I cautiously scanned around us, there didn't seem to be any people about at this time of the night. We stood up and walked to the opening quickly, I felt much too exposed standing out in the open like this. When we got there, Ahmed slowly peered around the corner. He looked back at me and nodded. We went through and found ourselves on what looked like a street of vendors.

I heard something moving and threw myself back up against the wall. Ahmed did the same and we stayed very still as a hunched over figure came into view from one of the stalls.

"Come quickly," said a gravelly voice, "There isn't much time" The figure pulled back his hood, and an old man stood there, staring directly at me. I hesitated until I heard his next words.

"Come, Dira. I have information for you." I looked at Ahmed, he only recognized one word, my name. I kept forgetting that he could not understand what the people we met were saying, only I had the earpiece that would translate so I could understand anyone we came across.

I nodded slowly and we followed the man down the street. He took couple turns and we were led down different alleys and streets, farther away from the center of the city. We came to a door and the old man pulled out a key. He unlocked the door and opened it, waiting until we were inside before looking out again to make sure we were not followed. He closed it then and locked it. I looked around the room. There was one window to the left of the door with a thin curtain covering it. There were many small oil lamps lit around the room, giving it a warm glow. There were strange dark streaks on the walls, and as I looked closer, I realized that there were small lizards all over the walls and ceiling above me. There was a stand in the corner with a birdlike creature perched on it. I moved closer to it until it hissed at me. It had the head of a cat, but the body of a hawk with a long cat's tail. In it's claw was a small rodent, apparently it's dinner.

I walked across to a low table by the far wall, there were cushions to sit on and a small fireplace set into the wall. It was warm in the room, so I took off my cloak and folded it next to me. I was wearing the silk kimono robe that I had picked up in the asian world with the thick leather belt from the medieval world. Ahmed and the man came over and sat at the table with me. Boo was around my neck, and had stuck his head out, looking at the old man. I felt a tickle of happiness as the small creature ran down my arm and nearly attacked the old man. After the greeting, Boo sat on the table as the old man stroked him. The old man appeared to be an Indian shaman, he had a long thin bone through his septum and there were several feathers in his hair. His aura gave off a sense of power that I hadn't felt in a long time, not since I had left college to travel to South America to study Mayan archaeology down by Chichen Itza and met an old shaman there. I realized with a shock that he was the same man.

"Yes, we have met before, in another time, but in this same place. I am an emissary from someone who very much wants to see you complete these tasks and your incredibly important mission. I assume you know what you are supposed to be doing?" he asked me.

"Well," I began, "I've been collecting these stones, to put in this board which is the symbol of the tree of life in the Kabbalah. It has something to do with rips and tears in reality, from what I can figure out, the worlds are like the layers of an onion, and people and animals are going through and the balance is coming undone. I have to take all these things I'm collecting and go to a certain place and then read from the book and it's supposed to fix all of this."

The older man nodded, but with a strange look in his eye. I felt like I had said something wrong. Boo came a cross the table to me and poked his nose under my hand. The feeling grew a bit stronger when I touched the empath.

I looked at Ahmed, and tried to explain to him what I had just said. I felt it was kind of rude to speak in a different language in front of him, and I wanted to let him know what exactly we were talking about. My feelings toward him were complex and confused, I dearly appreciated his company and help, but I wasn't sure where it was going after I had finished this quest I had unexpectedly undertaken. I didn’t know if I would want to go back to his world, or if he would be willing to join me in mine. Even possibly find a whole new world to go to and spend time in. I thought back to the waterfall and how I had felt being there with him.

"Dira?" The old man spoke my name. I cleared my head of all the rambling that was going on in there and directed my attention back to the conversation.

"There is more to it than that," he said, and proceeded to explain some things that I had been unaware of.

"The twins that have been trying to stop you are the sons of a very clever man. He is an extremely talented sorcerer in his world, and is the person responsible for these disruptions in the balance of reality. We are still quite not sure of his ultimate purpose, he has been working on something that gives us great cause for concern."

"Us?" I questioned. "Who is 'us'?" I asked. The man took a deep breath and said, "I will get to that part of the story in a moment."

He leaned back on the cushion and thought for a moment. He stood up and walked across the room to a shelf, and took down three cups and a large gourd with a cork in it. He brought everything back to the table and setting the cups down, poured a red liquid into them. I picked mine up and took a sip, it tasted like a very dry wine, and not something I favored much. Ahmed took a drink as well, but the look on his face showed that he thought it was good.

"This old wizard has been working on something for many years, and we have just recently discovered that there is an extreme amount of energy being stored in his temple. Approximately two years ago in your time, a man found his temple and took several things from the wizard. He was greatly distressed and this sent reverberations throughout the worlds. That is how we found out, the old sorcerer wasn't very careful how he directed his rage."

"Dyfed," I blurted out, and the man in front of me nodded.

"Your friend is here in this world, being held captive by a tribal chief that the wizard has given some very special gifts. One of the things you must do, is find him and release him before you can work the spell to restore the balance."

I suddenly felt my heart contract, as if a fist had squeezed down on it. I looked up at Ahmed, but his eyes were dark. I felt a twinge of jealousy through the empath, and reached out my hand.

"You have the tools you need, it shouldn't be too hard for you," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Now let me explain the 'us' part. There are many beings whose very existence depends on the balance of the different realities. When the worlds are changed by the crossings of people and other things, it causes an imbalance that allows terrible things to happen. Many of the worlds are now having horrendous wars, there have been changes in the climates and many people and creatures have died. The balance must be restored."

I felt overwhelmed. How was I going to manage this? I was suddenly very tired. It must have showed on my face, the old shaman stood up and began setting up a place for us to sleep. He pulled down blankets and handed them to me and smiled.

"You will be able to do this. You were chosen for a reason, the strength inside you and your other admirable qualities will see you through. We will talk more in the morning."

He went into another room and left us to sleep. Ahmed stood and walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders. Since he was about a foot taller than I was I bent my head almost all the way back to look at him. I reached up with one finger and traced it down the line of his throat. He bent down to kiss me as he pushed my robe off my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him closer to me. I turned toward the bed and unbuckled my belt, setting it on the floor. I slid out of the robe and under the blankets in one smooth move.

Ahmed undressed as well and lay down next to me. I felt his hand run down my side and pressed up against him. I looked at his face in the dim light and noticed that sometime while we had been in the last world, he had taken the time to shave and trim the line of the beard he wore. I leaned toward him for a kiss, bringing my hand up to his smooth cheek. Backing away for a moment, I looked down. There was a faint line of light between us, going from his heart to mine.

"Do you see that?" I whispered to him. He looked down and nodded. "It means that you belong to me," he said.

"And that you belong to me," I told him and pulled him closer to me.

The old shaman sat in front of the shrine in his room. He looked into the black mirror that sat there and centered his thoughts. After a few moments, a face appeared in the reflection and he saw Alathiel's visage before him. Though no words were spoken, they communicated rapidly, and the shaman told him of what he had learned.

Alathiel smiled. He had known that the dark nomad would be a perfect match for the girl, and it now appeared that he was right. The shaman had noticed all the nuances that went between them, and the empath had translated all the feelings clearly. Now that they knew themselves, it would make this last part of the journey go forward so much better.

He told the shaman what needed to be done next, and gave him the location of the hut where the other man was being held. He had already disrupted the wards and put a shield around the hut, so that the old wizard could no longer see it. Hopefully the sorcerer wouldn't be checking on him any time soon. He still needed to contact Elyria still, Mananan had already been in touch, helping the girl with the boat when the one she had arrived in sank with crewman aboard. There was not much more to be done, but wait.

I woke to the sunlight streaming in around the covering on the window. I had dreamed a terrible, bloody dream, of screams and swords. People being sacrificed on altars and crowds wailing in grief. I had been on of the priests or something, taking lives as they were set before me. I felt cold inside and my stomach grumbled. I needed to eat something and wake up more. I wasn't feeling very good at all.

Ahmed opened his eyes as I sat up, and ran his hand down my back. I arched against his hand and lay back down, curling up against him. His arms were around me and I felt better. I changed my mind about getting up, at least for a few minutes. I just wanted to stay there in his arms feeling safe and secure.

The old shaman came in from the other room. I looked over at him, still reluctant to get up. But there was an urgency in the air, a tension I could feel. Something important was going to be happening very soon. I rolled back over and sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I reached over and got my clothes together, and pulled them on. The shaman was busy with pulling food out, so that we could eat.

I checked my bags and made sure I had everything together, packed and ready to go. Ahmed was doing the same as I crossed the room to talk to the shaman.

"So, today we must go rescue Dyfed, is that right?" I asked him.

"Yes, that's part of what will be happening. When he is found, you must bring him back here quickly. The spell must be performed in a certain sacred place. I am the one who will be taking you there," he replied. He handed me two bowls and turned away. I went to the table and set them down as Ahmed walked toward me.

When the shaman brought his bowl to the table, we all sat down to eat. He gave us directions to the village where Dyfed was being held, and which hut he was in. He also gave us a small bell.

"Ring this as you approach the hut. It is charmed to create a spell around you so that you will not be seen by the guards. Don't worry, they will not really hear it, but it will cause them to become distracted so that you can get him out." he told us.

We prepared to leave. Ahmed made sure all our belongings were packed as I pulled back my hair and started braiding it. I twisted it up and tied it with a length of string. I made sure that our water bags were filled and the shaman gave me some fruit and a loaf of bread. The older man showed us to a wooden cart hitched to a small donkey-like animal out behind his dwelling. It was a strange looking creature, it had smooth gray scales on its body instead of fur, and it's eyes were a bright gold. Instead of a mane, it had a crest going down the length of its neck. I reached over to run my hand down the side of its neck and I heard it start purring like a cat. We climbed inside the back and sat down next to each other at the front of it. He covered us with brightly colored woven blankets, making sure we could not be seen.

The cart lurched forward, and I could hear the shaman talking encouragingly to the animal. After a few minutes, I peeked out from underneath the blanket. We were traveling down the market street, the merchants and vendors were all getting set up for the day. I saw one woman setting out beautiful woven grass baskets in front of her stall. The next stall had some kind of food cooking, a delicious aroma wafted through the air. I pulled the blanket back down over me. I looked over at Ahmed and grinned at him. The rickety cart rolled along swaying from side to side. I reached over and put my hand around behind his neck and pulled him over to me for a kiss. We kept each other occupied for while until we were away from the market place. Soon we were past the vendors and heading toward a long bridge leading out of the city. I looked out from under the blankets again. The bridge was almost a mile long, I couldn't tell if we were going over a river or if we were in the middle of a lake.

When we were finally on the other side, the shaman took us off the main road to a small clearing. We were in a heavily forested place, with plenty of undergrowth. We crawled out of the cart, and walked around to the front of it where the shaman sat. He climbed down as well. Walking over to a bare spot on the ground, he picked up a stick and began drawing in the dirt. He was sketching out a map to the village where Dyfed was being held.

"Do you have the bell I gave you?" he asked me. I nodded and looked down at the map.

"How long do you think this should take?" I asked him.

"A couple hours at most, if you hurry. Don't forget to ring the bell as you walk up to the hut," he told me, "And come right back here to this spot. I will be waiting for you. Don't forget this fork in the road," he pointed down at it, "You must stay to the left side of the path and then go around behind the village. The hut is back in the trees a few yards away from the edge of the town."

I looked back down at the map, committing it to memory. I was so ready for all of this to be done. I was sick of being chased, being stuck in dangerous places and mostly of being on the run constantly.

We started down the road. The sky was a bright blue, there were no clouds to be seen. It was still fairly early in the morning, so it was still cool. I knew it was going to get a lot warmer. I took out my water and took a long drink.

We had only been walking for about half an hour when Ahmed grabbed my arm and yanked me off the road. He pulled me down out of sight of the road. I knew enough not to question his actions, and trust his instincts. I heard the footsteps and voices of a large group of people coming toward us. I looked out carefully between the branches of the trees we were hidden behind. There was a procession of villagers, mostly women and children. I took a closer look at them. They all seemed to have a fine layer of fur on them, even the young ones. As one woman passed close by, I could see a long furred tail swinging from under her long skirt. They were all mostly barefoot, some wore a kind of sandal that only covered the bottoms of their feet. I realized I hadn't really taken a good look at the people we had passed in the city, I wondered if they were the same.

A wave of nervous energy passed through me and I felt the empath on my neck move around. There was a noise above and I looked up. A long black cat sat in the branches of the tree watching the people passing by. I saw it's muscles tense up as it prepared to leap down. Nudging Ahmed with my elbow I nodded up. He followed my gaze upwards and pulled me closer. It was obvious now which person the cat was going after. A man at the end of group was limping along with the help of a long staff.

I covered my mouth to keep from screaming out as the cat attacked. It landed square on top of the man, knocking him to the ground. The rest of the people began running away, the women screaming loudly. Ahmed helped me up and we ran parallel to the road until we were well clear of the scene.

We continued along the road until we came to the fork. We had been walking for about an hour at this point. The left side of the path was overgrown and covered with thorn bushes. After many scratches and tears in our clothes, we made it through and headed for the village. I saw the ring of huts in the distance. As we got closer, I could see people working at different tasks. We stayed in the trees and carefully crept around to the far side of the town. The hut we were looking for was easy to find, there were two guards standing outside. I stopped short as they abruptly jumped to attention. Ducking down, we watched as a group of men walked toward the hut. The man in the lead appeared to be the chief by the large feathered headdress and the jewel at his chest.

I watched in dismay as two of the men went inside then dragged a man out of the hut. His clothes were torn and ragged and he was barefoot. The guards followed as the chief led them back into the village.

"Damn it!" I muttered under my breath. I turned and started back toward the village. Ahmed grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"We should stay here. They will bring him back and then we can get him out," he said to me.

"No, I don't think so, there’s something wrong here," I said, "There’s no reason they would take away from that hut unless something was going to happen." The empath around my neck wriggled and I knew that I was right.

I walked carefully behind the small buildings, staying low so I wouldn't attract anyone's notice. I saw the chief standing in the center of the huts next to a wrinkled old man with long white hair. I felt a sense of recognition, but I knew that I had never seen him before.

The men were talking while Dyfed was thrown to the ground in front of them. The old man shouted at him, but Dyfed kept his head down. After a few minutes the chief said something to the old man, then waved the guards off. The guards grabbed Dyfed by the arms and started dragging him back toward the hut.

I suddenly realized where I knew the old man from. I was sure he was the sorcerer that the shaman had told us about. We needed to get Dyfed and get the hell out of here fast. We hurried back to the small hut that held my friend just in time to see the guards throw him inside. They resumed their posts just outside the door. I took out the bell and began gently ringing it. I walked slowly toward the hut, stepping very carefully. The guards didn't move. They stared straight ahead as I walked right between them into the hut. Ahmed stood behind me as I went inside.

He didn't look very good, his face was bruised and bloody. I pulled him up to a sitting position and his eyes opened. He didn't recognized me at first, but slowly his eyes widened as he realized it was me. I heard two loud thumps outside. Ahmed stood in the doorway as I pulled Dyfed to his feet and out into the sunlight. We ran through the trees past the village back to the overgrown road. It took us a while, but when we were far enough away to be safe, I stopped and stepped off the road. I took out my water bag and gave it to my friend. Ahmed watched me carefully. I wanted to reassure him that I had no intention of being apart from him, that he had nothing to worry about. Boo crawled out from around my neck and scampered over to him. I took out the bread and fruit and we sat back to eat.

"We need to hurry," he said, petting the little creature gently. I helped Dyfed up and we got moving again. We walked quickly, and soon we came up to the place where we watched the cat attack the man. There was only a large bloodstain in the middle of the road. It wasn't too much farther so we moved quickly past and toward the clearing.

The old shaman was still there waiting for us. I felt a huge sense of relief. Ahmed helped Dyfed into the back of the cart as I talked with the shaman. I told him what I had seen in the village, that the old wizard had been there when we first found the hut. His face registered concern as he told me to get into the cart. I crawled up and pulled the blankets up over all of us.

We got back to the shaman's home and quickly ducked inside through the back door. He brought me a bowl of water and some cloths to try to get Dyfed cleaned up. After I wiped away most of the dirt, I found that the cuts and bruises weren't as bad as I first thought. The shaman then brought over a jar of a smelly thick paste and slathered it on Dyfed's wounds.

It was getting late in the afternoon, but I felt like I had been up for days. I crossed the room over to where the sleeping mats were and lay down. I yawned and stretched out. Ahmed came over to me and laid beside me. He pulled me close and I fell asleep to the rhythms of his heartbeat.

Alathiel was concerned. The shaman had contacted him to tell him about the old wizard being in the village. The fact that he had actually left his cottage and had interrogated the man held captive there showed that he knew more than Alathiel had given him credit for. It was time to get everyone together. He went to his mirror and concentrated. He opened his eyes to the scene in the mirror and found his target. The demon Ergarga that the sorcerer had enslaved to stop the girl. He spoke in the demon tongue and explained what he wanted done. The demon grinned, his razor sharp teeth glinting. It would be his pleasure.

Next, Alathiel spoke to the owl that was stationed outside the old wizard's cottage. He sent his awareness into the bird and located the wards that were around the small dwelling. He spoke several words and the wards disappeared. He glanced inside through the window and saw the old man inside. A moment later the demon appeared in the room with a cloud of dark smoke. Ergarga wasn't bound by the circle this time and gripped the old mans arms tightly.

Through the eyes of the owl, he watched as the twins jumped up and started toward the demon. He roared at them and flashed out in another cloud of smoke. The twins were coughing and gagging, holding their throats. Alathiel had told the demon to keep the sorcerer in his home world until he was contacted. He needed to call Dumura and Shezzasi back to take a message to the twins, and make sure they brought the Gunungapi stone to the pyramid's temple room at the appointed time.

He crossed the room to where the page from the book was pinned to the wall. He carefully pulled the pin from the wall and held the paper in his slender, elegant hand.

Walking to the window, he looked out to the horizon. He still hadn't been able to find Elyria, and she hadn't sent him any messages either. His long green robes brushed the floor as he paced back and forth. He went back to the mirror and found the dwarf and passed on the message. The dwarf grinned a crooked broken toothed grin and nodded.

Alathiel brushed the surface of the mirror again and found the ocean lord Mananan in his watery realm. Mananan nodded as he was informed of the current events. He was ready and waiting for the proper moment to arrive.

Lucien was the easiest to find. He was still with the monks in the priory. Lucien felt the mirror in his pocket start to vibrate and pulled it out to see Alathiel's face. He was ready as well, and would await the call to the temple. It wouldn't be much longer now.

It was still dark when I awoke. Ahmed was holding me tightly to his chest. His grip on me loosened as I tried to roll over to my other side. I stretched closer to him to kiss him, brushing my lips against his to wake him up. I leaned back a bit when something caught my eye. Looking down between us, I saw not just the one strand of light, now there were several going between us.

I heard voices and looked out from under the covers. Dyfed and the Shaman were sitting by the fire talking quietly. I listened carefully, hoping that they wouldn't realize that I was awake.

"That is why you needed me here?" Dyfed was saying.

"It is you that must speak the words of the spell, she was never meant to do that. She is a vital part of what must happen but she thinks that she is the one to cast the spell. When we all arrive, I will make sure you have the book. This must be done quickly, before the wizard can do anything to prevent it."

I rolled over again and sat up. The two men both looked over toward me and realized that I had been listening.

"I think I need to know just exactly what is going on here," I demanded. Ahmed sat up behind me and stared at them. He didn't understand the words, but he could tell I was disturbed by something. He put his hand on my back and I felt his warmth.

The shaman sighed then nodded. "I will explain it all now."

"Remember what I told you yesterday, about the beings that depend on the order of reality to exist?" he asked. I nodded in the affirmative. He continued the story. "You and Ahmed are the key. The wizard that started the disturbances is being detained so that we can repair the damage that he has caused. Dyfed is the one that must read the spell, that is what the prophecy tells us."

"This prophecy, is it the one I was told about in the first world?" I asked.

"Yes, however, they did not have the complete version. There are many mystics in several of the worlds that have predicted these events that are occurring now. Not all of them have the complete version."

I put my hands up to rub my temples. This was all giving me an incredible headache.

"Are you all right?" I heard Ahmed speak behind me. I shook my head. I felt like I was in labor just about to give birth and too tired to push. My eyes started losing focus and I fell back onto the mat. I could hear him talking to me, but I had no control over any part of my body. I felt him shake me, and I heard the other two men rush over but I had no feeling, I could not respond.

"Check her," I heard the shaman say urgently. I thought I could hear Ahmed respond. I felt something by my ear. Ahmed had taken the earpiece from my ear so that he could understand what the shaman was saying. I was glad he thought of that. The everything started fading out and I heard nothing more.

The shaman had Ahmed roll her over. He pulled back her shirt to look for any marks. Dyfed was checking her feet and legs, but saw nothing. Then Ahmed pointed to her neck. There was a dark bruise on the side of her throat with a blood red center.

"Get up! Quickly!" the shaman said. Ahmed jumped up out of the bed, half dragging Dira. He pulled her partway across the room as the shaman began pushing the bedding aside. There beneath where she had been laying was a half squashed insect with a long, sharp needle-like tail. It had apparently stung her as she was sleeping.

"This is not good," he said. Turning, he found the jar of healing paste that she had used on Dyfed earlier. He handed it to Ahmed, saying, "Put this on the wound. I will be right back."

The shaman hurried over to his shrine. He whispered a few words quickly and the mirror swirled then cleared. Alathiel was there with two others in his tower room. He left the two and came over to the mirror as the shaman explained what had happened. He muttered a curse and told the shaman to bring her to the tower. They didn't have enough time to wait for her to heal naturally, Alathiel would have to take care of this.

The shaman went back into the other room. The two men were kneeling over her, both with concern on their faces.

"I must take her away from here to be healed," he told them. Ahmed looked at him with his brow furrowed. "There is no time. I must take her now," the shaman said again, "Help me, bring her in here."

Ahmed lifted her up into his arms and carried her into the shaman's room. Pointing to the floor, he told him to set her down in the center of the room. He set her down and stepped back. "Now go."

The shaman traced a circle around the girl and himself. From beneath his robes he took out a small round device and he held it up between his hands. He spoke several words and they both disappeared from the room.

Alathiel explained to Dumura and Shezzasi what had happened and they agreed to stay longer to help. They turned as the shaman and the girl appeared in the middle of the room. Shezzasi picked her up and took her to the bed and laid her down carefully. Alathiel walked over to the girl and turned her head to the side, showing the nasty, dark wound on the side of her neck. Dumura stood at the foot of the bed, the other two on either side of it.

They raised their hands up and put them palm to palm. The shaman watched as all three beings began to glow with a bright light. He could feel the intensity of the energy flowing through them. A cone appeared above them, topped with a light that was too brilliant to look at. The shaman raised his hand up to shield himself from it.

The light suddenly reversed, from above them diving down into the body of the girl. Her body jerked and thrashed as the light filled her. As it slowly faded, her body calmed and then laid still. The bruising on her neck was gone.

"Quickly now, take her back before she wakes up," Alathiel told the shaman. They moved her back into the center of the room and the shaman spoke the words to take them back to him home.

Ahmed and Dyfed looked up at the same time, as a bright flash came from the other room. The shaman knelt over her as she slowly stirred.

I smelled roses as I opened my eyes. I was lying on a floor, in a strange place that I didn't recognize. I pushed myself up to a sitting position and looked over toward the doorway. I smiled as I saw Ahmed and stood up to go to him. I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. I felt wonderful and wanted to drag him over to the bed. I heard a cough and slowly turned around.

"Feeling better?" Dyfed asked me. I grinned at him and looked back to Ahmed. He said something to me in a language I didn't understand. I looked back from Dyfed to the shaman to Ahmed. I reached up to my ear and realized that my earpiece was missing. Ahmed pulled it from his own ear and handed it to me.

"It's time to go," the shaman said. I looked to the window and saw that it was lighter than just a few moments ago.

I went over to the mats we had been sleeping on to get the satchel I had set down next to it. I saw where the covers had been pulled back and the remains of a bug that looked something like a scorpion.

"What the heck is that?" I pointed down.

"That thing stung you and you were knocked out by its venom," Dyfed said quickly. There was a strange tone in his voice that I couldn't quite place.

Ahmed came over to me and picked up the rest of our things. Boo climbed up from my silk bag that he had apparently been sleeping in and ran up to my neck, curling up in his usual place.

"Wait," the shaman said and went into the other room. He came back out with three robes that looked just like the one he wore. "Put these on," he said. I pulled it over my head and smoothed it down. Ahmed and Dyfed did the same and we were ready to go.

We left the shaman's house and headed toward the temple. We copied the shaman's shuffling walk as he led us around through the dark streets. It was getting close to dawn, but the walls made shadows that were good enough cover for us. There weren't any people up yet so we had no distractions as we arrived at the temple pyramid.

We were on the shadow side of the temple, the sun wouldn't hit this side until it was well overhead. We climbed the steps that seemed unending. My legs were not used to this much exercise and I could feel them starting to burn.

Finally at the top, the shaman led us through a doorway into a large room at the very top of the pyramid. I looked around in awe. There was a huge round calendar on one wall, the symbols painted in bright primary colors. On the opposite wall was a copy of the tree glyph that I had collected all the stones for. There was a large black altar in the middle of the room, it looked like a solid piece of obsidian. Around the room were ten columns and the pattern on the floor looked like a star with all the spokes pointing toward each individual column.

A flash like lightning caught my eye behind me. I spun around to see an angel standing there. A tall silvery angel with long hair and black feathered wings. There was another flash, and a bald misshapen dwarf appeared next to him, in front of the next column. There were more flashes of light, until there was a figure standing at each column. I looked around, recognizing the dwarf from the first world I had traveled to. He was the one that had been standing by the curtains in the throne room. The next person was a man in blue and white robes, I had seen him on the beach from the ship. The shaman stepped forward to take his place at one of the columns as well.

Each one of them felt familiar to me, especially the man dressed as a monk. I remembered that presence from the priory in the medieval world. These were the beings that the shaman had told us about, whose survival depended on me.

"Not just you," I heard in my head. No one had spoken, but the angel drew my eye.

"Go to the altar now with your mate," I looked up at Ahmed. He had heard the voice as well. We walked up to the altar and stepped up on top of it, facing each other. I pulled the robe off over my head and undressed as Ahmed did the same. I set the satchel down on the altar. I unlatched it and pulled the board out, setting it next to my feet.

There was another flash outside the circle and we all turned toward it. The two men that had chased me through several of the world stood there now, holding the stone that I had lost.

I heard a low resonant humming, and watched as the two men stiffly walked toward me carrying the stone. Something was forcing them to move. The one with the scar on his face handed it up to me with an evil glare on his face. I had no doubt he would kill me as I stood if he was able to.

They walked in the same strange stilted manner back out away from the circle. There was another flash on the opposite side of the room, and I saw a huge red and black creature standing there, holding and old man by the arms. The sorcerer was gagged so that he could not speak and looked furious. The demon's smirk was full of long sharp needle-like teeth.

The angelic being stepped forward. He took the board and moved back to his place. I heard the low hum again and watched as Dyfed walked up to us at the altar. He reached into the satchel and took out the leather bound book. He flipped through several pages until he found the correct pages. He began speaking in a strange tone and suddenly my little empath tightened its grip on my neck. I looked around at the faces and saw the shock that was registering on each and everyone of them. I reached down into the satchel for the crystal disc and pulled it out. I looked at Dyfed through it and saw something else. There was something inside him, something hideous and wrong. I saw a glowing strand of light leading from him to the old wizard and pointed.

Alathiel looked at the demon and nodded. The demon picked up the old sorcerer and squeezed. An apparition pulled free from Dyfed and he dropped to his knees.

The angel held up his hand and the air was suddenly charged. Dyfed took a deep breath and stood back up. I looked around the room through the disc and saw that the entire place was full of ghostly people.

I heard someone clear their throat and I looked around. They were all waiting on me. I set the crystal disc down and faced Ahmed again as Dyfed began to speak. The board was passed around as each of the beings took a stone from the board. Ahmed and I held the stone between us as the spell was read. I felt a strange sensation in my pelvic area and looked down. There was a red strand of light connecting us together. The sensation moved and I watched as an orange strand of light grew between us.

Dyfed's voice got louder and stronger as the spell went on. Almost without knowing it, we raised the stone up between us. The strands of light connected us all the way up to the tops of our heads, in a the full rainbow spectrum. Everyone around us had raised their stones up above their heads as well. I was shaking as the energy was raised around us. Suddenly thousands of tiny lights began swirling around us, faster and faster. I heard chanting getting louder, but I couldn't take my eyes off Ahmed's. We were completely enclosed in light and the pressure was almost intolerable.

The stone we held up burst into light. The beam of it shot straight up into the sky, and our bodies slammed together knocking the air out of my lungs. The cacophony stopped abruptly as the last of the light went up into space.

We both collapsed to the surface of the altar. Ahmed pulled me into his embrace and held me until my breathing slowed to something close to normal.

I looked up to the sky above us There was a shield of light covering the whole of it. I felt strange inside, not bad, but not as I was before. I buried my face in his chest.

The energy was pulled back away from us after a few minutes and I looked up. The angel was coming up to the altar. Without speaking a word he told us that we had succeeded. I looked over at the old wizard. He had crumpled in the demon's grip and looked like a husk. The twins as well seemed diminished, shrunken and smaller as the power of the sorcerer was defeated.