The game did not continue after Old Man Finch left the room for the Cieven spy had suddenly become on edge, getting up from the table and pulling his cloak on.

"Brighton, where are you going?" one of the others asked.

"Oh I just have some things to take care of...You can keep my money in the pot."

That seemed to be enough for them to forget all about it and Brighton slipped out more or less unnoticed, grabbing his horse from the stable and heading off towards the West road on Tralem.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

"So, what is this Nymph pool?" Marcy asked, edging towards Chandra and Diomedes who were deep in a conversation about bare feet.

"Later Chandra, let me answer Marcy's question first," Diomedes said, trying to get out of an argument he was loosing.

"Fine, but I will never, EVER give up!" Chandra told him dramatically, promptly bursting into giggles at his expression.

"The Nymph pool is something that most people don't actually know about, they just think it's a fairy tale."

"That seems to happen a lot in this world," Marcy remarked.

"The pool was made to show people what they need to know."

"I thought only Nymphs could find the location?" Chandra wondered, puzzling over the whole thing.

"Usually yes, but Dagon and I use to have a friend who was a Nymph and he showed us."

"So that's what Adrastea was so upset about."

"What?" Marcy asked, looking to Chandra.

"Well you saw her in the cave, she nearly killed Dagon. I suppose on there way to Rubin Soth he showed her the pool."

"But why would he do that?" Marcy asked, not quite getting the grasp on things.

"It's kind of obvious that she's dodging responsibility. Maybe Dagon was trying to get her to 'take up the sword'," Chandra replied.

"Well it would seem to me that she needs to put it down."

"It was a metaphor Marcy...You of all people should know about that."

"We should turn here," Dagon spoke up.

Cephalus looked down the path that he was pointing and nodded, turning his horse in the direction, everyone else following. Adrastea had a scowl on her face the whole ride to the pool and when the rest of the group settled near the water she stayed clear of it.

"Sooo, how exactly does this work?" Marcy asked, running one hand through the water.

"You have to wait till' sundown. Then you just look in the water the nymphs will do the rest," Dagon explained.

"There are actually nymphs in here?"

"Yes."

"But it's so small."

"It's deep and widens out underneath the earth. In fact, there's a whole kingdom down there," Diomedes told her.

Chandra looked from the water to the twins and tilted her head to one side, her curiosity peaked once more.

"And how come you know all about this?"

"We told you before, we use to have a friend who was a nymph."

         Sylvia walked up the grassy the slope to where Adrastea was sitting, concentrated in pulling the grass out of the ground.

"Aren't you going to look in the pool?" Sylvia asked, sitting down.

"Don't need to."

"Are you sure about that? Honestly I've been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this. It's hard to know what you're suppose to do and sometimes a little push in the right direction can help."

Adrastea twisted her mouth into a smirk and turned an all too familiar expression on Sylvia.

"Stop beating around the bush...I suppose Dagon gave the crown and scroll back to you and now you're trying again. I'm telling you, just stop it!" Adrastea told her.

She was not angry with Sylvia, nor was she happy. It was just a very matter of fact sentence which rarely came out of Adrastea's mouth.

"I know what my responsibilities are and trust, that's not one of them."

                        The sun eventual sank down beneath the mountains and everyone gathered around the pool, save Adrastea, to see what needed to be done. A couple were excited for the outcome while others were just trying not to drift off to sleep and fall into the water. The wind quickly picked up and a breeze washed across the water, destroying each reflection and showing a different picture to everyone. Adrastea sat up on the rise and watched closely. Even Marcy was at the pool, her red curls tied back so as not to fall into the water. No one moved and the only sound to be heard was the whistle of the wind and a soft hoot from an owl. The time passed by in a flash and the wind quickly died away, replacing the reflections of each individual. The silence stretched on for several minutes before Marcy broke the silence saying, "Well that was cryptic." 

"What did you see?" Chandra immediately asked her.

"No! You can't tell anyone what you saw," Dagon hurriedly told them.

"Only where you must go."

"Well then, where do you have to go Marcy?"

"I don't know! Some place with a bunch of rocks...They were piled on top of each other sort of like stone hedge, but of course you won't know what that is," Marcy rambled.

"I got the same place!" Chandra, Angelica, Deirdrie, and Adrianna all exclaimed at the same time.

"Do you know where it is?" Marcy asked, looking at each of them expectantly. 

"I believe it's located South from Rubin Soth," Cephalus answered quietly.

"Yeah, I also got it."

"Well, I guess that's where we have to go," Marcy said, rubbing her hands together.

"I suggest everyone gets plenty of sleep tonight."

Chandra and Diomedes were the first to respond, both immediately heading for their bed rolls. Out of the group those two, along with Dierdrie, were the most partial to sleep.

             In the dark of the night silent footfalls left tracks in the soft ground where the trees lined the pool. 13 motionless heaps lay on the ground, quietly dreaming away the night while others slowly crept up to them, ready to claim their prize. Hammond, his face covered in a black cloth, slipped past the guarding line of trees and moved quietly up the rise where Dagon was taking his turn on watch. There was no moon, no natural light for anyone to see by and Hammond was part of the grapevine, specially trained for working at night. Dagon did not have a chance. The shadow was on him faster than light even though he put on a struggle, the young warrior was outnumbered. Still fast asleep Diomedes did not have the time nor the senses to beat off the hands that quickly grabbed hold of him, forcing a gag in his mouth. With the two hostages taken care of Hammond and his men made their way in a half circle, surrounding the small group. Hammond raised his fist to the sky but before he could lower it a piercing whistle cut through the air like a knife, startling the unwanted and waking those who were so peacefully in their slumber.

"LOOK ALIVE!" a strong voice called out as everyone realized what was happening.

Marcy immediately ran to the cooking supplies and grabbed her frying pan while being chased by a man with an eyepatch, quickly smashing it in his face with all the force of her entire body behind it. Chandra was not far behind, bow and quiver in hand, managing to take down two at once without realizing it. She pulled an arrow out of the quiver and at close quarters jammed the head into a bandit's stomach, moving to the side before he brought his sword down.

"MARCY LOOK OUT!" Weland called from across the pond, nearly being cut down by a wicked looking sword.

Marcy, not knowing which direction the danger was coming from dropped to the ground just as a knife came flying through the air and burying itself in a tree trunk. Chandra, always having her friend's back, shot an arrow at his chest. As soon as the arrow left the bow Chandra knew the weapon would find it's mark and did not linger to watch. Marcy was doing well with the frying pan but against so many blades she did not stand a chance. Chandra new this and kept a weary eye out, making sure there was never more than one opponent for her.

Adrastea and Adrianna were back to back, each very talented with a hunting knife and each cutting down every blade that dared to try and strike them down. Adrastea once again flew around like a bird, whipping her small yet deadly knifes around in arches and thrusts and dodging every stroke aimed at her. Adrianna's style of fighting was less flowing and more abrupt, but no less effective. Her ability to see a predictable attack was uncanny and every movement seemed pre-meditated, as if she knew what the enemy was thinking. It was difficult for Marcy not to just stand there and watch everyone else do the work but a very persistent ax man refused to give her that opportunity.

Weland came to the rescue just as the ax shattered Marcy's frying pan into a million pieces. He swung the deadly sword round in a circle and brought it up, blocking a downward blow and shoving his free fist into the man's stomach. Marcy could not help but flinch as his rib made a very audible 'crunch' sound underneath the immense pressure of the punch. The bandit gasped and nearly dropped his ax, not having any time to react before Weland's sword found it's mark.

Cephalus was a tall, dark, deadly phantom in the night, taking on three at a time and sending each one flying in a different directions. Agnar was as always by his side, only having to knock someone over the head with his giant fist to give them a concussion.

After the ground was scattered with bodies, dead or unconscious, the few left of the group scattered into the forest, forgetting to pick up their weapons on the way out.

"Should we go after them?" Weland asked Cephalus.

"No, they can't do us any damage."

"Yes they can," that voice warned once more.

Suddenly everyone's attention was turned to a tall Cieven soldier, his face warn but young. 

"Albano?" Adrastea spoke up, standing in a relaxed manner, her dirk still in her hand.

"Hello Adra," he smiled.

Everyone stood still, poised in a wide assortment of postions, waiting for something to happen...Something out of the ordinary.

"Adrastea...Who's this?" Cephalus asked, gesturing towards Albano.

"This is Albano. He's my...Friend..."

Marcy did not miss the brief exchange in eye contact between the two and she immediately knew Adrastea was not telling the whole truth.

"Where's Dio?" Chandra suddenly asked, turning about and looking for the lost companion.

"Dagon's gone too..." Adrastea said, realizing they had all been had.