The Path of the Future

[Moogie]

Chapter 9 is bursting to get finished (it\'s almost there already) but I suddenly noticed a small problem with my writing.

I\'d like to get something clarified... which is correct:

\"Let\'s get to wherever we\'re going so I can get some answers.\" The feline sighed.

or

\"Let\'s get to wherever we\'re going so I can get some answers,\" the feline sighed.

?

Note the use of the capital letter, and the punctuation that ends the spoken sentence.

I\'ve been using the first method pretty much all the way through the entire story, but suddenly it seems... wrong, somehow. :/

[Keyaz]

another spectacular addition ^^

I say top one is fine *nodnod*

[Ralas]

Originally posted by Moogie

\"Let\'s get to wherever we\'re going so I can get some answers.\" The feline sighed.

or

\"Let\'s get to wherever we\'re going so I can get some answers,\" the feline sighed.

Strictly speaking, the first is grammatically correct, if she\'s not sighing the quotation but rather speaking it and then sighing.  Two seperate sentences for two seperate events.  But if she\'s sighing the quotation, then the second version is the way to go.  I kind of think that\'s better stylistically, too (the second one).

EDIT:  In my excitement over the prospect of showing off my grammatical skills, I forgot to mention that this story is awesome.  This story is awesome!

[Under the moon]

Properly...the second, following the rules stated above, although I don?t know if you use the same rules over there across the pond.

And Cam is a bastard.

[Moogie]

I guess I could have clarified a bit. Yes, she\'s sighing the sentence. Thanks for the help there.

And Cam is a bastard.

Aww, give my favourite guy a break. Hehe. He\'s quite unstable at the moment. Next two chapters will tell you everything important about him.

[Moogie]

New to this chapter, proper speech punctuation! Thanks to the people above.



Chapter 10.


\"What??\" Camazotz watched as Moogie finished applying the last of her bandages to her wounded leg.

\"I said I\'m not going with you anymore.\" She replied grumpily. She stood, tested her weight, before limping over to the merchant who\'s stall she had borrowed the first aid equipment from. The marketplace here sprawled out over the fields before the Winch of the second Level, receiving good business from passing travellers and adventurers. Unlike the station above, it was not illegal for anyone to set up shop here and sell whatever they liked- so many people did exactly that.

\"Why?\" The Xacha turned to her with a puzzled look. Moogie shot him a cold glare that could freeze a Fire Elemental\'s heart, but ignored the question. The wounds on her face and chest had been cleaned and stitched. They would be sore for a long time without the help of a curative spell. She thought of asking to borrow a Healing Glyph from Camazotz, but her high emotions made her keep her distance. The fact that he didn\'t even offer the Glyph freely made her even more sour.

Leilani returned from the midst of the market with a backpack full with food and other supplies. She set it down on the dirt nearby and took out a large apple, which she started munching hungrily. Moogie approached and also picked out some food to eat. Camazotz didn\'t move from his spot. She wondered if he was ever hungry; at one time, she would have offered him something, but not anymore. She didn\'t want anything to do with him anymore. Still, Leilani was not so unforgiving; she did owe him her life, after all.

\"Rrr you goimt to eat anyhinm, Camm?\" The Ylian spoke with a full mouth of food. He shook his head.

It occured to Moogie that he always seemed to avoid questions about himself. She had never seen him eat a thing. Did he even need to? Why are his eyes so strange? Where did he come from? And, most importantly to her, why did he care whether she lived or died? He didn\'t seem to care about much else, let alone other people\'s lives. Yet, he had saved Leilani. But why? What was his purpose?

She finished her mouthful and decided to approach him. If she was going to go this alone, she needed the answers from him now.

\"I want to know everything you know.\" She demanded.

Camazotz raised an eyebrow. \"Everything I know about what, exactly?\"

Moogie snorted in annoyance. \"About me, and this prophecy, and why you care so damn much about it! Who are you really, Camazotz? What are you doing here??\" Her questions came unrestrained and demanded to be answered. She couldn\'t take it anymore. She wanted answers right now or she would refuse to be any part of this anymore.

He turned his head as if to physically avoid her questions. \"Now is not the time, Moogie.\"

\"Now is the ONLY time!\" She yelled back at him. Leilani looked over at them in concern. \"I\'m not going to travel with a ruthless murderer who can\'t even tell me why I should have ever followed you in the first place! I\'m not putting anyone\'s lives in danger just because you don\'t care about anything but your stinking Prophecy!!\" Moogie spat, seething with rage. Unphased by the animosity, Camazotz glanced wearily over her shoulder at Leilani, who tilted her head questioningly in response. His eyes returned to the feline infront of him.

\"...Despite what you think, there are some things I do care about- besides our fated futures.\" He replied quietly, after a brief pause. \"I\'ll tell you. But not infront of the girl. These are things that I was only fully able to understand today. Her involvement has changed the path of the future beyond what I saw in my visions. But today, I... was shown the truth... about many things.\"

Moogie didn\'t understand at first, but a gut-feeling gave her a terrible inclination. \"This... has something to do with her brother, doesn\'t it?\" She whispered, her rage dissipating and replaced by a greater concern for the girl. The Xacha glanced at the girl again, before silently turning away. The feeling inside her doubled. In truth, it had been a comfort to believe he had known what was happening all along. She could take comfort in the fact that he would be in the right place, at the right time, protecting her from harm. But now she didn\'t know how to feel. She didn\'t trust him anymore. She was still angry at his disregard for the lives in the Gondola, but now, she felt there was a dark, forboding reason behind it. Something in him had changed that day, and it had something to do with Sam...

Leilani had only overheard part of the conversation. \"I guess this means we really have to hurry if we\'re going to track down my brother\'s soul again, right?\" She said, as Moogie approached her and sat down again. \"I mean, it\'s been a long time now. Those plants must have been really strong.\" Either she was still unaware, or she was still fully in denial.

\"Right. Real strong,\" Camazotz murmered. Moogie ignored them both, deciding to pack up the food and get them moving again.

\"Let\'s get to wherever we\'re going so I can get some answers,\" the feline sighed.


*********


The three travelled in a north-easterly direction for several miles, riding the Xacha\'s Megaras for speed. Camazotz sat at the front, holding the reins, with Moogie and Leilani behind. The terrain below was an endless plain of grass and rocks; there was none of the vast farmlands seen on the first level. The light was noticeably more dull here than the girls were used to; the Azure Sun could still penetrate the rolling mists with ease, but it was weaker the further into Yliakum it travelled. Perhaps that\'s why farming isn\'t so popular here, Leilani wondered.

Suddenly feeling very curious, the young girl leant forward. \"Hey Cama,\" she called, \"What\'s your Megaras\'s name?\"

He turned his head slightly to reply. \"Zenyiel. She was... nevermind.\" He hesitated, but dismissed the thought quickly.

\"Umm... okay. Well she\'s a pretty thing,\" she complimented, stroking the creature\'s fur. Moogie remained silent, her mind occupied with the many questions she felt would soon be answered. Somehow, she felt she wasn\'t going to like what Camazotz had to tell her.

They landed nearby an unremarkable outcrop of stone at the foot of a small mountain range. The wind whistled through the short, scraggly grass as they dismounted and approached the formation on foot, Camazotz leading them. With caution, he inspected the base of the stone. It looked undisturbed. He frowned.

\"I know this is the place...\" he pondered, stubbornly resolute as he searched for any signs of writing or symbols on the stone. He bent down in order to inspect its base again.

Moogie folded her arms impatiently. \"Maybe if you told me what you\'re looking for I could help,\" she offered.

He stood, refusing to take his eyes off the stone. \"Their lair... it\'s close, I can feel it. I feel drawn to this... this is the entrance, somehow. I just know it is.\"

The feline shook her head. \"You mean... we\'re going right into their very home? Are you crazy?\" Moogie stepped up beside him. \"Camazotz, if we just waltz in through the front door they\'re going to notice, you know?\"

\"This isn\'t the front door, so don\'t worry about it,\" the Xacha replied simply. Moogie looked at him for a moment, incredulous, but finally decided to trust him despite her better judgement.

She watched him circled around the object; suddenly, her keen ears picked up a small click. It sounded like it had come from the ground underneath Camazotz\' feet.

\"wait, you triggered something...\" she warned, backing away cautiously. The stone began resonating, humming a low, lonely tune to itself. She heard the sound of rumbling stones behind her, and turned to see a hole appearing at the base of the mountain, large rocks and boulders rolling away from its entrance. A pair of black, raven-like lizards perching on the limb of a nearby tree fled the disturbed area. The rumbling soon ceased, leaving the way forward open to them.

Camazotz turned to Leilani as she approached them. \"No. You\'re staying here,\" he ordered coldly. The girl wanted to protest, but stopped when she spotted Moogie shaking her head, warning her not to try. Leilani crossed her arms and sulked as Camazotz moved towards the cave mouth.

\"Lani,\" Moogie approached her. \"I think you should find somewhere to hide. I don\'t think it\'s safe to be alone out here, but he has his mind set. I just hope he knows what he\'s doing...\" She looked over at the man, who was fishing in his inside pocket with one hand, searching for a Glyph. Leilani nodded, and hugged the feline before she left.

\"Be careful in there... I have a bad feeling about this...\" she warned. Moogie nodded and gave her a grateful smile. She turned and quickly ran to catch up with Camazotz, who had found his Glyph of Light and was already venturing inside.

[Under the moon]

Oh ho. So he\'s got feelings after all. Very good all in all. I like all the inner tumoil. Too bad about Sam, though. Lucklily you didn\'t develope him very far. It hurts to let a character you\'ve become very close to die.

*edit* Forgot to thank you for adding on to that 40 hours.

[Drey]

i read moon\'s post, but not moogies, when i read the chapter i liked. Sounds like things are gonns get even more interesting soon when we gets some explinations.

She can poke me later if there were any changes

[Moogie]

Chapter 11.


Moogie tried hard to breathe silently as she decended the stone steps into the heart of the cavern. Every careful footstep seemed to echo for miles ahead, and she wondered if their presence was not already known by everyone inside. Camazotz didn\'t seem to mind the noise; he pressed on, his hand raised, pillars of soft light streaming through his fingers, soaked up by the glistening rock walls. The Glyph in his clenched fist glowed warmly, lighting the surrounding area, but giving no indication of what was ahead. The ground beneath them was roughly chiseled into a staircase that sloped down in a gentle gradient, and tiny pebbles raced eachother to the bottom from their feet. Not that Moogie could tell how long this path went on for.

\"Well, now that we\'re alone, Camazotz...\" she whispered, feeling both nervous and eager to hear what he had to say. She could sense something was eating away at him. His whole countenance had changed since that day in the forest. Since their first encounter on the street, on that fateful rainy night, he had begun to warm to her. He had almost become a friend. But now, it was all gone. He seemed distant. Cold. But somehow she knew he wanted to tell her just as much as she wanted to hear it. There was an awkward silence as they decended further.

\"I was born in the Klyros capital of the Seventh Level,\" he began, his voice hushed. \"My mother was a herbologist. My father, a Necromancer. From a young age they would practice their crafts infront of me, teaching me their skills. My mother would tell me that not all potions were created to heal; she taught me their colours and smells, and I learned to tell the properties of a liquid without taking a single sip. Similarly, my father told me that calling aid from the spirits of the world was not always an evil act. He said that the dead exist without purpose, without minds, and his trade simply put them to good use.\" Moogie listened carefully, keeping close behind him as the light from the cave mouth faded more and more in the darkness. The walls echoed their voices, copying every word several times to ghosts in the dark.

\"I was ten when they were both killed in an attack by a small invading army,\" he continued. Moogie was about to comment, but he didn\'t pause. \"My mother hid me away in the shelter below our house before she was murdered, and my presence went undiscovered for several days. Eventually I left the rubble of my home and was taken into care by a teacher at the Academy of Arcane Arts, where I lived and trained for another ten years or so.\"

Moogie, who was still listening carefully, found something odd about his words. \"The Academy of Arcane Arts? That still exists? I thought it was pulled down centuries ago...\"

There was another awkward silence. Moogie wondered if she should feel embarassed for not knowing, but she had never visited the Seventh Level and decided her ignorance was easily justified. Camazotz continued after a pause. The only light now came from his clenched hand.

\"I was always the most skilled student in the school, and I knew it. Eventually I proved it to everyone else; I bested the Guildmaster in a controlled duel of Magic in the Academy arena. I had every right to demand his position.\" The feline stayed silent, noting the growing anger in his voice. \"And if they were not such spineless cowards, if they were half the people my mother and father were, I would have gotten it. But I had a reputation for practicing, what they called, the \"Dark Arts\". I made no effort to hide my interest in the skills my father had shown me.\"

\"I guess I can understand why,\" Moogie reflected.

The Xacha grunted. \"Well I could not. They didn\'t trust me, my talents. So be it, then. It was not me who was to blame for the rage that grew inside me, untill one night, where I rose the corpse of the Guildmaster\'s own father from the cemetary and sent it to murder him in his bedchambers as he slept.\" The girl gasped in shock, stopping dead in her tracks. She would have stayed there, if Camazotz had turned to her with some sort of reaction. But he continued to decend, and since he was taking their only lightsource with him, she felt pressed to follow. She swallowed hard.

\"Camazotz, that\'s... that\'s terrible... how could you do that?...\" She asked nervously. She had been travelling with a murderer much longer than the Gondola trip, it seemed.

He shrugged, seemingly indifferent. \"A court trial inevitably found me guilty for the deed, and I was exiled from the entire city. But I regret nothing. He was not a worthy man for his position. As my father always said, the dead can be useful for many purposes. Ironically it was the skeleton of his evening meal one day that told me of the sordid affairs he frequently got involved with. Quite funny, really.\" But his words lacked any emotion, not least of all humour.

The steps beneath them evened out into a solid floor at last. Up ahead there was lit torchs on either side of the tunnel, and further in seemed also adequately lit. Camazotz decided the Glyph was no longer needed, and put it back in his pocket silently. They moved forward carefully, scanning the opening ahead for signs of movement. Shadows from the torchheads danced about on the walls, making the butterflies in Moogie\'s stomach quickly join in.

Camazotz peeked his head around the corner. The room beyond showed signs of habitation; there was crude red markings on several of the tunnels leading further into the complex. He recognised their meanings.

\"This room leads to... Summoning Chambers, the Den of Sacrifice, and the Hall of Numbers.\" He whispered, reading them each in turn.

\"I\'m really not sure I want to be here...\" Moogie stammered. Camazotz quietly unsheathed his silver Sai from his belt, holding it loosely in his right hand. Moogie was unarmed, and felt even more helpless now than before. \"Camazotz?\"

\"Don\'t worry,\" he whispered, \"I know what I\'m doing.\" Perhaps Moogie was just paranoid from fear, but that sounded awfully forced to her. Her mind screamed, why are you still following him, you know he\'s a murderer! Where are you going!? but she lacked the confidence to turn around now. If he had told her his past before they entered the cave, she probably would have stayed outside. Maybe that was just why he had made sure to stay silent untill now.

He lead them through the middle archway, which was marked with a kind of horned animal skull surrounded by a circle. Moogie guessed they were heading for the Summoning Chambers.

\"Why are we going here?\" She whispered, keeping her voice as hushed as she could. Up ahead she could hear voices, chanting, and an unearthly hum of energy. Her heart was racing.

The Xacha remained silent as he crept forward, and they pressed against the wall as they came to the doorway, hiding themselves behind the large frame of the door. The room beyond was dark, lit only by some small torch flames to the sides and a ring of candles in the center of the room, burning with dark purple flames. There were several people gathered here; cultists, Moogie guessed, clothed in long robes that hid their whole body. Even their faces were in shadow, undicernable from eachother. The chanting came from them as they each faced the circle, tracing strange symbols with their hands.

Camazotz leant close to Moogie, his voice barely audible. \"This is the source of the Callicantzaros\' powers. It was originally summoned here... a tortured, shattered soul of a Klyros woman, sucked into the magically preserved body of an ancient type of demon that once inhabited this place,\" he explained quietly. Moogie glanced past him, her eyes exploring the room. She deduced that Camazotz was going to attempt to kill the creature by destroying it\'s summoning circle, but she didn\'t know how he hoped to do it without alerting everyone present.

As if on cue, the chanting stopped. Camazotz, who had picked out yet another Glyph from his seemingly endless pocket collection, put his arm against her and pushed her back against the rock. \"Stay very, very still,\" he told her, the look in his eyes deadly serious. Moogie nodded, and suddenly her vision was clouded in a strange grey hue. Sounds became thick and blunt, as if she were listening from underwater. The feeling made her scared to even breathe. Camazotz hid the Glyph by his side as their bodies vanished from sight- and just in time. The cultists filed out through the narrow doorway, oblivious to the intruders, apparently finished with whatever empowering rituals they had been performing. Perfect timing, Moogie mused. Somewhat too perfect, her paranoia added.

The sound of footsteps and whispers gradually faded. There was no longer any noise coming from within the room. Camazotz decided they were safe, for now, and deactivated the spell of Invisibility. Moogie blinked a few times and rubbed her ears.

\"Wow... that was weird,\" she gasped.

The Xacha peeked into the room again to confirm it was empty, before stepping through the doorway. Moogie hesitantly followed behind. The air was stuffy, and the scent of wax floated from the candles in the center of the stone room. There were symbols all over the floor; she noticed Camazotz deliberately avoided stepping on several particular runes, and decided it was best to do the same herself. He knelt next to the circle, reading the texts within.

\"I don\'t know how you can read this stuff. I\'ve never seen such writing before...\" She moved around to the back of the circle so that she could keep her eye on the door. Now would not be a good time to get caught, her mind worried.

[Moogie]

\"Here,\" Camazotz spoke up suddenly. \"This is describing the three elements the demon draws its powers from. Three times a day the Strangers pour power of a particular magic Way into the gathered energies of the circle; one to keep the spirit trapped, one to keep the spirit controlled, and one to keep its body alive,\" he decyphered.

\"Great,\" Moogie said with a pleased smile, \"So how do we break it?\"

He studied the circle for a moment. Finally, he nodded. \"My best guess would be to counter the magic energies with their opposites. Currently it seems to be fully powered. Spells of the opposite ways will cancel out the ones in effect and weaken that aspect of the Callicantzaros.\"

\"Sounds easy,\" Moogie replied. Too easy, her mind added, who\'s unwanted opinions began to annoy her. She shook her head. Get a grip, Moogie... he knows what he\'s doing, everything will be fine, she reassured herself. If only she could believe it.

\"You\'re shaking. Cold?\" The Xacha suddenly asked without looking at her.

Slightly taken aback by the unexpected comment, she stammered a response. \"N-no, just... I guess I\'m a little... scared... especially, you know, after...\" she hesitated to finish the sentence. \"After what you told me...\"

Camazotz looked directly into her fearful eyes, an unrecognisable emotion suddenly flashing across his face as he tried to mask it. She couldn\'t quite put her finger on its meaning; it seemed almost like pain. But before she could read more, he deliberately pulled his eyes back to the circle.

\"It seems we need to cast Brown, Blue and Crystal ways, in that order,\" he said, quickly returning the subject to the task at hand, \"to counter the Azure, Red and Dark energies here. I think you practice these much more than I do. Do you think you could gather enough power to cancel the circle?\" he questioned.

Moogie scratched her head. \"Umm... I can try. But I don\'t have any Gl-\" She didn\'t need to finish her sentence. The Xacha presented three Glyphs and a smug grin. She tried hard to smile back, but found it impossible. There was just too many thoughts swimming around in her head right now to find humour in anything, least of all from Camazotz. He didn\'t expect her to say anything anyway.

He moved back towards the edge of the room and watched as Moogie took a position infront of the circle. She wished she could cast the Crystal Glyph first; it would be the easiest for her. Nevertheless, she took up the Brown glyph in her hand, and began to focus her mana. Suddenly, a loud voice from behind her interupted her thoughts. In her panic she spun around, only to be greeted by an incoming bolt of energy that suddenly split into a thousand twisting, organic tendrils that wrapped themselves firmly around her entire body, pinning her arms and legs together so tightly she immediately fell over.

\"That will be as close as you ever come to forfilling your purpose, girl...\" The Stranger haughtily grinned as he approached from the doorway, seeing his prize squirm helplessly on the floor. Her mouth gagged with vines pressed so tightly that she couldn\'t speak.

\"As for you,\" the cultist turned to Camazotz, \"You have more than sufficiently served yours.\" He suddenly started to laugh, his lips contorted into a victorious grin. \"Now the Prophecy is ours to control! We will shape our own future!\"

The Xacha stepped forward and sheathed his Sai. Moogie stopped struggling, watching him. Her eyes became filled with horror as he spoke.

\"I hope you intend to keep your end of the bargain,\" he said flatly, his eyes narrowed and fixed on the cloaked figure. \"Do whatever you must to keep your silly little cult alive. But I trust that my spellcircle will be dismantled before morning.\"

The Stranger nodded, placing his hand on the Xacha\'s shoulder. \"Your freedom shall soon be granted. We have just one more menial task for you...\" Camazotz nodded. He turned to Moogie, reaching down, his expression blank. Even his burning eyes looked cold and lifeless.

Her world turned black.




Gah! I had to doublepost again. I feel like squealing; finally! Secrets! Secrets! Muahahahha! *falls to psychotic mania*

Edit: *screams indecypherably as she fixes all the errors*

[Drey]

:O they catched her, and just when Camazotz was starting to get really cool he had to go and be all bad. His past was all dark and interesting i still want to see more of him.

chapter 11 better come just as quick, i think we all must know what happens...

[Keyaz]

8o

I dont have much else to say on that matter

[Moogie]

Chapter 12.


Moogie awoke to the feeling of cold, smooth metal. She was curled up, laying on her side. Where am I?

She opened her eyes slowly. The floor she lay on was stained with dirt. She could see tall, thin bars a few inches from her face, stretching up beyond her vision. Through them she saw a distant brown rock face. She sat up, feeling slightly queasy, and looked around her cage. It was small, circular. Barely tall enough for her to stand, and too thin to stretch out on. It was swaying gently; it seemed that she was suspended in the air. She rubbed her eyes, squeezing them shut. I\'m alone...

She reached out and gripped the bars, using them to pull herself to her feet. She had to stoop slightly to avoid hitting her head. The cage was hanging high in the air, over a walkway that stretched across an endlessly deep, dark pit. The height made her fearful to move around much.

\"I\'m toast...\" she muttered to herself.

Moogie\'s ears pricked up as she caught the sound of footsteps from below. She steadied herself as the cage suddenly began to decend, the clatter of chains above ringing loudly in her ears. She pressed her head against the bars and looked down as far as she could, but who stood there made her stomach lurch, and her heartbeat quicken. It was Camazotz.

She backed to the opposite end of the cage as it landed with a light thud on the stone bridge. Camazotz stood before her, arms crossed, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hat. A small metal lever protruded from a pillar of stone beside him. His mouth was once again covered by the scarf she hadn\'t seen him use in a long time, but his voice was still clearly audible through its fabric.

\"It\'s good to see you awake at last.\"

Moogie remained silent, her back pressed to the bars. The Xacha regarded her, hesitant to speak. There was an awkward silence.

\"...I\'m sorry.\" His apology came as a whisper, as if the words were difficult to force through his lips.

\"Sorry for what?\" Moogie couldn\'t help but reply, her own voice choked with tears. \"Sorry for lying to me? For giving me hope? For betraying me? Sorry for leading me here to my death!?\" She stormed to his side of the cage, her fist reaching out to grab his coat in unbridled anger. \"JUST WHAT PART OF THIS ARE YOU SORRY FOR, YOU BASTARD!?\" She cried, sobbing loudly, her eyes spilling over with painful emotion.

Camazotz went to touch her arm, but she pulled it away quickly, sinking down to her haunches, her chest heaving as she cried uncontrollably. His red eyes remained fixed on her curled, pathetic form for several long minutes as her grief poured out of her. After a while, she calmed down enough to speak.

\"But it\'s not your fault, you know...\" She shook her head wretchedly. \"No, it\'s mine. Me. How could I be so stupid? Heh... Why did I ever trust you... why?\" The question was rhetorical, of course. There was no answer. Her anger turned to self-hatred, and as she inwardly cursed her own fallability, a single thought suddenly cut into her mind; an injection of reality coupled with a sense of terrible, urgent concern.

\"Lani...\" She whispered, her eyes suddenly staring ahead in realisation. She turned her gaze to Camazotz, who hadn\'t moved an inch from his spot. \"Where is Leilani!?\" she yelled.

He took a calm step backwards as she threw herself at him again, this time unable to reach through far enough to ruffle his coat.

\"If you\'ve harmed her I swear I\'ll-!\"

\"She\'s okay. Leilani is still outside.\" He interrupted quietly. But Moogie wasn\'t satisfied.

\"Like I\'m going to trust anything you tell me now, you horrid, backstabbing snake!\" Her words were cutting and brutal. She threw the full force of her emotions into every syllable, though she suspected every word was just bouncing away from his protective aura of cold indifference. \"Show her to me!\" She demanded.

He knew instantly what she was referring to and fished around his pocket. Moogie stopped reaching through the bars and took an untrusting step away. A moment later he presented the same yellow Glyph she had seen in the sewers, and used it in the same fashion as before. He flicked it up into the air, where it hovered, it\'s spin gaining speed, untill the energy harmlessly exploded and formed a magical image of the grassy area outside. The Xacha used his hand to spin the view around, searching for the girl.

Moogie waited.

He turned the image full-circle.

Leilani was nowhere to be seen.

Moogie growled. \"You lying-\"

\"Be quiet.\" He retorted, sounding irritated. \"You did tell her to hide. Well she\'s hiding, ok?\"

\"No it\'s not okay. I don\'t trust you!\" She glared at him as he impatiently snatched the Glyph out of the air, immediately dispersing the energy and causing the window to disappear.

\"Look,\" he sighed, crossing his arms again, \"Maybe you would understand better if I finished my story. I wasn\'t done...\"

\"I don\'t want to hear it.\" She sulked. There was a moment of silence before he decided to speak anyway.

\"...After my exile, I spent several years travelling the many Levels of Yliakum. Eventually I settled in a small rural town on the fourth level,\" he recounted. \"I met a beautiful woman named Mhara there, and we courted. In the next year we were wed, and she bore me a healthy child whom we named Faemal. I hoped to pass everything I knew to him one day...\" His voice trailed towards the end. Dispite herself, Moogie felt tempted to hear more.

\"So?\" is all she could muster, not wanting to sound too interested.

The Xacha turned and leant back against the bridge\'s stone railings. He closed his eyes. \"I was on the outskirts of the village when they came,\" he recalled sadly. \"Several members of the Arcane Academy\'s high council decided to take vengeance on me. They had been tracking me for months. But I... I wasn\'t home when they came.\"

The feline was silent. Camazotz\' voice seemed choked, barely able to make a sound. It came as a suprise to her, but not as much of a suprise as what he told her next.

\"Mhara and Faemal were both at home that day. The assassins let themselves in- broke down the door. The child- he was little more than two months old, if I remember correctly- they simply wringed his neck. My wife, they...\" He paused in mid-sentence. He wasn\'t sure if he could say it. \"...They raped her... so viciously, that she had bled to death long before I got home.\" He grit his teeth painfully.

[Moogie]

Moogie didn\'t quite know what to say, but he wasn\'t finished.

\"That was my fault,\" he murmered. \"I wasn\'t there to protect them. The assassins had fled before I got home, deciding this was a far better punishment for me than death. And they were right.\" He turned to look at the feline, who\'s face showed both anger and sadness, fighting to decide which was more appropriate to display.

\"Heh...\" He shook his head slowly. \"But I couldn\'t live with myself, of course. So I thought of something fitting. There was an old dead tree where I had been practicing my magic that day; I went back there shortly after coming home to my dead family,\" he explained. Moogie tilted her head slightly. She wasn\'t sure she was quite following this. \"At its base I created a spellcircle. I made it so that it would trap any spirits caught within, and channel the pain and decay of the dead tree endlessly into them. A torture chamber for souls; I thought it quite ingenious.\" He smiled, shrugging absently.

\"I don\'t think I understand...\" Moogie started nervously. Camazotz approached the cage, coming close to the bars, and held them loosely with both hands. His glare was piercing.

\"On the longest limb of that tree, just above the spellcircle...\" he whispered, his face drawing ever closer. \"That is where I hung myself- that is where I died, so long ago.\"

Moogie\'s face, were it not covered in fur, would have run pale.

\"D-died?\" She stammered.

He nodded slowly, releasing the bars. \"And my plan sort of worked, too. The circle trapped and tortured my soul as it left my body. Two centuries of time passed by outside- though inside, it felt like an eternity. Eternity, that is, untill I was stolen from my own prison.\" He backed away, gazing around the expansive room. \"These self-involved, pathetic little cultists decided I would make a powerful Callicantzaros. And I did.\"

Moogie shook her head; she couldn\'t believe what she was hearing. \"You\'re another Callicantzaros...? But how? You don\'t look like one...\"

\"I was plan two,\" he growled. \"I was made to gain trust and move unhindered through the world, unlike the first. That one\'s just a killing machine.\"

\"No, this doesn\'t make sense...\" Moogie interrupted, gripping the bars. \"Have you known this all along? Known what you are?\"

He turned away, his voice calmer than before. \"I did from the beginning,\" he replied, \"I found you, played a little game, gained your trust. That explosion in the sewers was triggered by me, if you were wondering.\"

Moogie frowned in contempt. \"I knew it...\"

\"No, but you didn\'t. That was the beauty of it.\" He turned to her again. Moogie wondered if he was grinning cruelly underneath his mask. She narrowed her eyes at him.

\"Why go through such an elaborate scheme to trick me when it was so easy for you to kidnap me and just snap my neck or something?\" she asked.

He chuckled. His response was unexpected.

\"Because something is wrong with my circle, and they don\'t realise it.\" He was certainly grinning now.

\"Something...wrong?\"

He reached into his pocket. Expecting to see another Glyph, Moogie was shocked when he presented a a large iron key. She was even more suprised when he unlocked the door of her cage and swung the heavy object open. She gaped at him, her eyes wide.

\"Yes,\" he continued, \"The part holding control over my spirit is broken somehow. I have some limited free will.\" He winked at her.

Moogie was hesitant, still untrusting of him, but slowly stepped out of the cramped space onto the bridge. She stretched her limbs gratefully.

\"So how limited is your free will?\" she ventured cautiously, wondering whether to believe him this time, or whether it was yet another ploy. Either way, it felt good to be on solid ground (or near enough) again.

\"I had to bring you here, no matter what. That was my main purpose. It was never to kill you,\" he explained. \"I was fully under their control up untill the girl\'s brother was drained, and not fully killed, in the forest. That\'s something the other Callicantzaros did on its own; I\'m still not sure why. The change from my visions confused me greatly.\"

\"Sam...\" Moogie cast her sight to the floor sadly.

\"The Strangers told me of their prophecy, and showed me with dreams how they wanted events to occur. The other soul seems to have a differing opinion. Something about it feels... strange. I lose focus when I see it; I think only of destroying it, like it is just as much a threat to me as it is to you. I wonder...\" he pondered. \"Perhaps its circle, too, is also damaged? I fear it may be out of control.\"

\"Look, Camazotz... I don\'t know if I\'m buying this.\" Moogie glanced around nervously. \"I don\'t know what to believe anymore...\"

He smiled weakly, visibly disappointed.

\"I understand,\" he sighed. \"But you should know that my intentions were never false. I never wanted harm to come to you. I freely lead you here in the hopes you might actually achieve what the cult wants you dead for, so it didn\'t make sense to just knock you out and bring you here over my shoulder. But I\'m still bound to their will,\" He held his wrists, as if to feel the invisible chains locked around them. \"and I can\'t leave here. And very soon, when they release me, I won\'t even exist.\"

Moogie\'s eyes filled with concern. \"There must be something I can do,\" she offered, but he refused it.

\"No. I don\'t want to be here.\" He chuckled. \"I\'ve never wanted to be here. I just want to go back... back to my prison. I\'ve seen enough of this horrible world.\" Moogie stepped forward, placing her hand on his chest comfortingly.

\"Are you sure that\'s really what you want...?\"

Her ears pricked up suddenly. \"Footsteps- someone\'s coming!\" she hissed, jumping back into the metal cage. \"Quick, close the door!\"

Camazotz shut the bars closed and began hoisting the cage into the air just in time as the Stranger came into view.



Another doublepost... :| This one was only 100 words over the limit. Growl!

[Drey]

more secrets   , more story still needed  :/

i also must say today moogie has been quite the writing machine, one chapter when i came home a bit earlier and now another after school. both extremly good.