-

Prologue: Phoenix and Kerra discover that their Albia is not as pristine as they thought, and Karr must return to his old warrior status...

-

Phoenix sat in the garden in a thick patch of clovers and beelacanths, her eyes closed, just enjoying the wonderful day. Cloud butterflies fluttered thickly in the air around her. She lay back in the clovers and looked up. The butterflies flying overhead created a shifting pattern of color against the blue Albia sky. She sighed happily and closed her eyes again. The world was perfect that day.

Or so it seemed. Furious red eyes stared down from the treehouse at the young norn as she relaxed in the clovers. The eyes of a Grendel. And that grendel wasn't Ira. He turned away from the edge of the tree house and loped away. His ebony scales shone as he walked across the bridge to the Grendel tree. He wasn't a normal Grendel. He stood taller and straighter than any Grendel before him, and his scales, as was previously mentioned, were a pure, jet black. He appeared magnificent, but was evil to the very core. He reached the area under the Grendel mother. A strange creature, tall and thin, sat there. She looked something like one of the humans, but her hair was a creamy color and swept up in a hairdo that no human could manage without a spray to hold it in place. Her hair held the shape willingly. Her eyes were a cold, calculating, metallic blue, her skin was the same jet black as the Grendel's scales. She was dressed from neck to toe in an odd, flared, black robe. She was a Shee. She smiled as the Grendel approached.

"Greetings, dark friend," she said in a cool, languid voice to the Grendel. "What did you see?"

"Such confounded peace and quiet," the grendel growled. "I miss the old days, when I was first let into this world. War, violence, plotting, death, injury, pain! Destruction! One side against another and," he paused, "brother against brother."

The Shee smiled again. "You've really got a grudge against him for that, don't you?" she asked.

"He _killed_ me, Lethra! His own brother! He defied the power that could have been his! He chose the light! I thought he was gone for good when I killed him, but the cursed boy came BACK, and destroyed me!" The Grendel caught himself and calmed down. "I must thank you again for restoring me to life. I have been wishing revenge on my brother."

Lethra smiled more. "It was the least I could do. Such an evil soul should not be allowed to simply float harmlessly in limbo."

"Again, I thank you. And also," he began to grin, "for giving me the _delightful_ ability to change my shape. The havoc I can wreak..." His face was now covered by an enormous, fanged smile. Lethra smiled back in her cool, calculating way.

"You're welcome, my dark friend. Now, shall we begin the first phase?"

"We shall."

Evil laughter rang from the Grendel tree, causing many norns nearby to shudder at the disturbance of this pristine day.

-

Karr brushed a lock of snowy hair out of his eyes, pointing to an area of the chalk sketch he had made on the rocks, beneath the old well. He was giving Kerra a lesson.

"This mountain, you see, isn't a normal mountain," he said, gesturing. "It's something called a volcano."

"What's a volcano?"

"It's like a mountain, but sometimes it gets mad and erupts, sending liquid fire called lava all over the place. It can be very destructive, especially on a small world like Albia."

"So we've got one of those?" Kerra asked, wide-eyed. "And it'll erupt?"

"Maybe. We could be lucky, and it could be an extinct volcano. But it's more likely to erupt."

"When?"

"Hopefully no time soon," Karr said, standing up and brushing some dust and chalk off his fur. "But how am I to know? I'm not a prophet, and the only prophet in Albia keeps to himself these days." He sighed, wondering where in Albia Setter could be hiding, then decided he didn't really want to know when the volcano would erupt.

"Karr?" a worried voice came. Karr turned around to see Sassy stepping off the raft, a concerned expression on her face. Karr was instantly alarmed. Very little worried Sassy these days, unless it had something to do with Eliot or Phoenix's well-being.

"What's wrong, Sassy? What happened?"

"It's Phoenix," Sassy said, emotion rising in her voice. "She's gone!"

'Gone,' Karr thought. It was an ominous word. What had happened to Phoenix? Where was she? Karr felt much of Sassy's worry, since he had always liked little Phoenix, and Sassy had been one of his favorite students. He swallowed, trying to force down the sudden lump in his throat.

"Phoenix...gone?" Kerra asked from behind Karr. Karr suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for his daughter - Phoenix was the girl's best friend.

"I'll go look for her," Karr said firmly.

-

The jet-black Grendel and Lethra stood, smiling evilly at the young Norn whom they had chained to the wall, who was staring at them defiantly. She was obviously of Purple Mountain descent, as she had the purplish eyes, the silverish hair, the scaled legs. But her arms were those of a Forest, and her body was a simple, uniform brown, with a tapered tail. She was Phoenix.

"Why struggle, little one?" Lethra asked in a languid voice. "It will not help you avoid your fate."

The rage on Phoenix's face was almost comical, except it looked like she meant business. "I hate you!" she spat. "I hate you both! You're cruel!"

"We're evil," the Grendel said with a laugh. "It's our nature."

"I'll get out of this!" Phoenix shouted. "The Hand'll save me! Or Daddy, or even Karr!"

A look of pure hatred and rage spread across the Grendel's face. He smacked the Norn viciously. "Don't ever say _that name!_"

"What name?" Phoenix demanded, ignoring the pain. "Karr?" When she saw the violent hatred again flare in the Grendel's eyes, she yelled, "Karr! Karr! Karr! Karr! Karr!"

The Grendel smacked her agin, harder, and then punched her. Silent now, Phoenix stared up sullenly at he Grendel, still defiant, but somewhat subdued.

"Be warned, little Norn," the Grendel hissed. "I have the power to kill you, and if you anger me further, I shall use it!"

"I believe you," Phoenix said simply. Lethra suddenly cackled.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" she cried. "The pain of such a sickeningly cute and good-natured creature is so refreshing!"

"You aren't really a Shee, are you?" Phoenix pouted.

"Evil exists in all species," Lethra said. "I happen to be one of the very few evil Shee."

This pleasant conversation was interrupted by the chugging of the lift as it made its way down to the floor of the catacombs the three were gathered in. A furious white-haired Norn stepped out, instantly recognizable by the fire-red headband he wore to try to keep his unruly ruff of hair out of his face. He caught sight of Phoenix, and began to snarl. He turned to the two black beings.

"Release her," he ordered in a growl. The two evil ones laughed.

"And what would you do if we didn't, boy?" Lethra asked.

"_I_ wouldn't do anything. The Hand would. The Hand can do more than I can."

"The Hand is a fool," the Grendel snapped.

"She made me immortal - twice."

"That is precisely why she is a fool...my brother."

Suddenly, everything clicked in Karr's mind. He recognized the stance, the voice, the chaotic air of the Grendel. His anger melted and was replaced by fear. He took a step back.

"Rrak," he said in recognition. The Grendel gave a throaty laugh.

"Correct, my dear brother," Rrak cackled. "This charming Shee, Lethra, has given me two wondeful gifts - she restored my life, and gave me the ability to change my shape." As if in demonstration, the Grendel's features melted, warped, reformed into a new image. He now halfway resembled one of the so-called "horse norns", except instead of brown, his mohawk was the same snowy white as Karr's ruff of hair. His right eye was still Grendelish, and Grendel fangs peered out the left side of his mouth. His left arm was Grendelish, as was his right foot. Hideous and evil - what a perfect combination.

"Rrak. It's you. I never would have expected..." Karr was torn. He had been able to muster the will to kill Rrak once, but he had had a lifetime of preparation. Now, not only was he not sure that he could kill Rrak, but with Lethra on Rrak's side...what could he do against that?

He was swallowed up in a well of depression. What could he do? What the hell could he do? He glanced back at Phoenix, who looked back at him with a sad look on her face. Suddenly, Karr reached a decision.

"Will you take me, and release Phoenix?"

Ecstasy spread over Rrak's face. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He ran over to Phoenix and smashed her chains with his Grendel arm. Phoenix ran to Karr.

"Karr," she asked, "why?"

"I wanted to see you live. Tell everyone what happened. Tell Karen and Kerra that I'll miss them, but hopefully, I'll be in a better place."

Phoenix's eyes were brimming with tears. "I will, Karr. I will."

At that moment, Rrak pulled the two apart and shoved Phoenix into a lift. "Go," he said roughly, sending the lift up. As the left ascended, Phoenix peered through the bars.

"I won't forget, Karr," she said, just before the lift went up out of sight. Karr gulped and turned his attention back to Lethra and Rrak, bracing himself for whatever horrors they would perform on him.

"I have an idea," purred Lethra. "How about you both fight? That should be amusing, brother against brother. Of course, I have no doubts about who will win," she added, smiling at Rrak. Karr felt queasy.

"Do you accept, brother?" Rrak challenged.

"I accept, Rrak," Karr returned. He was as ready as he felt he'd ever be.

Lethra grinned. "Begin."

-

Back home, Phoenix had just delivered the news. Nobody was hit harder than Karen and Kerra.

"My beloved...my husband...my _son,_" Karen gasped. Her son. She remembered how, when Karr had been killed by Rrak, he had been reborn from Karen's egg. It had seemed so confusing at the time, Karr hatching from the very egg he had fathered, but now everyone could take it in stride.

"Father," Kerra pouted. "He gave himself over to those two awfuls. I thought Shee were good."

"Lethra's the exception," Phoenix said. "Most Shee are good."

"'Most' being the key word," Karen sighed. "Oh, Karr...beloved...son."

"My father and my brother," Kerra said plaintively.

Karen suddenly began to cry.

-

In the catacombs, Karr was losing his fight with Rrak. Rrak had the definite advantage, with his shapeshifting ability. Karr would once, when he was a grenorn, have been able to at least put up a decent fight - but no, not now, not against Rrak. Reeling from a punch, the snow-haired Norn backed against a wall, putting one hand to the bleeding cut on his side.

"Damn you, both of you," he said hoarsely. He knew he was going to die. Immortal or no, he was going to die.

Ignoring Karr's comment, Rrak, in his Grendel form, stepped forward. "Now I finish it," he growled. "Brother, you are weak. You always were, you always will be."

"I was strong when I was a grenorn," Karr said through gritted teeth, in pain. And suddenly, he had an idea. He looked past Rrak, focused on Lethra.

"Can you give me back my Grendel blood?" he asked.

"Give it back?" Lethra asked, surprised. "Why?"

Karr took a deep breath. "I want my evil half back. d'Graht was right - evil is the true power." He was lying through his teeth, and hoping that Lethra and Rrak didn't know. Fortunately, he was pretty sure the agony he was suffering masked his deceit. Lethra cackled.

"Yes," she laughed. She raised one hand and pointed a slim finger at Karr. "Spirits of Evil, return the darkness to Karr!"

Karr suddenly experienced insane, impossible agony as the transformation to grenorn began. He knew he was screaming, but he didn't hear it...the agony of everything else swallowed it up. He felt the chill of the dark blood re-entering his veins...felt his left arm changing, warping back into the Grendel arm it once was...felt the darkness again seeping into his mind...and abruptly, all agony was gone. He slumped to the floor, no longer pure. He turned azure eyes upwards, looking at Lethra and Rrak. His Grendel strength was back, as was the strange acuteness of his hearing and smell. His eyesight, however, was slightly dimmer. He heard the patter of footsteps in the level above. Norns. They had once been his kindred in full. No more. He stood, staring Rrak in the eye.

"Brother."

Rrak grinned. "Again we are brothers in blood, Karr," Rrak said, shifting back into his strange halfbreed shape. "Brothers in evil."

Karr continued staring into Rrak's eyes. "We are brothers of blood, Rrak," he said, "but not of alignment."

"What?" Rrak's grin faded. "What do you mean?"

"I was never truly evil," Karr said. "And I never will be."

Rrak hissed. "You die!" he spat, and drove his claws into Karr's body. Karr screamed in agony, but somehow, as he fell and the world dimmed, managed to drag Rrak with him to his fate.

The lift chugged down at that very moment. Within was another snow-haired Norn, amazingly beautiful. The first thing she saw was Karr's lifeless body. She gasped.

"Oh my Hand, they've killed Karr!" she screamed. She ran to Karr's body and hugged him sadly. "My mate...my son..."

"Your _son?_ Lethra asked, raising a white eyebrow. "You mated your son? You Norns are an incestuous lot."

Karen cast hateful eyes on Lethra. "He was my mate before he was my son," she said simply. "He was reborn from my egg - which he fathered."

"Strange, too," Lethra said. "I think I shall make it my personal duty to eradicate each and every one of you."

"You shall do no such thing," a new voice bellowed. Karen and Lethra both turned. There stood another Shee, dressed in the same flaring robes, except they were white and gray. The new Shee's eyes were an earthy brown, as was her hair, which fell loosely about her shoulders. Unlike Lethra, her skin was pale.

"Methka," Lethra hissed.

"It's been a long time, Lethra," Methka returned coldly.

"You two...know each other?"

"We're sisters," Methka said, with a lethal edge to her voice. The edge was clearly directed at Lethra. "We've never liked each other."

"So I noticed," Karen said, backing away so as to avoid being in any crossfire.

She had a feeling that a rather spectacular light show was about to begin.

-

"Brother."

Neither grenorn knew who said it. Whether it was Karr, Rrak, or both of them, didn't matter. What mattered was that it had been said. In the void, Karr turned to face Rrak.

"Why?" Rrak hissed at Karr. "Was it your plan, all along, to use your restored Grendel strength to kill me?"

"You and Lethra," Karr corrected. Rrak hissed again and punched Karr, knocking him down. Suddenly, he realized that he had also felt the pain of the blow. He stood there, stunned.

"What is this?" he demanded of Karr. "How did I feel your pain?"

Karr stood, and looked down. There was a shining blue thread, connecting his ankle to Rrak's.

"We're linked," he said simply.

"Does that mean what I think it means?"

"I think so," Karr said, looking enlightened. "That's why I came back in Karen's egg after you killed me. That's why you couldn't rest after I killed you. We're linked together. One of us cannot rest until the other dies as well."

"Then _why aren't we resting now?_" Rrak growled irritably. "We're both dead. Why aren't we in peace?"

"How do you know we're not?"

"I know. This is the limbo I was kept in after you killed me."

"Oh."

Karr and Rrak stared at each other for a moment. Then Karr stooped down and took the shining thread in his Norn paw.

"What are you doing?" Rrak asked.

"Setting both of us free," Karr said. With one claw, he slit the thread. It shimmered out. Suddenly, there was a whoosh and both grenorns were sucked apart, to seperate fates. Karr had a feeling that Rrak would be going wherever he deserved. For himself, Karr could make no guesses.

-

"Isn't there any way you can revive him?" Karen asked sadly of the two beings that were with her by Karr's corpse - the Hand, and Methka.

"I'm sorry, Karen, but there's nothing I can do anymore," the Hand said sadly. "He's a grenorn now, and for some reason, I can't select him because of it. If I can't select him, I can't do anything."

"I might have a solution," Methka said in a languid voice to match Hand's. "It's risky, however."

"I'm prepared."

"It will involve your soul being temporarily expelled from your body, long enough to find Karr in the void and bring him back. There is the chance that you won't find him in time, and that you won't return to your body."

Karen shuddered, but said, "I'll go." Casting a sad look towards Karr's face, she lay down next to him and closed her eyes. Methka raised one hand and pointed towards Karen, whispering the words that would seperate the Norn's spirit from her body.

-

"Karr?"

Karr heard the familiar voice dimly, as if in dream mists. He opened his spiritual eyes and saw two brown eyes, framed by a swath of silky white hair, looking down concernedly at him. He recognized the face.

"Karen?"

"Yeah."

A thousand emotions fought for supremity in Karr's heart. Fear, anger, love, joy, corncern, and from there back to fear.

"Karen, what are you doing here?" He got to his feet, looking deep into those brown eyes he had always loved. "You're not...dead, are you?"

"Not quite, beloved," Karen said. "Only out of body temporarily. I'm only here to bring you back to life."

She took Karr's Norn hand, and began to lead him to...where? Somewhere. Karr stopped, and looked down at his Grendel arm. Karen noticed, and looked into his azure eyes.

"I'm sure we can fix it," Karen said. "Now please, come with me! I don't have much time on this plane. We have to hurry!"

Karr nodded, and followed Karen towards...whatever lay ahead.

-

"Methka, what if they don't come back?" Hand was writhing in distress. "What if they're gone forever?"

"They won't be," Methka said calmly.

"How do you know?"

"I don't."

Hand would have glared at Methka if she had eyes to glare with. As it was, she couldn't express any emotion at all, but just turned towards Karen and Karr again. The physics of Albia had long since disposed of Rrak's body, but Karr and Karen remained. Hand could only hope that this meant they could both return.

Suddenly, Karen took in a thin, luxurious breath of air. Hand's worries melted, and she started doing somersaults in the air. Methka let a small smile quirk over her face, and stooped to help Karen and the just-awakening Karr to their feet.

"Welcome back to Albia, Karr," the Shee said to the grenorn. Karr leaned on Karen for support.

"I'm...alive?" he asked.

"You're alive," Karen assured him.

Karr smiled at her, but the smile faded as he looked down at his left arm - the Grendel arm. He had loathed that arm his entire first life, and now it was back with him. He could hear the laughter of the Grendel within him, taunting him. He made a fist, closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, forcing his violent desires back.

"Can you remove it?" Karen was saying to Methka. "Can you make him pure Norn again?"

Methka shook her head ruefully. "Unfortunately, no. Not by myself. It would require the aid of--"

"Other Shee?" a new voice said. Everybody - Hand, Methka, Karr, and Karen - turned towards the voice. There was a group of four Shee standing there - two male, two female.

"Lenthar!" Methka cried, recognizing the one who had spoken. "Where _were_ you?"

"Trying to find more spherical homes - you do remember that, don't you?" Lenthar smiled.

"Of course."

"Well, unfortunately, none of the spheres we saw could support life. Not even with our technology as a crutch. Most of the crews died on their planets." He shook his head. "We were the only surviving team."

"Oh, Lenthar," Methka said sympathetically. "I'm so sorry..."

Lenthar cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Not your fault." Noticing Karr and Karen for the first time, he said, "Are these Norns?"

"Well...I am," Karen said bravely. "My mate here is a grenorn."

Lenthar smiled. "Ah, how you little ones have developed over the years. Grown taller, and speaking in flawless English! I'm quite proud of you."

"Can you make me a Norn again?" Karr dropped the question. There was silence for a few seconds.

"I believe we can, if we all work together," Lenthar said. "But we must go to Methka's home - the Purple Mountains. Gather the Norns of Albia, and we shall go there...we have something to teach you, as well."

-

Karr had never actually been inside the Purple Mountains, and his fantasies of what it would be like were surpassed by the real thing. Some of the floors were made entirely of smooth, polished, deep purple stone. Streaks of this same stone could be found in the glittering indigo walls.

"Amethyst," the Hand identified the purple jewels. "One of my favorite gemstones."

Karr took silent note of this and cast glances around at the other Norns. Most were shivering - the Purple Mountains weren't particularly warm - but Eliot and Phoenix, he noticed, seemed comfortable and truly at home for the first time.

'Of course,' Karr thought. 'Their ancestors came from these mountains. This is the place they were bred for.'

He glanced ahead at the group of Shee that was leading the Norn population. Where were they going? What were the Shee going to do that required being in the Purple Mountains?

He wondered this until suddenly he and the others were led into a vaulted, blessedly warm room with several open pillars that seemed to have been carved out of the mountain itself. The room was larger than Karr would have expected a cave in the Purple Mountains could be.

He then noticed that the party had stopped, and four of the Shee had formed a circle around a large, flat, circular amethyst in the center of the room. Methka stood near the amethyst.

"Karr, son-mate of Karen, approach," she said, her voice rolling and echoing around the chamber. Karr gulped and took several trembling steps towards the circle. The Shee parted to let him through, and he stepped up to the amethyst and kneeled down on it, looking up at Methka.

"Karr, you have asked our aid, and our aid we shall give," she said to the grenorn. Taking his Grendel hand in her hands, she raised her head to the high-spanning ceiling and began chanting. The Norns looked on, mystified, as the amethyst began to glow, and wisps of deep purple light began to envelop Karr. The light grew brighter and stronger, and covered Karr completely, and began to fill the room. Everybody covered their eyes. When the light faded, Karr stood up slowly and looked at his left arm.

It was pure Norn. Again.

Awed silence filled the chamber. The power of the Shee had been displayed, and a few Norns, unable to handle it, had fainted. Even Hand seemed amazed.

"O-o-oh m-my Ha-Hand," Sassy stammered. "I-if only five Shee can summon up that much power..."

"It's almost frightening to think what the entire race, working together, could do," Karen finished Sassy's sentence.

At that moment, a beaming Karr approached Karen. Wordlessly, the two hugged. Methka and the other Shee smiled, then they turned and walked into the pillars.

"Wait - what are you doing?" Eliot asked.

He was not answered, for the openings in the pillars closed at that moment, leaving no seams. The last five Shee in Albia were locked, forever, inside the pillars.

"No!" a Norn cried. "They've - they've _left_ us!"

"Why, Daddy?" Kerra inquired of Karr. "Don't the Shee wanna be with us?"

"I don't know," Karr said, and turned questioningly to Hand.

"Even I can't answer that one," Hand said ruefully. "I don't know why they would seal themselves away like that."

Suddenly, Phoenix's eyes took on a haunted look and she walked, with a slow, steady, deliberate pace, to the central amethyst. She turned to face Hand and the Norns, not appearing to look at anybody or anything. She did not blink.

"I am Methka," she said, her youthful voice suddenly resonant and languid. Sassy gasped, looking on her possessed daughter with fear and worry.

"She's gone insane," the mother gasped. "She's possessed!"

Phoenix turned her unblinking gaze on Sassy. "Fear not, Sassy. Your child shall not be harmed. My only need is the use of her body to speak through."

Sassy was still distressed, but calmed somewhat. Phoenix turned and raised one hand, turning it so that the palm faced one of the walls. Images began to form on the wall, smoky, distant images of Albia.

"Our world was never ours alone. Always there were you Norns, whom we Shee loved and guarded against the Grendels, who were then much greater in number," she intoned, as the images showed the Grendel tree, which was teeming with Grendels, and Grendel mother creatures. Ira, who had been present the whole time but had said nothing, turned away, unable to look at the pictures.

"We ruled Albia - keeping the evil ones in check and protecting the Norns. But one day, we invented the telescope. We believed that the other planets in the system were all disks, which faced towards us. As such, we believed we were the center of the universe. With the telescope, we realized that the other planets were spheres. Most left, seeking homes on those spherical worlds, leaving the Norns to fend for themselves. The Grendels soon destroyed the Norns, and then turned on themselves. In the bloodshed, all the Grendels were killed, and only one aging Grendel mother remained." Phoenix turned to the Norns again, momentarily. "I was the only Shee who wished to stay on Albia, but one of the crews took me along against my wishes. I escaped, and landed in the Purple Mountains, which then became my home. To keep myself occupied, and sane, I created the Purple Mountain Norns."

"Phoe--Methka, I hate to interrupt, but, if by that time the only Norns in Albia were PMNs, then where did the rest of us come from?" It was Sassy.

"Six eggs we Shee left in the Hatchery, six Norn eggs. Along with the means to hatch them. The Forest Norns evolved from PMNs that journeyed to the forests of Albia, and the Rons - I don't know, maybe someone got into our laboratories." She shrugged, and turned agan to the pictures, which were now replaying the recent adventures of the Albians. "Many, many, many years passed, and you Norns developed greatly - you became more independent, more self-sufficient, than we Shee could have hoped for you to become. Most of you are...well, oddbits, but together, all of you, you create the image of a near-perfect world." Her first expression since she had stepped onto the amethyst was shown - a smile. "I, Lenthar, and the others are very proud of you. We went into the sleep-chambers--" she gestured towards the pillars "so that you Albians could live your lives, without our interference." The pictures on the wall faded, and Phoenix turned to the Albians. "Live well, creatures of Albia, for you have our blessing...the blessing of the Shee."

With that, the strange look left the girl's eyes, and she sagged to her knees. Kerra, Eliot, and Sassy all ran to her.

"Phoenix? You alright?" Kerra asked.

"Talk to us, please," Sassy implored.

"ooooohhhh," Phoenix moaned. "I-I'm okay. Methka was right - nothing bad happened to me."

"You were _aware_, all the time she was...with you?" Sassy gaped.

"Yeah," Phoenix nodded. "I just sorta watched in the background while she controlled me. It was weird."

"Well, at least everything's all right," Karr observed from nearby.

"Most is all right, my friend," Ira said. "Not all. Some of us are...not whole."

A hush covered the room as everybody realized what Ira meant. Half of his body was still cybernetic. The Shee could have done something about it, but...

Phoenix suddenly cocked one ear, as if listening to something nobody else could hear. She squirmed through the crowd of friends and family that had surrounded her, and walked to Ira. She took his organic hand, and guided him to the central amethyst.

"Stand on that, Ira," she said.

Ira raised the eyeridge he could move. "Why?"

"Methka just told me," Phoenix insisted. "Just stand on it."

Ira shrugged and stepped onto the amethyst. Instantly, it began to glow. Karr was overwhelmed with a sense of deja vu as the same process initiated that had removed his Grendel blood. Again the light instensified and filled the room, causing the Albias to need to shield their eyes (except Hand), and then it ceased.

Ira stood in amazement. The cybernetics had been destroyed, vaporized - and in their place was flesh. Blood. Bone. He was pure, untainted Grendel once more. He turned around, looking at everybody, through his restored two-eyed sight. A huge grin spread over the reptilian face.

"Phoenix!" he bellowed, the strange mechanical element gone from his voice. "Gods bless you and Methka!" He swung the litle girl around in the air gleefully, and proceeded to hug everybody in the room. Nobody could keep from laughing - a Grendel celebrating anything looked pretty funny, but such a normally somber and serious Grendel made it hilarious. Karr felt sure that even the Shee, locked in their chambers of stone, heard and shared in the laughter.

"Perhaps that whole ordeal was worth it," he murmured to himself, reflecting back on the events of earlier. He then had to smile at himself. Of course it was worth it. Everything had turned out perfect.

-

Phoenix sat ont he walkway between the Grendel tree and the treehouse, staring that the stars and the seemingly distant Purple Mountains, reflecting back on the whole adventure, and further, back to her very first memory. She had to smile at the memories - so many of them, it seemed, and she was barely into childhood. She heard footsteps behind her, and then Kerra sat down next to her.

"H'lo, Kerra," Phoenix said distractedly.

"Hi, Phoenix," Kerra returned. The two friends sat in silence for a little while, then Kerra asked, "Whatcha thinkin'?"

"Just remembering everything that's happened in my life so far," Phoenix said, trying to pick out shapes in the stars. "Y'know, if everything that's happened to me from my hatching up to now is anything like what the rest of my life is gonna be like, I'm going to be a very, very busy Norn."

"Well, maybe things will calm down."

"Maybe."

They sat in silence again for a while, then Phoenix took something out of her hair and handed it to Kerra. It was an amethyst crystal.

"Here," she said. "I want you to have it. I took it from the room with the sleep-chamber things before Methka satrted talking through me. It was loose, and it just looked so pretty and pure, I had to take it."

Kerra blinked, accepting the gift. She examined it in the starlight - it _was_ pure, in color, shape, and quality. "Why do you want me to have it? Why don't you want to keep it for yourself?"

"Kerra," Phoenix said seriously, "you are my best friend in all of Albia. I love you, and I trust you. You're like my older sister. Really, I want you to have that."

"Uh...thanks," Kerra said, for the lack of anything else to say. She took one of her braids and worked the amethyst into it. Then she turned to Phoenix again.

"There's something I want you to have, too," she said.

"What's that?"

A wicked grin spread across Kerra's face. "This!" she said, launching a tickle attack on Phoenix. Phoenix laughed uncontrollably and somehow managed to counterattack. That led into a whole big tickle war and a lot of laughter from both parties, which could be heard halfway across Albia.

Albia was indeed a near-perfect world.

-

end