Once More, Unto the Breach

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter 13

I let out a pent-up sigh of relieve as we finally made are
way out of the caves and into the light of the afternoon. I
had been down in the caves for about three hours.

It looked like a lot had happened in those three hours.
There were long slashes of scorched ground covering the
valley, a trio of dragons were just rising up from a dive,
leaving a trail of smoldering crops in there wake.

Sora swore to herself from where she stood next to me. "How
can we stop this?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Quickly I hope. That packet
of yours, if it is poison, may end this quicker then
anything else can. But we need to get back to the castle
first."

She nodded. "We just have to make it." She said as the trio
of dragons flew over our heads, "and there has to be a
castle to get back to."

I patted her on the back as she tucked her wings against her
body. "We will, it's only going to be a couple hours
walking." I squinted a bit, focusing on Ken's spell which
had seemed to have vanished down in the caves. "Oriana looks
to be already there, and I hope someone notices we're on the
way. We might end up with a ride."

"I hope so," She glanced at Jadin, and said something to
her. There was a quick response. "She's ready."

I smiled. "Right then, lets get going," and started to
walked towards the castle, rubbing my head again.

"You're thinking about something." Sora said, falling into
step at my side.

I nodded. "Yes... something wasn't right back there."

She chuckled a bit. "Which part?"

"The Wyrm, it shouldn't of been there."

"By what definition?"

I shook my head. "Any, a Wyrm lives with the folds, it uses
it to hunt. It will keep it's lair on a fold, going though
it to half a dozen well know worlds. It's still miles to the
fold, there's no way she could be living off of that. She's
still alive though, which means that's she's actually going
out of the caves into this world to hunt."

She shrugged. "Maybe the fold moved, or collapsed, and she
was trapped."

I shook my head. "The fold has been at the castle for at
least four years. It's still exactly where it was last time
I used it. She's also new to that cave, and Wyrms spend
there adult live in one cave. She's to big for this to be
her cave. This also was her second or third set of eggs, or
else they would have all been empty of life."

Sora bunched her wings a bit accost her back. "So it moved?"

"A Wyrm would die before willing leaving it's cave." I shook
my head. "No... I think someone moved that Wyrm here, but
why? It had to have been something around a year ago. She
came pregnant, and laid her eggs, which is probably the only
reason why she took up a new cave."

"Meaning what?"

I sighed. "To much... she should not be here at all. I don't
know why she is here, but she is... and I don't think she is
the only one brought to the caves."

Sora frowned. "Jadin?"

I nodded. "Yes... I don't think she is a natural. Again, the
only fold is at the castle, and a natural almost never come
out a ripple when they first open a fold. Not even the most
powerful natural can do that."

"So how did she get here?"

"Ask her to describe what happened. Everything she can
remember about the portal."

Sora nodded and fell back a bit to talk to Jadin. She came
back a minute later. "She said that it was a orange colour,
it opened in front of her, the color starting at blue then
moving to orange. She remembered next waking up in the
caves."

I rubbed my eyes, then readjusted my glasses. "That locks it
then. I think she was deposited."

"But why, and by who?"

I smiled, looking at her. "The why is simple, if she wasn't
there I most likely would be dead now. Someone had to put
here there so she could heal me when the time was right."

She nodded. "Still though, who would have know to do that."

I gave her a light stare, and raised an eyebrow. She looked
at me for a few seconds, then said. "Burke?" She guessed.

I nodded. "Burke."

"How though? If he did put Jadin there how would he know to
actually _do_ it? He would have to know that you would need
her this happened. That would take some for of time travel."

I nodded again. "Which he may actually have."

"What?! I though that it was still theoretical." I gave her
a sharp glance. "He's also from the future isn't he?"

I shrugged. "Or maybe last week. It still may be an accident
that Jadin is here. This is still just a theory the Brothers
told me about a couple days ago. Apparently some of the air
Burke was breathing out looked like it might have been older
then it was suppose to be."

She nodded a bit. "What do we do about it then?"

"For right now, we make sure Jadin has some temps just
in-case she isn't a natural, then get her validated when we
get back to Prid. Until then we keep walking."

Sora glanced up. "I don't think so, our ride is here." She
pointed at the growing figures coming towards us.

* * *

I looked over my notes on the spell, trying to find some way
to expand the it to cover the valley. I didn't have any idea
what to do, or how to do it, or even where to guess to start
at.

"Any progress?" Kalie asked, as she walked into the dinning
hall.

I shook my head. "I think I have everything I need to do the
spell, but just not sure I can actually do it, and I still
have no clue how to expand it."

Kalie nodded setting a pair of necklaces on the table. "Ken
knew, and you might be able to ask him. I think these will
link you together so you can do the spell."

"I wouldn't not recommend it." Fox said from the doorway. I
twisted around, jumping out of my chair at the same time.
Fox was just walking in the doorway, looking a bit smug. I
ran over and hugged him tightly, nearly picking him up. He
laughed a bit and hugged me back.

He pried me off after a few seconds. "What have I missed,
other then dragon attacks?" He asked, walking over to the
table.

"It would be good to know." Sora asked, following him into
the room.

I felt myself smiling. "You're alive." I said, calling it
out a bit.

She nodded, patting my shoulder. "Had a couple of squeamish
solders, they didn't like the idea of killing me."

I nodded pulling her over to the table. "That's good..." I
said, not sure of what else I could say.

"Who's your friend Fox?" Kalie asked sounding a bit shocked.

I looked around, finding someone new standing in the
doorway, she looked like a human, but after a few seconds I
saw that it was actually an elf. "How did she get here?" I
asked.

Fox shook his head. "That's a matter of some debate. Now
what's this about linking with Ken?"

Kalie sighed. "Ken is hurt, his neck is broken and he is
unconscious."

He gulped a bit glancing at the elf who was standing behind
Sora. "What happened?"

I gave him a quick version of what happened on top of the
castle hours before. He face slowly fell as he heard what
happened. "I think we need to not worry about the spell for
right now." He turned, "Sora? How much healing can she do?"

Sora turned to the elf and had a small exchange. She turned
back to Fox, "She might be able to heal Thrysten, but not
Ken, at least not all the way."

Fox frowned a bit. "All right... Kalie, take Sora and Jadin
up to Thrysten, we need her first, her and Draz, we need
them as a pair."

Kalie looked at Fox for a few seconds, then stood up,
walking out silently. Sora and the elf (her name Jadin I
assume) walked out after her.

"If Ken's out, why are you still working on the spell?"

I frowned, looking down at the table. "Kalie seems to think
I have some capability in magic."

He grimaced. "Just what you need, something else screwing up
your life."

I chuckled. "That's just about what I thought."

He shook his head, smiling a bit. "Don't worry about it. If
I'm right this might end in a few more hours with out an all
out battle.

"What's your plan of fearless leader?" I asked with a smile.

He gave me a lopsided grin and told me.

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This story is (c) 1997 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.