerate that but-"

        "He's had to deal with a lot, yeah.  I'll keep him straight if I have to."

        "I appreciate it Radium.  You were always rather sensible, I still remember that number combination you deciphered!"

        "Oh that?"  The green-and-black beast rubbed his claws over his neck.  "I just saw the humans tapping the buttons, I had the best view from my tube."

        "You didn't even see the panel straight-on!"

        "No but I saw where their fingers went, and what order it was, wasn't that hard."

        "Hahaha, ahhh," Sulphide sniffed and licked Radium's cheek, "well, congratulations again on your sons' successful hunt, and thank you for the fish."

        "Anytime, take care Sulphide."

Heading back from the beach and into the woods, the sun-paled raptor greeted all the families in passing as children squeaked past and tried to nip at his fish teasingly before he snatched his claws away from them and half-threatened them with his teeth to chase them off.  Curiosity led him to Sunscreech, his family racing through the woods in a small circuit as he dodged the smaller raptors trying to leap at him.

        "NYAAAAGH!"

        "HUP, TOO BAD!"

        "GONNA GETCHAAAA!"

        "TOO SLOW, NEXT!"

        "EEEEEYAH!"

        "AHA, ALMOST!"

Taking a short 8-shape track between a cluster of trees, the father leapt and strafed past his children trying to bite at his legs and leap from parts unseen, sometimes jumping out of bushes or climbing off trees as he swerved and ducked with a strafing spin of his claws as his son flew over his head and crashed into a tree, whilst the other tried to slide at his legs that Sunscreech leapt backwards over in a fast hop before playfully kicking him in the back of the head.

        "A-AAAOOW!"

        "Hmhmhm, very good but not swift enough."

        "Uuuugh how are you so GOOD at this?!" snorted the son.

        "Because I have lived longer than you, when you have learned more as you grow older, then you will be as good a hunter as me."

        "But I wanna hunt good nooooow!"

        "Hhhahahaha," he grabbed him by the neck and playfully rolled him in the dirt, "I took just as long as you did, patience son."

        "FATHER, I CAUGHT SOMETHING!"

        "Wh-what?!"

He shot up to the sound of Earthfang as he raced over to find a shrew in her teeth, its neck twisted with glazed eye as she smiled up with joy.

        "Huh, well done Earthfang!" Sunscreech licked her head.

        "NO FAIR!" squeaked the son stomping his foot.  "I-i didn't know we were hunting today!"

        "We were not, but if you find prey and you are hungry you should not waste the chance."

        "I can show you where I found it!" Earthfang dropped the beast and pointed her head to the west.  "You want to hunt one too?"

        "Uhhh, YEAH, yeah I want one too!"

        "Okay, follow me!"

Taking her brother off through the forest glade, the raptor of brown-and-jade gave a look back to her father indicating the dead rodent towards him.  He understood and took it for himself, purring a soft thanks as he ripped the fur off its side and tore into the fleshy pulp of meat within, savouring the fill of his stomach whilst he watched the hatchlings gallop and play in the drifting sun.

        "You have such a wonderful daughter."

The voice of Sulphide dripped in his ear like warm acid.

        "I've never seen a raptor so young care for their father as good as her."

He kept chewing on the rodent with a tear of its lungs without a word.

        "I admit I was worried about you considering, but now I can safely sate my fears knowing you have such a good child to keep you fed."

Sunscreech said nothing, his eyes turning from the jaundiced raptor to stare towards the horizon of the sea.

        "Oh come on this is silly now," he snorted waving his claws, "and I'm the one holding two fish like a fool, I am trying to be courteous to you but if you continue to ignore me-"

        "You will kill me like Riptor killed Jade?"  He flicked his tail.  "And my children after shall be eaten?"

        "Wha-...oh.  Ohhhh ho ho ho ho ha ha."  Sulphide shook his head with a mirthless chuckle.  "Ohhh that's adorable, you truly are a good father."

        "Leave me."

        "But then you yourself would know that a hatchling is not as good as three-horn meat."

His smile was like that of Riptor's the first day that they met.  Sunscreech curled his lip with a bitter pierce from his single eye.

        "There it is...that spark of arrogance I first saw in you when we met."

The raptor walked closer with a plastic grin and leaned close to Sunscreech.

        "You should be thankful that Methyl never knew you ate one of her daughters."

KRNNCH!

Sulphide backed off seeing the ribs of the rodent twist inside the raptor's mouth, crackling bone that snapped and bent out of shape to fall in pieces from his snout and send clattering to the dirt.

        "My children need me, I must go."

        "Very well," the ultraraptor bowed with silver quills down his scalp, "I'll only add that you should be more thankful to Radium.  He is your only friend at this rate who tries very hard to keep your family going whilst raising his own-"

        "Goodnight, Sulphide."

He walked off into the forest where his children became shadows, dancing silhouettes against the sloping shore as Sulphide took his leave back to Riptor's den, entering with his two fish as he tossed one towards his alpha whilst keeping the other for himself to feast.

        "Everything good out there?" she caught her food mid-flight.

        "Mostly," he started to strip his fish and expose the meat, "Sunscreech still gives me the cold look but he's doing well with his daughter actually taking care of him."

        "Well that's good," she chewed the head whilst splayed across her throne, "nothing else to report."

        "Tesla showing off to the natives, well, I mean at this point we might as well just call them our pack at this rate for how well they've interbred."

        "Mmmm yes," she tore off the head fully and started sucking the blood out the neck, "at this point it's technicalities and we don't have to bother with that."

        "I agree," he slurped along the organs and ate out half of its meat, "mmmmph this tastes so good."

        "I never had fish until we came here, now I can't stop eating it."

        "Your scales even look shinier than normal, or is that just me?"

        "It's just you," she rolled her eyes and chomped half the fish down with a slurp, "things are good though, we have a growing pack, we have all the food we need, we only just have to deal with the humans."

        "In what way?" asked Sulphide snapping the bones and spitting them out.

        "Well we can't just let them LIVE here, they don't deserve to live period!"

        "And what plan do you have for that?"

        "Well it wouldn't be enough to just kill the ones here, yes?"  She finished off the tail of the fish in a single gulp.  "If they came here through time, then they must have a purpose centred around their own self-preservation, and if we were to discover it-"

        "Then we could prevent it?!"  He gasped choking on his meat.  "D-do you think it's possible?"

        "When we can learn enough about their base, which is why that mountain cave shall make a useful outpost."

        "Would the humans come near enough to make it useful?"

        "They are still friends with Oddclaw," she nodded sagely, "they will come and one of us shall observe them."

        "Not you I hope."

He muttered this under his breath as Riptor leaned closer to him.

        "I thought you trusted me."

        "Uh, wh-what?"

        "I thought, you trusted me enough to not hide your words."

        "I, I-i'm sorry, you're right I-"

        "Well, tell me."  She pushed herself from her seat and lurched above him.  "What were you muttering?"

        "That...I-i hope it's not you who goes to observe them."

        "And why NOT?!"  Her teeth grew larger as Sulphide balked.

        "I-i'm just concerned for you!"

        "I am not some pathetic lovesick child I am your GODDESS!"  She kicked him hard in the face and pinned him on his back.  "If I choose to observe my enemy then I will, whether or not you want it so remember your PLACE!"

        "Y-yes, yes, I'm sorry Riptor I-i-i didn't mean..."

His shivering whimper made her pull back, his gasping flinch from the look in her eyes causing her to shake her head with a snarl before turning away from him.

        "I...never mind, I need to sleep."

        "Are you-"

        "I'M FINE!" she shouted.  "Just...tired myself out more than I thought today, thank you for the fish, could you leave me for a moment?"

        "Yes...Riptor I'm...sorry."

She curled up in her seat as Sulphide left, feeling a slight pain in his chest as she felt a sting in her mind, a tender burn that flickered deep as she watched the raptor leave.

        "Do you hear that?"

She knew he didn't.

        "Tell me you hear that."

Her claws tightened into the stone.

        "Why couldn't you hear it?"

The stone cracked as her claws sunk in.

        "Why can't...anyone else hear it?"

She looked up at the roots above her head.  The sound never left, ringing in her ears as her head started to shake.  The sound of the bell, haunting her.

Third Energy Research - Subject Seventeen Preparation

12-09-2047

Recorded by Dr. Andrea Dixon

This year's experiment will be something special.  Utilising new calculations that I and Professor Durai have devised, we are fine-tuning our gravity well to hopefully perfect our pathway home.  Our age combined with our original mission to straighten the fossil record makes things imperative to finish this within the next few years before anything else can happen.

Haytham has left me his notes here to work from, transcribed into English whilst he was working on the Ark plan we essentially revived from Meridian-5's database.  As Dr. Addison has explained previous, three of the tribes do not consent to their removal from this time, unless we can prove their food supply in the new sea can be edible.  Our plan then is to first return home, perfect our gate, head to their new destination in future and compare both the fish and seawater to their prehistoric time then hopefully return to them with an acceptable condition.

A short distance from the base, there came a lemming from the darkness.  Under the mask of sunset a shimmering light came to shape as he staggered through the world with a deep shudder of his tome, the gnawing of depths between dimensions as he grabbed one of the broken-toothed rocks that protruded from the sands.

        "H-hhhh!  HHHHH!  Haaah...t-talisman what have I-"

You have done what was needed.

        "I-i...I just, k-killed my master-"

He was no longer your master.

        "What...no."

Saviours have no master, James.

He sat himself against the gibbous rocks.

        "Th-this is...this is too much I...I-i need some time to think, I...h-hoh saviour I-...m-master forgive me."

His heart became soft as his breath drew fast, shivering once his mind caught up with the events of the previous hour in another realm as he clutched himself with sobbing gasps and rocking motions.  He thought of his brother's face on that lonesome shore, his father and mother's screams from the house he knew in his heart he could never return to.  The only companion he had was the one speaking from his mind, his thoughts unseen from a dream he had long since known.

They will understand when you return.

        "H-how can I go back?" he whimpered.  "I-i am the first...th-the first, one to kill a lemming in my village, m-maybe the isle itself!"

A drop of blood shall prevent the river.

        "SHUT UP!"  He grabbed his head.  "H-HE WAS MY FRIEND, HE WAS MY MASTER HE-"

Was in your way.

        "HE WAS AFRAID, HE-...h-he didn't deserve this."

He pulled out from his satchel the book of the cursed city's name.  His hands clenched with teardrops over the blood stained on its front.

        "What have I done?  S-saviour, please t-tell me I did the right thing, th-that I am not...n-not-"

A murderer by another name is a saviour.

        "Th-that is not true."

You doubt your cause?

        "I do not know what is true."

This book you hold in your hands.  That is your truth.

        "I...I don't know if I can keep going, I-i-"

To falter now would render his death pointless.

        "He didn't, h-he didn't have to die, he did not-h-hoh talisman."

He pressed against his knees and huddled under the rocks, shivering with sobs as the book rubbed on his chest.  Minutes passed in silence, his mind slowly breathing once more as the voice opened his way.

You have your mission.  Your destiny.

        "I know...I-i know, but-"

You shall mourn him when the time is right.

        "Will they forgive me?"

When you have banished the Darkness, they will forgive everything.

        "I...I should still ask for punishment."

Modesty is good.  It will warm their hearts for after the battle.

        "Alright.  Alright, then..."

He rubbed sand over the blood to scour it as much as he could, trying to dispel the stains until they were barely noticeable before putting it back in his satchel and walking towards the base in the east.  He stiffened his body with each step, his eyes hardening with every second with umbrella in his hand shining dark in the fading light.  His throat tightened with words practiced in his mind as the voice receded to the depths of his conscious, the sounds of his armoured vest and greaves shifting with metallic creaks ringing over the sea that lapped north and south of the sandy bar he walked as he reached the doors of the base.

        "Halt!"  Two soldiers pointed guns at him.  "Who goes there?"

        "You do not recognise me?"  James spread his arms.  "I admit the new togs have given me a certain air-"

        "Oh, hey James."  Their rifles went down.  "What's with the Hobbit look?"

        "My mother became so worried about me venturing to other realms, that I decided to get some new armours to allay her fears."

        "Hah, ohhh wow, moms never change no matter where yer from."

        "Indeed they don't."

        "Where's your pal the professor?"

        "He...he is sick."  James clasped his hands for inner strength.  "He caught some...terrible disease and he has to stay resting for a...well, a week at least but it could worsen."

        "Oh shit," the guards looked to each other, "you alright then?"

        "Oh yes I am fine, I kept well away and I have been tested, I should speak with Dr. Dixon however and explain to her-"

        "Yeah that's a good idea, alright head on in."

He took a deep breath and sighed after walking through into the base, his cloak tattered behind him in the form of his robe folded twice and hung upon his shoulders to scarf round his neck.  The soldiers looked twice at him, the reploids and badniks scanned him with increased scrutiny for his look as he heard the faint sounds of whirring retinas and clacking insectoid feet on the walls.  The more people looked the bolder he became, stiffening his posture and bracing his arms with steady thunks of his umbrella tip against the ground.  Confidence overgrew him, his smile growing as gentle relief swelled in his heart with that little touch of excitement that one felt when committing an act of crime, the taste of taboo that made one's fingers lean and vibrous and curiosity grew thick in his mind with the phrase "what else can I get away with?" that every first-time offender asks themselves.

        "James?!"

They caught him.  He knew, he was deeply sorry, he would throw himself to the masses, he would beg for his life, he would punish himself, he would cut off his hand and break his own legs if it would make amends as all his confidence evaporated in the brink of his step.

        "Y-YEES!?"  His voice peaked too high as he turned.  "Y-YES, ECH-HEM yes, s-sorry caught a bit of, sand, yes, sand in my throat."

        "Why are you wearing armour?" Chanoch stood before him in powdered suit and yarmulke.  "Is there battle at home?"

        "No I...hah," he forced a laugh and swept his hands, "mother kept worrying about me and I finally broke in getting some new clothes to keep her happy."

        "Aaah, yes."  He nodded smiling.  "May I see?"

        "If you wish."

Bending down on his knees the great lizardman inspected his lover's suit, pressing his hands over the vest and feeling along the cloth-hemp skirt that hung against the lemming's thigh.  He tapped  his claw on the greaves and knocked on the boots, seeing James sigh from his touch that warmed over the steel and bled through his heart as he pressed his head against Chanoch's, a tender kiss stolen between when he felt the lemming's hair brush over his cheek.

        "This is good," said Jarogniew.

        "Mmmm yes it is," James wrapped his arms around him, "c-could you hold me?"

        "Mmm?"

He questioned but did not object, pulling him close as James slipped his head over Chanoch's shoulder, tasting the scales of his neck, the grand burly arms wrapped round his body to hold him tight to his chest, almost squeezing the armour as it stiffened against his touch.  The heat of their bodies turned thick as James pulled back to kiss his beloved, a stroke of their tongues before the embrace soothed his heart, and the breaths of the beastly soldier filled his lungs as if smothering his fear in its crib.  The fog from his mind cleared and there stood Chanoch.

        "Thank you," James whispered pulling back.

        "For what?" Chanoch asked.

        "Just...for being you.  Please never change, my love."

        "Hm.  I have no reason to."  He smooched James' cheek.  "You have business today?"

        "Yes, um, do you know where Dr. Dixon is?"

        "She is in the television room," he pointed someways down the hall, "I will see you at our room?"

        "Of course, see you there."

He pecked another kiss to Chanoch's cheek as they parted their ways with the lemming heading over to the rec room, the sounds of three singers coming from inside as James witnessed Andrea joining in on a duet between a bespectacled milquetoast man and a surprisingly animated plant with huge teeth that grew throughout the room.

        "AH, hello?!"

        "HELLO-OH, JAMES!"  She paused the movie in the midst of allegro.  "How ya doing?!"

        "Good, good good good, I just had to ask-"

        "I thought you guys were coming the end of the week," she turned in her seat.

        "Yes, I came to tell you," James clenched his hands again, "I-"

        "Sit down, come on in-"

        "A-ah no I...well, alright."

He seated himself beside her and clenched harder.  Her smile was the cruellest blade that cut into his heart.

        "I regret to inform you that...master Durai has taken ill."

        "Oh...oh god."  She clutched her face.  "I-is he alright?!"

        "He...well, i-it is quite severe, he must have caught something whilst he was orienteering, we...we went to the mountains for an expedition, and then when we came back h-he um...took, ill with something."

        "Oh shit," Dixon sighed slumping in her seat, "is it bad?"

        "It...well," James squeezed his eyes shut, "he will be fine, he just has to recover for...about two weeks, maybe three.  I do not think he will arrive in time for your next experiment that is why he asked me to go in my place and to help you."

        "I understand," she patted his knee, "just as long as he's alright that's what matters most but thank you for coming."

        "It is fine," he bowed, "I am sure he will be fine, he just needs rest for...a long rest."

        "Yeah I think that's good, can you still visit him?"

        "Well, not in the same room as him, but-"

        "Oh it's something contagious?"

        "Yes quite, but I am safe do not worry they checked me before I left."

        "Okay good, well uh...I'm just watching this movie so if you wanna either stay and watch or just go do something and I'll come get you so you can help me with my stuff?"

        "I...hmm, alright I will watch with you."

He turned in his seat towards the dancing monstrosity of vines and his sickly human master.

        "What is this film?"

        "It's a dark comedy musical," said Andrea, "this guy with a pathetic life runs a florist and he gets this weird plant that feeds only on human blood."

        "U-uhhm, really?"

        "Yeah and then it gets big after enough and it starts talking and singing and well, demanding that his master feed him with actual meat, human meat."

        "O-oh, ohhh!"

        "So this sad sap of a dude who just really wants to get enough money to run off with his girlfriend just ends up having to kill all these people just to feed this monster that's living with him-"

        "I JUST REMEMBERED!"  James shot up like a leaf.  "I am, SO sorry but I just remembered I have to help Chanoch with something."

        "Oh no prob," she grinned waving him off, " meet up in the lab in like an hour?"

        "Yes, definitely, sorry again!"

He rushed down the hall and headed back to his room, seeing Chanoch was not yet there as he sat on his bed and rolled over to a sobbing fit, clutching his chest with painful gasps as he felt his heart about to burst and a dry heave vent from his stomach, porous sweat drenching his snout as he struggled to contain his breaths and rocked frantically against himself in a foetal state.

        "They know, they know, th-they all know I don't know how but they-"

Enough.

        "Th-they know, they've seen the blood, they've smelt it, hoh talisman's grace-"

ENOUGH!

The voice roared with deafening shudder in his brain.

Think for one second, none but you have come from your realm.

        "Yes...yes, that is true."

They cannot know, they can never know except from you.

        "But what if something I say, something I do should-"

Keep your words brisk.  The less you say, the less they can gleam.

        "Right...yes, of course."  James sat up rubbing his head.  "Should...sh-should I be worried that...that I am taking advice from a voice deep within?"

Is that not a saviour's grace?

        "I...I-i don't know, is it?"

Do not let emotions weaken you.  Let your logic speak.

        "Is this what it was like for him?"  He pressed his back to the headrest.  "Then what separates a saviour from those with sickness in the head?"

Are we not all a little mad?  Chanoch was cursed for centuries, yet he finds solace in a god who never spoke to him.

        "That...that is true, and the humans have told me that there is no definitive proof their gods exist, yet Haytham...hoh, he told me his did exist."

But did he ever meet them?

        "I...I-i do not think so-"

Then what makes you less mad than him?

His mind turned with gears as he nodded slowly.  Sated by his own argument, he calmed himself by revising his notes in one of his other books as the sounds of scratching pencil filled the room with a terse solitude.  Once the hour had passed he went to the third energy lab with Dixon awaiting him, taking his notebook as she explained all she could within the gentle trembling of the gated room, consoles enshrined towards the almighty giver and taker of existence that almost breathed through its metal cage.

        "So this time," she began, "we calibrated the gravity well to better balance between the two energy gates which are working on different sub-levels of quantum physics."

        "In what way?" asked James.

        "Basically think my TEG is running on fire whilst the gravity well's running on water, that make sense?"

        "Right, I see and is that the well's readout?"

        "Yep."  She brought out a pad-shaped display running dozens of numbers.  "This one's synced up with the well so I can calibrate live from here, anything I put down sends orders up to our moon team.  THIS panel over here is the readout for the moon base's gate."

        "Am I right in assuming," James scribbled a table, "you are trying to synchronise the numbers close to exact?"

        "Yes exactly," Dixon grinned, "the particle diffraction offset is easy, that stuff we got down pat, now the Kirk-Roentgens are a little trickier, we tend to switch those up the most because they're the most unstable part of the entire thing."

        "And what are those exactly?"

        "In this case, Kirk-Roentgens are what we call the sub-etheral charge that when amassed in a single area is what tears open the reality and brings forth something from another world.  Strictly speaking it's a swap zone, and normally it would be only solid things but it seems I managed to make this also accept the transference of air and water as acceptable to switch around one piece of a world for another."

        "Otherwise you could only transfer earth with earth."

        "Exactly!"

        "I see...alright, so what will be the numbers this time?"

        "Well lemme show you."

Putting up both of the panels she showed James the readouts which went in a small range of pre-approved numbers, the lemming noting them down in his table of equations as she read off what each and every type of number represented.  One was the strength of the aperture, one was the fracture triggering rate, one was the stable resonance which she emphasised was incredibly vital as James underlined it heavily.  Little notes she recommended also went in as fractured sentences on which numbers should be higher than the others always, never the opposite as well as her discussions for the plan with the Ark.

        "You know about that right?" she leaned forwards.

        "Yes, m-master...Durai told me of such."

        "I'm kinda glad he left his notes here, considering he's sick and all, I wouldn't wanna make you go and get them-"

        "Yes yes, I, haha, aaaah that would be troublesome," James rubbed his neck biting his lip, "just for the sake of infection you understand."

        "Right of course...hey, I got an idea!"  She stood up clapping her hands.  "You know Amy that reploid wolf, she could make any kind of cure if you just get a sample of the disease!"

        "Wh-WHAT?!"  James staggered back with a clatter of his chair.

        "Why not, it's perfect, you just need a sample!"

        "I...I-i-i...that, is, a ludicrous idea if you will forgive me saying because I-well, how could I bring a sample?!"

        "We get a sealing jar, Kevin's got some to borrow!"

        "Th-that...that would-"

        "You wanna help him get back on his feet dontcha?"

        "Yes I do but I...I have other things to do Dr. Dixon I am not going to run off at his beck and call every hour!"

        "I'm not saying you run off NOW," she rolled her eyes, "just next time you head on back we'll give you a jar or something and a couple gloves, a mask-"

        "F-fine, fine."  He stepped back with his hands up.  "Sorry I...I-i get rather nervous around diseases, I was well-"

        "Oh right, cuz you got really sick as a kid?"

        "...who told you that?"  His teeth grinded in his jaw.

        "Haytham told me," Andrea shrugged, "you were like three or something-"

        "What did he tell you?"

        "...that you were sick in bed for ages and you didn't get a chance to meet your saviour because of it."

        "...right.  Yes."  He sighed clutching his head.  "Forgive me I am just-"

        "No it's fine," she patted his shoulder, "you're obviously worried about him I just wanna help."

        "I appreciate that," James gulped taking his leave, "thank you for the details, the experiment's in a month?"

        "Yep," she cracked her knuckles, "moon's coming in close, remember we work on the lunar cycle."

        "Oh YES, of course right I nearly forgot that!"  He swiftly scribbled the last note.  "Thank you doctor, I appreciate all your hard work."

        "Haha, well it's nice to hear that more often, alright you got all you need for Haytham?"

        "I will...visit him when I return, yes."

Of course he would not return to his home.  James would stay in the base for another week, keeping up pretences mostly with Chanoch at his side, comforted by his presence as he became much closer to him than usual.  They read books together, they worked together with James writing and Chanoch either doodling or needling, keeping their fingers busy by any means to which the soldier took as wanting to feel useful but the scholar took as silencing the thoughts that crept through his head and festered within the mire of sin versus just.  When the week had passed, he was given a jar by the medical staff and so took his leave from the base, heading out west as far as he could to make his way to the jungle next to the Death Nest.

        "Alright," he said, "time to prepare for your survivalist training, now uh...what did Oddclaw say?  Keep your body low...tight as you can."

Slinking through the undergrowth James began his first days of living in the wilds of prehistoria, setting up a tent beneath the trees and a small fire to keep warm through the night as he tracked the smaller beasts.  He struggled to even catch one rodent, but it was enough for him along with the brief food supplies he took from the base as he feasted on the roasted rat, charting off the days and keeping his calendar fresh whilst poring over the map of the ancient continent.  His brother's insignia made his heart weep, as he sunk against the folds of his tent with a deep sigh and rocked himself steady.

        "How can I ever explain this to him?  They will know, they all know, and here I thought...I thought I could explain it to them, I thought by just taking a stand against their cowardice they would follow me, they would lead me...just as you did.  Just...like your son manages."

He looked out to the world beyond with its tropical green and the great black mountain beyond.

        "What am I missing?  How can Campbell and Oddclaw manage to lead and become great visiers of their folk, and I end up a murderer?!  What is wrong with me?!  Have I not been kind, have I not shown mercy and wisdom?!  Must my obstacles be greater than theirs?!  Then again Oddclaw had a great obstacle to surpass uniting tribes from two different worlds, I do not know how he does it.  And I cannot ask him no, no I cannot, his senses are too sharp he will know something is wrong."

James pulled out his book to see the red tinges still in its spine.

        "AAAGH, STUPID THING!"  He slammed it against his head.  "WHY DID YOU STAIN IT, WHY WILL THIS SODDING BLOOD NOT COME OUT?!"

He grabbed a handful of mud and scoured against the crimson taint, savagely rubbing over the leather in the hope that it would dry out and pull the blood from its surface before putting it aside and rechecking his map.

        "Alright, alright...just have to think where to put it, where can I set this place to be...somewhere that is reasonable to put underground...Firesea is too dangerous, but the smoke does give some cover...the Greatbeast's Spine might help, I did hear Jane telling me that Oddclaw found some caves within so that might...wait."

His eye drew towards the centre of the land.

        "This place here...what is...ahhh."  The lemming clapped his hands.  "Yes, yes this is perfect, no one has come here in months, no one would think otherwise, now I just have to get there unseen...the flyers might help me, they can smell Oddclaw upon me so that should do?  Alright."

He rolled his map and settled down to sleep beneath the Sunmoon Trees, wrapped in the balmy warmth of dusk turning to night as the ocean stretched in three directions around him in shades of black, azure and golden-orange.  Stars twinkled through the leaves and soon would fade to ethereal blue, the sounds of beasts screeching around him as he set off towards the Death Nest and wrapped his translating collar round his neck.  Keeping towards the ocean he watched the skies for any pterosaurs flapping around as a few hours passed, seeing one eventually skirt on by as he waved up his hands frantically.

        "HOIII!  HELLO, I'M A FRIEND OF ODDCLAW!"

The flyer took the bait, skirting down in a spiral before landing at the edge of the rocky shore to spread her wings with a leathery creak.

        "Good morning!"

        "Yes, good morning, can you take me to someplace fast?"

        "Why not your stoneflyers, are they sleeping?"

        "Well, yes, they are...damaged, yes, and I need to get somewhere soon."

        "Alright alright, where you flying?"

        "The shore just east of the Skylands," he pointed thus, "there is a cave there I need to see."

        "OH, the fireshine cave?!" she clacked patting her feet.  "I can take you there easily!"

        "Yes thank you so much!  I will be staying there for a while so will someone be able to take me from there too back to here?"

        "Under the Skylands definitely," the pterosaur bent her head with stretching wings, "any friend of Oddclaw's we are welcome to help."

        "Thank you again."

He clambered on with his armour shifting in clinks and scrapes, the winged beast taking flight with a mighty squawk and shooting up over the sea to take a direct path towards her homeland.  James held on tight feeling the wind shriek through his hair and send it in all directions, tousling it heavily as the sea stung his nostrils thick with hard salts on the heated breeze, the widest ocean he had ever seen as an endless expanse of purest cobalt.  What would have been a four-day run took only the space of a few hours as soon he embarked upon a rocky shoreline beneath the great towering spire of mountains bathed eternally in the sun.  The pterosaur slipped him off as James stood before the entrance of a large cave with metal struts, crashing white waves shifting behind him to soak the hem of his cloak.

        "So this is it," he murmured.

        "I always wondered what was inside," said the flyer craning her beak, "none of us can fit in there, but the hairless sometimes come here on their stonefish."

        "Then as reward for carrying me I shall tell you," James grinned, "once I discover it myself, if you would like to come find me again when it's sunset."

        "Alright, thank you!" she clacked.  "Will you be alright on your own?"

        "I will yes, see you soon!"

Taking her leave the waters smacked against her wings as she flapped up to the sky and James went into the darkness, lighting up a torch with his fire as he took in the sights of the artificial tunnel.  Squares in the dirt showed old filings of metal where crates had once sat, burns from lasers and bullet shards in the walls made him ponder what sort of battle had occurred here.

        "I had heard the humans say they have another place for spare storage but...this is much stranger than I thought."

Most of the rocks had been cleared to the side offering a straight path forwards as James' boots clinked deeper into the dark.  Eventually he came upon a large room resembling a warehouse interior, steel walls and a wide ceiling that reflected the light of his torch between the piles of crates stacked in orderly file like the remnants of a castle beneath the earth.

        "Wow," his voice flooded the room, "so that's all it is hmm?  Seems like they left this place alone for a while."

He checked the tracks of old treads in the dirt, left by the badniks who maintained the cargo as he rubbed his fingers in it.

        "Definitely old by a few months.  Yes, this should do then, this place is just right, accessible yet far enough from prying eyes, and near the Skylands it makes good access for me to not be too close to either the humans or raptors...right."

Taking his time to check every part of the warehouse, he found other rooms to the side where there had once been experiments with tables and glass shards that had been swept away into corners.  As he walked throughout the place he sketched a map of its layout with obstacles noted such as crates and tables before he returned to the central room and circled one of the farthest regions in the back which he returned to, a storage room even back in its heyday with a soft earthen wall held up by twisting strata.  It was entirely empty, a sizeable square cleared of furniture as James opened up his book of the cursed city and held it open to the wall.

        "Hmmmm...yes.  Yes this is good, alright.  Now just to wait for a month and all shall be ready...should I leave my book here?"

No, do not lose it.

        "No of course I should really keep this on me."

The other book you must hide.

        "What book-OH!  Right, yes the um, the code."

He pulled out a second book from his satchel, a soft green that shone with waterproofed covering as he tapped it gently.

        "Such a shame to waste such a lovely book but well...hhhh, if the saviour's will says to then who am I to argue?  Must admit, it was exciting to make a self-activating book...master would have liked this."

Heading back out of the warehouse he sat at the entrance and waited until sunset, the calm of the waves lapping at the shore soothing him somewhat as he savoured his rations until the flyer returned.

        "Hello again!" she squawked flapping down.  "So, what was inside?"

        "Well," James sucked his fingers, "there are lots of old metal boxes containing tiny...stones that the humans love to collect."

        "Really?  Is that all?"

        "Yes, it is just their hiding place for shiny stones."

        "Huh...I was hoping for something more."

        "Well, who knows," James grinned rocking on his feet, "they might put something else in there soon."

        "Hmhmhm, alright, are you ready to go?"

        "Yes please!"  He hopped up on her back.  "But, before we return, may I ask you to take me up?"

        "Up, in the Skylands?" she looked skywards.

        "Not all the way, just there are some flowers I need for friends back at the base."

        "You hairless really love the sky plants, so weird...but, alright!"

Flapping up towards the great peaks of the continent, the pterosaur swooped over the ocean to gain her drift and spiral upwards with the breath in her wings, James keeping his eyes shut to not suffer the dizzying heights as the world became smaller below him when the black rocky shore turned to a sliver.  Pointing out the first ledge he could see, he waited for her to land with a creaking shudder of the rock as he shuffled off carefully from her side and scooted against the cliff, the cold winds of the fearsome heights making his cloak ripple fast behind him.

        "Do you need this plant so much?!"

        "YES!" he shouted.  "PLEASE do not talk to me I do not like heights!"

        "Alright, try not to fall!"

        "OH, thank you!" he rolled his eyes without turning his head.  "And here I was about to dive off into the ocean."

        "You would have to jump really far to touch the sea from here," she cackled with a clack, "I can catch fish out the water but not a hairless from the sky!"

        "Thank you for your stirring confidence."

Muttering to himself James reached down to some random plants he found near a sizeable crevice, peering within to see whether it would fit before moving on to the next cragged gape.  Four cracks later he found one that was just right, pulling out the green book when the flyer was not looking before he shoved it through the gap and heard it clatter in the depths of a hidden cave.

        "Perfect," he sighed, "right, ready to go!"

        "Good!" she chirped spreading her wings.  "Watch your step!"

        "Thank you," he stuffed the plants into his satchel and clambered on, "I appreciate your help with this."

        "Any friend of Oddclaw's a friend of ours, back to the Death Nest?"

        "Yes please."

A week would pass and James would return to the base, after keeping in the wilds and discarding any trace of his deception with his books tightly sealed.  He would make up some excuse of not being able to get a sample from Haytham due to the "highly contagious" nature that prevented any from seeing him, but the closer the date to the anomaly came the more anxious he turned, struggling to write even the most basic equations without a shaking hand as he kept himself in the base for two more weeks doing everything he could to engage with the people and act completely normal.

        "Are you alright?" Chanoch asked slipping off his clothes.

        "Yes, yes of course!" James clapped his hands.  "That was a good session we had, sorry I messed up the bass rhythm."

        "It is fine, but..." he put a hand on his shoulder with a squeeze, "you have been nervous this month.  Is something wrong?"

        "W-well...w-w-well, I..." he wiped the sweat from his brow, "a lot of things are happening and such."

        "Ahhh."  The lizard hugged him against his chest.  "Your master will be fine."

        "H-hoh!"

        "I will pray to Elohim for his best recover-"

        "NO!"  He pushed back in a stumble against his desk.  "N-no, no it is fine it's FINE it's, please Chanoch it is just...hah..."

He felt his arms droop as he stumbled to their bed and flopped on the sheets, groaning into the covers with a gentle sob.  The soldier sat beside him and stroked his hair, saying nothing as the lemming just deflated in a single swoop with all his exhaustion pouring out in a deep breath.

        "You are working too hard, you should rest."

        "MMnnnnnngh," his face buried in the sheets, "uh huff tuh duu thush."

        "Do what?"

        "Mmmmph," he looked up, "the...the experiment, I have to be ready for...c-calculations-"

        "I can help you write them-"

        "NO!"  He shoved himself up scooting back to the wall.  "N-no, no it's fine I-i shouldn't make you have to do things for me-"

        "James."  He shifted his weight closer with soulful eyes.  "What is wrong?  You are not like this."

        "Wh-what...what do you mean?"

        "You are pushing yourself too hard, you must rest more."

        "I...I-i will be fine, I just need-"

        "No.  Please."

He pressed his body against James to almost pin him, his naked chest grinding on the plated steel as he leaned in for a kiss.  He did not resist, melting into his embrace as his thick tongue crept into James' mouth and pulled with a hefty suck and a thickening breath from his scaled nostrils.  In that moment he finally relaxed, the scholar turned limp in his clutch as Chanoch removed the armour from his body, slipping the greaves down the side of his bed and and unbuckling the chestplate to pull it over James' head and reveal his tender pink body.  It was paler than usual, but still sweet and hairless as he smooched over the the belly to make the lemming giggle and gasp, dappling kisses all up to the neck as he relaxed more fully and wrapped his arms around the lizardman to keep him close.

        "Thank you," he whispered.

        "Mmmmhhh...remember."

He tapped the talisman that hung from James' neck.

        "Always with you James."

        "A-always...with me."  He looked at their faces in the pendant.  "Yes.  You are, aren't you?"

        "Yes."

        "...what...would that mean then?"  James stroked his cheek.  "Does that mean you would follow me, wherever I would go?"

        "Yes," Chanoch kissed his fingers, "I would follow you to Sheol, if I could keep you safe."

        "Th-thank you...but, you don't deserve that."

        "It is my choice.  My choice is to protect you."

        "...then it should be my choice to protect you too, just as I did at the trial."

        "Yes."

James smiled with a strange content settling in his breast, pushing himself up against the head of the bed as he reached into his side drawer and brought out a book from the library.

        "Would you like me to read to you Chanoch?  I've been quite into this story, but I could start from the beginning."

        "I would love that."  He rolled to the side and moved to a spooning position.  "Read to me."

He opened the book feeling Chanoch's breath against his cheek and the thick scales against his back, arm wrapped around his waist as James forgot everything in that moment.  The tender squeeze of thick claws upon his chest, the dry leather scent and the thud of the thick tail behind him, left him adrift in a sea of bliss that he didn't even remember what book he was reading, something about a whale as best he would recall.  But then he would sleep, and in turn so would Chanoch for longer than him in a sweet embrace as he curled up against him.  When Chanoch awoke once again, James was already gone, his satchel and umbrella taken with him as he noticed the novel they read last night having a large piece of paper sticking out of it.  His name in Yiddish, something he had not seen James write since they first met as he opened the note.

Chanoch

You are the only one I trust now to tell you this.  I wish last night had never ended, if all of eternity just left me in your embrace, I would give everything for that.  But I must leave to fulfil my purpose, to destroy the Great Darkness and even though everyone in my village has turned against me, I cannot stop.  I can never return home, not until I have obtained the power of the Dark, from a city I shall bring to this realm.

I must brave the darkness myself, even though I know you would stand beside me and protect me with your heart.  But you don't deserve that fate, you should not suffer to carry my burden.

You are the purest light, the one thing that has driven away the fear in my heart, and were I to lose you in my personal quest, then I would lose my heart, and my very will to live.  Call me selfish, yes, but you are stronger than I and I will do everything I can to return back to you.

You are the light in my soul, who shall guide me home when I return from the darkness.  But if I do not return in a month, please do not wait for me.  Forgive me.  Please forgive me.

James

Chanoch ran immediately out the door with paper in hand, storming through the base and almost barging through men and machines to clutch at the entrance gate and grab one of the guards.

        "WHERE IS HE?!"

        "W-WOAH, what the shit?!"

        "JAMES, DID HE COME THROUGH HERE!?"

        "Uhh, l-little guy with green hair yeah he went to the rocks that way."

Running over the sands as fast as he could, Jarogniew pounded his naked feet across the shallows with gasping desperation in his throat.  His lungs became heavy, his eyes burning with tears that dripped down his cheeks as he saw the sea at dusk, the rising moon much bigger than before as his mind flurried with a dozen fears and monsters all at once.

        "JAAAAMES!  JAAAAAAAMES!"

But no one heard him.  None but the sounds of the ocean came back in response no matter how far he ran to the Brokentooth Rocks, even pressing on beyond to the Sunmoon Trees but still he was not there.  Chanoch stopped when his lungs became a desert, thick and arid with gasping wheeze as he fell to his knees with shivering breath, and wept in fearful confusion for the fate of his beloved.

        "What are you doing in there?" asked the flyer.

        "I am digging for crystals," lied James standing at the shore.

        "You hairless and your shinies, I swear, you cannot eat them so why bother?!"

        "We have other purposes for them and it's too much to explain but it's important to me."

        "Alright, shall I see you at night?"

        "No, I will be here a long while."

        "Alone?"  The pterosaur tilted her head.  "Sounds dangerous, will you be alright?"

        "I will be yes."  James bowed.  "Thank you, madame, have a safe journey."

        "Hmhm, alright, if you say so, take care hairless one."

Flapping herself up into the sky she left the lemming upon the dark hidden shore beneath the Skylands.  He turned towards the entrance to the hangar and sighed.

        "I'm sorry Chanoch."

He took his first steps in.

        "This is not your battle, but mine."

Taking a deep breath he walked through the cavern and crossed the warehouse under steel struts and ceilings before reaching the old cleared storage room he had marked out on his map.  Taking the book of the cursed city's name, the sorcerer placed it upon the floor then brought out the walkie he had taken from Chanoch, clicking it on to the base's regular frequency as he waited for the experiment to begin.  A part of him regretted not taking a book with him, but at the same time felt a future guilt of disrespecting Anna had he done so.  In the silence beneath the mountain, James sat and waited on a blanket he had bundled away with him, splayed out and staring at the wall as reread his old work and doodled faint concepts.  Two days would pass, drinking from a water bottle and picking away at the rations he had brought with increasing anticipation that only turned him more hungry and thirsty, fighting against temptations by talking to himself.

        "Chanoch will understand right?  I mean, he has fought darkness before, he would know the pain of such burden."

Was it wise to leave the message?

        "Probably not...but they know nothing of where to find me, all my notes are here with me."

Could they trace the device?

        "Could they?"  He looked to the transceiver.  "I think I recall hearing that these do not work underground."

Destroy it once it serves its purpose.

        "Yes, just to make sure, would not want any last surprises to the plan...this is right, isn't it?"

What other choice is left?

        "But is it really the only choice?"

You made this your only choice.

        "...hhhh," James creased his fingers through his hair, "hohhh saviour this is the worst part, the waiting, too much time to think, too many what-ifs and if-onlys.  Forty years they said until the Great Darkness would come, and here I am planning too far in advance at the cost of...no."

A stitch in time saves nine.

        "It is better to plan ahead and make mistakes, than to wait and perish at the end, mistakes can be corrected with enough years."

They will forgive you in their old houses.

        "Rather than mock me in their new homes across the sea.  Yes.  Yes, there is no turning back, even if I wanted to, I must do this.  I HAVE to do this."

It was not long til the day would come as he spent his hours practicing his blade, turning with the cut of his sword and the shielding parry with his brolly, handles gripped fast with the odd spell of flame and ice that shot through the room from the tip of his blade.  Hours were spent refining his etherous tricks, tearing some of the earth in small pockets to clump them thick in the shape of an axe, hard as stone along with rippling winds to sharpen his magic.  Then the dreaded signal came through the radio.

        "ALERT!  ALERT!"

        "OH, HERE WE GO!"

        "ANOMALY INCOMING, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS AND AWAIT ORDERS!"

Bracing himself as he stood before the book, he faced the wall and put down his weapon to free his hands and begin summoning his greatest yet.  The book resonated to his being when he reached to it with his aura, a thread spilling from his body to wrap around its pages that shone with fractions interminable and equations of grammatic strength.

        "Unde et factum est, et ego mitto vos hic!  Et stellae manibus meis INVOCABO TE!"

The cavern trembled around his body as the struts creaked with a new upset, the book hovering slightly over the ground as he tightened his fingers and braced his teeth with his hair flowing upwards.

        "Unde et factum est, et ego mitto vos hic!  ET STELLAE MANIBUS MEIS INVOCABO TE!"

Harder the world shook, resonating beyond the warehouse as crates began to fall and tilt from their place with a clank and a shuddering groan one after the other with loosening ropes and a trembling through the shore beyond.  Stones dislodged, the ceiling became weak to scatter dust upon James' head, but still he did not move as he almost felt the moon itself pulling towards him.  Far beyond the sea he imagined the humans would not understand this strange new energy, this parasitic force as his cursed tome shot towards the moon with invisible threads and leeched upon the gravity well.  None would know of this, not even the lemming himself would comprehend it but he knew in his subconscious, sensing the wild crackling bursts that ripped through the stone and pierced to the heavens.

        "UNDE ET FACTUM EST, ET EGO MITTO VOS HIC!  ET STELLAE MANIBUS MEIS INVOCABO TE!"

The wall fell apart before him as he felt a familiar presence, that cold infinite darkness from his pages wrapping through the room like worms from the depths of blind voracious need to consume him.  Forcing his hands towards the crumbling wall, James sneered with a tightening spasm, his spine turning rigid to the point of almost snapping in half as he screamed with tears down his throat, his eyes turning black with pinpricks of light fading within for a few seconds of fear.

The world screamed with him.  The Skylands shook with a brief chaos as rocks fell into the sea and rolled through the plains, brontosaurs looking up with shock to see the mountains shudder as pterosaurs shrieked and flew in upset to circle around the craterous peak in fright.  They almost imagined the Skylands sunk a few inches into the earth but none would admit it.  None would dare make that claim lest it become real.  Then it stopped.  The mountain breathed with a deep relief as clouds drifted with a thick dust around its base.  James stood within its depths as he smiled with increasing fright.

        "H-hah...hhhhahahahhaa....hhhhhahahahaha..hhhahahAHAHAHAHA!"

A moment of madness eased his pain as he felt his muscles unclench, desperately twined he almost expected every vein to snap as he fell on his back and kept laughing with shrieks of excitement.  He couldn't stop laughing, even if he wanted to as he screamed his mirth for a good two minutes before he stopped.

        "Hohhh...hooooo...alright.  Alright, you...you did it."

Destiny awaits.

        "Yes, yes it does.  All I need now is to find the source."

And take its strength as your own.

        "I'm so close," he stood up gasping taking his brolly in hand, "so...s-so close...yes.  I know you'll forgive me master.  I know you will."

The yawning chasm before him showed a cellar of sorts, an old wooden door at the end of a small room filled with barrels long since rotted with the smell of vinegar piercing his nostrils.  He stepped forwards after crushing the transceiver under his feet, and through the little cellar he grabbed the door's handle, pushing it open with a long verminous creak as the depths would welcome him.  Darkness would be his friend, where nothing else remained.