"I told the gates to close once we were all inside so that no one could follow us in and trap us here. It is all right."

Moonflame led us through the halls of this mighty tower and up many jeweled staircases to the top of the tower. There we had a full view of the island. Except for the tower and the surrounding land, the island was a jungle. Many things moved within the trees, but nothing entered the tower area, not even the insects. I asked Moonflame about this.

"It is because of the magic here. The creatures within the jungle, including the insects, were spawned from this magic, and this magic can destroy them. They were made by it, and they will die by it. So they have learned over the years to stay away from it, and they do not die."

"You mean they are immortal?"

"Aye, Ahmail, they are immortal. But they age. Some of the creatures are thousands of years old, but they can do nothing more than watch for they are too brittle to move. They are doomed to a life of eventual stagnation. The day they realize why they keep away will be a day of happiness for them, in whatever form happiness comes to them. But it is the same for us. We know what can and will kill us, and we try to avoid it. But because we know what can kill us, it always does. Old age and death are always synonymous to us, but they don't have to be so. We hold our own fate. Now, down to the vaults."

We climbed down the stairs we had come up, then entered a room not unlike this one. It was large and, for the most part, covered in fine blue dust. There was a door leading off to the north. It was through this door that Moonflame led us. A strange smell hung in the air like death. Ahmahl was the first to fall to the floor, gasping.

"Stay away from him! If we get close to him, the same will happen to us. Quick, give him this pole."

Moonflame handed me a reed pole he had been carrying with him since the day before. I handed it to Ahmahl as he coughed.

"Use the pole as a breathing tube. The spell has only a limited area. Hurry."

Ahmahl did as he was told and was soon breathing normally through the reed. Ahmail started choking next. The reed was passed to him. Ahmahl seemed cured.

"It appears it affects only one at a time. We will just sit and wait."

I sat down and waited. Inhar and Moonflame both suffered the same effects as the twins. When it came time for me to experience this, I felt a chill run through my chest, and I could not breath. Then I realized that I didn't have to. I was not suffocating like my comrades, I was just not breathing.

"You see," Moonflame said, "Chronistrix has some uses after all. He will need no help. Come let us hurry."

We came to another staircase, this made of polished obsidian. Moonflame stepped cautiously onto it.

"Do not follow me until I call."

He started slowly down the stairs. The walls seemed to glow with an unearthly black light, and the stairway became almost biting-cold. The four of us hugged ourselves and waited. Moonflame disappeared from view. A minute passed. We could no longer hear his steps in the air. Another minute passed. I grew tense. It was all too quiet on this black stairwell, too still. The air was getting colder, and we were slowly freezing, for we were still dressed in our sailing gear. I called out to Moonflame, and when I got no answer, the four of us started down the stairs.

Five steps down, the steps tilted, forming a solid ramp. We all hit hard, Ahmail being knocked unconscious. As we fell, the ramp tilted more, and we were sliding down at an amazing rate. As I flew past the walls, I could see in them not only my reflection, but other things behind the wall. They were too alien to describe: sharp, thin, black creatures, smiling evilly as we sped toward the bottom of wherever.

I do not know how far we fell. We slid and gained speed constantly. All the while, the evil faces behind the walls laughed in silence at us. Suddenly, a blue light overcame the omnipresent black. There in front of us stood Moonflame, generating this blue radiance. We slowed to a stop at the end of the ramp, just in front of Moonflame.

"Let me guess. After you called and I didn't reply, all of you stepped on the stairs at the same time."

"Yes. After five minutes and no response from you, we all naturally assumed something had happened to you. What else were we to do?"

"Well, I guess I can't blame you. I was trying to be quiet, in case someone, or, more importantly, something, was waiting for intruders. Well, now that we're here we might as well look around.

The hallway was made completely of the black rock, and it reflected the light of our torches weirdly. Moonflame went ahead of us, and Ahmail took the rear. I was in the center, with Majestrix unsheathed. The sword shivered in my hand, as if ready for battle. I admit it, I was scared.

We continued forward slowly, Moonflame ever cautious as to where he stepped. We were as careful as we could be to step where he did.

Soon, we reached a large, heavy door of jet black metal. Moonflame reached out to open it but I grabbed his hand out of instinct, the instinct of my sword.

"You had better let me open it."

My left hand extended as if under the control of someone else. I could see it reaching, but I was not controlling it. I grasped the handle, and I felt a surge of mystical energy flow through me into Majestrix. A blue field of electricity flew from the surface of the sword into the air. I remained unharmed, but still incapable of control. My arm pulled back, opening the door, and the mystical surge stopped. I collapsed, exhausted.

Moonflame knelt beside me and he forced one of his potions into my mouth. I swallowed and felt immediately stronger, though still drained. I looked up into the room I had opened. Dust covered the floor and walls. Bookcases seemed to line the walls. The black crystal we had come to expect of the walls was gone and the blue was back. Metal-bound books were stacked in the bookcases, none of them visibly labeled. Moonflame stood, and walked cautiously into the room. I stayed on the floor.

A moment later, the room glowed in pale blue light, and I saw Moonflame's shadow as he walked around the room. He seemed to be looking for something, but could not find it. It was Inhar who saw the light footprints in the dust covering the floor.

They were manlike, but larger. There were five toes to each foot, but each foot must have been fifteen inches long. I had never seen anything quite so large before, and it was apparent that the others hadn't, either.

"Is it a demondarc?" I asked.

"No, not a demondarc. Possibly another of the Dark Lord's creatures, or maybe just a deformed wanderer."

"Do you believe that, Sir Moonflame?" asked Ahmail.

"No," said Moonflame, "I don't. But what I do believe is possibly worse. I believe that the Kronons have returned, or at least one of them."

"And you chastised me for believing in an old curse? The Kronons are just a myth. You should know that, Moonflame."

"I do know that, simply because of the time I have spent on the new Carousel. But I also remember a time before yours, a time when the Old Gods were still young. The Kronons were a test for them, an experiment. The gods created them as a prototype for the Elderonians. They were created immortal, we were not. That is the only primary difference between our races. That and their size. As you can tell, they are quite large, almost giantlike in stature."

"So what if they are still here? What is it you came for?"

"We are here for an Omega Crystal. That is the name given to the shards of that large crystal destroyed at Ravenclaw. I know where it is. This is the library of the Kronons. I was hoping to find a book of the old spells, the ones that my race's spells were derived from. I was hoping to obtain the Words of Creation and the Words of Life. If they exist, they would be here. But these footprints seem to indicate that the book I want went that way."

Moonflame pointed back the way we came. He then spun and walked down the corridor into darkness. A moment later, he returned with a crystal of multicolored light in his hand. It was about a foot long, roughly cut, and about an inch thick. It shed a glow of white for a couple of inches, then the glow faded. Moonflame started up the stairs, then stopped. He moved away, and, quietly, urged us into the library. He closed the door, leaving only a crack for him to see by. Our breathing was short and sharp, and our heartbeats were double.

I think I had sensed it earlier, a presence, but had said nothing, believing it was just my imagination. I reached for my sword, then remembered it was in my hand. I let go of myself, and I looked at the place in my mind where I thought the thing would be on the stairs. I saw a shadow of something. Then it came into the light of my mind's eye. It was large, but it did not seem ferocious. Most of all, it looked old. I knew that it was about fifty feet away, up the stairs. I let my mind come back to me, and told Moonflame of the vision. He carefully opened the door and peered up the flight of stairs remaining. Footsteps could be distinctly heard now. Whatever it was, it was not trying to be secretive about its approach. A moment later, a voice, strong but soft, came from the stairs.

"Greetings, travellers. Welcome to Muriel. May I come into the open, or will you attack me as you attacked the other one?"

Moonflame stepped into the open, but not before jabbing me in the gut with the crystal.

"That all depends upon whether you are friend or foe."

"I am neither, but at least I belong here. Who are you, who knows so much of our ways?"

"I am Moonflame of Elderon. I am alone. And you?"

"I am Belayr, a Kronon. I am alone. You, however, are not. There is at least one more with you, a young mortal boy with a blue sword. Do not be surprised, young one. We see much that is denied others. The Elderonian should know that, assuming he is who he says. I can't tell. I cannot see him. May I approach?"

"Yes. Come forward."

Around the corner came a man with features similar, but rougher, than Moonflame's. The ears were the most distinctive. They were far longer, though not abnormally so, than Moonflame's, and more pointed. His face was worn and wrinkled, though his eyes were bright with what appeared to be an eternal youth.

"You have found the crystal. Well, it was written that you would come. Will you do what you are destined to?"

"If we are destined to, how can we avoid it?"

"You yourself answered that question, Elderonian, up in the tower. We each hold our own destiny. We can follow it, or deny it. The choice is ours to make. Or rather yours, for I have no choice, only eternal existence."

"If you heard what I said in the tower, then you also know how to die. You are dying now."

"Oh, if it was only that easy. No, it is true that the creatures were created by the crystal, but we were created by the gods for the gods. Only the gods can kill what they have wrought."

"Then, why did you return?"

"To warn you. The journey out will be much more difficult than the journey in. Your boat is sunk, your crew is dead. To my knowledge, there is no other boat on the island. There are Kronons guarding the bridges. I don't think you can escape, and that is the opinion of an immortal."

"But you are not gods. We have gods of our own, and, though less powerful, they far outnumber the dead gods you worship."

"You speak of 'dead gods'. Can gods truly be dead while one worshipper remains alive? And what if that worshipper is immortal? What then?"

"Then we fight to stay alive, with all we've got, including this."

Moonflame pulled the crystal from my hand and held it aloft. The Kronon stared, and as he watched, we saw his eyes go white.

"I'm blind! Damn you, you blinded me! You do not know the power you hold!"

"Don't I?" Moonflame screamed. "Don't I?"

The crystal flared again, and we were outside, Belayr with us, his eyes no longer glazed.

"So you do know, Elderonian. Then I wish you luck in the time ahead."

"I hope He still has a head when we reach him, Kronon. Where is the closest bridge?"

"East. Go due east for a mile. You will find it. But beware, my people are guarding it. I don't think they will be as easy to defeat as you think."

"We shall see. Farewell, and may you find a destiny for you."

"Perhaps, perhaps."

Belayr wandered off into the woods, humming a tune to himself. He soon disappeared into the undergrowth.

Moonflame glanced at us once, then started east. "Let's go!"

The jungle was particularly thick here, and we pressed forward slowly through the dense undergrowth. It seemed as though the farther east we got, the more the bushes and vines reached out to become a wall to stop us. What should have been a short journey took an hour. We came to the point and the jungle seemed to twist and become alive with color. Then we were standing on open ground. A bridge lay in front of us. In front of the bridge were five Kronons in a most fantastic armour. It looked to be made of the same stuff as the crystal Moonflame had found. They held weapons of black steel, and they were ready for battle.

The five of us stepped up to meet them and with a quick swing of his axe, Inhar began the battle. I held Majestrix tightly and felt an alien courage flow into me. A web of lightning danced over the blade and it moved of its own accord. I followed through on the stroke it had made, and was surprised to see the arm of a Kronon fall to the ground. I looked up to see the Kronon staring in disbelief. Then he swung at me and I was hard pressed to stay defensive, as opposed to deceased.

It seemed to me that the Kronon got stronger as the fight progressed, then I realized that it was because he had two arms. His other had apparently grown back. During a moment of still air, I looked over to the arm I had severed, and, sure enough, it was growing another Kronon. Only a chest had formed, but the rest was congealing rapidly from the air around it. I blocked another onslaught, then retaliated with a series of rapid strikes to several limbs. Wherever I slashed, a glow of blue wavered in the air for a moment, and no longer. I had an idea forming, but was too worried about staying alive to devote much concentration to it.

Catching my breath, I looked at my adversary, and was dumbfounded to find him with nothing but a head and chest. His other limbs were scattered around him, and they were growing into other bodies, but for the moment, my Kronon was defeated. I ran to assist Ahmail. As I took to attack, I let Majestrix guide my hand, and had soon defeated two others. Moonflame had somehow disabled three. But two more had formed, and others were rapidly taking shape. It was then that Moonflame brought out the crystal, and with one of his maniacal screams, ran toward the bridge. There was nothing for it but to follow. As I touched the bridge, the battleground faded to gold.

A scream broke the serenity. Inhar had stumbled onto the bridge last, and, at the same time, had been attacked by one of the remaining Kronons. A large spear of black steel protruded from his left shoulder. I ran to him as well as I could, but we were across the bridge before I got to him. On solid land, I pulled the spear from his shoulder, and tossed it aside. Moonflame came and gave him some of the blue-green liquid he seemed to always have with him. He also poured some onto the wound, and, though it did not heal instantly as I expected, it did stop bleeding and begin to clot. Inhar was graciously unconscious.

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