With the Thoabath's eyes turned to the women, the mage fled from his home
through a second door. He heard the damned knight yell a curse but he did
not look back, he ran up the path strewn with ancient volcanic rubble. He
ran and as he did so, he let go of a sash on a cloak-pouch, which then
sprinkled a fine powder on the ground under him. He ran faster, he could
hear the voice of the damned Allarian coming closer behind him. He
flipped a sash about his wrist as he ran up and up the peak's path. He
began to mumble an incantation and twisted the sash until his wrist hurt
terribly, and indeed began to bleed. He could hear the voice of the
fallen one gaining. He looked upward and knew his salvation was near. He
sprinted the last meter and with a wave of his blood against the
mountainside, he literally vanished into the stone and dirt.
Behind him, still on the path was the knight, the Thoabath. He was running, looking about wildly, searching for the wizard. The women were behind him. As Fred ran across the powder he began to feel uncomfortable, as if his feet were burning. "Jiminy!" cried out Andrea. "Look at your boots, they're smoking!!!" Indeed, Fred was burning! He quickly retreated to well past the red powder and caught his breath. "This is bad, very bad," he said to the women. "That wizard is mad! He may intend to kill us!!!" "But why?!!?" asked Astra. "He didn't even see us, I wasn't able to explain why we are here!" "Perhaps he already knew," said Fred. "Perhaps he hates were-creatures as much as most Allarians." Astra winced at that. "Do you hate me, Fred?" Fred looked at her and answered truthfully, "No." Yet in his heart of hearts, his most black-encrusted heart, he knew that he would betray her, for that was his mission now. "Let's get back to the hut, let's see what we can find there." And so they returned. All the way, Andrea was silent. She was thinking about what had just transpired. The wizard ran after seeing Fred, not them. Had Fred done something? As to curing Astra, she did want that, but if nothing could be done, she would sooner see the poor cursed woman put out of her misery, for the safety of all concerned.
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9/5/2000 9:13:38 PM
21389182 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.