"We travel to each Master and Mistress of these realms, earning passage. Each step of the journey has led to a deeper understanding of the mysteries which cloak each layer of reality. I have spoken to the Mistress of Pain and seen the way my fate lies before like an the unerring flight of an arrow from the Hunter's bow. Now my companion must stand the trial of passage through this realm.

"It is our experience that the trial begins with the passage to face the immortal ruler of each realm and a task which must be faced in their presence. That is what has led us to your doorstep. We lost a companion to the Gate of Horn and Ivory, our guide said that the path would now lead through challenging the Three."

Light reflects off the dark scales of Shiver's flesh and causes his lightning blue eyes to flare against the blackness around him. These three were the perfect forms of philosophers, he wondered how far his path had led him from the perfect form he was descended from. Or had Halley's grace blended forms making him more and less than Troll or Snake.

"May we pass?"

Questers

The wyvern snakes its neck forward to examine Shiver more closely. Its moist breath washes over him carrying the scents of carrion and kills of the past. "You are battle hardened old one but age no longer serves you. You are not the one that opened the way but I would love to crush your dry bones and suck the sweet marrow from them."

A shrill cry cuts through the air from the griffon. "You overstep your role. He may face the challenges in her stead if she so wishes and he accepts the burden." It fixes an unblinking eye on the group. "You still not have answered the question. One does not happen upon this realm by chance. Why have you traveled from your flesh at all?"

"My companions seek the larger grain of truth contained in your words." The hippogriff launches itself from the ledge and glides a short distance to the ground near the group. "Do not trouble yourself yet with them, simply answer their questions. We will arrive at the point that is required. Nothing will happen till I have given it leave to do so. Speak.."

At the Club

Stefan seems to roll with the lack of a name for the second runner and moves forward as the social script requires. "Gentlemen, my employer is looking to hire you to assist a team with a job that is in process as we speak. The details I can share before you have committed to the contract are as follows. They are looking to take down an Awakened shaman of some clout. This individual is connected but it is believed that their death will have little effect on the workings of this community. My employer believes this as well and I assure you, he has his finger on the pulse of the shadows where this matter is concerned. They need muscle with a brain attached and I was told you both possess this quality in abundance." As he speaks he moves behind the desk and takes a seat, his body language is relaxed and alert. He seems aware that he is in a small room with two men more than capable of killing him where he sits. He moves where his hands stay in sight and makes no sudden or odd moves.

"Any questions?"

"We traveled here in an astral quest to better understand and for some of those who follow to shed their forms and be remade. The bridge which brought us here was an ancient one, transporting flesh and spirit across the vast realms since not all who came could project into the Ways. The Dweller at the Threshold, the one who resides in your gallery, even the Lords and Ladies of the realms through which we have traveled, all say that we are the first of our kind to make the journey in a long time. Perhaps there shall be more to come, only Lord Potmos can say with certainty."

Stepping forward to address the hippogriff directly and letting his words carry to the others, Shiver speaks plainly.

"I am here because it is the path upon which I walk, and that which was laid beneath every step I take. I offer challenge in her stead and request their safe passage unto the Lord of Forms."

This whole trek could have been a trick from the Samurai. She is known to be ruthless, she may be cunning as well. All the more reason to watch her. But whether it was a trick or not, the path must be walked and the price must be paid.

"You three are the progenitors of your races, I would assume. I am the shape which the form has become. Our world changes with each passing day, and we must strive to understand those changes. My ward is evidence of such a change, and thus we must speak to the Lord of Dark Hours to understand."

"May we pass?"

"I'm definitely interested," Havoc says. "But I would like to hear a little bit more about the money."

Aaron takes a deep breath and pauses before answering, taking the time to think it through.

"You say the purpose of the run is to eliminate an individual, I have some qualms about engaging in an outright assassination without knowing why the individual needs to be eliminated. I'm willing to at least listen to the offer and consider it with the understanding that if the reasons behind the hit aren't to my liking then I'm going to bow out of the run."

He glances at the other runner, and then adds.

"I'm more concerned about the reason for the attempt than the pay, which I assume will be in direct ratio to the difficulty of the task."

Questers

The three beasts seems to commune wordlessly for some time. The only sound is the breaths of the others around you. Finally the hippogriff speaks.

"You may pass. Enter the cave and travel to the Heart of the Dreaming but be warned she will leave this place lessened. Our lord does not allow things to slip through the cracks. Everything returns to his hand that came from it." With that said the creature leaps into the air and returns to its perch.

At the Club

Stefan nods at each question seeming to take them in stride. "This individual is directly responsible for the deaths of over twenty innocent people and has made several attempts on the person sponsoring this job. As to the pay, my employer is willing to offer five thousand nuyen for a night's work." He pauses, waiting to see if any other questions arise.

With an eye on the three guardians, Shiver gestures for the team to come and join him.

"Come cousin, it is time."

One step into the next, with those who have become leading the way to the Shaper of Forms. Each step being another step to the return and a sacrifice the aging troll has chosen to make. First though he must face the choice between.

With a glance to make sure Moira moves as well, he steps forward, following the troll.

Aaron nods at the fixer's response. The death of 20 innocent people could easily be checked out with a couple of simple data searchs.

"That sounds reasonable enough, I've done 'proactive' bodyguarding before. If everything you represent is accurate then I'm interested."

"Sounds like you've had some people on this for a little while," Havoc says, "are we going to be replacing team members lost in a previous action?"

Questers

You move through the mouth of the tunnel and dark held within quickly swallows you up. As you move deeper in you begin to see flickers of movement in the deeper shadows of the cavern. You catch snippets of sounds and songs as you walk. The feeling of the familar washes over you and grows stronger, you seem to be on the edge of remembering this place and this time from before. You soon make out an area of gathered light ahead. A single man stands in the soft glow and appears to be awaiting your arrival. He is rake-thin with skin the colour of falling snow and his hair a flat deep black. As you draw closer you suppress a shock at the sight of his eyes. An endless a vista of night and stars sit in them and seem to draw at you.

"Welcome."

At the Club

Stefan nods to Aaron at his interest, he quickly switches his attention back to the other runner in the room. "There have been some lost lives so far. Most of the details surrounding their deaths the team knows far better than my employer. The group does need some extra support for this part of the run." He leans back, a look of open sadness moves across his features before he smooths it over, waiting to answer any more questions. "Are you on board as well or do you have more questions?"

Bakatare moves with the rest, mind still struggling to recall what memory the location springs from, despite his conscious thought that it's more likely an effect of the realm then actually something from his past.

Nights hidden in caves, hunting the dangers of this world. The entrance guarded by the treacherous samurai whom Bakatare seems to have great faith in. Songs from his childhood, half-remembered and rarely heard.

The memories pull at Shiver reminding him of previous steps in his path. With reverent determination, the troll moves forward staying near Angelina.

"We greet the Lord of Dark Hours, and beg forgiveness for the intrusion. Lord Oneiros, may we pass through your lands and return to the Gallery of the Endless?"

Angelina had mutely followed Shiver, lost in her own musings. One had already died facing her challenge. What price could the Lord ask of her that was greater than that burden? Would the prize at the end be worth it?

As they stepped on past the guardians, Angelina was teased by inklings of the familiar. Things that had eluded her for all this time. She must press onward, even with the price. Only through the Lord would she learn who she was. She nodded to the Lord, her guardian having already stated their cause more eloquently than she could have.

What the Hell, Havoc thinks, My life needs a little action anyway.

"I'm in," he says to Stefan, and then waits for Aaron to chime in. After the other runner has given his word, Havoc continues. "Now can we hear a few more details?"

Questers

Oneiros turns to face Shiver with a distant look of distaste on his features. With a casual wave of his hand he speaks to him. "You have no voice here." You watch with horror and fascination as the flesh of the troll's mouth fuse together into a single plane of tissue. He seems to disregard the change as common place as he walks to stand near Angelina. "You are the one who may speak here but do so quickly. Even for you my patience has limits." His voice carries a subtle threat of pain and madness.

At the Club

"Excellent." Stefan relaxes slightly as he begins to speak. "The team was hired by a local woman who supervises a roving rave that caters to Changlings. That same rave was attacked through magic. A magic that drove the participants to kill one another in a bloody rage. She put together this team to find and punish the people responsible. The team so far has traced the crime back to a small group of shamans but along the way this same group has attempted to kill their employer and managed to kill at least one member of the original team. I wish I could be more precise but my information is at best second hand." He waits to answer any more questions.

At the Club

"Errr, perhaps I misunderstood your last statement. Are you saying the group of runners hired by the rave organizer has attempted to kill their employer and has successfully killed one of their own party members? Or did you mean to say that the group of shamans have attempted to kill the organizer and have killed one of the runners. I hate to sound dense but I believe clarification on this issue is important."

Aaron kept his tone polite and conversational, but he was really hoping that the runners hadn't turned on their own.

At the Club

"My apologies. It was the shamans who killed one of their team members." Stefan looks relieved to be dealing with men who speak their mind. "I apologize when in this business you become acustomed to not using names which can lead to exactly this kind of confusion."

Angelina looked on with shock as Shiver's mouth fused shut. However, there wasn't time to dwell on it, as the master of the realm had already expressed that his patience was short. Steeling to speak for herself, she turned to the Lord of Dreams.

"As my companion said, we are passing through the realms of the Gallery. I know there is a price to be paid. Though I hope that through my price, I might come to know what was forgotten."

Questers

Oneiros eyes seem to twinkle with laughter at Angelina's request. "My realm is the birthplace of half remembered things. Very little makes it's way back to the Waking World from my hand at least until recently." As he speaks he moves around the gathered people. Pausing to study each person as he speaks. "What exactly are you looking to remember?"

:: Moira meets the gaze of the Lord of Dreams unflinchingly, though underneath the strange calm she presents, she frets that he might find offense to the smuggled Lady of Love hiding under her skin. As he passes, she turns her eyes to Angelina, giving unspoken support to the girl tasked with finding the door back to the gallery. ::

At the Club

"Ahh, I had guessed that, but I wanted to make absolutely certain in my own mind what the situation is before I commit. That point being clarified, I have no further questions of you sir."

Aaron put his hands on the back of his vacant chair and leaned slightly over it, fixing Stefan with a polite smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"If that is all the information you can give us then I believe I'm ready to go meet my future employers. Of course that's assuming that everything you've represented is true."

While his tone was polite and professional and his demeanor and expression were friendly Aaron made sure that his eyes conveyed the unspoken promise of a less pleasant visit should it turn out that Stefan was setting them up.

Bakatare meets the Lords eyes with bemused resignation. The past few hours has definitely done much to dull the edge of both his fear and his awe.

What was she looking for? There were thousands of questions she could ask, though she doubted Oneiros would take the time to answer them all. So she settled for the abbreviated version. "I seek to know who I am. And more importantly, why I am being hunted."

Questers

"You are more than you were before. It seems someone thought to hide a lost thing in you, something that belongs to me." He turns to face Angelina as he talks. "As to who you are, I cannot say now. The figments of this realm were never meant to live amongst you, let alone within your waking flesh. I am hard pressed to say which of you was born in the Lands of Daylight."

As he speaks, he appears to become distracted, as if hearing something in the distance. He makes his way towards Moria and stops in front of her. "All I know is the Night of the Burning Eye tore rifts into my realm and some of my creations sought to escape into your world. Others also saw this as an opportunity to steal from me as well. I believe one of these thieves pursues you now though I am not certain why. Perhaps to reclaim his stolen prize or perhaps to destroy all evidence of his crime." His face takes on a distant look of disappointment as he turns from Moira.

At the Club

Stefan smiles warmly at things spoken and unspoken. "Excellent gentlemen. Allow me to provide you with your first payment for your services." With an easy and slow motion he opens a desk drawer withdrawing a slim case. Placing it on the desk he opens it and removes two certified sticks which he slides towards each man. In addition he removes an optical chip and places it on the outside desk edge. "That contains the information you'll need to contact the team. Please do as soon as possible. Once again thank you for coming and hope this is only the first of many such profitable relationships." He stands and moves to open the door back out to the club. He gestures for you to exit and nods as you pass.

Murrey

As you rest in the gentle web machines and data, feeling the system carry out your will you receive an alert that an incoming message was being forwarded from your LTG. You quickly scan it over seeing it as originating from Extassis. With a quick thought you pull up the info.

My apologies for the brief notice but my employer has been made aware of your shortage of staff for your upcoming work and has seen to replace them with competent substitutes. They will be contacting you shortly and should be carrying an optical chip to verify their IDs. I have also included images here as a secondary means to assure their identities. My employer will be funding them so please assure your client that all is well.

-Stefan

At the Club

Aaron picked up the credstick and dropped it into a pocket without checking it, an advance like this would be good. He popped his pocket secretary from its belt holster and slotted the optical chip into the p-sec's slot. With two quick strokes he asked the device to call up the contents of the chip onto the miniture viewing screen.

:: Moira maintains the best poker face she has while under his direct gaze, but when he turns away, a barely perceivable sigh escapes her lips as she looks to Angelina, then to the floor. ::

Is he saying that Angelina carries a consciousness from this land similar to what I am doing now? Will the lady within take over me as Desmondia overrides Angelina? Please tell me I haven't made a grave error...

Through the drones, "We will ham friendly company soon. It seems our mutual firends are vell informed."

"Just what is it that was taken from you? And how do I return it? I guess if you have it back, the thief won't need to harry me anymore."

Havoc takes his stick and glances at the balance before packing it away. He nods to Stefan, "We'll bag that Shaman for you. You got nothing to worry about."

With that, Havoc heads out the door after Aaron. "Mind if I take a look at that too?" he asks after noticing the other runner studying the contents of the optical chip.

Once he has Aaron's attention, he continues. "You can call me Havoc."

At the Club

After committing the chip's contents to memory he removes the object from the slot and passes it to the other runner, Havoc.

"Of course. I'm Aaron. I don't bother with any type of unusual moniker, so just call me Aaron."

At the Club

"Havoc's just a name I picked up at my old day job," Havoc responds as he takes the chip and slides it into his own pocket secretary, hoping that Aaron wasn't gong to have a stick up his hoop the whole run.

"Well, Aaron," he says as he scans the chip's information, copying the data to his secretaries memory, "Since we're the new guys what do you say we meet up with the other team at the same time. The last thing I want is to screw around with inter-team politics and it might help if we present a unified front."

At the Club

"That seems reasonable. I'm going to give you a direct contact number for me, that'll let us co-ordinate as we go."

Aaron breathed deeply and preformed the mental shift which allowed his senses to extend into the astral. The young elf ran an appraising eye over his new crew mate, trying to determine if the man was Awakened or mundane. He just as quickly returned to his normal perceptions.

"Let me ask instead of making an assumption. I'm muscle, to be specific an adept, but muscle. Primarily close cover and heavy weapons man are my usual gigs. I assume from the nature of this undertaking that you work in the same general vein?"

Aaron continued to walk towards the exit, moving slowly and standing close to Havoc so that he could speak conspiratorially.

At the Club

Maybe this guy won't be such a hardass after all.

"I've got a touch of mana in me too," Havoc says. "I'm and adept, but I've got a few other modifications too. I can handle small arms and I good at getting into hostile places. I can do it the quiet way, but I like the loud way a lot better," he pauses and casts a glance at the other runner. "Seems like we've got a lot in common."

Questers

He chuckles to himself at the question. "Even I am hard pressed to say exactly what everything in my lands is or was for that matter. An archetype of sorts was stolen. At first I assumed she chose to flee as others did particularly considering her nature but as I searched for her I found her presence to flicker in and out of existence making tracking her impossible. She does not have the substance to wield that sort of power in the world beyond this one. I assume someone or something took her and has found a way to hide her from my eyes and ears."

He moves to stand near Angelina again. "Meeting you has answered the how but I still do not know the why. Is it your desire to return to me mine freely?"

Outside

Onna turns to Hiroto a look of confusion plain on her face at the statement from the drone.

At the Club

The data includes a set of GPS coordinates, it looks to be somewhere out in Snohomish. It also includes a name as your contact with the team; Murrey. The team is currently at that location and is being informed of imminent arrival.

At the Club

Excellent, Aaron thought to himself, this Havoc's skills seem to be a perfect compliment to my own skills. That means whoever is hiring for this run is smart enough to hunt for a complimentary team.

"Excellent. I would suggest we adjourn to gather the necessary gear and meet then head to the meeting together. I'll need about 45 minutes to gather my gear and then we could meet." He glanced down at the GPS coordinates.

"How about we meet in one hour in the northwest parking lot of the Kirkland mall, by the food court entrance? That way we can leave one of our vehicles there and not have to worry about it being towed or catching attention. And we won't look suspicious transfering items from one vehicle to another."

Club

"Sounds good. But let's make it an hour and a half. I need to do some vehicle shuffling of my own."

Havoc offers his hand to the other runner, "Good to meet you. See you soon." After a firm shake, Havoc heads for the door, picks up his weapons and heads home.


He takes his motorcycle back to his lower-class bolt hole, being very careful while locking it down and securing it. Then he calls a taxi with his wrist phone and heads to his permanent residence where his dark green Americar waits in the parking garage. During the taxi ride he calls Cooper, an old friend of his days in Lone Star who now makes a living selling arms to denizens of the shadows.

"Cooper," Havoc says after the dwarf picks up the phone, "It's been a while, I know, but i might be heading into some heavy stuff pretty soon and I was wondering if you could hook me up with a suit of security armor. Medium grade would be the best, but light will do. I could use it ASAP, but any time within the next few days would be good. Thanks. Tell Claire I said hi. Bye."

Back at his apartment, Havoc changes out of his classy clothing in favor of fatigue pants, a tank top with a grey/black camo pattern, and high-laced combat boots. Grabbing a duffel bag he loads it up with a couple changes of clothes, underwear, and toiletries, and then tops it off with his secure ultra-vest and a shirt made of form-fitting body armor.

After this mundane packing is complete, he grabs a second duffel bag and with a grunt, pulls a foot-locker style gun safe from beneath his bed. After opening the safe with a thumbprint scan, Havoc removes his FN-HAR assault rifle and methodically breaks it down, packing the pieces away in the specially made duffel. After the rifle's components are secure, Havoc drops in five regular magazines, two explosive and two gel magazines. After that comes two regular, two explosive, and two gel magazines for his Colt Manhunters along with silencers for each of his pistols. Finally, he secures the heavy bag by stuffing his armored jacket along the top and zipping it shut.

Man, this weighs a lot, he thinks as he hefts the duffel. At least I only have to carry it to the car.

Before leaving his home, Havoc pulls a kevlar lined turtleneck on over his tank-top and straps on his pistols, one under his left arm and one in the small of his back. The finishing touch is a secure long-coat to cover the weapons. Pulling the weapons' duffel over his shoulder and the luggage duffel hanging from his left hand, Havoc locks his house and heads for the Kirkland Mall, his first steps on the way to killing a shaman.

Outside

Hiroto looks up from where he's sitting, "I believe some more people are on their way, to help perhaps. I know not of these friends he talks of. Possibly they are friends of his and those who travel the other realms."

Turning the the drone, "As soon as they near let us know."

Hiroto settles back down, his hands folded in his lap.

The drone nods in response to Hirohito's words and turns to roll some distance away.
Now that the MK-6 is in place where they will likely approach.
Through the drone network, Lynx-2 update rangecard for near MK-6, lock onto any targets forwarded by TADS. Lynx-1 synch targeting with van, suppressive fire only. TADS, move into position to scan for approaching vehicles. Felix, time to boot up kitten.

After a few moments the van window rolls down and a medium sized house cat jumps from the window and takes up position near Hirohito and Onna, Murrey's voice emanates from within it, "The drones are deployed for the newcomers. Hirohito, if you would like to know poor about our enemy, there is a mile of corpses near here, to the left of the van. That represents the nature of that which we face, you may find them enlightening. Soon we will have to properly dispose of such offal, but for now they serve as a reminder of the need for vigilence."

Aaron began putting together a duffel for his kit, packing for a few days just in case.

In his closet he pulled out his Yamaha detachable luggage rack and its hard shell storage unit. The unit was designed for skiers and campers who drove cars without enough space but the unit was absolutely perfect for his uses as well. Inside the unit he kept his Ingram Valiant LMG and its ammo. It had just enough room for him to toss in four HE grenades and four smoke grenades and 10 clips of APDS and hollow points for the H&K.

He changed into basic black cargo pants and a charcoal grey knit turtleneck to cover his form fitting bodyarmor and topped it with his heavily armored synthleather jacket.

Making sure he'd packed his com unit and various other gear he began the process of loading up his car.

Angelina had to think about that for a time. She had heard horrible things about Desdemona. She was thankful for the most part that she didn't remember anything that her other half was doing while she was out. It was that part that caused Shiver to watch over her. But...what if Desdemona was real, and it was her that was the creature of dreams? Did she want to take that chance?

But if she didn't give back to the Lord of Dreams what was his, he probably wouldn't let them pass. And even if he did, that being that was following them would eventuallly catch them. Paladin had already been lost. She didn't want others to follow, even if it was at cost to herself.

"Yes, I will give you what is yours."

Questers

Oneiros simply nods and reaches a hand forward pressing it into her chest. He rests his hand fingers extended on her breast as he begins to sing a nursery rhyme.

"Ring around the rosy, pocketful of posies. Ashes, Ashes. We all fall down."

As he sings the words over and over again he draws his hand away from her body. Her face twists with discomfort as you watch small hot flecks of glass burn their way out of her flesh from where his hand has rested. A smell of orange blossoms and stale sweat fills the air as the flecks flow from her and begins to coalesce in the air a few inches from his hand. The words of the rhyme drone on as the glass bits fuse together in a single mass. With a final shudder the flow trickles to nothing from Angelina's body. Resting in the air is a human heart of molten glass that seems to pulse with a slightly off beat.

"We are finished then once child of mine. You are free to return to the Gallery and face the one that waits there."

As he moves the light seems to bleed away from his body. You feel the rush of air move through the room and hear the distant sound of chains scraping across stone. The only light seems to come off angry and sullen from the glass heart.

"I will deal with the thief and you need not fear him here anymore but I can do nothing for you once you return."

You hear the distant screams of rage echo around you. The voices sound female but descends into something more primal and animalistic. You feel small bodies move past you, feather brush against your face and arms. The scent of flesh and death lingers in their wake.

"If the change is one you cannot endure then visit my eldest sister and ask her to ease your suffering. Her lands offer the peace you might seek. Fare thee well."

You find yourself swallowed by a wave a light and when your eyes adjust you behold the Gallery and its attendant, her eyes hot and heavy as she looks your way.

:: Moira steps next to Angelina with concern in her eyes. Gently touching the changed woman's shoulders she steps close and whispers softly. ::

"How do you feel?"

As she found herself back in the Gallery, Angelina finally found herself free to sink to her knees. Tears trickled freely down her cheeks. "What have I done?" she asked, more to herself than to anyone present. Noticing Moria, she said, "If it was bad for me...I can't even think what it was for her...."

:: Moira lowers herself to her knees beside the young woman and drapes her arms around her consolingly. ::

"You are such a compassionate person. I know this must be difficult for you and for her, but it was the right thing to do. The world will be safer both for you and for anyone you will come in contact with now that she is where she belongs."

Bakatare arches both brows, looking to Shiver with an expression of somewhat remote interest.

"Any idea why he refered to Angelina as once child of mine?"

"I know not, unless..."

Shiver breaks off. He steps closer to Bakatare and lowers his voice.

"We have all seen the power these creatures wield. It is possible that all those we know of as Changelings are indeed carrying a piece of the Lord of Dark Forms creations. Without that piece inside her, she may no longer change.

"There is one more thing I must do though. Watch over our Mistress while I am absent."

The black scales of along Shiver's arm reflect back the light dully as he moves towards Angelina.

"Words cannot express my desire to take your pain and keep you safe. I am sorry cousin that I could not stand between you and this suffering. Tarry a moment here and know that my strength will follow you if I am not by your side."

Leaving his cane at her side, Shiver rises to his full height, allowing the age and fragility to seep away.

"Respected Elder," he says addressing the Dweller he had once called Locket. "I would travel unto the realm of Lord Potmos alone if such is possible. There are questions that I have about my path and the one who has fallen to the Hunter."

Angelina sniffled a bit as Moria knelt down beside her. She suddenly started to push Moria away, but then froze, a look of surprise on her face. "No, as a matter of fact, I don't remember." she said, to no one present. Suddenly she shifted. Desdemona took over, obviously ticked. However, she still spoke with Angelina's voice.

"We? Us?" Angelina asked in confusion.

Apparently she got an answer, as she then asked "There were others besides the two of us?"

"Who's She?"

"Let me get this straight....we're basicly tangible figments of someone else's imagination."

"So what was up with that heart, anyways?"

"You know, perhaps if you had clued me in on the whole thing, things might not have turned out this way....."

"At least without that heart we'll have...whatever that was off our back."

"Frankly I have no desire to have what happened to Paladin repeated...."

"It could have been us."

"Would think you'd at least appreciate having someone between you and it....what if we ran out of 'expendables'?

"What a lonely life you must live, caring only for yourself..."

Apparently with that last comment, Desdemona had had enough. As quickly as it had come, the change came again. This time, Angelina was left with a confused look on her face.

:: As Angelina went into her almost schitzophrenic dialogue, Moira leaned away from her with a look of surprise and confusion, then turned to look at Shiver as if expecting him, as her charge, to understand what on earth the young girl was talking about. ::

Glancing at Moira and Angelina, Bakatare directs his question at Shiver.

"Do you think it's wise to split the group up at a time like this? The rules of this realm seem to indicate that we travel together since we arrived together. Additionally, there is still the matter of the thing that's chasing us through the realms."