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Date Posted: 10:15:15 02/11/02 Mon
Author: Marz and co.
Subject: To the ruins of Twilight

Marz understood how helpless Tristan felt about the Eremis situation because he felt the same way. Even if they could get back to Bizmar immediately, there was no way of knowing where Tegol had the young healer locked away. The crimelord had dozens of safe houses within Bizmar and owned several homes miles away from the city. Marz was allowed to visit one of his smaller estates over a year ago, disgusted by some of the things he saw going on there. The ex-gang leader was a very sensual person, yet he truly opposed rape. It was obvious that most of the men on Tegol's payroll thought differently. They took what they wanted when they wanted it.

"I'm positive that Erlic will have Dalo, and other friends he has in Bizmar, looking for Eremis," he said. "The beastmaster is a jerk about certain things but you know how persistent he can be. Shit, he never gave up trying to get you away from me, right? He'll find Eremis, Tris. We have to believe that."

Ignoring Justin, Jeremy, and others that kept glancing their way, Marz gave his lover a profound kiss. When their lips parted, he noticed the centaurs beckoning everyone to the middle of the oasis. "It's time to leave, Tris." Marz was now anxious for something to do that would keep his mind off the events in Bizmar, and energy stealing mages as well.

He gathered their gear then made his way to Corum with Tristan following beside him. The Jann refused to leave the camels at the centaur camp, insisting they be led to the ruins and hobbled nearby while they explored the ruined city. "They shall walk beside us because it is much too dark to ride them," Ardesmar said, talking the reins of one of the beasts and leading it to the awaiting centaurs. Complying with the first lieutenant's wishes, the others in the group followed his lead.

*******


An intense sense of relief washed over Ravin when Erlic informed him that the Rovers were fine and on their way to a safer place. After thanking the man profusely for getting a warning to his family in time, he watched him walk away then turned to Isobel. He was able to smile now and did so, his brown eyes displaying the happiness he felt.

"Once again, thank you for being there to comfort me," he whispered. They shared a tender kiss then Ravin gazed deeply into her eyes while thinking of the question she had posed about the mirror. "We'll have to ask Argus' advice on the matter of the mirror since I'm not sure how it works exactly."

He stood up from the tree truck then held his hand out to Isobel. Together they made their way to Argus. After asking the man to start thinking of how the mirror might be used against their enemies, they wrapped it in a blanket and loaded it on one of the camels.

Ravin didn't understand how the mirror managed to trap people within in. Did it suck them in from a distance or only after the glass was touched? Did it work the same in the dead of night as it did in bright sunlight when its rays warmed the gems around the frame? "We'll talk more about the mirror later since we're leaving now," the thief said. "Maybe we can then come up with some idea of how to use it for our benefit"

*******


Once everyone was ready, a small group of centaurs led them away from the camp. It was nearly midnight when they finally came to a stop several yards away from the ruins of Twilight. The city nearly sat on top of an ocean of salt, which made walking a little difficult. Crumbling walls surrounded the perimeter of Twilight and two tall towers were predominant features. Flickering torchlight could be seen coming from windows in the west tower, reminding them that the fanatical Sharm resided there.

The Jann went about hobbling the camels on a solid area of ground, away from the bed of salt that would become quite hot once the sun rose. Hopefully, they'd find the Peacock Throne before then, but since there was a lot of area to explore within the crumbling walls, it might be days before they came upon their prize.

After a brief discussion, the group decided to head east to avoid being seen by the Sharm in their tower. "Be careful," Ebessa told them. "Not all the priests stay within the tower at night. And, other evil denizens may have taken up residence in various areas of the ancient city."

Soon after bidding the centaurs a farewell, Ravin led the group to a narrow path created by the collapsed walls. Single file they climbed over the rubble, reaching the inside of the city a few minutes later. An eerie silence filled the air as they moved forward in almost total darkness, the half moon allowing them to see numerous structures several feet away in various state of collapse.

Weapons were drawn when a pair of large gleaming eyes was seen poking out from behind one of the smaller buildings in the distance before vanishing behind it. "What the hell was that?" Justin asked, receiving a number of shrugs in answer.

"We must find an old temple," Sheik Daraba told them then. "I drank a potion of visions before falling asleep at the centaur camp, and dreamt of walking down a long corridor in underground catacombs. The walls were inscribed with prayers to the ancient god, Neuma."

While the Sheik spoke, Tia's attention was drawn to a large sack that was lying in front of the one remaining wall of some building that had fully collapsed. It looked as though someone had dropped the sack, and it had burst open on impact for coins and gems were scattered around it.

Quietly, she slipped away from the rest of the group and hurried toward the treasure spewed out before the six-foot tall, twelve-foot long wall. A moment later she screamed when a hand reached out from the wall and grabbed her arm. The humanoid hand tried to pull her right into the wall! She slashed at the thing with her sword and it released her, but another hand latched on to her ankle, pulling her right off her feet. Tia screamed again as she fell onto her stomach in the dirt.

"The wall!" Ardesmar shouted. "It is alive!"

More hands and arms extended from different parts of the wall, some waving weapons in the air. "HELP" Tia cried, as she was dragged backward, her feet disappearing into the wall. Moans of horror erupted from the living wall as the thief continued to slash at the hands that gripped her.

Ravin tossed a dagger at the wall and it embedded itself into the structure as if it had hit soft flesh. A wail of agony sounded then a bow came out from the wall held by another pair of hands. The thief ducked as an arrow came flying toward him. Another hand tossed a knife toward the group, while the rest of the hands brandished other weapons.

"HELP!" Tia cried again, as the lower half of her body disappeared into the wall. She cut into one of the hands that held her and it vanished but another one appeared to take its place. "Somebody, please pull me away from here before it sucks me in completely." Tears began streaming down her face as she struggled against the hands that continued to pull her further into the wall. Tia's screams alerted a number of creatures in the area as well as a small number of Sharm that happened to be patrolling nearby.

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