- Siena -

Siena felt Lacerta's presence before she heard the daemon tap on the door. She felt the fear inside her spike, and it was all she could do to calm herself before Lacerta spoke.

           "Siena?" Lacerta called from the other side of the door. Siena slowly and cautiously approached the door.

           "Lacerta?"

           Siena did not open the door; but through the limestone walls she heard something shuffling around. Lacerta was not prone to fidgeting, Siena knew, so perhaps Nanus and Gigas were there as well.

           "Did Inanis hurt you? We hoped we came in time." Lacerta seemed genuinely concerned.

           Siena responded, in an equally soft voice, "No, Lacerta. He didn't hurt me. Surprised me is all. Thank you for rescuing me."

           "Lacerta is glad, then."

           The shuffling sound behind the door became noisier and more anxious. "Lady Lacerta! Lady Lacerta, your mission for Grand Master Günay!" Nanus or Gigas, Siena could not remember which was which without seeing them.

           Lacerta responded, "We have not forgotten." Siena heard Lacerta stand. "We are coming inside," Lacerta stated. There was a faint click from the lock and the spell which kept the door bound was released, letting the door swing open. Siena had to move backwards to allow room for the daemon, standing just inside the cell, fiddling with her anatase pendant.

           "Siena, Siena!" Nanus bounced about with its huge bulk.

           "Lady Lacerta has a special surprise!" Gigas announced.

           Dread and anticipation from Ansgar's warning welled up inside Siena. Adjusted though she was now to Crystallos' cold air, she shivered. Lacerta's pupils contracted and her ears twitched in response, and Siena tried to calm herself. It did not work, but Lacerta appeared to have better mastery over her instincts than Siena. Daemonis could smell and taste fear and like wild animals it enticed them. Fortunately for Siena, Lacerta seemed capable of ignoring it.

           Lacerta took a step forward, her face breaking into a wide, excited grin. She was careful not to show her sharp teeth too clearly. "Siena, you are coming with Lacerta today!"

           Siena's stomach churned and she found it difficult to swallow. If it had not been for Ansgar's warning, Siena could not have kept what little composure she had. "Where are you going?" she asked when she found her voice, though she knew answer.

           "Lacerta was told to take you with us on our next mission for Grand Master Günay. We want to show you our favorite hunting grounds! They are near where we will be going for our mission."

           The Élu laughed, but it did not sound happy. "I'll not go anywhere Günay wants me to go, even with you."

           Lacerta frowned. She did not understand. "Does Siena not like us anymore?"

           "I'm not going!"

           "But we were told we must bring you," explained Lacerta. "Siena will be safe with Lacerta there! We can protect you. Nanus and Gigas are coming too."

           Siena crossed her arms. "Do you always follow Günay's orders?"

           Lacerta seemed confused by this. "We are bound to his will," she said simply.

           Siena looked at her. Lacerta waited patiently as Siena considered her options. Not many, she thought sardonically.

           "Alright," Siena said with a sigh. "I'll go with you."

           Lacerta smiled. "It will be fun, Siena, you will see!"

- Lacerta -

There were no other daemonis as Lacerta led Siena through the winding corridors of the Crystallos palace, but she did smell Ansgar nearby. Lacerta led the others through an open door, and stopped them after they were a short distance away from the imposing fortress. Spread out around them was a white vastness in the eternal night of the demon realm. It was the first time Siena had been outside.

           Lacerta crouched and dug her long, clawed hand into the dusty ground, scratching and drawing circles.

           "It is calx," she explained. "Grand Master Günay says it is the foundation of our world. Everything in Crystallos is created or born from it. Even us, eventually."

           Nanus and Gigas had dropped to all fours and were tunneling in the sand now, which glowed brightly of its own accord.

           "How is that possible?" Siena asked.

           "The calx absorbs magic. Tiny grains of it become seeds, the seeds become eggs. Some eggs may grow sentient and become sanscoeur, and then the sanscoeur evolve as well. When we cease to exist, we flow back into the magic." She stood up. "Grand Master Günay has two tasks for the daemonis. The eggs are one of the things we are searching for. Eggs of blue and white."

           "What else?"

           Lacerta looked at her. "The Lost Ones," she answered. "We are to search for the Lost Ones. They are difficult to find, for they have no smell. But they seek out the brightest eggs and that is how we will find them."

           "The Lost Ones?" Siena asked. "More of your kind?"

           Lacerta shook her head. "They are not of magic. We do not know what they are." Lacerta blinked and looked up into the dark sky. Crystallos had nothing hanging in the sky, as Lacerta had seen in the human world. It made her feel strange. Turning again to Siena, she watched the woman stretching her arms above her head.

           "It feels great to be outside," Siena sighed. Even if it is still oppressive.

           "Can Siena see?" inquired Lacerta.

           Siena wrinkled her nose. "Well enough," she responded. "The sand and trees are enough light to see, but it's strange not having a moon or stars."

           "Stars?" Lacerta looked up at the sky. "Ah! Yes, we know this. The tiny lights in the sky from the other world."

           Siena nodded, smiling.

           Lacerta looked at Nanus and Gigas. "We have stars in Crystallos, too," she told Siena. "We will show them to you. But later. Our hunting grounds are very far. Nanus will carry you!"

           "Carry?"

           Lacerta nodded and Nanus rushed forward on all fours. The sanscoeur was like a great tortoise but moved with alarming speed, with less awkwardness than the creature showed when walking on two legs. He scooped up Siena, bouncing the woman onto his great shell of a back. Lacerta heard Siena gasp and cry out, clearly startled.

           "Nanus!" Lacerta scolded.

           "Sorry, sorry!"

           "Siena must hold on very tightly," Lacerta warned her. Then, with a sudden, strange surge of magic the three demons and their companion all disappeared.

            A huge crash and deafening boom sent sand and stone flyingall around them. Lacerta and the others were steady on their feet, and thefemale daemon'seyes began scanning the area. All her senses were on alert; she smelled tinymagic beings scurrying around them. She turned to look at her friend, who wasstill clutching Nanus' dark red shell. Gigas was hunched, its skeletal,insect-like figure shaking with delight. Both sanscoeur were glowing brightly,now.

           "There," Lacerta said, pointingtowards a cavern that rose up out of the calx sand, looming over them. It, likethe strange stone trees, glowed softly with its own light, like the limestonethat grew in Lutèce.

           "Nanus, keep Siena safe,"Lacerta said. In response, Nanus snapped its long, sharp jaws twice. The echosounded around them and then faded. Then Lacerta led them towards the cavern.

           "We're going inside?" Sienaasked.

           Lacerta looked over her shoulderand tried to offer a smile that might reassure her friend. "The eggs thatsurvive are the ones which are hidden, and Grand Master Günay believes if theLost Ones are to be found, they will be found below ground. Beneath Crystallosis a series of caverns and forests. We must go there, and to go there, we mustgo through the cavern. There are many caverns, but this is our favorite."

           Lacerta smelled a mix ofemotions from Siena. Awe and fear and dread were the strongest. She turned tothe Élu.

           "You must not fear, Siena,"Lacerta told her in a soft voice. "Fear attracts scavengers."

           Sanscoeur, and all demons ofCrystallos, were attracted to magic because it was like their food source.Emotions flavored the magic in different ways. Fear was a sanscoeur's favorite.

- Siena -

Siena swallowed hard and forced herself to calm down. They approached the mouth of the cavern and Siena held her breath as they entered. Inside was no different than outside.

This is indeed a strange world, she commented to Ihi.

'Yes. It is much different than our world,' the anima replied. 'Keep your mind clear. When the moment presents itself, we can try to escape.'

Siena agreed. She watched Lacerta; the tall daemon led the way, and Gigas walked close behind her. Nanus, carrying Siena, trailed several paces behind. Siena leaned forward.

           "Nanus," she said, "I can walk."

           "Lady Lacerta said to carry you! We will carry you."

           "Really, it's no trouble. I can move around much more easily now that I've gotten used to the air."

           Lacerta looked over her shoulder again, "The deeper we go, the thicker the air."

           Siena paled. "I'm going with you all the way below?"

           "We must keep you with us, or you will get lost. If you get lost, you might become food." Lacerta thought for a moment. "But if Siena wants to walk, it is alright with us."

           Slipping away might be more difficult than I thought, sighed Siena, but she slid off Nanus' shell, and walked beside the red tortoise demon as they continued further into the cavern. Lacerta stopped them, and Siena looked up. She was sniffing the air and looking around, then she spied something. She turned to Siena, grinning brightly.

           "See? Eggs," she exclaimed, and pointed off to the side. "We hid some eggs here for ourself."

           Siena raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction Lacerta was pointing. Off to the side were several large egg-shaped stones. Most were glowing softly in shades of red, orange, or yellow. A few were dull white or grey. Lacerta walked to them and crouched low. She reached and lifted two, one in each hand, and returned to Nanus.

           "They are pieces of Crystallos which have absorbed lots of magic. They continue to absorb magic. You see, this one," she held up the dull and lifeless grey stone in her right claw, "has lost its magic. It will crumble and return to the calx."

           Siena gasped when Lacerta crushed the egg, effortless, in her claws. The egg disintegrated and fell to the floor as dust. Then Lacerta held the other, a softly glowing red egg, in both clawed hands.

           "This one is alive," Lacerta said. "This one has magic and nourishes us."

           Lacerta flexed her claws around the egg and then began to squeeze it. Unlike the other, it did not disintegrate, but rather began to glow more brightly. Lacerta's pupils dilated and the marks on her body reacted. Siena watched as the egg resonated with Lacerta's magic, and it glowed brighter and brighter, but, Siena realized, became smaller and smaller.

           Eventually, Siena could no longer stare at the daemon or the egg in her claws; the light became too bright and she held up her hand to shield her eyes. When the light went out, she looked. Lacerta's entire being was glowing, but after a few moments, she seemed to return to normal.

           "I thought you were searching for eggs for Günay?" Siena asked as she, too, approached the nest. She knelt down to examine them.

           "White ones," Nanus told her, "deeper underground. Where the Lost Ones might be."

           Lacerta nodded. "These do not burn brightly. They will only create vitii, like Nanus and Gigas. The Grand Master wants ones which will become like Lacerta or Inanis. Only white eggs might become like us."

           Siena reached out and touched one of the soft, yellow eggs. It was warm to the touch, but not hot. When her skin made contact, she felt a jolt run through her fingers and up her arm, into her chest.

'Siena,' gasped Ihi in her mind, 'we felt it!'

Siena smiled to herself. She reached for the small egg and picked it up. The warmth spread through her and it seemed while she was holding it, her connection to Ihi was stronger than ever.

           "Siena, come," Lacerta called. "Do not fall too far behind!"

           Siena stood up, cradling the egg.

           'Now,' Ihi urged.

           'I'm sorry, Lacerta,' Siena thought.

           Resting the egg in her elbow, Siena placed her hand on top of it, spreading her fingers. She closed her eyes, feeling the magic inside. She took a deep breath and let it out, then another.

           "Conjuration: Mur de pierre," she whispered.

           The magic poured out of the egg and she felt Ihi's magic grow. The ground rumbled around them, and Siena shrieked as the cavern floor began to crack apart. She took a step backwards as the rubble then began stacking itself and molding itself into a giant wall. She heard Lacerta shout and hoped the wall would be enough as it stretched higher, making contact with the ceiling of the cavern. It separated Siena from the others.

'It may not hold, go!' shouted Ihi in her mind as the cavern shook with what felt like the force of Lacerta's magic.

           "Conjuration: Renforcement!" Siena shouted, and the stone wall reacted properly.

           The yellow egg in her arm grew smaller with each spell, but Siena did not feel tired or dizzy, and it was still a good size. Clutching it tightly, she turned and ran as fast as she was able. She was out of the cavern and running, though the sandy calx slowed her movement. Siena knelt quickly and pressed her fingers into the soft substance.

           "Conjuration: Durcir!"

           In a large radius around her, the calx solidified, turning into andalusite crystal, the same material as Siena's staff. She grinned, and pushed the magic further, creating a long path. Then she stood and started running again.

           Then the rumbling started, like an earthquake, shaking the world around her. The andalusite path began to crumble and Siena was forced to stop as it exploded several paces in front of her. Siena shouted in alarm, holding her free arm in front of her face. A great worm-like sanscoeur burst through the layers of sand and stone with a piercing screech. It was dull and grey, like most of the sanscoeur which slip into the Old World. The woman clutched the pale-yellow egg.

'Siena, run!'

           I know!

Siena turned and cast the same spell from a moment ago, solidifying a path of stone in a different direction. The yellow egg glowed brightly and continued radiating warmth as she ran. Behind her, she heard the sanscoeur screeching, and she knew it was following her. She had to slow it down. She paused and turned.

           "Conjuration: Fissure!" she shouted, pointing at the ground beneath the giant creature. The ground started sinking, but did not crack open. The monster shrieked and fell into the crevice.

Ihi, I need some way to get it off my trail, she said, or better, yet, somehow get it to create a rift into the human realm. Maybe I could follow it.

           'We can try.'

Before Siena could react, the sanscoeur shot itself towards her. The force of its movement pulled it out of the fissure. Everything happened too fast. Siena dove out of the way, frantically trying to avoid the gaping maw of the worm. In her haste, she dropped the egg, which rolled through the sand and out of her reach. The sanscoeur turned and dove, devouring the egg and swiveling back towards Siena.

           Behind her there was a loud, menacing hiss that echoed around them. Siena turned and saw a giant lizard daemon, burning with such a bright blue magic Siena felt the space around her become darker as it burned into her gaze. The daemon scrambled towards her, and Siena shut her eyes.

This is it, she thought. I have no more magic.

Siena felt another rush of magic fall over her like a tidal wave. It was so strong she could not move or breathe. Finally, she felt herself go very cold, and she slumped forward into blackness.