A Fox in the Works
                    Singularity Collapse

                             By

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter Five

Samantha stirred in her bed, her eyes fluttering open in the
dark of the night as she was brought awake by a sound she
couldn't remember. She let out a slow breath as her eyes
opened, looking into the cold darkness of the room.

There was a little flicking light left from the fire, and it
cast her shadow over the wall in front of her. She blinked
her eyes clear and tried to focus on the shadows around her.

Whatever it was that had brought her awake, she couldn't see
it; that was, assuming there was anything to see. She closed
her eyes tightly and rolled over in the bed, pulling herself
snugly into the bedding. At the same time her hand slid
under her pillow until it was resting on the butt of her
gun. The chilled metal was comforting against her skin.

Letting her eyes crack open a hair, she scanned the other
side of the room. The fire was smoldering, down to a few
small pieces of wood and the ash under it. Her boots stood
beside the stone hearth, with her sack resting next to them.
The shadows were deeper on that side of the room, but she
couldn't see anything.

A creak near the floor caused her to shift slightly, her
fingers wrapping tightly on her gun, one finger placed on
the trigger as she pushed the safety free.

She took in a deep breath, then sprang up in the bed,
leaping forward as she swung her gun in front of her body.
She landed on one knee, the other pressing into the bed so
she could leap off in a moment's notice. Taking short and
controlled breaths she scanned the room, and found nothing
waiting for her at the foot of the bed.

"Idiot," she said to herself as she relaxed her arms,
"Jumping at nothing, what a waste of time," she muttered to
herself as she set her gun onto the bed.

With a sigh Samantha rubbed the back of her neck, shook her
head, then made a movement to untangle her night clothing.
The thick cotton gown, outside of inching against her skin,
keep her warm in the cold night. She wrapped her tail
against her leg, feeling the cloth that was attached to her
panties move like it was a part of her, which, as far as her
own mind was concerned, it was.

'Might as well have a smoke while I'm up,' she thought to
herself as she slid off the bed, and walked over the cold
floor to where she had dropped her clothing, feeling the
gown flutter around her legs as she moved. Pawing through
her clothing she removed her cigarette and pulled one free,
holding it in her lips as she light it with a flick of fire
from her finger.

With a small smile she let the smoke trail out of her lips
as she exhaled. With one hand she pulled her gown close to
her legs as she turned around. She was about to sit down on
the stone hearth when she realized three things:

First, she had left her gun on the bed, a good four feet
away from her at the moment.

Second, in her rush to defend herself she had neglected to
check the wall that her bed was resting against.

Third, and most important, that four men were standing
inside an open stone door that had been hidden in the wall,
and all four were armed, and armored.

Samantha let her gown drop, feeling it sweep around her feet
as her eyes looked over the men. Taking in a long draw of
her cigarette, she held it in her lungs as she composed
herself. "So, who wants to go first?" she asked, feeling the
smoke trail over her face.

* * *

01/23/2000:

"What?" I demanded as I pulled the door to the room open,
looking out with some anger at the servant who stood on the
other side. The light of a false dawn filtered through the
room from the window on the far wall, and sleep was still
clinging to my eyes as I tried to get them clear.

The servant who had been pounding on my door looked worried
and flustered as he saw me, "Sir, come quick, something has
happened!" he said, breathless.

"What is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes as I pulled my
glasses on, blinking as the young boy came into focus. He
looked disheveled, his hair a mess and panic in his eyes.

"It's your friend, something has happened to her," he said.

I pushed past him, and was about to run down the hallway,
until I realized that I had no idea where they had put her
the night before. "Show us the way," I told the young man.

He nodded, then turned and started to run down the hallway,
and I was close on his heels. I could heard Ravindar's
footsteps behind me as we moved, and I saw that Rhea was
following just behind him as we turned a corner.

We moved though the Palace's corridors, down a series of
steps and through the courtyard, the dirt on the ground
fluttering around us as we ran. The people and servants in
the courtyard, who were already preparing for the day,
watched as we went pass, a few comments passing among
themselves as we went by.

Once on the other side of the open area we started up
another set of stairs, and found ourselves back inside the
stone wall. We jogged down the hallway as the boy brought us
to an open door.

Zain was already there, panting hard as he rested one arm
against the stone wall. He said nothing as I pushed passed
him and looked into the room.

Samantha had definitely put up a fight, I counted at least
ten shell casings on the floor, the brass catching the light
of the fire. There was blood sprayed on the wall behind the
bed where she had clipped someone, and further holes in the
wall. A body lay on the bed, face down in his own blood,
with most of the back of his head missing. The blue of his
clothing contrasted with the red of the blood, mingling into
a purple where the cloth had absorbed it.

"Where is she?" I asked Zain as he managed to look into the
room. His already paile face seemed to lose more of its
color as he saw the body.

"I don't know," he said.

I let out a breath as I strated to walk straight into the
room. I was stopped by Ravindar's hand on my shoulder. I
looked up at him, a frown on my face. He said nothing,
instead he just handed me one of my guns.

I nodded as I pulled out of his grasp and chambered a round.
Carefully I walked into the room, looking around as I kept
the gun relaxed at my side.

"What are you doing?" Zain asked.

"Looking," I replied as I walked over to the body and bent
down to take a closer look. "I think it's the same man who
came for her last night," I said as I focused on what
remained of his features.

"Came for her? Is that why she was in here?" Zain asked as
he stood in the doorway.

"Yes, someone came last night and said she couldn't stay
with us, and she left with him," Ravindar answered.

"You were meant to stay together," Zain said. "No one had
any orders to separate you."

I nodded as I walked around the bed, "He told us that she
had been moved because we were not married."

Zain sighed as he turned away from the door, "The Church,
takes a dim view of an unmarried couple sharing a room, and
an ever dimmer view of a female Mage," he shook his head as
he rubbed his nose. "Did her weapon do that to him?" he
asked.

"Yes it did," I said as I looked around the room, trying to
discover where the rest of the attacker's brain had gone,
but not finding it. It felt odd; that much mass usually left
a mess on a wall, but there was only the one splatter of
blood as well as drops on the floor. The drops led
conspicuously towards the wall.

"How unpleasant," the Zain said, jumping forward as the King
ran to the room. The young man tried to rush into the room,
only to be stopped by Ravindar's arm.

"It's best you stay out here for now," my bodyguard told
Alexander.

The King frowned, clearly not used to being told what do,
let alone by someone like the disguised tiger. "Is Samantha
all right?" he eventually asked.

"I don't know," I told him as I walked up to the wall beside
the bed, looking closely at the spray of blood. It stopped
abruptly, like there was something in the way, but the edges
were sharp. I leaned down, peering intently at the blood
drops, and saw that many of the drops were incomplete. Each
one was at the edge of the stones that made up the wall.

I took a step back, looking closely at the wall and at the
floor under it. I could see small stones where they met, and
scattered about near the bed, but not in the rest of the
room. This was starting to look all too familiar to me.

"Ravindar, there's a door here," I said, pressing against
the wall.

My bodyguard was at my side in a moment, his paws on the
surface of the wall and pressing at the stones with his
fingers. "So how do we open it?" he asked.

"I should have brought some explosives," I said, shoving the
gun into my pants, realizing at that moment that I had left
my shirt in the room.

The tiger chuckled, "We couldn't have thought of
everything," he said as he felt over the wall.

"Perhaps I could help," Alexander said. He walked calmly
into the room, giving a look of distaste to the body on the
bed. "I grew up in this Palace, and spent many of my younger
days exploring the passages hidden inside its walls. I never
found one in this room, but I'm sure I could find the latch
to open it."

I nodded and took a step to the side, "Be my guest, Your
Majesty," I said.

The King gave us a smile as he walked up to the wall,
running his fingers over the stones. "Let's see, if this is
the edge, then perhaps here," he said as he counted the
stones.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Zain asked.

The young man laughed, "You worry too much," he told his
advisor as he tapped the stone. "No ,no, not there, hum...
how about here?" he asked himself as he moved his fingers to
a different stone. He pressed against it, and let out a
pleased laugh it in moved under his fingers, sliding
partially into the wall and leaving a small opening.

With a smile he pushed his hand into the opening, and felt
around, twisting his arm a bit before letting out a laugh,
"There it is!" he called as he pulled his arm back, and a
low thud echoed through the room.

"Good job," I told the King.

He extracted his hand from the wall, brushing off the dirt
that had collected on his clothing. "It's the least I could
do," he told me as he leaned forward and put his full weight
on the wall. In near silence it swung inwards, revealing a
dark corridor behind it.

"Step aside Your Majesty, and stay here," I told him as I
pulled my gun free and held it ready at my side. I noted
that the blood spatter continued into the hallway that had
been revealed.

He looked like he wanted to protest, but said nothing as he
moved out of the way.

I let out a long breath as I tightened my grip on the gun.
"Hopefully there won't be any ninjas this time," I said as I
stepped in the passage.

"One does hope," Ravindar said as he followed behind me,
unaware of what happened last time I was in this situation.
I also noted that he had the presence of mind to bring a
lamp.

Moving carefully, I walked into the hallway, watching the
dirty stone floor. I could see scuff marks in the dirt and
dust, as if many feet had been through there recently. It
was only because I was looking that I kept from placing my
feet in the pool of blood on the floor.

"We've got another one," I said as I moved around the pool
of blood, discovering a body lying against the wall. The man
had taken three in the chest, and the blood had soaked
through his shirt and over his body.

Ravindar leaned down to look at dead man. "Samantha is a
good shot," he commented as he glanced back down the
passageway and towards the light of the room.

I nodded as I pressed past him and started to follow the
passage. It soon narrowed to the point that we could only
walk single file. Even then we moved carefully, Ravindar
holding the lamp over my head so I could see where I was
going.

When we came to the other end we found another stone door.
On this side I could see the large hinge that held it in
place, and the steel latch that would allow it to open.
Grasping the latch firmly in my hand I pulled it free, and
the door swung open with a snap.

On the other side was a small room, bare except for the
tapestry hanging on one wall. The cloth depicted a battle
between some demon-like monster and an army of men. There
was a normal door on the far side of the room, which stood
half open, light flooding in from outside.

I said nothing as I stepped into the room, looking around
for some sign of anyone else. The floor here was clean, with
only a few stones scattered around near the door.

"This appears to be the Priest's rest chamber," a new voice
said from behind us.

We both spun around and glared at the King as he stood in
the doorway of the secret passage. The young man smiled at
me, crossing his arms over his chest as he rocked on his
toes.

"What are you doing here?" I growled as I glared at him.

He shrugged and walked passed us to open the door. "This is
my castle, and I have the right to go wherever I want inside
of it," he said as he looked into the other room. "Ah, I was
right, the Palace Church!"

I sighed and glanced at my bodyguard, who just shrugged his
shoulders at me. He didn't know what do about the man
either. Walking past the pair of them I entered the Church,
finding that it was small, and simple, with blue banners
hanging around a short altar at the end of the room. All in
all it looked like a smaller version of the Church we were
in yesterday.

We moved quickly down the length of the room, towards the
large double doors at the end of the pews. Pushing them open
we came out into the courtyard of the castle, less than
twenty feet from the stables.

"I don't think they are in the castle anymore," Ravindar
said as he walked up to my side.

I shook my head and let out a long sigh, "It would appear
not," I replied. "We are going to have to go after her."

"Of course," Alexander said as he walked up behind us, "but
not immediately. I have some thoughts on who might have done
this, and why."

Turing around I looked at the young man. "I would love to
hear them," I said, it came out a little snider than I had
intended.

He chuckled and waved his hand back towards the Church,
"Isn't it obvious? The Church must be the ones responsible."

My bodyguard cocked his head to the side, frowned a bit as
he put his gun away. "It does look like that, with both the
body in the room, and where the passage led, but why would
they go out of their way to take Samantha?"

"They killed my wife, and were going to kill me. You and
your friends stopped that and saved my life. They have now
taken your friend to further escalate this battle," the
young man said, looking flustered that we questioned him.

I crossed my arms and shook my head. "Why not just kill her,
then?"

He shrugged, "I don't know-- perhaps they are trying to use
her to bring you to them. They did separate her from the
group, and as a female mage they would feel no guilt in
hurting her. They can't get to the three of you in here, so
they are making you come out."

"I see," I said with a frown as I looked towards the
stables, "And where would they take her?" I asked.

"To the Holy City," he said with a smile. "That's where
their power lies, and where they would want you to be."

Ravindar placed his hand on my shoulder, "I don't like this,
Fox. It seems out of place."

I nodded. "Agreed. We need a better idea of where they are
going before we can perform any kind of rescue," I told him
as I looked to the large gate that blocked the way out of
the Palace. "I wonder how they got out, with the bridge up?"
I asked as I walked towards it.

"The gates are not the only way out," the King said as the
sound of footsteps approached. "Ah, Rodrick, welcome," he
told the elder man as he hurried across the courtyard.

The High Mage nodded to the King, panting softly as he came
up to the group. "Your Highness, I came as soon as I heard
what happened," he said.

Alexander nodded and looked back at the entrance to the
Church. "It looks like the Priests may have been responsible
for this. Do you think you can track which way they went
from here?"

"I believe so, but I would need an item of the young lady's
clothing," he said, tugging at the cuff of his glove. "If
you can provide that, I will create a spell to find her."

I let out a long breath and ran my fingers through my hair,
feeling the accumulated dirt from the travel rub against my
skin. "Alright, back to Samantha's room; we'll work out
things from there," I said as I looked around the court
yard. "Let's take the normal route."

"Right, this way," Alexander said and started to walk
through the open yard to the entrance of the Palace.

Rodrick fell in beside me, tilting his head back to look at
me. "What caused those scars?" he asked.

"Which ones?" I replied, rubbing my arm where Cain had shot
me, pretty sure that was the one he meant.

The older man chucked. "The one on your left arm, and the
one on your stomach," he said, reaching out to almost touch
them.

"Gun shot wounds," I told him as he walked up the steps.

He nodded, "I see. Why is the one on the back of your arm
larger than the one in front, and why do you not have a scar
on your back?" he asked, craning his head to look at my
back.

I sighed and shook my head. "Why do you care?" I asked him.

"It fascinates me," he said.

I nodded, "I see. If you must know, the bullet in my arm
went through; the exit wound is larger because of fluid
dynamics. I don't have a scar on my back because when I was
shot in the gut the bullet was moving too slowly to get back
out; it just bounced around inside," I told him, feeling a
bit cold about giving him the details.

"How fascinating," Rodrick said with a smile as he moved
down the hallway. "I'm assuming it's the kind of wound that
weapon of yours would leave," he said.

I shook my head, "No, that's how it looks when it heals," I
told him as we walked back into Samantha's room. "That is
what a wound looks like," I said, pointing to the dead man
on the bed.

The Mage looked pale, coming to a stop in the doorway, his
eyes locking on to the dead man. "I see," he said with a
frown.

I walked through the room, stopping next to Rhea, who was
guarding Samantha's possessions so no one would paw through
them. Pawing through the clothing on the floor, I found the
shirt that she had worn for most of the trip. "Here," I said
throwing the garment to the Mage.

He caught it easily in one hand, and then took a few steps
back to stand outside the room. "I can work with this," he
said as he stretched it between his hands. "Yes, yes, I can
build a tracking spell out of this. It will take me a few
hours."

I looked to Rhea and Ravindar, he gave me a quick nod and
the lioness flicked her ears. "We'll be leaving as soon as
the spell is ready," I said.

"I'm not sure that would be such a good idea," Zain said
from where he stood next to the King. "Alexander tells me
that the Church is responsible for this."

"It looks like that may be the case," Ravindar said as he
started to pull Samantha's items together and put them in
her bag.

Alexander nodded, "I think we should talk before you do
anything. I'm worried about the course of action you are
preparing to take. Let's go to the dinning room; we can plan
and have something to eat. I always think better when I've
had a meal."

<<Is this guy for real?>> Rhea asked me.

I shrugged and looked back at the body on the bed. "I think
we have a lot more to do before we leave. It might not be
wise to just sit and eat."

"I insist," the King said, crossing his arms. From his tone,
I suspected this was his 'I will be obeyed' voice.

Ravindar turned to me, "It might be best to go with them for
the moment; we do have to prepare, and wait for the spell."

I sighed and shook my head. "Fine, fine. I just want to go
back to my room and change clothing," I told him.

"Very well," he said with a small smile.

"I want a guard on the door, and a guard at the end of the
passage. No one gets in or out with out my or Ravindar's say
so," I snapped.

Zain nodded, "I'll make sure of that," he told me.

I sighed and glanced at Ravindar. "Let's get this going," I
said as we started out of the room.

   To Be Continued...

-----

This story is copyright 2005 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
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