The AGC Writers' Guild

"Nirri, are you doing this?" Callum glanced at the little Norn and blinked. She was standing very still, arms raised above her head. The golden light streamed out of the Amulet of Guardianship and seemed to run through the Norn and out of her in all directions, maintaining the golden sphere. Her gaze hit Callum's. She looked as surprised as he felt, but managed to nod.

"I, I think so. I don't know how long I can hold it for though, let's get out of here!"

Another chunk of molten rock shot towards them, and this time Callum didn't even have time to blink. He didn't have to. The lava had hit the golden globe and solidified instantly, forming part of a sort of shell around the top of them. As more rocks rained down, they formed a solid shell around them. Callum didn't dare move for fear it would upset Nirri's concentration. As the last bit of light was blocked out, Callum felt a sudden sense of calm. His eyelids closed of their own accord and a strange sensation of stopping overcame him. The muffled sounds of the volcano disappeared. For a second there was silence. That second seemed to last for an eternity...

A sudden glaring light struck Callum's face and his eyes snapped open. He jerked his hand up to block the glare. Slowly, the blinding light faded, and as Callum's eyes adjusted, blurred shapes began to resolve themselves into clear images. There was a gasp and a series of excited comments in Norn-like voices.

Callum blinked as his eyes focused properly. Through a head-sized hole in the top of the rock shell, half a dozen Norn faces peered through. But they weren't normal Norns; they looked different to the last lot that Callum had seen on Albia before... The memory of the volcano sprung up from his mind and he straightened up. This had several effects. One was that his head slammed into the solid rock above him, causing various coloured lights to flash infront of his eyes, two, the Norns jumped back, and three that he managed to elbow Sillika, who hit him in the arm.

"Hold on, I'm standing up." There was a crack as Sillika did what Callum had just done.

As Sillika ducked back down, Callum scrambled up so that his head was sticking out of the rock. He blinked. Whatever they were in was mostly buried in what appeared to be a swamp. He tried to force his shoulders through the gap, and only succeeded in practically breaking his shoulder blade. He craned his neck, trying to see anything more about where they were. He caught sight of a furry head peering out at him from behind a huge, almost claw-like tree root. He grinned.

The Norn's eyes widened and it ducked back behind the tree. Callum sighed and stooped back into the rock.

Callum looked with surprise in the direction of Nirri's voice. In all the chaos he'd forgotten about the little Norn. She was there all right, glowing slightly in the dimness of the rocky shell. She smiled at him.

Callum crouched down and felt something brush his back as Nirri clambered up. She seemed to weigh nothing at all.

"Okay, I'm out," she called down. Callum straightened up again, poking his head through the hole, staring Nirri straight in the foot. He grinned up at her.

"See if you can find a way to get us out of here..." He started, then was interrupted by the sound of Norn voices and splashing. He glanced round. Coming, nervously, through the swamp was a group of about five Norns, followed by a very familiar figure. Well, appendage anyway. The Hand floated to a halt.

"Now, what was it you wanted to show me?" It asked, obviously to one of the Norns. Callum managed to shove enough of his arm through the gap to wave.

"I think I can answer that one," he called, trying to suppress a grin. The Hand bobbed round, and stopped, radiating shock.

"I'll tell you in a while. First, could you see your way into getting us out of here?"

"I'll find something we can break that rock with. You two always cause complications." It sounded amused. Callum grinned.

As the Norns set about their task, something else was awakening in Albia.

Deeper underground, in a small, damp cave lit only by a scarlet glow a collection of lumpy, dull eggs lay around a small rocky hole in the wall. Look closer, and a metal tube can be seen inside the crack. This is an ancient egg layer, a device created by the Shee to keep their Norn population at a constant level, the only Layer operational in Albia. A millennia ago its code was corrupted, causing it to produce not Norn, but Grendel eggs. Eggs were laid slowly and surely, the aged machinery gradually creating egg after egg. Inside the delivery pipe, deep inside the guts of the machine, something was happening. Tiny sparks of glowing blackness leapt from component to component, altering the program for the current egg. With a groan of years of neglect, the forgotten implement began to work at an extraordinary rate, powered by the glittering darkness surging through it. Slowly, accompanied by the sound of breaking mechanisms and showered in the sparks of a dying machine, a new egg slid smoothly down the tube and out into the air. It landed in a cluster of eggs, a black hole in a sea of grey and began to grow. The occasional black spark dropped from its surface, fizzing as they hit the ground and sunk into the soil. Soon, there was not even moss to be seen around the egg, the tiny plants shrivelling and disappearing into dust.

"Give me a hand Callum," Sillika complained as she hauled herself out of the now much wider hole, covered in dust and slivers of rock. Callum grinned and helped her out. The Hand hovered over his shoulder, watching intently.

"Odd, Frog mentioned you disappearing into the rock, but I didn't believe him," It mused. Callum turned to it.

"Yes, and Delila. And Grui somehow. I got their reports when I came back. I was more than a little surprised, as you can imagine."

Callum's mouth dropped open, and his gaze hit Sillika's. She looked as shocked as he felt.

"Four hundred years? We've been buried in that rock for four hundred years?" She exclaimed. The Hand bobbed again.

"How did you think the Norns got so different? The volcano released some sort of radiation that altered their DNA, made it mutate faster. As you can expect, we've had more than our fair share of stillbirths, but the genes have stabled now. Leaving some rather interesting varieties..." It floated over to the nervous looking group of Norns.

"I'll make some introductions. Callum, Sillika, Nirri, these are Jayne, Chris, Kalli, Zander and Fern." It gestured towards the Norns in turn. They, in turn, blushed and tried to hide behind eachother. The Hand pointed to Callum's small group.

"This is Callum and Sillika, they're the last of the Shee," there were as series of gasps as the Hand said this, "And this is Nirri, the Guardian of Albia." If Nirri could go red, she would have done so as the Norns all turned to look at her. Callum was about to reply when there came the sound of running feet.

A soft brown coloured male Norn of a type Callum had never seen before skidded to a halt infront of them. Tufts of hair stuck out from under his ears and fluffed in an unruly clump between two small horns on the top of his head. Green eyes stared out at them, the shock clear on his face. The Hand floated over.

"Max, they're the Shee. The other one is Nirri, the Guardian of Albia," the Hand said gently as Max tore his eyes away from Callum, "Now, what were you trying to say?"

Sillika looked with interest round as the lift descended. They'd come out of the swamp, through a lush garden and then through a set of large bio-domes; environmentally controlled areas that Sillika vaguely remembered seeing before when the Shee used to live on Albia. However, the domes had been sealed off then, but now they were open to the world. They'd taken the lift down, into a dim, narrow tunnel with dark, dirty walls. It was also filled with beautiful golden objects, ruby studded plates and sceptres. Callum grinned at her.

"Hand, we welcome you again to our home," a soft voice floated down to them, its mournful tones strangely familiar. Sillika looked up. Framed infront of a plate was the unmistakable pale shape of a male Ettin! She looked at Callum.

Callum shrugged. The Ettin turned to look at them, his dark eyes widening in surprise.

"We are many in number, Shee, although when your people left us we were few. Our people survived and our population grew under the earth in the great caverns for centuries. We repaired and built, as we always have done."

"And now we are the keepers of Albia's past and legends," a new voice joined in. An old male Ettin stepped into the light, thick white locks grey with age. He gave Sillika an Ettin's slight smile.

"I am Eran, the Keeper of the Lore. We welcome you all, Norn and Shee to our sacred place."

"Huh? Sacred? Why?" Nirri piped up from behind Sillika. The Ettin turned to look at her, and surprise flooded his face. There was a murmur from the group of Ettins that had appeared behind him. He stepped closer to Nirri, who eyed him nervously. His hand reached out and stroked the Amulet hanging from Nirri's transparent neck.

"You are the Guardian," he whispered, and suddenly bent onto one knee. The other Ettins copied him. Sillika looked at them, then at Nirri.

"The Guardian of Albia. Well, I am, but... Look, will you please get off the floor? This is embarrassing!" The Ettin looked up at her, then to Sillika with an expression of awe on his face.

"The Guardian holds the power to combine Life and Death, to guard Albia against all that would harm her." Nirri looked around her with wide eyes.

"Technically Nirri, that's not true," Sillika whispered to the little Norn. Nirri waved a hand.

"I hate to interrupt your genuflection," Callum said, "But I think the statue's going into meltdown."

Sillika followed his gaze, to where a bright light was shining out from the cave at the end. The old Ettin looked at them.

"So will we," Nirri strode ahead of the group, Callum and Sillika following closely behind. Sillika gasped as they entered the cave. A huge statue of a Shee, carved out of some dark marble, gripping two gleaming crystal balls, with eyes made from the same crystal. Around it's neck was carved a perfectly round circle on a stone cord. It was clearly an Amulet, but the symbol was different to any that Sillika had seen before. It seemed to be a cube with four poles jutting out from it, separating the Amulet into four pieces. And it was glowing. Not a slight glow, a burning, white-hot line of fire that strangely only seemed to affect the carved line of the Amulet. Sillika frowned.

"That's not like the others are supposed to be. They're meant to have the symbols for Life and Death on them, but I don't recognise that at all!"

"And you did do that course in ancient Shee symbols for about six months," Callum pulled a face. Sillika nodded, ignoring his sarcastic tone. Eran looked up at her.

"You would not, Shee. This symbol did not exist for your people. It is ours. It means hidden."

"Yes," Nirri said quietly, her eyes fixed on the glowing shape, "And I know what."

As Sillika turned to look at her friend, the stone Amulet glowed even brighter; filling the cave with a strange anti-light that hurt the eyes to look at. Sillika blinked away the after-images and gasped as the stone on the Amulet liquefied and trickled down the statue. Something glowed in its place, gradually dimming until it became clear. Sillika swallowed her amazement. Lying, perfectly embedded in the rock of the statue was the beautiful, unmistakable, gleaming shape of the Amulet of Life. Tiny golden sparks fell from it in a twinkling cascade, edging everything in the cave with its golden light.

Callum watched the Amulet with apprehension. No one else seemed to be doing anything, so he turned to Nirri.

Callum raised an eyebrow and stepped forwards. He reached out gingerly and touched the cord of the Amulet. Nothing happened. He wasn't sure exactly what he'd expected, but it certainly wasn't for the Amulet to do absolutely nothing. Carefully he flipped the cord over the neck of the statue and it came free in his hand. He grinned at Sillika.

"I don't see what all the fuss is ab... What the...?" He exclaimed in shock as the Amulet began to glow again, pushing itself into his hand. He got the distinct impression that it would be a bad idea to let go, so didn't.

Nirri stepped forwards and cautiously reached out a pale hand to the glowing shape.

"I'm sure it's not going to..." She was cut off as the Amulet thrummed loudly and a burst of almost solid golden light shot out from it. The light hit Nirri's pale form and seemed to sink into her. The intensity increased, until Callum was forced to close his eyes. Suddenly the light vanished. Callum blinked rapidly until he could see clearly again. He gasped. Nirri was still standing there, eyes closed, but now she was solid. She looked like she had when they'd met her, over a thousand years ago. The Norn opened her eyes. She frowned as she saw Callum looking at her.

"I... I'm, I'm really here!" She prodded herself in the arm, holding her hand up infront of her face as if she'd never seen it before. Then she let out a loud whoop of joy. She raced over to Callum and hugged him as hard as she could, then let go and hugged Sillika. Callum watched with a smile as the little Norn ran around, touching everything she could as if she couldn't believe it was really there. Callum looked at the Amulet in his hand, it's glow fading with the after-images on his vision. He caught Sillika's gaze.

"I think," he said slowly, "That we should put this somewhere very secure indeed."

"I am certain that the safest place for the Amulet is with the Guardian," Eran said, the certainty in his voice clear. Nirri, who had been examining her own Amulet with her newly solid hands, looked up.

"Me? I don't think that's a very good idea... I mean," she added hurriedly as Eran opened his mouth to protest, "I'm sure I'd be able to look after it and everything, but if something was to happen to me it'd be a better idea to have the Life Amulet separate in case you needed it. I'm sure that you could look after it just as well as me."

"Well, now that's sorted, we need to find a place for you to stay," the Hand said loudly, almost as if it was thinking aloud. Callum looked up at it.

"There's room in the treehouses, I'm sure the Norns won't mind you being there."

The dark egg lay silent in the chamber. It was bigger now; easily four times the size of a normal egg. The ground beneath it cracked as more black sparks dropped from its surface, vanishing into the dirt with a menacing hiss. The surface of the egg wasn't even black anymore; it was devoid of any colour of any kind. Still, from this angle, bathed in the hot light from the passage leading out of the cave, here there seemed to be the merest suspicion of the outline of an arm, a head, a chest. Slowly, imperceptibly, faint pale cracks began to snake down the outside of the shell...

"And by her claws she slew a thousand enemies and the land flowed with the blood of the vanquished. Then..." The Grendel lunged forwards, crimson eyes burning, "Betrayal!" He spat the word, "Yes, betrayal by a Grendel, by one of our own people. They battled long into the night, until the betrayer was exhausted. Summoning her strength, Lraac cast him into the pit of fire. But then...the final irony. Her claw caught under his bones and dragged our leader into the flames. With her dying breath, she vowed to return to make our people great once more!"

A collective roar went up from the assembled crowd of Grendels as the tale ended. The old Grendel sat back, watching the group of younger lizards play-wrestle. He told the legend of Lraac every day, and every time the audience got larger and larger. It was the perfect legend for Grendels, bloody, violent and exciting. He leaned down to the younger Grendels, eyes gleaming.

"We must remember this lesson, and remember it well. If we trust with Norns it makes us weak. We must follow Lraac's teachings, we must keep our race great until she again returns!"

Lraac smiled at the expressions of shock flashed over the faces of the group. Her fingers curled menacingly, razor-claws slicing through the air with each movement she made. She flexed her muscles and smiled again, displaying her fangs in all their terrifying glory. The older Grendel stood up and, admirably, met her gaze.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice steady, but Lraac could feel the fear under it. She smiled again.

"You speak of me so often, yet when my time comes you do not even recognise me. I am Lraac, and I shall fulfil my promise."

Rakash looked up as the loremaster slipped through the curtain separating his cave from the rest of the volcano. He snarled irritably at the old Grendel.

"What do you want, story teller?" He snapped, turning his attention back to the map he was studying. The scouts had gone far this time, their view of the Norn territory had been expanded greatly, and Rakash wanted to take in all he could of the new situation.

Rakash turned at the new voice, and found himself staring into a pair of the reddest eyes he had ever seen, the slitted pupils fixed on him. They narrowed.

"So, you are Rakash, so-called 'Emperor' of the Grendels," the figure sneered. Rakash had just about time to see that it was female, but unlike any Grendel he had seen before. He drew himself up.

The female moved suddenly, and Rakash found himself lifted easily into the air, an powerful hand clamped round his throat, claws digging deep into his neck. The female turned and strode out of his cave, carrying Rakash like a doll. He kicked out with his powerful hindclaws, but the female held him too far out for his claws to even scratch her. He tried again, clawing at her with his fingers. His claws took purchase, cutting wounds in the flexing muscles of the female's arm. It had no effect.

Lraac stared around at the volcano. She was standing on the carved-out platform infront of the pathetic 'emperor's cave. She had to admit she was impressed. All over the volcano, caves and walkways had been carved from the jet-black rock, pools of molten lava coursing through channels between the criss-crossed paths at the base of the cavern. The heat was tremendous, and clouds of steam and ash rose into the air, funnelling out of the tiny, jagged hole at the top. Smaller craters and huge metal pipes seemed to ferry or store the molten rock. Infront of her, carved out of the rock of the platform itself, was a huge black throne, a wide, sloping path leading down from the throne and across a lake of lava. Lraac turned her attention back to the squirming figure clamped in her right hand.

"Lraac..." The old Grendel rolled the word around his moth as is saying it for the first time; "The throne is symbolic. It was built for you, and for you alone to sit in. Although admittedly, your representatives have, in the past, used it as you were to, it is completely yours."

"Traitor!" The Grendel in Lraac's grasp struggled furiously, "The throne is for the emperor only!"

The voices of the other Grendels floated up to Lraac's ears. She smiled nastily and stepped forwards.

"You already know who I am," she addressed the crowd of Grendels that were making their way up the path to the throne. They stopped. She smiled again, and a few took a step backwards.

"I am sure you have heard of me. I am Lraac, your leader. I have returned and, as I swore, I shall make you great again. We are the master race, we, are the ones to rule this world. You are faster, stronger, deadlier than before and with me to lead you, you shall control this world; you shall become the new legends. I shall fulfil my oath. Let it be known that no Norn, male or female, young or old shall be left to poison this world, our world. It is ours, ripe for the taking."

Silence fell over the crowd as they listened to her words. The Grendels may be bigger now, but they were just as easily swayed by the thought of power as they had always been. Lraac stepped forwards so that she was standing on the edge of the platform. She held the 'emperor' out over the bubbling, burning lava.

"Now is the time to wash away the stupidity of the past and enter a new era." Her gaze locked with the fallen leader's and she could smell his fear.

She tightened her grip, razor claws digging deep into the muscles of the Rakash's neck. He cried out in pain as the crimson blood ran freely over Lraac's claws. She stared impasionatly at his struggles for a moment, then released her grip, sending the Grendel plunging towards the swirling lava. When the screams stopped, Lraac turned back to the mass of Grendels. Murmurs of shock, and the terrible admiration that Lraac knew she inspired in her troops, rippled across the crowd. She held her fingers up to her face, blood dripping from each claw. Carefully, she drew the bloodied digits across her forehead, leaving four thick red lines across the skin.

"By the blood of Rakash, I take my place," she draped herself over the black rock of the throne.

Suddenly, a shudder ran through the rock of her chair. She turned quickly, and blinked in surprise. A circular piece of the throne just above her head was starting to glow, but not normally. This seemed to glow, while getting darker until it was almost a crack in the world. Lraac smiled, she had a feeling she knew what that was. As the darkness glowed brighter, the rock itself hissed and spat then seemed to evaporate in a jet-black cloud. Instead of dissipating, the cloud seemed to darken the air it touched, until Lraac's throne was surrounded in an aura of darkness. She reached up, and removed the icy-cold Amulet of Death from the hole it had burned in the stone. She stood up and cast a glare over the assembled Grendels. "As I said before, I take my place," she flung a hand out towards one of the towering rocky pillars. The Amulet pulsed in her hand, and a bolt of black lightning leapt from her claws, searing through the air and hitting the pillar with the sound of thunder. The pillar exploded, jagged pieces of black rock scything through the air with a sinister hissing sound. The Grendels ducked simultaneously. Lraac waited until they were staring up at her again.

As one, the Grendels turned to look at the remains of the pillar, then at the bubbling lava pit. At some unspoken signal, they dropped one their knees. Lraac smiled, rubbing a finger over the cool surface of the Amulet.

Nirri swung down and dropped off the edge of the lowest treehouse. She landed hard, feet sinking deep into the soft marshy ground of the swamp. She winced slightly at the impact; she'd have to get used to having a proper body again. They'd been in conversation with the Hand and Eran for hours now, the occasional Norn poking it's head round the doorway and gasping. Nirri had got bored, as no one seemed to be paying any attention to her, so she'd decided to have a look round, maybe meet some people. So far, every Norn that had seen her approaching had made a hasty exit. It made Nirri feel uncomfortable, being treated like she was something special. She'd always wanted respect, but now... She half-wished she could go back to being normal again. The Amulet thumped against her chest as she turned.

"Thanks for the reminder," she muttered as she stroked the faintly warm surface of the Amulet. The sound of Norn voices reached her ears and she glanced up. Three Norns were standing chatting under a tree, oblivious to her presence. She recognise one of them as Max, the Norn they'd met as they'd emerged from the rock. To her surprise she found herself blushing. There was certainly something...interesting about him. She shrugged to herself, where was the harm in talking to him? She made her way towards the group. Two of the Norns obviously noticed her coming and seemed to make excuses, disappearing into the forest. Nirri's heart sank as Max turned to face her and she could see the fear in his face. She smiled at him. The other Norn nervously returned the smile, then looked at the ground. Nirri sighed, she hated this. "Hi," she tried to initiate conversation. Max looked even more nervous.

"Guardian," he nodded to her, then resumed staring at the ground. Nirri tried again.

"You don't have to call me that, I'm just a Norn like you. My name is Nirri." She waited for a second to see if he was going to talk to her.

"Nothing in particular, Guardian," Max mumbled. Nirri's shoulders slumped, no Norns ever wanted to speak to her for long, they just got agitated and uncomfortable. Still, she supposed she could understand that, she was the 'Guardian of Albia' after all. She gave Max one last weak smile.

The male Norn shuffled away backwards. Nirri turned round and sat down on a log. Moodily she poked at the ground with a foot. She was beginning to wish she'd never heard of the Amulet of Guardianship at all. At this rate she was never going to make any friends, all the other Norns treated her with care and watched what they said around her. They treated her like a Shee.

"Jen run!" The sound of childish giggling penetrated Nirri's thoughts. She looked up to see a tiny Norn running in that infinitely postponed collapse way that babies had. A huge smile fixed on her face, the little Norn noticed Nirri.

"Coo Norn!" She laughed and dropped onto all fours, crawling over to her. Nirri grinned and lifted the baby up onto the log beside her. Sapphire-blue eyes stared up at her from beneath a mass of golden curls. A tiny hand reached out and tugged at a lock of pale purple hair hanging from behind Nirri's ear. She'd been surprised at how long her hair actually was, and had a sneaking suspicion that the Amulet had been trying out a bit of hairdressing. An odd thought, but there was something almost alive about the faintly warm circles of metal...

The little Norn laughed and batted at Nirri's hair again, breaking her thought. She smiled at the child. The Norn looked up at her with characteristic big eyes.

Mentally Nirri translated this as 'Jen come Norn, get toy.' She looked down again; the baby looked so much like the babies she'd known when Albia had belonged to the Shee. She shuddered slightly; at least Jen wouldn't be a victim of endless experiments and tests. She blinked away the memories.

Nirri looked round. Running through the swamp was an adolescent female Norn with golden fur and vivid blue eyes. They widened when they saw Nirri.

"Oh my Sh...I mean, erm," the female stuttered, a little fear flitting across her features. Nirri sighed sadly.

"Um, yeah. C'mon Jen, we don't want to bother the Guardian." She beckoned furiously at the little Norn. Jen looked at her sister, then up at Nirri. Then she curled up by Nirri's side and fell asleep.

"Oh, she can, she just doesn't want to," the Norn nodded, then realised what she'd said, "Erm I mean..."

"Please don't apologise, I'm glad that someone's talking to me normally. I'm just a Norn for... Well for something's sake," she looked at the golden Norn ruefully, "You know I can't even blaspheme? I don't know any gods. Daft really, I don't know any gods, and everybody treats me like one. I used to envy the Shee a bit; all the others treated them with so much respect. Now Norns I don't even know talk to me like I'm someone special and I hate it!" She sighed. "You probably don't want to listen to me, no one else does." To Nirri's surprise the golden Norn actually smiled at her and sat down.

"Well I think I'm normal. Correction, I know I'm normal, it's my life that's weird."

"So what's your name? Incidentally mine's Nirri and if anyone calls me Guardian again I'll pull their tail off."

Nirri smiled at her and held out a hand. Sal shook it gingerly as if she expected something weird to happen. Nirri couldn't blame her really. Sal grinned at her.

"It got just a little bit boring for my tastes. So I decided to have a look round. Come on then, tell me what it's like round here."

"...And that's about it."

"Whoa, four hundred years of history, crammed into, erm, how long have we been talking?" He stifled a yawn.

"Hey, I've not slept for four hundred years, I'd need a hell of a lot of caffeine to be awake right now."

The Hand laughed; something Callum found a little odd. How could a hand actually laugh? Actually, considering it floated and talked as well, that question was a little pointless. He yawned again.

"I think you two had better get some rest, we can continue this conversation later."

"Good idea," Callum yawned for the third time as the Hand vanished out of the doorway. He glanced round at the squat wooden beds that occupied one side of the treehouse.

"You are never going to fit on one of them," Sillika commentated. Callum shrugged and flopped down onto the nearest one.

"Nope. I'll leave you to sleep for a bit, I'm going to find Nirri." She walked out and Callum watched her go. Then he rolled over, relaxed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Lraac watched the bustle of action in the volcano with satisfaction. Weapons were being sorted and tested, Grendels marching in step for probably the first time in their lives. The radiation gardens were being cleaned up and re-planted, the small, purple and green fruits that kept the population from radiation poisoning being carefully picked and stored. Everything was running smoothly.

Now... Lraac settled back in her throne and let her eyelids slip closed. She was back again, so that meant that her anchor was back too. She wasn't sure how he'd managed to get here, by what information she'd got out of the loremaster they were four hundred years from when she'd... Irritatingly she couldn't quite remember what had happened. She remembered joining the Amulets, which she must have done wrong for some reason, then... Nothing. Just a strange feeling of a touch of power, but nothing clear. Now she could try to find out what had happened. She concentrated, opening herself to the Shee's mind. Aha...

"It... It won't hurt me will it?" Sal asked nervously as Nirri held out the Amulet. Nirri shook her head.

Sal reached out, hesitated and then touched the Amulet. Nirri let go, so the golden disk fell into the other Norn's hand. Sal stared at it, mouth agape.

"At a wild guess I'd say Guardian, but I'm not totally sure. You'd have to ask Sillika."

The two Norns spun round at Sillika's voice. She made her way across the swamp, ducking vines as she went. Sal smiled frozenly. Sillika grinned at them.

"Hi. I'm Sillika, and you are...?" She extended a hand. Nervously, even more nervously than touching the Amulet, Sal shook Sillika's hand. Sillika grinned.

Nirri looked up in surprise as the Hand came swooping down, radiating a slight sense of panic. This was so, well, un-hand-like she jumped to her feet.

Nirri's gaze locked with Sillika's for a split second, then they both sprinted for the elevator, leaving Sal gaping behind them.

The darkness flowed around him, smothering him, binding him completely. Callum struggled with the overwhelming blackness of his surroundings. He half-knew he was asleep, that this was all just a product of an exhausted mind. Still, it was unlike any dream he'd had before, it seemed more tangible, almost palpable, more real. He didn't know what was so real about it, it was just darkness, except... The darkness seemed to have a sense to it, a feeling of waiting...

Suddenly, light flooded in from nowhere, blinding him. He tried to shield his eyes from the glare, but it had already faded. Blurred images passed infront of his eyes, of rocks blasting from the volcano, Nirri glowing with the Amulet's light, the glowing Amulet... He tried to turn, but couldn't move. Suddenly the images resolved themselves for a second, and he caught a glimpse of a tall figure, slitted crimson eyes drilling into him.

"Amulets," Lraac hissed through her mouthful of fangs, stepping closer to him. He tried to back away, but his muscles wouldn't move. She lunged for him and he felt her claws slicing into his scalp, scraping bone. He screamed, and a picture of the glowing statue, complete with Amulet flashed up infront of his eyes. Lraac laughed, cruel, hard laughter that chilled him to the core. He struggled with her vice-like grip, trying desperately to move, to break free. The pressure increased and he felt his own blood running down his face, his skull creaking dangerously. Then someone was shaking his shoulders, pulling him away from Lraac...

His eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright, sending Sillika flying backwards. Panting, he looked round, struggling with the fear that still threatened to overwhelm him. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal and he focused on Sillika's worried face staring down at him. His hand flew up to his head, fingers shaking slightly as they traced where Lraac had grabbed him, his touch encountering nothing but smooth skin. He sighed in relief and leaned back against the wall, wiping sweat from his brow. There was a thud as Sillika dropped down next to him. He glanced over at her. He grinned.

"Hi yourself," she retorted, then concern flooded back into her features, "Are you okay?"

Callum nodded, trying to shake off the images of the dream. It had seemed so real... He shook himself and smiled at her again.

"Yeah, I suppose so. After everything we've been through you're entitled to a few nightmares."

"Just one'll do for me," Callum shivered, the sound of Lraac's laugh echoing in his ears for a second. Suddenly he was very wide-awake indeed. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching as he did so.

"Even the Shee have nightmares," Nirri's voice reached him. He looked at her and grinned.

"Even the Shee have nightmares. And that one was a real corker," he shivered again. Nirri looked up at where the Hand floated above her head.

"Well, now I'm a bit more awake, how'd you like to give us a tour of Albia present?"

As they emerged from the treehouse, Callum tried to ignore the feeling that somewhere, someone was laughing coldly.

Lraac felt the smile creep onto her lips as she opened her eyes. That had certainly been...different. Her anchor certainly was proving a mine of information, as well as a source of amusement. His reaction to the probing while asleep was extremely interesting to observe. And she had part of what she wanted; she knew of the events at the volcano, and where the Life Amulet was hidden. She also knew more about the Third, the Amulet of Guardianship. It had more power than she had first thought. It may yet be worth acquiring. The Norn who held it shouldn't be a problem and the Shee were no match for her or the Grendels. The Hand however... From the information in the male Shee's mind, it must have some power of its own. The Amulet of Death pressed itself to her chest and she smiled again, stroking its frozen surface. She could deal with the Hand; she merely needed its location. Well, she had the perfect way to find that information. Her eyelids slid closed and she reached out again.

"...And this is the desert."

"I'd never have guessed," he whispered to Sillika as they wound their way through a mix of cacti and Triffid plants. She grinned.

"Will you two slow down a bit? I'm still getting used to breathing again," Nirri complained as she hurried along behind them. She sat down heavily.

"Sure. I'm kinda tired myself, and I could do with a little sunning." She lay back on the sand. Nirri copied her. Callum rolled his eyes. Well, he might as well have a quick look around. He headed off through the cacti, avoiding the spines.

"Aren't you tired?" The Hand's silken voice made him jump and he swivelled round to face it. He grinned.

"Nah, I'm more curious. I don't remember a desert last time we were here, or when we lived here either."

"I can't really help you there. After the volcano blew, when we were able to venture out from the caverns, this place was here. It was as if the world had been re-arranged."

"Yes. And it uncovered a lot more of what your people left behind. How'd you and Sillika like to help me try and get it working again?" The Hand's voice had an eager edge to it. Callum smiled.

"Sure, but you'll probably want Sillika's help more than mine. If it's possible for something to go wrong with a machine, it'll happen when I'm trying to use it."

Lraac smiled as she sensed the male Shee, oblivious as usual to her probing. She relaxed again, letting her thoughts flow out towards him. He was in the desert... She concentrated harder, trying to feel what he was doing. Suddenly an image flashed in her head, of the Hand floating infront of her, looking typically stupid. Perfect. She was seeing out of his eyes. Now to see if she could listen as well...

Callum blinked. His head was starting to feel odd again, as if there was in itch right in the centre of his mind. He shook his head, trying to clear the feeling that someone was rummaging through his head.

"Yeah, fine. I'm alright just...just tired," he shook his head again. The Hand floated back infront of him.

"To tell you the truth Callum, I wanted to talk to you about a bit more than just after the volcano."

Callum looked up, surprised at the undertone of fear in the Hand's voice. It had never seemed afraid before. He shrugged.

"I dunno about the main two really, but Nirri's is damn strong. And from what I felt of the Life Amulet," he shivered at the memory of the sheer power he'd felt when the Amulet had solidified Nirri, "I'd say it was a lot more powerful."

"And Eran said the Death Amulet was equal to the Life," the Hand said quietly. It hung there for a second, totally still.

Callum nodded, trying to ignore the way his thoughts were skipping madly around his mind.

The Hand was silent again. Then it spoke slowly, as if assembling a thought as it went along.

"I spoke to Eran a while ago, and told him what I knew about what happened. He... He said that Lraac probably had joined the Amulets, but she needed something else."

"Sometimes Eran can be hard for even me to understand, but I think he said something about the Guardianship Amulet being needed to combine them."

Callum gasped, as something seemed to explode inside his head. Pain washed over him, a snarl of fury echoing in his ears. He clamped his hands to his head, trying to force away the pain. He felt as if someone was using his mind as a punchbag. Suddenly the sense vanished, leaving him feeling drained. His knees buckled, and he crashed to the ground, landing hard. He stayed there, winded, staring up at the sky.

Slowly, the Hand swam into view, hovering a few centimetres above his nose. He focused on it and groaned.

"I don't pretend to know," the Hand proffered, well, itself. Gingerly, Callum gripped the Hand and pulled himself up, ignoring the wave of dizziness that swept over him. He looked round and shivered. The desert seemed to have lost all its heat, the echo of that roar still audible in Callum's mind.

Lraac snarled angrily as she opened her eyes. No wonder she had not been able to successfully combine the Amulets, the priest had lied to her! Fury surged through her, how dare he? How dare he lie to her?

Growling, she flung out a hand, the Amulet of Death icy in her grip. Another bolt of black lightening shot out from her claw tips, smashing into one of the ancient metal pipes that cured round the walls. The pipe exploded, sending a molten rock spraying out over the bottom of the volcano. Lraac ignored the cries of the Grendels as they scurried out of the way of the globs of lava, settling her breathing. Gradually, the fountain of lava settled into a small waterfall of fiery rock cascading down the side of the volcano, draining away into one of the huge pools. Lraac snarled again. The Amulet throbbed in her hand, sending small shivers up and down her arm. So she needed the Amulet of Guardianship. A slight smile reached her lips, well, she knew where that was, and knew how to get it. Now for the Hand. She leant back again and the Amulet pulsed softly, as if anticipating what was about to happen.

Lraac visualised the male Shee, collapsed in the desert, the Hand floating nearby, oblivious. She smiled, as the image of her plan slipped into place. Fingers tightly gripping the frozen surface of the Amulet, she flung it upwards, pointing it to the sky. Power surged through her, setting off tiny spasms in her muscles. She kept it held tightly aloft. Her blood burned, sending pain searing through her, but still she held on. She could easily take this. Suddenly the power left her, and she could almost see it leap from her to the Amulet. Its dark surface glowed, the air freezing into tiny crystals along its edge. With a sinister ripping sound, a blast of almost solid darkness shot out from the Amulet, spearing into the sky. Lraac watched it go, an evil grin spreading across her lips. One down, two to go.

Callum steadied himself on the Hand, shaking off the feeling that there was someone standing behind him. "I'm okay, just confused about what the hell that was."

"That makes two of us," the Hand said grimly, making sure Callum wasn't about to fall over before letting go.

Callum cocked his head to one side, listening carefully. He could hear something, a kind of high-pitched roar. He glanced round, then up, shading his eyes from the sun. There was something up there, a dark shape... And it was coming towards them.

"I think we should get out of h..." He was cut off as the darkness plunged downwards, expanding and changing shape, becoming a back net. Callum had a horrible premonition of what was about to happen and opened his mouth to shout a warning. Too late. The net hit the Hand at full speed, sending out a shockwave that flung Callum away. He dimly saw the black webbing as it wrapped round the Hand until it was mostly obscured. Dashing over, Callum tried to reach for it, but was thrown back violently. He landed badly, knocking the breath from his lungs and spiking himself on a cactus.

Callum struggled to his feet. The black net hissed threateningly, and he kept his distance. He looked round for a stick, or something he could poke it with.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there. Somehow," he added under his breath. There was no response.

"It'll take me a while to, um, re-insert myself into the world. The only problem is..."

"I need to leave the world, and when I do I'll have to get myself back in. I don't know how long it'll take, and I can't help you when I've gone. You'll be on your own."

There was a small flash of light from inside the net, and the Hand vanished. The net held its shape for a few seconds, then dissipated in a puff of black smoke. Callum looked up at the sky.

Sillika jerked upright at Callum's urgent cry, realising that she'd fallen asleep. She glanced up as he appeared round a thick group of cacti. She scrambled up as she noticed the slight expression of panic on his face. As he skidded to a halt she grabbed his shoulders.

"What on Albia is going on?" She demanded. Callum waved a hand as he got his breath back.

"Gone?" Nirri ducked under Sillika's arm so she could see, "What do you mean, gone?"

"Hold on, you're saying the Hand just vanished? Like," she snapped her fingers, "That?"

Sillika listened. By the time Callum had finished, her jaw had dropped so far she could have swallowed a brick. Before she could say anything in return, the sound of a lift penetrated her thoughts. She turned round to see a small wooden lift ascending to a platform clinging to the shell of an ancient tree. There was a faint 'ping' as it reached its destination. Sal, the golden-furred Norn Sillika had met earlier, stepped out. She looked round, before spotting the group.

"Well, you're the Shee, you should be able to help. The computers are off. Not just the computer's, the lights aren't working either."

"The lights? I thought they never went off." She looked at Sillika. Sillika shrugged.

"The systems that were installed when we were here never failed, they were on a geothermal power source, it should've lasted for ages."

"Come on, you might have a better idea if you see it. The lift doesn't go down to that level, you'll have to climb up."

"We'd spend hours climbing trees and messing about instead of doing the studies we were supposed to."

"Not to us," Callum said as he hoisted himself up onto the platform. He proffered a hand.

Sillika smiled and grabbed his wrist, jumping up and hooking her arm over the platform. Callum pulled her up onto the decking.

"Ahem. I'm not as tall as you two," Nirri called up. Sillika laughed and leant over the edge.

"One Norn, one Shee. That should work," Nirri commented. Callum stepped forwards.

"I'll go first, unless you'd prefer Sillika," he winked at Sal. She smiled back, looking slightly nervous. Well, she hadn't met Callum properly yet. Sal nodded.

Callum blinked, his eyes adjusting to the gloom as he stepped out of the lift. He was in a cave of some sort that looked as if it had been carved by water a long time ago. The walls were a soft sandy colour with rippled patterns on them, green, leafy plants clinging to the smooth alcoves. There was also some sort of machine, looking like a weird shower with a selection of springs and levers added to it. It had a panel at the side and looked exactly like the sort of machine that would break down the instant he went anywhere near it.

There was a 'ping' as the lift came back down again, this time bringing Sillika and Nirri. Sillika whistled.

"Wow, it's a teleport pad! I didn't realised they had any of these things in operation!"

"A teleport pad. It was part of a plan to link all of Albia up by matter transference system that..."

"Whoa, stop please. Leave the tech lesson for a bit, preferably until after I'm dead."

Callum followed Sillika as she made her way down, managing to tread on various squashy things and bruise his shin against the computer when they finally reached it. Sillika looked at the dark screen.

"Right," Sal nodded, "This one teaches some verbs, the one downstairs gives expressions, like 'hungry' and 'tired'. They're a real help with the kids. Jen's got a few more lessons to go though."

Callum watched as Sillika ran her fingers over the casing of the machine. She flattened herself to the wall and Callum copied her. Pressing his head to the rock, he could just about see down the back of the machine. It was as lifeless from behind as it was from the front. Sillika straightened up.

"Nope, not a thing. I... Damn..." He trailed off as his eyeballs began to prickle again. He shook his head violently, rolling his eyes in an attempt to shake off the feeling.

"Callum?" Sillika's worried voice penetrated his thoughts and he turned to her, blinking rapidly.

"No you're not, this keeps happening. If you're ill you should see someone," she said firmly. Callum grinned at her.

"Who? Face it Sillika, there's no one here who knows anything about our physiology. I'll be fine, it's probably just a bug."

"Not from here, but there's a lift system to the lower layers not far from here."

Callum blinked as the eyeball itch vanished. This was beginning to get irritating. He grinned at Sillika.

Lraac opened her eyes and stared at the lava pipes. Geothermal power... The Shee had been using this volcano for a long time. She assumed it had just been an underground pool of magma before she'd triggered it by trying to combine the Amulets. Blasting that tube had cut out an amount of the power to the Shee's systems. This could prove an advantage. She looked down at the orderly rows of marching Grendels. They'd been training well even before she'd come here, and even though their military precision needed improvement they were still a formidable fighting force. Obviously her legend had had an impact on their race. She stood up.

"My Grendels," she announced, noting the absence of any objections to the 'my' with satisfaction, "The time is upon us. It is time for you to take your place. And with me to lead you..." She flung out an arm, a shower of black lightning bolts pouring from her fingers, the Amulet's power running through her. The bolts exploded in the air, raining down a shower of glowing black sparks onto the assembled Grendels. At first they flinched, but as more sparks fell they straightened up, blood-red eyes gleaming in the eerie light. A particularly large bolt smashed into another lava tube, bursting it like a balloon and spraying fiery rock into the main body of the volcano. The Grendels didn't even blink. Lraac roared, the sound reverberating around the cavern until it shook the very rocks themselves. Then, silence. Lraac lowered her head, staring directly at the deadly crowd.

Thunk! The lift jerked, shuddered and stopped. Callum looked up.

"You guys alright down there?" Sillika called down. She and Nirri had gone up a few minutes before and were currently waiting for Callum and Sal to make their way up. Callum leaned across and poked at the button a few unsuccessful times.

"This isn't right, the lifts never stop!" Sal said and Callum could hear the undertone of panic in her voice.

"Hey, it's probably just a glitch in it, a knot in the wire or something," Callum muttered, trying to reassure the young Norn. He squirmed in the tight space until he could see the bright hole above them. It wasn't too far up, he could probably...

"What are you doing?" Sal asked as Callum began to pull himself out of the lift.

"Trying to, ow, trying to find a way out of here." Callum wriggled round, twisting so that he was able to get a grip on the top of the lift. He pulled hard, yanking himself onto the sloping roof. He stretched up, bracing himself against the narrow walls.

There was a thud of someone landing next to the hole, then Sillika's head appeared in the opening. Callum grinned up at her.

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed, the lift's bust." Callum turned back to Sal, who was leaning precariously out of the bottom of the lift, a worried expression on her face. He shifted his grip on the wood and offered a hand.

Gingerly, Sal reached up and gripped his hand. Callum pulled her up onto the roof. Sillika reached down.

"Give me your hand," she commanded. Sal jumped up, but her fingers fell short. Callum grinned.

"Oops, forgot about the height difference. Here, I'll help," he bent down, forming a cup with his hands. Hesitantly, Sal trod on him and Sillika was able to pull her up. She looked down at him.

Callum looked round at the desert, then up at where the lift was attached to the decking with pulleys.

He was cut off as the strange, silvery machine above them flashed. A cone of white light rose up from the bottom of it, fading out to reveal... A male Norn. He took a few staggering steps then toppled off the platform, landing in a heap on the ground. Nirri dashed over to the fallen shape, Callum and Sillika not far behind. Now that he was closer, Callum could see long, deep wounds cut in the Norn's arms, horribly familiar wounds. Sillika's hand flew up to her mouth.

"Claw marks," Callum said grimly. Nirri gently rolled the Norn onto his back, one hand checking his neck for a pulse.

"He's still alive, and breathing," she said quickly, more than a slight note of worry in her voice. Callum knelt down next to the Norn.

To Callum's surprise, Nirri blushed slightly under her fur. His eyes caught Sillika's, and he could see a small smile spread across his friend's lips. Nirri ignored them and gently shook the male, Max.

Max groaned and his eyelids flickered open. He focused on Nirri, frowned, then winced.

"You're just above the incubator cave," Nirri soothed, "And as for what happened, we were hoping that you could tell us."

"The Grendels! They attacked the tree-settlements. I tried to fight them off, but there were so many of them."

"They... They weren't right. They were ordered, fighting as a group. And there was something else; they didn't seem to be afraid of anything, not our weapons, nothing!"

"Max, listen to me carefully. Was there something else? A new Grendel, one that... Well, one that looked a bit like us?"

Callum cradled his head in his hands. What did they have to do to get rid of that...monster?

Callum turned at the sound. Running through the cacti was a small group of obviously terrified Norns. Sal let out a cry as she saw the small figure being carried by the leader.

"Jen! You're alright!" She ran over to her sister and scooped her up. The older Norn who'd been carrying her didn't stop running until he reached Callum. He faced him, panting heavily.

"We know, we know," Callum said grimly. A thought hit him and he glanced at Max.

As if to finished the sentence for him, the sound of roaring Grendel voices reached Callum's ears. He looked at Sillika, then at Nirri. Max clambered upright and turned to Callum.

"Everyone okay?" Sillika asked.

"Wet, but okay," Mac replied from where he was clinging to the side of the boat. Sillika looked round at the seriously overcrowded vessel. They'd had to take this tiny rowing boat across to the island and Callum had been adamant that they were going on one trip. To fit these, there were now about six Norns clinging to the side of the boat as it made its lumbering, slow way across the stretch of ocean. It was just in time, Sillika was sure she could see a green crowd on the opposite shore. Thankfully, the Grendels didn't seem to be giving chase. What was worrying Sillika now were two things. One was if the ageing boat would hold together for much longer, the other being the worry of what they would find when they reached land again. She reached over and tapped Callum on the shoulder. He turned to her and grinned.

Callum shrugged and Sillika became aware that all the Norns in the boat were watching her.

"Hey, we're here," Nirri called out. Sillika looked round. Her jaw dropped. Towering above them, looming out of a small forest of palm trees was the huge, dark shape of a volcano. A mixture of smoke and steam rose from the jagged top, forming dark clouds above it. Sillika gulped.

"Hey, there's no problem, that thing has never erupted. I've been there hundreds of times," Sal said, but Callum could hear the doubt in her voice. There was a gentle thud as the boat docked at the small jetty. Sillika climbed out and began to pull the waterlogged Norns out of the sea. As she stepped back, there was a slight click and the boat began to move off again.

"Hey!" Sillika grabbed for the rim of the boat, but her fingers stopped a few centimetres short. This sent her off balance, sending her toppling headfirst into the sea. She surfaced, spluttering, her robes rippling around her as they began to sink. Laughing, Callum pulled her out. She glared at him.

"Very funny," she smiled slightly, "Well, I suppose I did look daft. Who moved the boat?"

"The call button! The Hand put up this button on the other side so that you can call the boat back whenever you want! The Grendels..."

"That might be a problem..." One of the Norns shuffled her feet uncomfortably. Sillika looked at her.

"The...er...the volcano is where the Grendels live...And there's a way up here from there..."

Sillika turned to where Nirri was pointing. She could see the dark shape of the ship, coming back towards the island. She could also see the glint of sunlight off scales.

"Damn... C'mon, let's get moving!" Callum began herding the Norns towards an opening in the cliff. Sillika followed him, trying not to look over her shoulder. They were going to make it.

Callum gulped as a blast of searing air hit him in the face as he looked down through the metal gantry stretching across the yawning chasm of the inside of the volcano. Below him, hidden by the clouds of rising dust and steam, half-formed shapes loomed out of the fog. The heat was incredible and the air had a cooked feeling to it. He turned to Sillika as she squeezed through the roughly circular hole in the rock behind him. She gasped as she stepped in.

"Damn it's h...Mmmf!" Callum clamped a hand over her mouth. She glared angrily at him and tore it away.

"I dunno how well sound travels in here, but if there are Grendels down there we don't really want to attract a whole lot more."

"Lucky you. I'm terrified." He took a step forwards, half-expecting the gantry to sway or creak. Thankfully it did neither and he nervously made his way across, motioning for the others to follow him. Every step he expected to hear the grunting sound of Grendel voices, the scrape of claws on metal. It seemed to take hours to reach the small opening on the other side of the crater, but it couldn't have been more then a few minutes. Callum stepped outside, looked round and groaned. They'd reached another dock, but there was nothing waiting there, and no button.

"Will you two please stop reminiscing for one second? If these domes are down there, we're gonna have to get digging," Nirri said sharply, cutting Callum off mid-sentence. He gave a mock salute.

"Let's try moving that," she pointed to a large, grey rock embedded in the sand, "If we can get that out it'll be quicker than digging down. Sal, watch out for any company."

"She sure knows how get people moving, doesn't she?" Callum whispered. Nirri looked up at him.

Gradually, they managed to ply the big rock out of the sand and onto a bit of the beach away from the hole. Callum dropped down into the hole, landing on something hard. He bent down and brushed away the loose sand, exposing thick greenish glass. He looked up and grinned.

"I'll have a go." Callum began jumping up and down on the glass. Nirri stifled a giggle. Callum grinned up at her.

"Um, guys? I don't want to worry anyone, but I think we're going to have some company really soon," Sal called. Callum listened for a second and was sure that he could hear the sound of Grendel voices. A sense of urgency fell over the group. Nirri disappeared from above the hole. Callum tired jumping on the glass again. It still wouldn't budge. Panic flooded through him, what if they couldn't get out of here? They'd either have to swim for it, or... He didn't let his thoughts go into the 'or' of the situation. It didn't bear thinking about. He resumed his efforts.

Callum kicked frantically at the glass. It was incredibly thick and strong and all he was doing was twisting his ankle more and more.

Callum look up. Sillika and Nirri were shoving the big rock along the beach. He pulled himself out of the hole just as the rock smashed into the glass at the bottom. The glass shattered and the rock dropped into whatever was under there. Callum grabbed Nirri and shoved her towards the hole.

Nirri gave him a worried look, then turned and lowered herself down the hole. There was a thump as she landed on something.

"Heads up Nirri!" Sillika shouted as Max disappeared down the hole. Quickly, Callum and Sillika began transferring the rest of the Norns down the hole. As the last soft-furred head disappeared Callum looked at Sillika.

Sillika hesitated, then nodded. Her eyes widened as her gaze wandered behind Callum.

Callum looked round and saw the sunlight glinting off a mass of green scales as the Grendels poured through the hole in the side of the volcano.

"Go!" He yelled at Sillika. She slipped down the hole, pulling her robes around her. Callum crouched down at the edge of the hole and dangled his legs over. Suddenly a pair of green scaled arms clamped around his shoulders. He cried out in alarm as he was dragged back from the hole. Something hard slammed into his temple and he blacked out.

Sillika's head jerked up as she heard Callum's shout and saw his legs vanish from the lip of the hole.

"Callum!" She yelled in horror as a pair of clawed hands scrabbled at the glass. Thankfully the Grendels would be too bulky to get down the hole. An ugly head, red eyes glittering, stared down. It leered at the frightened group.

"Gotcha," it snarled and tried to force itself through the hole. There was a flash of reflected light as something shot up at the Grendel. It jerked back and bellowed in pain as the razor shard of broken glass embedded itself in its eye. Sillika spun round and saw Nirri pick up another shard. Her eyes glittered with fury.

"I'm sick of being pushed around by these mutated pieces of shit!" She yelled as another head appeared at the hole. Another shard of glass went flying up, also sinking deep into the Grendel's flesh. Sillika blinked in astonishment, and a little admiration for the Norn. There was a 'ping' as the lift reached that level. Max beckoned to them.

Sillika hurried over, only stopping to pick up a large piece of glass. She held it gingerly, then used the knife-edge to cut away the sleeve of her robe. She wrapped the material round to form a crude dagger. She squashed into the lift with the rest. It was only built to comfortably hold two Norn-sized people, so with seven Norns and a Shee inside it was more than a little squashed. As the lift reached the next floor Sillika jumped out and began unloading the Norns, trying desperately not to think about Callum... What had happened to him? What if... No! This wouldn't help, worrying wouldn't help, wouldn't do anything apart from get then all killed.

"Sillika? This isn't a great time to say this, but there's an opening to the volcano from here..." Max trailed off as Sillika whirled round to face him.

"Anything else we should know? You give Grendel's days passes round here? There's enough damn ways for the bastards to get out!" She glared as the Norn backed away. Nirri placed a hand on Sillika's arm.

"Because you'll get us all killed if you don't shut your damn mouth!" Nirri leapt up, her open-palmed hand catching Sillika across the face. The slap echoed around the room, and there was a collective gasp of horror from the Norns. Sillika slowly raised a hand to her stinging cheek. Nirri stared at her, somehow managing to look her straight in the eye despite the height difference.

"You slapped me," Sillika felt disbelief and shock hitting her, as well as a hefty dose of anger. Nirri matched her gaze.

"Someone had to. I know you're worried about Callum, but you're not the only one. He's saved my life more than I'd care to admit and I'm not about to abandon him, and I'm not suggesting you do so either. But there's no damn way we're going to be any good to him if we've gotten ourselves killed. I'm the Guardian of Albia, but I'm also Callum's friend. And I've seen too many of my friends die to let another one go."

"You're right. I... I'm sorry..." She trailed off as she tried to force the tears from rising. Nirri smiled, and to Sillika's surprise, hugged her.

"Don't forget us," Sal stepped forwards, followed by Max. The rest of the Norns joined them, various coloured eyes glittering with simmering anger.

There was a sudden flash of light. Sillika's gaze swung down to Nirri's chest, where the Amulet was glowing brightly. Nirri held it up.

"What does that m..." A roar from the other end of the room cut Sillika off. Her head jerked up, just in time to focus on the huge group of Grendels outlined in a pale red glow.

"There they are! Get 'em!" The leader yelled and the huge lizards began lumbering towards them.

"Get back!" Nirri screamed and flung out an arm in the Grendel's direction. The steady glow from the Amulet suddenly brightened and shot along Nirri's outstretched arm. It leapt off her finger and sprang out into the tightly packed bunch of Grendels. They were thrown backwards as the light slammed into them. Sillika's mouth dropped open in shock as the Grendels that still remained upright took one look at eachother and fled. She glanced at Nirri. The little Norn looked as surprised as Sillika felt, her eyes were wide and fixed on her own hand as if she expected it to bite her.

"I, I don't know, I just wanted them to go, not to harm us. The Amulet's never done this before."

"It has, something similar at least," Sillika said quietly, half to herself. Nirri's wide eyes turned towards her.

"But, but I wasn't ordinary then, I was a part of the Amulet. And the others were nearby. It's never this powerful on it's own, and we've got the Life Amulet..." Her voice trailed off. Sillika swallowed.

"No, no the Ettins were keeping it safe," Nirri whispered. Sillika looked at her.

"Face it Nirri, Lraac's got both Amulets," Sillika said quietly, horror flooding through her again. Nirri sat down heavily, her fingers stroking the surface of her own Amulet.

"Then... She'll want this one. To join them, you need the Guardian Amulet. She'll want this."

As the group hurried towards the lift, casting frightened glances over their shoulders, Sillika tried to ignore the feeling that worse was still to come.

Nirri stared with horror the carnage that confronted her. The other Norns had stayed behind, guarding the lift, while Sillika and Nirri herself made their way down to where they'd first met the Ettins. They'd dodged two Grendel patrols who were ripping anything edible up from the Garden and carting it away, and had now squeezed down the broken lift-shaft into the treasure corridor. Nirri was slightly infront of Sillika, and was the first to see the destruction. Most of the beautiful treasure was broken and bent, splattered with the blood of dead, or dying Ettins. Bodies littered the ground, only one Grendel in a sea of bloodied white. Nirri turned away, feeling sick. Sillika knelt down and began the grisly business of checking for pulses on the bodies. It was hopeless. Nirri clutched at her Amulet. First Callum, now this... And she hadn't been able to do anything. She was the Guardian; she should have been able to...

A scream cut into her thoughts. It was an Ettin's scream. Nirri glanced at Sillika, then leapt up and started running down the tunnel. Her foot caught on something, sending her stumbling to the ground. Twisting to see what had tripped her, Nirri's gaze alighted on a long, jewelled, ornamental spear. It was a weapon at least. She gripped it tightly, then scrambled upright and resumed her dash. Skidding past the statue, now cracked and disfigured by claw marks, she emerged into what looked like a lab. Cowering behind a huge metal ball on legs, attempting to see off a group of four Grendels with a set of cups, was a young male Ettin. There was a clang as a metal cup slammed into a Grendel's forehead, knocking him backwards slightly. This however, opened the Ettin to attack by one of the other Grendels. As it brought a claw down Nirri lunged, putting all her hatred of the lizard-like creatures into the shove. The spear plunged into the Grendel's back, driving right through it and out the other side. Nirri ducked as the body toppled forwards with a slight gurgle, dodging the fistful of claws the first Grendel swung at her. She tugged at the spear, trying desperately to dislodge it from the corpse. There was a blast of pain from her arm as another Grendel caught purchase with a claw, digging a deep wound in the flesh. Nirri fell back and a clawed foot caught her in the head, sending her vision spinning crazily. She toppled to the ground. She didn't make it. The Amulet seemed to explode, blinding light flowing out from it in all directions. It wrapped round Nirri and she felt all the pain leave her, being replaced by a burning energy. She backflipped, landing perfectly on her feet. Her hand shot out, yanking the spear from the dead Grendel, the other hand balled into a fist and slamming into the stomach of another Grendel. She ducked and rolled, swinging up with the weapon and cutting a deep gash in the Grendel's side. With another thrust she finished it off, rolling back onto her feet. A Grendel ran at her and she leapt, the Amulet flashing at her every move, filling her with an amazing feeling of strength. Her jump took her over the head of the charging Grendel and onto the metal ball. The Grendel swung round and charged once more, trying to reach her with its huge claws. She jumped again, landing behind the creature. She lunged forwards, pushing with all her strength and slamming the Grendel's head into the solid metal of the ball. It fell limp, and she just had time to throw herself out of the way before the final Grendel swept a clawed hand at her. She landed badly, rolling over to find the Grendel standing over her, claws at the ready,

"Die, in the name of Lraac!" It roared and brought its claws down. There was a loud 'boinnnnng' sound, and Nirri totally failed to die. She was almost squashed by a falling Grendel however, but she had time to roll out of the way. She looked up. Sillika was standing just behind the Grendel, holding a now very dented ornamental golden plate. She dropped it and grinned at Nirri.

"Huh?" Nirri looked down at herself. She was glowing slightly, but especially around the wound on her arm. The light intensified, then to Nirri's amazement, the gash sealed itself, leaving only a silver line in the fur. Slowly, the glow seemed to retreat into the Amulet, and Nirri stopped shining.

Nirri turned at the familiar voice. Eran forced his way through the group of shocked-looking Ettins. He reached Nirri and dropped to the ground. The rest copied him. Nirri groaned.

"You are truly the Guardian. And... We have failed you," he hung his head again, followed by the rest of the Ettins. Nirri glanced at Sillika.

"I guess you were right. Eran," She turned back to the old Ettin, "How long ago did Lraac get the Amulet?"

"We tried to hold them away, however they were too strong for us. Guardian, I..."

"Right. C'mon, let's get moving. We're going to have to find some weapons from somewhere."

"The attack came so fast, we did not have adequate time to find them. However..."

Eran stood up and back over to one of the sets of shelves set around that wall. He reached up and pulled a book. There was a grind of ancient machinery, and the shelf pulled back, exposing a new set of shelves. Except these weren't full of books. Nirri whistled at the array of guns and boxes of ammo.

"That's what I'm talking about. Well don't just...kneel...there, let's get this lot moved out."

Lraac stared at the golden surface of the Life Amulet and smiled as she ran a finger over it. There was a faint hiss from the Death Amulet as she did so. She smiled again and placed the Life Amulet on the arm of her throne. So far, so good. The Hand was out of the picture, the Shee were being hunted down and the Guardian Amulet would soon be in her possession. Excellent.

The slight scrape of claws on rock attracted her attention and she turned to glare at the Grendel that shuffled towards her.

"Are you deaf? I said I wanted the Amulet!" An idea it her, and a smile spread over her lips.

Callum groaned as consciousness slowly flooded back into his mind. Every square centimetre of his body ached madly, a dull, throbbing pain that seemed to penetrate him completely. He groaned again, forced his almost leaden eyelids open and managed to lever himself into a sitting position on the third try. Blinking owlishly, he glanced round at his surroundings. Gradually, the image swam into focus... Callum gasped in horror. He was lying slumped on jet-black rock, surrounded by a looming mass of Grendels. A hundred crimson eyes glittered in the strange blood red glow lighting the area. "So good of you to join us," a horribly familiar voice floated over to him. Slowly, fearfully, he turned, already knowing what he would see. Lraac lounged in a chair carved out of the rock, her scales highlighted in the strange glow. Callum's eyes tracked down from Lraac's disconcerting smile, until what he had assumed to be a pool came into view. It was a pool, but instead of the water he expected, the rocky hollow was filled glowing molten rock. The heat hitting him at the same time as the realisation, he glanced upwards, taking in the gigantic pillars of black rock, the immense cracks belching forth steam and smoke but the swirling, mesmerising lava grabbed at his attention, burning after-images into his vision. Lraac's laugh jerked him back to reality.

Lraac laughed again, exposing her jagged rows of needle teeth, the sound sending shivers down his Callum's spine.

Callum's head throbbed harder, his vision blurring in and out of focus. Lraac waved a hand.

A huge Grendel lumbered forwards, huge yellowed fangs jutting out at angles from his mouth. Callum tried to scramble backwards, but his arms gave way. He fell back hard, smacking his head against the rock with a crack that made his eyeballs rattle. The Grendel pulled him upright and forced something into his mouth. Whatever it was tasted foul, a bitter flavour that seemed to cut into his mouth. He gagged and tried to spit it out. The Grendel's hand pressed over his mouth.

Callum braced himself and swallowed. He forced himself not to vomit, and the Grendel dropped him again.

Gradually, the pain in his head began to lessen and he was able to see properly. There was a clack of claws on stone and he glanced up. Lraac towered over him. His eyes widened and he tried to scramble backwards, but his arms were gripped from behind and he was yanked upright. His gaze hit Lraac's crimson stare. He gulped. Lraac scrutinised him for a second, then began to circle him, like a customer inspecting a new purchase. She walked up to him, grasped a handful of his robe in her hand and pulled. It tore away from him, leaving him dressed only in a pair of shorts. Callum felt his face turn bright red as she looked him up and down.

"Good, very good. You are a most excellent specimen." Callum felt almost naked, well, he was really. He struggled with the Grendels holding his arms. Lraac smiled again, displaying her teeth.

"So you are a fighter. Excellent. I will require heirs, and for that I shall need a mate. You will be perfect."

"What?!" Disgust flooded through him, that thing expected him to mate with her? Lraac laughed at his expression.

Callum clamped his mouth shut. Lraac sighed and clasped her hand on the top of his head. She yanked his head round to face her.

The Grendels holding his arms moved away at some unspoken signal. Lraac's hand shot around his neck, arm muscles visibly tensing. His feet left the floor as she raised him off the ground. Her grip tightened, and Callum gasped for air. Lraac brought her face close to his.

"Not only does your life depend on it, so do the lives of your friends." Lraac's claws dug into his neck. Callum's vision began to spin, lack of oxygen causing colours to swirl infront of his eyes. Lraac watched his face turn blue. She released her grip and Callum dropped down to the ground. He lay there, curled up in a ball; his breathing slowly becoming less laboured.

"Put him in the cells." The Grendels grabbed his arms, dragging him from the room. They threw him into the cell. He felt so weak that all he could do was lie there on the floor. Slowly, as the oxygen began to return to his system, he was able to pull himself upright. Callum swallowed and rubbed his neck; it felt tender, but not too badly damaged. He groaned and cradled his head in his hands. How had he gotten into this mess? Why hadn't they just killed him? An image of Lraac's leering face appeared in his mind and he shuddered. He knew why. The very idea revolted him, that Lraac would even... He cut off that thought in mid think. He had got to find a way to escape.

"Everyone got something metallic and dangerous? Good." Nirri nodded to Sillika as the weapons were distributed. Well, they were at least armed now. Max jogged over to her.

Nirri grinned at him. She'd sent him to put the lift out of action, meaning one less route they'd have guard from possible attack. Max grinned back.

"Yup," Sillika called back from where she was attempting to get a Shee-sized ammo belt to fit an Ettin. As Nirri turned towards her, Max grabbed her arm. He looked nervous.

"Um... Y'know when this is all over? I was kinda wondering if you'd like to... Well... Go somewhere? Like for a meal or something..." He trailed off. Nirri smiled slightly.

"Sure. I'm afraid you'll have to pick a time and place, I don't know much about catering standards round here."

"Nirri? A moment please?" Sillika called. Nirri grinned at Max again, then ran over to her friend.

Sillika sat down and patted the ground beside her. Nirri dropped down too. Sillika sighed.

"We need to decide what to do. We can't hide for ever and sooner or later, we're gonna have to fight."

"...can we really take this lot into battle?" Sillika finished. Nirri shook her head.

"I doubt it. Not even with guns, we'd be slaughtered in a head-to-head with that many Grendels."

Nirri stared at the ground, then her eyes strayed to the golden disk around her neck. She touched her Amulet.

"Sneak in? There's bound to be more than one entrance to the volcano by now, remember what Lraac did last time?"

"Commando tactics it is then. At least if it's a surprise attack there'll be some Grendels out on patrol. A few less to deal with."

Lraac smiled as the Death Amulet throbbed in her hand. This would be interesting if she could pull it off. She didn't see why it wouldn't work, everything else she'd tried had, and this was not particularly different. The Guardian was more powerful than Lraac had first thought, and she hated to be proven wrong. From the reports of the fight that she had heard, the Guardian's strength came almost solely from the Amulet. When Lraac had that, the Guardian would just be another weak Norn. Easily defeated. First she had to get that Amulet. A cold smile spread across Lraac's lips. She had the advantage, and she was willing to bet that even the Guardian was too sentimental not to care about her friends. The Amulet pulsed again and Lraac braced herself.

Nirri stared up at the night-time sky, feeling the soft breeze blow through her hair. She'd insisted on first watch, there was no way she could sleep anyway. They'd decided, finally, that a surprise attack was their only chance. Quickly, before the Grendels got any more organised. Still... There was something else, something they were all missing. It was just a niggling feeling, but Nirri couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. A faint whistling penetrated her thoughts and she looked up. She blinked. An area of the dark sky seemed to detach itself and appeared to be falling towards her. Instinctively she brought up her gun, sighting along it at the dark shape. The thing hurtled towards her faster and faster, then to her shock, stopped infront of her. A circle of glowing blackness hung in the air infront of her. Her Amulet thumped against her chest, and a soft glow began to spread out of it. She ignored it as it spread around her, the shinning shield it formed wasn't anything new now. The blackness almost seemed to snigger. Nirri watched it warily and almost fell over backwards as it split and twisted into... Words? The movement stopped, and Nirri read the words:

The words vanished in a slight puff of black smoke. Nirri leant against the solid surface of the nearest tree, mixed feelings flooding through her. If the message was to be believed, and something told her it was, then Callum was still alive. And at the mercy of Lraac. Nirri bit her lip. She couldn't leave him there; she'd already failed to protect him once. She was the Guardian of Albia, she was supposed to protect. She'd not done too well this far. She straightened up, she had to go. She'd be back soon; no one would have to know she was gone. Silently, she made her way towards the intact set of lifts, clutching the Amulet to her chest.

Callum glanced up as the heavy wooden door creaked open. Two huge Grendels lumbered in, claws scraping along the rocky floor. He'd explored every inch of this cell, and had found nothing but rock, no possibility of escape from inside. If he were to get away, it would have to be when they let him out. The Grendels grabbed him hard by the arms. He didn't resist, there wasn't really any point and all he'd do was tear bits out of himself, something he could really do without. He was dragged out of the cell, heels scraping the floor as he stumbled. Pain flared from his arms as claws dug into the flesh. His neck still throbbed, but at least he could breathe properly now. Of course, if Lraac wanted him as a... He shuddered; the thought was too revolting to think about. She wouldn't do him any permanent damage. He shuddered again as the Grendels propelled him towards an opening in the volcano side.

Lraac stood on the newly built platform outside one of the lower entrances to the volcano. Her Grendels had done well; the stage was sturdily built out of a combination of hard, black rock and huge branches from the looming trees from the swamp area. It would be perfect for what she intended.

"We have brought the Shee," and Grendel growled from behind her. Lraac turned slowly, taking in the expression of barely suppressed horror on the Shee's face. She smiled.

"The pleasure is all yours," he shot back, but Lraac could feel the fear under his voice. It was strange actually seeing her anchor in the flesh, but he could be of more than one use now. She did need heirs, and a Shee was a preferable mate. Her nostrils twitched and she tried to block out his stench. Well, except for the smell that was. Her first instinct was to rip him apart, but that would be pointless. Technically, she could mate with a Grendel, but their intelligence was so... Limited. She did not wish to weaken her genes, so both options had advantages. Grendels had strength, but the Shee had intelligence. Brainpower was currently the preferable choice, but it could quite easily be changed if the situation required it.

Suddenly a faint sense of something hit Lraac. Her Amulet thrummed at her chest and she could hear the faint sound of footsteps in the swamp. Perfect, the Guardian had arrived. One more detail. She lazily swung her fist out backwards, slamming into the Shee's temple. He gave a faint cry and crumpled, only held upright by the grip of the Grendels. Lraac watched him for a second, just to make sure he was unconscious. She could not have him interrupting things.

"Lraac? I'm here." The sound of a female Norn voice floated up to Lraac's ears and she turned round. Clambering through the swamp was a small, pathetic looking, green and purple Norn. She looked vaguely familiar, and Lraac's mind threw up an image of the Norn accompanying her anchor back in Shee controlled Albia. A nasty smile reached Lraac's lips, the Norn would soon regret not dying there. She looked down.

The Norn stared up at her, the fear clear in her eyes. Now she was closer, Lraac could see a faint golden glow surrounding her, and the bright shape of the Amulet around her neck. The Norn managed to face Lraac's stare.

"He is," Lraac gestured for the Grendels to drag the Shee, Callum, forwards. The Norn gasped.

"I would have thought that even you would realise that. He is unconscious, it is possible at the moment that he will recover."

"At the moment?" Fear and understanding formed a perceptible undertone in the Norn's voice. Almost as clear as her smell. Lraac wrinkled her nose as the pungent odour of Norn reached her. She ignored it; she had more important things to worry about. However, it would be a relief when she had exterminated the useless creatures.

"You want your friend back? Excellent. All I want in return is that pendant you wear Norn."

The Norn's hand flew up to her throat, encountering the metal of the Amulet of Guardianship. Lraac looked down at her.

"That is the one. Give it to me, or I take him apart. Amusing for me, but not so for you I think," she gestured to Callum's unconscious form. The Norn looked at the Shee, then back at Lraac.

"You promise to let him go?" She asked, her voice quavering. Lraac nodded, trying to disguise her glee.

The Norn seemed to come to a decision, and removed the chord from her neck, the glow around her fading as she did so. She held the Amulet out, then threw it up to Lraac, who caught it greedily. Lraac held the Amulet tight in her hand, then laughed. She waved to the Grendels holding the Shee, who grinned back and headed back into the volcano, dragging him behind them.

Lraac turned back to the Norn and stared at her. The creature flinched under her gaze, but managed to look back at her.

"Oh yes, I gave my word. The tragic thing is, you believed me." She spun on her heel and followed the Grendels back into the volcano, listening with satisfaction to the Norn's frantic yells. A Grendel came up to her and saluted.

"Kill it. It is of no further use to me," Lraac waved her hand; eyes fixed on the Guardian Amulet. She had them all. Now nothing could stop her.

Nirri ran through the swamp, tears pouring down her face. How could she have been so stupid? Imbecile, moron, gullible fool... She had let Lraac get the Amulet. Her Amulet. She was the... No, she didn't deserve to be the Guardian. She probably even wasn't the Guardian, Lraac held the Amulet and Lraac had its power. Nirri felt as if her heart had been torn out, that she had lost a part of herself. Why, why, why? Why had she every believed Lraac? Lraac dammit! She'd been so blind, she'd known Lraac was a...a...a... monster! She given her the Amulet, she'd failed, she'd probably condemned everyone! She stumbled as her legs gave way and sat down with a squelch. She buried her head in her arms. She couldn't go back, not now. An image of Sillika's face flashed up in her mind, then one of Max. How could she tell them?

Sillika crept forwards slowly over the thick wooden floor of the treehouses, keeping her gun grasped tightly in her hand. She'd woken up and, noticing that Nirri was missing, had taken a small group of Norns to go look for her. She didn't know why the little Norn was missing, but if something had happened to her, Sillika was determined to find out what. She beckoned to one of the Norns.

Sillika rolled her eyes, this was getting on her nerves. She'd have to get a shirt with the word: 'Sillika!' written on it.

"Will you stop calling me 'Oh Shee'! My name is Sillika, I'd be obliged if you'd use it!"

"I meant no offence, I..." He cut off and stared at the ground. Sillika instantly felt bad.

"Look," she said as kindly as she could, "I don't mean to snap, but I really don't want you to treat me like I'm anything special. I'm not. I don't have mystic powers, I'm not wise and I make loads of mistakes. Please, just Sillika will do."

"Okay... Sillika," he rolled the word around his mouth for a second. Sillika grinned back.

The sound of a Norn's cry of pain rang out, cutting Sillika off. She spun round and started running, that had to be Nirri. As she came to the end of a bridge, she could see three Grendels below her. Unthinking, she brought up her gun and fired. Two bullets hit home, taking down two of the Grendels. The third looked up, to be met by an enthusiastic round of firing from the Norns. There were a few cries of 'how'dya like that then?' before Sillika motioned to them to stop. She hurried to the edge and vaulted over, landing in the soft earth of the swamp with a slight squelch. She looked round and relaxed as her gaze found the huddled shape of the green and purple Norn.

"I said go away," Nirri whispered, her voice quivering as if she was about to burst into tears. Sillika pocketed her gun and sat down next to her friend.

"I went to see Lraac!" She gestured to her chest, now devoid of any Amulet. Sillika's eyes widened.

"I... I..." Nirri cradled her head in her hands, tears running down her cheeks. Sillika wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Nirri flinched slightly at the touch.

"Why not? Nirri, when I first met you, you were a better fighter than me. You'd just saved Callum's life, and you've saved mine in the past. You are a damn good fighter, with or without that Amulet."

"Why? You've got more spirit than any of us Nirri, and you're the toughest person I know. Don't forget that, or I will get annoyed."

"You're right. I... I'm still me, with or without the Amulet." She stood up, and Sillika could almost see the familiar determination flooding back into the Norn. Nirri looked down at her, eyes glittering with fury.

Callum groaned as his eyes fluttered open. Well, he was back in the cell again. He sat up, gingerly touching the wound on his forehead where Lraac had knocked him unconscious. Waking up with a splitting headache was beginning to become something of an occupational hazard. He laughed bitterly. Occupation. He had thought that he'd end up a bio-engineer. It had never occurred to him that he'd never even reach the exam room, and that he'd end up in this situation.

The door began to open again, and Callum glanced up, wincing as he did so. Again, the two hulking Grendels lumbered in. Callum stood up.

The Grendels grabbed his arms again and he hurried to keep up with their marching. They dragged him down the now-familiar corridor to... No, not into the main part of the volcano. They were going a different way. Callum craned his head, trying to get some inclination of where they were headed. No such luck, it was just more and more black tunnel. Abruptly the Grendels turned, and Callum found himself in a large, almost cavern-like room. Burning torches were set into the wall around the circular room. The Grendels threw him forwards and he landed badly, crashing onto his knees.

"Glad you could join us Shee." Lraac's voice made Callum jump and he spun round. She was there alright, holding... Two Amulets? His gaze moved down to her chest, where the dark shape of the Death Amulet usually hung. His jaw dropped in horror. Instead of the black shape, there was a familiar golden circle, the symbol picked out in red gems. Callum looked into Lraac's blood red eyes.

"Yes. I have the full set. And you Shee, will be the first to witness the implement of my rule." She held up her arms, displaying the two Amulets in each clawed hand. Callum scrambled backwards.

"I can. With this," she gestured to the Guardian Amulet; "I can quite safely combine these. You know that, your little Norn friend told you, didn't she?"

"Nirri?" Callum suddenly had an idea. He closed his eyes and pictured Lraac in his mind. She could read his mind, obviously, so maybe... An image of Nirri, tears pouring down her face, running through the swamp, appeared in his mind for a second. Then he was thrown backwards as Lraac kicked him in the jaw. His eyes snapped open as he hit the floor, the explosion of pain in his face shattering the mental picture. Lraac growled.

"You have no idea what you're messing with Shee. Try that again and, mate or not, I shall take great pleasure in destroying you."

"Oh no..." Callum's mouth was dry with fear as Lraac roared in triumph. Instead of the two separate Amulets, Lraac was now holding only one, one half jet-black, the other pure gold. She spun round, holding the Combined Amulet aloft. "Mine!" She hissed. Callum gripped at the stone of the wall for support. Lraac smiled again, her fangs glittering in the torchlight.

"Shut up! I didn't help you, I never would. You're an insane, murdering, treacherous, scheming monster! I'd rather die than help you!"

"You have a choice Shee, do as I say, or not only will you die, so will everything on Albia."

Lraac's hand shot up towards Callum's neck, but this time he was ready for it. He ducked, and pushed Lraac away with all his might. She didn't move, he might as well have been shoving against a block of stone. She sighed, flung out a hand and propelled him backwards. His flailing hand caught the cord of the Guardian Amulet, tearing it away from part of her chest. To his horror, Lraac laughed. Callum's gaze slid slowly down from Lraac's face, until he was staring at the newly exposed bit of her chest. There had always been an Amulet or other covering it so far, but now... The absence of anything revealed a perfectly round scar that looked as if it had been burned into her flesh. Callum's hand flew up to his own chest, feeling the slightly raised area of his own scar. His identical scar. Lraac smiled nastily.

"Now you begin to understand. We are linked, while one exists, the other cannot be killed."

Callum felt numb with shock. His mind threw up a memory, of when he acquired the mark.

"The camera...it didn't explode..." He trailed off, not wanting to believe what he was hearing, but somehow knowing it to be true. He'd brought her back every time, helped her achieve what she wanted. All the time he thought he'd been fighting against her, but in actual fact...

"So, valiant Shee, you see? You keep me alive, and I shall keep coming back. You cannot stop me," she laughed, but with no pleasure in the sound. Callum was dimly aware of claws gripping his arms as the guards dragged him away again. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true! Yet... It was true. He knew it with frightening certainty. Lraac had always been one step ahead. Who'd kept her there? He had. She'd died, twice, yet was back again. Who brought her back? He had. It was him, all him. Everyone who'd died, every one of them he'd helped kill. And he'd never known about it, he was a traitor and he hadn't known. His eyes stung, everyone would have been better off if he'd died...he'd brought her back. He'd set the events in motion, and Lraac had almost destroyed Albia. It was his fault. Everything...

"No!" He jerked his arms from the guards' grip, barely noticing the pain as their claws cut into his arms. He stumbled forwards then ran. Behind him he was dimly aware of the sound of shouting as the guards lumbered after him. A combination of fear and anger pushed him on, lending him speed. He practically flew down the corridor, taking turn after turn with no inkling of where they lead. Away, that was the only clear thought occupying his mind at the moment. Suddenly two Grendels loomed up infront of him. Hardly thinking, he ducked, instincts he never knew he had taking over as he rolled between them and... Then he was outside; running becoming harder as his feet sank into the soft sand. Gradually he slowed, and noticed that there were no sounds of pursuit. Lraac obviously didn't think he was worth following, not that it mattered. He'd known that the strange, confused feelings that someone was using his eyes were something more serious than just a bug or product of an exhausted mind. She'd used him like a... Like some sort of peephole into what was happening, an unwitting spy, giving her all the information that she wanted.

He slowly became aware of a steady pain in his hand. Glancing down, he realised that he was still holding the Guardian Amulet, holding it so tightly that it had cut into his hand. He released his grip enough for the blood to get back into his hand. He pocketed it, then turned as the faint sound of footsteps reached his ears. Squinting, he could almost make out a dark group of figures creeping towards him.

Sillika crouched behind a small bush clinging to the sand of the beach. After she'd found Nirri, they'd decided that they'd have to speed up their attack, now that Lraac had all three Amulets. The swamp area would definitely be too busy at the moment; after all, it wasn't long since Nirri and Lraac's encounter. They'd chosen the upper part of the volcano to attack from, at least that way they'd hold the high ground.

Sillika glanced up. A dark figure, outlined against the night sky, was coming towards them.

"Okay everyone, let's show them who's boss," Nirri whispered back to the Norns. Sillika sighted down her gun as the figure came closer. There was a click as the Norn next to her prepared to fire. Her finger curled around the trigger...

Sillika froze at the figure's yell, finger jerking back from the trigger. Nirri, obviously thinking faster than Sillika was, yelled at the Norns to put the guns down. Callum staggered into the circle of Norns and Sillika suddenly found herself hugging him out of sheer relief. He looked awful. His robe was torn, especially on the sleeves where fresh wounds were bleeding freely. His hair was partially matted with blood down one side of his head and he looked totally exhausted. There was something else; his eyes had a haunted look to them. He grinned at her.

"Damn, I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't have seen you. She'll find out..." He trailed off, then pulled something out of the pocket of his robe and thrust it into Nirri's hand.

"Here, though I don't know what good it'll do now. I've done it again, damn, damn, DAMN!"

"This!" Callum grabbed the collar of what was left of his robe and yanked it down, exposing his scar. Sillika frowned.

"It's not just a scar dammit! Lraac has exactly the same thing! We're... Linked somehow! I keep bringing her back!"

"That's ridiculous! I don't know what happened to you in there but... Hey!" Sillika exclaimed as Callum snatched her gun from her hands and span round. Before she could stop him, he sprinted off again, back towards the dark, towering shape of the volcano. She started after him, but something held her back. She looked down at the small white hand gripping her arm with an Ettin's secret strength. The old male looked up at her.

"No, that is not what I meant. Lraac has used the Life Amulet to anchor herself to Callum; their lives are now linked. If she dies, he brings her back. If he dies, she will bring him back."

"Choice does not come into it. As long as the link remains, both ends shall continue living."

"You're telling me that every time that... Creature returned, Callum... No, I won't believe it, Callum couldn't do anything like that!"

"Whatever he could or couldn't do, I suggest we get in there after him!" Nirri exclaimed and waved for the Norns and Ettins to advance. Sillika glanced at Eran, then dashed after Nirri. As she caught up with the Norn she saw her stuff something into her bag.

As Sillika ducked under the low entrance to the tunnel she bit her lip. She didn't know if any of them would get out of this alive.

Callum pressed himself to the wall as he hurried along the corridor, gun shaking in his hands. There were no Grendels now, and he briefly wondered where they had gone. Not that it mattered; he had more important things to worry about. He came to the entrance to the huge chamber. It seemed empty and he stepped forwards. A slight scrape caught his attention and he spun round, and found himself staring straight into Lraac's face. She smiled cruelly.

"This is sooner than I'd expected Shee," her gaze strayed down to the weapon he held and her grin widened, "And what do you plan to do with that? There is no way you, or your friends can stop me."

Concentration flashed across her face, and Callum desperately tried to cut off his thought. Lraac smiled again.

"Too late. I think I would like to deal with them... Personally. You will observe."

"I will leave the female until last I think. She can watch, then I will deal with her. You will have a most excellent view."

"Sillika?" Callum felt fury rush through his veins, his hands shaking as much with anger as with fear. He brought the gun up so that it was pointing directly at Lraac's forehead.

Icy realisation flooded into Callum's brain. He knew what he had to do to rid Albia of this monster. There was a chance... But it would probably kill him. That didn't matter anymore. He forced his shaking hands to grip the pistol tightly.

"No Lraac," he whispered, his voice almost giving up on him, "I can stop you." He spun round and fired twice. The bullets hit home and two of the flaming torches on the wall exploded in a cloud of sparks. Lraac roared as the hot embers burnt her skin. Callum lunged forwards, snatching the combined Amulets from around Lraac's neck. The cord snapped and Callum stumbled backwards, clutching his deadly prize to his chest. Lraac roared again, and dived at him, bearing him to the ground and trying to wrestle it out of his hands. There was a cracking noise and a line of golden fire snaked down the centre of the Amulet. Before Callum could react, the line divided up, one line twisting around Lraac's hand, one around Callum's. The Amulet began to vibrate in his hand, more golden fire shooting out from it. His first instinct was to drop it, but he forced himself to keep holding on. The golden fire wrapped itself completely around his body, and to his horror he found himself rising above the ground. The lines of fire seemed to coil back slightly, like a cobra about to strike. Suddenly they leapt forwards, burrowing deep inside Callum's skin, wrapping around his inside as tight as his outside. The Amulet was both white-hot and ice-cold at once.

Black lightning began erupting out from the Amulet, mixing with the gold fire, both searing through him, both burning and freezing in the same moment. He was dimly aware of hearing his own scream, intermixed with Lraac's roars. The lightning/fire streamed out from his body and smashed into the walls, which groaned under the onslaught. The golden fire, as bright and clear as the sunlight, and the black lightning, so black as to be more of tear in the world, spiralled around them, forming a glowing sphere. Callum felt his vision start to fade as the globe began closing around him until all he could see was it's light.

"There's a long tunnel, no guards, and a massive chamber at the other end," Nirri said, the Amulet glowing brightly. Sillika didn't stop to ask how the little Norn knew that, it was probably best to leave some things alone.

Suddenly a thunderous crash echoed through the tunnel, bringing with it a choking cloud of dust. Sillika coughed and wiped the dust from her eyes.

"Come on, we've got to get there!" Ignoring the dust, Sillika ran at full pelt down the tunnel, easily outdistancing the Norns and Ettins behind her. She raced round a corner, and skidded to a halt.

The chamber was filled with huge chunks of broken rock from the cave-in. Callum floated a few feet off the ground. He was pale and, Sillika realised in horror, partially see through. He looked like he was a model made of fog. He looked... Like Nirri had when the Amulet had refused to let her die. Lraac was in the same condition, floating about a metre away from him. The combined Amulet hovered above them, dark side next to Lraac, light side next to Callum. Faint traceries of golden fire linked Callum with the light side of the Amulet and also covered his pale outline. Lraac was covered in what looked like a spider's web of thin lines that were not so much black as devoid of any sort of colour. There was a combined gasp of horror from the Norns as they entered behind her. Sillika gingerly stepped over to Callum and reached out. Her hand went straight through him and she jerked it back quickly.

Sillika looked round in surprise. Eran stood staring at the floating figures. He turned his large, sorrowful eyes to Sillika.

"The Amulets are combined. Life and death, death and life. Both need the other to exist, both the exact opposite. Death cannot exist without life, and life cannot exist without death. As it is with the Amulet. Combined, it gives ultimate power, power that will destroy itself and everything else with it."

"You really are not helping. Or making a lot of sense. Just tell me straight, what the hell has happened to them?"

"Lraac has the combined Amulets, she linked them. Her own link therefore comes into play. She has the dark Amulet; she is the dark end of the link. Callum is the other, he holds the light. They must both have touched the combined Amulet at the same time. When Lraac holds it, the dark is stronger, when Callum touches it the light has the power. When both touch there is... an overload. The Amulets must be balanced, or the world shall be destroyed."

"I'll have a go. I think he means that the combined Amulet can't have Callum and Lraac touching it at the same time, it can't handle it. Callum's a nice guy, and Lraac's a murderous bitch, they're like the different parts of the Amulet? Life and Death? I guess this is the Amulet's way of sorting itself out. Am I right?"

"Pardon? You think Callum's going to die?" Sillika asked, horror creeping through her. The Ettin looked up at her.

"I do not know. In all of history, this has never been recorded as happening. Whatever the outcome, it is now up to them," he turned to where the ghostly figures floated. Sillika followed his gaze.

"Come on Callum, don't give up on us now," she whispered as the Amulets began to glow.

Callum opened his eyes and groaned. He looked down. And down. He appeared to be lying on thin air, and as he looked down, all he could see was blue. Endless blue. He jerked upright, and then wished he hadn't. The sense of vertigo was overwhelming, and he tried to cover his eyes with his hand. To his horror, he could see through his fingers. He looked down at himself, and gasped. He looked like Nirri had done, pale and transparent. His right hand was clamped around something so tight that it hurt. He looked at it. It was the Life Amulet, or at least, something that looked like it. He got a strange feeling that this was the Amulet, the essence of it.

Callum spun round at the grating tones. Lraac stood opposite him, holding the Death Amulet out infront of her. The, well, Callum supposed it was air, around it seemed to darken and pulse with each movement she made. Lraac's blood-red gaze swept the lack of landscape, before coming to rest again on Callum.

"I suggest that you undo your past action Shee," she snarled, brandishing the Amulet. Callum shrugged, he'd gone through fear by now and was well into the numbness stage of terror.

"Do not presume to toy with me Shee, I have no qualms about killing you," she snarled, venom in every syllable. Callum glared at her.

"I said I don't know what's happened! Are you deaf or what?" The instant the words left what were currently passing for his lips he regretted them. Lraac snarled softly, the sound becoming louder until it was almost a roar. Then she was silent.

Suddenly Lraac pushed her Amulet out infront of her, pointing directly at Callum. He barely had time to react before a crackling mass of black lightning blasted out from the Amulet, slamming into him. The darkness burrowed into his skin, the pain roaring through his body, tearing into his soul. His blood felt like lava, his veins like ice. He screamed, his body racked by convulsions. Through the mists of his agony he saw Lraac lower her Amulet slightly. He forced his hand to clamp round his Amulet and suddenly the pain left him. He straightened up, hardly believing what was happening. Lraac roared in fury and unleashed wave after wave of pure hatred. The Life Amulet glowed brightly, defecting the waves.

Callum realised that it would continue like this, perfectly even. He couldn't attack, Lraac couldn't defend. He had to do something. What was one of the master's riddles? 'If there isn't any light, how can you see the darkness?' It was like an electron and a proton, one positive, one negative. Together, they became something neutral. That might be it, bring them together. He held the light, Lraac held the darkness.

Lraac was the darkness, so that probably made him the light. A strange thought, but what if they held the wrong Amulet? It was worth a try.

Lraac's waves of darkness and pain swarmed around him, but the light from his Amulet kept them back. He lunged forwards, taking Lraac by surprise. He snatched at her Amulet, while at the same time pressing his to her chest. Light and darkness, darkness and...light. The Amulet of Death came free in his hand, and he left go of the Amulet of Life.

Black lightning crackled up his arm, searing into him as it had done before. He saw the golden fire leap out at Lraac and heard her cry of rage. The Amulet shook in his hand; spasms of pain shooting up his arm and suddenly his ears were full of a scream. It rose in pitch, until it seemed to penetrate the universe. He was being torn apart, then suddenly he felt himself drawn back together, faster and faster, until he was hurtling into himself faster than speed can measure. Then, as if seeing it through someone else's eyes he saw his shadowy form glow with, well a sort of anti-light, not light, but not darkness. Lraac vanished in a blast of the same, the two glowing shapes colliding and merging until they vanished. The vast expanses of eternity were empty again.

Sillika watched in a kind of horrified fascination as the two Amulets orbited eachother, amidst a cloud of golden blackness. They'd split a few minutes ago and were now engaged in some sort of deadly ballet.

The Amulets hovered in the air, combined once more, but there was a noticeable absence of either Callum or Lraac. The Amulet gave a final flash of light, then dimmed and dropped to the ground. It clanked, like an ordinary piece of metal. Sillika felt as if someone had stabbed her through the heart.

"Callum? Callum, where are you?" She dashed over to the spot where Callum had floated only minutes earlier. She waved her arms through the empty air, knowing full well that she would find nothing. A small white hand touched her arm. She looked down at the old Ettin.

Sillika allowed herself to be led away. Her foot hit something and she looked down. The combined Amulet lay by her foot. Carefully she picked it up. It was not what she had expected; it was just a piece of metal, one half black, the other gold. She looked sadly at it, then blinked. On the line between the gold side and the black side was a tiny glowing dot. Nirri came over to her.

"What?" Sillika looked at what Nirri was indicating, "Oh, that's the ancient Shee symbol for life, a circle of flame. It was used when our people worshiped gods, not science," she added bitterly. Nirri frowned.

"Then why is it on the Amulet of Guardianship? It's got a hand gripping it, but it's essentially the same one."

"The hand means to hold or protect and the fire circle means life so it means to protect life..." Her eyes met Nirri's.

"I think so," said Nirri quietly, reaching into the small sack she carried at her waist and producing the golden disk. Sillika took it and slipped the cord around her neck.

Nirri shrugged and Sillika felt her shoulder slump. She'd been so sure that this would work, she so sure that she could get Callum back. An image of him flashed up in her mind, when they'd been on Albia before all the trouble had started. She saw them at school, then the image flicked to him looking determined as he ran towards the Norn pens. More pictures came, faster and faster. She began to have the disconcerting feeling that she wasn't remembering these deliberately.

She didn't have to look at Nirri to tell that the Amulet around her neck was glowing, or that everyone else had retreated into the tunnel.

The combined Amulet shook and jumped out of her hand, the air around it beginning to glow. Sillika felt the hairs on her neck stand on end.

Suddenly there was the sound of a match striking and a ring of fire leapt out from the combined Amulet. Nirri looked up at Sillika, eyes wide. Sillika bit her lip.

"Put this on," Sillika said, reaching up and removing the Amulet from round her neck. Carefully she draped the cord over the wrist of the Hand. It looked lost.

The Hand floated over to the burning ring, hesitated, and then grasped it tightly.

The wind appeared from nowhere, a miniature tornado that appeared around the Hand and the Amulets. The wind swept up a cloud of dust and small rocks, small flashes of lighting shooting out from it. The strength increased so that Sillika had to flatten herself onto the ground to keep from being blown away. The Amulets fired off random blasts of golden fire and in the middle of it all the Hand floated, clamped firmly around the circle. The room once again filled with the strange anti-light, and claps of thunder echoed around the walls. The wind changed to a gale, and a fully blown storm rumbled around the walls. As suddenly as it started, the wind dropped. Sillika raised her head and at that moment there was the now familiar implosion sound. Sillika opened her eyes.

Floating in mid air, in the same position as before was the yellowish form of the Hand. Except now instead of the circle of fire, the Hand was gripping the arm of an unconscious Callum. Nirri cheered, quickly followed by everyone else. Sillika dashed over to Callum, as the Hand gently laid him on the ground. She shook him gently.

"Whatever I just did, remind me not to do it again." He sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, yeah. I remember now." He gave another groan and tried to stand, but just fell back. Sillika caught him. "I think we'd better get you to a doctor." She looked at the Hand, which floated next to them. She smiled at it. "I guess you're the Guardian of Albia now," she laughed. Nirri looked at it, then reached up. She re-adjusted the Amulet and tightened the cord so that it hung more firmly on the Hand's wrist. She stood back.

"Sillika's right. I've been the Guardian for a long time; it's time I retired. The Amulet is yours now."

The Hand floated there for a second, and Sillika got the impression that it was smiling. Nirri grinned at it.

The Hand laughed as Nirri made her way over to Max. She stared into his eyes, then kissed him. He looked surprised as she pulled away, and a huge grin spread over his face. Then he kissed her back.

"I guess she deserves something good to happen for her," Callum joked, then winced again.

"No. C'mon," Sillika pulled Callum's arm round her shoulder, taking his weight. The Hand grabbed his other arm, and the group slowly moved out of the chamber. Eran darted forwards, scooping up the combined Amulet from the rocky floor. Then he hurried after them. They gradually made their way out of the mouth of the tunnel, into the clear light of a dawn none of them thought that they would ever see.

Callum leaned against the wall of the old desert temple where Sillika had deposited him after they returned from the island. He sighed and touched the scar on his chest. He was still a danger, he wasn't completely sure that Lraac wouldn't be back again.

"I am afraid we cannot do anything about the skin damage, but the link however, can be safely removed," Eran came up behind. Callum frowned.

"It is. Usually removal would cause death for both parties involved. However, your battle with Lraac has caused the link to become dormant. The sheer power of both Amulets has, as you would say, 'knocked the wind out of it'. Theoretically it should be possible to remove it quite safely."

Callum looked down at his chest, then up and found himself nose-to-finger with the Hand. He hesitated, then grinned.

"Why not? It'll be nice to get into a dangerous situation that I actually chose." He got the impression that the Hand was grinning. Eran nodded.

"Good. Now, Hand, as we have spoken of please. Callum, I must warn you, this will undoubtedly be quite painful."

Sillika gripped Callum's flailing arm with all her strength, but still was fighting not to be knocked flying. The Hand was clamped to Callum's chest, arm completely covering the scar. Callum writhed in pain, face scrunched up as whatever was happening, happened. Sillika was attempting to pin him down on one side, Nirri and Max on the other and they weren't having a lot of luck. To her partially expected horror, the skin on Callum's scar seemed to glow for an instant, so brightly that it could be seen through the Hand itself. A scream echoed in her ears, at a pitch that was more felt than heard. The Hand jerked back and the sound stopped. Callum fell back against Sillika and Nirri, breathing heavily. He swallowed and looked at Eran.

"When you said this would hurt, you were underestimating in a serious way!" He gasped, and sat down heavily. Sillika dropped down next to him. He looked up at her.

"Hi," she grinned back. She opened her mouth to say something, and was cut off by Nirri's gasp of shock.

Sillika spun round. Nirri was holding the combined Amulets, which were making small 'plink' sounds. She dropped them and there was a sudden burst of the now familiar anti-light. Two, separate, Amulets hit the sand at the same time with a high metallic 'ting'. As one, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Eran picked up the Amulets, then turned and proffered them to the Hand.

"I believe that, as the Guardian, it is now your duty to take care of these. Guard them well, as we now know what damage they can cause."

"I have the perfect place. Excuse me for one second." It rose into the sky and vanished.

Callum rested against a palm tree on the beach and stared up into the sky. It had been two days since the Hand had taken the Amulets and so far there had been no sign of anything exceptionally weird happening, either with the Norns or the Grendels. He grinned to himself, the remaining Grendels had been so confused and frightened that they'd practically begged the Hand to order them around. It had been surprisingly fair considering they'd almost killed it and had just told the Grendels to forget it and get back to normality. Callum shivered, he knew that Lraac could have more of an influence than it appeared.

He watched a bird of some sort pass infront of a cloud, then blinked. There was something up there, a dark shape against the sky. He sat up and shaded his eyes. Whatever it was, it was getting bigger.

"What?" Sillika stepped out of the volcano doorway, the Hand floating over her shoulder. Nirri and Max squeezed out behind them. Callum pointed to the thing, which was now close enough for him to see it was a brownish egg shape. And heading very fast towards them. At some unspoken signal, everyone threw themselves behind a nearby bush. Callum spat out a twig and looked up. The egg shape hurtled down towards the ground. Then suddenly stopped. It hung in mid-air for a second, then what looked remarkably like legs telescoped down into the ground. There was a faint hiss as a rectangular piece of the thing's side opened. It was a door, Callum realised. His gaze hit Sillika's. Her mouth was open in shock, as was Nirri's. Even the Hand seemed to radiate a sense of surprise, though on it it was hard to tell. The door rotated slowly and elongated down to the ground, becoming a gangway. Callum's eyes were drawn to the faintly glowing doorway. Suddenly the light dimmed. A head stuck itself around the edge and Callum gasped. The face looking out at them, with a distinctly surprised expression on it was a male Shee! The Shee's brown eyes were wide as his gaze swept over the group standing there.

"This I do not believe! Guys, come here right now!" He had an accent Callum didn't recognise and wasn't wearing the robes the Shee always did. Instead, this Shee was clad in what looked like a uniform, composed of a deep blue pair of trousers and a black shirt. There was an unfamiliar emblem on the pocket of his shirt. The Shee's gaze stopped when it reached Callum and Sillika.

"I think the question is who are you? I don't recognise your accent, clothes or anything."

"I'm not surprised," Sillika joined in, "No-one's talked like us for at least a thousand years."

"Don't confuse the guy Sillika," he turned back to the strange Shee, "We'll explain, but it's sure gonna take a while."

"The Hand. Don't worry, it won't bite. It doesn't have any teeth. Doesn't have a mouth for that matter. Or a head."

The other Shee watched the Hand warily as he edged down the gangplank. By now there were a lot more Shee standing in the doorway, and a very large crowd of Norns watching the ship. The other Shee came over to Callum. Callum held out a hand.

"Callum. This is Sillika," he gestured over to Sillika. The other Shee returned the grin and shook Callum's hand.

"What shall we call you? We haven't dealt with titles for a long time. Or second names for that matter."

Sillika made her way across the beach, skirting the small groups of Norns and Shee that had built up. Obviously both groups had a lot of questions to ask. Sillika had left Callum explaining to Jay how and why they were here. She'd noticed that Nirri was missing and had gone to look for her. The little Norn never had had a great opinion of the Shee, and a shipfull of new ones arriving was probably not the sort of thing she wanted to see, not after all that had happened to her. Pushing away a small fern-like bush, she heard a quiet sound. It was the sound of someone sobbing. She continued towards the sound, finding her way to a small clearing. A small, familiar figure was sitting on a fallen palm tree in the centre. Sillika sighed and made her way over to Nirri. She dropped an arm around the heaving purple shoulders.

"Nirri, what's the matter?" She asked softly. Nirri looked up at her, violet eyes glistening with tears.

"I... It's happening again. They're back, just as we started to get things together. Us Norns have just began to get established here, becoming independent, and then those damn Shee come back to take the world again. They destroyed this world! They left it for dead! We've earned this planet."

"Hey, hey. There is no way that the Norns will go back to being lab animals again. You said it yourself; you're too independent now. And I seem to remember that two of those 'damn Shee' have been through an awful lot with you."

Nirri looked up at her again, then nodded slowly, wiping her eyes with a paw. Sillika squeezed her shoulders.

"...And that's about it. There's more detail, but unless we have a few months, there's no time to tell you it all." Callum finished. Jay whistled, his eyes scanning the beach, briefly alighting on the small groups of Norns.

"This is amazing, there's gonna be loads of people who'll be interested in this! I mean, Albia! I'll bet my old history master'll be dying to come down here and have a rummage round. I..."

"Yes, it is. And the only way it's going to stay this way is if we leave it alone. Albia might be the planet the Shee came from, but do you know why we left?"

"I was there Jay. Me, Sillika and Nirri have seen most of the huge events that have happened here, and caused a few. We hid the first six eggs and gene samples; we saw the volcano erupt and we've been through several extremely weird experiences to help defeat the Grendels."

"About 20. But we were born over a thousand years ago on Albia. Take that look off your face Jay, I know it's weird."

"Recon mission. The Discovery is the most advanced ship in the NewAlbian Space Corps fleet. She's got a Hyperwarp rating of nine, advanced shielding systems..."

"Whoa. Slow down, I was practically technology illiterate with the stuff we had a thousand years ago. As for understanding what you've got, I've no chance. Just saying: 'We have an advanced ship' is good enough for me," he frowned, "That little thing you landed in, that's..."

Callum stared at him, partially in shock. Surprisingly the thought had never crossed his mind. Leave Albia? They'd been there for... Well, centuries at least. They'd caused a lot of the world's history. He did the only thing he could in that situation. He shrugged.

Both Shee turned at Sillika's voice. She was jogging long the beach, Nirri in tow. Callum grinned and waved to her. She reached them and grinned back.

"Revised version," Callum laughed, then brought himself back to reality, "Sillika, can I have a word? In private?"

Jay poked at the sand with the heel of his boot, then looked up and watched with apprehension as the Hand floated from group to group. No matter what Callum said, he'd never be at home with a disembodied limb flying around and talking without a mouth. Slowly, he became aware of someone watching him. He turned round, to find himself staring into the violet eyes of the green and purple Norn. He'd never seen many Norns before he came here; all there had been were a few photos in history books. As far as he could tell, the experiments with Norns had been abandoned ages ago, and now only a few preserved specimens existed. Apparently, when the Norn experiments had stopped, the Norns had been released to fend for themselves. They hadn't made it, and now all that was left were some photos and preserved specimens in labs. Here though... The Norns had flourished. The brightly coloured Norn's glare was almost hypnotic, and for some reason she seemed angry.

"So, new Shee," she suddenly snapped, "Are you going to take our world from us?"

"It won't be just you though, will it? You'll tell people about what you found, and more Shee will come. Then they'll get to thinking, 'Why should the Norns have this planet? We created them; it's our world'. Then poof, we're back in the cages, being examined and classified like we were some sort of... some sort of lab rat!"

"I didn't know, really. All I know about Norns is that they; you were bred in labs. When the experiments stopped, under pressure from conservation groups, the Norns were released into specially crafted habitats. They... Didn't survive. They had no ability to care for themselves."

"As far as I know... It was bred out. There'd been several partial uprisings in the labs; the government had covered it all up though. If people found out Norns were sentient it would have caused outrage. So from what I can gather, they selectively bred docile..."

"They couldn't do anything for themselves," Nirri sounded horrified. Jay nodded, then smiled.

"This was over a hundred years ago, and only in a few labs. We're more civilised now."

Jay turned and suddenly found himself nose-to-finger with the Hand. His eyes widened. The Hand floated back a bit.

"Look Jay," it said as kindly as it could, "I understand you've got a job to do. So have I. And my job is to make sure that no harm comes to the creatures in this world. It's got a bit iffy during the wars... But my purpose is to protect Albia. I want... No, I'm asking you to keep this a secret. Albia doesn't need the Shee, please don't force them back. Please."

Jay realised that this was a plea, from something that was probably more used to giving orders than to asking for help. From everything he'd heard, especially from the purple Norn, he was beginning to think that the Shee leaving was one of the best things that had happened to this planet. He looked up at the Hand and smiled.

"I can't promise a result, but I do promise to try my best. I'll have to run it past the Captain, and the rest of the crew."

The Hand bobbed and Jay a strange impression it had just stood up. He shook himself, it hadn't been sitting. It couldn't really. It radiated a sense that it was grinning.

"Well?" Sillika looked quizzically at Callum. He smiled slightly.

There was silence, as both stared at the ground. Sillika could hardly believe it, leave Albia? Still... The idea of reaching the world they'd missed all those years ago did have a certain appeal. Callum looked up at her, the unspoken thought in his face.

"We don't belong here. Not now. We keep saying that Albia doesn't belong to the Shee anymore, but while we're here..." He trailed off.

"It'll never be true," Sillika finished. She held Callum's gaze for a second, a million possibilities running through her head. Then she smiled weakly.

"What? You can't leave!" Nirri shouted. Callum glanced at Sillika; this was a worse reaction than they'd expected. Nirri looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"So, you're just going to go? Like that? After everything..." She trailed off and slammed a fist into her hand with frustration, "You can't go! You're as much a part of Albia as... as the Hand! You built the Hand!"

"You had to bring that up," Callum grinned, then crouched down so that he was staring straight at Nirri.

"We have to go. It's not our world, it's yours. If we stay... We are guaranteed to cause more trouble. It's for the best."

"Yes." Callum tried to ignore the trace of doubt in his own voice. Nirri stared at him for a second, then to his surprise hugged him. Then she wrapped her arms round Sillika's waist.

"Sure. Might have a problem finding a postal service that comes this far, but as soon as we do, you'll get a card."

Max squeezed Nirri's hand as they watched the strange door of the ship slide upwards. She smiled weakly at him. This was it, they were really leaving. Callum and Sillika turned back, their eyes scanning the crowd. They stopped on Nirri, and what for centuries had been the last of the Shee waved at her. She waved back. Max joined in, then the Hand, which was certainly odd to watch. Then another Norn, then another. Soon the whole of the beach was waving. There was the sound of footsteps behind her, and Nirri half turned to find Eran, standing at the front of a massive group of Ettins, all waving like mad. She even thought that, out of the corner of her eye, she could see a group of green figures waving from just inside the volcano. But she could be wrong. She turned her gaze back to the ship, and just caught Callum's wink before the door silently sealed into the main body of the ship. With a faint rumbling sound the legs retracted into the main body of the ship, and for a second it just hovered there. Then, with a kind of high-pitched roar, this shot upwards into the sky, rapidly becoming smaller and smaller until it was just a dot in the mass of blue. Then it vanished. As if sensing that everything interesting had finished, the crowd on the beach began to slip away, at first in twos, then large groups began to move. Soon the beach was empty, except for the three figures still staring at the sky. Max gently pulled Nirri's hand.

Callum watched the surface of Albia drop away beneath the ship for the second time in his life.

"You could say that. It's just, after all we've been through, leaving Albia again, it's so..."

"Hey, it'll be okay Callum. The Hand's there now, you've seen how much power it's got."

Callum turned back to the viewscreen. A faint smile crept onto his lips. Sillika cocked her head to one side.

Out of the Ashes

III: Guardian