Upstairs....and then the world turns upside down!

Trusting Astra's judgment, Fred leads the stranger to their room.

Closing the door behind him, the little demi-fox knight looks up at the stranger, hands on hips, and then......

"Okay," Fred says in his young, high boy voice. "Just who are you and why did you approach us downstairs?"

Synizn smiles, and mentally slaps down the dark side of his curse that insists on having a little verbal fun with this pup, and replies.

"I am called many things, but I call myself Synizn." he states simply. He smiles wider as the demi-foxes' faces brighten, and their tails begin to wag for all they are worth. Whatever these two are here for, they seem to be happy to make his aquantence. The smile vanishes, and grief rushes in as the demi-foxes tale unfolds. He sits down and tries to compose himself.

"So she finally was able to destroy Minestus in the end," the werebear says heavily. "At least she was able to die with honor......"

Astra and Fred stand respectfully silent, and then wait to see what the mage will do next.

Synzin sighs and pushes back the grief. He will express his grief fully and deeply latter, but right now duty is calling. Duty that must not be ignored! He asks for, and receives the Crystallic for examination.

The demi-foxes wait as Synizn to finish examining, and see the mage's face grow slack in amazement.

"This thing," he gasps. "Is incredible!" Not only is it everything that rumor has led the were-bear to believe, but it's operations were so easy to use that even a first year apprentice could use proficiently! With just a thought, he reaches mentally out and.....whisks the worried Pack who stand behind the wooden fort they had erected to keep out the ravening Forsaken. He places the Pack in the wooded, fertile plains of the Northern America's. There, the Pack can build for themselves what they wish....without interference from dark plans of criminals or dragons. He goes back, and delivers a merciful death upon the creatures who are used to be people....but are now just a step above rabid animals. He drops them into an active volcano nearby, where the intense heat vaporizes the maddened beasts, bringing an end to their tortured lives. The were-bear then turns and looks at the demi-foxes. They appear to have no idea as to what has just happened. Indeed, why should they?

"I believe I can aid you," the werebear says. "But I'm a bit leary about Astra's condition. It makes this more difficult than you know......"

The werebear is about to explain the problem to the anxious foxes, when the room winks out and the threesome find themselves in a misty grove of oaks. The lycanthrope hear a thudding noise, voices in the distant, and.....the sound of an approaching horse! Not wanting to be caught in a trap, the three lycanthropes dive into the bushes. They watch as an incredible scene unfolds before them. Fred looks on as if he's in a weird dream, so shocked is he!

He and the others watch silently, afraid of making a noise that might cause the dopplegangers to attack.....Fred's father!

Dredrick D'Honaire grunted as he landed upon the branch of a great oak. The blow to his gut caused some discomfort, but his armor seemed to have saved him some grief. Grabbing the branch with his robust arms he noticed first and foremost that far below him were drifting fires as of lanterns going to and fro amidst a murky fog. His head danced as if he were intoxicated and the lighted mists began to give him an ache in the head. His eyes tried their best to focus and it seemed that the light-filled fog was in fact a city; one so strange that it appeared most alien to him. And if the sight of the place wasn't enough to boggle the poor Duke's mind, the sound that came next to his ears twas.

"...Careful what ye say... someone could get burned...burned...burned... what ye say... there be a fire in words... a fatal fire in words... what ye say... careful... could get... burned... the pain can be eternal.... burned... fatal... burned... because once ye say it... say it... say it... ye can't really take it back... back... burned... burned... back... take it back."

The cacophony was tremendous within the ringing ears of the elder Duke and his brain wanted to explode, all was echo and the echo was in all. His head began to swim, his body began to sway, his grip upon the oak began to loosen. Then he heard the fairest sound of all: "Father!"

The sound of the Duke's son brought up new strength from within and the Duke held on without falling the many kilometers to the foggy hamlet below.

"Father," cried out Fred. "How did you come to be HERE?!!?"

"A long story, my--" The Duke's voice faltered as he looked upon his son. "By the gods, what witchery is this!??!" He flashed out his sword, ready to kill the strange beast before him.

"No Father!" screamed out Fred. "It is I, your son Frederigo. A curse of blood has been placed within me and now I roam the land as...as this... this creature that you see before you."

"And how can I be sure that you are indeed my son and not some evil spirit?!!?"

"I shall tell you things that only your true son would have knowledge of," and with those words Fred began to speak of things that only a D'Honaire would know.

The "real" Fred listens in utter amazment as his.....double tells things that he....shouldn't know!

Dredrick feels like shouting for joy as the strange boylike creature....with foxlike ears, tail, and coloration finishes his tale.

"......and you cried openly and without shame at Charles' funeral." Fred whispered, choking at the memory. "You said that you felt like you had failed your duties as a fahter. I piped in after the funeral, like the precoscious ten year old I was, that Charlie was old enough to fend for himself and you had nearly driven YOURSELF crazy to try to make Charles see the insanity of his actions. If you had been a hair faster, YOU'D be a blacken corpse and burried along with Charles."

"Son!" Dredrick shouts in joy as he scoops up the little demi-fox. The duke of Suffex weeps in joy along with his now enspelled son. A gentle cough breaks the touching scene.

"Uh, Father," Fred begins hesitantly, then swallows and continues. "This is Princess Astra from Aqualaria. She too was cursed by Minestus and now wears the form of a demi-fox. I had encountered her in the woods after the wyrm had changed her. She.....was in the thrall of her....cannine nature....and I....mistook her for a Kitsune......" Fred and Astra then explain rapidly how they had been aided by a rogue dragon, who had killed Minestus, but was mortally wounded. Then they told how before her death, Malachi the rogue dragon(ness) had told the them that their hope lay in a were-bear named Synizn. Finally they told how they got sidetracked by a greedy lawyer....and somehow ended up here.

Dredrick's grey eyebrows shoot towards the top of his head with the last words. He then shakes his head and makes a quick decision....the only one he knows he can make.

"Let's go and find this were-bear of yours," the Duke of Suffex says grimly. "And may the gods have mercy on his hairy pelt if he refuses

The duke and the dopplegangers (?) get onto a disturbingly familiar, docile warcharger and ride off in the direction of what appears to be some type of intersection.

Fred is the first to speak.

"Let's find out what the name of the gods is going on here!" whispers Fred harshly. "We need to see if my father needs to be rescued from those....dopplegangers."

1. The threesome rush off and stop in amazement at what they see! Being in Atlantis

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